Realizing (making real to yourself) the knowledge of what you truly are is the quest. All of your fables and myths are based on the search, and whether it is pictured as searching for the Holy Grail or the treasure, it is the search for that which dwells within.

The dragon that gets in the way represents all your senses, worldly memories, and beliefs, and indeed it is very difficult, if not sometimes impossible, to slay the dragon. Some are successful and some are not. It’s King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, it’s Merlin in the Crystal Cave, it’s all of your fables and myths. There is always some mystical thing being sought, and the great trials and difficulties along the way make it more dramatic. You enter the physical world to search and to find what you already are. It’s kind of a game, but of course the treasure must be attained while in the physical. You come in again and again in order to successfully transform the physical human into the spiritual divine. That is why you block out memories of other lives upon entering this plane. What you’ve garnered in seeming previous lives nonetheless moves you up the mountain towards your goal. As Sherlock used to say to Dr. Watson, “The game’s afoot.”

Then all of a sudden there is that one moment in ones' lifetime when you realize the goal — you make real the connection with the Divine. It’s a very clever game. The chessmen and the pieces of the puzzle are very real; it’s a great adventure. Upon attaining the treasure, it seems as though it was no problem at all. Sometimes you’ll maintain it momentarily only to be thrown back into seeming reality by a shocking event or great loss. Then you fall right back into the old way of thinking or believing, but of course that’s what makes it so fascinating. You can read it many times and it can be said in a myriad of ways, and yet somehow it won’t trigger the awakening moment. There are many references left by others for you —

Know Thyself.
The Kingdom of God is Within You.
To Thine Own Self Be True.
Ye Are Gods, and Greater Things Than I Have DoneYe Shall Do.

All of these sayings, and there are many more, were said by a Realized Being, and left as clues along the way. You may read them, study them, and think you understand them, but until you make it real to yourself, that magic moment hasn’t happened. And if indeed you mention it to somebody else, “Eureka, I’m God; there is nothing else!”, they’ll crucify you because they want to stay in the game. The Realized Being is a lonely figure because the other physical beings around him are not ready — it is not in the fullness of their time. They might read the words a thousand times and not know the meaning.

There is always a shining moment when you reach and hold the Grail, and drink from its wisdom. There is great power in myth. There’s no greater imagining than Saint George slaying the dragon in his path. There is no greater myth than the search for the Holy Grail, than the sword in the rock. All of these add romance or glow to the story of the search for what is within you. The sword in the rock is understanding, cutting attachments to your old belief systems. You can’t go further than that. In the tale of King Arthur, many men tried to lift the sword and weren’t capable because they weren’t ready.

That’s why that myth has lasted down through the halls of time. It strikes a chord. Many things are thrown in the way of the searcher, most of them connected to the vanity of the body or the ego. Some get very close to finding the Grail and stop themselves because then it would be the end of the journey, at least on this level. But man’s and woman’s discontent is that they can’t reach through the veil.

They can be very wealthy in the world, and yet there is a gnawing sense of discontent and restlessness. It is their soul pushing them onward. “Don’t stop here. This is of the world — search on!” That’s why the lone rider of the desert searching for the oasis is such a romantic figure. That is why Shangri-La is such a fabulous myth. It touches something deep within each one that indeed there must be a Shangri-La, the Holy Grail must exist, the Forbidden City must be — and they’re all images of the hidden precious spirit that is within each one, waiting to be found.

With all of the chaos, and all hatred, all the greed, and all the killing, the search goes on. There will always be players coming to enter the stage, just as Shakespeare said. The world is a stage, and all the dramas that you create are to lead you on the path to find the great mystery. And . . .

Like the Pearl in the Oyster,
The Treasure is Within.