Prayer and Faith

“Is there anything more important than prayer?” asked the disciple to his master.

The master asked the disciple to go to a nearby bush and cut off a branch. The disciple obeyed. “Is the bush still alive?” asked the master.

“Just as alive as before,” answered the disciple.

“Now go and cut the roots,” said the master.

“If I do that, the bush will die,” said the disciple.

“Prayers are the branches of a tree, whose roots are called faith,” said the master. “There can be faith without prayer. But there can be no prayer without faith.”

-From Maktub by Paulo Coelho

The Oak and the Reeds

A giant oak stood near a brook in which grew some slender reeds. When the wind blew, the great oak stood proudly upright with its hundred arms uplifted to the sky. But the reeds bowed low in the wind.

The oak said proudly, "The slightest breeze that ruffles the surface of the water makes you bow your heads, while I, the mighty oak, stand upright and firm before the howling tempest."

As the oak was speaking, a great hurricane rushed out of the north. The oak stood proudly and fought against the storm, while the yielding reeds bowed low. The wind redoubled in fury, and all at once the great tree fell, torn up by the roots, and lay among the pitying reeds. The bowing reeds were unbroken and were unharmed by the wind.

Moral: Better to surrender when it is folly to resist than to resist stubbornly and be destroyed.

-Aesop's Fable

Preaching

The master and his disciples were travelling. On the road, they were unable to eat properly. The master asked some of them to go and seek food. The disciples returned at the end of the day. Each brought with him the little he had been able to gain through the charity of others; fruit that was already going bad, stale bread and bitter wine. One of the disciples, however, brought with him a bag of ripe apples. 

“I would do anything to help my master and my brothers,” he said, sharing the apples with the others.

“Where did you get these?” asked the master. 

“I had to steal them,” the disciple answered. “People were giving me only spoiled food, even though they knew that we were preaching the word of God.” 

“Get away with your apples, and never come back,” said the master. “Anyone who would rob for me would rob from me.”

-From "Maktub" by Paulo Coelho

The Widow and Her Little Maidens

A widow had two maidens to work for her. The widow always woke the maidens early in the morning as soon as the rooster in the house crew. Being angry with the rooster, the maidens killed the rooster. Then, things got worse. Being unable to tell the time, the widow started waking them at midnights.

-Based on Aesop's fable

Thinking

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win, but you think you can't,
It is almost a cinch- you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost;
For out in this world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are;
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win the prize.

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can!

-Walter D. Wintle

The Mice in Council

Once all the mice gathered for a council to discuss ideas on escaping from the attacks of a cat. All the mice debated, discussed and many ideas came but they could not come to a consensus. At last a young mouse came up with an idea.

"If we fasten a bell around the cat's neck, the ringing of the bell will alert us. We will be saved from sudden attacks", said the young mouse.

"Brilliant idea!", everybody cheered. They all were happy on this clever idea and they all agreed upon the idea.

Then, an old mouse in the council stood up and said, "The idea is brilliant. But may I ask, who is the one to fasten the bell on the cat's neck?"

-Based on Aesop's fable

The Boy and The Devil

A boy was walking to buy bread when the mayor of the city crossed the street.

‘The reason he is so powerful is that he’s made a pact with the devil,’ a very devout woman in the street told the boy, and he was intrigued.

Sometime later, when travelling to another town, the boy saw a beautiful corn field. He asked who the owner was.

‘All this land belongs to one man. I’d say the Devil had a hand in that,’ answered one of the villagers.

Later the same day, a beautiful woman walked past the boy. A priest also saw her and said aloud, ‘That woman is in the service of Satan!’

From then on, the boy decided to seek the Devil out. One day he managed to see him face to face.

‘They say you can make people powerful, rich, and beautiful,’ said the boy.

‘To be totally honest, this is not true’ replied the Devil. ‘You have just been listening to the views of those who are trying to promote me.’

-By Paulo Coelho

The Man and His Two Sweethearts

A middle-aged man, whose hair had begun to turn gray, courted two women at the same time. One of them was young, and the other well advanced in years. The elder woman, ashamed to be courted by a man younger than herself, made a point, whenever her admirer visited her, to pull out some portion of his black hair. The younger, on the contrary, not wishing to become the wife of an old man, was equally zealous in removing every gray hair she could find. Thus a time came when he had no hair at all on his head. 

