What Meditation Can Do

An old Farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa would get up early in the morning and begin his meditation. 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 meditate just like you but thoughts keep disturbing me, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I come out of meditation. What good does meditation 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, so go 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 so he sent the boy out to 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 the 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! It’s a waste of time.

“You think it’s a waste of time, 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 to a very clean one, inside and out.

“Grandson, that’s what happens when you meditate. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you meditate every day, thoughts start to diminish, like that dirty coal basket that slowly transformed to a clean coal basket, In the same way, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of meditation in our lives.

Moral: Never give up on your physical and spiritual practice. By practicing daily, all heaviness and unnecessary things tend to fall away, and you start feeling lighter. This is an indication that you are evolving. Slowly you will feel peace and calm within you. Instead of reacting, you start responding."

Growing Good Corn

A farmer who grew award-winning corn each year entered his corn in a state fair where it consistently won a blue ribbon. A newspaper reporter interviewed the farmer and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. He asked him, ”How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering the same competition as you each year?”

"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 neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

Moral:  The farmer is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.  So it is in other dimensions. Those who choose to be at peace must help their neighbors to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, and those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of one is bound to the welfare of all.

The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.

Will You Marry Me?

Centuries ago, in a small Italian town, there was a business owner who was in a great amount of debt.  His banker, who was an old, unattractive man, strongly desired the business owner’s beautiful younger daughter.

The banker decided to offer the businessman a deal to forgive the debt that he owed the bank. However, there was a bit of a catch.  In order for the businessman to become debt-free, he was to have his daughter marry the banker.  The businessman didn’t want to concede to this agreement, but he had no other choice, as his debt was so much.

The banker said he would put two small stones into a bag–one of which was white, and the other black.  The daughter would then need to reach into the bag and blindly choose a stone.  If she chose the black stone, the businessman’s debt would be cleared and the daughter would have to marry the banker.

However, if she chose the white stone, the debt would be cleared, and the daughter would not have to marry him.

While standing in the stone-filled path in the businessman’s yard, the banker reached down and chose two small stones, not realizing that the businessman’s daughter was watching him. She noticed that he picked up two black stones and put them in the bag.

When it came time for the daughter to pick a stone out of the bag, she felt she had three choices: Refuse to do it, take out both stones and expose the banker’s cheating or pick a stone, knowing it would be black, and sacrifice herself to get her father out of debt.

She picked a stone from the bag, and immediately ‘accidentally’ dropped it into a huge amount of stones where they were all standing.  She said to the banker, “I’m sorry, I’m so clumsy! Oh well. Just look in the bag to see what color stone is in there now so you will know what color stone I picked.”

Of course, the remaining stone was black. Because the banker didn’t want his deceit to be exposed, he played along, acting as if the stone that the businessman’s daughter dropped had to have been white.  He cleared the businessman’s debt and the daughter remained free from having to spend the rest of her life with the banker.

Moral:  While you may have to think outside of the box sometimes, it’s always possible to conquer a difficult situation.  You don’t have to always give in to the options you’re presented with.  Think creatively.  Don’t be afraid to question the things that are expected to be true. In order to overcome challenges, you have to think in ways that you’ve never thought of before.

The Pencil Story

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point, he asked: ‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’  His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:

Actually, I am writing about you, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’

The boy looked at the pencil and seemed puzzled. It didn’t seem very special. He said it looks like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’  His grandmother said, “That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to follow them, you will always be a person who is at peace with the world.’

‘First quality: You are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. This guiding hand can be your parents, teachers, friends, or faith. They come at different stages of your life to guide you along.’

‘Second quality: Now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterward, it’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person and help you grow.’

‘Third quality: The pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing, it helps to keep us on the road to righteousness.’

‘Fourth quality: What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the led inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you rather than what is happening around you.’

‘Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: It always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.’

The Black Dot

One day, a professor entered his classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They all waited anxiously at their desks for the exam to begin.

The professor handed out the exams with the text facing down, as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked the students to turn over the papers.

To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions–just a black dot in the center of the paper. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s faces, told them the following: “I want you to write about what you see there.” The students, confused, got started on the inexplicable task.

At the end of the class, the professor took all the exams and started reading each one of them out loud in front of all the students.

All of them, with no exception, defined the black dot, trying to explain its position in the center of the sheet. After all, had been read, the classroom was silent, the professor started to explain:

“I’m not going to grade you on this, I just wanted to give you something to think about. 

No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot – and the same thing happens in our lives. However, we insist on focusing only on the black dot – the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, and the disappointment with a friend. The dark spots are very small when compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that drag us down. Take your eyes away from the black dots in your lives and see how big the white area is around you.  Focus on that and you will see the big picture and enjoy each moment life gives you.

How To Be Successful

An eight-year-old boy went to his grandfather and proudly announced, “I am going to be very successful when I grow up. Can you give me any tips on how to get there?”

The grandfather nodded, and without saying a word, took the boy by the hand and walked him to a nearby plant nursery.

There, the two of them chose and purchased two small trees.  They returned home and planted one of them in the backyard.  The other was placed in a pot and kept indoors.

“Which one do you think will be the most successful in the future?” asked the grandfather.

The boy thought for a moment and said, “The indoor tree. It’s protected and safe while the outdoor one has to cope with the elements.”

The grandfather shrugged his shoulders and said, “We’ll see.”

The grandfather carefully tended to both plants and in a few years, the boy, now a teenager came to visit again.  “You never really answered my question from when I was a young boy. How can I become successful when I grow up?” he asked.

The old man showed the teenager the indoor tree and then took him outside to have a look at the towering tree outside.

“Which one is greater?” the grandfather asked.

“The outside one. But that doesn’t make sense, it has to cope with many more challenges than the inside one.”  

The grandfather smiled, “Yes, but the risk of dealing with challenges is worth it.  It has the freedom to spread its roots wider and its leaves towards the heavens. Boy, remember this and you be successful in whatever you do; If you choose the safe option all of your life you will never grow and be all that you can be, but if you are willing to face the world head-on with all of its dangers and challenges, the sky’s the limit.”

The young man looked up at the tall tree, took a deep breath, and nodded his head, knowing that his wise grandfather was right.

The Donkey and Tiger: Grass is Blue

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, king of the jungle.  Before reaching the clearing in the forest where the lion was sitting, 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 lion 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: “Yes, the grass is in fact 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..

Moral: 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.

The Builder

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project."

Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.

Aren’t You Going to Do Something?

Many years ago, there were two neighboring farmers, Fred and Luke, who lived on the edge of a beautiful old forest.

One morning they woke up to find that many of the trees in the forest had been chopped down.

Fred was outraged and immediately went to his neighbor to express his anger.

“Can you believe this has happened? he yelled, “Who could have done this?”

“I have no idea,” responded Luke calmly.

“Well, I’m going to let everyone know about this travesty, are you coming with me?” Fred asked.

“No thanks,” responded Luke.

“Aren’t you going to do something?” Fred asked.

“I will.” replied his neighbor.

Fred stormed off and went into the local village where he told everyone he met about what had happened.

“Can you believe it?” he asked bewildered townsfolk. “Dozens of trees just cut down and taken away overnight. It’s outrageous!”

Of course, the villagers nodded their heads and showed the appropriate amount of sympathy to the farmer.

“But do you know what the worst thing about this is?” Fred said, “Luke won’t do anything about it. If he was as angry as me, he would be here with me telling everyone as well.”

Fred got home and visited his neighbor again.

“Luke, I’m going to write a letter to the mayor to complain about the trees being chopped down. Are you going to help me?”

“No thanks,” Luke replied.

“Aren’t you going to do something?” Fred demanded.

“I will.”

Fred stormed off to write his letter to the mayor.

The next morning, Fred went back to his neighbor’s house, but there was no answer at the door. Fred looked around the property and eventually found Luke in the clearing where the trees had been felled.

“What are you doing? There are still people who haven’t heard about the trees being cut down.”

“I’m planting new trees,” replied Luke.

“Why?” asked a confused Fred.

“Because complaining won’t bring them back.”

Moral:  Sometimes, life doesn’t always go as planned.  Bad things happen to everyone, sometimes even genuine tragedies.  We’ve become very good as a society at complaining about the injustices that we see. When our expectations aren’t met, we are quick to dismiss someone, update our Facebook status, write an email, or even a blog.  But real change doesn’t happen via the complaints department, it happens through meaningful action.  It happens when we change the question, we ask ourselves when things go wrong from, “Who can I tell?” to “What am I going to do about it?”

The Little Boy with a Slingshot

Once upon a time Sammy and his sister Marie visited their grandparents at their farm. Sammy picked up a slingshot to play with out in the woods.  He practiced in the woods but he could never hit the target.  Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for the lunch.  As he was walking back he saw Grandma’s pet duck.

Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly which hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the pile of woods.  Marie had seen it all from the window but she said nothing. After lunch, the next day Grandma said, “Marie, let’s wash the dishes.”  Marie said, “But Grandma, Sammy told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.”

Then she whispered to Sammy, “Remember the duck?” Sammy got nervous knowing his sister knew about the duck and if he doesn’t obey, she might tell his grandparents about it.  So without saying anything, he did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing but Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Marie to help make supper.”  Marie just smiled and said, “Well that’s all right because Sammy told me he wanted to help.”

She whispered again to Sammy, “Remember the duck?”  So Marie went fishing and Sammy stayed to help.  After several days of Marie taking advantage of Sammy, he finally couldn’t stand it any longer.  He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.

Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, “Sweetheart, I know. I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing but because I love you, I forgave you.  I was just wondering how long you would let Marie take advantage of you.”

Moral: Always confess your mistakes. It will take away a load of guilt from your heart which will boost your conscience and no one will take advantage of your secret mistakes! Accept your mistake, apologize and seek forgiveness politely.

Be Mindful of Your Thoughts

Once upon a time, there was a brave traveler who was on a mission to travel to every corner of the world. On his journey, he saw everything there was to see and experienced more than most people could imagine. As our brave traveler came to the last place on earth he had not visited yet he remembered all the people who told him that he should give up because it was something that was never done before. But in all of his years traveling around the world, he formulated a mantra he kept repeating to himself: “With a positive mindset you will always find a way. Just be mindful of your thoughts and everything will be ok.”

As he was walking and contemplating where he would like to settle after his journey would end, he noticed a beautiful big tree with a lot of shade where he could rest. So he went to the tree, lied down, and took a nap. But when he woke up he was about to learn that this was no ordinary tree. This tree was special, it was a “wish-fulfilling” tree.

As our brave traveler opened his eyes and felt very hungry and wished he could have something to eat. Suddenly, a tasty dish appeared before him. He looked at the dish a bit surprised but decided to eat it anyway “food is food” thinking to himself.

After he ate the food, another thought came to his mind, “How nice it would be if I had something to drink now…” Right then, a fine bottle of wine appeared in front of him. Lying in the shade of the tree, calmly drinking the delicious wine, enjoying the pleasant cool breeze, the traveler began to wonder, “What’s going on? Where is all this coming from? Could it be that some ghosts are playing tricks on me? And behold, ghosts instantly appeared before his very eyes. They were hideous and cruel, just as he imagined they should be. “Oh my god, they will kill me,” he thought to himself. And as the tree read his thought it made it happen… they killed him. As the brave traveler was dying, he was in disbelief and wondered why has this happened to him. Suddenly the tree spoke to the young traveler, “Dear traveler, once you have stepped in my shade, I have heard every wish and thought you had. And as you saw I made each of them come true. If you cannot bear the consequences, I suggest you should be more mindful of your thoughts.”

Moral: By being mindful of your thoughts you can control your unconscious actions. If you are not careful about what you think and say to people, you may pay the consequences of your thoughts.

The Blind Man and the Elephant

Somewhere in India, several citizens got into a heated argument about God and different religions, and each one could not agree on a common answer. So they went to Buddha and asked, “ what exactly does God look like?”  The Buddha asked his disciples to get a large magnificent elephant and four blind men. He then brought the four blind men over to the elephant and told them to tell me what they think the elephant would “look” like.

The first blind man touched the elephant leg and reported that it “looked” like a pillar. The second blind man touched the elephant's stomach and said that the elephant was a wall. The third blind man touched the elephant’s ear and said that it was a piece of cloth. The fourth blind man held the elephant by the tail and described the elephant as a piece of rope. Then all the blind men got into a heated argument about the “appearance” of an elephant.

The Buddha asked the citizens: “Each blind man had touched the elephant but each of them gives a different description of the animal. Which answer is right?”

MORAL:  There may be some truth to what someone says. Sometimes we can see that truth and sometimes not… because they may have different perspective which we may not agree with. So, rather than arguing like the blind men, we should respect the other person’s point of view. Osho once said, if you say your truth, it’s really just YOUR truth.  Everyone has their truth based on how they see the world. But there is universal truth.  The one truth that you can feel is right, that you just know is true. Understanding this allows us to live in harmony with the people of different thinking.

What Is In My Cup? (by Thich Nat Hanh)

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere.

Why did you spill the coffee?

“Well because someone bumped into me, of course!”

Wrong answer.

You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup.

Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea.

Whatever is inside the cup, is what will spill out.

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It’s easy to fake it until you get rattled.

So we have to ask ourselves…” what’s in my cup?”

The Mousetrap

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. "What food might this contain?" the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head, and said "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The pig sympathized but said "I am so very sorry, Mr.Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!" The cow said "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose." So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house - like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many! people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

MORAL: The next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember: when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. Each of us is a vital thread in another person's tapestry.

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