Serious Little stories for the soul on a Saturday

[QooldipSingh]

When you ask a man of God a question be prepared to get an answer where you yourself are involved in the answer.



Once a king in India went to Guru Nanak Dev Ji and asked: "O Guru! As you told us, God Himself supports His true worshipper, but God has so many apostles, why does He support Himself? Why does He not send His apostles to help the worshipper?"

As he said this, his own son who was playing on the bank of a river nearby slipped into the river. The king did not wait for a second and jumped in the river as well to save his child.

After saving his child he returned to the Guru. The Guru asked: "My dear friend, you were sitting here with me a minute ago and why did you jump in the river?"

The king explained that his son had slipped into the river and he went to save him.

Then the Guru asked: "Dear friend, you have so many servants, why did you jump in the river yourself? Why did not you send your servants to save him?"

The king said: "By the time I would have asked my servants, he would have drowned. I love my child very much and do not want to lose him at any cost."

Then Guru said: "My dear friend, God loves His worshippers the same way as you love your son. That is why He Himself saves His true worshipper."

 

[QooldipSingh]

Never ever look down on persons of a lower caste.

Respect all. We never know who that person may be.

Like Bhagat (meaning: Devotee) Namdev, a Hindu but who believed in one God and who is highly respected by Sikhs.



For all of his life, Namdev had worshipped God and had faith in Him for each and every moment. He did not worship anyone else but the one immortal God.

He says : "O my tongue, other occupations are false. The state of Nirvaanaa comes only through the Lord's Name. ||2|| The performance of countless millions of other devotions is not even equal to one devotion to the Name of God" (Guru Granth Sahib, page 1163).


Once Namdev went to Aundha Nagnath Temple (also sometimes written as "Avanda Nagnath Temple" ) situated in the state of Maharashtra in India. The Hindu priests of that temple believed in the caste system. After reaching the temple, Namdev sat and started worshipping God but the Hindu priests grabbed his arm and drove him out of the temple. The priests said that Namdev could not visit the temple because he was of a low class.


Namdev was deeply hurt so he went to the back of the temple and started worshipping God. In his prayer he said: "Joyfully, I came to Your Temple, O Lord. While Namdev was worshipping, he was driven out. I am of a low social class, O Lord; why was I born into a family of fabric dyers? I picked up my blanket and went back, to sit behind the temple" (Guru Granth Sahib, page 1164).


Namdev also said: "O Lord, please do not forget me because if You forget me then where should I go. There is nowhere else to go and no one else to believe in except You."


He further prayed: "Please do not forget me, do not forget me, please do not forget me, O Lord. The temple priests have doubts about this, and everyone is furious with me. Calling me low-caste and untouchable, they beat me and drove me out; what should I do now, O Beloved Father Lord? If You give me salvation after I am dead, no one will know that I attained salvation. These Priests, these religious scholars, call me low-born; when they say this, they tarnish Your honour as well. You are called kind and compassionate; the power of Your Arm is absolutely unrivalled" (Guru Granth Sahib, page 1292).


"As Naamdev uttered the Glorious Praises of the Lord, the temple turned around to face the Lord's humble devotee" (Guru Granth Sahib, page 1164).


"The Lord turned the temple around to face Namdev and its back to the priests" (Guru Granth Sahib, page 1292).


That temple is still rotated 180 degrees as can be seen at the site - Aundha Nagnath Temple. In most Hindu temples, the water pool ("kuub") is normally located at the front of the mandir; at this site, it can be seen at the back of the temple. Further, most temples face east since that is the most auspicious direction in the Hindu faith as the Sun rises from the East and the Sun is considered the destroyer of darkness and the giver of life. The Aundha Nagnath temple faces West.d.


This is the symbol of the true love of God towards His true worshipper.

 

[QooldipSingh]

Evil Greed- A Moral Story

Greed is in most of us.

Be careful.

Evil Greed​

Once there were four good friends. They were friends from childhood and their friendship was very deep. One day they were going on a journey through a forest. As they were walking, they felt as if something was buried under the ground. They decided to explore it and started digging. After digging, they found a big box, which was full of gold coins.

They decided to make four parts of the gold coins and distribute it equally among themselves but deep in their hearts each one of them wanted to have the whole box of gold coins. They took the box of gold coins with them but with each step they would take, their desire of having the whole box of gold coins increased.

