A GOD OF REASON

I have often felt that we have always confused God with religion. Religion is the path that leads to God.  Do we all really understand this statement? Of course we think we do. But it is very deep to be just be mere a statement.

Now let me pen down my understanding….

The statement that "Religion is the path to God" clearly defines the Religion merely as a path and God as the goal. Have we ever given a thought about it or thought about it sincerely? Secondly, what is our aim ....Religion or God?  I think it is not that a simple question. If it was, there would have not been all this bloodshed in the name of Religion and God and our history of mankind supports my logic.  Here first and foremost let me accept and stress over the fact that  i believe firmly in GOD. This faith was not inoculated to me by my parents, society or peers. This faith was earned over a period of time. Now just ponder over some facts such as what do u think of God (please think for a while…). God whom we call omnipotence and believe in his omnipresence and almightiness. There are certainly many who question this belief on its face value. I have formulated my belief on borrowed knowledge, that little knowledge which I have gathered over a period of time which has given me a rational approach in thinking and putting things logically to answer all such questions. Well I cannot blame others who don’t believe in such kind of thought because of some other reasons. Neither I question why somebody keep visiting temples, mosque, church nor other places related to God presence. Similarly keeping fast and evolving one in ritual practices. I don’t consider these things to be wrong but may be their way of realizing the presence of God in their own way.  Probably everybody is right in their own way. The reasons may be beyond their knowledge and they might have their own way of thinking and taking things logically in some other way.  I still remember “When I was a kid and was highly scared of things like ghosts, witches and demons .My mother seeing all this introduced me to Lord Hanuman- the most powerful of all the Hindu gods "Bhoot Pishaach Nikat Nahin Away , Mahavir Jab Naam Sunaway". So at time when other kids hardly uttered Humpty dumpty sat on a wall, I was rhyming whole of the Hanuman Chalisa, which is by heart to me till date .The best thing that happened was... it helped. Now that I was under care and cover of my Lord Hanuman I was afraid no more (it works… this is my belief). I knew my lord was more powerful than those evil forces so  they didn’t  scare me no more .But as soon I entered the adolescence  I could not escape the "ORIGINAL SIN"...the sin of the fruit of knowledge and the outcome was that I started questioning my faith . Whenever I asked to an elder, I was told that even questioning the faith would take me away from God. But I was not convinced. If God wanted me not to question things why did he provide me with this gift of 'thought process' which we call cognitive intelligence? I felt my God wanted me to think and find out answer for myself. So it is not that my faith got stronger if I question it and try to see logic in it rather than not questioning at all? So for these few years of my early adolescence I had a tormented soul ....haunted by these questions .The time when a guy is preoccupied with opposite sex and pimples, I had an additional burden of these questions ( apart from what I said…). And so I looked everywhere  to find  my answers  such as  in books , holy scriptures , in talks of the wise and the religious. But nobody convinced me. But one fine day I understood. I understood why I should believe and why I just not have to imagine God but believe in him. This was not because of some big Gyan or Satsang  but  simply over internet while browsing where I  got a  story  written by somebody which changed my thought forever . I accept the fact   that the story answered many of the questions whose answers I was searching for so long. It was story of a man who had this similar problem like mine “in not being able to believe in presence of God" .One day he meets a holy man and he asks him the very same question. "Where is god"? "Please prove to me that god exists". So this holy man replies "ok I will answer you that but first answer me one simple question? Where in your body are you? The man points to his heart and says here ..."Well that is where your heart is, and a few days back I read in papers that a pig’s heart was transplanted in to a human. So is he less human now?” isn’t?....and like this the man pointed to his various organs and the holy man kept on saying that if he lost that part in accident where would he be ...in that part or rest of the body? So finally the man gets frustrated and replies "Well I am here somewhere and everywhere in my body but I cannot tell you where.”Ah!!! My son" the holy man replied," you are very sure you exist but not where .Similar is the thing with God .You can sometimes even feel him but he is not a form you can place". Such a simple explanation for such a complex problem. So now I had a reason to believe because at times I had felt God ....but now I could place his existence in a way. I believe god is the positive form of life and all feelings are GOD. Love, Brotherhood, Care, Concern- all are different forms of God...while on the other spectrum are malice, jealousy, evil etc which forms the Absolute Zero ...the Saitan (evil). So somewhere between lies whom we call, the Humans. The better persons we are closer are we to God. God is not a single form that is controlling everything. God is the soul of the world. A pat on the shoulder, a warm handshake and even a simple smile can be our little step towards him. So to realize the presence of that GOD the best what we can do is to just make things simple and bring a SMILE on others face. This will be the great way to keep ourselves close to Him...

I am Sorry MOM.(A short story)

As I got up today, I felt the smell of fresh coffee. I woke up to see a cup of coffee with some biscuits kept at my bedside table. This reminded me of home. The old school and college days, when mumma used to wake me up by serving a steaming cup of coffee. The aroma, the taste, so refreshing, still so fresh in my memories.

A sudden thought hit me, “I was in bed, so who prepared this coffee for me? Is it a dream?” I pinched myself and that hurts, which meant I was not dreaming. I walked out of the room with the cup of coffee, in search of my roommate. I asked him whether he prepared that for me, and the answer was YES.

I was relaxed but somehow my heart wanted him to say NO. A no because I wanted to be in a belief that my mom prepared it for me. The whole scene reminded me of mom, and I missed her at that moment. I got ready for the office and all set to leave.

On my way, I was thinking about those days, when mumma used to cook my every meal. All her possible ways by which she could stuff her son. I could not remember any single day when I slept without food. Maggi, chips, biscuits, all junk food was banned and I always cooked maggi when I was sure that mom was not around. But now, I no more enjoy cooking maggi for myself. Almost everyday I eat it, not because I like it, but because I am left with no other option at times.

This very thought brought tears to my eyes and I decided to call up mom. I reached office and gave mom a call. The first thing she asked was, “Is everything alright?”. I was speechless. And I thought, how the time has changed. When I was home with her, she used to nag me by calling after every hour when I was out with friends. In those days she never asked me what was wrong, as she knew that it was my habit even if I got home late and forgot to call. My call at this point of day to her, means that I am in trouble. Time has changed, she is still the same, its me who has changed. But I continued my conversation saying that I just called up to ask how she was, and how are things going on with her. And we continued our conversation. Then suddenly an ice-breaker came when she asked, “Don’t you have any work today?” I was shocked and asked her why she asked that, in reply to which she said, it was almost 30 minutes, I have been talking to her.

I hurriedly ended the conversation saying I have to attend a meeting. I lied to her and deep down I know, she knows that I lied to her but what else can I do? The lady with whom I used to have endless conversations, sleepless nights of gossips… has all ended. I am so occupied with my new life that I forgot to spend few hours with her.

I roll backed the time and thought of every single day that I have not spent with her. This made me realize that there was not a single day when I was busy, busy in a sense to neglect my mom. The lady who gave her whole life just for me, I could not even give her the time that she deserved. I remembered how I used to tell her about all my daily happenings and how I always failed to ask about her day. It left me all in tears. I missed her and missed her to core.

I was feeling ashamed, because it was a cup of coffee that made me realize her presence in my world.

We all are here, away from our family, living with our friends, who are our new family. We spend our lunch time with them gossiping about what’s going in and around, weekends, shopping with them and even festivals as most of us are staying too far from home. And when we call home, we are in a hurry to hang up as most of are BUSY. Are we really that busy?

Think of the lady whom we have left back at home. She still misses her son/daughter at the dining table, although most of us enjoy our meals with our friends and colleagues. She still waits all day just to hear her son/daughter’s voice at the end of the day and we, we spend our time on phone with friends or girlfriend/boyfriend.

Is it really that we don’t have time or is it just we are too busy with our new life?

Why people fall in love?

It is a mystery why we fall in love. It is a mystery how it happens. It is a mystery when it comes. It is a mystery why some love grows and it is a mystery why some love fails. You can analyze this mystery and look for reasons and causes, but you will never do anymore that take the life out of the experience. Just as life itself is more than the sum of the bones and muscles and electrical impulses in the body, love is more than the sum of the interests and attractions and commonalities that two people share. And just as life itself is a gift that comes and goes in its own time, so too, the coming of love must be taken as an unfathomable gift that cannot be questioned in its ways.

Sometimes, hopefully at least once in your life - the gift of love will come to you in full flower. Take hold of it and celebrate it in all inexpressible beauty. This is the dream we all share. More often, it will come and take hold of you, celebrate you for a brief moment, then move on.
When this happen to young people, they too often try to grasp the love and hold it to them, refusing to see that it is a gift that just as freely, moves away. When they fall out of love, or the person they love feels the spirit of love leaving, they try desperately to reclaim the love that is lost rather than accepting the gift for what it was, then moving on.

They want answers where there are no answers. They want to know what is wrong in them that makes the other person no longer love them, or try to get their love to change, thinking that if some small things were different, love would bloom again. They blame their circumstances and say that if they go far away and start a new life, their love will grow.

They try anything to give meaning to what has happened. But there is no meaning beyond the love itself, and until they accept its own mysterious ways, they live in a sea of misery.

You need to know this about love, and accept it. You need to treat what it brings you with kindness. If you find yourself in love with someone who does not love you, be gentle with
yourself. There is nothing wrong with you. Love just didn't choose to rest in the other person's heart.

If you find yourself someone in love with you but you don't love him back, feel honored that love came and called at your door, but gently refuse the gift you cannot return. Do not take advantage; do not cause pain. How you deal with love is how you deal with yourself. All our hearts feel the same pains and joys, even if our lives and ways are different.

If you fall in love with another, and he falls in love with you, and then love chooses to leave, do not try to reclaim it nor to assess blame. Let it go. There is a reason and there is a meaning. You will know in time.

Remember that you don't choose love. Love chooses you. All you can really do is accept it for all its mystery when it comes into your life. Feel the way it fills you to overflowing, then reach out and give it away. Give it back to the person who brought it alive in you. Give it to others who deem it poor in spirit. Give it to the world around you in any way you can. There is where many lovers go wrong. Having been so long without love, they understand love only as a need. They see their hearts as empty places that will be filled by love, and they begin to look at love as something that flows to them rather than from them.

The first blush of new love is filled to overflowing, but as their love cools, they revert to seeing their love as a need. They cease to be someone who generates love and instead become someone who seeks love. They forget that the secret of love is that it is a gift, and that it can be made to grow only by giving it away.

Remember this and keep it to your heart. Love has its time, its own season, its own reason for coming and going. You cannot bribe it or coerce it, or reason it into staying. You can
only embrace it when it arrives and give it away when it comes to you. But if it chooses to leave from your heart or from the heart of your lover, there is nothing you can do and
there is nothing you should do. Love always has been and always will be a mystery. BE GLAD THAT IT CAME TO LIVE FOR A MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE.

Life is A Gift.

There was a blind girl who hated herself just because she’s blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He’s always there for her. She said that if she could only see the world, she would marry her boyfriend.
One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her and then she can see everything, including her boyfriend. Her boyfriend asked her, “now that you can see the world, will you marry me?”The girl was shocked when she saw that her boyfriend is blind too, and refused to marry him. Her boyfriend walked away in tears, and later wrote a letter to her saying. “Just take care of my eyes dear.”This is how human brain changes when the status changed.
Only few remember what life was before, and who’s always been there even in the most painful situations.

This was a simple story but gives a lot of space to think.....

Can some people really recall details of their past lives?

Can some people really recall details of their past lives?

I was pushed on to a quest frequently every time I encountered anything related to rebirth or reincarnation. I wanted to know why it had come to haunt me and one particular question that encourage me to explore - Do the dead actually return?

Well, it reminds me of a fable in the Mahabharata, the Indian epic. If you remember Amba was reborn as Shikhandi to avenge her humiliation by Bhishma and paves the way for his death. Lord Vishnu also incarnated nine times in different forms to fulfill different roles and we are still waiting for his tenth incarnation as kalki.Probably these all are related to punarjana.

The same scriptures further clarify that death is a mere point in the soul's journey to the ultimate goal of life- moksha or liberation from the cycle of life and death. Thus I relate it as the transmigration of the soul as the passage after death of the human or animal soul from a mortal body to a new incarnation in another body of the same or another species. But this network of life is not limited to fables and fantasies. There is several documented evidence of children remembering their past lives. Researchers have found that memories of past lives are most active during childhood, mainly between the ages of three and five.

Many of the movies have story based on rebirth which further encourage me to think why such kind of movies are being made. I differentiate between imagination and reality but such documents or movies that support the concept of rebirth.

Today again I watched a movie named Kudrat. The story of Kudrat was based in the city of Shimla where two lovers were born again. They were separated in their earlier lives by the evil desires of a rich person. How the story unfolds was told very differently but it revolved around the very concept of rebirth.. A true classic movie with a lot of British Era period buildings, atmosphere of the era gone by. It had suspense which chilled me and holded me till the end. The court scenes were ultimate where the issue of rebirth was picked up brilliantly.

