The Rooster & the Sun Rise!

There was a  crazy old woman who lived all her life in a village. Once she spitted out foul words in anger as she was leaving the village. She blamed the villagers saying that, they all had inflicted her with troubles all her life. She cursed them and claimed that, they would learn a bitter lesson on her departure from that village.

The anxious villagers asked her, as to what would befall them once she left?

The old lady replied with vengeance, “I am going to take away my rooster along with me, due to whose crowing the sun has been rising every morning in this village!"

She further continued, “Now you are all going to grope in darkness, as the sun will rise only in the village where I am going to stay with my rooster!"

The old woman then saw the sun rising in the new village where she had moved. She felt quite happy that she could take the revenge on the people of the previous village and they will be engulfed with darkness forever....!

Moral of the Story …

Friends, although roosters are aware that they crow only when the sun rises, it is only their masters who think it otherwise!

One’s ego is one of the most fundamental problems man has to face. This is how most of us become the victims of illusions & our own illusive mind. We believe that things happen only because of us, our beliefs and expectations. It is our ego that functions as a barrier between us and the reality.

Friends, until one gets rid of the ego there is no possibility of meeting the God.

Stones & Butter !

In Buddha’s days, Priests of a certain religion used to charge money for a ritual prayer that promised to release a dead person’s soul from hell, so that he could go to heaven. At one point in the prayer they struck an urn full of stones with a ritual hammer. According to their teaching, if the urn broke and the stones were released, it was a sign that the soul was also released. (Of course, the brittle clay could not withstand the blow of the heavy metal hammer).

Once a young man, distraught over his father’s death, went to the Buddha, believing that the Buddha's teaching was a newer, greater form of religion, and asked him for a ritual which would release his father’s soul. The Buddha told him to obtain two of the ritual urns from the priests, and fill one with butter and the other with stones. The young man, believing he was about to get a more powerful ritual, was very happy and did as the Buddha asked him to do.

When the young man returned, the Buddha told him to place the urns carefully in the river, so that the rim of the urn was just below the surface. Then he instructed him to recite the usual prayer of the priests, and strike both urns under the water with the hammer, at the usual point in the prayer, then come back and describe what happened. The young man, very excited to be the first person to be given this wonderful new ritual, more effective than the old, did exactly as he was told.

On his return, the Buddha asked him to describe what he saw. The young man replied, "I saw nothing unusual. When I smashed the urns, the stones sank to the bottom of the river and the butter was washed away on the surface of the river."

The Buddha said, "Now please ask your priests to pray that the butter should sink and the stones should float to the surface!"

The young man, shocked by the obvious ridiculousness of the Buddha’s request said, "...But no matter how much the priests pray, the stones will never float and the butter will not sink."

   

The Buddha smiled and replied, "Exactly so. It is the same with your father. Whatever good, kind, caring actions he has done during his life time will make him rise towards the heaven, and whatever bad, cruel, selfish actions he has done will make him sink towards the hell. And remember, there is not a thing that all the prayers and rituals of the priests can do to alter even a tiny part of the results of his actions! ..."

Moral of the Story ...

Friends, a man wandering in immense darkness, groping his way, clings to anything that gives a little hope, a little light.

Certainly each action has its result, but not somewhere far away in a future life. The action and the result are continuous, they are part of one process. What begins in sowing the seed, grows, and one day the one seed has become thousands of seeds. That's what we call our crop. It is the same seed which has exploded into thousands of seeds.

Friends, nothing can be done about the past, but much can be done about the future. To change the future is to change everything. If we start changing our ways of life, our ways of awareness and when we start understanding the laws of life... the fundamental laws, the law of karma ...whatsoever we do, we will have to reap.

No death is intervening, no afterlife is needed, it is just a continuum....!!

Have a Great Day Friends !

Pretension!

One day there was an earthquake that shook the entire Zen temple. Parts of it even collapsed. Many of the monks were terrified.

