An african proverb

 

The Blind Men and the Elephant

The parable of "The Blind Men and the Elephant" is from the Buddhist text Tittha Sutta and contains one of the earliest mentions of the story. The Tittha sutta is dated to around 500 BCE, during the lifetime of Lord Buddha. The story is about a group of blind men who have never come across an and imagine what the elephant is like by touching it. Each blind man feels a different part of the elephant's body and disagrees with their findings. Only if Our Blind Men knew that it's the collective wisdom that leads to the truth. Peace to all and especially our Blind Men.

 

Aik arabi kahani

لومڑی نے اپنے بچوں سے کہا کہ تمام گاؤں سے مرغیاں چوری کرو سوائے امام مسجد کے گھر کے ۔ 

ایک بچے نے پوچھ ہی لیا کہ ماں ٫٫ امام کے گھر سے کیوں نہیں ؟

 لومڑی بولی ٫ دیکھو بیٹا اگر تم ایسا کروگے تو وہ تمہارے گوشت کے حلال ہونے کا فتویٰ دے گا اور پھر تمہاری خیر نہیں ۔

( عربی سے ماخوذ)

2 Diamonds

 *A Merchant wanted to purchase a gorgeous camel in the market and after spotting one began to settle for it with the seller!*

There was long bargaining between the merchant and the camel seller, and finally, the merchant bought the camel and took it home!

On reaching home, the merchant called his servant to take out the camel's saddle..!

Under the saddle, the servant found a small velvet bag which upon opening revealed him to be full of precious diamond gems ..!

The servant shouted, "Boss, you bought a camel, but look what came with it for free!"

The Merchant was also surprised, he saw diamonds in his servant's hands which were shining and twinkling even more in the sunlight!

The Merchant said: "I have bought a camel and not the diamonds, I should return it immediately!"

The servant was thinking in his mind "how stupid my boss is ...!"

He Said: "Nobody will know who the owner is!" However, the merchant did not listen to him and immediately reached the market and returned the velvet bag to the shopkeeper.

The camel seller was very happy and said, "I had forgotten that I had hidden my precious stones under the saddle".

Now you choose any one diamond as a reward!

The Merchant said, "I have paid the right price for the camel so I do not need any gift and prizes!"

The more the merchant was refusing, the more the camel seller was insisting!

Finally, the merchant smiled and said: In fact, when I decided to bring back the bag, I had already kept two of the most precious diamonds with me!

After this confession, the camel seller was infuriated and he quickly emptied the bag and began to count his diamond gems!

But after he counted with a heavy sigh of relief, he said "These are all my diamonds, so what were the two most precious ones that you kept?"

The Merchant said: ... "My honesty and my self-respect."

The seller was dumb-struck!

We have to look within ourselves to find out if we possess any of these two diamonds.

Do you have these two precious diamonds Anymore?

Anyone who has these two diamonds, *HONESTY AND SELF-RESPECT*, is the richest person in the world.

2 Jin Ki Kahani

Jab hum chote the to dadi ghar ke aangan main hume jin, tote, badshah, shahzadi wagera ki kahanian sunatin..

Ooper taaron se bhara khula aasman aur neeche dadi ki god - aur mashoor ker dene wali kahanian 
 - kisi jannat se kum na thin.

Dadi hume 2 Jin ki kahani sunati:

"Aik gaun main aik baRa zalim jin rehta tha - Sab us se darte - Jin bara kamina tha - Har kisi ko khub tang kerta - Aik din us gaun main aik bohat hi Qavi-haikal aur bohat baRa dusra Jin aa gaya"

 ~ Is kahani ki theme pe dadi hume kai kahanian sunati

Magar har kahani ke aakhir main baRa jin, zalim jin ko zinda choR deta. 

Hamara baRa ji chahta ke baRa jin - zaalim jin ko maar ke kha jaaye. Hum dadi se zid kerte ke - aap zalim jin ko maar dain.. aur dadi hamare sir pe haat pher ke kehti -

"Jub insaan taqatwar aur bohat uncha ho jaaye - to us ke liye zaroori ho jaata hai - ko woh rahemdil ho jaaye".

