Value- Peace

A beggar who lived very close to a palace saw a notice that was stuck on the entry gate one day. It said, “The king would be hosting a party soon. Anyone wearing the king’s dress could join the party.”

It set the beggar thinking. He looked at himself with torn clothes and came to a conclusion that only the king’s family would be able to attend. Anyways, he gained some courage and went to the palace gates. He requested the guard to allow him to meet the king. The guard went in to see the king. As luck would have it, the beggar was allowed entry.His joy knew no bounds. He went inside and the king enquired about the purpose of his visit. He gained courage and said, “I would love to attend the feast that you will be hosting soon. Can I request you to give me your old attire so that I would be able to join the feast too?” The king readily agreed and gave him one of his robes. The beggar wore the outfit and looked at himself in the mirror. A majestic look indeed! He was very happy with his looks.The king told him that he had gained entry to attend the feast and said something very important to him; “You will have no necessity to wash or clean this dress. You can wear it forever.” With tears in his eyes, he thanked the king profusely. Though he was happy he did not readily believe the king. He was wondering; “What if the attire tore?? I will need my old clothes.” So he packed all his old clothes and carried it along with him.He did not have a place to stay. So wherever he went, he carried the old clothes with him. He could not enjoy the dinner feast that the king hosted because his concentration was more on safeguarding the old clothes.
He realised that the words of the king were true. The dress was intact and it didn’t become dirty though he always wore it. Still he was so attached to his old clothes that he could never let go of it. Anyone who saw him noticed that bundle of old clothes and he was named, “THE MAN WITH THE RAGGED CLOTHES.”Later when the beggar was in his death bed, the king came to see him. He noticed that the bundle of old clothes was beside the beggar’s pillow. The king felt sorry for him. The beggar remembered the king’s words. The bundle of old clothes had literally spoilt his happiness.

Way of Thinking

4 yr old boy was in the market with his 6 yr old sister...

Suddenly the boy found that his sister was lagging behind.He stopped and looked back.His sister was standing in front of a toy shop and was watching something with great interest.The boy went back to her and asked:
"Do you want something?"

The sister pointed at the doll. The boy held her hand and like a responsible elder brother, gave that doll to her.The sister was very very happy... The shopkeeper was watching everything and getting amused to see the matured behaviour of the boy... Now the boy came to the counter and asked the shopkeeper,
"What is the cost of this doll, Sir!" The shopkeeper was a cool man and had experienced the odds of life.So he asked the boy with a lot of love n affection:
" Well, What can you pay?" The boy took out all the shells that he had collected from the seashore, from his pocket and gave them to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper took the shells and started counting as if he were counting the currency. Then he looked at the boy.The boy asked him worriedly:

"Is it less?" The shopkeeper said,"No, No... These are more than the cost.So I will return the remaining." Saying so, he kept only 4 shells with him and returned the remaining. The boy very happily kept those shells back in his pocket and went away with his sister...

A servant in that shop got very surprised watching all these.He asked his master:

" Sir!You gave away such a costly doll just for 4 shells???"

The shopkeeper said with a smile:

"Well, for us these are mere shells.But for that boy, these shells are very precious.And at this age, he does not understand what money is, but when he will grow up, he definitely will. And when he would remember that he purchased a doll with the Shells instead of Money, he will remember Me and think that the world is full of Good people.He will develop positive thinking.Thats it..."

Initiative

Employee "A" in a company walked up to his manager and asked what my job is for the day? The manager took "A" to the bank of a river and asked him to cross the river and reach the other side of the bank. "A" completed this task successfully and reported back to the manager about the completion of the task assigned. The manager smiled and said "GOOD JOB"

Next day Employee "B" reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task as above to this person also. The Employee "B' before starting the task saw Employee "C" struggling in the river to reach the other side of the bank. He realized "C" has the same task. Now "B" not only crossed the river but also helped "C" to cross the river. "B" reported back to the manager and the manager smiled and said "VERY GOOD JOB"

The following day Employee "Q" reported to the same manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again. Employee "Q" before starting the work did some homework and realized "A", "B" & "C" all has done this task before. He met them and understood how they performed. He realized that there is a need for a guide and training for doing this task. He sat first and wrote down the procedure for crossing the river, he documented the common mistakes people made, and tricks to do the task efficiently and effortlessly. Using the methodology he had written down he crossed the river and reported back to the manager along with documented procedure and training material. The manager said "Q" you have done an "EXCELLENT JOB".

