King Solomon’s Ring

This is a popular Jewish wisdom folktale. It contains a very important lesson that relates to the Buddhist concept of “impermanence.”

“One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah Ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, “Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it.”

“If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty,” replied Benaiah,

“I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?” “It has magic powers,” answered the king. “If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy.” Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility.

Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day’s wares on a shabby carpet. “Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?” asked Benaiah.

He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile. That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity.

“Well, my friend,” said Solomon, “have you found what I sent you after?” All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled. To everyone’s surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, “Here it is, your majesty!” As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: gimel, zayin, yud, which began the words “Gam zeh ya’avor” — “This too shall pass.” At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.”

The lesson of King Solomon’s story is impermanence; nothing remains forever, everything is passing, rising and decaying, appearing and vanishing in this whirlwind of space-time. King Solomon, after being presented with the ring, realizes this lesson is true for all of life’s conditions – not just the fluctuating, and sometimes unpredictable arousal of mental feelings such as happiness and sadness – but also the impermanence of physical beings as well, including our own possessions and body.

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The Man and the Eagle

There was once a man who had never seen an eagle.

One day a magnificent eagle landed on his windowsill, and when he saw it, he exclaimed, “Oh! What an ugly creature it is! You can look much better, Mr. Eagle”, he said and pulled it into his house.

“First, I’m going to fix that curved beak of yours.” He used a file to remove the hook in the eagle’s beak. “Those claws are vicious looking,” the man said as he clipped the eagle’s claws until there was little left. When he finished, the man said, “There, now you look better”, and he put the bird back on his open windowsill and shooed it away. The eagle pulled its wings in pain and dragged itself into the sky. The man was happy to see a new beautiful reformed creature enjoying the flight.

But alas!

Moments later, the bird collapsed of its handicaps. It couln't survive the wild for long.

Nature has created all of us unequal, not because one is better than the other, but because each being has its own purpose in life. So many times, we, as teachers, parents, bosses, and well-wishers, attempt to reform others to our liking. We impose our goals on them, give them advice that worked for someone else, or push them to do things that are 'in-demand' currently.

Instead, what we should do, is to discover the true potential of people around us, and respect them for the way God has created them to be.

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The coldest winter

It was autumn, and the tribals asked their new chief if the winter was going to be cold or mild.

But since he was a chief in a modern society, he had not much wisdom to predict what the weather was going to be unlike his wise ancestors. So to be on the safe side, he replied to his tribe that the winter was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should collect wood to be prepared.

But also being a practical leader, after several days he got an idea.

He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked 'Is the coming winter going to be cold?'

'It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold indeed,' the weather man responded. So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more wood. A week later, he called the National Weather Service again.

'Is it going to be a very cold winter?'

'Yes,' the man at National Weather Service again replied, 'It's definitely going to be a very cold winter.'

The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of wood they could find.

Two weeks later, he called the National Weather Service again.

'Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?'

'Absolutely,' the man replied, 'It's going to be one of the coldest winters ever.'

'How can you be so sure?' the chief asked.

The weatherman replied, 'The tribals are collecting wood like crazy!'

A lot of phenomena happens like this in real world as well, and the lesson in this story should teach us one simple thing: It is good to believe the trends, consult 'experts', but in the end.. there's no subsitute for the wise man sitting inside of you.

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Conflict in monastery

Conflict in your life and in your workplace? What is a person to do? The answer may lie in the following story.

The head of a cloistered monastery became very frustrated with the bickering and conflict among the monks who were in his charge. He felt helpless in finding a solution to this ongoing problem. One day, he was brilliantly inspired with the right and perfect solution. Knowing that behaviors can change if there is a compelling reason to do so, he called all of the monks together.

He said, "I am so pleased to share this wonderfully exciting news with you today. I have learned that one among you is a divinely chosen and blessed being who is one of God's specially selected ministers. We are so fortunate to have this person among us. I know that each of you shares this excitement with me." With no further word, he turned and left the monks alone.

The monks sat for a moment and looked around at each other. The puzzlement and then the wondr in their eyes were evident as they looked to each other for some sign of the "blessed one." There was outer silence, but each monk experienced similar inner dialog. "I wonder who it is? Who among us seems most likely to be God's special being? I wonder if I have insulted the blessed one?..." On and on went the inner dialog.

The bickering among the monks seem to cease almost immediately as they did their best not to insult or antagonize the one who was held in special esteem by God. Since there was no indication of who the special monk was, all of the monks treated each other with respect, courtesy, and great fondness.

Weeks went by. The excitement and curiosity abated and the monks settled down into their usual routine. However, the habit of bickering had been replaced with the habit of respect, courtesy, and a willingness to explore solutions to their problems. There was peace in the monastery.

This wonderful story reflects what actually takes place every day in the workplace. What if we treated our co-workers as though they are "divinely special beings" with our motive not being one of fear, but simply wanting peace in the workplace more than we want anything else?

When we begin to look at others with compassionate eyes, speak words of kindness, and think of others with a desire to understand them, we will begin to change. And, interestingly enough so will they. What goes around, comes around.

Just for this moment, this day, this week, look for the goodness in others, as you look for and celebrate the goodness in myself.

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The touchstone

Habits. They die hard. And therefore its even more important to be watchful of things that we keep doing without giving them much thought... this story explains further:

When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers. The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed.

It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the "Touchstone"!

The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold. So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles.

He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.

The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. And off he threw it into the sea, before the next second shook him telling what disaster he had done just now!

He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

Well, so it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it's easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it's just as easy to throw it away

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Source of the problem

A man feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem. The Doctor told him there is a simple informal test the husband could perform to give the doctor a better idea about her hearing loss.

"Here's what you do," said the doctor, "stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response."

That evening, the wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the den. He says to himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what happens."

Then in a normal tone he asks, 'Honey, what's for dinner?"

No response.

So the husband moves to closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeats, "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Still no response.

Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asks, Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again he gets no response so, He walks up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again there is no response.

So he walks right up behind her. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

"James, for the FIFTH time I've said, CHICKEN!"

Moral of the story: The problem may not be with the other one as we always think, it could be very much within us!

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Struggle of butterfly

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.

One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.

Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go no further.

So the man decided to help the butterfly.

He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened!

In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, and perhaps many of us, in our kindness or haste, do not understand is that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieves freedom from the cocoon.

Things take their own time, hurrying never helps. And when struggle challenges you, don't panic. Just remember God's wish behind the struggle of butterfly.

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The exceptional cow

Once upon a time, a village witnessed one of the severest droughts ever. The crop failed and the villagers did not get anything in return from the landlord. Most of the villagers fled to the cities.

One of the villagers was particularly in a very bad state. His wife was suffering from malaria and in the absence of food or money he was desperate. He was desperate about ways to get some money to take his wife and his children to the town to get some work.

He then saw his cow wandering nearby munching the dried up patches of grass and bushes. He suddenly had a thought to sell his cow. "Surely someone would like to buy her", he thought.

The next day, early morning he started for the market. There, he stood under a tree and explained his plight to anyone who came and requested them to buy his cow. Nobody seemed to be the least interested. With sweat drenched dirty clothes and in the poor state of health he was in, he was looking a picture of the misery. As evening was approaching, he was losing all hope he had started with.

Out of nowhere, a merchant passed him. He looked at the peasant and with a sudden drive of compassion decided to help him sell the cow.

He asked a few questions and then, in a loud voice full of enthusiasm, he announced to the passers by, "Ladies and gentlemen, never let go an opportunity like this. This cow here, gives 2 bucketfuls of milk everyday, morning and evening. Do not be mistaken by her health. It is just because she has recently given birth to a young calf. This animal is of such an exceptional breed that last year she had won a prize during the agricultural exhibition of the neighboring village. My friend here, has come to an urgent situation and is willing to part with her for a price that seems to me ridiculous for such a prize animal. Who amongst you realize that an opportunity like this does not come everyday?"

Meanwhile, a small crowd gathered around them all willing to buy the animal. They all wanted to know the price. The merchant asked the peasant, "Well my friend, what is the price you expect? We have several buyers here".

The peasant stood up and with head held high, declared with pride and arrogance, "This animal is mine. She is too good to be sold. I shall keep her!"

Sometimes it is necessary to have the outside view to appreciate the value of what we have inside.

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Idol & Stepping Stone

In a temple, when the priest had gone for lunch, the idol of the Lord and the stepping stone started conversing.

Stepping Stone: "What a good fate you have. We both were the same lump of rock for millions of years. The sculptor carved an idol out of you and every one is worshipping you. And look at me, I am a stepping stone and every one stands on me and stamps on. What kind of life is this?"

The Idol kept smiling and never bothered to answer this, now, routine murmur from the stepping stone. But the stepping stone will never stop his constant bickering.

The Idol finally replied: “But do you remember that when the sculptor set out to carve an idol, it was you he chose, first. You were so impatient. In one strike, you broke in to two . But when he tried on me, I grinned and bore all the hammers and chisel strikes with patience . Here I am the worshipful and happy idol and you are the Stepping Stone."

The difference between success and failure is patience and persistence.

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The caterpillar story

The noted French naturalist, J. Henri Fabre, studied the processionary caterpillars in great detail. What makes this caterpillar special is its instinct to follow in lock step the caterpillar in front of it. this behavior not only gives the caterpillar its name but a deadly characteristic also.

Fabre demonstrated this unusual behavior with a simple experiment. He took a flowerpot and placed a number of caterpillars in a single rile around the circumference of the pot's rim. each caterpillar's head touched the caterpillar in front of it. Fabre then placed the caterpillars' favorite food, pine needles, in the middle of the circle. each caterpillar followed the one ahead thinking that it was heading for food. Round and round went those silly insects - for seven days! After a week of this mindless activity, the caterpillars dropped dead one by one because of exhaustion and starvation.

Think for a while - all that the caterpillars had to do to avoid death was to stop the senseless circling of the flower pot and head directly toward the food which was less than six inches away. However, the caterpillars were locked into a lifestyle and couldn't disentangle themselves from their mindless behavior.

Think for a while - Do we also follow methods and procedures for no other reason than 'it has always been done that way'? How often do we confuse activity with accomplishment? Do we have the ability to change our direction to get out of ruts which cause us to dysfunction at work?

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Chains of failure

As I was passing by the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not!

I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

"Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow 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."

I 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!

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? Right now, just take a moment to reflect upon your chains in life--I wish you all strength & luck in breaking them apart!

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The woodcutter

Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job with a timber merchant, and he got it. His salary was really good and so were the working conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to fell the trees. The first day, the woodcutter brought down 15 trees.

‘Congratulations,’ the boss said. ‘Carry on with your work!’

Highly motivated by the words of his boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring 10 trees down. The third day he tried even harder, but he was only able to bring down 7 trees.

Day after day he was bringing lesser number of trees down.

‘I must be losing my strength’, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologised, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

‘When was the last time you sharpened your axe?’ the boss asked.

‘Sharpen? But I had no time to sharpen my axe--I have been very busy trying to cut trees’ the woodcutter uttered a puzzled response...!

Does that resonate with you? When was the last time you updated your skills? Most of us never update our skills. We think that whatever we have learned is very much enough. But good is not good when better is expected. Sharpening our skills from time to time is the key to success.

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The 3 masters

When one renowned wise guru was dying, one of his disciples asked him this question "Guruji, who was your master?" The guru replied calmly, "Well son, I am glad you asked. I had thousands of masters and it will take months if I tell you about all of them, but three masters I will certainly tell you about."

And the guru memorized his old days and started sharing..

"One was a thief. Once I got lost in the desert, and when I reached a village it was very late, everything was closed. But at last I found one man who was trying to make a hole in the wall of a house. I asked him where I could stay and he said 'At this time of night it will be difficult, but you can say with me--if you can stay with a thief'. I stayed for one month! And each night he would say to me, 'Now I am going to my work. You rest, you pray.' When he came back I would ask 'Could you get anything?' He would say, 'Not tonight. But tomorrow I will try again, God willing.' He was never in a state of hopelessness, he was always happy.

When I was meditating and meditating for years on end and nothing was happening, many times the moment came when I was so desperate, so hopeless,that I thought to stop all this nonsense. And suddenly I would remember the thief who would say every night, 'God willing, tomorrow it is going to happen.' And my second master was a dog. I was going to the river, thirsty and a dog came. He was also thirsty. He looked into the river, he saw another dog there--his own image--and became afraid. He would bark and run away, but his thirst was so much that he would come back. Finally, despite his fear, he just jumped into the water, and the image disappeared. And I knew that a message had come to me from God: one has to jump in spite of all fears.

