A man was offered the chance to visit Heaven and Hell. Upon entering Hell he was greeted by the sight of an infinitely long room filled with tables laden with the finest of foods, meat, fruit, wine and all manner of delicacies. But around the tables sat groups of starving people, crying out in their hunger. He realised that each person was holding a spoon, but the spoons were so long that they were unable to feed themselves.
He then went to Heaven and was surprised to see exactly the same scene. The same room was filled with the same tables, covered with the same food. But this time, around the tables sat groups of well fed, happy people. They too were holding spoons, the same length as those poor souls in Hell. The difference was that these people were feeding each other and so could eat as much as their hearts desired.
Here on Earth, that might just be the difference between our own personal Heaven or Hell. Helping others, in Buddhism, also helps us, indirectly, through the accumulation of positive karma. But whether you are Buddhist or not, helping others is the best way to make life better for everyone, and in this festive season, can give us all a wonderfully warm feeling.
What a wheeze, the company Christmas bash, held in the Cumberland hotel, Bournemouth was everything, and more, that I expected this evening. Having never been a huge fan of taking taxis, nor getting blotto on corporate hospitality, I was one of the more sober ones tonight, and what fun!
We must never underestimate the power the mind has over our bodies. If we can remain positive, with high life-energy and in one of the higher worlds, not only will our bodies respond positively, but also those around us will feel more positive too. If we allow negativity to creep in the battle will be all the harder, and we will find that we do not inspire those who need our support to try that little bit harder to support themselves.
I know, I’m always going on about this brilliant book, but The Buddha, Geoff and Me is the perfect Christmas gift for the Buddhist in your life (if that isn’t an oxymoron).
Do you ever have one of those days, where everything you touch turns to gold? Well today has been just such a day. Not in terms of financial gain, but in terms of resolving problems and making great strides, all in the right direction. On the face of it, today could have been a disaster. I was the only IT professional in the office, Knobby No-Mates, all alone and left to face the oncoming hordes, and the date was 13/12/11 … rather spookily.
On a very wet and windy night in west London, my life-long team Chelsea have tonight snatched a fantastic victory from the jaws of what seemed, early on, a horrible defeat. Having gone a goal down, inside two minutes, to a wonderfully gifted Manchester City side, Chelsea clawed their way back into the game and drew level ten minutes before half time.
Another day of dealing with work issues, so it wasn’t a problem that it was cold and miserable outside. Of course I miss getting out on the bike, but it will still be there when the weather improves and the workload subsides. The best bit about getting stuck into a whole heap of work, is that it won’t be sitting there waiting for me in the morning.
It may be the weekend, but that doesn’t mean that we can take our foot off the software support pedal. As with most websites, our traffic is higher in the evenings and at the weekends, when people who work all week have the time to surf the web.
The Search For Enlightenment 
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