Awakened awareness is like a radiant pearl. It is found naturally. It comes into existence through both time and trial. And those who know its worth most fully rest in its beauty most completely.

The pearl of awareness resides within us all. Many of us do not ever open enough to find it.

Most of us have heard that pearls are formed when a grain of sand gets inside an oyster. Actually, it’s usually a parasite that serves as the creative irritant. The parasite triggers a natural defense process, so that the oyster releases a fluid called nacre. Over time, layers and layers of nacre create a pearl.

I can’t imagine any enlightened person who doesn’t feel resonance with this process. Awakening takes time, and it usually takes far more than a pesky grain of sand as an irritant. Something about the aggressive, persistent nature of a parasite rings true, even though I wish it weren’t.

Often, pearls show up in the center roof of Buddhist temples. They’re like little beacons of what may come (and what lies within). Other times, Buddhist artists place a pearl in the hand or mouth of a dragon, because the dragon can signify enlightenment. I think of dragons who hoard vast stores of goods, while in contrast the enlightened dragon carries only this one pearl, the pearl of wisdom. The pearl of awareness.

And of course, I can’t also help but think of the story Jesus once told comparing the kingdom of God (the realm in which justice and mercy and love are fully realized) to a pearl of great price. When a merchant sees this pearl, he immediately recognizes its great worth and sells all he has to purchase it.

Awakened awareness is natural, and it also costs us something. Maybe everything.

Where do you see the pearl of awareness radiating for you today?

This post is part of the Paramita Project, where I’m practicing one paramita each month for ten months. Read all my posts on the tenth and final paramita, awakened awareness/jnana, here.