Psychology in parables

Many believe that legends, myths, parables are only for children. This is wrong. They have something timeless. This is probably due to the fact that fairy tales and parables are more addressed to feelings, to intuition and fantasy.

Since time immemorial, people have used stories as a means of educational influence. By virtue of their amusing nature they were especially well suited for this purpose, and were that spoonful of honey that sweetened and made interesting even the most bitter morality, which is not always immediately understood, sometimes it is hidden and is only a hint. Any parable carries great meaning and makes people think about many aspects of their lives and their actions.

Blind and elephant

Beyond the mountains was a large city, all the inhabitants of which were blind. Once a foreign king with his army encamped in the desert near the city. He had a huge war elephant in his army, which became famous in battles. With his very appearance, he already plunged his enemies into awe. All the inhabitants of the city were eager to find out: what is an elephant.

And here are some representatives of the society of the blind, in order to solve this problem, hastened to the royal camp. Not having the slightest idea of ​​what kind of elephants are, they began to feel the elephant from all sides. At the same time, everyone, having felt any one part, decided that now he knows everything about this creature. When they returned, they were surrounded by a crowd of impatient townspeople. Deeply ignorant, the blind longed to know the truth from those who were in error. Blind experts vied with each other about the shape of an elephant, and listened to their explanations. The one who touched the ear of the elephant said:

- An elephant is something big, wide and rough, like a carpet.

The one who felt the trunk said:

“I have true information about him. It looks like a straight hollow pipe, terrible and destructive.

“The elephant is powerful and strong, like a column,” objected a third, feeling his leg and foot.

Each felt only one of the many parts of the elephant. And everyone misunderstood it. They could not grasp the whole with their minds: after all, knowledge is not the companion of the blind. They all imagined something about the elephant, and they were all equally far from the truth. What is created by speculation does not know about the Divine. In this discipline, paths cannot be blazed with ordinary intelligence.

Hakim Sanai (1141)

How often people imagine something about themselves, about other people, about their children, and how often they are far from the truth. Out of the best of intentions and their life experience, parents think that they know their children and can make them happy. By observing the behavior of their children (“touching the ear of an elephant”), parents draw conclusions based on incomplete data and build communication with their child, based on often false conclusions. Coaches, teachers think that it is they who have an uncomplicated parental love look and their opinion is objective, but, let's think about it, are they “touching the elephant by the trunk”? At the same time, the inner world of the child, his innate features continue to be a "secret with seven seals", and he himself remains alone with his difficulties. Fortunately, it is never too late to see the light and see yourself and your child in the true light.

In order for us or our children to become a little happier, you just have to doubt your own rightness. This does not mean that we should neurotically doubt every decision we make, but think before making a decision and understand that many things, events, people may not correspond to our ideas about them. The elephant is not at all a destructive pipe and not a carpet, it is something more.

Consider that much in life is transient and the social values ​​that exist now will change over time, just as the values ​​of the past have changed. Take, for example, the banal example of currency exchange, not much time has passed since then, when it was punished. Only spiritual values ​​are unchanged, not social attitudes. In the recent past, Soviet pedagogy followed the "party course", and discipline in the classroom was expressed by complete silence and motionless folded hands on the desk. But a child with a long-term tactile memory cannot perceive and assimilate the material, being motionless. The manifestation of emotions was considered indecent, and the lesson turned into a boring lecture. And a student with a long-term emotional memory not only could not learn the material, but also received psychological trauma on the main memory channel (a person carries such traumas through his whole life if he does not work on removing them with a specialist), because the lack of emotions for children with this type of memory is psychological trauma. And how many cases when parents, having listened to the "authoritative opinion" of teachers who "touched only the elephant's leg", that their child is lazy, unorganized and simply unbearable, did not doubt the correctness of teachers or coaches and punished the child for what he led myself the best I could.

They finish school, but stereotypes of behavior remain, and a person can no longer fully use his long-term memory channel, which means living a full life. Sadly. Recent children become parents, history repeats itself, and the "city of the blind" grows. Parents grew up on the same values ​​and try to instill them in their children, who will not be successful in life, using outdated principles. Each person must himself form his own system of values, corresponding to his innate characteristics.

Here is one of many examples. A man in his forties came to us for a consultation because of constant failures at work and in his personal life. He was used all the time, his salary was underpaid, and there was no question of career growth. At home, his wife constantly reproached him for lack of independence and inability to earn money. All this brought the unfortunate to a microinfarction, and after treatment, he finally decided to turn to a psychologist. At the first consultation, we naturally touched on his relationship with his parents, and after realizing his feelings, he said: "I did not know any other way to show my love to my mother, except by becoming her victim." His mother raised him alone and was very afraid that something would happen to him: as a result, everything was forbidden to him, any initiative was punished. An adult man saw himself the way his mother saw him - helpless, weak, stupid. Having passed the diagnostics, he got to know himself and during the consultation he received individual recommendations on how to build his career and use his innate data. It's good that this happened at the age of 40, and not later.

