STORY OF THE DAY

[fatima]

Footsteps

Deep in his slumber, one night a man had a very real, yet surreal dream. He dreamt that he was walking along the beach with God. As he looked up at the sky, he saw all the scenes of his life flash by along with two sets of footprints: one set for himself, and another for God.

After all the scenes had flashed before him, he looked back at those footprints and noticed something quite disturbing: At the most difficult times in his life, he saw only one set of footprints.

This deeply troubled the man, so he turned and said to God: "You said that if I followed you, then you would always walk with me through thick and thin. In looking back, I see that during the most painful times there is only one set of footprints. Why did you leave me when I needed you the most?"

"I love you and would never leave. It was during those times when you suffered the most that I carried you." 
 
Though this was originally a religious parable, it is also one of great spiritual depth even for the non-religious. One need only replace "God" with any word they use, be it "Allah," "Universal Connectedness," "Consciousness," "Higher Self," or others, to see that we are not alone, and that there is an energy that is always looking out for the best interests of our spiritual evolution.
 

[tana]

Om Sai Ram~~~

Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions.

 
For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

 
"Congratulations, " the boss said. "Go on that way!" Very motivated for the boss' words, the woodcutter try harder the next day, but he only could bring 15 trees. The third day he try even harder, but he only could bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.

 
"I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

 
"When was the last time you sharpened your axe?" the boss asked. "Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees...

 
I think you have already got the point from the above story. Many Jobseekers do the same mistake. Its not at all a hard thing to find various job requirements on internet but to get a job what exactly you have to do is Sharpening your axe. What does that mean? If you are a fresher instead of keep on applying for jobs first focus & improve your skills on Aptitude, Reasoning, GD, HR & puzzles etc.

If you are really good at above topics you need not worry about getting a good job.

My dear friends, today many people are rich in this world because  they are not rich in money from childhood but they are rich in Attitude. Attitude, that creates an altitude in your life.


It doesn't matter how much % you got in your previous degree or in which college you studied. It's all about focusing on your weaknesses by introspecting yourself. Turn your weaknesses into strengths. Winners don't do different things but they do things differently.

Finally to make a difference, to reach your goal what all we need is Burning Desire, Determination, Dedication, Positive attitude & commitment .

Jai Sai Ram~~~

[tana]

Om Sai Ram~~~

The Secret of Life~~~

One day, God and a sage are walking across a vast desert. The Sage turns to God and asks, "O Greatest Lord, what are the secret of this life and the appearances of this world?" God smiles and makes no reply. They continue on.

"Child," God finally says. "The sun is hot today, and I am thirsty. Ahead you will find a village. Go there and fetch me a cup of water."

Sage sets off. Arriving at the village, he approaches the first house he sees and knocks at the door. A beautiful young woman answers. The moment Sage looks into her eyes he forgets God's command, and the reason for his mission.

The woman ushers Sage into the house, where he is warmly welcomed by her family. It is as if everyone in this gentle household has been expecting him. Sage is asked to eat with the family, and then to stay the night. He gladly accepts, enjoying the family's warm hospitality, and secretly marveling at the young woman's loveliness.

A week goes by, then two. Sage decides to stay on, and he soon begins to share in the household chores. After the appropriate amount of time passes he asks for the woman's hand in marriage. The family has been expecting nothing less, it turns out. Everyone is overjoyed.


Sage and his young wife settle down in her family's house, where she soon bears him three children, two sons and a daughter.

Years pass. When his wife's mother and father pass away, Sage takes over as head of the household. He opens a small shop in the village and it prospers. Before long he is an honoured citizen of the community and a prominent member of the town council. Giving himself up to the age-old joys and sorrows of village life, Sage lives contentedly for many years.

Then one evening during the monsoon season a violent storm breaks over head, and the river rises so high from the sudden rains that the village begins to flood. Sage gathers his family and leads them through the dark night toward higher ground. But the winds blow so violently and the rain pelts down with such force that one of Sage's sons is washed away.

Sage reaches for the boy, and in so doing lets go of his second son. A moment later a gales wind tears his daughter from his arms. Then his beloved wife is washed away into the roaring darkness.

Sage wails helplessly and claws at the sky. But his cries are drowned by a towering wave that rises from the depths of the terrible night and washes him headlong into the river.

All goes black. Many hours pass; perhaps days. Slowly, painfully, Sage comes to his senses, only to discover that he has been washed onto a sandbank far down the river. It is daytime now, and the storm has passed. But there is no sign of his family anywhere, or, for that matter, of any living creature.

For a long time Sage remains lying on the sand almost mad with sorrow and abandonment. Bits of wreckage float past him in the river. The smell of death is on the wind.
Everything has been taken from him now; all things life-giving and precious have disappeared into the swirling waters. There is little to do, it seems, but weep.

Then, suddenly, Sage hears a voice behind him that makes the blood stop in his veins. "Child," the voice asks, "where is my cup of water?" Sage turns and sees God standing at his side. The river vanishes, and once again he and God are alone in the empty desert. "Where is my water?" God asks again. "I have been waiting for you to bring it now for several minutes."

Sage throws himself at his Lord's feet and begs for forgiveness. "I forgot!" Sage cries again and again.
"I forgot what you asked of me, Great Lord! Forgive me!"

God smiles and says, "Now do you understand the secret behind your life, and the appearances of this world?"

Jai Sai Ram~~~

[Ramesh Ramnani]

If you want to live, live here and now.....

There is an old story. In the days of the Upanishads there was a great king, Yayati. His death came. He was a hundred years old. When death came he started crying and weeping. Death said, 'This doesn't suit you, a great emperor, a brave man. What are you doing? Why are you crying and weeping like a child? Why are you trembling like a leaf in a strong wind? What has happened to you?' Yayati said, 'You have come and I have not yet been able to live. Please give me a little more time so that I can live. I did many things, I fought in many wars. I accumulated much wealth, I have made a great kingdom. I have added much to my father's wealth but I have not lived. In fact, there was no time to live, and you came. No, this is unjust. You give me a little more time!' Death said, 'But I have to take somebody. Okay, make an arrangement. If one of your sons is ready to die for you, I will take him.'

Yayati had one hundred sons, thousands of wives. He asked, he called his sons. The older ones wouldn't listen. They had themselves become cunning and they were in the same trap. One, the eldest, was seventy. He said, 'But I have also not lived. What about me? At least you have lived a hundred years, I have lived only seventy. I should be given a little more of a chance.' The youngest, who was just sixteen or seventeen, came, touched his father's feet, and said, 'I am ready.' Even death felt com passion for this boy. Death knew that he was innocent, not versed in the ways of the world, did not know what he was doing. Death whispered in the ear of the boy, 'What are you doing? You fool! Look at your father. At the age of a hundred he is not ready to die, and you are just seventeen! You have not even touched life.' The boy said, 'The life is finished! Because my father at the age of a hundred feels still that he has not been able to live, so what is the point? Even if I live a hundred years, it is going to be the same. It is better to let him live my life. If he cannot live in a hundred years, then the whole thing is pointless.'

The son died and the father lived a hundred years more. Again death knocked and again he started crying and weeping. He said, 'I completely forgot. I was again increasing wealth, expanding the kingdom, and the hundred years have gone as if in a dream. You are again here and I have not lived.' And this continued.

The death came again and again and she would take one of the sons. Yayati lived for one thousand years more.

A beautiful story, but the same happened again. One thou sand years passed and death came. Yayati was trembling and weeping and crying. Death said, 'But now it is too much. You have lived one thousand years and you again say that you have not been able to live.' Yayati said, 'How can one live in the here and now? I always postpone: tomorrow and tomorrow. And tomorrow? -- suddenly you are there.'

Postponing life is the only sin that I can call sin. Don't post pone. If you want to live, live here and now. Forget the past, forget the future; this is the only moment, this is the only existential moment -- live it. Once lost it cannot be recovered, you cannot reclaim it. -

[Praveen P V S]

Ramesh Bhai, A nice story form me at the right time.
Thanks a lot Ramesh Bhai. Baba thanks for giving me such good family.
Allah Malik.

[fatima]

Struggle

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole at the end.

Eventually, the butterfly stopped making progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. The man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were nature's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If nature allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly... 

[tana]

Om Sai Ram~~~

The Broken Pot ~~~

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.
At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house. Because of my flaws, you have to do a lot of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them.
For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Moral~~~

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

Jai Sai Ram~~~

[fatima]

The Land of Truth

A certain man believed that the ordinary waking life, as people know it, could not possibly be complete. He
sought the real Teacher of the Age. He read many books and joined many circles, and he heard the words and witnessed the deeds of one master after another. He carried out the commands and spiritual exercises which seemed to him to be most attractive.

He became elated with some of his experiences. At other times he was confused; and he had no idea at all of what his stage was, or where and when his search might end.

This man was reviewing his behavior one day when he suddenly found himself near the house of a certain sage of high repute. In the garden of that house, he encountered Khidr, the secret guide who shows the way to truth.

Khidr took him to a place where he saw people in great distress and woe, and he asked who they were. "We are those who did not follow real teachings, who were not true to our undertakings, who revered self-appointed teachers," they said.

Then the man was taken by Khidr to a place where everyone was attractive and full of joy. He asked who they were. "We are those who did not follow the real Signs of the Way," they said.

"But if you have ignored the Signs, how can you be happy?" asked the traveler.

"Because we chose happiness instead of Truth," said the people, "just as those who chose the self-appointed chose also misery."

"But is happiness not the ideal of man?" asked the man.

"The goal of man is Truth. Truth is more than happiness. The man who has Truth can have whatever mood he wishes, or none," they told him. "We have pretended that Truth is happiness, and happiness Truth, and people have believed us, therefore you, too, have until now imagined that happiness must be the same as Truth. But happiness makes you its prisoner, as does woe."

Then the man found himself back in the garden with Khidr beside him.

"I will grant you one desire," said Khidr.

"I wish to know why I have failed in my search and how I can succeed in it," said the man. "You have all but wasted your life," said Khidr, "because you have been a liar. Your lie has been in seeking personal gratification when you could have been seeking Truth."

"And yet I came to the point where I found you," said the man, " and that is something which happens to hardly anyone at all."

"And you met me," said Khidr, "because you had sufficient sincerity to desire Truth for its own sake, just for an instant. It was that sincerity, in that single instant, which made me answer your call."

Now the man felt an overwhelming desire to find Truth, even if he lost himself.

Khidr, however, was starting to walk away, and the man began to run after him.

"You may not follow me," said Khidr, "because I am returning to the ordinary world, the world of lies, for that is where I have to be, if I am to do my work."

And when the man looked around him again, he realized that he was no longer n the garden of the sage, but standing in the Land of Truth. 

[tana]

Om Sai Ram~~~

One Apple~~~

A teacher teaching Maths to seven-year-old Raj asked him, "If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"Within a few seconds Raj replied confidently, "Four!"

The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was disappointed. "Maybe the child did not listen properly," she thought. She repeated, "Raj, listen carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"

Raj had seen the disappointment on his teacher's face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, "Four…"

The disappointment stayed on the teacher's face. She remembered that Raj liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn't like apples and that is making him loose focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, "If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?"

Seeing the teacher happy, young Raj calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile young Raj enquired, "Three?"

The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, "Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?"

Promptly Raj answered, "Four!"

The teacher was aghast. "How Raj, how?" she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.

In a voice that was low and hesitating young Raj replied, "Because I already have one apple in my bag."


"When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect don't think they are wrong. There maybe an angle that you have not understood at all. You will have to listen and understand, but never listen with a predetermined notion."

Jai Sai Ram~~~

[Ramesh Ramnani]

Mirror.....

One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big notice on the door on which was written:

'Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym'.

In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that man who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company itself. The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room.

The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up. Everyone thought: 'Who is this guy who was hindering my progress? Well, at least he died!'. One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood nearby the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see himself.

