Meaningful Stories
i just wanna share some of somewhat FUNNY but always MEANINGFUL stories..
1. The man who went to Heaven
A man died and because he had been a good person, he went to Heaven, where Saint Peter greeted him at the door.
Welcome! he said. You can enter Heaven right away, but, because you lived such a good life, you can also go and check out Hell first, if you like.
The man was rather curious and said - well, why not - and he went down all the stairs to reach the door of Hell, which opened before him.
Behind the door, he saw many people sitting around tables with delicious food! But they were all very sad, and suffering, because instead of hands they had long knives and forks as arm extensions and they did not manage to put any of this great food in their mouths.
The man went back up to Heaven and said to Saint Peter: Wow, am I glad that I can go to Heaven. That is really some punishment.
Welcome to Heaven, Saint Peter said, as he let the man in.
What did he see there? He saw many people sitting around tables with delicious food, just like in Hell!
And just like in Hell, they also had these long fork and knife extensions on their arms!
But in Heaven, the people weren't crying or cursing, because they were sticking the food in each other's mouths! "Try this", they laughed. "And this!", and they had lots of fun in the process.
Lesson: Happiness comes from making other people happy. Don't be selfish but care for other people, and you will be taken care of as well.
2. Maybe.
One day, the farmer's horse ran away, and all the neighbors gathered in the evening and said ‘that’s too bad.’
He said ‘maybe.’
Next day, the horse came back and brought with it seven wild horses. ‘Wow!’ they said, ‘Aren’t you lucky!’
He said ‘maybe.’
The next day, his son grappled with one of these wild horses and tried to break it in, and he got thrown and broke his leg. And all the neighbors said ‘oh, that’s too bad that your son broke his leg.’
He said, ‘maybe.’
The next day, the conscription officers came around, gathering young men for the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. And the visitors all came around and said ‘Isn’t that great! Your son got out.’
He said, ‘maybe.’
Lesson: you never really know in which direction progress lies. Life unfolds not always as we expect it to.
3. The travelling monks at the river
Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She thanked him and departed.
As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!"
"Brother," the second monk replied, "I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her."
Lesson: The practice of one's belief is more important than rigid adherence to a belief in one's practice.
4. Giving blood
Many years ago, when I worked as a transfusion volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liza who was suffering from a disease and needed blood from her five-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liza."
As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"
Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give her all his blood.
Lesson: True brother love exists.
5. The kind and the peace contest
There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried and submitted their work. The king looked at all the pictures. There were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake, perfectly mirroring the peaceful, towering mountains all around it. Overhead was blue sky with fluffy, white clouds. It was the favorite of all who saw it. Truly, they thought, it was the perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains, too, but these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of one mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. A less peaceful picture would be difficult to imagine. But when the king looked closely, he saw beside the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest in perfect peace.
Which picture would you have selected? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?
“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all these things and still be calm in your heart. This is the real meaning of peace.”
Lesson: real peace is in your heart
1. The man who went to Heaven
A man died and because he had been a good person, he went to Heaven, where Saint Peter greeted him at the door.
Welcome! he said. You can enter Heaven right away, but, because you lived such a good life, you can also go and check out Hell first, if you like.
The man was rather curious and said - well, why not - and he went down all the stairs to reach the door of Hell, which opened before him.
Behind the door, he saw many people sitting around tables with delicious food! But they were all very sad, and suffering, because instead of hands they had long knives and forks as arm extensions and they did not manage to put any of this great food in their mouths.
The man went back up to Heaven and said to Saint Peter: Wow, am I glad that I can go to Heaven. That is really some punishment.
Welcome to Heaven, Saint Peter said, as he let the man in.
What did he see there? He saw many people sitting around tables with delicious food, just like in Hell!
And just like in Hell, they also had these long fork and knife extensions on their arms!
But in Heaven, the people weren't crying or cursing, because they were sticking the food in each other's mouths! "Try this", they laughed. "And this!", and they had lots of fun in the process.
Lesson: Happiness comes from making other people happy. Don't be selfish but care for other people, and you will be taken care of as well.
2. Maybe.
One day, the farmer's horse ran away, and all the neighbors gathered in the evening and said ‘that’s too bad.’
He said ‘maybe.’
Next day, the horse came back and brought with it seven wild horses. ‘Wow!’ they said, ‘Aren’t you lucky!’
He said ‘maybe.’
The next day, his son grappled with one of these wild horses and tried to break it in, and he got thrown and broke his leg. And all the neighbors said ‘oh, that’s too bad that your son broke his leg.’
He said, ‘maybe.’
The next day, the conscription officers came around, gathering young men for the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. And the visitors all came around and said ‘Isn’t that great! Your son got out.’
He said, ‘maybe.’
Lesson: you never really know in which direction progress lies. Life unfolds not always as we expect it to.
3. The travelling monks at the river
Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She thanked him and departed.
As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!"
"Brother," the second monk replied, "I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her."
Lesson: The practice of one's belief is more important than rigid adherence to a belief in one's practice.
4. Giving blood
Many years ago, when I worked as a transfusion volunteer at Stanford Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liza who was suffering from a disease and needed blood from her five-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save Liza."
As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"
Being young, the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give her all his blood.
Lesson: True brother love exists.
5. The kind and the peace contest
There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried and submitted their work. The king looked at all the pictures. There were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake, perfectly mirroring the peaceful, towering mountains all around it. Overhead was blue sky with fluffy, white clouds. It was the favorite of all who saw it. Truly, they thought, it was the perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains, too, but these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of one mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. A less peaceful picture would be difficult to imagine. But when the king looked closely, he saw beside the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest in perfect peace.
Which picture would you have selected? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?
“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all these things and still be calm in your heart. This is the real meaning of peace.”
Lesson: real peace is in your heart