It is unlikely that anyone would wish such a fate for their child, but many parents do it unconsciously. Think before punishing or forbidding your children to do something. It is possible that your child, the student, shows his innate characteristics, and does not deliberately bring you to the "white heat". Try to embrace the whole in your mind. Man and our idea of ​​him are far from the same, he always represents something more than we can imagine.

Lame and blind

A lame man once entered a seraglio (inn) and settled down among the other visitors.

“Because of my lameness, I am deprived of the ability to move quickly and will not be in time for the Sultan's feast,” he said to his neighbor.

The person to whom he addressed raised his head and said:

“I am also invited to the feast, but it is even more difficult for me to get there than for you, because I am blind and cannot see the way.

Then a third visitor intervened in their conversation. He said:

“The two of you have the means to achieve your goal, if you will only agree to use this means. A blind man can set out on a journey carrying a lame man on his back. You must use the blind man's feet to walk and the lame's sight to guide him.

And so the two reached the end of the journey, where a feast never seen before awaited them. On the way they stopped to rest in another seraglio. Here they met two more unfortunates who also wanted to get to the feast and could not. The blind and the lame began to explain their method to them, but one of these people was deaf and the other mute. The mute heard their explanations, but could not convey them to his friend. The deaf man could speak, but he had nothing to say.

These two did not get to the feast because at that time there was not that third person nearby who, first of all, would explain to them the peculiarity of their difficulties, and only then would suggest how to overcome this difficulty.

Ahmad Farooqi (1624)

How often do we see such a situation in pair sports - one pair works well and quickly moves towards the goal, to prizes, to fame, well, just like the “lame and blind” from the parable who have reached their goal. And the other - can not achieve the desired results. And the search for new partners, new coaches begins. But this does not always bring change for the better. It is good if one of the parents tries to become that “third person” who will try to understand the characteristics of each child, and not only his own. Even better, if the coach has extensive experience, and he will recommend parents to contact a professional psychologist* to determine the compatibility of the couple, identify problem areas, and suggest solutions. Remember that there are no universal recipes suitable for all occasions. Then many people will be able to avoid unnecessary disappointments, children will get rid of an inferiority complex, parents will stop needlessly worrying about their children (“why are other children successful, and mine are worse?”)

Very often it is a professional psychologist who becomes the “third person” who helps people overcome difficulties, explaining to them their individual abilities. And how often “well-wishers”, “having come to the feast”, try to help their friends, children, forgetting that other people have different characteristics and other difficulties, despite the fact that they also want to “get to the feast”. Of course, any of you can try to become that “third person” who can help your children, for example. Just before you tell someone how you achieved anything, try to understand if you are talking to the "deaf"? And are you trying to slip a ready-made solution first instead of explaining the features of that person?

Such situations are not uncommon - a client with a long-term visual memory got an excellent result working with drawings (art therapy, mandala therapy **), and recommends this technique to his friends as the only successful one, enthusiastically forcing his child to draw. And that one has a combined type of memory (as you remember from previous publications, a combined one is when one type activates another that carries basic information). In him, for example, auditory memory activates emotional memory, and it (emotional) is a carrier. For a child with such characteristics, art therapy will not be as effective. Many more examples could be given, but I think everything is clear.

Fans of reading books from the “Your own psychologist” series, think about whether it is appropriate to apply to yourself or your children the recommendations that worked in the case of the “lame and blind”, because you may turn out to be “deaf” or “mute”. Unfortunately, many people have the opinion that psychology is safe, and you can play psychologist. Everything is not as it might seem at first glance. The fact is that the use of different methods indiscriminately (“maybe it will help, and if not, I’ll try another”) does not go unnoticed. Some methods bring great harm to the psyche, for example, trying to help a person with a long-term tactile memory with the help of conversations is almost impossible. And if this is a child who actively moves in the classroom, and the teacher sends him to the school psychologist for behavior correction, then the results can be very sad. As a result, the psychologist, using various methods to explain to the child how wrong he is, injures his psyche, which leads to a drop in the use of memory, and, consequently, to even greater problems with learning, the emergence of an inferiority complex, and off we go.

The question arises: "What to do?" I want to help my children, friends, relatives. It is worth, first of all, to get acquainted with your own characteristics and the difficulties arising from them. Know yourself. A diagnostic study will help you with this, then there will be answers to many questions and the “road to the feast” will become easier and shorter. Get to know yourself, get to know your children for who they are, and have a happy journey!

February 2004

The material was prepared for the magazine "Dance Bulletin",
official publication of the Federation of dance sports of St. Petersburg.

* professional psychologist - a psychologist who owns different tools, i.e. different methods and applying them as necessary, taking into account the individual characteristics of the client. Naturally, a person who has completed 2-month courses cannot be considered a professional.

** mandala therapy - drawing in a circle. The phenomenon of the mandala (from Sanskrit - magic circle) has long been known in the religious practices of the East as a tool for meditation, spiritual development and initiation. In psychology, the concept of an individual mandala was introduced by K.G. Jung. He understood this symbol of integrity as a projection of conscious and unconscious manifestations of mental life.

