Sitting by the side of the mind !!!

One day Buddha was passing by a forest on a hot summer day and he felt very thirsty. He said to Ananda, his chief disciple, “Ananda, you go back. Just four miles back we passed a small stream of water. You bring a little water — take my begging bowl. I am feeling very thirsty and tired.”

Ananda goes back, but by the time he reaches the stream, a few bullock carts have just passed through the stream and they have made the whole stream muddy. Dead leaves which had settled into the bed have risen up; it was no longer possible to drink the water — it was too dirty. He came back empty-handed, and he said, “You will have to wait a little. I will go ahead. I have heard that just two, three miles ahead there is a big river. I will bring water from there.” But Buddha insists. He said, “You go back and bring water from the same stream.”

Ananda could not understand the insistence, but if the master says so, the disciple has to follow. Seeing the absurdity of it — that again he will have to walk three, four miles, and he knows that water is not worth drinking — he goes.

When he was going, Buddha said, “And don’t come back if the water is still dirty. If it is dirty, you simply sit on the bank silently. Don’t do anything, don’t get into the stream. Sit on the bank silently and watch. Sooner or later the water will be clear again, and then you fill the bowl and come back.”

Ananda goes there. Buddha is right: the water is almost clear, the leaves have moved, the dust had settled. But it was not absolutely clear yet, so he sat on the bank just watching the river flow by. Slowly slowly, it became crystal-clear. Then he understood why Buddha was so insistent. He gave the water to Buddha and touched his feet.

Buddha said, “What are you doing? I should thank you that you have brought water for me.”

Ananda said, “At first I was angry, because it was absurd to go back. But now I understand the message. Sitting on the bank of that small stream, I became aware that the same is the case with my mind. If I jump into the stream I will make it dirty again. If I jump into the mind more noise is created, more problems would start unravelling"

“Now I will be sitting by the side of my mind too, watching it with all its dirtiness and problems and old leaves and hurts and wounds, memories, desires. Unconcerned I will sit on the bank and wait for the moment when everything is clear.”

As they say, if we can control our mind we can control everything inside-out not only concerning us but the whole universe. The objective should be crystal clear, that's the ask

Driver And The Priest

We all know what is to be inside an autorickshaw especially when the driver happens to be or thinks himself to be a serious contender of Bernie Ecclestone's wealth churner, the Formula 1. Read on :

Once a priest took an auto to reach his abode. Unfortunately during the traverse, they met with an accident. Both went up but the surprising part was this :

Priest was given second chance to enter heaven and the autodriver was given the first chance. Of course our priest asked to double check the anomaly in arrangement of the who-goes-first. But the result, as documented by the angels with firmness, was the same.

And the reason was quite simple :
Auto driver had made people remember God more intensely than the Priest !!!

What Can 1 Do

Taken from an anonymous poem in Tim Berner's Lee popular paradigm...Have a look at it and think about it !!!

One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.
One step must start each journey.
One word must start each prayer.
One hope will raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care.
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what's true,

One life can make a difference,
You see, it's up to you!

Well and the Donkey

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for ...hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

If at all, we can sustain and shove off things just like the four-legged, things would be brighter most of the time, if not everytime

"Dont just hope...Decide !!" was the answer

When Amar went to drop his friend in the airport, he seldom thought that he would be the witness to the most beautiful thing everyone wants in this world....Love And Affection. A family was waiting anxiously for their Head to land and when the opportune moment came, the father hugged his elder son first and then his younger son.

In the meantime, the little baby girl was almost jumping from her mother's lap to greet her returning father. Father took her in his shoulders and hugged her with all the compassion and love for his lovely daughter. She immediately got relaxed as she lay her head on his shoulders.

Then came the man's beloved's turn. He kissed her passionately for some time and then they hugged each other with all the contentment and happiness of being a happy couple, as they were.

Amar went to the couple, greeted the man and said, "I have been looking you guys for some time. I felt so good to see your family union. How long have you guys been married".

"Twelve years !!!" came the reply.

"Great...and you both still seem to have the same feelings you would have carried before marriage...that's wonderful"

"How long have you been away from your family then" and the startling answer was "Two whole Days !!"

