Work is What You Make of It

Work and mentally renounce the fruits achieved thereafter. Don't let the shadow of personal prejudice affect how you perceive work. This is the essence of karma yoga. The wise work for common benefit whereas the ignorant work only for themselves or their near and dear ones. A farmer has control over how he works in his fields, but not over the harvest. Krishna tells Arjun: "Yoga is karmasu kausaalam doing work skillfully in the first attempt".

Work is external but our attitude to it is internal. A certain attitude may make us feel work is miserable while another kind of attitude makes it pleasant. By cultivating the right attitude, we will become spiritual. That is meditation.

Once in a village several people were engaged in construction of a temple. A wandering sage passing by wants to know what is happening there, so he asks a person cutting stone: "What are you doing"?

The labor replies with frustration: Don't you see that I am cutting stone? It's a hard stone. Look at my hands! They have become red. Work is hell. And to make matters worse, you ask me what I am doing. How I wish were not doing this! "The sage asks, "I see you are cutting stone, but let me know what is coming up here?" The stone cutter replies that he has no idea; it does not concern him. He is disinterested.

The sage next goes to another man and asks him the same question: "What are you doing? The man replied "I am cutting stone here; that's my job. For eight hours of work I get paid Rs 100. I have a wife and children to take care of. I am doing my duty."

The sage asks him: "Do you know what is coming up here?" He says: "Yes, they say they're making a temple. How does it matter to me, whether what is being constructed is a temple or a jail, as long as I get paid?"

Then the sage goes to a third worker who is also cutting stone and poses the same question. The man replies: "We are building a temple. There is no temple here; every year at festivals we have to trek to the temple in the next village. You know, every time I hit the stone I hear wonderful music. The temple work has put the sleepy village in a festive mood.

The sage asks: "How long do you have to work on this project?" The man says the timeline is not his concern for as soon as he wakes up in the morning, he gets ready for work and begins cutting stone. He tells the sage that he spends the entire day here, taking a break between mealtimes. "When I go home in the night and sleep, in my dream I think of this construction and feel grateful that I enjoy the work I do. I am truly blessed," he said.

Three men doing the same work have three different attitudes. The first person thinks its hell the second looks upon his work as his duty.

However, the third worker thinks what he is able to do is a blessing. If the work itself had the qualities inherently, good or bad, then these three men might have felt the same. But in reality, it's not the work that disturbs us but something that's subtler; it's the attitude we have towards work.

Devotion & Love

The path to the Un-manifest is very difficult for embodied souls to realize…. But quickly I come to those who offer me every action, who worship me only, their dearest delight, with undaunted devotion. Because they love me, these are my bondsmen, and I shall save them from mortal sorrow and all the waves of life's deathly ocean. (Bhagavad Gita 12.5-7)

He is the Living One; there is no god but He; call upon Him, giving Him sincere devotion. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds! (Quuran 40:65)

If you desire to live in the world unattached you should first practice devotion in solitude for some time….. You should meditate constantly upon God and pray to Him for Divine Love. (Ramkrishna Paramhansa)

Work in the Peace Mood for the Welfare of the Society

Meaning: The line of Rigved 1/147/3 gives us the instruction about our work - "One must not be afraid of slander, sigma, ridicule etc in the works for others' welfare. God himself protects such people. Therefore, free from all worries, one must become involved in activity for people's welfare.

Message: The word 'paropakaar' means doing good to others or obliging others. The meaningfulness of human life lies in being useful to others. He, who does not help others despite having the power, is like an animal. Everyone lives for himself, but the excellence of a man's life can be guessed by how much he has lived for others. Man goes on working for maintaining his existence, but his divinity is revealed by how much he has worked for others.

Every man requires the cooperation of others. The biggest and the most capable man also need cooperation from others. The human life's grace and glory increases by works of welfare. A truly obliging person always remains cheerful and experiences inner joy and divine light. The extent to which a man obliges others, he comes that much closer to God. 'Satpurush' (good, saintly men) are those who do good to others without any type of selfishness. For doing good to others, it is necessary to give up narrow thinking.

What is 'paropakar' or obliging others? If we look carefully, it is in 3 stages - advice, help in achievement and financial help. We should advice the people on the basis of personal worth, capacity and experience. Beneficial advice at the proper time works like a beam of light in a man's life. Similarly, whenever possible, wherever possible one should help others in carrying out their work properly and one should also not hesitate in giving financial help.

It is not easy to do welfare-work. Many obstacles come in the way and they disturb the mind. The fact is that the sentiment for helping others is aroused in us as a result of the influence of innumerable virtuous deeds and when we are trying to help others, friends and companions ridicule us, and by various allegations drain away our enthusiasm. It is also a fact that people have turned social welfare work into a profession and under the cover of social work, they are busy making money. In such an incongruent situation, a true social welfare worker finds it difficult to protect his self-respect. He has to suffer all kinds of resistance. But he should remember that by obliging others, good tendencies leading towards purity fill his hearts which guide him to the good path. A man doing good deeds is neither destroyed nor suffers downfall. God protects him every moment in every way.

We shall do our duty without worrying about "what other will say".

Will You Marry With Gottra?

Would you yourself marry within the same gotra? Asked Naveen Jindal, the two times Congress MP and icon of young India. It was an interview with TOI where the tables had suddenly been turned. "Yes", said the perplexed reporter. Jindal persisted, "will your parents also not haave any problem"?

When he received "no" for an answer, Jindal insisted that the reporter call up her mother. "Let me speak to your mom and ask her", he said.

"Do you rally want to speak to her"? He answered in the affirmative. "You call her now and let me hear what she has to say", said the 40 years old tycoon and graduate of University of Texas Business School.

The reporter telephoned her parent and asked if she would have a problem if she wanted to marry a boy of the same gottra. Jindal asked for the speaker phone to be switched on and heard the parent reply "NO", even as she followed it up with the suspicious question, "but why do you ask"?

Eventually, the MP took the correspondent's mobile and spoke to her mother to check for himself. When the older lady took Jindal to task for promoting regressive castes views, he tried to defend himself: "No, I am not encouraging any thing (bad)", even as he sought her opinion on what was "the way around" if a same gotra marriage had to be allowed in a north Indian Hindu family.

Universal

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Bible)

May we unite in our mind, unite in our purposes, and not fight against the divine spirit within us. (Atherva Veda)

Set your faces towards unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you. Gather ye together, and for the sake of God resolve to among you. (Baha'u'llah)

When we really begin to live in the world, then we understand what is meant by brotherhood or mankind, and not before. (Swami Vivekananda)

True happiness comes from a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one other and the planet we share. (Dalai Lama)

We are all the Same Really

To be able to see all things as one, you have to be in a state of mind that does not differentiate between like and dislikes that are manifested in those we are looking at. Vedanta says the universe is the supreme. Absolute from which all evolved. Shankara writes in the Atma Bodha that Self of all is like the sun and the attitude we develop are like clouds that hide the sun.

When we look at a person beyond his attitudes, we find that we are all of the same eternal self luminous atma. Sages see with an equal eye, a learned and humble Brahmin, a cow, an elephant or Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita Gita 5.18

A merchant goes to a wood sculptor and asks him to make an idol of Krishna in sandalwood. The sculptor requests for 15 days' time to locate the right sandalwood to commence work. Not finding a suitable piece of wood, he goes to the merchant's house to tell him of his inability to make the idol. The merchant is away and his wife asks him to wait. The sculptor's eye falls on a wooden log in a corner of the room. He asks the merchant's wife if he could take it. With her permission, he chisels out an enchanting image of Krishna.

On seeing the idol the merchant praises the work; he could not believe that the wooden log which was there all the time in his house was used to make the fine idol. Then the sculptor says that all he had done was to remove the unwanted parts of the wood so that what remained was the image of Krishna. Similarly, we have to remove all irrelevant identities in us so that the Self in us shines forth.

That homogenous mass of pure consciousness that is present in all of us is termed as Atma. It is timeless and eternal, says Krishna in the Gita.

The nature of self is sat, chit and ananda. Pure consciousness continues to survive after the death of the body. It is immortal; hence it is called sat. Consciousness is as Chaitanya. It is not limited by time or space and hence is limitless, that is ananta. Hence it is known as ananda which means a sense of completeness, a sense of fulfillment.

The eternal self is the ultimate phase, like gold, while the name and form of an individual is like that of gold jeweler. Some may not like the making of the jewel but the gold that is in it is not inferior. The face value of a currency notes is the same even if it is soiled. Every individual is the same like gold and the intrinsic value of a currency note. This is what Shankara tries to convey through the prism of advaita philosophy.

The dvaita philosophy of Madhana endorse the need for every individual to live life in a way that enables one to take out or forge an attractive jewel out the gold or clean the currency note so that it becomes new and crisp. Both these great exponents of philosophy, of advaita and dvaita, have really said the same thing but in different ways.

Shankara asks us to see others in the same perspective as we see ourselves. Madhava explains to us that even though others see us in the same perspective as they see themselves, it is righteousness to live a quality life.

