How to Deal with Anxiety ? (Story )

Bokuju was a Zen master. He used to live alone in a cave, but during the day, or even in the night, he would sometimes say loudly, “Bokuju” – his own name, and then he would say, “Yes, I am here.” And no one else was there.

Then his disciples used to ask him, “Why are you calling ‘Bokuju’, your own name, and then saying, ‘Yes sir, I am here’?”

He said, “Whenever I get into thinking, I have to remember to be alert, and so I call my own name, ‘Bokuju.’ The moment I call ‘Bokuju’ and I say, ‘Yes sir, I am here,’ the thinking, the anxiety disappears.”

Then, in his last days, for two or three years, he never called “Bokuju,” his name, and never had to reply, “Yes sir, I am here.”

The disciples asked, “Master, now you never do this.”

So he said, “But now Bokuju is always there. He is always there, and there is no need. Before I used to miss him. Sometimes the anxiety would take me, cloud me all over, and Bokuju was not there. So I had to remember ‘Bokuju,’ and the anxiety would disappear....”

Try your name. When you feel deep anxiety, just call your name – not “Bokuju” or any name, but your name – and then reply to it, “Yes sir, I am here,” and feel the difference. Anxiety will not be there. At least for a single moment you will have a glimpse beyond the clouds, and that glimpse can be deepened. Once you know that if you become alert anxiety is not there, it disappears; you have come to a deep knowing of your own self and the mechanism of inner working.

Story in Hindi - ईश्वर हमें हमेशा दो रास्ते देता है

एक समय की बात है। गरीबी से परेशान एक युवक अपना जीवन समाप्त करने के लिए नदी पर गया, वहां युवक को एक साधु मिल गए उन्होंने उसे ऐसा करने के लिए मना कर दिया। साधु ने युवक की परेशानी का कारण पूछा। युवक ने सारी बात साधु को बता दी। सब कुछ सुनकर साधु ने कहा- मेरे पास एक विद्या है जिससे जादुई घड़ा बन जाता है। तुम जो भी इस घड़े से मांगोगे, वह तुम्हारे लिए उपस्थित हो जाएगा। परंतु जिस दिन घड़ा फूट गया, उसी समय जो कुछ भी इस घड़े ने दिया था, वह सब अदृश्य हो जाएगा।

साधु ने आगे कहा अगर तुम दो वर्ष तक मेरे आश्रम में रहो, तो यह घड़ा मैं तुम्हें दे सकता हूं। और अगर पांच वर्ष तक आश्रम में रहो, तो मैं यह घड़ा बनाने की विद्या तुम्हें सिखा दूंगा। तुम क्या चाहते हो?


युवक ने कहा- महाराज! मैं तो दो साल ही आपकी सेवा करना चाहूंगा। मुझे तो जल्द से जल्द यह घड़ा ही चाहिए। मैं इसे बहुत संभालकर रखूंगा। कभी फूटने ही नहीं दूंगा। इस तरह दो वर्ष आश्रम में सेवा करने के बाद युवक ने यह जादुई घड़ा प्राप्त कर लिया और उसे लेकर अपने घर आ गया।

उसने घड़े से हर इच्छा पूरी करनी चाही और वह पूरी होती गई। घर बनवाया, महल बनवाया, नौकर-चाकर मांगे। वह सभी को अपनी धाक व वैभव-संपदा दिखाने लगा। उसने शराब पीना शुरू कर दिया। एक दिन वह जादुई घड़ा सर पर रखकर नाचने लगा। अचानक उसे ठोकर लगी और घड़ा गिरकर फूट गया। घड़ा फूटते ही सभी कुछ छू-मंतर हो गया। अब युवक पश्चाताप करने लगा कि काश! मैंने जल्दबाजी न की होती और घड़ा बनाने की विद्या सीख ली होती तो आज मैं फिर से कंगाल न होता।

सीख - ईश्वर हमें हमेशा दो रास्ते देता है- एक आसान और दूसरा कठिन और लंबा लेकिन गहरे ज्ञान वाला। यह हमें चुनना होता है कि हम किस रास्ते पर चलें।

