So far this year, I have found myself on a strange yet fascinating journey of growth, inner peace and of course happiness. I recently moved and have found the need to get rid of everything I have not used in the past year. Its really quite liberating and freeing to live bare bones so to speak. I came across this story which kind of sums things up for me as of lately, and thought I would share. Enjoy it! Alexander and Diogenes Now when Alexander [the Great] appeared before the Greek leaders in Corinth they greeted him warmly and paid him lavish compliments- all of them, that is but one. A funny fellow, a philosopher named Diogenes. He had views not unlike those of the Buddha. According to him, possessions and all the things we think we need only serve to distract us and get in the way of our simple enjoyment of life. So he had given away everything he owned and now sat, almost naked, in a barrel in the market square in Corinth where he lived, free and independent like a stray dog. Curious to meet this strange fellow, Alexander went to call on him. Dressed in shining armour, the plume on his helmet waving in the breeze, he walked up to the barrel and said to Diogenes: I like you. Let me know your wish and I shall grant it. Diogenes, who had until then been comfortably sunning himself, replied: Indeed, Sire, I have a wish. Your shadow has fallen over me: I wish you would stand a little less between me and the sun. Alexander is said to have been so struck by this that he said: If I werent Alexander, I should like to be Diogenes. - A Little History Of The World by E.H. Gombrich Who is truly wealthy? The one who is satisfied with what he has. - Ethics of the Fathers
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 14:29:58 +0000
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