Swami Kutasthanandji Pravachan

Control your Mind

2009-03-21T12:05:00.006+05:30

This is story of a prince who sacrificed all his riches and surrendered his life towards Gautam Budha. The prince enjoyed all the luxuries of life and had all comforts but still he was not happy. He came under Gautam Budha's sharan begged for shelter and requested Mahatma to make him his disciple.
Gautam Budha agreed and told him that he has to lead a life of a Bhikshu. He has to go to people's door and beg for food and he has to sleep on the floor in the open space. The prince politely agreed.
Mahatma told him to take bhiksha from only one house. In that house a rich and young lady used to stay. She was also a disciple of Mahatma.
First day when the prince went to the rich lady's house for bhiksha, she opened the door and called him inside. She gave him delicious food to eat. He relished the food and thanked the lady. When he was about to leave, she asked him "before coming here you were thinking in your mind that in bhiksha you should get rich food to eat and all that you wanted to eat I have cooked for you."
The prince agreed and left. He was thinking how could she read his mind. Anyway he touched Gautam Budha's feet and narrated everything to him. Next day again the Mahatma told him to go to the same lady's house for Bhiksha. The prince in his mind was feeling happy. He took pot and on the way was remembering his prince hood days. How he would get tasty and rich food.His wife would sit beside him. How much he was attached to his children. He slept on comfortable bed, everything was so easy. His parents and other family members would love him and now he has nothing. This way he was lost in his thoughts and reached the lady's house.

The lady opened the door for him. She offered him nice food and after that requested him to sleep on the comfortable bed in her house. After he got up from sleep, she said"I know you are missing your good old days which you have sacrificed. While on your way you thinking about rich food, comfortable bed, your family. Is it right." The prince felt ashamed that this lady can read his mind and whatever he thinks of eating, she cooks accordingly. She provides him all the possible comforts he thinks in his mind. Anyway he thanked her for all that she gave and left her house.

After that he went straight to Mahatma and requested him that next day onwards he will not go to the lady's house as she can read his mind.

Mahatma Budha insisted that he should take bhiksha from her house only. He should learn to control his mind. Gautam Budha said "now since you know that the lady has power to read your mind, try to control your mind. If you practice everyday to control your mind your desires will minimise. Your ego will be under control and the attachment(moha) towards family and the comforts you enjoyed those days will reduce. You will then learn to become a perfect disciple. Your mind is still with your rich old days. If you are serious and want to tread on my path, learn to sacrifice not the outside world but the thoughts within, the desires within. It is easy to sacrifice the outside world like money, family, friends, comforts, riches everything that we touch and feel through our senses but when you introspect within you know how much dirt is accumulated in you. You cannot live in peace. Once you have mastered the art of controlling your mind and have created the habit of introspecting within then only you can become a true saint. Short term sacrifice will not help, sacrifice from within can make you strong and you can win over anybody.

Suspicion

2009-03-11T17:22:00.004+05:30

A young boy went to a Mahatma. He touched his feet and requested him to give him knowledge about Atma and Paramatma. The saint made the boy sit next to him and said "how eager are you know about Atma and Paramatma?
The boy replied "I am very eager and I want to learn fast." The boy said that he has come from far of place and all the people suggested him to visit you. Now You are the only person who can give me gyan about God and Soul. The saint asked "how much time can you spare of your life to learn about God"
The boy said "I want to learn instantly."
The saint said "you have to stay with me for sometime and then only I can teach you. It can take one day, one weak, can be one year or more." The boy thought for sometime and replied "yes, I am ready to stay with you and I know I can learn fast."
The Mahatma said "you have to do whatever work I tell you to do."
The boy agreed.
The next day Mahatma handed over a box which was locked and told the boy to handed it over to another Mahatma, his friend, who stayed 2 to 3 klms. away from his ashram.
The boy obediently agreed and took the box and started walking. On the way he felt some funny sound coming from the box. He became curious to know what was inside the box. He first controlled himself but later on got tempted. He unlocked the box and saw a rat jumped out of the box. The boy was surprised and could not decide as to what to do as the rat ran away. He anyway caught hold some other rat and locked it in the box. He reached the Mahatma's ashram, touched his feet and said that this box has been gifted by his Guru.
The Mahatma without opening said "in this box there is a rat. You opened the box to see what it contained. The rat jumped out of it and you have kept another rat instead. Am I right?"
The boy was stunned as he did not know what to say. He apologised and begged sorry by saying "I got curious to know what the box had as it was making some funny sound and as I opened it the rat jumped out and I kept another rat so that my Guru should not know that I opened the box. But swamiji how did you know that I opened the box and exchanged the rat?"

The Mahatma smiled and replied"you are very young and eager to know things fast. But first control your mind. It is running like a rat. First sacrifice something to learn about God. Your Guru gave you your mind in the form of a rat tightly locked in. But see as you opened it, it jumped and ran away somewhere else and you exchanged it with some other rat, the mind. Since your Guru has sent you to me I will try to help you to be steady. Never get tempted. Think, judge and then act. Once you know the art of controlling your own mind, you will also get the blessings of reading other persons mind. So be patient, your queries will be solved.

Saint and Thief

2009-02-11T16:04:00.003+05:30

A thief once unknowingly entered a saint's house to steal something. When he entered he could not find anything. There was nothing left in his room or kitchen.
The saint was busy in his prayers. He could sense that a thief has entered his house. He politely called him and said "please wait, I know you have come in search of something. I am a simple man I don't keep anything with me. But since you have come to my house I will not allow you to go empty handed."
Hearing this the thief got scared and started running. The saint ran after him and told him to wait. The saint caught hold of the thief and brought him to his house. He explained to him by saying"if you wanted something you should have told me in advance. I could have brought something from market and kept it for you. I don't allow anyone to go empty handed from my house. I offer something to an animal also. You are a man, God's creation. How can I allow you to go empty handed." He offered him a new shawl which he was wearing. It was gifted to the saint by one of his disciple.

After taking the shawl the thief left from saint's house. The thief decided that in future he will not steal. On the way a policeman saw him and suspected him to be a thief. He asked him that from where he got this expensive shawl. The thief told him about the saint who offered him as a gift. The policeman did not believe him. He dragged him to the police station. There the Chief of the police station asked him about the shawl. The thief again gave him the same answer that saint has given him the shawl.

The Chief of Police station was a disciple of the saint. He took the thief to the saint and asked him whether he has given him this expensive shawl. The saint recognized him and said "yes, this shawl has been gifted to him. Leave him. He is not a thief. He is a poor man and wanted some help from me so I gave him this shawl to remove all previous sins he has committed. Now he is my disciple and I will take care of him."
The Chief of the police touched saints feet and left. The thief cried bitterly and sat under saint's feet. He did pranaam to saint and promised in future he will never involve in anti social work. He will dedicate rest of his life in his service.

The story signified that in the company of good people bad people can also change. The shawl given by saint to the thief changed his life. The saints are like flowers spreading their fragrance to whom so ever they touch. Blessed are the ones who come in contact with saints whose divine touch and fragrance brings magic in their life.

Control over Eating Habit

2009-02-06T16:13:00.004+05:30

In Maharashtra there has been a famous personality named Mahadev Gobind Ranade. Once he was busy writing something in his notebook. His friend had sent sweet mangoes for him. His wife Ramabai, washed the mangoes peeled them for him. She kept small pieces of mango for him on the table. He started eating one piece, then another piece by saying "I have never eaten such sweet mangoes, they are very tasty." He offered some pieces to his wife and said "distribute it to the neighbours and all the workers in our house."

His wife Ramabai said "since you like mangoes so much why did you take only two pieces. You could have eaten more. Take more and finish this mango." He politely smiled at her and said "it is not necessary that what you like most you must eat more. There should be some control over your tongue, your taste buds"

Ramabai could not sense what was her husband hinting at. He then explained to her that some years back while he was studying in Mumbai , there used to be a lady, his neighbour. She was very rich and had ten servants at her service. Her dining table used to be full with variety of food items. After some years her husband faced some loss in his business. Their financial condition was deteriorating. They removed their servants and would cook only simple food to fill their stomach. Once being so rich they had no control over their tongue. They used to eat sweets and very rich food, but later they had to eat only dal and rice. Looking at their pathetic condition, I had promised and decided that in future I will keep a control over my tongue. Eat within limits so that in future my standard of living does not suffer.

To maintain stability in our financial conditions we should have some control over our spendthrift habits so that in future we and our children should not suffer.

Patience and Determination

2009-01-11T11:57:00.004+05:30

A Bodha Bhikshu went to take bhiksha in Vaishali, once a capital city of India. He entered a big bungalow and knocked at the door. The door opened and a young and beautiful woman was standing in front of the bhikshu. She was wearing heavy jewelery and looked a very rich lady.
She gave a dirty look at the bhikshu and got angry. She was against Budha dharam. She did not believe in Bodha and said "why are you here and next time dare you entered my house? why have you come to my house for begging?

The Bhikshu smiled and said "bhagini,will my bhikshapatra go empty from your house?
She was very angry and said "Yes, I will throw this dirt from dustbin in your patra." She immediately threw the dirt from dustbin in his bhikshapatra. The bhikshu politely removed the dirt and did pranaam and thanked for her foolish act. People gathered there and started telling him why he had to stoop so low and why he went to her house. He could have gone some other place.

The bhikshu replied "when my Guru had given me diksha he told me that whatever you get in your bhikshpatra, be contented and thank that person. If people abuse you, throw mud on you, still you should thank them. She has given me something and not taken away anything. A lady who had never touched or lifted dustbin in her life has to bend at least to take that in her hand. She has changed a bit. Now I will go everyday and knock at her door. Slowly but steadily she will learn to be kind and offer me the right bhiksha."

Never lose courage. There may be many obstacles in our life, we must be patient enough to overcome them. Our efforts will not go in vain. Have faith in Almighty who has created a variety of living and non living things for us. We must feel that he is with us all the time. We will definitely win our task.

Forgiveness

2009-01-05T12:48:00.005+05:30

When Sita Mata was in Ashok Vatika, Hanumanji went to meet her. He felt very sad to see her condition and could not bear to see the raakshasni's of Ravan ill treating her. He got very and said "mata. give me permission to kill and punish these raakshsni's who are torturing you." Sita mata with her moist eyes politely said "you are Lord Ram and sita's true bhakt. Forgive them. They are employees of Ravan, they are doing their duty. It is not their fault, forgive them. Why you want to punish them?"
Then Sita Mata narrated a story to Hanuman, the true bhakt of Ram and Sita.
She said a man was wandering in the jungle and he could not find his way. A lion started following him. He got scared seeing the lion and climbed on a tree. On the tree a bear was sitting. He did not know what to do. There was death down in the form of lion and death up on the tree in the form of bear. The bear said "do not got scared, you have come to my house and I will give you shelter. I will take care of you."
The lion was waiting under the tree for this man to fall or come down. The lion told bear "throw him down, don't trust this man." The bear replied "I cannot do this as he has taken shelter(sharan) in my house. I will protect him by sacrificing my life, but I will not throw him."
The lion was adamant and full night he sat under the tree waiting for this man. The bear told the man "I have taken care of you till midnight and then when you wake up I will take rest in your lap and you take care of me." The man agreed and slept peacefully in the bear's lap. At midnight the bear woke him up and said that now it was his turn to rest. The man put bear to rest on his lap. The lion looked up and said to man "this bear is taking care of you because he is scared of me but after sometime he will eat you so throw him down. Lion roared and said "throw him."
The man got frightened and threw the bear down. The bear did not fall he took support of the stems of the tree. The lion laughed and said to the bear "you saw how selfish are these man. You cannot trust them. how can you give shelter to him."
The bear replied "he has come under my shelter(sharan), I will forgive him but not allow him to fall. I will protect him."
Sita Mata said "everybody on this earth makes mistakes, we must forgive them for once. A bear can forgive man whose nature or food his flesh and we man who are intelligent and understanding cannot forgive."
Hearing this Hanuman became quiet and his anger subsided.

Karuna(Love and Sympathy)

2009-01-03T11:52:00.006+05:30

When you lit a candle it gives light. Sandalwood is cool and spreads only fragrance. Such are the saints who spread light and fragrance on this earth so that everybody feels happy.

Gautam Budha was full of karuna, love and sympathy for others. Once when Dev Dhoot opened the door of Nirvaan for him and said "Gautam Budha you are welcome to Nirvaan and the door is wide open for you. You can enjoy the bliss and happiness of Nirvaan". Gautam Budha politely refused and said "how can I enter and enjoy the bliss of Nirvaan, when people on this earth are wreathed in pain and sorrow? If all the people are allowed to enter the door to Nirvaan and every living being is relieved from pain and sorrow, I will then only accept the road to Nirvaan otherwise you may close the door."

Gautam Budha was a king and he renounced from all the comforts of King's life. He dedicated his entire life for others and was filled with karuna and sympathy for others. He wanted all the living beings to be happy. There was so much karuna and love in his heart for creatures of this earth.

There used be a Muslim saint named Rabia. Her bhakti was not less than Mira Bai's bhakti. Once her Guru arrived to bless her in her hut. He stayed as a guest for few days and would impart spiritual knowledge to her and others and would immerse in prayers.

When her Guru was to leave, she said that in few words just give her some message so that her life she will dedicate to these words.
Her Guru said there is one message you should always remember "Love God and hate Shaitaan(Devil)". Tears started dripping from Rabia's eyes. She knelt on her Guru's feet and said " I cannot do this".
Guru asked her "why can't you do this". She replied with moist eyes "I have only love, no feeling of hatred. If God and Shaitaan go together, then I will love both of them equally, I will not be able to hate the Shaitaan. There is no bitterness or hatred in me, so how can I give that to anybody. I have only one most precious gift of "Love".
Her Guru was so impressed by her that he knelt before her said"you are full of love, there is no place for hatred in your heart. For you there is no difference between God and Shaitaan, rich or poor, ugly or beautiful. Everything on this Earth is beautiful and lovable." There are no boundaries for love. Hatred makes boundary.

Slept enough Now Wake Up

2008-12-20T12:13:00.004+05:30

Rajababu was a rich businessman in Calcutta city. He was seventy years old and had a big family. Everyday he used to go for his morning stroll with a stick in his hand.
Once while returning from his morning walk, he heard a woman's voice speaking very softly to wake up her son. He heard her saying "wake up, Raja Babu, How long will you sleep? How long will you be in dream world? See the sun has risen to fulfill its duty. You also wake to fulfill your duty. Oh! my dear son, wake up, it is high time."
When the businessman heard this, he said to himself "Oh, it is my time to wake up. I was really in a dream world and sleeping." He immediately rushed home and said to everybody "wake up, Raja Babu."
Every member of his family thought that something has gone wrong with him. But he was firm. He packed up few of his basic things and told his wife and children that he is leaving for Rishikesh.
He said"All these days I was sleeping but now since I have woken up I must not waste a single day. I must dedicate my life to the Almighty who has given me so much. I must earn something and enrich myself with spiritual knowledge. I have forgotten my God in this worldly things which I have to leave one day."

Sometimes it so happens that words spoken by somebody else affects us. We feel that they are
directed towards us. That instance we change our mind and take reigns of our indriyan's in our hand and dedicate ourselves to the Almighty.

Search of True Disciple

2008-12-19T12:46:00.005+05:30

Gautam Budha with his five hundred disciples was walking towards Vaishali, city in India. There was a small village on the way. Gautam suddenly took a turn towards the village. The disciples asked him that why he turned towards the small village.

Gautam said "I want to visit this village. We will all go there." The disciples asked"how can we all fit into this village? It is very small, hardly two to three hundred people are there and very few houses for us to stay or sit there. How can five hundred disciples accommodate in the village. They want have sufficient water and food for us. Let us straight away walk towards Vaishali."

Gautam Budha did not answer them and firmly said"let us go there."
The disciples were surprised as they knew there is not much place for 200 to 300 people, how can they fit there. When they marched forward and reached almost near the village, they saw a young girl carrying food for her father who was working as a farmer. The young girl of 17 - 18 years did pranaam to Guatam and requested "shasta, till I don't come back after giving food to my father in the farm, please do not start your pravachan."

Gautam Budha smiled and answered in affirmative. Gautam Budha alongwith his disciples reached the village. All the natives of the village gathered and gave immense respect to Mahatma Budha. They arranged for food, water and shelter for them. The villagers were happy and said that they are also very blessed that such a Mahatma has given darshan to them. They were very excited that people from different places go to take darshan of Gautam Budha and here he has come personally to visit us.
The disciples of Gautam Budha could not believe and were very surprised that they could all accommodate into this small village and they had sufficient food and other facilities for them.

The Head (mukhiya) of the village requested Mahatma Budha to give satsang and spiritual knowledge to the village people. All the people of the village assembled to hear Mahatma Budha.
Mahatma kept silent. There was total peace and complete silence. As soon as the girl arrived Mahatma Budha smiled and his faced bloomed like a flower. He started imparting his knowledge, his updesh and said "I was waiting for this girl to come back, my friends. I have come to this village because of this girl. She is the right disciple, she has ability to learn and understand. She has this priceless possession of knowledege from her previous birth. I know the history of her previous births. I turned to this village as I knew that this girl stays here and has the hunger, the desire to learn and value knowledge. The person who has thirst, the curiosity to know, understand and learn, will find the well to get water. The river will find the sea.
Those who breed positive thoughts in their mind get positive response from all the sources but those who breed negativity will never find their way. The negative vibes get negative thought in response.

Keep postive thought and have strong faith, God will come in search of you. How Mahatma Biudha went in search of the girl from a small village whose postive thoughts attracted Gautam Budha to impart postive knowledge in her. Due to her the entire village got positive energy from Gautam Budha and they were Blessed

Mind and Body coordiantion

2008-12-16T16:27:00.005+05:30

Gautam Budha was once giving spiritual lectures to his disciples. Many people had assembled to hear the spiritual discourses. A rich businessman had also joined and was sitting right in front. His front toe was shaking continuously. While imparting knowledge, Gautam Budha noticed that the businessman's front toe was shaking non stop. Budha stopped giving lectures. He said to the man"friend, why is your toe shaking?" The moment Budha said this, the businessman's toe stopped shaking.

The man felt very insulted and hurt that Gautam Budha pointed out this problem in public. He got angry and said "you mind your own lectures, there is not need to find fault in others. What is to you if my toe is shaking? It is my problem. You have no right to insult me? His ego was badly bruised and hurt. He thought that so many times nobody noticed this and now why is Gautam trying to notice and make it public.
Gautam Budha was very polite and tactful. He said"dear friend, how many questions did you ask me for this simple reason. Just tell me why there is no control over your toe. Your one part of the body is shaking and you are not aware of it. It means that there is no coordination between your mind and body. Your mind is not with you. You are not paying attention. Your mind is wandering somewhere else. Any way now be serious and listen to my lecture."

After sometime the toe stopped shaking. Gautam Budha said "friend, now why has your toe stopped shaking. It is because you were unconscious before, now after I pointed out your problem you have become conscious.

It happens with most of us. There is no mind and body coordination. We make mistakes because we think something and do something. Our strong will power can bring coordination as we are conscious of what we are doing.

Knowledge to Blind

2008-12-15T16:03:00.007+05:30

Lord Krishna told Arjun "this knowledge of Geeta should be shared and given to those who value it, who are tapasvi, who have stable mind and body, whose sensory organs(eyes,ears, nose,tongue etc) are within his control and well coordinated. It is most precious and scientific knowledge which guides you to lead a balanced life and helps at every sphere of life.

Ramesh had a friend Ramu who was blind. He went to his Ramu's house and told him to stay with him for sometime. The blind man Ramu and Ramesh stayed together and had good time. It was time for the Ramu to depart. He told Ramesh that he could find his house on his own and he need not take trouble to leave him till his house.

It was getting cloudy and slight drizzle was there so Ramesh told his friend to stay back but the Ramu insisted on going back to his house. Ramesh told him to take lantern as it is quite dark outside. The blind friend said"oh! you are making fun of me. You know I cannot see so what help will I get from this lantern. I can walk with my stick"
Ramesh said "dear friend, if you carry lantern, the other person will not dash against you due to the light from lantern and he can at least see you. Ramu agreed to carry lantern.
While he was walking a man dashed against him and said "are you blind? Can't you see me coming from front? Ramu replied"yes, I am blind but you could see the light from the lantern." The man said "your lantern has no light, it is off" Poor blind man did not know whether there is light in the lantern or no. Anyway he apologised and walked carefully with his stick and reached home.
It is like you try to impart knowledge on a person who does know anything or is not interested in knowing or tries to find fault in it. Try to give spiritual or any knowledge to those who love to hear, read and understand it. Not to the ones who do not value it. It is like giving lantern to a blind man who does not know that the lantern is lit or not.

Hear your inner self

2008-12-15T15:44:00.002+05:30

A rich old businessman lost his eye sight. His family tried their best to get him operated but did not succeed. He used to feel proud of his family. His family members were his wife, eight sons and eight daughters-in-law. His sons used to always tell him to get best treatment abroad for his eyes, but the old man would not agree. He would tell his wife and children "I have two eyes of my wife, sixteen eyes of my sons and sixteen of my daughters in law, where is the need to go abroad and get operated."
He further said " My children you take so much care of me, stay with me all the time like a shadow. Whatever I need you all are ready to help. I am so proud of you. I don't want to go out for operation. You all are my eyes. I can see and feel through your love. I don't feel handicapped. I don't need my eyes"

Once it so happened that the businessman's house caught fire. It was night time and the fire was spreading everywhere in the house. Everybody from the family, all the thirty four eyes rushed out to save their lives. The old man was left alone, he could sense from the smoke and screams that there is heavy fire in his house. He could not see which way to exit. This very minute he felt that his own eyes only help. However good your family members may be, but at certain time they also become helpless. So your eyes and your thinking can help you to overcome any crises.

Be self reliant. Don't boast of near and dear ones. Time is the best judge. Listen to your inner self.

White flowers and Red flowers

2008-12-12T15:48:00.002+05:30

Swami samarth was staunch believer of Lord Rama. In his lectures he would speak only about Rama and the holy epic Ramayan. As it is said that wherever there is a discussion or a satsang about Lord Rama, his disciple Hanuman is always present.

Once swami Samarth was explaining to his disciples the story of Sita. He said that "when Hanumanji went to meet Sita in Ashok Vatika, the flowers that were blooming there of white colour."
Hanuman was sitting and hearing the satsang. He was thinking that "the flowers were red in colour when he first met sita mata, they were not white. How is swamiji saying that they were white. He is giving lecture based on the books. He was not there that time. I was the witness and I know they were red." Hanumanji immediately came in front of swami Samarth in physical form and said "swamiji, I am Hanuman. Just now you said that the flowers were white when Hanuman went to meet Sita at Ashok Vatika but I know they were red. I had actually seen them. How can you say that?" Swamiji said "I am also a disciple of lord Rama and I am also equally important like you. I know and I am sure the flowers blooming were white."

Hanumanji said "let us go to Lord and find out the truth." He carried swamiji on his shoulders and went to Rama. Lord Rama was surprised to see his disciples arguing for the colour of flowers at Ashok Vatika. Lord said"you are both equally precious to me. Iam happy to hear that you have done minute study of my life. You know each and every phase of my life. Lord did not want to displease his disciples. So he said that this questions answer only Sita can give you as I was not there. She was the only witness. I suggest you go and ask her."

Then they approached Sita Mata bowed in front of her and Hanuman asked "Mata, we have a query. We want to know the colour of flowers at Ashok Vatika when I came to meet you. This swamiji says that the flowers were white that time but I am sure they were red. You are the only witness and can you please solve this?" Sitaji smiled and made Hanuman relax. She said "oh! dear son Hanuman the flowers at Ashok Vatika were actually white. It is correctly scripted in religious books. Since you were very angry and your eyes had turned red, you could only see only red, only anger, so the white flowers looked red to you." Hanumanji thanked Sita Mata and said "In anger we forget our senses, we are not normal and view things in a biased way"

Hanumanji felt nice that Swami Samarth knows each and every detail of my Lord Rama. He thanked him said "You will always find me in places wherever Ram Katha is discussed or narrated" and then he disappeared.

This story teaches us a lesson that in anger we don't see things as they are and our judgement is never correct. Always take decisions in relaxed mood so there are no mistakes.

Story from Upnishad

2008-12-08T16:08:00.003+05:30

As we all know Ego is like our shadow. How much ever we try to control it and keep away, it will not go easily. But atleast we should be aware that due to Egoistic behaviour we ruin our relations.
There was a war between devtas and daityas. Devtasas won the war. So they became egoistic. The Devtaas Vaayu, Indra and Agni are the three main. They started arguing amongst themselves by stressing that one is more powerful than the other.

Indra said "I am most powerful devtaa. I look after this earth. If I stop sending rain, this earth will get dried. The rivers, lakes sea all will dry. Nobody will get water to drink, even plants and animal will die due to thirst. There will no food also as plant will not grow. The entire species of earth will die of thirst."

The Agni devtaa said "without water the earth can run for sometime but not without fire. Man's body runs on heat, if it becomes cold, they die. If the heat is not there on earth, all will decay. There is heat in the sun, it gives life on earth. But if I stop giving heat, nobody will be able to breathe and survive."

The vaayu devtaa said " what are you talking. I am the most powerful on the earth. Without air, all the species on earth will die instantly. How can they survive without oxygen and air."

Now all these important devtaas started showing their strength. Each one wanted to prove that he is more powerful than the other.

God was listening to their argument. He knew that they are interlinked. None can survive without the other. I have given them the power to help the earth and now due to Ego they are fighting.
While they were fighting, they saw some powerful and beautiful light passed by. The powerful light was stronger than the sun's light. When they went near, they saw beautiful devi. They said "who is this beautiful and bright looking devi?"
Agni first went forward and started talking and asked in a powerful tone "who are you? You don't know I am Agni devtaa. I can burn you anytime. I can destroy the entire world with fire and heat. She replied "you don't know who am I?" I have never seen Agni devtaa before. You don't look familiar to me."
Agni got very angry. The devi said "if you are so powerful, then take this thin dry stem of tree, burn it to show me that you are very powerful. Agni tried to burn that dried stem with full might, but it did not catch fire. He tried with his full strength but could not burn the dried stem.

Seeing this the vaayu said "oh devi, what agni cannot do, I can do. I am vaayu, I can blow this thin stem in one instance. I am so powerful that if I stop giving air, the entire world will die immediately without oxygen. I am so powerful that if I bring storm heavy stones, mountains can get destroyed. The devi said "blow this dried stem to show your strength." Vaayu with full strength tried to blow but could not and finally gave up.

Now Indra devtaa approached near devi and said "see I am more powerful than Agni and Vaayu. I can bring heavy rain and get the earth flooded with water and people will die of drowning. If I stop sending water the earth will die due to thirst. Now you know I am the most powerful."
The devi said "just shake this small stem with water and prove your might"
Vaayu tried level best but could not bring rain or little water to shake the stem.
Finally he also gave up.
Then these three devtaas apologised and said "we are sorry and agree that we cannot have powers without God's wish. Can you tell us who are you?'

The devi said "I am God. I came to test you. You became very egoistic thinking that the earth runs on your power. You are mistaken. The power of vaayu, Agni and Indra is with the Almighty. If you don't unite your powers will be snatched away. You three devtaas are interlinked. One cannot work without the help of other. Please give up this Ego and jointly do your work or else your powers will not serve the purpose of this Earth. I can snatch your powers if you do not work together. All are equally important on this earth and it is because of my blessings.

Minimise Your Desires

2008-12-07T15:59:00.003+05:30

Main reason to take birth and rebirth is basically due to our unfulfilled desires. We take 84 Lakh times birth(chourasi lakh yonis) because of these desires. But these desires make us behave like beggars and they are never fulfilled. We are never satisfied.
A sufi fakir reached the samraat of his nation's palace. He had a small pot. He told the samraat to fill his pot with whatever little he can donate. Any small thing was welcome. It can be food, clothes, sand, stone, gold, silver anything he can give. The sufi saint told the king that the pot should remain full, it should remain empty.

Samraat ordered his minister by saying "this fakir has a small pot and cannot disappoint a sufi saint, just fill his pot with diamonds." When his minister started putting diamonds in the pot he could hear the sound of diamonds being put in the pot, but he could not see them. They got vanished. from the pot. The pot remained empty. Again he tried to put diamonds, gold, silver and many other things, he could hear the sound but the things would disappear. He went on putting many things from palace property, but the pot never got filled. It remained empty.
The entire property of the samraat was put in the pot, still it remained empty. They could hear the sound of things being put in the pot, but they would get vanished in no time.

When everything got over, the condition of the samraat became like that of a beggar. He had nothing left. The ministers and other people of that nation were surprised. They told the king that he is not a fakir, he is a magician. He is playing tricks on us.

The fakir smiled and politely said "Don't call me a magician. I am a true sufi fakir. I am not greedy. I have no desires. A little food for the day if I get is sufficient for me and if I don't get I sleep without it.

The king then requested him by saying 'if you are a true saint then return my entire property. where have you hidden it. You don't need much then why have your grabbed the property of my palace. The fakir said "first bend low, bow to me and honestly say that you have lost and I have won. The samraat said "I beg you and bend in front of you and agree that I have surrendered and you have won. Now tell me about the pot. It is made of which element?

The fakir laughed and said "this pot is made of the element of Desires, the khopdi of man which is always wanting. The khopdi dies but the wants do not die. This pot is not with me alone, it is with everybody. This stomach of our is satisfied after eating food, but the stomach of this khopdi is never satisfied. How much ever you fill it, it immediately gets emptied. So reduce your desires."
The fakir then returned the kings property and marched towards other places to teach the people that too many desires will not let you sleep in peace.

King of Universe

2008-12-05T11:40:00.004+05:30

A king once passed by an Inn(Dharamshala). It was evening and quite dark due to cloud and slight drizzle, he saw two beggars sitting outside the Inn and arguing on some topic. Since it was dark they could not see him. The king stopped to hear their argument. One beggar said “on whom this earth's king(bhupati) bestows his blessings, this World’s king(jagatpati or God) also cannot do anything.” The other beggar argued by saying “on whom this world’s king(jagatpati) bestows his blessing, this earth’s king(bhupati) cannot do anything. The first beggar said "does God give us anything? can we see him? Does he really exist? He never talks to us,never comes before us. How can I trust the King of Universe. Is there a king of Universe. Is he far greater than our king of the state or earth. I can see my nation's king. He helps me at times. If he wants he can help me and remove this poverty of mine. The second beggar argued and said "the king of earth also gets from God, he has not created on his own. If God wants he will definitely remove this poverty of mine”

The king was amused by their arguments and went back to his palace. Next day he sent his attendant to the place where these beggars meet and ordered him to bring the beggars sitting outside the Inn. The beggars were summoned at King’s palace. Before these beggars would reach King's palace, he ordered his men to get two long pumpkins, slit them and remove the inner part. The pumpkins were then filled with gold coins and closed again.

The two beggars arrived at king's palace. They were greeted nicely and each one was given a pumpkin. The beggars then thanked the king and left the palace. The first beggar who said that to whom the earth’s kings gives what the world’s King will give, took the pumpkin and felt very disappointed by the gift. He straight away went to vegetable market, sold that pumpkin for ten rupees and pacified himself by saying "today I deserved only this much."

The other beggar who believed that to whom the world’s king give what would the earth’s king give, went straight home. He told his wife to keep this pumpkin, he will bring one more from market and make some khichdi as for long they have not eaten proper food. The beggar went to the market, came across the same vegetable vendor who had purchased the pumpkin from the first beggar for ten rupees. This beggar agreed to buy from him for fifteen rupees. He bought the pumpkin from him and took it home. Now both the pumpkins were with this beggar. When his wife started cutting, she was surprised that both the pumpkins were stuffed with gold coins. The beggar's happiness knew no bounds. He thanked God and said “to whom you give will only get. Nobody can snatch it from him.”

Next day the king called both the beggars and asked them about the pumpkins. The first said that he had sold it vegetable vendor for ten rupees. The second told him that by coincidence he got both the pumpkins stuffed with golden coins and I thank my Lord for his blessings.

The king laughed and said to the second beggar “what you said is True that to whom the World’s king gives, what can the Earth’s king do.” I tried to help both of you. I used to feel that I am helping my people. But when I overheard your arguments, I wanted to test that who is right. I wanted to judge and wanted a proof. Oh Lord ! I agree to whom You give, nobody else can give." You are the final authority. I am also your creation. You can make a beggar into a rich man and can destroy a rich man anytime.

Plan After Prayer

2008-12-03T12:30:00.004+05:30

A Mahatma once early in the morning went to visit his disciple. The disciple had a big bungalow with a beautiful garden. His wife was strolling in the garden. As soon as she saw Mahatma she touched his feet and made him sit in the chair.

The Mahatma asked "where is my disciple?"
The wife replied "he has gone to buy shoes"
The Mahatma said "so early in the morning which shoe shop will be open."
The disciple was sitting in dhyan and praying in his room. He heard the conversation between the saint and his wife. He immediately came out of room and told his wife "early morning why are you telling lies to my Guru. You cannot tell him that I was praying in my room." He forgot about dhyan and prayer and started arguing with his wife. He told Mahatma that his wife is telling all lies. Don't believe her.

The Mahatma said " oh beti, why did you tell me lies that your husband has gone to buy shoes?. You could have politely told me that he in dhyan and is praying. Why create such an argument."

The wife said " Mahatmaji, give gangajal and tulsi in his hand and ask him to tell you honestly that what I said now is true or false. Is it a lie."

The tears started dripping from the man's eyes and said "swamiji, to tell you the truth I was buying shoes only and there was also some dispute with the shopkeeper."
Swamiji asked his wife that how did she come to know about it.

The wife answered "before going to pray and sit in his dhyan, my husband told me that after prayer and breakfast I will go to buy shoes. I knew that now his mind will not be in the prayer but in shoe shop. He must be thinking which shoe shop to buy from and which type of shoe. So I guessed that physically he is at home praying, but mentally he is shopping"

She said "Mahatmaji, you had taught us that before going for dhyan or doing prayer, do not make any commitments. Just concentrate on your Almighty. Spare some time for him. Mentally and physically, at that moment atleast we must be with him and not make any plans just before prayers. I told you what I felt about my husband. Am I wrong in saying that."

The Mahatma smiled and said "In future after doing your prayers make plans for the day or for future. Do not spoil that time in worldly and futile thoughts. Always keep your thoughts with God while praying. After prayers you have full time to do your daily job.

Atmanan Yunjit : self Realisation

2008-12-03T11:54:00.002+05:30

We have attached ourselves with the entire world from outside. We have never tried to maintain and study relationship with ourselves. We have no time to introspect and check what is happening within us. We have the entire world news, but never bothered to know about the news from within our Atma. God says "concentrate and check from within where are you going wrong." Spare sometime for the Almighty who has created this universe. We have forgotten the owner of our Birth and Death.

A highly qualified Professor from Tokyo University came in search of God and Soul(Atma-Paramatma),ParaBrahm. He was guided towards a saint who stayed in a small and peaceful hut situated in the high hills. People in that locality told him that his query to know about God will be solved by that saint. The professor went on climbing the hill which was very high. Finally he reached the Saint's hut. The professor was feeling breathless on climbing the hill and was also sweating.

He entered the hut of the saint and started questioning about Atma Paramatma. The saint told him to calm down and take a deep breath. He made him sit and told him to wipe out the sweat.
The saint then told him "relax for sometime, I will prepare tea for you. You have come from so far. Take some rest and after tea your problem will be solved."

The saint then went to make tea for the professor. The prfessor was feeling restless and started thinking that how can his problem be solved with a cup of tea. Anyway the saint prepared the tea and started pouring the tea in Professor's cup and saucer. The saint went on pouring tea in the cup upto the brim and started falling in the saucer. The Professor said "stop now, the cup and saucer both are full. Why are you continuously pouring tea, there is not a place left. It is overflowing."

The saint laughed aloud and said "you can see the cup is overflowing but you cannot see from within. Where is the place for Atam Paramatma. You are filled with desires and worldly things, not a bit left to know about your creator." The Professor was surprised and he realized that in our daily life we are filled with so much of dirt from outside world that we have not left place for God to abide in. He forgot about the tea. The Professor then told the saint"I will come back to you when I will find place for God in my heart."

The saint smiled and said "Oh! Professor, when you will find place for God in your heart, you will not need to come here. There will be no need for you to come here. You will find answer to your queries on your own. Introspect and understand yourself, answers lie within. You be your judge."

Story of a Brahmin

2008-11-25T16:57:00.005+05:30

There was a Brahmin, a true bhakt of Lord Krishna. He has expressed his views on Mahabharat. In Mahabharat there is a shloka "Bhavami na chirathparth" means God says "I take care of your life, I look after your needs and I will come personally to help you and carry you in my lap from the sea of sorrow."
The Brahmin opinion was "why should Lord take the trouble of coming personally and helping us. He has so many people with him. He can send his employees, his attendants, servants to come to earth for our help. So he scribbled with yellow colored pencil the word "Bhavami" from the shloka and inserted the word "vadami" in his book. After that he went to take bath in the nearby river. He was a very poor Brahmin and very little food was there in his house. While leaving his wife told him to get some foodstuff from the market after returning from his bath and pooja.

God Vishnu disguised himself as small boy of 10-12 years and went to his house. He carried a heavy load with foodstuffs like wheat,rice, pulses, salt, vegetables etc. When he reached his house he called out to the Brahmin's wife and said "See your husband has given me such a heavy load of foodstuff for your house and I am feeling breathless carrying this burden and see my full mouth has became yellow. The Brahmin's wife asked him "child, you are so young and innocent and why has my husband told you to carry such a heavy load. It is not right on his part. What is that yellow colour on your lips?

The child said "this is all done by Panditji." She replied "Has panditji gone mad, what is wrong with him? How can he smear your lips and cheeks with yellow colour. When he comes home I going to question him." She then told him to sit and have some breakfast. The child replied "I have some other work to do so I cannot wait for breakfast. Saying this the Lord who was disguised as a child disappeared.

When the Brahmin reached home, his wife started yelling at him "what is wrong with you? How can you send such heavy load with a small child? The child was feeling breathless by carrying this heavy burden of foodstuff which you had send through him. Now at this old age you played mischief with a small child by smearing the lips of the child with yellow colour. How could you do this to a small child. Being a Brahmin you should not do this. How can you be so cruel with a small child. You put so much burden on the child and made him carry heavy bag full of household eatables like rice, atta, dal etc. and you smeared his lips with yellow colour. I never expected you to behave like this with a small child atleast. This is like committing a sin?"

The Brahmin was stunned to see his wife screaming at him for no fault of his. He could not understand what was happening. He told his wife "Which child are you talking of? I have not met any small child and smeared his lips and cheeks with yellow colour. I have not send any foodstuff for our house. I don't have a penny to buy these things. Today I came empty handed."
The Panditji was surprised because he had not sent a small child to carry food items in his house. He was thinking that who could do this as he had no money also to buy these things.

Afterward he realised his mistake that he had overwritten with yellow ink the word Bhavami to Vadami in the shloka from pious book Mahabharat.. What God has stressed in the granth is true. He started weeping bitterly and said to his wife "Oh, How foolish I am? I tried to correct my Lord's word. He has strongly reiterated everywhere that He will come personally to help his disciples in need. But I was wrong by changing his words. I apologise and beg sorry from my Lord. I now firmly believe that you come personally to help us. You don't send your employees to help. The yellow ink smeared on my Lord's mouth is because of my foolishness. I am feeling so guilty. I thought I am right.

He further told his wife "you are lucky to have got darshan of God disguised as a small child, but I could not get to see him. How my Ego kept me away from my God. You being innocent got his darshan. Lord knew that we are poor and there was very little food in our house. He personally came to help me from this poverty. He gave his proof that he is always with me. In future I will never make any changes. I will accept whatever is written in the granth as his words, Lord's vani."

Firm Belief in God

2008-11-21T11:48:00.004+05:30

Lord Krishna told Arjun "Matparah". Have faith and shraddha. Fully surrender to me"
Once there was a round table conference in England during British rule in India. Mahatma Gandhi, Madan Mohan Malaviya and the King of Jaipur were invited to attend the conference.

Mahatma Gandhi and Madan Moha Malaviya went by plane. But the King of Jaipur, who was strong believer of Govindji, wanted to travel by ship. He wanted to carry his Govindji's temple along with him. So a special ship was arranged in which the king carried his God Govind's temple. Many of his employees also traveled with him. He had full faith and strong belief in his God. A special cell was kept for king to pray in his Lord's temple.

While the ship was sailing, after sometime on the way, by chance suddenly there was storm in the sea with gushing winds. The ship was sinking. It was difficult to sail due to the storm.

The captain of the ship who was a Britisher sent messages to his sailors and the passengers on the ship to take safety measures and safety boats to save their life.

The captain approached the king and told him to vacate the sinking ship and take a safety boat. The king replied "it is my prayer time and I will not leave. Let anything happen. I am sitting under my Govindji's feet, there is not need to send any messages. If the ship sinks or no and if I die or no, do not worry and about me. No need to inform me. you can proceed and save yours and others life through safety boats.

The king sat to pray, he was fully immersed in his concentration, dhyan.

After sometime it became calm, there was no storm and the ship did not sink. Everybody was safe. After his prayer the king came out of his temple, he saw everything was fine, there was no storm and all were breathing a sigh of relief.

They all reached England safely. Then the news spread in London about the storm and how with the kings prayer and dhyan, the ship was saved from sinking.

When mahatma Gandhi and Madan Mohan Malaviya heard about it, they immediately rushed to the king, embraced and hugged him. They were very delighted to hear that the king had strong determination and had fully surrendered to the Almighty. No sign of panic.

This news was printed in bold letters about the faith and belief in the Almighty. Everything you leave to Him, He will take care. Do not panic in the time of crises, just pray and have firm belief and faith.
God gives us peace and satisfaction. Lord Krishna has strongly said that "I will save you from mritiyu rupi sansaar. I will come and lift you up in my arms from the sea of death."
There are so many proof that God will come and help us during any crises or trouble. He did this with Arjun, Draupadi, with elephant,Dhruv, Mira Bai, Jana bai, Naamdev. There are innumerable examples and experiences by us also that God exists and helps those who believe in him.

Prayer(Hindi)

2008-11-18T11:41:00.002+05:30

Nurture True Friendship

2008-11-18T11:03:00.003+05:30

Once two very good friends went on a tour to Rajasthan. It was summer time and weather was very hot. In the broad daylight they were walking along a road. They both decided to take rest under the shade of a tree. They were very tired and sweating due to heat so they sat under the shade of a tree for two to three hours. One of the friends was feeling sleepy so he slept in the lap of his other friend.

It was deserted place. One friend was in deep sleep resting peacefully in his friends lap. The other friend was reading a book as he was not getting sleep. Suddenly a snake came out of the tree and he wanted to bite the friend who was sleeping.

The friend who was awake asked the snake "why you want to bite him?"
The snake replied "This man had hit me with a stick and I started bleeding from my neck. I also want to suck blood from his neck."
The friend said "If you bite him, he will die. You are so poisonous and if you bite with your teeth his whole body will become poisonous and he will die. I will not allow you to do this."
The friend then said "O.K you want only blood from his neck then I will slit his neck and give you that amount of blood which was shed from your body."
The snake agreed.
The friend removed a small knife(to cut fruits,veg.)from his pocket and slowly slit the neck of his friend and removed little blood for the snake. The friend who was fast asleep opened his eyes as he felt the pain. He saw a knife in his friends hand on his neck but still he went to sleep again without making any noise. The friend who was awake gave snake the blood and the snake went away.
The friend slowly and peacefully did some first aid on his friend's neck to heal the wound.
When the friend woke up, his other good friend asked him "it is a deserted place, no birds and animals are around and it is so hot and I am holding a knife in my hand, you are not making any commotion. You are not resisting, not making noise or getting angry. Tell me the reason. You did not suspect anything foul with a knife in my hand."
The friend replied "when you slit my neck, I started bleeding and felt severe pain. I woke up saw a snake and I also saw that I was resting in your lap, I did not suspect anything wrong because I have full faith in you, my dear friend. Before sleeping I had completely surrendered and laid down to you because I trust you. You will never harm me in anyway."
The other friend who was awake narrated the entire incident to him. The friend who was sleeping said " I love you and I know in future also we will always be friend,never disown each other."

Here two friends trust each other. But do we trust God the same way. Always doubting.
If you maintain such relations with God, he will help you in need. So surrender fully to God.

Satva Guna

2008-11-15T12:10:00.004+05:30

There are three gunas(qualities) of nature. Satva guna, Rajo Guna and Tamoh Guna.
In satva guna we try to speak truth and search truth. In extreme of satva guna we go into samdhi. In Rajoh guna twenty four hours our mind is filled with desires. We don't get sleep, we are all the time thinking and wanting. There are endless desires and restlessness. But if this continues for long we become abnormal.
In tamoh guna people get very angry, they become very stubborn. In extreme anger his whole body starts trembling and sometimes it may lead to death. People feel jealous, lazy, there is no willingness. Mostly suicidal tendencies are due to extreme of tamoh and rajoh guna.
We should always pray to God that he bestows upon more of satva guna so that we can live in peace and harmony. When we are happy and relaxed we should feel that the satva guna is increasing.

When Gautam Budha was born, his father Shudhyodhan had made big arrangements for his birth celebration. He had invited many kings for his son Siddharth's birth. One old Mahatma entered Shudhyodhan's palace to see Gautam Budha. He had come from far off place and was very lean and old.
Shudhyodhan was very happy to see a high tapasvi, a yogi Mahatma coming to bless his son. His happiness knew no bounds.
He touched his feet and said " Mahatma, you are welcome to my palace. I am so blessed to have you here. How grateful is my son to whom a saint like you has come to bless. I had come to your ashram many times and had requested to bless my palace, you never came. But today I am so happy but surprised to see you. Do you need anything. Can I help you in any way?. Is there any problem, please let me know?.

The saint said "I am no trouble. I don't need anything. I have come to take darshan of this child, your son, who has taken birth in your house. I am so lucky to take darshan of this child. I am so blessed."

Shudyodhan rushed and brought his child in front of the saint. When he tried to keep the child in Mahatma's feet, the mahatma said "stop please, I have to touch his feet and take blessings. As Mahatma touched Gautam's feet, his small toe got entangled in Mahatma's hair(jatau). Later on Mahatma Gautam Budha's life was entangled in helping and solving people's problems. He became saint who brought peace on this Earth.

When tapasvi was about to leave, he started crying. Gautam Budha's father asked him "why are you crying? Is there anything wrong"
The saint replied "there is nothing wrong with your child. But 29 years from hence when this child attains knowledge(Nirvan), I will not be alive to see and hear him. How unlucky I am, how amangal for me.
The saint predicted that after 29 years this child will bloom like a flower, he will become a tapasvi. He will attain knowledge and will spread the fragrance peace and ahimsa all over the world. whoever will touch his feet and come in his contact will get moksh. I am feeling sad that I will not be able to witness all this. This is my last birth."

This is satva guna quality. The true saints and tapasvi can smell and feel the presence of satva guna person. They can easily identify the qualities within you.

Nurture Good Qualities

2008-11-15T11:47:00.004+05:30

One thing we should all understand that inside our body(shareer) except the soul(the atma) whatever parts are there, are given by the earth, the nature(prakriti). Everything is Prakriti made. Only soul is not prakriti. It is the nature of prakriti to go downwards. It does not lift you up.

If you see water flowing from mountain, it goes downwards towards river. Water has the tendency to flow down. But the tendency of the fire is to move upwards. Fire down not go downwards. If you light a diya or candle, it will blow upwards. If you do Havan. the fire from Havankund goes up. The light from the deepak, candle or any fire goes up. The light goes up. The soul is like a light which goes up. Our soul is like a fire which moves in upper direction.

Like hunger, thirst,sleep, anger,moha. lobh all these desires are natural, nature made(prakriti).
But for dhyan(concentration)prayers, pooja-path, anything that connects to God, you have to find time and work hard. It is not natural or spontaneous. It is easy to learn bad things, but to learn something good, we have to take some pain. For learning good things so many schools and colleges are opened up. Are there any school. colleges for teaching something bad. We would remove our children from any school or college where we feel our child is getting spoilt. To teach good we have to struggle and work hard.

We have to plant good seeds and wait patiently for trees to grow so that we get good crop. Otherwise grass and other unwanted plants grow without any effort. But we don"t consume them We want good and healthy food.

Same way the nature has three qualities like satva, rajoh and tamoh. Excess of Rajoh and Tamoh Guna is harmful but excess of satva guna is always beneficial.

Control over Sense organs(Indriyan)

2008-11-14T16:09:00.006+05:30

Lord Krishna tells Arjun in Geeta "Indriyani pramathini haranti prasarbh manah"do not have full faith in your sense organs(indriyan), However strong a man may be he can make mistakes. There may be highly religious saints, munies, rishies but they too can mistakes at times. So do not be over confident that you have full control over your sensory organs.

In Kashi there was saint, a Mahatma. He was very simple and easy person. He was a sadpurush, gyani, big yogi. He had thousands of disciples. He had control over his eating habits. He used to eat very simple food and talk very less. Most of the time he used spend in his sadhana. Whatever he would say it would come out to be true. People used to treat him like God.

Everyday early morning at 4 a.m. he used to wake up and go for bath at river Ganga. On his way there was a house of a prostitute. Whenever he used to pass through her house, she used to come out of her house bow to him and would ask him one question "Are you a true saint?" The saint would not answer, remain quiet and walk towards his destination. This went on for many years but he never gave any reply to the prostitute.

One day the Mahatma passed away. The people in the ashram gathered to pay their last respect to Mahatma's body. Everybody touched his feet. Finally the body of the Mahatma was taken for cremation with drums etc. as was the ritual in that place. The moment they passed through the prostitute's house, she came out hearing the band and the crowd. She stopped and asked them that who has died, who has passed away. The people said that this is the body of the Mahatma who used to go at 4 a.m. for Ganga bath. He passed away today after coming back from bath.

The prostitute was surprised. She went and stood in front of the dead body of the Mahatma, bowed and said "Are you going without answering my question?" The Mahatma came out of the body and boldly said "Yes, today I swear by my heart and my Lord that I am a true saint" and then the body rested.

People say that it is a true story.

This means that the Saint knew that till your death time you are not sure of your sensory organs. They can ditch you. Only God is perfect. Human make errors.

Last minutes of death also you cannot trust your indriyan, your mind. It can change any time.

Knowledge in any Field is Blessings of God

2008-11-12T16:01:00.005+05:30

A Mahatma has written beautiful experiences of life and people around in his autobiography.
He said that he used to think that he was very talented, very knowledgeable person. He used to feel proud that he has gained so much spiritual knowledge. He has read so many books. He can give discourses on spirituality and has so many disciples. He said he became egoistic due to this special quality, which was bestowed upon him by the Almighty. He also said "I used to feel I am the greatest because people used to give me so much importance and I could solve many of their problems and queries and I would give them knowledge even if they did not ask for it."

Once he was passing through a village, it became evening and the sun started setting. It became very dark. On the way he met a boy of 8 to 9 years carrying deepak lit by him in his hand. He was carrying the diya towards a temple. The Mahatma stopped that boy and asked "where are you going ?"
The boy answered that he was going towards temple to light diyas in the temple.
Then Mahatma asked him that has he lit the diya which was in his hand. The said that Yes, he has only lighted the diya.
The Mahatma further questioned him"dear son, do you know from where the light in the diya comes or who gives us the light?"
The boy stared at Mahatma. Then he blew the diya and the light went off. He asked "now can you tell me where the light has gone?"
Mahatma was surprised by the boys question. He bowed in front of that young boy and said "you are my teacher(my Guru) from now. I could not answer this simple question of the boy that where the light disappears. I give such big lectures but do not know where light goes." A boy of about 8 to 9 year old boy became his Guru.

After sometime he saw a young woman who was walking in an uneasy position. Her body was not properly covered and her hair was also not tied properly. She dashed against the Mahatma and said "Did you see a young boy passing from here?' The Mahatma looked at her said "please look at yourself first. See the condition of your clothes and hair. You have no shame."
The young woman did pranaam to Mahatma and thanked him by saying " I am madly in love with a boy, I have passed from the big market, but nobody noticed my scattered clothes and hair. I have no idea what I am wearing and what I am doing. But I am surprised you being a Mahatma and madly in love with Parampita Paramatma(God), could ask me this question. You should sympathise with me and understand my condition that being in love you are not in a condition to know what is happening around you. You are not conscious. I love a boy and you love the Almighty.

The Mahatma then bowed in front of the young woman and said "you are my teacher(my Guru), who taught me how to love God, the Almighty. I was still paying attention to worldly things. Now onwards I should forget everything and get immersed in the love of my Parampita Paramatma.

