Transformative Tools

I clasp the stem of time,

then let madness be my guide.

Adonis (Syria)

A man once came to the Mullah Nasruddin. “Mullah,” he said, “let me borrow your clothesline.”

“I can’t,” said the Mullah. “I’m using it to dry flour.”

The man looked shocked. “You can’t dry flour on a clothesline. That’s hardly a good reason not to lend it to me.”

Said the Mullah, “Since I didn’t want to lend it anyway, it’s reason enough.”

hat tip to source: Episcopal Chaplain at the Bedside

How Mullah Nasruddin Won The Bet?

On a frigid and snowy winter day Mullah Nasruddin was having a chat with some of his friends in the local coffee house. Mullah Nasruddin said that cold weather did not bother him, and in fact, he could stay, if necessary, all night without any heat.

“We’ll take you up on that, Mullah Nasruddin” they said. “If you stand all night in the village square without warming yourself by any external means, each of us will treat you to a sumptuous meal. But if you fail to do so, you will treat us all to dinner.” “All right it’s a bet,” Mullah Nasruddin said.

That very night, Mullah Nasruddin stood in the village square till morning despite the bitter cold. In the morning, he ran triumphantly to his friends and told them that they should be ready to fulfill their promise.

“But as a matter of fact you lost the bet, Mullah Nasruddin,” said one of them. “At about midnight, just before I went to sleep, I saw a candle burning a window about three hundred yards away from where you were standing. That certainly means that you warmed yourself by it.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Mullah Nasruddin argued. “How can a candle behind a window warm a person three hundred yards away?” All his protestations were to no avail, and it was decided that Mullah Nasruddin had lost the bet.

Mullah Nasruddin accepted the verdict and invited all of them to a dinner that night at his home. They all arrived on time, laughing and joking; anticipating the delicious meal Mullah Nasruddin was going to serve them. But dinner was not ready. Mullah Nasruddin told them that it would be ready in a short time, and left the room to prepare the meal.

A long time passed, and still no dinner was served. Finally, getting impatient and very hungry, they went into the kitchen to see if there was any food cooking at all. What they saw, they could not believe. Mullah Nasruddin was standing by a huge cauldron, suspended from the ceiling. There was a lighted candle under the cauldron.

“Be patient my friends,” Mullah Nasruddin told them. “Dinner will be ready soon. You see it is cooking.” “Are you out of your mind, Mullah Nasruddin?” they shouted. How could you with such a tiny flame boil such a large pot?

“Your ignorance of such matters amuses me,” Mullah Nasruddin said. “If the flame of a candle behind a window three hundred yards away can warm a person, surely the same flame will boil this pot which is only three inches away.”

The friend’s understood what Mullah meant and accepting their treachery the friends declared Mullah as the winner of the bet and treated him with a sumptuous meal.

Hat tip for pic and story to Pushpa.Mullah Nasruddin Stories

click image to enlarge

Mullah Nasruddin’s house was on fire, so he ran up to his roof for safety. There he was, precariously perched on the roof, when his friends gathered in the street below holding a stretched-out blanket for him and shouting, “Jump, Mullah, jump!”

“Oh no I won’t,” said the Mullah. “I know you fellows. If I jump, you’ll pull the blanket away just to make a fool of me!”

“Don’t be silly, Mullah. This isn’t a joke. This is serious. Jump!”

“No,” said Nasruddin. “I don’t trust any of you. Lay that blanket on the ground and I’ll jump.”

source: Anthony De Mello

click cartoon to enlarge

Some commentary for this month’s teaching cartoon. It happens sometimes that a seemingly simple problem in fact joins two separate problems. Faced with the dilemma, this conjoinment may not be apparent.

I created this cartoon to re-capture a story told to me when I asked a mentor the following question: How does one conduct a practice that requires a teacher when the teacher isn’t available?

A few weeks ago a colleague and I discussed a situation like this. At that time I thought of another situation too: is it prudent to avoid an encounter that may have a downside consequence?

To understand how seemingly singular problems may in fact contain two different challenges, any investigation will turn on the ability to separate these two features from one another. Often in doing so another aspect becomes apparent: that what connects the two into a single dilemma is an assumption about how each is contingent on the other. Whether such a bridging assumption is necessary is the hint posed by the cartoon. Let me know what you come up. I didn’t get it at the time it was presented to me!

(The only difference between the toon and the original story my mentor told me was that the bird in the story was a donkey.)
 

A Zen Teacher saw five of his students return from the market, riding their bicycles. When they had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, “Why are you riding your bicycles?”

The first student replied, “The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!” The teacher praised the student, saying, “You are a smart boy. When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over, as I do.”

The second student replied, “I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path.” The teacher commended the student, “Your eyes are open and you see the world.”

The third student replied, “When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant, nam myoho renge kyo.” The teacher gave praise to the third student, “Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel.”

The fourth student answered, “Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all beings.” The teacher was pleased and said, “You are riding on the golden path of non-harming.”

The fifth student replied, “I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle.” The teacher went and sat at the feet of the fifth student, and said, “I am your disciple.”