I have heard an ancient parable — must be very ancient because God used to live on the earth in those days. Slowly slowly, he became very tired of man, because people would torture him continuously. In the middle of the night, somebody would knock and say, “Why have you done this? Why not do…
“Once I was staying with my mother in London. At the time she was the housekeeper for a very wealthy Canadian who lived in a luxury flat just off Hyde Park. They all went off for a while, and I had the flat to myself. There I was in London, living in this luxurious flat…
Once there was a panhandler who sat on a street corner begging for spare change from passersby. Every day he sat on the curb with a ripped and tattered cardboard sign on which he had scrawled “Help. Please.”
He held out his sign to one and all, while at his feet lay a black bowler hat into which they might place a coin or a bill. If people were generous he was sometimes able to beg enough for a hearty meal within a few hours.
But if people were stingy…
There once was a bandit who lived in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains in India. From the rocky crags and deep forests that cloaked the mountainous slopes he would prey upon hapless travelers, stealing their money or killing them if they resisted.
When a rich merchant wandered up the wooded path near his lair, the bandit leapt from behind a boulder brandishing his sword. “Your money or your life,” he yelled in his meanest, most intimidating voice…
Marriage is like a fishing net. Each day fishermen use their nets to catch fish and sell them at the market. One fisherman takes his fish from the net every day, but let’s debris from the ocean accumulate. Eventually so much debris is caught in the net that he can hardly cast it out of the boat, and when he does, it’s almost impossible to retrieve.
Finally, in a fit of anger, he…
A young man, a student in one of the universities, was one day taking a walk with a professor, who was commonly called the students’ friend for his kindness to those who waited on his instructions.
As they went along, they saw lying in the path a pair of old shoes, which were supposed to belong to a poor man who was working in a field close by, and who had nearly finished his day’s work…
A wizard was strolling with his three sisters when the most famous warrior of the region came up to him. I want to marry one of these beautiful girls, he said.
If one of them gets married, the others are going to think they are ugly. I am looking for a tribe whose warriors can….
A young woman went to her grandmother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one would pop up.
Her grandmother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and…
A very wealthy man asked a Zen master for a text which would always remind him how happy he was with his family.
The Zen master took some parchment and, in beautiful calligraphy, wrote:
“The father dies. The son dies. The grandson dies.”
“What?” said the furious rich man…
Salty and Sugary were not only ants, they were both very close friends with different eating habits. Sugary lived on a mountain of sugar and ate sugar. Likewise Salty lived on Salt Mountain and ate salt. Sugary felt bad for his friend Salty who had never tasted the sweetness of sugar, so Sugary invited Salty over for dinner.
But when Salty was about to leave for dinner, he became scared…