When the earthquake stopped the teacher said, "Now you have had the opportunity to see how a Zen man behaves in a crisis situation. You may have noticed that I did not panic. I was quite aware of what was happening and what to do. I led you all to the kitchen, the strongest part of the temple. It was a good decision, because you see we have all survived without any injuries. However, despite my self-control and composure, I did feel a little bit tense - which you may have deduced from the fact that I drank a large glass of water, something I never do under ordinary circumstances."

One of the monks smiled, but didn't say anything.

"What are you laughing at?" asked the teacher.

"That wasn't water," the monk replied, "it was a large glass of soy sauce."

Moral of the Story ...

Friends, when one starts living in the moment, fear disappears. Basically, desire creates fear.Out of fear comes the pretension and out of fear arises the pseudo personality. One needs to be fearless to be authentic. Generally, one shrinks, becomes closed and starts doubting in fear. Thus, one is left lonely.

Friends, fear can not be conquered. Fear, in fact, is a by-product of our unconscious living. So, the only way to get rid of fear, is to know its false reality and to become conscious.

Fear is a poison to the intelligence….!

Enjoy each Moment Friends …Today & Everyday…!!

Enemies Within !!

Once an old Buddhist Master was travelling along a country road, followed by a disciple carrying his bags. As they walked, they saw lands being ploughed while farmers and oxen were strained to the utmost. Countless worms and insects were killed in the process, and birds were swooping to eat them. This led the disciple to wonder to himself, "How hard it is to make a living. I will meditate with all my strength, become a Buddha and save all these creatures."

Immediately the old Master, an ‘Arhat’ who was able to read the thoughts of others, turned around and said, "Let me hold those heavy bags and I will follow you."

The disciple was puzzled but did as instructed and walked in front, with the old Master walking behind carrying all the load of the bags. As they continued on their way with the hot sun bearing down on them, dust swirling all around them, the road stretching endlessly in front, the disciple grew more and more tired. It wasn't long before he thought to himself, "There are so many sentient beings and there is so much suffering, so it is not possible for me to help them all. Perhaps I should try to help myself only."

Immediately, the Master behind him said, "Stop! Now you carry the bags and follow me."

The puzzled disciple did as told, knowing he was not supposed to ask questions. This sequence repeated itself several times. The Master walked in front with the disciple carrying the bags, then the disciple in front with the Master carrying the bags, back and forth, until they stopped for lunch. Then the disciple gathered his courage and asked for the reason.

The Master replied, "When you had exalted thoughts of saving all sentient beings, you had the “Bodhi Chitta”, the mind of a Bodhisattva, and I as an Arhat had to follow you. But as soon as you had selfish thoughts, you dropped the “Bodhi chitta” hence, were no longer a Bodhisattva, and being junior to me in years and experience, you had to carry my bags and walk behind me....!"

Words of Wisdom ....

According to Buddha, an ‘Arhat’ is the highest state of no-mind. The word 'Arhat' means 'The one who has conquered his enemies'.

Friends, who are our enemies? Our own passions, distractions, desires, attachments, hatred, jealousy, possessiveness, anger, etc. are our enemies which are not situated in the outside world but are generated within us by our own mind. This means, our own mind is our biggest enemy who is responsible to give birth to these negative emotions.

Thus, the one who has conquered his own mind is the ‘Arhat’. The one who has come above all the clouds of the mind is the ‘Arhat’. The clouds of negative emotions are no more there, they have been left far behind, so that the being keeps soaring higher and higher into the pure space, into the immaterial space. This is the state of ‘Arhat’.

Beetle in the Dung!

There once was a beetle which came upon a lump of cow dung. He worked himself into it and liking what he saw, he invited his friends to join him in building a city in it.

After working feverishly for a few days they built a magnificent `city´ in that dung and feeling very proud of their achievement they decided to elect the first beetle as their king. Now to honour their new `king´ they organised a grand parade through their `city´.

