An old man lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Quran.
His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could. One day the grandson asked, “Baba, I try to read the Quran just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Quran do?”
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.” The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.
The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out of the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back o the house.
The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.
Out of breath, he said, “See Baba, it’s useless!”
“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.
“Son, that’s what happens when you read the Quran. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of God in our lives.”
I love the lessons in this story. You can change the “Quran” to the Torah, the Bible, the Bhagavad-Gita, the writings of Thoreau, the writings of Wayne Dyer, Ekhart Tolle or any other positive wisdom which you may expose yourself to and the result is the same “we will be changed from the inside out”. It is important to remember that all things have energy and even what appear to be inanimate objects such as books emit energy. Even though we may not understand all the wisdom that is in a book, books that are full of wisdom will impact us simply by having them in our presence because we will benefit from the energy of the book. As a side note, it is important to our well being and growth to be aware of the “things” we expose ourselves to on a daily basis. Energy is emitted by all things and through our awareness we need to choose which things in our life serve us and which ones do not.
You can also apply this story to meditation. Often I hear people say they don’t feel as though they are getting much from meditation or that they don’t understand meditation and what it does for a person. Like the basket in the story meditation even though at first we may become frustrated and impatient with it does the same thing it cleanses us and changes us from the inside out.
We may not understand or remember all that we read or hear. We may not remember all that we reflect on or understand the messages that we receive in our self reflections. It is quite normal not to always “get it”. Sometimes we are simply not ready for the lesson that is being presented and that is okay. It is normal to not remember all the wisdom that we expose ourselves to. Like the boy in the above story I too often go back to the river to gather more understanding and to remember those lessons which I have already learned. As a matter of fact I dip into that river of wisdom daily and like the basket much leaks out and there is much I don’t yet understand and much that I will simply forget, however I know I simply need to keep going back to the river for this is what will help to create change from the inside out.
One last thought about this story, the water that leaked out from the basket as the boy attempted to carry water back to his grandfather, where did that water go? The water leaked out on his way back home and that water that leaked out gave life to the grass, the insects and the flowers along the way of the boy’s path. Even though we may not retain all that we expose ourselves to you can rest assured that what leaks out of us is having a positive impact on many others.
An old man lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Quran.
His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could. One day the grandson asked, “Baba, I try to read the Quran just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Quran do?”
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.” The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.
The old man said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough,” and he went out of the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back o the house.
The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.
Out of breath, he said, “See Baba, it’s useless!”
“So you think it is useless?” The old man said, “Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.
“Son, that’s what happens when you read the Quran. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of God in our lives.”
I love the lessons in this story. You can change the “Quran” to the Torah, the Bible, the Bhagavad-Gita, the writings of Thoreau, the writings of Wayne Dyer, Ekhart Tolle or any other positive wisdom which you may expose yourself to and the result is the same “we will be changed from the inside out”. It is important to remember that all things have energy and even what appear to be inanimate objects such as books emit energy. Even though we may not understand all the wisdom that is in a book, books that are full of wisdom will impact us simply by having them in our presence because we will benefit from the energy of the book. As a side note, it is important to our well being and growth to be aware of the “things” we expose ourselves to on a daily basis. Energy is emitted by all things and through our awareness we need to choose which things in our life serve us and which ones do not.
You can also apply this story to meditation. Often I hear people say they don’t feel as though they are getting much from meditation or that they don’t understand meditation and what it does for a person. Like the basket in the story meditation even though at first we may become frustrated and impatient with it does the same thing it cleanses us and changes us from the inside out.
We may not understand or remember all that we read or hear. We may not remember all that we reflect on or understand the messages that we receive in our self reflections. It is quite normal not to always “get it”. Sometimes we are simply not ready for the lesson that is being presented and that is okay. It is normal to not remember all the wisdom that we expose ourselves to. Like the boy in the above story I too often go back to the river to gather more understanding and to remember those lessons which I have already learned. As a matter of fact I dip into that river of wisdom daily and like the basket much leaks out and there is much I don’t yet understand and much that I will simply forget, however I know I simply need to keep going back to the river for this is what will help to create change from the inside out.
One last thought about this story, the water that leaked out from the basket as the boy attempted to carry water back to his grandfather, where did that water go? The water leaked out on his way back home and that water that leaked out gave life to the grass, the insects and the flowers along the way of the boy’s path. Even though we may not retain all that we expose ourselves to you can rest assured that what leaks out of us is having a positive impact on many others.