The Story Of Broklyn Bridge

 Working together for the first time, the father and son developed Concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be Over come. In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an Idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. 

It was not practical. It had never been done before.Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge.He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a Tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

“We told them so.”“Crazy men and their crazy dreams.”

“It`s foolish to chase wild visions.”Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project Should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever. He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment. It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. 

Suddenly an Idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife. He touched his wife’s arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on His wife’s arm, until the bridge was finally completed.Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man’s indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. 


It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that Over comes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem Very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realized with Determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are. 

The Unseen Blessings!

A young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.


As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.


Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible. Angrily,he raised his voice at his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy book.


Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care things.When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.


He began to search his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation,and the words...PAID IN FULL.


How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packages as we expected?

Peace of Mind

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were travelling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there.”


The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!” So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”
After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.


Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be ... and the mud settled down on its own – and you got clear water... Your mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”


What did Buddha emphasize here? 
He said, “It is effortless.” Having 'peace of mind' is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process. When there is peace inside you, that peace permeates to the outside. It spreads around you and in the environment, such that people around start feeling that peace and grace.

You Need To Overcome Fear

By: Swami Sukhabodhananda

Most often, our lives are wasted in fear! In order to drive away darkness from his house, one man was found carrying out bucket-loads of darkness and emptying them a futile task. His preoccupation with driving out darkness took him nowhere. Darkness is absence of light. If only he had attempted to light a small lamp, darkness would have disappeared!

Fear is like darkness. Absence of love is fear. Once the lamp of love is lit, fear would disappear. How does love blossom between a man and a woman, for example Love is born out of trust. If two individuals don't trust each other, there can be no love or affection between them.

Here's a Sufi story: Mullah Nasruddin was married just that morning. The same night, he and his wife were travelling in a boat across a river, along with their relatives. Suddenly, a storm broke out, making the river turbulent. The boat was rocking wildly. Everyone including the bride was full of fear. But Mullah Nasruddin remained calm. The surprised bride asked, "Arent you afraid?" Mullah, without replying, took out a dagger from his waistband and raised it as though he was going to slit her throat. There was no reaction on her face. He asked, "Are you not afraid of the dagger?" and she said, "The dagger could be dangerous, but the person who is holding it, is my loving husband. So I am not afraid. Exactly! " exclaimed Mullah. These waves may be dangerous but Allah who is moving them is full of love. So I am not afraid!

Mullah Nasruddin had implicit faith in Allah. Hence, he was loving and compassionate. Without love and compassion even Mullah would have trembled with fright, just like others in the boat.

If we are afraid, it only means that we do not trust existence.

We would have come across many who say, I am God-fearing! This is nonsense. We should love God, not fear Him. It should be God loving, not God fearing.

Swami Vivekananda said, 'Be fearless'. Fearlessness is the message of the Upanishads. Some go from one astrologer to another with their horoscopes to find out when death would strike them. To them, horoscopes are horrorscopes. They are more afraid of when they would die rather than what they would do while alive. This fear could devastate them both mentally and physically.

While talking about mortal fear, Rabindranath Tagore said, "Long before you were born in this world, compassionately, God made sure that there was milk in your mothers breast. So, have faith."

Those of you who are afraid... plan for your future; there is no harm in that. But when you fear the future, it will ruin your happiness. In order to protect your wealth, plan where to keep it safe; plan how to insure it against theft. To live in fear, without doing any of these things is meaningless.

Instead of conjuring fearful images like, 'What if I fail in the examination?' and thus spending time weakening yourself, use it fruitfully to prepare and pass the examination. Life is a series of examinations; we need to pass them with flying colours. This is a gift we can offer to God. Faith does not crave for miracles. But it often happens miraculously. Faith does not move mountains but gives the power to climb one. Help is just a prayers length away. Good understanding is better than silver or gold. So experience the richness of love and fearlessness.