interesting stories

[pramanisa]

When a woman in a certain African tribe knows
she is pregnant, she goes out into the wilderness
with a few friends and together they pray and
meditate until they hear the song of the child.
They recognize that every soul has its own vibration
that expresses its unique flavor and purpose. When
the women attune to the song, they sing it out loud. 
Then they return to the tribe and teach it to everyone
else.

When the child is born, the community gathers and sings the child's song to him or her. Later, when the child enters education, the village gathers and chants the child's song. When the child passes through the initiation to adulthood, the people again come
together and sing. At the time of marriage, the person hears his or her song.

Finally, when the soul is about to pass from this world, the family and friends gather at the person's bed, just as they did at their birth, and they sing the person to the next life.

To the African tribe there is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people in the community
form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them.

The tribe recognizes that the correction for antisocial behavior is not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of identity. When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another.

A friend is someone who knows your song and sings it to you when you have forgotten it. Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.

You may not have grown up in an African tribe that sings your song to you at crucial life transitions, but life is always reminding you when you are in tune with yourself and when you are not. When you feel good, what you are doing matches your song, and when you feel awful, it doesn't. In the end, we shall all recognize our song and sing it well.

You may feel a little warbly at the moment, but so have all the great singers. Just keep singing and you'll find your way home.

[pramanisa]

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like."

The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in.

In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.

But the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell.'

They then went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The holy man said, "I don’t understand."

"It is simple" said the Lord, "In this place the people have learned to feed one another."
 

[pramanisa]

Many years ago I drove a taxi for extra money. I primarily worked the east end of Toronto. This was back in the days when the Greenwood Racetrack was in operation.

The track was a pretty lively place. Crowds of people were always streaming in and out. I did a lot of business down there dropping off fares and picking them up. When I think of those days, I remember one particular summer about 30 years ago.

Each time a taxi drove up to the front of the track, a group of local kids would run along the sidewalk angling for position by the passenger door. One lucky kid, or to be more accurate the most aggressive kid, would open the passenger door and say “Good luck at the track, Mister!”

The man getting out of the cab would invariably mumble thanks and flip the kid a quarter on his way from the taxi to the entrance of the track.

It was a routine that everybody knew. Sometimes the cops would chase these kids away but they always came back a couple of hours later or the next day.

Throughout the summer, one kid caught my eye. He was bigger than most of them but he was pushed away by even the smallest of all the other kids. He never pushed back. In fact he would even step aside when others pushed forward. He was actually courteous in the midst of all these aggressive kids.

Each time my cab or any other cab drove up it was another chance to be the one to open the door and say, “Good luck Mister!” and maybe get a quarter. This kid never stopped trying. He would watch the cab approach, figure out where it would stop along the sidewalk and then try his best to get to the door. He never made it. He always got pushed aside. But he never gave up.

Then one day his chance arrived.

As I was pulling up to the sidewalk all the kids were scrambling for a cab that had arrived just ahead of mine. They didn’t notice me pulling up.

The boy saw me and walked toward my taxi. As I pulled up I made sure to position the passenger door right beside him. He didn’t miss a beat. He opened the passenger door with a flourish and said to the man getting out, “Good luck at the track, Mister!”

But the man who got out of my cab did not say thanks. He did not flip him a quarter. He said, “Get out of my way kid!” and he pushed him aside so hard that the boy fell on the sidewalk and I knew it hurt him bad.

I was out of the cab in less than 10 seconds but I knew I would never find the man that pushed this boy down. He was gone in the crowd.

So I looked for the kid. I decided to give him $20 for the effort and gumption that I had watched him go through. By the time I spotted him he was far up ahead, walking away through the crowd, hands in his pockets and his head hanging down. I could not get to him. The other cabs behind mine were honking their horns and drivers were screaming obscenities at me, telling me to move the cab. The traffic cop was waving at me to get back in my taxi and get going.

The kid was walking the opposite way. By the time I got the cab turned around I lost sight of him. All I could do was pound my fist on the steering wheel.

I never saw him again.

Over time I have thought about that kid. I thought I would like to find him one day and tell him that if only he had stuck around a little longer I would have given him a whole $20 instead of the lousy quarter he was after, because I was so struck by his spirit.

After 30 years I realized that maybe I learned an important lesson from this kid. And maybe I am supposed to pass it along.

When things seem so hopeless that you are ready to give up, that is the time when things are most likely to turn around for you. One day we will all be recognized for how we tried. Not necessarily for what we did.

So don’t ever let up or walk away from integrity, because it will be the reason for your reward.
 

[pramanisa]

Excerpted from a speech delivered by Mr. William R. Brody  to the graduating class of John Hopkins University on May 26, 2005.

There is a man who I'd like to tell you about. His name is Sandy Greenberg. In his youth, Sandy was a very good student, but he came from a poor family. And so he went to Columbia University on a scholarship and there he met his roommate who also was receiving financial aid.

Now while he was a sophomore at Columbia University, Sandy contracted an eye disease that eventually proved to be glaucoma. But the trouble was, it wasn't detected early enough, and as a result he became legally blind. I ask you all to imagine for a moment having been sighted all your life, and then all of a sudden being faced, in a very competitive school, with losing so much sight you could no longer read. This is what happened to Sandy Greenberg.

But something else happened to Sandy that may surprise you. Sandy said that when he lost his sight, his roommate would read his textbooks to him, every night.

So I'm going to put you in that position, in a competitive school like Columbia, or Johns Hopkins. If your roommate had a serious disability, would you take the time to read textbooks to him every night, knowing the more you spend time reading textbooks to your roommate, perhaps the less well you might do with your other activities? That's not as easy a question as it first appears.

But luckily for Sandy, his roommate did. And as a result, Sandy went on to graduate with honors. He got a Fulbright Scholarship, and he went off to study at Oxford. He was still quite poor, but he said he had managed to save about five hundred dollars as he went along.

His roommate, meanwhile, also went on to graduate school. One day, Sandy got a call from him at Oxford. And his former roommate said, "Sandy I'm really unhappy. I really don't like being in graduate school, and I don't want to do this."

So Sandy asked, "Well what do you want to do?"

And his roommate told him, "Sandy, I really love to sing. I have a high school friend who plays the guitar. And we would really like to try our hand in the music business. But we need to make a promo record, and in order to do that I need $500."

So Sandy Greenberg told me he took all his life savings and sent it to his roommate. He told me, "You know, what else could I do? He made my life; I needed to help make his life."

So, I hope you'll remember the power of doing well by doing good. Each of you, in your own lives, will be faced with challenges, with roadblocks, with problems that you didn't anticipate or expect. How you are able to deal with adversity will be influenced, to no small extent, by how you deal with others along the way. What you get will depend a lot on what you give. And that's the end of the story of doing well, by doing good.

Ah! I almost forgot. You probably are wanting to know who Sandy's roommate was. I think you've heard of him. Sandy's roommate was a fellow by the name of Art Garfunkel, and he teamed up with another musician by the name of Paul Simon. That $500 helped them cut a record that eventually became "The Sounds of Silence." Recently, we had the pleasure of going to Sandy's daughter's wedding, and it was Art Garfunkel who sang as Sandy walked his daughter down the aisle.

When you get to be my age (which, for some of you, is really old, (though it doesn't seem so old to me anymore), you will find yourself beginning to ask, did my life make a difference?

That's the day of personal reckoning. And I think the only way to face it is to consider, every day of your life: How can I do something for somebody else? How can I give back to others? It may be teaching, it may be becoming a doctor, you may be successful in business - no matter what your career path, there will always be the opportunity to give back. The chance will present itself to be giving of your time, giving of your money, but mostly, to be giving of yourselves, of your own heart and soul.

My hope today, as you commence to new beginnings, is you will always keep your eyes open for those opportunities to give and embrace them as your best sure way of doing well.
 

[pramanisa]

The hospital I worked in during my stay in Swaziland sits atop the beautiful and very steep Lebombo Mountains. In this part of the world people often have to walk 40 kilometers or more in order to see a doctor.

As you can imagine there are many people in the community who are simply too sick or too poor to get to a hospital. This is where home-based care comes in. The home-based care team consists of several nurses who jump into a small truck/van every morning and travel out to the community to tend to the health needs of the truly destitute.

Before I went out with the team I used to buy potatoes and carrots and apples to give to the people we met - because health care in Africa is often just as much about the provision of food as it is about medicine. I would always make sure I also bought a bag of sweets to give to the beautiful children we would meet out in the community. I have learned that sweets are one of the great unifiers in the human world - we might look different and speak different languages - but most of us - especially the young ones - love sweets!

One day we stopped at one of the 15,000 orphan-led households in Swaziland. Inside the hut we found a beautiful little girl with huge brown eyes. Her name was Tanzile. I gave her a sweet from my bag and she said something back to me in Si-swati, the native language, which the nurse next to me translated:

"She wants another one doctor - to give to her little sister."

I said "of course" and gave her another. After we had tended to a man with tuberculosis a bit further down the road, we passed by Tanzile's house to say goodbye. To our surprise she seemed to be holding on to that extra sweet I had given her.

I remember saying to the nurse "this little darling is clever - she has taken two for herself. If I was her I'd probably have asked for the whole bag!" But after the nurse had asked her some more questions this is what we learned:

Tanzile is 7 now. Two years ago when she was five her mum and dad both died of HIV/AIDS like so many have in this country. At the time of her parents tragic death, she was separated from her baby sister who was three at the time. Tanzile has not laid eyes on her since. But ever since that time, whenever Tanzile receives anything from anyone, including food, - she refuses to accept it, unless they give her two. Two carrots, two toys, two sweets - one for her and one for her baby sister (who in all likelihood didn't survive.)

In fact, in the little mud hut where she lives, we found a pile of old things which she has been collecting to give to her sister one day.

My friends, people sometimes look at faces of African children or kids in the developing world and think that they are somehow different than our kids - that somehow they dont feel pain or sadness or love. But that is not true. Their pain is deep. And so is their love.

I can still remember the nurse trying to convince her that "if someone gives you food Tanzile, you must accept it - even if it is only one piece and not two - for your own health and safety." And it was so hard for us to keep the tears from our eyes as she shook her head defiantly. Her hope and her love was all that she had. It mattered more than anything else.

When I returned home that day, I was shocked to find that this was not an isolated story but others in the hospital knew of orphans just like Tanzile - waiting with a little pile of things in their hut, for their sibling or their parent who they havent seen in so long.

I think of that old Eagles song - "when we're hungry, love will keep us alive." I pray that for Tanzile's sake and the other beautiful children like her that it will.

[pramanisa]

People say – Love is blind, Love is crazy. But, have we ever tried to find reason for this?

Recently I found this in a SMS… I am afraid, whether there could be a better explanation than this.

Once in the garden of God’s paradise, all the feelings decided to play hide n seek.
Madness started counting – 1,9, 888, 56,7,0,…. And all others were hiding.

Lie said he will hide near the tree but didn’t do that way.

Love hid herself in a rose bush.

After a while, everyone was caught except Love.

Envy told Madness where Love was hiding. So Madness jumped in the bush and dragged Love out.

Because of the thorns in the bush, Love lost both her eyes.

Hence God cursed Madness and he was ordered to be with Love forever.

Since then Love is blind and Madness always accompanies it.

[pramanisa]

"What happened in school today, Tony?" asked Tony's mother as she served him his helping of spaghetti and meatballs. The Allen family was seated around the dinner table for their evening meal.

"Actually, there was something kind of cool," replied Tony. "This new kid in the class, I think his name is Roy, he cracked everybody up by something he said."

"What did he say?" asked Tony's sister, Heather..

"Well, you see," explained Tony, "our teacher, Ms. Hernandez, was talking about this story in which some kid said that she wanted to be totally happy. Ms. Hernandez asked us if we could think of a time when we were totally happy."

"That's an interesting question," put in Tony's father.

"Yeah, well, what this kid, Roy, said was that if he had an insect bite on his seat, you know, on his rear end, and it itched like crazy and he could scratch it as hard as he wanted to, he would be totally happy."

"That's pretty gross," said Heather, making an ugly face.