Moral: Those who seek to please everybody please nobody.

A Tip

Back in the '30s, in the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 years old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.

"How much is an ice cream sundae?" the little boy asked.

"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and started to count the coins he had. "Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.

By now, more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing very impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied.

The little boy counted his coins again. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry. As she wiped down the table, there placed neatly beside the empty dish were two nickels and five pennies. He couldn't have the sundae because he had to have enough money to leave her a tip.

The Goatherd and the Wild Goats

One cold stormy day a goatherd drove his goats for shelter into a cave, where a number of wild goats had also found their way. The goatherd wanted to make the wild goats a part of his flock; so he fed them well. But to his own flock, he gave only just enough food to keep them alive. When the weather cleared, and the goatherd led the goats out to feed, the wild goats scampered off to the hills.

“Is that the thanks I get for feeding you and treating you so well?” complained the goatherd.

“Do not expect us to join your flock,” replied one of the wild goats. “We know how you will treat us later if some new strangers should come as we did.”

-Based on Aesop' fable

The Power of Investment

One day, a man got lost walking in the desert. The next day, he was still lost. After two days under the scorching sun, he was very thirsty. All of a sudden, he saw a little wooden shed. He ran to it, thinking of only one thing - Water! When he arrived there, he saw an old, rusty water pump sticking from the ground. He gripped the handle and began pumping like a mad man. But nothing came out. Disappointed, he stepped back and thought about how to make it work. Looking around, he saw a jug covered with dust. When he grabbed it, he saw a piece of paper stuck on it. The message read, “Open this jug and you’ll find water. Don’t drink it. Pour it instead on the pump and you’ll have all the water you want.”

He popped the cork.

True enough, the jug was filled with water - lovely, thirst-quenching water.

The thirsty man had not drunk water for two whole days. His mouth was so dry; his tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth. He was literally dying of thirst. And he was now holding a jug full of water. But the message said that he should throw it away!

For a moment, his heart was torn. 

What if the message was a joke? A cruel prank? What if he poured the water on that rusty pump and nothing happened?

But the man chose to take the risk.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and poured the water. He held the handle and pumped like crazy. A few seconds later, torrents of water gushed out. Indeed, he had more water than he could ever need!

He drank to his heart content. He also found water containers to take with him in his journey and filled them up to the brim. But before leaving the place, he filled the jug with water and underneath the sign attached to it, he scribbled, “I tried it. Believe me, it works." 

The Oxen and The Butchers

Once all the oxen gathered and decided to attack the butchers, for they were the ones who slaughtered the oxen. The oxen sharpened their horns to attack the butchers. At that time, a wise old ox said, "It's not a good idea to hurt the butchers. True that the butchers slaughter us, but they do it skillfully. Even if we kill all the butchers, men will not stop killing us for beef. In that case untrained killers will kill us, which will be much more painful."

-Based on Aesop's fable

The Prayer That The God Hears

A Spanish missionary was visiting an island when he came across three Aztec priests.

“How do you pray?”, asked the priest.

“We have only one prayer", answered one of the Aztecs, “We say: God, You are three, we are three. Have mercy on us.”

“Beautiful prayer,” said the missionary. “But it is not exactly the prayer that God hears. I shall teach you a much better one.”

The priest taught them a Catholic prayer and went on his way to spread the Gospel among others. Years later, on the ship taking him back to Spain, he stopped at that island once more. From the deck, he saw the three holy men on the beach and waved farewell to them. At that moment the three began to walk on the water towards him.

“Father! Father!” shouted one of them, approaching the ship. “Teach us again the prayer that God hears, because we can’t remember it!”

“It doesn’t matter,” said the missionary, seeing the miracle. And he asked God to forgive him for not understanding before that He understood all the prayers.

-By Paulo Coelho

The Sick Stag

Once a stag got sick. He could barely move. Out of compassion, all of his friends came to see him. Each one of them ate some food in the stag's house. In few days, the stag starved to death.

-Based on Aesop's Fable

Just One More Night

At the age of twelve, Milton Erickson was a victim of polio. Ten months after he contracted the disease, he heard a doctor tell his parents, “your son won’t live through the night.”

Erickson heard his mother crying. 

“Maybe she won’t suffer so much if I get through tonight,” he thought to himself. And he decided not to sleep till dawn.

In the morning he shouted out, “Hey mother! I’m still alive!”

