Message for the Day…”Repeating God’s Name ,Meditation,fasts, Worship at dawn and dusk are certain good ways to control and train our Senses…”

Normally people are drawn to sense objects, for they are victims of instincts. Instincts easily seek sense objects – they come along with the body and aren’t derived by any training. The infant seeks milk from the mother’s breast, and the newborn calf naturally nestles at the udder. However for the infant to walk and talk, some training is necessary, because these actions are either socially prompted or learnt by example or picked up by imitation of others. Training is essential even for the proper pursuit of sense pleasure, for wild untrained search for such pleasure promotes anger, hatred, envy, malice and conceit. Hence to train the senses along salutary lines and to hold them under control, certain good disciplines like repeating Lord’s Name (japa),meditation (dhyana), fasts (upavasa), worship at dawn and dusk, etc. are essential. Though sense pleasures are ‘natural’ at first, by constant practice, training and listening to the wise, slowly the greater and everlasting bliss derived by divine adoration is grasped.

Sathya Sai Baba

Message for the Day…” ‘Yajnas’ Stipulated as Mandatory for every Human being…”

Sathya Sai Baba

Five yajnas are prescribed as mandatory for every human being: (1) Activities devoted to the study of scriptures (Rishi Yajna); (2) Activities devoted to parents who confer your birth, foster and guide you (Pitr Yajna); (3) Acts done as reverential homage to God who endowed you with mind, intelligence, memory and consciousness, and who is inherent in your every cell as Rasa, the vital energy (Raso Vai Sah). Indeed, the right use of these instruments that God has given you is Deva Yajna; (4) The fourth is adoration of guests. Everyone must welcome the chance of entertaining a guest and treat them with affection, and please them with sincere hospitality as if sent by God, be it one’s own kith and kin or strangers (Atithi Yajna); (5) The final yajna is unselfish acts done while dealing with trees, plants, animals, birds and pets like cats and dogs(Bhoota Yajna). Remember to make every act of yours from sunrise to the onset of sleep as a Yajna!

Message for the Day…”What is the true ‘tapas’…” ?

Sathya Sai Baba

Krishna says in the Gita, “In all yajnas, I am the Doer, the Donor, the Consumer and the Acceptor.” That is the reason the chief priest in ayajna, is named Brahma. He must guide the rest of the ritualists with his wife by his side, or else, his credentials are inadequate. The wife represents faith (shraddha). Without faith, praise is hollow, adoration is artificial and sacrifice is a barren exercise. Really speaking, the heart is the ceremonial altar, the body is the fire-place, the hair is the holy grass (darbha), wishes are the fuel-sticks to feed the fire, desire is the ghee poured into the fire to make it burst into flame, anger is the sacrificial animal, and the fire is the tapas (penance) we accomplish. People sometimes interpret tapas as ascetic practices like standing on the head. This is not correct; tapas is not physical contortion. It is the complete and correct coordination of thought, word and deed. When this is achieved, the Divine splendour will manifest.

Message for the Day…” One’s own Breath is ‘mantra’…”

Sathya Sai Baba

People resort to gurus to receive mantras (mystically powerful formulae to be recited by them for their spiritual uplift); others seek medicine men and holy monks to get yantras (esoteric talismans to ward off evil forces); some others learn thanthras (secret rites for attaining superhuman powers) from scholars (pandits). But all of this is wasteful effort. One should accept the body as the thanthra, one’s own breath as the mantra and the heart as the yantra. There is no need to seek them outside oneself. When all words emanating from you are sweet, your breath becomes Rig Veda. When you restrict what you listen to and prefer only sweet speech, all that you hear becomes Sama gana(rendition of Sama Veda). When you do only sweet deeds, all that you do is Yajur homa (ritualistic sacrifice). Then you will be performing every day the Veda Purusha Yajna, the yajna which propitiates the noblest and highest Vedic Spirit!

Message for the Day…” Reflect over your entity well and discover who “You “are …”

The same person is king to his subjects, son to his parents, enemy to his enemies, husband to his wife, and father to his son. He plays many roles. Yet, if you ask him who he is, he would be wrong if he gave any of these relationships as his distinctive mark, for these marks pertain to physical relationship or activities. They denote physical kinships or professional relationships; they are names attached to temporary statuses. Nor can he reply that he is the head, the feet, the hands, etc., for they are but the limbs of the physical form. He is more real than all the limbs, and is infact beyond all names and forms which are falsities that hide the basic Brahman; he is known as ‘I’. Reflect over that entity well and discover who that ‘I’ really is. When it is so hard to analyse and understand your own entity, how can you pronounce judgement on other entities with any definiteness?

Sathya Sai Baba

Message for the Day…” Understand who Could be dearest and nearest to HIM …”

One important verse in the Gita (Ch 12 Verse 20) states: Those who revere the dharmic way to immortality, and completely engage themselves making Me as their ultimate goal with all faith, are exceedingly dear to Me. What a grand idea this verse conveys! The Lord has clearly declared therein that those who have these qualities, that is, those who trust Him as the only ultimate goal and are attached to Him single-mindedly — they are dearest and nearest to Him. Note the expression, ‘righteous way to immortality’ (dharmya-amritham)used here. Ponder over it and draw inspiration from it. The nectar of the Lord’s grace is deserved only by those who adhere to the Lord’sdharma. Simple folks believe they have devotion toward the Lord, but they do not pause to inquire whether the Lord has love towards them. People who pine to discover the Lord’s love are rather rare. That is really the true measure of spiritual success.

