Story No. 101

Teacher and disciple confront the river

A disciple had such faith in the powers of the guru Sanjai that he once asked to meet him beside the river. 'Master, everything I have learned from you has changed my life. I was able to save my marriage, sort out the family business and help my neighbours. Everything I ever asked for in your name and in good faith I have received.' Sanjai looked at his disciple, and his heart swelled with pride. The disciple walked down to the edge of the river. 'Such is my faith in your teachings and in your divinity that I have only to say your name and I will be able to walk on the waters.' Before the teacher could say anything, his disciple had entered the river, crying: 'All praise to Sanjai! All praise to Sanjai!' He took one step.Then another.And a third step. His body began to levitate and the young man managed to reach the other side of the river without even getting his feet wet. Sanjai looked in surprise at the disciple, who was standing on the other shore waving at him and smiling. 'Perhaps I am more enlightened than I thought I was. I could have the most famous monastery in the region!I could rise to the same heights as the great saints and gurus!' Determined to repeat his disciple's success, he too walked down to the shore and, as he stepped into the river, he began to cry: 'All praise to Sanjai! All praise to Sanjai!' He took one step and a second step, but by the third he was already being swept away by the current. Since he did not know how to swim, his disciple had to dive into the water to save him from certain death. When both men reached the shore, exhausted, Sanjai remained silent for a long time. Finally, he said: 'I hope you can draw a wise lesson from what happened today. All that I taught you were the scriptures and the correct way to behave. However, none of that would have been enough if you had not added what was missing: the faith that such teachings could improve your life. I taught you because my teachers taught me. But while I thought and studied, you put into practice what you had learned. Thank you for helping me to understand that one does not always believe in what one wants others to believe.'

Story No. 102

The three books

The monk Tetsugen had a dream: to publish a book in Japanese, containing all the sacred verses. Determined to transform this dream into reality, he began to travel the country in order to raise the necessary money. However, just as he had managed to get together enough money to begin work on the project, the river Uji flooded, provoking a catastrophe of gigantic proportions. When he saw the victims of the flood, Tetsugen resolved to spend all the money he had collected on relieving the sufferings of the people. Afterwards, he resumed his struggle to make his dream come true: he went from door to door, he visited the various islands of Japan, and once more he managed to raise the money he needed. When he returned, exultant, to Edo, a cholera epidemic was sweeping the country. Again, the monk used the money to treat the sick and to help the families of the dead. Undeterred, he returned to his original project. He set off again and, nearly twenty years later, he published seven thousand copies of the sacred verses. They say that Tetsugen actually published three separate editions of the sacred texts, but the first two are invisible.

Story No. 103

Another name

A man said to a friend: 'You talk about God as if you knew him personally, down to the colour of his eyes. Why do you need to create something to believe in? Can't you live without that?' His friend replied: 'Do you have any idea how the Universe was created? Can you explain the miracle of life?' 'Everything around us is the result of chance. Things just happen.' 'Exactly. Well, "Things just happen" is merely another name for God.'

Story No. 104

Respect my wishes

On his deathbed, Jacob summoned his wife, Sarah, to his side. 'Dear Sarah, I want to make my will. To my first-born, Abraham, I am going to leave half of my estate. He is, after all, a man of faith.' 'Oh, don't do that, Jacob! Abraham doesn't need all that money, he's got his own business; besides, he has faith in our religion. Leave it to Isaac, who is in such turmoil about whether or not God exists, and who has still not found his way in the world.' 'All right, I'll leave it to Isaac. And Abraham can have my shares.' 'Like I said, dear Jacob, Abraham doesn't need anything. I'll have the shares and I can always help out the children as and when.' 'You're quite right, Sarah. Now about the land we own in Israel. I think I'll leave it to Deborah.' 'To Deborah! Are you mad, Jacob? She's already got land in Israel. Do you want to make her into a businesswoman and ruin her marriage? I think our daughter Michele is much more in need of help.' Mustering his last ounce of strength, Jacob sat up indignantly. 'My dear Sarah, you have been an excellent wife, an excellent mother, and I know you want the best for each of your children, but, please show some respect for my opinion. After all, who's dying here, you or me?'

Story No. 105

Joy and love

A believer approached Rabbi Moche of Kobryn and asked: 'How should I best use my days so that God will be contented with my actions?' 'There is only one possible option: to live with love,' replied the Rabbi. Minutes later, another follower approached him and asked the same question. 'There is only one possible option: try to live with joy.' The first follower was taken aback. 'But the advice you gave me was different!' 'Not at all,' said the rabbi. 'It was exactly the same.'

Continued...

