A Pundit and A Rich Man (Story)

There was Pundit in the village. He was well-versed in all Scriptures. He knew everything, but, he was poor. He did not have a house. He used to get his meals also with great difficulties. Even his clothes were very much worn out.

So, the Pundit used to beg for his meals. He went from House-to-House begging. “Please give me alms”. On seeing his old clothes many people were thinking that he is mad. So, saying “Go Away” they shut the door. For many days he did not even eaten.

Once somehow he obtained new clothes. A rich man gave those clothes to the Pundit. Wearing those new clothes he went to beg as before. To the very first house he went, the householder said, “Sir, please come in. Please have your food in our house”. Saying thus, with great respect, he took the Pundit inside for food.

The Pundit sat down to eat. Varieties of soups, Sweet meals, Vedas, and Sweet foods were served for eating.

Having prayed first, the Pundit took a sweetmeat with his hand and began to feed his new clothes saying, “Eat, eat!”

On seeing that all the householders were surprised and were not able to understand. So, they asked thus, “The clothes do not eat right? The why O, Great Pundit, do you offer food to the clothes?”

Then that Pundit answered thus, “Indeed because of this new clothes you offered me food today. Yesterday itself in this very house you asked me to go away. Since I obtained food due to these clothes, I am grateful to them. This is why I am feeding them.” The householders were a little ashamed.

Moral: never judge anyone by their outlook!

The Boy and the Genie (Story)

This story begins with a young child who, like many young children in this impoverished world spent his days scavenging on a rubbish dump to survive. 

As he came to the end of yet another grueling day among the stench and filth, a small bright object caught his gaze. Pulling it free he saw it was a tarnished and battered old lantern.

He rubbed it gently on his tatty cloths and then dropped it in shock as from its spout appeared a huge puff of bright smoke. When the smoke cleared, towering above him, dwarfing the huge dump that was his home, stood a mighty genie.

When the boy had regained his composure he turned his head skyward.
'Who are you?' he shouted at the top of his voice.
'I am the mightiest of all the genies in the universe' boomed the voice of the genie.
'You have released me from bondage and for this I will grant you a reward of three wishes that men most desire.'

'What is the first wish that men desire?' replied the boy.
'The first', continued the genie, 'is to have great power'

'Yes it is important to have power ' replied the boy then he thought for a minute before continuing, 'so my first wish is for everyone on earth to care for one another'

The genie was frustrated and confused by this answer. 'Why would this make you powerful?'

They boy replied. 'If people began to care then no other children would ever live like me ever again. People who really care would not accept a system where their brothers and sisters suffer to support a better life for others. They would share their power so we would all become powerful. What good is power if we cannot share it?'

Now the genie became angry because this was not the answer he had expected. For there was good reason why the genie had been trapped in the lantern. The genie was incredibly wicked consumed with an extreme greed and lust for power.

The wishes he presented where meant to trick the boy for he knew that for every wish the boy took then he too would also have the power of that wish.... but a thousand times greater.

Reluctantly he granted the wish because he could find no fault in the boy's logic and was bound by the genie oath, through the power of the universe.

'What is the second wish you can grant me?' the boy shouted.

'That you can have wealth beyond your wildest dreams, be it gold , silver, rubies, money.. you name it, anything you choose', replied the genie.
Then the genie smiled slyly as he looked at the bedraggled tiny figure below him. 'Such poverty, such misery, he would surely be tempted this time,' he thought.

Then the boy spoke and said 'Yes I want wealth'. The genie's eyes gleamed with glee. Then the boy continued ,'Yes I want wealth so... I wish that every person on earth no longer gave store of value to any material be it gold, silver or otherwise such as money.'
The genie was beside himself with rage 'How can you have wealth without this? All men desire it... it is impossible!'

The boy answered. 'Once people no longer believe in these values then they will wake up and realize that our true wealth is life itself. We are blessed to be alive and to be part of the ultimate beauty that is nature. The rest is but an illusion, an illusion of wealth that keeps me and millions more living like this.. living for a pittance'. Once we return to living with nature then I and everyone else will be forever wealthy'

The genie began to fear greatly for his plans were unraveling before his eyes. The words of truth and wisdom of the boy left the genie no option but to grant the wish.
The genie had one last card to play to tempt the boy. He thought hard....

'This is my last wish that I grant you' and with slow deliberation he proclaimed,

'YOU CAN HAVE ANYTHING YOU DESIRE IN THE UNIVERSE!'.

'Then that is easy', said the boy. 'I wish that you and all your temptations that poison the human mind be banished from the universe for ever.'
.
The genie stared down dejected and defeated at this tiny figure below as the reality sunk in that this small boy was far mightier than he. For a brief moment he stood in admiration at a truly powerful and wealthy boy.

