Words of Wisdom 26/2 : Deeds

"If you wish others to know about your good deeds,
they are not truly good deeds.
If you fear others will find out about your bad deeds,
those are truly bad deeds. " ~ Master Xuan Hua ~

A Story To Share 21/2 : Poverty

POVERTY

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" " It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked."Oh yeah," said the son. "So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them." The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

~ I came across this story from a website and find it interesting and meaningful to share.
Who is wealthy and who is poor? We tend to judge it based on our own perspectives, which could be wrong and narrow minded at times, just like the wealthy father. Most people thought that having a big house with garden, pool and servants will give them happiness.. And didn’t realize the fact that true happiness, comes within our own mind…not elsewhere, and certainly not from the material comforts that we have been busy grasping at.. ~

心语分享 19/2 ：一场有意义的演出

2月16日的傍晚，第一次以音乐为一群末期癌症病人演出，看见他们随着音乐拍手，露出难得的微笑，让我内心激起无限的感动和喜悦。对我来说，这是一次最有意义的演出，再辛苦的练习，也是值得！感谢给我们机会演出的因缘，虽然只是那么短短几分钟的欢乐，并不能为他们解除病痛的长期折磨，只能在此祝福他们，要坚强面对一切.....

故事一则 13/2 ：蜘蛛的启示

有三个互不相识的人来到一座废弃的房子里面避雨。不久三个人的目光被同一件事情吸引住了：在房子的一面断墙处有一只蜘蛛正在结网，但是一阵风吹过，它的网被挂在墙上的东西穿开了一个洞，于是蜘蛛赶快爬过去开始补它的网，可是还没有补好，又刮来了阵大风，同时还有些雨水洒了进来，蜘蛛被打落到地面上，而它的网也一下子变得支离破碎起来。

看来蜘蛛会离开那个网了，可是没想到的是，蜘蛛居然从湿滑的墙面上艰难地爬过去，又开始修补它的网了。避雨的三个人看到这样的情景，对这只蜘蛛的行为开始有了各自不同的看法。

第一个人叹了一口气，充满怨由地想到：“唉！这只蜘蛛的表现正如我的一生一样，虽然一直在忙忙碌碌万分辛苦，可是最后却一无所得，看来我们的命运都是这样悲惨不会再有什么改变了。”

第二个人在一旁很冷静地看着还在继续结网的蜘蛛，然后很不屑一顾地自言自语说道：“这只蜘蛛真是太愚蠢了，它竟然不知道遇到问题的时候要用头脑来认真思考，只是一味地埋头苦干，这样怎么可能找到解决问题的办法呢？”

第三个人专注地看着一次次重新来过的蜘蛛，他的心灵被蜘蛛这种顽强拼搏的精神深深打动了，他想：“如果我具有了蜘蛛这种执著的精神，做事情就一定可以取得成功！”

雨停了之后，这三个人离开了房子，然后开始各自的生活。第一个人由于他一直带着悲观的心态去生活，所以日渐消沉，精神也一天天地颓废起来，生活陷入困境之中。第二个人由于他遇事善于思考，总是聪明地使自己避开那些艰难险阻，因此他很快就从一个默默无闻的人变成了一个小有名气的智者。第三个人带着从蜘蛛那里得来的敢于拼搏不怕失败的顽强精神投入到工作，最终获得了巨大成就，被大家公认是最成功的人。

这个看似简单的故事，给予我们对道理思考却是深刻的：心态积极的人所见万物都是积极向上的，而心态消极的人看见的人生多半是破败颓废。

所以当我们在遇到像蜘蛛那样一再被命运捉弄的境况时，不要灰心，要调整好自己的心态，敢于去同失败斗争，敢于在失败中磨练自己的心智，只要你不放弃，坚持给自己一个积极的人生，那么生活中再没有什么风雨可以阻挡你走向圆满与成功。 - 常静

Words of Wisdom 5/2 : Rainbow

If you want the rainbow,
you have to put up with the rain..