19-05-2012, 05:01 PM
If the Supreme Lord does not give protection…
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Fire authorities in California found a corpse in a burned-out section of forest while assessing the damage done by a forest fire. The deceased male was dressed in a full wet suit, complete with scuba tanks on his back, flippers, and face mask.
A postmortem test revealed that the man died not from burns, but from massive internal injuries. Dental records provided a positive identification. Investigators then set about to determine how a fully clothed diver ended up in the middle of a forest fire.
It was revealed that on the day of the fire, the man went diving off the coast, some 20 miles from the forest. The fire fighters, seeking to control the fire as quickly as possible, had called in a fleet of helicopters with very large dip buckets. Water was dipped from the ocean and emptied at the site of the forest fire.
Srimad-Bhagavatam 7th Canto explains:
If the Supreme Personality of Godhead protects one, even though one be motherless and fatherless, one can be maintained by the good will of the Lord. Otherwise, if the Supreme Lord does not give one protection, one must suffer in spite of the presence of his father and mother.
Sometimes one loses his money on a public street, where everyone can see it, and yet his money is protected by destiny and not seen by others. Thus the man who lost it gets it back. On the other hand, if the Lord does not give protection, even money maintained very securely at home is lost.
If the Supreme Lord gives one protection, even though one has no protector and is in the jungle, one remains alive, whereas a person well protected at home by relatives and others sometimes dies, no one being able to protect him.
Relevant enquiry
As long as a man is in the full vigor of life, he forgets the naked truth of death, which he has to meet. Thus a foolish man makes no relevant inquiry about the real problems of life. Everyone thinks that he will never die, although he sees evidence of death before his eyes at every second. Here is the distinction between animalism and humanity. An animal like a goat has no sense of its impending death. Although its brother goat is being slaughtered, the goat, being allured by the green grass offered to it, will stand peacefully waiting to be slaughtered next. On the other hand, if a human being sees his fellow man being killed by an enemy, he either fights to save his brother or leaves, if possible, to save his own life. That is the difference between a man and a goat.
An intelligent man knows that death is born along with his own birth. He knows that he is dying at every second and that the final touch will be given as soon as his term of life is finished. He therefore prepares himself for the next life or for liberation from the disease of repeated birth and death.
A foolish man, however, does not know that this human form of life is obtained after a series of births and deaths imposed in the past by the laws of nature. He does not know that a living entity is an eternal being, who has no birth and death. Birth, death, old age, and disease are external impositions on a living entity and are due to his contact with material nature and to his forgetfulness of his eternal, godly nature and qualitative oneness with the Absolute Whole.
Human life provides the opportunity to know this eternal fact, or truth. Thus the very beginning of the Vedanta-sutra advises that because we have this valuable form of human life, it is our duty-now-to inquire, What is Brahman, the Absolute Truth?
Drop all negative references to your past
One of the most severely limiting beliefs that many of us have is that the person we were yesterday is the person we have to be today. This belief keeps us tied to our past mistakes, habits, and limitations.
We somehow buy into the notion that if we weren’t successful yesterday, we certainly can’t be successful today or tomorrow.
If you can see how ridiculous and self-defeating this belief is, you can make an instant shift toward success. What prevents us from tapping into this potential is our own mental ties to the past. Letting go of your past is like taking a set of heavy chains from around your neck.
Our past has no power other than the power we give it. One of the most dynamic and significant changes you can make in your life is to make the commitment to drop all negative references to your past, to begin living now. The positive energy you create may shock you. New doors and opportunities will open.
As your past habits creep into your consciousness, simply acknowledge them and let them go. Focus on what you can do today, right now in this moment.
When people come to you to present their problems …
An executive at a large publishing company was sick and tired of boring and unproductive meetings marked by excessive hand-wringing. He enforced a rule that everyone who wished to present a problem to him first had to submit a memo answering these four questions:
1. What's the problem?
2. What's the cause of the problem?
3. What are all possible solutions to the problem?
4. Which solution do you suggest?
He now rarely has to deal with problems anymore and he doesn't worry about them. He's found that his associates have used the system to find workable solutions without tying up hours in useless meetings.
He estimates that he has eliminated three-fourths of his meeting time and has improved his productivity, health and happiness.
Is he just passing the buck? Of course not! He's paying those folks to do their jobs, and he's giving them great training at decision-making.
Look for the extraordinary in the ordinary
Two workers were approached by a reporter. The reporter asked the first worker, “What are you doing?” His response was to complain that he was virtually a slave, an underpaid bricklayer who spent his days wasting his time, placing bricks on top of one another.
The reporter asked the second worker the same question. His response, however, was quite different. “I’m the luckiest person in the world,” he said. “I get to be a part of important and beautiful pieces of architecture. I help turn simple pieces of brick into exquisite masterpieces.”
They were both right.
