Ancient Wisdom

I shall have you hanged, 'said a cruel and ignoring king, who had heard of Nasrudin's powers, 'if you don't prove that you are a mystic. 'I see strange things, 'said Nasrudin at once; 'a golden bird in the sky, demons under the earth.' 'How can you see through solid objects? How can you see far into the sky?" "Fear is all you need" replied Mulla.

  A Fox that lived by the seashore once met a wolf that had never seen the sea. The wolf said, "What is the sea?" "It is a great piece of water by my dwelling," said the fox. "Is it under your control?" said the wolf. "Certainly," said the fox. "Will you show me the sea, then?" said the wolf. "With pleasure,"said the fox. So the fox led the wolf to the sea, and said the waves, "Now go back,"- they went back! "Now come up," -and they came up! Then the fox said to the waves, "My friend, the wolf has come to see you, so you will come up and go back till I bid you stop;" and the wolf saw, with wonder, the waves coming up and going back. He said to the fox, "May I go into the sea?" "As far as you like. Don't be afraid, for, at a word, the sea would go or come as I bid, and as you have already seen." The wolf believed the fox and followed the waves rather far from the shore. A gr...

       A Jackdaw once ran up to a glow worm, and was about to seize him. "Wait a moment, good friend," said the worm; "and you shall hear something to your advantage."     "Ah! what is it?" said the Jackdaw.     "I am but one of the many glow-worms that live in this forest. If you wish to have them all, follow me," said the glow-worm.     "Certainly! said the Jackdaw.     Then the glow-worm led him to a place in the wood where a fire had been kindled by some woodmen, and pointing to the sparks flying about, said, "There you find the flow-worms warming themselves round a fire. When you have fond with them, I shall show you some more, at a distance from this place."     The Jackdaw darted at the sparks and tried to swallow some of them; but his mouth being burnt by the attempt, he ran away exclaiming, "Ah, the glow-worm is a dangerous little creature!"     Said the glow-warm with pride, "Wickedness yields to w...

  Long, long ago, a hunter dug a deep pit in the mountains and covered it with a clever trap. The moment an animal stepped on it, the trap would snap shut, holding its prey firmly. One day, a mighty tiger stepped into the trap. It thrashed and struggled with all its strength, but the trap held fast. Enraged, the tiger roared and pulled desperately—until, with one final wrench, it tore itself free, leaving its paw behind. Did the tiger not value its own paw? Did it not feel agonizing pain? Yet, it chose to endure the unbearable rather than be trapped and lose its life.   Moral:  This story teaches us how to handle suffering and difficult circumstances in real life when faced with such challenges. Instead of reacting with anger, aggression, or violence, we should remain calm and composed to find a way forward. By doing so, we can minimize the damage and overcome adversity with wisdom.

 'Liang Yang' , an animal trainer for the livestock official of the Western 'Zhou' Dynasty's King ' Xuan', could domesticate any kind of fierce beast or wildfowl-tigers, wolves, vultures or owls. After domestication various animals lived together in peace. Fearing this consummate skill of ' Liang Yang' s would be lost, King 'Xuan ' ordered ' Mao Qiuyuan ' to learn from him.  'Liang Yang ' told ' Mao' , "I am an ordinary animal breeder. How could I have any superb technique to pass on to you?" But if I don't tell you anything, His Majesty will accuse me of concealment, so I'll introduce you to my way of raising tigers. "All short-tempered animals like to be obeyed and get furious at disobedience, so tigers dare not feed living animals to tigers for fear they will become angry in pursuit. Nor has a whole animal ever been offered, for it require effort to tear it to bits. A tiger breeder should kn...

Once a Monkey in a wood somehow got a looking-glass and went about showing it to the animals around him. The bear looked into it and said he was very sorry he had such an ugly face. The wolf said he would fain have the face of a stag, with its beautiful horns. So, every beast felt sad that it had not the face of some other in the wood. The monkey then took it to an owl that had witnessed the whole scene. "No", said the owl, "I would not look into it, for I am sure, in this case as in many others, knowledge is but a source of pain." "You are quite right, said the beasts, and broke the glass to pieces, exclaiming, "Ignorance is bliss!"

Once a Piece of tinsel on a rock said to a pebble, "you see how bright I am! I am by birth related to the lightening." "Indeed!" said the pebble; "then accept my humble respects." Sometime after, a flash of lightning struck the rock, and the tinsel lost all its brilliancy by the scorching effects of the flash. "Where is your brilliancy now?" said the pebble. "Oh, it is gone to the skies," said the tinsel, "for I have lent it to the lightening that came down a moment ago to borrow it of me." "Oh, it is gone to the skies," said the tinsel, "for I have lent it to the lightening that came down a moment ago to borrow it of me." "Dear me!" said the pebble; "how many fibs doth good bragging need!"

  ' Hakim al- Mansuri’ was a great sage of Balkh, in Central Asia. He had thousands of disciples, and his mere presence at the courts of kings was regarded as conferring legitimacy upon their rule. But he very seldom spoke. When he did, it was about matters which did not seem to be connected with spiritual concerns. And yet many great masters of the Sufi Way attribute their attainments to having sat at his table, or from being in his guest-house, or even from associating with the other disciples, or working in his house. One day, the Hakim was challenged by a famous preacher to dispute with him on matters of philosophy. The preacher claimed that ‘Al-Mansuri ’ knew nothing about wisdom, and spoke very little on weighty matters because he was ignorant of them. ‘Al-Mansuri’   set   out   for   Herat,   where   the   challenger,   ‘ Qari Mukhtar’ , taught at a famous college. Each of the disputants was attended by hundreds of students, who ...

Once a Fox saw a stage and exclaimed, "What rich meat there is in him!" A lion, that got nothing to eat for some time, was prowling at a distance. The fox said to himself, "If I should point out the stag to the lion, he will make his breakfast off him, and leave me the remainder," So he went up to the lion and, bowing respectfully, said, "If your majesty will step in that way, your majesty's humble servant will be able to point out something highly desirable." "Very good!" said the lion, and followed the fox. But the stag, who had got a hint of the conspiracy, ran up to a place of safety, and was watching their movement unseen. The lion, not finding the stag, said to the fox, "Knave, you have deceived me! I am frantically hungry: you are as good a morsel as the stag, though a trifle less in size, "and, springing on him, ate him up in no time.

  A man who is foolish and yet is fond of using his own judgement; who is in humble circumstances, and yet is fond of assuming authority; who, while living in the present age, reverts to the ways of antiquity, such a man is one who will bring calamity upon himself. 

Truth is the law of God. Acquired truth is the law of man. He who intuitively apprehends truth is one who, without effort, hits what is right, and without thinking understands what he wants to know; whose life is easily and naturally in harmony with the moral law. Such a one is what we call a saint or a man of divine nature. He who acquires truth is one who finds out what is good and holds fast to it. In order to acquire truth, it is necessary to obtain a wider and extensive knowledge of what has been said and done in the world; critically to inquire into it; carefully to ponder over it; clearly to sift it; and earnestly to carry it out.

  AI and digital technology are entering our lives at supersonic speed, yet schools remain unprepared for this transformation despite the unavoidable presence of mobile devices in classrooms and daily routines. As a teacher, I've witnessed how students now rarely bring notebooks to class and no longer carry books with the pride that previous generations did, when some would borrow stacks of books just to showcase their love for reading. While students prefer electronic copies of textbooks, many struggle to maintain focus when reading lengthy material on screens. This shift reflects a fundamental change in education, where students would rather scroll through their phones than flip through physical pages. On university campuses, it's becoming difficult to distinguish serious scholars from casual passersby, as many students prioritize passing exams with minimal effort rather than pursuing deep learning. Often, they appear physically present in class but mentally disengaged, their...

In the era of AI and robotics, education as we know it is undergoing a radical transformation. Today, AI can solve everything from basic arithmetic to complex algebraic equations faster than the most brilliant mathematicians. Yet, primary schools continue to force students to memorize calculations—a practice that is becoming increasingly irrelevant. This is not just inefficient; it’s a waste of time that could be better spent on physical and mental development. The Blind Spot of Modern Education While AI handles cognitive tasks with ease, it cannot replace the physical vitality, mental resilience, and emotional well-being that come from sports and active lifestyles. Unfortunately, schools remain blind to this shift. Instead of reimagining education to integrate more sports, health-focused activities, and creative play, they cling to outdated models that prioritize rote learning over holistic growth. Play > Memorization: A Healthier, Smarter Approach AI handles knowledge—spor...

