Once Buddha was traveling with a few of his followers.

While they were passing a lake, Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty.
Do get me some water from the lake.”

The disciple walked up to the lake.

At that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake.
As a result, the water became very muddy and turbid.

The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?”

So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t
think it is fit to drink.”

After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back
to the lake.

The disciple went back, and found that the water was still muddy.

He returned and informed Buddha about the same.

After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back.

This time, the disciple found the mud had settled down, and the water was
clean and clear.

So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said,
” See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be, and the mud settled
down on its own, and you have clear water.”

Your mind is like that too ! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little
time. It will settle down on its own.

You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down.

It will happen. It is effortless.”
Having ‘Peace of Mind’ is not a strenuous job, it is an effortless process so
keep ur mind cool and have a grt life ahead…

“Why We Shout In Anger” ~ A short story on Relationships

A Hindu saint who was visiting river Ganges to take bath found a group of
family members on the banks, shouting in anger at each other. He turned to
his disciples smiled ‘n asked. ‘Why do people shout in anger shout at each
other?’

Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, ‘Because we lose our calm, we
shout.’ ‘But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you?
You can as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner.’ asked the
saint.

Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the other disciples.

Finally the saint explained, . ‘When two people are angry at each other, their
hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear
each other.

The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to
cover that great distance.

What happens when two people fall in love? They don’t shout at each other
but talk softly, Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them
is either nonexistent or very small…’ The saint continued, ‘When they love
each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper ‘n they
get even closer to each other in their love.

Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other ‘n that’s all.
That is how close two people are when they love each other.’

He looked at his disciples ‘n said. ‘So when you argue do not let your hearts get
distant, Do not say words that distance each other more, Or else there will
come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to
return.’
There was a farmer who had a horse and a goat…..One day, the horse became
ill and he called the veterinarian, who said: - Well, your horse has a virus. He
must take this medicine for three days. I’ll come back on the 3rd day and if
he’s not better, we’re going to have to put him down.

Nearby, the goat listened closely to their conversation. The next day, they gave
him the medicine and left. The goat approached the horse and said: - Be
strong, my friend.
Get up or else they’re going to put you to sleep!

On the second day, they gave him the medicine and left. The goat came back
and said:
- Come on buddy, get up or else you’re going to die! Come on, I’ll help you get
up.
Let’s go! One, two, three…
On the third day, they came to give him the medicine and the vet said:
- Unfortunately, we’re going to have to put him down tomorrow. Otherwise,
the virus might spread and infect the other horses. After they left, the goat
approached the horse and said:
- Listen pal, it’s now or never! Get up, come on! Have courage! Come on! Get
up! Get up!
That’s it, slowly! Great! Come on, one, two, three… Good, good. Now faster,
come on…… Fantastic! Run, run more! Yes! Yay! Yes! You did it, you’re a
champion!!!

All of a sudden, the owner came back, saw the horse running in the field and
began shouting:
- It’s a miracle! My horse is cured. We must have a grand** **party. Let’s kill
the goat!!!!*
***
The Lesson:* this often happens in the workplace & life in general . Nobody
truly knows which employee or people actually deserves the merit of success &
are in fact contributing towards success , or who’s actually contributing the
necessary support to make things happen. Be grateful.
Remember………
*LEARNING TO LIVE WITHOUT RECOGNITION IS A SKILL!!!!*
If anyone ever tells you that your work is unprofessional, remember:
Amateurs built the Ark [which saved all the species]
and
professionals built the Titanic [all died tragically]
 Truly Inspiring Real Life Incident…
Shila Ghosh : a lady 83 years old who lives at pali in West Bengal. Every
evening she comes from Pali to kolkata to sell the fries.The pedestrians out of
respect buy the fries from her. After lung cancer took away her only son
from her 5 years back,to make ends meet she works.Her nephew aged 30
works as a mover on meagre wages in pali.
.
When asked if she has a problem
in travelling,she weakly smile ans says “No,the bus gets me here and my
health is not that bad”.
.
She earns 400 rupees per day but still it is less for her family of
four.Circumstances could have easily forced her to beg but her dignity and
respect is everything for her,she would work till the end of her life rather
than
beg on the streets.
.
When we go on complaining, let us remember her….. she has chose to solve
her problems on her own for as they say God helps them those who help
themselves.
.
Wonderful woman,
May god give her all the strength…
She truly is an inspiration for all of us ….

