The coal basket and the Bhagavat Gita!

This is a story I got by email, I thought I should share it with all of you!

An old farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson.

Each morning grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavat Gita. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, "Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagavat Gita just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagavat Gita do?"

The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water."

The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You'll have to move a little faster next time", and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.

This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead. The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got back to the house.

The boy again dipped the basket into river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See grandpa, it's useless!"

"So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket."

The boy looked at the basket and for the first time realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean, inside and out.

"Son, that's what happens when you read the Bhagavat Gita. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you will be changed, inside and out. That is the work of Lord Krishna in our lives."

Bombastic self important buffoons!

Everyone's met them, everyone's had to deal with them.

They have the loudest voice, they are completely and insanely focussed on themselves, and they are devoid of human emotions. And in their narrow minded quest to fulfill their bloated demented egos, they can do anything. Willingly destroy their own children's happiness, scare little toddlers so that they can feel important and powerful, attack the weakest to feel strong themselves. And if you manage to place yourself within their circle of influence, they will hound you till you decide to leave the premise, the neighbourhood, the town, the state, the country and even the planet if that were possible. They are God's way of teaching us patience and tolerance.

So, long live the bombastic self important buffoons.

What the cold does!

It is getting very cold here, and I am finding it increasingly difficult to keep the cold out of my mind and body. The cold is gnawing at my thoughts, and when I would normally be smiling and happy, I am trying to smile and trying to stay happy. If it was a sunny day today, I would have been a few notches happier for sure. Well what is it that makes me unhappy when the cold is severe, the same reasons that make me unhappy when I see a drab boring and stupid advertisement.

The spark is missing from some things in life, and when you see them it makes you feel that there are more missing sparks than there are flying sparks. That makes some people unsettled. Incredibly as soon as I wrote the words ‘trying to smile and trying to stay happy’, the sun came out momentarily to light up my workplace, as if to say hey how will you understand the true value of happiness if you never see the other side.

Well cold is good, so that cool can be valued better and warm can be enjoyed with utter abandon. Hot is bad though, and it gets hot for a long time here… all hail the air conditioner. If you are feeling cold today, know that warmth is coming your way.