Courage
COURAGE AND REPUTATION!
There is an inspirational Zen story on Courage: There was a boy who was born without a right arm. On his ninth birthday he asked his parents if he could join a karate club. They were delighted by the idea and the boy quickly became a regular at the local dojo.
The boy wanted to compete in a tournament and asked his master if this was possible. The master said he could but only if he listened carefully to his master and trusted him.
The master taught the boy one move and one move only. The boy practised it diligently but after a while he was worried that the other boys were learning a range of moves and he only had one. He asked the master to teach him other moves but the master said no. The master just urged the boy to keep practising that one move.
The boy won the first round of the tournament and then the next round and the one after that until he found himself winning the entire tournament. The boy was baffled. How did he do it? He asked the master how a boy with only one arm and only one move could win a karate tournament against these other boys. The master smiled and told the boy that there is only one defence against the move the boy learned and that defence involves grabbing the attacker by the right arm. Have courage. Do not run as a coward when you are facing inevitable problem.There is an anecdote about an Athenian. An Athenian, who was lame in one foot, was laughed at by the soldiers on account of lameness.“I am here to fight,” said he, “not to run.”
Reputation:
Before checking anybody’s reputation please check your reputation and how others view and think about you.The following anecdote will throw insight on reputation.One of the powerful figures in Wall Street fell in love with an actress and for many months danced constant attendance upon her and squired her about in the fashionable circles of town. Deciding to marry her, he first prudently put a private detective to the job of looking into her antecedents in order to guard himself against any rash mistake.
At last he received his agent’s report. “Miss Blank enjoys an excellent reputation. Her past is spotless. Her associates have been irreproachable. The only breath of scandal is that, in recent months, she has been much seen in the company of a business man of doubtful reputation.
Check yourself first before checking others!
S.Nagarajan
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