Dissolving the bitterness of life…......... the Salt way

Radhekrishna

Once a young man came to a revered teacher, who was seated under a tree near a beautiful lake, and asked for the solution for his unhappiness. After some minutes of conversation the old master kindly instructed the visitor to put a handful of salt in a
glass of water and then to drink a few mouthfuls. 

“How does it taste?” the teacher asked. “Awful,” said theapprentice after he had spat out the revolting liquid a few paces away. The teacher chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two
walked in silence to the nearby lake and when the youngster swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old man told him, “Now drink from the lake.” As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked him again, “How does it taste?”
“Good!” he replied. “Do you taste the salt?” asked the Master. “No,” said the young man. The Master sat beside the troubled youth, took his hands, and said,
“The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same. But the level of ‘pain we taste’ depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.
And you can become a lake where you broaden your outlook; when you stop looking only at yourself and your own miseries. Look at life as a whole and the many things without which you would not be what you are today – your friends, family, hobbies,
nature around you.
When you are confronted with a problem, you see only the problem and ruminate over it endlessly which only makes the situation more tragic. Think of previous instances when things were better. Look at all the blessings that God has filled your life with about which you never give a thought. Never compare yourself negatively with others. You are a unique person and if you have the faith, God will provide what you need. When you have a pain in your life, put it in front of GOD – then it will surely lessen. Do not put it in front of yourself – as you cannot see beyond it.

God is Infinite. Tap this source, with confidence. The young man left, and his viewpoint on his problems had totally changed. As the saying goes:Tell your problems how big your God Is.


Ram Ram

What's the cost of our conscience....?

Ram Ram


Conscience is the voice of the soul, as the passions are voice of the body. – No wonder they often contradict each other...

A Saintly man visited a small town and made it his home. One day he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to a village nearby. When he settled down in his seat, he noticed that the conductor had by overlook given him one rupee too much change. As he considered what to do, the civility in him said, 'Better give the rupee back. It would be wrong to keep it.'

Just as he wavered in his thought, the evil in him whispered to him, 'Oh, forget it, it's only a rupee. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the Bus Company gets its coffers always full; they will never miss it. Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet.'

When his stop came, somehow he subconsciously paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the rupee to the conductor and said, 'Here, you gave me this extra change'

The conductor, with a smile, replied, 'Aren't you the new Saintly Man the town keeps talking about? Well, I have been hearing a lot of good about you lately. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you extra change.”

When the man stepped off the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and gasped, 'Oh God, I almost sold my Conscience for a Rupee!'


Ram Ram

Mind your mind

A Mystic was walking through the market-place with his disciples. They saw a man dragging a cow by a rope. The mystic told the man to wait and asked his disciples to surround them.

 

“I am going to teach you something” and continued “Tell me who is bound to whom? Is the cow bound to this man or the man is bound to the cow?”

 

The disciples said without hesitation “Of course, the cow is bound to the man. The man is the master. He is holding the rope. The cow has to follow him wherever he goes. The man is the master and the cow is the slave.”

 

“Now watch this” said the mystic and took scissors from his bag and cut the rope. The cow ran away from the master. The man ran after his cow!

 

“Look, what is happening.” said the mystic. “Do you see who the Master is? The cow is not at all interested in this man. The cow in fact, is escaping from this man. This is the case with our MIND.

 

All the unnecessary things that we carry inside is not interested in us. WE ARE INTERESTED IN IT, we are keeping it together somehow or the other. We are going mad trying to keep it all together under our control. The moment we lose interest in all the unnecessary things filled in our head, the moment we understand the futility of it, it will start to disappear. Like the cow, it will escape and disappear."

 

There is no need to stop the mind from thinking non-essential things. All one needs to do, is to become disinterested in its mumbo jumbo. Then the 'rope' will be cut.

 

That is the real meaning of SANYAS (RENUNCIATION OF DESIRES ) - To become disinterested in the mind. That is the real meaning of VAIRAGYA (DETACHMENT). It has nothing to do with renouncing the world but everything to do with the cutting of the 'rope' to the mind.

