Story 1
A tale is told about the Buddha, Gautama (563-483BC), the Indian prince and spiritual leader whose teachings founded Buddhism. This short story illustrates that every one of us has the choice whether or not to take personal offence from another person’s behaviour.
It is said that on an occasion when the Buddha was teaching a group of people, he found himself on the receiving end of a fierce outburst of abuse from a bystander, who was for some reason very angry.
The Buddha listened patiently while the stranger vented his rage, and then the Buddha said to the group and to the stranger, “If someone gives a gift to another person, who then chooses to decline it, tell me, who would then own the gift? Would it belong to the giver or the person who refuses to accept the gift?”
“The giver,” said the group after a little thought. “Any fool can see that,” added the angry stranger.
“Then it follows, does it not,” said the Buddha, “Whenever a person tries to abuse us, or to unload their anger on us, we can each choose to decline or to accept the abuse; whether to make it ours or not. By our personal response to the abuse from another, we can choose who owns and keeps the bad feelings.”
Story 2
Mohandas [Mahatma] Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), the great Indian statesman and spiritual leader is noted for his unusual humanity and selflessness, which this story epitomises. Gandhi was boarding a train one day with a number of companions and followers, when his shoe fell from his foot and disappeared in the gap between the train and platform. Unable to retrieve it, he took off his other shoe and threw it down by the first. Responding to the puzzlement of his fellow travellers, Gandhi explained that a poor person who finds a single shoe is no better off – what’s really helpful is finding a pair.
Separately, Gandhi was once asked what he thought of Western Civilisation. Gandhi replied: “I think that it would be a very good idea.”
Story 3
I am assured that this is a true story. A consultant was asked to give a talk at a sales conference. The CEO asks him to focus on the importance of cooperation and teamwork between the sales and marketing teams, since neither group has a particularly high regard for the other, and the lack of cohesion and goodwill is hampering effectiveness and morale. The marketing staff constantly moan about the sales people ‘doing their own thing’ and ‘failing to follow central strategy’; and the sales people say that the marketing people are all ‘idle theorists who waste their time at exhibitions and agency lunches’ and have ‘never done a decent day’s work in their lives’.
Being a lover of rugby, the consultant decides to use the analogy of a rugby team’s forwards and backs working together to achieve the best team performance:
“……So, just as in the game of rugby, the forwards, like the marketing department, do the initial work to create the platform and to make the opportunities, and then pass the ball out to the backs, the sales department, who then use their skills and energy to score the tries. The forwards and the backs, just like marketing and sales, are each good at what they do: and they work together so that the team wins…” said the consultant, finishing his talk.
The audience seemed to respond positively, and the conference broke for lunch. At the bar the consultant asked one of the top sales-people what he’d thought of the analogy – had it given him food for thought?
“Yes, I see what you mean,” said the salesman, “It does make sense. The sales people – the backs, yes? – the backs need the marketing department – the forwards, yes? – to make the opportunities for us, so that we, the backs, can go and score the tries – to win the business. We work together as a team – each playing our own part – working as a team.”
The consultant beamed and nodded enthusiastically, only to be utterly dashed when the salesman added as an afterthought, “I still think our forwards are a bunch of hot air merchants…”
Story 4
No one showed any compassion for the poor man as he went from house to house begging for a crust of bread. Many a door was slammed in his face and he was turned away with insults. Therefore he grew despondent.
One wintry day, as he was trudging through the slippery streets, he fell and broke his leg. Thereupon they took him to the hospital.
When the people of the town heard that a poor stranger had been taken to the hospital suffering from a broken leg, they began to feel very sorry for him. Some went to comfort him others brought him good things to eat. When he left the hospital they furnished him with warm clothes and gave him a tidy sum of money.
Before the poor man left town he wrote to his wife, “Praise God, dear wife! A miracle happened: I broke a leg!”
Most people would sooner help one who has fallen than help keep him from falling.
How is this applied to everyday life?
Story 5
There was this Hindu who saw a scorpion floundering around in the water. He decided to save it by stretching out his finger, but the scorpion stung him. The man still tried to get the scorpion out of the water, but the scorpion stung him again.
A man nearby told him to stop saving the scorpion that kept stinging him.
But the Hindu said: “It is the nature of the scorpion to sting. It is my nature to love. Why should I give up my nature to love just because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting?”
Don’t give up your goodness even if people around you sting.
Story 6
A woman is told by her doctor that she has six months to live. “Isn’t there anything I can do?” she asks.
“Yes, there is,” the doctor replied. “You could marry an accountant.”
“How will that help my illness?” the woman asks.
“Oh, it won’t help your illness,” says the doctor, “but it will make that six months seem like eternity!
How could something finite, like 6 months, possibly be analogous to something infinite like eternity? Those who ask this question probably have never had the experience of living with a cost accountant.