Triple filter test

Chanakya was an Indian teacher, philosopher, economist, jurist and royal advisor.

 

One day a person met the great Chanakya and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?”

“Hold on a minute” replied Chanakya. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass through a Triple Filter Test.”

“Triple filter?”

“Yes” continued Chanakya, “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test.”

“The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are going to tell me is true?”

“No”, said the man “actually I just heard about it and ….. “

“All right,” said Chanakya. “So you don’t know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter which is Goodness. Is what you are going to tell me about my friend something good?”

“No, on the contrary…….”

“So,” Chanakya continued, “you want to tell me something bad about my friend and you are not certain if it is true. You may however, still pass the test, because there is one more important filter, the filter of usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really.”

“Well,” concluded Chanakya, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

How many times have we faced situations where we can easily use this triple filter test each time we hear some loose talk about any of our near and dear one. It is worth applying in everybody’s life.

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Leap of faith

There was once a man who got lost in the desert. The water in his flask had also ran out and he was on his last legs. He knew that if he didn’t get some water soon, he would surely perish.

He kept walking hoping to get water, when he saw a shack ahead of him. He thought it might be a mirage or some hallucination, but having no other option, he moved towards it. As he got closer to the shack, he realized that it was quite real and made every effort to drag his weary body to the shack’s door, with whatever little strength was left of him.

The shack was not occupied and seemed like it had been abandoned for quite some time. The man entered, hoping against hope that he might find some water in this abandoned shack.

His heart skipped a beat when saw what was in the shack; a water pump. It had a pipe going down perhaps tapping a source of water deep inside the ground. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and pinched his cheeks twice to confirm what he saw was not some fancy dream.

He went towards the pump and started working on it. Alas! No water came out. He still kept at it, backed by his will more than his strength, coupled with a dying need for water. He kept working the pump rigorously, as forceful as he can be even though was extremely fatigued and dry. Finally, he gave up from exhaustion and frustration soon replaced his hope and enthusiasm. He threw up his hands in despair – it certainly looked as if he was going to die after all. It just seemed a question of time.

He then noticed a bottle in one corner of the shack. Driven with hope again, he crawled towards the bottle and was relieved to see the bottle filled with water corked up too to prevent evaporation.

Very happily he uncorked the bottle and was about to gulp down the sweet life-giving water when he noticed a piece of paper attached to it. Someone had written by hand on the paper which said – “Use this water to start the pump. Don’t forgot to fill the bottle.”

He had the very water in his hands that he was so desperately looking out for, but now he was in a strange dilemma. He could follow the instructions and pour the water into the pump, or he could ignore it and just continue his journey after drinking the water.

What to do? He was panting and breathing hard already due to sheer exhaustion. His mental faculty were too tired to help him solve the dilemma in front of him. He still tried to do some reasoning in those moments – What if he used all the water to start the pump, and the pump malfunctioned or still didn’t throw any water? What if the pipe had some leak? What if the underground reservoir had already dried up long ago? Questions and more questions seem to be hitting him from all quarters.

In one brief fleeting second, he even thought, what if the instructions were correct? Should he risk not following the instructions? However, if the instructions turned out to be false, he would be throwing away the last water he would probably see and will have only himself to blame for.

He decided to go ahead. With trembling hands, he poured the water into the pump. Then he closed his eyes, uttered a small prayer, and started working on the pump again.

He heard a gurgling sound and soon water came gushing out – much more that what he could possibly need. He luxuriated in the cool and refreshing flow. He was after all going to live now!

After drinking his fill and feeling sufficiently rejuvenated, he looked around the shack. He found a pencil and a map of the region. The map showed that he was still far away from civilization, but now at least he knew where he was and which direction to go.

He filled his flask for the journey ahead. He also filled the bottle and put the cork back in. Before leaving the shack, he added his own writing below the instructions, “Believe me, it works!”

