The Art of Giving........

"Rivers do not drink their own water, nor do tree eat their own fruit, nor do rain clouds eat the grains reared by them. The wealth of the noble is used solely for the benefit of others?

Even after accepting that giving is good and that one must learn to give, several questions need to be answered.

The first question is when should one give?

We all know the famous incident from the Mahabharata.

Yudhisthir, asks a beggar seeking alms to come the next day. On this, Bhim rejoices, that Yudhisthir his brother, has conquered death! For he is sure that he will be around tomorrow to give. Yudhisthir gets the message.

One does not know really whether one will be there tomorrow to give! The time to give therefore is now.

The next question is how much to give.

One recalls the famous incident from history. Rana Pratap was reeling after defeat from the Moghals. He had lost his army, he had lost his wealth, and most important he had lost hope, his will to fight. At that time in his darkest hour, his erstwhile minister Bhamasha came seeking him and placed his entire fortune at the disposal of Rana Pratap. With this, Rana Pratap raised an army and lived to fight another day.

The answer to this question how much to give is "Give as much as you can!

The next question is what to give. It is not only money that can be given. It could be a flower or even a smile.

It is not how much one gives but how one gives that really matters. When you give a smile to a stranger that may be the only good thing received by him in days and weeks! "You can give anything but you must give with your heart!

One also needs answer to this question whom to give.

Many times we avoid giving by finding fault with the person who is seeking. However, being judgmental and rejecting a person on the presumption that he may not be the most deserving is not justified. “Give without being judgmental!

Next we have to answer How to give

Coming to the manner of giving, one has to ensure that the receiver does not feel humiliated, nor does the giver feel proud by giving. In giving follow the advice, ’

Let not your left hand know what your right hand gives? Charity without publicity and fanfare is the highest form of charity. 'Give quietly!

While giving let not the recipient feel small or humiliated. After all what we give never really belonged to us. We come to this world with nothing and will go with nothing. The thing gifted was only with us for a temporary period. Why then take pride in giving away something which really did not belong to us? Give with grace and with a feeling of gratitude. When you help someone in need, give it before he asks for it; for if you place him under the necessity of stretching out his hand, you take away from him his self-respect which is worth more than the value of your alms.

What should one feel after giving?

We all know the story of Eklavya. When Dronacharya asked him for his right thumb as "Guru Dakshina", he unhesitatingly cut off the thumb and gave it to Dronacharya.

There is a little known sequel to this story. Eklavya was asked whether he ever regretted the act of giving away his thumb. He replied, and the reply has to be believed to be true, as it was asked to him when he was dying. His reply was "Yes! I regretted this only once in my life. It was when Pandavas were coming in to kill Dronacharya who was broken hearted on the false news of death of his son Ashwathama and had stopped fighting. It was then that I regretted the loss of my thumb. If the thumb was there, no one could have dared hurt my Guru.

The message to us is clear. Give and never regret giving!

And the last question is How much should we provide for our heirs?

Ask yourself 'are we taking away from them the gift of work'? - A source of happiness! The answer is given by Warren Buffett: "Leave your kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing!

I would conclude by saying: let us learn the Art of Giving, and quoting Saint Kabir:

"When the wealth in the house increases, when water fills a boat, Throw them out with both hands"

The good you do, comes back to you!

A woman baked bread for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby.

She kept the extra bread on the Window-sill, for whosoever would take it away.

Every day, a hunch-back came and took away the bread. Instead of expressing gratitude,

he muttered the following words as he went his way:

"The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!"

This went on, day after day. Every day, the hunch-back came, picked up the bread and uttered the words: "The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!"

The woman felt irritated. "Not a word of gratitude," she said to herself...

"Everyday this hunch-back utters this jingle! What does he mean?

"One day, out of despiration, she decided to do away with him. "I shall get rid of this hunch-back," she said. And what did she do? She added poison to the bread she prepared for him! As she was about to place it on the window sill, her hands trembled. "What is this I am doing?" she said.

Immediately she threw the bread into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window-sill.

As usual, the hunch-back came, picked up the bread and muttered the words:

"The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!"

