My book 'MAGIC OF THE MIND' featured in Justice Express, Prayagraj.
The book is an exploration of the human mind, and a way forward in the present pandemic.
The book is available on Amazon. Follow the link below:
Monday 31 May 2021
Friday 28 May 2021
MAGIC OF THE MIND
MAGIC OF THE MIND, available on Amazon is an exploration of the human mind and a way forward from the present pandemic. A personal account and journey.
Do read
Jai Guru Dev
Thursday 27 May 2021
MAGIC OF THE MIND
Catch the complete interview as I talk about my book 'MAGIC OF THE MIND'.
Link below 👇
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CPV74_xHX84/?utm_medium=copy_link
Wednesday 26 May 2021
BOOK REVIEW: MAGIC OF THE MIND in THE NEWS NOW
Monday 24 May 2021
*It’s Little Things that Make a Big Difference.*
*It’s Little Things that Make a Big Difference.*
There was a man taking a morning walk at or the beach. He saw that along with the morning tide came hundreds of starfish and when the tide receded, they were left behind and with the morning sun rays, they would die.
The tide was fresh and the starfish were alive. The man took a few steps, picked one and threw it into the water. He did that repeatedly.
Right behind him there was another person who couldn’t understand what this man was doing. He caught up with him and asked, “What are you doing? There are hundreds of starfish. How many can you help? What difference does it make?”
This man did not reply, took two more steps, picked up another one, threw it into the water, and said, “It makes a difference to this one.”
What difference are we making? Big or small, it does not matter. If everyone made a small difference, we would end up with a big difference, wouldn’t we?
Crisis in Every Generation - As received
Every generation faces a crisis. A moment of reckoning, when the people have to come together, if they are to bend the arc of history. Sometimes, the enemy is in flesh and blood. At other times, invisible. We can look back at previous generations, and perhaps learn from their failures and successes.
In the 1930s, the French invested heavily in the Maginot line - since they knew that a war with Germany was only a question of when, not if. The Maginot line was a series of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapons installations built to protect from German invasion , named after French minister of War, André Maginot. The French considered it impenetrable. As fate would have it, the Nazi forces went through the Ardennes forest, a place the French thought was utterly unlikely. The defence was breached at a point, no one had imagined. They had been caught off guard. Within days, Belgium and Holland had fallen.
Meanwhile, in Britain, Churchill had to tackle his political rivals Lord Halifax and the ousted PM Neville Chamberlain, who were advocating peace with Hitler. The collapse of Western Europe was imminent. It was, their darkest hour. The greatest battle Churchill faced, however, was not against the Wehrmacht - but self doubt and fear. The British depended on him to steer through the fog of war, even when he couldn't see clearly. When General Ismay asked Churchill if they should tell the people, the imminent fall of France, Churchill said, “Not yet. We must first arouse our old friends to an heroic resistance. France must be saved”. They couldn't find enough naval vessels. Churchill did the unthinkable - he sought the help of civilians to fight the world's most fearsome army . Operation Dynamo was born. 700 private boats sailed from Ramsgate in Britain to Dunkirk in Northern France. Some were manned by simple fishermen. They rescued over 330,000 allied troops. The rest as they say, is history.
These words echo across time today. We can’t be crippled by self doubt. We slipped once and let the virus take us off guard, but not again. We can’t repeat the mistake of underestimating the enemy. Falling down is an accident, staying down is a choice.
We face troubles, in more ways than we could possibly imagine. This is our generational call of destiny. Our darkest hour. We must arouse ourselves to an heroic resistance. India must be saved.
Today, we need everyone to join the fight, not just the frontline workers - just like those brave men who joined the British navy on their perilous journey to Dunkirk. If we do small things right, the big things will take care of themselves.
Our miracle of deliverance is in our hands.
Question and Answer with Gurudev
*Q:* How do I know whether I am in the right or wrong profession? Is it natural to feel reluctance or disinterest to something we were earlier fond of? Please guide
*Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:*
I tell you, every profession has its ups and downs. Sometimes you will like your profession; later on, you do not like it. Ask a doctor, or an engineer, or a politician about this. At some point or the other in their career they all feel frustrated. They do not like their profession sometimes and feel they should just quit. Why? It is because you experience a burn-out. *Why does the burn-out happen? It is because you never went into the other dimension that is deep within you. If you take some time off regularly, at least twice or thrice a year to attend a Silence workshop and the advanced meditation in Silence, you will find that you are recharged. Your enthusiasm comes back, and then any job you do, you will do with the utmost responsibility, keenness and awareness. You need to revive your spirit and that can only happen through meditation.*
WHEN BUDDHA CAME BACK FROM DEATH,,,FOR A, DISCIPLE... As received
WHEN BUDDHA CAME BACK FROM DEATH,,,FOR A, DISCIPLE...
