NASRUDIN AND THE KEY

Nasrudin was searching intently for something under a streetlight. His neighbour went up to him and asked what he was doing. Nasrudin answered, "I have lost my key." The neighbour joined him in searching for the key. Sometime later the neighbour asked, "Do you know exactly where you dropped the key?" Nasrudin replied, "Oh, yes. I dropped it in the kitchen." Surprised by this answer and a little annoyed, the neighbour said, "Then what are you doing here?" Nasrudin answered, "The light is much better here, it is dark in the kitchen."

Discustion:

We all are searching for something. Maybe we are looking for a certain security, or maybe happiness or peace or love. We somehow believe that we will get them at the place where it is easy - under the streetlight. But just like Nasrudin, we will only find the key where we lost it, not where it is easy to look. We did not lose our happiness in other people. Yesterday, we did not even know the wonderful people that we know today. We didn't lose our peace in some geographical location. We forget that peace, love and happiness are always within us and it is only inside ourselves that we can find these most precious treasures once again.

This universal problem is illustrated by another story about the queen, who lost her necklace. She had the entire royal household spend the whole day searching for the necklace but finally found it herself - around her neck!

How do we come to be in this state? At the deepest level, it is a question of lost identity: Who am I?