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“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”  - A.A.Milne, Winnie the Pooh

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Discourse by OSHO

Question - I feel a lot of Hate inside me. What can I do about it?

Osho - Doing will not help. You cannot do anything about it because the problem is very delicate. If you begin to do something about your hatefulness, that means that you will have begun to hate your hatefulness. The mechanism is very delicate. One can be angry towards one’s anger and one can be hateful towards one’s hatefulness, and you can fight it but you will not win because the disease has gone one step deeper.

Don’t do anything. Just be aware of it. Whenever you feel hate, just be aware of it. Feel what this hatefulness is, feel the fact of it. Don’t try to escape from it. Even your doing can become an escape. If I am angry and I begin to do something about the anger, then I am not concerned with the anger itself but with doing something about it. My perception has changed: my awareness of the anger is no longer there but rather the effort to do something about it has taken its place. This is not good, this is not the way, because then the anger will be suppressed.

So if you feel hatred, anger, greed, or anything, don’t try to do something right away, just be aware of it. First see the ugliness of it, see the poisonousness of it, see what it is. Once you see what hate is in its totality, it will drop by itself. Hatred can continue only if you have not known it in its totality.

It is just like a snake crossing your path. The moment you become aware that the snake is there, you jump. That jump is not something which you have to think about, decide about or choose to do; it happens. When you become aware of the snake, the jump happens. In the same way, when you become aware of your hate, the jump happens; no planning is needed.

The first thing to remember is this: don’t condemn anything; rather, become more aware of the fact of it. Whenever it appears, be aware of it; meditate on it. The second thing, which is even more subtle, is your thinking, ”I feel hatred inside me. I feel anger and greed and ego.” This again is a very deceptive trick of the mind, a very cunning trick, because then, in a very subtle way, you have separated yourself from the hatred. You are saying, ”I see hatred in me, I see greed in me. The greed is something which is in me, it is not me. I am not greed, I am not hatred, I am not anger. It is something accidental, something foreign that is inside me.”

This is how the mind thinks and how language deceives us. Language says, ”There is anger in me,” but this is not the fact. When you are angry it is not that anger is in you... you are hate. There cannot be two entities there, only one. Either hate can be present or you can be present, but both cannot be present. If you are there then hate will dissolve; if hate is there then you are not there.

Move existentially not linguistically. Language creates many problems. Because of the construction of the language we acquire a very unrealistic attitude toward things. For example, when you are angry, there is no ”I” to whom anger is happening. There is only anger; you are dissolved in it; you are not.

Go into the problem existentially. When there is hate, become aware of whether you are there or only the hate is there. Then a very subtle change happens in your consciousness. Once you begin to be aware of whether ”I am” or hate is, your consciousness begins to emerge. And the more conscious you become, the more the hatred will dissolve. Both cannot exist simultaneously. Hate is possible only when one is unconscious: not conscious, not mindful, not alert.

When hate has gone, anger has gone, violence has gone, and you think about it retrospectively it becomes part of your memory. Now you can divide yourself from it. You are separate from the anger and the anger is separate from you. Now it is part of your memory. This is how the linguistic fallacy I was talking about is supported by your experience.

You were angry a moment ago, now you are not – the anger has gone. You are separate from the anger: you are one thing, the anger is something different – the anger has become part of your memory. Now there are two things: the memory of your past experience of anger, and you.

But in the act of anger itself, there was only one thing: you were anger. So whenever there is hate, feel it deeply. Be aware of it: you have become hate, you are hate. This awareness will change the whole thing.

The day this awareness comes to you, hate will dissolve, because for you to coexist with hatred or anger or greed is not possible. Awareness means a conscious mind, and anger, hate, and greed are possible only in a very unconscious, sleepy state of mind. Be more and more alert – and not retrospectively, because that is useless, it is a waste of energy. When anger is there, when hate is there, in that very moment close your eyes and meditate on whether you are or only the anger is.

