Uniqueness and Flaws in each Person

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of poles, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot only arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pots were proud of its accomplishment. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house”. The old woman smiled, “did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?”

“That because, I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path and every day while we walk back, you water them”. “For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.”

Each of us has his own unique flaw…
But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have, that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

You just got to take each person for what they are
And look for the GOOD in them.

Source: "Old Chinese Wisdom"

Di manakah letak kebahagiaan?

Seorang petani dan istrinya bergandengan tangan menyusuri jln sepulang dari sawah sambil diguyur air hujan,lewatlah sepeda motor di depan mereka, berkatalah petani ini pd istrinya "lihatlah bu,betapa bahagianya suami istri yg naik sepeda motor itu,meskipun mereka juga kehujanan, tapi mereka bisa cepat sampai dirumah, tdk seperti kita yg hrs lelah berjalan utk sampai kerumah".

Sementara itu pengendara sepeda motor dan istrinya yg sedang berboncengan di bawah derasnya air hujan melihat mobil pick up lewat didepan mereka, pengendara sepeda motor itu berkata kpd istrinya "lihat bu, betapa bahagianya orang yg naik mobil itu, mereka tdk perlu kehujanan seperti kita".

Di dlm mobil pick up yg dikendarai sepasang suami istri terjadi perbincangan ketika mobil sedan Mercy lewat dihadapan mereka "lihatlah bu, betapa bahagia orang yg naik mobil bagus itu, mobil itu pasti nyaman di kendarai,tdk seperti mobil kita yg sering mogok".

Pengendara mobil Mercy itu seorang Pria kaya, dan ketika dia melihat sepasang suami istri yg berjalan bergandengan tangan di bawah guyuran air hujan, pria kaya itu berkata dlm hatinya "betapa bahagianya suami istri itu, mereka dgn mesranya berjalan bergandengan tangan sambil menyusuri indahnya jalan di pedesaan ini, sementara aku dan istriku tdk pernah punya waktu utk berdua karena kesibukan kami masing masing".                          

Kebahagiaan tidak akan pernah kau miliki jika kau hanya melihat kebahagiaan milik orang lain,dan selalu membandingkan hidupmu dgn hidup orang lain. Bersyukurlah atas apa yang ada dalam hidupmu, karena di situlah letak kebahagiaan sejati.

May you be well and happy always :)

-from Secangkirteh.com-

Ini pun akan Berlalu!

Seorang petani kaya mati meninggalkan kedua putranya. Sepeninggal ayahnya, kedua putra ini hidup bersama dalam satu rumah. Sampai suatu hari mereka bertengkar dan memutuskan untuk berpisah dan membagi dua harta warisan ayahnya. Setelah harta terbagi, masih tertingal satu kotak yang selama ini disembunyikan oleh ayah mereka.

Mereka membuka kotak itu dan menemukan dua buah cincin di dalamnya, yang satu terbuat dari emas bertahtakan berlian dan yang satu terbuat dari perunggu murah. Melihat cincin berlian itu, timbullah keserakahan sang kakak, dia menjelaskan, “Kurasa cincin ini bukan milik ayah, namun warisan turun-temurun dari nenek moyang kita. Oleh karena itu, kita harus menjaganya untuk anak-cucu kita. Sebagai saudara tua, aku akan menyimpan yang emas dan kamu simpan yang perunggu.”

Sang adik tersenyum dan berkata, “Baiklah, ambil saja yang emas, aku ambil yang perunggu.” Keduanya mengenakan cincin tersebut di jari masing-masing dan berpisah. Sang adik merenung, “Tidak aneh kalau ayah menyimpan cincin berlian yang mahal itu, tetapi kenapa ayah menyimpan cincin perunggu murahan ini?” Dia mencermati cincinnya dan menemukan sebuah kalimat terukir di cincin itu: INI PUN AKAN BERLALU. “Oh, rupanya ini mantra ayah…,” gumamnya sembari kembali mengenakan cincin tersebut.
Kakak-beradik tersebut mengalami jatuh-bangunnya kehidupan. Ketika panen berhasil, sang kakak berpesta-pora, bermabuk-mabukan, lupa daratan. Ketika panen gagal, dia menderita tekanan batin, tekanan darah tinggi, hutang sana-sini. Demikian terjadi dari waktu ke waktu, sampai akhirnya dia kehilangan keseimbangan batinnya, sulit tidur, dan mulai memakai obat-obatan penenang. Akhirnya dia terpaksa menjual cincin berliannya untuk membeli obat-obatan yang membuatnya ketagihan.

Sementara itu, ketika panen berhasil sang adik mensyukurinya, tetapi dia teringatkan oleh cincinnya: INI PUN AKAN BERLALU. Jadi dia pun tidak menjadi sombong dan lupa daratan. Ketika panen gagal, dia juga ingat bahwa: INI PUN AKAN BERLALU, jadi ia pun tidak larut dalam kesedihan. Hidupnya tetap saja naik-turun, kadang berhasil, kadang gagal dalam segala hal, namun dia tahu bahwa tiada yang kekal adanya. Semua yang datang, hanya akan berlalu. Dia tidak pernah kehilangan keseimbangan batinnya, dia hidup tenteram, hidup seimbang, hidup bahagia.

Inilah hidup sebagai manusia seperti rumput di padang yang mati dan berganti setiap waktu. Relasi bisa datang dan pergi tanpa pernah bisa berhenti. Kemanusiaan yang terbatasi oleh banyak hal. semuanya pasti akan berlalu. ada waktu untuk mencintai. ada waktunya.

Source: "anonymous"

Life On Train!!

A while back, I read a very interesting book that compared life to a train ride or a series of train rides.

Life is like a train ride, it read. We get on. We ride. We get off. We get back on and ride some more. There are accidents and there are delays. At certain stops there are surprises. Some of these will translate into great moments of joy, some will result in profound sorrow.

When we are born and we first board the train, we meet people whom we think will be with us for entire journey. These people are our parents!

Sadly, this is far from truth. Our parents are with us for as long as we absolutely need them. They too have journeys they must complete. We live on with the memories of their hope, affection, friendship, guidance and their ever presence.

There are others who board the train and who eventually become very important to us, in turn. These people are our brothers, sisters, friends and acquaintance, whom we will learn to love and cherish.

Some people considering their journey like a jaunty tour. They will go merrily around.
Others, will encounter many upsets, tears, loses on their journey.
Others still, will linger on to offer a helping hand to anyone in need.

Some people on the train will leave an everlasting impression when they get off…
Some will get on and get off the train so quickly, they will scarcely leave a sign that they ever traveled along with you or ever crossed you path…

We will sometimes be upset that some passenger, whom we love, will choose sit in another compartment and leave us to travel on our own.
Then again, there’s nothing that says we can’t seek them out anyway.

Nevertheless, once sought out and found, we may not even be able to sit next to them because that seat will already taken.
That’s okay… everyone’s journey will be filled with hopes, dreams, challenges, setbacks and goodbyes.
We must strive to make the best of it… no matter what…

We must constantly strive and understand our travel companions and look for the best in everyone.
Remember that at any moment during our journey, anyone of our travel companions can have a weak moment and be in need of our help.

We too may vacillate, or hesitate, even trip… hopefully we can count on someone being there to be supportive and understanding…

The bigger mystery of our journey is that we don’t know when our last stop will come.
Neither do we know when our travel companions will make their last stop.
Not even those sitting in the seat next to us.

Personally, I know I’ll be sad to make my final stop… I’m sure of it!
My separation from all those friends and acquaintance I made during the train ride will be painful. Leaving all those I’m close to will be a sad thing. But then again, I’m certain that one day I’ll get to the main station only to meet up with everyone else. They’ll all be carrying their baggage… most of which they didn’t have when they first got on this train.

I’ll be glad to see them again. I’ll also be glad to have contributed to their baggage… and to have enriched their lives, just as much as they will have contributed to my baggage and enrich my life.

We’re all on this train ride together. Above all, we should all try to strive to make the ride as pleasant and memorable as we can, right up until we each make the final stop and leave the train for the last time.

All aboard!
Save Journey!
Bon Voyage!

