I have received more than I deserved !

I shall tell you of a wonderful incident in the life of Vachaspati Mishra. His father urged him to marry.
Vachaspati understood nothing of marriage. He however, bowed to his father’s wishes, taking it for granted that whatever he said was correct.

Vachaspati was engrossed in the search for God. He understood nothing else. If anyone talked about anything, he took it to be a topic of God. So when his father asked him, “Will you marry?”

He said, “Yes”. Perhaps he thought his father said, “Will you meet God?” and he said yes. Just as it happens with people generally, if a person is seeking wealth and you ask him, “Will you seek religion?” He will think you are asking him about wealth. Whatever the search within, that only rings in our ears. So Vachaspati also heard what was within him perhaps and said yes.

When he was made to sit on the horse to go to the bride’s place he asked, “Where are you taking me?” His father said, “You fool! Don’t you know you are getting married? Did you not agree to get married?” So Vachaspati thought it was not right to refuse at that moment. Since he had agreed even though without knowing, he took it to be God’s wish that he be married.

He returned home with his bride but it never occurred to him that he had brought a bride home!
How could he remember for it was not he who said yes to marriage, nor he who got married. He was engrossed in his own work. He was writing a commentary on BRAHMA-SUTRA. He finished this work after 12 years. For 12 years his wife would quietly light the lamp for him in the evening and place flowers at his feet each morning. In the afternoons she brought his meals and when he finished, she quietly withdrew it. For 12 years Vachaspati had not the slightest awareness of his wife. The wife made no effort to let him know she was there. On the contrary, she took all possible care that he may not, even by mistake, come to know of her presence. She wanted to cause no disturbance in his work.

After 12 years on the night of a full-moon, when his work was completed and Vachaspati rose to go to bed, his wife picked up the lamp to show him the way. For the first time Vachaspati (so the story goes) saw his wife’s hand – Now after 12 years, when his work was over and his mind was disengaged from work. He saw the hands, the bangles and heard the tinkle of her bangles. He turned round and saw her and he exclaimed, “Woman! What are you doing, alone here at this time of night? Who are you? From where have you entered, the whole house is closed? Where have you to go, shall I reach you home?” His wife said, “For 12 years, you have been busy with your work.

Perhaps you have forgotten – you have been so busy! It is not possible that you should remember.
If you can think back, 12 years from now, perhaps you may be able to recollect – I am the woman you brought to this house as your wedded wife.”

Vachaspati wept, “It is too late now!” He moaned. “I have already made the vow to leave home when my composition was completed. Now it is time for me to leave! It is almost dawn and I am ready to leave. Why did you not tell me earlier, foolish girl! You should have given me some hint! Now it is too late.” Saying this, he wept like a child. Seeing her husband cry, she fell on his feet and said, “Whatever I was to achieve, I have achieved through these tears. I wish for nothing more. Go without any compunction. What more could I have achieved than this, that Vachaspati’s eyes are filled with tears for me? I have received more than I deserved.”

Vachaspati has named his book BHAMATI. This word has nothing to do with the book. It is his wife’s name. He said to her “I can do nothing for you but let the world forget me, let it not forget you. I shall name my book after you.” It is a fact, no one remembers Vachaspati but Bhamati is remembered by many. BHAMATI is a wonderful exposition of BRAHMA SUTRA. there is none to equal it. This woman must be having the Feminine-Mystery.

It is my firm belief that she attained so much of Vachaspati in that single moment, as she would never have attained by a thousand other means. The way Vachaspati must have become one with the heart of this woman, no woman could ever establish such oneness with her husband.

The Feminine-Mystery, this non-presence of this woman touched the very life-breath of Vachaspati, twelve years – and this woman did not allow him to feel her presence! And every day she lit his lamp, every day she fed him. Vachaspati asked, “Then was it you who placed flowers at my feet each morning? And was it you who put the tray before me and was it you who lit the lamp for me every evening? But how is it that I did not ever see your hand?” Bhamati replied, “If my hand had become visible to you, it would only have meant that my love was lacking, I could wait”.

So it is not necessary that all women obtain this Feminine-Mystery. This is only a name given by Lao Tzu for this name is symptomatic, suggestive and enables us to understand this term. A man also can attain this Female-Mystery. Actually, only those can establish their identity with Existence who have thus reached this prayerful awaiting.

The door of this Feminine-Mystery is the original source of heaven and earth. OSHO.

The good you do, comes back to you! [ Story ]

A woman baked chapatti (roti) for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra chapatti on the window sill, for whosoever would take it away. Every day, a hunchback came and took away the chapatti. Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” This went on, day after day. Every day, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and uttered the words:

“The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” The woman felt irritated.
 “Not a word of gratitude,” she said to herself… “Everyday this hunchback utters this jingle! What does he mean?” One day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. “I shall get rid of this hunchback,” she said. And what did she do? She added poison to the chapatti she prepared for him!
As she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands trembled.

“What is this I am doing?” she said. Immediately, she threw the chapatti into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window sill. As usual, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and muttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”

The hunchback proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman. Every day, as the woman placed the chapatti on the window sill, she offered a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune. For many months, she had no news of him.. She prayed for his safe return.

That evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway. He had grown thin and lean. His garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and weak. As he saw his mother, he said, “Mom, it’s a miracle I’m here. While I was but a mile away, I was so famished that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old hunchback passed by. I begged of him for a morsel of food, and he was kind enough to give me a whole chapatti. As he gave it to me, he said, “This is what I eat everyday: today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!”

” As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned chapatti that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life!

It was then that she realized the significance of the words: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” Do good and Don’t ever stop doing good, even if it is not appreciated at that time. If you like this, share it with others and I bet so many lives would be touched.

Love , Wealth and Success [ Story ]

A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. Then she said, "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat."

"Is the man of the house home?", they asked. "No," she said. "He's out." "Then we cannot come in," they replied.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. So, he said, "Go tell
them I'm home, and invite them in!"

The woman went out and invited the men in. "We do not go into a house together," they replied. "Why is that?" she wanted to know. One of the old men explained. "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and pointing to another one he said, "This man is Success, and I am Love." Then he added, "Now, go and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home."

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was over-joyed. "How nice!" he said. "Since that's the case, let us invite in Wealth. Let him come in and fill our home with wealth!"

His wife disagreed. "Why don't we invite Success?" But, their daughter was listening from the corner of the room. She jumped in with her own suggestion. "Wouldn't it be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!"

The wife agreed. "Then, let us heed our daughter's advice," said the husband to his wife. "Go out and invite Love in to be our guest."

The woman went out and asked the three old men, "Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest." Love got up and started walking toward the house. Then the other two also got up and  followed him.

Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success, "I only invited in Love, as you directed. Why are you all coming in?" The old men replied together, "If you had invited only Wealth or Success, the other two of us would have stayed. However, since you invited Love... wherever He goes, we go with him... because wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!"

The Most important Body Part

My mother used to ask me what the most important part of the body is. Through the years I would take a guess at what I thought was the correct Answer.

When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us humans, so I said, "My ears, Mommy."

She said, "No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon."

Several years passed before she asked me again.
Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated the correct answer.

So this time I told her, "Mommy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be our eyes."

She looked at me and told me,
"You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because
there are many people who are blind."

Stumped again, I continued my quest for knowledge and over the years,
Mother asked me a couple more times and always her answer was,
"No. But you are getting smarter every year, my child."

Then one year, my father died. Everybody was sad and crying..
My Mom looked at me when it was our turn to say our final good-bye to my father.

She asked me, "Do you know the most important body part yet, my dear?"

I was shocked when she asked me this now.

I always thought this was a game between her and me.
She saw the shock on my face and told me,
This question is very important.
For every answer you gave me in the past, I told you that you were wrong.

But today is the day you need to learn this important lesson.

She looked down at me and threw her head to my shoulder and hugged me. With her eyes in tears, she said,
"My dear, the most important body part is your shoulder."

I asked, "Is it because it holds up my head?"

She replied, "No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend or a loved one when they cry. Everybody needs a shoulder to cry on sometime in life, my dear. I only hope that you have enough love and friends that you will always have a shoulder to cry on when you need it."

Become Useless [ Story ]

Lao Tzu is passing through a forest, and the forest is being cut. Thousands of carpenters are cutting the trees. Then he comes near a big tree — a very big tree, one thousand bullock carts can rest underneath it — and it is so green and beautiful. He sends his disciples to enquire of the carpenters why this tree has not been cut yet.

 
And they say ‘It is useless. You cannot make anything out of it: furniture cannot be made, it cannot be used as fuel — it gives too much smoke. It is of no use. that’s why we have not cut it.’

And Lao Tzu says to his disciples ‘Learn from this tree. Become as useless as this tree then nobody will cut you.’

Uselessness has great value.

He says: Look, and watch this tree. Learn something from this tree. This tree is great. Look, all the trees are gone. They were useful, hence they are gone. Some tree was very straight, that’s why It is gone. It must have been very egoistic, straight, proud of being somebody — it is gone. This tree is not straight, not a single branch is straight. It is not proud at all. hence it exists.

Lao Tzu says his disciples: If you want to live long, become useless. But remember, his meaning of the word ‘useless’ is; don’t become a commodity, don’t become a thing. If you become a thing you will be sold and purchased in the market, and you will become a slave. If you are not a thing, who can purchase you and who can sell you?

Remain God’s creation. Don’t become a human commodity and nobody will be able to use you. And if nobody is able to use you, you will have a beautiful life of your own, independent, free, joyful. If nobody can use you, nobody can reduce you to a means. You will never be insulted, because in this life there is no greater insult than to become a means: somebody or other is going to use you — your body, your mind, your being.

Lao Tzu says: Become a nonentity so that nobody looks at you and you can live YOUR LIFE as YOU want to live it. Nobody comes to interfere with you. Story-by-OSHO

Yes God Answers our Prayers !!

Dr.Stephen, a well-known doctor, was once on his way to an important medical conference in another city where-in he was going to be granted an award for medical research he had recently done.

He was very excited to attend the conference and was desperate to reach as soon as possible. He had worked long and hard on his research and felt his efforts deserved the award he was about to obtain.

However, two hours after the plane took off, the pilot announced that there was a problem with the plane and that they were going to make an emergency landing at the nearest airport. Afraid that he wouldn't make it in time for the conference, Dr. Stephen immediately went to the help desk as soon as the plane landed and explained to the woman at the desk that he was expected to be at a very important conference and that he needed to know the immediate next flight to his destination.She told him that there was nothing she could do to help him as there wouldn't be another flight to his destination for another ten hours; but suggested he rent a car and drive down to the city as it was only four hours away.

Having no other choice, he agreed to the idea despite his hatred for driving long distances. Dr. Stephen rented a car and started his journey. However, soon after he left, the weather suddenly changed and a heavy storm began. The pouring rain made it very difficult for him to see and he missed a turn he was supposed to take.

After two hours of driving, he was convinced he was lost. Driving in the heavy rain on a deserted road, feeling hungry and tired, he frantically began to look for any sign of civilization. After some time, he finally came across a small tattered house. Desperate, he got out of the car and knocked on the door. An old woman opened the door for him. He explained his situation and asked if he could use her telephone. She told him that she didn't have a phone or electricity but that he was welcome to come in for some food and something warm to drink as he had completely lost his way and that it would take him some time to get back on the right road.

Hungry, wet and exhausted, the doctor accepted her kind offer and walked in. The woman told him to help himself to some food and hot tea on the table and then excused herself to finish her prayers. Sitting on the table sipping his tea, the doctor watched the woman in the dim light of candles as she prayed next to what appeared to be a small baby crib.

Every time she finished a prayer, she would start another one. Feeling that the woman might be in need of help, the doctor seized the opportunity to speak as soon as she finished her prayers and told her that he hoped god would answer her prayers. He then said that he noticed that she had been making a lot of prayers and asked if there was something she needed that he could get for her or help her with. The woman smiled and said that god had answered all her prayers except one. She said she didn't know why god hadn't answered this specific prayer yet but perhaps it was because of her weak faith.

The doctor asked if she didn't mind telling him what she needed. Nodding her head in approval, she said that the child in the crib was her grandson. She said that the child had a very rare type of cancer and that all the doctors she had seen were unable to treat him. She also said that she had been told that there was a doctor who specialized in the type of cancer her grandson had, but there was no way for her to get to this doctor as he lived very far from her; so she has been spending her days and nights praying to god to help her find a way to get to Dr. Stephen - the doctor who could treat her grandson.

Upon hearing her words, tears began to flow down the doctor's cheeks and He said: god is great, there was malfunction in the plane, a thunderstorm hit, and I lost my way; and all of this happened because God did not just answer your prayer by helping you find a way to get to Dr. Stephen, but He brought Dr. Stephen to your house. I am Dr. Stephen. Tears streaming down her cheeks, Three important steps:

1. Ask
2. Believe
3. Receive

  Thanks to the author of this story.

What is your desire in the next life?

Henry Ford, one of the richest men of his time though he was born poor, was asked, ”What is your desire in the next life?”

He said, ”I don’t want to be the richest man again. It has been a continuous self-torture my whole life. I have not been able to live. I used to reach the factory early in the morning at seven o’clock, and the manual workers would reach at eight o’clock, the clerks would reach at nine o’clock and the manager would come at ten o’clock and leave at two o’clock; everybody else would leave at five o’clock and I had to work late into the night, sometimes up to ten, sometimes up to twelve.

