When Tired

A student once asked his teacher, "Master, what is enlightenment?"

The master replied, "When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep."

(In other versions of this story, one disciple is bragging about his master to the disciple of another master. He claims that his teacher is capable of all sorts of magical acts, like writing in the air with a brush, and having the characters appear on a piece of paper hundreds of feet away. "And what can YOUR master do?" he asks the other disciple. "My master can also perform amazing feats," the other student replies. "When he's tired, he sleeps. When hungry, he eats"........... or simply, "When he sleeps, he sleeps. When he eats, he eats.")

Want God

A hermit was meditating by a river when a young man interrupted him. "Master, I wish to become your disciple," said the man. "Why?" replied the hermit. The young man thought for a moment. "Because I want to find God."

The master jumped up, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, dragged him into the river, and plunged his head under water. After holding him there for a minute, with him kicking and struggling to free himself, the master finally pulled him up out of the river. The young man coughed up water and gasped to get his breath. When he eventually quieted down, the master spoke. "Tell me, what did you want most of all when you were under water."

"Air!" answered the man.

"Very well," said the master. "Go home and come back to me when you want God as much as you just wanted air."

Essentials of Buddhism

Four Noble Truths

   1. Suffering exists

   2. Suffering arises from attachment to desires

   3. Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases

   4. Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path

Noble Eightfold Path

Three Qualities

Eightfold Path

Wisdom (panna) Right View   Right Thought

Morality (sila) Right Speech    Right Action     Right Livelihood

Meditation (samadhi) Right Effort    Right Mindfulness   Right Contemplation

Three Characteristics of Existence

   1. Transiency (anicca)

   2. Sorrow (dukkha)

   3. Selflessness (anatta)

Hindrances

   1. Sensuous lust

   2. Aversion and ill will

   3. Sloth and torpor

   4. Restlessness and worry

   5. Sceptical doubt

Factors of Enlightenment

   1. Mindfulness

   2. Investigation

   3. Energy

   4. Rapture

   5. Tranquillity

   6. Concentration

   7. Equanimity

Qualities that need to be perfected

Qualities that need to be perfected

The ten perfections (paramis) are

1. Generosity (dana)
2. Morality (sila)
3. Renunciation (nekkhamma)
4. Wisdom (panna)
5. Energy (viriya)
6. Patience (khanti)
7. Truthfulness (sacca)
8. Resolution (adhitthana)
9. Loving-Kindness (metta)
10. Equanimity (upekkha)

Philosophical Quotations

We are more often treacherous through weakness than through calculation.  ~Francois De La Rochefoucauld

A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure.  ~Lee Segall

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.  ~Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland

Believe those who are seeking the truth.  Doubt those who find it.  ~Andre Gide

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.  ~Aesop

Only that in you which is me can hear what I'm saying.  ~Baba Ram Dass

I am a part of all that I have met.  ~Alfred Lord Tennyson

There's more to the truth than just the facts.  ~Author Unknown

The obscure we see eventually.  The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.  ~Edward R. Murrow

Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day.  ~Polish Proverb

Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth.  ~Ludwig Börne

If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he lucky?  ~Stanislaw J. Lec

We are all but recent leaves on the same old tree of life and if this life has adapted itself to new functions and conditions, it uses the same old basic principles over and over again.  There is no real difference between the grass and the man who mows it.  ~Albert Szent-Györgyi

Sometimes it's necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly.  ~Edward Albee

When the student is ready, the master appears.  ~Buddhist Proverb

A gun gives you the body, not the bird.  ~Henry David Thoreau

Before enlightenment - chop wood, carry water.  After enlightenment - chop wood, carry water.  ~Zen Buddhist Proverb

Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.  ~Henry David Thoreau

Wars and elections are both too big and too small to matter in the long run.  The daily work - that goes on, it adds up.  ~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

I tell you everything that is really nothing, and nothing of what is everything, do not be fooled by what I am saying.  Please listen carefully and try to hear what I am not saying.  ~Charles C. Finn

Oh, Heaven, it is mysterious, it is awful to consider that we not only carry a future Ghost within us; but are, in very deed, Ghosts!  ~Thomas Carlyle

Knock on the sky and listen to the sound.  ~Zen Saying

The fish trap exists because of the fish.  Once you've gotten the fish you can forget the trap.  The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit.  Once you've gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare.  Words exist because of meaning.  Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.  Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him?  ~Chuang Tzu

By daily dying I have come to be.  ~Theodore Roethke

There are some remedies worse than the disease.  ~Publilius Syrus

You never know what is enough, until you know what is more than enough.  ~William Blake, Proverbs of Hell

It requires a great deal of faith for a man to be cured by his own placebos.  ~John L. McClenahan

What you see, yet can not see over, is as good as infinite.  ~Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, Book II, chapter 1

Philosophy is life's dry-nurse, who can take care of us - but not suckle us.  ~Soren Kierkegaard

One man's quiet is another man's din.  ~Carrie Latet

Men are probably nearer the central truth in their superstitions than in their science.  ~Henry David Thoreau

Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.  ~Henri Louis Bergson

If you think you're free, there's no escape possible.  ~Ram Dass

The fly that doesn't want to be swatted is most secure when it lights on the fly-swatter.  ~G.C. Lichtenberg

Don't miss the donut by looking through the hole.  ~Author Unknown

You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.  ~Navajo Proverb

Life has the name of life, but in reality it is death.  ~Heraclitus, Eustathius ad Iliad

To learn something new, take the path that you took yesterday.  ~John Burroughs

Whatever I take, I take too much or too little; I do not take the exact amount.  The exact amount is no use to me.  ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

How long has it been since someone touched part of you other than your body?  ~Laurel Hoodwrit

Alice came to a fork in the road.  "Which road do I take?" she asked.

"Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat.

"I don't know," Alice answered.

"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."

~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Each forward step we take we leave some phantom of ourselves behind.  ~John Lancaster Spalding

The map is not the territory.  ~Alfred Korzybski

No matter where you go or what you do, you live your entire life within the confines of your head.  ~Terry Josephson

Would there be this eternal seeking if the found existed?  ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

I was once a skeptic but was converted by the two missionaries on either side of my nose.  ~Robert Brault .

If you're going to tickle, use a feather not a whip.  ~Audrey Foris, C'est l'esprit du coq rouge (Red Rooster Musings, trans.)

He who has seen present things has seen all, both everything which has taken place from all eternity and everything which will be for time without end; for all things are of one kin and of one form.  ~Marcus Aurelius

If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.  ~Russian Proverb

The observer, when he seems to himself to be observing a stone, is really, if physics is to be believed, observing the effects of the stone upon himself.  ~Bertrand Russell

Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.  ~Roger Miller

The obstacle is the path.  ~Zen Proverb

It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.  ~James Thurber

It is easy to stand a pain, but difficult to stand an itch.  ~Chang Ch'ao

You cannot step into the same river twice.  ~Heraclitus, in Diogenes Laertius, Lives

You are fastened to them and cannot understand how, because they are not fastened to you.  ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

One day, someone showed me a glass of water that was half full.  And he said, "Is it half full or half empty?"  So I drank the water.  No more problem.  ~Alexander Jodorowsky

Among creatures born into chaos, a majority will imagine an order, a minority will question the order, and the rest will be pronounced insane.  ~Robert Brault .

What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?  ~George Gordon, Lord Byron, Child Harold's Pilgrimage

Extreme remedies are very appropriate for extreme diseases.  ~Hippocrates, Aphorisms

If a placebo has an effect, is it any less real than the real thing?  ~Nathaniel LeTonnerre

Seeking is not always the way to find.  ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

It takes all the running you can do just to keep in the same place.  ~Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, 1872

We waste a lot of time running after people we could have caught by just standing still.  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into.  ~Author Unknown

I slept with faith and found a corpse in my arms on awakening; I drank and danced all night with doubt and found her a virgin in the morning.  ~Aleister Crowley, Book of Lies

Tomorrow always comes, and today is never yesterday.  ~S.A. Sachs

Weak eyes are fondest of glittering objects.  ~Thomas Carlyle

You can see a lot by just looking.  ~Yogi Berra, also often quoted as "You can observe a lot by just looking." (original wording as yet unverified)

Proverbs often contradict one another, as any reader soon discovers.  The sagacity that advises us to look before we leap promptly warns us that if we hesitate we are lost; that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind.  ~Leo Rosten

Reason and faith are both banks of the same river.  ~Doménico Cieri Estrada

Man is the only animal who enjoys the consolation of believing in a next life; all other animals enjoy the consolation of not worrying about it.  ~Robert Brault.

Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.  ~Dr Seuss

Who depends on another man's table often dines late.  ~John Ray

[T]hings are entirely what they appear to be and behind them... there is nothing.  ~Jean Paul Sartre, Nausea

You become responsible forever for what you've tamed.  ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince, 1943, translated from French by Richard Howard

When the pain is great enough, we will let anyone be doctor.  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

A thousand men can't undress a naked man.  ~Greek Proverb

May your passion be the kernel of corn stuck between your molars, always reminding you there's something to tend to.  ~Jeb Dickerson,

I stop wanting what I am looking for, looking for it.  ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

We often repent the good we have done as well as the ill.  ~William Hazlitt, Characteristics, 1823

When I die, I will not see myself die, for the first time.  ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

The scars you can't see are the hardest to heal.  ~Astrid Alauda

The human mind is inspired enough when it comes to inventing horrors; it is when it tries to invent a Heaven that it shows itself cloddish.  ~Evelyn Waugh

It's very strange when the life you never had flashes before your eyes.  ~Terri Minsky, Sex and the City, "The Baby Shower

The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.  ~Buddha

We become aware of the void as we fill it.  ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

If I make the lashes dark

And the eyes more bright

And the lips more scarlet,

Or ask if all be right

From mirror after mirror,

No vanity's displayed:

I'm looking for the face I had

Before the world was made.

~W.B. Yeats

Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.  ~Santayana, Essays

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement.  But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.  ~Niels Bohr

How often one sees people looking far and wide for what they are holding in their hands? Why! I am doing it myself at this very moment.  ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness.  The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.  ~Eric Hoffer, Passionate State of Mind, 1955

Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light?  ~Maurice Freehill

I believe that men are generally still a little afraid of the dark, though the witches are all hung, and Christianity and candles have been introduced.  ~Henry David Thoreau, "Solitude," Walden, 1854

Because they know the name of what I am looking for, they think they know what I am looking for!  ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

Eggs cannot be unscrambled.  ~American Proverb

A thing, until it is everything, is noise, and once it is everything it is silence.  ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

The road was new to me, as roads always are going back.  ~Sarah Orne Jewett, The Country Road of Pointed Firs, 1896

...like stealing the juice out of tomorrow's fruit.  ~Destin Figuier

Admiration and familiarity are strangers.  ~George Sand

We used to think that if we knew one, we knew two, because one and one are two.  We are finding that we must learn a great deal more about "and."  ~Arthur Stanley Eddington

To know the hight [sic] of a mountain, one must climb it.  ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.  ~Zen

The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing.  ~Eric Berne

Nearly all men die of their remedies, and not of their illnesses.  ~Jean Baptiste Molière, Le Malade Imaginaire

The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different.  ~Aldous Huxley

Will localizes us; thought universalizes us.  ~Henri Frederic Amiel

I doubt one could live in the darkness, but one could probably survive.  ~Nathaniel LeTonnerre

Skin is a covering for our immortality.  ~Ever Garrison

I've observed that there are more lines formed than things worth waiting for.  ~Robert Brault.

Genuine tragedies in the world are not conflicts between right and wrong.  They are conflicts between two rights.  ~Georg Hegel

When I break any of the chains that bind me I feel that I make myself smaller.  ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

We are spirits clad in veils.  ~Christopher P. Cranch

If I am not pleased with myself, but should wish to be other than I am, why should I think highly of the influences which have made me what I am?  ~John Lancaster Spalding

Before I travelled my road I was my road.  ~Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin

If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts, but if he will content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.  ~Francis Bacon

To believe with certainty we must begin with doubting.  ~Stanislaus I of Poland

The world always makes the assumption that the exposure of an error is identical with the discovery of truth - that the error and truth are simply opposite.  They are nothing of the sort.  What the world turns to, when it is cured on one error, is usually simply another error, and maybe one worse than the first one.  ~H.L. Mencken

The future influences the present just as much as the past.  ~Friedrich Nietzsche

When a watch goes ill, it is not enough to move the hands; you must set the regulator.  When a man does ill, it is not enough to alter his handiwork, you must regulate his heart.  ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.  ~John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra, 1911

One does what one is; one becomes what one does.  ~Robert von Musil, Kleine Prosa

You can't fall off the floor.  ~Author Unknown

A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top.  ~Author Unknown

In a mist the heights can for the most part see each other; but the valleys cannot.  ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

In general people experience their present naively, as it were, without being able to form an estimate of its contents; they have first to put themselves at a distance from it - the present, that is to say, must have become the past - before it can yield points of vantage from which to judge the future.  ~Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion

The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.  ~Robert M. Pirsig

A stumble may prevent a fall.  ~English Proverb

When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.  ~Friedrich Nietzche

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise.  Seek what they sought.  ~Matsuo Basho

what is Right and Wrong

One mans Terrorist is another mans Freedom fighter……

In my life I have seen many people and  many types of personalities and characters ,but i am no judge to say which type of character is good or bad, The supreme power (God) he is the master to decide that, do all that you want to do in this world and your judgment will be delivered for sure and believe me in this world only.I don't believe in heaven or hell ,what i believe is they exists but not after death,but here this very day in your life.

You have to choose heaven (happiness) or Hell (sadness) , you may think all this is unacceptable and nothing is in your hands and nothing can be done to change your state of mind.but change your thoughts and change your life,this is really possible and make your choices ,don't let others make them for you .Nobody is Perfect, and no one is completely right.

I have done Million Mistakes in my life and I forgive myself for few mistakes and still trying to forgive myself for the rest and there are third type of mistakes which I cannot do any thing so I Let Them Go,but from each and every mistake you do in your life you can learn a lesson and that is most important part of the mistake,every one makes mistakes and very few learns lessons from them.

Life is not materialistic Pleasures ,its much higher and beautiful thing than any thing man ever made,life cant be explained it has to be experienced so If any one says you are wrong ,right,weak,strong ,mad..etc don't care it but consider it , think about it and understand it.BE TRUE TO YOURSELF and cheat the whole world but don't cheat your self .  Try to forgive others mistakes as yours and world seems a better place.

And Never ever forget any thing that has happened in your life either good or bad try to recollect every thing occasionally and analyze them ,so that your chances improve not to commit that same mistake again and again.

P.S : Read Good Books they are much better company than negative and selfish People.

Guidelines For A Life Time

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.

2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.

3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

5. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.

6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

7. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

9. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

12. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

13. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.

14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.

17. Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.

19. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.

20. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

21. Never miss a good chance to shut up.

22. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night

A Useless Life

A farmer got so old that he couldn't work the fields anymore. So he would spend the day just sitting on the porch. His son, still working the farm, would look up from time to time and see his father sitting there. "He's of no use any more," the son thought to himself, "he doesn't do anything!" .

One day the son got so frustrated by this, that he built a wood coffin, dragged it over to the porch, and told his father to get in. Without saying anything, the father climbed inside. After closing the lid, the son dragged the coffin to the edge of the farm where there was a high cliff. As he approached the drop, he heard a light tapping on the lid from inside the coffin. He opened it up. Still lying there peacefully, the father looked up at his son. "I know you are going to throw me over the cliff, but before you do, may I suggest something?" "What is it?" replied the son. "Throw me over the cliff, if you like," said the father, "but save this good wood coffin. Your children might need to use it."

Just Two Words

There once was a monastery that was very strict. Following a vow of silence, no one was allowed to speak at all. But there was one exception to this rule. Every ten years, the monks were permitted to speak just two words. After spending his first ten years at the monastery, one monk went to the head monk. "It has been ten years," said the head monk. "What are the two words you would like to speak?"

"Bed... hard..." said the monk.

"I see," replied the head monk.

Ten years later, the monk returned to the head monk's office. "It has been ten more years," said the head monk. "What are the two words you would like to speak?"

"Food... stinks..." said the monk.

"I see," replied the head monk.

Yet another ten years passed and the monk once again met with the head monk who asked, "What are your two words now, after these ten years?"

"I... quit!" said the monk.

"Well, I can see why," replied the head monk. "All you ever do is complain."

This is the famous story of Upali's conversion to Buddhism.

Upali was one of the chief followers of the Jain master, Mahavira. Because of his intelligence, Upali often appeared in public debates on behalf of the Jains.

There was one incident where Upali had a debate with the Buddha. At the end of the debate, Upali was so impressed with the Buddha's teachings that he asked to be the Enlightened One's follower. "Venerable Sir, please allow me to be your follower".

To that, the Buddha answered, "Upali, you are at the height of your emotions. Go home and reconsider it carefully before you ask me again".

Upali was extremely impressed, "If it was any other guru, he will parade a banner saying, 'Mahavira's chief lay-disciple has become my follower'. But you, Venerable Sir, you asked me to go home and reconsider. Now, I want to be your follower even more. I will not stand up until you accept me".

Finally, the Buddha agreed to accept Upali, under one condition, "Upali, as a Jain, you have always given alms to Jain monks. When you become my follower, you will CONTINUE to give alms to Jain monks. This is my condition".

Upali agreed to this condition. He later became one of the Buddha's chief disciples. Upali was known to be the one who compiled the Vinaya, the rules for monks.

NOT an inn

A famous spiritual teacher came to the front door of the King's palace. None of the guards tried to stop him as he entered and made his way to where the King himself was sitting on his throne.

"What do you want?" asked the King, immediately recognizing the visitor.

"I would like a place to sleep in this inn," replied the teacher.

"But this is not an inn," said the King, "It is my palace."

"May I ask who owned this palace before you?"

"My father. He is dead."

"And who owned it before him?"

"My grandfather. He too is dead."

"And this place where people live for a short time and then move on - did I hear you say that it is NOT an inn?"

what is the Self?

The Emperor was really into Buddhism. He read everything he could get his hands on, he talked with philosophers and monks about it, he even tried writing his own discourses and Haiku. One day he heard that a famous Zen master was visiting the city. So, naturally, being the Emperor, he requested that the Master come to visit him at the Palace. He offered the Master a fine meal and afterwards performed a truly elegant tea ceremony. The whole time, the master is pretty much silent and peaceful, as you might expect from a Zen master - but the Emperor is biting his tongue. He wants to pick this guy's brains about Zen. So finally, as they are drinking their tea, he breaks the silence. "Master, according to Zen, what is the Self?"
The Master briefly looks up from his tea and says, "I do not know." Then he quietly continues sipping.

That's it! End of story! Now I wouldn't be surprised if the Emperor was a bit, shall we say, peeved. After all, this is a famous Zen master, a truly enlightened being. And he doesn't know what the self is? Come on! Now maybe he really wasn't all that enlightened. Maybe he really didn't know. At least he was being honest. Or maybe he did know, but he was doing the "Oh Humble" bit. Maybe that was the lesson for the Emperor - humility in the face of the Eternal Self. Or maybe his terse reply was intended to mean that no one can know what the self is, because the self is fundamentally unknowable, a mystery. It can't be spoken about or intellectualized. That's very Zen. Or, if we think about what he actually said - "I do not know" - he actually IS telling us that he does know something. He knows "NOT." Aha! Maybe that's it. The path to the self is through "NOT" - the process of negating, of stripping away, of undoing attachments. That's also very Zen.

Let go

A renowned Zen master said that his greatest teaching was this: Buddha is your own mind. So impressed by how profound this idea was, one monk decided to leave the monastery and retreat to the wilderness to meditate on this insight. There he spent 20 years as a hermit probing the great teaching. One day he met another monk who was traveling through the forest. Quickly the hermit monk learned that the traveler also had studied under the same Zen master. "Please, tell me what you know of the master's greatest teaching," he asked the traveler. The traveler's eyes lit up, "Ah, the master has been very clear about this. He says that his greatest teaching is this: Buddha is NOT your own mind."

At any point we should be prepared to let go of even our most cherished ideas and concepts. We might even reverse those ideas, and reverse them again. This is probably also a wise thing to keep in mind when doing psychotherapy. Do it without memory or desire, as Bion suggested. Perhaps the evolution of mind and the transformation of the self requires a breaking free of clinging and this-or-that thinking.

Crows And Owls

Trust not even a close friend
Who earlier was your enemy.

This is the story of how the crows burnt the home of a trusting pack of owls.

Once upon a time all the crows in a town called Mahilaropya made a huge banyan tree their home. The tree had hundreds of branches. Their king, known as Meghavarna, set up strong fortifications to ensure security for his brood. Similarly, the owls of the town made a nearby cave their colony. They also had a king, called Arimardana, who ruled with the help of a strong and cunning army.

The owl king kept a close eye on the banyan tree and on account of previous enmity killed every night any crow he sighted outside the tree. Slowly, the owl king managed to kill all crows that could be seen outside the tree. That is why wise men had always said that whoever neglects disease or the enemy perishes in their hands.

Alarmed at the loss of his flock, Meghavarna assembled his ministers and asked them to prepare a plan to fight the owls. He placed before them six strategies and asked them to name the best of the six. The first minister suggested compromise as a tactic because one had first to survive to gather strength and later destroy the enemy. The elders have said,

“Bend to the enemy when he is strong
Attack him when he is vulnerable.
Don’t wage a war if it doesn’t bring
Power, or wealth or friendship.”

The second minister ruled out compromise and offered trickery as a formula. He cited the example of how Bheema in the Mahabharata had killed Keechaka in the disguise of a woman. He also quoted elders saying,

“Never accept peace with
An enemy who is not just
For, he will break his word
And stab you in the back.”

The minister referred to the learned as saying that it is easy to defeat an enemy who is a tyrant, a miser, an idler, a liar, a coward and a fool. Words of peace will only inflame an enemy blinded by anger.

The third minister said, “O lord, our enemy is not only strong but also wicked. Neither compromise nor trickery will work with him. Exile is the best way. We shall wait and strike when the enemy becomes weak.”

“Neither peace nor bravado
Can subdue a strong enemy
Where these two do not work
Flight is the best alternative.”

The fourth minister opposed all these tactics and suggested the king of crows should stay in his own fort, mobilize support from friends and then attack the enemy. He quoted the learned as saying,

“A king who flees is like
A cobra without fangs.
A crocodile in water
Can haul an elephant.”

Therefore, the minister said, “An ally is what wind is to fire. The king must stay where he is and gather allies for support.”

The fifth minister offered a strategy similar to that of the fourth and said, “Stay in your fort and seek the help of an ally stronger than the enemy. It also pays to form an axis of less strong allies.”

After listening to all the ministers, Meghavarna turned to the wisest and senior most among his counsels, Sthirajeevi, and asked him for his advice. The wise man told Meghavarna,

“Oh, king of crows, this is the time to use duplicity to finish the enemy. You can thus keep your throne.”

“But learned sir, we have no idea of where Arimardana lives and of what his failings are.”

“That is not difficult. Send your spies and gather information on the key men advising the king of owls. The next step is to divide them by setting one against the other.”

“Tell me why did the crows and owls fall out in the first place,” asked Meghavarna.

Sthirajeevi said, “That is another story. Long, long ago all the birds in the jungle—swans, parrots, cranes, nightingales, owls, peacocks, pigeons, pheasants, sparrows, crows etc.—assembled and expressed anguish that their king Garuda had become indifferent to their welfare and failed to save them from poachers. Believing that people without a protector were like passengers in a ship without a captain, they decided to elect a new king. They chose an owl as their king.

As the owl was being crowned, a crow flew into the assembly and asked them why and what they were celebrating. When the birds told him the details, the crow told them, the owl is a wicked and ugly bird and it is unwise to choose another leader when Garuda is still alive. To crush enemies it is enough if you mentioned Garuda’s name or for that matter the name of anyone who is great. That was how the hares managed to live happily by taking the name of the moon.”

The birds asked the visiting crow, “Tell us how this has happened.”

“I will tell you,” said the crow and began telling them the story of the hares and the elephants.

The thief and the master

Zen story: The thief and the master

One evening, Zen master Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras when a thief entered his house with a sharp sword, demanding "money or life". Without any fear, Shichiri said, "Don't disturb me! Help yourself with the money, it's in that drawer". And he resumed his recitation.

The thief was startled by this unexpected reaction, but he proceeded with his business anyway. While he was helping himself with the money, the master stopped and called, "Don't take all of it. Leave some for me to pay my taxes tomorrow". The thief left some money behind and prepared to leave. Just before he left, the master suddenly shouted at him, "You took my money and you didn't even thank me?! That's not polite!". This time, the thief was really shocked at such fearlessness. He thanked the master and ran away. The thief later told his friends that he had never been so frightened in his life.

A few days later, the thief was caught and confessed, among many others, his thieft at Shichiri's house. When the master was called as a witness, he said, "No, this man did not steal anything from me. I gave him the money. He even thanked me for it."

