The Boy And The Nuts

Once a small boy was given permission to take as many nuts as he wanted to from a pitcher. The boy grabbed as many nuts as he could and tried to take his hand out of the pitcher. But he was not able to draw his hand out. After trying for some time, he began to cry. His mother, who was watching all this, came near to him and said, "Let go some of the nuts and you'll be able to take out your hand. If you need more nuts you can put your hands inside the pitcher as many times as you like." 

Morals: 

- Greed - wanting everything at once can lead to problems.

- You must let go when you need to.

-Based on Aesop's fable 

Who Wants To Go To Heaven?

A priest, who saw the devil in the pleasures of life, went to the town tavern and asked everyone there to attend the church that evening. Everyone obeyed. With the church filled to the last pew, the priest roared out, "Stop all this drinking! All those who want to go to heaven, raise their right hand!"

The entire congregation raised their hand, everyone but Manoel, who was held by all to be a dignified man who fulfilled all his duties. Surprised, the priest asked: "And you, Manoel, don’t you want to go to heaven when you die?"

"Of course I do. But I still haven’t experienced the life that God has given me, and you want to take it away from me right away".

By Paulo Coelho

The Ass and The Lapdog

Once a farmer had a lapdog and he also had many asses on his farm. The lapdog would get to sit on the master's lap. The master always brought the dog something to eat from the market. Wagging its tail, the dog would jump onto the master's lap and lick on his face. The dog always seemed playful and happy. One of the asses envied the dog. The ass had to work hard on the field with the same food every day. The master never noticed the ass. Feeling jealous and not loved, the ass decided to attract the master's attention. One day, when the mastered returned from the market and had just sat down on a chair, the ass entered into the master's room. The ass jumped, lied on the floor, again jumped, wagging its tail, it jumped onto the table. The table broke into pieces. Then it leapt and put its two front legs onto the master's lap, which hurt him and the chair was also broken into pieces leaving the master on the floor. Hearing all the noise and the master's scream, the servants ran into the room. The ass was about to lick on the master's face, the servants whipped the ass from behind. The ass was tied up and it was whipped severely and repeatedly while being taken back to the stable.

Moral: Never imitate others.

Based on Aesop's Fable

Silence

When Nikita Khrushchev visited America, he gave a press conference at the Washington Press Club. The first question from the floor, handled through an interpreter, was: “Today you talked about the hideous rule of your predecessor, Stalin. You were one of his closest aides and colleagues during those years. What were you doing all that time?” 

Khruschev’s face got red. “Who asked that?” he roared. 

All 500 faces turned down. 

“Who asked that?” he insisted. 

Silence. 

“That’s what I was doing,” he said.

Source: On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis

The Angel's Visit

The Verba Seniorum, a collection of texts on the monks who lived in the desert at the beginning of the Christian era, tells the story of a hermit who managed to spend a whole year eating only once a week. After so much effort, he asked God to show him the true meaning of a certain passage in the Bible.

He heard no answer.

“What a waste of time,” said the monk to himself. “I made all that sacrifice and God does not even answer me! Better get out of here and look for some other monk who knows the meaning of this text.”

At that moment an angel appeared before him.

“The twelve months of fasting only served for you to believe you were better than the others, and God has no ears for the vain. But when you were humble, you thought of asking your neighbour for help, and God sent me.” And the angel told the monk what he wanted to know.

Source: Paulo Coelho's blog

Coffee

A group of people in university alumni got together at a professor's house. Their conversation started from the memories of their old days and slowly entered into the dissatisfactions about life. They started talking about their job pressures and stress. While they were talking, the professor went into the kitchen, made coffee and brought the coffee in a large pot. Then he brought cups. The cups were of different kinds, made of porcelain, plastic, crystal, ceramics, metal etc. Some were very ordinary looking cups and some were very artistic. Everyone took a cup and had their coffee. Everyone was thinking about each others' cup. 

The professor then started to speak, "You all are thinking about the cups. In fact what you really wanted was coffee. The cup does not change the taste of the coffee in any way. Nevertheless, your attention is more in cups and less in coffee. Life is like a coffee. Education, job, wealth, position, prestige are merely cups. Your focus should be on coffee rather than on cups."  

Helping The Devil

-By Paulo Coelho

"We are often instruments of evil when we try to do good", said Al-Fahid to his friend. "I always try to stay alert, but today I was used by the devil."

"How come? You are known to be so wise!"

"This morning I went to the mosque to pray. Obeying the tradition, I took off my shoes before entering; when I was about to leave, I saw that they had been stolen: so I created a thief."

"But it’s not your fault", said the friend.

"It is my fault. It is so easy to arouse the bad side in our neighbour. It is so easy to annoy someone, spread discord, raise suspicion, separate brothers. The devil needs men to carry out his acts, and that is why I am to blame."

Musical Organ

In a very ancient family, there was a musical organ, but people had completely forgotten how to play it. Generations passed by and people even forgot that it was a musical organ. Dust began to cover it.

