It's All Within
Once upon a time there was a beautiful deer who spent every day prancing around in the woods. And every day she noticed a wonderful smell. It smelt better than rain; it smelt better than flowers; in fact, the deer had never smelled anything so enchantingly wonderful. The deer wondered where the smell came from. She began to sniff around, "Sniff, sniff. Maybe this perfume is coming from inside the tree!" She ran over to a tree, but it just smelt like a normal tree.
The deer pranced around, sniffing everywhere. She chased and smelled and wondered, "Is it coming from the butterflies? Sniff, sniff…hmmmm. No, it's not from them. I wonder if it's coming from the robin! Sniff, sniff… hmmm. No, it's not from there either." Although she doubted it, she even wondered if it could be coming from the swamp. "Sniff, sniff", she tried, "oh no, it's not coming from there! Hmmmm…Maybe it's coming from the ravine or maybe the bushes! Sniff, sniff. Sniff, sniff." But the scent wasn't coming from any of these things. Where do you think it was coming from?
The deer ran and pranced, she danced and ran some more, and in every place she tried to find the source of the smell. But then she started to get tired. She kept searching."I'll find it, it's got to be coming from somewhere!" she said. Even though she became really exhausted, she ran and ran and ran, smelling here, there and everywhere. "My body can't keep up," she thought, "but I must find where that wonderful scent is coming from." Her body slowed down but she kept trying and trying. Then finally she couldn't try anymore. Her body couldn't move and she collapsed on the ground.
When she fell on the ground, her mind wanted to continue searching, but her body had to rest. But then all of the sudden she smelt something, "That's it! That's the scent! That's what I've been trying to find! It's right here! That's it for sure!" But where was it coming from? She instantly realized something very beautiful, "Oh my goodness! It's coming from within me. It's been right here all along." She smiled and napped peacefully.
Yes, the smell was really coming from herself. That is how God is. People think that God is somewhere outside. But God is always within us; never away from us: inside us and all around us. After searching and searching, the deer finally understood that the Lord of the Universe had been with her all along. As Guru Ram Das says: "Ho antar naam mangaa din raatee, naamay hee saant paaee; I beg for your Name, deep within myself, and day and night through the Name I find peace."
Guru Ram Das says:
I beg for Your Name, deep within myself, day and night; through the Name, I find peace.
"ho aantar naam mangaa din raatee, naamay hee saant paaee."