The sun was about to set and the four of them decided to take shelter under a tree and have some food followed by sleep and continue their journey the next morning. They sat under the tree and decided that two of them will go in search of food and other two will guard the box. As the first two went in search of the food, they began to talk about that box of gold coins. The first one said that he wants to have as much gold as possible. The second one wanted the same. So after gather some food, an evil thought came in their mind. They added poison to the food so that their other two friends will die and they would share the box and divide the gold half and half.

On the other end, the other two friends that were guarding the box started to talk about gold. They want the same thing, to have as much as possible. To do so, they made an evil plan too. They sharpened their knives so that when their first two friends will arrive, they would kill them.

The moment came, their first two friends came with the food, and they placed the food on the box and sat down. As they took their seat, the other two friends with knives beheaded them in a fraction of a second. Their bodies lay dead on the ground. The other two friends were happy that they now would get the half of the gold coins each. Some time passed and they decided to have some food. Few minutes after they ate the poisoned food, their lifeless bodies lay dead on the ground and neither one of them got the gold coins. Moreover, it cost them the loss of their lives.

 

[QooldipSingh]

Many of you must have read this.

Moral of the story is never be too hasty in jumping to a conclusion.



A Moral Story : The Mongoose
and The Child

Let us enjoy reading this story of The Mongoose and The Child.

Once, there lived a farmer and his wife. They had a little son. The farmer had a pet mongoose. The little boy and the mongoose were fond of each other. They were good playmates.

One day the farmer was busy at his fields. The farmer's wife had left to the market. The little boy was fast asleep in a cradle. The mongoose was lying down near the cradle.

A cobra somehow got into the house and it was nearing the little boy. The mongoose sniffed the snake and jumped up. He fought with the cobra. The cobra began to attack. There was a fierce fight between the cobra and the mongoose. The mongoose finally bit and killed the cobra.

The mongoose saw the farmer's wife returning from market. He ran happily towards her to greet her. She saw blood around the mouth and paws of the mongoose. The farmer's wife mistook that the mongoose had attacked her son.

The farmer's wife took a long stick and gave heavy blows on the mongoose and then ran into the house. She was shocked to see a dead cobra lying on the floor near her son. Now she realised her mistake. Her sorrow knew no bounds.​

 

[QooldipSingh]

A Sufi moral story.

Be content with what you have.


Dervish and the Money Spiritual Story by James Fadiman and Robert Frager



A dervish was praying silently. A wealthy merchant, observing the dervish's devotion and sincerity, was deeply touched by him.

The merchant offered the dervish a bag of gold. "I know you will use the money for God's sake. Please take it."

"Just a moment," the dervish replied. "I'm not sure if it is lawful for me to take your money.

Are you a wealthy man? Do you have more money at home?"

"Oh yes. I have at least one thousand gold pieces at home," claimed the merchant proudly.

"Do you want a thousand gold pieces more?" asked the dervish.

"Why yes, of course. Every day I work hard to earn more money."

"And do you wish for yet a thousand gold pieces more beyond that?"

"Certainly. Every day I pray that I may earn more and more money."

The dervish pushed the bag of gold back to the merchant.

"I am sorry, but I cannot take your gold," he said. "A wealthy man cannot take money from a beggar."

"How can you call yourself a wealthy man and me a beggar?" the merchant spluttered.

The dervish replied, "I am a wealthy man because I am content with whatever God sends me.

You are a beggar, because no matter how much you possess, you are always dissatisfied, and always begging God for more."



— By Sheikh Muzaffer

 

[QooldipSingh]

A beautiful Jewish moral story.

The moral of the story is the same as in every religion.

Sometimes we get carried away with what we have done or achieved in our life.

Always keep your head down.

Humility equals Godliness.



A Rabbi and a Ghost Spiritual Story by Unknown


It was New Year's night, and the Rabbi was walking to his home when he met a shadowy figure.

He was stunned to see that it was a man of the city who had recently died! "What are you doing here?" the Rabbi asked, "you are supposed to be dead."

"Rabbi, you know," replied the ghost, "that this is the night when souls reincarnate on earth. I am such a soul."

"And why were you sent back again?" "I led a perfectly blameless life here on earth," the dead man told him.

"And yet," remarked the Rabbi, "you were forced to be born here again?"

"Yes," said the other, "when I passed on I thought about everything I had done and I found it so good;

I had done everything just right. My heart swelled with pride, and just then I died. So I was sent back to pay for that."

