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One day, a spider and a silkworm crossed paths and struck up a conversation. The spider said to the silkworm,
“I admit your silk is better than the silk from the spider. It is yellow and white, dazzling and bright. You use the silk that you spin yourself to make a beautiful comfortable cocoon, which you live inside thinking falsely you are kings. You dream in your little cocoon until the women put you in scalding hot water and peel your silk off strand by strand. Then your beautiful cocoons are all gone. What a shame, though you have the ability to create such beauty, then die because of it, is this not stupid?”
The silk worm thinking about what the spider said, answered:
“Our actions are actually like suicide, but we spin silk so that people can weave beautiful fabrics, giving all the people the ability to look beautiful. Can you really say our labor is a waste?
Look at you spider, your whole reason for weaving is to make a trap that will let you eat the little bugs that fly into it. You may not regret it, but don’t you at least think that is a little cruel?”
Bowing his head, the spider left.
With his words, the silkworm reminded the spider that in the end, humanity makes wondrous things out of his thread, while the spider is killed and his webs are brushed away with a broom.
Moral: On one hand, many people think it is a waste to do things that do not personally benefit them. These people cannot understand why making sacrifices for the benefit of others would be either logical or acceptable. On the other hand, there are some people who are satisfied knowing that their sacrifices benefit others. They have learned the joy of service to others.
When we learn to look up from our small needs, leave our egos behind and look at the broader picture and needs of humanity, we have taken a significant step on the path to enlightenment.
(note: You see it all the time, online and on the streets, “webs” of deceit made to trap you for the gain of the all mighty dollar. There are a lot more spiders than there are silk worms, yet there are still a great number of silk worms that sacrifice themselves for others, which are you?)
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re-posting
Once upon a time there was a serpent that was persecuting a firefly. The poor firefly fled from the ferocious predator, using all the energy created by fear to speed him along.
The serpent, however, never considered giving up his pursuit, so he chased the poor firefly run away one day, and again for the second day.
The ordeal continued, until the third day.
Without the strength to continue, the firefly stopped and asked the Serpent, “May I ask you three questions?”
The Serpent said with a haughty tone, “I’m not used to answering anyone, but since I am going to devour you, you can ask me anything”.
“Am I part of your food chain?”
“No” answered the Serpent
“Did I hurt you or provoke you in any way?” asked the firefly.
“No” repeated the serpent.
“So, why do you want to devour me?”
“Well”, said the Serpent, “because I can’t stand to see your shining light.”
In your life, there will always be “serpents” that will come about to try to steal your light and dreams; you will have two options:
You can stop shinning your light, so no serpent will be after you any longer, or you can let your light shine even brighter and learn how to deal with people like that. But it will always be your choice.
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Sources:
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The Silk Worm and the Spider story http://humanityhealing.net/2011/10/the-spider-and-the-silkworm/
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The serpent and the firefly http://humanityhealing.net/2011/12/the-legend-of-the-serpent-and-the-firefly/
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Spider web picture: http://15zabinb.blogspot.com/2010/10/genetically-modified-silk-worms-that.html
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Silk worm picture: http://scorge.cghub.com/images/page:6/
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Serpent and the firefly… firefly.jpg
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Quote #1… spider web.jpg
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Quote #2… tumblr_m85f8xHka31qbpi1so1_500
- Quote #3… artistisareceptacleforemotions.jpg
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Did you know~ Outdoors, spider’s make their webs facing south. (South of the equator they make them facing north… always toward the sun)
~In the spider web of facts many truths are strangled~
(~_~)
Are you a Sun, a Star or a Moon
A zen master lay in his bed, he was ill. A student walked into the room and came to his bed-side and said, “Master, I did as you asked. I went to the ceremony and I read the words you had written down for me. I represented you the best that I could.”
“I am sure you did an excellent job and that the speech was well received,” the zen master replied.
“I felt like I was the moon. Nothing more than a reflection from your radiant way,” the student stated.