The following day Employee "O' reported to the manager and asked him the job for the day. The manager assigned the same task again. "O" studied the procedure written down by "Q" and sat and thought about the whole task. He realized the company is spending a lot of money in getting this task completed. He decided not to cross the river, but sat and designed and implemented a bridge across the river and went back to his manager and said, "You no longer need to assign this task to anyone". The manager smiled and said "Outstanding job 'O'. I am very proud of you."

What is the difference between A, B, Q & O? Many a times in life we get tasks to be done at home, at office, at play.,

Most of us end up doing what is expected out of us. Do we feel happy? Most probably yes. We would be often disappointed when the recognition is not meeting our expectation. Let us compare ourselves with "B". Helping someone else the problem often improves our own skills. There is an old proverb (I do not know the author) "learn to teach and teach to learn". From a company point of view "B" has demonstrated much better skills than "A" since one more task for the company is completed.

"Q" created the knowledge base for the team. More often than not, we do the task assigned to us without checking history. Learning from other's mistake is the best way to improve efficiency. This knowledge creation for the team is of immense help. Re-usability reduces cost thereby increases productivity of the team. "Q" demonstrated good "team-player" skills,

Now to the outstanding person, "O" made the task irrelevant; he created a Permanent Asset to the team.

If you notice B, Q and O all have demonstrated "team performance" over and above individual performance; they have also demonstrated a very invaluable characteristic known as "INITIATIVE".

Initiative pays off everywhere whether at work or at personal life. If you have initiative you will succeed. The initiative is a continual process and it never ends. This is because this year's achievement is next year's task. You cannot use the same success story every year. The story provides an instance of performance, whereas measurement needs to be spread across at least 6-12 months. Consequently, performance should be consistent and evenly spread. Out-of-Box thinkers are always premium and that is what everyone constantly looks out for. The initiative, Out-of-Box thinking, and commitment are the stepping stone to success.

The initiative should be lifelong. Think out of the box!

Vyadha Gita or Work is Worship

Kamakordho vashe kritva

Dambham lobhamanarjavam

Dharmamityeva santhushtas

Te shishta sishtatammatah

“Right conduct is achieved through two things: avoiding the vices and promoting virtues. By taking such an approach we can maintain the right conduct even after attaining perception”

So, says the Bhagavad-Gita. And it is exemplified in the Mahabharata in the Canto Vana Parva. Here the sage Markandeya recites the story of Dharmavyadha (Righteous Butcher) to Yudhishtira while discussing dharma and dedication to duty of all human beings, whether King or his subjects. And in the Bhagavad-Gita the first six chapters emphasize this: “To work unremittingly without the least expectation of anything”. Karma Yoga, or path of action, speaks that the senses are always all powerful. But beyond senses is the mind, beyond mind is the intellect and beyond and greater than intellect is HE. In effect, Lord Krishna, instructs Arjuna to curb one's personal egotism and kill the enemy, which in our case is Desire, even though the path is strewn with insurmountable difficulties.

In our lives, we are expected to perform different duties at the different phases of our lives. And they are imposed by the society, family, our profession etc. And the importance lies in understanding what one’s duties are and performing it to the satisfaction of the self, first, and then the satisfaction of others later.

In the Vyadha Gita, we come across the teaching of a butcher, (vyadha) to a Brahmin Sannyasin who because he had attained perfection, becomes arrogant and self conceited. And as the story progresses, we shall see how he is humbled by a house wife first and then by the lowest class of people in India who used to live as hunters and butchers. (vyadha)

Once a young Brahmin Sannyasin, was meditating in a forest, and through practicing Yoga for years, had attained perfection by his austere living. .One day, as he was sitting under the shade of a pepul tree, a couple of birds that were sitting on the branch voided their droppings, on his head. He looked up and saw that there was a quarrel between a crow and a crane and in the heat of the moment, they had committed this offence. The young Sannyasin, could have walked to the nearby pond and washed himself. But he did not do so. He looked up, and with anger welling in his heart, shouted at the birds:

“How dare you pollute me with your droppings and that too on my head?” And he looked at the birds with undivided concentration, when a flash of flame emanated from his head and burnt the birds to ashes. He was very glad, extremely glad, that he had attained perfection in his Yogic Powers, which could burn the birds and turn them into ashes with just a look!!

