Story time....

The Bowl

During the time Buddha lived, once famine struck the land.  Rains failed and people were starving.

Even the animals and birds were sufferring.   and the heat of the sun withered the harvest in the field

The wealthy people grew greedy and selfish and started to hide their grains and saved for their needy time.

The Buddha called all his followers and held a big meeting. He asked them to help the poor ones..  One Wealthy man stood up and said "I feel so ashamed that I will not be in a position to help all people in the Village'.

Hard times starve people's spirits, as well as their bodies.

"Saddest of all, Lord Buddha," said a third, "are the stories of children(triangle) dying of hunger on the poor side of town, because the wealthy have hoarded all the grain and milk and sugar."

Another one said, 'I wonder how I am going to pay my tax this year to the Government, since I couldn't harvest anything'.

Third one said, 'I am already in the process of selling my lands and other properties, just to help my family.

The Buddha said, "Is there no one here," he asked finally, "who will take on the job of helping to feed the poor and homeless in these hard times?"

There was silence. Then a sweet voice said, "I will, Lord Buddha."

Out of the crowd stepped a girl, no more than 6 or 7 years old. She was a daughter of Saint Buddha's follower.  "My name is Supriya," said the child, "and I have a bowl to fill with food for the hungry. When can I begin?" 

Everyone in the crowd were shocked, some were laughing at the girl.  The Buddha smiled. "Small child," he said, "your heart is filled with love, but how will you do this alone?"

Supriya replied, "Not alone, Lord Buddha, but with your help. I'll take this bowl from house to house and ask for food for the poor. I will not be refused. I know it."

After hearing the child, the selfish among those present grew ashamed.

Then Supriya took her bowl, and every day she went from house to house in the village. Wherever she went her bowl got filled.

"Now," said Supriya, "the hungry will eat, and the people of this town will take care of each other." And so they did.

So it all depends on the attitude, if we feel we can then we can.  If we feel we can't then we can never do anything.

Quotes from Who moved my cheese....

"It is safer to search in the maze than to remain in a cheeseless situation" 

"Life moves on and so should we" 

"Change happens when the pain of holding on becomes greater than the fear of letting go." 

"He knew sometimes some fear can be good. When you are afraid things are going to get worse if you don't do something, it can prompt you into action. But it is not good when you are afraid that it keeps you from doing anything."

"If you do not change, you can become extinct !" 

- by Spencer Johnson...Author - Who moved my cheese.....

Siddharth - an inspiration to all....!

Some people are always there as an inspiration for many of us.  Siddharth, my colleague from ABN AMRO Bank (now Royal Bank of Scotland) and our good friend is one among them.

Siddharth suffers from a neurological condition called Cerebral Palsy that affects the coordination between his mind and body. But, it never stopped him from being a successful person and a great human being.

Siddharth Jayakumar is now working for Indusind Bank Ltd as Associate Manager, Trade Ops. and he is a certified 'Documentary Credit Specialist' (CDCS) from Institute of Financial Services, UK & is India’s first CDCS with Cerebral Palsy. He is a recipient of National award in 2008 by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment - The “Best Employee with Cerebral Palsy”.  He was conferred the ‘Lala Kailashpat Singhania Award’ from National Society for Equal Opportunities for Handicapped and the Helen Keller awards in December 2009 for being a positive role model.  Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam expressed his desire to meet him and they met on 2 December 2005.  Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam mentions Siddharth's name in many of the occasions and forums including the World Disability day.  Siddharth is a person who has gained  his own personal triumph over his limitations.  One person who will be remembered for a long time in our lives...!

And I feel his philosophy in life will well fit in my blog’s name “LIVE POSITIVE WAY”!

Few quotes from his speech....

Always defeat the problem. You cannot allow the problem to defeat.

How many of you manage yourself? How do you make your presence felt? How do you make people accept you? That is where the challenge lies for me. I learnt to manage my limitations very well...How can I blame myself for something that is not in my control?

I used to talk very fast that even my parents could not understand me. I realized that and then I put in every effort to talk slow. That is a very painful process because it is not easy to beat your own mind...

