BANYAN TREE
Teaching story
THE BUDDHA SHINES HIS LIGHT
Once the Buddha visited a small village. People began to flock to him to find solutions to their problem.
A blind man was brought to him by his friends; they said, “He is blind. We told him about light, but he is not ready to accept that there is light. He says that he wants to touch light. When we say that it is not possible to touch it, he says that we can make him listen to it, or taste or smell it. When we tell him that light can only be seen and not touched, tasted, or smelled, he is not ready to believe us. He is complaining to the villagers that we have invented the story of light, just to prove that he is blind.”
The friends then requested the Buddha to make their blind friend understand what light is.
The Buddha replied, “I am not going to try to convince him. Mankind’s problems have been created by those who try to explain things to people who do not have the capacity to understand them. You have brought him to the wrong person.”
The friends still insisted that the Buddha help them solve their predicament.
The Buddha replied, “There is no need to bring him to me. Take him to the physician who can treat his eyes. He does not need preaching; he needs treatment.”
The friends understood the Buddha’s message and took him to a physician for treatment. Fortunately, his eyesight was restored after a few months. By that time, the Buddha had already left the village. The blind man searched for him and upon finding him, said with folded hands, “I was wrong. There is light, but since I could not see it, I was not ready to believe it.”
The Buddha replied, “You were certainly wrong but your eyes got cured because you refused to accept or believe what was told to you unless you experienced it yourself. If you had accepted what your friends were telling you, the matter would have ended over there, and the need for the restoration of your eyes would not have arisen.”
ONE-MINUTE WISDOM
YOU ARE THE ANSWER
On the streets, I saw a naked child, hungry
and shivering in the cold.
I became angry and said to God, “Why do you permit this? Why don’t you do something?”
For a while God said nothing. That night, he replied,
“I certainly did something. I made you.”
—Anthony deMello
THIS, I KNOW
RAMAKRISHNA PARAMHANSA
• The Man who works for others, without any selfish motive, really does good to himself.
• As long as I live, so long do I learn.
• God is in all men, but all men are not in God; that is why we suffer.
• Bondage and liberation are of the mind alone.
• Lovers of God do not belong to any caste.
• Women are, all of them, the veritable images of Shakti.
• It is easy to talk on religion but difficult to practise it.
• The fabled musk deer searches the world over for the source of the scent which comes from itself.
• Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart. Then, through his grace, one realises him in the course of time. God can be seen. One can talk to him as I am talking to you.
• Disease is the tax which the soul pays for the body, as the tenant pays houserent for the use of the house.
INSPIRATION
NEVER GIVE UP
No matter what is going on
Never give up
Develop the heart
Too much energy in your country
Is spent developing the mind
Instead of the heart
Be compassionate
Not just to your friends
But to everyone
Be compassionate
Work for peace
In your heart and in the world
Work for peace
And I say again
Never give up
No matter what is going on around you
Never give up
—Dalai Lama XIV
JUST FOR LAUGHS
THE SALESMAN
A plane hit a patch of severe turbulence and the passengers were holding on tight as it rocked and reeled all through the night. A lady turned to a minister who was sitting behind her and said, “You’re a man of God. Can’t you do something about this?” He replied, “Sorry, I can’t. I’m in sales, not management.”
QUOTE
To find yourself, think for yourself.
—Socrates