Humanity has committed some of its worst crimes in the name of the truth.  Men and women have been burned at the stake.  The entire culture of some civilizations has been destroyed.  Those who committed the sin of eating meat were kept at a distance.  Those who sought a different path were ostracized.

One person, in the name of truth, was crucified.  But -- before He died -- He left us a great definition of the Truth.

It is not what provides us with certitudes.

It is not what makes us better than others.

It is not what we keep within the prison of our preconceived ideas.

The Truth is what makes us free.  "Know the Truth, and the truth will make thee free," He said.

One of the monks at the monastery at Sceta committed a grave error, and the wisest of hermits was summoned by the brothers to judge him.

The wise hermit did not want to come, but the group was so insistent that he agreed.  Before he left his place, though, he took a bucket and made some holes in its bottom.  Then, he filled it with sand, and began his walk to the monastery.

The father superior, noticing the bucket, asked what it was for.

"I have come to judge another," the hermit said.  "My sins are running out behind me, as does the sand in this bucket.  But, since I do not look behind me, and cannot see my own sins, I am able to judge another."

The monks immediately decided not to proceed with the judgment.

Written on the wall of a small church in the Pyrenees:

"Lord, may this candle I have just lit

Make light,

And illuminate me when I have problems and make decisions.

May it make fire,

So that You can burn away my egotism, pride and impurity.

May it make a flame,

So that You can warm ny heart and teach me to love.

I cannot remain for long in Your church.  But in leaving this candle, a bit of myself remains here.  Help me to extend my prayer to the activities of this day.

Amen."

A friend of the wanderer decided to spend a few weeks at a monastery in Nepal.  One afternoon, he entered one of the many temples of the monastery, and saw a smiling monk seated on the altar.

"Why are you smiling," he asked.

"Because I understand the meaning of bananas," said the monk, opening his bag and taking out a rotten banana.  "This is a life that ran its course, and was not made use of -- and now it is too late."

Then he removed from his bag a banana that was still green.  He showed it to the man, and put it back in his bag.  "This is a life that has not yet run its course, and awaits the right moment," he said.

Finally, he took from his bag a ripe banana, peeled it, and shared it with the man, saying:

"This is the present moment.  Know how to live it without fear."

A woman friend had gone out with the exact amount of money she needed to take her son to the movies.  The boy was excited, and every minute asked his mother how long it would take to get there.

When she was stopped at a traffic light, she saw a beggar seated on the sidewalk.  "Give all the money you have with you to him," she heard a voice say.

The woman argued with the voice.  She had promised to take her son to the movies.  "Give it all," the voice insisted.

"I can give him half, and my son can go in alone while I wait outside," she said.

But the voice didn't want to discuss it.  "Give it all!" 

She had no time to explain it all to the boy.  She stopped the c
> and held out all the money she had to the beggar.

"God exists, and you have proved it to me," the beggar said.  "Today is my birthday.  I was sad, and ashamed to be begging.  So, I decided not to beg: if God exists, he will give me a present."

A man is walking through a small village in the middle of a downpour, and sees a house burning.  As he approaches it, he sees a man surrounded by flames seated in the living room.

"Hey, your house is on fire!", the traveler shouts.

"I know that," the man answers.

"Well then, why don't you get out?"

"Because it's raining," says the man.  "My mother always told me you can catch pneumonia going out in the rain."

Zao Chi's comment about the fable: "Wise is the man who can leave a situation when he sees that he is forced to do so."

In certain magic traditions, disciples devote one day a year -- or a weekend if it is needed -- to enter into contact with the objects in their home.

They touch each object and ask aloud: "Do I really need this?"  They take the books from their shelves: "Will I ever reread this?"  They examine each souvenir they have kept: "Do I still consider the moment that this object reminds me of to be important?"  They open all of their closets: "How long is it since I wore this?  Do I really need it?"

The master says:

"Objects have their own energy.  When they are not used, they turn into standing water in the house -- a good place for rot and for mosquitos.

"You must be attentive, and allow that energy to flow freely.  If you keep what is old, the new has no place in which to manifest itself."

There is an old Peruvian legend that tells of a city where everyone was happy.  Its inhabitants did as they pleased, and got along well with each other.  Except for the mayor, who was sad because he had nothing to govern.  The jail was empty, the court was never used, and the notary office produced nothing, because a man's word was worth more than the paper it was written on.

One day, the mayor called in some workmen from a distant place to bui
> an enclosure at the center of the village's main square.  For a week, the sound of hammers and saws could be heard.

At the end of the week, the mayor invited everyone in the village to the inauguration.  With great solemnity, the fence boards were removed and there could be seen...a gallows.

The people asked each other what the gallows was doing there.  In fear, they began to use the court to resolve anything that before had been settled by mutual agreement.  They went to the notary office to register documents that recorded what before had simply been a man's word.  And they began to pay attention to what the mayor said, fearing the law.

The legend says that the gallows never was used.  But its presence changed everything.

The master says:

"From now on -- and for the next few hundred years -- the universe is going to boycott all those have preconceived ideas.  The energy of the Earth has to be renewed.  New ideas need space.  The body and the soul need new challenges.  The future is knocking on our door, and all ideas -- except those that are based upon preconceptions -- will have a chance to appear.

"What is important will remain; what is useless will disappear.  But let each person judge only his own concepts.  We are not the judges of the dreams of others.

In order to have faith in our own path, it is not necessary to prove that another's path is wrong.  One who does that does not believe in his own steps."

Life is like a great bike race, the goal of which is to live one's own Personal Destiny.

At the starting line, we are all together, sharing camaraderie and enthusiasm.  But, as the race develops, the initial joy gives way to challenges: exhaustion, monotony, doubts as to one's ability.  We notice that some friends refuse to accept the challenges -- they are still in the race, but only because they cannot stop in the middle of a road.  There are many of them.  They ride along with the support car, talk among themselves and complete the task.

We find ourselves outdistancing them; and then we have to confront solitude, the surprises around unfamiliar curves, problems with the bicycle.  We wind up asking ourselves if the effort is worth it.

Yes, it is worth it.  Don't give up.