Story:Yayati from Upanishads

A great king named Yayati became one hundred years old. Now it was enough; he had lived tremendously. He had enjoyed all that life could make available. He was one of the greatest kings of his time. But the story is beautiful ....

Death came and said to Yayati, "Get ready. It is time for you, and I have come to take you." Yayati saw Death, and he was a great warrior and he had won many wars. Yayati started trembling, and said, "But it is too early." Death said, "Too early! You have been alive for one hundred years. Even your children have become old. Your eldest son is eighty years old. What more do you want?"

Yayati had one hundred sons because he had one hundred wives. He asked Death, "Can you do a favor for me? I know you have to take someone. If I can persuade one of my sons, can you leave me for one hundred years more and take one of my sons?" Death said, "That is perfectly okay if somebody else is ready to go. But I don't think .... If you are not ready, and you are the father and you have lived more and you have enjoyed everything, why should your son be ready?"

Yayati called his one hundred sons. The older sons remained silent. There was great silence, nobody was saying anything. Only one, the youngest son who was only sixteen years of age, stood up and he said, "I am ready." Even Death felt sorry for the boy and said to the young man, "Perhaps you are too innocent.

Can't you see your ninety-nine brothers are absolutely silent? Someone is eighty, someone is seventy-five, someone is seventy-eight, someone is seventy, someone is sixty -- they have lived -- but they still want to live. And you have not lived at all. Even I feel sad to take you. You think again."

The boy said, "No, just seeing the situation makes me completely certain. Don't feel sad or sorry; I am going with absolute awareness. I can see that if my father is not satisfied in one hundred years, what is the point of being here? How can I be satisfied? I am seeing my ninety-nine brothers; nobody is satisfied. So why waste time? At least I can do this favor to my father. In his old age, let him enjoy one hundred years more. But I am finished. Seeing the situation that nobody is satisfied, I can understand one thing completely -- that even if I live one hundred years, I will not be satisfied either. So it doesn't matter whether I go today or after ninety years. You just take me."

Death took the boy. And after one hundred years he came back. And Yayati was in the same position. And he said, "These hundred years passed so soon. All my old sons have died, but I have another regiment. I can give you some son. Just have mercy on me."

It went on -- the story goes on to say -- for one thousand years. Ten times Death came. And nine times he took some son and Yayati lived one hundred years more. The tenth time Yayati said, "Although I am still as unsatisfied as I was when you came for the first time, now -- although unwillingly, reluctantly -- I will go, because I cannot go on asking for favors. It is too much. And one thing has become certain to me, that if one thousand years cannot help me to be contented, then even ten thousand will not do."

It is the attachment. You can go on living but as the idea of death strikes you, you will start trembling. But if you are not attached to anything, death can come this very moment and you will be in a very welcoming mood. You will be absolutely ready to go. In front of such a man, death is defeated. Death is defeated only by those who are ready to die any moment, without any reluctance. They become the immortals, they become the buddhas.

This freedom is the goal of all religious search.

Freedom from attachment is freedom from death.

Freedom from attachment is freedom from the wheel of birth and death.

Freedom from attachment makes you capable of entering into the universal light and becoming one with it. And that is the greatest blessing, the ultimate ecstasy beyond which nothing else exists. You have come home.
-Osho, Bodhidharma The Greatest Zen Master 

Story:What is Reality?

The monk, who is asking the Master, "What is reality, what is reality," and the Master said go pick a fig. And he picked a fig off a tree and the Master said, "open the fig" and the monk did. And the Master said, "Cut open the seed" and he cut open the seed and he said, "what do you see?" And the monk said, "Emptiness," and the Master said, "that's true, everything comes from emptiness," because in the fig seed there is a hollow, there is nothing. So out of the nothingness came the fig tree and so has everything else.
-Robert Adams, Complete Works. 

Story:Inner Voice

One man in America started believing that he was Abraham Lincoln. Every effort was made, but he would stutter just the way Abraham Lincoln used to stutter and he would walk the way Abraham Lincoln used to walk – he was a little lame. And his face was very similar and he had grown the beard. The family was tired. Finally, they took him to a psychiatrist, who used a lie detector.

There exists a machine now that can detect lies. You don’t know it but it may be hidden just underneath you – you may be standing on top of it. It is like a cardiogram. A few questions are asked – very simple, no possibility for lying – such as ”What do you think, is it day or night?” And then the man naturally says, ”It is day.”

”What do you think, are the trees green or blue?” The man naturally says, ”They are green.” A few questions were asked in which he could not lie, and the detector was making a harmonious graph. Then suddenly the psychiatrist asked him, ”Are you Abraham Lincoln?”

The man was getting tired; everybody was making a laughingstock of him. The family thought that he had gone insane and he was being dragged to this doctor, to that psychoanalyst. So finally he dropped the idea. He thought, ”It is better to lie.” He said, ”I am not Abraham Lincoln.” The family was surprised. But the lie detector said that he was lying, because deep in his heart he knew perfectly well he was Abraham Lincoln.

Copying, imitation, can go so deep.

Although he was saying that he was not Abraham Lincoln – and he was not Abraham Lincoln – the machine was detecting his heartbeats and making a graph, so suddenly when he said, ”I am not Abraham Lincoln,” the graph went berserk. It lost its harmony.

The voices of the parents and the teachers, the society and the priest, become louder and louder. Now if you want to find out what is your voice, you will have to pass through a crowd of noises.

It is a tremendously beautiful experiment for meditators just to watch inside – whose voice is this? Sometimes it is your father, sometimes it is your mother, sometimes it is your grandfather, sometimes it is your teacher; and those voices are all different. Just one thing you will not be able to find easily – your own voice; it has been always suppressed. You have been told to listen to your elders, to listen to the priest, to listen to the teachers. You have never been told to listen to your own heart.

You are carrying a still, small voice of your own, unheard, and in the crowd of voices that have been imposed upon you, it is almost impossible to find it. First you will have to get rid of all those noises, attain a certain quality of silence, peace, serenity. Only then will it come, as a surprise, that you also have your own voice. It was always there like an undercurrent.

Unless you have found your natural inclination your life is going to be a long, long tragedy, from the cradle to the grave. The only people who have been blissful in the world are the people who have lived according to their own intuition and have rebelled against any effort by others to impose their ideas. Howsoever valuable those ideas may be, they are useless because they are not yours. The only significant idea is that which arises in you, grows in you, blossoms in you.

Everybody is born a rebel because everybody is born to be an individual in his own right. Everybody is born not to be a part in a drama but to live an authentic life, not to be a mask but to be his original face.

-Osho

Story:The Mind, its Thoughts and Identification

A man who has gone out of his town comes back and finds that his house is on fire. It was one of the most beautiful houses in the town, and the man loved the house. Many people were ready to give double price for the house, but he had never agreed for any price, and now it is just burning before his eyes. And thousands of people have gathered, but nothing can be done.

The fire has spread so far that even if you try to put it out, nothing will be saved. So he becomes very sad. His son comes running, and whispers something in his ear: 'Don't be worried. I sold it yesterday, and at a very good price – three times.... The offer was so good I could not wait for you. Forgive me.'

But the father said, 'Good, if you have sold it for three times more than the original price of the house.' Then the father is also a watcher, with other watchers. Just a moment before he was not a watcher, he was identified. It is the same house, the same fire, everything is the same – but now he is not concerned. He is enjoying it just as everybody else is enjoying.

Then the second son comes running, and he says to the father, 'What are you doing? You are smiling – and the house is on fire?' 
The father said, 'Don't you know, your brother has sold it.' 
He said, 'He had talked about selling it, but nothing has been settled yet, and the man is not going to purchase it now.' Again, everything changes. Tears which had disappeared, have come back to the father's eyes, his smile is no more there, his heart is beating fast. But the watcher is gone. He is again identified.

