Inspiring Short Stories 2

A Pile of Dry Shit

One day a famous government officer met a highly respected edlerly master. Being conceited, he wanted to prove that he was the superior person.
As their conversation drew on, he asked the master, "Old monk, do you know what I think of you and the things you said?"
The master replied, "I don't care what you think of me. You are entitled to have your own opinion."
The officer snorted, "Well, I will tell you what I think anyway. In my eyes, you are just like a pile of dry shit!"
The master simply smiled and stayed quiet.
Seeing that his insult had fallen into deaf ears, he asked curiously, "And what do you think of me?"
The master said, "In my eyes, you are just like the Buddha."
Hearing this remark, the officer left happily and bragged to his wife about the incident.
His wife said to him, "You conceited fool! When a person has a heart like a pile of dry shit, he sees everyone in that light. The elderly master has a heart like that of the Buddha, and that is why in his eyes, everyone, including you, is like the Buddha!"

Two Nickels and Five Pennies

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table.
A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.
"How much is an ice cream sundae?"
"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it.
"How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired.
Some people were now waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient.
"Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely.
The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.
The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed.
When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at what she saw.
There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies - her tip.


Struggle
by UnknownA man found a cocoon of a butterfly. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole at the end.Eventually, the butterfly stopped making progress.
It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. The man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

'Angry Buddha' - A Lesson In Patience

by Thitch Nhat Hahn

A woman who practiced reciting Buddha Amitabha's name, was very tough and recited "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA" three times daily. Although she was doing this practice for over 10 years, she was still quite mean, shouting at people all the time. She would start her practice lighting incense and hitting a little bell.
A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, and just as she began her recitation, he came to her door and called out: "Miss Nuyen, Miss Nuyen!".
As this was the time for her practice she got annoyed, but she said to herself: "I have to struggle against my anger, so I will just ignore it."
And she continued: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."
But the man continued to shout her name, and she became more and more oppressive.
She struggled against it and wondered if she should stop the recitation to give the man a piece of her mind, but she continued reciting: "NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA, NAMO AMITABHA BUDDHA..."
The man outside heard it and continued: "Miss Nuyen, Miss Nuyen..."
Then she could not stand it anymore, jumped up, slammed the door and went to the gate and shouted: "Why do you have to behave like that? I am doing my practice and you keep on shouting my name over and over!"
The gentleman smiled at her and said: "I just called your name for ten minutes and you are so angry. You have been calling Amitabha Buddha's name for more then ten years now; just imagine how angry he must be by now!" 

As you sow, so shall you reap

Nature never leaves you empty-handed.
There was a farmer named Fleming in Scotland.
One day he heard a call for help. He saw a boy sinking in the quicksand. Fleming pulled the boy out of the quicksand; he affectionately patted him and told him to go home. Then, he returned to his farming job again.
Next day, a well dressed gentleman arrived at his hut. "You saved the life of my son; i wish to present you with a reward," he said. But Fleming said that he had only done his duty. Spotting a boy in rags, the gentleman asked Fleming if that was his son. Fleming nodded. And the gentleman took the responsibility for the boy's education.

Years later the farmer's son became a scientist, Alexander Fleming. He became renowned for his invention of Penicillin. A few months after the invention, the boy who his father saved got a severe attack of pneumonia. And his life was saved, this time by Fleming Jr's invention.
What goes around does come around. As you sow, so shall you reap, in whatever form. Nature returns everything with interest.

THE MARBLE TILES
There was this museum laid with beautiful marble tiles, with a huge marble statue displayed in the middle of the lobby. Many people came from all over the world just to admire this beautiful marble statue.
One night, the marble tiles started talking to the marble statue.
Marble tile: "Marble statue, it's just not fair, it's just not fair! Why does everybody from all over the world come all the way here just to step on me while admiring you? Not fair!"
Marble statue: "My dear friend, marble tile. Do you still remember that we were actually from the same cave?"
Marble tile: "Yeah! That's why I feel it is even more unfair. We were born from the same cave and yet we receive different treatment now. Not fair!" he cried again.
Marble statue: "Then, do you still remember the day when the designer tried to work on you, but you resisted the tools?"
Marble tile: "Yes, of course I remember. I hate that guy! How could he use those tools on me, it hurt so badly."
Marble statue: "That's right! He couldn't work on you at all as you resisted being worked on."
Marble tile: "So???"
Marble statue: "When he decided to give up on you and start working on me instead, I knew at once that I would be something different after his efforts. I did not resist his tools, instead I bore all the painful tools he used on me.."
Marble tile: "Mmmmmm......."
Marble statue: "My friend, there is a price to everything in life. Since you decided to give up half way, you can't blame anybody who steps on you now."
Author Unknown

Peace

 There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest... perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize?
The King chose the second picture. Do you know why? "Because," explained the King, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

The Rabbi and the Soapmaker . . . .

A rabbi and a soapmaker were walking together. The soapmaker said, "What good is religion? Look at all the trouble and misery of the world! Still there, even after years—thousands of years—of teaching about goodness and truth and peace;
still there, after all the prayers and sermons and teachings; if religion is supposed to be good and true, why can this be?"
The rabbi said nothing, deep in thought. They continued walking until the rabbi noticed children playing. Then the rabbi said, "Look at those children. You say that soap makes children clean, but see the dirt on those children? Of what good is soap? With all the soap in the world, over all these years, the children are filthy. I wonder how effective soap is, after all?"
The soapmaker was quick to protest, "But, Rabbi, soap cannot do any good unless it is used often."
"Exactly!" replied the rabbi.


Drowning Man
 While out to sea, a large boat became shipwrecked and there was only a single survivor. This man prayed and asked God to save his life.
Soon thereafter, another boat came by and offered the man some help. "No thanks," he said. "I'm waiting for God to save me."
The men on the boat shrugged their shoulders and continued.
As the man became more deeply concerned, another boat came by.
Again, the people aboard offered this man some help, and again he politely decline.
"I'm waiting for God to save me," he said again. After some time, the man began to lose his faith, and soon after that he died.
Upon reaching Heaven, he had a chance to speak with God briefly. "Why did you let me die? Why didn't you answer my prayers?"
"Dummy, I sent you two boats!" 

A Box of Kisses
by Author Unknown
 The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight and he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.
Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy." He was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found the box was empty.
He yelled at her, "Don't you know that when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside it?"
The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said,"Oh, Daddy, it is not empty. I blew kisses into the box. All for you, Daddy."
The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.
It is told that the man kept that gold box by his bed for years and whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.