 |
 |
 |
 |
| SILVER BELLS |
 |
 |
 |
| So in despair he consulted a sage. After listening to his tale of woe, the sage said: "It's very simple. You must change the name of your inn." "Impossible!" said the innkeeper. "It has been the Silver Star for generations and is well known all over the country." "No," said the sage firmly. "You must now call it Five Bells and have a row of six bells at the entrance." "Six bells?" But that's absurd. What good would that do?" "Give it a try and see," said the sage with a smile. Well, the innkeeper gave it a try. And this is what he saw. Every traveller who passed by the inn walked in to point out the mistake, each one believing that no one else had noticed it. Once inside, they were impressed by the cordiality of the service and stayed on to refresh themselves, thereby providing the innkeeper with the fortune that he had been seeking in vain for so long. Source: Anthony de Mello (ed.) The Heart of the Enlightened . |
 |
 |
|
| The Prayer of St. Francis Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon, where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. Lord, let me not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. |
| Once upon a time, there was an inn called Silver Star. The innkeeper was unable to make ends meet although he did his best to draw customers by making the inn comfortable, the service cordial, and the prices reasonable. |
| Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, in his book Your Sacred Self", says that our higher self would always seek peace. The search for peace is sometimes waylaid when doubt sets in. This happens when our ego would urge us to choose dominance rather than tolerance as our style of interacting with life. Surely, its effect on a relationship would be disastrous. It could breed fear, antipathy, anger, hatred or repression. In such a situation, our ego should be reminded that we are not alone in this world. We have to share with others whatever is in it, or whatever is in our immediate surrounding. That is why our higher self, in our quest for peace, wants us to be more tolerant and caring. How do you know if you are arrogant and domineering? Dr. Dyer gives the following tell-tale signs: When you always bring back the conversation to yourself; when you would rather win points in conversations and not communicate, share or listen to others; when you're in the habit of giving orders and demanding perfection from your family and co-workers; when you're preoccupied with your own concerns, career goals, accomplishments and daily experiences; when you flaunt your superior knowledge; when you refuse to be intimate and loving if someone does not come up to your expectations; when you boast, brag, and are self-centered; and when you bully, dictate and threaten reprisal. You can add on to the list. |
| Tsinoy says: That's a trick! And it plays well on people who seek to prove something - that they are always right, or superior to others. Not that correcting the mistakes of others is wrong in itself (though you're sure to court trouble if you do it publicly). But those who find themselves in the habit of calling the mistakes of others should do a reality check. More often than not, they are the people who have the tendency to dominate and control. Alright, some may say that this is in accordance with nature's design of the pecking order of social groups. It is a pattern of dominance to keep others in check, i.e., the dominant person "pecks" on others below him as a result of his "conquest" - just like the chickens in the experiment by Norwegian naturalist named Thorlief Schjelderup-Ebbe. But there is a higher virtue than this cyclical pattern of one-upsmanship. |
| And how do you know if you are a caring person? When you are not anyone of the above. And more. When you let things be; when you are aware of the needs and wants of others; when you detach yourself from self-centeredness; when you curb your need to be right; when you remove your defensiveness or the need to fix or explain; when you listen with your heart and hear what the other person is feeling; when you give freely and do not expect something in return; when you let go of your ego-based judgements of assessing others based on their appearance or their station in life; when you reach out to the persons you love and say how much they mean to you; and when you give yourself some quiet time to talk with the Supreme Being and to seek the help of your spiritual guides. How do we keep peace with ourselves? Let me quote a passage from St. Paul's letter to the Romans, 12:15-18: |
| Be happy with those who are happy, Weep with those who weep. Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties. Do not think of yourselves as wise. If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with wrong. Try to do what everyone considers to be good. Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody. Cheers. Tsinoy |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |