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Once, an old man was very ill and lay dying in his bed. He had four sons who were always fighting with each other. He always worried about them and wanted to teach them a lesson and asked his sons to come to him. When they came, the old man gave them a bundle of sticks and said, “Can you break these sticks?”
The first son tried to break the bundle but nothing happened. He tried very hard and finally gave up. Then it was the turn of the second son to try his luck. He thought it would be an easy task and picked up the sticks easily. He tried his best to break the sticks but nothing happened. Then, the third son tried to break the bundle of sticks, but he couldn’t do anything either.
Meanwhile, the youngest son jeered at his brothers and thought they were very incompetent. He thought he was very clever and took one stick at a time and easily broke all of them.
The old father then smiled at his sons and said, “Children, do you understand what happened? It is always easy to break the sticks one by one. But when they are bundled to‑ gether, none of you could break them. In the same way. you four brothers should always be together. No one will be able to hurt you then.” The four brothers realised what their father was trying to teach them and forgot all their enmity and learnt that unity is strength.
From that day onwards, they never fought with each other and lived together in peace and harmony.
this story found here!
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One may be but a drop of water but ban together we can make a wave
(~_~)
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.”
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The master walked with his disciples. He taught using questions full of content, riddles that kept within a whole wisdom of life. And he always surprised his disciples with his wise teachings.
On certain occasion, while dusking, he asked his disciples if they knew how to tell when the night ended and the day started.
The first of them said: “When you see an animal at the distance and you can distinguish if it is a cow or a horse.”
“No,” said the master.
“When you see a tree at the distance and you can distinguish if it is a pine or an eucalyptus.”
“Not either,” said the master.
“OK,” said the disciples, “tell us, when is it?”
“When you look at a man in the face and recognize in him your brother; when you look at the face of a woman and recognize in her your sister. If you’re not able to do this, then, be whatever hour it be, still it’s night for you.”
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The master Bankei’s talks were attended not only by Zen students but by persons of all ranks and sects. He never quoted sutras nor indulged in scholastic dissertations. Instead, his words were spoken directly from his heart to the hearts of his listeners.
His large audiences angered a priest of the Nichiren sect because the adherents had left to hear about Zen. The self-centered Nichiren priest came to the temple, determined to debate with Bankei.
“Hey, Zen teacher!” he called out. “Wait a minute. Whoever respects you will obey what you say, but a man like myself does not respect you. Can you make me obey you?”
“Come up beside me and I will show you,” said Bankei.
Proudly the priest pushed his way through the crowd to the teacher.
Bankei smiled. “Come over to my left side.”
The priest obeyed.
“No,” said Bankei, “we may talk better if you are on the right side. Step over here.”
The priest proudly stepped over to the right
“You see,” observed Bankei, “you are obeying me and I think you are a very gentle person. Now sit down and listen.”
“If nothing exists,” inquired Dokuon, “where did this anger come from?”
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
may your bowl be filled with zen this day
(~_~)
There were two fireflies buzzing around the woods one night. One claimed it was enlightenend because of its ability to shine in the darkness. The other was a clown/comedian, always laughing and playing, saying, “My butts on fire,” or “Lightening struck my back side.”
The two fireflies happened upon a cabin in the woods and lighted upon the front porch where an old man sat watching the clouds embrace the moon. The zen master watched as the two fireflies danced around, “Ah, two fireflies, nearly the same,” the master said. ” Except one is brighter than the other.” (But which?)
by Art~
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Out in the state of California there is a great valley known as the Yosemite Valley, and here once lived a tribe of Indians who tried to explain how the wonderful streams and trees and rocks came to be.
The story of one of the highest peaks, El Capitan, is very interesting. One day some Indian boys went fishing in a beautiful lake in the Yosemite, and after they had grown tired they lay down in the sun upon a rock beside the lake. They soon fell fast asleep. How long they slept they did not know, but when they awoke they found that during their sleep the rock on which they lay had been stood on end, so that they were now nearly a mile high in the air and had no means of getting down. They were in a bad plight.
But the animals in the valley which were friendly to mountaineers saw their misfortune and held a conference as to how to help the boys get down. They decided that the only thing to do was to try to climb up the face of the cliff. But the rock, was too steep, and so they tried to jump up. First the raccoon tried it, then the bear, then the squirrel, then the fox, and finally the mountain-goat. It was all to no avail, however, and they gave up in discouragement, and were about to leave the boys to perish, when the inch-worm came along and offered her services. The animals laughed her to scorn. What could she do, with her snail-pace, when they all, who were so fleet of foot, had to give it up!
But she would not be laughed out of her purpose, and she began to climb up the cliff. Slowly, inch by inch, she crawled up, so slowly that it seemed as if she would take a thousand years to get there. But as she passed crag after crag the animals below ceased making fun of her and began to shout encouragement. At last she reached the top. And then the Great Spirit turned her into a huge butterfly so strong that she flew down, with the boys on her back, to safety.
There is a verse in the Old Testament which says that the race is not always to the swift, which means that it is not always the strongest who win. It is the one who keeps at it. Many a bright boy fails in school because the lessons come so easily he does not work. Many a dull boy wins because he sticks to it and plods away.
If you are tempted to trust too much to your brightness, remember the animals who made fun of the inch-worm. If you are dull, remember the inch-worm, take courage, and plod away. You will get there sometime.
Howard J. Chidley’s short story: Inch-Worm And The Mountain
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live life inch by inch and moment by moment
(~_~)
In our busy, hustle and bustled busy lives we tend to forget to stop and smell the roses. To stop for a moment and live in the NOW! “To live in a painting,” is what I call the moment where I remember to look up and see the clouds in all their glory for this day. To look around and absorb my surroundings and where I stand in the ‘living picture’ of life. When I catch myself walking fast paced towards a place and I stop and slow my steps to live in every foot step and be in the now, not the …’what I am racing to.’
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A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
(this story found here…)
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An anthropologist proposed a game to the kids in an African tribe.
He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told the kids that who ever got there first won the sweet fruits.
When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats.
When he asked them why they had run like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself they said: ”UBUNTU, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?”‘UBUNTU’ in the Xhosa culture means: “I am because we are”
The message is straight.. “Have Heart, Will care”
The message is straight.. “Have Heart, Will care”
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pay exteraordinary attention to everything and everything will become extraordinary
(~_~)
HISTORY OF BONSAI
The history of bonsai (pronounced bon-sigh) is cloaked in the mist of the past but it is now widely accepted that it was the Chinese who first created the miniature landscapes and trees that we now know as bonsai. In Japanese, bonsai can be literally translated as “tray planting”, but since originating in Asia so many centuries ago – it has developed into a whole new form. Called penjing by the Chinese, bonsai was believed to have had its start in the Han Dynasty. In this essay I will discuss some of the legends and facts surrounding the beginning of bonsai.
One of the earliest Chinese legends contends that it was in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.) that an emperor created a landscape in his courtyard complete with hills, valleys, rivers, lakes and trees that represented his entire empire. He created the landscape so that he could gaze upon his entire empire from his palace window. This landscape form of art was also his alone to posess. It was said that anyone else found in possession of even a miniature landscape was seen as a threat to his empire and put to death.
Another Chinese legend relating to the beginnings of bonsai points to a fourth century A.D. Chinese poet and civil servant named Guen-ming. It’s believed that after his retirement he began growing chrysanthemums in pots. Some historians believe this was a step towards the beginning of bonsai in the Tang dynasty some 200 years later.
The earliest documented proof of bonsai was discovered in 1972 in the tomb of Prince Zhang Huai, of the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 A.D.) who died in 706 A.D. Two wall paintings discovered in the tomb show servants carrying plants resemblingbonsai. In one of the paintings a servant is seen carrying a miniature landscape and in the other painting a servant is shown carrying a pot containing a tree.
Even though it’s the Japanese who get most of the credit for bonsai, it wasn’t until the Heian period (794 – 1191A.D.) that Buddhist monks brought bonsai to the island. For many years following the arrival of bonsai, the art was practiced by only the wealthy and thus came to be known as a nobleman privilege. The fact that the art of bonsai was limited to the noble class almost caused the art to die out in Japan. It was with the Chinese invasion of Japan in the fourteenth century that the art of bonsai started to be practiced by people of all classes. Once the art was practiced by all classes, bonsai began to grow in popularity in Japan. The Chinese influence on the early bonsai masters is apparent since the Japanese still use the same characters to represent bonsai as the Chinese. After the establishment of bonsai in Japan, the Japanese went to great lengths to refine the art and a lot of credit must go to these early bonsai masters. The refinements that they developed has made bonsai what it is today.
