“One morning, a horse rider stopped outside a village where a few old men were sitting and chatting under a tree. He inquired about the adjoining village and what kind of people were staying there.
The old man asked the rider, “Before I answer your question, let me ask you, what are you looking for?” The rider said, “I have left my village and want to settle in this village. Hence I wanted to know what kind of people live here.”
The old man took a deep look at the rider and asked, “Tell me, what kind of people were there in the village that you left?”
The rider’s expression became uncomfortable. He frowned and said, “don’t even take their name. Those people were very bad, they were the worst people on this earth as they made the village a living hell for me, I couldn’t stand them and wanted to run away from there. Hence I am asking, before I decide to settle in this village, what kind of people live here?”
The old man smiled and said, “My dear friend, the people of this village are worse than the ones you left behind. I am living here since last 70 years and hence telling you that they are equally unkind and bad. You should find another village to settle in and certainly not this one.” The rider moved on.
Just a while later, a family stopped in a bullock cart near the same group of old men. The head of that family asked them, “Sirs, will you be kind enough to tell us what kind of people live in this village? We have left our old village and now are looking to settle here.”
The old man asked the same question, “Tell me, what kind of people were there in the village that you left?”
The man replied with glee in his eyes,” Ohh those guys?!! they were amazing people. So kind, generous and accommodating. We were like one big family. We would never have thought of leaving them but we had to, and hence looking for a place where we feel at home again.”
The old man smiled and said, “You are most welcome to live in this village. People here are very kind and warm. I have lived here for 70 years and I can assure you that you will not miss your old village once you settle here.” The family cheered and happily moved towards the village.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — –
It was the same village and the same people but the old man gave two different answers. It does not matter how the village is, it depends on HOW YOU ARE!
If I am restless from within, then there is no reason to think that people around me are bad; circumstances are bad and hence I am in a state of misery. The real reason for this restlessness is embedded within us, in our own personality.
In the same world, in similar situations, there are people who are very joyful and elated. Mahavir, Buddha, Krishna and Christ were born here and their lives were filled with divine ecstasy. It is the same earth, same sky, same stars and moon, same circumstances, and the same people. Among them, only a few may achieve a state of total bliss, whereas others find themselves to be miserable.
It all revolves around the way we think, the way we live our lives and the way we see the world around us.
We struggle with this question often. How to find the inner peace of mind? We believe that there is a whole load of sorrow and misery in our lives. Whoever thinks like that will find that this life is without any purpose. We live because we are incapable of dying. We drag through our lives and await the inevitable death. There is no joy, no dance, no peace in life. We are like an uprooted plant. Hence we are not finding such blissful eyes, nor such hearts filled with ecstasy or such lives filled with the music of love.
The question is, what can be done to overcome this situation which will rejuvenate the human mind?
We do see that life is disturbed and whenever life is disturbed, we project the blame on others; that someone else is making it so. Anyone who thinks this way can never be peaceful.
(excerpts from “How to Find Inner Peace” — Osho Gyan)
आदमी आदमी से मिलता है
दिल मगर कम किसी से मिलता है — – जिगर मुरादाबादी
aadmī aadmī se miltā hai
dil magar kam kisī se miltā hai — – JIGAR MORADABADI
A person meets another person
but seldom do their hearts meet.