How has being a humble healer helped you feel better about a past mistake, lately?
The Old Woman and The Healer :
An old woman whose eyes were inflamed called in a healer and he told her that the eyesight would become faultless again, provided she would pay a very expensive fee for his services.
She agreed and he insisted her to keep her eyes shut during the treatment at which time the healer stole all the old lady’s furniture.
When he asked the woman for his fee, she refused to pay, so the healer took her to court. ‘It’s not true that he’s made my eyes better,’ the old lady told the judge.
They have got worse. Before, I could see everything in my house, now I can’t see at all.’
DISCOVERING OUR INNER BEAUTY – “The most important results of the Ninth Step will be found within ourselves. This step teaches us a great deal about humility, love, selflessness, and forgiveness. We begin to heal from our addiction and no longer live with as many regrets.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 67)
“A man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dreams.”
How does selflessness play a role in your recovery, lately?
Generosity :
Mahatma Gandhi went from city to city, village to village collecting funds for the Charkha Sangh. During one of his tours he addressed a meeting in Orissa. After his speech a poor old woman got up. She was bent with age, her hair was grey and her clothes were in tatters. The volunteers tried to stop her, but she fought her way to the place where Gandhi was sitting.
“I must see him,” she insisted and going up to Gandhi touched his feet.
Then from the folds of her sari she brought out a copper coin and placed it at his feet. Gandhi picked up the copper coin and put it away carefully. The Charkha Sangh funds were under the charge of Jamnalal Bajaj.
He asked Gandhi for the coin but Gandhi refused “I keep cheques worth thousands of rupees for the Charkha Sangh,” Jamnalal Bajaj said laughingly “yet you won’t trust me with a copper coin.”
“This copper coin is worth much more than those thousands” Gandhi said. “If a man has several lakhs and he gives away a thousand or two, it doesn’t mean much.But this coin was perhaps all that the poor woman possessed. She gave me all she had. That was very generous of her. What a great sacrifice she made. That is why I value this copper coin more than a crore of rupees.”
Overtook and forgive the weakness to generous people, because if they fall down, GOD gives his hand in their hands and helps them.
“Whenever we con-
front a difficulty that
we do not think we can
handle, we ask God [or our
Higher Power] to do for
us what we cannot
do for ourselves.”
(The Basic Text,
“We receive His
peace when we ask
Him for it. We keep His
peace by extending it to
others. Those are the
keys and there are
no others.”
What has caused you to desperately feel the need to pray for peace, lately?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMY4W0l4peY
A Town Mouse and A Country Mouse
The Country Mouse one day invited his friend to come and see him at his home in the fields. The Town Mouse came and they sat down to a dinner of barleycorns and roots the latter of which had a distinctly earthy flavour.
The flavour was not much to the taste of the guest and presently he broke out with “My poor dear friend, you live here no better than the ants. Now, you should just see how I fare! My larder is a regular horn of plenty. You must come and stay with me and I promise you shall live on the fat of the land.”
So when he returned to town he took the Country Mouse with him and showed him into a larder containing flour and oatmeal and figs and honey and dates.
…
The Country Mouse had never seen anything like it and sat down to enjoy the luxuries his friend provided. But before they had well begun, the door of the larder opened and some one came in. The two Mice scampered off and hid themselves in a narrow and exceedingly uncomfortable hole. Presently, when all was quiet, they ventured out again. But some one else came in, and off they scuttled again. This was too much for the visitor. “Good bye,” said he, “I’m off. You live in the lap of luxury, I can see, but you are surrounded by dangers whereas at home I can enjoy my simple dinner of roots and corn in peace.”
SOAKED IN PINK CLOUDS OF GLEE – “We’ve begun to see that God’s [or our Higher Power’s] will for us is the ability to live with dignity, to love ourselves and others, to laugh, and to find great joy and beauty in our surroundings.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 81) “It is not God’s will merely that we should be happy, but that we should make ourselves happy.”
What do you do or could you do to have more gratitude in your life?
The Happy Man :
Many, many years ago in North Africa there lived a chief. He was very rich and had many wives and children. But he was not happy. He thought, “I have everything. But that does not make me h.appy. What must I do to be happy? I don’t know.”
Once he shouted angrily to his servants, “Why can’t I be happy? What must I do to be happy?”
One of his servants said, “Oh, my Chief! Look at the sky! How beautiful the moon and the stars are! Look at them and you will see how good life is. That will make you happier.”
