Meditation

What is meditation?

This was a question haunting a small boy. His parents were  at wit's end, as they could not explain it in a simple language the boy could comprehend.

Once the family went for a dharshan to Shri Ramana Maharishi. The boy put forward his question to Ramana Maharishi.

Shri Ramana laughed to himself. Then with smiling face, he asked his devotee to serve  the boy dosa from the kitchen.

So, on a plain leaf, a dosa was served.

Shri Ramana looked at the boy and said,
" Now I will say "Hmm"
Then only you should start eating. Then again I will say "hmm" After that no piece of dosa should be left on your plate."

The boy agreed. He was so excited. Others were watching expectantly.  Now the boy  was eagerly waiting for the signal by looking at Shri Ramana's face. When he gave the signal "hmm" the boy started eating. Now his attention was on Shri Ramana. He wanted to finish dosa before the signal. The boy was eating dosa in a hurry , tearing big chunks of dosa,  but, all the time keeping his attention on Shri Ramana. The dosa was reducing in size gradually. There was a small piece left. The boy was looking anxiously  at Shri Ramana for the second signal. The moment he gave the  signal, the boy immediately put the dosa in his mouth.

Now Shri Ramana asked him " where was your attention till now? On me or on Dosa?"

The boy replied " On both"

Shri Ramana said" Yes. You were actively involved in finishing dosa, with your attention on me. You were not distracted at all.

Like this when you do your daily activities with your attention or thoughts  on God in the back ground, it is known as meditation."

The two signals "hmm" are birth & death. Within these two events, one can engage in meditation, as demonstrated by Shri Ramana Maharishi. But to understand this we all need divine grace to mellow & mature. We all differ from one another and hence take different time to comprehend this great truth.

Eggs & Noodle Bowl

When I was a small child, I was very selfish, always grab the best for myself.
Slowly, everyone left me and I had no friends. I didn’t think it was my fault but criticize others.

My father gave me 3 sentences to help me in life.

One day, my father cooked 2 bowls of noodles put the 2 bowls on the table. One bowl has one egg on top and the other bowl does not have any egg on top. He said, ”My child.

You choose. Which bowl do you want.”  Eggs were hard to come by those days!
Only get to eat eggs during festivals or New Year.

Of Cos I chose the bowl with egg!
As we started eating, I was congratulating myself on my wise choice/decisision and wallop up the egg. Then to my surprise as my father ate his noodles, there were TWO eggs at the bottom of his bowl beneath the noodes!
I regretted so much!
And scolded myself for being too hasty in my decision.

My father smiled and said to me, “My child. You must remember what your eyes see may not be true.  Note if you intent on taking advantage of people, you will end up losing!”

The next day, my father again cooked 2 bowls of noodles: one bowl with an egg on top and the other bowl with no egg on top.

Again, he put the two bowls on the table and said to me, “My child. You choose.
Which bowl do you want?”
This time I was smarter, I chose the bowl without any egg on top.

To my surprise, As I separated the noodles on top, there was not even a single egg at the bottom of the bowl!
Again my father smiled and said to me, “My child. You must not always rely on experiences Cos sometimes, life can cheat you or play tricks on you.  But you must not be too annoyed or sad, just treat this as learning a lesson. You cannot Learn this From textbooks.

The third day, my father again cooked 2 bowls of noodles, again one bowl with an egg on top and the other bowl with no egg on top. He put the 2 bowls on the table and again said to me, ”My child. You choose. Which bowl do you want?” This time , I told my father, “Dad, you choose first. You are the head of the family and contributed the most to the family.”
My father did not decline and chose the bowl with one egg on top.

As I eat my bowl of noodles, Sure in my heart that there is no egg inside the bowl.  To my surprise!  There were TWO eggs at the bottom of the bowl.

My father smiled at me with love in his eyes, “My child, you must remember!
When you think for the good of others, good things will always naturally happen to you!”

I always remember these 3 sentences of my father and lived and do my business accordingly.

True Enough, my business was a roaring success.

To all parents

There were days when My home used to be filled with laughter, arguments, fights, jokes and loads of mischief.

Pens and books all over, and clothes messing the rooms, thrown on the beds.

I used to shout at them to tidy up their mess.

In the morning:

One will wake up and say :
Mama I can't find a certain book.

And the other will say : I can't find my perfume,

And one will say : Mama where's my homework.

And another : Mama I forgot to complete my homework.

Everyone used to ask about their lost possessions.  And I will say, but take care of your stuff, be responsible, you have to grow up.

And today I stand at the doorway of the room. The beds are empty.  All the cupboards have only a few pieces of clothes in them. And what remains is the smell of perfume that lingers in the air.

Everyone had a special smell. So I take in the smell of their perfume for maybe it will fill the empty ache in my heart.

All I have now is the memory of their laughs and their mischief and their warm hugs.

Today my house is clean and organized and everything is in its place, and it is calm and peaceful. But it is like a desert with no life in it. Do not become angry with your kids about the mess.

Every time they come to visit and they spend time with us, when they are ready to leave. They pull their bags and it is as if they tug my heart along with it.

They close the door behind them and then I stand still and think of the many times I shouted them to close the doors.

Here I am today, closing my own doors. Nobody opens it besides me. Each one gone to a different city or a different country.  All left to find their own path in life.

They have grown up and I wished that they could stay with me forever.

Oh! God..... Take care of them & all other children wherever they may be, for You are their guide and  protector ...and always keep them happy.

If your children are still in the stage that you need to talk and talk before they could get things done in the house, please, cherish and endure it with joy, don't nag, they will soon leave your home for you, remember they were not there at the beginning of your marriage. Now that they are around, make them happy.

Dedicated to all mothers and fathers.

we have grown....

*Somewhere between*
“ 8 toffees for 1 rupee”
  and
“1 toffee for 8 rupees”,
    *we grew up!*

*Somewhere between*
“Ground mein aaja”
  and
“Online aaja”,
      *we grew up!*

*Somewhere between*
“stealing chocolate of our sister”
  and
“Buying chocolate  for her children”,
  *we grew up!*

*Somewhere between*
“Just five more mins Mummy ”
and
“Pressing the snooze button”,
  *we grew up!*

*Somewhere between*
“Crying out loud just to get what we want”
  and
“Holding our tears when we are broken inside”,
  *we grew up!*

*Somewhere between*
“I want to grow up”
  and
“I want to be a child again”,
  *we grew up!*

*Somewhere between*
“Lets meet and plan”
  and
“Lets plan and meet”,
  *we grew up!*

*Somewhere between*
"Being afraid of our parents"
  and
"Praying for our parents"
  *we finally grew up* 

And
*as we grew up, we realize;*
*How silently, our lives have changed...*

Beauty is in beholder's eyes

A very pretty woman entered into an aircraft and started looking for her seat. She noticed that her seat is next to a person with both hands missing. She hesitated to sit next to him.

That ‘pretty’ woman told the airhostess that she can’t sit in her assigned seat and travel comfortably sitting next to that no-arms person; and asked the airhostess to change her seat. The airhostess enquired “Ma’am may I know the reason”?

The ‘pretty’ lady replied: “I don’t like such people. I don’t like sitting next to such people and travel”. The airhostess was shocked to hear this from this lady who in appearance looked like a well-mannered and polite person. The ‘pretty’ lady again told the airhostess that she did not want that seat and demanded the airhostess to find her a different seat.

The airhostess asked the lady to be patient for a little bit and said she will try her best to accommodate her request; and looked around for an empty seat. She couldn’t find any.

The airhostess returned to the lady and said, “Madam! All the seats in this economy class are full. But then for the comfort of our travelers it is our policy to satisfy them to our utmost. So, I will talk to the captain and kindly be patient a bit longer”. Saying so, she went to see the captain.

After some time she returned and told the lady, “Madam! We are very sorry for the discomfort to you. In this entire aircraft, there is only one seat vacant and that is in First class. I talked to our team and we took an extraordinary decision. To send a traveler from economy class to First class is happening for the first time in our company history……”.

The ‘pretty’ lady was becoming so ecstatic and even before uttering a word…. The airhostess turned to the person with no arms and said, “Sir, May you please move to the First class? We want to eliminate the tragedy of you traveling next to a manner-less person.”  Hearing this every one clapped immensely and welcomed the decision. The ‘pretty’ lady was tremendously felt ashamed.

Then the person stood up and said, “I am a ex-serviceman and I lost my both arms in a bomb blast in border during an operation. At first, when I heard the lady talk, I thought: did I put my life at risk for these kind of people? But after looking at their actions and your all response, I feel proud that I lost my both arms for my country.” And saying so, he walked into the First class.

The ‘pretty’ lady drowned into the seats fully ashamed.

Beauty is not in what is seen in face and body. Beauty in a good person is in his/her lofty thoughts.

lesson for parents

A man an avid Gardener saw a small Butterfly laying few eggs in one of the pots in his garden. Since that day he looked at the egg with ever growing curiosity and eagerness. The egg started to move and shake a little. He was exited to see a new life coming up right in front of his eyes. He spent hours watching the egg now. The egg started to expand and develop cracks.. A tiny head and antennae started to come out ever so slowly. The man's excitement knew no bounds. He got his magnifying glasses and sat to watch the life and body of a pupa coming out. He saw the struggle of the tender pupa and couldn't resist his urge to "HELP".
He went and got a tender forceps to help the egg break, a nip here a nip there to help the struggling life and the pupa was out. The man was ecstatic! He waited now each day for the pupa to grow and fly like a beautiful butterfly, but alas that never happened. The larvae pupa had a oversized head and kept crawling along in the pot for the full 4 weeks and died!
Depressed the man went to his botanist friend and asked the reason. His friend told him the struggle to break out of the egg helps the larvae to send blood to its wings and the head push helps the head to remain small so that the tender wings can support it thru its 4 week life cycle. In his eagerness to help, the man destroyed a beautiful life!
Struggles help all of us, that's why a wee bit of effort goes a long way to develop our strength to face life's difficulties! As parents, we sometimes go too far trying to help and protect our kids from life's harsh realities and disappointments. We don't want our kids to struggle like we did.
Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Dan Kindlon says that over-protected children are more likely to struggle in relationships and with challenges.
We're sending our kids the message that they're not capable of helping themselves.
To quote clinical psychologist, Dr. Wendy 's Moral: "It  is  Our Job  to  prepare  Our  Children  for  the  Road & Not  prepare  the  Road for  Our Children".