The truth is, we see in life what we want to see. If you search for ugliness you’ll find plenty of it. If you want to find fault with other people, your service, or the world in general, you’ll certainly be able to do so. But the opposite is also true. If you look for the extraordinary in the ordinary, you can train yourself to see it. This bricklayer sees cathedrals within pieces of brick. The question is, can you?
Make service an integral part or your life
I begin my day by asking myself the question, “How can I be of service to someone?” I have found this to be useful in reminding me of the multitude of ways that I can be helpful to others. When I take the time to ask this question, I find answers popping up all day long.
If one of your goals is to be of help to others, you will find the most appropriate ways. Your chances to be of service are endless. The key, I believe, is to remember that being of service isn’t a one-time effort. It’s not doing something nice for someone and then wondering why others aren’t being nice too, or doing things for us. Instead, a life of service is a lifelong process, a way of thinking about life. Does the trash need to be taken out? If so, go ahead and take it out even if it’s not your turn. Is someone you know being difficult? Maybe they need someone to listen to them.
I have learned that the best way to be of service is often very simple – it’s those little, quite, often unnoticed acts that I can choose on a daily basis.
I know that I have a long way to go toward my goal of becoming a more selfless person. However, I also know that as I have attempted to integrate service into my life, I have felt better and better. There is an ancient saying, “Giving is its own reward.” It’s really true. When you give, you also receive. In fact, what you receive is directly proportional to what you give. Everyone wins, especially you.
Three last wishes!
Alexander, the great Greek king, after conquering many kingdoms, was returning home. On the way, he fell ill and it took him to his death bed. So, the mighty conqueror lay prostrate and pale, helplessly waiting to breathe his last.
He called his generals and said, "I will depart from this world soon, I have three wishes, please carry them out without fail." With tears flowing down their cheeks, the generals agreed to abide by their king's last wishes. "My first desire is that," said Alexander, "My physicians alone must carry my coffin." After a pause, he continued, "Secondly, I desire that when my coffin is being carried to the grave, the path leading to the graveyard be strewn with gold, silver and precious stones which I have collected in my treasury." The king felt exhausted after saying this. He took a minute's rest and continued. "My third and last wish is that both my hands be kept dangling out of my coffin."
Alexander's favorite general kissed his hand and pressed them to his heart. "O king, we assure you that your wishes will all be fulfilled. But tell us why do you make such strange wishes." At this Alexander took a deep breath and said: "I would like the world to know of the three lessons I have just learnt. I want my physicians to carry my coffin because people should realize that no doctor can really cure any body. They are powerless and cannot save a person from the clutches of death. So let not people take life for granted.
The second wish of strewing gold, silver and other riches on the way to the graveyard is to tell people that not even a fraction of gold will come with me. I spent all my life earning riches but cannot take anything with me. Let people realize that it is a sheer waste of time to chase wealth. And about my third wish of having my hands dangling out of the coffin, I wish people to know that I came empty handed into this world and empty handed I go out of this world." With these words, the king closed his eyes. Soon he let death conquer him and breathed his last.
Each person views the world differently
When someone acts in a way that seems strange to you, rather than reacting in your usual way, such as, “I can’t believe they would do that,” instead say something to yourself like “I see, that must be the way she sees things in her world. Very interesting.”
When you are genuinely curious about the way someone reacts or the way they feel about something, it’s unlikely that you will be annoyed.
When you are interested in other perspectives, it doesn’t imply, even slightly, that you’re advocating it. It just means that there are many perspectives of looking at the same thing.
Each person views the world differently. Each person reacts and feels differently based on their beliefs, paradigms, upbringing, experiences, values etc.
Change yourself rather than trying to change the world
Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he came back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather carpet.
Definitely, this would need thousands of cows’ skin, and would cost a huge amount of money. Then one of his wise servants dared himself to tell the king, “Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money? Why don’t you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?”
The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a “shoe” for himself.
There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story: to make this world a happy place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.
Stop worrying too much
Recently I saw a survey that says:
• 40 percent of the things we worry about never happen,
• 30 percent are in the past and can't be helped,
• 12 percent concern the affairs of others
• 10 percent are about sickness--either real or imagined
• 8 percent are worth worrying about.
I would submit that even the 8 percent aren't really worth the energy of worry.
Did you know that the English word worry is derived from an Anglo-Saxon word that means to strangle or to choke? That's easy to believe. People do literally worry themselves to death leading to heart disease, high blood pressure, ulcers, nervous disorders and all sorts of other diseases. Is it worth it?
We just need to find a way to keep it from ruling our lives.
Try this:
• Analyze the situation honestly and figure out what is the worst possible thing that could happen.
• Prepare yourself mentally to accept the worst, if necessary.
• Then calmly try to improve upon the worst, which you have already agreed mentally to accept.
• You know what you have to do; it's just a matter of doing it. Without worrying.
The point is, you can't saw sawdust. A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work. People get so busy worrying .