गुप्त नवरात्री 9 जुलाई 2013 , दिन मंगलवार से प्रारम्भ हो रहे है -कौशल पाण्डेय

गुप्त नवरात्री 9 जुलाई 2013 , दिन मंगलवार से प्रारम्भ हो रहे है -कौशल पाण्डेय

By; Astro Kaushal Pandey

सनातन धर्म के अनुसार आषाढ़ तथा माघ मास की नवरात्रि को गुप्त नवरात्रि कहा जाता है। इस बार आषाढ़ मास की गुप्त नवरात्रि का प्रारंभ 9 जुलाई 2013 , दिन मंगलवार से हो रहा है, आषाढ़ मास की गुप्त नवरात्रि का समय शाक्य एवं शैव धर्मावलंबियों के लिए पैशाचिक, वामाचारी क्रियाओं के लिए अधिक शुभ एवं उपयुक्त होता है। इसमें प्रलय एवं संहार के देवता महाकाल एवं महाकाली की पूजा की जाती है।

 भारतीय धार्मिक परंपरा में नवरात्रियों का बहुत ही महत्व है। नवरात्रा या नौरात्रि के दो अर्थ लिए जा सकते हैं - नौ रात या नौ रातें। सृष्टि का सृजन गहन अंधकार में भूगर्भ में या माता के गर्भ में ही होता है। मानव योनि के लिए गर्भ के ये नौ महीने नौ रातों के समान होते हैं जिनमें आत्मा, मानव शरीर धारण करती है। जिस प्रकार रात्रि हमें विश्राम देती हैं और हमारे शरीर में ऊर्जा का संचार करती हैं, उसी प्रकार नवरात्र की नौ रातें हमारे शरीर में अतिरिक्त शक्ति व ऊर्जा का संचार करती हैं क्योंकि ये रातें अति सूक्ष्म ऊर्जा से परिपूर्ण होती हैं। अतः इनका उपयोग कर हम अपने अंदर भी नई ऊर्जाओं का पुनः संचरण कर जीवन में अधिकाधिक लाभ प्राप्त कर सकते हैं। गुप्त नवरात्रि विशेष तौर पर गुप्त सिद्धियां पाने का समय है। साधक इन दोनों गुप्त नवरात्रि में विशेष साधना करते हैं तथा चमत्कारिक शक्तियां प्राप्त करते हैं।

 गुप्त नवरात्रि में करे इस महामंत्र का पाठ और जागृत करे अपने अन्दर की छुपी हुयी महाशक्ति को .. आशा है की इस पाठ से आप को लाभ मिलेगा ..

श्री दुर्गा सप्तसती में वर्णित अत्यंत प्रभावशली सिद्धि कुन्जिका स्त्रोत्र प्रस्तुत कर रहा हूँ इस सिद्धि कुन्जिका स्त्रोत्र का नित्य पाठ करने से संपूर्ण श्री दुर्गा सप्तशती पाठ का फल मिलता है .. यह महामंत्र देवताओं को भी दुर्लभ नहीं है , इस मंत्र का नित्य पाठ करने से माँ भगवती जगदम्बा की कृपा बनी रहती है ..

कुन्जिका स्तोत्रं

 शिव उवाच

 शृणु देवि प्रवक्ष्यामि कुंजिकास्तोत्रमुत्तमम्‌।

 येन मन्त्रप्रभावेण चण्डीजापः भवेत्‌॥1॥

न कवचं नार्गलास्तोत्रं कीलकं न रहस्यकम्‌।

 न सूक्तं नापि ध्यानं च न न्यासो न च वार्चनम्‌॥2॥

कुंजिकापाठमात्रेण दुर्गापाठफलं लभेत्‌।

 अति गुह्यतरं देवि देवानामपि दुर्लभम्‌॥ 3॥

गोपनीयं प्रयत्नेन स्वयोनिरिव पार्वति।

 मारणं मोहनं वश्यं स्तम्भनोच्चाटनादिकम्‌।

 पाठमात्रेण संसिद्ध्‌येत् कुंजिकास्तोत्रमुत्तमम्‌ ॥4॥

अथ मंत्र

 ॐ ऐं ह्रीं क्लीं चामुण्डायै विच्चे। ॐ ग्लौ हुं क्लीं जूं सः

 ज्वालय ज्वालय ज्वल ज्वल प्रज्वल प्रज्वल

 ऐं ह्रीं क्लीं चामुण्डायै विच्चे ज्वल हं सं लं क्षं फट् स्वाहा

 ॥ इति मंत्रः॥

 नमस्ते रुद्ररूपिण्यै नमस्ते मधुमर्दिनि।

 नमः कैटभहारिण्यै नमस्ते महिषार्दिन ॥1॥

नमस्ते शुम्भहन्त्र्यै च निशुम्भासुरघातिन ॥2॥

जाग्रतं हि महादेवि जपं सिद्धं कुरुष्व मे।

 ऐंकारी सृष्टिरूपायै ह्रींकारी प्रतिपालिका॥3॥

क्लींकारी कामरूपिण्यै बीजरूपे नमोऽस्तु ते।

 चामुण्डा चण्डघाती च यैकारी वरदायिनी॥ 4॥

विच्चे चाभयदा नित्यं नमस्ते मंत्ररूपिण ॥5॥

धां धीं धू धूर्जटेः पत्नी वां वीं वूं वागधीश्वरी।

 क्रां क्रीं क्रूं कालिका देवि शां शीं शूं मे शुभं कुरु॥6॥

हुं हु हुंकाररूपिण्यै जं जं जं जम्भनादिनी।

 भ्रां भ्रीं भ्रूं भैरवी भद्रे भवान्यै ते नमो नमः॥7॥

अं कं चं टं तं पं यं शं वीं दुं ऐं वीं हं क्षं

 धिजाग्रं धिजाग्रं त्रोटय त्रोटय दीप्तं कुरु कुरु स्वाहा॥

 पां पीं पूं पार्वती पूर्णा खां खीं खूं खेचरी तथा॥ 8॥

सां सीं सूं सप्तशती देव्या मंत्रसिद्धिंकुरुष्व मे॥

 इदंतु कुंजिकास्तोत्रं मंत्रजागर्तिहेतवे।

 अभक्ते नैव दातव्यं गोपितं रक्ष पार्वति॥

 यस्तु कुंजिकया देविहीनां सप्तशतीं पठेत्‌।

 न तस्य जायते सिद्धिररण्ये रोदनं यथा॥

 । इतिश्रीरुद्रयामले गौरीतंत्रे शिवपार्वती संवादे कुंजिकास्तोत्रं संपूर्णम्‌

The I-DEA Of “I” (2)

The I-DEA Of “I” (2)

A great Buddhist used the example of the Bullock-Cart. He asked his disciple.

“What do you see there?” (as a cart drawn by Bullocks passed),

“A Bullock-Cart.”

“What are those two circular things?”

“Wheels.”

“Burn them.”

“Now what is sticking out there?”

“The axle.”

“Throw it away” then the body was discarded, than the yoke.

“Where is the cart now?”

If all the different parts that have their name and individuality have been dismantled where and what exactly is the cart? The cart is an idea- even before the assembly of the parts the idea of the cart was there and it persists.

The ego and “I” is nothing but an idea, a vritti वृति. As an idea “I” exists, but not as an independent entity capable of producing its own idea. One must observe all this. As you observe for instance, seeing, you note that seeing take place. Who sees? The eyes see, while seeing happens from somewhere, for no apparent reason, the idea arises” “I”  am seeing.”

Patanjali पातांजलि gives us a very beautiful sutra सूत्र in which there is a description of what is the ultimate in yoga. Translated literally it reads” Then the seer rests in himself.

“What does the seer signify?”

“What one calls the seer is only seeing?”

“Why must you invent a thing known as “I” which sees?”

“When the eyes are open, they see.”

You have a beautiful expression in English viz., “Sight seeing Tours.”

“The sight is what sees?”

“Who sees the scenery?”

“Sight sees.”

What you call the sees is nothing but the action, the event of seeing. All our yoga योग practices lead us to this realization that seeing is not the doing of “I” but a happening.