It was a very big organ and it was taking up much space. One day the family decided to throw this nonsense.

They said, ‘This is just a nuisance. Why should we keep it?’ They took it out; they threw it on the road.

They had just reached home when a beggar started playing upon the organ.

Time stopped. They simply turned. The whole traffic stopped, people came rushing from their houses; they forgot everything. For one hour the beggar was playing on it.

It was so beautiful, so enchanting — they were just hypnotised. And when the music ended the family demanded their organ back.

The beggar said, ‘It is not yours, because you've thrown it, now it doesn't belong to you!’

Indeed, life is one of the oldest musical organs given by the God, but people have forgotten what it really is and how to play it.

Before God

By Paulo Coelho

An old man sold toys in the Baghdad market. Knowing that his sight was not quite perfect, his customers sometimes paid him with fake money.

The old man discovered the ruse but did not say anything. In his prayers, he asked God to forgive those who cheated him. “Perhaps they’re short of money and want to buy presents for their children,” he said to himself.

Time passed and the old man died. Standing before the gates of Heaven, he prayed once more, "Lord!", he said. "I am a sinner. I did many wrong things, I am no better than the false coins I was paid. Forgive me!"

At that moment the gates swung open and a Voice was heard, "Forgive what? How can I judge someone who all through his life never once passed judgment on others?"

The Golden Leaves

Once a Zen master was teaching the art of gardening to the king of Japan. After years of teaching, he said, “Now I am leaving. I will come any day and see your garden. That will be the examination of what you have learnt so far.” And he added, “Whatever you have learnt, go on practising in your palace garden.”

For three years, the king had used nearly one thousand gardeners to implement everything in the minutest detail. The garden was cleaned, everything was put exactly right, as it should be, no error, no mistake…

One day, the master came. The king was very happy because whatever the master had said, had been absolutely fulfilled; it was impossible to find any fault. But the master looked at the garden and became very serious, which was not natural to the master. He was a man of laughter. He became sad.

As they moved into the garden he became more and more serious and the king started feeling a little trembling inside. Was he going to fail? What had gone wrong? The silence of the master was too heavy. Finally, the king asked, “What is the matter? I have never seen you so serious. I was thinking you would be immensely happy that your disciple had worked hard.”

The master said, “Everything is right but where are the golden leaves? I don’t see any dead leaves, yellow leaves fluttering in the wind. The garden looks dead without that. There is no song, no dance. The garden looks very artificial."

The king had removed all the dead leaves, not only from the ground but even from the plants and trees. He had never thought of it, that death is also part of life, that it is not its opposite but its complementary, that without it there would be no life. And certainly, the master was right. Yes, the garden was beautiful, but it looked as if it were a merely a painting, not alive.

Words

Malba Tahan illustrates the dangers of words: A woman said so often that her neighbour was a thief that the young man was finally arrested. Some days later, they discovered that he was innocent and set him free. Then he sued the woman.

"Comments are not so serious", she said to the judge.

"Granted", answered the magistrate. "When you go back home today, write down everything bad you said about the young man, then tear up the paper and throw the bits away as you walk along. Come back tomorrow to hear the sentence."

The woman obeyed and returned the following day.

"You are pardoned if you give me the bits of paper you spread on the street yesterday. Otherwise, you will be condemned to a year in prison", declared the magistrate.

"But that’s impossible! The wind has blown them all away!"

"In the very same way, a simple comment can be spread by the wind and destroy a man’s honour, and afterwards, it is impossible to repair the harm that has been done."

And he sent the woman off to jail.

(Source: Paulo Coelho's blog)

The True Self

Once a pregnant lion died soon after giving birth. The newborn cub started to roam around and it saw a herd of sheep. The mother sheep decided to raise the cub.

With time, that little cub grew up along with sheep and started to think and act just like a sheep. It would even eat grass like sheep.

The lion was teased by other sheep for being so different. Some of them would say, “You are so ugly. Your voice is so weird. You are a disgrace to sheep family.”

The lion felt sad that he didn’t look like them. The lion was tired of getting along with sheep herd. But it felt guilty that he had let down the sheep community by being so different.

One day, an older lion saw the herd of sheep and decided to attack it. While attacking, it saw the young lion running away along with the other sheep.

The older lion got curious and decided to pursue the younger lion. Soon it was able to pounce on the young lion and then asked, “Why are you running away with the sheep?”

The younger lion who had never seen lion, shaking in fear it said, “Please don’t eat me. I am just a young sheep, please let me go..!!”

Hearing this, the older lion growled, “What? You are not a sheep. You are a lion just like me.”

The young lion just kept on saying, “I am a sheep. please let me go.”

At that point, the older lion got an idea. It dragged the younger lion to a river nearby and asked it to look at its reflection. Upon looking at the reflection and then the older lion, the young lion realized who he really was.

The young lion felt so thrilled that it gave a mighty roar.

