The name of the religion is Islam, which comes from an Arabic root word meaning “peace” and “submission.” Islam teaches that one can only find peace in one’s life by submitting to Almighty God (Allah) in heart, soul and deed. The same Arabic root word gives us “Salaam alaykum,” (“Peace be with you”), the universal Muslim greeting.

“When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or (at least) return it equally. Certainly, God is Ever a Careful Account Taker of all things.” (Quran 4:86)

Better Islamic greetings include, Assalam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah, which means, May God grant you protection, security and mercy, and Assalam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuh, which means, May God grant you protection, security, mercy and may He bless you. Greeting in return with something better would be, for example, after hearing the words Assalam Alaikum you would respond, wa Alaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullah.

Making that small effort to greet others in this manner at every opportunity increases rewards. Each time a believer says the words Assalam Alaikum or responds to this greeting, his bank of good deeds is increased.

One day a man passed by the Prophet Muhammad while he was sitting with some men, and said “Assalamu Alaikum”. The Prophet said “He will have 10 rewards”. Another man passed by and said “Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah”. The Prophet said he will have 20 rewards”. Another man passed and said “Assalamu alaikum wa rahmat ullaah wa barakaatuh”. The Prophet said, and he will have 30 rewards.

In addition, throughout the Quran, God repeatedly points out that this is the Islamic greeting. God assures us that struggling to please Him will result in peace and security in Paradise, and when the believer enters paradise he will be greeted by the words Assalam Alaikum.

“And those who believed (in the Oneness of God and His Messengers and whatever they brought) and did righteous deeds, will be made to enter Gardens under which rivers flow, – to dwell therein for ever (i.e. in Paradise), with the Permission of their Lord. Their greeting therein will be, salam!” (Quran 14:23)

“Salam Alaikum for you persevered in patience! Excellent indeed is the final home!” (Quran 13:24)

“When those who believe in Our Ayat (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) come to you, say, “Assalam Alaikum”; your Lord has prescribed Mercy for Himself, so that if any of you does evil in ignorance, and thereafter repents and does righteous good deeds (by obeying God), then surely, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Quran6:54)

“Those whose lives the angels take while they are in a pious state (i.e. pure from all evil, and worshiping none but God Alone) saying (to them), Assalam Alaikum enter you Paradise, because of that (the good) which you used to do (in the world).” (Quran 16:52)

“But when you enter the houses, greet one another with a greeting from God, As-salamu Alaikum – blessed and good.” (Quran 24:61)

“And those who kept their duty to their Lord will be led to Paradise in groups and when they reach it the its gates will be opened and the keepers will say, Salam Alaikum, you have done well, so enter here to abide therein.” (Quran 39:73)

Prophet Muhammad reiterated God’s message when he said, “You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I tell you about something which, if you do it, will make you love one another? Greet each other with Salam”

COURTESY : link http://justsimplyinlove.wordpress.com/about/

The Upanishads

September 15, 2012

Hinduism

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The upanishads are expositions of doctrine, typically found in the concluding portions of the brAhmaNas and AraNyakas of the four vedas. A number of upanishads are extant today, with commentaries on them by representatives of various schools of vedAnta. The upanishads are not to be seen as uniform books – each text is connected to the veda in which it occurs, and the upanishadic teaching is often presented in the context of a particular vedic hymn or ritual. In the vedAnta traditions, the upanishads are referred to as the Sruti prasthAna, i.e. revealed scripture, from which knowledge of brahman is obtained.

The Principal upanishads: The upanishads that have been commented upon by Sankara and other teachers have have acquired extra significance as the principal or more or less “canonical” upanishads. These are:

aitareya (Rg veda)

bRhadAraNyaka (Sukla yajurveda)

ISa (Sukla yajurveda)

taittirIya (kRshNa yajurveda)

kaTha (kRshNa yajurveda)

chAndogya (sAma veda)

kena (sAma veda)

muNDaka (atharva veda)

mANDUkya (atharva veda)

praSna (atharva veda)

These ten are the most important and principal texts. Modern scholars believe that these also represent the oldest of the upanishadic texts. Others add the kaushItakI and SvetASvatara upanishads to the list of principal upanishads, and some add the maitrAyaNI too.