And then the third son comes, and he says, 'That man is a man of his word. I have just come from him. He said, 'It doesn't matter whether the house is burned or not, it is mine. And I am going to pay the price that I have settled for. Neither you knew, nor I knew that the house would catch on fire.'' Again the father is a watcher. The identity is no more there. Actually nothing is changing; just the idea that 'I am the owner, I am identified somehow with the house,' makes the whole difference. The next moment he feels, 'I am not identified. Somebody else has purchased it, I have nothing to do with it; let the house burn.'

This simple methodology of watching the mind, that you have nothing to do with it.... Most of its thoughts are not yours but from your parents, your teachers, your friends, the books, the movies, the television, the newspapers. Just count how many thoughts are your own, and you will be surprised that not a single thought is your own. All are from other sources, all are borrowed – either dumped by others on you, or foolishly dumped by yourself upon yourself, but nothing is yours.

The mind is there, functioning like a computer; literally it is a bio-computer. You will not get identified with a computer. If the computer gets hot, you won't get hot. If the computer gets angry and starts giving signals in four letter words, you will not be worried. You will see what is wrong, where something is wrong. But you remain detached.

Just a small knack... I cannot even call it a method because that makes it heavy; I call it a knack. Just by doing it, one day suddenly you are able to do it. Many times you will fail; it's nothing to be worried about... no loss, it is natural. But just doing it, one day it happens.

Once it has happened, once you have even for a single moment become the watcher, you know now how to become the watcher – the watcher on the hills, far away. And the whole mind is there deep down in the dark valley, and you are not to do anything about it. The most strange thing about the mind is, if you become a watcher it starts disappearing. Just like the light disperses darkness, watchfulness disperses the mind, its thoughts, its whole paraphernalia.

So meditation is simply watchfulness, awareness. And that reveals – it is nothing to do with inventing. It invents nothing; it simply discovers that which is there.

And what is there? You enter and you find infinite emptiness, so tremendously beautiful, so silent, so full of light, so fragrant, that you have entered into “the kingdom of God.” In my words, you have entered into godliness.

And once you have been in this space, you come out and you are a totally new person, a new man. Now you have your original face. All masks have disappeared. You will live in the same world, but not in the same way. You will be among the same people but not with the same attitude, and the same approach. You will live like a lotus in water: in the water, but absolutely untouched by water.
-From Unconsciousness to Consciousness, Osho

http://www.osho.com/meditate/meditation-tool-kit/questions-about-meditation/what-is-the-meaning-of-identification

Story:What is inside of you?

A conversation between Wayne Dyer and his student…

What’s Inside?
“‘If I were to squeeze this orange as hard as I could, what would come out?’ I asked him.
He looked at me like I was a little crazy and said, ‘Juice, of course.’
‘Do you think apple juice could come out of it?’
‘No!’ he laughed.
‘What about grapefruit juice?’
‘No!’
‘What would come out of it?’
‘Orange juice, of course.’
‘Why? Why when you squeeze an orange does orange juice come out?’
He may have been getting a little exasperated with me at this point.
‘Well, it’s an orange and that’s what’s inside.”
I nodded.

‘Let’s assume that this orange isn’t an orange, but it’s you. And someone squeezes you, puts pressure on you, says something you don’t like, offends you. And out of you comes anger, hatred, bitterness, fear. Why?

The answer, as our young friend has told us, is” because that’s what’s inside. It’s one of the great lessons of life. What comes out when life squeezes you? When someone hurts or offends you?

If anger, pain and fear come out of you, it’s because that’s what’s inside.

It doesn’t matter who does the squeezing: your mother, your brother, your children, your boss, the government. If someone says something about you that you don’t like, what comes out of you is what’s inside. And what’s inside is up to you, it’s your choice.
When someone puts the pressure on you and out of you comes anything other than love, it’s because that’s what you’ve allowed to be inside.
Once you take away all those negative things you don’t want in your life and replace them with love, you’ll find yourself living a highly functioning life.”…

~ Squeeze out Love and Compassion…Love

Story:King Sikidvaja & Queen Chudala

King Sikidvaja and Queen Chudala ruled the kingdom of Malava. Chudala regularly practised meditation in the silent hours. In due course she realised the Absolute Truth and her face shone brightly and became much more beautiful than before.

The king observing this asked her the reason. The queen replied that it was due to her realisation of Truth. The king laughed at her, thinking that realisation was possible only through severe austerities and could never be gained while living in a palace.

He wanted to leave the kingdom and practise tapas in the forest so that he could gain Realisation. The queen tried to dissuade him and suggested that he could carry on the tapas in the palace itself and rule the kingdom as well. Refusing to act on her advice, he went to the forest and performed hard penance.

The queen was ruling the kingdom in the king’s absence. The queen taking pity on her husband and anxious to rescue him from the mire of delusion, practised siddhis and took the guise of one Kumbha Muni and stood in front of him, but a few feet above the ground!

The king, thinking that some celestial being had descended from the heavens to bless him, fell at his feet, told him his woes and sought guidance.

The Muni taught the king as follows: “Karmas can give fruit as ordained by the Lord but karmas in themselves cannot grant you salvation. By doing disinterested actions, one’s mind can become pure. With a pure mind one should contemplate on the Self. This would destroy the vasanas. Then one should approach a master and through his grace learn how to enquire into the nature of the Self. Liberation is possible only through enquiry and not by performing any amount of karma. By renouncing everything one would realise the Truth.”

The king said that he had renounced everything, including his kingdom and family. Kumbha Muni told him that his renunciation was only external and the seeds of attachment were still in him. The king then took out his walking staff, kamandalu, rudrakshas and clothes and threw them all into the fire and stood without any possession.

Still, on being told that he had not renounced completely, the king was ready to drop his last possession, the body, by jumping from the top of the mountain.

The Muni asked him, “What harm has the body done to deserve the punishment?” Thereby the Muni taught him that he would not realise the Truth by destroying the body, but only by destroying the mind which was the source of all attachment. The mind identifies itself as ‘I’ and this was bondage. The snapping of this identity was renunciation of everything.

Then the Muni described in detail the sadhana of discrimination. Thus the king’s doubts were dispelled and his mind became pure. The king enquired into the source of Self and soon became one with it and remained in blissful samadhi.

Kumbha Muni disappeared and returned after some time. The king was still in samadhi. Chudala roared like a lion to wake him up, but could not. Then taking a subtle form she entered into the king’s heart and found it pure and devoid of any latent tendencies. Then in a melodious voice she chanted the Sama Veda and like the blossoming of a lotus, the king became aware of the world.

The king filled with joy, remained silent not knowing how to express his gratitude. Then as advised by the queen, he returned with her to the kingdom. Thus established in Truth he ruled the kingdom and lived happily with the queen for a long time.

https://lotusyoga.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/story-of-a-tantric-yogini-queen-chudala/

Story:Dakshinamurthi

When four aged Sanakadi rishis [Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatkumara and Sanatsujata] first saw the youthful Dakshinamurthi sitting under a banyan tree, they at once got attracted to him, and understood that he was the real sadguru.

They approached him, did three pradakshinas around him, prostrated before him, sat at his feet and began to ask very shrewd and pertinent questions about the nature of Reality and the means of attaining it. Because of the great compassion and fatherly love (vatsalya) which he felt for his aged disciples, the young Dakshinamurthi was overjoyed to see their earnestness, wisdom and maturity, and gave apt replies to each of their questions.

As he answered each consecutive question, further doubts arose in their minds and they asked further questions. Thus they continued to question Dakshinamurthi for one whole year, and he continued to clear their doubts through his compassionate answers.

