The fourth wise man!

 

By: Marguerite Theophil

We have heard of the Three Wise Men who went to see the Christ-child in Bethlehem, but according to a 19th century story by Henry van Dyke, there was a fourth, writes MARGUERITE THEOPHIL

In the mountains of ancient Persia, lived Artaban, whose study of the planets and the stars led him to predict the birth of the King of Kings.

He sold his house and every possession and purchased a large sapphire blue as a fragment of the night sky, a flawless ruby redder than a ray of sunrise, and a lustrous pearl as pure as the peak of a snow mountain at twilight — which he intended to carry as tribute to the King. He then set out for Jerusalem where he had arranged to meet up with three other wise men, or Magi, to find the newborn.

After many weeks of difficult travel and frustrating delays, one night, he saw a man lying on the road. His haggard face, pallid skin and laboured breathing, bore the mark of the deadly fever. But, as he turned to leave, the man begged for help.

Artaban hesitated. If he lingered to minister to a dying stranger even for an hour, he could miss his three friends. But if he left now, the man would surely die. He turned to the sick man and carefully attended to him, leaving with him all that he had left of bread and wine, and his store of healing herbs.

"I have nothing to give you in return," said the grateful man, "…only this: our prophets have decreed that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem, not in Jerusalem. May the Lord bring you in safety to that place, because you had pity upon the sick."

When he reached the meeting place, he received only this message: "We can delay no longer. Follow us across the desert." Artaban backtracked to Babylon, sold the sapphire, and bought a train of camels, and provisions for the journey. He arrived at Bethlehem with his remaining ruby and pearl offerings, but it was three whole days after the three other wise men had found Mary, Joseph and Jesus, and had laid gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh at the baby's feet.

In a little cottage, he met a woman with her son, who told him Joseph had taken his wife and child and fled secretly that very night; Herod was slaying all male children, afraid the promised 'King' would claim his throne. As she spoke, there was uproar in the streets as Herod's soldiers searched each home to kill any male children they found.

The terrified young mother clasped her child to her. But Artaban rushed to the doorway and held out the ruby to the soldier, who snatched it eagerly. "March on!" he commanded his men, "there is no child here."

Artaban sighed: "Now two of my gifts are gone. I have spent for man that which was meant for God. Shall I ever be worthy to see the face of the King?"

But the woman, weeping for joy, said gently: "Because you have saved the life of my little one, may the Lord bless you and keep you and give you peace."

Arbatan wandered for 33 years in search of the little family from Bethlehem. Worn and weary, ill now, and ready to die, but still looking for the King, he had come for the last time to Jerusalem. Hearing of a great person who was to be put to death that very day, and hearing of his life and teachings, Artaban realised this was indeed his 'King', but as he made his way to Golgotha, hoping his priceless pearl could buy the great one's release, he saw a troop of soldiers marching down the street, dragging a young girl in chains. "Have pity on me; save me! I am to be sold as a slave."

The fourth wise man knew what he must do. He took the pearl from his bosom. Never had it seemed so luminous and radiant as it was now. He exchanged the girl's freedom for the pearl. His grief at not being able to see the 'King' caused him to collapse, but in his half-conscious state he heard a gentle yet compelling voice:

 

Verily, I say unto thee, inasmuch as thou hast done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, thou hast done it unto me.

 

His journey had ended…...!. His treasures were accepted. The fourth Wise Man had indeed found the King!

The Longing is the return

"One night a man was crying "God! God!"  His lips grew sweet with praising, until a cynic said, "So! I have heard you calling out, but have you ever gotten any response?"

 The man had no answer to that. He quit praying and fell into a confused sleep.

 He dreamed he saw Prophet Khidr,³⁸ the guide of souls", in a garden.

"Why did you stop praising God?", Khidr asked.

"Because I didn't hear anything back", the man replied.

"The longing you express is the return message."

 The grief you cry out from draws you toward union.

 Your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup.

 Listen to the moan of a dog for its master. That whining is the connection.

 There are love dogs no one knows the names of.

 Give your life to be one of them."

                                                                      

    ~ Rumi

reconciling Truth and Maya

In response to questions by the devotee Natananandar (D) on nature of Self-Realization, Bhagavan Ramana (B) replies:

D: If this is the nature of moksha (union with Brahman alone), why do some scriptures connect it with the body and say that the individual soul can attain liberation only when it does not leave the body?

B: It is only if bondage is real that liberation and the nature of its experiences have to be considered. So far as the Self is concerned, it has really no bondage in any of the four states. As bondage is merely a verbal assumption according to the emphatic proclamation of the Vedanta system, how can the question of liberation, which depends upon the question of bondage, arise when there is no bondage? Without knowing this truth, to enquire into the nature of bondage and liberation, is like enquiring into the non-existent height, color etc. of a barren woman's son or the horns of the hare.

D:  If that is so, do not the descriptions of bondage and release found in the scriptures become irrelevant and untrue?
B: No, they do not. On the contrary, the delusion of bondage fabricated by ignorance from time immemorial can be removed only by knowledge, and for this purpose the term 'liberation' (mukti) has been usually accepted. That is all. The fact that the characteristics of liberation are described in different ways proves that they are imaginary.

D: If that is so, are not all efforts such as study (sravana), reflection (manana) etc. useless?
B: No, they are not. The firm conviction that there is neither bondage nor liberation is the supreme purpose of all efforts. As this purpose of seeing boldly, through direct experience, that bondage and liberation do not exist, cannot be achieved except with the aid of the aforesaid practices, these efforts are useful.