The Mahatma realised that it was because of his Ego he could not understand God properly. But when he met these two Gods loving human being (the boy and young woman), he learnt a lesson that everything the Almighty knows. It is because of his blessings that we are able to attain knowledge. Otherwise in one instance he can destroy us. We should be thankful that we are by him in some field or the other.

Shishyasteaham(I am your Student, my Lord)

2008-11-12T12:31:00.005+05:30

One precious moment in Arjun's life was when he surrendered to Lord Krishna and said "shishyasteaham, Shadimam" He said "I am your student, Oh Lord! Rule on me, guide me.Show me the direction"
He was a warrior, a fighter, a very proficient arrow shooter. He had never given up in any war. He was a prince, highly egoistic. First time in his life he bowed, he surrendered to Lord Krishna, a true friend.

In such a big universe do we have somebody to whom we can surrender. We can have trust and agree to lead life as per his instructions. Man is filled with Ego which does not allow him to bend.
Parikshit, a king, grandson of Arjun, surrendered to Saint Sukhdev and asked him to give direction.
That was valuable time in his life. The same way King Janak bowed to Ashtavakar.
Sant Kabir took directions from his Guru Ramanand and that became a golden moment for him.
Swami Vivekanand became Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans's disciple. He gained his knowledge in Swami Paramhans's feet.
There are many true saints who would always guide you when in need. They can atleast tell you that what are you and why are you here on this earth? Don't hesitate to quench your thirst, your willingness to know about Almighty from a true saint.

If the saint is not able to answer your wish, your queries about God then He is not an honest saint. He will misguide you. We know we are all highly educated, we have enough of knowledge about religious books. But knowledge alone is not suffcient. There should be true guide to help us bring that knowledge in practice, help us to preach and be under right direction.

If your desire is genuine and the thirst is real, the Lord knows, He will find a true guide for you. Wait for his blessings and have full faith in him.
As with the blessing of Lord Krishna, Arjun attained the true knowledge and his Ego, Moha all desires vanished. He became pure and said "My moha is gone and it is all because of you, your blessings this could happen. It is your prasad(Tuva Prasadh)

Lord Krishna told Arjun " if you cannot do japa, tapa,path, pooja, dhyan, samadhi, cannot do fast, cannot go to temples or pilgrimage, cannot believe in dharma, arth but atleast you can have shradha(Faith) in me. You only do naman to me. Naman means Na(no) man(mind). You give your mind to me and rest I will take care of." Can we surrender our mind to the Lord which is all the time wandering from end to another. It is never stable.

Amongst Pandavas why God chose to guide Arjun. There was Yudhisthir, who was called dharamraj, highly religious, who would always speak truth. There was Bheem who was very powerful. Even Nakul and Shadev were very kind. But Lord Krishna gave knowledge of Gita to only Arjun because he was very simple(saral) and easy(sahaj) and spontaneous. Whatever was in his mind he would straight away tell or agree, a straight forward. No double mind.

Lord abides in the minds of those who are easy, simple, there is no double thinking in them. They do whatever is in their mind. There is nothing hidden from the lord. Lord knows us very well. He can judge and select only those who agree with him.

Thirst to Search God

2008-11-12T11:28:00.002+05:30

On this earth very few people have the desire, the thirst to search God. We pray,do fast. visit temples and other things to please God so that our desires are fulfilled. But our desires don't end. We have no true feeling to search God. There is not need to search from outside. God is within. Go deep in dhyan and you will find there is some light, some omnipotent power within you.

Sikander(Alexander) after winning over many countries was on his way to India. He went near Hindukush. While he was passing near the river, he saw a saint with simple clothes was sitting in his deep dhyan(concentration). Sinkandar was on a horseback, he went and stood in front of the saint. The fakir(saint)looked at him and laughed a loud. Sikandar got wild and said"you don't know who I am? I am Sikandar, the great. I have won over many wars and countries. You are making fun of me by laughing. You are mocking me"

The fakir laughted again and said "You fool. You are so foolish that your are praising yourself. You are trying to force your greatness upon me. You don't look like a great man. You look like a poor beggar. Always wanting, not satisfied."

Sikandar got very angry, he immediately removed his sword from the dagger to kill the fakir and said "either you tell me how I am a beggar, a poor man, or get ready to die."
The fakir replied "I am not scared of death. I have already surrendered my neck to my Lord. Since you want to know why I called you a Beggar, a poor man, I am now going to answer that."
The saint said "Sikandar, for a while you image, you think that you are lost in a desert. It is very hot. There is no greenery there. You are just wandering around and you mouth has gone dry. You are thirsty, you are sweating and there is no water around. You are dying of water and that time I come in front of you with a glass of water. You need water badly. So what price would you pay me for that one glass of water."

Sikandar replied "I am very rich. I will give half of my captured property."
The saint said "but if I don't agree to half of your property, what would you do?"
Sikandar said "I will give you everything that I have for that one glass of water."
Saint said "You have so much property in millions and you are the owner of such a big state. Think again. would you prefer water or the huge property."
Sikandar said "I will not hesitate to think twice for giving up the entire property for the sake of a glass of water."
The saint smiled and said "See the value of a glass of water. A rich man ready to give up everything in exchange of a glass of water. Oh! what a bargain. Now who is a beggar, who is poor man. Am I not richer than you and happier than you."

Sikandar felt ashmed and agreed that the desires make you beggar like a poor man.

This is just an example of a glass of water. But if somebody says I will give you GOD, the Creator for your entire property. Will you agree?.
No we would not agree. We have no thirst, no desire, no eagerness to get God. We are fully entangled with worldly things, where is the place and time for God.

Fear of Mind causes Diseases

2008-11-09T15:51:00.006+05:30

Nowadays our whole life is filled with Fear. From head to feet are living under some fear or the other. Day and night we carry this fear with us. The fear to lose your money, your status, your family. Fear of any accident, of ailments and sickness. There are innumerable fears hovering around our mind. It does not allow our intellect to think steadily. When there is some fear our hunger, thirst, sleep get disturbed. Our sensory organs get weak. Our mind get disturbed, whole body get affected due to fear of future and the past and we are gheraoed by various unwanted diseases like Blood Pressure, Diabetes etc.

Remove this fear from your mind. Whatever has to happen will with God's wish. Accept this fact. Have faith in Almighty. If you are truly and honestly dedicated to the Almighty, no fear dare to come near you. Just relax and enjoy every minute of life fearlessly. Just remove that tag of "I" and feel that everything belongs to you My Lord. This whole Universe is your creation. Nothing can be created or destroyed without your permission. Things will become easy and the unwanted load of worries just hand over to him. He is there to take care. Just surrender fully to him.

Some fifty years back a saint went to varanasi to give satsang. It was a rainy season. Swamiji also had gone to attend his satsang and stayed in the same ashram where the saint stayed. He was a very brilliant and highly revered saint in those days.

Once middle of the night swamiji heard some noise. He got up and saw the disciples of saint were awake. Swamiji asked one of them "what is matter, why are you all awake?' Then one Mahatma said that the Head Mahatma of this ashram has been bitten by a snake. The Doctor came immediately. Swamiji looked at that Mahatma and saw his whole body had become pale and he was looking very nervous. People were not allowing him to sleep otherwise the poison will spread.

Swamiji had a torch with him. He said "let me see where is the snake, it can bite others also."
They said that it is in the toilet. It was quite dark and and there was no light that time. So swamiji took his torch and there he saw the snake was still lying in the toilet. He threw a small piece of stone on the snake,but it did not move, again he and other people tried to remove the snake by throwing stones but still it did not move. Finally with a big stick they took that snake out and to their surprise it turned out to be a rubber snake. Some children while playing must have left it there.

Immediately swamiji and other disciples rushed to the Head Mahatma and said that the snake
has not bitten him. It is a rubber snake. Hearing this the Mahatma looked relaxed, his face started blooming and immediately he became alright. Had it been little delay in finding the truth, the Mahatma could have collapsed. This is Hallucination, an unknown Fear.

So always relax, find the truth and keep the devil named "Fear" away from your life.

Path to God

2008-11-08T12:08:00.004+05:30

Once a King(samraat) invited to his palace the heads of all religion prevailing at that time. He called each one them in his palace and wanted to know what their God or devta(in whom they believe) has to say. What are their preaching. What do their religion teach. How do they pray and whom do they pray.

Everybody gave their viewpoints. They explained to him about what their religion is about and what message does it convey. Each one stressed their opinion.

The King was not convinced with any of the religion. He was not contented, satisfied. He wanted perfection.

After sometime a saint had come to his palace as a guest. The king expressed his worry. His discomfort towards different religion. He asked him to solve his problem about a particular teaching which would give him peace. He wanted to know Which is the best knowledge.

The saint requested to meet him the next day in his ashram. The king immediately went to meet him. The saint took him near a river bank. There the saint told the king to get the best boat so that he and the king could reach the other side of the river. The king ordered his men to get the best boat to cross river.

The saint was not happy with it. He said "no this is studded with silver. I want something more.
Then the king asked for another boat. Again the saint rejected by saying "Oh, this is studded with diamond. Please get another." This way one by one the saint went on rejecting boats by finding some fault or other. This way the saint did not agree for any boat. He was looking out for a perfect boat to pass the river.

The king showed the saint best possible boats, but saint refused all. Finally, he requested saint by saying " I am sorry I showed you all the boat. But one thing you tell me that the river is so small and we have to reach the other side of the river, then any boat will do. Why so much of a fuss?" Why you to create so much displeasure or find faults with the boats?"

The saint smiled and said "Yes, this is what I wanted to tell you. Life is so short, so pleasant like river water, why you need any special religion(like a special boat). You take any path honestly you will reach your destination. To reach God you don't need perfection or beauty. You need simple and honest path that leads you there. Where we are standing is river bank is Earth, the boat is your Belief(Religious views) and to reach the other side is God's Path. Why so much of a fuss over religion. All the religion finally lead you to the same path. There should not be any force or compulsion. Stick to your Belief and path. Be firm in what you believe.

Stable Mind and Intellect

2008-11-07T11:26:00.003+05:30

In Hindu Shastras there is a story of a woman named Shandilee . She was very young and beautiful. She used to sit in her ashram and do tapasaya. She had taken an that she will never and remain Brahmcharini. Once by chance Maharishi Gaalav and Garuda( a bird) reached her ashram.
They saw her ashram was very neat and clean and there was so much of peace. When they entered Shandilee's ashram, they admired her glittering beauty. She was deeply immersed in dhyan. She looked very calm, beautiful and satisfied and busy in her own tapasaya.
Then Garuda told Gaalav " look this Shandilee has more beautuiful appearance than Laxmi. we have never witnessed so much tez and powerful woman adorned with beauty. There is so much light in her looks.

Then they asked Shandilee "what is the reason of your tapasaya?"
Shandilee replied "I want to remain aajanam brahmacharini beside that I have no other tapasaya to do. I do tapsaya for peace, for stability of mind."
Garuda asked "Would you like to get married to Lord Vishnu?"
She flatly refused and said there are many other women wanting to get married to Vishnu. You don't have to worry about me. Once I have taken oath, I will stick to it. My body, mind and intellect are isthir(stable). It will never waver, it will not get carried away by your talks or any attractive offers. I keep to my words. I will firmly stick to my oath. You cannot break it"

Then Garuda and Galave tried to play trick on her so that she may change her mind. Gaalav told Garuda that you carry her on your back and take her to Lord Vishnu and we will forcefully get her married to him. Since Lord Vishnu is most handsome, she will agree to marry him.

Shandilee was a brilliant woman. She knew in advance that they have come to break her promise and they have plotted some trick, some plan to trap her and break the oath. She got very annoyed with them. She took holy water from her jug(kamandalu) and gave them shraap that Garuda's wings get burnt so that he cannot fly and Gaalav's body get decayed as he cannot think evil tricks against her.

They both begged sorry from her, apologised for their behaviour. They promised that in future they will never think of breaking her oath. Shandilee then took away her shraap.

There are very few people who keept to their promises. We should have firm determination towards our goal. How much ever others try to tempt or break it, We should be strong enough to retaliate.

This shows that if you your determined and do not get carried away by people's trick, you can have pwers like shandilee.

Humanity is our Religion

2008-11-04T12:49:00.003+05:30

When Pandavaas were going towards Swarag(Heaven) they had to pass through Himalaya.
There were long shivaalya peaks and heavy snowfall on the way. One by one they had to cross Himalaya peak to reach Heaven. But it was chilling cold with gushing winds which they could not bear . One by one they started falling. Bhimsen body could not take this heavy snow storm. So he fell. Similarly Arjun also fell down after climbing little further. Nakula and Sahdev also could not reach due to the strong cold winds. Even Draupadi, their wife surrendered and could not accompany them. All the four brothers and their wife body fell off in the snow due to the storm. Only the eldest brother Yudhishthir could reach his destination.

As soon as the doors of Heaven opened, the devtaas were waiting to greet him with garlands. Dharamraj was waiting and greeted Yudhishthir with the words "welcome to Heaven, but the dog alongwith you is not allowed. There is no entry for your dog. In Heaven all the man don't get easy entry, how can a dog be allowed."

Then Yudhishthir calmly and politely said "please then close your doors of heaven. My brother Bheem, who was so powerful could not come with me. Arjun, who was proficient arrow shooter could not accompany me. Nakul and Sahdev, my handsome and qualified brothers are left behind. My wife Draupadi who used to say you are my life, my everything also could not reach Heaven. How can you expect me to take entry alone. Only this dog, who is faithful and true to me, accompanied me till the end. You expect me leave him alone. I can't be so selfish. I am not worse than a dog. Please shut the doors of Heaven. I don't need Heaven. First my dog will should be allowed only after him I will enter." It was a difficult test for Yudhishthir as he was strong believer of Human religion. For him taking care of everything and being true to everybody is the TRUE RELIGION.

The Devtaas laughed at Yudhishthir. They put their garland and threw flowers on Yudhishthir. They said "Look, who is there with you. The Dog was actually Dharam(true believer of mankind and humanity). That was Lord Vishnu disguised as Dog to test Yudhishthir.

When man dies nothing goes with him. His own body, his family, his money, his status, his country, his property, his children, everything which a man stakes claim of, is snatched from him by the hands of Death.. Nothing goes with him. But his Dharam( good qualities, good deeds, truth, humanity) goes with him. His dharam of being a true human being cannot be snatched by Death. Dharam is True Love and Faithfulness towards all nature's creations.

Keep balance between Praise & Criticism

2008-11-02T16:03:00.005+05:30

A true follower of Almighty and strong believer in God never gets disturbed by praise or criticism. He never gets bloated when somebody praises him. Never looses his calm when he is criticised. He leads a balanced life. For us it is so difficult to live a balanced life. When somebody praises us for our looks, our status, our knowledge, our property and money, about our family and so on, we are never tired of hearing it. We love to hear people appreciating us for whatever we have above others. But when somebody finds fault in us, tries to criticise us, we get wild. We don't like to make friends with such people. We avoid people who criticise us.

Do not get carried away by false praise and criticism. Even big saints and kings had to bear all this. Just control yourself. Know to judge your true friend who will not praise or criticise you unnecessarily.
A saint was sitting near the bank of river lost in his thoughts. There was no worry, no tension, no fear or sadness. He was blooming like a flower. But we have everything like family, status, money still we are unhappy. We feel jealous of those who are happy with whatever little they have. A rich man was sitting in his car. He went near the saint. He saw that the saint was very relaxed. He felt jealous and started abusing him. He started using foul language by saying you are lazy, you a beggar, a thief, you don't want to do any work. In anger he spat on him and also threw dirt.
But the saint just smiled, remained calm. The man was surprised that he abused him, threw mud on him, spat on him, still he is not retaliating. He is not answering me back. He is not fighting or getting angry. The man felt concerned. He was also burning with fire of jealousy. He asked him again"Aren't you hurt, why are you not talking?" The saint was calm and peaceful.

That minute another man came. He bowed in front of saint, did pranaam to him. He knelt and washed his feet and said "you are so great, you are my God. I get so much peace under your feet. I feel very relaxed and comfortable when I sit with you. I feel highly satisfied when I am on your company."
Still the saint kept quiet. He did not answer. The second man who was praising the saint asked him"will you not talk with me and answer me, I have so much regard for you?"

Now the saint answered politely "See this man who came before you calls me a thief, a bad man and you are saying I am God. Now both of you sit together and decide whether I am God or I am shaitaan(Devil). Don't involve me in between. I am not worried about with what names people call me."

The saint was not perturbed by praise or criticism. He continued to do his service towards Almighty.

Search of Almighty

2008-11-01T11:57:00.005+05:30

A gyani bhakt does not need dharam, arth, kaam, krodh, lobh and moha. He only wants God. He is always in search of God, the Truth and the Peace. Once he achieves Peace and the Truth, he is satisfied with life. He is close to God.
A sufi saint was peacefully sitting in his small house(kutiya). A young boy entered inside his house in a haste. He removed his shoes and threw them roughly and angrily outside his kutiya. He then forcefully and with a loud noise banged upon the door. He straight away went to the saint and without hesitation, without being polite started asking him "what is Atma? I have heard a lot about atma, paramatma. What is it all about, tell me. I have come in search of Atma Paramatma, the Truth, the Peace. I have come from very far. You please give me the answer."

Mahatma said clearly but politely "please beg sorry from the shoes, beg sorry from the door which you banged so loudly. You have hurt them." The boy proudly said "I have never begged sorry from my parents, not even from my brothers and sisters, how can you expect me to ask sorry from my shoes and the door. Who are they. They are dead beings. I don't believe in sorry."

Mahatma sternly said "you have not yet learnt to behave with the shoes and the door and you are asking that you have come to know and gain knowledge about most higher and respectable Atma Paramatma. You have come in search of God, the Truth, the Peace. You don't feel ashamed. Go straight away apologise and beg sorry for your rude behaviour from the shoes and the door otherwise you may go. Your mind is filled up to the brim with Ego, Anger and rudeness, where is the place in your mind for God, Peace, Truth, Atma and Parmatma. You obey and do as I tell you or else quit and leave my house, my peaceful kutiya. It cannot accommodate you and I will not talk to you."

The boy then begged sorry from shoes and the door. The saint said "not with words or in haste but you have to totally bend in front of them (do saashtang pranaam). The boy realised his mistake and did saashtang pranam to the shoes and the door. The saint then made him sit and asked "now tell what you want to know, what are your queries?"

The boy felt very ashamed. All his anger, ego and negative energies got melted. He gained positive thoughts and told Mahatma "I have nothing to ask now. The knot of Ego and Anger has open, I was entangled and tied up in the knot of Ego which has now opened and untied by your blessings. You have opened up my eyes. I am thankful to you."

Equal treatment with friends and foes

2008-11-01T11:36:00.004+05:30

Once a king came to Gautam Budha. He was holding a small child in his arms. He asked Gautam Budha "Do you talk bitter at times? Do you hurt somebody by talking rude?"

The king thought in his mind that if Budha says 'No' then he can point out the occasions where he had spoken rough and If Gautam Budha says "Yes' then he can argue that being a saint why he has to use rough language.

But Gutam budha being a gyani could read that king's mind. He knew that the king has come to humiliate him, put him down. So he asked the king "dear friend, this child whom you carrying in your arms by mistake swallows small ball of glass while playing, what would you do? If the child is unable to breathe due to the piece of glass stuck in his throat, would you keep quiet?"

The king answered "No, I will immediately try to remove the glass ball from his throat with my finger and then due to that if he cries, feels pain or anything I will not bother about it. I will be more concerned to save his life and I will try my best to save him by removing that glass forcefully from his mouth."

Gautam Budha smiled and said "Yes, here you are. I also speak rough and rude with some of my disciples to prevent them from going towards wrong path. Now you understood that to save my disciple from entering into wrong path I speak rough language. Though they may feel the pain that moment but later on they will not repeat such mistakes. I speak sometimes rude words with people for their good and betterment. I treat equally to all my disciples and followers. There is no discrimination.

Goswami Tulsidas

2008-10-31T12:52:00.002+05:30

If you surrender everything to God He will take care of you. You don't have to worry. Just leave everything to him.
Goswami Tulsidas used in stay in a small house in Varanasi. It was winter season and there was snowfall. During midnight all the people of that town were fast asleep. Due to winter there was nobody on the roads. Two thieves tried to enter the small house of Tulsidas thinking that they might get something from this house. As soon as the thieves tried to enter the main entrance, they saw that two young boys with bow and arrow were standing outside Tulsidas's house. They were not allowing the thieves to enter his house.

After sometime, the thieves tried again to enter the house, these young boys did not allow them to go. Three times they attempted and took rounds of the house, but these two boys foiled the attempt of the thieves to steal anything from Goswamiji's house.

Early morning when Tulsidasji woke up, he saw two men standing in front of his house. They bowed in front of Goswamiji and asked that whether he has kept two watchman to take care of his house. The thieves said that "we are thieves and wanted to steal something from your house but two young boys one dark complexed and one with a fair complexion with bow and arrow were standing in front of your house and not allowing us to get inside your house."

Hearing this Goswami Tulsidas started weeping bitterly. He said "oh! for this piece of paper and a pen, some books and some food to eat which I have kept in my house, my Lord Shri Ram and shri Ghanshyam had to keep a vigil and become watchman of my house." He threw everything and gave it to the thieves and said my Lord has to take so much trouble for me. He told thieves you are very lucky you saw the Lord but I did not get that opportunity also.

Hanuman and Arjun

2008-10-30T12:18:00.004+05:30

There is a story of Hanuman and Arjun in Mahabharat. Both are true bhakts.
Once Arjun met Hanuman, the true bhakt of Shri Ram. Hanuman want on praising his Lord Shri Ram and did not give a chance to Arjun to talk about his Guru, Shri Krishna.

Arjun requested Hanuman to pause a little and give him a chance to say something about his Lord Krishna also. Hanuman said first hear about my Lord Shri Ram and then I will listen to you about your Lord Shri Krishna.

Arjun stopped Hanuman in between and said "I accept everything about your Lord Shri Ram .I also agree that he is the most powerful and the most revered Lord by all. Everybody has true shradha for him but tell me one thing about the setu(bridge)." He further asked Hanuman "why did Ram take help from Vaanar sena to built setu? why was setu built with stones? Hanuman replied "If setu would not have been built with vanaar sena help and without the stones, how would Lord Ram cross over the sea and reach Lanka." He asked Arjun "If you were there what would you have done? Arjun said "I would have made the setu(bridge) with the arrows. There was no need to cut huge trees and carry big and huge stones to make a bridge."

Hanum smiled and said "if you built the bridge with your arrows then how would you walk on it?
Such powerful people cannot walk on the bridge of arrows. Arrows will not able to take such heavy load. It cannot carry the load of Hanuman, how can it carry other heavy vannar sena and Lord Shri Ram."

He told Arjun "Now see there is a river in front of you, make setu(bridge ) of arrows on it." Arjun said I will make bridge with the arrows and you jump and climb on it. If the bridge breaks I challenge you I will not carry this bow and arrow in future." Arjun then made a bridge of arrows on the river. He requested Hanuman to climb over it. When Hanuman jumped over it, the bridge was intact, it did not shake a bit. Hanuman was surprised, he could not believe that the bridge made of arrows can be so strong.

He then remembered his Lord Shri Ram, prayed to him. Hanuman's body became strong as Shri Ram gave him the powers. After gaining this power, Hanuman jumped with full force, the bridge started shaking, it went down but it did not break. Again Hanuman closed his eyes and prayed.
He went under the bridge and came back. He said "Oh, Arjun, Dhananjay, you are great. Your bridge of arrows cannot take my weight. It is very powerful. Look your friend is carrying on his back the arrows. He is carrying the weight of arrows so that the bridge does not fall.
Hearing their conversation, Lord Krishna came up with the marks of arrows on his back.
Seeing his friend, Krishna taking so much pain because of him, Arjun felt very bad. He apologised to Lord and realised his mistake. Krishna did not want to put Arjun down. His false claim that he can built a bridge of arrow was also honoured by Lord. He kept his promise so that Arjun should not give up his talent of being expert arrow shooter. If you become God's, God will become yours. There will be feeling of oneness.

The story clearly indicate that we should not live under false Ego. If we are true and loyal to God, even our tall and false claims Lord takes on himself. Under any circumstances God will never put you down. But troubling your loving Lord for no reason is not correct because it will pain you more. You will feel guilty that to keep your promise Lord has taken so much pain. Lord is our friend, our guide and is always with us. With strong Faith of the Almighty we can overcome all troubles and hardships in life.

Poverty to Greed

2008-10-20T17:07:00.001+05:30

Once in Gurukul Diksha festival was going on. All rich people and their children had gathered over there and brought rich gifts as diksha for their Guru. Guru and his wife were sitting. There was arrangement for yagya. The Brahmin was chanting ved mantra and yagya was going on. There was one poor student also. He was crying and feeling ashamed that he has nothing to offer to his Guru.

Guru and wife noticed that their student is crying. They said "there is no difference in our Gurukul, rich and poor are same. You need not worry about gift. You have paid your Gurudakshina by doing service to us. You have done lot of service for the Gurukul, you have studied hard and you are a brilliant student. We have got your Gurudakshina in form of your love, your discipline, your respect for us. Nobody has offered this dakshina to us. This is my biggest and precious gift from you."

But the poor boy was not convinced with his Guru's explanation. He was stubborn and bent upon offering dakshna to his Guru. Then Guru and his wife asked him what do want to offer as Gurudakshina? The boy replied that when I return in your respected feet you should accept whatever I offer you." They blessed him and said "as you wish". The boy took leave from his Guru.

He went and stayed at his friend's house. He was feeling restless, he was not getting sleep. The friend asked him that why is he feeling so tensed and disturbed. The boy said that for twelve years he stayed at Gurukul, learnt so much from his Guru but he has nothing to offer him in Gurudakshina. So many rich boys offered gifts to Guru but I am so poor that I have nothing to offer him."

The friend consoled him and said "there is king staying in our area. He is very generous and whatever you demand, he will try to fulfill your wish." The boy was very happy. He immediately rushed to meet the king. He entered King's darbar. The king came down and observed him thoroughly.The boy explained to him the entire things about Gurudakshina.

The king said "put forward your demand but do not act stingy(kanjoos). Demand for big and I will offer you." The boy was very amused and excited. He thought he will ask for thousands of gold coins. The king said "till now nobody has come to demand anything from me. All the people in my area are happy. They have no demand. You are the first and probably the last person so put forth your demand so don't hesitate, you can ask for anything."

The boy was confused. He thought to himself that when King is ready to give me anything why not demand for lakhs of coins. He was nervous. The king said "think big and think again. You look very tensed. Relax and then come to me. I will just take a stroll around in my garden."