The earliest bonsai to come to the west came mostly from Japan and China. The showing of bonsai at the Third Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1878 and later exhibitions in 1889 and 1900 increased western interest in bonsai and opened the door for the first major bonsai exhibit held in London in 1909. In these early years many westerners felt that the trees looked tortured and many openly voiced their displeasure in the way the trees were being treated by bonsai masters. It wasn’t until 1935 that opinions changed and bonsai was finally classified as an art in the west.
With the end of World War II, bonsai started to gain in popularity in the west. It was the soldiers returning from Japan with bonsai in tow that sparked western interest in the art, even though most of the trees brought home by these soldiers died a short time after their arrival. They survived long enough to create a desire in westerners to learn more about the proper care of their bonsai. The large Japanese-American population was invaluable to Americans in this respect. Their knowledge of the art of bonsai was of great interest ot many Americans learning the art.
Today, bonsai are sold in department stores, garden centers, nurseries, and many other places. However, most of these are young cuttings or starts and not the true bonsai produced by bonsai masters. Most trees purchased today are known as pre-bonsai and are for the most part only used as a starting point. To create a true bonsai work of art you need to learn as much as possible about the art and the trees you use. Information is your key to success and it is important to read as much as possible. It is also a good idea to join a local bonsai club so you are able to discuss the subject with experienced bonsai enthusiasts. As your knowledge and confidence grow, creating your own bonsai works of art will become easier and your enjoyment of bonsai will grow.
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bonsai of thorns
by Art~
the midget cactus stood there
next to the train tracks
under blistered sun
drowning in the drought
shriveled up like raisins
as if waiting for a ride
she just turned, and was eight
set to save it’s life
to be the hero
with pink sparkling dress
taking stellar cellular photos
barking demands was her super power
I, the parent
plucked and planted the cactus
according to her whimpers
in an elephant ear pot
spreading multi-colored pebbles like frosting
adding faucet rain drops
magnify glass, tweezers and lamp
surgically removing miniature thorns
from callused grown up fingers
measuring no regrets
in exchange for adolescent smiles
pondering lessons learned
passing by, a green fly swatter
in hand makes a Jedi’s sword
daring to save the planet
killing flies one smack at a time
running into the black cat
passing by, a bonsai of thorns
we hold the world in our hands
(~_~)
Who was Pavlov’s Dog?
Well, it is an experiment in behavioral psychology. The idea is that if we associate one thing with another (in this case, associate a bell with food), that eventually the same things will happen when the associated thing happens as when the original impetus happens. The dogs would start salivating when they saw their food… so they would ring a bell when the food came, and eventually, the dogs would start salivating when the bell rang… even when it was not accompanied by food.
The same thing happens in everyday life to a certain extent. For instance, someone who hates their job will get grumpy whenever they are at work… but they could also start to associate it with other things, like the whole company, the whole city, the whole state. Eventually “I hate California” would express that person’s hatred of doing a particular thing or interacting with a particular person, because they have associated other things with whatever they detest. Whether it is worth addressing all of our associations and working through them or just moving to another state depends on the circumstances.Read more: here
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So, every time I hear a bell… I get hungry? (grinin’)
Perhaps not, but I can relate to ill feelings stemming from my past. For instance, alcohol. I don’t drink, recalling so many hang-overs and events from my past (like pancreas). Seeking more self-control in my life, offering to be the designated driver and still enjoy the company of family and Friends on an outing.
The crutch in life. I have seen (at work) where many come in with a broken leg or had been shot and years later, even though they don’t need it, they still have a cane or walking stick.
So, where are you going with all this Art?
One of the things that helps me in my life; is Zen. When confronted with a situation (more often strong emotions) I will place my hands together, take a deep breath, close my eyes and begin now, recalling all that I know clouds judgment (yes experience is a helpful tool) but often times it is past emotions that are triggered by certain things (like the ringing of the bell) and even though I know not what triggered this emotion, I drop it and do what I know is right and that is live in the now. Zen is a state of being, in the now, there-fore I use this to suppress anger or anxieties and open my mind before I open my eyes. Then see it for what it is, for it is what it is!