Other upanishads: A number of other upanishads are extant today. The Indian traditions regard the upanishads as Sruti, which is timeless, eternal, and apaurusheya (unauthored). Hence, finding dates of composition for the various upanishads is a meaningless non-issue to them. Some of the texts that are called upanishads may not be accepted by specific traditions. However, this is really a question of acknowledging the Sruti status of a given text, not one of finding a date of composition. Modern scholars attempt to fix periods of composition for all these texts. Needless to say, the date of composition of these texts, including those of the principal upanishads, is of no real concern to the vedAnta traditions.

It has become popular to classify the upanishads in terms of the subject matter they cover. Thus, we have a large number of upanishads dealing with general topics of vedAnta, in addition to those that teach yoga, and those that detail the rules of sam.nyAsa. The upanishads that tend to concentrate on one of the Great Deities of Hinduism are usually classified as Saiva, vaishNava and SAkta upanishads.

A list of 108 upanishads as found in the muktikopanishad is given in the table below. The yajurveda column has two rows under each heading – kRshNa yajurveda texts are in the upper row, and Sukla yajurveda texts in the lower one.

108 upanishads
Rg veda (10)	yajur veda (51)	sAma veda (16)	atharva veda (31)
10 Principal upanishads
aitareya	kaTha taittirIya	kena chAndogya	praSna mANDUkya muNDaka
aitareya	ISAvAsya bRhadAraNyaka	kena chAndogya	praSna mANDUkya muNDaka
24 sAmAnya vedAnta upanishads
Atmabodha kaushItakI mudgala	akshi ekAkshara garbha prANAgnihotra SvetASvatara SArIraka Sukarahasya skanda sarvasAra	mahat maitrAyaNI vajrasUcI sAvitrI	AtmA sUrya
Atmabodha kaushItakI mudgala	adhyAtma nirAlamba paingala mAntrika muktika subAla	mahat maitrAyaNI vajrasUcI sAvitrI	AtmA sUrya
17 sAm.nyAsa upanishads
nirvANa	avAdhUta kaTharudra brahma	AruNeya kuNDika maitreyI sam.nyAsa	nArada- -parivrAjaka parabrahma paramahamsa- -parivrAjaka
nirvANa	jAbAla turIyAtIta paramaham.sa bhikshuka yAjnavalkya sAtyAyanI	AruNeya kuNDika maitreyI sam.nyAsa	nArada- -parivrAjaka parabrahma paramahamsa- -parivrAjaka
20 yoga upanishads
nAdabindu	amRtanAda amRtabindu kshurika tejobindu dhyAnabindu brahmavidyA yogakuNDalinI yogatattva yogaSikhA varAha	jAbAladarSana yogacUDAmaNi	pASupata- -brahma mahAvAkya SANDilya
nAdabindu	advayatAraka triSikhi- -brAhmaNa maNDala- -brAhmaNa ham.sa	jAbAladarSana yogacUDAmaNi	pASupata- -brahma mahAvAkya SANDilya
14 vaishNava upanishads
–	kaliSAntaraNa nArAyaNa	avyakta vAsudeva	kRshNa gAruDa gopAlatApanI tripAdvibhUti- mahAnArAyaNa dattAtreya nRsimhatApanI rAmatApanI rAmarahasya hayagrIva
–	tArasAra	avyakta vAsudeva
14 Saiva upanishads
akshamAlA	kAlAgnirudra kaivalya dakshiNAmUrti pancabrahma rudrahRdaya	jAbAlI rudrAkshajAbAla	atharvaSikhA atharvaSira gaNapati bRhajjAbAla bhasmajAbAla Sarabha
akshamAlA	–	jAbAlI rudrAkshajAbAla
9 SAkta upanishads
tripurA bahvRcA saubhAgya- -lakshmI	sarasvatIrahasya	–	annapUrNA tripurAtApanI devI bhAvanA sItA
tripurA bahvRcA saubhAgya- -lakshmI	–	–	annapUrNA tripurAtApanI devI bhAvanA sItA

The classification of the upanishads on the basis of their subject matter seems reasonable, and other than the 10 principal ones, most of the upanishads quoted by the earliest commentators fall under the sAmAnya vedAnta category. However, some upanishads could possibly be classified under more than one heading. For example, varAha and pASupatabrahma upanishads are classified as yoga upanishads and not as vaishNava and Saiva upanishads respectively. Similarly, gaNapati upanishad is included as a Saiva upanishad, while skanda upanishad is not. Also, hamsa upanishad is called a yoga upanishad and not a sam.nyAsa upanishad, whereas paramahamsa is included as a sam.nyAsa upanishad. Similarly, the mahAvAkya upanishad and the brahmavidyA upanishad might also justifiably be included under the sam.nyAsa upanishads.

