A Definition of God

Modern man's concepts of God are many and varied. Children tend to imagine an old man with a white beard. Many adults regard God as an invisible force or a mental concept or as all humanity, the universe, or even oneself. The dictionary also says that Krishna कृष्ण and Rama राम are Hindu god's name. But in actuality, if any name can be attributed to God, it is "Krishna कृष्ण or Rama राम ."

Actually God has no particular name. By saying He has no name; we mean that no one knows how many names He has. Since God is unlimited, His names also must be unlimited. Therefore we cannot settle on one name. For instance, Krishna कृष्ण is sometimes called

Yasoda-nandana यशोदा नंदन , the son of mother Yasoda यशोदा ; or
Devaki-nandana देवकी नंदन , the son of Devaki देवकी ; or
Vasudevanandana वासुदेव नंदन , the son of Vasudeva वासुदेव ; or
Nandanandana नंदनंदन , the son of Nanda नन्द .
Gopika ballabham गोपिका वलाब्हम , Achutam अचुतम , Kesavam केशावुम ,
Sometimes He is called Parthasarathi पार्थसारथी , indicating that He acted as the charioteer of Arjuna अर्जुन , who is sometimes called Partha पार्थ , the son of Partha पार्थ .
Rama राम is also called Maryada Purushotam मर्यादा पुर्शोतम or
Jankinandan जानकी नंदन , Sitapati सीतापति ,

God has many dealings with His many devotees, and according to those dealings, He is called certain names. Since He has innumerable devotees and innumerable relations with them, He also has innumerable names. We cannot hit on any one name. But the name Krishna कृष्ण means "all attractive."

God attracts everyone; that is the definition of God. We have seen many pictures of Krishna कृष्ण , and we see that He attracts the cows, calves, birds, beasts, trees, plants, and even the water in Vrindavana वृन्दावन . He is attractive to the cowherd boys, to the gopis गोपी , to Nanda Maharaja नन्द महाराज , to the Pandavas पांडव , and to all human society. Therefore if any particular name can be given to God, that name is "Krishna कृष्ण ." Parasara Muni पसासर मुनि , a great sage and the father of Vyasadeva वासुदेव , who compiled all the Vedic literatures, gave the following definition of God:

Bhagavan भगवान् , the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is thus defined by Parasara Muni पसासर मुनि as one who is full in six opulence--which has full strength, fame, wealth, knowledge, beauty, and renunciation. Bhagavan भगवान् , the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the proprietor of all riches. There are many rich men in the world, but no one can claim that he possesses all the wealth. Nor can anyone claim that no one is richer than he. We understand from the Srimad- Bhagavad-Gita श्रीमद भागवत गीता however, that when Krishna was present on this earth He had 16,108 wives, and each wife lived in a palace made of marble and bedecked with jewels. The rooms were filled with furniture made of ivory and gold, and there was great opulence everywhere. These descriptions are all given vividly in the श्रीमद भागवत गीता - Bhagavad-Gita. In the history of human society we cannot find anyone who had sixteen thousand wives or sixteen thousand palaces. Nor did Krishna कृष्ण go to one wife one day and another wife another day. No, He was personally present in every palace at the same time. This means that He expanded Himself in 16,108 forms. This is impossible for an ordinary man, but it is not very difficult for God. If God is unlimited, He can expand Himself in unlimited forms, otherwise there is no meaning to the word unlimited. God is omnipotent; He can maintain not only sixteen thousand wives but sixteen million and still encounter no difficulty, otherwise there is no meaning to the word omnipotent.

These are all attractive features. We experience in this material world that if a man is very rich, he is attractive. In America, for instance, Rockefeller, Ford, Bill gates and Warren Buffet are very attractive because of their riches. They are attractive even though they do not possess all the wealth of the world. How much more attractive, then, is God, who is the possessor of all riches.

Similarly, Krishna कृष्ण has unlimited strength. His strength was present from the moment of His birth. When Krishna कृष्ण was only three months old, the Putana demon attempted to kill Him, but instead she was killed by Krishna कृष्ण . That is God. God is God from the beginning. He does not become God by some meditation or mystic power. Krishna कृष्ण is not that type of God. Krishna was God from the very beginning of His appearance. Krishna कृष्ण also has unlimited fame. Of course, we are devotees of Krishna कृष्ण and know of Him and glorify Him, but apart from us, many millions in the world are aware of the fame of the Bhagavad-Gita श्रीमद भागवत गीता . In all countries all over the world the Bhagavad-Gita श्रीमद भागवत गीता is read by philosophers, psychologists, and religionists.

Beauty, opulence, is possessed unlimitedly by Krishna कृष्ण. Krishna कृष्ण Himself is very beautiful, as are all His associates. Those who were pious in a previous life receive an opportunity in this material world to take birth in good families and good nations. The American people are very rich and beautiful, and these opulence’s are a result of pious activities. All over the world people are attracted to the Americans because they are advanced in scientific knowledge, riches, beauty, and so on. This planet is an insignificant planet within the universe, yet within this planet, America--has so many attractive features. We can just imagine, then, how many attractive features must be possessed by God, who is the creator of the entire cosmic manifestation. How beautiful He must be--He who has created all beauty.

A person is attractive not only because of his beauty, but also because of his knowledge. A scientist or philosopher may be attractive because of his knowledge, but what knowledge is more sublime than that given by Krishna कृष्ण in the Bhagavad-Gita श्रीमद भागवत गीता ? There is no comparison in the world to such knowledge. At the same time, Krishna कृष्ण possesses full renunciation (vairagya). So many things are working under Krishna’s कृष्ण direction in this material world, but actually Krishna कृष्ण is not present here. A big factory may continue to work, although the owner may not be present. Similarly, Krishna’s कृष्ण potencies are working under the direction of His assistants, the demigods. Thus Krishna कृष्ण Himself is aloof from the material world. This is all described in the revealed scriptures.

Now there is an ambiguity No doubt the America, not…. America we even whole Europe is swarg- all aiswarrya sajo saman is there. Because of this aishwarya People are indulge in all unwanted activities, they forget why they have been given all this aiswarya and the Krishna is. However this is another subject and Jambwa dweep is the only as karamshetra and other dweeps are for enjoyment.

God, therefore, has many names according to His activities, but because He possesses more opulence, and because with this opulence’s He attracts everyone, He is called Krishna कृष्ण. The Vedic literature asserts that God has many names, but "Krishna" कृष्ण is the principal name.

The purpose of this Krishna कृष्ण consciousness movement in Europe and America is to propagate God's name, God's glories, God's activities, God's beauty, and God's love. There are many things within this material world, and all of them are within Krishna कृष्ण.

The most prominent feature of this material world is sex, and that also is present in Krishna कृष्ण. We are worshiping Radha and Krishna कृष्ण, and attraction exists between them, but material attraction and spiritual attraction are not the same. In Krishna कृष्ण, sex is real,

According to the Gita गीता , impulse is Vegam वेगम or force. Lord Krishna भगवान कृष्ण says, "He who is able to endure here on earth, before he is liberated from the body, the force born of desire and passion, he is harmonised, he is a happy man".

It is surprising that in India, the place of origin for Kama Sutra (काम सूत्र ) and Tantra (त्तन्त्र ), sex is something that is frowned upon or even feared. Most of us treat our sexuality as something that should be talked about in hushed tones.

This unnatural fear may have risen from the fact that we often do not understand the awesome force of sexuality. It is true that intense desire actually blurs the mind or even creates confusion and a feeling of insecurity. The reason behind this sense of insecurity is the truth that intense desire also means letting of the ego- to be completely selfless, to seek other’s pleasure before achieving one’s climax and to seek total oneness with the significant other. But to be completely abandoned without a thought to another thing is something that is not easily possible for most people. Our desire to escape from its overwhelming intensity alone is what creates an antithetic view of sex where none actually exists.

So we tend to view sex either in a positive light or in a negative light. But the truth is that the sexual force that is inside us is neutral and is multidimensional at the same time. It is intense, natural and healthy, and represents the power of creation itself. It is in truth the creative energy that is in it a divine and a spiritual force. For if this energy did not exist within us then we would not be able to replicate God’s an act of creation, the main stay of our existence on this planet.

Our ancients have said that it is this same cosmic energy that is present in living beings as the sex force. So Hindu regarded this energy as sacred, something that is worthy of being worshipped, not fettered away. We also need to embrace the multidimensional nature of our sexual feelings. The human experience of the sexual instinct is never static, but it is ever changing. So it is physical, psychological, emotional and even spiritual. (That is opening of the third eye of Lord Shiva- भगवान् शिव Name given to the process, whereby the full potential of man’s Biophysical, mental, emotional energy released, integrated and focused. )

In the present century scientists began to recognize an odd connection between the pineal eye and sexuality. It was established that the organ is a gland not a vestigial eye and that it produce a hormone that was labeled molotonin, molotonin is produced by the action for a certain enzyme upon a chemical called serotonin.

The real mystery begins here. This chemical has been proved to have a great deal to do with evolution of species. The primates, Men, and apes have more serotonin than any other species. Which seems to be manufactured in the Pineal Eye. And one of its functions is to inhibit sexual Development and to increase intelligence. This seems to explain, why most intelligent human beings seems to be late developers sexually and why early developer are seldom. If ever remarkable for intelligence. Pineal Eye तीसरी आंख also called A Third Eye

But first let's understand and accept that sex is a very powerful drive. For most spiritual seeker today, "sex is more important than God". He might as well have included some well-known spiritual gurus गुरू : every year a new scandal breaks out in an ashram आश्रम somewhere, where the supposedly celibate guru गुरू gets charged with sexual misconduct and sexual harassment of female disciples.

The term High Sex, which defines like this: "High Sex takes the experience of orgasm to a new dimension-a dimension in which genital orgasm is only the beginning. It inspires you to explore the full capacity of orgasm. Culminating in ecstatic body-to-body and soul-to-soul communion. It is an experience to the whole body, the whole being."

Orgasm is a mini and temporary samadhi. It can transport you to a state of rapture. The mind becomes devoid of thought, the egocentric view of life disappears and we step outside of time into the timeless a 'now' of bliss. Very much like samadhi or pure consciousness.

The fundamental view pervading the contemporary spiritual scene seems to be that sex, long seen as the enemy of the spirit, is actually its ally, or can be made to act like one. This sex-positive spiritual view holds that to truly become whole, we must liberate our sexuality from the chains of guilt, shame and repression, and allow it to find full expression as a natural, healthy and even sacred part of life.

"Making love can become a giving, expressing, selfless act, which is a form of prayer in itself. Through the body, the hearts are touched; the emotions opened needs and desire expressed, fears released, security given and souls merged. Through the act of physical sharing, God is revered and remembered. Making love goes from the physical to the emotional and finally to spiritual level where it becomes a prayer to the Divine."

Tantrics and latter day libertarian seekers insist that without sexual yoga you cannot attain enlightenment. On the other hand, the sadhus and swamis and monks and priests have always argued that without celibacy you may as well forget about spiritual growth.

Psychology has also conceded that the sexual drive or energy can be sublimated into higher avenues such as art and spirituality. "The elements of the sexual instinct are characterized by a capacity for sublimation, for changing their sexual aim into another of a different kind and socially more worthy. To the sum of energies thus gained for our psychological productions we probably owe the highest results of our culture,"

But here in the material world it is unreal. Everything we deal with here is present in the spiritual world, but here it has no real value. It is only a reflection. In store windows we see many mannequins, but no one cares about them, because everyone knows they are false. A mannequin may be very beautiful, but still it is false. When people see a beautiful woman, however, they are attracted because they think she is real. In actuality, the so-called living is also dead, because this body is simply a lump of matter; as soon as the soul leaves the body, no one would care to see the so-called beautiful body of the woman. The real factor, the real attracting force, is the spiritual soul.

In the material world everything is made of dead matter; therefore it is simply an imitation. The reality of things exists in the spiritual world. Those who have read the Bhagavad-Gita श्रीमद भागवत गीता can understand what the spiritual world is like, for there it is described:

The knowledge the terminology and the related subject to the sex, the things are happening around you, and the new development in the field of sex.

THE PHENOMENON OF SEX

There is a great illusion in front of man. It troubles him in the form of woman. There is a great illusion in front of woman. It troubles her in the form of man.

Go wherever you like—Amsterdam, London or New York. Chennai, Mumbai, Mizoram, Kochin, or Bengal------------ Analyze this world of phenomenal experience. You will find only two things—sex and ego.

The sex instinct is the greatest urge in human life. Sex energy or lust is the most deep-rooted instinct in man. Sex energy entirely fills the mind, intellect, Prana प्राण , senses and the whole body. It is the oldest of the factors that have gone into the constitution of the human being.

A man has a thousand and one desires. But the central strong desire is the sexual desire. The fundamental desire is the urge for a mate. All hang on this central basic desire. The desire for money, the desire for a son, the desire for property, the desire for houses, and other desires come later on.

Because the whole creation of this universe is to be kept up, God has made the sexual desire very, very powerful. Otherwise, many Jivanmuktas would have cropped up quite easily, just as graduates from universities. It is easy to get university qualifications. It demands a little money, memory, intelligence and a little strain. But it is an uphill climb to obliterate the sexual impulse.

This world is nothing but sex and ego. Ego is the chief thing. It is the basis. Sex hangs on the ego. If the ego is destroyed by Vichara विचार or enquiry of "Who am I?", the sex idea takes to its heels by itself. Man, master of his destiny, has lost his divine glory and has become a slave, a tool, in the hands of sex and ego on account of ignorance. Sex and ego are the products of Avidya अविद्या or nescience. One should have perfect knowledge of Sex.

The world is all sexy

Passion reigns supreme in all parts of the world. The minds of people are filled with sexual thoughts. The world is all sexy. The whole world is under a tremendous sexual intoxication. All are deluded and move in the world with perverted intellects. It is all fashion, restaurants, hotels, dinners, dances, races and cinema. Their life ends in eating, drinking and procreating. That is all.

Passion has introduced new fashions not only in London, Paris, India, France, China and Lahore, but even in Madras amongst the Brahmin ब्राह्मिन girls of orthodox families who apply Cherry Blossom Powder and Haze line Snow to their faces, instead of the sacred turmeric powder, and dress their hair like the French girls. This sort of vile imitation has crept into the mind of our boys and girls in India. The sacred percepts and teachings regarding sex of our ancient sages and Rishis ऋषी have been totally ignored.

What a lamentable state! They will accept anything as true only if a Johnson and Johnson bring something by way of the theory of evolution, motion, atom, relativity or transcendentalism.

Shameful indeed! Their brains are all clogged with foreign particles. They do not have the brain to absorb anything good in others. There is a miserable degeneration in the present young men and women in India. This is the age when they cannot walk even a short distance without a Rickshaw रिक्शा , a car, a tram, a bicycle or a carriage. What an awful artificial life! Bobbing of the hair amongst the ladies in India has become a severe epidemic and has invaded the whole of India. This is all due to the mischief of passion and greed.

Young men of the present day indiscriminately imitate the West and this result in their own ruin. Men are swayed by lust. They lose their sense of righteousness, and of time and place. They never discriminate between right and wrong. They lose all sense of shame.

Man, with his boasted intellect, has to learn lessons from birds and animals. Even animals have more self-control than men. It is only the so-called man who has degraded himself much by indulgence. At the heat of sexual excitement, he repeats the same ignoble act again and again. He has not a bit of self-control. He is an absolute slave to passion. He is a puppet in the hands of passion. Like rabbits he procreates and brings forth countless children to swell up the numbers of beggars in the world. Lions, elephants, bulls and other powerful animals have better self-control than men. Lions cohabit only once in a year. After conception, the female animals will never allow the male animals to approach them till the young ones are weaned and they themselves become healthy and strong.

As a king is no king without a treasury, subjects and an army, as a flower is no flower without fragrance, as a river is no river without water, so also, a man is no man without Sexual feeling. Ahara आहार , Nidra निद्रा Bhaya भय and Maithuna मैथुन —food, sleep, fear and copulation—are common to both animals and men. That which differentiates a man from an animal is Dharma धर्म , Viveka विवेक and Vichara विचार । Sakti. शक्ति Jnana ज्ञान and Vichara विचार can be secured only by the preservation of वीर्य. If a man has not got these qualifications, he should really be reckoned as a veritable animal only.

The lust, which is the source of all enjoyments in this world, ceases, then all worldly bondage, which has its substratum in the mind, will cease. Even the most virulent poison is no poison when compared to lust. The former defiles one body only, whereas the latter adulterates many bodies in successive births. You are a slave of passions and desires, emotions and attractions. When are you going to rise up from this miserable state? Those persons, who, in spite of the knowledge of the non-existence of happiness, both in the past and in the present, in the baneful objects of the world, do yet entangle themselves in them with their thoughts clinging to them, deserve the appellation of an ass, if not a worse one. If you do not possess Viveka (विवेक ), if you do not try your best for salvation, if you spend your lifetime in eating, drinking and sleeping, you are a horizontal being only, having to learn some lessons from those animals, which possess far more self-restraint.

The sexual degradation that has overtaken mankind today is due directly to the fact that people have assumed that there is a natural "sexual instinct" in human beings. It is not so. The natural instinct is the procreative one. If men and women restrict sexual indulgence to mere procreation, then that itself is observance of Brahmacharya. As this is found to be impossible in the vast majority of cases, total abstinence is enjoined on those who seek the higher values of life. As far as the Sadhaka साधक of burning Mumukshutva मुमुक्शुत्वा is concerned, celibacy is a sine qua non, as he cannot afford to waste his vital energy at all.

The gratification of every worldly desire is sinful; the flesh should be the object slave of the spirit intent upon divine things. Man was created for a life of spiritual communion with God, but he yielded to the seduction of evil demons that availed themselves of the sensuous side of his nature to draw him away from the contemplation of the divine and lead him to the earthly life. Moral goodness, therefore, consists in renouncing all sensuous pleasures, in separating from the world through discrimination and dispassion, in living solely after the spirit, in imitating the perfection and purity of God. Sensuality is inconsistent with wisdom and holiness. The great business of life is to avoid impurity.

Remember that you are not this perishable body of flesh and bones. You are the immortal, all pervading, Sat-Chit-Ananda सत-चित-आनंद।

"Yet there is another nature, which is eternal and is transcendental to this manifested and un-manifested matter. It is supreme and is never annihilated. When all in this world is annihilated, that part remains as it is." (Bhagavad-gita श्रीमद भागवत गीता 8.20) Scientists are attempting to calculate the length and breadth of this material world, but they cannot begin. It will take those thousands of years simply to travel to the nearest star. And what to speak of the spiritual world? Since we cannot know the material world, how can we know what is beyond it? The point is that we must know from authoritative sources.

The most authoritative source is Krishna कृष्ण , for He is the reservoir of all knowledge. No one is wiser or more knowledgeable than Krishna कृष्ण. Krishna कृष्ण informs us that beyond this material world is a spiritual sky, which is filled with innumerable planets. That sky is far, far greater than material space, which constitutes only one fourth of the entire creation. Similarly, the living entities within the material world are but a small portion of the living entities throughout the creation. This material world is compared to a prison, and just as prisoners represents only a small percentage of the total population, so the living entities within the material world constitute but a fragmental portion of all living entities.

Those who have revolted against God--who are criminal--are placed in this material world. Sometimes criminals say that they don't care for the government, but nonetheless they are arrested and punished. Similarly, living entities who declare their defiance of God are placed in the material world.

Originally the living entities are all part and parcel of God and are related to Him just as sons are related to their father. Christians also consider God the supreme father. Christians go to church and pray, "Our Father, who art in heaven.’ The conception of God as father is also in the Bhagavad-Gita श्रीमद भागवत गीता (14.4):

"It should be understood that all the species of life, O son of Kunti कुंती , are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father." There are 8,400,000 species of life--including aquatics, plants, birds, beasts, insects, and human beings. Of the human species, most are uncivilized, and out of the few civilized species only a small number of human beings take to religious life. Out of many so-called religionists, most identify themselves by designations, claiming, "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am Christian," and so on. Some engage in philanthropic work, some give to the poor and open schools and hospitals. This altruistic process is called karma-kanda कर्म-कांडी. Out of millions of these karma-kandis कर्म-कांडी, there may be one jnani ("one who knows"). Out of millions of jnanis, one may be liberated, and out of billions of liberated souls, one may be able to understand Krishna कृष्ण . This, then, is the position of Krishna कृष्ण. As Krishna कृष्ण Himself says in the Bhagavad-Gita श्रीमद भागवत गीता (7.3):

Speculative knowledge of God will lead us nowhere. If a boy wants to know who his father is, the simple process is to ask his mother. The mother will then say, "This is your father." This is the way of perfect knowledge. Of course, one may speculate about one's father, wondering if this is the man or if that is the man, and one may wander over the whole city, asking, "Are you my father? Are you my father?" The knowledge derived from such a process, however, will always remain imperfect. One will never find his father in this way. The simple process is to take the knowledge from an authority--in this case, the mother. She simply says, "My dear boy, here is your father." In this way our knowledge is perfect. Transcendental knowledge is similar. This spiritual world is not subject to our speculation. God says, "There is a spiritual world, and that is My headquarters." In this way we receive knowledge from Krishna कृष्ण, the best authority. We may not be perfect, but our knowledge is perfect because it is received from the perfect source.

The Krishna कृष्ण consciousness movement is meant to give perfect knowledge to human society. By such knowledge one can understand who he is, who God is, what the material world is, why we have come here, why we must undergo so much tribulation and misery, and why we have to die. Of course, no one wants to die, but death will come. No one wants to become an old man, but still old age comes. No one wants to suffer from disease, but surely enough, disease comes. These are the real problems of human life, and they are yet to be solved. Civilization attempts to improve eating, sleeping, mating, and defense, but these are not the real problems. A man sleeps, and a dog sleeps. A man is not more advanced simply because he has a nice apartment. In both cases, the business is the same--sleeping. Man has discovered atomic weapons for defense, but the dog also has teeth and claws and can also defend himself. In both cases, defense is there. Man cannot say that because he has the atomic bomb he can conquer the entire world or the entire universe. That is not possible. Man may possess an elaborate method for defense, or a gorgeous method for eating, sleeping, or mating, but that does not make him advanced. We may call his advancement polished animalism, and that is all.

Real advancement means knowing God. If we are lacking knowledge of God, we are not actually advanced. Many rascals deny the existence of God because if there is no God they can continue their sinful activities. It may be very nice for them to think that there is no God, but God will not die simply because we deny Him. God is there, and His administration is there. By His orders the sun is rising, the moon is rising, the water flows, and the ocean abides by the tide. Thus everything functions under His order. Since everything is going on very nicely, how can one realistically think that God is dead? If there is mismanagement, we may say that there is no government, but if there is good management, how can we say that there is no government? Just because people do not know God, they say that God is dead, that there is no God, or that God has no form. But we are firmly convinced that there is God and that Krishna कृष्ण is God. Therefore we are worshiping Him. That is the process of Krishna कृष्ण consciousness. Try to understand it.

Where Did the Universe Come From?
Was it started by… God?

Without a doubt, the biggest question in science is, “Where did it all come from?”
Brilliant minds have expressed every conceivable opinion. But is there a consensus? What does the very best information from science tell us?

What eminent scientists like Albert Einstein and astronomer Robert Wilson have to say about it?

• The mistake Einstein later called “the biggest blunder of my career” – and a dangerous assumption that nearly blinded him to the greatest discovery of the 20th century.
• “Bird droppings on my telescope” – a strange piece of radio data that was almost attributed to… well, birds – and how this Nobel Prize-winning experiment now shapes our understanding of time itself.
• How “one extra atom” at the birth of the universe could have wiped out entire galaxies, or even the whole cosmos.
• A riddle: So simple, any child can understand; so complex, no atheist can solve.

The Big Bang and new implications for science, philosophy, and beliefs about God. There are many Question on Various Aspects of Hinduism - Concept of Reincarnation, Dharma धर्म and अधर्म a, Bhagwan Kalki भगवान् कालकी , What is आत्मा soul, Inner consciousness, आत्मा soul and Brahman ब्रह्मा , Ashrams आश्रम in India... the Most Comprehensive on all Aspects of Life...

Agni Fire GOD अग्नि देवता in Hinduism---- Agni God अग्नि देवता occupies a very special place in Hinduism. The mere mention of Agni अग्नि देवता as Hindu God signifies the role Agni अग्नि plays in Hindu rituals. God Agni अग्नि देवता in Hinduism stands for the means by which everything impure in the system can be wiped clean.

Importance of burning of fire God Agni अग्नि देवता in our Hindu prayers?
The cauldron of fire burning within every human being is the only means to burn out ones karma कर्म . Unless the karma कर्म within one is burnt out completely... none reaches stage of enlightenment and finally salvation. God Agni अग्नि देवता is the only means to propitiate and atone for our sins committed knowingly or unknowingly.

God Agni अग्नि देवता on the physical plane lights the world. In the absence of God Agni अग्नि देवता the whole planet mother earth would decay and die a natural death. God Agni अग्नि देवता on the physical plane takes care of our bread-and-butter and on the mental plane cleans us internally.

The absence of God Agni अग्नि देवता in our life would have reduced a human being to the level of a savage... one who enjoyed eating everything raw. It was god Agni अग्नि देवता which for the first time made human beings realizes that apart from the physical perception of things... there exists something... Beyond the mundane existence of life!

In absence of Agni...अग्नि the presence of our true inner self our soul आत्मा within would not have been possible. It is while saying our prayers and atoning for our sins... we inherently invoke the blessings of God Agni अग्नि देवता. It is this powerful God Agni अग्नि देवता which consumes everything that is discarded by one.

Invocation of fire God Agni अग्नि देवता was a routine practice in the times of Vedas वेद्द . Every sacrifice... every prayer during the time of the Vedas वेद्द would not have been complete in absence of God Agni अग्नि देवता . The chanting of the mantras मन्त्र amidst burning of sacred God Agni अग्नि देवता was essential for conducting a yagna यज्ञ .

And what does a yagna यज्ञ. in which god Agni अग्नि plays a vital role truly mean? Every yagna यज्ञ performed results in purification of the system. If the yagna यज्ञ is performed for invoking the rain gods then we need to surrender to God Agni अग्नि देवता all those negative thoughts which cause delay of the monsoon season.

By invoking rain gods... by agreeing to submit our best desires to Hindu god Agni...अग्नि देवता we may or may not be successful in our attempts to appease rain gods. It is the combined strength of the yagna यज्ञ performed... the faithfulness by which the yagna यज्ञ is conducted that yields the desired results.

Anything and everything surrendered to Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता can never be recouped back. Surrender to Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता is the final step towards reaching our goal. Anyone who has mastered the art of surrendering bestial thoughts and desires to Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता lives a kingly life. Even the fear of death can never disturb such a one.

Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता also plays a crucial role when the death of body occurs. It is only Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता and god Agni अग्नि देवता which lits the body and consumes it forever. our soul आत्मा within the body being imperishable leaves the body to gain a new manifestation... a new circle of life altogether!

In the absence of Agni अग्नि this crucial step of the Hindu rituals would not have been possible. When Sita सीता wife of King Rama भगवान् राम became so desolate (King Rama भगवान् राम having practically abandoned her)...she requested of mother earth to open up and consume her. She practically invoked the power of Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता so that her body is annihilated forever.

While conducting our day-to-day affairs in life we commit sins on a daily basis knowingly or unknowingly. and the only means to discard the bad effects of the sins is by invoking the pious fire... Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता makes us physically and mental free of all the negative effects!

While proceeding on the path of self realization... invoking Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता was a part of my life... a daily routine without which I would not have been successful in all my attempts. To burn out my karma कर्म on a day-to-day basis was only possible with the help of God Agni अग्नि देवता . Every step forward indicates that we have abdicated our ego to Almighty God.

To summaries everything... the burning of Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता during Hindu prayers reminds us that we need to surrender our ego on the altar of Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता and unless we do that... any amount of prayer would not yield the desired result.

We do not physically feed ourselves to Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता but it is offering our bestial and wanton desires for ever to Hindu god Agni अग्नि देवता . Only then our prayers would be successful.

Guru गुरू : Yes, that is the exact question no one could find a Guru गुरू in this century who was self realized and who truly had seen God.

Whether we had been to Haridwar हरिद्वार , Somnath सोमनाथ , Pashupatinath पशुपतिनाथ , Dwarka द्वारका or any where else, with odhar baba ओधाद बाबा , Satsang सत्संग etc. The situation remained the same. On every trip we will be in search for a real Guru गुरू who was nowhere in sight. Ultimately, we will completely resign hoping that we could ever get a chance to see God face-to-face.

How to Meditate----Before we discuss on the topic of practicing meditation and celibacy for gaining enlightenment... we need to know the meaning of meditation.

Meditation which means Yoga योग in Hindi was derived from the root word "Yog" योग . And Yog योग in Hinduism stands for combination between the two individualities. In plain terms two Yog two means four (2 + 2=4). The process of our soul आत्मा trying to synthesize with Brahman ब्रह्मा , the Almighty Creator is known as meditation yoga योगा .

System of God- Coming of Bhagwan Kalki भगवान् कालकी

Our assumption that God Almighty plays an active role in his creation is wrong. God Almighty has always been a Dhrista दृष्टा onlooker. It never indulges in the creation of his. Try understanding the definition of God in its entirety... then we would understand the crux of life!

God Almighty- Definition of God

Delve deep into the matter of God Almighty... we need to understand the definition of God Almighty. God Almighty is the sum total of all purified आत्मा souls in the Cosmos at a given point of time. This proves that God is not a single entity.

Why we are living- Why do we live

"Why do we live", "why are we living", "What is the essence of life" etc... In reality every human being experiences all what we have said at some point of time. These experiences confirm one fact that body is not the essence of life. We invariably come to an understanding that within our body exists a higher form of life we call our soul आत्मा !

Atma आत्मा soul and Hinduisum

As explained in Bhagavad Gita-भागवत गीता every human being is the result of the evolutionary process through which every Jiva (living being) is required to pass through. None can escape the cycle of evolution.

Self in Hinduism is understood for the inner self... the real self within every human being... the core of us... our atman the soul within. In Hinduism the physical manifested life which a human being lives, the life of 70 to 80 years spent on Mother Earth within a life span carries no more meaning other than passing through a phase of life. Why so?

Atma आत्मा soul and definition-

आत्मा the soul within gets liberated from the cycle of birth and death only after 8.4 million manifestations ... that is cosmic journey of 96.4 million years.

Every आत्मा soul is but a miniscule form of the bigger आत्मा soul, the Parmatman परमात्मा ... God, the mighty Creator himself. आत्मा soul is but a part of the puzzle ... God Almighty being the whole puzzle. No clustering of thoughts ... everything is absolutely clear!
Definition of god

God almighty does not play an active role in his creation and always been an onlooker without a form.

Delving deep into the matter of God Almighty... we need to understand the definition of God Almighty. God Almighty is the sum total of all purified आत्मा souls in the Cosmos at a given point of time. This proves that God is not a single entity.

God Almighty is but the whole mound itself। If a grain of sand is an individual आत्मा soul then the whole mound of sand is God Almighty. Every individual atman soul thus has the same powers exactly as God but limited in magnitude. Presuming there are 1000 atmans souls in the Cosmos... then the power of an individual atman soul would be one divided by thousand. All attributes of the power of God Almighty remaining the same for the आत्मा soul!

एंडव्हत does this mean and basically signify. It clarifies that as an individual human being reaches the last leg of his life... the cosmic life... the 8.4 millionth manifestations... all dross within almost completely removed... one comes back to its original pristine pure form. The form of the human being left behind... it is the soul आत्मा within which shines in its cosmic glory.

This further clarifies that it is not God that we come in contact with all the time but the soul आत्मा having gained its pure individual status... the glorious pristine form... this tiny individual grain of sand finally emerges with the mighty whole... the whole mound of sand. A stage... when the individual grain of sand can indefinitely contact the whole mound of sand.

This is a difficult phenomenon for a human being to understand but for the serious seekers of spirituality... understanding Bhagavad Gita भागवत गीता is not a difficult task. What we truly mean to say is that we do not contact God Almighty but our own आत्मा soul which shines in its cosmic glory. All dross within removed... the individual physical self is now able to enjoy all the cosmic powers enjoyed by our आत्मा the soul within.

It is our soul आत्मा that we are talking to all the time and not God Almighty. This aspect of life becomes clear when we transgress the boundaries of the physical self and reach the level of Nirvikalpa Samadhi निर्विकल्प समाधी . Having become pure why do an आत्मा soul require building an ashram आश्रम for self!

Kundalini Awakening

One whose Kundalini कुंडलिनी has fully awakened reaches the level of Rama Krishna Paramhan रामकृष्ण परमहंश Can you claim that you have reached the level of Rama Krishna Paramhans रामकृष्ण परमहंश in your personal life? Kundalini कुंडलिनी awakening is not a joke. In hundreds of years one or two persons all over the globe are able to awaken their Kundalini.कुंडलिनी

The sure shot method for awakening of the kundalini...कुंडलिनी Every true seeker of spirituality understands the importance of kundalini कुंडलिनी awakening. If we are to realize God within our lifetime... we have to awaken our kundalini fully in the present life. Unless we take the lift straight up... we shall not reach the level of an awakened one... a living Buddha! बुद्ध

Miracles are not to be. No human being on earth can create a miracle. It can never happen. Yes, some people... some renowned Saints while pursuing their Spiritual career gains some Tantric तांत्रिक powers which help them healing the needy.

The system of God... Why do we suffer?

Our assumption that God भगवान् plays an active role in his creation is wrong. God भगवान has always been a Dhrista दृष्टा onlooker. It never indulges in the creation of his. Try understanding the definition of God in its entirety... you would understand the crux of life!

Now what truly is the meaning of God भगवान् ? Is it not a source of unlimited energy? Something that can neither be created nor destroyed! God भगवान् never has a form. It has always been Nirakaar निराकार (without a form).

Let us go to the beginning of the cosmos. Imagine a situation when the Cosmos is about to dissolve... the time of Pralaya.प्रलय The whole Cosmos reduces back to half the size of a thumb. And what is this half a thumb. This half a thumb is what we define as God भगवान् . The cluster of all purified souls आत्मा in the cosmos at a given point of time is what we call God भगवान् . And this is just the size of half a thumb.

Bhagavad Gita...भागवत गीता the doctrine put forward by Lord Krishna भगवान् कृष्ण in Mahabharata महाभारत corroborates this fact. This massive energy... the God भगवान् ... the size of half a thumb unable to contain itself for long explodes with a big bang and results in the creation of a new Cosmos.

All purified souls atmans आत्मा thus scatter all over the Cosmos. These scattering souls आत्मा while spreading out in the Cosmos at unbelievable speeds gather moss. These souls atmans आत्मा continue their journey of cosmic travel until they find a planet like Mother Earth suitable for the souls आत्मा to manifest a body.

This initial travel takes souls atmans billions of years before they manifest the first body. They have by then gathered impurities along the way. To come back to their pristine glorious form... these souls आत्मा have no other alternative but to manifest a chain of 8।4 million bodies altogether... a total journey of 96.4 million earthly years... a long journey indeed!

The sooner these souls atmans आत्मा manifest the first body... starts the cycle of karma कर्म It is only through कर्म a that these bodies can purify themselves and remove the dross from within. The journey starts with amoeba (single cell formation), then multi-cell formation, insect life, plant life, animal life and finally the form of a human being.

Like the metal in the ore cannot separate itself... rather purify on its own...or butter / Ghee out of milk… similarly souls atmans require a body to work out their karma कर्म and purify themselves and regain the original form.

It is only when viewed from the senses point of view everything in the Cosmos appears to be solid in nature. Truthfully the whole Cosmos is made up of only atoms and molecules. There is no solid matter that ever exists in the Cosmos. God भगवान् and the world of souls atmans आत्मा is the only absolute truth and everything else being the game of Maya माया Veil of Ignorance as expressed by Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa in his commentary on Advaita Vedanta ।

Now we are clear about two things... God भगवान् a potent source of energy is the only absolute truth of the cosmos. He never interferes with the working of his creation. It is the manifest theory of karma कर्म that handles the travel of soul आत्मा from one life to another.

Here we must also understand that everything in the cosmic system has a duality. If we have God (at plus hundred)... we also have Satan शैतान (with power of minus hundred). We have day... we also have night. We have fire... we also have water. The essence being that the sum total of all in whole Cosmos at a given point of time must remain zero.

We have happiness... we also have sufferings। You must have observed that to craft a metal into shape we need to heat and beat it. Only then proper shape can be given to the metal. Similar is the case of we human beings nay all living beings for that matter.

Unless there are sufferings... the value of happiness cannot be recognized. It is only the sufferings which make us remove the dross within. It is only Tapasya तपश्या (deep prayers) offered to भगवान् God which pave the way for us to walk the spiritual path. More intense the prayers and the sufferings... higher realms of spirituality we experience.

Sufferings are a part of life. All is the result of a law which cannot err. How much shall we suffer or be lucky and win a lottery is fully dependent upon the residual karma which follows us every moment of our life. It is only the doctrine of karma which is finally governing. No single soul atman आत्मा can ever be affected by the doings of another soul atman.आत्मा This absolute statement issued by Lord Krishna भगवान् कृष्ण in Bhagavad Gita भागवत गीता is to be understood firmly.

If we find one on the streets without legs... it is amply clear that this particular gentleman misused his legs in one of his earlier manifestations. It was the grace of God that this man was born without legs in the present domain. As we sow so shall we reap... nothing more or less! Anyone born with deformities is not to be pitied... for one is suffering for the deeds of the past life. This crux of karma कर्म is to be understood clearly if we truly want to understand the role of sufferings in life

If you defile the body of another then it is most likely that in next manifestation our body would be defiled as per the dictates of God. We might be born a sex worker in next manifestation. The mother-in-law burning her daughter-in-law for sake of dowry would lead to the mother-in-law being born a sex worker in next life. She is not to be pitied then. She has to suffer for the atrocities carried out by her on her daughter-in-law in the earlier manifestation.

It is not all of a sudden that one wins a lottery or one is lucky. It is the accumulation of pious deeds done by one in earlier manifestations that fructified now. In the spiritual domain of things it is not necessary that whatever karma कर्म we are performing now will fructify immediately. It is possible that the fruits of karma कर्म be made available by God भगवान् in the present manifestation or four manifestations ahead from now.

God knows only Destruction! Why should Bhagvan Kalki भगवान् कालकी take an Avtar अवतार here to "remove" group of people physically from the surface of our Mother Earth? If it is only a physical death, then these people will continue to be present elsewhere. On other hand, if they are "liberated" it is good for them!!! That means really blessed souls are going to be removed by Bhagvan Kalki.भगवान् कालकी Whatever it is, only the survivors are going to suffer, even if it is going to be good life for them.

As a Universal Person, I love all the countries and all the people of Earth... as well as all my cosmic friends throughout the Universe. Is there any specific reason to love India alone? Unfortunately human beings are thinking of destruction always for ages, so that ..may be ...they hope... there will be a new beginning all together...so that we all can perform well. Any destruction is easier than construction! I wish, we all on Earth think in the positive direction. So that all these wars Etc. can be avoided.

O God, this is your world. You have all the rights to do whatever you want. You can change anything according to your will.

We have a desire to see God within this life ... there are millions out there in this world who have a desire to see God within this life. Is it really possible! One person in hundreds of years realizes God ... comes face-to-face with the God / Almighty / Bhagwan भगवान् / Creator. In the last above 150 years only two persons have Realized God ... Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Mahirshi Ramana.

Vivekananda who had a burning desire to see God also got lost in the journey of life and could not Realize God within his lifetime. He reduced himself to the level of a social worker. On the path of God Realization one loses everything ... even his family is lost on the way. Material possessions have no value for him. Yet, you want to serve your parents and also keep a desire to see God.

God भगवान् definition Hindu Bhagwan हिन्दू भगवान् / Devta dhrishta Onlooker: God भगवान् is but the whole mound itself. If a grain of sand is an individual आत्मा soul then the whole mound of sand is God भगवान् . Every individual आत्मा soul thus has the same powers exactly as God but limited in magnitude. This is the problem with the people in the West... they think that God belongs to them. Their God Jesus Christ is the best of all. God Agni अग्नि देवता occupies a very special place in Hinduism. The mere mention of Agni as Hindu god signifies the role Agni plays in Hindu rituals. God Agni in Hinduism stands for the means by which everything impure in the system can be wiped clean. Every human being can become a living God ... a man God like Buddha, Mahavira, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed. God भगवान् is always in Nirakaar निराकार form.

HOW OUR EGO SOMETIMES MISJUDGES A PERSON

A lady in a faded grey dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun suit walked in timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Harvard.

"We want to see the President "the man said softly.
"He'll be busy all day "the secretary snapped.
"We'll wait" the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president.

"May be if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave" she said to him. The President, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.

The lady told him "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."
The president wasn't touched....He was shocked. "Madam "he said, gruffly, " we can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh, no," the lady explained quickly "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, "A building ! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard."

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. May be he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a University ? Why don't we just start our own?"

Her husband nodded.. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, travelling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name. Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

Most of the time we judge people by their outer appearance, which can be misleading. And in this impression, we tend to treat people badly by thinking they can do nothing for us. Thus we tend to lose our potential good friends, employees or customers.

Remember

In our Life, we seldom get people with whom we want to share & grow our thought process. But because of our inner EGO we miss them forever.

It is you who have to decide with whom you are getting associated in day to day life.

I end this beautiful story with a note:
Small people talk about others,
Average people talk about things,
Great people talk about ideas.

The Outer Space of the Mind:
Or we can say - Exploring the Far Reaches of the Interior Universe

Spiritual practice is like a science. We start with a hypothesis: "This is where I think I'm heading." In the same way, if we were going into outer space we would know our mission and would have what we need to survive. Space flights are just another manifestation of our desire to break through previously accepted limitations. We explore outer space to find our place in the universe. But what is the outer space of the mind? To discover this unknown territory, our senses must be trained for greater perception. And only courageous people who passionately want to know will venture into this vastness. For some, the outer space of the mind is too intriguing to ignore. How can the mind extend beyond its present limitations?

The answer is Through concentration. The concentrated mind can extend much further than the undirected mind. When we try to direct our thoughts and other thoughts intrude, energy is divided: "Here is what I want to think, and here is what actually comes through." If we can stop the influx of "other" thoughts, energy can be directed.

When we chant a mantra, for example, the sounds are vibrations. But unless we maintain our focus, the vibrations will not take us where they could. If our focus is on the physical-trying to make our voice sound just right-thoughts of self-criticism can slip in and steal part of the energy. If having a great voice was all it takes, every opera singer would have attained higher consciousness. So there is something else involved-the right focus and the ability to prevent intruding thoughts from diverting attention away from the goal.

What can be described is only the process the practices set out by those who have achieved their goal. When we become aware that others have attained extraordinary results, we may be inspired to try the same methods. Can we get the same results? When we want to duplicate an experiment, we need to observe all of the intricate single steps and take them. We can't skip some or change the order to suit our self. Once we have attained results, we may discover a way to speed up the process. Speeding up is only possible when there is no more resistance. When resistance is dissipated that energy becomes available to us.

What this really means, in terms of spiritual practice, is to persist. Keep a close record and we will see many repeating patterns. In time we will learn to master our states of mind, just as we can wake up from a fearful dream. Each time we move one increment closer until finally we move past our intellect's defenses. Then we will become aware that the intellect, although it has quite some power, does not have unlimited power. If it did, it wouldn't need to fight. So the next step is to decide to use the intellect for discrimination. Question the doubt itself: Why do I doubt?

When we go past resistance, doubt, pride and the emotional impact of egocentricity, we may reach a place in our own mind that was up until now a secret. We didn't know it existed. Many things in life exist, but they have yet to be discovered. We have to discover the existence of the "hidden place of the mind." And as we do, we will strip away the mystery and diminish fear and resistance, which eat up energy. We will become much more aware of how we use energy. Imagine the exhilaration of going into outer space for the first time. Wouldn't we just watch and absorb? We would be overwhelmed and in awe because we had not known exactly what to expect. We had speculated, but we didn't know for sure. We had many assumptions, based on imagination. Now we might find that some of what we imagined or thought possible has proven true, while we have to totally discard other preconceptions.

The journey to the outer space of the mind is actually the very same: we have heard about higher states of consciousness and people who had attained them, so we drew conclusions wrongly or rightly and created our own hypothesis. Now we will find out.

The mind is like space with all the stars and planets: everything exists and is waiting to be discovered, but we can only go so far in our first explorations. Just as the first major voyages in space were to the moon, our first exploration is to the hidden place in our own mind. Just as the moon is able to reflect the light of the sun, we can discover in the mind the place that reflects and absorbs the Light of Divine Wisdom. We cannot take all the Light at once. We must take it in degrees. We may have a great flash, but it is a flash, and does not stay.

The more we overcome the resistance of the intellect, the more often we can travel to the place of Light. As we make repeated visits, we may discover new laws or circumstances that we need to become aware of, like physicists who discover the laws of the physical world or biologists who understand the laws of nature. We may not have given this cosmic law a name or defined it, but it's there. Then we will experience the repercussions of our discovery, which will reshape our entire perspective.

But we can't stop there, just as astronomers can't stop at exploring the moon but want to know about the sun and other stars, and beyond the known stars into previously unseen galaxies. What are the possibilities within the outer space of the mind? We can always discover more and a little more, and a little more. But it is like the study of space: we can never discover it all. However, the journey of discovery alone will expand our perspective and change our view of our capabilities.

The secrets of Old age.

To all retired friends………….

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 almost who are almost 60- Get ready.
For those whom 60 are a long way off- help your parents do it.
For those over 60 years old- Focus on enjoying in or accumulating material things.


Secrets of life in 6 words.

