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kathaavaahini

A wealthy man requested an old scholar to wean his son away from his bad habits. The scholar took the youth for a stroll through a garden. Stopping suddenly he asked the boy to pull out a tiny plant growing there. The youth held the plant between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it out. The old man then asked him to pull out a slightly bigger plant. The youth pulled hard and the plant came out, roots and all. "Now pull out that one," said the old man pointing to a bush. The boy had to use all his strength to pull it out. "Now take this one out," said the old man, indicating a guava tree. The youth grasped the trunk and tried to pull it out. But it would not budge. "I – It's impossible," said the boy, panting with the effort. "So it is with bad habits," said the sage. "When they are young it is easy to pull them out but when they take hold they cannot be uprooted." The session with the old man changed the boy's life.

Posted by: Mr. SiriVennela At: 22, Dec 2005 3:14:07 PM IST

hei lessO... hei

Posted by: ★Vinåyåkåm★ chitt♥♥r At: 21, Dec 2005 9:52:15 PM IST

WHEN TO DO GOOD THINGS Once there was a rich man. But not even once in his life had he done any charity. One day, he felt a sudden urge to do some “dana”. He decided to give gold small pieces to poor people everyday. Unfortunately, he told his wife about his intention. She said, “My beloved one, instead of giving small pieces, you can give a larger quantity of gold, by gathering all the pieces. The rich man accepted her words as divine mantras. Hence from that day onwards, he started to gather the golden pieces. He decided to make them into a big golden ball and then give it away before his death. Years rolled on and he collected a good many small pieces, which he made into a golden ball and kept it inside his pillow. All of a sudden, one day, he fell ill and his condition became quite serious. He could not even move his hands. His tongue lost its power and he could not speak. He hi-cupped and the sputum blocked his throat. He understood that death was near and resented very much for not performing the cherished ‘dana’ already. He said to himself “Atleast now I should do the thing”. But he couldn’t even speak out what he was thinking. He could not move his hands and take the gold ball out of the pillow. He tried to remind his wife of their resolve. Collecting all his energy, he showed by signs to his wife, “As we had discussed earlier, I have made a gold ball with the pieces of gold intended for giving in charity daily. The ball is now inside the pillow. Now, my end has come. But I have no strength to take it out and give it to the needy people. Without making any further delay, you please take it out and give it in charity”. The wife understood what her husband meant. But she thought, “My husband is going to die soon. There is no surety that my children will take care of me, after they grow. So now is the time for me to act intelligently. I will not give the golden ball in charity now. Rather I can keep it with me until my lifetime. That is the only safety for my life”. Her two sons standing nearby could not understand what their father wanted to convey by his signs. The younger one asked his mother, “Mother, Father shows signs of a ball, what he wants to say?” The mother did not want to tell him the truth. She said, “Son, before you were born, we regularly took wood-apple fruit, and we both liked it. He used to bring the fruit and I would mix it with sugar and give it to him. Now also he wants that fruit”. The elder son said, “Mother, it is our duty to fulfill the last wish of our father. So, we shall bring the fruit”. He started with his younger brother. It was not the season for that fruit. However after a great deal of searching the boys found out a wood-apple tree. But a new problem cropped up. None of them knew how to climbing a tree. They stood below worrying how to pluck the fruits. They were sad. A few monkeys were living in that tree. Imitating the two boys they also mocked at them by putting up a sad appearance. On seeing that, the younger brother got an idea, “Brother, the monkeys show sad faces like us. Let us throw a stone at them. In return, the monkeys will hit us with those fruits”. Immediately they picked up a stone each and threw them at the monkeys. The monkeys like very much to imitate the actions of human-beings. Immediately they plucked the fruits from the tree and threw them at the boys. The sons picked up the fruits and ran to their mother. She took the pulp from the fruits, mixed it with sugar and gave it to her husband. The husband was already suffering with sputum blocking his throat and he couldn’t speak. But just to save the gold, the wife compelled her husband to eat that fruit. Due to her compulsion, he also had to eat it. It is a well known fact that anyone who takes that fruit too much, while suffering with cold and sputum has to die. This is a common truth. It became true in the matter of that rich man also. He died. This is a Jain story. What do we understand from this? Good things are to be done immediately, because we don’t know whether tomorrow belongs to us or to the God of Death. The thing that we want to do on a future day should be done tomorrow itself. That, which we intend to do tomorrow should be done today itself. Finally what we intend to do today should be carried out now itself. In Sanskrit they say - Subhasya Seegram.

