Koshi The Holy City Posted: 10 Dec 2010 03:29 AM PST  Brahma once weighed the heavens against Kashi. And Kashi, being heavier, sank while the skies, despite all the gods who lived there, rose upwards.
Adi Shankara,
Manikarnikastotram
*
The three worlds form one city of mine, and Kashi is my royal palace therein.
Skanda Purana
*
Are there not many holy places on this earth?
Yet which of them would equal in the balance one speck of Kashi's dust?
Are there not many rivers running to the sea?
Yet which of them is like the River of Heaven in Kashi?
Are there not many fields of liberation on earth?
Yet not one equals the smallest part of the city never forsaken by Shiva.
The Ganges, Shiva and Kashi: Where this Trinity is watchful, no wonder here is found the grace that leads one on to perfect bliss.
Kashi Khanda 35. 7-10
*
Varanasi sits above the earth as a 'crossing place' or tirtha between this world and the 'far shore' of the transcendent Brahmn.
Diana L Eck
*
Varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.
Mark Twain
 Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
 A king and his courtiers set out on a winter hunting expedition, and strayed far from inhabited places. When night fell, the king spied the house of a peasant and declared, "We shall take shelter there tonight." His vizier objected, stating that it was unworthy of the great dignity of the king to take refuge in a peasant's house; would it not be better to set up camp where they were? The peasant overheard this discussion; nonetheless he prepared a meal and offered it to the king, kissed the ground at his feet, and said to him, "Your greatness will not be lessened; rather, it is my dignity that will increase." The king was pleased with these words, moved into the man's house for the night, and honored him well the next morning. As the king departed, the peasant walked a few paces with him and said: "The Sultan lost no power or splendor By accepting a peasant's hospitality. This peasant's head was illumined When you overshadowed it with your greatness." Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
 Makhdum Alauddin Ali Ahmad Sabir was asked by his Shaikh to distribute free meals to the dervishes from the langar khana. He performed this duty for twelve years but never himself ate from the kitchen. He grew so thin that his mother became worried about it and spoke to Baba Farid. The dervishes told Baba Farid why he was so thin and weak. When Baba Farid asked Alauddin why he appeared to be starving, Alauddin replied, "I was asked to feed the dervishes and not myself." Baba Farid was so happy to hear this reply that he bestowed upon on him the title of Sabir — The Patient One.
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
 In ancient times, tea was unknown beyond China. Rumors of its existence had reached other lands, and those who heard of it tried to find out what it was in accordance with their desires or imagination.
The king of Inja sent an envoy to China, who returned with a gift of tea from the Emperor. But the envoy had seen peasants drink tea, and decided that it was unfit for his royal master; he suspected that the Emperor was trying to deceive them by substituting some lesser substance for the celestial drink.
A philosopher of Anja gathered what information he could find, and determined that tea must be rare, unique and mysterious, for it was known as an herb, a beverage, green, black, at times bitter, at other times sweet. In Koshish and Bebinem, people tested every herb and liquid they could find. Many were poisoned; all were disappointed. The tea plant had never been brought to their lands, so no one could find it. Still they continued the search
The people of Mazhab knew of tea — a small bag of it was carried in their religious processions as a talisman. But no one thought or knew how to taste it. When a wise man told them to pour boiling water over it, he was hanged as an enemy of their religion, for who else but an enemy would suggest destroying their magic? Before he died, he told his secret to a few, who then managed to get some tea and drink it secretly. When someone noticed and asked what they were doing, they answered that it was a simple medicine.
It was this way throughout the world. Some had seen the bush, but did not recognize it; others had tasted tea, but thought it common, certainly not a drink of legend. Still others possessed and worshipped it. Beyond China only a few drank it, and only in secrecy.
A man of understanding spoke to the tea merchants and tea drinkers. "The one who tastes, knows. The one who tastes not, knows not. Don't speak of a heavenly beverage; offer it at your banquets and say nothing. Those who like it will ask for more; those who don't aren't fit to drink it. Close the shop of debate and mystery. Open the teahouse of experience."
