Tag: Story

Quote from Wokini

In my youth I respected the world and life, I needed not anything but peace of heart;

And yet I changed despite myself and believed in Iktumi’s lies. He seemed to know all the truth, he promised to make me happy.

He made me ask Wakantanka for wealth, that I might have power; I was given poverty, that I might find my inner strength.

I asked for fame, so others would know me; I was given obscurity, that I might know myself.

I asked for a person to love that I might never be alone; I was given a life of a hermit, that I might learn to accept myself.

I asked for power, that I might achieve; I was given weakness, that I might learn to obey.

I asked for health, that I might lead a long life; I was given infirmity, that I might appreciate each minute.

I asked Mother Earth for strength, that I might have my way; I was given weakness, that I might feel the need for Her.

I asked to live happily, that I might enjoy life; I was given life, that I might live happily.

I received nothing I asked for, yet all my wishes came true. Despite myself and Iktumi, my dreams were fulfilled.

I am richly blessed more than I ever hoped, I thank you, Wakantanka, for what you’ve given me.

-Billy Mills , Oglala Lakota (1938-)

A husband is tossing and turning in bed…

A husband is tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep and this does not let his wife fall asleep.

She asks him what’s wrong.

He responds, “I owe money to our neighbor, the loan is due tomorrow but I can’t pay it”.

She picks up the phone and calls their neighbor, “Sorry to bother you so late but my husband can’t pay that loan back tomorrow” and hangs up.

Then she turns to her husband, “There, I fixed it. You can go to sleep in peace now, let the neighbor stay awake tossing and turning in his bed”

The moral of the story is that you need to fight fire with fire: let your feelings be known.

You will either get a positive response and your life can become better; or you will get a definitive “No” and you can start the healing process.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

Story : Get back into your natural element

Years ago, I was walking along the sea shore and I saw a little fish about three or four inches in size. But this little fish was in so much worry, flapping again and again, lying on the dry sand. I do not know whether it was a male fish or a female one. Let’s say it was a male fish, so that the fish could be addressed as ‘he’. So I looked in his eyes and he just looked in total confusion, frustration and misery. Somehow or other a wave had washed this little fish up and there he was, lying on the sand. The fish could not breathe properly. He was flapping and suffering.

Now I could have got a female fish and put next to him; would that be of any help? I could have got some mango lassi with some nice sanitized straw and put it next to him. I could have got him a diamond ring or a ruby crown. I could have offered him a BMW. Would anything of that make him happy?

Because he was out of his natural element, nothing could make him happy. So I tried to pick up that little fish and throw him back into the ocean. But he was so intensely worrying that every time I picked him up he just flapped so hard that he flapped right out of hand back into the sand. And I picked him again, but again he flapped out of my hand into the sand. At least 5 times I picked him up and he flapped out.

I was his well wisher trying to save his life but he could not recognize me, because he was just in such a state of trauma. Finally, with both my hands I cupped him and trapped him so he couldn’t get out; then I threw him as far as I could into the ocean.

Radhanath Swami

Story : When darkness ends

Rabbi Isadore was a wise teacher. A student asked, “How is one to know the precise time when night
ends and day begins?”
One student volunteered, “It is when one can distinguish between a dog and a sheep in the far distance,
that is when day begins.”
Another said, “It is when you can tell the difference between a fig tree and a date tree, then night is fully
gone.”
“No, it is neither of those things,” said the Rabbi. “It is when you can see your brother or sister in the face
of a stranger. Until then, night is still with us.”

A man approached the Blessed One and wanted…

A man approached the Blessed One and wanted to have all his philosophical questions answered before
he would practice. In response, the Buddha said, “It is as if a man had been wounded by a poisoned
arrow and when attended to by a physician were to say, ‘I will not allow you to remove this arrow until I
have learned the caste, the age, the occupation, the birthplace, and the motivation of the person who
wounded me.’ That man would die before having learned all this. In exactly the same way, anyone who
should say, ‘I will not follow the teaching of the Blessed One until the Blessed One has explained all the
multiform truths of the world’ – that person would die before the Buddha had explained all this.”

Source: The Teachings of the Buddha by Jack Kornfield