Business to the Buddha

Tag: Father Anthony de Mello

  • How to get out of the comfort zone?

    Last week I wrote the biggest lesson that I learnt with Professor Tomas Lopez. Simple summary of the lesson, we’re conditioned to think in certain manner. It cause more trouble to our daily situation then anything else. I was fortunate to have been reminded of this problem of mine (our mind) by Professor Mankad too – read here. Professor Lopez put me out of my comfort zone many a times. Getting out of comfort zone is very important if you want to earn some pearls in life.

    Here is a short story of loss, that one must avoid in life. This story is from the book – Prayers of the frog Volume 1 and Volume 2. An awesome book with short stories and life lessons.

    Awareness

    An oyster saw a loose pearl that had fallen into the crevice of a rock on the ocean bed. After great effort she managed to retrieve the pearl and place it just beside her on a leaf.

    She knew that humans searched for pearls and thought, “This pearl will tempt them, so they will take it and let me be.”

    When a pearl diver showed up, however, his eyes were conditioned to look for oysters and not for pearls resting on leaves.

    So he grabbed the oyster which did not happen to have a pearl and allowed the real pearl to roll back into the crevice in the rock.

    From the book – Prayers of the frog V1

    The author concludes – You know exactly where to look. That is the reason why you fail to find God.

    prayer-of-the-frog

    It happens with all of us, we look for happiness in something other than what we have in hand. This is where we end up being unhappy. Many a times we know the answer to – “When will I be happy?” Yet we miss the path to the goal. In fact, when we achieve the goal; our goal post has already changed. This is the problem of our mind, we are never calm, even before we reach somewhere we find the next destination. Here the destination can be as easy as the next venue for dinner or as ambitious as next company, job, or car. What we need to change is our way of thinking.

    Our life experience and circumstances programs us to become a certain individual over time. Be it the diver of the above story, or me or you. We must ask a question to ourselves – are we ready to get out of our comfort zone?

    How to get out of the comfort zone?

    Our comfort zone is the worst enemy of our possibilities. As was the case with the Digger. I think we can get out of comfort zone by some of the ways such as

    1. Getting into tough spots with choice – life is a trouble… only death is not I was put in those situations by Prof Lopez
    2. Awareness in actions, if you had read my blog on conditioned mind, you would understand the context
    3. Get out of your ego, do something that does not conform to your definition of YOU. Read how Mumbai brushed my ego
    4. Learn from past experience (slingshot example), yet try things without getting bogged down by your past experiences
    5. Remember our perceptions create our reality, do not limit yourself with those limited perceptions of yours
    6. Keep things simple as ABC – story from Prayers of the frog
    7. Think and know, you are nothing in front of the creation, why limit yourself, why feel low, embarrassed even before trying?

    The Buddha also went beyond his comfort zone to be enlightened. In fact he had put his everything on the gamble. Let me know which one you can relate to? Or what you think is even better method of getting out of comfort zone, it would interesting to learn.

  • A conversation







    My friend called me and said I want to talk to you. I said go ahead we can speak. He asked for specific time as his conversation was likely to be a longer one. So, we decided to speak after office hours on a Friday evening.

    He called me and said – “You know what? I always took your opinions constructively and learnt from it. Whenever you spoke with me and at times when you badgered me for my naivety or mistakes it was learning. Now when I recently had a very bad such opinion from someone, I felt like getting buried in sand.”

    I was surprised. I am bit harsh some times, however I never knew that I am pursued like this by someone. Yes, intentions were most of the times for helping the person. So, I asked for more details of the recent incident. He obliged and gave me a detailed account of what has just happened with him.

    My friend was visibly upset. I knew he was kind enough not to give as good as he had got. Possibly he was not upto it, or he was not in such position. I sensed he was unhappy and this recent incident was depressing. So, I shared the following story with him –

    ———————

    Happiness

    Traveller; “What kind of weather are we going to have today?”
    Shepherd: “The kind of weather I like.”
    “How do you know it will be the kind of weather you like?”
    “Having found out, sir, that I cannot always get what I like, I have learnt always to like what I get. So I am quite sure we will have the kind of weather I like.”

    Happiness and unhappiness are in the way we meet events, not in the nature of those events themselves.

