A Parable

The donkey told the tiger: The grass is blue.

The tiger replied: No, the grass is green.

The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, and to do so they approached the lion.

Before reaching the clearing in the forest where the lion was sitting on his throne, the donkey started screaming: "Your Highness, isn't it true that the grass is blue?"

The lion replied: "True, the grass is blue.

The donkey rushed forward and continued: "The tiger disagrees with me and contradicts me and annoys me. Please punish him".

The king then declared: "The tiger will be punished with 5 years of silence".

The donkey jumped with joy and went on his way, content and repeating: "The grass is blue"..

The tiger accepted his punishment, but he asked the lion: "Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?”

The lion replied: "In fact, the grass is green"

The tiger asked: "So why do you punish me?”

The lion replied:
That has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is not possible for a brave, intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with a donkey, and on top of that to come and bother me with that question

The moral of the story?

The worst waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn't care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions. Never waste time on discussions that make no sense... There are people who for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand, and others who are blinded by ego, hatred and resentment, and the only thing that they want is to be right even if they aren’t.

When ignorance screams, intelligence shuts up. Your peace and tranquillity are worth more.

Author unknown
Taken from a Facebook page

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A Bag of Nails

There once was a boy with a very bad temper. The boy’s father wanted to teach him a lesson, so he gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper he must hammer a nail into their wooden fence.

On the first day of this lesson, the little boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. He was really mad!

Over the course of the next few weeks, the little boy began to control his temper, so the number of nails that were hammered into the fence dramatically decreased.

It wasn’t long before the little boy discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Then, the day finally came when the little boy didn’t lose his temper even once, and he became so proud of himself, he couldn’t wait to tell his father.

Pleased, his father suggested that he now pull out one nail for each day that he could hold his temper.

Several weeks went b and the day finally came when the young boy was able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

Very gently, the father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

“You have done very well, my son,” he smiled, “but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same.”

The little boy listened carefully as his father continued to speak.

“When you say things in anger, they leave permanent scars just like these. And no matter how many times you say you’re sorry, the wounds will still be there.”

More Parables Here - and the book Here

A Parable

            There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best grown corn. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbours. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbours when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.
            “Why sir,” said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbours grow good corn.”

Moral of the story:

            So is with our lives... Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all...

A Parable

            A 24-year-old boy seeing out from the train’s window shouted, “Dad, look! The trees are going behind!”
            Dad smiled. A young couple sitting nearby, looked at the 24-year -old’s childish behaviour with pity.
            Suddenly he again exclaimed, “Dad, look the clouds are running with us!”
            The couple couldn’t resist and said to the old man, “Why don’t you take your son to a good doctor?”
            The old man smiled and said, “I did and we are just coming from the hospital. My son was blind from birth, he just got his eyes today.”

           Moral of the story:

           Every single person on the planet has a story. Don’t judge people before you truly know them. The truth might surprise you.

More parables Here

Parables

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I love Parables. They are simple stories, easy to understand, but the lessons, (usually there is more than one lesson) in them are profound.

A little girl was holding two apples. Her mother asked for one. The girl quickly bit one apple, and, then, the other. Her mother held back her disappointment. Then the girl handed one to her saying. “Here, this is the sweeter one.”

Moral of the story: Don’t be too quick to judge

More Parables …Here

A Parable

            A farmer had a dog who used to sit by the roadside waiting for vehicles to come around. As soon as one came, he would run down the road, barking and trying to overtake it.
            One day, a neighbour asked the farmer, "Do you think your dog is ever going to catch a car?"
            The farmer replied, "That is not what bothers me. What bothers me is what he would do if he ever caught one."

Morale of the story:
              Many people in life behave like that dog who is pursuing meaningless goals.

The Man Who Spits In Buddha’s Face

A Buddhist Parable

http://www.perfectz.net/2014/10/the-man-who-spit-in-buddhas-face.html

What is Heaven? - What is Hell?

