BANYAN TREE
TEACHING STORY
SOUL WOUNDs serve satan
One day, an old Soul Wound decided to destroy her host. She came to him in a dream and said: “Look at yourself and around you. How do you live? After all, you only have problems—inside and outside.”
“So what,” the host answered. “I have a wonderful woman. I love her and she loves me.”
“But what can you offer her except your problems? She will leave you soon,” the Soul Wound said.
“No, she won’t!” the man replied. “After all, she loves me.”
“Think about it. Is it possible to love you? You are a loser!” the Soul Wound exclaimed.
“That is the thing! If I wouldn’t have any problems, inside and outside, I would have some doubts about her being with me. But now I’m sure about her sincerity.”
“Ok, then think: If she is so wonderful, do you deserve her? Doesn’t she deserve a better life, than with you—a mentally wounded loser with lots of problems?”
After waking up from his tears, the man called his loved one and told her that he doesn’t deserve her love and is leaving her forever. But the pain was so unbearable that he couldn’t survive the break-up.
In heaven, an angel met the arriving soul and escorted him straight to the gates of hell. Unhappy and amazed he asked: “How come you have brought me here? After all, I committed the biggest sacrifice for love!”
The angel turned to him and answered: “The soul wounds serve only the Devil. You will stay with the one that you have listened to.”
THIS, I KNOW
THICH NHAT HANH
• Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
• At any moment, you have a choice that either leads you closer to your spirit or further away from it.
• Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything—anger, anxiety, or possessions—we cannot be free.
• We can all practise beginning anew. We can always start over.
• To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.
• Anger is like a storm rising up from the bottom of your consciousness. When you feel it coming, turn your focus to your breath.
• When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help.
• We are all the leaves of one tree. We are all the waves of one sea.
• Many people think excitement is happiness. But when you are excited, you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.
INSPIRATION
HIS PRESENCE
A friend of mine once asked me
Just how could I believe
In someone I never saw,
Nor spoken words received.
I thought, perhaps, I should explain
Just why I have no doubt
That it was God's creativeness
That brought this world about.
I only have to look around
To know that He is there.
I see and feel and hear Him.
That's why I'm so aware.
I see Him in the raindrops
That nourish trees and flowers.
I see Him in the rainbows
That sometimes follow showers.
I see Him in a mother's love
When looking at her child.
So thankful that this miracle
Is pure and undefiled.
I see Him in the wrinkled face
That's seen so many years,
Knowing it was faith in Him
That overcame all fears.
I hear Him when a meadowlark
Trills out its joyful song.
I hear Him when the thunder
Comes forth so loud and strong.
I see the beauty of Him
In the butterflies on wing.
The feathers of the peacock
Are the colours He can bring.
I feel Him when a playful breeze
Blows gently through my hair.
When the sun shines warmly on my face,
I know that He is there.
His strength shows in the mountains
And the ever-pounding seas.
A kitten's purred affection
Shows how gentle love can be.
It's true I have no pictures
To hang upon my wall.
I do not need a portrait,
His presence to recall.
For those who wish to listen,
It is played throughout the land.
The symphony of life itself,
Directed by His hand.
—Alora M Knight
JUST FOR LAUGHS
NOTHING’S EVERYTHING
For his 70th birthday, one of his students gave the Zen master a big box with a ribbon around it. When the master opened the box, he found that there was nothing inside. “Aha!” he exclaimed. “Just what I wanted!”
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