About faith in God!

About faith in God!

Our sensory organs cannot register many things which otherwise exist because of their own limitations. We cannot, therefore, say for guarantee that the world is confined to what we actually see or feel. Possibility of   many things existing beyond it cannot be ruled out. What is that the Sun is so powerful that even millions of electric bulbs put together can not do. Where does so much energy come from? There are several such Suns existing in our galaxies and then that is not the end of the story. There are many galaxies with their own set of hidden mysteries. How so many planets, stars and galaxies are existing in this universe? Perhaps we know little about it. Scientists have been working upon all this. Nevertheless, our knowledge is insufficient to explain mysteries behind the universe.  

We often hear people talking about the existence of God. It is more relevant to talk about our own existence. We live in this world at the best for hundred year or so. In fact, many people die much earlier. The life of a man is a very small fraction when compared with that of the universe. Even the science   confirms that this earth and other planets have been in existence since billions of years. 

The question is: ‘Does our existence begin with birth and end with death. In so far as our physical existence is concerned, the answer is yes. If that is so, how are we going to explain the futility of comparing our life span with that of the universe. In fact, nobody knows for certainty as to when and how they came into existence. On the other hand, we live in this world for a very limited period and then also we keep challenging the might of nature. It is simply incomparable. We come to this world for a limited period and then leave it without any exception. In between, we should try and find out the reason behind our own existence. It is the result of our own past deeds which results in our birth and rebirth.

There are situations in our life which cannot be answered by application of mind alone. We cannot easily understand why someone becomes a great scholar whereas some people cannot even pass matriculation despite best efforts. Some people are good singers, some are good speakers like that. This can be easily understood by simple logic that nature has its own peculiarities which cannot be explained mathematically. Everybody grows according to his nature. We should not try to interfere in that and should never try to superimpose ourselves upon others. It is manifestation of God in different shapes. Unfortunately, we get fixed with our own notions and try to negate the views of others. That results in conflict with which the whole world is suffering.

These days many persons are suffering from mental problems like insomnia, depression, etc. The number of suicides is increasing day by day. Even school going students are killing their classmates over small things. Why is this happening? And do we need to control them or not? If we want to control such happenings, what is the remedy? One thing is clear that material prosperity does not necessarily lead to happiness in life. Despite so much wealth and scientific advancement, we do not have mental peace. At a time, when the whole world is looking at us for spiritual guidance, it is unfortunate that many of us are allured by and attracted towards materialistic approach to life. 

Why should one worry about the existence of God? Are we able to understand everything that we see in our day to day life? The answer is big NO. Why? Because if we are not a student of Physics we cannot understand the flow of electricity through a wire but everybody irrespective of his knowledge of the subject, does feel the impact of electricity in his day to day life. If we switch on, the fan starts working, the T.V. starts giving breaking news. Only a student of Chemistry can understand that water is a compound comprising of oxygen and Hydrogen combined together in definite proportion. But this knowledge is not required for drinking water. Anybody who is thirsty can take water and feel satisfied, he may or may not have the knowledge of actual composition of water. Similarly impact of God can be felt anywhere and everywhere without perhaps going into its details.

God does not need our support to prove His strength. It is felt everywhere automatically. We often try to define God asper our convenience and requirements. We have created different religions and divided humanity into different factions. God never told anybody to do like that. But we did and continue to justify it to achieve certain selfish motive. God is not definable into a particular shape nor can be explained through certain religious practices which we adopt as per our convenience for achieving material aspirations. People have given him different names according to their culture, language etc. It is unfortunate that people are fighting and even killing each other in the name of religion. That could never have been the intention of our forefathers.

Fighting with persons following different religion is the worst thing that can happen to humanity. God never told anybody to call him with a particular name or to read a particular book. We have done it on our own and then expect others to follow blindly. This is nothing but violence.it is unfortunate that people are resorting to violence and often killing persons in the name of God. It only goes to show that we do not have slightest understanding about religion. Let us stop hating people. It is important that we stop differentiating people in the name of religion. In fact, followers of many religious leaders have done too much harm to humanity because they wanted others to accept what they considered to be true. This has resulted in spread of hatred and absence of peace all over the world. We need to introspect.

Patience

Patience

Life is a peculiar mix of good and bad things. Everybody has to face ups and downs in his life. We cannot always get things of our choice. We have to accept many things unwillingly. Patience plays big role in such situations. Persons with patience can face the adverse situations boldly and can change them to their advantage by positive thinking and application of strong will power. Only patience can help to face adverse situations.

Persons with patience have done wonders. There are many such examples. One of such examples is the story of Dasarath Majhi. He was a poor labourer. He could not give proper medical care to his ailing wife and she ultimately died because the Doctor was living far away, behind a hill. Had there been a direct access through the hill he could have reached the Doctor in time and probably his wife could have been saved. This inspired him to cut the stones of the hill with simple instruments. He worked hard for years together to make road through the hill. Initially, people used to call him mad but things changed entirely when they really saw him achieving his goal by working single handed for years together. He is now praised by everybody.

All good things achieved or acquired needed efforts of years. The path to success is often full of hurdles. Many times, they had disappointments but they continued and ultimately reached the target. Many persons lost their lives while trying to climb the mount Everest but it was conquered ultimately. Thus, the story of success has many pathetic stories hidden behind it.

The entire process of life is a lesson for patience. A new born child remains totally dependent on his parents for survival. It takes efforts of years that the child is grown as an adult. In between, there is no substitute for patience on the parts of the parents who sacrifice everything in their command to let the child grow. Sometimes, the child becomes ill. Sometimes he fails in the school examination. Sometimes, he quarrels with the neighbour`s child and invites wrath of the neighbours but parents bear with everything with patience keeping welfare of the child in mind.

There are many examples where patience has paid a vital role in achieving the target. Lord Ram had to leave his kingdom and forced to live in the forest for fourteen years in obedience of the promise made by his father Dasarath to his step-mother Kaikeyi. He had to face lot of troubles during this period. Even his wife was abducted by the unsocial elements led by Ravana . He had to fight a lengthy battle to regain his honour and the wife. Because he stood for justice, he got support from many influential persons of that time which helped him to regain his wife and to defeat the mighty king Ravana. Similarly during Mahabharat period, the Pandavas had to fight with close relations to avenge the loss of reputation caused by humiliation inflicted by the Kauravas . He ultimately won the battle but it needed lot of patience and sacrifice. So, we must have patience if we are really interested in doing something remarkable.

These days the newspapers are full with the news of violence being committed on the spur of moment. People do not have patience and they become violent even for small things. Sometimes neighbours quarrel over parking space and it results in murder. Persons driving on roads do not have patience to adjust with the fellow passengers and start quarrelling.

We lose patience when we have too much attachment with the fruit of efforts made for achieving our aspired goal. We do something and expect the desired result without fail. This does not always happen. Life does not always follow the dotted line. The impact of our past deeds often follows us and it takes time to get rid of it. However, we are sure to succeed if we keep on doing and do not stop mid-way. If, however, we lose heart and stop making efforts midway we cannot do something remarkable. All things great achieved so far by mankind needed equally great efforts. We cannot achieve excellent by doing ordinary or little efforts. We have to be patient so that things happen as we had initially planned. Sustained efforts with patience can bring anything within our reach. Let us acquire it.

Lessons for parents!

Lessons for parents!

The great thing about a child is that he finds happiness out of everything. He does not need big things to enjoy. Because he is pure and unbiased so everything that comes across him, becomes a source of joy!

Every child comes to the world as an entirely new creation of God. Every day the child learns something. Every child is talented in its own way. We should find out the hidden talent of every individual child and try to give him the best facility in keeping with his interest. That will help him to develop to the fullest.

The best thing that parents can give to their child is education and character. These are permanent source of strength to future citizens. Parents should only try to let the child grow his potentiality to the fullest. If this is allowed to happen they can not only be a source of happiness to their parents but will definitely prove an asset to the society at large. Many millionaires have donated most of their assets for charity and left only a very small portion of it for their children because they did not want them to be spoilt with so much wealth in their hands at the outset (for which they did nothing to acquire). The best thing is that they must learn the art of earning themselves. Once they do this, they can themselves acquire wealth as per their ability and may reach to any height.

Many parents want to use their wards for the fulfilment of their unfulfilled dreams. They want their children to achieve what they themselves could not. Even when the child has no interest in Mathematics, some parents want them to be engineer as they themselves could not because of whatever reasons. Such students do not succeed and get frustrated due to wrong selection of subjects. Let us not forget that everybody has its own potentially and interests. It is not fare to force a child to adopt a career as per market requirements. That kills the basic instinct of a child to grow in his\her own way.If we allow them to choose career according to their choice they definitely would have a better chance to succeed.

