Distance between the truth and lie

Sloka for the day:
Gnyaana Shakti Samaaroodah
Tatwa Maalaa Vibhooshitaha
Bhukti Mukti Pradaaneyna
Tasmai sri Gurave Namaha.
The one who is an ocean of knowledge, who is always in Yoga (in unison With God) who is adorned by the knowledge of the God principle, the One Who can liberate us from this mundane existence, I salute such a Guru.
Story:
Most of the people in Akbar's court envied birbal. They envied for the increasing popularity and recognition gained by him in the kingdom of Akbar.They decided to find a way to send birbal out of the court. So, they spread false stories to defame birbal. Akbar came to know about them. In the beginning, Akbar did not believe any of those stories. But, slowly he was also lead to think whether the stories could be true.One day, there was a heated discussion on the court. The subject was Truth and lie. Brilliant ministers and poets were discussing about the significance of truth and evils of lies.Akbar was silently observing all the discussions. Suddenly he asked, "How far is the truth away from the lie?"Nobody could understand and answer the question. They preferred to keep quiet.Then, the emperor turned to Birbal and asked him, "Birbal . Do you know the answer it?""Oh king! The truth is only four fingers distance away from the lie" replied Birbal.Everyone was puzzled. They started thinking. "Truth and lie are abstracts. When they don't have physical dimensions, how one can find the distance between a truth and a lie?" They thought that Birbal has got his tongue slipped this time. They were happy that now Birbal would find himself in a wrong spot."How is that Birbal? Explain me in detail" ordered Akbar." king, what we hear through our ears is alse. whereas, what we see through our eyes is always true. now you can measure the distance between your ears that takes a lie and the eyes which confirm the truth. Is it not a distance of our four fingers? So, the distance between the ear and an eye is the distance between a truth and a lie" concluded Birbal.Akbar was overjoyed and forget what the others spoke about Birbal. From then on, he decided that one should come to the conclusion only ofter seeing with his own eyes.

Stranger and the cookies

sloka for the day:

Chaitanyah Shaashwatah Shaantho

Vyomaateeto Niranjanaha

Bindu Naada Kalaateetaha

Tasmai Sri Gurave Namaha.

That Guru who is the representative of the unchangeable, ever present, peaceful spirit, who is one pointed and beyond the realm of space and time, whose vision is always enchanting, I salute such a Guru.

Story:

A woman was waiting at the airport one night,With several long hours before her flight.She hunted for a book in the airport shop,Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.She was engrossed in her book, but happened to see,That the man beside her, as bold as could be,Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between,Which she tried to ignore, to avoid a scene.She read, munched cookies, and watched the clock,As the gutsy “cookie thief” diminished her stock.She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,Thinking, “If I wasn’t so nice, I’d blackened his eye!”With each cookie she took, he took one too.When only one was left, she wondered what he’d do.With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh,He took the last cookie and broke it in half.He offered her half, as he ate the other.She snatched it from him and thought, “Oh brother,This guy has some nerve, and he’s also rude,Why, he didn’t even show any gratitude!”She had never known when she had been so galled,And sighed with relief when her flight was called.She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate,Refusing to look back at the “thieving ingrate.”
She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,Then sought her book, which was almost complete.As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise.There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes!“If mine are here,” she moaned with despair,“Then the others were his and he tried to share!”Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,That she was the rude one…the ingrate…the thief!