Posted by: Mr. SiriVennela At: 21, Dec 2005 5:28:24 PM IST

A wealthy businessman in Hong Kong had spent the best years of his life building up his mammoth textile business. One day, he was told that he was dying from an incurable disease. His immediate thought was of his business. Who would carry it on? And which of his three sons could he trust it to? He called his three sons and gave them a 10 cent coin each. To each he said, go into the market place and buy something that will fill this empty room. You must not spend anything more than 10 cents and you must be back before sunset.” When evening came, the first boy dragged a bale of hay into the room. When he undid it, it hid two walls of the room. The old man gave a grunt of satisfaction. The second boy brought in two bags of cotton and when he undid them it covered the three walls. “Excellent!” exclaimed the old man. Then he turned to the third boy, “what have you bought?” “Father,” he replied uncertainly. “Part of it went to feed a hungry child, and part I gave it the church. After I had done that I found that I had only one cent left. With that I bought this candle.” Saying that, he lit the tiny candle – the light from it filled the whole room!

Posted by: Mr. SiriVennela At: 20, Dec 2005 5:44:39 PM IST

varaala kOsamu , mana baadhalu tIraTamu kOsamudEvuDani praarthistaamu kaani,dEvuDani chUDaTamu kOsamaa! iMtakumuMdu cheppina katha lO laagaa aayana kanapaDagaanE mana kOrikalu tIrchaaDaa sarEsari lEkapOtE aayana dEvuDani oppukOmu.

Posted by: Mrs. shaloo At: 19, Dec 2005 7:20:57 PM IST

Where is GOD ? -------------- Once an inquisitive devotee asked a realized saint, “Bhagavan, what is the form of God? Where does he live and where can I find him?” The saint said, “God is everywhere and is all pervading. He is blissful, omniscient and immortal and He is your own self”. The devotee asked, “If it is so, why do I not perceive and have an experience of Him?” The saint replied, “As the God is all pervading, He is within your own mind as well but your mind is not in Him. Your mind is engrossed in the world.” The saint in many ways tried to make him understand the existence of God but the devotee could not comprehend and realize God. The saint then told him, “Go to Haridwar, there in Ganga, there is a fish of a strange colour and it can speak in the voice of human beings. The fish will give you an appropriate answer to your question”. The inquisitive devotee bowed to the saint, touched his feet and started on his way to Haridwar. There he sat down in a corner and began to wait for the arrival of the strange fish. Whenever he saw any fish he repeated his question and asked where God lived and how could he see Him? After sometime the strange fish came and asked the devotee “where from have you come?” The devotee replied, “A saint asked me to see you and I want to know where does God live and how can I see Him?” The fish said to him, “I am thirsty for the last seven days. So tell me where I can get water from.” On listening to the words of the fish, the devotee laughed and said, “Oh foolish one, water is above you, below you, it is on your right, on your left and there is water on all you sides”. When the devotee spoke like this, the fish became serious and said, “Oh, you innocent devotee. You are also foolish like me. God whom you are searching is above you, below you, on your right, on your left, and in brief he is on all your sides. The devotee was a bit satisfied and said, “If so, why am I unable to see the blissful God and why am I so miserable?” The fish said, “The same is my question. If water is on all my sides why is my thirst not quenched? The devotee knew the construction of the body of the fish and knew that so long as the fish swam straight with its face upward, no water can enter its mouth. To quench its thirst the fish has to swim upside down. If the construction of the body of the fish is not been like this, water can enter its body freely and it will die. So the devotee advised the fish to take a turn upside down to quench its thirst. The fish then said to the devotee, “As we have to take a turn to quench our thirst, you should also take a turn to see God. Turn away from the desires to see God. In other words, when you turn the flow of the thoughts of your mind from the world to the blissful omniscient God, then all your sorrows will come to an end. The devotee did accordingly and realized his real Self. ------------ Thanx for reading shaloo ji,suresh ji and amrapaali garu...

