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No person or wickedness in this planet is incorrigible. Wasn’t Angulimala, the robber, turned into a kindhearted person by Lord Buddha? Wasn’t thief Ratnakara transformed to Sage Valmiki? By conscious effort, habits can be changed and character refined. People always have within them, within their reach, the capacity to challenge their evil propensities and to change their evil habits. By selfless service, renunciation, devotion, prayer, and regulation of conduct, the old habits that bind people to earth can be discarded and new habits that take them along the divine path can be instilled into their lives. The purpose of all spiritual literature, poems, epics and books is to discuss the nature of mind, its ways and vagaries, and to inform about the process of reshaping it. Please realize that the mere reading of a book will not vouchsafe discrimination. That which is seen, heard, or read must be put into practice in actual life.
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Self Improvement
What Makes One Happy …
How to Live ….
Very nice article by Late Khushwant Singh. Preserve this .
I’ve often thought about what it is that makes people happy—what one has to do in order to achieve happiness.
1- First and foremost is good health. If you do not enjoy good health, you can never be happy. Any ailment, however trivial, will deduct something from your happiness.
2- Second, a healthy bank balance. It need not run into crores, but it should be enough to provide for comforts, and there should be something to spare for recreation—eating out, going to the movies, travel and holidays in the hills or by the sea. Shortage of money can be demoralising. Living on credit or borrowing is demeaning and lowers one in one’s own eyes.
3- Third, your own home. Rented places can never give you the comfort or security of a home that is yours for keeps. If it has garden space, all the better. Plant your own trees and flowers, see them grow and blossom, and cultivate a sense of kinship with them.
4- Fourth, an understanding companion, be it your spouse or a friend. If you have too many misunderstandings, it robs you of your peace of mind. It is better to be divorced than to be quarrelling all the time.
5- Fifth, stop envying those who have done better than you in life—risen higher, made more money, or earned more fame. Envy can be corroding; avoid comparing yourself with others.
6- Sixth, do not allow people to descend on you for gossip. By the time you get rid of them, you will feel exhausted and poisoned by their gossip-mongering.
7- Seventh, cultivate a hobby or two that will fulfill you—gardening, reading, writing, painting, playing or listening to music. Going to clubs or parties to get free drinks, or to meet celebrities, is a criminal waste of time. It’s important to concentrate on something that keeps you occupied meaningfully.
8- Eighth, every morning and evening devote 15 minutes to introspection. In the mornings, 10 minutes should be spent in keeping the mind absolutely still, and five listing the things you have to do that day. In the evenings, five minutes should be set aside to keep the mind still and 10 to go over the tasks you had intended to do.
9- Ninth, don’t lose your temper. Try not to be short-tempered, or vengeful. Even when a friend has been rude, just move on.
10- Above all, when the time comes to go, one should go like a Person without any regret or grievance against anyone.
Really nice one….
SOURCE:::: input from a friend of mine
Natarajan
Message For the Day…” Our Body is like a iron Safe to Protect Virtues like Knowledge and Bliss..”
To be able to experience the aspects of knowledge and bliss, we should protect our body, mind and life. Consider this example: We store valuable jewels and gems in our homes, in a relatively cheap iron safe to protect them. The steel almirah or an iron safe has no value compared to the jewels, but they are good enough to protect them. So too, our body is like the valueless iron safe. In this valueless, perishable body, God has kept for protection, very valuable things like knowledge and bliss. We all understand that valuable jewels cannot be protected by a valuable gold box, as the box itself can be stolen with the jewels in no time. Hence it is natural to protect valuable things in a valueless box which will not attract attention. Therefore, to reach the realm of knowledge, bliss and happiness it is necessary to look after the well-being of the outer casing namely, body, mind and life.
Message For the Day…” Character is the Fragrance of the Flower of Life …”
Buddha, Jesus Christ, Shankaracharya, Vivekananda, and many great saints and devotees of the Lord are treasured in the memory of people even to this day. What quality made them memorable for all times to come? It is their character. The qualities that make up a flawless character are: love, patience, forbearance, steadfastness, and charity. These must be revered. Character is the fragrance of the flower of life; it gives value and worth to life. The hundred little deeds that we indulge in every day harden into habits; these habits shape the intelligence and mould our outlook and life. All that we weave in our imagination, seek in our ideals, and yearn in our aspirations leave an indelible imprint on the mind. Poets, painters, artists, and scientists may be great, each in their own field, but without character, they can have no standing in society.
Message For the Day…” Character is Power…No Knowledge is Higher than a Virtuous Character…”
As all objects and individuals, rites and activities are transitory, they suffer from decay and destruction. They can at best help the cleansing of the mind. Activity(karma) cannot liberate one from the basic ignorance or award the awareness of the reality as Brahman. Be conscious of this limitation in order to win the right of inquiry into the mystery of the Brahman, the source and core of the cosmos. The one who devotes life to earn the knowledge of the Atma must possess holy virtues and good character. Character is power. No knowledge is higher than a virtuous character. For the person who has dedicated one’s years to the acquisition of higher learning, ever good character is an indispensable qualification. Every religion emphasises the same need; virtuous character is the very foundation of spiritual life. Those who lead lives on these lines can never come to harm. They will be endowed with sacred merit.
” This Russian was Mystified by How Americans act on Planes …” !!!
It’s easy to mistake certain social customs of Americans that might suggest strong personal connections where none are intended. For example, Americans are more likely than those from many cultures to smile at strangers and to engage in personal discussions with people they hardly know. Others may interpret this “friendliness” as an offer of friendship. Later, when the Americans don’t follow through on their unintended offer, those other cultures often accuse them of being “fake” or “hypocritical.”
