True treasure awaits within the cave of the crystal palace - Bhagavad Gita ch5:24

The tortoise is a good teacher. They are able to withdraw and go within when necessary. Similarly when the external world becomes too intense for the aspiring yogi, they have to retreat to their cave in order to get away from the distracting world of humanity, with its mostly difficult conditions.

If the aspiring seeker of stillness, peace and tranquility is unable to retreat to a cave far from the madding crowd, as the English author Thomas Hardy once dubbed it in 1874, then they may need to find other means to go within.

Because it is within that the greatest treasure is to be found, far exceeding any external treasure of coin or kind. We may try to fix everything that is broken in the world, or in our sphere of influence, but the list is never-ending. And martyrdom or excessive self-sacrifice is not in fashion any more. Nor is it healthy.

We have our own battles and pains to master. And we become of less value to everyone, including ourselves, if we become drained by the suffering we see all around us on the planet and in all others around us.

Few are able to channel the chi to such a degree that they stay free from the suffering they see.

Therefore, the yogi and aspirant needs to go within, whether it's to the cave or simply by withdrawing the senses like the tortoise withdraws their limbs. And this withdrawal is not to a place of inaction or sleep. It is to a place of greater bliss and richer action.

There is a light within, it sheds light on the dark world in which we find ourselves. Sometimes it is covered, like a lamp by soot or a mirror by dust. Yet the light shines ever on. Don't hide your light under a bush or make yourself less than you really are because of fear of the opinion of others. We benefit no one by hiding our light, as said in the Christian Bible book of Matthew ch5:15.

Or as author and coach Marianne Willaimson says in her book Return to love, based on the book A course in miracles:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Once liberated from the fear of death by knowledge of the eternal self, the mystic or yogi is able to meditate freely in the darkest forest, despite snakes and tigers. What then do we need to fear in our modern world that is any less dangerous than such creatures, other than our own mind and the external allures of the senses?

Bhagavad Gita ch5:24

योऽन्त:सुखोऽन्तरारामस्तथान्तर्ज्योतिरेव य: ।
स योगी ब्रह्मनिर्वाणं ब्रह्मभूतोऽधिगच्छति ॥ २४ ॥

yo 'ntaḥ-sukho 'ntar-ārāmas
tathāntar-jyotir eva yaḥ
sa yogī brahma-nirvāṇaṁ
brahma-bhūto 'dhigacchati

SYNONYMS
yaḥ—one who; antaḥ-sukhaḥ—happy from within; antaḥ-ārāmah—active within; tathā—as well as; antaḥ-jyotiḥ—aiming within; eva—certainly; yaḥ—anyone; saḥ—he; yogī—mystic; brahma-nirvāṇam—liberated in the Supreme; brahma-bhūtaḥ—self-realized; adhigacchati—attains.

TRANSLATION
One whose happiness is within, who is active within, who rejoices within and is illumined within, is actually the perfect mystic. He is liberated in the Supreme, and ultimately he attains the Supreme.

PURPORT
Unless one is able to relish happiness from within, how can one retire from the external engagements meant for deriving superficial happiness? A liberated person enjoys happiness by factual experience. He can, therefore, sit silently at any place and enjoy the activities of life from within. Such a liberated person no longer desires external material happiness. This state is called brahma-bhūta, attaining which one is assured of going back to Godhead, back to home.

Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A C Bhaktivedanta, original Macmillan 1972 edition.

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