Devotee is greater!

Once upon a time, sage Narada came into the presence of the Lord. The
Lord asked him, "Narada, in all your travels through the world have you
been able to discover the principal secret of the universe? Have you
been able to understand the mystery behind this world? Everywhere you
look you see the five great elements, earth, water, fire, air and ether.
Which do you think occupies the first place? Of everything that is to be
found in the universe what is the most important of all?"

Narada thought for awhile and then answered, "Lord, of the five elements
the densest, biggest and most important is surely the earth element."
The Lord answered, "How can the earth element be biggest when
three-fourths of the earth is covered by water and only one-fourth is
land? Such a big earth is being swallowed by the water. What is bigger,
the thing that is being swallowed or that which is swallowing it?"
Narada acknowledged that water must be bigger because it had swallowed
the Earth.

The Lord continued his questioning. He said, "But Narada, we have the
ancient tale that when the demons hid in the waters, then in order to
find them, a great sage came and swallowed up the whole ocean in one
gulp. Do you think the sage is greater or the ocean is greater?" Narada
had to agree that without doubt the sage was certainly greater than the
water he had swallowed. The Lord continued, "But it is said that when he
left his earthly body, this same sage became a star in the heavens. Such
a great sage is now appearing only as a small star in the vast expanse
of the sky. Then what do you think is bigger; is it the sage or is it
the sky that is bigger?" Narada answered, "Swami, the sky is surely
bigger than the sage." Then the Lord asked, "Yet we know that one time
when the Lord came as avatar and incarnated in a dwarf-body, he expanded
himself so hugely that he was able to cover both the earth and the sky
with his one foot. Do you think God's foot is bigger or the sky?" "O,
God's foot is certainly bigger," Narada replied. But, the Lord asked,
"If God's foot is so big, then what about his infinite form?"

Now, Narada felt that he had come to the final conclusion. "Yes," he
said exultantly, "the Lord is the biggest of all. He is infinite beyond
measure. In all the worlds there is nothing greater than he." But the
Lord had still one more question. "What about the devotee who has been
able to imprison this infinite Lord within his own heart? Now tell me,
Narada, who is greater, the devotee who has the Lord locked up or the
Lord who is locked up by the devotee?" Narada had to admit that the
devotee was even greater than the Lord, and that, therefore, the devotee
must rank first in importance over everything, surpassing even the Lord.

Good Morning India!

When we lift a lot of weight we get tried. When we walk a long distance, we get tired. But the mouth and the ears never experience tiredness! We never seem to get tired of talking and listening.

The Lord, out of his immense mercy, has created us like this so that we can always chant his Name and listen to His glories.

STAR FISH

Once upon a time there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?"

The young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean." "I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?" "The sun is up, and the tide is going out, and if I don't throw them in they'll die." "But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach, and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

There is something very special in each and every one of us. We have all been gifted with the ability to make a difference, and if we can become aware of that gift, we gain through the strength of our visions the power to shape the future

We must each find our starfish. And if we throw our stars wisely and well, the world will be blessed.

The Emperor

An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided something different. He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you."

The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here after one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!"

One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks went by. Still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed.

Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But honest about what happened, Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right.

He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice try."

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "What great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!" All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"

Good Morning India!

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.

If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.

If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.

If you plant perseverance, you will reap victory.

If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony.

If you plant hard work, you will reap success.

If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.

If you plant openness, you will reap intimacy.

If you plant patience, you will reap improvements.

If you plant faith, you will reap miracles

But

If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust.

If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness.

If you plant pride, you will reap destruction.

If you plant envy, you will reap trouble.

If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation.

If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation.

If you plant greed, you will reap loss.

If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies.

If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles.

If you plant sin, you will reap guilt.

House of 1000 mirrors!

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors.

A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house.

He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the House, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often."

In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door.

When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, "That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again."

All the faces in the world are mirrors. What kind of reflections do you see in the faces of the people you meet?

Good Morning India!

H A P P Y D I W A L I !
Happy Diwali to one and all! Let this Diwali bring light and cheer to everybody!
LOKA SAMASTHA SUKHINO BHAVANTHU!
SAMASTHA SANMANGALANI BHAVANTHU!
OM SHANTHI! OM SHANTHI! OM SHANTHI!