A wealthy farmer who was riding by, stopped to read the sign and said to himself, “Since our friend the Quaker is so ready to part with this plot, I might as well claim it before someone else does. I am a rich man and have all I need, so I certainly qualify.”

With that he went up to the door and explained what he was there for. “And art thou truly satisfied?” the Quaker asked.

“I am, indeed, for I have everything I need.”

“Friends,” said the Quaker, “if thou art satisfied, what dost thou want the land for?”

This is from The Heart of the Enlightened, a book of spiritual stories by Anthony de Mello.

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Pyrrhus replied, Sicily is next door and will be easy to take.

And what shall we do after Sicily is taken?

Then we will move over to Africa and sack Carthage.

And after Carthage, sir?

The turn of Greece will come.

And what, may I ask, will the fruit of all these conquests be?

Then, said Pyrrhus, we can sit down and enjoy ourselves.

Can we not, said Cyneas, enjoy ourselves now?

This is from The Heart of the Enlightened, a book of spiritual stories by Anthony de Mello.

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The following day the man prevailed upon his wife to let him go to the course alone. There was a horse with a fifty-to-one odds on it in the first race. He bet on the horse and it won. He put all the money he won on another long shot in the next race and again he won. He kept doing this all evening and his entire earnings came to fifty-seven thousand dollars.

On the way back home he passed by a gambling den. An inner voice, the same that seemed to have guided him in his choice of horses, said, “Stop here and go in.” So he stopped, went in, and found himself standing in front of a roulette wheel. The voice said, “Number thirteen.” The man put the entire fifty-seven thousand on number thirteen. The wheel spun, and the croupier announced, “Number fourteen.”

So the man walked back home with nothing in his pocket. His wife called out to him from the porch, “How did it go?”

The husband shrugged his shoulders. “I lost the two dollars,” he said.

This is from The Heart of the Enlightened, a book of spiritual stories by Anthony de Mello.

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“Imagine what would happen if someone placed an offering before you and you did not pick it up. Or someone sent you a letter that you refused to open; you would be unaffected by its contents, would you not? Do this each time you are abused and you will not lose your serenity.”

This is from The Heart of the Enlightened, a book of spiritual stories by Anthony de Mello.

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“Then be good enough to fulfill my dying wish,” said Buddha. “Cut off the branch of that tree.”

One slash of the sword, and it was done! “What now?” asked the bandit.

Put it back again,” said Buddha.

The bandit laughed. “You must be crazy to think anyone can do that.”

“On the contrary, it is you who are crazy to think that you are mighty because you can wound and destroy. That is the task of children. The mighty know how to create and heal.”

This is from The Heart of the Enlightened, a book of spiritual stories by Anthony de Mello.

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When it was the turn of the oldest member of the group to entertain the others, he served tea with the greatest ceremony, measuring out the leaves from a golden container. Everyone had the highest praise for the tea and demanded to know by what particular combination he had arrived at this exquisite blend.

The old man smiled and said, “Gentlemen, the tea that you find so delightful is the one that is drunk by the peasants on my farm. The finest things in life are neither costly nor hard to find.”

This is from The Heart of the Enlightened, a book of spiritual stories by Anthony de Mello.

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One day the dog broke loose and spilled the oil on the floor. Then to the man's great surprise, it returned to lick the spoon. That is when he discovered that what the dog had been fighting was not the oil, but his method of administering it.

This is from The Heart of the Enlightened, a book of spiritual stories by Anthony de Mello.

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What's this man's problem? he asked the doctor.

Lulu. She was a woman who jilted him, was the doctor's reply.

As they proceeded on the tour, they came to a padded cell whose occupant was banging his head repeatedly against the wall and moaning, Lulu… LULU…..

Is Lulu this man's problem too? asked the visitor.

Yes, said the doctor. He's the one Lulu finally married.

This is from The Heart of the Enlightened, a book of spiritual stories by Anthony de Mello.

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The guru opened his eyes, lifted one of the pearls, and held it so carelessly that it slipped out of his hand and rolled down the bank into the river.

The horrified disciple plunged in after it, but though he dived in again and again till late evening, he had no luck.

Finally, all wet and exhausted, he roused the guru from his meditation: “You saw where it fell. Show me the spot so I can get it back for you.”

The guru lifted the other pearl, threw it into the river, and said, “Right there!”

This is from The Heart of the Enlightened, a book of spiritual stories by Anthony de Mello.

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“I'll walk with you this time,” said the monkey, “and side with you against the lion.”

So they started to walk past the bushes when the lion pounced on the hyena and nearly mauled it to death. Meanwhile, the monkey watched the proceedings from the safety of a tree that he had run up the moment the lion appeared.

“Why didn't you do something to help me?” moaned the hyena.

Said the monkey, “You were laughing so much I thought you were winning.”

This is from The Heart of the Enlightened, a book of spiritual stories by Anthony de Mello.

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