The Lost Prince - Destroying the Delusion of Limited Self

The Lost Prince - Destroying the Illusion of Your Limitations

Once a king, accompanied by his young son, went hunting in a forest where he saw a beautiful deer. Leaving his son under a tree, he pursued the deer for quite a long distance. After a while, some tribesmen who were passing through the forest saw the young prince crying under the tree, and they took him home with them, assuming that he was lost. When the king returned from hunting, his son was nowhere to be found. he went home and sent search parties out in all directions, but there was no sign of the child. After several years, the king's prime minister was attending to court business and came upon the tribesmen's dwelling place. There he saw a young boy who appeared quite different from the other boys. Reminded of the lost prince, the prime minister asked him who he was. The boy replied that he was the son of a tribesman. The prime minister then asked the tribesmen about the boy, but they knew nothing except that they had found him several years ago under a tree in the forest and had brought him home. Hearing this, the prime minister was convinced that the boy was the lost prince, and he took him home to the palace.

Even after the boy was told that he was a prince, he still considered himself a tribesman because of his deep mental impressions of having been with the tribesman for many years. The prime minister dressed him in beautiful, princely clothes and made him view himself in a large mirror, saying, "Look, this is what you really are." Seeing his real identity, the boy's illusion vanished, and he was convinced that he was really a prince. This understanding removed his former feelings of lowliness, and he began to behave like a real prince.

In the same way, if we become aware of our true Self, we will realize that we are really God and all sense of imperfection will be eliminated. Man has the right to attain his Godhood and, therefore, should not despair. Keep trying, have no doubts, and seek the company of saints. It is the duty of every saint to make you realize your real Self, just as the prime minister helped the prince to realize his true identity.
From: Conversations with Swami Muktananda - The Early Years by Swami Muktananda. Published by SYDA Foundation.