Crossplanet

A traveller meets a man crushing stones by the road, he asks him what he is doing and the other answers angrily: "that's a really stupid job I have! hard and poorly paid!"

The traveller goes on, and a while after he meets another man, also crushing stones and asks him the same question. The other answers: "well, I make a living working in the open air, that's much better than working in an office!"

The traveller continues his journey and meets a third man, also crushing stones. This third man looks so happy! When asked what he is doing, he answers: "Don't you see? I am building a cathedral!"

So... whatever you do, the meaning you give to your own efforts, transforming reality, brings you happiness.

Tired of their useless and boring existence, the birds decided to search for their mythic king, Simorgh.

Most of them, disappointed or seduced by the marvels of the journey and the idols they encounter, stop on the way. But a small group of obstinate birds, lead by the hoopoe, fly through the deserts and the seven valleys of marvel and terror. Exhausted, their wings burned, they finally reach the residence of the king.

A thousand curtains open, a bright light is sparkling, but they can see only a mirror. They hear a voice telling them: "This mirror is the only reality. This Simorgh you looked for is yourselves. Don't expect anything else. You have traveled a long way to meet the traveler."

from a Persian poem of Farid-od-din Attâr

The case of the 'O' with a glass... I've heard this story so many times, told by my friend Saulo Silveira. He finally wrote it down. Here it is in all its brazilian freshness. With some time I will translate it.

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Anos 70, ditadura militar e o Brasil na "Era do milagre econômico", os milicos mandavam e desmandavam, como senhores feudais; o ministro da educação Coronel Jarbas Passarinho falava em acabar com o analfabetismo e criava o programa Mobral, Movimento Brasileiro de Alfabetização, grande projeto do momento; na rádio, tocava sem parar a música de Tom e Ravel, dois cantores populares:
"...Eu tenho as minhas mãos domáveis e uma sede de saber, então me ensina a escrever...",

Para grande comoção pública, e todo mundo ouvia com o coração piedoso, pronto para ensinar o be-a-bá.

A tarde caía, entrando pela boca da noite. Chico Duro, João Preto, Joaquim, Toizinho da Sá Jóve, Manuelão, João Roxo, Miquelino e eu estávamos reunidos na porta da casa do Mané Barrado, matuto curtido pela vida dura do campo, caboclo velho, encurvado, barba grisalha.

A conversa ia ganhando terreno, e eu, de repente, comecei a pensar como seria bom ensinar o pessoal a escrever ou pelo menos a assinar o nome, que dava direito ao título de eleitor, para poder votar (se bem que não para presidente, porque nessa matéria só votavam os militares)

E a conversa prosseguia em toada de boiada, aboiando os assuntos, Mané Barrado agachado pitando o cigarrinho de fumo goiano, coisa boa, coisa de bom gosto, cheirinho bom de fumo queimando no ar. Assentei bem o momento e comecei a conversa, falando pausadamente, explicando. Minha gente, temos que construir uma escola, levantamos uma casinha praquelas bandas, o governo está dando o material, não quer o povo analfabeto, quer o povão todo letrado, eu vou na cidade e falo com o prefeito e ele me dá o material, quadro negro, giz, livros, lápis, cadernos.

Então Mané Barrado se aproxima, olha nos meus olhos com jeito solene, e me fala:

- Eu sei fazer um “ó” com o copo...

Olhei pro matuto e vi dignidade naqueles olhos, fiquei matutando, sentado no toco de jacarandá, e olhava Mané Barrado agachado na minha frente, esperando pelas minhas palavras. Então mirei o Mané Barrado nos olhos e disse:

- Então, homem, faz o “ó” com o copo!

Mané Barrado virou a cara na direção da cozinha, espichou os lábios e, soprando forte, gritou pra filha:

- Maria das Dores, traz o copo, minha filha.

Lá de dentro escuto a vozinha doce e infantil, “já vai pai...”

E lá vem Maria das Dores, linda caboclinha, aos pulinhos, contente, enxugando o copo na barra do vestidinho. Era o único copo daquela casa, copo pra Mané Barrado beber a Januária, pinga boa. Mané Barrado adorava espiar a luz refletida no copo, pegou o copo de vidro e olhou contra o restinho de sol da tarde, depois emborcou no chão, pegou um carvão na fogueira ao lado e, com sacrifício, começou a riscar em volta do copo, as mãos trêmulas, incertas, tateando, tentando segurar o carvão com imensa dificuldade, o seu "ó" tomando forma. A caboclada juntou em volta, espiando admirada. Após algum tempo, Mané Barrado retira o copo do chão, vê a letra "ó" de sua autoria e olha para mim com orgulho e triunfo.

Aquietei as minhas vistas no desenho daquele homem, na mensagem, e fiquei pensando: este caboclo nunca teve um lápis na mão, nunca teve uma folha de papel nem instrução. Levantei-me com solenidade, olhei-o de novo e disse-lhe:

- Olha, Mané Barrado, tu sabe fazer um "ó" com o copo, é um patrimônio teu, ninguém te tira este direito. Tu quando morrer vai ser enterrado com este patrimônio...

