Kalam's Khazana

As a young citizen of India armed with technology, knowledge and love for mu nation, I realize, small aim is a crime............
I will work and sweat for a great vision, the finish of transforming India into a developed nation powered by economic strength with value system........
I will keep the lamp of knowledge burning to achieve the vision- developed India
                                                       - A.P.J Abdul Kalam"Ignited Minds"   
Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe that i cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning"
                                                  - Mahatma Gandhi 

A gift from father to daughter

The day after dusshera,  I received a call from my father. He sounded thoroughly excited. He asked me that am i able to hear music from the back. I listened carefully then i could hear drums,  folk songs,bhajans and Ma durga's aarti. My father told me that 20 km away from Shridham, 15 to 20 idols of Ma durga are collectively immersed in the Narmada river.People welcome them from whichever place they are passed. As my father was telling this, i could visualise all these events. Each idol of Ma Durga was crossing in front of our house with loud Sher-kali dance and folk bhajan. When my father called me, that was the time, the idol of Ma durga was being welcomed in our house, people who came with the idol of Ma Durga were having bhog prasad in our house which were prepared by the halwai of the house.
Many idols of Ma Durga were crossing in front of our house and were heading towards the river Narmada. It seemed as if Ma Durga landed on earth to give a glimpse of herself to her devotees. All devotees were busy in Seva of Ma. It seemed as if I was day-dreaming, the emotions with which my father was describing all these events were automatically trasferred to me. It was a kind if revisiting my childhood days.

From this event, I understood that whether it is for god or a human being, it is only through emotions that one can communicate what feelings are going in a person.     
  

Be Mindful of Yesterday, Today and Tommorrow

Do we have likes and dislikes or do likes and dislikes have us? As unconscious beings, lives and dislikes control our lives. Conscious beings are masters of likes and dislikes. When lives and dislikes are under your control, they will serve you.
It is wrong to say that we have to live only in the present. One needs to consider time as past, present and future.  Some people operate from the past, some are future-oriented so they mostly operate from the future and some are present-oriented. To be wise involves balancing the three-time periods...when required you have to take reference from the past or consider the future. Hence balancing time is very essential.
Do not reject the past or the future also do not only live in the past or the future. Learn from the past, enjoy the present and plan for the future. Be present in the past and thereby, learn from the past. Be present in the future,thereby, plan for the future, being alive in the present, you will enjoy the present.


It is said that one of the reasons Hitler lost the war was because he did not learn from the history. He attacked Russia in winter, had he learnt from the past he would have known that Napoleon had lost many of his men by attacking Russia in winter. One can learn from the past as well as from the future, taking care  not to be imprisoned by both. Similarly, while planning for the future do not loose the present and miss the wisdom of the past or the opportunities of the future. Hence one needs to be balanced with reference to time. Decide on your priorities in life. Prioritize your own priorities. Establish your peak performance or time during a day, monitor your low performance time. Do any important task at your peak performance time. 
Do any less important task at your low performance time.


Identify your time wasters, learn to delegate work. Enjoy your work and you will find there a lot of time.
Review your priorities from time to time. We the people who are good at time management. Time will melt into timelessness, use time to go beyond time. We live in two worlds, a world of the mind which is in time, a world beyond time that is timelessness. When we are in sleep or in samadhi,we go beyond time and experience timelessness. One must have the wisdom to use the mind and the wisdom to go beyond the time. In state of deep joy, we are beyond our mind.
Mind is a bundle of thoughts. More than heart-attacks we suffer from thought-attacks.


When thoughts attacks us, we become victims of thought it is like employing someone and then being thrashed by him. You should be master of the mind, rather than  mind being  your master. You should use the mind rather than let the mind use you. The very intention to be master of your mind will give you the wisdom of how to use the mind.


                                                             Discourse by Swami Sukhabodhananda           
                                                                           (From my collections)

How to be Happy?

