You are making the effort to change - thats good. In time, you will be able to make a positive impact on your family. You will know it when others around you notice the change and feel happy about it !Quote:
Originally Posted by crazy
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You are making the effort to change - thats good. In time, you will be able to make a positive impact on your family. You will know it when others around you notice the change and feel happy about it !Quote:
Originally Posted by crazy
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THE 20 DOLLAR BILL
A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill ?"
Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this. He proceeded to crumple up the $20 bill.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.
Well, he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.
My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt By the decisions we make and The circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE.
Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed?The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure out how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom. Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.
"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"
So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer ........................ $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap ............................ $ 9998.00
Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life make all the difference
lamby and ramky thanks!
iam really try to make a difference, but hmmmmmmmmm!
anyway i will get over this or i will the remain "the weird" in the family! :roll:
TANSTAAFL
What does this stand for? TANSTAAFL is an acronym for the adage "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch".
Simply put, TANSTAAFL means that one cannot get something for nothing.
I realized this bitter truth in the days gone by. I have searched in vain for free ebooks, free meditation courses, free yoga lessons, free tamil video songs. To my utter dismay everything comes with a price tag. :twisted: :twisted:
Yes rocketboy, there's always a price tag for everything - whether money wise or the effort and time one puts into it.Quote:
Originally Posted by rocketboy
But if you are referring to the money part of it, there is an organisation which teaches medtiation & trains a person in spirituality without any cost. For free meditation courses, you can visit this site : http://www.srcm.org/index.jsp and see what its all about. The only money you will have to spend is for commuting to the Center nearest to your residence, in whichever country you may reside.
Ramky,
Even the Ramakrishna Missions in sum cities (atleast here in Vizag) has free Yoga/meditation classes conducted on weekends, like, every sunday.
intresting ramky..............i will try here in norway! they dont actually have an ashramam here, but seems like they have a center............will try on monday!
thanks for the link! :)
You are welcome crazy ! Am glad to hear you want to give it a try.Quote:
Originally Posted by crazy
:arrow: its sure to change your life, and also your views about religion, spirituality and Gurus.
i always like such things, but here in norway it cost a fortune to get into such centers...............i once tried meditation here. God I paid 2500 kr per hour!Quote:
Originally Posted by ramky
anyway i just send them a mail. hope i get a reply!
Yes Lambretta, I am aware of these also, having lived in chennai for quite some years. But personally speaking, I was searching initially for general Peace of mind, and later for something beyond the mundane activities of daily life. Something which can also provide answers for me - reg God, Religion, Spirituality, etc without having to read numerous books ( atleast not too many ) or attend lots of discourses to know all this. I wanted to experience personally what was written in so many Yoga books - about a Higher consciousness, Kundalini and similar things. And I found the answer at this organisation - so for me the search has ended here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lambretta
But I wish to emphasise - I dont mean to say Ramakrishna Mission doesnt provide such facilities or answers. However for each individual, different methods are suitable, according to his or her individual Goals.
Crazy, thanks to a Scam some 15 yrs ago in India, I am aware that 2500 Swedish Kroners translate into hell lot of dough in Indian Rupees. But in the Shri Rama Chandra Mission everything is Free. Only thing necessary is the effort and time one must devote for it. And also some initial patience to wait for your efforts to fructify.Quote:
Originally Posted by crazy
And I am sure you will get a quick response from them !
sorry its norwegian kroners!Quote:
Originally Posted by ramky
anyway i just mailed them, hope to get a reply by monday :roll: and hope to get a better view of life! thank u :)
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Time never goes back
Once upon a time, a teacher and his student were sitting down under a big tree in the park adjoining the school. The student who had been pondering deeply over something, asked the teacher :
Student : Teacher, I'm confused how can I find my soul mate ? Can you please help me?
The teacher was silent for a few seconds, and then he answered, "Well, it's pretty hard and easy question. To get the answer, I want you to do something. Go to the grassland there, and just walk straight ahead without looking back. On your way, try to find a beautiful grass and pick it up then give it to me. But just one. However if you dont find the one you like, you should not walk back, but must go further ahead to find the better one.
Student : Well, ok teacher.
He walks straight ahead to the grass field.
A few minutes later the student comes back.
Student : I'm back....
Teacher : Hmm well I don't see any beautiful grass on your hand.