  ‘ Husain Waiz Kashifi’ , in the Lights of Canopus says: 'The person who has not seen the face of trust-has seen nothing, the person who has not found contentment-has found nothing. The human being, whether he realizes it or not, is trusting someone or something every moment of the day. He trusts the floorboards not to collapse, the train not to crash, the surgeon not to kill him, and so on. We trust people and these things because we have reason to believe that they will not let us down. #Trust #Contentment #SufiWisdom #HusainWaizKashifi #PhilosophyOfLife #Faith #SpiritualJourney #TheLightsOfCanopus #Mindfulness #InnerPeace

Once a man went to ' Ahmad Yasavi', the Sufi master of Turkestan, and said: "Teach me without books and let me learn to understand without the intervention of a master between me and Truth, for humans are frail, and reading books does not enlighten me.' 'Yasavi' said: "Do you seek to eat without a mouth, or to digest without a stomach? Perhaps you would like to walk without feet and buy without paying... I could do as you ask only if you could first dispense with physical organs, as you wish to avoid those things which have been devised for the spiritual organs. 'Just think for a moment whether you could use food without an apparatus, approach the Sufi without having heard of them in the words you so dislike, desire wisdom without a source appreciate to your state. It may be an amusing pastime to think of learning without books as a basis, and experiencing without a teacher. So it is an amusing pastime to think of magic and miracle. Aside from amusem...

                                                                                          Lao Tzu When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad. Being and non-being create each other Difficult and easy support each other. Long and short define each other. High and low depend on each other Before and after follow each other. Therefore, the Master acts without doing anything and teaches without saying anything. Things arise and she lets them come. things disappear and she lets them go. She has but doesn't possess, acts but doesn't' expect. When her work is done, she forgets it. That is why it lasts forever.

  A conflagration of lies, rumors, misinformation, and orchestrated hate set a nation ablaze, reducing millions to seething vessels of pent-up fury. The air grew thick with anticipation—not for rain to quench the land, but for an apocalyptic earthquake of hatred meant to reduce neighbors to rubble and rewrite maps with ashes. Citizens became prisoners of their screens, pupils dilated with the promised spectacle of destruction, minds intoxicated by visions of collapsed buildings, rivers of blood, and the symphony of wails from the vanquished. Then—silence. The grand theater of annihilation never raised its curtain. Leaders stood before microphones, faces flushed with premature triumph, declaring enemies vanquished—only for the world to see those very enemies dancing in their streets, hoisting their own flags of victory. The rage, denied its sacrificial catharsis, mutated into something uglier. Humiliation became gasoline on the fire. The same media machine that had stoked this f...

  A ceasefire between Pakistan and India has finally been announced. While this brings relief to those who opposed the conflict, it has left the merchants of hate scrambling. These liars now sift through the debris of social media, collecting fragments of misinformation to craft new narratives—all for the sake of ratings and relevance. Their once-deafening war cries have softened into whispers, murmuring fresh conspiracies to fuel the next wave of hysteria. War has always been a machine—one that runs on lies, propaganda, and manufactured patriotism. History is rewritten to claim victory; facts are twisted to hide losses. Leaders distort reality to save face, masking the true cost of conflict from their own people. But our era is different. Today, armies do not fight on battlefields alone—they must also combat the propaganda machines of rogue influencers. These individuals, armed with nothing but smartphones, spread misinformation, disinformation, and outright fake news, putting...

  Once there lived a clan of ordinary rats, scurrying through the shadows as rats have done since time immemorial. Their existence was unremarkable until the day ambition took hold—not the simple desire for fuller bellies or safer nests, but a monstrous craving to become larger than nature ever intended. At first, their growth seemed a marvel. They fed ravenously, bred obsessively, and soon outgrew their rodent cousins. When their swollen bodies could no longer slip through cracks, they took it as proof of superiority rather than warning. Humans began hunting them, not as pests but as prizes—their glossy pelts stripped and displayed as trophies. The rats misinterpreted this violence as tribute. Then came the men with cages and spotlights. "Witness the Eighth Wonder of the World!" bellowed the carnival barkers, parading the colossal rodents before gasping crowds. The rats paced their gilded enclosures, basking in the attention, never questioning why spectators laughed as t...

I woke up this morning and immediately reached for my phone, scrolling for updates on the escalating Indo-Pak conflict. What I found left me stunned—reports of aerial strikes, missile launches, and artillery fire targeting Indian airbases and military installations, all framed as retaliation for India’s drone and missile attacks on Pakistan’s Noor Khan Air Base and other locations. Frantically, I switched between national, international, and Indian news channels. I scrolled through YouTube, Facebook, and online newspapers, my screen flooding with contradictory narratives: Pakistani media boasted of destroying multiple Indian airbases Indian media flatly denied these claims International outlets cautiously reported "unverified strikes" By 12:32 PM, after hours of obsessive scrolling, one terrifying reality cut through the noise: war had begun. Both nations had launched cross-border attacks, each claiming to have inflicted heavy damage. For the first time in ...

Once upon a time—not so very long ago—a certain building became infested with mice. The people in charge decided to eliminate them. One night, they laid out poisoned bait. But by morning, the poison had vanished—eaten entirely. "We'll try a different poison," they declared. A second lethal dose was prepared. Yet again, the mice devoured it eagerly, leaving behind clear signs that they were not just surviving, but thriving on their toxic new diet. Undeterred, the building's caretakers switched tactics. They set old-fashioned, spring-loaded mousetraps, baiting them with succulent cheese to lure the poison-resistant rodents. But the mice ignored the cheese entirely. Then, one inventive exterminator had a revelation. "Perhaps these mice have developed a taste for poison," he mused. "It might even be nourishing them!" Acting on this theory, he thickly coated the trap's cheese with poison. That evening, they deployed the new traps. By dawn,...

'Rashid Sitarazad' received a group of intending students whose heads were filled with his wonders and the excitement of arriving so near to the source of the Teaching. He said: ‘Let one of you be your spokesman and let him tell me of your feelings.’ One of the visitors stepped forward and said: ‘We are stimulated by the Presence,  and  eager  for  the Knowledge, and elevated by the Tradition.’ Rashid said: ‘That is a truthful account of your feelings. Because you all love the exciting, I shall have to give you the banal. You are to learn through life. And life— the key to knowledge— is the most banal of all things. You will have to undergo experiences which will make you understand life, not make it more interesting.’ One of those present exclaimed: ‘That man whom you asked to represent us speaks for him­ self, and yet we must all be judged by his behaviour!’ Rashid said: ‘He may think that ...

  War has once again erupted along the border, with both nations trading blame—as always happens during such crises. Anxiety, fear, and uncertainty loom over the region, creating an atmosphere of unpredictability. Living in a neighborhood where trust is scarce and enmity is cultivated makes life unbearable. In such an environment, survival demands constant vigilance: we arm ourselves, stockpile weapons, and cling to the illusion of "deterrence." But when one side is weaker, this imbalance breeds misery rather than security. The Delicate Balance of Power In international politics, equilibrium is everything. Alliances form to maintain this balance, and regions adopt their own strategies. Larger nations often manipulate smaller ones as buffers, stifling emerging powers to preserve dominance. The British Empire mastered this game. By the end of World War II, realizing they could no longer control the subcontinent, they ensured it would never rise as a unified force. Their sol...

There was once a dervish who had sixty disciples. He had taught them as well as he could, and the time had come for them to undergo a new experience. He called the disciples together and said: 'We must now go on a long journey. Something, I am not sure what, will happen on the way. Those of you who have absorbed enough to enter this stage will be able to accompany me. 'But first, you must all memorize this phrase, “I must die instead of the dervish.” Be prepared to shout this out at any time, whenever I raise both my arms.' Some of the disciples started muttering among themselves, now highly suspicious of the dervish’s motives. No less than fifty-nine of the sixty deserted him, saying, 'He knows that he will be in danger at some time, and is preparing to sacrifice us instead of himself!' They said to him, 'You may even be planning some crime—perhaps even a murder; we can never follow you on terms like that.' The dervish and his sole remaining com...

