BANYAN TREE
TEACHING STORY
A MEASURE OF TRUE STRENGTH
A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when, suddenly, his room was filled with light and the Saviour appeared. The Lord told the man, he had work for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, day after day.
For many years, he toiled from sunup to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might. Each night, the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.
Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man’s mind: “You have been pushing against that rock for a long time, and it hasn’t budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it.” Thus, when Satan gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure, these thoughts discouraged and disheartened him.
“Why kill myself over this?” he thought. “I’ll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort, and that will be good enough.”
And that he planned to do until, one day, he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord,” he said, “I have laboured long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimetre. What is wrong? Why am I failing?”
The Lord responded compassionately, “My friend, when I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me, with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But is that really so?”
“Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and brown, your hands callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition, you have grown much and your abilities now surpass those which you used to have. Yet you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push, and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. This you have done.”
INSPIRATION
THE WORDS TO SAY I LOVE YOU
I was there, yet you did not see Me
the times you did cry
I wrapped you in My loving arms
and wiped the tears from your eyes.
Every prayer—I heard and answered
every cry for help—I came
I cast down all your enemies
and brought them all to shame.
You are My beloved son
whom I have set free
I removed your chains of darkness
because you believed in Me.
I am in you and you in Me
None can take us apart
Where are the words to express my love?
They are written on your heart.
—Jennifer Kulp
ONE-MINUTE WISDOM
THE LAST JOB
A carpenter with years of experience was ready to retire. He communicated to his contractor about his wish to live a more leisurely retired life with his wife and family. The contractor felt a little upset that his good and experienced carpenter was leaving the job, but he requested the carpenter to build just one more house for him.
The carpenter agreed, but his heart was not in his work like it used to be. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials for building the last house of his career. When the carpenter completed the house, the employer came for inspection.
He looked around the house, and just before he exited, he handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to you.” This was a huge surprise for the carpenter. He wasn’t feeling good, for if he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in a home that wasn’t built that well.
THIS, I KNOW
KABIR DAS
• All know that the drop merges into the ocean, but few know that the ocean merges into the drop.
• If you want the truth, I’ll tell you the truth: Listen to the secret sound, the real sound, which is inside you.
• Love does not grow on trees nor is it bought from the market, but if one wants to be ‘LOVED,’one must first know how to give (unconditional) LOVE.
• Listen, my friend. He who loves, understands.
• Slowly, slowly, O mind . . . Everything at its own pace happens. The gardener may water with a hundred buckets, but the fruit arrives only in its season.
• When at last, you have come to the ocean of happiness, do not go back thirsty.
• Only they are pure who’ve completely cleansed their thinking.
QUOTE
You have to grow, from the inside out. None can teach you. None can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher, but your own soul.
~Swami Vivekananda