The Emperor’s Three Questions 🤔#10

Hiya, it's Bridget again from Immeasurable Minds with tonight's Corona Jackanory. I think you're going to really like this one. This one is again like a previous one I did a few days ago. You have to pay attention because I'm going to ask you a couple of questions halfway through. I read this one quite a lot for Tesco. I would have— I sometimes do corporate mindfulness sessions and the Tesco people really liked this and they applied it to their situation. So you can apply it to your situation too. It's a cool, cool story. It's called The Emperor's 3 Questions. And obviously I'm telling it and Ajahn Brahm is speaking here. He says, I had received an invitation to give the keynote address at an education seminar in Perth. I wondered why. When I arrived at the function center, a woman whose name tag showed she was the organizer of the seminar approached me. Do you remember me? she asked. That is one of the most dangerous questions to answer. I chose to be blunt and said, no. She smiled and told me that 7 years previously I had given a talk at the school of which she was the principal. A story that I had told at her school changed the direction of her career. She resigned as principal Then she worked tirelessly to set up a program for the kids who had dropped out of the system— street kids, underage prostitutes, drug addicts— to give them another chance tailored to their situation. My story, she told me, was the philosophy underpinning her program. The story has been adapted from a book of short stories compiled by Leo Tolstoy that I read as a student. Long ago, an emperor sought a philosophy of life. He needed wisdom to guide his rule and govern himself. The religions and philosophies of the time did not satisfy him, so he searched for his philosophy in the experience of life. Eventually, he realized that he acquired the answers To only 3 fundamental questions. With those questions, he would have all the wise guidance he needed. The 3 questions were these: When is the most important time? Who is the most important person? And what is the most important thing to do? After a long search, which took up most of the original story, he found the answers to the 3 questions on a visit to a hermit. What do you think the answers are? Here are the questions again. Please pause before we read on. When is the most important time? Who is the most important person? What is the most important thing to do? We all know the answer to the first question, but we forget it too often. The most important time is now, of course. That is the only time we ever have. So if you want to tell your mum or dad how much you really love them, how grateful you are for them being your parents, Do so now. Not tomorrow. Not in 5 minutes. Now. In 5 minutes, it is often too late. If you need to say sorry to your partner, don't start thinking of all the reasons why you shouldn't. Just do it right now. Sorry, Maithín. The opportunity may never come again. Grab the moment. The answer to the second question is powerfully profound. Few people ever guess the correct answer. When I read the answer as a student, it had me spinning for days. It saw deeper into the question than I'd ever imagined. The answer is that the most important person is the one that you're with. I recalled asking questions of college professors and not being fully heard. They were outwardly listening but inwardly wanting me to go. They had more important things to do. That's what I felt, and it was a rotten feeling. I also recall rousing my courage to approach a famous lecturer and ask a personal question and being surprised and so pleased that he was giving me his total attention. Other professors were waiting to speak with him. I was a mere Longcard student, but he made me feel important. The difference was huge. Communication and love can only be shared when the one you're with, no matter who they are, is the most important person in the world for you at that time. They feel it. They know it. They respond. Married couples often complain that their partner doesn't really listen to them. What they mean is that their partner doesn't make them feel important anymore. Divorce lawyers would have to look for other work if every person in a relationship remembered the answer to the Emperor's Second Question and put it into practice, so that no matter how tired, tired, or busy we are, when we are with our partner, we make them feel as though they are the most important person in the whole world. In business, when the person we are with is a potential customer, if we treat them as the most important person for us at that time, our sales will go up and with it our salary. The emperor in the original story escaped assassination by fully listening to the advice of a small boy on his way to visit the hermit. When a powerful emperor is with a mere child and that boy, that boy is the most important person in the world to him and saves the emperor's life. When friends come up to me after a long day to tell me about their problems, I remember the answer to the emperor's second question and give them total importance. It's selflessness, Compassion supplies the energy, and it works. The organizer of the education seminar had, in her first interviews with the children she was reaching out to help, practiced, the most important person is the one you're with. For many of those kids, it was the first time they were made to feel important, especially by an influential adult. Moreover, By giving them importance, she was fully listening rather than judging. The kids were heard, the programme was tailored accordingly, the kids felt respected, and it worked. Mine wasn't to be the keynote speech after all. One of the kids got up to speak after me. He had related his story of family trouble, drugs, and crime, of how the programme returned hope to his life, And how he was soon to go to university. I was wet-eyed by the end. That was the keynote address. Most of the time in your life, you're by yourself. Then the most important person, the one you're with, is you. There's plenty of time to give importance to yourself. Who's the first— who's the first person you're aware of when you wake up in the morning? You! Do you ever say, good morning, me, have a nice day? I do. Do you ever say— who is the last person you're aware of when you go to sleep? Yourself again. I say good night to myself. I give myself importance in the many private moments of my day, and it works. The answer to the Emperor's 3rd question What is the most important thing to do? Is to care. To care brings together being careful and caring. The answer illustrates that it is where we are coming from that is the most important thing. So I will summarise, because sometimes he talks about other stories here, I will summarise the 3 questions of the emperor together with the answers. When is the most important time? Now. Who is the most important person? The person you're with, even if that's yourself. What is the most important thing to do? To care. So I care about you all out there listening. I hope these stories are being helpful, and please get in touch, and please take care of yourself. Thank you very much for listening.