Loving without clinging

The story below is a story that had inspired me a lot, and also helped me to help people as well...
Hopefully, this story could also help you, readers....

Bangkok, Thailand -- Adhering to the Buddhist concept of non-attachment does not mean you have to abandon people you love. But you do need to approach your love differently, says AJAHN SUMEDHO, a highly revered monk based at Amaravati Forest Monastery

First, you must recognize what attachment is, and then you let go. That's when you realise non-attachment. However, if you're coming from the view that you shouldn't be attached, then that's still not it. The point is not to take a position against attachment, as if there were a commandment against it; the point is to observe.

We ask the questions, What is attachment? and, Does being attached to things bring happiness or suffering? Then we begin to have insight. We begin to see what attachment is, and then we can let go.

If you're coming from a high-minded position in which you think you shouldn't be attached to anything, then you come up with ideas like: Well, I can't be a Buddhist because I love my wife, because I'm attached to my wife. I love her, and I just can't let her go. I can't send her away.

Those kinds of thoughts come from the view that you shouldn't be attached.
The recognition of attachment doesn't mean that you must get rid of your wife. It means that you free yourself from wrong views about yourself and your wife. Then you find that there is love there, but that it's not attached; it's not distorting, clinging or grasping.
The empty mind is quite capable of caring about others and loving, in the pure sense of love. But any attachment will always distort that.

If you love someone and start grasping, things get complicated; then, what you love causes you pain. For example, you love your children but if you become attached to them, then you don't really love them any more because you're not with them as they are. You have all kinds of ideas about what they should be and what you want them to be. You want them to obey you, and you want them to be good, and you want them to pass their exams.

With this attitude, you do not really love them, because if they don't fulfill your wishes, you feel angry and frustrated and averse to them. So, attachment to our children prevents us from loving them.

But as we let go of attachment, we find that our natural way of relating to others is to love them. We find that we are able to allow our children to be as they are, rather than having fixed ideas about what we want them to be.

When I talk to parents, they say how much suffering there is in having children, because there's a lot of wanting. When we want them to be a certain way and don't want them to be another way, we create this anguish and suffering in our minds.

But the more we let go of that, the more we discover an amazing ability to be sensitive to, and aware of, children as they are. Then, of course, that openness allows them to respond rather than just react to our attachment. You know, a lot of children are just reacting to our saying, "I want you to be like this."

The empty mind - the pure mind - is not a blank where you're not feeling or caring about anything. It's an effulgence of the mind. It's a brightness that is truly sensitive and accepting.

It's an ability to accept life as it is. When we accept life as it is, we can respond appropriately to the way we're experiencing it, rather than just reacting out of fear or aversion.

Source: Ajahn Sumedho, Bangkok Post, Oct 30, 2005

Love Story about Salt Coffee

An amazing Love Story

He met her on a party. She was so outstanding, many guys chasing after her, while he so normal, nobody paid attention to him.
At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him, she was surprised, but due to being polite, she promised.

They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, she thought, please, let me go home.... suddenly he asked the waiter.. 'would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee.'
Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red, but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it.

She asked him curiously; why you have this hobby?
He replied: 'when I was a little boy, I was living near the sea, I like playing in the sea, I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown, I miss my hometown so much, I miss my parents who are still living there'.

While saying that tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched.
That's his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart.
A man who can tell out his homesickness, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, has responsibility of home.
Then she also started to speak, spoke about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family.
That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story.

They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands; he had tolerance, was kind hearted, warm, careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him!

Thanks to his salty coffee!

Then the story was just like every beautiful love story , the princess married to the prince, then they were living the happy life... And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee e, as she knew that's the way he liked it.

After 40 years, he passed away, left her a letter which said: 'My dearest, please forgive me, forgive my whole life lie. This was the only lie I said to you---the salty coffee. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous at that time, actually I wanted some sugar, but I said salt. It was hard for me to change so I just went ahead.