World Communication day

With the mind resting on me, with the senses absorbed in Me, constantly discussing this Truth, constantly speaking with Me (remain connected). (Bhagavad Gita 10.9)

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. (Bible 2.186)

Your Lord says, "Call on me; I will answer your prayer. (Qurana 40.60)

God within cannot be apprehended by the eyes, by words, by any of the senses, by mortification of the flesh or by rituals. When the understanding becomes clear and the essential character becomes purified, then in meditation one realizes Him, the one and only God. (Mundakopanishad)

The Powerful Time

Meaning: The line of Athervaved 19/53/1 has defined that - the time that lapses today will never come back. The Time is very powerful - knowing this fact, the knowledgeable ones put is to good use

Message: Time is the most valuable wealth in human life. Every type of success can be achieved in the world by the good use of time, and all comforts and luxuries can be purchased. Day, nights, months, and years are passing and time is running on and on. Howsoever much you run after it, the time that has elapsed, can never return.

In the above mantra many qualities of time have been depicted. Just as the sun is bright with the seven colors of light, similarly time also shines. Just as the authority of the sun is the main one in the world. Similarly, the importance of time is also accepted. Time with its hundreds of eyes is continuously observing everyone. In the cycle of days and nights and seasons and years and eras of time, the world is constantly on the move. Time remains uniform throughout and is extremely powerful.

All the works of activities in this world are bond within the boundaries of geography and time. Except for God and the souls, everything else is bound by the shackles of time. Only the knowledgeable, wise and intelligent man controls time, which mans that a person who has a high aim in life, he only can make good use of time and defeat time.

Time is more valuable than money. In everything in this world, the importance of time is supreme, above all. Those who understand the value of time, never waste it. Those who waste it are themselves destroyed by it. Time is a treasure for good life and prosperity. Only by the good use of time man's life becomes good and pure. Just because life is perishable, it does not mean that time should be wasted. On the contrary, from it we should get the inspiration that we should not allow this wealth to go waste and we should achieve the maximum benefit by the good use of time. This secret of success in the life is also that prescribed work should be carried out at the prescribed time. But today, whomsoever you see merely goes on wasting his time. Every work is carried out with the only aim of passing the time. People spend their time in laziness, sleeping and gossiping and claim that they re very busy. Even now if we keep our eyes closed to reality, then time will destroy us.

The Hindi proverb is 'kal kare so aaj kar, aaj kare so ab' which means 'whatever is to be done tomorrow, do it today and whatever is to be done today, do it right now'. We must adopt this view point. Tomorrow, never dawns. It is available every moment in the present time. Therefore only that person, who takes advantage of the present, creates his own future and wins over the time.

The best quality of man's character means making good use of time.

Transformation with Self-Awareness

Progressing on the spiritual path is no easy task; just as in any other endeavor - in fact, perhaps more so in this come in the obstacles could be so daunting that a seeker faces unique challenges that only he can try to overcome. "That's because no one can really spell out a tried and tested formula and say, "look, this is the way you do it." How you connect to the spiritual realm is something you as an individual seeker need to work out for yourself, through trial and error and with some guidance and soul searching.

Those who offer their services in this respect to guide and show the path that would lead to realization and liberation - are so many that the very exercise of choosing the right teacher or guru becomes in itself a difficult challenge. And there are those who though realized masters themselves, would prefer not to get into the domain of guiding or teaching others……. trying to put into words and thoughts that which might help another see the light.

The best way for awareness of self to happen is slowly, from within, like daybreak when the brightness of the sun is experienced very gently, until it shines forth steadily. Such an experience of self awareness would need to happen out of the complete and expectant emptiness of mind, something that waits in hushed silence to be brought forth with divine intervention and the effort put in by the seeker.

This way, as something that comes from within, self-awareness would help the individual seeker make that cosmic connection with the universal intelligence. You feel it as an effulgent presence, a consciousness that is pristine pure, completely free of any thought. In fact, we cannot grasp the quintessence of spirituality through thinking at all.

Elkhart Tolle says: "It is the spiritual dimension which alone can give transcendent and true meaning to this world….. While we cannot come to grips with the core of spirituality through our mind and brain, we can subliminally sense it from the core of our being if our restless mind doesn't continue its incessant chatter".

The soul already has a subliminal sensing of an abiding awareness; an awareness with no object. So once it picks up the spiritual cue again, there will be an intense and soulful reconnect with an intense consciousness and piercing clarity. When such a spiritual moment happens, you feel intensely alive and aware.

Psychologist David Steindler Rast described it thus: "Our spiritual moments are those moments when we feel most intensely alive."

A sinner once sought a sage's advice on what should he do if he wanted to reform himself. The sage advised him to just lead a normal life and continue to do whatever he felt like doing. He had only to be deeply aware of whatever he was doing or going to do, and then go ahead and do it. The sinner appeared to be going through some intense internal churning when he again ran into the saint. He confessed to him that he was leading an absolutely virtuous life; because with a sense of self awareness he was finding it nearly impossible to do anything wrong.

If we consciously try to enhance our awareness of the here and now, and become as sensitive as an aspen or a weather vane to the totality of existence at the present moment, the subconscious dependence of the soul on material objects will disappear into thin air. And so will our dependence on, and identification with our mind. The fire of suffering then gets transformed into the light of consciousness.

The Global Language

At the 1920 meeting of the newly founded League of Nations in Geneva, India - a member state represented by Maharaja Khengarji - joined China, Persia and eight other countries in urging the League to take Esperanto seriously. Teaching this easy to learn link language to school children might help shape a viable post war world they felt. The League's vice secretary general, Inazo Nitobe, submitted a positive report. In 1921 India, China, Persia, Japan and nine other countries sponsored a favorable resolution. France vetoed it. Setbacks like this veto - or the 1935 defeat of feminist legislation in the US - make the movements stronger and more articulate. When we look at the way Esperanto has been recontextualized over the decades, it turns out that at every stage there were a few Indians making significant individual contributions.

Maharaja Khengarji III Ketch didn't know Esperanto. That he supported it possibly had something to do with Irish Jehangir Sorabji Taraporewala (1884-1957), a highly visible linguist. As a translator of Tagore, Taraporewala was the first Indian to make it into print in Esperanto. There is an unbroken chain of distinguished Indians publishing in Esperanto, from Taraporewala to Ashwini Kumar and Badal Sircar. But the biggest achiever in this domain was Lakshmiswar Sinha (1905-1977) of Santineketan.

In 1928 Tagore sent Sinha off to Sweden to get some training in the handicraft based pedagogic system called ' sloyd'. Sinha proceeded to learn Esperanto from his new friends in Sweden and promptly became a legend. He published half a dozen books, lectured in 10 European countries, made friends everywhere - their children have fond memories of him to this day - and Esperanto and India on each other's map. His is a key name in the story of work for cultural equity across literary regions.

Sinha's translation of short stories by Tagore, published in 1961, was designated by Universal Esperanto Association (UEA) as the first book in its 'Oriento Okcidento' series. Launched in the context of UNECO's global program for educational and cultural transformation, this series is one place where UEA, on of UNESCO's formal partners, promotes the goal of providing everybody with the equitable diet of cross-cultural reading that they are entitled to.

"But people read each other anyway"! You exclaim. "An overwhelming number of books get translated into English; doesn't that count as global dialogue? It does; but I put it to you that ordinary people reading world literature through English do not run into Lord Tadeusz by Mickkkiewicz of Poland, or Seven Brothers by Kivi of Finland or The Tragedy of Man by Madach of Hungary. But adult readers in Esperanto count as illiterate if they are unfamiliar with these major nineteenth century classics, translated by iconic Esperanto authors like Grabowski, Setala and Kalocsay. This is not about a couple of token peaks; UESS's series is just official applause for a fraction of the work routinely done by Esperanto translators. Catalan author Abel Montegut has shown that the Esperanto translation basket is far more equitable in terms of cross regional representation than the baskets in other major translation vehicles.

Recent extensions of the enterprise are based on Esperanto translations of literacy works that have not been rendered into English. A 2007 Euro Indian project had a Croatian children's classic by Ivana Brlic Mazomanie translated into Bangla through an Esperanto translation. Esperanto's transparent word architecture makes these bridge versions hug their originals very closely. New partners form Italy and Slovenia and EU support have made possible a bigger 2008-10 project. - Publishing children's novels from Croatia,, Italy and Slovenia in Bangla and a Bangla children's novel in Slovenian etx. The public likes the books; if they didn't, we would know we weren't addressing a seriously felt need. Sinha, personally a life long anti-elitist, was part of the transition from our reaching for the elite sky in 1920 to our inter local work today.

Successful Life

Meaning: Rigved 3/16/5 alert us that - Let us be intelligent, brave and wealthy for making our life successful. Let us not be slanderers, deceitful, back-biters and disrespectful. Let us not be deprived of intelligence, so that we can remain happy throughout life and continue worshipping God.

Message: Every man wants to be happy. For that he makes various plans and develops the means for that with his intelligence and capacity. Along with that the undisputed fact remains that he is not liberated from sorrow. There are such a large number of reasons for causing sorrow that some kind of sorrow will overtake the man, howsoever much careful he may be. Even the highly knowledgeable and wealthy people cannot save themselves form it. In reality there re very many means of comfort in the world, but even men surrounded with such means too remain unhappy. In such a situation, when man is not able to save himself, he should desire that he be mentally prepared to welcome sorrow or unhappiness. In this way he will not be influenced by the intensity of sorrow.

