Interesting Anecdotes

Mind doesn´t exist as an entity ― the is the first thing.
Only thoughts exist.
The second thing: the thoughts exist separate from us, they are not one with our nature, they come and go ― we remain, we persist.
We are like the sky: it never comes, it never goes, it is always there.
Clouds come and go, they are momentary phenomena, they are not eternal.
Even if we try to cling to a thought, we cannot retain it for long; it has to go, it has its own birth and death.
Thoughts are not ours, they don´t belong to us.
They come as visitors, guests, but they are not the host.

Watch deeply, then we will become the host and thoughts will be the guests.
And as guests they are beautiful, but if we forget completely that we are the host and they become the hosts, then we are in a mess.
This is what hell is.
We are the master of the house, the house belongs to us, and guests have become the masters.
Receive them, take care of them, but don´t get identified with them; otherwise, they will become the masters.

The mind becomes the problem because we have taken thoughts so deeply inside us that we have forgotten completely the distance; that they are visitors, they come and go.
Always remember that which abides: that is our nature.
Always be attentive to that which never comes and never goes, just like the sky.
Change the gestalt: don´t be focused on the visitors, remain rooted in the host; the visitors will come and go.

Have a nice day

Let this become our key - next time when anger comes, just watch it.
Don´t say, “I am angry.”
Say, “Anger is there and I am watching it.”
And see the difference!
The difference is vast.
Suddenly we are out of the grip of anger.
If we can say, “I am just a watcher, I am not anger,” we are out of the grip.
When sadness comes, just sit by the side and look at it and say, “I am the watcher, I am not sadness,” and see the difference.
Immediately we have cut the very root of sadness.
It is no more nourished.
It will die of starvation.
We feed these emotions by being identified with them.
If religiousness can be reduced to one single thing, it is non-identification.

Have a nice day.

Two men went fishing. One was an experienced fisherman, the other wasn't. Every time the experienced fisherman caught a big fish, he put it in his ice chest to keep it fresh. Whenever the inexperienced fisherman caught a big fish, he threw it back.

The experienced fisherman watched this go on all day and finally got tired of seeing the man waste good fish. "Why do you keep throwing back all the big fish you catch?" he asked.

The inexperienced fisherman replied, "I only have a small frying pan.

Sometimes, like that fisherman, we throwback the big plans, big dreams, big jobs, big opportunities that God gives us. Our faith is too small.

We laugh at that fisherman who didn't figure out that all he needed was a bigger frying pan, yet how ready are we to increase the size of our faith?

Whether it's a problem or a possibility, God will never give you anything bigger than you can handle. That means we can confidently walk into anything
God brings our way.

You can do all things through God. Nothing is big for God.

REMEMBER

Stop telling God you've got BiG problems.Tell your problems you've got a BIG GOD!

Do not lose your opportunities in this coming new year, have big dreams, big plans & big achievements.

Subject: How Consultants work..very interesting


A shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a
brand-new BMW drives up in a cloud of dust. The driver, a young man in
an Armani suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the
window and asks the shepherd: "If I tell you exactly how many sheep you
have in your flock, will you give me one?"

The shepherd looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, and then looks at
his peacefully grazing flock and calmly answers: "Sure. Why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer,
connects it to his AT&T cell phone, surfs to a NASA page on the internet,
where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix
on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans
the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and
exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within
seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been
processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through
an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with hundreds of complex formulas. He
uploads all of this data via an email on his Blackberry and, after a few
minutes,receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page
report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns
to the shepherd and says: "You have exactly 1586 sheep."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my sheep.", says the
shepherd.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused
as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car. Then the shepherd
says to the young man: "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business
is,will you give me back my sheep?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says: "Okay, why
not?"

"You're a consultant." says the shepherd.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required", answered the shepherd. "You showed up here even
though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already
knew, to a question I never asked; and you don't know crap about my
business. Now give me back my DOG."

:lol:

ubject: something to think about

> "An old man, staying in a small south Indian town
> came to visit his son in
> Bombay recently. The son in his early thirties is a
> successful businessman
> living with his wife and son. The father, having
> spent most of his life at
> his birthplace, hardly understands a splatter of
> Hindi or English, forget
> Marathi. But he doesn't care. 'I have come here to
> spend a few days with my
> son and his family. I don't have to go out and
> socialize with the city
> people,' he said.
>
> But the son is very excited about his father's rare
> visit to Bombay. He
> wants to make the best of it. He and his wife want
> to show him around the
> city. And yes, the son enjoys those evening hours
> too, when he and his
> father go out and sit in a good bar, sipping their
> favorite drink.
>
> Last week he was in a very good mood. 'Let's go to
> a five star hotel's bar
> tonight,' he told his father. It was a beautiful
> evening. Talking about
> everything under the sun they had a few drinks. As
> usual they were offered
> some salad, peanuts, wafers etc .as accompaniments
> with their drinks. The
> old man being almost toothless was not much
> interested in eating. But that
> day when they got up to leave, he simply took a
> handful of chana (roasted
> grams) and stuffed it in the fold of his dhoti. He
> might have thought about
> munching on them, sitting in the car, or whatever.
> Unfortunately while
> walking in the lobby, he missed a step and
> stumbled. Down he went,
> scattering the chana on the plush carpet. No
> problem .Now lets try to
> visualize this scenario. Someone else in his son's
> place would have been
> mortified, embarrassed to death. He might have
> cursed not his father but his
> own self for causing this awkward situation. 'Never
> again will I take my old
> man to such hotels', he would have vowed. No sir,
> not this son. Gently,
> with a smile, he helped his father get back on his
> feet. Instead of feeling
> irritated or angry, he was amused. He found the
> whole incident very funny.
> Laughing, they both went home and on the way they
> decided to return to the
> same place the following Sunday. The old man liked
> the place & the chana
> too. A son rises A few days back; at a friend's
> place they both described
> this event and made everybody laugh.
>
> Weren't you embarrassed? Somebody asked the son.
> 'Oh, come on now' replied
> the son. 'He is my father. He talks in his native
> language, prefers to wear
> a dhoti even to a posh city hotel, takes chana from
> the bar to eat later,
> does whatever he feels like.... So what? Why should
> I feel embarrassed with
> his nature and habits? Nobody has a right to stop
> him from doing whatever he
> feels comfortable with, as long as it is not harmful
> to others.'
>
> The son doesn't care what the staff in the hotel
> thought about that
> incident. He says 'they should be concerned only
> with their bills and tips.
> I am concerned about my father's happiness.' The
> wife too totally agrees
> with the husband on this issue. She feels there are
> enough other qualities
> in her father- in- law to feel proud of.
>
> Accept them .The above incident is not mentioned
> just to show the love and
> devotion of a son for his father. More than love it
> is a matter of
> understanding and a healthy respect for the other
> person's lifestyle. A
> seventy plus old man doesn't want to change his
> lifestyle now. He likes the
> way he eats or dresses or talks. In his eyes there
> is nothing wrong with the
> old ways of living. And the son says, "ok, fine.
> Every body has a right to
> live as per his wish. Now at his age, why should he
> be forced to learn to
> eat with a fork and knife, if he doesn't want to? I
> will feel bad if he is
> doing something morally wrong or indulging in some
> harmful activities. But
> otherwise it is fine. I am not going to try to
> change him at this stage. He
> is my father. I love him, respect him."
>
> Hey folks, can you think this way? So many times we
> see people getting
> embarrassed by the so-called unsophisticated
> behavior of their family
> members. They keep on apologizing about their lack
> of class and manners or
> about their drawbacks to outsiders. My wife can't
> speak proper English; she
> doesn't know what's happening in the world, so I
> avoid taking her out or
> introducing her to my friends and business
> associates... My parents can't
> eat with a spoon and fork, so I don't take them to
> restaurants.... My
> husband is working as an ordinary clerk, so I feel
> awkward when I introduce
> him to my rich friends. My brother is mentally
> challenged, so I don't feel
> like going out with him... Are you plagued with such
> thoughts or do you meet
> such people who think alike?
>
> If you do, please ask yourself. Why do others or I
> feel this way? Really
> what is there to feel ashamed of? Most of the people
> always have this fear
> of other peoples' opinions and comments. What would
> others say? They think
> and try to alter their own way of living, sometimes
> unnecessarily.
>
> What is worse is they try to change their own people
> too. And when they
> can't, they are ashamed, angry and apologetic to
> outsiders. In fact, these
> are the people who have no respect for others and no
> confidence in oneself.
> They try to copy others, try to be what they are
> not, and constantly ask for
> outsiders' approval for their behavior. They don't
> care about the feelings
> of their family members when they avoid or belittle
> them. They don't think
> how happy his or her family member would feel if
> he/she gets an opportunity
> to go to some swanky restaurant or a fun-filled
> party. Your spouse, your
> parents, your grandparents, your sibling, and your
> children: - All these
> people are depending on you for their happiness. if
> you don't fulfill their
> desires, who will?
>
> They are what they are. We are what we are. We
> don't have to change
> ourselves to please strangers. And if you do, you
> are in for life long
> misery. In that case you would never dare taking
> your dhoti clad relative to
> a five star hotel. And your father would never sit
> amongst your friends and
> laugh his heart out over some funny incident."
>
> So, the moral is:"as long as it is not harming
> anyone (including you), be
> yourself in your own special way.
>
> And enjoy each and every moment passing away."

Quote:

---

Nobody has a right to stop him from doing whatever he
feels comfortable with, as long as it is not harmful to others.

---

I think that bit was really beautiful! :)

And this one - is really hitting the nail on the head

Quote:

---

They are what they are. We are what we are. We don't have to change ourselves to please strangers.

---

Isnt it really absurd that we feel embarrassed by our kith and kin because of what strangers who we might never meet again might think of them?

If we are in the company of our friends, then they would understand, so there is nothing to feel embarrassed about.

If we are in the company of strangers, as the case in this anecdote, then who is more important - our own people or those strangers? Again, there is nothing to feel embarrassed about.


Thanks for sharing this, Mrs PP :)

:D

Who ever thinks that the bamboo is more beautiful than the oak, or the oak more valuable than the bamboo?
Do we think the oak wishes it had a hollow trunk like this bamboo?
Does the bamboo feel jealous of the oak because it is bigger and its leaves change color in the fall?
The very idea of the two trees comparing themselves to each other seems ridiculous, but we humans seem to find this habit very hard to break.
Let's face it, there is always going to be somebody who is more beautiful, more talented, stronger, more intelligent, or apparently happier than you are.
And conversely, there will always be those who are less than you in all these ways.
The way to find out who you are is not by comparing yourself with others, but by looking to see whether you are fulfilling your own potential in the best way you know how.

Have a nice day.

Subject: Something to think about

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each
morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably coifed and shaved
perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.
His wife of 70 years recently passed away,
making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the
lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description
of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his
window.

"I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having
just been presented with a new puppy.

"Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait."

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied.

"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room
or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged it's how I arrange my
mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning
when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the
difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out
of bed and be thankful for the ones that do."

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day
and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put; in. so,
my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account
of memories! Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still
depositing."
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2.. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5.Expect less