DO NOT BLAME

DO NOT BLAME

 

"He took himself to task mentally for vainly blaming Baba" – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 40

 

A man was walking along the street when he saw a beggar, blind, hungry and shivering from the cold, crying for alms. The passer-by simply turned their faces away from him.

 

The man became angry and said to God, "What kind of father are You that You allow such misery on earth? Why can't You do something about this?""

 

God's answer came to him, loud and clear, "I certainly did something. I made you!"

 

Attitude counts! Instead of blaming others, blaming ourselves or blaming God, let us face each situation squarely, and do the best we can!

WHAT TO ASK FROM GOD?

WHAT TO ASK FROM GOD?

 

There was an illustrious devotee in Guruvayur by name Poondhaanam. He was so devoted to the Lord that Lord Guruvayurappan would converse with him everyday.

 

In the same town, there was a person who was afflicted with a grave disease. Any medicine could not cure his disease and this made him a dejected individual. One day, he approached Poondhaanam and told him about his disease. He requested Poondhaanam to ask Sri Guruvayurappan if he would be cured of his disease.

 

That night, when Poondhanam spoke to Lord Guruvayurappan, he asked the Lord if the person's disease would be cured. The Lord told Poondhaanam that the disease would not be cured.

 

The next day, Poondhaanam met the ailing person and told him what the Lord had said. No sooner did he hear about Lord's word that he would not be cured than he burst into tears. He cried all day that even the Lord had forsaken him.

 

That was when he met Kroorammai.

 

Kroorammai was a very humble devotee of the Lord who hailed from a very poor family. Although she did not have any status in the society, she possessed special status in Sri Guruvayurappan's heart. Lord Guruvayurappan would talk to her regularly as He did to Poondhanam.

 

Kroorammai heard this person's story and assured him that she will take his case to the Lord. The next morning, with an enthusiastic mood she came down to greet the ailing person. She said, "The Lord spoke to me. When I asked Him about you, He has asked you to chant the Divine Names, 'Achyuta Anantha Govinda, continuously and your disease shall be cured!'

 

The ailing person's joy knew no bounds when he heard that he could be cured. He immediately caught hold of the Lord's instruction and chanted the Names incessantly. As the Lord had predicted, eventually, he was cured.

 

He went to the residence of Poondhaanam and told him what had happened. He said, 'You lied to me! Lord Guruvayurappan has indeed cured my disease!'

 

Poondhanam felt very sad on hearing this. He could not bear the allegation that he had lied. He wept to the Lord, 'Oh! Guruvayurappa! Was it not you who had told me that he would not be cured? Today, I am being blamed of uttering falsehood. Did I really utter a lie? Is this fair?' He kept crying at the feet of the Lord.

 

That night, Sri Guruvayurappan spoke to Poondhanam and pacified him. He said, "It was I who told you that he will not be cured. There is no doubt about it! You had come to me and bluntly posed a question that whether that ailing person will be cured or not, as one would do to an astrologer and I replied to you appropriately.

 

But what did Kroorammai do? She asked me, 'Oh! Guruvayurappa! Today a devotee came and asked me if his disease would be cured. Lord! with your grace, is there anything that is impossible in this world? Pray tell me what he should do to be cured!' and I told her the way!"

 

So often in prayer, we ask God for "easy things" which is usually a list of medical needs, or sustenance for people going through some form of loss or making some demands for God to fulfill . This demand list becomes longer and longer everyday and we get disappointed if they are not fulfilled.

 

But the most important prayer would be to ask God for His blessings and guidance and chanting His divine name and singing His praise simply because of our love or bhakti flowing towards Him. If we have this attitude, He would surely guide us. God definitely hears everyone of us and answers our wishes when we pray to Him sincerely.

 

So, whenever we chant the Lord's name and say our prayers, we should be careful of what we ask and also the right way to ask! We need to linger in our prayers, thinking over what we're asking, listening for the Lord's discernment and insight. The more we understand about prayer, the less disappointed we'll be.

 

 

PERFECTION TO ITS BEST

PERFECTION TO ITS BEST

 

Baba said, "You do your duty, don't be afraid in the least, steady your mind and have faith." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 3

 

Warren Buffett, the American investor and the richest man on this planet, off and on recently said, "I don't hold myself to a standard of perfection, or I would have committed suicide a long time ago."

