“Bitterness is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die.”  King Brahmadatta’s army rode out to conquer king Dighiti.

Brahmadatta’s army thundered across the land, the horses hooves pounding against the ground. When Dighiti’s watchmen felt the earth tremble beneath them, they looked out and saw Brahmadatta’s powerful army with their swords raised, emerging from a cloud of dust. They ran to inform the king of the terrible sight.

Dighiti realized that his puny forces could not resist Brahmadatta, and compassion filled his heart. He addressed his generals, “We cannot hope to win a battle against Brahmadatta. He will slaughter our people and destroy their homes. If we wish this kingdom to survive, we must surrender.”

Then he turned to his wife and said, “We must leave this place. If Brahmadatta finds us, he will publicly humiliate and execute us. Let us go to Benares. It is a big city and Brahmadatta will not expect us to flee to our enemy’s home. He will never look for us in his own city.”

Disguising themselves as wandering ascetics, they made their way to Benares, where they came upon an abandoned potter’s hut. They settled on the outskirts of the city. Every day, Dighiti went into the streets with his bowl and begged for alms to feed his wife and himself.

What will become of Dighiti and his wife?

Next time:”The Birth of a King?”

“Bitterness is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die.”  Angry with each other over a matter they could not resolve, the monks of Kosambi sought out the Buddha for his wisdom. The Buddha told them a story.

In the old days, King Brahmadatta reigned over the great and prosperous Kingdom of Kasi. The king lived in a splendid palace in the city of Benares. The monarch owned many treasures and commanded a mighty army.

Nearby, Dighiti the Long-Suffering, struggled to rule the tiny, poverty-stricken kingdom of Kosala. But Brahmadatta was not satisfied with his wealrth and lusted for more. Seeing the kingdom of Kosala, he thought to himself, “Dighiti’s army is weak and small. I can easily defeat him and extend my kingdom.”

He called his generals together, assembled the army, and rode out to conquer Kosala.

Will Brahmadatta conquer Dighiti?

Next time: “Dighiti’s Decision”

“Bitterness is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die.”  Our new series is a story about letting go of bitterness. I have adapted this story from “Peace that Lasts” found in Wisdom in the Telling by Lorraine Hartin-Gelardi.

Once, an argument broke out in the community of monks who resided at Kosambi in India. The disagreement divided the community against itself. Accusations and insults flew back and forth until, unable to settle their dispute, the monks swarmed the Buddha like angry bees seeking his help in resolving their differences.

“Be wary of causing divisions,” the Buddha warned them. “Do not cling to thoughts of past harm. Respect one another.”

However, the monks did not fully understand his teaching and they continued to argue, reaching the point of violence. The people of Kosambi lost respect for the monks and withdrew their support. When this happened, the monks returned to the Buddha again and sought his counsel. The Buddha assembled the monks and told them a story.

Next time: “Story of the Past”

“Old Joe and the Carpenter” can be found in Doorways to the Soul: 52 Wisdom Tales from Around the World by Elisa Pearmain

The “traveling carpenter” was hired by Old Joe to build a fence between he and his neighbor’s property. But Joe returned home from his errands to find…

When he saw what the carpenter had built, he couldn’t speak. It wasn’t a fence. Instead, a beautiful footbridge, with handrails and all, reached from one side of the creek to the other.

Just then, Old Joe’s neighbor crossed the bridge, his hand stuck out, and said, “I’m right sorry about our misunderstanding, Joe. The calf is yours, I just want us to go on being good friends.”

“You keep the calf, ” said Old Joe. “I want us to be friends, too. The bridge was this young fellow’s idea. And I’m glad he did it.”

The carpenter hoisted his toolbox onto his shoulder and started to leave.

“Wait!” said Joe. “You’re a good man. My neighbor and I can keep you busy for weeks.”

The carpenter smiled and said, “I’d like to stay, but I can’t. I have more bridges to build.”

And he walked down the road, whistling a happy tune as he went.

—

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” Lewis B. Smedes

“Old Joe and the Carpenter” can be found in Doorways to the Soul: 52 Wisdom Tales from Around the World by Elisa Pearmain

Old Joe hired a carpenter to build a fence between he and his neighbor’s house. The carpenter goes to work.

