Importance of Perception

A man always wanted to visit India and meet one of its great Yogis. But his worldly duties never allowed him to leave his home. So, soon after his retirement he headed to India. One day while soaking in the spirituality of Haridwar he encountered a Yogi who was in deep meditation on a small hillock. The man sat in front of the Yogi waiting for him to open his eyes. After a few hours when the Yogi opened his eyes he saw the man intently watching him. The Yogi smiled affectionately and asked the man about the reason of his presence.

Coper

My Uncle invented a way to talk to his gone wife.

Tantriks said, “He sees her ghost.”

Psychiatrists labelled him, “Schizophrenic.”

People called him, “Mad.”

And I saw his state as a way to end his loneliness and thus finding a reason to live.

He cried all the way from Amritsar to Chandigarh in the ambulance. A journey of six hours in which he was packed like sardines with the body of my aunty in a Maruti Omni Ambulance. Imagine the scene; you have the body of your life in front of you. You can’t quit weeping; you have no one to comfort you, no one to provide some solace to you. Even a brave heart could not help himself in such a situation.

A quote by Lao Tzu

" Knowing others is intelligence;
   knowing yourself is true wisdom.
   Mastering others is strength;
   mastering yourself is true power."
                            ---- Lao Tzu.

The legend of Buckhard

Buckhard belonged to a family of jugglers. He learnt the art from his father. There was never enough in the house to eat and be merry. On growing up Buckhard showed a desire to be a priest. His parents agreed. He joined an Abbey. As it was a pious one, so on Christmas our lady with baby Jesus in her lap descended on Earth to pay a visit to this Abbey. All the priests lined up to pay homage to the lady. In the last was Buckhard and being from a poor family he had nothing to offer. The priests too wanted

Oranges and Fire

Ernest Hemingway, the famous author of 'The old man and the sea' , had a peculiar habit of doing furious physical activity and then doing nothing. He would peel many oranges and gaze into the fire for long periods of time before writing.
A journalist observed his behaviour and asked him about the reason behind this oddity.
Ernest replied that he is just preparing his  soul to write. If he does not do this thing he won't be able to write anything.

Wealthy Man

A wealthy man died. After examining his records for a few minutes the angel declared that he can't be admitted into Heaven. The wealthy man got furious and said, ' I had amassed tons of wealth and had employed many servants to serve me, yet you are not allowing me to stay in Heaven.'
The angel gave a fatherly smile to the wealthy man and replied, ' Wealthy man! we only give entry to those who serve many people not to those who get served by many people.'
The wealthy man understood his mistake.

Humble Stomach

Every body part was jealous of Stomach. They considered Stomach as a lazy brat who did nothing except gobbling up delicious eatables. While all the significant functions like walking, talking, seeing and hearing were done by them. So they decided in unison to boycott Stomach. And the decision was conveyed. The Stomach remained calm and quite as was its nature. The other parts of the body saw it as a sign of cowardice. Hands were the first to participate in this misadventure and declared that from now on no food would be delivered to Stomach. And no food was delivered by Hands for two days at a stretch. All body parts started to feel its impact. They became weak. And on fourth day they realised their folly and blamed Hands as if they were never part of this misadventure. Then they sought forgiveness from Stomach. The Stomach just gave them a tranquil smile saying no harsh words. The Hands wept bitterly on  seeing greatness of Stomach and betrayal of other body parts. The remorseful  Hands offered food to powerful yet humble Stomach. And the Stomach  accepted the food as if nothing had  happened.

Finn Macool

Irish giant, Finn Macool accepted the challenge for a bout given by Scotland's giant Benandonner without fear. Finn Macool constructed a causeway across the North channel to act as a meeting point. On seeing Benandonner he realised his grave mistake as Benandonner was much bigger than he had thought. Hence, Finn Macool decided to hide.
Finn Macool sought his wife's advice on this. And his clever wife Oonagh disguised him as a baby and placed him in a cradle. When Benandonner came looking for him he was frightened on seeing the baby. He thought if the baby is so huge how huge the father would be? Fearing for his life Benandonner ran away destroying the causeway behind him so that Finn Macool could not follow him. To act as a testimony Benandonner's concrete foot can be seen still lying at the seashore.

A sealed well.

Once a Saint asked for a loaf of bread from a rich landlord of an Indian village at the entrance of his home. The rich landlord was a renowned miser. He refused bluntly. The Saint did not took it to his heart and went away without saying a word. Next morning he reappeared asking for two loafs of bread. The landlord became furious and said a few harsh words to the Saint. 
The Saint smiled softly and said, ' Go to the backside of your house. You will find two wells in it. Seal one of them and from the other give water to the whole village. I will come back after one year, only then you shall open the sealed one.'

Perfect Partner

Mulla Nasruddin wanted to marry a perfect partner. Hence he went to Damascus in search and Aha! he met a woman who was very beautiful but was of medium height. As he wanted tall children Mullah rejected her.
Then after a long search he met a woman in  Baghdad who was gorgeous and tall. But here too Mullah was disappointed as she had bad voice. Mullah rejected her too.
And finally Mullah was on cloud nine when he met a tall, stunning woman with beautiful voice. Still he could not marry her and when asked by his friends why?
Mullah replied, ' I could not marry her because she was also looking for a perfect partner.'

Nikola Tesla and his female pigeon

Nikola Tesla the famous inventor and contemporary of Thomas Edisson who never married, loved to feed pigeons during his old days. His lines are quite interesting:

" I have been feeding pigeons thousands of them for years. But there was a one, a beautiful bird, pure white with light grey tips on its wings; that one was different.  It was a female. I had only to wish and call her and she would come flying to me. I loved this pigeon as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was a purpose to my life."
( source wikipedia )

Wisdom by Dalai Lama

The present Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity answered:
" Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present, the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived."

Right Path

A monastery had fallen into disrepute because of nasty monks. They did not offer kindness or respect to anyone who came to their refuge. Slowly nobody turned up at the monastery for help. The monks felt bad. One of them suggested to visit the Budha for help. All of them agreed to this Noble idea. And on reaching to Budha they asked for a way to seek penance. The Budha already knew everything about the monastery. So instead of giving any advice he asked them what should be done? All the monks said in one breath that they should offer love, respect, solace, help and pray for anyone who visits them. The Budha smiled and said, ' See you always knew the right path. You did not have to seek me for the right path. Just ask the budha within you for guidance. Always remember Budha stays in you.' The monks understood the message and from then on always sought advice from Budha within themselves.

Dalai lama

"At the beginning of our life and again when we get old, we need the help and affection of others. Unfortunately between these two periods of our life, when we are strong and able to look after ourselves,  we don't appreciate the value of affection and compassion. As our own life begins and ends with the need for affection,  wouldn't it be better if we gave compassion and love to others while we are strong and capable."

Said by present Dalai lama.

Prayer

One day the great Muslim emperor, Akbar was praying in a forest. A young peasant woman crossed him in a great hurry. The emperor was disturbed. Angered he ordered his guards to capture her. The guards caught and brought the woman in front of the emperor.
' How dare you disturb my prayer,' asked Akbar.
The woman got frightened.
Still gathering some courage and with downcast eyes she replied, ' I was lost in the thoughts of my beloved husband. So I did not see you.'
Then a strange thing happened. The woman looked at the emperor with fiery  eyes as if possessed  and said, ' Emperor! I was so engrossed in my beloved that I could not see you. You were also supposed to be engrossed in the same manner while praying but you were able to see me. How?'
The Emperor understood her words and taking them to be God's to improve his prayers he asked his guards to release the woman.

Secret Chamber

In the tenth century there was a slave named Ayaz who rose to a high position in the court of Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznavi. He had a secret chamber where before retiring to bed he took off his wealthy robes and put on his slavery rags. Then he stood before a huge mirror seeing himself from head to toe, thanking God for his present fortune.

Subhash Mukhopadhyay

-- On October 3rd 1978 he became the first physician in India to perform IVF.
-- Durga was the test tube baby created by him.
-- Instead of applauses he was insulted for creating Durga.
-- He was barred from attending conferences and sharing his achievements.
-- He committed suicide at his Kolkata residence.

To meet one's Waterloo

-- Acc. to Dictionary.com it means, " To encounter one's ultimate obstacle and to be defeated by it."
-- Waterloo battle was fought on Sunday, 18-June-1815 between Napoleon Bonaparte's French army and Anglo led allied army at Waterloo then Netherlands now Belgium.
-- In reality it was never fought at Waterloo.
-- It got its name because of Anglo led army's leader Duke of Wellington making Waterloo his headquarters.
-- After defeat Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena where he died in 1821 after living for six years.
-- Waterloo Teeth: Some locals pulled out the teeth of dead soldiers and sold them to dentists. These are known as Waterloo Teeth.

Anne Frank's Diary

-- Anne Frank's diary was written originally in Dutch.
-- It was published in 1947, the year India got Independence.
-- It has become pretty famous and has been translated into sixty languages.
-- Anne was given this diary as a gift on her 13th birthday on 13th June 1942.
-- Anne's hiding place in Netherlands has become a major tourist attraction.
-- After being betrayed she and her family were captured by Gestappo in 1944.
-- She died at a concentration camp just before it was freed.

Karl Landsteiner

-- Discovered human blood groups.
-- Won Noble Prize for this discovery.
-- June 14 is celebrated as World Blood     Donor Day every year.
                       ( because )
-- Karl Landsteiner's birthday falls on June 14.