“You wanted to be the Star of the show? But a star is merely a small glimmer of light, I do not know why they use such a term. Now, the shining full moon is a beautiful thing,” the master replied. “Without the moon, the darkness would rule the night. The moon lights the way for so many when the night comes. This can not be a bad thing.”
“I hope one day to be as bright as you and shine for all the world to see.” The student said.
“We are all like the stars in the night sky, distant suns, and where there is a sun, there will be a moon. A moon shines only because a sun sheds light upon it. With-out the sun the moon would be a dark blob. Sometimes we are the sun, sometimes we are the moon and most times we are like distant stars. But we are human and each persons shines differently, do not forget that!” The zen master said.
“How are you feeling master?” the student asked.
“Like the fore-most distant star, not very radiant this day,” the zen master stated with a smile. “Today was your day to shine like a full moon.”
By Art~
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One day, Sun, Moon, and Wind went out to dine with their uncle and aunt, Thunder and Lightning. Their mother, a distant star, waited for their return. Both Sun and Wind were greedy and selfish. They enjoyed the meal but brought back nothing for their mother. But the gentle Moon removed a portion of food and kept it under her beautiful, long fingernails to share it with her mother.
When they returned home, their mother asked them what they had got for her. Sun and Wind promptly replied that they had got nothing since they had gone for their own enjoyment. But Moon gave her mother the delicious food that she had brought for her.
The mother was angry with Sun and Wind for their selfishness and cursed them. That’s why the sun is hated in hot weather and the wind is so disagreeable but the moon was blessed with good wishes. That is why she is always beautiful and cool.
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the world in harmony… ‘picture it’
(~_~)
With the up-coming movie ‘Prometheus’ being advertised so heavily I wanted to find the ‘full‘ story of his myth! (There are several versions) And what I found was … ‘Hope‘
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Prometheus was a Titan from Greek myth, born from the union of the Titan Iapetus and the Nymph Asia. He was one of four children born to the pair. The siblings of Prometheus included his twin brother Epimetheus , Menoetius, and Atlas, all of them Titans. The name Prometheus means “foresight,” and his twin brother’s name Epimetheus means “hindsight.”
Their father, Iapetus led the revolt against the Gods. His children Menoetius and Atlas joined with him, while his other two sons, Prometheus and Epimetheus sided with the Gods. Menoetius was killed during the revolt and Atlas was given the weight of the world to bear for his actions during the revolt.
Prometheus and Epimetheus journeyed from Mt.Olympus to Earth and visited the Greek province of Boitia where they made clay figures. Athena took the figures and breathed life into them. The clay figures that Prometheus had created became Man and honored him. The figures that his brother Epimetheus created became the beasts, which turned and attacked him.
Zeus was angered by the brothers’ actions of creating people and animals, and he forbade the pair from teaching Man the ways of civilization, Athena chose to cross her father Zeus and taught Prometheus so that he might teach Man.
Zeus was angered by the actions of Man and Prometheus. He forbade the Gods to give fire to Man. Prometheus was upset with Zeus’ proclamation and was determined to bring fire to Man, but Zeus had guarded the entrance to Olympus. Athena told Prometheus about an unguarded back entrance to Olympus where he would be able to enter with ease. Prometheus wanted Man to have all the benefits and progress that fire would bring.
Prometheus covertly entered Olympus at night through the back entrance that Athena had told him about. He made his way to the Chariot of the Sun and lit a torch from the fires that burned there. He touched the torch to coal, then extinguished the torch.
Prometheus then carried the still hot coals down the mountain in a pithy fennel stalk to prevent anyone from discovering the fiery coals. Upon reaching the lands of Men, Prometheus gave them the coals, breaking Zeus’ order by giving fire to Man. (In some versions of this myth, Athena did not breathe life into Prometheus’ clay figures to make the people. Instead, the myth explains that Prometheus needed the energy of the fire to give the clay figures the “spark of life.”)
Zeus was extremely angered by Prometheus’ actions since he had not wanted fire to be given to Man. Zeus set out to make a trap for Prometheus. Zeus gathered the gifts of the Gods and created Pandora and her box. Into the box he placed all the horrors of the world. Pandora was sent to Prometheus as a gift from Zeus himself.
Prometheus (with his foresight) saw the curse that Pandora and her box carried. He refused the gift, giving it instead to his brother Epimetheus who opened the box and released the chained horrors upon the world.
(Pandora’s box..(it is said that; it was not a box at all but instead a decorated jar).. Pandora always wondered what was in the box Zeus gave her. Finally she couldn’t hold her curiosity down anymore. She opened the box, and from it flew hate, anger, sickness, poverty, and every bad thing in the world. She slammed the lid down and managed to trap the final element still in the box: hope. So today, even when the going gets tough, every human still has hope.)
(There is a version that suggested that the last thing trapped in the box was hopelessness, that was not able to get out of the box, there-fore man still had hope.)
Zeus was upset at having his plan thwarted. Prometheus had refused a direct “gift” from the chief God, after all. At Zeus order Prometheus was chained to a rock in the Caucasus Mountains where his torture was to be carried out. Every day a great Eagle would come to Prometheus and eat his liver, leaving only at nightfall when the liver would begin to grow back once more. At daybreak, the eagle would return to the chained Prometheus and again attack his body, eating his liver. The daily ritual would repeat itself into eternity…or so it seemed.
Zeus offered to free Prometheus (who still had the gift of foresight) if he would tell the secret of the prophecy that told of the dethroning of Zeus one day. Prometheus refused. The mother of Prometheus, the Nymph Asia, also had the gift of foresight. Her son’s continuing torture plagued her, so she finally went to Zeus and told him the secret of the prophecy. The prophecy explained that the offspring of Zeus and the Nymph Clymene would one day rise up and destroy Zeus and Gods.
Zeus sent Heracles to free Prometheus from the rock once he learned the revelation of the prophecy. He still required that Prometheus be bound to a rock for the rest of eternity. A link of the chain he had been bound with was set with a chip of the rock. Prometheus was required to carry it with him always. Men on Earth also created rings with stones and gems set into them to commiserate with him and to honor Prometheus for the actions he had taken on their behalf. …source…
Power to the one who will defy all odds in order to better mankind, then and now! I can only ‘hope‘ there will always be more like Prometheus!
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Hope; the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: … to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence; to believe, desire, or trust:
I had a conversation with a friend the other day (he is currently going through the police academy) About the system, (big brother, the man, the law) and he stated that the balance between good and evil (evil being; those who break the law knowingly and prey on others) is to this day better than it was years ago and is getting better every decade as humans become more knowledgeable. There will always be a balance between the two for you can’t have one with-out the other. All we can do is hope that good will prevail.
Does the balance between good and evil truly rest on Hope alone? I thought of determination, perseverance and idealism and all of these still pivot of hope; hoping for something and acting to achieve it.
inside Pandora’s Box….
may ‘hope’ always be in your heart!
(~_~)
The disciple said to the master: “I have spent a great deal of my life seeing things that I should not, wishing for things I should not wish for, making plans I should not be doing.”
The master invited the disciple to go for a walk. On the path he pointed out to a plant and asked the disciple if he knew what that was.
“Belladonna. It can kill someone who eats its leaves.” Stated the student.
The master then said, “But it cannot kill someone who only contemplates it. In the same way the negative desires cannot cause any evil, if you do not allow yourself be seduced by them.”
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When Noah was planting a vineyard, Satan appeared to him and asked permission to help him.
Satan brought first a lamb, killed it and poured its blood over the furrows. Then he soaked the earth with lion’s blood. Following he trapped a monkey and used his blood in the same way. And finally it was the turn of a pig. Then Satan explained to Noah his intentions:
When man would drink the first cup of wine he will turn sweet and happy as the lamb. With the second cup, he will be valiant and a fighter like the lion, bragging of his power. Then after the third cup, he will become ridicule as the monkey. But if he drinks four or more cups he will become a repugnant pig, dirty and bestial, capable of wallowing in mud.
source
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food for thought
How do you like your coffee? Black, with sugar, with cream or perhaps you don’t like coffee and/or prefer tea or cocoa. How do you like the bitter truth delivered to you? Would you like to hear it plain and bitter, or would you prefer it sweetened up a little bit before it is served to you. Sprinkle a bit of french vanilla over the words and make it more to your liking or just spell it out… it is what it is!
I am not a diplomat, so it eludes me why we give millions/billions of dollars to foreign countries when we have hungry and homeless people right here on our soil. (But then again…) I have not seen it yet, but I await the viewing of the movie… ‘Machine Gun Preacher’ …. based on a true story. Basically, a man who has done so many things wrong, finds religion and decides to go to Africa to help feed the hungry and finds that the food and money that is for the hungry is taken by the rebels. (This is the root of most problems with sending money to other countries) The money goes toward buying guns and funding armies. A story where one man made a difference.
Take a stand or go and sit down and have a cup of sweetened coffee. Take the bull by the horns and tame the beast or go sit down and watch the show. You have to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything. We are not the new Romans headed for a great fall, we are Americans, united and versitile. We are not a Belladonna, we are Americans where the icon is the Bald Eagle… watch us soar!
One may be but a drop of water, but banned together and we can make a wave.
(warrior of virtue and honor)
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zen will not tap you on the shoulder, zen must be found
(~_~)
~Turtle Zen~
There once lived a tortoise in a forest shaded, shallow stream. It had watched the sun rise over a mountain all its life. Seeing this, the turtle thought perhaps if it were to climb to the top of the mountain and with perfect timing, it could step onto the bright ball and catch a ride on the warm sun. For turtles love basking in the sun.
The turtle had spent nearly a year walking upward on a twisting and turning mountain road. The journey was a long, uphill battle and the turtle nearly had forgotten why it was making such a pilgrimage except for every morning it was reminded when the sun came over the mountain and renewed his desire for the suns warmth.
When the turtle finally reached the mountain top he realized that the sun was to high to step upon so it gazed down into the valley below and saw a beautiful lake. It then decided to go down the mountain in order to swim in the wonderful blue waters of the lake below, for it had not bathed in cool waters for a very long time. So he began its decent toward the valley, abandoning his goal to step onto the sun for a new destination.
As the turtle walked downward it lost its footing and balance and began to roll down a steep hillside. When the turtle quit tumbling and rolling it found itself upside-down, on its back. It struggled for a long time, unable to turn over the turtle decided to rest.
When nightfall came a wolf happened upon the turtle. Thinking that the turtle would make a delicious and easy meal the wolf clawed at the turtle and nudged it with its nose but was unable to find any flesh to bite into, the wolf soon left. The turtle however was now right-side up, thanks to the wolf. It then began to make its way down the mountain again.
Not much farther down the mountain, the turtle became victim to gravity and fell a great distance before coming to a stop. Once again the turtle found itself upside-down and helpless. Struggling helplessly the turtle tried and tried to get right-side up but was unable to. A hawk saw the turtle wiggling and waving its legs in the air and swooped down and landed on the turtle. The turtle retreated deep into its shell.
The hawk gripped the turtle and began to fly away with it. The weight of the turtle was to much for a hawk but the hawk was persistent in getting the turtle to its nest. Flying rather low the hawk was unable to gain much altitude and eventually released the turtle in order to fly high. The turtle fell to the earth, landing in a bed of pine needles and once again rolled down the hill. When the turtle finally came to a stop it found itself close to the lake in which it was attempting to reach. The turtle crawled to the waters edge and submerged itself in the cool, refreshing blue water.
The next day the turtle was swimming under water and saw the bright sun above, so the turtle surfaced. It wanted so badly to bask in the warmth of the sun so it found a stump and crawled out of the water. There the turtle absorbed the sun’s warmth and contemplated the past events. The turtle found that the trying journeys it had endured had brought it to heaven. A place where it can swim in the cool blue waters of a lake and bask in the warmth of the sun. It’s only goal now… was to feed itself. So the turtle set out to accomplish this new goal.
(moral: We set goals for ourselves and pursue them, meeting challenges along the way. We may find ourselves feeling helpless and our world gets turned upside-down but patience and preserverance will help us prevail. Sometimes the dangers we come face to face with is just what we need to help us achieve these goals or makes us wiser from them, and as we reach one goal we tend to set another goal for ourselves.)
May you find peace and tranquility everyday on your journey as you attempt to reach your goals, whatever they may be.
By Art~ 2012
(this story has been brewing for awhile and went through so many changes. If you have any suggestions on how to make it better, I am all ears. (now with that… I ask, “why is it turtles have no ears? I see a new story coming … ‘grinin’)
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It’s not about the destination… it’s about the journey!
have a zen-tastic day
(~_~)
Strengthen the body, Sharpen the mind and Enrich the spirit
wisdom riddle
An elderly oriental man woke one morning and as always he gathered his trinkets and loaded them on a cart and went toward the market for his daily duties of selling his merchandise for a hand full of coins.
At the market he set up for selling and laid out his goods for display and waited. After a short time he realizes that it will be a slow day for there was not that many people at the market to make purchase so he decides to take advantage of the time and pray for a profitable day.
He bends down and opens the side doors on his cart and pulls out two small, gold Buddha statues. The statues are very heavy, 25 pounds each. He lays out his make-shift shrine of incense and these two small statues and begins to pray for a profitable day.
While this elderly oriental man is praying a couple of thugs happen by and see the two golden Buddha statues. They start walking toward the old man and the man takes note that these men coming toward him are known thieves. He quickly makes the decision rather to load the cart and make a run for it or to grab his prize statues and run. He decides to do the latter and takes up the two statues and makes a run for it.
The thieves get to the cart and fumble through it and find nothing of worth so they then take after the old man and his two golden treasures. They chase the old man for awhile and come to a gorge. The man stands at the gorge where a rope bridge reaches across the very deep canyon. There is a sign at the very unstable rope bridge , that reads;
‘This bridge will only support 150 pounds of weight’.
The old man calculates this for a moment as the thieves come closer and closer. The old man weighs 125 lbs and each Buddha weighing 25 pounds. The old man takes off across the bridge, with both golden Buddha statues and makes it across… how did he do this with out exceeding the 150 lb weight limit?
(~try to answer this with-out scrolling down to find the answer~)
~~answer~~
The elderly oriental tossed one of the Buddhas in the air and as it came down, before catching it, he tossed the other Buddha statue in the air as he caught the first one. Doing this until he reached the other side, there-fore he never exceeded the 150 lb weight limit.
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If you are an American when you go into a bathroom and an American when you come out of the bathroom, what are you while you are in the bathroom?
…European!
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When one does not know what it is, then it is something; but when one knows what it is, then it is nothing. What is it?
answer: A Riddle!
Sharpen the Mind (one)
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what do you see?
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not everything is as it appears to be…
Life’s a maze, love’s a riddle
may you enjoy every moment while time wittles
(~_~)
One morning I wasted nearly an hour watching a tiny ant carry a huge feather cross my back terrace. Several times it was confronted by obstacles in its path and after a momentary pause it would make the necessary detour. At one point the ant had to negotiate a crack in the concrete about 10mm wide. After brief contemplation the ant laid the feather over the crack, walked across it and picked up the feather on the other side then continued on its way.
I was fascinated by the ingenuity of this ant, one of God’s smallest creatures. It served to reinforce the miracle of creation. Here was a minute insect, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to reason, explore, discover and overcome. But this ant, like the two-legged co-residents of this planet, also shares human failings. After some time the ant finally reached its destination – a flower bed at the end of the terrace and a small hole that was the entrance to its underground home. And it was here that the ant finally met its match.