Story No. 106

Certainty and doubt

Buddha was gathered together with his disciples one morning, when a man came up to him. 'Does God exist?' he asked. 'He does,' replied Buddha. After lunch, another man came up to him. 'Does God exist?' he asked. 'No, he doesn't,' said Buddha. Later that afternoon, a third man asked the same question: 'Does God exist?' 'That's for you to decide,' replied Buddha. As soon as the man had gone, one of his disciples remarked angrily: 'But that's absurd, Master! How can you possibly give such different answers
to the same question?' 'Because they are all different people, and each one of them will reach God by his own path. The first man will believe what I say. The second will do everything he can to prove me wrong. The third will only believe in what he is allowed to choose for himself.'

Story No. 107

The screwdriver

Shortly before he died, my father-in-law summoned his family. 'I know that death is only a passageway into the next world. When I have gone through it, I will send you a sign that it really is worthwhile helping others in this life.' He wanted to be cremated and for his ashes to be scattered over Arpoador Beach while a tape recorder played his favourite music. He died two days later. A friend arranged the cremation in São Paulo and -once back in Rio - we went straight to the beach armed with a tape recorder, tapes and the package containing the cremation urn. When we reached the sea, we got a surprise. The lid of the urn was firmly screwed down. We couldn't open it. The only person around was a beggar, and he came over to us and asked: 'What's the problem?' My brother-in-law said: 'We need a screwdriver so that we can get at my father's ashes inside this urn.' 'Well, he must have been a very good man, because I've just found this,' said the beggar. And he held out a screwdriver.

Story No. 108

Saving one's energies

Two rabbis are doing all they can to bring spiritual comfort to the Jews in Nazi Germany. Though in mortal fear of their lives, they nevertheless manage to fool the Gestapo - Hitler's fearsome police - and perform religious ceremonies in various communities. They are finally discovered and imprisoned. One of the rabbis, terrified at the thought of what might happen next, spends all his time praying. The other rabbi, however, spends the whole day sleeping. 'How can you do that?' asks the first rabbi in alarm. 'I'm saving my energies because I know I'm going to need them.' 'But aren't you afraid? Don't you know what might happen to us?' 'Until we were imprisoned, I was scared to death, but now that I'm here in this cell, what's the point of being afraid of something that has already happened. The time for fear is past; now the time for hope has begun.'

Story No. 109

We don't need You any more

One afternoon, the novices at the monastery of Sceta witnessed a monk insulting another monk. The superior, Abbot Sisois, asked the monk who had been insulted to forgive his aggressor. 'Certainly not,' came the reply. 'He did wrong and he'll have to pay.' At that moment, Abbot Sisois raised his arms to heaven and began to pray: 'Jesus, we do not need You any more. We are perfectly capable of making aggressors pay for their offences. We can take vengeance into our own hands and deal with Good and Evil too. Therefore, O Lord, You need not worry about us any more.' Ashamed, the monk who had been insulted immediately forgave his brother.

Story No. 110

Thinking about future generations

When he was a young man, Abin-Alsar overheard a conversation his father had with a dervish. 'Be careful how you act,' said the dervish. 'Think about how your actions might affect future generations.' 'What have I got do with future generations?' said his father. 'I won't ever meet them. When I die, that will be that, and I don't care what my descendants say about me.' Abin-Alsar never forgot this conversation. All his life, he tried to do good, to help people and to carry out his work with enthusiasm. He became known as a man who cared about others. When he died, he left behind him a large number of charitable projects which considerably improved the standard of living in his city. He had ordered the following epitaph to be engraved on his tomb: 'A life that ends with death is a life not worth living.'

Continued...

__________________
The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion !

Story No. 111

The monk and the prostitute

A monk lived near the temple of Shiva. In the house opposite lived a prostitute. Noticing the large number of men who visited her, the monk decided to speak to her. 'You are a great sinner,' he said sternly. 'You reveal your lack of respect for God every day and every night. Do you never stop to think about what will happen to you after your death?' The poor woman was very shaken by what the monk said. She prayed to God out of genuine repentance, begging His forgiveness. She also asked the Almighty to help her to find another means of earning her living. But she could find no other work and, after going hungry for a week, she returned to prostitution. But each time she gave her body to a stranger, she would pray to the Lord for forgiveness. Annoyed that his advice had had no effect, the monk thought to himself: 'From now on, I'm going to keep a count of the number of men who go into that house, until the day the sinner dies.' And from that moment on, he did nothing but watch the comings and goings at the prostitute's house, and for each man who went in, he added a stone to a pile of stones by his side. After some time, the monk again spoke to the prostitute and said:
'You see that pile of stones? Each stone represents a mortal sin committed by you, despite all my warnings. I say to you once more: do not sin again!' Seeing how her sins accumulated, the woman began to tremble. Returning home, she wept tears of real repentance and prayed to God: 'O Lord, when will Your mercy free me from this wretched life?' Her prayer was heard. That same day, the angel of death came to her house and carried her off. On God's orders, the angel crossed the street and took the monk with him too. The prostitute's soul went straight up to Heaven, while the devils bore the monk down into Hell. They passed each other on the way, and when the monk saw what was happening, he cried out: 'Is this Your justice, O Lord? I spent my whole life in devotion and poverty and now I am carried off into Hell, while that prostitute, who lived all her life steeped in sin, is borne aloft up to Heaven!' Hearing this, one of the angels replied: 'God's purposes are always just. You thought that God's love meant judging the behaviour of your neighbour. While you filled your heart with the impurity of another's sin, this woman prayed fervently day and night. Her soul is so light after all the tears she has shed that we can easily bear her up to Paradise. Your soul is so weighed down with stones it is too heavy to lift.'

