Sphoorthi - The Inspiration

What happens when BHAKTI enters different aspects of Life?

2020-06-30T05:00:00.001-07:00

1. When BHAKTI enters FOOD,
FOOD becomes PRASAD,

2. When BHAKTI enters HUNGER,
HUNGER becomes a FAST,

3. When BHAKTI enters WATER,
WATER becomes THEERTHAM

4. When BHAKTI enters TRAVEL,
TRAVEL becomes a PILGRIMAGE,

5. When BHAKTI enters MUSIC,
MUSIC becomes KIRTAN,

6. When BHAKTI enters a HOUSE,
HOUSE becomes a TEMPLE, 

7  When BHAKTI enters ACTIONS,
ACTIONS become SERVICES,

8 . When BHAKTI enters in WORK, 
WORK becomes KARMA, 

9 When BHAKTI enters a MAN,
MAN becomes HUMAN..

AND

10. When BHAKTI enters a HUMAN, 
HUMAN becomes DIVINE.

First Words on Gramophone.....

2012-07-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

Did you know this?

HMV Company had once published a pamphlet giving the history of gramophone record. Gramophone was invented by Thomas Alva Edison in the 19th century. Edison, who had invented many other gadgets like electric light and the motion picture camera, had become a legend even in his own time.

When He invented the gramophone record, which could record human voice for posterity, he wanted to record the voice of an eminent scholar on his first piece. For that he chose Prof. Max Muller of Germany, another great personality of the 19th century. He wrote to Max Muller saying, "I want to meet you and record your voice. When should I come?"

Max Muller who had great respect for Edison asked him to come on a suitable time when most of the scholars of the Europe would be gathering in England.

Accordingly, Edison took a ship and went to England. He was introduced to the audience. All cheered Edison’s presence. Later at the request of Edison, Max Muller came on the stage and spoke in front of the instrument. Then Edison went back to his laboratory and by afternoon came back with a disc. He played the gramophone disc from his instrument. The audience was thrilled to hear the voice of Max Muller from the instrument. They were glad that voices of great persons like Max Muller could be stored for the benefit of posterity.

After several rounds of applause and congratulations to Thomas Alva Edison, Max Muller came to the stage and addressed the scholars and asked them, "You heard my original voice in the morning. Then you heard the same voice coming out from this instrument in the afternoon. Did you understand what I said in the morning or what you heard this afternoon?"

The audience fell silent because they could not understand the language in which Max Muller had spoken. It was `Greek and Latin' to them as they say. But had it been Greek or Latin, they would have definitely understood because they were from various parts of Europe. It was in a language which the European scholars had never heard.

Max Muller then explained what he had spoken. He said that the language he spoke was Sanskrit and it was the first sloka of Rig Veda, which says "Agni Meele Purohitam." This was the first recorded public version on the gramophone plate.

Why did Max Muller choose this? Addressing the audience he said, "Vedas are the oldest text of the human race. And Agni Meele Purohitam is the first verse of Rig Veda. In the most primordial time, when the people did not know how even to cover their bodies and lived by hunting and housed in caves, Indians had attained high civilization and they gave the world universal philosophies in the form of the Vedas.”

Such is the illustrious legacy of our country!

When “Agni Meele Purohitam” was replayed the entire audience stood up in silence as a mark of respect for the ancient Hindu sages.

This verse means:

"Oh Agni, you who gleam in the darkness, to you we come day by day, with devotion and bearing homage. So be of easy access to us, Agni, as a father to his son, abide with us for our well being.”

Allow Your Own Inner Light to Guide You

2010-09-22T20:14:00.001-07:00

There comes a time when you must stand alone.
You must feel confident enough within yourself to follow your own dreams.
You must be willing to make sacrifices.
You must be capable of changing and rearranging your priorities so that your final goal can be achieved.
Sometimes, familiarity and comfort need to be challenged.
There are times when you must take a few extra chances and create your own realities.
Be strong enough to at least try to make your life better.
Be confident enough that you won't settle for a compromise just to get by.
Appreciate yourself by allowing yourself the opportunities to grow, develop, and find your true sense of purpose in this life.
Don't stand in someone else's shadow when it's your sunlight that should lead the way.
Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, this time more wisely.

- Unknown Author

Limitation of Science

2010-09-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

“Science does not know how we learn and remember, nor how we think and communicate, nor how the brain stores information, nor what the relationship between language and thought is. Science does not know how living cells interact with nonliving matter. It does not know what the origin of the universe is, nor how old the universe is, not what the ultimate fate of the universe will be."

[Charles M. Vest, professor, president of MIT, in the International Herald Tribune, January 16, 1996, p.8]

Yaksha Prashna

2010-09-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

Following are the famous intricate questions (called Yaksha Prashna) that were asked by the Lord of Death, Yama to Yudhisthir or Dharmaraja or Dharma, the eldest of the Pandavas of the Indian epic Mahabharata, and the famous wisdom-filled answers given by him:

1) Yama:     What is heavier than earth, higher than heavens, faster than the wind and more numerous than straws?
Dharma: One's mother is heavier than the earth; one's father is higher than the mountains. The mind is faster wind and our worries are more numerous than straws.
2) Yama:     Who is the friend of a traveler? Who is the friend of one who is ill and one who is dying?
Dharma: The friend of a traveler is his companion. The physician is the friend of one who is sick and a dying man's friend is charity.
3) Yama:     What is that which, when renounced, makes one lovable? What is that which is renounced makes happy and wealthy?
Dharma: Pride, if renounced makes one lovable; by renouncing desire one becomes wealthy; and to renounce avarice is to obtain happiness.
4) Yama:     What enemy is invincible? What constitutes an incurable disease? What sort of man is noble and what sort is ignoble?
Dharma: Anger is the invincible enemy. Covetousness constitutes a disease that is incurable. He is noble who desires the well-being of all creatures, and he is ignoble who is without mercy.
5) Yama:     Who is truly happy? What is the greatest wonder?
Dharma: He who has no debts is truly happy. Day after day countless people die. Yet the living wish to live forever. O Lord, what can be greater wonder?

(Source: Chapter 24 of Complete Mahabharatha collection of Amar Chithra Katha)

The Faith

2010-09-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

By the power of faith every enduring work is accomplished. Faith in the Supreme; faith in the over-ruling Law; faith in your work, and in your power to accomplish that work, - here is the rock upon which you must build if you would achieve, if you would stand and not fail.

To follow, under all circumstances, the highest promptings within you; to be always true to the divine self; to rely upon the inward Light, the inward Voice, and to pursue your purpose with a fearless and restful heart, believing that the future will yield unto you the need of every thought and effort; knowing that the laws of the universe can never fail, and that your own will come back to you with mathematical exactitude, this is faith and the living of faith. By the power of such a faith the dark waters of uncertainty are divided, every mountain of difficulty crumbles away, and the believing soul passes on unharmed.

– From "Poverty to Power" by James Allen

The Secret of Success

2010-09-22T19:25:00.001-07:00

Mere wishing brings nothing but disappointment; it is living that tells. The foolish wish and grumble; the wise work and wait.

Your success, your failure, your influence, your whole life you carry about with you, for your dominant trends of thought are the determining factors in your destiny. Send forth loving, stainless, and happy thoughts, and blessings will fall into your hands, and your table will be spread with the cloth of peace. Send forth hateful, impure, and unhappy thoughts, and curses will rain down upon you, and fear and unrest will wait upon your pillow. You are the unconditional maker of your fate, be that fate what it may. Every moment you are sending forth from you the influences which will make or mar your life. Let your heart grow large and loving and unselfish, and great and lasting will be your influence and success, even though you make little money. Confine it within the narrow limits of self-interest, and even though you become a millionaire your influence and success, at the final reckoning will be found to be utterly insignificant.
– From Poverty to Power by James Allen

A MUST READ FOR EVERY INDIAN

2008-05-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

H.E. The President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalaam’s speech in Hyderabad

(The President was at Hyderabad on 7^th June 2003)

“ I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards, the Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, and their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? This is because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.

My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent of growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievement are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn’t this incorrect?.

I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the World. Because I believe that, unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only Strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Department of Space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.

I see four milestones in my career: Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the project director for India’s first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3- the vehicle that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life as a Scientist.

After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India ‘s guided missile programme. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994. The Department of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 13. This was the third bliss. The joy of participating with my team in these nuclear tests and proving to the world that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as an Indian. The fact that we have now developed for Agni re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material – a very light material called carbon-carbon.

One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients. There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic Calipers weighing over three Kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to me: Please remove the pain of my patients. In three weeks, we made these Floor reaction Orthosis 300-gram calipers and took them to the orthopedic centre. The children did not believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg., load on their legs, they could now move around! Their parents had teras in their eyes. That was fourth bliss!

Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?

Ø We are first in milk production.

Ø We are number one in remote sensing satellites.

Ø We are the second largest producer of wheat.

Ø We are the second largest producer of rice.

Look at Dr. Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.

I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Isreali newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news. In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?

Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? Why do we want foreign TVs, why do we want foreign shirts? Why do we want foreign technology? Why this obsession with everything imported? Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self-reliance?

I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14-year-old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim India is not under developed nation; it is highly developed nation.

Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to take you with a vengeance. Give 10 minutes for your country, and read on:

Ø YOU say that our government is inefficient.

Ø YOU say that our laws are too old.

Ø YOU say that the municipality does not pick-up the garbage.

Ø YOU say that the phones don’t work, the railways are a joke, the airline is the worst in the world.

Ø YOU say that mails never reach their destination.

Ø YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.

Ø YOU say, say and say.

What do YOU do about it?

Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name –YOURS, YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your international best. In Singapore you don’t throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their underground links as they are. You pay $5(Rs.60) to drive throw Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim causeway or Pedder Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU come back to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a sopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don’t say anything, DO YOU? YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah. You would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, “see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else.” YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88Km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, “jaanta hai main kaun hoon?(Do you know who I am?). I am so and so’s son. Take your two bucks and get lost.”

YOU wouldn’t chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere in Australia and New Zealand. Why don’t YOU spit Paan on the streets of Tokyo? Why don’t YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston??? We are still talking of the same YOU. YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India?

Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr. Tinaikar, had a point to make. “Rich people’s dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place,” he said. “And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?” He’s right.

We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff that is known to pass on the service to the public.

When it comes to burning social issues like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? “It’s the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my son’s rights to a dowry.”

So who’s going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbours, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU! When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along and work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.

Like lazy cowards bounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployed, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government.

Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.

Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for great deal of introspection and pricks one conscience too…I am echoing J.F. Kennedy’s words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians…

“ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE TODAY.”

Lets do what India needs from us.

Forward this mail to each Indian for a change instead of sending jokes or junk mails.

Thank you,

Dr. Abdul Kalaam

(PRESIDENT OF INDIA)

The Worth Of Our Lives

2008-05-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up Rs.500.00 note. In the room of 200, he asked, Who would like this Rs.500.00 note? Hands started going up. He said, I am going to give this Rs.500.00 to one of you but first, let me do this. He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” Still the hands were up in the air. Well, he replied, what if I do this? And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. Now who still wants it? Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth Rs.500.00.

Many times in our lives we are dropped, crumpled, and ground onto the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value: dirty or clean, crumpled or finally creased, you are still priceless to those who love you. The worth of our lives comes in not what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE.

You are special – Don’t EVER forget it. If you do not pass this on, you may never know the lives it touches, the hurting hearts it speaks to, or the hope that it can bring. Count your blessings, not your problems.

Interview with God

2008-05-20T23:13:00.000-07:00

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

"So you would like to interview me?" God asked.

"If you have the time" I said.

God smiled. "My time is eternity."
"What questions do you have in mind for me?"

"What surprises you most about humankind?"

God answered...
"That they get bored with childhood,
they rush to grow up, and then
long to be children again."

"That they lose their health to make money...
and then lose their money to restore their health."

"That by thinking anxiously about the future,
they forget the present,
such that they live in neither
the present nor the future."

"That they live as if they will never die,
and die as though they had never lived."

God's hand took mine
and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked...
"As a parent, what are some of life's lessons
you want your children to learn?"

"To learn they cannot make anyone
love them. All they can do
is let themselves be loved."

"To learn that it is not good
to compare themselves to others."

"To learn to forgive
by practicing forgiveness."

"To learn that it only takes a few seconds
to open profound wounds in those they love,
and it can take many years to heal them."

"To learn that a rich person
is not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least."

"To learn that there are people
who love them dearly,
but simply have not yet learned
how to express or show their feelings."

"To learn that two people can
look at the same thing
and see it differently."

"To learn that it is not enough that they
forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves."

"Thank you for your time," I said humbly.

"Is there anything else
you would like your children to know?"

God smiled and said,
"Just know that I am here... always."

-author unknown

The Philosophy of Life

2008-05-20T22:22:00.001-07:00

I asked for strength
and God gave me difficulties to make me strong
I asked for prosperity
And God gave me brain and brawn to work
I asked for wisdom
And God gave me problems to solve
I asked for courage
And God gave me dangers to overcome
I asked for love
And God gave me troubled people to help
I asked for favours
And God gave me opportunities
I received nothing I wanted
I received everything I needed.
Take Life as it comes
Success is getting what you like.
Happiness is liking what you get.
Be aware……But Still…..
Your kindness may be treated as your weakness
………………………………….......Still be kind.
Your help to others may go unheeded and unnoticed
……………………………………… Still be helpful.
Honesty and frankness may make you vulnerable
…………………………Still be frank and honest.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow
……………………………………….Still do good.
Virtues and Values of life may mean little for people
……………………………………..Still have values.
Your faith in God may be taken as orthodoxy
……………………….. Still have faith in God.