Knowledge or Wisdom?

Zalewski got a job as a delivery boy in a pet shop. One day he was told to deliver a pet rabbit at the following address - Mrs. Caldwell, Route 2 -- Box 4.

"It is better if I write that down in case I forget it," thought Zalewski.

Slipping the address into his pocket and the rabbit cage, Zalewski started off on his errand. Every few minutes he glanced at the address and said, "I know where I am going: Mrs. Caldwell, Route 2 -- Box 4."

Everything went smoothly until he hit a huge pothole in the road. Zalewski landed in the ditch, the cage opened and the rabbit began to run for its life across an open field.

Zalewski stood there laughing uproariously. A passerby stopped and asked, "What's so funny? You will lose your job and will also get a beating from the boss!"

"Did you see that crazy rabbit running across that field?" said Zalewski, "Where will it run? The address is in my pocket!"

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, this is the state of a knowledgeable person. He has got the address in his pocket. He knows everything about the God, the Heaven and the Hell. He always carries the load of words, of knowledge. He believes in words but he misses the spirit behind those words, the very meaning of those words. Words are useful only when one can understand the spirit that is hidden behind them, which is not so apparent, not so visible.

In the hands of a wise person words can become of infinite value, because they become the indicators. But in the hands of a knowledgeable person words are very dangerous, the spirit is completely missed and one starts believing in the hollow, empty words, and one starts following only the word.

Friends, beware of learning, otherwise one may never become wise. To be knowledgeable is very easy and safe, but to move into the dimension of wisdom is risky, as it is like going into the unknown, into the uncharted. When one has tasted wisdom, knowledge looks utterly stupid, until then knowledge seems to be of tremendous value.

Have a Great Day and Live Wisely My Friends!!

Rationalizing Mind

Mulla Nasruddin had become quite aged. Mulla had become the oldest citizen around that region. It was his 100^th birthday, so a newspaper reporter came to meet him. During the interview, the reporter politely asked, 'Nasruddin, I have a few questions for you. First of all, do you think you will be able to live hundred years more?'

Nasruddin quickly replied, 'Of course Yes! Why not? Hundred years ago I was not this strong as I am today ...!'

Moral of the Story ...

Hundred years back, Mulla was only a tiny, newborn infant, even then he could survive and today he has turned hundred years old, so as per his logic, 'If a small, helpless, fragile child could survive for hundred years, why shouldn't I?'

Friends, this is rationalization.... Although Mulla sounds logical, he is missing the important point. It is only Mulla’s wish-fulfilment. All our reasoning and rationalizations are based on the conditioning of the mind and this conditioning plays a very important role as far as our behaviour and thinking pattern is concerned.

To be bound by conditioning is to close our life with some fix patterns. One has to go beyond the mind and drop the beliefs. Our belief system is an unnecessary burden which we go on carrying all the time. Friends, one has to be spontaneous and light in Life so that, one is not only logical and rational but also true ...!

Have a Blissful Day Friends!

Behave Like a Lady

In a shop they had declared a special concession for Christmas, particularly for ladies' clothes and dresses, so there was a huge crowd of ladies. There was a man in the ladies crowd & he had come there as his wife was sick. She must have forced him to go there because this was not a chance to be missed.

The man stood, gentlemanly, for more than an hour, but he couldn't reach the counter. The ladies, as usual, were screaming and shouting at each other, moving this way and that way, no queue system, no discipline, but the poor man was standing in a queue, waiting it to move. However, when more than an hour passed and he was nowhere near the counter, he also started shoving and shouting and screaming, and he started moving ahead forcibly in that crowd to reach the counter.

One old lady shouted, 'What! What are you doing? Behave like a gentleman!'

The man said, 'For more than an hour I have been behaving like a gentleman. But, now I must behave like a lady!”

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, the devil never behaves like a gentleman, he always behaves like a lady. He is always first in the queue. But God is a gentleman, so it is difficult for him to be first in the queue. Therefore, the moment we open the door, only the devil enters and because of the fear for the devil, we remain closed. But, if the devil cannot enter, even the God cannot. Thus, we become vulnerable for both God and devil, light and dark, life and death, love and hate.... We become available for both the opposites.

We have chosen not to suffer, so we remain closed. We may not suffer but our life is becomes a boredom, there is no blessing either. The door remains closed ....no morning, no sun, no moon, no sky, no fresh air, everything becomes stale. In a fear we thus remain hiding in a grave.

Friends, courage is needed to be open and to suffer, only then it becomes possible to receive the Blessings!  

Have a Good Day Friends!

Silence of a Prayer

Here is a beautiful story by Leo Tolstoy ....

There were three men who became famous saints in Russia. However, the chief priest was quite disturbed, because instead of visiting him, people were going to those three saints. He had not even heard their names, so how could they be saints? Any saint has to be certified by the church, by the priests. The priest was certainly very angry.

Finally, he took a boat to reach those three saints who used to live on the other side of the river. The three saints were sitting under a tree. They were quite simple, peasants, uneducated. They touched the feet of the priest, and the priest was very happy. Now he was quite eager to put them right.

So, he asked them, "How did you become saints?"

They said, "We don't know! We don't even know that we are saints either! We are simple, ignorant people.”

The priest was very happy. He asked, "Do you know how to pray? Are you saying Our Lord's Prayer?"

They said, "No! We don't know any prayer.”

The priest said, "You fools, I will teach you the right prayer." The priest recited The Lord's Prayer.

Those three innocent people kept requesting the priest to repeat the prayer several times, so that, they can remember it. Finally, satisfied, the priest went back in his boat. When his boat reached almost in the middle of the river he was surprised to see that, the three men were coming walking on the deep water! They were requesting him, “Please wait! Please teach us one more time ... we have forgotten the prayer ...!"

Now it was the turn of the priest to touch their feet. His eyes filled with tears, he said, "Please forget about my prayer and continue your prayer, it has been already heard! Please forgive me!"

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, prayer is a state of simplicity. Prayer is not of words but of silence. In a prayer there is no I and in prayer there is no thou. A prayer is not a dialogue between I and thou; a prayer is a merger. The I disappears into the thou, the thou disappears into the I. There is nobody to say anything and there is nobody to listen.

The river disappearing into the ocean is the prayer. The dewdrop slipping from the lotus leaf into the lake is prayer. Seeing the early morning sun, one becomes silent, and something starts rising within ....that is prayer. A bird on the wing and one forgets that one is separate ...that is prayer.

Friends, wherever the separation disappears, prayer happens. When one merges with the whole of existence, that is prayer. Egolessness is a state of prayer. Prayer has nothing to do with the words, it is wordless silence. Prayer is an open, silent sky, with no clouds, no thoughts. In a prayer one is not, only God is....!

Have a Prayerful Day Friends !

Changing the Room!

Once a man visited an absentminded psychoanalyst and told him, 'I am in a great trouble. I have visited all types of doctors but nobody could help me. I snore so loudly in my sleep that I wake myself up. And this keeps happening throughout the whole night. Please help me, I am in deep trouble!'

Without even listening what the man was saying, the psychoanalyst prescribed the remedy, 'Oh ! This is nothing. A simple thing can change the whole matter. You simply sleep in another room...!'

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, this story made you laugh, isn’t it? But this is exactly what most of us are doing.

We go on changing rooms, although our sleep and snoring continues. We cannot leave them in another room. They are not separate from us, they are our mind, our whole accumulated past, our memory and our knowledge. It is all our conditioning that makes our mind, so even if we keep shifting to other ‘rooms’, it follows us.

One can change one’s name, religion, school, college, friends, jobs, etc. but nothing can help much. It is as if, one is changing only the ‘room’. The most important thing is to change oneself.

Friends, the room is not concerned with anybody’s sleeping or snoring, hence the room is not the cause. We ourselves are the cause for our suffering!

Have a Great Day Friends!

The Ultimate Treasure !

There was once a poor woodcutter who used to go into the forest, cut wood, sell it in the town and thus used to make his living. He always used to see a sage sitting under a tree in deep meditation. The sage was looking very divine and blissful, so one day the woodcutter decided to seek his blessings and bowed down at his feet.

The sage opened his eyes and said, “Go deep into the forest...!" and closed his eyes again.

That day the woodcutter went little deep into the forest and to his joy, found some sandalwood trees there. He made enough money for a week by selling that sandalwood. Now, he had to work only once a week.  After a few days, again the sage said, “Go deep into the forest...!” So, the woodcutter moved still deeper into the forest and to his amazement, he found a silver mine. He was very happy that, he had to now work only once in a month.

Thus, the sage kept saying, “Go deep into the forest...!" and the woodcutter went still deeper and deeper into the woods, in spite of the fear of wild animals. To his wonderment he found a gold mine, then a diamond mine and so on...

One day, the wood cutter was sitting under a tree and was reflecting on the past events. Suddenly, he stood transfixed to the ground in utter shock...! After a deep reflection, it dawned on him that, there must be something immensely valuable, priceless, than all the wealth in this forest, otherwise, why the sage should sit here in utter indifference to all this wealth?  ...So, he hurried back to the sage and fell at his feet, asking only for his blessings and nothing else....

The sage lifted him up and said, “...Now, go deeper and deeper into your own heart. You will encounter many beautiful experiences, but do not stop until you find your true self. ...And that is the ultimate treasure ...!"
Moral of the Story …

Friends, there are two types of people in this world …those who keep stuffing their inner emptiness with fame, power, riches, etc. and those, very rare, precious beings who risk their lives to explore the inner emptiness. Those who keep stuffing, collecting garbage, finally remain empty and frustrated, while the other kind become divine and graceful.

There is no need to stuff the inner emptiness, because it is already full with a tremendous, divine beauty, overflowing with joy. Nothing else is needed. Such a person stops thinking about wealth, power and paradise. He is already in paradise….!

Friends, the ultimate treasure of life lies in one's heart as the very blissful self!

Life happens rarely, so enjoy each moment of it, Friends!

Pause & Pray

A great, inspiring prayer to keep our mouths shut for most if not
all of the times...

Almighty God you know that I am growing older.

Keep me from becoming too talkative, and particularly keep me from falling
into the tiresome habit of expressing an opinion on every subject.

Release me from craving to straighten out everyone's affairs. Keep my mind
free from recitals of endless details. Give me wings to get to the point.

Give me grace, dear GOD, to listen to others describe their aches and
pains. Help me endure the boredom with patience and keep my lips sealed,
for my own aches and pains are increasing in number and intensity, and the
pleasure of discussing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally, I might be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet. I do not wish to be a saint (saints are so hard
to live with), but a sour old person is the work of the devil.

Make me thoughtful, but not moody, helpful, but not pushy,
independent, yet able to accept with graciousness favors that others wish
to bestow on me.

Free me of the notion that simply because I have lived a long time, I am
wiser than those who have not lived so long.

If I do not approve of some of the changes that have taken place in recent
years, give me the wisdom to keep my mouth shut.

*Thank You God.**

From an email

Who is Responsible?

Friends, a very meaningful story to Reflect upon ... Must read till the end ...

Once there was a wood-cutter, who lived in a small village by the side of a river, with his beautiful wife. Everyday he used to go to the forest, cut wood and bring it home. His wife used to travel across the river and sell the wood in the town. Out of that money, she used to buy necessary things for their living.

However, the wood-cutter was an alcoholic and used to abuse and beat his wife everyday. So, his wife used to share her miseries and problems with the shopkeeper from whom she used to buy things. Slowly, there developed a love affair between both of them.

One stormy night, the wood-cutter got drunk and had his usual fights with his wife. She was so disgusted that she ran away from him with the intention to cross the river and go to her lover forever. It was a dark night, the river was overflowing due to heavy rains and thunder storm. So, she requested the only boatman present there, to take her to the other shore, but he refused, saying that, it is risky to sail until the storm stops and water recedes. So, in her desperation she decided to take a small rickety bridge to cross the river. The boatman tried to stop her, saying there was a big tiger in that area, but she seemed to be determined. When she approached the shopkeeper, he refused to accept her and .....

The next day morning villagers saw her half eaten body lying by the side of the river....!  So the villagers now started discussing about who was responsible for her death? ....

Some villagers said, “That drunkard wood-cutter is responsible! Why should he drink and beat her?”

A few said, “The Shopkeeper is responsible for her death. How can he leave her in distress?”

Some also opined, “The boatman is responsible. Why should he refuse to sail her across?”

Some others also said, “That man-eating monster tiger is responsible for her death!”

A few more reacted, “She herself is responsible for her death. Why should she have an affair & why should she run away to her lover?”

Some also blamed, “The stormy, dark night and heavy rains are responsible for her death!”

Moral of the Story ...

So, who really is responsible for her death?

Friends, life is so entangled and entwined that every event leads to other events. Whatsoever we do, we may disappear but the consequences of our deeds will continue forever.

Even when we smile at a person, we change the whole quality of existence, because that smile will decide many things for the future. Small things move around, and they go on moving. It is just like throwing a small pebble in a lake....a small pebble, and ripples go on and on and on to the very end. By the time they reach the shore, the pebble may have already settled deep at the bottom ...it is lost. That tiny, unseen pebble will change the whole quality of existence, because it is a close woven net. It is just like a spider's web ...one touches it anywhere and the whole web ripples.

Friends, the whole, the vast ocean, the infinite is moving....We all are just a tiny wave in it. Just Relax and let the things be....!

Have a Great Day, Today & Every Day Friends !

Are you Listening or Hearing?

In a school a little boy was sitting at the rear of the classroom and it appeared that he was day-dreaming.

'Johnny,' asked the teacher, 'do you have trouble hearing?'

'No ma'am,' he replied, 'I have trouble listening....!'

Moral of the Story ...

Friends, almost all of us can hear, but how many of us can listen?Hearing is only physical, superficial, but when one’s soul also gets involved, only then it becomes listening. The art of listening is based on silent mind, so that the mind does not interfere, it simply allows whatever is coming in. The art of listening is just pure listening, factual, undistorted.

A curious person hears, but a seeker of the truth listens. Listening means hearing without mind, without any interference of the thoughts, as if one is totally empty, non-existing. Listening means one’s body and soul function together in a deep harmony.

If one has even a small thought inside or waves of subtle thoughts surrounding the mind, one will not be able to listen, although one will be able to hear. To listen to the eternal music of existence, one needs to be totally empty, completely silent... as if one is not.

Friends, only when one is not, one can listen. Are you listening??

Have a Great Day Friends !

Who is neurotic?

Mrs. Jones, who was deeply troubled, was once consulting a psychiatrist.

'My husband,' she said, 'is convinced that he is a chicken. He goes around scratching the floor constantly, and sleeps on a large bar of wood he has fixed up as a perch.'

'I see,' said the psychiatrist thoughtfully, 'And how long has your husband been suffering from this fixation?'

'For nearly past two years ....!'

The psychiatrist frowned slightly and said, 'But why have you been waiting for so long to seek my help?'

Mrs. Jones blushed and said, 'Ah well, it was so nice having a steady supply of eggs everyday...!'

Moral of the Story ...

So Friends, who is neurotic ? The lady herself is neurotic, but she thinks her husband is neurotic ...!

Therefore Friends, first we need to look within ....the cause may be inside us. Since most of us don't know ourselves, we go on confusing our own projections with outer realities. It is impossible to know anything real, unless we know ourselves and the only way to know oneselves is to live a life of openness. One should come out and should not live in a closed cell or should not hide oneself behind one’s mind.

We are not a one-room apartment, we have many rooms within us ...just like a palace. However, most of us have become accustomed to living on the porch and have completely forgotten the palace. Many treasures are hidden in us and those treasures constantly go on knocking, inviting, but we remain deaf.

This blindness, this deafness, this insensitivity, has to be broken. Even if someone tries to break it, we feel offended, humiliated, and our pride is hurt. We are interested to listen to only the lies about ourselves which help creating only the false, golden image about the self.

Friends, unless this false image is shattered, we will go on clinging to it & will suffer like a neurotic.

Have a Meaningful Day Friends!

The Stupid Parrot

A magician had been working on a cruise ship for more than 5 years. He used to perform for the same show each time and never changed his tricks.

There was also a parrot in the nightclub where the magician performed for his show. Finally, the parrot got so bored looking at the same tricks, that he began to call out during the magician’s performance. He used to say things like, “…Hey ! It’s in his palm…!” or “…Look, he has got a duplicate up his sleeves!” or “…Come on, there is a hidden compartment there…!”

One night, during the magic show, the ship hit an iceberg and started sinking in the ocean. Almost everybody on board was drowned. The ship slowly kept sinking to the bottom of the ocean. All that was left above the water level was only a part of the debris, with the parrot perched on one end and the magician clinging to the other….

Hours passed …the two were just staring at each other. Finally, the parrot said to the magician, “Okay, I give up. Now tell me where’s the ship?”

Moral of the Story …

Friends, intelligence is not of the mind, but it is one of the qualities of our being. Mind is used only as an instrument for its expression.

Memory is also not intelligence, as most of us think. Memory functions only on things previously known to us. But intelligence is the clear insight into the things about which we don't have any previous information. Intelligence can be seen only when we encounter the unknown, about which we don't have any memory, any knowledge, any previous information. When we encounter the unknown, that becomes the decisive point, when we can either respond intelligently or stupidly.

Friends, intelligence is the capability to respond to new situations and it comes from our being. Most of the times we are only thinking intellectually, but whatever we say should become our experience and only then the whole life can be transformed.

Have a Great Day Friends !

How Young Are You?

Once Gautam Buddha was having a meeting with one of the most intelligent emperors of those days. Just in the middle of their dialogue an old monk, about seventy years old, entered to touch Buddha’s feet. The monk asked the emperor to forgive him because he was interfering in their conversation.

The monk told the Buddha, "I have been ordered to go to the nearby village. I cannot go without touching the feet of my master. Soon there will be sunset and we are not allowed to travel during night. Since your discussion was going on and on, I had to disturb you. Please forgive me."

Gautam Buddha asked the monk, "How old are you?"

Although the emperor was very much puzzled at this question, the old monk replied, "Forgive me master, I am quite late. I am only four years old!"  Now, the emperor was even more puzzled, because he could see that, the monk was more than seventy years old.

The Buddha looked at the confused emperor and said, "He took sannyas only four years ago and that is his real birth. The first birth is only an opportunity for the second birth. If the second birth does not happen then the first birth is meaningless!”

Moral of the Story …

Friends, this story is quite meaningful! In fact, four years is a long time, even a minute of awareness is equal to eternity. Most of us simply vegetate, we do not live or do not come in contact with the living waters of life. Most of us only grow old, never grow up.

Between our birth and death there is only a horizontal line, no peaks of delight, no peaks of ecstasy, no depths of love, peace and silence. It is just a horizontal, flat routine from the cradle to the grave. Most of us just come and go. Friends, how many of us have the gratitude towards numerous blessing of life? How many of us think that, "Existence has chosen me and not anybody else in my place. Without me existence will be little incomplete. I never deserved it, but this life is a sheer gift for me given out of the abundance of existence."

Friends, life without awareness is like a signature on water, which goes on disappearing. Moments of awareness are immensely significant and it does not require time, it requires only depth. Each such moment filled with a deep contentment, a profound silence, a joyful dance, an eternity of rejoicing, a fragrance that is not of this world, not of time and space but belongs to the beyond. 

Nothing can be more important than to come in contact with the immortal, timeless, deathless source of life. Friends, to be with the master is the indirect way to be in touch with the godliness of existence….!

Have a Blissful Day Friends!