Food for Thought
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Want Learning
A hermit was meditating by a river when a young man interrupted him. "Master, I wish to become your disciple," said the man. "Why?" replied the hermit. The young man thought for a moment. "Because I want to find God."
The master jumped up, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, dragged him into the river, and plunged his head under water. After holding him there for a minute, with him kicking and struggling to free himself, the master finally pulled him up out of the river. The young man coughed up water and gasped to get his breath. When he eventually quieted down, the master spoke. "Tell me, what did you want most of all when you were under water."
"Air!" answered the man.
"Very well," said the master. "Go home and come back to me when you want God as much as you just wanted air."
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Help others to help yourself
Two people are lost in the desert. They are dying from hunger and thirst. Finally, they come to a high wall. On the other side they can hear the sound of a waterfall and birds singing. Above, they can see the branches of a lush tree extending over the top of the wall. Its fruit look delicious.
One of them manages to climb over the wall and disappears down the other side.
The other, instead, returns to the desert to help other lost travelers find their way to the oasis. -
Cup or Tea
Enjoy your tea
A group of alumni (graduate students), highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests tea, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of tea and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the tea.
All the students had a cup of tea in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.
Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the tea in most cases, just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.
What all of you really wanted was tea, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups...and then began eyeing each other's cups.
Now consider this:
"Life is the tea, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the tea God has provided us."God brews the tea, not the cups..........enjoy your tea.
"Happiness is the state of acceptance, Happiness doesn't come ONLY by winning or earning the things, but it exists where you satisfy yourself with the things you win"
~ Imm -
Happyness in Life
The unit of measurement for success is 'Happiness' A Little Story
The businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna.
The businessman complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while. The businessman then asked why he didn't stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The businessman then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time? The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, señor. The businessman scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and I 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 and eventually open your own cannery.
You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City where you would run your expanding enterprise." The Mexican fisherman asked, "But señor, how long will this all take?" To which the businessman replied, "15-20 years."
"But what then, señor?"The businessman 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, señor? Then what?"
The businessman said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "Isn't that what I'm doing right now?"
-Author Unknown -
Stella and the stars
Story on sharing - How the stars came about
Stella is a small girl and all the stars in the world are in her bedroom ceiling. Every night they all come to see her and fill her room with light and beauty.
One day she her friends come home and they envy her room.
She steps outside and the moon is not smiling. Moon says it has no friends.
Stella thinks about it and decides to share her stars with everyone.
Now everyone is able to see the stars which stella shared, although stellas room itself has no stars.
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Enlightenment
A monk and his disciple were walking in a garden when the disciple requested, "Sire, Teach me enlightenment".
The monk asked - pointing to a tree. "What kind of tree is that?"
" A tall tree" promptly replied the disciple.The monk walked a few more steps and asked pointing to the same tree, "Is that a short tree?"
"It is sire" promptly replied the disciple.Monk commented, "You are enlightened".
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Indigenous Intelligence
--by Satish Kumar
My mother used to tell me a Jain story when I was a child:
Adam was lost in the jungle, and there he encountered two wild elephants. They began to chase him. In order to escape from these frightening beasts Adam climbed a tall tree nearby, but the elephants were not going to let him go so easily: they curled their trunks around the tree and began to shake it furiously. It so happened that above the branch Adam was holding was a beehive. As the tree shook, honey began to drip down, straight into Adam’s mouth.
At that very moment some angels in their chariot were flying past and upon seeing Adam’s desperate plight they slowed down and said, “Come, we will rescue you. Come into our chariot.”
“Oh, how kind of you,” replied Adam. “But please, let me have this sweet drop of honey, and then I will come.”
The angels were kind and patient, and so they waited. “All right,” they said. “You got your honey drop! Come now – be quick.”
“Please, let me have just one more drop,” pleaded Adam.
The angels were astonished. They said, “You are being stung by bees and any time now the elephants will pull the tree down. You greedy fool, you cannot let go of the desire for that drop of honey! Come, this is your last chance. Come now, or we will go.”
“Please, please, let me have one more drop of honey,” said Adam. “It is so delicious.”
The angels waited for a little while longer but in the end they could not draw Adam away from his imminent death, and they left.
The indigenous people are the angels of our time. They are calling on us to refrain from the momentary gratification of economic growth, which is like the drop of honey. The planet is threatened by global warming, rivers are polluted, rainforests are disappearing, the human population is exploding, biodiversity is diminishing, and traditional cultures are declining -- all this in the pursuit of economic growth, so that we can have the sweet drop of consumption.
--Satish Kumar, in Dance of Diversity
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22 Years of Walking, 17 Years of Silence
After seeing a massive oil spill pollute San Francisco Bay in 1971, John Francis gave up all motorized transportation. For 22 years, he walked everywhere he went -- including treks across the entire United States and much of South America -- hoping to inspire others to drop out of the petroleum economy. Soon after he stopped riding in cars, Francis, the son of working-class, African-American parents in Philadelphia, also stopped speaking. For 17 years, he communicated only through improvised sign language, notes, and his ever-present banjo. Listen to the environmental pilgrim, John Francis, retell the story in his own words!
Watch This Video -
http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=1381 -
Rebuilding Generations Through Football
As an irrigator guides water to his fields, as an archer aims an arrow, as a carpenter carves wood, the wise shape their lives. -- Buddha
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Fact of the Day:
What began as one man's passion to help at risk kids has become the vision of many through the Playmakers Mentoring Foundation and their innovative program which began in California. Developed and led by Coach Greg Roeszler (Aka Coach Roz) and his dedicated staff of assistant coaches, Playmakers is drawing kids off the streets and out of gangs to be part of this amazing outreach where children are loved and respected and taught to be the best they can be. Through their inspiring leadership, Roz and his coaches use the game of football to teach boys how to play by the rules, to respect others, how to be a good citizen and a leader in their community.
http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=3508
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Be The Change:
Consider being a mentor for a young person you know.**Share A Reflection**
http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?qid=3508 -
One percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration
"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration"
~ Thomas Alva Edison
* A Well Known Story *
Thomas Alva Edison was labeled an "addled" boy and was sent out of the school. But his poor mother refused to take the teacher's words and she taught him by herself. They were quite poor people. By the age of 10 he was selling newspapers to make a living. He did not have the family background or the necessary resources for a university education. He taught himself all the time and achieved so much in his life by his indomitable persistence. rnt
He started his experiments in a ramshackle shed near his little home. He did not any have a new lab or a guide. He was all by himself. This is the boy who later patented more than thousands of inventions! How much difficulties and struggles he had to undergo to reach his goals! But inventions did not come very easy. It was the hard way all through.
When he was working on the electric bulb, he failed over 10,000 times. Edison was trying to identify a material that can withstand heat when electricity is passed through its thin filaments. He ordered various types of materials from around the world and started testing. One test failed, two test failed …hundred tests failed…. thousand tests failed….tem thousand tests failed!
His friends and family members asked him, "Have you gone mad?" "Well, I know ten thousand things that won't work. Hence I am nearer to my goal than I ever was," he replied. The very next test was success. The Tungsten filament was identified and electric bulb became a reality.
When he tried to identify a plant that could yield latex, he had to do many more tests. No wonder he said,
"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration."
He was not intelligent by any standard of the time. He was poor and he had to undergo the ridicule from his peers. So, many dissuaded from him work and ''cranky'' experiments. But he proved them all wrong.
When he was past 75, a big fire destroyed his office and everything he had built up so far. His friends and relatives thought that he was finished. But the very next day he started the work of another office and he contributed so much later to make human life more comfortable and meaningful. His life proves that success is 99 percent hard work. It does not matter whether you are born into poverty or whether you are uneducated. He has proved that anyone can climb to any level from zero.~ By Prof.P.A.Varghese, 2008
With Regards
Manjesh kumar
Blog link: http://manjeshkumar1980.
blogspot.com To subscribe/ unsubscribe, please contact at the following address:
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Self Governance
Not being able to govern events, I govern myself. -Michel de Montaigne
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MOdel
A parachute works only when open.
Solution to my weakness lies in my strength.
If anybody can do anything so can I.
I look for “model” in my surroundings to improve myself.
Unknown -
Encouragement
A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could."
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Learn
"Anybody can learn anything -
Just not the same way; Just not the same day ! " -
Self Esteem
"There are no hands so small, that they cannot make a difference in the world"
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Education
"Education is nine tenths encouragement."
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Self Esteem
"What lies behind or before us are tiny matters
compared to what lies within us." -
Education
"The great aim of education is not knowledge
but action" Herbert Spencer -
Desire
"The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat”
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Learn
"I am always doing that which I cannot do,
in order that I learn how to do it” Pablo Picaso
