Painting On The Wall

There was a king who was a great admirer of art.
 One day an artist came and said to the king, “Oh King! Give me a wall in your palace and let me paint a picture on it.”

The artist was given the job.
Just then, another young man said, “Oh King! Please allow me to work on the opposite wall. I too am an artist.”
The king said, “What would you like to make?”
 The man said, “My Lord, I shall make exactly what that man will make on the opposite wall. Moreover, I shall do so, without looking at his work. I would even request you to have a thick curtain put up between the two walls so that either of us cannot see the other.”

Everyone in the king’s court, including the king was intrigued.
He decided to give the young fellow a chance.
The following day a thick curtain was put into place and both the artists got to work.
 The first artist brought in a regular supply of paint, oil, water etc.
The second one worked with some cloth and a bucket of water.
After a month the first artist told the king that his work was complete.
The king sent for the second artist and asked him, “Young man, when would your work be ready? I am coming to see the first wall this evening.”
The man said, “My Lord, my wall is ready too!”

The king went to see the first artist’s wall.
He was very, very impressed with the painting and gave a hefty sum as a reward to the artist.
He then asked for the curtain to be opened up.
Lo and behold!

The same painting was to be seen on the opposite wall too! Amazing! But true!
 Each line, each minor detail was exactly as it was on the first wall.
But this man had not been seeing what was going on, on the other side of the curtain.
So how had he done it?

The king wanted to know the secret.
He gave a double reward to the fellow.

Then he said, “Young man, I am indeed very happy with your work. But you must tell me; how did you do it?”

The lad said simply, “It’s very easy!
I just polished the wall every day till it shone like a mirror!” It was a wall made of white marble!
The reflection of the painting across the room, showed up in it!

That is what it means to polish yourself.
 World is a reflection of you. Whatever you are, the world will seem to be that too.
 If you are happy, the world will look to be happy.
If you are sad; jealous; angry; restless... That is what the world will seem to be to you!

Have a day of reflection...😀🙏👍🏻🌺

Destination Of Life

During the time of the Buddha, a young man approached and asked the Buddha: “O, Lord, my father has died. Please come and say some prayers for him. Raise up his soul so that he can go to heaven. The Brahmins perform such rites but you Buddha are so much more powerful than them. If you were to do it, my father’s soul is sure to fly straight to heaven.”

The Buddha replied: “Very well, please go to the market and fetch me two earthen pots and some butter.” The young man was very happy that the Buddha had condescended to perform some powerful magic to save his father’s soul. He hurried to town and got what was required. Then the Buddha instructed him: “Put the butter in one pot and stones in the other pot. Then throw both pots into the pond.” The man did so, and both pots sank to the bottom of pond.

Then the Buddha continued: “Now, take a staff and strike the pots at the bottom of the pond.” The man did so. The pots broke and the butter, being light, floated up while the stones, being heavy, remained where they were at the bottom.

Then the Buddha said, “Now, quick, go and summon all the priests. Tell them to come and chant so that the butter can go down and the stones can come up.” The young man looked at the Buddha, flabbergasted. “Lord” he said, “You can’t be serious. Surely you can’t expect the butter being light to sink and the stones being heavy to rise up. That would be against the law of nature.”

The Buddha smiled and said, “Even so, my son, don’t you see that if your father had led a good life, then his deeds would be as light as the butter, so that no matter what he will rise up to heaven.
Nobody can prevent that, not even me. For nobody can go against the natural law of kamma. But if your father had led a bad life, then, just like the stones that are heavy, he would sink to hell. No amount of prayers by all the powerful priests in the world can cause it to happen otherwise."