Friday, May 27, 2011

The Three Fearless Men

Here is an interesting story about three men who had a common problem : Fear. 
Fear has the power to get the worst of the best of us. We should throw it out of our lives. Doing that isn't that difficult. This story might tell you how. ....

There was once a wise man who lived on top of a mountain. That place was so high that there no vegetation or wildlife could grow there. There weren’t even any insects there. He used to live there all alone, occasionally climbing down to get his food and water. He would sit there and meditate. People all over the country had heard about him. They thought that he could solve all their problems. But it was difficult for everyone to go high up there, so rarely anyone visited him.
In a village near that mountain, there lived three friends. All of them had a common problem: fear. Fear had conquered their lives. They couldn’t sleep, eat, drink or work with ease. They decided to visit that old wise man up the mountain. Then they started off on their journey to the top of the mountain, or rather journey to answers, answers that would help them to release their fear. They went from village to village, forest to forest and reached the Nadir of the mountain. It was all uphill from there. They began climbing the mountain, fighting off all the obstacles that came in their way. Finally, after 9 days of incessant travel they reached the top of the mountain. The old man was sitting right there, meditating. The three friends went near him and seated themselves. The old man opened his eyes almost instantly, as if he had sensed that they were there. He asked them why they had come and they told them how they had traveled all the way to solve their common problem: Fear. The old man addressed the first friend and asked him, “What do you fear, young man?” The friend replied, “I fear death. I sometimes even lose sleep over it.” “Hmm…... Death. Now I will take out the fear from you. Death will not come for you until you are ready for its embrace. Know that and you will have nothing to fear.”
This calmed his mind and he feared death no longer.
Then the old man addressed the second friend, “What do you fear, young man?”
“I fear my new neighbors. They do strange things. They observe holy days different from mine. And they have too many kids. They listen to weird music that sounds like noise. They are complete strangers and I don’t know them at all. I am afraid of them. What should I do?”
“Ah, strangers” said the wise man. “I will take away this fear. Return to your home and make a cake for your new neighbors. Get toys for their children. Become friends with them. Join them in their songs. You will become familiar with these neighbors and your fear will go away.”
 The second man saw the wisdom in these words and knew that he would no longer fear his new neighbors.
Then the old man turned to the 3rd friend. “What do you fear, young man?”
“O wise man, I fear spiders. At night I get bad dreams in which I see spiders climbing on flesh and biting it. I feel terrified.”
“Ahh……Spiders……
No shit! Why do you think I live way up here???!”

THE END

P.S.- Fear will get the worst of the best of us so I suggest you throw it out of your lives. J

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