Wellness Positive

Philosophy and Fables from the East

On the Talents of each Individual..

This page contains an interesting fable and philosophy from the east that shows the value of the talents of every individual.

  Within the Temple, the student watched two warriors throw blades at a wooden figure of a tiger. The student was young and ambitious, and as the he watched the warriors at their practice, the student pretended to himself that he too was perfect, with a sure hand and eye...

  Lhak-pa, a crippled boy, intruded on the student's fantasy. The misshapen boy was sweeping the grounds of the temple. Because Lhak-pa was the complete opposite of his dreams of perfection, the student looked at him with disgust.

  Then the student felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to find one of the great teachers of the temple looking at him...

  "You do not like Lhak-pa," said the Master. It was a statement.

  The student looked away, "He will never attain perfection," he said.

  "Is that so important then?," asked his teacher, "Here, among us, he is accepted for what he is."

  "And what if he were in the world outside?" asked the student.

  The Master smiled, and his eyes looked into the distance...

"Is there an 'outside world', my son? Have you not noticed how the animals flock to the call of the crippled one? How the plants grow and the flowers bloom to his touch?.. Does he not then have a talent worth as much as strength or skill or even the riches of a king?..."