An Empty Boat

Hi my dear blogger friends it feels great to blog again after a long hiatus. I could not resist sharing this beautiful story with you and do hope you enjoy it.

A monk decides to meditate alone, away from his monastery.

He takes his boat out to the middle of the lake, moors it there, closes his eyes and begins his meditation.

After a few hours of undisturbed silence, he suddenly feels the bump of another boat colliding with his own.

With his eyes still closed, he senses his anger rising, and by the time he opens his eyes, he is ready to scream at the boatman who dared disturb his meditation.

But when he opens his eyes, he sees it’s an empty boat that had probably got untethered and floated to the middle of the lake.

At that moment, the monk achieves self-realization, and understands that the anger is within him; it merely needs the bump of an external object to provoke it out of him.

From then on, whenever he comes across someone who irritates him or provokes him to anger, he reminds himself, “The other person is merely an empty boat. The anger is within me.”

Take time for introspection & search for answer:

“Empty boat” is a famous & fabulous metaphor. Its value lies in its implementation.

So lets continue our journey within be aware, be mindful, be joyful and savor the wonders around us.

The present moment

Many of us do feel that moments of happiness in our lives are few and fleeting. The words in the quote below reveal the reason why.

Our mind is constantly taking us away from the present moment either into the past or in the future. As such we miss the happiness which exists in the present moment. The only way to be happy is to do things mindfully and be aware of the beauty of our surrounding. Enjoy nature’s bounty and develop the art of listening. Such like simple practices will surely make us experience happiness and plenty of it.

Cheers and regards to you my friends 🙂 🙂

Dilip

Wishing You a Very Happy New Year 2019

To all my dear friends of many years as we step into the New Year, may your fears fade away, your strength be renewed and your dreams come true!

My wishes for you and yours to remain happy and joyful in all phases of your life. Have a wonderful New Year 2019 💐 🎉

Kind regards

Dilip

 

 

A helping hand

I felt like sharing the cute image above as it says so much 🙂

“Extending one hand to help somebody has more value than joining two hands for prayer”!

Helping and caring for others in their difficult times is a deeply fulfilling act. It beautifies our soul and defines the very purpose of our existence. I guess that’s what life is all about!

Have a wonderful week dear friends 🙂

Awareness

Why do our open eyes not see? Is it because our mind is kept constantly preoccupied with unwanted thoughts?

Only when we learn to quieten our mind will our eyes begin to really see the beautiful treasures around us. Lets make the most of this and live our life full awareness.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2018

My dear friends 

               The gift of love,

               The gift of peace,

               The gift of happiness,

               May all these be yours 

                               DILIP  

Keeping an open mind

We grow up wanting to acquire more and more information and knowledge. Knowledge does enable us to gain high status, power and respect from society. But if we do not handle our success and power with due humility we soon get blinded by our ego. It is therefore important to achieve a balance between the heavy load of knowledge with a light mind.

Acquiring knowledge is tough but letting go of it is even more challenging. Lightening our minds is possible if we are prepared to surrender our ego of knowledge. And one of the way is to remove the clutter and calm our mind. Only then can we understand issues and problems with an open mind and by listening to our inner voice.

Please do share your views with our readers and visitors.

Thank you and have a great weekend. 

Listen to silence

 

The story below in a simple way illustrates Rumi’s wisdom and the magic of silence:

“There once was a farmer who discovered that he had lost his watch in the barn. It was no ordinary watch because it had sentimental value for him.

After searching high and low among the hay for a long while; he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of children playing outside the barn.

He promised them that the person who found it would be rewarded.

Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn, went through and around the entire stack of hay but still could not find the watch. Just when the farmer was about to give up looking for his watch, a little boy went up to him and asked to be given another chance.

The farmer looked at him and thought, “Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere enough.”

So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. After a while the little boy came out with the watch in his hand! The farmer was both happy and surprised and so he asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed. 

The boy replied, “I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction.”

The story proves that creative thoughts and problem solving solutions emerge only when the mind is calm and uncluttered. Even neuroscience has proven that silence nourishes the mind and body. Its a good to practice to sit in silence for at least 10 minutes once or twice a day. Soon the mind when faced with a situation will learn to auto-connect with our inner silence and think with clarity to find a solution.

Cheers and best wishes to all my friends! 🙂

 

 

 

 

A lesson in humility

In life we would rather be teachers than students. But we have to be learners till the end of our lives. A regular churchgoer felt a prompting one Saturday morning to go to the church. It was empty save for a woman in faded jeans who did not seem well off and was dusting and arranging the  benches. He concluded that she was doing this work to earn some money for her family. The man  returned to his car and took out two fifty dollar notes. He waited till the lady was leaving the  church and tried to help her by handing over his donation. She refused his offer, but he insisted and finally she accepted the offer. He accompanied her as she left the church. Imagine his consternation when they came to a brand new BMW and the lady  entered the car. As she was leaving she handed him her card. The result of her humility was that now there are two people every Saturday morning in the church dusting and arranging the benches.

His lesson on generosity turned for him into a lesson on humility!

We need to be careful never to fall in the trap of generosity which may be couched in our ego. Let our generosity always be tempered with humility.

Cheers 🙂

 

Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year 2017

Hello friends it feels good to be back after a refreshing break! Yes it’s that time of the year – December comes with all the joys of Christmas and the brightness of the New Year. In our fun and merriment lets also pause and give a thought and a prayer for our less fortunate brethren the gift of health happiness and love. Maybe a small act of kindness to bring a smile on their lips and in their eyes. 🙂

 

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year”. ~ Ralf Waldo Emerson

Cheers and best always  🙂