A true friend

Story source: http://www.jokeawhenever.com/inspirational/50-horror-gripped-the-heart-of.html

Horror gripped the heart of the World War I soldier as he saw his lifelong friend fall in battle.

Caught in a trench with continuous gunfire whizzing over his head, the soldier asked his lieutenant if he might go out into the "No Man's Land" between the trenches to bring his fallen comrade back.

"You can go," said the Lieutenant, "but I don't think it will be worth it. Your friend is probably dead and you may throw your own life away."

The Lieutenant's words didn't matter, and the soldier went anyway.

Miraculously he managed to reach his friend, hoist him onto his shoulder, and bring him back to their company's trench. As the two of them tumbled in together to the bottom of the trench, the officer checked the wounded soldier, then looked kindly at his friend. "I told you it wouldn't be worth it," he said. "Your friend is dead, and you are mortally wounded."

"It was worth it, though, sir," the soldier said.

"How do you mean, 'worth it?' " responded the Lieutenant. "Your friend is dead!"

"Yes sir," the private answered. "But it was worth it because when I got to him, he was still alive, and I had the satisfaction of hearing him say, 'Jim, I knew you'd come.' "

Four types of men

From Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna

MEN may be divided into four classes:
1. the ever-free,
2. the seekers after liberation,
3. the liberated and
4. those bound by the fetters of the world.

1. Suppose a net has been cast into a lake to catch fish. Some fish are so clever that they are never caught in the net. They are like the ever-free. Among the ever-free we may count sages like Narada. They live in the world for the good of others, to teach men spiritual truths.

2. But most of the fish are entangled in the net. Some of them try to free themselves from it, and they are like those who seek liberation. The seekers after liberation want to free themselves from attachment to the world. Some of them succeed and others do not.

3. A very few fish do jump out of the net, making a big splash in the water. Then the fishermen shout, 'Look! There goes a big one!' They are like the Liberated. The liberated souls, such as the Sadhus and Mahatmas, are not entangled in the world, in woman and gold. Their minds are free from worldliness. Besides they always meditate on the Lotus Feet of God.

4. But most of the fish caught in the net cannot escape, nor do they make any effort to get out. On the contrary, they burrow into the mud with the net in their mouths and lie there quietly, thinking, 'We need not fear any more; we are quite safe here.' But the poor things do not know that the fishermen will drag them out with the net. These are like the men bound to the world. Those in bondage are sunk in worldliness and are forgetful of God. Not even by mistake do they think of God.

A lesson in dream

Author Unknown

A man had a little daughter -- an only and much-beloved child.

He lived for her -- she was his life. So when she became ill and her illness resisted the efforts of the best obtainable physicians, he became like a man possessed, moving heaven and earth to bring about her restoration to health.

His best efforts proved unavailing and the child died.

The father was totally irreconcilable. He became a bitter recluse, shutting himself away from his many friends and refusing every activity that might restore his poise and bring him back to his normal self.

But one night he had a dream. He was witnessing a grand pageant of the entire little child angels. They were marching in an apparently endless line past the Great White Throne. Every white-robed angelic child carried a candle. He noticed that one child's candle was not lighted.

Then he saw that the child with the dark candle was his own little girl.

Rushing to her, while the pageant faltered, he seized her in his arms, caressed her tenderly, and then asked: "How is it, darling that your candle alone is unlighted?”

“Father, they often re-light it, but your tears always put it out."

Just then he awoke from his dream. The lesson was crystal clear, and its effects were immediate.

From that hour on he was not a recluse, but mingled freely and cheerfully with his former friends and associates.

No longer would his darling's candle be extinguished by his useless tears. 

Things aren’t always what they seem

Author unknown

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family.

The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement.

As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied, “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife.

After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel, “How could you have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him.” – she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem.” – the older angel replied.

“When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Can destiny be changed?

My maid in Mumbai posed a serious question to me one day. 

This is what she had to narrate. Her neighbour had a lady guest in her house some time back. This guest had come from a village to undergo treatment for her cancer. As luck would have it, this lady got cured totally and went back to her village. She is a lady who works on fields—“Kheti” as they call it. While working so, one day she got bitten by a snake and died on the spot. 

My maid’s question was, “Is this why God saved her from cancer? If she was fated to die soon anyways why did God save her from cancer? Why did HE make her go through this? Was it her fate? Was it her destiny?”

Well, at that moment I had no convincing answer. It set me thinking though. I had a doubt myself. Was it fate? Was it destiny? Aren’t both fate and destiny same? Or have they donned the different avatars with the same meaning?

I had to glance through the dictionary for an answer.

