There are six signs of a seeker.
1] Acknowledge that you know very little. Many people think they know without really knowing or they become trapped in their limited knowledge so they never learn. Thus the first thing is to acknowledge that you know very little.
2] Be willing to know. Many people acknowledge that they know very little, but they still may not be ready to learn.
3] Be nonjudgmental and open-minded. Some would like to learn, but heir judgmental attitude and close-mindedness do not allow them to learn.
4] Be totally committed to the path. Some are open minded but they lack commitment and one-pointedness. They keep shopping here and there and never progress.
5] Always place truth and service before pleasure. Sometimes even committed and one-pointed people avoid the path in pursuit of momentary pleasures.
6] Have Patience and Perseverance. Some people are committed and one-pointed and are not swayed by pleasures, but if they lack patience and perseverance, they become restless and dejected.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
P.S.: Not just the spiritual path, but everything we do follows these six rules. A seeker does not just imply a devotee, but a true spiritual person gains heights in all walks of life. So, remember these six signs and live upto them!
Jai Gurudev...
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Secondary Learning...
Children learn, what they live – Dorothy Law Nolte
If Children live with criticism, they learn to condemn
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight
If Children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness
If children learn with fairness, they learn justice
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live in.
P.S.: And its not only children...even adults learn things the same way...
If Children live with criticism, they learn to condemn
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight
If Children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness
If children learn with fairness, they learn justice
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live in.
P.S.: And its not only children...even adults learn things the same way...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Crusade...
Just watched "Kingdom of Heaven"...a MUST watch for all people!
Well to give you a background it tells the story of the second Crusade and how Saladin manages to win Jerusalem back for the Muslims. But, its not the battle or the effects or even the history thats important...its the idea it shares through a man...a blacksmith who in search of God's forgiveness reaches Jerusalem and sees everything in a new light and stands by his morals to protect thousands...Jews, Christians, Muslims alike...a true Saviour!
It depicts the vanity and the futility of the crusades and the muslim counter-attacks that followed...not to blame the guys involved but there was some serious wrongheadedness involved.
As little known the Popes planned the crusades for absolute power and wealth from the middle east...burning down the Holy land and killing thousand where once Jesus himself preached of love, caring and sacrifice...
what makes it sooo touching is its contemporary relevance...not just the middle east, but also the world around.
why do people all over the world still fight in the name of religion, though the real thing is just pure lust for wealth and power. From the Iraq invasion to the Gaza occupation...upto the Ram janmabhumi episode...its all but just stupidity.
Why don't people realise what God really says...if you have a close look...Jesus, Buddha, Prophet Mohammad, Guru Nanak...all tell us the same thing...and yet we plainly ignore the real essence for the outer covering thats rotten...do we still call ourselves humans?!
In the movie, the Balion defends the wall of Jerusalem...not for the holy shrines and few peices of stones...but the people who call it their home! Defies the Bishop, burns the bodies to avoid an epidemic during a siege and leads all men...young and old...Christians and non-Christians toward a safe life. Its not only him, but perhaps one of the only few rulers that lived who were also great moral humans...Saladin.
Its touching how the Balion ans Saladin keep terms to surrender Jerusalem and send the people safe to Europe...and how each of them though a great warrior manages to think of the welfare of all people.
Can we bring about a change similar to that?
Can we identify the greedy crusaders amongst us and stop them before millions die?
Can we see God in ourselves and everyone else?
Can we be civilised and human?
That is the question every modern society has to ask and resolve...and Fast!
Well to give you a background it tells the story of the second Crusade and how Saladin manages to win Jerusalem back for the Muslims. But, its not the battle or the effects or even the history thats important...its the idea it shares through a man...a blacksmith who in search of God's forgiveness reaches Jerusalem and sees everything in a new light and stands by his morals to protect thousands...Jews, Christians, Muslims alike...a true Saviour!
It depicts the vanity and the futility of the crusades and the muslim counter-attacks that followed...not to blame the guys involved but there was some serious wrongheadedness involved.
As little known the Popes planned the crusades for absolute power and wealth from the middle east...burning down the Holy land and killing thousand where once Jesus himself preached of love, caring and sacrifice...
what makes it sooo touching is its contemporary relevance...not just the middle east, but also the world around.
why do people all over the world still fight in the name of religion, though the real thing is just pure lust for wealth and power. From the Iraq invasion to the Gaza occupation...upto the Ram janmabhumi episode...its all but just stupidity.
Why don't people realise what God really says...if you have a close look...Jesus, Buddha, Prophet Mohammad, Guru Nanak...all tell us the same thing...and yet we plainly ignore the real essence for the outer covering thats rotten...do we still call ourselves humans?!
In the movie, the Balion defends the wall of Jerusalem...not for the holy shrines and few peices of stones...but the people who call it their home! Defies the Bishop, burns the bodies to avoid an epidemic during a siege and leads all men...young and old...Christians and non-Christians toward a safe life. Its not only him, but perhaps one of the only few rulers that lived who were also great moral humans...Saladin.
Its touching how the Balion ans Saladin keep terms to surrender Jerusalem and send the people safe to Europe...and how each of them though a great warrior manages to think of the welfare of all people.
Can we bring about a change similar to that?
Can we identify the greedy crusaders amongst us and stop them before millions die?
Can we see God in ourselves and everyone else?
Can we be civilised and human?
That is the question every modern society has to ask and resolve...and Fast!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
A Beautiful Thought...
Meditation is seeing God in yourself.
Love is seeing God in the person next to you.
Knowledge is seeing God everywhere.
Expression of Love is service.
Expression of joy is a smile.
Expression of peace is meditation.
Expressing God is conscious action.
Love is seeing God in the person next to you.