Student : On my journey, I found few beautiful grass, but I thought that I would find a better one, so I didn't pick it up. But I didn't realize that I've reached the end of the field, and I hadn't pick any. Because you told me not to go back, I didn't go back. So now I dont have even a single grass with me.
Teacher : Now that's what happens in real life too, when you search for a soul mate. The grass are the people around you. Beautiful Grass are the people that attract you. And the Grass Field is Time.
In looking for your soul mate, once you have found someone,
don't always compare and hope that there will be a better one.
By doing so, you'll waste your lifetime in searching for the better one.
And will also lose the soul mate you already have.
Because remember "Time Never Goes Back".... So try to accept what he or she is.
i have read this before :)
anyway thats was good.
First-year students at the University of Kansas Medical School were
receiving their first anatomy class with a real dead human body.
They all gathered around the surgery table with the body covered with a
white sheet.The professor started the class by telling them, "In medicine, it is necessary to have two important qualities as a doctor the first is that you not be disgusted by anything involving the human body".
As an example the professor pulled back the sheet, stuck his finger in the flesh of the corpse, withdrew it and stuck it in his mouth. "Go ahead and do the same thing," he told his students.
The students freaked out, hesitated for several minutes, but eventually
took turns sticking a finger in the flesh of the dead body and sucking on it.
When everyone finished, the professor looked at them and told them,
"The second most important quality is observation. I stuck in my middle finger and sucked on my index finger".
"Now learn to pay attention".
rami akka :)
nice method, but what if the students had got infected by this action ! :roll:Quote:
Originally Posted by rami
or become zombies !!! :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramky
Thank you ramky. Its surprising to know that the world head quaters is at Manapakkam near chennai. An elderly person used to handle moral science classes when I was in 7th standard. He resembles the master (as he is called ) to a great extent.
Rocketboy, glad that you visited the website of Shri Ram Chandra Mission. The Master is the Spiritual Head of SRCM and his actual name is Shri.R.Parthasarathi. He retired as an Executive Director of the TTK Group of Companies, India. His life is a fine example to demonstrate that, a person can achieve great heights in both the Material & Spiritual realms at the same time. I have been a member of SRCM for quite some years - so if you want any information about this mission ( not found at the official website ), you can mail me or pm me. I will be glad to offer my help in this reg.Quote:
Originally Posted by rocketboy
Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job with a timber merchant, and he got it. His salary was really good and so were the working conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. :D
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to fell the trees. The first day, the woodcutter brought down 15 trees. :D
"Congratulations," the boss said. "Carry on with your work!"
Highly motivated by the words of his boss, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring 10 trees down. :)
The third day he tried even harder, but he was only able to bring down 7 trees. :(
Day after day he was bringing lesser number of trees down. :cry:
"I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on. :(
"When was the last time you sharpened your axe?" the boss asked.
"Sharpen? :roll: I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees..."
That's right. Most of us NEVER update our skills. We think that whatever we have learned is very much enough. But good is not good when better is expected. Sharpening our skills from time to time is the key to success :thumbsup:
:)
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The Creightons were very proud of their son, Frank. When he went to college, naturally they missed him; but he wrote and they looked forward to his letters and saw him on weekends. Then Frank was drafted into the army.
After he had been in the army about five months, he received his call to go to Vietnam. Of course, the parents' anxiety for his first letter was greater than ever before. And ever week they heard from him and were thankful for his well-being. Then one week went by without a letter ~ two weeks ~ and finally three. At the end of the third week a telegram came, saying, "We regret to inform you that you son has been missing for three weeks and is presumed to have been killed in action while fighting for his country."
The parents were shocked and grieved. They tried to accept the situation and go on living, but it was tragically lonesome without Frank.
About three weeks later, however, the phone rang. When Mrs. Creighton answered it, a voice on the other end said, "Mother, it's Frank. they found me, and I'm going to be all right. I'm in the United States and I'm coming home soon."
Mrs. Creighton was overjoyed, with tears running down her cheeks she sobbed, "Oh, that's wonderful! That's just wonderful, Frank."
There was silence for a moment, and then Frank said, "Mother I want to ask you something that is important to me. While I've been here, I've met a lot of wonderful people and I've really become close friends with some. There is one fellow I would like to bring home with me to meet you and Dad. And I would like to know if it would be all right if he could stay and live with us, because he has no place to go."
His mother assured him it would be all right.
Then Frank said, "You see, he wasn't' as lucky as some; he was injured in battle. He was hit by a blast and his face is all disfigured. He lost his leg, and his right hand is missing. So you see, he feels uneasy about how others will accept him."
Frank's mother stopped to think a minute. She began to wonder how things would work out, and what people in town would think of someone like that. She said, "Sure frank, you bring him home~ for a visit, that is. We would love to meet him and have him stay for a while; but about him staying with us permanently, well, we'll have to think about that." There was silence for a minute, and then Frank said, "Okay, Mother," and hung up.
A week went by without any word from Frank, and then a telegram arrived ~ "We regret to inform you that your son has taken his life. We would like you to come and identify the body."
Their wonderful son was gone. The horror stricken parents could only ask themselves, "Why had he done this?" When they walked into the room to identify the body of their son, they found a young man with a disfigured face, one leg missing, and his right hand gone.
ramky :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
crazy : ya its a sad story, but there are many things one can learn from it.
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Friend And Acquaintance
There is a difference between being an acquaintance and being a friend.
An acquaintance is someone whose name you know, who you see every now and then.
Who you probably have something in common with and who you feel comfortable around.
It's a person that you can invite to your home and share things with.
But they are people who you don't share your life with, whose actions sometimes you don't understand because you don't know enough about them.
On the other hand, a friend is someone you love.
Not that you are "in love" with them, but you care about them and you think about them when they are not there.
The people you are reminded of when you see something they might like, and you know this because you know them so well.
They are the people whose pictures you have and whose faces are in your head regardless.
Friends are the people you feel safe around because you know they care about you.
They call just to see how you are doing, because a friend doesn't need an excuse.
They tell you the truth, the first time, and you do the same. You know that if you have a problem, they are there to listen.
Friends are the people who won't laugh at you or hurt you, and if they do hurt you they try hard to make it up to you.
They are the people you love, regardless of whether you realize it.
Friends are the people you cried with when you got rejected from colleges and during the last song at the prom and at graduation.
They are the people that when you hug them, you don't think about how long to hug and who's going to be the first one to let go.
Maybe they are the people that hold the rings at your wedding, or maybe they are the people you marry.
Maybe they are the people who cry at your wedding because they are happy or because they are proud.
They are the people who stop you from making mistakes and help you when you do.
They are the ones who took the blame on themselves at the office when you sent the wrong quotation to the client by mistake.
They are are the people whose hand you can hold, or you can hug or give them a kiss and not have it be awkward because they understand the things you do and they love you for them.
They stick with you and stand by you. They hold your hand.
They watch you live and you watch them live and you learn from them. Your life is not the same without them.
beautiful :)
ONE BEDROOM FLAT... AN INDIAN SOFTWARE ENGINEER'S LIFE... - A Bitter Reality
As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in Software Engineer and joined a company based in USA, the land of braves and opportunity. When I arrived in the USA, it was as if a dream had come true.
Here at last I was in the place where I want to be. I decided I would be staying in this country for about Five years in which time I would have earned enough money to settle down in India.
My father was a government employee and after his retirement, the only asset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.
I wanted to do some thing more than him. I started feeling homesick and lonely as the time passed. I used to call home and speak to my parents every week using cheap international phone cards. Two years passed, two years of Burgers at McDonald's and pizzas and discos and 2 years watching the foreign exchange rate getting happy whenever the Rupee value went down.
Finally I decided to get married. Told my parents that I have only 10 days of holidays and everything must be done within these 10 days. I got my ticket booked in the cheapest flight. Was jubilant and was actually enjoying hopping for gifts for all my friends back home. If I miss anyone then there will be talks. After reaching home I spent home one week going through all the photographs of girls and as the time was getting shorter I was forced to select one candidate.
In-laws told me, to my surprise, that I would have to get married in 2-3 days, as I will not get anymore holidays. After the marriage, it was time to return to USA, after giving some money to my parents and telling the neighbors to look after them, we returned to USA.
My wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she started feeling lonely. The frequency of calling India increased to twice in a week sometimes 3 times a week. Our savings started diminishing. After two more years we started to have kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, were gifted to us by the almighty. Every time I spoke to my parents, they asked me to come to India so that they can see their grand-children.
Every year I decide to go to India. But part work part monetary conditions prevented it. Years went by and visiting India was a distant dream. Then suddenly one day I got a message that my parents were seriously sick. I tried but I couldn't get any holidays and thus could not go to India. The next message I got was my parents had passed away and as there was no one to do the last rights the society members had done whatever they could. I was depressed. My parents had passed away without seeing their grand children.
After couple more years passed away, much to my children's dislike and my wife's joy we returned to India to settle down. I started to look for a suitable property, but to my dismay my savings were short and the property prices had gone up during all these years. I had to return to the USA.
My wife refused to come back with me and my children refused to stay in India. My 2 children and I returned to USA after promising my wife
I would be back for good after two years.
Time passed by, my daughter decided to get married to an American and my son was happy living in USA. I decided that had enough and wound-up every thing and returned to India. I had just enough money to buy a decent 02 bedroom flat in a well-developed locality.
Now I am 60 years old and the only time I go out of the flat is for the routine visit to the nearby temple. My faithful wife has also left me and gone to the holy abode.
Sometimes I wondered was it worth all this? My father, even after staying in India, had a house to his name and I too have the same nothing more.
I lost my parents and children for just ONE EXTRA BEDROOM.
Looking out from the window I see a lot of children dancing. This damned cable TV has spoiled our new generation and these children are losing their values and culture because of it. I get occasional cards from my children asking I am alright. Well at least they remember me.
Now perhaps after I die it will be the neighbors again who will be performing my last rights, God Bless them. But the question still remains 'was all this worth it?'
I am still searching for an answer................!!!!
very poignant
Hmm, it is all quite a matter of perspective. One can look at stories of such sadness, and alternatively, look at tales of hope and joy!
Countless too are the stories of men and women settled in the US and elsewhere, who have even brought their parents to live with them in those shores!
Many too are the stories of Indians getting back and living happily in India.
And then there are tales of expats who send money home to actually uplift their villages or communities!
Depends merely on priorities, more than where we are!
well said, Badri...
The Rose Within
A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully and before it blossomed, he examined it.
He saw the bud that would soon blossom, but noticed thorns upon the stem and he thought,
“How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?”
Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and just before it was ready to bloom...it died.
So it is with many people.
Within every soul there is a rose.
The God-like qualities planted in us at birth, grow amid the thorns of our faults.
Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects.
We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us.
We neglect to water the good within us, and eventually it dies.
We never realize our potential.
Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them.
One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns of another, and find the rose within them.
This is one of the characteristics of love... to look at a person, know their true faults and accept that person into your life...
all the while recognizing the nobility in their soul ... help others to realize they can overcome their faults.
If we show them the rose within themselves, they will conquer their thorns.
Only then will they blossom many times over.
There once was a bunch of tiny frogs,...
... who arranged a running competition.
The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower.
A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants...
The race began...
Honestly:
No one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower.
You heard statements such as:
"Oh, WAY too difficult!!"
"They will NEVER make it to the top."
or:
"Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"
The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one...
... Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher...
The crowd continued to yell,
"It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!"
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up...
..But ONE continued higher and higher and higher...
This one wouldn't give up!
At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!
THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it?
A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal?
It turned out...
That the winner was DEAF!!!!
The wisdom of this story is:
Never listen to other people's tendencies to be negative or pessimistic...
...because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you -- the ones you have in your heart!
Always think of the power words have.
Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions!
good one :clap:
how we wish we have machine to switch off (or program) what we dont wanna hear!
selective deafness :wink:
ganesh and ramky :clap:
:) :D :P
crazy : takk ! takk !
One of the most memorable case studies that came across on Japanese management was the case of the empty soap box, which happened in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics companies.
The company received a complaint that a consumer had bought a soap box that was empty. Immediately the authorities isolated the problem to the assembly line, which transported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. For some reason, one soap box went through the assembly line empty. Management asked its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste, the engineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they spent whoopee amount to do so.
But when a rank-and-file employee in a small company was posed with the same problem, did not get into complications of X-rays, etc but instead came out with another solution. He bought a strong industrial electric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on, and as each soap box passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.
Moral of the story: "Always look for simple solutions. Devise the simplest possible solution that solves the problem :-) So, learn to focus on
solutions not on problems "
:clap: Ganeshji. I know this story :) good one
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A Little Boys Temper
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily, gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said "you have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one."
You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there.
Make sure you control your temper the next time you are tempted to say something you will regret later.