Sepenggal Perjalanan: Agustus 2008

When things go wrong, coolly use your wit to overcome the situation.

Posted on 11.42 No Comments
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THE STORY OF THE HERON AND THE CRAB

Somewhere in the jungle, there was a big lake, and in it lived all kinds of water creatures. A heron also lived there. He had grown old and had no strength left to catch the fish. Because he was starving, he had become lean. So he hit upon a plan.

One day, he came to the edge of the pond and began to cry loudly, shedding his tears like pearls.
A crab came up to him and asked sympathetically, "Uncle! Are you all right? Why aren't catching the fish today and why are you crying? Why these sighs?"

"Ah child", replied the heron, "I have decided to renounce the world.

I have been a fish-eater but now I wouldn't touch them even if they came near me, for I have undertaken a fast unto death."

"What is the reason for your renunciation?" the crab asked him.

"Well", said the heron, "I was born in this pond and it is here that I've grown old. Now I have heard that there will be no rain for next twelve years."

"Where have you heard that?" exclaimed the crab.

"From the mouth of an astrologer", said the heron, "that there will be no rain here for twelve years. There's not much water in this pond now, it will get less and less and in the end it will dry up completely."

The crab told this to the other water creatures. All the crabs, fish, tortoises and everybody got into a state of panic. They went to the heron and said, "Is there no way out? Can't we protect ourselves against this disaster?"

"Well", said the heron, " not far from here, is a lake full of water. Even if it does not rain for twenty four years, this lake, which is covered with lotus flowers, will never dry up. If somebody rides on my back I can take him there."

And in this way, he gained their confidence. They gathered around him, crying, "Uncle! Father! Brother! Me first! Me first! Please!"

The wicked heron took them one by one, on his back. When he had flown a little way, he would smash them against a rock and eat them to his heart's content. When he got back, he would deliver false messages to their relatives.

One day the crab said to the heron, "Uncle, I was friends with you first and yet you take the others before me. Now save my life too."

When he heard this, the heron thought to himself, "I am tired of eating fish everyday. To change the monotony of the food, I'll eat this crab today."

And so he took the crab on his back and carried him to the rock where he used to kill the fishes.

The crab recognized the heap of bones and the skeletons of the fishes and understood everything.

But calmly he said to the heron, "Uncle! Say, how far is this pond? You must be tied of carrying me. I am very heavy." The heron thought to himself, "Now this dumb water creature is in my power, and cannot escape from my clutches."

So, with a smirk, he said to the crab, "Crab, where could there be another pond? This trip is for my food. I am going to smash you against this rock and eat you".

As soon as the heron had said this, the crab put his claws round the white, lotus-like neck of the heron and strangled him to death. The crab slowly dragged the neck back to the pond.

All the water dwellers gathered round him and began to ask, "Crab, why are you back? And why hasn't uncle returned with you? Why is he wasting time? We are all impatient for a chance to be taken to the large lake.'

Then the crab laughed and said, "You fools! That swindler told us untruth about the astrologer and was not taking the water creatures to any pond; but smashing them against a rock, not far from here, and eating them up. I was destined to stay alive and understood what he was up to.

I killed the trickster and I have brought back his neck.

Now there's no need to worry. We are safe."

The wise indeed say: When things go wrong, coolly use your wit to overcome the situation.

cited from TALES OF PANCHATANTRA

For Those Who Doubt

Posted on 14.23 komentar (1)
Label: Cermin (tetangga)

This story is directed at those who choose not to believe in God and for those who experience any doubt of His presence and/or existence. I recently came across a true story about a woman in Fort Myers, Florida whose mother was dying. It is my hope that this story may touch you in the same way it touched my heart. The story, some of which is in the exact words of this woman is as follows:

I was fortunate to be able to sit at my mother's bedside and have lots of talks with her during her last weeks on earth. Most of her last month was spent in a hospital until we went to Hospice House. I knew Hospice helped people die but I didn't know they had a 16 room home in Fort Myers where people could come and die in peace. We had many conversations as she drew closer and closer to death and spoke many times about death and heaven.

In one such conversation about heaven I said: "Mom, well... could we have a secret, something just between us? I know it's going to sound crazy. But if you die and when you get to heaven, if it's more than you ever dreamed it would be, if you are all right and see God and Jesus, would you send me one red rose?"