It is always easy to lose one's true identity and potential amidst the culture and the belief in which one is brought up.

Advice

Once there was a little boy who was obsessed with eating sweets. His mother got worried because of his excessive sweet eating habit and tried many ways to stop him from eating. However, nothing seemed to work.

Near the village lived a wise man who was respected by everyone. She decided to take her son to that wise man, in hope that her son may listen to him.

The mother went to the wise man with her son. She met him and said, “My son, eats sweets excessively. Will you please tell him that it’s bad for his health?”

After listening to her, the wise man thought for a while and asked the mother to return to him after a month. She left.

After a month, she returned and this time the wise man took the boy for a walk and after a while returned. He looked at the boy and said, “Boy, You should stop eating sugar because it’s not good for health..”

The boy nodded and promised that he will no eat sugar anymore.

Few days later, the mother returned to the wise man and said, “Thank you for your help. The boy has kept his promise and hasn’t eaten sugar since then.”

She then asked the holy man, “Why didn’t you tell my son to stop eating sugar right then when I first came to meet you? Why did you ask me to return after a month?”

The Wise man smiled and replied, “At that time, I used to eat sugar myself and I didn’t have the right to tell your kid to stop eating sugar. But I stopped taking sugar myself. Then after I was able to tell your kid to stop eating sugar."

The Unwanted Apprentice

‘We have no doors in our monastery,’ Shanti said to the visitor, who had come in search of knowledge.

‘And what about troublesome people who come to disturb your peace?’

‘We ignore them, and they go away,’ said Shanti.

‘I am a learned man who has come in search of knowledge,’ insisted the foreigner. ‘But what do you do about stupid people? Do you just ignore them as well until they go away? Does that work?’

Shanti did not reply. The visitor repeated his question a few times, but seeing that he got no response, he decided to go and find a teacher who was more focused on what he was doing.

‘You see how well it works?’ said Shanti to himself, smiling.

Trees

By Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see 

A poem lovely as a tree. 

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest 

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; 

A tree that looks at God all day, 

And lifts her leafy arms to pray; 

A tree that may in Summer wear 

A nest of robins in her hair; 

Upon whose bosom snow has lain; 

Who intimately lives with rain. 

Poems are made by fools like me, 

But only God can make a tree.

The Box

The old man had worked all his life. When he retired, he bought a farm for his son to manage and decided to spend the rest of his days sitting on the veranda of the big house.

 His son worked for three years. Then he began to grow resentful.

 ‘My father doesn’t do a thing,’ he said to his friends. ‘He spends all his time staring out at the garden, while I slave away in order to feed him.’

One day, he resolved to put an end to this unfair situation. He built a large wooden box, went over to the verandah and said: ‘Pa, would you mind getting into this box?’

His father obeyed. His son placed the box in the back of his truck and drove to the edge of a precipice. Just as he was preparing to push the box over, his heard his father say: ‘Son, throw me over the edge if you must, but be sure to keep the box. You’re setting an example here, and your children will doubtless need the box for you.’

डोको 

"मेरो बुबाको हेरचाह गर्दागर्दै दिक्कै लागिसक्यो। दिनभरी केहि नगरी बसिराख्छ।  आफू  भने मरी मरी काम गरी कमाएर ख्वाउनुपर्ने।", आफ्नो बुढो बुबालाई हेरचाह गर्नुपरेको गुनासो सुनाउदैथियो साथीहरुलाई। 

एक दिन डोकोमा राखेर आफ्नो बुबालाई फ्याकेर आउने बिचार गर्यो छोराले। उसले आफ्नो छोरालाई डोको लिएर आउनकालागि अह्रायो।  डोको आईपुगेपछि उसले भन्यो,"बुबा, डोकोमा बस्नुस्।  हामी घुम्न जाने।"

डोकोमा राखेर आफ्नो बाबुलाई जंगलमा लग्यो।  साथमा उसको छोरा पनि थियो। जंगलको एउटा भिरमा पुगेपछि, भीरको छेउमा, डोको बिसायो र तेहींबाट बाबुलाई खसाल्ने बिचार गर्यो।  अनुभवी बुढोले आफ्नो छोराको नियत बुझेर भन्यो,"छोरा, खसाउने भए यो भीरबाट मलाई मात्र खसा र डोको फिर्ता लग्। तेरो छोराले आज जुन कुरा सिक्यो, त्यसकोलागि यो डोको पछि उसलाई काम लाग्नेछ।" 

The World

A father was trying to read the newspaper, but his little son kept pestering him.

Finally, the father grew tired of this and, tearing a page from the newspaper – one that bore a map of the world – he cut it into several pieces and handed them to his son.

‘I’ve given you a map of the world and I want to see if you can put it back together correctly.’

He resumed his reading, thinking that the task would keep the child occupied for the rest of the day.

However, a quarter of an hour later, the boy returned with the map.

‘Has your mother been teaching you geography?’ asked his father in astonishment.

