Life Gives Away Gifts

A Strange Legacy©
Sometime in future.
The earth Is a violent place as Venus is at present. The earthlings have technology and they are holding out against the harsh weather patterns and arid conditions of the soil by creating a hermetically sealed world. They live within controlled temperature and they do not dare expose themselves to the harsh sun; they travel in specially designed vehicles that cut off the glare and harmful radiation. They maintain a modicum of natural living conditions with the help of technology. They dare not farm or fish from rivers for the soil outside their world is polluted and they have left off agriculture altogether as useless occupation. All that they need for their sustenance is cultured straight from the laboratories.
The Northern kingdom brought out special laws that take by lots anyone whose number come up to be a volunteer for their space program. It is a hazardous trip but there is no way out. It could be a one way trip. As per the law whosoever is called up must leave everything behind. Naturally earthlings would rather leave to any one they know than a faceless administrative machinery.
It so happened the number of Dr. Pfenningmeister came up and the doctor who had devoted his life for Biosciences could not refuse. His laboratory was headed by two scientists: Dr. Wunderkind was as dedicated as his boss but Dr. Heineken merely passed muster and not a whit more.
Dr. Pfenningmeister on the eve of his leave taking chose Dr. Wunderkind and handed over complete charge of the establishment to him and said, “ It is all legal. These papers give you total control provided you carry on my line of research to the hilt. Besides when your research bears fruits you are to institute a prestigious award in perpetuity for the best research scholar. See to that my name is not forgotten. “ He happily reminisced over something and said,“ and the Pfenningmeister prize ought to do that.”
2.
Each of us holds a level of energy. Sometimes we are compensated in some mysterious ways and we who are ready to throw in the towel because of mounting failures or frustrations suddenly find a breakthrough. Is it a miracle? Partly this can be explained. We are connected to the past and bequests from the past do come our way as Dr. Pfenningmeister did for Dr. Wunderkind. When we are at the end of our resources we are given an extra push to carry on with our work. It may be that in doing so we are continuing the past,- and the unfinished work of some other.
Tailpiece: Enriching experience of Life binds us as many sheaves of corn. In a manner of speaking Life gives to those who have much more. Re Parable of a servant who did nothing with the talent entrusted to him didn't he lose even that one he had?
benny

Cost Analysis on Life

The Secret Of A Successful Life

There lived a hermit from Hushan during the Han dynasty in China. Having discovered the source of elixir of immortality he wandered around the countryside looking for disciples. He did not find any since his visit was during the harvest; and all hands were too busy to hear his wondrous message. Thereupon he went to the cities; there his reception was very cold. You see the city folks also had to think of their bills and raising families.
After years of fruitless searching he decided that wisdom was the principal thing to look for. While his contemporaries became old and ancient he went on from strength to strength. His wisdom was of the most marvelous kind. He learnt to understand animals of the farm and birds of the air. He listened to lovers courting their loved ones and smiled at the inanities in expression; and he heard the pride and power of riches as well as the whining tone of poor and the despised. He saw how hollow were the promise of rulers who looked only their welfare than of the ruled. When his wisdom made him see how shallow his own kind were he dismissed wisdom as of a trifle. “Who will clean up all these selfishness and evil reigning in the hearts of my race?” He frowned. “No, how annoying is this! ”
He swore that he would make himself a man of action rather than a man of intellect.
He went about doing good works and avenging the hurts of poor and the dispossessed. Since he was immortal he went to the highest places, before judges, kings and even the emperor to establish the rule of the just. He succeeded in making the custodians of Law and Good Government receive his case as proper and good. But nothing came out of it. The poor became poorer and the dispossessed slid still further into misery.
“Why,” he wailed in desperation. He was mostly sorry that his life was a failure. “How long and how long should I endure this? He wanted to cry but could not. Thus he stood under a willow tree desolate and stone cold at the bitter prospects of having no end in sight. The wind said to him: “Immortality in one who expects no failings is no better than a few good successes and a moderate span of life.” The old man from Hushan stared on.
“My strength is such that I can throw you a furlong along,” said the wind to the old man, “yet not pluck your long beard out. You win some and lose many others. In knowing what would be my level is the success of my life.” The hermit was past hearing that good advice since he had become an immortal with his senses stone dead.
benny

Open End

“Ramanna was the closest friend that I had as a child,” Gampa Guru was once telling his disciples who had come from many places to have a darshan of the mystic. “His father was a weaver as my father was. Our houses were divided only by a mud wall and I could sometimes call out to him in the middle of our studies to clarify some point of doubt.”
JP continued,” He was very backward in Sanskrit and for that matter anything of our folklore. Naturally he just scraped through the padhasala with just enough marks.”
“Great was my surprise when one day he turned up to say he was traveling to the east.” “East?” one of his listeners asked. “Yes to China?” the mystic said and his astonishment was still somewhat sharp after some 28 years.
“What took him to that far?”
The mystic shrugged as if it was a mystery.” If I recall rightly there is a Chinese connection. Ramanna had in a jar, some coins with Chinese inscriptions and a pagoda on the other side.” After a pause he added, “In all probability those curious writing and image would have triggered something in him. It led him to the life of the Buddha. To my surprise the last time I saw him he was tonsured and dressed in saffron colors. He had become a monk!”
“Has any Chinese monk ever before passed through the kingdom of Kothipalli?” “Yes,” The mystic said,” some 180 years ago.” “How do you know that Master?” “I saw in the king’s library the other day,” he explained, ”a scroll written in Chinese script, giving the date. It was strange to look at but beautifully brushed unlike anything that I have ever seen in our parts.”
“So you are also into their culture?” “Yes, what attracted my friend naturally led me to know more.”
What is the point of the story, master?” one wanted to know.
“If a culture so removed from our way of life could make such claim on one so supposedly insulated from every strange custom, we are not safe. None of us are.”
After a pause he said, ”We need to see ourselves instead of a closed society, as part of the whole. We are open ended indeed!”
“What will you advice us then master?” “More understanding, - still more, I say!”
benny