Knowledge is seeing God everywhere.
Expression of Love is service.
Expression of joy is a smile.
Expression of peace is meditation.
Expressing God is conscious action.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Maya...
We always search for the answer of "How can I always be happy?"
And this is what H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says:
Forget about "always" - then you will be happy!
In always wanting to be comfortable, one becomes lazy.
In always wanting perfection, one becomes angry.
In always wanting to be rich, one becomes greedy.
Fear arises when we do not realise that only life is for always. This projection on the nature of self - which is "always" - onto the temporal - which can never be "always" - is called maya.
A very simple, plain explanation that defines every problem we face...
Jai Gurudev...
And this is what H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says:
Forget about "always" - then you will be happy!
In always wanting to be comfortable, one becomes lazy.
In always wanting perfection, one becomes angry.
In always wanting to be rich, one becomes greedy.
Fear arises when we do not realise that only life is for always. This projection on the nature of self - which is "always" - onto the temporal - which can never be "always" - is called maya.
A very simple, plain explanation that defines every problem we face...
Jai Gurudev...
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Theory of All...
Well I was just sitting around doing nothing (which I do quite often nowadays!) and suddenly this thought flashed by...and I tried to analyse its ramifications and was amazed as to how interesting lukkha pondering could be!
It was just this observation that all things in the universe...living and non-living are created, maintained and ultimately transformed(note: transformed, not destroyed!) into something else. This is how matter and energy are conserved and the whole Big system evolves with time. Its rather amusing that even the ancient Aryan/Hindu mythology observes it too. We have Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Protector and Shiva, the Transformer...
As also whats interesting is the attributes given to numerous deities in India, their picturesque descriptions and characteristics...every quality of God has been given a form, and it is this understanding that unites all of them into one single Superpower.
Another interesting phenomena is the behaviour of microsystems. Quantum Mechanics tries to analyse the time evolution of a system, given its initial state and the Hamiltonian. This would imply that even the initial state is crucial for the system's dynamics! Now, we may consider the whole Universe to be one single system and it has a state with millions and billions of parameters and evolves with time so beautifully with stability and grace! What does it say about its own initial conditions ? Though the Hamiltonian is awesome, it does imply that something incredibly great would have made created the initial state of the Universe, that everything is contained in it...even what I write about its own theory. So, even if someone does come with the GUT as they call it, it was inbuilt in the system itself that certain components in it would ultimately guess its own theory correctly!...isn't that a sufficient proof that God does exist ?!
Now, as I think further, I realise the intense desire within man t understand the world around him. Be it a scientist, a poet, an artist or a philosopher...they are all driven by an unknown force to get themselves more acquianted with the place they call their own...only the methods differ ! What would this indicate about the nature of the human species ? It is only humans which have this ability to look around and observe...this inner craving to know everything in a better sense...and this is what makes us all special !
On the weekend I attended a guest lecture by a God Prof. in TIFR who works on String Thoery. And it was so arbit and random to me before he presented it so awesomely. It is indeed vague to represent the Universe with a set of numbers, matrices, tensors and random dimensional spaces. But, it is not what these people do...but why they do it, is what fascinates me to the core.
I could see in his eyes, the joy of a child who stares innocently at everything around him and makes his own convictions about them. This is the spirit of mankind...to observe, analyse and try to understand better...this is what I would like to be continue doing the rest of my life. I am so glad that I got an opportunity to learn Physics and Science in general and got a philosophical heart to complement it...its so arbit and yet so simple and beautiful. Thats how amazing the Universe is!
It was just this observation that all things in the universe...living and non-living are created, maintained and ultimately transformed(note: transformed, not destroyed!) into something else. This is how matter and energy are conserved and the whole Big system evolves with time. Its rather amusing that even the ancient Aryan/Hindu mythology observes it too. We have Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Protector and Shiva, the Transformer...
As also whats interesting is the attributes given to numerous deities in India, their picturesque descriptions and characteristics...every quality of God has been given a form, and it is this understanding that unites all of them into one single Superpower.
Another interesting phenomena is the behaviour of microsystems. Quantum Mechanics tries to analyse the time evolution of a system, given its initial state and the Hamiltonian. This would imply that even the initial state is crucial for the system's dynamics! Now, we may consider the whole Universe to be one single system and it has a state with millions and billions of parameters and evolves with time so beautifully with stability and grace! What does it say about its own initial conditions ? Though the Hamiltonian is awesome, it does imply that something incredibly great would have made created the initial state of the Universe, that everything is contained in it...even what I write about its own theory. So, even if someone does come with the GUT as they call it, it was inbuilt in the system itself that certain components in it would ultimately guess its own theory correctly!...isn't that a sufficient proof that God does exist ?!
Now, as I think further, I realise the intense desire within man t understand the world around him. Be it a scientist, a poet, an artist or a philosopher...they are all driven by an unknown force to get themselves more acquianted with the place they call their own...only the methods differ ! What would this indicate about the nature of the human species ? It is only humans which have this ability to look around and observe...this inner craving to know everything in a better sense...and this is what makes us all special !
On the weekend I attended a guest lecture by a God Prof. in TIFR who works on String Thoery. And it was so arbit and random to me before he presented it so awesomely. It is indeed vague to represent the Universe with a set of numbers, matrices, tensors and random dimensional spaces. But, it is not what these people do...but why they do it, is what fascinates me to the core.
I could see in his eyes, the joy of a child who stares innocently at everything around him and makes his own convictions about them. This is the spirit of mankind...to observe, analyse and try to understand better...this is what I would like to be continue doing the rest of my life. I am so glad that I got an opportunity to learn Physics and Science in general and got a philosophical heart to complement it...its so arbit and yet so simple and beautiful. Thats how amazing the Universe is!
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