And the third master was a small child. I entered a town and a child was carrying a lit candle. he was going to the mosque to put the candle there. In a mood to give the kid a hard time, I asked the boy, 'Have you lit the candle yourself?' He said, 'Yes' And I asked, 'There was a moment when the candle was unlit, then there was a moment when the candle was lit. Can you show me the source from which the light came?' But the boy laughed, blew out the candle, and asked me back, 'now you have seen the light going. Where has it gone? Will you tell me?' My ego was shattered, my whole knowledge was shattered. And that moment I felt my own stupidity. Since then I dropped all my complexes of superiority."

And then the guru faced his disciple. "Actually, son, it is true that I had no master. That does not mean that I was not a disciple--I accepted the whole existence as my master. My disciplehood was a greater involvement than yours is. I trusted the clouds, the trees. I trusted existence as such. I had no master because I had millions of masters I learned from every possible source."

The master is a swimming pool where you can learn how to swim. Once you have learned, all the oceans are yours.

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Monkeys in the cold shower

This is an amazing research finding that'll put before you the power of paradigms, and how they act as roadblocks in way of our success!

A group of scientists placed 5 monkeys in a cage and in the middle, a ladder with bananas on the top. Every time a monkey went up the ladder, the scientists soaked the rest of the monkeys with cold water.

After a while, every time a monkey went up the ladder, the others beat up the one on the ladder!

After some time, no monkey dare to go up the ladder regardless of the temptation.

Scientists then decided to substitute one of the monkeys. The 1st thing this new monkey did was to go up the ladder. Immediately the other monkeys beat him up.

After several beatings, the new member learned not to climb the ladder even though never knew why.

A 2nd monkey was substituted and the same occurred. The 1st monkey participated on the beating for the 2nd monkey. A 3rd monkey was changed and the same beating was repeated. The 4th was substituted and the beating was repeated and finally the 5th monkey was replaced.

Now what was left was a group of 5 monkeys that even though never received a cold shower, continued to beat up any monkey who attempted to climb the ladder!

If it was possible to ask the monkeys why they would beat up all those who attempted to go up the ladder, I bet you the answer would be:

“I don’t know–that’s how things are done around here!”

Does it sounds familiar?

Get out of your paradigms, whatever they are. Learn to question. Learn to tread your own path of success instead of merely joining the crowd of leg-pullers out there.

Only two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity. And I am not so sure about the former--Albert Einstein

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Ant and the grasshopper

This is one classic example of how things transform over time. Just read how this good old ant and grasshopper story gives a complete new moral due to the unfortunate times we face today. Although the story is set in Indian context but I am sure you will relate to it nonetheless..

Old version

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

Modern version

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.

Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.

Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.

The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it 'a triumph of justice'. Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General assembly.

Many years later... the ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India.

And as a result of loosing lot of hard working ants and feeding the grasshoppers... ours is still a developing country.

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Bhagavad Geeta

An old farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavad Geeta. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagawad Geeta just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagawad Geeta do?"

The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water."

The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house.

The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See Grandpa, it's useless!"

"So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out!

"Son, that's what happens when you read the Bhagavad Geeta. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out."

There are situations, on job or in our lives, where we may have to do things which we feel have no value. But at the end of the task, we are transformed in some way or the other.

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Don't paint the world green!

There was a millionaire who was bothered by severe eye pain. He consulted a galaxy of medical experts; he consumed heavy loads of drugs and underwent hundreds of injections. But the ache persisted with greater vigor than before.

At last a monk who has supposed to be an expert in treating such patients was called for by the millionaire. The monk understood his problem and said that for sometime he should concentrate only on green colors and not allow his eyes to fall on any other colors. The millionaire got together a group of painters and purchased barrels of green color and directed that every object his eye was likely to fall on was to be painted in green color just as the monk had directed.

When the monk came to visit him after a few days, the millionaire's servants ran to him with buckets of green paint and poured it on him since he was wearing red. They were eager to prevent their master from seeing any other color lest his eye ache came back.

Hearing this the monk laughed and said 'If only you had purchased a pair of green spectacles, worth just a few rupees, you could have saved these walls and trees and pots and all other articles and also could have saved a large share of his fortune. You cannot paint the world green.'

Let us change our vision and the world will appear accordingly. Instead of trying to shape the world, let us shape ourselves first!

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Marble statue

There was this museum laid with beautiful marble tiles, with a huge marble statue displayed in the middle of the lobby. Many people came from all over the world just to admire this statue. One night, the marble tiles started talking to the marble statue.

