Old woman hired a painter

An old woman hired a painter to paint her house. When the painter entered the house, he saw that the old woman's husband was blind. The painter felt sympathetic towards the couple but the blind man was cheerful and sanguine, so during the few days that the painter worked in that house, he had congenial conversations with the old man.

When the painting work was completed, the old woman found that the painter had given them a very big discount in the bill. She asked the painter. " Why have you deducted so much from the charges?"

The painter replied, "I have had a very pleasant time talking with your husband these few days. His attitude towards life makes me realise that my circumstances are not the worst. I have deducted part of the charges, in appreciation of his kindness, as he has transformed my mentality. I no longer consider my job as hard work. I thank both of you from the bottom of my heart."

The old woman was moved to tears by the painter's GRATITUDE towards her husband, as the painter had only one arm.

A leaf from Bodhi Tree

2 persons lived in a same block of flats.A young gentleman lived in unit 33 while an old man lived in unit 32.

The old man's life was full of frustrations and misfortunes always befell him like shadow following him. When he was young, he lost all his family members in a war. One of his legs was also lost due to the bombing. Despite these misfortunes, the old man always looked cheerful.

On the other hand, the young man always looked miserable and did not greet people. It seemed as if everyone in the world owed him something. He only talked to the old man.

One day, the young man poured out his grivances to the old man and told the old man about the misfortunes that he had experienced. The old man merely smiled, without uttering a word.

Finally the young man could not help asking the old man, "You have experienced so many hardships throughout your life, but why have you never expressed any sorrow?"

The old man was silent. He looked intently at the young man. After a while, he showed the young man a leaf fallen from a Bodhi Tree. and asked," Look here. What does this leaf resemble?"

The young man looked at the leaf for a long time without saying anything. The old man then said," Doesn't this leaf look like a heart?"

Hearing this, the young man said, "Oh yes, the shape of this leaf is like a heart."

"Look again, what are there on the leaf?"

The old man passed the leaf onto the young man's hand. The young man could clearly see many holes of different sizes on the leaf.

The old man then said, "This leaf has grown in the spring wind and sunlight. It has also been buffeted by winds and rains, bitten by insects as well as hit by stones, so it is riddled with gaping wounds, but it has not withered. This is because it is full of gratitude for the sunshine, soil, rain and dew that have nourished its life. It is full of love for its own life. In contrast to these conditions, those setbacks that i have experienced are totally insignificant."

The old man finally said, "This is the answer, in which you will find the history of human life, as well as thought-provoking philosophy."

The young man still keeps that leaf even now. Whenever he encounters any setback, he would take out the leaf and ponder quietly. The story and life force of the leaf always enable him to maintain optimism and seal for self-improvement - the "Sunshine Mentality"!

Little Monk sweeping fallen leaves

There was a little monk, whose duty was to sweep the fallen leaves in the monastery compounds every morning, but this task alone was very time-consumin. In particular, the huge amount of leaves falling frequently between autumn and winter made his work more difficult.

Everyday he racked his brains to think of a solution to the endless sweeping of fallen leaves, so as to make his work easier. He even consulted his seniors. The abbot soon heard of this matter and he talked to the little monk about it.

The little monk expressed his ideas honestly to the abbot. The abbot said to him, "Tomorrow, before you start sweeping, why don't you shake every tree with some force, so that all the withered leaves drop down, then you will not have to sweep fallen leaves the day after tomorrow.

The little monk was very delighted to hear this. He thought, "The abbot is indeed intelligent. I have thought of all methods, yet i have not thought of this."

The next morning, the little monk work up very early and ran to the backyard without washing his face. He exerted all his strength to shake all the tress, thinking that he could then sweep away at one go all fallen leaves of that day and the day after. Then, he cleared the fallen leaves and went to take his lunch happily.

On the third day, the little monk was stunned when he took a look at the backyard. All the efforts that he had put in the previous day had been wasted, as the backyard was still full of fallen leaves.

The abbot came over and said to the little monk, "Do you know why i gave you that suggestion? That is to make you realise that no matter how hard you shake the trees today, there will still be fallen leaves tomorrow."

The little monk finally understood that there were many things that could not be done in advance.

THE TRUEST ATTITUDE IN LIVING IS TO LIVE EARNESTLY IN THE PRESENT MOMENT.

"Plonk is coming! Plonk is coming!"

A fully ripe fruit dropper down from a tree into a deep pool of water with a loud sound, "Plonk!"

A monkey heard the sound. Astonished, it took to its heels at once. As it ran, it shouted, "Plonk is coming! Plonk is coming!"

When animals in the surronding heard the monkey's cries, they also followed the monkey and ran quickly, without finding out the truth of the matter. As they ran, they also shouted, "Plonk is coming! Plonk is coming!"

When the long, king of the animals, saw the animals run past, it was also startled and fled for its dear life.

As this time, a passer-by who saw the animals fleeing for their lives asked them, "Why are all of you fleeing?"

The panic-stricken animals said, "Plonk is coming! Plonk is coming! You should also flee quickly!"

