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The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. “There are 5 things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.” One: “You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand.” Two: “You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil.” Three: “You should be able to correct any mistakes you might make.” Four: “The most important part of you will always be what's inside.” And Five: “On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.”   The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart. Now replacing the place of the pencil ...

In a boxing match, a boxer may be knocked down, but only when the fallen player fails to rise does the knock down becomes a knock out. In our life, we may be knocked down many times; however never become knock out. There is always a scope to rise after every fall. We are all engaged in a match with temptation, which sometimes gains an upper hand and with a sudden sweeping punch knocks us down. It devastates our intellectual defences, decimates our determination and drags us down to activities that go against our ethical and spiritual principles. Such a knock down can be disheartening. But we can take heart from the fact that it’s only a knock down, not a knock out. No matter how badly we fall, we always have the power to rise. Nothing can make us stay fallen unless we lose the will to rise. But once we lose the will to fight, just a small push, that would otherwise have not even shaken us, can knock us not only down, but also out. Temptation can knock us down but it can't kn...

Samesh made it big in business so he spent money buying a piece of land in the suburbs and built a three-storey villa. He had an impressive swimming pool in the garden with a hundred-year-old Lychee Tree in the backyard to boot. In fact, he bought the property precisely because of this tree. His wife loved eating lychees. During renovations, his friends urged him to get guidance from a Vastu master, just to tread on the side of caution. Samesh took the advice to heart and went out of his way to meet a great Vastu master. The Vastu Master was in the profession for over thirty years, renowned in the Vastu circle. They had a meal in the city, then Samesh drove the Vastu Master to the suburbs. Along the way, when cars behind them tried to overtake, Samesh would simply give way. The Vastu Master laughingly remarked: "Samesh, your driving is really safe." Samesh laughed at the remark: “Usually people who need to overtake have some urgent matter to attend to, so we shouldn'...

Once, Lord Indra got upset with Farmers, he announced there will be No rain for 12 years & you won't be able to produce crops  Farmers begged for mercy from Lord Indra, who then said, Rain will be possible only if Lord Shiva plays his Damru, but he secretly requested Lord Shiva not to agree to these Farmers & when Farmers reached Lord Shiva he repeated the same thing that he will play Damru after 12 years   Disappointed Farmers decided to wait till 12 years but one Farmer regularly was digging treating & putting manure in the soil & sowing the seeds even with no crop emerging  Other Farmers were making fun of that Farmer. After 3 years, all Farmers asked that Farmer why are you wasting your time n energy when you know that rains will not come before 12 years  He replied " I know that crop won't come out but I'm doing it as a matter of "practice". After 12 years I will forget the process of growing crops and working in the field. So I must...

A group of 15 soldiers led by a Major were on their way to the post in Himalayas, where they would be deployed for the next 3 months. The batch who would be relieved waited anxiously. It was cold winter, intermittent snowfall made the treacherous climb more difficult. If someone could offer a cup of tea , the Major thought, knowing it was a futile wish.. They continued for an hour before they came across a dilapidated structure, which looked like a tea shop but locked. It was late in the night. "No tea boys, bad luck", said the Major. But he suggested all take some rest there as they have been walking for 3 hours.   "Sir, this is a tea shop and we can make tea... We will have to break the lock", suggested one soldier. The officer was in great dilemma to the unethical suggestion but the thought of a steaming cup of tea for the tired solders made him to give the permission. They were in luck, the place had everything needed to make tea and also packets of biscu...

Very long ago, there lived a huge apple tree offering tasty apples to the people. A little boy became close friend to the apple tree. The boy used to play with the tree, climb the branches, sleep under the shadow, pluck apples, etc. Every day he visited the tree, and ate apples. The apple tree was so kind to the boy and enjoyed spending time with the little boy.   The boy joined school and could not spend any time with the apple tree. After several months the boy came to the apple tree. The tree was so happy to see the boy and asked him to play with it.   The boy said that he was not a little one to play with the trees. But he had another request to the tree.  The tree asked what he wanted. The boy said that he needed toys to play, but his parents did not have sufficient money to buy toys for him.   The tree replied, ‘Dear friend, I do not have any money to buy toys for you, but you can pick the apples, sell them, get money and buy the t...