In any case, there seems to be a large overlap in subject matter between the “yoga” upanishads and the “sam.nyAsa” upanishads, pointing to the close relationship between yoga practice and sam.nyAsa as an institution. This also raises the possibility that the traditional association of yoga with sAm.khya in terms of the six darSanas may be slightly misleading. In this connection, it is interesting to note that the most important texts on the yoga system are by teachers of advaita vedAnta, from Sankara downwards, although all these commentators explain yoga more or less in sAm.khyan terms. Another interesting observation in this connection is that advaita vedAntins have completely internalized yoga practice as an aid to meditation and to realize the non-dual brahman.

The bulk of the vaishNava (9 out of 14), Saiva (6 out of 14) and SAkta (5 out of 9) upanishads are assigned to the atharva veda. However, it should be noted that the other three vedas also have a significant share of the “late” upanishad texts. Three SAkta upanishads are from the Rg veda, while there are no vaishNava upanishads and only one Saiva upanishad assigned to the Rg veda. Also, there are no Saiva or SAkta upanishads assigned to the Sukla yajurveda, but a substantial number of Saiva (5 out of 14) upanishads are from the kRshNa yajus. The SAkta upanishads are grouped together, although some teach worship of sarasvatI, lakshmI or pArvatI, and others describe SrIcakra upAsanA, where Sakti is identified with brahman Itself, rather than being the Sakti of one of brahmA, vishNu or Siva. Since the upanishads are associated with individual SAkhAs within each veda, it might be interesting to investigate the distribution of these upanishads further, and correlate them with the distribution of the vaidika SAkhAs among today’s communities of vaishNavas, Saivas and SAktas.

Hinduism

September 15, 2012

Hinduism

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The Scriptures

To start with, the most fundamental and ancient scripture is the Veda.Veda means knowledge. God himself taught this knowledge to Brahma, the creator, who imparted it to the Rishis. Vedic knowledge is divine knowledge.and is very vast and comprehensive. The Vedas discuss God, religion, science, mathematics, logic, grammar and many other subjects. The great sage Vyasa organized this knowledge in to four Vedas – Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and Atharvana Veda. This knowledge was learned by disciples from a Guru through oral tradition. Hence the Vedas are also called Shruti. The word Shruti is derived from the root shrun which means to hear.

The Hindus believe that the Vedas contain ALL the knowledge of the God’s Creation. The last chapters of the Vedas are called Vedanta (end of the Vedas) and are collected in the Upanishads. Here is the discussion of the nature of Brahman, the God, extracted from the vast literature of the Vedas. There are one hundred and eight significant Upanishads.

The next tier of the scriptures are called the Puranas. Purana literally means the ancient. Some believe that the Puranas are even more ancient than the Vedas but this is doubtful. There are eighteen Puranas in all each describing the life story of God in a particular incarnation at a particular time and space. The Puranas are works of great literary beauty and present the intricate philosophies of Veda in a format that is easy to understand and remember. These are extremely popular literature of India. There is not a single Hindu who does not know at least a few stories from one of these eighteen Puranas. The Bhagavata Purana is the most popular of the eighteen and is a monumental work containing twelve books, called Skandas. This Purana narrates all the ten significant incarnations of God although the main emphasis is on the story of Krishna and His miracles.

