The Rose Within

A man planted a rose and watered it faithfully for days however before it blossomed, he examined it and saw the bud but also noticed many thorns upon the stem and he thought, "How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns? Saddened by this thought, he decided not to water the rose anymore, and just before it was ready to bloom... the rose died.

In the same way within every soul – All of us there is a rose. The God-like (Ishvara) qualities exist amid the thorns of our faults and shortcomings. Many of us look at ourselves and others seeing only the thorns - the defects and negative side. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from these ‘thorns’. We neglect to water the good within others and ourselves and therefore the rose within dies before given a chance to blossom.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the greatest compassionate acts a person can perform is to be able to reach past the thorns of another, know their faults and still accept that person into your life... recognizing the underlying nobility and potentiality in their soul - help them to realize that they can overcome their faults. If we show them the ‘rose’ within themselves, it will help them to conquer their thorns and blossom the rose within

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We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.

~ Sam Keen

The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes.

~ Pema Chodron

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From: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1383885569&v=feed&story_fbid=191697293065#/inbox/?folder=[fb]messages&page=1&tid=1123036048760

История:"Това е добре"

Историята разказва за един крал в Африка, който имал много близък приятел, с който израстнал. Приятелят му имал обичай като се сблъска с каквато и да е ситуация в живота си (добра или лоша), да отбелязва: "Това е добре!"

Един ден кралят и неговият приятел били излезли на лов. Приятелят е трябвало да зарежда и да подготвя пистолетите за краля. Приятелят очевидно не е подготвил правилно един от пистолетите. Взимайки пистолета от своя приятел, кралят възпроизвел изстрел с него и той откъснал палеца му.

Проучвайки състоянието на краля, приятелът отбелязал, както обикновено, "Това е добре!"

На което кралят отговорил: "Не, това НЕ Е добре!" и изпратил своя приятел в затвора.

Около година по-късно кралят ловувал в район, в който той е трябвало да знае, че не трябва да пристъпва. Пленили го канибали и го откарали в своето село. Те вързали ръцете му, подредили дърва, сложили един кол и го вързали за него. Когато се приближили да запалят дървата, те забелязали, че кралят е без един палец. Тъй като били суеверни, те никога не изяждали някой, който не е напълно цял. Така че развързали краля и го изпратили по пътя му.

Когато се върнал у дома, той си спомнил за събитието, при което си загубил палеца и почувствал угризения за затварянето на своя приятел.

Кралят веднага отишъл в затвора да говори с приятеля си.
"Ти беше прав," казал той, "Това беше добре, че ми беше откъснат палеца."

И той разказал на приятеля си всичко точно, както се е случило.
"И така, аз много съжалявам, че те изпратих в затвора за толкова дълго време. Това беше лошо от моя страна да направя това."

"Не," отговорил приятелят му:"Това е добре!"

"Какво искаш да кажеш с това "Това е добре"? Как би могло да бъде добре, че пратих приятеля си в затвора за една година?"

"Ако аз НЕ БЯХ в затвора, щях да съм с теб."

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Щастлив човек не е човек заобиколен от определен набор от обстоятелства, а по-скоро човек с определен набор от нагласи. ~ Хю Даунс

Раят не е място, а състояние на ума. ~ Джон Бъроу

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From: http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/inbox/?folder=[fb]messages&page=1&tid=1042253914151

Story: This is Good

The story is told of a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.

Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!"

To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took them to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend.

He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right," he said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off."

And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this." "No," his friend replied, "This is good!"

"What do you mean, 'This is good'? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?"

"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."


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A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. ~Hugh Downs

The Kingdom of Heaven is not a place, but a state of mind. ~John Burrough

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From: http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/inbox/?folder=[fb]messages&page=1&tid=1042253914151