Once there was a thug named Sheikh Sajjan. He would appear to be a nobleman but would rob people deceitfully. He pretended to be kind, God-fearing and hospitable - he would offer food and shelter to the visitors and in the stealth of night would kill them, and take away their valuables.

Once Guru Nanak, along with a Muslim companion Mardana, stayed at Sajjan's rest house. It was almost midnight and despite waiting long for his guests to fall asleep, Sajjan continued to hear the soothing sounds of bani played on the Rabab. Guru Nanak recited a hymn: "Bronze is very bright to look at; but if you keep it, your hands get blackened with it. Similarly, some people appear to be good, but they are like a house whitened on the outside, but empty within. A man should be good from inside as well as outside." Sajjan was overwhelmed and falling at the Guru's feet, confessed his crimes.

Sajjan distributed all his possessions and converted his house into a Dharamshala which, according to puratan janamsakhi, was the first such centre in the history of early Sikhism.

Once a person riding on his physical prowess went to a Master and challenged him. The Master politely replied, "You might defeat me by putting a large amount of force in your push. But can you defeat me when I redirect your force and make you push the ground?"

The disciples were absorbed in a discussion of Lao Tzu's dictum: "Those who know, do not say; those who say, do not know." When the Master entered, they asked him what the words meant. The Master replied, "Which one of you knows the fragrance of a rose?" All of them indicated that they knew. Then he said, "Now, put it into words." All of them were silent.

Man of the millennium!

Mr.Kalayanasundaram worked as a Librarian for 30 years. Every month in his 30 years of experience (service), he donated his entire salary to help the needy. He worked as a server in a hotel to meet his needs. He donated even his pension amount of about ten lakh INR to the needy.

He is the first person in the world to spend the entire amount of earnings for a social cause. In recognition of his service, the American government honored him with the ‘Man of the Millennium’ award. He received a sum of INR 30 crores as part of this award, which he distributed entirely for the needy as usual.

Moved by his passion to help others, Super Star Rajinikanth adopted him as his father. He still lives as a bachelor and has dedicated his entire life to serving humanity.

Curse, not spring if saplings do not bloom. Curse, not the sun, if an owl cannot see in the daylight. Curse, not rain, if clouds cannot quench Chatak bird's thirst. Curse no one as everything is preordained. - Saint Savata Mali.

During a question and answer session, Angie Boissevain came before Kobun Chino Roshi with a question that had been burning within her all morning. But after she made the customary 3 bows and knelt before him, she found her mind utterly blank and the question is gone. She sat before him in silence for a long time before finally saying: "Where have all the words gone?" "Back where they came from!", replied the teacher.

One evening as Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras, a thief with a sharp sword entered the room, demanding either money or his life. Shichiri told him: "Do not disturb me. You can find the money in that drawer." Then he resumed his recitation. A little while afterwards, he stopped and called: "Don't take it all. I need some to pay taxes tomorrow." The intruder gathered up most of the money and started to leave. "Thank a person when you receive a gift," Shichiri added. The man thanked him and made off. A few days afterwards, the fellow was caught and confessed, among others, the offence against Shichiri. When Shichiri was called as a witness, he said: "This man is no thief, at least as far as I am concerned. I gave him money and he thanked me for it." After he had finished his prison term, the man went to Shichiri and became his disciple.

"Whoever you are, Oh you, who wish to probe the secrets of nature, if you do not find within yourself that which you seek, neither shall you be able to find it outside. If you ignore the excellencies of your own house, how do you intend to find other excellencies? In you is hidden the treasure of treasures. Oh, man, know yourself and you shall know the Universe and the Gods!" - Inscribed in the ancient Temple of Delphi.

A lone survivor of a shipwreck prayed fervently for help, but none came. Eventually, he built himself a hut from driftwood to protect himself from the elements. A day later, he came home to find his hut on fire. He was stunned with anger. How could God do this to him, he thought. The very next day a ship came to rescue him. "We saw the smoke," said the rescuers. Please try not to lose heart even in the midst of suffering because God is always at work in our lives.

Allow your pain to become your message!

We all have a past and there is nothing you can do about it. You can't turn back the hands of time. What you can do is take the lessons that you've learned and pass them on to someone else. Your past does not dictate your future. Allow what happened to you in the past to make you a better person. Instead of looking back in your past with regrets, think of what you gained and be willing to use them to make your life better.

Remember that you will not receive a testimony without going through a test. In life, there will always be trials and tribulations but it should allow you to reach a higher level in your life. Everybody has a past or something terrible that has happened to them, but in every situation, you can allow it to break you or make you a better person. Sometimes, it may cause you to make a few detours in life, but your destiny is never tied to your past. You have to just go through it. It will not be an easy one, but I promise you, the journey will be well worth it.

I know some of you right now are wanting to start your own business, go back to school, or do something extraordinary with your life, but you don't do it because you fear that people will find out about your past. So, instead of you letting go of your pain or your past, you stay stuck at a dead-end job because you lack the courage to do what's really in your heart.

What you can do is look your pain or past dead in the face and let it know that you are not afraid of it and acknowledge it for what it is. You will allow yourself to be free to move forward. Holding onto the past will only paralyze you and keep you stuck in the past. You will not be able to write a new chapter in your life until you let go of the old one.

What I have learned that doesn't matter is that you can't be consumed with "they" say and worry about how others view you. At the end of the day, you have to be happy with you and the decisions you make, not the next person. So many people get stuck because they put most of their focus, time and energy on what others think about them instead of being true to themselves. 

What many fail to realize is that it is usually not about you, so don't take it personally. Allow your pain to become your message and share it with the world so that others can have hope and know that they too can live beyond their past and step into their greatness. - LaTersa Blakely.

6 principles of Reiki

• Just for today, I live with an attitude of gratitude
• Just for today, I will not worry
• Just for today, I will not get angry
• Just for today, I will do my work honestly
• Just for today, I will show love and respect for every living thing
• Just for today, I choose love.

"How shall I help the world?"

"By understanding it," said the Master.

"And How shall I understand it?"

"By turning away from it."

"How then shall I serve humanity?"

"By understanding yourself"

Always remember that you belong to no one, and no one belongs to you. Reflect that someday you will suddenly have to leave everything in this world - so make the acquaintanceship of God now. Prepare yourself for the astral journey of death by daily riding in the balloon of God-perception. Through delusion, you are perceiving yourself as a bundle of flesh and bones, which at best is a nest of troubles. Meditate unceasingly that you may quickly behold yourself as the Infinite Essence, free from misery. Cease being a prisoner of the body; using the secret key of Kriya, learn to escape into Spirit. - Lahiri Mahasaya.

That which cannot be thought by the mind, but by which, the mind can think. That which is not seen by the eye, but by which the eye can see. That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the ear can hear. Know that alone to be Brahmin, not this which people worship here. - Kena Upanishad | 5-7.

Take this jar full of water. Look into it. Water occupies all the space within the jar, therefore the space in the jar is contained in the water. Now, look at the surface of the water, the reflection of the moon and the stars. That outer space is also contained in the water. The water in the jar and space in the sky are both contained in the space limited by the jar. It is only a play of illusion. In the same way, oneself is in the body and in everything. This is a darshan, direct knowledge as oneself (atman). The space delimited by the jar is hidden by the water which it contains and by the sky which it reflects, in just the same way as the unchanging reality is hidden by vitality. Brahman alone is pure consciousness. In truth, there is no jar, and no jar-space, no embodied soul, nor nature.

The Great Invocation.

From the point of light within the mind of God, let light stream forth into the minds of men. Let light descend on earth.

From the point of love within the heart of God, let love stream forth into the hearts of men. May (God) consciousness return to earth.

From the centre where the will of God is known, let the purpose guide the little wills of men - The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the race of men, let the plan of love and light work out and may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let light, love and peace restore the plan on earth.

A great King summoned his wise men. He ordered them, "Create for me a saying that will stabilise my inner state. When I am unhappy it will bring me joy, and when I am happy it will remind me of sadness. It cannot be too long, as I want to keep it with me always." The wise men consulted and contemplated deeply the King's command. Finally, they returned to the King bearing a small box. In it was a ring, and inside the ring was inscribed the following words: "this too shall pass" - Attar.

Soon after the passing away of Rabbi Mokshe, Rabbi Mendel of Kotyk asked one of his disciples, "What did your Master give the greatest importance to?" The disciple gave it a moment's reflection, then said, "To whatever he happened to be doing at the moment."

It intrigued the congregation to see their Rabbi disappear each week on the eve of the Sabbath. They suspected he was secretly meeting the almighty, so they deputed one of their number to follow him. This is what the man saw: the Rabbi disguised himself in peasant clothes and served a paralyzed gentile woman in her cottage, cleaning out the room and preparing a Sabbath meal for her. When the spy got back, the congregation asked, "Where did the Rabbi go? Did he ascend to heaven?" "No" the man replied, "He went even higher."

An efficiency expert was making his report to Henry Ford. "As you will see, Sir, the report is highly favourable, except for that man down the hall. Every time I pass by he's sitting with his feet on his desk. He's wasting your money." Said Ford, "That man once had an idea that earned us a fortune. At that time I believe his feet were exactly where they are now".

A Sufi saint set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca. On the outskirts of the city, he lay down by the road, exhausted from his journey. He had barely fallen asleep when he was brusquely awakened by an irate pilgrim. "This is the time when all believers bow their heads towards Mecca and you have your feet pointing towards the holy shrine. What sort of Muslim are you?" The Sufi did not move, he merely opened his eyes and said, "Brother, would you please do me the favor of placing my feet where they won't be pointing to the Lord?"

An old pilgrim was making his way to the Himalayan mountains in the bitter cold of winter when it began to rain. An innkeeper said to him, "How will you ever get there in this kind of weather, my good man?" The old man answered cheerfully, "My heart got there first, so it's easy for the rest of me to follow."

Disciple: "What's the difference between knowledge and enlightenment?"

Master: "When you have knowledge, you use a torch to show the way. When enlightened, you become a torch."

A very rich industrialist was horrified one day to find a fisherman lying lazily beside his boat, smoking a pipe. 'Why aren't you out fishing?' asked the industrialist. 'because I have caught enough fish for the day', said the fisherman. 'Why don't you catch some more?' ' What would I do with them?' 'You could earn more money', said the businessman. 'With that, you could have a motor attached to your boat and then go into deeper waters and catch more fish. Then you would make enough money to buy bigger and better nets. These would bring you more fish and more money. Soon you would be able to buy 1 or 2 more boats, even a fleet of them. Then you would be a rich man like me!' 'What would I do then?' 'Why then you could really enjoy life.' 'What do you think I am doing right now?'

A Sufi master was sitting quietly when a group of men came to punish him for wrongs he was accused of committing. The men rained blows on the Sufi master, hitting him a 1,000 times. Yet the Sufi master remained silent, and no sign of pain appeared on his face. After they had finished beating him, the men took the Sufi master to the court. The judge asked: "How did you suffer no pain when you were beaten?" The Sufi master replied: "When the men were raining blows on me, my beloved wife was looking on. Her love made the pain seem easier. Then I thought that, if the loving gaze of a human being can ease pain, the loving gaze of God can eliminate pain altogether." - Nasir al-din (1201-'74), Persia.

A Zen story tells of two monks, who were watching a flag blow in the wind. One monk said, "The flag is moving." The other monk said, "No, the wind is moving." A Zen master happened to be passing by and he told them, "Not the wind, nor the flag, the mind is moving".

At night, when you retire to sleep, feel that you are entering the green-room after the scene, but with the dress of your role on. For perhaps the role is not yet over and you have not yet been permitted to take the dress off. Perhaps, you have to make another entrance the next morning. Do not worry about that. Place yourself fully at His Disposal. He knows. He has written the play and He knows how it will end and how it will go on. Yours is but to act and retire."- Atharva Veda.

This being human is a guest house. Every morning is a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all. Treat each guest honorably. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. - Rumi.

He, the infinite and the absolute, incarnates himself and descends to earth from time to time to vanquish evil (imbalance/ignorance), re-establish the divinity and uphold the cosmic principles. He has made himself perceptible as lord Krishna, Gautam Buddha, Jesus Christ, Hazrat Mohammad, Guru Nanak, and many more divine masters and eventually, various religions have also come into being. To merge all these religions into one, he has then manifested himself as sai and evinced the ultimate truth. We are one, God is one. - Lord Shirdi Sai Baba.

A sick man turned to his doctor who was preparing to leave the examination room and then said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side". Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know" "You don't know? You're a Hindu man, and you don't know what is on the other side?" replied the sick man. The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness. Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you ever notice? My dog has never been in this room before. He did not know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing. I know my master (the Creator/God) is there and that is enough" May there be peace within you all. May you all trust God - that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

A Zen master once recalled an incident from his life. 'When I first visited my master, I sat beside him for three years and he did not look even once in my direction. One day, he gave me a loving glance. That moment filled me with immense joy. Three years passed and then one day, he looked at me and smiled. His smile seemed like the most extraordinary blessing. After three more years the Guru stroked my head lovingly. How miraculous that moment felt. Another three years went by and then one day suddenly, he held me tight. That was it. I disappeared and so did he. All that remained was oneness'.

(How did this union occur? Over the twelve years, the Guru dissolved the disciple's ego completely, purified his mind and made him empty. Slowly, the disciple began to cast away his beliefs and attachments and develop feelings of love, faith, and ultimate surrender).