Next come the Itihasas – histories. The Ramayana and the Maha Bharata are the two principal epics of India. The Ramayana is the biography of the Lord in His incarnation as Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, an ancient dynasty in Northern India. The Maha Bharata contains eighteen chapters and more than 200,000 lines of poetry (100,000 couplets). It is about seven times the size of Iliad and Odyssey combined. Although this is mostly a historical narration, it is interspersed with discussions of God, dharma, ethics, duty, good, evil and almost everything under the Sun. Therefore it is sometimes called the Fifth Veda. It is in this work that the greatest of Hindu religious texts, The Bhagavad Gita, is embedded. The Bhagavad Gita is narrated by the Lord Krishna Himself to His friend and disciple Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

The Bhagavad Gita contains eighteen chapters and discusses the nature of God, Creation, destiny of man, man’s relation to God and means of realizing God in one’s life time. This work presents in a distilled form the very essence of a universal religion.

In addition, there are also dozens of works written over the centuries by scholars, saints and gurus which explain and expound the meaning of the Vedas and Upanishads. This vast literature is called the Bhashya literature. Of course mention should also be made of the huge literature that was written by saints and other God realized persons who passed on to us the experiences of their personal spiritual quest.

The Belief of Hinduism

The fundamental beliefs shared by all Hindus are the existence of one God, the Law of Karma and the Cycle of Reincarnation. The most misunderstood concept of Hinduism is its belief in one God. It has been erroneously labeled as pantheistic because of the numerous gods and goddesses one finds in it. But one has to go deeper in to the philosophy of Hinduism to understand the underlying principle of unity. Hindus believe that even though God is One, He manifests differently at different times to different people according to their need and faith. Further, they believe that He bestows His Grace on humans in whatever form they worship Him.

The Law of Karma can be simply explained by referring to the fact that whatever one sows, that one reaps. Karma is misunderstood as encouraging fatalism. On the contrary, it puts the full burden of one’s salvation on one’s own shoulders. Good living bestows good karma and bad living brings bad karma. One takes birth according to one’s karma to reap its fruits and work it out. Thus the human birth presents a rare chance to nullify one’s past karma while making it possible to move closer to God. Human birth is not easily obtained and it is unwise to waste it in ignorance of God.

The concept of rebirth is related to the Law of Karma. All Hindus believe that the soul is indestructible, eternal and deathless. It is only the body that decays and drops off. The soul simply takes on a new body according to its karma. The ultimate goal of all created beings is to reach God and escape this endless cycle of birth and death. This reaching of God is called Moksha (Freedom).

Understanding Karma in relation to Hinduism

Hinduism contains the most comprehensive theosophy one can hope for. Basically, there are five elements to the philosophy: God, the individual souls called the jivas, the prakriti or the material nature, karma and Time. God is the Cause and Destiny of the Universe. He is Unborn, Eternal and without a beginning or end. The individual souls (jivas) are eternal and are of the same nature as that of God but not the same. The analogy given is that of sparks (jivas) and the fire (the God). The material nature is made of three qualities: the goodness, the passion and the ignorance. Every living being contains a combination of these three qualities even though one quality may predominate over the others. The material nature, prakriti, is under God’s authority. Karma is the result of activity of the jivas. Time is also considered eternal. Of the five concepts, only karma is non-eternal. Although, we may be suffering or enjoying the fruits of very ancient karma, it can be neutralized by God’s grace and the perfection of our lives.

Are the jivas the same or different from God? Basically there are two different views on this subject. The monists stress that there is nothing else but God. They believe that the jivatma (the human soul) and Paramatma (the God Soul) are one and the same. The dualists believe that the jivas, although of the same quality as that of God, are nevertheless separate entities. Then of course there are attempts at a compromise.

The Creation of the World

The Hindus believe that there is no end or beginning to God and His Creation. God creates and destroys this Universe in a cyclical pattern. The creation and destructionrepeats in a cycle of four yugas (eras). These are: 1. Krita Yuga (1,728,000 years), 2.Treta Yuga (1,296,000 years),.3. (Dwapara Yuga (864,000 years) and 4. Kali Yuga (432,000 years)

Our universe is now in Kali Yuga.It has been approximately 5,042 years since the beginning of Kali Yuga (according to Swami Dayananda). At the end of each of these four-yuga periods, there is a transition period which is characterized by rains and flooding.

If we count the combined total of the four yugas as one unit (one four-yuga period), then 71 of such units comprise the rule of one Manu (ruler of the men). Since the creation, it has been six different Manus who ruled our part of the Universe. The current time period is the 28th four-yuga cycle of the seventh Manu. He will rule for 43 more four-yuga periods. Then there will be seven more such Manus who will rule in the future before the entire Universe will come to an end and recreated again.

A thousand four-yuga periods comprise one day of the creator Brahma and another thousand four-yuga periods make one night for him. The Universe lasts for the duration of one creator’s-day (= 4.320 Billion years). The Universe stays unmanifested for the duration of his night. When he wakes up, the Universe is set in motion again.

The Aim of Life

According to Hinduism, the goal of life in this world is to realize God and reach Him to escape the cycle of birth and death forever. To this end, the human life is divided in to four stages. The first stage, that of celibacy and learning, lasts until about 25 years of age. The second stage is that of a married house holder. The house holder is held in great esteem because he is the one who makes the other stages of life possible by earning money and supporting the society. The house holder and his family are considered to be very essential for the well being of the society. The third stage is that of retirement commencing after one’s children are grown up. The last stage is of complete renunciation of the world in which one seeks God full-time in a forest and living on whatever one obtains from day to day.

The Hindu religion is very flexible and understands that humans differ vastly in their psychological makeup. Consequently, no one doctrine is likely to appeal to all. According to Hinduism, there are three types of temperaments in humans and there are three different approaches to suit these different emotional makeup of humans. The Hindus believe that God can be reached either by Jnana Yoga, the path of knowledge, contemplation and meditation or by Karma Yoga, the path of work and duty or by Bhakti Yoga, the path of worship, prayer and service to God. No one path is superior to the others. It is simply finding what comes naturally to oneself. Most often one finds that a combination will work best. That it is possible to reach God by any one of these paths is amply proved by the life stories of Saints who lived in the country from very ancient times to the present day and practiced and preached one or the other of these paths as the way to God.

Some books for deeper knowledge on Hinduism

The Bagavad Gita As It Is by Srila Prabhupada ISKCON
Srimad Bhagavatam by Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON
The Principal Upanishads by Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan
The Upanishads by Swami Nikhilananda
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Rama Krishna Math, Calcutta

“The Importance of Scriptures, Books”

August 29, 2012

Art of Living

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“Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa on the Importance of Scriptures, Books”

Sri Ramakrishna (with a smile): “Do you know my attitude? Books, scriptures, and things like that only point out the way to reach God. After finding the way, what more need is there of books and scriptures? Then comes the time for action.

“A man received a letter from home informing him that certain presents were to be sent to his relatives. The names of the articles were given in the letter. As he was about to go shopping for them, he found that the letter was missing. He began anxiously to search for it, several others joining in the search. For a long time they continued to search. When at last the letter was discovered, his joy knew no bounds.

With great eagerness he opened the letter and read it. It said that he was to buy five seers of sweets, a piece of cloth, and a few other things. Then he did not need the letter any more, for it had served its purpose. Putting it aside, he went out to buy the things. How long is such a letter necessary? As long as its contents are not known. When the contents are known one proceeds to carry out the directions.

“In the scriptures you will find the way to realize God. But after getting all the information about the path, you must begin to work. Only then can you attain your goal.

“What will it avail a man to have mere scholarship? A pundit may have studied many scriptures, he may recite many sacred texts, but if he is still attached to the world and if inwardly he loves ‘woman and gold’, then he has not assimilated the contents of the scriptures. For such a man the study of scriptures is futile.

“The almanac forecasts the rainfall for the year. You may squeeze the book, but you won’t get a drop of water — not even a single drop.” (Laughter)

Source: From the book “Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna”

Gita Saar

August 29, 2012

Shrimad Bhagwad Gita

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Geeta Saar is the gist of
the main teachings of
Lord Krishna. It contains
the crux of the Holy Gita.

Why do you worry unnecessarily? What are you afraid of? Who can kill

destroy you? A soul is never born, so it never dies.

Whatever happened in the past, happened for the best;

whatever is happening,

is happening for the best; whatever will happen in future, will happen for

the best. Do not repent the past, do not worry for future, concentrate

on your present.

What did you own, that makes you cry on losing? What did you bring,

that you fear losing? What did you give birth to, that you

fear its destruction?

