Who should be blamed?

Once there lived a charitable king who used to feed the brahmanas
sumptuously. On one of the occasions, when prasadam was being served to the
brahmanas in the courtyard of the king's palace, an eagle flew over that
area. The eagle was holding its prey, a poisonous snake in it's beak. The
snake unable to bear the tight grip of the eagle was spitting poison out of
its mouth and accidentally a drop of poison fell in the plate of one of the
brahmana. When the brahmana ate that food, he died. The king became very
unhappy and regretted very much for this mishap.

In Yamaloka, Yamaraj and his servants while taking account of the sinful
reactions, were wondering whom to assign the reaction for the killing of
this brahmana. Is it the mistake of king, the eagle or the snake? None of
them had the intention of killing the brahmana. While they Yamadutas were
trying to find a way for this, there was another group of brahmanas who
were passing through that kingdom, wanting to meet the king. They met a
woman on the way and requested her to show them the directions of the
king's palace. After giving them the directions the woman said, "*There
lives the king who is famous for killing the brahmanas*." As soon as she
uttered this statement, Yamaraj decided to assign the sinful reaction of
killing the brahmana to this lady. Such is the intricacies of dharma. The
king was innocent and he just wanted to do charity to the brahmanas. The
eagle was busy catching his prey and did not intend to hurt the brahmana.
The snake also had spit the poison out of pain and did not have intentions
to kill the brahmana. But since the lady not caring to know the real
situation, simply accused the king to be a killer of the brahmanas, she had
to take the reaction for killing the brahmana.

So if we are unable to appreciate the service done by others, we should at
least refrain from fault-finding, blaming, accusing or passing unnecessary
comments about their service. Our life is too short for all these petty
things and for our own good it is better for us to judiciously use our time in improving our-selves.

Just make an attempt

Once there lived a king who decide to held a competition to find out who is
the strongest person in his kingdom. He said that those who win his
competition will get hundred gold coins. Many people, eager to get the
prize went to the palace to participate in the competition. There the king
showed them a huge iron gate, with a big heavy lock. The king said,
"Whoever opens this door will get the prize." As soon as they saw the gate
most of them backed out. They thought that it is not at all possible to
open the gate. But a small boy who was just about five years old, came in
front of the king and said that he would give a try. He went near the gate
and gave a gentle push and the door opened wide. Everyone were surprised.
The king laughed and said, "*Actually we had left the door unlocked. All
you needed to do was to just make an attempt. So this young boy deserves
the prize".*

Many a times in a life even before starting to attempt to do a work, we
simply get bewildered by the complexity of the job and think that this is
not in our capacity and fail to even start. So, just make an attempt from now on. Come what may.

A lesson of Silence

TOLERATION  IS   THE  GREATEST  GIFT  OF  THE   MIND :
IT  REQUIRES  THE  SAME  EFFORT  OF   THE  BRAIN 
THAT  IT  TAKES TO   BALANCE  ONESELF  ON  A  BICYCLE ...........    
Once there was a farmer who discovered that he had lost his watch in the farm. It was not an ordinary watch
because it had sentimental value for him.After searching the hay for a long while, he gave up
and call the help of a group of children playing outside the barn.He promised them that, the person who found it, would
be rewarded. Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn, went through and around the hay but still could not find the
watch. Just when the farmer was about to give up looking for his watch, a little boy went up to him and
asked to be given another chance.The farmer looked at him and thought, “Why not.? After all, this kid looks
sincere enough.” So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. After a while the little boy came out with the watch in his
hand. The farmer was happy and surprised and so he asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed.
The boy replied, “I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the
watch and just looked for it in that direction.”
MESSAGE : A Peaceful mind can think better than a Worked up mind. Allow a few minutes of Silence to your
mind every day, and see, how sharply it helps u to set your life the way you expect it to be.
MORAL : The soul always knows what to do to heal itself...
The challenge is to silence the mind….... Have a Good Day

The brick

Entire water in the ocean can never sink a ship,  Unless it gets inside. All the pressures of life can never hurt you, unless you let them in. A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?" The young boy was apologetic. "Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do," He pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop..." With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car. "It's my brother, "he said "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up." Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me." Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay. "Thank you and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home. It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: "Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!" God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice to listen or not.

3 Pieces of Advice vs 20 Years of Salary

"The biggest enemy of success is the fear of failure. So when fear knocks,send Faith to open the door. Let success be yours forever" 3 Pieces of Advice vs 20 Years of Salary" A very poor newly wedded, young couple lived in a small farm. One day the husband made the following proposal to his wife: - Honey, I will leave the house: I will travel faraway, get a job and work hard in order to come back and give you the comfortable life that you deserve. I do not know how long I will stay away, I only ask one thing, please wait for me, and while I am away, you should be faithful to me, because I will be faithful to you. So the young man left. He walked many days until he found a farmer who was in need of someone to help him. The young man offered his services. He was accepted. Therefore he discussed the terms with his boss: - Let me work for as long as I want and when I think I should go home, please relieve me of my duties. I do not want to receive my salary. I ask you to save it for me, until the day I leave. The day I decide to go, please give me the money and I will go my way. They agreed on that. So, the young man worked for twenty years without holiday and without rest. After twenty years, he came to his boss and said: - Boss, I want my money, because I am returning to my home. The boss replied: - All right, after all, I made a deal with you and I will stick to it. However, before you go I want to offer you something new: I will give you all your money and send you away; or I will give you 3 pieces of advice and send you away. If I give you the money, I do not give you the 3 pieces of advice. And if I give you the 3 pieces of advice, I will not give you the money. Now, go to your room and think about your answer. He thought for two days. Then he went to the boss and told him: - I want the 3 pieces of advice. The boss stressed again: - If I give you the 3 pieces of advice, I will not give you the money. And the man replied: - I want the 3 pieces of advice. The boss then told him: - No. 1: Never take shortcuts in your life, shorter and unknown paths can cost your life. - No. 2: Never be too curious, for curiosity towards evil can be deadly. - No. 3: Never make decisions in moments of anger or pain, because when you repent, it could be too late. After giving these 3 pieces of advice, the boss said to him: - Here, you have 3 loaves of bread, 2 are for you to eat during the journey and the last is for you to eat with your wife when you get home. So, the man went his way, after twenty years away from home and from his wife, whom he loved so much. After the first day of travel, he found a man who greeted him and asked: - Where are you going?He replied: - To a distant place which is about 20 days away if I continue walking. The man said to him: - Ol' boy, this path is too long! I know a shortcut that is very safe and you will arrive in 5 days only. The man began to follow the path suggested until he remembered the first piece of advice. Then, he returned and followed the long path. Days later he learned that the shortcut led to an ambush. After a few more days of travel, he found an inn by the roadside, where he could rest. He paid for a room and after taking a bath he lay down to sleep. During the night he woke up as he heard a terrifying scream. He rose to his feet and went to the door to check what happened. As he was opening the door, he remembered the second piece of advice. Therefore he returned, lay down again and slept. At dawn, after breakfast, the owner of the lodging asked him if he had not heard the scream at night. He affirmed that he heard. Then, the host said: - Were you not curious to see what happened?And he replied: - No, I was not. Then the host said: - You are the first guest to leave this inn alive. My neighbour is completely crazy. He usually shouts at night to call someone’s attention. When some of the guests come out, he kills them and buries their bodies in the backyard. The man continued his long journey, eager to arrive soon. After many days and nights walking, he was very tired, but he finally saw his house far away. It was night. He saw some light coming out of the window of his house and was able to see the silhouette of his wife. But he also saw that she was not alone. He came closer and saw there was a man with her. She softly caressed his hair. When he saw that scene, his heart was filled with hatred and bitterness. He decided to rush at and kill them both mercilessly. However, he took a deep breath and he remembered the third piece of advice. Then he stopped, reflected and decided to sleep outside that night. He slept in the midst of the bushes, determined to make a decision the next day. At dawn, he was calmer and thought: - I will not kill my wife and her lover. I am going back to my boss to ask him to take me back. But before I go, I want to tell my wife that I have always been faithful to her. He went to the front door and knocked. When his wife opened the door and recognized him, she cried and embraced him warmly. He tried to push her away, but he was not able. Then, with tears in his eyes he told her: - I was faithful to you but you betrayed me. She was shocked, so she replied: - How did I betray you? I have never betrayed you. I waited patiently for you for twenty good years. Then he asked: - How about the man that you were caressing yesterday?And she said: - That man is your son. When you left, I discovered I was pregnant. Today he is twenty years old. Hearing that, the man asked her forgiveness. He met and hugged his son. Then he told them all the things he had experienced while away. Meanwhile, his wife prepared some coffee for them to eat together, the last bread given by his boss. After a prayer of thanksgiving, he broke the bread. When he looked at it, he found a gold biscuit hidden in the bread. In fact, there was even more than the right payment for his twenty years of dedication and hard work. Friends, our God is like this boss. When he asks us to make a sacrifice, he wants to give us more than what we give Him. He wants us to have His unique wisdom as well as the material blessings.

The concept of God

Peace is not a passive attitude; it is an active state. It requires having constant attention in order to live and to respond as a peaceful being to any upset in life. Something interesting regarding those who believe and those who don't believe in God ! Very interesting. It stimulates our lateral thinking : This lovely parable is from "Your Sacred Self" by Dr. Wayne Dyer. In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.” “Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?” The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.” The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.” The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.” The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.” “Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.” The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?” The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.” Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.” To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and  listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.” May be this was one of the best explanations to the  concept of 'GOD'.

