LOVE - A Teaching Story

LOVE

Ancient Wisdom

A  Story

By

VIKRAM KARVE

Here is an inspirational story I read somewhere:

Long time ago in China there was a time when people used to have gardens outside there houses. Almost all the families had one.

This story is about one such ordinary family having a modest house with a garden in front.

The family was going through a tough phase as the husband was not doing well in his career, the family was financially quite badly off and this was causing discord in their home.

One evening the wife was strolling in her garden waiting for the husband to come home from work.

From the corner of her eye she saw three old men standing in the far corner of her garden.

She gradually started walking towards them.

As she came closer she noticed that they were noble looking elderly men with long white beards.

She did not recognize them, but being a kind woman, she said "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have a cup of tea and something to eat."

“Is the man of the house home?” they asked.

“No”, the wife said, “my husband is out.”

“Then we cannot come in now”, they replied.

In the meantime her husband returned home from work after another gruelling day.

He was obviously not in a good mood since, as usual; he had a bad day at work.

The wife immediately told him that they had guests standing outside and suggested they invite them.

Initially the husband was reluctant but then he finally agreed after being persuaded by his wife’s insistence, so he said, “Okay, go and tell them that I am home and invite them in.” 

The woman went out and invited the men in.

“We do not go into a house together,” they replied.

 “Why is that?” asked the puzzled wife.

One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and then pointing to the other one he said, “He is Success, and I am Love. Only one of us will come into your home. It is for you to decide which one of us three you want to invite into your home.”

Seeing the confusion on her face, they told the wife, “We suggest you go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home.”

The wife went in and told her husband about what the three old men had said.

The husband was overjoyed. “How nice,” he said, “Let us invite Success. He will make me successful in my career, I will no longer be a loser, a failure, and all our troubles will go away.”

But his wife disagreed, and said, “My dear, why don't we invite Wealth? Let him come in and fill our home with plenty of wealth – it will make us rich and prosperous and you won’t even have to work and we all can enjoy throughout our lives.”

Their daughter was listening from the other corner of the house. The daughter wanted peace and harmony in the house so she said: “Let us invite Love. Our home will then be filled with love – that’s what we need most now!”

At first they did not agree with their daughter’s suggestion but the daughter was very stubborn and would not change her mind so the two parents finally gave in and agreed to invite Love.

“Okay, we will do as our daughter says,” the husband said to his wife, “you go out and invite Love to be our guest."

The woman went out and told the three old men, “We wish to invite Love into our home.”

Love stepped forward and the wife started leading him towards her house.

As she conducted Love into her home she noticed that the other two Success and Wealth also followed and entered the house.

Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: “I only invited Love. Why are you two coming in?”

The old men replied together: “If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would have stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever he goes, we go with him. When Love comes into your lives, into your home, into your family…Success and Wealth automatically follow.”

I am sure you agree, Dear Reader, wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success, and even if those two, Wealth and Success are not there, it is Love that matters the most…

VIKRAM KARVE

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

Theory of Relativity Made Simple

THEORY OF RELATIVITY

Ancient Wisdom

A Mulla Nasrudin Teaching Story

Retold by VIKRAM KARVE


Dear Reader, here is an apocryphal Mulla Nasrudin Story to brighten up your day and enlighten you:

One day Mulla Nasrudin’s neighbour came over to ask for some advice on how to manage his large family in his tiny little house.

“Dear Mulla Nasrudin,” he bemoaned, “my house is so small that all of us just cannot fit inside – me and my wife, my mother-in-law, three children... we are all so cramped up in our small cottage where there is hardly any space. You are a wise man, and maybe you can find some solution to my problem so please tell me what to do!”

“I noticed that you rear chickens – how many do have in your barn behind your house?” Nasrudin asked.

“I have five chickens and a rooster,” the neighbour said.

“Take them all into the house!”

“What?” the neighbour asked aghast, “how is it possible? My house is already so small and overcrowded. Where is the place for the chickens?”

“Try it!” Nasrudin insisted, “And I am sure you will come and meet me tomorrow and tell me that your problem has been solved.”

The neighbour was not convinced but he did not dare to question the wisdom of Mulla Nasrudin, so he took the five chickens and the rooster inside the house.

The next morning he ran to Nasrudin’s house.

