SMILE


It seems that nothing has more power to elevate a mood than the impact of a genuine smile. The benefits of a smile extend not only to the recipient of the warm gesture but also to the smile's originator. "A smile is a little curve that sets a lot of things straight." Here are some of the many .....

Benefits of Smiling!

1. Smiling Makes Us Attractive- People are spending millions on cosmetic products and procedures to make them look better. If you want to look better, try adding a genuine smile. It’s cheaper and much more attractive. The muscles we use to smile lift the face, making a person appear younger. Don't go for a face lift, just try smiling your way through the day -- you'll look younger and feel better.

2. Smiling Changes Our Mood-Next time you are feeling down, try putting on a smile. There's a good chance you mood will change for the better. Smiling can trick the body into helping you change your mood.

3. Smiling Is Contagious-When someone is smiling they lighten up the room, change the moods of others, and make things happier. A smiling person brings happiness with them.

4. Smiling Relieves Stress-Stress can really show up in our faces. Smiling helps to prevent us from looking tired, worn down, and overwhelmed. When you are stressed, take time to put on a smile. The stress should be reduced and you'll be better able to take action. Smiling helps to promote release of a "feel good" group of hormones called endorphins. These are the same group of hormones responsible for the runners high you hear so much about. If you don't have time to get to the gym for a hard run, try adding a smile to boost these natural, stress relieving hormones.

5. Smiling Boosts Your Immune System-Smiling helps the immune system to work better. When you smile, immune function improves possibly because you are more relaxed. Prevent the flu and colds by smiling.

6. Smiling Lowers Your Blood Pressure-When you smile, there is a measurable reduction in your blood pressure. Give it a try if you have a blood pressure monitor at home. Sit for a few minutes, take a reading. Then smile for a minute and take another reading while still smiling. Do you notice a difference?

7. Smiling is medication-Studies have shown that smiling releases endorphins, natural pain killers, and serotonin. Together these three make us feel good. Smiling is a natural drug and leads to a healthier immune system. Various studies conducted over the years have shown that smiling can boost the functioning of the immune system. This may help to reduce your risk of developing everything from the common cold to chronic diseases such ascancer. Could there be a less expensive medicine than this?

8. A smile inspires others-When you smile you also send a positive message that can potentially change someone else's mood for the better. The person you graced with your smile may go on to pass the kindness to someone else. Who knows how far your original smile will travel?

9. Smiling promotes Success -Smiling people appear more confident, are more likely to be promoted, and more likely to be approached. Put on a smile at meetings and appointments and people will react to you differently. When you smile, you appear confident and capable. Given the choice between two equally qualified job candidates, the smiling candidate is going to be perceived as being more of a team player and easier to work with. Who do you think is more likely to get the job offer?

10. Smiling Helps You Stay Positive-Try this test: Smile. Now try to think of something negative without losing the smile. It's hard. When we smile our body is sending the rest of us a message that "Life is good!" Stay away from depression, stress and worry by smiling.
Smile..!!!.. .It does not cost a Penny and can make a persons day!
"It takes seventeen muscles to smile and forty-three to frown".

The Story of a Wallet

Once an old man was traveling by train on a pilgrimage to Brindavan. At night, whilst he was asleep, his wallet fell from his pocket. A co-passenger found it the next morning and enquired as to whom the wallet belonged. The old man said it was his. A picture of Sri Krishna sri krishna inside the wallet was proof that the wallet really belonged to him.

The old man then began to relate the story of the wallet. He soon had a group of eager listeners around him. Lifting up the purse for all to see, the old man said: This purse has a long history behind it. My father gave it to me years ago when I was a mere schoolboy. I kept my little pocket money in it and also a photograph of my parents.

Years passed. I grew up and began studying at university. Like every youth, I became conscious of my appearance. I replaced my parents’ photograph with that of my own and I would look at it often. I had become my own admirer.

Then I got married. Self-admiration gave way to the consciousness of a family. Out went my own picture and I replaced it with that of my wife’s. During the day I would open the wallet many times and gaze at the picture. All tiredness vanished and I would resume my work with enthusiasm.

Then my first child was born. What a joy I experienced when I became a father! I would eagerly rush home after work to play with my little baby. Needless to say, my wife’s picture had already made way for the child’s.

The old man paused. Wiping his tearful eyes, he looked around and said in a sad voice: Friends, my parents passed away long ago. My wife too died five years ago. My son- my only son- is now married. He is too busy with his career and his family. He has no time for me. I now stand on the brink of death. I do not know what awaits me in future. Everything I loved, everything I considered my own, has left me.

