Wisdom from "Three Cups of Tea"

I’ve been reading the book, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It tells the story of Mr. Mortenson’s mission of promoting peace by building schools in the country villages throughout Pakistan. Here is an American, non-Muslim building schools for boys and girls with the blessings of the people including the Taliban … truly a remarkable feat in and of itself. Greg’s second book, Stones into Schools, continues the story.

What I have been taken by is the insightful wisdom of the various elders quoted throughout the book. Today I share some of those quotes:

“Here we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything – even die.” ~Haji Ali, Korphy Village Chief, Karakoram Mountains, Pakistan

“Once you educate the boys, they tend to leave the villages and go search for work in the cities. But the girls stay home, become leaders in the community, and pass on what they’ve learned. If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls.” ~Greg Mortenson

“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.” ~Persian proverb

“Why ponder thus the future to foresee,
and jade thy brain to vain perplexity?
Cast off thy care, leave Allah’s plans to him-
He formed them all without consulting thee.” ~Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat

“Tell us, if there were one thing we could do for your village, what would it be?” “With all respect, Sahib, you have little to teach us in strength and toughness. And we don’t envy your restless spirits. Perhaps we are happier than you? But we would like our children to go to school. Of all the things you have, learning is the one we most desire for our children.” ~Conversation between Sir Edmund Hillary and Urkien Sherpa, from Schoolhouse in the Clouds

“Greatness is always built on this foundation: the ability to appear, speak and act, as the most common man.” ~Shams-ud-din Muhammed Hafiz

“Let sorrowful longing dwell in your heart. Never give up, never lose hope. Allah says, ‘The broken ones are my beloved.’ Crush your heart. Be broken.” ~Shaikh Abu Saeed Abil Keheir, aka Nobody, Son of Nobody

“Prayer is better than sleep.” ~from the hazzan, or call to worship

“This harsh and splendid land… With snow-covered rock mountains, cold-crystal streams,… Deep forests of cypress, juniper and ash… Is as much my body as what you see before you here…. I cannot be separated from this or from you… Our many hearts have only a single beat.” ~from The Warrior Song of King Gezar

“Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel.” ~hand-lettered sign at the entrance to the Fifth Squadron airbase, Shardu

“There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled. You feel it, don’t you?” ~Rumi

“It may seem absurd to believe that a ‘primitive’ culture in the Himalaya has anything to teach our industrialized society. But our search for a future that works keeps spiraling back to an ancient connection between ourselves and the earth, an interconnectedness that ancient cultures have never abandoned.” ~Helena Norberg-Hodge

Tomorrow I will share more quotes from the book.