All religions are roads leading to the one and the only goal, that is God. So regard them all with equal respect.
All religions teach that you should purify your mind, know your own Self and develop LOVE..

A Heartfelt Prayer

On a lonely island, away from the busy world, there lived three hermits. They spent most of their time thinking and talking about God and singing His glory. They loved to read from the Bible about the Father in Heaven, the Son of God and the Holy Ghost. Being simple-hearted, the only prayer they offered to God was: "Oh Lord, we are three, Thou, too, art three. Have mercy on us." God would be very much pleased with this prayer. He, therefore, looked after their daily needs and saved them from ail harm. They would find fruits and milk on the table whenever they were hungry. There would be a shelter over their heads whenever the sun burnt hot or the rains poured from the sky. Even the wild beats became their friends because the hermits hated none and loved alt as God's creatures.

One day, a bishop who lived in a town on the seashore heard about these hermits and their simple prayer. "They must not have understood the Bible or the Lord's teaching", said the bishop to himself. "Let me go and teach them the right prayers one must offer daily to the lords."
The bishop came to the island in a boat. He told the hermits that their prayer was too small and simple to win the Lord's love and grace. So, he taught them a number of prayers and also one long prayer to be offered morning and evening every day. As it was getting dark, the bishop hurried to his boat and left the island for his town.

When the boat had gone some distance, the bishop saw on the dark waters a ray of Iight coming from the island towards himself. As he watched the dazzling line of waves, he saw a strange happening.
The three hermits, hand-in-hand, were running upon the shining waves and coming towards him. When they reached the boat, they cried out: "Oh Father! We forgot some of the lines from the long prayer you taught us. Please repeat the prayer for us".

The bishop was struck with wonder by what he saw. He had only heard about Lord Jesus walking on the waves of the sea. Now, he saw the hermits doing the same thing before his very eyes. "Surely, the hermits are pure souls" said the bishop to himself. "The Lord had blessed them and made them His own. What can I teach them?"

So, the bishop shook his head and humbly said "Dear brothers, continue to live with your own small prayers. The Lord is pleased with you". He had learnt from the hermits that the true prayer comes, not from the Iips, but from the bottom of the heart.

  Silence is the only language of the realised. It is only in the depth of silence that the voice of God can be heard. Silence stills the waves of one's heart.

The three trees

Once there were three trees feel. safe in me because of the 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 twenty 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 free 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 then 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 woodsmencame upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said: "He looks like a strong tree, I think I should, be able to sell the wood to carpenter,." and he began cutting it clown. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest. At the second tree the woodsman said: "This looks like 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 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 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. When they were
out of the water a great storm arose and the, tree didn't think it was strong enough 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 the 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. WhenSunday 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 that story- is that when things don't seem to be going youralways 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.

The past is beyond recovery. We are not sure of the future. The given moment is the right time.

Shadow and substance

A man did not want his shadow. He discovered that it always came along with him, haunting him every second. He said to himself: "I will bury this shadow. I must rid my self of it."

He dug a deep pit. He looked into it and found his shadow at the bottom of the pit. He was exceedingly pleased. He made haste to fill the pit with mud. As he shoved mud into it, he fond to his dismay that the shadow was coming up. Quickly he filled the pit, but the shadow was again on top of it! He gave up the task!

He now wanted to run away from his shadow. He began to run but ran away from the sun, in the opposite direction. He now found that his shadow was running a head of him and he could not overtake it, however fast he ran.
He then tuned round and began to, run towards the sun. He was happy now that he. was able to overtake his shadow; he was running ahead of it
But no, he still could not get rid of it.

Finally, he lay down, facing the sky. He turned to his left and right to see if the shadow was anywhere. No, he had lost it !Now he slept peacefully! Even so, “I”-ness and "mine"-ness follow man everywhere, 'dogging his footsteps. Egoism comes on top of allthe aspirant does to bury it and destroy it. It run ahead of him as he starts running away from it.Pride of learning, pride of austerities, pride of service, pride of being humble ittakes any number of forms. When he starts running towards God, then it is left behind. When he surrenders himself to God totally ,it is completely vanquished. He is now at peace with himself. He is free cares, worries and anxieties. He enjoys unbroken bliss and joy.

Treasure beneath the pillow

The stranger was happy that he had won the confidence of the wealthy, pilgrim. The latter was travelling alone and had thousands of rupees with him. The stranger felt sure that one day or the other he would be able to steal the money.

Every morning, in the presence of the stranger, the pilgrim would
count all the money he had. All day long it would be in his pocket. He
had no box in which to Iock it. Yet, when at night the stranger searched for it, he could not find it. This went on night after night. The stranger searched for the ;money in the pilgrim's belongings, underneath his pillow and bed, everywhere. He could not find the money. Yet, sure enough the next morning it would be there in the hands of the pilgrim.

This mysterious game went on for over a week, The stranger was frightened. He thought that the pilgrim might be a magician or a Yogi with powers. So he confessed his evil intentions and asked the pilgrim "Where did you keep the money all the time during the night? How did I miss it in my search?"

