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The Parable of the Spoons


A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like. "The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, "You have seen Hell."

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The holy man said,"I don't understand."

It is simple" said the Lord, "it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other.

Dreamer

__________________
Just Joyfully Participating

~You cannot be happy unless you are serving the truth of your being, however that service looks.~
- Gangaji

how interesting i came upon this parable in the last 6 years, once in the US and once in China.

It ranks with my own expanded version of the elephant and the blind men as among my own 5 top favorite parables.

I see in it what Westerner teach their children before school-age the meaning of sharing. Alas, sharing, as in sharing the earth with all nature gifts is definitely not practiced at the level of the grown-up individual. The parable holds the key to all human problem, if practiced and realized. It is nirvana or heaven on earth, as dearest Dreamer dreamed.

The last and only time i saw that happened was last year with Katrina, when some wonderful folks opened and shared their home to New Orleaners of all race. What happened since then?

Yes, shift, if the human race is going to have a future on this planet we will have to learn this lesson. Start by giving to those in need and stop trying to see how much we can hoard for ourselves. It seems the future depends upon living in small community groups that take care of each other and share with other groups so that everyone has some and none has more than they can use.

A Dreamer

__________________
Just Joyfully Participating

~You cannot be happy unless you are serving the truth of your being, however that service looks.~
- Gangaji