The palace and the hut

Part One: As night fell and the light glittered in the great house, the servants stood at the massive door awaiting the coming of the guests; and upon their velvet garments shown golden buttons. The magnificent carriages drew into the palace park and the nobles entered, dressed in gorgeous raiment and decorated with jewels. The instruments filled the air with pleasant melodies while the dignitaries danced to the soothing music. At midnight the finest and most palatable foods were served on a beautiful table embellished with all kinds of the rarest flowers. The feasters dined and drank abundantly, until the sequence of the wine began to play its part. At dawn the throng dispersed boisterously, after spending a long night of intoxication and gluttony which hurried their worn bodies into their deep beds with unnatural sleep. Part Two: At eventide, a man attired in the dress of heavy work stood before the door of his small house and knocked at the door. As it opened, he entered and greeted the occupants in a cheerful manner, and then sat between his children who were playing at the fireplace. In a short time, his wife had the meal prepared and they sat at a wooden table consuming their food. After eating they gathered around the oil lamp and talked of the day's events. When the early night had lapsed, all stood silently and surrendered themselves to the King of Slumber with a song of praise and a prayer of gratitude on their lips.

Cause and effect

How long can the lava retain its heat after leaving the volcano?
If you remove sun from the sunrays,
there are no more sunrays.
If you remove gold from the necklace,
there is no more a necklace.
Where is the question of an effect without the cause?
If you remove cause from the effect, then nothing remains.

Excerpted from 'Frozen Thoughts' Vol. 10: Issue 8 (February, 2011)

Novel or Life

"The chapters of the life need to unfold them on themselves. The more you try to flip the pages to unfold the mystery of life, more mysterious it becomes.....Treat life like a Mystery Novel read it only when the turn of the... page comes, don't flip pages to unfold the mystery, lest you might have to revisit the pages you flipped but didn't read.... " ~ Mayank

No one owns anyone

“No one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it.” ~ Alchemist Paulo Coelho

Love and freedom

“Freedom only exists when love is present. The person, who gives him or herself wholly, the person who feels freest, is the person who loves the most.” ~ Alchemist Paulo Coelho

Are we listening?

Whether it is teaching, learning, building relationship, or selling – a good listener will always have an edge over others. A good listener will not listen to the words, but he will also listen and understand the emotions behind those words. He will not only listen to what is being spoken, but he will also catch the unspoken messages, and that’s complete listening.
Excerpted from 'Frozen Thoughts' Vol. 10: Issue 7 (January, 2011)

Allow the unexpected

“You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.” ~ Alchemist Paulo Coelho