One day, a samurai named Nobushige set out to find Hakuin, an old Zen monk who was known to be very wise. When he arrived at the monastery, he flung open the door and demanded of the old man, "Tell me, you are learned in these matters. What is heaven and what is hell?"

Hakuin sat still for a moment on the tatami-matted floor. Then he turned and looked up at the warrior. "You call yourself a samurai warrior," he said. "Why, look at you. You're nothing but a mere sliver of a man! I doubt you could cut off the head of a fly with your sword."

For a moment, Nobushige stood gaping. No one talked to a samurai like that! Then, as if someone had waved a red cloth in front of a bull, his face contorted in rage. He bellowed, "How dare you! I won't let you get away with such an insult." Pulling his huge sword from its sheath, he raised it high above his head, ready to kill the old monk.

Unperturbed, Hakuin looked directly into the eyes of the furious warrior and said, "You asked what hell is. *This* is hell."

Nobushige froze, his sword still raised, as the hatred and anger that had consumed him drained away. He looked at the old monk in amazement, realizing that this small, stooped man had risked his life to answer his question.

Lowering his weapon, Nobushige bowed to the monk, as tears appeared in his eyes. "Thank you for your teaching," the samurai said humbly, his heart filled with gratitude for the monk's gift.

Hakuin smiled at the samurai and said, "And this, my friend, is heaven.

A Parable

Once a group of 500 people were attending a seminar. Suddenly the speaker stopped and decided to do a group activity. He started giving each person a balloon. Each person was then asked to write their name on it using a marker pen. Then all the balloons were collected and put in another room.

The people were then let into that room and asked to find the balloon which had their name written on it within 5 minutes. Everyone was frantically searching for their name, colliding with each other, pushing around others,  and there was utter chaos.

At the end of 5 minutes no one could find their own balloon. Then, the speaker asked each person to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it. Within minutes everyone had their own balloon.

The speaker then began, "This is happening in our lives. Everyone is frantically looking for happiness all around, not knowing where it is.

Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. Give them their happiness; you will get your own happiness. And this is the purpose of human life...the pursuit of happiness."

The Starfish Story

An old man was walking on the beach one morning after a storm. In the distance, he could see someone moving like a dancer. As he came closer, he saw that it was a young woman picking up starfish and gently throwing them into the ocean.

“Young lady, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”

“The sun is up, and the tide is going out, and if I do not throw them in, they will die,” she said.

“But young lady, do you not realize that there are many miles of beach and thousands of starfish? You cannot possible make a difference.”

The young woman listened politely, then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea. “It made a difference for that one.”

- Adapted from the original by Loren Eiseley

Parables

A poor man asked the Buddha, “Why am I so poor?”

The Buddha said, “You do not learn to give.”

The poor man said, “If I’m not having anything?”

Buddha said: “You have a few things. The Face, which can give a smile; The Mouth, you can praise or comfort others; The Heart, it can open up to others; The Eyes, they can look at others with the eyes of goodness; The Body, which can be used to help others.”

So, actually we are not poor at all. Poverty of spirit is the real poverty.

- Source Unknown

Sculptor Of Your Life

I got this parable from a friend. I have made some changes to 'tidy' it up a bit, and to better explain the story.

"Master, I  want to be a famous sculptor. What Should I do?" said the young apprentice.

 "Well," replies the master, "tell me, what kind of a statue would you like to make?"

The young man thinks for a while, and concludes: 'More than anything else. I would like to sculpt a beautiful elephant."

At this the master places in front of this young man a block of stone and a few tools: "Fine. here is some marble, a mallet, and a chisel. All you have to do now is carve away everything that does not look like an elephant."

So the young apprentice begins. A little off here, a little off there. As the work progresses, the refinements become more precise. The rough stone slowly begins to take shape. The edges begin to become smooth and the final product begins to manifest itself.

Moral of the story.

