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A man distraught by all the pain and suffering he saw all around him broke down and banged his fists into the dirt.

His head turns upward and he yells at his God.

“Look at this mess. Look at all this pain and suffering. Look at all this killing and hate. God. Oh God! Why don’t you do something!!”

And his God spoke to him and said, “I did. I sent you.”

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Novelist and wife - by CJ

法国小说家吕西安.里歇著书立说常常妙笔生花、浪漫情事多多，但他的家庭生活太平静、太单调了。

吕西安.里歇每天到图书馆去写作，他太太每天操持家务，并负责打印丈夫定期在《里昂晚报》上发表的短篇小说。

他每天回家的第一件事几乎是一成不变的：拥抱一下妻子，亲亲她的前额，说天天重复的一句话，“亲爱的，我希望我不在家时，你没有过于烦闷，是吗？”

太太的回答差不多也是一成不变：“没有，家里也是有这么多事情要做。但看到你回来，我还是很高兴的。”

结婚23年来，几乎天天如此！

但是万万没有想到的是，奥尔嘉.巴列丝卡以第三者的身份闯进了他们的家庭。这是一个刚离了婚的漂亮、奔放，甚至有点寡廉鲜耻的女人。她降服了小说家，并且提出要跟他结婚。

小说家毕竟是小说家，他想出个妙主意。他编了一个故事，把自己与太太的现实处境转托成两个虚构人物的经历。为了能被妻子领悟，他还特意引用了他们夫妻间以往 生活中若干特有的细节。在故事的结尾，他让那对夫妻离了婚，并特意写道：那个妻子对丈夫已经没有了爱情，一滴眼泪也没有流地走了，以后隐居在南方的森林小 屋，靠丈夫补偿给她的足够的法郎，悠闲自得地消磨着自由的时光……

他把这份手稿交给太太打印时，心里难免有些不安。晚上回到家里时，心里嘀咕妻子会怎么接待他。

“亲爱的，我希望我不在家时你没有过于烦闷，是吗？”吕西安.里歇的话里带着几分犹豫。

太太却像平常一样安详：“没有，家里有这么多事情要做呐。但看到你回来，我还是很高兴的。”

吕西安.里歇猜测，难道她没有看懂？或者她把打印的事情安排到了明天？然而，太太告诉他，故事已经打印好了，并经仔细校对后寄往《里昂晚报》编辑部了。可是她为什么一字不提文中的情节呢？毕竟心虚，小说家没有多问；他受着情感的煎熬。

直到故事在报上发表后，闷葫芦才打开。原来，太太把故事的结局改了：既然丈夫提出了这个要求，妻子只得强忍心中的悲伤，夫妻俩离了婚。可是，那位在结婚23年之后依然保持着自己纯真爱情的妻子，却在前往南方森林小屋的途中抑郁而死。

小说家吕西安.里歇震惊了，忏悔了，当下就和那个令他神魂颠倒的女人一刀两断。

太阳又升起来了，他们的生活还在继续。如同太太没有向他说起自己修改故事的结局一样，吕西安.里歇也没有向太太谈到自己的这段情事。

“亲爱的，我希望我不在家时你没有过于烦闷，是吗？”吕西安.里歇回到家时，一如既往地问道，不过比以往更加深情。

“没有，家里有这么多事情要做。但看到你回来，我还是很高兴的。”妻子一如既往地回答，不过比以往更加温柔。

那些似乎太平静、太单调、太不浪漫的家庭生活，往往正是最安宁、最朴实、最值得珍惜的幸福生活。

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Woman at Stream (oil painting by Katherine Taylor)

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone.”

Sometimes it’s not the wealth you have but, what’s inside you that others need.

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Peace - by CJ

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried and submitted their work. The king looked at all the pictures. There were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake, perfectly mirroring the peaceful, towering mountains all around it. Overhead was blue sky with fluffy, white clouds. It was the favorite of all who saw it. Truly, they thought, it was the perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too, but these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of one mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. A less peaceful picture would be difficult to imagine. But when the king looked closely, he saw beside the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest in perfect peace.

Which picture would you have selected? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?

“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all these things and still be calm in your heart. This is the real meaning of peace.”

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Mind the genie in the lamp - by CJ

There once was a very poor man, who woke up hungry with only 1 rupee left in his pocket. He decides to go to the market and see if his rupee can buy him some left over fruit. At the market he meets a fancy clothed man behind a table with a beautiful oil lamp on it, and a sign that reads “1 rupee”.

The poor man can’t believe his eyes, and asks the man what the catch is.
“It’s true, the lamp only costs 1 rupee,” the man says.
And he explains that in the lamp there lives a genie, who fulfills all your desires.
“Then why do you sell it?”, the poor man wants to know.
“Well, the genie is always active and rather impatient”, it is explained. “And if you don’t pay attention to him, he’ll start taking things away again”.
“Well OK”, the poor man says. “Since I don’t have much to lose I will buy it from you”.

When he arrives back home, he rubs the lamp and the genie appears. “How can I serve you, master?”, he asks.
“Prepare me a meal worthy of a king”, the poor man commands.
Within a second the genie serves an opulous meal with 87 courses.
The poor man is delighted, but when he wants to start eating, the genie asks again – “And how can I serve you master?”
Keeping in mind that the genie can also take away all the goodies, the poor man commands: “Build me a beautiful castle, suitable for a maharadja!”
Only a few seconds pass by, and the man now finds himself in a beautiful palace. He likes to explore it, but there comes the genie again, asking “How can I serve you, master?”
Every wish is immediately fulfilled, and when ignored, the genie takes away everything.

