"Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." - Goethe
"To be in love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia." - H.L. Mencken
"Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it...It really is worth fighting for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk everything, you risk even more." - Erica Jong
"Sometimes love is stronger than a man's convictions." - Isaac Bashevis Singer
"Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness." - Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Maybe love is like luck. You have to go all the way to find it." - Robert Mitchum
"Love stretches your heart and makes you big inside." - Margaret Walker
"Love has no awareness of merit or demerit; it has no scale... Love loves; this is its nature." - Howard Thurman
"Love is like war: Easy to begin but hard to end." - Anonymous
"Where love is, no room is too small." - Talmud
"Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." - Mark Twain
"Love is more than three words mumbled before bedtime. Love is sustained by action, a pattern of devotion in the things we do for each other every day." - Nicholas Sparks
"To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven." - Karen Sunde
"A love song is just a caress set to music." - Sigmund Romberg
"Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit." - Peter Ustinov "Love is like a violin. The music may stop now and then, but the strings remain forever." - unknown
"Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence."
- Erich Fromm
"In the final analysis, love is the only reflection of man's worth." - Bill Wundram, Iowa Quad Cities Times
"Love doesn't make the world go round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile."
- Elizabeth Browning
"To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer. To suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy then is to suffer. But suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down." - Woody Allen
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Who is God ?
What fills the entire universe (the ultimate of human understanding) and beyond?
The entire universe is only filled with matter and energy. The energy that pervades the entire universe is the God.
If a person doesn’t realize this, he is blind. Because the possession of this knowledge is the vision.
Once four blind men (human beings) tried to feel an elephant (God).
The one who felt the leg told that it was like a pillar.
The one who felt the ears told that it was skinny and flexible.
The one who felt the abdomen told that it was like a wall.
The one who felt the tail told that it was like a stick.
Because of their blindness (lack of knowledge), they were not able to feel the whole elephant (God). But everyone’s feeling was true, though were only a part of the entire knowledge.
Similarly, human beings all feel the same God in different forms. Shiva, Vishnu, Jesus, Allah are all the different parts of the same God. Just like you cannot compare different parts of the elephant, you cannot compare those manifestations. Legs cannot be compared with the ears or the eyes or the abdomen. They serve different purposes. When you feel the legs after you have felt the ears, the feeling of ears should not be forgotten.
It is the same energy that is present in all people also. So, human beings are also only a manifestation of God. Not just human beings, everything(living and non-living) has God. Only people don’t realize this.
Just like a stone laying on ground has less energy than the one falling from the sky, people have lesser energy, while Shiva, Jesus, Allah have more of the energy.
God never hurts anyone. Only people think they are hurt. There is absolutely nothing to regret. Though energy has control over matter, it is not bound to it. The body which you hold is not permanent. Live like you may die anytime. Never bind yourself to anything. Let the things that happen, happen freely. Do only things that keep you happy. Death is not a thing to feel bad about. Its after all a way to free your soul from this body. Your soul has always greater knowledge than when it is born in your body. In Mahabharata, did Krishna not know to save all his men? He let them die only because he knew that it was their best destiny.
Once God sent His slave to take the life of a poor and sick woman, who had a child with one arm disabled. The slave who was sent, because of his human thoughts, took pity of the child and leaves the woman. But God knows what happens, and gets the job done through His other slaves. He asks the first slave to go and live in earth, and live there till he learns the truth behind God’s action. The slave comes to earth and lives as assistant to a tailor. He never spoke a word. Few years later, one day a lady came with a baby with one arm disabled. The lady gave rich cloth and told that she wanted it to be stitched for the baby with one hand loose for the baby. Later another day, a rich man comes and wants a coat to be stitched for him. But the God’s slave smiles and stitches a blanket using the cloth. Seeing that the tailor yells at him. But quite in sometime, a man comes and tells that the rich man who came passed away, and wanted a blanket for him. Again in a few days, the wife of the tailor, chases him away for some reason, and refuses to give him any food. But the slave turns to leave without saying a word. Then the tailor’s wife feels sorry and calls him back. The slave again smiles. The tailor out of curiosity asks, why he never spoke a word and who he is. The God’s slave then explains the whole thing. He tells that he learnt three things during the time he stayed with the tailor. God, though took the life of the mother of that disabled child, had made arrangements for the child to have a rich and caring mother. The ways of God may be unorthodox, but they work better than human ways. Next thing, is that human beings never think that they can be dead anytime. The rich man who asked for the clothes was dead very soon. When they realize that they can die anytime, they will not want worldly pleasures, because they will not be their possessions after they die. At last, he tells that he saw devil in the wife of the tailor’s wife when she chased him away and quite soon saw God in her when she offered him food. Good and bad (God and devil) are not separate entities. They are only present in you. Only your mind determines who is present in you. So, never expect God to be come with a body. God is free of everything and so doesn’t possess any body. He comes only in the form of human beings. He will come in the body of people around you, maybe your parents, friends or people totally unrelated to you. When you believe God is present in the stone in a temple, why don’t you believe that he can come in the living body of the human beings? The slave then reached God again.
All happiness you get from worldly things are only temporary. From the experiences of many great people, it is that happiness that you get from God that is the greatest. But that cannot be expressed in words, only felt. All the pleasures and relationships you find in this world are not permanent. That doesn’t mean you have to leave them very abruptly. When you start craving God, they will happen in a smooth manner.
What you do in this world is totally unrelated to God. There are three ways to attain God.
By doing your work, without expecting the gains. Once, a saint helped a scorpion to get out of water but it stung him and fell back into water. He again helped it get out of water, but it again stung him. As this was happening a passer-by asked him why he was doing it. He replied that it was his nature to help it, while it was the scorpions nature to sting him.
By knowing everything. You have to know what is good and bad. At last when you realize that everything is meaningless there will be nothing you will hold your interest in. That is the highest state you can ever reach.
By devotion. You keep praying God, and want Him to take you. Here it allows you to have interests in things.
Whatever way you follow, at last you will find that everything is meaningless. There is will be no discrimination. You will find that your individuality is lost and that everything is only God. You will hold no interest in anything. That is the highest state
The entire universe is only filled with matter and energy. The energy that pervades the entire universe is the God.
If a person doesn’t realize this, he is blind. Because the possession of this knowledge is the vision.
Once four blind men (human beings) tried to feel an elephant (God).
The one who felt the leg told that it was like a pillar.
The one who felt the ears told that it was skinny and flexible.
The one who felt the abdomen told that it was like a wall.
The one who felt the tail told that it was like a stick.
Because of their blindness (lack of knowledge), they were not able to feel the whole elephant (God). But everyone’s feeling was true, though were only a part of the entire knowledge.
Similarly, human beings all feel the same God in different forms. Shiva, Vishnu, Jesus, Allah are all the different parts of the same God. Just like you cannot compare different parts of the elephant, you cannot compare those manifestations. Legs cannot be compared with the ears or the eyes or the abdomen. They serve different purposes. When you feel the legs after you have felt the ears, the feeling of ears should not be forgotten.
It is the same energy that is present in all people also. So, human beings are also only a manifestation of God. Not just human beings, everything(living and non-living) has God. Only people don’t realize this.
Just like a stone laying on ground has less energy than the one falling from the sky, people have lesser energy, while Shiva, Jesus, Allah have more of the energy.
God never hurts anyone. Only people think they are hurt. There is absolutely nothing to regret. Though energy has control over matter, it is not bound to it. The body which you hold is not permanent. Live like you may die anytime. Never bind yourself to anything. Let the things that happen, happen freely. Do only things that keep you happy. Death is not a thing to feel bad about. Its after all a way to free your soul from this body. Your soul has always greater knowledge than when it is born in your body. In Mahabharata, did Krishna not know to save all his men? He let them die only because he knew that it was their best destiny.
Once God sent His slave to take the life of a poor and sick woman, who had a child with one arm disabled. The slave who was sent, because of his human thoughts, took pity of the child and leaves the woman. But God knows what happens, and gets the job done through His other slaves. He asks the first slave to go and live in earth, and live there till he learns the truth behind God’s action. The slave comes to earth and lives as assistant to a tailor. He never spoke a word. Few years later, one day a lady came with a baby with one arm disabled. The lady gave rich cloth and told that she wanted it to be stitched for the baby with one hand loose for the baby. Later another day, a rich man comes and wants a coat to be stitched for him. But the God’s slave smiles and stitches a blanket using the cloth. Seeing that the tailor yells at him. But quite in sometime, a man comes and tells that the rich man who came passed away, and wanted a blanket for him. Again in a few days, the wife of the tailor, chases him away for some reason, and refuses to give him any food. But the slave turns to leave without saying a word. Then the tailor’s wife feels sorry and calls him back. The slave again smiles. The tailor out of curiosity asks, why he never spoke a word and who he is. The God’s slave then explains the whole thing. He tells that he learnt three things during the time he stayed with the tailor. God, though took the life of the mother of that disabled child, had made arrangements for the child to have a rich and caring mother. The ways of God may be unorthodox, but they work better than human ways. Next thing, is that human beings never think that they can be dead anytime. The rich man who asked for the clothes was dead very soon. When they realize that they can die anytime, they will not want worldly pleasures, because they will not be their possessions after they die. At last, he tells that he saw devil in the wife of the tailor’s wife when she chased him away and quite soon saw God in her when she offered him food. Good and bad (God and devil) are not separate entities. They are only present in you. Only your mind determines who is present in you. So, never expect God to be come with a body. God is free of everything and so doesn’t possess any body. He comes only in the form of human beings. He will come in the body of people around you, maybe your parents, friends or people totally unrelated to you. When you believe God is present in the stone in a temple, why don’t you believe that he can come in the living body of the human beings? The slave then reached God again.
All happiness you get from worldly things are only temporary. From the experiences of many great people, it is that happiness that you get from God that is the greatest. But that cannot be expressed in words, only felt. All the pleasures and relationships you find in this world are not permanent. That doesn’t mean you have to leave them very abruptly. When you start craving God, they will happen in a smooth manner.
