Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day!

[ShAivI]

OM SAI RAM!!!

Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day!

All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
- The Budhdha

The Budhdha is saying that we made the circumstances we find
ourselves in today. We got ourselves into them by all the deep-seated
ways of thinking that led us into the actions, plans, behavior and
situations whose sum total is our lives.

But our destiny is in our own hands. Since we are formed by our
thoughts, it follows that what we shall be tomorrow is shaped
by what we think today.

Happily, we can choose the way we think. We can choose our
feelings, aspirations, desires, and the way we view our world
and ourselves. Mastery of the mind opens avenues of hope.
We can begin to reshape our life and character, rebuild relationships,
thrive in the stress or daily living, become the kind of person
we want to be.


OM SAI RAM, SRI SAI RAM, JAI JAI SAI RAM !!!


Source: Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day by Eknath Easwaran

[ShAivI]

OM SAI RAM!!!

Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day!

It is the mind that makes one wise
Or ignorant, bound or emancipated.
- Sri Ramakrishna

Samskaras are like ditches in the mind. They have to be dug
laboriously. But they can also be filled in and new channels can
be dug. Take resentment for example. It does not burst full-blown
into the mind; it grows. At first you simply expect people to behave
in their own way instead, you get surprised, then irritated. The
samskara is digging its little channel in consciousness.

In the early stages, this channel may be only an inch or so deep.
Thought may flow down it, but it may also flow somewhere else.
Also, the walls are still soft and crumbly; they may cave in and
fill the channel a little – for example, when someone you dislike
says something, kind. There is an element of choice. But every
time we respond to a situation with resentment, the channel
gets a little deeper. Finally there is a huge Grand Channel in
the mind. Then anything at all is enough to provoke a conditioned
resentful response. Consciousness pours down the sluice of
least resistance.

We can dig new samskaras – kind ways of thinking instead of
resentful ones, patience instead of anger. Every time you try to
return goodwill for ill will, love for hatred, you have dug your new,
beneficial samskara a little deeper. Transforming character,
conduct and consciousness is not a moral problem. It’s an
engineering problem.

OM SAI RAM, SRI SAI RAM, JAI JAI SAI RAM !!!


Source: Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day by Eknath Easwaran

[ShAivI]

OM SAI RAM!!!

Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day!

When you move amidst the world of sense,
Free from attachment and aversion alike,
There comes the peace in which all sorrows end,
and you live in the wisdom of the Self.
- Sri Krishna (Bhagvad Gita)

The grace of God sometimes comes in the form of sorrow.
If we are not prepared to realize the unity of life, the Lord in his
infinite love will let us suffer until we are forced to change
our ways.

Of course, it isn’t at all easy to change: often it is quite painful.
It’s very much like learning to use a stiff art again. If you arm
has been injured, and twisted into a rigid position, even the
slightest movement becomes painful. Yet you have to learn to
move it in order to regain the use of your arm. There is suffering
in this, as there often is in any kind of growth.

We should never conclude that our lives are hopeless, that we
can never improve, that we are condemned by God or fate or
chemistry or conditioning to repeat the same mistakes. We
always have a choice. That is the glory of our human nature:
not only that we can always choose a better path, but that 
someday we will. We can never alienate ourselves from our divine
Self, and the whole force of evolution is pushing us towards the
divine vision, in which we see ourselves as we really are: united
with the Lord of Love within our hearts.

OM SAI RAM, SRI SAI RAM, JAI JAI SAI RAM !!!


Source: Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day by Eknath Easwaran

[ShAivI]

OM SAI RAM!!!

Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day!

If you go on working with the light available,
You will meet your Master, as he himself will be seeking you
- Ramana Maharshi

The word Guru has passed into the English language, but it is often
misunderstood. Guru simply means “heavy”, one who is so heavy
that he or she can never be shaken. A Guru is a person who is so
deeply established within himself that no force on earth can affect
the complete love he or she feels for everyone. If you curse him,
he will bless you; if you harm her, she will serve you; and if you
exploit him, he will become your benefactor.