‘I don’t even know what that is,’ replied the boy. ‘But there was a photo of a man on the other side of the page, so I put the man back together and found I’d put the world back together too.’

Moral : If the man is right, the world is right.

विश्व 

एकजना पीता पत्रिका पढ्न खोज्दैथियो।  तर सानो छोराले पढ्न दिईरहेकोथिएन।  अन्तमा पिताले विश्व नक्शा भएको एउटा ठुलो कागजलाई टुक्रा टुक्रा गरी छोरालाई दिंदै भन्यो,"यो टुक्राहरू जोडेर फेरी विश्वको नक्शा बनाऊ  ल।"

अब यो मिलाउन दिनभरी लाग्छ भनि सोच्दै पीता फेरी पत्रिका पढ्न तर्फ फर्के। तर छोरा करिब पौने एक घण्टा जति मा नै विश्व नक्शा सहित फर्किए। 

"तिम्रो आमाले तिमीलाई भूगोल पढ़ाउदैछ  कि क्या हो?", पिताले सोधे। 

"खै मलाई त भूगोल भनेको पनि थाहा छैन। तपाइले दिनुभएको कागजको पछाडितिर एउटा मान्छेको मुहारको तस्बिर थियो।  मैले त्यो मान्छेको मुहार मिलाएँ र उता फर्काउदा विश्व नक्शा आफै मिल्न आयो।"

पाठ : मान्छे ठिक भयो भने विश्व ठिक हुने रहेछ।  

Be the Best of Whatever You are

-By Douglas Malloch

If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill,

Be a scrub in the valley — but be

The best little scrub by the side of the rill;

Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,

And some highway happier make;

If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass —

But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,

There's something for all of us here,

There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do,

And the task you must do is the near.

If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,

If you can't be the sun be a star;

It isn't by size that you win or you fail —

Be the best of whatever you are! 

The Perfect Woman

- By Paulo Coelho

Nasrudin was talking to a friend, who asked him,‘Have you never considered getting married, Mullah?’

‘I have,’ replied Nasrudin. ‘In my youth, I resolved to find the perfect woman. I crossed the desert and reached Damascus, and I met a lovely, very spiritual woman, but she knew nothing of the world. I continued my journey and went to Isfahan; there I met a woman who knew both the spiritual and the material world, but she was not pretty. Then I decided to go to Cairo, where I dined in the house of a beautiful woman, who was both religious and a connoisseur of material reality.’

‘Why didn’t you marry her then?’

‘Alas, my friend, she was looking for the perfect man.’

सर्वगुण सम्पन्न 

- पाउलो कोएलो  

नसिरुद्दिनका एक मित्रले सोध्यो,"बिहे गर्ने बारेमा कहिल्यै सोचेका छैनौ, नसिरुद्दिन?"

"सोचेको छु", नासिरुद्दिनले  जवाफ दियो,"म जवान हुँदा म सर्वगुण सम्पन्न महिलाको खोजीमा थिएँ। मरुभूमि पार गरी दमस्कसमा पुग्दा एक प्यारी आध्यात्मिक प्रकृतिकी केटीसंग भेट भयो।  तर उसलाई संसारको बारेमा केहि थाहा थिएन। यात्राको क्रममा इस्फाहन पुग्दा ज्यादै धार्मिक प्रकृतिकी सांसारिक ज्ञान पनि प्रचुर मात्रामा भएकी एक महिलासंग भेट भयो, तर उनी सुन्दरी थिईनन्। त्यसपछि म काइरोमा गएँ।  त्यहाँ एक ज्यादै नै सुन्दरी महिलासंग भेट भयो जो धार्मिक पनि थीई र सांसारिक ज्ञान भएकी पनि।"

"अनि उसंग किन बिहे नगरेको त?"

"अफ्शोज, ती महिला पनि सर्वगुण सम्पन्न पुरुषको खोजीमा थीईन्।"  

The Animal School

Once upon a time the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a “new world” so they organized a school. They had adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming, and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming. In fact, better than his instructor. But he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school so nobody worried about that, except the duck.

The rabbit started at the top of the class in running but had a nervous breakdown because of so much makeup work in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the treetop down. He also developed a “charlie horse” from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and D in running.

The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class, he beat all the others to the top of the tree but insisted on using his own way to get there.

At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceeding well and also run, climb, and fly a little had the highest average and was valedictorian.

The prairie dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They apprenticed their children to a badger and later joined the groundhogs and gophers to start a successful private school.

Does this fable have a moral?

Note: This story was written when George Reavis was the Assistant Superintendent of the Cincinnati Public Schools back in the 1940s! This content is in the public domain and free to copy, duplicate, and distribute.

Quit

 

One day, I decided to quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality… I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with the God.

“God”, I asked,“Can you give me one good reason not to quit?”

His answer surprised me…

“Look around”, He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo?”

“Yes”, I replied.

“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo”, He said, “In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit. Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant…But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.”

He asked me, “Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots. I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you. Don’t compare yourself to others. The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful.” 

