|| A Tibetan folklore ||
Once there was a wise monk who taught three little boys in a monastery up on a hill. One day the monk brought a jar full of nuts and said, “My sons, let us play a little game. Let us see how many nuts each of you can pick from this jar in a minute.”
The first boy put his hand into a jar of nuts and grasped as many as he could hold. But he found he couldn’t pull his hand out since the neck of the jar was too small to allow so large a handful.
He tried wriggling his hand, twisting and turning, but it only became firmly stuck. He could not pick out a single nut and the monk had to help free his hand.
It was the second boy’s turn. Seeing the first boy’s plight, the second boy proceeded carefully.
He picked one nut at a time, which gave him ample room for his hand to move. He picked out few nuts in a minute.
The third boy, having seen both of them, proceed to pick half a fistful of nuts. He was slower than the second boy but he could pick more nuts comfortably. Sometimes few nuts broke and fell when his hand couldn’t get through. But he ended up picking the most nuts.
The monk said, “Well done, my sons. You have learned something important today.
The jar of nuts represent the tasks we have. If you do them one at a time, you can do them quickly, as they have your utmost attention.
If you do few of them at a time, it will take you longer, but you can complete some more tasks.
But if you do a lot of them, you will end up finishing none of them. Remember to pick only as much as you can hold, otherwise you’ll be stuck.”
The boys nodded in understanding.
“But master”, said the third boy “who among us won? Is it me, since I picked out most nuts?”
“All the nuts I picked are whole”, said the second boy, “none of them broke. Shouldn’t it be me?”
The master gave a hearty sincere laugh that brought a smile to the boys’ faces. “My sons, who said it was a contest”, he said.
He continued, “But since you have asked, I’ll say this”, “Remember. If the task made someone, and the someone includes yourself, a little more happier or a little more wiser, it was well worth your time for each of you”
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