The boy thought why not ask for crores of rupees. Then he thought that he would demand for half of his empire, hal of king's property. Again king came back and asked "have you decided about what you want?" The boy was still hesitant and nervous. The king smiled and said "just relax think properly and take firm decision. I will definitely offer anything you demand." The king gave him time to think and went for another round in his garden.

After sometime the king came back and asked "what have you decided?" In a haste the boy said "I want your entire property, your empire."
The king immediately agreed and thanked gGod by saying "Oh! God, today what sort of person you have sent to me. I have become so old, my hair and beard have turned grey. My entire body has become weak and old. I have got cataract in my eyes. Nobody was willing to take care of this empire. Now I have found one. I am so happy and delighted. Atlast I have found somebody to take this crown, to look after my property. This worry and tension about my empire had made me feel old. Today somebody has come to takeover these worries. I am very relieved."

Hearing the kings pray the boy felt that the king is dumping his tensions and worries upon me. It is like throwing a snake on me. He requested the king to take one more round of the garden so that he can think over again.
The king sternly said "No, now you have sit on this throne." The boy again told the king to take one more round and give him chance to think again. The king said"nothing doing as you are ready to take from me, you should be ready to give it to your Guru as dakshina."

The boy got scared and ran away fast from there without demanding anything.

The greed in us never allows us to sit in peace. The more we get the more we want. Always think and act peacefully otherwise you may miss golden opportunities from your life. Peace is a most precious ornament. Don't let it get stolen from your house. If once it goes, it becomes difficult to get it back. The Peace lies with God.

Peace (Shanti)

2008-10-19T16:21:00.004+05:30

When man took leave from God's darbar, God was very happy and asked man to take whatever he wanted. Man being greedy by nature, spread his big sheet and told him to give everything that he has in his bag. He told God give me everything, don't keep anything with you. Man thought that he should become rich and lead a life of king.

God requested Laxmi Mata to handover his big bag. Laxmi brought his bag. God started removing his precious diamonds and other costly things one by one. He gave man the entire thing in his bag. He emptied his bag. But there was one small thing which was stuck with the bag. It could not be removed. God then kept the bag under his feet. He told man now you go back to earth with all these precious things. Man was very pleased and happy. He tied his big sheet with all the material things and without thanking God, without doing pranam to God marched forward.

He was so engrossed in these things that he forgot to say namaskar or thank to God. After sometime when Laxmiji removed the bag, she told Lord "what is this inside the bag." God said "keep quiet, let this man go to earth. Don't let man know about it otherwise he will grab this also without being thankful to me.. This is the most precious thing called PEACE(Shanti). This I have kept under my feet. When man will clear his sheet of money, property, wife, husband, family, children, bank balances, he will enjoy that for temporary period. He will not get Peace(Shanti). He has to come back to me to get Peace. So let him get involved, let him be busy with all the material things of earth. He will get frustrated, tired of materialistic things, he will think of me.
If he will sincerely and honestly agree that Peace is most precious, I will give it to him.

This pleased Mata Laxmi. She also agreed that Peace will be awarded to only one who values My Lord and not to the ones who give importance to worldly things which are not lasting. They will remain in earth after death. But Peace will be carried forward to man's future birth also. With peace man will get moksh. He will get God.

False Claims

2008-10-16T16:49:00.007+05:30

Shivaji, the great leader was going to built a big fort. But his region was suddenly affected by famine. There was a situation of hunger and poverty. Thousands of people were working under him to built the fort. It came in Shivaji's mind that despite of famine, he is taking care of food and other things of thousands of people. He felt very happy and contented.

Shivaji used to believe in Guru Randas. His Guru was worried that my disciple should not get egoistic about being the caretaker of thousands of people. He should not get"harshounmad"
He wanted to test Shivaji. Shivaji went to his Guru and did did pranam and bowed in front of him. He was very happy to see his Guru Swami Ramdas. Swamiji called Shivaji and said"since you are going to built a fort, the stones are also laid, now do me favour take a big stone and take a hammer. He then told him to break this stone with a hammer into two pieces."

Shivaji Maharaj sincerely obeyed and did as his Guru had requested him to do. He broke the stone into two pieces. He saw a tiny insect with a bit of rice in his mouth and there was small gap from where the water was dripping.
The Guru asked Shivaji "Inside the stone there is water and bit of rice, have you sent it the insect? Have you made arrangement for this insects hunger and thirst satisfaction? Have you sent water and this bit for rice to the insect to survive on?

Shivaji bent in front of Guru. He understood that his Guru has come to test him. To control his ego and to make him realise that God makes arrangement everybody's food and water. Even a small insect cannot be ignored by God. He is also under his care. But we humans think and claim to look after others, be their caretakers. Sometimes we feel that our family cannot survive without us. We make such false claims. World can survive without strong leaders, saints and others. It is the Almighty who has made us. Why unnecessarily be under wrong impression that we take of others. Nobody is going to live permanently on this earth. Everybody has to meet an end.

It is good to take care of others. You are not doing anything wrong. God has bleesed you and given you good health and enough of wealth as well as strength to take good care of those under you. Just thank him for that and remember that it is with His blessings we are enjoying this life. You should feel happy but don't get involved and stake claim that you are the owner. You do your job and thank the owner.

King Yayati

2008-10-14T12:11:00.004+05:30

There is a story of King Yayati in Mahabharat. He went to Heaven with his body( Sadeh swarag).
He had done many good jobs on earth. He did lot of Yaghya, Havan, helped people in their need, lot of donation, tapasaya and sadhana. So he was allowed to go to Heaven along with his body. He was given half of Devraj Indra's throne. From there also he was free to move to Brahmlok and Indralok.

Devraj Indra and other devtaas could not stand this. They wanted him to go back to Prithvilok(Earth). They then knew one weakness of his. So one day when Yayati was seated on Devraj Indra's throne, the devtaas asked him about what all good things he did. How he got such a high post. They said that he is sitting next to Indra, it is a great achievement. Please tell us what yagna, tapasay you have done that you have reached swarag lok along with your body.

Yayati got flattered. He felt very important. He explained to them he has done so much daan, punya, so much sadhana and tapasay. God is so pleased with my good work that he has given me such a high post. The devtaas were very smart. They wanted to hear from his mouth about his good deeds. They went on flattering and Yayati did not realise this. He went on praising himself about his daan, tapasay etc. Till now whatever he said was true. But after that he went on boasting to the extent that he has done such good deed that nobody has ever done such tapasya before him on this earth and in future also nobody can claim to be equal to his good work.
On saying that nobody can be equal to him in daan, tapasya, sadhana on this earth, he had actually insulted the respected Saints,Rishis, Munis and Mahatmas who have done more than him on this earth. After continuously talking about his good deeds and comparing himself with other highly respected saint, Devraj Indra told him to stop. He said "Yayati by disclosing your good deeds to others, you have lost all punya work you gained. All your good work has become nil. Now you have to return to earth.

If you have Gyan, daan, tap, knowledge whatever good things in you, you should not get lost in them. You should not make show of it to others. You should feel happy about your good deeds and good qualities but you should not show of it(Harshounmad). Don't get lost in it.

When Yayati was thrown out of Swarglok, he realised his mistake. He felt very disappointed and felt that we should remain calm and quiet about whatever we achieve. You must hide these qualities, somebody else will take advantage of your habit of talking and boasting. Anyway it was time for Yayati to return back to earth as he had lost all the punya by narrating it to devtaas. He apologised for his mistake and requested them to send him on earth to a place where there are saints and true bhakt of God, where there is satsang. Devtaas agreed and sent him to a place where true satsang was being done.

The Mahatmas picked him up in their arms. They told Yayati that now we will prepare you again for your good deeds. You should become fearless and should not bloat out your qualities to others. Do not bloat up like a balloon. Keep calm. This way Yayati again got place in swarag lok.

This is a story to make us feel and realise that we should not leak out our good qualities to others, it can have negative impact. Save your good deeds to get better and more interest by the Almighty. Our Lord knows better and through his blessings only we are able to achieve good work and do good things on this earth. Count on his blessings and not about what you have done

2008-10-12T16:38:00.004+05:30

A true gyani Bhakt is always happy. Under any circumstances he smiles. He has No Ego or any desires. Even if he gets anything he does not get lost in them. He knows that things which he possess today are temporary. Nothing is going to remain permanent with me so why get attached to them. Just enjoy and lead a normal. Do not get anxious and worried about future or regret for past. Everybody has to pass through upheavals of life.

In Japan there used to be a saint(fakir) named Rinjhai. He has written in his autobiography that first time when I met my Guru(teacher) he was sitting near the bank of a river. As I saw him from far, I felt as though some magnetic power is there in him. He was getting attracted towards him like an iron getting attracted to magnet.

Rinjhai has said that when I bowed in front of mu Teacher's feet, I felt I have achieved some supreme power. I was speechless. All my desires and wishes came under control. Everything was very peaceful. I felt very light like a paper which would fly. I was away from the world.

My teacher kept his hand of mercy on me, he patted me. When I opened my eyes, they were moist. With heavy heart, I told my Guru that I have come to become your disciple, kindly accept me.
My Guru said one sentence "Are you fully prepared" Do you have full faith?" I replied immediately and without hesitation "Yes, there is full faith and I am fully prepared."

My Guru said "I accept you Rinjhai as my disciple"

After three days Rinjhai took a notebook and a pencil. He told his Guru to tell me what is right and what is wrong, I will note down in my notebook. Whatever is right I will accept and learn and anything that is wrong I will leave it, I will discard it from my life.

Rinjhai says "My Guru smiled. He said "Oh! Rinjhai throw this notebook and pencil. You stay with me. Observe me and see how I eat, how I drink, how I wake up, how I walk, how I sleep. Hear my voice, my talking style, my behaviour, notice my day to day action and behaviour. Observe me deeply from outside and from within."

The Guru further said with confidence "whatever I do in my routine work is Right and what I don't do is Wrong." Only a true bhakt or saint can say such words.

Rinjhai has written that I was very surprised with my Guru's words. I bowed in front of my Guru and politely asked him "Gurudev, you don't make any mistake, you don't make any error?"
The Guru answered "Rinjhai, I am not that I. I am totally immersed in my Lord. There is no question of I. I have no desires. They are all dead. There is no anger, no greed, no attachment, no Ego. I am fully immersed in my Almighty. I have nothing of these things because these desires of anger, hatred, greed, Ego, attachment only make mistakes. When there is nothing of that sort and when there is no gap of "I and You" between me and my Lord than the question of making mistakes and errors does not arise. Your Ego is the barrier which does not allow you to do right and it does not permit you to say with confidence that whatever you do or act from outside and from within is Right. The thing which instigates you to make mistakes have been erased from my mind and body."

Rinjhai found a true Guru and he himself attained the position of his teacher. The true bhakt is not carried away by money, he does not demand any respect or importance. He is contented.

Desire dont leave us, we have to stop them

2008-10-10T16:09:00.003+05:30

A sufi fakir was lying under the shade of a tree. Peacefully sitting and relaxing. A billionaire man passed by. He stopped his car and kept ten thousand golden coins in front of him. The saint got up looked at that man. He asked him that what are these coins for.

The rich man said "please accept this gift from me, I shall be highly obliged. The fakir replied "this is not a small gift. It is very big because there is a tag of Ego attached with it. My dear friend please take back these gold coins immediately. I don't accept gifts from beggars and poor people."

The man said " does a poor man have ten thousand gold coins? A Poor man may not have ever seen or ever dream of so many coins. He may not have seen in your hands also"

The saint(fakir) politely said "Friend, do not tell lies. In fakir's darbar you are telling lies."
The man said that he is not telling lies. He is telling the truth. He is not poor.

The fakir then said "tell me one thing. Whatever money you have accumulated now and whatever luxuries and comforts you have now, would you like to have more. Do you have the desire to get more." The man honestly replied "Yes, I do have."

The fakir replied "then what does it mean to be poor. You want more and more. That means there is no difference between you and a beggar, a poor man. You are like them. They also want more and you are also doing the same thing. You are not satisfied with your earnings.

Desire means Not satisfied

2008-10-06T17:02:00.003+05:30

Desire means I am not satisfied with what I am. I want more. The demand to have more is never ending. This body will decay but the demands don't end. It means that whatever qualities and specialties I have, I am not aware of it. The God (atma-Paramatma) who is residing within me, I have No knowledge about him. I am only looking for satisfaction from outside the world. But unfortunately these desires don't allow me look within. We have forgotten our qualities or intentionally we are not interested in knowing them. There should be a well wisher to remind us about good qualities within us.

There is a bird named Maina. The child of Maina is crying. The mother asks the baby maina that why is he crying. The baby replies "Mother, see there on the stem of the tree a peacock's baby is sitting, how beautiful he looks. He has beautiful and colourful feathers. Why I am not like him. why I did not get those looks?"

The baby maina's mother carried him to the other side of the tree. The baby maina saw that the baby peacock was crying. The mother asked the baby peacock that why is he crying. He said "Look Mother, on the stem of the other tree Maina's child is sitting, he has got melodious voice, he sings so beautifully. Why don't I have this beautiful voice?"

See the Maina's baby does not have knowledge about its beautiful voice so he is not happy. He want to look like peacock. Same way the peacock baby does not know the value of it's beautiful body so he is not happy and wants to have beautiful voice like Maina.

We are all like that. Not happy with ourselves. Want to copy others or feel jealous. Same way those others may not be contented with themselves. They also must be feeling jealous and want to look like us. But the true beauty lies within where we don't want to tread. Satisfaction is the true beauty of life.

Do your Job but Remeber your creator

2008-10-06T16:38:00.005+05:30

God says do all your routine jobs systematically. There is no harm in working hard and making money. Close your eyes for a second and talk to God by saying "I am going to work, please accompany me." This way you will enjoy doing your work and you will feel that you are not Alone, The Almighty is with you.

Then while having your meals, just for a second Thank to God for the good meal you had. There is no harm in eating in hotels or eating outside food. Just say that "I am eating with you." The food will taste delicious and your stomach will not get upset because Almighty has eaten with you.

When you finish all your regular chores and retire to bed, just close your eyes and say "Today I had a good day, I am going to sleep, my Lord. I am sleeping in your lap, wake me up if you so wish.

Next day morning when you wake up thank him for sound sleep he gave you and for the beautiful day ahead. This way you will always be with God.

A bhakt does not have unnecessary desires. He is contented with whatever little he earns. But the desire to be with and near God should always be there.
Once a King went abroad. He had four queens. He told his wives to write and tell him whatever they wanted so that he could buy for them from abroad.
All the wives gave their demands in writing. One of the queen just wrote one simple word and gave him.
When he returned he brought things for the queens and sent them to their respective rooms. Then he entered the room of his first wife who had written only one word for him. He said I could not understand what you wanted so I have come personally to ask you. She smiled and said "I have got what I wanted. I wanted you, my husband, the King to be with me. I don't need anything else. You have come that is enough for me."
Same way if we demand only God, then everything of his is ours. Like how Arjun wanted only Krishna. He did not demand for weapons or big army, nothing of that sort. Only Lord Krishna, the true friend, true guide was enough to win over Kauravas.

Master and Servant

2008-10-05T15:59:00.004+05:30

We are also God's servant. We cannot question him. Bhakti means God's Yes is also my Yes. I cannot say No to God. If everything is going smoothly in life, we forget about God. But when something goes wrong we start getting angry with him. We stop going to temple, stop doing our
pooja and aarti. But will that serve our purpose. If anytime such hatred feeling comes in our mind, we should beg sorry from God. Apologize for your mistakes. We should be satisfied with whatever he gives us. We should accept the reality of life and say "whatever you make me wear I will wear, whatever you make me eat, I will eat, wherever you make me sleep I will sleep. Whatever you tell me to do I will do. There will be Nothing like No in between Yours and My relationship. I am your dedicated Servant. You are my Master, my guide and my true friend.
Just plain feeling of satisfaction makes your life easy to sail.

Once a businessman wanted a servant. He had advertised for the same. Many poor boys came for that post.
One by one he started calling them for interview. As soon as any boy would enter, he would first ask him to fetch him a glass of water.

The boy would bring him a glass of water. Then he would tell him to throw the water. The boy would obediently throw the water. Then he would ask him "Why did you throw away the water?" The boy would say you told me to throw so I threw it. He did not like such boys who give him flat answer. This way he rejected many boys.

Then after many days one boy came. The businessman ordered the boy to get him a glass of water. He obediently filled the glass of water and handed over to him. Before taking the glass in his hand he told him to throw away the water. The boy politely threw the water.

After sometime he asked him that why did he threw the water from glass. The boy replied "I did it by mistake. I apologize for the same." He was very pleased with him and kept him as his servant.

Satisfaction and Jealousy

2008-09-29T17:00:00.003+05:30

Once a poor man did strong bhakti, sadhana , tapasaya to please God. God was pleased by his bhakti, he appeared in front of him. Without his asking God gave him vardaan. God said "Whatever you demand, however and whichever way you demand anything, I will immediately fulfill that demand of yours. But one condition that how much you get, your neighbour and your village people will get double of yours"

The man replied " Is this a vardaan or a sharap? Why should my neighbour and my village people get more than me."

God said "there is some suspense to check your true bhakti. This is my condition of vardaan. By then God disappeared.

He reached home looking very sad and low. He had a small hut and very little food to eat. His life was like a beggar. He would roam about here and there to get some food and make his living. He was muttering to himself "I would rather remain like a beggar than allow God to give double of mine to others"

He took suggestion from one of relative and explained to him that God is ready to give me anything I demand but on condition that double of that will automatically go to my neighbour and village people. I can't believe this condition. The relative said just try it for once, there is no harm in trying.

He started asking God "Please give me a palace of seven floors." Immediately his desire got fulfilled. He saw his hut turn into a beautiful bungalow with seven floor. But when he turned around to see his neighbours house. He was shocked that his neighbour and other people of his village got big house of fourteen floors. He felt very disappointed and dejected. he felt very jealous. He said "I want to grow big, but others are getting more bigger than me.

Then the relative of his told him to ask that in front of your house big wells are provided. Immediately the demand was fulfilled. He saw two big well were dug in front of his house. But when he turned up to see his neighbour and other villagers house, he saw that they had four big and deep wells in front of their house. This made him very angry. He became restless. There was so much of hatred and jealousy. He wanted to grab all that his neighbours got.

His friend then told him to ask God to take away your one eye only so that others will lose two eyes. They will become blind. This idea suited him. He was very angry and not in his senses so without thinking and reasoning, he listened to his friend and started demanding from God to take away his one eye. As he wished God took away his one eye and the neighbours lost both. They became blind. He was very happy and amused to see this. To break others two eyes, he broke his one eye.

Aren't most of us foolish like this man. Why do we make more money. We don't earn money for ourselves. We collect more money to prove to others that we are more richer than them. We go to parties wearing heavy ornament, wearing rich clothes to show others our riches. Why should anybody be more richer than me. This is jealousy. This feeling does not allow us to move forward. We are blinded by this hatred and superflous life. We are not living our true self. We are covering our shortcomings by this show biz(dhong). There is so much of hatred in the society because of this feeling. We don't want others to have more than us.

Bhakti Yog

2008-09-29T12:41:00.003+05:30

Bhakti means everything is You my Lord. I am nothing. There is no I in between love of God and Me. We are completely attached and bound by the love of Almighty.
Bhakti means to accept the fact that these Eyes see because of You, these Ears can hear because of You, this tongue talks and tastes because of You, these limbs of my body move because of You. My mind can think because of You. This intellect argues and thinks because of You. Because of You I feel hungry, I feel thirsty, I get sound sleep. Whatever changes and movements that are happening within and outside the body are all because of You. To remember this atleast is called Bhakti.

We forget all this. We think everything I am doing. To remember this and thank to the creator of all this is true bhakti. Bhakti does not mean you have to go to temple, do aarti, do chandan and tilak etc. Even there is no need to bow in front of God or attend any satsang whatsoever, but Just remember and thank from your heart's content that whatever physical and mental stability of life I am enjoying despite all odds of life(like loss of dear ones, loss in property or anything that makes us feel sad), is because of You.
We are the barriers between the Lord and ourselves. It is because of this 'I'. If there is no obstacle of I feeling, only You, then you have won over many battles of life. Your day to day routine work will become smooth and normal if you don't disrupt it by saying to yourself that "I have done it" In your mind atleast you should know that who is running our life and who is giving and taking back things from our life. Acceptance of this fact is enough.

Since when Death and Life are not in this "I's" hand, how the middle path be in the hands of this "I". Be it a rich person, poor man, sanyasi, pandit, any person, the end and beginning of everybody is same. When we are born we don't register our Birth Certificate in Municipality, somebody else does it for else. Same way Death is also registered by someone else. Even the registration is not being done by us. Our this "I" cannot move withour the support of the omnipotent power which runs this Universe. So stop this "I" to control your Ego. Ego should be our servant, not our master. Our sensory organs should also be our Servant and not masters. When they become our masters, we become Egoistic and jealous etc. Use your senses for good purpose and within limits. Don't let them drag you towards wrong direction. Keep the reigns or sensory organs and this "I" neither too loose nor too tight, just keep a balance. Once you have mastered this trick, you are close to God. You will learn to keep balance in your life.

Change your Style of talking : your language

2008-09-29T11:22:00.006+05:30

Normally we get over anxious or get involved in unnecessary worries due to our style of talking, our language. Control your tongue, your language. You hurt people with your rough language. You lose good friends due to your piercing language.

It would be better to check how do you talk or interact with others. Guruji says if you want to learn to talk nicely then read and understand Geeta. Learn from Lord Krishna. Arjun was under severe depression. He did not want to fight against his near and dear ones. He told Krishna his bow and arrow are falling, he dropped them. his mouth has dried, he is feeling uneasy. These are some signs of depression where we have no strength to fight against our close relatives. But his cousins had no such feeling, they were restless to fight against them. They were making all preparations to punish Pandavaas for no fault of theirs. Krishna tried his best to bring some kind of peace but the enemies did not agree. They were bent on fighting against pandavaas.

When Krishna knew that war is inevitable and Arjun is under deep depression, he used his beautiful weapon of polite and encouraging language. It sounded like flute to Arjun. It gave him extra strength to bring back glory which they had lost. To bring jubilation in Arjun's mind, to wake him up, see how Lord made Arjun sit on the chariot as his Master and Krishna became his sarathi to run the chariot.

Krishna says "Arjun you are my bhakt. Your are my friend. You are my soul, my breath. You are my everything (Bhakto asi Me sakha cheti). Have you heard anybody in your own family talking in this style. We don't talk with our near and dear ones like this. There was no feeling of Ego in Krishna and Arjun's relationship. It was deep love and understanding. It was this beautiful language and wonderful conversation which impressed Arjun totally.

If you speak politely and with love to somebody, they would respect you. They will pay attention to you and would return their love. We should have that quality and tact to help somebody to overcome their depression. In the tenth chapter of Bhagwat Geeta Lord Krishna also told Arjun emphatically "I am Himalaya amongst mountains, Peepal amongst trees, Ganga amongst rivers, Naraad amongst Devarishis, Vyas amongst Yogis, but he says Oh! Arjun, amongst Pandavas I am Dhananjaya, you Arjun. There is no difference between You and Me. Arjun felt he is seventh Heaven. He was so flattered and happy. He started blooming like a flower. Whole feeling of depression disappeared and he felt that if whole world goes against him , his true friend Krishna will always be with him. He will never betray him. Krishna went to the extent to show his Viraat Swaroop. To show that everything on this earth is his creation. He went to the extent that if need be he will use his Sudarshan Chakra. He will do anything for his friend. He told Arjun "I cannot stay without you. You are so precious to me." The bond between them was very strong.

Pay attention to the conversation between Arjun and Krishna. Do we try to help somebody with our polite words and language in overcoming their depression. Do we think of others like this. Our little efforts in changing our style of talking can bring wonders in the life of people who are under severe depression due to physical and mental illness.

Once during Mahabharata war Arjun had some doubts whether they will be able to win over Kauravas, Krishna gave assure to him by keeping his hand on Arjun's shoulder. He said "Ishtoasi me dradmiti" You are my Isht, my God. Isht means the idol in the temple whom we pray. This assurance gave Arjun strength and recovered from his feeling of depression.

If you cant help anybody, then atleast use polite and kind words to them. Don't betray and hurt anybody.

2008-09-27T11:31:00.003+05:30

Lord Krishna told Arjun "My Gyani bhakt is not greedy or over ambitious. He is contented with whatever he has or he gets. He has a powerful weapons of concentration and satisfaction.

Earlier the example of Napoleon was cited to show that strong will power and with deep concentration you can achieve your goal. As Napoleon would pay attention only on his goal and would not get disturbed by other outside factors, he could reach his goal. But the story does not end here. Another example is of greed, Ego and desire of over ambitiousness.

When Napoleon became the Chief of France, he was not satisfied with his goal. He wanted more. The desire to have more, makes you greedy. You become insensitive to others feelings and desires. You become Egoistic. You think you are the Lord of this world, nobody is powerful than you. Same happened with Napoleon. He conquered my nations. But there was no satisfaction, no enjoyment of life. he became greedy and restless. He had made a map to see what all he can capture. In the map there was place named St. Helena. He skipped that place thinking that it is not a fertile land.
But see the fate of a man that in the end he was kept in St. Helena. He got shelter in the place which he just dropped to capture.

It is written somewhere that when Napoleon lost everything and was in St. Helena, a poor village girl, carrying grass basket, came in front of him. Napoleon's assistant told the girl in anger to make place for their master, why are blocking his way. Once he was honoured so much and now nobody to respect him. He told his assistant, leave her, whatever I achieved and whatever I saw was all a
Dream.

We must learn from these examples that whatever we achieve, we should think of others also. Be contented. Don't get greedy as there is no end to our desires. It is we who have to control our desires. Desires will not say to put an end. Your will power has to capture the unwanted desires and lusts.

Do not Get Disturbed or Impatient

2008-09-24T12:02:00.004+05:30

A true gyani bhakt does not get disturbed by any change in the atmosphere. Be it any circumstances, he remains quiet and patient. He adjusts to any circumstance.

There used to be a very intelligent, highly educated and a very good philosopher, a saint named "Maulong Putra". He had lakhs of followers and disciples. They used to pray and do his aarti. They would touch his feet and take blessings from him. He was a very popular man.

Once he came to Gautam Budha. He bowed in front of him and touched his feet and took his blessings. He told Guatam Budha "I have some queries, some doubts,some questions and I am curious to get the answer from you. I have come to your feet to get the right answer from you alone. These doubts, fears in mind are disturbing me. I don't get sleep at night and during daytime these doubt and queries don't allow me to concentrate on anything. I feel very uneasy and restless. Until these doubts are not cleared from my mind I will not feel at rest. I don't want to die till I am relieved of these doubts. I went to many places to find peace and get answer but nothing worked. I am not satisfied with all that is happening. I am not getting any solution to my questions. Please help me to get rid of this tense situation. I beg of you"

Gautam Budha looked straight into his eyes. Made him feel relaxed. Politely and firmly he asked Maulong Putra "Are you ready to sacrifice something to get peace and answers to your doubts and are you willing to pay heavy price for it? Without paying price,you cannot get such expensive and valuable things like sleep and peace. If you really agree to pay for these valuable thing, then I have a solution." Maulong Putra agreed to lay whatever conditions Gautam Budha would claim on him.
Maulong Putra said" Whatever be your wish(Jo aghya). Gautam Budha said "To get sleep, rest and peace, you have to stay with me in my Ashram for two years. You have to just observe me. No questioning in between. Just observe silence. Watch my every action and movement. How I eat, how I sleep, I talk with people, my way of parting knowledge and all that I do in my daily routine. Exactly after two years at this time I will solve all your doubts."
Maulong Putra said "I have so many followers and disciples, so many people give me importance, how can I stay with you for two years. What will they think of me? It is a long period. In between If I die or something happens to you, then my questions will be unanswered. I have told you that I want to die only after I get the answer. If you know the answer why don't you tell me now. Why create anxiety."

Gautam Budha replied "First of all I assure you that none of us will die during that period and nothing is going to happen." Now, immediately if I answer all your queries like what happens after death, why are so many people suffering, why do people die, why there is so much stress, for what are we born and what are we living etc., you will not be able to grasp or understand it. Now you are so restless, disturbed and nervous that you not in a position to hear anything. The condition of your mind is like that of facing a storm, a whirlpool you are entangled in. You need two years to come out of this storm and gushing winds that are going on in your mind."

After long pause, finally Maulong Putra agreed to stay with Gautam Budha in his ashram. He saw a monk sitting under a tree lost in his concentration started laughing at him. Maulong Putra asked Gautam that why is he laughing.
Gautam Budha replied "Go and ask him."

He went near the monk and asked him "why are you laughing" The monk replied "whatever you want to ask, get the answer now otherwise there will be nothing left to ask after two years. I also came to Budha with same queries and problems. Today I am at peace, no disturbance. No questions to ask and mind is at total rest."

Maulong Putra stayed for two years with Gautam Budha. Exactly after two years and at same time Gautam Budha called Maulong Putra and said "Get up and tell me what are questions, I will answer them all." Maulong Putra touched Budha's feet and tears started dripping from his eyes. He felt a sort of comfort, a peace and elated. There were no questions, no queries only peace and peace alone. No curiosity, no thirst only love and peace everywhere.

We get peace when we sit under shelter of a true Gyani Bhakt. We are satisfied.
Lord Krishna said "My gyani Bhakt is satisfied, he is at peace, he has no anxiety or stress. He is completely relaxed. He is relieved of Birth and Death queries. He gets total Moksh.

Gautam Budha said "

Concentration and Strong Will Power

2008-09-24T11:37:00.002+05:30

Lord Krishna tells Arjun that a Gyani Bhakt should have a strong will power and deep concentration. He should have strong control over his sensory organs(like to see,hear, smell, taste and touch) and keep reigns of his emotions under control. Then only he can reach upto his goal.
There is an example of Napoleon Bonaparte who had strong concentration and will power. Napoleon Bonaparte had a strong will power. With firm concentration and determination he could win over his enemies. When he was a young student, he was quite poor. He had bought a small room on rent. Everyday he used to work hard and in the evening he would concentrate only on his studies. He was quite handsome and good looking. Near his house a young beautiful woman used to reside. She became friendly with Napoleon. Very often she used to come to his house. She tried to attract Napoleon by her looks and would try all means to divert his attention. But Napoleon did not pay heed to all this. He never gave her an opportunity to talk to him. He would concentrate only on his goal.

Whatever was his goal he tried to achieve it because he had patience and will power. When he became Prime Minister of France he went to the place where the base of his career started. He went to meet the woman who was his neighbour and who had tried to attract him. He met the woman and asked her about Napoleon. The woman replied by saying that there used to be a young boy named Napoleon. She said that he was very handsome, very serious person. He was very nice but there was one drawback in him. He never appreciated beauty, nor music or dance. He was only involved with his books and his work ans sit alone. Is that a life.

When that lady spoke to him like that he said "if I had paid attention to your looks, your music and dance, I would not have reached upto this position. We must have patience and control over our sensory organs and emotions to achieve our goal.

Do Not Blame Destiny

2008-09-22T16:20:00.003+05:30

It is foolish to blame Destiny. If we are unable to achieve any task, we blame it on our Destiny. By saying so we are fooling ourselves, trying to cover our shortcomings or weaknesses and trying to console our mind that it was not in my luck. But think that your destiny is determined by you, by your own good or evil deeds and thoughts. Every second whatever you think or do(karma), adds to your destiny. So the fruit or result of your deeds have to borne by you only. Nobody else is responsible God is our friend, he abides in our conscience. Every second he indicates through red and green signal and reminds us for whatever good or bad things we do. But we are not ready to pay heed to our conscience where our Lord stays. We suppress it and continue to do wrong. Then who is responsible for this? You have nurtured your own destiny. God is not devil or our enemy to give us unhappiness. We are his children. He will always guide his children towards right track. But we are so involved in this materialistic world and engrossed in all sorts of egos, greed, anger, possessiveness that adds to the chain of our destiny. We have forgotten our own father. If we have done good, our destiny will also be good. Therefore, stop blaming God, Destiny or Luck. Do not get illusioned by this. Still it is not too late. Take Destiny in your stride, Act Now. Do not hesitate to take risk, do not be afraid of death. With your strong will power tread on the right, true path and be faithful/honest to yourself at least and then work hard to achieve your Goal. We are independent still we are slave of our Destiny. We have given the reigns of our destiny in others hand. March ahead, hold the strings of luck/Destiny tight in your hand and drive independently towards your task. God is our true friend. Our father. He cannot and does not want us to feel sad or unhappy. Smile and laugh at your follies. In the Bhagwat Gita, Lord Krishna has repeatedly reminded us that Soul is Immortal(Atma Amar Hai). We still live with the fear of death and fear of losing our near and dear once. But that is universal. We cannot escape that. Accept the reality and live fearlessly by surrendering to the Almighty.

A skull(khopdi)

2008-09-19T15:29:00.004+05:30

There used to be a saint a philosopher in China. He was very knowledgeable Rishi.
Once when it was evening time and it was raining, he and his disciples passed by a graveyard. Accidentally he stamped upon a skull(khopdi). He sat down over there. He bowed down and begged for sorry from the skull. His disciples said that what are doing, it is raining and they had to reach their place before the rains become heavy. It is graveyard and why are you holding the skull in your hand. Let us go.

The saint said "let me apologise and beg sorry from this skull". His disciples said"this is a skull and why beg sorry from a skull".
He replied "this is not an ordinary people's graveyard. This is specially meant for for kings and higher status people. See the wonder. For death the door is same for all. Everybody has to exit from there. But even after death we have kept differences between rich and poor. Looks like this skull(khopdi) belongs to some King since it is found in this graveyard. Let me beg sorry from him".

Then he took the skull with him. Every morning he used to sit and pray in front of it. People thought he has gone mad. They asked him that why has he kept khopdi in his place and why does he pray in front of it. He said "since I stamped on this khopdi, I should beg sorry for it. It is a King's khopdi. If this king would have been alive and by mistake I would have stamped upon him, he would have immediately ordered his man to kill me and cut my body into pieces. Think about the anger and the wrath the King must have had when he was alive. What a life he lead. But now when he is dead and I stamped upon the skull, there was no response. No anger nor any Ego, it is just being crushed upon by people's foot. Isn't that funny. Just lying unnoticed".

The saint further said "I have kept this with me to remind me every minute that anytime I can also turn into a skull(khopdi). When I get egoistic and angry, it keeps nagging me that I am not what I am today. When I get possessive(moha)or deeply attached, become greedy, egocentric or any sin i commit it reminds me that once this khopdi also had a family, children for whom he must be doing everything to keep them happy. But after death where is the family, the children, the money etc. All turned into a skull(khopdi). I tell myself that this is now a khopdi and in future same will be my fate. I will also become khopdi and people will upon stamp me as I have stamped upon this skull(khopdi). This skull(khopdi) has opened up my eyes, it gives me true picture of life, given me consciousness.

Quality of a Gyani Bhakt : Nirahankar(No Ego)

2008-09-15T11:30:00.003+05:30

Lord Krishna reminds again and again to Arjun that my Gyani bhakt is free from Ego and Moha. They will temporarily disturb him, he has to bear it but He will come back to his normal self.

We normally become egoistic towards our looks and body, our property and money, our family, our children, about our job status, our business etc. But think once have we got these things on our own or is it with the blessings of our Almighty. Remember till we are alive these things are ours but after death we leave everything here only. Even when we are alive do we not see people growing old. Beautiful person can become ugly due to accidents or for any other reason. Money, property can be destroyed by natural calamity. We cannot remain in higher status for long, somebody else more powerful than us can grab it. We are constantly under the fear of losing things of which we feel proud of. So do not get blinded by thinking that whatever you have today will remain forever. Feeling of Ego develops by knowing that we have something more than others. How foolish are we.
If we are true and loving children of God, such egoistic ideas will never linger in our mind. We should thank God for whatever extra he has given us. It is his blessings and not your efforts that have made you feel that you have some of the things better than others.

Once when Sikandar who had won through war and bloodshed many countries, was sitting near River Nile. People over there greeted him with garlands, flowers and honoured him for his victory. He was surprised by the behaviour of the people of that area. He was thinking that where he went he had to fight and get his things done, nobody greeted him with respect. Other places people restrained him from entering their region. He had to forcefully fight and capture that place. But here people were giving him and his soldiers great importance. They also invited him and his people for dinner.

All the people of the village had gathered for dinner and to greet Sikandar. They than made the dinner table ready for him. Sikandar sat down for dinner. He was surprised to see the table was decorated with golden plate and bowls. And in the plates they had served food like golden rice, golden chapatis and diamond vegetables.
He got angry and threw the plate. He said "you have gone mad? How can you serve this food to me? You expect me to eat food made of gold and diamond." Everybody was quiet. Nobody dared to answer Sikandar.

An old man stood in front of him with folded hands. He said "Gentleman! If you had to eat simple food like rice, pulses, vegetables and rotis you could have easily have got from any village or town. Why there was so much bloodshed? Why did you take so many lives and destroy their families? Just for simple food you killed so many people. Sikandar felt very ashamed. He said you have opened my eyes and made me aware that nothing is more precious than food. We cannot swallow or eat gold and diamonds.

His Ego then melted and realised that Egoistic person cannot make friends. He is constantly under fear of losing things of which he feels egoistic.

Story of Guru Vashishtha

2008-09-13T12:37:00.004+05:30

It is a story from puranik Katha about Moha. It says that nobody is free from Moha. It is bound to be there, but with little patience and understanding we can face it. Do not let this Moha become a permanent guest in your house.

There used to be very big saint, Guru Vashishtah. He was a brahmgyani. He used to teach Lord Rama by saying that this world is dream, nothing is permanent on this earth only brahm is true.

Vashishta had hundred sons. He was very attached to them. Once Vishwamitra, who was very egoistic, killed his hundred sons in anger. Vashistha became very sad and and depressive because he was entangled in the moha of his children. He being a saint could not bear this pain. He became very depressive and wanted to commit suicide. He went and jumped into a river. The river saw such a saint and gyani person has jumped into the river, she threw him out of the river by force. He attempted to jump again, the river just threw him out again. Brahm Rishi Vashishtha felt that he may be too light to drown so he tied himself with a stone to commit suicide by jumping in the river.

The river knew that he is a big saint and tried to help him. So she turned into a woman and stopped him from doing so. She caught hold of him and brought him near the bank of the river. She asked him why is he committing suicide. Vashishta explained to her that how Vishwamitra killed his hundred sons and because of that he does not want to live. Best is to die. The river said "You are such a gyani purush, you have given knowledge to Lord Rama about Brahm by saying the world is not real,it is a dream and now you are finding it real, you are blinded by moha of your sons and want to destroy your life. What is the use of this gyan.
The river then said that you are highly knowledgeable person, highly regarded and respected by all, were going to commit such a grave sin, such a shameful act. What example would you set for your disciplines and the next generation. You have given spiritual knowledge to your disciples by saying that "we are not body, we not mind, we are not intellect, we are not thoughts and we are just souls, the children of Almighty. How can you think of such an act". There was continuous discussions between Rishi Vashishtha and the river who was in form of a woman. Within few minutes Rishi Vashishtha realised his mistake and came back to his original self. He regained knowledge which was covered by the thin curtain of Moha(attachment). Moha got vanished and Vashishtah realised that he is not a body, he is a soul.
The bondage of Moha is very strong. We cannot easily eradicate it. Even big Rishia, Munis get affected. We as normal being should not think that being attached is not a gyani bakht's quality. It is with the help of our well wisher we can overcome this Moha. This all happens with the blessings of God who helps us at the time of grief and sorrow and keeps us away from the feeling of depression.

Deep rooted Moha(Attachment)

2008-09-11T11:01:00.006+05:30

A gyani bhakt should try to keep away from Moha(atachment). The roots of moha are very strong and deep rooted. It is not easy to break the roots of Moha. It is like daldal(wet sand or pothole), where we cannot come out easily. Somebody else has to lift us up. We cannot come out on our own. At the time of crises, this moha can lead us to depression. But if we come across a right friend, a Guru or any person who is concerned about us, we can come out of this daldal.

It is not that we should not get attached. Everybody has moha towards their near and dear ones. If we lose them due to death or any other reason we miss them. Their talks, their love and emotions we miss. We should feel the loss but it should not stay long otherwise it will lead us to depression.

Like Arjun was under deep depression due to this moha. He did not want to fight against his own cousin, uncle, Guru and other relatives even though they did not care for him, they did not give him his share of property. They were ready to fight against him but he was very attached so he being a warrior did not want to fight. But when Lord Krishna, his dear friend, explained him and lifted him up from this moha, he overcame this depression.
In Moha people go blind. They become over possessive and never feel or realise for others. They become selfish.

Very few lucky ones get friends like Krishna to lift them up in need or in crises.

Two children were playing on the road. A speedy car came and hit both of them. Both of them got hurt and fell in a pothole. The mother of one child was standing near. She immediately lifted up her own child and took him to hospital for treatment. She did not bother to look back about the other child who was crying in pain. It is because of this moha she could see only her own child in pain and could hear his scream. She gave deaf ear and blind look to the other child.

Similarly two small children were sleeping together in a cot. Suddenly fire broke out. The mother of one child was nearby. She immediately picked up her own child. She never thought that the other child is equally important to his mother as is her own child to her. We are very insensitive to others feelings and pain. It is because of Moha.

Feeling of love and oneness for others

2008-09-10T12:12:00.004+05:30

A gyani bhakt never instigates anger or hatred. He is simple and with feeling of love. He will feel for others and can understand others feelings as his own. Always try to seek company of a true gyani bhakt. Sometimes it so happens that we meet persons who try to spoil our feelings. They fill our mind with hatred and instigate us towards anger. If you are sensible and don't want any such nonsense then shut your ears and politely request that person to please keep these thoughts out of your mind or just keep away from such a company.

Once Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans was sailing by boat to cross river Ganga. All his disciples were also with him. Next to him Narendra(Vivekanand) was also seated. When the boat reached near the river bank Swami Paramhans started screaming loudly "Don't beat me, don't beat me". Everybody sitting in the boat were surprised to see swamiji screaming like this. They tried to hold him even Narendra tried to stop him but he fell down. They saw blood coming out from swamiji's back. He became unconscious. When he gained consciousness Narendra asked him "Gurudev, please tell us who is beating you? Swamiji pointed out with his finger. They all saw a boat owner was mercilessly beating a poor man with a hunter and that man was screaming "don't beat me, don't beat me".

The disciples realised that swamiji was feeling and synpathising with that poor man. He was having fellow feeling and could feel the pain the poor man was going through.
Swami Paramhans did not say that "don't beat him", he said "don't beat me". Swamiji wanted to make others feel that the poor man is not different from me, he is me. A feeling of oneness.

Love and Make Friends

2008-09-10T12:03:00.003+05:30

Gyanti Bhakt’s 2nd quality is that he loves everybody and it is very easy for him to make friends.
Once Swami Ramatirth was going to America. He was sitting in a plane and next to him was seated an editor of an American newspaper. The news editor had seen sadhu for the first time. Simple dhoti and Jhatadhari. His face was shining and there was total peace on his face. The foreigner was continuously staring at him. He then asked him “Are you going to America”
Ramtirth replied “yes”
Then he asked him where is your luggage. He said “Ram does not carry burden, the burden is carried by animals”. The foreigner then said “oh! I hope you don’t have money or dollar”.
Ram replied “Ram does not keep any money or dollar”. The foreigner further questioned him by saying that you must be having friends or relative staying there.
Swami Ramatirth looked at him with profound love and kept his hand on his shoulder. The man was totally impressed by swami. He was visibly moved and swami Ramtirth just hugged him and said “you asked me about my friend, my relative in America, I say with pride that you are my friend, my relative in America.” After that they became good friends and Swami stayed with his new found friend in America for as many days
he stayed there.

Feeling of Hatred until Death

2008-09-04T12:08:00.001+05:30

An old man was on the verge of dying. He knew his death was very near. He had four sons. They were all sitting next to him. His whole family was with him. He told his sons that he had looked after them throughout his life, reared and cared about them. And given them so much property. Now you will have to fulfill my last wish. The three elder sons did not answer. They knew their father’s nature. He was very cruel and would take revenge upon anybody who would trouble him. The three elder sons were aware that if they agree to their father’s wish, he would involve them into some trouble.
The youngest son, who stayed in hostel from his childhood, did not know his father’s cruel mentality. He immediately agreed to fulfill his father’s last wish. He came near him and said “father, what is your last wish before death, I will do the needful”. The father replied “oh! You are my real son and I know you will agree to do whatever I tell you. The father said “when I die, cut my body into pieces and throw them into neighbour’s house and inform the police that till my father was alive these neighbours tortured him a lot and now they have killed him and thrown his body into pieces. When police will handcuff these neighbours and put them in jail it will give immense satisfaction to my soul.”
The children were shocked to hear this. This old man who hated his neighbours is leaving behind a link of hatred. This is the property the children are going to inherit. Very often elders feeling of hatred is carried over by their children. Property disputes, running around in courts are all sighs of hatred. Never breed hatred for long or else it will land you in a major trouble. Hate the Feeling of Hatred not the person.
What are we so disturbed, so uncomfortable? Find the root cause and you will come to that it is feeling of hatred which is not allowing you feel good and peaceful. Only love and feeling of friendship will bring peace. You do your part of love and friendship, don’t wait for the opposite person to do so. You are sowing the seed of love which will definitely flourish. But the person who sows seed of hatred, will get only pain and no peace.

Qualities of Gyani Bhakt

2008-08-29T12:53:00.002+05:30

To become bhakt of Almighty we have to surrender fully to God and not in bits and parts. We are born full, not in bits and parts. Same is the case with Death.

To become Gyani Bhakt, there are certain qualities which we should have.
First and foremost is that we must not feel jealous of others. We should not have feeling of hatred towards others. We are filled with hatred and jealousy. How can we claim to be the true bhakt. Think peacefully and introspect that why do we hate somebody. Find the root cause and once you know it, the feeling will disappear and you will feel relaxed. The reason of all ailments like depression, blood pressure etc is this deep rooted feeling of hatred and jealousy. We think we are inferior to other. But when the Almighty, the creator of this Universe is with you, why should you feel low and jealous. The person against whom we feel jealous is also his creation. Maybe whatever the other person has is because the God wanted it that way. So be happy that your are blessed, you have no diseases, you are healthy.

There was an old lady. She was ninety years old, death was very near her. Her whole body had shrunk and only bones could be visible. There was nobody to look after her, she was sick and could not move also. Naradji happen to pass her house. He saw her in this condition, he felt sorry for her and pitied her. He went near her and said "You have become old and sick, if you want I can make you look young and healthy". She looked at Naradji, saw that he is the same Narad with Veena, choti and khadau and was sure that he is capable of fulfilling her wish.

She said "Naradji, if you really want to fulfill my wish, want to give me vardaan then don't make me young, beautiful and healthy, just give me this vardaan that in this village where I am staying, everybody in this village should suffer and become like me".

Just don't laugh and take this as a story. This old lady is sitting in the corner every human heart. We are mostly like the old lady. She could have become young and beautiful woman with Naradji's blessings, but she ruined her own life. We very often miss such beautiful opportunities in our life. There is so much of hatred and jealousy filled in our heart that we don't want to improve but want others also to lose, suffer and become like us.

God's Blessings : Story of squirrel - why they have stripes

2008-08-29T12:20:00.005+05:30

Always count on God's blessings. Feel the things which he has given us. Try to move forward. It is we who are delaying, hesitating to go near him, there is no delay on God's part. He is always there. There is no limit to his bhandhar, he has opened up so much treasure for us. There is no end to his kindness. Whatever mistakes are there, are our own creations. We have not fully surrendered to him.

The meaning of Bhakti is to feel and memorise his blessings which have been showered on us. Just leave your pooja, daily rituals and sit peacefully in one corner, close your eyes and honestly think what all he has given us and our we worth it. We just grumble and compare ourselves with others. Feel jealous and hate each other. That is the reason of our unhappiness.

There is story of a squirrel(Gilahari). Once when all the Vaanar of Hanuman's vanaar sena was busy making samundra setu, they were breaking huge mountains and trees to make setu, a small squirrel was taking dip in the water, rolling on the sand, collecting whatever sand she could with her body and keeping it on the setu.

When Hanumanji suddenly noticed this he got very amused. He told the squirrel "Ari, O, gillahari, what are doing? How can a setu be made like this? Any vaanar can stamp you, they are so huge, you can come under their leg. Please take one side".

Squirrel said "see, Hanuman everybody has its own strength and capacity to do service(seva) to Lord Rama. I will do service within my capacity and range, you do your part of service. You don't become a barrier in my part of service". Hearing this Hanumanji pulled her tail with his leg. She forcefully pulled it out and her tail became long. She felt severe pain. When Hanumanji turned back to see, he saw the squirrel has reached Lord Rama's darbaar.

She complained to Lord Rama about Hanumanji's remark and behaviour. Lord Rama politely made her sit on his lap and with mild tears in his eyes started rubbing the wounds on her tail and trying to soothe her. We can still see the stripes on squirrel's tail, they are Lord Rama's finger prints. Then she told him that your loving bhakt Hanuman is not allowing me to help them to make setu. He is putting hurdles in my seva and pulled my tail.

Lord Rama ordered Laxman, his brother, to call Hanuman in my Darbaar. When Hanuman entered and saw the squirrel in Lords lap, he smiled and thought Oh, she has reached to the higher authority. Lord asked squirrel what punishment to give Hanuman. She immediately said that now you pull his tail the same way as he had pulled mine.
Hanuman felt very happy and said what a punishment. If everyday Lord Rama puts his leg on my tail, I shall be very thankful. It will be great honour. Then everyday I am going to stamp your tail to get such a punishment.

This is Hanuman's immense bhakti and the kindness Lord showers on us. A small squireel gets such importance then why are we lagging behind. We have no confidence and trust in God. We have no patience and believe in his justice. He is there, always there. Just feel and experience him from within.

Story of Balmiki and Angulimaal

2008-08-28T11:28:00.005+05:30

Maharishi Valmiki wrote Ramayan. He was a dacoit before he attained knowledge. He was known as Valiya Bheel. He was dacoit, would kill people without regretting, ruined his entire life by killing others and making money. Once when Naradji went to him and asked him "friend, you are committing such heinous crimes, sins everyday, killing innocent lives and for whomsoever you are doing this, will they share your sins, will they be part of your crimes".

He replied "Yes, my family members will share my sins".

Naradji said "Don't say Yes, go and ask them".

When he went home and asked his parents "will you be my partners and share the consequences of my crimes". They said you are our son, you have to take care of us, why should be the partners(bhageedaar) in your sins. Then he asked his wife the same question. She also said that since you have married me, it is your responsibility to look after me, how can I be bhageedaar in your sins. Children also replied the same way. None of them wanted to bear the poisonous results of his crimes

Then Naradji told him that since none of your family members want to share(bhageedaar) the consequences of your crimes, then you decide, you have to bear the fruits of your ill deeds. Immediately he dropped the weapons from his hand and this one incidence made him from Valiya Bheel to Maharishi Valmiki who wrote Ramayan. He changed completely

Another incidence that happened during Gautam Budha's time.
Angulimaal was a famous dacoit and merciless killer, everybody would get scared him. Nobody dared to approach him. Gautam Budha attempted to tread that road to change Angulimaal. None of his bhikshu's dared to go with Buddha. He marched alone. Everybody tried to stop him but he did not pay attention.

As Gautam Budha approached near Angulimaal, he saw him from far. Angulimaal saw that one sanyasi is comming near him. He thought that this sanyasi does not know my power, may be he is an innocent man. He warned him from far "Do not move forward, I will kill you". Gautam Budha replied"I am not moving, I have stopped, you are only moving".

The more and more Budha went near him, the vibrations of peace, love and karuna of Gautam Budha was passing in his heart. He felt nervous and started shivering. He was thinking that what is happening to him. Then Gautam Budha came face to face and in front of him.

Angulimaal said "I will not spare you, I will kill you. Budha said I have come for that only, but tell me one thing that I am sitting and you are saying that I am moving. It is you who is moving and marching forward. I have stopped moving.

Gautam Budha politely said "Angulimaal, man walks with his mind. My mind is at rest, it has stopped moving since long. Though you are sitting but your mind is making so many plans and ideas to destroy things, what all dirty ideas are going on in your mind. It is not at peace. Physically I am moving but mentally I am steady. But you moving mentally also.

This made Angulimaal think and said to himself that whatever the sanyasi is saying is totally true. But again he came back to his point and said to Budha that whatever you say but I am definitely going to kill you.

Gautam Budha replied "first finish one one my work and then you can kill me".

He said "what is it?"

Gautam Budha said "pluck that stem from the tree and give it to me'.

Angulimaal immediately cut the stem of the tree and handed over to Budha.

Budha said "half of my job is over, now do another half of it. Now join it again on the tree."

Angulimaal said "how can a broken thing be joined? Gautam Budha said "Angulimaal, what sort of strong and brave man you are? You can break things but don"t know to join them, you can kill man but cannot make him alive, you can destroy things but cannot make them beautiful. This is not a brave man's sign".

Angulimaal asked Budha"can it be possible to mend and join broken things.
Gautam Budha replied "Yes, it can be done. One who has joined with himself, knows himself, joined with his own Atma, his soul, is always at peace. He can bridge gaps and bring peace in the entire world. The sword from Angulimaal fell down, he bowed to Gautam Budha and his entire life changed with the blessings of Gautam Budha.

Story from Upanishad

2008-08-25T17:18:00.005+05:30

There is a story from Upnanishads about shwetketu. Shwetketu had gone to his gurukul to gain knowledge. After twelve years when he returned, He did not do pranaam or touch his father's feet. He thought that he has more knowledge than hus father. He saw his father was sitting in yagyashala. The father observed his son's style of talking, he did not appreciate it. He did not touch his father's feet nor he did any pranaam to him.
Father said "Oh! I sent you to gurukul to collect all dirt. What have you learnt? Only about bricks and stones. Can knowledge impart Ego? You have just collected dirt.
Knowledge teaches you politeness. It is like a tree which bends low when it starts bearing fruits. The father then asked Swetketu "You have completely attained knowledge".
He replied "Yes, father. I remember everything, you can ask me from anywhere".

The father asked"Did you learn about the One and knowing that Only One you don't have to know anything'.

The son promptly replied "There is no such knowledge to know about The One and if it is there then my Guruji(teacher) may not be knowing as he did not teach me about The Only One".

The father told his son to go back to Gurukul. He said "Being a Brahmin's son does not mean you become a Brahmin, the one who knows about Brahma Vidhya is a Brahmin. Go and ask your Guru about it.

Shwetketu went back to Gurukul and asked his Guru whether there is any vidhya which teaches about The Only One. The Guru replied "Yes, there is." The boy said why did not you tell me about this.

Guru said "I answered all your queries, but you never wanted to know The Brahm Vidhya. He requested his Guru and told him to tell about the Only One.

The Guru answers "Tatvam Aasi" Oho ! That is You, my son. Know thyself, know your atman. know yourself from within, your atma, your trueself.

"Atma Ka Gyan" Knowledge about Self. After hearing this, Swetketu immediately gained the knowledge. His Gurukul vidhya which his father wanted was complete. Observe and look at Atma, search for truth and God. Look for peace. In one instance and one incident can open our eyes and attain knowledge.

Vedanta : Three sutras

2008-08-25T16:50:00.005+05:30

There are three sutra(link) of Vedanta. (Shravan, manan and nidhihasan) Attain or gain knowledge just in one instance i.e. shravan, practice again and again about it and to learn many times to get that knowledge is manan. Some people can understand by just listening to knowledge. Some people have to practice again and again to get the knowledge like to break stone into pieces you have to go on hitting it i.e called manan. Nidhihasan takes years to gain knowledge, you dont get it very fast, you have to work very hard.

King parikshat attained knowledge by just listening, Sukhdevji Maharaj knew that Parikshat has gained knowledge very fast. Those who listen with their intellect take time to understand but who take it to their heart, gain knowledge very fast. Your intellect will always find logic and reasoning in everything, it will become a barrier in gaining knowledge easily but if you understand with your heart, it will become very easy. Your intellect is like a scissor trying to cut and reason out the knowledge you are trying to gain. There is a style of listening any gyan. If you blink, or look here and there, you will not be able to grasp, there will be conflict in your thinking. Sometimes with one incident you attain knowledge.

Knowledge : Easy and Difficult

2008-08-25T16:22:00.003+05:30

Knowledge attained can be easy for some and can be difficult for others. It all depends upon the person who is trying to gain knowledge. Knowledge about spiritual or material, all depends on your interest and capacity to attain it.

Many years back Swami Kutasthanandji along with his friend stayed in a Businessman"s house. He had a very big family and a huge bungalow. The rich businessman requested swamiji to stay with them for 15 days and every evening for one hour he must do pravachan. Swamiji agreed. The seth had a great influence on his family and he was a strict disciplinarian and everybody had to assemble at 8 p.m for the satsang. School going children also had to join to listen to the pravachan.

Just five days had passed the seth told swamiji "you are talking about Gautam Budha, Mahavir swami, vairagya about Geeta but I have grown up children, they have to get married, look after my business and you teaching them and giving pravachan on vairagya. If these children get vairagya by listening to your knowledge, they may leave the house and become sanyasi

Swamiji replied "Seth, vairagya is not so cheap, knowledge is not something to sell, it is highly valuable. You have to pay heavy price, you have to think and put your knowledge to stake. First of all these children don't pay attention to my satsang. Even if they listen, they leave it here on only, they don't take it with them. They are silently sitting here and listening to my pravachan because of your influence, they are scared of you so they forcefully sit here and hear my pravachan to respect you. Otherewise they would not sit here".

Knowledge about Almighty is not easy to grasp, it is not a game,it is not any drama and it is not something that you can put in your pocket. If you know the value, you will easily understand and accept it but if you feel it is waste, you will find it very difficult to gain spiritual knowledge

Discussion Vs Argument

2008-08-20T11:09:00.002+05:30

Discussion is like two people finding out a solution to a problem and jointly agree each others view and come to a result. There is mutual understanding. Argument is like two people asserting their point over a problem. Each one trying to be stronger than the other. There is clash of ego, but no solution. There is no agreement. In a fit of ego people fight and argue, they may harm each other. So keep away from arguments.

Once a saint entered into a village. Two people were fighting with each other, there were heated arguments. Whole village had gathered to see and stop this foolish drama, but they could not. The saint then asked them that why are they fighting. The village people requested him to find a solution, you are the right person to put an end to this fight. They were very good friends but since last fifty years they are just arguing and fighting and not reaching up to an amicable solution.

The saint asked "what is the argument about and why are they fighting?"

They said "Argument is only about that one friend says that this universe is God's creation, the other friend says that God has not made this universe, it has been created on its own. They have become old and still their argument is on"

The saint smiled and then laughed. He called first the friend who said that God has made the universe. He said "Son, if it is true and if it is proved that this universe is God's creation, what would you do?

He replied "I will not do anything"

The saint politely said "if in these past fifty years of your life, had you concentrated on God, had you paid attention and prayed to God, God himself would have come to you to prove his existence as the creator. But you wasted your precious time in arguing and wasted these poor villagers time also.

Then he called the friend who argued that the universe is not God's creation, it has been created on its own. He asked "if it is proved that God has not created this universe, what would you do"

He also replied that he would do nothing.

The saint said that past fifty years you are arguing and fighting. If these fifty years you would do some hard work and pay attention and would have done some dhyan, you could have become God, you would be able achieve something but you wasted your talent and this precious life on this trivial matter.

Argument gives you worry, tensions, increases you Blood Pressure and you suffer from unwanted ailments. Keep away from arguments. Since when you are not sure of anything, why indulge in argument and boost your ego. It will boomerang on you and lead you nowhere. Just relax and enjoy life which is very precious.

Be kind to Animals

2008-08-17T17:05:00.004+05:30

Once Gautam Budha entered into a state capital. The king of that state had made arrangements for a big Yagna. There were many Brahmins, they were chanting mantras and putting ahuti. A goat was also standing with tilak on his forehead. Budha asked them what are you doing?. They replied that they are going to sacrifice this goat.

Gautam Budha again said politely "You do yagna, put ahuti, chant mantra, offer bhog to Brahmins, this is all fine, but why sacrifice this poor goat? People said that the goat will get moksh, mukti, he will go to swarag(heaven).

Budha said "Did this goat request you to sent him to swarag. You are forcefully sending him to swarag. Are you sure he will get swarag? People had no answer.

Your old parents often say we want to go to heaven, we want moksh. Then send your old parents to swarag by sacrificing them. Would you do that? No. Then why this poor goat.

Do not thrust your views on others

2008-08-17T16:13:00.002+05:30

Once swamiji was in New Delhi. Some people had organised his satsang near a temple. They had fixed huge mikes over there so that people from far off places could hear it.

Swamiji asked the organisers for what purpose they had fixed these mikes. They replied "Maharaj, there will be kirtan and satsang, people's ears will get purified on hearing it". Swamiji said "Did those people tell you that they want to get their ears purified, why are you forcing everyone to hear satsang. It is their wish if they want to get purified they can sit and hear in the pandal. There are sick people in the locality, there may be children who have their exams, they may get irritated. They can complain to the police. So do not do thing which others don't like to hear or do. You are interested you do it, but do not thrust your views or ideas on others."

Everybody is born with equal rights, but we go out of our limits to do things which can be harmful for others. It may boomerang on you.

Misuse of Power or Dhyan

2008-08-12T11:16:00.003+05:30

In swami Ramakrishna Paramhans ashram there used to be a man named, Kalicharan. He was very innocent and simple man. In his room he had kept three hundred idols of different God. He used to pray, do aarti, put chandan on each and every idol. His whole day used to pass off in taking care of idols and praying to every God. He used to get deeply immersed in this activity and never would disturb or fight with with anybody.

Swami Vivekananda was also a disciple of Swami Ramakrishna and would stay in the same ashram. Since Vivekanand was young, highly knowledgeable and would find reason for everything, did not appreciate this habit of Kalicharan. He used to always ask Kalicharan that why did he pray to these stone idols, offer bhog to each and every idol. Vivekanand wanted an explanation from Kalicharan. He used to always tell him to pack up all the idols in a cloth and immerse them in river Ganga.

But Kalicharan was not perturbed by Vivikanand's remarks. He would just smile and not answer him back. Everyday Vivekanand used to tell Kalicharan to stop this habit but it had no impact on him.

Once Swami Vivekanand was immersed in dhyan, he felt some spiritual power within. He attained dhyan or samadhi which is very difficult to achieve. He felt that he is above all and with this power he can change Kalicharan. Through this dhyan and spiritual power he started sending messages to Kalicharan " O Kali, pick up all the thakurs and put them in Ganga river" Kalicharan could feel those vibrations or messages sent by Vivekanand. He was sweating and crying and could feel that some power within was pressurising him to immerse these idols.

One day unwillingly and with a heavy heart he packed up all the idols, put them in a bedsheet and went towards the river, crying bitterly as he was feeling very void and lost.

That time Swami Ramakrishna Paramhas was walking towards the river. He saw Kalicharan weeping and carrying some load on his shoulder. He went near and asked him "Kalu, why are you weeping and what are carrying on your shoulder?" Kalicharan started crying by saying that some inner voice, voice from within forcing me to throw these God's idols in the Ganga river. Paramhans said "go back, don't throw these idols, there is no voice from within or anything that sort. Continue with your daily rituals."

Kalicharan went back to the ashram and decorated his room as before with the idols and started doing his aarti and was busy and happy with his work. Ramakrishna pushed the door and entered into Vivekanand's room. Vivekanand got up and did namaskar to his Guru. Then Ramakrishna told him "Vivekanand, first time you have attained this spiritual power, you have achieved so much strength and first time only you have misused it. If Kalicharan throws his thakurs in the river what would you get. Why are you feeling bad. You may be brighter than him. You have more reasoning power and understanding than him. When Kalicharan is getting peace and satisfaction by doing this, why are you disturbing him. He is not troubling anybody, he is not doing harm to you or any person, then why are you forcing him to do this. From now on I take back this power from you. You will not get dhyan or samadhi. With my blessings you got this power, but now I am snatching it from you."

Narendra(Vivekanand) touched his Guru's feet, started weeping and promised that in future he will not misuse the powers. Please do not take back this strength which you have given me. I apologise for my mistake.

Very often we also do the same. We try to change others and want them to behave like us. But that is not correct. Every individual has some quality in them. So long if anybody is not hurting or troubling others, we should not force them to change.

Story of Mahatma Gautam Budha

2008-08-09T12:06:00.004+05:30

Lord Krishna told Arjun "Do not give this knowledge of Geeta to Abhakt. It can be misused"

Gautam Budha before sleeping used to always tell his disciples that now it is night time, you be busy with your rest of the job. Night time rest of job means "Dhyan" get immersed in your dhyan(concentration) towards God and if you die in dhyan it is like Nirvan or Moksh.

Once while the satsang of Lord Budha was going on, a thief and a prostitute entered and joined in to hear the satsang. When lastly before retiring to bed Lord told his disciples "now be busy with your rest of the job". The thief when heard this murmured to himself "See, how sensible is Lord Budha, he can understand that my job at night time is to steal and now he has given me permission to do my rest of the job. He is antaryami. He can introspect. The thief felt very happy.

Same way the prostitute felt. She felt happy that Lord has given her permission to do her rest of the job at night. Both of them left to do their respective jobs.

Here the Lords words had a negative impact on thief and the prostitute. It was misused.

Lord Krishna is telling Arjun to be cautious while imparting or sharing my knowledge. Check the person, if he is really interested and keen to do something good, then only give him this knowledge. Otherwise it will go to a wrong person and he may misuse it. "Idam te naatapaskaya naabhaktaya kadachana"

Knowledge should be given to those who value it

2008-08-04T11:17:00.003+05:30

In Bhagwat Geeta Lord Krishna told Arjun "Idam te naatapaskaya naabhaktaya kadachana"
Lord Krishna is alerting Arjun that this knowledge do not share with a person who is not my bhakt and who does not believe in me. Abhakt is like a pot that is kept in the reverse(ulta ghada) and true bhakt is like straight pot(seeda Ghada). Ulta ghada is like ahankari and seeda ghada is like nirahankari. It is like there is heavy rainfall but since the pot is kept in the reverse, it will not collect water. Same is case with abhakt, the knowledge is given through satsang books etc. but it is no use telling a person who is not interested. He may collect only moss. He may misuse it.

Like once when Jesus Christ was going somewhere and it was evening time. It was getting little dark. Christ saw on his way a young boy lying in a drunken position in one dirty nullah. He was stinking and very dirty. Christ woke him up, lifted him up washed his face and body. Christ then said "Friend, you are so young, God has given you such handsome looks and body. you have got such a beautiful life ahead and you have wasted it in drinks etc." The boy came into consciousness, opened his eyes, bowed to Christ and replied, "Sir, You may not remember, I am the same boy who was suffering from paralysis, totally bedridden. You came near me, put your loving hands on me, showered your love. I became completely normal. Now tell me what should I do with this body." Tears started dripping from Christ's eyes. He thought he tried to be good but went to a wrong person. His mercy towards that man was not worth it. My sympathy, my love brought such negative results.

Christ went on thinking how a man can be so ungrateful. He went further and saw a young boy teasing a young girl. The girl started screaming. Jesus moved forward, told the boy "friend, what are you doing? He caught hold of him. The boy when realised his mistake, he saw Christ, bowed in front of him and said "Lord! I was blind, by birth I could not see, You came, showered your mercy, you kept your hand on my eyes and I got sight to see this world. Now how to make use of this eyesight. Jesus Christ eyes became moist and said "I gave you eyes for good intention, you could do something good for the humanity. You misused my knowledge and blessings by trying to molest this innocent girl. The boy repented and promised to change.

Lord Christ walked ahead and saw a man trying to commit suicide by hanging himself from a tree. He immediately stopped him and politely said "friend, what are you doing? committing suicide. Person who commits suicide never gets peace and does not get place anywhere. God has gifted you such a nice body and you are killing it. Your soul may not rest in peace." The man came into his senses and said "leave me, let me commit suicide. I was dead, my body was being taken to graveyard, you came showered your mercy and blessed me with your hands and I came into consciousness, became alive. I don't want this life. I think it is better to die, why did you give me another lease of life."Lord Christ felt pity on that man as he tried to misuse the life given by Lord.

God has showered us with this beautiful world and a body and with sensible brain and emotional heart to feel and love the nature. He gave us life, a family, a beautiful world full of love. He has given proof of his existence in form of love. Love given by our parents, friends, relatives, husband, wife and in return same love is showered and forwarded and given to our children. He loves us but we do not value it and find an excuse to waste the most precious gift offered by God.

God's signals and Indications

2008-08-01T16:38:00.003+05:30

Swami kutasthanandji's experience regarding the signal's which God sends us. It is Hridayasth Ishwar's voice. We must pay attention to it. He is there in our heart and everytime trying to help and indicate us or stop us from facing any untoward incidence.

Once when Swamiji was at Haridwar, some bhog ceremony was organised by a Mahatma, his good friend. It is called samashti bhandara. Swamiji was also invited. One of the disciple of the Mahatma had a big Ghee's shop. He was to arrange for pure ghee. The Mahatma requested swamiji to go with this truck driver to get ghee before the bhandara. Swamiji agreed and went to the shop to get the ghee. The shopkeeper made Swamiji sit on a chair alongwith a table and told him to wait for sometime.

While swamiji was still seated on the chair, there came heavy storm and gushy winds, it became very dark and there was thunder and lightening. Guruji closed the door of the room to avoid story winds, switched on the light and started reading some books.

Suddently he heard heavy knock on the door. He could hear that somebody was literally trying to push open the door. Swamiji said to himself that it is because of the wind the door is shaking, who will come now to bang at the door as swamiji knew that it will long time for the shopkeeper to fill the truck load. But still there was some conflict in his mine. He finally got up and opened the door to see if somebody has come to call him. He just got up from his seat, walked a few steps, he saw some brick falling from the rooftop and damaged the chair and a table where he was sitting. It was a newly built house and left over brick were kept on the terrace of the building. Due to heavy storm it must have fallen. Swamiji opened the door to see if realy somebody was there, but he could not see anybody. later on he called all the people. Everybody was surprised. But for swamiji it was a signal from the Lord to get up from the chair. He thanked the Almighty for forcefully making him get up to open the door.

One more incidence when Guruji was young. He stayed in Haridwar in one Beliram Ashram for some days. He was given a room on the ground floor to stay, but swamiji requested the head of the Ashram to give him a room on the upper floor. It was very cold winter time so the head had arranged for him a room on ground floor but as swamiji insisted he was given a room on the upper floor. At night time he went to see Ramleela in a nearby place. It became very late and Guruji was very tired also and decided to sleep. As it was very cold he put his blanket and went to sleep. But he was not getting sleep, somebody within was pressuring him to dust the bed and the blanket. But being young people feel lazy to do all that. His mind was all the time nagging him to dust the blanket atleast. Still he did not pay heed to his conscious. He thought let me sleep now,tomorrow morning he will call somebody to dust the bed for him. But there was continuous conflict going on in his mind. He could not disown that conflict and finally got up to clean the bed. As he got up to first clean the blanket, to his utter shock he saw a round snake hiding cozily in his blanket which he had worn. He literally screamed and everybody from the ashram came running. It was a poisonous snake and finally it was thrown out. But full night swamiji could not sleep. He was thinking had he slept on the ground floor room and listened tot he head, this may not have happened. People might say that this must have happened by chance. But swamiji strongly insists that it is Hridyasth Ishwar's voice which saved his life.

There are so many incidents in our life where we thank God for whatever good happens to us. So we must pay attention to conflict that goes on in our mind for any reason, whatsoever, and we will get solutions from there only. Don't ignore there warning signals, pay attention, you may overcome major disasters in your life. Hear the strong mind, do not listen your weak or lazy mind

King and the Priest : True Story

2008-07-30T12:29:00.008+05:30

Lord Krishna in Bhagwat Geeta says"Madhbhaktva bhav" Be my true bhakt, Surrender to me I will absolve you from all sins and lead you to salvation.
Surrendering unconditionally to the Almighty is one way of expressing our confidence in the Divine. For faith works wonders. Faith is not just hoping and waiting for things to happens, rather it is working hard to make things happen and realizing that there are no failures just disappointments. When you have done your best Angels can do no better. God comes to the rescue of all those who surrender to him with full faith and belief in him. God does not differentiate between friends and foes, man and animal, caste and creed. He comes to the rescue of all those who surrender to him.

In Udaipur there is Chaturbhuj Swamiji's temple. In that temple a priest named Devaji used to stay. Everyday he used to do Aarti and prayers in the temple. He had become quite old. Once night time he cleaned the temple, completed Shayan Aarti and put God to rest and closed the temple door and went to sleep in his room.

After a few minutes he heard the sound of the King of Udaipur's carriage. The priest realized that the King of the city has come to pray in the temple. There were no malas(garland) left to put on the King as Thakurji's mala he had worn. Now he felt nervous, the priest did not know what to offer the king. He had become old and had grey hair. His hair got stuck in the mala. He could not decide what to do. Anyway he immediately removed mala from his neck as there were no other mala left and kept it aside for the king. The king knocked at the door of the temple. He opened the door for the King and offered him the mala which he had worn.

The King looked at the mala and said "why there are grey hair on the mala, has Thakurji grown old?" He replied "Yes" and did not know what to do. He was nervous.

The King gave a loud laugh and said"Oh! so now at this age you are telling lies. I will come tomorrow morning to see whether God has grey hair or black hair." Saying this king left the temple.

The priest had never faced this situation in his life. He had no intention to tell lies but since he had to offer something to King he offered him the garland which he had worn and this he did in a haste and due to nervousness.

Full night the priest prayed to God. He totally bowed and surrendered to Lord and wept bitterly in front of God's idol. He told God "I do your pooja very honestly. I do this to take care of my family as I have to feed many people in my family. I am your true bhakt. You know I have never spoken lies in my life. In the morning when the king comes what will be my condition, people will not respect me, they will make fun of me. The king will disown me and insult me. He may throw me out of the temple services. Whole Udaipur city people will collect,even people from nearby village who come to pray in this temple, will humiliate me. Please help me. Do something to save me from this humiliation." His whole body was trembling of fear of insult he would have to bear from the king in the morning.. He went on talking and begging mercy from God.

Morning when he opened the God's idol's door, he was shocked to see that idol's all the hair had turned grey. He could not believe his eyes, how can hair of a statue turn grey overnight.

The king entered the temple and said "Oh! so you have painted Thakurji hair into grey colour or brought from outside a wig or something of grey colour and put it on the God's idol. The priest was quiet. As per ritual the King washed Thakurji's feet and then tried to pull the hair from the idol to prove that the priest had spoken lie and to insult him for that and to see how the hair can turn grey. The king could not believe his eyes that when he tried to pull the hair, the face of God became little stiff and few blood stains fell on his clothes. The King became unconscious and fell on the ground.

The priest sprinkled water on the King, he got up. The king apologised to the priest and said "I came in haste and at wrong time, you had cleaned the temple and put God to rest and I disturbed you at this old age. I am extremely sorry for my mistake." The king appreciated the priest true bhakti and ordered that from now onwards anybody from king's palace would not visit the temple at night, specially when the door is closed and it is rest time for God and the priest. They have to inform in advance about their visits in the temple. Today also you will find in that temple Lord's hair is grey.

Faith and Surrender " A true story"

2008-07-28T11:57:00.005+05:30

In Brindavan there used to be a saint of Sant Haridas's follower. He was very kind and helpful Mahatma. Once a young cowboy(Gwala) came to him. He told him that he has left his house and come to him so please accept me as your disciple. The boy said he would do anything for him. The saint replied "I will make you my disciple but you first have to take care of my cowshed. There are many cows and you have to take them to jungle to feed grass to them." He asked "what will I eat there? The Mahatma then ordered his another disciple to give him some potatoes, rice, wheat, salt and pepper etc. and told him to make chappatis and cook potatoes over there. But before eating you must first offer little food to God. The boy cooked food and offered some food to God as said by his Guruji. He waited for long but God did not come to taste his food. He was very hungry so he went on screaming and crying and calling bitterly to God to first come and have his food. But God did not come. Again he called and wept and said "God please come and have my food, I am so hungry but if you don't eat then I will have to remain hungry".

He waited and finally Lord Krishna appeared in front of him, shared food with him. Radha Rani was waiting for Krishna to have food with her but Lord said that he is not hungry as he has eaten his food with a gwala at Brindavan. She said how could you eat alone, tomorrow I will also join you to have food with him. Next day again after cooking food the boy waited for God to come. Now Lord Krishna and Radhaji came in front him and ate with him. Now the boy was running short of food because his Guruji had given him foodstuff for one person only. He went to his Swamiji and said "you told me to first offer cooked food to God and then eat. But God came with Radhaji and finished all my food. Now please give me more food grains and vegetables for me, God and Radhaji."

The saint was surprised that he had given him enough of foodstuff, more than what is required. How could he finish it so fast. He did not believe his story that God and Radha Rani have shared food with him. He thought he being an innocent boy must have dropped it somewhere.

Anyway the Mahatma gave him more stock of food. The third day when he waited for God to come, he saw Lord Krishna has come with Radhaji and so many gawal bal. They finished the entire stock of food. Nothing was left for the next day. The boy innocently approached his Guru and said "Everyday I offer food to God but he brings many people with him and they finish everything. Now tell me what to do. You have to give me more".

The Mahatma knew that boy is innocent and not making stories, there must be something happening in jungle that the food gets finished so fast. Anyway he gave him more food to cook for few more days. He then slowly followed him and hid behind the bushes to see what is happening. The saint could not believe his eyes that Lord Krishna along with Radhaji and gawal bal were enjoying his food and finished everything. He felt very amused and elated and then did namaskar to God. He then thought that so many years he has been praying and never could see God but this boy innocence and dedication impressed God so much that he sat and had food with him. This boy is great, his faith has done wonders, he is so dedicated. he touched that boy's feet and said that your true faith in God has given me opportunity to do darshan of Lord Krishna. You are true believer of God. What you did in few days, I could not have imagined in my life time. You are pure disciple of Lord. There is no cunning feeling in you, you are so pure.

The saint then told the boy that now onwards you become the priest of the temple and take care of God's idol and see that nobody steals or spoils anything from the temple. The boy agreed to sit inside the temple and take care of it. Now he was on temple duty. When it was 10 p.m. God came out of temple door. The boy asked him "where are going?". God replied "for raas leela".
He said "Go back inside the temple, I am the caretaker and nobody can go out after 10 p.m.". God answered "see I go everyday for raas leela at this time."
The boy said I don't know anything about other days, my duty is from today. Please go inside. Lord smiled and said "If you don't believe then you can also join me, but let me go. God had dressed up and it was sharad poornima. He told the boy to sit under a tree and enjoy the dance. Full night raas leela was going on with Radha Rani and so many gopis. The boy was surprised to see Lord Krishna dancing with so many gopis. Then one gunghroo fell on the ground. The boy picked it up and tied in a handkerchief. Then raas leela got over in the morning. It was time for Lord to return. The boy told the Lord "you look so tired and you are sweating, please sit on my shoulders I will carry you till the temple." God said that there is no need I go for raas leela everyday and come back on my own.

