WEEK 39.2 - THE GREEK FISHERMAN

A businessman took a short vacation to a small Greek coastal village in Santorini. Unable to sleep he walked the pier. A small boat with just one fisherman had docked and inside the boat were several large tuna.

“How long did it take you to catch them?” he asked.

“Only a little while” the Greek fisherman replied.

“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?” he asked.

“I have enough to support my family and give a few to friends,” the Greek fisherman said as he unloaded them into a basket.

“But …. What do you do with the rest of your time?”

The fisherman looked up and smiled” I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a nap with my wife and stroll into the village, where I sip wine and play guitar with my friends”.

The businessman laughed “Sir I am an Investment Banker from New York, I have and MBA from Harvard and can help you. You should fish more, and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. In no time you could have several boats with the increase haul. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Then instead of selling your catch to the middleman, you could sell directly to the consumers. You could control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal village and move to the city to run your expanding empire.”

The fisherman asked “But, sir, how long will all this take?”

“15- 20 years, 25 tops” said the businessman.

“But what then?” asked the fisherman.

The businessman laughed and said “That’s the best part, when the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions”.

“Millions? Then what?” asked the fisherman.

The businessman replied, “Then you could retire and move to a small coastal fishing village, where you could sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a nap with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play guitar with your friends.”

“All healing begins first in the heart.” So use your mat tonight as a safe space to explore your heart allow any healing you need to occur.

“In seeking to escape from the suffering ourselves why should we inflict it upon others?” – Surangama Sutra

“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” – Jack Kornfield

“Becoming awake involves seeing our confusion more clearly.” – Chogyam Trungpa

“The shallow is easy to embrace, but the profound is difficult.”

“For you, and for those you love, build an island, a temple, an impregnable fortress…. But leave the door open, day and night.” – Dugpa Rimpoce

“Scars are like tattoos, but with better stories.” – Mark Twain

Scars are proof that healing has occurred, and a reminder to not repeat the same mistakes.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” - Chinese proverb

There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.

"Yoga uses the body to discipline the mind and to reach the soul." ~ BKs Iyengar

“Do your practice and all is coming.” ― Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

“Anything you can’t control in life is teaching you how to let go.”

"To share your weakness is to make yourself vulnerable, to make yourself vulnerable is to show your strength"

"Anything that cost you peace is too expensive."

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” - Dale Carnegie

“What love we’ve given, we’ll have forever. What love we fail to give, will be lost for all eternity.”- Leo Buscaglia

Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”– Albert Camus

“Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. Same world.”- Wayne Dyer

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” - Marcel Proust

Affection is when you see someone’s strengths; love is when you accept someone’s flaws.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. – Lao-Tzu

“In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike.” - Paulo Coelho

“The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.” – Caroline Myss

“I have been a seeker and I still am, but I stopped asking the books and the stars. I started listening to the teaching of my Soul.” – Rumi

“I need to believe that only I can chase my dreams. That only I can light the fire in me. That no one can break me unless I break myself and only someone else can help me carry the pieces. I need to believe that I am different and I am full of love. And if I live every moment believing, then the chaos in my heart will be a beautiful thing and the world will never cease to forget my name. I just have to believe.” – Robert Drake