STORY OF THE DAY

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Things aren't always what they seem

Everyone must have read this story....still I am posting it again

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, "Things aren't always what they seem."
                                                               
The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had, the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night's rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel "How could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him," she accused.  "The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die."                                                       

"Things aren't always what they seem," the older angel replied. "When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren't always what they seem."
                                                       
Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don't turn out the way they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that every out come is always to your advantage. You might not know it until some time later...

[tana]

Om Sai Ram~~~

A Reason, A Season or a Lifetime !

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.

When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway); and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.


Author Unknown 


Jai Sai Ram~~~

[ANKITA]

Wait For The Brick

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 drove 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... 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 his fancy 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 little 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: Listen to the whisper ... or wait for the brick! 

[Ramesh Ramnani]

The Prophet

The Prophet is a unique book by Kahlil Gibran. In it a person asks, "Speak to us of love." And the hero of this book, Al Mustafa, says, "Love each other but do not possess each other. Be near each other but not too near. You should be like the pillars of a temple which hold the same roof and yet remain far from each other. If the pillars of the temple come nearer, then the roof will fall down. Keep a little distance from the lover so that there can be some free space between the two. If this empty space is absolutely lost then you will be trespassing on each other, attacking each other."

But all these things are written in books. In real life we take away all the freedom from the person we love because we are afraid that his love may turn somewhere else: somebody else may become the possessor of the love which I have. We are always afraid of losing whatever we have. If we have money, then we are afraid of losing money. If we have love, then we are afraid of losing love. Because of this fear, freedom becomes impossible.

The flower of freedom blossoms only in a state of fearlessness. The only yearning one has is for freedom. Everyone's inner search is for liberation.

Wherever you get this freedom, you will be overjoyed. You will become sad whenever you feel the bondage. If you are sad then the reason is very clear: you wanted freedom but got chains.

You wanted the sky but got a prison, you wanted wings for flying but even the feet were cut off, you wanted ultimate freedom and you staked and lost everything you had for it. There is no chance of getting what you hoped for. That is why you are sad.

The meaning of the word god can only be moksha. That is why the great enlightened people have not used the word god. Mahavira talks about moksha and not about God, because there are many illusions with the word god and even the word has created prisons. Buddha also talks about nirvana and not about God, because even the word god has created new bondages -- of being a Hindu, a Muslim or a Christian. A Hindu is tied down to being a Hindu, a Mohammedan is tied down to being a Mohammedan. Somebody is tied to a temple and somebody is tied to a mosque.

Religion is the ultimate freedom. That is why there cannot be any temple or mosque of religion. The day you become really religious you will see the divine in the temple as well as in the mosque. Then sometimes you will pray in the temple and sometimes in the mosque. Actually, there will be no need for you to go to the temple or the mosque; you will be able to see the divine in your own house, you will see him everywhere.

[Ramesh Ramnani]

NIRVANA.

A great astrologer saw Buddha. He could not believe his eyes -- that body, that golden aura around the body, those beautiful eyes, as silent as any lake can be, and as deep and as pure as any lake can be, that crystal-clarity, that walking grace. He fell at Buddha's feet and he said, "I have studied astrology, palmistry. My whole life I have been studying types of men, but I have never come across a man like you! To what type do you belong? Are you a god who has descended on the earth? -- because you don't seem to belong to this earth.

I can't see any heaviness in you. You are absolutely light, weightless. I am wondering how you are walking on the earth, because I don't see any gravitation functioning on you. Are you a god who has descended from heaven just to have a look at what is happening on the earth? a messenger from God? a prophet? Who are you?"

And Buddha said, "I am not a god."

The astrologer asked, "Then are you what in Indian mythology is called a YAKSHA?" -- a little bit lower than the gods.

And Buddha said, "No, I am not a YAKSHA either."

"Then who are you? What kind of man, what category to put you in?"

And Buddha said, "I am not a man or a woman."

Now the astrologer was very much puzzled, and he said, "What do you mean? Do you mean you are an animal, an animal spirit, or the spirit of a tree, or the spirit of a mountain or the spirit of a river?" -- because Indian mythology is pantheistic, it believes in all kinds of spirits. "So who are you, the spirit of a rosebush? You look so beautiful, so innocent."

And Buddha said, "No, I am not an animal, nor the spirit of a tree, nor the spirit of a mountain."
"Then who are you?" The astrologer was puzzled very much.

And Buddha said, "I am awareness and nothing else. You cannot categorize me, because all categories are applicable to dreams."

Somebody is dreaming he is a man, somebody else is dreaming she is a woman, and so on and so forth.

Categories belong to the world of dreams. When one becomes awakened one is simply that principle of awakenedness, awareness. One is just a witness and nothing else, a pure witness. All clouds have disappeared: the cloud of a man or a woman, animal, god, trees -- all clouds, all forms have disappeared. One is just a formless awareness, the pure sky, endless, infinite, vast. This awareness is empty of clouds but full of the sky. This is positive emptiness, this is NIRVANA.

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Lost Treasure

There is a beautiful story about one of the most significant women who has ever lived -- Rabiya al-Adabiya. One evening, as the sun was just setting... she was very old, perhaps ninety years. And she was searching outside on the street for something she had lost.

A young man saw her, and just out of compassion for the old woman -- he was a stranger to the village, he had no idea who she was -- he just asked: "What are you searching for? Can I be of any help? You are very old, the sun has set, and it is becoming darker; it will be impossible for you to find it. Just tell me; I am not engaged in any other work, I can help you."

Rabiya laughed. She said to him, "Thank you for your kindness, stranger."

He said, "Why do you call me stranger?"

She said, "Because nobody of this village would have come to help me; they think I am mad. And perhaps they are right. But I have lost my needle."

The young man said, "Such a small thing like a needle, with your so-ancient eyes, in the darkening evening, how can you hope? -- just tell me exactly where it has fallen. Perhaps -- because the road is big -- if you show me the exact spot, I may still be able to find it."

Rabiya said, "It would have been better if you had not asked that question, because I have not lost it on the road. I have lost it inside my house, but there is too much darkness. I am a poor woman, I don't even have a lamp. Thinking that inside there is so much darkness, finding the needle would be impossible, I was searching outside because there was a little sunlight at the time that I started the search."

The young man said, "Then perhaps your village people are right. You have lost your needle inside the house, and you are searching for it outside! But your madness has a method in it, you have a certain rationality. The reason is, because inside the house there is so much darkness, finding it would be impossible. And outside there is a little light yet, perhaps there is some possibility. But if you have not lost it there, the light will not help."

Rabiya said, "But this is what everybody else in the world is doing, and nobody calls them mad.

They have all lost their treasures within themselves and they are all searching for them outside, because outside there is more light. Because all the senses open outside, it is easier to search there."

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Empty handed you come....Empty handed you go."

There is very instructive incident involving the life of Alexander, the great Greek king.
 
Alexander, after conquering many kingdoms, was returning home. On the way, he fell ill and it took him to his death bed. With death staring him in his face, Alexander realized how his conquests, his great army, his sharp sword and all his wealth were of no consequence.
 
He now longed to reach home to see his mother's face and bid her his last adieu. But, he had to accept the fact that his sinking health would not permit Him to reach his distant homeland. So,
The mighty conqueror lay prostrate and pale, helplessly waiting to breathe his last. He called his generals and said, "I will depart from this world soon,
 
I have three wishes, please carry them out without fail." With tears flowing down Their cheeks, the generals agreed to abide by their king's last wishes.
 
" My first desire is that," said Alexander, " My physicians alone must carry my coffin." After a pause, he continued, " Secondly,  I desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be strewn with gold, silver and precious stones which I have collected in my treasury. 
 
" The king felt exhausted after saying this. He took a minute's rest and continued. "My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept dangling out of my coffin ." 
 
The people who had gathered there wondered at the king's strange wishes. But no one dare bring the question to their lips. Alexander's favorite general kissed his hand and pressed them to his heart. " O king, we assure you that your wishes will all be fulfilled. 
 
But tell us why do you make such strange wishes?"
 
At this Alexander took a deep breath and said: " I would like the world to know of the three lessons I have just learnt. I want my physicians to carry my coffin because people should realize that no doctor can really cure any body .
 
They are powerless and cannot save a person from the clutches of death. So let not people take life for granted. 
 
The second wish of strewing gold, silver and other riches on the way to the graveyard is to tell
 
People that not even a fraction of gold will come with me. I spent all my life earning riches but cannot take anything with me. Let people realize that it is a sheer waste of time to chase wealth.
 
And about my third wish of having my hands dangling out of the coffin, I wish people to know that I came empty handed into this world and empty handed I go out of this world ."

With these words, the king closed his eyes. Soon he let death conquer him and breathed his last. . . . .

[Ramesh Ramnani]

You are just a guest....

The ancient story is that a great emperor, being afraid of death, created a palace with a single door. No other doors, no other windows, no way of entering into the palace except from one small door where he had placed a complete row of guards. Guard number one was to be guarded by number two, and guard number two was guarded by number three, and guard number three was guarded by number four.

.. seven guards watching each other! More protection is not possible.
 
A neighboring king heard about it, and he wanted to see this most secure palace. He was welcomed. The owner of the palace took him in, showed him all the facilities inside, that there was no way for any enemy, for any thief, for any killer to enter.

The king was very much impressed. He said, "I will immediately order the same. Just give me the names of the architects, to make the same palace for me in my kingdom."

Talking with each other, they came out to where the chariot of the king was waiting. And when he said, "I'm going to make exactly the same palace. I loved it, the very idea. It is so safe and secure..." a beggar by the side of the road started laughing madly.

Both were stunned. For a moment there was silence.

They both asked the beggar, "Why are you laughing?"

He said, "I'm laughing because there is a loophole in all this, and I know the loophole. I have been sitting in this place for years, begging, so I have been watching the building of the palace."

The emperor asked, "What is the loophole?"

He said, "That one door!"

The emperor laughed. He said, "I have placed seven guards on it. They are guarding on each other, nobody can betray. What is the fear?"

The beggar said, "With due respect, I want to tell you that death will enter and your guards will not be able to see it.

And death is the only insecurity. What else? Do you have any protection against death?"

The emperor was at a loss.

The beggar said, "My suggestion is that if you want really to be secure, tell your builders to raise a wall in place of that door! I still cannot guarantee that death will not enter -- but at least you have made as much effort as possible; close the door and be inside."

The emperor said, "But that means I'm already dead! It becomes a grave, not a palace, if I cannot come out."

The beggar said, "If you think just by closing one door your life will be finished, don't you think that by closing other doors, parts of your life are finished? By closing the windows, other parts of your life are finished? You are going to live at the minimum, while the maximum was available."

Both the kings were surprised to see the intelligence of the beggar. They came close to him and they asked him, "From where have you come?"

He said, "You will not understand. Your fathers were my friends. Once I also used to be an emperor. But seeing the whole unnecessary trouble, I made myself completely secure -- I dropped all walls, all worries, opened all windows. Now for almost half a century nobody has harmed me. I'm just a beggar -- why should anyone harm me? I have nothing to be stolen. I sleep as I have never slept before."

If you really want to be living at the maximum, don't listen to the duality of the mind.

The only security in existence is going beyond the mind.

The beggar was a great Taoist master. His name was Lieh Tzu. But people had forgotten that fifty years before he had dropped his kingdom.

He said, "The only security I have found is in being silent, in being myself, where all duality disappears. Where you and the universe are one, then death cannot do anything."

You have disappeared on your own accord; now there is no way to harm you. There is nobody to harm you. The body is not you, the mind is not you. You are just a guest in a house. Don't get identified with the house, just remember the guest.

[tana]

Om Sai Ram~~~

WE LIVE BY FAITH~~~

A man's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father. When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed.

The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. "I guess you were expecting me," he said. "No, who are you?" said the father. "I'm the new minister at your church," he replied. "When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up." "Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?"

Puzzled, the minister shut the door. "I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head." "I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, "Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest. Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised, "I'll be with you always." Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me right now."

So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon.

"Did he die in peace?" he asked. "Yes, when I left the house about two o' clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?" The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I wish we could all go like that."

We live by faith, not by sight~~~
 

Jai Sai Ram~~~

[ANKITA]

EXISTENCE is a FACT. LIVING is an ART

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee."
"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Emptiness is good!

There is a very famous sufi story about a great king who was dying. He had three sons and all were very wise and he was very worried about whom to choose to be his successor. They were all the same age so age could not be the deciding factor, and they were all beautiful, all healthy and all intelligent. It was almost impossible to decide so he asked a very old aged man, his old advisor, what to do. The old advisor said, 'I will do a sort of a test.'

He called all the three boys and gave to each a palace and a certain amount of money, a very small amount of money, and told them, 'With this amount of money you have to fill your palace completely; it should not be empty.' It was difficult. The palaces were very big and the money was only a very small amount.

The first young man thought and thought and brooded. It was impossible to fill that empty palace with such a small amount of money! He could not get any furniture; even curtains were not possible. Paintings, chandeliers, impossible; so what to do? He could only think of one thing -- that rubbish could be used with that amount of money.

So he filled the whole palace with rubbish, because the man had not said with what to fill it but just that it should be full. So he said, 'Perfectly logical.'

The second boy thought very much but could not find a way. Up to the last moment he thought and contemplated but it was impossible. He was not ready to fill it with rubbish and there was no other thing that could be purchased with that amount of money, so the palace remained empty.

The third boy purchased a few small earthen lamps, incense, a few flowers. He burned the incense and the whole palace was full of the perfume. And he burned those small earthen, very cheap lamps and the whole house was full of light. And when the king came to see all the three palaces, there was just a small garland for him and a few flowers, that was all.

They rejected the first house because the condition was fulfilled -- the man had filled his house -- but with rubbish. The second was a failure because the house was empty and full of darkness because the boy had not been able to decide what to do. The third was chosen as the successor because with such a small amount of money he managed to fill the house -- and not only to fill it; it was overfull, flowing. Light was going outside on the road and the perfume was going with the winds.
 
Your house right now is like the second boy's palace -- empty. It was like the first boy's palace before, but now the junk, the rubbish has been thrown out.

It is like the second man's house.
 
Wait! Just the fragrance of love and the light of meditation will do. Your palace will become full again, and full with something which is tremendously valuable -- and of course, it costs nothing.

So don't be worried. Things are going perfectly well. Just meditate more and love more. Emptiness is good!

[tana]

Om Sai Ram~~~

Only A Needle~~~

There was an old merchant. He was as much a miser as he was rich.His only mission in life seemed to be hoarding money.

One morning he saw a mendicant approaching him. at once he came forward with his usual plea : " I have nothing to give you now. Come later.."

"I have not come here to take anything from you, but to give you this Needle, Please keep this and return it to me when you are born again.".. said the mendicant.

The merchant laughed and said, " Are you Mad? How can I carry your Needle to my next birth?"

"No!!" exclaimed the mendicant. "I thought that you must be knowing some secret of carrying things to your next birth. Otherwise how do you justify devoting all your time to hoarding money knowing that you are already old and when you die you cannotcarry your things with you?.."

The mendicant sighed and went away. The merchant stood thoughtful for long. His conduct changed.He began spending his money for good causes...


Jai Sai Ram~~~

[rajiv uppal]

The Making Of A Mother

By the time the Lord made mothers, He was into the sixth day working overtime. An Angel appeared and said "Why are you spending so much time on this one?"

And the Lord answered and said, "Have you read the spec sheet on her? She has to be completely washable, but not elastic; have 200 movable parts, all replaceable; run on black coffee and leftovers; have a lap that can hold three children at one time and that disappears when she stands up; have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart; and have six pairs of hands."

The Angel was astounded at the requirements for this one. "Six pairs of hands! No way!" said the Angel.

The Lord replied, "Oh, it's not the hands that are the problem. It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers must have!"

"And that's on the standard model?" the Angel asked.

The Lord nodded in agreement, "Yep, one pair of eyes are to see through the closed door as she asks her children what they are doing even though she already knows. Another pair in the back of her head are to see what she needs to know even though no one thinks she can. And the third pair are here in the front of her head. They are for looking at an errant child and saying that she understands and loves him or her without even saying a single word."

The Angel tried to stop the Lord "This is too much work for one day. Wait until tomorrow to finish."

"But I can't!" The Lord protested, "I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart. She already heals herself when she is sick AND can feed a family of six on a pound of hamburger and can get a nine year old to stand in the shower."

The Angel moved closer and touched the woman, "But you have made her so soft, Lord."

"She is soft," the Lord agreed, "but I have also made her tough. You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish."

"Will she be able to think?" asked the Angel.

The Lord replied, "Not only will she be able to think, she will be able to reason, and negotiate."

The Angel then noticed something and reached out and touched the woman's cheek. "Oops, it looks like You have a leak with this model. I told You that You were trying to put too much into this one."

"That's not a leak." the Lord objected. "That's a tear!"

"What's the tear for?" the Angel asked.

The Lord said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her disappointment, her pain, her loneliness, her grief, and her pride."

The Angel was impressed. "You are a genius, Lord. You thought of everything for this one. You even created the tear!"

The Lord looked at the Angel and smiled and said, "I'm afraid you are wrong again. I created the woman, but she created the tear!"

[rajiv uppal]

Love and Time


Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink, so all constructed boats and left. Except for Love.

Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to hold out until the last possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat.

Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?"

Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you."

Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel. "Vanity, please help me!"

"I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat," Vanity answered.

Sadness was close by so Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you."

"Oh . . . Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!"

Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even hear when Love called her.

Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an elder.

So blessed and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When they arrived at dry land, the elder went her own way. Realizing how much was owed the elder,

Love asked Knowledge, another elder, "Who Helped me?"

"It was Time," Knowledge answered.

"Time?" asked Love. "But why did Time help me?"

Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is."


 

[Ramesh Ramnani]

All is hidden in that one seed....A bit lengthy...but must read till end

There is a story in the Mahabharata that Dronacharya thought that the boy Yudhishthira was the most intelligent of all the Pandavas and Kauravas, but after a few days' experience it seemed that he was quite dull. The other children were learning new lessons every day and were making rapid progress, but Yudhishthira was stuck on the first lesson. In the end Drona's patience also became exhausted so he asked him, "How long are you going to take to learn the first lesson? Aren't you going forwards?"

Yudhishthira replied, "What is the sense in learning the second lesson while the first lesson is not understood?"

The first lesson was regarding truth. The other children had read it, memorized it and had proceeded to the second lesson.

But Yudhishthira said, "Until I start speaking the truth, how can I go to the second lesson? Please do not hurry me."

Then Drona understood! Looking at Yudhishthira's mental condition Drona understood for the first time that there can be no other lesson after truth. Then he told Yudhishthira, "There is no need for you to hurry up. By learning, by understanding this first lesson, you will understand, you will know all the lessons. Just reading the lessons is one thing and living the lesson is an entirely different thing."

At the end of the story, when all the Pandava brothers were climbing up to heaven, one by one they began falling down. Only Yudhishthira and his dog -- who was truth -- arrived at the gate of heaven. The truth reached heaven and the one who accompanied the truth reached heaven. It was his dog who had always lived with him and was of great integrity. Even his brothers did not have that much integrity, they fell on the way.

But the dog had never doubted, his faith was unlimited. All his life he had obeyed Yudhishthira. Even Yudhishthira was surprised to see that all his brothers had fallen down and only this dog could reach the gate of heaven with him. The door opened and Yudhishthira was welcomed, but the gatekeeper said, "Only you can come in, the dog cannot come in. No dog has ever entered heaven before this. Even human beings come here with great difficulty."

On hearing this Yudhishthira said, "Then I too cannot come in. This dog who was with me all my life, who has come all the way to the gates of heaven where even my brothers could not come, who has so much faith in me -- I cannot forsake him at any cost, otherwise I would consider myself worse than a dog! I am not going to leave him. Please close the door."

Then the whole of heaven laughed happily. All the gods gathered there and requested him to come in. Then Yudhishthira noticed that the dog was not a dog, it was Lord Krishna himself. It was his test! If at that time Yudhishthira had forsaken the dog and had entered the gate without him, then he would have missed heaven. That was the test of his love, of his faith, of his integrity. Yudhishthira learnt only one lesson -- truth; that was enough to take him to heaven. Arjuna took a long time to learn it. Krishna spoke the whole of the Gita but even then Arjuna went on doubting. Yudhishthira learnt only one small lesson in his life and that was the lesson of truth. Even the teacher had doubted his intelligence because he was stuck on the first lesson, but he soon realized that there is no other lesson after the first one.

Whoever has learnt one lesson has learnt all. Do not try to learn everything, otherwise you will miss -- a little, A LITTLE OF THE GITA. If there is a little awareness of the divine, if you have heard even a little of the song of the divine, if your ears have heard even a part of that song, if even one word has gone to your heart, then that will become the seed.

It will sprout and become a tree, and you will be filled up with unlimited fragrance. All is hidden in that one seed.