Tao Of Forgiveness

One day, the GURU gave the disciple an empty sack and a basket of potatoes. "Think of all the people who have done or said something against you in the recent past, especially those you cannot forgive. For each of them, inscribe the name on a potato and put it in the sack."
The disciple came up quite a few names, and soon his sack was heavy with potatoes.
"Carry the sack with you wherever you go for a week," said the GURU. "We'll talk after that."
At first, the disciple thought nothing of it. Carrying the sack was not particularly difficult. But after a while, it became more of a burden. It sometimes got in the way, and it seemed to require more effort to carry as time went on, even though its weight remained the same.

After a few days, the sack began to smell. The carved potatoes gave off a ripe odor. Not only were they increasingly inconvenient to carry around, they were also becoming rather unpleasant.
Finally, the week was over. The Guru summoned the disciple. "Any thoughts about all this?"

"Yes, Master," the disciple replied. "When we are unable to forgive others, we carry negative feelings with us everywhere, much like these potatoes. That negativity becomes a burden to us and, after a while, it festers."
"Yes, that is exactly what happens when one holds a grudge. So, how can we lighten the load?"
"We must strive to forgive."
"Forgiving someone is the equivalent of removing the corresponding potato from the sack. How many of your transgressors are you able to forgive?"
"I've thought about it quite a bit, Master," the disciple said. "It required much effort, but I have decided to forgive all of them."
"Very well, we can remove all the potatoes. Were there any more people who transgressed against you this last week?"
The disciple thought for a while and admitted there were. Then he felt panic when he realized his empty sack was about to get filled up again.
"Master," he asked, "if we continue like this, wouldn't there always be potatoes in the sack week after week?"
"Yes, as long as people speak or act against you in some way, you will always have potatoes."
"But Master, we can never control what others do. So what good is the Tao in this case?"
"We're not at the realm of the Tao yet. Everything we have talked about so far is the conventional approach to forgiveness. It is the same thing that many philosophies and most religions preach - we must constantly strive to forgive, for it is an important virtue.
This is not the Tao because there is no striving in the Tao."
"Then what is the Tao, Master?"
"You can figure it out. If the potatoes are negative feelings, then what is the sack?"
"The sack is... that which allows me to hold on to the negativity.
It is something within us that makes us dwell on feeling offended.... Ah, it is my inflated sense of self-importance. "
"And what will happen if you let go of it?"
"Then... the things that people do or say against me no longer seem
like such a major issue."
"In that case, you won't have any names to inscribe on potatoes.
That means no more weight to carry around, and no more bad smells.
The Tao of forgiveness is the conscious decision to not just to
remove some potatoes... but to relinquish the entire sack."

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aww its such a nice story...

amazing msg thnx for sharing..

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very very nice sharing- i wish all of us think in this way. Smile

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@Rahman
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A PAKISTANI ( NOT A SINDHI, PUNJABI, PAKHTOON, BALOCHI,MOHAJIR OR ANY OTHER RACE JUST A PURE PAKISTANI) IN CANADA .

	hardsweetme wrote:
	very very nice sharing- i wish all of us think in this way.

aap apna bato bro??

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mystery-girl wrote:

	hardsweetme wrote:
	very very nice sharing- i wish all of us think in this way.

aap apna bato bro??

MEY NEY WISH HI yeh ki hai, mey to chahta hi yeh hoon aur try karta hoon key saab hasi khushi rahay Smile

. per i see if i try to make happy one other get angry with me. if i make him happy other angry with me. saab muj sey yehi kahtey hey tum kabhi saab ko aik sath khush nahi rakh saktey Sad

. per i try everytime.

have a great life.

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@Rahman
__________________
A PAKISTANI ( NOT A SINDHI, PUNJABI, PAKHTOON, BALOCHI,MOHAJIR OR ANY OTHER RACE JUST A PURE PAKISTANI) IN CANADA .

hardsweetme wrote:

mystery-girl wrote:

	hardsweetme wrote:
	very very nice sharing- i wish all of us think in this way.

aap apna bato bro??

MEY NEY WISH HI yeh ki hai, mey to chahta hi yeh hoon aur try karta hoon key saab hasi khushi rahay Smile

. per i see if i try to make happy one other get angry with me. if i make him happy other angry with me. saab muj sey yehi kahtey hey tum kabhi saab ko aik sath khush nahi rakh saktey Sad

. per i try everytime.

have a great life.

awwww...tou keep the one happy who u think deserve to stay happy...

i will if ur pary r wid me... Very Happy

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you didnt understand Smile

. e.g -if i have 2 friends and both friends not talk to each other- so both of them want me to not talk to other:). to wo becahara to ghaya jo sub ko razi karney ki koshish kar raha hey Smile

.
aur jaha to tum ho Smile

i always pray whether u deserve or not Very Happy

.

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@Rahman
__________________
A PAKISTANI ( NOT A SINDHI, PUNJABI, PAKHTOON, BALOCHI,MOHAJIR OR ANY OTHER RACE JUST A PURE PAKISTANI) IN CANADA .

	hardsweetme wrote:
	you didnt understand . e.g -if i have 2 friends and both friends not talk to each other- so both of them want me to not talk to other:). to wo becahara to ghaya jo sub ko razi karney ki koshish kar raha hey . aur jaha to tum ho i always pray whether u deserve or not .

this is the worst thing...mei pata kya karti hon jab asia kuch hota hai tou mei jah kar library mei beth jahti hon aur un se kheti hon either do frndship yeh phir mei bhi tum dono se baat nahin karti... Laughing

aww thts so sweet...btw i do deserve them... Evil or Very Mad

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baat to wahi agahayyee aap doosro ko naraz kar rahay hey ya un sey naraz horahay hey Razz

.

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@Rahman
__________________
A PAKISTANI ( NOT A SINDHI, PUNJABI, PAKHTOON, BALOCHI,MOHAJIR OR ANY OTHER RACE JUST A PURE PAKISTANI) IN CANADA .

	hardsweetme wrote:
	baat to wahi agahayyee aap doosro ko naraz kar rahay hey ya un sey naraz horahay hey .

but baat yahan forgivness ki ho rahi hai naraz karna ki nahin...

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