This was a very special moment between me and my mother an eternal moment. She said, "Yes, I'll do that."

A week later I said, "Look mom about our secret, I'll be on earth and you'll be in heaven. How are you going to get a rose to me?" She said to me without reservation "Honey, God can do anything!"

Shortly after that on September 16,1997 her mother died. As you can imagine this was not a wonderful time. So much to do with funeral arrangements that the woman forgot completely about the secret she and her mother had shared. Then at the funeral home, during the wake a strange thing happened. Let me share this in the woman's words.

All of the sudden in the back of the funeral home I caught a glimpse of an elderly gentleman with a cane. I didn't know him. I was sure that I had never seen or met him before. I turned and looked at him... as he knelt down at my mother's coffin and placed in her hands just one beautiful red rose. I walked over to him and inquired what made him bring the rose. He said, "oh honey, for some reason all day today I had a red rose on my mind, all day I have been thinking about it. I just knew I had to get one red rose for your mother.""

Now if you're like me, you have tears streaming down your cheeks right now. Let me suggest to you that God is real and sometimes in His graciousness and love, He will, for just a moment pull back the curtain and allow us to see beyond our limited view of life and death. Right now if you believe this story and it has touched your heart, isn't it about time you got right with God and accepted His Son into your heart. Don't wait because if you do it may be too late. Accept Christ today as your Lord and Savior and become part of the eternal kingdom of God. After all heaven was more than this woman's mother.

--- Author Unknown

Concentration

Posted on 14.20 No Comments
Label: OneMinuteWisdom

Here is Zen Stories:

After winning several archery contests, the young and rather boastful champion challenged a Zen master who was renowned for his skill as an archer. The young man demonstrated remarkable technical proficiency when he hit a distant bull's eye on his first try, and then split that arrow with his second shot.

"There," he said to the old man,

"see if you can match that!"

Undisturbed, the master did not draw his bow, but rather motioned for the young archer to follow him up the mountain. Curious about the old fellow's intentions, the champion followed him high into the mountain until they reached a deep chasm spanned by a rather flimsy and shaky log.

Calmly stepping out onto the middle of the unsteady and certainly perilous bridge, the old master picked a far away tree as a target, drew his bow, and fired a clean, direct hit. "Now it is your turn," he said as he gracefully stepped back onto the safe ground. Staring with terror into the seemingly bottomless and beckoning abyss, the young man could not force himself to step out onto the log, no less shoot at a target.

"You have much skill with your bow," the master said, sensing his challenger's predicament, "but you have little skill with the mind that lets loose the shot."

The Guy In The Glass

Posted on 14.18 No Comments
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The Guy In The Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

--- By Dale Wimbrow, © 1934
--- Originally Submitted by Darryl Bevan --- Perth, Western Australia
--- Correct author supplied by Tina - 6/7/99

Ritual Cat

Posted on 14.11 No Comments
Label: OneMinuteWisdom

When the spiritual teacher and his disciples began their evening meditation, the cat who lived in the monastery made such noise that it distracted them. So the teacher ordered that the cat be tied up during the evening practice. Years later, when the teacher died, the cat continued to be tied up during the meditation session. And when the cat eventually died, another cat was brought to the monastery and tied up. Centuries later, learned descendants of the spiritual teacher wrote scholarly treatises about the religious significance of tying up a cat for meditation practice.

Even a very powerful enemy can be destroyed through deceit

Posted on 11.19 No Comments
Label: OneMinuteWisdom

THE STORY OF THE COBRA AND THE CROW

Somewhere in the country, under a banyan tree, there lived a pair of crows, husband and wife.

Now, whenever the female hatched her eggs, a black cobra would come out of the hollow of the tree, climb up, and make a meal of them.

Nearby, under another banyan tree, there lived a jackal. The crows told him everything, 'Friend', they said, 'the black cobra creeps out of the hollow of the tree, climbs up and eats up our children. Tell us, what can we do to protect our children ? It's become dangerous for us to live here'.

'Don't give up hope', said the jackal, 'it is a fact that a powerful enemy can be destroyed by a trick.'

The crow said, 'Friend, do tell us how we can kill this wicked cobra.'

'Well', said the jackal, 'go to a city that is the capital of a kingdom.

