Lunch with God

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.

The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.

The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.

Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?

"He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added," You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally!

~author unknown~

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This week's post is an article posted by Braj in 'The Speaking Tree'( http://www.speakingtree.in). Due credit goes to the author.

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Have you seen the world today

This week's article is an old article( written 4 years back ) - and personally, it is one of my favorites.. For those of you who have read this article , my apologies..

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Well on Tuesday evening I had an opportunity to see the beauty of the world around me. I was driving to a function on Tuesday evening and I was late. So actually I was rushing my car real fast.

As I was twisting and turning the car in the heavy traffic, I noticed a tempo in front of me. Uff! This tempo just wouldn’t give me side. In all that chaos I looked up and saw three boys( perhaps returning home from work ? ) , between the age of 7 - 10 , curious and wide eyed , soaking in their eyes, all the world had to show them. Amazed, I looked at them and couldn’t help notice their innocence.

The boys also spotted me now and were trying to see me through the corner of their eyes. I couldn’t stop myself now- I smiled at them. The boys first looked at each other - Nervous, scared, curious - "Was that a mistake” they seemed to ask each other?? Then they looked back at me. And I smiled again.

They smiled back and waved back. (Their master in the front of the tempo oblivious to the drama at the back) And yes! We were friends!!

They noticed that I wanted to rush somewhere, so they started giving me directions on how close I could come to their tempo or how I could maneuver my car in midst of the already chaotic vehicles. So Funny, Hilarious! So sweet!

I realized that I had company for my journey!

At one point I put the right indicator on to take the next turn.

They saw that, smiled, they put their hand up and shouted "Bye aunty"

It was a small incident, but left me memories for a lifetime. Did YOU see the world around today?

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Fountainhead - Freedom and Compulsion

There is this discussion that is there in Fountainhead , that I really liked and wanted to share it with all of you here. Who are the main protagonists here and what is the context of this discussion is irrelevant.
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"The basic trouble with the modern world, " said Ellsworth Toohey, "is the intellectual fallacy that freedom and compulsion are opposites. To solve the gigantic problems crushing the world today, we must clarify our mental confusion. We must acquire a philosophical perspective. In essence, freedom and compulsion are one. Let me give you a simple illustration. Traffic lights restrain your freedom to cross a street whenever you wish. But this restraint gives you the freedom from being run over by a truck. If you were assigned to a job and prohibited from leaving it, it would restrain the freedom of your career . But it would give you the freedom from the fear of unemployment. Whenever a new compulsion is imposed upon us, e automatically gain a new freedom. The two are inseparable. Only by accepting total compulsion can we achieve total freedom. "

"That's right," said Mitchell Layton ,"People make too damn much fuss about freedom. What I mean is its a vague, over - abused word. I'm not even sure its' such a God-Damn blessing. I think people would be much happier in a regulated society that had a definite pattern and a unified form like a folk dance. You know how beautiful a folk dance is . And rhythmic too. That's because it took generations to work.it on and they don't let just any chance fool come along to change it. That's what we need. Pattern, I mean, and rhythm. Also beauty".

"What I mean is, what makes people unhappy is not too little choice, but too much. Having to decide, always to decide, torn every which way all of the time. Now in a society of pattern, a man could feel safe. Nobody would come to him all the time pestering him to do something. Nobody would have to do anything. What I mean is , of course, except working for the common good."

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Freedom and Compulsion - havent we all been at the impact of this. I remember , when I had just joined Wipro, Wipro had this regular progression path ( i.e. once in 2 years, you progress to the next role, based on the performance evaluation ). And then , one fine day, the management abandoned the regular progression and announced that the next role is there for anybody and everybody to go and take it. Your next role is not based on experience , but on your ability and go getter attitude. I remember the amount of politics this generated. People seemed to have cut throat competition with each other. There were no rules - so people tried all the tools at hand, to get that elusive promotion. Employees started becoming more closed - and the distrust in the environment just seemed to grow. Where earlier , promotions were a matter of celebration and fun, now, promotions were hidden - and only the manager and the concerned employee would be told about it.

In any society or organization, we are bound by certain rules. There are religious books , and our culture itself guides people on the ways to live our lives. In an organization it is defined by the dos and donts that any organization defines. Do these rules ( defined as compulsion by Ayn Rand ) bind us- yes , they do! But with this compulsion , comes the freedom to excel , realize our self and grow - given that there is only a certain premise in which to grow. There is a sensibility in the environment we are.

