Monday, December 20, 2010

Endurance Test

Three monks, having completed their long and rigorous training in a monastery, decided to test their power of endurance. After detailed analysis they selected the dirtiest place on earth - a filthy piggery - for their test. They decided to stay in the dirty pigsty, counting 1, 2, 3 etc. aloud to measure the time of stay. The one who could stay in the place for the maximum period would be declared to have acquired maximum endurance.

They entered the piggery and started counting-1, 2, 3, etc. At the count of 20, one of them rushed out, unable to bear the foul smell. The others continued counting - 21, 22 23 etc. At count 50, the second person also jumped out of the piggery. The third person, now jubilant, continued to stay, counting 51, 52 etc. At the count of 100, there was a great commotion and all the pigs rushed out of the pigsty, unable to tolerate the monk who was more dirty and foul-smelling than the animals.

The story is an exaggeration of the complex manner of underestimating the qualities of others. We may be a real burden to others, but we may believe that we are superior to others. We may criticize even the minor faults found in others’ life but forget the greater vices in our own life. How can we talk about a speck in another person’s eye, while paying no attention to a large log in our own eye?

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© By Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India and Leo. S. John, Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath,Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally, Kottayam-686507, Kerala, India.

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This is Story No. 44 in this site. Please click ‘Older Posts’ at the bottom of a page to read previous stories and click 'Newer Posts' at the bottom of a page to read newer stories in this site. Please click on a word in the 'Story Themes' to read stories on that theme.

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