अपने अहंकार के घमंड में दूसरों के साथ ऐसा व्यवहार न करो, जो तुम्हें स्वयं के लिए पसंद न हो। [ Hindi Story ]

एक बार मगध के व्यापारी को व्यापार में बहुत लाभ हुआ, अपार धन-संपत्ति पाकर उसका मन अहंकार से भर गया। उसके बाद से वह अपने अधीनस्थों से अहंकारपूर्ण व्यवहार करने लगा।

व्यापारी का अहंकार इतना प्रबल था कि उसको देखते हुए उसके परिवार वाले भी अहंकार के वशीभूत हो गए। किंतु जब सभी के अहंकार आपस में टकराने लगे तो घर का वातावरण नरक की तरह हो गया।

वह व्यापारी दुःखी होकर एक दिन भगवान बुद्ध के पास पहुंचा और याचना करके बोला- भगवन्! मुझे इस नरक से मुक्ति दिलाइए। मैं भी भिक्षु बनना चाहता हूं।

भगवान बुद्ध ने गंभीर स्वर में कहा- अभी तुम्हारे भिक्षु बनने का समय नहीं आया है।

बुद्ध ने कहा- भिक्षु को पलायनवादी नहीं होना चाहिए। जैसे व्यवहार की अपेक्षा तुम दूसरों से करते हो, स्वयं भी दूसरों के प्रति वैसा ही व्यवहार करो। ऐसा करने से तुम्हारा घर मंदिर बन जाएगा।

घर जाकर उस व्यापारी ने भगवान बुद्ध की सीख को अपनाया और घर का वातावरण स्वतः बदल गया। अब सब अपने-अपने अहंकार को भूलकर एक-दूसरे के साथ प्रेम से रहने लगे। शीघ्र ही घर के दूषित वातावरण में नया उल्लास छा गया।

सीख : कभी भी अपने अहंकार के घमंड में दूसरों के साथ ऐसा व्यवहार न करो, जो तुम्हें स्वयं के लिए पसंद न हो।

ईश्वर के दर्शन कैसे होंगे? [ Hindi Story ]

एक नदी के किनारे एक महात्मा रहते थे। उनके पास दूर-दूर से लोग अपनी समस्याओं का समाधान पाने आते थे। एक बार एक व्यक्ति उनके पास आया और बोला- महाराज! मैं लंबे समय से ईश्वर की भक्ति कर रहा हूं, फिर भी मुझे ईश्वर के दर्शन नहीं होते। कृपया मुझे उनके दर्शन कराइए।

Imagesource

महात्मा बोले- तुम्हें इस संसार में कौन सी चीजें सबसे अधिक प्रिय हैं?
व्यक्ति बोला- महाराज! मुझे इस संसार में सबसे अधिक प्रिय अपना परिवार है और उसके बाद धन-दौलत।


महात्मा ने पूछा- क्या इस समय भी तुम्हारे पास कोई प्रिय वस्तु है?
व्यक्ति बोला- मेरे पास एक सोने का सिक्का ही प्रिय वस्तु है।
महात्मा ने एक कागज पर कुछ लिखकर दिया और उससे पढ़ने को कहा। कागज देखकर व्यक्ति बोला- “महाराज! इस पर तो ईश्वर लिखा है।
महात्मा ने कहा- अब अपना सोने का सिक्का इस कागज के ऊपर लिखे ''ईश्वर'' शब्द पर रख दो।

व्यक्ति ने ऐसा ही किया। फिर महात्मा बोले- अब तुम्हें क्या दिखाई दे रहा है?”
वह बोला- इस समय तो मुझे इस कागज पर केवल सोने का सिक्का रखा दिखाई दे रहा है।

महात्मा ने कहा- ईश्वर का भी यही हाल है। वह हमारे अंदर ही है, लेकिन मोह-माया के कारण हम उसके दर्शन नहीं कर पाते। जब हम उसे देखने की कोशिश करते हैं तो मोह-माया आगे आ जाती है। धन-संपत्ति, घर-परिवार के सामने ईश्वर को देखने का समय ही नहीं होता। यदि समय होता भी है तो उस समय जब विपदा होती है। ऐसे में ईश्वर के दर्शन कैसे होंगे?