In exactly the same way, all of life can be lived. Sight sees, action takes place, everything in this world happens. Somehow, somewhere we have been conditioned by the idea that without this vritti वृति, this ego, without a goal to reach and hold on to, we shall not progress but our lives would be a failure. There is only one failure, the failure to do not the failure to achieve. Success is always there. To succeed is “to come after.” When one does anything, success follows. It is when you don’t do what should be done there is failure.

Once you see the whole picture, action is spontaneous. The finite thing (I, You, and he) does not exist in reality. It is only when you are not really spiritually awake that there is this division and confusion. Once the awakening has taken place, it stays at least until you discover the reality, and it swallows the “I.”

As we have been, chitta चित   is indivisible cosmic consciousness or intelligence, and the vritti’s वृति are idea, which may be knowledge, wrong understanding, imagination, memory, or sleep. There are all -universal. Wherever there is ocean there are waves. Wherever there is a chitta चित   there are vrittis वृति. It seems to be clear, but when you view the ocean as one indivisible entity, there are no waves apart from it. The whole thing, with all the waves, is the ocean.

Similarly, in the physical body there are millions of cells sparking of, all sorts of streams following from the heart to the part of the body and back again, there is tremendous activity, yet because the organism is the activity, and there is no division, it is unaware of it. A body approaching fire is burned, but if you are the burning fire you will not be burned at all. You are the burner, not the burned. Somehow this fact that “I am that” has been forgotten.

“We ask,” Why should that cosmic intelligence forget that it is cosmic and create diversity, change or a becoming?” “ Why should this great universal being become anything”? “No one can answer, one can only bluntly, frankly honestly say.” “Sorry “I” don’t know.”

 

The I-DEA Of “I” (1)

The I-DEA Of “I” (1)

Virtue and order in one’s life harmonizes what is initially called the daily secular life and what is practiced as yoga or meditation. This division of life is also the work of the ego.

Common sense tells that east and west, above and below, right and left, meet in me. When you stand on the ground all that lies in the facing direction is the east and all that lies in the other direction is the west. If you move a mile in the easterly direction, what you previously considered east has joined the west. Is it difficult than to see that you are not only the meeting point but also the dividing factor?

Caught in this trap of I am this or I am that we are not aware that there is a state of peace of mind, and existence that is unconditioned. Every time we want to get out of one trap, we walk into another trap. This is so because we have no idea whatever that a state beyond all this exists.

In yoga, at the beginning of our practice, it has to be taken for granted that there is a state of consciousness, accessible to all of us. Provided we are willing to take the necessary steps, in which there is no confusion, conflict, distress or disharmony a state of bless, joy and peace which is reached through yoga, through meditation, through the understanding of the mind and its modification. Chitta and Vritti  When you are not in that state of yoga, then the state of your mind, the thought and the feelings that prevails in it, determine the world around you. An object does not exist except as the sum total of all the thoughts of all the observers, when all these thoughts and viewpoints, opinions and descriptions are dropped the object is what it is? Not as an object any more.

These are the words. It is when you become like little children, as the bhagavatham declares that the greatest sages are like little children. If you wish to learn to meditate the only person to teach you is a baby less than six weeks old. When you look into its eyes, you will know what yoga means. There it is in all its absolute purity gazing at you without projecting a single thought of what you are?

Patanjali gives us a three-word phrase about Yoga in his Yoga Sutras. (Yoga is Chitta, Vritti, Nirodha. These words cannot easily be translated into English.

Problem is bound to confront us but they can be faced and surmounted by ensuring that “God” resides within us permanently. To keep God as “captive” the only requirement is that we should dedicate all our acts and the results there of, at His feet. Whenever we undertake a task, whether simple or complicated, we should remember the Almighty and seek his direction. Such an attitude provides us the base to launch our attacks to counter the impediments.

This will mean that we should totally shed “ego” and firmly believe that our achievements. If any are only due to the guidance given by God. If the sense of Varity that “I have done it or that I am chiefly responsible for its success.” Is dropped all form of obstacles will vanish; what is necessary is to cultivate the feeling that our wisdom, if any, poles into insignificance before the supreme power of God. When God “occupies” a place in our hearts. He can act as a bright source of power with which we can light thousands of lamps. “I am nothing” but God “You are everything” should be our guiding factor.

We should try to acquire certain qualities, the most vital being “Fearlessness.  “We should not be afraid of anyone, excepting God. Fear may prevent us from realizing God and developing devotion. The battle of life should be fought relentlessly. Without succumbing or yielding to fear “Strength is life and weakness is death. We should not attach too much importance to our personality. On the other hand God’s mercy and His gracious acts in saving devotees should be praised.

The body of everyone is made of the same substance. For all of us food comes from the same source, the earth, Prana the life force is cosmic. We are all breathing the same air. We all have the same intelligence within us. It cannot be divided. Yet when someone calls you a fool, you become angry. But when you say. “My hand is dirty” the hand does not strike the tongue for this remark. Yet this is what we do one another. Somebody insults you and at once you want to retaliate. We eat the same food, but each one wants to destroy the other because “I feel that I am different from him”.

The self is the self. Its identity is intrinsic: “I am who I am,”  “I am that I am.” The self has no identity. It is pure identity, being it is pure identity, being itself. In the self we are all that we see, and to see is to be. This is the ultimate equation, the solution to all questions, in which all things become one. The true self can never be a thing. To think that I am this or I am that is to lose identity as the pure I am. To think I need this to I need that is to become caught in a stream of dependency because the external can never be intrinsic or independent.

To have an image of one’s self is to lose the self, to make it into a commodity. To become something is to lose one’s identity as the pure subject and become an object among objects in an uncertain would. We suffer because we do not have a self. Our identity is dependent upon something or person that we are connected with. Identity that is dependent, that is given by another lid a name or a title is a fiction. It is a superimposition of thought, and though it may distract us for a time, t cannot afford us peace. We suffer because we keep the self in the not self, the subject in the object. We try to find happiness by achievement and acquisition in the external world. But achievement is becoming a bigger or better object.

Acquisition is the accumulation of objects around our assumed objectivity or materiality. But to be an object is to be heavy, dependent and transient. Objectivity is not a state of happiness or fulfilment. Happiness is only possible in eternal existence. Which is only possible in the pure subject? As long as we think we need something to be ourselves, we will always be dependent on another. We will always be somebody else or trying to please someone else.

We will never be ourselves but will be trapped in the conditioned response around us. We will be victims of other people’s thoughts. The true self is not the ego. It is not the ‘I want that’. It is devoid of any self-mage. Misleading because it being belongs to it. Yet it is who we naturally are. It is the state of pure seeing devoid of any objectification of self or other.

How does this happen? We have forgotten that we are all one. And when this is forgotten there is a peculiar polarization the other and I. Neither cosmic intelligence nor cosmic ignorance creates the concept, the idea of you and me. It is in the shadow of that the I arises and this “I” creates You and the Other”.

Perhaps the first person I is nothing but the abbreviation of the full word idea. The I may itself be nothing more than an idea. However, as soon as the Idea arises, it creates you, the other person, then he, she and its.

The problem of our world is that the human being, the individual each I become the center of the Universe as soon as the ego-sense arises. Why do two individual fights? Because each one assumes that he is the centre and that everything must somehow be related to his pleasure to his will. This self-limited cosmic being, which is the individual personality that goes on building relationship, It is all ignorance. The child and the grandchild of ignorance can only be ignorance just as all off spring of man can only be human. So everything which manifests within this cosmic being or cosmic consciousness is borne of ignorance. The self-limited infinite, which is called the individual, looks around, feels registers and reacts. Fear, contempt, like, dislike, attraction, repulsion, approval, disapproval all these spring form the ignorant self-limitation that is called ego.

Once the Idea of I is there it becomes the centre of the entire Universe. Who determines what is East and what is West? The deciding factor is where you stand at the moment. You lay down the law as a Nation or as a culture. It depends on where you stand physically, psychological, morally or spiritually. “We” declare this to be good and that to be bad, that is pleasant and this is not pleasant. The centre of creation is always I and collectively “We.”

From this I comes raga (attraction, approval or liking) and dvesa (repulsion, rejection or dislike). Raga is better translated as approval and dvesa as disapproval. If someone gently scratches your back you approve him, but if he twists your arm, you disapprove him. This is so because you see yourself as the centre of the Universe.

How can one restrain all these innumerable thought-wave or idea or notions with which one identifies oneself, because of one’s original identification with one idea, the Idea? How does one return to the source, the truth the reality of one indivisible consciousness?

The teaching of Patanjali points out that there is this cosmic being, cosmic oneness, cosmic harmony, and cosmic consciousness, which have been mysteriously rapture, fractured by ego-sense. The ego-sense says, “This is I” therefore “That is you”. From this division flows an interminable stream of worry, anxiety, fear and hate. How does one put an end to this? By realizing that you are the stream. The moment you realize that, the menace has ceased. The “I” am anxious “Duality creates a distinction between ‘I’ and anxiety, anxiety no longer haunts you. You are it, and there are no more struggles. The anxiety as anxiety falls away.

A very holy man pointed out “Fear is the first product of Duality. The realization of non-duality is Yoga. But you cannot create harmony, bring about unity, or non-duality, there is no need, no possibility of this. It is already there. But what you can and must do is observe how and where this oneness has been disrupted. If one sincerely and seriously carries out this observation, then it does not take a split second to realize that the break happens the moment the ‘I’ thought arises. The moment the feeling ‘I’ am ‘This’ comes up, that thought, the Vritti, mental modification creates the “you” and there is conflict.

What yoga philosophy suggests, if one studies it without preconceived notions and prejudices, is this. When you observe the ego, it is possible that you discover that the ego, is not an entity like a table or a tape recorder.

The ego is more like an assembly in the sense that Buddha used the word. What you call consciousness, the self, is nothing but an assembly of past impression and experience. Buddha did not deny the existence of the world and its objects.

ACCEPTANCE AND SURRENDER

We are in a very powerful time now in our world. This has happened by steady shifts and the influx of high dimension Light into our systems.

As a result, we are asked to take this Light, expand it and empower it into action. It is hardly enough to just step aside and merely observe the changes happening all around our world.

We are positioned to accept and move on. We must now take our places beside the Angel Lights and Ascended Masters. We are urged to move on from our 3D living.

Our job now is to release the thick shell of resistance.

Time is over for resistance. All who are still playing this stale game are being deeply wounded. The very fabric created individually has transformed into a collective boomerang. The more we cogitate and use the human mind endlessly, the deeper the limited well of intellectual arrogance. Time to create another plan- a plan that is its exact opposite- a plan for flexibility and resilience. The resilient ones are celebrating life. Their vexations of spirit have dissolved. Come join this band.

What is happening all around is a clearing, just as a vast field is prepared for sowing new seeds. Let the past go! How will it feel to carry an overweight bag all the way to Ascension... will such a one succeed? It will only pull down all the force of lightness.

Why is it so hard to accept?

It is so only because the thick, hard, stale shell of human resistance holds on tight.
Acceptance is an attribute of the truly strong. And, the truly strong are the truly gentle.

Wisdom is in letting it all go... all the time... sticky, yucky, grimy, hot palms holding on to sticky, yucky, grimy, hot grains of sand... one mighty gust of wind and all will be empty... useless... an exercise in futility!

Beloved ones let it all go... each night as we go to sleep let us first empty this closet. Pull out the old, the fairly new, the recent and the present cobwebs from the windmills of the mind... there will be a deep human desire to take one long look at this garbage... look at it... feel good to let it go.

Commit to a restful night each night. A night where a hollow and empty space within will be filled with Light.

In the morning as the eyes open. That very first gentle opening, hold the awareness in the breath and commit to affirming: Today is a golden day. It is the best day ever. One in which I hold my sacred self above all petty resistances. I will yield. I will give way. Certain road intersections have a Sign saying YIELD. The traffic rule is obeyed. The life rule also states: YIELD.

This is flagrantly disobeyed. Man throws caution to the winds and with the armour of intellectual arrogance resists this sign-one which saves man from indescribable turbulence. Will we ever learn?

Time is up. We are now swiftly moving on. Life lessons are all around! Let us infuse all our activities with the higher vibrations we now hold. Thousands of people feel great with their meditations and inspired visions of the Newness, and then with zero practice, return to life as it always has been! Practice the life lesson pleases beloved ones.

Life is totally different now- time to inject sacredness into every thought, feeling, word and action we have. This takes being fully awake-fully aware of our breath. To discover that the breather is our Source. To ACCEPT that we have all come from the One Source and we are all returning to the same One Source.

Our little self, the mental, emotional and physical expression of our Soul needs an ever flowing encouragement. Every time we observe our thought is linked to our breath, we discover our oneness with our Divinity.

Each time we judge, feel sorry for ourselves or lament, we strengthen our little self to be separate from our Soul. When we train ourselves to catch such a moment [when we are practicing separation], we replace our dualistic thinking with Love, Humility and Gratitude, which strengthens the pathway of our Soul. In this way, the small self joins our large Self, the Soul -we move away from our fight and we become one.

We have been experiencing profound changes in the past several months. Powerful energetic waves of Light have increased, forcing us to look inside at our thought patterns, making it more uncomfortable to stay in our old separateness. And even more change is coming swift and sure, whether we go with it or resist it.

Acceptance and soft, smooth flow create an ease, while resistance or pushing rigidity creates stress. Move with caution.

We exercise free will and choice as to which category we empower. And we are definitely experiencing the results with the many changes in our body.

Our Souls are merging deeper into our physical bodies. Instead of experiencing physical changes slightly or every once in a while, we feel them on a constant basis. Many are experiencing vertigo, dizziness, nausea, anxiousness, exhaustion, forgetting, blood pressure, headaches, heart palpitations, heaviness, digestive blocks and many other phenomena based on where we are in our Ascension.

The Light coming from the Galactic Sun moves through our solar sun and is entering our consciousness, to match our Souls’ purpose. It helps to align ourselves with the Galactic Sun as it pours this highly-charged Light through our solar sun and enters us. This puts us in alignment with the high dimensional energies that are infusing us right up to our DNA level.

This causes our cellular memories to awaken to our birth right which is Divine Love. At the same time we also awaken to the staleness stored within us. As this happens, our bodies heat up; allowing past karma and difficult pathways our Soul has journeyed in human form to be released from our lower chakras thus making room for the Light to enter. This helps our lower three chakras to align with our upper, spiritual chakras. This helps unite our little self [the little ego] and our large Self, our Soul.

Lower emotional energies are being yanked out for higher vibration Light to enter. This is why so many are experiencing sorrow and depression as these lower cellular memories are released. Our original Blueprint is awakened and our consciousness is heightened. We begin to realize our Soul’s purpose during this powerful time. From this point on we take full responsibility to accept our present time and relinquish the need to fight.

As earth’s magnetic field also receives the higher energies, she also releases DNA-awakening photons that further awaken our consciousness. And since we are One with mother earth, our consciousness rises to that of Divine Consciousness and we fully recognize that our thoughts manifest. This is why we are reminded to keep our thoughts positive and powerfully clear, aligned with Soul, for whatever our thoughts are; whatever our consciousness is will become manifest. Those who are still holding on to the past circumstances, resentment and anger for situations or people, will continue to manifest that. That’s just how powerful we are!

Therefore, to stay fully conscious, consciously open to the higher energies and infuse every activity, thought and feeling with sacredness is absolutely necessary if we want to fully empower the majesty of our Ascension. Forgiveness increases our consciousness and releases all the blocks which keep us from manifestation.
This is it! Just as we go shopping and strive to find the best of what we are looking for, choose powerfully and embrace New Life now!

Let go of the fight within and embrace the jubilation of acceptance!

Baijnath Mahadev Temple of Agar Malva

In 1879, when the British were ruling India, Lt. Col. Martin of Agar Malva was leading the army in the war against Afghanistan.

 Col. Martin used to regularly send messages of his well-being to his wife. The war continued for long & Lady Martin stopped getting messages. She was very upset.

 Once riding on her horse, she passed by the temple of Baijnath Mahadev. She was attracted by the sound of Conch & Mantra. She went inside and came to know that the Brahmanas were worshipping Lord Shiva. They saw her sad face and asked her problem. She explained everything to them. They told her that Lord Shiva listens to the prayers of devotees and takes them out of difficult situations in no time. With the advice of the Brahmanas she started the ‘Laghurudri Anushtthan’ of the Mantra:

‘Om Namah Shivaya’ for 11 days. She prayed to Lord Shiva that if her husband reaches home safely, then she would get the temple renovated.

