Ancient Wisdom

  Once a hunter in ‘Linjiang’ caught a young ‘ David ’s deer. It was so lovely that the hunter decided to take it home to raise. As soon as he entered his house, his dogs ran over and stared at the little deer, mouths watering. The man shouted at them to go away. From then on, he kept showing the dogs the David’s deer and warned them not to hurt it. Finally, he let the dogs play with the deer.   To his delight, they lived peacefully. The little David’s deer grew up to forget its identity.   It took the dogs as its friends and played all kinds of games with them, which brought them even closer.   The dogs, however, kept on good terms with the deer only for the sake of their master. They often dreamed of tasting the David’s deer, which made their mouths water. Three years passed and the young David’s deer had grown up. One day it happened to go out and found many dogs from other households playing on the road. It joined in the fun, but was encircled and eaten, lea...

  Once upon a time there was a man named ' Ji Hou ' who loved monkeys and had them trained by professional han­dlers. One trainer, named ‘Tuo Shi’, dressed the monkeys up like human beings.  He put on tall hats, colorful clothing and embroidered shoes and taught them to kowtow, stand erect, sit and kneel just like human beings. When ‘Tuo Shi’ was satisfied with their behavior, he took them to ‘Ji Hou’, who was very glad to see them and invited them to drink spirits.  The drink excited them so much that they jumped and somersaulted, tore hats and clothing shreds, threw off their shoes, and showed their true selves.

One day, a man accidentally caught two young wolves. Fluffy and adorable, they were so endearing that he decided to raise them alongside his dogs. To his pleasant surprise, the wolves and dogs lived together peacefully. As time passed, the wolves grew up but remained docile, and the man almost forgot they were wild creatures. One afternoon, while napping in his hall, the man was startled awake by his dogs’ furious barking. Seeing nothing unusual, he dismissed it and tried to sleep again. Just as he began to drift off, the dogs barked violently once more. This time, he pretended to stay asleep, watching carefully. To his horror, he saw the two wolves creeping toward him, jaws open—ready to sink their teeth into his throat. His loyal dogs lunged forward, barking fiercely to protect him. Realizing the wolves’ treachery, the man swiftly killed the ungrateful beasts and skinned them as a grim reminder of nature’s unyielding instincts. #Betrayal #Wild vs. Tamed #Instinct vs. Trust # ...

Late one evening, a butcher was driving home after closing up his shop. In the back of his pickup truck sat the last unsold cut of prime pork—leftover from the day’s sales. As he slowed at a red light, a lone wolf lurking near the roadside caught the scent. Salivating, the predator locked onto the meat and began trailing the truck at a distance. Glancing in his rearview mirror, the butcher noticed the wolf keeping pace, its eyes gleaming under the streetlights. Uneasy, he rolled down his window and brandished his cleaver, shouting, “Back off!” The wolf hesitated but didn’t flee. The butcher’s grip tightened on the wheel. This isn’t safe. Then, an idea struck him. All it wants is the meat. If I leave it somewhere out of reach, maybe it’ll give up. Spotting a tall metal fence by an abandoned lot, he pulled over, hooked the pork onto one of the spikes, and drove off, relieved to see the wolf sniffing the air, distracted. The next morning, curiosity nagged at him. ...

  A tiger had been prowling about in the mountain forest for quite some time without finding anything to eat. It grew so Hungary that it went down the mountain to the fields. After a long time suddenly saw a lump of meat on the grassland at a distance. Overjoyed, it rushed at it, mouth wide open. But the meat turned out to be a hedgehog lying on its back, enjoying the sunshine. Seeing the tiger rushing at it, the hedgehog huddled itself up, so its sharp spines pierced the tiger's mouth. The tiger was so frightened it ran away. The faster it ran, the deeper the spines pierced. When it got back to the mountain, it was both hungry and tired. It then jumped and leaped several times to cast off the hedgehog, but it could not. Out of breath, it lay down to rest and finally fell into a daze. The hedgehog then stretched itself and ran away. The tiger awoke to find the hedgehog gone. Happily, it went on to look for food on the mountain. When it saw a thorny oak shell under an oak tree it fo...

  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...

  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.