The meaningfulness of our worth and insight is in our becoming calm, serious and brave and overcoming every type of trouble smilingly. We should always remember that when the days of happiness no longer exist, then these unhappy days will also be over quickly. A negative attitude towards life also makes a person unhappy. One must always try to save oneself from it. If a person always goes on thinking about a situation of shortages in life, then also he will be troubled by unhappiness. He should think that whatever he has received, or whatever he is receiving is because of the endless benevolence of God and for his happiness only.

Most of the sorrows are created by man himself through his ignorance, perverse nature, deceit and selfishness. He Himself has invited his own destruction. This itself is the reason for his pitiable condition. First the man creates such an atmosphere by his bad tendencies and vices that difficulties surround him from all sides. In such a situation his discretion and patience get destroyed and he is not able to find a way out of these troubles. He finds unbearable the advice given to him by others. This type of mental distortion does the work of increasing his sorrow even more.

To be liberated from sorrows, man has to help himself. The consolation from others does not give any particular benefit. All the sorrows of man get destroyed by remaining happy according to the direction given in the holy Gita. If the person can cultivate a habit of laughing and smiling then his mind becomes steady very quickly and in that way, he can definitely increase his happiness.

Sukh dukh ya sansar mein, sub kahu ko hoy,

gyani kaate gyan se, murkha kaate roy.

This Hindi saying means, everyone in this world gets troubles, but the wise person cuts them away with knowledge, but the foolish whiles away his time in crying.

This is the only measure of the meaningfulness of our knowledge.

Spiral of Life

We should worship lord Shiva so that we are freed from our worldly attachments just like a fruit falls from a tree after ripening. Once we are successful in doing this we are liberated from this vicious cycle of life and death. (Yajur Veda)

I died as a mineral and became a plant, I died as plant and rose to animal, I died as animal and I was Man, Why should I fear?

When was I less by dying? Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar with angel bliss's; but even from angelhood I must pass on; all except God doth perish. When I have sacrificed my angel soul, I shall become what no mind ever conceived. Oh, let me not exist! For Non-existence Proclaims in organ tones, To Him we shall return. (Jalalluddin Rumi)

Strive Firmly

Meaning: The line of Rigved 10/117/4 says that — "Those who do not repay the debt of their obligation, who are stingy about giving their service to others, nobody in this world is their well-wisher. Therefore, man must always be generous by nature.

Message: Man is but an infinitesimal part of the vase creation of God. God has created innumerable, countless living species of animal-life and plant-life and among the plants various shrubs, trees, vegetables and medicinal plants and herbs. He has also crated water, earth, sky, wind, Sun, Moon, stars etc. Among all these he has created the human-body with a special aim. Only because of the wonderful grace or benevolence of the Supreme Father this divine creation, i.e. the human body, has obtained the best skills. Whatever has been created in the world is for his use and consumption. Even though we know this fact, we show stinginess in expressing our gratitude to Him. Instead of being grateful to Him, we become proud ourselves.

God's directive is 'tyaktena bhoonjitha ma grudhaha' which means consume with n attitude of renunciation and do not be greedy. But we want to have everything and every moment we are immersed in selfishness. First and foremost we must express our gratitude to that vast Almighty and as directed by Him we should work for the welfare of all by giving up selfishness.

Man cannot be aloof even in the day-to-day life. Every time he receives cooperation from one or the other, and therefore he has been able to achieve this much progress. No matter however much insight and capacity we possess, it is almost impossible to do anything without others' cooperation. We should liberally express our thanks to all our associated, big or small. Without making any distinction of young or old, high or low, we should try to repay them to the maximum extent for their help. Those who show stinginess in this are committing grave sins and are permanently deprived of God's grace.

It is unfortunate that man always thinks that his ultimate objective lies in nourishing his body, indulging his senses, loving the family members and relatives, and as such, he spends his entire life in these only. Trapped in these worldly affairs he neglects the values of life and receives society's contempt. In times of his need, nobody comes to serve and help him. Nobody is his well-wisher. Even the society condemns a man who does not thank others, does not cooperate with others and is always immersed in his own world.

We should strive to firmly establish our ideal values of life and should not be miser in expressing our gratitude for the cooperation we receive from various living beings from our birth to death. We should try to be of maximum service to them in return for all the obligations. It is our supreme duty to express our gratitude to God, our Supreme Father.

Na sa sakhaa yon a dadaati sakhye

sachaabhuve sachamaanaaya pitvaha

apaasmaatprey yaanna tadoko asti

prunantamanyamaranum chidichchhet (Rigvved 10/117/4)

Secret of Success in Life

Meaning: In the line of Rigved 10/12/2 and Yajurved 25/13 we can find the secret of success in life. Which states that — "O Lord of the soul, the mind and the body! We remain alive when we follow your laws and rules i.e. carry out god deeds. We are destroyed by bad deeds; therefore may we always walk on the good path".