“You have made our problem worse – me, my wife, my mother-in-law, three kids, five chickens and a rooster – it is impossible for all of us to fit inside the small house – there is no space at all!” the neighbour lamented.

However, Mulla Nasrudin ignored his griping and asked the man, “You have a donkey, don't you? I have seen a donkey tied up outside your house.”

“Yes, Nasrudin, I have one old donkey,” answered the neighbour.

“Take the donkey in!” Nasrudin told the man.

No matter how much the neighbour protested, Nasrudin maintained that it was for his best and the hapless neighbour did as he was told.

The next morning, he ran back to meet Nasrudin, and said in total despair, “Nasrudin, it is just not possible. The wife, the mother-in-law, the kids, the chickens, the rooster and the donkey! We had a most terrible night. There is no room even to breathe!”

“If I remember correctly, you have two lambs, don’t you?” Nasrudin asked his neighbour.

“Oh, no! Please don't tell me to take the lambs in. There will be total chaos…”

“Don't worry, my friend,” Nasrudin interrupted and assured the desperate neighbour, “You will thank me for solving your problem in the end.”

The neighbour, hoping against hope that Nasrudin’s crazy advice may miraculously work out, took the two lambs into his packed house that night.

The next morning, the neighbour, in a totally inconsolable state, landed up at Mulla Nasrudin’s door, and pleaded in agony, “Nasrudin, why are you torturing us, making us suffer like this? My small house is jam-packed, teeming with bodies and stinking. My mother-in-law is threatening to kill me, my wife is about to leave me and my children are furious. It is appalling, sickening, your advice has made matters worse.”

Nasrudin patiently listened to his neighbour and said nonchalantly: “Okay, now take all the animals and birds out of the house – chickens, rooster, donkey and lambs – all back to the garden, back to the barn, back to the shed. Throw them all out of the house to where they belong!”

Next morning the grateful neighbour thanked Mulla Nasrudin, “Sir, you are indeed a wise man. You solved my problem. Now, our house is so large, so roomy, and so airy, so much space for everyone, kids can play, we can sleep, everyone is happy. Thank you so much.”

Dear Reader, please tell us what is the moral of this story.

VIKRAM KARVE

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

vikramkarve@sify.com

Some More Teaching Stories

Here are some more teaching stories.

I am sure you have read the earlier one’s – if you haven’t, dear Reader, just click the link below – and after you’ve read them remember to come back here –

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/06/teaching-stories.htm


Teaching stories have a special quality. If read in a certain kind of way they produce spiritual growth. There are three ways to read teaching stories:-

• Read the story once. Then move on to another. This manner of reading will give you entertainment; maybe produce a laugh, like a joke.

• Read the story twice. Reflect on it. Apply it to your life. That will give you a taste of theology.

• Read the story again, after you have reflected on it. Carry the story around in your mind all day and allow its fragrance, its melody to haunt you. Create a silence within you and let the story reveal to you its inner depth and meaning. Let it speak to your heart, not to your brain. This will give you a feel for the mystical and you will develop the art of tasting and feeling the inner meaning of such stories to the point that they transform you.

Read on, Dear Reader, and transform yourself:


BEAUTY


Nasrudin bought an old haunted house [a “Bhoot Bangla”] at a desolate place in a nearby hill-station.

From time to time he would suddenly pack his bags, leave the city, and go away to his house in the hill station, disappearing for days, sometimes for weeks, sometimes for months. And just as suddenly as he used to disappear, he used to unpredictably return back to the city, suddenly, without any warning or notice.

When asked the reason for his erratic and whimsical behaviour, Nasrudin explained:

“I have kept a caretaker woman up there in the hills to look after my house. She is the ugliest woman - horrible, repulsive, hideous, nauseating. Just one look at her and one feels like vomiting.

When I go to live there, at first she looks horrible. But slowly, slowly, after a few lonely days, she is not so horrible. Then after some more desolate forlorn days, she doesn’t seem that undesirable. And as more and more time passes in lonesome seclusion, a day comes when I start seeing some beauty in her.

The day I start seeing beauty in that horrid woman I escape from the hill-station, because that means enough is enough – I have lived away from the real world for too long - now even this horrible revolting woman has started looking beautiful! I may even fall in love with this ghastly ugly repugnant woman - that's dangerous.

