Dont spend life making a living, Spend life to make a life.

I saw a movie based on 'Conversation with God' an autobiographical novel by Neale Donald Walsch. As I always seek such stuff which can answer my questions which arise in my mind almost daily, about our life. Some answers I get but I feel I do not give words to those thoughts and ideas as these come and disappear in seconds. It remains unexpressed in my mind. I liked few lines, I want to mention here, these are very similar to what I feel..

God talks to everyone in their own voice, the question is who listens? from the highest mountain it has been shouted. In the lowest place ,its whisper has been heard. And though the corridors of all human experience this truth has been echoed 'Love is the answer'. You have come up with a God who judges and rewards and punishes. You have created a fear-based reality around love. And this fear-based reality love dominates your experience of love.

Must you be threatened in order to be good? who gets final say about being good? You are your own rule-maker.

You are constantly in the act of creating yourself. You are, in every moment, deciding who and what you are. You decide this largely through the choices you make regarding who and what you feel passionate about.

Worry is the activity of mind that does not understand its connection with God.

Suffering has nothing to do with events but with one's reaction to them what's happening is merely what's happening. How we feel about it is another matter.

God is not concerned with your worldly success. Only you are. You are not to worry about making a living. True masters are those who have chosen to make a life rather than a living.

Do whatever you really love , do nothing less, you have so little time. How can you think of wasting a moment doing something for a living that you don't like to do? that is not a living that is a dying.

Don't feel abandoned for God is always with you. He will never leave you, He can not leave you, for you are His creation and His product, His daughter, His son, His purpose and Himself.

Call him therefore, whenever and whatever you are separate from the peace that He is , He will be there.

I believe many people feel the same way as I do. There are so many people like me who are seeking the answer so the important thing is how much do we follow or practice.These words look simple but hard to adopt and without making it a practice these words become hollow sound of wooden gong.

It is not power that corrupts but fear.

It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.

-Aung San Suu Kyi .

My Visit to Niagara Falls.

We went to Niagara falls on 15th Sept. It is amazing view of water falling over a cliff. Its interesting to see that a simple and basic element "water" can create such a wonder and attract the people around the world.

I read about Niagara falls that it is the most powerful waterfall in North America. It is renowned both for its beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. It is not water in itself , however, nor the height of its fall, that makes the Niagara so spectacular. Instead its immense quantity of water. We took many pictures of falls, two of them are here. I enjoyed 'maid of the mist' and 'cave of the winds' most.

The thing worth noticing there was that most of the tourists were Asian (mostly Indian). They came to visit Niagara beauty with their parents and kids . One can also find lots of Indian restaurants there. It gave us a feeling of nostalgia.

I have also seen there a movie which explains the history related to Niagara falls. It states that this place is blessed by good spirits and many adventures have been done here. It is also said that falls is blessed by spirit of a native American tribal girl who disappeared into the falls and it is said that she was claimed by strongest of the holy spirits of the fall. The spirit which can still be seen in the form of the gigantic cloud of mist rising over the falls.

After watching the movie when I again saw the falls it gave a different feeling as if the sound coming from falls is telling so many stories hidden in it.

The turning point of Buddha's life.

I saw this video few years back at Discovery channel . I observed that the main struggle of Sidhartha to achieve the state of mind where he could realize eternal inner peace and harmony, lies in this phase of his life...

During his search for a solution of all pain in the world, Sidhartha stretchened the boundries of his mind and also experimented fasting.When Sidhartha was about to die, a young girl saved his life giving him a bowl of rice and milk.He now realized if he starve himself again, he would die soon having acheived nothing. He realized it does not solve the problem.

When his five followers knew that Sidhartha has given up the fast they lost faith in him. They no longer believed that he has strength to live up to his spiritual convictions and they abandoned him.

Sidhartha realised there is some other way of awakening.By chance he came across a musician fixing his sitar. He asked the musician what he was doing. The musician said, "I am tightening a bit the loose strings and loosening the tight strings. To bring out a melody, the strings should be neither tight nor loose."

They say this was the turning point of Gautam’s life; Buddha who was born a king and died a God.

World's tallest Buddhist Stupa in Kesariya

Last time when I went to my hometown Kesariya (Bihar), I saw this Buddhist Stupa. It is only at a walking distance from my home. It is really amazing to see that it holds the distinction of being the largest in the world.

Many years ago when I used to go there it was in the form of a mound and there was a small temple near by. Somehow the temple was related to the mound. I had a curiosity to know about that mound as people used to say that there was a monk lived at the top of that mound and no one else could dare even to climb on that.

My excitement increased when my Dadi (grandmother) told me a story behind it and it was one of my favourite stories I heard from her. She told me there was a king's palace hidden in that mound and was blessed by spirits. As dadi told me many people even British government tried to find the treasure hidden in the mound but they did not succeed to dig that. Since then it was called a spiritual place worshiped by local people of the area. I used to see it with curiosity as if there is something mysterious hidden in it.

I have been hearing for last few years that a team from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) noticed this mound and came to see it. If we pay heed to the history of Bauddh religion and the life of Buddha, this place has an important role in history. Historical record shows that Lord Buddha stayed in Kesariya ('Kessaputta' in ancient India) during his last few months of life. It is said that Buddha had prediction about his impending death. Before his nirvana, Buddha said people to go back to Vaishali but they followed him without caring for his instructions to go back. It is believed that Lord Buddha spent a night at Kesariya and handed over his begging-bowl to people and asked them to go back to Vaishali after his death.

