Here is a wonderful Tibetan story about trying to satisfy others.
Once upon a time there was an old father, his 15 year old son, and their horse. They are walking down to the village, son was on horse back and father was very exhausted. When they were going through the village, all the villagers came outside, staring at them and murmuring. They said in a loud voice, “how rude and selfish that young son is, he is so disrespectful to his father. Why didn’t he let father ride on horse, he is an old father. He should respect him.”
When they went through the village, the son felt very sad and guilty because his father had told him to ride on the horse, but then the villagers insulted him. He stopped the horse and request to his father. Please! Dear father, you must be tired, it’s your time to ride on horse because we have to cross two big mountains.
His father was pleased with his son’s behavior and decided to ride on the horse. They crossed another mountain and walked to another village. Again all the villagers came outside, starring at them and murmuring in a loud voice. “How cold hearted the father is. He has no sense of loving and caring because his young son looks exhausted and he didn’t let him to ride on horse”. They said to the father, “you are cruel heartless father.”
Father felt very sad, guilty, and insulted by the villagers even though his son had told him to ride on the horse. He got down from his horse and said, “Lets give some rest to our horse, he must be exhausted.”
The father and son continued on to another village. Again while they were walking through the village, all the villagers came outside and said, “How foolish these two people are, they have their horse but still they don’t know how to use it. So stupid and dumb.”
The moral of the story: It doesn’t matter how sincere and honest you are, there are always individuals who will question and insult your sincerity and honesty. You need to stay honest with yourself and if you are truly working with a sincere heart, everything else will take care of itself.