A crab was once running on sea shore and was admiring its beautiful footprints.. suddenly a huge wave splashed and washed away the footprints. The crab said to the wave: I considered you as one of my best friends, then what made you do this? The wave replied: A fisherman was following your footprints, that's why I cleared it off. Lesson : It is always good to clarify, before being judgemental upon others.

A well-dressed man made an appointment to see a psychologist. He arrived at the psychologist's office and said to him, "Doctor, I always feel depressed. No matter what I do I still feel depressed. I just don't know what to do." The psychologist looked at him and said, "Come with me to the window." The man followed and then the psychologist pointed outside and said, "Do you see that tent over there in the distance? Well, there is a circus in town and it is really good. There are lots of acts to watch, specially the clown acts. And there is one clown in particular who is extremely funny. He will make you rock with laughter over and over again. Go and see that clown and I guarantee that you will not have reason to be depressed again!" The man turned to the psychologist with sad eyes and said, "Doctor, I am that clown!" Lesson : No one can replace the need of God’s shelter, not even the Clown. Without God’s shelter, one can never fi...

A store owner was tacking a sign above his door that read “Puppies for Sale.” Signs like that have a way of attracting small children and sure enough, a little boy appeared by the store owner’s sign. “How much are you going to sell the puppies for?” he asked. The store owner replied, “Anywhere from Rs.600 - Rs.1000.” The little boy reached in his pocket and pulled out some change. “I have Rs.46,” he said. “May I please look at them?” The store owner smiled and whistled. Out of the Store came Lady, who ran down the passage of his store followed by five teeny, tiny puppies of fur. One puppy was lagging considerably behind. Immediately the little boy singled out the lagging, limping puppy and said, “What’s wrong with that little dog?” The store owner explained, “Doctor had examined this little puppy and had found that it didn’t have a hip socket. It would always limp. It would always be lame. The little boy became excited. “That is the little puppy that I want to buy.” The stor...

One day Krishna & Arjuna were taking their usual walk, when they came across an old man begging, taking pity on his condition, Arjuna gave him a bag of gold coins. The man was overjoyed. On his way to home, he was robbed by a thief in the forest. He cursed his fate and the next day set off to beg again. Arjuna & Krishna saw him again & got to know his story. Arjuna once again took pity and gave him a large diamond. The man took it home and kept it in an old pot which had been unused for many years in order to keep it safe and went to sleep. The next morning before he could wake up, his wife went to fetch water from the river & on her way back, she slipped and her pot broke. She immediately remembered the pot at home which lay unused and brought it to fill it with water. Just as she dipped the pot in to the river the diamond escaped the pot and went in to the river. When she returned home the man was desperately searching the house for the pot & when he saw ...

One day, Buddha was walking from one town to another with a few of his followers. While they were traveling, they happened to pass by a lake. They stopped to rest there and Buddha asked one of his disciples to get him some water from the lake.   A disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed some people were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!” So he came back and told Buddha, ”The water in the lake is very muddy. I don’t think it is suitable to drink.” After a while, Buddha again asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water. The disciple obediently went back to the lake. This time he found that the mud had settled down and the water was clean so he collected some in a pot and brought it to Buddha. Buddha looked at th...

Mahatma Gandhi was on an expedition to collect funds from various cities and villages for Charkha Sangh. He went to several palaces and reached Orissa. He had organised a meeting in Orissa.  He requested to offer funds for the Sangh and gave a speech. After the speech, a very old woman with bent back, faltered clothing, white hair, dry and shrunk skin got up. She was trying to reach the stage and requested the volunteers to allow her to reach Gandhi Ji. She touched the feet of Gandhi Ji. Then she took out a copper coin kept in her folds of saree and placed the copper coin at his feet. The old lady left the stage.  Gandhi Ji very carefully took the coin and placed it safely. The in-charge of the Sangh asked Gandhi Ji for the copper coin, but he refused to give it.  “I keep cheques worth thousands of rupees for the Charkha Sangh,” the in-charge said laughingly “yet you won’t trust me with a copper coin.”  Gandhi Ji said, “This...

