Showing posts with label Morale. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Morale. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The Pride Of Icarus (Indonesian)



Daedalus, seorang penemu terhebat di zaman kuno, diperintahkan oleh raja dari Crete untuk membuat sebuah jalan lika-liku yang membingungkan (maze) dimana dia bisa memenjarakan Minotaur, sebuah makhluk setengah manusia setengah banteng, supaya dia tidak pernah bisa keluar lagi. Arsitek yang terampil itu melakukan apa yang diperintahkan. Tetapi tak berapa lama dia membantu Theseus, seorang pahlawan terkenal, untuk membunuh Minotaur itu. Sebagai hukuman, Raja dari Crete memerintahkan Daedalus untuk dipenjara di dalam labirin (jalan yang berlikut tadi) bersama dengan anaknya yang masih muda, Icarus.












“Jangan Khawatir,” seorang ayah menyemangati anaknya. “Aku tahu caranya keluar dari penjara ini.”

Daedalus membuat sepasang saying yang besar dan dia menempelkan mereka dengan lilin di pundak anaknya. Sayap itu bisa digerakkan ke atas dan ke bawah dengan menggerakkan tangan. Kemudian Daedalus membuat sepasang lagi untuk dirinya sendiri.

Sayap-sayap itu bekerja dengan luar biasa. Dua orang itu bisa lepas landas dan dengan beberapa goyangan tangan mereka bisa mendakit tinggi untuk bisa melewati dinding-dinding dari labirin. Tetapi sang anak, karena kesombongannya, menginginkan untuk terbang lebih tinggi dan tinggi, sampai panas dari matahari melumerkan lilin dan sayapnya terlepas. Kemudian Icarus jatuh ke tanah dan meninggal. Daedalus, penuh dengan kesedihan, tetap terbang sampai dia mencapai tempat yang aman.

-FIN-
Author: Unknown 

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The Pride Of Icarus (English)


Daedalus, one of the greatest inventors of ancient times, was asked by the king of Crete to build a maze where he could imprison the Minotaur, a monster half-man and half-bull, so that it could never get out again. The ingenious architect did as he was asked, but some time later he helped Theseus, a famous hero, to kill the monster. As a punishment, the king of Crete ordered Daedalus to be impri­soned himself in the labyrinth, with his young son, Icarus.















“Don't worry,” the father encour­aged the boy. “I know already how we can get out of this prison!”

Daedalus made a huge pair of wings and he stuck them with wax onto his son's shoulders. The wings could be moved up and down by moving the arms. Then Daedalus made another pair of wings for himself.

The wings worked wonderfully. The two men took off, and with a few arm strokes they managed to climb high enough to get over the walls of the labyrinth, but then the young boy, out of pride, wanted to fly higher and higher, until the heat from the sun melted the wax and his wings fell off. Then Icarus plunged to the ground and died. Daedalus, full of sadness, carried on flying until he reached safety.

-FIN- 
Author: Unknown

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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Monkey's Thought (Indonesian)



Pada suatu hari Wasiak di sebuah wihara di Sri Lanka- pada hari itu begitu banyak orang datang ke wihara- seekor monyet datang ke wihara dari rimba, mencari-cari sesuatu untuk dimakan. Karena ada begitu banyak orang, pasti diantara pengunjung ada yang menjatuhkan sesuatu, dan para monyet begitu cekatan dalam mengambil manga atau pisang dan memakannya gratis.

Jadi kapan pun ada perayaan, para monyet selalu datang ke wihara. Monyet yang satu ini datang ke wihara saat melihat seorang biksu tengah berceramah. Lalu dia mendengar biksu itu mengucapkan “Pikiran Monyet”.

“Pikiran Monyet? Aha, ini menarik. Biksu ini sedang ceramah mengenai diriku.”

Ia pun pergi ke jendela untuk mendengarkan. Namun ia mendegar apa yang biksu ini katakan mengenai pikiran monyet: bahwa pikiran monyet itu jelek, buruk, harus dienyahkan; bahwa jika anda memiliki pikiran monyet anda bukanlah meditator dan anda harus berlatih hingga batin anda menjadi baik.

Ketika monyet ini mendengar pikiran monyet adalah hal yang jelek, ia menjadi sangat gusar. Monyet pun punya perasaan. Ia berkata, “Biksu ini! Dia melecehkan ku! Dia bilang pikiran monyet itu jelek! Apa salahnya mempunyai pikiran monyet? Toh monyet terlahir dengan batin seperti itu! Lalu kenapa sih manusia berusaha menyingkirkan pikiran monyet? Aku suka pikiran monyet! Aku akan ajukan protes pelecehan nama baik kaum monyet!”

Monyet ini kembali ke hutan, menemui pemimpin kelompoknya dan mengeluh,”Bos harusnya tadi dengar apa yang biksu di wihara itu bilang mengenai kita! Mereka bilang pikiran monyet itu buruh, jahat dan payah. Pikiran monyet harus di singkirkan! Dia merendahkan kita, dia menghina kita!”

Kemudian semua monyet lain juga jadi gusar mendengar ini. “Kita tak akan membiarkan mereka lolos begitu saja! Ini tidak bisa dibiarkan! Kita akan protes ke komisi hak asasi, amnesti internasional, dan world wildlife fund.” Lalu mereka mulai meloncat, marah, sampai pemimpin monyet menghentikan mereka.

Pemimpin monyet berseru, “Stop! Lihat kalian berlompatan liar ke sana kemari! Biksu itu benar! Itulah pikiran monyet! Meloncat kesana kemari, mengeluh setiap saat, tak bisa duduk diam!”

Seluruh monyet itu cukup arif untuk memahaminya. Mereka mengatakan, “Ya ampun! Bos benar. Pikiran monyet itu memang jelek.”Lalu mereka semua jadi murung.”Apa yang bisa kita perbuat? Kita lahir dengan pikiran monyet. Bagaimana kita bisa menyingkirkan pikiran monyet?”.

Lalu salah seekor monyet berkata,”Dengar! Aku juga pernah ke wihara itu. Aku pernah lihat cara orang-orang menyingkirkan pikiran monyet dengan meditasi. Sebagai monyet, kita juga harus bermeditasi. Saat itu batin kita akan menjadi batin yang damai dan ketika orang melihat kita, mereka juga ingin memiliki pikiran monyet yang damai. Ayo kita bermeditasi!”

Semua monyet berlompatan riang lagi, “Ya! Ayo meditasi! Mari kita meditasi!” Pemimpin monyet berteriak,”Diam semua! Itu kan pikiran monyet lagi! Terus, bagaimana cara kita bermeditasi?”

Monyet yang tadi berkata lagi,”Gampang sekali. Aku sudah melihat para biksu melakukannya. Letakkan kaki kanan mu diatas kaki kiri mu. Telapak tangan kanan mu diatas telapak tangan kiri, punggung tegak, kepala agak menunduk. Aku tak tahu apa yang mereka kerjakan berikutnya, tapi mereka duduk seperti itu untuk waktu yang lama.”

Monyet-monyet itu juga melihat para biksu duduk di atas bantal kecil, maka mereka pergi ke hutan mengumpulkan daun dan rumput, lalu membuat bantal duduk untuk mereka sendiri. Kemudian semua duduk dan itulah pertama kali monyet bermeditasi.

Mereka meletakkan kaki kanan di atas kaki kiri, telapak tangan kanan di atas telapak tangan kiri, punggung tegak, kepala agak menunduk dan mulai bermeditasi. Rimba tidak pernah sesenyap itu. Selama satu menit..

Tiba-tiba seekor monyet menangkat tangan,”Permisi! Maaf! Aku baru saja terpikir nih! Pagi ini kita kan berencana pergi ke kebun pisang di sana lalu mencuri pisang untuk makan siang. Aku tak bisa menyingkirkan pikiran itu, pikiran itu terus mengganggu meditasiku. Jadi rencanaku seperti ini: kita pergi saja ke kebun itu dulu, curi pisangnya, selesaikan urusan itu dahulu supaya kita tidak usah memikirkan soal itu lagi.”

Para monyet lain berseru.”Ayo kita selesaikan urusan itu dulu, aku juga terpikir seperti itu lho!”

Mereka semua bangkit dari tempat duduk mereka, berlompatan dan berayun-ayun menuju kebun pisang, mencuri banyak pisang, dan membawanya kembali ke rimba. Saat itu belum tiba waktu makan siang, mereka memutuskan untuk mencuri pisang saja tapi tidak memakannya sampai waktunya. Mereka mengumpulkan pisang dalam tumpukan besar dan kembali ke alas duduk mereka.

Mereka mulai bermeditasi lagi. Rimba kembali sunyi… kali ini hanya 30 detik.

“Interupsi!Interupsi!”ujar salah satu monyet,”Aku dari tadi terpikir bahwa sebelum kita bisa makan pisang, kita kan harus menguliti pisang dahulu. Bisakah kita selesaikan urusan ini dulu?Kita tidak makan, hanya mengulitinya aja kok!”

Semua monyet setuju,”Ayo! Dari tadi akupun berpikir begitu. Ayo kupas kulit pisang.”

Mereka pun menguliti pisang-pisang itu, mereka tidak makan pisangnya, sebab belum waktu makan siang. Mereka menumpuk semua pisang itu menjadi satu tumpukan besar.

Lalu mereka kembali bermeditasi.

Baru saja mereka memejamkan mata,”mohon izin! Aku punya ide! Sebelum makan pisang kita harus memasukkannya ke mulut kita dahulu. Mari kita masukkan ke mulut kita. Bereskan hal ini, barulah kita bisa meditasi.”

“Iya, ide bagus!”seru monyet lainnya. Jadi mereka masing-masing mengambil sebuah pisang, ada beberapa yang mengambil dua atau tiga- Anda tahulah bagaimana rakusnya monyet, lalu mereka memasukkan pisang ke dalam mulut mereka, namun belum memakannya.

Mereka kembali ke bantal meditasi mereka dan mulai berme… bisakah mereka bermeditasi dengan pisang menjejal mulut mereka? Jelas tidak. Ketika semua monyet itu menutup mata, mereka semua mulai mengunyah pisang nya!
Itulah pikiran monyet! “Ayo bereskan urusan in dahulu baru aku bisa meditasi!” atau “Ayo selesaikan pekerjaan ini dahulu baru aku bisa jadi baik.”atau “Ayo dapatkan satu milyar dulu di rekening, baru aku bisa beramal.”

Tentu saja tidak begitu! Jika serba harus mengerjakan sesuatu dahulu, itu tak akan pernah selesai, kan? Apa yang benar-benar penting bukanlah makan siang tapi meditasi. Lihatlah, apa yang lebih penting? Mendapat banyak uang atau menikmati hidup? Maka yang lebih penting: menyelesaikan semua pekerjaan sebelum akhir pecan atas bersantai dan melewatkan waktu bersama keluarga?

Apa hal yang benar-benar penting dalam hidup? Anda sudah tahu kok. Melewatkan waktu bersama dalam suatu hubungan, atau menemani anak-anak anda, menjaga kesehatan anda agar tidak terlampau stress, menjadi bajik, menjadi dermawan, kehidupan spiritual anda, itulah yang benar-benar penting. Segala hal lainnya hanyalah urutan kedua.

Jika anda tahu bagaimana menjalani hal-hal penting terlebih dahulu: kebaikan, kedamaian, kasih, kedermawanan, maka hal-hal lain itu akan menyusul belakangan. Anda tidak akan menjadi seekor monyet yang hanya berayun dari satu pohon urusan ke pohon urusan berikutnya, tanpa pernah menemukan kebahagiaan dan kedamaian sejati dalam hidup.


-FIN-
 Author: Ajahn Brahm

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Monkey's Thought (English)



On one Vesak day in a temple in Sri Lanka- that day there were so many visitors to the temple- one monkey came to the temple from the jungle, finding something to eat. As there were so many people, there must be one amongst them that dropped something, and the monkeys are so agile in taking mango or banana and ate it for free.

So whenever there is a ceremony, the monkeys always go to the temple. One of these monkeys came to the temple and saw a monk is giving a speech. Then he heard the monk saying “monkey’s thought”

“Monkey’s thought? This is interesting. This monk is giving speech about me.”

He went to the window to listen. However, he heard what the monk said about monkey’s thought: that monkey’s thought is bad, ugly, must be eliminated; that if you have monkey’s thought you are not a meditator and you have to train more until your spiritual become good.

When the monkey heard that monkey’s thought is something bad, he became furious. Monkey also had feelings. He said,” this monk! He is harassing me! He said monkey’s thought is bad! What’s wrong having monkey’s thought? Monkeys are born with such thing! So why are humans trying to get rid of monkey’s thought? I like monkey’s thought. I will give complaint of destroying monkey’s reputation.”

This monkey went back to the jungle, met the monkey leader and complained,” Boss, you should hear what the monks were talking about us at the temple! He said monkey’s thought is bad, evil and lousy. Monkey’s thought has to be eliminated! He is looking down on us, he is insulting us.”

