Banyan tree
September 2024
BANYAN TREE
TEACHING STORY
THE RHYTHM OF HAPPINESS
In a busy market square, surrounded by the noise of vendors and custoBANYAN TREE mers, lived an old drummer named Kofi. He was known not for loud beats but for the soothing melodies he played. One sunny morning, a young dancer named Aaliyah came to him, looking worried. “Master Kofi,” she sighed, “my dance feels heavy, and I’ve lost my joy. How can I find happiness again?” Kofi, tapping a gentle beat on his drum, smiled. “Aaliyah, happiness isn’t a constant tune; it’s a mix of different notes,” he said. He took her to a nearby fountain where water splashed rhythmically. “See how the water flows? It doesn’t fight the rocks; it dances around them. Learn to adapt, Aaliyah, and find beauty in unexpected changes.”
Aaliyah watched the flowing water. “But what if the current pulls me under?” she asked, scared. Kofi chuckled and picked up a smooth stone, skipping it across the water. “Let challenges be like this stone,” he said, “creating ripples that push you forward, not drown you. Embrace the flow, Aaliyah.”
Later, Kofi took Aaliyah to the busy marketplace. The air was filled with the shouts of sellers, the clanging of tools, and the rhythmic hammering of a blacksmith. “Listen closely,” Kofi whispered. Aaliyah was confused by the noise.
Then, Kofi began to tap his drum. Slowly, a gentle rhythm emerged, weaving through the chaos. The hammering became the beat, the shouts became calls, and the market turned into a symphony. Aaliyah, eyes wide with wonder, began to dance, her steps light and joyful, following the newfound rhythm.
As the sun set, casting long shadows, Aaliyah stopped, a smile on her face. “Master Kofi,” she said, “I hear it now! Happiness isn’t a single note; it’s the beautiful harmony created by accepting all the sounds of life!”
Kofi beamed. “Yes, Aaliyah. Embrace the chaos, find your own rhythm, and happiness will dance within you.”
THIS I KNOW
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
• To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
• The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.
• What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
• Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
• The earth laughs in flowers. For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.
• The only way to have a friend is to be one. It is not the length of life, but the depth. Life is a journey, not a destination.
• Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting some on yourself. To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
INSPIRATION
THE IRONY OF DESIRE
Man’s desires move in a circle. So it looks as if a hope will become a fulfilment, but that never happens.
Man’s desires are spherical like the earth. The sky of hope stretches in all four directions, so it seems as if it is just ten miles away. We expect to arrive very soon. But after walking ten miles, we see that the horizon has moved away. The sky has moved forward; it is now touching the earth further ahead. We move forward again. All our life—and for many lives—we keep moving forward.
The joke is that we don’t even realise that the sky that appeared to touch the earth ten miles back, again appears to touch it ten miles ahead. Is it possible that the sky never touches the earth at all? Or is the sky scared of us, running aheadn and changing where it touches the earth? That cannot be possible.
—The Buddhas
ONE-MINUTE WISDOM ACCEPT LIFE
The more you try to protect yourself from pain, the more you end up imprisoning yourself in a cage of your own making. True freedom comes from embracing the full spectrum of human experience, including the inevitable challenges and sorrows.
Instead of clinging to what you think should be, open yourself to what is. In this acceptance, you will discover a profound peace and a deeper connection to the essence of life itself.
—Anthony de Mello
QUOTE
“One act of kindness, however small, can ignite a ripple of positive change, filling your life and others’ with joy.” — Dalai Lama
JUST FOR LAUGHS
A NEW PERSPECTIVE
A woman walks into a coffee shop and asks the barista, “Can I get a cup of happiness to go?”
The barista smiles and replies, “Sure! But it’ll cost you a smile.”
The woman laughs and gives a big smile, to which the barista hands her a cup of coffee. “See,” he says, “sometimes happiness is just a smile away.”