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she
didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time.
It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, a chef, took
her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.

Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and
ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his
daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After
twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in
a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and
placed it in a cup.
Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily
replied.

“Look closer”, he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft.

He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-
boiled egg.

Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same
adversity-the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently. The potato went in strong,
hard and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg was fragile, with the
thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside
of the egg became hard. However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were
exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which one are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you
respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?”

Moral: In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters
is how you choose to react to it and what you make out of it. Life is all about leaning, adopting
and converting all the struggles that we experience into something positive.

A 24 year old boy seeing out from the train's window shouted...

"Dad, look the trees are going behind!" dad smiled and a young couple sitting nearby, looked at the 24
year old's childish behavior with
pity, suddenly he again exclaimed ... "dad, look the clouds are running with us !" the couple couldn't
resist and said to the old man... "why don't
you take your son to a good doctor?" the old man smiled and said ... "i did and we are just coming from
the hospital, my son was blind from birth, he
just got his eyes today..."

Every single person on the planet has story.

"don't judge people before you truly know them. the truth might surprise you...
think before you say something...!!!
A HANDSOME HORSE

A wild horse became envious of the zebras which are

naturally blessed with beautiful black stripes all over their body. The
horse spent sleepless nights meditating about a method to get decorated
with beautiful stripes like a zebra. He sought the advice of a monkey
who was the best scholar, artist and beautician of the forest. The monkey
led the horse to a place where a wildfire had just burnt down several
trees. Using the pieces of charcoal from the burnt wood, the monkey
painted fine stripes on the body of the horse. The happy horse thanked
the monkey and joined a group of zebras who accepted him without a
doubt.
As they were grazing together, a heavy rainfall occurred.
The 'painted zebra' was in great trouble. The stripes of charcoal
dissolved in the rain and created a dirty mess. The stripes lost their
outline. The zebras rejected him. The horse ran away with a disfigured
body. He came to his own relatives who were reluctant to accept him
seeing his weird appearance. Dejected and depressed, he approached the
monkey who created the stripes and requested him to end his misery.
The monkey led him to a stream and washed his body, rubbing hard with
the husk of a coconut. Having restored his natural appearance, the horse
watched his appearance in the still water. He said to himself, "I am
really beautiful!"
Every creature is blessed with a unique form and
appearance. We must be ready to accept the gifts of God instead of
worrying about our appearance. Comparing our features with those of
others and trying to imitate others creates unnecessary worry. Let us
look at the less privileged brothers and thank God for His generous gifts.
That is the path to peace and progress.
 Charm is deceptive and beauty may disappear. We
usually use outward aids such as hair-style, dressing, jewellery and
cosmetics to appear beautiful. But our real beauty is in our true inner
self, our mind and soul, which is of the greatest value in God's sight.

A WARM WELCOME

A boy had a quarrel with his parents and ran away from
home. He had a hard life and spent several years in a distant city without
any contact with his family. Later he wanted to return and reconcile with
his family. But he was reluctant to return as he feared that his parents
and siblings may not welcome him.
After much meditation, he sent a letter to his father
expressing his desire to return home and begging his pardon for
deserting his family. In his letter he asked his father to tie a white ribbon
on the tree near his house by the side of the railway line if he was ready
to welcome him back to his home. He would then see the signal through
the window of the train, alight from the train at the next station and
come home. He added that if he did not see the ribbon on the tree, he
would assume that his family did not like his return and then he would
go away from them forever.
He boarded the train as informed and his tension grew
tremendously as the train approached his native land. As the train passed
by his house, he could not believe his eyes. The tree was fully decorated
with hundreds of white ribbons which danced in the wind as if to wave
him welcome. This showed how much they longed for his return.
His loving family did not want him to miss the sight of
the ribbon, the signal of welcome. So they did not limit to a single
ribbon which he may fail to notice. They gladly covered the whole tree
with hundreds of ribbons to reflect their whole-hearted happiness and
willingness to welcome him back to their home.
 God created man in His image. He then instituted the
'family' in the image of heaven. The ideal family is a heaven of
happiness.
This incident indicates the warm welcome a sinner
receives when he repents and returns to God. When we move one step
towards God, He moves two steps towards us, eager to embrace us. The
loving Lord showers His infinite affection on a repenting sinner.