 

That gives us the point that nobody is perfect and perhaps one can only aspire to be perfect. No doubt, it is a good idea to try for perfection, but one must know the art of compromise.

 

As they say, life itself is a great compromise. To remain in sanity, the essential message that Buffett gives us to realize that one can't be always the winning horse. Accept and analyze your failures so that the next bid becomes a shade easier. Realize that you have to emerge stronger after a failure. Only then one can hope to carry on without falling a prey to frustration and depression as a result of not attaining perfection.

 

Big goals come with big risks and only the fearless and visionary can surmount the obstacles. One must realize that success is not perfection; it has its own pangs and might drag you further down. There is always a possibility of many failings in one's success. That is why T S Eliot had said, "Success is always relative, it is what we can make of the mess we have made of things."

 

Do what you can best, but never get into a 'mood swing' if things don't go as you had planned. You will always get a second chance and more. Keep in mind what William James had said, "The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook."

 

Your success is measured in your ability come out of failures and turns them into success. If you fail, at times, it need not be because of your shortcomings; there are always several external factors working for or against you.

HOW TO SPEND MONEY WISELY?

HOW TO SPEND MONEY WISELY?

"Give with faith, give with magnanimity, i.e. liberally, give with modesty, with awe and with sympathy. In order to teach the devotees the lesson of charity and to remove their attachment to money and thus to purify their minds." – Sri Sai Satcharitra Ch. 14.

Birbal's wisdom was unmatchable in the whole of the Empire of Akbar's empire. But Akbar's brother-in-law was extremely jealous of him. He asked the Emperor to dispense with Birbal's services and appoint him in his place, for he would be more efficient and capable than Birbal. Before Akbar could take a decision on this, the news reached Birbal.

 

Birbal resigned and left. Akbar's brother-in-law was made the minister in place of Birbal. Akbar decided to test the new minister. He gave 300 gold coins to him and said, "Spend these gold coins on such a way, that I get a 100 gold coins here in this life, a 100 gold coins in the other world and another 100 gold coins neither here nor there."

 

The minister was confused. He spent sleepless nights worrying over how he would  get himself out of this mess. He was going crazy. Eventually, on the advice of his wife, he sought Birbal's help. Birbal said, "Just give me the gold coins, I shall handle the rest."

 

Birbal walked the streets of the city holding the bag of gold coins in his hand. He noticed a rich merchant celebrating his son's wedding. Birbal gave a 100 gold coins to him and bowed courteously saying, "The Emperor Akbar sends you his good wishes and blessing for the wedding of your son. Please accept the gift he has sent." The merchant felt honoured that the king had sent a special messenger with a precious gift. He honoured Birbal and gave him a large number of expensive gifts and a bag of gold coins as a return gift to the king.

 

Next, Birbal went to the area of the city where the poor lived. He bought food and clothing in exchange for a 100 gold coins and distributed them in the name of the Emperor. When he came back to town, he organized a music and dance party. He spent a 100 gold coins on it.

 

The next day, Birbal entered Akbar's darbar and announced that he had done all that the king had asked his brother-in-law to do: "The money I gave to the merchant for the wedding for his son you will get back while on this earth. The money I spent on the poor, you will get in the other world. The money I spent on the music concert, you will get neither here nor there."

 

 

 

POWER OF POSITIVE PRESENTATION

POWER OF POSITIVE PRESENTATION

"If they are kept in mind and acted upon, they will always do you good." – Sri Sai Satcharitra, Ch. 18, 19.

 

In 1982, University of Wisconsin researchers who were conducting a study of the adult-learning process videotaped two bowling teams during several games. The members of each team then studied their efforts on video to improve their skills. But the two videos had been edited differently.

 

One team received a video showing only its mistakes; the other team's video, by contrast, showed only the good performances.

 

After studying the videos, both teams improved their game, but the team that studied its successes improved its score twice as much as the one that studied its mistakes. Evidently, focusing on the errors can generate feelings of fatigue, blame, and resistance.

 

Emphasizing what works well and discussing how to get more out of those strengths taps into creativity, passion, and the desire to succeed.