the moth

The Moth Who Fell In Love With A Star

There once was a moth that fell in love with a star. All his friends and relatives mocked him, told him he was being unrealistic, and urged him to focus his efforts on some local, possible, attainable goal: a streetlamp, a porchlight, a candle or a lantern. Even a chandelier, if he must. But our Moth was in love with His Star, and he would not give up. So while all his pals, his parents, his sisters and brothers and cousins and aunts, soon burned themselves out around the local, ready-made luminaries, and wound up as charred bits of ash on the sidewalks, the porches, the floors and tables of the town, our Moth enjoyed a long and happy and healthy life in endless pursuit of his limitless Star.

Lesson: To ‘reach for the stars’ – having an ambitious goal – can actually keep you safe and sane.

violence

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A MOTHER’S WISE ADVICE (NON- VIOLENCE)

Get any book for free on: http://www.Abika.com2 

Once upon a time, the son of Brahmadatta was ruling righteously inBenares, in northern India. It came to pass that the King of Kosalamade war, killed the King of Benares, and made the queen becomehis own wife.

 

Meanwhile, the queen’s son escaped by sneaking away through thesewers. In the countryside he eventually raised a large army andsurrounded the city. He sent a message to the king, the murderer of his father and the husband of his mother. He told him to surrenderthe kingdom or fight a battle.

 

The prince’s mother, the Queen of Benares, heard of this threat fromher son. She was a gentle and kind woman who wanted to preventviolence and suffering and killing. So she sent a message to her son– “There is no need for the risks of battle. It would be wiser to closeevery entrance to the city. Eventually the lack of food, water andfirewood will wear down the citizens. Then they will give the city toyou without any fighting.”

 

The prince decided to follow his mother’s wise advice. His armyblockaded the city for seven days and nights. Then the citizenscaptured their unlawful king, cut off his head, and delivered it to theprince. He entered the city triumphantly and became the new King of Benares.

 

The moral is:

Kind advice is wise advice.

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(~_~)

two pennies

I read this on Darren Pokes blog….Better Life Coaching

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I recently finished reading John Ortberg’s excellent book, “All the Places to Go . . . How Will You Know?”  Near the end, John shares this wonderful rabbinical legend:

From the mint two bright, new pennies came,

The value and beauty of both the same;

One slipped from the hand and fell to the ground,

Then rolled out of sight and could not be found.

The other was passed by many a hand,

Through many a change in many a land;

For temple dues paid, now used in the mart,

Now bestowed on the poor by a pitying heart.

At length it so happened, as years went round,

That the long lost, unused coin was found.

Filthy and black, its inscription destroyed,

Through rusting peacefully unemployed.

Whilst the well-worked coin was bright and clear

Through active service year after year;

For the brightest are those who live for duty

Rust, more than rubbing, will tarnish beauty.

The only question that I have today is, which penny are you?

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have a zen filled week

(~_~)

broken window

At our monthly meeting, the Warden told us this little moral story and I will do my best to recall it.

There is a warehouse near a school where kids pass by everyday. This warehouse has lots of windows and one window at the top is half broken. The owner decides not to repair the window because the warehouse is not being utilized. At what cost, saving the money not to repair the window leads to the kids passing by, thinking no one uses the warehouse, the owner doesn’t care about broken windows, so with a few rocks thrown, the owner now has eight broken windows. Had he repaired the one broken window, and the kids noticed, they might not have been inclined to be destructive. Moral, if you don’t care, don’t expect others to care either.

(~_~)

zen dog

I had a chocolate Lab named zen, the reason we named him “Zen” was because he always lay with his front legs crossed as if he was one with the universe. I now have a dog named “Yang” as in (yin and yang) yang is energetic, female, and the bright side of the sphere. However she is not white, but black so this explains the conflicted part of her thought process. I have been training her to be a bird dog, and I took her on her first bird hunt the other day and I was expecting Kaos, but to my surprise, she did “awesome.” I think that dogs that don’t get the enter action with their owners suffers and become problematic. With that being said, hug your canine and have a zen filled day.

(~_~)

little blue pebble

I was in an office building, going to the xerox machine, began making copies when I happen to look down and saw a little blue pebble. It was a miniature rock, not a sequin or plastic. I wondered how beautiful. It was up against the wall, on the short fiber ed carpet and tucked out of the way. I pondered on how it got there, probably adhered to the bottom of someones shoe and then got bumped off here where it sit content, I assumed. Sort of like me, I have been all over and some how ended up here, too. Just like this little pebble we all travel from place to place and end up where we are, at the now! Enjoy the ride, and even more important be content where your at till time to go again.

I placed the little blue pebble in my pocket and kept it. Now did this pebble enjoy being in the office air condition and I just shoved it into a dark place? Perhaps I’ll take it to the creek and toss it in with pebbles of its own kind. Perhaps that is where its journey began.

ART

(~_~)

the five rings

the five rings

Although it is difficult to grasp it from the book, Go Rin No Sho, these books are actually the teachings which Musashi preached to his students in his own dōjō. Despite taking some ideas from others, the books are not based on any other school of teaching.

The five “books” refer to the idea that there are different elements of battle, just as there are different physical elements in life, as described byBuddhism, Shinto, and other Eastern religions. The five books below are Musashi’s descriptions of the exact methods or techniques which are described by such elements.

The term “Ichi School” is referred to in the book, Go Rin No Sho. When referring to such books, it refers to “Niten No Ichi Ryu” or “Ni Ten Ichi Ryu”, which means, when literally translated, “Two heaven, one school”, although many could see the translation as “Two Swords, One spirit”, or “Two Swords, One Entity”. However, the translation of “Two Swords, one Dragon” was thought to be a transliteral misinterpretation of the Kanji word Ryu.

• The Book of Earth chapter serves as an introduction, and metaphorically discusses martial arts, leadership, and training as building a house.
• The Book of Water chapter describes Musashi’s style, Ni-ten ichi-ryu, or “Two Heavens, One Style”. It describes some basic technique and fundamental principles.
• The Book of Fire chapter refers to the heat of battle, and discusses matters such as different types of timing.
• The Book of Wind chapter is something of a pun, since the Japanese character can mean both “wind” and “style” (e.g., of martial arts). It discusses what Musashi considers to be the failings of various contemporary schools of sword fighting.
• The Book of the Void chapter is a short epilogue, describing, in more esoteric terms, Musashi’s probably Zen-influenced thoughts on consciousness and the correct mindset.

The Book of Earth

The Earth book, according to Go Rin No Sho, is mentioned as the book that refers expressly to the strategy taught by Musashi at the Ichi School, and it is said to be how to distinguish the way through “Sword-Fencing”, or “Swordsmanship”. The idea of strategy would be encouraged to be very astute in their study and strategy:

Know the smallest things and the biggest things, the shallowest things and the deepest things. As if it were a straight road mapped out on the ground … These things cannot be explained in detail. From one thing, know ten thousand things. When you attain the Way of strategy there will not be one thing you cannot see. You must study hard.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

backward slings you forward

 

have a zen filled day

(~_~)

rear view

have a zen filled day

(~_~)

sweet judgement

A mother and daughter were having fun when the mother asked, “do you want an apple?”

The little girl jumps up, “yes, I’ll get them.” she said excited and run to the kitchen and returned with two apples. The little girl took a bite out of one apple and then turned her head and took a bite out of the second apple.

The mother was upset and asked, “why did you do that? Don’t eat both. Don’t I get one, that was wrong.”

The little girl handed the mother an apple and said, “I was seeing which one was sweetest so I could give it to you.”

Moral~ Don’t be so eager to judge.

have a zen filled day

(~_~)