Perceiving divinity in all forms requires equal reverence for the guidance that protects us—to see God everywhere is to honour the voice of reason as well. In a forest, there lived a…
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Four blind men and an elephant
Fragmented perception mistakes a partial glimpse for absolute reality, breeding endless conflict where unity alone exists. Once, four blind men went out to see an elephant. One touched the leg of the…
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Frog in the well
Confined within the narrow walls of dogma, the conditioned mind mistakes its limited enclosure for the infinite universe and rejects whatever transcends its horizon. A frog lived in a well. It had…
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The pandit who could not swim
Learning may win admiration, but a crisis can reveal the difference between what we know and what we can do. Once, several men were crossing the Ganges river in a boat. One…
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The story of a squirrel
This is one more interesting short storiy from Ramayana for children. After the abduction of Sita, Lord Rama along with this army of monkey and bears, started making a bridge of stones…
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Concentration
After winning several archery contests, a young and rather boastful champion challenged a Zen master who was renowned for his skill as an archer. The young man demonstrated remarkable technical proficiency when…
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The saviour
Once there lived a village of creatures along the bottom of a great crystal river. The current of the river swept silently over them all – young and old, rich and poor,…
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Worse than a clown
There was a young monk in China who was a very serious practitioner of the Dharma. Once, this monk came across something he did not understand, so he went to ask the…
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Buddha’s path
The lamp contains its oil, which it holds securely in its close grasp and guards from the least loss. Thus is it separate from all other objects around it and is miserly.…
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Serving others
A Sufi story tells of a man who prayed continually for the awareness to succeed in life. Then one night he dreamt of going into the forest to attain understanding. The next…
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In your hands
A young man caught a small bird and held it behind his back. He then asked, “Master, is the bird I hold in my hands alive or dead?” The boy thought this…
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The order of things
A rich man asked a Zen master to write something down that could ensure the prosperity of his family for years to come. It would be something that the family could cherish…