The perfect man is a spiritual being. Were the ocean itself scorched up, he would not feel hot. Were the Milky Way frozen hard, he would not feel cold. Were the mountains to be riven with thunder, and the great deep to be thrown up by storm, he would not tremble. Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. Let knowledge stop at the unknowable. That is perfection. [Chung Tzu]

  There are four things which do not allow people to rest: Long Life; Reputation; Rank; Riches. Those who have them, fear ghosts, fear men, power, and punishment. They are always fugitives. Whether they are killed or live, they regulate their lives by externals. [Yang Chu, 300. B.C.]

                                                                                YU TSE. 1250 B.C. That who renounces fame has no sorrow. Fame is the follower of reality. Now, however, as people pursue fame with such frenzy, does it not really come of itself if it is disregarded? At present fame means honor and regard. Lack of fame brings humbleness and disgrace. Again, ease and pleasure follow upon honor and regard. Sorrow and grief are contrary to human nature; ease and pleasure are in accord with it. These things have reality.

They who expect to live without enemies, yet have no kindness for others, are like one who should try to hold a heated body without dipping it in water. Men expect by their own darkness to enlighten others. The artisan may give a man compass and square, but he cannot make him skillful in the use of them.

  'Mulla Nasrudin' and his wife were talking about their parents. ‘My mother can cook ever so well,’ said the ' Mulla .' ‘How can you say that?’ shrieked his wife. ‘My mother is a hundred times the better cook!’ Seeing red, ' Nasrudin ' grabbed the woman by the scruff of her neck and threw her out into the garden. ‘What are you doing?’ asked his neighbor. ‘There is little enough room in the house for two,’ explained ' Nasrudin'. ‘Four is just too many.’ ‘Four?’ ‘Yes, first there was just me and her, then my mother crept in and finally her mother also came to stay. The house was so crammed with them and their pots and pans, that my wife fell out of the door.’

  'Zu Chang' asked Confucius: "What must a man do in order to be considered distinguished?" The Master replied: "What do you mean by the term distinguished?" 'Zu Chang' replied: "I mean one whose fame fill both his own private circle and the State at large." The Master said: "That is notoriety, not distinction. The man of true distinction is simple, honest, and lover of justice and duty. He weighs men's words and observes the expression of their faces." [Source: The Wisdom of China]

 'Ssu-Ma Niu ' asked for a definition of the princely man to Confucius.  The Master said: "The princely man is one who knows neither grief nor fear."- Absence of grief and fear! Is it the mark of a princely man? The Master said: "If on a searching his heart he finds no guilt, why should he grieve? of what should he be afraid?"

If you over esteem great men, people become powerless. If you over value possessions, people begin to steal. The Master leads by emptying people's minds and filling their cores, by weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve. He helps people lose everything they know, everything they desire, and creates confusion in those who think that they know. Practice not-doing and everything will fall into place.

  'Yen Yuan' inquired as to the meaning of true goodness. The Master said: " The subdued of self, and reversion to the natural laws governing conduct-this is true goodness. If a man can for the space of one day subdue his selfishness and revert to natural laws, the whole world will call him good. True goodness springs from a man's own heart. How can it depend on other men?" 'Yen Yuan ' said: "Kindly tell me the practical rule to be deduced from this." -The Master replied: "Do not use your eyes, your ears, your power of speech on your faculty of movement without obeying the inner law of self control."-' Yen Yuan ' said: "Though I am not quick in thought or act , I will make it my business to carry out this precept." [Source: The Wisdom Of the Chinese, Brian Brown, New York, Brentano's Publishers.]

 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 creates each other. Difficult and easy support each other. Long and short define each other. Before and after follow each other. Therefore the Master acts without doing 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. [Source: Tao Te Ching, A New English Version, Forward and Notes by Stephen Mitchell, published by Modern Classics, New York.]

  'Chi K'ang Tzu ' questioned Confucius on a point of government, saying: "Ought not I to cut off the lawless in order to establish law and order? What do you think?" Confucius replied:" Sir, what need is there of the death penalty in your system of government? If you showed a sincere desire to be good, your people would likewise be good. The virtue of the prince is like unto wind; that of the people, like unto grass. For it is the nature of grass to bend when the wind blows upon it." [Source: Analects, Confucius 551 B.C, The Wisdom Of the Chinese, p.21]