Message: The Lord of this creation is God. After creating everything he has also fixed its limits. Every type of matter and animal fulfills God's aims by remaining within its fixed limits. It is only man who makes more bad use of his intelligence and nature and goes on the bad path. The entire structure of religion, its traditions, beliefs and faith are for the aim that man should spend his life within the limits prescribed for him.

The basis of religion is faith and trust in God. When man plans his deeds, under the rules of God by trust in God's omnipresence, (presence everywhere), then that belief is capable of preventing his bad activities. None of our conduct or emotion can be hidden from the eyes of the omnipresent God, and sooner or later that God, present in every particle, will punish us also for bad deeds. We can throw dust in the eyes of the society but one cannot hide anything from Him. This belief saves us from sinful deeds. Most of our bad activities go on because we are cleverly able to save ourselves form governmental or societal punishment. But such cleverness does not work before God. Only on that basis is man afraid of sins and forced to lead a gentlemanly life within the required limits, and his soul, mind and body, all three become clean and pure.

To-day perversities are a plenty in every direction. Faith has also been perverted. People falsely think that by a little sycophancy and by making presents of gifts, God can be bribed and taken on our side, big rewards can be obtained despite being unworthy and one can escape punishment for the sins also. Because of this wrong attitude only, people all around are busy in wrong deeds and destroying themselves. There is no solution except liberation from this false notion. Without following God's rules, it is not possible to achieve naturalness in life. God has given this human body to us for cooperation in the progressive of all in the society by doing good deeds. It is our pious duty to follow this directive of God.

For that every day man must take out some time and worship God. One should try to imagine Him within the soul by thinking of His qualities. One who remains under His beneficial shelter does not have any mental anguish in his life and for him even death is like sweet nectar. That 'Paramatma' or Supreme Soul within our soul makes us immortal on the basis of our excellent deeds.

This is the secret of a successful life.

Ya atmadaa baladaa yasya vishwa,

Oopaasate prashishum yasya devaahaa,

Yasya chhayaamrutum yasya mrutyuhu,

Kasmai devaaya havisha vidhem. (Rig 10/12/2 and Yaju 25/13)

Penal Code Embodies Tenets of Islam, Hinduism

Religious Harmony

Gujrat High court has observed that Indian Penal Code embodied the basic tenets of Islam and Hinduism that attack is permissible for self deference only and not to inflict injury to others. The order also defined Hinduism and the concept of Jihad in detail.

Upholding a seven year jail term awarded to two Muslims by a special Pota court in a firing incident on Surat based lawyer Hasmukh Lawala in 2002, a Bench comprising Justice Jayant Patel and Justice ZK Saiyed deprecated the act of violence as being revenge for post-Gdhra violence.

Stressing that India is wadded to secular policy, the judges observed if citizens of the country start with mental strategy of division bases on religion, it my result in damaging the unity of nation and consequently would tinker with the integrity and security of the nation.

Neither Hindu nor Muslim religion permits taking of revenge……. no religion professes that if a person from one religion has committed misdeed, revenge should taken from all persons following that religion, the bench observed ……

·         The judges also dwelled on historical aspects and noted, "The Hinduism is based on principles of 'sahanshilta'. It has been cited so many times that it is on account of receptivity and adaptability of Hindu culture, it has survived for more than 5,000 years, though the number of persons following Hindu religion are less as compared to others in the world - Christians, Muslims and Buddhists…"

·         The judges cited Maulana wahiduddin Khan's book "true Jihad to explain Jihad. Islam never permits use of violence for taking revenge, but power is to be used only as a protective measure. It is only by way of self defense, attack is permissible. Such principles are interwoven even in the IPC for invoking the right of self defense" the order states.

·         The court also observed, "The country is like a family having members of different ways of thinking and sometimes different way of praying to the God. Merely because the ways to get the blessings of God are different, one cannot divide the family….. "The accused sentenced are Mohammed Tahir Bakaswala and ashraf Nagori. Two others  Livver singh Chikhligar and Ishaq Makrani died as under trials and Salim Variava is absconding in this case.

Please Pay attention

We have needed to 'originate' the slow food movement to counter fast food culture; only then do we feel we can get to something that we once had, but lost! What we had lost is the attention that goes into creating and savoring nourishing meal.

While previous years were all about multitasking we now hear and read people asking us to please 'uni-task', coining an odd sounding term to remind us to pay attention, even enjoy, each thing we do. It would be funny it if weren't so sad. Nicolas Malebranche, a 17th century philosopher said "Attention is the natural prayer of the soul." If that is true most of us have forgotten how to really pray.

