Vision

  There was a man who was fond of reading the philosophy of life. He was curious about knowing the perspective of others’ life. Once he came across three stone cutters. By the sense of inquiry, he asked them what they were doing.  The first replied, “I am making a living.” The second kept hammering while he said, “I am doing the best job of stonecutting in the entire county.” The third looked up with a visionary gleam in his eye and said, “I am building a cathedral.” The man was very amazed to know the answers. All three were doing the same work but the attitudes were different. The first one was just making his livelihood, nothing else. It’s barely impossible to come up with such a perspective.  The second one was higher than the first one. He was making the best possible. Such an outlook guides us ahead in life. It leads us to perfection. And when we do any work with perfection it is noticed and appreciated by all.  While the third one had the spiritual viewpoint. ...

  Adversity is God’s university.  ~ Author unknown  Adversity! God’s divine way of preparing a man. When troubles crucify, we torment. We complain and criticize. We blame and escape. We become irritable and dissatisfied. But here, we need to appreciate the purpose of the difficulty. The unanticipated calamities are being sent by God. He is preparing us for greatness. In adversity, the true potential is revealed and strong character is shaped. So ultimately adversity is an opportunity for growth.   Here is a wonderful poem that discovers the real meaning of adversity in life.  The tree that never had to fight For sun and sky and air and light, But stood out in the open plain And always got its share of rain, Never became a forest king But lived and died a scrubby thing. The man who never had to toil To gain and farm his patch of soil, Who never had to win his share Of sun and sky and light and air, Never became a manly man But lived and died as he began. Goo...

  Once, there was an oxen pair who toiled day and night. They were tied to a wagon that they had to pull. One day, the oxen were pulling the wagon along a bumpy road. They had to use all their strength to pull the wagon, but they did not complain.  The wheels of the wagon were of a different sort. Though the task they had to do was very light compared with the oxen, they creaked and groaned at every turn. The driver of the wagon became furious. He said to the wagon, “Why do you make so much noise? Can’t you see the oxen are quietly doing their job?” This story depicts the nature of the mind. When we get difficulties in life, we creak and groan. We moan about the circumstances and end up in pain. Here the alteration is required with attitude. We need to understand who is sending adversities and why.  Once we cultivate a positive attitude, we can welcome the challenges of life. God has gifted us with life with love and care. And I am not alone but he resides within and take...

  TRUE HAPPINESS IS TO REST SATISFIED WITH WHAT WE HAVE Tilicius Annagus Seneca was a man of many talents. He was a La poet, dramatist, orator, statesman, and one of the greatest of the Stoic philosophers. He was also one of the best-read men in Rome. At the moment he was thoroughly enjoying the fables of a Greek slave named Aesop who was said to have lived at the court of Croesus six centuries ago.  They were quaint little stories, about animals mostly—but each with a moral truth concealed in its penetrating nonsense. A pity more people couldn't read, he thought. There were some good lessons to be learned here. Suddenly his attention was caught by a single phrase: "Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything." Why that was almost exactly what he had written yesterday in his essay on happiness! He got it out and found the sentence: A wise man is a content with his lot, whatever it be. Without realizing it, he had paraphrased the Greek storyteller! But many...

  Once upon a time, there lived a hare in a forest. He was very speedy in movement and was always proud of his speed. A tortoise also lived nearby. The hare always teased the tortoise for his slow speed. It has a heavy shell on its back. Its legs are short. So, it cannot move as fast as other animals. The hare always teased the tortoise for his slow speed. One day while the hare cut a joke at the tortoise for its slow speed, the latter challenged the hare and agreed to run a race. At this, the hare was much amused. So he said, “Good”, let’s fix a date for the race. They fixed a date. A fox came to see the race. The tortoise and the hare came to the starting point. The race began. The hare began to run very fast. He jumped and jumped. He ran a kilometer in a few minutes. Soon he found the tortoise far behind him. He became sure of success. Then he stopped. He said to himself. What’s the use of going so fast? Perhaps, the tortoise has covered only a few yards by this time. So, I can ...

In the search for happiness. The ever wondering quest of mankind. We run after worldly wealth but many times we miss the inner wealth. The spring of happiness sprouts within us. It resides within us.  Here is a small Hindi poem, the poet searches for happiness, and finally he realizes that it’s nowhere else but in the small things around us. It’s in gifts that God has been cherished with us. It’s in Gratitude. It’s in feeling thankful for what we have.  Never count on lack of life, but always count on haves of life. What we have matters greater than what we don’t have. It’s the greatest lesson in life. Practice Gratitude to be happy. Cultivate satisfaction to feel joy. Here is a Poem: ऐ “सुख” तू कहाँ मिलता है क्या तेरा कोई पक्का पता है क्यों बन बैठा है अन्जाना आखिर क्या है तेरा ठिकाना। कहाँ कहाँ ढूंढा तुझको पर तू न कहीं मिला मुझको ढूंढा ऊँचे मकानों में बड़ी बड़ी दुकानों में स्वादिष्ट पकवानों में चोटी के धनवानों में वो भी तुझको ही ढूंढ रहे थे बल्कि मुझको ही पूछ रहे थे क्या आपको...

Once upon a time, a man dreamed of an interview with God. Isn’t it astonishing to know; what kind of questions would have been asked to God? It’s a wonderful imagination of questions and answers, gives the real meaning to the understanding of life. In this race of success, we may forget the value of life and family. We may run after the material happiness and ignore the inner ecstasy. We may give priority to the profession, and forget to enjoy the colors of life. We may forget the nearness of God. This poem makes us realize it. It makes us think that what is important in life. Here it goes: I dreamed I had an interview with God. "So, you would like to interview me?" God asked. "If you have the time," I said. God smiled. "My time is eternity; what questions do you have in mind to ask me?" "What surprises you most about humankind?" God answered: "That they get bored with childhood -- they rush to grow up and then long to be children again. Tha...

We are living in the most technologically advanced age. In this emerging era of information technology, artificial intelligence has changed the face of our lives. We fly in the sky, we swim under the water, and we run fast upon the earth. What's not possible with the help of science and technology? But one thing we also need to consider is that the modern age has given birth to conflict with competition, stress with turmoils, and fear with uncertainty. Everyone is ambitious to be successful. In this race of success, we might be a victim of failures and setbacks. Unease and distress may agitate us. We may be stuck in our minds. So here is a kind of intelligence that can help us. In earlier times, only IQ was considered to be successful. But with time, experts realized that with IQ, man must nurture EQ to be successful. Now the new insights revealed that man must cultivate SQ as the core quality in life. Whatever happens in life, worst or best, if we have divine wisdom as an undercur...