The more I think about Pavlov’s dogs, the more I realize that there have been so many triggers instilled in our lives and to untangle them will take time. Just a little tid-bit, I recall my father when I was about 9 coming home drunk and tearing the house apart. He turned the refrigerator over in the kitchen. I came downstairs to see what the loud noise was and saw this, my mother ‘crying,’ orders me to go back to bed. In seeing someone get out of control has instilled in me to be in control of one’s anger and emotions. Yes, we are a direct result of our up bringing and environment.
I think of my mother as an Angel, that makes me a Demi-Angel!
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Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who lived from 1849-1936. He founded the Institute of Experimental Medicine in 1890, where his primary interest was digestion.
Pavlov’s Dogs is the name given to Ivan Pavlov’s seminal research in the early 20th century (there was not actually one dog as a pet but many dogs used in experimentations) which established some essential principles of Classical Conditioning in the field of human psychology. Classical Conditioning concerns ‘learned’ or conditioned behaviour, (which also forms the basis of behaviour therapy).
We all have behaviours that we might seek to change. The Pavlov’s Dogs illustration helps us to understand more about why we respond sometimes irrationally to certain situations.
Pavlov’s Dogs provides a wonderful and true example for anyone seeking to explain or understand how our past experiences can prompt certain behaviours in the future, for example, phobias (irrational fears), neurosis (severe nervous or emotional responses to particular situations), and even mild feelings of concern or anxiety that virtually all of us are prone to in one way or another (eg., public speaking, fear of heights, flying, being reprimanded or tested, etc.)
The initial Pavlov’s Dogs experiment was simply to place a dog in a sound-proof, smell-proof cubicle, with no outside view – a controlled environment in other words. A sound was made when food was given to the dog, and the amount of salivation the dog produced was measured. After repeating this several times (called ‘trials’), the sound was made but no food was given. The dog still salivated.
This simple experiment established that the dog did not necessarily need the food in order to respond to food. The dog was responding to a stimulus or ‘trigger’ that produced the same response as the real thing. Pavlov could make the dog salivate whenever the sound was made.
This is expressed technically: a ‘Conditioned Stimulus’ (the sound) can produce a ‘Conditioned Response’ (the salivation), which was the same ‘Unconditioned Response’ (salivation in response to food) for the original ‘Unconditioned Stimulus’ (the food)…. read more of this article here!
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~may your day be filled with zen~
(~_~)
The Dew Drop
Peter Hughes
As the sun rose, a dew drop became aware of its surroundings. There it sat on a leaf, catching the sunlight and throwing it back out. Proud of its simple beauty, it was very content. Around it were other dew drops, some on the same leaf and some on other leaves round about. The dew drop was sure that it was the best, the most special dew drop of them all.
Ah, it was good to be a dew drop.
The wind rose and the plant began to shake, tipping the leaf. Terror gripped the dew drop as gravity pulled it towards the edge of the leaf, towards the unknown. Why? Why was this happening? Things were comfortable. Things were safe. Why did they have to change? Why? Why?
The dew drop reached the edge of the leaf. It was terrified, certain that it would be smashed into a thousand pieces below, sure that this was the end. The day had only just begun and the end had come so quickly. It seemed so unfair. It seemed so meaningless. It tried desperately to do whatever it could to cling to the leaf, but it was no use.
Finally, it let go, surrendering to the pull of gravity. Down, down it fell. Below there seemed to be a mirror. A reflection of itself seemed to be coming up to meet the dew drop. Closer and closer they came together until finally…
And then the fear transformed into deep joy as the tiny dew drop merged with the vastness that was the pond. Now the dew drop was no more, but it was not destroyed.
It had become one with the whole.
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Be at peace with yourself and you will be one with the whole
(~_~)
In my morning stroll through the mountains and valleys of the internet, in search for zen and or a soul moving read, I found this;
Test Your Zen
(click here)
(give it a try, it was fun. Come back and tell me how you did. I was a Novice. A perfect score makes you a zen master! However I felt the questions could/ should have been more along the lines like; (what I have posted below)
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This test was inspired by the reading of Carisma Arts blog/ test. So I thought I would make my own with more of a zen setting to it!
~~~~~~ Zen Test ~~~~~~
A) Are you…;
1) a river , 2) a valley, 3) a mountain, 4) or a stone?
