Upakhyan (Anecdote)
A fowler/hunter wantd to be consecrated by a great saint. The saint had a rule of swearing in the vow of following non-violence as the teacher's reward (guru-dakshina).
The fowler could not do without catching the birds and so he didn't agree to the condition. Then the saint suggested him an eay way out. He said, "For now, you swear to be merciful to at least one bird, and then slowly increase the limits of your oath." The fowler agreed to it and introduced himself to the faith of non-violence by at first avowing not to kill the crow.
He continued thinking about the non-violence and gradually kept on increasing the perimeter of his confinement. After a few days he became a great non violent saint.
Hrudaysparshi Katha [Story, that touches our heart]
Friendship
His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a frightened boy, screaming and struggling to come out. Farmer Fleming rescued the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scottish farmer's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy saved by Farmer Fleming.
"I want to repay you", said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life". "No, I can't accept payment for what I did", the farmer waved off the offer.
At that moment, the farmer's son came to the door of the family hovel. "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes", the farmer replied looking at his son affectionately. "I will make you a deal. Let me take your son and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll grow into a man you can be proud of".
And that he did. In time, Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin. The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir winston Churchill.
Gatividhiyan [Activities]
After Mumbai, Vadodara and Bangalore, the next "Spirituality in Corporate Culture" program was held at Surat on 23rd Feb 2008. It was very well received with Dr. Pranav Pandya ji heading the program and participation ranging from senior IAS officers to senior management people of big corporate houses in Surat like ONGC, ESSAR. Local industries were also represented. Around 40-45 big and small corporate houses were present there. Many people expressed their desire to work with Gayatri Parivar in future to further the cause of imbibing spiritual values in Corporate Culture.
Highlights of Bangalore program can be accessed from here.
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