Contentment is the most precious treasure [ Inspirational story ]

There once was a king who led his mighty army across the snowy peaks that bounded his kingdom, into his neighbor's realm. On the lofty pass thick with snow, he saw a mendicant or ascetic sitting on a bare rock, with his head between his knees evidently to protect it from the chill wind that cut across the gap in the peak. He had no clothes on his body.

The king was overcome with pity; he took off his own shawl and coat and offered them to the Yogi (ascetic; one who has mastered the senses and the mind).

The Yogi refused to accept them, for , he said "God has given enough clothing to guard me against the heat and cold. He gives me all that I need. Please give these to some one who is poor".

The King was surprised at these words. he asked him where that clothing was.

The Yogi replied "God himself has woven it for me; I am wearing it since birth and will wear it until the grave. Here it is, my skin! Give this coat and shawl to some mendicant beggar, some poor man".

The king smiled for, who can be poorer than he, he thought. He asked him, "But where can I find a poor man?"

The Yogi asked him , where he was going and why.

He said, "I am going into the realm of my enemy so that I can add his kingdom to my own".

The Yogi it was who smiled now. He said, "If you are not satisfied with the kingdom you have and if you are prepared to sacrifice your life and the lives of these thousands to get more land, certainly, you are much poorer than I. So offer the clothes to yourself. You need them more than I do".

At this the King was greatly ashamed and he understood the futility of fame and fortune.

He thanked the Yogi for opening his eyes to his own innate poverty.

Contentment is the most precious treasure, he realized.

Moral - Great men spread the light of their wisdom through their every word and deed.

I want to know what the difference is between me and you [ Inspiring Story]

A king was very much interested in a young man who always remained underneath a tree, sitting silently. Every night the king passed around the city in disguise to see whether everything was right or not. He always found that young man sitting like a statue, without any movement. 

Finally, he could not contain his curiosity. He stopped his horse and he said, “Young man, forgive me for disturbing your meditation.”

The young man opened his eyes and he said, “There is no need for any apology because I am not meditating, I am meditation — nobody can disturb it. But whatever your curiosity is, please fulfill it.”

The king said, “I would love you to come to my palace. I will take care of you. There is no need to sit under this tree. Seeing you so silently, like the ancient story of Buddha, I have fallen in love with your silence, your gestures, your utter undisturbance. I invite you to come with me to my palace. I am the king.”

This is how the barbarous mind functions. The king asks the young man to come to his palace — inviting him — but deep down his unconscious wants him not to accept his invitation because that will mean he is still desirous of luxuries and palaces.

But that young man simply stood up, and he said, “I am coming.”

Immediately the whole scene changed. The mind of the king was thinking, “What have I done? This man is still interested in the luxuries of a palace, being the guest of a king. This is not a great saint.” This is the old idea of the saint, that he should be as uncomfortable as possible. Discomfort is religion. Sick, hungry, torturing oneself in thousands of ways… and then you become a great saint. This fellow has suddenly fallen from his sainthood, in the mind of the king. But now it was too late. He could not take his word back; it would be to ungentlemanly.

But the young man was watching everything. He didn’t say anything. The king provided for him in the best part of the palace, servants, young girls to look after him — and he accepted everything. With each acceptance he was falling down in the scale of saintliness: what kind of saint was he? He accepted a beautiful king-size bed. He accepted all the delicacies of the palace.

The king said, “My God. What kind of a stupid person am I? This man has deceived me. It seems like he tricked me. Just sitting there every night, he knew I passed at that time, sitting silently like a buddha, he knew that I would be caught — and he caught me. And now it is very difficult either to swallow him or to spit him out. He is inside the palace.”

But how long can you carry such a state of mind?

After six months, one day early in the morning when they were taking a walk together in the gardens, the king said to him, “One question has been continuously harassing me and I want to get rid of it. Because of it, for six months I have not slept well.”

The young man said, “You can ask any question.”

The king said, “It hurts me to ask, but I want to know what the difference is between me and you. You live in the palace, you enjoy all the luxuries… what is the difference between me and you?”

The young man said, “I knew that this question was going to arise one day. In fact, it arose the same moment I stood up to follow you. You are not a very courageous man. You should have asked immediately. Why waste six months, and for six months unnecessarily disturbing your sleep. I can answer your question but not here. You have to come with me outside the boundary of your kingdom.”

It was not far away. Just a few miles away was the river, the boundary of his kingdom.

The king said, “What is the need to go there? You can answer me here.”

He said, “No. There is a need.”

Both went past the river. Standing on the other shore, the young man said, “My answer is that I am going ahead. Are you coming with me?”

He said, “How can I come with you? I have a palace, I have a kingdom, I have my wife, my children… I have thousands of worries and problems to solve. How can I come with you?”

The young man said, “Do you see the difference? I am going. I don’t have any palace, I don’t have any wife, I don’t have any problems. I was as happy under my tree as I have been happy in your palace — not a bit more or a bit less. My awareness is the same whether I am in a palace or in a forest.”

The king felt very sad at his ugly mind, that he thought such an ugly thing. He touched his feet and he said, “Forgive me even to think this. In my own eyes I have fallen.”

The young man said, “No. Don’t do it. Seeing your tears and you touching my feet I have no difficulty, I can come back, but you will still start thinking, `My God. Has he deceived me again?’ I have no difficulty but so as not to be uncompassionate towards you, I will not come. Just let me go. The whole world is there and I don’t need much, just a tree to sit underneath. It does not matter to me at all.”

What can you take away with you? [Story]

The story is that one man became a chakravartin — and it happens only once in thousands of years that a man becomes a chakravartin. Even Alexander the Great was not a world conqueror; there was yet much left unconquered. And he died very young, he was only thirty-three: there was not even time enough to conquer the world. What to say of conquering, the whole world was not even known. Half of the world was unknown, and the half that was known, even that was not conquered. This man, of whom I am going to tell you the story, became the chakravartin.

 

 

It is said that when a chakravartin dies — because a chakravartin happens only in thousands of years, he is a rare being — when he dies he is received in heaven with great rejoicings and he is taken to a special place.

In Jaina mythology, in heaven there is a parallel mountain to the Himalayas. The Himalayas are just made of rocks and earth and ice. The parallel Himalayas in heaven is called Sumeru. Sumeru means the ultimate mountain: nothing can be higher than that, nothing can be better than that. It is solid gold; instead of rocks there are diamonds and rubies and emeralds.

When a chakravartin dies he is led to Sumeru mountain to engrave his name on it. That is a rare opportunity; that happens only once in thousands of years. Of course this man was immensely excited that he was going to write his name on Sumeru. That is the ultimate catalogue of all the great ones that have been, and will also be the catalogue of all the great ones who are going to be. This emperor was becoming party to a lineage of supermen.
The gatekeeper gave him the instruments to engrave his name. He wanted a few of his men who had committed suicide just because their emperor was dying — they could not think of living without him. His wife, his prime minister, his commander-in-chief — all the great people who were around him, they all had committed suicide, so they had come with him.

The emperor wanted the gatekeeper to let them all come to see him engrave his name, because what is the joy if you go alone and engrave your name and nobody is there even to see? — because the real joy is that the whole world should see.

The gatekeeper said, “You listen to my advice, because this is my inherited profession. My father was a gatekeeper, his father was a gatekeeper; for centuries we have been gatekeepers to Sumeru mountain. Listen to my advice: Don’t take them with you; otherwise you will repent.”

The emperor could not understand, but he could not even go against his advice — because what interest could that man have in preventing him?

The gatekeeper said, “If you still want them to see, first go engrave your name; then come back and take them with you if you want. I have no objection even now if you want to take them, but just in case you decide not to, then there will be no place, no chance … they will be with you. You go alone.” This was perfectly sane advice.

The emperor said, “That’s good. I will go alone, engrave my name, come back, and call you all.”

The gatekeeper said, “I am perfectly agreeable to that.”
The emperor went and he saw the Sumeru shining under thousands of suns — because in heaven you cannot be so poor as to have just one sun — thousands of suns, and a golden mountain far bigger than the Himalayas — and the Himalayas are almost two thousands miles long! He could not open his eyes for a moment, it was so glaring there. And then he started looking for a space, the right space, but he was very much puzzled: there was no space; the whole mountain was engraved with names.

He could not believe his eyes. For the first time he became aware what he was. Up to now he was thinking he was a superman who happens once in thousands of years. But time has been from eternity; even thousands of years didn’t make any difference, so many chakravartins had happened already. There was no space on that biggest mountain in the whole universe where he could write his small name.

He came back, and now he understood that the gatekeeper was right not to take his wife and his commander-in-chief and his prime minister and other intimate friends. It was good that they had not seen the situation. They would still believe that their emperor was a rare being.

He took the gatekeeper inside and he said, “But there is no space!”

The gatekeeper said, “That’s what I was telling you. What you have to do is to erase a few names and write down your name. That’s what has been done; my whole life I have been seeing this done, my father used to say this has been done. My father’s father — none of my family have seen Sumeru empty, or any space ever.

“Whenever a chakravartin has come he had to erase a few names and write his own name. So this is not the whole history of the chakravartins. Many times it has been erased, many times it has been engraved. You just do your work, and then if you want to show your friends you can bring them in.”

The emperor said, “No, I don’t want to show them and I don’t want to even write my name. What is the point? — someday somebody will come and erase it.

“My whole life has become utterly meaningless. This was my only hope, that Sumeru, the golden mountain in heaven was going to have my name. For this I have lived, for this I have staked my life; for this I was ready to kill the whole world. And anybody else can erase my name and write his. What is the point of writing it? I will not write it.” The gatekeeper laughed.

The emperor said, “Why are you laughing?”
The gatekeeper said, “This is strange, because this too I have been hearing from my grandfathers — that chakravartins come, and seeing the whole story, just turn back; they don’t write their names. You are not new: anybody having a little intelligence would do the same.”


In this whole world what can you gain?
What can you take away with you?
Your name, your prestige, your respectability? Your money, your power — what? Your scholarship?
You cannot take anything.

Everything will have to be dropped here.

Don't Join The 99 Club [ story]

Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor contended.

One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy?

The King asked the servant, 'Why are you so happy?'

The man replied, 'Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don't need too much - just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies.'

The king sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the story, the advisor said, 'Your Majesty, the servant has not yet joined "The 99 Club".'

'The 99 Club? And what is that?' the King inquired.

The advisor replied, 'To truly know what The 99 Club is, just place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's doorstep.'

When the servant saw the bag, he let out a great shout of joy... so many gold coins. He began to count them. After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were only 99 coins.

He wondered, 'What could've happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!'
He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was elusive. Finally he decided that he was going to work harder than ever to earn that 100th gold coin.

From that day, the servant was a changed man. He was overworked, grumpy, and blamed his family for not helping him make that 100th goldcoin.
And he had stopped singing while he worked.

Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. The advisor said, 'Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club.'

He continued, 'The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never contended, because they're always wanting that extra 1, saying to themselves:
"Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life."

We can be happy with very little in our lives, but the minute we're given something bigger and better, we want more ...and even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, all these as the price for our growing needs and desires.
That's "The 99 Club"...

Zero Membership fee to enter, but you pay for it with your entire life!

A king learned a lesson [ Moral Story ]

We all know the story of the greedy king named Midas. He had a lot of gold and the more he had the more he wanted. He stored all the gold in his vaults and used to spend time every day counting it.  One day while he was counting a stranger came from nowhere and said he would grant him a wish.

Image source

The king was delighted and said, I would like everything I touch to turn to gold.
The stranger asked the king, Are you sure?
The king replied, Yes.
 

So the stranger said, Starting tomorrow morning with the sun rays you will get the golden touch. The king thought he must be dreaming, this couldn't be true. But the next day when he woke up, he touched the bed, his clothes, and everything turned to gold. He looked out of the window and saw his daughter playing in the garden. He decided to give her a surprise and thought she would be happy. But before he went to the garden he decided to read a book. The moment he touched it, it turned into gold and he couldn't read it. Then he sat to have breakfast and the moment he touched the fruit and the glass of water, they turned to gold. He was getting hungry and he said to himself, I can't eat and drink gold. Just about that time his daughter came running and he hugged her and she turned into a gold statue. There were no more smiles left.

The king bowed his head and started crying. The stranger who gave the wish came again and asked the king if he was happy with his golden touch.

The king said he was the most miserable man.

The stranger asked, What would you rather have, your food and loving daughter or lumps of gold and her golden statue?

The king cried and asked for forgiveness. He said, I will give up all my gold. Please give me my daughter back because without her I have lost everything wo rth having.

The stranger said to the king, You have become wiser than before and he reversed the spell. He got his daughter back in his arms and the king learned a lesson that he never forget for the rest of his life.

Moral of the story.....

1. Distorted values lead to tragedy.
2. Sometimes getting what you want may be a bigger tragedy than not getting what you want.
3. Unlike the game of soccer where players can be substituted, the game of life allows no substitutions or replays. We may not get a second chance to reverse our tragedies, as the king did.

Break the cycle of EVIL [ Moral Story]

There was once a king who was so cruel and unjust that his subjects yearned for his death or dethronement. However, one day he surprised them all by announcing that he had decided to turn over a new leaf. No more cruelty, no more injustice, he promised, and he was as good as his word. He became known as the Gentle Monarch.

Months after his transformation one of his ministers plucked up enough courage to ask him what had brought about his change of heart, and the king answered "As I was galloping through my forests I caught sight of a fox being chased by a hound. The fox escaped into his hole but not before the hound had bitten into its leg and lamed it for life.

Later I rode into a village and saw the same hound there. It was barking at a man. Even as I watched, the man picked up a huge stone and flung it at the dog, breaking its leg. The man had not gone far when he was kicked by a horse. His knee was shattered and he fell to the ground, disabled for life. The horse began to run but it fell into a hole and broke its leg. Reflecting on all that had happened, I thought: Evil begets evil. If I continue in my evil ways, I will surely be overtaken by evil. So I decided to change."

The minister went away convinced that the time was ripe to overthrow the king and seize the throne. Immersed in thought, he did not see the steps in front of him and fell, breaking his neck.

Moral : Do Good , Be Good and Fear No One!!

The fool became the king’s teacher

There once was a fool who set off for the palace of the king. Along the way, people pointed and

laughed at him. They called sarcastically:

- What would a fool like you do at the king’s palace?

- Well, I shall be the king’s teacher.

The fool replied with certainty. But his answer only made the people laugh more. When the fool arrived at the palace, the king thought he could quickly deal with the fool and have some fun at his expense. The monarch asked in a strict tone:

- How dare you come and disturb the king?

- I am here to become your teacher.The fool said confidently. The king doubled over with laughter:

- What would a fool like you be able to teach me?
- You see, said the fool, you are asking me a question straight away.

It turned dreadfully quiet in the throne room and all the royal household staff held their breath. The king too was taken aback, but then he replied:

- I have to admit that your reaction was clever, but you didn’t answer my question.

- Only a fool has an answer to everything, king.

- But…, spluttered the king flabbergasted, what would my subjects think if their king would have a fool as his teacher?

- Better a fool as teacher than a fool as king, came back the answer.

The king was rather taken aback by the fool’s answers, but still tried to salvage the situation with a clever question.

- But if I take a fool as teacher, does that not make me a fool?

- Only a fool will always say of himself that he is not a fool, king.

And that is how the fool became the king’s teacher.

Do necessary corrections in your personality [ Moral Story]

Long time ago very cruel king name Jack was ruling the city of Rome. All citizens were fearful because of his cruelty. jack has a dog named Tom, which he used to love more than anything, one fateful morning Tom died. Jack organized last rituals for dog; entire city came to cremation ground. Jack was very happy to see that people love him so much and he felt he is the most popular king in the world.

After few days Jack died, but no one came for his funerals.

Moral -- Improve yourself !!

Respect is something you have to earn, you cannot force it on others to respect you. There is a thin line between Fear and Respect, every one of us should understand it and do necessary corrections in our personalities.

Greatest Archer

One man declared to the emperor of China, ”Now you have to announce it and recognize me as the greatest archer in China. I am ready for any challenge.” And he was absolutely perfect, one hundred percent successful.
 

 But the king said, ”Have you heard about an old archer who lives deep in the mountains?”

He said, ”I have heard about him, but I am ready to contest.”

The king laughed. He said, ”You should go and meet that old man. If he recognizes you, I will recognize you, because I don’t know archery.... But he is a great archer, perhaps the greatest, so you should go. Bring his recognition, and my recognition is available. But without asking him I cannot do it. It is not a question of a challenge.”

So the man had to travel to the high mountains, where he found a very old man whose back was bent, who could not stand straight. He asked, ”Are you the archer?”

The man said, ”I used to be. But perhaps half a century has passed, and when I became a perfect archer, according to my master, I had to throw away my bows and arrows. You think you are a perfect master; have you come for recognition?” The king had sent information to him that he was sending somebody.

The man said, ”Yes.”

The old man said, ”Then why are you carrying the bow and the arrows?”

The man said, ”Strange... That’s what my mastery is.”

The old man laughed. He brought him out of his small cottage to a mountain cliff. The old man was so old, maybe one hundred and forty years old, and the cliff went so deep underneath, thousands of feet into the valley. If you just missed a single step or trembled or hesitated, you were gone. The old man walked to the very edge of the cliff, half his feet hanging off the cliff, half his feet on the cliff.

The young man could not believe his eyes. The old man said, ”Now you also come. There is enough space here for one more!” The young man tried just two steps and sat down, trembling, seeing the situation.

The old man laughed and he said, ”What kind of archer are you? How many birds can you kill with a single arrow?”

The young man said, ”Of course one bird.”

The old man said, ”You have to learn under a Zen master. It is a sheer wastage of one arrow, just one bird. My master never allowed anybody the certificate unless he was able with one arrow to bring down the whole flock.”

The young man said, ”How many can you bring down?”

He said, ”You say the number.”

Just then a flock of birds flew over. The old man just looked, and seven birds fell down.

The young man said, ”My God!”

The old man said, ”When you can look with totality, your very eyes become arrows. But you are a novice; you could not come to the edge of the cliff. If you are trembling inside, then your archery cannot be perfect. You may manage to hit the targets, but that is not the point. The point is that you have an untrembling total presence. Then your total presence becomes as sharp as any arrow.

The master said, ”You go back and learn from this point. The target is not the target; you are the target. Become total – and if I am alive, I will visit you after five years to see whether I can give you the recognition. Or if I am gone, my son will come after five years. He is as great an adept as I am, and you will be able to recognize him, because whatever I can do with my eyes, he can also do.”

After five years the old man came. These five years the archer tried his best to be total, and he succeeded. The old man asked, ”Where are your bows and arrows?”

He said, ”It must be two years by now, but it seems like centuries have passed and I have not seen the arrows and the bow. Now I can do what you were able to do.”

The old man did not ask for a test, he simply gave the recognition. He said, ”I can see in your eyes the unwavering totality. I can see in your body the spontaneous relaxedness. You can go to the king and tell him that the old man gives the recognition, and just for your recognition I have come down from the hills.”

Zen brings a new valuation into everything. It is not a life-renouncing religion, it is a life-transforming religion. It transforms everything, it negates nothing. But one thing has to be remembered: unconditionality, totality, spontaneity – strange values and they are the authentic values that will give you the alchemy to change your being.

This a beautiful anecdote, and Kyozan is saying, ”WHEN ONE WINS, ONE WINS UNCONDITIONALLY.” There was no desire to win, one was simply playful, enjoying the very art and enjoying the meditativeness and spontaneity. Now whatever happens, that is not the concern.

Ofcourse when two persons will be fighting, one will be defeated, one will be victorious. What does it matter who is victorious and who is defeated? All that matters is whether both are at the same degree of concentration, at the same degree of unconditionality. Whoever is higher in unconditionality – he may be the defeated one, but according to Zen he is at a higher point of consciousness, and that is real victory. The formal victory is another thing. - Story-by-OSHO

Stop Focusing on Little Problems

There is a story about a princess who had a small eye problem that she felt was really bad. Being the king's daughter, she was rather spoiled and kept crying all the time. When the doctors wanted to apply medicine, she would invariably refuse any medical treatment and kept touching the sore spot on her eye. In this way it became worse and worse, until finally the king proclaimed a large reward for whoever could cure his daughter. After some time, a man arrived who claimed to be a famous physician, but actually was not even a doctor. 