“Oh, no, no, no!” the chief answered angrily. “When I look at the moon and the stars I become angry. Because I know I cannot get them.”
Then another servant said, “Oh, my Chief! What about music?
Music makes a man h.appy. We shall play to you from morning till night and music will make you happy. ”
The chief’s face became red with anger. “Oh, no, no, no, no!” he cried. “What a silly idea. Music is fine. But to listen to music from morning till night, day after day? Never! No. Never!”
So the servants went away. And the chief sat angrily in his rich room. Then one of the servants came back into the room and made a bow, “Oh, my Chief,” he said, “but I think I can tell you something that will make you very happy.”
“What is it?” asked the chief.
“It is very easy to do,” said ‘the servant. “You must find a h.appy man, take off his shirt and put it on. Then his happiness will go into your body and you will be as happy as he!”
“I like your idea,” said the chief. He sent his soldiers all over the country to look for a happy man. They went on and on. But it was not easy to find a happy man in the chief’s country. But one day the soldiers found a man in a small village who said, “I am the happiest man in the world.”
He was poor. But he always smiled and sang. The soldiers brought him to the chief. “At last I shall be a happy man!” said the chief and took off his shirt at once. “Bring the man in!” The door of the chief’s room opened. A small, dark man with a happ.y smile walked in.
“Come here, my friend!” said the chief. “Please take off your shirt!” The happy man with a little smile came up to the chief. The chief looked at him and saw what did he see? The happ,y man, the happiest man in the world, had no shirt! (http://www.english-for-students.com/The-Happy-Man.html)
A “TRUE SPIRIT OF HUMILITY & LOVE” MENDS THE PANGS OF SHAME – “… we ask ourselves if we are doing this because we are truly sorry and have a genuine desire to make reparations … . If we answer ‘yes’ to this question, we can be assured that we are approaching our amends in the true spirit of humility and love.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 62)
“A man should never be ashamed to own he has been wrong, which is but saying, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.”
– Alexander Pope (1688 – 1744) English translator of the Greek epic poem
What happened when have you felt some shame and admit a terrible mistake to others, lately?
Doctor Croaky :
One day a frog left the pond of the village and hopped to a lake in a nearby forest. He went to the forest to make his new home there. When he reached there he did not see anyone around. He wanted to meet everyone and make new friends. So the frog climbed a high rock by the lake and said, “Friends, please come here. I am new here. I want to meet all of you. Because I have come from the village.”
Many animals heard his voice and came to the lake. The deer, the tortoise, the duck, the rabbit, the birds, the squirrel, the butterfly and the fox came there. The frog said, “Let me introduce myself. I am Dr. Croaky. I am a doctor who can cure any ailment that you might be suffering from. I have medicines for all animals’ diseases. You can come to meet me anytime.”
Hearing this, the fox said, “If you can cure everyone then why haven’t you cured your lame legs? See how you keep hopping around all the time.”
All the animals and birds laughed at the frog. The frog went red with shame for his lie had been detected. (http://www.english-for-students.com/Doctor-Croaky.html)
THE SHADOW OF OUR HUGE, HEAVY GUILT BEGINS TO FLOATS AWAY – “Memories of the past no longer hold us back … .” “We are free to dream and to pursue the fulfillment of our dreams. Our lives stretch out before us like a limitless horizon.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 69)
“The storms of the past are receding. The skies are brightening. And the horizon is beckoning once more.”
– U.S. Pres. Barack Obama (1961 – ) Energy speech 12/8/09
When was the last time your own shadow ego rose up and caused you to be shocked by how much anger was seething underneath?
The Dog and The Shadow :
A big dog stole a piece of bone from a kitchen. It began to run very fast. It came to a stream. The stream was bridged by a plank. As he walked across the plank, he saw a very strange sight.
The water in the stream was clear and quiet. It saw another dog with another bone in its mouth in the water.
“Ho!…” said the dog.
“What is this? Another dog with a piece of bone down in water? With a much bigger piece than mine! I will take it from the dog.”
But the dog did not realize that the dog in the water was its own reflection.
He opened its mouth to catch the piece of bone from the dog in the water.
Alas! Down fell his own dinner with a loud splash…The gentle waving movement of the water cleared. The dog was staring up out of the water with empty jaws.
It was his shadow that he saw all the time and the shadow of his piece of bone too.
FREED BY SELF-ACCEPTANCE SO OUR DREAMS CAN TAKE FLIGHT – “We no longer have to be right all the time. When we give ourselves this freedom, we can allow others to be wrong. Freedom to change seems to come after acceptance of ourselves.” (The Basic Text, p. 58)
“Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.”
How have you allowed others the freedom and the sense of self-acceptance to make choices you felt were wrong, lately?
The Boy and The Apple Tree :
A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed to the treetop, ate the apples and took a nap under the shadow. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by. The little boy had grown up and he now longer played around the tree every day.
One day the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. ‘Come and play with me”, the tree asked the boy.
“I am no longer a kid. I do not play around trees any more,” the boy replied.
“[I] want toys. I need money to buy them.”
‘Sorry….but I do not have money, but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money.”
The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples.
The tree was sad.
One day the boy who now turned into a man returned and the tree was excited.
‘Come and play with me’ the tree said.
“I do not have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?’
‘Sorry…. but I do not have any house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house.”
‘So the man cut all the branches of the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the man never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.
One hot summer day, the man returned and the tree was delighted.
‘Come and play with me!’ the tree said.
I am getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself, can you give me a boat?’ said the man.
“Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.”
So the man cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time.
…
Finally, the man returned after many years. ‘Sorry, my boy. But I do not have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you’, the tree said.
“[N]o problem, I do not have any teeth to bite’ the man replied.
‘No more trunk for you to climb on.” ‘I am too old for that now.” The man said.
“I really cannot give yon anything, the only thing left is my dying roots,’ the tree said with tears.
“I do not need much now, just a place to rest. [I] am tired after all these years,’ the man replied.
‘Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest come sit down with me and rest.’
The man sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears.
This is a story of everyone. The tree is like our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with our Mum and Dad. When we grow up, we leave them… only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could just to make you happy.
You may think the boy is cruel to the tree, but that is how all of us treat our parents. We take them for granted. We don’t appreciate all they do for us, until it’s too late.
GRATITUDE FUELS A LOVING HEART – “When brimming with gratitude, one’s heartbeat must surely result in out- going love … .” (As Bill Sees It, p. 37)
“An understanding heart is everything in a teacher … . One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling.” “… warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” – Carl Jung (1875 – 1961) Swiss Psychologist
How have you been able to respond with gratitude and love or not, lately?
Be Grateful :
A rich landowner named Carl often rode around his vast estate so he could congratulate himself on his great wealth. One day while riding around his estate on his favorite horse, he saw Hans, an old tenant farmer. Hans was sitting under a tree when Carl rode by.
Hans said, ‘I was just thanking God for my food.’
Carl protested, ‘If that is all I had to eat, I wouldn’t feel like giving thanks.’
Hans replied, ‘God has given me everything I need and I am thankful for it.’
The old farmer added, ‘It is strange you should come by today because I had a dream last night. In my dream a voice told me….The richest man in the valley will die tonight.’ I don’t know what it means, but I thought I ought to tell you.’
Carl snorted, ‘Dreams are nonsense,’ and galloped away, but he could not forget Hans’ words…The richest man in the valley will die tonight.
He was obviously the richest man in the valley, so he invited his doctor to his house that evening. Carl told the doctor what Hans had said. After a thorough examination, the doctor told the wealthy landowner, ‘Carl, you are as strong and healthy as a horse. There is no way you are going to die tonight.’
…
Nevertheless, for assurance, the doctor stayed with Carl, and they played cards through the night. The doctor left the next morning and Carl apologized for becoming so upset over the old man’s dream.
At about nine o’clock, a messenger arrived at Carl’s door.
‘What is it?’ Carl demanded.
The messenger explained, ‘It’s about old Hans. He died last night in his sleep.’
You don’t need money to be rich, be grateful for what you have in lire and you will feel happier.
SELFLESSNESS AIDS THE NEEDS OF THE MANY – ” … no society of men and women ever had a more urgent need for continuous effectiveness and permanent unity. We … see that we must work together and hang together, else most of us will finally die alone.” (The Big Book, p. 561)
“He made us realize, we are our brother’s keeper and that our brothers come in all colors.”
U.S. Boxer Muhammad Ali on Nelson Mandela, 1st native African President of South Africa, who died 12/5/13 at the age of 95.
“VANITY, PRIDE & ARROGANCE” oh my – “There were cases, too, where we had damaged others who were still happily unaware of being hurt. Why, we cried, shouldn’t bygones be bygones? Why do we have to think of these people at all? These were some of the ways in which fear conspired with pride to hinder our making a list of all the people we had harmed.” (12 & 12, p. 79)
“The truest characters of ignorance are vanity, and pride and arrogance.”