While these impressive proceedings were taking place, an elephant happened to pass by and seeing the lump of cow dung it lifted its foot to avoid stepping on it. The king beetle saw the elephant and angrily shouted at the huge animal, “Hey you! Don´t you have any respect for royalty? Don´t you know it is rude to lift your leg over my majestic head? Apologies at once or I´ll have you punished!”

The elephant looked down and said, “Your most gracious majesty, I humbly crave your pardon!”

Having said  this, the elephant knelt down on the lump of cow dung and crushed the king, the city, all his citizens and also the king’s pride, in one single act of obeisance.....!!

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, the games of ego are very subtle. Ego is one of the most fundamental problems most of us have to face. Our ego is nourished by our conditioning, hypnosis, and by a thousand and one props.

Ego is the idea that ’I am the centre of the universe.’  Ego gives us the idea that we are independent, that we are an island.

Friends, this existence is a vast infinite continent, there can not be any isolated islands there. We actually live in interdependence, in mutual existence, infinitely interconnected and interwoven. But, the ego functions as a barrier between us and the reality, the totality. Our ego is one of the most unreal things possible. Remember that, it is only a fiction, not a fact.

Have a Great Day Today & Every Day !!

Clinging to the Known!!

There were two monks who lived together in a monastery for many years. Both were great friends. Then they died within a few months of one another. One of them got reborn in the heaven and the other monk got reborn as a worm in a dung pile.

The one up in the heaven was having a wonderful time, enjoying all the heavenly pleasures. But he was quite sad about his friend. So he thought, "I am going to help my friend. I am going to go down there to that dung pile and take him up to the heavenly realm, so he too can enjoy the heavenly pleasures and bliss of living in these wonderful realms."

With a great love in his heart, he went down to the dung pile and called his friend, but the little worm wriggled out and asked, "Who are you?"

"I am your friend. We used to be monks together in our past lives. I have come here to take you up to the heaven realms, where life is wonderful and blissful."

But the worm said, “Go away, get lost!"

"But I am your friend, and I live in the heaven realms," and he also described the heaven realms to him.

However, the worm said, "No thank you, I am quite happy here in my dung pile. I am not at all interested in your heaven, so please go away."

The heavenly being was quite sad and he thought, “Well if I could only just grab hold of him and pull him up to the heaven realms, he could see it for himself." So he grabbed hold of the worm and started tugging at him. But the harder he tugged, the harder that worm clung to his pile of dung....!!

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, most of us remain clinging to our pile of dung.

Clinging to our miseries is the cause of our being unconscious. When we start un-clinging, a tremendous release of energy can happen within us. And the energy that was blocked due to the clinging to wrong things starts bringing a new dawn in our life, a new light, a new understanding and a tremendous unburdening becomes possible. When un-clinging starts happenings, there is no possibility of any misery, agony or anguish in life.

Friends, one should always remember that, one should not allow any attachment or clinging to grow. All the attachments are against our independence, against our freedom and our individuality.

Have a Blissful Day Friends!!

Light The Lamp!

The 12th century master Geshe Ben was renowned for his goodness and integrity. Once, while he was begging for alms, a family of devout Buddhists invited him to their home to be fed.

Geshe Ben was so hungry that he found it difficult to wait while his hosts were in the kitchen preparing the meal. To his complete shock he found himself stealing some food from a jar when no-one was around.

Geshe Ben suddenly burst into loud cries shouting, "Thief! Thief! ....I've caught you red-handed....!"

His hosts rushed into the room to find him berating himself and threatening his hand with being cut off if it ever behaved like that again.

Moral of the Story …

Friends, the real honesty is a responsibility to the present moment, which needs tremendous awareness. One has to be honest to the present moment and not to the past or to the future. Awareness is the lamp, which makes the inner darkness disappear. One should be a lamp unto the self.

Whatsoever we are doing, the watcher should be present in us every moment. If we don’t take the lamp of awareness with ourselves, we are going to create a hell around us. We should, therefore, learn to light the inner lamp of awareness, wherever we move, whatever we do ...That is the right way to transform our lives....!

Have a Great Beginning of the Week Friends!

Unconscious Mind!

In the Sung dynasty there was a famous prime minister by the name of Chang Shang-Yin who was strictly against Buddhism. He wrote many articles purporting to refute Buddhism, and he would spend every evening pondering over how he could improve these articles which he was working on.

His wife, observing his obsessive involvement and struggle with his writing, asked him, "What are you doing?"

He said, "Buddhism is really hateful. I'm trying to prove there is no Buddha."

His wife remarked, "How strange! If you are so sure that there is no Buddha, then why bother to refute the Buddha? It is as if you are throwing punches into the empty space!"

This comment turned his mind around and he started reflecting .... “Yes! This is quite true! There may be something to Buddhism after all....!”

Moral of the Story ....

When someone tries to destroy something, it clearly indicates that he is still bound by it. Just imagine, someone is trying to clear a blocked pipe by pushing another object into it. Whatever was originally blocking the pipe may be pushed out, but the new object will now block the pipe.

Awareness means a conscious mind and anger, hatred, jealousy, etc. are generated only in a very unconscious, unaware, sleepy state of mind. One should be more and more alert and understand that these negative emotions are useless in our path of growth and they waste our energy. If one wishes to seek the truth, then one should hold no opinion for or against anything.

Friends, when one throws away something, it may be gone, but does it cease to exist ...? Please contemplate on this truth....!

Have a Wonderful Day Friends !!

Osho on Knowing

Dear Friends,

Do you think, there is any difference between ‘Knowledge’ & ‘Knowing’?

Just read & reflect on how beautifully this difference is explained by OSHO....

“

...Not knowing is not ignorance; not knowing is a state of innocence. There is neither knowledge nor ignorance; both have been transcended.

The ignorant person is one who goes on ignoring something essential. In that way the knowledgeable person is the most ignorant person, because he knows about all the other things but he knows nothing about himself or who he is. He is keeping himself occupied with the non-essential. He is full of knowledge, yet utterly ignorant.

Not knowing simply means a state of ‘No-mind’. Mind can be knowledgeable, mind can be ignorant. If you have less information you are thought to be ignorant; if you have more information you are thought to be knowledgeable. So, between ignorance and knowledge the difference is only that of quantity, of degrees. They are not different, their qualities are not different.

Not knowing means one is neither ignorant nor knowledgeable. One is not knowledgeable because one is not interested in mere information, and one is not ignorant because one is not ignoring the most essential quest. One is not ignoring one's own being, one's own consciousness. Not knowing has a beauty of its own, a purity. It is just like a pure mirror, a lake utterly silent, reflecting the stars and the trees on the bank. The state of not knowing is the highest point in man's evolution.

Knowledge is introduced to the mind after physical birth. Knowing is always present, like the heart knowing how to beat or a seed knowing how to sprout, or a flower knowing how to grow, or a fish knowing how to swim. It is quite different from knowing about things. So there is a distinction between knowledge and knowing.

The state of not knowing is really the state of knowing because when all knowledge and all ignorance have disappeared you can reflect existence as it is. The more knowledge you acquire, the more and more knowing starts disappearing because it becomes covered with knowledge. Knowledge is exactly like dust and knowing is like a mirror.

The heart of knowing is ‘NOW’. Knowledge is always of the ‘PAST’. Knowledge means memory, accumulation of experience. Knowing is of the present. To be in the present you will have to drop clinging to knowledge. Knowing is your nature.

The word ‘NOW’ is beautiful. The heart of ‘NOW’ is the letter "O" which is also a symbol for ‘SHOONYA’ or ‘ZERO’. So, the heart of now is zero, nothingness. When the mind is no more, when you are just a nothingness, just a zero, a SHUNYA, then everything that surrounds you, all that is within and without, is known, not as knowledge, but in a totally different way. The same way that the flower knows how to open, and the fish knows how to swim, and the child knows in the mother's womb how to grow, and you know how to breathe ....even while asleep and the heart knows how to beat. This is totally different kind of knowing, so intrinsic, so internal. It is not acquired, it is natural.

‘Knowledge’ is acquired in exchange for ‘knowing’. So, you forget knowing, and knowing is the door to the divine; knowledge is a barrier to the divine. Knowledge has utility in the world. It makes you more efficient, skillful, and you may earn more. But whenever knowledge is not needed, put it aside and drown yourself into a state of not knowing ...which is also a state of real knowing....!”

Enjoy the Day Friends !

Celebration of Work !

A temple was under construction on the outskirts of a village. Some construction workers were busy cutting stones for it. A passerby stopped to see what is being built. He went near one of the workers and asked him, "What are you doing?"

The man was quite sad and serious. He even looked angry with himself. Without raising his gaze to the visitor the worker said in a sharp tone, "Why are you asking me this silly question? Don't you see I am cutting stones?"

The visitor then moved to another worker and asked him the same question, "What are you doing?"

This man looked sad too, but at least was not angry. He put down his hammer and chisel, raised his eyes to the visitor and said, "I am earning bread for my family," and he resumed his work.

The visitor moved to a third workman who was engaged in the same kind of work. However, this man was in a happy mood, singing.

"What are you doing?" the passerby asked him too.

The man looked at his visitor happily and said in a very pleasant tone, "I am constructing a temple for my God!" He resumed his stone cutting and his singing once again.

Moral of the Story ....

All the three workmen were engaged in the same job ... stone-cutting, but their attitude towards their work was quite different from one another.

The third workman had turned his work into a celebration ...so, he could work and sing together. Friends, one can create wealth also by way of celebration. It is not necessary to treat it as a duty and work, otherwise the work makes us tired, exhausted and hence leaves us utterly empty.

The affluence that comes with the celebration has a beauty of its own. One can abolish one’s poverty through hard and painful work, but such a person will still remain poor in spite of the wealth. Poverty of the spirit cannot go until one learns to transform work into a celebration. The way of celebration can abolish both material and spiritual poverty.

It is really a question of one’s attitude towards what one does. With the change of attitude, work turns into a celebration and the whole milieu of life changes.

Friends, if we can not get what we Love, can we Love what we get????

Being Natural

There was a famous Zen temple and a priest was in charge of the garden around the temple. The priest loved the flowers, shrubs, and trees, hence he was entrusted with this job. Next to the temple there was another small temple where there lived a very old Zen master.

One day, the priest was expecting some special guests, so he took extra care in tending the garden. He pulled the weeds, trimmed the shrubs, combed the moss, and spent a long time meticulously raking up and carefully removing all the dry autumn leaves. As he worked, the old Zen master watched him with interest from across the wall that separated the two temples.

When he had finished, the priest stood back to admire his own work. "Isn't it beautiful," he called out to the old master.

"Yes," replied the old man, "but still there is something missing. Help me over this wall and I'll put it right for you."

After hesitating, the priest lifted the old fellow over the wall and set him down. Slowly, the master walked to the tree near the center of the garden, grabbed it by the trunk, and started shaking it. All the dry leaves showered down all over the garden.

"There! It looks natural now," said the old Zen master, "you can put me back on the other side!"

Moral of the Story ...

Friends, one should drop pretensions, hypocrisies, drop all that has been cultivated around one’s natural being and just become natural.

The emptiness is created by throwing away the artificial things, pretensions and masks. The natural being starts flowing in that moment. It needs space, so as to become empty, loose and natural.

To be natural is the most fundamental principle of one’s life.

Enjoy the Day Friends!

Originals & Carbon Copies!

The great Zen master Bankei's talks were attended not only by Zen students but by persons of all ranks and sects. He never quoted sutras nor indulged in scholastic dissertations. Instead, his words were spoken directly from his heart and used to reach the hearts of his listeners.

His large audiences angered a priest of the Nichiren sect because the adherents had left to hear about Zen. So one day the self-centered Nichiren priest came to the temple, determined to debate with Bankei.