”I worked hard to become the richest man and I became the richest man. But what is the point? I could not enjoy anything. I worked harder than my laborers. They enjoyed life more. I had no holidays. Even on holidays I used to go to the factory to work out plans for the future.”

It is difficult, but you can become the richest man if you make enough effort. It is difficult, but you can reach the top of Everest if you make enough effort. But if you make any effort at all, enlightenment becomes impossible for you. If you bring your mind with all its tensions and worries to work out your enlightenment, you are moving in the wrong direction, away from enlightenment.

You need a total let-go, an utterly peaceful, tension-less, silent state of being. And suddenly ... the explosion. You are all born enlightened whether you realize it or not. - Story-by-OSHO

Where are the mustard seeds?

A woman's husband died. She was young, had only one child. She wanted to commit sati, she wanted to jump in the funeral pyre with her husband, but this small child prevented her. She had to live for this small child.

 

But then the small child died; now it was too much. She went almost insane, asking people, "Is there any physician anywhere who can make my child alive again? I was living only for him, now my whole life is simply dark."

It happened that Buddha was coming to the town, so people said, "We don't know any physician, but Buddha is coming. That is a great chance. You take the child to Buddha, and tell him that you were living for this child, and the child has died, `and you are such a great enlightened person, call him back to life! Have mercy on me!'"

So she went to Buddha. She put the dead body of the child at Buddha's feet, and she said, "Call him back to life. You know all the secrets of life, you have attained to the ultimate peak of existence. Can't you do a small miracle for a poor woman?"

Buddha said, "I will do it, but there is a condition."

She said, "I will fulfill any condition."

Buddha said, "Settled. The condition is: you go around the town and, from a house where nobody has ever died, bring a few mustard seeds." That village was cultivating mustard seeds, so Buddha told her, "Just go around ..."

The woman could not understand the strategy. She went to one house, and they said, "A few mustard seeds? We can bring a few bullock carts full of mustard seeds if Buddha can bring your son back to life. But our mustard seeds will not be of any help, because not one, but thousands have died in our family. Since eternity we have been here. We have seen our great-grandfather dying, we have seen our great-grandmother dying, we have seen our grandfather dying, grandmother dying. We have seen so many deaths in our family. These mustard seeds are useless. Buddha's condition is, `from a house where nobody has ever died.'"

It was a small village, and she went to every house. Everybody was ready: "How many seeds do you want?" But the condition was impossible because "so many people have died in our family."

By the evening she became aware of the fact, and of the strategy of Gautam Buddha. She understood that whoever is born is going to die, "so what is the point of getting the child back again? He will die again. It is better for you yourself to seek the eternal, which is never born and never dies."

By the evening she came back empty-handed. Buddha asked, "Where are the mustard seeds?"

She laughed. In the morning she had come crying; now she laughed, and she said, "You tricked me! Everybody who is born is going to die. There is no family, not in this village, nor in the whole world, where nobody has died. So I don't want my son to be brought again back to life -- what is the point? After a few days, or a few months, or a few years, he will have to die again. And all these years he will live in misery, in all kinds of anguish and anxiety. Your compassion is great that you did not bring him back to life! "Forget about the child. Initiate me into the art of meditation, so that I can go into the land, the space of immortality, where birth and death have never happened."

Buddha said, "You are a very intelligent woman. You understood the point."

I call Buddha's strategy a miracle. Everybody is going to die, there is no point ... One has to get out of birth and death.

#Buddha initiated the #woman, and she became one of the enlightened ones among Buddha's disciples. Her urgency was such ... she knew that "My husband has died, my #child has died, and now it is my number. Any moment and I will be a victim of death, so there is not much time. I don't know at what moment death is coming, so I have to be totally involved in the search, in what Buddha is telling me to do: `Go inwards. Go to the very center of your being, and you will be beyond #birth and #death.'"

This I call an authentic miracle: cutting the problem from the very roots. OSHO

All Organizations look for Honest employees and Team Leaders

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you.”

The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however… He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.

Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes.

Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front.

Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed – Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!”

Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.

“How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.

Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!”

• If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
• If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
• If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
• If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment.
• If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.
• If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
• If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
• If you plant faith in God , you will reap a harvest.

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later..

“Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back”

Inspiring Story -- How do you handle problems ?

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling.

It seemed that, as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.

She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," the young woman replied. The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity - boiling water - but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened! The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" the mother asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?" Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong but, with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit but, after a death, a breakup, or a financial hardship, does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavour.

If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?