I want to share two old stories with you, and see how you would choose in these situations.
“Story One”
A certain company had a tradition of holding a party and a lottery every Christmas Eve.
The rules of the lottery draw were as follows: each employee pays ten dollars as a fund. There were three hundred people in the company. In other words, a total of three thousand dollars can be raised. The winner takes all the money home.
On the day of the lottery draw, the office was filled with a lively atmosphere. Everyone wrote their names on the slips of paper and put them in the lottery box.
However, a young man hesitated when he wrote. Because he thought that the company’s Cleaning lady’s frail and sickly son was going to have an operation soon after the dawn of New Year but she did not have the required money to pay for the operation, which made her quite troubled.
So, even though he knew that the chance of winning was slim, with only a 0.33 percent chance, the man wrote the name of the Cleaner lady on the note.
The tense moment came. The boss doubled in the lottery box, and finally drew out a note. The man also kept praying in his heart: hoping against hope that the Cleaning lady can win the prize…Then the boss carefully announced the winner’s Name, a miracle happened!
The winner turned out to be the Cleaning lady. Cheers broke out in the office, and the Cleaning lady hurriedly rushed to the stage to accept the award. She almost burst into tears and said, ” I am so fortunate and blessed! With this money, my son now has hope!”
At the beginning of the party, while thinking about this “Christmas miracle”, the man paced to the lottery box. He took out a piece of paper and opened it casually. The name on it was also the name of the Cleaning lady! The man was very surprised. He took out several pieces of paper one after another. Although the handwriting on them was different, the names were all the same, all of them were the names of the Cleaning lady The man’s eyes were filled with tears and he clearly understood that there was a Christmas miracle in the world, but the miracle will not fall from the sky, the people were required to create it by themselves!
“Story Two”
One afternoon, I went for a walk with a friend in the suburbs. Suddenly, an old man in tattered clothes approached us with a bag of green vegetables in his hand. The sales of those vegetables on that day were very poor, the leaves seemed dehydrated and yellowish and there were holes in them as if bitten by insects. But my friend bought three bags without saying a word. The old man also embarrassedly explained: “I grew these vegetables myself. It rained a while ago, and the vegetables were soaked. They look ugly. I’m sorry.”
After the old man left, I asked my friend: “Will you really cook these when you go home?”
He didn’t want to say No to me. ” These vegetables can no longer be eaten.”
“Then why did you take the trouble of buying them?” I asked.
He replied, “Because it is impossible for anyone to buy those vegetables. If I don’t buy it, the old man will probably have no income for today.”
I admired my friend’s thoughtfulness and concern, so I caught up with the old man and bought some vegetables from him. The old man said very happily, “I tried to sell them the whole day , but no one was ready to buy them. I am so happy that you both were willing to buy from me… Thank you so much.”
Several handfuls of green vegetables that I can’t eat at all taught me a valuable lesson.
Moral intake –
When we are in a low ebb, we all hope that miracles will happen to us; but when we are capable, are we willing to be the one who creates miracles?!!!
You become transformed when you are willing to learn to be compassionate to others…
I find such short story with graphical illustrations rewarding in upping the reading challenges. This book falls on this category and leaves a permanent scar of morality. Wonder if choosing a panda character to represent the Zen teachings proves to be a wise move or corresponds well with the core tale? But I personally feel the later and grabbed it without a second thought. Give it a shot. Feeling ‘Zen’ now
In Ancient Greece, Socrates had a great reputation of wisdom. One day, someone came to find the great philosopher and said to him:
Do you know what I just heard about your friend?
A moment, replied Socrates. Before you tell me, I would like to test you the three sieves.
The three sieves?
Yes, continued Socrates. Before telling anything about the others, it’s good to take the time to filter what you mean. I call it the test of the three sieves. The first sieve is the TRUTH. Have you checked if what you’re going to tell me is true?
No, I just heard it.
Very good! So, you don’t know if it’s true. We continue with the second sieve, that of KINDNESS. What you want to tell me about my friend, is it good?
Oh, no! On the contrary.
So, questioned Socrates, you want to tell me bad things about him and you’re not even sure they’re true? Maybe you can still pass the test of the third sieve, that of UTILITY. Is it useful that I know what you’re going to tell me about this friend?
No, really.
So, concluded Socrates, what you were going to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor useful. Why, then, did you want to tell me this?
“Gossip is a bad thing. In the beginning it may seem enjoyable and fun, but in the end, it fills our hearts with bitterness and poisons us, too!” – Pope Francis
Joshua brings in his experience of being a minimalist and offers ample perception on how to get started. His reflection is hammered to the point where they’re needed, unlike filled with unrealistic goals. I love this quote of his, “Simplicity is inviting you to value the things that you want to value, not the values of billboards and advertisements” which is so true to the words. Unless the required efforts are burned in it is pointless to debate about its action. Anybody looking for minimalism can grab this nugget and hope it serves you well.
I have read very few books in fantasy section not because I am displeased, but my focus on it makes it too striving. This book is so blessed by its empirical nature of morality and glitters value of life like a piece of cake. The story is about a daughter heading to find answers for her poverty state from an old man who is gifted to change fortunes. Along the journey she befriends a dragon, small boy and some more characters that teach lessons while her perception slowly reveal the reality of her misconceptions. This statement speaks concisely to what I feel -“Fortune was not a house full of gold and jade, but something much more. Something which already have and did not need to change”. Overall a satisfying read with lots of embedded stories on offer.
I cherish those moments that passed like a smug, never expected this to be the last chance. Had I been told in advance about our destiny, would have tried hard not to leave you aside. You are the very reason for my cognitive transference and spiritual transcendence, yet you remain far away to reciprocate my true feelings. Your disciplinary actions, determined values and thrive to keep updated with the current trends are some of the eye openers to me. Is it possible to erase the first meeting I had at the airport, the place with so many chaos and feeling like a fresh off the boat. There you were smiling to greet me and my loneliness tagged your way till parking lot. What happened next was a true history bonded to my destiny, the smell of the new country and its county are unique to its landscape. More grasping is the house where everything seems to be like a refreshing image in my eyes. The entire place is filled with positive vibes that cannot be expressed in words, it has to be experienced by self. May sound lunatic or spooky for some of the passers, but more you open with possibilities the better one may treasure it. One section of the living room is surrounded with book racks that is very rare to find. To be honest, it is this spot that introduced me to books and not to forget the person behind who deserves the most praise.
He is none other than my great uncle, who is 87 years old with sharp memory and a great erudite. He is a doctor by profession and used to keep himself busy all the time by reading books, teaching spiritual text and attending his chores. He never feels exhausted from learning new things in life, such as languages or scriptural studies. The moment he arrives from work, I would sit beside to listen to his day’s experiences. He is a highly independent individual with so much knowledge to inculcate. He never lies, no matter what the situation demands. This is what admires me the most and was dreaming to be his shadow forever, but my fate had other plans. I had to return back to my home country and residing here ever since. Nevertheless, his physical presence may not be here, but all his values are poured on me and hope to meet him again in near future. Well, this article is a dedication to him as a token of love.
vishnupria 