Sathya Sai Baba

Message for the Day….” What is the True Divine Offering …’ ?

How amazing is this! You can get sacrifices of the highest order performed by yourself or through scholars versed in Vedic ritual. You can visit and praise the holiness of diverse shrines and inspire others to journey thereto. Similarly you can master the highest scriptures and teach them to many and make them experts. But how many of you have succeeded in mastering your own bodies, senses and wayward minds, and turned them inward to gain perpetual and unchanging equanimity? You embark upon an undertaking with a purpose, goal, or an end in view. But the endeavour is sublimated into a yajna (sacrificial rite) only if the purpose, goal or end is the glorification of God. God is the yajna,for He is the Goal. His grace is the reward. His creation is used to propitiate Him; He is the performer as well as the receiver. Every act, where the ego of the doer does not surface, becomes a Divine offering.

Sathya Sai Baba

Message for the Day…” Follow the Righteous Way of Life to Reach the Road of Self Realisation…”

Sathya Sai Baba

People everywhere are degrading themselves from their status as children of eternity (amrita-putra) to that of children of futility (anrita-putra)! Holding nectar in their grasp, they are drinking the poison of sensual pleasure. Neglecting the joy of contemplation of the fundamental divine reality of the universe, they are entangling themselves in the external trappings of this objective world of appearances. This immortal dharma (amrita-dharma) is described in the Upanishads, and since the Gita is the kernel of the Upanishads, the same is emphasized in the Gita too. The Gita teaches Arjuna to develop certain qualities that help the practice of the Atma Dharma (the righteousness that springs from the True Self). These are delineated in verses 13 to 20 of Chapter 12. The dharmic (righteous) way of life is like the very breath; it is the road to self-realization. Those who walk along it are dear to the Lord.

Message for the Day…” Have Faith in God…Do Not Get Carried away by malice Stories…”

Sathya Sai BabaJoy is your birthright; peace is your innermost nature. The Lord is your staff and support. Do not discard it; do not be led away from the path of faith by stories invented by malice and circulated by spite. Take up the name of God; it could be any one of His innumerable ones that appeals to you the most, and also chose the form appropriate to that name, and then start repeating it from now on – that is the royal road to ensure Joy and Peace. That will train you in the feeling of brotherhood and remove enmity towards fellowmen. When you sow seeds in the field, they can be eaten away by ants or washed off by rains or picked on by birds or destroyed by pests, still some seeds stave off all these and grow as strong and sturdy seedlings. Similarly, you must do everything to uphold the privilege of this birth and strive to return to the Lord.

 

Sneezing Monkeys, Walking Fish – 211 Such Unusual Species Discovered in the Himalayas Recently ….

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has released a report that lists 211 rare and endangered animal and plant species, discovered in the Himalayan region. The report has some unusual discoveries like sneezing monkeys, blue-eyed frogs, walking fish and much more.

Did you know that there is a type of monkey which sneezes every time it rains? Or have you heard of a snake that can pass as a carefully crafted piece of jewellery? Ever seen a fish that can survive on the land for up to four days? Well, these are not just fictional characters from a comic book, but real animal species. And guess what, they are found in India!

Yes, you heard it right. According to a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report released on Monday, over 200 such unusual animal and plant species have been discovered in the Himalayan region in the last six years.

The report named “Hidden Himalayas: Asia’s Wonderland” was released in Bhutan and has interesting details of species found by different scientists and organisations in areas including Bhutan, north-east India, Nepal, the far north of Myanmar and the southern parts of Tibet.

The 211 new species that have been discovered include 133 plants, 39 invertebrates, 26 fish, 10 amphibians, one reptile, one bird and one mammal.

1. A snake that looks like a jewellery

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A new pit viper with a unique skin design that showcases an ornate yellow, red and orange pattern has been found. At the first glance, it looks more like a carefully crafted piece of jewellery.

2. A blue eyed frog

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The Bompu litter frog is a new species from Arunachal Pradesh, India, which has a striking greyish-blue iris with a vertically oriented black pupil.

3. A critically endangered monkey with an upturned nose

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Called Rhinopithecus Stryker, this snub-nosed monkey is also called “Sneezing Monkey” because they often get rainwater in their upturned noses causing them to sneeze whenever it rains.

“To avoid this evolutionary inconvenience, snub-nosed monkeys spend rainy days sitting with their heads tucked between their knees,” said the report.

4. A singing bird

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Called Elachura Formosa, this bird belongs to a unique family of birds which contains no other known species. The male members of this species sing their characteristic, unusually high-pitched song during breeding season.

5. A Vibrant blue Dwarf ‘Walking’ Snakehead fish

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Found in West Bengal, India, this unusual fish species is air breather. If they are denied access to the surface they die from oxygen starvation. This snakehead fish is able to breathe atmospheric air and can even survive on land for up to four days

“They prefer to target their prey from below, often lunging upwards from the bottom to grab fish and other creatures,” the report said. Because of its aggressive traits and the way it attacks its prey, this fish has been named as “Fishzilla” by the National Geographic.

Apart from bringing these rare species into notice, the report also talks about the threats faced by the Himalayan region. Read the full report for more interesting discoveries and facts.

Story idea courtesy: Aparna Menon

All pics: www.wwfindia.org

Source….Shreya Pareek….www.the betterindia.com

Natarajan