03-06-2013, 03:24 PM
Where is Heaven?
Where is Heaven.docx (Size: 20.7 KB / Downloads: 23)
Everybody striving for Heaven but never reach the destination.
Mr. Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and distinguished guests, wish you a very pleasant evening. For reaching any destination, GPS need one basic thing and that is the correct address. We all trying to reach the Heaven without knowing the address and thus failed continuously.I would like to program a new address of heaven on your GPS.
Generallycommon understanding is that there are two destinations, one called as Heaven and other as hell. And we defined heaven as a place where everything is perfect and ample in amount and opposite to this as hell where everything is imperfect and in scarcity.
Gentlemen, this notion of two destinations itself is wrong and actually heaven and hell are not two different destinations. Both are one place and that is our mind. If our mind is with kind, caring and loving thoughts about others it will be heaven. On the other hand the same mind is filled with hate, anxiety, fear, competition, anger then it will become hell.
Since birth we have been taught to stand first, earn more, and return with trophies and so on and so forth. And assuming this is the best way to lead our life, we sincerely follow it. This is first person orientationand leads us to hell. Instead we need to follow third person orientation which suggestthinkingabout others first. This will lead you to heaven. In Quran, it says before taking dinner always confirm that your neighbor is full.
There is a story- One day a guest visited a village and meets a saint. He asked him how the people from this village are. Instead of replying directly the saint asked the guest to describe people from his village. The guest replied that the people are very bad and selfish. They fight over each other and never cooperate. There is nothing I can say good about them.”
Saint replied that people fromthis village are the same as you described.
After some days another guest came to this saint and asked the same question. Again saint asked him to describe his people. He told that “his people are good, selfless, cooperative, kind and helpful to each other. There is nothing bad to say about them.
Surprisingly, the saint replied as earlier that people of this village are same as you described.
What the saint wants to tell that the people are the same as you see them in your mind. If your mind is full of bad thoughts you will see everything as bad and reach to hell instead of heaven. As the saying goes –“Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”. The same way we can say –“Heaven or hell lies in the mind of the thinker”
Consider the different story. There is a big long table in one hall and lot of food (continental menu) kept on it. Both the sides there are people with long spoon tied to their hand. Two conditions –nobody can put food in his own mouth as the spoon is too long. And the food will replenish as required.
In one hall everybody tries to feed for self and failed. Food fallen down on ground and they walk on it. Nobody could eat the food and thus everybody was weak, angrier and very sad. The total scenario was perfect chaos what we called as hell.
In the other hall everybody feed food to others very easily. No food was falling down and no waste. Everybody was healthy, smiling and very happy. The scenario was perfect what we called as heaven.
Now you understood that for being in heaven one needto think of others first i.e. third party orientation.
Generally when we listen such stories we felt that it is easy to tell a story but difficult in routine life. My friends, I also felt the same way. But after experiencing heaven once I changed my perspectives.
One day I was travelling by crowded train from Mumbai to Goa. As ticket was not reserved I boarded in general boggy. The boggy was jam crowded and somehow I could stand. After an hour I observed that all standing passengers were tired and looking for place to seat. I was one of them. The sitting passengers were not looking or talking to standing passengers. Actually they were also annoyed by seating in same position at one place. But they dared not o stand because there was no chance to get the seat back. Overall the situation is just like hell as everybody was thinking for self and nobody was happy.
At that moment, I decided to go to heaven. Deliberately and loudly I called a fellow passenger who was sitting in front of me –“Friend I am tired, could you allow me to seat for some time. I promise you to give your seat back whenever you need”. He easily got up and replied-“actually I was also tired by sitting at one place. But generally nobody gives the seat back thus I did not dared to got up”. I sat on his place. Within one to two minutes person sitting next to me got up and offered his seat to standing passenger. Gentlemen, within next 10 minutes ourboggy was turned into heaven. Everybody was talking to each other, sharing food and even sitting and getting up at their will. I was very delighted on that day. I experienced such instances many time later.
Please try to memorize the story of rabbit and tortoise race. They were racing against each other either to reach the hill top (rabbit’s strength) or swim across the river (tortoise strength). Every time one was the winner and other was looser. Other animals were pouring oil to continue the race. As both were not happy and were in hell. One night rabbit had a dream. He saw in his dream that God was crying. He asked God, why do you cry? God told that I created this world only as heaven by giving each a unique and special gift. For you I gave ability to run and for tortoise I gave capacity to swim. I thought that whenever you would like to enjoy the hill top you will take tortoise on your back and run there. On the other hand tortoise will take you on his back for smooth river ride. However, I saw that you are working on each other weakness for winning. Instead if you could live on each other’s strength you both could be winner. There will be no looser at all. Since that day rabbit and tortoise lived happily. Why we human being failed to apply this same principle. God bestowed us with unique gifts of ours. If we could utilize this gift for benefits of others then there will be only heaven and no hell.