Our life is as the piece of stone and we are the sculptors. We must have a goal, an objective in life, before setting out to achieve anything. As we work towards the goal, our life will begin to take shape. The work itself makes visible the next step to take. And we continue working, refining until we are happy with the product, with ourself - our life.

Who we become is the ultimate achievement of everything we do. Possessions, awards, and positions are superficial compared to the statue of our life which we leave as our legacy for the generations that follow.

Don’t despair if the direction of your life is still not clear to you yet. Keep working at it, keep chiselling away. One day all will become clear.

The King And The Sage

              A king asked a sage to explain the Truth. In response the sage asked the king how he would convey the taste of a mango to someone who had never eaten anything sweet. No matter how hard the king tried, he could not adequately describe the flavour of the fruit, and, in frustration, he demanded of the sage, "Tell me then, how would you describe it?" 

              The sage picked up a mango and handed it to the king saying "This is very sweet. Try eating it!"

Two Wolves

              An old Cherokee told his grandson, “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth.”

              The boy thought about it, and asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”

              The old man quietly replied, “The one you feed.”

Lesson From The Porcupines

              It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions. After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. 

              So, they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive. 

              The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.

              The moral of the story is … Just learn to live with the pricks in your life.

Just Stay

A touching and poignant story

              A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.

              "Your son is here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.

              Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

              The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile. 

              He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

              Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

              Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.

              Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

              "Who was that man?" he asked. 

              The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered. 

              "No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."

              "Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"

              "I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed. I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey. His Son was killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him. What was this Gentleman's Name? The Nurse with Tears in Her Eyes Answered, Mr. William Grey.............

              The next time someone needs you ... just be there. Stay!

A Parable

In the bottom of an old pond lived some grubs who could not understand why none of their groups ever came back after crawling up the stem of the lilies to the top of the water. They promised each other that the next one who was called to make the upward climb would return and tell what happened to him. Soon one of them felt an urgent impulse to seek the surface; he rested himself on top of a lily pad and went through a glorious transformation which made him a dragonfly with beautiful wings. In vain he tried to keep his promise. Flying back and forth over the pond, he peered down at his friends below. Then he realized that if they could ever see him they would not recognize such a radiant creature as one of their number. The fact that we cannot see our friends or communicate with them after the transformation, which we call death, is no proof that they cease to exit. - Walter Dudley Cavert 

A Fable

Aesop, that master storyteller of old, told this fable: 

A jar of honey was upset in a housekeeper's room, and a number of flies were attracted by its sweetness. Placing their feet in it, the flies ate greedily. Their feet, however, became so smeared with honey that they could not use their wings, nor release themselves, and they were suffocated. Just as they were dying, they exclaimed: "Oh, foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves." 

- Aesop 

Mindset

I got this story off the net. The person who posted it didn’t say who the author was or where he got this. 

As my friend was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a rope tied to their legs. It was obvious that the elephant could at anytime, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not. My friend saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

“Well”, he said, “when they were very young, and much smaller, we used the same size rope to tie them and at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grew up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.” 

My friend was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were. The powerful and gigantic creature has limited its present abilities by the limitations of its past.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life holding onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? How many of us refuse to attempt something new and challenging because of our so called MINDSET?

Your attempt may fail, but never fail to make an attempt… and

Choose not to accept the false boundaries and limitations created by the past.

Power Of Words

              There once was a wise sage who wandered the countryside. One day, as he passed near a village, he was approached by a woman who saw he was a sage and told him of a sick child nearby. She beseeched him to help this child. 

              The sage came to the village, and a crowd gathered around him, for such a man was a rare sight. One woman brought the sick child to him, and he said a prayer over her.

              "Do you really think your prayer will help her, when medicine has failed?" yelled a man from the crowd.

              "You know nothing of such things! You are a stupid fool!" said the sage to the man.

              The man became very angry with these words and his face grew hot and red. He was about to say something, or perhaps strike out, when the sage walked over to him and said: "If one word has such power as to make you so angry and hot, may not another have the power to heal?" 

              And thus, the sage healed two people that day.