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a man who received a bill from the plumber. The plumber said. 'Within three weeks, pay forty dollars for the work I have done for you. If it is not paid within three weeks you will have to pay five dollars more -- forty-five dollars.'
The man was very angry, annoyed, and he showed that letter to a friend. The friend said, 'My plumber is very clever. He also writes the same thing but in a different way. If it were a letter from my plumber he would have written: "Pay me forty-five dollars -- that is the charge for my services -- but if you pay within three weeks, you can pay five dollars less."' Then one feels very happy because the choice is positive.
One sufi mystic relates in his autobiography that when he was studying with his master, he and a colleague were both walking in the garden of the master. They were smoking and they felt guilty. The friend said, 'It would be good if we asked the master.' These few hours were given to them for a walking meditation; they had to walk in the garden and meditate as in vipassana. So they said, 'Yes, it is better to ask rather than feeling guilty.'
So one went to the master and asked, 'Can I smoke while meditating?' The master said, 'Certainly not!' Next day when he came to the garden, the other was smoking. He said, 'Have you not been to the master?' The second replied, 'I have been and he said. "Yes, you can smoke."' The first said, 'This seems to be unjust. He denied me absolutely, in no uncertain terms. He said, "No, certainly not!" How is it that he allowed you?'
The second said, 'I think we must have asked differently. I asked him "Can I meditate while smoking?" He said, "Certainly, of course!"'
It is the same thing. Life brings the same thing to everybody, but if you have a wrong attitude, a negative attitude, or are asking a wrong question or knocking at the wrong spot, you go on missing. So as I see it, it is not that unhappiness happens to people -- they have decided to remain unhappy. Maybe it is not conscious, maybe it is unconscious and they have forgotten.
So try this for three weeks, and stick with the decision. And once you know the knack, it is so simple... It is the
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