The old man had to go to town for supplies, so he hitched up his wagon and left for the day. The young carpenter carried the lumber from the barn to creek side, and started to work.

He worked hard and he worked fast. He measured, sawed, and nailed those boards into place all day long without stopping for lunch. With the setting of the sun, he started to put away his tools. He had finished his project.

Old Joe pulled up his wagon full of supplies. when he saw what the carpenter had built, he couldn’t speak. It wasn’t a fence.

What did the carpenter make? “Find out next time!

Old Joe and the Carpenter” can be found in Doorways to the Soul: 52 Wisdom Tales from Around the World by Elisa Pearmain

An argument over a stray calf led to slammed doors and silence. Will Joe and his neighbor reconcile?

Come Saturday morning, Old Joe heard a knock on his front door. He wasn’t expecting anyone and was surprised to find a young man who called himself a “traveling carpenter” standing on his porch. He had a wooden toolbox at his feet, and there was kindness in his eyes.

“I’m looking for work,” he explained. “I’m good with mu hands and if you have a project or two, I’d like to help you out.”

Old Joe replied, “Yes, as a matter of fact. I do have a job for you. See that house over there. That’s my neighbor’s house. You see that creek running along our property line? That creek wasn’t there last week. He did it to spite me!

He hitched a plow to his tractor and dug that creek bed from the upper pond right down the proerty line. Then he flooded it! Now we’ve got this creek to separate us.

I’m so darn mad at him! I’ve got lumber in my barn, boards, posts and everything you’ll need to build me a fence–all along that creek. Then I won’t have to see his place no more. That’ll teach him!”

The carpenter smiled and said, “I’ll do a good job for you.”

What kind of a wall will the carpenter build? Come back next time to find out.

“Old Joe and the Carpenter” can be found in Doorways to the Soul: 52 Wisdom Tales from Around the World by Elisa Pearmain

Old Joe lived way out in the countryside all by himself. His best friend was also his closest neighbor. It seemed they had grown old together. Now that their spouses had passed on, and their children were raised and finally living lives of their own, all they had left were their farms–and each other.

But for the first time in their long friendship, they’d had a serious disagreement. It was a silly argument over a stray calf that neither of them really needed. The calf was found no the neighbor’s land and he claimed it as his own. Old Joe said, “No, no, now that calf has the same markings as one of my cows and I say it belongs to me!”

They were stubborn men, and neither would give in. Rather than hit each other, they just stopped talking and stomped off to their respective doors and slammed them shut! Two weeks went by without a word between them.

Will Joe and his neighbor reconcile? Come back to find out!

“Old Joe and the Carpenter” can be found in Doorways to the Soul: 52 Wisdom Tales from Around the World by Elisa Pearmain

There was once a king who offered a prize to the artist who could paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all of the pictures. After much deliberation he was down to the last two. He had to choose between them.

Once picture was of a clam lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for the peaceful mountains that towered around it. Overhead, fluffy white clouds floated in a blue sky. Everyone who saw this picture said that it was the perfect picture of peace.

The second picture had mountains too. These mountains were rugged and bare. Above was an angry gray sky from which rain fell. Lightening flashed. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not appear to be a peaceful place at all.

But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall was a tiny bush growing in the rock. Inside the bush, a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest. She was the perfect picture of peace.

The king chose the second picture. “Because,” he explained, “peace is not only a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace is in the midst of things as they are, when there is calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”

A tale from China illustrates actions that make for peace. 

A man once asked to visit heaven and hell. When he reached hell he was amazed to find people seated around a huge banquet table. The finest foods were piled high on the table. What a feast! Perhaps hell was not so bad after all!

But when he looked closely at the diners he saw that they were all starving despite the food before them. You see, each diner had been given chopsticks which were three feet long! There was no way they could carry the food to their mouths with these long chopsticks. No one could eat a bite. What a hell indeed, to sit so close to a banquet and yet be unable to taste a morsel.

The man was then taken to heaven to observe life there. To his surprise he saw people seated around a banquet table in exactly the same situation. Each person had been given three foot long chopsticks in heaven too! But here everyone was happily consuming the delicious food. The residents of heaven…were using their yard-long chopsticks to feed each other.

A tale from China from Peace Tales by Margaret Read MacDonald

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Helping one another makes for peace.