Your first realization will be that only anger is. Where are you? You are not. Your whole energy has become anger, the whole of you has become hate. Sometimes lovers feel that when love is there, they are not. To feel this in love is easy because love is gratifying, but to feel it in hate is difficult because hate is not gratifying. Lovers, deep lovers, have felt that it is not that they ”love” – love is not an activity – rather, they have become love.

When you love someone you become love. When you hate someone you become hate. But if you just remain yourself, then you can neither love nor hate in the ordinary way. That is why we say that someone has fallen in love. The phenomenon of love is a falling down, and falling in love means that you lose consciousness of yourself because of love. Lovers look mad to those who are not in love. They are! You cannot communicate with them, they are not in their senses. They are not, really; the whole energy has become love; they are identified with it completely. There is no witness to the phenomenon of love.

The same happens in hate. Love and hate are alike, because it is the same energy inverted. When you are in love you are madly attracted, when you are in hate you are madly repulsed. When you are in love, when you have become attracted to someone, you lose your center, your self, and someone else becomes the center. When you hate someone, the same thing happens: someone repulses you; you are not at the center, you lose consciousness of yourself, and someone else becomes the center.

Remember this – not retrospectively but in the very moment of the happening. When you feel that hate is there, close your eyes, forget the situation outside, and be conscious of what is happening inside you. The whole energy has become hate. If you watch it, then suddenly part of the energy will begin to transform itself into awareness. A pillar of consciousness will arise out of the chaos of hate or love or whatever. And the more the pillar arises, the more the chaos inside will drop and disappear. Then, when you feel that you are, you will notice that hate is no longer there: you become a self, a center; the other can no longer be the center which either attracts or repels.

This meditation has to be done at the very moment of the happening. Then you will be a different person altogether. Not that you will have conquered your hatred, not that you will have a controlled mind. Now you will be a consciousness, a light unto yourself. Because of this light, darkness will have become impossible. Now you are a conscious being. Hate has become impossible because hate needs your unconsciousness as its basic requirement.

This must be understood very distinctly and clearly: hate needs your unconsciousness. That is the food for hate, that is where hate gets its strength. So don’t do anything about hate, just do something about your consciousness. Become more conscious of your acts, of your thoughts, of your moods – of whatever happens. A conscious being is neither hateful nor love-full.

That is why we have used different words in talking about Buddha. We could say that Buddha loves everyone, but then the word would carry the same meaning that we ordinarily associate with it. Buddha cannot love you because he cannot hate you. He cannot be repulsed by you and he cannot be attracted by you either; in both cases, the other is the center. Buddha is not love but compassion, and the difference is very deep.

When you feel compassion, you remain the center; you can be neither repulsed nor attracted. It is a very neutral state. The other will feel very deeply that you love him, but.... If you come to a Buddha, you may feel that he loves you. That is your freedom. At any moment you can also feel that he hates you. That is also your freedom. It is your projection that he loves or hates. In fact, he neither loves nor hates; he remains himself, and the compassion flows.

See the difference? If you are not in this room, I cannot love you nor can I hate you. If I want to hate you I must have an object to hate, so if you are not here I will have to imagine that you are here. Love stops when the loved one is absent and hate stops when the enemy is not there. If they are absent, you make them present in your imagination.

Compassion means that even if there is no one there, Buddha will still be compassionate. It is not because of his imagination; it is his natural state. Just as a river flows, Buddha is compassionate. The other is not a part of it at all, the other is not the center, he himself remains the center.

When one becomes a center, when one becomes crystallized, there is neither repulsion nor attraction to anyone. This creates a deeper problem because it means that you cannot go beyond hate unless you go beyond love. Everyone wants to go beyond hate, but no one wants to go beyond love. But that creates an impossible situation for you because hate is a part of the one phenomenon of repulsion and attraction.

How can you just be in love, how can you be attracted to everything? We go on trying to love in many, many ways, but the only easy way is to hate one person and to love someone else. That is the easy way. You make one person your enemy and another person your friend.