Lets take Destiny in the first place. Destiny is described in the dictionary as , “A predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control: "Marriage and hanging go by destiny"(Robert Burton); The power or agency thought to predetermine events: Destiny brought them together. Some thing that is to happen or has happened to a particular person or thing; lot or fortune.

Fate is described as , “a calamitous or unfavourable outcome or result; death, destruction, or downfall to predetermine; doom—“he was fated to lose the game"; a destiny or doom, eg death—“A terrible fate awaited her”; controlled or intended by fate—“He seemed fated to arrive late wherever he went.”

After analyzing the vivid meanings of Fate and Destiny as given in the dictionary, though they had the same overlapping synonyms, the subtle difference glared at me...... Fate is always associated with the negative factor where as Destiny need NOT be negative.

In fact one of the meanings for Fate was --Unfavorable destiny; doom. That’s what convinced me the existence of difference between both.

Destiny is something that drives us towards our chosen destination. It nurtures hopes and takes us to a place where we are “destined” to find happiness. Destiny allows us to choose the path. While Fate takes away our choices. Its something that happens to us whether we desire it or not. For some, its cruel, though it is meant for strengthening one’s inner power to achieve great things. 

The responsibility for finding our Destiny is ours alone. 

But Fate finds us.




Going by this theory I thought I got the answer for my maid’s question. It was destiny which brought the woman from the village to be cured of her cancer. And it was Fate that made her embrace death from a snake bite.

It was "Destiny" which saved some people during "9/11"-- people who missed to be present in the place of tragedy for some reasons beyond their control. Some silliest reasons. And it was "Fate" which consumed the lives of many.

Sometime back I had published a story on “destiny” in my FB page. Despite being repetitive, I would like to narrate it here for it describes the word “Destiny” very aptly.

During a momentous battle, a Japanese general decided to attack even though his army was greatly outnumbered. He was confident they would win, but his men were filled with doubt.

On the way to the battle, they stopped at a religious shrine. After praying with the men, the general took out a coin and said, "I shall now toss this coin. If it is heads, we shall win. If it is tails we shall lose."

"Destiny will now reveal itself."

He threw the coin into the air and all watched intently as it landed. It was heads. The soldiers were so overjoyed and filled with confidence that they vigorously attacked the enemy and were victorious.

After the battle. a lieutenant remarked to the general, "No one can change destiny."

"Quite right," the general replied as he showed the lieutenant the coin, which had heads on both sides.     

Life taught me a subtle lesson here. Now I could convincingly conclude that it was “Destiny” which brought victory for the Japanese team while it was “Fate” which made the enemies lose. Do you agree?

Would you rather be happy or right?

While at sail a Captain of a steamship hears a distress call. 

“Captain, Captain you must alter your course by 10 degrees, you are in danger of collision.” 

To which the Captain replies, “I am a mighty steamship sound and sturdy, I say to you, if my path in dangers you, you should alter your course, I will not.” 

The voice once again cries out, “Captain! Captain! You must take heed and change your course by twenty degrees; you are in danger of collision.” 

The captain replies, “I am at sail and will not change. I am a mighty and fierce steam ship.” 

The voice replies, “Yes you are a steamship, but I am a lighthouse.” 

We do not know what happened to the ship but what we can certainly make out from this is the EGO of the captain. The Ego which might’ve led to his fall. 

Now look at this famous story from Panchatantra 

A turtle who was very talkative once overheard the plan of two hunters who schemed to catch turtles the very next day. The turtle turned to two cranes for help to elude the conspiracy of the hunters. It weaved a plan where in the cranes were to hold a long stick at their ends between their beaks.

The turtle was to close its mouth tightly in the middle of the stick so that it would be carried away to a safe distance when the birds make their flight.

The cranes agreed to the idea and asked the turtle to hold the stick firmly. The cranes took off with their flight with the turtle dangling in the middle of the stick. When the birds were up high in the air with the turtle, people from below were awe struck about the strange sight. 

They exclaimed "What clever birds! A brilliant idea to carry a turtle!" The proud turtle who could not contain himself shouted out "The idea is mine!", only to tumble from above to land on the earth. 

It was the PRIDE of the turtle which caused its fall. 

Both stories talk about fall. But can you notice the subtle difference between the attitudes of the characters? 

In the case of the former it was arrogance which led to the fall. Whereas, the turtle was genuinely proud of his plan and he wanted the world to know about his achievements. But the basic and important difference here is the turtle was not arrogant. Ego is an obsession with just having to be right and is often rather selfish while pride is based on the facts of a person's achievements and feelings of these qualities and so is less selfish. In short Ego is “false-pride”. Being proud about some quality which does not exist. The captain of the ship acted on ego while the Turtle acted on pride. Ofcourse both had to become Humpty Dumpty to have had a great fall ultimately. 

Pride as such is a positive and healthy feeling if practiced in the right sense. One can be proud of his country, his nation, his parents, his off-springs, his family………… He becomes more confident in such cases. But when these feelings turn to the extreme to say that all the rest is nothing in front of these—the ego creeps in. This is the thin wall that separates both. The more one feeds the ego, the more it grows. Ego is very fragile and so gets hurt very fast but pride is more steadfast. 

But it is evident that both need an antidote and that antidote is humility. When the ego and pride are dropped and the outlook embraces humility, a new light is thrown on the perception. The Truth is revealed under new perspective. Humility paves the way to move forward with confidence and self respect. 

Life is telling us here to stop for a moment and look at it in a new perspective with humility, not to allow ego and pride to control us so that we become more successful in leading a peaceful and happy life. 

“The ego spends a lot of time practicing always being right. When someone says something that you'd normally disagree with just for the purpose of making them wrong, try saying "You're right about that." While the ego will loudly protest, this strategy can bring you peace and happiness. And would you rather be right or happy?” says Dr Wayne Dyer. 

Dr Wayne Dyer has posed a brain storming question. “Would you rather be happy or right?” ………

Let’s decide for ourselves.

Rise, Fall and Equanimity

Last week whole of India was talking about one man. Rajesh Khanna. The Superstar who breathed his last. There were frenzied crowd fighting the rains, surrounding his house to have a last glimpse of him. After all, he was a Super star. The entire media was articulating his life and achievements as a superstar. Of course, all and only nice things about him. After all, it is not acceptable to speak ill of the deceased. In the middle of all this, a chance encounter in google took me to this site http://ibnlive.in.com/news/the-darker-shades-of-rajesh-khannas-life/272808-8-66.html

One fact stared at me crystal clear when I read that news. How a meteoric rise can affect a person who is not balanced in life. The monetary comforts, fame, flattery etc can easily take us all for a ride, to a dizzy heights. It makes one easy to be consumed by an overpowering pride. But when the fall happens, the story is different. It’s a collision between fantasy and reality. Which again takes one to a dizzy low. 

Maintaining equanimity in life is the question here. The ability to maintain a calm and sane attitude under all circumstances be it pleasant or unpleasant. One look at life will tell us that life is a continuous contrast of success and failure, gains and losses, rise and fall. I have already discussed it in one of my previous posts. This Zen story illustrates it further.

A young student at a Zen monastery comes to his master and throws himself at his feet, sobbing. The teacher lifts him up gently, and asks him, “What is troubling you, my son?” “O master,” the student falters, “I am so discouraged. My meditation is a nightmare—my mind is always running after worldly thoughts, my legs ache, I'm constantly falling asleep… I cannot concentrate on anything for even a breath. I think that I am just not cut out for meditation.”

The master pats his head and comforts him “Do not worry, my child. This is only a stage. It will pass, it will pass.” The student heaves a big sigh, bows to his master, and goes back to the meditation hall.

A few days later, he comes running to his master, grinning from ear to ear. “O master, by your grace, my meditation is completely transformed now! I’m getting so much joy, so much peace, so much depth…”

The master responds calmly, “Do not worry, my son. It will pass, it will pass.”

It IS a struggle to maintain an equanimous state in such circumstances. But not that difficult a struggle that one cannot face or overcome if only we understand that everything in life is only temporary. What is permanent then?

Unconditional  love. It is the only thing that can take us through the ocean of life. “Without compassion, the brain power that distinguishes humans from other animals can be a destructive force,” says Dalai Lama, who shows us how it is possible to remain equanimous even in the face of adversity. He adds, “If there is love, there is hope to have real families, real brotherhood, real equanimity, real peace. If the love within your mind is lost, if you continue to see other beings as enemies, then no matter how much knowledge or education you have, no matter how much material progress is made, only suffering and confusion will ensue.”

Lee Iacocca once asked legendary football coach Vince Lombardi what it took to make a winning team. The book entitled Iacocca records Lombardi's answer.

There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don't win the game. Then you come to the third ingredient: “if you're going to play together as a team, you've got to care for one another. You've got to love each other. Each player has to be thinking about the next guy and saying to himself: If I don't block that man, Paul is going to get his legs broken. I have to do my job well in order that he can do his.”

"The difference between mediocrity and greatness," Lombardi said that night, "is the feeling those guys have for each other."

What a beautiful thought! What a wonderful feeling! “Philosophy teaches us to bear with equanimity the misfortunes of others.” Says Oscar Wilde. 

Life teaches us here that happiness is not coupled with rise, wealth, success or gain alone. It is something beyond that. Its attained when we surpass all these and maintain an attitude that is filled with unconditional love which ultimately showers the equanimity that is required to lead a peaceful life.