I cannot write my own exam. I have to depend on somebody. Once, I had a person who did not even know English to write my history exam. I had to dictate the 3 hour paper letter by letter. I became very stubborn then. I decided to become mentally tough to be able to handle these situations...

It is easy to have a lot of thoughts, but how many can we really implement? Implementation was not very easy for me...I succeeded because I wanted to succeed.

A lot of insensitive people just happened to put me down without understanding my problem. The doctors could not diagnose my problem for 9 years. A school refused to admit me because I was different. If somebody else was in my situation, they would have just given up...

My parents are people who never expected something great out of me. I never passed on any responsibility to my parents. Accepting responsibilities for who you are and accepting whatever result you get for your action, that is what I did. It is very easy for me to blame the system, but blaming the system will make me a loser. After 6 years of my career, I have met a lot of people who cannot come to terms with my ability no matter how much they know me...

I learnt that there is no second opportunity for me. Many people take their opportunities for granted. Every single opportunity I had, I had to grab it and deliver the best I can...

Everyday I think about how I can make myself better! 

Different categories...

Three persons visited Ramakrishna Paramahamsa requesting him to reveal God to them. One was Vivekananda. Ramakrishna asserted that one could converse with God on a first-person basis. Realizing that Vivekananda was destined to serve God’s mission in a large way, and penance would be a barrier for this service, it was only at the appropriate time that Ramakrishna guided Vivekananda to the Lord’s Presence.

Another person asked Ramakrishna to reveal God. Without directly replying, Ramakrishna thrust the person’s head into water, and the man forced his head out, gasping for breath. Ramakrishna asked him, ‘What were you thinking about, during the past few minutes?’, and the person confessed that his attention was on getting out of water. Ramakrishna said, ‘When you become that desperate for realizing God, come to me, and I will guide you to His Presence.’

A third person came to Ramakrishna with the same request. Paramahamsa told him to learn the Bhagavad-Gita and consume grapes, and the person asked, ‘how many kilos of grapes and for how many days?’ Ramakrishna declared that the person would never be able to realize God. When the man pleaded with him, the sage explained, ‘You never asked me how many chapters of Bhagavad-Gita you are to learn, you were more interested in eating. How will God present Himself to you?’

There are three categories of persons: those who yearn for God’s presence, like Vivekananda did, and the intensity of their quest helps them comprehend God. The second category of persons is yet to desperately seek God; and it takes some time. The third category of persons is deep in the worldly perishables of eating, sleeping and leading a useless life.

Stay focused.....

A telegraph office announced an interview. On the day of the interview, several bright candidates, well dressed in coat and suit, waited in the office reception room for the interview call. A few minutes later, one of them stepped inside the manager’s cabin and returned ten minutes later with an appointment letter in hand. The others asked him, ‘Do you know the interviewer? Were you recommended by someone?’ to which the newly appointed recruit replied, ‘We are attending an interview at the telegraph office! They were announcing the interview, using the Morse code and since none you attempted to get up, I went in to attend the interview’. The others had been waiting for a personal call, whereas this person was shrewd enough to hear the code-call. Be aware that God is beckoning you; it is in your interests to hear His call.

Famous Attitude Quote

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts.... We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is  10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.
Dr. Viktor E. Frankl

Its different.... but its a positive attitude

Father: I want you to marry a girl of my choice

Son: “I will choose my own bride!”

Father: “But the girl is Bill Gates’s daughter.” 

Son: “Well, in that case…ok” 

Next Father approaches Bill Gates. 

Father: “I have a husband for your daughter.”

Bill Gates: “But my daughter is too young to marry!”

Father: “But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank.” 

Bill Gates: “Ah, in that case…ok” 

Finally Father goes to see the president of the World Bank.

Father: “I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president.”

President: “But I already have more vice- presidents than I need!” 

Father: “But this young man is Bill Gates’s son-in-law.”

President: “Ah, in that case…ok” 

This is how business is done!!

Moral: Even If you have nothing, You can get Anything. But your attitude should be positive… 

Story time once again.....