 - Dil to aaj bhi yahi kerta hai ke zalim jin maara jaaye magar apne khandan ke bachhon ko jab kahani sunata hun to zalim jin ko baksh deta hun...ke kahani ka sabaq ziyada zaroori hai!!

ایک واقعہ

:ایک معلمہ کہتی ہیں -

میں نے طالبات کی ایک ٹیم کو سال کے آخر میں ایک پروگرام میں انکی ماؤں کے سامنے ایک نظم پیش کرنے کیلیے ٹرینڈ کیا   تیاری اور ریہرسل کے مختلف 

مراحل کے بعد بالآخر پروگرام کا دن آ گیا 

 نظم شروع ہوئی 

مگر انکی اس خوبصورت کارکردگی پر اسوقت پانی پھر گیا جب ایک بچی جو اپنی سہیلیوں کے ساتھ نظم پڑھ رہی تھی اچانک اپنے ہاتھ، جسم اور انگلیوں کو حرکت دینے لگی اور اپنا منہ کسی کارٹون کے کیریکٹر کیطرح بنانے لگی. 

اسکی ان عجیب وغریب حرکتوں کیوجہ سے دوسری تمام بچیاں پریشان ہو گئیں 

:معلمہ کہتی ہیں 

میرا جی چاہا کہ میں جاکر اس بچی کو ڈانٹ پلاؤں اور اسے تنبیہ کروں کہ وہ 

ڈسپلن اور سنجیدگی کا مظاہرہ کرے  مجھے اس پر اتنا غصہ آیا کہ قریب تھا کہ میں اسے سختی کے ساتھ ان بچیوں سے کھینچ کر الگ کر دوں  لیکن جوں جوں میں اس کے قریب جاتی وہ پارے کیطرح چھٹک کر مجھ سے دور ہو جاتی  

اسکی یہ حرکتیں بڑھتی گئیں اور وہ سارے لوگوں کی نظر کا مرکز بن گئی 

 وہاں موجود تمام خواتین اسکی ان حرکتوں پر زور زور سے ہنس رہی تھیں 

میری نظر پرنسپل پر پڑی جنکی پیشانی مارے شرمندگی کے پسینے سے شرابور تھی  وہ اپنی سیٹ سے اٹھیں اور مجھ سے کہنے لگیں 

اس بدتمیز اور بیہودہ لڑکی کو سکول سے نکالنا ضروری ھے  میں نے بھی انکی اس بات کی تائید کی 

لیکن ایک چیز نے ہم سب کی نظروں کو متوجہ کیا کہ اس پورے وقفے میں اس بچی کی ماں کھڑی ہو کر اپنی بچی کی ان حرکتوں پر تالی بجاتی رہی، گویا وہ اسکی حوصلہ افزائی کر رہی تھی کہ وہ اپنا یہ فضول کام جاری رکھے 

جیسے ہی نظم ختم ہوئی  میں جلدی سے اسٹیج کیطرف بڑھی اور اس لڑکی کو زور سے پکڑ کر کھینچا اور بولی 

تم نے اپنی سہیلیوں کے ساتھ نظم پڑھنے کے بجائے یہ اول جلول حرکتیں کیوں کی؟ 

:وہ بولی  

اسلیے کہ پروگرام میں میری ماں بھی موجود تھی  مجھے اسکے اس ڈھٹائی بھرے جواب پر بڑی حیرت ہوئی. 

:لیکن مجھے اسوقت بڑا دھچکا لگا جب اسنے آگے یہ کہا 

میری ماں بول اور سن نہیں سکتی 

میں نے گونگے لوگوں کی زبان میں اس نظم کا ترجمہ اپنی ماں کے لیے پیش کیا تاکہ دیگر تمام بچیوں کی ماؤں کیطرح میری ماں بھی اپنی بیٹی کی کارکردگی پر خوشی کا اظہار کر سکے  

جیسے ہی اسنے یہ وضاحت کی وہ دوڑ کر اپنی ماں کیطرف بڑھی اور اسکے 

گلے لگ کر زار و قطار رونے لگی. 

