Sunday, January 31, 2010
Inspiring Videos-3: Remembering Gandhiji
January 30 is Gandhi Memorial Day. To commemorate this, I have embedded an inspiring video for your kind perusal.
Grateful thanks to Mukesh Chawla and YouTube.
Grateful thanks to Mukesh Chawla and YouTube.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Inspiring Videos-2: "I have a dream" - Dr Martin Luther King, Jr
Grateful thanks to 'superjsuh' and YouTube.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Milestones-10: January 12
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
Swami Vivekananda was born on January 12, 1863 in Calcutta and attained mahasamadhi on July 4, 1902.
The Government of India in 1984 declared and decided to observe the Birthday of Swami Vivekananda as National Youth Day every year from 1985. It felt that the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda and the ideals for which he lived and worked could be a great source of inspiration for the Indian Youth.
To understand the impact of his powerful life, I am reproducing a passage from the wonderful book, "Eternal Values for A Changing Society" by Srimat Swami Ranganathanandaji Maharaj:
The Intensity of Vivekananda's Brief Life
"Swami Vivekananda's span of earthly life was hardly forty years, but within this short period, he lived an intense life, first as a student in school and college, then as the foremost disciple of his great Master, Sri Ramakrishna, then as a wanderer across the length and breadth of India, and lastly as the spiritual teacher of West and East. His public teaching commenced with his speeches at the World's Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893; and he passed away on 4 July 1902. He spent four intense years in the United States and England, and five equally intense years in India delivering his message of a universal and practical spirituality, and setting in motion a movement as an effective conduit for the furtherance of his message.
Everywhere, he taught man to realize his divine heritage. The innate divinity of man was the constant theme of his teachings. This teaching cuts across all divisions based on political or religious affiliations. Its assimilation by man will make for a character at once deep and broad. He held that spirituality was the core of every religion; dogmatic exclusiveness and intolerance are no part of true religion. The more spiritual a man, the more universal he is. He held that the modern age stood in urgent need of this education from religion, by which men will learn to make their love of God flow into the love and service of all men. He worked hard to give this spiritual orientation to the world's religions, so that they may be transformed into wholly constructive forces and become capable of redeeming modern man from his inner impoverishment in the context of external enrichment".
For further reading:
Biography of Swami Vivekananda from Vivekananda Vedanta Network:
http://www.vivekananda.org/biography.asp
Swami Vivekananda: Life and Teachings from Belurmath.org:
http://www.belurmath.org/swamivivekananda.htm
Swami Vivekananda, an article from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda
National Youth Day from Belurmath.org:
http://www.belurmath.org/national_youth_day.htm
Full text of the book, Vivekananda, A Biography by Swami Nikhilananda:
http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda_biography/vivekananda_biography.htm
Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda:
http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/reminiscences/reminiscences_of_sv.htm
Full Text of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (9 Volumes):
http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/complete_works.htm
Grateful thanks to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan; Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math; Advaita Ashrama; Ramakrishna Vivekananda.info and Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.
Swami Vivekananda was born on January 12, 1863 in Calcutta and attained mahasamadhi on July 4, 1902.
The Government of India in 1984 declared and decided to observe the Birthday of Swami Vivekananda as National Youth Day every year from 1985. It felt that the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda and the ideals for which he lived and worked could be a great source of inspiration for the Indian Youth.
To understand the impact of his powerful life, I am reproducing a passage from the wonderful book, "Eternal Values for A Changing Society" by Srimat Swami Ranganathanandaji Maharaj:
The Intensity of Vivekananda's Brief Life
"Swami Vivekananda's span of earthly life was hardly forty years, but within this short period, he lived an intense life, first as a student in school and college, then as the foremost disciple of his great Master, Sri Ramakrishna, then as a wanderer across the length and breadth of India, and lastly as the spiritual teacher of West and East. His public teaching commenced with his speeches at the World's Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893; and he passed away on 4 July 1902. He spent four intense years in the United States and England, and five equally intense years in India delivering his message of a universal and practical spirituality, and setting in motion a movement as an effective conduit for the furtherance of his message.
Everywhere, he taught man to realize his divine heritage. The innate divinity of man was the constant theme of his teachings. This teaching cuts across all divisions based on political or religious affiliations. Its assimilation by man will make for a character at once deep and broad. He held that spirituality was the core of every religion; dogmatic exclusiveness and intolerance are no part of true religion. The more spiritual a man, the more universal he is. He held that the modern age stood in urgent need of this education from religion, by which men will learn to make their love of God flow into the love and service of all men. He worked hard to give this spiritual orientation to the world's religions, so that they may be transformed into wholly constructive forces and become capable of redeeming modern man from his inner impoverishment in the context of external enrichment".
