The King and The Ring
Once upon a time, there was a king who said to the wise men of his court:
I am having a precious ring made. I have acquired one of the finest diamonds possible. I want to hide inside the ring a message that can help me in moments of total despair, and that can also help my heirs and the heirs of my heirs forever. It must be a short message, one that can fit beneath the diamond of the ring.
All those who heard him were wise and learned men, capable of writing great treatises. But a message of no more than two or three words, one that could help in difficult moments...
They thought. They searched through books. But they could not find anything.
The king had an old servant who had also served his father. The king’s mother had died early, and this servant had cared for him, so he was treated almost as a member of the family. The king had immense respect for the old man, and so he consulted him as well.
The old servant said:
I am not a wise man, nor a scholar, nor an academic, but I know a message. During my life in the palace, I have known all kinds of people, and on one occasion I met a mystic. He was a guest of your father and was in his service. As a gesture of gratitude, he gave me this message.
The old man wrote something on a small piece of paper, folded it, and handed it to the king.
But do not read it, he said. Keep it hidden inside the ring. Open it only when there is no other way out.
That moment did not take long to arrive.
The kingdom was invaded, and the king lost the battle. He was escaping on his horse, with his enemies pursuing him. He was alone, and his pursuers were many. He reached a place where the road came to an end, with no way forward. In front of him there was a precipice and a deep valley; to fall would mean the end. He could not turn back, because the enemy had closed the road behind him. He could already hear the sound of the horses. He could not go on, and there was no other path.
Suddenly, he remembered the ring.
He opened it, took out the paper, and found there the small, tremendously valuable message, which simply said:
This too shall pass.
As he read the message, he felt a silence fall over him.
The enemies who had been pursuing him must have become lost in the forest, or taken the wrong path. The truth is that, little by little, he stopped hearing the horses.
The king felt deeply grateful to the servant and to the unknown mystic. Those words were miraculous. He folded the paper, placed it back inside the ring, gathered his armies, and reconquered the kingdom.
On the day he entered the palace again, victorious, there was a great celebration, with music and dancing. And he felt very proud of himself.
The old servant was beside him in the carriage and said:
This moment is also suitable. Look at the message again.
The king answered:
Why? Now I am victorious. The people are celebrating my return. I am not desperate. I am not in a hopeless situation.
The old servant said:
Listen to me. This message is not only for desperate situations, but also for pleasurable ones. It is not only for when you are defeated, but also for when you are victorious. Not only for when you are last, but also for when you are first.
The king opened the ring and read the message:
This too shall pass.
Once again, he felt the same thing: the same silence in the midst of the crowd that celebrated and danced. But his pride and ego had disappeared. The king understood the message. He had been enlightened.
Then the old man said:
Do you remember everything you have gone through? No thing and no emotion is permanent. Like day and night, there are moments of happiness and moments of sadness. Accept them as a natural part of things, because they are part of the nature of your life.