Verbal Wounds

("Do not use poisonous words against anyone, for, words wound more fatally than even arrows.")

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father give him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.

He told his father about it and father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails been pulled out.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said,"You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same again. When you say things in anger, They leave a scar just like this one.

You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

("There is one religion, the religion of Love; There is only one language, the language of the heart; There is only one caste, the caste of humanity; There is only one law, the law of karma; There is only one god, He is omnipresent.")

Nourishment For The Soul

("Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening. Learn to be happy and be content where you are, do not run anywhere to secure happiness and contentment, have inner riches, not outer acquisitions.")


A Churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday."I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote,"and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting their by giving sermons to all." This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals for me. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu of a single one of those meals. But I do know this.-They all nourished me and give me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not gives me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

When you are DOWN to nothing.....God is UP to something! faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical.......AND.........our spiritual nourishment!.

("However much you try to fill water in a leaking bucket, it will never fill. Similarly, however much we are taught at places of worship or at school, if we do not put it into practice we cannot improve.")

I Love You Anyway

("Marriage is not a social security. It is for the spiritual union of two individuals.")

The fear of rejection may be one of the most basic fears in human nature. Here is a heart-warming story of a man who finally decided to ask his boss for a raise in salary. It was friday. He told his wife that morning what he was about to do, All day the man felt nervous and apprehensive. Late in the afternoon he summoned the courage to approach his employer. To his delight, the boss agreed to a raise.

The man arrived home to a beautiful table set with their best china. Candles were lighted. His wife had prepared a festive meal. Immediately he figured that someone from the office had tipped her off!

Finding his wife in the kitchen, he told her the good news. They embraced abd kissed, then sat down to a wonderful meal. Next to his plate the man found a beautiful lettered note. It read "Congratulations, darling! I know you'd get the raise! These things will tell you how much I love you."

While on his way to the kitchen, to get desert he noticed that a second card had fallen from her pocket. Picking it off the floor, he read:"Don't worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! These thing will tell you how much I love you.

Total acceptance! Total love. Her love for him was not contingent upon his success at work. In fact, just the opposite. If he were to fail at the office, if he were to be rejected by his boss he'd be all the more accepted at home. She stood behind him no matter what; softening the blows, healing the wounds, believing in him, loving him. We can be rejected by almost anyone if we're loved by one.

It takes......
3 seconds to say,"I love you",
3 minutes to explain it,
3 hours to demonstrate it,
3 days to appreciate it,
3 trimester to produce it,
But a LIFETIME to prove it!

("The human heart feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand.")

The Struggles

                   "Whatever is to our advantage will appear right to us;
                    We do not usually look upon a matter from the other fellow's standpoint."

The struggles are just natural.....leave it to God. A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then, it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could go on further.

So, the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small shriveled wings. the man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spend the rest of its life crowing around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were god's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. If God allowed us to go through our lives without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as what we could have been. We could never been. We could never fly!

                                         "The three 'H' principle as told by Baba:
                                          Harmony in the Head;
                                          Harmony in the Heart;
                                          Harmony in the Hand."

Just Physical Love

("No friendship in this world is permanent; it changes. That with god is permanent; it never changes. Have God as your real friend.")

Once there was a young couple. They had got married; In fact it was a love match too. As they were walking down a path one day very soon after the wedding, the husband noticed a thornt bush on the path. With chivalry and love he swung his bride over it so that she would not get hurt.

A few years later they happened to again walk down the same path. This time he was thinking about his business and how to improve his profits; he wished his wife was more careful with money. This time when he saw thorny bush, he didn't get alarmed; he only said,"Be careful, there is a thorny bush!"

After some more years they walked the same path again. By this time his daughter's marriage was settled. He had to work out the financial details. He was too lost in thought to warn his cried with pain because she stepped on it. The husband shouted with irritation," Don't you have eyes? Can't you look where you are walking?"

Again after some more years they were walking down the same path. This time the wife was nagging him about something. He saw the thorny bush. She was busy chattering and he thought to himself," I hope she steps on that thorn!" Such is human love! Thinking that 'love' will remain unchanged all through life between spouses is a myth and an illusion warns Bhagwan Baba.

Relating this story restores a balance to one's perspective; one gets a glimpse of real human nature.

("Make the Home a seat of Harmony. It is nit being beautiful that counts...... But, being a beautiful person.")

COOKING RECIPES

Efficacy Of The Name Of Sri Rama

Once narada approached lord Narayana with a query," Swami, I want to know the meaning of the word Rama". Narayana said,"Do you not know the meaning of the word Rama? Go and ask the parrot on that tree to explain". In obedience to God he went and asked the Parrot,"Oh parrot!, What is the meaning of this word Rama" the parrot fell down dead! Narada thought Rama means 'death' since the parrot had died instantly.


He was determined to find out the significance of this event. He went back to Narayana. "Narayana, I asked the parrot as you had instructed, but the parrot died the moment I uttered the word Rama". What a sin!" Narayana replied "Narada, since you have made up your mind to know the meaning of Rma, you go and ask that newborn calf the meaning of Rama."


Narada went to the newborn calf pointed by Narayana. He looked all around to make sure the ownre was not around just in case the calf also died. He asked the calf very softly,"Oh calf, what is the meaning of Rama?" The moment the calf heard the word Rama its tail trembled and the calf also fell dead! What was to be down? Narada fled from there before the owner arrived.

He went to Narayana,"Narayana, the same thing happened! Is death the only meaning of Rama?" Nrayana replied,"No! No! There is a king on earth who has a newborn son. Ask the baby the meaning of Rama. He will tell you. This is God's command". Narada went a small distance and returned," Narayana, the bird had none to protect it, nor did the calf. I was not accountable to anyone. But if the prince dies, then I shall no longer be able to see you and sing your glory." Narayana said," Whatever happens is God's will."

