Look in The Mirror

One day all the employees arrived at the office and saw a big sign on the door which said: “Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in a room that has been prepared in the gym.” In the beginning, everyone felt sad about the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while, they started getting curious to know who that person was who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company as well.

The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room. The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up. Everyone thought: “Who is this person who was hindering my progress? Well, at least they died!” One by one the employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside, they suddenly became speechless. They stood nearby the coffin, shocked and in silence as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could only see themselves.

There was also a sign next to the mirror that said: “There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth: it is YOU.” You are the only person who can change your life. You are the only person who can influence your happiness, your growth, and your success. You are the only person who can help yourself. Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change when your partner changes when your company changes. Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life. “The most important relationship you can have is the one you have with yourself.”

Moral: The world is like a mirror: it gives back to anyone the reflection of the thoughts in which one has strongly believed. The world and your reality are like mirrors lying in a coffin, which show to any individual the death of their divine capability to imagine and create happiness and success. It’s the way you face life that makes the difference.

The Boy With Seashells

A 6 yr old boy was in the market with his 4 yr old sister. Suddenly the boy realized that his sister was lagging behind. He stopped and looked back. His sister was standing in front of a toy shop and was watching something with great interest.

The boy went back to her and asked, “Do you want something?” The sister pointed at the doll. The boy held her hand and like a responsible elder brother, gave that doll to her. The sister was very very happy. The shopkeeper was watching everything and getting amused to see how nice the boy was to his sister. The boy came to the counter and asked the shopkeeper, “How much does this doll cost, Sir?”

The shopkeeper was a kind man and had experienced difficult times in his life. So he asked the boy with a lot of love & affection, “Well, What can you pay?” The boy took out all 6 shells in his pocket that he had collected from the seashore. He gave them to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper took the shells and started counting as if he were counting money. Then he looked at the boy. The boy asked him worriedly, “Is it enough?”

The shopkeeper said, “No, No… These are more than the cost. He kept only 4 shells with him and returned the remaining 2. The boy was very happy and put those shells back in his pocket and went away with his sister. The shopkeeper’s assistant was very surprised watching all this. He asked the shopkeeper, “Sir! You gave away such a costly doll just for 4 shells ???” The shopkeeper said with a smile, “Well, for us these are mere shells. But for that boy, these shells are very precious. And at this age, he does not understand what money is, but when he grows up, he definitely will. And then he would remember that he purchased a doll with shells instead of money and he will remember me and think the world is full of good people. It will help him develop a positive attitude and he too in turn will feel motivated to do good.”

Moral of the Story: Whatever emotion you put out into the world, it will spread. If you do good, goodness will spread. If you do bad, negativity will spread. Realize you are a very powerful source of energy. Your good or bad will come back to you magnified, maybe not in ways you want it, and probably not in the ways you can understand it. But it will come back.

Find Your Own Vision

Once there was a Zen master who had a dog. The dog loved to play in the evening with his master. Each night, they would play a game.  Master would throw a stick and the dog would run to fetch it but would run back with a ball.  He would drop it at the master’s feet and sit there wiggling his tail waiting for next game.

There were many students who used to learn from master but one student used to question many contradictions in the Buddhist doctrine. So one particular evening, when master was out with his dog to play, he invited this students to join him.  The Master said, “You must understand that words which are used to teach you are just guideposts. So, never let words or symbols get in the way of truth.”  “Let me show you..”, master continued.

With this the master called his dog then pointed his finger toward moon and said, “Fetch me the moon..”  “Tell me, where is my dog looking?” Master asked his student.   “He is looking at your finger” the student answered.  Master looked all the students in eye and said, “Exactly..!! Don’t be like my dog. Don’t confuse the pointing finger with the thing that it is being pointed at. You need to understand that all Buddhist words are only guideposts and every person must fight their way through other people’s words to find their own truth.”

Moral:  It’s a teacher’s  job not to set his vision on his students, but to have goals of the vision and let everyone find their own vision.

Teamwork

A man is driving along a dirt road when suddenly veers off the road and gets stuck in a mud pool.  He looks around for help and finally finds an old farmer. He goes up to the farmer and asked for help getting his car out of the mud.  The farmer looks at the situation, and agrees to help him, and says, “let’s let Warwick help us.”  He looks over into the field and sees that Warwick was an old bull.  With no other options, the man agrees. 

The farmer ties the bull to the car and starts shouting loudly,’ FRED, PULL!.. JACK, PULL!.. JOHN, PULL... WARWICK, PULL’. As the farmer keeps shouting these words, the bull Warwick gets the car out of the pool of mud. The man is relieved but has doubt in his mind. He thanks the farmer and asks him,’ you said the bull’s name was Warwick, and he was alone.   Then who were these Fred, Jack & John?’ The farmer coolly answered, "See, Warwick is old and is also blind. He does not know he is pulling this car alone. The moment he hears the other names, he thinks he is in a team, and he gives his best".

MORAL: So is the case with all of us. The very thought that there are people to help us, blesses us with a great deal of comfort, hope, and confidence. It encourages us to put our heart and soul into any task that we undertake. The greatest civilizations have always been built on the foundations of a greater level of cooperation from their citizens, and the smartest animals we know — apes, elephants, wolves, dolphins, and crows — tend to live together in cooperative groups and work together for survival.

As H.E.Luccock said, “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it.” It's not without reason that the very word TEAM is said to stand for "Together Everyone Achieves More".

The Cockroach Theory

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and landed on a lady.  She started screaming out of fear.
With a panic-stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.
Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky.  The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but ...it landed on a man in the group. He began yelling. get this disgusting creature off me!  The waitress came over to see what the yelling was all about. At that moment the man flicked the cockroach off his shoulder, and it landed on the waitress.  The just stood there and looked at it, composed herself, and observed the cockroach. When she was confident enough, she grabbed it with her fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching with amusement, I began to wonder…was the cockroach responsible for their hysterical behavior?
If so, then why was the waitress not disturbed?  She handled it to near perfection, without any chaos or drama.
I began to see that It was not the cockroach, but the inability of those people to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach.

It made me realize that it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my partner or children that disturbs me, but it's my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting. It was about me, not them. It's not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam. More than the problem, it's my reaction to the problem that creates chaos and suffering in my life.

I'm Too Busy!

Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job at a timber company.  The manager asked how many trees he could cut.  The woodcutter said, “ I can usually cut down about 20/day.” The manager decided to hire him.  The woodcutter was very happy. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an ax and showed him the area where he was supposed to work.  On the first day, the woodcutter brought in 21 trees.  “Congratulations,” the boss said. “Keep going”

Very motivated by his boss's words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring in 19 trees. On the third day, he tried even harder, but he could only bring in 14 trees.  Day after day he was bringing in less and less.“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

“When was the last time you sharpened your ax?” the manager asked.

“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my ax. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…

MORAL:  Talk about not being able to see the forest through the trees!  This seems to be the mantra of our culture today.  How many times have you repeated that phrase?  I’m too busy!  Take care of yourself first, then others. Take the time to sharpen your ax so you can be successful.

Making Assumptions

A policeman was heading home after a long, hard day on patrol. He had dealt with a whole succession of difficult people, and a mountain of frustrating paperwork. All he wanted at this point was to kick back, unwind, enjoy some peace and quiet, and maybe watch a few innings of baseball on TV.

But, as he neared home, he was startled by a vehicle that came careening around a sharp curve and narrowly missed his squad car. As the car passed within a few inches of him, the other driver shouted “Pig!”

The police officer was suddenly energized. He slammed on brakes, all set to turn his squad car around and head off in hot pursuit. But as he rounded the curve, … he ran head-on into a large pig that was standing in the middle of the road!

Moral: It’s a lesson we learn early in life if we’re lucky: don’t assume! No matter how confident we are in our understanding of the issue. No matter how certain of another’s reasoning or motives. No matter how obvious the point may be to us. Effective communication is far more complicated and difficult than we think. With barriers like cultural differences, personal “filters,” different definitions, etc., it’s amazing that any of us ever understand one another. But these aren’t the most difficult obstacles. The biggest reason we aren’t able to hear what another is saying to us is simply… “fear!”

Oh, we may camouflage it behind anger, self-importance or any number of other false fronts, but at the root is fear. Fear of being “found out,” or of being disappointed, or of not getting what we want. It’s a powerful if crippling motivator. And most of us can summon up plenty of reasons why we shouldn’t take another at face value. Honest communication requires trust, and taking a risk. And we’ve been burned too many times. So we settle for safety, make the natural assumption, and run head-on into our own version of that pig as we journey down life’s highway!

There is a better way. A way that recognizes our similarities. That sees others as a source of community and healing. That looks past our own frustration and previous disappointments to explore the possibility that even a “stranger” may have something positive to say. The risks are higher for this way of living, but so are the rewards.

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?”