Good story! For your hopefully continued enjoyment, submitting a saying

attributed to

Socrates that strikes me as both aphorism and koan:

"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing. And in knowing that you

know

nothing, that makes you the smartest of all."





--- In meditationsocietyofamerica@yahoogroups.com, medit8ionsociety

<no_reply@y...>

wrote:

>

> The king had heard that Mullah Nasrudin was a very wise man

> and so he had him brought to him. He then asked Nasrudin to

> tell him something that would make him feel happy.

> Nasrudin said "I hope your father dies, you die, and your

> son dies".

> This infuriated the king so much that he had Nasrudin thrown

> into a jail cell and vowed to have him hung.

>

> Because his advisers knew how strange Nasrudin's teachings

> were, they implored the king to reconsider and let Nasrudin

> explain why he said what he did. The king had him brought to

> his chamber and the king said "I asked you to tell me something

> that would bring me happiness and you told me something

> very depressing. Why did you say these things?

>

> "If your son would die before you," Nasrudin answered, "it

> would cause unbearable sadness to you and your father. And if

> you died before your father, it too would would bring great

> sorrow. But if your family dies in the order I have described,

> it will be the natural course of life. This is true happiness."

>

The king had heard that Mullah Nasrudin was a very wise man

and so he had him brought to him. He then asked Nasrudin to

tell him something that would make him feel happy.

Nasrudin said "I hope your father dies, you die, and your

son dies".

This infuriated the king so much that he had Nasrudin thrown

into a jail cell and vowed to have him hung.



Because his advisers knew how strange Nasrudin's teachings

were, they implored the king to reconsider and let Nasrudin

explain why he said what he did. The king had him brought to

his chamber and the king said "I asked you to tell me something

that would bring me happiness and you told me something

very depressing. Why did you say these things?



"If your son would die before you," Nasrudin answered, "it

would cause unbearable sadness to you and your father. And if

you died before your father, it too would would bring great

sorrow. But if your family dies in the order I have described,

it will be the natural course of life. This is true happiness."