 

 

 

He declared that he could definitely cure the princess and was admitted to her chamber. After he had examined her, he exclaimed, "Oh, I'm so sorry!" "What is it?" the princess inquired. The doctor said, "There is nothing much wrong with your eye, but there is something else that is really serious." The princess was alarmed and asked, "What on earth is so serious?" He hesitated and said, "It is really bad. I shouldn't tell you about it." No matter how much she insisted, he refused to tell her, saying that he could not speak without the king's permission.

When the king arrived, the doctor was still reluctant to reveal his findings. Finally the king commanded, "Tell us what is wrong. Whatever it is, you have to tell us!" At last the doctor said, "Well, the eye will get better within a few days - that is no problem. The big problem is that the princess will grow a tail, which will become at least nine fathoms long. It may start growing very soon. If she can detect the first moment it appears, I might be able to prevent it from growing." At this news everyone was deeply concerned. And the princess, what did she do? She stayed in bed, day and night, directing all her attention to detecting when the tail might appear. Thus, after a few days, her eye got well.

This shows how we usually react. We focus on our little problem and it becomes the center around which everything else revolves. So far, we have done this repeatedly, life after life. We think, "My wishes, my interests, my likes and dislikes come first!" As long as we function on this basis, we will remain unchanged. Driven by impulses of desire and rejection, we will travel the roads of samsara without finding a way out. As long as attachment and aversion are our sources of living and drive us onward, we cannot rest.

Be a GOOD LEADER !!

There was once a kingdom of monkeys in the forest. The King of the Monkeys was very very large, and was very kind and wise. One day, the King was strolling & he noticed mango trees along the side of a river. He also noticed a human castle downstream. He then ordered the monkeys to remove all the mangos from these trees, "or there would be diseaster". The monkeys did not understand the King's intention, but they did as told anyway. All the mangos were taken off these trees except one. This one was hidden behind a nest.
 

One day, this mango was ripe and fell into the river. It flowed downstream where the human King was having a bath. He noticed the mango & asked the Prime Minister what it was. The PM told him it was a "mango", a fruit of wonderful taste. The King then ordered that the mango be cut into small pieces & he gave a small piece to each of his ministers. When satisfied that the mango was not poisonous, he ate the rest of it & realized how tasty it was. He craved for more.

The next day, the human king, with his troops, went upstream to search for more of these fruits. There were lots of mango trees, but also lots of monkeys. The human king doesn't want to share the mangos with the monkeys, so he ordered all of them to be killed. A massacre started.

When the news reached the wise Monkey King, he commented, "The day has finally arrived". The thousands of monkeys were chased all the way to the edge of the forest. There was a deep cliff at the edge of the forest, and a bamboo forest at the other side of the cliff. The Monkey King saw that if his subjects could cross over to the bamboo forest, they will be saved.

With his huge body, he formed a bridge over the cliff and thousands of monkeys trampled over him to reach the safety of the bamboo forest. He endured all the pain. One monkey did not like the King & he saw this as an opportunity to get even. As he was crossing over the King's body, he pierced a spear through the King's heart. The King screamed in pain but endured the pain until all his subjects were safely across. Then he collapsed.

The human king witnessed the whole thing. He was so touched that he ordered the Monkey King be saved. When the Monkey King recovered his consciousness, the human king asked him, "You are their King, why did you bother to die for them?". The Monkey King replied, "Because I am their King". With that, he died.

The human king was so touched that he decided to be a good king from that day and he ordered that the monkeys in the bamboo forest be protected from harm forever.

God Himself supports His true Worshiper

Once a king in India went to #GuruNanak Dev Ji and asked, “O Guru! As you told us that God Himself supports His true #worshiper,  but #God has so many apostles, why does He support His devotees Himself? Why does not He send His apostles to help the devotees?” As he said this, his own son who was playing at the bank of a nearby river slipped in the river. The king did not waited for a second and jumped in the river right after his son to save his child.

