Nirvana

Yes, there is Nirvana;
It is in leading your sheep to a green pasture,
And in putting your child to sleep;
And in writing the last line of your poem.

-- Kahlil Gibran

The Server and the Served

We need to look at service as not only the one who gives but also the one who receives. For there must be a receiver in order to serve.

God is in the business of service. But in order to be in business, He needs people receiving the service -- and that's us. Looking at service this way, we have to say that both the server and the served are one.

-- John-Roger with Paul Kaye

Another View :

At the beginning, mankind and the obligation of selfless service were created together. "Through selfless service, you will always be fruitful and find the fulfillment of your desires": this is the promise of the Creator....Every selfless act, Arjuna, is born from the eternal, infinite Godhead. God is present in every act of service. All life turns on this law…Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal in life. Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind. It was by such work that Janaka attained perfection; others, too, have followed this path. The ignorant work for their own profit, Arjuna; the wise work for the welfare of the world, without thought to themselves. By abstaining from work you will confuse the ignorant, who are engrossed in their actions. Perform all work carefully, guided by compassion.

-- Hinduism (Bhagavad Gita 3.10-26)

BALANCE SHEET OF LIFE

Our Birth is our Opening Balance!
Our Death is our Closing Balance!
Our Prejudiced Views are our Liabilities
Our Creative Ideas are our Assets

Heart is our Current Asset
Soul is our Fixed Asset
Brain is our Fixed Deposit
Thinking is our Current Account

Achievements are our Capital
Character & Morals, our Stock-in-Trade
Friends are our General Reserves
Values & Behaviour are our Goodwill

Patience is our Interest Earned
Love is our Dividend
Children are our Bonus Issues
Education is Brands / Patents

Knowledge is our Investment
Experience is our Premium Account
The Aim is to Tally the Balance Sheet Accurately.
The Goal is to get the Best Presented Accounts Award.
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Some very Good and Very bad things ..
The most destructive habit....... ........ ......Worry
The greatest Joy......... ......... ......... ....Giving
The greatest loss..................Loss of self-respect

The most satisfying work......... ........Helping others
The ugliest personality trait....... .......Selfishness
The most endangered species..... ....Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource.... ......... ......Our youth

The greatest 'shot in the arm'........ .Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome.... ......... ...Fear
The most effective sleeping pill....... Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease...... .......Excuses

The most powerful force in life........ ........... Love
The most dangerous act...... .A gossip
The world's most incredible computer.... ....The brain
The worst thing to be without..... ......... ..... Hope

The deadliest weapon...... ........ .........The tongue
The two most power-filled words....... .... 'I Can'
The greatest asset....... .......... ......... ...........Faith
The most worthless emotion.... .......... ....Self- pity

The most beautiful attire...... ......... .........SMILE!
The most prized possession.. ........ .....Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication. ..Prayer
The most contagious spirit...... ......... ......Enthusiasm

Life ends; when you stop Dreaming,
Hope ends; when you stop Believing,
Love ends; when you stop Caring,
And Friendship ends; when you stop Sharing...!!!

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"He who wherever he goes is attached to no person and to no place by ties of flesh; who accepts good and evil alike, neither welcoming the one nor shrinking from the other, take it that such a one has attained Perfection".
-- Bhagavad Gita (c. B.C. 400)

Do Not Be A Victim!!

"We focus on the negatives, losing ourselves in the ‘problem.’ We point to our unhappy circumstances to rationalize our negative feelings. This is the easy way out. It takes, after all, very little effort to feel victimized."

-- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Peace of Mind

Beautiful Thought by Lord Buddha:

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were travelling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples,
"I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there."


The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that right at that moment,
a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, "How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!"

So he came back and told Buddha,
"The water in there is very muddy. I don't think it is fit to drink."
After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake.

This time too he found that the lake was muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same.
After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back.

The disciple reached the lake
to find the lake absolutely clean and clear with pure water in it. The mud had settled down
and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said," See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be.... and the mud settled down on its own - and you got clear water.