    ————————

    We concluded the call, I said lets try to look at brighter side you learnt something. So, he himself concluded few points. One point was – next time if something goes beyond the agenda of discussion, I would bring it on agenda or I will stop digression. This is a common problem with many of us today. The digression was the culprit for my friend predicament. Not just digression but also little attention span. Well, I have to learn a lot before becoming such a coach to someone. My friend was kind enough to think I can be of any assistance.

    Story source – Prayer of the frog book by Fr Antony DeMello, the book is available in two volumes Volume 1 and Volume 2.

  • A Hasidic tale – Prayer







    I have been reading one or the other story of Father Anthony De Mello’s books – The Prayer Of The Frog Vol. I and Prayer of The Frog Vol. II and share the same here occasionally. The books have small and very interesting stories. One of the story I read was on Prayers, here it is –

    Late one evening a poor farmer on his way back from the market. He was a religious person and when he found that he has missed his prayer book at home. The worst fear he had was he has misplaced it. This was the most disheartening thing that could happen to this pious and religious person.

    The wheel of his cart had come off right in the middle of the woods and it distressed him that this day should pass without his having said his prayers.

    With this disappointment, he was worried that he is missing something very important today. So he did something interesting. This is the prayer he made: “I have done something very foolish, Lord. I came away from home this morning without my prayer book and my memory is such that I cannot recite a single prayer without it. So this is what I am going to do: I shall recite the alphabet five times very slowly and you, to whom all prayers are known, can put the letters together to form the prayers I can’t remember,”

    And the Lord said to his angels, “Of all the prayers I have heard today, this one was undoubtedly the best because it came from a heart that was simple and sincere.”

    I have heard that Jesus said, “The kingdom of the Gods belongs to people who are like child-like.

    We all must do our prayers and any other works – personal or professional – with such sincerity and simplicity, isn’t it? Do share your thoughts.

  • Imaginations, ‘The holy book’ & religion







    Occasionally I read some or the other story from the book – Prayer of the frog by Father Antony de Mello. The book is available in two volumes Prayer of the Frog Volume 1 and Prayer of the Frog Volume 2. The books have small and very interesting stories. One of the story I read recently is somewhat brazen, I must warn you – you may feel offended. So, read keeping your sword, words and hatred for me or late Father de Mello aside. Feel free to comment on the story.

    Stories are nothing but imaginations, some write book based on imaginations, other write blog :). There are few that are worth contemplating. One must always be inquisitive, that inquisitiveness gives opportunity to grow, learn and do something worthwhile.

    The art of making fire

    After many years of labor an inventor discovered the art of making fire. He took his tools to the snow-clad northern regions and initiated a tribe into the art—and the advantages—of making fire. The people became so absorbed in this novelty that it did not occur to them to thank the inventor who one day quietly slipped away. Being one of those rare human beings endowed with greatness, he had no desire to be remembered or revered; all he sought was the satisfaction of knowing that someone had benefited from his discovery.

    The next tribe he went to was just as eager to learn as the first. But the local priests, jealous of the stranger’s hold on the people, had him assassinated. To allay any suspicion of the crime, they had a portrait of the Great Inventor enthroned upon the main altar of the temple; and a liturgy designed so that his name would be revered and his memory kept alive. The greatest care was taken that not a single rubric of the liturgy was altered or omitted. The tools for making (ire were enshrined within a casket and were said to bring healing to all who laid their hands on them with faith.

    The High Priest himself undertook the task of compiling a Life of the Inventor. This became the Holy book in which his loving kindness was offered as an example for all to emulate, his glorious deeds were eulogized, his superhuman nature made an article of faith. The priests saw to it that the Book was handed down to future generations, while they authoritatively interpreted the meaning of his words and the significance of his holy life and death. And they ruthlessly punished with death or excommunication anyone who deviated from their doctrine. Caught up as they were in these religious tasks, the people completely forgot the art of making fire.

    Postscript – if you are offended, perhaps you value the book more than the invention!

    It has happened with many religion in the world that we started value of the book than what was the actual useful method. This approach has resulted in a lot of conflict and is resulting in the conflicts.

    Imaginations was the topic for the week for LBC (Loose Bloggers Consortium). You can read other LBC authors opinions here – Maria, Rummuser and Shackman.