Then the other monkeys were also angry after listening. “We will not just let them escape from this! This cannot be allowed! We will protest to the commission of right, international amnesty, and world wildlife fund.” Then they started jumping, angry, until the monkey leader stopped them.

The monkey leader shouted,”Stop! Look at you jumping wildly here and there! The monk is right! That is the monkey’s thought! Jumping around, complaining every time, can’t sit still!”

All the monkeys were wise enough to understand that. They said, “ oh my! Boss is right. Monkey’s thought is bad indeed.” Then they became gloomy. “What can we do? We are born with Monkey’s thought. How do we get rid of monkey’s thought?”

Then one of the monkey said,”Listen! I went to that temple before. I have seen the way those people get rid of monkey’s thought through meditation. As monkeys, we also have to meditate. By doing that our spirits will be peaceful and when people look at us, they also want to have peaceful monkey’s thought. Let’s meditate!”

All monkeys are jumping happily again,”Yes! Let’s meditate! Let’s all meditate!” The monkey leader shouted,”All silence! That’s monkey’s thought again! Then how do we meditate?”

The monkey just now said again,” It’s very easy. I have seen the monks did it. Put your right leg on top of your left one. Your right palm above your left palm, straight back, head a bit facing downward. I don’t know what they did next, but they sat there for a long time.”

The monkeys also saw the monks sitting on a small pillow, then they went to the jungle to gather leaves and grasses, then they made a pillow for themselves. Then all of them sat on top and that was the first time monkey meditated.

Then they put the right leg above the left one, right palm on the left palm, straight back, head facing downward a bit, and they started meditating. The jungle had never been so silent. After a minute…

Suddenly, a monkey raised its hand,” Excuse me! Sorry! I just thought of this! This morning we are planning to go to the banana plantation to steal bananas for lunch. I can’t get rid of the thought; the thought is always bothering me. So this is my plan: let’s go to the plantation first, steal the bananas, after finishing the task then we don’t have to think about it anymore.”

The monkeys exclaimed,” Let’s finish the task first, I thought about it also!”

They all rose from their seats, jumping and swinging to the banana plantation, stole as many bananas, and brought them back to the jungle. That time was not the lunch time yet, they decided to stole the bananas but didn’t eat the bananas until the time. They gather the bananas in a big pile and went back to the seats.

They started meditating again. The jungle became silent once more. This time only 30 seconds.

“Interruption! Interruption!” said one of the monkey,”I just thought before we can eat the bananas, we have to peel the bananas first. Can we finish this task first? We are not going to eat it, we will just peel it!”

All the monkeys agreed “Let’s go! I have been thinking about it too. Let’s peel them!”

They started peeling the bananas; they didn’t eat the bananas, because it was still not the time for lunch. They piled the bananas into a big pile.

They then started the meditation again.

Just as they were closing their eyes. “ Permission! I have an idea! Before eating the bananas we have to put them inside our mouths. Let’s put them into our mouth. Finishing this task, then we can meditate.”

“Yeah, a good idea!” Said other monkeys. So each of them went to take the bananas, some of them took 2 to 3 bananas- you know how greedy the monkeys are. Then they put the bananas inside their mouths, but they didn’t eat it yet.

The went back to the pillow and started to medit…. Can they really meditate with the bananas was stuffed inside their mouth? Of course not! When the monkeys closed their eyes, they all started to munch the bananas!

That is monkey’s thought! “Let’s finish this matter first then I can meditate!” or “Let’s finish the tasks first then I can be better!” or “Let’s earn one million in the bank account first then we can donate!”

Of course it is not like that! If we have to do anything first, it will never end right? What is important in the story is meditate, not lunch. Look, what is more important? Getting more money or enjoying life? So what is more important: finishing jobs before weekend or relaxing and spending time with family?

What are the most important things in life? You should know yourself. Spending time with your partner in a relationship, or spending time with your children, taking care of your health so that you are not so stressed, becoming wise, becoming generous, your spiritual life, those what are important. Everything else is only on the second place.

If you really know how to prioritize things: kindness, peace, love, generosity, then other things will be the follow next. You will not be like a monkey that only swing from one root of matters to another root of matters, without ever able to find true happiness and peace in your life.


-FIN-
Author: Ajahn Brahm
Translated by (for this blog): Anfransen wijaya 

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