Faith- the mainstay of governance

                 Faith- the mainstay of governance

A scholar went to Confucius and asked him-" Which three things are needed to run the government efficiently ?"
Confucius replied-" enough food, efficient and enough army and faith of the people in the king."
The scholar further put a question- " If all the three are not available at a time, which can be given up?"
Confucius- " Army."
The scholar expressed his curiosity to know further - "Of the remaining two, if one is to be given up, which can be discarded?"
Confucius replied-" Food. Without food also one can remain for sometime. But if people have no faith in the king or the ruler, both the stability of the country and the ruler will be destroyed."

God is in every smallest particle

 
                              God is in every smallest particle

A king wanted to find God. When he heard that a great saint had come to his country, he went to meet the great soul. The king said to the saint - " Revered One ! Please guide me to the path. I want to see the God."
The saint said, " It is not very difficult to find God. He is everywhere and in everything."
The king asked,  " Could you please show me a thing in which God resides?"
The saint pointing out to a small ant passing there said- " God is in this."
The king exclaimed, " What, God is in this ? "
The king was not satisfied. He wanted to see the God in still a smaller thing. When the saint told him that the God is in the smallest particles of the dust, the king could not believe that.
The king said- "  How could I accept that ?"
Then the the king saint explained - " Oh King, your curiosity is alright, but the approach or way of looking is wrong. If you want to see God in a particular object, you can never find Him. But if you believe that God is everywhere, then you can see Him even in the smallest particle. The king realized the truth in the words of the saint and the knowledge dawned on him.

The real cause

   
                                        The real cause


A wise king was ruling the country in a just manner. But his country could not proper to his expectation. One day he called a meeting of the officers to discuss many matters relating to the state. During the discussions, he asked the officers, " We have levied just tax on the people. It is quite a large amount. Even then the treasury is not full. And we are not able to do constructive projects for the benefit of our people. What can be the real cause for this ? Could any one you please tell ?
All the officers assembled there looked at each other. A wise and sincere officer sought permission from the king to answer this. He took a big block of ice and putting it into the hands of an officer sitting at the back said , 'You kindly pass on this to all officers and then to the king.'
Passing on from one hand to another, the big block of ice, when it reached the hands of the king, it was of the size of a pea. Then the wise officer said to the king, " Your Highness , the tax has also the fate when it reaches the royal treasury."
The king got the answer for his question and understood the real cause that due to corrupt officers in between, a large portion of the tax collected from the people never reaches the royal treasury.

Surrender

 
                                   Surrender

Once, a city was attacked. The attackers surrounded the city. They went in and asked all the womenfolk to surrender their precious things like jewelry and wealth. They also announced that their intention was to take over the wealth and rule over the people there and not to kill the inmates there.
Soon there was a huge collection in the form of small and big bundles. Being overcome by curiosity, the attackers opened some big bundles, men came out of them. The small packages had boys in them.
An old man standing nearby answered-" We do not have much precious jewelry and cash which you want. We don't care about them. Our precious property is our men and boys who always take care and protect us."
The attackers realized that where women were so much dedicated to their men and considered them the most precious, they could never be ruled over by others, outsiders. The foreign attackers bowed down before them and left the city.

Divine Insurance

 
                          Divine Insurance


Insure your life with God. You will have perfect safety and security. All other Insurance companies will fail but this divine Insurance company will never fail.
You need not pay any premium to the Divine Insurance Company. You will have to have faith in God and love Him only. You will have to give your heart only to God. Become as simple as a child. You will get inexhaustible Divine Wealth. Your thoughts will become pure and all your actions will be crowned with success. A stage will come when what you think will become true.

Be like a pearl oyster

                           Be like a pearl oyster

 There is an Indian belief that if it rains when the star Swati is in the ascendant and a drop of rain falls into an oyster, that drop becomes a pearl. The oysters know this, so they come to the surface of the ocean when that star shines, and wait to catch the precious rain drop. When a drop falls into them, quickly the oysters close their shells and dive down to the bottom of the sea, there to patiently develop the drop into a pearl. We should be like that. We have to know our goal and make every happening as an opportunity.Leaving all distractions, shutting our mind to outside influences, we should devote ourselves to developing and achieving the goal within us. This way, nothing will be impossible to achieve in this world.

The purpose of life

     
                              The purpose of life

 Variety is the spice of life. Beauty of the creation is its variety only. In variety, there is no comparison. Each one is unique and indispensable. Society needs different kinds of people like teachers, farmers, doctors, engineers, plumbers and others for its smooth functioning. Like different limbs of the body which have different functions in the body, which is one, society is one organic whole and all members are its different limbs. Each one is born with some talent. It is the duty of the parents, teachers and the person himself to nurture that for a successful life.
A student asked his saint-teacher: What is the purpose of  my life ? Which task do I have to perform ?

The teacher answered while pointing to a bunch of flowers.
' Do you see these flowers ? On some branches you see little buds, on others you see fully bloomed flowers . The fully bloomed flowers have beautiful petals, a nice color and fragrance and a beautiful appearance. Flowers have the unique distinction of bringing joy and happiness to people of all countries and of all ages. They are the best ambassadors of good will. They help the bees to collect honey from them for the benefit of humanity. Not only that , the fully bloomed flowers assist in pollination and further development. In case of fruit trees, the flowers ripen into fruits which supply nutrients to the humans and animals and the seeds help in the propagation of its species.
In the buds you cannot see  yet all the beauty. The purpose of the bud is to bring out whatever beauty it has inside and to become a perfect flower. Gradually it will grow and bring out from within itself all the beauty'.
' Nature teaches you the purpose. The purpose of your life is to bring out the sleeping beauty in you. Your task is to grow into a perfect, ideal human being. In you are dormant all the noble human qualities such as love, kindness, compassion, unselfishness, spirit of service, courage to stick to virtues,

Enjoy the sweetness

       
                               Enjoy the sweetness

Learning has two vital tools. Books and a good teacher to guide. Books give information. Many a times it is like a huge forest in which the human mind often loses itself and finds no way out. So a real teacher with his illustrations and experience clears the doubts and paves the way for true knowledge. Learning has three stages also- listening, understanding and meditating. Then only there will be proper assimilation which will lead to creativity, originality, innovation and further research and further propagation of it.
A teacher was teaching a group of students about God, creation and freedom. He wanted to know the impact of his teachings on the students. So, he took them to a mango orchard. It was a big, beautiful garden with different kinds of mango trees laden with fruits. Wonder-struck at the variety there, some started counting the trees, some looked at the variety of hues of leaves, some compared the color and size of the mangoes and noted down the details carefully in their note book. Then arose a learned discussion on each of these topics, which were absorbing and highly interesting to them. But one among those students did not care for these external things , but saw the delicious mangoes and began to eat the fruits.
Likewise, the universe in its myriad varieties offer many attractions. Even in them is hidden the essence, the presence of 'Godhood'. If a person is careful enough to go beyond the covers and looks behind them. he will find sweetness everywhere. So life is not a forest to be lost in, but a beautiful garden to enjoy the bliss of sweetness everywhere.