Set yourself free

Dictionary defines forgiveness as “to stop feeling anger toward someone who has done something wrong; to stop blaming (someone); to stop feeling anger about (something).”

Understanding what forgiveness is not, is just as important as understanding what forgiveness is.

Forgiveness does not in general mean forgetting / overlooking / pardoning the offender. Replacing the hatred with happiness, displeasure with delight, exasperation with ease, petulance with peace and animosity with agreeability is forgiveness too. It brings the forgiver peace of mind and frees him from being a prisoner of his own destructive frame of mind.

A beautiful legend tells of an African tribe that ritualizes forgiveness.*

When a tribe member acts irresponsibly or unjustly, the offender is taken to the center of the village. All work ceases and every man, woman and child in the village gathers in a large circle around the accused.

Then the tribe bombards the rejected person with affirmations!

One at a time, friends and family enumerate all the good the individual has done. Every incident, every experience that can be recalled with some detail and accuracy is recounted. All their positive attributes, strengths and kindnesses are recited carefully and at length.

Finally, the tribal circle is broken, a joyous celebration takes place, and the outcast is welcomed back into the tribe.

What a beautiful ritual of restoration.

Once again they are family. The rejected one is restored and the village is made whole.

* Story taken from http://www.LifeSupportSystem.com by Steeve Goodier

Though there is still a debate over whether forgiveness should replace negative feelings with positive feelings towards the offender, psychologists agree that it empowers the forgiver to heal and move on life.

Gratitude can change destiny

Shared from a Facebook post of a friend

There was a small bird living in a desert.

With no sign of greenery the bird had to hop around on the hot sand through the day.

An angel, while on his way to God, saw the little bird and felt pity.

He went and asked, “O little bird! What are you doing in this hot desert? Can I do something for you?”

The little bird said, “I am very pleased with my life, but this heat is unbearable. Both my feet are getting burnt. Only if there was a tree here, I’d be delighted”.

Angel said, “Growing a tree in the middle of desert is beyond my scope. I am going to meet God, let me speak to Him and ask if He could fulfill your desire”.

Angel asked God, if he could help the bird. God said, “I could grow a tree, but her destiny doesn’t allow it and I can’t change that. However, you can give her my message, which will help her survive the heat. Ask her to hop with one foot at a time. That way she can rest the other one for a while and change foot often. This way only one of her feet will have to bear the heat and other one will be able to rest and recover. Also tell her to remember all the good things that have happened in her life and be thankful to God for that."

Angel came back to where the bird was and gave her this message from God.

The bird was delighted by the idea and thanked him for the effort he made to make her comfortable.

After a few days......

Angel was crossing the same desert and thought of checking on the little bird.

He saw the bird sitting on big green tree, right in the middle of the desert. Angel was happy to see the bird in comfort but was very disappointed with God who suggested that there was no tree in this bird’s destiny.

He went to meet God and told Him the whole story.

God replied, “I never lied to you. There was no tree in the bird’s destiny. However, after you gave her my message, which asked her to be grateful to God for the kind things, she did put those words to action. She remembered every possible thing from her life and thanked God with a pure heart. I was moved with her feeling of gratitude and that’s what made me change her destiny”.

Angel was pleased with the answer.

A small gratitude can bring so much in our lives. Always thank God & Stay blessed

Nothing is yours

Taken from Facebook post of a friend............

There is an ancient story....

A man who has gone out of his town comes back and finds that his house is on fire. It was one of the most beautiful houses in the town, and the man loved the house. Many people were ready to give double price for the house, but he had never agreed for any price, and now it is just burning before his eyes. And thousands of people have gathered, but nothing can be done.

The fire has spread so far that even if you try to put it out, nothing will be saved. So he becomes very sad.

His son comes running, and whispers something in his ear: "Don't be worried. I sold it yesterday, and at a very good price ― three times.... The offer was so good I could not wait for you. Forgive me."

But the father says, "Good, if you have sold it for three times more than the original price of the house." 

Then the father is also a watcher, with other watchers.

Just a moment before he was not a watcher, he was identified. 

It is the same house, the same fire, everything is the same. but now he is not concerned. He is enjoying it just as everybody else is enjoying.

Then the second son comes running, and he says to the father, "What are you doing? You are smiling ― and the house is on fire?"

The father says, "Don't you know, your brother has sold it."

He says, "He had talked about selling it, but nothing has been settled yet, and the man is not going to purchase it now."

Again, everything changes. Tears which had disappeared, comes back to the father's eyes, his smile is no more there, his heart is beating fast. But the watcher is gone.

He is again identified.

And then the third son comes, and he says, "That man is a man of his word. I have just come from him. He said, 'It doesn't matter whether the house is burned or not, it is mine. And I am going to pay the price that I have settled for. Neither you knew, nor I knew that the house would catch on fire.'"

The next moment the father feels, "Somebody else has purchased it, I have nothing to do with it; let the house burn."

Again the father is a watcher. The identity is no more there.

Essentially nothing is changing; just the idea that "I am the owner, I am identified somehow with the house," makes the whole difference.

This simple methodology of watching the mind, that you have nothing to do with it....

Most of your thoughts are not yours but from your parents, your teachers, your friends, the books, the movies, the television, the newspapers......

Just count how many thoughts are your own, and you will be surprised that not a single thought is your own. All are from other sources, all are borrowed ― either dumped by others on you, or foolishly dumped by yourself upon yourself, but nothing is yours.

NOTHING IS EVER YOURS....
Except God
Who is always yours!!!

When to speak your mind and mind your speech

A sage presented a prince with a set of three small dolls. The prince was amused.

“Am I a girl that you give me dolls?”, he asked.

“This is a gift for a future king,” Said the sage. “If you look carefully, you’ll see a hole in the ear of each doll.”

The sage handed him a piece of string. “Pass it through each doll.” – He said.

Intrigued, the prince picked up the first doll and put the string into the ear. It came out from the other ear. 

“This is one type of person,” said the sage, “whatever you tell him, comes out from the other ear. He doesn’t retain anything.”

The prince put the string into the second doll. It came out from the mouth. “This is the second type of person,” said the sage, “whatever you tell him, he tells everybody else.”

The prince picked up the third doll and repeated the process. The string did not come out. “This is the third type of person,” said the sage, “whatever you tell him is locked up within him. It never comes out.”

“What is the best type of person?”, asked the prince.

The sage handed him a fourth doll, in answer. When the prince put the string into the doll, it came out from the other ear.

“Do it again,” said the sage.

The prince repeated the process. This time the string came out from the mouth. When he put the string in a third time, it did not come out at all.

“This is the best type of person,” said the sage. “To be trustworthy, a man must know when not to listen, when to remain silent and when to speak out.”

Four important things to remember:

1. When to speak

2. What to speak

3. Whom to speak &

4. When NOT to speak

There can be no place for violence when there is love

Two friends were walking through the desert. At some point of the journey they had an argument, and the first friend slapped the other one in the face. The second one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The second friend who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the first friend saved him. This time his friend wrote on a stone: 

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.

The first friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “When I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now when I saved you, you write on a stone. Why?” 

The second friend replied, “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand because winds of forgiveness can erase it completely. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where nothing can ever erase it.”

“When someone does something wrong, don’t forget all the things they did right.”

Rise & Fall

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” Paulo Coelho

Life has a way of giving us jolts that push us down. Just when we get up and feel that its all over, it knocks us again. But the silver lining in this is that every time we get up and reminisce, we find it hard to recollect how we could pull it off. Those are the moments that remind us about the super Power that exists.

One Night a man had a dream. He dreamt he was walking along the beach with the Lord.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to him and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you you'd walk with me all the way, but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."

The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

When we surrender all our troubled times that we had no power to handle to the Lord, our life takes a twist around.

Even though the question “why me?” arises every time, only meaningful answer to this question is that He would take care whatever be it. One just needs that faith. 

To love is to share and serve

A farmer used to win the contest for producing best corn year after year. A reporter once asked him if he could reveal the secret of this feat. The farmer confessed that it was because he shared his seed with his neighbours.

The puzzled reporter asked, "Why do you share your best corn seed with your neighbors, since they also enter the same contest year after year?”

"You see, Sir," said the farmer, "The wind carries the pollen of the ripe maize, from one crop to the other. If my neighbors cultivate an inferior quality corn, the crossed pollination would constantly degrade the quality of mine. If I am going to sow good corn I should help my neighbor to do it so too."


We live in a diverse community where the welfare of one is coupled with the welfare of the other. The law of attraction operates here in an overwhelming magnitude. When we give love, the world around will give that love back to us in multitudes.

"Love expects no reward. Love knows no fear. Love Divine gives - does not demand. Love thinks no evil; imputes no motive. To Love is to share and serve.” ~ Swami Sivananda

Education and Experience

Unknown Author

There is a difference between education and experience.

Education is what you get from reading the small print.

Experience is what you get from not reading it! 

But isn't it true that great learning comes from both education and experience? 

Let me tell you a parable:

A young school teacher had a dream that an angel appeared to him and said, "You will be given a child who will grow up to become a world leader. How will you prepare her so that she will realize her intelligence, grow in confidence, develop both her assertiveness and sensitivity, be open—minded, yet strong in character? In short, what kind of education will you provide that she can become one of the world's truly GREAT leaders?"

The young teacher awoke in a cold sweat. It had never occurred to him before —any ONE of his present or future students could be the person described in his dream. Was he preparing them to rise to ANY POSITION to which they may aspire? He thought, 'How might my teaching change if I KNEW that one of my students were this person?'  

He gradually began to formulate a plan in his mind:

·         This student would need experience as well as instruction.

·         She / he would need to know how to solve problems of various kinds.

·         She / he would need to grow in character as well as knowledge.

·         She / he would need self assurance as well as the ability to listen well and work with others.

·         She / he would need to understand and appreciate the past, yet feel optimistic about the future.

·         She / he would need to know the value of lifelong learning in order to keep a curious and active mind.

·         She / he would need to grow in understanding of others and become a student of the spirit.

·         She/ he would need to set high standards for herself and learn self discipline, yet  would also need love and encouragement, that they might be filled with love and goodness.

His teaching changed. Every young person who walked through his classroom became, for him, a future world leader. He saw each one, not as they were, but as they could be. He expected the best from his students, yet tempered it with compassion. He taught each one as if the future of the world depended on his instruction.

After many years, a woman he knew rose to a position of world prominence.  He realized that she must surely have been the girl described in his dream. 

It turned out she was not one of his students, but rather his daughter. For all the various teachers in her life, her father was the best. 

I've heard it said that "Children are living messages we send to a time and place we will never see." But this isn't simply a parable about an unnamed school teacher. It is a parable about you and me —whether or not we are parents or even teachers.

And the story, OUR story, actually begins like this:

"You will be given a child who will grow up to become...."  You finish the sentence.

If not a world leader, then a superb father?

An excellent teacher?

A gifted healer?

An innovative problem solver?

An inspiring artist?

A generous philanthropist?

Where and how you will encounter this child is a mystery. But believe that one child's future may depend upon influence only you can provide, and something remarkable will happen. For no young person will ever be ordinary to you again. And you will never be the same.

Dualistic level of Reality

A Spanish tale

Once there was a Meeting of tools—Hammer, Screw, Sand paper, The Tape and The Saw—to fix their differences.

Head of the meeting was Hammer. But it was decided by all other members that he had to resign. Reason? He was too noisy and pounding all the time. Everyone wanted the Screw to be the Head.

Hammer accepted the verdict about himself but he wanted Screw also to resign. Reason? They had to make him do many turns to perform one single act. So he recommended Sand paper to be the Head.

Screw accepted the verdict about himself but he wanted Sand paper also to resign. Why? Because he was very rough in the treatment. According to him, The tape was the best choice for Heading the meeting.

Sand paper accepted the verdict about himself but he wanted The Tape also to resign. Why? Because he always spent time measuring others according to his level, as if he were the only one perfect.

At that moment came in the carpenter, put on the apron and started his work. He created an an attractive furniture out of the country wood using The Hammer, The Sand Paper, The Tape, The Saw and The Screw. 

When the carpenter finished the work, the assembly restarted its deliberation. It was then The Saw took the floor and said, “Gentlemen, all of you spoke about our defects, but the carpenter made use of our best qualities.  That makes us valuable.  So let's stop contemplating on our bad points and let's concentrate in the usefulness of our good points.” 

The assembly then realised that:

The Hammer was strong.

The Screw joined and gave reinforcement.

The Sand Paper polished and filed down roughness.

The Tape helped to be precise and exact.

We live in a dualistic level of reality. The fact that there exists ‘yin and yang’, ‘day and night’ in life, confirms that everything in this world exists at dualistic level. These dualities exist in ourselves too in the form of joy and sorrow, success and failure, inspiration and depression, likes and dislikes, etc.

Wisdom lies in exploring this duality and allowing life to flow moment to moment, exactly as it is intended, embracing both positive and negative with open arms.

Ego or Pride?

Is there any distinction between ego & pride at all? Are they synonymous?

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…………

Ego creeps in when these feelings turn to the extreme to say that all the rest is nothing in front of these.

This is the thin wall that separates both.

Look at these 2 stories that illustrate this perception.

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

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

The Captain replied, “I am captain of a mighty steamship sound and sturdy, I say to you, if my path endangers you, you should alter your course, I will not.” 

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

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

The voice replied, “Yes you may steer a steamship, but I am a lighthouse.”

This is the EGO of the captain. The Ego which might’ve led to his fall.

Now look at another story

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.

The more one feeds the ego, the more it grows.

Pride is more steadfast.

But……. it is evident that both need to be controlled. And the antidote is humility. When the ego and pride are dropped and the outlook embraces humility, a new light is thrown on the perception. 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.