There is a special state called "The Call of the Road"

From ancient times, travelers of antiquity knew one remarkable path: not wide and not narrow, not even and not bumpy, not straight and not winding. The road is not easy, it appeared to wandering travelers, at the moment when confidence on the way left. Not all travelers have had the chance to meet this...

What happened when there was nothing? A good fairy tale from Eldar Akhadov.

What happened when there was nothing else?
- How is it "nothing", baby?
- Ah, so here it is. When I was not yet born, you were not yet born, and no one else was born?
- Nobody at all?
- Yeah!
- It is clear, then the earth was empty, mountains on it, seas-oceans, rivers large and small, grass, forests and meadows, animals and birds, oh sorry ... They are not there yet, but they will be soon.
- No no no! It doesn't count! If there is no one, then there is no one: no animals, no birds, no grass, no forest!
- OK. There are mountains, volcanoes, rivers, seas, deserts...
- Have they always been there? But when they were not, then what was, huh?
- Oh, how meticulous you are! OK. Once there was none of this. And the land too. Only the boundless dark sky and the stars on it, and the sun in a huge gas cloud of dust...

Burovtseva Galina Petrovna

Parable "Dialogue with the Universe". What is the price of happiness?

Inner balance depends on loving attention to your spiritual heart.

Two families live next door in a small town. Some spouses constantly quarrel, blaming each other for all the troubles and finding out which of them is right, while others live together, no quarrels, no scandals.

The obstinate hostess marvels at the neighbor's happiness. Jealous. Says to her husband:

“Go see how they do it so that everything is smooth and quiet.

He came to a neighbor's house, hid under an open window. Watching. Listens. And the hostess just puts things in order in the house. He wipes an expensive vase from dust. Suddenly the phone rang, the woman was distracted, and put the vase on the edge of the table, so much so that it was about to fall.

Parables are small stories, each of which has a special meaning. All of them are very instructive, as they make listeners think about a lot and experience some moments that a person has not yet encountered. Despite the fact that the events that take place in parables do not occur in real life, all the feelings and emotions of the characters are so vividly chosen to describe them, which makes it possible to compare such stories with reality.

Origin of the genre

A small instructive story, which is a parable, contains a religious or moral teaching, that is, wisdom. Such stories belong to the didactic-allegorical genre, which arose in ancient times in the East. It was there that the wise men liked to speak in allegories and riddles. Somewhat later, parables with religious content began to appear. The very first of them, recorded on paper, are early Christian and Hebrew. These instructive stories are reflected in the Bible.

The parable in its meaning is very close to the fable. However, it is distinguished from the latter by the breadth of generalization, as well as the significance of the idea. So, the main characters of fables are people, as well as animals endowed with certain human qualities. All of them, as a rule, are placed in certain everyday situations. In the parable, things are somewhat different. Its main characters have neither character nor external features. They are a kind of generalized person. It can be a son, a father, a peasant, a woman, a king, etc. The meaning of the parable lies not at all in the image of the person himself, but in his ethical choice. There are no indications in such stories of a specific time of action and place. Not shown in parables and phenomena in their development. After all, the purpose of any wisdom is to report events, and not their image. The main themes of the parables concern truth and lies, life and death, man and God.

In the history of their development, these short moralizing stories have come a long way. They began with short texts, placed in just two lines. Such parables can be seen in the Old Testament. Having passed the path of their formation, parables have grown into small works. But be that as it may, these short stories do not cease to attract and amaze us, captivating with the beauty and elegance of their plot, as well as the exquisitely expressed thought, which is a clot of world wisdom.

The concept of a psychological parable

In the old days, short stories that taught wisdom were most often the fruit of folk art and did not have a specific author. They were born in the bowels of a certain culture, and then they were retold and passed from mouth to mouth.

At the end of the 19th century - early 20th century some prominent writers turned their attention to the parable as a genre of literature. In these short stories, they were attracted by a stylistic feature that allows them not to describe the development of the plot, the characters' characters and the setting. The main attention of the reader should have been attracted by the moral and ethical problem of interest to the author. In Russia, V. Doroshevich and L. Tolstoy subordinated their prose to the laws of the parable. Abroad, Camus, Marcel, Sartre and Kafka expressed their philosophical views with short wisdom.

Today parables are used in psychotherapeutic practice. In the hands of a professional, they become a powerful tool that allows you to change the mind of a person.

Psychological parables clearly demonstrate any moral and didactic aspect of life. They are used in cases where the patient's consciousness is at an impasse, to get out of which an appeal to the unconscious is required.

Psychological parables allow the specialist to form in the client a series of images and symbols that carry a deep subtext and have a harmonious attitude. Such a message necessarily reaches the subconscious and begins to launch healing processes bypassing the consciousness.

Properly selected short psychological parables allow a person to understand the essence of the problem facing him and find ways to solve it. With their help, the patient begins to realize the true values ​​of life, which can be much easier than one might initially imagine.

Thanks to regularly read psychological parables and their analysis, many manage to take a completely different look at the world around them, as well as at the life of people in it.

Components of a parable

Short wisdom is like an iceberg. In them, as in this block of ice, only an insignificant part of the presented idea is on the surface.

What are psychological parables made of? Their main elements are four layers:

1. Functional. This is all that lies on the surface, and what the psychotherapist's client hears. Simply put, this is the first stage of acquaintance with the parable. That is, I read, heard, etc.
2. Physiological. This layer includes the gestures of the narrator. This is the movement during the story, and the posture, and the movements of the palms and hands.
3. Psychological. This layer is a target diagnostics. This element has a direct impact on the human psyche, that is, on the development of his imagination, thinking, attention and memory.
4. Personal. This element includes the end result. It leads the listener to personal development. However, it is worth noting that the result of the impact of psychological parables is manifested much later than acquaintance with them.

Effective Impact

Psychological parables about life, about motivation, about the price of desires, etc. teach us to find a way out of the situation, develop intuition, imagination and thinking. Some of them bring inspiration to a person, others make you think, and still others make you laugh. When using this unique tool, short wisdoms have a fairly effective therapeutic effect. They allow the listener to plunge into a completely different world, which is created by a psychologist with the help of a metaphor. This allows you to establish the closest possible connection between the narrative, therapist and patient. At such moments, the client begins to identify himself with the main characters of the parable, as well as with its events. This is the main power of short wisdom. However, in order for the parable to be able to change the real life of the client, he needs to fully understand the events of the story. Identification of a person with the characters and events of the parable will allow him to replace the feeling of isolation, when the thought “it’s only so bad for me” has firmly settled in his head, with the feeling of a shared experience, when the patient begins to understand that problems arise not only in his life. The main strength of the parable and its therapeutic impact lies in the fact that the meaning of the story is conveyed to the listener not directly, but indirectly, that is, as if by the way.

Consider a detailed interpretation of parables that help change people's vision of the world.

The window story

The plot of this parable takes the listener to a double ward of a hospital, in which there are two hopeless patients. One of them lay at the window, and the other - near the door, where the button for calling the nurse is located. The patients stayed in the ward for quite a long time, meeting the change of seasons there.

The parable “The View from the Window” tells how one of the patients, the one who was lying away from the door, constantly told his neighbor about everything that happened on the street. It was raining and snowing there, the sun was shining, the trees were either covered with a light frosty lace, or shrouded in a transparent spring haze, with the advent of summer they were covered with greenery, and in autumn a farewell yellow-scarlet outfit appeared on them. The patient, who was at the door, constantly heard stories about how people walk along the street and cars drive. In other words, about that big world that opened the view from the window for a person. The patient could not get out of bed and envied the one who could admire all this beauty.

And then one night, the patient who was lying at the window became ill. He asked to call a nurse, but his neighbor did not do this because of envy that choked him. The patient, without waiting for help, died. The man lying at the door asked to be moved to the window. Once on the coveted bed, he looked out into the street, expecting to see the world in all its glory. However, his gaze stumbled upon a blank wall. There was nothing else outside the window.

After reading such stories, psychologists will certainly make a detailed interpretation of the parables for clients. The conclusions that follow from this short story clearly indicate that the happiness of any person is in his hands. It is that positive attitude that manifests itself quite consciously. Happiness is not a gift of fate at all. It will not enter our house through windows or doors. And if you wait for him with folded hands, then it is simply impossible to become happy. This feeling is within each of us. The human mind can be compared to a program whose work depends on the input of a certain code into it. And if we constantly put only creative, inspired and positive thoughts into it, then we will begin to see a lot of things that can make us optimists.

family wisdom

The story told in the parable “How to teach children to be happy” begins with a man walking along the road. He was a wise old man who admired the spring colors and looked at the surrounding nature. And suddenly on his way he met a man with a large and heavy load, from which his legs gave way.

The old man asked why this man doomed himself to suffering and hard work? The man replied that he was doing everything to make his children and grandchildren happy. At the same time, he spoke about the fact that his great-grandfather, grandfather and father acted in this way. In turn, the wise interlocutor asked if anyone in the man's family was happy? He replied that he did not, but he hoped that it would be much easier for children and grandchildren to live. Then the wise old man, with a sigh, said that an illiterate person cannot teach anyone to read, and a mole cannot raise an eagle.

The conclusion that was drawn from this whole story is that each person must first learn to be happy himself, and only after that he will be able to teach his children the same. This will be the most valuable gift in their life for them.

Love and Separation

The story of this parable begins with the story of a young couple. The guy and the girl were noticed by Love and Separation. The last of them decided to argue. She said she would separate the couple. But here Love is ahead of her. She said that she would be the first to approach them, but she would only do it once. After that, Separation will be able to do whatever it wants.

