The Tree That Acted Like A Hunter- Impatience

The Tree That Acted Like A Hunter- Impatience


Once upon a time, there was an antelope who lived in the deep forest. He ate the fruits that fell from the trees. There was one tree that had become his favourite.
In the same area there was a hunter who captured and killed antelopes and deer. He put down fruit as bait under a tree.

Then he waited, hiding in the branches above. He held a rope noose hanging down to the ground around the fruits. When an animal ate the fruit, the hunter tightened the noose and caught him.

Early one morning the antelope came to his favourite tree in search of fruits to eat. He did not see that the hunter was hiding in it, with his noose-trap ready. Even though he was hungry, the antelope was very careful. He was on the lookout
for any possible danger. He saw the delicious looking ripe fruits at the foot of his favourite tree.

He wondered why no animal had yet eaten any, and so he was afraid something was wrong.The hiding hunter saw the antelope approaching from a distance. Seeing him stop and take great care, he was afraid he would not be able to trap him. He was so anxious that he began throwing fruits in the direction of the antelope,trying to lure him into coming closer.

But this was a pretty smart antelope. He knew that fruits only fall straight down when they fall from trees. Since these fruits were flying towards him, he knew there was danger. So he examined the tree itself very carefully, and saw the hunter in the branches. However, he pretended not to see him.

He spoke in the direction of the tree. “Oh my dear fruit tree, you used to give me your fruits by letting them fall straight down to the ground.Now, throwing them towards me, you do not act at all like a tree! Since you have changed your habits,
I too will change mine. I will get my fruits from a different tree from now on, one that still acts like a tree!”

The hunter realized his mistake and saw that the antelope had outsmarted him. This angered him and he yelled out, “You may escape me this time, you clever antelope, but I’ll get you next time for sure!”

The antelope realized that, by getting so angry, the hunter had given himself away a second time. So he spoke in the direction of the tree again. “Not only don’t you act like a tree, but you act like a hunter! You foolish humans, who live by killing animals. You do not understand that killing the innocent brings harm also to you, both in this life and by rebirth in a hell world. It is clear that we antelopes are far wiser than you. We eat fruits, we remain innocent of killing others, and we
avoid the harmful results.”

So saying, the careful antelope leaped into the thick forest and was gone.

The moral is: The wise remain innocent and impatience does not help in reaching your goals

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The Monkey King And The Water Demon -- Attentiveness

The Monkey King And The Water Demon -- Attentiveness

Once upon a time, far away in a deep forest, there was a nation of 80,000 monkeys. They had a king who was unusually large, as big as a fawn. He was not only big in body, he was also ‘large in mind’.

After all, he was the Bodhisatta –the Enlightenment Being. One day, he advised his monkey nation by saying, “My subjects, there are poisonous fruits in this deep forest, and ponds possessed by demons.

So if you see any unusual fruit or unknown pond, do not eat or drink until you ask me first.” Paying close attention to their wise king, all the monkeys agreed to follow his advice.

Later on, they came to an unknown pond.Even though they were all tired out and thirsty from searching for food, no one would drink without first asking the monkey king. So they satin the trees and on the ground around the pond.

When he arrived, the monkey king asked them, “Did anyone drink the water?” They replied,“No, your majesty, we followed your instructions.”

He said, ‘Well done.” Then he walked along the bank, around the pond. He examined the footprints of the animals that had gone into the water, and saw that none
came out again! So he realized this pond must be possessed by a water demon. He said to the 80,000 monkeys, “This pond is possessed by a water demon. Do not anybody go into it.”

After a little while, the water demon saw that none of the monkeys went into the water to drink. So he rose out of the middle of the pond,taking the shape, of a frightening monster. He had a big blue belly, a white face with bulging green
eyes, and red claws and feet. He said, “Why are you just sitting around? Come into the pond and drink at once!”

