Value of Knowledge

A giant ship engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure out how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a young. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do.

After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars. “What?!” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!” So they wrote to the old man saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.”

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer…… …… ……… $ 2.00

Knowing where to tap……… …… ……… $ 9,998.00

Moral :- Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference!

Learn And Earn

Chuan and Jing joined a wholesale company together just after graduation. Both worked very hard. After several years, the boss promoted Jing to sales executive but Chuan remained a sales rep. One day Chuan could not take it anymore, tender resignation to the boss and complained the boss did not value hard working staff, but only promoted those who flattered him. The boss knew that Chuan worked very hard for the years, but in order to help Chuan realise the difference between him and Jing, the boss asked Chuan to do the following. Go and find out anyone selling water melon in the market? Chuan returned and said yes. The boss asked how much per kg? Chuan went back to the market to ask and returned to inform boss the $12 per kg.

Boss told Chuan, I will ask Jing the same question? Jing went, returned and said, boss, only one person selling water melon. $12 per kg, $100 for 10 kg, he has inventory of 340 melons. On the table 58 melons, every melon weighs about 15 kg, bought from the South two days ago, they are fresh and red, good quality. Chuan was very impressed and realised the difference between himself and Jing. He decided not to resign but to learn from Jing.

Moral: My dear friends, a more successful person is more observant, think more and understand in depth. For the same matter, a more successful person sees several years ahead, while you see only tomorrow. The difference between a year and a day is 365 times, how could you win? Think! how far have you seen ahead in your life? How thoughtful in depth are you?

Be +Ve

One teacher had two disciples. One of them had an auspicious positive vision and he always sought out good points from anything he observed while the other one had an inauspicious vision and always found out some negative or faults from his observations.

One day, the teacher went out to a park with both the disciples and while wandering in the garden, they came across a mango tree from which some ripe and juicy mangoes were hanging. On seeing this, the teacher thought to test both of his students. Therefore, he called them beside him and asked them to observe the tree full of mangoes very carefully. Then, he asked the first one, "My dear child, what do you think of this mango tree?"

The disciple answered instantly, "Teacher, in spite of people hitting this tree with stones, it gives us sweet and juicy mangoes. It feels hurt but still it gives us fruits. I wish all human beings learn this important message from the mango tree - to share their belongings even if they have to suffer for this."

After that, the teacher asked the same question to the other disciple, "My dear child, what do you think of this mango tree?" The student aggressively answered, "Teacher, this mango tree is no good and will not give mangoes by itself but only when we hit it with stones and sticks. Therefore, we should hit it hard to get sweet mangoes from it. That is the only way to get these mangoes. It is also clear from this tree that in order to get good fruits from others, we need to be violent and only when we become violent, then and only then will we get happiness."

Teacher was delighted with the answer given by the first student because he had an admirable vision and appreciated the tree with positive vision while on the other hand the second student's answer dissatisfied him because he saw the tree with negative vision and insisted on learning the wrong way of getting fruits in life. He showered his blessings on the first disciple whole-heartedly.

Even though the situation is same, it still depends on how we interpret it, which shows our mental status and the way we think of others.

DEVELOP A POSITIVE VISION AND ALWAYS FIND OUT SOMETHING GOOD FROM EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE.

Moral: Positivity is the biggest strength in life. Success follows who are positive in all situations. Many great celebrities had one or more weaknesses but they were always positive for self, others and situations and hence became successful by overcoming all sorts of obstacles. A little poison of negativity about others in our mind can destroy our relationships with them. Everybody has definitely something that can be appreciated, we only need to apply positive vision and appreciate others.

The Story of the Golden Buddha

In the early 19th century, the King of Thailand decreed that all the images of Buddha residing in abandoned, ruined temples be gathered and brought to his new capitol in Bangkok. From all over the countryside all manner of statues were rescued, including one giant painted statue made of mud. The statue had lain forgotten and neglected in a ruined temple of a kingdom that had been destroyed some fifty years ago. The twelve foot tall statue, although beautiful, was generally considered valueless and it was moved to a minor temple in Bangkok where it sat for over a hundred years.

Plans to expand the temple were made in the 1950’s. In order to construct the new addition, the statue needed to be moved. As the heavy statue was lifted from its resting place it began to rain heavily. Worried about the rain damaging the statue, the crew began to rush. The situation grew worse when a rope broke. The Buddha fell into the mud. The construction crew decided to wait until the next day to try moving the heavy statue again and covered the plaster statue with a tarp.

A monk volunteered to keep watch over the fallen Buddha to ensure that the tarp did not blow away in the rain and wind. But the monk was so tired he slept through the rain, dreaming as he lay at the base of the Buddha. He dreamed that the Buddha was divine, that it was very precious. The dream was so vivid and profound that he awoke with a start. The monk was panicked to discover that while he lay dreaming, the tarp had blown off exposing the statue to the driving rain. The monk became distraught, realizing that he had fallen asleep on his watch and therefore was responsible for the ruin of the divine statue.

As he stood helplessly watching the rain wash away the paint, a stroke of lighting lit up the night sky. In that moment the monk saw a brilliant yellow glint shine from beneath the mud. Peering closer he saw that when the Buddha had fallen, the plaster had cracked. The rain had been washing over the split, widening the crack along the surface. The monk began to push away the mud, revealing a miraculous sight. Under the painted mud was the gleam of gold! He ran to wake the other monks and soon they set to clearing the mud from the statue. Under the plaster they found a massive solid gold statue of Buddha!

It seems that when the fallen Kingdom was facing destruction they had saved their most precious icon by covering it up with mud. As years passed, the memory of the golden Buddha had faded. Over the years more mud was added, more paint applied until to all it seemed a crude and worthless object. Today, the Golden Buddha sits in the temple of Wat Traimit in Bangkok, Thailand. It is the largest solid gold statue in the world! What sometimes appears without value on the surface can be solid gold underneath.

How does the Golden Buddha apply to our lives? There is a Golden Buddha inside each of us. Hidden away and covered with layers and layers of clay. We start out life as a true Golden Buddha. Then life pulls us away from our true self. In an effort to fit in we start hiding our authentic self for fear of not being enough, for shame of how we might be perceived or for a misplaced desire to please.

Revel in your untapped potential! Resolve to present your true self to the world! Be bold and Present your glorious golden face to the world! We will all reap the rewards…