Virtue consists, not in abstaining from vice, but in not desiring it - George Bernard Shaw
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
A Thought for Today : January 14, 2008
"When you betray somebody else, you also betray yourself." - Isaac Bashevis Singer
A Thought for Today : January 13, 2008
Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be outraged by silence - Henri Frederic Amiel
A Thought for Today : January 12, 2008
We can change our lives. We can do, have, and be exactly what we wish - Anthony Robbins
Friday, January 11, 2008
"What is Wrong and What is Important?"
…. The lack of a value system, self-respect and decency is what was apparent during New Year celebrations this year. Uprooting road signs, trashing police booths, driving around drunkenly and generally creating mayhem, wanton destruction of public property – Behaviour like this does not “just happen”. It is programmed to happen because personal integrity is not given as much importance as , say, academic achievement; because children have too few role-models outside cinema and television; because the law is too lazy to track down the vandals; and, above all, because the disapproval of society is not expressed loudly and clearly.
On the first day of 2008, the only people who were not thoroughly disgusted with these graphic pictures of wanton destruction were probably those same youth. They may have been pleased to have made it to the front pages!
Why is it that violence and destruction are the chosen ways to express a whole range of emotions for some youngsters? When a popular political leader dies, they break windows; when they are protesting a new rule, they burn buses and break into shops; and when they celebrate, they break whatever comes to hand. And every time, they brazenly break the rules!
What is wrong?
There may be a temptation on the part of some, even the police, to let this New Year eve vandalism go as “harmless fun”. This temptation must be resisted, because such behaviour is neither harmless nor fun.
There are three major things wrong with this behaviour.
One, they equated ‘celebration’ with destruction and dangerous behaviour.
Two, they did not care who saw them and they did not fear punishment.
Three, they did not regret their actions even in the clear sober light of the following day.
The first shows lack of a good value system; the second shows lack of self-respect and accountability; the third shows lack of decency and a willingness to change.
These young men have probably done this sort of thing before, and will probably do it again. There are others like them, many others, who will be encouraged to join in, if society or the law-enforcers display indulgence and apathy. Just like a few discordant notes can ruin the music of an orchestra, elements like these debase society. When these things happen often enough, we all get “used” to them, and after a while we don’t even stop to think about it. It becomes part of the “scene”, part of society as we know it.
Mindless vandalism masquerading as “fun” is every bit as a dangerous to society as major crimes… in fact, more so, because they sneak in “under the radar” as it were, and eat away at public standards of decency.
- From the article, “Breaking in the New Year?” by Malini Seshadri in the ‘Young World’, The Hindu, January 11, 2008 (My grateful thanks to Ms Malini Seshadri for this lucid, analytical, thought-provoking and wonderful article)
A Thought for Today : January 11, 2008
Don't waste time learning the 'tricks of the trade'. Instead, learn the trade." - Jackson Brown
A Thought for Today : January 10, 2008
When we cannot bear to be alone, it means we do not properly value the only companion we will have from birth to death - ourselves - Eda LeShan
A Thought for Today : January 9, 2008
Why grab possessions like thieves, or divide them like socialists when you can ignore them like wise men? - Natalie Clifford Barney
A Thought for Today : January 8, 2008
To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer - Gandhiji
Facts & Figures-16 : Civilian Death in Iraq
About 1.51 lakh civilians have been killed in Iraq since US occupation of that country three years back.
Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, January 11, 2008
Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, January 11, 2008
Monday, January 07, 2008
'Purpose of Life in the light of Vivekananda's Teachings' by P.Gupta
According to a tale told by Anatole France, the history of mankind has been summarized in seven words – men are born, they suffer, they die. A man may be sitting on a mountain of wealth and prosperity but he still lives a life of worry, anxiety and dissatisfaction. The paradox of our time is –
We have bigger houses but nuclear families,
We have more degrees but less sense,
More experts but less solutions,
More medicines but less wellness,
We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values,
We have learned how to make a living but not a life,
We have added years to life, not life to years,
We have conquered outer space but not inner space.
We are always getting ready to live but never living. The above paradox is mainly due to the fact that in an uncertain and chaotic world it appears that for many people value are dead.
How to get over the situation? Swamiji’s (Swami Vivekananda) teachings will guide us as he integrated Religion and Karma.
Each soul is potentially divine. Religion is the manifestation of Divinity already in man. The best karma is service to humanity. Throw away everything, even your own salvation to help others. The nation is sinking as the curse of the unnumbered millions is on our heads.
Sage Veda Vyasa was given a unique assignment. He was asked to study all the philosophies and spiritual literature and sum it up in short. After intense study with the help of his yogic power, he issued a one-liner: The act of greatest merit is to help others and the greatest act of sin is to cause intentional pain to others. Therefore, the first principle that we have to remember is that devotion to duty is the highest form of worship to God and the most sacred duty is service to mankind.
The second important aspect to remember is that there is ocean of infinite powers and blessedness within you. Swamiji exhorted, ‘Do you know how much energy, how many powers, how many forces are still lurking behind that frame of yours? What scientist has known all that is in man? Millions of years have passed since man first came here, yet only an infinitesimal part of his power has been manifested’.
The third aspect to remember is the great need for building character. Swamiji said, “the basis of all systems, social or political, rests on the goodness of man. No parliament enacts this or that but because its men are great and good.” Swamiji’s hope for the future lies in the youths of character, intelligent, obedient, renouncing all for the service of others.
The fourth aspect is national reconstruction. Swamiji’s dream of the future of our country was an India, spiritually united, economically strong, socially stable and imbued with ethical passion. India has to become Jagatguru again.
All this depends on how we live and how we act. There has never been nor will ever be a gift greater than the gift of life. Life is likened to a bridge between birth and death. We have got this life to become perfect and to go back to our real abode and get liberation from birth. But moksha is not freedom from action but freedom in action. We have to keep our face always towards the sunshine and the shadow will fall behind. One is a sad and unproductive person when he sees difficulties in every opportunity. But he is successful and creative only when he sees opportunities in every difficulty. Let not the seeds in the grape spoil the enjoyment, spit them out one-by-one.
Courtesy: Yuva Bharati (Monthly), January 2008 - Published by Vivekananda Kendra, Chennai
We have bigger houses but nuclear families,
We have more degrees but less sense,
More experts but less solutions,
More medicines but less wellness,
We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values,
We have learned how to make a living but not a life,
We have added years to life, not life to years,
We have conquered outer space but not inner space.
We are always getting ready to live but never living. The above paradox is mainly due to the fact that in an uncertain and chaotic world it appears that for many people value are dead.
How to get over the situation? Swamiji’s (Swami Vivekananda) teachings will guide us as he integrated Religion and Karma.
Each soul is potentially divine. Religion is the manifestation of Divinity already in man. The best karma is service to humanity. Throw away everything, even your own salvation to help others. The nation is sinking as the curse of the unnumbered millions is on our heads.
Sage Veda Vyasa was given a unique assignment. He was asked to study all the philosophies and spiritual literature and sum it up in short. After intense study with the help of his yogic power, he issued a one-liner: The act of greatest merit is to help others and the greatest act of sin is to cause intentional pain to others. Therefore, the first principle that we have to remember is that devotion to duty is the highest form of worship to God and the most sacred duty is service to mankind.
The second important aspect to remember is that there is ocean of infinite powers and blessedness within you. Swamiji exhorted, ‘Do you know how much energy, how many powers, how many forces are still lurking behind that frame of yours? What scientist has known all that is in man? Millions of years have passed since man first came here, yet only an infinitesimal part of his power has been manifested’.
The third aspect to remember is the great need for building character. Swamiji said, “the basis of all systems, social or political, rests on the goodness of man. No parliament enacts this or that but because its men are great and good.” Swamiji’s hope for the future lies in the youths of character, intelligent, obedient, renouncing all for the service of others.
The fourth aspect is national reconstruction. Swamiji’s dream of the future of our country was an India, spiritually united, economically strong, socially stable and imbued with ethical passion. India has to become Jagatguru again.
All this depends on how we live and how we act. There has never been nor will ever be a gift greater than the gift of life. Life is likened to a bridge between birth and death. We have got this life to become perfect and to go back to our real abode and get liberation from birth. But moksha is not freedom from action but freedom in action. We have to keep our face always towards the sunshine and the shadow will fall behind. One is a sad and unproductive person when he sees difficulties in every opportunity. But he is successful and creative only when he sees opportunities in every difficulty. Let not the seeds in the grape spoil the enjoyment, spit them out one-by-one.
Courtesy: Yuva Bharati (Monthly), January 2008 - Published by Vivekananda Kendra, Chennai
A Thought for Today : January 7, 2008
We cannot banish dangers, but we can banish fears. We must not demean life by standing in awe of death - David Sarnoff
A Thought for Today : January 6, 2008
The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation - Pearl S. Buck
The Secret of Happiness
The great secret of true happiness is this: the man who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish man, is the most successful. It seems to be a paradox. Do we not know that every man who is unselfish in life gets cheated, gets hurt? Apparently, yes. ‘Christ was unselfish, and yet he was crucified.’ True, but we know that his unselfishness is the reason, the cause of a great victory, the crowning of millions upon millions of lives with the blessings of true success.
Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you – but do not think of that now. It will come back multiplied a thousand fold – but the attention must not be on that. Yet have the power to give: give, and there it ends. Learn that the whole of life is giving, that nature will force you to give. You come into life to accumulate. With clenched hands, you want to take. But nature puts a hand on your throat and makes your hands open. Whether you will it or not, you have to give. The moment you say, ‘I will not,’ the blow comes; you are hurt. None is there but you will be compelled, in the long run, to give up everything. And the more one struggles against this law, the more miserable one feels. It is because we dare not give, because we are not resigned enough to accede to this grand demand of nature, that we are miserable. The forest is gone, but we get heat in return. The sun is taking up water from the ocean, to return it in showers. You are machine for taking and giving; you take, in order to give. Ask, therefore, nothing in return; but the more you give, the more will come to you. The quicker you can empty the air out of this room, the quicker it will be filled up by the external air; and if you close all the doors and every aperture, that which is within will remain, but that which is outside will never come in, and that which is within will stagnate, degenerate, and become poisoned. A river is continually emptying itself into the ocean and is continually filling up again. Bar not the exit into the ocean. The moment you do that, death seizes you. (Swami Vivekananda)
Courtesy: ‘World Teachers on Education’ edited by T.S.Avinashilingam anmd K.Swaminathan. Published by Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore-641020
Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you – but do not think of that now. It will come back multiplied a thousand fold – but the attention must not be on that. Yet have the power to give: give, and there it ends. Learn that the whole of life is giving, that nature will force you to give. You come into life to accumulate. With clenched hands, you want to take. But nature puts a hand on your throat and makes your hands open. Whether you will it or not, you have to give. The moment you say, ‘I will not,’ the blow comes; you are hurt. None is there but you will be compelled, in the long run, to give up everything. And the more one struggles against this law, the more miserable one feels. It is because we dare not give, because we are not resigned enough to accede to this grand demand of nature, that we are miserable. The forest is gone, but we get heat in return. The sun is taking up water from the ocean, to return it in showers. You are machine for taking and giving; you take, in order to give. Ask, therefore, nothing in return; but the more you give, the more will come to you. The quicker you can empty the air out of this room, the quicker it will be filled up by the external air; and if you close all the doors and every aperture, that which is within will remain, but that which is outside will never come in, and that which is within will stagnate, degenerate, and become poisoned. A river is continually emptying itself into the ocean and is continually filling up again. Bar not the exit into the ocean. The moment you do that, death seizes you. (Swami Vivekananda)
Courtesy: ‘World Teachers on Education’ edited by T.S.Avinashilingam anmd K.Swaminathan. Published by Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore-641020
Saturday, January 05, 2008
A Thought for Today : January 5, 2008
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man - Benjamin Franklin
Friday, January 04, 2008
A Thought for Today : January 4, 2008
Going to the moon isn't very far; the greatest distance we have is still within us - Charles De Gaulle
Thursday, January 03, 2008
A Thought for Today : January 3, 2008
A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline - Harvey Mackay
A Thought for Today : January 2, 2008
Friendship improves happiness, and abates misery, by doubling our joys, and dividing our grief - Joseph Addison
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Facts & Figures-15 : Water Crisis
At the close of the 2nd millennium, most countries can just about manage with the water they have. But depletion is fast and widespread because of waste, pollution, the drying up of wells and springs, and the strangling of rivers through short-sighted exploitation.
Modern agriculture and industry require increasing quantities of water. New dams and reservoirs are unlikely to provide these because the environmental and social dislocations they cause make them counterproductive. The only solution to the looming crisis is to devise ways of conserving water, avoiding pollution, and stopping wasteful usage. There is not even a beginning yet towards such urgent measures.
Courtesy: India 1000 to 2000 : A Millennium Book of Reference, Express Publications (Madurai) Ltd
Modern agriculture and industry require increasing quantities of water. New dams and reservoirs are unlikely to provide these because the environmental and social dislocations they cause make them counterproductive. The only solution to the looming crisis is to devise ways of conserving water, avoiding pollution, and stopping wasteful usage. There is not even a beginning yet towards such urgent measures.
Courtesy: India 1000 to 2000 : A Millennium Book of Reference, Express Publications (Madurai) Ltd
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For Wikipedia's article on Water, all about water, like types, properties, distribution in nature, water cycle, storage, effects on life, water politics and water crisis, references, further reading etc :
A Thought for Today : January 1, 2008
It is astonishing what force, purity, and wisdom it requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods - Margaret Fuller
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