Contact And Conenction

It was April 2009.   I was returning from Delhi by flight with a monk of the RamaKrishna Mission sitting next to me and a journalist from the US sitting on the third seat . The journalist started
interviewing  the monk as planned earlier.

Journalist - Sir , in your last lecture, you  told us about Jogajog ( contact ) &  Sanjog (connection ). It's really confusing. Can you explain ?

The Monk smiled and apparently deviating from the question   asked the journalist:Are you from New York?
Journalist - Yeh...
Monk - Who are there at home ?
The Journalist felt that the  Monk was trying to avoid answering his question since  this was a very personal and unwarranted question. Yet the  journalist  said:    "Mother has expired. Father is there. Three brothers and one sister. All married..."
The Monk, with a smile on his  face,   asked again: - "Do you talk to your father?"
The  journalist looked visibly annoyed...
The Monk  - "When did you talk to him last?"
The journalist, supressing his annoyance said:  "May be a month ago."
The Monk:  "Do you brothers and sisters meet often ? When did you meet last as a family gathering?"

At this point, I saw  sweat on the forehead ok the journalist. I wondered who was conducting the interview, the Monk or the Journalist. It seemed that the   Monk was interviewing the Journalist.

With a sigh , the Journalist said: "We met last at Christmas two  years  ago."
The Monk: " How many days did you all stay together ?"

The Journalist ( wiping the sweat on his brow) said : "Three days..."
Monk: "How much time did you  spend with your Father, sitting right  beside him ?"
I saw the journalist looking  perplexed and embarassed and scribbling something on a paper...
The Monk:  "Did you have breakfast, lunch or dinner together ? Did you ask how he was? Did you ask how his days are passing after your mother's death ?"
I saw drops of tears coming out from the eyes of the journalist.

The Monk held the hand of the journalist and said: "Don't be embrassed, upset or sad. I am sorry if I have hurt you unknowingly...
But this is basically the answer to your question about "contact and connection ( jogajog and Sanjog)".  You have 'contact'  with your father but you don't have 'connection' with him. You are not connected to him. Connection is between heart and heart... sitting together , sharing meals and caring for  each other ; touching , shaking hands, having eye contact,  spending some time together...You  brothers and sisters have 'contact'  but you have no  'connection' with each other...."

The journalist wiped his eyes and said : "Thanks for teaching me a fine and unforgettable lesson"

This is the reality today.
Whether at home or in the society everybody has lots of contacts but there is no connection. No communication...   . Everybody is in his or her own world.

Let us not maintain just "contacts" but let us remain "connected" ; caring , sharing and spending time with all our dear ones.


- Unknown

Sleep!! in the Storm

A farmer who owned land along the Atlantic seacoast constantly advertised for hired hands.

Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful sudden thunderstorms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops, made this a 24 hour on-call occupation.

Though the farmer interviewed many unemployed people for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. '

Are you a good farm hand?' the farmer asked him.

'Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,' answered the little man.

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.

The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore.

Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters.

He shook the little man and yelled, 'Get up! A storm is coming!

Tie things down before they blow away!'

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, 'No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.'

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot.

Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm.

To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred.
The shutters were tightly secured.
Everything was tied down.

Nothing could blow away.

The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

The hired hand in the story  was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm.

When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear from what the world throws at you.

Can you sleep....without any stress... when the wind blows through your life?

Be prepared....
Be active...
Have a great week start...