A picture of Lord Krishna now occupies the place in my wallet. I know He will never leave me. I wish now that I had kept HIS picture with me right from the beginning! He alone is true; all others are just passing shadows.

So, my dear….Don’t be afraid, these earthly ties are transitory. Today they seem to be the be-all and end-all of life, and tomorrow they vanish. Your real tie is with God. God is one’s very own. It is the eternal relationship. He is ever looking after you. Call on the God who pervades the entire universe. He will shower His blessings upon us.

Our wealth will remain on earth; Our cattle will remain in the stables, Our wife will come till the entrance door, Our relatives and friends will come till the cremation ground, Our body will accompany us till the funeral pyre, but on the way beyond this life only Our Karmas will accompany us.

In the Divine plan, one day each union must end with separation.
In the Mahabharata, Bhishma said:-Develop this attitude based on wisdom:
I am alone. There is no one who is mine; nor do I belong to anyone. Even this body does not belong to me. These objects of the world are not mine; nor do they belong to others. Or, all things belong equally to all beings. Therefore there is no need for any mind to grieve over these.

The five organs of action known as Karma Indriyas,
Our Vak (organ of speech), Pani (hands), Padam (feet), Upastha (genital), and Guda (anus). They are born of the Rajasic raajsik portion of the five tanmatras or subtle elements.
Vak (speech) from the akasha tanmatra (space),
Pani (hands) from the vayu tanmatra (air),
Padam (feet) from the agni tanmatra (fire),
Upasthan (genital) from Aapas tanmatra (water), and
Guda (anus) from the prithivi tanmatra (earth).

That man who, restraining the organs of action; sits revolving in his mind. Thoughts regarding the objects of the senses are a man of sinful conduct. He is self-deluded. He is a veritable hypocrite.

The organs of action must be controlled. The thoughts should also be controlled. The mind should be firmly fixed on the God. Only then will we become a true Yogi. Only then will we attain to Self-realisation.

10 Principles for Peace of Mind

1. Do not interfere in others’ business unless asked.- Most of us create our own problems by interfering too often in others’ affairs. We do so because somehow we have convinced ourselves that our way is the best way, our logic is the perfect logic and those who do not conform to our thinking must be criticised and steered to the right direction, our direction. This thinking denies the existence of individuality and consequently the existence of God….God has created each one of us in a unique way.

No two human beings can think or act in exactly the same way. All men or women act the way they do because God within them prompts them that way. Mind your own business and you will keep your peace.

2. Forgive and forget- this is the most powerful aid to peace of mind. We often develop ill feelings inside our heart for the person who insult us or harms us. We nurture grievances. This in turn results in loss of sleep, development of stomach ulcers, and high blood pressure. This insult or injury was done once, but nourishing of grievances goes on forever by constantly remembering it. Get over this bad habit. Life is too short to waste in such trifles. Forgive, forget, and march on. Love flourishes in giving and forgiving.

3. Do not Crave for Recognition- This World is full of selfish people. They seldom praise anybody without selfish motives. They may praise you to-day because you are in power, but no sooner than you are powerless; they will forget your achievement and will start finding faults in you. Why do you wish to kill yourself in striving for their recognition? Their recognition is not worth the aggravation. Do your duties ethically and sincerely.

4. Do not be jealous- We all have experienced how jealousy can disturb our peace of mind. You know that you work harder than your colleagues in the office, but sometimes they get promotions; you do not. You started a business several years ago, but you are not as successful as your neighbour whose business is only one year old. There are several examples like these in everyday life. Should you be jealous? No.

Remember everybody’s life is shaped by his/her destiny, which has now become his/her, reality. If you are destined to be rich, nothing in the world can stop you. If you are not so destined, no one can help you either. Nothing will be gained by blaming others for your misfortune. Jealousy will not get you anywhere; it will take away your peace of mind.

5. Change yourself according to the Environment- If you try to change the environment single-handedly, the chances are you will fail. Instead, change yourself to suit your environment. As you do this, even the environment, which has been unfriendly to you, will mysteriously change and seem congenial and harmonious.

6. Endure what cannot be cured- this is the best way to turn a disadvantage into an advantage. Everyday we face numerous inconveniences, ailments, irritations, and accidents that are beyond our control. If we cannot control them or change them, we must learn to put up with these things. We must learn to endure them cheerfully. Believe in yourself and you will gain in terms of patience, inner strength and will power.

