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!"

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.So be careful what you plant now,
It will determine what you will reap tomorrow, The seeds you now scatter, Will make life worse or better, your life or the ones who will come after. Yes, someday, you will enjoy the fruits, or you will pay for the choices you plant today.

It’s an empty vessel

A young farmer was covered with sweat as he paddled his boat up the river. He was going upstream to deliver his produce to the village and he was in a hurry. It was a hot day and he wanted to make his delivery and get home before dark. As he looked ahead, he spotted another vessel, heading rapidly downstream towards his boat. It was coming at a good pace too. This farmer rowed furiously to get out of the way, but it did not seem to help.
He yelled at the other vessel, “Change direction, you idiot! You are going to hit me. The river is wide. Change your course". His screaming was of no use. The other vessel hit his boat with a big loud thud. He was enraged as he stood up and cried out to the other vessel. “Stupid! How could you manage to hit my boat in the middle of this wide river? What is wrong with you? "
And as he looked at the other vessel he realized that there was no one in the other boat. He was screaming at an empty vessel that had broken free of its moorings and was going downstream with the current.
The lesson is very simple.
There is never anyone in the other boat.
When we are angry we are screaming at an empty vessel.
All of us know people who drive us crazy, whom we hate to the core with passion. We may have spent countless hours reliving the moments when this person was unfair, unappreciative or inconsiderate to us. Even remembering this person pumps up our blood pressure.
The best way of dealing with people like this is to not let them make us angry. Getting angry doesn’t help in improving the situation and life is too short to waste on feeling bad or staying with grudges.
Next time when there is a surge of anger in you, just remember this.
There is never anyone in the other boat. It’s an empty vessel always

Cloud and Water

You ride on a horse,
while I ride on a donkey.
Looks like you are better off than me!
Turning around, I see a man pushing his cart.
Some are better off than me,
But there are others less fortunate thanmyself!

A poem from the collection “Cloud and Water” by the Chinese Buddhist writer Hsing Yun.

The blurb explains the title of the book:
What do we mean by cloud and water? Clouds float by water flows on. In movement there is no grasping, in Ch’an there is no settling. The cloud and water life is a life of living in the moment, always fresh and ready to experience.

Trees That Wood

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."
Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."
After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter" ... and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.
At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.
When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one", and he cut it down.
When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.
Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time. Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.
Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.
The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

It is not how much you earn...

It was my personal trip to Chennai and happened to meet my friend. He requested me to be with him for the next morning pooja at his office premises. I respected his feelings and that’s how I was there on that early morning. The Ganapathi Homam was over, Prasadam was distributed to everyone and people were engrossed with the taste of Saravana bhavan coffee. And I was engrossed with the priest.
Rituals were over and he was doing his packing’s. He looked very thin, wore white dhoti on the waste and thread cross the chest. I was asking about his life and family. He used wonderful flavor of Tamil. He has been given responsibility to take care of a small temple in a nearby street; he does not go to all these kind of poojas. Since his guru was busy with some thing else he has been assigned this one. He has two school going daughters and one son. And his aged parents stay with him. He is the only income source for the whole family. He finished his packing’s, picked up his bag, as he was leaving out, he looked at me and said, “ Last month I bought two grounds of land which is next to Porur”.
I was shaken up. He is not as famous as other busy priests available in the city for Homams in the office; he does not go for marriage rituals. He himself mentioned his income is not so huge and on top of it he has aged parents, wife, school going kids and an infant child. All the money would be going for food, medicines, school fee, glossary and other expenses. How is it possible for him to buy two grounds of land, that too in just next to city?
With the unanswered question inside, I sat in my Honda City and drove to Bangalore. Honda City – is an ultimate car. I enjoyed the drive. I Reached Bangalore at 05:45am and I saw Siddique standing with his white bucket. Siddique comes early morning and cleans my car and bike. Same bucket in the hand, but instead of his usual cycle there was a YAMAHA RX125. I was surprised when he said, “My bike sir, I bought last month!” I was very happy for him. I gave the car key, he moved towards the car and I claimed the staircase.
Siddique works as a labor in a godown. I know he has very less income, stays in a rented house, has a family and school going son. That is the reason he cleans few cars in the mornings and gets Rs.300/- per car. In fact I committed him that I will fund his son’s school fee next year. Suddenly Siddique comes in 125cc bike. It is great.. “But how is this possible?”
I remember my wife was telling once about servant maid who sweeps the floor and cleans the vessels at my home was looking for my help for opening a savings bank account. I remember the farmers in my village kept on working for the whole year, kept on spending money for the crops in the form of urea, pesticide, labor, etc and only once they will get big harvest. It will be once in a year. But… they too educate their son and daughters, build villas and bungalows’ and have all the comforts.
My servant maid is a young widow, has a son, earns tiny amount of money, manages the family and want to open an account for savings. The farmers in the village get once in a year, but keeps for the whole year.
Yes. I got it. I understood what Robert T. Kiyosaki told in his famous book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’… “It is not how much you earn. It is all about how much you save!”Yes. It is possible for the priest to buy two grounds of land just next to the city. It is possible for my car cleaner to buy his favorite YAMAHA RX125. I earn in lakhs and pays good amount of tax. They earn very little, may be in thousands. But they have greater plans for the incoming money. They are not strong in earnings. BUT THEY ARE STRONGER IN SAVINGS.I remember my father was telling my uncle when I was a small boy, “Earning the money is not a big project. But saving the money is very big project. It is some thing like digging a huge well with a needle”. Now I understand the real life of ants.
My servant maid, Car cleaner Siddique, Chennai Priest, farmers in the village and all those people who work in the street has re-phrased the question in me. It is about ‘how much you save?”.
Hey my friend, your daughter, son, wife and family needs financial comforts tomorrow.
I do not ask you how much you earn… I am asking you … HOW MUCH YOU SAVE?
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From my friend...