It is said the day Gautam Buddha died a man came running. Buddha had told his disciples, "This is my last meeting with you in the body.
I am going to leave the body. Before I leave, if you have any more questions left" - he had been answering for forty-two years - "if anything is still left in anybody's mind, ask it, because I won't be here anymore."
The disciples were crying, weeping. What can you ask? For forty-two years Buddha had been answering even those questions which you had not asked. He had been answering questions which you had wrongly asked. But he had answered rightly. He was not only answering you, he was also creating questions for you. In forty-two years he had done everything that was possible. Now, what to ask at the last moment?
They said, "No, we are just grateful."
Buddha closed his eyes, he moved the first step inwards - that is, he moved away from the body to the mind. The second step: he moved from the mind to the heart. The third step he was just going to take, from the heart to the feeling of am-ness, asmita. It cannot be called "I" - it is far more refined - just am-ness. And then... the last jump into nothingness. While he was just moving in, the man came running.
He said, "But I have a question."
The disciples said, "Now don't disturb him. Where have you been? He has passed through your village at least thirty times."
He said, "I know, but sometimes there was such a crowd of customers in my shop. Sometimes I was engaged in my son's marriage; sometimes my wife was sick - and so on and so forth. I always thought, next time when he comes I will go to him. Just now I heard that he is leaving the world.
What about my question?"
The people said, "You seem to be an idiot. Thirty times he passed, and thirty times you missed. And now, when he has just taken leave of us... now it cannot be done."
But Buddha came back. He opened his eyes, he said, "No, let him ask. Let him be answered because I don't want it to be known in history, for the coming generations, that a Buddha was alive and yet somebody returned from his door empty-handed. Let me do my part. If he is ready - and I can see he is ready; my death has been a shock to him and has made him ready. I am happy that even my death has helped somebody to be ready, to listen."
He answered his question. The question was not philosophical, theological, intellectual. The question was really authentic, sincerely spiritual. But that man had been missing for so many years, just because of the idea, "Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, any time Buddha comes and goes, I can go and meet him and ask."
He asked - this was the last question to Buddha - "How can I be in a position so that whether you are in the body or not, your presence will remain available to me? What can I do?"
He had asked a real religious question. He was asking, "What can I do so that your presence remains available to me? This time I have missed - when you were in the body. But I don't want to miss forever."
Buddha gave him the instructions for meditation, vipassana; how to be aware of your breathing; how to be aware, silently watchful of the breath going out, coming in, going out, coming in..."so slowly, slowly you can be separate from your breathing. The moment you are separate from your breathing my presence will be available, because you are separate from your body just as I am separate from my body."
If a disciple is ready, even a dead master can be alive. If the disciple is not ready, then even a living master cannot do anything. It all depends on the disciple
Monday 17 May 2021
God grant me the Serenity- AA
Good Morning!!!
God grant me the Serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change;
Courage to change
the things I can;
and Wisdom to know the difference.
Thy will, not mine, be done.
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
May 18, 2021
FREEDOM TO BE ME
If we are painstaking
about this phase of our development,
we will be amazed before we are half way through.
We are going to know a new freedom
and a new happiness.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, p. 83
My first true freedom is the freedom
not to have to take a drink today.
If I truly want it, I will work the Twelve Steps
and the happiness of this freedom
will come to me through the Steps —
sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly.
Other freedoms will follow,
and inventorying them is a new happiness.
I had a new freedom today, the freedom to be me.
I have the freedom to be the best me I have ever been.
**********************************************
A FULL AND THANKFUL HEART
One exercise that I practice is to try for a full inventory of my
blessings and then for a right acceptance of the many gifts
that are mine – both temporal and spiritual.
Here I try to achieve a state of joyful gratitude.
When such a brand of gratitude
is repeatedly affirmed and pondered,
it can finally displace the natural tendency
to congratulate myself on whatever progress
I may have been enabled to make in some areas of living.
I try to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart
cannot entertain great conceits.
