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.