Marble Tiles: Hey statue, it's just not fair. Why does everybody from all over the world come all the way here just to step on me while admiring you?

Marble Statue: My dear friend, marble tile, do u still remember that we were actually from the same cave?

Marble Tiles: Yes! that's why I feel it is even more unfair. We were born from the same cave and yet we receive different treatment now. Not fair!

Marble Statue: Then, do you still remember the day when the designer tried to work on you but you resisted the tools?

Marble Tiles : Yes, I hate that guy, how could he use those tools on me?

Marble Statue : Well, he couldn't work on you, when he decided to give up on you and start working on me instead. I knew at once that I would be something different after his efforts. I bore all the painful tools he used on me!

Marble Statue continued: My friend, there is a price to everything in life, since you decided to give up half way, you can't blame anybody who steps on you now!

Moral of the story is that the harder the knocks you go through in life, the more you learn and put them to use in the future! Do not be discouraged by setbacks and failures. Don't resist change, embrace it. Who knows, these setbacks & failures and the fears that come with change may the tools for your success tomorrow.

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The kicking cow

Very wise farmer was passing by a neighbor's farm when he saw a group of farm hands standing around a cow. He was flagged down and asked what they could do about this uncooperative cow. They were unable to milk the cow because it was giving a kick the moment anybody approached it. They could not get near the cow.

He told the farm hands, "I will find a way to stopping this kicking."

He took a long stick and, sitting a short distance from the cow, gently touched the cow's leg with that stick; it gave a kick immediately. After a few seconds he again touched it; it gave another kick. He sat there for the whole day, doing only one thing, gently touching the leg of the cow with the stick.

How long would the cow continue to kick? To the surprise of all who were witnessing this phenomenon, this touching and kicking went on for a full twelve hours. The cow, finally got fed up, tired, and stopped kicking.

The wise farmer then told them to milk the cow; it never kicked again.

This parable can be applied to people who are resistant (and kick) whenever any kindness is shown toward them. But if kindness only is consistently offered, at some point the resistance gives way to receptivity. From then on, the milk of human kindness can be free flowing without fear of pain or rejection.

Why do some people often react negatively to the efforts of others? The reasons vary, but it usually involves pain inflicted at the hands of one who was expected to provide protection, relief, and safety. While it is not our role to investigate the cause and history of another person's pain, it is our responsibility to be diligent in our efforts to show kindness and understanding.

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Nails in the fence

Once upon a time there was a boy with a very difficult character. He just couldn't seem to control his anger and outburst.

One day his father gave him a bag full of nails and said "Son, I want you to drive one nail into the garden fence every time you lose your patience or have an argument with someone". He nodded to him in respect, though not grasping what his father actually meant from that.

The very first day, true to his nature, the boy drove 37 nails in the garden fence!

But in the following weeks, the boy learned to control himself and the number of nails driven into the fence started to lower in count. Gradually, the boy discovered that it is easier to learn to control himself than to hammer nails in the fence. At last the day came when the boy did not drive any nails into the garden fence. Tracing the lesson from words of his wise father, he went up to him and said "Father I made it finally! Today I did not need to hammer any nails. You've brought a change to my life with this lesson indeed!".

"No my son, the lesson ain't over yet", the calm words from this man of wisdom took him in surprise. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Now, I want you to take one nail out from the fence for every day you further succeed in controlling your temper and not losing your patience". He agreed in excitement this time, and though it did take time, it did not take as much as before. Once again, the boy was proud to disclose before his father that he has taken all nails out of the fence.

"Now, tell me father, what did you mean by this", he was curious to see the big picture this time.

"Sure boy, first lets walk over to have a look at the fence my dear", and then, pointing to the fence the father told him "My son, sure you have behaved well. But can you also see look how many holes you have left in the good old fence by now? And you know it will never be the same, will it? Well, similarly dear, when you have an argument with someone and abuse them, you leave them with wounds like these ones in the fence. You can stab a man and then take the knife out, but you will always leave a wound. It does not matter how many times you say sorry, the scars will stay. A wound caused by words hurts just as bad as a physical wound." The father concluded with these words, as the boy stood there--speechless.

Those who love you are rare jewels, they make you smile and support you. They are ready to listen to you whenever you need it, they support you and they open their heart to you. Never fail to show them how much you love them.

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