Ego Bowl

A beggar came to an emperor and the beggar said, 'If you are going to give me anything there is a condition.'

The emperor said, 'What do you mean? What do you mean by your condition?'

The beggar said, 'This is my condition: I accept only if you can fill my begging bowl absolutely.'

It was a small begging bowl. The King said, 'What do you think I am? Am I a beggar? I cannot fill this dirty small begging bowl?'

The beggar said, 'It is better to tell you before, because later you can get into trouble. If you think you can fill, fill.'

The King called his vizier and told him to fill it with precious stones: with diamonds and rubies, emeralds. Let this beggar know with whom he is talking!

But then there was difficulty. The bowl was filled but the king was surprised -- as the stone fell into it, it would disappear. It was filled many times and each time it was again empty.

Now he was in a great rage, but he told the vizier, 'Even if my whole kingdom goes, if all my treasuries are emptied, let them be -- but I cannot allow this beggar to defeat me. This is too much.'

And all the treasures, it is said, disappeared. By and by the king became a beggar. It took months. And the beggar was there and the king was there and the whole capital was there and everybody was wondering what was going to happen, what would happen in the end. Everything was simply disappearing.

Finally the king had to fall at the feet of the beggar and he said, 'Forgive me, but before you leave just tell me one thing. What is the secret of this begging bowl? All has disappeared in it.'

The beggar started laughing. He said, 'It is made of human ego. I have made this begging bowl of a human ego: everything disappears in it, nothing ever fulfils it.'

It is a tremendously beautiful story. That's what is happening to you. It is not a story, it is your life.

You go on putting in your begging bowl houses, cars, bank balances -- everything disappears.

Again you are empty. Never any satisfaction, never any contentment. Again you are begging.

You have been doing it for many lives. It is your story. It is literally true, it is not just symbolically true.

It is a truth in everybody's life, in man's life.

We remain a beggar. The begging bowl remains empty. It seems it has no bottom to it. You drop anything, it simply disappears.

The ego is never fulfilled.☺

Thank you lord for everything

There was a bird 🐦who lived in the desert, very sick, no feathers, nothing to eat and drink, no shelter to live and kept on cursing his life day and night.

One day an Angel was crossing from that desert, bird stopped the Angel and inquired " where are you going?" Angel replied " I am going to meet God".

So bird asked angel ' please ask God when my suffering will  come to an end?' Angel said " sure, I will and bid a good bye to bird. Angel reached God's place and shared the message of bird to Him.

Angel told Him how pathetic the condition of bird is and inquired when the suffering of the bird will going to end? God replied ' for the next seven life times the bird has to suffer like this, no happiness till then'.

Angel said when bird will hear this he will get disheartened could You suggest any solution for this.

God replied tell him to recite this mantra ' Thank you God for everything'. Angel met the bird again and delivered the message of God to the bird.

After seven days the Angel was passing again from the same path and saw that bird was so happy, feathers grew up on his body, a small plant grew up in the desert area, a small pond of water was also there, the bird was singing and dancing cheerfully. Angel was astonished how it happened, God told for seven life times there is no happiness for the bird for next seven life times, with this question in mind He went to visit God.

Angel asked his query then God replied yes it was true there was no happiness for the bird for seven life time but because the bird was reciting the mantra' Thank you God for everything' in every situation.

When bird fell down on the hot sand it said thank you God for everything, when it could not fly it said thank you God for everything, so whatever the situation may be the bird kept on repeating Thank you God for everything and therefore the seven life times karma got dissolved in seven days.

When I heard this story it landed me in a different energy zone, i felt a tremendous shift in my way of feeling, thinking, accepting and viewing life.

I adopted this mantra in my life whatever the situation I faced I started reciting this mantra ' THANK YOU GOD FOR EVERYTHING'. It helped me to shift my view from what i did not have to what i have in my life.

In the same manner i started using this mantra in my relationship, finance, love life, social life, business, friends, maids, colleagues and everything with which I can relate. I shared this story with my spouse and children too which brought a great shift in their behaviour.

This simple mantra really had a deep impact in my life, i started feeling how blessed I am, how happy I am, how good life is.

The purpose of sharing this message is to make all of us aware how powerful is the power of gratitude is. It can reshape our life.

A simple word, a simple thought, which teaches us to be grateful for everything what we have in our life has power to dissolve the karmic baggage which we are carrying from so many life times. Lets recite this mantra continuously to experience the shift in our life.

Don't Compare

A guy met one of his school-mates several years after school & he could not believe his eyes - his friend was driving one of the latest sleek Mercedes Benz cars.
He went home feeling awful and very disappointed in himself. He thought he was a failure.

What he didn't know was that his friend was a driver and had been sent to run errands with his boss's car.
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Rosemary nagged her husband always for not being romantic.
She accused him for not getting down to open the car door for her as her friend Jane's husband did when he dropped her off at work.

What Rosemary didn't know was that Jane's husband's car had a faulty door that could be opened only from outside.
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Sampson's wife went to visit one of her long time friends and was very troubled on seeing the 3 lovely kids of her friend playing around.
Her problem was that she had only one child and have been struggling to conceive for the past five years.

What she didn't know was that one of those kids who was the biological child of her friend had sickle cell and had just a year to live; the other two were adopted.

Life does not have a universal measuring tool, so looking at people and comparing yourself with them will not make you better. Because you may not know that you have lots of blessings that others will envy for.

Enjoy what you have, you have just one life..
Happiness doesn't come from having everything, but happiness is making the best out of what we have, it's all about how we see ourselves..

Count your blessings rather than complaining about the smaller deficiencies . Because....

"Happiness is a state of mind !!"

Clean House

A Clean House Is a Sign of Wasted Life

Remember ... a layer of dust protects the Wood beneath it.

'A house becomes a home when you can write 'I love you' on the furniture.’

I used to spend at least 8 hours every weekend making sure things were just perfect - 'in case someone came over'.

Finally I realized one day that no-one came over; they were all out living life and having fun!

NOW, when people visit, I don't have to explain the 'condition' of my home.

They are more interested in hearing about the things I've been doing while I was away living life and having fun.

If you haven't figured this out yet, please read this.

Life is short. Enjoy it!

Dust if you must........

But wouldn't it be better to paint a picture or write a letter, bake cookies or a cake and lick the spoon or plant a seed, ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time. .....

with wine to drink, rivers to swim and mountains to climb, music to hear and books to read, friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must,

But the world's out there with the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair, a flutter of snow, a shower of rain. This day will not come around, again.

Dust if you must,

but bear in mind, old age will come and it's not kind.... And when you go - and go you must - you, yourself will make more dust!

It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what  of life you have lived.

Finally remember for ever!!
Those who spot dust in your house surely have dust in their mind, house is not any  hospital or 5star hotel to be spic & span, so,,,,,enjoy life & stop wasting your life on lifeless things

Help others

Once upon a time Shree Krishna and Arjun went for a short stroll around the city. They saw a poor looking priest begging. Arjun felt pity at him and he gave him a bag full of 100 gold coins. The priest became very happy and thanked Arjun. He left for his home. On way, he saw another person who needed help. The priest could have spared a coin or two to help that person. however, he chose to ignore it. But on way to his home, one thief robbed him of his bag of coins and ran away.

The priest became dejected and went back again for begging. Next day again when Arjun saw the same priest begging and he was surprised that after getting a bag full of coins which can last a lifetime, the priest was still begging! He called the priest and asked him the reason for this. The priest told him about the whole incident and Arjun again felt pity at him. So, this time he gave him a diamond.

The priest became very happy and left for home and he again saw someone who needed help but he chose to ignore again. Upon reaching home, he safely put the diamond in an empty pot of water with a plan to cash it out later and live a wealthy life. His wife was not at home. He was very tired so he decided to take a nap. In between, his wife came home and picked up that empty pot of water, walked towards the river close by to fill up the water. She had not noticed the diamond in the pot. Upon arriving at the river, she put the whole pot into the running river water to fill it up. She filled up the pot but the diamond was gone with the water flow!

When the priest woke up, he went to see the pot and asked his wife about the diamond. She told him, she had not noticed it and it must have been lost in the river. The priest couldn’t believe his bad luck and again started begging. Again Arjun and Shree Krishna saw him begging and Arjun inquired about it. Arjun felt bad and started thinking if this priest will ever have a happy life.

Shree Krishna who is an incarnation of God smiled. Shree Krishna gave that priest one coin which was not even enough for buying a lunch or dinner for one person. Arjun asked Shree Krishna, “Lord, I gave him gold coins and diamond, which could have given him a wealthy life, yet it didn’t help him. How will just one coin help this poor guy?” Shree Krishna smiled and told Arjun to follow that priest and find out.

On the way, the priest was thinking that one coin Shree Krishna gave him, he can’t even buy a lunch for one person. Why would he give so little? He saw a fisherman who was getting a fish out of his net. Fish was struggling. The priest felt pity at fish. He thought that this one coin won’t solve my problem, why not I save that fish. So the priest paid the fisherman and took the fish. He put the fish in his small pot of water which he always carried with him.

The fish was struggling in a small pot of water, ended up throwing out a diamond from the mouth! The priest screamed with a joy, “I got it, I got it”. At that same point, the thief who had robbed the priest’s bag of 100 gold coins, was passing through there. He thought that the priest recognized him and may get him punished. He got nervous and ran to the priest. He apologized to the priest and returned his bag full of 100 gold coins. The priest couldn’t believe what just happened.

Arjun saw all this and said, “Oh Lord, Now I understand your play”.

Moral: When you have enough to help others, don’t let that chance go. Your good deeds will always be repaid to you.

3 Ships

There were *three ships* which were nearby when the *Titanic* sunk.

One of them was known as the *Sampson*. It was 7 miles away from the Titanic and they saw the white flares signaling danger, but because the crew had been hunting seals *illegally* and didn't want to be caught, they turned and went the opposite direction away from the *Titanic*.

This ship represents those of us who are so busy in our own sin and lives that we can't recognize when someone else is in need.

The next ship was the *Californian*. This ship was only 14 miles away from the Titanic, but they were surrounded by *ice fields* and the captain looked out and saw the white flares, but because the conditions weren't favorable and it was dark, he decided to go back to bed and wait until morning. The crew tried to convince themselves that nothing was happening. This ship represents those of us *who say I can't do anything now*. The conditions aren't right and so we wait until conditions are perfect before going out.

The last ship was the *Carpathia*. This ship was actually headed in a southern direction 58 miles away from the Titanic when they heard the distress cries over the radio. The captain of this ship knelt down, prayed to God for direction and then turned the ship around and went full steam ahead through the ice fields. This was the ship that *saved the 705 survivors* of the Titanic.

*ANALOGY*

Obstacles and reasons to avoid responsibility shall always be there, but those who accept it always find a place in the hearts to be remembered for the world of good they do.

I really wish that we all could be *Carpathians* in life, unlike more Sampsons and Californians... this world could be a more beautiful place to live in.