Stories that made an Impact

Somewhere along the way, you hear a story. It doesn’t matter who said it but stays with you for long time or forever. I thought I want to write them down as these stories had an impact on me.

Good thing about these stories, they are short. If you have not heard these stories before, let me know, I will be glad that I shared something new.

Story 1: Please tie a cat ?

There was this old ashram where a guru was teaching his students. A hungry cat came along then and was disturbing the class. The Guru requested one of his student to fill a plate with milk and feed the cat. Cat became silent after having the milk. Now class resumed without any disturbance. Next day, cat came at the same time knowing milk will be there. Guruji was kind enough to serve milk and the class continued. This now was becoming a daily spectacle, and class got interrupted for sometime till the cat got its milk. So Guru thought of an idea. He said let’s have cat here and tie that to a pole and then start the class. This way, class will not be disturbed. So from the next day, cat got tied to a pole and then class started. This went on for a few years. One day Guru passed away and soon Cat passed away too. A senior student took the place of guru. On his first day, he was getting ready to start the class and students were eager to listen to their new guru. But for everyone’s surprise, the new Guru was sitting there idle and was angry. So they asked, “what happened ?”.

New Guru responded, “I can’t start the class without having a cat tied to a pole.”

A student asked “I am new here. Sorry to ask, but why should we tie a cat ?”

The New Guru replied, “I am following what my teacher was doing.”

Always try to understand the norms

Story 2 – Where is my Peace ?

One day, a rich man came to a monk and said, “I want peace. I have bundled all my money and my wealth to your feet, show me a way to have peace in my life”

Monk opened the tied up cloth, it was having diamonds and lots of money. He tied them back, took them and ran away. The rich man got shocked, and he felt cheated that he ran behind that monk. After some time, monk could not run anymore, he stopped. He gave it all back to the rich man who was following him. He said, “please take this back, I have no need for this”. Seeing this, the rich man was happy. Now monk said,” Now this is peace. You had this money before, but you did not have happiness, now you have the same money, and you are happy. So, did the happiness come from money or from you”.

This made the rich man wondering and monk was now walking away smiling.

Story 3 – How to Unlock ?

There was a King who wanted a new minister. He had a test to select the right candidate. He asked a selected few to find a way to unlock an old scientific lock. They were all in excitement. To seize the opportunity, they studied all the notes about the scientific lock. Among them, one slept early after looking into few notes.

Next day morning of the test, King presented a big, old scientific lock. The selected men, one by one, tried to unlock based on their notes and failed. Finally, the one who slept early came by and inspected the lock and referred his notes. To his surprise, he noticed unlocked lock. He thereby solved the challenge.

Furthermore, he got appointed. It was his calmness and steady head that helped him notice. Others in anxiety missed the opportunity to notice the detail.

Story 4 – Don’t bite

In a town, snake was scaring people away. It kept biting whoever was passing by. A Monk came to know about this and instructed Snake don’t bite. The snake listened to the Monk, and it stopped biting. People noticed it, and now they started taking vengeance on the snake for its past actions. But snake didn’t do anything, though people were hurting it. It was following the Monk’s request. Now this monk was passing by this snake and noticed it was bleeding and hurt.

He asked what happened and snake explained. He then told, “I asked you not to bite when they posed you no threat. But when the attack is intentional, you should fight back. Biting is your natural defense, you should use it”

Story 5 – Journey To see the sunrise

There was this couple who were so busy in their life and at work. They wanted a perfect vacation for their upcoming anniversary. They decided to see the sunrise in Japan. Not only that, but they planned the every bit of the details. Furthermore, they found the right hotel and right room which makes them to see the sunrise in proper unhindered way. They booked a comfortable flight and packed right. All activities planned and executed up until the day of sunrise. They even researched for the right day to see the sunrise, so the sun was perfect shape. They went all in for that one perfect picture on their anniversary day.

Now the day came, and they got up and ready for the sunrise at 5:31 am. All geared up and excited as it was about time and something happened. Clouds came by. Sunrise happened, and the moment was gone. Clouds spoiled their moment, and they were so dejected and dull. They felt like the entire room came crashing down.

They returned home sad and down. Their neighbor who was in his 80s asked them about their journey. They explained what happened and how mad were they about it. Neighbor, after listening to what happened, replied” I am sorry to hear that, but how was your journey ?”

Now enraged and irritated, husband questioned, “You still ask the same question after hearing what we told ?”. The old man said, “Yes, Your destination may not have worked out, but I assume the journey would have been amazing”

This made the couple to wonder and see their whole vacation in a different light. They had great food, great stay, met some amazing people, visited few beautiful places. All these came to their mind.

It was never about destination, it is about the journey

These stories had an impact on me. I don’t remember when and where I heard them, but I am glad I found these stories. It helped me to face many of my low periods positively.

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