This story is all about life. It emphasizes one critical lesson – we must give before we can receive abundantly. More importantly, it also teaches that faith plays an important role in giving. The man did not know whether his action would be rewarded, but he proceeded regardless. Without knowing what to expect, he made a leap of faith.

Water in this story represents the good things in life. Something that we yearn for or something that brings a smile to our face. It can be intangible knowledge or it can represent money, love, family, friendship, happiness, respect, riches or any number of other things you value. Whatever it is that you would like to get out of life, that’s represented as water – the metaphor.

The water pump represents the workings of the Karmic mechanism. Give it some water to work with, and it will return far more water (good) than you put in. Bottom line: Give first and then be ready to receive in abundance.

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Give me more

A construction supervisor from the 6th floor of a building was trying to get in touch with one of his workers at the Ground floor. The supervisor called him many times but all his shouts literally fell in deaf ears. It was the noise in the construction site that was proving to be a challenge.

To draw attention, the supervisor threw a dollar note in front of the worker. The worker seeing a dollar bill, quickly put it in his pocket and continued to work.

Again to draw attention, the supervisor this time threw a $10 bill. The worker was visibly elated and quickly pocketed that too before resuming his work.

The flabbergasted supervisor now threw a small stone to gain his worker’s attention. The stone hit the worker and the worker looked up. The supervisor was finally able to communicate with his worker.

Well … this might look like just another story from a construction site, but it very strongly mimics our “life” on a philosophical note.

God wants to communicate with us and does everything possible to make his communication heard. But we are so busy in our worldly chores and transaction and all the mundane things that has engulfed us.

To get our attention, God gives us small gifts and big gifts ………… we just keep them without looking from where actually got it. We are very much similar to the construction worker who was happy to pocket the dollar bills without any kind of acknowledgement. We keep accumulating the gifts, without thanking Him – we are lucky, some might think to themselves for getting all those gifts. In fact, we want more such gifts coming our way.

And then when we are hit with a small stone, which we call PROBLEMS, then we immediately look up and desperately want to communicate with him. We want to know, “why me?” and “what have I done to deserve this?” etc. Suddenly we want so many answers for one small stone that hits us.

Therefore, the wise say it beautifully:

God gives, gives and forgives,
We get, get and forget….

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Tale of two pennies

One day Krishna & Arjuna were taking their usual walk, when they came across an old Brahmin begging. Taking pity on his condition, Arjuna gave him a bag of gold coins.

The man was overjoyed. On his way home, he was robbed by a thief in the forest. He cursed his fate and the next day set off to beg again.

Arjuna & Krishna saw him again and got to know his story. Arjuna once again took pity and gave him a large diamond this time.

The man took it home and kept it in an old pot which had been unused for many years in order to keep it safe and went to sleep.

The next morning before he could wake up, his wife went to fetch water from the river. On her way back, she slipped and her pot broke. She immediately remembered the pot at home which lay unused and brought it to fill it with water. Just as she dipped the pot in to the river the diamond escaped the pot and went in to the river.

When she returned home, the Brahmin was already desperately searching the house for the pot & when he saw it in his wife’s hands, he got to know what had happened. Dejected, he again left to go begging.

Once again Arjuna and Krishna saw him. When Arjuna heard of the unfortunate incident that had happened, he told Krishna, ” I don’t think this man is destined to be blessed at all, I don’t think I can help him anymore”.

Krishna however thought otherwise. He then gave the man two pennies. The man took those pennies and walked away.

Arjuna then asked Krishna,” My Lord, if gold coins and diamond could not change his condition, what good can two pennies do to him?”.

Krishna smiled and replied, “Let us see”.

As the man walked home, he was cursing his fate when he saw a fish that had just been caught by a fisherman. The fish was struggling for its life. Taking pity on the fish, he thought to himself, “These two pennies cannot fetch me food anyway, let me at least save the life of this creature”. Thinking thus, he purchased the fish and was about to throw it in the river when he saw that the breathlessness of the fish was caused due to some large obstruction in its mouth. When he removed it , it turned out to be the very diamond he had lost in the river. He was very much overjoyed and started shouting “Look what I found! Look what I found”.