The figure disappeared and the Rabbi, pondering, went on to his home.

Shortly after, a son was born to his wife. The child became Rabbi Wolf, who was an extremely humble man. -

 

[QooldipSingh]

Why do innocents suffer along with the guilty?

As I said in my first post when you ask a man of God a question

be prepared to get an answer where you yourself are involved in the answer.



On his return journey home Guru Nanak stopped at Saidpur in western Punjab during the invasion of the first Mughal Emperor Babar.

On seeing the extent of the massacre by the invaders, Mardana, an old Muslim childhood friend and a musician by profession.

asked Guru Nanak why so many innocent people were put to death along with those few who were guilty.

Guru Nanak told Mardana to wait under a banyan tree and after a while he would return to answer his question.

While sitting under the tree, Mardana was suddenly bitten by an ant.

In anger, Mardana killed as many ants as he could with his feet.

Guru Nanak on his return said to him, "You know now Mardana, why do the innocents suffer along with the guilty?"

 

[QooldipSingh]

A beautiful Buddhist moral story changed by the writer for a Christian audience.

This story illustrates the importance of loving a "sinner". It is based on a Zen story. I adopted it to a Christian story (by, for example, changing "Zen Master" to "Priest") as I was writing to a Christian audience.​

There was once a very popular priest. Due to his virtue & his skillful delivering of sermons, his church was always full.

There happened to be a thief among his congregation. This guy would steal every once in while a during service. Everytime he was caught, the priest would counsel him & then ask the congregation to forgive him.

This went on for a while until the congregation got sick of this thief. On one particular day, a church leader, representing the congregation, issued an ultimatum to the priest. Either he expels the thief or the entire congregation would leave.

The priest answered, "Then all of you, please leave". He then explained to the shocked crowd, "All of you know that stealing is wrong, but he doesn't. If I don't teach him, who will? This man needs my guidance and my love more than any one of you. If I have to lose all of you to keep him, let this be the case".

The thief was so touched by this that he started to cry. From that day on, he never stole again.

 

[QooldipSingh]

Another exceptional Buddhist moral story which reminded me of how the world reacted positively in the wake of

tragedy when three-year-old Aylan Kurdi and his five-year-old brother also met a similar death.

However, when the explosions hit Paris these same people forgot the human tragedy of these 2 infants.





One morning, after he had finished his meditation, the old man opened his eyes and saw a scorpion floating helplessly in the water.

As the scorpion was washed closer to the tree, the old man quickly stretched himself out on one of the long roots that branched out

into the river and reached out to rescue the drowning creature. As soon as he touched it, the scorpion stung him.

Instinctively the man withdrew his hand. A minute later, after he had regained his balance, he stretched himself out again

on the roots to save the scorpion. This time the scorpion stung him so badly with its poisonous tail that his hand became swollen and bloody

and his face contorted with pain.

At that moment, a passerby saw the old man stretched out on the roots struggling with the scorpion and shouted:

"Hey, stupid old man, what's wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for the sake of an ugly, evil creature.

Don't you know you could kill yourself trying to save that ungrateful scorpion?"

The old man turned his head. Looking into the stranger's eyes he said calmly,

"My friend, just because it is the scorpion's nature to sting, that does not change my nature to save."

 

[QooldipSingh]

For all of us who have made many extremely grave mistakes in our life and have become dishonored there still is hope.
Devote yourself to God, remember the Lord at all times, serve humanity without expecting anything in return.
It is possible.
As explained in the Sikh Holy Book.



In a hauntingly beautiful voice.




The Restorer of what was taken away, the Liberator from captivity; the Formless Lord, the Destroyer of pain.

I do not know about karma and good deeds; I do not know about Dharma and righteous living. I am so greedy, chasing after Maya.

I go by the name of God's devotee; please, save this honor of Yours. ||1||

O Dear Lord, You are the honor of the dishonored.

You make the unworthy ones worthy, O my Lord of the Universe; I am a sacrifice to Your almighty creative power. ||Pause||

Like the child, innocently making thousands of mistakes -

his father teaches him, and scolds him so many times, but still, he hugs him close in his embrace.

Please forgive my past actions, God, and place me on Your path for the future. ||2||

The Lord, the Inner-knower, the Searcher of hearts, knows all about my state of mind; so who else should I go to and speak to?

The Lord, the Lord of the Universe, is not pleased by mere recitation of words; if it is pleasing to His Will, He preserves our honor.

I have seen all other shelters, but Yours alone remains for me. ||3||

Becoming kind and compassionate, God the Lord and Master Himself listens to my prayer.

He unites me in Union with the Perfect True Guru, and all the cares and anxieties of my mind are dispelled.

The Lord, Har, Har, has placed the medicine of the Naam into my mouth; servant Nanak abides in peace. ||4||12||62||

 

[QooldipSingh]

Open your hearts to those who are less fortunate.
What wrong did these 2 little boys and others do that caused the leaders to close their eyes and hearts to them.
Imagine if this was you and your family trying to flee.
Listen to the boy at the end.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ian-boy-shows-tragic-plight-of-refugees#img-2

 

[QooldipSingh]

Wonderful story….with POWERFUL lesson
“The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”
Read the story and then you will realize that it perfectly fits into our everyday life.


A woman baked chapatti (roti/bread) for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the... extra chapatti on the window sill, for whosoever would take it away. Every day, a hunchback came and took away the chapatti. 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 hunchback came, picked up the chapatti 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 hunchback utters this jingle! What does he mean?”
One day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. “I shall get rid of this hunchback,” she said. And what did she do? She added poison to the chapatti she prepared for him!

As she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands trembled. “What is this I am doing?” she said. Immediately, she threw the chapatti into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window sill. As usual, the hunchback came, picked up the chapatti and muttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”

The hunchback proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman. Every day, as the woman placed the chapatti on the window sill, she offered a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune. --- eg. like in Canada

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 famished that I collapsed. I would have died, but just then an old hunchback passed by. I begged of him for a morsel of food, and he was kind enough to give me a whole chapatti.

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. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned chapatti 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 is not appreciated at that time.
If you like this, share it with others and I bet so many lives would be touched.

 

[QooldipSingh]

Sikh theology explains that everything in this world is an illusion (Maya), and that the only true reality is Waheguru (God).

Maya is assumed to stand between man and reality, producing error and illusion in the human mind, and creating difficulties in the individual's progress to a state of knowledge and bliss.

You may want to hold your hands in prayer when listening. It is up to you.

Please never ever mock or dismiss the Messenger of Death.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po0VQ4l8Dwo

The same prayer.
See the effect on the women.

 

[k1976]

No worries, a good song to revitalize your life force

 

[QooldipSingh]

No worries, a good song to revitalize your life force

lol

 

[k1976]

lol

Maybe u get discount when u play this song at Cashier Counter?

 

[QooldipSingh]

Maybe u get discount when u play this song at Cashier Counter?

You brought me back to my human form. I am now a humanoid again.
Maybe now I will take leave and become a naughty human for the next few hours before it is Thursday morning here.
lol

 

[QooldipSingh]

True selfless service.

When you are extremely poor, sick, down and out, Mr. Singh will appear.

"Seva also Sewa, short for the word Karseva refers to "selfless service", work or service performed without any thought of reward or personal benefit.

All Sikhs are encouraged by their Guru (Guru Granth Sahib) to perform Seva or Selfless Service. This is not only good for community relations but also is good for the moral uplifting of the person. You will find Sikhs engaged in free service in Gurdwaras washing dishes, cleaning the floors, serving food, etc. Sikhs are also encouraged to help the community by performing unpaid work in hospitals, 'old peoples' homes, community centres, etc."

The importance of selfless seva is highlighted by the Guru in this verse: "One who performs selfless service, without thought of reward, shall attain his Lord and Master." (SGGS p 286) The Guru states that one who perform selfless service without desire for reward will certainly attain liberation. The need to be "desire-less" ("nehkaami") is critical in making this action fruitful. When one does Seva, one should just do it without any thought for a return - think of it as a duty to the society.


There are many other gems of all faiths who have devoted their life to serve the poor, the sick and the weak.
Please do what you can. Share a few dollars with the poor. Say a prayer for the poor, the sick and the down and out.
You will then achieve reunion with God.

Read this:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35299545

What can you say when someone praises you as being equivalent to God -the highest praise anyone can get, which is far greater than all awards and Noble prizes put together.

 

[QooldipSingh]

Hindu Priest's very kind words on Sikhism.

He is a true man of God.

The one who offers food is never left hungry.

And the pockets of one who donates never become empty.

 

[QooldipSingh]

A Chinese Sikh in USA.