Find Your Own Shortcomings

A pair of pigeons built a nest for themselves, but whenever they stayed in it, a strange foul smell lingered. They abandoned that nest and made a new one somewhere else, yet the situation remained the same — the smell didn’t go away!

Frustrated, they decided to leave the neighborhood entirely and built a nest in a new place. They gathered neat and clean twigs, but to their surprise, the same foul smell was there again.

Tired and confused, they decided to seek advice from an old and wise pigeon. They narrated the whole incident to him.

The wise pigeon visited their nest, looked around, and then said,
“Changing the nest won’t remove this smell. The smell isn’t coming from the nest, it’s coming from your own bodies. In the open, you don’t notice it, but once you’re inside the nest, you do, and you think it’s from the nest. Clean yourselves first.”

Moral:
Instead of pointing out faults and foul smells in the world, we should first remove the faults (weaknesses) and impurity-like (vices) smells within ourselves. Then the world will truly be beautiful and fragrant.

Always remain content – what you have is enough.
The one whose heart is happy – possesses everything.