Once there was a king who had four wives.
One day the king became ill and was about to pass away.
He was afraid of being in the afterlife alone.
His fourth wife,
Whom he had purchased lavish gifts such as diamonds,
Gold,
And exquisite clothing for,
He asked her,
Would she die with him and go to the afterlife with him.
The fourth wife said,
I'm sorry,
I can't do that.
He also loved his third wife,
Whom he was very proud of and would always show off to neighboring kingdoms.
He called on his third wife and asked,
Will you accompany me to the afterlife?
The third wife replied,
I love my life too much and I'm sorry I can't go with you.
And when you die,
I'm going to remarry.
The second wife had always supported him in his times of need.
He also asked the second wife,
Would she go with him to the afterlife?
She then replied,
I'm sorry that I can't help you out this time,
But what I can do is arrange your funeral and I will be there for your funeral.
Then a voice called out and said to him,
I'll leave with you and follow you wherever you go,
Even if it is to the afterlife.
The king turned around and it was his first wife.
However,
This was the wife he took care of the least.
And he felt embarrassed and said,
I'm sorry,
I should have taken more care of you and given you more attention when I was alive.
So here's the moral of the story.
We all have four wives.
Our fourth wife is our body.
We like to decorate it with nice jewelry,
Nice clothing,
But in the end,
It can't follow us to the afterlife.
The third wife represents our possessions.
We spend so much time trying to gather possessions in our lifetime,
But in the end,
They cannot follow us to the afterlife.
Those things will be given to other people and divided,
Just like the third wife who said she's going to remarry.
The second wife represents our friends and family.
We trust them and they're always there for us in times of need.
But the furthest they can go with us is to our funeral and send us off.
Our first wife then represents our soul.
We usually neglect taking care of our soul,
But that is the one thing that will follow us to the afterlife.
So what this all means is that we need to care for our bodies and keep it healthy.
You can enjoy your possessions and the comfort they provide.
You can cherish your friends and family for the love that they provide.
But don't forget to take care of your soul and learn to love yourself.
Nourish your soul.
Take time to be alone.
Take time to pray.
Take time to meditate because it's the source of all your life and the most faithful friend.
We're all here on Insight Timer to look for different ways to offer us well-being and you're making the right step.
We live in a time where we can have easy access to materials that can help nourish our souls and feed positive energy to ourselves.
With this story,
I hope you can now understand and appreciate a bit more about how feeding our souls and loving ourselves is truly important in our lifetimes.
