Tuesday, February 23, 2016

PEARLS OF WISDOM

Pearl of Wisdom #15
Success is not a stereotype. Success is not a Ferrari. Success is not an automobile. It’s not a house. It’s not a place. It’s not money in the bank. It’s not a million dollars. That’s not success. Success is the continual unfolding of the design of your own life and pulling it off. That’s what success is.

Pearl of Wisdom #16
When your “Why” is strong enough, you will overcome anything.

Pearl of Wisdom #17
Surround yourself with people you admire.

Pearl of Wisdom #18
Happiness is not an accident. Nor is it something you wish for. Happiness is something you design.

Pearl of Wisdom #19
We get paid for bringing value to the marketplace. It takes time to bring value to the marketplace, but we get paid for the value, not for the time.

Pearl of Wisdom #20
For every promise, there is a price to pay.

Pearl of Wisdom #21
The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch.

Courtesy : CHARLES YANG

PEARLS OF WISDOM

PEARLS OF WISDOM

Pearl of Wisdom #8
Don’t join an easy crowd; you won’t grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform are high.

Pearl of Wisdom #9
Life expects us to make a reasonable amount of progress in a reasonable amount of time. That’s why they make those second grade chairs so small.

Pearl of Wisdom #10
Don't wish it was easier; wish you were better. Don't wish for less problems; wish for more skills. Don't wish for less challenges; wish for more wisdom.

Pearl of Wisdom #11
Success is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.

Pearl of Wisdom #12
If you want to get more, you have to become more.

Pearl of Wisdom #13
Success is not something you pursue. What you pursue eludes you. Success is something you attract, by the person you become.

Pearl of Wisdom #14

Don't let your learning lead to knowledge. Let your learning lead to action.

Courtesy : CHARLES YANG

Monday, February 22, 2016

PEARLS OF WISDOM

Pearl of Wisdom #1 If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.

Pearl of Wisdom #2 The reason why many people face the future with apprehension instead of anticipation is because they don’t have it well designed. Yet I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change.

Pearl of Wisdom #3 Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day. Failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment, repeated every day.

Pearl of Wisdom #4 Some things you have to do every day. Eating seven apples on Saturday night instead of one a day just isn’t going to get the job done.

Pearl of Wisdom #5 Successful people have libraries. The rest have big screen TVs.

Pearl of Wisdom #6 It is not the direction of the wind, but the set of the sails that determines which way we will go. You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.

Pearl of Wisdom #7 If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around.

Courtesy : CHARLES YANG

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Inspiring Stories

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

A very poor woman with a small family called in to a radio station asking for help from God.

A non-believer who was also listening to this program decided to make fun of the woman. He got her address, called his secretary and ordered her to buy a large amount of foodstuff and take to the woman. However, he sent it with the following instructions: “When the woman asks who sent the food, tell her that it is from the Devil.”

When the secretary arrived at the woman’s house, the woman was so happy and grateful for the help that had been received. She started putting the food inside her small house.

The Secretary then asked her, “Don’t you want to know who sent the food?”


The woman replied, “No, I don’t even care because when God orders, even Devil obeys.”

Saturday, February 20, 2016

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

On his first day in office as President, when Abraham Lincoln entered to give his inaugural address, one man stood up. He was a rich Aristocrat. He said, “Mr.Lincoln, you should not forget that your father used to make shoes for my family.” And the whole Senate laughed; they thought, they had made a fool of Lincoln.

But certain people are made of a totally different mettle. Lincoln looked at the man directly in the eye and said, “ Sir, I know that my father used to make shoes for your family, and there will be many others here, because he made shoes the way nobody else can. He was a creator. His shoes were not just shoes; he poured his whole soul into them. I want to ask you, have you any complaint? Because I know how to make shoes myself. If you have any complaint I can make you another pair of shoes. But as far as I know, nobody has ever complained about my father’s shoes. He was a genius, a great creator and i am proud of my father.”

The whole Senate was struck dumb. They could not understand what kind of man Abraham Lincoln was. He was proud because his father did his job so well that not even a single complaint had ever been heard.


Remember, no one can hurt you without your consent. It is our response that hurts us. Everything we want in life is waiting for us outside our comfort zone and inside our effort zone. We just need to make a move.
RAAVAN’S TEACHINGS

When Raavan was attacked by Lord Rama and was nearing death, Rama asked his brother Lakshman to go to him and learn something about the world, which no other person except for such learned Brahmin like Raavan could ever teach him.

Lakshman obeyed his brother’s order and stood near dying Raavan’s head. But Raavan did not say anything and Lakshman returned to Rama.  Rama then told Lakshman that whenever one wants to learn something from a person, you should never stand near his head, but his feet.

Lakshman again went to Raavan and this time he stood near his feet.  Raavan seeing Lakshman standing near his feet told him 3 secrets that would anyone’s life successful.

1 – The first thing Raavan told Lakshman was that one should complete any auspicious work as soon as possible and keep delaying the inauspicious work as much possible.  He supported this teaching by saying, “Shubhasya Shighram”.

He told Lakshman that he could not recognize Rama and therefore delayed arrival at the shelter.  Hence this is his condition.

2 – The second thing he taught Lakshman was never to underestimate one’s enemy.  He said that he did this mistake of understanding the monkeys and bears lesser or incompetent and he lost the battle against them.

He said, when he asked Lord Brahma to make him immortal, he said no one else except for monkeys and human could kill him.  This is because he believed that both these living beings were not capable to kill him.

This was his mistake and he suffered life as a result.

3 – This third and final thing Raavan told Lakshman that one should not reveal one’s life secret to anyone in the world.  Here also Raavan made a mistake as Vibhishan knew the secret of his death.  Raavan knew this was his mistake of life.

Courtesy: EAST & WEST MAGAZINE
 

Inspiring Stories

GOD AND THE ANGELS

In a pretty little story we read that the angels asked God if there was anything in the world stronger than rocks.

 “Yes”, answered God, “stronger than rocks is iron: for iron can break rock.”

“Anything stronger than iron?” asked the angels;

And the Lord answered: “Fire: for iron may be melted in fire.” 

“Anything stronger than fire?” asked the angels

And the Lord said: “Yes water: for fire is quenched by water?”

“Anything stronger than water?” angels asked again

And the Lord answered: “Yes, wind: for wind may scatter water.”

“Anything stronger than Wind?” angels asked again

 “Yes,” said the Lord, “Sympathy is stronger; and nothing there be that is stronger than the compassionate heart.” Compassion, maĆ®tri will be the key to the new social order.

PEARLS OF WISDOM

PEARLS OF WISDOM
Live and move and do your daily work in the ever-living presence of God.
And your work will become a  source of blessing to many.
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The truly wealthy man is not one who has – but one who gives away what he has!
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Is it true?
Is it harmless?
It is useful?
These are the three questions we must ask ourselves before we speak.
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The money that we give to the poor is deposited in our account – in the Bank of Providence.
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If there is language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read, it is language of love!
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Just as we drain dirty water out of the wash basin by removing the stopper, every night unwanted thought should be drained out of our minds.
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Nature does not have courts or judges or magistrates or policemen who will arrest you, when you infringe of her laws.
Nature works in a simple way.
If your thoughts, words, actions are in obedience to the laws of nature, you may be sure of a happy and harmonious life, for nature is conquered by obedience to her laws.
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The Name of the Lord is the elixir of life.
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If you have some fear, hatred, jealousy, envy or resentment lurking somewhere in your consciousness and do not find it out and eliminate it, you cannot lead a painless life.
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Friday, February 19, 2016

Inspiring Stories

THE OBSTACLES IN OUR PATH

In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock.

Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. 
Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. 

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded.

As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder has been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for   the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand.

MORAL: Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one’s condition.


Thursday, February 18, 2016

Inspiring Stories


PERFECTION
A gentleman once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God.

Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, “Do you need two statues of the same idol?”

“No,” said the sculptor without looking up, “ We need said the sculptor only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage.”

The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage.” Where is the damage?” he asked.

“There is a scratch on the nose of the idol.” Where are you going to install the idol?”

The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high.

“If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?” the gentleman asked.

The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, “I know it and God knows it!!!”

MORAL: The desir to excel should be exclusive of the fact whether someone appreciates it or not. Excellence is a drive from inside, not outside. Excel at a task today – not necessarily for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction.


Inspiring Stories

KNOWLEDGE

A giant ship engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a young. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed. A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

“What?” the owners exclaimed.” He hardly did anything!”

So they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.” The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer -------------  $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap ---------------  $9,998.00

MORAL: Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort makes all the difference!!!  


Inspiring Stories

BUILDING A HOUSE

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer contractor of his plans to leave the house building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the pay check each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front door key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house ..... my gift to you.”

The carpenter was shocked!!!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realise we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently. But, you cannot go back.

MORAL: You are the carpenter of your life, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your attitude, and the choices you make today, helps build the “HOUSE” you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, build wisely!!!

Courtesy: EAST & WEST MAGAZINE








Wednesday, February 17, 2016

PEARLS OF WISDOM

There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem.   -- Harold Stephens.
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Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.  -- Perma Chodron.
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3 lessons to be learnt from a pencil:
Pain always sharpens you!
Everything you do leaves a mark!

What’s inside you is useful, not what’s outside!
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The deadliest sickness in the world is unforgiveness.
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Anyone can tear someone else down. Only special people can lift others up.
                                                                                     --- Michael P. Watson
Your mind is a garden,
Your thoughts are the seeds.
You can grow flowers,
Or you can grow weeds.
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How ugly is wealth unshared in the service of God and Man!
Verily, the wealth of him who shares not is the wealth of a robber!
                                                                                         ---- Sadhu Vaswani.
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The most amazing fact of love is that the more you love, the more you grow in the power of love!                                                                  ---- Dada J.P.Vaswani.
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What you think, you become.
What you feel, you attract.
What you imagine, you create.
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You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.                         ---- C.S.Lewis

Inspiring Stories

WHO IS POOR?

A wealthy woman goes to a saree store and tells the boy at the counter:”Brother, show some cheap sarees. It is my son’s marriage and I have to give to my maid.”

After sometime, the maid comes to the saree shop and tells the boy at the counter, “Brother, show some expensive sarees. I want to gift my Mistress on her son’s marriage.”

Poverty is in the mind or in the purse? Who is Rich?

Once, a lady with her family was in a 3-star hotel for a picnic. She was the mother of a 6 month old baby.

“Can I get one cup of milk?” asked the lady to the 3-star hotel manager.

“Yes madam”, he replied. “But it will cost 100 bucks.”

“No problem” said the lady.

While driving back from hotel, the child was hungry again.

They stopped at a road side tea stall and took milk from the tea vendor.

“How much?” she asked the tea vendor.

“Madam, we don’t charge money for kid’s milk”, the old man said with a smile.

“Let me know if you need more for the journey”. The lady took one more cup and left.
She wondered, “Who’s richer? The hotel manager or the old tea vendor?”

Sometimes, in the race for more money, we forget that we are all humans. Let’s help someone in need, without expecting something in return. It will make us feel better than what money can.

Coffee never knew that it would taste so nice and sweet, before it met milk and sugar.


We are good as individuals but become better when we meet and blend with the right people ... Stay connected. The world is full of nice people ..... If you can’t find one .... Be one.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Self help

YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK
By RUTH BARRICK GOLDEN
“What do you think?” is often used as a rhetorical question. But it is used here in all seriousness, since this is a most important question in your life and in mine; for what we think determines what we are!!!

“As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” You have probably read or heard this statement hundreds of times, but have you ever really absorbed and appropriated the secret of these few words to your own use? If so, you have within your power a magic formula more valuable than all the gold in Fort Knox!!

By your thoughts you are daily, even, hourly, building your life just as surely as the mason builds a wall by placing brick upon brick, stone upon stone. By your thoughts you are erecting the temple of your life; you are carving your destiny, as the sculptor with his chisel and hammer; chip by chip, creates the finished statue from a block of marble or from a rough stone.
With the implement of thought you are the architect or builder of your own life, the sculptor of the finished product of you. The   question arises as to how these implements are used to produce such a priceless product, such a marvelous result.

In Hebrews it is written: “By faith we understand that the worlds have been formed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.” Emmett Fox once stated, “In the Bible the ‘word’ means any definitely formulated thought.” Like a sculptor or builder, you do not create the materials but you do select and shape them into whatever you wish. This you do through the implementation of thought. How important it is then that you be careful and discriminating in selecting your thoughts(or tools) for the building of a great and worthy life!

“As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” No one can have good, clean thoughts. If your aim is nobility, you must have noble thoughts. If your desire is to be of service, you must think of ways in which you can serve others. If you want to be a radiant and beloved individual, you must be a loving, kind, generous, and appreciative person. If you want to know joy and peace of heart, then you must think and try to maintain a joyous, peaceful spirit.

