‘Truth has been in front of our eyes all our lives’

“When I was a little kid, I went to church all the time. As I got older, I began asking questions like, ‘What’s the aim of human life? Why are we here?’ And they had no answers. They just told me, ‘You need to read your Bible more.’ I was into martial arts as a teenager, and one of them said that was a false religion. I was told that I needed to make my choice of whether I wanted to do that or follow Jesus. So I said, ‘Bye. See you later.’

So what have you followed in life?
“I’m a devotee of a yogi from northern India. In his country, they called him Balyogeshwar. It means the born lord of yogis. He became an American citizen about 40 years ago. I’ve met him many times. I followed him around once for about a month. He would do these festivals, and thousands of people would come to hear him. He would speak on God realization and truth. He showed me what I was looking for. He showed me knowledge of the soul. He gave me wisdom, truth. 

“They say the musk deer runs through the forest, he smells this beautiful musk, and he doesn’t realize that it comes from his own navel. Still, he runs around the woods looking for it. Similarly, all the people of the world, they’re constantly running through life looking for something — satisfaction, peace of mind, whatever you want to call it. But it’s not in all these material things we have. It’s really inside all of us. It’s really simple. Truth has been in front of our eyes all our lives.”

— John Bounds