At this very time the thief who had robbed him in the forest was passing by and heard his shouts. He recognized the man and thought that the Brahmin recognized him as the thief and hence shouting. Fearing that the Brahmin may take him to be executed, he rushed to him,  begged for his forgiveness and returned all the gold coins he had stolen from him. The Brahmin was happy and walked away joyfully with all his wealth.

 He went straight to Arjuna to narrate the turn of events and thanked him for all his help and went away.

 Arjuna then asked Krishna,

“My Lord, how is it that my gold and diamond could not help him but your meager two pennies did?.

Krishna replied, “When he had the gold coins and the diamond he was only thinking of himself and his needs. However, when he had just the two pennies, he put the needs of another creature before his and so I took care of his needs.”

“The truth is Arjuna, when you think of the suffering of others and work to help them, you are sharing God’s work and hence God Himself takes care of you . Real service is to give God to everyone in one form or the other.”

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99 Gold coins

Once upon a time, there was a King who despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content. One day, the King noticed his servant singing happily while he worked. The servant seemed to have everything that man could ask for.

This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of a Kingdom, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much happiness. The King couldn’t resist but ask the servant, “Why are you so happy?”

The man replied, “Your Majesty, I am just an ordinary servant. My family and I don’t require much – just a roof above our heads and food to fill our tummies. We’re content and happy with that.”

The king was not satisfied with that reply. Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted minister. After hearing the King’s woes and the servant’s story, the minister, “Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of the 99 Club.”

“The 99 Club? What’s that?” the King inquired.

The minister replied, “Your Majesty, you shall see it for yourself if you keep 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at the servant’s doorstep.”

The King even though baffled with the suggestion decided to put 99 coins as advised. When the servant saw the bag lying at the door, he took it into his house. When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy… Wow!! So many gold coins!

He began to count them and found there were 99 coins. He started counting again and again. After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were 99 coins. He wondered, “What could have happened to that one last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!”

He looked everywhere he could, but the 100th gold coin was no where to be found. He put his entire family to keep searching for that last coin. But to no avail. Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection.

From that day, the servant’s life changed. He became overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He stopped singing while he worked.

Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King became more curious. He summoned his minister who explained: “Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club.”

He continued, “There are those people who have enough to be happy but are never contented, because they’re always yearning and striving for that extra coin. They keep telling themselves: “Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life. And this goes on and on. They lose their peace of mind.”

We can be happy, with whatever we have in our lives. But the minute we’re given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose sleep, happiness and we hurt the people around us who care; all these as a price for our growing needs and desires. If that’s the case, we are part of the 99 Club!

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Anger Management – A Fable

A Monk decides to meditate alone away from his monastery. He takes his boat out to the middle of the lake, moors it there, closes his eyes and begins his meditation.

After a few hours of undisturbed silence, he suddenly feels the bump of another boat colliding with his own. With his eyes still closed, he senses his anger rising. And by the time he opens his eyes, he is ready to scream at the boatman who dared disturb his meditation.

When he opens his eyes, he sees it’s an empty boat that had probably got untethered and floated to the middle of the lake. At that moment, the monk achieves self-realization and understands that the anger is within him; it merely needed the bump of an external object to provoke it out of him.

From then on, whenever he came across someone who irritated him or provoked him, he reminded himself, “The other person is merely an empty boat. The anger is within me.”

Do the empty boats bumping into you provoking you to get angry? Is the anger within at the mercy of such empty boats?

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The Grass is NOT greener on the other side

Who is truly happy here?

A crow was absolutely satisfied and happy in life. However, one day he saw a swan. He thought, “The swan is so white and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.”

So the crow approached the swan and shared his views. The swan replied, “Actually, I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot. The parrot has two colors and now I think the parrot is the happiest bird in the world.”

The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life – until I saw a peacock. I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors.”

The crow then visited the peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered around the peacock admiring its beauty. After the people left, the crow approached the peacock and told him, “Dear peacock, you are so beautiful. Every day hundreds of people come to just see you and admire you and appreciate you. When people see me, they just immediately shoo me away. I surely feel you must be the happiest bird in the world.”

The peacock replied, “I always thought I was the most beautiful and the happiest bird on this planet. But because of my beauty, I am entrapped in this zoo. I have examined the zoo very carefully and I have realized that the only bird that is not kept here in a cage is the crow. So for the past few days I have actually been thinking that if I were a crow like you, I could happily roam everywhere.”

SO where exactly is the so-called “greener grass”? Is this our problem too – That we make unnecessary comparisons with others and become sad? That we make such unnecessary comparisons and do not value the things God has given us? That we make such unnecessary and unrealistic comparisons and deny ourselves happiness?

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The Suitcase

A man died. A little later he realized he is dead and saw God walking up to him with a suitcase in his hand. The God approached him and said, “Alright son, it’s time to go…”

Man: So soon? I had a lot of plans…

God: I’m sorry, but it’s time to go

Man: What do you have in that suitcase?

God: Your belongings!

Man: My belongings? You mean my things such as clothes and err…. some money?

God: Those things were never yours. They belong to the Earth.

Man: Is it my memories?

God: No. They belong to Time.

Man: Is it my talent?

God: No. They belong to the circumstances.

Man: Is it my friends and family then?

God: No son. They belong to the path you traveled.

Man: Is it my wife and children at least?

God: No. They belong to your heart.

Man: Then definitely this must be my body..

God: No….No…… It belongs to Dust.

Man: Then I guess, it must be my soul!

God: You are sadly mistaken son. Your soul belongs to me.

The man started crying and had tears rolling over his cheeks. Full of fear and shock, he mustered just enough courage to take the suitcase from the God’s hand and opened it…………and Lo! it was empty…

Man: I never owned anything? Nothing at all?

God: That’s right. you never owned anything.

Man: Then what was mine? Something has got to be mine, isn’t it?

God: Your Moments. Every moment you lived was yours.

Life indeed is the aggregation of all many such moments. Live it. Love it. Enjoy it. After all, nothing else belongs to us!

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Are you in the Camel Club?

Are you in the camel club? If you are then it’s not a good place to be in. But, what exactly is camel club? You are probably wondering – Well, just read this short fable and you will understand yourself.

Are you in the Camel Club?

The Mother and the baby camel were lazing around on a dry summer day.

Suddenly the baby camel asked “Mom, can I ask you some questions?”

“Oh ! Sure baby. Is there something bothering you” asked the mother camel

Baby: “I was wondering why do camels have humps?”

Mother: “Good question. You see we are desert animals and need these humps to store water. You know that we can survive for long without water”

Baby: “Okay Mom. Then why are our legs so long and our feet rounded?”

Mother: “You see, these long legs and rounded feet help us to move better in the desert than anyone can do.”

Baby: “Ok… But the why do we have long eye lashes too. It sometimes bothers my sight”

Mother: “No No.. These long and thick eyelashes are the protective cover. They help to protect the eyes from the desert sand & wind”.

The Baby camel got to some thinking and finally exclaimed, “I see that now. The hump is to store water when we are in the desert, the legs are for walking through the desert and these eye lashes protect us from the desert sand…….then what in God’s name are we doing here in the Zoo!?”. The baby camel walked away in disappointment.

Well, that’s like being in the Camel Club. It’s being in a place, where your skills and abilities are not really used. They are hardly challenged. Over a point, your skills start rotting. Also, being in the camel club (a wrong place), where even your current skills are not used, you are neither going to learn some new skills. A camel club doesn’t need any skills to be. It is basically a place where you are depriving yourself of a better opportunity and you are stuck (as of now).

Ask yourself, “Are you in the Camel Club?”