Hate works like a vicious cycle , sprouting from a single seed planted in the mind—much like a farmer sows a seed in a field. He waters it and nurtures it until that small seed grows into a towering tree. The same is true of hatred toward others. First, we plant the seed—an  idea —with a specific objective, then interpret everything through a biased lens. We craft arguments, distort history to fit the narrative, use provocative jargon, and cherry-pick facts to justify hatred. Religion or religious texts are often weaponized to make people believe in this manufactured hostility. Over time, the seed grows into a sprawling tree, its branches thick with hatred, eventually hardening into a violent ideology fed to the masses. This hatred acts as a  toxic tonic , inciting protests and silencing opposition. Those who preach hatred always have an agenda rooted in  material gain —whether it’s seizing land, scapegoating migrants, or manipulating economic fears. For instance, some cl...

    مصنوعی ذہانت کے تیزی سے بدلتے دور میں، جہاں روایتی تعلیمی نظام فرسودہ ہونے کے خطرے سے دوچار ہیں وہاں کھیل نوجوانوں کی  نشوونما کی بنیاد بنتا ج رہا ہے۔  اس لیے آنے والے وقت میں کھیلوں کے ذریعے پروان چڑھنے والی انسانی خوبیاں — خود اعتمادی، لچک، موافقت اور ٹیم ورک — انمول اثاثے بن جائیں گی جنہیں مشینیں نقل نہیں کر سکتیں۔ روایتی کلاس روم سیکھنے کے برعکس، جو اکثر رٹنے اور معیاری ٹیسٹوں پر مرکوز ہوتا ہے، کھیل نوجوانوں کو دباؤ میں کام کرنا، متحرک حالات میں حکمت عملی سے سوچنا اور ناکامیوں سے جلد بحال ہونا سکھاتے ہییں ۔ کھیلوں کے جسمانی اور ذہنی فوائد ہماری بڑھتی ہوئی ڈیجیٹل دنیا کے دباؤ کے لیے ایک اہم توازن بھی فراہم کرتی ہیں۔ جیسے جیسے AI کے اوزار اور ورچوئل ماحول زیادہ بیٹھے رہنے والی زندگیوں اور سماجی تنہائی کی طرف لے جاتے ہیں، باقاعدہ کھیل کی سرگرمیاں جسمانی صحت کو برقرار رکھتی ہیں جبکہ حقیقی انسانی رابطوں کو فروغ دیتی ہیں۔ کھلاڑی نہ صرف مضبوط جسم بلکہ تیز دماغ بھی پروان چڑھاتے ہیں جو فوری فیصلہ سازی اور جذباتی توازن کی صلاحیت رکھتے ہیں — ایسی خوبیاں جو انہیں ٹ...

  The aftermath of the Second World War ushered in an era of unprecedented globalization, with the advent of computers playing a pivotal role in forging global interconnectedness. The subsequent collapse of the USSR saw the United States emerge as the sole superpower, a seemingly stable world order. However, the landscape shifted dramatically following the second term of the Trump administration. The world began to experience significant upheavals, triggering a recalibration of international relations. Nations, once secure under the perceived umbrella of American protection, particularly in regions like Europe, Japan, and Taiwan, started to re-evaluate their survival and security postures as US foreign policy priorities evolved. This shift has fostered an environment of unpredictability, suspicion, and mistrust across the globe. Consequently, a new world order is taking shape, characterized by dynamic interactions between various powers, akin to billiard balls colliding on a ta...

Time passes swiftly like a supersonic jet, yet India and Pakistan continue to waste precious moments on foolish war hysteria. Both nations remain trapped in a cycle of mutual allegations and distorted information, poisoning the minds of their people with needless hatred. As the Urdu verse wisely states: " اپنے اپنے سر بچا لو دوستو! ناریل ہیں بندروں کے ہاتھ میں " ("Save yourselves, friends! Coconuts are in the hands of monkeys"). When incompetent leaders hold power, the lives of millions hang in precarious balance. This endless conflict deserves to be called foolish because neither side addresses the root causes of hatred and violence, instead empowering those who fuel the flames of discord. What both nations willfully ignore is their shared history of centuries-long coexistence. They must learn to live as neighbors despite being separate nations, much like European countries have done after their own bloody conflicts. While we eagerly import European technology an...