The Seed

A successful business man was growing old and
knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.
Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children,
he decided to do something different. He called all the young
executives in his company together.

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO.
I have decided to choose one of you. "The young executives were
Shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one
of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant
the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with
what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then
judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be
the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others,
received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the
story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted
the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had
grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began
to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.
Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.
By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have
a plant and he felt like a failure.
Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he
had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but
he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however.
He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the
seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company
brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.
Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot.
But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick
to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment
of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot
to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety
of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful --
in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and
many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young
executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees,
and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will
be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with
his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to
the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a
failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened
to his seed - Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim,
and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next
Chief Executive Officer!

His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow
his seed.

"How could he be the new CEO?" the others said.

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this
room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it,
and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds;
they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and
flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you
substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the
only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with
my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new
Chief Executive Officer!"

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends

* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness

* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective

* If you plant hard work, you will reap success

* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

So, be careful what you plant now;
it will determine what you will reap later..

"Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back"



"The best way to predict the future is to create it."

           (  Peter Ferdinand Drucker  )

HAPPINESS COMES FROM GIVING

A rich lady went to visit a counselor to seek out happiness. The counselor instead of counseling her directly, called over the old lady who cleaned the office floors. The counselor then said to the rich lady "I'm going to ask Mary here  to tell you how she found happiness. All I want you to do is listen to her."

 

So the old cleaning woman put down her broom and sat on a chair and told her story:

"Well, my husband died of malaria and three months later my only son was killed by a car. I had nobody... I had nothing left. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I never smiled at anyone, I even thought of taking my own life.

 

Then one evening a little kitten followed me home from work. Somehow I felt sorry for that kitten. It was cold outside, so I decided to let the kitten in. I got it some milk and the kitten licked the plate clean. Then it purred and rubbed against my leg and for the first time in months, I smiled. Then I stopped to think, if helping a little kitten could make me smile, maybe doing something for people could make me happy. So the next day I baked some biscuits and took them to a neighbor who was sick in bed.

 

Every day I tried to do something nice for someone. It made me so happy to see them happy. Today, I don't know of anybody who sleeps and eats better than I do. I've found happiness, by giving it to others."

 

When she heard that, the rich lady cried...! She had everything that money could buy, but she had lost the things which money cannot buy.

When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect…

When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect…

A teacher teaching Maths to seven-year-old Arnav asked him, "If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?" Within seconds Arnav replied confidently, "Four!"

The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three).  She was disappointed.  "Maybe the child did not listen properly," she thought.  She repeated, "Arnav, listen carefully.  If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"
   
Arnav had seen the disappointment on his teacher's face.  He calculated again on his fingers. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy.  This time hesitatingly he replied, "Four…"
    
The disappointment stayed on the teacher's face.  She remembered that Arnav liked strawberries.  She thought maybe he doesn't like apples and that is making him lose focus.  This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, "If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?"
     
Seeing the teacher happy, young Arnav calculated on his fingers again.  There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher.  She wanted her new approach to succeed.  With a hesitating smile young Arnav enquired, "Three?"
    
The teacher now had a victorious smile.  Her approach had succeeded. Once again she asked him, "Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?" Promptly Arnav answered, "Four!"
 
The teacher was aghast.  "How Arnav, how?" she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.
 
In a voice that was low and hesitating, young Arnav replied, "Because I already have one apple in my bag."
 
"When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect. Don't think they are wrong. There maybe an angle that you have not understood at all. You will have to listen and understand, but never listen with a predetermined notion."

Note:: From the ISKBLR1 Google Groups mailing list

The Law of Garbage Truck - by David J. Pollay

How often do you let other people's nonsense change your mood?  Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day?  Unless you're the Terminator, you're probably set back on your heels.  However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what's important in your life. Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson.  And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here's what happened.

 

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station.  We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.  My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car's back-end.

 

I couldn't believe it.  But then I couldn't believe what happened next.  The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us.  How do I know?  Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face.  And for emphasis, he threw in a one finger salute, as if his words were not enough.

 

But then here's what really blew me away.  My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly.  So, I said, "Why did you just do that!?  This guy could have killed us!"  And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck™."  He said:

 

Many people are like garbage trucks.  They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.  As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it.  And if you let them, they'll dump it on you.

 

So when someone wants to dump on you, don't take it personally.  Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.  Believe me.  You'll be happier.

 

So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me?  And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street?  It was then that I said, "I don't want their garbage and I'm not going to spread it anymore."

 

I began to see Garbage Trucks.  Like in the movie "The Sixth Sense," the little boy said, "I see Dead People."  Well now "I see Garbage Trucks."  I see the load they're carrying.  I see them coming to dump it.  And like my taxi driver, I don't take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

 

One of my favourite football players of all time is Walter Payton.  Every day on the football field, after being tackled, he would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground.  He never dwelled on a hit.  Payton was ready to make the next play his best.  Over the years the best players from around the world in every sport have played this way:  Tiger Woods, Nadia Comaneci, Muhammad Ali, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, and Pele are just some of those players.  And the most inspiring leaders have lived this way:  Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King.

 

See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from Florida State University, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life.  You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.

 

So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way.  But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck™, you take back control of your life.  You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.

 

The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting.  The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client.  And the best parents know that they have to be ready to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day.  All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.

 

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.

 

What about you?  What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

 

Here's my bet:  You'll be happier.

 

You have a choice.  Make it today.

 

Have a Garbage Free Day! ™