When you are crying, friend, Forget why you are crying, And just let tears flow. When you are laughing, Forget the reason for laughter, And laugh anyway. When you are angry, Just for a moment Forget what made you angry, And honor - even celebrate - the raw, burning, throbbing sensations in your body. Come closer. Be present. Honor what is alive in you. Let powerful energies move without a story, without blame, without judgement, without resistance. (Yet allow resistance too if that is what's alive in you.) Know yourself as LIFE - The unconditional space for it all. ~ Jeff Foster #justbeyou
THE ART of GIVING
The Art of Giving
“Rivers do not drink their own water,
nor do trees eat their own fruit,
nor do rain clouds eat the grains reared by them.”
The true Art in Giving is to give from the heart without any expectation of a return.
True giving comes from the same place inside you as your deepest happiness. They are inexplicably intertwined.
A gift is something that is enjoyed twice. First by the giver who revels in the pleasure of giving something special and then also enjoyed by the person who receives the gift.
A very special form of giving takes the form of small, personal acts of kindness. Very often it is not money or belongings that people need, it’s the things that can’t be seen, such as advice reassurance, a kind word, compliments or a smile.
Is the wealth of the noble used solely for the benefit of others?
Even after accepting that giving is good and that one must learn to give,
several questions need to be answered.
The first question is ‘when should one give’?
Yudhisthir asks a beggar seeking alms to come the next day.
On this, Bhim rejoices, that Yudhisthir his brother, has conquered death!
For he is sure that he will be around tomorrow to give.
Yudhisthir gets the message.
One does not know really whether one will be there tomorrow to give!
The time to give therefore is NOW.
The next question is ‘How much to Give’?
One recalls the famous incident from history.
Maharana Pratap was reeling after defeat from the Mougals.
He had lost his army , he had lost his wealth , and most important he had lost hope, his will to fight.
At that time in his darkest hour , his erstwhile minister Bhamasha came seeking him and placed his entire fortune at the disposal of Rana Pratap.
With this, Rana Pratap raised an army and lived to fight another day.
The answer to this question ‘how much to give’ is : ” Give as much as you can ! “
The next question is ‘what to give’?
It is not only money that can be given.
It could be a flower or even a smile.
It is not how much one gives but how one gives that really matters.
When you give a smile to a stranger that may be the only good thing
received by him in days and weeks!
“You can give anything but you must give with your heart ! “
One also needs answer to this question ‘whom to give’?
Many times we avoid giving by finding fault with the person who is seeking.
However, being judgmental and rejecting a person on the presumption that he may not be the most deserving is not justified.
“Give without being Judgemental !”
Next we have to answer ‘How to give’?
Coming to the manner of giving, one has to ensure that the receiver does not feel humiliated, nor the giver feels proud by giving.
‘Let not your left hand know what your right hand gives’, said Jesus Christ
Charity without publicity and fanfare, is the highest form of charity.
‘Give quietly’!
While giving let not the recipient feel small or humiliated.
After all what we give never really belonged to us.
We come to this world with nothing and will go with nothing.
The thing gifted was only with us for a temporary period.
Why then take pride in giving away something which really did not belong to us? Give with grace and with a feeling of gratitude.
What should one feel after giving ?
We all know the story of Eklavya.
When Dronacharya asked him for his right thumb as ‘Guru-dakshina’.
He unhesitatingly cut off the thumb and gave it to Dronacharya.
There is a little known sequel to this story..
Eklavya was asked whether he ever regretted the act of giving away his thumb when he was dying.
His reply was “Yes ! I regretted this only once in my life.
It was when Pandavas were coming in to kill Dronacharya who was broken-hearted on the false news of death of his son Ashwathama, and had stopped fighting.
It was then that I regretted the loss of my thumb.
If the thumb was there, no one could have dared hurt my Guru”
The message to us is clear.
Give and never regret giving !
And the last question is ‘How much should we provide for our heirs’ ?
Ask yourself , ‘Are we taking away from them the ‘gift of work – a source of happiness’?
The answer is given by Warren Buffett:
“Leave your kids enough to do anything,
but not enough to do nothing!”
Let us learn the Art of Giving.
Quoting Sant Kabir:
“When the wealth in the house increases ,
When water fills a boat,
Throw them out with both hands !
This is the wise thing to do”!
I Love You and I Wish You Enough
To all my friends and loved ones – “I WISH YOU ENOUGH“
Recently I overheard a father and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure.
Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the father said, ‘I love you, and I wish you enough.’
The daughter replied, ‘Dad, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Dad.’
They kissed and the daughter left. The Father walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, ‘Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?’
‘Yes, I have,’ I replied. ‘Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?’..