7. Do not bite more than you can chew- This maxim needs to be remembered constantly. We often tend to take more responsibilities than we are capable of carrying out. This is done to satisfy our ego. Know your limitation. Why take on additional loads that may create more worries? You cannot gain peace of mind by expanding your external activities. Reduce your material engagements and spend time in prayer, introspection and meditation. This will reduce those thoughts in your mind that makes you restless. Uncluttered mind will produce greater peace of mind.

8. Maditate Regularly- Medtation calms the mind and gets rid of disturbing thoughts. This is the highest state of peace of mind. Try and experience it yourself. If you meditate earnestly for half an hour everyday, your mind will tend to become peaceful during the remaining twenty-three and half hours. Your mind will not be easily disturbed as it was before.

You would benefit by gradually increasing the period of daily meditation. You may think that this will interfere with your daily work. On the contrary, this will increase your efficiency and you will be able to produce better results in less time.

9. Never leave the mind Vacant- An empty mind is the devil’s workshop. All evil actions start in the vacant mind. Keep your mind occupied in something positive, something worthwhile. Actively follow a hobby. Do something that holds your interest. You must decide what you value more: money or peace of mind. Your hobby, like social work or religious work, may not always earn you more money, but you will have a sense of fulfilment and achievement. Even when you are resting physically, occupy yourself in healthy reading or mental chanting of God’s name.

10. Do not Procrastinate and never regret-Do not waste time protracted wondering “Should I or shouldn’t I ?” Days, weeks, months, and years may be wasted in that futile mental debating. You can never plan enough because you can never anticipate all future happenings. Value your time and do the things that need to be done.

It does not matter if you fail the first time. You can learn from your mistakes and succeed the next time. Sitting back and worrying will lead to nothing. Learn from your mistakes, but do not brood over the past. DO NOT REGRET. Whatever happened was destined to happen only that way. Why cry over split milk ?

Live a life that matters.

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no sunrises, no minutes, hours or day. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentment, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do list will expire.

The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won’t matter where you come from or what side of the tracks you lived, at the end. It won’t matter whether you were beautiful, brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant. So what will matter ? How will the values of your days be measured ? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built, not what you got, but what you gave.

What will matter is not your success, but your significance. What will matter is not what you learnt, but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered, encouraged others to emulate your example. What will matter is not your competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you know, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’ve gone.

What will matter are not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn’t by accident……it is not a matter of circumstances but of choice. While you meet something beautiful, the first thing you should do is to share it with your friends anywhere, so that these beautiful things will be able to spread out literally around the world

Life after 60

An Interesting perspective….
A wise saying Enjoy !
“Time is like a river, you cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again. Enjoy every moment of life.”
For those that are already 60……..start practicing.
For those who are almost 60……..get ready
For those whom 60 are a long way off…….help your parents do it.
For those who are 60 years old……focus on enjoying people, not on indulging in or accumulating material things. Plan to spend what ever you have saved, you deserve to enjoy it and the few healthy years you have left. Travel if you can afford it.

Don’t leave anything for your children or loved ones to quarrel about. By leaving something, you may even cause more trouble when are gone.

Live in the here and now, not in the yesterdays and tomorrows. It is only today that you can handle. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may not even happen.

Enjoy your grand children (if any) but don’t be there to take care of them. Don’t have any guilt about refusing to baby sit anyone’s kids, including your own grand kids. Your parental obligation is to your children. After duties of childrearing and babysitting are finished. Let your children raise their own off-spring.

Accept physical weakness, sickness and other physical pains, it is a part of the ageing process. Enjoy whatever your health can allow.

Enjoy who you are and what you have right now, Stop working hard for what you do not have. If you don’t have then, it’s probably too late.

Enjoy your life with your spouse, children, grand children and friends. People, who truly love you, love you for yourself, not for what you have. Any one who loves you for what you have will just give you misery. And you’d probably know that by now.

Forgive and accept forgiveness. Forgive yourself and others. Enjoy peace of mind and peace of soul.

Not trying to be morbid, but befriend death. It’s a natural part of the life cycle. Don’t be afraid of it. Death is the beginning of a new and better life. So, prepare yourself not for death but for a new life with the Almighty God.

Go to places of worship and have a close relationship with God, for He is the only one who can take care of you when you die.

The Mantras मंत्र from Veda वेदा are very powerful

The Vedas वेदा , the Mantras मंत्र of the Vedas वेदा , are filled with such threefold or fourfold meaning. Hence it is difficult to understand the full meaning of any Mantra मंत्र of the Veda वेदा . "Ananta Vai Vedah अनंत व वेदा "-Infinite is the meaning of the Vedas वेदा The meaning of the Veda वेदा is infinite। It has no end at all. It is Mathematics, it is Chemistry, it is Physics, it is Ayur veda आयुर्वेद , it is Psychology, it is Metaphysics, it is Philosophy, it is Spirituality, it is meditation, it is love, it is ecstasy. You will find everything in every Mantra मंत्र of the Veda वेदा .

All depends upon how you look upon it, how you feel it. A person can be a father, he may be a brother, he may be a son, he may be a friend, but all the while he is one and the same person. Attitudes are different on account of various relationships connected. So the Rudra Adhyaya रूद्र अध्याय is before us, a majestic prayer for world-peace, international-peace, subjective peace, universal peace and God-Consciousness.

It is difficult to chant this Veda Mantra वेद्द मंत्र called the Satarudriya सतारुद्रिया , because it requires training, as in music, for example. Everybody cannot sing. It requires a tremendous training for years together. Likewise, the chanting of the Mantras मंत्र of the Veda वेदा requires training for years together, not for a few days only. Just as one who does not know how to sing, will make a jarring noise and you will like to get up and go away rather than listen to it, so also when you chant the Mantra मंत्र wrongly, Gods will get up and go away. They do not bear it any more. So, it requires training. But once it is properly learnt, it becomes a protection for you from catastrophes of every kind - physical, psychological and what not. So, those who know may chant it, recite it and take part in the recitation of it everyday in the temple, at least during the worship on Mahasivaratri महाशिवरात्रि .

Those who cannot do this because it is difficult, can chant the Mantra मंत्र 'Om Namah Sivaya' ॐ नमः शिवाय , the Panchakshara Mantra पंचाक्षर मंत्र of Lord Siva भगवान् शिव with Om preceding it. It is a Kavacha; कवच a kind of armour that you put on. This armour will protect you from danger of every kind. It will protect you and also all those whom you want to be protected. It will protect your family, will protect your country, and will protect the whole world. It can cease wars and tensions of every kind, provided you offer the prayers wholeheartedly from the bottom of your heart.

Collective prayer is very effective. If a hundred persons join together and pray, it will have a greater effect than one person praying. Of course, if that single person is very powerful, even one person's prayer is alright. But, where personalities have their own weaknesses and foibles, it is better that people have congregational prayer. When all the minds are put together they form a great energy. It surges forth into God. So during this period preceding Sivaratri शिवरात्री prayer is to be, offered to Lord Siva भगवान् शिव as the Master of Yogi योगी as the incarnation of all virtues and powers, as a facet of the Almighty Lord. The glory of Lord Siva भगवान् शिव is sung in the Siva Purana शिवपुराण , in the Yajur Veda Rudra Adhyaya, यजुर्वेद रुद्राध्याया and in the Mahabharata महाभारत .

You will be wonderstruck at the force with which Vyasa व्यास and other Sages sing the glories of God, of Vishnu विष्णु , of Narayana नारायण , of Siva शिव , of Devi देवी in the various Puranas पुराण and Epics, because these masterpieces have been written by those who had the vision of God. Only one who has the vision of God can express in soulful force. Otherwise, it will be an empty sound without much significance and thought. So, chant the Mantra मंत्र 'Om Namah Sivaya' ॐ नमः शिवाय as many times as possible everyday, mentally or even verbally as is convenient, with self-control, which means to say without any thought of sense-object. If you chant the Mantra मंत्र together with the thought of sense-objects, then there is divided devotion. It is like dividing the course of a river in two different directions so that the force of the waters gets lessened. Suppose you have five sense-objects and towards all of them your senses are running, and you are thinking of God also at the same time.

Then, you know, energy is divided, concentration becomes weak and meditation is not successful. No meditation will become successful, if the senses are active; because, the senses are the opposite of the effort at meditation. While meditation is the collective force of the mind concentrating itself on God-consciousness, the senses, when they are active, do the opposite of meditation and you become a tremendous extrovert. You are connected to the objects of sense, rather than the universal concept which is God. God is unity, whereas sense objects are multiplicity.

They are the opposite of what you are aiming at in your spiritual life. With moderate behaviour in every manner in your spiritual life, you will attain to success. As the Bhagavad Gita भगवत गीता beautifully puts it, 'moderate in your eating, moderate in your activity, moderate in your speech, and moderate in your sleep'-form the golden mean, the via-media, the golden path. God is the harmony of all powers in the universe. Harmony means the middle course, neither this extreme nor that extreme. You cannot say whether it is or it is not. We don't know what it is. As Buddha बुद्ध said:" 'Nothing is', is one extreme; 'everything is', is another extreme. God is in the middle. Truth is in the middle." So, the middle path is the best path, which is the path of austerity with understanding. This is the characteristic of the middle path. When there is understanding without austerity, it is useless. When there is austerity without understanding that is also useless.