In the morning when the Mahatma entered the temple and was making preparations for Mangal Aarti, the boy stopped him. He said "wait, ten minutes back Thakurji has gone to sleep, do not disturb him with your aarti. The Mahatma lost his temper and said "you have gone mad, gone crazy. This aarti I do everyday in the morning, how can you stop me. This is just an idol of Lord. How can it sleep in the early hours of morning." The boy innocently showed him the ghungaroo and said that during night at 10 p.m. he had gone with Lord and saw raas leela. There Lord's ghungaroo fell down which he has tied and kept in a handkerchief . Mahatma was stunned to see the ghungaroo as he know they were thakurji's ghungaroo. They were not there on God's ankle. The Mahatma was deeply impressed by the boy bhakti and innocence. His unconditional dedication for the Lord. From then onwards it was decided to pray and do aarti at 8 a.m i.e in the morning at eight 'O' clock. Now also at other temples aarti is offered at 4 a.m.. but in Bihariji's mandir at Brindavan it is offered at 8 a.m..

Feeling for others

2008-07-26T12:25:00.002+05:30

Once there was a severe drought in a village. There was no water, people were dying of hunger and ailments. There was no money, no medicines etc. A Mahatma took his bag and went to each and every house to collect whatever little he could get from them to serve the needy and poor people who were severely affected by the drought. He collected lot of donation but that was not sufficient enough to help all the people.

He knew there was a very rich man near the village but he was extremely stingy. He would hesitate to spent money for his wife's treatment also. Only money would count for him. He was least affected by the drought. He knew that people are suffering but would not come out to help the needy. Mahatma tried to approach that rich businessman. People of that village alerted him and said that this businessman will not give a penny. He is very kanjoos(stingy). But Mahatma did not pay heed to all this. He marched ahead went to him and requested him by saying "My son, will you please give me ten thousand rupees. I will return back this money to you by evening. I will show to the people of village that, see, this rich businessman has donated ten thousand rupees to help those people affected by drought. Then other rich people will also start donating. Your name will appear in newspapers and all the villagers will talk about and appreciate you. As promised I will definitely return this money or more of it, if possible, to you and will not let anybody know about it. But your name will be taken by everybody, you will become very popular. People will come to greet you and praise you forever. Man was convinced by the Mahatma and offered him ten thousand rupees.

Mahatma then showed the people that this stingy man has donated ten thousand rupees and started praising him. People were all surprised and hearing this more and more people started donating money. This way Mahatma collected a lot of money which was enough to help all the needy villagers.

In the evening Mahatma went to the rich man's house to return his entire money with interest. The man refused the money by saying that please use this money for betterment of villagers. He said " I am feeling so happy and contented that I cannot believe. I have been receiving calls and people are visiting my house to thank me. Even media people have given me so much importance. I never felt so big in my life. My heartfelt thanks to you who encouraged me donate and help people. Now I feel how satisfying it is help others. I am feeling so jubilant."

The Mahatma smiled and answered "when we do something good our inner voice always appreciates us,we feel contented but when we do bad our conscious nags us. But we have killed our conscious, we have no time to listen to the God within us who is all the time with us, guiding us from within. If you pay little attention, you will know that God, the Almighty is within us and around us in the form of this beautiful universe."

Search of God and Soul

2008-07-21T18:35:00.002+05:30

A saint was once sitting under a tree and was deeply immersed in his prayers concentration. A young boy came near him, bowed and did namaskar to him. He said "Maharaj! I have come from very far in search of you, I have been wondering around for days asking people about you and finally I have come to you. I am very tired and desperate to know about God and Atma. I have been to many religious places, met many priest and saints, but none could satisfy my this strong desire to know about the Almighty. I could not find God anywhere and I don't know what is Atma and Paramatma. Please do not disappoint me. Please quench my this thirst. Please help me to get darshan of Paramatma."

The saint looked at him from top to bottom and was observing him deeply to know whether he has the true desire or this is just a temporary wish. The saint replied "friend, it is very cold and winter time, the sun is also about to set and it is getting dark and the fire from this dhooni has extinguished and only the ashes are left. Now take these burnt wooden logs, search for any spark left in the ashes and with the help of the spark(angaar) lit the fire again. Our conversation will last for whole night, we will take the heat from the fire and I will go on answering your questions."

There was heap of ashes lying there and the young boy took a stick and went on searching for any spark left in the ashes. Then he told the saint that there no sparks left in this heap of ashes, the fire has been totally turned into ashes. The saint said "Pay more attention, concentrate more" The boy tried again still he could not find the spark. The saint said "Pay more attention on the fire, not on ashes. From here only you can lit fire".

The boy got frustrated and said "when there is no spark, how can I search it?"

The saint politely said "give me the stick" He then went on digging the ashes. The boy said that you are wasting your time. But after one hour the saint could find a dim spark and told the boy that now you can see a spark. With this spark I will lit the fire and feel the heat to protect from this cold winter.

The saint then made the youth understand and realize that "As you were in a haste to search a spark from the heap of ashes and did not pay much attention and was in a hurry, same way to find Atma and Paramatma you have to work hard and have patience. God is within you, in your HEART, but you have no patience or least bothered to find HIM. You are in a hurry. Have patience God will come to you if you truly love and search him. Like when you dig a well, at some places the water comes out after little effort, some place it takes hours to find water, some places days and some place like deserts sometimes you cannot find water because you become restless and stop taking pains and efforts.

The saint then told the boy "Atma is definitely with us ,it is there within us and even God(Paramatma) is certainly within us. It is only the effort that counts. Some get is with little effort, some people have to struggle very hard to find him. But if you determined and strongly desire, you will definitely find HIM.

Friends and Foes

2008-07-19T16:03:00.002+05:30

A Saint had some disciples. They used to always sit together and pray. Once the saint sat alone and was praying peacefully, the disciples followed him and quietly sat next to him. He closed his eyes, lifted his hands up and said "Oh! God, I can defend myself from my enemies but please help me from my friends, I cannot fight with them". The disciples heard this and then questioned him what are you praying to God for that "There is always fear and danger from friends, why from friends." Friends are always helpful when in need. They said "you were in dhyan while praying so may be by mistake you must have said to God to help you from friends and you can fight against your enemies instead you should have prayed to help from enemies".

The saint replied"NO, I was fully aware of what I was praying, there is no mistake.

He said "My Friend is this "I" and ME, MY EGO. My friend is this feeling of being a doer(karta ka bhav), of being myself. These friend they don't leave me, they are stuck to me. I am afraid of these friends. My enemies are anger, lust and desires, greediness, possessiveness (Kama, Krodh, lobh and Moha). I can fight with them. I can make them my slaves. They cannot dictate me. But, Oh! this I, Me ,Myself whom I love so much, they also love me so much, I cannot fight with them. Only God can help me to get rid of them. If my Ego is hurt, I feel like taking revenge, if somebody says I am egoistic, I get wild because I cannot hear anything against my friend.

You know in the last chapter of Gita i,e eighteenth chapter Lord Krishna told Arjun about Ego. If God had told him in the beginning Arjun would not be able to hear anything from Krishna.

Once a Fakir went to a state capital and was sleeping under a tree. It was dark night. When he woke up he saw some light. He looked around and saw a jugnu sitting in front of him. He had spread his wings and told the fakir "see it is because of me you can see light otherwise there is all darkness. The fakir told the jugnu insect "you are very nice, very sweet, this whole city is lit with your light, even sun and moon derive light from you." Jugnu's ego got bloated up, he jumped and sat on fakir's hand. He said "you are such a nice Maharaj, nobody has ever praised me so much." They became good friends and full night they went on talking. Slowly, slowly the fakirs love changed the jugnu's thoughts and he started behaving and talking like the Mahatma.

Same way Lord Krishna with his praises, love and affection changed Arjun, who being a warrior, had ego and Lord also with sweet words helped him to overcome depression.
Very few are lucky to have such friends who help them to get rid of ego and eradicate their depressive thoughts

Firm Behaviour and Strong Determination

2008-07-15T18:30:00.002+05:30

Lord Krishna once told Arjun that you should have firm behaviour and strong determination. You being a warrior at one time don't want to fight against your near and dear ones, another time you look depressive and want to become a saint. You are born a prince and your nature is that of a warrior, you cannot escape that so you should have a strong behaviour and face all odds to prove you are a prince.

Do we have a firm behaviour, do we stick to one point. There are certain people who have firm belief and strong determination.

Once a saint reached the capital of a state. He was alone and did not know anybody there. It was winter season with heavy rains and almost it was getting dark. He thought of going to temple to take shelter there. But the priest of the temple did not allow him. He told him that without any acquaintance he cannot allow him spent a night in the temple as anybody can disguise as a saint and cheat us. We are sorry about it. He went to Church, then he approached mosque but he got the same reply. He asked many people but none helped him and it became very late at night. He walked further and finally saw a man standing near a big building. He requested him to tell people that you know me so that I can spent one night peacefully due to cold and rain. The man looked at him, he saw that he was some Mahatma. He said "My acquaintance will not serve your purpose as I a am famous thief. I steal from people's houses and that is my earning. Since you want to spend one night you can stay in my small house.

The saint became hesitant, got scared that how could he stay in a thief's house. Here the thief is showing his honesty and he is firm , but the saint is reluctant and worried about what would people think about him. The thief said "decide fast because this is my business time and I don't stay in my house during night". Here the thief should get scared that in the saint's company he will not be able to steal but on the contrary saint is scared of the thief. Anyway the saint agreed to stay in the thief's house. The thief told him that "In the morning I will ring the bell, you open the door for me, foodstuff and other thing are kept, you can have them".

Morning when the thief returned, the saint asked him that did he get anything. He replied and said "No, "why to worry,why get scared, so many days, so many years are left, so many night to go, some or the other day I will get it." But there was absolute peace and a feeling of contentment on the thief's face.

Mahatma said "You are great, Least bothered."

Mahatma stayed for one month with that thief but he did not get anything. There was no bitterness, no disappointment. Always smiling. The Mahatma in his mind said to himself that I appreciated his firm determination and not losing hopes, always trying, I do pranaam to his strong behaviour. He said to the thief "I will pray for you that this bad habit of your dies and with your strong will power you can make money through fair means". The saint's prayer for the thief was heard and he started small business of selling fruits, vegetables and being satisfied with whatever he earned.

How about us? If we face any problem we fight with God, stop praying and going to temples. We are never firm and satisfied, always craving for more and in the end stressed out or face depression. Be firm, never lose hope or courage, your will power will bring out fruitful results. All your negative thoughts will disappear and you will definitely find your path.

Body and Soul (Shareer aur Atma)

2008-07-12T15:56:00.002+05:30

In our day to day life we mostly talk of satsang , knowledge about God, hear from others and discuss about soul i.e our Atma, but we truely don't know what is Atma. These are just talks. But frankly speaking we are stuck and bonded with only our body, our physical needs and looks. We want to look beautiful and attractive or impress others with our good behaviour or talk politely etc or for any matter like for eating, drinking, sleeping, we are restricted to only our body and mind. There is something far beyond where we don't want reach and understand.

Once Sant Kabir's neighbourhood somebody passed away. The relatives started crying and screaming bitterly. Kabir heard the noise and asked people around what was the matter. He was told that a man of the family has died and family members are crying. He thens went to sympathize with his neighbour. When he went there he was surprised to hear a man giving lecture to family members by saying that not to cry. He was telling that if you are crying for body than see it is lying motionless in front of you and if you are crying for Atma then Atma does not die, it is amar and ajar. Kabir was thinking that such a Knowledgeable man is residing near my house and I am not aware of it and this man knows that soul is forever, never dies. He thought he should attend his satsang and make friendship with him.

After two to three months Kabir saw that the person who was giving knowledge about soul to the family where death had occurred, was crying and weeping bitterly. The family members of the family where death had taken place before were trying to console him by repeating the same words that Atma is amar and ajar, the soul never dies. This shows that we have no knowledge about death and the feelings, we just talk, we are not interested in going deep into somebody' sorrow, we just console and talk but when the same thing happens with us we cannot take those talks easily, we cannot swallow or understand the other person's superfluous knowledge about Soul and Body.

March Ahead with your duty,Do Not look Back For Results

2008-07-07T18:34:00.002+05:30

You must do your duty honestly and leave the rest to God. Lord Krishna told Arjun Do your Karam and Results leave it to me. If you wish to ask something from God then ask him to accept you as your are, good or bad, paapi or dharmatma, khara or khota. Just surrender to him as you are.

If you beg something from God then tell him to become yours for ever. If he is with you then there is no need to ask anything from him as HE knows everything. Whatever is good and in your favour he will definitely give you.

Once a very rich lady had faced severe depression, she had become mentally unstable.
She spent crores of rupees on her treatment. She went abroad for the treatment, but of no avail. Then she came back to her native place. Her friend suggested her to visit a small village where a vaidhya's home remedy will help her. She thought that since she has tried all means, why not try this also. She went to the vaidhya and explained to him about her problem. He gave her some Ayurvedic medicine. Within few days she became perfectly alright. She was so impressed by him that she offered him a bag full of money and some ornaments of diamonds and gold. The vaidhya was not happy with the bag, without opening he said that he does not want this bag, just give me my fees. The lady was surprised she took back the bag and asked him how much was the fees. He said only Rs.300 is my fees. She offered him Rs. 300 . She then opened the bag in front of him and showed him that there were lakhs of rupees and ornaments of gold and diamond. But still she gave one thousand rupees and left. Then his friends laughed at him and told him that you faced a major loss,the lady was giving lakhs of rupees and you did not accept it. Hearing this the vaidhya felt very bad and he went into depression.

So leave everything to God, He will give you more than you require. But don't loose heart if you happen to miss it. Just relax and be contented with whatever is rightfully yours.

Two Bhakts - Sagun sakaar & Nirgun Nirakaar

2008-06-30T10:25:00.003+05:30

Once Arjun asked Lord Krishna that you have two type of bhakts, sagun sakaar the one who believes in idols or statues of God and Nirgun Nirakaar is the one who believes that God is everywhere and in everybody, which is your favourite? It s like asking somebody which is your favourite eye, now what answer to give for that as both the eyes are equally precious.
It is like a mother who has two children. One is small three months old child and and another is 15-20 years old. If somebody requests the mother to give him any one of her child, keep only one with her. What would the mother do if the circumstances force her to do so? Firstly the mother will flatly refuse, but if due to certain reason she has to give her child to somebody she will say my both the sons are precious, I cannot stay without them. Both the sons will remain with me. But still somebody insists then she will say "The one who is sleeping in the swing(palna) cannot stay without me nor can I stay without him because he is just three months old. If he feels hungry and thirsty he would cry and call out his mother. For him everything is his mother because he can express only through crying. He cannot stay without me and I also cannot give him to anybody as I am not sure how will others take care of him. This child is like sagun sakaar upaasak.

Now the elder son who is 15 - 20 years old is matured enough. He can at least take care of his basic needs. He is educated and has some experience. He can at least stay without his mother. Mother is confident that this child of mine can face all odds of life and can find his way out. He knows how to keep in touch with me. He is Nirgun nirakaar upaasak. So the mother with a heavy heart would forcefully part with her elder son

Lord Krishna answered Arjun "The one who has surrendered his mind,his life, his soul and believes in sagun sakaar, he is very dear to me as I cannot stay without him nor can he stay without me. He talks to me through the idols in his house or temple But equally dear to me is the one who has attained knowledge and believes that I am everywhere like a Nirgun Nirakaar and has full faith in me and I have confidence in him."

The ultimate way to reach God is through your full faith and belief in him. It is not important how you pray or what religion you believe in. Most imprtant is your FAITH and TRUST

Gyandev and Namdev - Sagun Sakar and Nirgun Nirakaar Upasak

2008-06-29T18:17:00.006+05:30

Gyandev once told Namdev that we are all going on a pilgrimage and you must join us. If you will not come, none of us will go. Please don't refuse. Namdev became silent, he did not know what to say. Then he told Gyandev that I will let you know after consulting my God. This is sagun sakaar upasana. Whenever we plan to go out we always say I will consult my friends, husband, relatives etc but we never say I will consult God. But Namdev used to strongly believe in God and each everything he used consult with God and then act.

Gyandev was a bhakt but Namdev was believer of statue or idol of God i.e. Sagun saakaar upasana. Gyandev believed that God is everywhere, he is not only in idols or statues but each and every nook and corner of this universe. When Namdev, Gyandev, Nivritinath, the three brothers and Muktabai, their sister reached Paithan, the Brahmins of Paithan said that by having the name Gyandev is not important, prove us. Our buffalo name is also Gyandev. Gyandev said " Yes! You said it right that there is no difference between this buffalo and me. She also has same atma like me." The Brahmin then hit the buffalo with a stick, the Brahmins could see the marks of stick on Gyandev's back. He said everywhere there is God. The Brahmins were surprised as Gyandev was believer of God as Nirgun Nirakaar.

Then amongst the crowd One Brahmin said we will only believe that God is everywhere and in everybody when you make this buffalo recite the Ved Mantra.. Gyandev politely kept his hand on the buffalo and the buffalo would repeat the Mantra that Gyandev would recite. He then did namaskar and took leave of the Brahmins.

But Namdev believed that God is only in statue to whim he prays and talks everyday. Gyandev then followed Namdev to see what is he doing. In padharpur Namdev starting crying bitterly like a child in front of Lord Pandurang and said that they are forcing me to go to pilgrimage but I don't want to leave you. He could see tears dripping from Pandurang's eyes also. Then Lord Pandurang handed over Namdev's hand to Gyaneshwar and "See Gyandev this Namu is very precious to me, I cannot stay with him. If you are taking him to the pilgrimage, you have to take care of him and I will wait for Namdev."

When they all left for pilgrimage, Namdev would not sleep and middle of the night he would wake and weep for his God. Gyandev used to always appreciate and would say your love of God is unique and would keep his hand on his back with love.

They went for their pilgrimage to different places and lastly they reached Kashi. They stayed in Gora Kumbhar house. He was the seniormost amongst them. He had a wand sort of thing with him. Then Muktabai, the sister of Gyandev asked him why has he kept this wand. He replied that with this he checks the pots to see which pot is strong and which is weak. Muktabai said that we are also like pots, why not test us also. Gora kumbhar picked up the wand and hit it on everybody's back to check how strongly they believed in God. Everybody took it lightly and remained quiet. But when he hit it on Namdev's back, he got angry and said that such great bhakts have come to you house as guests and you testing them by hitting. Everyone was silent.

After sometime Muktabai asked Gora Kumbhar that you did not tell us who is strong and weak amongst us. He said there is no need to tell as all of you are strong but only Namdev is weak. Muktabai asked what is the resaon for his being weak. Gorakumbhar replied that he does not have a Guru. He should have Guru to guide him. Namdev felt very ashamed. He said to himself that when God eats and drinks with my hand, he cries for me and I strongly believe and love him then where is the need to find a Guru, why should I make a Guru.

When Namdev returned back to Pandharpur, he wept bitterly in front of the idol of Lord Pandhrang. God hugged him and made him understand that when I took avtaar as a man, I too had to learn from a Guru, I also needed shelter and hands of Guru who would guide and help me to find the right path. You have to find a Guru, otherwise deep inside your heart the EGO within you will never allow you to learn more, will never make you open your inward eyes. Then Namdev calmed down and requested God to help him to find the right Guru. God then directed him to Visova Kshetra and told him him to make him your Guru.

Namdev went towards a hillside and saw Lord Shankar's temple. There he met Guru Visowa Kshetra, who was 100 years old. He saw that his both the legs on Lord Shankar's pindi. Namdev was grumbling to himself that such an old man has no respect for God, he does not realise that he has kept his leg on God's pindi. That minute Visowa Kshetra called out to Namdev and said "God has sent you to me. I am Visow Kshetra. My leg slipped and fell or Shankar's pindi, please pick up my legs and keep it somewhere else." When Namdev lifted his legs, he would find pindi coming out wherever he would put his legs. Visowa smiled and said now feel that Lord is everywhere, he is not only in the idol you pray to, but each and every bit of universe is his. Wherever you go, just think that God is everywhere and every bit of this universe.

Lord Narayan and his disciples

2008-06-24T10:31:00.003+05:30

In Kanchi there is a temple of Lord Narayan. The priest of the temple is appointed by the King of the city. Once the king told the priest to leave the city as he was going to appoint another priest for this temple. This priest used to take care of an old Mahatma of the temple. He used to cook food, wash clothes, vessels etc and all possible care of that old Mahatma. The priest had no choice but to obey king's command. When the priest was to leave, he came and touched the feet of the old Mahatma and told him I am leaving the city as I have been ordered by the king to quit this job. The old Mahatma immediately got up and said "since you are leaving the city, what will I do over here, nobody can take better care of me than you, I will also come with you." Both of them got ready to leave the temple and the city.

When they were going, the Mahatama told the priest that it is our duty to inform Lord Narayan also before leaving. They then joined hands prayed to God Narayan and wanted to take leave from him. Then Narayan, who was sitting on the throne of sheshnag and mouth of sheshnag is like a chatra(shelter), he said if you both are leaving then what would I do over here. I will also join you. They all carried their belongings and Lord Narayan also packed up is sheshnag throne.

When Lord Narayan was about to leave, the entire city became dark, there was no sunlight. The king immediately came running and saw Lord Narayan, the old Mahatma and priest are going together, the king begged sorry from God and apologised for his mistake. He told God not to leave the city. The Lord replied"I always go behind my true bhakt, my disciple. I can't stay without them. If you really want me to stay back in this city then you must request the Mahatma and the priest to stay back. The king begged sorry form both of them and asked the pujari to continue serving the temple rituals.

The priest and the Mahatma kept their belongings back and Lord Narayan also unpacked his Sheshnag throne. In a hurry the sheshnag's mouth i.e. the face turned backwards i.e. on the reverse side. Till today the chatra is on the revere direction . If you visit Kanchi you will find that sheshnag throne in that temple has the face of sheshnag throne is on the reverse direction.

Story of King Vikramaditya

2008-06-14T17:39:00.003+05:30

King Vlikramaditya very often used to disguise himself into ordinary man to check and understand the problems of the people of his kingdom. He was always ready to help anybody in need and would take personal care to see that people are happy. No one should be poor or hungry.

Once early morning he was riding on his horse towards a jungle. While returning it became evening time and the sun was setting. Later it became quite dark. On the way he saw a cow was mooing, sort of crying. He diverted his horse towards that direction. He came near a pond and saw the water had dried and cow was stuck in the wet sand. She was trying to come out, but could not. Then the king tied his horse with a tree. He tried to pull the cow out from that pond but all his efforts were in vain, nothing worked. Then a lion came over there to eat the cow, he saw many other wild animals trying to gherao the cow. Near the pond there was a peepal tree, a parrot was sitting on it. The parrot said " oh! King Vikramaditya this cow is anyway going to die, today or tomorrow, why don't you runaway from this jungle as your life is also at stake. These wild animal will not spare you. Why not save your life and leave the cow alone."

The King looked at the parrot and replied "Oh, the beautiful bird, why are you teaching me inhuman lesson. For oneself and for one's own family or community everybody sacrifices their lives but for others very few do. Why? My life and family life is precious, animals also want to live. Only you have the right to live, others also equally want to live. For them life is equally precious as is for us. I will try my best to save this cow." Full night he took care of the cow. Next day early morning before sunrise, he looked around he saw there was no lion, no wild animals, no parrot. He was surprised to see Devraj Indra, on to his right was Earth and to the left human religion. Devraj Indra had disguised himself as lion, Earth was disguised cow and human rights was the parrot. Indra was so impressed by King Vikramditya that he presented him with Kamdhenu cow.

God, the Almighty is not pleased only with puja, prayers, but he is pleased with those who surrender to him with full faith and work hard for mankind and humanity.

Surrender to God in full, not in bits

2008-06-11T12:51:00.005+05:30

Once Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans was giving lectures(satsang) to his disciples. During that time a man, who was a rich businessman, entered the hall. He had five hundred golden coins in his purse and he was trying to attract people by making noise with the coins. Later he opened and handed over the purse to Swamiji. Swami Paramhans laughed and gave a faint smile. Now all those present there became inquisitive, they wanted to know what was in the purse. The businessman said "This a small gift for you, please accept it." Swamiji then replied " I accept anything, even your abuses or if anybody insults me, criticizes me , I accept that also as a gift. If anybody throws mud or dirt on me, cow dung etc.I accept it with smile, but Oh! you have offered me so many golden coins, why should I refuse this, I accept this also with grace.

Then Swami Paramhas asked that man that since these coins were closed in a purse, why did you open and gave it to me, if you really intend to give me this gift, you could have peacefully placed in front of me, where was the need to make a show of it. You have disturbed everybody, even my satsang got disturbed. Then the man apologised and begged sorry from Swamiji. Swamiji said "You have offered me five hundred golden coins,now you should not have any possessiveness or attachment towards them, from now on they belong to me. In front of entire public the man agreed that and said "these coins are now yours, swamiji, I have no attachment or any binding on them." Then swamiji immediately ordered him to throw these coins in Ganga river.

The man's hands and legs started shivering. He was thinking how could he throw five hundred golden coins in river, has swamiji gone mad. People say that swamiji is mad, now I totally believe in what people say about swamiji. The man was in a fix as he had already agreed that these coins do not belong to him , swamiji has full right over them. Swami Vivekanand was also sitting next to Swami Paramhans.

The man finally went towards the river to throw these coins in river Ganga and sat down at the edge of the river. When it became very long and the man did not return, Swami Paramhans told Narendra(Swami Vivekanand) to check what is the man doing near the river.

When Narendra went there, he saw the man was counting each and every coin and throwing them slowly with bitter heart in the river. He was sweating, then Narendra took the purse from his hand and threw all the coins in one instance. He then pulled his hand and brought him near Swami Ramakrishna. Swamuji then explained to him that when you have surrendered anything, surrender it with full heart. Since you said they are mine, it is now my look out what should I do with it. Now you canoot stake claim over it.

When we surrender or offer anything to God, we offer in full, not in bits. We don't offer our nose, or eyes, or hands etc. No the true worshiper will surrender everything in an instance. God does not want your money, your flowers or anything. Everything is his which we enjoy today. He has given us good brains to do research, think, judge, good body to enjoy the beautiful world. But what have done in return. God is pleased with us when we surrender everything to him. He will take care, you cannot stake claim to his belongings, it is temporary amanat. Take care of it as one day you have to forcefully return it to him. So why not willingly offer him and leave the rest to him. When a person dies his entire body dies, not in parts.

