>1) The Pretty Lady
>
>Once upon a time a big monk and a little monk were travelling
>together. They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge
>damaged. They had to wade across the river. There was a pretty lady
>who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river.
>The big monk offered to carry the pretty lady across the river on
>his back. The lady accepted. The little monk was shocked by the move
>of the big monk.
>
>"How can big disciple brother carry a lady when we are supposed to
>avoid all intimacy with females?" thought the little monk. But he
>kept quiet.
>
>The big monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk
>followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the big monk let
>the lady down and they parted ways with her.
>
>All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very
>unhappy with the act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of
>accusations about the big monk in his head. This got him madder and
>madder. But he still kept quiet. And the big monk had no inclination
>to explain his situation.
>
>Finally, at a rest point many hours later, the little monk could not
>stand it any further, he burst out angrily at the big monk. "How can
>you claim yourself a devout monk, when you seize the first
>opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty?
>All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite."
>
>The big monk looked surprised and said, "I had put down the pretty
>lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still
>carrying her along?"
>
>[This very old Chinese zen story reflects the thinking of many
>people today.We encounter many unpleasant things in our life, they
>irritate us and they make us angry. Sometimes, they cause us a lot
>of hurt, sometimes they cause us to be bitter or jealous.
>
>But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go away. We
>keep on carrying the baggage of the "pretty lady" with us. We let
>them keep on coming back to hurt us, make us angry, make us bitter
>and cause us a lot of agony. Why? Simply because we are not willing
>to put down or let go of the baggage of the "pretty lady".
>We should let go of the "pretty lady" immediately after crossing the
>river, immediately after the unpleasant event is over. This will
>immediately remove all our agonies. There is no need to be further
>hurt by the unpleasant event after it is over. It is just that
>simple.]
>
>2) The Frogs
>A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he
>could use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and
>asked the man where he could get so many frog legs!
>
>The farmer replied,"There is a pond near my house that is full of
>frogs---millions of them. They croak all night long and they are
>about to make me crazy!" So the restaurant owner and the farmer made
>an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant,
>five hundred at a time for the next several weeks.
>
>The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather
>sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said,
>"Well... where are all the frogs?"
>
>The farmer said, "I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in
>the pond.
>But they sure were making a lot of noise!"
>
>[Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you,
>remember, it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also remember
>that problems always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in
>your bed at night worrying about things which seem almost
>overwhelming like a million frogs croaking? Chances are pretty good
>that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll
>wonder what all the fuss was about.]
>
>3) The Turtles
>A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. Turtles, being naturally
>slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing.
>Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place for
>their outing.
>During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for
>them at last!
>
>For about six months they cleaned up the area, unpacked the picnic
>basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they
>had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster,
>they all agreed.
>
>After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to
>retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow
>moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his
>shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until
>he returned.
>
>The family consented and the little turtle left.
>
>Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five
>years...six years... then on the seventh year of his absence, the
>oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that
>he was going to eat and begun to unwrap a sandwich. At that point
>the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting,
>"SEE! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the
>salt."
>
>[Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our
>expectations.We are so concerned about what others are doing that we
>don't do anything ourselves.]
>