Does that mean that we continue to follow meaningless , insensible rules defined by "culture" - not really. Does that mean that the 'so called rules' have not been misused? They have been ! There have been times when a few influential in the society have misused the rules! Does it mean that rules cannot be questioned ? Not really .

The golden rule to remember is -At the end of it all, follow your heart, with courage and freedom - keeping in mind the general benefit of your self and the society. After all the compulsions are put in place with the sole intention of the general good in mind. Coming back to the terms Ayn Rand uses, Freedom, exercised without taking in to consideration the social benefit might as well be termed as 'Recklessness'.

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Look Who's here

I was reading a short story 'The leopard' by Ruskin Bond , where Ruskin Bond describes his experiences as he rambles along the Himalayan mountains. In this story he mentions how he spots a leopard as he is trudging along the mountain paths. Though initially he is scared, he keeps his cool and tries not to alarm the cat. Soon he and the leopard become comfortable with each other - so much so - that the leopard follows and trails the author on his journeys in the wilderness - and lets the author enjoy himself in the midst of nature. It’s a beautiful and touching story of bonding between a leopard and a man.

Nature and animals are as full of life as any one of us. They feel, care, love, respond, fear just the way human beings do. Most of the times, we, supposedly the most intelligent of the living species, tend to be insensitive to or even scared of the life around us. Those of us who are able to break free of their thoughts, are able to experience the most beautiful companionships with life and nature.

As I was reading the story, I remembered an incident that had happened to me, one evening, when I was around 9 years old.

It was a lively, pleasant, beautiful spring evening. For the want of doing something new, all of friends decided to go to the nearby park. We loved this park - it had a huge lush green lawn. Around the lawn, was sand and mud, covered with the flowers, fruits and twigs that had fallen from the flowering trees all around. It was an ideal place for us children to run and fool around. This particular day we were playing 'blind man buff' - and I was the 'blind man'. With a cloth around my eyes that completely barred me from seeing anything, I was supposed to run and touch my friends - who were now teasing me around.

We all were in a very playful mood and I went around chasing my friends - sometimes I would hear them to my right, sometimes to my left - sometimes in front and sometimes at my back. I ran in all directions. At one point I ran to my left. I guess I ran a little too further - because the next thing I knew was that I was tumbling down the sand and was feeling the flowers and twigs of the trees all over me.

Like a typical child, I quickly pulled myself up – pulled my blind fold out - and patted myself clean of all the mud and flowers that had got stuck on me. A lot of the twigs had gotten inside my dress – and I started pulling out the twigs. I could feel one of the tree twigs on my chest - so I put my hand inside the front collar of my frock and tried pulling it out – the twig stay put! Finally after a lot of trying - I gave up on this twig. After all, it was not so uncomfortable. I thought I would remove it once I changed my dress at home.

I went back and played for another hour with my friends. As we were returning, I could no longer bear the discomfort of the twig inside my dress. So I went to secluded corner of the park, put my hand inside the dress again, caught hold of the twig tightly and pulled it with all my might .

It came out.. ! Finally !

Feeling accomplished, I looked at my 'prized accomplishment' - to my astonishment - I was holding a full grown lizard with its tail ! Wow !

Cant say who was more shocked – Me or the lizard !

Because, once the initial round of recognition wore off, the next moment, both the lizard as well as me were shrieking and jumping around out of sheer fright! The lizard shaking itself thoroughly through the grip my hand had on its tail – shouting – ‘let go of my tail!’.

Still in a shock, I quickly dropped the lizard from my hand - who was, I guess, more than glad to rush back to its familiar territories. I guess it had had enough adventure for an hour !

Can you believe it, I had spent around 1 hour on the lawn with a lizard resting peacefully on my chest ! :)

Or shall I say, that I sheltered a frightened lizard on myself for about an hour :)

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Thoughts ! Thoughts !

I started reading the "Secret" recently. This book talks primarily about the law of attraction - According to followers of this law, thoughts have an energy which attracts whatever it is the person is thinking of.

Have you felt the universe ever responding to your thoughts ? Have you ever felt your thoughts reaching out to a person( maybe a close friend), and that friend responding to your thoughts? When I read the line above, I remembered an incident that had happened with me long time back.

When I was in Mumbai, I had befriended a very nice christian girl R. Life with R was fun. We had our share of smiles and tears and we went on to become each others best buddy. There were times when one or both of us would be going through a very tough phase - but the other was always there as a pillar of strength during the tough times.

After about an year of fun-filled companionship with R, I got a job in Bangalore and I came over. Eventually, I found my life partner, got married and settled in Bangalore. R continued working in Mumbai at that time. But we were in touch. Always! At one point, she even tried to take up a job in Bangalore, so that she could be nearer to me, however, sadly, that did not work out.

After a couple of years of peaceful life in Bangalore, my husband and I got an opportunity to work in the US. One of the first things I did when our travel got confirmed, was to inform my dear friend R. I had told R that I was going in the month of March that year- the year was 2004. But I hadnt told her when I was coming back- the truth was that, I too did not know about it. As it turned out, we returned in November that year. However, though, I got busy with work and hadnt called up R to inform her about my return.

On the 25th of December that year, I had been thinking the whole day about wanting to call R and wish her for Christmas. At 7.15 pm I picked up my phone to call R. Her number was busy. Feeling a little frustrated and restless, I tried a couple of times more - but the number kept being busy . I gave up !

I decided to wait for sometime and then call her . The moment I stopped calling her, my phone rang. Someone, apparently, had been trying to reach me. To my pleasant shock - it was R on the other line reprimanding me for not calling her yet. :|

R had been missing me on her festival - and even though she very well knew that I am not in the country, had just taken a chance to check if I was back . I did not know what to say - I was too choked.

Believe it or not - R and I were calling each other at the exact same time in spite of not being in touch for about an year or so.

I have experienced umpteen incidents like that, because of which I completely believe in the power of thoughts. There have been umpteen times when I have sent or received thoughts from my close ones.

I strongly believe that , we attract and send thoughts and lot of our actions are based out of those thoughts. The world around us just communicates and responds to what we think and behave.

Thoughts affect our life in several ways - It might be as simple as remembering a friend and the friend responding back or something more profound as looking at , why does life occur differently for different people. Why are some people always happy, and why are some people always complaining about having less of money/love/success. And their state of happiness has no connection to the actual successes or failures they have had in their life.

But then I will leave the discussion about how "thoughts affect our life" for some other day and post.

For now , lets talk about something interesting :) - I am sure each one of us have had experiences of 'telepathic communications'. Do share your most unforgettable moments around thought communication that has left you amazed and moved.

Heres hoping that you have pleasant, and happy thoughts through out your life! I wish you all a great week ahead :)

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Everything-Nothing( Fountainhead )

Here is a very beautiful excerpt from Ayn Rand's Fountainhead. An architect, Prescott, is giving a lecture to the nascent Council of American Builders, founded by Ellsworth Toohey.

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“And thus the intrinsic significance of our craft lies in the philosophical fact that we deal in nothing. We create emptiness through which certain physical bodies are to move—we shall designate them for convenience as human. By emptiness I mean that which is commonly known as rooms. Thus it is only the crass layman who thinks that we put up some walls. We do nothing of the kind. We put up emptiness, as I have proved. This leads to a corollary of astronomical importance: to the unconditional acceptance of the premise the ‘absence’ is superior to ‘presence.’ I shall state this in simpler terms—for the sake of clarity: ‘nothing’ is superior to ‘something.’ "

And he goes on to say -

"Should you wish to make the inevitable deductions from this basic conception, you may come to conclusions of vast sociological importance. You may see that a beautiful woman is inferior to a non-beautiful one, that the literate is inferior to the illiterate, that the rich is inferior to the poor, and the able to the incompetent. The architect is the concrete illustration of a cosmic paradox. ”

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Wonderful words , aren't they! We spend our whole life trying to mold ourselves to be someone or something . And that someone who we become, shapes us.

Think about the above paragraph - how do you think is a non beautiful, illiterate, poor, incompetent person superior to a beautiful, literate, rich, able person ?

A 'non beautiful' woman is not attached to her beauty, a illiterate human is not bound by his knowledge, a poor man is free from the attachments of money, a incompetent man is free from the pride of his skills.

For most of us, our "identity"(of being beautiful, knowledgeable or rich) binds us and restrains us - a knowledgeable person in the arrogance of his knowledge might underestimate an uneducated. An highly accomplished person might hesitate doing trivial tasks- A beautiful woman, might deprive herself the companionship of a lesser looking man.

Most of us, end up letting our identity restrict us. We deal with 'walls' not 'spaces'. Creating our identity as a 'space' instead of a 'wall', gives us tremendous openness and hence freedom.

The space of a 'knowledgeable' man can be to expand on the knowledge in the universe. The space of a accomplished person can be to make a difference to the world. The space of a beautiful woman can be to spread beauty and wonder.

Creating our identity as a space, creates an emptiness - An emptiness that can take any shape.

Or in other words "Emptiness" creates "Wholeness".
And "Nothing" gives rise to "Everything".

In the state of being 'everything'-'nothing', we have the world.

For a human who is free from all boundaries, who is in the state of "everything"-"nothing" - I am reminded of the very famous Shloka(peace invocation) from the Isa Upanishad -

Poornamadah

Poornanidam

Poornath Poornamudhachyathe

Poornasaya Poornamaadaya

Poornamevaavashishyathe


This is Whole,

That is Whole,

From Wholeness Emerges Wholeness

And If You Take Away Wholeness From Wholeness,

Wholeness Still Remains.

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Happiness - Atlas Shrugged - 1

I read the 'Atlas Shrugged' last month. Did not like the book too much - but was amused at the plot . It must take a Ayn Rand to think like that :)( I would not like to divulge more in the interest of those who have not yet read the book ). I infact ended up comparing it to Fountainhead and realized that there couldn't have been two books that are as dissimilar as 'The Fountainhead' and 'Atlas Shrugged'.

What I love about Ayn Rand style of writing, though, is her take on various aspects of life. Here are her thoughts on 'Happiness' , that she reflects through John Galt's speech in Atlas Shrugged.
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Happiness is not to be achieved at the command of emotional whims. Happiness is not the satisfaction of whatever irrational wishes you might blindly attempt to indulge. Happiness is a state of non-contradictory joy—a joy without penalty or guilt, a joy that does not clash with any of your values and does not work for your own destruction, not the joy of escaping from your mind, but of using your mind’s fullest power, not the joy of faking reality, but of achieving values that are real, not the joy of a drunkard, but of a producer. Happiness is possible only to a rational man, the man who desires nothing but rational goals, seeks nothing but rational values and finds his joy in nothing but rational actions.

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Well Said isnt it . I looked back to see what I would call happiness ...

When you are around 3-4 years of age , Happiness is getting that new toy or getting that hug from your favorite uncle or aunt. When you are in the primary school, Happiness is getting that sum solved right, winning a game of marbles, badminton, rushing to school and reaching school just before the prayer bell rings ! Happiness in your teenage is going on those long cycle rides with your best friend - discovering new places in your territory - that hidden lake, that hidden park, sitting on the porch of your house with your friend and chatting for hours together. Happiness in adulthood is figuring out how to live - happiness is figuring out how to be happy in spite of our circumstances and relishing those moments when you have figured it out ! :)

Happiness are those moments of satisfaction that you get when you have done your job and done it well. Happiness are those moments when you have savored a precious moment with your loved ones and cherished a moment of silent togetherness .

Here's wishing that each one of you live your life fully and happily ! Have a great week ahead !

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Western classical music and a tribute to a musical teacher and disciple duo!

This is a part of the 'Forrest Gump theme ' . Beautiful isnt it . Hats off to Alan Silvestri!

Memories come flooding along when I think of how my association with western classical music began.

This was during the start of my career. Our office would end at 5.30 and we would take the 6 pm bus . Now I had a good 2-3 hours before I could retire - so I was thinking of joining some music classes .

This particular day, I had missed my bus and had decided to take an auto back home. Since it would cost me a few hundred , I decided to share the auto with some people who were going the same way.

Now there were two guys who joined me. I do not remember anything about the third guy. But I distinctly remember the second guy. This guy was thin, curly haired, dark, wore spectacles and was easily ignorable. The journey was a good 1.5 hrs long, so we got talking. And he told me he was going to the music class . Wow ! What a coincidence ! I told him I wanted to join too and thats how I got to know about Alex School of performing arts in Thane. ( Dont know if it is still there :) ) .

That was the beginning of my association with Rajesh - over a period of one year - I discovered more and more about the person who took me on the wonderful path of music. This guy was from a family of musicians and all he dreamt about was to become a musician. Just then, Rajesh, was working as a software engg. - a total misfit to where he wanted to be.

Rajesh was not one to be stopped though! He had found his way about s/w too . Rajesh had mapped each of the keys on the keyboards to the tunes of 'sa' 're' 'ga' 'ma'.. :) and he would entertain his friends , colleagues by playing various well known tunes . So much so, that whenever there was a client visit, he would be asked to play the 'Titanic tune' to them on the keyboard . :)

There is this story that Rajesh had told me once about how he had met Alex sir. He had been in a music store , checking out the pianos, so that he could buy one. So to check out , he was playing one of his favorite tunes on one of the pianos there. And he tells me , there was this elderly gentleman who was watching him for quite some time. He comes to Rajesh and asks him 'That was good. Where do learn music'. And Rajesh tells him ' Thats the sad part. I havent found a teacher yet ' .