महात्मा की बातें सुनकर व्यक्ति समझ गया कि उसे मोह-माया से निकलना है।

One needs more than professional qualification to be a professional

ShivKhera, a renowned author and management trainer writes about his experience in Singapore :

"Six years ago in Singapore I gave a taxi driver a business card to take me to a particular address. At the last point he circled round the building. His meter read 11$, but he took only 10. I said Henry, your meter reads 11$ how come you are taking only 10.

He said Sir, I am a taxi driver, I am supposed to be bringing you straight to the destination. Since I did not know the last spot, I had to circle around the building. Had I brought you straight here, the meter would have read 10$.

Why should you be paying for my ignorance ?

He said Sir, legally, I can claim 11$ but Honestly and ethically I am entitled to only 10.

He further added that Singapore is a tourist destination and many people come here for three or four days. After clearing the immigrations and customs, the first experience is always with the taxi driver and if that is not good, the balance three to four days are not pleasant either.

He said Sir I am not a taxi driver, I am the Ambassador of Singapore without a diplomatic passport.
In my opinion he probably did not go to school beyond the 8th grade, but to me he was a professional. To me his behavior reflected pride in performance and character.

That day I learnt that one needs more than professional qualification to be a professional.

In one line be a "Professional with a human touch and Values " that makes all the more difference.
Knowledge, skill, money, education, all comes later. First comes Human Values, Honesty and Integrity

Professionalism: It’s NOT the job you DO, It’s HOW you DO the job.”

Hats off!

source

Kick the drama and keep going ahead.

An elephant took a bath in a river and was walking on the road. When it neared a bridge, it saw a pig fully soaked in mud coming from the opposite direction. The elephant quietly moved to one side, allowed the dirty pig to pass and then continued its onward journey.

The unclean pig later spoke to its friends in arrogance, “See how big I am; even the elephant was afraid of me and moved to one side to let me pass”.

On hearing this, some elephants questioned their friend, the reason for its action. Was it out of fear?

The elephant smiled and replied,

“I could have easily crushed the pig under my leg, but I was clean and the pig was very unclean. By crushing it, my leg would have become dirty and I wanted to avoid it. Hence, I moved aside.”

Flash: Realized souls will avoid contact with negativity not out of fear, but out of desire to keep away from impurity though they are strong enough to destroy the impurity.You need not react to every opinion, every comment, or every situation.

Kick the drama and keep going ahead.

Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands.

Lisa, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face, walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries. She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work. They had seven children and they needed food.

John Longhouse, the grocer, scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store. Visualizing the family needs, she said: "Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as soon as I can." John told her he could not give her credit, as she did not have a charge account at his store.

Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation between the two. The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he would stand good for whatever she needed for her family.

The grocer said in a very reluctant voice, "Do you have a grocery list?" Lisa replied, "Yes sir." "Okay" he said, "put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries."

Lisa hesitated a moment with a bowed head. Then she reached into her purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still bowed.

The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the scale went down and stayed down. The grocer, staring at the scales, turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, "I can't believe it." The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the other side of the scales.

The scale did not balance so he continued to put more and more groceries on them until the scales would hold no more. The grocer stood there in utter disgust.

Finally, he grabbed the piece of paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement. It was not a grocery list. It was instead a prayer which said: "Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands."

The grocer gave her the groceries that he had gathered and stood in stunned silence. Lisa thanked him and left the store. The customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said, "It was worth every penny of it."

It was sometime later that the grocer discovered the scales were broken; therefore, only God knows how much a prayer weighs.

Good things in Life [ Story]

Once a man got lost in a desert. The water in his flask had run out two days ago, and he was on his last legs. He knew that if he didn't get some water soon, he would surely die. The man saw a small hut ahead of him. He thought it would be a mirage or maybe a hallucination, but having no other option, he moved toward it. As he got closer, he realized it was quite real. So he dragged his tired body to the door with the last of his strength.

The hut was not occupied and seemed like it had been abandoned for quite some time. The man entered into it, hoping against hope that he might find water inside.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw what was in the hut - a water hand pump...... It had a pipe going down through the floor, perhaps tapping a source of water deep under-ground.

He began working the hand pump, but no water came out. He kept at it and still nothing happened. Finally he gave up from exhaustion and frustration. He threw up his hands in despair. It looked as if he was going to die after all.

Then the man noticed a bottle in one corner of the hut. It was filled with water and corked up to prevent evaporation.

He uncorked the bottle and was about to gulp down the sweet life-giving water, when he noticed a piece of paper attached to it. Handwriting on the paper read : "Use this water to start the pump. Don't forget to fill the bottle when you're done."

He had a dilemma. He could follow the instruction and pour the water into the pump, or he could ignore it and just drink the water.

What to do? If he let the water go into the pump, what assurance did he have that it would work? What if the pump malfunctioned? What if the pipe had a leak? What if the underground reservoir had long dried up?

But then... maybe the instruction was correct. Should he risk it? If it turned out to be false, he would be throwing away the last water he would ever see.

Hands trembling, he poured the water into the pump. Then he closed his eyes, said a prayer, and started working the pump.

He heard a gurgling sound, and then water came gushing out, more than he could possibly use. He luxuriated in the cool and refreshing stream. He was going to live!

After drinking his fill and feeling much better, he looked around the hut. He found a pencil and a map of the region. The map showed that he was still far away from civilization, but at least now he knew where he was and which direction to go.

He filled his flask for the journey ahead. He also filled the bottle and put the cork back in. Before leaving the hut, he added his own writing below the instruction: "Believe me, it works!"

This story is all about life. It teaches us that We must GIVE before We can RECEIVE Abundantly.

More importantly, it also teaches that FAITH plays an important role in GIVING.

The man did not know if his action would be rewarded, but he proceeded regardless.

Without knowing what to expect, he made a Leap of Faith.

Water in this story represents the 'Good things in Life'

Give life some "Water" to Work with, and it will RETURN far more than you put in_.........!!!*

There is not room for two ‘I’s in one house!

A Lion took a Wolf and a Fox with him for a hunting mission. They successfully hunted down an Ox, an Ibix and a rabbit.

The Lion asked Wolf how he would like to distribute the booty.

The Wolf suggested that based on sizes of the preys, it’s reasonable that Lion keeps the Ox, Wolf gets the Ibix and Fox being smallest should be sufficient with rabbit.


The Lion was enraged on such distribution. “How do you dare talk of I and You, and Mine and Yours in my presence.”, he thundered and hit a fatal blow to Wolf.

Then he returns to fox to do distribution.

“Your Highness, keep the Ox for dinner and Ibix for lunch and if you feel pekish in middle, the rabbit is there at your pleasure”, responded the Fox.

The Lion is pleased at Fox and asks where she learned such wisdom. The fox replied that that the aftermaths of wolf’s response taught him the lesson.

The Lion roared, “Behold! When there is no I or You, or Mine or Yours that remains anymore, you are no longer a feeble Fox. You are a Lion! Hence all 3 preys are granted to you!”.

Within above story, there is also threaded another story of person who knocks at beloved’s story and denied access.

Once a man came and knocked at the door of his beloved.

The beloved said, “Who are you, O’ faithful one?”

“I.” He responded.

The Beloved replied, “Go away as there is no room here for any ‘raw’ at my well-cooked dinner.
Nothing but fire of separation can cook the raw one and cleanse him from hypocrisy!

Since your ‘self’ has not yet left you yet,
You must burned self in the fiery flames of separation.”
The poor man went away, and for one whole year
Kept burning with sorrow due to his beloved’s absence.

His heart burned till it was cooked; then he went again
And approached the house of his beloved again.
He knocked at the door in fear and anxiety
Fearing that some careless word might leave his lips.

His beloved asked, “Who is that at the door?”
He answered, “‘It is ‘You’ who is at the door, O Beloved!”
The friend said, “Since it is Me, let ‘Me’ come in.
There is not room for two ‘I’s in one house!”

