Once upon a time,
There was a teacher.
This teacher was extremely wise and compassionate.
He had many bright students.
But among those students,
There was one that was disliked by all the others.
This student had a habit of stealing money and other small things from the monastery.
The other students had tolerated this for long before complaining to their teacher.
When the teacher heard this,
He said,
Give him some time.
I will talk to him.
The thieving disciple was called by the teacher.
These things that you steal are small and puny.
Only hard work will give you what you crave for.
The disciple understood his teacher's words and stopped stealing.
But he could not resist his urges for long.
Soon he started stealing again.
The other disciples had had enough,
So they went to their teacher again.
This is still stealing our things!
They complained.
But the teacher did not react.
He only said,
Give him time.
As the time passed,
The disciple did not stop.
And the other disciples had become extremely angry at the thieving disciple.
They kept going to their teacher,
And their teacher always remained calm and asked them to give him time.
I'm sure that he will change.
Be patient.
The other disciples did not understand why their teacher was taking this matter lightly.
Finally,
One day,
The others went to their teacher and said that they had tolerated this enough.
Teacher,
Now we are at our limits.
You can keep us here,
Or this thieving man.
Without hesitating for a moment,
The teacher replied,
You all can leave.
I will not forsake my disciple.
All the other disciples were surprised at their teacher's reply.
You all are good disciples,
And it will be easy for you all to get into another monastery.
But this disciple,
Who has a habit of stealing property,
Will not be admitted anywhere.
Therefore,
I will not let him go.
The young disciple,
Who had been ostracized because of his stealing,
Had been listening to their conversation.
After hearing his teacher's words,
His heart was overwhelmed by compassion.
And from that day onwards,
His resolve of never stealing anything stood stronger than ever.
The young disciple never stole one single thing after that day.
Compassion helps us to connect with others and move forward while fostering emotional intelligence and well-being.
Compassion takes empathy a step further because it harbors the desire of all people to be free from suffering.
So I would say that one of the morals of this beautiful story is that you can really help others just by being compassionate and having a good heart.