After saving his child he returned to the Guru. The Guru asked, “My dear friend, you were sitting here with me a minute ago and why did you jump in the river?” King explained that his son had slipped in the river and he went to save him. Then the Guru asked, “Dear friend, you have so many servants then why did you jumped in the river by yourself? Why did not you send you servants to save him?” The King said, “When it come to my son. I do not want to take any chances and would do anything it takes to protect him. I love my son very much and I do not want to lose him at any cost.”

Then ‪#‎GuruNanakdev‬ Ji said, “My dear friend, God loves His devotees the same way as you love your son. That is why he Himself saves His true worshipper.”

Your thoughts are your Karma!

A King was touring his Kingdom on his elephant.  Suddenly he stopped in front of a shop in the market and said to his minister, "I don';t know why, but I want to hang the owner of this shop." The minister was shocked. But before he could ask the king why, the king had moved on. 

The next day, the minister went to that shop dressed as one of the locals to see the shopkeeper. He casually asked him how his business was faring. The shopkeeper, a sandalwood merchant, reported sadly that he had hardly any customer. People would come to his shop, smell the sandalwood and then go away. They would even praise the quality of the sandalwood but rarely buy anything. His only hope was that the king would die soon. Then there would be a huge demand for sandalwood for performing his last rites. As he was the only sandalwood merchant around, he was sure the king';s death would mean a windfall.

The minister now understood why the king had stopped in front of this shop and expressed a desire to kill the shopkeeper. Perhaps, the shopkeeper';s negative thought vibration had subtly affected the king, who had, in turn, felt the same kind of negative thought arising within.

The minister; a noble man, pondered over the matter for a while. Without revealing who he was or what had happened the day before, he expressed a desire to buy some sandalwood. The shopkeeper was pleased. He wrapped the sandalwood and handed it over to the minister.

When the minister returned to the palace, he went straight to the court where the king was seated and reported that the sandalwood merchant had a gift for him. The king was surprised. When he opened the package, he was pleasantly surprised by the fine golden color of the sandalwood and its agreeable fragrance. Pleased, he sent some gold coins to the sandalwood merchant. The king also felt sorry in his heart that he had harbored unbecoming thoughts of killing the shopkeeper.

When the shopkeeper received the gold coins from the king, he was astounded. He began to proclaim the virtues of the king who had, through the gold coins, saved him from the brink of poverty. After some time, he recalled the morbid thoughts he had felt towards the king, and repented for having entertained such negative thoughts for his own personal goal.

If we have a good and kind thought for another person, that positive thought will come back to us in a favorable way. But if we harbor evil thoughts, those thoughts will come back to us as retribution.

"What is Karma?" asked Swami Many replied, "our words, our deeds, our feelings, our actions......"
Swami shook his head and said "Your thoughts are your Karma!"

The Princess without a Palace

Once upon a time there was a kingdom with an ancient prophecy that spoke of a Princess without a palace. The prophecy said that as soon as that Princess found her palace, she would be the wisest and fairest Queen there had ever been. That kingdom had a royal family who had lived in a beautiful... palace for generations. But there was a great earthquake which destroyed the palace and killed the King and Queen.



Their two daughters, Princess Nora and Princess Sabina, managed to survive.

After this tragedy, Nora understood that she, being the elder sister, might be the Princess mentioned in the prophecy. Accompanied by her sister, Nora devoted herself to finding her new palace. During their travels they met a wise old man who gave them an old key that would open the palace doors.

“I have no idea where the palace will be”, said the old man, “All I know is that you should try this key wherever you seek it”.

And Nora went with her sister, trying the key on all the palace doors they found. When there were no more palaces to try, they thought maybe the palace would just be some large important house, but neither did the key fit any of those. Fed up, the sisters lost hope of ever finding their palace. They had spent so much time away, travelling and searching, that no one now missed them. Neither did they have any money or jewels left, and when they arrived at a poor village they had to work in the fields alongside all the poor people who, not knowing that the sisters were royalty, took them in as though they were two homeless orphans.

The sisters lived there for some years. They worked hard, and knew what hunger was, and how life could be so difficult, but people loved them so much that they came to be very happy, and they gradually forgot their royal past. One night, while tidying Nora's things, Sabina found the old key. Amused, she took it to her sister, and they reminisced about their search for their own magnificent palace.