The monkey king said to the horrible monster, “Are you the water demon who owns this
pond?” “Yes, I am,” said he. “Do you eat whoever goes into the water?” asked the king. “Yes, I do,” he answered, “including even birds. I eat them all.And when you are forced by your thirst to come into the pond and drink, I will enjoy eating you,
the biggest monkey, most of all!” He grinned, and saliva dripped down his hairy chin.

But the monkey king with the well trained mind remained calm. He said, “I will not let you eat me or a single one of my followers. And yet,we will drink all the water we want!” The water demon grunted, “Impossible! How will you do that?” The monkey king replied, “Each one of the 80,000 of us will drink using bamboo shoots as
straws. And you will not be able to touch us!”

Of course, anyone who has seen bamboo knows there is a difficulty. Bamboo grows in sections, one after another, with a knot between each one. Any one section is too small, so the demon could grab the monkey, pull him under and gobble him up. But the knots make it impossible to sip through more than one section.

The monkey king was very special, and that is why so many followed him. In the past, he had practised goodness and trained his mind with such effort and attention, that he had developed very fine qualities of mind. This is why he was said to be ‘large in mind’, not because he simply had a ‘big brain’.

The Enlightenment Being was able to keep these fine qualities in his mind, and produce a very unlikely event – a miracle. First, he took a young bamboo shoot, blew through it to make the knots disappear, and used it to sip water from the
pond. Then, amazing as it may sound, he waved his hand and all the bamboo growing around that one pond lost their knots. They became a new kind of bamboo.

Then, all his 80,000 followers picked bamboo shoots and easily drank their fill from the pond. The water demon could not believe his green eyes. Grumbling to himself, he slid back under the surface, leaving only gurgling bubbles behind.

The moral is: “Test the water before jumping in.”

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The God in the Banyan Tree -A Bad Promise

The God in the Banyan Tree -A Bad Promise

In the past, and even in some places today, people have had superstitions. One such is that a large or unusual tree is inhabited by a tree god, or some kind of spirit. People think that they can make a promise to this tree god, so he will help them in some way.

When they think the god has helped them, then they must keep their promise.Once upon a time, in the city of Kasi in northern India, a man came upon a large banyan tree. He immediately thought there must be a god living there. So he made a promise to this tree god that he would perform an animal sacrifice, in return for a wish being granted.

It just so happened that his wish was fulfilled,but whether by a god or a demon or by
some other means – no one knows. The man was sure the tree god had answered his prayer, so he wanted to keep his promise.

Since it was a big wish, it called for a big sacrifice. He brought many goats, mules, chickens and sheep. He collected firewood and prepared to burn the helpless animals as a sacrifice.

The spirit living in the banyan tree appeared and said, “Oh friend, you made a promise. You are now bound by that promise. You think you must keep the promise in order to be released from the bondage to it. But if you commit such terrible unwholesome acts, even though promised, the unpleasant results will put you in much greater bondage. For you will be forced to suffer those results in this life, and even by rebirths in hell worlds! The way to release yourself into future deliverance is to give up unwholesome actions, no matter what!

“And furthermore, since you think I’m a true god, what makes you think I eat meat? Haven’t you heard that we gods eat better things, like ‘ambrosia’ or stardust or sunbeams? I have no need of meat or any other food offerings.” Then he disappeared.

The foolish man understood the mistake he had made. Instead of doing unwholesome deeds that would force unhappy results on him in the future,he began to do only wholesome deeds that would benefit himself and others.

The moral is: Keeping a bad promise is worse than making it.

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The Goat Who Saved The Priest --Ignorance

The Goat Who Saved The Priest --Ignorance

Once upon a time, there was a very famous priest in a very old religion. He decided it was the right day to perform the ritual sacrificing of a goat. In his ignorance, he thought this was an offering demanded by his god.

He obtained an appropriate goat for the sacrifice. He ordered his servants to take the goat to the holy river and wash him and decorate him with flower garlands. Then they were to wash themselves, as part of the purification practice.

Down at the river bank, the goat suddenly understood that today he would definitely be killed. He also became aware of his past births and deaths and rebirths. He realized that the results of his past unwholesome deeds were about to finally be completed. So he laughed an uproarious goat-laugh, like the clanging of cymbals.
In the midst of his laughter, he realized another truth – that the priest, by sacrificing him,would suffer the same terrible results, due to his ignorance.

So he began to cry as loudly as he had just been laughing!

The servants, who were bathing in the holy river, heard first the laughing and then the crying.

They were amazed. So they asked the goat, “Why did you loudly laugh and then just as loudly cry?

What is the reason for this?” He replied, I will tell you the reason. But it must be in the presence of your master, the priest.”

Since they were very curious, they immediately took the sacrificial goat to the priest. They explained all that had happened. The priest too,became very curious. He respectfully asked the goat, “Sir, why did you laugh so loudly, and then just as loudly cry?”

The goat, remembering his past lives, said, “A long time ago, I too was a priest who, like you,was well educated in the sacred religious rites. I thought that to sacrifice a goat was a necessary offering to my god, which would benefit others, as
well as myself in future rebirths. However, the true result of my action was that in my next 499 lives I myself have been beheaded!

“While being prepared for the sacrifice, I realized that today I will definitely lose my head for the 500th time. Then I will finally be free of all the results of my unwholesome deed of so long ago. The joy of this made me laugh uncontrollably.

“Then I suddenly realized that you, the priest, were about to repeat the same unwholesome action, and would be doomed to the same result of having your head chopped off in your next 500 lives! So, out of compassion and sympathy,my laughter turned to tears.”

The priest was afraid this goat might be right, so he said, “Well, sir goat, I will not kill you.” The goat replied, “Reverend priest, even if you do not kill me, I know that today I will lose my head and finally be released from the results of my past unwholesome action.”

The priest said, “Don’t be afraid, my fine goat. I will provide the very best protection and personally guarantee that no harm will come to you.” But the goat said, “Oh priest, your protection is very weak, compared to the power of my unwholesome deed to cause its necessary results.”

So the priest cancelled the sacrifice, and began to have doubts about killing innocent animals.

He released the goat and, along with his servants, followed him in order to protect him from any danger.The goat wandered into a rocky place. He saw some tender leaves on a branch and stretched out his neck to reach them. All of a sudden a thunderstorm appeared out of nowhere. A lightning bolt struck an over-hanging rock, and cut off
a sharp slab, which fell and chopped off the goat’s head! He died instantly, and the thunderstorm disappeared.

Hearing of this very strange event, hundreds of local people came to the place. No one could understand how it had happened.There was also a fairy who lived in a
nearby tree. He had seen all that had occurred. He appeared, gently fluttering in the air overhead. He began to teach the curious people, saying, “Look at what happened to this poor goat. This was the result of killing animals! All beings are born, and suffer through sickness, old age and death. But all wish to live, and not to die. Not seeing that all have this in common, some kill other living beings.
This causes suffering also to those who kill,both now and in countless future rebirths.

“Being ignorant that all deeds must cause results to the doer, some continue to kill and heap up more suffering on themselves in the future.Each time they kill, a part of themselves must also die in this present life. And the suffering continues
even by rebirth in hell worlds!”

Those who heard the fairy speak felt that they were very lucky indeed. They gave up their ignorant killing, and were far better off, both in this life, and in pleasant rebirths.

The moral is: Even religion can be a source of ignorance.

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The Wind And The Moon --Friendship

The Wind And The Moon ---Friendship

Once upon a time, there were two very good friends who lived together in the shade of a rock. Strange as it may seem, one was a lion and one was a tiger.

They had met when they were too young to know the difference between lions and tigers. So they did not think their friendship was at all unusual. Besides, it was a peaceful part of the mountains, possibly due to the influence of a gentle forest monk who lived nearby. He was a hermit, one who lives far away from other people.