"Yeah, it was pretty gross all right," Tony agreed, "but it cracked everybody up. Kids laughed so loud you couldn't hear Ms. Hernandez trying to get us to shut up."

"That was a disgusting thing to say," said Tony's mother disapprovingly.

"Yeah," agreed Heather, "it was a yucky thing to say, but, you know, it's right! If scratching a very itchy insect bite gives you so much pleasure that , at that moment, you don't want anything else, then you're totally happy."

"I wouldn't call that total happiness," protested Tony.

"Why not?" insisted Heather; "total happiness is just enjoying something, it doesn't matter what it is - scratching an insect bite, stuffing yourself with chocolate cake, whatever - enjoying it so much that you don't at that time want anything else. Do you have some other explanation of what total happiness is?"

Tony decided to change the subject. He wished he hadn't told his family about what Roy had said in school. He didn't think Heather was right about what total happiness is, but he didn't know how to prove she was wrong. She was always winning arguments. He hated that.

Still, Tony was puzzled about what happiness is, and especially about what total happiness is. Is it just enjoying something so much that the thought of everything else is blanked out? Somehow that didn't seem right to him. But what could he say about total happiness that he could defend against Heather?

Story Source : http://philosophyforkids.com/stories/totalhappiness-beginning.shtml

[Starter]

MY WHAT TOUCHING WONDERFUL STORIES AND GREAT MORAL AT THE END.
PLEASE KEEP POSTING THEM
SAIRAM

[pramanisa]

Dear Starterji,

All these stories are collected by different sites. Whatever i liked i'm sharing here. The credit goes to the ones who have written this. May baba bless them and their family.

I shall keep browsing and try to get some interesting stories.

Jai sai ram

Prajna

[pramanisa]

A young man was at the end of his rope, seeing no way out, he
dropped to his knees in prayer "Lord, I can't go on," he said.
"I have too heavy a cross to bear."

The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear its weight,
just place your cross inside this room. Then, open that
other door and pick out any cross you wish."

The man was filled with relief and said,
"Thank you Lord," and he did as he was told.

Upon entering the other room, he saw many crosses;
some so large the tops were not visible. Then,
he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall.

"I'd like that one, Lord," he whispered.

The Lord replied, "My son, that is the cross you just brought in."

When life's problems seem overwhelming, it helps to look around and see
what other people are coping with. You may consider yourself far more
fortunate than you imagined.

YOUR CROSS
Whatever your cross
Whatever your pain
There will always be sunshine
After the rain
Perhaps you may stumble
Perhaps even fall
But God's always there
To help you through it all.

[pramanisa]

Once upon a time, two brothers who lived on adjoining farms fell into
conflict. It was the first serious rift in 40 years of farming
side-by-side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods as needed,
without a hitch. Then the long collaboration fell apart.
 
It began with a small misunderstanding, and it grew into a major
difference, and finally, it exploded into an exchange of bitter words,
followed by weeks of silence.
 
One morning, there was a knock on John's door. He opened it to find a
man with a carpenter's toolbox.   I'm looking for a few days' work,   he
said.   Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there that I
could help with? Could I help you?   
 
   Yes,   said the older brother.   I do have a job for you. Look
across the creek at that farm. That's my neighbor. In fact, it's my
younger brother! Last week, there was a meadow between us. He recently
took his bulldozer to the river levee, and now there is a creek between
us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I'll do him one better.
See that pile of lumber by the barn? I want you to build me a fence. an
8-foot fence -so I won't need to see his place, or his face, anymore   
 
The carpenter said,   I think I understand the situation. Show me the
nails, and the post-hole digger, and I'll be able to do a job that
pleases you.   
 
The older brother had to go to town, so he helped the carpenter get the
materials ready and then he was off for the day. The carpenter worked
hard all that day -- measuring, sawing, and nailing. About sunset, when
the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job.
 
The farmer's eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped. There was no fence
there at all. It was a bridge... a bridge that stretched from one side
of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work, with handrails, and
all!
 
And, the neighbor, his younger brother, was coming toward them, his
hand outstretched...   You are quite a fellow to build this bridge,
after all I've said and done.   
 
The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in
the middle, taking each other's hand. They turned to see the carpenter
hoist his toolbox onto his shoulder.   No, wait! Stay a few days. I've a
lot of other projects for you,   said the older brother.
 
I'd love to stay on,   the carpenter said, but I have many more bridges
to build. Just remember this...
 
1. God won't ask what kind of car you drove, but He'll ask how many
people you helped get where they needed to go.
 
2. God won't ask the square footage of your house, but He'll ask how
many people you welcomed into your home.
 
3. God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet, but He'll
ask how many you helped to clothe.
 
4. God won't ask how many friends you had, but He'll ask how many
people to whom you were a friend.
 
5. God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, but He'll ask how you
treated your neighbors.
 
6. God won't ask about the color of your skin, but He'll ask about the
content of your character.
 
7. God won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation, but He'll
lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of
Hell.

[pramanisa]

THE MOUSE TRAP



A little mouse living on a farm was looking through a crack in the wall one day and saw the farmer and his wife opening a package. The mouse was intrigued by what food the package may contain. He was aghast to discover that it was a mouse trap.
 
 The mouse ran to the farmyard warning
everyone "there is a mouse trap in the house,... there is a mouse trap in the house...."
 
The chicken raised his head and said "Mr. Mouse, I can tell you
this trap is a grave concern to you, but it has no consequence to me and I cannot be bothered with it. "
 
The mouse turned to the pig "I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse, but the trap is no concern of mine either."
 
The mouse then turned to the bull, "sounds like you have a problem Mr. Mouse, but not one that concerns me."
 
The mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected that no one would help him or was concerned about his dilemma....
 He knew he had to face the trap on his own......
 
That night the sound of a trap catching its prey was heard throughout the house.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness she could not see that it was a venomous snake who's tail the trap had caught . The snake bit the farmers wife.

The wife caught a bad fever and the farmer knew the best way to treat a fever was with chicken soup. The farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard to get the soups main ingredient.

The wife got sicker and friends and neighbors came by to take turns sitting with her round the clock. The farmer knew he had to feed them, so he butchered the pig.

The farmer wife did not get better, in fact she died and so many friends and family came to her funeral that the farmer had to slaughter the bull to feed all of them...

MORAL OF THE STORY: So the next time we hear that one of our teammates (Friend) is facing a problem and think it does not concern or affect us, let us remember that when anyone of us is in trouble, we are all at risk.

[pramanisa]

A girl and guy were speeding over 100 mph down the road on a motorcycle.

This is the conversation they had...

Girl: Slow down. I'm scared.
Guy: No this is fun!
Girl: No it's not. Please, we're going too fast!
Guy: Then tell me you love me and I will slow down.
Girl: Fine, I love you. Slow down!
Guy: Now give me a BIG hug.
          *Girl hugs him*
Guy: Can you take my helmet off and put it on? Its bugging me.

In the paper the next day: A motorcycle had crashed into a building because of break failure. Two ppl were in the accident, but only one survived.

The truth was that halfway down the road, the guy realized that his breaks went out, but he didn't want to let the girl know. Instead, he had her say she loved him and felt her hug one last time, then had her wear his helmet so that she would live even though it meant that he would die......

“Love is not selfish so
Love is not being happy
it is to make happy whom you love
even if you are unhappy with it.”

[pramanisa]

You Reap What You Sow ....
 
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in
the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of
their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as
the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate
sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class
was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything
to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much." were most of the
comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they
discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter.


The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with
themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher
attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman
in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.

The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took
a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to
her. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. She nodded: "yes." Then he
said: "Mark talked about you a lot."

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a
luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with
his teacher.

"We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his
pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might
recognize it."

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper
that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew
without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the
good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.

"Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark
treasured it."

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather
sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk
at home."

Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album."

"I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary."

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet
and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at
all times," Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: "I think
we all saved our lists."

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and
for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end
one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.


So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and
important. Tell them, before it is too late.

[pramanisa]

Think...This...

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem.
One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."
"Triple filter?"

"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not.

Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

This is why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.