Then you can be at ease, you can love. You can be attracted to A and be repulsed by B. This is one way. Another way, even more complicated, is to hate the same person that you love. This, too, we do. In the morning we love, in the afternoon we hate, and at night we love again. Every lover goes on continuously moving between hate and love, attraction and repulsion. Freud has said, and said very truly, that you have to hate the same person that you love – it cannot be otherwise.

This becomes more and more true as we get rid of all the scapegoats that we have had for our hatred. You could love your country and hate another country; you could love your religion and hate another religion because, if you love someone or something, you have to balance that love with hate. In the old days this was easy, the balance was there, but now the humanitarians, the utopians, have destroyed all our scapegoats. Soon the world may be so united that there will be only one nation, only one race. Then one thing will have to become the object of both love and hate.

This duality is a natural thing. If you love, then you have to hate. There are people who go on preaching: ”Love the whole world!” But you cannot love the world unless you discover another world to hate. I don’t think this planet Earth can become one until we discover enemies on some other planet. The moment we discover an enemy somewhere – and we are trying very hard to find one – then the whole world can become one.

When India is fighting Pakistan, there is no fighting within India; India becomes one. There is a very deep patriotic feeling for India because now that love balances the hatred toward Pakistan. But when there is no war, then Hindus fight Mohammedans, and Brahmins fight Sudras, one state fights another state, one party fights another party... and the thing goes on. But if there is an enemy somewhere, then the whole nation becomes one.

This whole earth cannot become one unless we have another planet to fight. Even a rumor would help. Linus Pauling, a great scientist, a Nobel laureate, once suggested that it would be good to create a world-wide rumor through the United Nations that Martians were about to attack the earth, and have scientists from all over the world support the rumor; then there would be no fighting on earth. And he is right. As man is, it would be a good thing. Lies may help. The truth has not helped yet.

With love, hate will be there and you will have to find some object to focus it on. So the more you love, the more you will be hateful. That is the price one has to pay. Remember this: either love and hate go together or neither of them is there at all.

Hate will disappear not by your doing anything, but by being more aware, more conscious, more alert. Become a conscious being and you will be at your center, and no one will be able to take you away from your center.

Right now, anyone can do it. Some do it by love and some do it by hate, but anyone can take you away from your center. You have no center really, only a bogus center which is just waiting for anyone to come and take you away from it. Consciousness means centering, being continuously centered inside. Then both love and hate disappear. Only when both disappear are you at peace.

And really, their symptoms are so alike. When you are in deep hate you cannot sleep, and when you are in deep love you cannot sleep. When you are in deep love your blood pressure rises, and when you are in deep hate your blood pressure rises. All the symptoms are the same: you become tense. When someone is in love he becomes tired, exhausted, and bored by the ordinary things – just as in hate. Both are tensions, both are diseases.

When I say ”disease,” I am using the literal meaning of the word: dis-ease. You cannot be at ease either in love or in hate, you can only be at ease if there is nothing inside you, neither love nor hate. Then you remain in yourself, alone in your consciousness. You exist without anyone else, the other has become irrelevant: you are centered.

Then, compassion will happen. It is a happening that follows once centering is there. Compassion is neither love nor hate, it is neither attraction nor repulsion, it is a totally different dimension. It is just being yourself, moving according to yourself, living according to yourself. Many may be attracted to you, many may be repulsed by you, but these are just their projections – it is their problem. You can laugh about it and remain unconcerned.

Source - Osho Book "The Great Challenge"

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I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.

John Burroughs

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Expression of love is service, expression of joy is your smile, expression of peace is meditation, expressing God is conscious action

-Shri Shri Ravi Shankar

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"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

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WHAT IS EGO?

Ego is nothing but identification of oneself with their body than soul.
The Supreme God, The Supreme Spirit, The Supreme Consciousness by His Supreme Power of "Maya" has created these innumerable forms. All these forms appear in "Time and Space" as real but these forms are only real in the realm of "Maya" which is the illusive energy of God. These different created beings which embody a "Body", perceive themselves to be a single individual entity different from other beings, though only one universal soul pervades within them. One feels oneself different than others, one feels one's different identity only through the Ego which is a component of Nature (Maya).

In this time and space creation of God, it is the consciousness of ego only, what has made a human being to forget this supreme knowledge of Universal all pervasive Soul. Under the influence of ego only a human being forgets the truth about God & thinks his/her identity to be different than others & supreme. Ego has come into being only through God only to produce delusion in this universe. Once a person knows to have this knowledge of God, this delusion of "Maya" disappears & that person becomes one with God again.

Here below are verses from "Bhagwat Gita" which describe about the nature of this "Maya", nature of this Ego & how it is the power / illusive energy of God only which deludes human beings & puts a veil of ignorance on human mind. This veil of ignorance just disappears from the human mind once he / she starts having faith in God & have devotion in that Almighty. God himself in below verses is declaring that one who is engaged in pure devotional service goes beyond this illusion of "Maya" / "Ego" easily & attains to God in no time.

Source..Bhagwad Gita

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OSHO-

 

Whenever there is love you will be a king. And then you are free — because it is a question of love; it does not depend on her. Whenever there is love you will be a king; whenever there is not love you will be a beggar. It is love that gives you the glory. Yes, the love has come through her window; it can come through any other window. It can simply shower on you without anybody. It simply needs understanding — that it is love, not the person. The person is instrumental. Then you are not imprisoning the person. Love cannot be imprisoned and there is no need to imprison it. Love is your song — you can sing it any time. It is like breathing. Nobody is going to take it away from you; nobody can take it away from you.Love should be without any expectations; otherwise laughter dies. When you expect, frustration comes in. Nobody can fulfill your expectations, and there is nobody who needs to fulfill them. They come out of a mad, neurotic mind. If somebody fulfills them then too love disappears. Then the other becomes a necessity, a need, a possession — a valuable possession but a possession all the same.

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Osho – Have you ever looked lovingly at any object? You may say yes because you do not know what it means to look lovingly at an object. You may have looked lustfully at an object – that is another thing. That is totally different, diametrically opposite. So first, the difference; try to feel the difference.
A beautiful face, a beautiful body – you look at it, and you feel that you are looking at it lovingly. But why are you looking at it? Do you want to get something out of it? Then it is lust, not love. Do you want to exploit it? Then it is lust, not love. Then really, you are thinking of how to use this body, how to possess it, how to make this body an instrument for your happiness.
Lust means how to use something for your happiness; love means your happiness is not at all concerned. Really, lust means how to get something out of it and love means how to give something. They are diametrically opposite. If you see a beautiful face and you feel love toward the face, the immediate feeling in your consciousness will be how to do something to make this face happy, how to do something to make this man or this woman happy. The concern is not with yourself, the concern is with the other.
In love the other is important; in lust you are important. In lust you are thinking how to make the other your instrument; in love you are thinking how to become an instrument yourself. In lust you are going to sacrifice the other; in love you are going to sacrifice yourself. Love means giving; lust means getting. Love is a surrender; lust is an aggression.
What you say is meaningless. Even in lust you talk in terms of love. Your language is not very meaningful, so do not be deceived. Look within, and then you will come to understand that you have not once in your life looked lovingly toward someone or some object.
Source – Osho Book “Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, Vol 1″

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Osho –

 Love can be impure, then it creates bondage. When it is pure it brings freedom. The whole process of sannyas is of purifying your love-energy. It is mixed with many things, because our society makes every child a mess. There is lust, which is not love but millions of people think that is love; it is just a biological instinct. It is just nature trying to continue the race. It has nothing to do with you; it is almost impersonal. Love is not possessiveness; many people think that’s what love is: you possess somebody totally. To possess somebody is to destroy all possibility of love. Possessiveness can be hate but cannot be love, it can be fear but it cannot be love.
One has to drop possessiveness, one has to drop the very idea of dominating, one has to give freedom if one wants freedom. Whatsoever you want for yourself give to others. And if you cannot give even to those you love, to whom else can you give it? And the only gift worth giving is freedom. And the miracle is that the moment love gives freedom it becomes pure, absolutely pure. And in that purity it rises to its ultimate height. That height is prayer. At that height you start meeting, merging with the eternal, with the infinite.
Nothing else is needed if one can go on watching all those elements which made one’s love impure and drop them so ultimately only love is left. Then love is just fragrance — so sweet and of such grandeur that one cannot imagine it, there is no way to imagine it, one can only experience it. It is of the beyond, penetrating the thick layers of the earthen existence. It is like a ray coming from the ultimate source. OSHO

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THE PROMISE

'How long will you be poring over that newspaper? Will you come here
right
away  and make your darling daughter eat her food?'

I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter Sindu

looked frightened. Tears were welling up in her eyes.  In front of her
was
a bowl filled to its brim with Curd Rice.

Sindu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age. She has just
turned
eight.  She particularly detested Curd Rice.  My mother and my wife are

orthodox, and believe firmly in the 'cooling effects'of Curd Rice!

I cleared my throat, and picked up the bowl.

"Sindu, darling, why don't you  take a few mouthful of this Curd Rice?

Just for Dad's sake, dear.  And, if you don't, your Mom will shout at
me'

I could sense my wife's scowl behind my back.

Sindu softened a bit, and wiped her tears with the back of her hands.
'OK,
Dad. I will eat - not just a few mouthfuls, but the whole lot of this.

But, you should...'  Sindu hesitated.

'Dad, if I eat this entire Curd Rice, will you give me whatever I ask
for?'

'Oh sure, darling'.

'Promise?'

'Promise'.  I covered the pink soft hand extended by my daughter with
mine, and clinched the deal.

'Ask Mom also to give a similar promise', my daughter insisted.

My wife slapped  her hand on Sindu's, muttering 'Promise', without any

emotion.

Now I became a bit anxious.  'Sindumma, you shouldn't insist on getting
a
computer or any such expensive items.  Dad does not have that kind of
money right now.  OK?'

'No, Dad.  I do not want anything expensive'. Slowly and painfully, she

finished eating the whole quantity.

I was silently angry with my wife and my mother for forcing my child eat

something that she detested.

After the ordeal was through, Sindu came to me with her eyes wide with

expectation.

All our attention was on her.  'Dad, I want to have my head shaved off,

this Sunday!' was her demand!

'Atrocious!' shouted my wife, 'a girl child having her head shaved off?

Impossible!'.

'Never in our family!' my mother rasped.  'She has been watching too
much
of television.  Our culture is getting totally spoiled with these TV
programs!'

'Sindumma, why don't you ask for something else?  We will be sad seeing

you with a clean-shaven head.'

'No, Dad.  I do not want anything else', Sindu said with finality.

'Please, Sindu, why don't you try to understand our feelings?' I tried
to
plead with her.

'Dad, you saw how difficult it was for me to eat that Curd Rice'.
Sindu
was in tears.  'And you promised to grant me whatever I ask for.  Now,
you
are going back on your words.  Was it not you who told me the story of

King Harishchandra, and its moral that we should honour our promises no

matter what?'

It was time for me to call the shots.  'Our promise must be kept.'

'Are you out your mind?' chorused my mother and wife.

'No. If we go back on our promises, she will never learn to honour her

own. Sindu, your wish will be fulfilled.'

With her head clean-shaven, Sindu had a round-face, and her eyes looked

big & beautiful.

On Monday morning, I dropped her at her school.  It was a sight to watch

my hairless Sindu walking towards her classroom.  She turned around and

waved.

I waved back with a smile.  Just then, a boy alighted from a car, and
shouted, 'Sinduja, please wait for me!'

What struck me was the hairless head of that boy.

'May be, that is the in-stuff', I thought.

'Sir, your daughter Sinduja is great indeed!'

Without introducing herself, a lady got out of the car, and continued,

'That boy who is walking along with your daughter is my son Harish.  He
is
suffering from ...... leukemia.'

She paused to muffle her sobs.  'Harish could not attend the school for

the whole of the last month. He lost all his hair due to the side
effects
of the chemotherapy.  He refused to come back to school fearing the
unintentional but cruel teasing of the
schoolmates.  Sinduja visited him last week, and promised him that she

will take care of the teasing issue.

But, I never imagined she would sacrifice her lovely hair for the sake
of
my son!  Sir, you and your wife are blessed to have such a noble soul as

your daughter.'

I stood transfixed.  And then, I wept.  'My little Angel, will you grant

me a boon?  Should there be another birth for me, will you be my mother,

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How true..!!

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Has the water entered my ship?

In 1923, nine of the wealthiest people in the world met at Chicago 's Edgewater Beach Hotel. Their combined wealth, it is estimated, exceeded the wealth of the government of the United States at that time. These men certainly knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth.

Attending the meeting were the following men:

The president of the largest steel company,

The president of the largest utility company,

The president of the largest gas company,

The president of the New York Stock Exchange,

The president of the Bank of International Settlements,

The greatest wheat speculator,

The greatest bear on Wall Street,

The head of the World's greatest monopoly,

& a member of President Harding's cabinet.

That's a pretty impressive line-up of people by anyone's yardstick.

Yet, 25 years later, where were those nine industrial giants?

But let’s examine what happened to them 25 years later.

1. The President of the then largest steel company (Bethlehem Steel Corp), Charles M Schwab, lived on borrowed capital for five years before he died bankrupt.

2. The President of the then largest gas company, Howard Hubson, went insane.

3. One of the greatest commodity traders (Wheat Speculator) , Arthur Cutten, died insolvent.

4. The then President of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was sent to jail.

4. The member of the US President’s Cabinet (the member of President Harding's cabinet), Albert Fall, was pardoned from jail just to be able to go home and die in peace.

5. The greatest “bear” on Wall Street, Jesse Livermore committed suicide.

6. The President of the then world’s greatest monopoly, Ivar Krueger, committed suicide.

7. The President of the Bank of International Settlement, Leon Fraser, committed Suicide.

8. The president of the largest utility company, Samuel Insull, died penniless!!

What they forgot was how to "make" life while they got busy making money!

Money in itself is not evil;it provides food for the hungry, medicine for the sick, clothes for the needy; Money is only a medium of exchange.

We need two kinds of education:

.....a) One that teaches us how to make a living

and

.....b) One that teaches us how to live.

There are many of us who are so engrossed in our professional life that we neglect our family, health and social responsibilities.

If asked why we do this we would reply that "We are doing it for our family".

Yet, our kids are sleeping when we leave home. They are sleeping when we come back home!! Twenty years later, we’ll turn back, and they’ll all be gone, to pursue their own dreams and their own lives....................................................

Without water, a ship cannot move. The ship needs water, but if the water gets into the ship, the ship will face existential problems. What was once a means of living for the ship will now become a means of destruction.

Similarly we live in time where earning is a necessity but let not the earning enter our hearts, for what was once a means of living will surely become a means of destruction for us as well!!

So take a moment and ask yourself………. Has the water entered my ship? I surely hope it hasn't yet done so!

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The Brick

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar.

He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.

As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door!

 

He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown. The angry driver

then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting, 'What was that all about and who are you?

Just what the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money Why did you do it?' The young boy was apologetic.

'Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do,' He pleaded. 'I threw the brick because no one else would stop...'

With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a parked car.

'It's my brother, 'he said 'He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up.'

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, 'Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me.'

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair,

then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him everything was going to be okay.

'Thank you and may God bless you,' the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy!

Push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door.

He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: 'Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!'

God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice to listen or not.

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The greatest distance in the world is just 14 inches..from the mind to the heart..But ..we all need our whole life to cross it.

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Sometimes in life it is difficult to decide whats wrong and whats right? A lie that draws a smile or the truth that draws a tear....

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Truth is like surgery, it may hurt but it cures. And lie is like a pain killer, it gives relief at that point of time but shows its side effects later.