You didn’t bring anything. Whatever one takes, one must return

it to God. Everyone came empty handed and will therefore die,

empty handed.

Whatever belongs to you today, belonged to someone else yesterday

and it will belong to some one else tomorrow. Don’t be illusioned by maya.

Maya is the root cause of all pain and misery.

Change is the rule of nature. What one understands, as death is actually

life itself. One moment you are the owner of crores and in the very

next moment you become a pauper.

Your body doesn’t belong to you and vice versa. Body is composed

of five elements- Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Sky; one day it will

perish in these elements.

Offer yourself to the Almighty Lord. This is the best support.

One who knows this unconditional support gains freedom from fear,

worry and despair.

“Why We Shout In Anger”

August 24, 2012

Art of Living

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A Hindu saint who was visiting river Ganges to take bath found a group of family members on the banks, shouting in anger at each other. He turned to his disciples smiled ‘n asked.

‘Why do people shout in anger shout at each other?’

Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, ‘Because we lose our calm, we shout.’

‘But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner.’ asked the saint

Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the other disciples.
Finally the saint explained, .

‘When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to cover that great distance.

What happens when two people fall in love? They don’t shout at each other but talk softly, Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either nonexistent or very small…’

The saint continued, ‘When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper ‘n they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other ‘n that’s all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.’

He looked at his disciples and said.

‘So when you argue do not let your hearts get distant, Do not say words that distance each other more, Or else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.’

Gold or Iron?

August 18, 2012

Art of Living

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All of us know that gold or iron in it’s raw form is not beautiful. It becomes beautiful or useful only after it has been beaten in the fire. But one thing is for sure that it is only the raw material which decides what it is going to become after its been beaten, means whether it becomes a sword or a jewel. If its gold it will take form of a jewel if its iron it will become a sharp object. Similarly when life beats and tortures us, it depends what we become. Either we have faith in God and become a devotee or a good person who can connect to other persons pains and become compassionate or we become frustrated and cultivate bad habits and become a negative person transferring our negativity and inauspiciousness to everybody.

What we become is decided by the thoughts we develop. As Budhha aptly said, “All that we are is the result of what we have thought” and also “What you think you become”

Our scripture’s always teach us to be loving and forgiving. They teach us to control our mind and thoughts and point them towards Godliness and cleanliness.

One must elevate — and not degrade — oneself by one’s own mind. The mind alone is one’s friend, as well as one’s enemy. The mind is the friend of those who have control over it, and the mind acts like an enemy for those who do not control it. (6.05-06) Bhagwad Gita. There is no enemy other than an uncontrolled mind in this world. Therefore, one should first try to control and conquer this enemy by regular practice of meditation with a firm determination and effort. All spiritual practices are aimed towards the conquest of the mind. Guru Nanak said: “Master the mind, and you master the world.”The mind, indeed, is the cause of bondage as well as liberation of the living entity. The mind becomes the cause of bondage when controlled by modes of material Nature, and the same mind, when attached to the Supreme, becomes the cause of salvation . The mind alone is the cause of salvation as well as bondage of human beings. The mind becomes the cause of bondage when controlled by sense objects, and it becomes the cause of salvation when controlled by the intellect . Absolute control over mind and senses is a prerequisite for any spiritual practice for Self-realization. One who has not become the master of the senses cannot progress towards the goal of Self-realization. Therefore, after establishing control over the activities of the mind, one should take the mind away from the enjoyment of sensual pleasures and fix it on God. When the mind is disengaged from sense pleasures and engaged with God, sense impulses become ineffective because the senses obtain their power from the mind. The mind is the ruler of the other five senses. One who becomes master of the mind becomes master of all the senses. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 Bible.

So it is for us to decide what we feed our souls and mind and what thoughts we develop.

Always remember friends, God tries to connect to us through various means, even through these words, it is for us to decide whether we accept Him or not. Whether we are gold or iron?

“No Time”

August 13, 2012

Art of Living

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In today’s world, ask anybody if they had any spare time, the immediate answer would be, “No Time”. Now a days no body has time, everybody is busy. Busy doing what? Busy earning, busy socializing, busy vacationing. And all this business for what? For materialistic fulfillment, For this body and its unsatisfying desires. If you ask what they would do if they had more time, they have preplanned answers, join a gym class, go for a movie, have dinner at a new restaurant, make more plans on establishing the business etc.. What about the soul? What are we doing to preserve it?

According to the Bhagwad Gita the body is the outward dress. … So if the dress is taken care of only, without any care of the real person—it is sheer foolishness and a waste of time.

Without understanding the spiritual self, modern civilization treads a path that can only lead to pain: the path of misidentifying the body with the self. If someone thinks he is his clothes, he’s going to feed his shirt and bathe his pants. That is the situation today. Therefore, despite economic and scientific advancement, people are dissatisfied.Spiritualism aims to deliver people from their dissatisfaction by shining the light of spiritual consciousness into the darkness of the modern age. People who don’t take advantage of cleansing and preserving their soul are missing a golden opportunity.

Humility, modesty, nonviolence, forgiveness, honesty, service to guru, purity of thought, word, and deed, steadfastness, self-control, aversion for sense objects, absence of ego, constant reflection on the pain and suffering inherent in birth, old age, disease, and death. (13.07-08) Bhagwad Gita

Verse 13.08 of the Gita formed the foundation of Buddhism. The constant contemplation and understanding of agony and suffering inherent in birth, old age, disease, and death are called the understanding of the Fourfold Noble Truth in Buddhism. A clear understanding of this truth is necessary before starting the spiritual journey. A disgust and discontent for the meaninglessness and unreality of the world and its objects become a necessary prelude to the spiritual journey. As birds seek the shelter of a tree when tired, similarly, human beings seek the divine shelter after discovering the frustrations and joylessness of material existence.

Detachment with family members, home, etc.; unfailing equanimity upon attainment of the desirable and the undesirable and unswerving devotion to Me through single-minded contemplation; taste for solitude; distaste for social gatherings and gossips; steadfastness in acquiring the knowledge of the Self; and seeing the omnipresent Supreme Being everywhere — this is said to be (the means of) Self-knowledge. That which is contrary to this is ignorance. (13.09-11) Bhagwad Gita

Cultivating the virtues described in verses 13.07-11 will enable one to perceive the body as different from the Self. Thus, one will attain Self-knowledge. Therefore, these virtues are called knowledge. Those who do not possess these virtues cannot get the true knowledge of the Self and will remain in the darkness of body-consciousness or ignorance.

According to the Bible Matthew 26:36-46

³⁶Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

⁴⁰Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jesus Christ points out the importance of prayer, He asked if Peter could not spare even an our for Him? God wants us to spare time for Him which in turn is for our own benefit.

Life is too short we hardly have time for cleansing our soul of our sins, so whatever time we can spare, we should spare for doing good deeds, singing Gods glory, chanting gods names, Going to pilgrimages because we will not remain young and strong forever, there will come one day when we would not be able to talk properly then how will we chant His name?, we will not be able to walk properly then how will we climb a temple stair, our hands will shake one day, then how will we serve somebody?

To be a Spiritual Vessel…

August 10, 2012

Art of Living

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This image is of a glass painting from a church. It clearly says spiritual vessel. For Christians ‘spiritual vessel’ means St. Mary. It is believed that she has played the role of being a vessel( conductor, holder and transporter) to Christ. She was regarded as being sinless, so Almighty God chose her to bring his son on this earth.

The question is can God choose us to be his spiritual vessels? Yes. God can choose us. Any man who is pure of heart and soul. God can use him to work for him. Its not that he does not have his appointed angles for his work., but we are also a part of him, and capable of carrying his energy. Our body acts as a conductor and thoughts as pointers. Each and everybody has his capacity of conduction.

His positive energy flows through our body, and illuminates our mind, this illumination gives us the courage and passion to do what he wants us to do. He knows all are deficiencies and potentials and uses us to the best of his purposes. He regulates different deeds for different people. Some great humans are aware of it some are not.

This is the birth of a spiritual vessel, a spiritual metamorphosis. A pure mind and good thoughts and good deeds and moreover a wish to be a good doer can change any simple person into a spiritual vessel. Do you want to be a spiritual vessel? If you do good deeds without any motive of reward, you already are a ‘Spiritual Vessel’.