Your mind is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don't have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. "It is effortless."


Having 'Peace of Mind' is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process!

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If only we could teach ourselves

A lesson old and true -

To let tomorrow wait until the dawn

comes breaking through -

If only we could go to sleep without

an anxious thought,

Instead of a host of unknown

worries getting caught -

If only we could look back every

night upon the past

And measure the anxieties that

came, but didn't last.

If only we could count our anxious

miseries again

And realize how many of them

troubled us in vain.

Why, then we'd rest more peacefully

and let our fears abate

We'd do the best we could each day

And let tomorrow wait.

-- Russ Tyson

Polishing the Diamond

"We plant merit with our minds, and we commit crimes with our minds. With our minds, we imprint images. This one mind is like an artist. It can draw anything, and what it draws is realized. If you surrender your impressions, ideas, thoughts, and so on at the moment they arise without imprinting them on your mind, your minds will not be tainted, just as the lotus flower is not tainted by the muddy water whence it grows."

--Jae Woong Kim

The Supreme Principle

"What good is a man's knowledge unless it prompts him to prevent the pain of others as if it were his own pain? Any actions which a man knows would harm himself he should not inflict on others.

The supreme principle is this: Never knowingly harm anyone at any time in any way."

-- Tirukkural 32: 315-317

YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry.

Two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is yesterday with its mistakes and cares,

Its faults and blunders, Its aches and pains.

Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control.

All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday.

We cannot undo a single act we performed.

We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone.

The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow.

With its possible adversities, Its burdens,

Its large promise and poor performance.

Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control.

Tomorrow's Sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds,

but it will rise.

Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn.

This just leaves only one day . . . Today.


Any person can fight the battles of just one day.

It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternity's -

yesterday and tomorrow that we break down.

It is not the experience of today that drives people mad.

It is the remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday

and the dread of what tomorrow may bring.
Let us therefore live but one day at a time.

~ Author Unknown ~

Greater Blessings

Regardless of what is confronting you or the difficulty you face in any moment, you always have the opportunity to change and direct your choices into greater blessings.

Your choice for greater blessings always begins with you.

-- John Morton

When the Heart Speaks

"When you are aware that you are the force that is Life, anything is possible. Miracles happen all the time, because those miracles are performed by the heart. The heart is in direct communion with the human soul, and when the heart speaks, even with the resistance of the head, something inside you changes; your heart opens another heart, and true love is possible."

-- Don Miguel Ruiz

Our Attitudes

The big key for me was when I realized I could shift my attitude, that I was fully responsible for myself, no matter what the weather was like or what the people around me were doing. And I am still responsible for what I create for myself, moment by moment.

I am also the one in control of my creation, as you are the one in control of yours!

Nothing has to be labeled "Good" or "Bad."
It is all in your Attitude;
It is all in your Approach.

-- John-Roger

Leaders and Cowards

Leaders in any organization are those who say,
"Let's get going;
Let's do something...
Rather than wait around to see what happens."

Cowards,however,will never taste SUCCESS....

So, Beat your Fears!
Just do it!!
A little more than yesterday!!

You are a born Winner;
Have a "Winning Attitude" in Life...
And you will be a Champion!!

Saint Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that
has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to
sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us..
--Saint Theresa

Wealth

"Wealth is a dependable lamp whose light, reaching every imaginable land, dispels darkness. Wealth that is acquired by proper means in a manner that harms none will yield both virtue and happiness. Do not embrace but rather eschew wealth that is acquired without compassion and love." - Tirukkural 76:753-55

PRAYERS

"INCESSANT IN PRAYERYou should consequently strive to be incessant in prayer, and in the midst of your corporal practices do not abandon it. Whether you eat, or drink, or speak, or converse with lay people, or do anything else, you should always do so with desire for God and with your heart fixed on him. This is very necessary for inner solitude, which demands that the soul dismiss any thought that is not directed to God". -St. John of the Cross

Revelation, the communion between God and man, is potentially continuous, but we must yearn to experience it. When eating, drinking, working, the Baal Shem directed, take care that all should be `for the sake of God'.
-Rabbi Asher Block in `The Spiritual Athlete'

"Celtic spirituality was a practice in which ordinary people in their daily lives took the tasks that lay to hand but treated them sacramentally, as pointing to a greater reality which lay beyond them. Essentially this is a spirituality which asks of us a return to greater awareness. What the Celtic understanding brings us is the chance to break down the barrier between the active and the contemplative life and instead to make the busy, boring, relentless daily life tasks the basis for continuous praying and for finding the presence of God".
-Esther de Waal, `Weavings'


My Daily Prayer

Dear God
Grant me serenity of mind
To see life as it is
The courage to meet
Every thought with understanding
And the wisdom to discern
The unreal from the real.
Amen

In Love and Peace,
Dehyana

EARTH AS A SCHOOL....

The Earth is a School with a Million Grades.

Grades are not always attended in sequential order.

We go through a Grade or Experience
whenever the Circumstances in the World
are suitable to teach us that certain Lesson.

One of the most difficult Lessons to learn
is that we are the Creator.

Every Time we leave our Body at so called Death
and we feel good about ourselves
we are ready for a more Mature Lesson.

OUR LIVES ARE THE MILESTONES OF PROGRESS

There can be no higher purpose than to know the ONE who has made you and to enjoy HIM forever.

God's choicest blessings be upon you and your loved ones always.

Sue Divine

BE A BLESSING

A STORY WORTH SHARING HERE.......THANKS TO INTERNET!!!

The man slowly looked up. This was a woman clearly accustomed to the finer things of life. Her coat was new. She looked like she had never missed a meal in her life. His first thought was that she wanted to make fun of him, like so many others had done before.

"Leave me alone," he growled... To his amazement, the woman continued standing. She was smiling -- her even white teeth displayed in dazzling rows.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"No," he answered sarcastically. "I've just come from dining with the president.. Now go away."

The woman's smile became even broader.


Suddenly the man felt a gentle hand under his arm.. "What are you doing, lady?" the man asked angrily. "I said to leave me alone.


Just then a policeman came up. "Is there any problem, ma'am?" he asked..

"No problem here, officer," the woman answered. "I'm just trying to get this man to his feet. Will you help me?"

The officer scratched his head. "That's old Jack.. He's been a fixture around here for a couple of years. What do you want with him?"
"See that cafeteria over there?" she asked. "I'm going to get him something to eat and get him out of the cold for awhile."

"Are you crazy, lady?" the homeless man resisted. "I don't want to go in there!" Then he felt strong hands grab his other arm and lift him up.
"Let me go, officer. I didn't do anything.."


"This is a good deal for you, Jack," the officer answered. "Don't blow it."
Finally, and with some difficulty, the woman and the police officer got Jack into the cafeteria and sat him at a table in a remote corner. It was the middle of the morning, so most of the breakfast crowd had already left and the lunch bunch had not yet arrived.

The manager strode across the cafeteria and stood by his table. "What's going on here, officer?" he asked."What is all this, is this man in trouble?"


"This lady brought this man in here to be fed," the policeman answered..

"Not in here!" the manager replied angrily. "Having a person like that here is bad for business."

Old Jack smiled a toothless grin. "See, lady. I told you so. Now if you'll let me go. I didn't want to come here in the first place."


The woman turned to the cafeteria manager and smiled. "Sir, are you familiar with Eddy and Associates, the banking firm down the street?"


"Of course I am," the manager answered impatiently. "They hold their weekly meetings in one of my banquet rooms."

"And do you make a goodly amount of money providing food at these weekly meetings?"

"What business is that of yours?"

I, sir, am Penelope Eddy, president and CEO of the company..."
"Oh..."

The woman smiled again.. "I thought that might make a difference."
She glanced at the cop who was busy stifling a laugh. "Would you like to join us in a cup of coffee and a meal, officer?"

"No thanks, ma'am," the officer replied. "I'm on duty.."

"Then, perhaps, a cup of coffee to go?"

"Yes, ma'am. That would be very nice."

The cafeteria manager turned on his heel. "I'll get your coffee for you right away, officer."

The officer watched him walk away. "You certainly put him in his place," he said.
"That was not my intent... Believe it or not, I have a reason for all this."


She sat down at the table across from her amazed dinner guest. She stared at him intently.

"Jack, do you remember me?"

Old Jack searched her face with his old, rheumy eyes. "I think so -- I mean you do look familiar."

"I'm a little older perhaps," she said. "Maybe I've even filled out more than in my younger days when you worked here, and I came through that very door, cold and hungry."


"Ma'am?" the officer said questioningly. He couldn't believe that such a magnificently turned out woman could ever have been hungry.

"I was just out of college," the woman began. "I had come to the city looking for a job, but I couldn't find anything. Finally I was down to my last few cents and had been kicked out of my apartment. I walked the streets for days. It was February and I was cold and nearly starving. I saw this place and walked in on the off chance that I could get something to eat."

Jack lit up with a smile. "Now I remember," he said. "I was behind the serving counter. You came up and asked me if you could work for something to eat. I said that it was against company policy."

"I know," the woman continued. "Then you made me the biggest roast beef sandwich that I had ever seen, gave me a cup of coffee, and told me to go over to a corner table and enjoy it. I was afraid that you would get into trouble. Then, when I looked over and saw you put the price of my food in the cash register, I knew then that everything would be all right."

"So you started your own business?" Old Jack said.
"I got a job that very afternoon. I worked my way up.. Eventually I started my own business that, with the help of God, prospered.." She opened her purse and pulled out a business card. "When you are finished here, I want you to pay a visit to a Mr. Lyons. He's the personnel director of my company.. I'll go talk to him now and I'm certain he'll find something for you to do around the office."
She smiled. "I think he might even find the funds to give you a little advance so that you can buy some clothes and get a place to live until you get on your feet. If you ever need anything, my door is always open to you."

There were tears in the old man's eyes. "How can I ever thank you?" he asked.
"Don't thank me," the woman answered. "To God goes the glory. He led me to you."

Outside the cafeteria, the officer and the woman paused at the entrance before going their separate ways.. "Thank you for all your help, officer," she said.

"On the contrary, Ms. Eddy," he answered. Thank you. I saw a miracle today, something that I will never forget. And...And thank you for the coffee."

Have a Wonderful Day. May God Bless You Always and don't forget that when you "cast your bread upon the waters," you never know how it will be returned to you. God is so big He can cover the whole world with his Love and so small He can curl up inside your heart.


When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go.
Only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He'll catch you when you fall, or He'll teach you how to fly!

The power of one sentence! God is going to shift things around for you today and let things work in your favor. If you believe, send it. If you don't believe, delete it.

God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close..
If you need God to open some doors for you...send this on.

Have a blessed day and remember to be a blessing

Spirituality-A Way of Life

When we contemplate the diversity of spiritual traditions on this planet, we can understand that each addresses the specific needs of different human beings, because there is so much diversity in human mentality and spiritual inclination. Yet, fundamentally, all spiritual traditions perform the same function, which is to help us tame our mental state, overcome our negativities and perfect our inner potential.

-- The 14th Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso)


Spirituality consists in forgetting worldly concerns and immersing oneself in God. This means sanctifying every action in life, whether it be talking or walking or anything else.

-- Sathya Sai Baba

Faith & Attitude

Happiness keeps you Sweet
Trials keep you Strong
Sorrow keeps you Human
Failure keeps you humble

and
Success keeps you glowing,
but only Faith & Attitude Keeps you going...!!!

CONTENTMENT

"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, it is the
realization of how much you already have."

When the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.

It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's
also true that! we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

Goals in Life

"There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them.
There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them.
And there’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them!"

-- Jim Rohn