I never thought that could be the start of our communication! I tried to tell you the truth many times in my life, but I was too afraid to do that, as I have promised not to lie to you for anything.. Now I'm dying, I afraid of nothing so I tell you the truth: I don't like the salty coffee, what a strange bad taste.. But I have had the salty coffee for my whole life! Since I knew you, I never feel sorry for anything I do for you. Having you with me is my biggest happiness for my whole life. If I can live for the second time, still want to know you and have you for my whole life,even though I have to drink the salty coffee again'.

Her tears made the letter totally wet.Someday, someone asked her: what's the taste of salty coffee?
It's sweet. She replied.


Love is
Not 2 forget but 2 forgive,
Not 2 c but 2 understand,
Not 2 hear but 2 listen,
Not 2 let go but 2 HOLD ON !!!!

Don't ever leave the one you love for the one you like, because the one you like will leave you for the one they love.

Find a guy, who calls you beautiful instead of hot.
Who calls you back when you hang up on him.
Who will stay awake just to watch you sleep.
Wait for the guy who kisses your forehead.
Who wants to show you off to the world when you are in your sweats.
Who holds your hand in front of his friends.

Wait for the one who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares about you and how lucky he is to have you.

Wait for the one who turns to his friends and says, '...that's her.'

Source: "Love story - somewhere from Internet"

Cuma Aku yang Tidak Bicara

Suatu hari, ada empat sekawan yang berjanji tekat satu sama lain untuk bermeditasi tanpa berbicara sepatah kata pun selama satu hari satu malam. Pada jam-jam pertama, semuanya tutup mulut dan meditasi berjalan sesuai rencana.

Ketika petang tiba, lampu minyak mulai kering, dan cahaya pun mulai redup. Seorang pelayan tertidur di dekat situ. Salah satu dari mereka tidak tahan untuk tidak bersuara, "Isi lampu itu!" serunya kepada si pelayan.

Orang kedua kaget mendengar suara temannya, "Hei! Kita kan tak boleh biacara!"

"Kalian berdua bodoh! Kenapa bicara?" sergah orang ketiga.

Dengan lirih orang keempat menggumam, "Cuma aku yang tidak bicara..."


Kesimpulan:
Sejak lahir, kita memiliki hasrat bawaan untuk berkomunikasi dengan orang-orang di sekitar kita. Jika digunakan dengan benar, kata-kata tentu akan banyak membantu. Akan tetapi, sering kali kita kelepasan bicara tanpa memikirkan terlebih dahulu apa yang seharusnya kita katakan atau apakah sebenarnya kita perlu bicara atau tidak.

Seperti empat sekawan tadi, kita sering berharap untuk tidak mengatakan apa yang terlanjur kita katakan. Pada saat itu, terlambat sudah, karena kata-kata yang telah dikeluarkan tak akan dapat di tarik kembali. Kita mungkin saja meminta maaf, namun kerusakan tetap saja telah terjadi.

Kita seyogianya menjadi tuan atas lidah kita. Lidah harus mengucapkan apa yang ingin kita ucapkan saja, bukannya berceloteh tak terkendali. Sayangnya, sering kali lidah-lah yang menjadi tuan dan kita menjadi budaknya; kita terpaksa mendengar apa yang lidah ucapkan atas nama kita dan sering kita tak mampu menghentikan ocehannya. Kurangnya kesadaran dan kendali semacam itu kadang dapat membawa petaka.

Kesadaran adalah kuncinya. Terlepas dari kita akhirnya memutuskan untuk bicara atau tidak bicara, sadarilah itu: sebelum, selama dan sesudahnya.

Source: "Illuminata - Be Good, Be Happy and Be Mindful", 2008

Greeting, Readers

Hello guys,

This is the first post of “Key of Wisdom”. This blog is created to share the interesting stories, quotations, myths and even pictures that can lead us to achieve wisdom in this life. The stories and elements inside this blog are quoted from famous authors, books, ancient stories and even words of mouth that spread around us.

This blog is dedicated to all people who seek the true wisdom in life. The authors select the stories that are easy, simple, understandable, and sometimes funny. The authors believe that story is the simplest way in teaching. The authors hope by reading the stories; readers can have a better understanding about life and gain wisdom to live life to the fullest.

Last but not least, the authors would like to say thank you to all people who have visited this blog.

May all being be well and happy always!

Authors with Metta =)