    Image source – http://listovative.com/top-11-inventions-changed-world-forever/

    Story source – The prayer of the Frog

  • Distinctions







    prayer of frogI have been reading one or the other story of Father Anthony De Mello’s books – The Prayer Of The Frog Vol. I and Prayer of The Frog Vol. II and share the same here occasionally. The books have small and very interesting stories. One of the story I read was on a balancing act is here –

    —

    …..or distinctions.

    A man was doing his Ph. D in philosophy. His wife realized how seriously he was taking his studies only on the day she said to him, “Why is it you love me so much?”

    Quick as a shot he replied, “When you say ‘so much’ are you referring to intensity, depth, frequency, quality or duration?”

    By dissecting her petals no one ever gathered in the beauty of the rose.

    At times you just need to live and not analyze your life – a big, very big lesson for me (perhaps many professionals) to learn.

  • Truth is really something you do!







    I have been reading one or the other story of Father Anthony De Mello’s books – The Prayer Of The Frog Vol. I and Prayer of The Frog Vol. II and share the same here occasionally. The books have small and very interesting stories. One of the story I read was on a balancing act is here –

    ————

    Truth is really something you DO

    The disciples oprayer of frogf Baal Shem once said, “Tell us, dear Rabbi, how we should serve God.”

    He replied, “How should I know?”…then went on to tell them the following story:

    A king had two friends who were found guilty of crime and sentenced to death. Now even though the king loved them he dared not acquit them outright for fear of giving a bad example to the people. So this is the verdict he gave: A rope was to be stretched across a deep chasm and each of the two men was to walk over it—to safety and freedom or. if he fell, to his death. The first of the two got across safely. The other shouted to the first across the chasm, “Tell me, friend, how you managed it.” The first shouted back, “How should I know? All I did was this: When I found myself listing to one side. I leaned to the other.”

    You don’t learn to ride a bicycle in a classroom.

    ————

    Balance is what needs to be practiced by everyone and not one or the other only, that can bring harmony & peace in the whole world.

    Tolerance Vs Being True To Yourself was the title of this weeks LBC (Loose Bloggers Consortium) where currently eight of us are supposed to write on the same topic. I have written on tolerance earlier too when India was facing with media created debate of whether India is tolerant? As usual I write by changing the topic a bit, mostly go completely awry and write; hope mostly it connects with the topic. The seven other bloggers who are expected to write regularly are, in alphabetical order are Ashok, gaelikaa, Lin, Maxi, Padmum, Rummuser and Shackman. The title was suggested by Shackman. Do drop in on their blogs and see what their take is on this week’s topic. Since some of them may post late, or not at all this week, do give some allowance for that too!

  • Prayer of The Frog – Temple, worship & love







    prayer of frogI have been reading one or the other story of Father Anthony De Mello’s books – The Prayer Of The Frog Vol. I and Prayer of The Frog Vol. II and share the same here occasionally. The books have small and very interesting stories. One of the story I read was on a religion here it is –

    Two brothers, one a bachelor, the other married, owned a farm whose fertile soil yielded an abundance of grain. Half the grain went to one brother and half to the other.

    All went well at first. Then, every now and then, the married man began to wake with a start from his sleep at night and think: “This isn’t fair. My brother isn’t married and he gets half the produce of the farm. Here I am with a wife and five kids, so I have all the security I need for my old age. But who will care for my poor brother when he gets old? He needs to save much more for the future than he does at present, so his need is obviously greater than mine.”

    With that he would get out of bed, steal over to his brother’s place and pour a sack full of grain into his brother’s granary.

    The bachelor too began to get these nightly attacks. Every once in a while he would wake from his sleep and say to himself: “This simply isn’t fair. My brother has a wife and five kids and he gets half the produce of the land. Now I have no one except myself to support. So is it just that my poor brother, whose need is obviously greater than mine, should receive exactly as much as I do?” Then he would get out of bed and pour a sack full of grain into his brother’s granary.

    One day they got out of bed at the same time and ran into each other, each with a sack of grain on his back!

    Many years later, after their death, the story leaked out. So when the townsfolk wanted to build a temple they chose the spot at which the two brothers met for they could not think of any place in the town that was holier than that one.