‘I am old, and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is – the next trip back will be for my funeral,’ he said.
‘When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough..’ May I ask what that means?’
He began to smile. ‘That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone…’ He paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and he smiled even more. ‘When we said, ‘I wish you enough,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.’ Then turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.
I wish you enough Sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.
I wish you enough Rain to appreciate the sun even more.
I wish you enough Happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting.
I wish you enough Pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough Gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough Loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough “Hello’s” to get you through the final “Good-bye”.
He then began to cry and walked away.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them; but then an entire life to forget them.
Only if you wish, send this to the people you will never forget. If you don’t send it to anyone it may mean that you are in such a hurry that you have forgotten your friends.
TAKE TIME TO LIVE….
To all my friends and loved ones – “I WISH YOU ENOUGH“
Note: Was worth repeating ……. Story shared by someone on Whatsapp
Bhagavad Gita – Solves All Our Life’s Problems
Finding solutions for your problems in Bhagavad Gita
Open the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita.
Select your life’s problem, find the solution instantly.
This is very good collection and handy solution.
Somebody made a great effort to make this happen.
Touch and See
The Prophet
The Prophet is a book of 26 prose poetry fables written in English by the Lebanese–American poet and writer Kahlil Gibran. It was originally published in 1923 by Alfred A. Knopf. It is Gibran’s best known work. The Prophet has been translated into over 100 different languages, making it one of the most translated books in history, and it has never been out of print.
Proving that there is no connection between cost and value, it’s currently only Rs 79 on Amazon and it’s not hard to find a copy online. It’s a beautiful work, but we wanted to particularly highlight the chapter on work, reproduced here in its entirety.
On Work
Then a ploughman said, “Speak to us of Work.”
And he answered, saying:
You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life’s procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.
When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?
But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of earth’s furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born,
Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune.
And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life,
And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.
But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.
You have been told also life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.
And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.
Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, “he who works in marble, and finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is a nobler than he who ploughs the soil.
And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet.”
But I say, not in sleep but in the over-wakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass;
And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving.
Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man’s ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.
And People Stayed Home by Kathleen O’Meara during 1869 plague epidemic
And people stayed home
and read books and listened
and rested and exercised
and made art and played
and learned new ways of being
and stopped
and listened deeper
someone meditated
someone prayed
someone danced
someone met their shadow
and people began to think differently
and people healed
and in the absence of people who lived in ignorant ways,
dangerous, meaningless and heartless,
even the earth began to heal
and when the danger ended
and people found each other
grieved for the dead people
and they made new choices
and dreamed of new visions
and created new ways of life
and healed the earth completely
just as they were healed themselves.
Kathleen O’Meara, pen name Grace Ramsay (1839 Dublin – 10 November 1888 Paris) was an Irish-French Catholic writer and biographer during the late Victorian era. She was the Paris correspondent of The Tablet, a leading British Catholic magazine. Irish Monthly also published many of her serialized and biographical works. O’ Meara also wrote works of fiction where she explored a variety of topics from women’s suffrage to eastern European revolutions. The majority of her novels contained Catholic themes and social reform issues. -Wikipedia
Lockdown Special poem by Gulzar Sahab
Bewajah Ghar Se Nikalne Ki Zarurat Kya Hai,
Maut Se Aakhen Milane Ki Zarurat Kya Hai !!
Sabko Maloom Hai Bahar Ki Hawa Hai Kaatil ,
Yuhi Kaatil Se Ulajhne Ki Zarurat Kya Hai !!
Zindagi Ek Neemat Hai, Use Sambhal Ke Rakh,
Kabragahon Ko Sajane Ki Zarurat Kya Hai !!
Dil Behelane Ke Liye Ghar Me Wazah Hai Kafi ,
Yuhi Galiyon Me Bhatakne Ki Zarurat Kya Hai !!
Stay Home , Stay Safe !!
Mother Earth is Healing – A Wonderful write up by Vivienne in Spain
The earth whispered but you did not hear.
The earth spoke but you did not listen
The earth screamed but you turned her off.
And so I was born…I was not born to punish you…I was born to awaken you…
The earth cried out for help…Massive flooding..But you didn’t listen.
Burning fires. But you didn’t listen.
Strong hurricanes. But you didn’t listen.
Terrifying Tornadoes. But you didn’t listen.
You still don’t listen to the earth when.
Ocean animals are dying due to pollutants in the waters.
Glaciers melting at an alarming rate.
Severe drought…You didn’t listen to how much negativity the earth is receiving.
Non-stop wars.
Non-stop greed.
You just kept going on with your life..
No matter how much hate there was..
No matter how many killings daily..
It was more important to get that latest iPhone than worry about what the earth was trying to tell you..
But now I am here.
And I’ve made the world stop in its tracks.
I’ve made YOU finally listen.
I’ve made you take refuge.
I’ve made you stop thinking about materialistic things..
Now you are like the earth…
You are only worried about YOUR survival.
How does that feel ?
I give you fever.. as the fires burn on earth.
I give you respiratory issues.. as pollution filled the earth’s air.
I give you weakness as the earth weakens every day.
I took away your comforts..
Your outings.
The things you would use to forget about the planet and its pain.
And I made the world stop..
And now…
China has better air quality…Skys are clear blue because factories are not spewing pollution unto the earth’s air.
The water in Venice is clean and Because the gondola boats that pollute the water are not being used.
YOU are having to take time to reflect on what is important in your life.
Again I am not here to punish you.. I am here to Awaken you..
When all this is over and I am gone… Please remember these moments..
Listen to the earth.
Listen to your soul.
Stop Polluting the earth.
Stop Fighting amongst each other.
Stop caring about materialistic things.
And start loving your neighbours.
Start caring about the earth and all its creatures.
Start believing in a Creator.
Because next time I may come back even stronger…
Signed
Yours faithfully
Coronavirus..
And next time don’t know how long you will survive.
Source: Internet / whatsapp
Nasadiya Sukta (Rigveda 10.129)
The Nāsadīya Sūkta (after the incipit ná ásat, or “not the non-existent”), also known as the Hymn of Creation, is the 129th hymn of the 10th mandala of the Rigveda (10:129). It is concerned with cosmology and the origin of the universe.[2]
Nasadiya Sukta begins rather interestingly, with the statement – “Then, there was neither existence, nor non-existence.” It ponders over the when, why and by whom of creation in a very sincere contemplative tone, and provides no definite answers. Rather, it concludes that the gods too may not know, as they came after creation. And maybe the supervisor of creation in the highest heaven knows, or maybe even he does not know!
नासदासीन्नो सदासीत्तदानीं नासीद्रजो नो व्योमा परो यत् |
किमावरीवः कुह कस्य शर्मन्नम्भः किमासीद्गहनं गभीरम् ॥ १॥
न मृत्युरासीदमृतं न तर्हि न रात्र्या अह्न आसीत्प्रकेतः |
आनीदवातं स्वधया तदेकं तस्माद्धान्यन्न परः किञ्चनास ॥२॥
तम आसीत्तमसा गूहळमग्रे प्रकेतं सलिलं सर्वाऽइदम् |
तुच्छ्येनाभ्वपिहितं यदासीत्तपसस्तन्महिनाजायतैकम् ॥३॥
कामस्तदग्रे समवर्तताधि मनसो रेतः प्रथमं यदासीत् |
सतो बन्धुमसति निरविन्दन्हृदि प्रतीष्या कवयो मनीषा ॥४॥
तिरश्चीनो विततो रश्मिरेषामधः स्विदासीदुपरि स्विदासीत् |
रेतोधा आसन्महिमान आसन्त्स्वधा अवस्तात्प्रयतिः परस्तात् ॥५॥
को अद्धा वेद क इह प्र वोचत्कुत आजाता कुत इयं विसृष्टिः |
अर्वाग्देवा अस्य विसर्जनेनाथा को वेद यत आबभूव ॥६॥
इयं विसृष्टिर्यत आबभूव यदि वा दधे यदि वा न |
यो अस्याध्यक्षः परमे व्योमन्त्सो अङ्ग वेद यदि वा न वेद ॥७॥
Translation:
1. Then even non-existence was not there, nor existence,
There was no air then, nor the space beyond it.
What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping?
Was there then cosmic fluid, in depths unfathomed?
2. Then there was neither death nor immortality
nor was there then the torch of night and day.
The One breathed windlessly and self-sustaining.
There was that One then, and there was no other.
3. At first there was only darkness wrapped in darkness.
All this was only unillumined cosmic water.
That One which came to be, enclosed in nothing,
arose at last, born of the power of heat.
4. In the beginning desire descended on it –
that was the primal seed, born of the mind.
The sages who have searched their hearts with wisdom
know that which is, is kin to that which is not.
5. And they have stretched their cord across the void,
and know what was above, and what below.
Seminal powers made fertile mighty forces.
Below was strength, and over it was impulse.
6. But, after all, who knows, and who can say
Whence it all came, and how creation happened?
the gods themselves are later than creation,
so who knows truly whence it has arisen?
7. Whence all creation had its origin,
the creator, whether he fashioned it or whether he did not,
the creator, who surveys it all from highest heaven,
he knows — or maybe even he does not know.