جب وہاں موجود سارے لوگوں کو حقیقت معلوم ہوئی تو سارا ہال سسکیوں سے

 گونج اٹھا 

واقعے کا سب سے خوبصورت پہلو یہ ھے کہ پرنسپل نے اس لڑکی کو اسکول سے نکالنے کے بجائے اسے انعام سے نوازا اور اسے "مثالی طالبہ" 

کا خطاب دیا 

 وہ لڑکی جب وہاں سے نکلی تو سر اٹھا کر خوشی سے اچھلتے ہوئے جا رہی تھی 

بعض مواقع پر جلدبازی میں رد عمل ظاہر مت کیجیے، 

دوسروں پر حکم لگانے میں جلدی سے کام مت لیجیے 

محض بدگمانی کی بنیاد پر ہم ایک دوسرے سے نفرت کرتے ہیں، 

ملنا جلنا کم کرتے ہیں،  رشتے ختم کر لیتے ہیں. 

اللہ سے لوگوں کے ساتھ حسنِ ظن کی توفیق مانگیے کہ اسی میں دلوں کا سکون اور سینوں کی سلامتی ھے.

The Legend of Truth (Painting)

According to a 19th-century legend, the Truth and the Lie meet one day. The Lie says to the Truth: "It's a marvelous day today"! They spend a lot of time together, ultimately arriving beside a well. The Lie tells the Truth: "The water is very nice, let's take a bath together!" The Truth, suspicious, tests the water and discovers that it indeed is very nice. They undress and start bathing. Suddenly, the Lie comes out of the water, puts on the clothes of the Truth and runs away. The furious Truth comes out of the well and runs everywhere to find the Lie and to get her clothes back. The World, seeing the Truth naked, turns its gaze away, with contempt and rage. The poor Truth returns to the well and disappears forever, hiding therein its shame. Since then, the Lie travels around the world, dressed as the Truth, satisfying the needs of society, because, the World, in any case, harbors no wish at all to meet the naked Truth.

The world famous painting- "The Truth coming out of the well" Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1896.

Aik sufi hikayat

Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi once got a visitor. Maulana asked: "How's life going?" Guest said, "If I get I be thankful, and if I don't I preserve patience". Maulana said: "So do dogs of Baghdad too" So guest said: "How are you going?" Rumi replied: "If I get I do charity, and if not I stay grateful" .

ایک دفعہ مولانا جلال الدین رومی کے پاس ایک مرید آیا

 "مولانا نے پوچھا "کیسی گزر رہی ہے ؟ 

"مرید بولا، "مل جائے تو شکر کرتے ہیں، نہ ملے تو صبر 

"مولانا نے فرمایا "ایسا تو بغداد کے کتے بھی کرتے ہیں 

"مرید بولا، "آپ کی کیسے گزر رہی ہے؟ 

"آپ نے فرمایا، "مل جائے تو صدقہ کرتے ہیں، نہ ملے تو شکر

The most important part of the body

(lately, It is getting hard to blog my own thoughts due to time constraint but indeed I am getting a lot of stuff which are better than my own writings. Another beautiful story I recieved)

My Father used to ask me what the most important part of the body is. Through the years I would take a guess at what I thought was the correct Answer.-

When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us as humans, so I said, "My ears, Daddy." He said, "No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon."

Several years passed before he asked me again. Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated the correct answer. So this time I told him, "Daddy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes." He looked at me and told me, "You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because there are many people who are blind."

Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and over the years, Father asked me a couple more times and always his answer was, "No. But you are getting smarter every year, my child."

Then one year, my mother died. Everybody was hurt. Everybody was crying. My Father looked at me when it was our turn to say our final goodbye to my Mother. He asked me, "Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear?" I was shocked when he asked me this now.

I always thought this was a game between him and me. He saw the confusion on my face and told me, "This question is very important. It shows that you have really lived in your life. For every body part you gave me in the past, I have told you were wrong and I have given you an example why. But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson." He looked down at me and threw his head to my shoulder and hugged me. I saw his eyes well up with tears.