THE CHARM OF CHARITY

A poor young man was helpless, homeless and

hopeless. He lost his job and had no one to help him. Depressed and
dejected, he decided to commit suicide. He collected all the coins he had
with him and bought from a shop a ripe banana wrapped in an old
newspaper. He opened the packet and started to eat his last food when an
old beggar approached him. With trembling lips, the beggar told him
that he has not had anything to eat for several days and was too weak to
walk. The young man felt pity and gave the banana to the beggar. He ate
it with great joy and thanked him. While leaving, the beggar gave him a
very old coin, saying, "Thank you very much. You gave me everything
you had. Kindly accept this coin as my humble gift."
When the old man departed, he carelessly glanced at the
piece of paper used to wrap the fruit. There he saw an advertisement
from an agency dealing with old coins. Any one possessing old coins
was invited to visit the agency and receive suitable price for their old
coins on the spot. Out of simple curiosity, he carried the coin to the
agency, which was quite close to him. He showed the coin gifted by the
beggar. The person managing the agency stared at it and exclaimed in
excitement, "What a surprise! It is very rare and several centuries old. It
is worth a fortune!" He was given a hefty sum of money as the price of
the rare coin. Jumping with joy on receiving the unexpected amount of
money, he searched everywhere to find the old man who gifted him the
coin. He wanted to share his joy and the money with the beggar. But he
could not find the beggar anywhere. On the way he saw a church. He
had abandoned all religious practices for months. But now he entered the
church and thanked God for His generous gifts. He started a new life
with renewed hope and enthusiasm.
Kindness cannot be given away. It always comes back!
William Wordsworth wrote, "The best portion of a
good life is the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and
love."
Guy King said, "The greatest thing a man can do for
his heavenly Father is to be kind to some of His other children."
Jesus Christ taught, "I was hungry and you fed me,
thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received
me in your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you
took care of me, in prison and you visited me.....I tell you, whenever
you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine,
you did it for me!"

BUILDING A BRIDGE

The suspension bridge at Punalur town across the river

Kallada in Kerala, South India was built in 1877. It still remains as an
architectural marvel. It was built by the British engineer, Mr. Albert
Henry. The construction took six years for its completion. It has a deck
with three suspended spans. When it was opened for vehicular traffic,
people were afraid to use it. They hesitated even to walk over it as its
appearance was unusual.
But the engineer was quite confident about the strength and
stability of the structure. Hence he made a remarkable demonstration to
alleviate the apprehensions of the public. He boarded a country boat
with the members of his family and stayed just below the bridge and
arranged to parade six large elephants over the bridge. The people
watched this show of confidence with enormous enthusiasm and intense
interest. They applauded the engineer's faith in the design and
construction of the bridge. They were now ready to travel along the
bridge without any fear. It was successfully used for vehicular traffic for
several decades. Recently a concrete bridge was constructed parallel to
the suspension bridge and the original bridge is now preserved and
protected as an archaeological monument, as a marvellous masterpiece
of the great engineer, Mr. Albert Henry.
He had full faith in the perfection of the design and
construction of the structure. This deep faith enabled him to stay below
it with complete confidence while six elephants marched over it.
God expects us to possess strong faith in His power and
providence. His concern for man is infinite. He is our loving and living
Lord. He will not abandon us. He will protect us and lead us to victory.

Your influence on the universe

I read the first chapter of "A Brief History Of Time" when Dad was still alive, and I got
incredibly heavy boots about how relatively insignificant life is, and how, compared to the
universe and compared to time, it didn't even matter if I existed at all.

When Dad was tucking me in that night and we were talking about the book, I asked if he could
think of a solution to that problem. "What problem?" "The problem of how relatively
insignificant we are."

He said, "Well, what would happen if a plane dropped you in the middle of the Sahara Desert
and you picked up a single grain of sand with tweezers and moved it one millimetre?" I said, "I'd
probably die of dehydration." He said, "I just mean right then, when you moved that single grain
of sand. What would that mean?"
I said, "I dunno, what?" He said. "Think about it." I thought about it. "I guess I would have
moved a grain of sand." "Which would mean?" "Which would mean I moved a grain of sand?"
"Which would mean you changed the Sahara."
"So?" "So?" So the Sahara is a vast desert. And it has existed for million of years. And you
changed it!" "That's true!" I said, sitting up. "I changed the Sahara!"
"Which means?" he said. "What? Tell me." "Well, I'm not talking about painting the Mona Lisa
or curing cancer. I'm just talking about moving that one grain of sand one millimetre."
"Yeah?" "If you hadn't done it, human history would have been one way ..." "Uh-huh?" "But,
you did do it, so ...?"
I stood on the bed, pointed my fingers at the fake stars, and screamed: "I changed the universe!"
"You did."

Source: "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer

A turn of the screw

There was an industrialist whose production line inexplicably breaks down, costing him millions
per day. He finally tracks down an expert who takes out a screwdriver, turns one screw, and then
- as the factory cranks back to life - presents a bill for £10,000.

Affronted, the factory owner demands an itemised version. The expert is happy to oblige: "For
turning a screw: £1. For knowing which screw to turn: £9,999."

Author: Oliver Burkeman in "The Guardian Weekend", 13 August 2011

Every bucket counts

Once day, having learned that the King of Fez was hunting lions in the neighbourhood, they
decided to invite him and his court, and killed a number of sheep in his honour. The sovereign
had dinner and went to bed. Wishing to show their generosity, they placed a huge goatskin bottle
before his door and agreed to fill it up with milk for the royal breakfast.

The villagers all had to milk their goats and then each of them had to tip his bucket into the
container. Given its great size, each of them said to himself that he might just as well dilute his
milk with a good quantity of water without anyone noticing.

To the extent that, in the morning, such a thin liquid was poured out for the king and his court
that it had no taste than the taste of meanness and greed.

Source: "Leo The African" by Amin Maalouf

Two frogs in the milk

This is the story of two frogs. One frog was fat and the other skinny. One day, while searching
for food, they inadvertently jumped into a vat of milk. They couldn't get out, as the sides were
too slippery, so they were just swimming around.

The fat frog said to the skinny frog, "Brother frog, there's no use paddling any longer. We're just
going to drown, so we might as well give up." The skinny frog replied, "Hold on brother, keep
paddling. Somebody will get us out." And they continued paddling for hours.

After a while, the fat frog said, "Brother frog, there's no use. I'm becoming very tired now. I'm
just going to stop paddling and drown. It's Sunday and nobody's working. We're doomed. There's
no possible way out of here." But the skinny frog said, "Keep trying. Keep paddling. Something
will happen, keep paddling." Another couple of hours passed.

The fat frog said, "I can't go on any longer. There's no sense in doing it because we're going to
drown anyway. What's the use?" And the fat frog stopped. He gave up. And he drowned in the
milk. But the skinny frog kept on paddling.

Ten minutes later, the skinny frog felt something solid beneath his feet. He had churned the milk
into butter and he hopped out of the vat.

A story for Passover

A good Passover story should always involve cakes. Austrian baker Manfred Klaschka is the
subject of this year’s story. He was in the news because of his most recent catalogue of cake
designs; Klaschka is a pastry specialist.

Of course, Austrian pastries are famous the world over. Now, pastry baker Manfred Klaschka’s
most recent catalogue of such tasty delights was in the news this week because it included cakes
decorated with swastikas – as well as one with a baby raising its right arm in a Nazi salute.

Herr Klaschka insists he is not a Nazi. After the news story broke, he even met with a Holocaust
awareness group, and apologized for what he had done, and he then baked a cake to say he was
sorry – a cake with Jewish and Christian symbols. The point of the story – the bit I found
interesting – is Herr Klaschka’s explanation for what he did.

"I see it was a mistake, anyone who knows me knows what kind of person I am. I am no Nazi",
said Klaschka, who had earlier said he was just a pastry maker fulfilling his customers’ wishes.
Fulfilling his customers’ wishes? There is a market in Austria in 2011 for cakes with babies
raising their arms in Nazi salutes, cakes with swastikas on them? There are parties where people
serve such cakes? Maybe birthday parties for babies?

Of course there are such people, and there are such parties, and because of that, there is a market
– there is consumer demand – for swastika cakes. Which is why Herr Klaschka was happy to
bake them. And not only in Austria.

You may remember the case of the Campbell family from New Jersey.

When Kurt Waldheim was exposed as a war criminal his popularity rose. The neo-Nazi Freedom
Party headed by the late Jorg Haider, won 27% of the vote in the 2000 elections and became part
of the coalition government – the first time since 1945 that Nazis had sat in a European
government.

But this never happened in New Jersey – which is why I want to talk about the Campbell family.
The Campbell family in New Jersey made the news back in 2008 when they tried to get a
birthday cake made for their son — they have a son and two daughters — at the local Shop Rite
in Holland Township.The store refused their request.

And the reason was that Mr. Campbell wanted the cake to read "Happy birthday Adolf Hitler".
Because, you see, his son’s name was Adolf Hitler Campell. One of the daughters is named is
named JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell. Well, you get the point.

When I read about the Austrian baker Manfred Klaschka, I thought – here was a marketing
opportunity for him. He would have happily baked a cake for the Campbell family. So what does
all this have to do with Passover?

This week, when we are forbidden to eat Sachertore or Linzer tort or even the delightfully named
Punschkrapfen, we might want to pause and think about something we say every year at the
Passover seder: 'In every generation it is the duty of man to consider himself as if he had come
forth from Egypt'.

Because in this generation, as in all others, there are those who order custom-made swastika
cakes. There are those who name their children after Adolf Hitler. And there are others who fire
anti-tank missiles at school busses with Jewish children in them. Because there are those who are
building nuclear weapons, having told the world that their intention is to wipe the Jewish state
off the face of the earth. Because people like that make Pharaoh look like a nice guy. Because
getting out of the house of bondage, out of slavery in Egypt, was not the end of the story for the
Jewish people, but was the beginning.

It is a story of a never-ending struggle for freedom, for dignity, for respect, for human rights, that
has universal resonance and meaning — for all people, everywhere, always.

Source: Eric Lee

Once upon a time an old man spread rumors

that his neighbor was a thief.
As a result, the young man was arrested.
Days later the young man was proven innocent.
After been released he sued the old man for
wrongly accusing him. In court the old man told the Judge : They were
just comments, didn't harm anyone..
The judge, before passing sentence on the case,
told the old man : Write all the things you said
about him on a piece of paper. Cut them up and
on the way home, throw the pieces of paper out. Tomorrow, come back to hear the sentence.
The next day, the judge told the old man : Before
receiving the sentence, you will have to go out
and gather all the pieces of paper that you
threw out yesterday. The old man said : I can't do that ! The wind
spread them and I won't know where to find
them. The judge then replied : The same way, simple
comments may destroy the honor of a man to
such an extent that one is not able to fix it. "If you can't speak well of someone, rather
don't say anything." Let's all be masters of our mouths, so that we
won't be slaves of our words.