To understand reincarnation or rebirth we must know its origins. The Bhagvad Purana states Just as commodities like gold and other articles change hands, a jiva (soul) wanders from one species of existence to another. So we are reborn and get a life in accordance with our past karmas or deeds.

Swami Vivekananda was even more emphatic on the role of free will. He has written that we all have the power to be what we are, and whatever we wish to be, we have the power to make ourselves." If what we are has been the result of our past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act." Most Buddhist sects agree with reincarnation. The Tibetan Book of The Dead describes the soul's passage after death and how it comes back to human form. The story of the Dalai Lama is the best example of children's past life memory. Each of the Dalai Lamas, over many centuries since the birth of the first in 1351 AD, followed the same line.

A little skeptical about this theory, I myself don't know about past lives, but I do agree that karma rebounds. Karma is action and just as whatever seed you sow becomes a plant of that species, so whatever action you perform must give its results.

Are we moving towards Talibanisation of Democracy...

Hi all,

The attack on women @ mangalore pub by some of the members of a self-styled moral police poses a serious thought that Is india moving towards Talibanisation?...why this is happening often in our country..these elements are always in news for wrong reasons..is moral policing be done in such a way.There is no place for such kinds of act in india as it is a democracy and it violates the fundamental rights provided under Article 19 of indian constitution.Moral policing is something which can't be enforced...it comes within and it is the values embibed in one which does/takes care...Abusive and derogatatory words used by such elements on women for that matter is an act of hooliganism and such acts have no place in a civil society.such acts are to be condemned at all cost and the culprits should be punished at the earliest.People who take the law into their own hands should be dealt with severely....

Why Some Relatioship Doesn't work?????

Many times this particular question crops in my mind why some relationship doesn't work???is it the immaturity or being more demanding that is the root cause for strain in the relationship.some arguments,bit verbal fight is part of any relatioship becoz these are necessary to keep it live else will be a dull.But the big question is to what extent...Sometimes it so happens that it becomes very difficult to bring things on  the track...even if somthing in terms of missunderstanding is there then only way out seems to sort out is through dialouge but if there is no dialouge for a long time then what is needed to be done  for a relationship  to work. OR is it right to make a decision that nothing is left in that relation and it  must be understood that this relationship will not work ever AND it is better to leave and move forward....

comments on this is welcome... 

my best friend

My Best Friend ,a step of love, a step of support, a pat on the back and a smile on the face is what a Best Friend is all about. Best friends are not made in one day. It is years of casual friendship that springs into companionship and understanding and make one friend among all others your best pal. The gesture of friendship binds two friends in an invisible thread of commitment that they keep for a lifetime. But like any other relationship, friendship also needs nurturing and taking care of. If you ignore your friends, then you may not find them there after a while. Friends don't just come from anywhere. Friendship happens when you share a common experience, a common interest and an attraction just like any other relationship. Someone must come out first to develop a friendship. So open up to the person whom you like, enjoying talking to and then take relationships to a new height, to the level of close friendship. Keep the channels of communication open. Make your friendship grow by talking your heart out. When friends talk, they reveal their ideas and feelings, and bridge a channel of understanding between them. So keeping talking as there is no better way to make your friendship grow. Just like talking is important to make your friendship grow, in the same way listening is also a very major part of friendship. Listen to your friend from your mind as well as from your heart and then see how quickly you make friends and make many best friends as well. Giving proper attention is one thing that is very much required to make any relationship grow. Give your physical attention, mental attention, and always remember to look into your friends eyes when talking. This helps forms a bond between the two friends. Empathy is identifying with another's feelings. It is seeing life through his/her eyes. Share the feelings that go in a relationship and be a part of each other's life. Words of affirmation always bring two people closer. Giving genuine compliments should be a habit that we should incorporate in all our relationships. So don't overlook your friend's small gestures and praise your best friend in every chance you get. All relationships including friendship are balanced on the scale of equality. One person is  not  always dominant and the other person is not always submissive. So never let the scale tip towards one side. Make your friend feel equal with giving proper respect and time to each other. No matter what's our age, we always need a friend. I think just following these simple steps will make friends stay by your side forever….

 

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter--BIG QUESTION??

Terrorism is often seen as an expression of frustration by an oppressed or subjugated people having no means to carryout an open and conventional war against the subjugating power,organisations promote covert warfare striking at the heart of the enemy.Therefore,the refrain is "one man's terrorist is another man's fighter".