All the rooms in the house were being decorated for Diwali. Everything had to be sparkling clean and bright.
The living room said: "Hey look at me, I'm so huge. I'm the one decorated with beautiful things. I'm the most sparkling room of the house. I'm the best."
The bedroom could not resist this challenge, he retorted and said: "OK! You may be the biggest but I am the most important room in the house because everybody longs to take rest here when they are tired. The energy of everybody gets revitalised when they come to me."
The kitchen scoffed and said: "Can you rest with an empty stomach! If it were not for me what could anybody eat? Where could the food be cooked? Where would the energy come from without food? So you see, I am the most important."
The little bathroom was feeling neglected. He dare not speak too loud among these luminous dignitaries. He said meekly: "What about me, everybody needs to use me too, even if I'm smelly sometimes."
Now who could decide which was most valuable room of the house? Could these rooms do without each other?
No, no... They could all be the best places in the room. But still there was something more in there which never spoke, nor could be seen, but was always there. In fact it was in & out of all the walls of the house, all the rooms were rooted in it!
It is the SPACE! The space was not confined to a single room but instead it was present everywhere...
It was because of the space that all the rooms were existing! Every room thought: "This is my space! The space was not in the rooms but the truth is that the rooms were in the space. The space existed silently, all pervasively, selflessly, and so could hold within itself all their vanities and yet it is not bound by them.
********
Similarly people belonging to different religions, like Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain or Buddhist etc., keep trying to prove their superiority. Each individual draws energy from the blissful roots of the soul. The soul which is omnipresent & is the basis of existence of all, never utters a single word. That which is the most supreme need not prove itself...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The House
Teddy
Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant.
It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners... he is a joy to be around.."His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him.
He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest, and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class."By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's.His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume .
But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on he r wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to."After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic.
Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy.As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets.."A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life.Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors.
He assured Mrs.Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer....
The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs.Thompson did.
And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back.
She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."(For you that don't know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist in DesMoines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)Warm someone's heart today. . . pass this along. I love this story so very much, I cry every time I read it. Just try to make a difference in someone's life today? tomorrow? just "do it". Random acts of kindness, I think they call it!
Give 100 Percent in your Relationship with Others
A boy and a girl were playing together. The boy had a collection of marbles. The girl had some sweets with her. The boy told the girl that he will give her all his marbles in exchange for her sweets. The girl agreed.
The boy kept the biggest and the most beautiful marble aside and gave the rest to the girl. The girl gave him all her sweets as she had promised.
That night, the girl slept peacefully. But the boy couldn't sleep as he kept wondering if the girl had hidden some sweets from him the way he had hidden his best marble.
Moral of the story: If you don't give your hundred percent in a relationship, you'll always keep doubting if the other person has given his/her hundred percent.. This is applicable for any relationship like love, employer-employee relationship etc., Give your hundred percent to everything you do and sleep peacefully
God is at Work in our Lives
island.
He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him, and everyday he scanned
the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.
Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of
driftwood to protect himself from the elements and to store his few
possessions.
One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little
hut in flames with smoke rolling up to the sky.
The worst had happened! Everything was lost!
He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger: "God, how could you
do this to me?" he cried.
Early the next day he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was
approaching the island. It had come to rescue him.
"How did you know I was here?" asked the weary man of his rescuers.
Moral of the story:
shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the
midst of pain and suffering.
Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the
ground: it just may be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.
You may want to consider passing this on … because you never know who
feels like their hut is on fire today!
"Unselfishness is more paying, only people have not the patience to
practice it. It is more paying from the point of view of health also."
CW I p.33.Complete works of Swami Vivekananda. Volume I.
"Can anyone get
liberation, my child, unless He Himself removes shackles? Have deep faith
in God. Look upon the Master as your refuge, even as children regard their
parents."
TN348.Swami Tapasyananda and
Swami Nikhilananda. Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother;
Life and Conversations. Madras:
Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1977.
Think how People goes in this Age
How do these people survive?
-----------
ONE
------------
Recently, when I went to McDonald's I saw on the menu that you could
have an order of 6, 9 or 12 Chicken McNuggets. I asked for a half dozen
nuggets. "We don't have half dozen nuggets," said the teenager at the
counter. "You don't?" I replied. "We only have six, nine, or twelve," was
the reply. "So I can't order a half dozen nuggets, but I can order six?"
"That's right." So I shook my head and ordered six McNuggets
-----------------------
TWO
-----------
I was checking out at the local Wal-Mart with just a few items and the
lady behind me put her things on the belt close to mine. I picked up one of those "dividers" that
they keep by the cash register and placed it between our things so they
wouldn't get mixed. After the girl had scanned all of my items, she picked
up the "divider", looking it all over for the bar code so she could scan
it. Not finding the bar code she said to me, "Do you know how much this
is?" I said to her "I've changed my mind, I don't think I'll buy that
today." She said "OK," and I paid her for the things and left. She had no
clue to what had just happened.
------------------------------
THREE
-----------
A lady at work was seen putting a credit card into her floppy drive
and pulling it out very quickly. When I inquired as to what she was doing,
she said she was shopping on the Internet and they kept asking for a credit
card number, so she was using the ATM "thingy."
------------------------------
FOUR
----------
I recently saw a distraught young lady weeping beside her car. "Do you
need some help?" I asked. She replied, "I knew I should have replaced the
battery to this remote door unlocker. Now I can't get into my car. Do you
think they (pointing to a distant convenience store) would have a battery
to fit this?"
"Hmmm, I dunno. Do you have an alarm, too?" I asked. "No, just this remote
thingy," she answered, handing it and the car keys to me. As I took the key
and manually unlocked the door, I replied, "Why don't you drive over there
and check about the batteries. It's a long walk."
-------------
FIVE
---------
Several years ago, we had an Intern who was none too swift. One day
she was typing and turned to a secretary and said, "I'm almost out of
typing paper. What do I do?" "Just use copier machine paper," the secretary
told her. With that, the intern took her last remaining blank piece of
paper, put it on the photocopier and proceeded to make five "blank" copies.
---------------
SIX
----------
I was in a car dealership a while ago, when a large motor home was
towed into the garage. The front of the vehicle was in dire need of repair
and the whole thing generally looked like an extra in "Twister." I asked
the manager what had happened. He told me that the driver had set the
"cruise control" and then went in the back to make a sandwich.
--------------
SEVEN
-----------
My neighbor works in the operations department in the central office
of a large bank. Employees in the field call him when they have problems
with their computers. One night he got a call from a woman in one of the
branch banks who had this question: "I've
got smoke coming from the back of my terminal. Do you guys have a fire
downtown?"
------------
EIGHT
-----------
Police in Radnor , Pa , interrogated a suspect by placing a metal colander on his
head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy machine. The message "He's
lying" was placed in the copier, and police pressed the copy button each
time they thought the suspect wasn't telling the truth. Believing the "lie
detector" was working, the suspect confessed.
------------
NINE
-----------
A mother calls 911 very worried, asking the dispatcher if she needs to
take her kid to the emergency room, the kid was eating ants. The dispatcher
tells her to give the kid some Benadryl and it should be fine, the mother
says, I just gave him some ant killer.....Dispatcher: Rush him in to
emergency room!
Think in the Right Way
A teacher teaching Maths to five-year-old Arnav asked him, "If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?" Within a few seconds Arnav replied confidently, "Four!"
The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was disappointed. "Maybe the child did not listen properly," she thought. She repeated, "Arnav, listen carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?"
Arnav had seen the disappointment on his teacher's face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, "Four…"
The disappointment stayed on the teacher's face. She remembered that Arnav liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn't like apples and that is making him loose focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, "If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?"
Seeing the teacher happy, young Arnav calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile young Arnav enquired, "Three?"
The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, "Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?"
Promptly Arnav answered, "Four! The teacher was aghast. "How Arnav, how?" she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.
In a voice that was low and hesitating young Arnav replied, "Because I already have one apple in my bag."
Moral:
"When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect. Don't think they are wrong. There maybe an angle that you have not understood at all. You will have to listen and understand, but never listen with a predetermined notion.
