Wise Little Stories

[Shawn]

Ancient masters used to teach a lot of their wisdom through phrases and small stories. There has been threads on sayings, but I am interested to hear any short stories you have with a lesson in them.

 

Eg.

 

A master sat down in front of his students and produced a cup. He filled the cup with rocks and asked his students if it was full, to which the students replied, yes. He then poured in small pebbles and asked if the cup was fall, to which the students replied yes. The master then did the same with sand with the students advising that the cup was full. He then pulled another cup and filled it with sand, then demonstrated that he could not put rocks or pebbles into the cup. The master said, think of the cup as your life. If you fill it with lots of small, unimportant things first, there will be no room for the big or important things. Fill your life with what matters first and there will always be room for the little things too.

 

[White Warlock]

I believe that one goes more like he has four cups, one filled with large rocks, another with small pebbles, another with sand and another with water. He then asks his students if all the cups are full. He then pours the small pebbles into the cup with the large rocks. The pebbles fall into the various cracks between the large rocks. He then again asks if they are all full. He then pours the sand into the cup containing the large rocks and small pebbles. The sand fills up the spaces between the small pebbles and the large rocks. Again, he asks if the remaining cups are full. He then pours the water into the same cup, which soaks down into the sand. He closes by grabbing another cup of water and asks if it is full. He then attempts to place a large rock in the glass of water, which causes the water to overflow and spill on the table.

 

At which point he gives his lecture about making sure you take care to put the large rocks, representative of the important things in life, first or you'll make a mess of things...

Edited June 17, 2004 by White Warlock

[Shawn]

meh, another good version, always the way with these things.

 

Thanks for that.

 

So yeah peoples, if you have any kewl little stories, send 'em in.

[White Warlock]

Well, here's a simple one...

• The teacher tells his student he will be instructing this day on how to fight with rocks. The teacher then hands his student four rocks.
   
  The teacher tells the student to throw the rocks over a ravine. After the student throws the rocks, the teacher directs the student to attack him with one of the rocks. Obviously, the student no longer has any rocks, nor is he capable of going over the ravine to secure a rock, so he states he cannot. The teacher asks why, and the student tells him why, at which point the teacher asks him why he did not keep one rock? The student, frustrated, tells the teacher that he, himself, had told him to throw the rocks.
   
  At which point the teacher asks, "can you not think for yourself?"
   
  Perplexed, the student asks, "but am i not supposed to be obedient?"
   
  The teacher says, "if all you want is to learn to throw rocks, then yes."

 

The moral being: you will be given the tools and be told what to do with those tools, but it is up to you to learn beyond that which is instructed.

[TangSooGuy]

A true story:

 

Once we were holding a black belt testing at a ocal YMCa, which had two levels of parking lots, one at the bottom of a hill, and the other at the top. The top lot was smaller, and had been reserved for special guests, etc, and the bottom lot was rapidly filling up.

 

A young man arrioved for his workout at the YMCA, and when he was told that he had to park at the bottom of the hill, he started fuming about how he was amember of this YMCA and should be allowed to park wherever he wanted. He them drove off angrily, and could be seen glowering and muttering to himself as he walked up the hill.

 

Later in the day, one of the parking attendants spotted an elderly woman who needed to walk with the help of a cane at the bottom of the hill, making her way up to the YMCA.

 

When the parking attendant saw this, she rushed over and told her that they would gladly make a spot for her in the top lot. She simply smiled and said, "No, thank you dear, i'll be just fne. It's a nice day for a walk."

 

It turns out that this elderly woman was a grandmother of one of the students testing that day...

 

Amazing how a young man who was there to work out anyway fumed abut having to take a few extra steps, but the elderly woman who had trouble walking at all saw the positive side of things....

[gheinisch]

Here are a couple that I like:

 

A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, "I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it." The teacher's reply was casual, "Ten years." Impatiently, the student answered, "But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?" The teacher thought for a moment, "20 years."

 

The Fence - Author Unknown

 

There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence.

 

Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

 

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

 

He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say 'I'm sorry', the wound is still there."

[White Warlock]

Oh great. Give the kid a guilt complex.

 

[Sunrunner]

here's one that I think I saw somewhere on this forum long ago...not sure where it is now but, here goes:

 

One day a monk was sitting peacefully by a small brook, meditating, content with the sound of the water, the birds, and insects nearby. Soon the sounds of heavy footfalls reached his ears and he looked up to see an armored samurai stalking towards him, quietly he resumed his meditation. The man was large and the expression on his face was of impatience and bespoke of one unaccostumed to laughter. He spoke in a commanding voice, "You, monk! Teach me about Heavan and Hell!" At first it seemed that the monk did not hear him, but slowly, an amused smile spread across his lips and he opened his eyes. "You, wish to learn of Heaven and Hell? You who are rude and impatient, you who stinks and who's hair is unkempt, you who are dirty, whose blade is rusty, and who's mother dresses you funny, you would wish to learn of Heaven and Hell? Huuh!" Quietly he resumed his meditation.

 

At once, an intense fury spread across the warrior's face and his body quivered with rage. His sword lept from its saya and the samurai raised it high above his head, preparing to cleave the monk from shoulder to hip. Calmly the monk looked up, pointed at the samurai and said, "That is hell,". Recognition dawned in the warrior's eyes and tears welled. Here he was about to kill this creature who would risk life to teach him such a simple lesson. A warm compassion for the monk spread through the samurai's body and he lowered his sword. "And that..." said the monk, "...is Heaven."

[Jinshu]

Read the book: Maze of the Fire Dragon

 

I think thats what it's called. It's one of the books in the Martial Arts for Peace series.

[ineluki]

meh, another good version, always the way with these things.

 

Thanks for that.

 

Actually my favorite version is this one:

 

A professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him.

 

When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and began to fill it with rocks, about 2" in diameter.

 

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

 

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.

 

The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

 

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

 

Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "Yes."

 

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar - effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

 

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter - like your job, your home, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff."

 

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the plug. Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

 

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.

 

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers.