EGO, the deadliest enemy

As far as possible we should keep away or minimise our Ego and have full faith in Almighty, our God. Surrender all your good/bad, happy/unhappy deeds to him. Do not Doubt.

A story.

There were two very good childhood friends. When they grew big, one friend became a tapasvi(Saint) and would stay alone in mountain areas to do his prayers and tapasaya. The other friend became very rich like a King and would stay in his palatial house. The tapasvi would wear only a langoti and the rich friend was living a lavish life.

Once the rich friend desired to search for his friend who had opted to live a life of a Saint. He felt restless and would search for him every nook and corner. Finally he located his friend, went to meet him and felt very proud that his friend has achieved so much knowledge in short period. He has become a tapasvi. He went to his ashram and requested him to have lunch in his house. The tapasvi friend agreed to visit his house and have lunch with him.

The rich friend was very happy and made beautiful arrangement and decorations to receive his dear friend. He spread costly carpets so that his friend is not hurt.

When the sanyasi friend reached his rich friend’s house he was amused and surprised to see the beautiful arrangements made to greet him. When he reached at the main door, then a person at the gate told him “See, your friend has intentionally made this arrangement to make you feel low. He wants to prove you that how much he has attained in life and you are nothing. Hearing that the Saint got very angry and his EGO reached the peaks, he felt hurt. He thought that he was such a big Saint and my friend wants compare his riches with the knowledge I have gained. He went to a nearby nullah(dirty drainage), dirtied his feet in it and then went to his friend’s house. He spoilt the beautiful carpet with his dirty feet.

The rich friend when greeted his friend was surprised and angry to see all this and shouted at his servants to know who had spoilt his carpet. At this, the tapasvi friend said that “I have spoilt your carpet to show that I have gained more than you. You have achieved only money, but I have got spiritual knowledge, I am a Saint, a gyani, a tapasvi. His ego knew no bounds.

The rich friend was stunned and replied very politely and apologetically “ Oh, dear friend after sacrificing all worldly and materialistic things, being a Saint, a gyani, your EGO is still intact, it has not gone down. I used to respect you, honour you, used to feel jealous of your achievements, but now I feel very sad that there is no difference between you and me. I have an ego for money and you have an ego for sainthood, your gyan and tapasya. You have lost all that you have achieved.

Do not get carried by your Ego. You have gained money, knowledge and whatever is good in you through God’s blessings. That I is your deadliest enemy. If by chance, we meet with an accident, or any serious illness, all that we gain becomes meaningless. Just pray and thank God whatever he has bestowed upon us. Had not given you sound and healthy body, mind and soul, you could not achieve anything on this Earth. Do not feel jealous or get angry at what others have. Work hard and do your usual chores honestly. You will be paid back in abundance for all that good work you do.

Source: http://kutasthanandji.blogspot.com

Knowledge

If a pot is kept on the reverse position, it cannot collect water. If it kept straight and there is hole in it then too water will not remain in the pot, it will drain out from the hole. And if the pot is kept straight, there is no hole in it, but it not cleaned regularly, it will collect water but it will be full of dirt and moss, not edible to drink.

Same is the case with knowledge. If knowledge is imparted upon a right and true person, it will be successful because it will bloom like a flower spreading its fragrance everywhere.

Source: http://kutasthanandji.blogspot.com

The Story of Rose

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know.

I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m 87 years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.

“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.

She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel.”

“No seriously,” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.

After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends.

Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk non-stop. I was always mesmerized listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she revelled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium.

As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.”

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began: “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success.”

(1) You have to laugh and find humour every day.
(2) You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!
(3) There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.
(4) Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.

She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose.” She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.

At the years end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly be…..YOU!!

Moral:
Growing older is mandatory, growing up is optional.
We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.
God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.
If God brings you to it … he will bring you through it. It’s better to try and fail, than fail to try.

Source: http://hinduism.co.za
Visit www.etirth.com for more religious information.

Meditation

“The purpose of meditation is to achieve uninterrupted mindfulness. Mindfulness, and only mindfulness, produces Enlightenment.”
—Gunaratana in Mindfulness in Plain English

People meditate for many reasons. Some do it to lower their blood pressure; others like to see special effects with their eyes closed. Many people do it simply because it makes them feel good.

There is nothing wrong with these motives, but on this article, we are only interested in meditation methods that can help lead to enlightment.

We think all such methods have something in common: all of them are exercises in remaining aware of where your attention is pointing. In other words, they teach you to avoid getting lost in thought. When the exercise becomes automatic, permanent, and effortless, enlightenment may follow.

Note the word permanent: you are supposed to meditate all day while engaged in normal activities. If you want to get enlightened, meditation is not just something you do for half an hour while sitting on a cushion. This can’t be stressed enough: these techniques lead to enlightenment only if they become permanent states of mind. They must become habits.

People sometimes say that practicing a deliberate technique is not meditation. According to them, only an effortlessly alert and quiet state is meditation. Such assertions are confusing. Actually, both things are meditation, because the word meditation has two meanings.

The important point to understand is that meditation in the first sense (deliberate effort) is intended to lead to meditation in the second sense (an effortless state of quiet awareness). It is a two-stage process. (And it is designed to lead to a third stage, the dissolution of the ego.)

Although many types of meditation have been advocated by various schools of Hinduism and Buddhism, this page emphasizes insight methods associated with Theravada Buddhism, and the method of self-enquiry as taught by Ramana Maharshi.

The best book about the first is probably Mindfulness in Plain English, which is on our website here; the best book about the second is probably Be As You Are, which can be purchased here.

Beginning meditators may find it useful to divide meditation methods into two categories, those that stress concentration (holding onto a single thought) and those that stress mindfulness (remaining aware of what the mind is perceiving without getting lost in thought). This conceptual division is associated with Theravada Buddhism and is explained brilliantly in the book The Meditative Mind. The reason we recommend mindfulness techniques is that they automatically develop both concentration and mindfulness. This is not true for concentration techniques: they do not necessarily develop mindfulness.

When the English word “Meditation” is used in the context of Hinduism or Buddhism, as we use it here, it is a translation of the Sanskrit word “Dhyana” or its cognates in other Asian languages: “Jhan” in Pali (the language of the Buddha), “Chan” in Chinese, and “Zen” in Japanese.

This page was published on www.realization.org

The Flea and the Wrestler

A Flea settled upon the bare foot of a Wrestler and bit him, causing the man to call loudly upon Hercules for help.

When the Flea a second time hopped upon his foot, he groaned and said, “O Hercules! if you will not help me against a Flea, how can I hope for your assistance against greater antagonists?”

Moral:
Treat every enemy differently, for victory.

The Fisherman and the Little Fish

A Fisherman who lived on the produce of his nets, one day caught a single small Fish as the result of his day’s labor.

The Fish, panting convulsively, thus entreated for his life: “O Sir, what good can I be to you, and how little am I worth? I am not yet come to my full size. Pray spare my life, and put me back into the sea. I shall soon become a large fish fit for the tables of the rich, and then you can catch me again, and make a handsome profit of me.”

The Fisherman replied, “I should indeed be a very simple fellow if, for the chance of a greater uncertain profit, I were to forego my present certain gain.”

Moral:
Do not under judge your success, by size.