He was feeling hungry. He walked to the nearby village, to beg alms. He went to the first house and stood before the closed door and called out:

“Amma, Bhavathi Biksham Dehi. Mother please give me some food”.

Nothing happened for some time. Then a voice was heard from inside the house.

“Wait for a little time, my son, I shall soon be out.”

In the mean time the Brahmin Sannyasin, was thinking: How dare this wretched woman, make me wait before her closed doors? Perhaps she is not aware of my Yogic Powers. And no sooner these thoughts flashed in his mind, the same female voice called out to him in clear tone:

“My son, don't be thinking too much of yourself and do not be angry. I know your anger burnt a bird to ashes but I am no bird”. And then she recited:

“Krodah shathru sharirastho, manushyaanam dvijottama”

(Anger is not good for the body; it is man's greatest enemy)

The young Sannyasin, was shocked and astonished, but still had to wait. All this time, he was hearing only her voice.

At last, when the woman made her appearance, he prostrated at her feet and humbly asked: “Mother, how did you know what had happened at the forest?”

“I do not know Yoga or how you practice it. And neither do I live an austere life. I am an ordinary house wife and live by my karmas. I had to make you wait, because my husband is not well and I was nursing him. All my life I have struggled to do my duty. As a maiden, I did my duty to my parents and now that I am married, I do my duty to my husband. And that is all the Yoga I practice. But by doing my duty I have become illumined and I could read your thoughts and know what you have done in the forest. And if you want to know more about the individual karma then go to the nearby market, at Mithilapuri where you meet a a Dharmavyadha (Righteous Butcher) who will tell you something that you will be very happy to learn."

The Brahmin Sannyasin’s first thought was why should he go to Mithalapuri and obtain his teaching from a butcher? But the happenings in the house of the village woman had chastened him and he was determined to find out what the butcher had to teach him.

The Brahmin Sannyasin went to the town and met Dharmavyadha in his shop. There, the big fat Vyadha was cutting meat with his big knife and bargaining with the people and selling his product.

The Brahmin Sannyasin was taken aback. “Lord help me! Is this the man from whom I am going to learn? He is the incarnation of a devil, if he is anything.”

No sooner Dharmavyadha saw the young Sannyasin, he said through his betel stained teeth:

“Young man did that lady send you here? Make yourself comfortable, till I have completed the work for the day”

The young Sannyasin took his seat; the man continued to do his work and after he had finished he took his money and said to the Sannyasin: “Come Sir; let us go to my home.”

At his home, the Vyadha gave the Sannyasin a seat, and told him to wait there till called and entered his house. He then cleaned his old father and mother, gave them their food and did all he could to make them comfortable, after which he came to the Sannyasin and said:

“Sir, you have reached here to see me; what can I do for you?”

The Sannyasin queried him about atman and about paramatman, and what the Vyadha told him forms a part of the Mahabharata, called the Vyadha Gita. It is Vedanta of the highest order. When the Vyadha finished his teaching, the Sannyasin was astounded:

“Why are you in this body? With such knowledge as yours, why are you, in a Vyadha's body and doing such filthy, ugly work?"

“My son,” said the Vyadha, “No duty is ugly, No duty is impure. By my birth I am in these circumstances and environments. I learnt this trade in my boyhood and I am unattached and I do my duty well. I do my duty as a householder, serving my parents and do all I can to make them happy. I neither know Yoga as you practice it, nor I am a Sannyasin. I did not go out of this world into a forest; nevertheless, all that you have heard and seen has come to me through the unattached doing of my duty that belongs to my position.”

The Vyadha advised the young Brahmin Sannyasin that all work must be done by “dedicating to God” and it is not the birth but dharma and virtuous conduct that makes one a Brahmin.

And he recited:

Kamakordho vashe kritva

Dambham lobhamanarjavam

Dharmamityeva santhushtas

Te shishta sishtatammatah

"Right conduct is achieved through two things: avoiding the vices and promoting virtues. By taking such an approach we can maintain the right conduct even after attaining perception"

Moral of the story:

The Vyadha and the woman did their duty with cheerfulness and whole-heartedness; and the result was that they became illuminated, clearly showing that the right performance of the duties of any station in life, without attachment to results, leads us to the highest realization of the perfection of the soul. The Vyadha teaches that “No duty is ugly, No duty is impure” and it is only the way in which the work is done, determines its worth.

