5 Short Stories that helped me grow!

Like anyone, I am very much interested in stories, story telling or listening or reading especially, every since I was a child I used to be very curious to hear stories from my grandmother. She really had the talent to transport us to the world of the story itself. Now, as an adult I don’t so much have time for that but still here and there when I read a book, few stories have captivated my attention and made me stop and think and grow as a person.

Here are few books from which these stories I would like to list , so may be just like me, you would also find it interesting and take some pointers here and there and apply it in your day to day life.

Stories that helped me grow

1. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckart Tolle

On Releasing Negative emotions:

Watch any plant or animal and let it teach you acceptance of what is, surrender to the Now. Let it teach you Being. Let it teach you integrity — which means to be one, to be yourself, to be real. Let it teach you how to live and how to die, and how not to make living and dying into a problem.

I have lived with several Zen masters — all of them cats. Even ducks have taught me important spiritual lessons. Just watching them is a meditation. How peacefully they float along, at ease with themselves, totally present in the Now, dignified and perfect as only a mindless creature can be. Occasionally, however, two ducks will get into a fight — sometimes for no apparent reason, or because one duck has strayed into another’s private space. The fight usually lasts only for a few seconds, and then the ducks separate, swim off in opposite directions, and vigorously flap their wings a few times. They then continue to swim on peacefully as if the fight had never happened. When I observed that for the first time, I suddenly realised that by flapping their wings they were releasing surplus energy, thus preventing it from becoming trapped in their body and turning into negativity. This is natural wisdom, and it is easy for them because they do not have a mind that keeps the past alive unnecessarily and then builds an identity around it.

2. A New Earth: By Tolle, Eckhart

CARRYING THE PAST

The inability or rather unwillingness of the human mind to let go of the past is beautifully illustrated in the story of two Zen monks, Tanzan and Ekido, who were walking along a country road that had become extremely muddy after heavy rains. Near a village, they came upon a young woman who was trying to cross the road, but the mud was so deep it would have ruined the silk kimono she was wearing. Tanzan at once picked her up and carried her to the other side. The monks walked on in silence. Five hours later, as they were approaching the lodging temple, Ekido couldn’t restrain himself any longer. “Why did you carry that girl across the road?” he asked. “We monks are not supposed to do things like that.” “I put the girl down hours ago,” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”

Now imagine what life would be like for someone who lived like Ekido all the time, unable or unwilling to let go internally of situations, accumulating more and more “stuff” inside, and you get a sense of what life is like for the majority of people on our planet. What a heavy burden of past they carry around with them in their minds. The past lives in you as memories, but memories in themselves are not a problem. In fact, it is through memory that we learn from the past and from past mistakes. It is only when memories, that is to say, thoughts about the past, take you over completely that they turn into a burden, turn problematic, and become part of your sense of self. Your personality, which is conditioned by the past, then becomes your prison. Your memories are invested with a sense of self, and your story becomes who you perceive yourself to be. This “little me” is an illusion that obscures your true identity as timeless and formless Presence.

3. A New Earth: By Eckhart Tolle

CAN YOU HEAR THE MOUNTAIN STREAM?

A Zen Master was walking in silence with one of his disciples along a mountain trail. When they came to an ancient cedar tree, they sat down under it for a simple meal of some rice and vegetables. After the meal, the disciple, a young monk who had not yet found the key to the mystery of Zen, broke the silence by asking the Master, “Master, how do I enter Zen?” He was, of course, inquiring how to enter the state of consciousness which is Zen.

The Master remained silent. Almost five minutes passed while the disciple anxiously waited for an answer. He was about to ask another question when the Master suddenly spoke. “Do you hear the sound of that mountain stream?” The disciple had not been aware of any mountain stream. He had been too busy thinking about the meaning of Zen. Now, as he began to listen for the sound, his noisy mind subsided. At first he heard nothing. Then, his thinking gave way to heightened alertness, and suddenly he did hear the hardly perceptible murmur of a small stream in the far distance. “Yes, I can hear it now,” he said. The Master raised his finger and, with a look in his eyes that in some way was both fierce and gentle, said, “Enter Zen from there.”

The disciple was stunned. It was his first satori — a flash of enlightenment. He knew what Zen was without knowing what it was that he knew! They continued on their journey in silence. The disciple was amazed at the aliveness of the world around him. He experienced everything as if for the first time. Gradually, however, he started thinking again.

The alert stillness became covered up again by mental noise, and before long he had another question. “Master,” he said, “I have been thinking. What would you have said if I hadn’t been able to hear the mountain stream?” The Master stopped, looked at him, raised his finger and said, “Enter Zen from there.”

4. Nguyen, Joseph. Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering (Beyond Suffering Book 1)

A Young Monk & the Empty Boat (A Zen Story About How Thinking is the Cause of Our Own Suffering)

A long time ago, a young Zen monk was living in a small monastery that was located in a forest which was near a small lake. The monastery was occupied by a few senior monks while the rest were newcomers and still had much to learn. The monks had many obligations in the monastery, but one of the most important ones was their daily routine where they had to sit down, close their eyes, and meditate in silence for hours at a time. After each meditation, they had to report their progress to their mentor.