God's answer

Always pray to have eyes that see the best, a heart that forgives the worst, a mind that forgets the bad, and a soul that never loses faith.   Dr. Mark, a well-known cancer specialist, was once on his way to an important conference in another city where he was going to be granted an award in the field of medical research. He had worked long and hard on his research and felt his efforts deserved the award. However, two hours after the plane took off, the plane made an emergency landing due to some technical snag. Dr. Mark immediately went to the reception and found that the next flight was after 10 hours. The receptionist suggested him, to rent a car and drive himself down to the conference city which was only 4 hours away. Dr. Mark rented a car and started his journey. However, the weather suddenly changed and a heavy storm began. The pouring rain made it very difficult for him to see and he missed a turn he was supposed to take. After two hours of driving, he was convinced he was lost. Driving in the heavy rain on a deserted road, feeling hungry and tired, he frantically began to look for any sign of civilization. After some time, he finally came across a small tattered house. Desperate, he got out of the car and knocked on the door. A lady opened the door. He asked her if he could use her telephone.  However, the lady told him that she doesn't have a phone but told the doctor to come inside and wait till the weather improved. Hungry, wet and exhausted, the doctor accepted her kind offer and walked in. The lady gave him hot tea and something to eat. The lady told him that he can join her for prayer. But, Dr. Mark smiled and said that he believed in hard work only and told her to continue with her prayers. Sitting on the table and sipping the tea, the doctor watched the woman in the dim light of candles as she prayed next to what appeared to be a small baby crib. The doctor asked her what exactly she wanted from God and enquired if she thought God will ever listen to her prayers. He further asked about the small child in the crib for whom she was apparently praying. The lady gave a sad smile and said that the child in the crib is her son who is suffering from a rare type of cancer and there is only one doctor Mark who can cure him but she doesn't have money to afford his fee and moreover Dr Mark lives in another far off town. She said that God has not answered her prayer so far but said that God will create some way out one day and added that she will not allow her fears to overcome her faith. Stunned and speechless Dr Mark was in tears which were rolling down his cheeks. He whispered, God is great and recollected the sequence of events. ....there was malfunction in the plane, a thunderstorm hit, and he lost his way; and all of this happened because God did not just answer her prayer but also gave him a chance to come out of materialistic world and give some time to the poor hapless people who have nothing but rich prayers. Always be prepared to do ....... What God has prepared you for " There are No Accidents in Life"

Thanks giving

“In life many people help you when it suits them, but very few people help when it suits you, make the few and be the few to others.” Airline Lunches - autobiography of a famous business man I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat.  It was going to be a  long flight to Delhi. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read Perhaps I will get a short sleep,' I thought. Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you guys headed?' I asked the Young man seated nearest to me. "Agra. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed for operations." After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that lunches were available on payment. It would be several hours before we reached Delhi , and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.. As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that cost a lot of money, probably wouldn't be worth it. I'll wait till we get to Delhi ...." His buddy agreed. I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant enough money to cover for 10 lunches and told her 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers..' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My young brother was a soldier in Kargil , it's almost like you are doing it for him..' Picking up ten lunchboxes, she headed up the aisle to where the boys were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - Veg or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked.. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. "This is your thanks". After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. An old man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me a Rs 500/- note. Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he wasn't looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seat-belt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was an Air Force pilot a long time back. Once someone bought me lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers. Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A kid who looked about 18 was sitting about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. I felt him stick a currency note in my palm. When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to depart. Waiting just inside the aeroplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another currency note ! Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their Trip up to their training area.. I walked over to them and handed them all the currency notes that was given to me on the flight and said. 'It will take you some time to reach your training area. It will be about time for a sandwich. May God Bless You.' and thank you for doing whatever you do. Ten young men of honour left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow countrymen. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little... A Serviceman is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank cheque made payable to ' India ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honour, and there are way too many people in this country who don't understand it.............

Judging others

A doctor entered the hospital in hurry after being called in for an urgent
surgery. He answered the call asap, changed his clothes and went directly
to the surgery block. He found the boy's father pacing in the hall waiting
for the doctor. On seeing him, the father yelled, "Why did you take all
this time to come? Don't you know that my son's life is in danger? Don't
you have any sense of responsibility?"

The doctor smiled and said, "I am sorry, I wasn't in the hospital and I
came as fast as I could after receiving the call and now, I wish you'd calm
down so that I can do my work."

"Calm down?! What if your son was in this room right now, would you calm
down? If your own son dies while waiting for doctor than what will you
do?", said the father angrily. The doctor smiled again and replied, "We
will do our best by
God's grace and you should also pray for your son’s healthy life."

"Giving advice when we're not concerned is so easy", murmured the father.
The surgery took some hours after which the doctor went out happy, "Thank
goodness! your son is saved!" And without waiting for the father's reply he
carried on his way running by saying, "If you have any questions, ask the
nurse."

"Why is he so arrogant? He couldn't wait some minutes so that I ask about
my son's state?" asked the father when seeing the nurse minutes after the
doctor left. The nurse answered, tears coming down her face, "His son died
yesterday in a road accident, he was at the burial when we called him for
your son's surgery. And now that he saved your son's life, he left running
to finish his son's burial."

*Moral:* *Never judge anyone because you never know how their life is and
what they are going through.*