Nobody can get everything he desires. What is required is our ability to be able to live in complete harmony with the present time so that our entire energy is focussed and utilised in positive direction. The basic purpose of entire education system should be to make the child self-dependent. He should be able to live his life independently. But there are many cases when parents keep on nagging their children unnecessarily. This does not serve the purpose. Such children ultimately fail to achieve and many times become source of trouble for their parents and the society as a whole.

These days most of the Parents do not have time for their children. They want to compensate for that with lot of money which they spend upon buying toys and other things of their choice. They do not delay even for a moment in fulfilling any such. That becomes a habit of the child. When such child grows he does not know to wait or adjust rather they want everything or anything that they desire. This attitude makes it very difficult for them to adjust in the society at a later stage when they are grown up persons and have to face odds and evens of life. This often results in attitudinal problems and abnormality in their behaviour.

Children learn most of things within the family. Our behaviour, way of talking with other family members and even attitude affect the growth of our children. They by all means try to copy those things. We practice one thing and try to teach something different to our children. That does not bring about the desired result. What children need most is a real example as set by their parents and family. It is, therefore, absolutely essential that parents themselves set good examples before them so that they develop as a good citizen later on.

Everybody gives his other best for their children. In fact, we get immense satisfaction in doing something good for them. Even the poorest want their children to be well educated so that they get better opportunities in their lives and achieve what we could not. But we make a mistake at this point. Everybody comes to this world with his own destiny. We cannot frame up them to fit into our personal ambitions. Moreover, everybody has different nature. Accordingly, his aptitude and likings too vary. We should try to find out the personal likings of our children and let them grow in that direction. We should and must not force our own ambitions upon them.

These days children live under lot of pressure. Securing the highest marks seems to be the end game. The fact of the matter is that parents are not satisfied even when his child gets above ninety percent because someone else has secured more than him. Are we expecting our children to work like a computer? Apart from intellectual growth, we must let our children inculcate moral values which play a dominant role in personality building of a child and gives them strength to fight the battle of life.

Many parents are too much concerned about performance of their children in the school or college examinations. No doubt such tests ae important but they cannot be given so much weightage that the basic purpose of education i.e. to develop self-dependent and confidant Youngman is affected adversely. As a guardian we can provide best facilities so the student. Sometimes things are not in the hand of the student and he may get less marks despite efforts. We keep scolding our children for not performing well examinations. That does not help in anyway. Instead we should do self-introspection and find out the real reason behind poor performance of the child. That may lead to his prosperity. After all, scoring good marks in examinations is not the end game and there are many people in this world who have done very well in their lives despite being an average student. So, what is important is to understand your child and his nature. If we do this, half the work is done!

How much really, we need?

How much really, we need?

Most of us keep acquiring wealth throughout our life. Ultimately, we die leaving everything that we acquired during our lifetime. Nothing goes along with us. This is an universal truth. Everybody knows this. Nevertheless, we keep running after wealth. We keep seeing our bank passbooks and ultimately die leaving the entire bank balance sometimes even without a nominee.

How much we really need? The answer is-Not much. Even the richest needs just a room with a bed to sleep. He cannot eat at the most say four times a day and can drive only one car. But things become different when we attach ego to everything. If a particular person lives in two bed rooms I must live in at least four bed room flat or so on. We want to look better than others by hook or crook. It is here that the problem germinates. We try to acquire things not only to meet out our essential requirement rather keep on craving for fulfilment of egocentric ambitions.

How much a greedy person requires, perhaps limitless. Why is it so? Because we are over ambitious. We are self-centred. We do not believe in almighty. We do not even believe in our own strength or in the capacity of our children. That is why we want to acquire enormous wealth so that not only myself but my generations together should remain affluent.

In the ancient time, there was a bad practice of burying servants and enough material things along with a dying king. This was done with the notion that the things buried along with the dead king would ultimately be made available to him as per his requirements. What was this? Nothing but foolishness. Many innocent persons used to lose their lives because of this.

Material achievements like money, land, house and posts are useful as long as these add to happiness in our lives. If they cross that limit and become a permanent source of trouble, then we must get out of such things. 

It is a universal truth that we leave everything while we depart from this world. Not even the richest men could carry anything. That is why many millionaires donate their wealth for charities. That gives peace of mind and helps in the welfare of mankind. They need to be helped for getting even the basic facilities like food and clothes. We can strengthen our soul by helping such persons.

While food is required for sustaining the body system, prayer is equally rather more important for spiritual requirement. We can not live in peace unless we develop the art of self-satisfaction . We must realize that the material achievements have their own limitations. These things cannot take us beyond a point. We must understand it and try to develop a sense of balance in our attitudes towards men and things around us. Then alone we can live a meaningful life.

There are many people in this world who have set examples in this regard. Having realised uselessness of enormous wealth, they gifted most of their assets for charity. We must have the source for fulfilment of the essential requirements like food, shelter, health and education. Anything beyond that should essentially be utilized for public welfare so that the deprived and the poor are able to live life like a human being.

There is no end to greed. The moment we are able to fulfil our one aspiration, something else crops up. This endless chain of unfulfilled desires continues till we leave this world when everything that we earned throughout our lives, are left out. This is the ultimate. We did not come to this world of our own choice nor shall we go as per our desire. In between we have freedom to choose our lives. The question is? -what is our choice. We can have our own ways but we can not get satisfaction out of material achievements’ sense of detachment with material things is required.

EGO

EGO

These days people are overstressed. They just need a small jerk and you are finished. The reason is that most of the people are already over exhausted. They have crossed their limit of tolerance. It is not that the particular incident was responsible for the horrible incident. Thus, we are passing through a very difficult phase. You may not be at fault or the fault may be quite small compared to the harm done by others under overreaction. The question is: How to face the situation? Unless we adopt a middle path and try to reconcile with the situation, things are bound to get complicated. 

Every day we see such conflicts. People attach too much importance to their own views and often try to impose it upon others because of the wrong notion that they are the wisest and the views expressed by them should be accepted by all. Many times, we find people quarrelling over small things. Sometimes it also results in murders. Like me others too have their own ego problem. 

Overinfluenced by our own ego, we often become unreasonable and undertake one-sided view of things which results in further complicates the situation. We stick to our own views and do not listen to others. In that situation   even enlightened and educated persons fail to resolve the small issues.

Some people are too much ego-centric. They can go to any extent to settle their ego requirements. Such persons are not fit to adjust in the society and often create unwanted problems. People with high dose of ego often tend to be dictatorial and hardly try to accommodate. They therefore, always find fault with others and most of the time keep criticizing   the people who come in contact. Ego- centric persons are so much engrossed with their own views that they do not mind even harming themselves if that satisfies their ego. So, we must be careful in handling such persons.

Ego is a common problem for everybody. Not even Gods are said to be an exception. In Mahabharat, there is a famous story that once Bhim was going through a forest. A monkey was lying in his way. He requested the monkey to move out but it did not buzz. He requested again and again and then became angry. The monkey said sarcastically- “You are so brave, having won the battle of Mahabharata. Why do not you remove me and go ahead? “That made Bhim quite angry. He shouted back at the monkey and started removing his tail forcefully but he could not move the tail even an inch. Then Bhim realized that it could be none but Hanumanji and just fell on his feet. Then Hanumanji came in his real form and told him that he had done the whole thing just to make him understand the reality and get out of his false ego that he had won the battle of Mahabharat. He further clarified that he was present atop his flag throughout the battle of Mahabharat otherwise he would have been thrown out of the battle field like anything.

Everybody has his own ego. It is neither desirable nor possible to get rid of ego altogether. Ego becomes problem when we do not consider ego of others and in that process heart them. Hurting a person even unwillingly does not help us in any way because once hurt, the man becomes beyond our reach. We lose chance to settle an issue amicably. We must, therefore, be cautious while dealing with the situation which we confront in day to day life. If we agree to appreciate the fact that others too are human being and have weaknesses as we have, things become much easier to resolve.

Many people keep fighting for nothing or for something very small. A friend of mine who is an Advocate told me that one of his client was having dispute with his own brother over some ancestral property the net value of which was not more than seven lacs. Both the brothers were having claim over the same property and no one was willing to budge an inch. The advocate told me that one of the two brothers who was his client had already given him about eight lacs as fee and he might be required to pay more as the matter was still pending in the court. Such is the predicament of the situation that we keep fighting without even bothering about the benefit that could eventually come out of that.

We remain involved with our oneself throughout. If we develop sense of ownness with others and are concerned with the well-being of our nears and dears, we can live in greater harmony with the things around and attain peace of mind which has been elusive so far because it cannot be gained through worldly achievements. Ego is the greatest obstacle in the way. We must get out of it and enjoy the bliss of life.