"There still must be some palace, hidden in some little forest, just waiting for us to find it," said Nora, with a glimmer of hope.

"Well, you know what I think," answered her younger sister, "that I don't need anything else to be happy. We spent months travelling from castle to castle to live the life of Queens, but I have never been so happy as I am now, even though we don't have much. If I had to choose a palace," she continued, joyfully dancing about by the door, "it would be this little cabin." she ended, laughing, and then with a solemn gesture placing the key in the cabin door.

Just then, the room filled with lights and music, and from that old door arose a wonderful palace filled with life and colour. The place became totally transformed; there were fountains, gardens, and animals. The village people marvelled at all of this.

The only thing which remained as it had been was the cabin door, reminding everyone of how Sabina the Wonderful - which was what they called their wise Queen - had found that in a simple, humble life lay the doorway to happiness, not only for herself, but for all the inhabitants of that land.

Moral of the story

Happiness is not to be found in the showy and sophisticated things in life, but rather in the right way to approach life and live it.

King and four Queens

"A Story Of Four Wives" Once upon a time...there was a rich King who had four wives. He loved the fourth wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to the finest of delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best. He also loved the third wife very much, and he was always showing her off to neighboring kingdoms. However, he feared that one day she would leave him for another. He also loved his second wife. She was his confidante and was always kind, considerate, and patient with him.

Whenever the King faced a problem, he could confide in her to help him get through the difficult times. The King's first wife was a very loyal partner and had made greatcontributions in maintaining his wealth and kingdom. However, he did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her. One day, the King fell ill, and he knew his time was short.He thought of his luxurious life and pondered, "I now have four wives with me, but when I die, I'll be all alone. Thus, he asked the fourth wife, "I have loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing, and showered great care over you.
  Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "Absolutely not!" replied the fourth wife, and she walked away without another word. Her answer cut like a sharp knife right into his heart. The sad King then asked the third wife, "I have loved you all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No," replied the third wife. "Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to remarry!" His heart sank and turned cold.
 
He then asked the second wife, "I have always turned to you for help, and you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?" "I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time," replied the second wife. "At the very most, I can only send you to your grave." Her answer came like a bolt of thunder, and the King was devastated. Then a voice called out. "I'll leave with you and follow you no matter where you go."
   The King looked up, and there was his first wife. She was so sad and thin, she looked half-starved. Greatly grieved, the King said, "I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance!" In truth, we all have four wives in our lives: Our fourth wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.
    Our third wife is our possessions, status, and wealth. When we die, it will all go to others. Our second wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave. And our first wife is our soul, often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasures of the ego. However, our soul is the only thing that will follow us wherever we go. So cultivate, strengthen, and cherish it now! It IS your greatest gift to offer the world.

The king and the Sage

Once there was a king who was always fighting. One day he was badly wounded in a battle. A sage passed by and touched him, and the king was cured. He wanted to give the sage a reward for saving him, but the sage didn’t want anything.

The king said, “I don’t want to be indebted to you.”

The sage said, “In the future I’ll ask for something. I don’t need anything now, but one day I’ll come.”

Months passed and the sage was praying to God one day for peace, light and bliss, when a desire entered his mind. For the past few months his cow had not been producing milk. “She’s old,” he said. “I’ll ask the king for a new cow.”

He went to see the king and found him in a temple. He was praying for more wealth and more fame.

The sage said to himself, “I won’t ask him for a cow. He’s a beggar like me.” And he turned to leave.

The king stopped him and said, “Sage, you saved my life. Please tell me what you want. I’ll give you anything.”

 The sage said, “I pray to God and meditate. He is all I need. I don’t want to take anything from anyone in need. You told me you took an oath that you would not be indebted to anyone. I, too, have taken an oath. My oath is that if anyone is in need, then I won’t take anything from that person. That’s why I won’t take anything from you. You’re praying to God for material things. You’re begging for God to give you wealth and fame. So how can I ask anything of you? God has shown me that everyone is a beggar. So if I need something, I’ll get it from Him.”