Perspective

The master was in a mellow mood and the disciples were inquisitive.

Did he ever feel depressed, they asked.

He did.

Wasn't it also true that he was in a continual state of happiness, they persisted. It was.

What was the secret, they wanted to know.

Said the Master, "This: Everything is as good or as bad as one's opinion makes it."

Challenge

An easy-going disciple complained that he had never really experienced the silence that the master frequently commended.

Said the Master, "Silence only comes to active people."

Non-violence

A snake in the village had bitten so many people that few dared to go into the fields.

Such was the Master's holiness that he was said to have tamed the snake and persuaded it to practise the discipline of non-violence.

It did not take long for the villagers to discover that the snake had become harmless.

They took to hurling stones at it and dragging it around by the tail.

The badly battered snake crawled into the master's house to complain.

Said the Master, " Friend, you've stopped frightening people. That's bad.!"

"But it was you who taught me to practise the discipline of non violence", answered the snake.

"Friend," sighed the Master, "I told you to stop hurting , not to stop hissing!"

Miracles

The man has travelled from a faraway land and crossed the seas

in search of the Master.

When he arrived at his dwelling, he asked a disciple,

"What miracles has your Master worked?"

Well, there are miracles, and then there are MIRACLES," said the disciple.

"In your land

you say it is a miracle when God does someone's will.

In our land

we say it is a miracle

when someone does the will of God"

Adulthood

The disciple was forever at his prayers.

The Master said, "When will you stop leaning on God and stand on your own two feet?"

The disciple was astonished.

He protested, "But Master, you are the one who taught us to look upon God as our father!"

The Master sighed.

"When will you learn that a father isn't someone you can lean on

but someone who cures you of your tendency to lean?"