Story No. 112

The older sister's question

When her brother was born, Sa-chi Gabriel begged her parents to leave her alone with the baby. They refused, fearing that, as with many four-year-olds, she was jealous and wanted to mistreat him. But Sa-chi showed no signs of jealousy. And since she was always extremely affectionate towards her little brother, her parents decided to carryout an experiment. They left Sa-chi alone with their new-born baby, but kept the bedroom door ajar so that they could watch what she did. Delighted to have her wish granted, little Sa-chi tiptoed over to the cradle, leaned over the baby and said: 'Tell me what God is like. I'm beginning to forget.'

Story No. 113

Shelley and the drunk.

After an exhausting morning spent talking to children, I go and have lunch with my lawyer friend, Shelley Mitchel. In the restaurant, we are given a table next to one occupied by a drunk, who insists on talking to us. He speaks of his pain when his wife left him, tells us how sad he is and asks us what he should do. At one point, Shelley asks the drunk to be quiet, but he says: 'Why? I spoke of love as a sober man never would. I revealed my joys and my sorrows. I tried to make contact with two strangers. What's wrong with that?' 'It's not the right moment,' she says. 'Do you mean that there is a right moment to suffer for love?' At these words, we invite the drunk to join us.

Story No. 114

The reflection in the physical body

In the days when I practised Zen meditation, there always came a moment when the teacher would go over to one corner of the dojo (the room where the students gathered) and return carrying a bamboo cane. Any student who had failed to concentrate properly was asked to put up his or her hand; the teacher would then come over and strike each one three times on each shoulder. On the first day, that seemed to me absurd and medieval. Later, I understood that it is often necessary to place spiritual suffering on a physical plane in order for us to see the evil that it causes. On the road to Santiago, I learned an exercise which consisted of digging the nail of my index finger into my thumb whenever I had any harmful thoughts. We only see the terrible consequences of negative thoughts much later, but by making them manifest on the physical plane - through pain - we soon come to realise the evil they cause and end up avoiding them.

Story No. 115

In the queue at the shopping market

A priest from the Church of the Resurrection in Copacabana was patiently waiting his turn to buy some meat at the supermarket when a woman tried to jump the queue. A stream of verbal insults burst forth from the other customers, and the woman responded with equal vehemence. Just as the situation was beginning to get out of hand, someone called out: 'Hey, lady, God loves you!' 'It was amazing,' the priest told me. 'At a moment when everyone was thinking about hate, someone spoke of love. All the ferment disappeared as if by magic. The woman walked back to her rightful place in the queue, and the other customers apologised for having reacted so aggressively.'

Continued...

__________________
The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion !

Story No. 116

How to see the All in everything

When Ketu was twelve, he was sent toa teacher, with whom he studied until he was twenty-four. When he had finished his apprenticeship, he returned home, feeling very proud. His father said to him: 'How can we know something that we cannot see? How can we know that God, the Almighty, is everywhere?' The young man began reciting the scriptures, but his father interrupted him: 'That's far too complicated. Isn't there a simpler way of learning about the existence of God?' 'Not that I know of, father. I'm an educated man now and I have to apply the education I was given in order to explain the mysteries of divine knowledge.' 'I wasted my money sending you to that monastery,' cried his father. And grabbing Ketu by the hand, he dragged him into the kitchen. There, he filled a basin with water and added a little salt. Then they went out for a walk around the town. When they got home, his father said to Ketu: 'Bring me the salt that I putin the basin of water.' Ketu looked for the salt, but couldn't find it because it had already dissolved in the water. 'So, you can't see the salt any more?' asked his father. 'No. The salt has become invisible.' 'Taste a bit of the water on the surface of the basin. What's it like?' 'Salty.' 'Taste a bit of the water from the middle. What's that like?' 'As salty as the water on the surface.' 'Now try the water at the bottom of the basin and tell me what that tastes like.' Ketu tried it and it tasted exactly the same. 'You studied for all those years and yet you cannot explain in simple terms how the Invisible God can be everywhere at once,' said his father. 'By using a basin of water and calling God "salt", I could make even a peasant understand. My son, forget the kind of knowledge that separates us from men and go in search of the kind of inspiration that brings us closer.'