John and James were best friends. They fought for many reasons and but never gave up their friendship. They went in search of a job and visited many places to earn more money. They passed through various places, villages, towns, forests, beaches, and were supporting each other all the way throughout their journey.  One day they reached a desert and they had a very little food and water. John told James to eat half the quantity of food and then once they get very tired and feel like they cannot make a step they can eat another half and save water for later use.   However, James disagreed. He wanted to drink water as he was very thirsty. They quarreled each other to have water. John slapped James and they walked in silence. They decided to have food and continue their journey. James wrote in sand, ‘My best friend slapped me!’   They shared the meagre amount of food and water and finally reached an oasis. They were very tired after passing through th...

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold. The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves, but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions. After a while, they decided to distance themselves from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice. Either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth. Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the warmth and heat that came from others. This way they were able to survive. Lesson : It is better to accept some pains from the loved ones while being with them, than to be in solitude.

Once a teacher sent his students to the forest to gather firewood. One of them found a tree with no leaves. He thought that l am lucky, It will be easy to break the branches without having to break the leaves first. There is no need to hurry now. He decided to take rest for some time. It was evening by the time he woke up. The other students were getting ready to back with their wood. He quickly started breaking the branches but discovered that they were actually still green and not dry. Thus, he lamented for his wrong judgement & Laziness. Lesson : Do not give priority to Laziness, before your Service.

An American gets a visit from a friend arrived from India and takes him downtown New York. It was noon and the streets were full of people. Cars horning and taxi cabs rushing on the streets, sirens approaching, It was such a sound that seemed to make any person crazy. Suddenly his Indian friend said, “I heard a bird!” “It’s impossible to hear a cricket in all this noise!” (told the American) “I’m sure I heard a bird!” (Indian insisted) “That’s crazy!” The Indian listened carefully for a moment then he crossed the street to an area where there were a few trees. He looked around under the branches and found little bird. American friend was amazed, “It’s incredible! You must have a superhuman hearing!” No, said the Indian. My ears are no different from yours. It depends on what you listen with them. “But this isn’t possible! I could never hear a bird in this noise!” “It dep...

A parrot used to live on a fig tree along with other birds. He loved the figs and enjoyed living on the tree. After several years, once there was drought in that area. The fig tree stopped bearing fruit and leaves. The birds who were living in that tree left the tree and migrated to different places.  The parrot felt sad but did not leave the tree. Gradually, without having any food and water, the parrot became sick. But still he continued to live in that tree.    God saw this. He disguised himself as a bird and asked the parrot, "Why do you not leave this tree? It is not bearing fruit anymore." The parrot replied, "I cannot leave my friend. It has fed me for so many years."  God was happy to hear this answer. He came to his original form and said to the parrot, "Your faithfulness to the tree has impressed me. Ask me what you want." The parrot replied, "O Lord! Please shower rain and bless the tree to bear fruit again l...

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. He picked up a very large and empty jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.  So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.  The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up the remaining open areas of the jar. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "Yes."  "Now," said the professor, "l want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important. Your spiritual practices, your family, your friends, your health — things that if everything else was lo...

There was a man who believed that he could read the future in the stars. He called himself an Astrologer and spent his time at night gazing at the sky. He was always busy worrying about future and villagers often came to him, hoping to know what their future holds. One evening he was walking along the open road outside the village. His eyes were fixed on the stars. As he was looking at the stars, he kept walking without looking down. He lost in his thoughts about the future. Suddenly, he fell into a ditch full of mud and water. He was sinking in the muddy water, and madly trying to claw at the slippery sides of the hole in his effort to climb out. He was unable to crawl out and fearing for his life, he started screaming for help. His cries for help soon brought the villagers running. As they pulled him out of the mud, one of them said, “You are trying to read the future in the stars, and yet you fail to see what is right here on the earth!   Lesson : Acting wisely in th...

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, felt very hungry on the way. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. When he knocked, a lovely young woman opened the door. He felt shy and Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?"  "You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness." He said, "Then I thank you from my heart."  As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God was strong also. Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.  Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the to...

In 1870, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. But Roebling was very determined. He managed to convince his son Washington, an upcoming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built. Together the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished. They hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge. The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway, a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington got severely injured and lost his ability to talk or walk. Everyone had a negative comment to make and people thought the project has to be stopped totally. In spite of his handicap, Washington was neve...

One day a very poor man Amar Prasad saw an old lady , stranded on the side of the road. Amar saw that she had a flat tyre, and for an old lady, that was bad enough. She needed help. She was frightened, standing out there in the cold. Amar said, "I'm here to help you, ma'am.” Soon he was able to change the tyre. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. She thanked him enough for coming to her aid. Amar just smiled. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened if he had not stopped. Amar never had thought about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need. Amar told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed. The lady drove off. A few miles down the road the lady ...

A little ant was going from one side to the other side of the balcony carrying a big leaf several times more than its size. The ant faced many impediments during its journey, took a diversion and then continued towards destination. At one point the tiny creature came across a crack in the floor. It paused for a little while, analysed and then laid the huge leaf over the crack, walked over the leaf, picked the leaf on the other side then continued its journey. Great!!! This tiny creature of God, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to analyse, contemplate, reason, explore, discover and overcome. About an hour later the creature had reached its destination – a tiny hole in the floor which was an entrance to its underground dwelling. And it was at this point that the ant's shortcoming was revealed.   How could the ant carry into the tiny hole the large leaf that it had managed to carefully bring to the destination? It simply couldn't! So the tiny creature, after all t...

Once there was a king who told some of his workers to dig a pond. Once the pond was dug, the king made an announcement to his people saying that one person from each household has to bring a glass of milk during the night and pour it into the pond. So, the pond should be full of milk by the morning. After receiving the order, everyone went home. One man prepared to take the milk during the night. He thought that since everyone will bring milk, he could just hide a glass of water and pour inside the pond. Because it will be dark at night, no one will notice. So he quickly went and poured the water in the pond and came back. In the morning, the king came to visit the pond and to his surprise the pond was only filled with water! What has happened is that everyone was thinking like the other man that "I don't have to put the milk, someone else will do it." Lesson : Expect the wise behavior from self, not from others. Let the positive change start from you for the better ...

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with soft cushion. Definitely, this would cost a huge amount of money, but no one spoke anything. Everyone was silent. Then one of his wise servants dared himself to tell the king, “Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money? Why don’t you just get a soft shoe to cover your feet?” Lesson : Do not try to change the world for your happiness, Change yourself to make the world happy.

Once a group of 50 people was attending a seminar. Suddenly the speaker stopped and started giving each person a balloon. Each one was asked to write his/her name on it using a marker pen.   Then all the balloons were collected and put in another room.  Now these delegates were let in that room and asked to find the balloon which had their name written, within 5 minutes. Everyone was frantically searching for their name, pushing, colliding with each other, and there was utter chaos. At the end of 5 minutes, no one could find their own balloon. Now each one was asked to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the person whose name was written on it. Within minutes everyone had their own balloon. Lesson : It is easy to get our needs fulfilled through other’s cooperative support, than each one individually striving to get their needs fulfilled.

Father was a hardworking man who was supporting his wife and three children. He spent all his evenings after work, attending classes, hoping to improve himself so that he could one day find a better paying job.  Except for Sundays, Father hardly ate a meal together with his family. He worked and studied very hard. Whenever the family complained that he was not spending enough time with them, he reasoned that he was doing all this for them. But he often yearned to spend more time with his family. The examination results were announced. To his joy, Father passed with distinctions! Soon after, he was offered a good job as a senior supervisor which paid handsomely. Father could now afford to provide his family with life's little luxuries like nice clothing, fine food etc. However, the family still did not get to see father for most of the week. Father got promoted and bought a 3 bedroom flat for the family. But a...

Once, I was cycling and noticed a person ahead of me, about 1/4 of a km. I could tell he was cycling a little slower than me and decided to try to catch him. I had about a km to go on the road before turning off. So I started cycling faster and faster and every block, I was gaining on him just a little bit. After a few minutes I was only about 100 yards behind him, so I really picked up the pace and pushed myself. You would have thought I was cycling the last leg of London Olympic triathlon. Finally, I caught up with him and passed him by. On the inside I felt so good. "I beat him" of course, but he didn't even know we were racing. After I passed him, I realized that I had been so focused on competing against him that I had missed my turn, had gone nearly six blocks past it and had to turn around and go all back. Isn't that what happens in life when we focus on competing with co-workers, neighbors, friends, family, trying to outdo them or trying to prove that we ...