Pray to God everyday, Not for Last days?

2008-06-04T12:06:00.003+05:30

This is a true story. There used to be a Mahatma in Haridwar who would visit his disciple's house once in six months. He would stay in their house for 10-15 days. The disciple's family members would respect him and would be at his service with due respect. The Mahatma had few books and told the family members to keep these books with them as he would come to their house after two months and collect it from them.

Two months passed by, one year went, there was no news of the Mahatma. Then after sometime another Mahatma, who was the friend of that Mahatma visited their house. They told him everything about him and asked him to when he will come to collect his books. The other Mahatma was surprised. He said that he passed away during kumbh mela, he is no more. The family then sympathized for his death and showed him the envelope covered with a cloth in which the books were kept. They requested him to keep the books with him. He then removed the cover and was shocked to see a small pale colour snake. The Mahatma kept the books down and told them to get something like chimta to hold the snake. He captured the snake in the chimta and opened the books. He saw inside one of books there were five golden coins in it. He took five coins in his hand and added one more to it. He promised in front of the snake that tomorrow with these coin we will offer lunch to Brahmins and family members. He sprinkled some holy water on the snake and within seconds the snake died.

Never make promises which you cannot fulfill. We leave everything for future and nobody knows what future holds for us. We normally say that I will do puja, attend satsang when I grow old. This is all old people job. Do your daily routine work but inside always think of him. There is no need to make show of it. Inside only you and your lord know everything. Let me enjoy now, but we don't know our life span. How can we make tall claims. Do not live for last days, live for present.

God decides and gives us the Best

2008-05-31T17:49:00.005+05:30

This is a story from Budha Granth. It is a story from Tibet.
There was once a Mahatma, he went for pilgrimage and toured around the world. After returning from his trip, he went back to Tibet, he stayed in his friends house. His friend and his wife welcomed him. He told his friend that while on his trip, he found a Taveez from one place. There is one specialty of this taveez that if you demand any three things from it, you will definitely get it. This trick I and friends tried, we demanded three things, we got them but later on we landed up in grave trouble and it was difficult to overcome that problem. I am going to finish this taveez, destroy it. His friend instantly said "You have gone crazy, such a miraculous thing and you want to destroy it. He immediately snatched it from Mahatma's hand and kept it with him. The Mahatma warned him that be careful otherwise you will land up in trouble. Leave it to God and don't use this taveez. He also told him that early morning, close the door, then hold this taveez and ask for whatever you want. The taveez will flick from your hand and fall on the floor and ten minutes after that your demand will be fulfilled. But be cautious.

Next morning the friend of Mahatma and his wife woke up, closed the door of his house and demanded from the taveez that "please give us one lakh rupees." In those days one lakh was never heard of, very few people could afford that much money. The taveez flickered from his hand and fell on the floor. Within ten minutes somebody knocked at their door. When they opened the door they saw that Kings' soldier had come to their house. The soldier then told them that King has called you to his palace to give you one lakh rupees. They asked why? The soldier said that your son, who was in front has been killed in the war, so the king is offering this money in compensation.
They had only one child, they started screaming and crying bitterly that what would they do with the money, we want our son back. His wife immediately reminded him about taveez and said "why not ask from taveez our son back.' The man said that the Mahatma had warned us that it will lead us in trouble, we still have two demands. They flickered the taveez and demanded that they get back their son. The son had died sometime back, he could not be made alive as his body had decayed, his soul(pretatma) came. They could not see him, only hear him calling them "Oh!mother ,Oh!father. Twenty four hours they had to bear his soul which could not do anything for them and made their life miserable. Finally they got fed up and requested the taveez to take back the soul of their son, let it live in peace.

This story indicates that we should not demand or pressurize God to give us things which we need. Leave it to Him, He knows what is best for us. You pray to him and beg him to keep you away from sin.

Help others but do not put a stamp on it

2008-05-24T18:58:00.004+05:30

One day a Mahatma went to take bath in a river. The river was quite deep, so while taking bath he slipped and could not come out as he did not know to swim. He was about to drown, a young boy, who knew to swim was passing by, he immediately rushed towards him and rescued him from drowning. The Mahatma then thanked him and said that today you saved my life and I bless you for the same. You have given me new lease of life and I will never forget this in my life. After saying this Mahatma went to a small village.

It was evening time and Mahatma was giving spiritual discourses to his disciples in the village. Many people had gathered there. It was was very crowded. Amidst the crowd the youth who saved the Mahatma's life came in front of him and told him to tell all the people here that I saved your life. The Mahatma smiled and said " Oh! How can I forget you? He called him near him and told all the people gathered over there that this boy has saved my life and I am highly obliged to him for the favour he has done to me. After that the Mahatma went to another village to give lecture, the young boy reached there also and told him to tell everybody the incidence and the favour he has done to you. Now whereever the Mahatma would go the boy would follow him and make him aware of the help he gave him so that the Mahatma would tell his disciples that how important the boy is in his life.

The Mahatma once caught hold of his hand and in front of everybody he said"come with me to the river where you saved me from drowing. I will go in the deep river,either I die or I come out of waves, you please don't help me. You are making a big show of the favours you have done to me. You saved my lives once and how many I had to repeat the same incidence. Please go I don't need any help from you, My Lord will decide to save me or drown me in the river. Who are you to put a stamp on the favours. Had you not known to swim, would you help me."

The young boy kept mum and realized his mistake. Aren't we like the young boy, always repeating and making others feel that we are very important in their life.
All the qua;ities we have are bestowed upon us by the Almighty, we should not bring our ego in between. We always wait for appreciation from others for the help or favours done to them. We never realise that sometimes it may be irritating for them to repeat the help we have given them.

Do your karma, leave rest to Almighty

2008-05-23T12:49:00.003+05:30

A king once went alone for hunting. While he was returning it became too dark and he was in the midst of a jungle. He could not find his way. He looked around here and there and saw from far a dim light. He went in that direction and met an old tribal couple sitting with a lantern lit inside their hut. He told them his plight that he is the king of this place and while hunting he has lost his way. He requested them to give him shelter for one night as he was very tired. The tribal couple went forward and made place for the king to sleep in their hut. The king thanked them and as he was very tired he immediately went to sleep.

The tribal couple slept outside their hut. It was very dark and cold, they were shivering but still they did not complain and made place for the king to sleep peacefully.

When early morning king got up, he saw the couple were dead due to snowfall. The king felt very sad but that minute his soldiers came and urged him to go back to the palace. The king mind was not agreeing, he was feeling very sorry and ashamed that because of him the couple had to sacrifice their life. How selfish he can be. Then he made arrangement for their cremation with sandal wood.

The king used to always worry about the tribal couple. The king did not have any children for many years. After a year the queen delivered twins, a girl and a boy. But still the king was not happy, he did not make any celebrations for the birth of his children. He was very depressed and all the time the death of tribal couple would haunt him, he used to think that he has committed grave sin. So he decided to meet his Guru, the saint.

He took blessings of his Guru and narrated the entire incidence and said that I am very worried about the sin I committed. The Guru smiled at him and said "You have not committed any sin or crime, come with me." He took the king towards the twins, kept his hand on them and said "look! who has taken birth in your house? The king was surprised and amused to the tribal couple have taken birth as his children in his house.

He felt very happy and thanked his Guru. The Guru said that your good karma has given these children to you. As in your mind you would always feel bad for the death of the couple, that feeling itself has given you good results.

Whatever good jobs we do physically and also mentally if we think good of others, we always get the same result. Do and think good, rest leave it to God. Do not wait or look back for results. Just march ahead and be confident that whatever good you have done will not go waste.

Kunbh Mela - Fruitful Result

2008-05-21T15:46:00.003+05:30

Once a Mahatma went to Kumbh Mela. While returning from there, on his way there was Lord Shankar's temple. Since he was tired he decided to spend night over there. There was total silence in the temple and while he was sleeping suddenly he heard some whispering sound. Slowly he got up and could hear Lord Shankar talking to Mata Parvati. Mata Parvati asked God that lakhs of people visit Kumbh Mela, does everybody's prayer are heard over here? Lord answered that those who have true faith and belief in God only their prayers are heard and those who just go for fun and make a show that they have taken a dip in kumbh and have no faith are not benefited from this mela.

Then Parvatiji asked him "Are there any people who cannot visit this pilgrimage get the benefit of this place?" Shankar Bhagwan replied that there are many people who cannot reach this place but have firm faith and belief do get what they want, their prayers are heard. Then Shankar Bhagwan said that there is boy named Ramu in a small village in Kerala and Lord was about to tell her the story of the boy in Kerala, the Mahatma coughed that time and the conversation between Lord Shankar and Parvati stopped.

The Mahatma then decided to visit that small village in Kerala and meet Ramu whose prayers are heard by Lord Shankar without having to visit Kumbh Mela. He searched for him and finally met Ramu. Ramu was a poor farmer and had a big family to look after. He looked very calm and relaxed. Mahatma asked him "Have you visited Kumbh Mela or have you made any donations etc?" Ramu then told Mahatma then once he had desired to go for Kumbh Mela and started collecting money to go for pilgrimage. He said he was about to leave for Mela then his wife got pregnant in those days. She got the smell of methi bhaji from neighbour's house and requested me to get the same from the neighbours. Since she was carrying I did not want to hurt her, so I went to the neighbour's to get Funegreek vegetable(Methi sabzi). When I went to their house and requested them to give me some vegetable, the lady of the house started crying bitterly. She said you take the vegetable, I have no objection but it is impure. We have not had proper food since last week, we have very little money, we have all torn clothes. She said her daughters feel ashamed to go out of house. We were desperately wanting to have something so when my husband went out he saw that sombody has placed raw methi on a dead person. Since it was free he immediately brought it home and told me to cook that vegetable which was put on a dead body.

On hearing the neighbour's sorry plight, he immediately rushed home removed the entire money he had collected to take his family for Kumbh Mela and brought some grocery, some clothes etc. for their family and helped her husband to work with him in the farm so that he will atleast make some money. That minute I got immense relief and peace. I was very happy that the thought of going to kumbh mela has given me such fruitful result. Now I am very happy with my life. I have no regrets.

The Mahatma said "You know Ramu, I have heard in real Lord Shankar and Mata Parvati discussing about you. Lord Shankar is very impressed by you and blessed you for your good deed which very few people will dare to do. You are great and I am also equally blessed after meeting you."

Humanity is to take care of others

2008-05-15T17:14:00.004+05:30

Once a sufi saint was walking with his disciples towards a jungle. They saw some tribal people were coming behind to kill them. The sufi saint told his disciples not to panic, calm down, let us hide inside the cave which was nearby. Then he saw a big spider's web at the entrance of the cave. He requested his discipline to enter the cave by not disturbing the spider's web. He said "we should not break or spoil somebody's house to save our lives. Take care of his home, he will take care of us. Enter the cave slowly and carefully. Let spider's web which is made with great effort remain intact, do not spoil it"

The saint and his disciples entered carefully and hid inside the cave. The junglee tribals looked here and there but could not trace them. Then one of then said "Look there is a cave there, they must be hiding inside it." The other colleagues did not agree. They said "How can they enter the cave? look at the spider's web it is intact, without breaking the web it is not possible to enter the cave.

They then went back. After sometime the saint and his disciples peacefully and carefully came out of the web. Their life was saved. The disciples learnt a lesson that we should find our way without disturbing others. They took care spider's web, in return spider saved their lives.

Bad Habits

2008-05-15T16:48:00.003+05:30

A man once went to Shri Vinoba Bhave, he sat near his feet, bowed in front of him and said that he has a bad habit of drinking alcohol and wants to get rid of. He requested him to show him the way to eradicate this bad habit as it has ruined his life, his family also is disturbed. He wanted to change and begged swamiji to show him the right path and guide him to come out of this bad habit.

Shree Vinoba Bhave looked at him and told him that why don't you give up drinking wine and liquor. He said he cannot leave it, this habit has badly gheraod me,entangled me, it is not leaving me, can you show me the way. Swamiji said " Come tomorrow to my ashram, then I will tell you the right path."

Next day the man obediently went to swami Vinoba Bhave's ashram. He saw the door was closed. He called up from outside and requested swamiji to open the door. Swamiji replied that he cannot open the door as the pillar of his room is not leaving him, it has badly embraced me,gheraod me. The man was surprised and asked "how can the pillar not leave you, you have to leave the pillar."

Swamiji saod "O.k. then push the door,come inside and help me to get rid of this pillar." The man then saw swamiji leaving the pillar and came towards him and said "Now you know who has to leave the bad habit. It is you who don't want to leave bad habits, habits cannot leave you. You should have that strong urge and will power to get rid of bad habits that make your life miserable. Everything is in your hand but you do not want to make efforts to improve your life. Circumstance, nature , habits are all excuses to not to change yourself.

Firm determination can make your destiny change, not that destiny will change. Habits are our own creations, we can destroy bad habits if we have the willingness.

Peace and Love

2008-05-10T18:09:00.002+05:30

There was a rich businessman. He had a big family and lot of money and was always happy. Once Goddess Laxmi said "I am taking leave from you. You have done enough of my service and now it is time for me depart. Before leaving I want to give you a vardaan. Only one demand I can fulfill of yours."

The businessman replied "let me consult my family members and tomorrow I will come back to you." He called all his family members, they all assembled in the big hall of his house. He told them that we can get one vardaan from Laxmi Mata as she is taking leave from our house. Please let me know what demand should we place in front of her.

Everyone started giving their opinion, they all asked for material things which did not appeal to the businessman. But his youngest daughter-in-law, who was very intelligent and sensible, kept quiet, she did not utter a word. He then requested her to ask for something, why is she keeping quiet, place any demand. Then she politely said "Look father, if Goddess Laxmi is departing from our house then to demand for material things is meaningless because with her whatever we have today will all go. If you really insist and want to have genuine vardaan from Mata Laxmi, then I would suggest you to ask for one simple thing that Peace and Love always abide in your house."

The businessman and his family agreed and then next day he bowed in front of Goddess Laxmi and placed his demand that LET PEACE remain in our house and then you can take farewell or take leave from our house.

Goddess Laxmi smiled at him and said "Oh! how can I leave the house where there is always peace and love, even if I want to I cannot because Lord Vishnu loves peaceful and cool place, I cannot leave him. Lord Vishnu abides in Shirshsagar which is a cool place. When there is peace, there is coolness in the house, there is no anger, no ego, no frustations or tension, all the members love each other, they help each other at the time of crises, then naturally they will take care of material things also and would not divide. So I have decided to stay back with you and would bestow the vardaan of Peace forever and remain with you."

True faith

2008-05-07T16:35:00.003+05:30

Once Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was traveling alone from Jagannath Puri to South India. On his way he entered into a small village. He saw one Brahmin, aged 45 to 50 years, was sitting quietly near a river. He was reading religious book, Gita. He observed that the Brahmin was so engrossed in Gita path that he had no knowledge of what is happening around.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu quietly stood behind him. He saw that tears were dripping from the Brahmin's eyes and he was feeling very elated and while reading his throat also sometimes would get choked. He was so impressed by the Brahmin's bakhti, that tears started flowing from Mahaprabhus' eyes.

For two hours the Brahmin was reading Gita and enjoying it. Then Chaitanya Mahabrabhu came in front. The Brahnin was surprised to see such a great personality standing in front of him and then he did namaskar to him. Then Chaitanya Mahaprabhu told him that I feel you do not know sanskrit because the shlokas that you were reciting were not clear, but what was that feeling, that bhav or the meaning of Gita that made you feel so lost and so dedicated and your eyes were glittering and would get moist. The Brahmin replied that he does not know sanskrit and cannot recite the shlokas also clearly but when I open the Bhagwat Gita then I perceive or imagine a scene - "it is the field of Kurukshetra, one side are Kauravas and another side are pandavas and in between there is a rath of four white horses and reigns of rath are in Lord Krishna's hands. Arjun is sitting in the rath and listening to the updesh of Lord Krishna. Sometimes I look at Arjun and sometimes I look at Bhagwan and that scene makes me feel excited and elated that tears start dripping from my eyes.

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu immediated hugged that Brahmin and said " Brahmin devta you have understood the true meaning of Gita, you have full faith and shradha in God".
I appreciate you for that and then Mahaprabhu marched forward for his yatra.

Missed the Opportunity

2008-05-02T12:01:00.002+05:30

A story by Ravindranath Tagore

There used to be a huge temple. There were thousands of rooms in it. There were lakhs of visitors and bakhts who would visit that temple everyday. There were minimum thousands of pujaris(priests). The eldest priest of was almost a hundred years old. He once told the juniors priest that last night in his dream he saw God and he was telling me that he is definitely going to visit our temple today. So let us make preparations to greet our God.

Then the old priest had some doubt that may be God is there or no, will he come or no. He told others that he has worked in this temple for eighty years but has never seen God. We believe in God but we can never see him. Being the senior most,praying to God, still having doubts? He was thinking that it was a mere dream, how can God visit our temple? Till now I have not seen him, how can he come now? But other priest said that if there is definitely God on this earth and if comes to our temple, we must make preparations for him. But the old priest was discouraging them by saying that "make preparation, it is your wish but that was my dream only and I just narrated it to you, do not take it seriously.

The juniors cleaned the temple nicely, cooked delicious food and decorated the temple in beautiful way, whole day they were busy with this work. It was sunrise, time was just flying, they were waiting anxiously and with the hope that God will definitely come. It became very late, the old priest told them to eat their dinner and go to sleep, there is no God. Then they all ate,closed the main gate of the temple and went to sleep. Middle of the night one priest woke up and told everybody that somebody is knocking at the door. The old priest said sleep now that is an illusion. After sometime another priest woke saying that God's chariot has come, I can hear the sound and somebody' footsteps also I can hear, it must be God. The old priest said you have gone mad, how can God come now and forced them to sleep. Again another priest got up saying that somebody is tapping at our gate, let us go and open it. Still the old priest did not believe them.

When next day early morning they opened the main door of the temple, they saw the marks of Gods chariot on the sand and footprints on the stairs of the temple and also there were God's palm and finger print which were clearly visible on the temple gate as though God had knocked there. They all felt very disappointed, started weeping and regretting that God had fulfilled his promise to pay a visit to our temple, but we could not greet him. Despite having made so man arrangement, they could not see God. It is because they did not have complete faith in God. Had the old priest been firm in his belief, they would not have missed this golden opportunity.

Aren't we all like the old priest who do not have faith in oneself and discourage others also from taking chance and in the bargain miss good opportunities in life.

2008-04-29T16:35:00.003+05:30

Once early morning a saint was standing near a river, enjoying the breeze and viewing beautiful sunrise, a young boy bowed in front of him. He came forward requested him to make him his disciple and said "I have come in search of God, peace and soul. I have come from very far, I wondered many places and finally I came to you as I was told you are the true saint who would help me to find God. I have come with high hope, please do not disappoint me"

The saint observed the boy from top to bottom and then removed a stone from his pocket and handed over to him and said "Go to the market and value this stone, do not sell it. First start from the vegetable market." The boy obediently took the stone and marched towards vegetable market. He went around the whole market showing everyone the stone and asking for the value but nobody offered more than two rupees. He came back and told the saint that people are giving only two rupees for this stone, shall I sell it.
The saint then told him to find out the value from gold and silver market. He went to the market found out that the shopkeepers are willing to give him ten thousand rupees and that to in cash. He narrated the entire thing to him and said "Shall I sell it for this value". The saint replied in negative. He told him to go to diamond merchants and assess the value. When he went there he was shocked to see that people were ready to offer lakhs of rupees. The higher he went, the higher rate was offered. He went running to the saint, palpitating and thinking how a stone's value can go up from two rupees to lakhs of rupees, and said to the saint "What should I do now?. The saint smiled and took that stone from him and said the value of this stone runs into crores and kept it back in his pocket.

He told the boy "I did this drama to make you understand that you are talking of peace, of God and soul, satisfaction, this atma(soul) peace is in my pocket. I can remove it and give it you. But at present your condition or desire to learn about atma is in the vegetable market stage. A crore rupees diamond you were ready to sell in vegetable market. To learn about God, peace and satisfaction you have raise up, you cannot sell it in the hands who have no value or no knowledge about it.

Have patience and judge what a valuable thing is spiritual knowledge

Shri Krishna Arpanamastu - Story by Viboba Bhave

2008-04-24T15:59:00.004+05:30

There was an elderly woman who went to a Mahatma. She bowed in front of him and said"since I have become very old, now I cannot do any jap, tap or pooja. I cannot concentrate, nor can I keep fasts. Just tell me a simple way I can please God so that I get relieved from birth-death chakra and I get moksh." The Mahatma looked at her and told her that any job you do just say "Shri krishnaarpanamastu" and there is no need for you to do anything.

That old lady now always after finishing any job would say "Shrikrishnaarpanamastu" When she would stuck cow dung on the wall she would make round balls of mud and cowdung throw it then she would recite that manta. Nearby her hut there was Lord Krishna's temple. The mud and cowdung would get stuck on the face of God's statue. Early morning when the priest would open the door of the temple he would be surprised to see God's face covered with mud. He used to wonder that when he closed the door of the temple God's statue was always clean but how come in the morning it is smeared with mud. He used politely wipe it and start his work. But still he wanted know that how it is happening, who is playing dirty tricks. Then a neighbour of the old lady told him that this lady early morning after completing her work recites "Shri krishnaarpanamastu". He got very angry and in his mind muttered that when this lady will die and how long will I continue to clean God's statue.

Once the old lady fell ill, her entire body was burning with fever still she uttered her regular mantra"Shri krishnaarpnamastu". This fever also I dedicate to you. The statue of Lord Krishna turned red, the face of the statue was shivering as if in fever. The priest could not believe his eyes that the statue also can get fever. When the old lady's death knocked at her door, she said"shri krishnaarpanamastu. My death also dedicated to you, Oh my Lord. The statue of the temple broke into two pieces. After that one plane was sent to bring the old lady to heaven so that she gets(moksh) freedom from birth and death, that too she dedicated to Lord Krishna by saying "Shri Krishnaarpnamastu", the plane dashed against the walls of the temple and broke into pieces.

The story indicates that all your happiness, sorrows, your day to day chores dedicate to Almighty, give it to Shri Krishna, he will take care and do the needful. You will be atleast relieved from tensions and worries. Let him take the burden and relax. The will be no depression. But be sincere in your dedication.

Everfresh Lotus Flower

2008-04-24T10:11:00.002+05:30

Once Mahatma Budha visited a state where there was famine and drought and due to acute shortage of water there were no plants, they had all withered.

The head of the state wanted to meet Gautam Budha to apprise him of his state's condition. He wanted to offer him something. On the way he met one very poor mali(gardener). He was holding one beautiful lotus in his hand. He was wondering despite of so much drought how could he get this lotus. The Head asked him how could he get this lotus.. The gardener replied that in his garden after ages this lotus has bloomed with my effort and by saving some water from my house. I used to consume less water and water this plant and in result I got this lotus. The head offered him thousand of rupees and told him to give him this lotus. The gardener being poor was little amused seeing the money and was about to offer him lotus in exchange of money, but that minute the king of the state appeared and he offered him lakhs of rupees for the lotus. The gardener was surprised to see the king and the head of state auctioning the price of lotus.

He politely asked them that why are they paying so much for this simple lotus. Both of them replied that Mahatma Budha has come to our state and we want to offer him something and since there are no flowers in our state due to drought, we thought of buying it from you to offer it to the Mahatma so that by his blessings our state may come out of this suffering and for that we wanted to take the credit. The gardener smiled and said" Oh! Mahatma Budha, for him I will not sell the flower, I don't want money. I will touch his feet and offer this flower if he accepts it.

The king and the head of the state went to Mahatma without offering anything and narrated the incident to him.

After sometime when the gardener came near Gautam Budha, he being poor, was little hesitant and then slowly kept the lotus near his feet. Gautam Budha immediately took him in his arms and with tears in his eyes hugged him. He said you have true faith in me. Being so poor and despite acute shortage of water, you took care of the lotus and offered me, I am very much moved by your unconditional love. You refused lakhs of rupees. You are a great human being. This lotus will remain everfresh, it will never wither. It is said that this lotus remained fresh for ever and it was passed on from generation to generation after Mahatma Budha.

Story by Rabindranath Tagore

2008-04-04T11:08:00.002+05:30

Early morning a beggar while leaving his house put a jholi(bag) on his shoulder and told his wife to put few rice in it so that while begging people should feel that there are others also who are giving me. Empty jholi nobody likes to put something. His wife put bits of rice in his jholi and he left to do begging job. On his way he was thinking that today is a special amavasaya day, there will be a fair and I can get lot of alms and my jholi will be full.

As the beggar reached the main rooad he saw the king of his capital coming fast on his golden chariot. He was alone there were no bodyguards. He thought that normally nobody can directly approach the king as he is always surrounded by his men but today he is all alone, What an opportunity to beg from the king? I will stop him and beg for some alms. The chariot stopped in front of the beggar and the king got off his chariot. The king spread his jholi in front of the beggar and requested him to give something. The beggar was stunned to see the king begging. He imagined something else that today his jholi will be full because beggar never give anybody, they can only take and the king will give him more.

The king pleaded him and said "I know you being a beggar have never learnt to give, but today I am in big trouble. The jyotishi of my kingdom has told me that my country is in great trouble and to save my country from any trouble I have to go alone and beg from the first person I meet on the way and you are that first person. Please help me and give me any small thing you have. The beggar was hesitant. The king went on pleading, the beggar then slowly took out a bit of rice and handed over to the king. The king thanked him and returned to his palace.

The beggar was very unhappy that he did not get anything from the king and instead had to shell out a bit of rice. Anyway he marched towards the fair(mela). There he got lot of money and other things that his jholi was full upto the brim but still he was lost in thought of giving something to the king. He rushed home and narrated the incidence to his wife by saying that though I got so much from mela but that one bit of rice I had to give the king is constantly nagging my mind. When his wife spread out all the items from his jholi, she found a small rice shaped/size of a piece of gold. They were surprised and happy to see the gold. The beggar immediately started crying "Oh! if I had given entire rice to king, I would have got more gold.

Same is the case with us. Even if we earn thousands of rupees but if we happen to loose ten rupees, we just crib over the loss and never enjoy the money we get in abundance. So enjoy the gains and be satisfied. Never waste your time and energy over losses, it affects your health as well. Strive hard success is not far.