Great Minds !!!!

 

The plan of the lord

Once there was a sweeper in a well known temple and he was very sincere and devoted. Every time he saw thousands of devotees coming to take darshan of the Lord, he thought that the Lord is standing all the time and giving darshan and He must be feeling very tired.

So one day very innocently he asked the Lord whether he can take the place of the Lord for a day so that the Lord can have some relief and rest. The Deity of Temple replied, "I do not mind taking a break. I will transform you like Myself, but you must do one thing. You must just stand here like Me, smile at everyone and just give benedictions. Do not interfere with anything and do not say anything. Remember you are the deity and you just have faith that I have a master plan for everything." The sweeper agreed to this.

The next day the sweeper took the position of the deity and a rich man came and prayed to the Lord. He offered a nice donation and prayed that his business should be prosperous. While going, the rich man inadvertently left his wallet full of money right there. Now the sweeper in the form of deity could not call him and so he decided to control himself and keep quiet.

Just then a poor man came and he put one coin in the Hundi and said that it was all he could afford and he prayed to the Lord that he should continue to be engaged in the Lord's service. He also said that his family was in dire need of some basic needs but he left it to the good hands of the Lord to give some solution. When he opened his eyes, he saw the wallet left by the rich man. The poor man thanked the Lord for His kindness and took the wallet very innocently. The sweeper in the form of the Deity could not say anything and he had to just keep smiling.

At that point a sailor walked in. He prayed for his safe journey as he was going on a long trip. Just then the rich man came with the police and said that somebody has stolen his wallet and seeing the sailor there, he asked the police to arrest him thinking that he might have taken it. Now the sweeper in the form of Deity wanted to say that the sailor is not the thief but he could not say so and he became greatly frustrated. The sailor looked at the Lord and asked why he, an innocent person, is being punished. The rich man looked at the Lord and thanked Him for finding the thief. The sweeper in the deity form could no more tolerate and he thought that even if the real Lord had been here, he would have definitely interfered and hence he started speaking and said that the sailor is not the thief but it was the poor man who took away the wallet. The rich man was very thankful as also the sailor.

In the night, the real Lord came and He asked the sweeper how the day was. The sweeper said, "I thought it would be easy, but now I know that Your days are not easy, but I did one good thing." Then he explained the whole episode to the Lord. The Lord became very upset on hearing this whereas the sweeper thought the Lord would appreciate him for the good deed done.

The Lord asked, "Why did you not just stick to the plan? You had no faith in Me. Do you think that I do not understand the hearts of all those who come here? All the donation which the rich man gave was all stolen money and it is only a fraction of what he really has and he wants Me to reciprocate unlimitedly. The single coin offered by the poor man was the last coin he was having and he gave it to Me out of faith. The sailor might not have done anything wrong, but if the sailor were to go in the ship that night he was about to die because of bad weather and instead if he is arrested he would be in the jail and he would have been saved form a greater calamity. The wallet should go to the poor man because he will use it in My service. I was going to reduce the rich man's karma also by doing this and save the sailor also. But you cancelled everything because you thought you know My plan and you made your own plans."

God has plans and justice for everyone....we just have to have patience!!!!!

 

 

Points to ponder

 

Images from Jantar Mantar - charged atmosphere, great to be here

Images from Jantar Mantar - charged atmosphere, great to be here

CHANAKYA QUOTES (TRUE INDIAN POLITICIAN, STRATEGIST AND WRITER, 350 BC-263 BC)

                                                   CHANAKYA QUOTES

 

1. "A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first."

2. "Even if a snake is not poisionous, it should pretend to be venomous."

3. "The biggest Guru-Mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. If you can not keep secret with you, do not expect that others will keep it.It will destroy you."

4. "There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interest.This is a bitter truth."

5. " Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions- WHY I am doing it, What the result might be and WILL I be successful.Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions , go ahead."

6. " As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it."
7. " Once you start working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it."

8. "The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction."

9. "A man is great by deeds , not by birth."

10. "Treat your kids like a darling for the first five years.For the next five years , scold him. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them likea friend. Your grown up children are your best friends."

11." Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere.Education beats the beauty and the youth."

12. " The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman."

13." God is not present in the idols.Your feelings are your God. The soul is your temple."

14." Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person."

15." A good wife is one who serves her husband in the morning like a mother does., loves him in the day like a sister does and pleases him like a prostitute in the night."

16." An egoist can be won over by being respected, a crazy person can be won over by allowing him to behave in an insane manner and a wise person can be won over by truth."

17." A human being should strieve for four things in life-- Dharma, Money , Sex and Salvation. A person who hasn't strieved for even one of these things has wasted life."