What you do in this world is totally unrelated to God. There are three ways to attain God.
By doing your work, without expecting the gains. Once, a saint helped a scorpion to get out of water but it stung him and fell back into water. He again helped it get out of water, but it again stung him. As this was happening a passer-by asked him why he was doing it. He replied that it was his nature to help it, while it was the scorpions nature to sting him.
By knowing everything. You have to know what is good and bad. At last when you realize that everything is meaningless there will be nothing you will hold your interest in. That is the highest state you can ever reach.
By devotion. You keep praying God, and want Him to take you. Here it allows you to have interests in things.
Whatever way you follow, at last you will find that everything is meaningless. There is will be no discrimination. You will find that your individuality is lost and that everything is only God. You will hold no interest in anything. That is the highest state
Monday, August 25, 2008
Examine Yourself, Watch Yourself
One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on the door on which it was written:
“Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym”.
In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that man who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company itself.
The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room.
The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up. Everyone thought: “Who is this guy who was hindering my progress? Well, at least he died!”.
One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood nearby the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul.
There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see himself.
There was also a sign next to the mirror that said:
“There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth: it is YOU.”
You are the only person who can revolutionize your life.
You are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success.
You are the only person who can help yourself.
Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your partner changes, when your company changes.
Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life.
“The most important relationship you can have, is the one you have with yourself”
Examine yourself, watch yourself. Don’t be afraid of difficulties, impossibilities and losses: be a winner, build yourself and your reality.
Song of the Bird
A man found an eagle’s egg and put it in a nest of a barnyard hen. The eagle hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them.
All his life, the eagle did what the barnyard chicks did, thinking he was a barnyard chicken. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would thrash his wings and fly a few feet in the air.
Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among powerful wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.
The old eagle looked up in awe. “Who’s that?” he asked.
“That’s the eagle, the king of the birds,” said his neighbour. “He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth — we’re chickens.” So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that’s what he thought he was.
comfortable with me
When I’m comfortable with me, I’m comfortable with you.
I can’t expect you to give me peace and serenity — they come from within, and they are nurtured by spiritual growth. If I’m uncomfortable with myself, not at peace, the tension spills over into my relationship with you, and nothing seems quite right.
We are each responsible for our own serenity. It develops out of knowing who we are and what we need, accepting our flaws along with our potential for positive change, and believing in the force for ultimate good.
To be comfortable with ourselves requires that we face our inner tigers and stare them down. When we can enjoy our time alone without needing to escape into some form of distraction, we know serenity.
How comfortable I am when I’m with you depends on my level of self-esteem. When it’s high and healthy, I can relate to you without demanding consciously or unconsciously that you make up for what I lack. The serenity I crave results from my own commitment to recovery through spiritual growth.
Moral:The inner work I do today will help nurture my relationships.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
To Love and To Be Loved is the Greatest Happiness
A kindergarten teacher has decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates, so the number of potatoes that a child will put in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she hates.
So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/she hated. Some had 2 potatoes; some 3 while some up to 5 potatoes.
The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they go for 1 week.
Days after days passed by, and the children started to complain due to the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten potatoes. Besides, those having 5 potatoes also had to carry heavier bags.
After 1 week, the children were relieved because the game had finally ended.
The teacher asked: "How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for 1 week?" The children let out their frustrations and started complaining of the trouble that they had to go through having to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go. Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game. The teacher said: "This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart. The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart and you will carry it with you wherever you go.
If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just 1 week, can you imagine what is it like to have the stench of hatred in your heart for your lifetime???" Moral of the story:
Throw away any hatred for anyone from your heart so that you will not carry sins for a life time. Forgiving others is the best attitude to take!
Life is to be fortified by many Friendships.
To Love and to be Loved is the Greatest Happiness.
Fate determines who comes into our Lives.
The Heart determines who stays…
So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/she hated. Some had 2 potatoes; some 3 while some up to 5 potatoes.
The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they go for 1 week.
Days after days passed by, and the children started to complain due to the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten potatoes. Besides, those having 5 potatoes also had to carry heavier bags.
After 1 week, the children were relieved because the game had finally ended.
The teacher asked: "How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for 1 week?" The children let out their frustrations and started complaining of the trouble that they had to go through having to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go. Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game. The teacher said: "This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred for somebody inside your heart. The stench of hatred will contaminate your heart and you will carry it with you wherever you go.
If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just 1 week, can you imagine what is it like to have the stench of hatred in your heart for your lifetime???" Moral of the story:
Throw away any hatred for anyone from your heart so that you will not carry sins for a life time. Forgiving others is the best attitude to take!
Life is to be fortified by many Friendships.
To Love and to be Loved is the Greatest Happiness.
Fate determines who comes into our Lives.
The Heart determines who stays…
The Turtle Family
A turtle family went on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outings. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found it. For about six months, they cleaned up the area, unpacked the picnic basket and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned.The family consented and the little turtle left.Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years...then in the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he wasgoing to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich.At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, SEE I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt.
Moral of the Story : Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we don't do anything ourselves.
Moral of the Story : Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we don't do anything ourselves.
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