A group of highly educated students visited their old university Professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering them coffee, Professor returned from the kitchen with a pot of coffee and an assortment of cups- porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to hot coffee. When all had a cup of coffee in hand, the Professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain ones. While it's but normal for you to want only the best, that's also the source of your stress. What you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you still went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups! If life is coffee, then jobs, money, and status in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. Don't let the cups drive you. Enjoy the coffee!"

The devotee knelt to be initiated into discipleship. The Guru whispered the sacred mantra into his ear, warning him not to reveal it to anyone. "What will happen if I do?" asked the devotee. Said the Guru, "Anyone you reveal the mantra to will be liberated from the bondage of ignorance and suffering, but you will be excluded from discipleship and suffer damnation". No sooner had he heard those words, the devotee rushed to the market place, collected a large crowd around him and repeated the sacred mantra for all to hear. The disciples later reported this to the Guru and demanded that the man be expelled from the monastery for his disobedience. The Guru smiled and said, "He has no need of anything I can teach. His action has shown him to be a Guru in his own right."

Man is divine by nature. Either as created in the image of God, or as his spark or one with him, the essential nature of man can never lose this perfection. There is no such thing as sin, which can change the quality of the soul. The wicked action of a man may impose a veil upon the divine nature, but can never destroy it. God exists in us as potentiality and possibility. An action is called good or moral that helps us rediscover this hidden divinity. and action is immoral or bad which conjures up before us the appearance of manifoldness. The experience we gather at the physical, mental or aesthetic level does not belong to our real soul. They may be called at best a mixture of truth and falsehood. Through this inscrutable ignorance, we behave as if we were corporal beings. We have hypnotized ourselves into thinking that we are imperfect and limited and that we exist in time and space, subject to the law of causation. The aim of religion is to de-hypnotize ourselves and make us aware of our divine heritage.

Forgiveness is a word that is the real joker in the dictionary. "Thy will be done" is the basic concept of every religion. Nothing can happen unless it is His (God's) will. "Events happen, deeds are done, but there is no individual doer of any deed," says the Buddha. Who, then, is to forgive whom for what?

A little girl was dying of a disease from which her 8-year-old brother had recovered sometime before. The doctor said to the boy, "Only a transfusion of your blood will save the life of your sister. Are you ready to give her your blood?" The eyes of the boy widened in fear. He hesitated for a while, then finally said, "Okay I'll do it." An hour after the transfusion was completed the boy asked hesitantly, "Say, doctor, when do I die?" It was only then that the doctor understood the momentary fear that had seized the child -- he had thought that in giving his blood he was giving his life for his sister.

Once a monk Maulikyaputta asked the Buddha several metaphysical questions. The Buddha promised to answer all his questions after one year, provided the monk observed complete unbroken silence and simply watched his thoughts as they passed through his mind. Maulikyaputta spent one silent year just watching his thoughts. At first, his mind was a humming beehive assailed by a multitude of diverse thoughts. Gradually they began to subside and by the end of the year, he was totally free of the tyranny of horizontal thinking. A year later, the Buddha appeared before the monk. The monk bowed low before the master and confessed that he now had no questions, not a single one.

"The wise mourn neither for the dead nor for the living. I, you and the assembled kings have lived and will live at all times. Jivatman, the dweller in this body passes through childhood, youth and old age; then with the same ease into another body through the door of death, hence the wise are not deceived by the phenomenon of death."

"Arjuna! Bear heat, cold, pleasure and pain as they are ephemeral, being dependent on the senses. This serene existence will lead to immortality."

"The wise know that if truth is non-existent, it cannot be created; if it is existent, it can never cease to be. It is changeless and pervades the universe."

" Bodies die, but the truth, which possesses the body is eternal and indestructible. This is the Atman. It is without a beginning, an end; unchanging forever. How can it slay or be slain? Don't dream that you kill the Atman. It only sheds bodies like worn-out garments and dons new ones. It is not wounded by weapons, burned by fire, dried by wind, wetted by water. On the other hand, it is the being of being, changeless, eternal, as it is beyond the senses and the mind, it is not subject to modification."

"All that is born must die. Rebirth is certain for the dead. Hence, do not grieve."

In 2012 there will be higher awakenings; shifts in consciousness; new beginnings at all levels. Love is the light that dissolves all walls between souls, families, and nations. On this eternal journey of god/self-realization please be sure that the only thing that lies ahead is our own true greater happiness. Infinite peace, gratitude, and love.

"If you will not fight your battle of life because in selfishness you are afraid of the battle, your resolution is in vain: nature will compel you." - The Bhagavad Gita.