Swami Vivekananda describes the Vyadha Gita in one of his lectures in Karma Yoga and says that it contains one of the “highest flights of the Vedanta”. And this story describes the importance of performance of swadharma (prescribed duty or duty in life). According to the story, a Vyadha, considered low by birth, but engaged in dharma and doing good to others is capable of teaching a Brahmin, considered high by birth, but practices austerities for his own good. The attainment of freedom, by the performance of swadharma, is also one of the central teachings of the Bhagavad-Gita.

ANGER The hermit and the shudra (low caste man)

Under the shady trees, there was a neat and clean hut of a hermit by the side of the river, Jamuna. It was decorated with the skins of deer and lions.

Ochre coloured clothes were hanging from the pegs in the trees. By chance, a low caste traveller, reached there, and seeing a well-built pucca ghat, he took his bath in the river and washed his clothes. At the moment, the hermit was taking rest inside his hut.

When he heard the sound of washing clothes, he came out and saw that his clothes hanging on the pegs were being polluted by the dirty splashes of the washing. Seeing that a man was washing his dirty clothes, he was very much agitated with anger and taking a thick staff, started beating and abusing him. The poor man became unconscious. Even then the hermit continued to kick him, till he himself was tired. After some time, the hermit entered the river to take his bath again.

In the mean time, the shudra (low caste) regained his consciousness, and he also entered the river to take his bath again. By this time, the hermit's anger was very much cooled down. . He addressed the poor man and said, 'Why do you take your bath again?

Are you not afraid of falling ill or catching a cold?'

The man replied, 'You had also taken your bath before. Who do you take your bath again?'

The hermit was annoyed at this retort and said, 'You have the cheek to copy me. I had to take my bath again because I was polluted by your touch.' The poor man replied, 'I also take my bath again because I have been touched by a CHANDALA, who is worse than a low caste. I want to purify myself in this river.'

At this reply, the hermit was red with anger. He said, 'What do you mean? You dare abuse me!! Do you mean to call me a CHANDALA?'

The man submitted in a humble tone, 'No Sir. cannot afford to insult you. I have been the victim of your anger. As you already know, this anger is a big CHANDALA. You will please excuse me. I do not mean you when I say I was touched by a chandala.

On hearing this, the hermit was very much ashamed and he said to himself that the poor man was right in his remarks. I should not have lost my temper. O dear friend! It is pity that we consider it a pride to indulge in anger, which is, as a matter of fact our worst enemy. It is wonder that we hate a chandala with much greater intensity than what we do in respect of our anger. Anger is the worst emotion. It makes one mad and destroys one's power of discrimination. When God is everywhere and in everything, is it not an insult to God, if we get angry at or insult someone else?

My mummy loves white roses

On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to go to the supermarket to buy the gifts I didn't manage to buy earlier. When I saw all the people there, I started to complain to myself: 'It is going to take forever here and I still have so many other places to go...'

Christmas really is getting more and more annoying every year. How I wish I could just lie down, go to sleep and only wake up after it was over.

I started to curse the prices, wondering if kids really play with such expensive toys. While looking in the toy section, I noticed a small boy of about 5 years old pressing a doll against his chest. He kept on touching the hair of the doll and looked so sad. I wondered who this doll was for. Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him: 'Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?' The old lady replied: 'You know that you don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.'

Then she asked him to stay here for 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly. The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I started to walk towards him and asked who he wanted to give this doll to. 'It is the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for this Christmas. She was so sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her.' I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus will bring it to her, after all, and not to worry. But he replied to me sadly. 'No, Santa Claus cannot bring it to her where she is now.

I have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there.' His eyes were so sad while saying this. 'My sister has gone to God. Daddy say that Mummy will also go to see God very soon, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister'. My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said: 'I told daddy to tell mummy not to go yet. I asked him to wait until I come back from the supermarket'.

Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me, 'I also want mummy to take this photo with her so that she never forgets me.' 'I love my mummy and I wish she doesn't have to leave me but daddy says that she has to go and be with my little sister'. Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and took a few bills and said to the boy. What if we checked again, just in case if u had enough money?' 'Ok' he said. 'I hope that I have enough.' I added some of my money to his pocket without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll, and even some spare money. The little boy said: 'Thank you God for giving me enough money' then he looked at me and added: 'yesterday before I slept, i asked God to make sure I have enough money to buy this doll and He heard me' 'I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mummy, but I didn't dare to ask God too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and the white rose.' 'You know, my mummy loves white roses..

A few minutes later, the old lady came again and I left with my trolley. I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local newspaper article 2 days ago, which mentioned of a drunk man in a truck who hit a car where there was one young lady and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-assisting machine, because the young lady would not be able to get out of the coma. Was this the family of the little boy..?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy in mind, I read in the newspaper that the young lady had passed away. I couldn't stop myself and went to buy a bunch of white roses and I went to the mortuary where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wish before burial.

She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest. I left the place crying, feeling that my life had been changed forever. The love that this little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to that day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk man had taken all this away from him..

The Source of the Problem

A man feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need a hearing aid. Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family Doctor to discuss the problem. The Doctor told him there is a simple informal test the husband could perform to give the Doctor a better idea about her hearing loss.

Here's what you do," said the Doctor, "stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and s o on until you get a response."

That evening, the wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in the den. He says to himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what happens."

Then in a normal tone he asks, 'Honey, what's for dinner?"

No response.

So the husband moves to closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and repeats, "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Still no response.

Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his wife and asks, Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again he gets no response so, He walks up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

Again there is no response.

So he walks right up behind her.  "Honey, what's for dinner?"

"James, for the FIFTH time I've said, CHICKEN!"

Moral of the story:

The problem may not be with the other one as we always think, it could be very much within us!

The $100 story that will simply captivate you

A tourist walks into a curio shop in San Francisco. Looking around at the exotica, he notices a very lifelike, life-sized bronze statue of a rat. It has no price tag But is so striking he decides he must have it.

He takes it to the owner: "How much for the bronze rat?" "Twelve dollars for the rat, one hundred dollars for the Story," says the owner.

The tourist gives the man twelve dollars. "I'll just take the rat, you can keep the story."

As he walks down the street carrying his bronze rat, he notices that a few real rats crawl out of the alleys and sewers and begin following him down the street. This is disconcerting; he begins walking faster. But within a couple of blocks, the herd of rats behind him grows to hundreds, and they begin squealing. He begins to trot toward the Bay, looking around to see that the rats now numbered in the MILLIONS, and are still squealing and coming towards him faster and faster.

Concerned, even scared, he runs to the edge of the Bay and throws the bronze rat as far out into the Bay as he can. Amazingly, the millions of rats all jump into the Bay after it and are all drowned. The man walks back to the curio shop.

"Ah ha," says the owner, "You have come back for the Story?"

"No," says the man, "I came back to see if you have a statue of a politician in bronze!!

How I wish we had so called politicians statue!!!!!!!

Whatever you have traded for it that is what is yours

One afternoon Guru Nanak and his company were resting on the banks of the Ganges at Patna. Mardana was idly inspecting a stone he had picked up along the road, thinking of the vast throngs who had come to hear the Guru. “Master,” said Mardana, “you teach a way for every person to find liberation. But many of those who listen still seem to spend much of their time in conflict, and in seeking out excitement and other idle pursuits. Why do they waste away their lives so?”

“Most people don’t recognize its value,” replied the Guru, “although human life is the dearest treasure on this earth.”

“Surely everyone can see the value of life,” said Mardana.

“No,” said Nanak. “Each man places his own value on things according to what he thinks. A different man with different knowledge will place a different value. That stone you found in the dirt will make a good example. Take it to the marketplace and see what you can get for it.”

Puzzled, Mardana took the stone to the marketplace and at a stall that sold sweets asked what the vendor would trade for it. The man laughed. “Go away, you’re wasting my time.”

He next tried a produce seller. “I have to pay customers to wait on,” said the grocer. “I’ll give you an onion for it just to get you out of here.”

Mardana tried several more shops with no better response. Finally, he came to the shop of Salis Raj, the jeweler. Salis Raj’s eyes opened wide when he saw the stone. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I don’t have enough money to buy your gem. But I will give you a hundred rupees if you will let me look at it a while longer.”

Mardana hurried back to the Guru to tell him what had happened.

“See,” said Guru Nanak, “how when we are ignorant we mistake a valuable gem for a worthless stone. If someone had told you its value before you knew what it was, you would have thought they were crazy. Such a jewel is human life, and whatever you’ve traded for it, that is what is yours.”

The Fruits of Hard Labor

There once lived a rich businessman who had a lazy and fun loving son. The businessman wanted his son to be hard working and responsible. He wanted him to realize the value of labour. One day he summoned his son and said: today I want you to go out and earn something, failing which you won't have your meal tonight.

The boy was callous and not used to any kind of work. This demand by his father scared him and he went crying straight to his mother. Her heart melted at the sight of tears in her son's eye. She grew restless. In a bid to help him she gave him a gold coin. In the evening when the father asked his son what he had earned, the son promptly presented him the gold coin. The father then asked him to through it into a well. The son did as he was told.

The father was a man of wisdom and experience and guessed that the source of the gold coin was the boys mother. The nest day he sent his wife to her parents town and asked his son to go and earn something with the threat of being denied the night meals if he failed.
This time, he went crying to his sister who sympathized with him and gave him a rupee coin out of her own savings. When his father asked him what he has earned the boy tossed the rupee coin at him. The father again asked him to through it in a well. The son did it quite readily. Again the fathers wisdom told him that the rupee coin was not earned by his son. He then sent his daughter to her in-laws house. He again asked his son to go out and earn with the threat that he shall not have anything for dinner that night.

This time, there was no one to help him out; the son was forced to go to the market in search of work. One of the shopkeepers there told him that he would pay him two rupees if he carried his trunk to his house. The rich man's son could not refuse and was drenched in sweat by the time he finished the job.

His feet were trembling and his neck and back were aching. There were rashes on his back. As he returned home and produced the two rupee note before his father and was asked to through it into the well, the horrified son almost cried out. He could not imagine throwing his hard-earned money like this. He said amid sobbing. Father! My entire body is aching. My back has rashes and you are asking me to through the money into the well.

At this the businessman smiled. He told him that one feels the pain only when the fruits of hard labour are wasted. On earlier two occasions he was helped by his mother and sister and therefore had no pain in throwing the coins into the well. The son had now realized the value of hard work. He vowed never to be lazy and safe keep the fathers wealth. The father handed over the keys of his shop to the son and promised to guide him through the rest of the life.



Moral of the Story: Some of the life's best lessons come from the hardest situations.

The Weed Thought

There was once an earnest gardener who loved his work and his produce. One day he was walking through his delightful garden and happened to notice a weed. The gardener was particularly tired so he decided to leave it.

The next day he had to leave to visit his relatives in another country for two weeks. When he came back, the back yard was covered in weeds and all his produce was dead!

REFLECTION

Likewise, if we allow just one bad thought in our head and fail to remove it, it will sprout and instead of having to pick one weed, we will have too much to control.

If we destroy our negative thoughts, by allowing positive ones to grow, they will display in our personality like a beautiful garden.

Thats the power of positive thought. We are, what our thoughts are.
We should always entertain only good and positive thoughts in our mind and never give way for anything negative!

Be alert and conscious of your thoughts and pick out the weeds of your negative thoughts consciously and quickly, at the right moment--

Haste in doing good deeds

There was once a brahmin couple in Savatthi, who had only one outer garment between the two of them. Because of this, they were also known as Ekasataka. As they had only one outer garment, both of them could not go out at the same time. So, the wife would go to listen to the discourse given by the Buddha during the day and the husband would go at night. One night, as the brahmin listened to the Buddha, his whole body came to be suffused with delightful satisfaction and he felt a strong desire to offer the outer garment he was wearing to the Buddha. But he realized that if he were to give away the only outer garment he had, there would be none left for him and his wife. So he wavered and hesitated. Thus, the first and the second watches of the night passed. Came the third watch and he said to himself, "If I am so miserly and hesitant, I will not be able to avoid falling to the four Lower Worlds (apayas); I shall now offer my outer garment to the Buddha." So saying, he placed the piece of cloth at the feet of the Buddha and cried out "I have won" three times.

King Pasenadi of Kosala, who was among the audience, heard those words and ordered a courtier to investigate. Learning about the brahmin's offering to the Buddha, the king commented that the brahmin had done something which was not easy to do and so should be rewarded. The king ordered his men to give the brahmin a piece of cloth as a reward for his faith and generosity. The brahmin offered that piece of cloth also to the Buddha and he was rewarded by the king with two pieces of cloth. Again, the brahmin offered the two pieces of cloth to the Buddha and he was rewarded with four.

 Thus, he offered to the Buddha whatever was given him by the king, and each time the king doubled his reward. When finally, the reward came up to thirty-two pieces of cloth, the brahmin kept one piece for himself a King Pasenadi of Kosala, who was among the audience, heard those words and ordered a courtier to investigate. Learning about the brahmin's offering to the Buddha, the king commented that the brahmin had done something which was not easy to do and so should be rewarded. The king ordered his men to give the brahmin a piece of cloth as a reward for his faith and generosity. The brahmin offered that piece of cloth also to the Buddha and he was rewarded by the king with two pieces of cloth. Again, the brahmin offered the two pieces of cloth to the Buddha and he was rewarded with four. Thus, he offered to the Buddha whatever was given him by the king, and each time the king doubled his reward. When finally, the reward came up to thirty-two pieces of cloth, the brahmin kept one piece for himself and another for his wife, and offered the remaining thirty pieces to the Buddha.

Then, thinking again commented that the brahmin had truly performed a very difficult task and so must be rewarded fittingly. The king sent a messenger to the palace to bring two pieces of velvet cloth, each of which was worth one hundred thousand and gave them to the brahmin. The brahmin made those two pieces of valuable cloth into two canopies and kept one in the Perfumed Chamber where the Buddha slept and the other in his own house above the place where a bhikkhu was regularly offered alms-food. When the king next went to Jatavana monastery to pay homage to the Buddha, he saw the velvet canopy and recognized it as the offering made by the brahmin and he was very pleased. This time, he made a reward of seven kinds in fours (sabbacatukka), viz., four elephants, four horses, four female slaves, four male slaves, four errand boys, four villages and four thousand in cash.

When the bhikkhus heard about this, they asked the Buddha, "How is it that, in the case of this brahmin, a good deed done at present bears fruit immediately?" To them the Buddha replied "If the brahmin had offered his outer garment in the first watch of the night, he would have been rewarded with sixteen of each kind; if he had made his offering during the middle watch, he would have been rewarded with eight of each kind; since he had made his offering only during the last watch of the night, he was rewarded with only four of each kind." So, when one wants to give in charity, one should do so quickly; if one procrastinates, the reward comes slowly and only sparingly. Also, if one is too slow in doing good deeds, one may not be able to do it at all, for the mind tends to take delight in doing evil.

Then the Buddha spoke in verse as follows: Verse 116: One should make haste in doing good deeds; one should restrain one's mind from evil; for the mind of one who is slow in doing good tends to take delight in doing evil.

Daughter Joins The Same Court As A Judge Where Her Father Sells Tea!

Surinder Kumar has worked as a tea seller all his life. As an owner of a tea shop right across the court, Surinder has been serving people tea at the complex of the sub-divisional magistrate in Nakodar (Jalandhar district), for years. But little did he know that one day his daughter would walk through the doors of the same court as a judge!

23-year-old Shruti passed the Punjab Civil Services (Judicial) Examination in the first attempt, and after a year's training at the academy, she is now ready to pronounce judgments and bring some justice to the world.

A resident of Nakodar town of Punjab, Surinder has worked as a tea seller all his life. His 23-year-old daughter, Shruti, passed the Punjab Civil Services (Judicial) Examination in the first attempt, and topped in the SC category. After finishing her training at the judicial academy for a year, she is now set to serve as a judge. She completed her graduation from Guru Nanak Dev University, and went on to study law from Punjab University.

“I always wanted to be associated with the legal profession. I wanted to be a judge. I sat for the examination and stood first in the SC category,” Shruti told Deccan Herald.

The locals felicitated Shruti for this achievement. Like many fathers, Surinder Kumar also knew that his daughter would achieve something remarkable in her life, but he had never thought that she would get such a respectable position at the same place where he had been selling tea for many years now.

Just STAY

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. "Your son is here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed. All through the night, the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.

He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

"Who was that man?" he asked.

The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered.

"No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life."

"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"

"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his
just wasn't here.

When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed."

I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey.

His son was Killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him. What was this Gentleman's Name?

The Nurse with Tears in Her Eyes Answered, Mr. William Grey...