There was so much joy in the house that from then on he resolved to resist always one more night in order to postpone his parents’ suffering.

He died at the age of 75, leaving behind a series of important books on the enormous capacity that man has to overcome his own limitations.

-By Paulo Coelho

The Ass and The Mule

Once a merchant was going to the market to sell his goods. He packed all his goods and tied them onto the back of an ass and a mule. The load of the ass was much heavier than that of the mule. While walking along the path, the ass felt really tired. Then, it said to the mule, "My friend, the load in my back is very heavy. I don't think I can move any longer. Can you please take some of my loads for a while? I will carry the load again when I feel a little better." 

The mule rejected his request. 

The ass could bear no more and it died after walking for a while. Then the merchant put all the ass's load onto the mule's back. The mule had to carry all the load up to the market.

Moral: Helping others is helping oneself.

- Based on Aesop's fable

The Tree of Immortality

The famous Persian poet, Rumi, tells us that one day, in a village in the north of what is now Iran, appeared a man who told marvellous stories about a tree whose fruit made whoever ate of it immortal.

The news soon reached the ears of the king. But before he could ask the exact location of such a prodigy of nature, the traveller had already disappeared.

Nonetheless, the king was determined to become immortal, for he wanted to have enough time to turn his kingdom into an example for all the people of the world. When he was a young man he had dreamed of making poverty disappear, teaching justice, feeding every single one of his subjects, but soon realized that this was the work of more than one generation. Now, life had given him a chance and he was not going to let it slip through his fingers. He called the bravest man in his court and entrusted him to find the tree.

The man left the following day carrying enough money, food and all that was necessary to attain his objective of obtaining the information. He travelled through many towns, over plains and mountains, asking questions and offering rewards. The honest people told him that such a tree did not exist; the cynics treated him with ironic respect, and some crooks sent him off to remote places just to get some coins for their information.

After many disappointments, the man decided to give up his search. Although he admired his sovereign immensely, he would return empty-handed. He realized that this meant he would lose his honour, but he was tired and convinced that such a tree did not exist.

On his way back, he remembered that a wise man lived on a little hill, and thought: “I have lost all hope of ever finding what I wanted, but at least I can ask for his blessing and beg him to pray for my destiny.”

On reaching the wise man’s house, he could bear it no more and burst into tears.

"Why are you in such despair, my son?" asked the holy man.

"The king charged me to find a tree that was unique; one whose fruit makes us live forever. I have always fulfilled my duty with loyalty and courage, but this time I am returning home empty-handed."

The wise man began to laugh.

"What you are looking for exists, and it is made of the water of Life that comes from God’s infinite ocean. Your mistake was trying to find a form with a name. Sometimes this is called “tree,” other times “sun,” or “cloud”. Actually, anything that exists, is that "tree". However, to find this fruit, one must renounce form and seek content. Anything that has the presence of the Creation is in itself eternal. Nothing can be destroyed. When our heart stops beating, our essence transforms into nature around us. We can become trees, raindrops, plants, or even another human being. Why dwell on the word “tree” and forget that we are immortal? We are always reborn in our children, in the love that we show to the world, in each and every gesture of generosity and charity that we practice. Go back and tell the king that he need not worry about finding a fruit from some magic tree. Each attitude and decision that he makes now will endure for many generations. So ask him to be fair and just to his people, and if he does his work with dedication, no-one will ever forget him. His example will influence the history of his people and stimulate his children and grandchildren to act in the best possible way." 

And he added, “All those who look for just a name will always be stuck to appearance without ever discovering the hidden mystery of things and the miracle of life. But when we forget the name and look for the reality hiding behind the words, we will have all that we desire and peace of mind too.”

The Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

A wolf could not get enough to eat because of the watchfulness of the shepherds. One night, the wolf found sheep's skin that had been cast aside and forgotten. The wolf wore the sheep's skin and went to mingle with the herd of sheep. While grazing, it took a little lamb aside and ate it.

On that very evening, the shepherd wanted to have mutton broth for the dinner. Among the sheep in the flock, the shepherd happened to kill the wolf.

Morals:

- Looks can be deceptive.

- Evildoers often come to harm themselves by their own deceit.

-Based on Aesop's fable  

Realization

Once Buddha was asked, "What did you learn after being enlightened?"

Buddha replied, "I learnt nothing new. I just came to realize about something that has always been with me."