The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

home." Julian continued. "There was once a feeble old woman
whose loving husband died. So she went to live with her son and
his wife and daughter. Every day, the woman's sight grew worse
and her hearing grew worse. Some days her hands trembled so
badly the peas on her plate rolled onto the floor and the soup ran
from her cup. Her son and his wife couldn't help but be annoyed at
the mess she made and one day they said enough was enough. So
they set up a little table for the old woman in a corner next to the
broom closet and made her eat all of her meals there, alone. She
would look at them at mealtimes with tear-filled eyes from across
the room, but they hardly talked to her while they ate, except to
scold her for dropping a spoon or a fork.
"One evening, just before dinner, the little girl was sitting on
the floor playing with her building blocks. 'What are you making?'
her father asked earnestly. 'I'm building a little table for you and
mother,' she said, 'so you can eat by yourselves in the corner
someday when I get big.' The father and mother were moved to
silence for what seemed like an eternity. Then they started to
weep. In that instant they became aware of the nature of their
actions and the sadness they had caused. That night they led the
old woman back to her rightful place at their big dinner table and
from that day on she ate all her meals with them. And when a little
morsel of food fell off the table or a fork strayed onto the floor,
nobody seemed to mind anymore.
"In this story, the parents were not bad people," Julian said.
"They simply needed the spark of awareness to light their candle
of compassion. Compassion and daily acts of kindness make life far
richer. Take the time to meditate every morning on the good you
will do for others during your day. The sincere words of praise to
those who least expect it, the gestures of warmth offered to