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For Roman writers, the kings who followed Romulus were part of the extended foundation process of the city of Rome. Like him, these rulers were assumed to be historical characters (even if more sceptical writers doubted some of the taller stories told about them); but again, it is clear that much of the tradition that has come down to us, far from reality, is a fascinating mythical projection of later Roman priorities and anxieties into the distant past. It is not hard to spot many of the same themes and concerns that we found in the story of Romulus. These successor kings, for example, were said to come from all kinds of different backgrounds: Numa, like Titus Tatius, was a Sabine; Tarquinius Priscus came from Etruria and was the son of a refugee from the Greek city of Corinth; Servius Tullius was, according to those who rejected the story of the miraculous phallus, the son of a slave or at least of a prisoner of war (such was the dispute over his parentage that of all the triumphing generals listed on the roster in the Forum, Servius is the only one whose father’s name is omitted). Although we read of occasional Romans, usually the ‘bad’ ones in these stories, complaining that foreigners or the low-born are taking away their birthright, the overall message is unmistakeable: even at the very pinnacle of the Roman political order, ‘Romans’ could come from elsewhere; and those born low, even ex-slaves, could rise to the top.

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HD THOREAU-"Whenever I have read any part of the Vedas, I have felt that some unearthly and unknown light illuminated me. In the great teaching of the Vedas, there is no touch of sectarianism. It is of all ages, climes and nationalities and is the royal road for the attainment of the Great Knowledge. When I am at it, I feel that I am under the spangled heavens of a summer night." 

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Annie Besant  thought that  "among the priceless teachings that may be found in the great Indian epic Mahabharata, there is none so rare and priceless as the Gita." 

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Vammika Sutta The Discourse on the Ant-hill [Similes for the spiritual training] (Majjhima Nikya 23/1:142-145)  1 Introduction The Vammika Sutta records a 10-question riddle told by a non-returner brahma (called devatā or deity here) to Kumāra Kassapa [2], who is still a learner (sekha). The brahma’s riddle, in summary, runs thus: There is an anthill burning day and night. The brahmin says: 'Take your tool, Sumedha (sage), and dig.” As the brahmin digs, he comes across, in turn, a door-bar, a frog, a forked path, a strainer, a tortoise, a butcher’s knife and chopping block, a piece of meat. All these are thrown away and he is to dig on. He finally comes across a cobra, whom he is not to harm, but to honour. At the suggestion of the deity (devatā), Kumāra Kassapa relates the riddle to the Buddha, who solves it. The anthill is the body; the brahmin, the arhat; the knife, wisdom; digging, effort, the door-bar, ignorance; the fork in the path, doubt; the sieve, the five mental hindrances; the tortoise, the five aggregates of clinging; the butcher’s knife and the chopping block, the fivefold pleasures of sense; the piece of meat, delight and lust; and the cobra, the arhat monk. [

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Living in this way is relaxing, decreases hassles and conflicts, reduces stress, improves mood and well-being, and grounds you in reality as it is. And it’s a key element, if you like, of spiritual practice. To quote Ajahn Chah, a major Buddhist teacher who lived in Thailand:

If you let go a little, you will have a little happiness.
If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of happiness.
If you let go completely, you will be completely happy.

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