The hunch-back proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman. Everyday, as the woman placed the bread on the window-sill, she offered a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune. For many months, she had no news of him.. She prayed for his safe return.

That evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway.. He had grown thin and lean. His garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and weak. As he saw his mother, he said, "Mom, it's a miracle I'm here. While I was but a mile away, I was so hungry that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old hunch-back passed by. I begged of him for a small part of his food, and he was kind enough to give me a whole bread. "As he gave it to me, he said, "This is what I eat everyday: today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!"

"As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale and red. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned bread that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life!

It was then that she realized the significance of the words: "The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!"

Do good and; Don't ever stop doing good, even if it's not appreciated at that time.

Success Mantra..............

There once was a farmer who discovered that he had lost his watch in the barn. It was no ordinary watch because it had sentimental value for him. After searching high and low among the hay for a long while; he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of children playing outside the barn.

He promised them that the person who found it would be rewarded.

Hearing this, the children hurried inside the barn, went through and around the entire stack of hay but still could not find the watch. Just when the farmer was about to give up looking for his watch, a little boy went up to him and asked to be given another chance.

The farmer looked at him and thought, "Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere enough."

So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn. After a while the little boy came out with the watch in his hand! The farmer was both happy and surprised and so he asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed.

The boy replied, "I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction."

Moral:

A peaceful mind can think better than a worked up mind. Allow a few minutes of silence to your mind every day, and see, how sharply it helps you to set your life the way you expect it to be...!

Forgiveness............

A man came home to see newly painted hall. To his puzzlement, his little son was happily hammering dents into the shiny paint on the wall.The man ran to his son, knocked him away, hammered the little boy's hands into pulp as punishment. When the father calmed down, he rushed his son to the hospital.Doctors amputated damaged n crushed bones of the fingers from both the boy's hands. When the boy woke up & saw his bandaged stubs, he innocently said, " Dad, I'm sorry about your paint, but when are my fingers going to grow n work back?"Dad crossed the fingers n cried, but it was too late.

Moral: Too often we fail to recognize the difference between Intention and Behavior. We choose Behavior and take wrong decisions just because of anger an impatience. Think first before you lose your patience with someone you love. Patches can be repaired. Broken bones & hurt feelings often can't. Among intention and behavior always choose Intention first.People make mistakes. We are allowed to make mistakes. But the actions we take while in a rage will haunt us forever. And keep in mind "The Law of Forgiveness".

Inspirational Talk By Sachin Tendulkar After Reaching milestone...

 After reaching his 100th century sachin gave inspirational talk "Enjoy the game and chase the Dreams, I think Dreams Do come true. I have to wait for 22 years to see the world cup victory. Don't stop chasing your dreams".

"It's a golden moment for not only Sachin but also the Indian cricket. It's a historic moment. 

Choose Attitude....... Be Happy........

There were twin brothers one brother used to hit his wife and children, he used to drink and had a criminal record but the second brother had a very happy family he never abused anyone was very happy with his family and had a great job.

Once the lawyer sat with both and asked the first brother that why does he take drugs and abuse family?, He said what else he is supposed to do? His father did the same to us, he used to hit us and our mother and abuse us, thats why I am doing the same, then the lawyer asked the second brother that what makes you so happy being with family,he said my father used to hit us and abuse us, so I decided I should not do this ever to my family that why I never hit anyone nor abuse.


The moral of the story is- Both had the same driving energy their FATHER but one took it in a negative way and other in a positive way. So we have to always keep thinking positive which will help to grow our personality, happiness  and a positive attitude.

Quotes on happiness........

For every minutes you are angry,
you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

There is no investment you can make which will pay you so well as the effort to scatter sunshine and good cheer through your establishment.
Orison Swett Marden 

There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.
George Sand 

There is only one way to happiness, and that is cease worrying about the things which are beyond the power of our will.
Epictetus 

There is something in the pang of change more than the heart can bear, unhappiness remembering happiness.
Euripides

 There is work that is work and there is play that is play; there is play that is work and work that is play. And in only one of these lies happiness.
Gelett Burgess