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Our Bank Account With God
As a child I always aspired to be a doctor and serve the people in a village. I worked hard (my father worked harder) to realize my dream, which became a reality in 1973.

There was a lady, Sarupi, who worked part-time in our house, washing our clothes, escorting all four daughters of the house to school and back. Enroute, she used to explain the benefits of good deeds. She often said, "Every good act you do gets deposited in your bank account with God and whenever the need arises, that's what you withdraw." Now a bank account literally meant cash to our immature minds and I always used to tease her about where the money was.

Days, months and years passed by and I became a full-fledged doctor. Sarupi was always present in my OPD with some patient or the other. She was very proud of me, and her pet discourse never varied: "Deposit in your bank account with God!" Believe me, I never took it seriously until something happened that changed my worldview.

One Diwali, after the pooja we were out enjoying the firecrackers. A friend tied the thread of two 'atom bombs' together and lit the fire. One bomb exploded harmlessly but the other hit my right eye. I was rushed to an ophthalmologist who treated me immediately. After a long, terrible hour, he told me that my eye was safe.

Sarupi came to see me when I was convalescing. She sat with me for an hour, fondly enquiring about everyone's wellbeing and then softly asked, "Could you withdraw enough from God's bank for your needs?" That was the day I understood that our only hope of mercy from Providence is to invest heavily in being of service to our fellow-beings: it was a major miracle to have escaped unhurt.

A fox who lived in the deep forest of long ago had lost its front legs. No one knew how: perhaps escaping from a trap. A man who lived on the edge of the forest , seeing the fox from time to time, wondered how in the world it managed to get its food. One day when the fox was not far from him he had to hide himself quickly because a tiger was approaching. The tiger had fresh game in its claws. Lying down on the ground, it ate its fill, leaving the rest for the fox.

Again the next day the great Provider of this world sent provisions to the fox by this same tiger. The man began to think: "If this fox is taken care of in this mysterious way, its food sent by some unseen Higher Power, why don't I just rest in a corner and have my daily meal provided for me?"

Because he had a lot of faith, he let the days pass, waiting for food. Nothing happened. He just went on losing weight and strength until he was nearly a skeleton. Close to losing consciousness, he heard a Voice which said: "O you, who have mistaken the way, see now the Truth! You should have followed the example of that tiger instead of imitating the disabled fox."

Reflection Questions
In what ways do you feel like the disabled fox?
In what ways do you feel like the tiger?
Who is the "Voice" in this story?
Is it okay for the disabled fox to continue living, or would it be better off either dead or never alive in the first place?
Are there any people in your life who are like the disabled fox, but you wish they were more like the tiger?

THE RIPPLES
A man was sitting by a lake. He was throwing small pebbles into it from time to time. A young boy happened to

cross by. He was intrigued to see that after every few minutes or so, the man would toss a pebble into the

lake. The boy went up to the man and said, "Good pastime, this stone throwing, he?" "Hmmm," said the man.

He seemed to be deep in thought and obviously did not wish to be disturbed.
Sometime later, the man said softly, "Look at the water, it is absolutely still." The boy said, "Yeah, it is." The

man tossed a pebble into the water and continued, "Only till I toss a pebble into it now do you see the

ripples?" "Yeah," said the boy, "they spread further and further."
"And soon, the water is still again," offered the man.
The boy said, "Sure, it becomes quiet, after a while."
The man continued, "What if we want to stop the ripples? The root cause of the ripples is the stone. Lets take

the stone out. Go ahead and look for it." The boy put his hand into the water and tried to take the stone out.

But he only succeeded in making more ripples. He was able to take the stone out, but the number of ripples

that were made in the process were a lot more than before.
The wise man said, "It is not possible to stop the movement of the water once a pebble has been thrown into

it. But if we can stop ourselves from throwing the pebble in the first place, the ripples can be avoided

altogether! So too, it is with our minds. If a thought enters into it, it creates ripples. The only way to save the

mind from getting disturbed is to block and ban the entry of every superfluous thought that could be a

potential cause for disturbance. If a disturbance has entered into the mind, it will take its own time to die

down. Too many conflicting thoughts just cause more and more disturbances. Once the disturbance has been

caused it takes time to ebb out. Even trying to forcibly remove the thought may further increase the turmoil in

the mind. Time surely is a great healer, but prevention is always better than cure."
Before you allow a thought or a piece of information to enter your mind, put it through the triple filter test of

authenticity, goodness and value.

From Tales of the Dervishes
By Idies Shah

There was once a hard-working and generous farmer who had several idle and greedy sons. On his deathbed he told them that the would find his treasure if they were to dig in a certain field. As soon as the old man was dead, the sons hurried to the fields, which they dug up from one end to another, and with increasing desperation and concentration when they did not find the gold in the place indicated.

But they found no gold at all. Realizing that in his generosity their father must have given his gold away during his lifetime, they abandoned their search. Finally, it occurred to them that, since the land had been prepared they might as well now sow a crop. They planted wheat, which produced an abundant yield. They sold this crop and prospered that year.

After the harvest was in, the sons thought again about the bare possibility that they might have missed the buried gold, so they again dug up the fields, with the same result. After several years they became accustomed to labor, and to the cycle of the seasons, something which they had not understood before. Now they understood the reason for their father's method of training them, and they became honest and contented farmers. Ultimately, they found themselves possessed of sufficient wealth and no longer to wonder about the hidden hoard.

Reflection Questions
The obvious message in this story are that we reap what we sow (quite literally!) and that we don't always know what is best for ourselves... What are two other lessons the story teaches?

Can you recall an experience from your past that you now realize you didn't know what was best for yourself at the time the experience happened?

If there has been a time when you didn't know what was best for yourself, who or what actually did know what was best for you?[i]

Excellence...

A German once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install the idol?"

The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. "If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked. The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."

The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not. "Excellence" is a drive from inside, not outside. Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction and efficiency...

these stories are really good, I appreciate those.

Thank you.

Miss P.

Hi friend, all your stories are very good, i liked almost all stories,

keep on posting, i appreciate your work.

thank you..

A Hindu saint who was visiting river Ganges to take bath found a group of family members on the banks, shouting in anger at each other. He turned to his disciples smiled and asked.

'Why do people shout in anger shout at each other?'

Why We Shout When In Anger

Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout.'

'But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner.' asked the saint

Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the other disciples.
Finally the saint explained, .

'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to cover that great distance.

What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either nonexistent or very small...'

The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.'

He looked at his disciples and said.

'So when you argue do not let your hearts get distant, Do not say words that distance each other more, Or else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return. They may end up in divorce courts, for instance.'

Digging A
Way Out
There's a man who has been by himself in a prison cell with a dirt floor, crude stone
walls, and there's two windows one of which looks out towards the ocean. All of the sudden, he hears a scratching noise, and he looks down at the ground that is furthest away from the window facing the ocean. He sees the ground moving, and he starts to think he's losing his mind. But soon the ground breaks, and up pops a head with long hair and a beard... it's a prisoner.

And the prisoner says "Sssh. Listen. A group of us have been tunneling for about
six years, and we've finally reached your cell. We have ways to cover up my entrance into this, but now it's all on your shoulders, man. All you have to do," he said while pointing out the window towards the ocean, "you just start digging here and go down about six feet and about 75 feet in that direction and there is freedom, and we're outta here!"
"Oh, I love that! That's great; I want to be free!"

"Okay, I'll check back with you in a few weeks."

Two weeks later, the pops back in to check on his friend's progress, and his friend nods
back with great affirmation. "Yeah, I've done it."

So the man who was providing the instructions pops down the hole, and two seconds later
pops right back up and says, "What have you done?!?!?"
"Huh?"
"I told you to dig in the direction towards the OCEAN! This tunnel that you dug
goes back under the wall and into the prison yard."

"Well, the digging was easier in the other direction..."

Reflection:
In your life right now, what is one way you are digging in the "easy" direction?
How might your life be different if you were to dig towards the metaphorical "ocean"?
What tools or resources would enable you to dig in the direction of the "ocean" more often?

A Personification of Difficulty

In the spiritual community that G.I. Gurdjieff led in France, an old man lived there who was the personification of difficulty–irritable, messy, fighting with everyone, and unwilling to clean up or help at all. No one got along with him. Finally, after many frustrating months of trying to stay with the group, the old man left for Paris.

Gurdjieff followed him and tried to convince him to return, but it had been too hard, and the man said no. At last Gurdjieff offered the man a very big monthly stipend if he returned. How could he refuse? When he returned everyone was aghast, and on hearing that he was being paid (while they were being charged a lot to be there), the community was up in arms.

Gurdjieff called them together and after hearing their complaints laughed and explained: "This man is like yeast for bread." He said, "Without him here you would never really learn about anger, irritability, patience, and compassion. That is why you pay me, and why I hire him."

Reflection Questions
Who in your life right now is a lot like the old man in the story? What lessons could you foresee him/her teaching you if you opened yourself up to that possibility?

Have you ever behaved like the old man? If so, how could the people you then encountered have treated you so that you felt cared for and honored?

Now expand your awareness to the global level. Are there any areas of the world or populations of people that either behave like the old man or have been treated as such? How might you show them compassion?

An old man had three children, all boys. When they had grown up to manhood, he called them together and told them that now he was very old and no longer able to provide, even for himself. He ordered them to go out and bring him food and clothing.

The three brothers set out, and after a very long while they came to a large river. As they had gone on together for such a time, they decided that once they got across they would separate. The eldest told the youngest to take the middle road, and th esecond to go to the right, while he himself would go to the left. Then, in a year's time, they would come back to the same spot.

So they parted, and at the end of a year, as agreed, they found their way back to the riverside. The eldest asked the youngest what he had gotten during his travels, and the boy replied: "I have nothing but a mirror, but it has wonderful power. If you look into it, you can see all over the country, no matter how far away."

When asked in turn what he had gotten, the second brother replied: "Only a pair of sandals that are so full of power, that if one puts them on one can walk at once to any place in the country in one step."

Then the eldest himself, said: "I, too, have obtained but little, a small calabash of medicine, that is all. But let us look into the mirror and see how father fares."

The youngest produced his mirror, and they all looked into it and saw that their father was already dead and that even the funeral custom was finished. Then the elder said: "Let us hasten home and see what we can do." So the second brought out his sandals, and all three placed their feet inside them and, immediately, they were borne to their father's grave. Then the eldest shook the medicine out of his bag, and poured it over the grave. At once their father arose, as if nothing had been the matter with him.

Now which of these three sons has performed the best?

a special teacher

Years ago a John Hopkin's professor gave a group of graduate students this assignment: Go to the slums. Take 200 boys, between the ages of 12 and 16, and investigate their background and environment. Then predict their chances for the future.

The students, after consulting social statistics, talking to the boys, and compiling much data, concluded that 90 percent of the boys would spend some time in jail.

Twenty-five years later another group of graduate students was given the job of testing the prediction. They went back to the same area. Some of the boys - by then men - were still there, a few had died, some had moved away, but they got in touch with 180 of the original 200. They found that only four of the group had ever been sent to jail.

Why was it that these men, who had lived in a breeding place of crime, had such a surprisingly good record? The researchers were continually told: "Well, there was a teacher..."

They pressed further, and found that in 75 percent of the cases it was the same woman. The researchers went to this teacher, now living in a home for retired teachers. How had she exerted this remarkable influence over that group of children? Could she give them any reason why these boys should have remembered her?"

"No," she said, "no I really couldn't." And then, thinking back over the years, she said amusingly, more to herself than to her questioners: "I loved those boys...."

The fisheraman and the American MBA

A The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Indian village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.

Inside the small boat thee were several fishes. The American complimented the Indian on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Indian replied, "Only a little while."

The American then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

The Indian said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Indian fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take rest, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play cards with friends, I have a full and busy life."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats.
Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution.
You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Kerala , then and eventually Mumbai you will run your ever-expanding enterprise."

The Indian fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" asked the Indian.

The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions."

"Millions?...Then what?"

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would "I sleep late, fish a little, play with your children, take rest, stroll into the village each evening and sip wine and play cards with friends, have a full and busy life.

Indian said," you are right, but It is not necessary to work double- earn more - then get retired and then do what I am doing now........ till then kids will not remain kids, my and my wife's youth will not remain youth, family will not remain family.... with money you can buy few not all.

Im not that poetry person but "THE INTERVIEW WITH GOD " is so nice Vivekananda.

But the most i loved & touch with are the letters of Abraham Lincoln.They r jso good thanks for sharing them with us & waking us up from a long sleep.At least me

The Rule of Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu became very famous, a wise man, and he was without doubt one of the wisest men ever. The emperor of China asked him very humbly to become his chief of the supreme court, because nobody could guide the country's laws better than he could. He tried to persuade the emperor, "I am not the right man," but the emperor was insistent.

Lao Tzu said, "If you don't listen to me... just one day in the court and you will be convinced that I am not the right man, because the system is wrong. Out of humbleness I was not saying the truth to you. Either I can exist or your law and order and your society can exist. So... let us try it."

The first day a thief who had stolen almost half the treasures of the richest man in the capital was brought into the court. Lao Tzu listened to the case and then he said that the thief and the richest man should both go to jail for six months.

The rich man said, "What are you saying? I have been stolen from, I have been robbed—what kind of justice is this, that you are sending me to jail for the same amount of time as the thief?"

Lao Tzu said, "I am certainly being unfair to the thief. Your need to be in jail is greater, because you have collected so much money to yourself, deprived so many people of money... thousands of people are downtrodden and you are collecting and collecting money. For what? Your very greed is creating these thieves. You are responsible.

The first crime is yours."