I have heard about an old Zen monk. He was on his deathbed. The last day had come, and he declared that that evening he would be no more. So followers, disciples, friends started coming. He had many lovers. They all started coming. From far and wide people gathered. One of his old disciples, when he heard that the master was going to die, ran to the market. Somebody asked: The master is dying in his hut, why are you going to the market? The old disciple said: I know that my master loves a particular type of cake, so I am going to purchase the cake. It was difficult to find the cake, because now it had gone out of fashion, but by the evening somehow he managed. He came running with the cake. And everybody was worried – it was as if the master was waiting for someone. He would open his eyes and look, and close his eyes again. And when this disciple came, he said: Okay, so you have come. Where is the cake? The disciple produced the cake – and he was very happy that the master asked a...

Hanumanji always wanted to serve his Prabhu Lord Sri Rama. One day when Sita Matha was entering into Rama’s bedroom, Hanumanji also followed her. Then Lord Rama said that he cannot enter into the room. Hanumanji said that when Sita Matha can enter into the room, why can’t he enter the room. He is having such an innocent devotional service towards Lord Rama. Just to convince Hanumanji, Rama said that Sita is having a sindhur on her forehead, so she can enter the room. After hearing that, Hanumanji came out and thought for a while. Then Hanumanji concluded that sindhur is the qualification required to enter into Lord Rama’s bedroom. So he decided to ask more about this sindhur to Sita Matha. Next day when Sita was in the dressing table, she was trying to keep sindhur, there came Hanumanji. Sita Matha treated Hanumanji as her son because Sita and Rama did not have children for a long time. Then Hanumanji asked Sita about the purpose and value of sindhur. She understood wh...

One day, right in the middle of the afternoon, Bhagavan Ramana took his kamandalu, got up and told me, ‘Jagadisha, come with me to walk about on the mountain.’ “But it’s so hot,” I protested. “How can we move about in such weather?” I argued like this because I wanted to escape from the trip. Bhagavan found my excuse unsatisfactory. “You can move about in just the same way that I move about,” he said. “But my feet will burn!” I exclaimed. I didn’t have any footwear with me and I didn’t relish the idea of walking about over the burning rocks. “Will my feet not burn as well?” replied Bhagavan, obviously feeling that this was not a serious obstacle. Bhagavan never wore any kind of footwear. He could walk on the toughest terrain in any weather without feeling the least discomfort. But yours is a different case,” I answered, alluding to the fact that Bhagavan never needed footwear. “Why? Am I not a man with two feet, just like you?” asked Bhagavan. “Why are you unnec...

After a long journey, Sri Ramchandra and the army of monkeys, reached the southern coast of our vast land and beheld the expanse of water separating them from Sri Lanka. The search for Sita was over; Rama now knew where she was; it only remained to redeem her from Ravana, by peaceful persuasion if possible or by war, if necessary. In line with our tradition of seeking Divine help, before commencing any work, Sri Ram desired to consecrate and offer worship to Shiva. Arrangements were soon completed, except finding a suitable priest to guide the function. Sri Ram thought for a while and then decided on the best person available nearby - Ravana the king of Sri Lanka. Without hesitation he bade Hanuman to fly to Ravana’s palace and request him to conduct the pooja. There was considerable shock and dismay among the assembly; to invite an enemy to conduct a pooja, specially meant to conquer and destroy him! Will Ravana accept such a preposterous invitation? But Hanuman as a loyal sold...

An elephant took a bath in a river and was walking on the road. When it neared a bridge, it saw a pig fully soaked in mud coming from the opposite direction. The elephant quietly moved to one side, allowed the dirty pig to pass and then continued its onward journey. The unclean pig later spoke to its friends in arrogance, “See how big I am; even the elephant was afraid of me and moved to one side to let me pass”. On hearing this, some elephants questioned their friend, the reason for its action. Was it out of fear? The elephant smiled and replied, “I could have easily crushed the pig under my leg, but I was clean and the pig was very unclean. By crushing it, my leg would have become dirty and I wanted to avoid it. Hence, I moved aside.” Moral: Realized souls will avoid contact with negativity not out of fear, but out of desire to keep away from impurity though they are strong enough to destroy the impurity.You need not react to every opinion, every comment, or every situ...

A teacher and his student were walking from one village to another, when they suddenly heard a roar behind them. Turning their gaze in the direction of the roar, they saw a big tiger following them. The first thing the student wanted to do was to run away, but since he has been studying and practicing self-discipline, he was able to halt himself from running, and wait to see what his teacher would do. "What shall we do Master?" Asked the student. The teacher looked at the student and answered in a calm voice: "There are several options. We can fill our minds with paralyzing fear so that we cannot move, and let the tiger do with us whatever pleases it. We can faint. We can run away, but then it will run after us. We can fight with it, but physically it is stronger than us." "We can pray to god to save us. We can choose to influence the tiger with the power of our mind, if our concentration is strong enough. We can send it love. We can also co...

Two seeds lay side by side in the fertile spring soil. The first seed said,   “I want to grow! I want to send my roots deep into the soil beneath me, and thrust my sprouts through the earth’s crust above me . . . I want to unfurl my tender buds like banners to announce the arrival of spring. I want to feel the warmth of the sun on my face and the blessing of the morning dew on my petals!”    And so it grew.  The second seed said,   “I am afraid. If I send my roots into the ground below, I don’t know what I will encounter in the dark. If I push my way through the hard soil above me I may damage my delicate sprouts . . . what if I let my buds open and a snail tries to eat them? And if I were to open my blossoms, a small child may pull me from the ground. No, it is much better for me to wait until it is safe.”    And so it waited. A yard hen scratching around in the early spring ground for food found the waiting seed and promptly ate it. Those...