Meditation

A young seeker came to a great Sufi master. As he entered his room and saluted the master with great respect, the master said, “Good. That’s perfectly good. What do you want?”

He said, “I want to be initiated.”

The master said, “I can initiate you, but what about the crowd that is following you?”

He looked back; there was nobody. He said, “What crowd? I am alone.”

The master said, “You are not. Just close your eyes and see the crowd.”

The young man closed his eyes and he was surprised. There was the whole crowd that he had left behind: his mother weeping, his father telling him not to go, his wife in tears, his friends preventing him – every face, the whole crowd. The master said, “Now open your eyes. Can you say that people are not following you?”

He said, “I am sorry. You are right. The whole crowd I am carrying within myself.”

So the master said, “Your first work is to get rid of the crowd. This is your problem. And once you are finished with the crowd, things are very simple. The day you are finished with the crowd I will initiate you, because I can only initiate you; I cannot initiate this crowd.”

The story is meaningful. Even when you are alone you are not alone. And a man of meditation, even though in the crowd of thousands of people, is alone.

When you are alone, nobody can see the crowd, because it is within you. And when a meditative man is in the crowd and yet alone, nobody can see his aloneness, because that too is within him. To know your aloneness is to be acquainted with existence, nature, your reality. And it gives such blissfulness that there is no comparison with any joy that you have felt in the past.

Sun & Cave

One day the sun and a cave struck up a conversation. The sun had trouble understanding what “dark” meant and the cave didn’t quite get the hang of “light and clear” so they decided to change places. 

The cave went up to the sun and said, “Ah, I see, this is beyond wonderful. Now come down and see where I have been living.” 

The sun went down to the cave and said, “Gee, I don’t see any difference.”

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When the sun went down, it took its light along and even the darkest corners were illuminated. That's why the sun couldn't see any difference. 

I love one of the quotes from an old book that said "The enlightened ones can never be sent to hell or pushed into darkness. They carry their heaven on their shoulders all the time".

We thought that heaven is a place where were we are supposed to go, perhaps it was a state of mind we were supposed to achieve. 

If you are full of darkness within, full of negativity, fear and doubt, you become a cave unknowingly. It's a hell within and no matter how much you accumulate, you still remain hollow. 

If you are illuminated like the sun, then the darkness of the cave wouldn't matter. You could be in the worse of circumstances, you'll still be able to find a blessing somewhere.

You'll be carrying your heaven with you.

Pencil & Life....

Once upon a time........

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. 

At one point he asked:🧒🏻

‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’

👵🏼His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:

I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.

🧒🏻He said, 'But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’

👵🏼Granny replied, ‘That depends on how you look at things. It has seven qualities which, if you manage to hang on them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.’

‘First quality:  You are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.’

‘Second quality:  Now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpner. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.’

‘Third quality:  The pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.’

‘Fourth quality:  What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.’

 'Fifth quality:  It always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.'

'Sixth quality :  It gets shorter and shorter while in use, so also life. Make the most while it lasts.'

'Finally the Seventh quality of pencil is :  It writes till the very end. Be useful and productive till your dying day.'

The pencil may vanish, but the impression it leaves, stay on forever...

Afterwards

I did not write this - 

but WOW does it speak to my heart...!!!  

Worth to read.

Barely the day started and... 

it's already six in the evening.

Barely arrived on Monday and it's already Friday...

and the month is already over...

and the year is almost over... 

and already 40, 50 or 60 years of our lives have passed...

and we realize that we lost our Parents, Grand Parents, Uncles, Aunts, other Relatives, Friends...

And we realize it's too late to go back....

So... Let's try, despite everything, to enjoy the remaining time...

Let's keep looking for activities that we like...

Let's put some color in our grey hair...

Let's smile at the little things in life that puts calm in our hearts.

And despite everything, we must continue to enjoy with serenity the time we are left with.

Let's try to eliminate the afters...

I'm doing it after...

I'll say after...

I'll think about it after...

We leave everything for later like ′′ after ′′ is ours.

Because what we don't understand is that:

Afterwards, the coffee gets cold...

Afterwards, priorities change...

Afterwards, the charm is broken...

Afterwards, health passes...

Afterwards, the kids grow up...

Afterwards parents get old...

Afterwards, promises are forgotten...

Afterwards, the day becomes the night...

Afterwards life ends...

And then it's often too late....

So... Let's leave nothing for later...

Because by waiting for later, we can lose the best moments,

the best experiences,

best friends,

the best family...

The day is today... 

The moment is now...

We are no longer at the age where we can afford to postpone what needs to be done right away.

So let's see if you have time to read this message and then share it.

Or maybe you'll leave it for...

 ′′ later "...

And you'll never share it...

Making a big life change is pretty scary ...

But , you know what is even scarier?

Regret .

So start celebrating the life , don't just live it