One day it happened that Molla Nasreddin was walking alone along the road. It was a deserted road, the sun had already set and darkness was approaching. Suddenly he felt fear, as a group of people was moving towards him, and he thought: “These are apparently bandits, robbers, and there is no one here, only me.” With these thoughts, he quickly jumped over the wall that was nearby and found that he was in a cemetery. There was a freshly dug grave there, so he climbed into it, somehow calmed down, closed his eyes and waited for people to pass by so he could calmly go home.
But those people also saw that someone was there. Molla jumped suddenly, they saw a flashing shadow and were also afraid. What's the matter? Is someone hiding there or doing something bad? And they all jumped over the wall.
Now the mullah was sure that he had made the right conclusion: they were dangerous people. “Now nothing can be done, I must pretend to be dead.” And he pretended. He stopped breathing, because you cannot rob or kill a dead person.
But people saw that this man jumped, so they became even more alarmed. What is he doing? And so they crowded around the grave, looked into it and asked:
- What happened? What are you doing? Why are you here?
Molla opened his eyes, looked at them and was convinced that there was no danger. He laughed and said:
- So, there is a problem, a very philosophical problem. You ask me why I am here, and I would like to ask why you are here. I'm here because of you, and you're here because of me!
This parable is about a vicious circle: You enter into it when you start thinking about the impression you make on others. Some are so worried about it that they cannot live at all. Everyone is interested in what others think of them, and this is true of everyone. They worry about you, and you worry about them. You are afraid of others, others are afraid of you, and life becomes a mess. Drop this nonsense, drop this vicious circle. Stop thinking about others and what they think about you.
This "o" is very dangerous. Because of him, no one is calm, no one is at home.
Your life is enough, focus on your own life, don't be confused by others. If you can live without this care, your life will blossom and then others will be able to share its fragrance with you.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru