A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."
"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."
Dear Somayya,
Thank you for this beautiful story. My impression is that the woman is very content and peaceful with herself and her life to the point that she has become totally unselfish and is not desirous of other things. This enables her to give precious items freely to others without hesitation. She has inside her seed of happiness, loving kindness and compassion that she has allowed to flourish and grow. We all have these qualities inside us and need only to be aware of them and water them so then can grow. The woman will not be able to give these qualities to the man. He need only look inside himself for they are already there.
~Lillian
Thank you, Lillian for your nicer comment for the nice story.
~Somayya
