The Parable: (taken from the Book Kindness (A Treasury of Buddhist Wisdom for Children and Parents) collected and adapted by Satah Conover
Castles of Sand
Along the banks of a wide, lazy, river, a number of children were playing on a lovely beach in the afternoon sunshine. These were ancient times, but the same story could be told now, whenever children enjoy the irresistible magic of water and sand. On this particular day, castles quickly sprouted across the length of the shoreline beneath busy hands. And the longer each child attended to his or her castle, the more carefully each guarded it and felt a need to keep it separate from their neighbors’. Soon, there was no mistaking which castle and which territory belonged to whom.
But eventually, as it often happens, a child slips or falls clumsily upon a neighboring castle; or someone makes a comparison between castles; or a child acquires a special stick or shell to ornament her fortress and so it stands more proudly than any others do. On this day, when such a mistake was made, an insult was carelessly tossed about, and the insulted child ran up and stomped upon the offender’s castle. The lord of the newly wrecked castle pulled the attacker’s hair and shouted for the others to help administer justice. The boy was soon chased from the beach and given a kick or two for good measure! Then the children returned to expanding their own castles and provinces, each saying, “Don’t touch! Hey!, look at my castle! Mine is the best! Mine is the biggest!”
A short time later, the sun began to set. Dusk arrived and the children knew they were expected home for supper. Suddenly, it seemed as if no one had ever cared about castles. Squeals of joy were heard in the delight of destroying the day’s work: some kicked their castles apart, others dissolved them with buckets of water. Then one and all turned towards home and left.
In the quiet, only the pleasant lapping of the river against the shore was heard. And nightlong, the river gently smoothed the sand again.
BUILDING A HOUSE IN MID-AIR - A Story from the Buddhist Sutra
The Buddha loved to tell stories when he was giving a sermon. Here is one from the Sutra of Hundred Parables.
Once upon a time there were two very rich merchants living in the same town, both loved to show off their wealth. Let us call them A and B.
One day merchant A went to visit merchant B, he observed that B had a big house three stories high. (NOTE: 2,500 year ago, a three stories high house was a very impressive project!!) He also noticed that everyone in town was very impressed with B's house and said how great it was!
On returning home, merchant A was not happy that B got all the attention. So he also hired the same architect to build another house three storeys high. The architect accepted the job and started the project.
A few days later, merchant A went to visit the construction site. When he saw workers digging the land to prepare for the foundation, he went to see the architect and asked what was happening.
"I am constructing a three storiess high house as per our contract." replied the architect. "But first, I have to prepare a solid foundation, then build the first floor, second floor and finally third floor."
"I do not want anything else, I just want the third floor right away, as high as B's house." demand merchant A. "Never mind the foundation or the other floors."
"That cannot be done." replied the architect.
"OK, then I hire some else to do it."
Nobody in town was able to build a house with no foundation, and so the project was never done.
Two Wolves parable… (referenced from various websites, unable to find original attribution)
An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life...
"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves."
"One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.
"The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
"This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
"Which wolf will win?"
The old chief simply replied, "The one you feed."