Lesson about Gratitude

 According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher.

 After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.

 Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container. The student challenged his teacher: "Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?"

 The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of loving-kindness and nothing could be sweeter."!!!  

 We may understand this lesson best when we receive innocent gifts of love from young children. Whether it's a crushed paper painting or a clay figure, the natural and proper response is appreciation and expressed thankfulness because we love the idea within the gift.

 Gratitude doesn't always come naturally. Unfortunately, most children and many adults value only the thing given rather than the feeling embodied in it. We should remind ourselves and teach our children about the beauty and purity of feelings and expressions of gratitude. After all, gifts from the heart are really gifts of the heart!! Also, when we express our gratitude,we must never forget that the highest of appreciation is not to utter mere words, but to live by them.

 The essence of all beautiful art, all great art is gratitude! Gratitude is the sign of noble souls and the memory of it is stored in the heart and not the mind! The next time you receive any gifts from anyone, no matter however small it may be, remember the love behind and dont judge the gift with its appearance!

Have a deep sense of gratitude for whatever you receive in life in whatever form it may be.

The Stranger in The Garden

 Once upon a time there was a man who had a big garden. He had planted many fruit trees andcared for them till they bear fruits. Now he wanted to pick up the fruits and sell them to make money for his family.

 One fine day while picking fruits with his son, the man saw a stranger sitting on the branch of a tree and picking the fruits. This man become angry and shouted, “Hey you! What are you doing on my tree? Aren’t you ashamed of stealing fruits in the day time?”

 The stranger on the branch just looked at the gardener but didn’t reply, and continued picking the fruits. The gardener was very angry and shouted again, “For a whole year I have taken care of these trees, you have no right to take the fruits without my permission so come down at once!”

The stranger on the tree answered, “Why should I come down? This is the garden of God and I am the servant of God, so I have the right to pick these fruits and you should not interfere between the work of God and his servant.” The gardener was very surprised at this answer and thought of a plan.

 He called his son and said, “go bring a rope and get this man down from the tree.” His son brought the rope and the gardener ordered him to tie the stranger to the tree. The gardener then took a stick and started to beat the stranger. The stranger began to scream. “Why are you beating me? You have no right to do this.”

The gardener paid no attention and continued beating him. The stranger screamed, “Don’t you fear God, you are beating an innocent man? The gardener answered, “Why should I fear? This wood in my hand belongs to God and I am too the servant of God, so I have nothing to fear, and you shouldn’t interfere with the work of God and his servant.”

 The stranger hesitated and then spoke, “Wait don’t beat me, I am sorry for taking the fruits. This is your garden and I should seek your permission before taking the fruits. So, please forgive and set me free.”

 The gardener smiled and said, “Since you have now realized your mistake, I will forgive you but remember that God has given all his servants brains so every person’s deeds are in his own hands.” Then the gardener untied him and let him go free.

The Butter in The Milk

  The young daughter had gone to her village home for the first time from her city-dwelling. At night before retiring to bed, her mother opened a pot in which there was good cow's milk and poured a little buttermilk.

 The girl asked her mother: "Mother, that was butter milk; and why have you mixed it with Milk? The milk may be spoiled!"
"Child," answered the mother, "that is the way to prepare the milk in order that we might get butter out of it."
"But where is butter in it, mother?"
"It is in every drop of the milk, dear; but you can't see it now. I will show you in the morning."

 In the morning the daughter saw that what was liquid the night before had become solid overnight. Mother put a churning rod into it and started churning the curd vigorously. Butter began to float on the surface of the curd. Then she gathered it all up and presented it to the astonishment of the daughter.

 The mother explained: "The addition of the buttermilk curdles the milk. Milk is transformed into curd. Then you have to churn it. By this process the butter which was all-pervasively hidden in the milk is obtained. At first you were not able to see it; it was hidden. From where has it come now? From the milk only. Therefore you understand now that it was there all the time. It awaited the process of churning to reveal itself to your great joy."  The daughter, too, followed the same process and got the butter, for herself.

Similarly, a worldly man approaches a Mahatma and asks him: "O Sadhu, why have you renounced the world, and poured this new element into your life? Why don't you let the life take its natural course?"

The Sadhu replies: "Brother, I do so in order to realise God?"
"Where is God?"
"He is all-pervading."The worldly man does not see and is not convinced.

The Sadhu then explains how the inner personality which is fickle and outflowing should be made solid and firm. Then the churning rod of one-pointed concentration and meditation should be taken hold of, and this solid inner soul should be very well churned. Then God is realised. He is all-pervading, in every atom of creation. But He is not visible to the naked eye nor is He realisable by a man except through his inner mind.

The Painter

 
 Once upon a time there was a painter who had just completed his course under disciple hood of a great painter. This young artist decided to assess his skills of skills so he decided to give his best strokes on the canvass. He took 3 days and painted beautiful scenery.

 Suddenly an idea flashed in his mind and he decided to display it on a busy street-square of that small town he was resident of. He wanted people's opinion about his caliber and painting skills.

 He put his creation at a busy street-crossing. And just down below a 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. 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. Sobbing and crying inconsolably he told his master about what happened and showed the pathetic state of his creation which was filled with marks everywhere. Such was the state that colors were not visible, only things one could see were crosses and correction remarks.

 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 a flawless painting." Young disciple couldn't believe it and said "I have lost faith in me and I don't think I am good enough. Don't make false hopes..."

 "Do as I say without questioning it. It WILL work." Master interrupted him.

 "Just paint exactly similar painting once again for me and give it to me. Will you do that for your master?" Master instructed.

 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. But master wasn't satisfied as yet and he told his disciple "May be one day was too little a time for people to come up with ideas and take out time out of their busy schedules to correct it so let us keep it here for one more day. Tomorrow is Sunday, so we can expect some corrections coming in."

 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!

 It is easier to criticize, but difficult to improve. If you want to help people improve their behavior it is worth investing your effort in learning how help people change their behaviors, attitudes and skills.