Attractions of Stupa - Excavated in 1998, this place has become a global tourist attraction within a short span of time. According to some archaeologists, this monument dates back to 200 AD to 750 AD, and is associated to some Raja Chakravarti. The stupa is believed to be of a height of 150 ft while the Borobodur is of 138. The striking similarity in the two is that both have six floors, and the diameter of the Kesaria stupa is equal to that of the width of the Borobodur. The stupa was built to commemorate the end-life of Lord Buddha, by Licchvis, as for the matter of fact Buddha held the Lichhvis high and also preached others to do so.

Buddha's simple and ethical principles also come into mind while one travels this huge Stupa, nearly twice as large as that of Sanchi.

The man in the mirror

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
and the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself
and see what THAT man has to say,
For it isn't your father or mother or husband or wife
whose judgement upon you must pass;
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
is the one staring back from the glass.
Some people may think you a strainght-shootin chum
and call you a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
if you can't look him strainght in the eye.

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
for he's with you clear up to the end.
And you've passed your most dangerous difficult test
if the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the path-way of life
and get pats on your back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
if you've cheated the man in the glass.

"Rashmirathi"

These are one of my favourit lines from "Rashmirathi" (the Sun 's charioteer ) written by popular hindi poet Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'.Its a story of 'Karn' a famous character from epic Mahabharat.

है कौन विघ्न ऐसा जग में, टिक सके वीर नर के मग में?
खम ठोंक ठेलता है जब नर, पर्वत के जाते पाँव उखड़।
मानव जब जोर लगाता है,
पत्थर पानी बन जाता है।
गुण बड़े एक से एक प्रखर, हैं छिपे मानवों के भीतर,
मेंहदी में जैसे लाली हो, वर्तिका-बीच उजियाली हो।
बत्ती जो नहीं जलाता है
रोशनी नहीं वह पाता है।
पीसा जाता जब इक्षु-दण्ड, झरती रस की धारा अखण्ड,
मेंहदी जब सहती है प्रहार, बनती ललनाओं का सिंगार।
जब फूल पिरोये जाते हैं,
हम उनको गले लगाते हैं।
वसुधा का नेता कौन हुआ? भूखण्ड-विजेता कौन हुआ?
अतुलित यश क्रेता कौन हुआ? नव-धर्म प्रणेता कौन हुआ?
जिसने न कभी आराम किया,
विघ्नों में रहकर नाम किया।
जब विघ्न सामने आते हैं, सोते से हमें जगाते हैं,
मन को मरोड़ते हैं पल-पल, तन को झँझोरते हैं पल-पल।
सत्पथ की ओर लगाकर ही,
जाते हैं हमें जगाकर ही।
वाटिका और वन एक नहीं, आराम और रण एक नहीं।
वर्षा, अंधड़, आतप अखंड, पौरुष के हैं साधन प्रचण्ड।
वन में प्रसून तो खिलते हैं,
बागों में शाल न मिलते हैं।
कङ्करियाँ जिनकी सेज सुघर, छाया देता केवल अम्बर,
विपदाएँ दूध पिलाती हैं, लोरी आँधियाँ सुनाती हैं।
जो लाक्षा-गृह में जलते हैं,
वे ही शूरमा निकलते हैं।
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashmirathi

First time I read this book when I was in school. I tried to understand the concept behind it and I found how these old stories are still related to our daily life.
Now I searched it on net,
Its good to see hindi literature on internet as hindi is not demonstrated on the world frame yet. They have developed a good site for hindi poems. http://www.kavitakosh.org/

To live is to risk dying...

Everyone has a comfort zone where there is less probability of failure.The confort zone of routine work, family, friends, relationship and social image. Deep inside there is a fear to venture out, there is always a fear of the things which would never have been done before.
These are few lines to analyze the fear of coming out from those four walls of comfort zone..

To laugh, is to risk being a fool.
To weep, is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another, is to risk involvement.
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd, is to risk their loss.
To live, is to risk dying.
To hope, is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing .
They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they simply cannot learn,feel,change, grow, love or live.
Risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
Only a person who risks is free.
-Leo Buscalia

A letter to a teacher.

A letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the Headmaster of a school in which his son was studying. It contains an advice, which is still relevant today for executives, workers, teachers, parents and students

He will have to learn, I know,
that all men are not just,
all men are not true.
But teach him also that
For every scoundrel there is a hero;
that for every selfish Politician,
there is a dedicated leader...
Teach him for every enemy there is a friend,

Steer him away from envy,
if you can,
teach him the secret of
quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that
the bullies are the easiest to lick...
Teach him, if you can,
the wonder of books...
But also give him quiet time
to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun,
and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him
it is far honourable to fail
than to cheat...
Teach him to have faith
in his own ideas,
even if everyone tells him
they are wrong...
Teach him to be gentle
with gentle people,
and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son
the strength not to follow the crowd
when everyone is getting on the band wagon...
Teach him to listen to all men...
but teach him also to filter
all he hears on a screen of truth,
and take only the good
that comes through.

Teach him if you can,
how to laugh when he is sad...
Teach him there is no shame in tears,
Teach him to scoff at cynics
and to beware of too much sweetness...
Teach him to sell his brawn
and brain to the highest bidders
but never to put a price-tag
on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears
to a howling mob
and to stand and fight
if he thinks he's right.
Treat him gently,
but do not cuddle him,
because only the test
of fire makes fine steel.

Let him have the courage
to be impatient...
let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always
to have sublime faith in himself,
because then he will have
sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order,
but see what you can do...
He is such a fine fellow,
my son!