The pilgrim laughed heartily and said, "My friend I knew your intentions. Therefore I used to keep the money underneath your pillow at night. You never looked for it there!”

The stranger is the wayward mind full of desires. The pilgrim is God. The treasure is, the bliss of the Soul. The wicked mind want to get happiness seek for it in sensual objects. It is not found there. Finally it abandons its evil intentions and approaches God in a spirit f surrender. God reveals that the happiness was within all the time, in the Self, and not outside.

On the other side

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and 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, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"

The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said: "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, d 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 is there and that is enough."

N’abandonnez jamais

Pendant qu’il était à l’école un jeune garçon de 10 ans, sans formation athlétique, décide de participer à une course de 1500 mètres. La compétition était ouverte à tous les âges mais elle était considérée comme le domaine exclusif des 15 – 16 ans biens bâtis, forts et athlétiques. Cependant, avec une ferme détermination il participa aux tours de sélection préliminaire. Par chance, la plupart des enfants abandonnèrent rien qu’à l’idée de participer à une longue course devant le regard de milliers de spectateurs ; ceux qui participèrent aux préliminaires abandonnèrent à mi-chemin et ne furent pas sélectionnés. Finalement, 7 garçons furent sélectionnés dont le plus jeune qui avait 10 ans, un record dans l’histoire de l’école. L’excitation de participer à un sport de compétition pour la première fois était très difficile à supporter. Sans formation athlétique ni coach il ne pouvait même pas se considérer préparant l’événement. L’important était de participer à la course.

Finalement, le jour de la compétition annuelle des sports arriva. Ce matin là il se leva de bonne heure, à la hâte il cira ses meilleures chaussures et ilarriva au stade des heures avant la foule. Enfin l’événement commença. Les invités d’honneur étaient des athlètes de niveau national avec une grande réputation dans les milieux sportifs. La journée était marquée par une importante démonstration d’esprit sportif par les enfants de tous âges au mieux de leurs possibilités.

A la fin arrival’heure de la grande finale, le moment tant attendu. Une annonce fût faite ; tous les participants de la course devaient se rendre au départ. Le garçon courut avec une grande excitation qui se transforma en peur à la vue de ses concurrents. Il était si petit qu’il pouvait à peine atteindre la taille des 6 autres coureurs qui étaient le double de sa hauteur. Le coup de feu fût tiré donnant le signal du départ de la course. Le départ fût très bon, mais avec leur grande taille les concurrents distancèrent bientôt le garçon, le laissant loin derrière. 3 des concurrents sur les 6 abandonnèrent à mi-chemin et ne finirent pas la course. Le garçon bientôt se trouva seul tandis que les 3 concurrents athlétiques avaient terminés la course, le garçon était encore à mi-chemin. Le sang lui monta à la tête il était le dernier et était très déçu. Ce n’était pas important, l’important était de faire complètement la course et de finir ce qui a été commencé .

La foule était stupéfaite de voir la détermination du jeune athlète. Le stade résonnait d’un tonnerre d’applaudissements et il put entendre que chacun criait son nom . Les élèves, les parents, les professeurs, tout le monde se levait excité. Il ne comprenait pas pourquoi la foule chérissait et applaudissait quelqu’un qui a perdu la course. C’était au-delà de son pouvoir de compréhension. La course continuait. Comme ses pieds refusaient d’avancer, les quelques derniers pas furent les plus durs. Durant la course on lui demanda plusieurs à plusieurs reprises s’il voulait abandonner. Pat répondait : « non je peux le faire » Enfin il traversa la ligne d’arrivée et s’effondra. Ah ! l’épreuve était terminée. Tout d’un coup il vit la foule se précipiter pour le féliciter. Les vainqueurs étaient dans un coin complètement ignorés alors que quelqu’un qui a perdu le course était acclamé comme un héros. Il ne prêta pas attention à toutes les félicitations et courut vers sa mère qui l’attendait avec impatience dans un coin du stade. « Mom ! » dit-il : « je suis peiné, je t’ai déçu, je n’ai pas gagné la course. Je ne participerai jamais plus à une course ». La gentille mère le serra dans ses bras et répondit : « Tu as gagné mon fils, l’important c’est de participer et de ne pas abandonner ». Il se gratta la tête ne comprenant pas la valeur et la signification des encouragements de chacun car il était fortement conditionné comme la plupart d’entre nous aux seuls mots « gagnant » et « perdant ».

Alors que tous les prix étaient distribués le nom du garçon fût appelé et à sa surprise on lui donna une médaille d’or spéciale. Sensationnel ! une médaille d’or pour finir le dernier. Il pensa « les gens doivent bien rire ! » C’était sa première médaille. Il serra la précieuse médaille sur sa tête avec une grande fébrilité. L’invité d’honneur fit remarquer dans ses conclusions que l’exemple du garçon devrait être suivi par les autres. Une nouvelle orientation est maintenant commencée dans l’école. Les coureurs sont encouragés à participer à un plus jeune âge et entrent en compétition avec les plus grands et les plus forts. Ce qui importe c’est l’intention de participer et non le résultat.

Maintenant 19 ans plus tard, à 29 ans je suis engagé simultanément dans de nombreuses courses. Quelques une très difficiles, comme la vie qui a ses propres chemins de sauts de haies et autre jeux de piste. Je comprends maintenantles raisons d’avoir été félicité lorsque j’avais 10 ans, devant une défaite apparente. La seule leçon que j’ai retenu de ce jour est : de ne jamais abandonner dans la vie.

Dans la course de la vie, ceux qui nous demandent d’abandonner sont les démons sous la forme de tentations, désirs…Ils vous répéterons d’abandonner. Votre réponse doit toujours être NON. Les applaudissements de la foule sont comme nos parents et bienfaiteurs ils peuvent nous souhaiter beaucoup de bien mais ils ne peuvent pas courir pour nous. Dieu est comme la gentille mère dans la stade Il nous chérit, nous aide et court avec les petits comme vous et moi car Il sait que l’un de nos grands mérites et une de nos qualités supérieures sera de finir la course. Nous gagnerons sûrement les médailles de la vie, les trésors de sagesse maisles petits enfants comme vous et moi ont besoin d’encouragement et d’aide pour finir la course. Tout ce qui nous est demandé c’est de persévérer sur le chemin spirituel.

Etant comme des petits enfants nous commettrons des fautes, nous échouerons, nous tomberons ; mais nous nous relèverons avec Son aide et marcherons vers le but de la réalisation du Soi.
Dieu est comme la gentille mère, Il ne nous juge pas sur la base « gagnant, perdant » ou« vrai, faux » ou « pêché, mérite » Son amour accepte même nos plus petits efforts comme étant de grandes marches vers la victoire. Et imaginez-vous qu’il y a une médaille d’or spéciale qui nous attend tous et que nous verrons à la fin de cette course de la vie, que nous mènerons à son ultime but.

N’oubliez pas « N’ABANDONNEZ JAMAIS, PERSEVEREZ»dans la vie, relevez-vous, soyez conscient et ne vous arrêtez pas tant que le but n’est pas atteint.

The empty chair

A man's daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father.
When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed.
The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit: "I guess you were expecting me," he said.
"No, who are you?"
"I'm the new associate at your local church:" the pastor replied. "When I saw the empty chair, figured you knew I was going to show up."
"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?"

Puzzled, the pastor shut the door.
"I've never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all of m life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head..."
"I abandoned any attempt at prayer."
The old man continued: "Until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me: “ Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation will Jesus. Here's what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised: “I'II be with you always, then just speak to him and listen in the same way you're doing with me right now."

"So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I' m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."
The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey.
Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.
Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon.
"Did he seem to die in peace?" he asked.

"Yes, when I left the house around two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange, In fact, beyond strange kind a weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed. What do you think of it?”

Le pasteur essuya une larme de son oeil, et dit:
«J'aimerais tellement qu'on puisse tous partir de cette manière.»

Auteur inconnu

Good and bad, peace and agony, pain and pleasure, all these originate within man and not outside him .

"Things aren't always what they seem."

Two travelling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family.

The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion's guest room. Instead the angels were given a small space in the cold basement.
As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied: “ Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife.
After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel how could you; have let this happen? The first man had everything, yet you helped him, she accused.
The second family had little but was wilting to share everything, and you let the cow die.
“Things aren't always what they seem." the old angel replied.
“ When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, sealed the wall so he wouldn't find it.”
`Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead.

Things aren't always what they seem."

THE WOODSMAN

(an Aesop Fable)

A woodsman accidentally dropped his axe into the river. Desperately he tried to get it but the river was deep and the current was fast. He moaned and cried, for without his axe he could not work and his family would starve.

Mercury, an ancient god, heard the woodsman's moaning and took pity on him. "I will get your axe for you" he said. He dived into the river and brought up an axe of gold.

"That is not my axe" the woodsman cried and refused to take it. Mercury dived into the river again and returned with an axe of silver. "That is not my axe either" the woodsman said as he refused the second axe.
The third time Mercury brought up the old axe and the woodsman cried out with joy, "That's mine, that's mine".

Mercury was so impressed by the woodsman's honesty that he gave him both the gold and silver axes.

News of the woodsman's good fortune quickly spread out through the village. Another woodsman dashed to the river and deliberately dropped his axe into the water. He too began to moan and cry and pretend to reach for the axe.
Mercury appeared as he had before. He dived to the bottom of the river and brought up a golden axe.

"That's mine! that's mine!" the woodsman shouted and tried to snatch the gleaming axe.
But Mercury knew it wasn't his axe and disappeared with it.

The woodsman was left standing alone and his axe remained out of reach at the bottom of the river.