The real sources of Happiness are:

1. Meditation gives you a new dimension of understanding your own thoughts.

2. We should always try to do actions which not only benefits us but also others.

3. We should try to build social relationship that support intimacy and bounding.

4. Take enjoyment in natural beauty.

5. Aim for inner fulfillment rather than external fulfillment.

6. Try to reduce stress.

7. Learn to love your own company, be creative, try to learn new things, listen music.   

8. Abolish violence and anger.

9. Resolve conflicts, both inner and outer, rather then letting them build up.

10. Cultivate kindness and compassion. Being generous of spirit, learn to share. 

Magic of The Art Of Living

Through my daughter Karnika's persuasion,I joint three days course of The Art Of Living.What I saw there most of the people.,whether young or old were suffering from stress and so,all of them wanted peace and happiness in their lives. Many of them felt a sense of loneliness which was due to lack of connectivity with their own family members and loss of control in their personal lives. While others were unable to cope with their dire circumstances. The biggest message in The Art Of Living is that " Accept the people and the situations as they are, don't change them according to you." This view helps in reducing a person's level of stress. The Art Of Living is like a psychological group therapy  where people come together to share their thoughts, this provide a strong support to them. Sudarshan Kriya, which is taught during the three day course, is in itself a unique practice which help to keep our body and soul fit. Sudarshan Kriya is a combination of pranayam and meditation.The Art Of Living gets involved with your daily habits and you no longer perceive life as mundane. The soothing music and bhajans are the essence of The Art Of Living. After joining the Art of Living, one can never view a problem as a difficult situation because we surrender all our problems to Guruji.  
           

Dev Balram

Balram, son of Vasudev and Rohini and Krishna's elder brother was very attractive and generous. According to Jain scriptures "Harivansh Puran", after Krishna's death, he became Jain monk. Digamber Jain monks live without clothes or in Digamber veish. His place of 'dyan' was Mangey-tungey. It is said that one day he went to a village near Mangey-tungey for ''ahar-chariya'' or "bhiksha". The women of that village were mesmerized when they looked at him. Some of these women were so engrossed in him that instead of putting rope on the pot to fetch the water from the well, they tied the rope around their children. When Baldev saw this, he was disappointed for his own looks. And so, he went back to his mountain where he was in "dyan" and took a pledge not to appear before anyone and so, he sat in such a way so that no one could see his face and as a result one could see only his back. After a very difficult "dyan", he attained his salvation. Till date, we can see the statue of Balram in Mangey-tungey from his backside and not his face.

I wonder, how the golden city of Dwarka turned into ashes and Krishna's death changed Balram's mind that he turned himself from a king to a monk.             

Story of Maangey-Tungey Shrine

There are 24 Tirthankars  in Jain religion. In each part of India there are Jain shrines which has its own ancient story. During my childhood, my mother used to tell me about our Jain teerth sthal or shrines.  I have a hazy memory of Maangey-tungey sthal, yesterday I read about this shrine in a book. Near Nasik, there is a mountain with the height of about 4300 feet. This mountain has two peaks, one is called Maangey and another as Tungi. Around these mountains there is a dense forest where there is a temple of Lord Parasnath. Ram,Sita,Sugreev,Nal.,Neel,Baldev.and many others attained their salvation in this place. It is also said that when Dwarka was in flames, Krishna and Baldev went to this forest, while roaming in the forest Krishna started  feeling thirsty, Baldev asked Krishna to lye down under a tree until he gets water for him. Baldev searched each hook and corner of the forest but could not find water, after a while he saw a cave in which there was a pond. Meanwhile, when Krishna was sleeping under the tree, the lotus signs in his feet were shining like the eyes of a deer. Raja Jaradh Kumar who belonged to the same clan of Krishna, went to the same forest for hunting. Thinking it as the eyes of a deer he shot an arrow which stuck Krishna's feet. When Raja Jaradh realized his mistake , he went to Krishna to apologize. Krishna forgave him and asked him to immediately leave the forest otherwise Baldev would not be able to control his anger and would kill him.
When Baldev reached, Krishna was dead by then. Baldev carried Krishna's dead body on his shoulders and went each place for someone to revive Krishna. When devtas saw this act by Baldev, they reminded Baldev in different ways that it is impossible to bring Krishna back to life. Being in a state of complete sorrow, Baldev performed Krishna's pyre and performed the last rituals for Krishna. Till date Krishna's samadhi is present in Maangey-tungey. Baldev also attained his salvation by being in this place.

It is said that by visiting this shrine, human beings are freed from their sorrows and difficulties which they are facing in their lives.