बाँस 

एकदिन मलाई आफ्नो काम, सम्बन्धहरु, आध्यात्मिकता, ……. , र जीवन नै त्याग्न मनलाग्यो। 

अन्तिम पटक भगवानसँग दुई शब्द बोल्नकालागि म जंगलमा गएँ। 

"भगवान", मैले सोधें,"म थाकिसकेको छु । म अझै बांचिरहनुपर्ने एउटा मात्र कारण दिनसक्नुहुन्छ?"

"हेर," भगवानले भन्नुभयो,"यहाँ घाँस र बाँस दुवै छन्।  मैले यी दुवै संगै रोपेको थिएँ।  घाँस चाहि रोप्ने बित्तिकै उम्रिहाल्यो र जंगल को भुइँ सबै हरियो बनाइदियो। तर एक बर्ष बित्दा पनि बाँसको चुलिसम्म पनि भुइँबाट निस्किएन। तैपनि मैले घाम-पानी लगाई नै रहें, हार मानिनँ। दोस्रो बर्ष पनि केहि भएन।  तेस्रो बर्ष बित्यो तर केहि निस्किएन। तर मैले दिनुपर्ने सम्पूर्ण घाम-पानी दिई नै रहें। चौथौं बर्षमा पनि केहि निस्किएन। पाँचौं बर्षमा बाँसको सानो चुली निस्कियो। घाँससंग तुलना गर्दा त्यो सारै सानो र नगन्य थियो।  तर त्यसको छ महिना मै त्यो बाँस १०० फीट लामो भयो। यत्रो बर्ष त्यो बाँसले जरा तयार गर्दैथियो।  तिमीले पनि जुन दुखहरु पाइरहेकाछौ र संघर्ष गर्दैथियौ, त्यो सबै जरा बनाइरहेका थियौ। त्यसैले तिमीले हिम्मत हार्नु हुदैन। घाँस र बाँस दुबैको बढ्ने आ-आफ्नै समय हुन्छ र तिनीहरु दुबैको आ-आफ्नै विशेषता हुन्छ। यी दुबैले जंगललाई सुन्दर नै बनाउछ। "   

   

Reverse the Statement

She said to him,"If I had brain like yours, I'd be a better person."

He replied,"Be a better person, and you'll have brain like mine!"

Lets see some of the statements we come across which we should reverse.

- If I had money, I'd do good business.

-If I had favourable environment, I'd achieve more.

-If I had time, I'd meditate.

भए…. 

उसलाई उनीले भनिन्,"मसंग तपाईको जस्तो बुद्धि भएको भए म अझ बढी राम्रो व्यक्ति हुन्थें।"

उसले भन्यो,"तिमी अझ राम्रो व्यक्ति बन्यो भने मेरो जस्तो बुद्धि हुनेछ!"

हाम्रा जीवनका यी जस्ता वाक्यहरुलाई पनि हामी उल्टाएर बिचार गर्न सक्छौं कि?

- मसंग पैसा भैदिए, म राम्रो ब्यापार गर्थें। 

-वातावरण अनुकूल भैदिएको भए, म अझ बढी उपलब्धि हासिल गर्न सक्थें। 

- मसंग अलि बढी समय भैदिएको भए, म ध्यान गर्ने थिएँ। 

David and Goliath

Goliath was a giant man who struck fear in everyone's heart. David, a young shepherd, when visiting his brothers asked,"Why don't you all stand up against Goliath and fight him?"

"Don't you see he is too big to hit?", came the reply.

"No, he is not too big to hit", said David,"he is too big to miss."

Then, David fought with Goliath and killed the giant with sling shot.

People who see positive things in unfavourable situations are bound to be successful.

डेविड र गोलिएथ 

गोलिएथ नौ फीट उचाई भएको अजंगको राक्षेसी प्रवृत्तिका व्यक्ति थिए जसले सबैको मनमा डर भरेका थिए।  सत्र बर्षका गोठालो डेविड आफ्ना दाजुहरुलाई भेटेर सोध्यो,"किन सबैजना मिलेर त्यो गोलिएथसंग नलडेको?"

जवाफ आयो,"तिमी देख्दैनौ, ऊ यति ठूलो छ उसलाई हान्नै सकिन्न।"

"ऊ धेरै ठूलो छ", डेविडले भन्यो,"त्येसैले त जहाँ हाने पनि लाग्छ ! "

त्यसपछि डेविड र गोलिएथ बीच द्वन्द भयो जसमा डेविडले गोलिएथलाई गुलेलीले मात्र हानेर मार्यो।

नकारात्मक परिस्थिति भित्र सकारात्मकता देख्न सक्ने व्यक्तिको पछाडी सफलता आउनै पर्ने हुन्छ।    

Loved by Others

Someone asked Abu Yazid al-Bitrami,"Teach me the quickest way to reach God."

Al-Bitrami replied,"Love Him with all your strength."

"That I already do."

"Then you need to be loved by the others."