Visit the house of some wealthy man, a minister or someone, and see if he has been careless enough to leave a gold chain or a necklace lying about.

Pick it up, and making sure that the servants are watching you, fly off slowly with it and drop it in the hollow of the tree where the cobra lives.

When the servants run after you to recover the necklace , they'll see the cobra e and it's certain, they'll kill him.'

The crows decided to take the jackal's advice and flew off.

As they were flying, the female crow noticed a lake, in which the women of the harem were swimming. They had left gold and pearl necklaces with their clothes on the banks of the lake. The female crow picked up a gold chain in her beak and started flying slowly to her nest.

When the eunuchs saw this, they picked up their sticks and started running after the female crow. She let the gold chain fall near the hollow of the tree where the cobra lived and seated herself on a tree nearby.

When the king's servants arrived on the scene, they were confronted by a cobra with swelling hood, before the hollow of the tree. They killed the cobra with sticks, recovered the gold chain and returned home.

And the crows lived happily ever. The wise indeed say: Even a very powerful enemy can be destroyed through deceit.

cited from: TALES OF PANCHATANTRA

Sounds of Silence

Posted on 14.09 No Comments
Label: OneMinuteWisdom

Four monks decided to meditate silently without speaking for two weeks. By nightfall on the first day, the candle began to flicker and then went out.

The first monk said, "Oh, no! The candle is out."

The second monk said, "Aren't we not suppose to talk?"

The third monk said, "Why must you two break the silence?"

The fourth monk laughed and said, "Ha! I'm the only one who didn't speak."

Worth Remembering

Posted on 13.46 No Comments
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by Malcolm Forbes

A True Story

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge. She frowned.

"We want to see the President," the man said softly.
"He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped.
"We'll wait," the lady replied.

For hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away.
They didn't and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the President, even though it was a chore she always regretted.

"Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave," she told him. He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, but he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.

The President, stern-faced with dignity, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. And my husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."

The President wasn't touched, he was shocked. "Madam," he said gruffly. "We can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh, no," the lady explained quickly. "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard"

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. He could get rid of them now. And the lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a University? Why don't we just start our own?"

Her husband nodded.

The President's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. And Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.

Malcolm Forbes
cited from: http://www.yuni.com/library/docs/212.html

Surprising the Master

Posted on 14.07 No Comments
Label: OneMinuteWisdom

The students in the monastery were in total awe of the elder monk, not because he was strict, but because nothing ever seemed to upset or ruffle him. So they found him a bit unearthly and even frightening. One day they decided to put him to a test. A bunch of them very quietly hid in a dark corner of one of the hallways, and waited for the monk to walk by. Within moments, the old man appeared, carrying a cup of hot tea. Just as he passed by, the students all rushed out at him screaming as loud as they could. But the monk showed no reaction whatsoever. He peacefully made his way to a small table at the end of the hall, gently placed the cup down, and then, leaning against the wall, cried out with shock, "Ohhhhh!"

Miracle cost

Posted on 13.41 No Comments
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What's the miracle cost?

Tess was a precocious eight years old when she heard her Mom and Dad talking about her little brother, Andrew. All she knew was that he was very sick and they were completely out of money. They were moving to an apartment complex next month because Daddy didn't have the money for the doctor bills and our house. Only a very costly surgery could save him now and it was looking like there was no-one to loan them the money. She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother with whispered desperation, "Only amiracle can save him now."

Tess went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even. The total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes. Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he was too intently talking to another man to be bothered by an eight year old at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!

"And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. "I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he said without waiting for a reply to his question.

"Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. "He's really, really sick ... and I want to buy a miracle."

"I beg your pardon?" said the pharmacist.

"His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?"

"We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you." the pharmacist said, softening a little.

"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs."

The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, "What kind of a miracle does you brother need?"

"I don't know," Tess replied with her eyes welling up. "I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs a operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money. "How much do you have?" asked the man from Chicago.

"One dollar and eleven cents," Tess answered barely audibly. "And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to."

"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents -- the exact price of a miracle for little brothers." He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her and said "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the kind of miracle you need."

That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well. Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place. "That surgery," her mom whispered. "was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?"

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost... one dollar and eleven cents... plus the faith of a little child.

Author Unknown
cited from : http://www.yuni.com/library/docs/223.html