An Indian Folklore This is a story of the Mighty Elephant and the Tiny Fish. A wealthy merchant often visited the holy city of Haridwar where his guru lived. He loved to listen to his guru’s discourse, even though he failed to appreciate all the concepts and ideas the sage presented. For instance, he could… Continue reading Is Surrender really important?
Tag: spirituality
How to be wise?
A Kashmiri folktale One day a dissatisfied fellow was sitting under a walnut tree, and his eyes fell on a great pumpkin growing nearby. He thought: “Nature is so foolish. It had to give such small nuts to this big walnut tree and such immense fruits to this thin plant! Now if pumpkins were growing… Continue reading How to be wise?
The Crying Cherry Tree
A JAPANESE FOLK-TALE Once upon a time there lived a poor woman in a village. One day as she was praying at the shrine of Lord Buddha a lovely green scarf fluttered down and fell before her. She felt as if she had received Buddha’s blessings. She thanked the Lord and picked up the scarf. … Continue reading The Crying Cherry Tree
How not to be hopeless?
An Indian Folktale One evening, a merchant was locking the doors of his shop. Suddenly, a young man sprang up from behind and snatched the bag he was holding in his hand that contained the day’s collection from his business. The merchant as well as some passers-by chased the thief and managed to catch him.… Continue reading How not to be hopeless?
Being grounded
An Indian Folktale Once a FARMER and a CLEVER MINDED person got together to do farming jointly. They acquired some farmland. The farmer BARRICADED it with hedging and tilled it and PREPARED for sowing. Then went to the clever one and asked about the details of sharing the harvest. The clever one said, “I shall… Continue reading Being grounded
Melon and Knife
A Kashmiri Folktale There was a King who had a dream one night – a strange dream. He saw that there were three things lying in front of him — a watermelon, a knife and a plate. An invisible hand operated the knife, cutting slices of the melon which fell into the plate one after… Continue reading Melon and Knife
The Three Perspectives
A Sufi Folktale There were once three Sufis, so observant and experienced in life that they were known as The Three Perspectives. One day during their travels they encountered a camel-owner, who said: “Have you seen my camel? I have lost it.” The Three Perspectives in reply started asking questions about the lost camel. They… Continue reading The Three Perspectives
The Location of Paradise
An Indian Folktale “Sir, is there a paradise?” Vraja, the young disciple, asked the Master for the umpteenth time. At last the Master replied with another question, “Must you know?” “Yes, Master, yes!” said the disciple most eagerly. “Well, my first disciple, Hemchandra, is in paradise,” said the Master and then he closed his eyes… Continue reading The Location of Paradise
Other Lives
A Kashmiri folktale Once there lived a Seeker of the Truth who wanted to know the mystery of Death and the Great Time. For many years, the seeker kept visiting many gurus, scientists, academicians and ashrams. Then one day, he came across a group of wandering mystic minstrels while walking on the bank of a… Continue reading Other Lives
The One-Straw Millionaire
A Japanese Folktale Chapter 1 Once there was a young man. He was very poor and didn’t seem to have any luck at all. Though he tried his hand at many things and worked hard, he just couldn’t seem to get ahead. Finally he decided to test his luck one last time and went to… Continue reading The One-Straw Millionaire
How to know Death?
A Sufi Folktale Once there lived a very wealthy merchant who had a huge fleet of ships. He belonged to a noble family and was one of the most respected men in the city. Due to his expanding fame and riches, he soon became close friends with the king of the city and then ended-up… Continue reading How to know Death?
True seeking of the Truth
When one thinks about Indian tradition, one would definitely associate it with the rich Sanskrit literature beginning with the Vedas that are believed to have been composed even before 5000 BC. Over many thousands of years, the Vedas travelled orally till it was written down somewhere around 1500BC. It was in Sanskrit that the original… Continue reading True seeking of the Truth