THOUGHT OF THE DAY

A Little Knowledge Goes A Long Way.

     Once upon a time there was a high IQ cheetah who couldn’t run at a top speed of 120 km per hour. As a result, the Thompson’s gazelles that he chose to chase easily outran him and he was never able to get hold of one. Thus, in order to survive, he was forced to catch rodents and frogs and other small animals which lived in the Serengeti.

Of course he had to do this surreptitiously because if any of the other cheetahs ever found out it would be terribly humiliating for him. “What’s the use of being the fastest land animal in the world,” he would often say to himself, “if I can’t even run down a decent high speed deer for dinner?”



So one day he went to a cheetah who was renowned for her astonishing speed and blurted out his predicament. “I have all the evolutionary adaptations that enable our species to run as fast as we do, including large nostrils that allow for increased oxygen intake, and an enlarged heart and lungs which work together to circulate oxygen efficiently. Also, during a typical chase when I can accelerate from zero to 100 in three seconds my respiratory rate increases from 60 to 150 breaths per minute.
"And, while running, in addition to having good traction due to my semi-retractable claws, I use the tail as a rudder for steering which allows me to make razor sharp turns, necessary to outflank prey who often make such turns. And yet”, he concluded lamely, “I can’t manage a top speed of 120 km an hour no matter how hard I try.”

“That’s interesting,” said the other cheetah who was staring at him wide-eyed by now. “Because you know, all this time I thought my nostrils were for only for smelling and my heart and lungs for keeping me alive. During a chase all I ever had time to notice was that the surroundings became a blur, my breathing increasingly deep and heavy, and by the time it’s over I’m pooped for the rest of the day.
"As for my claws and tail, I just try to keep them clean. But, like I said, this is amazing stuff. If we were to live together I could do the hunting while you can teach me things about myself and the world so that I too can become as knowledgeable as you.”
So the two hitched up and soon the Serengeti had two cheetahs that couldn’t run at a top speed of 120 km an hour and had to live off rats and frogs instead of gazelles to the end of their days.

Moral: A lot of knowledge is also a dangerous thing.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

 Only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. - Socrates

       .Every person sees the world differently, depending on his nature and vision of life. The ignorant person and the wise one – both encounter the same world; but what is the vision of a person of wisdom?How does he think, feel, and respond to the world?Someone went to a realised person and asked, ‘I know that you are an enlightened one, but what do you do all day?’The wise man replied, ‘I sleep, i get up, i take a shower, i eat and then i work.

‘That is nothing different. I also do the same.’‘But when i sleep, i sleep,’ corrected the enlightened person.‘When i wake up, i am awake. When i bathe, i bathe, when i eat, i eat and when i work, i work.’The man protested, ‘But i do all this as well! Are you trying to fool me?’‘You still do not get the point. When you sleep, you dream. And even when you are awake, you are really asleep because you live in a dream world only,’ explained the wise man. ‘When you take a shower, you begin to think of all the things that you have to do that day. When you eat, your mind is somewhere else. And when you are at work, you think of home. Generally your mind is miles away from where you are.’A wise person may look the same outwardly, but his mental state is quite different from ours. Some great souls are very relaxed; others are dynamic men and women of action and great organisers. Their behaviour can also be quite unexpected and unpredictable.Story Of Four Brothers: Once there were four brothers. When their father died, his property was divided equally among them. Since one of the brothers was a monk, the other three protested about his share. According to them, the monk did not have any need for his share of the property. But the monk fought back, and insisted on his right.

One of the disciples knew the greatness of the monk, but when he saw him fighting with his brothers, he wondered about him. In order to test him, the disciple approached the teacher at a time when all the four brothers were arguing, heatedly, over the property.He asked the monk to explain the meaning of the line from the Bhagwad Gita, ‘Anger leads to delusion.’ The monk smiled, took him aside and asked him to wait until he had finished the drama!From that day, the disciple never doubted his teacher. He realised that the monk’s anger was just for show and it was under his control all the time.It is said that it is easy to indicate Brahmn, but very difficult to describe a knower of Brahmn. This is because such a person cannot be classified as one thinking or acting in any particular manner. All speculations and imaginations have to be thrown aside. Even though the person performs all activities, he is really beyond them.

Ramana Maharshi once said, ‘Who can ever comprehend or imagine the state of the enlightened soul?’ The characteristics of a wise person are understood only by another wise person. Therefore, the only way is to become wise ourselves.