Story No. 117

The thieving student

A student of the Zen master Bankei was caught stealing during a class. The other students demanded his expulsion, but Bankei decided to take no further action. Days later, the student stole again, and the master still said nothing. Enraged, the other students demanded that the thief be punished, since such behaviour could not be tolerated. 'How wise you are!' said Bankei. 'You have learned how to tell right from wrong and can go and study anywhere. But this poor brother does not know right from wrong and only has me to teach him.' The students never again doubted Bankei's wisdom and generosity, and the thief never stole again.

Story No. 118

Life's rhythms

The Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis tells how, as a child, he found a cocoon attached to a tree and saw that the butterfly inside the cocoon was just preparing to emerge. He waited for some time, but because the process seemed so long drawn out, he decided to speed things up. He began to warm the cocoon with his breath. However, when the butterfly did finally emerge, its wings were still stuck together, and it died a short time afterwards. 'What it required was patient ripening by the sun, and I could not wait,' says Kazantzakis. 'Even now, that small corpse is one of the greatest weights I have on my conscience. But it taught me what is truly a mortal sin: to force the great laws of the universe. We must be patient and wait for the right moment and gladly follow the rhythm God has chosen for our life.'

Story No. 119

Value and money

Ciccone German tells the story of a man who, thanks to his enormous wealth and infinite ambition, decided to buy everything he possibly could. Once he had filled his many houses with clothes, furniture, cars and jewels, the man decided to buy still more things. He bought ethics and morality, and thus was born corruption. He bought solidarity and generosity, and indifference came into being. He bought justice and its laws, bringing impunity into the world. He bought love and feelings, and the result was pain and remorse. The most powerful man in the world bought all the material goods he wanted to possess and all the values he wanted to master. Then one day, drunk on so much power, he decided to buy himself. Despite all his money, he could not do it. At that precise moment, there was born in the consciousness of the Earth the only thing on which no one can put a price - self-worth.

Story No. 120

Always running

The monk Shuan was always telling his students about the importance of studying ancient philosophy. One student, known for his iron will, made a note of all Shuan's teachings and spent the rest of the day reflecting on the ancient thinkers. After a year spent studying, the student fell ill, but continued to attend the classes. 'I'm going to carry on studying even though I am ill. I'm on the trail of wisdom and there's no time to lose,' he said to his teacher. Shuan replied: 'How do you know that wisdom is ahead of you and that you must run after it? Perhaps it's walking along behind you, trying to catch up, and you, in some way, are not allowing it to do so. Just relax and let your thoughts flow, for that too is a way of achieving wisdom.'

Continued...

__________________
The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion !

Story No. 121

Encounter on 5th Avenue

I was just leaving St Patrick's Church in New York when a young Brazilian came over to me. 'It's great to see you,' he said, smiling. 'There's something I wanted to tell you.' I was equally pleased at this encounter with a stranger. I invited him for a coffee, told him about my awful trip to Denver, and suggested that he go to Harlem on Sunday to attend a religious service there. The young man, who was in his twenties,listened to me without saying a word. I talked on. I said that I had just read a novel about a terrorist group that launches an attack on St Patrick's Church, and that the author had described the scene in such detail that I had noticed many things I had never seen on previous visits. That was why I had decided to go to the church that morning. We spent nearly an hour together, drank two coffees, and I dominated the entire conversation. Afterwards, we said goodbye, and I wished him a good trip. 'Thanks,' he said, moving off. That was when I noticed the sad look in his eyes; something was wrong and I didn't know what. Only after walking a few blocks did I realise what it was: the young man had come over to me saying that there was something he needed to talk to me about. During the whole time we spent together, I had been in control of the situation. At no point had I asked him what he wanted to tell me; in my desire to be friendly, I had filled up all the spaces, I hadn't allowed one moment of silence when the young man could have transformed a monologue into a dialogue. He may have had something really important to share with me. Perhaps if I had been truly open to life at that moment, I too would have had something to give to him. Perhaps both my life and his would have changed radically after that encounter. I will never know and I am not going to torture myself with the fact that I failed to take advantage of a potentially magical moment: mistakes happen. But ever since then, I have tried to keep alive in my memory that farewell scene and the sad look in the boy's eyes. I was incapable of receiving what was destined for me and so was equally incapable of giving what I wanted to give, however hard I tried.

Story No. 122

Encounter in Posto Seis

Father José Roberto from the Church of the Resurrection in Rio de Janeiro, was setting off early one morning when his car was stopped by three adolescents. 'We've been up all night, Father,' said one of them defiantly. 'Guess where we've been.' Like any other normal human being, José Roberto chose to say nothing. He could imagine what being up all night at their age was likely to involve and he shuddered at the risks the boys must have taken and thought how worried their parents would be. The boy who had initiated the conversation finally answered his own question. 'We were at the Church of Our Lady in Copacabana, praying to the Virgin. We left there on such a high that we walked all the way here [about 3 kilometers], singing, laughing and talking to everyone we met. At least one person said to us: "Aren't you ashamed, boys of your age being drunk at this hour in the morning?"' Father José Roberto started his car and set off for his appointment. On the way, he said to himself over and over: 'I let myself be taken in by appearances and I committed an injustice in my heart. When will we ever fully understand Jesus' words: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured unto you"?'

