Play Wise, Play Fool To Achieve Your Goal

There once lived a great mathematician in a village outside Ujjain. He was often called by the local king to advice on matters related to the economy. His reputation had spread all over the country. So it hurt him very much when the village headman told him, "You may be a great mathematician who advises the king on economic matters but your son does not know the value of gold or silver."

The mathematician called his son and asked, "What is more valuable – gold or silver?" "Gold," said the son. "That is correct. Why is it then that the village headman makes fun of you, claims you do not know the value of gold or silver? He teases me every day. He mocks me before other village elders as a father who neglects his son. This hurts me. I feel everyone in the village is laughing behind my back because you do not know what is more valuable, gold or silver. Explain this to me, son."

  

So the son of the mathematician told his father the reason why the village headman carried this impression. "Every day on my way to school, the village headman calls me to his house. There, in front of all village elders, he holds out a silver coin in one hand and a gold coin in other. He asks me to pick up the more valuable coin. I pick the silver coin. He laughs, the elders jeer, everyone makes fun of me. And then I go to school. This happens every day. That is why they tell you I do not know the value of gold or silver."

 

The father was confused. His son knew the value of gold and silver, and yet when asked to choose between a gold coin and silver coin always picked the silver coin. "Why don't you pick up the gold coin?" he asked. In response, the son took the father to his room and showed him a box. In the box were at least a hundred silver coins. Turning to his father, the mathematician’s son said, "The day I pick up the gold coin the game will stop. They will stop having fun and I will stop making money."

  

The bottom line is: Sometimes in life, we have to play the fool because our seniors and our peers, and sometimes even our juniors like it. That does not mean we lose in the game of life. It just means allowing others to win in one arena of the game, while we win in the other arena of the game. We have to choose which arena matters to us and which arenas do not.

Perspective

The train has started moving. It is packed with people of all ages, mostly with the working men and women and young college guys and gals. Near the window, seated an old man with his 30 year old son. As the train moves by, the son is overwhelmed with joy as he was thrilled with the scenery outside.. "See dad, the scenery of green trees moving away is very beautiful"

This behaviour from a thirty year old son made the other people feel strange about him. Everyone started murmuring something or other about this son."This guy seems to be a crack...” newly married Anup whispered to his wife. Suddenly it started raining... Rain drops fell on the travellers through the open window. The Thirty year old son, filled with joy “see dad, how beautiful the rain is  ..." Anup's wife got irritated with the rain drops spoiling her new suit. Anup," can't you see its raining, you old man, if your son is not feeling well get him soon to a mental asylum..and don't disturb public henceforth"

The old man hesitated first and then in a low tone replied " we are on the way back from hospital, my son got discharged today morning only, he was a blind by birth, last week only he got his vision, when his mother died she donated her beautiful eyes to him, therefore these rain and nature are new to his eyes... Please forgive us if we caused inconvenience to you."

And he stood up & shifted to the next compartment of the train with his son...........

The things we see may be right from our perspective until we know the truth. But when we know the truth, our reaction to that will hurt us. So try to understand the problem better before taking a harsh action.

Three Wishes Of Alexander

There is very instructive incident involving the life of Alexander, the great Greek king.

Alexander, after conquering many kingdoms, was returning home. On the way, he fell ill and it took him to his death bed. With death staring him in his face, Alexander realized how his conquests, his great army, his sharp sword and all his wealth were of no consequence.

He now longed to reach home to see his mother's face and bid her his last adieu. But, he had to accept the fact that his sinking health would not permit Him to reach his distant homeland. So, the mighty conqueror lay prostrate and pale, helplessly waiting to breathe his last. He called his generals and said, "I will depart from this world soon; I have three wishes, please carry them out without fail." With tears flowing down their cheeks, the generals agreed to abide by their king's last wishes.

“My first desire is that," said Alexander, “My physicians alone must carry my coffin." After a pause, he continued, “Secondly, I desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be strewn with gold, silver and precious stones which I have collected in my treasury.

“The king felt exhausted after saying this. He took a minute's rest and continued. "My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept dangling out of my coffin."

The people who had gathered there wondered at the king's strange wishes. But no one dare bring the question to their lips. Alexander's favourite general kissed his hand and pressed them to his heart. “O king, we assure you that your wishes will all be fulfilled, but tell us why do you make such strange wishes?"

At this Alexander took a deep breath and said:

 "I would like the world to know of the three lessons I have just learnt. I want my physicians to carry my coffin because people should realize that no doctor can really cure anybody. They are powerless and cannot save a person from the clutches of death. So let not people take life for granted.

The second wish of strewing gold, silver and other riches on the way to the graveyard is to tell people that not even a fraction of gold will come with me. I spent all my life earning riches but cannot take anything with me. Let people realize that it is a sheer waste of time to chase wealth.

And about my third wish of having my hands dangling out of the coffin, I wish people to know that I came empty handed into this world and empty handed I go out of this world."

With these words, the king closed his eyes. Soon he let death conquer him and breathed his last. . . . .

Two Monks And A Pretty Lady

Once upon a time, an elder monk and a younger monk were travelling together. They came to a river bank, the bridge was damaged. They had to wade across the river. There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river. The elder monk offered to carry the lady across the river on his back. The lady accepted.

The younger monk was shocked by the move of the elder monk. "How can elder disciple brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females,” thought the younger monk. But he kept quiet. The elder monk carried the lady across the river and the younger monk followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the elder monk let the lady down and they parted with her.

Along the way for several miles, the younger monk was very unhappy with the act of the elder monk. He made up all kind of accusations about the elder monk in his mind. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet. And the elder monk had no inclination to explain his situation. Finally, at rest-point many hours later, the younger monk couldn't stand it any further; he burst out angrily at the elder monk. "How can you claim yourself a devout monk, when you seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty! All your teaching to me make you a elder hypocrite."

The elder monk looked surprised and said, "I had put down the pretty lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?"

This is a very old Chinese Zen story but it still reflects the thinking of many people today. We encounter many unpleasant things in our life, they irritate us and they make us angry. Sometimes, they cause us a lot of hurt; sometimes they cause us to be bitter or jealous. But like the younger monk, we are not willing to let them go away. We keep on carrying the burden of the "pretty lady" with us. We let them keep on coming back to hurt us, make us angry, make us bitter and cause a lot of agony. Why?

Simply because we are not willing to put down the baggage of the pretty lady, we should just put down the pretty lady immediately after crossing the river, immediately after the unpleasant event is over. This will immediately remove all our agonies. There is no need to be further hurt by the unpleasant event after it is over. It is just that simple.

The Frogs

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, "There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs - millions of them. They all croak all night long and they are about to make me crazy!" So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at a time for the next several weeks. The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, "Well... where are all the frogs?" The farmer said, "I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!"

Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember, it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also remember that problems always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming like a million frogs croaking? Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

The Turtles

A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. Turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last! For about six months they cleaned the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left. Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years... six years...then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and begun to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, "See! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt."

Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we don't do anything ourselves.

Respect Follows Service

A dervish was once sitting alone, meditating in a patch of desert. A ruler passed by. The dervish, being free from the cares of this world, neither lifted his head nor paid any attention. The ruler, with the violent pride of power, was furious and said: "These dervishes in their patched cloaks are no better than animals!"

His minister scolded the dervish and said: "The great ruler of all the world passed by and you did not stand and bow: why were you so rude?"

The dervish replied: "Tell your king to expect those people to bow who hope for some reward from him. Tell him that rulers are there to protect their people. The people were not created just to obey rulers. The ruler is the watchman of the poor, though he has greater wealth and glory. The sheep are not made for the shepherd, rather the shepherd is there to serve the sheep. Look around you: today you see one man carefree and successful, the other struggling sore-hearted to survive. Wait a day or two, and see how the earth devours the brain once troubled with so many foolish thoughts! When the irresistible decrees of Fate are issued, neither king nor slave remain. Open up the tomb and search these dusty bones: can you tell which was the rich man or which was the pauper?"

The ruler was struck by the words of the dervish. He said: "Ask me a favour!"

The dervish replied: "I would ask you to never disturb me again."

The king begged: "Give me a word of advice!"

The dervish replied: "Now that wealth is in your hands, realize before it is too late, that this wealth and this power pass from hand to hand."