The Working Genie
There once was a poor man who longed to be rich. He heard tell that a man in another village had a genie and decided to go and see how he could get one. When he got to the village and found the right person, he asked after his genie.
“I don’t mind letting you have him,” said the villager. “However if you take him it is on these conditions. The genie likes to be kept busy at all times and if he has nothing to do he gets very agitated. Also if you take him you have to keep him, I can’t take him back.”
The man was overjoyed. “Don’t worry, I won’t run out of jobs for him, I have great plans,” he said, “And why would I ever want to give him back?”
He couldn’t believe his luck. “Get me a gold carriage and four beautiful white horses to take me home” The genie snapped his fingers and there they were. “When I get home I want a huge palace full of beautiful furniture and a feast for all the village.” The genie snapped his fingers.
For a few weeks the man had everything his heart desired. He made his wish and with a snap of the genie’s fingers it came true.
After a while he ran out of desires, nothing pleased him anymore and he just wanted a bit of peace. But the genie kept asking “More Work! More Work!”
“I have nothing for you to do.” The genie got angrier and angrier. “Give me more work or I will kill you,” he shouted. The poor man got more and more stressed and eventually decided to go back to the village and ask for help.
“Well, I can’t take him back, but I’ll tell you what to do,” the wise man said. “Get a pole and put it in the garden. Tell the genie to go to the top and then when he reaches the top he has to go down to the bottom, when he reaches the bottom he has to go back to the top.”
This is what the man did and had no more trouble.
Our minds can be like the genie. It can help us get what we desire but its restlessness can drive us crazy. Keep a peaceful thought or mantra in the mind to control the mind.
1 comment:
How wise.
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