Let The Rose Grown Within You

Once a man planted a rose plant and watered it regularly. One day, he saw a bud appearing on the plant. Suddenly he felt that the bud cannot blossom into a beautiful flower as the plant is infested with thorns all over. He was so saddened and despaired that he stopped watering the plant. Soon it died.
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The simple tale has a lot to do with us. Very few of us realise that there is a rose within us. The God-like sweet qualities are implanted in our hearts when we are born. They grow amid the thorns of our faults. When we look at ourselves and others we see only faults beyond mending. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly be found in and around us. We totally neglect or fail to find the hidden goodness in us and we never realize our own latent potential to improve and change ourselves.
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Sometimes we need someone else to show what we are. One of the greatest gifts we possess is our ability to overcome the thorns within us and find our own good 'self'. This is the chief characteristic of love, which helps us look at the persons, knowing their faults, recognise their nobility and help them to overcome their faults. If we show them the rose, they can conquer the thorns. Hence it is our duty to help others by showing their roses and not merely their thorns. Only then it is possible to develop Harmony among people around us....

Old King Who Wanted To Becom Young

There was once an intelligent but greedy King. Though he had done much for the betterment of the people, he was selfish in his desires.

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As years passed, the King grew old and lost his physical strength. He had a strong desire that he should become young once again. He was prepared to offer half the kingdom to any person who can make him young by any means. He called the minister and said, "Go in search of someone who can give formula or medicine to make me young once again".
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The minister was amused. He knew that birth, groth, decay and death are natural. But he had to carry out the order of the king. The minister, with a group of soldiers, went in search of a person who could make the king young. He went through villages, towns and even forests. Some people laughed at the idea, some kept quiet out of fear and some felt that the king might have become mentally unsound.
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As the minister was going through a forest, he came across a sait doing penance under a banyan tree. His face was radiating divine light and grace. After some time the saint opened his eyes and observed the minister standing in front of him. With a smiling gesture, he questioned him the purpose of his visit.
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The minister with all humility touched the feet of the holyman and explained, "Respected holyman, our king is keen to regain his lost youth. I request you to make him young with your powers".
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The saint softly laughed. After thinking for a minute he said in a very pleasant voice, "With the grace of God and with the power I have acquired through long penance I can make your king young once again. But on one condition".
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The minister was surprised at the unexpected assurance given by the holyman. With all earnestness he bowed and said prayerfully, "King holyman, I am happy to know that my king's desire would be fulfilled. He will cooperate in every respect. He is even prepared to offer half the kingdom to anyone who can make him young. Kindly tell me what is to be done by my king".
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The saint smiled once again and replied, "What can I do with the kingdom? I am a saint living in that small hut spending time in prayers. I have no expectation. But I will give you a medicine. Every day your king should stand before a mirror and apply the medicine on his face. While applying the medicine, he should not think of a monkey. If this condition is fulfilled, within a week's time young king will become young once again".
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The minister was over joyed and said, "Swamiji, this is a very simple condition. My king will definately follow your instructions and receive your blessings".
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With the belssings of the saint, the minister carried the medicine to the king. To the great delight of the king he narrated how the saint was kind enough to give the medicine ona simple condition.
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The king very much pleased. He ordered the minister to announce a week's festivities throughout the kingdom hoping that he would become young once again.
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The king started using the medicine. The moment he took the medicine to apply on his face, he thought of a monkey. He tried his best not to think of a monkey. But he was unable to drive away the image of monkey from his mind.
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At last he became desparate and threw away the medicine. He realised that it was impossible for him to use the medicine without thinking of a monkey. He understood that the saint made him wise that youth once lost cannot be regained. He also learnt that the age is to the mind but not to the body... Moral...:-- The most difficult thing in life is to control one's mind...
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Men Of Achievement__Swamy Chinmayananda

The real men of achievement are people who have the heroism to fuel more and more enthusiasm in their work when they face more and more difficulties.___Swami Chinmayananda...

Always Be Positive...Swami Chidananda

One of the favorite sayings of Gurudeve, which he wrote in his writings as well as quoted in his divine talks was, "NEVER DESPAIR. NEVER DESPAIR. NIL DESPERANDUM". A poet once said, "Hope springs in the human breast. Heart within, God overhead". Another poet said, "Tell me not in mournful numbers - life is but an empty dream!" You have come here to strive and attain. Strive on. Do purushartha. Be strong. Be determined and plod on. If thus you do purushartha, you will get help from God. That is the one meaning of 'Heart within and God overhead!" Do exert on and then help will come from God. There are two ways of approaching life. One is diffidence, lack of confidence, negativity: "I don't think I can do it. It is too difficult". Another way is : "I can. I will try my best". "I can't" is not rational. It is irrational. And if after trying your very best, you do not succeed in attaining the objective, I can assure you, you have not failed. Success may not be yours, but you have succeeded. You have fulfilled a human being's duty.
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God is all that is positive, all that is auspicious, good and beautiful. There is no negativity in God. And you are made in His image. You have potential for all that is positive and positive only. You should not belie your divine nature. At every step, in all things, your life should prove your divine nature. It behoves you to always take a positive attitude towards life, and never a negative approach, to always have positive view of things, and to move forward in your daily life. Then your heart is in a state that the poet implied when he said, "Heart within and God overhead!"
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Good Sayings-46

901. Destiny has two ways of crushing us-by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them.

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902. Truth is what prays in man, and a man is continually at prayer when he lives according to truth.
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903. Fear and love can never be experienced at the same time. It is always our choice as to which of these emotions we want.
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904. Peace is to be found only within and unless one finds it there he will never find it at all.
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905. Abundance can be had simply by consciously receiving what already has been given.
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906. Don't look for the path far away, the path exists under your feet.
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907. What is past and what cannot be prevented should not be grieved for.
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908. We promise according to our hopes and perform according to our fears.
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909. Life is short. Be swift to love! Make haste to be kind!
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910. Peace lies not in the external world. It lies within one's own soul.
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911. Peace rules the day where reason rules the mind.
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912. In the spiritual quest there are several roads, all of which lead to the one great end.
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913. Enter the inner chamber of your soul, shut out everything except God and that which can help you in seeking Him.
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914. If we would have peace and harmony in our environment, we must establish it within ourselves.
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915. We must reach out to a person, by listening and responding to him with the heart.
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916. All things which have a soul, change and possess in themselves more according to the law and to the order of destiny.
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917. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.
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918. The soul needs more rest than the body and it could very well be that our restless soul is at the basis of many of our physical ills.
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919. Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.
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920. Before receiving there must be giving.
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Good Sayings-45

881. Two things are necessary for the salvation of man: To know what he ought to desire and to know what he ought to do.
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882. You do not have to go out of the way to make God happy, you can make Him happy, but just doing the simplest things.
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883. You must take life in your stride, let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing.
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884. Perfection only comes by a lot of practice and when you stick to what you are and try to be that perfectly.
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885. God is one but He has countless names, you can worship Him in any way you want to, then you are sure to reach him.
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886. Spiritual work means the willingness to surrender feelings. It means we surrender to God our perceptions of all things.
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887. The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength and the spiritual fibre of a nation than its wealth.
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888. An educated man is a man with certain spiritual qualities which make him calm in adversity.
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889. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control.
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890. Peace is a condition of mind brought about by the serenity of soul. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.
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891. God wishes that all living things be full of bliss, whether young or old, weak or strong, living or departed or yet unborn.
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892. Peace comes from loving, from mutual self-sacrifice and self-forgetfulness.
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893. Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to His creation; peace is our gift to each other.
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894. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the children of the earth.
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895. He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.
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896. Finish each day and be done with it. Tomorrow is a new day, begin it well and serenely and with a high spirit.
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897. Take up one thing and do it and see the end of it, and before you have seen the end, do not give up.
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898. Be patient and understanding. Life is too short to be vengeful and malicious.
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899. More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones.
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900. When everything is in its right place within us, we ourselves are in balance with the whole work of God.
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