From waking up app by Sam Harris, I learned about concept of one bright pearl from Koan practice. The story goes...
There was a zen practitioner lived in China a long time ago. He spent many years to dedicate himself to be awaken but didn't get anywhere. So, he decided to go back to his hometown, fishing village. On the way to go home, his toe got stuck in a rock and hurt really badly (bleeding a lot) which caused him a lot of pain. In that just the moment he had a great awakening. He decided to go back to where he was. When he came back, his colleague asked him why did he come back. He said 'not a single step was taken.'"Even though I head it off, I didn't take single step." From the moment he hurt his toe, he had a sudden realization. There was no where to go but everything was just right there and is right here.
The whole universe is one bright pearl.
All ever we wanted is right here, and the experience we are having now is one bright pearl. This very moment is one bright pearl..
The story stuck in my head for a while. Maybe I am constantly looking for a bright pearl somewhere in the future but this very moment right now can be one bright pearl. Each experience, each moment is the moment that actually matter- not the past nor the future.
Are you looking for one bright pearl somewhere far away and missing out the moment right now? Maybe the very moment you have right now is one bright pearl or you can make it as one bright pearl.