How could that large feather possibly fit down a small hole? Of course it couldn’t. So the ant, after all this trouble and exercising great ingenuity, overcoming problems all along the way, just abandoned the feather and went home. The ant had not thought the problem through before it began its epic journey and in the end the feather was nothing more than a burden.
Isn’t our life like that? We worry about our family; we worry about money or the lack of it, we worry about work, about where we live, about all sorts of things. These are all burdens – the things we pick up along life’s path and lug them around the obstacles and over the crevasses that life will bring, only to find that at the destination they are useless and we can’t take them with us.
source: an ant story
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Once there lived a king cobra in a small hole. When he was small he ate little creatures. As he grew up he began to eat eggs, lizards, frogs and rabbits. And when he grew up further he started to eat even other smaller snakes. His pride grew with him.
All small animals began to fear the king cobra. This boosted up his pride. He began to think “Now I am the most powerful creature. I am the king of the forest. All animals fear me. Let me move from this small hole to a bigger place”.
He searched for a place to suit his size and status.
Finally he came across a big tree. He selected the tree for his house. He saw an ant hill near the tree.
He thought “Why should there be an ugly ant hill near my royal house?” He hissed aloud “I am king Cobra, the king of the forest. I order the ants to vacate immediately”. There was no reply. He got wild and struck at the ant hill.
What a surprise! In a minute thousands of ants swarmed up the king cobra biting him everywhere. The king cobra could not bear the pain. He ran away.
MORAL : Pride goes before fall.
source: King Cobra and the Ants
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food for thought
All of us tend to look up to big people for lessons on how to get better. We are keen to learn the secrets of their success. But we forget that sometimes the biggest lessons in life come from the smallest folks around us. Now that’s a good lesson to remember!
Take ants for instance. Would you believe those small creatures can teach us how to live a better life? Jim Rohn – the great motivational guru – developed what he called the ‘Ants Philosophy’.
He identified four key lessons from the behaviour of ants that can help us lead better lives. Jim Rohn is no more – but his messages continue to inspire. Here then, are the four lessons from Rohn’s ‘Ants Philosophy’.
1. Ants never quit. Have you noticed how ants always look for a way around an obstacle? Put your finger in an ant’s path and it will try and go around it, or over it. It will keep looking for a way out. It won’t just stand there and stare. It won’t give up and go back.
We should all learn to be like that. There will always be obstacles in our lives. The challenge is to keep trying, keep looking for alternative routes to get to our goals. Winston Churchill probably paraphrased the ant’s mindset when he offered this priceless advice: ‘Never give up. Never, never give up!’ ….
….And there’s just one more lesson to learn from ants. Did you know that an ant can carry objects up to 20 times their own weight? Maybe we are like that too. We can carry burdens on our shoulders and manage workloads that are far, far heavier than we’d imagine. Next time something’s bothering you and weighing you down, and you feel you just can’t carry on, don’t fret. Think of the little ant. And remember, you too can carry a lot more on your shoulders!
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you can’t take it with you when you go, but what you leave behind will live on in others, memories… make them good ones!
(~_~)
I was in Tokyo last spring, walking beneath neon signs and cherry blossoms with my dear friend Kirsten. Right about the time the sun was setting, we heard the sound of a jazz band coming from an alley. Turns out it was a group of four very hip Japanese college students playing their hearts out for anyone who would listen.
But not everyone was enjoying the music. In the middle of the second song, an older homeless man broke through the crowd and started yelling at the band. The musicians did their best to ignore him but the apparently intoxicated man would not go away. It seemed he was angry about the loud noise.
There were probably two dozen of us watching this unfold – none of us knowing what we could or should do. I remember feeling very helpless, because first, I don’t speak much Japanese, and second, the homeless man was starting to get more and more violent. At one point, he picked up a stick and started banging on the drum set.
This was more than the young drummer could take and he finally stopped playing, stood up and pushed the old man to the ground.
