The Triple Filter Test

In ancient Greece, scholar and intellectual, Socrateswas reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said,Do you know what I just heard about one of your friend?”

“Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”

“Triple filter?” asked the man.

“That’s right,” Socrates continued.

“Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and wanted to tell it to you”

“All right,” said Socrates. ” So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?”

“No, on the contrary, it is bad “

“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, Because there’s one filter left: the filter of usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really.” Replied the man.

“Well,” concluded Socrates, if what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, and nor even useful to me, why tell it to me at all .”

 

Chance to Start Over

It was a cold December night in West Orange, New Jersey. Thomas Edison’s factory was humming with activity. Work was proceeding on a variety of fronts as the great inventor was trying to turn more of his dreams into practical realities. Edison’s plant, made of concrete and steel, was deemed “fireproof”. As you may have already guessed, it wasn’t!

On that frigid night in 1914, the sky was lit up by a sensational blaze that had burst through the plant roof. Edison’s 24-year-old son, Charles, made a frenzied search for his famous inventor-father. When he finally found him, he was watching the fire. His white hair was blowing in the wind. His face was illuminated by the leaping flames. “My heart ached for him,

” said Charles. “Here he was, 67 years old, and everything he had worked for was going up in flames. When he saw me, he shouted, ‘Charles! Where’s your mother?’ When I told him I didn’t know, he said, ‘Find her! Bring her here! She’ll never see anything like this as long as she lives.'” 

Next morning, Mr. Edison looked at the ruins of his factory and said this of his loss: “There’s value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God, we can start anew.

What a wonderful perspective on things that seem at first to be so disastrous. A business failure, divorce, personal dream gone sour . . . whether these things destroy an individual depends largely on the attitude he or she takes toward them. Sort out why it happened, and learn something from the blunders. Think of different approaches that can be taken.. 

The Old Wheel wright

One day while King Huan sat in his palace reading, an old man named Bian the wheel wright sat just outside making wheels.

Bian: What’s that you are reading?

King: It’s a classic by a famous sage

Bian: And is that famous sage still alive?

King: Oh no, he’s long dead

Bian: Then what you’ve been reading is nothing but dregs left over by a dead man

The king was horribly angry at his words,

King: What!? What do ou mean by that?! Speak!!! Or it will be death of you!

Bian: Your majesty, please, let me explain. I am a wheelwright, so let me use wheel making as an example. When making a wheel, a fast chisel saves energy, but the wheel doesn’t come out round. A slower chisel takes more strength, but gives a perfectly round wheel.

He continued, “The secret to wheelmaking is a chisel that is neither slow nor fast, but one that moves exactly as you wish it. I can explain this to my son, but i can’t pass on the skill to him, and that’s why at seventy years old, i am still making wheels. So you see, the wisdom of ancient sage can’t be passed down, and that’s why i say the book you’re reading is merely the dregs of a dead man.”

A book lover often thinks that the words themselves are of great value, but it is actually the meaning that isn’t recorded by language that is valuable. The words are traces, shadows, having nothing of substance in common with those who left them behind. The wheelwright was unable to pass his skill on to his own son.

LIFE IS A BALANCE OF WORK AND PLAY, FAMILY AND PERSONAL TIME

A long time ago, there was an Emperor who told his horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area as he likes, then the Emperor would give him the area of land he has covered.

Sure enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could. He kept on riding and riding, Whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much area as possible. Came to a point when he had covered a substantial area and he was exhausted and was dying. Then he asked himself, “Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I Am dying and I only need a very small area to bury myself.”’

The above story is similar with the journey of our Life. We push very hard everyday to make more money, to gain power and recognition. We neglect our health, time with our family and to appreciate the surrounding beauty and the hobbies we love.

One day when we look back, we will realize that we don’t really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time for what we have missed.

Life is not about making money, acquiring power or recognition. Life is definitely not about work! Work is only necessary to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty and pleasures of life.

Life is a balance of Work and Play, Family and Personal time. You have to decide how you want to balance your Life.

Define your priorities, realize what you are able to compromise but always let some of your decisions be based on your instincts.

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of Life, the whole aim of human existence.

So, take it easy, do what you want to do and appreciate nature. Life is fragile, Life is short. Do not take Life for granted. Live a balanced lifestyle and enjoy Life!

The Chinese Bamboo Tree

You take a little seed, plant it, water it, and fertilise it for a whole year, and nothing happens

The second year you water it and fertilise it, and nothing happens

The third year you water it and fertilise it, and nothing happens. How discouraging this becomes!

The fourth year you water it and fertilise it, and nothing happens. This is very frustating

The fifth year you continue to water and fertilise the seed and then…take note. Sometime during the fifth year, the Chinese bamboo tree spouts and grows NINETY FEET IN SIX WEEK

Life is much akin to the growing process of the Chinese bamboo tree.
It is often discouraging. We seemingly do things right, and nothing happens

But for those who do things right and are not discouraged and are persistent, things will happen.
Finally we begin to receive the rewards.  

Life is also like that, we need to keep on working, with an attitude nishkama bhava