"Hey, Zen teacher!" he called out, "Wait a minute. Whoever respects you will obey what you say, but a man like me does not respect you. Can you make me obey you?"

"Come up beside me and I will show you," said Bankei.

Proudly the priest pushed his way through the crowd to the teacher.

Bankei smiled. "Come over to my left side."  The priest moved himself to the left side of Bankei.

"No," said Bankei, "we may talk better if you are on my right side. Step over here." And the priest proudly stepped over to Bankei’s right.

"You see," observed Bankei, "you are already obeying me and I think you are a very gentle person. Now sit down and listen to me."

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, jealousy is the by-product of our conditioning for comparison. If one can drop comparing, then jealousy will disappear. Jealousy is one of the most prevalent areas of psychological ignorance about oneself and about others.

Comparison is a very foolish attitude, because each one of us is unique and incomparable. Once this understanding settles in, jealousy disappears. We are just ourselves, nobody has ever been like us, and nobody will ever be like us. We need not be like anybody else, either.

Friends, existence creates only originals, it does not believe in carbon copies.

Have a Nice Day Friends !

Trust! Cut the rope.

 From an email

No Preferences

The "Way" is not Difficult  for Someone, who is Without Preferences.......

A Zen Teaching

 

What makes the journey difficult is the intrinsic tendency of our dualist minds to classify things, events and people, either as good or bad, desired or undesired, pleasant or unpleasant, etc. This Classification leads to Comparison, Comparison leads to Dissatisfaction and hence Life results in Unhappiness...Misery.....Suffering.When we totally accept "What Is as Is" or as a reflection of the perfect mechanism, we start perceiving the unity beyond all the dualities and hence all the preferences lose their meaning and their importance in our lives.

See God in others

Twinkies and Root Beer
A little boy wanted to meet God.
He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey.
         
When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man.
The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons. 

The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase.
He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed
 that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.
 

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy.
His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.
Again, the man smiled at him.
The boy was delighted!
They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.
As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug.
The man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later,
his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face.
She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?
"He replied,
 "I had lunch with God."
But before his mother could respond, he added,
 "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"
Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home.
His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked,
" Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"
He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God."
However, before his son responded, he added,
" You know, he's much younger than I expected."
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch,
a smile,
a kind word,
 a listening ear,
an honest compliment,
 or the smallest act of caring,
all of which have the potential to turn a life around.
People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

From an email I found worth sharing.

Thinking Minds

Friends, Read & Laugh at this confusion .....

Once, two men met at a bar and struck up a conversation regarding their families, their problems, etc.....

After a while one of them said, "You think you have problems in life? You should listen to my situation.... A few years ago I met a young widow with a grown-up daughter and we got married. Later, my father married my stepdaughter.
That made my stepdaughter my stepmother, and my father became my stepson. Also, my wife became the mother-in-law of her father-in-law. Then the daughter of my wife, who was my stepmother, had a son.
This boy was my half brother because he was my father's son, but he was also the son of my wife's daughter, which made him my wife's grandson. That made me the grandfather of my half brother.

This was nothing until my wife and I had a son. Now the sister of my son, my mother-in-law, is also my grandmother. This makes my father the brother-in-law of my child, whose stepsister is my father's wife. I am my stepmother's brother-in-law; my wife is her own child's aunt, my son is my father's nephew and I am my own grandfather !!!!.... And you think only you have problems in life...?"

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, mind always gets puzzled into such confusion words.  The problems created by the mind or by thinking can be solved through thinking. But no real problem or existential problems can be solved by the mind.
Too much thinking makes one miss all the solutions and sometimes creates even more problems.  Unless one moves deep in existence, existential problems can not have any solutions.
One can only come to one’s own truth through a very silent presence. 

Friends, thinking minds are always different from each other but silent minds are always one.

 Have a Wonderful Day Friends !

The Bamboo

A farmer had a cluster of beautiful bamboo trees. One day he stood before the tallest one and said, "My friend, I need you."

"Sir," said the bamboo, "Use me in any way you wish, I am ready."

Then the gardener's voice became serious and he said, "In order to use you, I've got to split you in half."

Immediately the bamboo reacted, "Split me! Oh, no... I'm the nicest bamboo in this garden. Use me in any way you wish, but please don't split me in half."

"Well," said the gardener, "If I can't split you, I can't use you."

The bamboo went silent for some time, then it bowed down its head and said, "That’s fine. If the only way you can use me, is by splitting me, go ahead."

"But that's not all," said the gardener, "I will have to cut off all your branches."

"That will be the end of my beauty," the bamboo said, "But, if that's the only way I can be of use, cut me down altogether."

So the farmer cut down the bamboo, removed all its branches and split it down in two halves. After hollowing out its insides, he brought it to a spring of water. It became a pipe which directed the spring water to flow in to the fields and gardens to make them fertile, help them flower and bear fruits.....!

Moral of the Story ....

Friends, the beautiful bamboo sacrificed itself to give life to the crop and whole-hearted supported the plants & the trees to flower and bear fruits.

Right around us there are various people .... our parents, teachers, our siblings, spouses, friends, our colleagues, and of course the security forces of our nation, who willingly keep sacrificing their lives for us, so that, we can learn, live, flourish, grow, feel secure and enjoy our lives.

Friends, Let us all be aware of their sacred efforts and bow down at their feet, for wherever they are...Let us be worthy of their sacrifice....!

Have a Wonderful Day !!

Time Management: Creating Extra Space

Dear Friends,

Please check the pictures (below) of two triangles filled with different colored blocks. Can you see how wonderfully some ‘Extra Space’ has been created in the second triangle! Only a small reshuffling of the blocks within the triangle has created such a wonder. Isn’t it amazing friends?

No matter how organized we are in our life, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn't change, so all we can actually manage is ourselves and what we do with whatever little time we have.

Tracking our daily activities explains how we can form a accurate picture of what we actually do. This is the first step towards effective time management which can transform the Quality of our Life. The focus of living a Quality Life is actually changing our behaviors, not changing time. A good place to start is by eliminating our personal time-wasters.

Although, today it is impossible to avoid waiting for someone or something, we don't need to just sit there and twiddle our thumbs. Technology today makes it easy to work wherever we are and it sure helps us to stay connected.

Friends, we can be in control of our life and accomplish what we want to accomplish, once we have come to grips with the time management myth and have taken control of our time & of course our Life!!

....So, what are we waiting for Friends?? We just need to reshuffle our Work Zone, Family Zone & Social Zone, so as to Create some Extra Space to accommodate our Intimate Zone!

 

Knowledge Vs Knowing !

In Japan one night, a blind man was visiting a friend. The night was quite dark and he was offered a paper-and-bamboo lantern to carry home with him.

“I do not need a lantern,” said the blind man, “darkness or light it is all the same for me.”

“Yes, I know! You do not need a lantern to find your way”, his friend replied, “but you must take it because, without this lantern someone may run into you.'

The blind man agreed with this and started off with the lantern. But on his way back, someone ran squarely into him.

“Oh! Look out where you are going!”, the blind man exclaimed to the stranger, “At least, can't you see this lantern in my hand?”

'My brother, your candle has burnt out,” replied the stranger.

Moral of the Story ....

Friends similarly, in the very transfer of the knowledge, the flame goes out. The flame of knowledge cannot be transferred. One will have to become a flame on his own accord. One can learn how to kindle one’s flame but one cannot borrow it or it can not be transferred.

‘Knowing’ is like seeing it with one’s own eyes and ‘Knowledge’ is like only hearing or reading it from others. Friends, one who remains with knowledge, always remains ignorant, remains far away from ‘Knowing’.....!

One should not accumulate only knowledge, but one should be a knower!!

Good Day to All My Friends !