We are more than this body...

We are trained since our childhood to take good care of our health(physical) and our belongings . We like doing many things.... like indulging in different variety of foods, buying stylish clothes, watching good cinema, going for party and many other things we do just to satisfy our outer or physical needs.
But I wonder why do we not accept people when they die. here by accepting I mean why can't we show same love, same care, same behavior for a dead body of our loved one.... When we say a person is no more... what is there that is no more.... his/her body is in front of you lying still on the ground..... then why do we say a person has died........ ???? This means that there is something more than body in us.... that we call mind (soul ).
Once we recognize the real part of us, then we need to check what we are doing for that portion of ourselves in this life.....
Nature of our mind is love and kindness, when we were child our body wanted to grow and our mind wanted to expand, to reach more people.... we all were very friendly and loving in our childhood , even to strangers we would have passed smile and made friends....
But we were nourished in such a way that only our body grew but true nature of mind shrinked as the time passed..... Now we are so closed that we raise doubts even if somebody loves us or wants to help us , we try hard to find others ulterior motives, we always think for ourself first, we have ill-will for others.
This is happening with all of us and will continue to happen until we stop and think for a while that there is need for nourishment for our mind also......
There is need to calm down the mind, control the negative aspect of mind(which is selfishness within us).There are many spiritual paths .... which can work on our mind and make it more happy , contented, loving and kind for all. We need to search it.....

True Happiness.....

True happiness is not something that can be brought by money.... sometimes the poor people are more happy and enjoying their life more than the rich ones......
Today I talked with my maid and came to know that she and her husband after 14-15 years of marriage still eat together both the meals..... I was wondering that how happy she is...... she even laughs more than me...... she looks like contented.....
On the other side....... we are so much determined to make so much of money that in the process we miss many small pleasures of life...
I was reading a book "The monk who sold his ferrari" By Robin Sharma and got something very interesting......it says.... " The moment I stopped spending so much time chasing the big pleasures of life, I began to enjoy the little ones, like watching the stars dancing in moonlit sky or soaking in the sunbeams of a glorious summer morning "
And it's really true........

True value of money.....

One day my husband asked a question.... If every one (human) on this earth is given a huge amount of money and asked not to come for work just stay at home and enjoy then how will it be ????
When, everyone has a lot of money and no worry to go for work.... then neither farmers will go to their farms.... vegetables, grains and other things will not be cultivated , business person , shopkeepers etc. will not open their shops ....we may not get food (neither from store not from restaurant) clothes, books, electronic items, cinemas, malls,schools, colleges, jewelery shops,recreation centers.. everything will be closed..... Now we have money but don't have the things to spend it on.... then we may realize the true value of money.
Money in itself is nothing...... if one day whole world stops working then there is no value of money...
Money is valuable only because we work...... otherwise it's just a piece of paper.... which we cannot eat , can't drink, can't wear , it can't provide shelter, we can't play with, ,they can't provide us knowledge ...... nothing can be done with it.

Shifted House....

Sometimes I think what is more important -- money/valuables or happiness/life of a living being , well if the choice is between our money and our loved ones life,,, then surely life/happiness will be more important to us rather than money..... but if the choice is between our money/valuables and life of others(who are not closely related to us) then we may give more importance to our money.
Recently I shifted my house. I was quite happy with the guys(movers & packers) work .... they were putting all their effort .... packing and moving such heavy things(furniture and interiors etc.) from second floor all by stairs is not easy , and even I felt pity on them that I am paying much but they may get less as the company owner will take more profit from that......
They wrapped all the crockery items into paper then put them into the cartons ....suddenly a thought arise in my mind..... what if he dropped that carton and all my crockery gets broken.... he didn't do that but It's quite natural that if he would have done that....most of us in that case would have got angry and asked the person to work properly.... and all the pity feeling would have gone..
This happens when we are paying for somebody's work..... we think that they are working only for money(which is true) and good behavior from our side towards them is a bonus... if they do their work without any error then they may deserve the bonus otherwise no bonus for them ... which is wrong.... because if we compare money to any living being.... living being is always more precious..... because money in itself is nothing....
(I am not sure that it happens in developed countries also.... but in developing countries and other poor countries.... I guess it happens...)

Remembering Neha Tyagi............

Very shocked to know that one of my old friend is no more.......... as I heard the news questions arised...... she was too young to die naturally.......
She was very friendly , very sweet , very helpful girl..... I still remember.... when I got chicken pox in 10th standard......she was the only girl to visit me in the hospital (where i was admitted).... other friends and roommates were so scared to get infection from me.... so they ... (I guess )came only once... but this girl came to see me daily in evenings.... and read all the notes loudly to me ,sitting a meter or 2 away from me...( we were in hostel , and 10th grade exams were scheduled )... Our hostel was far from hospital... this girl came regularly riding her bicycle.... sometimes twice a day...
That time she proved that she is the real friend in need..........
I know that if it was not me somebody else was admitted in the hospital she would have gone and helped her with the same friendliness........ Because it was her nature..... always friendly ready to help... smiling......always.........
She was a die heart Shahrukh fan.... We teased her a lot for that.......
Later , we moved into different directions in life..... but one thing I can say very confidently... that she can't make any enemy............

The most shocking news is that ...she was poisoned..........

What is Yoga?

