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There was once a group of monks who went to
Australia to propagate
Buddhism. They were new to the place and everything had to be started
from scratch. After purchasing a plot of land, they bought bricks,
construction materials and with their own hands, they started to build
a temple. Laying bricks is a test of patience. Before a brick is
laid, cement has to be layered, making sure that its thickness is
somewhat consistent. When the layering is done, the bricks are laid on top
with great care, for just a slip of mindfulness will result in crooked and
slated bricks.
There was a young monk, building a brick wall. He
took great care
in laying the bricks, ensuring that they were levelled, ensuring that every
row of brick was even. He worked and worked. His progress was
slow, due to the great care in his work, but he wasn't bothered. He was
going to build a beautiful brick wall, his first brick wall.
Finally, the day dawned when he completed his
wall and as he
stood back and admired the fruits of his labour, something caught his eye
and left him gaping in fury. Despite the great care he took in his work,
somehow, he had overlooked 2 bricks that were laid slanted. Worst of all,
the bricks were right in the centre of the wall. They were mistakes
that stared back at him.
Since then, whenever visitors come to the temple,
the young monk
would show them around to all places, all except the brick wall that he
had built. One day, 2 elderly monks came to the temple. No matter how
the young monk tried to detour to avoid the ugly brick wall, the old
monks insisted in touring the area around that brick wall. Reluctantly,
the young monk brought his elders to the brick wall.
"Oh, this is such a beautiful brick
wall!" one of the elderly monks
commented.
"Venerable Sir, are you sure? Haven't you
seen the 2 ugly bricks that
are crooked in the middle of the wall?" the young monk exclaimed
in surprise.
"Yes, I have." replied the elderly
monk. "But I also saw the remaining
98 good bricks that made this a beautiful wall!"
You see, most of the time, we focus on things
that went wrong or didn't
live up to our expectations and they can keep us brooding for days
and weeks. However, we've forgotten the fact that they are only 2 bad
bricks in the wall and we should not overlook the beauty of the
remaining 98 bricks.
Sometimes, we are very conscious of the faults of
others. When we
catch someone making a mistake, we can remember very vividly the
details of those mistakes. And every time the person's name is mentioned,
we remember the mistakes that were associated with that person. Very seldom
do we remember the good qualities and virtues of the person.
And sometimes, we are very hard on ourselves in
remembering the mistakes
that we ourselves have made, thinking that the whole world will remember
them and hold us responsible for it.
We should learn to practice loving kindness, to
be kind to others just
as we would be kind to ourselves. Let's give people time to learn,
as well as ourselves patience to learn our mistakes. Let's not look
at the faults of others and appreciate their virtues and qualities. If
we can all take a step to practice this, even if it's just a baby step,
the world will be a much better place, full of love and kindness!
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