Amar replied, "How I only hoped and wished that I too have the same fervour of togetherness with my family even after 12 years"

"Brother, dont wish just take the decision for once and for all, that your family would be the most cherished and the best-thing-to-have-happened in your life"

For any matters of life, there's this decision making which takes and makes the cut of making things wondrous around us or dreary around us. Its all a matter of decision to be right and to be not right. If you are not able to come to the right perspective, fight the seemless situations/un-opportunes and dont stop vying till your last's last

Hang On to Chime

This is a strange world,
Sometimes...
If we laugh, you are bound to laugh less,
If you cry, you are bound to cry more

You are here and You have to do,
No matter what, you have to move,
Even if being laughed or made to cry,
Try not to lose yourself from I

In the end, what matters is You,
You being yourself,You being One Self,
Wearing, you may be, in the dunes of time,
But Never give up and learn to chime

When you lose a thing, You feel crestfallen
When you win a thing, You feel bedfallen
If you want to be happy,
Just be simple as you could be
And never stop to rise,
Everytime you fall

Serendipity Within Us

George Dantzig was a famed mathematician who contributed inmmensely to Operations Research and Systems Engineering. He was a hard working student during the school days and often slept late in nights. One day he overslept and arrived late for Professor's class.

He quickly copied the 2 math's problems on the board, assuming they were the homework assignments. It took him several hours to work through the problems, but finally he got the breakthrough and dropped the homework on the professor's desk.

Six weeks later, on a Sunday morning, his excited professor awakened George at 6 AM telling him the unparalleled news. Since George was late for the class, he hadn't heard the professor announce that the two unsolvable equations on the board were mathematical mind-teasers that even Einstein hadn't been able to answer.

But George Dantzig working without any thoughts of limitation had solved not one, but two problems that had stumped mathematicians for thousands of years. And how did he do it...He simply didn't knew that he couldn't.

We are always under the impression that the things which we are doing or as a matter of fact, things which we ought to do are only the ones which we can do. But we never realise our true potential unless and until serendipity occurs in our life, which sometimes turns out to be a life changing one and sometimes not !!!!

Affirming The Lessons

Make the mind and the body tell,
There are many ways to excel,
It is easy to quit, hard to try,
Just reverse it and you can fly.

Fly as far as you can,
But dont forget, you're a man,
Always be within your limits,
On crossing, you become a mimic

Whatever you do, please remember,
Dont do, if your soul tremble,
It could give you the lust of life,
Paying for, may cause the rest of life

Have the courage to not blink

During the civil war in Korea, a certain general and his troops were advancing implacably, taking province after province, destroying everything in their path. The people in one city, hearing that the general was approaching and knowing his cruel reputation, fled to a nearby mountain.

The troops found the houses empty. After much searching, though, they found one Zen monk who had stayed behind. The general ordered that he be brought before him, but the monk refused to go.

Furious, the general went to him instead.

‘You obviously don’t know who I am!’ he bawled. ‘I am capable of stabbing you in the chest with my sword without so much as blinking.’

The Zen master turned and replied calmly:

‘You obviously don’t know who I am either. I am capable of letting myself be stabbed in the chest by a sword without so much as blinking.’

This is what is courage in its exact sense. We all tend to get into adversities but how many of us really face them with full vigor and grit and still manage to do things in the correct way. Its what lies within us that usually decides how much fight lies within us.

Taking Things For Granted

Sometimes, we do take people, things, situations around us for granted and when the time flies past, if we have the level headedness to check back, we begin to realise the importance of them.

When I was loved without my Knowledge,
When I was moved without my Movement,
When I was called without my Calling,
When I was happy without knowing the Reason
Alas, I took things for granted

When I was helped, without the Need,
When I was asked for, just to make me feel good,
When I was hated, To make me feel strong,
when I was sincerely sought after,
Alas, I took things for granted

Now that I learnt, Its easy to misunderstand,
Now that I heard, Its hard to Contemplate,
Now that I felt, The Life's tantalizing Reverie,
I hope I dont miss the Love,
The Honesty, The Modesty, The Faithfulness,
And I could view The Things As It Is
Or view the People As They Are
For Things Should Never Be Taken For Granted,
Trust me, Would give us more than ---- We Wanted !!!