The satisfaction of every soul lies in its recognition.
Every person desires that there would be in the world someone
who understands him well, at least as well as he understands
himself. A wife says, 'I have a comfortable home and a good
husband; I only wish that he would understand me better.'
The servant says, 'I get good pay and the master is kind;
I only wish that he would know me well.' An artist is satisfied
when his art is admired by the knower. This is the usual
seeking of every soul.
There is a story about a mimic who was performing his
skill of imitating different birds and animals in the street
in front of the window of a palace from where the king was
looking on. At the end of his performance a golden shawl
was thrown to him from the palace window as a reward from
the king, and an old blanket was presented to him by a shepherd.
The mimic adorned himself with the ragged blanket of the
shepherd and kept the shawl of the king under his arm. The
king disliked this behavior on the part of the mimic and
asked him why he insulted the palace by adorning himself
with the shepherd's gift, hiding the reward of the king.
He answered, 'Because the shawl was given as a token of
your Majesty's greatness, and the blanket was given purely
in deep admiration for my imitation of the cow twitching
its skin, which no one but the shepherds could understand
so well.'
From this story we learn that there is no greater reward
given or love shown than in recognition. As this is the
desire of every soul, so it is also the desire of the Soul
of souls. He puts forward His hand to such suitor who comes
before Him with full recognition.