Then with a final wry smile and a puff a smoke he vanished from the universe for ever. 

The Smartest Man in the World (Story)

A doctor, a lawyer, a little boy and a priest were out for a Sunday afternoon flight on a small private plane. Suddenly, the plane developed engine trouble. In spite of the best efforts of the pilot, the plane started to go down. Finally, the pilot grabbed a parachute and yelled to the passengers that they better jump, and he himself bailed out.

Unfortunately, there were only three parachutes remaining.

- The doctor grabbed one and said “I’m a doctor, I save lives, so I must live,” and jumped out.

- The lawyer then said, “I’m a lawyer and lawyers are the smartest people in the world. I deserve to live.” He also grabbed a parachute and jumped.

- The priest looked at the little boy and said, “My son, I’ve lived a long and full life. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you. Take the last parachute and live in peace.”

- The little boy handed the parachute back to the priest and said, “Not to worry Father. The smartest man in the world just took off with my back pack.”

Moral: Your job doesn’t always define you, but being a Good Human being Does.

Birbal’s Rice (Story)

On a cold winter day Akbar and Birbal took a walk along the lake. A thought came to Birbal that a man would do anything for money. He expressed his feelings to Akbar. Akbar then put his finger into the lake and immediately removed it because he shivered with cold. Akbar said “I don’t think a man would spend an entire night in the cold water of this lake for money.” Birbal replied “I am sure I can find such a person.” Akbar then challenged Birbal into finding such a person and said that he would reward the person with a thousand gold coins.

Birbal searched far and wide until he found a poor man who was desperate enough to accept the challenge. The poor man entered the lake and Akbar had guards posted near him to make sure that he really did as promised. The next morning the guards took the poor man to Akbar. Akbar asked the poor man if he had indeed spent the night in the lake. The poor man replied that he had. Akbar then asked the poor man how he managed to spend the night in the lake.

The poor man replied that there was a street lamp near by and he kept his attention affixed on the lamp and away from the cold. Akbar then said that there would be no reward as the poor man had survived the night in the lake by the warmth of the street lamp. The poor man went to Birbal for help.

The next day, Birbal did not go to court. The king wondering where he was, sent a messenger to his home. The messenger came back saying that Birbal would come once his Rice was cooked. The king waited hours but Birbal did not come. Finally the king decided to go to Birbal’s house and see what he was up to.

He found Birbal sitting on the floor near some burning twigs and a bowl filled with Rice hanging five feet above the fire. The king and his attendants couldn’t help but laugh.

Akbar then said to Birbal “How can the Rice be cooked if it so far away from the fire?”

Birbal answered “The same way the poor man received heat from a street lamp that was more than a furlong away.”

The King understood his mistake and gave the poor man his reward.

The 81 years Marriage (Story)

Story of a Marriage that has lasted for 81 years, is 104 years old and his wife 100. As they were very poor, they could not pay a photo of their Wedding day. These snapshots collected the moment in which she again put the Wedding dress to recover that moment with her husband.

A Soldier's Story

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.  “Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I’ve a favor to ask. I have a friend I’d like to bring home with me. “Sure,” they replied, “we’d love to meet him.”

“There’s something you should know,” the son continued, “he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live.”

“No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us.”

“Son,” said the father, “you don’t know what you’re asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can’t let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He’ll find a way to live on his own.”

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide.

The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn’t know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

Moral: The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don’t like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren’t as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are. Thankfully, there’s someone who won’t treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are. Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say a little prayer that God will give you the strength you need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be more understanding of those who are different from us!

A Black Dot

A small town chamber of commerce invited a speaker to address its annual dinner. The community’s economy was bad, people were discouraged, and they wanted this motivational speaker to give them a boost.

During her presentation, the speaker took a large piece of white paper and made a small black dot at the center with a marking pen. Then she held the paper up before the group and asked them what they saw.

One person quickly replied, “I see a black dot.”

“Okay, what else do you see?”

Others joined in agreement: “A black dot.”

“Don’t you see anything besides the dot?” – she asked.

A resounding “No” came from the audience.

“What about the sheet of paper?” – asked the speaker. “I am sure you have all seen it”, she said, “But you have chosen to overlook it.”

“In life, we also tend to overlook and take for granted many wonderful things that we have or happen around us and focus our attention and energy on small, dotlike failures and disappointments. The so called ‘problems’ that we have are usually like the black dot on the paper. They are small and insignificant if we can widen our horizon and look at the whole picture.”

Are you one of the person who focus your attention and energy on dot-like problems?

Author Unknown