For further reading:
Biography of Swami Vivekananda from Vivekananda Vedanta Network:
http://www.vivekananda.org/biography.asp
Swami Vivekananda: Life and Teachings from Belurmath.org:
http://www.belurmath.org/swamivivekananda.htm
Swami Vivekananda, an article from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda
National Youth Day from Belurmath.org:
http://www.belurmath.org/national_youth_day.htm
Full text of the book, Vivekananda, A Biography by Swami Nikhilananda:
http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda_biography/vivekananda_biography.htm
Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda:
http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/reminiscences/reminiscences_of_sv.htm
Full Text of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (9 Volumes):
http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/complete_works.htm
Grateful thanks to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan; Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math; Advaita Ashrama; Ramakrishna Vivekananda.info and Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Gandhiana-15: "Gandhiji and Smoking"
...
A relative and I became fond of smoking. Not that we saw any good in smoking, or were enamoured of the smell of a cigarette. We simply imagined a sort of pleasure in emitting clouds of smoke from our mouths. My uncle had the habit and when we saw him smoking, we thought we should copy his example. But we had no money. So we began pilfering stumps of cigarettes thrown away by my uncle.
The stumps, however, were not always available, and could not emit much smoke either. So we began to steal coppers from the servant's pocket money in order to purchase Indian cigarettes. But the question was where to keep them. We could not of course smoke in the presence of elders. We managed somehow for a few weeks on these stolen coppers. In the meantime, we heard that the stalks of a certain plant were porous and could be smoked like cigarette. We got them and began this kind of smoking.
But we were far from being satisfied with such things as these. Our want of independence began to smart. It was unbearable that we should be unable to do anything without the elders' permission. At last, in sheer disgust, we decided to commit suicide!
But how were we to do it? From where were we to get the poison? We heard that Dhatura seeds were an effective poison. Off we went to the jungle in search of these seeds, and got them. Evening was thought to be the auspicious hour. We went to Kedarji Mandir, put ghee in the temple-lamp, had the darshan and then looked for a lonely corner. But our courage failed us. Supposing we were not instantly killed? And what was the good of killing ourselves? Why not rather put up with the lack of independence? But we swallowed two or three seeds nevertheless. We dared not take more. Both of us fought shy of death, and decided to go to Ramji Mandir to compose ourselves, and to dismiss the thought of suicide.
I realized that it was not as easy to commit suicide as to contemplate it. And since then, whenever I have heard of someone threatening to commit suicide, it has had little or no effect on me.
The thought of suicide ultimately resulted in both of us bidding good-bye to the habit of smoking stumps of cigarettes and of stealing the servant's coppers for the purpose of smoking.
Ever since I have grown up, I have never desired to smoke and have always regarded the habit of smoking as barbarous, dirty and harmful. I have never understood why there is such a rage for smoking throughout the world. I cannot bear to travel in a compartment full of people smoking. I become choked.
.....
Excerpt from 'An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth' by Mahatma Gandhi.
A relative and I became fond of smoking. Not that we saw any good in smoking, or were enamoured of the smell of a cigarette. We simply imagined a sort of pleasure in emitting clouds of smoke from our mouths. My uncle had the habit and when we saw him smoking, we thought we should copy his example. But we had no money. So we began pilfering stumps of cigarettes thrown away by my uncle.
The stumps, however, were not always available, and could not emit much smoke either. So we began to steal coppers from the servant's pocket money in order to purchase Indian cigarettes. But the question was where to keep them. We could not of course smoke in the presence of elders. We managed somehow for a few weeks on these stolen coppers. In the meantime, we heard that the stalks of a certain plant were porous and could be smoked like cigarette. We got them and began this kind of smoking.
But we were far from being satisfied with such things as these. Our want of independence began to smart. It was unbearable that we should be unable to do anything without the elders' permission. At last, in sheer disgust, we decided to commit suicide!
But how were we to do it? From where were we to get the poison? We heard that Dhatura seeds were an effective poison. Off we went to the jungle in search of these seeds, and got them. Evening was thought to be the auspicious hour. We went to Kedarji Mandir, put ghee in the temple-lamp, had the darshan and then looked for a lonely corner. But our courage failed us. Supposing we were not instantly killed? And what was the good of killing ourselves? Why not rather put up with the lack of independence? But we swallowed two or three seeds nevertheless. We dared not take more. Both of us fought shy of death, and decided to go to Ramji Mandir to compose ourselves, and to dismiss the thought of suicide.
I realized that it was not as easy to commit suicide as to contemplate it. And since then, whenever I have heard of someone threatening to commit suicide, it has had little or no effect on me.
The thought of suicide ultimately resulted in both of us bidding good-bye to the habit of smoking stumps of cigarettes and of stealing the servant's coppers for the purpose of smoking.
Ever since I have grown up, I have never desired to smoke and have always regarded the habit of smoking as barbarous, dirty and harmful. I have never understood why there is such a rage for smoking throughout the world. I cannot bear to travel in a compartment full of people smoking. I become choked.
.....
Excerpt from 'An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth' by Mahatma Gandhi.
Inspiring Lives-45: "A Mother's Promise: Barack Obama's Biography"
Grateful thanks to 'BarakcObamadotcom', Barack Obama and YouTube.
Friday, January 1, 2010
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