Too much Knowledge is not going to give you the enlightenment you were looking for #Rumi [story ]

One day Jalaluddin Rumi took all his students, disciples and devotees to a field. That was his way to teach them things of the beyond, through the examples of the world. He was not a theoretician, he was a very practical man. The disciples were thinking, “What could be the message, going to that faraway field... and why can’t he say it here?”

But when they reached the field, they understood that they were wrong and he was right. The farmer seemed to be almost an insane man. He was digging a well in the field – and he had already dug eight incomplete wells.

He would go a few feet and then he would find that there was no water. Then he would start digging another well... and the same story was continued. He had destroyed the whole field and he had not yet found water.

The master, Jalaluddin Rumi, told his disciples, “Can you understand something? If this man had been total and had put his whole energy into only one well, he would have reached to the deepest sources of water long ago.

But the way he is going he will destroy the whole field and he will never be able to make a single well. With so much effort he is simply destroying his own land, and getting more and more frustrated, disappointed: what kind of a desert has he purchased? It is not a desert, but one has to go deep to find the sources of water.”

He turned to his disciples and asked them, “Are you going to follow this insane farmer? Sometimes on one path, sometimes on another path, sometimes listening to one, sometimes listening to another... you will collect much knowledge, but all that knowledge is simply junk, because it is not going to give you the enlightenment you were looking for. It is not going to lead you to the waters of eternal life.”

We judge people by their outer appearance, which can be misleading [ Story]

A lady in a faded grey dress and her husband, dressed in a home-spun suit walked in timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Harvard.

"We want to see the President "the ma n said softly.

"He'll be busy all day "the secretary snapped.


"We'll wait" the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president..

"Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave" she said to him. The President, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.

The lady told him "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."

The president wasn't touched....He was shocked. "Madam "he said, gruffly, " we can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh, no," the lady explained quickly” We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard."

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a university ? Why don't we just start our own?"

Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name: Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

 Most of the time we judge people by their outer appearance, which can be misleading. And in this impression, we tend to treat people badly by thinking they can do nothing for us. Thus we tend to lose our potential good friends, Relatives , employees or customers.

In our Life, we seldom get people with whom we want to share & grow our thought process. But because of our inner #EGO we miss them forever.

What goes around comes around [ Inspiring Story]

His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.

There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.

'I want to repay you,' said the nobleman. 'You saved my son's life.'

'No, I can't accept payment for what I did,' the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.

'Is that your son?' the nobleman asked.

'Yes,' the farmer replied proudly.

'I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of.' And that he did.

Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted

Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.

Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? Penicillin.

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill ... His son's name?

Sir Winston Churchill

Someone once said:

What goes around comes around.
Work like you don't need the money.

Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.

Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

( Inspirational Stories - Like and share our Facebook Page with your friends and Family members to inspire them.)

May there always be work for your hands to do;
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you;
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

How to stop Negative Thoughts [ Story ]

It happened that one man came to a monk named 'Tilopa'. The man wanted to attain buddhahood and he had heard that this Tilopa has attained. And Tilopa was staying in a temple somewhere in Tibet. The man came; Tilopa was sitting, and the man said, ”I would like to stop my thoughts.”

Tilopa said, ”It is very easy. I will give you a device, a technique. You follow this: just sit down and don’t think of monkeys. This will do.”

The man said, ”So easy? Just not thinking of monkeys? But I have never been thinking about them.”

Tilopa said, ”Now you do it, and tomorrow morning you report.”
 

You can understand what happened to that poor man... monkeys and monkeys all around. In the night he couldn’t get any sleep, not a wink. He would open his eyes and they were sitting there, or he would close his eyes and they were sitting there, and they were making faces.... He was simply surprised. ”Why has this man given this technique, because if monkeys are the problem, then I have never been bothered by them. This is happening for the first time!”

And he tried, in the morning again he tried. He took a bath, sat, but nothing doing: the monkeys wouldn’t leave him. He came back by the evening almost mad – because the monkeys were following him and he was talking to them. He came and he said, ”Save me somehow. I don’t want this, I was okay, I don’t want ANY meditation. And I don’t want your enlightenment – but save me from these monkeys!”

