Horse & the Pig!

Aum Sai Ram.

There was a farmer who collected horses; he only needed one more breed to complete his collection. One day, he found out that his neighbour had the particular horse breed he needed. So, he constantly bothered his neighbour until he sold it to him. A month later, the horse became ill and he called the veterinarian, who said: Well, your horse has a virus. He must take this medicine for three days. I'll come back on the 3rd day and if he's not better, we're going to have to put him down.

Nearby, the pig listened closely to their conversation.The next day, they gave him the medicine and left.The pig approached the horse and said: Be strong, my friend. Get up or else they're going to put you to sleep!

On the second day, they gave him the medicine and left.The pig came back and said: Come on buddy, get up or else you're going to die! Come on, I'll help you get up. Let's go! One, two, three...

On the third day, they came to give him the medicine and the vet said:Unfortunately, we're going to have to put him down tomorrow.Otherwise, the virus might spread and infect the other horses.After they left, the pig approached the horse and said: Listen pal,it's now or never! Get up, come on! Have courage! Come on! Get up! Getup! That's it, slowly! Great! Come on, one, two, three... Good, good.

Now faster, come on.... Fantastic! Run, run more! Yes! Yay! Yes!
You did it, you're a champion!!!All of a sudden, the owner came back, saw the horse running in the field and began shouting: It's a miracle!

My horse is cured. This deserves a party. Let's kill the pig!

Point for reflection:

This often happens in the workplace. Nobody truly knows which employee actually deserves the merit of success, or who's actually contributing the necessary support to make things happen.

LEARNING TO LIVE WITHOUT RECOGNITION IS A SKILL.

If anyone ever tells you that your work is unprofessional, remember amateurs built the Ark and professionals built the Titanic.

Never Stop Listening, Learning & Thinking

Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was really good and so were the work conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.

His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.

"Congratulations," the boss said. "Go on that way!"

Very motivated by the boss' words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he only could bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he only could bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees. "I must be losing my strength", the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.

"When was the last time you sharpened your axe?" the boss asked. "Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees."

Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don't take time to sharpen the axe."

In today's world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy than ever. Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay sharp?

There's nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But God doesn't want us to get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like taking time to pray, to love, to read, to see all the beautiful things around us, to care. We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow.

If we don't take time to sharpen the axe, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness. So start today. Think about the ways by which you could do your job more effectively and add a lot of value to it & apply the same virtue to one's own life to make it peaceful & fruitful for years to come.

Never Stop: Listening, Learning and Thinking.

"No one can go back & change a bad beginning, But WE can start now & create a successful ending."

Why Vada Maalai for Lord Aanjaneya

Aum Sai Ram

Once some Devotee from North India came to pay respects to Mahaa Periyava (Kaanchi Swaamigal).After a comfortable darsan the devotee was lingering with worry written on his face. Periyava noticed this and asked the devotee what was bothering him. The devotee had some doubt about Aanjaneya for quite some time. He had made enquiries but no one could provide proper solution to clear his doubt. When the devotee was pondering if he can put forward his doubt to Periyava, Periyava on his own enquired about the reason for the worried look on the face of the devotee.

The devotee hesitatingly told that he had some doubt to be cleared about Aanjaneya. The devotee continued "devotees in Southern India propitiate Aanjaneya with a vada maalai made with Ulundu / Urad, black pepper etc., whereas we in Northern India propitiate with jhangri maalai. Can you kindly explain the reason for this?" The devotee from North India as also the other devotees eagerly waited for the response of Periyava.

With a smile on his face Periyava said: "Ladies of the house take the tiny tots outside the house show them the moon and divert them and the tiny tots with the diversion and good air outside eat the food. For the tiny tots, moon was a toy but for Aanjaneya the shining Sun was a ripe fruit and HE wanted to pluck it and consume. Aanjaneya,the son of Vaayu, immediately flew towards the Sun. Devaas were stunned to see baby Aanjaneya racing towards the Sun and no one dared to stop HIM. At this time Raahu also was flying towards Sun to generate Grahana. However, Raahu could not match the speed of Aanjaneya.
Raahu blessed Aanjaneya with a recognition(angeekaaram). Any one who propitiates Aanjaneya with eatable out of ulundu (the favourite dish of Raahu) and worships, they will be free from the affliction of Raahu and Raahu will not trouble them. Raahu also described that the eatable should have the shape like him (that of a snake).
So people afflicted with Raahu, worship Aanjaneya they will have lesser affliction.
As there is plenty of salt in the southern part of the country, ulundu, black pepper etc., are mixed together and vadai is prepared. There is plenty of sugarcane crop in the northern part of the country, and they like sweet, jhangri is made out of ulundu and dipped in sugarcane juice and Aanjaneya is adorned. As long as Raahu is pleased, it is immaterial whether the vada maalai is salty or sweet."

Devotee from North India and other devotees were pleased and convinced by the explanation given by Periyava prostrated at his feet.

Courtesy:
Article: Mrs. Padma Ramaswamy. Mumbai
Author: Sri.P.Swaminathan

Holding Hands#1

A little girl and her father were crossing a flimsy bridge. The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter, "Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river."

The little girl said, "No, Dad. You hold my hand."
"What's the difference?" asked the puzzled father.
"There's a big difference," replied the little girl. "If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go."

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind but in its bond. So hold the hand of the person whom you love rather than expecting them to hold yours.

Persuasion

There once was a Man who was a failure in everything he did

He managed to get a decent job though, but his co-workers continued to belittle and mock him because he can’t seem to get anything right.

On the contrary his boss was a persuasion expert. Instead of scolding the man, his boss motivated him and made him a much better person.

When ever the man made a mistake, his boss would say Its OK. We all make mistakes all the time. I know you will learn from this experience and you will do much better next time. This act boosted the man’s ego.

Whenever the man did something right even if it’s the littlest thing, his boss would praise him and say you are very much improved Good Job.

His boss would sometimes even assign him good qualities that he may not even possess yet.

Because the boss expected the man to be capable of doing great things, and by assigning him qualities that he may not even possess at that moment, the man became highly successful.

The Reason?

If you expect and assign good qualities to someone that person will exert voluntary effort to your expectations

Persuasion is extremely POWERFUL Tool

A Small Touching Story

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what it is?" replied the man.
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" The man said angrily.
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make Rs.100 an hour."
SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow Rs.50?"

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about

why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that Rs.50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
"Are you asleep, son?" He asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man.

"It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you... Here's the Rs.50 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.
The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled.

Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have Rs.100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?

Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you."

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

Do remember to share that Rs.100 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.

But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.

Have a Blessed Day

Aum Sairam

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way."

What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to resolve. Life is wonderful if you know how to live.

Sri Sai Baba says, “Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness…. In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience.”

Allah Malik

4 wives

Aum Sairam

There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most
and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great
care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's very proud of her and always
wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in
great fear that she might run away with some other men.

He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient
and in fact is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some
problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out
and tide him through difficult times.

Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great
contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care
of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and
although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to
die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I have 4
wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll be!"

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you most, endowed you with the finest
clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you
follow me and keep me company?" "No way!" replied the 4th wife and she
walked away without another word.

The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant's heart. The sad
merchant then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you so much for all my life.
Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No!" replied
the 3rd wife. "Life is so good over here! I'm going to remarry when you
die!" The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I always turned to you for help and you've
always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you
follow me and keep me company?" "I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!"
replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only send you to your grave."
The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

Then a voice called out : "I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter
where you go." The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was
so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the
merchant said, "I should have taken much better care of you while I could
have !"

Moral :

Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives

a. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in
making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.

b. Our 3rd wife ? Our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all
go to others.

c. The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been
there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the
grave.

d. The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of
material, wealth and sensual pleasure.

Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go.
Perhaps it's a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to
wait until we're on our deathbed
to lament.

Allah Malik

Vithal and Allah are One

Aum Sairam

Sri Sai Baba's religious views was perfectly impartial and
conservative, asking all people to keep their own religions and not to
interfere with others religions.

In that connection, he mentioned how in 1916, a Rohilla had come and
was loudly reciting the Koran at night. He was very pious and had high
regard for the attainments of Sri Sai Baba and treated him as
Paigambar, that is, as a prophet. He showed Sri Sai Baba great
reverence. Yet, he objected to Sri Sai Baba's heterodox doctrines and
practises, for instance, allowing the din of the arati with its music
in the mosque, allowing himself to be worshipped as God and his
partaking of food offered to idols who were devils in the Rohilla's
view. Sri Sai Baba laughed. So,the Rohilla was extremely perplexed. But
he was swayed by texts, which declared that heterodoxy, even in the
highest, should be punished with death.

He resolved suddenly that Baba should be killed in spite of his being a
Paigambar. One day he walked behind Sri Sai Baba carrying a huge club
and had raised it with a view to end Sri Sai Baba and his heterodoxy
together. Suddenly Sri Sai Baba turned back and fixed him with a glance
and touched his left wrist. At once the Rohilla cowered and sank like a
lump of lead. He was not able to lift up either himself or the club.
This man later left Shirdi for good.

Sri Sai Baba would not allow the Hindus to interfere with his loud
recitals of Koran at night disturbing the sleep of all people around.
Sri Sai Baba would not allow interference with the Rohilla in his
religious practice nor would he allow the Rohilla to interfere with the
Hindus' religious practice. Sri Sai Baba discountenanced intolerance in
every class and in every person. To Sri Sai Baba, Vithal and Allah were
one and all saints were the same.

Allah Malik

Rohilla's Story

Sai Ram

The story of the Rohilla illustrates Sri Sai Baba's all embracing
love. One Rohilla, tall and well built, strong as a bull, came to
Shirdi, wearing a long Kafni [robe] and was enamoured of Sai who stayed
there. Day and night he used to recite in a loud and harsh tone Kalma
[verses from Holy Koran] and shout ALLAH OH AKBAR [God is Great]. Most
people of Shirdi, were working in their fields by day and when they
returned to their homes at night, they were welcomed with the
Rohilla's harsh cries and shouts. They could get no sleep and felt
much trouble and inconvenience. They suffered in silence this nuisance
for some days, and when they could stand it no longer, they approached
Sri Sai Baba, and requested Him to check the Rohilla and stop the nuisance.

Sri Sai Baba did not attend to their complaint. On the contrary, Sri
Sai Baba took the villagers to task, and asked them to mind their own
business, and not the Rohilla. He said to them that the Rohilla had got
a very bad wife, a Zantippi, who tried to come in and trouble the
Rohilla and Himself; but hearing the Rohilla's prayers, she dare not
enter and they were at peace and happy.

In fact, the Rohilla had no wife and by his wife Baba meant DURBUDDHI
i.e. bad thoughts. As Sri Sai Baba liked prayers and cries to God
better than anything else, He took the side of the Rohilla, and asked
the villagers to wait and suffer the nuisance, which would abate in due course.

Allah Malik