And I have goose pimples when I write this . The old man tells him - ' I will teach you. Come to my class from tomorrow ' . For Rajesh, the search was over !

That was the beginning of a beautiful association between a great teacher and a great student .

I would look forward to go to the classes after my day at work - As I would approach the class, there would be the beautiful music of Mozart or Beethoven that would be floating in the air , enlivening the whole street around the music class - And I knew that either Rajesh or Sir is on the piano that moment. I would look forward to hear to the enriching discussions both of them would have on music, musicians, and life .

I would be touched and privileged to witness how Music bonded them in a relation deeper than that of a father and a son.


I was looking for one of the pieces that Rajesh would play - Couldnt find it , since my knowledge in western classical music is limited :(. But while I was at it I found another beautiful piece of music by Mozart.




Do you have a favorite western classical tune too ? What are your memories associated with these favorite tunes. Do share with us .

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It happened one night

24th April 2009
This is something I had written long back- but hadnt posted it. So if a few of my friends have read it - maaf karo ( forgive me ) :).

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This was about 2 weeks back. I was driving back from Chowdiah memorial hall late in the night ( around 10 pm ). I came in front of the Windsor Manor bridge. This bridge has a small underpass ( guess it is called the
magic box ). Now I wasnt sure if this magic box would lead me on my way to MG Road ,( from where I could take myself safely to Bannergatta Road - where i wanted to go). Wondering what to do, I paused at the start of the magic box.

When , out of nowhere , a young auto driver came and stopped besides me and said "Hogi Madam"( Go madam ) in a very kind voice. Guess he thought that I was scared to go under the very small underpass :) Anyways, I asked him if this was the route to MG Road, to which he replied in an affirmative and said, come follow me.. Since I did not know the route much, I just kept following him as he took all the lefts and the rights.. when at one point i spotted a board saying "Cunningham Road " . Wow ! I know this road !. I thought. And simultaneously I wondered " why am i following this guy -- What if he leads me to some God Forsaken place ". with the new found self confidence and fear of being abducted, I decided to follow this guy no more. so when he took the turn at Ali Aksar Street , I decided to move on.
I went up the " god knows what street ". asked for a few directions. went left and a few right . and ended up in the Ali aksar street. and proceeded along the road.

I had forgotten the auto driver by now.. and was sure that he had forgotten me too and would have proceeded with whatever he was doing.

As I came out of Ali Aksar road and reached the Infantry road, ( all of which were familiar territory to me now ), and from there to the chinnaswamy stadium cross.. I paused , since the traffic signal asked me to do so.. and suddenly as i looked up, I saw this auto driver waiting for me paitiently over there.. when he saw me coming,
he came up to me and asked.. "Mam , can you find your way now ".. I gave him a grateful smile and said.. Yes.. and Thank you .. to which he smiled back and went on his own way.

At that point, it struck me like a bolt... "ITS ONLY WHEN YOU LOSE FAITH, DO YOU LOSE THE WAY.. ITS ONLY WHEN 'I' COMES IN THE WAY OF YOUR JUDGEMENT , DO YOU ACTUALLY FAIL TO JUDGE "

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Have you seen the world today

Well on tuesday evening I had an opportunity to see the beauty of the world around me. I was driving to a function on tuesday evening and I was late . So actually i was rushing.

As I was twisting and turning the car in the heavy traffic, noticed a tempo in front of me..Uff! This tempo just wouldnt give me side. Then I looked up .. and saw three boys( perhaps returning home from work ? ) , between the age of 7 - 10 , curious and wide eyed , soaking in their eyes, all the world had to show them. I looked at them and couldnt help notice their innocence.

The boys also spotted me now and were trying to see me thru the corner of their eyes. I couldnt stop- I smiled at them. The boys first looked at each other - Nervous , scared, curious .. "Was that a mistake " they seemed to ask each other ??- Then they looked back at me. And I smiled again.

They smiled back and waved back..( Their master in the front of the tempo oblivious to the drama at the back ;) ) And yes ! we were friends !!

They noticed that I wanted to rush , so they started giving me directions on how close I could come to their tempo. ( so Funny, Hilarious . so sweet :)) I had company for my journey.