For some unknown reason, one day the two friends got into a silly argument. The tiger said, “Everyone knows the cold comes when the moon wanes from full to new!” The lion said, “Where did you hear such nonsense? Everyone knows the cold comes when the moon waxes from new to full!”

The argument got stronger and stronger. Neither could convince the other. They could not reach any conclusion to resolve the growing dispute. They even started calling each other names! Fearing for their friendship, they decided to go ask the learned forest monk, who would surely know about such things.

Visiting the peaceful hermit, the lion and tiger bowed respectfully and put their question to him. The friendly monk thought for a while and then gave his answer. “It can be cold in any phase of the moon, from new to full and back to new again. It is the wind that brings the cold, whether from west or north or east. Therefore, in a way,you are both right! And neither of you is defeated by the other.

The most important thing is to live without conflict, to remain united. Unity is best by all means.”

The lion and tiger thanked the wise hermit. They were happy to still be friends.

The moral is: Weather comes and weather goes, but friendship remains.

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Die Like Celebrating...

Make everything creative, make the best out of the worst - that's what i call `the art'. And if a man has lived his whole life making every moment and every phase of it a beauty, a love, a joy, naturally his death is going to be the ultimate peak of his whole life's endeavour. His death is not going to be ugly as it ordinarily happens everyday to everyone.

If death is ugly, that means your whole life has been a waste.

Death should be a peaceful acceptance, a loving entry into the unknown, a joyful goodbye to old friends, to the old world. There should not be any tragedy in it.

Zen master Lin Chi was dying. Thousands of his disciples had gathered to listen to the last sermon, but Lin Chi was simply lying down - joyous, smiling, not saying a single word.

Seeing that he was going to die and he was not saying a single word, somebody reminded Lin Chi - an old friend, a master in his own right. He was not a disciple of Lin Chi. That's why he could say to him, "Lin Chi, have you forgotten that you have to say your last words? I have always said your memory isn't right. You are dying...have you forgotten?"

Lin Chi said, "Just listen." And on the roof two squirrels were running, screeching. He said, "How beautiful." And he died.

For a moment, when he said "Just listen", there was absolute silence. Everybody thought he is going to say something great, but only two squirrels fighting, screeching, running on the roof... And he smiled and he died.

That was his message: don't make things small and big, trivial and important. Everything is important. At this moment, Lin Chi's death is as important as the two squirrels running on the roof, there is no difference. In existence it is all the same. That was his whole philosophy - that there is nothing which is great or small; it all depends on you, what you make of it.

Start with meditation, and things will grow in you - silence, serenity, blissfulness, sensitivity. And whatever comes out of meditation, try to bring it out in life. Share it, because everything shared grows fast. And when you have reached the point of death, you will know there is no death. You can say goodbye, there is no need for any tears of sadness - maybe tears of joy, but not of sadness.

But you have to begin from being innocent.

So first, throw out all the rubbish you are carrying. Life is simple; it is a joyful dance. The whole earth can be full of joy and dance, but there are some who are determined that nobody should enjoy life, smile, or laugh; that life is a sin, that it is a punishment. How can you enjoy anything when the climate is such that you have been told continuously that it is a punishment; that you are suffering because you have done wrong things and it is a kind of jail where you have been thrown into to suffer?

Life is a reward, and it is given only to those who have earned it, who deserve it. It will be against existence if you don't beautify it, if you leave it just as you have found it. So leave it a little happier, a little more beautiful, a little more fragrant.

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Health is Wealth

Health best of all gains and peace of mind is the best of all happiness.
The Mahabharata
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Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship....To keep the body in good health is a duty...otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.

Gautama Buddha
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Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts, only you can change them... Therefore, start now to think only those thoughts that will bring you health and happiness.

Yogananda Paramahansa
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Health is wealth. Peace of mind is happiness. Yoga shows the way.

Swami Vishnu-devananda
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It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.

M K Gandhi
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The trouble with always trying to preserve the health of the body is that it is so difficult to do without destroying the health of the mind.

G K Chesterton
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The greatest wealth is health.

Virgil

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