The Accumulation Of Wealth

After many days of heavy rains, a village which was known for its good swimmers became flooded when the river burst its banks. When the rain ceased, five or six friends in the village decided to take a boat to the opposite bank. Just as they were in the middle of the river, the boat started to fall apart. Since all of them could swim very well, they jumped into the river and started swimming across to the other bank. One of the friends was found to be swimming very slowly despite using all his strength.

"Hey, why are you falling behind?" his friends shouted. "You used to sweim better than the rest of us."

"I have a thousand coins tied round my waist and they are very heavy!"

"The water is swift and the current is strong. Take the coins off and throw them away!" they admonished him. Despite his exhaustion, he shook his head because he could not bear to part with his money.

Some of his friends who climbed onto the far shore saw that he was sinking fast. "Throw away the money!" they shouted again. "Why must you be so stupid? You are about to sink!" But he still hung on to the money, and was swept away by the swift river and drowned.

Moral of the Story:

No one can reach the state of perfect happiness unless he or she brings the covetous heart and mind under complete control. So long as we seek happiness in the satisfaction of desire for material gains, we will never find it. It will be just and elusive dream. It is humanly impossible to obtain everything we wish, since insatiability is the very nature of craving.

Source: Why Worry! by K. Sri Dhammananda

Finding Love Again Painlessly

Have you ever been hurt in love? Ignored? Rejected? Well, eventually all of us experience this eventually. When we find a great person who we really adore and enjoy being with, we want the feeling to last forever. We never want to let the person go. The more fiercely you are attached to somebody, the deeper the pain stabs into your heart when they are gone from your life.

Luckily, this unhappy state of affairs does not last forever. We learn to move on. Some people throw themselves into love head first again and again, crashing on the rocks every time. Other people learn to grow more cautious: don't give your heart away completely until you know if the other person is being true to you. We all can benefit from a good mixture of caution and risk-taking.

Maybe you've given up on love. You've been hurt so many times that you are bitter to the whole concept. Maybe every relationship or marriage you've seen has ended in bitterness and meanness of spirit. We are surrounded by stories and rumors about cheating, fighting, breaking up.

But this is only one side of the story. Look around some more and you will find people who will love each other until the end. Who have stuck with each other through thick and thin. Who never gave up on each other. You may not have found somebody who is willing to do this for you yet, but keep looking and you certainly will.

When looking for love, stick to the following guidelines:

1. Stay optimistic. You'll find somebody eventually!


2. Be happy single. If you're happy with your single life, you won't feel a great need or pressure to find somebody. But if somebody good comes along, that's great! You'll be more attractive when you are independent, happy, and self-assured, than if you are needy, groping, and unhappy.


3. Test the waters. Rather than leaping straight into a relationship, test the person first. Gauge their interest. See if they are the right kind of person for you.


4. Get over it. If they reject you or don't show enough interest, they probably aren't meant for you. Move on to greener pastures.


5. Work at a relationship. Don't give up at the first sign of hardship. Every relationship has troubles, and everyone who stays together has to learn how to work through them.

Majority Is Never Right

Once, an old man, a boy, and a donkey were traveling from one town to another. They decided that the boy would ride the donkey, and the old man would walk alongside. While moving down the road, they passed a group of townsfolk, who began speaking among themselves, saying what a shame it was for such a strong, young boy to be riding on the donkey, leaving this old, frail man to walk alongside. The boy overheard their words, and, feeling ashamed, suggested that the old man should ride the donkey, and that he would walk alongside.

A while later, they passed another group of people, who began commenting on how shocking it was to see this man riding the donkey, while making such a small boy walk. The two overheard their comments, and decided that they should both just walk and put an end to all these opinions.

Eventually, they passed some more villagers, who began to laugh at how silly it was for these two to be walking when they had a perfectly good donkey to ride. The man and the boy decided that maybe the critics were right, and they decided to both ride the donkey.

Soon, they ran into another group of people who were aghast to see such animal cruelty. What a load to put on this poor little creature! Hearing their words, the man and boy felt terrible. They wanted to give the poor donkey a break, and decided to carry the donkey for the rest of their way. While crossing a bridge, they lost their grip on the animal, and he fell into the river, to be seen no more.

The moral of this story: Don't let others tell you what to do. If you try to please everyone, you will eventually lose your ass!

Source: Secrets of Spiritual Happiness