The wolf you feed

An old Grandfather, whose grandson came to him with anger at a schoolmate who had done him an injustice, said, "let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times."

He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way."

"But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eye and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"

The Grandfather solemnly said, "The one I feed."

Moral: The choice lies in us as to which wolf we feed!

The external world is a reflection of your inner world

There was once a King who used to wave his hands at people when he went around the city. The people also used to wave back at him. This was a daily practice.

One day the King as usual was passing through a busy road. All the people had waved at him but there was one man, who stood still, with no wishes for the king. The king was angered by his gesture and wanted to thrash him. But he cooled down and thought to himself, ‘I am the King. He is merely my citizen. Why this thought to hit him?’ So the King asked that person, ‘What work do you do?’ to which the man replied, ‘I run a shop that sells firewood.’ The king thought, ‘This guy is after all a firewood dealer. There is no possibility of my getting affected by him in any way. If he belongs to a rival country, then I can easily fight and conquer him. Or if he is a commander, I can assume he will stir up a revolution in future. What can a shopkeeper do? Why should I want to thrash him?”

The King discussed this thought with his Minister. The Minister advised the King to stay away from that route and take another route for two days. The King followed the Minister’s advice and diverted his route for two days. On the third day, when he went back to his original route, the same wood dealer waved his hand and the King waved back at him.

At the palace, the King expressed his surprise to the Minister saying, “I did not have the thought to strike the wood dealer today. I was in a normal mood; in fact, I felt very pleased with him. Why?’ The Minister replied, “Two days back, two lorry loads of sandalwood came to his shop. So when he saw you that day, he felt how good it would be if you died that day, then the whole lot of sandalwood would be purchased for your funeral rites. He saw you with negative thoughts in his mind. He nurtured the selfish thought that his sandalwood should be sold at the cost of your life. When I understood the psychological reason, I asked you not to take that route for two days. I sent our minister to that shop, purchased the entire lot of sandalwood and stored it in the palace. Immediately, he waved to you with the satisfied thought that only because of you, the sandalwood got sold. Those positive thoughts of happiness radiated and raised happy thoughts of him to you.’

Moral: The external world is a reflection Of the internal World.

Judge Yourself

Once upon a time there was a painter who had just completed his course. He took 3 days and painted beautiful scenery. He wanted people's opinion about his caliber and painting skills. He put his creation at a busy street-crossing. And just down below aboard which read -"I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. Please put a cross wherever you see a mistake."

While he came back in the evening to collect his painting he was completely shattered to see that whole canvass was filled with Xs (crosses) and some people had even written their comments on the painting. Disheartened and broken completely he ran to his master's place and burst into tears.

This young artist was breathing heavily and master heard him saying, "I'm useless and if this is what I have learnt to paint I'm not worth becoming a painter. People have rejected me completely. I feel like dying"

Master smiled and suggested "My Son, I will prove that you are a great artist and have learnt flawless painting. Do as I say without questioning it. It WILL work."

Young artist reluctantly agreed and two days later early morning he presented a replica of his earlier painting to his master. Master took that gracefully and smiled.

"Come with me." master said.

They reached the same street-square early morning and displayed the same painting exactly at the same place. Now master took out another board which read -"Gentlemen, I have painted this piece. Since I'm new to this profession I might have committed some mistakes in my strokes etc. I have put a box with colors and brushes just below. Please do a favor. If you see a mistake, kindly pick up the brush and correct it."

Master and disciple walked back home. They both visited the place same evening. Young painter was surprised to see that actually there was not a single correction done so far. Next day again they visited and found painting remained untouched. They say the painting was kept there for a month for no correction came in!

Moral of the story: It is easier to criticize, but difficult to improve! So don't get carried away or judge yourself by someone else’s criticism and feel depressed. Judge yourself! You are your best judge!

Gratitude unfolded

This is a true story that had happened in 1892 at Stanford University. Its moral will always be relevant. A young, 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. He was an orphan, and not know­ing where to turn for money, he came up with a bright idea. A friend and he decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their education. They reached out to the great pianist Ignacy J. Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano recital. A deal was struck. And the boys began to work to make the concert a success. The big day arrived. Paderewski performed at Stanford. But unfortunately, they had not managed to sell enough tickets. The total col­lection was only $1600. Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and explained their plight. They gave him the entire $1600, plus a cheque for the balance $400. They promised to honor the cheque soonest possible. "No." said Paderewski. "This is not acceptable." He tore up the cheque, returned the $1600 and told the two boys "Here's the $1600. Please deduct whatever expenses you have incurred. Keep the money you need for your fees. And just give me whatever is left". The boys were surprised, and thanked him profusely. It was a small act of kindness. But it clearly marked out Paderewski as a great human being. Why should he help two people he did not even know? We all come across situations like these in our lives. And most of us only think "If I help them, what would hap­pen to me?" The truly great people think, "If I don't help them, what will happen to them? They don't do it expecting something in return. They do it because they feel it's the right thing to do. Paderewski later went on to become the Prime Minister of Poland. He was a great leader, but unfortunately when the World War began, Poland was ravaged. There were over 1.5 mil­lion people starving in his country, and no money to feed them. Paderewski did not know where to turn for help. He reached out to the US Food and Relief Administration for help. The Head there was a man called Herbert Hoover - who later went on to become the US President. Hoover agreed to help and quickly shipped tons of food grains to feed the starving Polish people. A calamity was averted. Paderewski was relieved. He decided to go across to meet Hoover and person­ally thank him. When Paderewski began to thank Hoover for his noble gesture, Hoover quickly interjected and said, "You shouldn't be thanking me Mr. Prime Minister. You may not remember this, but several years ago, you helped two young students go through college in the US. I was one of them." The world is a wonderful place. What goes around comes around!

Team work can work wonders

A flock of hungry pigeons were flying across the sky in search of food. Having traveled a long distance, they felt tired and settled down on a tree. Just below the tree, they saw grains strewn all over the ground. The pigeons were happy to have found enough food to eat. All the pigeons came down from the tree and started eating the grains. As they were doing so, a huge net fell on them and trapped them all.

The pigeons were taken aback. They noticed a hunter sitting at a distance from the tree, a bow and arrow in hand. The pigeons realized it was the hunter who had attracted them by strewing the grains and it was he who had trapped them in the net. The hunter got up and began to move towards the pigeons.

The leader of the pigeons spoke, "Friends, we are in great trouble. The hunter will catch us if we do not act swiftly in a few seconds.

There is only one option available at this moment. Let all of us use our force together and fly up along with the net. If all of us use our force and fly together, we can fly carrying the net along with us. Let us start now."

All the pigeons agreed with him and flew high carrying the net along with them. After traveling sufficient distance away from the hunter, the pigeons settled on a tree and carefully came out of the net one by one and thus escaped the evil design of the hunter.

Moral from the Story :

The power of “we” is more than the power of “I” as is wisely evident by the number of letters that makes each word. Just 1 letter makes the “I” but 2 of them make “we.”

Never let others make a slave of you

Little Johnny was visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back, he saw grandma’s pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved.

In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the pile of wood, only to see his sister Sally watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day, grandma said, "Sally, let’s wash the dishes". But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen." Then, she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and grandma said, "I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make supper."

Sally just smiled and said, "Well that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help." She whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.

Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."

Moral: Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done....you need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He’s just wondering how long you will let the evil ways make a slave of you.

Other reads:

The Saint’s wisdom

Don’t quit, keep playing

First be a believer, then be an achiever

Never let others make a slave of you

Team work can work wonders

Gratitude unfolded

Judge Yourself

First be a believer, then be an achiever

The professor stood before his class of 30 senior molecular biology students, about to pass out the final exam. 'I have been privileged to be your instructor this semester, and I know how hard you have all worked to prepare for this test. I also know most of you are off to medical school or grad school next fall,' he said to them.

'I am well aware of how much pressure you are under to keep your marks up, and because I know you are all capable of understanding this material, I am prepared to offer an automatic 'B' to anyone who would prefer not to take the final.'

The relief was audible as a number of students jumped up to thank the professor and departed from class. The professor looked at the handful of students who remained, and offered again, 'Any other takers? This is your last opportunity. ' One more student decided to go. Seven students remained. The professor closed the door and took attendance. Then he handed out the final exam. There were two sentences typed on the paper:

'Congratulations, you have just received an 'A' in this class. Keep believing in yourself.'

Don’t quit, keep playing

Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert. After they were seated, the mother spotted a friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to greet her. Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually explored his way through a door marked "NO ADMITTANCE".

When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing. Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano and whispered in the boy's ear, “Don't quit. Keep playing". Then, leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his left hand and began filling in the bass part. Soon his right arm reached around to the other side of the child and he added a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice transformed a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative, experience. And the audience was mesmerized.

The lesson: Whatever be your situation in life and history, however outrageous, however desperate you may be God is whispering deep within our beings, "Don't quit. Keep playing".

The Saint’s wisdom

Kandagupta was a famous saint. He lived in the outskirts of Maninagar which was the capital of Manipur Kingdom. There were very few who did not know about the wisdom of Kandagupta. He was also known for his fortune telling. Maniraj who was the king of Manipur came to know of the feats of Kandagupta. He wanted to pay respect to this great saint. So, he invited Kandagupta to his palace.

When Kandagupta arrived, Maniraj welcomed him and offered him a seat. Then, the king asked the saint to tell something about his feature from his horoscope. After a keen observation into the king’s horoscope, Kandagupta started telling the future boons to be blessed upon the king. The king was so happy. He kept on rewarding the saint with gold and silver for every boon told by Kandagupta.

Now, came the time to say the future misfortunes. The whole outlook of Maniraj started to change. At one point he shouted, “Stop! You filthy soul! How dare you say such nonsense! I order you to say me the time of your death".

Kandagupta replied in a small voice, "My lord! According to my calculations, my death will take place just an hour before thy death". The king was stunned. He felt his error. He begged pardon from Kandagupta and sent him off with furthermore wealth.

Other reads:

The Saint’s wisdom

Don’t quit, keep playing

First be a believer, then be an achiever

Never let others make a slave of you

Team work can work wonders

Gratitude unfolded

Judge Yourself