“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely..... think on these things,” Paul wrote to the Philippians. The form of the word think, as used here, literally means “keep on thinking.”  Keep on thinking constructive and uplifting thoughts.
Do not be filled with ambition and energy today, and then tomorrow give way to thoughts of depression and listlessness. Do not be loving, kind and generous in the morning, and in the evening indulge in a fit of temper or allow yourself to criticize or condemn a friend, associate, or even someone you do not know—perhaps a leader of world affairs. Deliberately and constantly cultivate high and worthy thoughts.

By thoughts, you may say, are invisible and fleeting, coming without your consent from you know not where, and vanishing without your control into nothingness, as if they have never been. Thoughts are indestructible, as real as radio and television waves, as powerful as life, and they are never lost. While it is true that thoughts may come unbidden, you can cast out those that are harmful and substitute good thoughts instead.

For instance, if you have a fleeting unkind thought about someone or situation, you can immediately reject it by thinking of some good quality in that person, or some good in the situation. There is a proverb that says that you may not be able to keep the birds from alighting on your head, but you can prevent their building nests in your hair.

Through your God-given power of choice, you can control your thinking. In this realm you are absolutely free, regardless of your surroundings or circumstances. The good thought that you formulate and cherish within the holy of holiest that is your inner soul, will bring peace, power, happiness, and character. And negative thoughts will produce the opposite-fear, uneasiness, discord, and sickness.

There are methods you can use to strengthen your ability to think only dynamic and spiritual thoughts. One is to repeat silently (alphabetically, if that helps you in this exercise) affirmative and constructive words such as alertness, ability, ambition, accuracy, beauty, bravery, confidence, concentration, courage, determination, diligence, efficiency, economy, enthusiasm, faith fearlessness, fairness, goodness, gratitude, honesty, honour and so on. To repeat and or weakness, but will also give you inner confidence and inspiration.

In a similar way favourite Bible passages and dynamic affirmations of Truth may be repeated. There are words of Jesus, “Ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done,” “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free,” or perhaps you prefer the 23rd and 91st Psalms or affirmations like the following: I choose to give power in my mind only to thoughts that produce good results in my life and affairs, I use my God-given power of choice to think only good thoughts.

Pause often to give thanks and praise for the goodness and blessings that are yours. Nothing makes for a more dynamic mental discipline than this habit. Cultivate this form of prayer. It will give you inner happiness and outer glow. The boy or girl who is truly grateful and thankful will feel and radiate a spirit of deep and abiding optimism and joy, and these are unfailing magnets of well-deserve popularity!

There is  especially uplifting thrilling, and powerful song:
“Praise God that God is everywhere;
Praise to the Love we all may share;
The life that thrills in you and me;
Praise to the Truth that sets us free.”
Try singing it or silently repeat the words often.
Periods of meditation are necessary for spiritual growth. Cultivate the habit of observing a prayer period each day, a time of stillness and silence, for your best thoughts often come to you and are developed in solitude and prayerful meditation. In this outer and inner stillness you can best hear the voice of God and feel the guidance of Spirit. 

Train yourself to find moments of stillness the last thing at night before falling asleep and first thing upon waking in the morning. This perhaps will be the time you most deeply realise the presence and power and peace of God.

Keep the door of your mind closed to every depressing or unkind thought. Cultivate thoughts of cheerfulness, helpfulness, reverence, nobility. The eternal mind of God is constantly pouring forth perfect spiritual ideas for your use- for your guidance, enlightenment, protection, and happiness. Accept and think on these!

Thanking my Guru J.P.VASVANI and “East and West Magazine”



    

Sunday, February 14, 2016

                            THOUGHTS AND ASPIRATIONS
                                                             By
                                         My Guru J.P.VASVANI

Friends can forsake and relatives can refus.
But there is ONE who always loves. HE IS GOD !!!
Build your life in the love of GOD !!

Every accomplishment, every form of excellence, every success, small or big, belongs to GOD.
If you are wise and intelligent, it is GOD given.
If your hard work and effort are commendable, it is due to the grace of GOD.
If you are truly conscious of this, and acknowledge HIS grace in all humility, you will be blessed and you will become a source of blessing to many.

The best way to keep ourselves and our lives in good shape is to empty our minds of all worries, anxieties, tensions and negative thoughts before we retire for night.
We can then begin the new day with energy, vigour and freshness.

A happy mind is the greatest aid to a healthy body.

Greet difficulties with a smile and meet dangers with courage. Never forget that the Almighty God is ever with you, protecting you, guiding you, guarding you.
Almighty God never fails. Trust in HIM till the breaking point—and the breaking point will never come!!!