Finally, Dakshinamurthi felt that if he continued to answer the questions more doubts would arise in their minds and there would never be an end to their ignorance (ajnana). Therefore, suppressing the feeling of compassion and fatherly love, which was welling up within him, he merged himself into Supreme Silence.Because of their great maturity (which had got ripened greatly due to their year-long association with the sadguru), as soon as Dakshinamurthi assumed silence, they too got merged into Supreme Silence, the true state of Self.

http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Face_to_Face_with_Sri_Ramana_Maharshi.pdf

Story:Ant and Wealthy man

Truly Superb and a Big Eye opener.....
One Sunday morning, a wealthy man sat in his balcony enjoying sunshine and his coffee when a little ant caught his eye which was going from one side to the other side of the balcony carrying a big leaf several times more than its size. The man watched it for more than an hour. He saw that the ant faced many impediments during its journey, paused, took a diversion and then continued towards destination.
At one point the tiny creature came across a crack in the floor. It paused for a little while, analyzed and then laid the huge leaf over the crack, walked over the leaf, picked the leaf on the other side then continued its journey.
The man was captivated by the cleverness of the ant, one of Allaah’s tiniest creatures. The incident left the man in awe and forced him to contemplate over the miracle of Creation. It showed the greatness of the Creator. In front of his eyes there was this tiny creature of Allaah, lacking in size yet equipped with a brain to analyze, contemplate, reason, explore, discover and overcome. Along with all these capabilities, the man also noticed that this tiny creature shared some human shortcomings.
The man saw about an hour later the creature had reached its destination – a tiny hole in the floor which was entrance to its underground dwelling. And it was at this point that the ant’s shortcoming that it shared with the man was revealed. How could the ant carry into the tiny hole the large leaf that it had managed to carefully bring to the destination? It simply couldn't!
So the tiny creature, after all the painstaking and hard work and exercising great skills, overcoming all the difficulties along the way, just left behind the large leaf and went home empty-handed.
The ant had not thought about the end before it began its challenging journey and in the end the large leaf was nothing more than a burden to it. The creature had no option, but to leave it behind to reach its destination. The man learned a great lesson that day.
Isn't that the truth about our lives?
We worry about our family, we worry about our job, we worry about how to earn more money, we worry about where we should live – 5 bedroom or 6 bedroom house, what kind of vehicle to buy – a Mercedes or BMW or a Porsche, what kind of dresses to wear, all sorts of things, only to abandon all these things when we reach our destination – The Grave.
We don’t realize in our life’s journey that these are just burdens that we are carrying with utmost care and fear of losing them, only to find that at the end they are useless and we can’t take them with us.....

https://www.facebook.com/islamicin4rmation.Rk/photos/a.146082758881285.32146.146049485551279/555004517989105/?type=3&permPage=1

Story:Tomatoes!!

A teacher asked her students to bring some tomatoes in a plastic bag to school. Each tomato will be given a name of the person whom that child hates. This way, the number of tomatoes will be equal to the number of persons they hate.
On a decided day, the children brought their tomatoes well addressed. Some had two, some had three and some had five, some even had 20 tomatoes in accordance with the number of people each student hate thus if a student hates 5 people, he/she will bring 5 tomatoes.
The teacher told them they have to carry the tomatoes with them everywhere they go for two weeks. As the days passed the children started to complain about the decay and smell of the tomatoes. The students who had many tomatoes complained it was very heavy to carry and the smell was too much.
After a week, the teacher asked the students "How did you feel this one week?"
The Children complained of awful smell and heavy weight of the tomatoes especially those who carried more tomatoes.
The teacher said, "This is very similar to what you carry in your heart when you don't like some people. Hatred makes heart unhealthy and you carry that hatred everywhere. If you can't bear the smell of spoiled tomatoes for a week, imagine the impact of bitterness on your heart as you carry it daily."
The Heart is a beautiful garden that needs regular cleaning of unwanted weeds. Forgive those who have angered you. This makes room for storing good things.
Get Better, Not Bitter!

https://www.facebook.com/drbencarson/posts/917052155076290

Story:Which religion do you follow?

A Hindu family was travelling in a vehicle. 
A terrorist stopped the vehicle, pointed an 
automatic weapon at the head of the family 
and asked - "which religion do you follow? "
The elder replied "we are Muslims......"
The terrorist asked him to recite a verse from the Quran.....
The elder recites a verse......
The terrorist said - you may proceed....
The terrorist let the family pass through without harming them.....

When the Hindu family went some distance, 
the wife of the elder gent asked him, 
"you recited a verse from the Bhagwad Gita, 
then how did he let us off ?"
To this, the elder replied......
"if he had read the Quran, 
he would not have become a terrorist"....

Story:Inter-Religion Integration

I went to a Inter-Religion Integration Seminar. 

The Bishop came, laid his hands on my hand and said, “By the will of Jesus Christ, you will walk today!”

I smiled and told him I was not paralysed.

The Rabbi came, laid his hands on my hand and said, “By the will of God Almighty, you will walk today!

I was less amused when I told him there was nothing wrong with me.

The Mullah came, took my hands and said, “Insha Allah, you will walk today!”

I snapped at him, “There’s nothing wrong with me”

The Hindu sadhu came and said "Beta, you will walk on your legs today."

I said "Babaji - nothing wrong with my legs"

The Buddhist Monk came, held my hands and said, “By the will of The Great Buddha, you will walk today!”

I rudely told him there was nothing wrong with me.

After the Seminar, I stepped outside and found my car had been stolen.

I believe in all Religions now......

Story:Life Partner

Your life partner is your best friend today, tomorrow and always.
This story will help you to understand.
One day, during an evening class for adults, the psychology Teacher entered the class and told students, “Let’s all play a game!” “ What Game?”
The Teacher asked one of the students to volunteer.
A gentleman, femi came forward.
The Teacher asked him to write 30 names of most important people in his life on blackboard.
Femi wrote names of his family members, relatives, friends,
his colleagues and his neighbors.
The Teacher told him to erase 3 names that femi considered most unimportant.
Femi erased names of his colleagues.
The Teacher again told him to delete 5 more names. Femi erased his neighbor's names.
This went on until there were just four names left on the blackboard. These were names of his mother, father, wife and the only daughter...
The entire class became silent realizing that this wasn’t a game anymore for femi alone.
Now, The Teacher told him to delete two more names.
It was a very difficult choice for femi. He unwillingly deleted his parents names.
“Please delete one more” said the Teacher.
Femi became very nervous and with trembling hands and tears in his eyes he deleted his daughters name. Femi cried painfully...
The Teacher told femi to take his seat.
After a while Teacher asked "why your wife? The parents are the ones that nurtured you, and the daughter is the one you gave birth to ??? And you can always find another wife!!!"
Total silence in the class.
Everyone was curious to know his response.
Femi calmly and slowly said, “One day my parents will pass away before me.
My daughter may also leave me when she grows old, for her studies or business or marriage to live with her husband or whatever reason. The only one who will truly share her entire life with me, is my wife”.
All the students stood up and applauded him for sharing this truth of life.
This is true,your life partner is your best friend today, tomorrow and always.

https://www.facebook.com/HeartHealingQuotes/photos/a.590721280984562.1073741827.531505093572848/1007719549284731/?type=3

Story:The Empty Boat

A monk decides to meditate alone, away from his monastery. He takes his boat out to the middle of the lake, moors it there, closes his eyes and begins his meditation.

After a few hours of undisturbed silence, he suddenly feels the bump of another boat colliding with his own. With his eyes still closed, he senses his anger rising, and by the time he opens his eyes, he is ready to scream at the boatman who dared disturb his meditation.

But when he opens his eyes, he sees it’s an empty boat that had probably got untethered and floated to the middle of the lake.

At that moment, the monk achieves self-realization, and understands that the anger is within him; it merely needs the bump of an external object to provoke it out of him.

From then on, whenever he comes across someone who irritates him or provokes him to anger, he reminds himself, “The other person is merely an empty boat. The anger is within me.”

https://www.facebook.com/Manick132/posts/993561790675046

Story:How to Empty and Free Your Mind

A nice story of Adi Shankaracharya teaching his students how to empty and free their mind:
"Adi Sankara was walking through the market place with his disciples.
They saw a man dragging a cow by a rope.
Sankara told the man to wait and asked his disciples to surround them.
“I am going to teach you something” and continued...

“Tell me who is bound to whom? Is the cow bound to this man or the man is bound to the cow?"
The disciples said without hesitation “Of course the cow is bound to the man!. The man is the master. He is holding the rope. The cow has to follow him wherever he goes. The man is the master and the cow is the slave.”

“Now watch this”, said Sankara and took a pair of scissors from his bag and cut the rope.
The cow ran away from the master and the man ran after his cow. “Look, what is happening”, said Sankara
“Do you see who the Master is? The cow is not at all interested in this man. The cow in fact, is trying to escape from this man.
This is the case with our MIND.

Like the cow, all the non-sense that we carry inside is not interested in us. WE ARE INTERESTED IN IT, we are keeping it together somehow or the other. We are going crazy trying to keep it all together under our control.
The moment we lose interest in all the garbage filled in our head, and the moment we understand the futility of it, it will start to disappear. Like the cow, it will escape and disappear.”
Feeling Free and Relaxed is a Choice!!!

https://www.lifepositive.com/who-is-the-master/

Precious Necklace

A lady had a precious necklace round her neck. Once in her excitement she forgot it and thought that the necklace was lost. She became anxious and looked for it in her home but could not find it. She asked her friends and neighbors if they knew anything about the necklace. They did not. At last a kind friend of hers told her to feel the necklace round her neck. She found that it had all along been round her neck and she was happy. When others asked her later if she had found the necklace which was lost, she said, `Yes, I have found it.' She still felt that she had recovered a lost jewel.

Now did she lose it at all ? It was all along round her neck. But judge her feelings. She was as happy as if she had recovered a lost jewel. Similarly with us, we imagine that we will realize that Self some time, whereas we are never anything but the Self.

http://selfdefinition.org/ramana/Ramana%20Maharshi%20-%20Be%20As%20You%20Are--The%20Teachings%20of%20Sri%20Ramana%20Maharshi--Godman.pdf

Story:True Meaning of the Black Belt

A martial artist knelt before his master sensei in a ceremony to receive the hard-earned Black Belt. After years of relentless training, the student has finally reached a pinnacle of achievement in the discipline.

"Before granting you the belt, you must pass one more test," the sensei solemnly tells the young man.
"I'm ready," responds the student, expecting perhaps one more round of sparring.

"You must answer the essential question, 'What is the true meaning of the Black Belt?'"
"Why, the end of my journey," says the student. "A well-deserved reward for all of my hard work."
The master waits for more. Clearly, he is not satisfied. The sensei finally speaks: "You are not ready for the Black Belt. Return in one year."

As the student kneels before his master a year later, he is again asked the question, "What is the true
meaning of the Black Belt?"
"A symbol of distinction and the highest achievement in our art," the young man responds.
Again the master waits for more. Still unsatisfied, he says once more: "You are not ready for the Black Belt. Return in one year."

A year later the student kneels before his sensei and hears the question, "What is the true meaning of the Black Belt?"
This time he answers, "The Black Belt represents not the end, but the beginning, the start of a never ending journey of discipline, work and the pursuit of an ever-higher standard."
"Yes," says the master. "You are now ready to receive the Black Belt and begin your work."

http://read.goodweb.cn/PDF/p33/101%20Zen%20stories.pdf

Story:A Man Died...

When he realized it, he saw God coming closer with a suitcase in his hand.

Dialog between God and Dead Man:
God: Alright son, it’s time to go

Man: So soon? I had a lot of plans...
God: I am sorry but, it’s time to go

Man: What do you have in that suitcase?
God: Your belongings

Man: My belongings? You mean my things... Clothes... money...
God: Those things were never yours, they belong to the Eartha

Man: Is it my memories?
God: No. They belong to Time

Man: Is it my talent?
God: No. They belong to Circumstance

Man: Is it my friends and family?
God: No son. They belong to the Path you travelled

Man: Is it my wife and children?
God: No. they belong to your Heart

Man: Then it must be my body
God: No No... It belongs to Dust

Man: Then surely it must be my Soul!
God: You are sadly mistaken son. Your Soul belongs to me.

Man with tears in his eyes and full of fear took the suitcase from the God's hand and opened it...
EMPTY!!
With heartbroken and tears down his cheek he asks God...

Man: I never owned anything?
God: That’s Right. You never owned anything.

Man: Then? What was mine?
God: your MOMENTS. Every moment you lived was yours.
Life is just a Moment. Live it

https://www.facebook.com/onlyUsefulinfo/posts/647433478675996

Story:Janaka - Soham Mantra

Once King Janaka was sitting on the bank of a river, repeating so'ham at the top of his voice. A sage named Ashtavarka happened to be passing by. He was a great knower of Truth, an enlightened being. When he saw Janaka, he was surprised. He knew that Janaka was a being with great understanding, so he wondered why he was repeating so'ham, so'ham in this manner. 

Great beings do not teach only through philosophical discourses. They use many subtle means to make their point. Ashtavakra watched Janaka for a while, wondering how he should instruct him. Then he had an idea. He sat down. In one hand he had a water bowl, and in the other hand he had the T-shaped stick which yogis use for support in meditation. He began to say very loudly, "This is my water bowl; this is my yoga stick! This is my water bowl; this is my yoga stick!" 

King Janaka began repeating his mantra louder. The sage also began to repeat his mantra louder. After a whileKing Janaka became annoyed. He opened his eyes and asked, "O brother what are you doing?" "What are you doing?" asked Ashtavakra.

"I am repeating the mantra so'ham," Janaka said. Ashtavakra said, "I am also repeating a mantra. I am repeating, "This is my water bowl; this is my yoga stick." The king said, "Have you lost your brains? Who told you that the water bowl and the stick don't belong to you? Why do you have to keep shouting about it?" The sage replied, "It seems to me that you are the one who lacks understanding. Who told you that you are not That? Why do you have to go on repeating that you are That?" When Janka heard this, he suddenly realized that he was That and that he did not need to go on repeating so'ham.

Story:Socrates in Marketplace

Socrates believed that the wise person would instinctively lead a frugal life. He himself would not even wear shoes; yet he constantly fell under the spell of the marketplace and would go there often to look at all the wares on display.

When one of his friends asked why, Socrates said, "I love to go there and discover how many things I am perfectly happy without."

http://read.goodweb.cn/PDF/p33/101%20Zen%20stories.pdf

Story:The Stingy Artist

Gessen was an artist monk. Before he would start a drawing or painting he always insisted upon being paid in advance, and his fees were high. He was known as the "Stingy Artist."

A geisha once gave him a commission for a painting. "How much can you pay?" inquired Gessen.

"Whatever you charge," replied the girl, "but I want you to do the work in front of me."

So on a certain day Gessen was called by the geisha. She was holding a feast for her patron.

Gessen with fine brush work did the painting. When it was completed he asked the highest sum of his time.

He received his pay. Then the geisha turned to her patron, saying: "All this artist wants is money. His paintings are fine but his mind is dirty; money has caused it to become muddy. Drawn by such a filthy mind, his work is not fit to exhibit. It is just about good enough for one of my petticoats."

Removing her skirt, she then asked Gessen to do another picture on the back of her petticoat.

"How much will you pay?" asked Gessen.

"Oh, any amount," answered the girl.

Gessen named a fancy price, painted the picture in the manner requested, and went away.

It was learned later that Gessen had these reasons for desiring money:

A ravaging famine often visited his province. The rich would not help the poor, so Gessen had a secret warehouse, unknown to anyone, which he kept filled with grain, prepared for those emergencies.

From his village to the National Shrine the road was in very poor condition and many travellers suffered while traversing it. He desired to build a better road.

His teacher had passed away without realizing his wish to build a temple, and Gessen wished to complete this temple for him.

After Gessen had accomplished his three wishes he threw away his brushes and artist's materials and, retiring to the mountains, never painted again.

http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans/47thestingyartist.html