If you think of monkeys, it may be that they may not come to you. But if you want not... if you want them NOT to come to you, then they will follow you. They have their egos and they cannot leave you so easily. And what do you think of yourself: trying not to think of monkeys? The monkeys get irritated, this cannot be allowed.

This happens to people. Tilopa was joking, he was saying that if you try to stop a thought, you cannot. On the contrary, the very effort to stop it gives it energy, the very effort to avoid it becomes attention. So, whenever you want to avoid something you are paying too much attention to it. If you want not to think a thought, you are already thinking about it.

Remember this, otherwise you will be in the same plight. The poor man who was obsessed became obsessed with monkeys because he wanted to stop them. There is no need to stop the mind. Thoughts are rootless, homeless vagabonds, you need not be worried about them. You simply watch, watch without looking at them, simply look.

If they come, good, don’t feel bad – because even a slight feeling that it is not good and you have started fighting. It’s okay, it is natural: as leaves come in the trees, thoughts come to the mind. It’s okay, it is perfectly as it should be. If they don’t come, it is beautiful. You simply remain an impartial watcher, neither for nor against, neither appreciating nor condemning – without any valuation. You simply sit inside yourself and look, looking without looking at.

And this happens, that the more you look, the less you find; the deeper you look, the thoughts disappear, disperse. Once you know this then the key is in your hand.

I am trying to empty the ocean into this hole with a tablespoon [story]

There is a story, I do not know if it is a fact, but it smells true. One day, Aristotle was walking on the beach. A glorious sunset was happening, but he had no time for such petty daily events. He was thinking seriously about some great problem of existence, because for Aristotle, existence is a problem, and he believes he is going to solve it. Thinking seriously, he was walking up and down the beach. There was another man on the beach who was doing something very intensely – so intensely that even Aristotle could not ignore him.

You know, people who think too much about their own nonsense end up ignoring life around them. They are the people who don’t smile at anybody or even look at anybody in the world. They have no eyes to look at a flower, a sunset, a child or a smiling face – or if it is an unsmiling face, they have no inclination to make it smile; they have no such small duties or small cares in the world! They ignore all the life around them because they are all busy, solving the problems of existence.

But Aristotle could not ignore this man, and he closely observed what he was doing: this man was going to the ocean, coming back, going to the ocean, coming back, all with great intensity.

So Aristotle stopped and asked, “Hey, what are you up to?”

The man said, “Don’t disturb me, I am doing something very important,” and went on and on.

Aristotle became even more curious and asked, “What are you doing?”

The man said, “Don’t disturb me, something very important.”

Aristotle said, “What is this important thing?”

The man showed a little hole he had dug in the sand, and he said, “I am emptying the ocean into this hole.” He had a tablespoon in his hand.

Aristotle looked at this and laughed. Now, Aristotle is the kind who can spend a year without a single moment of laughter, because he is intellect. It takes a heart to laugh. Intellect cannot laugh; it can only dissect.

But even Aristotle laughed at this and said, “This is ridiculous! You must be insane. Do you know how vast this ocean is? How can you ever empty this ocean into this little hole? And that too, with a tablespoon? At least if you have a bucket, there’s some chance. Please give this up; this is madness, I am telling you.”

The man looked at Aristotle, threw the spoon down and said, “My job is already done.”

Aristotle said, “What do you mean? Forget about the ocean being empty; even the hole is not full. How can you say your job is done?”

The other man was Heraclitus. Heraclitus stood up and said, “I am trying to empty the ocean into this hole with a tablespoon. You are telling me it’s ridiculous, it’s madness, so I should give it up. What are you trying to do? Do you know how vast this existence is? It can contain a billion oceans like this and more, and you are trying to empty it into the small hole of your head – and with what? With tablespoons called thoughts. Please give it up. It’s utterly ridiculous.”

If you want to know the experiential dimensions of life, you will never know it with petty thought.

- Story by Sadhguru

May we all have the wisdom to ask, and answer, the wise questions (story)

A young man in his mid-twenties knocks on the door of a renowned Guru. He says: “I’ve come to you because I wish to study Vedas.”

