What have you learnt?

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What have you learnt?

Posted by: " Uttishthata " uttishthata

Fri May 18, 2007 8:51 pm (PST)

 

What have you learnt on your path? - Weekend Inspirational

 

A King had, as only son, a young Prince, brave, skillful and

intelligent. To perfect his knowledge of Life, he sent him by the

side of an Old Wise Man.

 

" Bring Light to my Path of Life " , the Prince asked.

 

" My words will faint away like the prints of your steps in the sand " ,

the Wise Man answered. However, I want to give you some indications.

On your Path, you will find 3 doors. Read the rules written on each

of them. An irresistible need will urge you to follow them. Don't try

and get away from them, because you would be condemned to live again,

ceaselessly, what you have avoided. I may tell you no more. You have

to feel all this deep in your heart and in your flesh.

Go, now. Follow this path, right in front of you. "

 

The Old Wise Man disappeared and the Prince entered the Path of Life.

 

He was soon in front of a big door, on which one could read:

 

" CHANGE THE WORLD " .

 

" It was my intention indeed " , the Prince thought, " because if some

things please me in this world, others greatly displease me. "

 

And he began his first fight. His ideal, his ardour and his power

urged him to confront himself to the world, to undertake, to conquer,

to model reality according to his desires.

 

He found there the pleasure and the dizziness of the conqueror, but

no peace in his heart. He managed to change some things but many

others resisted to him. Many years passed.

 

One day, he met the Old Wise Man who asked him:

 

" What have you learnt on your path? "

 

" I have learnt, " the Prince answered, " how to discern what is within

my power and what is without, what depends on me and what does not

depend on me " .

 

" That's good! " , the Old Man said. " Use your strength to act on what

is within your power. Forget what's beyond your power. " And he

disappeared.

 

A bit later, the Prince was in front of a second door.

He could read on it :

 

" CHANGE THE OTHERS " .

 

" It was my intention indeed " , he thought. " The others are a source of

pleasure, enjoyment and satisfaction, but also, of pain, bitterness

and frustration. "

 

And he rebelled against everything that could disturb him or

displease him in his fellow men. He tried to bend their characters

and to extirpate their defects. It was there his second fight.

 

Many years passed.

 

One day, as he was meditating on the utility of the attempts to

change the others, he met the Old Wise Man who asked him:

 

" What have you learnt on your path? "

 

" I have learnt " , the Prince answered, " that the others are not the

cause or the source of my joys and my punishments, my satisfactions

and my setbacks. They are only opportunities for all of them to be

revealed. It is in myself that all these things have their roots. "

 

" You are right, " the Wise Man said. " According to what they wake up

in you, the others reveal you to yourself. Be grateful to those who

make your enjoyment and pleasure vibrate. But be also grateful to

those who create in you suffering or frustration, because, through

them, life teaches you what is left in you to learn and the path that

you still have to walk. "

 

And the Old Man disappeared.

 

A bit further, the Prince arrived in front of a door, on which these

words were written:

 

" CHANGE YOURSELF " .

 

" If I am myself the cause of my problems, it is indeed what's left in

me to work on " , he said to himself.

 

And he began his 3rd fight. He tried to bend his character, to fight

his imperfections, to abolish his defects, to change everything that

did not please him in himself, everything that did not correspond to

his ideal.

 

After many years of this fight, in which he met some success, but

also, some failures and some resistances, the Prince met the Wise Man

who asked him:

 

" What have you learnt on your path? "

 

" I have learnt " , the Prince answered, " that there are things that we

can improve, others that resist to us and that we can't

manage to break. "

 

" That's good! " the Wise Man said.

 

" Yes " , the Prince went on, " but I am beginning to be tired of

fighting against everything, against everybody, against myself. Won't

there be an end to it one day? When shall I find a rest? I want to

stop fighting, to give up, to abandon everything, I want to let go ! "

 

" It is precisely your next lesson " , the Old Wise Man said. " But

before going any further, turn round and behold the path covered. "

 

And he disappeared.

 

On looking back, the Prince saw in the distance the 3rd door, and

noticed that it was carrying a text on its back, saying :

 

" ACCEPT YOURSELF "

 

The Prince was surprised not to have seen this writing when he went

through the door, the other way.

 

" When one fights, one becomes blind " , he said to himself. He also

saw, lying on the ground, scattered around him, everything he had

thrown away and fought against in him: his defects, his shadows, his

fears, his limits, all his old worries. He had learnt then how to

recognize them, to accept them, to love them. He had learnt how to

love himself without comparing himself to the others any more,

without judging himself, without reprimanding himself.

 

He met the Old Wise Man who asked him:

 

" What have you learnt on your path? "

 

" I have learnt " , the Prince answered, " that hating or refusing a part

of myself, it is to condemn myself never to be in agreement with

myself. I learnt how to accept myself, totally, unconditionally. "

 

" That's good! " , the Old Man said, it is the first rule in Wisdom. Now

you can go back through the 3rd door. "

 

He had no sooner reached the other side, that the Prince perceived

far away the back side of the second door, on which

he could read:

 

" ACCEPT THE OTHERS "

 

All around him, he could recognize the persons he had been with all

his life through; those he had loved as well as those

he had hated. Those he had supported and those he had fought. But the

biggest surprise of all for him was that now, he was

absolutely unable to see their imperfections, their defects, what

formerly had embarrassed him so much, and against which

he had fought.

 

He met the Old Wise Man again.

 

" What have you learnt on your path? " he asked him.

 

" I have learnt " , the Prince answered, " that by being in agreement

with myself, I had no more anything to blame in the others, no more

anything to be afraid of in them. I have learnt how to accept and to

love the others, totally, unconditionally. "

 

" That's good! " , the Old Wise Man said. " It is the second rule in

Wisdom. You can go back through the second door. "

 

On reaching the other side of the second door, the Prince perceived

in the distance the back side of the first door,

on which he could read:

 

" ACCEPT THE WORLD "

 

" Strangely enough " , he said to himself, " that I did not see these

words on the first time " . He looked all around him and recognized

this world which he had tried to conquer, to transform, to change. He

was struck by the brightness and the beauty of every thing. By their

perfection. Nevertheless, it was the same world as before. Was it the

world which had changed or the glance he had on it?

 

He met the Old Wise Man who asked him:

 

" What have you learnt on your path? "

 

" I have learnt " , the Prince said, that the world is a mirror for my

soul. That my soul can't see the world, it sees itself in the world.

When my soul is cheerful, the world seems cheerful to it. When it is

overcome, the world seems sad to it. The world itself is neither sad

nor cheerful. It IS there; it exists; it is everything. It was Not

the world that disturbed me, but the idea that I had of it. I have

learnt to accept it without judging it, to accept it totally,

unconditionally. "

 

" It is 3rd rule of Wisdom " , the Old Man said. " You are here now in

agreement with yourself, with the others and with the World. "

 

A profound feeling of peace, serenity, plenitude, filled the Prince.

Silence was in him.

 

" Now, you are ready to go past the last Threshold " , the Old Wise Man

said, " the one that goes from the silence of Plenitude to the

Plenitude of Silence " .

 

And the Old Man disappeared.

 

............. ......... ......... ......... ......... ......... ......

 

Forward this message of personal development to those you love and

bring peace and joy in their life, enjoy your weekend in Peace,

Serenity and Contentment.

 

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

 

I tell you one thing. If you want peace of mind, do not find fault

with others. Rather see your own faults. Learn to make the whole

world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is

your own.

 

- Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi