Dr. IQBAL (Author Of " सारे जहां से अछा हिंदुस्तान हमारा " )

    मस्जिद   तो   बना   दी   शब्   भर   मे

इम़ा   की   हरारत   वालो   ऩे

मन  अपना   पुराना   पापी   है

बरसो  में   नमाज़ी   बन   न   सका

क्या  खूब  अमीरे-ऐ-फैसल  को

सुनवासी  ऩे  पैगाम  दीया

तू  नामो -नसब का  हिजाजी  है

पर  दिल  का  हिजाजी  बन  न  सका

तर  आंखें   तो  हो   जाती   है

पर क्या  लज्जत  उस  रोने  में

जो चश्मे  दिले   की  अमेज़श  से

ये  अश्क  पियाजी  बन  न  सका

इक़बाल   बड़ा   उपदेशक  है

बन  बातो मे  मोह  लेता है

गुफ्तार  का  गाजी  तो  ये  बना

किरदार  का  गाजी  बन  न  सका

             

SHORT STORIES TO PONDER

A Zen Tale from Japan --- THE  STRAWBERRY
 
There was once a man who was being chased by a ferocious tiger across a field. At the edge of the field there was a cliff. In order to escape the jaws of the tiger, the man caught hold of a vine and swung himself over the edge of the cliff. Dangling down, he saw, to his dismay, there were more tigers on the ground below him! And, furthermore, two little mice were gnawing on the vine to which he clung. He knew that at any moment he would fall to certain death. That's when he noticed a wild strawberry growing on the cliff wall. Clutching the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other and put it in his mouth.

He never before realized how sweet a strawberry could taste.

______________________________________


A Tale from India --- Who Is King Of The Forest?

When Tiger jumped on Fox, Fox cried out, "How dare you attack the King of the Jungle!"
Tiger looked at him in amazement, "Nonsense! You are not King!"


"Certainly I am," replied Fox, "All the animals run from me in terror! If you want proof, come with me." Fox went into the forest with Tiger at his heels. When they came to a herd of deer, the deer saw Tiger behind Fox and ran in all directions.

They came to a group of monkeys. The monkeys saw Tiger behind Fox and they fled. Fox turned to Tiger and said, "Do you need more proof than that? See how the animals flee at the very sight me?!"

"I'm surprised, but I've seen it with my own eyes. Forgive me for attacking you, Great King." Tiger bowed low and with great ceremony he let Fox go.

:::The fisherman and the businessman:::

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.

As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite few big fish.

The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”

The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”

“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.

“This is enough to feed my whole family,” the fisherman said.

The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”

The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back

BINDU JI ( By Bhagat Ram Darshan Ji )

कन्हिया  प्यारे  दुलारे   मोहन

बजा  दो  फिर  अपनी  प्यारी  बंसी

जो  भगत  बे सुध  है  जी  उठे ग़े

सुने ग़े  जिस दम तुम्हरी  बंसी

कभी बनी  बंसी प्रेम मूरत

कभी बनी  बनी बंसी ज्ञान सूरत

पड़ी  जो  सत्य कर्म  कि  जरुरत

तो गीता बनके पुकारी  बंसी

____________________

तुम्हारी कृपा है तो दुश्मन का डर क्या

तुम्हारे गुलामो को खोफो ख़तर क्या

कृपा कि नज़र से जो तुम देखते हो

करेगी किस्सी कि भला बद नज़र क्या

बनाते जो बिगड़ी हुई बात जब तुम

बिगाड़े न चीज़ कमतर  बशर क्या

गरीबो  के  अश्रुबिंदु  पर  तुम  जो  न  रूठो

कर लेगा  सारा  जहां  रूठ  कर  क्या

```````Prayer of Forgiveness```````

I do not know why I have to forgive the man I love.

I forgive , not because I want to become a saint but because I do not want to endure this hatred. This tiresome hatred.

This was not what I expected.

You may not forgive everyone and everything, but forgive me.

I forgive everything and everyone. I forgive you because I love you and you do not love me. I forgive you because you reject me and I am losing my power.

I am liberated from hatred by means of forgiveness and love. I understand that suffering, when it cannot be avoided, helps me to advance towards glory.

The tears I shed, I forgive.
The suffering and disappointments, I forgive.
The betrayals and lies, I forgive.
The slandering and scheming, I forgive.
The hatred and persecution, I forgive.
The punches that were given, I forgive.
The shattered dreams, I forgive.
The dead hopes, I forgive.
The disaffection and jealousy, I forgive.
The indifference and ill will, I forgive.
The injustice in the name of justice, I forgive.
The anger and mistreatment, I forgive.
The neglect and oblivion, I forgive.
The world with all its evil, I forgive.

I have not finished yet.

Grief and resentment, I replace with understanding and agreement.
Revolt, I replace with music that comes from my violin.
Pain I replace with oblivion.
Revenge, I replace with victory.

I will be able to love above all discontentment.
To give even when I am stripped of everything.
To work happily even when I find myself in the midst of all obstacles.
To dry tears even when I am still crying.
To believe even when I am discredited. 

: : Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna !! – - Inquilab Zindabad : :

Lyrics used in the movie ‘Rang De Basanti’. Here it goes — though remember these lines are not part of the original poem written by ‘Ram Prasad Bismil’

है लिये हथियार दुश्मन ताक मे बैठा उधर
और हम तैय्यार हैं सीना लिये अपना इधर
खून से खेलेंगे होली गर वतन मुश्किल में है
सरफरोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

हाथ जिनमें हो जुनून कटते नही तलवार से
सर जो उठ जाते हैं वो झुकते नहीं ललकार से
और भडकेगा जो शोला सा हमारे दिल में है
सरफरोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

हम तो घर से निकले ही थे बांधकर सर पे कफ़न
जान हथेली में लिये लो बढ चले हैं ये कदम
जिंदगी तो अपनी मेहमान मौत की महफ़िल मैं है
सरफरोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

दिल मे तूफानों की टोली और नसों में इन्कलाब
होश दुश्मन के उडा देंगे हमे रोको न आज
दूर रह पाये जो हमसे दम कहाँ मंजिल मे है
सरफरोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

:::::::::::::::::अद्वैत::::::::::::::::::::

यह  जो   जलाल  है  तेरे   चेहरे   पर

यह   उसी   का   नूर    है    बे-खबर   !

तू   समझ   रहा  है   के  तुही  तो  है 

वो  तो  कह   रहा   है   मैं   हूँ   नहीं   !

यह  मैं  ओर   तू   कि   जो  कशमकश  

यह   है   तो   वो   है   फिर    यही  ! 

जो  मैं   नहीं   तो   तू     नहीं 

जो  तू   नहीं   तो  मैं    नहीं   !

KILL THE BUDDHA (Zen Master Dae Kwang)

Lin Chi Zen Master said, "If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. If you meet a Patriarch, kill the Patriarch."

Zen Master Seung Sahn says that in this life we must all kill three things: First we must kill our parents. Second, we must kill the Buddha. And lastly, we must kill him! This kind of speech is sometimes perplexing to people raised in the Judaeo-Christian tradition since we would never say this about Jesus or one of the Prophets. But the meaning here is very interesting and goes far beyond the martial language of the metaphor. Buddhism is quite unique in that its founder never said, "Believe what I say." Buddhism means find out for yourself.. i.e., kill the Buddha.

At one time, the citizens of Kesaputta asked the Buddha what they should believe. They were very confused by the many religions in vogue at that time. The Buddha said, "Do not accept anything by mere tradition. Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures. Do not accept anything because it agrees with your opinions or because it is socially acceptable. Do not accept anything because it comes from the mouth of a respected person. Rather, observe closely and if it is to the benefit of all, accept and abide by it." This Sutta - the Kalama Sutta - is the root of Zen-style inquiry into the true self. 

The Buddha says in the Diamond Sutra that in his whole teaching career he never spoke a single word. In Zen, we are admonished that understanding cannot help us. The wind does not read. So, what are we left with?

just before he died the Buddha said, "Life is very short, please investigate it closely." We are left with the great question: What am I? What is a human being? In his great compassion the Buddha leaves us only with footprints pointing the way... in the end he cannot help us; we must find the answer ourselves. Zen, too, asks the question but does not have the answer. But you do, if you look inside.

Maria’s diary ( Paulo Coelho’s Blog )

Once upon a time, there was a bird. He was adorned with two perfect wings and with glossy, colorful, marvelous feathers.

One day, a woman saw this bird and fell in love with him.

She invited the bird to fly with her, and the two travelled across the sky in perfect harmony. She admired and venerated and celebrated that bird.

But then she thought: He might want to visit far-off mountains!

And she was afraid, afraid that she would never feel the same way about any other bird.

And she thought: “I’m going to set a trap. The next time the bird appears, he will never leave again.”

The bird, who was also in love, returned the following day, fell into the trap and was put in a cage.

She looked at the bird every day. There he was, the object of her passion, and she showed him to her friends, who said: “Now you have everything you could possibly want.” 

However, a strange transformation began to take place: now that she had the bird and no longer needed to woo him, she began to lose interest.

The bird, unable to fly and express the true meaning of his life, began to waste away and his feathers to lose their gloss; he grew ugly; and the woman no longer paid him any attention, except by feeding him and cleaning out his cage.

One day, the bird died. The woman felt terribly sad and spent all her time thinking about him. But she did not remember the cage, she thought only of the day when she had seen him for the first time, flying contentedly amongst the clouds.

If she had looked more deeply into herself, she would have realized that what had thrilled her about the bird was his freedom, the energy of his wings in motion, not his physical body.

Without the bird, her life too lost all meaning, and Death came knocking at her door.

“Why have you come?” she asked Death.

“So that you can fly once more with him across the sky,” Death replied.

“If you had allowed him to come and go, you would have loved and admired him ever more; alas, you now need me in order to find him again.”