Story No. 123

The right stone

A man once heard tell that, in a nearby desert, a certain alchemist had lost the result of years of work: the famous philosopher's stone, which could transform into gold any metal that it touched. Driven by the desire to find it and to become rich, the man went to that desert. Since he did not know quite what the philosopher's stone looked like, he began picking up every stone he came across; he would then hold it to his belt buckle to see what happened. A year passed, and then another, and still nothing. The man, however, clung obstinately to his desire to find the magical stone. Mechanically, he walked every valley and mountain in the desert, rubbing one pebble after another against his belt buckle. One night, just before going to sleep, he noticed that his buckle had been changed into gold! But which stone had it been? Had the miracle occurred during the morning or the evening? How long had it been, in fact, since he had bothered to check the results of all his efforts? What had started out as a search with a clear objective had become a mechanical, joyless exercise with no real goal. What had started out as an adventure had become dull duty. Now he had no way of finding the right stone, because his belt buckle was already gold and no other transformation could possibly take place. He had followed the right road, but had failed to notice the miracle awaiting him.

Story No. 124

The largest stones

The teacher placed a large glass jar on the table. Then out of a bag he took ten stones, each the size of an orange, and began placing them, one by one, in the jar. When the jar was filled to the brim with stones, he asked his students: 'Is it full?' They all agreed that it was. The teacher, however, took some gravel from another bag and by jiggling the large stones around inside the jar, managed to fit in quite a lot of gravel. 'Is it full now?' The students said, yes, this time it was definitely full. At that point, the teacher opened a third bag, this time full of fine sand, and he began to pour it into the jar. The sand filled up any empty spaces between the large stones and the gravel, right up to the top. 'Right,' said the teacher. 'Now the jar is full. What do you think I've been trying to demonstrate to you?' 'That it doesn't matter how busy you are,there's always room to fit in something else,' said one student. 'Not at all. What this little demonstration shows us is that we have to put the large stones in first because, afterwards, they won't fit. Now what are the important things in our lives? What are the plans we postpone, the adventures we never have, the loves we fail to fight for? Ask which are the large, solid stones that keep God's flame alive in you and put them into your jar of decisions now, because very soon there will be no room for them.'

Story No. 125

The problem tree

The carpenter finished another day's work. As it was the weekend, he decided to invite a friend to come back home with him for a drink. When he got to his house and before they went in, the carpenter stood for a few moments in silence before a tree growing in his garden. Then he touched its branches with both hands. The expression on his face changed completely. He went into the house, smiling; he was greeted by his wife and children; he told them stories; and then he went out onto the verandah with his friend for a drink. They could see the tree from there. Curiosity got the better of his friend and he asked the carpenter to explain his earlier behaviour.'Oh, that's my problem tree,' said the carpenter. 'I know that I'm bound to have problems at work, but those problems are mine, not my wife's or my children's. So, when I get home, I hang all my problems on that tree. The next day, before leaving for work, I pick them up again. The oddest thing is, though, that when I come out in the morning to get them, some of them have gone, while others seem much heavier than they were the previous night.'

Continued...

__________________
The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion !

Story No. 126

Who is the teacher?

A disciple asked Nasrudin: 'How did you become a spiritual teacher?' 'We all know what we should do with our lives, but we always reject it,' replied Nasrudin. 'In order to understand that truth, I had to go through a rather strange experience. One day, I was sitting by the roadside wondering what to do, when a man came over and stood in front of me. To get rid of him, I made a gesture, and he copied me. That amused me, so I made another gesture, which he again imitated, but this time adding another. Then we started to sing and to do all kindsof exercises. I felt better and better and I came to really love my new companion. A few weeks passed and one day I asked him: 'Tell me, Teacher, what should I do next?' And the man replied: 'But I thought you were the teacher!'

Story No. 127

A saint in the wrong place

'Why is it that some people can resolve the most complicated problems really easily, whilst others agonise over every tiny crisis and end up drowning in a glass of water?' I asked. Ramesh replied by telling the following story: 'Once upon a time, there was a man who had been the soul of kindness all his life. When he died, everyone assumed that he would go straight to Heaven, for the only possible place for a good man like him was Paradise. The man wasn't particularly bothered about going to Heaven, but that was where he went. Now in those days, service in heaven was not all that it might be. The reception desk was extremely inefficient, and the girl who received him gave only a cursory glance through the index cards before her and when she couldn't find the man's name, she sent him straight to Hell. And in Hell no one asks to check your badge or your invitation, for anyone who turns up is invited in. The man entered and stayed… Some days later, Lucifer stormed up to the gates of Heaven to demand an explanation from St Peter. "What you're doing is pure terrorism!" he said. St Peter asked why Lucifer was so angry, and an enraged Lucifer replied: "You sent that man down into Hell, and he's completely undermining me! Right from the start, there he was listening to people, looking them in the eye, talking to them. And now everyone's sharing their feelings and hugging and kissing. That's not the sort of thing I want in Hell! Please, let him into Heaven!' When Ramesh had finished telling the story, he looked at me fondly and said: 'Live your life with so much love in your heart that if, by mistake, you were sent to Hell, the Devil himself would deliver you up to Paradise.'