There was also a sign next to the mirror that said:

'There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth: it is YOU. You are the only person who can revolutionize your life. You are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success. You are the only person who can help yourself. Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your partner changes, when your company changes. Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life. 'The most important relationship you can have is the one you have with yourself'

Examine yourself, watch yourself. Don't be afraid of difficulties, impossibilities and losses: be a winner, build yourself and your reality. It's the way you face Life that makes the difference

[fatima]

Three Questions


Once a king wanted to know answers to three questions about which he had been contemplating for a long time. One day the king raised these questions in his Court Hall. The questions were: Where is God? In what direction does He cast His look? What does He do? None could answer these questions. The King then summoned with due honor a sage to his court. He asked the sage to answer these questions.

The Sage replied: "Like butter in the milk God is everywhere". To answer the second question the sage asked for a lamp. He lit the lamp and asked the King: "In which direction does this lamp shed its light?" The lamp sheds its light in all the directions" replied the king. The sage said "Likewise God is Effulgence itself and His vision is not directed to a particular place or person. He is all seeing". The king asked: "What does He do?" The sage said: "Since I am in a way instructing you in spiritual matters, I am in the position of a preceptor, you a disciple. So we have to exchange our places. Are you prepared for this?" The king agreed and came down from his elevated position and sat on the seat in which the sage sat. The sage said with a twinkle in his eyes: "This is what God does. He brings down the mighty and elevates the humble. He can make the poor rich and the rich poor. He can do anything. He is all pervading. He is all seeing and Omnipotent." The king was very much pleased with these answers. He expressed his gratitude to the sage and honored him in a fitting manner.

Like the king in the story, every one of us should try to understand the true characteristics of God: God is Omnipresent, Omniscient, and Omnipotent

[tana]

Om Sai Ram~~~

Five More Minutes~~~

While at the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground. "That's my son over there," she said, pointing to a little boy in a red sweater who was gliding down the slide.

"He's a fine looking boy," the man said. "That's my son on the swing in the blue sweater." Then, looking at his watch, he called to his son. "What do you say we go, Todd?"

Todd pleaded, "Just five more minutes, Dad. Please? Just five more minutes." The man nodded and Todd continued to swing to his heart's content.

Minutes passed and the father stood and called again to his son. "Time to go now?" Again Todd pleaded, "Five more minutes, Dad. Just five more minutes."

The man smiled and said, "okay."

"My, you certainly are a patient father," the woman responded.

The man smiled and then said, "My older son Tommy was killed by a drunk driver last year while he was riding his bike near here. I never spent much time with Tommy and now I'd give anything for just five more minutes with him. I've vowed not to make the same mistake with Todd. He thinks he has five more minutes to swing. The truth is, I get 'five more minutes' to watch him play."

Life is all about making priorities -- what are your priorities?

Jai Sai Ram~~~

[fatima]

SHAH JAHAN'S HUMILITY

 

While resting one summer’s day during the heat of the noon hour, the great Mogul king, Shah Jahan, was suddenly overcome with thirst. He clapped his hands for a servant to bring him water, but none of the palace servants happened to be nearby. Rising from his couch, he looked in the water jug that was always kept in his chamber. It was empty.

“Water I must have,” said the king, “and that at once. And the only way to get it now is to go to the well and draw it up myself”.

Leaving his royal chamber, he went to the well and drew up a bucket filled with fresh, cold water. But as he leaned forward to draw the bucket to him, his hand got caught in the crank of the wheel. The pain was sudden and severe, and the great king cried aloud in his agony. But, then, recollecting himself, he bowed before the Lord and said:

“O, Beloved Lord, I thank You from the bottom of my heart for this experience. I am such a stupid fool that I do not even know how to take water from a well. Yet, through Your inscrutable grace, You have made me a king”.

[tana]

Om Sai Ram~~~

The Saint and the Scorpion~~~


One morning, after he had finished his meditation, the old man opened his eyes and saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the water.

As the scorpion was washed closer to the tree, the old man quickly stretched himself out on one of the long roots that branched out into the river and reached out to rescue the drowning creature.

As soon as he touched it, the scorpion stung him. Instinctively the man withdrew his hand. A minute later, after he had regained his balance, he stretched himself out again on the roots to save the scorpion.

This time the scorpion stung him so badly with its poisonous tail that his hand became swollen and bloody and his face contorted with pain.

At that moment, a passerby saw the old man stretched out on the roots struggling with the scorpion and shouted: "Hey, stupid old man, what's wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, evil creature. Don't you know you could kill yourself trying to save that ungrateful scorpion?"

The old man turned his head. Looking into the stranger's eyes he said calmly, "My friend, just because it is the scorpion's nature to sting, that does not change my nature to save".

Never loose your goodness just because you are dealing with evil~~~

Jai Sai Ram~~~

[vinuday]

The Untold pain of the innocent flower.........

Once there was a flower which had bloomed in its full glory and it was very happy that the plant which is bearing it is the flower’s life, the plant gave the flower strength, confidence and helped the plant to retain its glory by providing it life.
This plant had taken gr8 pain to make the flower born as a bud, then made the bud to blossom in every stage. The plant gave life, care, affection to the bud and made it grow in its full glory.
The flower was ready to experience the happines it would get in its life but then someone saw that flower and told that “ wow that flower is so beautiful.i need that”.The moment the flower and the plant heard this statement they felt very bad as they got scared whether they would pluck the flower and seperate it from the plant,the flower n the plant started crying but they were helpless as they could not do anything,
Finally that person came n plucked the flower from the plant,the moment they plucked the flower from the plant the flower lost its life and started to die slowly, the plant felt so bad and it started crying. The plant cried n cried that n was feeling very bad bcoz it gave its life to make the flower grow, the plant struggled so much to make it blossom, the plant supported the flower to grow in every way and finally with just a pluck someone separated the flower n the plant.
On the other hand the person who plucked the flower felt very happy that he had a very beautiful flower in hand and he took photographs with the flower and he kept it in his house, finally the flower dried in a day and he threw the flower, there ends the life of that beautiful flower.
In this whole story we have forgotten to notice so many things. As far as this story is considered on the outline there is nothing to feel sad about but if we take deep notice then we wud be able to realize that the pain of that flower goes completely untold,
The plant which beared that flower was sad for sumtime and then it recovered bcoz if this one flower goes the plant always has another flower and it wud give care and bring up another flower.
The person who plucked the flower liked the flower and then after his requirement is over he threw it as he did not need it. The person did not take any step or care to bring up this plant. He did not water the plant nor did he not save the plant from sun n wind or he did not even take care of the plant, wt rights does the person have to pluck the flower ?
Did any of us try to at least think what that flower would have felt, we wouldn’t, bcoz we never realize that there are hundreds of things around us and we never make notice of them.

The flower was dying slowly after it was plucked from the plant, slowly all its energy drained out, it started drying, lost all its beauty, the flower was in so much of  pain n tears that it was away from its partner, it cried n cried n cried n suffered so much.........(In real life if we have done a mistake to sum one do we ever realize that we have done a mistake and even if we realize that we have done a mistake do we really think that someone is suffering bcoz of us ?)
When the flower was in pain the person did not mind that n he used the flower for his enhancement, his requirements, even when the flower was crying it still did its duty of giving beauty and spreading fragrance, the flower was in such deep pain and it remained in that pain and slowly died. ( In real life we should try and understand other’s difficulty and we should never use them for our enhancement when they are in pain....)
The plant always had another flower to bloom, the person always had another flower to buy, but it was the flower that had to suffer for no mistake and finally it met death.
The moral of the story is that we see something, if we like it then we should admire it, we can love it but we should never try to get something which is not ours because for everything that is in its position today there is lot of hidden hard work in many ways from many people. If we have worked towards getting something then we have rights to make it ours or to even destroy it but what rights does anyone have to grab things from others just because they like it or just bcoz they can be happy with that or just because they have a requirement for it.
Such people who try to make others things as theirs escape by telling that it is bcoz of the situation they have to do it....Is this right.....No not at all....In every situation we should try to do good to others and never find reasons for doing something wrong and blame fate or situation.......
Friends let us make sure that we will never try to grab anything from anyone for what ever reason it is. we will work hard for what we want and we have a hold only on those things for which we are liable to get.

Sairam