 On the last of the ‘Laghurudri’ a messenger came and gave a letter to her. Her husband had written: ‘I was regularly sending messages to you from the battle grounds but suddenly the Pathans surrounded us from all sides. We were entrapped in a situation where there was no scope of escaping death. Suddenly I saw a Yogi of India with long hair, carrying a weapon with three pointers (Trishul). His personality was amazing and he was manoeuvring his weapon with a magnificent style. Seeing this great man, the Pathans started running back. With his grace our bad times turned into moments of victory. This was possible only because of that man of India wearing a lion skin & carrying a three-pointer weapon (Trishul). That great Yogi told me that I should not worry and that he had come to rescue me because he was very pleased with my wife’s prayers.’

Tears of joy were falling down Lady Martin’s eyes while reading the letter. Her heart was overwhelmed. She fell into the feet of Lord Shiva’s statue and burst in tears.

 After a few weeks Col. Martin returned. Lady Martin narrated the whole incident to him. Now both husband & wife became devotees of Lord Shiva. In 1883 they donated Rs. 15,000 for renovating the temple. The information engraved slab for the same is still there in the Baijnath Mahadev Temple of Agar Malva. This is the only Hindu temple built by a Britisher.

Lessons of the Square Watermelon :

Japanese grocery stores had a problem. They are much smaller than shops in other countries and therefore don’t have room to waste. Watermelons, big and round, wasted a lot of space. Most people would simply tell the grocery stores that the watermelons grow round and there is nothing that can be done about it.

That is how majority of people would respond. But some Japanese farmers took a different approach. If the supermarkets wanted a square watermelon, they asked themselves, ‘How can we provide one?’ It wasn’t long before they invented the square watermelon
The solution to the problem of round watermelons was not to solve as the farmers did no assume it was impossible – and simply asked how it could be done.

They found out that if you put the watermelon in a square box when they are growing, the watermelon will take on to the shape of the box- and grow into a square fruit.

This made the grocery stores happy and had the added benefit that it was much easier and cost effective to ship the watermelons. Consumers also loved them because they took less space in their refrigerators which are much smaller then those in other countries, meaning that the grower could charge a premium price for them.


What does this have to do with anything in life or at our job? There are a few Lessons that can you can take away from this story which helps you,

Don’t assume; The major problem was that most people had always seen round watermelons so they automatically assumed that square watermelons were impossible before even thinking about the question. Things that you have been doing a certain way your entire life have taken on the aura of the round watermelon and you likely don’t even take the time to consider if there is another way to do it. Breaking yourself from assuming this way can greatly improve your overall life as you are constantly looking for new and better ways to do things.

Question habits : The best way to tackle these assumptions is to question your habits. If you can make an effort to question the way you do things on a consistent basis, you will find that you can continually improve the way that you work. Forming habits when they have been well thought out is usually a positive thing, but most of us have adopted our habits from various people and places without even thinking about them.

Be Creative: When faced with a problem, be creative in looking for a solution. This often requires thinking outside the box. Most people who viewed this question likely thought they were being asked how they could genetically alter watermelons to grow square which would be a much more difficult process to accomplish. By looking at the question from an alternative perspective, however, the solution was quite simple. Being creative and looking at things in different ways in all portions of your live will help you find solutions to many problems where others can’t see them.

Look for a better way: The square watermelon question was simply seeking a better and more convenient way to do something. The stores had flagged a problem they were having and asked if a solution was possible. It’s impossible to finds a better way if you are never asking the question in the first place. Get into the habit of asking yourself, “Is there a better way I could be doing this ?” and you will find there often is.

Impossibilities often aren’t : If you begin with the notion that something is impossible, then it obviously will be for you. If, on the other hand, you decide to see if something is possible or not, you will find out through trail and error. Take away the lessons from the square watermelons and apply them to all areas in Your life (work, finances, relationships etc) and you will find out that by consistently applying them, you will constantly be improving all aspects of your life.

I AM SURE WE CAN BRING ABOUT CHANGE IF WE REALLY WANT TO.