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Nature loves to give you surprises.God loves fun. He always gives you surprises-sometimes pleasant, sometimes unpleasant. And you grow by unpleasant as well as by pleasant. In fact you grow much more by unpleasant surprises than the pleasant ones.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

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Good decision comes from experience, but experience comes from bad decision ..This is life..So don't worry for any mistake. Go ahead and learn from them..

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In life, all have an unspeakable secret, an irreversible regret, an unkept promise, an unheard request, an irreplacable loss, an unreachable dream, an unforgettable first love.....still, life is about being happy anyhow because everything in life can be summed up in just three words.."It Goes On".

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Anger and Love have no Limit

I wish to share Most Beautiful mail :

While a man was polishing his new car, his 4 yr old  son picked stone & scratched lines on the side of the car.
In anger, the man took the child's hand & hit  it many times, not realizing he was using an iron wrench.
At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures. When the child saw his father....
With painful eyes he asked 'Dad when will my fingers grow back?'
Man was so hurt and speechless. He went back to car and kicked it a lot of times. Devastated by his own actions.......
sitting in front of that car he looked at the scratches, child had written
'LOVE YOU DAD'.
The next day that man committed suicide....
Anger and Love have NO LIMIT - choose the latter to have a beautiful & lovely life....
THINGS are meant to be USED and PEOPLE are to be LOVED,
...but the problem of today's world is that....
People are used & Things are loved!!!

One can change if ONE wants to ! 

(69)

Dr. Abdul Kalam's Letter to Every Indian

Why is the media here so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements?
We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?
We are the first in milk production.
We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
We are the second largest producer of wheat.
We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.

In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime.. Why are we so NEGATIVE? Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign T.Vs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology.

Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India . For her, you and I will have to build this developed India . You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance.

Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read; otherwise, choice is yours..
YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work, the railways are a joke. The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.

YOU say, say and say. What do YOU do about it?

Take a person on his way to Singapore . Give him a name - 'YOURS'. Give him a face - 'YOURS'. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground links as they are.. You pay $5 (approx. Rs. 60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity… In Singapore you don't say anything, DO YOU? YOU wouldn't dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai .. YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.
YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, 'see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.'YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, 'Jaanta hai main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost.' YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand ..
Why don't YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo ? Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston ??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India ?

In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan ..
Will the Indian citizen do that here?' He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility.
We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick a up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms.
We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity.
This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public.

When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child! and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? 'It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry.' So who's going to change the system?
What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.
Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England . When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too…. I am echoing J. F. Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians…..

'ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY'

Lets do what India needs from us.

(68)

Anger is about Past
Anger is meaningless, because it is always about something that has
already passed.

Peaceful Radiation
When you meditate, it sends out such a peaceful radiation, waves of light, and then those who left their body, who have reached the other shore, get benefited from that. It's like a laser beam, laser light, reaching the other side where it is dark.

Ego is Complicated
Ego wants something which is very difficult. It doesn't recognize the
simplicity in life. Life is simple. Ego is very complicated.

Seeing God
The future is very comfortable. Glorifying the past is very comfortable.
Seeing God now, here, is difficult. Seeing God in yourself is even more
difficult

Fall in Love with a Flower
If you just fall in love with a flower, you go on appreciating it and go
deep into that, and you will see that flower dissolves into the formless.
You will see the space which is hiding deep inside that flower.

by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

(67)

“Power of Positivity”

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with cupcakes, several cans of root beer and started on his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he saw an elderly woman. She was sitting on a park bench watching the pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed the lady looked hungry so he offered her a cupcake. She gratefully accepted and smiled at him.

Her smile was so wonderful that he wanted to see it again, so he offered a root beer as well. Once again she smiled at him. The boy was delighted!
They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling without saying a word.

As it began to grow dark, the boy realized how tired he was and wanted to go home. He got up to leave but before he had gone no more than a few steps, he turned around and ran back to the old woman, giving her a big hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.

