' Three valuable pieces of advice '...

A man once caught a bird. The bird said to him, "I am no use to you
as a captive. But let me free, and I will tell you three valuable
pieces of advice."

The bird promised to give the first piece of advice while still
in the man's grasp, the second when he reached a branch, the third
after he had gained the top of a mountain.

The man agreed, and asked for the first piece of advice.
The bird said: "If you lose something, even if it be valued by you as
much as life itself--do not regret it."

The man let the bird go, and it hopped to a branch. It
continued with the second piece of advice: "Never believe anything
which is contrary to sense without proof."

Then the bird flew to the mountain top. From there it said: "O
unfortunate one! Within me are two huge jewels, and if you had only
killed me they would have been yours!"

The man was anguished at the thought of what he had lost, but he
said: "At least now tell me the third piece of advice."

The bird replied: "What a fool you are, asking for more advice
when you have not given thought to the first two pieces! I told you
not to worry about what had been lost, and not to believe in
something contrary to sense. Now you are doing both.

You are
believing something ridiculous and grieving because you have lost
something! I am not big enough to have inside me huge jewels."
"You are a fool. Therefore you must stay within the usual
restrictions imposed on man."


as collected by Idries Shah