One day a traveller was walking along a road on his journey from one village to another. As he walked he noticed a monk tending the ground in the fields beside the road. The monk said "Good day" to the traveller, and the traveller nodded to the monk. The traveller then turned to the monk and said "Excuse me, do you mind if I ask you a question?". 

"Not at all," replied the monk. 

"I am travelling from the village in the mountains to the village in the valley and I was wondering if you knew what it is like in the village in the valley?" 

"Tell me," said the monk, "What was your experience of the village in the mountains?" 

"Dreadful," replied the traveller, "to be honest I am glad to be away from there. I found the people most unwelcoming. When I first arrived I was greeted coldly. I was never made to feel part of the village no matter how hard I tried. The villagers keep very much to themselves, they don't take kindly to strangers. So tell me, what can I expect in the village in the valley?" 

"I am sorry to tell you," said the monk, "but I think your experience will be much the same there". 

The traveller hung his head despondently and walked on. 

A while later another traveller was journeying down the same road and he also came upon the monk. 

"I'm going to the village in the valley," said the second traveller, "Do you know what it is like?" 

"I do," replied the monk "But first tell me - where have you come from?" 

"I've come from the village in the mountains." 

"And how was that?" 

"It was a wonderful experience. I would have stayed if I could but I am committed to travelling on. I felt as though I was a member of the family in the village. The elders gave me much advice, the children laughed and joked with me and people were generally kind and generous. I am sad to have left there. It will always hold special memories for me. And what of the village in the valley?" he asked again. 

"I think you will find it much the same" replied the monk, "Good day to you". 

"Good day and thank you," the traveller replied, smiled, and journeyed on.

Some useful tips...

Bloggers today being my wedding anniversary I wish to share some health tips (mail) shared by my hubby.  He himself is an expert in giving medical advices.  He shares so many health tips regularly and useful ones as well.  Here the simple and easy one...

Years pass by and our kidneys are filtering the blood by removing salt, poison and any unwanted entering our body. With time, the salt accumulates and this needs to undergo cleaning treatments and how are we going to overcome this?

It is very easy, first take a bunch of parsley (MALLI Leaves) KOTHIMBIR (DHANIYA)and wash it clean.  

Then cut it in small pieces and put it in a pot and pour clean water and boil it for ten minutes and let it cool down and then filter it and pour in a clean bottle and keep it inside refrigerator to cool.

Drink one glass daily and you will notice all salt and other accumulated poison coming out of your kidney by urination also you will be able to notice the difference which you never felt before. 

Parsley is known as best cleaning treatment for kidneys and it is natural!

Quotes...

The only disability in life is a bad attitude.  ~Scott Hamilton

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.  ~Buddha

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.  ~Mary Engelbreit

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly.  You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.  ~Roald Dahl

Book Review...

The book I read recently is 'Many Lives Many Master' by Brain L. Weiss. I was searching for this book for almost 7 months but couldn't find anywhere. At last got it few days back and its worth searching and reading.  It has given a new insight for me.

I believe in the law of Karma and Reincarnation..If you too, then go ahead with this book...

In this book Dr. Weiss  reports the past life memories of his patient Catherine. While reading I could sense that the details given in the book is authentic.  The Hindu beliefs of reincarnation and karma are well described by Dr.Brian Weiss.  I personally felt that my belief in Pranic Healing and this book somehow related to each other. I feel lucky to have this book in my library.  Never before has a book had such a profound effect in my life. If you can just read once.

Editorial Review from Amazon.com

Psychiatry and metaphysics blend together in this fascinating book based on a true case history. Dr. Weiss, who was once firmly entrenched in a clinical approach to psychiatry, finds himself reluctantly drawn into past-life therapy when a hypnotized client suddenly reveals details of her previous lives. During one hypnosis session his client introduces the spirit guides who have been her soul therapists in between lives. This is when the story really takes off for Weiss, who discovers that these guides have specific messages about his dead son as well as Weiss's mission in life. No, we cannot verify the truth of this story using the limited scientific tools we have available. However, it is hard to dispute that this well-respected graduate of Columbia University and Yale Medical School has discovered a personal truth that has led him to be an enormously popular speaker, author, and leader in the field of past-life therapy. --Gail Hudson