It is good for us to remember that the Guru, the spiritual teacher,
is in every one of us. The outer teacher makes us aware of the
teacher within.

We are told in the Hindu scriptures to select a teacher very carefully.
We should not get carried away by personal appearance – because
we like his hair style or her robes. There is a good test of authenticity:
does their life accord with what they teach? We have to listen carefully,
judge carefully, then make our own decision. Once we make a decision
and select an outer teacher who is suited to our spiritual needs, we
should be prepared to be loyal. To the extent we can be loyal to the
outer teacher; we are being loyal to ourselves.

OM SAI RAM, SRI SAI RAM, JAI JAI SAI RAM !!!


Source: Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day by Eknath Easwaran

[ShAivI]

OM SAI RAM!!!

Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day!

“This is myself and this is another.”
Be free of this bond which encompasses you about.
And your own self is thereby released.
- Sarah

To love completely, it is not enough if I care deeply; I must also be detached
from myself. To know what is best for someone, I have to be able to step
aside from my own prejudices and preconceptions, slip into that person’s
shoes and become one with him temporarily, looking at life through his eyes
rather than my own. When I step back again, I will have seen his needs from
the inside; only then I can see clearly how to serve those needs with detachment
and compassion.

Why, then, do we find it so desperately difficulty to got ourselves out of the way?
The reason, the mystics reply, is that we live rather superficially, on the surface
of life. On the surface, we feel that it is natural for people to quarrel, for nations
to go to war. “It’s only human,” we say. Only in the depth of the soul can we
realize that quarreling and fighting are not natural at all, What is natural is loving
everybody, seeing everybody as one.

OM SAI RAM, SRI SAI RAM, JAI JAI SAI RAM !!!


Source: Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day by Eknath Easwaran

[ShAivI]

OM SAI RAM!!!

Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day!

“I look upon all creatures equally; none are less dear to me
and none more dear. But those who worship me with love,
live in me, and I come to life in them
- Sri Krishna (Bhagwad Gita)

There is no need to compare ourselves with others, or to feel our contribution
is less important than someone else’s. Yesterday, I read a story that makes this
point very well. It was about a Hasidic rabbi named Susya, who said, “When I die,
I will not be asked, “Why weren’t you more like Moses?” I will be asked,
 “Why weren’t you more like Susya?”

Similarly, Sri Krishna is not going to say “You could have been a doctor! Why were
you just a nurse’s aide? He is going to ask, “Were you the best nurse’s aide you
 knew how to be? Did you help your patients not just by your labour, but by your
genuine concern for their welfare?” Each of us has a special gift, some special
capacity by which we can contribute to the welfare of those around us. What is
 important is that we use that gift or skill to the very best of our ability.

OM SAI RAM, SRI SAI RAM, JAI JAI SAI RAM !!!


Source: Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day by Eknath Easwaran

[ShAivI]

OM SAI RAM!!!

Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day!

“Sages speak of the immutable Tree of Life,
with its taproot above and its branches below
- Sri Krishna (Bhagwad Gita)

Most of this Tree of Life is not physical. The whole phenomenal
universe – matter, energy and mind – is only its canopy of
countless little leaves. This is all we can see. But each leaf grows
from a twig, which grows from a branch, which in turn grows from
a vast trunk. And supporting the trunk and all its leaves and twigs
and branches – completely hidden – is the taproot, extending deep
into pure being. The taproot of this tree is the Lord, the eternal,
changeless Self.

This image is more than poetry: it is personal and practical. As long
as we live on the surface of life, we believe we are separate,
individual leaves. We lead private lives that bear little relation to the
rest of the tree, even though when we are cut off from that tree we
have no life. Driven by self-will, we cannot imagine we are forfeiting
the whole of life for the little leaf we call our individual personality.
So when you get up in the morning, remind yourself of this magnificent
simile, which asks us to claim the whole Tree of Life and not be content
with being one seasonal leaf.

OM SAI RAM, SRI SAI RAM, JAI JAI SAI RAM !!!


Source: Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day by Eknath Easwaran

[ShAivI]

OM SAI RAM!!!

Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day!

“God Loveth a cheearful giver

- II CORINTHIANS

In India we have a story about a man who was the perfect model
of respectability, who always did what the letter of the law demanded.
When he died, he was taken before Chitragupta, the cosmic auditor.
Chitragupta looked at the man’s record. There was not a single
entry on the debit page. Chitragupta was impressed. Then he turned
to the credit page and stared in astonishment. This page, too, was
completely blank. Chitragupta didn’t know what to do. The man
had never helped anybody, never hurt any body, never offended
anybody, never loved anybody. He couldn’t be sent to haven,
but he couldn’t be sent hell, either.

So Chitragupta took him to Brahma, the God of creation and said,
“You made this guy. What shall I do with him?”

Brahma looked at the stature books and couldn’t find a
precedent to cover the case, so he said, “Take him to Krishna.”

Krishna said, “The buck stops here.” He examined the record
very carefully and there, almost illegible, was an ancient credit
entry: “Gave two cents to a beggar at the age of six.”

“There,” Sri Krishna said, “return his two cents and send him
back to earth to try again.”

Until we have learned to give freely of ourselves,
we have not learned how to live.”

OM SAI RAM, SRI SAI RAM, JAI JAI SAI RAM !!!


Source: Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day by Eknath Easwaran

[ShAivI]

OM SAI RAM!!!

Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day!

“When you move amidst the world of sense,
free from attachment and aversion alike,
there comes the peace in which all sorrows end,
and you live in the wisdom of the Self."

- Sri Krishna (Bhagwad Gita)

The grace of God sometimes comes in the form of sorrow.
If we are not prepared to realize the unity of life, the Lord in
his infinite love will let us suffer until we are forced to change our ways.

Of course, it isn’t at all easy to change: often it is quite painful.
It’s very much life learning to use a stiff arm again. If your arm
has been injured, and twisted into a rigid position, even the slightest
movement becomes painful. Yet you have to learn to move it in order
to regain the use of your arm. There is suffering in this, as there
often is in any kind of growth.

We should never conclude that our lives are hopeless, that we can
never improve, that we are condemned by God or fate or chemistry
or conditioning to repeat the same mistakes. We always have a choice.
That is the glory of our human nature: not only that we can always choose
a better path, but that someday we will. We can never alienate ourself
from our divine Self, and the whole force of evolution is pushing us towards
the divine vision in which we  see ourselves as we really are: united with
the Lord of Love within our hearts.


OM SAI RAM, SRI SAI RAM, JAI JAI SAI RAM !!!


Source: Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day by Eknath Easwaran

[ShAivI]

OM SAI RAM!!!

Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day!

“We need who can dream of things
That never were, and ask why not.."

- (GEROGE BERBARD SHAW)

In an Indian movie I saw recently, a villager leaves home for the
first time to travel to the city of Bombay. When he returns,
his family and friends crowd around him, asking what it was like
in the big city. His laconic reply sums up our era:
“Such tall buildings ………. and such small people.”

If we were asked to give an accounting of our society’s achievements,
we could claim many great technological developments and scientific
discoveries, plenty of skyscrapers, and the amassment of huge sums
of money, but few truly wise, truly great men and women. It is not
for lack of ability or energy, though; it is not for lack of ability or
energy, though; it is because we lack a noble goal.

To grow to our full height, we need to be challenged with tasks that
draw out our deeper resources, the talents and capacities we did
not know we had. We need to be faced with obstacles that cannot
be surmounted unless we summon up every last ounce of our
daring and creativity. This kind of challenge is familiar to any great
athlete or scientist or artist. No truly worth-while accomplishment
comes easily.


OM SAI RAM, SRI SAI RAM, JAI JAI SAI RAM !!!


Source: Living Thoughts of Great People - Inspiration for Every Day by Eknath Easwaran