When the boy arrived home his Mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked, what has made you so happy today He replied, I had lunch with God. Before his mother could respond he added, you know what she’s got the most beautiful smile in the whole world!

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face. He asked, Mother, what has made you so happy today she replied, I ate cupcakes in the park with God. And before her son could reply, she added, You know, he is 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

(66)

Do take time and Read this...................................

ONE BEDROOM FLAT...

WRITTEN BY AN INDIAN SOFTWARE ENGINEER..

A Bitter Reality

As the dream of most parents I had acquired a degree in

Software Engineering and joined a company based in USA, the

land of braves and opportunity. When I arrived in the USA , it

was as if a dream had come true.

Here at last I was in the place where I want to be. I decided I

would be staying in this country for about Five years in which

time I would have earned enough money to settle down in India .


My father was a government employee and after his retirement,

the only asset he could acquire was a decent one bedroom flat.


I wanted to do some thing more than him. I started feeling

homesick and lonely as the time passed. I used to call home and

speak to my parents every week using cheap international phone

cards. Two years passed, two years of Burgers at McDonald's and

pizzas and discos and 2 years watching the foreign exchange

rate getting happy whenever the Rupee value went down.



Finally I decided to get married. Told my parents that I have

only 10 days of holidays and everything must be done within

these 10 days. I got my ticket booked in the cheapest flight.

Was jubilant and was actually enjoying hopping for gifts for

all my friends back home. If I miss anyone then there will be

talks. After reaching home I spent home one week going through

all the photographs of girls and as the time was getting

shorter I was forced to select one candidate.


In-laws told me, to my surprise, that I would have to get

married in 2-3 days, as I will not get anymore holidays. After

the marriage, it was time to return to USA , after giving some

money to my parents and telling the neighbors to look after

them, we returned to USA .


My wife enjoyed this country for about two months and then she

started feeling lonely. The frequency of calling India

increased to twice in a week sometimes 3 times a week. Our

savings started diminishing.


After two more years we started to

have kids. Two lovely kids, a boy and a girl, were gifted to us

by the almighty. Every time I spoke to my parents, they asked

me to come to India so that they can see their grand-children.

Every year I decide to go to India ... But part work part

monetary conditions prevented it. Years went by and visiting

India was a distant dream. Then suddenly one day I got a

message that my parents were seriously sick. I tried but I

couldn't get any holidays and thus could not go to India ... The

next message I got was my parents had passed away and as there

was no one to do the last rights the society members had done

whatever they could. I was depressed. My parents had passed

away without seeing their grand children.

After couple more years passed away, much to my children's

dislike and my wife's joy we returned to India to settle down.

I started to look for a suitable property, but to my dismay my

savings were short and the property prices had gone up during

all these years. I had to return to the USA ...

My wife refused to come back with me and my children refused to

stay in India ... My 2 children and I returned to USA after

promising my wife I would be back for good after two years.


Time passed by, my daughter decided to get married to an

American and my son was happy living in USA ... I decided that

had enough and wound-up every thing and returned to India ... I

had just enough money to buy a decent 02 bedroom flat in a

well-developed locality.


Now I am 60 years old and the only time I go out of the flat is

for the routine visit to the nearby temple. My faithful wife

has also left me and gone to the holy abode.


Sometimes
I wondered was it worth all this?

My father, even after staying in India ,

Had a house to his name and I too have

the same nothing more.

I lost my parents and children for just ONE EXTRA BEDROOM..

Looking out from the window I see a lot of children dancing.

This damned cable TV has spoiled our new generation and these

children are losing their values and culture because of it. I

get occasional cards from my children asking I am alright. Well

at least they remember me..

Now perhaps after I die it will be the neighbors again who will

be performing my last rights, God Bless them.

But the question
still
remains 'was all this worth it?'
I am still searching for an answer.................!!!

START THINKING
IS IT JUST FOR ONE EXTRA BEDROOM???
LIFE IS BEYOND THIS .....DON'T JUST LEAVE YOUR LIFE ........
START LIVING IT .......

Try to know the real purpose of life :-( .......