Uplifting Stories
Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. So, get up, get up and fight. Bhagatav Gita
The Soul in the Cavern
There was a soul whose time had come to take a human birth and so it went to the great cavern, where all such souls went. In the cavern were hundreds and thousands of souls, each manifesting a small blue flame.
When its turn came, the soul stood up and said:
“My time has come to take human incarnation, for I have work to do and many lessons to learn. In my life as human I shall need family and loving friends to help me, to love me and to nurture me. Who will be my family on earth?”
A ripple flickered across the thousands of flames and shortly a few stood forward and said:
“We do not know you, we have not met before and we are strangers, but being kind and giving love is a pleasant and easy task. We will be your friends and family on earth.”
The soul spoke out again and said:
“On earth I shall need teachers, people to guide me, to correct me and to discipline me. Who will be my teachers?”
Again a ripple went round the assembled flames, and a group came forward and said:
“We have known you in other lives and we have grown to respect you and like you. We will take on the task of being your teachers in life.”
And a third time the soul spoke out and said:
“On earth if I am to learn the greatest lesson of all, the lesson of humility, tolerance under provocation, and to love those who hate me, I shall need people to hate me and to do violence to me. Who will do this for me? Who will be my enemies?”
There was a long pause in the cavern until at last a small group came forward and said:
“We are your soul group, we have known you over eons of time and your growth and your learning are as dear to us as our own. This is the most delicate and difficult task and if you are to be hurt and abused it would be better done by loving friends. We will be your enemies on earth.”
Allegory of the Long Spoons
also known as “The Parable of the Long Spoons”
A man, having a near death experience, contemplates his life of sin and anxiously awaits his fate in the next world.
An escort meets him at the boundary of hereafter and with a welcoming smile says, “You’re not ready yet friend; you still have another chance. But you’ll return soon, so let me show you what goes on here on the other side.”
Together they enter a great hall where a long candle-lit banquet table is laden with bowls of steaming, fragrant soups, succulent roasts, perfectly cooked vegetables, aromatic loaves of bread, the finest of wines, fruits of every kind, and a dazzling array of cakes and pies. Diners fill every chair, but shockingly, amid luxurious bounty, the scene is one of pain and anguish. Skeletal forms are twisted and moaning in starvation, with barely the strength to strike at each other with their spoons.
Looking closer, our friend sees that all spoons have long handles—longer than the diners’ arms; too long for the diners to feed themselves. “So this is Hell,” gasps our Friend. “Anger and misery amid abundance??? Where’s the Devil?” “Evil resides in the hearts of men,” says the escort, “But, come, let me show you something else.”
The two enter another great hall. And in that hall there is another long, candle-lit banquet table, covered with a similar incredible spread of delicious foods, drinks and sweets. Here the sounds of laughter, chatter and song fill the hall while healthy and happy diners are enjoying the company and the bounty before them.
They, too, have long spoons, but they are feeding each other. “And this,” the Escort tells our Friend, “is heaven.”
Starfish
While walking the beach, a man saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the sea.
As he came closer, he saw thousands of starfish the tide had thrown onto the beach. Unable to return to the ocean during low tide, the starfish were dying. He observed a young boy picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean.
After watching the seemingly futile effort, the observer said, “There must be thousands of starfish on this beach. It would be impossible for you to save all of them. There are simply too many. You can’t possibly make a difference.”
The young boy smiled as he picked up another starfish and tossed it back into the ocean. “It made a difference to that one,” he replied.
He was making a huge difference to a few starfish.
All of us can make a difference to someone by performing small acts of kindness. Often, we never know what an impact we make with just a smile, a touch, or a kind word. By changing one life we change the world. Every action has its affects. So make a difference and help someone get back into the ocean of life. You need not risk your life carrying them through the surf, but find out what they need to get back into the swim. Then help them do it.
God's Coffee
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some
expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:
“If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.
Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.
What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups… And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.
Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.”
God brews the coffee, not the cups………. Enjoy your coffee!
“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.”
The Lion Cub who thought He was a Goat
While walking through the forest one day, a young lion cub became separated from his mother. Lost and hungry, the cub came upon a family of goats who took him in and brought him up as one of their own. Within a few months, the little cub even began to bleat like the other goats, though he never did quite get it right.
One day, the goats were dining in a grassy field, when a big lion happened by. All of the young goats went to hide behind the trees, just in case the big lion was looking for lunchmeat. The big lion had already had his meal, but was surprised to see a young lion cub running off to hide with the goats. He went over to the lion cub and asked, “What are you doing here with these goats?”
The cub eyed the lion nervously, and replied, “These are my goat brothers and sisters, sir, and I am also a goat.”
The older lion realized there was a problem here. “What on earth makes you think you’re a goat?”
This question confused the cub. Couldn’t this lion see he was a goat? Nobody had ever questioned his goatness before. The cub became suspicious. Maybe this lion was planning to get him involved in some dubious scheme. “Please, just let us be,” implored the cub, “Everything is just fine here with us goats.”
However, the lion couldn’t bear to let this poor cub live on in such delusion. After all, he was the king of the forest, not a lowly goat. “Come with me,” the lion said, leading the cub to a nearby stream. “Look into the waters and see your true nature.”
The cub walked up to the water’s edge. He had drunk from these waters many times before, but had never bothered to look at his reflection before breaking the water’s surface. As he peered into the waters, the cub saw his own majestic face and began to roar with amazement and joy.
This is a great analogy for the predicament most people are in. Not realizing their true identity, many base their self-image on the opinions of others.
A Dragon Named ‘Fear’
According to a Hindu story, a prince lived with his people in abject misery and poverty in a valley because the only entrance in or out was guarded by a huge dragon who breathed fire upon anyone who tried to pass. One day, when all the valley’s resources were finally used up, the prince decided he had no choice but to lead his people out of the valley to the lush, verdant meadows beyond or they would all be doomed, would starve to death. Having marshaled his subjects into a long line behind him, he marched them towards the entrance of the valley, but, true to form, the dragon reared up and breathed his fiery breath upon them. Terrified, the prince and his people fell back, but once the prince had recovered he tried again, and then again, with the same results. On the last occasion, however, he noticed something different about the dragon. He noticed that every time he and his people took a step backwards, the dragon increased in size, but every time he and his people stepped forwards, the dragon got smaller. Suddenly, with renewed zeal, the prince stepped forwards and this time, ignoring the fiery blasts that singed his hair, he continued to go forwards. With each step, the dragon became smaller and smaller until eventually there was only something the size of a pea lying on the ground. Stooping down, the prince took the tiny creature into his hand. “Who are you?” he asked, bewildered. “Fear,” the creature replied. Then the prince understood that it is fear that keeps us in bondage – in poverty of spirit – and that it is only the willingness to face up to our fears that will fear us.
Fear makes death appear as Man’s enemy.
Lord Hugh Dowding
The Dragonfly
Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water beetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond with few disturbances and interruptions.
Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever.
Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he would not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top.
When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he decided he must take a nap. As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying.
So, fly he did! And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never known existed. Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking by now he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them, and explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled rather than ended.
But, his new body would not go down into the water. He could not get back to tell his friends the good news. Then he understood that their time would come, when they, too, would know what he now knew. So, he raised his wings and flew off into his joyous new life!
~Author Unknown~