“Do you know Sanskrit?” the Guru asks.

“No,” replies the young man.

“Have you studied any Indian philosophy?”

“No. But don’t worry. I just finished my doctoral dissertation at Harvard on Socratic logic. So now, I would just like to round out my education with a little study of the Vedas.”

“I doubt,” the Guru says, “that you are ready to study Vedas. It is the deepest knowledge ever known. If you wish, however, I am willing to examine you in logic, and if you pass that test I will teach you Vedas.”

The young man agrees.

Guru holds up two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face; the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”

The young man stares at the Guru. “Is that really a test in logic?”

The Guru nods.

”The one with the dirty face washes his face“- he answers confidently.

“Wrong. The one with the clean face washes his face. Examine the logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. So, the one with the clean face washes his face.”

“Very clever,” the young man says. “Give me another test.”

The Guru again holds up two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face, the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”

“We have already established that. The one with the clean face washes his face.”

“Wrong. Each one washes his face. Examine the logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. So, the one with the clean face washes his face. When the one with the dirty face sees the one with the clean face wash his face, he also washes his face. So, each one washes his face.”

“I didn’t think of that,” says the young man. It’s shocking to me that I could make an error in logic. Test me again.”

The Guru holds up two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face; the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”

“Each one washes his face.”

“Wrong. Neither one washes his face. Examine the logic. The one with the dirty face looks at the one with the clean face and thinks his face is clean. The one with the clean face looks at the one with the dirty face and thinks his face is dirty. But when the one with the clean face sees the one with the dirty face doesn’t wash his face, he also doesn’t wash his face. So, neither one washes his face.”

The young man is desperate. “I am qualified to study Vedas. Please give me one more test.”

He groans, though, when the Guru lifts two fingers. “Two men come down a chimney. One comes out with a clean face; the other comes out with a dirty face. Which one washes his face?”

“Neither one washes his face.”

“Wrong. Do you now see why logic is an insufficient basis for studying Vedas? Tell me, how is it possible for two men to come down the same chimney, and for one to come out with a clean face and the other with a dirty face? Don’t you see? The whole question is nonsense, foolishness, and if you spend your whole life trying to answer foolish questions, all your answers will be foolish, too.”

May we all have the wisdom to ask, and answer, the wise questions!

Do take good care of yourself ! [story]

A cobbler lived in a large village and he was the only cobbler in town, so he was responsible for repairing the boots of everybody else. However, he didn’t have time to repair his own boots. This wasn’t a problem at first, but over time, his boots began to deteriorate and fall apart. While he worked feverishly on the boots of everyone else, his feet got blisters and he started to limp. His customers started to worry about him, but he reassured them that everything was ok.However, after a few years, the cobbler’s feet were so injured that he could no longer work and no-one’s boots got repaired.

As a consequence, soon the entire town started to limp in pain, all because the cobbler never took the time to repair his own boots.

This simple principle is so often disregarded. If you don’t look after yourself, after a while you’ll be no good to anyone else either.

Your best intentions will mean nothing and you’ll be unable to do what you’re meant to do. This goes for leaders, social workers, teachers advocates even parents.

If you don’t take the time to care for yourself, no-one else will.

Are you taking care of yourself ?

Have a good day ahead and kindly take care of yourself.

Quite often in life we over-evaluate the problems [Story]

One day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and drove off along the route.

No problems for the first few stops-a few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well.

At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a guy got on.


Six feet height, built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground.

He glared at the driver and said, "Big John doesn't need to pay!" and sat down at the back.

Did I mention that the driver was five feet six, thin, and basically meek? Well, he was.!

Naturally, he didn't argue with Big John, but he wasn't happy about it.

The next day the same thing happened-Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down.

And the next day, and the one after that and so forth.!

This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him.

Finally he could stand it no longer.

He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that good stuff.

By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong; what's more, he felt really good about himself.

So on the next Monday, when Big John once Again got on the bus and said, "Big John doesn't pay!," The driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and screamed, "And why not?"

With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, *"Big John has a bus pass."

