Thanks, Rick. --- In [email protected], Rick Archer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > MORE PRECIOUS THAN A GEM > > "A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a > stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise > woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious > stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. > The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was > worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. > But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. > "I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give > it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give > me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone." > Author Unknown (from Bob Gould in the Yahoo Club: Admirers of HH the Dalai > Lama <http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/admirersofhhthedalailama> ) > > > > MAKING A DIFFERENCE > > A friend was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. As he walked > along, he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew nearer, he > noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking something up and > throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things out > into the ocean. As my friend approached even closer, he noticed that the man > was picking up starfish that had washed up on the beach, and, one at a time, > he was throwing them back into the water. My friend was puzzled. > He approached the man and said. "Good evening, friend. I was wondering what > you are doing." > "I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide > right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I > don't throw them back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of > oxygen." > "I understand," my friend replied, "but there must be thousands of starfish > on this beach. You can't possibly get to all of them. There are simply too > many. And don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of > beaches all up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly > make a difference?" > The local native smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and > as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that > one!" > > > > NON-VIOLENT PARENTING > > Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and founder of the M.K. Gandhi > Institute for Non-violence, in his June 9 lecture at the University of > Puerto Rico, shared the following story as an example of "non-violence in > parenting": > > > "I was 16 years old and living with my parents at the institute my grandfather > > had founded 18 miles outside of Durban, South Africa, in the middle of the > > sugar plantations. We were deep in the country and had no neighbours, so my > > two sisters and I would always look forward to going to town to visit friends > > or go to the movies. > > > > One day, my father asked me to drive him to town for an all-day conference, > > and I jumped at the chance. Since I was going to town, my mother gave me a > > list of groceries she needed and, since I had all day in town, my father ask > > me to take care of several pending chores, such as getting the car serviced. > > When I dropped my father off that morning, he said, 'I will meet you here at > > 5:00 p.m., and we will go home together.' > > > > After hurriedly completing my chores, I went straight to the nearest movie > > theatre. I got so engrossed in a John Wayne double-feature that I forgot the > > time. It was 5:30 before I remembered. By the time I ran to the garage and got > > the car and hurried to where my father was waiting for me, it was almost 6:00. > > > > He anxiously asked me, 'Why were you late?' I was so ashamed of telling him I > > was watching a John Wayne western movie that I said, 'The car wasn't > > ready, so I had to wait,' not realizing that he had already called the garage. > > When he caught me in the lie, he said: 'There's something wrong in the way I > > brought you up that didn't give you the confidence to tell me the truth. In > > order to figure out where I went wrong with you, I'm going to walk home 18 > > miles and think about it.' > > > > So, dressed in his suit and dress shoes, he began to walk home in the dark on > > mostly unpaved, unlit roads. I couldn't leave him, so for five-and-a-half > > hours I drove behind him, watching my father go through this agony for a > > stupid lie that I uttered. > > > > I decided then and there that I was never going to lie again. I often think > > about that episode and wonder, if he had punished me the way we punish our > > children, whether I would have learned a lesson at all. I don't think so. I > > would have suffered the punishment and gone on doing the same thing. But this > > single non-violent action was so powerful that it is still as if it happened > > yesterday. That is the power of non-violence." > > > > http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/resources/heart_stories.html
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