Once a lady comes to know that her husband had won 2 million dollar lottery. Instead of feeling happy, she is little worried. Since her husband is a heart patient and if he comes to know about the lottery, he might get another attack as well because of the excitement. So, she approaches the priest for a solution.
The priest says “Bring your husband to the temple in the evening. I will convey the news to him in such a manner that he will not be excited”.
In the evening the couple goes to the temple and after performing pooja, the priest sits with them and says to the husband –“The Lord is very much pleased with you. With His grace, if you win a lottery of 2 million dollars, what will you do?”
The husband smiles and says – “ What will I do with so much money. I will give half the amount to you.”
Listening to this, the priest gets so excited and dies of heart attack immediately.
This story tells us why we should practice the knowledge first and then preach to others.
"Just enter the door of the Master and come home. Only the Presence of the Master will bring fulfillment to all your relationships. The Presence is vast, infinite, stable and centred." - H.H. Sri Sri Guruji
Gurudev : -
Words by themselves are inadequate to express what a master or a Guru brings to one's life. His presence, his love, his grace and his shining light can uplift one from the miseries and the sorrow that life brings us. One knows one has come to master when there is a sense of completeness; the feeling of a child peacefully sleeping on the mother's lap without any worries.
Gurudev chants a Sanskrit shloka every time he starts a discourse. It means that Ishwara that is the Divine, Guru the Master and Aatma the Self are one and the same.
When the sadhak (spiritual seeker) is ready on the path, The Guru himself manifests. Many seekers chant, meditate and do other spiritual practices, but they find a lack. They feel the need for somebody to guide them on the path. Sometimes on the path, one feels lost. There is emotional disturbance, confusion, guilt and there are doubts. You need somebody to say with reassurance: "Yes, this is the path. You just be there. It dosen't matter if you fall this way or that way, I am with you."
It is like mathematics. The technique is taught, but still certain problems may be going wrong, and the teacher comes around and shows you where you are going wrong. And, then you've solved it! To learn an ordinary subject like mathematics, we need a guide. So on the spiritual path, the need for a guide; a teacher is so much greater! Somebody who is like a friend with whom you can share inner most feelings, who is disciplining like a father and caring and loving like a mother. Maybe one in a million many not need a master, a Guru. They may be able to walk the path alone, but the majority needs a Guru.
The Guru comes to the disciple. The disciple never goes to the Guru because he does not know who the true Guru is. One who is ignorant cannot know what knowledge is! It is like the divine has itself manifested in the human form. We are comfortable relation to a physical form. So, when that is the state, the Divine manifests in the physical form that is the Guru. He takes one along the path and then when the disciple is mature enough, the Guru lessens the dependence on the physical form and the craving for the physical form. Even though the craving is very beautiful, the Guru takes the disciple beyond those limitations and starts showing him increasingly that `I am with you! I am your very Self, your Aatma! Guru is antar tam; the inner essence that dispels all the ignorance and darkness in our lives.
And, the Guru also shows you that `I am in everybody.' The Guru is speaking, acting and manifesting through each and every particle of creation. In fact, Guru means that which is vast, boundless. His body is the entire space. Fortunate are the ones who really come to the master!
`Tumhi sarva prana sa pranadhar saratsara' – `You are everything; you are even the source of my life breath, the very essence of my life.' Being without a Guru is like a ship in the endless ocean that has lost direction. Fortunate are those who graduate from being a disciple to becoming a devotee. The disciple has a goal in life. He wants to get enlightened or get knowledge, but a devotee does not want anything.
The Guru tatva is infinite. Any amount of explanation is not enough. Talking about it is beautiful, but feeling the Presence goes beyond mere words. The language of the enlightened masters is silence. The very Presence speaks. The master discourses in the silence and all the doubts are dispelled.
I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.
I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.
"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"
His answer surprised me...
"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"
"Yes", I replied.
When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them.
I gave them light. I gave them water.
The fern quickly grew from the earth.
Its brilliant green covered the floor.
Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo.
In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.
And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said.
"In the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In the fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. "I would not quit." He said. "Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth.
Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant... But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.
It had spent the five years growing roots.
Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle."
He said to me. "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots."
"I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you. " Don't compare yourself to others .." He said. " The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern ... Yet, they both make the forest beautiful."
Your time will come, " God said to me. " You will rise high! " How high should I rise?" I asked.
How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.
"As high as it can? " I questioned.
" Yes. " He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can. "
Never regret a day in your life.
Good days give you happiness
Bad days give you experiences;
Both are essential to life.
A happy and meaningful life requires our continuous input and creativity. It does not happen by chance. It happens because of our choices and actions. And each day we are given new opportunities to choose and act and, in doing so, we create our own unique journey." Keep going...
Happiness keeps you Sweet,
Trials keep you Strong, Sorrows keep you Human,
Failures keep you humble , Success keeps You Glowing, but Only Faith keeps You Going!
