3rd April 2012
Understand what others want!
`Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves'
Carl Gustav Jung
A rich merchant gave a lute to Lei Tzu and asked him to learn to play the instrument. Lei Tzu knew nothing about playing that instrument. However, he sat under a tree every day and played some simple notes. As the days passed, the birds which in the tree liked these notes and came down in front of Lei Tzu danced to his tune. This was going on for days.
One day a young man saw this. He wanted the birds to dance to his tunes. He purchased a very costly lute, learnt to play lute from a music teacher and became very proficient in playing lute.
He sat under a tree next to where Lei Tzu was playing and started to play his lute. The music was excellent. He played lute day after day. But the birds would not come to him and dance to his tunes. He got irritated and went to Lei Tzu asked him why the birds ignored him even though he was playing the lute better than Lei Tzu.
Lei Tzu told the young man, `Forget about how well you play the lute, play the lute the way the birds wanted." He took the advice and the birds gathered around him!
Moral of the story: understand the genuine needs of others!
N C Sridharan
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