Love approached the boy and girl, looked into their eyes and touched their hands. After that, she saw a spark run between the youth. Next came the turn of Separation. But she decided to approach the couple not immediately, but after a while, when the feeling that had arisen faded a little. And then the moment came when Separation looked into the house of her husband and wife. In it, she saw a young mother with a child and a father. Separation looked into their eyes and saw Gratitude there. Not having achieved her goal, she decided to come later.

After some time, Separation reappeared on the threshold of the house. Here the children were noisy, who were reassured by their mother, and a tired husband returned from work. Separation decided that she could carry out her plan. Looking into the eyes of her husband and wife, she saw in them Understanding and Respect. She had to retreat again.

After some time, Separation returned to this house again. In him, she saw a gray-haired father, who was explaining something to his grown-up children. The mother was busy in the kitchen. Looking into the eyes of husband and wife, she saw Trust there. And once again Separation had to leave.

After some time, she once again visited this house. Grandchildren ran in it, and by the fireplace she saw a sad old woman. The separation was glad that, finally, it would achieve its goal. She tried to look into the eyes of the old woman, but she left the house. The woman went to the cemetery and sat down by the grave. Here, as it turned out, her husband was buried. Separation, looking into the tear-stained eyes of the old woman, saw in them the Memory of Love. And also about Gratitude and Respect, Understanding and Trust.

What can be the conclusion from the parable "Love and Separation"? There is one great feeling in the world. This is love, which each person understands in his own way. However, without it, life on this planet simply would not exist. Only thanks to her there is Understanding, Goodness, Joy and other wonderful feelings in the world.

Set to positive thinking

This parable tells how one day a wise old Chinese man, passing through a snow-covered field, met a weeping woman on his way. He inquired about the reason for her tears. To which she replied that, looking at the snow-covered field, she recalls her youth, the departed beauty and those men she loved. The woman was sure that God acted cruelly, giving people a memory. After all, it makes her cry, remembering her youth.

For some time the sage was silent. He stood and contemplated the snowy plain. The woman stopped crying and asked what he saw. The sage said that before him were blooming roses. God gave him memory, and he always remembers his spring.

What is the moral of the parable "On positive thinking"? The conclusion from this story is obvious. Positive human thinking is not at all about believing in a better future in any situation. It should proceed from the fact that people need to live in the present so that tomorrow they will remember yesterday with joy and with a smile.

Motivation

The story of this parable tells us about a man walking past a house, near which an old woman and an old man were sitting in rocking chairs. Between them lay a dog whimpering, as if in pain. History repeated itself the next day. On the third day, the man could not stand it and asked: “Why is the dog whining so plaintively?” The old woman replied that she was lying on a nail. The passer-by was surprised and expressed his bewilderment that the animal would not get up to alleviate the suffering. To this, the old woman answered him that the dog was in pain only enough to whine, but not at all enough to make any movements and move to another place.

What does this psychological parable about motivation teach us? Improving your life just like that is quite difficult. In order to take any steps, we all need motivation.

Do it differently

The parable “About the blind man” is very instructive. It tells how one day a passer-by saw a beggar on the steps of one of the buildings, begging for alms. Near him lay a sign on which was written: “I am blind. Help me please". A passer-by took pity on the disabled man, who had only a few coins in his hat. He tossed him money, and then took the tablet and wrote new words on it without permission. After that, the passer-by went about his business. By the end of the day the blind man had a hat full of coins. When the stranger was returning home, the beggar recognized him by his steps and asked what he wrote on the tablet? To which the passer-by replied that he had only slightly changed the text. The blind man tried for a long time to read what was written, diligently running his fingers over the surface. And, finally, he succeeded. On the tablet, he found the inscription: "It's spring now, but I can't see it."

The moral of this parable is that you should not despair when what is planned does not go the way you want. It's worth trying something different.

About despondency

This parable tells how the Devil, who decided to brag to everyone, carefully placed on a glass showcase the means that he uses in his craft. Next to each item, he attached a label with the name and value. This collection included the Hammer of Wrath, the Dagger of Envy, and the Trap of Greed, weapons of Hatred, Pride, and Fear. All these instruments were located on beautiful cushions and could not but arouse admiration among all who visited Hell.

But on the far shelf lay a battered and unsightly wooden wedge, next to which was the label "Despondency". This item cost more than all the others combined. To his astonished questions, the Devil replied that this instrument is the only one that can be relied upon when other means are powerless.

The moral of the parable "On despondency" is that you should not succumb to this feeling. It is much stronger than many others, including fear, envy, anger, greed and hatred.

Circumstances that change people

This parable tells how a young woman who had recently married came to her father. She told him that she had many difficulties in her personal life and at work, and she did not know how to cope with this. Father put three pots on the stove, filling them with water. He put carrots in one of them, an egg in another, and coffee in the third. A few minutes later they checked the contents of the pots. The coffee has dissolved, and the egg and carrots have boiled. Father looked at this situation more deeply. He told his daughter that carrots, after being scalded with boiling water, became pliable and soft. The egg, previously liquid and brittle, hardened. Externally, these products have not changed. However, under the influence of boiling water, they became completely different. The same thing happens with people. Outwardly strong, they can always unstick, becoming weak. Tender and fragile, despite the difficulties, will only get stronger and harden. But about coffee, my father said that in an aggressive environment for him, this powder completely dissolved, turning into a wonderful drink.

