A Silent Mind

Once in an Ashram there was a heated discussion among the pupils and no one was able to come to a conclusion, when their Guru happened to come over there and he asked them what they were discussing about and why they were talking in such a loud voice. The disciples explained to him and upon hearing it the Guru asked one of the disciples to bring a glass of water from the nearby lake and one of them went over and came back with an empty glass and said that the water was very muddy and it was not fit to drink. Guru continued talking with the disciples and again after some time he asked for a glass of water from the lake to drink , again one of them went and came back saying that the water was still muddy. After some discussions again the Guru asked the disciple to go and bring a glass of water. This time the disciple was able to bring a crystal clear water in a glass. Taking the glass of water the Guru showed it his disciple and said if one has to drink a glass of water it has to a clear water and a muddy one cannot be consumed. Similarly one must have a silent mind only then can one come up with a clear answer.

God helps those who seek help from him

Once Lord Shiva was talking with Goddess Parvathi, in the midst of the conversation he suddenly walked off in a hurry, without giving any explaination for his sudden departure. But returned back with the same speed immediately. Parvathi asked " My Lord, Where did you go in such a hurry and why is it that you returned back immediately".

Lord Shiva answered," My dear, one of my ardent devotee who had no one but me as a solace was getting beaten and he was crying out for me iniatially so i went in a hurry to protect him, but then suddenly he started asking help from a passerby so i returned back because he had some one else now to seek help and protect him.

God helps those who seek help from him

You change and the whole world changes

What we see outside is what is inside us. If we have confusion inside then whatever happens outside will also lead to confusion. If we have a silent mind with lot of clarity then whatever happens outside will also be clear. Even if there happens to be a lot of confusion outside if our mind is silent, then this very silence will make the outside things or person to be silent also. An incident happened in Amritapuri, where Mata Amritanandamayi's ashram exists. One day Mata Amritanandamayi who is otherwise called as Amma was inside her room. Because a mad dog had entered the ashram there was a lot of confusion and commotion in the ashram campus. People of the village were running behind the dog with sticks and rods to kill the dog and the poor dog for the fear of its life had come running and it happened to enter into the campus of Amma's ashram. The people inside the campus were also confused and hence commotion prevailed. On hearing all this noise Amma came out of the room to find out the reason for the commotion and she found that a group of people were driving a dog. She immediately asked them to stop and she started moving towards the dog. People around her were scared and warned Amma not to go near the dog since the dog was a mad dog and if it bites her then they will have to rush her to an hospital. But Amma wouldn't listen to anyone, she went and stood in front of the dog. The moment she stood in front of the dog, the dog stood there calmly and just kept looking at her. Amma went near the dog made the dog keep its face on her lap and she took the saliva of the dog and put it into her mouth . Then she asked the ashramites to bring some food and she feeded the dog with her own hands. The dog eat the food and after sometime it breathed its last on the laps of Amma.
In the above incident Amma proves that the dog was agitated and so were the people around it and vice versa. When Amma approached the dog with a completly silent mind, the agitated mind of the dog also became silent and both Amma and the dog were able to deal with each other with absolute silence and calmness. Such is the power we have got within ourselves that we can influence not only ourselves but also others, but it depends on were we are. Silence, confidence, positive attitude etc does well not only for ourselves but also for others, whereas agitated, anger, confusion etc not only destroys but also others. Hence you change and the whole world changes

Health is wealth

Once there lived a fat man who was very fat and had a desire to decrease his weight, but no matter what he did he was unable to loose his weight. He went to various doctors, dietician, places which promised to decrease his weight, but his weight never budged. He was completely fed up. One day he was told that a new doctor has come to their city who was considered to be a very good doctor and the problems of all his patients has disappeared. His friend suggested that he go to that doctor, initially he was reluctant. Later he decided to give it a try, since many people were singing glories of this doctor. He got an appointment with this doctor and on the stipulated date and time, he went to the doctor. When the doctor asked him his problem, he said about his overweight but also said that he will accept the glories of all his patient only if the doctor manages to bring down his weight. He also added that he would like to undergo treatment which doesn't make him undergo fasting, too much of exercies etc. since he has done all these things and nothing works out for him. The doctor agreed and said that he will have to do only simple things and not very complicated things and he was very sure that the weight will definitely come down.

The doctor asked this fat man what he eats for breakfast, lunch, dinner etc. The fat man also gives the doctor all the details which is noted down by the doctor. Now the doctor tells the fat man to start eating double the quantity of what he was eating at present, the fat man was also very happy since no one had told him so far to do such a thing in the past. He goes home happily and starts eating double the quantity. Naturally, his weight increases further and after a few months goes again to the doctor. The doctor examines him and says that he is doing perfectly well and the advises him to double the quantity of food every month. This fat man is very happy because there are no restriction in food and absolutely no exercise also. Every month his weight also increases, slowly he finds it difficult to move his body, but still does so with great difficulty. Then he finds it dificult to get up from the bed because of the weight of the body, so he finds that most of the time he is always in the bed.
His friends and relatives help him in eating and moving about, but after some time they also become fed up of serving him daily. Hence, slowly he is left alone, because he is unable to move around he happpens to loose his job, house facilities and now lies in a miserable condition. With no one to help him around, no food etc he slowly starts loosing his weight. He becomes very thin and also angry with the doctor for not having put any limits on the food intake. He goes to the doctor in an angry mood and shouts at the doctor. The doctor listens patiently and then replies that because thefat man was not able to put any limit for the desire for the food, the person had become fat and lazy. The only way to come out of this situation is to push him to an extreme condition which will make him realize that there is a need to cut down his desires. That is what exactly he had done and the result is already in front of him. He took the once fat man and made him see his figure in the mirror. The moment the fat man saw himself in the miror, he became relaxed and happy. He couldn't believe that he was seeing his own figure. A body which had bloated and was refusing to come down, has now come down to such an unbelievable figure, that he kept on admiring it. He looked so young now. He thanked the doctor and smiled and said that indeed he was the best doctor as the people had said.
He realised that Health is wealth and the need to control desires and stop it after a limit.

Power is within you

Once there lived a couple who had three children. All of them were full of enthusiasm and energy in the begining, the youngest ones health,after a few years started deteriorating. The couple started taking extra care for this youngest child. Soon it happened that the child itself started feeling that it was a real weakling. One of teacher observed this attitude of the child, she started talking with the child on various topics and was really surprised at the actual mental ability of the child, though physically the child seemed to be a weakling. Now the teacher was convinced about the ability of the child and knew that there was only a mental orpshcological block which was preventing this child from bringing forth the actual colours or ability of the child.
She started building up a wonderful rapport with the child and slowly started pointing out the ability of the child and encouraged it march forward in building up the ability. This encouragement , appreciation etc which was showered by the teacher on the child, brought about a change in the attitude of the child. The child was pointed out by the teacher that though she was physically weak, she was actually unbeatable in the mental power. The teacher told her that everyone has got some weakness and some strength. One has got to recognise their strength and build it, so that one can overcome the place were they are weak. God has given everyone some thing on which they can definitely build up their future, the only thing one has to do is to recogise it. Because of this constant rapport and all the attention and love the teacher was showering on the child, the child started understanding what the teacher was telling it. She started to doing well in her studies and soon she became the most unbeatable child in the field of knowledge.
The mental block that it was a weakling was removed by the teacher and the result was that she started excelling in all the fields and that surprised the child parents also. Parents were extremely happy for their child. The teacher had managed to prove to the child that Power lies within it. The child was also happy with its performance and the teacher was happy that has a teacher she was able to bring out the best of one of her students.

Every child has got a potential within it, the only thing one has to do is to recognise it and tap it.
Power is within us, tap it.

Bhaktha Chokamela

Once there lived a person named Chokamela in Pandaripur, who belonged to a low caste. He was a great devotee and after doing all his daily chores and duties he would sit and meditate on the Lord. He would go near the temple daily and go round it and always desired to have the darshan of the Lord. The priests of the temple who noticed this and observed that it was chokamela's daily routine, they scolded him and threatened him if he again came near the temple. But Chokamela stood and argued with the priests saying that, "In the eyes of the Lord everyone are equal and anyone can approach him with a pure heart". The priests didn't reply because they knew that what chokamela had said was the truth. But Chokamela left the place, since he didnt want to have a conflict with them.

On reaching his hut, he started praying to the Lord to give him darshan, since he wanted to be free from all the troubles of this material world. His pure love and prayer made the Lord come over to his hut. Chokamela was very happy to have the Lord himself in his hut. The Lord asked him, what his wish was. But Chokamela said that apart from the darshan of the Lord he didn't want anything else. The Lord was also pleased with his answer, so he took Chokamela to the temple and sat and talked with him inside the sanctorum or garbagudi till early morning. In the meanwhile the priests, as usual, opened the door of the temple in the early morning and were shocked to find Chokamela sitting inside the temple. In their anger they asked him to vacate the place immediately without telling anyone about him entering the temple. Chokamela told them that it was the Lord who had brought him inside, but they wouldn't listen to him and asked him to vacate his house and go elsewhere. Chokamela tried his best to explain them but since no one was prepared to listen to him, he went home and told his wife about it and they vacated the place and crossed the river chandrabhaga and built a nice little hut on the other side of the river and started living there.

Though Chokamela had shifted his house, his thoughts were always immersed on the Lord. One day when Chokamela was sitting outside his house, his wife brought him food and started serving him, when the Lord suddenly appeared and expressed his desire to have food with him. Chokamela was extremely pleased, he took the Lord near a tree and made him sit on a rock and started serving food for the Lord. Chokamela's wife brought some curds which happened to slip and fell on the Lord's yellow robe. Chokamela felt sorry for what happened and immediately cleaned it. When all these things were happening, a brahmin happened to see it and became extremely angry and jealous. He came and slapped Chokamela, for having served the Lord, with food made by a low caste or untouchable. Immediately the Lord's Cheek swelled and the finger marks were printed on the cheeks of the Lord. The brahmin was shocked and questioned himself on how such a thing could happen. He realised his mistake of thinking Chokamela to be only a low caste, whereas he was a great devotee of the Lord. A devotee whose pure heart and prayer could bring down thenLord to his hut. He at once fell at the feet of the Lord and Chokamela and begged them to pardon him for his mistake. He felt sorry for having slapped the cheeks of Chokamela. Chokamela pardoned the brahmin and touched the cheeks of the Lord, immediately the swelling on the cheeks of the Lord disappeared.

Later the brahmin went to the village and explained the whole incident to the other villagers, who came running to Chokamela and prostrated in front of him and asked for forgiveness for all that happened and took him to the temple . From that day onwards Chokamela was allowed to enter the temple. Chockamela used to come to the temple daily and offer his prayers to the Lord and finally he reached the feet of the Lord

Tulsidas

Once there was a minister in the court of Akbar by name Atmaram. He had a son by name Tulasi, who was very intelligent, handsome and very learned. Tulasi made his parents very happy and they felt blessed to have such a son. When Tulasi came of age he was married to a pretty, educated girl by name Matha Devi. Matha Devi and Tulasi had a very good mutual understanding. She was very devoted to her husband. Tulasi inspite of being very intellingent was spending most of his time in the pleasures of life. Matha Devi who was observing this, thought that it was not appropriate for him to spend his time in such pleasures, so she advised him to keep himself under control . But her advise just lasted only for a few days and later it used to fade off and again he used to be his usual self.

One day Akbar wanted to go for hunting and asked Tulasi to accompany him. Tulasi who though didn't like to go, couldn't refuse the emperor so he went for hunting. After tulasi had departed, Matha Devi got a message that her mother was seriously ill. Tulasi's mother consoled Matha Devi and asked her to leave immediately, and that she would take of Tulasi in her absence. Hence Matha Devi left to see her mother. When Tulasi returned back, he didn't find his wife and started searching her all over and was quiet shocked when his mother told him about her departure to her mother's place. He was very dejected and sad and was unable to have his meal in the absence of his wife. He was not bothered about his mother-in-law.

He was unable to go to sleep so after sometime he got up and went off to his mother-in-law place. He went through a dense forest which was full of wild animals. In his desire to see his wife he walked very fast and fearlessly and reached the place in the early morning. The whole village was very quiet and the doors of the house were closed, so he didn't want to disturb anyone. He went around the house. He observed a rope hanging from the top of the building and assumed his wife must have kept it . With the help of the rope he climbed and went up and went to his wife room. Matha Devi was shocked and surprised to find her husband suddenly in her room. She enquired about how she came inside the house when all the doors and windows were closed. Tulasi replied that he had come here with the help of a rope. She was surprised and both went to see the rope, instead they found a deadly Cobra. Matha Devi was shocked .

Later they spent some time chatting with each other. Then she persuaded her husband to give up all the pleasures, telling that material and physical pleasures are only temporary. Human birth is very rare and it should be used for concentrating on God and realising him. She also said that all the love, attention, etc which he was showering on her, instead if he had put even a little effort on realising God , then, by now, he would have succeeded in realising God. These wordings of his wife, had a deep impact on Tulasidas, that he went off in search of God. Twelve years he wandered and lived on fruits and water. One day a brahma raksasha appeared before him and thanked him for helping him by giving water when he was in utmost need and offered him a boon. Tulasi who was not interested in anything asked him to bring Lord Shri Rama, on which the raksasha expressed his inability to do so, but pointed to an old person at a distance and said that he was Lord Hanuman, who alone is capable of giving the darshan of Lord Rama.

Tulasi went to that old person and requested him to help him in getting the darshn of the Lord.
Lord Hanuman asked him to go home and said that he will definitely get the darshan. Tulasi went to his house and was engrossed in singing the bhajans, when he saw a muslim king going by with his huge troop. Later Lord Maruthi asked him if he had seen the Lord and Tulasi shook his head. LordMaruthi explained that the muslim king was none other than Lord Rama and the troop were his the monkeys "vanaras". Tulasi felt sad that he was unable to recognise the Lord. But Lord Hanuman blessed him with the darshan of Lord Rama along with Lakshmana and Sita and then he disappeared.

Tulasi became very famous for his bhajans and talks on the Lord, that one day Akbar ordered him to give him the darshan of Lord Rama, but Tulasi replied that it was not possible for him. Akbar got angry and imprisoned him. Soon thousands of monkeys attacked his kingdom and no one were able to control them. Akbar was advised by some people that the release of Tulasi will bring down the attack of the monkeys. Akbar realised his fault and immediately released Tulasi. Tulasi later went to mathura,brindavan etc and settled down 0n the banks of the river yamuna. Tulasi love for the lord made many a people also become ardent devotees of the lord and finally he left the world.

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Constant touch with the service of the Lord is a must for everyone in this world, if one has to come out from the clutches of the material world or if one is not to skid down from the journey of self realisation.