Yoga is not mere a physical exercise , which helps you to keep fit , it is more than that. Yoga is a lifestyle. If we see only aasana as yoga , we are looking at very small portion of Yoga , Ashtanga Yoga. As it is clear from the name itself, Ashtanga yoga has eight limbs -
1. Yama (Universal moral commandments)
2. Niyama (Self purification by discipline)
3. Aasana (Posture)
4.Praanaayaam (Rhythmic control of breath)
5.Pratyaahaar (Withdrawl and emancipation of mind from the domination of the senses and exterior world)
6.Dhaarana (concentration)
7. Dhyaana (Meditation)
8. Samaadhi (State of super consciousness brought about by profound meditation , in which the individual asipant becomes one with the object of his meditation-Parmaatma or universal spirit)

Literal meaning of Yoga is joining or union . It is union of oneself with the ultimate reality.And when one gets realization of ultimate reality then s/he is liberated from the cycle of death & birth.

The best way to practice Dharma...

One should not practice dharma only in temples or in the company of our loved ones, the real practice can be done in unfavorable conditions ,in front of people whom we do not like much , in our offices, schools , colleges , in shopping malls, playgrounds..... or I must say everywhere.
When we are with our family , friends or loved ones or when we are in good mood it becomes easy to show compassion , generosity , morality and all the positive vibes but becomes difficult otherwise.
But when we habituate ourselves with these qualities , it becomes possible to respond everyone with same compassion , generosity and wisdom without being partial to anyone.

Current scenario..........

Where are we heading to ??? No fresh air , no clean water (some places it is -- no water), no natural fruits veggies, no trees & plants...... What will we pass on to next generation? Its really pathetic situation.

Karnataka invited many companies / production houses for business , its a welcome move, but can we see the other aspect also --what effect they will put on the deteriorating condition of environment. They will pollute air , water , increase carbon emission and may be many other things which we can not foresee now.
How to handle these situations?

How can we prevent losing our green cover-trees

Most of the time we complain about losing green cover, cutting down of trees , woods etc. But have we ever thought why this green cover is being vanished by humans so fast. I must say that this is demand of modern world. Directly or indirectly we are consuming it, in many ways.
Now let us see that if the woods are being cut , where it goes majorly---
1) They are cut to make place for the new buildings (may be office or apartment or mall) to be build up, so that the increasing population may get shelter or job or their daily necessity things.

2) They are cut to make furniture , it is one of our need.

3) Many trees beside the roads are cut to broaden the road , to accommodate the increasing number of vehicles on the road.

4) Trees are cut for making papers and many other similar kind of products.

These consumption areas are not new, people have been cutting wood for long time for the same requirement but we are losing more trees now than before. The reason for losing more greenery now is---
1) Increasing population-- If the population will increase , demands/needs will also increase. For satisfying these needs more resources(trees) will be required.

2) Consumerism-- Few things we do not buy just because we need them but we buy them to build our status symbol or to satisfy the greed within us.A person may have more than one flat, more than one car(or any other vehicle) though at a time we can use only one of them .This tendency of possessing more things than we actually need may directly or indirectly relate to cutting of more trees (to produce more, more resources are required).

3) Plantation-- There is a huge difference between the ratio of cutting down and plantation of trees.
We can try to equalize this ratio by planting more trees around. If all of us plant at least one plant/tree on all the big occasions of our life(Birthday, festival, anniversary etc) , then we could achieve our goal.
And, when we are constructing our house or apartment then we can leave at least 1/3 or 1/4 of total area just for trees or kitchen garden. More open area , more trees/plants can be planted.

4) Use paper efficiently-- We can wisely use paper products to save our trees.
We should make our habit to carry handkerchief(cloth) and restrain use of paper towels.
If we use paper for writing we should check that it is fully utilized before turning to other page.

If we are not able to save the trees from cutting , through this way we can prevent the number of trees really falling down.

Self Analysis.........

Just take at least 2 minutes off from your busy schedule for self analysis. This self analysis should not be as a professional or spouse or as a parent or as a friend. This self analysis should be as a human. Just think ---
1)how many lies you told today , how many people you hurt (emotionally or may be physically) , how many people are there in your hate list, how many times you wished for fall of others.
2) how many people you help today , how many times you controlled your anger and negative emotions towards yourself and others, how many times you wished for success and happiness for others.
Analyze these points and try to reduce point 1 qualities and increase point 2 qualities, next moment onwards. And when you have removed all negativity from your mind for self and others and developed love and compassion for all living being , then imagine how wonderful your life would be.
Like this we can lead our journey of life happily and peacefully.

Something Missing in life .......

Have you ever thought when we think, that we have all the things(worldly) in life like handsome money ,caring family -children,good home, good friends & good job then also why many of us feel sometime that still something is missing from our life , there is something which we need but we don't know what exactly we want. Why sometimes any of our accessories , gadgets , friends , family do not attract us and instead we want to sit alone for few moments....Sometimes when we are busy we do not feel that but sometimes when we are alone, or may be in a crowd ,we can feel that emptiness.
Great ones say that spirituality is basic requirement for every human being. (The problem is very few of us can relate this emptiness to spirituality otherwise most of us try to fill that empty space again with worldly things like accessories , gadgets, food , friends etc.) If you are fulfilling that(spiritual) demand you may feel contented but if spirituality is lacking from your life you will feel that emptiness.
Now the question arises what is spirituality? Usually We mix up spirituality with religion. But spirituality is far ahead than being religious.
A person may not wear saffron clothes , s/he may not visit temples regularly or s/he may not have beads garland, but still s/he can be spiritual because s/he knows the truth of life. They know - who really are they , what is the purpose of their life and they always remember that.
There are various paths to spirituality and meditation is one of them.
Meditation , usually we think can be done by sitting quietly in a peaceful place. But this is not the only type of meditation. There are many kinds of meditation. That I will try to explain in my next post.