There must be austerity with understanding and understanding with austerity, knowledge with self-control and self-control with knowledge that is wisdom. Knowledge with self-control is called wisdom, whereas knowledge without self-control is mere dry intellectuality. That is of no use. And austerity without understanding is a kind of foolishness. It will have no proper result. So, Lord Siva भगवान् शिव is not merely an austere Being but also a repository of Knowledge. All worshippers of knowledge also worship Lord Siva भगवान् शिव , as He is the God of all students, scholars and seekers of wisdom and knowledge.

Happiness comes from Giving


This story is about a beautiful, expensively dressed lady who complained to her psychiatrist that she felt that her whole life was empty, it had no meaning.

So, the lady went to visit a counsellor to seek out happiness. The counsellor called over the old lady who cleaned the office floors. The counsellor then said to the rich lady "I'm going to ask Mary here to tell you how she found happiness. All I want you to do is listen to her."

So the old lady put down her broom and sat on a chair and told her story: "Well, my husband died of malaria and three months later my only son was killed by a car. I had nobody... I had nothing left. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I never smiled at anyone, I even thought of taking my own life.

Then one evening a little kitten followed me home from work. Somehow I felt sorry for that kitten. It was cold outside, so I decided to let the kitten in. I got it some milk, and the kitten licked the plate clean.

Then it purred and rubbed against my leg and for the first time in months, I smiled. Then I stopped to think, if helping a little kitten could make me smile, May be doing something for people could make me happy. So the next day I baked some biscuits and took them to a neighbour who was sick in bed.

Every day I tried to do something nice for someone. It made me so happy to see them happy. Today, I don't know of anybody who sleeps and eats better than I do. I've found happiness, by giving it to others."

When she heard that the rich lady cried. She had everything that money could buy, but she had lost the things which money cannot buy.

What are our pleasure-centers?

We know them very well. The greatest fortress of our pleasure is our own personality-consciousness, our egoism. We have many other pleasure-centers, no doubt; but the greatest among all of them is what we call, in common parlance, Izzat इज्ज़त , dignity of personality, self-respect. This self-respect was unknown to great masters and saints. They respected God and so they were humiliated in the eyes of people, put down as 'no-ones' in the eyes of the world. What torture and what suffering they underwent-it is something terrifying, if you think over it. We have only to read the lives of a few saints of the past. We can read even the life of recent personality. While it is easy to think that we believe in God, it is really difficult to be true to the salt.

Hence, may we take these auspicious occasions as occasions for honest Sadhana साधना of our own conscience and spirit also, and not the Sadhana साधना of the hands, the limbs and the feet alone. We have the Sadhana साधना of the limbs of the body, in the form of ritualistic worship with waving the lights in the temple, opening a scripture and reading it loudly through the vocal organ and paying obeisance physically by Sashtanga Namaskara साष्टांग नमस्कार through the body. All these are beautiful, wonderful and very necessary. But they become null and void, if the conscience is set at naught and is opposed in its spirit to all our outer performances of rituals and religious observances. God is within us, in the deepest root of our being, and to turn to Him would be to turn to ourselves, in our essence, finally.

This should be the spirit of Sadhana साधना and devotion to God and nothing can be more difficult, because it is the death of the individual personality. 'Die to live'. If you want to live in the Eternity, you have to die to the temporal, which means to say that you should die to all that you regard as beautiful, meaningful and valuable in this world. Who can do this! No ordinary man is prepared for this. No ordinary mortal can have the courage, the power and the strength to face the weaknesses of flesh, the foibles of human nature and the impetuosity of the human ego.

Who can face these powerful demons! Who can face Ravana रावण ? No one, not all the gods, not even Indra इन्द्र could face him. And who are we! It is not a joke to face and overcome these great negative forces. They are awful-this is the only word we can use here. They are so terrifying that even a mere thought of them is enough to make one run away. Such is the terror that one has to meet with before one becomes fit for God-realisation. "The fear of the Absolute", said Plotinus, a great saint of the West.

Entering the Absolute is like entering a lion's den, from which you cannot come back. Fierce is the ocean, fierce is the lion, fierce is the conflagration of fire, and fierce is love of God. No one can love God, unless one is prepared to die, wholly and totally, to the so-called good, beautiful and pleasant in this world, to this body and to the ego. Hard is the job! Difficult is the task! God's grace is the only saving factor.

So, may we pray to Him, the Almighty, that He may bless us with this uncanny courage, knowledge and strength, that we may realise Him in all His Glory in this very birth.