The passer-by asked, "What is plonk?"

At this time, the animals looked at one another. None of them knew what "Plonk" was, so the passer-by said, "Bring me to see what 'plonk' is exactly. Let's go!"

The monkey that detected "Plonk" brought them to the pond to take a look. They did not know whether to laugh or cry, as they found out that "Plonk" was merely a fruit, not some dreadful thing. They had frightened themselves for nothing!

That is what often happens in the world - people echo others' words without thinking and spread erroneout messages that mislead others. Therefore, we must know how to look at things wisely.

A young kid learning Karate

A father was worried about his son, who was already 16 years old, but lacked the strength of character expected of a man.

The father visited a Karate Master (Blackbelt Expert) to request him to train his son.

The Karate Master agreed and said, "Alright, you shall leave your son with me. Within 3 months, i will certainly train him to be a man of mettle. However, you cannot visit him within these 3 months."

The father agreed to this.

3 months later, the father came to bring his son home. The Karate Master had arranged for a match between the son and a karate instructor (also a Blackbelt), so as to show the result of the 3 month training.

During the match, the son dropped to the ground at every single blow delivered by the karate instructor. He stood up immediately to meet the challenge again, only to fall flat on the ground again at once. Yet, he stood up once again.... This happened repeatedly, for a total of 14 rounds.

Then, the Karate Master asked the father, "What do you think? Does your son demostrate enough strength of character ecpected of a man?"

The father said. "I am so ashamed. I have sent him here to be trained for 3 months, but the result i see is that he is so vulnerable and drops down to the ground the moment he gets hit."

The Karate Master said. " It is really pity that you only see victory and loss on the surface. Didn't you see the BRAVERY and WILLPOWER in your son who immediately stood up when he dropped down to the ground? This is the true strength of a character in a man!"

The moral of the story tells us 2 things.

A PERSON WHO HAS THE QUALITIES FOR SUCCESS WILL MAKE EFFORTS TO STAND UP ONCE AGAIN AFTER HE HAS FALLEN DOWN. MOREOVER, HE WILL TELL HIMSELF TO "TRY AGAIN".

IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO DEFEAT ONE'S OPPONENT IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED VICTORIOUS.

Crabs learning to walk

Father Crab said to the little crab that just learnt to walk, "My child, why do you always walk crosswise (Sideway)? You ought to walk straight in the forward direction. This will enable you to move faster and look smarter."

The little crab said, "But Father, don't you also walk crosswise too?"

This short story tells us that Everyone is born, carrying two bags. One bag is hung in front, containing all of others' faults and flaws. The other bag is hung behind, containing one's own faults and flaws.

Therefore, people always notice the various faults of others and put all these faults of others into the front bag, to be firmly remembered one by one. On the other hand, one does not bother to take a look at one's own errors and faults which are contained in the bag behind one's back.

In general, people ofther think that they are more worthy than others, or even superior to others. This is the worst shortcoming of people, who are always "eager" to expose others' faults, while overlooking the fact that they themselves are not wise sages and thus are also prone to err.

GAINING MASTERY OVER ONESELF IS MORE IMPORTANT VICTORY THAN DEFEATHING OTHERS.

Life of Little Snails

Little Snail asked its mother, "Why do we have to carry these hard and heavy shells on our backs since birth?"

Mother Snail replied, "This is because there is no skeletal support for our bodies. We can only crawl, yet we cannot crawl, yet we cannot crawl fast, so we need to depend on our shells for protection."

Little Snail asked again, "Sister Caterpillar has no bones. Neither can she crawl quickly. Why doesn't she have to carry a hard and heavy shell on her back?'

Mother Snail smiled and said to Little Snail, "This is because Sister Caterpillar will one day become a butterfly when she grows up and she will be protected by the sky!"

Little Snail asked again, "But Little Brother Earthworm has no bones and cannot crawl quickly. He will not become a butterfly either, then why doesn't he has to carry a hard and heavy shell on his back?"

Mother Snail replied, "This is because Little Brother Earthworm can make his way into the soil. The Earth will protect him!"

Little Snail started to cry and said," We are so pitiful! Neither the sky nor the earth will protect us, so we have to carry these hard and heavy shells on our backs."

Mother Snail consoled Little Snails, "Silly child, you ought to take pride in your shell (yourself)! We depend on neither the Sky nor the Earth. Instead we reply on ourselves."

The snail's body is very soft and needs to be protected by an outer shell. The snail lives in its shell, with its heart, lung and all the important organs within the shell. During the dry season, the snail seals up its shell. In Autumn, it will move to a safe place, seal up its shell again and try to thicken the shell, so as to withstand the coldness during winter.

"It is not the strongest species that survives, but the one most adaptable to change." This is the basic law of evolution for biological species in the natural world.

We live in an age that is full of uncertainties and fierce competition. We have to adjust ourselves to various changes, in order to adapt to our environment and life.

If we are not mentally prepared to adapt to the environment, we will feel dazed and encounter multiple obstacles in life.