Reflection of Mind

One day a famous government officer met a highly respected elderly master. Being conceited, he wanted to prove that he was the superior person. As their conversation drew on, he asked the master, “Old monk, do you know what I think of you and the things you said?”

The master replied, “I don’t care what you think of me. You are entitled to have your own opinion.”

The officer snorted, “Well, I will tell you what I think anyway. In my eyes, you are just like a pile of dry shit!”

The master simply smiled and stayed quiet.

Seeing that his insult had fallen into deaf ears, he asked curiously, “And what do you think of me?”

The master said, “In my eyes, you are just like the Buddha.”

Hearing this remark, the officer left happily and bragged to his wife about the incident.

His wife said to him, “You conceited fool! When a person has a heart like a pile of dry shit, he sees everyone in that light. The elderly master has a heart like that of the Buddha, and that is why in his eyes, everyone, including you, is like the Buddha!”

Sings only for the Lord

The emperor Akbar told Tansen one day that he would like to meet and hear his guru. He said, "Last night when you left, a thought came to my mind that there has never been a singer greater than you, nor will there ever be. You are the ultimate in music. But then it occurred to me that you must have learned from somebody. You must have had a guru, and perhaps he is even better than you. So I would like to meet your guru and hear him."

Tansen replied, "That is very difficult. I do have a guru who is still alive, but you cannot call him to the court for he does not sing on request. His songs are like the songs of the birds. A cuckoo will never sing at your request. The more you plead the more silent he will become, for it will begin to wonder why the request. You can hear my guru only when he chooses to sing. If you are that eager we shall have to go and hide behind his hut and listen secretly. If we approach him directly he might stop singing."

Tansen's guru, a fakir named Haridas, stayed in a hut on the bank of the river Jamuna. At three o'clock every morning, before dawn, he would sit by the river and sing in ecstasy. His singing was like the song of the birds; his songs had nothing to do with anybody. Akbar and Tansen reached the hut at two o'clock. At three the singing began. Akbar listened as if hypnotized, his eyes raining tears. When they rode back he could not utter a single word to Tansen. In fact he totally forgot that Tansen was there.

As he stepped down from the chariot he told Tansen, "I was under the impression that you had no equal, but today I see the your guru far surpasses you. Is there some reason for it?" Tansen replied, "Is there really any need to ask? I sing for you, but my guru sings only for God. When I sing my eye is on the gift you will give me, for singing is my business. My guru doesn't sing to get anything. In fact, it is the other way around; he sings only when he receives, when he is so filled with the emotion of God from the grace he received from above, when his throat is full, when waves of ecstasy arise in his heart.

When he is flooded with His grace he sings, he flows, he bursts into song. Singing is like His shadow to him. But for me, I sing first, then receive. My eyes are always on the fruits of my effort, therefore I am lowly. You are absolutely right: how can I stand next to my guru? No matter how skillful I become, however practiced my hands or competent my voice, my soul will never be able to enter into my song. I am a specialist, not so my guru. His song is like the song of the birds. I am nothing before him." The singers you hear today are professionals. The listeners sit passively while they do their jobs, so far have we come from the song of God.

Whoever is making love on the screen is a professional doing his job. He acts and viewers watch, nothing more, just glued to their chairs. The realities of life can only be known actively; you must enter into these realities. Just to see a person swimming, how can you enjoy the pleasure? If seeing gives so much pleasure, how infinitely joyful must be the act of being and doing. Sing, dance, but forget the world for it is the thought of the world that prevents you from singing and dancing. Dance, sing – and you stand in the footsteps of God.

The power of determination (true story)

A true story about athlete Glenn Cunningham who was horribly burned in a schoolhouse fire at the age of 8. Doctors predicted he would never walk again. Determined to walk, Glenn would throw himself off his wheelchair and pull his body across the yard and along a fence. Twenty-two months later, he took his first steps and through sheer determination, learned to run despite the pain…

The little country schoolhouse was heated by an old-fashioned, pot-bellied coal stove. A little boy had the job of coming to school early each day to start the fire and warm the room before his teacher and his classmates arrived.

One morning they arrived to find the schoolhouse engulfed in flames. They dragged the unconscious little boy out of the flaming building more dead than alive. He had major burns over the lower half of his body and was taken to a nearby county hospital.

From his bed the dreadfully burned, semi-conscious little boy faintly heard the doctor talking to his mother. The doctor told his mother that her son would surely die – which was for the best, really – for the terrible fire had devastated the lower half of his body.

But the brave boy didn’t want to die. He made up his mind that he would survive. Somehow, to the amazement of the physician, he did survive. When the mortal danger was past, he again heard the doctor and his mother speaking quietly. The mother was told that since the fire had destroyed so much flesh in the lower part of his body, it would almost be better if he had died, since he was doomed to be a lifetime cripple with no use at all of his lower limbs.

Once more the brave boy made up his mind. He would not be a cripple. He would walk. But unfortunately from the waist down, he had no motor ability. His thin legs just dangled there, all but lifeless.

Ultimately he was released from the hospital. Every day his mother would massage his little legs, but there was no feeling, no control, nothing. Yet his determination that he would walk was as strong as ever.

