Perspective often governs our joy far more than circumstances do, as resetting our baseline of comparison can instantly transform a chaotic room into an abode of peace.
“I am in desperate need of help — or I’ll go crazy. We’re living in a single room — my wife, my children and my in-laws. So our nerves are on edge, we yell and scream at one another. The room is a hell.”
“Do you promise to do whatever I tell you?” asked the Master gravely.“I swear I shall do anything.”
“Very well. How many animals do you have?”
“A cow, a goat and six chickens.”
“Take them all into the room with you. Then come back after a week.”
The disciple was appalled. But he had promised to obey! So he took the animals in.A week later he came back, a pitiable figure, moaning, “I’m a nervous wreck. The dirt! The stench! The noise! We’re all on the verge of madness!”
“Go back,” said the Master, “and put the animals out.”
The man ran all the way home. And came back the following day, his eyes sparkling with joy. “How sweet life is! The animals are out. The home is Paradise, so quiet and clean and roomy!”
Anthony de Mello
More at http://www.soulwise.net/
Anthony de Mello (1931-1987) was an Indian Jesuit priest and psychotherapist. A spiritual teacher, writer and public speaker, De Mello wrote several books on spirituality and hosted numerous spiritual retreats and conferences. He continues to be known for his storytelling, which drew from the various mystical traditions of both East and West.
Note: Rooted in Eastern European Yiddish folklore—famously popularised in Margot Zemach’s It Could Always Be Worse—this classic teaching story also echoes through Middle Eastern and Sufi traditions featuring the wise fool Nasreddin Hodja. In adapting such tales, Anthony de Mello deliberately framed “The Master” not as a single historical figure, but as a wise teacher, demonstrating how universal wisdom transcends religious boundaries. This timeless parable even birthed the enduring Hebrew idiom “lehakhnis ez” (“to bring in a goat”)—the practice of introducing an artificial burden so that its eventual removal yields profound relief, reminding us that happiness is often a matter of resetting our baseline perspective.