What is the conclusion from the parable “How Circumstances Change People”? Not every person is able to change the situation. He himself sometimes changes circumstances, deriving benefit and knowledge from them. Who will he become when life's problems arise? This is the choice of everyone.

Parable of Desire

It's worth thinking about this story. He tells about a shop located in the backyard of the Universe, selling desires. His sign was once blown away by a space hurricane, but the owner did not nail a new one. All the locals already knew that almost everything can be bought here: huge apartments and yachts, marriage and victory, success and power, football clubs and much more. It was impossible to buy only death and life in the shop. Engaged in this head office, located in another galaxy.

The one who came to the store, first of all, was interested in the price of his desire. However, not many people decided to buy it. There were buyers who, having specified the price, immediately left. Some thought and began to count money. Someone simply complained about the too high cost, asking for a discount. But there were also those among the buyers who immediately took money out of their pocket and acquired their cherished desire. Everyone else was looking at their happy faces, thinking that, most likely, the owner of the store is their acquaintance and gave them everything they wanted for nothing.

There were not many buyers who received wishes. And when the owner of the store, who did not want to reduce prices, was asked if he was afraid of going broke, he answered that there will always be brave people who are ready to take risks and change their entire predictable and familiar life for the fulfillment of their cherished desires.

What is this parable about? “The Price of Desire” tells us that we often do not even realize what lies behind what we dream about. After listening to the parable, a person should think about whether he is ready to go to his goal and even lose something in order to achieve it.

The psychological stories that we all love to hear arose long before the birth of such a science as psychology. Psychological stories are religious parables. It turns out that psychology and parables are the closest relatives.

For many thousands of years, religion and priests played the role of a kind of professional "community of psychotherapists" in society. Actually, religion arose for this - for the moral support of a person who is afraid. And for the intellectual support of a person who is still interested: how to live correctly and what is "correct" in general...

And the analogue of a modern coach or psychoanalyst was a personal confessor (for those who are richer) or a priest who reads a Sunday (Friday, Saturday, whatever ...) sermon-lecture to his large flock gathered in the church (an analogue of group therapy).

Already from the very name - "psychological", it is clear that psychological parables and psychological stories are useful for the soul, because the soul in Greek is "psyche".

And what is good for the soul is good for the body. Because as Oscar Wilde said: "He who thinks that the soul and the body are some very different things, he has neither a body nor a soul."

"Everything is connected with everything and reflected in everything," as another philosopher will say, a little later.

"As above, so below," as it was originally said...

However, over time, religion (as well as subsequently psychology) began to do a lot of other work, besides consolation, instilling hope, enlightenment ... And often that new, different work of religion (and psychology) went against, conflicted with the original good task. Both religion and psychology found a common language with the state and turned into a punitive body.

But as in religion, so in psychology, movements arose that consciously did not make contact with the state, but continued to stick to their former (now forgotten) line - to save the soul of a person who had lost support and longed to find the "truth", "happy being ".

When it comes to religion, it is called "mystical movements" within a particular religion.

When it comes to psychology, it is called "existential-humanistic psychology".

Both of them use psychological parables, psychological stories and simply psychological metaphors as practically the main tool of their work.

Yes, who just does not use psychological parables! And for what purpose!

But the psychological parable is good because it is reliably protected from bad people, no matter how much they turn it in their hands.

They can pass on a psychological parable from one hand to another (the same unclean ones), from generation to generation (without understanding WHAT they were transmitting!), and it will reach its Real Addressee - fresh and unspoiled.

As Gogol's Governor said to the public: "What are you laughing at? You are laughing at yourself" ...

Ukraine and Belarus. In the tavern, around the tzaddik (Hasidic teacher), students gather and in joy they come to know God. Those who are around do not understand why they have so much fun when everything is so sad around them and they compose fables about them - they say they drank vodka and slavishly served their tzadik. Yes, slavishly. Almost like in Zen monasteries...

There, at the tavern table, by the light of candles, a story was told - "agada" (those stories that today have become "psychological parables"). They came to us here - to Eastern Europe, from the East - Arabic, Muslim, Jewish, Babylonian, ancient - multicultural, multilingual.

Listening to these stories, you understand that there is only one truth. Truth is a wandering plot of the same tale, told differently for different people, but without changing the essence.

The world of fairy tales of the Thousand and One Nights...

There, along the dusty streets of Baghdad, dervishes walk - vagabonds, members of a secret brotherhood of Sufis. They are also accused of drinking too much wine, otherwise why would they whirl in an ecstatic dance?

Those tales that we know in the presentation of Idris Shah, tales about the legendary mullah - Khoja Nasr-ed-din, they are very similar to Hasidic parables.

