Story 1­­

Four pupils used to practice meditation.
These close friends vowed to each other to observe silence for seven days.

The first day passed well.
But as the evening progressed and the oil lamps became dim, one student couldn’t help himself.

“Attend to the lamps!” he shouted impatiently to an assistant.

His friend turned to him, surprised.
“You are not supposed to speak! Have you forgotten?”­­

The third friend piped up, “You fools! Why are you talking?”

“Hah, I’m the only one who’s kept silent!” exclaimed the last.

Story 2

The mystic’s dog loved his evening romp with his master. The dog would bound ahead to fetch a stick, then run back, wag his tail, and wait for the next game. On a particular evening, the Mystic invited one of his brightest students to join him – a boy so intelligent that he became troubled by the contradictions in the doctrine of their faith.

“You must understand,” said the teacher, “that words are only guideposts. Never let the words or symbols get in the way of truth. Here, I’ll show you.”

With that the teacher called his happy dog.

“Fetch me the moon,” he said to his dog and pointed to the full moon.

“Where is my dog looking?” asked the teacher of the bright pupil.

“He’s looking at your finger.”

“Exactly. Don’t be like the animal. Don’t confuse the pointing finger with the thing that is being pointed at. All our words are only guideposts. Every man fights his way through other men’s words to find his own truth.”

Story 3

A Mystic was visited by a perplexed Seeker who said to him, ‘I have only one question to ask. Why is it that, wherever I go, I always seem to get different pieces of advice from enlightened ones?’

The Mystic answered, ‘Come with me for a walk through this town, and we shall see what we can discover about this mystery.’

They went into the market-place, and the Mystic asked a fruit seller, ‘Tell me, what time is it?’

The fruit seller said, ‘It is Morning.’

They continued their walk. After some time the Mystic asked a tailor, ‘What time is it?’

The tailor answered, ‘It is midday.’

After spending more time in conversation and companionship with the Seeker, the Mystic approached another man, this time a bookkeeper. He asked him, ‘What time is it?’

The man replied, ‘It is now afternoon.’

The Mystic turned to his companion and said, ‘Do you want to continue the experiment, or are you now satisfied that virtually the same question can elicit totally different answers, all of them corresponding to the current state of truth?’

Which Spiritual Laws are enacted by the 3 stories?