Browse Free Spiritual Event Listings For: Russian Stories https://spiritualgrowthevents.com/tag/russian-stories/ Free Mon, 30 May 2022 16:57:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 https://spiritualgrowthevents.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/cropped-fsge-logo-32x32.png Browse Free Spiritual Event Listings For: Russian Stories https://spiritualgrowthevents.com/tag/russian-stories/ 32 32 Priest And The Prayer https://spiritualgrowthevents.com/priest-and-the-prayer-russian-story-by-osho/ Sat, 08 Jul 2017 17:52:16 +0000 http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/?p=9172 Leo Tolstoy has written a beautiful story: Three men became very famous saints in Russia. The highest priest of the country was very much disturbed — obviously, because people were not coming to him, people were going to those three saints, and he had not even heard their names. And how could they be saints? — because in Christianity a saint is a saint only when the church recognizes him as a saint. The English word ‘saint’ comes from ‘sanction’; when the church sanctions somebody as a saint, then he is a saint. What nonsense! that a saint has to be certified by the church, by the organized religion, by the priests — as if it has nothing to do with inner growth but some outer recognition; as if it is a title given by a government, or a degree, an honorary degree, conferred by a university. The high priest was certainly very angry. He took a boat because those three saints used to live on the far side of a lake. He went in the boat. Those three saints were sitting under a tree. They were very simple people, peasants, uneducated. They touched the feet of the highest priest, and the priest was very happy. He thought, “Now I will put them right — these are not very dangerous people. I was thinking they would be rebels or something.” He asked them, “How did you become saints?” They said, “We don’t know! We don’t know that we are saints either. People have started calling us saints and we go on trying to convince them that we are not, we are very simple people, but they don’t listen. The more we argue that we are not, the more they worship us! And we are not very good at arguing either.”...

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Leo Tolstoy has written a beautiful story:

Three men became very famous saints in Russia.
The highest priest of the country was very much disturbed — obviously, because people were not coming to him, people were going to those three saints, and he had not even heard their names. And how could they be saints? — because in Christianity a saint is a saint only when the church recognizes him as a saint. The English word ‘saint’ comes from ‘sanction’; when the church sanctions somebody as a saint, then he is a saint. What nonsense! that a saint has to be certified by the church, by the organized religion, by the priests — as if it has nothing to do with inner growth but some outer recognition; as if it is a title given by a government, or a degree, an honorary degree, conferred by a university.
The high priest was certainly very angry. He took a boat because those three saints used to live on the far side of a lake. He went in the boat. Those three saints were sitting under a tree. They were very simple people, peasants, uneducated. They touched the feet of the highest priest, and the priest was very happy. He thought, “Now I will put them right — these are not very dangerous people. I was thinking they would be rebels or something.” He asked them, “How did you become saints?”
They said, “We don’t know! We don’t know that we are saints either. People have started calling us saints and we go on trying to convince them that we are not, we are very simple people, but they don’t listen. The more we argue that we are not, the more they worship us! And we are not very good at arguing either.”
The priest was very happy. He said, “What is your prayer? Do you know how to pray?”
They looked at each other. The first said to the second, “You say.” The second said to the third, “You say, please.”
The priest said, “Say what your prayer is! Are you saying Our Lord’s Prayer or not?”
They said, “To be frank with you, we don’t know any prayer. We have invented a prayer of our own and we are very embarrassed — how to say it? But if you ask we have to say it. We have heard that God is a trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. We are three and he is also three, so we have made a small prayer of our own: ‘You are three, we are three: Have mercy on us!’ ”
The priest said, “What nonsense! Is this prayer? You fools, I will teach you the right prayer.” And he recited The Lord’s Prayer.
And those three poor people said, “Please repeat it once more, because we are uneducated, we may forget.”
He repeated it and they asked, “Once more — we are three, repeat it at least three times.” So he repeated it again, and then very happy, satisfied, he went back in his boat.
Just in the middle of the lake he was surprised, his boatman was surprised: those three poor people were coming running on the water! And they said, “Wait! Please one more time — we have forgotten the prayer!”
Now it was the turn of the priest to touch their feet, and he said, “Forget what I have said to you. Your prayer has been heard, my prayer has not been heard yet. You continue as you are continuing. I was utterly wrong to say anything to you. Forgive me!”

Prayer is a state of simplicity. It is NOT of words but of silence.

– As told by Osho in “Be Still and Know”

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The Great Fool Who Brilliantly Condemns Everything https://spiritualgrowthevents.com/the-great-fool-condemn-everything-russian-story-by-osho/ Wed, 22 Mar 2017 05:27:49 +0000 http://www.spiritual-short-stories.com/?p=8929 In a village there was a fool. He was very upset because no matter what he said people laughed at him. People had decided he was a blithering idiot. Even when he said something right people still laughed at him. He lived cowering, not daring even to speak. If he didn't speak people laughed, if he spoke people laughed. If he did something people laughed, if he didn't do anything people laughed. A monk came to the village. That night the fool fell at the monk's feet and said, “Give me some blessing. is my whole life to be spent shrinking and cowering like this? Will I die a blithering idiot? Is there no way I can become a little intelligent?” The monk said, “There is a way. Follow this sutra: condemn everything.” He said, “What will happen through condemning?” The monk said, “You do it for seven days then come again to me.” The fool asked, “How should I condemn?” The monk said, “Whatever anyone says make a negative statement. For instance if someone says look what a beautiful sun is coming out, you say “what's beautiful about it? Prove it. Where is the beauty? What beauty? It comes out everyday, it has been coming out for billions of years. It is a globe of fire — what beauty?” “If someone says look Jesus' words are so lovely, you immediately jump on him saying ‘what is so lovely in them? What is so special about them? What's new in them? The same thing has always been said, it is all thrashed over. It is all stale, all borrowed.' You just deny. Someone says looking at a beautiful woman, ‘what a beautiful woman.' You say: ‘what of it? So what if her nose is a little longer? So what if...

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In a village there was a fool. He was very upset because no matter what he said people laughed at him. People had decided he was a blithering idiot. Even when he said something right people still laughed at him.

He lived cowering, not daring even to speak. If he didn't speak people laughed, if he spoke people laughed. If he did something people laughed, if he didn't do anything people laughed. A monk came to the village.

That night the fool fell at the monk's feet and said, “Give me some blessing. is my whole life to be spent shrinking and cowering like this? Will I die a blithering idiot? Is there no way I can become a little intelligent?”

The monk said, “There is a way. Follow this sutra: condemn everything.”

He said, “What will happen through condemning?”

The monk said, “You do it for seven days then come again to me.”

The fool asked, “How should I condemn?”

The monk said, “Whatever anyone says make a negative statement. For instance if someone says look what a beautiful sun is coming out, you say “what's beautiful about it? Prove it. Where is the beauty? What beauty? It comes out everyday, it has been coming out for billions of years. It is a globe of fire — what beauty?”

“If someone says look Jesus' words are so lovely, you immediately jump on him saying ‘what is so lovely in them? What is so special about them? What's new in them? The same thing has always been said, it is all thrashed over. It is all stale, all borrowed.' You just deny. Someone says looking at a beautiful woman, ‘what a beautiful woman.' You say: ‘what of it? So what if her nose is a little longer? So what if her skin is a little whiter? Lepers are white too. What beauty? Prove it.' You demand proof from everyone and remember to always remain in the negative. Put them in the positive, you remain in the negative. Come to me after seven days.”

After seven days when the idiot came, he did not come alone, many had become his disciples. They came on ahead. They had hung flower garlands around his neck. A band was playing. He said to the monk, “The device worked. The whole village was forced to be silent. Wherever I went people lowered their heads. The news spread among the people that I am a great genius. No one could win against me. Now what should I do?”

He said, “Now don't do anything, just remain with this. If you want to save your intellect never fall into the positive. If someone speaks of God then immediately bring in atheism. Whatever is said, always make a negative statement. No one will be able to defeat you because to disprove a negative statement is very difficult. To prove a positive statement is very difficult.”

From Osho – Death is Divine

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