Hi,
Take a moment. Ponder over the way you are living your life. Are you carrying the burden of the past? Worried out about the future? No, not really!! Great!! You are one of those who know how to live life in the present. But, is your present loaded with issues to be resolved and struggles that are making your life more difficult and less joyful? Then, you should read this zen story that will reveal the secret for joyful living.
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The simple secret for joyful living: The Strawberry Story
Adopted from a zen story published at http://www.taoism.net/living/2003/200301.htm
Once upon a time, there lived an young man. One day he walking through a jungle. He stumbled upon a tiger and started running away from it as the tiger was chasing him. He ran and ran, but soon came to the edge of a cliff where he could not run any farther. But to his good fortune, he found a strong vine hanging down from the cliff. To save himself, he hung on to the vine and started climbing down the cliff. Half way through the cliff, he noticed another tiger down there at bottom of the cliff waiting for him.
There was a tiger above the cliff, and another at the bottom, and he was precariously hanging in the middle holding on to the vine. Then, adding to his troubles, a couple of rats that came out of a hole from the cliff and started gnawing on the vine above him. He tried scaring them away but they kept coming back and gnawing on the vine. He knew the vine would not be able to continue to hold his weight if the rats kept gnawing like that. That moment he spotted a red ripe strawberry on the vine. Holding on to the vine with one hand, he reached out to the strawberry with the other, plucked it, and ate it instantly. It tasted very very delicious to him. he felt that that was the best strawberry he ever ate in his life.
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Just like the situation in the story above, is life not full of uncertainties? Can anyone know for sure what would happen tomorrow? Can anyone change the past? Do you have issues that are nagging you in your day-to-day life? There are threats. At the same time, there exist opportunities. If we get worried about the past experiences and the future threats and in the process miss out to enjoy the opportunities in the present, we will never be able to taste the joys of life. As revealed in the story by the man who enjoyed to the core the opportunity of strawberry despite the threats in the form of tigers above and below him, it is important for us to understand that the secret of joyful living is in 'living in the present.'
Take a moment. Ponder over the way you are living your life. Are you carrying the burden of the past? Worried out about the future? No, not really!! Great!! You are one of those who know how to live life in the present. But, is your present loaded with issues to be resolved and struggles that are making your life more difficult and less joyful? Then, you should read this zen story that will reveal the secret for joyful living.
-------------------------------------------------------------
The simple secret for joyful living: The Strawberry Story
Adopted from a zen story published at http://www.taoism.net/living/2003/200301.htm
Once upon a time, there lived an young man. One day he walking through a jungle. He stumbled upon a tiger and started running away from it as the tiger was chasing him. He ran and ran, but soon came to the edge of a cliff where he could not run any farther. But to his good fortune, he found a strong vine hanging down from the cliff. To save himself, he hung on to the vine and started climbing down the cliff. Half way through the cliff, he noticed another tiger down there at bottom of the cliff waiting for him.
There was a tiger above the cliff, and another at the bottom, and he was precariously hanging in the middle holding on to the vine. Then, adding to his troubles, a couple of rats that came out of a hole from the cliff and started gnawing on the vine above him. He tried scaring them away but they kept coming back and gnawing on the vine. He knew the vine would not be able to continue to hold his weight if the rats kept gnawing like that. That moment he spotted a red ripe strawberry on the vine. Holding on to the vine with one hand, he reached out to the strawberry with the other, plucked it, and ate it instantly. It tasted very very delicious to him. he felt that that was the best strawberry he ever ate in his life.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Just like the situation in the story above, is life not full of uncertainties? Can anyone know for sure what would happen tomorrow? Can anyone change the past? Do you have issues that are nagging you in your day-to-day life? There are threats. At the same time, there exist opportunities. If we get worried about the past experiences and the future threats and in the process miss out to enjoy the opportunities in the present, we will never be able to taste the joys of life. As revealed in the story by the man who enjoyed to the core the opportunity of strawberry despite the threats in the form of tigers above and below him, it is important for us to understand that the secret of joyful living is in 'living in the present.'
To your continued success,
With love,
Siva
PS: For Saturday stories published earlier on this blog, please click on the link below:
http://value4value.blogspot.in/search/label/Saturday%20Stories
http://value4value.blogspot.in/search/label/Saturday%20Stories
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