THE ANCIENT STORY OF DIOGENES THE GREEK

       Alexander the Great thundered into Greece, and the people fled in fear before the Macedonian Conqueror. One can only imagine Alexander’s surprise, then, as the path before his galloping horse was suddenly blocked by a small, wizened man, lying in the road practically naked, calmly taking a sunbath beside a large barrel.  It was the philosopher, Diogenes, and the young Alexander was momentarily nonplussed by his first encounter with the legendary teacher.

“Greetings,  old philosopher!   Why did you not run away with all the others?”

“Well,  as you can see,  I’m taking a sunbath.”

“I admire your courage,  old man!   To show my admiration,  may I grant you a favor?”

“As you can see,  I am taking a sunbath,  and you are casting your shadow over me.  It would indeed be a favor if you could move a little.”

.  .  .  .  .  .  Delighted,  Alexander said,  “Who are you,  old one?”

“I am Diogenes,  the Philosopher.”

“Do you know who I am?”   (This with great pride)

“Oh,  yes,  you  must  be  Alexander,  with  his  conquering  armies.   No  one  else  could make  such  a  noise!”

.  .  .  .  .  .  This delighted Alexander even more, and he decided to have some sport with  Diogenes.

“If I were not Alexander,  I should like to be Diogenes.”

“Hmph!   If I were not Diogenes,  I would surely not like to be Alexander!”

“But why not?  “I am Alexander the Great!   No one has such a marvelous life as I have!”

.  .  .  .  .  .  Diogenes squinted against the sun and studied the young warrior, flushed with excitement and triumph.

“Tell me,  Alexander,  what will you do after you occupy Greece?”

“Why,  then,  I  will  occupy  Persia!”

“And  after  Persia?”

“Then  I   will  conquer  Egypt!”

“And  after  Egypt?”

“Then I will go in triumph to  Africa,  and India!”

.  .  .  .  .  .  Diogenes  sighed  and  then  smiled.

“Very  well,  Alexander.  Let  us  suppose  that  you  have  conquered  the  whole  world.   What will you do then?” 

.  .  .  .  .  .   Alexander’s face clouded in thought,  and he was silent for a long time.  Finally he said,  “well,  I think that I would withdraw into my little garden in Macedonia and plant my flowers and fruit trees and enjoy the peace and solitude.”

“Ah,  my young Alexander,  my brave and foolish conqueror!  Why do you not do that right now?  Why do you first have to conquer the whole world before you can enjoy your garden in Macedonia?”

.  .  .  .  .  .  Diogenes lived to the fullness of his years,  peacefully teaching others his simple philosophy, taking sunbathes besides his barrel.   Alexander was killed in the midst of his conquests,  and never saw his little garden in Macedonia.

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“We shall avoid pain, always,  and seek for pleasure.  But of pleasures there are two kinds.  For the first, and false,  pleasures,  we must pay too high a price:   the sacrifice of our physical health and peace of mind.   And without our health and peace of mind we are unable to enjoy any pleasure.   The second kind of pleasures are our eternal companions, the right kind of pleasures. These noble pleasures are the enjoyment of all the beautiful things in Nature:  the mountains,  the forests,  the oceans,  the colors of sunrise and sunset — all that is beautiful in man’s creation: great books,  great music,  great works of art — friendship and love — the wise man shall make his program of living,   the gradual replacement of the false pleasures with our eternal companions,  the noble companions  of life.”

–Epicuros

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THE JEWELS OF KARMA YOGA  of  Patanjali

      Work is something to be greatly desired, something to be praised and lauded by us all — our life long friend, the giver of all gifts, the creator of everything we shall need or desire.     And surely, with such thoughts in mind, our love of work will become deep and true. Then we shall gain the power to work even better — with greater capacity and talent — even with genius: for an intense love of work usually gives birth to genius.