The poor man is annoyed and goes to the village sage, where he explains his problem.
After a silent conversation, the poor man steps to the genie and says: ‘Genie, build me a large pole and stick it in the ground”.
The genie immediately builds a pole and sticks it in the ground.
“Now genie, I want you to climb up and down the pole, over and over again”.
The genie starts climbing right away.
And now the man has time to eat his meal, explore his palace and do other things.

When he and the sage go to see what the genie is doing, they see that he has fallen asleep next to the pole.
“And so it is with the thinking genie of every man”, explains the sage.
“It is restless in its desire to satisfy every desire, and fragments our being.
The pole is a tool called a ‘mantra’.
“By repeating it over and over again, our restless mind is kept busy until it gets so bored that it falls asleep.
And this way our true self can enjoy the world.”

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Still carrying her

Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She thanked him and departed.

As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. “Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!”

“Brother,” the second monk replied, “I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her.”

中文翻译：

两个旅途中的和尚到了河边要渡河时，发现河边有一名年轻女子正在发愁如何过河。河流很急，她就请求两个和尚的帮忙。一个和尚正犹豫着，另一个和尚二话不说，抱起女子就过了河，把她放下河的彼岸。女子向和尚道谢就离开了。

当两个和尚继续赶路的时候，一个和尚不断沉思和忧闷。终于，他忍不住开口了：「师兄，我们的修行是要守戒的，不能和女人有接触，可是你刚刚还抱着她。」

「师弟」另一个和尚答道：「我在河边已经把她放下了，你怎么还抱着她？」

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Little plant

I came across this wise story on the net:

A young man through the mountains came upon an old man who was busy planting a tiny almond tree.

Knowing that almond trees take many years to mature, the young man commented to the old man “It seems odd that a man of your advanced age would plant such a slow-growing tree!”.

The old man replied “I like to live my life based on two principles. One is that I will live forever. The other is that this is my last day.”

我在网上读到了这么个故事：

一个年轻人经过了山头，遇到了一位老者正在忙着种棵杏仁树。

年轻人知道杏仁树要很多年才会开花结果，就建议老者：“我很惊讶见到你这么大了年纪的人，竟然会种这么棵很慢成长的树。”

老者答到：“我生活喜欢基于两个原则；一、我将会永远活着。二、今天是我活着的最后一天。”

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Hakuin and the baby - by CJ

There was a monk named Hakuin (白隠 慧鶴) who was well respected for his work among the people.

In the village, there lived a young woman, the daughter of the food sellers. The young woman became pregnant by her boy friend who worked nearby in the fish market. When the parents found out about this, they were very angry and pressured her to reveal the name of the father. She wanted to protect the young man and blurted out the name of Hakuin as the father.

After the baby was born, the parents took the baby to Hakuin. They told Hakuin that he was responsible for the baby and left the infant with him. He responded: “Is that so?” And he simply accepted the responsibility for the child without further reaction.

The monk had no experience with babies. But he began to care for its needs, finding food, clothing, and warm shelter. The other villagers became very angry with Hakuin for his offense and his reputation was trashed. In addition, his disciples left him. These comments did not affect Hakuin, who continued to put his effort and attention into the care of the baby.

After several years, the young woman was filled with remorse. She confessed to her parents the name of the true father –  the real father was not Hakuin but rather a young man who worked at the local fish market. They immediately went to see Hakuin, apologized, and took the baby back with them. Hakuin watched as they returned to there home with the child he had cared for since birth and replied “Is that so?”

Comments:

“Is that so?” reflects the acceptance of what the moment brings. Acceptance in the sense that one responds appropriately to the situation with a calm mind and spirit. There are no calls of fairness or unfairness, of being experienced in the task or not, of complaining about a lost reputation, of wishing that it were different. The needs of present are simply addressed.

More than the physical situation, it is the spirit of the monk’s mind at the initial instant that the situation arises that makes his actions so compelling. It is not passive acceptance; there is direct action here. The calm mind allows effort to be fully directed to the situation without dispersal of energy.

The same tasks of caring for the baby could also be done with resentment or a turbulent mind. Then, there is room for fairness and unfairness, complaining and wishing it were different. Same tasks, but the energy is completely different.

All of these stories are about the reader, not a fiction story about the monk. The situation may be one at work, home, or with a friend that brings the same apparent unfairness and inconvenience to an individual at the moment. Responding with a calm or turbulent mind makes all the difference.

The calm spirit is within the potential of all humans.

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The life of a Mexican fisherman

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his catch. “How long did it take you to get those?” he asked.

“Not so long,” said the Mexican.

“Then why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was quite enough to meet his needs and feed his family.

“So what do you do with the rest of your time?” asked the American.

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evening, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar and sing a few songs. I have a full life.”

The American interrupted. “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.”

“And after that?” asked the Mexican.

“With the extra money the bigger boat will bring, you can buy a second boat and then a third boat, and then more until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants. Pretty soon you could open your own plant. You could leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York! From there you could direct your whole enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.

“Twenty — perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the American.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? Well, my friend,” laughed the American, “that’s when it gets really interesting. When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?” said the Mexican.

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a beautiful place near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take siestas with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends.”

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Missing cows by CJ

This is the story I read from a book:

A wise man was walking with his students. As they passing by a village, a farmer who seemed very worry and distressed, headed towards them.

He stopped then asked the wise man, “Have you seen a kine cows on your way here?”

“No, sorry to say I did not see any.” the wise man answered.

“Sigh, I am the most unlucky person in this world. These cows are the only assets I have and they are all gone missing now. I have been seeking for days yet I couldn’t find them. How am I going to live on without them?” said the farmer sadly.

“…I am really the most unlucky person in this world. Sigh..” he continued to seek for the cows.

The wise man then turned to his students and said, “You are lucky that you do not own any cow.”

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