696. Too much Ego will Kill your Talent!!!!!!!

Human mind is always after knowledge not wisdom. There is a notion that knowledge is the means of making financially big. Knowledge is just a cluster of words that could be obtained from a book or by frequenting a library. Knowledge is something that can be taught while wisdom is an exceptional thing that has to be caught. To gain knowledge one has to be a student and put questions and seek answers from books or masters or fellow seekers. But wisdom is not got that way it is the inner light which will illuminated and make us insightful. Knowledge is acquired, wisdom is developed. Wisdom is about knowing what to know, how much and what to do with it. Knowledge has a tinge of ego in it and makes one learned and unique. This ego is termed personality ego. Wisdom teaches modesty and makes one feel he is one among many. Knowledge without wisdom strengthens the ego and that ego nourishes on the knowledge. When wisdom appears the ego is annihilated. A person with personality ego does not let the mind grasp the wisdom that the other person is sharing. Ego puts our mind in a golden cage and feeds knowledge to it. 

Once there was a pundit who was well versed in Vedas, Upanishad, Philosophy and Grammar. He was very arrogant and had a feel that there were none equal to his knowledge. He had a habit of visiting every the kingdom and challenging the learned scholars there for a debate with him and in the event of their defeat he would rejoice. The King of that region would proclaim him as wise man and give him rewards. The ego in him triggered the flame in him to defeat more and more scholars and in this venture the pundit arrived at a small kingdom of a generous and pious King. 

The King summoned the wise men and asked them what to do. The wise men told the King by looking at the statistics there were no one in the kingdom to match the pundit in knowledge. The King thought for a while and sent for the one eyed dhobi in the palace. The King spoke to the dhobi and whispered some instructions to him. The next day there was a debate and the dhobi was dressed as a scholar. 

The pundit out of ego asked the dhobi to choose the topic for debate and the dhobi insisted on “Mudra Vyakhyana” the analysis of hand gestures. The pundit started the debate by raising his hand and showing his index finger. The dobhi, without batting an eyelid raised two fingers his index and middle. The pundit was shocked not because of the answer but by the speed in which the person responded. Then the pundit pondered for sometime raised three fingers. Immediately the dhobi raised his fist and shook it. To this the pundit hung his head and accepted defeat. And the debate was won by the dhobi. 

The King invited the pundit to his chamber and asked him what happened at the debate. The pundit replied, “Your Majesty today I have really found a match.” The King asked the pundit, “What happened?” The pundit replied, “I raised one finger to express that there is one Absolute. Your wise man responded with two fingers to remind me that there are two, Purusha and Prakriti. Then I thought I would outwit him. I showed three fingers to indicate that the two is really three, Brahman, Brahmanda and Jeeva. But your wise man responded with the closed fist signifying that all those division were illusion and that the Absolute is a combination of all the three and can never be divided.” Saying so the pundit went away defeated and humbled. 

Then the King called the dhobi and asked “What happened?” The one eyed dhobi said, “That stupid fellow raised one finger to say that I am one eyed. I raised two to tell him that my one eye is better than his two! Then he raised three to say that my one eye and his two eyes make three. By then I was really angry. So I shook my fist at him, indicating that if he makes one more gesture, I am going to punch his nose!” 

Many a times PERSONALITY EGO blind us so much that we are unable to comprehend the OBVIOUS........What say???

521. Pearls of Wisdom from a Sufi Saint…………!!!!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/pearls-of-wisdom-from-a-sufi-saint

It so happened that a group of young men were debating and discussing among themselves as to which is to be preferred Knowledge or wealth. Majority of them felt knowledge has to be preferential. When they fail to come to a conclusion they met a Sufi Fakir living near Dargah Khwaja Gharib Nawaz, Ajmer Sharif. They wanted to know from him how knowledge was better than wealth. They requested him to give them the reason why knowledge should be preferred to wealth.

The Sufi Saint closed his eyes and for a moment sat in silence and recollected what Ali bin Abi Talib (radiallahu an) who was the first cousin of the Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wasalam) had answered when asked the similar question and then started talking thus:

“Knowledge is the inheritance of the Seers, while Wealth is the legacy of the Samrats. As the Seers are superior to the Samrats Knowledge is superior to Wealth.”

“Wealth has to be guarded by you, but Knowledge guards you. Therefore, Knowledge is better than Wealth.”

“If Wealth is distributed it reduces, amazingly if Knowledge is shared it amplifies. In this regard Knowledge is greater than Wealth.”

“Wealthy person has many enemies than well-wishers; a knowledgeable person has well-wishers and no enemies. Therefore Knowledge is safer than Wealth.”

“Due to his Knowledge a learned man has a wider outlook and is generous while a wealthy man due to his love for money is mean and so a miser. So in such circumstances Knowledge is advanced than Wealth.”

“While Wealth is constantly exposed to the danger of being grabbed by someone, Knowledge cannot be stolen. In this regard Knowledge is good for safe keeping than Wealth.”

“While hoarded Wealth has the problem of legal tender as the time passes, Knowledge gains in depth and dimensions as time passes. Therefore Knowledge is favored to be handled than Wealth.”

“Wealth does not recognize the virtue and stays with a person while Knowledge enters a person only if he practices virtues and thereafter if he fails it disowns him. Hence Knowledge is chosen one than Wealth.”

“Knowledge illuminates the mind, while Wealth pushes it to darkness. Therefore Knowledge is ideal than Wealth.”

“It might be possible to gain Wealth through Knowledge, but it is hard to gain Knowledge through Wealth. Hence Knowledge is supreme than Wealth.”

“Wealth is limited and one can keep account for it but Knowledge is infinity and one cannot keep tab on it. That is why Knowledge is preferred to Wealth.”

“Knowledge is always superior, better, greater, bigger, advanced, good, favored, chosen one, ideal, supreme, and preferred to Wealth, because Knowledge induced humanity and humility to say to Almighty; we adore you, we are your servants. While Wealth stimulate in Samrats and Sultans the vanity which make them claim to be greater than Almighty.”

The group bowed down the Enlightened Soul for providing the insights on Knowledge and left, filled with Knowledge. 

504. What do you want to be a Clever Person or a Wise Individual?

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/what-do-you-want-to-be-a-clever-person-or-a-wise-individual

Human Mind works from two different angles one which is focused on the sophisticated skills for survival and the other is the capacity to distinguish between to do and not to do. The former is cleverness while the later is wisdom. Cleverness has its base in “Medha Shakti” (intelligence) and enables one to quickly grasp the content of the subject he studies and retains the matter in his memory without any lapse to use it at appropriate times for his benefit. The current generation adore this angle to survive in this world which is hovering with the concept of Global Village, Capitalism, and Avarice. Wisdom has its base in “Dhi Shakti” (intellect) and enables one to be selfless and retain his true nature and relating to others in a sincere and straight forward way.    

There is a vast difference in living with a clever mind and wisdom. Cleverness encourages self-centered thought and is for immediate future, while wisdom induces the thought that everything is interconnected and stays forever. While leading a life of a clever person one has to take shelter in white lie and manipulation, while the wise always speaks truth and will let others to correct him if he finds his decisions were wrong.    
 
If being wise is more conducive than being clever, why is it that many wants to a clever and not wise??

A Wise person keeps away from what he thinks is illegal even if it is of benefit to him while a clever person looks for loopholes if any, to venture and get away. It is very unfortunate that the modern society appreciates a clever person but ridicules a wise individual. The people with accumulated possessions from their clever stance are glorified while the honest is castigated. A bureaucrat who has his house raided by the income tax sleuths is looked at as a hero in this society while a war veteran is disrespected. Civilized society does not want wisdom, it is happy with the short-term profits and gains that cleverness is providing. 

Even our education system does not want the young students to be wise it want them to be clever. The schools cannot teach the students how to apply wisdom with whatever educational knowledge they have, because wisdom cannot be taught by clever people. It can only be guided by wise individuals who admit they cannot teach. The young students have to be told that what is appreciated as cleverness today may not be so tomorrow but wisdom is always the same forever and is timeless. Wisdom is an insight into life and cleverness is the knowledge got from a source. Cleverness can serve us with an incredible stupendous meal once in a while, but wisdom guarantees staple food every time when one is hungry.
 

As one grows he tends to transmute from being clever and unwise to become wise and not clever. Why is this change in him? Some have a feeling that they were wise when they were young. But if they look back at the trials and tribulations of their life they understand that their cleverness which they presumed to be wisdom had in fact arrested their creativity and hindered their spontaneous behaviour. Wisdom has its route in the creative experience it can come while one is walking in a garden, or while watching the dew drops on the freshly sprouted leaf, or while writing a thought and posting it in a blog.
 

Wisdom can sometimes be mistaken for cowardice. A wise person will prefer to be a coward and let the clever person feel high of his heroic. Wisdom will hardly ever fight with cleverness even if it mocks at it as it is aware of the true Self. Cleverness feeds the mind with comforts and becomes fanatical with it. Wisdom nourishes the soul and is not attached to that nourishment. It lets it pass to others who are eager to receive it.
 

Being Wise is more worth than being just Clever …….. Isn't it?????

375. Sign board is the Same but what we make of it is Different…..

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/sign-board-is-the-same-but-what-we-make-of-it-is-different

Life is a journey with sign boards to direct me to the right path. What I understand from those sign boards cannot be codified to others because it doesn’t have a fixed quintessence. Everyone walking the journey finds the sign boards and draws different meaning which is supposed to help him move on towards to the goal. There is no point in encoding and contradicting the understanding of each person got from those sign boards. But analyzing and knowing could sometime help as one is not dead sure of anything unless shared and known. It is like using the light lit by those who have moved forward in the dark alley prior. There are those who neglect those light and there are some who are aware of the light but will not use them for their advantage and only a few are aware as well as use that light to move forward. 


A simple anecdote would provide an insight on how we go about in life with whatever data is received. Once a renouncant comes to town which is at the foot of a mountain and tells everyone that he has found a huge cave in the mountain with treasure hidden and can tell them how to go there. 

 

A few call it a bluff and accuses him of lying and they say they will not believe anyone just like that. While some are lazy to trek the mountain and so question the stranger on the authenticity of the treasure and want to know who has kept it there and why. A few instantly believe the stranger but instead of planing to go and fetch the treasure they start thinking on what to do with the treasure. Some bank on the money got from selling the treasure and use it to their daughter’s wedding, while some want to buy a tractor to till their land. Some want to build a palatial house on their land and deposit the rest in the bank and live on the dividends. Many have many dreams on how to spend the money thus obtained.


And it is a few who not only believe but start their journey towards the treasure. Yes, it is not just belief but eventually getting the treasure which gives the proof of making use of the data so obtained. On the path, the rough directions given by the renouncant may help but one has to make the start sync with what is to be done now.


Every information we get will have its meaning when it is put to use ..... getting information is Knowledge and using that known information is Wisdom.....What Say????

96. The Wisdom and Art of Giving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The act of giving is the only thing that is appreciated by the Absolute. There is a necessity to share whatever one have in excess with others. How much is excess to one is beyond other persons imagination. The great saying of Lord Mahavira “LIVE and LET LIVE” mantra is followed only in the first phase of “LIVE” and we have not reached the second part of the mantra of “LET LIVE”.

A person who is does not share will never deserve higher worlds. Even Absolute hesitates to help a person who does not help others. There is a sarcastic saying about misers which goes like this: “A miser is a greater donor!” Well, the reason is that a donor will donate his things to others, but will also enjoy a little portion of his money, whereas a miser keeps close guard to all his money throughout his life and without enjoying a bit of it, and then his decedents enjoy after he passes away. The miserly attitude is accustomed to a person because he has an intention that whatever he possesses is for him alone.

Bhagavad-Gita teaches ethical and moral imperatives in art of giving without any expectations of return or any strings attached. To illustrate there is a story of a great miser who never gave anything to others. When he passed away he was obviously taken to hell and was given huge unbearable punishments. He used to lament very much for his poor state and beg the attenders every day to save him from the hell.

Attenders took pity on his poor state and wanted to help him. But even with a lot of search they found not even one incidence where the miser gave anything to anybody in his entire life time. Finally attenders managed to find a small deed of good that the miser did in his life span. The miser once, somehow, had given a small piece of over ripe banana to a beggar.

Taking this into consideration the attenders thought of helping the lamenting miser and made a stick appear before him, with which he could climb out of hell. The miser was very happy and quickly began climbing the stick. Other people in the hell also seize the opportunity and started climbing the stick to get out. The miser started pushing down all the other people and started shouting “the stick was provided for me for my good deed, and you cannot use it”. Immediately the stick disappeared and the miser was back in the hell.

A person has to be generous but his generosity should not affect his family members. “One has to think of giving to others only if he has enough to him and his family members” says Scriptures. It is said by one greatest social reformer-poet Sarvajna of Kannada literature: “If oil in a lamp gets exhausted, do not flood the lamp with a barrel of oil. Barrel of oil serves no purpose to the lamp, but offer the lamp spoonful of oil.” Sarvajna here warns of giving food to a person more than he can digest. Bhagavad-Gita mentions about three gates to hell for human beings: Desire, Anger, and Stinginess. By sharing, insightful knowledge and contemplation, we can develop purity and feelings of right achievements.

Many law givers in their writings have induced the philanthropic principles into rituals and rites of devotional life passage. They stress that every important of a person's life is an occasion for giving and celebration. Sant Kabir saying: “You came into this world with fists closed and you go away with your palms open. So while living stretch your hand open and give liberally.”