331-The Stories of Aesop- Buddhism in daily life

The Stories of Aesop

The Greek poet Aesop lived about the time of Buddha. He founded the so-called "example narrative", he conveyed "morals" and "values" in his short stories.

The German phrase "getting a lion's share" goes back to a tale by Aesop, the "Fable of the Lion's Share". Here, a lion and a donkey go hunting together. The lion divides the hunted prey into 2/3 for himself and 1/3 for the donkey, simply because he is the stronger. He found in the fable many arguments why he had to get the main part.

In the conclusion of the story, the author warns about the society of "powerful people" for whom the law does not apply.

WOE / TO THE POOR VICTIM WHEN THE SAME MOUTH / THAT GAVE THE LAW ALSO PRONOUNCES JUDGMENT!

- FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER - GERMAN PHILOSOPHER - 1759 TO 1805

The works of Aesop still have their social importance, since they deal with human weaknesses, which are known to have survived. Stupidity, envy, avarice, vanity, the materials from which even today the headlines of our newspapers are made.

Through his stories, Aesop imparted to us wisdoms very similar to the teachings of Buddha, which were also carried out in a similar form in the Bible.

As Buddhists, we know that everything is already written, that we must accept our "karma" as an unchangeable quantity.

Whether poor or rich, for us humans the universal laws are the same, nothing we can change.

However, "enlightenment" offers us a way out of the cycle of suffering.

Not only Buddha was "enlightened", many people before him had reached this level of perfection, and many people after the great teacher have also "awakened".

I wonder if the Aesop might have been one of these "enlightened ones"?

If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from you

- George Orwell - British writer, essayist and journalist - 1903 to 1950

If you act like a rock star, you will be treated the same way

- Marilyn Manson - US musician and member of the rock band Marilyn Manson - born 1969

Nothing meets one that he is not able to bear by nature

- Marcus Aurelius - Roman emperor from 161 to 180

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