The thief was so touched that he decided to repent. Upon his release from prison, he became a disciple of the master and many years later, he attained Enlightenment.

Surprising the Master

The students in the monastery were in total awe of the elder monk, not because he was strict, but because nothing ever seemed to upset or ruffle him. So they found him a bit unearthly and even frightening. One day they decided to put him to a test. A bunch of them very quietly hid in a dark corner of one of the hallways, and waited for the monk to walk by. Within moments, the old man appeared, carrying a cup of hot tea. Just as he passed by, the students all rushed out at him screaming as loud as they could. But the monk showed no reaction whatsoever. He peacefully made his way to a small table at the end of the hall, gently placed the cup down, and then, leaning against the wall, cried out with shock, "Ohhhhh!"

Successor

The old Zen master's health was fading. Knowing his death was near, he announced to all the monks that he soon would be passing down his robe and rice bowl to appoint the next master of the monastery. His choice, he said, would be based on a contest. Anyone seeking the appointment was required to demonstrate his spiritual wisdom by submitting a poem. The head monk, the most obvious successor, presented a poem that was well composed and insightful. All the monks anticipated his selection as their new leader. However, the next morning another poem appeared on the wall in the hallway, apparently written during the dark hours of the night. It stunned everyone with it's elegance and profundity but no one knew who the author was. Determined to find this person, the old master began questioning all the monks. To his surprise, the investigation led to the rather quiet kitchen worker who pounded rice for the meals. Upon hearing the news, the jealous head monk and his comrades plotted to kill their rival. In secret, the old master passed down his robe and bowl to the rice pounder, who quickly fled from the monastery, later to become a widely renowned Zen teacher.

Spider

A Tibetan story tells of a meditation student who, while meditating in his room, believed he saw a spider descending in front of him. Each day the menacing creature returned, growing larger and larger each time. So frightened was the student, that he went to his teacher to report his dilemma. He said he planned to place a knife in his lap during meditation, so when the spider appeared he would kill it. The teacher advised him against this plan. Instead, he suggested, bring a piece of chalk to meditation, and when the spider appeared, mark an "X" on its belly. Then report back.

The student returned to his meditation. When the spider again appeared, he resisted the urge to attack it, and instead did just what the master suggested. When he later reported back to the master, the teacher told him to lift up his shirt and look at his own belly. There was the "X".

Sounds of Silence

Four monks decided to meditate silently without speaking for two weeks. By nightfall on the first day, the candle began to flicker and then went out. The first monk said, "Oh, no! The candle is out." The second monk said, "Aren't we not suppose to talk?" The third monk said, "Why must you two break the silence?" The fourth monk laughed and said, "Ha! I'm the only one who didn't speak."

Self-Control

One day there was an earthquake that shook the entire Zen temple. Parts of it even collapsed. Many of the monks were terrified. When the earthquake stopped the teacher said, "Now you have had the opportunity to see how a Zen man behaves in a crisis situation. You may have noticed that I did not panic. I was quite aware of what was happening and what to do. I led you all to the kitchen, the strongest part of the temple. It was a good decision, because you see we have all survived without any injuries. However, despite my self-control and composure, I did feel a little bit tense - which you may have deduced from the fact that I drank a large glass of water, something I never do under ordinary circumstances."
One of the monks smiled, but didn't say anything.
"What are you laughing at?" asked the teacher.
"That wasn't water," the monk replied, "it was a large glass of soy sauce."

Prosperity

A rich man asked a Zen master to write something down that could encourage the prosperity of his family for years to come. It would be something that the family could cherish for generations. On a large piece of paper, the master wrote, "Father dies, son dies, grandson dies."

The rich man became angry when he saw the master's work. "I asked you to write something down that could bring happiness and prosperity to my family. Why do you give me something depressing like this?"

"If your son should die before you," the master answered, "this would bring unbearable grief to your family. If your grandson should die before your son, this also would bring great sorrow. If your family, generation after generation, disappears in the order I have described, it will be the natural course of life. This is true happiness and prosperity."

Paradise

Two people are lost in the desert. They are dying from hunger and thirst. Finally, they come to a high wall. On the other side they can hear the sound of a waterfall and birds singing. Above, they can see the branches of a lush tree extending over the top of the wall. Its fruit look delicious.

One of them manages to climb over the wall and disappears down the other side. The other, instead, returns to the desert to help other lost travelers find their way to the oasis.

The Present Moment

A Japanese warrior was captured by his enemies and thrown into prison. That night he was unable to sleep because he feared that the next day he would be interrogated, tortured, and executed. Then the words of his Zen master came to him, "Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now." Heeding these words, the warrior became peaceful and fell asleep.

Practice Makes Perfect

A dramatic ballad singer studied under a strict teacher who insisted that he rehearse day after day, month after month the same passage from the same song, without being permitted to go any further. Finally, overwhelmed by frustration and despair, the young man ran off to find another profession. One night, stopping at an inn, he stumbled upon a recitation contest. Having nothing to lose, he entered the competition and, of course, sang the one passage that he knew so well. When he had finished, the sponsor of the contest highly praised his performance. Despite the student's embarrassed objections, the sponsor refused to believe that he had just heard a beginner perform. "Tell me," the sponsor said, "who is your instructor? He must be a great master." The student later became known as the great performer Koshiji.

Thanksgiving or Thanksliving

Thanksgiving has always been for me a time to be thankful for all the blessings in my life. But how do we live thanksgiving? I found the answer to that question in an article written by Wilfred A. Peterson called, The Art of Thanksgiving. In this article he talks about acts of thanksliving. To quote from this piece, Mr Peterson writes:

"The art of thanksgiving is thanksliving. It is gratitude in action. It is applying Albert Schweitzer's philosophy: 'In gratitude for your own good fortune you must render in return some sacrifice of your life for the other life.'"

The article goes on to give examples of what how we could live in a thanksliving way:

- By living your life triumphantly

- By being grateful for all who have helped you by you doing things for others

- By striving to make others happy

- By helping to be an inspiration to others

- By living each day to the fullest

- By using your talents and obligations to be invested for the common good

- By facing the challenges of life as a challenge for achievement

- By enjoying what you have and sharing it with others

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for all we have,

but thanksliving is a way of life that if implemented could improve the quality of life not only for you and me, but for others. Do you live in a thanks giving way?

The Nature of Things

Two monks were washing their bowls in the river when they noticed a scorpion that was drowning. One monk immediately scooped it up and set it upon the bank. In the process he was stung. He went back to washing his bowl and again the scorpion fell in. The monk saved the scorpion and was again stung. The other monk asked him, "Friend, why do you continue to save the scorpion when you know it's nature is to sting?"

"Because," the monk replied, "to save it is my nature."

Obsessed

Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She thanked him and departed.

As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!"

"Brother," the second monk replied, "I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her."

(some versions of this story describe the monk as carrying the woman across a mud puddle )

Not Dead Yet

The Emperor asked Master Gudo, "What happens to a man of enlightenment after death?"

"How should I know?" replied Gudo.

"Because you are a master," answered the Emperor.

"Yes sir," said Gudo, "but not a dead one."

No More Questions

Upon meeting a Zen master at a social event, a psychiatrist decided to ask him a question that had been on his mind. "Exactly how do you help people?" he inquired.

"I get them where they can't ask any more questions," the Master answered.

Without Fear

During the civil wars in feudal Japan, an invading army would quickly sweep into a town and take control. In one particular village, everyone fled just before the army arrived - everyone except the Zen master. Curious about this old fellow, the general went to the temple to see for himself what kind of man this master was. When he wasn't treated with the deference and submissiveness to which he was accustomed, the general burst into anger.

"You fool," he shouted as he reached for his sword, "don't you realize you are standing before a man who could run you through without blinking an eye!" But despite the threat, the master seemed unmoved. "And do you realize," the master replied calmly, "that you are standing before a man who can be run through without blinking an eye?"

(other versions of this story then describe how the general, surprised and awed by the master, sheepishly leaves)

Moving Mind

Two men were arguing about a flag flapping in the wind. "It's the wind that is really moving," stated the first one. "No, it is the flag that is moving," contended the second. A Zen master, who happened to be walking by, overheard the debate and interrupted them. "Neither the flag nor the wind is moving," he said, "It is MIND that moves."

