GROWING GOOD CORN ( copy & paste )

Have you noticed how all of life is connected? You probably know about the relationship between honey ants (farm ants) and aphids. The ants can't seem to get enough of the tasty honey dew left behind by aphids, those tiny sap-sucking insects probably living in your garden. These two insects have a fascinating relationship. In exchange for all the sugary treats aphids deposit on leaves, the ants wage fierce battle against wasps, beetles and spiders that try to dine on aphids for lunch. As those aphids keep their ant friends happy, the ants keep their aphid buddies alive. Everyone wins, except the plants, of course.

The ants do better because of the aphids. The aphids do better because of the ants. It's a relationship called mutualism, and the rest of us could probably take a lesson. People, too, succeed best when they help others out.

James Bender, in his book How to Talk Well (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1994), illustrates how it benefits to everyone when we mutually help each other. He relates a story of a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his best corn in the regional fair where it won a blue ribbon.

One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him to learn about how he grew blue-ribbon corn year after year. The reporter discovered something interesting. He learned that the farmer actually shared his best seed corn with his neighbors.

"How can you afford to share your best seeds with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition against yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

It's a simple and important principle. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves. He cannot succeed simply by watching out for Number One. He succeeds best by helping his neighbors succeed. That's mutualism.

And I am aware that it goes for me, too. Do I want to succeed? Then I must help others to succeed.

Do I want to live in peace and harmony? Then I need to help my neighbors also live in peace, and the very peace they experience will add to my own.

Do I want to live meaningfully and well? Then I should help to enrich the lives of others, for my own happiness and well-being is bound up in the lives I touch.

In other words, if I want to grow good corn, I need to help my neighbors grow good corn. Call it mutualism. Call it a principle of success. Call it a law of life. I only know that none of us truly wins until we all win.

WHO IS YOUR PILOT?? (copy & paste)

The priest was on a long flight home after a conference. The first warning of approaching problems came when the ‘Fasten your seat belts’ sign flashed on.

After a while a calm voice said," we shall not be serving beverages as we are expecting a little turbulence." The priest looked around and saw that many of the passengers were looking apprehensive.

Later the voice thru the intercom said,” we are so sorry that we are unable to serve meals ; the turbulence is still ahead of us.”

And then the storm broke.

Later,  the thunder could be heard even above the roar of the engines. Lightning lit up the darkening skies, and within moments, the plane was tossed around. One moment it was lifted on terrific currents of air, the next it fell as if about to crash.

As the priest looked around, all the passengers looked alarmed - except one little girl. She sat calmly, looking at pictures in a book, oblivious of the turbulence around her. Sometimes she would close her eyes and then she would go back to her book.

The storm blew over.

When the plane landed and the passengers were disembarking , the priest approached the little girl and asked her why she was not afraid like the other passengers. The little girl replied,” because my Daddy is pilot and he’s taking me home”.

There are many storms that buffet us – physical, mental, financial, domestic and other storms that can darken our skies and may throw us into turmoil. Like the little girl, let us always remember:

"Our father is the Pilot. He is in control. He will take us Home."

The soul & the body (copy & paste)

The Relationship Between The Soul And The Body – Explained With Interesting Examples

Human being means the consciousness, the soul or being (living energy), experiencing life through the physical body, the human (non-living). The body is perishable and temporary, whereas the soul is eternal and without physical dimension.
• The soul is the driver; the body is the car.
• The soul is the actor; the body is its costume.
• The soul is a diamond; the body is the jewelry box.
• The soul is the musician; the body is the instrument.
• The soul is the guest; the body is the hotel.
• The soul is the deity; the body is the temple.