18." A rich man has many friends."

19." A woman is four times as shy, six times as brave and eight times as libidinousas as a man."

20."  If you get to learn something even from the worst creatures, don't hesitate."

21." In a state where the ruler lives like a common man, the citizens live like kings do. And in the state where the ruler lives like a king, the citizens live like beggars do/."

22." Jealousy is another name of failure."

23." Never make friends with people who are above or below you in status. Such friendship will never give you any happiness."

24." One who is in search of knowledge should give up the search of pleasure and the one who is in search of pleasure should give up the search of knowledge."

25." The four greatest enemies of a man are- the father who has taken a loan, the characterless mother, the beautiful but promiscuous wife and the stupid child."
26."Learn from the mistakes of others.You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.!!"

5.t

 

Us in HT

See the article here - - TAXPAYERS ARE UNIMPRESSED  

Learning to Lead by Admiral Mike Mullen

Learning To Lead

Adm. Mike Mullen, 

Service academies don't just provide great education--they keep us safe.

When I arrived in Annapolis in early June 1964, I was 17 and had been out of California just once in my life. The mercury read 95 degrees with 90% humidity. I started sweating right away and wondered aloud how anyone could live in such a place. I wondered even more what lay in store for me inside the Naval Academy's gates.

Then I walked through those gates, and my life changed forever.

Yet service academies place demands on young men and women that go far beyond the classroom. Cadets and midshipmen are challenged on multiple fronts--mentally, morally and physically. They learn to lead, to succeed, but also how to bounce back from failure. They learn the power of persistence and the value of service.When those less familiar with our service academies praise these institutions, they often cite conventional measures used to compare colleges and universities across the country. The remarkable facilities, beautiful vistas and first-rate faculty are certainly all there. Academically, these military schools typically rank among the best in the country.

For my classmates and me, these experiences defined us and taught us a deep will to win. In our profession, coming in second place is just not acceptable. So winning--and an appetite for achievement--is essential. This is not to say, of course, that other schools in other places don't also instill such traits. They most certainly do. But at our service academies, you don't graduate if you haven't proven your character and your leadership. Grades alone will only take you so far, and they definitely won't take you across the stage on graduation day.

Much is made of the fact that the education at a service academy is free. It's true that cadets and midshipmen do not pay tuition or room and board. But it's also true that this taxpayer-funded education has enabled many incredibly promising young Americans, regardless of their economic or social background, to earn a top-shelf degree and become more productive citizens. Our military is stronger for that diversity and those opportunities. So is our country. I note with pride the scores of chief executives, elected officials, community leaders and U.S. presidents among the ranks of service academy alumni.

Very little else, however, is actually "free." Compared to their friends at civilian universities, these young men and women live spartan lives dominated by mandatory military and extracurricular activities, room and uniform inspections and very limited social freedom. In return for their attendance, they must commit to at least five years of active service--which, for many, becomes a career. They will, over the course of that career, know other privations: frequent moves, lengthy deployments and, yes, war.

Indeed, all you have to do is read the names on any one of the academies' memorial walls, or the plaques dedicated to graduates who have given their lives in defense of our country, to see the real, high cost of their so-called free education.

Most alumni will tell you they were the last, best, toughest class. I know I certainly felt that way about my Class of 1968. I'm not so sure about that anymore.

The demands placed upon America's military are greater and more diverse than at any time in the last four decades. We're fighting two wars, modernizing our force structure and equipment, caring for a whole generation of troops and families scarred by combat, and grappling with ever-present conventional threats left over from the Cold War. Not to mention a plethora of enduring security commitments around the world.

After graduation, newly commissioned officers step out into that world. Right from day one they are expected to lead soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, often older and more experienced than they are. They are held accountable for their mission, for their people and for millions of dollars worth of state property--all of this at 22 years old.

I left Annapolis a wholly different person than the one I had been on that summer day 46 years ago. I left feeling like I was part of something far bigger than just myself--that I was now responsible in my own way and through my own efforts for helping keep our nation strong. I felt a part of a proud tradition and a sense of duty to live up to it and to the expectations of the troops I joined in the fleet.Truth is, these men and women thrive on that pressure. They welcome it. They respect it. The people they have sworn to defend can feel secure in the knowledge that the young officers our service academies produce have earned it.

I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for those troops. But I think it is fair to say that without the Naval Academy, I wouldn't have been there for them. And I can promise you every other graduate of our service academies--past, present and future--feels exactly the same way.

A pretty fair trade for a free education? I believe so, and I hope America does too.

Adm. Mike Mullen is chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff