Know thyself

A Tibetan student was practicing

meditation in his cell when a spider

descended from the ceiling and hung

suspended in front of him.

It slowly spun around, attached to

the end of its web, until the novice

tried to catch it, at which point it

raced back up to the ceiling in a

second.

Every day for a week the student's

meditation was disturbed by the spider.

It even seemed that it was getting

bigger, that it was becoming more

adventurous, and sometimes tried to

swing back and forth in front of him,

with all its legs spread wide.

"This spider is bothering me,"

thought the novice, "and making fun of

me. I'll catch it one day, I know will!"

He became so upset that he went to

ask the advice of his Spiritual Master.

"I hid a knife in my sleeve while I

was meditating," he said. "I wanted to

kill the spider when it came down, but

I didn't succeed. It disappeared the

moment I thought about catching it."

"Replace your knife with a piece of

chalk," the Master replied, "and make a

cross on the spider's back each time it

disturbs your meditation. Come back and

see me in a week."

A week later the novice returned to

his Master's cell and knelt down before

him, his head lowered.

"Lift your robe and look at

yourself," the Master instructed.

To his great surprise, the novice saw

a big X drawn on his own chest.

_________________

This short parable may seem absurd,

and yet it contains a profound truth.

The spider that disturbed the novice

during his meditation was his own bad

conscience, which always surfaces when

we are most relaxed. And what do we do?

We accuse it of trying to harm us, we

say that it is someone else, we seek a

threatening monster to fight with. But

the monster, the spider, is our own

self.

We have to be able to look at

ourselves objectively in order to

overcome our worries, before they

assume a form that we have not chosen.

"Know thyself!"

This phrase is attributed to

Socrates, but it also appears on the

facade of the Temple of Delphi. 2500

years later it is still relevant, and

will always remain so!

Author unknown

Posted by Priya Deelchand

Joy in the morning (shared by Priya Deelchand)

Here is a story by Steve Goodier that I would like to share with you today.

Does this sound familiar?

James was cleaning out the attic one day when he came across a ticket

from a shoe repair shop. The date stamped on the ticket showed it was

over eleven years old. He felt sure the shoes would not still be

there, but decided to stop by anyway and check.

He handed the ticket to the man behind the counter, who didn't seem to

be surprised at the date. "Just a minute," said the clerk. " I'll have

to look for these." He disappeared into a back room.

After a few minutes, the clerk called out, "Here they are!"

"That's terrific!" said James, hardly believing his good fortune.

The man came back to the counter, empty-handed. "They'll be ready

Thursday," he said.

We should all be masters of patience; after all, we've had plenty of

practice. But waiting for shoes is one thing, waiting to heal from a

hurt or waiting for a persistent problem to change can be far more

difficult.

James Melvin Washington shared some wisdom about the importance of

patience in those tough times of life. He said, "My grandmother used

to tell me that every loss is temporary, that every rainy day is

temporary, that every hardship is temporary. She used to tell me,

'Son, every goodbye ain't gone. Just hold on - there's joy coming in

the morning.'"

Are you holding on? It may seem dark now, but morning is coming.

Wish you all a joy filled life!

Shared by Priya Deelchand:
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Look inside

Priya Deelchand

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You are a living magnet

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Laughter

Posted by Priya Deelchand

If you want to be rich

 Priya Deelchand http://www.facebook.com/priyadeelchand1

Carl Jung Quote

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