The young monk had difficulty staying focused during his meditation practice for a variety of reasons, which made him very mad. After the young monk reported his progress, or better said, lack of it, to his mentor, the elder monk asked the young monk a simple question that had a hidden lesson, “Do you know what is really making you angry?”

The young monk replied, “Well, usually as soon as I close my eyes and begin to meditate, there is someone moving around, and I can’t focus. I get agitated that someone is disturbing me even though they know that I’m meditating. How can they not be more considerate? And then when I close my eyes again and try to focus, a cat or a small animal might brush past and disturb me again. By this point, even when the wind blows and the tree branches make noise, I get angry. If that is not enough, the birds keep on chirping, and I can’t seem to find any peace in this place.”

The elder monk simply pointed out to his pupil, “I see that you become angrier with each interruption you encounter. This is exactly the opposite of what is the point of your task when meditating. You should find a way not to get angry with people, or animals, or any other thing around you that disturbs you during your task.”

After their consultation, the young monk went out of the monastery and looked around to find a place that would be quieter so that he could meditate peacefully. He found such a place at the shore of the lake that is nearby. He brought his mat, sat down, and started meditating. But soon a flock of birds splashed down in the lake near where the monk was meditating. Hearing their noise, the monk opened his eyes to see what was going on. Although the bank of the lake was quieter than the monastery, there were still things that would disturb his peace and he again got angry. Even though he didn’t find the peace he was looking for, he kept returning to the lake.

Then one day, the monk saw a boat tied at the end of a small pier. And right then an idea hit him, “Why don’t I take the boat, row it down to the middle of the lake and meditate there? In the middle of the lake, there will be nothing to disturb me!” He rowed the boat to the middle of the lake and started meditating. As he had expected, there was nothing in the middle of the lake to disturb him and he was able to meditate the whole day. At the end of the day, he returned to the monastery. This continued for a couple of days and the monk was thrilled that he had finally found a place to meditate in peace. He hadn’t felt angry and could continue the meditation practice in a calm manner.

On the third day, the monk sat in the boat, rowed to the middle of the lake, and started meditating again. A few minutes later, he heard some splashing of water and felt that the boat was rocking. He started getting upset that even in the middle of the lake there was someone or something disturbing him. When he opened his eyes, he saw a boat heading straight towards him. He shouted, “Steer your boat away, or else you will hit my boat.” But the other boat kept coming straight at him and was just a few feet away. He yelled again but nothing changed and so the incoming boat hit the monk’s boat. Now he was furious. He screamed, “Who are you, and why have you hit my boat in the middle of this vast lake?” There was no answer. This made the young monk even angrier. He stood up to see who was in the other boat and to his surprise, he found that there was no one in the boat. The boat had probably drifted along in the breeze and had bumped into the monk’s boat.

The monk found his anger dissipating. It was just an empty boat! There was no one to get angry at! At that moment he remembered his mentors’ question, “Do you know what is really making you angry?” And then wondered, “It’s not other people, situations, or circumstances. It’s not the empty boat, but my reaction to it that causes my anger. All the people or situations that make me upset and angry are just like the empty boat. They don’t have the power to make me angry without my own reaction.” The monk then rowed the boat back to the shore.

He returned to the monastery and started meditating along with the other monks. There were still noises and disturbances around, but the monk treated them as the “empty boat” and continued to meditate peacefully. When the elder monk saw the difference, he simply said to the young monk, “I see that you have found what is really making you angry and overcome that.”

5. The Power of One Thought: Master Your Mind, Master Your Life by BK. Shivani

Ready to set yourself free?

Let us begin with a short story — the tale of a little eaglet which was perched on a tree branch, its curling talons firmly gripping the wood. A boy passing by saw it desperately flapping its wings to fly but failing. There was more than enough momentum for the bird to move through the air and fly but it just did not take off. After a few minutes, it finally gave up.

The boy went closer and asked the exhausted eaglet what had happened. The bird mumbled, ‘I tried so hard to fly but this branch is holding me back. It is not letting me go.’ The startled boy pointed out, ‘What are you saying? The branch is not holding you. It is you who has clutched onto it. Just let go of the branch and you will easily fly.’ Many of us are familiar with this story. Oftentimes, our own life experiences resonate with it.

Within us we have all the emotions we wish to feel — peace, happiness, kindness and contentment. So we are free to experience them at every moment. But somehow we seem to be oblivious of this freedom. We chase after these emotions and often feel that something holds us back from accessing them. And much like the eaglet, we remain emotionally stuck and become disheartened.

Conclusion

Which story resonated with you? Like me do you learn through stories ? Please comment below if you like them, and share your own inspiring, motivating stories if you have any. Thank you for reading.