Story No. 128

I can't get in

Near Olite, in Spain, there is a ruined castle. I decide to visit the place and as I am standing there before it, a man at the door says: 'You can't come in.' My intuition tells me that he is saying this for the pure pleasure of saying 'No'. I explain that I've come a long way, I try offering him a tip, I try being nice, I point out that this is, after all, a ruined castle…suddenly, going into that castle has become very important to me. 'You can't come in,' the man says again. There is only one alternative: to carry on and see if he will physically prevent me from going in. I walk towards the door. He looks at me, but does nothing. As I am leaving, two other tourists arrive and they too walk in. The old man does not try to stop them. I feel as if, thanks to my resistance, the old man has decided to stop inventing ridiculous rules. Sometimes the world asks us to fight for things we do not understand and whose significance we will never discover.

Story No. 129

Wings and roots

'Blessed is he who gives his children wings and roots,' says a proverb. We need roots. There is a place in the world where we are born, where we learn a language, where we discover how our ancestors overcame their problems. At a given point, we become responsible for that place. We need wings. They show us the endless horizons of the imagination, they carry us towards our dreams, they lead us to distant places. They are the wings that allow us to know the roots of our fellow human beings and to learn from them. Blessed is he who has wings and roots,and wretched is he who only has one of the two.

Story No. 130

Just passing through

An American tourist went to Cairo to visit the famous Polish rabbi Hafez Ayim. The tourist was surprised to see that the rabbi lived in a simple, book-lined room, in which the only pieces of furniture were a table and a bench. 'Rabbi, where's all your furniture?' asked the tourist. 'Why, where's yours?' retorted Hafez. 'Mine? But I'm just passing through.' 'So am I,' said the rabbi.

Continued...

__________________
The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion !

Story No. 131

Convincing other people

A prophet went to a town in order to convert its inhabitants. At first, the people were enthusiastic about what he told them, but, gradually, the day-to-day routine of spiritual life proved so difficult that men and women drifted away until there was not a single person left to listen to him. A traveller, seeing the prophet preaching to no one, asked: 'Why do you continue exalting virtue and condemning vice when no one is there to listen to you?' 'At first, I hoped to change other people,' said the prophet. 'But now I continue preaching in order to stop those other people from changing me.'

Story No. 132

After death

The emperor summoned the Zen master Gudo to his presence. 'Gudo, I have heard it said that you are a man who understands everything,' said the emperor. 'I would like to know what happens to both the enlightened man and the sinner when they die?' 'How should I know?' asked Gudo. 'Well, you're an enlightened teacher, aren't you?' 'Yes, but I'm not a dead teacher!'

Story No. 133

I am part of the land

The wars between the conquerors of the American West and the Indians grew ever more violent. Shortly before he died, the father of Chief Joseph (1840-1904) called him to his side. 'My son, my body will soon return to Mother Earth,' he said. 'When I leave, this land is your inheritance. I am not leaving money or wealth, and the power you receive from me is not a motive for pride, but a responsibility. I leave in your hands our people and the ground that you walk on;I hope you will prove worthy of the task. Soon the white men will have us completely surrounded and they will try to buy our Mother. Remember that my body lies there and that I am part of Her.' Joseph took his father's hand, pressed it to his breast and promised never to sell the land. The white men tried to buy the land, and the chief refused to sell. The conflict grew ever bloodier, and Joseph led his army into battle against the American soldiers. When he was captured, he was asked why he was fighting to defend a lost cause. 'A man does not sell his father's bones,' he said.

Story No. 134

A death foretold

In the mid 1970s, when he was about to complete his doctorate in physics, the scientist Stephen Hawking - who was already carrying the disease that would gradually paralyse all his movements - heard a doctor say of him that he had only two more years to live. 'Right then,' he thought to himself. 'now that I don't need to worry about things like pensions or paying the bills, I can concentrate on trying to understand the Universe.' Since the disease was progressing rapidly, he was forced to come up with ways of explaining his ideas as simply and as briefly as possible. Two and a half years went by, twenty years went by, and Hawking is still alive. He can communicate his highly abstract ideas through a tiny computer hooked up to his wheelchair and which has a vocabulary of only 500 words. He wrote his classic A Brief History of Time and was responsible for creating an entirely new vision of modern physics. Rather than leading him into a life of complete disability, the illness forced him to discover a new way of thinking.

Story No. 135

Don't forget the bad men

The following prayer was found amongst the personal belongings of a Jew who died in a concentration camp: Lord, when you come in Your glory,do not remember only the men of good, but remember too the men of evil. And on the Day of Judgement, do not remember only the acts of cruelty, inhumanity and violence that they carried out, but remember too the fruits that they produced in us because of what they did to us. Remember the patience, courage, brotherly love, humility, generosity of spirit and faithfulness that our executioners awoke in our souls. And then, Lord, may those fruits be used to save the souls of those men of evil.

Continued...

__________________
The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion !

Story No. 136

True respect

During the evangelisation of Japan, a missionary was taken prisoner by samurai warriors. 'If you want to remain alive, tomorrow,in front of everyone, you will trample on the image of Christ,' said the samurai. The missionary went to bed with not a doubt in his heart: he would never commit such a sacrilege, and he prepared himself for martyrdom. He woke in the middle of the night and, when he got out of bed, he tripped over a man asleep on the floor. He almost fell back in astonishment: it was Jesus Christ in person! 'Now that you have trampled on me, go outside and trample on my image,' said Jesus. 'Fighting for an ideal is far more important than making a futile sacrifice.'

Story No. 137

Destroying and rebuilding

I am invited to go to Guncan-Gima, the site of a Zen Buddhist temple. When I get there, I am surprised to see that the extraordinarily beautiful building, which is situated in the middle of a vast forest, is right next to a huge piece of waste ground. I ask what the waste ground is for and the man in charge explains: 'That is where we will build the next temple. Every twenty years, we destroy the temple you see before you now and rebuild it again on the site next to it. This means that the monks who have trained as carpenters, stonemasons and architects are always using their practical skills and passing them on to their apprentices. It also shows them that nothing in this life is eternal and that even temples are in need of constant improvement.'

Story No. 138

Measuring love

'I've always wanted to know if I was capable of loving my wife as much as you love yours,' said the journalist Keichiro to my publisher Satoshi Gungi over supper one night. 'There is nothing else but love' came the reply. 'It is love that keeps the world turning and the stars in their spheres.' 'I know. But how can I know if my love is big enough?' 'Ask yourself if you give yourself fully or if you flee from your emotions, but do not ask yourself if your love is big enough, because love is neither big nor small, it is simply love. You cannot measure a feeling the way you measure a road. If you do that, you will start comparing your love with what others tell you of theirs or with
your own expectations of love. That way, you will always be listening to some story, rather than following your own path.'

Story No. 139

The eternal malcontent

Shanti was travelling from town to town, preaching the Divine word, when a man came to him hoping that he would cure his ills. 'Work, eat and praise God,' Shanti told him. 'When I work, my back hurts. When I eat, I get indigestion. When I drink, my throat burns. When I pray, I don't feel that God is listening to me.' 'Then find another teacher.' The man left in disgust. Shanti remarked to those who had heard the conversation: 'He had two possible ways of looking at things and he always chose the worst one. When he dies, he'll probably complain about how cold it is in his grave.'

Story No. 140

Choosing the best road

When Abbot Antonio was asked if the road of sacrifice led to Heaven, he replied: 'There are two such roads. The first is that of the man who mortifies his flesh and does penance because he believes that we are all damned. This man feels guilty and unworthy to live a happy life. He will never get anywhere because God does not inhabit guilt. The second road is that of the man who knows that the world is not as perfect as we would all like it to be, but who nevertheless prays, does penance and puts time and effort into improving the world around him. In this case, the Divine Presence helps him all the time, and he will find Heaven.'

Continued...

__________________
The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion !

Story No. 141

Stay in the desert

'Why do you live in the desert?' asked the gentleman. 'Because I cannot be what I want to be.' 'No one can, but we all have to try,' said the gentleman. 'It's impossible. When I start to be myself, people treat me with false reverence. When I am true to my faith, they begin to doubt me. They all believe that they are more saintly than I am, but they pretend to be sinners for fear of mocking my solitude. They are constantly trying to show me that they consider me a saint, and thus they become transformed into emissaries of the Devil, tempting me with pride.' 'Your problem lies not in trying to be who you are, but in not accepting how other people are. And if you carry on like that, you had best stay in the desert,' said the gentleman, and with that he left.

Story No. 142

I'm dying of hunger

The traveller arrived at the monastery in the middle of a snowstorm. 'I'm dying of cold and hunger and have no way of earning my livelihood, but I need to eat.' It so happened that, on that very day, the storm had prevented the monks from restocking the pantry, and they had absolutely nothing to eat or drink. Touched by the man's plight, the Abbot opened the tabernacle and removed from it the consecrated hosts and the chalice of wine and offered them to the man to eat. The other monks were horrified. 'That's sacrilege!' 'Why?' replied the Abbot. 'You have heard how David ate the bread from the tabernacle when he was hungry, and, when necessary, Christ healed people on the Sabbath. I am merely putting the spirit of Jesus into action: love and mercy can now do their work.'