Psychological parables of Sufis and Hasidim - from one source.

In India, where Islam is in contact with the ancient tradition of the Vedas, on the border with Pakistan lives a strange tribe of yogis and hermit saints - they are called - fakirs. (In our country, the term "fakir" is forever and absurdly associated with a circus performer taking a rabbit out of a top hat, but this is not so!).

Fakirs are half Muslims, half Hindus. Strange cultural mixture of the frontier worlds. Was it not from there, not from the Vedas, that all this wisdom was drawn?

After all, psychological parables - Buddhist Jatakas - also grew out of the ancient tradition of the Vedas. And the Vedas bind all the peoples and religions of India.

One of the greatest parts of the Vedas, the Upanishads, is translated as "sitting at the feet of the Master." And what do I do about it? I listen to his stories... Psychological parables.

From the Vedas, Japan and China also got their tradition of telling stories (received along with Buddhism).

They also mastered the main backbone of the plots, diluting and supplementing them with their own stories.

Some of the best psychological parables are Zen stories (Japan) and Taoist parables (China).

And all this rich heritage of the East came to us in the West. When did it come? In the middle of the 20th century - when Europe was tired of itself and decided to learn wisdom from those whom it had always treated as idiots.

And at this very time, psychotherapy as an art is born, there is just a surge of it.

So psychological (religious) parables and psychotherapy appeared in the mind of a European almost simultaneously.

Therefore, how can our site do without psychological parables?

Psychological parables are the basis of everything. Psychological parables, whose ancestry can be traced back to the Vedas, nourish the roots of more than one movement - they have nourished psychotherapy, they will also nourish something else that will someday replace it.

On our site we have tried to collect the best (in our opinion) psychological parables. Here are some of them.

I would compare this article with the Tower Tarot card.

However, this article will be useful to absolutely everyone.

The crisis as such has already passed, but the thoughts that are collected there are relevant to this day.

Psychological parables:

Sea stars

A man was walking along the shore and suddenly saw a boy who was picking up something from the sand and throwing it into the sea. The man came closer and saw that the boy was picking up starfish from the sand. They surrounded him from all sides. It seemed that there were millions of starfish on the sand, the shore was literally dotted with them for many kilometers.

Why are you throwing those starfish into the water? the man asked, coming closer.

If they remain on the shore until tomorrow morning, when the tide begins to ebb, they will die, - the boy answered, without stopping his occupation.

But that's just stupid! the man shouted. - Look around! There are millions of starfish here, the coast is just dotted with them. Your attempts won't change anything!

The boy picked up the next starfish, thought for a moment, threw it into the sea and said:

No, my attempts will change a lot... for this star.

Parable about happiness

When the Creator finished sculpting a man, he had a piece of unused clay left and he asked:

What else can you give?

Give me happiness.

Well, well, stretch out your hand, - and put the last piece of clay on the palm of a person.

Old grandfather and granddaughter

This wise fairy tale shows us that we are an example for our children, a guide, they read from us all the information about our behavior, about our attitude towards other people, about the manner of behavior in any situations. And the behavior of our children is a mirror image of ourselves.

Old grandfather and granddaughter:

The grandfather became very old. His legs could not walk, his eyes could not see, his ears could not hear, he had no teeth. And when he ate, it flowed back from his mouth. The son and daughter-in-law stopped putting him at the table, and let him dine at the stove.

They took him down once to dine in a cup. He wanted to move it, but he dropped it and broke it. The daughter-in-law began to scold the old man for spoiling everything in the house and breaking cups, and said that now she would give him dinner in the pelvis. The old man just sighed and said nothing.

Once a husband and wife sit at home and look - their little son plays planks on the floor - something works out. The father asked: “What are you doing, Misha?” And Misha says: “It’s me, father, I’m doing the pelvis. When you and your mother are old, to feed you from this pelvis.

Husband and wife looked at each other and wept. They felt ashamed that they had offended the old man so much; and from then on they began to put him at the table and look after him.

Mirror

One day a man came to the sage.

You wise! Help me! I feel bad. My daughter does not understand me. She doesn't hear me. She doesn't speak to me. Why does she need a head, ears, tongue then? She is cruel. Why does she need a heart?

The sage said:

When you return home, paint her portrait, take it to your daughter and silently give it to her.

The next day, an angry man burst into the sage and exclaimed:

Why did you advise me yesterday to commit this stupid act!? Was bad. And it got even worse! She returned the drawing to me full of resentment!

What did she say to you? - asked the sage.

She said, “Why did you bring this to me? Isn't the mirror enough for you?"

The parable of the slipped atheist

What father forgot

Son, I turn to you when you have already fallen asleep, slipping one hand under your cheek. I look at you and see a strand of blond hair stuck to your wet forehead. I just sneaked into your room without anyone noticing. A few minutes ago, I was about to sit down at my desk in the library to look through some papers, and suddenly a suffocating wave of repentance swept over me. And I came to your bedroom with the consciousness of my own guilt.

And that's what I'm thinking, son: I've been too hard on you all day. I scolded you when you were getting ready for school for smearing mud all over your face with a towel. I gave you a scolding for not polished shoes. I could not restrain myself and called you offensive words when you accidentally dropped your things on the floor. At breakfast, I also found something to complain about. You spilled the juice from the glass. You swallowed food in large chunks. He laid down the table. Spread too thick a layer of butter on bread. When I had already boarded the morning train and you shouted: “Bye, dad!”, I did not find anything better: how to answer with a frown: “Now straighten your shoulders!” In the evening, everything happened again. Returning home, I saw you crawling on your knees, playing balls with your comrades right on the pavement. Holes were worn out on your stockings, and I, not thinking about how humiliating it was for you, in front of your Friends, drove you from the street home. “Stockings are expensive - if I had bought them myself, I would have kept more of them!” And as soon as the father's tongue turned to say this to his son!

And then, when I was reading, sitting in the library, and you timidly came to me, looking at me with guilty eyes? I looked up from reading, gave you a displeased look and muttered: “What do you want?”

You didn’t say anything, but just rushed headlong towards me, wrapped your arms around my neck and kissed me. Your hands squeezed me with such love, as if the Almighty himself had put it in your little heart, and even my neglect of you did not wither it. And then you left, and I heard your footsteps on the stairs as you went upstairs.

Only a few minutes passed, and the newspaper suddenly slipped from my weakened fingers. Fear gripped me. God, I thought, what is habit doing to me? The habit of finding fault, reprimanding - and this is what you get from me every day simply because you are a boy. You can't say that I don't love you; rather, I just expect too much from you, although you are just too small for this. And I measure you by the standards of my own age.

But there is so much kindness and sincerity in your character. Your little heart can actually be very big - like the dawn over the hills. I figured it out when you ran into the library today and kissed me goodnight. You did it spontaneously, impulsively, but that's good. Everything else is nonsense compared to this. And now I've come to you, sleeping in your bed, and I'm kneeling before you, feeling hungry!

Of course, this does not atone for my guilt before you, especially since you still would not understand me if tomorrow morning, after your awakening, I would retell you everything that was said above. However, tomorrow I will be a real father! I will become your friend, your sorrows will be my sorrows and your joys my joys. And even if I want to say something harsh to you, I will bite my tongue. I will repeat, like a prayer: "He is still just a boy - a little boy!"

I'm afraid that before that I perceived you as an adult, and not as a child. But now, especially when I see you curled up in your bed, I understand that you are still just a child. Yesterday you were resting on your mother's chest, resting your head on her shoulder. I wanted too much from you.

Let's not judge people, but learn to understand them. Let's try to find out, and for what reasons they act in this way, and not in another way. This is much more interesting and useful than being critical; this generates sympathy, tolerance and kindness in the souls of people. “To know everything means to forgive everything.”

As Dr. Johnson says, "God himself does not see fit to judge a man before his last day."

Shall we not follow His example?

Principle 1:

Don't criticize, judge or complain.

Find out the reason

A traveler walking along the river heard desperate children's cries. Running to the shore, he saw children drowning in the river and rushed to save them. Noticing a passing man, he called him for help. He began to help those who were still afloat. Seeing the third traveler, they called him for help, but he, ignoring the calls, accelerated his steps. "Do you care about the fate of the children?" - asked the rescuers.

The third traveler answered them: “I see that you two are coping so far. I will run to the turn, find out why the children fall into the river, and try to prevent it.

Two friends

One day they argued and one of them slapped the other. The latter, feeling pain, but saying nothing, wrote in the sand:

Today my best friend slapped me in the face.

They kept walking and found an oasis where they decided to swim. The one who got slapped almost drowned, and his friend saved him. When he came to, he wrote on a stone: "Today my best friend saved my life."

The one who slapped the face and who saved the life of his friend asked him:

When I offended you, you wrote in the sand, and now you write in stone. Why?

The friend replied:

When someone offends us, we must write it in the sand so that the winds can erase it. But when someone does something good, we must engrave it in stone so that no wind can erase it.

Pig and cow

The pig complained to the cow that she was treated badly:

People always talk about your kindness and tender eyes. Of course, you give them milk and butter, but I give them more: sausages, hams and chops, leather and stubble, even my legs are boiled! And still no one loves me. Why so?

The cow thought for a moment and answered:

Maybe because I give everything while I'm still alive?

One person passed by and stopped. He saw an invalid who had only a few coins in his hat. He tossed him a couple of coins and, without his permission, wrote new words on the tablet. He left it to the blind man and left.

In the afternoon he returned and saw that the hat was full of coins and money. The blind man recognized him by his steps and asked if he was the man who had copied the tablet. He also wanted to know what exactly he had written.

He replied: “Nothing that would not be true. I just wrote it a little differently." He smiled and left.

The new inscription on the plate was: “It is spring now, but I cannot see it. Beautiful day and I don't see it».