Youth In You

Before leaving for abroad for the first time to preach Hinduism, Vivekanand's mother wanted to know whether he is all perfect for this mission or not, she invited him for dinner. Vivekanand enjoyed the food that had the additional flavor of his mother's special love and affection. After the delicious dinner, Vivekanand's mother offered Vivekanand a dish of fruits and a knife. Vivekanand cut the fruit, ate it and after that his mother said, "Son, can you please give me the knife, I need it." Vivekanand immediately responded by giving the knife.
Vivekanand's mother calmly said, "Son, you have passed my test and I heartily bless you for going abroad." Vivekanand surprisingly asked, "Mother, how did you test me? I did not understand."
Mother replied, "Son, when I asked for the knife, I saw how you handed it to me, you gave the knife by holding its sharp edge and kept the wooden handle of knife towards me. This way, I would not get hurt when I take it and this means you took care of me. And this was your test in which you passed.
The person who thinks of others welfare rather than thinking about self has got the right of preaching the world and you have got that right. You have all my blessings."

This was the most important mark he left in the hearts of many he met in his lifetime - to think of others before thinking for self.

Moral: There are some qualities which draw the difference between a common man & an uncommon man. To think about the welfare of everyone falls under an extraordinary quality. The true noble person is the one who thinks of others' happiness even if it is in little matters to our day to day life. The one who thinks of himself alone is considered selfish & will not be valued by the world in the long run. It is the law of nature that as the bigger hearted & noble you are, the more you will keep receiving & as the narrower minded you become, the less you will receive.

Swami Vivekananda ( Jan 12, 1863 - July 04, 1902)

National Youth Day.
Everyone is Youth, until he feels so to be old.

Destination Of Life

During the time of the Buddha, a young man approached and asked the Buddha: “O, Lord, my father has died. Please come and say some prayers for him. Raise up his soul so that he can go to heaven. The Brahmins perform such rites but you Buddha are so much more powerful than them. If you were to do it, my father’s soul is sure to fly straight to heaven.”

The Buddha replied: “Very well, please go to the market and fetch me two earthen pots and some butter.” The young man was very happy that the Buddha had condescended to perform some powerful magic to save his father’s soul. He hurried to town and got what was required. Then the Buddha instructed him: “Put the butter in one pot and stones in the other pot. Then throw both pots into the pond.” The man did so, and both pots sank to the bottom of pond.

Then the Buddha continued: “Now, take a staff and strike the pots at the bottom of the pond.” The man did so. The pots broke and the butter, being light, floated up while the stones, being heavy, remained where they were at the bottom.

Then the Buddha said, “Now, quick, go and summon all the priests. Tell them to come and chant so that the butter can go down and the stones can come up.” The young man looked at the Buddha, flabbergasted. “Lord” he said, “You can’t be serious. Surely you can’t expect the butter being light to sink and the stones being heavy to rise up. That would be against the law of nature.”

The Buddha smiled and said, “Even so, my son, don’t you see that if your father had led a good life, then his deeds would be as light as the butter, so that no matter what he will rise up to heaven.
Nobody can prevent that, not even me. For nobody can go against the natural law of kamma. But if your father had led a bad life, then, just like the stones that are heavy, he would sink to hell. No amount of prayers by all the powerful priests in the world can cause it to happen otherwise."