When brimming with gratitude,
one's heartbeat must surely result
in outgoing love, the finest emotion that we can ever know.
GRAPEVINE, MARCH 1962
LET GOD MAKE YOU WORTHY Around the Year with Emmet Fox
LET GOD MAKE YOU WORTHY
Around the Year with Emmet Fox
May 18
Never hesitate to approach God in prayer
because you are not worthy.
If we had to wait until we were worthy,
no one would ever find salvation
because we cannot make ourselves worthy.
Turn to God, just as you are, and,
however sinful you may feel yourself to be,
God will begin to make you worthy,
as long as your turning to him is wholehearted.
Only God can cancel mistakes and rebuild our lives.
The more sense of guilt we may have
the more reason is there for turning to Him.
The very fact that you are praying means that
God Himself has initiated the prayer,
and what thought can be greater than this?
“Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters,
and he that hath no money;
come ye, buy and eat. . .”
Isaiah 55:1
Saturday 15 May 2021
Staying Calm and Content
https://www.freepressjournal.in/weekend/learn-the-art-of-staying-calm-and-content-amid-pandemic-with-zazen
SundaraKanda
🌺‼️❗️‼️🛑‼️❗️‼️🌺
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
520 Sab Ka Mangal Ho
The Sundara Kanda forms the heart of Sri Valmiki's Ramayana and consists of a detailed, vivid account of Sri Hanuman's adventures. After learning about Sri Sita, Sri Hanuman assumes a gigantic form and makes a colossal leap across the ocean to Lanka. Here, Sri Hanuman explores the demon's city and spies on Ravana. He locates Sri Sita in Ashoka grove, who is wooed and threatened by Ravana and his rakshasis to marry Ravana. He reassures Sri Sita by giving Sri Rama's signet ring as a sign of good faith. He offers to carry Sri Sita back to Sri Rama, however She refuses, reluctant to allow Herself to be touched by a male other than Her Husband. She says that Sri Rama Himself must come and avenge the insult of Her abduction.
Sri Hanuman then wreaks a havoc in Lanka by destroying trees and buildings, and killing Ravana's warriors. He allows Himself to be captured and produced before Ravana. He gives a bold lecture to Ravana to release Sri Sita. He is condemned and His tail is set on fire, but He escapes His bonds and, leaping from roof to roof, sets fire to Ravana's castle and makes the giant leap back from the island. The joyous search party returns to Kishkindha with the news to inform Sri Ram with Sri Sita's Chudaamani"
*Sri Rama Rama Rameti Rame Rame Manorame*
*Sahasranama Tattulyam Rama Nama Varanane*
*Sri Rama Nama Varanana Om Namayathi*
*🙏Sri Hanumanji Thanks for Being There for all of Us *🙏
*🌻JAI SRI SANKATA MOCHAN MAHABALI HANUMAN🌻*
🙏*Sri Hanuman Jaya Hanuman Jaya Jaya Hanuman *🙏
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
🌵🌸🍁🌸🌵🌸🍁🌸
Positivity
Nearby, a building construction work was going on.
Lots of poor labourers were working there and their small children used to hold on to one another's shirt and play "train-train".
Someone would become the engine and others would become bogies.
Every day, these children used to take turns becoming the engine and bogies.
But, there was one small boy wearing only a half pant who used to hold one small green *cloth* in his hand and become the guard daily.
So, once I went to him and asked him .."son, don't you also wish to become an engine or a bogie some time?"
He softly replied, "Sir , I don't have a shirt to wear so how will the other children catch me to make the train?
I could see the slight wetness in his eyes.
But, it gave me a lesson.... he could have cried and sat at home and abused his parents for not affording to buy him a shirt.
But instead, he chose another way to play and enjoy himself..
In life, we don't get all things we desire and we keep complaining ..
I dont have a bike, I don't have car , I don't have this or that etc...
Life is like that ....we need to make it beautiful and be grateful for what we have .
Fourth Leg of Righteousness by Jayanthi Prakash Sarma (Translated by Dr Suguna Kannan)
Fourth Leg of Righteousness by Jayanthi Prakash Sarma
(Translated by Dr Suguna Kannan)
It was early morning when my wife and I boarded the Janmabhoomi train at Visakhapatnam station to attend my friend’s daughter’s wedding at Rajahmundry. The early morning breeze and the train’s rocking movement were soporific and we dozed off until the train halted at Tuni. I hailed a passing vendor and asked for two cups of coffee. I handed over one cup to my wife and took a sip. I complimented him on the coffee and asked, “How much?” as I opened my wallet to find that it had only 200-rupee notes. Hearing his response of twenty rupees, I handed over a 200-rupees note to him.
“Don’t you have change?” he asked as he put down his flask and started searching for change in his shirt pocket. The train started, before he could take the change out of his pocket and sped away. Our compartment was next to the engine so he got no chance to hand over the change though he did attempt to run after the train.
I blamed myself for having ordered coffee without checking the availability of change.
“Oh my God! How foolish of you! Could you not have taken the change and then handed over the note? What’s the use of your age and experience?”, my wife gleefully took the opportunity to snub me.
I tried to justify my action,“Okay, suppose he had given the change and the train had started before I could give him the note…then would it not have been a loss to him?”
“What loss? From morning, he would have met ten people like you and at the end of the day he will have only profit, no loss!” replied my wife, with a cynical smile on her face.
“We should trust people; poor fellow, what can he do if the train started? Will he subsist on our money?”
My better half was irritated to hear me defending him. “They wait for just such opportunities. If he meets four simpletons like you, it will be enough to earn a day’s living,” grumbled my wife glaring at me. I maintained a stoic silence.
“Anyway, you cannot expect him be as honest and as principled as you are”, she concluded looking around at the other co-passengers, who were all looking at us. The train had picked up speed and we crossed the next station Annavaram. Gradually, I let go of the slender hope that I had of getting back the change.
My wife believes that I get cheated by people since I have a naïve faith in mankind and am kind. I was quite accustomed to being put down by her and being scolded since I believe that she is not correct in distrusting others. I strongly believe that we should see goodness in others and if anyone lacks it, their baseness should be attributed to the environment and conditions in which they grew up. I believe that inside each of us, there is the potential for both good and evil - what we choose depends on the circumstances. Though I have been proved wrong by her on many similar occasions, it did not affect my faith. I believe that dharma or righteousness is upheld by its fourth leg of trustfulness.
“Let it go! Poor people! Are they going to build palaces with our money? Forget it!” I said trying to pacify her. She stayed silent, out of her affection for me and I was in no mood to prolong the conversation.
The compartment was filled with many standing passengers. I let my gaze slide outside to the fleeing fields. By then many of my co passengers were looking at me and assessing me according to their perception – some were thinking of me as a fool while others were looking at me with sympathy and pity; some were smiling to themselves about the free entertainment they had enjoyed and some were curious to see what would happen next. By the time the train reached the outskirts of Pitapuram, all had lost their interest in us and were lost in their thoughts.
It was then that I heard a voice, “Sir, was it not you who bought two coffees and gave a 200- rupees note?”
I turned towards the voice. Pushing his way through the crowd was a teenage boy, who stopped in front of my seat. Suddenly I felt elated though he did not look like the coffee vendor whom I remembered as being middle aged.
“Yes, Son! I did give a 200-rupee note to a coffee vendor but the train sped away before I could receive the change. However, I do not remember buying coffee from you,” I said honestly.
“Yes, Sir! But are you the person, who drank the coffee at Tuni station”, he asked me again.
“Why would I lie? If you want you can ask these people here.”
“No! No, Sir! I do not doubt you but I was just confirming to avoid making a mistake!” Saying this, he took out the change of 180 rupees from his pocket and handed it over to me.
“You are...?”
“I am his son, Sir”
I looked at him with surprise since he seemed to have guessed my doubt.
“Sir, every day one or two such incidents happen at Tuni station because the train does not stop for long. In that short time many people panic, give a note and the train starts before they can receive back the change. That is why, I usually board the train and wait. My father messages me giving details of the persons (of the amount, compartment and seat number) to whom the change has to be returned. I return the change and get down at the next station and return back to Tuni by another train. My father leaves some change with me for such transactions.”
I was surprised but still managed to ask, “Are you studying?”
“Tenth class, Sir! My elder brother helps father in the afternoon and I help him in the mornings”.
When I heard his this, I felt like talking to his father, so asked him for his father’s phone number and dialled the number.
“Your son has just returned the change for the 200-rupees note. I am calling to express my appreciation for your actions. I am so very happy that you are not only educating your children but more important instilling in them the values of honesty and integrity”, I said complimenting him.
“That is very nice of you, Sir! I feel honoured that you are taking the trouble to call just to express your appreciation. I have only studied up to fifth class. In those days, short stories about ethics and morality were narrated to us and textbooks also had material that strengthened values like honesty and integrity so we learnt to differentiate between good and bad, right from wrong. It is those principles, which guide me to lead a trouble-free honest life.”
As I listened to his words on the phone, I was amazed by his words and thought process.
He continued, “But today those values are not taught in schools. What children are taught these days is as unhealthy as giving spicy food to babies. When my children were studying at home, I used to listen to them and I noticed that the curriculum no longer has moral stories, inspiring poetry or children’s books by Paravastu Chinnayasuri – nothing of value! That is why I entrust them with simple tasks like these to pass on the few values that I know. That is all!” I was amazed by the foresight of this man and I just patted the son on his shoulders.
My wife was taken aback seeing the glow of joy on my face as I placed the 180 rupees, returned by the boy in my wallet. She gave me an apologetic sheepish smile because she knew that the joy was not for the money regained!
I remembered that in Srimad Bhagavatham, righteousness or dharma is described as Nandi the ‘bull’ who stands on four ‘legs’—austerity, cleanliness, kindness and trust or truthfulness. The Bhagavatham also predicts that all the four legs will not be equally strong over epochs of time - representing the degree of decline of righteousness. In the world, during the Satya Yuga, the first stage of development, the bull would stand firmly on all four legs but as the yugas changed, one by one the legs would be broken and lost until finally in Kali-yuga (the present age) only truthfulness or trust would be the dominant form of Dharma or righteousness.
This humble coffee vendor’s action appears to be proof that as predicted righteousness or dharma still flourishes in this World though it is on its fourth leg of truthfulness. As I watched the boy move down the compartment, I mentally saluted the coffee vendor!
(Shri J.P.Sarma is a State Bank of India employee and the author of Edari Parugu: Kadhala Samputi in Telugu)
‘🤝
_*You are requested to forward this story to your near and dear without editing details and writer's name. It is the respect we have to pay for the writer and collector of good stories. Thank you*_
Jai Gurudev- HAPPY BIRTHDAY 13th May
For the one who grants all wishes ,
what could I wish for
For the one who is the source of all blessings,
What blessings could I give
For the one who lives in the present moment and unveils infinity
How could I assume a beginning
For the one who is the song of the divine
What song could I sing
For the one who cherishes me more than I can imagine
How could I express my love
For the one who embodies the whole of creation
What gift could I give
And yet
For the one who dances in perfect harmony balancing the absolute and the relative
For the one who transcends the world while engaging fully in it
For the one who has inspired millions on the path of the self while being utterly down to earth
For the one who is love incarnate while being the embodiment of dispassion
All I can say Gurudev
Could never be conveyed by words
And yet
It is these three words that can only begin to convey my gratitude for your existence
Jai Gurudev
#HappyBirthdayGurudev
Beautiful message:
Beautiful message:
BREATH
I noticed a child monk—he couldn’t have been more than ten years old—teaching a group of five-year-olds. He had a great aura about him, the poise and confidence of an adult.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Just taught their first class ever,” he said, then asked me, “What did you learn in your first day of school?”
“I started to learn the alphabet and numbers. What did they learn?”
“The first thing we must teach them is how to breathe.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because the only thing that stays with you from the moment you’re born until the moment you die is your breath. All your friends, your family, the country you live in, all of that can change. The one thing that stays with you is your breath.”
This ten-year-old monk added, “When you get stressed—what changes? Your breath. When you get angry—what changes? Your breath. We experience every emotion with the change of the breath. When you learn to navigate and manage your breath, you can navigate any situation in life."
Inhale the beauty....
Exhale with Gratitude .
(Forwarded as received)
Tuesday 11 May 2021
Our miracle of deliverance is in our hands.- As received
Every generation faces a crisis. A moment of reckoning, when the people have to come together, if they are to bend the arc of history. Sometimes, the enemy is in flesh and blood. At other times, invisible. We can look back at previous generations, and perhaps learn from their failures and successes.
In the 1930s, the French invested heavily in the Maginot line - since they knew that a war with Germany was only a question of when, not if. The Maginot line was a series of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapons installations built to protect from German invasion , named after French minister of War, André Maginot. The French considered it impenetrable. As fate would have it, the Nazi forces went through the Ardennes forest, a place the French thought was utterly unlikely. The defence was breached at a point, no one had imagined. They had been caught off guard. Within days, Belgium and Holland had fallen.