Story No. 143

The city on the other side

A hermit from the monastery of Sceta approached Abbot Theodore: 'I know exactly what the purpose of life is. I know what God asks of man and I know the best way to serve Him. And yet, even so, I am incapable of doing everything I should be doing in order to serve the Lord.' The Abbot remained silent for a long time. Then he said: 'You know that there is a city on the other side of the ocean, but you have not yet found the ship or placed your baggage on board and crossed the sea. Why then bother talking about it or about how we should walk its streets? It is not enough to know what life is for or to know the best way to serve God. Put your ideas into practice and the road will reveal itself to you.'

Story No. 144

Do as others do

Abbot Pastor was out walking with a monk from Sceta when they were invited to a meal. The owner of the house, honoured by the monks' presence, ordered that only the very best of everything should be served. However, the monk was in the middle of a period of fasting, and when the food arrived, he took a pea and chewed it very slowly. He ate only that one pea during the whole of supper. On the way out, the Abbot called him over: 'Brother, when you go to visit someone, do not make an insult of your sanctity. The next time you are fasting simply decline any invitations to supper.' The monk understood what the Abbot meant. From then on, whenever he was with other people, he did as they did.

Story No. 145

Work in the fields

A boy crossed the desert and finally arrived at the monastery of Sceta, near Alexandria. There he asked and was given permission to attend one of the abbot's talks. That afternoon, the abbot spoke of the importance of their work in the fields. At the end of the talk, the boy said to one of the monks: 'I was really shocked. I expected to hear an enlightened sermon on sin and virtue, but the abbot talked only about tomatoes and irrigation and things like that. Where I come from we all believe that God is mercy and that all we have to do is pray.' The monk smiled and said: 'Here we believe that God has done His part and now it is up to us to continue the process.'

Continued...

__________________
The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion !

Story No. 146

Judging my brother

One of the monks at Sceta committed a grave fault, and the wisest hermit was summoned to judge him. The hermit refused, but when the other monks insisted, he answered their call. He arrived carrying on his back a bucket with a hole in it, out of which sand was spilling. 'I came to judge my brother,' said the hermit to the monastery superior. 'My sins are spilling out behind me like the sand from this bucket, but since I don't look back and don't notice my own sins, I was summoned to judge my brother!' The monks immediately gave up any idea of punishment.

Story No. 147

Asking for alms

Part of the training of a Zen Buddhist monk is a practice known as takuhatsu- the begging pilgrimage. As well as helping the monasteries, which depend for their existence on donations, and teaching the student humility, this practice has another purpose too, that of purifying the town in which the monk lives. This is because, according to Zen philosophy, the giver, the beggar and the alms money itself all form part of an important chain of equilibrium. The person doing the begging does so because he is needy, but the person doing the giving also does so out of need. The alms money serves as a link between these two needs, and the atmosphere in the town improves, since everyone is able to act in a way in which he or she needed to act.

Story No. 148

Moses parts the waters

'Sometimes people get so used to whatthey see in films that they end up forgetting the real story,' says a friend, as we stand together looking out over Miami harbour. 'Do you remember The Ten Commandments?' Of course I do. At one point, Moses - Charlton Heston - lifts up his rod, the waters part and the children of Israel cross over. 'In the Bible it's different,' says my friend. 'There, God says to Moses: "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they goforward." And only afterwards does he tell Moses to lift up his rod, and then the Red Sea parts. It is only courage on the path itself that makes the path appear.'

Story No. 149

Father Zeca, from the Church of the Resurrection in Copacabana, tells of how, when he was travelling on a bus, he suddenly heard a voice telling him to get up and preach the word of Christ right there and then. Zeca started talking to the voice: 'They'll think I'm ridiculous, this isn't the place for a sermon,' he said. But something inside him insisted that he speak. 'I'm too shy, please don't ask me to do this,' he begged. The inner impulse insisted. Then he remembered his promise - to surrender himself to all Christ's purposes. He got up - dying of embarrassment - and began to talk about the Gospel. Everyone listened in silence. He looked ateach passenger in turn and very few looked away. He said everything that was in his heart, ended his sermon and sat down again. He still does not know what task he fulfilled that day, but he is absolutely certain that he did fulfil a task.

Story No. 150

Enjoying God's gifts

I must enjoy all the gifts that God gives me today. These gifts cannot be saved up. There is no bank in which we can place the gifts we receive from God in order to use them when we wish. If I do not make use of these blessings, I will lose them for ever. God knows that we are all artists of life. One day, he gives us a chisel to make a sculpture, the next, brushes and a canvas, another day, he gives us a pen to write with. But we cannot use a chisel to paint a canvas or a pen to make a sculpture. Each day has its own miracle. I must accept today's blessings in order to create what I have; if I do this with detachment and without guilt, tomorrow I will receive more.

Continued...

__________________
The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion !