A Story of Two Horses

Follow the Link Below:-----------------------

https://life-is-unlimited.blogspot.com/2015/05/two-horses-author-unknown.html

Franz Kafka and the Doll

Franz Kafka and the Doll

"The picture is so profound just as the story behind it".

Franz Kafka, the story goes, encountered a little girl in the park where he went walking daily. She was crying. She had lost her doll and was desolate.

Kafka offered to help her look for the doll and arranged to meet her the next day at the same spot.

Unable to find the doll he composed a letter from the doll and read it to her when they met.
‘Please do not mourn me, I have gone on a trip to see the world. I will write you of my adventures.’

This was the beginning of many letters. When he and the little girl met he read her from these carefully composed letters the imagined adventures of the beloved doll. The little girl was comforted.

When the meetings came to an end Kafka presented her with a doll. She obviously looked different from the original doll. An attached letter explained ‘My travels have changed me.’

Many years later, the now grown girl found a letter stuffed into an unnoticed crevice in the cherished replacement doll.

In summary it said:
‘Every thing that you love, you will eventually lose, but in the end, love will return in a different form.’

— Kafka and the Doll, The Pervasiveness of Loss

What is Our Worth - A real good Story

What is Our Worth

Michael Jordan was an African-American man, born in 1963, in the slums of Brooklyn, New York.

He had four brothers and his father's wages were not sufficient to provide for the whole family.
He grew up in a poor neighborhood which was full of discrimination, to the point where he could not see any hope for the future.

When he was 13 years old, his father gave him a piece of used clothing and asked: "What do you think the value of this outfit would be?"

Jordan replied, "Maybe one dollar."

His father asked, "Can you sell it for two dollars? If you can sell it, it would mean that you are a big help
to your father and mother. "

Jordan nodded his head, "I'll try, but no guarantee that I'll be successful."

Jordan carefully washed the clothes clean. Because they didn't have an iron, to smoothen out clothes, he ..... [click on read more]

Giver's Gain

A Story from Indian Epic:

Giver's Gain

Once Krishna and Arjuna were walking towards a village. Arjuna was pestering Krishna, asking him why Karna should be considered an unparallelled Donor & not him ?

Krishna, turned two mountains into gold. 

Then said,  "Arjuna, distribute these two gold mountains among villagers, but you must donate every bit of it ". 

Arjuna went into the village, and proclaimed he was going to donate gold to every villager, and asked them to gather near the mountain. The villagers sang his praises and .....[Click on 'Read More' ]]

Happiness :)

[Courtesy: Source not known to me]

This story is about a beautiful, expensively dressed lady who complained to her psychiatrist that she felt that her whole life was empty, it had no meaning.

So, the lady went to visit a counselor to seek out happiness.

The counselor called over the old lady who cleaned the office floors.

The counselor then said to the rich lady "I'm going to ask Mary here to tell u how she found happiness. All I want u to do is listen to her."

So the old lady put down her broom and sat on a chair and told her story: ..... [[Click on 'Read More' \/]]

Lessons from Three Ships around Titanic

*There were three ships which were nearby when the Titanic sunk !*

One of them was known as the -*Sampson*. It was 7 miles away from the Titanic and they saw the white flares signaling danger, but because the crew had been hunting seals illegally and didn't want to be caught, they turned and went the opposite direction away from the Titanic. This ship represents many people like us, who are so busy looking inward at our own lives that we can't recognize when someone else is in need.

The next ship was the -*Californian*. This ship was only 14 miles away from the Titanic, but they were surrounded by ice fields and the captain looked out and saw the white flares, but because the conditions weren't favorable and it was dark, he decided to go back to bed and wait until morning. The crew tried to convince themselves that nothing was happening. This ship represents those of us who often say – "I can't do anything now. The conditions aren't right for it and so we wait until conditions are perfect before going out."

The last ship was the - *Carpathia* This ship was actually headed in a *opposite* direction 58 miles away from the Titanic when they heard the distress cries over the radio. The captain of this ship knelt down, prayed to God for direction and then turned the ship around and went full steam ahead through the ice fields. *This was the ship that saved the 705 survivors of the Titanic*
                 
*-ANALOGY -*
Obstacles and reasons to avoid responsibility shall always be there, But those who accept it always find a place in the hearts of the world, always to be remembered for of good they do.

12 LIFE LESSONS FROM A MAN WHO HAS SEEN 12000 DEATHS

(Some one informed that, this post has been originally posted on  Project Fuel: http://projectfuel.in/blog/ )

12 LIFE LESSONS FROM A MAN WHO HAS SEEN 12000 DEATHS

Life's Lessons

Rooted in the hearts of many Hindus is the belief that if you breathe your last in Kashi (Varanasi) you attain what is popularly known as ‘Kashi Labh’ or ‘the fruit of Kashi’—moksh or “release from the cycle of rebirth impelled by the law of karma”.

Kashi Labh Mukti Bhawan in Varanasi is one of the three guesthouses in the city where people check in to die. The other two are Mumukshu Bhawan and Ganga Labh Bhawan. Established in 1908, Mukti Bhawan is well-known within the city and outside.

Bhairav Nath Shukla has been the Manager of Mukti Bhawan for 44 years. He has seen the rich and the poor take refuge in the guesthouse in their final days as they await death and hope to find peace. Shukla hopes with and for them.

 He sits on the wooden bench in the courtyard, against the red brick wall and shares with me 12 recurring life lessons from the 12000 deaths he has witnessed in his experience as the manager of Mukti Bhawan: READ ON .....[[Click on "Read More below]]

Anger & Response

As the carpenter went home after shutting down his workshop, a black poisonous cobra entered his workshop.

The cobra was hungry & hoped to find its supper lurking somewhere within. It slithered from one end to another & finally bumped into an axe & got very slightly injured.

In anger & revenge,  the snake bit the axe with full force. What could a bite do to a metallic axe? Instead the cobra 's mouth started bleeding.

Out of fury & arrogance, the cobra tried it's best to strangle & kill the object that was causing it pain by wrapping itself around the axe.

The next day when the carpenter opened the workshop, he found a dead cobra wrapped around the axe blades. The cobra didn't die because of someone else's fault but faced these consequences merely because of it's own anger &  wrath.
   
Sometimes when angry, we try to cause harm to others but as the time passes by, we realise that we have caused more harm to ourselves.

For a happy life, it's best we should ignore & overlook things, people, incidents, affairs & matters.

It is not necessary that we show a reaction to everything. Step back & ask urself if the matter is really worth responding to .

People that show no inclination to change, are best handled with silence & prayer.

A Duck or An Eagle !

 I was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing I noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for me.

He handed me a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wasu, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, I read the card. It said: Wasu's Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew me away. Especially when I noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wasu said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'

I said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Wasu smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, lassi, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, I said, 'I'll take a Lassi.'

Handing me my drink, Wasu said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have .....

Marvan Atapatu Inspiring Life Story

An amazing story on Marvan Attapattu Srilankan Cricketer.

It’s a story that Harsha Bhogle, India’s most loved cricket commentator, loves to tell, over and over again. Making his debut in Test cricket for Sri Lanka, Marvan scored a duck in his first innings. And again, in his second innings.

They dropped him. So he went back to the nets for more practice. More first-class cricket. More runs. Waiting for that elusive call. And after twenty-one months, he got a second chance.

This time, he tried harder. His scores: 0 in the first innings, 1 in the second Dropped again, he went back to the grind. And scored tonnes of runs in first-class cricket. Runs that seemed inadequate to erase the painful memories of the Test failures. Well, seventeen months later, opportunity knocked yet again. Marvan got to bat in both innings of the Test. His scores: 0 and 0. Phew!

Back to the grind. Would the selectors ever give him another chance? They said ...

Two Horses. (Author Unknown)

Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it.

From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse.

But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing...

Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but ...

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Practice Without Integration is a Waste by Krishna Das

Practice Without Integration is a Waste
by Krishna Das
(Courtesy: http://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=972)

[Listen to Audio!]

I once met Roshi Philip Kapleau, the author of The Three Pillars of Zen. He was one of the first Westerners to go to Japan and do intense practice there. He was suffering from very advanced Parkinson's disease and had terrible physical discomfort, along with the involuntary spasms that come from the disease. One thing he said to me really stuck. As he was sitting there, writhing, he looked into my eyes and said with great intensity, "It doesn't matter how much practice you do. If you don't bring it into your daily life, it is all a waste." The power of this statement came from the depths of his realization and his daily battle with Parkinson's, and it shot straight into my heart.

We don't want to walk around afraid. We don't want to walk around feeling hurt and separate. We don't want to continue carrying around all the feelings of betrayal and pain that we've experienced in all of the relationships of our lives. No matter how much meditation, chanting, yoga poses, or any other practice we do, it's very hard to remove the fears that come up in our daily lives and the feeling of being isolated from the rest of the world. But the result of a true spiritual practice ultimately must be the lessening of that fear and isolation. We can't be judging ourselves if we're really singing or offering ourselves or someone else lovingkindness. These are the moments we're taking energy away from unconscious programs that run all the time in our heads about how small we are or how unworthy we are of love and affection.

We have a lot to worry about in our daily lives, a lot of stress. We move very fast and often get lost in the unconscious flow of our days. We can't control the things outside of us. We can't make people act the way we want them to act. We can't even make ourselves act the way we want to act! The good news is that our feeling of unworthiness, our self-judgment, is just stuff; it's not who we are. Stuff comes and stuff goes. What doesn't come and go is who we really are and what we really are. To experience this, we need a spiritual practice.

When we are doing a practice and begin to experience lighter states of being, we start to recognize that being greedy, fearful, jealous, angry, pushy, and manipulative in our relationships actually hurts. When we're stuck in one of those heavy states - which for most of us is all we've known - who suffers more than we do? Nobody. We may feel righteous about our heaviness and think that somebody else caused our suffering, but we're the ones who are burning! At these moments, it's very hard to practice. For example, if I'm really upset about something, it's very hard to sit down and chant. Sometimes I have to burn for a while until I can begin to let go and return to my practice.

-- Krishna Das, excerpted from Chants of a Lifetime

The Dalai Lama: Why I Laugh - by The Dalai Lama

Courtessy : http://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/14467be4720d4db2
The Dalai Lama: Why I Laugh
by The Dalai Lama

[Listen to Audio!]

I have been confronted with many difficulties throughout the course of my life, and my country is going through a critical period. But I laugh often, and my laughter is contagious. When people ask me how I find the strength to laugh now, I reply that I am a professional laugher. [...]

The life of exile is an unfortunate life, but I have always tried to cultivate a happy state of mind, appreciating the opportunities this existence without a settled home, far from all protocol, has offered me. This way I have been able to preserve my inner peace.

If we are content just to think that compassion, rationality, and patience are good, that is not actually enough to develop these qualities. Difficulties provide the occasion to put them into practice. Who can make such occasions arise? Certainly not our friends, but rather our enemies, for they are the ones who pose the most problems. So that we truly want to progress on the path, we must regard our enemies as our best teachers.

For whoever holds love and compassion in high esteem, the practice of tolerance is essential, and it requires an enemy. We must be grateful to our enemies, then, because they help us best engender a serene mind! Anger and hatred are the real enemies that we must confront and defeat, not the “enemies” who appear from time to time in our lives.

Of course it is natural and right that we all want to have friends. I often say jokingly that a truly selfish person must be altruistic! You have to take care of others, of their well-being, by helping them and serving them, to have even more friends and make more smiles blossom. The result? When you yourself need help, you will find all you need! On the other hand, if you neglect others’ happiness, you will be the loser in the long run. Is friendship born of arguments, anger, jealousy, and unbridled competition? I don’t think so. Only affection produces authentic friends. […]

As for me, I always want more friends. I love smiles, and my wish is to see more smiles, real smiles, for there are many kinds—sarcastic, artificial, or diplomatic. Some smiles don’t arouse any satisfaction, and some even engender suspicion or fear. An authentic smile, though, arouses an authentic feeling of freshness, and I think the smile belongs only to human beings. If we want those smiles, we must create the reasons that make them appear.

-- The Dalai Lama, in an excerpt from his book "My Spiritual Journey"

Living In The Age of Distraction - --by Margaret Wheatley

Living In The Age of Distraction -by Margaret Wheatley

 COURTESY: http://www.dailygood.org/story/449/living-in-the-age-of-distraction-margaret-wheatley/

“Sit, be still, and listen, because you're drunk and we're at the edge of the roof. --Jalaluddin Rumi”

For years I assumed that the Titanic tragedy was a result of human arrogance, the belief in the indestructibility of the newest, largest, fastest, fanciest ship of all time. But actually the Titanic went down because of distraction. Other ships had been warning about the iceberg-filled waters for days, but the Titanic’s captain changed course only slightly and did nothing to slow the ship’s speed. When the radio operator received a call from a ship that was surrounded by ice—this was less than an hour before the collision—he responded, “Shut up, shut up, I’m busy.” By the time lookouts spotted the iceberg ahead, it was too late to slow the Titanic’s momentum.  

Although overused, the Titanic is a chillingly accurate metaphor ... ...

Dada - Dadi ni Vidya Parab - Deepak and Manjari Buch

Given below is the details of grass root work being taken up by Shree Deepakbhai  and Manjariben Buch. Looking at the same, if you wish, you may like to vote for them, on following link

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http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/heroes/

(if the link doesn't open directly, please copy the same in the browser address line)
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Deepak and Manjari Buch
Nominated for : Empowering the poor.

Initiative - Teaching poor children for free

After more than three decades in office, Deepak Buch retired in style from his deputy manager’s post in Gujarat State Finance Corporation in 2005. But ‘what’s next?’ wasn’t bothering Buch and his better half Manjariben as the couple had long back decided to dedicate the post-retirement period to society. Their quest for the right cause soon found an answer in “securing the future of the poor but bright students”.

“I was speaking to my domestic help. His financial condition wasn’t good and it was affecting his children’s future for want of exposure and proper guidance. And it took us no time to decide that we want to help children of lower economic strata,” says Buch, 67.

On the Rath Yatra day in 2005, the elderly launched their free coaching centre and out of ... ... ...

POSITIVE EFFECTS OF METITATION (Thro TED)

HERE is the link, http://blog.ted.com/2013/01/11/4-scientific-studies-on-how-meditation-can-affect-your-heart-brain-and-creativity/

AND HERE is the text (For hyperlinks, please go through above link to TED)

Many people have tried to sell me on the idea of meditating. Sometimes I try it, and have an incredible, refreshing experience. But usually, as I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, while I know that I’m supposed to be letting all thoughts go, more and more fly through my mind. Soon I have a laundry-list of “to-dos” in my head … and then my legs fall asleep. It’s all downhill from there.


Today’s TED Talk, however, might actually ... ... ...

Mind - Adi Shankara charya

Amazing true story by Adi Shankaracharya ji  to explain the relationship of our mind & our Super Emotional Garbage !!!
Adi Sankara was walking through the market place with his disciples. They saw a man dragging a cow by a rope. Sankara 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 Sankara and took a pair of scissors from his bag and cut the rope. The cow ran away from the master and the man ran after his cow. “Look, what is happening”, said Sankara.
“Do you see who the Master is? The cow is not at all interested in this man. The cow in fact, is trying to escape from this man.” This is the case with our mind.
Like the cow, all the non-sense 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 crazy trying to keep it all together under our control.
 The moment we lose interest in all the garbage filled in our head, and the moment we understand the futility of it, it will start to disappear. Like the cow, it will escape and disappear.”
We can allow disappearing of all the unwanted things from our mind and feel relaxed.

Success & Successful People

Success in life is more than: Winning accolades for your work, getting rich & famous or having more than others.

It is about making a difference, creating an impact & fulfilling your inherent desire to create. 

Successful people:

1. Listen to the voice that encourages them to take challenges. 

2. Create an impact by bringing a change in people’s life.

3. Are passionately involved in their work. 

4. Stand by their principles even in challenging times.

5. Have the perseverance to achieve their goals & never quit. 

6. Remain a student forever & try to master their work.

7. Have an unwavering faith that what they are doing is right. 

8. Take risks to achieve their dreams.

9. Have a strong reason for what they set to do.

સફળતા વિશેના સ્વામી વિવેકાનંદના સૂત્રો... - સ્વામી વિવેકાનન્દ (Swami Vivekanand)

સફળતા પ્રાપ્ત કરવાના રહસ્યો,તમે પણ જાણો .

સ્વામી વિવેકાનન્દનું વાસ્તવિક નામ નરેન્દ્ર નાથ દત્ત હતુ. તેઓ વેદાન્તના વિખ્યાત અને પ્રભાવશાલી આધ્યાત્મિક ગુરુ હતા. તેમણે અમેરિકા સ્થિત શિકાગો નગરમાં સન્ ૧૮૯૩ મા આયોજિત વિશ્વ ધર્મ મહાસમ્મેલનમા સનાતન ધર્મનુ પ્રતિનિધિત્વ કર્યુ હતુ. ભારતનુ વેદાન્ત અમેરિકા અને યૂરોપના દરેક દેશમાં સ્વામી વિવેકાનંદના ઉપદેશના કારણે જ પહોંચ્યો હતો. પોતાના અભિપ્રાય થકી સમગ્ર વિશ્વને હલાવી દેવાની શક્તિ તેઓમાં હતી. 

તેમણે રામકૃષ્ણ મિશન ની સ્થાપના કરી હતી, જે આજે પણ સક્રીય રીતે કામગીરી બજાવે છે. સ્વામી વિવેકાનંદે આપણને શીખવ્યું કે આપણું કામ કેવી રીતે કરવું જોઇએ.સ્વામી વિવેકાનંદે પોતાના કાર્યો અને ઉપદેશો વડે સમગ્ર વિશ્વમાં પોતાનો ડંકો વગાડ્યો હતો. જીવન કઈ રીતે જીવવું અને જીવનમાં સફળતા પામવા માટે પણ તેમણે કેટલાક સુવર્ણ સૂત્રો જણાવ્યા છે.
 
સફળતા વિશેના સ્વામી વિવેકાનંદના સૂત્રો...
 
૧. વીરતાપૂર્વક આગળ વધો. એક દિવસ કે એક વર્ષમાં સફળતાની આશા રાખશો નહિ. હંમેશા સર્વોચ્ચ વસ્તુને વળગી રહો.

૨. ડરો નહિ. તમે કેટલી વખત ... ... ...