Stuck in life; How to free yourselves from obsession

It pains me to see some of my friends obsessed with intense "dislike" or “hate" for someone. No matter what the topic is, or what happens that is all they want to talk about.  I feel their pain, and wish I could help them free themselves and see other things in life.  

The following story has helped several friends, and I hope it helps some of your friends.

Two Buddhist monks were waiting for the flooding to recede on a stream so they can cross it. A pregnant woman joins them and all the three waited for a few hours and started talking about crossing it any way.  The woman asks the monks, if they can help her cross.

The Monks looked at each other, and the junior says “No” to the lady, while the senior monk asks her to ride on his back and he will carry her over across the flooded stream. So they crossed and the senior dropped her and the monks resumed walking.

After about 5 minutes, the junior could not hold it anymore and blurted out, “You are supposed to be a role model for me and resist touching or feeling a woman, and instead you carried that woman on your back, her whole body was rubbing against yours, her breasts were pressed on your back and you were holding her legs… did you enjoy that?

The senior monk realized the gravity of the situation and stopped, looked into the eyes of the junior and said. When I dropped that woman 5 minutes ago, she was out of my mind,  but you are still carrying her.   

I dealt with two individuals this week, one of them dropped and the other one propped the question again. So, I tried this time with religion, he is a Christian and I mentioned to him that “forgiveness” is the central theme in every religion including the teachings of Jesus. Forgiving brings relief and freedom.

The kid is an Islamophobe, I asked, do you want to know what Islam says about it? He reluctantly shouted what?  The person who God loves most is the one who forgives, he said really? Looks like he is going to study about it and I hope he does and frees himself up.

Do you have people you need to forgive? Do it now, and find the relief from obsession with dislike or hate for the other. You'll be happy that you did.

Thank you

Mike Ghouse, President
America Together Foundation
(Foundation for Pluralism)
Dallas | Washington
(214) 325-1916 text/talk
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Mike Ghouse is a public speaker, thinker, writer and a commentator on Pluralism, Islam, India, Israel-Palestine, Politics and other issues of the day. He is a human rights activist, and his book standing up for others will be out soon | He is producing a full feature film ” Sacred” to be released on 9/11 and a documentary “Americans together” for a July 4 release.  He is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News and syndicated Talk Radio shows and a writer at major news papers including Dallas Morning News and Huffington Post. All about him is listed in 63 links at www.MikeGhouse.net and his writings are at www.TheGhousediary.com – Mike is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.