Thich Nhat Hanh in The Miracle of Mindfulness writes about how he and a friend once sat under a tree sharing a tangerine. The friend began to talk about plans for the future, becoming so immersed in it that he literally forgot about what he was doing in the present.

Popping a section of tangerine in his mouth, before he had begun chewing he lifted another slices to his mouth again. The teacher gently suggested, "You ought to eat the tangerine section you've already taken, "startling him into realizing what he was doing," as if he hadn't been eating the tangerine al all…… If he had been eating anything, he was 'eating' his future plans."

Educators speak of the shrinking attention span of young people today, but few schools teach children the gift of savoring the moment. There are some parents who say that the capacity for attention is theirs to claim.

There is another aspect to attention; attention to others around us. Psychotherapist Pierro Ferrucci refers to attention as a precious gift. People who are suffering may need advice, diagnoses, interpretations and interventions, but still more do they need sincere and complete attention. He points out that attention, being completely available, may well be the most coveted gift: "We silently hope that someone will want to do that for us….. Attention is a type of friendliness and the lack thereof is the worst kind of rudeness. Attention is the means that allows us to let friendliness flow. Anyway who can't give others attention, will never be friendly. Attention gives energy, while the lack of attention takes it away.

From yet another angle, we learn that what we give attention to grows. Even when it does not actually grow, it certainly seems to, because we tend to see little else.

Often people I meet in therapy mistakenly think they must only focus on what's wrong. Sure, things could be wrong; even very wrong. But is that all that's happening in one's life? When they make a list also about what's going right, they are shocked at how long or how rich it actually is! Life is a mix of what we label good or bad - not to mention that there is often good in the bad and also, on closer like, some bad perhaps in the good.

We need to learn to pay attention to our entire life, not just parts of it. Focusing only on problems is draining, exhausting. Knowing there is already some good shifts us out of 'poor me' place and pumps us with energy to work on what we need to work on.

Compassionate

Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little. (Gautam Buddha)

You have no compassion; the Lord's Light does not shine in you. You are drowned, drowned in worldly entanglements. (Guru Granth Sahib)

We are ready to become the people we are meant to be. None of us can afford to squander our days, our years, or our lives. We have too much to give; we have too much to live. (Lama Surya Das)

The most precious gift we can offer other is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Path of Justice

Meaning: The line of Rigved 5/51/15 says us that -"O men! Just as the Sun and the moon moves on their prescribed paths with regularity, similarly man also should go on the path of justice

Message: What is this creation? This is merely a small part of the universe, which is extremely great and extremely vast. Despite their progress every day, the scientists have been able to learn only on infinitesimally small part of this vast universe. Nobody knows how many solar-system, earths, and constellation etcetera God has created which, bound by a definite organization, are moving in space since billion of years. There is never any distortion in that organization and not one of them shows laziness or neglect in following the rules.

This is the biggest gift to humanity. Yet, despite actually seeing the miracle of God's organization, man himself considers living by the rules as an imprisonment. Whether it is his familial or social work, in everything he wants to behave willfully, and considers it as burdensome and insulting to follow the rules. The guardians of the law, themselves consider it a feather in their cap to break the law. They forget that working by the rules in an organized manner, everyone gets much more facilities for development and an atmosphere of joy and enthusiasm is also created. It is possible that a few men will get undeserved by unbridled conduct, but by and large it gives rise in the majority of them to frustration, which then develops into mutual enmity, malice etc.

Once upon a time, man may have lived in solitude, but today he is a social animal. His stability, facilities, devotion, progress and cheerfulness, all are dependent on societal organization. Who created the innumerable means for his bread, clothes, shelter, and comforts? How many million person working day and night in fields and industries create these and reach out to him. If there is a slight disturbance in this arrangement, or someone does something with selfishness, then there is harassment to the society. Dark clouds of uncertainty, doubt and disturbance will spread everywhere if attention is not paid to organization and rules in the society. Everywhere lack of interest and harshness will be seen and we will have to face improper and aggressive wickedness. In such a situation the hope for one's own security, peace, organization and future will crumble to dust.

We must cultivate the habit of doing every work with regularity and punctuality in personal, familial and social life. One's diet, daily schedule of work, exercise, worship, trade or profession, all these must be carried out in an organized manner, governed by rules. The members of the family, specially the children, must be explained its importance right from the beginning, so that progressing along, they will shine forth like the sun in the society.

One must cultivate the nature of following the rules —

Swasti Panthaamnu cherem

suryaachandr masaviva

Punardadataaghnataa

jaanataa sangamemahi

                        (Rigved 5/51/15)

Outdoors on Duty

Not one to get caught in dilemmas, the bandh call on Monday had me trapped for once. Though, to be honest, the desire to bunk office had more to de with the perfect breezy monsoon morning than LK Advani coaxing me to stay put at home. And though the HR guys post thoughts for the day' to act as beacons for the frequent 'dharmasanskarts' of corporate life, theirs is a beatific silence on matters like

Bands bunks'.

