Here is one of my favorites:
A Zen master was teaching his two students how to meditate. One was far more advanced in his studies than the other, yet he lacked the heart of the lesser experienced one.
The advanced student came unto the Master one day and asked, "How much longer must I wrestle with this world and its illusions before I am enlightened?"
"Only five more years, my son," the Master told him.
"Five years," muttered the student bitterly and morosely, and went back gloomily to his meditations.
The lesser experienced student came up brightly to his Master and asked him, "And how much longer do I have to experience the world before I am enlightened?"
"For fifty more years, I am afraid, my son," the Master said, shaking his head.
"Fifty years!" The student was enraptured, and skipped happily off with his entire life stretching before him...
and in that instant, he was Enlightened.