It was then that a young Japanese man made his way through the crowd very quietly. He knelt down next to the old man, took hold of his hand and asked him if he was alright. I couldn’t understand what was being said, but I’ll never forget the way this young man helped bring the fallen man to his feet. And I’ll never forget the way he carefully placed his arm around the old man’s shoulders and quietly walked him away.
After reading the bellow quote by Rainer Maria Rilke, I can’t help but wonder. Maybe this old man was a prince in disguise. And maybe he was waiting to see someone act, just once, with beauty and courage. ……………(an act of kindness)
“Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
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story source: Dragons and Princesses
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A Lion once fell in love with a beautiful maiden and proposed marriage to her parents. The old people did not know what to say. They did not like to give their daughter to the Lion, yet they did not wish to enrage the King of Beasts. At last the father said:
“We feel highly honoured by your Majesty’s proposal, but you see our daughter is a tender young thing, and we fear that in the vehemence of your affection you might possibly do her some injury. Might I venture to suggest that your Majesty should have your claws removed, and your teeth extracted, then we would gladly consider your proposal again.”
The Lion was so much in love that he had his claws trimmed and his big teeth taken out. But when he came again to the parents of the young girl they simply laughed in his face, and bade him do his worst.
Moral of Aesops Fable: Love can tame the wildest
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the end
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have a wonderful day
One evening a fox, who was as hungry as a dog, happened to see the round reflection of the moon in a well, and he believed it to be a fine cheese. There were two pails which alternately drew up the water. Into the uppermost of these the fox leapt, and his weight caused him to descend the well, where he at once discovered his mistake about the cheese.
He became extremely worried and fancied his end approaching, for he could see no way to get up again but by some other hungry one, enticed by the same reflection, coming down in the same way that he had.
Two days passed without any one coming to the well. Time, which is always marching onward, had, during two nights, hollowed the outline of the silvery planet, and Reynard was in despair.
At last a wolf, parched with thirst, drew near, to whom the fox called from below, “Comrade, here is a treat for you! Do you see this? It is an exquisite cheese, made by Faunus from milk of the heifer Io. If Jupiter were ill and lost his appetite he would find it again by one taste of this. I have only eaten this piece out of it; the rest will be plenty for you. Come down in the pail up there. I put it there on purpose for you.”
A rigmarole so cleverly told was easily believed by the fool of a wolf, who descended by his greater weight, which not only took him down, but brought the fox up.
We ought not to laugh at the wolf, for we often enough let ourselves be deluded with just as little cause. Everybody is ready to believe the thing he desires.
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anger is a feeling that makes your mouth work faster than your mind!
may your day be filled with wisdom
A student of Tendai, a philosophical school of Buddhism, came to the Zen abode of Gasan as a pupil. When he was departing a few years later, Gasan warned him: “Studying the truth speculatively is useful as a way of collecting preaching material. But remember that unless you meditate constantly your light of truth may go out.”
source: Your light may go out
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A long time ago in China there were two friends, one who played the harp skilfully and one who listen skillfully.
When the one played or sang about a mountain, the other would say: “I can see the mountain before us.”
When the one played about water, the listener would exclaim: “Here is the running stream!”
But the listener fell sick and died. The first friend cut the strings of his harp and never played again. Since that time the cutting of harp strings has always been a sign of intimate friendship.
story source: True friends
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A Zen master named Gettan lived in the latter part of the Tokugawa era. He used to say: “There are three kinds of disciples: those who impart Zen to others, those who maintain the temples and shrines, and then there are the rice bags and the clothes-hangers.”
Gasan expressed the same idea. When he was studying under Tekisui, his teacher was very severe. Sometimes he even beat him. Other pupils would not stand this kind of teaching and quit. Gasan remained, saying: “A poor disciple utilizes a teacher’s influence. A fair disciple admires a teacher’s kindness. A good disciple grows strong under a teacher’s discipline.”
story source: Three kinds of disciples
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“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
If you think you are a person of influence… try ordering some one elses dog around.
the key to tranquility is acceptance
zen is defined as: a state of being …. ‘Be in the now’
zendictive 
