Raja Harish Chandra and the forest of Light

Once there was a mighty King named Raja Harishchandra, who ruled the Ganga region in Northern India.
He was a kind ruler, loved by all.
His kingdom was wealthy; there was plenty to eat for every one. Fields were emerald green and forests were loaded with timber and fruits. River beds and ponds provided for enough fish and rice. No one was hungry and no one was deprived. People lived in wealth and harmony. Raja showered his subjects with precious gems, pearls and gold to celebrate the birth of his sons and daughters.
There was no crime or stealing. People lived and loved.

One night Raja Harishchandra went to bed and he had an extraordinary dream.
he dreamt of a forest that led him to a cave. Inside, he saw a Sadhu in a state of Samadhi. He tried stepping in, but Sadhu, who had his eyes closed and his back towards the king stopped him from entering, with a gesture of his hand. King stopped right there, Sadhu disappeared that instant and a vortex of light opened up, showing him a spiral stair case of light. He started climbing up, encountering several Gandharvas and Gandharvis dancing and singing heavenly music. He felt bliss.
He moved further up till he reached the space where there was pure light. Nothing else but light that generated ecstasy into his being. He became dizzy and drunk with joy and pure pleasure.

Next morning when he woke up, the dream felt so real to him that his reality felt lifeless. All his wealth, abundance, relatives, friends, power, jewels and gold felt worthless to him. All he desired now was to reach that place where he visited in his dream. He left his kingdom in charge of his eldest son and left in search of that ecstasy world. He came across many Gurus and Sadhus who taught him what they knew but they could not take him to the place of his dream.

He walked barefoot, hungry and tired. One night he entered the deep dark forest and he felt thousands of invisible people walking towards the same place along with him. Anyone with a sane mind would have been frightened with the darkness and invisible beings around but Raja was a man engrossed, he walked till he reached the heart of the dark forest. What he saw there astonished him beyond words.

He saw a Buddha sitting under a tree in the center of a clearing and around him was a congregation of thousands of invisible people sitting in a meditative state. Bright light emanating from the Buddha was seeping into them; pure joy and bliss was floating in the air. He stood there hiding and witnessing; bathing in that light and pure love. But with the first ray of the morning it all disappeared in a split second right before his eyes, the communion was over. Raja woke up from the trance like state thinking he must have slept again and had an amazing dream.

Several years passed. Raja looked for the special place throughout the day and the night when he was exhausted beyond all capacity. He had beautiful visions and he recalled them next morning as dreams. He became physically stronger and vibrant, his hair became silvery white, and he started radiating with celestial light yet he believed that he was dreaming about that place.

One night he was walking through the forest looking for that special place of his dreams. He looked at the moon and was struck by its pure silvery and cool blue light. He stared at it in disbelief. Soon he found himself stepping on the old familiar spiral staircase of light, leading into a light chamber inside the moon. Several Masters and Gurus were sitting in a circle emitting brilliant white light, as he stepped in they all looked up and one of them said "Welcome Harishchandra we have been waiting for you". They asked him to turn around and see who is at the bottom of the stair case of light. As he did so, right at the bottom of the staircas, across many worlds he saw himself staring awestruck at the moon, unable to look away.

The masters asked him "Who is that person?" and immediately he pointed out saying "He is Harishchandra".  He asked himself if that person is Harishchandra then "WHO AM I?"
At that very moment he realized he is nothing and he was filled with the same sweet ecstatic light.

He was flooded with unfathomable joy and rapture.

Finally his journey was complete.