Before Middle age- Do not fear
After Middle age – Do not regret
Enjoy your life – while you can.

Do not wait till you cannot ever walk just to be sorry and to regret. As long as it is physically possible, visit you wish to visit. When there is an opportunity, get together with older classmates, old colleagues and old friends. The gathering is not just about eating; it’s just that there is not mush time left.

Money kept in the in the banks may not be really yours. Focus on enjoying people, not on indulging or accumulating material thing. Where it is time to spend, just spend, treat yourself well as you’re getting old! Plan to spend whatever 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 you are gone.

Whatever you feel like eating, just eat. It is most important to be happy!

1. Foods which are good for health- eat often and more but that is not everything.
2. Things which are not for health- eat less once a while but do not abstain from them totally.

Treat sickness with optimism, whether you are poor or rich. Everyone has to go through birth, aging, sickness and death. There is no exception. That’s life ! Do not be worried of worries, when you are sick. Settle all the outstanding issues before hand and you will be able to leave without regret !

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

Let the Doctor handle your body.
Let God/ Nature handle your life.
But be in-charge of your own moods !

If worries can cure you sickness, then go ahead and worry !
If worries can prolong your life, then go ahead and worry !
If worries can exchange for happiness, then go ahead and worry !

Remember our kids will make their own fortune. Enjoy your grandchildren (if any) but don’t be their full time babe sitter. You have no moral obligation to take care of them. Don’t have any guilt about refusing to baby sit any one’s kids, including your own grand kids. Your parental obligation is to your children. After you have raised them into responsible adults, your duties of childrearing and babysitting are finished. Let your children raise their off spring.

Look after for old treasure

1. Your body- Pay more attention to health, you can only rely on yourself in this.
2. Retirement Funds- Money that you have earned, it is best to keep them yourself.
3. Your old Companion- Treasure every moment with your other half, one of you will leave first !
4. Your Old friends- Seize every opportunity to meet up with your friends; such opportunity will become rare as time goes by.

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

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

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

Forgiven 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 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.

Also remember that Running water does not flow back, so is life. Therefore you must do everyday SMILE and LAUGH.

NOT YET
The Trial of a tea cup

I haven’t always been a tea cup; there was a time in my life when I was just a lump of clay. Then my Master took me and began to pit and mold and shape me. It was very painful and I begged Him to stop, but he only smiled and said “NOT YET.”

Then he placed me on a spinning wheel and I went round and round! I got so sick I thought I wasn’t going to make it, but then finally, let me off.

Just as I thought was going to be all right my Master put me in an oven. I have never understood why he wanted to burn me. I yelled and begged for Him to stop, to let me out. I could see dimly through the glass in the oven door, but He only smiled, shook His head and said. “NOT YET.”

Finally He came and took me out. “Oh, that some feel better, “I said to myself. Then all of sudden, my Master picked me up and started sanding and brushing me.

Then He took a painting brush and started painting colours all over me. The fumes were so strong I thought I was going to pass out. I pleaded with Him to stop, but He continued to smile and said. “NOT YET.”

Then He placed me in another oven. This one was twice as hot as the first. I know that I would suffocate. I begged, I pleaded, I cried, but He still only smiled and said. “NOT YET.”

I began to feel there was no hope. I would never make it. I couldn’t take any more. It was all over for me. I decided to give it all up.

Then the door swing open and Master said. “NOW.”

He lifted me up and He placed me on self to rest. Later He came to me with a mirror and told me to look. As I looked at myself, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

I said “Oh ! my……what a beautiful tea cup !”

Then the Master explained- “I want you to understand that I knew it hurt when I patted and molded you. I knew the spinning wheel made you sick. But if I had left, you alone, you would have dried up and always have been just a lump of clay. You would not have had any personality in your life.”

“I know it was hot when I put you in the first oven, but if I hadn’t you would just have crumbled.”

“I knew it really bothered you to be brushed and painted but if I hadn’t you would not have had any colour in your life.”

“Oh, now I know the second oven was hard for you. But you see, if I had not put you there, you would not have been able to stand the pressure of life.”

“Your strength would not have lasted, so you would not have been survived for very long.”

“So you see, when you thought it was all so very hard. I still had, you in my care. I knew all along what you would be today. I had the finished product in mind from the day, I first touched you.”

All of us have to go through pain in life, if any one understand that each such pain is making a better person out of us, our day will be better.

There is a story which is true to this…….

From Studying under the streetlights to CEO of a US Firm

Here is the rags-to-riches story of an extremely talented boy from a small village in Tamil Nadu who has risen to be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a company in Seattle, USA.

How Kalyana Raman Srinivasan, who was so indigent that he had to study under a streetlight, but then managed to score excellent marks, rose in life and became today’s KAL Raman.

At every turn his life, he took the difficult path turned out to be the right one and the right direction. His rise to the top is more dramatic than a thriller. To-day, he is a very successful entrepreneur and the founder-CEO of Global Scholar.

Difficult Childhood

Kal Raman was born and brought up in a small village called Mannarakoil in Tirinelveli district of Tamil Nadu. It was a comfortable normal middle class life for him and his siblings as his father was a Tahsildar there.

But the sudden death of his father at the age of 45 changed everything overnight. Kal Raman was 15 then. His mother got a pension of Rs 420 a month and one can imagine how tough it is to educate four children and feed five mouths with Rs. 420/= ?

His life changed dramatically after his father’s death. The family moved from the rented house to a hut that had no proper water supply or electricity. All of the children used to study under the street light and, thank god, the streetlight used to work those days! MGR (M G Ramachandran ) was the chief Minister then. They had to sell the plates to buy rice to eat and the Mother used to give rice in their hands. That bad situation was their situation.

But his mother, who studied till the 8th standard, was very particular that her children studied. “All their relatives wanted his elder brother to stop studying and take up the small job offered by the Government but mother wanted him to continue studying.

Then they wanted him to learn typewriting and shorthand so that he could get some jog after 10th standard. But mother said, “My children are going to get the best education I can offer. Education is our salvation.”

What kept the family going? They were sad but because they accepted their fate, they were at peace with whatever that happened to them. They knew their father would not come back to lift their poverty. And also knew that their salvation was a long way away.”

Kalyana Raman Srinivasan (Kal Raman) didn’t knew why he used to tell his mother. “One day I will give you so much money that you will not know what to do with it!” Years later. He did exactly that !

First turning point in Life

Kal Raman believes that God played a hand in all the major turning points in his life. The first turning point in his life was after 12th standard. He got good marks an both the engineering and medicine entrance exams, and for engineering, he got admission at the Anna University in Chennai while for medicine, it was in the Tirunelveli Medical College.

“While going in the bus with his mother to join the medical college, he told her. “If he join for medicine there, the high probability is that his life may begin and end in Tiruneveli. He really wanted to see the world. ‘She agreed with his decision to go to Chennai and join the Anna University and study Electrical Engineering and Electronics.”

So he stepped into a new world outside Tirunelveli, and that was Chennai. Though he had got merit scholarship and a lot of good people helped him pay the initial fee, the scholarship amount never used to reach him regularly or on time. “The mess fee was Rs. 250 a month and he used to be a defaulter in the mess at least six months in a year. Till you pay the mess fee, you cannot eat in the mess. So, he used to live on day scholar’s lunch boxes and also use to fast. That is when he learnt to fast ! Lot of friends helped him with money and food.”

Scarcity of money was so bad that he had no money to buy food just before the final exams, when he gave his final semester exams; he had not eaten for a day-and-a-half. “After finishing the exam he almost fainted.”

The fay after the exams came all the scholarship money that was due and it was around Rs. 5,000. “So he went home a rich man and that helped them repay some loans.”

First Job

Like opting for Chennai and joining Anna University instead of a college in Tiruneveli, Kal Raman took another risk with his first job also. His first job was with TATA Consulting Engineers (TCE), and he had a choice of joining either Chennai or Mumbai..

Although he knew nobody in Mumbai, he chooses the capital of Maharashtra. He remembered the first day. It was interesting. With bag and baggage. He went to the TCE office after taking a shower at the Railway station as he had no money to go to any hotel. After the first introduction at the office, the Manger noticed that he was wearing slippers to the office. Manager called him and said, “I don’t care which college you are coming from but this is not acceptable. You should come in shoes tomorrow.”

He said, “I couldn’t come in shoes the next day.” and this manager construed as arrogance. “How could you talk like this?” he asked him. Kal Raman said, “Sir, it is not that I don’t want to, but I can’t afford to buy shoes. Only after I get my first salary cheque, can I buy shoes. Sir, I request you not to terminate my job because of this. I and my family need this job.”

Shocked to hear the explanation, the manger asked, “Where are you staying?” and the reply was. “Dadar, Railway Station.”

So distressed was the manger to hear Kal speak that he immediately released a month’s salary in advance and also arranged for him to be at his friend’s place till he could find a place to stay.

He bought him a pair of shoes and those were his first shoes. The next day, he sent Rs. 1,599 from the advance to his mother.”

From Electrical Engineering to Programming

KAL Raman’s rise in carrier was meteoric in a short span of time. Within a month, he got a chance to move to Bangalore and also to Programming. Soon, he was in Chennai with TATA Consultancy Services (TCS). Within a few months, he was sent to Edinburgh, U.K.

From Edinburgh, his next stop was the United States. In 1882, he went to the US as an entry level contractor with Wal-Mart. In two years, he was a Director running a division.

When he left Wal-Mart after six years, he was a man running the information systems for the International division of the retail giant. In 1998, he joined drugstore.com on line Pharmacy as the Chief Information Officer and in 2001 at the age of 30, he was the CEO of the Company.

He was at the right place at the right time. “God was there at every step guiding him to take the right decisions. He was also willing to take risks and tread new paths.

Starting Global Scholar

Philanthropist Mike Milken who had donated more than a billion dollars to education, wanted to use technology so that high quality education was accessible to ordinary people.

Milken convinced Kal to Join him. That was the time building schools in his village for poor students.

In October 2007, Global Scholar was launched targeting both teachers and students by acquiring four companies- national; Scholar, Classof1 (India), Excelsior )USA), and Ex-Logica (USA)—that were into education.

“Three months after the launch, he traveled all over the US, India, Singapore and China talking to teachers and companies and the public. He found that the only way to impact education was by impressing teachers. The biggest scarcity in the world is good teachers. They decided to help teachers with teaching practices and kids, learning practices.”

Kal Raman decided to concentrate on the US market as the US is more advanced in using technology. “They are also willing to pay money for technology. At present, schools buy the material which can be used by teachers, students and parents.”

Today, they have 200 people working for Global Scholar in Chennai and 150 in the US. The study material is prepared in the Chennai office.

The Company that was started with $ 50 million will have in excess of $ 32 million and will generate $ 5 million of profits. In 2008, the turnover of the company was Rs 40 crore Rs. 400 million) and in 2009, it was Rs. 80 crore (Rs. 800 million). In the current year it will be 150-160 crore (Rs. 1.5- 1.6 billion).

“Global Scholar is growing at 200 percent every year. They have 1,000 schools and 10 million students, which is one out of 10 kids in the US, using Chennai made material. This is almost 18 percent of the US population. They are the fastest growing education company in the US.”

Globa; Scholar will soon introduce a pilot project in India and China. In the course of all this, Kalyana Raman became Kal Raman. “The country gave him everything and took half his name.”

Giving back to Society

Kal Raman was in India Now for the Kumbhabhishekam of the temple at his village Mannarkoli. “It is taking place after 500 years. It is the culmination of two-and-a-half years of work. He has spent more than one and half crore Rupees (Rs 15 million) to renovate the temple and do the Kumbhabhishekam. More than anything else, He has given jobs to all his friends in the village who are masons and carpenters.”

Other than this, he has also adopted all the orphanages around his village and he takes care of around 2,000 kids, some of whom are physically handicapped. “He feels if he can educate these children, eventually they can make a difference in the society. He also helps 100 children in their higher education. Around his village, everyone knows that if a kid who studies well cannot afford to pay fees, he has to only go to his house; his education will be taken care of.”

Kal Raman says,”I do not do this as charity; it’s my responsibility. I am giving something back to the society that fed me, taught me, and took care of me and gave me hopes.”

A Thought for only for 30 Sec.

Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the Air. They are WORK, Family, Health, Friends, and Spirit. And You’re keeping all these in air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls- Family, Health, Friends and Spirit- are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocable scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.

Work efficiently during office hours and leave on time. Give the required time to your family, friends & have proper rest.

Value has a value only if its value is valued.

GOD’s Clinic

I went to God’s Clinic to have my routine check-up and I confirmed I was ill.
When God took my blood pressure, he saw I was low in tenderness.
When he read my temperature, the thermometer registered 40 degree of anxiety. He ran an electrocardiogram and found I needed several “Love by Passes” since my arteries were blocked with loneliness and could not provide for an empty heart.
I went to orthopedics, because I could not walk by my brother’s side and I could not hug my friends, since I had fractured myself when tripping with envy.
He also found I was short sighted, since I could not see beyond the short coming of my brothers and sisters.
When I complained about deafness, the diagnosis was that I had stopped listening to God’s voice talking to me on daily basis.
For all of that, God gave me a free consultation thanks to his mercifulness, so my pledge is to; once I leave this clinic, only take the natural remedies he prescribed through his words of truth.

Prescription

Every Morning, take a full glass of gratitude’s.
When getting to work, take one spoon of peace.
Every hour, take one pill of patience, one cup of brotherhood, and one glass of humanity.
When getting home take one dose of Love.
When getting to bed, take two tablets of clear conscience.
Do not give into sadness or depression for what you are going through today.
God knows how you feel……
God knows exactly and what perfection what is being allowed to happen to you in your life at this precise moment.
God’s purpose for you is simply perfect. He wants to show you things that only you can understand by living what you are living, and by being in the place you are now.

May God give you…
For every storm, a rainbow
For every tear, a Smile
For every care, a promises and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share for every sign, a sweet song, and an answer for each prayer.

Eight Ways for Happiness

Having lived reasonably contented life. I was musing over what a person should strive for to achieve happiness. I drew up a list of a few essentials which I put forward for the readers’ appraisal.

1. First and foremost is GOOD HEALTH if you do not enjoy good health you can never be happy. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct from your happiness.
2. Second-A HEALTHY BANK BALANCE. It need not run into crores but should be enough to provide for creature comforts and something to spare for recreation, like eating out, going to picture, traveling or going on holidays or the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money can be only demoralizing. Living on credit or borrowing is demeaning and lowers one in one’s own eyes.
3. Third, A HOME OF YOUR OWN. Rented premises can never give you the snug feeling of a nest which is yours for keeps that a home provides, if it has a garden space, all the better. Plant your own trees and flowers, see them grow and blossom, cultivate a sense of kinship with them.
4. Fourth, AN UNDERSTANDING COMPANION. Be it your spouse or a friend. If there are too many misunderstandings, they will rob you of your peace of mind. It is better to be divorced than to bicker all the times.
5. Fifth, LACK OF ENVY towards those who have done better than you in life, risen higher, made more money, or earned more fame. Envy can be very corroding, avoid comparing yourself with others.
6. Sixth, DO NOT ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE to descend on you for gup-shup. By the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossip mongering.
7. Seventh, CULTIVATE SOME HOBBIES which can bring you a sense of fulfillment, such as gardening, reading, writing, painting, playing or listening to music. Going to clubs or parties to get free drinks or to meet celebrities is criminal waste of time.
8. Eight, Every morning and evening, devote 15 minutes to INTROSPECTION in the morning, 10 minutes should be spent on stilling the mind and then five in listing things you have to do that day. In the evening, five minutes to still the mind again, and ten to go over what you had undertaken to do.

Richness is not Earning more, Spending more or Saving more, but :Richness is when you need no more”

How to enjoy life

Be Calm Quiet Tranquil, bloom as often as you can, stay close to your family. Explore the world around you, Enjoy the relaxing rhythm of waves. Watch the moon rise. Spread your wings and take off on your own, then enjoy the comfort of coming home again. Life is short- Do enjoy it, while you can, take time to enjoy all the little pleasures that God has provided for you.

