Post by sparklekaz on Apr 27, 2012 20:43:32 GMT
Once upon a time Khidr, the teacher of Moses, called upon mankind with a warning. At a certain date, he said, all the water in the world which had not been specially hoarded, would disappear. It would then be renewed, with different water, which would drive men mad.
Only one man listened to the meaning of this advice. He collected water and went to a secure place where he stored it, and waited for the water to change its character.
On the appointed date the streams stopped running, the wells went dry, and the man who had listened, seeing this happening, went to his retreat and drank his preserved water.
When he saw, from his security, the waterfalls again beginning to flow, this man descended among the other sons of men. He found that they were thinking and talking in an entirely different way from before; yet they had no memory of what had happened, nor of having been warned. When he tried to talk to them, he realized that they thought that he was mad, and they showed hostility or compassion, not understanding.
At first, he drank none of the new water, but went back to his concealment, to draw on his supplies, every day. Finally, however, he took the decision to drink the new water because he could not bear the loneliness of living, behaving and thinking in a different way from everyone else. He drank the new water, and became like the rest. Then he forgot all about his own store of special water, and his fellows began to look upon him as a madman who had miraculously been restored to sanity.
Idries Shah
Only one man listened to the meaning of this advice. He collected water and went to a secure place where he stored it, and waited for the water to change its character.
On the appointed date the streams stopped running, the wells went dry, and the man who had listened, seeing this happening, went to his retreat and drank his preserved water.
When he saw, from his security, the waterfalls again beginning to flow, this man descended among the other sons of men. He found that they were thinking and talking in an entirely different way from before; yet they had no memory of what had happened, nor of having been warned. When he tried to talk to them, he realized that they thought that he was mad, and they showed hostility or compassion, not understanding.
At first, he drank none of the new water, but went back to his concealment, to draw on his supplies, every day. Finally, however, he took the decision to drink the new water because he could not bear the loneliness of living, behaving and thinking in a different way from everyone else. He drank the new water, and became like the rest. Then he forgot all about his own store of special water, and his fellows began to look upon him as a madman who had miraculously been restored to sanity.
Idries Shah
I found this story very interesting, it made me think about, how we deal with problems in life. The man heeded the warning of his teacher, and protected himself. He took the necessary precautions to deal with the drought, that was coming. In life this could be likened to learning from past experiences, the lessons of life to deal with a problem, or avoiding disaster by taking the necessary action to avert it.
Once the disaster had passed, the man kept away from other people, stayed in isolation. So instead of being seen as a wise man who had avoided being affected the same as everyone else, he was seen as an eccentric. A person who was paranoid and avoided contact with others. In affect he had cut himself off.
In life, we often see this in the actions of people who have built walls around themselves to avoid being hurt. Long after the event has passed, they still keep everyone at arms length. Sometimes, we have to take a risk, a leap of faith and just go with the flow.
[/font]Once the disaster had passed, the man kept away from other people, stayed in isolation. So instead of being seen as a wise man who had avoided being affected the same as everyone else, he was seen as an eccentric. A person who was paranoid and avoided contact with others. In affect he had cut himself off.
In life, we often see this in the actions of people who have built walls around themselves to avoid being hurt. Long after the event has passed, they still keep everyone at arms length. Sometimes, we have to take a risk, a leap of faith and just go with the flow.
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