Vi que ficou emocionado , vi o quanto ele se sentiu feliz. E como foi bom eu lhe ter falado dessa forma. O tempo passa, passam as nuvens, o carcará passa, o jaburu, passa a passarada pelas bandas do céu, como a minha vida também passa e assim, cumprindo a sina do destino, fui morar no Rio de Janeiro, depois de uma mão cheia de tempo, trabalhando em agências de publicidade.

Trabalhava duro e cada dia mais, querendo aprender; usava a ilustração da publicidade apenas para desenvolver a minha pintura e pintava com paixão; à medida que evoluía na pintura eu desprezava cada vez mais a ilustração publicitária; ia ganhando os meus cobres e torrava tudo em material de pintura e livros, guardando um pouco na poupança, para os dias de vacas magras.

Mas o novo governo civil do Brasil, em meio a uma crise econômica, tomou uma decisão inesperada e bloqueou a poupança dos cidadãos, na tradição autoritária, deixando-me sem o meu suado dinheirinho. Fiquei com um único patrimônio, eu mesmo, juntei as minhas coisas e vim para Lisboa como pude.

Cheguei trazendo apenas o meu “ó” com o copo, porque este patrimônio, o nosso saber, como disse daquela vez ao Mané Barrado, ninguém nos tira. Nada vale mais do que fazer um “ó” com o copo.

A arte é um eterno aprendizado e aperfeiçoamento espiritual.

A friend of mine has left Paris for a long journey towards Asia. She stayed a few days in Vilnius, Lituany and that's how I discovered the auto-proclamed republic of Uzupis, a village near Vilnius, mostly populated with artists. The republic exists since 1997, it has a constitution, and Franck Zappa is their mentor.

Here is the constitution:

1. Everyone has the right to live by the River Vilnelė, while the River Vilnelė has the right to flow by everyone.
2. Everyone has the right to hot water, heating in winter and a tiled roof.
3. Everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.
4. Everyone has the right to make mistakes.
5. Everyone has the right to be unique.
6. Everyone has the right to love.
7. Everyone has the right to be not loved, but not necessarily.
8. Everyone has the right to be undistinguished and unknown.
9. Everyone has the right to idle.
10. Everyone has the right to love and take care of a cat.
11. Everyone has the right to look after a dog untill one of them dies.
12. A dog has the right to be a dog.
13. A cat is not obliged to love its master, but it must help him in time of need.
14. Sometimes everyone has the right to be unaware of their duties.
15. Everyone has the right to be in doubt, but this is not an obligation.
16. Everyone has the right to be happy.
17. Everyone has the right to be unhappy.
18. Everyone has the right to be silent.
19. Everyone has the right to have faith.
20. No one has the right to violence.
21. Everyone has the right to appreciate their unimportance.
22. Everyone has the right to have a design on eternity.
23. Everyone has the right to understand.
24. Everyone has the right to understand nothing.
25. Everyone has the right to be of any nationality.
26. Everyone has the right to celebrate or not celebrate their birthday.
27. Everyone shall remember their name.
28. Everyone may share what he possesses.
29. No one can share what they do not possess.
30. Everyone has the right to have brothers, sisters and parents.
31. Everyone may be independent.
32. Everyone is responsible for their freedom.
33. Everyone has the right to cry.
34. Everyone has the right to be misunderstood.
35. No one has the right to make another person guilty.
36. Everyone has the right to be individual.
37. Everyone has the right to have no rights.
38. Everyone has the right to not to be afraid.
39. Do not defeat.
40. Do not fight back.
41. Do not surrender.

After his studies a zen monk moved into a small temple on the mountain. Very soon he took a student with him and tried his best to teach him the path.

One day an earthquake occured, a rather big earthquake and even the birds got scared. After the earthquake the monk said to his student:

"You did observe how to behave under unusual circumstances? On the first signs of tremor, I took you to the kitchen, the most secure part of the temple. Half of the temple has been destroyed, but we survived. All the time I kept my self-control. I had only one moment of weakness, a rather small weakness... I drank a big glass of water... Here is an exemple of the behavior of a genuine zen monk. Do you understand?" 

"Yes Master, answered the disciple. But it wasn't a glass of water, it was a big glass of soy sauce!" 

An old hindu legend says that there was a time when all men were gods. As they made ill-use of their power, Brahma decided to take it away from them and to hide it where they wouldn't find it. Brahma asked the other gods to help him to find such a place.

- We could burry man's divinity, said some.

But Brahma answered: "It won't be enough, man will dig and find it."

- In that case, hide it at the bottom of the ocean, said others.

But Brahma answered: "Sooner or later man will explore the bottom of the oceans, he will find it and bring it back to the surface."

- We cannot think of any place on earth or under the water that man won't reach at some point.

So Brahma said: "Here is what we will do with man's divinity. We will hide it deep inside him, it's the only place he won't even think about searching".

From then on, man explores, climbs up, dives and digs, searching for something that is inside himself.

Yudishsthira arrived by the pond to find his four brothers dead. He fell on his knees and heard the pond speaking to him.

- First answer my questions, then I will let you drink. I killed your brothers who wouldn't answer me.

- Ask your questions, I will answer.

The voice of the pond asked Yudishsthira many questions, among them some were more important.

- What is faster than the wind?

- The thought.

- What can cover the whole earth?

- Obscurity.

- Who are more numerous, the living or the dead?

- The living, because the dead are no more.

- Give me an example of space.

- My hands close together.

- An example of sorrow.

- Ignorance.

- An example of poison?

- Desire.

- An example of defeat?

- Victory.

- Who is the smartest animal?

- The one the man wasn't able to discover.

- What is the cause of the world?

- Love.

- Who is your contrary?

- Myself.

- What is madness?

- A forgotten path.

- Why do men revolt?

- To find beauty, either in life, either in death.

- For each of us, what is inevitable?

- Happiness.

- What is the great wonder?

- Every day death strikes around us, yet we live like eternal living beings. That's the great wonder.

Then the voice of the pond said to Yudishsthira:

- May your brothers return to life. I am Dharma, your father, I am the uprightness, I am the constancy, I am the order of the world.

From the Mahabharata

A man digs a hole, in search of water. After a few meters deep, he finds no water, so he starts digging nearby. He starts a new hole, and after a few meters, still no water. So he starts another one. And then another one.

We can keep on digging a hundred holes, just a few meters down, for all our life, we'll never find water. Make a few tries, if you want to, but then choose one place and dig till you find it.

As the cause is, so the effect will be. As the seed is, so the fruit will be. As the action is, so the result will be.

In the same soil a farmer plants two seeds: one a seed of sugar cane, the other a seed of a neem tree, a tropical tree which is very bitter. Two seeds in the same earth, receiving the same water, the same sunshine, the same air; nature gives the same nourishment to both. Two tiny plants emerge and start growing. And what has happened to the neem tree? It has developped with bitterness in every fibre, while the sugar cane has developped with every fibre of it sweet. Why is nature, or God, so kind to one and so cruel to other?

Nature is neither kind or cruel. It works according to fixed laws. Nature only helps the quality of the seed to manifest. All the nourishment merely helps the seed to reveal the quality that is latent within itself. The seed of sugar cane has the quality of sweetness; therefore the plant will have nothing but sweetness. The seed ot the neem tree has the quality of bitterness; the plant will have nothing but bitterness. As the seed is, so the fruit will be.

The farmer goes to the neem tree, and starts crying and praying, "Oh neem God, please give me sweet mangoes, I want sweet mangoes". Poor neem God, he cannot give them, he has no power to do so. If someone wants sweet mangoes, he ought to plant a seed of a mango tree. Then he will not need to cry and beg fom anyone. The fruit that he will get will be nothing but sweet mangoes. As the seed is, so the fruit will be.

Our difficulty, our ignorance is that we remain uncareful while planting seeds. We keep planting seeds of neem, but when the time comes for fruit we are suddenly alert, we want sweet mangoes. And we keep crying and praying and hoping for mangoes. This doesn't work.

S.N. Goenka, The Art of Living

A rich old man died leaving two sons. After mourning, the two brothers decided to separate everything, dividing all the property equally between them. And so they did, but at the end of the settlement, a small packet was discovered which had been carefully hidden by their father. They opened the packet and found two rings inside, one set with a valuable diamond, and the other an ordinary silver ring worth almost nothing.

Seeing the diamond, the elder brother developed greed in his mind and he started explaining to the younger one, "To me it appears that this ring is not the earning of our father, but rather an heirloom from his forefathers. Since it has been kept for generations in our family, it should remain for future generations. Therefore I, being elder, shall keep it".

The younger brother smiled and said, "All right, be happy with the diamond ring, I'll be happy with the silver one". Both of them placed their rings on their fingers and went their ways.

The younger brother thought to himself. "It is easily understandable that my father kept the diamond ring, but why did he keep this ordinary silver ring?" He examined the ring closely and found some words engraved on it: "This also will change". "Oh so that is the mantra of my father", and he replaced the ring on his finger.

Both brothers faced all the ups and downs of life. When spring came, the elder brother became highly elated, losing the balance of his mind. When autumn or winter came, he fell into deep depression, again losing his mental balance. He became tense, unable to sleep at night, he started using sleeping pills, tranquilizers.

As for the younger brother with the silver ring, when spring came, he enjoyed it, very much, but looked at his ring and remembered, "This also will change". When autumn or winter came, he didn't start crying, again he looked at his ring and remembered, "This also will change". Of all the ups and downs, all the vicissitudes of life, he knew that nothing is eternal, that everything comes just to pass away. He did not lose the balance of his mind and he lived a peaceful, happy life.