Igor Agapova, a Russian colleague of mine, tells this story about his first trip to the United States:
I sat down next to a stranger on the aeroplane for a nine-hour flight to New York. This American began asking me very personal questions: did I have any children, was it my first trip to the U.S., what was I leaving behind in Russia? And he began to also share very personal information about himself. He showed me pictures of his children, told me he was a bass player, and talked about how difficult his frequent travelling was for his wife, who was with his newborn child right now in Florida.
In response, Agapova started to do something that was unnatural for him and unusual in Russian culture — he shared his personal story quite openly with this friendly stranger thinking they had built an unusually deep friendship in a short period of time. The sequel was quite disappointing:
I thought that after this type of connection, we would be friends for a very long time. When the aeroplane landed, imagine my surprise when, as I reached for a piece of paper in order to write down my phone number, my new friend stood up and with a friendly wave of his hand said, “Nice to meet you! Have a great trip!” And that was it. I never saw him again. I felt he had purposely tricked me into opening up when he had no intention of following through on the relationship he had instigated.
The difference between American and Russian cultures here can be described as peach and coconut models of personal interaction.
In peach cultures like the United States or Brazil, to name a couple, people tend to be friendly (“soft”) with others they have just met. They smile frequently at strangers, move quickly to first- name usage, share information about themselves, and ask personal questions of those they hardly know. But after a little friendly interaction with a peach person, you may suddenly get to the hardshell of the pit where the peach protects his real self. In these cultures, friendliness does not equal friendship.
In coconut cultures such as France, Germany, or Russia, people are more closed (like the tough shell of a coconut) with those they don’t have friendships with. They rarely smile at strangers, ask casual acquaintances personal questions, or offer personal information to those they don’t know intimately. It takes a while to get through the initial hard shell, but as you do, people will become gradually warmer and friendlier. While relationships are built up slowly, they tend to last longer.
SOURCE:::: ERIN MEYER, in www. businessinsider.com.au
Natarajan
A ” Village ” with a Difference …
At first glance, the village of Hogeweyk in the Dutch town of Weesp looks like an ordinary place. There are shops and residences, parks and restaurants, and even a theater. There are only 152 people living here, though, and you might notice that all of them are elderly. The younger people here are actually staff–nurses, doctors, and specialists–who work around the clock.
The village is actually a pioneering step in the future of elder and dementia care. Each of the 152 residents are eldery folks living with severe Alzheimer’s and/or dementia, and need nursing home facilities. However, instead of confining them to a depressing room in an institution-like setting, the residents Hogeweyk enjoy complete freedom as well as privacy and autonomy.
And it seems to be working. According to a study, the patients at Hogeweyk are more active and need less medication than patients elsewhere.
Residences come in a few different styles, and can be chosen on what makes the patient happiest, or is most like their home life.
The grocery store allows residents to shop and cook as they would normally, but more importantly, it allows them to continue making their own choices and functioning as adults.
The apartments provide comfort and a sense of dignity to the patients, while the 250-person staff is on hand to ensure care and safety. You can find the staff posing as everyday people in the town, as clerks, cashiers, and store attendees. The only thing the village lacks is money, because finances are difficult for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s. Everything is included in the payment plan.
The staff dresses in regular street clothes rather than a clinical-looking uniform to help residents feel comfortable. The residents, like the woman on the right, do their own shopping with assistance, as needed, from the staff.
The staff is careful to balance residents’ comfort with honesty. They’ll never lie about where they are, or that Hogeweyk is a care facility, but they keep things friendly and informal to make residents feel at ease. They’ll also never correct anyone who might mix up their memories.
Hogeweyk includes restaurants, a bar, gardens, and a theater so residents can enjoy activities and socializing while getting care.
A layout of Hogeweyk. The white areas are buildings.
Hogeweyk opened in 2009 and has been successful in its treatment plan. Despite its fancy appearance, the cost is actually comparable to other, more traditional care facilities in the Netherlands. And more importantly, it gives people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s a chance to live out their lives in a pleasant, safe, and happy environment.
SOURCE:::::www.viralnova.com
Natarajan
Message For the Day…” Never be Afraid of Anyone Nor Should You Cause Fear to Others…”
Within humans there is some residual animal nature and this nature must be refined and transformed. One who is able to transform this animal nature in man is Govinda. For an animal, human nature is inaccessible as a goal, but for human, Divinity is accessible as a goal. When green grass is shown to a herbivorous animal, it is attracted, comes close and expresses its pleasure by moving its tail. The same animal runs away if you take a stick to hurt it. Human beings today are attracted and come closer when they see wealth, but if someone is angry and shouts at them, they stay away from them. Is this not displaying animal nature? As human beings, never be afraid of anyone nor should you cause fear to others. Bhaja Govindam exhorts you to control your animal nature within and attain Divine proximity. Chant the loving Name of God daily and grow in faith and confidence in Him.
Joke of the Day…” Do You Want to go to Heaven … ” ?
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Message For the Day…” Ways for atoning our Sins …”
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In the course of one’s day to day activities a number of small creatures and insects may be destroyed. In these and other ways, sins may be committed, knowingly or unknowingly. For removing such sins, the scriptures have prescribed five types of Yajnas or worships –Brahma Yajna, Deva Yajna, Pitru Yajna, Manushya Yajna and Bhuta Yajna. Brahma Yajna is the study of sacred books and scriptures.Deva Yajna involves offering worship, bhajans, etc. Pitru Yajna refers to ceremonies to departed ancestors. The fourth one, Manushya Yajna, refers to extending hospitality to guests, invited and uninvited.Bhuta Yajna refers to offering food to animals, birds and insects, and looking after wild animals. By engaging in such service and thereby fulfilling the requirements of these Yajnas, we can atone for sins of various kinds that might have been committed
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Take off with Natarajan 