"But why?"

"Because God looks at the hearts of all men. When He visits yours, He will surely see the love you have for Him and He will be happy. However, if He also finds your name engraved with affection in the hearts of others, He will certainly pay far more attention to you."

In the name of loving God, people often forget to love the people around them, which is equally important.

सबैबाट प्रेम 

अबु अलि यजिद अल् -बित्रामीलाई कसैले सोध्यो,"भगवानसम्म पुग्ने सबैभन्दा छोटो तरिका के होला?"

बित्रामीले जवाफ दियो,"भगवानलाई समग्रताले प्रेम गर।"

"त्यो म अहिले नै गरिरहेकोछु।"

"त्यसो भए अब तिमीलाई अरुले प्रेम गर्न जरुरी छ।"

"तर किन?"

"किनभने भगवानले सबैको हृदयमा हेर्छ।  तिम्रो मनमा हेर्दा भगवान प्रतिको तिम्रो प्रेम देखेर भगवान प्रसन्न त हुन्छन् त्यसमाथि जब अरुको हृदयमा जब तिम्रो नाम प्रेमपूर्वक कुँदिएको देख्नेछ, तब भगवानको ध्यान तिमीमा अझ बढ्नेछ।" 

भगवानलाई प्रेम गर्ने नाममा धेरैले आफ्ना नजिकका मान्छेहरुसंग प्रेम गर्न बिर्सेको पनि हामी धेरै देख्न सक्छौं जुन भगवानको नजरमा पनि सहि नहोला।  

Diamond

Hafiz was a satisfied farmer living with his family in Africa. One day, his friend visited him and explained the value of diamond. The friend said,"Even if you have a little bit of diamond, you'll be able to buy this whole village."

That night, Hafiz could not sleep. He kept on thinking only if he could find diamond.... 

Hafiz sold his house and everything and went with his family in search of diamond. He travelled all over the world. He started to get tired and frustrated and died on the journey.

Back home, one day, when the buyer of the property was fetching water from the stream in the property, he saw some twinkling stones. He picked it up and sent for the test. To his amazement, the twinkling stones were diamonds! The property was full of diamond!

Human beings also die in search of things which they already have inside them. Diamonds are always hidden inside, but Hafiz went to search outside and could not find. 

हिरा 

हाफिज आफ्नो परिवारका साथ कृषकका रुपमा संतुस्ट जीवन बाचिरहेका थिए।  एकदिन उसको एकजना साथीले उसलाई हिराको मूल्य र महत्व बारेमा बयान गरेछ।  साथीले भन्यो,"तिमीले एक टुक्रा मात्र हिरा पायो भने पनि यो सबै गाउँ नै किन्न सक्छौ।"

त्यस रात हाफिज सुत्न सकेन।  रातभरी सोचिरह्यो एक टुक्रा हिरा भेट्टायो भने त…। 

हाफिजले आफ्नो घर सम्पति बेची आफ्नो परिवारसंग हिरा खोज्नलाई निस्क्यो।  सारा संसार घुम्यो।  समय, जवानी, स्वास्थ्य र पैसा सबै सकियो।  निरास भै खोजी कै क्रममा हाफिजको ईह लीला समाप्त भयो। 

उता हाफिजको घरमा, उसको घर किन्ने नया मालिक एकदिन, इनारमा पानी लिन लाग्दा केहि टल्केको पत्थर देख्यो। त्यो पत्थर जाँच्न पठाउदा, हिरा पो रहेछ ! त्यो जग्गा त हिराले भरिएको रहेछ।  

हाफिजले आफ्नै पैताला मुनि रहेको हिरा खोज्न सारा संसार डुल्यो तर निराशा बाहेक केहि पाएन। भित्र लुकेर बस्ने हिरालाई बाहिर खोजेर कहा पाइन्छ र ? मानव जीवनमा पनि यहि लागू हुन्छ।  भित्रि यात्रा नगरी बाहिरी यात्रा मात्र गरी  कहिले पनि तृप्ति हुन सकिन्न।   

The Balloon

Once a little girl was walking amongst the crowd in a fair, holding her father's hand. The fair was crowded with the visitors and vendors. There was a seller who was  selling balloons of different colours. He filled some balloons with helium gas and in some gas just air. He was selling "flying balloons" and "not flying balloons".

The girl asked his father to buy a balloon. When near the vendor, the girl asked, "Does the red balloon also fly?"

The vendor smiled and replied,"It's not the colour of the balloon that makes it go up. It's what is inside it."

For people also, success does not depend upon the external outlook or the external environment but it depends upon what is inside the man. Mental attitude makes all the difference.