So I pack up my things and rush back to the city.”



RECIPE


One day Mulla Nasrudin went to the fish market and bought a fine Pomfret fish.

On the way home he met a friend who gave him a special recipe for cooking the Pomfret fish.

Nasrudin was very happy, and his mouth watered as in his mind’s eye he was already relishing the delicious dish of Pomfret fish he was going to enjoy for dinner.

While he was daydreaming, a large crow suddenly swooped down from the sky and stole the fish from his hands and flew off with the Pomfret fish.

“You thief! “Mulla Nasrudin angrily shouted at the crow, “You have stolen my fish. But you won’t enjoy it – I have got the recipe!”



LOGIC


Visiting a new place, Mulla Nasrudin was walking on the road and a vicious looking dog barked at him and began menacingly running towards him.

Mulla Nasrudin quickly bent down to pick up a mile-stone fixed on the side of the road divider to throw at the animal. He could not lift it, for the stone was cemented firmly to the earth.

“What a strange place this is! What crazy logic?" Nasrudin exclaimed. "They tie up the stones and let the dogs go free."

And then he sped off!

VIKRAM KARVE

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

vikramkarve@hotmail.com

TEACHING STORIES

Teaching stories may relate events that are funny, foolish, bemusing, sometimes even apparently stupid, but they usually have deeper meanings.

A good teaching story has several levels of meaning and interpretation and offers us opportunities to think in new ways. At first you may just have a good laugh but as you reflect on the story, the significance becomes more and more profound.

A teaching story veils its knowledge and as you ruminate, the walls of its outer meanings crumble away and the beauty of the previously invisible inner wisdom is revealed, and you begin to identify yourself in the story, and to acknowledge that you too could be as foolish or as lacking in discernment as the characters in these classic tales.

An example of the concept of teaching stories is embodied in the “wisdom” tales of the inimitable Mulla Nasrudin narrated by Sufis to illustrate finer aspects of human behaviour which are relevant to both our personal and professional lives.

You can reflect, introspect or take them with a pinch of salt – the choice is yours! After reading this you may ask me: “You relate stories, but you do not tell us how to understand them” – to which I will reply:” How would you like it if the shopkeeper from whom you bought a banana peeled it, ate the deliciously nourishing fruit before your eyes, leaving you only the skin?”

One of the great bonuses in learning through humour is that even as you have a good time and doubt that you have learned anything, the lessons penetrate subtly, permeate within and stay with you, to come alive when the need arises.

If you are a serious type, devoid of a sense of humour, please skip this and move on to more profound and sombre reading. This is fun. Enjoy yourself, dear reader, and try to identify yourself in the apocryphal stories.

TRAFFIC DISCIPLINE

Rushing to work on his motorcycle Nasrudin jumped a red light. He was promptly stopped by a Traffic Policeman, who asked Nasrudin to pay Rs.100.

“What for? Why should I pay Rs.100?” Nasrudin asked.

“It’s a fine. For breaking the traffic rules. You jumped the red light,” said the cop.

“Okay,” Nasrudin said, “You owe me five hundred rupees. Give me Rs.500.”

“What nonsense?” shouted the infuriated cop. “Why should I pay you Rs.500?”

“For the six times I correctly crossed the green lights, you owe me Rs.600. From that you deduct your fine of Rs.100. That means you owe me Rs.500,” said a nonchalant Nasrudin. “If you punish me for doing the wrong thing, you must reward me for doing the right thing.”

THE RIGHT SOLUTION

Strolling on a beach, Nasrudin noticed some fishermen huddled lighting a fire near a wooden boat, and curious, he asked a them what it was for.

“We are melting tar,” said a fisherman.

“Tar?” Nasrudin asked confused.

“Yes, we are making tar to cover the cracks in the underside of the boat. That makes the vessels go faster.”

Nasrudin rushed straight home and made a bonfire. Then he tied up his donkey and melted some tar in a pan. As soon as he brought the smoking tar near the animal, it broke loose, ran like the wind and disappeared over the horizon.

“It works all right!” reflected Mulla Nasrudin.


GRIEF

The donkey did not return for many days and Nasrudin was overcome with grief.

“You may have lost your donkey, Mulla Nasrudin, but you don’t have to grieve over it more than you did about the loss of your first wife.”

“Ah,” Nasrudin said, “if you remember when I lost my wife, all you villagers consoled me and said: ‘We will find you someone else.’ So far, nobody has offered to replace my donkey.”


FASHION SHOW

One day Nasrudin went to a fashion show and his friends asked him how he liked it.

“They cheat you,” Nasrudin complained, “They show you the women – and then they try to sell you the clothes.”


TIP

Nasrudin went to a posh restaurant and ordered a cup of coffee. He was dressed in ordinary clothes and received no attention. While leaving he left a tip of one thousand rupees.

The next day he came dressed in a three-piece suit. The waiters and all the staff lavished him with the highest attention thinking they would receive an even more generous tip.

After thoroughly enjoying the pampering, Nasrudin left a tip of just one rupee, saying: "This is for the service you gave me yesterday, the thousand rupees were for the service today."

Hope you enjoyed the stories

VIKRAM KARVE

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

vikramkarve@sify.com

Art of Motivation

ART OF MOTIVATION

by

VIKRAM KARVE


A renowned Trainer entered a hall to deliver a lecture on Motivation to the employees of a large industrial organization. To his horror he found that the hall was empty except for a young man seated in the front row.

The Trainer asked him who he was.

“I am a Cook in the Industrial Canteen,” said the young man.

The Trainer, pondering whether to speak or not, asked the Cook, “You are the only one here. Do you think I should speak or not?”

The Cook said to Trainer: “I am a simple man and do not understand these things. But, if I came into the Dining Hall and saw only one man sitting there, I would certainly give him food.”

The Trainer took this to heart and, with full gusto, began to deliver his lecture. He spoke passionately for over two hours.

Immensely proud after his virtuoso performance, he felt highly elated and wanted his audience to confirm how great his lecture had been.

He asked the Cook, “How did you like my lecture?”

The Cook answered: "I told you already that I am a simple man and do not understand these things very well. However, if I came into the dining hall and found only one man sitting there I would feed him, but I wouldn’t make him eat all the food I had prepared in the kitchen".

VIKRAM KARVE

ROI - Return On Investment

RETURN ON INVESTMENT

[An Apocryphal Story]

By

VIKRAM KARVE


Here is an apocryphal story; I heard long back, whose inner meaning had a profound positive effect on me:

On his first visit to India, a rich merchant saw a man selling a small green fruit which he had never seen before. It looked fresh and juicy and the merchant was tempted, and curious, he asked the vendor, “What is this?”

“Mirchi. Chillies, fresh green chillies,” said the hawker.

The merchant held out a gold coin and the vendor was so overjoyed that he gave the merchant the full basket of chillies.

The merchant sat down under a tree and stared to munch the chillies.

Within a few seconds his tongue was on fire, his mouth burning and tears streamed down his cheeks.

But despite this discomfort, the merchant went on eating the chillies, chewing them one by one, scrutinizing each chilli carefully before he put the piquant hot green chilli into his burning mouth.

Seeing his condition, a passerby remarked, “What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you stop eating those hot chillies ? ”

“Maybe there is one that is sweet,” the merchant answered, “I keep waiting for the sweet one.”
And the merchant continued eating the chillies.

On his way back, the passerby noticed that the merchant’s condition had become miserable, his face red with agony and copious tears pouring out of his burning eyes.

But the merchant kept on eating the chillies, in his search for the ‘sweet one’.

“Stop at once, or you will die,” the passerby shouted. “There are no sweet chillies ! Haven’t you realized that? Look at the basket – it is almost empty. And have you found even one sweet chilli yet? ”

“I cannot stop until I eat all the chillies. I have to finish the whole basketful,” the merchant croaked in agony, “I have paid for the full basket and I will make sure I get my money’s worth; till I get my full return on investment.”

Dear Reader:

Read this story once more, reflect on it, and apply it to your life.

Don’t we cling on to things that our inner voice tells us we to let go and move on.

We know some things are not good for us and we should let go of these things, but we continue to persist, at first hoping to find ‘sweet one’ and even when we discover that there is no ‘sweet chilli’, we still continue to shackle ourselves to painful people, harmful habits, negative careers and detrimental things just to ‘get our money’s worth’ when we should let go, move on and liberate ourselves and be happy.

Dear Reader. Please do let me know your views.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2008
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.


http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/

vikramkarve@sify.com