When he wasn’t in bed, he was confined to a wheelchair. One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. This day, instead of sitting there, he threw himself from the chair. He pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him.

He worked his way to the white picket fence bordering their lot. With great effort, he raised himself up on the fence. Then, stake by stake, he began dragging himself along the fence, resolved that he would walk. He started to do this every day until he wore a smooth path all around the yard beside the fence. There was nothing he wanted more than to develop life in those legs.

Ultimately through his daily massages, his iron persistence and his resolute determination, he did develop the ability to stand up, then to walk haltingly, then to walk by himself – and then – to run.
He began to walk to school, then to run to school, to run for the sheer joy of running. Later in college he made the track team.

Still later in Madison Square Garden this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, who could never hope to run – this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world’s fastest mile**!

**On June 16, 1934, Glenn Cunningham ran the mile in 4:06.8 minutes, breaking the world’s record. His effort portrays that whatever you want to create in your life is yours for the making. As long as you desire it enough and allow your will to guide you, you can have and be whatever your heart desires. The only one that can put limits on our personal will is ourselves. Develop and encourage your will to create and all the forces of nature within and without will help you bring your desire to pass.

Nothing’s Impossible”

Every success story has a humble beginning which proceeds through extraordinary events, and extreme life journeys. The story of Jyothi Reddy – CEO of Keys software solutions, is one of them. Her sum total of honesty towards her small efforts and willingness to keep advancing in life changed her life.

A Solitary and Painful Early Life:

D. Anila Jyothi Reddy was born in Narasimhula Gudem in Hanumakonda mandal as the eldest of four children to an ordinary poor peasant who had lost his job during emergency. While schooling, the depths of poverty unfolded to its extremity and forced her to an introvert life in a government orphanage BALASADAN for long five years and when she completed her 10th class with good marks, she reached the greatest climax of making full stop to her studies. But education was something for which she remained passionate about.

Starvation Leads a Struggle for Better Prospects:

The financial disposition of her family compelled her to get married at the tender of sixteen and by the age of eighteen, she became mother of two girl children. To meet the basic requirements of her family, Jyothi started working as an agricultural laborer for 5 Rupees a day and continued working from 1986 to 1989. Jyothi would mostly work in the fields and struggled to find a job in off seasons. Her tumultuous life changed the day when Nehru Yuvak Kendra (NYK) founded a night school with the intention of providing basic education for the villagers. As she was the only educated girl at her village, they appointed her as a trainer for Rupees 150 a month. A sudden change in life ignited Jyothi’s passion for education once again; her enthusiasm and hard work towards her responsibility overwhelmed the Inspection Authorities who immediately promoted her Mandal Prerak of Hanumakonda. During the time, she realized the importance of education and she went on to completing her graduation and post graduation Ambedkar Open University. Later, on completion of her B. Ed from Anna University, Jyothi Reddy became a government teacher. It was the initial stage that she successfully achieved through slow but steady steps.

Jyothi Reddy in Red Sari, year 1990: facebook.com/usajyothi

Combination of her Dreams and Dedication Built a Competitive Drive:

While working as inspector of schools, she came in touch with one of her relatives who was settled in the United States. After meeting them on some occasions, Jyothi realized how a completely different lifestyle they led. It was the time she first dreamed of going abroad for a bright future of her daughters. There is saying, “Success is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” Jyothi began preparing herself for a healthy lifestyle and learnt computers, began saving money for her passport and visa. Back in those days, getting US Visa wasn’t an easy task; Jyothi tried for several times and failed. Somehow she managed a visiting visa and flew with a little amount. Here obstacle did not stop here; all her relatives turned off their faces and denied giving her shelter. She was finally accepted as a paying guest at a Gujarati family.

Jyothi joined a video shop in “Movie Time” in New Jersey as a salesperson. While working, her perseverance was noticed by an Indian from Warangal on whose recommendation she got a job as recruiter at a company called CSAMERICA. It was a climbing phase of her economic and career ladder. Several months later, a reputed company ICSA offered her a better position with handsome salary. However, after working for some day the company asked her to resign for not owning a working Visa. She resigned from ICSA and once again worked for just $5 an hour doing several offbeat jobs until the day she received her H1 Visa.

Getting the Visa Stamped, in Jyothi’s words, was one of the most painful and dreary experiences. She had to go to Mexico and live for a great length of time. She came back to the U.S. in May 2000 and became entrepreneur with her own initiation. Her honesty without slightest anxiety of result was supreme investment for good fortune.

Toughest Journey with Exciting Conclusion:

Today, Jyothi Reddy’s success is not limited to her family or friends; it inspires thousands of self-trapped excusists to rise above their countless defeats and fight against their stormy presence with courageous heart and claim a better future. She proves that to be successful, one does not have to be equipped with exceptionally brilliant qualities or talents, what requires is aspiration, desperation, perseverance to accomplish, which most people think to be impossible. She is also a live example of ‘harder you work and luckier you get’.

Break your so called perception about yourself if it limits you, expand your courage if difficulties challenge you, and answer your obstacles if it attempts to confine you. Jyothi Reddy is one of many success stories which prove “Nothing’s Impossible”