He said, "My dear, the most important body part is your shoulder."
I asked, "Is it because it holds up my head?"
He replied, "No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend or a loved one when they cry. Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime in life, my dear. I only hope that you have enough love and friends that you will always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it."

Then and there I knew the most important body part is not a selfish one. It is made for others and not for yourself. It is sympathetic to the pain of others.

The origination of this letter is unknown, but it brings a blessing to everyone who passes it on. 

Anger

THE GOSSIP

(Koonj is one heck of a blogger (link here) and I immensely learned from her. She is an extremely learned person. Once she did an amazing post on Gossip and Backbiting. here and here).

Following hikayat is on same line

A member of a parish shared false gossip about the pastor of the church she attended. It became apparent that many believed, or at least passed on the gossip to others. The pastor became discouraged, was held accountable for these lies, and lost credibility in the town. A few weeks later, the woman came and shared with the pastor, her guilt in the rumor spreading, she asked for forgiveness and the pastor said he would forgive her if she would do one thing for him. She agreed.

The pastor then took a feather pillow from his house, climbed the town water tower and cut the pillow open spreading the feathers to the wind. He climbed down and asked her to refill and mend the pillow to be forgiven for her act against him. She said it was not possible to collect all the feathers. He replied, it was also impossible for him to recover from the gossip she spread in the community.

The Missing Goat

 It all started one lazy Sunday afternoon in a small town near Toronto in Canada.

Two school-going friends had a crazy idea. They rounded up three goats from the neighborhood and painted the number 1, 2 and 4 on their sides. That night they let the goats loose inside their school building. The next morning, when the authorities entered the school, they could smell something was wrong. They soon saw goat droppings on the stairs and near the entrance and realized that some goats had entered the building. A search was immediately launched and very soon, the three goats were found.

But the authorities were worried, where was goat No. 3? They spent the rest of the day looking for goat No.3. Gradually there was panic and frustration. The school declared classes off for the students for the rest of the day. The teachers, helpers, guards, canteen staffs, boys were all busy looking for the goat No. 3, which, of course, was never found. Simply because it did not exist.

Those among us who in spite of having a good life are always feeling a "lack of fulfilment" are actually looking for the elusive, missing, non-existent goat No.3.

Stop worrying about goat No.3.

Cross-pollination

There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best grown corn. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.

“How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year???????” the reporter asked.

Said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”

So is with our lives..!!!

The fact is, none of us truly wins, until we all win!!

Life after delivery

In a mother’s womb were two babies.  The first baby asked the other:  “Do you believe in life after delivery?”  

The second baby replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery.  Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”

  

“Nonsense,” said the first. “There is no life after delivery.  What would that life be?”  

“I don’t know, but there will be more light than here.  Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths.”

  

The doubting baby laughed. “This is absurd!  Walking is impossible.  And eat with our mouths?  Ridiculous.  The umbilical cord supplies nutrition.  Life after delivery is to be excluded.  The umbilical cord is too short.”  

The second baby held his ground. “I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here.”

The first baby replied, “No one has ever come back from there.  Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery it is nothing but darkness and anxiety and it takes us nowhere.” 

“Well, I don’t know,” said the twin, “but certainly we will see mother and she will take care of us.”  

“Mother?” The first baby guffawed. “You believe in mother?  Where is she now?” 

 

The second baby calmly and patiently tried to explain. “She is all around us.  It is in her that we live. Without her there would not be this world.”  

“Ha. I don’t see her, so it’s only logical that she doesn’t exist.”  

To which the other replied, “Sometimes when you’re in silence you can hear her, you can perceive her.  I believe there is a reality after delivery and we are here to prepare ourselves for that reality when it comes….”

