God felt lonely and wanted to find companionship. So, he decided to create beings that could keep him company. But one day, these beings found the key to happiness by following the path to the Divine and thus merged with Him. God was left sad, alone once again. He pondered. He thought it was time to create human beings, but he feared they might uncover the key to happiness, find the way to Him, and make Him lonely again. He continued to contemplate and wondered where he could hide the key to happiness so that humans couldn’t obtain it. Surely, he would need to hide it in a secret place where humans couldn’t find it. First, he thought of hiding it at the bottom of the sea; then in a cave in the Himalayas; then to the farthest reaches of outer space. But he was not satisfied with any of these places.
He stayed awake all night, wondering which place would be safe to hide the key to happiness. He thought about how deep into the ocean a human could descend and how the key wouldn’t be found there. In a safe place. He wouldn’t be safe in a cave in the Himalayas, because sooner or later man would discover these lands. Nor would he be well hidden in vast stellar expanses, because one day man would explore the entire universe. “Where to hide him?” he kept asking himself until dawn. And as the sun began to spread the morning dew, suddenly the only place where man would not search for the key to happiness was revealed to God: within man himself. He created the human being and hid the key to happiness within his own being.
Ramiro Calle,
101 classic stories from India