Tea was soon carried on every caravan on the Silk Road. Pausing to rest, merchants made tea and offered it to their guests and companions, whether they knew the legends or not. This was how chaikhanas came to be established from Peking to Bukhara and Samarkand. And those who tasted, knew.
At first only the powerful and those who pretended to possess wisdom sought the ambrosia, then protested, "But this is only dried leaves!" or "Why do you boil water when all I want is the celestial drink?" or yet again, "Prove to me what this is. It looks like mud, not gold!" When the truth was widespread, and when tea was given to all who would taste, only fools asked such questions. And it is still that way.
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
 I heard a padshah giving orders to kill a prisoner. The helpless fellow began to insult the king on that occasion of despair, with the tongue he had, and to use foul expressions according to the saying: Who washes his hands of life Says whatever he has in his heart. When a man is in despair his tongue becomes long and he is like a vanquished cat assailing a dog. In time of need, when flight is no more possible, The hand grasps the point of the sharp sword. When the king asked what he was saying, a good-natured vezier replied: 'My lord, he says: Those who bridle their anger and forgive men; for Allah loveth the beneficent.' The king, moved with pity, forbore taking his life but another vezier, the antagonist of the former, said: 'Men of our rank ought to speak nothing but the truth in the presence of padshahs. This fellow has insulted the king and spoken unbecomingly.' The king, being displeased with these words, said: 'That lie was more acceptable to me than this truth thou hast uttered because the former proceeded from a conciliatory disposition and the latter from malignity; and wise men have said: "A falsehood resulting in conciliation is better than a truth producing trouble."' He whom the shah follows in what he says, It is a pity if he speaks anything but what is good. The following inscription was upon the portico of the hall of Feridun: O brother, the world remains with no one. Bind the heart to the Creator, it is enough. Rely not upon possessions and this world Because it has cherished many like thee and slain them. When the pure soul is about to depart, What boots it if one dies on a throne or on the ground? Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
Brahma once weighed the heavens against Kashi. And Kashi, being heavier, sank while the skies, despite all the gods who lived there, rose upwards.
Adi Shankara,
Manikarnikastotram
*
The three worlds form one city of mine, and Kashi is my royal palace therein.
Skanda Purana
*
Are there not many holy places on this earth?
Yet which of them would equal in the balance one speck of Kashi's dust?
Are there not many rivers running to the sea?
Yet which of them is like the River of Heaven in Kashi?
Are there not many fields of liberation on earth?
Yet not one equals the smallest part of the city never forsaken by Shiva.
The Ganges, Shiva and Kashi: Where this Trinity is watchful, no wonder here is found the grace that leads one on to perfect bliss.
Kashi Khanda 35. 7-10
*
Varanasi sits above the earth as a 'crossing place' or tirtha between this world and the 'far shore' of the transcendent Brahmn.
Diana L Eck
*
Varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.
Mark Twain
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
Brahma once weighed the heavens against Kashi. And Kashi, being heavier, sank while the skies, despite all the gods who lived there, rose upwards.
Adi Shankara,
Manikarnikastotram
*
The three worlds form one city of mine, and Kashi is my royal palace therein.
Skanda Purana
*
Are there not many holy places on this earth?
Yet which of them would equal in the balance one speck of Kashi's dust?
Are there not many rivers running to the sea?
Yet which of them is like the River of Heaven in Kashi?
Are there not many fields of liberation on earth?
Yet not one equals the smallest part of the city never forsaken by Shiva.
The Ganges, Shiva and Kashi: Where this Trinity is watchful, no wonder here is found the grace that leads one on to perfect bliss.
Kashi Khanda 35. 7-10
*
Varanasi sits above the earth as a 'crossing place' or tirtha between this world and the 'far shore' of the transcendent Brahmn.
Diana L Eck
*
Varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.
Mark Twain
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.
Chinese Proverb
*
By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.
Rabindranath Tagore
*
It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.
Leo Tolstoy
*
That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful.
Ninon de L'Enclos
*
Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.
Kahlil Gibran
*
Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every face, in every sky, in every flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.
Ralph W Emerson
*
Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.
Sophia Loren
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.
Chinese Proverb
*
By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.
Rabindranath Tagore
*
It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.
Leo Tolstoy
*
That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful.
Ninon de L'Enclos
*
Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.
Kahlil Gibran
*
Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every face, in every sky, in every flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.
Ralph W Emerson
*
Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.
Sophia Loren
Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
Varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.
~ Mark Twain
.
Varanasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together.
~ Mark Twain
.
Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.
~ Kahlil Gibran
Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.
~ Kahlil Gibran
 One of Napoleon’s soldiers committed a crime – the story does not explain what exactly – and he was condemned to death.
On the evening before he was due to be shot, the soldier’s mother came to plead for her son’s life to be spared.
‘Madam, your son’s action does not deserve clemency.’
‘I know,’ said the mother. ‘If it did, that would not be true forgiveness. To forgive is the ability to go beyond vengeance or justice.’
When he heard those words, Napoleon commuted the death sentence to exile. Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
 After many years of work and meditation on the best way to cross the river that ran past his house, a man created a kind of footbridge out of planks. The villagers, however, rarely used it because it seemed so precarious.
One day, an engineer appeared. With the help of the inhabitants, he built a proper bridge, which infuriated the maker of the footbridge. He would tell anyone who would listen that the engineer had failed to show due respect for his work.
‘The footbridge is still there!’ replied the other villagers. ‘It’s a monument to your years of effort and thought.’
‘Yes, but no one uses it,’ the man would reply tetchily.
‘You are a highly respected citizen and we all like you, it’s just that we find the new bridge more beautiful and more useful than your plank footbridge.’
‘But it’s crossing my river.’
‘Now, however much we may respect your work, we have to say that the river is not yours. We could wade, swim or row across it, but if people prefer to use the bridge, why not respect their wishes? Besides, how can we trust someone who, instead of trying to improve his own bridge, spends all his time criticising someone else’s?’ Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
 A man was quietly eating his breakfast. Suddenly, the piece of bread which he had just spread with butter fell to the ground.
Imagine his surprise when he looked down and saw that it had landed buttered side up! The man thought he had witnessed a miracle. Excited, he went to tell his friends what had happened, and they were all amazed because when a piece of bread falls on the floor, it always lands buttered side down, making a mess of everything.
‘Perhaps you’re a saint,’ one friend said. ‘And this is a sign from God.’
Soon the whole village knew, and they all started animatedly discussing the incident: how was it that, against all expectations, that man’s slice of bread had fallen on the floor buttered side up? Since no one could come up with a credible answer, they went to see a Teacher who lived nearby and told him the story.
The Teacher demanded one night to pray, reflect and ask for Divine inspiration. The following day, they all returned, eager for an answer.
‘It’s quite simple really,’ said the Teacher. ‘The fact is that the piece of bread fell exactly as it should have fallen, but the butter had been spread on the wrong side.’ Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
 A man arrived in a village carrying a mysterious bugle decorated with red and yellow rags, glass beads and animal bones.
‘This bugle can drive away tigers,’ said the man. ‘From this day forth, for a modest daily fee, I will play the bugle every morning and you will never be eaten by those terrible animals.’
Terrified by the threat of attack by a wild animal, the inhabitants of the village agreed to pay what the newcomer asked.
Many years passed, the owner of the bugle grew rich and built himself a magnificent castle. One morning, a boy who was passing through the village, asked who the owner of the castle was. When he heard the story, he decided to go and talk to the man.
‘I was told that you have a bugle that can drive away tigers,’ said the boy. ‘But there are no tigers in this country.’
The man immediately called together all the villagers and asked the boy to repeat what he had said.
‘Did you hear that?’ cried the man as soon as the boy had finished speaking. ‘There you have irrefutable proof of the power of my bugle!’ Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
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Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You