The Moon Cannot Be Stolen

A Zen Master lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening, while he was away, a thief sneaked into the hut only to find there was nothing in it to steal. The Zen Master returned and found him. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty handed. Please take my clothes as a gift." The thief was bewildered, but he took the clothes and ran away. The Master sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, " I wish I could give him this beautiful moon."

"Maybe"

Once upon a time a peasant had a horse. This horse ran away,so the peasant's neighbors' came to console him for his bad luck. He answered: "Maybe".

The day after the horse came back, leading 6 wild horses with it. The neighbors' came to congratulate him on such good luck. The peasant said: "Maybe".

The day after, his son tried to saddle and ride on one of the wild horses, but he fell down and broke his leg. Once again the neighbors' came to share that misfortune. The peasant said: "Maybe".

The day after, soldiers came to conscript the youth of the village, but the peasant's son was not chosen because of his broken leg. When the neighbors' came to congratulate, the peasant said again :"May be".

Masterpiece

A master calligrapher was writing some characters onto a piece of paper. One of his especially perceptive students was watching him. When the calligrapher was finished, he asked for the student's opinion - who immediately told him that it wasn't any good. The master tried again, but the student criticized the work again. Over and over, the calligrapher carefully redrew the same characters, and each time the student rejected it. Finally, when the student had turned his attention away to something else and wasn't watching, the master seized the opportunity to quickly dash off the characters. "There! How's that?," he asked the student. The student turned to look. "THAT.... is a masterpiece!" he exclaimed.

(Legend states this is the story behind master Kosen's creation of an ink template that was used to create the wood carving "The First Principle" that appears over the gate of Obaku Temple in Kyoto)

Limping puppy

A store owner was tacking a sign above his door that read " Puppies For Sale". Signs like that have a way of attracting small children, and sure enough, a little boy appeared under the store owner's sign.

"How much are you going to sell the puppies for?" he asked.

The store owner replied, " Anywhere from $30 to $50."

The little boy reached in his pocket and pulled out some change. "I have $2.37," he said. "Can I please look at them?"

The store owner smiled and whistled and out of the kennel came Lady, who ran down the aisle of his store followed by five teeny, tiny balls of fur. One puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the little boy singled out the lagging, limping puppy and said,

"What's wrong with that little dog?"

The store owner explained that the veterinarian had examined the little puppy and had discovered it didn't have a hip socket. It would always limp. It would always be lame. The little boy became excited.

"That is the little puppy that I want to buy."

The store owner said, "No, you don't want to buy that little dog. If you reallly want him, I'll give him to you."

The little boy got quite upset. He looked straight into the store owner's eyes, pointing his finger, and said, "I don't want you to give him to me. That little dog is worth every bit as much as all the other dogs and I'll pay full price. In fact, I'll give you $2.37 now, and 50 cents a month until I have him paid for."

The store owner countered, "You really don't want to buy this little dog. He is never going to be able to run and jump and play with you like the other puppies."

To this, the little boy reached down and rolled up his pant leg to reveal a badly twisted, crippled left leg supported by a big metal brace. He looked up at the store owner and softly replied,

"Well, I don't run so well myself, and the little puppy will need someone who understands!"

Is That So?

Hakuin was a famous Zen master in Japan. He lived in a remote village and was often praised by his neighbours as a man of pure living.

Once, a beautiful, unwedded girl in the village was found pregnant. Being a very conservative village, the family was furious. The girl refused to confess who the man was, but after much beating and harasssment by her parents, she finally named the master Hakuin.

In great anger, the girl's family confronted the master, but all he would do was calmly say, "Is that so?".

After the baby was born, it was brought to Hakuin and he took very good care of the child. He begged for milk and other things the little one needed from his neighbours. By this time, Hakuin's reputation was completely destroyed, but that didn't trouble him. He was often scorned by the villagers, but that didn't bother him, either.

A year later, the girl-mother finally broke down and confessed the truth. The baby's father was not Hakuin, but a young man who worked nearby. The girl's parents went to Hakuin at once and begged profusely for his forgiveness, and to get the baby back.

Hakuin willingly gave back the baby and all he said was, "Don't worry about it. Go home".

Tea or Iron

The Zen master Hakuin used to tell his students about an old woman who owned a tea shop in the village. She was skilled in the tea ceremony, Hakuin said, and her understanding of Zen was superb. Many students wondered about this and went to the village themselves to check her out. Whenever the old woman saw them coming, she could tell immediately whether they had come to experience the tea, or to probe her grasp of Zen. Those wanting tea she served graciously. For the others wanting to learn about her Zen knowledge, she hid until they approached her door and then attacked them with a fire poker. Only one out of ten managed to escape her beating.

The Gift of Insults

There once lived a great warrior. Though quite old, he still was able to defeat any challenger. His reputation extended far and wide throughout the land and many students gathered to study under him.

One day an infamous young warrior arrived at the village. He was determined to be the first man to defeat the great master. Along with his strength, he had an uncanny ability to spot and exploit any weakness in an opponent. He would wait for his opponent to make the first move, thus revealing a weakness, and then would strike with merciless force and lightning speed. No one had ever lasted with him in a match beyond the first move.

Much against the advice of his concerned students, the old master gladly accepted the young warrior's challenge. As the two squared off for battle, the young warrior began to hurl insults at the old master. He threw dirt and spit in his face. For hours he verbally assaulted him with every curse and insult known to mankind. But the old warrior merely stood there motionless and calm. Finally, the young warrior exhausted himself. Knowing he was defeated, he left feeling shamed.

Somewhat disappointed that he did not fight the insolent youth, the students gathered around the old master and questioned him. "How could you endure such an indignity? How did you drive him away?"

"If someone comes to give you a gift and you do not receive it," the master replied, "to whom does the gift belong?"

Holy Man

Word spread across the countryside about the wise Holy Man who lived in a small house atop the mountain. A man from the village decided to make the long and difficult journey to visit him. When he arrived at the house, he saw an old servant inside who greeted him at the door. "I would like to see the wise Holy Man," he said to the servant. The servant smiled and led him inside. As they walked through the house, the man from the village looked eagerly around the house, anticipating his encounter with the Holy Man. Before he knew it, he had been led to the back door and escorted outside. He stopped and turned to the servant, "But I want to see the Holy Man!"

"You already have," said the old man. "Everyone you may meet in life, even if they appear plain and insignificant... see each of them as a wise Holy Man. If you do this, then whatever problem you brought here today will be solved."

Learning the Hard Way

The son of a master thief asked his father to teach him the secrets of the trade. The old thief agreed and that night took his son to burglarize a large house. While the family was asleep, he silently led his young apprentice into a room that contained a clothes closet. The father told his son to go into the closet to pick out some clothes. When he did, his father quickly shut the door and locked him in. Then he went back outside, knocked loudly on the front door, thereby waking the family, and quickly slipped away before anyone saw him. Hours later, his son returned home, bedraggled and exhausted. "Father," he cried angrily, "Why did you lock me in that closet? If I hadn't been made desperate by my fear of getting caught, I never would have escaped. It took all my ingenuity to get out!" The old thief smiled. "Son, you have had your first lesson in the art of burglary."

Going with the Flow

A Taoist story tells of an old man who accidentally fell into the river rapids leading to a high and dangerous waterfall. Onlookers feared for his life. Miraculously, he came out alive and unharmed downstream at the bottom of the falls. People asked him how he managed to survive. "I accommodated myself to the water, not the water to me. Without thinking, I allowed myself to be shaped by it. Plunging into the swirl, I came out with the swirl. This is how I survived."

(Some versions describe Confucius as witnessing this event. Also, in some versions, the old man explains how he has been jumping into the waterfall like this since he was a small boy. )

Banishing a Ghost

The wife of a man became very sick. On her deathbed, she said to him, "I love you so much! I don't want to leave you, and I don't want you to betray me. Promise that you will not see any other women once I die, or I will come back to haunt you."

For several months after her death, the husband did avoid other women, but then he met someone and fell in love. On the night that they were engaged to be married, the ghost of his former wife appeared to him. She blamed him for not keeping the promise, and every night thereafter she returned to taunt him. The ghost would remind him of everything that transpired between him and his fiancee that day, even to the point of repeating, word for word, their conversations. It upset him so badly that he couldn't sleep at all.

Desperate, he sought the advice of a Zen master who lived near the village. "This is a very clever ghost," the master said upon hearing the man's story. "It is!" replied the man. "She remembers every detail of what I say and do. It knows everything!" The master smiled, "You should admire such a ghost, but I will tell you what to do the next time you see it."

That night the ghost returned. The man responded just as the master had advised. "You are such a wise ghost," the man said, "You know that I can hide nothing from you. If you can answer me one question, I will break off the engagement and remain single for the rest of my life." "Ask your question," the ghost replied. The man scooped up a handful of beans from a large bag on the floor, "Tell me exactly how many beans there are in my hand."

At that moment the ghost disappeared and never returned.

Not far from Buddhahood

A university student while visiting Gasan asked him: "Have you read the Christian Bible?"

"No, read it to me," said Gasan.

"The student opened the Bible and read from St Mathew: "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow shall worry about itself".

Gasan said: "Whoever uttered those words I consider an enlightened man."

The student continued reading: "Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks, it shall be opened."

Gasam remarked: "That is excellent. Whoever said that is not far from Buddhahood."

Knowing Fish

One day Chuang Tzu and a friend were walking by a river. "Look at the fish swimming about," said Chuang Tzu, "They are really enjoying themselves."

"You are not a fish," replied the friend, "So you can't truly know that they are enjoying themselves."

"You are not me," said Chuang Tzu. "So how do you know that I do not know that the fish are enjoying themselves?"

Enlightened

One day the Master announced that a young monk had reached an advanced state of enlightment. The news caused some stir. Some of the monks went to see the young monk. "We heard you are enlightened. Is that true?" they asked.

"It is," he replied.

"And how do you feel?"

"As miserable as ever," said the monk.

Empty Your Cup

A  university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor's cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. "It's overfull! No more will go in!" the professor blurted. "You are like this cup," the master replied, "How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup."

Egotism

The Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty was a national hero for his success as both a statesman and military leader. But despite his fame, power, and wealth, he considered himself a humble and devout Buddhist. Often he visited his favorite Zen master to study under him, and they seemed to get along very well. The fact that he was prime minister apparently had no effect on their relationship, which seemed to be simply one of a revered master and respectful student.

One day, during his usual visit, the Prime Minister asked the master, "Your Reverence, what is egotism according to Buddhism?" The master's face turned red, and in a very condescending and insulting tone of voice, he shot back, "What kind of stupid question is that!?"

This unexpected response so shocked the Prime Minister that he became sullen and angry. The Zen master then smiled and said, "THIS, Your Excellency, is egotism."

Dreaming

The great Taoist master Chuang Tzu once dreamt that he was a butterfly fluttering here and there. In the dream he had no awareness of his individuality as a person. He was only a butterfly. Suddenly, he awoke and found himself laying there, a person once again. But then he thought to himself, "Was I before a man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being a man?"

Making a difference

A friend of mine was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew nearer, he noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking something up and throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things out into the ocean.

As my friend approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had washed up on the beach, and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water.

My friend was puzzled. He approached the man and said. "Good evening, friend. I was wondering what you are doing."

"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don't throw them back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."

"I understand," my friend replied, "but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"

The local native smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one!" (Contributed by Janey Bennett)

Destiny

During a momentous battle, a Japanese general decided to attack even though his army was greatly outnumbered. He was confident they would win, but his men were filled with doubt. On the way to the battle, they stopped at a religious shrine. After praying with the men, the general took out a coin and said, "I shall now toss this coin. If it is heads, we shall win. If tails, we shall lose. Destiny will now reveal itself."

He threw the coin into the air and all watched intently as it landed. It was heads. The soldiers were so overjoyed and filled with confidence that they vigorously attacked the enemy and were victorious. After the battle, a lieutenant remarked to the general, "No one can change destiny."

"Quite right," the general replied as he showed the lieutenant the coin, which had heads on both sides.

This story was extracted from Richard Bach book "Illusions".

Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river. Each creature in its own manner clung tightly to the twigs and rocks of the river bottom, for clinging was their way of life, and resisting the current what each had learned from birth. But one creature said at last, "I trust that the current knows where it is going. I shall let go, and let it take me where it will. Clinging, I shall die of boredom."

The other creatures laughed and said, "Fool! Let go, and that current you worship will throw you tumbled and smashed across the rocks, and you will die quicker than boredom!"

But the one heeded them not, and taking a breath did let go, and at once was tumbled and smashed by the current across the rocks. Yet, in time, as the creature refused to cling again, the current lifted him free from the bottom, and he was bruised and hurt no more.

And the creatures downstream, to whom he was a stranger, cried, "See a miracle! A creature like ourselves, yet he flies! See the Messiah, come to save us all!" And the one carried in the current said, "I am no more Messiah than you. The river delight to lift us free, if only we dare let go. Our true work is this voyage, this adventure.

But they cried the more, "Saviour!" all the while clinging to the rocks, making legends of a Saviour.

Concentration

After winning several archery contests, the young and rather boastful champion challenged a Zen master who was renowned for his skill as an archer. The young man demonstrated remarkable technical proficiency when he hit a distant bull's eye on his first try, and then split that arrow with his second shot.

"There," he said to the old man, "see if you can match that!" Undisturbed, the master did not draw his bow, but rather motioned for the young archer to follow him up the mountain. Curious about the old fellow's intentions, the champion followed him high into the mountain until they reached a deep chasm spanned by a rather flimsy and shaky log. Calmly stepping out onto the middle of the unsteady and certainly perilous bridge, the old master picked a far away tree as a target, drew his bow, and fired a clean, direct hit. "Now it is your turn," he said as he gracefully stepped back onto the safe ground.

Staring with terror into the seemingly bottomless and beckoning abyss, the young man could not force himself to step out onto the log, no less shoot at a target. "You have much skill with your bow," the master said, sensing his challenger's predicament, "but you have little skill with the mind that lets loose the shot."

Worse than a clown

There was a young monk in China who was a very serious practitioner of the Dharma.

Once, this monk came across something he did not understand, so he went to ask the master. When the master heard the question, he kept laughing. The master then stood up and walked away, still laughing.

The young monk was very disturbed by the master's reaction. For the next 3 days, he could not eat, sleep nor think properly. At the end of 3 days, he went back to the master and told the master how disturbed he had felt.

When the master heard this, he said, "Monk, do you know what your problem is? Your problem is that YOU ARE WORSE THAN A CLOWN!"

The monk was shocked to hear that, "Venerable Sir, how can you say such a thing?! How can I be worse than a clown?"

The master explained, "A clown enjoys seeing people laugh. You? You feel disturbed because another person laughed. Tell me, are you not worse than a clown?"

When the monk heard this, he began to laugh. He was enlightened.

Christian Buddha

One of master Gasan's monks visited the university in Tokyo. When he returned, he asked the master if he had ever read the Christian Bible. "No," Gasan replied, "Please read some of it to me." The monk opened the Bible to the Sermon on the Mount in St. Matthew, and began reading. After reading Christ's words about the lilies in the field, he paused. Master Gasan was silent for a long time. "Yes," he finally said, "Whoever uttered these words is an enlightened being. What you have read to me is the essence of everything I have been trying to teach you here!"

What Brahma doesn't know

During the Buddha's time, there was a monk who strived to develop his mind such that he could enter the realms of the gods. With great effort, he succeeded in transporting himself to the first heaven, the Heaven of the Four Great Kings. The reason he wanted to see the gods was to ask them a really profound question, "Where does the four great elements cease without remainder?"

When he reached the Heaven of the Four Great Kings, he asked all the gods this question. None of them knew the answer. "Perhaps u can ask the Four Great Kings", they suggested. So the monk asked the Kings, but none of them knew the answer too. So they suggested, "Perhaps u can ask the 32 Gods in the higher heaven".

The monk went back to earth and he meditated once again. With great effort, he succeeded in transporting himself to the second heaven, the Heaven of the 32 Gods. There he asked the gods his profound question. None of them knew the answer. "Perhaps u can ask King Sakka, the King of the 32 Gods", they suggested. So the monk asked the King, but He didn't know the answer too. He suggested, "Perhaps you can ask the Yammas in the higher heaven".

The monk when back to earth again and meditated, till he was able to transport himself to the Heaven of the Yammas. Again, none of the gods there knew the answer. So he went to the higher heaven. This went on until the monk reached the highest of all Heavens, the Heavens of the Brahmas, the Supreme gods. There the monk asked the Brahmas, but none of them knew the answer. "Perhaps you can ask Great Brahma, the Creator, the Uncreated, the Knower of All, .....etc.....", the Brahmas suggested.

The moment Great Brahma's name was spoken, He appeared with all His glory. "I am the Great Brahma, the Creator, the Uncreated, the Knower of All, .....etc.....", Great Brhama spoke. Thrilled at the sight of Great Brahma, the monk asked his profound question, "Where does the four great elements cease without remainder?".

Great Brahma did not answer. Instead, he said, "I am the Great Brahma, the Creator, the Uncreated, the Knower of All, .....etc.....". The monk was a little frustrated, "Yes, Venerable One, I know you are the Great Brahma, but I came to ask you this quesn, Where does the four great elements cease without remainder?". Again, Great Brahma did not answer. Instead He said, "I am the Great Brahma, the Creator, the Uncreated, the Knower of All, .....etc....."

This time, the monk was very frustrated. He asked for the 3rd time, "Yes, I KNOW you are the Great Brahma, but I came to ask this quesn, Where does the four great elements cease without remainder?".

This time, Great Brahma did not say anything. He took the monk in the hand and, with all His glory, appeared in a far end of existance. Great Brahma then spoke, "Monk, you see all these gods there? They all think I know everything. Are you trying to embarrass me in front of all these gods?". The monk was taken aback, "But Venerable Sir, if you do not know the answer, who would?". "You fool!", the God shouted, "The Buddha is on earth. Why don't you ask him and stop bothering me?".

The monk then went back to earth and asked the Buddha. The Buddha laughed at his little adventure and told a joke about it. "Monk, in the old days, navigators depended on birds to know if land is nearby. They would release a bird. If the bird returned, it means that land is not near. You monk, you r just like that bird. Flying away from the ship, seeing no land, and then returning to me". The monk was so amused he too laughed. At this point, the Buddha gave the answer, "Nirvarna is when the four great elements cease without remainder". The monk understood. He rejoiced at the answer.

Elephant and Flea

Roshi Kapleau agreed to educate a group of psychoanalysts about Zen. After being introduced to the group by the director of the analytic institute, the Roshi quietly sat down upon a cushion placed on the floor. A student entered, prostrated before the master, and then seated himself on another cushion a few feet away, facing his teacher. "What is Zen?" the student asked. The Roshi produced a banana, peeled it, and started eating. "Is that all? Can't you show me anything else?" the student said. "Come closer, please," the master replied. The student moved in and the Roshi waved the remaining portion of the banana before the student's face. The student prostrated, and left.

A second student rose to address the audience. "Do you all understand?" When there was no response, the student added, "You have just witnessed a first-rate demonstration of Zen. Are there any questions?"

After a long silence, someone spoke up. "Roshi, I am not satisfied with your demonstration. You have shown us something that I am not sure I understand. It must be possible to TELL us what Zen is."

"If you must insist on words," the Roshi replied, "then Zen is an elephant copulating with a flea."

True Self

A distraught man approached the Zen master. "Please, Master, I feel lost, desperate. I don't know who I am. Please, show me my true self!" But the teacher just looked away without responding. The man began to plead and beg, but still the master gave no reply. Finally giving up in frustration, the man turned to leave. At that moment the master called out to him by name. "Yes!" the man said as he spun back around. "There it is!" exclaimed the master.

We need to just simplify philosophy

When mention is made of philosophy, one might imagine that a rain of words will fall, combined with complicated sentences and theories.

This way of seeing philosophy is far from the true spirit of philosophy which basically aims to bring us closer to simplicity and clarity. What we need is a simple definition of philosophy.

The culture we are living in today is a culture of complexity that is collapsing under a flood of words and information. Sometimes, just by coming back to the authentic meaning of words we can gain some sparks of clarity.

The origin of the word philosophy comes from ancient Greece. It is customary to credit Pythagoras for pronouncing it first when he described himself not as a wise man but as a man who is in love with wisdom, a "Philosophos". Philosophy therefore is the love of wisdom.

Sophia or wisdom does not refer to perceptions which were developed by different people; it refers to the one wisdom of nature. In the eyes of men of the ancient era, in Greece and in many other civilisations such as India and Egypt, the nature all around us was seen as an expression of a divine wisdom, the principles of which are manifested by what can be called the laws of nature. The word `cosmos' itself indicates such a point of view.

The cosmos is combined of chaos, a primordial matter, and Theos, a divine order. This is a world with intelligent order, organised by laws and principles. Nothing in it is random. Wisdom is the essence which unites the expression of a multiple world. From spirit to matter there exists a transition from unity to multiplicity. Rising from matter to spirit is a process of returning from complexity to simplicity and unity.

Philo or love is the ability to unite with wisdom, or we can also say, with life itself. The love of wisdom therefore is an active process in which one learns the principles of life and changes himself accordingly. This process brings man to live in harmony with nature.

Philosophy is not a theoretical concept trying to describe life, but an active state where man is in a constant process of change. We can also refer to it as an ethical way of living where we discover our true virtues.

Love of wisdom is the power which moves man to change himself, the wish to get closer to wisdom, the fountain of life, and to share harmony and fraternity all around. To be a philosopher is not to stay at a cold distance from others but to develop a sense of belonging to life and to the mutual essence of things. It was said in the temple of Delphi, the holy centre of ancient Greece: "Know thyself and know the world and the gods."

Philosophy as a bridge to wisdom is a centre which sustains all forms of life: cultural, artistic, ritual and political; the different aspects of society and our daily life. In this day, dedicated to philosophy all over the world, we raise a call back to the classical values of our humanity, to the natural conviction in man's goodness and confident that there is a meaning to all which is created.

What a wonderful sensation can behold those whose hearts are open to life itself? This is the sensation of wonder and the knowledge that there is no magic in life for life itself is magic. This is what Plato might have meant when he talked of wonder in the context of philosophy and what Einstein alluded to, when talking of science.

(By Yaron Barzilay) The writer is director, New Acropolis India.

The Two Frogs And A Blogger

THE TWO FROGS.THE FABLES OF AESOP

One hot summer, the lake in which two Frogs lived was completely dried up, and they were obliged to set off in search of water elsewhere. Coming to a deep and deliciously cool well, one of the Frogs proposed that they should jump in at once. " Wait a bit," cried the other; "if that should dry up, how could we get out again?'.

WONDERING WHAT A BLOGGER IS DOING IN THIS STORY?

 

The blogger is trying to learn some valuable lessons from this story.!!!

People take things for granted and follow on stimulus reaction than thinking ,Thinking before doing is a wise thing and this thought is deleted from peoples  mind long back ,and crowd behavior is more adopted and is in use now days in wide scale  and i can see it clearly.If one frog jumps in to the well others instead of thinking just follow.

Blogger Lessons :

1. Remember ‘Hot Summer’ may come any time.

Every blogger dreams to be an ‘A’ list blogger and he will work hard for it, and there are many A listed bloggers after reaching that position they didn't stopped posting or working hard because they know Summer will always be just around the corner and they have to work more and consistent.so there is no resting or stopping so hard work is the only solution to keep hot summers of bloggers at bay.

2. Have a ‘Wait a bit’ Friend.

having friends is great right, having like minded friends with similar interest is just wonderful so build a network and have a good bloggers circle and network , the more powerful and good friends you have better your chances to grow as a blogger.

3. Have a How to get out again? plan (Backup Plan).

Always have a back up plan, always back up everything of your online kingdom and every thing means every thing, your mails,templates,blogs,data,photos and more.and also if you want to be a pro blogger and full time blogger learn more and more before jumping in to the well and remember there will be no coming back so have more knowledge about your field more than any body you know and diversify yourself to achieve more.

If you liked this article, please share it and give feedback I’d appreciate it. :)

HOME by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

For all Nature Lovers this is a Master Piece,This is a Documentary Probably best in its kind about this Beautiful Planet .This is a documentary with Unbelievable Aerial Shots from across the planet .You cannot stop admiring god’s nature and the effort put in by HOME team ,to show you all the natural wonders in a never seen before view.

Starting with How this planet works and how every thing is Interdependent on this planet,and how we humans are trying our best to destroy the natures balance in all possible ways.Kudos to director and the team to put such a wonderful effort to educate people to save this planet.

Director Yann Arthus-Bertrand.and his teams efforts were justified as this film released in  181 countries, the film broke the world record for the largest film release in history.Also wonderful back ground music by Armand Amar makes the journey more wonderful.

I must say my love towards this planet increased by many folds after watching this wonderful documentary.If you can spend two hours of your busy life ,you will not regret even for a second.Encourage every one you know to see this documentary ,it’s free."The benefits of this film cannot be counted in dollars, but in audience figures."

You can watch this movie completely free on YouTube its 'HomeProject'  channel, also it is legal to download torrent of this movie.Visit the Official website of this movie.I am sure you will love this movie.

For a Better Planet.

This visually dramatic special illustrates the planet's fragile state entirely from a birds-eye view in stunning high definition. With spectacular aerial views from more than 50 countries, viewers will see the extent of human impact on our landscapes. And not a moment too soon: In the past 50 years --a single lifetime -- the Earth has been more radically changed than by all previous generations of humanity. Read more

Sources :

Wikipedia and Youtube

10 Practical Steps to Simplifying Your Life

1. Reuse paper bags, envelopes, newspapers, etc. Newspapers and shredded paper make excellent mulch in the garden. The mulch will break down over a period of time and add humus to the soil. (Don’t use coloured flyers.)

2. Have a Buy Nothing Day.

3. Carve some space for ‘mindful living’ so that you have time for ‘beingness’ rather than ‘doingness.’

4. Find friends who know the glass is half-full or in other words, find friends who share the same value system as you do.

5. Grow your own food or buy as much as possible from local growers.

6. Use non-toxic products such as borax, vinegar, baking soda, lemon, and salt in your home, yard, and garden.

7. Before you buy something, write the item down on a note and if you still want it after a month, purchase it then.

8. Decide what is really working in your life and let go of that which no longer serves you.

9. Surround yourself with what you really need and love.

10. Go Organic. Organic gardening is not only about the avoidance of chemicals, but in the larger picture, it is organic living using Nature’s laws.

Live Life Any Way

People are unreasonable,illogical and self-centered, Love them anyway,

If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives, Do Good Anyway ,

If you are successful,you may win false friends and true enemies, Succeed Any way,

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow, Do Good Any Way,

Honesty and Transparency make you venerable, Be Honest and Transparent Anyway,

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight, Build Any Way,

people who really want to help may attack you if you help, Help Them Any Way,

Give the world the best you have you may get hurt give world Your Best  Any Way.

The All-Time Most Popular Posts on Zen Habits

10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It

1. 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life

2. Simple Living Manifesto: 72 Ideas to Simplify Your Life

3. The Cheapskate Guide: 50 Tips for Frugal Living

4. A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Home

5. 10 Tasty, Easy and Healthy Breakfast Ideas

6. 50 Ways to Be Romantic on the Cheap

7. 30 Things to Do to Keep From Getting Bored Out of Your Skull at Work

8. Get Off Your Butt: 16 Ways to Get Motivated When You’re in a Slump

9. Top 42 Exercise Hacks

10. Handbook for Life: 52 Tips for Happiness and Productivity

11. Simple Living Simplified: 10 Things You Can Do Today to Simplify Your Life

12. Top 20 Motivation Hacks – An Overview

Keep Your Appointment With The Divine

The Sister sat solemnly with her eyes closed that evening. "Prayer gives me strength," she said, as she recounted the story of how she became a nun at the age of 18, when other girls her age dream of romance.

She was answering my question if later, in some moments, she ever doubted her decision. On the contrary, she said, as time wore on, she became even more convinced that she had made the right choice and even experienced a rare kind of happiness and joy.

"It is not the duration of prayer that matters, but the quality," she went on. "Even for one second, if you turn your mind to God, it is enough," she told me in the silence of the Catholic Enquiry Centre library, Bangalore, as I listened with rapt attention.

Outside, darkness had fallen and the clock chimed the closing hour of the library. I quickly selected a book and left. "Prayer gives me strength." The words rang in my ears as i was having dinner that night and later, as i lay in bed. The Sister's words kept echoing in my mind as i contemplated her story.

I suddenly remembered the forgotten copy of "A Prayer Book for All," somewhere in the pile of books that we had at home. It was given to me by one of the school fathers, many years ago. I fished it out the next day and began on a routine of simple morning and evening prayers.

I soon found that prayer was beginning to have a beneficial effect on me. I was meeting each day with a renewed strength and vigour and experiencing a sense of well-being and happiness. But more importantly, prayer was bringing about a complete change in my outlook and inner personality. I caught up with my long-neglected reading and discovered new authors, particularly inspirational writers of self-help books, such as Og Mandino, Richard Bach, Robert Fulghum and others.

It was around that time that i stumbled upon William Barclay's `More Prayers for the Plain Man'. I loved the way the author expressed his deep understanding of human nature and human problems, aspirations and frailties. The honesty, simplicity and universal nature of prayer had an instant appeal. I began reading one each of the 40 days' prayers everyday.

In his convincing introduction, Barclay describes prayer as "an appointment with God" and portrays an endearing picture of God as a friend. "Daily we should have our appointment with God... Prayer is keeping our friendship with God in constant repair," he explains. Prayer brings about an inner peace and calm an indescribable sense of well-being. It removes all mental and physical conflict creating a healthy body and a healthy mind.

Prayer instils positive thoughts in us about ourselves, our world and other fellow beings. It removes jealousy, greed, anger, envy and anxiety which are often the cause of our ailments and sicknesses. It is essential to pray not only for ourselves, but also for others. This leads to greater social harmony.

In the course of time, prayer arouses and sharpens our conscience that inner voice within each of us. Neglect of prayer dulls the conscience and leads one to the path of self-deceit and self-destruction. Barclay puts it succinctly: "Prayer does not do things for us. It enables us to do things for ourselves." Prayer gives me strength. That reminds me, it's time for my appointment with God!

Achieve perfection with integral yoga

Integral yoga or the yoga of self-perfection synthesises the collective potential of traditional disciplines like bhakti, gyan and karma yogas, to reorient human nature into bringing the supramental or the highest octave of consciousness, down to the earth plane.

Each of the other yogic systems develops a particular faculty, geared towards liberation of the appropriate part. In bhakti yoga, for instance, one approaches God with unconditional love, devotion and veneration. Karma yoga offers every activity to the Divine in a spirit of selfless service, without any expectation.

Integral yoga, which is more comprehensive in its sweep, aims at the total perfection of not one but all parts of the being. It directs the flow of consciousness from soul to the lower levels rather than begin from the bottom up purifying as it descends. This can prove effective only by the instrumentality of like-minded souls, jointly engaged in the endeavour. The core group will act as catalyst in 'Godward' progress. Sri Aurobindo saw this as being "decreed and inevitable in the evolution of earth consciousness".

Integral yoga strips successive layers of the body and mind of every vestige of inertia, falsehood and lower nature, down to the very innards of its tiniest cell, in order to unclog channels for the descent of divine consciousness. Once empowered, it taps into and coopts nature to help hasten its ongoing evolution of divinised beings.

Every voluntary or involuntary effort, activity or drive to better individual or community life, is yoga. It is nature operating through human agency to materialise progress and growth. As a sentient being, man is capable of cooperating with this inexorable evolutionary movement and bring about desired changes in a compressed time-frame, which, if left to itself, would have taken eons.

The key is integral yoga with a three-fold approach: intense aspiration for the Divine, rejection of all that is inimical to the path and total surrender or opening oneself to the Divine. It perceives Godhead as the fundamental unity permeating every atom of diverse creation, or the centrality of the spirit underlying nature, growth, life, material and non-material phenomena. Developed and perfected by Sri Aurobindo in 40 years of unbroken sadhna, it aims at nothing less than the transmutation of matter, a tectonic shift from the earlier quest of sages to help man rise above his mundane limitations.

The Mahayogi who had plumbed the heights and depths of life as revolutionary, political leader, statesman, philosopher, poet-writer and spiritual genius long realised that unless basic fault lines and destructive patterns ingrained in the human psyche were eradicated, the world would never be free of strife. That virtually implied recasting the flawed genetic script before humankind was rid of its demons of base passions and impulses, lying at the root of global unrest today.

"The object of my yoga", Sri Aurobindo wrote, "is to remove absolutely and entirely every possible source of error and ineffectiveness... in order that the Truth I shall show to many may be perfect and effectiveness in order that the work of changing the world... may be entirely victorious and irresistible. It is for this reason that I have been going through so long a discipline... busy laying down the foundation, a work severe and painful".

A B Purani quotes Sri Aurobindo mentioning once how he encountered "the formidable resistance of the inconscient", while engaged in the task of opening up human cells to the Divine light. The Mother, who took up from where the Saint left off after his samadhi , indicated in her notes that "body consciousness" residing in its aggregate of cells, imprinted with fixed impressions, was the most impervious to change. Without overcoming which, Supramental transformation would be incomplete.