Ram Ram

Foot Prints

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.


In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.


This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”


The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”


Ram Ram

Story of Potatoes

Once a school teacher asked her students to bring some potatoes in a plastic bag. Each potato will be given a name of the person whom that child hates. Like this, the number of potatoes will be equal to the number of persons they hate.

On a decided day the children brought their potatoes well addressed. Some had two, some had three and some had even five potatoes. The teacher said they have to carry these 

potatoes with them everywhere they go for a week.

 As the days passed the children started to complain about the spoiled smell that started coming from these potatoes. Also some students who had many potatoes complained that it was very heavy to carry them all around. The children got rid of this assignment after a week, when it got over. The teacher asked, "How did you feel in this one week?" The children discussed their problems about the smell and weight. Then the teacher said, "This situation is very similar to what you carry in your heart when you don't like some people. This hatred makes your heart unhealthy and you carry that hatred in your heart everywhere you go. If you cannot bear the smell of spoiled potatoes for a week, imagine the impact of this hatred that you carry throughout your life, on your heart?"

Moral

We need to regularly clean the unwanted weeds that we grow. We must learn to forgive those who have not behaved with us as expected and forget the bad things. This would keep our mind more open and the cup will always have room for more good.

Ram Ram

Miracle .... Lord Shiva

In 1879, when there was British Rule in India, Lt. Col. Martin of Agar Malva was leading the army in the war against Afghanistan.

Col. Martin used to regularly send messages of his well-being to his wife. The war continued for long & Lady Martin stopped getting messages. She was very upset.

Once riding on her horse, she passed by the temple of Baijnath Mahadev. She was attracted to the sound of Conch & Mantra. She went inside & came to know that the Brahmans were worshipping Lord Shiva. They saw her sad face & asked her problem. She explained everything to them. They told her that Lord Shiva listens to the prayers of devotees & takes them out of difficult situations in no time.

With the advice of the Brahmans, she started the "Laghu-rudri Anushtthan" of the Mantra: "Om Namah Shivaya" for 11 days. She prayed to Lord Shiva that if her husband reaches home safely, then she would get the temple renovated.

On the last of the "Laghu-rudri", a messenger came & gave a letter to her. Her husband had written: "I was regularly sending messages to you from the battle grounds, but suddenly the Pathans surrounded us from all sides. We were entrapped in a situation where there was no scope of escaping death. Suddenly, I saw a Yogi of India with long hair, carrying a weapon with three pointers (Trishul). His personality was amazing & he was maneuvering his weapon with a magnificent style. Seeing this great man, the Pathans started running back. With his grace, our bad times turned into moments of victory. This was possible only because of that man of India wearing a lion skin & carrying a three-pointer weapon (Trishul). That great Yogi told me that I should not worry & that he had come to rescue me because he was very pleased with my wife's prayers"

Tears of joy were falling down the eyes of Lady Martin's eyes while reading the letter. Her heart was overwhelmed. She fell into the feet of Lord Shiva's statue & burst in tears.

After a few weeks, Col. Martin returned. Lady Martin narrated the whole incident to him. Now both husband & wife became devotees of Lord Shiva. In 1883, they donated Rs. 15,000/- for renovating the temple. The information engraved slab for the same is still there in the Baijnath Mahadev Temple of Agar Malva. This is the only Hindu temple built by British.

When Lady Martin left for Europe, she said that they would make Shiva Temple at their home & pray to Him till the end of life. 

Faith is the essence of all miracles and faith in God always protects.

Ram Ram

Kanchi Paramaacharyal's Gems

Assume that a person has some land for himself. Assume also that year after year the land gives higher yields. Beacause of this feeling " this field is mine " he is pleased whenever the yield increases.

The yeild then starts decreasing. He sells the land to somebody else. Again next year the land gives higher yield. When he finds this does he feel happy ? "Last year when i had this land it was barren.

Now the same land is yeilding a fortune for someone else".... he thinks in this way and feels jealous about it. so long as the connection mine was there with the land, there was happiness. Later, even when the crop was good the feeling has changed.......what is the cause for this change....THINK

Ram Ram