Once upon a time, there lived a crippled man. This man was married, but he was attracted to the prostitute that lived in the house opposite to his. One day his wife saw him looking very morose.
"What's wrong, my dear husband?" she inquired. "Even though I am married to you," he replied, "I am attracted to the prostitute. I am asking you to make an arrangement for me." So being a very chaste and obedient wife, she wished to fulfill her husband's desire, and she began going to the prostitute's house when no-one was home, and clean there. After a while this prostitute noticed, "Someone is cleaning my house. I am not asking anyone to do this, so I wonder who it could be."
So one day the prostitute stayed back, and after some time the crippled man's wife came and began cleaning. The prostitute approached her and said, "Why are you doing this?" She replied, "My husband is very attracted to you, and he wants to meet with you, but we are very poor, and cannot afford to pay. So instead I am offering some service. The prostitute said, "Very well, send him over tonight."
That night the prostitute prepared a very nice dinner and she served a portion of each of these preparations onto two plates, one of gold and one of silver. When the man arrived, she requested him to partake of the food she had prepared for him. "Please take from the silver plate." she told him. After he had finished all the food on the silver plate, the prostitute told him to take from the gold plate. When he had finished, the prostitute inquired from the man, "Now, was there any difference in taste?"
Surprised, the man replied, "What difference? These are exactly the same preparations, only served on different plates. You must be crazy!" "No, you are the one, who is mad!!" the prostitute replied. What's the difference between me and your wife? Only the covering is different!!The man came back to his senses.
He begged forgiveness for lascivious behavior from his wife and thanked the prostitute for opening his eyes. Human tendency is to enjoy, but uncontrolled enjoyment will be a real havoc for the society. The jewels of wisdom given by sages show us the right path; guide us to have controlled enjoyment. Be content with what is being provided by the providence. Desires are endless.
Until and unless we put a voluntary control over these, we will be running after them like animals and will have no peace. Fulfillment of desires doesn't bring peace but endless chase for fulfilling more desires. Unconrolled desires are the root of anxiety and unhappiness in life. (Asha hi param dukham nairashayam param sukham– Srimad Bhagavat).If one seeks peace in life, one should stay content with the spouse they have, amount of food they get and the amount of wealth they obtain, but one should never be satisfied with the amount of charity given, devotional service peformed and number of holy names chanted!
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Recipe For Happiness
Two heaped cups of patience,
One heartful of love,
Two handfuls of generosity,
One headful of understanding
add a dash of humour,
Sprinkle it with kindness,
Mix it with plenty of faith .
Spread over a period of a lifetime
and serve to everyone you meet.
One heartful of love,
Two handfuls of generosity,
One headful of understanding
add a dash of humour,
Sprinkle it with kindness,
Mix it with plenty of faith .
Spread over a period of a lifetime
and serve to everyone you meet.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver
Once a woman was puzzled and wondered what the Bible verse "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." meant about the character and nature of God.
She offered to find out the process of refining silver and called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heatup. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot;
then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire.If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.The woman was silent for a moment.
Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you and, no matter whatever you are going through now, you will be a better person in the end!
You are Divine. You are part of me. I am part of you. —Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
She offered to find out the process of refining silver and called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heatup. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot;
then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire.If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.The woman was silent for a moment.
Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it."If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you and, no matter whatever you are going through now, you will be a better person in the end!
You are Divine. You are part of me. I am part of you. —Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Do not injure nor let others injure you
A story told by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa:
"A serpent dwelt in a certain locality. No one dared to pass by that way, for whoever did so was instantaneously bitten to death by that serpent. Once a holy man passed by. As usual the serpent pursued that sage with a view of biting him, but when it approached the holy man, it lost all its ferocity and was over-powered by his gentleness.
Seeing the snake, the holy man said, “Well, friend, do you want to bite me?” The snake was abashed and made no reply. At this the sage said again, “Hearken, friend, do not injure anyone in future.” The snake bowed and nodded assent. After the sage had gone his own way, the snake entered its hole, and thenceforth began to live a life of innocence and purity without even wishing to harm anyone.
In a few days it became a common belief in the neighbourhood that the snake had lost all its venom and was no more dangerous, and so people began to tease it. Some pelted stones at it and others dragged it mercilessly by the tail. Thus there was no end to its troubles. Fortunately, sometime after, the sage again passed that way seeing the bruised and battered condition of the poor snake, was very much moved to pity and inquired about the cause of its distress. At this the snake replied. “Sir, I have been reduced to this state, because I have not been injuring anyone since I received your instruction. But alas! They are so merciless!”
The sage smilingly said “Dear friend, I only advised you not to bite anyone, but I never asked you not to hiss and frighten others. Although you should not bite any creature, still you should keep every one at a considerable distance from you by hissing.”
Similarly, if you live in the world, make yourself feared and respected. Do not injure, but do not at the same time let others injure you. "
"A serpent dwelt in a certain locality. No one dared to pass by that way, for whoever did so was instantaneously bitten to death by that serpent. Once a holy man passed by. As usual the serpent pursued that sage with a view of biting him, but when it approached the holy man, it lost all its ferocity and was over-powered by his gentleness.
Seeing the snake, the holy man said, “Well, friend, do you want to bite me?” The snake was abashed and made no reply. At this the sage said again, “Hearken, friend, do not injure anyone in future.” The snake bowed and nodded assent. After the sage had gone his own way, the snake entered its hole, and thenceforth began to live a life of innocence and purity without even wishing to harm anyone.
In a few days it became a common belief in the neighbourhood that the snake had lost all its venom and was no more dangerous, and so people began to tease it. Some pelted stones at it and others dragged it mercilessly by the tail. Thus there was no end to its troubles. Fortunately, sometime after, the sage again passed that way seeing the bruised and battered condition of the poor snake, was very much moved to pity and inquired about the cause of its distress. At this the snake replied. “Sir, I have been reduced to this state, because I have not been injuring anyone since I received your instruction. But alas! They are so merciless!”
The sage smilingly said “Dear friend, I only advised you not to bite anyone, but I never asked you not to hiss and frighten others. Although you should not bite any creature, still you should keep every one at a considerable distance from you by hissing.”
Similarly, if you live in the world, make yourself feared and respected. Do not injure, but do not at the same time let others injure you. "
Walk in Peace
It was just brought to my attention that many times we glance over what others are saying to us or showing us in a hurry to get on to what we wish to present or say. This is not truly existing. Stop for a moment. Watch, listen, truly pay attention to yourself and the person or persons that you are with, speaking with, gaining something from. Don't allow the chatter of your mind to take control of your day or moment.A way to quiet this chatter is to meditate and/or simply find a quietplace for even 5 minutes and just be there.
If a thought or conversation comes into your mind, acknowledge it and then let it know that you are sitting quietly now and will get back to it and then allow it to release from your thoughts, from your mind. Go back to that place of quiet as you are working at being one with yourself and nothing else.
You can also do this through observation of something. Go outside, sit somewhere comfortable and focus your attention on something within the space you are occupying. A flower, a plant, the tree, the grass, the sky, the sound around you. Whatever you select,be there with it and nothing else. Again if your mind starts to wander, acknowledge it and bring it back simply, not forceably but with intention and purpose.This is a wonderful practice to do. All of those stressful ideas and thoughts that are within us work to control and take over our presence and purpose. We must gain back the control over these thoughts in order to change up the energy, raise our vibration and transform our existence to something more pure, calm, quiet ... to create the peace and balance, the harmony that we are all seeking toknow and enjoy. Bring back the happiness within!
If a thought or conversation comes into your mind, acknowledge it and then let it know that you are sitting quietly now and will get back to it and then allow it to release from your thoughts, from your mind. Go back to that place of quiet as you are working at being one with yourself and nothing else.
You can also do this through observation of something. Go outside, sit somewhere comfortable and focus your attention on something within the space you are occupying. A flower, a plant, the tree, the grass, the sky, the sound around you. Whatever you select,be there with it and nothing else. Again if your mind starts to wander, acknowledge it and bring it back simply, not forceably but with intention and purpose.This is a wonderful practice to do. All of those stressful ideas and thoughts that are within us work to control and take over our presence and purpose. We must gain back the control over these thoughts in order to change up the energy, raise our vibration and transform our existence to something more pure, calm, quiet ... to create the peace and balance, the harmony that we are all seeking toknow and enjoy. Bring back the happiness within!
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
My Bicycle
Written on Aug 8th 1990 at Chenna!!!
My father bought me a cycle
it is a brown, new model bicycle
strong with steels, light heave easy one
rough seat, broken springs, cleaning undone
brown and white with trye black
with bend wheels, less spokes, males tracks
all the way on Indian roads
with makes, ugly waters and dirt
it protects my dress from all dirts
which forms a part and parcel of Indian roads
My father bought me a cycle
it is a brown, new model bicycle
strong with steels, light heave easy one
rough seat, broken springs, cleaning undone
brown and white with trye black
with bend wheels, less spokes, males tracks
all the way on Indian roads
with makes, ugly waters and dirt
it protects my dress from all dirts
which forms a part and parcel of Indian roads
Friday, July 06, 2007
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
When your prayer is of laughter and tears, it is a true prayer
Sing until your breath crackles to the last.
Note what is caught upon the passing wind.
Laugh until the pains squeeze authority into chaotic blasts,
and then into puny puffs.
Cry until the peak of your tears,
like the pure tips of a wave before it folds into the gulping sea.
Ah, but love when your heart beats the beat of nights full of daffodils,
for then you are.If you can allow your tears totality, then you are.
-Anonymous and from OSHO
Note what is caught upon the passing wind.
Laugh until the pains squeeze authority into chaotic blasts,
and then into puny puffs.
Cry until the peak of your tears,
like the pure tips of a wave before it folds into the gulping sea.
Ah, but love when your heart beats the beat of nights full of daffodils,
for then you are.If you can allow your tears totality, then you are.
-Anonymous and from OSHO
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)