The best parables about the meaning of life

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

A parable is a short story with some deep philosophical meaning. It makes you think about something important, vital. The most common among the people are parables about the meaning of human life, since this is the topic that worries all people from time immemorial. Old stories brought from the last century are valued as wiser, they feel the experience of previous generations. However, do not underestimate modern parables about the meaning of life, they are no less in demand. This is because it doesn't matter when the situation described happened, the main thing is the meaning. Stories do not have to be long, some parables about the meaning of life are short, like a match, and you can read them before it burns out. However, this does not prevent them from carrying a message that will help some to decide what we live for, and others will simply give food for thought. Below are some famous and interesting parables about the meaning of life as examples.

Example: "Donkey and well"

The donkey fell into the well and began to scream invitingly, attracting the attention of the owner. The one reallyran, but was in no hurry to get the pet. A “brilliant” idea came into his head: “The well has dried up, it was high time to bury it and create a new one. The donkey is also old, it's time to start a new one. Let me fill the well right now! I’ll do 2 useful things at once.”

No sooner said than done, the man invited the neighbors, and they began to throw earth in the well and the donkey inside, ignoring the cries of the poor animal, who guessed what was happening.

Soon the donkey fell silent. People became curious why he was quiet, they looked into the well and saw such a picture: every clod of earth that fell on top of his back was thrown off by the donkey, and then crushed with his hooves. As a result, when the men continued, the animal finally reached the top and got out. Life sends people a lot of trouble, comparable to clods of earth. You can whine and scream about how bad and unfair life is, or you can try to shake off the ground and crush it in order to get up. The main thing is not to sit back and do something.

What the parables teach

Each parable teaches something different. For example, the one above makes it clear that you should never give up, even in cases where the situation seems hopeless, and that in order to achieve a positive result, you just need to think carefully and try to find a way out. Most often, it is precisely this meaning that is put into these small philosophical stories by those who are capable of it. Some parables came to people straight from the sages, some are simply invented by ordinary people, but in any casethere is a deep subtext in any parable, and therefore it is sometimes extremely useful to read them. Besides, of course, parables help to deal with good and evil, love and sympathy, faith in God, religion in general, with the meaning of life and with other interesting problems.

Example: "Life and Coffee"

One day, graduates of a prestigious college came to visit their wise professor, who once taught them a lot. Gradually, the conversation turned to life's difficulties, and then the teacher offered the guys coffee. After agreeing, the man left, and soon returned with a coffee pot and a tray filled with various cups. Some were beautiful and expensive, made of crystal or porcelain, others were simple and unprepossessing, plastic, cheap.-Look what you have chosen, the professor began as each of his students took a cup. - You all took only the most beautiful and attractive cups, leaving the cheap ones on the tray. This is the source of your troubles - you strive to get the best for yourself. But the main thing is not what is outside, but what is inside. The taste of coffee does not depend on the beauty of the cup, but it is your main goal. Think about it: coffee is our life, but money, society, work are just cups. We strive for the most beautiful cup, forgetting to fill it with contents. But after all, it serves only as a means to help maintain life. The main thing is coffee and its taste.

How parables are useful

From the example above, it is immediately clear that parables can carrytruly a great idea. Indeed, our lives are comparable to coffee. People are trying to earn a lot of money, they strive to live in luxurious houses, dress beautifully and expensively, they are looking for life partners not for love, but for other qualities like we alth and a big name, etc. With all this, a person does not understand that happiness is not at all in a beautiful cup (and also in a wrapper, when compared with sweets), but in the contents. Surely many have heard that rich people are most often unhappy. They have everything, so they just don't know what else they need. On the other hand, poor people living in modest huts can be so satisfied with their lives that you are simply amazed. By the way, comparisons are very fond of parables and similar philosophical stories. Even in both of the examples above, lives are being compared to something/someone. This happens for a better human perception of meaning.

At what age is it better to start studying parables

There is no specific answer to this question, but the older the person, the wiser he is, and therefore the real meaning that the authors wanted to convey to the reader is easier to understand. Nevertheless, some parables are so easy to understand (most often due to the notorious comparison mentioned earlier) that absolutely any person, even the most distant from philosophy, can understand them. Most often, parables begin to interest along head with the question of the meaning of life. For someone it may be at the age of 15, for someone at 30, but the fact remains: it is the parables that help to find answers tovital questions. And absolutely any, since they relate to almost all areas.

East is a delicate matter

Most often people are interested not in ordinary, but in oriental parables about the meaning of life. This happens because it is in the East that there are more wise men and masters, unlike other peoples, which means that full-fledged stories created by true masters of their craft flow from there. Of course, this is not always true, since any author, whether from London or Russia, can call a parable "Eastern", but still people often believe that they are reading an Eastern parable, which is why they automatically trust it more than other versions of similar stories.

Example: Butterflies and Answers

One day three beautiful butterflies flew up to a burning candle, admired the fire for a while and began to talk about its nature and meaning. The first one decided to fly a little closer, and soon she returned.

- The fire is shining, she announced.

Another butterfly decided to keep up with the first one, so it also decided to fly up to the candle. She only approached the fire closer than her first friend, in order to better understand what was happening, and therefore set her wing a little on fire.

- The fire is burning! she exclaimed as she returned to the "girls" waiting for her.

The third butterfly also went to the candle, however, being the bravest of all, it flew straight into the fire. She did not return, but she fulfilled her dream - to know what the power and nature of fire is. Unfortunately, the remaining butterflies she could no longertell the truth.

Parables and the meaning of life

Everyone is looking for the true value of human existence on Earth. However, as you can see from the example above: knowledge is a powerful force. Most often it happens that those who know nothing speak, and those who know the truth for sure remain silent. The dead, for example, know the meaning of life, but they cannot tell it to earthly people, no matter how much they themselves would like to. All parables in one way or another affect the meaning of existence, but they are unlikely to give an exact answer to the curious. Only hints, hints, which everyone will perceive in their own way and develop into a full-fledged idea, thought. Not everyone will succeed, however, some will consider that all parables are complete nonsense, but perhaps someday they will still think about this question.