Inspirational Stories #115 - Determining Your True Path

A master was strolling through a field of wheat when a disciple came up to him and asked, “I can’t tell which is the true path. What’s the secret?”

 “What does that ring on your right hand mean?” – asked the master.

 “My father gave it to me before dying.”

 “Well, give it to me.”

The disciple obeyed, and the master tossed the ring into the middle of the field of wheat.

 “Now what?” – shouted the disciple.

 “Now I have to stop doing everything I was doing to look for the ring! It’s important to me!”

 “When you find it, remember this: You yourself answered the question you asked me. That is how you tell the true path: It is more important than all the rest.”

Inspirational Stories #114 - Aesop's tales # 1 - A Council of Mice

As promised, the subsequent posts will have a collection of tales from the Greek story teller, Aesop. Aesop was a slave in ancient Greece. Not much is known about his life. Most of the characters in his stories are animals, and Aesop uses the natural tendencies of animals to focus on human traits and wisdom. Each story has a moral to be learned from it.

Here is the first one.

The mice, frustrated by the constant dangers of the cat, meet in council to determine a solution to their tiring challenge. They discussed, and equally rejected, plan after plan. Eventually, a very young mouse raised up on his hind legs, and proposed that a bell should be hung around the cat's neck.

"What a splendid idea!" they cried.

"Excellent suggestion!"

"Oh yes, that would very well warn of the cat's presence in time to escape!"

They were accepting the proposal with great enthusiasm and applause, until a quiet old mouse stood up to speak.

"This is, indeed, a very good suggestion, and would no doubt solve our problems, he said. "Now, which one of us will put the bell around the cat's neck?"

Moral: It is one thing to propose. It is something else to carry it out.

Inspirational Stories #113 - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

There are two days in every week that we should not worry about, two days that should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed, forever beyond our control.

All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. Nor can we erase a single word we've said - yesterday is gone!

The other day we shouldn't worry about is tomorrow, with its impossible adversaries, its burden, its hopeful promise and poor performance. Tomorrow is beyond our control.

Tomorrow's sun will rise either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds - but it will rise, and until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn.

This leaves only one day - today. Any person can fight the battles of just one day - it is only when we add the burdens of yesterday and tomorrow that we break down.

It is not the experience of today that drives people mad - it is the remorse of bitterness for something which happened yesterday, and the dread of what tomorrow may bring.

Let us, therefore, live one day at a time!

                                    - Author Unknown

Inspirational Stories #112 - Old Man and his Son

There was an old man who lived alone. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, who would have helped him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son about his situation.

Dear Son,

I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my potato garden this year. I hate to miss doing the garden because your mother always loved planting time. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over. I know you would dig the plot for me, if you weren’t in prison. Love, Dad. 

Shortly, the old man received this telegram: ‘For heaven’s sake, dad, don’t dig up the garden!! That’s where I buried the guns!!’

Early next morning, a dozen police officers showed up and dug up the entire garden without finding any guns. Confused, the old man wrote another note to his son telling him what had happened, and asked him what to do next.

His son’s reply was: ‘Go ahead and plant your potatoes, dad. It’s the best I could do for you, from here.’

Moral: No matter where you are in the world, if you have decided to do something deep from your heart, you can do it. It is the thought that matters, not where you are or where the person is.

Inspirational Stories #111 - This too will pass

Once a king called upon all of his wise men and asked them, "Is there a mantra or suggestion which works in every situation, in every circumstance, in every place and in every time. Something which can help me when none of you is available to advise me. Tell me, is there any such mantra?"

All the wise men were puzzled. How could there be one answer for all questions-in every joy, sorrow, defeat or victory. Finally, one wise old man walked up to the king and gave him a something written on a piece of paper. But the condition was that the king was not to see it out of curiosity. Only in extreme danger, when the king finds himself alone and there seems to be no other solution, he will have to see it. The king agreed and put the paper under his diamond ring.

Shortly, the neighboring states attacked his kingdom. It was a surprise attack. Although the king and his army fought bravely, they lost the battle. The king had to flee on his horse. The enemies were following him. His horse took him far away in the jungle. He could hear the enemoies on their horse back closer to him. Suddenly, the king founf himself standing at the end of the road. Beneath, there was a rocky valley thousand feet deep. It he jumped, he would definitely die, and if he recturend, his enemies will surely capture him.

There seemed to be no way to go. Suddenly, he saw his diamond ring shining in the sun, and he remembered the message hidden inside the ring. He opened the diamond and read the message.

It read "This too will pass".

The king read it over and over again.Suddenly something struck  his mind. Yes!, it too will pass. He calmed down and kept standing where he was. After sometime, he realised that the noise of the horses were receding. Perhaps his enemies moved into some other part of the mountains.

The king was very brave. He re-organised his army and fought again bravely. He defeated the enemy and regained his lost empire. When he returned to his empire victorious, he was received with much fan fare, and all his people were rejoicing in the victory. People were dancing and singing merrily. For a moment, the king said to himself, 'I am one of the bravest and greatest. It is not so easy to defeat me". With the reception and celebration he got, he saw an ego emerging in him.

Suddenly, his diamond ring flashed in the sunlight and reminded him of the message. He opened it and read it again. "This too will pass".

He became silent. His face went through a total change - from the egoist, he moved to a state of utter humbleness.

Moral: There is nothing permanent in this world. Everything changes except the law of change. Think it over from your own perspective. You have seen all the changes. You have survived all setbacks, all defeats and all sorrows. All have passed away. If there are problems in the present, they too will pass away. Nothing remains forever. Joy and sorry are the two faces of the same coin. They too will pass away.