Be Positive

Positive pictures come out from negatives developed in a dark room. So if you find yourself lonely and in the dark, understand that God is working on a beautiful picture.

The Best Sculptor

Once Michelangelo, the famous sculptor was carrying with great difficulty a heavy stone to his work place. A man asked him what use was that stone for him, why he was taking such pains to drag it along. Michelangelo replied that there was an angel hidden inside the stone and he would liberate it.
Deep within all of us know that we are that eternel soul, the Universl Energy but the thing is that we do not know that we know,it is so because the Eternal Truth is concealed by the ignorance or illusory Maya. Guru like a sculptor chistles off the layers of ignorance and reveals to us our True Self. He is the best Sculptor who recognizes our real identity and brings it out to make us know ourselves. We are not stones (bodies) but an Angels (souls).

Have some Problem?.........This one is for U

In the Thar Desert there lived a wise old man who owned nineteen camels. He had four obedient sons. When his time was near, he called all his four sons, and said to them that after his death they must divide the camels among them so that the eldest should get half the camels, the second should get half of the remaining half , and the two younger sons would divide the rest of the camels equally between them.

One day he passed away. After giving him his last rites the four sons sat joining their heads to divide the camels among them the way their father had told them to do, but it was no easy sum. Dividing nineteen camels in equal halves was impossible without killing one and that was the last thing they would do as they loved them dearly. Now .they remembered their father had a Guru who guided him in all matters. They thought there must be some mystery behind their father’s will which his guru would certainly help them solve..
They all went to the wise Master and told him about there problem. The Guru smiled and taking his own camel went to their place. Now he added his own camel to their nineteen camels to make them twenty in number. He gave the eldest son ten camels, the second son got five (half of remaining ten). Now he was left with five camels to be divided equally among two younger sons. He took away his one camel and then divided the remaining four camels between them. All the sons accepted their shares and no camel was killed, Guru also got back his camel.
Now their wise father has given them a message in this way. It is:
Always heed Guru’s advise who connects you to God & whatever you do, add God (the twentieth camel) to it then no matter how difficult the situation may be, it will be solved easily. So always keep God and Guru with you.

Non violence means being free of any such violence

Purport:-
The Supreme Lord her says that one should worship The demigods and the deities selflessly. He has told that worshipping demigods is important as pleased by the worship , they bestow best fruits upon us . But one has to give up all his pride and become extremely humble while worshipping. Following the rites., and rituals and correct procedure of worship one loses his ego and his life becomes disciplined.
Lord krishna says that brahmins and gurus (those who teach us ) ie- our elders, spiritual masters, guides, and those who are superior to or older than us should all be revered and worshipped. we should try to please them in all possible ways.
Besides, the body should be kept clean and pure. Purity of body leads to purity of conscience. When we try to keep the body clean and pure , we note that this body is a 'bowl of filth'. There is nothing in it which is clean, pure, clear or fragrant. Such thoughts cut away all the bonds of attachment with this body and destory our false ego.
Simplicity is yet another part of austerity of body. One should give up all his haughtiness and vanity, and become humble and polile so that his entire behaviour- walking, talking, the way of holding body, looking, eating and drinking all become simple and straight. Well-being of a devotee lies in this alone. Praticing celebacy is also essential for him. He should observe the rules laid down by the scriptures regarding sexual relations (Which are different for different Ashrams). He should keep his thoughts pure and with firm will avoid being attracted towards any woman other than his wife.
Besides all these-practising non-violence also comes under this kind of austerity. Our ignorance and passions like lust, desire, anger, attachments and greed lie in the root of all violence. Enslaved by these, man hurts and incurs loss upon others. He kills animals for meat and leather. To fulfill his own desire he hurts others. Non violence means being free of any such violence.
Worshipping demigods and spiritiual masters, cleanliness, simplicity, celebacy and non-violence. These are five types of ansterties of body. The most important thing about these is that one does not have to undergo any tough penance, he just has to 'renounce'. While 'worshipping he has to renounce his pride and vanity' in 'cleanliness'- he gives up idleness, in 'simplicity'- ego and haughtiness, in 'celebacy'- his physical pleasure and in 'non-violence' he has to renounce the desire if having happiness, so has the Lord described the austerity of body.

Chapter-17 Text-16
Manah Prasadah saumyatram maunmatmavinigraha.
Bhav sanshuddhirityetatapo mansamuchyate.

Translation : -
Happines (satisfaction)] simplicity] gravity, self control, and purification of thoughts and feelings are called austerities of mind.

A LOVELY POEM WORTH READING

They who are near to me do not know that

you are nearer to me than they are.

They who speak to me do not know that

my heart is full with your unspoken words.

Those who crowd in my path do not know that

I am walking alone with you.

They who love me do not know that

their love brings you to my heart ...

- Rabindranath Tagore           

Shrimad Bhagawat Gita : Chapter 17 ,Verse 15

Anudwegakar vAkyam satyam priyahitam ch yat.
SwadhyAyAbhyasanam chaiv vangmayam tap uchyate.
Translation : -
The speech that is truthful, pleasing, beneficial and does not agitate anyone and also reading and reciting sacred text from scriptures are called Austerity of speech.

Purport :-
In this verse describing the austerity of speech the supreme Lord says that one's speech should be such that it does not arouse in anyone at any time any agitation or disturbance; which is true and is told without vanity or selfishness to others to make them understand; which is loving, sweet, simple and peaceful; which displays the qualities of love, kindness, forbearance and benevolence and which is not meant to harm any one at any time.
As is said Man should speak true and pleasing words. He should utter words which are true but not unpleasant; and which are pleasant but not untrue. This is SaAtan Dharma (Eternal Religion).
The Guru tells a story in this connection- Once a sage saw a cow rushing madly near his Ashram. A man also came running after the cow. Seeing the sage he asked him if he had seen the cow. The sage understood in one glance that he was a butcher and if he told him in which direction the cow had gone he would surely kill her. But he could not utter a lie. so he said "One who saw (the eye saw) can not speak, and the one who can speak (the tongne can speak), did not see.The butcher got confused and walked away... Thus in spite of telling the truth he saved the cow.
Now, on examining we shall find that it is possible to speak such words only if man's heart is free from violence, jealousy, hatred or enmity and he is averse to talking ill about others or insulting other. such a person is always full of divine love for all.
Besides, studying and teaching scriptures, Vedas, Upnishadas, BhAgwat, MahAbhArat etc. for spiritnal development of self and others is called svAdhyAya or self-study -A practice for development of self.
Reciting and repeating such text over and over again, to memorise it; chanting the holy name and praying to God again and again is called abhyas or 'practise'.
Practising all these and exercising restrain in speech (ie neither speaking nor reading anything nonsense) is called penance (Tapah) of speech.

Krishna Says

Chapter-9 Text-30
api chetsuduracharo bhajate maamananyabhak
sadhurev sa mantavyah samyagvyasito hi sah.
Translation: -
If even the most immoral person pays devotional service to me single mindedly, he should be considered a sage because he is properly situated in his determination.
Purport :-
People commonly judge a person by his outward behavior, they neither have will nor capacity to see his inner feelings and intentions.
They easily pass aspersions without thinking on even a righteous person when they see him doing one wrong action but when they see a man who is considered immoral, involved in paying devotion to God, they would call him a pretender. The people with dirty conscience further litter it with such talks. But the Supreme Lord is the ocean of pity and compassion. He considers only our inner feelings. He sets. His eyes upon a person's feelings and intentions and not upon his outward behaviors.
He is all-seeing and when he sees one with firm determination in one's mind that 'God is mine and I am God's,' engaged single mindedly in paying devotions to Him, He embraces him. He says that such a person must be considered a saint even if his conduct is not pure. It is not only a matter of consideration but also becomes true if he whole heartedly submits to God and chants His holy name. He is then purified of all his weaknesses and material contaminations.
Even in the life of an immoral person there may be some turning points when he may make him come to God with submission. Like when he is face to face with a crisis or he comes under the influence of a saint or a sage or he sees some miracle and is effected by that. Sage Valmiki and Ajamil are its brilliant examples. In spite of being immoral, by the grace of some saints they turned to God and this made them turn a new leaf in life. They were called saints and attained salvation as they had made chanting God's holy name their only duty and to attain oneness with God was their single aim. To attain name or fame, wealth or material comforts was not their aim.
The Supreme Lord says that "Though even a person is not entirely free from immorality, though he sometimes, compelled by situation or due to force of habit, commits mistakes and does something which can be considered abominable, yet God says that he should be considered a saint. One's he becomes a suppliant of God and says to Him that it is beyond his power to get over the weaknesses of his character and that it is possible only by His grace, the Ocean of Compassion, the Supreme Lord, Who looks after his devotee in all ways, purifies his conduct by pulling him over his weaknesses and passions and he becomes a true saint.

For Hindi translation visithttp://www.rudrasandesh.blogspot.com/

Extract from Shrimad Bhagawat Gita

Chapter-2 Text-69
yo nisha sarvabhootanam tasyam jagarti sanyami
yasyam jagrati bhootani sa nisha pashyato muneh.
Translation: -
That which is night for all the (worldly) beings, a self controlled person remains awake in that and when all other beings are awake it is night for an introspective sage.
Purport:-
In the present shloka(Verse) Lord Krishna tells the difference between a worldly man and a self controlled person. Telling how a person engaged in worldliness is aversed to God he says that he is attached to the Maya (illusions) of the world, material possessions and persons that he remains asleep for the ultimate truth. His attention does not go towards spiritually important issues like true knowledge his deeds, their out come& his end etc. He remain unconsious towards such things as if he is asleep. Whereas a self-controlled person (Who has made himself introverted by controlling his senses and mind) remains fully aware of all these. A materialistic person is engaged in luxury, comfort and making a store of things. Inspite of being equipped with power of reason and logic, he spends his life like birds and beasts and his precious human life which was his means to liberate him from the cycle of life and death goes in vain. Such a person misuses his intelligence to enjoy luxuries and to amass things that even though a thing is not likely to be useful to him he would make a store of it preventing others from using it. Contrary to this, a self controlled person remains unattached to enjoyment and collection. His only aim is God. To know the Ultimate Truth is his being awake at night.
A materialestic person uses his power of intellect cautiously to earn wealth, praise and fame. He keeps an account of even a single penny, a square-inch peice of land; thinks only of what to do to earn fame, this is the consciousness of such a person while a sage a seer who knows the truth behind world and God considers all these transcient things as clay. All this is full of darkness (ignorance) of night and he remains asleep (aversed or indifferent to) such things. For a liberated, and learned devotee there is no world before he reaches Brahma Loka (the abode of God). He sees the reality of world by separating himself from it. As a person amassing wealth does not know what it means to renounce wealth but a person who has renounced it knows about both amassing and renouncing wealth. As a boy has seen only childhood but an old person knows about childhood as well as youth likewise detaching themselves from world and engaging in contemplations the sages realize that the world is transcient (nothing is stable or permanent) and so they become dispassionate and go ahead to reach their ultimate Goal.