Meanwhile, in Britain, Churchill had to tackle his political rivals Lord Halifax and the ousted PM Neville Chamberlain, who were advocating peace with Hitler. The collapse of Western Europe was imminent. It was, their darkest hour. The greatest battle Churchill faced, however, was not against the Wehrmacht - but self doubt and fear. The British depended on him to steer through the fog of war, even when he couldn't see clearly. When General Ismay asked Churchill if they should tell the people, the imminent fall of France, Churchill said, “Not yet. We must first arouse our old friends to an heroic resistance. France must be saved”. They couldn't find enough naval vessels. Churchill did the unthinkable - he sought the help of civilians to fight the world's most fearsome army . Operation Dynamo was born. 700 private boats sailed from Ramsgate in Britain to Dunkirk in Northern France. Some were manned by simple fishermen. They rescued over 330,000 allied troops. The rest as they say, is history.
These words echo across time today. We can’t be crippled by self doubt. We slipped once and let the virus take us off guard, but not again. We can’t repeat the mistake of underestimating the enemy. Falling down is an accident, staying down is a choice.
We face troubles, in more ways than we could possibly imagine. This is our generational call of destiny. Our darkest hour. We must arouse ourselves to an heroic resistance. India must be saved.
Today, we need everyone to join the fight, not just the frontline workers - just like those brave men who joined the British navy on their perilous journey to Dunkirk. If we do small things right, the big things will take care of themselves.
Our miracle of deliverance is in our hands.
Tuesday 4 May 2021
The unflinching faith of a sparrow - A story from Mahabharat
The unflinching faith of a sparrow - A story from Mahabharat
The preparations for the Kurukshetra war was underway, when soldiers were preparing the ground by uprooting trees by using elephants. On one of the trees resided a mother sparrow with her four children who were barely hatched. When the tree was uprooted, she fell down on the ground along with her children, but managed to survive, but her babies were too young to fly away to safety. At a distance they saw Krishna and Arjuna on a chariot discussing war strategies. The mother sparrow flapped her wings and flew towards Krishna and begged “ O Lord, please save my little ones. They still cannot fly. Tomorrow, when the war begins, they will be crushed to death.” Krishna responded “ You may be right, but I cannot go against the laws of nature by protecting you”. The bird replied “ I understand your predicament. But you are the protector of this universe. You may watch my babies die or protect them. The choice is yours . I will simply seek refuge in you.” Krishna said “ Stock 3 weeks worth of food in your nest. Leave the rest to the Kalachakra ( time cycle) to take its course and decide your fate.” The bird thanked Krishna and set out on its mission.
Meanwhile, the war was about to begin and Krishna snatched the bow and arrow from Arjuna and aimed at the
elephant that uprooted the tree which had the birds. Instead of killing it, he aimed at the bell tied around its neck and brought it down and handed back the bow to Arjuna. “What’s the reason for your strange act, O Lord? “ asked a perplexed Arjuna. Krishna said “ This elephant brought down the innocent birds by uprooting the tree. However, he didn’t kill them. Hence I just brought down its bell instead of killing it. “ Later, the war took place for 18 days and there was a lot of death and destruction. The bodies of dead soldiers and animals were strewn all around. There was mayhem everywhere. Then Krishna observed the bell which he brought down and asked Arjuna to pick it up. The moment he picked up the bell, he was shocked to see the sparrow with her children who had by now developed their wings and were ready to fly. The bell provided the protective cover to the birds and was intact for 18 days. This was nothing short of a miracle.
The birds were in a lockdown for 18 days and survived in the backdrop of all the death and destruction happening around them.
Is there something we too can learn during this lockdown? Let;s stay safe and keep ot
"Can you sleep when the wind blows?"*
"Can you sleep when the wind blows?"*
The following story is a superb metaphorical exposition of the level of preparedness.
Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast.
He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic.
They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.
Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. 'Are you a good farm hand?' the farmer asked him.
'Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,' answered the little man.
Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.
The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.
Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore.
Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, 'Get up! A storm is coming!
Tie things down before they blow away!' The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, 'No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.'
Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.
When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?
The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm.
The above story goes on to talk about trials and tribulations in life and if we do our best to understand, accept, and implement the principles learnt by us we will experience a deep sense of security, peace, and joy from within.
We will then be able to 'sleep when the wind blows.'
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