If you are aware choicelessly…

Just be aware; that is all you have to do, without condemning, without forcing, without trying to change what you are aware of. Then you will see that it is like a tide that is coming in. You cannot prevent the tide from coming in; build a wall, or do what you will, it will come with tremendous energy. In the same way, if you are aware choicelessly, the whole field of consciousness begins to unfold. And as it unfolds, you have to follow; and the following becomes extraordinarily difficult—following in the sense to follow the movement of every thought, of every feeling, of every secret desire. It becomes difficult the moment you resist, the moment you say, “That is ugly”, “This is good”, “That is bad”, “This I will keep”, “That I will not keep.”


Courtesy :http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/krishnamurti-teachings/view-daily-quote/20091028.php

Castles in the Sand

Some children were playing beside a river. They made castles of sand, and each child defended his castle and said, 'This one is mine.' They kept their castles separate and would not allow any mistakes about which was whose. When the castles were all finished, one child kicked over someone else's castle and completely destroyed it. The owner of the castle flew into a rage, pulled the other child's hair, struck him with his fist and bawled out, 'He has spoiled my castle! Come along all of you and help me punish him as he deserves.' The others all came to his help. They beat the child ... Then they went on playing in their sand castles, each saying, 'This is mine; no one else may have it. Keep away! Don't touch my castle!'

But evening came, it was getting dark and they all thought they ought to be going home. No one now cared what became of his castle. One child stamped on his, another pushed his over with both hands. Then they turned away and went back, each to his home.

Courtesy : http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/clubs/buddhism/story/index.html

Buddha Threatened By Death

Buddha was once threatened with death by a bandit called Angulimal.

"Then be good enough to fulfill my dying wish," said Buddha. "Cut off the branch of that tree."

One slash of the sword, and it was done! "What now?" asked the bandit.

Put it back again," said Buddha.

The bandit laughed. "You must be crazy to think anyone can do that."

"On the contrary, it is you who are crazy to think that you are mighty because you can wound and destroy. That is the task of children. The mighty know how to create and heal."

Courtesy: www.Spiritual-Short-Stories.com

24 Hours To Die

Raj asked Buddha, “Reverend Sir, how come my mind wanders around to forbidden places and yours does not?” “Sir, how come I do back-biting and you don't?” “Sir, how come I don't have compassion for others, while you have?” All the questions that Raj asked were of similar nature.

Buddha replied, “Raj, your questions are good, but it seems to me that in 24 hours from now you will die.”

Raj got up and started getting ready to go.

Buddha asked, “Raj, what happened? You came with such vitality now you are totally dismayed.”

Raj said, “Sir, my mother told me that your words are true and are to be held in high esteem. So please let me go so that I may meet my family members, friends and others before I die.”

Buddha said, “But there are still 24 hours. Sit, we will talk more.”

Raj said, “Reverend Sir, please let me go. I must meet my people before I die.”

So Raj left and went home. Met his mother and started crying. The word spread. His friends came; other family members came; neighbors came. Everyone was crying with Raj. Time flew.

Raj was busy either crying or counting the hours. When only 3 hours were left, he pulled up a cot and lay down. Although the Death had not yet arrived, poor Raj was kind of dead.

When only an hour was left, Buddha walked in.

Buddha said to Raj, “Raj, why are you lying down on the cot with your closed eyes. Death is still an hour away. And an hour is 60 minutes long. That's a lot of time. Get up, let us talk.”

Raj: “Sir, what is it now that you want to talk? Just let me die peacefully.”

Buddha: “Raj, there is still time and our talk will get over before the 'ordained' time.”

Raj: “Okay, Sir . . . say what you have to say.”

Buddha: “In the past 24 hours, did you curse anyone?”

Raj: “How could I curse anyone? I was all the time thinking about death.”

Buddha: “In the past 24 hours, did you think or wish ill for anyone?”

Raj: “How could I do that? I was all the time thinking about death.”

Buddha: “In the past 24 hours, did you steal?”

Raj: “Sir, how can you even ask that? I was all the time thinking about death.”

Finally the Buddha said, “Raj, I don't know who has to die and who has to live. But understanding the ultimate truth — i.e. death — can be very enlightening. All the questions you posed to me have been answered by yourself because of the awareness of death that you experienced during the past 24 hours. The difference between me and you is that you were aware of death for the past 24 hours, I have been aware for the past 24 years.”

Courtesy: http://www.gakkaionline.net/Myths/24Hours.html

SuShi and the Buddhist Monk

The famous Chinese poet SuShi* (1037-1101 A.D.) was visiting his friend, who was a Buddhist monk. SuShi asks the monk what SuShi is like in the monk's eyes.

The monk replies, "In my eyes, you are a Buddha."

SuShi is very happy with this response.

The monk then asks SuShi the same question, and SuShi answers, "In my eyes, you are dung!"

The monk smiles, and SuShi is delighted, because he thinks he is better than the monk.

Then some days later, SuShi tells the story to a friend, and the friend tells him the truth, "The monk sees you as a Buddha, because he sees everything as Buddha, because he has a Buddha's heart and eyes. You see the monk as dung, because you see everything as dung, because you have a dung's heart and eyes!"

courtesy:http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/clubs/buddhism/story/index.html

Does the dog know that?

A friend of mine once went to see the chief of state of a certain country. When they were walking on the grounds of the presidential place, a large and fierce-looking dog tore the loincloth off a Guru who was also present and, barking loudly, cornered him by a wall. Now this guru had the reputation of being able to tame tigers with a glance, but he obviously had no such way with dogs, and he called out to my friend to do something.
The visitor said, "A barking dog does not bite."
"I know that and you know that," the guru shouted back, "but does the dog know that?"

It is effortless

Buddha was walking from one town to another town
with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they
were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and
Buddha told one of his disciples, "I am thirsty. Do get me some water
from that lake there."

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached
it, he noticed that right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing
through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid.
The disciple thought, "How can I give this muddy water to Buddha
to drink!"

So he came back and told Buddha, "The water in there
is very muddy. I don´t think it is fit to drink." After about half an
hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him
some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake.

This time too he found that the lake was muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same.

After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back.

The disciple reached the lake to find the lake
absolutely clean and clear with pure water in it. The mud had settled down
and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in
a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said," See
what you did to make the water clean. You let it be.... and the mud settled
down on its own - and you got clear water.

Your mind is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time.

It will settle down on its own. You don´t have to put in any effort to calm it down.

It will happen.It is effortless."

What did Buddha emphasize here? He said, "It is effortless."

Having `Peace of Mind´ is not a strenuous job; it is an
effortless process!


KEEP SMILING...........................not because of something, but inspite of everything.