Friday, October 25, 2013

Am I 'Listening?'


A story heard by me....

Once a Saint was travelling with His disciples in a forest area.... He was teaching them Philosophy of Life all along the journey.... It was mid day Noon.... On the way, a Native Leader of the forest happened to meet them.... He, with all reverence took them to his Hamlet nearby, made them relax for a while, gave good food and some drinks to all as per their Custom.... The Master took whatever was offered and blessed the Host.... Seeing their Master at total ease, the disciples in no time followed Him.... Soon all were well relaxed and every one felt that 'Philosophical Way' of living was really interesting....


Further to that, they took leave from the Host and continued their journey.... They traveled a long distance and it became dark when they were nearing another Hamlet.... And they decided to rest there for the night..... 

As they approached the place, all of a sudden they were surrounded by an army of men.... The men blindfolded the Saint and the disciples and took them to their Chief.... The Chief ordered all of them to be tied to poles and given certain beating for a while.... The Master withstood all that with a smile but the disciples were totally shaken.... Subsequently, the Chief ordered some boiled leaves of poison, thrust the same in front of them and asked them to drink.... The Master without an iota of hesitation took whatever was offered with a smile on his face and blessed the Chief.... And the tired disciples could never proceed even an inch there and were totally helpless! 

I may end this oft repeated story here but sure with one learning.... 'The Absolute Spiritual Life' is never for me so easily.... Instead, 'Hard Work, Honest Living, Caring for the next man and A Prayer to God' are the 'True Tools of Spirituality' presently with me and here 'Expressing the Right Way' is totally my own 'Make!'   

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

'Rational Explanations' have no Place here....


“Master! I have a doubt…. We hear about as well as we see around once in way the Great Personalities exhibiting Extra Ordinary Acts of Courage and taking up pains beyond humanly possible which hitherto no normal human had done or expressed …. How do we justify logically these happenings? To a rational mind, these happenings look strange and unbelievable…."

“My dear! I agree that such Events look strange for a rational mind as the rational minds in the world are many in number and what is experienced by one normal human being  in no time is confirmed by the next man…. Thus, normal behaviors look rational for the world….

But we should equally remember that a few Personalities in this world are different and their perception of Nature, Surroundings and Life is Unique by itself…. For these Personalities, the usual demands of body like hunger, thirst, avoiding pain, taking minimum strain, seeking comfort etc are much less felt when the inside ‘Thrust’ towards their Aim is in full swing…. Extending the Path Up, the highest Level of Living in this world i.e., the ‘Saintly Way’ will never perceive these requirements in their bodies sometimes and in such situations even Mother Nature around too adjusts Herself to accommodate the Great men’s Expressions as an exception since in those 'Great Activities' there is 'Immense Good' to the world which otherwise will never come through! That’s the reason people sometimes witness / hear about these 'Mesmerizing Acts' of Great Men….

The simplest comparative live situation to explain this Phenomenon is the case of a Parent who is attending to an urgency of his / her child with all dedication…. The parent here will not experience the feelings of any physical difficulty, pain, hunger, thirst, requirement of rest etc to a certain level all along when he / she takes care of the child in the best possible way with a one hundred percent attention on the Task in front!”

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Everything is not Rosy in so called 'The Best!'


The man of fifties once traveled abroad on a visit to certain Place where every facility was within the reach, where the Standards were super high and where the Rules were followed to the core…. On one of the days of stay there, he ventured out with his people…..

The day was cool and as he sat in his shared seat in the car, the driver friend announced with a smile, “You need to put on the seat belt when you travel by car!” He quickly adjusted in the tight surroundings, with difficulty searched for the belt lock and thus firmly fixed himself….

The drive continued….

He was tired and his body was aching…. The car zoomed and no where it could be stopped so easily…. He thus had to put up with his discomfort and finally they reached the destination after a miss of the same which made them go round and round for a while as no short cuts could be made there….

He decided to rest for a while as others went round on their errands leaving the car keys with him…. Everywhere sitting place was plenty…. He just sat in one place and slightly reclined his body for a while to relax further…. In no time, the Security Guard nearby spotted him and politely told, "Sir! The place is for seating…. No lying down please!” He immediately came back to his sitting pose but felt certain uneasiness all along….

After some time, he wanted to relax by being off from his shoes for a while…. When he did that, again he was advised that the decorum of the place was to be with shoes on and never be on bare foot….

By that time, his body was uncomfortable beyond…. He wanted to move from there and relax in the car parked at a distance but it was impossible for him to spot his car as about one hundred cars were parked around….

Thus he continued for some more time and started walking across to the nearby Rest Room…. He was advised that the path he was following was not the walk path and he had to follow that path which made him walk more circuitous to the Rest Rooms….

He was hungry but all around he could get only items which were plenty in quantity but not to his taste…. He just ate the minimum to fill the stomach and once again waited….

People moved around him busily, a few smiling at him, a few wishing him and some asking him how his day was but they had no time for him, walked past him all along, of course never disturbing him at any point of time…..

By that time his people returned, the ordeal of return journey continued with travel in small space till they reached home and thus ended his ‘Day out’!

After while, the man returned to his dear own Place…. Having, relaxed a few days at his sweet home, the week end he joined a program of outing with his people….

“I want some leg space in the car” he requested at the start of travel….

“Sir! No problem…. We will adjust in the front seat 2 of us…. You fully relax at the back for a while as we travel….” was the instant polite reply….

He thus comfortably traveled in the car…. No tight seat belts, no other conditions….

As he moved to the busy Market Area, other members advised him to sit for a while in a shade near to an Eatery as they finish their work .…

Accordingly he sat there and signaled to a boy working in the Eatery to come over near to him.…

The boy came to him and asked politely, “What do you want sir?”

The man said… "Please get me….…… freshly prepared…. Meanwhile can I have a comfortable seating here?”

The boy said, ‘Sir, Relax!  We will get you want you want…You look tired…. Behind this Restaurant there is a resting place of ours…. If you don’t mind you can comfortably be sitting / lying down for a while under a fan and read a few material around…. Please use the Tape Recorder we kept for soothing music if you want… You can rest till your people come back… Meanwhile, I’ll get you the hot, hot eatables there itself…. The bath room is next to you….”

Soon the man had a good rest there with hot tasty food served at the back of relaxed music…. He was fully comfortable…. In between the hotel boy came in and spoke for a while telling his back ground and personal problems….

Some hours passed…. It was evening…. His people returned by that time…. He thanked the boy through heavy tips, left the place and reached home well relaxed!

He thought thus…. ‘My Place may not have all those Comforts and Standards as the other Place has…. May not have all those facilities they have…. And may not have a every rule implemented as done there…. But people here communicate directly from their Heart, care for the needs of others within their limited facilities and resources and adjust to a great extent! This surely would be missing in one’s life when too much of materialism and enjoyments are sought around all along with a self asserted feeling that 'Nothing less, I'll accept!'”

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

No short cuts and modifications do a trick here!


A man at work was always self contented.  "It is enough if I get monies to lead a simple life.... Why this running after timely promotions and other perks at work?  Let them be on their own.... Whatever comes through, I am satisfied with that...." Thus he wanted to lead a simple life with high thinking.... Not a 'high thinking' at all in the right sense.... Life went on thus for a number of years.... The small Employer retained him at the back of his own self interest.... 

When the man was 40, the Employer suddenly died and the Firm in which he was working was closed.... Thus, the man became jobless at 40.... He quickly approached a few Employers in the field and all had given more or less the same answer....

“For the work you know, we get more energetic and sharp young people for lesser salary....To give you the next responsibility and appoint you in the job, you have no experience so far to handle that higher responsibility....”

That way, the 'Total Employment Arena' was out of reach for the man at that point of time!

Thus one's work experience is valuable only as the right experience for the right age…. Meaning.... The growth in profession can never be ignored!

Thus an individual with an initial skill grows through working and further learning simultaneously modifying his / her skill within certain limits to meet the dynamic market requirements and attains the Managerial and subsequently Senior Levels by adding at this stage if required, certain additional Managerial Qualifications to his / her Career.... He / she subsequently matures into a Specialist of valuable back up knowledge and experience and finally becomes the talk of town!


Should one aim at anything 'Less' here?

Sunday, October 6, 2013

All Coolness is never a 'Welcome' here!


A man was working in a Private Firm which was surviving in a tough competitive field and was the Supplier to a huge Non Profitable Trust on certain requirement which the Trust had outsourced to the Firm.... In order to retain the Orders and survive in the harsh competitive environment, his Bosses had almost driven him mad at his work which made him work till late night daily to finish the tasks in front…. Thus he was daily short of sleep and it was accumulating endlessly.... And naturally, that could not go on forever….

One day, he firmed up and decided…."The only way to remain in the field is to get into a similar job which the Trust is getting done through its own Company with one hundred percent Its Own Shares...." Having decided thus, he soon applied for a suitable job advertised by that Company and got selected with not much difficulty as he had a good experience in that field…. He felt very happy….

“The cut throat competition around will no more trouble me beyond…. Now, at least daily I can sleep better after my work!" he thought…. But soon he was found to be wrong!

Being in a Company job, there were again goals and deadlines, the man in no time was pushed to a corner to perform indirectly as otherwise the Company Bosses would become unhappy and that unhappiness of a Boss was never good for him.... So the daily tensions of keeping his Bosses pleased soon pushed him to the 'Worry Corner' and in no time and he started experiencing sleepless nights....

He finally firmed up, “The best way here is to get into the job which has no business motto at all but only a Service interest…. There, the work ends daily at at 5 PM and the next day is forever fresh as 'Do honestly but do what you can without wasting time' is the motto there.... A direct job with the Trust exactly satisfies this requirement and here I am well experienced to meet their needs!" Having decided thus, he applied for a suitable job with the Trust and got selected for the same with not much  difficulty.… 

Finally, he was totally relaxed and was extremely happy.... "Now I can sleep well" he thought as the job was really smooth, no spill over for the next day, no pressure beyond except following the Simple highly feasible Orders at work, hundred percent '9 to 5' Work Culture and a freedom to talk on the 'Wrong!'  What else one needs at work?

But strangely, he continued to have the sleepless nights again…. For a while, he was totally in a fix not knowing the reason for the same but soon found the answer…. Presently he had no problem from work point of view with so much coolness at the back!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

The Greater Emotions in Nature....


It was a cool evening…. The mother and child were walking on the foot path in their colony….. The child of 3 years was talking in his own language to mother and the mother was listening to him with extreme attention and joy and was equally communicating to her child in his own language which they both only would understand….. The scene was so heart filling for every one walking around…..

It was time to cross the road to go to the other side to reach their home…. The mother was concentrating on her bag and other items before crossing the road expecting the child stay there…. The child was a little more curious…. He saw some people crossing the road and he too put his foot on to the road and moved a little….A three wheeler from distance was coming at slow speed and the mother too got down the foot path after the child following him but seeing the mother behind, he started going ahead instead of waiting for her….

The mother became highly conscious of the danger involved and shouted instantly 'Wait dear!' The child took it more interesting and further moved on to the road and by that time the three wheeler was nearing….

The mother sensed the coming up danger.... That’s all! She screamed aloud in her own language, instantly closed her eyes and just fell on to the ground…. The slow moving three wheeler stopped well ahead of the child and the child stood on the road smiling at the vehicle….

Everyone around heard the big scream and instantly rushed towards the child…. One man pulled the child from the road and positioned him on the foot path…. A few started reviving the mother by fanning her and sprinkling waters on her face.... After a few minutes the mother got up and looked for the child who was in front and hugged him tight closing her eyes for a while muttering her own words to the child…. Every one waited for a while and seeing the mother and child safe left from there….

Someone commented…."The mom was too sensitive…. She should have been a little courageous enough first to run and pull the child aside…. Instead she fell off as she could never see the scene…. It is better, these emotions are checked a bit to practically work in a safer way! She needs some counselling on this....”

An elderly wise man smiled and said, “Dear! Because of such uncontrolled and for-no-reason emotions of all of our mothers, we are standing at this point of time with fully grown matured personalities at our back ready to do the best for ourselves and to the surroundings…. No doubt, the emotion of hers has no meaningful explanation but the little one alone senses the true love behind her expressions and out of that love he will be a full individual tomorrow in his life as he grows up…. And this emotion is a Gift of God for every child from its mother! Let us all at this point of time, thank the Almighty that they both are taken care today and further humbly Pray unto Him to extend this take-care for all, all the time!”