If I were to tell the HR guys - only by watching television that said 'rail, road, metro stopped by protesters' to - that I am stuck and can't get to work, would they mark me absent? I am rally dying to get to work, I can plead convincingly, but what to de, the autos won't ply, the buses coast and stop and gosh, I am told somewhere there's been some roughing up ……. circumstances are beyond my control, but that doesn't mean it's an off-day. Does HR have a policy on this? That you mark me absent, all right, but it doesn't get deducted from my leave? Alas, HR's iffy, and the laborer must trudge to work, and so I do albeit armed with Plan B and Plan C.

Plan B is we tie up with colleagues; all try our best to get to work, when we can't note when not if - we might s well meet up at the nearest coffee shop, what? Plan C is we make it to work come what may. Diligently do multiple transports, some waiting, and some walking and make it to work, exhausted and smug; to spend the rest of the day just talking about how we managed to get to work.

But, reality has something else in store. The rains held, as did the traffic. There's riot police managing traffic at an east Delhi crossing - so much efficiency has me foxed - and there are several little groups of red-flag-waving lalas and their chintus walking the edges of the road. Traffic's definitely lean for a Monday morning and ITO - the dreaded crossing that daily demonstrated traffic gnarl-snarl- is a breeze at 9 am. There's police all over; there media all over and traffic's moving smooth and easy. Ah bandh dynamics. Both sides are going to grab credit.

"Total bandh all success" and "Didn't let bandh affect life, managed protesters and traffic very well" are patent responses you can expect from either side. Fact is much of Delhi did stay indoors. But I'd hazard that's not so much in solidarity with any silly bandh call, but more because it has been a lovely day after a long time, and traffic is Delhi's worst nightmare. You simply don't want to take a risk as it were.

To that end, the media rally helps bandhs along. We're told traffic's going to be so bad, you'd best skip life. What nobody really spilled was the protesters' inside-plans. If Nehru Place Gurbaon's choked at 9 in the morning, and ITO's blocked at 12 noon, how about letting us know? After all, there's Brinda Karat at ITO - lady's no bandh gala, she's at it full throttle. Bahadurshah Zafir Marg stretches empty behind her, not because bandh's total but because traffic's been stopped for her speech time. Police must know which leader gets which chowk at what time; they've prepared for it. Why not give us the lowdown too. Advertise next to the call for the bandh, don't fall for the bandh.

But we're the innocents. All drained when traffic stops for about an hour we must head for the nearest coffee shop, "tried couldn't make it". Because you know 'mehengais' hits hard. as for that little matter about the leave, we were on duty, you know, at least emotionally, mentally. One with the workplace and all, no dilemma then on clicking on that OD (outdoor duty) button, then is there?

Of the Shelf Gene Tests in US

Want to find out what diseases await you in the future, your chances of developing Alzheimer's? Or whether you will pass something on to your child? Then a trip to the pharmacy may reveal all.

Biotech firm Pathway Genomics announced on Tuesday that personalized DNA tests to detect the risks of developing certain disease will soon be available at Walgreen's, a large chain of pharmacies.

It would be the first time that such tests would be commercially available for consumers, even though the company has offered them online for some time.

The Pathway Genomics kit, dubbed the "Insight Saliva Collection", enables the user to take saliva swabs following simple instructions and send them off to a California laboratory for analysis.

Costing between $20 to $30, the kit will be on sale at some 7,500 branches of Walgreen's from the weekend.

After sending off the swab, the customer has to log onto the Pathway Genomics site and create a personal account to order the tests they are interested in, out of three proposed sets costing up to $ 249. By analyzing the client's DNA, the company can test for markers which could indicate whether the person is at risk for about 70 diseases, including breast or prostate cancer, heart disease, diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis.

They can also test for responses to drugs such s anti-cholesterol medication, the anti-coagulant warfare or tamoxifen used to battle breast cancer.

Couples can also spend $ 179 if they wish to know whether they risk passing on hereditary disease such as cystic fibrosis to their future children. "Every one has the right to know the secrets hidden within their own DNA," the company says on its website. "With personal DNA testing, you can take preventative steps to improve your future, and even extend your life".

If you have faith in the three hundred and thirty millions of your mythological Gods, and in all the Gods which others have introduced into your midst, and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for you. Have faith in yourselves and stand upon that faith and be strong Swami Vivekananda Great men can even by their words erase the worrying fears generated by an inferiority complex Bhagavata Purana