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THE SONG
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NEWYO8 LONOON TO8ONTO 5YONEY AJCLANO
ANIAGEBooK
PL l 5 H E O ^ O!AE O A^
a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
b Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10103
IAGEand OJLEOAY are trademarks of Doubleday
a division of Bntam Doubleday Dell Publishng Group, Inc.
Impimi Ptest: Edwin Rasquinha S.J.
Praep. . Bomb.
August 26th, 1981
Imprimatur: C. Gomes S.J.
Bisa of Ahmedabd
Sptember 3rd, 1981
Image Boks edition published Sptember 198
by special arngement
with Center for Spirital Exchange
Library of Congress Cataloing-in-Publicatio Data
De Mello, Anthony 1931-
The Song of the Bird.
1. Spiritual life-Catholic authors. 2. Story-tellng
(Christian theology) I. Title.
BX2350.2.D386 198 248.4'82 84-10105
ISBN 0-385-19615-6
Copright dZAnthony de Mello S.J, Lonavla, Indi
ALL klGHI5 kE5EkvEO
PklNIEO lN IHENlIEO 5IAIE5!F AEklCA
V 11 1J 1b 17 1 1b 14 W 1
CONTENTS
EAT YUR ON FRUI 1
A VITAL DIFFERENCE Z
THE SONG OF THE BIRD
THE STING 5
THE ELEPHANT AND THE RAT
THE ROYAL PIGEON
7
MONKEY SALVATION FOR A FISH 8
SALT AND COTON IN THE RIVER
THE SERCH FOR THE ASS I0
TRUE SPIRITUALITY
11
THE LITLE FISH
1Z1
DID YU HER THAT BIRD SING?
I4~I5
l CHOP WOD!
10
THE BAMBOOS
11
CONSTAN AWARENESS
Z0
M
HOLINESS IN THE PRESEN MOMENT 21
THE TEMPLE BELLS
22-23
THE WORD MADE FLESH 24-25
THE MAN IOL
26
SEARCHING IN THE WRONG PLACE 27
nE QUESTION 28
LABEL MAKERS 29-30
THE FORMUL 31
THE EXLORER 32- 33
THOMAS AQUINAS STOP WRITING 34
THE SMARTING DERVISH 35
ONE NOTE OF WISDOM 36
WHAT ARE YU SAYING? 37
THE DEVIL AND HIS FRIEND 39
NASRUDDIN IS DEAD 401
BONES TO TEST OUR FAITH 42
WHY GOOD PEOPLE DIE 43
THE MASTER DOES NOT KNOW 44
vi
LOOK INTO HIS EYES 456
WHEAT FROM EGYPTIAN TOMBS 47
AMEND THE SCRIP1RES 48
THE PROFESSIONALS 49
THE EXPERTS 50
THE SOUP OF THE SOUP OF THE DUCK 51-52
THE MONSTER IN THE RIVER 53
THE POISONED ARROW 54-55
THE BABY STOPS CRYING 56-57
THE EGG 58
SHOUT TO KEEP SAFE-AND CERTAIN 59
RIVER WATER FOR SALE 60
THE MEDAL 61
NASRUDDIN IN CHINA 62
THE GURU'S CAT 63
LITURGICAL VESTMENTS 64
DANDELIONS 65-6
DON'T CHANGE 67-8
vi i
N FRIND
-70
THE ARAB ASPIANT
7I
WE ARE THREE, YOU ARE THREE 7Z-73
PRAYER CAN BE DANGEROUS 74
NARADA
75-7
DESTINY A TOSSED COIN
77
PRAYING FOR RAIN
78
THE DISABLED FOX
7-80
THE FOOD GOD
8I
THE FIVE MONKS
823
THE JOB
84-85
DIOGENES
8
STAND U AND BE COUNTED 87
TE TRUTH SHOP
88
NARRO PATH 8-0
THE PHONY
I
THE DREAM CONTRACT
Z-3
VER WELL, VER WELL 4
vi i i
SONS DED IN A DREM
5
lE GOLDEN EAGLE

lE DUCKLING
V
lE SALT DLL

WHO AM l
-I00
lE TALKATIVE LOVER
I0I
DROPPING lE "I"
I0Z
DROP YUR NOTiNG
I03
lE ZN MASTER AND lE CHRISTIAN
I04-I05
COMFOR FOR lE DEVIL
I0
BETER SLEEP lAN SLANDER
I07
lE MONK AND lE WMAN
I0I0
THE SPIRITAL HEART ATACK
II0III
TO KNO CHRIS
IIZ
lE LOK OF JESUS
IIII4
lE GOLDEN EGG
II5 II
GOOD NEV
II7-II
JONEYED AND THE BARBER
II-IZ0
i x
THE PHARISEE 121
THE OLD WOMAN'S REUGION 122
LO'S FORGETFLNESS 123
THE LOTUS 124-125
THE TURTLE 126127
BAYAZD BREAS THE RULE 128
STREKY PEOPLE 129
MUSIC TO THE DEA 130
RCHES 131
THE CONTNTED FISHERMA 132-133
THE SEVEN JRS OF GOLD 134-135
A PARABLE ON MODERN LIFE 136
MMZHAYYIM 137
TE SKY AND_ THE CRO 138
WHO CAN STEL THE MOON! 139
THE DIAMOND 140141
PRY FOR A CONTENTED MIND 142-143
TiE WRLD FAIR OF RELIGIONS 144-145
X
DISCRIMINATION 146
JSUS AT THE FOOTBALL MATCH 147-148
RELIGIOUS HATRED 149
OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE PRAYER 150
IDEOLOY 151-152
CHANGE THE WORLD BY CHANGING ME 153
DOMESTICATED REBEL 154-155
THE LOST SHEEP 156
THE PERFEC APPLE 157
THE SLAVE GIRL 15159
CONFUCIUS THE SAGE 160161
L HAPP FAULT! 162
THE COCONU 163
SINGER'S VOICE FILL THE HALL 164-165
THANKS AND YES 166-167
SIMON PETER 16169
THE SAMARITAN WMAN 170
IGNATIUS OF LOYLA 171-172
xi
Tis book has bee writte fo people of eer persufit, religious and
nonreligiou. I cannot, howee, hide fom my reader the fad that/ am
a priest of the Catholic Church. I haw wandeed feely in mystical
traditions !hal are not Chritian and not religious and I have been
profoundly infuced by the. II i to my Church, howee, thai/ kee
returing, for she i my spiritual home; and while I am actely, sme
lime eba"assingly, consou of he limitations and na"ownes, I alo
know thai if i she who ha formed M and mad me what I am today. S
if i to he !hal I grateflly ddicale thi book.
Everyone loves stories, and you will fnd plenty of them in
this book. Stories that are Buddhist, Christian, Zen,
Hasidic, Russian, Chinese, Hindu, Suf; stories ancient and
contemporary.
And they all have a special quality: if read in a cerain kind
of way, they will produce spitual gowth.
HO TO RD THEM
There are three ways:
1. Read a story once. Then move on to another story.
This manner of reading wl gve you only enter
tainment.
Z. Read a story twice. Refet on it. Apply it to your
life. This will give you a taste of theology. This sort
of thing can be fritfully done i a goup where
members share their refections on the stor. You
then have a theologcal circle.
J. Read the story again, after you have refected on it.
Create a silence within you and let the story reveal
to you its inner depth and meanng: Something be
yond words and refectons. This will gve you a feel
for the mystical.
Or carry the story around all day and allow its fa
gance, its melody to haunt you. Let it speak to your
heart, not to your brain. This too could make some
thig of a mystic out of you. It is with this mystical
end in view that most of these stories were orig
nally told.
XN
CAUON
Most of the stories have a comment appended to them. The
comment is meant as a sample of the kind of comment you
yourself may want to make. Make your own. Don't limit
yourself to the ones you fnd in this book. Why borrow
someone else's insights?
Beware of applying the story to anyone (priest, mullah,
church, neighbor) other than yourself. If you do so the
story will do you damage. Every one of these stories is
about 0v, no one else.
When you read the book for the frst time read the stories
in the order in which they are set down. The order imparts
a teaching and a spirit that will be lost if the stories are read
haphazardly.
GLOSSARY
1h600y The art of telling stories about the Divine.
Also the art of listening to them.
y9UO9m: The art of tasting and feeling in your heart
the inner meaning of such stories to the point
that they transfor you.
xvi
EAT YOUR OWN FRUIT
A disciple once complained,
" Yo fell us stories, but you neoe
reeal their meaning fo us. "
Said the master,
"How would you like if if someone
ofered you fuit and masHcafed if
before gioing if fo you?"
No one can fnd your meaning for yol.
Not even the master.
I
A VITAL DIFFERENCE
Uwais the Suf was once asked,
"Wat has grace brought you?"
He relied,
"Whm I wake in the moring I feel
like a man who is not sure he will
Jive fill enig. "
Said the quesfiont,
"But doesn 't eerone know this?"
Said Uwais,
'The cttainly do.
But not all of them
feel it."
No one ever became drunk on the word wine.
2
THE SONG OF THE BIRD
Te diciples were fl of quetions
about God.
Said the mate, "God i the Unhou
and the Unkoable. Eve stteet
about him, every answer to your questions,
is a distortion of the truth. "
J
Te disciples were bewilded. "Te
why do you speak about him at all?"
"Wy doe the bird sing?" said the
master.
Not because it has a statement, but because it has a song.
The words of the scholar are to be understood. The words
of the master are not to be understood. They are to be
listened to as one listens to the wind in the trees and the
sound of the river and the song of the bird. They will
awaken something within the heart that is beyond all
knowledge.
THE STING
A saint K once gre the gf of
speaking the langag of the ants. He
approached one, who seeed ihe scholarly
tpe, and asked, "Wat i the Almight
like? Is he in any way similar to the ant?"
Said the scholar, "Te Almight?
Cetainly not ant, you see, hav
only te stng. But the Almight, he
has D0
Suggested postscript:
When asked what heaven was like, the ant-schola sol
emly replied, "Tere we shal be just like him, having two
stings each, only smaller ones."
A bitter controversy rages among religous schools of
thought as to where exactly the second sting w be located
in the heavenly body of the ant.

THE ELEPHANT AND THE RAT

An elehant was enjoying a leisurely dip in a
jungle pool when a rat came up to the pool and
insisted that the elephant get out.
Jwon 'f, " said the elehant.
Jinsist you get out thi minute, "
said the rat.
"Wy?
"/shal fell you that only afer you are out of the pool "
'Then I won 'f get out. "
But he fnally lumbered out of the pool, stood in font of the rat,
and said, "Now the, why did you want me to get out of the
` poo .
"To check if you wee wearing my swimming trunk, " said the
ral.
A elephant will sooner ft into the trnks of a rat than
God will ft into our notions of him.
6
THE ROYAL PIGEON
Nasruddin became prime minister to the Iing.
Once, while he wandeed through the palace,
he saw a royal falon.
Now Nasruddin had neve see this lnd
of a ]g00n before. So he got out a
pair of scissors and trimmed the claws,
the wings, and the beak of the falcon.
"Now you look like a decent bird," he said.
"Your keeper had evidently been neglecting you."
"You're diferent so there's something wrong with you!
7
MONKEY SALVATION FOR A FISH
"Wat on earth are you doing?" said I
to the monkey when I saw him lift a
fsh fom the wafe and place if
on a hn.
Jam saring if fom drowning" wa the
reply.
The sun that gives sight to the eagle blinds the owl.

SALT AND COTTON IN THE RIVER

Nasrddin w faking a load of salt
to the market. Hi donke waded through
the rw and the salt disolved. We
if reache the opposite bank the animal
ran arond in circle, 0oyed that
if load had bee lighteed.
Nasrddin w annoyed.
O the next market day he packed
the pannie with colton. Te ass nearly
droned with the incrased weight
of the col/n ske in rP wfe.
"Tee! said Nasrddin gleeflly. "Taf
will leach you to think that each tme
you go thrugh wafe you stand to gin!"
Two persns walke ito religon.
Oe came alive, the other drowned.
9
THE SEARCH FOR THE ASS
Everone became alarmed whe they saw
Mullah Nasruddin, astride his ass,
chargng through the street of the
village.
"Were are you of to, Mullah? they
asked.
'm searching for my ass, " said the
mullah as he whizzed by.
The Zen master of Rinzai was once seen searching for his
body. It provided endless entertainment to his unen
lightened disciples.
One even comes across pople who are serously searching
for God!
10
TRUE SPIRITUALITY
Te maste was asked, "Wat i spiritualit?"
He said, "Spirtualit i that which succeed
in bringing one k inner transformation. "
"But if I aply the traditional methods handed
down by the maste, i that not spiritualit?
7t is not spiritualit if it dos not peform
it fnction for you. A blanket i no longe a
blanket if it do
e
not keep y wr. "
"S spiritalit does chane?"
"People change and needs change. S what ws
spiritalit onc i spiritalit no more. Wat
geerally goes unde the name of spiritualit
i merely the record of past methods. "
Don't cut the person to ft the coat.
I I
fHE LITTLE FISH
"Ecuse me, " sai an ocean fsh.
"lu are olde than l s
can you tell me whee to fnd
this thing the call/he ouan?"
''Te ocean," said the olde fsh, "is the thing
you are in now. "
"Oh, this? But this i wfe. Wat f'm seeking
is the oean, " sid the disapinte fh
he sam away to search elehee.
He came to the master in sannyasi robes. And he spoke
sannyasi laguage: "For years I have been seeking Go. I
have sought him everywhere that he is said to be: on
mountain peaks, the vastness of the desert, the sience of
the cloister, and the dwellings of the poor."
"Have you foud him?" the master asked.
"No. I have not. Have you?"
12
What could the master say? The evening sun was sending
shafts of golden light into the room. Hundreds of sparows
were twittering on a nearby banyan tree. In the distance
one could hear the sound of highway trafc. A mosquito
droned a waring that it was going to strike . . . . And yet
this man could sit there and say he had not found God.
After a while he left, disappointed, to search elsewhere .

Stop searching, little fsh. There isn't anything to look for.

All you have to do is lok.
13
DID YOU HEAR THAT BIRD SING?
Hindu India developed a magnifcent image to describe
God's relationship with creation. God "dance" creation.
He is the dancer, creaton is his dance. The dance is difer
ent from the dancer; yet it has no existence apart from him.
You cannot take it home in a box if it pleases you. The
moment the dancer stops, the dance ceases to be.
In our quest for God, we think too much, refect too much,
talk too much. Even when we look at this dance that we
call creation, we are the whole time thinking, talking (to
ourselves and others), refeting, analyzg, philosophiing.
Words. Noise.
Be silent and contemplate the dance. Just look: a star, a
fower, a fading leaf, a bird, a stone . . . any fragent of
the dance will do. Look. Listen. Smell. Touch. Taste. And,
hopefully, it won't be long before you see him-the dancer
himself!
Te discple was always complaining
to hi maste, "lu are hiding
the fnal secet of Ze fom me. " And
he would not accet the mates denials.
I4
Oe day the wee walking in the hill
whe the heard a bird sing.
"Dd you hear that bird sing? said
the maste.
"
Ye
, said the discple.
"Well, now ya Jnow that I have hidde
nothing fo you. "
"
Ye.

If you really heard a bird sing, if you really saw a tree

you would know. Beyond words and concepts.
What was that you said? You have heard dozens of birds
sing and seen hundreds of trees? Ah, was it the tre you
saw or the label? If you look at a tre and se a tre, you
have really not seen the tre. Wen you lok at the tee ad
see a miracle-then, at last, you have sen! Dd your hear
never fll with wordless wonder when you heard a bird in
song?
I
I CHOP WOOD!
e the Zen maste alfained elightenment
m wrote the following lin
e
to celebrate if:
"Oh wondrous marel:
I chop w !
I draw wfer fom the wll!"
After enlightenment nothing realy changes. The tree is still
a tree; people are just what they were before and so are
you. You may continue to be as moody or even-tempered,
as wis or foolish. The one diference is that you se thigs
with a diferent eye. You are more detached from it all now.
And your hear is full of wonder.
That is the essence of contemplation: the sense of wonder.
16
Contemplation is diferent from ecstasy in that ecstasy
leads to withdrawal. The enlightened contemplative con
tinues to chop wood and draw water from the well. Con
templation is diferent from the perception of beauty in
that the perception of beauty (a painting or a sunset) pro
duces aesthetic delight, whereas contemplation produces
wonder-no matter what it obseres, a sunset or a stone.
This is the prerogative of children. They are so often in a
state of wonder. So they easily slip into the Kngdom.
1 7
THE BAMBOOS
Brownie, our dog, sat looking up the tree, ears cocked, tail
tensely wagg. He was attending to a monkey. No
thought disturbed his total concentration, no worry for to
morrow. Brownie was the neaest thing to pure contempla
tion that I have ever seen.
You may have experienced some of this yourself when you
were totally absorbed watching a cat at play. Here is a
formula for contemplation, as good as any I know: Be to
tally in the present.
Drop every thought of the future, drop every thought of
the past, drop every image and abstraction, and come into
the present. Contemplation will arise!
Afte year of training, the discple
beged his masft to give him
elightemet. Te maste led him
t a bambo gm and said, "Se
that bambo, how fal if is? See that
othe one thee, how short if i?"
And the dicple w enlighteed.
I
Tey say Buddha practiced ever for of asceticism kown
to the India of his times, in an efort to attai enlighten
ment. All in vai. One day he sat under a bodhi tree and
enlightenment occurred. He passed on the secret of enlight
enment to his disciples in words that must seem strange to
the uninitiated: "When you draw in a deep breath, oh
mons, be aware that you are drawing in a deep breath.
And when you daw in a shallow breath, oh monks, be
aware that you are drawing in a shalow breath. And when
you draw in a mediu-sized breath, oh monks, be aware
that you are drawing in a mediu-sized breath. " Aware
ness. Attention. Absorption.
This kid of absorption one obseres in little chdren.
They are close to the Kingdom.
1 9
CONSTANT AWARENESS
No Zen student would presume to teach
othe unHl he had lived with his
master far at least fe years.
Teno, hauing completed his fe years
of appreHceship, acquired the rank of teache.
Oe day he wet to uisif the master
Nan-in. B was a rainy day, so Teno
wore woode clog and carried an
umbrella.
We he Wlked in, Nan-in geeted him
with " Yo left your wode clog
and umbrella on the porch, didn 'f
you? Tll me, did you place your
umbrella on the right side of the
clog or on the left?"
Teno w tbarassed, for he did not know
the answ. He realized he lacked
awrees. S he becme Nan-ins stdet
and labaed far anothe fe years
to acquire constant awarenes.
The person who is ceaselessly aware: the person who is
totally present at each moment: behold the master!
20
HOLI NESS IN THE PRESENT MOMENT
Buddha was once asked, "What makes a person holy?" He
replied, "Every hour is divided into a certain number of
seconds and every second into a certain number of frac
tions. Ayone who is able to be totaly present in each
fraction of a second is holy."
Te japanse waror was captured
by his eeies and thrown info
prison. AI night he could not
slee for he was cnunced that he
wuld be tortured the nezf
moing.
Te the wd of his maste
came to his mind. 'Tomorow i not
real. Te only realit i now. "
S he came to the pret-nd
fell aslee.
The person over whom the future has lost its gp. How like
the birds of the air and the liies of the feld. No anxetie
for tomorow. Total presence in the now. Holess!
21
THE TEMPLE BELLS
Te teple wa buill on an island and if held a thouand bells.
Bells big and small, fashioned by the fne! craftsme in the
world. We the wind ble or a stor raged, all the bells
Uid peal out in a symphony thai woul sed the hear! of the
heare info raplres.
But ove the cetries the iland sank info !he sea and, with if,
the temple bell. An ancie/ leged said !hal the bells continued
to peal out, ceasele ly, and cold be heard by anyone who would
liste. Inspired by !his legend, a young man /raveled thousnd
of mile, deteined fo hear those bells. He sal for days on the
shore, facing the Mnished iland, and liteed with all his
might. But all he could hear was !he sound of the se. He made
ever efort lo block if out. But to no avail; the sound of the sea
seemed to food the world.
He ket at his /ask for week. Each lime he got dishearteed he
would liste to the village pndit, who spoke with unction of the
mysteiou leged.
Te his heart Uid be afame . . . only lo become discouraged
again whe week of frther ef ort yielded no reult.
22
Fnally he decided to
g
ive up the attept. Pehap he was no!
destined to hear the bell. Perhaps the legend was not fr ue. R
was his fnal day, and he wet to the shore ksay goodbye to
the sea and the sk and the wind and the coconut frees. He lay
on the sand, and for the frst time, listened to the sound of the
sea. Son he was so lot in the sound that he was barely
consous of himself 5dee wthe silece that the sound
produced.
I n the deth of that silence, he heard it! Te tnlle of a tny bell
followed by anothe, and another and anothe . . . and son
eery one of the thousand temple bell was pealing out in
harony, and his heart was rapt in joyous ecsta.
Do you wish to hear the temple bells? Listen to the sound
of the sea.
Do you wish to catch a glimpse of God? Look intently at
creation.
23
THE WORD MADE FLESH
In the Gospel of Saint John we read:
Te Word became fesh, he came to dwell
among k o . . through him all thing came
to be; no single thing w created without
him. All that came to be w alire
with his life, and that life w the
light of me. Te light shine on in the dark,
and the dar/es has nre queched if.
Lok steadily at the dar/ess. It won't be long before you se
the lght. Gaze at things. It won't be long before you see the
Word.
24
Te Wod became feh; he came t dwl
amog k . . . .
And stop those frantc efors to change fesh back into
words. Words, words, words!
Z
THE MAN IDOL
An ancient Hindu story:
A shipwrecked merchant
drifted to the shore of Celon, wher
Vibhihana was the King of the Monste.
At the sight of him Vibhishana
became ecstatic with joy and said,
"Ah! He looks just like my Rama.
Te same human form!" He the
had rich clothe and jeels put on
the mechant and wrshipe him.
The Hindu mystic Ramakrshna says, "When I frst heard
this story I felt an indescribable delight. If God can be wor
shiped in images of clay, should he not be worshiped i
people?"
26
SEARCHING IN THE WRONG PLACE
A neghbor found Nasrddin on hands and knees.
"Wat are you searching for, Mullah?"
'My ke."
Both men got on ther knees to search. Afte a while the
neghbor said, "Were did you lose it?"
Ylhome. "
"Go Lord! Te why are you searching hee?"
"Because it' brighte hee. "
Search for God where you lost hi.
27
THE QUESTION
Said !he mon k, "Al thee mountains
and rivers and the earth and star
-whee do the come fo?
Sid the mater, "We doe your
questio come fom?
Seach within!
Z
LABEL MAKERS
Life i s le heady wie.
Everyone reads the label on the bottle.
Hardly anyone tastes the wine.
Buddha unct held up a fow k his
diple and aked ech of the to
wy sething abot it.
Z9
Oe proounce a
lecture. Anoth a ]
lt anothe a prable.
Each ting to utdo the
othe in deth and edito.
Label makers!
Mahakshyap
smiled and said nothing. Oly he had
M the fowe.
If I could only taste a bird,
a fower,
a tree,
a human face!
But, alas, I have no time! My energy is spent decipherg
the label.
30
THE FORMULA
Te mystic was back fom the deet.
"Tll W, the si, "wht Go
i like."
But how could he O lei/ lm
what he had eeence in
hi heart? Can God
be pt int wrd?
He fnaly gaTe the a ftula--
inaccrate, inadequatein tht hope
lhal sme o the miht be lepld
k aemce il for lhn/Te.
Te std upn the ftula.
Te made if a sce lat.
Te imp il on othe a holy belif
Te Wl t geat fins lo spred il in
freig bw. Sme O gaT their
liTe fr il.
mysf W sad. If miht ha'
hm btte if ht had si nothing.
1
THE EXPLORER
Te erlort retred to hi people,
who we eage to know about the
Amao. But how could he O put info
wrd the feeling that foode his hert
whe he sw eroHc fowes
and heard fl :e niht-sounds of the foret;
whe he sesed the dange of wild
beast or paddled hi canoe ove
techeous rapid?
He said, "Go and fnd ot for yourselv.
gide the
he drn a map of the river.
Te punce upn the map. Te famed it
in their town hall. Te made
cpie of if for themselve. And all who had 8
32
mg conidred lheseloe exet on the
rr, fq did the not kow it m tr
and bd, how bad if was
and how dee, whee the rapd wee
and whee the falls?
It is said that Buddha obduately refused to b drawn
into tag about God.
He was probably famia with the dangers of drawing
maps for archai explorers.
33
THOMAS AQUINAS STOPS WRITING
The story goe that Thomas Aquias, one of the world's
ablest theologans, suddeny stoppe wrting. When his
secretay complained that his work was uhe,
Thomas replied, "Brother Regnald, some months ago U~
perienced somethig of the Absolute, so M have ever
wrtten about God seems to me now to b lie straw."
How coud it be otherwise when the sola become a
seer?
Wen the myslc came don f( the
mounlin he W accoted hy tht
athet, who said sarcalicaly,
"Wat did you brng W f(f thtt
gardn of delighl yo we in?"
Te myslic relied, '1 had nq
intelon o flling my slirt wth
fM tnd giring the to my
fie on my relur.
But while I wa thee
I beCme so intorCted with the {tgrnte of the gare
that/ let g of the slrt. "
The Zm masters put it succnctly: "Te one who knows,
doe not sy. The one who says, does not know."
4
THE SMARTING DERVISH
A deish was siltng peaceflly by a rive
whm a passerby sw the bare back of his
neck and yielde to the teptation to
give it a resunding whack. He was fll
of wode at the sund hi hand had made on
the fehy neck, but the desh,
smarting with pin,
got up to hit him back.
"Waif a minute, " said the agesor.
"Yo can hit me if yo wish.
But frt aR thi quttion:
Wa the sund of
the whack prouced by my hand t by the
back of your neck?
Sid the deh, 7m that yourelf
My pain w 'f a/lu me k thee. lu
can a/td t d so, 1eau yo don 't feel
what I feel. "
When the divine is experenced, one's propensity to the
rize is considerably reduced.
35
ONE NOTE OF WISDOM
No one ko whlt became of Kaka after
h left the epeor preece.
Hee is !he stor:
Kaka was !he frs! Japnese !o stdy Zen
in China. He did not tavl at all. He jut
meditated asiduouly. mpeple found
him tt and aked him k preach, he wl
say a few word and ecape fo anothe pri
of the foest whee he wld not
be diturbed.
O hi retr fo Japan, the epeo
heard of him and commanded him k preach
at ctrf. Kakua sto silet and helpless.
Te he pulled out a fute f
the fold of hi robe, playe M short
note on if, bowed profundly to the
empeo, and diapeared.
Confucius says, "Not teach ripe person: waste of person.
Teach not ripe person: waste of words."
b
WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?
The master imprints his wisdom in the heart of his disci
ples, not in the pages of a book. The disciple might carry
this wisdom for thirty or forty years, hidden in his hear,
until he meets someone ready to receive it. Such was the
tradition of Zen.
Te Zm master Mu-nan smf for his disciple Shoju
one day and said, '1 am an old man now, Shoju,
and if is yo who will can M this leaching.
Here i a bok that has hem handed down for
see geerations fom maste to maste. I have
myself added some notes to it that you
wil fnd valuable. Hee, kee if with you
a sign that I have made yo my succesor. "
37
")u had bette keep the bo k yourself " said
Shoju. J recei'd your Zwithout the help of
writte wrds and I am quite contet to let if b
that way.
Jkno w, I know, "said Mu-nan patetly. "Eve
M,the boo k has see seve geeration
and if may be helpfl fo you too. Here, kee
it with you. "
Te hhappeed to be tal king near the frelace.
Te instant the boo k touched Shoju hand
he fung it info the fre. He had no
lust for write word.
Mu-nan, who w n ee known kbe ang before,
shouted, ")u must b cay! Wat are you doing?"
Shoju shouted bac k, ")u are crazy yourself!
Wat are you saying?"
The gu speaks with authorty of what he hiself has
experienced. He quotes no books.
38
THE DEVI L AND HIS FRIEND
Te deil once went for a walk
with a fend. Tey saw a man
ahead of the sloop down and
pick up something fom the gound.
"Wat did that man fnd?" asked
the fed.
"A piece of truth, " said the devl.
'Den't that disturb you?" asked
the fed.
"No, " said the deil,
'1 shall let him make
a belief out of if. "
A religous belief is a sigpost pointng the way to trth.
When you cling to the sigpost you are prevented from
moving toward the truth bcause you thnk you have it
already.
39
NASRUDDIN IS DEAD
Nasrddin w in a philophical fame of mind: "Life and
death-who can say what the are?" wfe, who w busy
in the Jtche, oeheard him and said, "Yu me are al alike
-uite unpractical. Anyone can fell that whe a man
efmife are rigd and cold, h i dead. "
Nasruddin wa imprese by hi
r
fe practcal widom. Oce
whe h w out in the winte snw, he felt hi hnds and feet
g numb. '1 mut be dead, " he thought. Te came a frthe
thought: "Wat am I doing wiJng around if I am tad? I
should be lying down like a norml core. " Wich i jut wht
h did.
40
An hour late, a group of faoele, fnding him by the roadide,
began to argue whethe he ws aliot mdead. Nasruddin
yeared to q out, "lu fools, can 't you see my extreitie art
cold and rigid?" But he kne btffe than to say that,
for corses do not tal/.
Te fraoeles fnally concluded he was dead, and hoisted the
corse onto their shoulde with a oie to carring if to the
ceeter for burial. Te hadn 't gone far whm they came k a
forKing of the ways. A fesh dispute arose among the to
which road led to the ceete. Nasruddin put up with this for
k as he could. Tm he sal up and said, "&cuse mt,
gmfemm, bt the road that lead to the ceeter is the one t
your left. I Jow that corse do not speak, hut I haot hrolm
the rule thi onu and I assure you if will not hapm again. "
When reality clashes with a rigdly held belief, reality is
generally the loser.
4 1
BONES TO TEST OUR FAITH
A Christian scholar who held the Bible
to be literally true
was oce accosted by a scientist who
said, "According to the Bible the
erth was created some fve thousand
year ago. But we have discoveed bones
that point to life on erth
a million years ago. "
Pal came the answe: "We
God crated erth fve thousand
years ago, he delibeately put those
bones in to fet our faith and se
if we would beliee his Word
rathe than scietifc evidence. "
Futher evdence of rigid belief leading to reality distortion.
42
WHY GOOD PEOPLE DIE
Te village preacher was visiting the
hoe of an elderly parishioner and, ove
a cup of cofee, he was answeng some
of the que tons that Grandma was puffng
him.
"Wy doe the Lord sed keidemics
ever so ofte?" asled the old wman.
"Well, " said the preache, "some tme
pople become so wic ked they have fo he
reoved and so the god Lord allow the
coming of epideics. "
"But, " objected Grandma, "the why do so
many god people gel reo with the had?"
"Te good one are summoned for witeses, "
explained the prehe. "Te Lord want f
give npsoul a fair trial. "
There is nothig that the rigd believer canot fnd ex
planation for.
4 3
THE MASTER DOES NOT KNOW
Te see ker approached the disciple
and as ked respectlly, "What is the
meaning of human life?
Te disciple consulted the wr ks
of his maste and confdently
replied, 'Human life is nothing but
the exresion of God' exubeance. "
mthe see ke addressed the master himself
with the same question,
the mate said, '1 do not kno w."
The seeker says, do not know." That takes honesty. The
Master says, "I do not know." That takes a mystic's mnd
that knows things through nonknowing. The disciple says,
"I know." That take ignorance, in the for of borowe
knowledge.
44
LOOK INTO HIS EYES
7e commander of the occupation troops said to the mayor of the
mountain village, "We know you are hiding a traitor. Unless
yo give him up to k, we shall harass you and your people by
np means in our power.
7e village was, indeed, hiding a man who seeed good and
innocent and was loved by all. But what could the mayor do
now that the welare of the village was at slake? Days of
dicssions in the Village Council led to no conclusion. S the
mayor fnally lok the mafe up with the priest. Priest and
mayor spet a whole night searching the scripture and fi nally
came up with a fer! that said, '11 is beff er !hal one man die to
save the nation. ''
S the mayor handed ove the innocet man, whose sceams
echoed through the village he was tortured and put to death.
Twet years later a prophet came to that vilage, wet right up
to the mayor, and said, 'Ho could you have done this? 7at
man was set by God to be the savior of this count. And you
handed him ove to be tortured and killed."
45
"But whee did I go wrong? pleaded the mayor. "Te priest
and I loo ked at the scriptures and did what they commanded. "
"Tal where you wet wrong, " said the prophet. "lu loo ked
at the scriptures. lu should haue also loo ked into his eye. "
46
u
'

WHEAT FROM EGYPTIAN TOMBS

. handfl of wheal,
fv thousand years old,
was fund in the lomb
of one of the kngs
of ancie! Egpt.
Smene planted the gains
and, to the amaeet of all,
the grains came t life.
Wen a person is enlightened his or her words become lie
seeds, full of life and energy. And they can remain i seed
for for centuries until they ae sown i a receptive, fertile
heart.
I used to think the words of scripture were dead ad dry.
know now that they are full of energy and life. But it was
my heart that was stony and dead, so how could aytg
gow there?
47
AMEND THE SCRIPTURES
Smeone said to Buddha,
'The thing you leach, sir,
are not to be found
in scripture. "
"Te put the in the, "
said Buddha.
Afte an embarrassed paue
the man wet on to say, "May I
be so bold to sugest, sir,
that some of the things you
leach actually contradict the
scrpture?"
"Te the scripture need ameding, "
said Buddha.
A proposal was made at the United Nations that the scrip
tures of every religon be revised; everything in them that
leads to intolerance or cruelty should be deleted; everything
that damages the digity of human beings should be de
stroyed.
When it was found that the author of the proposal was
Jesus Christ, reporters rshed to his residence. His explana
tion was simple: "Te Scripture, like the Sabbath, is for
huma beings," he said, "Not human beings for scripture."
48
THE PROFESSIONALS
My relgous life has ben taken over by profesionals. To
lea to pray I need a spiritual diector; to disover G's
w for me I consult an expert i discerment; to under
stand the Bible I consut a scripture scholar; to know if I
have sinned or not I need the moral theologan; and to have
my sins forgven I keel before the prest .
. natire king in !ht Suth Sa Island
was gvng a baruet in honor of
a distinguished get f(1 tht Wet.
We the time came to praie the guet, His
Majest reained seled on fl foor
while a pofesswnal mto,
egged f the occaswn,
elogied the visito .
.fte the pnegric, the guet
D k speak.
J Majest getly mU him back.
"Dn 't stand up, " he said. '1 hare egaged
an orator for you to. In our ilnd
we d 'f lear public speaking to
amaters. "
I wonder, would God appreiate it i I beame more ama
teur i my relationship with h?
49
THE EXPERTS
A Suf tale:
A dead man suddmly came to life
and began to pound on the lid
of the cofn.
Te lid tas raied; the man
sal up. "Wat are you doing?" he
said to the asstbled c.
'1 am not dead. "
Hs word we mel with silet dibelief
Fnally one of the moure said,
"Fried, bth the doctos and the priet
have cetfed that you are dead.
S dead you are. "
And he w duly buried.
U
THE SOUP OF THE SOUP
OF THE DUCK
A relaH'e once came to 'iit Nasrddin,
brnging a duck as a gift.
So the bird was cooked and eate.
Son one guet afte another began to
call, each claiming k he a fied of
the fiend of "the man who brought you
the duck. " Each one, of coure, expected
t he fed and housed on the strength
of that haples bird.
At legth the mullah could stand if no
longer. Oe day a stranger arri'ed at
his house and said, "/ am a fed of
the fed of the kinsman who brought
you the duck. " And, like the othe,
he sat down, erpecHng to he fed.
5 1
Nasruddin placd a bowl of steaming
wafe before him. "Wat is this?
aked the stanger.
'This, " said the mullah, "is the soup of
the soup of the duck that was brought
to me by your fiend. "
One hears of people who become the disciples of the disci
ples of the disciples of someone who had experienced the
Divine.
How can you kiss through a messenger?
52
THE MONSTER I N THE RIVER
Te village priest was distracted in
his prayes by children playing outside
hi window. To get rd of the
he shouted, "Tee' a terrible monste
down at the river. Hurr the
and you will see him breathing fre
through his nostril. "
Son the whole vilage had
heard of this monstrous appartion
and was rshing to the rve.
We the priest saw thi
he joined the cod. As he pante
his way t the rive, which wa four
miles awy, he thought, '1t i true
I inveted the story. Stil, you
can ne fell!"
A good way to beleve in the gods we have created is to
convice others of their existence.
53
THE POISONED ARROW
A monk once said to the Lfd Buddha,
'Do the suls of the jut surife dtth?
Characferisfically, Buddha gape him no rely.
But the monk peisted. Each day he would reeat
the question and each day he wuld get
silece ff an answe, fill he could take it
no longe. He threateed to quit
unles this ccial quetion
was anse, for to what puroe
was he sacfcing rerthing to liv in
the monaster if the souls of the jut
pshed with their bodies?
54
Ten the Lod Budha, in his compasion, spoke:
"}u are like a man, " he said, "who was dying fom
a poisoned arro. His reltive rshed a doctor
to his side, but the man resed to haTe the arro pulled out
unle
three uital quetos wee frt answed:
Frst, the man who shot him, was he a white
man or a black man? Second, was he a tll man
or a short man? And third, was he a Brahmin
or an outcate?"
7e monk stayed on!
55
THE BABY STOPS CRYING
He claimed that, for all practical purposes, he had become
an atheist. If he really thought for hiself he would not
believe the things his religon taught. The existence of God
created more problems than it solved; life after death was a
piece of wishful thinking; the scriptures and tradition had
done as much harm as good. Al of these things were in
vented to soften the loneliness and the despair of human
life.
It was best to let him be. He was going through a stage of
gowth and discovery.
4
Te master w oce aked by his disciple,
"Wat is the Buddha?"
He relied,
"Te mind is the Buddha. "
Anothe day he was asked the same quetion
and he replied,
'No mind. No Buddha. "
Te disciple w cofsed:
"But the othe day you said, 'Te mind is
the Buddha. '
56
Sid the maste,
'That was to stop the baby cying. We the
baby slops cing, I say, No mind. No
Buddha.
Te baby in hi had stopped crg and he was now ready
for the truth. So he was best left alone.
But when he started preaching his newfound atheism to
others who weren't prepared for it, somene had to curb
him: "There was a time when people adored the sun: the
prescientifc age. Ten came the scientifc age and people
realized that the sun was not a god; it was not even a living
thing. Finally came the mystical age and Saint Francis of
Assisi would call the sun his brother and speak to it in
reverential love.
"Your faith was that of a frghtened child. Now that you
have become fearless you have no need of it. Hopefully
you will move on to become a mystic someday and you will
fnd your faith again."
Faith is the fearless search for trth. So it is not lost when
one questions one's beliefs.
57
THE EGG
Naruddin earned his lioing selling
egs. Someone came fo his shop one day
and said, "Guess what I haoe in my hand. "
"Gioe me a clue, " said Naruddin.
'1 shall gio you seoeal: It has
the shape of an eg, the size of an
eg. II look like an eg, taste
like an eg, and smells like an eg.
Inside if is yellow and while. It is
liquid before if i cooked, becomes
thick whe healed. It was, moreooer,
laid by a hen. "
"Aha! I know!" said Nasrddin. '1t
i some sort of cake!"
The expert misses the obvious.
The chief prest misses the Messiah.
58
SHOUT TO KEEP SAFE-AND CERTAI N
A prophet once came to a city
to convert it inhabitants.
At frst the people listeed
to his sermons, but the
gradually drifted away till
there was not a single soul
to hear the prophet when he
spoke.
One day a travele said to him,
"Why do you go on preaching?
Sid the prophet, "In the begnning
I hoped to change these people.
If I still shout if is only to prevent
them fom changing me.
59
RIVER WATER FOR SALE
Te maste' seron that day consited
of one eigmatic sentece.
With a wry smile he said, "All
I do i sit by the bank of the river,
selling rive wafer.
I was so busy buyig the water that I failed to see the river.
60
THE MEDAL
A mofht could not gel ht son to
rme home before sunset. S she fold
him that the road k their house was
haunted by ghosts who came out aflt dusk.
By the lime the boy gm up he R5 so afaid
of ghot thai he refsed to run tr and at night.
S she gave him a medal and taught him that if
wuld protect him.
Bad religion gives him faith i the medal.
Good religon gets him to see that ghosts do not exist.
61
NASRUDDIN IN CHINA
Mulah Nasrddin went to China. Tee
he gatheed a group of disciples whom
he w prearing for enlightement.
As soon as they became enlighteed,
the disciples stopped a/ending
his lture!
It is no credit to your gD that you sit at his feet forever.
62
THE GURU' S CAT
Wm the gm sl down to wrhip
each eonin the ashram cal would
gel in the way and distact the
wrshiper. S he ordered that
the cal bt led during tming
wrship.
Afte the gn died the cal
continued to be led during toming
worship. And when the cal
expired, another cal was
brought to the ashram so that it
could be duly tied during tening
wrship.
Centrie late leared !realses
were wriftn by the gns scholarly diciple
on the liturgical signifcance
of ting up a cal
while worship is performed.
63
LITURGICAL VESTMENTS
October 1917: The Russian Revolution i s bor. Human his
tory takes a new direction.
Te story goes that that very month the
Russian Church was assembled
in council. A passionate debate was in
progres about the color of the surplice to
be used in liturgcal fnctions. Some
insisted vehemetly that if had to be white.
Other, with equal vehemence,
that if had fo be purple.
Coming to grips with a revolution is more of a bother than
organizing a lturgy. I'd rather say my prayers than get in
volved in neighborhood disputes.
64
.'
DANDELI ONS
A man who took great pride in his lawn
found himself with a large crop of dandelions.
He tried rty method he kne
to get rid of them. Still the plagued him.
Fnally he wrote the Deparhenf of Aiculture.
He enumerated a:l the things he had fied
and closed his left with the question:
"Wat shall I do now?
In due course the rely came: "We suget
you lear to love them. ' '
I too had a lawn I prided myself on and I too was plagued
with dandelions that I fought with every means in my
power. So learning to love them was no easy matter.
65
l began by talking to them each day. Cordial. Friendly.
They maintained a sullen silence. They were smarting from
the war I had waged agaist them ad were suspicious of
my motives.
But it wasn't long before they smied back. Ad relaxed.
Soon we were good friends.
My lawn, of course, was rined. But how attractive my
garden became!
4
He was becoming blind by degrees. He fought it with ever
means i his power. Wen medicine no longer sered to
fght it, he fought it with his emotions. It took courage to
say to him, "I suggest you lear to love your blindness. "
It was a strggle. He refused to have anything to do with it
in the begnning. And when he eventually brought himself
to speak to his blindness his words were bitter. But he kept
on speaking and the words slowly changed into words of
resignation and tolerance and acceptance . . . and, one
day, very much to his own surprse, they became words of
friendliness . . . and love. Then came the day when he
was able to put his ar around his blindness and say, "I
love you. " That was the day I saw him smile again.
His vision, of course, was lost forever. But how attractive
his face became!
66
DON' T CHANGE
I was a neurotc for years. I was anious and deressed and
selfsh. Eoerone ket telling me to change.
I reented them, and I agreed with the, and I wanted to
change, but simply couldn 't, no matter how hard I tried.
Wat hurl the most was that, like the other, my best fied
kept insisting that I change. S I felt pweless and trapped.
Te, one day, he said to me, "Dn 't change. I loe you just as
you are.
67
Tose words wee music to my ears: ' Don 'f change. Don 'f
change. Don 'f change . . . I /ope you you are. "
I relaxed. I came alive. And suddely I changed!
Now I lnow thai / couldn 'f really change until I found someone
who would love me whether I changed or not.
Is this how you love me, God?
68
MY FRIEND
Malik, son of Dnar, was much upset about the profigate
behaiior of a yCth who lived next door to him. For a long tme
he took no action, hoping that someone else would inteene. But
when the youth > behavior became intoleable Malik wet to him
and insisted that he change hi ways.
Te youth calmly replied that he wa a protege of the sultan and
so nobody could prret him fom living the way he wanted.
Said Malik "/ shall peronally complain to the sultan. " Said
the youth, "Tat will be quite useless, because the sultan will
nrer change his mind about me. "
'1 shall /hen deounce you to Allah, " said Malik. "Allah, "
said the youth, "is far too forgving to condemn me. "
69
Malik went away defeated. But after a while the youth '
reputation became 5 bad that the was a public outcry about it.
Malik dtcided it was his dut to attept to reprimand him. As
he was walking to the youth ' house, howee, he heard a "oice
say to him, "D not touch my fiend. He is under my
protection. " Malik was lhrown info confsion by this and, when
he was in the preence of the youth, did not know what lo say.
Said the young man, "Wal ha"e you come for now? Sid
Malik, "/ came to reprimand you. But on my way here a "oice
fold me not to touch you, for you are under his prolection. "
Te profigate seeed stunned. ' Dd he call me his fimd? he
asked. But by thm Malik had already left his house. 'ars later
Malik mel /his man in Mecca. He had been so louched by the
words of /he oice that he had gi-e up his possesions and
become a wandeing begar. "/ ha-e come here in search of my
Friend, " he said to Malik, and died.
God, the friend of a sinner! A statement as dangerous as it
is efective. I tried it on myself once. I said, "God is far too
forgiving to condemn me." And I suddenly heard the Good
News-for the frst time in my life.
70
THE ARAB ASPIRANT
The Arab master Jalal ud-Din Rui would enjoy tellig the
following story:
One day Mohammed was ofering
moring prayf at the mosque. Among the
crowd of people praying with the Prophet
was an Arab aspirant.
Mohammed began to read the Koran and recited
the verse in which Pharaoh makes the
claim, 1 am your frue God. " On hearing
this the good aspirant was so flled with
spontaneous anger thai he broke the silence
and shouted, ' The boastl son of a bitch/
Te Prophet said nothing, but aflf prayf
was ovfr the othfrs began lo scold the
Arab. ' :re you not ashamed of yourself?
lur prayf i surely displeasing to God
because not only did you intlpt the
holy silece of prayf but you u!ed
flthy language in the presece of God
Prophet. "
Te poor Arab trembled with fear,
until Gabriel appeared to the Prophet
and said, "God sends greetings to you
and wishes you to get these people
to slop scolding that simple Arab;
indeed, his spontaneous profanit
moved my heart more than the holy praye
of the others. "
ZI
WE ARE THREE, YOU ARE THREE
Wen the bishops ship stopped at a reote island for a day, he
detemined to use the time as proftably as possible. He strolled
along the seashore and came across thre! fi sheme mending their
nets. In pidgin English they exlained to him that centuries
before the had been Christianized by missionares. "We,
Christians!" they said, proudly pointing to one anothe.
Te bishop was impresed. Did they know the Lords Prayer?
Te had nre heard of if. Te bishop was shocked.
"Wat do you say, the, when you pray?"
"We lift eyes in hea'e. We pray, 'We are three, you are three,
ha'e merc on us. ' Te bishop was appalled at the prmiloe, the
downright heetical nature of their prayer. So he spent the whole
day teaching the the Lords Prayer. Te fshemen were por
leare, but they ga'e it all the had and before the bishop
sailed away next day he had the satisfaction of hearng the go
through the whole forula without a fault.
Months late the bishops ship happeed to pass by those island
again and the bihop, as he paced the deck saying his reing
prayers, recalled with pleasure the three me on that distant
island who wee no able to pray, thank to his patient efort.
Wile he was lot in the thought he happeed to lok up
and noticed a spot of light in the east.
Te light ket approaching the ship and, as the bishop
gazed in wonder, he saw three fgures walking on the water.
Te captain stopped the boat and rone leaned o'e the rails
to see this sight.
When they were within speaking distance, the bishop recognized
ZZ
his three fiend, the fheme. "Bishop!" the eclaimd.
hear y(r boa! go pas! island and come hury hur meet y(. "
"Wat is it you want? aked the awe-stricke bishop.
"Bishop, " the said, "we so, so sorr. We forget /0e/y praye.
We say, 'Our Fathe in heave, holy be your name, your
kingdom come . . . ' then we forge!. Please fell k praye
again. "
Te bihop fell humbled. "Go back to your home, my fieds, "
he said, "and each lime you pray, say, 'We are three, y( ar
three, have mQ on us!' "
ZJ
PRAYER CAN BE DANGEROUS
Here i s a story that was a favorite of the Suf master Sa'd
of Shiraz:
A cetain fiend of mine was delihted that his wife was
pregnant. He ardently desired a male child. He prayed to God
ceaselessly and made oows with this in mind.
It so happeed that his wife did gioe birth to a boy. My fiend
rejoiced and inoited the whole oil/age to a thankgoing part.
Yars later, on my return fom Mecca, I passed through my
fiend' oillage. I was told that he was in jail.
"Wy? What has he done?" I asked.
His neighbors said, ' His son got drunk, killed a man, and ran
away. S his father has been arrested and put in prson. "
To ask God persistently for what we want is laudable-and
perilous.
Z4
NARADA
Te Hindu sage Narada started out on a plimage to the
teple of the Lord Vishnu. Oe night he stopped at a village
and was gven hospitalit in the hut of a childless couple. Before
he set out the next moring the man said to Narada, "}u are
going to worship Vishnu. Ask him to give me and my wife a
child. "
Wen Narada reached the teple, he said to the Lord, "Tat
man and his wife were very Jnd k me. Be mecifl to the and
gve them a child. " Te Lord replied, with an air of fnalit. If
is not in the detiny of that man to have children. " So Narada
peformed his devotions and went back home.
Fioe years late he set out on the same pilgrimage and stopped at
the same oil/age and was goen hospitality once again by the
same couple. Tis time thee wee two little children playing at
the etance of the hut.
"Wose childre are thee?" asked Narada. ' Mine, " said the
man.
Z
Narada was intrigued. Te man wmt on, "Soon afte you left
us, f'e years ago, a sannyasi came to our 'il/age. We put him
up for the night. Te ne:t moring, bfore dearting, he blesed
my wife and me . . . and thee are the fuits of his blesing. "
We Narada heard this, he could not wait to gel k the teple
of Vishnu again. Wm he got there he shouted right fom the
mfrance of the teple, "Did you not fell me that if was not in
the destiny of that man to ha'e childrm? He has to!"
Wm the Lord heard this, he laughed aloud and said, 'That
must be the doing of a saint. Saints ha'e the powe to change
destny!"
As they discovered at a wedding feast when the mother of
Jesus got up to work a miracle before his destiny allowed it.
76
DESTINY I N A TOSSED COIN
Te japanee gnerl Nobunaga
decided to allack e though he had only
one soldier to the eey le. He was
sure he would win, but his soldie
wee fll of doubt.
O the way k baffle the stoppd at a
Shinto shrine. Afte praying in the shrine
Nobunaga came out and sid, '1 shall now
los a coin. If if i head, K shall
win. If fail, K shall lose. Dtny
will now real heself "
He tose the coin. If ws hed. Te
sldiers wee s eage fo fght that
they wipe out the eemy.
Te next day an assistant said to Nobunaga,
"No one can change Detiny. "
"Quite right, " said Nobunaga, shuing him
a doubled coin that was heads on both sides.
Who makes Dety?
ZZ
PRAYING FOR RAIN
When neurotics come to you for help, they seldom seek to
be healed, for healing is painful. What they really want is
to be made comfortable in their neuroses. Or, best of all,
they year for a miracle that will heal them painlessly.
rold man dearly lo'e his after-dinner pipe. Oe night his
wife smelled something buring and shouted, "For hea'en > sake.
Pal lu ''e set your whiskes on fre. "
1 know if, " answered the old man angrily. "Can 't you see I'm
praying for rain?"
Z
THE DISABLED FOX
A fable of the Aab mystic Sa'd:
A man walking thrgh tht fret saw a f: that had lot it
leg and wndeed how it lifd. Te he saw a tige come in
with game in it muuth. Te tge had it fl and left the ret of
the meat for the fo:.
Te ne:t day God fed the fo: by men of the same tige. Te
man began t wode at Gods greatne and said t himself '1
too shall just ret in a core with fll tst in the Lord and he
will poTide me with all I need. "
He did thi for many days but nothing happne, and he was
almt at death door when he heard a Tie say, L you who
are in the path of eror, ope your ee to the truth! Follow the
eample of the tge and stop imiltin the diabled f:. "
79
On the street l saw a nake chld, hungry and shivering i
the cold. l became g and said to God, "Why do you
permit this? Wy don't you do something?"
For a whie God said nothing. That night he replied, quite
suddenly, "I certainly did somethig. l made you. "
0
THE FOOD GOD
God decided to Pisif the earth, so he sen! an angel to surey the
situation prior to his Pisif.
Te angel retured with his report. ' Mosf of them lack food, "
he said, "and mosf of them lack employment. "
God Slid, "Ten I shil/ become incarate in the form of food for
the hungr and wrk for !he uneploye. "
81
THE FIVE MONKS
An urget call came to the geat Lama of the North fom the
Lama of the Suth asking for a wie and holy monk to initiate
the nooices in the spirital life. rerone atnihmet, the
Gret Lama set fw monk instead of one. those who
inquired he sid cptally, "We will be luck if one of the
gel to the Lama. "
Te group had bee on the rod some days whe a mesege
came rnning up to them and sai, "T priet of our oil/age
has did. We need someone to take his place. " Te oil/age
seeed a comfortable sort of place and the priet s salar wa a
handome one. Oe of the monk w sed with ptoral
conce for the people. '1 should not be a Buddhit, " he said, "if
I did not slay on t see thee people. " S he dropped out.
Some days late they happed to slay at the palce of a king
who tok a fanc to one of the monk. "Stay with us, " said the
king, "and you shal marr my daughte. And when I die, you
will succeed to the throne. "
Te monk was a/taded to the lute of kingship, so he said,
"Wat bete way to infuece the people of this kingdom than
to become kng? I should not be a Budhist if I did not seiu thi
opportunit t see the inteests of religion. " S he dropped out
to.
82
Te ret of the group wet on ther wy and one night, in a
hily region, came upon a solitary hut that R occupied by a
prett grl who ofeed the hospitalit and thanked God for
having set the monk to he. He paret had bee murdered
by mountain bandits and the girl was all alone and fll of
aniet. Nat moring, whe if was lime to leaTt, one of the
monk said, '1 shall slay with this girl. I should not b a
Buddhist if I did not practice compassion. "
Te remaining hfnally came to a Buddhist village and found,
to ther horror, !hil all the village had abandoned their
religion and wee unde the swy of a Hindu theologian. Oe of
the monk said, "/ owe if to these people and to the Lord
Buddha himself kstay on hee and win the mU to the
faith. "
T ffth monk rentally got to the Lama of the Suth.
I have always dropped out for the bestof reasons: to reform
the ltgy, to change Church strctures, to update the
stdy of scripte, and to make theology relevant. Religious
actvity is my favorite escape from God.
J
THE JOB
Ente frst applicant.
"l1 u undestand that thi is a simple fet
K are giving you befue K ofer you the
job you have applied for?
"ls . . .
"Well, what is t plus t?"
"Four. "
Ente second applicant.
84
' Are you ready for the fest?"
"rs. "
"Well, what is two plus two?"
" Wafeter the boss says if is. "
Te second applicant got the job.
Which comes frst, orthodoxy or the truth?
85
DI OGENES
r philosopher Diogene was eating bread
and lentils for supper. He was see by
the philoopher Arstippus, who lived comfortably
by fattering the king.
Said Arisfippus, "If you would
learn to be subservient to the king
you would not have to live on
lentils. "
Said Diogenes, "Lear to live on
lenhls and you will
not have to cultivate
the Iing. "

STAND UP AND BE COUNTED

When Khrshchev pronounced his famous
denunciation of Stalin, someone
in the Congress Hall i reported
to have said, "Were were you, Comrade
Khrushchev, whe all these innocent
people were being slaughtered?
Khrushchev paused, looked around the
hall, and said, "Will the man who said
that kindly stand up!"
Tnsion mounted in the hall. No one
moved.
Ten Khrushcher said, "Well,
whoeve you are, you have your answer now. I
was in exactly !he same position then
as you are now.
Z
THE TRUTH SHOP
I could hardly beliee my eye whe I saw the name of the shop:
THE TRTH SHOP.
Te saleswoman wa vey polite: Wat tpe of truth did I wih
m purchase, partial or whole? Te whole truth, of course. No
deceptions for me, no defeses, no rationaliations. I wanted my
truth plain and unadulteated. She waved me on to anothe side
of the store.
Te salesman there pointed to the price fag. "Te price is vey
high, sir, " he said. "Wat is it?" I asked, detemined to gel the
whole truth, no matte what it cot. "}ur securit, sir, " he
answered.
I came away with a heavy heart.
I still need the safet
of my unquestioned beliefs.

THE NARROW PATH

God wared the people of an earthquake
that would swallow all the waters of the
land. Te wafers that would take their
place would make everyone insane.
Oly the prophet took God seriously. He
carried huge jugs of wafe to his mountain
cave so that he had enough to last him
tll the day he died.
Sure enough, the earthquake came and the
wates vanished and new wafer flled the
streams and lakes and rives and ponds.
A few months later the prophet came down
to see what had happeed. Everyone had
indeed gone mad, and attacked him,
for they thought if was he who was insane.
So the prophet wet back to his mountain
cave, glad for the wafer he had saved.
But as time went by he found his loneliness
unbearable. He yearned for human
company, so he went down to the plains
again. Again he was rejected by the people,
for he was so unlike them.
9
Te prophet the succumbed. He
thre away the wate he had saved, drank
the new wafe, and joined the people
in ther insanit.
The way to truth is narow. You always wal aone.
0
THE PHONY
T hall was packed, mostly with eldely wmen. It was some
sort of new religion. Oe of the speakes was dressed in nothing
more than a turban 1nd a loincloth. He spoke, feelingly, of the
power of mind ove matte.
Eveone listeed spelbound. Te speaker refually retred to
his place right in font of me. His neighbor tured to him and
asked in a l(d whispe, ' Vo you really belire what you said,
that the body feels nothing at all and if ' all in the mind?"
Te phony replied, with pious conviction, "O course I do. "
"Te, " said hi neghbor, "would you mind changing places
with me? I'm sifting in a draft. "
Why do I try to practice what I preach?
If I stuck to preaching what I practice, I'd be less of a
phony.
9I
THE DREAM CONTRACT
It was nine o 'clock in the moring and
Nasruddin was fast asleep. Te sun had
risen in the sk, the birds were singing
in the trees, and Nasrddin > breakfast
was getting cold. So his wife woke
him up.
He woke up in a towering rage. "Wy did
you wake me up just now? he shouted.
"Te sun has rise in the sky, " said his
wife, "the birds are singing in the trees,
and your breakfast i getting cold. "
"Breakfast be damned, " he said.
was about to sign a contract
worth a million grams of gol. "
With that he closed his eyes
to recapture his shattered dream
and those million grams of gold.
Z
Now Nasrudd was cheatig i that contract and his busi
ness partner was a tyrant.
If, on recapturig his dream, Nasrddin gives up his cheat
ig, he will become a saint.
If he works strenuously to free the peple from the oppres
sion of the tyrant he will become a freedom fghter.
If, in the midst of his drea, he suddenly reaes that he is
dreaming, he will become awakened. Enlightened.
Wat kind of saint or freedom fghter ae you if you are
still asleep?
9J
VERY WELL, VERY WELL
A girl i n the fhing village became an unwed
mother and afte several beatings fnally reealed
who the fathe of the child was: the Zn maste
living on the outskirts of the village.
Te villagers trooped info the maste house,
rudely diturbed his meditation, denounced him
as a hypocrite, and fold him to keep the baby.
All the master said was, "Ver wll. r well. "
He picked the baby up
and made arrangements
for a woman fom the village fo feed and clothe
and look after if at his exese.
Te maste name was rined and his disciples
all abandoned him.
Wen this had gone on for a year, the girl
who had bore the child could stand if no longe
and fnally confesed that she had lied. Te fathe
of the child was the boy next door.
Te villagers were most contite. Tey prostrR!ed
themselves af the feet of the mRsfe to beg his pRrdon
and to ask for the child back. Te master retured
the child. And all he said was, "Vey well. Vey well. "
The awakened person!
4
SONS DEAD IN A DREAM
A fherman and his wife had
a sn afte many year of mariage.
Te boy was the pride and joy of
his parets. Ten, one day, he tured
serously m . A fortune was spent
on doctors and medicines. But the boy died.
His mother was uttely grief-stcken.
Tere wasn 't a lear in his father s
eye.
Jen hi wife reproached him
for his Iota/ lack of sorrow,
the fherman said,
"Let me tell you why I do not wee.
Last niht I dreamed I was a king
and the poud fathe of eight sons.
How happy I w! Te I woke up.
Now I am greatly puzled: Should
I weep for those boys or for
thi one?
95
THE GOLDEN EAGLE
A man found an eagle s eg and put if in the nest of a backard
he. Te eaglt hatched with the brood of chick and grew up
with them.
All hi life the eagle did what the backyard chickens did,
thinking he was a backard chicken. He scratched the earth for
worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would
thrash his wings and fy a fe feet into the air.
Yars passed and the eagle grew 'ery old. One day he saw a
magnifcent bird far abore him in the cloudless sk. It glided in
gracefl majest among the powerful wind currets, with scarcly
a beat of its strong golden wing.
Te old eagle looked up in awe. "Wo > that?" he asked.
'Thai s the eagle, the king of /he bird, " said hi neghbor. ' He
belongs to the sky. We belong to !he earth-we 're chickens. "
So the eagle lired and died a chicken, for lhRI 's what he thought
he was.

THE DUCKLING
The Suf saint Shams of T abr tells the following stor
about himsel:
I have been consideed a misft since my
childhood. No one seemed to understand
me. My own father once said to me, "'u
are not mad eough to be put in a madhouse,
and not withdrawn enough to be put in a
monastery. I don l know what to do with
you.
I replied, 7 duck eg wa once put under
a hen. Wen the eg hatched the duckling
walked about with the mothe hen until they
came to a pond. Te duckling went straight
into the wafer. Te hen stayed clucking
anxiously on land. Now, dear father,
I have walked into the ocean and fnd in if
my home. Yu can hardly blame me if you choose
to stay on the shore. "
Z
THE SALT DOLL
A salt dol joureed for thousand
of mile over land, until it fnaly
came to the sea.
It was fasnated by this stange
moving mass, quite unlike anything
if had O see before.
"Wo are you?' " said the salt doll
to the sea.
Te sea smilingly replied, " Come
in and see. "
S the doll wde in.
Te farthe if walked info the
sea the more it dissolved, until
there was only very lillie of if
left. Before that last bit di
solved, the doll exclaimed in
wnder, "Now I know what I am!"

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WHO AM I?
A tale from Attar of Nishapur:
Te lover knocked at the door of his beloved. "Who lnocl?"
said the beloved fom within. "If i l said the lover.
"Go away. Tis houe will not hold you and me. "
99
Te reeced love went away into the deert. Tee he meditated
for months on end, pondering the word of the beloved. Fnaly
he retured and lnocled at the door again.
"Wo lnocl?
' 1t i you. "
Te door was immediately opened.
I
THE TALKATIVE LOVER
A lover presed his suit unsuccesflly
for many months, sufering the atrocious
pains of rejection. Fnally his sweetheart
yielded. "Come to such and such a
place, at such and such an hour, " she
said to him.
At that lime and place the lover fnally
found himself seated beside his beloved.
He then reached info his pocket and pulled
out a sheaf of love letters that he had
wnffen to her over the past months.
"ey were passionate /elfers, exressing
the pain he felt and his burning desire
to experience the delights of love and
union. He began to read them to his
beloved. "e hours passed by but stll
he read on and on.
Fnally the woman said, "Wat kind of a
fool are you? "ese letter are all about
me and your longing for me. Well, here I
am sifing with you at last and you are lost
in your stupid letters. "
"Here l am with you," says God, "and you keep refecting
about me in your head, talking about me with your tongue,
and searching for me in your books. When will you shut up
and see?"
1 0 1
DROPPING THE "I"
Disciple: I hRve come to ofe you
my seviCe.
Maste: If you dropped the l
service wuld automatically
follow.
You could give all your goods to feed the poor and your
body to be bured and not have love at all.
Keep your goods and abadon the l. Don't bum your
body; bum the ego. Love wil automatically follow.
1 0Z
DROP YOUR NOTHING
Disciple: I have come to you with nothing in
my hands.
Maste: Te drop it at once!
Disciple: But how can I drop it? It is
nothing.
Maste: Te cary it around with you!
Your nothing can be your most valued possession.
1 0 J
THE ZEN MASTER AND THE
CHRISTIAN
A Christian once 'isited a Zen maste
and said, "Allow me to read you
some senteces from the Smon on
the Mount. "
Jshall listen to them with pleasure. "
said the maste.
Te Christian read a fesentece
and looked up. Te master smiled
and said, "Woroe said thos words
was truly enlightened. "
Tis pleased the Christian. He
read on. Te master interupted
and said,
"Tose word come fom
a s'ior of mankind.
Te Christian k thrilled. He continued
to read to the end. Te master
then said, "Tat sermon was
pronounced by someone who was radiant
with di'init. "
I 04
Te Chritian joy ke no bounds.
He lefl, detemined to relum and
puade the mate
to become a Chrstian.
On the way back home he foud Jesus standing by the
roadside. "Lord," he sad enthusiastically, "I got that man
to confess that you are divne!"
Jesus smiled and said, "And what good did it do you except
to infate your Christian ego?"
1 0
COMFORT FOR THE DEVIL
An acient Christia legend:
We the Sn of God w naile to the cross and died, he wt
straight don to hell fom th cros and set fee all the sinne
who we thee in torment.
And the devl wet and mourd, fu he thought he wl get
no more sinne fr hell.
Te God said to him, L not wep, ]mI shall send you all
those who are self-rghteou in their condenation of sinne
And hel shall be flled up once more until I retur '
I 0
BETTER SLEEP THAN SLANDER
Sa'd of Shiraz tells this story about himself:
We I w a child I ws a pious boy, fef in praye and
drofo. Oe night I R keeng uigil with my fathe, the
Holy Koran on my lap.
Evone ele in the rom began t slumbe and son ws sound
alee, so I said to my fathe, ' Noe of thes sleee opes hi
ee or raise his head to say his prayes. lu wuld think that
the we all dead. "
My fathe relied, "My bel(td son, I would rathe you to
we alee like the than slandering. "
1 0Z
THE MONK AND THE WOMAN
Two Buddhist monk, o their way t the mnater, fund Rn
exceedingly betutifl wmRn Rl the rivebRnk. like the, she
wished to cros the rive, hut the wfe WRS too high. S one of
the mok lifted he onto his hack Rnd cRrried he RCro .
Hi fellow monk wa thoroughly sRndalize. For h hours he
berRied him on hi negligece in keeing the rle: Ht he
forgotte he was R monk? How did he dtre touch R wmtn?
And wrse, cRrr he Rcros the rive? Wt would people Sy?
Had he not brought ther holy religion info disreute? And 5
on.
Te ofeding monk patietly listee to the ne-eding
smon. Finally he broke in with "Brother, I dropped lhRI
wmRn at the river. Are you stil carring he?"
1 0
The Aab mystic Abu Hassan Bushanja says, "The act of
sinning is much less hanful than the desire and thought of
it. It is one thng for the body to indulge in a pleasurable act
for a moment, and an entirely diferent thing for the mind
and heart to chew on it endlessly."
Each time I chew on the sins of others, I suspect the chew
ing gves me more pleasure than the sinning gves the sin
ner.
109
THE SPIRITUAL HEART ATTACK
Uncle Tom ld a wak heart and the docto had wared him to
b w carel. S whe the fmily leared that he had
inheted a bilion dollar fo a deeed relativ the feared t
brek the nes to him let the ne give him a heart attack.
So they sought the serice of the loal pstor, who asured the
he would fnd a way. "Tll me, Tom, " said Fathe Murphy, "if
Go, in his mec, wee to sed you a billion dollars, what
would you do with if?
J4giv half of it to you for the Churh, Fathe. "
Wen he heard that, Fathe Murhy had a heart attack.'
1 1 0
When the industst had a heart attack from pushing his
industrial empire it was easy to show him his geed and
slfshness. When the priest had a heart attack from push
ing the Kingdom of God it was impossible to show him
that this was geed and selfshness in another, more re
spectable disguise. Is it God's Kingdom you are pushing or
yourself? The Kngdom needs no pushing. Your aniet be
trays you, does it not?
I I I
TO KNOW CHRIST
A diaoe betwen a recent convert and an unblieving
friend:
"Sy( have bee cowted k Christl
"
Y
e. "
' Then you mUt /ow a geat w about
him. Tl me: Wat C(nf wa he br
?
U.
' 1 don 't lo. "
"Wat w his age whe h died?
' 1 dn 't know. "
' How many sons did he preach?"
"I dn 't /ow. "
")u certainly /ow vey little for a
man who claims to be conwted to Christ. " '
"}u are right. I am ashamed at h little
I know ab(t him. But this much I do know:
Tree years ago I ws a drunkard. I was in
debt. My family was falling to pieces. My
wfe and childre wuld dred my retur
home each reing. But no I have gv
up drink; K are out of debt; ours is now
a happy home. Al this Christ has done
fo me. Tis much I /ow

h
. l
o 1 m.
To t08} know. That is, to be transformed by what one
knows.
1 1 2
THE LOOK OF JESUS
I n the Gospel According to Luke we read:
But Pete said, ' Man, I do not know
what you are talking about. " At that
moment, while he was still speaking,
a cock OO, and the Lord tured and
looked straight at Pete . . . and Peter
wet outside and wept bitterly.
I had a fairly good relationship with the Lord. I would ask
him for things, converse with him, praise him, thank
him . . . .
But always I had this uncomfortable feling that he wanted
me to look at him. And I would not. I would talk, but look
away when I sensed he was looking at me.
I was afraid. I should fnd an accusation there of some un
repented sin. I thought I should fnd demand there; there
would be something he wanted from me.
1 1 3
One day I fally sUoned up courage and loked! There
was no accsation. There was no demand. The eyes just
said, "I love you."
And I waled out and, lie Peter, I wept.
1 1 4
THE GOLDEN EGG
A reading from the scriptures:
f
Tis i what the Lord S ys: Tee w once a goose that lid a
golden eg each day. And the fare' wife, who owned !he
gose, delighted in !he riches that !hoe eg brought her. She
was an atricious woman, however, and could no! wail patetly
fom day to day for he daily eg. She decided to t the goe
and gel the eg all at once.
Tus far the word of G!
An athest heard that text fom the scripture and scofed: Yo
call that the word of God! A gose that lays gold egs! If just
goe to show the absurdit of your scriptures.
Whe a religos scholar read that text, he reacfed thus: Te
Lord dearly fell u that thee was a gose that laid golden egs.
If the Lord says this, then if must be true, no matter how
absurd if appears to our poor human mind.
I I
Now you will 4:t, a well you m1y, h 4n eg, while not
ceasing to b an eg, can, at the sme time, be golde. Dfeet
schols of religious thought afept to eplain it difeetly. But
what is called for here is an act of faith in this myster that
bafes human undetanding.
Tere wa ee a preache who, inpired by that text, traveled
through town and village zealously urging people to accet the
fact that Go had created golde egs at some pint in histr.
It is better to teach people the evils of avarce than to pro
mote belief i golden eggs.
I I
GOOD NEWS
Here is the L0 News prolaed by ou Lrd Jesus
Christ:
jeus began to teach in parables.
He said:
Te lngdom of God i like h brothe who wee called by
God to give up all they had and se humanit.
Te olde reponded to the call generously, though he had to
wrench his heart fom his family and the grl he loved and
dreamed of marrying. He evetually wet of to a distant land
whee he spent himelf in the service of the pooret of the poor.
A pesecution aroe in that country and he was arreted, falely
accsed, tortured, and put to death.
And the Lord said m him, "Well done, goo and faithfl
sevant! }u gave me a thouand talet ' wrth of sevice. I
shall nO gve you a billion, billion talet' wrth of reard
Ente into the joy of your Lord. "
I 1 Z
Te younge boy repnse to the call w less than geeou.
He decided to ignore it and go ahead and marr the girl he
looed. He ejoyed a hap married life, his business prospeed,
and he became famou and rich. Occasionally he would gioe
alms k the por.
And when it was his tur to die, the Lord said to him, "Well
done, good and faithfl seranl! Yu haoe gioen me len talents '
worth of seice. I shall now goe you a billion, billion talets
wrth of reward. Ente info the joy of your Lrd!
Te older boy was surprised whe he heard that his brothe was
to get the same reward as he. And he ws pleased. He said,
"Lord, knowing this as I do, if I we to be bor and lioe my
life again, I would still do exactly what / did for you. "
I I
JONEYED AND THE BARBER
Te holy man jon eed wet to Mecca in begar s clothing.
Tee he saw a barbe shaving a noblean. We he asked the
barber to shave him, the barbe immediately left the wealthy
man and shaved foneed. An he took no mone fom him. He
actually gave foneed some alms.
fonee was so touched that he decided he would giv to the
barber whate he got in alms that day. If 5 happned that a
wealthy pilgrim came up to fonee and gave him a bag of gold
coins. foneyed wet up to the barbers shop that eing and
ofered the gold to the barbe.
Te barbe yelled at him, "Wat kind of a holy
man are you that you coe to rtard me fo an ad of love?

I I 9
A fantasy.
The devotee yells at the Lord, "What knd of a God are you
that you dare to reward my devotions! "
The Lord replies with a smie, "I am Love. So how can I
ofer rewards?"
When you seek a recompense your gft becomes a bribe.
Z0
THE PHARISEE
Wen Go wlked inf heTe and found that
rone w thee, he wsn 't pld at a/.
He if to his jutice, did he not, t
carr out hi threats. S ryone w summoned
t hi throne and the angel aked to read the
Te Commandmet.
Te frt ccnmandmet wa announced. Sid Go,
"AI who haw broke this commandmet will now
betake theseiTe to he/. " And 5 it ws done.
Te same wa done with each of the ccmandmel.
By the lme the angel came to read the sth,
no oe was left in heaTe et a reclue-
smug and self-cc placet.
Go looked up and tlghf, "Oly one
let in heaTen? Tat make it w loneme.
S he shouted out, "Come back, (oef"
We the reclu hear that reyone ws
frgiTe, he yelld in Tge, "Tis is unjust!
Wy didn 't you tell me this heQel
1 2 1
THE OLD WOMAN' S RELIGION
A n religious-minded old wman
w dissatisfed with all ezisHng
religons, so she foundd one
of her own.
Oe day a reparte, who geuinely
wante to undetand he pint of
view, said to he, "D you really
beliee, people say you do, that
no one will go to heaven excet you
and your housemaid? " '
Te old wman ponded the quesHon
and then replied, "Well I'm not
so sure of Mar.
1 ZZ
LOVE' S FORGETFULNESS
"Wy do y( kee tlking about
my past mistake?" Slid the husband.
' 1 th(ght you had frgive
and forgotte.
'1 have, inde, frgiv and
forgotte, " said th wife. "But I
want to mke sure y( do 't frget
that I have forgiv and forgotten. "
Sinne: "Remebe not my sins, L
lord!
lord: "Wat sins? )u / have to
prod my meory. I forgot the long
ago.
Love keeps no record of wongs (I Cor. 13).
1 23
THE LOTUS
The gD wanted his disciples to wear a special garb that
would show the world their consecration. He called it gving
witness.
As I passed by the pond I saw a lotus in
fll bloom and said,
' How lovely you are, my dear.' And how
beautifl must be the Go who created you."
Te lots blushed. She was the lovelier
for being so unconscious of he beaut.
I Z4
Farther 0 K anothe pnd whee I found
anothe lotus spreding he ptal ot
toward M and sying, quite bazenly, "Lo k
at my beaut and giv glor t my Make. "
I walked away in disgst.
4
Wen I st out to edif, I s k to impressd become
wel-itentioned Phas!
1 25
THE TURTLE
Te Emperor of China set ambasador t a hemit liPing in
the northe mountain. Te wee to inPife him to become
prime ministe of the 'ngdom.
Afte many days of lra'/ the ambasadors arriPed. Te
hemitage ws empt! But nearby in the middle of a riPe K a
half-naked man, seated on a rock, fhing with a line. Could this
be the man the epeor tho
J
ght 5 highly of? lnuirie at the
Pillage pro'd it K S the reture to the ri'bnk and,
repectflly they could, afepted to affrfct the fhean >
afetion.
Te heit wded through the riPe and stod beore the
meseges, barefot, arm akimbo.
"Wat is if you wnt?"
' Hoored sir, Hi Majet the Emperor of China, haPing heard
of your wisdom and your holines, has set k with these y{h.
He inPife you to acept the post of prime ministe of the realm. "
"Pime ministe of the realm?"
"Ye, respected sir. "
"Me?"
"Ys, repected sir. "
Js His Majest out of his mind?" said the heit a he roared
with uncontrollable laughter, to the discomftre of the
ambassadors.
126
W he W able katol himl the heit sid, 'Tell M
-i if m thai mont 0 the 1in altar of the epe s
chapl i a slfed frlk whos shel i encted with sprKling
dimod?"
' 11 i, Wble sir. "
"An i if m that once a dy the mJ and hi huehold
gfh to hoae to thi diamin-drate frtk?"
'11 u, r.
"NO fake thi frfk hee, wging hi til in the muck. D
yo think thi liffk fellw wul chang ple, with the frlk
in the place?"
"No, he wl not. "
g fel the mJthat ntfht wol l Fo n one can
N tli'e on t pttl. "
1 2 7
BAYAZID BREAKS THE RULE
Bayazid, fl Mole saint, wuld smetimes delibeately act
against the outard forms and rituals of Islam.
If once happeed that, o his way back fom Mecca, he stopped
at the Peian town of Rey. 7e townsfolk, who rred him,
rhed to make him welome and crated a great stir in the
town. Bayazid, who wa fired of this adulation, wited till he
reached the marketlace. 7er he bought a loaf of bread and
began m munch it in fll ue of his follM.
R was a day of fasting in the month of Ramadan,
but Bayazid judged that his joure flly justifed
the brealing of the religiou law.
Not so his followes. 7e were so scandalized at his behavio
that they promptly left him and wet home. Bayazid contetedly
remarked to a disciple, "Notice how the momet I did something
contrar to their expectation, their veration of me 'anished. "
Te price you pay for veneration is conformity.
1 Z
STREAKY PEOPLE
A preacher put this qution fo a
clas of children: ' 1f all the god
people we while and all the bad people
were black, what color wuld you be?
Little Mary fane replied, "Rreed, I'd
h streak!"
So would the preacher. So would the mahatmas, popes, and
saits.
A man was looking for a god church fo
attend and he happeed to eter one in
which the congregaton and the preacher
we reading fom ther prayer bok.
Te wee saying, "We haTe lef undone
thoe thing which K ought fo haTe
done, and we haTe done those thing
which we ought not to haTe dune. "
Te man dropped info a seat and sighed
with relief as he said to himsel
"Tank goodness, J'Te found my crod
at lt.
Attempts to hide your streakiness will son1etimes b suc
cessful, always dishonest.
1 29
MUSIC TO THE DEAF
I ud lo be stone deaf I wld
se people sland up and go throgh
all lnd of gratin. ' calld
l dncing. II loke aburd t M
-until one day I heard the mui!
I fail to understad why saint&d loversbhave the
way they do. So I'm waiting for my heart to come alive.
130
RICHES
Huh1nd: Tm going k
WK hard, and somy w lrt gng lo
h rch. "
Wife: lrt liretdy rich, tlr, for
w har each othe. Seday myhe
w'/ har re. "
IJ1
THE CONTENTED FISHERMAN
Te rich indus/a/is/ fom the North K
hur fed lo fnd the Suthe fhman
lying lazily beide hi boa/, smokng a pipe.
"Wy are Iyou wfhing?" said the
industialit.
"Becaue I haT caught eough fsh for
the day, " said the fheman.
"Wy don I you cath sme morel
"Wat wuld I d wth if?"
"You could ear moe mone" was the rely.
"With thai you could haTe a motor fed
to your bat and go inf deee wafe
and catch more fh.
1 32
Ten you would make enough to buy nylon
nels. Tese wuld bring you more fh and
more money. Son you wuld ha'e eough
mone to own h boats . . . maybe OO a
feet of boats. Te you wuld be a rich
man like me. "
"Wat wuld I do thm?
"Ten you could really ejoy life.
"Wat do you think I am doing right now?
Which would you rather have: a fortune or a capacity for
enjoyment?
I J J
THE SEVEN JARS OF GOLD
A barbe K passing unde a haunted free when he heard a
uice say, "Woul you like to have the se jars of gold?" He
loke around tmd saw no one. But his greed was aroued, M he
shouted eagely, "s, I cetainly wuld. " 'The go home at
onc, " said the uice. "}u will fnd the thee. "
1e barbe ran all the wy home. Sure eough, there were the
st jars-1 ll fll of gold, excet for one that was only half
fll. No the barbe coul no/ bear the thought of having a
half-flled jar. He felt a violet urge to fll if or he simply would
no/ be happy.
S he had all the jeelr of his family melted inf coins and
poured the info the half-flled jar. But the jar reained as
half-flled as before. Ti ws exaspeating! He saved and
skimped and stared himelf and his family. To no a-ail. No
matte how much gold he put inf the jar if reained half-flled.
S one day he beged the king to increase hi salary. His salar
K dubled. Again the fght t fll the jar K on. He re tok
lo beging. Te jar deured rery gol coin thrown info if but
reained stubborly half-flled.
I J 4
Te king no no/ced how stare the barbe looked. "Wat i
wrong with y(?" he asked. "ru wee 5 happy and conteted
whe your slar w smalle. Now if ha bee doubled and
you are 5 wr out and deected. Can if b that you ha'e the
sre jars of gol with you?"
Te barbe w astonihed, "Wo told you this, Yur
Majet?" he aske.
Te king laughed. "But thee art ob'iouly fl symptom of the
pon to whom the ghot ha g' the sr jars. He once
ofed the to me. We I asked if thi mone could b spet or
wa meely to bt hoarded he 'anihed wifh(f a wrd. Tat
mone cannot be spet. It only brings with if the compulsion t
hoard. Go and gi' it back to the ghot thi minute and y(
will b happy again. "
1 35
A PARABLE ON MODERN LIFE
animal mel in assbly and began
to coplain that human wm always
laking thing awy fom the
'The lake my mill, " sid the co.
"Te lake my eg, " said lht he.
"Te fake my feh for bcon, " said the hog.
'The hunt me fo my oil, " said the whale.
Finally the snail spoke. '1 hav something
they wuld crtainly take away fom me
if the could. Smething they want
more than anything ele.
I hav VME "
You have all the time i the world, if you would gve it to
yourself. What's stopping you?
1 J
HAFEZ HAYYIM
In the last cetury, a tourist fom
the Stales -iited the famou Polish
rabbi Hafez Hayyim.
He wa astonished to see that the
rabbi > home was only a simple rom
flled with bok. Te only friture
was a table and a bench.
"Rabbi, where is your friture?"
asked the tourit.
"Wee is yours?' " replied Hafez.
"Mine? But I'm only a viitor he. "
am l" said the rabbi.
I JZ
THE SKY AND THE CROW
A tae from the Bhagavata Puana:
A crow once fe info the sk
with a piece of meat in ifs beak.
Twent crow set out in pursuit
of if and attacked if viciously.
Te crow fnally let the piece of
meal drop. Its purum then
left if alone and fe shrieling
afte the morsel.
Said the crow, " ''ve lost the meal and
gained this peacefl sk. "
Said a Zen monk,
"When my house bured down I got an unobstructed view
of the moon at night!"
J
WHO CAN STEAL THE MOON!
ne Zm maste Ryokan li'e a 'e
simple life in a little hut at the
foot of the mountain. Oe night,
whm the maste was away, a thief
broke info the hut oly to discov
that thee was nothing to steal
Ryokan retured and caught the burglar.
"lu ha'e put yourself to much truble
to 'iif me, " he said.
"lu must not go away ept-handed.
Please take my clothe and blanket
as a gif. "
ne thief IUite beildered, took
the clothes and slunk of
Ryokan sat down naked and wtched
the mon. "Por fellow, " he thought
to himself wish I could g'e
him the gorgeou monlight. "
I J9
THE DIAMOND
Te sannyasi had reached the
outkirts of the village and sttled
down unde a free for the night
whe a village came rnning up
to him and said, ' The sfce! Te
sfce! Give me the preciou stone!"
"Wat stone?" asked the sannyasi.
"Lat night the Lord Shiva appeared
fo me in a dream, " said the village,
"and fold me that if I wet to the
outskirts of the village at dusk
I should fnd a sannyai who would
give me a precious stone that would
make me rich foree. "
Te sannyasi rummaged in hi bag and
pulled out a stone. "He probably
meant thi one, " he said, as he handed
the stone (e to the villager. "I found
it on a forest path some days ago. Yu
can cetainly have it. ' '
I 40
ne man gaed af the stone in wonde.
If ws a diamd, probably the largest
diamond in the whole world, for if K
large a pen head.
He took the dimond and walked away.
Al night he tosed about in bed,
unable to slee. Next day af the
crack of dawn h wke the sannyai
and sid, "Giv me the welth that
make if posible for you t giv
thi diamond away easily. "
1 4 I
PRAY FOR A CONTENTED MIND
Te Lord Vihnu said to his dro tee: ' 1 am wear
of your constant petition.
I have decided to gt you any
three thing you ak for. Afte !hal,
I shall giv you nothing more. "
Te dro fee delightely made his frst
petiton af once. He asked that his
wife should die 5 !hal he could marr
a better wman. Hi ptition k
immediately granted.
But whe fieds and relatves gatheed
for the fneal and began k recall all
the goo qualitie of his wife, the
drofee realize he had bee hast. He
now realized he had bee blind to
all he virtues. Wa he likely to fnd
another woman as go as he?
I 4 Z
S he ake the Lord
to bring he back t life!
Tat left him with just one
petition. He K determined not
to make a mistake thi time, fr h
wuld har no chance t corect it.
He consulted widely. Some of hi fed
adTed him to ask for immortalit. But
of what good wa immClalit, said othe,
if he did not have good healh? And of
what ue K health if he had no money?
And of what use ws money if he had no fiend?
lars pssed and he could not make up
his mind what to ask f: life " health
or walth 0 p " love. Fnally he
said to the LCd, "Pleas advise M on
what to ask for. "
Te Lord laughed whe he saw the
man predicament, and said, ' 'sk to
b contet no mafe what you get. "
1 4 J
THE WORLD FAIR OF RELI GIONS
My friend and I went to the fair. THE WRLD FAIR OF
RELIGIONS Not a trad fair. But the compettion was as
fee, the propaganda loud.
Al lhe jeish stall we we give handouts thai said !hal God
was all-compassionate and the jes wee his Chose People. Te
jes. No othe people were as chosen as they.
AI the Mosle stall w leared thai God was all-meci{l and
Mohamme is his only Prophet. Slvation come fom listeing
to God' Prophet.
At the Christian stall we discoveed that God i love and there
is no salvation outide the Church. join the Church or risk
eteal damnation.
O the way out I asked my fiend, "Wat do you think of
God? He replied, "He i bigoted, fanatical, and cruel. "
I 4 4
Back home, I sd to G, "How do you put up wth this
8H of thig, Lord? Don't you see they have ben gving
you a bad name for centuries?"
God said, "It wasn't I who organie the fa. In fact, I'd b
too ashamed to visit it. "
1 4
DISCRIMINATION
I wnt right back to the religon fRir.
Ti lime I heard a speech of the Hih
Pet of the 8Riam religion. Te Pophet
BaiRm, K wee fld, w the Mes iah,
N in the ffth-cetr holy land of Membia.
I had anothe ecunfe with God thRt
niht. "u 're a great dicriminator,
are't you, Go? Wy dos the ffth
cetr haw to b the elighteed cetur
and why do Meambia haw f b
the holy land?
Wat wrong with my cetur, for
instance? And what ' wrong with my land?"
To which God replied, 7 feat day i holy
becaus if show that all the dys
of the year are holy. And a sanctuar i
holy becaue if show that all place are
sanctifed. S the Messiah i called
the Sn of Go to show
that eveone i divine. "
14
JESUS AT THE FOOTBALL MATCH
jeu Chris/ said he had nee bee
lo a folball malch. b we look him to one,
my fied and R K a feocious
bafle betwee the Profefanf Prhe
and the Catholic Crde.
Te Crader sore first. jeu cheeed
wildly and thre his hal high up in the
air. Te the Pnche scored. And jesus
cheeed wildly and thre his hat high up
in the air.
Tis seemed to puzzle the man behind u.
He laped jesus 0 !he shoulder and
aked, "Wich side are you rofing fo,
my good man?"
"Me?" replied jesus, uibly excited
by the game. "Oh, Fm not rofing
for eithe side. Fm jut ejoying
the game.
I 4 Z
Te qutione tured lo hi neghbor
and sneeed, 'Hmm, an alheil!
We took him up on this after the game. Was he in the habit
of never taking sides? "I side with people rather than reli
gions," said jesus, "human beings rather than Sabbath."
1 4
RELIGIOUS HATRED
A turit sys to hi gid, "u
hlT l rghl t be proud of your
tu. I K epecilly imprese
wilh the numbe of churches in il.
Surely lhe peple hee must /we
the Lord. "
"Wel, " relie the cnicll guide,
"/hey mly lov lhe Lord, bul they
sure as hell hale ech othe. "
Like the little grl who, when asked, "Wo are pagans?",
replied, "Pagans are people who do not quarel about reli
gon."
1 4 9
OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE PRAYER
Te Catholic fotball team K
on it wy to an important game.
A rerte borded the train and
lKed for the fo tball coach.
' 1 undstand, " said the reporte,
"that you cary a chaplain to pray
for the suces of the team.
Would you mind introducing me to
h
.
j

1m.
"Tat wuld b a pleasure, " said
the coch. "Wich one do you wnt
to meet, the olmsir or the
demsiTe chaplain?
ISO
IDEOLOGY
Here i s a newspaper account of torture practiced i n modern
concentration camps.
Te victim i hound to a metal chair.
Electrc shocks are the administeed
in increasing intensif, until the victim
confese.
Te torture cups his hand and slaps the
victim on the ear reeatedly till tht
eardrum break.
. prisone u strapped to a denht
chair. Te the dentist drills till he
strike a ner. Te drilling goes 0
till the victim agrees to cooperate.
I I
Peple are not natuay crel. They become crel when
they are unhappyr when they succumb to an idelogy.
If religous people had aways followed the instict of their
heart rather tha the logc of their religon we would have
been spared the sight of heretics buring at stake, widows
walking into funeral pyres, and millions of innocent people
slaughtered in wars that are waged i the name of God.
Compassion has no ideology.
1 52
CHANGE THE WORLD
BY CHANGING ME
The Suf Bayazid says this about himself:
'1 w a relutionary when I
was young and all my prayer to God was
'ord, give me the energ to change
the world. '
' :s I approached middle age and realize
that half my life was gone without my
changing a single soul, I changed my
praye t 'ord, give me the grace to
change al those who come in contact
with me. just my family and fiend,
and I shall be satisfed. '
' Now that I am an old man and my days
are numbeed, my one prayer
i, lord, give me the grace to change
myself ' IfI had prayed for this right
fom the start I should not have wasted
my life. "
1 53
DOMESTICATED REBELS
He was a difcult man. He thought diferently and acted
diferently from the rest of us. He questioned everything.
Was he a rebel or a prophet or a psychopath or a hero?
"Who can tell the diference?" we said. "And who cares,
anyway?"
So we soalized hi. We taught hi to be ssiHoe to publc
opinion and to the feelings of others. We got him to con
form. He was a comfortable person to live with now. Well
adjusted. We had made him manageable and docile.
We congatulated him on havng achieved self-conquest.
He began to congratulate himself too. He did not see that it
was W6 who had conquered him.
154
A big gy walked info the crowded room
and yelled, ' 1s thee a fellow by the name
of Murhy here? A little fellow stood up
and said, Tm Murhy. "
Te big guy nearly killed him. He cracked
five of his ribs, he broke his nose, he
gave him m black eyes, he fung him in
heap on the foor. Te he stomped out.
A/e he had gone W wee amazed to see
the little fellow chuckling to himelf
'1 certainly made a fol of that guy, "
he was saying softly to himself Tm
not Murphy/ Ha, hal"
A society that domesticates its rebels has gained its peace.
But t has lost its futUre.
1 55
THE LOST SHEEP
A paable for religous educators:
A shee found a hole in the fece
and crept through if.
He Wndeed far
and lost hi way back.
Te he realized that he K
being followed by a wlf He ran
and ran, but the wolf kept chRing
him, until the shephed came
and reced him and carried him
lofingly back to the fold.
In spite of teyone urgings
to the contar, the shepherd ref
t nail up the hole in the
fence.
I
THE PERFECT APPLE
Nasndin had barely fnished his dicorse when one of the
scofe in the crowd said to him, '1nsted of spinning spiritual
theres, why don 't you show us smething practical?
Por Narddin w nonplused. "Wat lnd of practcal thing
wul you wnt me to show you? he asked.
Pleased thai he had mortifed the mullh and wa maKin an
impresion on the crowd, the scofer said, 'For intance, sho us
an apple fom the garde of Paradie. "
Narddin immeiately picked up an aple and handed it t the
man. "But thi apple i bad on one side, " said the man.
"Surely a he'ely aple wuld be perect. "
7 celetial aple wul, inded, be prfect, ' ' said the mulah.
"But gi' your present facltie, this i as ner lo a hea'nly
apple as you will e'tr gel. "
Can one expect to see a perfect apple with an imperfect
eye?
Or detect goodness in others when one's own heart is self
ish?
1 57
THE SLAVE GIRL
A Mole Iing fell psately in loTe
with a slaw girl and h h tanfer ed
fom the slaie quarte f the pail ce. He
planned to mar he and m he hi
faoorte wife, but, mysterioly, the girl
fell siouly m on the Ter day she
etee the pale.
She gm steadily wr. Ei known
reey K giTe he, but f no aiil.
Te pgirl now hed bete life
and death.
In depair the Iing made an ofe of naif
his kingdom to anyone who wu/a cure he
But who wuld atept k cre an i/lne
that had bafe the bet physicians 0
the relm?
Fnally a llim appeared who asked to b
allowe to see the girl alone. Afte ht
had spke with he for an hour he appeare
before the throne of the Ing wh aniouly
awaite hi Tedid.
1 b
"}ur Majet, " said the hakim. '1 do indeed
haTe an infallible cure for the grl. And so
surl am I of its eecfiTens that, were it
not lo succeed, I should willingly ofer mysel
lo be bheaded. Te medicine I propose
howroer, will proTe to be an extreely painfl
onenot for !he girl, but for lur Majesty. "
'Mention the medicine, " shouted !he Iing,
"and it shal be giTe her, no mafer the
cos!. "
Te hakim looked a! !he Ing with a compassionate
eye and said, "Te girl is in low with one
of your serTanls. GiTe he perision to marr
him and she will be intantly cured. "
Poor king! He wanted the girl too much lo let
he go. He loTed he too much to let he die.
1 59
CONFUCIUS THE SAGE
Pu Shang once said t Confcius, "Wat
kind of a sage are you that you can say
that Yen Hui excels you in straightforwardness?
Tat in clarifing things
Tuan-mu Tz 'u i supeior to you? Tat
Chung Yu i more courageous than you?
And that Chuan-sun Shih is more dignifed
than you?"
In hi eagees to get a reply
Shang moued to the edge of the mat and
nerly fell of it. "I these thing
are true, " he said, "then why are these
fur me your disciple?"
Confcius replied, "Stay right whe
you are and I shall tel you. 1n Hui
knows how to be straightforard, but
he doe not ko how to be feble.
Tuan-mu Tz 'u knows how to clrif
160
things, but he doe no/ know how
lo giT a simple Ye or No for an anwe.
Chung W kno how lo be courageous,
but he w not know how to b cauliou.
Chuan-sun Shih Jnow how lo b dignifed,
but he does no/ know how to be
unassuming. Tis i why thee fur
mm are glad k study under me. "
The Moslem Jalal ud-Din Rumi says, "A hand that is al
ways open or always closed is a crippled hand. A bird that
cannot open and close its wings cannot fy. "
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0 HAPPY FA ULTI
Te jeih mysHc Bal She had a
crious wy of praying to Go.
"Reeb, Lord, " he wuld Sy,
''ou need me jut much I
nee you. Ifyo did not et,
whom woul I pray to? IfI did
not et, who wuld do the praying?"
It brought me so much joy to think that if I had not sinne
Go would have no ocasion to be forgving.
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THE COCONUT
A monke on a hn hurled a coconut
at the head of a Suf.
Te man picked if up, drank the
milk, ate the feh, and mat a
hwl fom the shell.
Thank you for your criticism of me.
I J
THE SINGER'S VOICE FILLS THE HALL
Overheard outside a concert hall:
"Wat a singe! Hi wict fled the hal. "
W, sal of u had t leave the hal
to make ro m fo ill"
4
Overheard i a spiritual counseling session:
"Ho can I lou Go the sptures tel
u t? Ho can I giu him my whol heart?"
"Wu must frl ept your htrl of all
ceated thing. "
I4
Misleadig! Don't b afraid to m you heart with the pe
ple ad things you love, for the love of God won't ocupy
space in you heart ay more tha a singer's voice occpie
space in a concert hall.
Love is not m a loaf of bread. H I gve a chunk of the loaf
to you I have less to ofer to others. Love is le eucharistic
bread: receive the whole Chst. You receive the whole
Chst too; ad so does the next prson, and the next.
You ca love you mother with you whole heart; ad you
husband or wife; ad each of you chdren. The wonder is
that gvng the whole of it to one person does not force you
to gve les to another. L the contrar, each one of ther
now gets more. For if you love only your frend and no one
els it is a feble heart that you ofer. You friend would
stad to gain if you also gave it to others
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THANKS AND YES
What does i t mean to /oue God7 One does not love him the
way one loves the peple one ses and hears and touches,
for God is not a pn in our sense of the word. He is the
Unknown. He is the wholly Other. He is above ters like
he and she, pn and thing.
When we say an audience flls the hall and a singer's voice
fls the hall, we use the same word to refer to two totally
distinct realities. When we say we love God with our whole
heart and we love our friend with ou whole heart, we also
use the same words to express two totally distinct realities.
The singer's voice does not really fl the hall. And we can
not really lout God in the usual sense of the word.
To love God with one's whole heart means to say a whole
hearted Yes to life and all that life brings with it. To accept,
without reservations, all that God has ordained for one's
life. To have the attitude that Jesus had when he sid, "Not
my will, but yours be done." To love God with one's whole
heart is to make one's own the words made famous by Dag
Hammarskjold:
For al that has hem, Tank.
al thai shal be, Ye.
166
This is the kind of thig one can gve to God alone. In this
he has no rivals. To understand that this is what it meas to
love God is to see at once that it doesn't come in the way of
your loving your friends wholeheatedly, tenderly, pas
sionately.
The singer's voice remains i undisputed possession of the
hall, no matter how packed the hall is with people. Those
people are no rval to it. The only rival is a person or a thing
that causes you to weaken your attitude of Ye and Tnk.
1 67
SIMON PETER
A dialogue from the gospels:
"And you, " said Jeu. "Wo do yo say I am?"
Simon Peft answred, "}u art the Mesiah,
the Sn of the li'ing Go. "
Ten Jesu said, "Simon, son of Jonah, you
are favored indeed! lu did not lear that
fom mortal man; my htarnly Fatht rrealed
if to you. "
A dialogue from life:
168
1
m
:
Christian:
1
m
:
Critn:
An you, who you say l am?
You are the Sn of the living
God.
Riht. But ho unortnate
you are that you leard thi fom mortal
man. It h not yet bee reeale to you
by my Father.
Tre, Lord. I have bee chete. Smbody
gaT me the anse before your
Fath (Ol spek. I marl at
yor widom fhaf you sai nothin fo
Simon yourel but waite fr your Fathe
k seak fr.
169
THE SAMARITAN WOMAN
Te woman put down her wafer jar and
went of to the town. She said to the
people, "Come and see the man who has
fold me rerything I ever did. Could
this be the Messiah?"
Christian: Oh for a teacher like the Samaritan woman!
She gave no answers. She only asked a question.
If must have been tempting to
give the answer because she got if from you directly
when you said, ' 1 am the Messiah. I
who am talking fo you. "
Many more became disciples because of
what they heard from his own lips. Tey
said to the woman, ' 1t is no longer because
of what you said that we believe, for R
have heard him ourselves, and we know that
this is, indeed, the Savior of the world. "
I have been contet to learn about you at
second hand, Lord. From scriptures and
saints; fom popes and preachers. I wish I
could say to all of them, ' 11 u no longer
because of what you said that I beliee, for I
have heard him myself. "
1 Z0
IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA
The sixtenth-centuy mystc Igatius of Loyola sd of
hsl that at the time of his conversion he had no one to
to .for gudance, so the Lord hiself taught h the
way a schoolteacher teaches a lttle child. He once declared
that even if M the scrptes were destroyed, he would
hold oi to what they revealed because of what the Lord
had taught personaly.
ChrHRn: I hr, unforlntely, had 8 surfeit of
people I could mm kfr gidance. Te
badgeed M with their peitet tehing
H/ I could barely hear you through the din
It m occred t M !ht I coul get my
klge firtlnd fom you, f the
soeHme said t M, "We are all the
tehe you will O hi'e; he who lites
to R, liste t him. "
But I am wtg to blame the or to dloe
ther peece in my erly life.
1 71
It i 1 who am to blame.
For 1 lacked the frnes to silmce the;
the courage to fnd oul for myslf
th pafimc to wif for your appinted lme,
and the trt that smeday,
smehere, you would brtk your
silmce and real yourelf to me.
172