At one point I put the right indicator on. They saw that , smiled, they put their hand up and shouted " Bye aunty " :)..

Small incident , but memories for a lifetime.

Did YOU see the world around today.

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Poorna / Wholeness

Really like this shloka ( Read it for the first time in C R Rajgopalachari's Ramayana )-



Poornamadah Poornanidam

Poornath Poornamudhachyathe

Poornasaya Poornamaadaya

Poornamevaavashishyathe



This is Whole, That is Whole,

From Wholeness Emerges Wholeness

And If You Take Away Wholeness From Wholeness,

Wholeness Still Remains.

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On Faith and God


Who is God? The idol in temple ? Sri Satya Sai baba ? The Holy Cross ? A lot of us would question these images of God. And yet a lot of us derive unquestionable strength out of them- a lot of us sail through seemingly unbelievable situations because of the blessings of God. Some of my friends would say “I don’t believe in God” –“I can’t call a living person as God”—“I refuse to bow down to a Guru”-- “ I believe that I if I do good to others, good will be done to me—I don’t need a God to help me out”

I relate to God as that power in whose care and blessings I have total “Faith” or “Trust” in. That power for different people could mean different images. For some this power manifests itself in their religious Guru’s blessings in whose teachings and directions they totally trust. For some their family deity holds this power. The faith in the point of worship is so much (so unquestionable) that no matter what the situation a person is in, they have the faith that they will sail through their problems.

I believe that more than the “Divine Power” that one relates to, it is the “Faith” that one has in it that sees one through.

If one trusts that “My Guruji will see me through this and I trust his decision totally on this situation”. He will. A prayer bereft of “I”( “I hope Guruji does this for me”,“ I hope this business deal works”), personal benefits always bears fruits.Total submission to His decisions gives one his peace of mind --“I am in this situation, which is difficult for me. Help me.” No matter what the results, they must be accepted as God’s decision. Whatever a person achieves in his life is due to His divine Grace and whatever he finds difficult to attain is because he is not meant to achieve it. He has different plans for the person. God for me is “Enjoying every moment of your life” and the trust that “some force around me is taking care of me and I trust this force totally”.

Is there a God? -- Do we understand force around this world? Science has evolved so much and yet, the more we discover, the further away from the “Ultimate Truth” we seem to be. Do we understand why some people seem to have everything and yet some seem to be continuously suffering. Lets call that incomprehensible entity that controls this--- “God”

There are people around us saying-- “I believe that whatever I accomplish is because of my hard work, my doings , why acknowledge an external force for my hard work”, “ Why do I have to suffer so much because of somebody else’s wrong doings--- what wrong have I done” “Why did I have to go thru this” Yet what I believe the attitude is that “Any good done is because of Me and Me alone”, anything that doesn’t work out for me is because of “him”, “her”, “them” or even “God”


One should attribute all the “Positives and Negatives” in one’s life to either totally themselves. i.e. take full responsibility for situations that don’t work for themselves else give up everything to Him. Submit oneself totally to Him and accept that whether good or bad it happens because of Him. For ultimately its your faith in God that will carry you through.

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Heard this on the astha channel today

swamiji was saying

You can be conquered only if you are already feeling 'not good enough' or guilty about something.... only three kind of people can conquer you...politicians can conquer your external needs.. spiritual leaders can conquer your inner self ... and 'silly people or fools' can conquer your mind...

You can only spread happiness and joy only if you are happy and joyful within yourself..

How come you consider yourself smaller than anyone or anybody !

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had a wonderful morning meeting at landmark today.. :)

Asked Pradeep all the questions i always had.. Is life something that has to be handled at all times ???????????????????????

Till my college I never had to handle so many things.. Why now.. and the answers I got was amazing..

Yes, Life is a challenge to be handled at all times.. Things happen and you can choose your reaction to it..

Then I asked, how i deal with life is keep concentrating on the goals ... and achieve my results.. this is not what ILP has taught me.. this is what I would have done even otherwise..

And then Pradeep said.. that is like you saying that you want to put the ball in the basket and I will not care about the people who come in my way..

And then I asked ( though I knew the answer by now ) What do I do about the people who come in my way..

And then Pradeep said, enroll them in what you are doing and enjoy the game and not the result.. !

And then I said, it is so scary to take action, any action I take doesnt mean that I will win ..

But what is winning and losing.. all you need to do is take action and enjoy :)

Profound isnt it !

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