1) The Frogs

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a
million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he
could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, "There is a pond near my house
that is full of frogs millions of them. They all croak all night long and they
are about to make me crazy!" So the restaurant Owner and the farmer made an
agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at
a time for the next several weeks.
The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish,
with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, "Well... where are all
the frogs?" The farmer said, "I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in
the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!"

Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember, it's
probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also remember that problems always seem
bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night worrying about
things which seem almost overwhelming like a million frogs croaking? Chances are
pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll
wonder what all the fuss was about.



2) The Pretty Lady

Once upon a time, a big monk and a little monk were travelling together. They
came to the bank of a river and found the bridge was damaged. They had to wade
across the river.
There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross
the river. The big monk offered to carry the pretty lady across the river on his
back. The lady accepted. The little monk was shocked by the move of the big
monk."How can big disciple brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid
all intimacy with females?" thought the little monk. But he kept quiet. The big
monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily.
When they crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways
with her.

All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the
act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about the big
monk in his head. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet. And
the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation. Finally, at a rest
point many hours later, the little monk could not stand it any further, he burst
out angrily at the big monk. "How can you claim yourself a devout monk, when you
seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very
pretty? All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite."
The big monk looked surprised and said, "I had put down the pretty lady at the
river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?"

This very old Chinese zen story reflects the thinking of many people today. We
encounter many unpleasant things in our life, they irritate us and they make us
angry. Sometimes, they cause us a lot of hurt, sometimes they cause us to be
bitter or jealous. But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go
away. We keep on carrying the baggage of the "pretty lady" with us. We let them
keep on coming back to hurt us, make us angry, make us bitter and cause us a lot
of agony. Why? Simply because we are not willing to put down or let go of the
baggage of the "pretty lady". We should let go of the pretty lady immediately
after crossing the river, immediately after the unpleasant event is over. This
will immediately remove all our agonies. There is no need to be further hurt by
the unpleasant event after it is over. It is just that simple



3) The Turtles

A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. Turtles, being naturally slow about
things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family
left home looking for a suitable place for their outing.
During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at
last! For about six months they cleaned up the area, unpacked the picnic basket,
and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the
salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a
lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from
home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle
whined,cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that
no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle
left.
Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned.
Five years...
six years...

then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer
contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and begun to unwrap a
sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree
shouting,
"SEE! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt."

Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We
are so concerned about what others are doing that we don't do anything
ourselves.



4) The Donkey

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for
hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the
animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn't
worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and
help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At
first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then,to
everyone's amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer
looked down the well, and was astonished at what he saw. As every shovel of dirt
hit his back, the donkey did something amazing. He would shake it off and take a
step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the
animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was
amazed, as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off.

The Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to
getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our
troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not
stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up! Remember the five
simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.