Narada went to the king. The king received Narada, warmly praising him as the Brahma Putra. The servants brought the newly born child for blessings. Narada recited a number of mantras and gave him all sorts of blessing for a long life before putting the crucial question to the baby.. The king did not know any Sanakrit Narada spoke as if he was still reciting a mantra and asked in a musical tone,"Oh prince, what is the meaning of the word Rama."

The baby at once smiled, and Narada smiled back, now that he was assured of his own safety. The boy did not die and Narada felt this was his good luck. The baby then spoke,"Oh Brahmaputra, Narada, you have acquired all the 64 types of knowledge. But you do not the meaning of the Lord's name! Listen to me. I shall tell you. I had taken the form of a parrot and when I heard the name of Rama from your lips I left my body;because of Rama's name my life was redeemed.

Then I took a higher birth as a calf. You again wanted to know the meaning of Rama. Again I left that body too after hearing the name of the lord from you. Now I am born a prince. By merely listening to God's name I have climbed these steps in the ladder of evolution,- a parrot, a calf and now a prince. I have attained this exalted position by merely listening to the word Rama. Imagine then how much power there is in chanting the name of Rama."

("Rama se bara Rama ka Naam". It is said that in the Kaliyuga, chanting the name of the lord is enough to redeem you from the cycle of birth and death. It is the easiest way to attain Moksha)

Sand And Stone

Two friends were walking on a beach by the sea. While discussing a point, they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped felt hurt, but without saying anything, he wrote in the sand;"Today my best friend slapped me in the face."

They kept on walking until it was low tide and they decided to take a dip on the sea. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the slush and started drowning, but his friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowing, he wrote on a stone;"Today my best friend saved my life."

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him,"After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now you writeon a stone. Why?" The other friend replied:"When someone hurts ue, we should write it down in the sand where the waves of the sea and the winds of forgiveness can erase it away! But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind or water can erase it!!!"
Learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your blessings on a stone or in your heart.

("Forget the harm that anyone has done to you, and forget the good that you have done to others.")

The Choice

A woman came out oh her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said."i don't think i know you, but you must be  hungry. Please come in and have something to eat." "Is the man of the house home?" they asked."No," she said,"he's out." "then we cannot come in,"they replied.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened."Go tell them i am home and invite them in!" The woman went out and invited the men in. "We do not go into a house together," they replied. "Why is that?" she wanted to know. One of the old men explained,"His name is wealth," pointing to one of his friend, and then, pointing to the other one,"He is success, and i am love." Then he added,"Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us, you want in your home."

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed."How nice!" he said."since that is the case, let us invite wealth. Let him come in and fill our home with wealth!" His wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite success?" Their doughter-in-law was listening from another corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion:"Would it not love!" "Let us heed our doughter-in-law's advice," said the husband to his wife." Go out and invite love to be our guest."

The woman went out and asked the three old men,"Which one of you is love?Please come in and be our guest." Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the woman asked wealth and success:"I only invited love, why are you coming in?" The old men replied together:"If you had invited wealth or success, the other two of us would have stayed out, but since you invite love, wherever he goes, we go with him. Wherever there is love, there is wealth and success!!!"

                          ("Love is the light that guides the feet of man in the wilderness.")

Mummy, I Love You

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing. He asked her what was wrong and she replied," I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But i only have seventy five cents and a rose costs two dollars."

The man smiled and said,"Come on in with me. I'll buy you a rose."He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his mother's flowers. As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home, She said,"yes, please! you can take me to my mother."

She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave. The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother's home.

Treat your parents well while they are still healthy and alive, do not only show your respect to them when they are in the grave.

("Be an instrument in the hands of God. Let him use for any purpose He prefers. How can anyone question his will?")

Having Lunch With God

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet god. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with cupcakes, several cans of juice and started his journey.When he had gone about three blocks, he saw an elderly woman. She was sitting on a park bench watching the pigeons.The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink whene he noticed that the lady looked hungry, so he offered her a cupcake.

She gratefully accepted and smiled at him. Her smile was so wonderful that he wanted to see it again, so he offered her a drink as well. Once again she smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling without saying a word. As it began to grow dark, the boy realized how sleepy he was and wanted to go home. He got up to leave, but before he had gone no more than a few steps, he turned around and ran back to the woman and gave her a big hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.

When the boy arrived home his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked,"What has made you so happy today?" He replied,"I had lunch with god." Before his mother could respond he added,"You know what? she's got the most beautiful smile in the whole world!"

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face. He asked,"Mother, what has made you so happy today?" She replied,"I ate cupcake in the park with god." And before her son could reply, she added,"You know, he is much younger than i expected."

Too often we under-estimate the power of a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring all of which have the potential to turn life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a life time......Take no one for granted and embrace all equally with joy and bliss! Smile, for smiling is contagious, a 'smile epidemic' is what the world needs today.

("See God in everyone you meet; see God in everything you handle. Live together, revere each other, let not seeds of envy and hate grow and choke the clear stream of Love.")

A Box Of Kisses

The story goes that sometime ago.a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper.Money was tight and he become infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the christmas tree.

Nevertheless, the little gire brought the gift to her father the next morning and said,"This is for you,Daddy." He was embarrassed by his earlier over reaction.but his anger flared again when he found the box was empty.He yelled at her."don't you know that when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside it?"

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said,"oh,Daddy,it is not empty.I blew kisses into the box.All for you."The father was crushed.He put his arms around his little girl,and he asked for her forgiveness.it is told that the man kept that gold box by his bed for years and whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us as humans have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses from god through our children, friends and family. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

      ("Love is God, God is Love, So live in Love.")