      Work for a great idea, and you arouse great ideas in your own mind. Great ideas produce great thoughts, and great thought produce great men. A man is exactly what he thinks himself to be. Therefore, the man who thinks great thoughts must necessarily become a great man, and the simplest way for anyone to form the habit of thinking great thoughts is to work for great ideas.

      The man who shirks does not grow.The man who works poorly will remain small in mind. The man who works in the wrong concept of work will tire and wear out.

      When you work simply for yourself, or for your own personal gain, your mind will seldom rise above the limitations of an undeveloped personal life. But when you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you fid yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to become a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.

      The majority work to make a living; some work to acquire wealth or fame, while a few work because there is something in them which demands expression. The majority dislike work. Only a few truly love it. Nearly everybody wearies of work and there is only a limited number that gain strength from work. The average person works because he has to, so that it is the exceptional one who works because he wants to. When we dream of Utopia [EcoTopia!] we picture it as a place where there is less work and more pleasure, and the highest heaven is supposed to be a realm where one done does nothing. With this idea of work, the multitudes are extremely longing for rest, but this longing is seldom satisfied because their whole conception of work is based on lies and falsehood.

      To get something without working for it — that seems to be the acme of delight. But why is the desire to get something for nothing so strong in so many minds? For no other reason than this: we do not understand the true nature of work, and therefore dislike it. When we learn to understand work, however, and learn how to work, we will go to our work with just as much delight as we go to our pleasure. And when we consider the real purpose of work and discover the work that builds the man, we  will consider it a far greater privilege to work for everything we need or desire, then to go to a free mine and take all the gold we can carry away.

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    “A  Master of the  Art  of  Living  draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which.   He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves to others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself,  he always appears to be doing both.”    

–Francoise René Auguste Chateaubriand  

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“Do the thing and you shall have the power; for everyone there is a path in which the whole universe opens up to you.”                                                                                                  –Ralph Waldo Emerson

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    THE CREATION OF WOMAN   (Anonymous)

         When God created woman he was working late on the 6th day . . . . . .
An Angel came by and asked, “Why spend so much time on her?”
The lord answered, “Have you seen all the specifications I have to meet to shape her?
She must function in all kinds of situations,
she must be able to embrace several kids at the same time,
have a hug that can heal anything, from a bruised knee to a broken heart,
and must do all this with only two hands.  Not to mention,
she can even cure herself when sick, and can work 18 hours a day!”
The angel was impressed. “Just two hands . . . . impossible!
and this is only the standard model?”
The Angel came closer and touched the woman.
“But you have made her so soft, Lord.”
“She is soft, “said the Lord,
“but I have made her strong. You can’t imagine what she can endure and overcome.”
“Can she think?” The Angel asked.
The Lord answered. “Not only can she think, she can reason and negotiate.”
The Angel touched her cheeks . . . .
“Lord, it seems this creation is leaking! You have put too many burdens on her.”
“She is not leaking . . . . it is a tear,” the Lord corrected the Angel.
“What’s it for?” asked the Angel.
The Lord said, “Tears are her way of expressing her grief, her doubts, her love,                                                                             her loneliness, her suffering and her pride.”
This made a big impression on the Angel.
“Lord, you are a genius. You thought of everything.
A woman is indeed marvelous!”
The Lord said, “Indeed she is!
She has strength that amazes a man.
She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens.
She holds happiness, love and opinions.
She smiles when she feels like screaming.
She sings when she feels like crying, cries when happy and laughs when afraid.
She fights for what she believes in.
Her love is unconditional.                                                                                                                                                                                          She can live without a man, but a man can never live without a woman.                                                                                          Her heart is broken when a next-of-kin or a friend dies, but she finds strength to get on with life.                                She is a Goddess in disguise.”
And the Angel asked, “So she is a perfect being?
The lord replied, “No. She has just one drawback . . . .
“She often forgets what she is worth.”

Treat her like a QUEEN and she’ll treat you like a KING.

Treat her like a game and she’ll show you how it’s played.

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