Shraadh श्राद्ध

Shraadh श्राद्ध आजकल श्राद्ध का समय है । कई लोग इस बारे में बात करते हैं की क्या होता है श्राद्ध । हम क्यों देते हैं । यह तो पंडितों की बनाई रीत है कई की कुछ और सोच है वास्तविकता जाने बगैर किसी को क्या पता । पदम् पुराण में एक सृष्टि खंड है उसमे इस बारे में लिखा है । पितरों का श्राद्धकर्म किस प्रकार शास्त्रोक विधि से करमा चाहिए . इसका विस्तृत विवरण इसमे दिया है । इस पर्व में नर्मदा को पितरिकर्म व पिंडदान के लिए विशेष रूप से प्रशस्त माना गया है । श्राद्ध या पितरिकर्म में चांदी अथवा चांदी से युक्त पात्रों का , स्वधा शब्द का , दक्षिण दिशा का अप्सब्या यज्ञोपवीत का , तिल दान का विशेष महत्व माना गया है , जो पितरों को सर्वदा संतुष्ट करता है । पितरों के श्राद्ध में कुश , उड़द , गाय का दूध , घी , मधु , मूंग , गन्ना और सफ़ेद फूल का प्रयोग अति शुभ व मंगल फलदायक माना गया है । पितरिकर्म में विशेष ध्यान देने रखने वाली बात यह भी है की चाहे मनुष्य कितना भी धनवान और साम्र्द्याशाली हो , उसे श्राद्ध में केवल एक ब्रह्मण को ही भोजन कराना चाहिए । श्राद्ध में विस्तार नही होना चाहिए ।कईयों के मन में संसय रहता है की मनुष्य जो कुछ भी पितरों को अर्पण या तर्पण करते हैं , जल तो जल में चला जाता है , पिंडदान में पिंड तो यहीं पृथ्वी पर पडा रहता है । भोजन तो ब्रह्मण खाता है , फ़िर यह सब पितरों को कैसे प्राप्त हो जाता है । हम इसे कैसे मान लें । I have written in my blog dated Friday, July 31, 2009 Human Physiology (अध्यात्मिक शरीर विज्ञान ) If you have read it you will not have doubt, and such thought will never come to your mind. But one has to read it in a proper way. Because the meaning of the writting is not in the words of the article. The meaning of the article is running side by side in silence between the words, between the lines, in the gaps. If you are in a state of meditativeness if you are not only reading a fiction but you are encountering the whole religious experience of a great human being, absorbing it; not intellectually understanding it. The words are there but they become secondary. Something else becomes primary: the silence that those words create. The words affect your mind, and the music goes directly to your heart.”Reading an article like the article is an art by itself. And these articles to be read by the heart, not by the mind. The articles in my blog not to be understood, but experienced. This is something phenomenal.So therefore my dear देवता और पितृ केवल गंध व रस से ही तृप्त हो जाते हैं । अन्न या जल का केवल सार तत्वा वह ग्रहण करते हैं , स्थूल तत्वा नही . जिस प्रकार मानव अन्न खाता है और उसका सूक्ष्म भाग यानी सार तत्वा ही शरीर ग्रहण करता है , शेष तो स्थूल रूप मल मार्ग से त्याग दिया जाता है । यही सूक्षम तत्वा अन्नमय , प्राणमय व मनोमय आदि कोशो को पुष्ट करता है । (Please read Blog article of Thursday, June 18, 2009 Human physiology with the Veda) इसी सूक्षम तत्वा की शक्ति को पितृ स्पर्श मात्र से अवशोषित कर लेते है । (चांदी में किसी भी प्रकार उष्मा को बहुत शीघ्रता से अवशोषित व उत्सर्जित करने की क्षमता होती है । यही कारण है की स्पर्श ग्राहक पितरों के लिए श्राद्ध के समय चांदी के बर्तन का प्रावधान है ।) फिर कई लोग प्रश्न उठाते हैं की पितृ भी तो कर्मों के आधीन होते हैं , सम्भव है की उनका किसी योनी में कंही और पुनर्जन्म ho गया हो या वह स्वर्ग या नर्क में हों , ऐसे में वह कैसे आकर स्पर्श द्बारा सार तत्वा ग्रहण करेंगे और वरदान देंगे ?यह संच है की पितृ कर्मों के आधीन हैं , परन्तु पितृ भी दो प्रकार के हैं - नित्य और अनित्य। अनित्य पितृ या स्वर्ग्वाशी माता -पित्ता , दादा - दादी आदि अनेक सगे सम्बन्धी तो निश्चित रूप से कर्मानुसार विभिन्न लोकों और योनियों में होते है , परन्तु नित्य पितृ 7 हैं , जो कर्मसः चारों वर्णों में मूर्त रूप ब्राह्मण , क्षत्रिया ,वैश्य क्षुद्र और तीन अमूर्त देवता , असुर और यक्ष रूप में होते है । यही सातों पितृ संकल्प के समय अनित्य पितरों के भाग का श्राद्ध ग्रहण करके वह पितृ जिस योनी में व जिस स्थिति में और जहाँ कहीं भी स्तिथ होता है , उसे उसी रूप में पहुंचा देते हैं और वरदान भी यह नित्य पितृ देते हैं । अतः पितरों को मंत्रों के द्बारा शास्त्र सम्मत विधि से प्रतिग्रह प्रदान करना चाहिए । जल व कुश सम्बन्ध भी दोनों के लिए अनिवार्या है , अन्यथा दान को दैत्य शक्तियां नष्ट कर देती हैं ।

Live with a great Attitude

Best Side of Life-Life is double-sided; there are a wrong side and a right side; a sad side and a happy side. There are a good side and a bad side; a black side and a bright side.

Life is a Game-Life is a game of cards. You did not invent the game, nor did you frame the rules. You have no control over the cards dealt to you. But you are there to play. A good player, even with a bad hand of cards, will play well and emerge a winner. A player, even with the best of cards, will play badly and lose.

So if things seem dark to us, just we should change our thoughts about. Life will look quite different if we turn it best side out.

Our attitude is extremely contagious. With each casual contact with each phone conversation, each e-mail message, it spreads. The people infected by our attitude then pass it along to others, who pass it on to others still.

And as our attitude quickly spreads each day throughout our world, it makes a difference everywhere it goes. One smile given in the morning can multiply by afternoon into enough encouragement for thousands of lives. There is really no telling how far it can go.

When we consistently act with sincere kindness, consideration, respect and positive enthusiasm, the benefits go far beyond just you alone. Your attitude in fact helps determine what kind of world we live in each day. It happens not through some hidden or mysterious force.

It is something we can see, understand and influence each time we come into contact with others. What kind of world would we most like to live in today?

One should live with the attitude that will indeed make it so, especially with a positive attitude.

There is a story that a Baby mosquito came back after 1st time flying. His dad asked him "How do you feel?" He replied "It was wonderful, everyone was clapping for me!"

Now that’s what we call Positive Attitude

Be Aware And Embrace Life

The whole world is one; it’s a Synthesis. Life is possible only through cooperation. All species and sub-species, all that exists, is the result of synthesis, of integration.

Disintegration means decay. The order of the Universe would get disturbed with division and discord. The science of environment underlines the importance of Union of survival, of the desirability of not interfering with natural processes, of not upsetting nature’s equilibrium, so that there is no confusion.

Greed and explosion of natural resources has led to pollution, including that of the earth’s atmosphere. The protective layer that scientists call the ozone layer surrounding earth shields us from the ill effects of direct radiation from the sun. The erosion of the protective cover could mean the end of life, if nothing is done to reverse the erosion.

It is therefore, essential that we cultivate a constructive approach towards the environment. For the evolution that we cultivate a constructive approach towards the environment. For the evaluation of constructive thinking, it is necessary to purify our consciousness. As it is, our consciousness is betting impurities; it is so identified with things and ideas. It must rid itself of all identification, so as to be capable of fitting in with the other and with society.

Violence, untruth and sense of possession and domination characterising our consciousness now needs to be got rid of. Our consciousness must be cleaned of these impurities; otherwise our approach will continue to be negative and destructive.

The first step towards achieving this goal is to transform our outlook from the materialistic to the holistic- by becoming more aware. This is not impossible goal’ it can be done if an individual can learn to be sober, simple and tolerant; and become more a witness who is aware.

A negative attitude is caused by our materialistic approach that has made us too attached to material things. The moment we see things for what they are, we will be to understand the true value of material objects, and would never aspire to gain domination over them.


We would then realize the essential humanity of the other and see the other as being a part of us. Otherwise every situation will seem problematic: problems keep multiplying without any possibility of a solution. In such a scenario, even religion becomes a problem. The only way out of this vicious cycle is to become less rigid in our thinking and in the way we feel and act.

Get rid of stereotypical conduct that makes us live a life of dejection. We need to be mindful and compassionate.

There are two kinds of insensitivity: Confused vision and thoughtless conduct.

A mediator must clearly understand that the first priority is to chastise attitudes by getting rid of ignorance. This would require experimentation and experience.

One should learn to experience truth- one should practice meditation. Mere accumulation of information and knowledge is not enough. Practice combined with theory yields valuable results.

We should know the value of the present moment. And one should gain insight by being a witness, by becoming more aware.

May our hearts be filled with an intense longing for liberation so that we may progress undeterred on the path of awareness and oneness. Therein lays our salvation.

Work is what you make of it

Work and mentally renounce the fruits achieved thereafter. Don't let the shadow of personal prejudice affect how you perceive work. This is the essence of karma yoga. The wise work for common benefit whereas the ignorant work only for themselves or their near and dear ones. A farmer has control over how he works in his fields, but not over the harvest. Krishna tells Arjuna: "Yoga is karmasu kausalam, doing work skillfully in the first attempt."

Work is external but our attitude to it is internal. A certain attitude may make us feel work is miserable while another kind of attitude makes it pleasant. By cultivating the right attitude, we will become spiritual. That is meditation. Once in a village several people were engaged in construction of a temple A wandering sage passing by wants to know what is happening there, so he asks a person cutting stone: "What are you doing?" The laborer replies with frustration: "Don't you see that I am cutting stone? It's a hard stone. Look at my hands! They have become red. Work is hell. And to make matters worse, you ask me what I am doing. How I wish I were not doing this!" The sage asks: "I see you are cutting stone, but let me know what is coming up here?" The stonecutter replies that he has no idea; it does not concern him. He is disinterested.

The sage next goes to another man and asks him the same question: "What are you doing?" The man replies: "I'm cutting stone here; that's my job. For eight hours of work I get paid Rs 100. I have a wife and children to take care of. I'm doing my duty." The sage asks him: "Do you know what is coming up here?" He says: "Yes, they say they're making a temple. How does it matter to me, whether what is being constructed is a temple or a jail, as long as I get paid?"

Then the sage goes to a third worker who is also cutting stone and poses the same question. The man replies: "We are building a temple. There is no temple here; every year at festivals we have to trek to the temple in the next village. You know, every time I hit the stone I hear wonderful music. The temple work has put the sleepy village in a festive mood." The sage asks: "How long do you have to work on this project?" The man says the timeline is not his concern for as soon as he wakes up in the morning, he gets ready for work and begins cutting stone. He tells the sage that he spends the entire day here, taking a break between mealtimes. "When I go home in the night and sleep, in my dream I think of this construction and feel grateful that I enjoy the work I do. I am truly blessed," he said.

Three men doing the same work have three different attitudes. The first person thinks it is hell, the second looks upon his work as his duty. However, the third worker thinks what he is able to do is a blessing. If the work itself had the qualities inherently, good or bad, then, these three men might have felt the same. But in reality, it's not the work itself that is good or bad. It is not the work that disturbs us but something that's subtler; it's the attitude we have towards work.