Coffee Cup and Professor

A group of friends visited their old university professor. Conversation soon turned to complaints about 'STRESS' & 'TENSION' in Life. Professor offered them Coffee & returned from kitchen with Coffee in different kinds of cups !!! (Glass Cups, Crystal Cups, Shining Ones, Some Plain Looking, Some Ordinary & Some Expensive Ones)

... When all of them had a Cup in Hand, the professor said:- "If you noticed- all the Nice Looking & Expensive Cups are taken up, leaving behind the ordinary ones! Every one of you wanted the Best CUPS, that is the source of your STRESS & TENSION !! What you really wanted was "Coffee", not the "Cup"! But you still went for the Best Cup. If Life is Coffee ; Then Jobs, Money, Status & Love etc. are the Cups!!! They are just TOOLS to hold and contain Life.

 Please Don't Let the CUPS Drive you !! Enjoy the COFFEE!!!

On "Giving"

(Story from Hindu Mythology)

Once Krishna and Arjuna were walking towards a village. Arjuna was pestering Krishna, asking him why Karna should be considered an unparalleled Donor & not him.

Krishna, turned two mountains into gold. Then said, Arjuna, distribute these two gold mountains among villagers, but you must donate every bit of it. Arjuna went into the village, and proclaimed he was going to donate gold to every villager, and asked them to gather near the mountain. The villagers sang his praises and Arjuna walked towards the mountains with a huffed up chest. For two days and two nights Arjuna shoveled gold from the mountain and donated to each villager. The mountains did not diminish in the slightest. Most villagers came back and stood in queue within minutes. Now Arjuna was exhausted, but not ready to let go of his Ego, told Krishna he couldn't go on any longer without rest. Then Krishna called Karna and told him to donate every bit of the two gold mountains. Karna called the villagers, and said Those two Gold mountains are yours, and walked away.

Arjuna sat dumbfounded. Why hadn't this thought occurred to him. Krishna smiled mischievously and told him, Arjuna subconsciously, the size of your donation to each villager depended only on your ego. Karna walked away after giving away a fortune, he doesn't even care if people talk good or bad about him behind his back.

 Giving with an Expectation of a Return in the form of a Compliment or Thanks is a Trade. Give without expecting anything in Return.

Perception

A famous writer was in his study room. He picked up his pen and started writing:

**Last year, I had a surgery and my gall bladder was removed. I had to stay stuck to the bed.

**The same year I reached the age of 60 years and had to give up my favourite job. I had spent 30 years of my life in this publishing company.

**The same year I experienced the sorrow of the death of my father.

**And in the same year my son failed in his medical exam because he had a car accident. He had to stay in bed at hospital with the cast on for several days. The destruction of car was another loss.

At the end he wrote: Alas! It was such bad year!! 

When the writer's wife entered the room, she found he husband looking sad lost in his thoughts. From behind his back she read what was written on the paper. She left the room silently and came back with another paper and placed it on side of her husband's writing.

When the writer saw this paper, he found this written on it:

**Last year I finally got rid of my gall bladder due to which I had spent years in pain.

**I turned 60 with sound health and got retired from my job. Now I can utilize my time to write something better with more focus and peace.

**The same year my father, at the age of 95, without depending on anyone or without any critical condition met his Creator.

**The same year, God blessed my son with a new life. My car was destroyed but my son stayed alive without getting any disability.

At the end she wrote: This year was an immense blessing of God and it passed well!

Story of a Kite

Father is flying a kite. His son is watching him carefully. After some time son says " Dad. Because of the string the kite is not able to go any further higher. ‎" Hearing this, the father smiles and breaks the string. 

The kite goes higher after breaking of the thread and then shortly after that it comes and falls on the ground. The child is very dejected and sad. The father sits next to him and calmly expalains:

" Son, in life we reach a certain level of prosperity and then we feel that there are certain things in our life that are not letting us grow any further like Home, ‎Family, Culture Friendship etc. We feel we want to be free from those strings which we believe are stopping us from going higher. But, remember son. Going higher is easier than staying at the higher level. And family and culture etc are the things that will help us stay stable at the high heights that we have achieved. If we try to break away from those strings our condition will be similar to the kite."

Happy New Year

on "Vision"

A blind person asked a sage: "Can there be anything worse than losing one's eyesight?" 
He replied: "Yes, losing your vision!" 

.