बेलून 

एकजना बच्चा आफ्नो बाबुको हात समातेर मेलामा घुमिरहेकी थिईन्।  मेलामा एकजना व्यक्तिले रंगीचंगी बेलूनहरु बेचिरहेको थियो। कुनै बेलूनमा ग्याँस भरिदिन्थ्यो र बेलून आकाशमा उड्थ्यो भने कुनैमा हावा मात्र हुन्थ्यो र उड्दैनथ्यो।

ती बच्चाले आफ्नो बाबुलाई बेलून  किनिदिनाकालागी भनिन्। बेलून किन्नकालागि बेलून बेच्ने मान्छेको नजिक पुगेपछि बच्चाले सोधिन् ,"रातो रंगको बेलूनहरु पनि माथि उड्छ ?"

प्रश्न सुनेर मुसुक्क हास्दै ती बिक्रेताले भन्यो,"बेलूनको रंगको कारणले माथि उड्ने वा नउड्ने हुदैन, त्यस भित्र के भरिएको छ त्यसमा निर्भर हुन्छ …"

 मानिसको सफलता पनि उसको बाहिरी आवरण र वाताबरणभन्दा उसको भित्री मानसिकतामा भरपर्छ।

     

Right Sense

A renowned philosopher asked an Enlightened Master,"I've read so many holy scriptures and literature. I've written volumes of books. For many years I've been contemplating about God. Yet, I have not come any closer to knowing God. Why is that?"

The Enlightened Master asked,"Can you see colour through your ears?"

"No", came the reply.

"Can you hear music through your eyes?"

"No", came the reply again.

"Can you smell through your eyes?"

"No".

The Enlightened Master smiled and said,"That's what you are trying to do! You're trying to hear music through your eyes. If you are not using your right sense, you won't know anything. You are using the wrong senses to know God."


सही इन्द्रिय

एक प्रसिद्ध दार्शनिकले बुद्धत्व प्राप्त गुरुसँग प्रश्न गर्यो,"मैले धेरै धार्मिक ग्रन्थ र साहित्यको अध्ययन गरेकोछु।  साथै केहि पुस्तकहरु समेत लेखेकोछु। बर्षौ देखि भगवानको खोजीमा छु। तर पनि मैले भगवान साक्षात्कार गर्न पाएको छैन। किन होला ?"

गुरुले प्रति प्रश्न गर्यो,"के तिमी आँखाबाट संगीत सुन्न सक्छौ ?"

"सक्दिन", दार्शनिकले जवाफ दियो। 

"के तिमी कानबाट रंग देख्न सक्छौ ?"

"अहँ" ।

"के तिमी आँखाबाट बासना पत्ता लगाउन सक्छौ ?"

"सक्दिन" ।

मुस्कुराउदै गुरुले भन्यो,"त्यहि त गर्न खोज्दैछौ तिमी। संगीतलाई आँखाले सुन्न खोज्दैछौ। सही इन्द्रिय  प्रयोग नभएसम्म केही पनि कुरा बुझ्न सकिंदैन। भगवान बुझ्नलाई तिमी गलत इन्द्रियहरुको प्रयोग गरिरहेकाछौ।"

The Light of the World

The image in the left is an allegorical  painting entitled "The Light of The World" painted by the famous artist, William Holman Hunt (1827–1910). In the picture, Christ is seen standing in a garden holding a lantern in one hand and with the other hand knocking on a door. The door in the picture does not have any handle. It is not a mistake made by the artist. For that, the door represents the human heart and it can only be opened from the inside.

विश्वको प्रकाश 

बायाँतर्फ़ दिईएको चित्र प्रख्यात चित्रकार विलियम होलमन हन्टद्वारा कोरिएको "विश्वको प्रकाश" शिर्षकको प्रतीकात्मक चित्र हो।  चित्रमा एउटा हातमा लाल्टिन बोकी अर्को हातले ढोका ढकढकाईरहेको क्राइस्टको चित्र देखिन्छ। चित्रको ढोकामा ह्यान्डल छैन।  यो चित्रकारले भूलबस बिर्सिएको होइन।  यसमा ढोकाले मानव हृदयको प्रतिनिधित्व, जसलाई भित्रबाट मात्र खोल्न सकिन्छ।   

Criticism

An old man, his young son and a donkey were returning from a town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along, they passed some old men who remarked,"Time has really changed! Look at that shameless young lad who rides on a donkey and makes his old father walk." Hearing this, the boy rode off and let his father ride on the donkey.

Then, later, they passed a group of middle aged women who remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk while he enjoys the ride on the donkey." So they then decided they'd both walk!

Soon they passed a group of young boys who laughed at the father and son,"Why are you both walking when you have a decent donkey to ride?" So, they both rode the donkey. Now they passed a group of old ladies who shamed them by saying,"What a merciless people.... Two heartless people riding on a poor little donkey on this scorching heat...."  

The boy and man figured they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and it fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story? Criticism is the way of the world. There is no escape from criticism. Whatever we do, criticism will follow. No matter how hard we try, we won't be able to please everyone. If we try to please everyone, we will lose our "donkey", and that won't please the people either.

Ultimate freedom is to be able to live the life we want to and let people live the life they want to.