    The important religious distinction is not between those who worship and those who do not worship but between those who love and those who don’t.

    [Tweet “The important religious distinction is not between those who worship and those who do not worship but between those who love and those who don’t.”]

  • Clinging to wealth







    prayer of frogThere have been many Messiah, and many have learnt to have peaceful life because of them. There are many who have learnt violence, the lessons were given and listeners have learnt what “they wanted” to learn. It is up to you what you learn.

    The invention of this story is not to hurt any religious sentiments. Here goes the story.

    A wealthy farmer burst into his home one day and cried out in an anguished voice, “Rebecca, there is a terrible story in town—the Messiah is here!”

    “What’s so terrible in that?” asked his wife. “I think it’s great. What are you so upset about?”

    “What am I so upset about?” the man exclaimed. “After all these years of sweat and toil we have finally found prosperity. We have a thousand head of cattle; our barns are full of grain and our trees laden with fruit. Now we will have to give it all away and follow him.”

    “Calm down,” said his wife consolingly. “The Lord our God is good. He knows how much we Jews have always had to suffer. We had a Pharaoh, a Haman, a Hitler—always somebody. But our dear God found a way to deal with them all, didn’t He? Just have faith, my dear husband. He will find a way to deal with the Messiah too.”

    Source – Prayer of the Frog Vol I and Vol II by Father .

  • Spirituality & Business







    It was winter of 2012, Sujoy was getting married. I traveled to Pune to attend his wedding function. There I met one of my very old College mate – Anurag Tambe.

    Anurag is smart guy, thoughtful and practical. We discussed many things, including my faSteve_Jobsvorite topic – purpose of what we do? This topic eventually boils down to spirituality. Anurag told me about Steve Jobs and what his experience was about India and spirituality. His visit to India made him go back to the US and keep doing his work as good as he could. [Anurag’s reference to the book on Steve Jobs]

    Here is an interesting story from Father Antony De Mellow, book – Prayer of the Frog Volume 1 and Prayer of the Frog Volume 2 on similar concept.

    —

    A cobbler met a Rabbi and said. “Tell me what to do about my morning prayer. My custo­mers are poor men who have only one pair of shoes. I pick up their prayer of frogshoes late in the evening and work on them most of the night; at dawn there is still work to be done if the men are to have their shoes ready before they go to work. Now my ques­tion is: What should I do about my morning prayer?”

    “What have you been doing till now?” the Rabbi asked.

    “Sometimes I rush through the prayer quickly and get back to my work—but then I feet bad about it At other times I let the hour of prayer go by Then too I feel a sense of loss and every now and then, as f raise my hammer from the shoes, I can almost hear my heart sigh. “What an unlucky man I am that I am not able to make my morning prayer.”

    Said the Rabbi. “If I were God I would value that more than the prayer.”

    —

    Steve Jobs, I think, did what the Rabbi suggests in the story.

  • At the master’s door







    prayer of frogI have been reading one or the other story of Father Anthony De Mello’s books – The Prayer Of The Frog Vol. I and Prayer of The Frog Vol. II. The books have interesting stories, many a times half page. One of the story I read was on a seeker going to a master’s abode. I’m tweaking this story (I would want to claim the copyrights!), here it is –

    At the master’s door

    A spiritual seeker was almost at the door of one of the masters. Sensing the abode as the best place to find his prey, a devil made his permanent residence there. When the devil saw the seeker enter the house of the Master, devil determined to do everything in his power to turn him back from his quest for Truth.

    The devil tried giving this seeker all the possible temptations. His list of temptations included every possible means – women, wealth, fame, power and prestige even wisdom (perhaps false sense of it). However, our protagonist was too committed a seeker. He fought all these baits and stood his ground.

    The devil was almost lost, he was about to let go of the seeker. Suddenly, an idea cropped up in the mind of the devil. He tried it. The devil said – I shall give you all spiritual knowledge you seek, come with me!

    This time our protagonist could not resist his temptation – he followed the devil.

    —

    Now if you understood the story and the BOLD copyright part (of mine above), you may laugh at it! You may learn few lessons – including me claiming ownership of the story. However, I know “You only lose what you cling to“.

    Even the desire to be spiritual is a temptation!

     

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