Posted by: Mr. SiriVennela At: 19, Dec 2005 5:21:31 PM IST

And also dont pay attention towards "discouraging words". You are failed when you failed to try. good story

Posted by: Mrs. shaloo At: 16, Dec 2005 3:21:02 PM IST

Be careful what you say ----------------------- A group of frogs were hopping contentedly through the woods, going about their froggy business, when two of them fell into a deep pit. All of the other frogs gathered around the pit to see what could be done to help their companions. When they saw how deep the pit was, the rest of the dismayed group agreed that it was hopeless and told the two frogs in the pit that they should prepare themselves for their fate, because they were as good as dead. Unwilling to accept this terrible fate, the two frogs began to jump with all of their might. Some of the frogs shouted into the pit that it was hopeless, and that the two frogs wouldn't be in that situation if they had been more careful, more obedient to the froggy rules, and more responsible. The other frogs continued sorrowfully shouting that they should save their energy and give up, since they were already as good as dead. The two frogs continued jumping as hard as they could, and after several hours of desperate effort were quite weary. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to the calls of his fellows. Spent and disheartened, he quietly resolved himself to his fate, lay down at the bottom of the pit, and died as the others looked on in helpless grief. The other frog continued to jump with every ounce of energy he had, although his body was wracked with pain and he was completely exhausted. His companions began anew, yelling for him to accept his fate, stop the pain and just die. The weary frog jumped harder and harder and - wonder of wonders! Finally leapt so high that he sprang from the pit. Amazed, the other frogs celebrated his miraculous freedom and then gathering around him asked, "Why did you continue jumping when we told you it was impossible?" Reading their lips, the astonished frog explained to them that he was deaf, and that when he saw their gestures and shouting, he thought they were cheering him on. What he had perceived as encouragement inspired him to try harder and to succeed against all odds. This simple story contains a powerful lesson. The book of Proverbs says, "There is death and life in the power of the tongue." Your destructive words can cause deep wounds; they may be the weapons that destroy someone's desire to continue trying - or even their life. Your destructive, careless word can diminish someone in the eyes of others, destroy their influence and have a lasting impact on the way others respond to them. Your encouraging words can lift someone up and help them make it through the day. Be careful what you say. Speak life to (and about) those who cross your path. There is enormous power in words. If you have words of kindness, praise or encouragement - speak them now to, and about, others. Listen to your heart and respond. Someone, somewhere, is waiting for your words.

Posted by: Mr. SiriVennela At: 16, Dec 2005 2:53:39 PM IST

It is so easy to get that state and that is the difficulty as we always complicate things by our own thoughts.

Posted by: Mr. jogarao pilla At: 16, Dec 2005 1:40:06 PM IST

shirDI saayibAbA ilA annAru " bhoomi vittuni dharistundi,mEghAlu varshistAyi.sUryuDu tana raSmitO vATini molipistADu.(ayinA)vittanAlu molichinanduku ivEvI santOshinchavu.mADitE du:khinchavu.vATi pani avi chEsukupOtAyi. nIvU alAnE chalinchakUDadu.ika du:khamekkaDidi?du:kham lEkapOvaDamE mukti"

Posted by: Mr. SiriVennela At: 15, Dec 2005 4:43:21 PM IST

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