We pick up the story when struck down by the angry kings in the middle of the battle between the kingdoms of the north and south, the merchant rose again and began to whisper a secret into the soldiers ears, and the kings of the north and south ordered their “messed up” soldiers to be killed by another wave of soldiers.

The next wave of soldiers from both sides rushed into the battle killing all those who remained below. But before they had finished, those who had been slain first got up and began to help those who were slain after them. And everywhere you looked people were whispering in each other’s ears.

“Enemies don’t whisper in each other’s ears!” shouted the angry kings. the kings were so angry they could have killed each other. But not before they found out what the merchant was telling everybody. They were mad, but not stupid.

So the merchant whipered in the king of the north’s ear. “RIDICULOUS!” said the king of the north. Then the merchant whispered in the king of the south’s ear. “FOOLISHNESS!” snarled the king of the south.

And off went the kings all alone, one to the east and one to the west, as far away from each other as possible. As they wandered off into the distance, the merchant picked up his cart and followed behind them singing,

I have pots. I have pans. I have hammers and saws. I sell this. I sell that. But wisdom I give away free.

What was the merchant’s secret? Come close and I’ll share it with you. It was Love one another.

O that our world leaders would embrace the wisdom of the merchant.

—

Waging Peace is adapted from a story by John Aurelio in his book Story Sunday.

In our last post the merchant showed up in the middle of the third battle between the kingdom of the north and the kingdom of the south. When he opened his cart full of the food and drink the kings had paid him with for the bows and arrows they had purchased, the soldiers threw down their weapons and began eating and drinking at the merchant’s cart. The two kings were furious over the disruption of their war. We pick up the story again as the kings cry:

“STOP THIS! STOP THIS! WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?”

“The Merchant,” replied the soldiers (pointing to where he was standing).

Then in ferocious anger, the two kings rushed over to the merchant and struck him down. “Now that he’s dead, maybe we can get on with this war!” said the two kings.

The kings ordered their soldiers back into their battle lines. While they were lining up, the merchant rose to his feet and began to help them. The soldiers couldn’t believe their eyes! Was he a ghost? How did he do that? The soldiers nearest the merchant asked him how he was able to come back to life. The merchant leaned over and whispered something to them.

Before long the other soldiers noticed that the merchant was alive again. Instead of returning to their waiting armies, they stayed to ask the merchant himself what his secret was. To them too, he whispered.

When the kings returned each to his own side, they thought their soldiers were following behind them. When they turned around they saw them talking to their enemies.

“KILL THEM ALL!” the kings commanded. After all, you can’t have a war if soldiers are eating and drinking with one another. These men had all been messed up, so it was better just to get rid of them and start over fresh.

Come back next time to see how this story ends.

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Waging Peace is adapted from a story by John Aurelio in his book Story Sunday.

Two kings, two kingdoms, two battles, no victories. What will the king of the north and the king of the south do now? Will they heed the advice of the merchant? Let’s find out.

After the second battle between the kingdom of the north and the kingdom of the south which neither side won, messengers were sent between the two kings, and a war to the finish was agreed upon.

When the day of battle arrived, the kings led their armies to the foot of the mountains. The soldiers stood row after row in shining armor. At the sound of the trumpet, the first wave of soldiers went into the valley. Just as they were about to begin the battle, the merchant came out of nowhere, pushing his cart and singing:

I have food. I have drink. And these I give away free.

And there on the battle field, the merchant laid open his cart filled with the food and water the kings had paid him. When the soldiers saw the food and water they threw down their weapons so they could eat and drink. Side by side they sat at the merchant’s cart eating and drinking their fill, with no thought of war or danger.

Both kings eagerly watched the battle below from their mountain positions. It seemed that the first wave of men had fallen because they were all on the ground. The command was given and the next wave of fighters came down into the valley. When these men saw the feasting they joined in.

The battle seemed to be going faster than either king had expected. Two more rows of soldiers were sent charging into the valley and they too found food and drink in plenty, for the kings had been most generous in paying the merchant.

A report of these strange happenings was carried back to the kings. And they were ANGRY! No one had been killed. Not an arrow had been shot. Some soldiers were even napping!

What happened next you will not believe. So come back and read the next post!

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Waging Peace is adapted from a story by John Aurelio in his book Story Sunday.