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B) You are sitting and Bee lands on your leg. What should you do.
1) smack it, 2) pick it up, 3) shoo it away, 4) remain still?
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C) You are in a dining hall and found a place to sit with your bowl of rice and one bisquit. You set your food down and begin to sit when a stranger reaches across and takes your bisquit. What do you do?
1) say nothing at all, 2) reach over and take the eaten bisquit back by force, 3) you walk around the table and beat some since into the theif, 4) you get up and ask; “Does any one else need a bisquit while I go and get another one?”
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D) Your walking through your garden when you notice that a beautiful rose has bloomed, do you…
1) clip the rose and take it with you? 2) admire the rose and walk away?
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E) A tree falls in the forest, What does it do?
1) Makes a noise, 2) Dies, 3) makes no sound?
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~answers~
A) … (4) a stone… no man is large enough to be a river, a valley or a mountain… humans are small, like that of the stone, moveable and many.
B) (3) Shoo it away, with a gentle hand. It can sting you and if you allow it to remain may the answer as well if one braves the chance of allowing the nature of the bee to sting them.
C) (4) of course my first choice would be to beat the theif into learning not to do this but, zen is about keeping peace so, offer to get them another bisquit while you replace yours; useing the; turn the other cheek method, but my rule is… do it to me once and I’ll smile, do it to me again and you won’t be smiling (~_~)
D) (2) is there really a perfect answer here? Both are good answers, but to allow nature to be, sounds like the most obvious zen answer.
E) This is the point of zen, what does a tree do? It can’t speak so it makes no cries or sound yet the fall itself will make a loud noise. The tree dies long before it falls yet when it falls it is laid to rest. All answers are excepted here.
(Each question is worth 20 points, how did you do?)
I made this test up so… what do I know, it is based on my opinion and it may not be yours. I hope to instill that our zen can and shall be tested all the time. Not our intelligence but our state of harmony with the world and universe.
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the brain is a muscle that loves to be exercised!
(~_~)
Many years ago, a man and his wife lived in a small thatched hut on a very small piece of land. They were poor and barely had enough to live. Every day they both went into the woods together to cut two bundles of firewood. They kept one burn for cooking and for heating their small home. They carried the other on their backs to the market to sell in order to buy other things they needed to live.
One day they came back from the woods carrying firewood as usual. They put one bundle in the kitchen and the second outside. But, the next morning, the wood outside was gone.
They had to sell the wood they had kept for themselves. This meant they had no wood to heat their home that night and no wood to cook with.
The next day they again cut two bundles of firewood. But, again found the bundle of wood outside had disappeared. This happened each day for four days in a row.
The husband got an idea. On the fifth day, he hollowed out the bundle of wood and climbed inside. He was determined to find out who or what was takling his firewood. About midnight, a rope came down from the sky and attached itself to the bundle of wood and lifted it into the sky with the woodcutter still inside it.
When the bundle of wood quit moving, the old man climbed out of the bundle to find himself up in the clouds. There he saw a white haired old man coming towards him. The white haired man untied the bundle of wood and was surprised to see the man inside. The old man asked, “Other people only cut one bundle of wood each day. Why do you cut two?”
“The woodcutter explained, “My wife and I are very poor. We cut one bundle to sell and the other to heat our home and cook our food.”
The old man laughed and said, “I already knew the answer. I have been watching you from here in the clouds for a long time. You are kind to people and animals. You treat everyone with love and kindness, and you work hard to live. Because you are such a good couple, I will give you a special treasure – a magic moneybag.”
Then the white haired man man picked up a bag and handed it to the husband. Every day, you can take one silver coin from the bag. The coin will be enough for your needs, and you will have a little left over to put buy bigger things you want over time. Take no more than one coin each day, and good fortune will be yours for years to come.
The man took the bag and turned it inside out, but there was no money in it. Still, he thanked the old man and walked back to the rope that brought him to the clouds. He took hold of the rope, and the white haired man lowered him back to the ground.
Once home, he gave the moneybag to his wife and told her the story. She was very excited. She put her hand in the empty bag and pulled out a silver coin. The coin was enough to buy what they needed to live and have a little left over. Between the money from the bag and the money from the sale of the wood, they began to save money and think about what they wanted to spend it on.
Days went by, and the couple’s savings grew. Each day, the husband became more impatient. “Let’s buy an ox,” he suggested. The wife didn’t agree.
A few days later, the he suggested, “How about buying a few acres of land?” His wife didn’t agree with that either.
A few days later, he said let’s build a new house. While the wife wanted to save longer and have enough before buying anything new, she agreed to building a house that was a little larger than the thatched hut they lived in. But, the husband insisted on building a large brick house. All he could think about was spending all the money they had saved. After all, he thought, there will be more money later.
No matter how she tried, the wife could not convince her husband to save for the future, and she went along with his wishes.
He spent money on bricks, tiles and timber. Then he hired workers and decided to stay home and supervise the work. He no longer went into the woods to cut wood to sell. Building the brick house was very expensive, and the work went slowly. The savings began to disappear rapidly.
The husband wanted everything NOW – not later. He didn’t understand why he only could take one coin out of the bag every day. Without telling his wife, he took the bag and reached his hand inside. He took out a second coin, then a third, then a fourth. He had totally disobeyed the warning given to him by the white haired man.
He reached in a fifth time and pulled out an empty hand. Not only that, but the coins in front of him disappeared. What’s more, the brick house he was building also disappeared. He found himself standing once again in his small thatch hut. His greed had caused him to lose everything.
The husband felt very sad, especially when he had to explain what happened to his wife. But, she still loved him and suggested they go to the mountain to cut firewood as we did before. It’s better to depend on hard work to earn a living instead of miracles.”
The Magic Moneybag… Korean Fable
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Tell yourself, ‘you are here now!’ And once you are done, the future has come and your words have slipped into your past, …that fast! Seize the moment!
Do you know how to juggle? Because that is what we do every day, juggling our past, our present and our future with-in our minds. But nature knows only the now. Not remembering when the Grand Canyon was just a creek, or the contenents were one land mass or the asteroid that set the earth into an ice age. No, Mother nature knows only one thing, the now. A Grand Zen Master she must be. (~_~) Stepping one day at a time into… tomorrow. Art~
set your goals high and don’t stop till you get there
Nothing takes the past away like the future
(~_~)
A soldier returning home alone from a great battle found a monster blocking his path. It wasn’t much of a monster. In fact it was quite pathetic. It was small, its claws were blunt, and most of its teeth were missing.The solder had won all the battles he had ever been in and was considered something of a hero. He decided he would deal with the rather feeble looking monster there and then. He had run out of bullets, so using his rifle as a club he brought the creature to the ground with a single blow.Then he stepped over it and continued along the path. Within minutes, the monster was in front of him again, only now it looked slightly larger and its teeth and claws were a bit sharper.
Once again he hit the monster, but this time it took several blows to bring it down. Again he stepped over it, and again, a few minutes later, the monster appeared before him, bigger than ever.
The third time, no matter how much he hit the monster it would not go down. It grew larger and more ferocious with each blow the solder aimed at it. Defeated, the soldier fled back down the path, with the monster chasing after him.
Yet by the time it arrived at the spot where he’d first seen it, the monster had returned to its original size.
When another traveller appeared on the path the soldier stopped him and warned him of what had happened. ‘Maybe we can fight it together,’ he suggested, ‘then we will overcome it.’
‘Let’s just leave the feeble little thing where it is,’ said the traveller. ‘If you pick a quarrel with something unpleasant when you don’t really have to, then it simply grows more unpleasant. Let’s just leave it alone.’
And so they did. They walked around the toothless little monster and
MORAL
Don’t let your toothless little monsters wind you up!
This story found… here~
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A man was polishing his new car; his 4 yr old daughter picked up a stone and scratched on the side of the car. In anger, the furious Man took his child’s hand & hit it many times, then spanked the child in anger. He looked up and saw all the neighbors watching.
The man was so hurt and speechless because of what he had done to a 4 year old child that he walked over to the car and kicked it many times. Devastated by his own actions, sitting in front of the car he looked at the scratches, His daughter had written ‘LOVE YOU DAD’.
Moral: Remember, Anger and Love have no limit. Always remember that “Things are to be used and people are to be loved”. But the problem in today’s world is that “People are being used & Things are being loved”.
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Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference
(~_~)
zendictive 