I can use a knife to chop vegetables. I can use the same knife to kill someone. The knife neither decides (outwards) nor experiences (inwards), but can be washed easily under water. Now look at the fingers which held the knife. They neither decide nor experience the actions. They too can be washed under water. It's easy to realize that the knife is an instrument, but it is more difficult to realize that the fingers as well as the arms are instruments too. The legs are instruments for walking, the eyes for seeing, the ears for hearing, the mouth for speaking, the tongue for tasting, the heart for pumping food and oxygen (via blood) around the body, and so on. Even the brain is an instrument used like a computer to express all thought, word and action programs through the body and to experience the results. If every physical part of the body is an instrument, who or what is it that is using this instrument? Very simply it is "I", the self, the soul. The soul uses the word "I" for itself and the word "my" when referring to the body; my hands, my eyes, my brain, etc. I am different from my body.

Baggage allowance

What is my baggage allowance???

With most airlines its a definite number

In the movie UP IN THE AIR, there was a magic bag pack which would take anything , but then not easy to carry

In life there is no limit and we keep collecting baggage - physical & emotional

There is a saying those who travel on faith , travel the lightest...

Where no one can see

Once a master teaching children gave them all a banana and said go, eat it where no one can see.

So one kid went inside a small room.
Another went to a tree house
One went inside a tent
Then one put a blanket over him and ate his banana
Some one hid under a desk
And then there were others who went under the bed or on the roof top etc

One ate it with his eyes closed and claimed that he was in a place where there was no one & he closed his own eyes as well.

But some came back without eating the banana. When the teacher asked why they did not eat , this is what they said

A. If I don't eat it then no one has seen me eat it!!!
B. But God was watching me everywhere!!!!!!!!

Where is God

Usually when this question is asked the answer is everywhere. God is omnipresent. All pervasive and so on...

But here is how to remember this as said by a learned person

1. Look back and be grateful to God for what you have or achieved or become or learnt
2. Look forward and hope God will always be with you
3. Look besides and see God walking/working with you
4. Look within to search for God
5. Look beyond and realise its only GOD everywhere!!!!

The flame and the breeze

Have you observed how the flame flickers when there is a whiff of wind, the candle struggles to keep the flame going. A little help from anywhere helps the flame stabilise.

Now the flame is you , the wind is the disturbances around you on the spiritual journey & the help comes from the God and from many of his conduits

Now if we have to keep our flame going , then we need to protect it from the disturbances. If we keep it in an almost protected room then the light will not reach others!!! so if we keep in say glass box, it will let the light out but will run out of oxygen!!! now if we kind of ring fence it with a glass chimney then the light will be shared & the flame will continue ...and the catch is that this shield needs to be always clean & almost not visible...


We have to live in worldly world, keep the flame going, and protect the flame with an almost invisible shield that lets the light out, but does not let the disturbances in. This shield is the knowledge of the Gita.

When have you arrived?

We often say "Oh, he has arrived in life"

In the cosmopolitan sense this phrase is heard when someone has bought a house or a fancy car or other materialistic things

This morning I met a lady who said, in the spiritual sense ..

Is it when you want no more money
or when you want no more cars or wealth
or when you want no more relationships
or no more responsibilities ....

In her words its when you really want NO MORE and you want to KNOW MORE!!!!!

Sun & Moon

In the solar system we give great importance to Sun & Moon.

In our religious rituals also they have a significant spot.

WHY??
The Sun is the largest, oldest, perennial source of energy which enables life on Earth. Our environment and plants etc and hence our food and as a result our body can exists , thanks to the Sun.

The Moon that cause tides in the ocean and some times high tidal waves is directly connect with us as we are made up of 70+% water. And Moon reflects the sunlight!

Depending on our physical health , our mental attitudes reflect our situation.

Are we happy b'coz we are well, or are we well b'coz we are happy????

Well as some knowledgeable person said, the Sun is the Lord of our body and the Moon is the Lord of our mind.

Soft is Strong

We usually think that soft is weak.

 

But we have heard that soft women when needed can be stronger than most men around them.

 

Air & water are in gaseous /liquid state , but can erode the rocks in solid state.

 

Air finds its way into many so called air tight containers.

 

Water tight compartments are penetrated by water / a leakage by a small lapse.

Think about it.

Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong

Krishna & Butter

We all have seen pictures of Krishna enjoying butter & stories of Krishna stealing butter.

But why butter?

Is it because he loved cows? Then why not milk or yoghurt ??

Cows represent the satvik qualities - white, calm, caring and so on.

Well butter is the outcome of churning milk/cream/yoghurt.

So to reach Krishna the output from the satvik cow, goes thru the various stages and needs to go thru the churning process and then it reaches Krishna.

Now maybe when we see / think of Krishna and butter, we may have a new perspective.

Another way to understand is that Krishna used to steal butter. What does this signify? Butter is the final product of a process: the milk is first made into curd and then the curd that is well churned becomes butter. And like milk or curd, life is the process of churning through so many events, happenings and instances. Finally butter comes out, which is the saintliness in you

FIR

We know how well we are doing on teh spiritual path by the FIR test

• F - frequency of
• reading scriptures
• being in satsang
• thinking of the learnings
• swaying away & becoming aware
• I - intensity of
• desire to read more
• go for a stasang
• go deeper in the knowledge
• being disturbed
• R - revisit / repeat / revise /recovery
• the chapter read
• going to satsang of such groups
• revise the knowledge
• recover from the disturbances

Try it....it does work to help us move on

Passion & Gita

Yesterday I watched a Kathak performance by the Maestro - Pandit Birju Maharaj & his disciples.
They were all very passionate about the dance form and it was a treat to witness their performances.

Birju Maharaj & his troupe , demonstrated the creation of various scenes with the bells tied on his / their feet  -  A peacock rain dance, ducks in a pond, a hockey game, geometric sequences and much more. it was an amazing experience.

But what I really want to share is that he said he saw dance in everything. He sees the combination of rhythm & movement in everything from signing on documents to typing on lap tops to playing ball and in opening window. And he works to recreate the scenes with the rhythm & movement in the dances that he composes. And its his passion for the dance which enables him to see dance everywhere and he works very hard to share it with others.

Its said when you are passionate about something you can connect everything around you to that subject.

Wish I had the passion for Gita knowledge to that extent - to see the Gita principles around  & to be able to translate them to others in a form that they can appreciate & enjoy and then make the connection.

Praying & Waiting!

Gita in Bollywood movies

All movies have some element of Gita in it. We just have to look for it.

1. Om Shanti Om

- what we wish for or want, becomes a vasana & we come back to complete it / live it. Om wished to be born son of a rich guy with luxuries...remember & behold ...there is a mention that the life we lead & events that happen we have wished for them in the past

- for a good casue the cosmos helps you when you ask ...the famous bottle award speech

2. Agneepath

- In new version the villian repeatedly talks about Atma not dying while killing someone
- Only the one who is stronger can forgive the weak ( physical, financially ...depending on circumstances)

The trees & oxygen

The cost of Oxygen. A very interesting perspective!

In one day a human being breathes oxygen equivalent to three cylinders.
Each oxygen cylinder on an average costs Rs 700, without subsidy.
So in a day one uses Oxygen worth Rs 2100 and for a full year it is Rs
7,66,500.  If we consider an average life span of 65 years; the costs of oxygen we use
become a staggering sum of Rs 500,00,000. Rs 50 million. Thats a million USD!!!!

All this oxygen is derived free of cost from the surrounding trees.

Imagine having to pay for the air we breathe!!!!

Very few people look at trees as a resource and there is rampart tree
cutting going on everywhere which should stop.

Please care for trees.  In olden times there was a saying if you cut a tree your family will be cursed unless you plant 7 new trees. A very simple way to preserve the enviorenment.

In the Gita there is a mention that nature is doing its duty endlessly of providing is sunshine, oxygen , water and som much more. Without expecting anything in return.

The least we can do is respect nature and and learn selflessness from it.