आलोचना 

एकजना बूढो मान्छे उसको भरखरको छोरा र उसको गधासंग बजारबाट घर फर्किंदै थियो।  छोरा गधा चढेको थियो र बूढो हिड्दै थियो। जादै गर्दा बाटोमा बूढाहरुको एक समूह भेट भयो।  उनीहरु एक आपसमा कुरा गर्न थाले,"साँचै कलियुग लागेछ।  बूढो  बाउलाई हिंडाएर आफू गधामा चढ्ने कस्तो गधा छोरा रैछ !" यो कुरा सुनी छोरा गधाबाट ओर्लियो अनि आफ्नो बाबुलाई चढायो।  

अलि पर पुगेपछि केहि अधबैसे आइमाईहरुको एक समुहसंग भेट भयो। ती महिलाहरु कुरा काट्न थाले,"कस्तो लाज नभाको बूढो …।  बिचरा कलिलो बच्चालाई हिंडाएर आफू  चाहिं कसरी  आरामले चढ्न सकेको होला…?" यो सुनी बाबु छोरा दुबैजना हिड्ने विचार गरे।  

केहि पर पुगेपछि उनीहरुको भेट जवान केटाहरुको एक हूलसंग भयो। केटाहरु हास्दै गिज्याउन थाले,"कस्तो मुर्खहरु रैछन, गधालाई त्यसै हिडाएर आफूहरु पनि यस्तो गर्मीमा हिडिरहेको। … । के भन्ने… मुर्ख्याईको पनि हद हुन्छ नि !" यो सुनी बाबु छोरा दुबैजना गधा माथि चढ्ने बिचार गरे।  

दुबैजना गधामाथि चढेर अलि  पर पुग्न पाएको थिएन, बुढीहरुको एक समूहसंग भेट भयो। ती बुढीहरुमध्ये एकजना कराउन थाली,"कस्तो निर्दयी पापीहरु ….। यस्तो चर्को घाममा तेत्रो सानो गधा माथि दुई - दुई जना चढेर…। बिचारा गधा …. ।"

बाबु-छोराले ती बुढीको  कुरा बिचार गर्दा सही  नै लाग्यो।  त्यसपछि ती बाबु-छोरा दुबैजना ओर्लिई गधालाई बोकेर हिड्न थाले।  हिड्दै जाँदा खोला तर्नुपर्ने थियो।  पूल माथिबाट खोला तर्ने क्रममा गधालाई अप्ठ्यारो भएछ अनि चल्न थालेछ।  बाबु-छोराले समातिराख्न  सकेनन् र गधा खोलामा खसेर मर्यो।

कथाको पाठ ? आलोचना संसारको नियम हो।  आलोचनाबाट बच्ने कुनै उपाय  नै छैन।  हामीले जे गरेपनि आलोचनाले पछ्याई  नै हाल्छ।  हामीले जेसुकै गरे पनि सबैलाई खुशी पार्न सक्दैनौ। सबैलाई खुशी पार्न खोज्यौं भने हामीले पनि आफ्नो "गधा" समेत गुमाउनुपर्ने हुन्छ।  र त्यसले पनि मान्छेहरु खुशी हुनेछैनन्।     

Working Hard

A student of Buddhism went to his teacher and said earnestly, “I am devoted to studying your Buddhism. How long will it take me to master it.”

The teacher’s reply was casual, “Ten years.” Impatiently, the student answered, “But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will study and practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?”

The teacher thought for a moment, “20 years.”



कडा परिश्रम 

बौद्ध धर्मका एक बिध्यार्थीले आफ्नो गुरुलाई बिनम्रतापुर्वक सोध्यो,"म बुद्ध धर्मको हरेक ज्ञान हासिल गर्न चाहन्छु।  कति समय लाग्छ होला?"

गुरुले जवाफ दिए,"दस वर्ष"।

अधैर्य हुदै शिष्यले भने,"तर म त्योभन्दा छोटो समयमा ज्ञानी बन्न चाहन्छु। म प्रत्येक दिन मेहनतकासाथ पढ़नेछु, साधना गर्नेछु। आवश्यक परे  दिनको दश घण्टा वा त्योभन्दा बढी मेहनत गर्नेछु। त्यसो गरे कति समय लाग्ला?"

गुरुले एकछिन सोची जवाफ दिए,"बिस बर्ष"।

The Dog And The Shadow

Once a dog was walking back home with a piece of bone on its mouth. On the way, while it was crossing a river through a bridge, it saw its own reflection on the water. The dog mistakenly thought that its own reflection was another dog and wanting to get hold of the bone seen in the reflection, it jumped into the water. While jumping into the river, the dog not only did not get another bone but lost the bone that it had in its mouth by dropping into the river.

The dog in the above fable represents human being at large.The world is extended reflection of oneself. But the human desire is never satisfied. He wants to grab hold of unlimited number of things, forgetting that he already has enough possessions. Like the dog losing the bone, people at the end leave this world, empty handed, even losing the treasures they possessed right from the birth.