Be sure of what is a problem in the first place before working hard to solve one.

Quite often in life we over-evaluate the problems and start working on huge solutions spending time, money, efforts, energy and focus, whereas, in actual, problems eventually are not that big!

Most of Our life is actually as above story !

Let us be calm, respectful, kind, thankful and forgiving to each other [Story]

A young lady sat in a public transport. An old grumpy lady came and sat by her side as she bumped into her with her numerous bags. The person sitting on the other side of her got upset, asking the young lady why she did not speak up and say something.

The young lady responded with a smile: "It is not necessary to be rude or argue over something so insignificant, the journey together is so short. I get off at the next stop."

The response deserves to be written in golden letters in our daily behaviour and everywhere:


*It is not necessary to argue over something so insignificant, our journey together is so short*

If each one of us could realize that our passage down here has such a short duration; to darken it with quarrels, futile arguments, not forgiving others, ingratitude and bad attitudes would be a waste of time and energy.

Did someone break your heart? Be calm, the journey is so short..

Did someone betray, bully, cheat or humiliate you? Be calm, forgive, the journey is so short..

Whatever penalty anyone serves us, let's remember that our journey together is so short..

Let us therefore be filled with gratitude and sweetness. Sweetness is a virtue never likened to bad character nor cowardice, but better likened to greatness.

Our journey together down here is really short and cannot be reversed...

No one knows the duration of his journey.

No one knows if he will have to alight at the next stop..

Inspirational Stories

Let us therefore cherish and hold on to friends and family! Let us be calm, respectful, kind, thankful and forgiving to each other. If I've hurt you, I ask your forgiveness. But please remember: The journey down here is so short...

Very rarely you find a man in whom you can trust [Story]

There is a story that when the great library of Alexandria was burned, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book, and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers. It was not very interesting, yet there was a most interesting thing in it. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “touchstone”.

The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold The writing explained that it was on the shores of the Black Sea lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles which looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: the real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold. So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing the pebbles.


This was his plan: he knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebbles hundreds of times. So when he felt one that was cold he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this, and they were none of them the touchstone. Then he spent a week, a month, a year, three years… but he did not find the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way: pick up a pebble, it’s cold, throw it into the sea… and so on and so on. Just visualize the man doing it for years and years and years — pick up a pebble, it is cold, throw it into the sea… from morning to evening, for years and years.

But one morning he picked up a pebble and it was WARM — and he threw it into the sea. He had formed the habit of throwing them into the sea, you understand, and habit made him do it when at last he found the touchstone, poor fellow.

That’s how mind functions. Trust is a touchstone. Very rarely do you find a man in whom you can trust. Very rarely do you find a heart who is warm, loving, in whom you can trust. Ordinarily you find pebbles which look like the touchstone, almost alike, but all are cold. year in, year out, from the very childhood: you pick up a pebble, you feel it, it is cold, you throw it into the ocean.

One has only to become a witness and the mind becomes pure [Story]

After Buddha had become old, one afternoon he stopped to rest at the foot of a tree in the forest. He felt thirsty, and Ananda went to a nearby mountain stream to fetch water. But just before, some carts had crossed the stream, and the water had turned muddy. Rotting leaves and scum had begun to float on the surface. Ananda returned without water, and said to Buddha, “The water in the stream is not clean; I shall go back to the river and bring water from there.” The river was very far off, and Buddha asked him to fetch water from the stream. After a short while Ananda returned again empty-handed: the water did not appear to him fit to bring.

But Buddha made him go back once more. On the third occasion that Ananda reached the stream, he was amazed. The stream had now become completely clear and unpolluted. The mud had settled and the water had become pure.

I find the story very interesting. The state of the human mind is just the same. The traffic of life comes and stirs it up. But if one goes on watching it, sitting in silence and patience, the impurities settle and a natural clarity returns. In this clarity of mind, life renews itself. It is only a matter of patience, silent awaiting, and without doing anything the impurities of the mind settle.

One has only to become a witness and the mind becomes pure. Our task is not to make it pure. All difficulty arises because of doing. Simply watch it, just sitting on the bank – then see what happens!