Powerful Wealth of Knowledge

Three most esteemed gifts of life are
    Knowledge, Wealth as well the Power
Demand of wealth is of knowledge lower
    command over wealth and power is the higher
Wealth of knowledge is greatest wealth
    wealth without knowledge indeed sheer filth
Power of knowledge is mightier than sword
    stronger than steel, sharper than diamond
Richest are the divine abodes of God
    they are built with bricks of love for lord
Seeking only wealth and power is way of witless
    recognized the seers, the intelligent and wise
gave the form for higher knowledge as Saraswaty
    ever-flowing, Unseen River, enriching humanity
Wealth meant for all is the form of Lakshmi
    on unattached lotus, so is harmless money!
Powerful and daring is the form of Shakti  
    strength to kill ego and make our life healthy
Navaratri reminds us through nine holy nights
    to surpass darkness by the embrace of wisdom light!
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In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of  - Confucius
======================================Humor
A lawyer defending a man accused of burglary tried a creative defense to get his client off the hook. "My client merely inserted his arm into the window and removed a few paltry items. His arm is not himself, so I fail to see how you can punish the whole individual for an offense committed solely by his arm."

"Well put," the judge replied with a grin. "Using that same logic, I sentence the defendant's arm to one year's imprisonment. Your client can accompany the arm or not, as he chooses."

The defendant smiled. With his lawyer's help, he detached his artificial limb, laid it on the bench and walked out.
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Sermon in Silence

In the midst of assembled Rishis of the forest
was seated Rama with his resplendent face.
Eager to know about Rama
wives of the Rishis inquired Sita
as to who her husband among them was
Denying each one as ‘not him, not him’
when finally pointed out to Rama,
she hung her head and remained silent……
eloquent and most profound was the silence
Vedas, while teaching us about
the nature of Brahman do the same…..
denying all that we experience
as ‘not this, not this’…
finally reaching the undeniable Self,
remain profoundly, eloquently silent!
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Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over. - Gloria Naylor 
======================================Humor
The teacher said; “Take a pencil and paper, and write an essay with the title ‘If I Were a Millionaire.’” Everyone but Jay, who leaned back with arms folded, began to write feverishly.

“What’s the matter,” the teacher asked. “Why don’t you begin?”

“I’m waiting for my secretary,” Jay replied.
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Response-ability

Dharma is both choice and responsibility
If choice, love is first and commitment is later;
If responsibility, commitment first and love is later
Krishna in Gita, advised Arjun his responsibility
        through it to develop love for God
In developing love for god,
   Arjuna recognized the inevitability of his dharma
Hence Krishna offered him choice later
   यथा इच्छसि तथा कुरु  – do as per your choice!
So also in our life….
When we don’t have love for god, work is burden
    and responsibilities appear as choiceless encumbrances
When we develop of innocent love for God
     we discover the inevitability of work
Out of choice we can commit to our dharma, willingly!
     serving with smile, leaving aside personal prejudices....
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One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes... and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility. - Eleanor Roosevelt 
==============================================Humor
Mr. Marlow was strolling through the country when he saw a stable with the most beautiful horse he ever laid eyes on. It was seventeen hands high and white, with rippling muscles and a fine, flowing mane. Mr. Marlow struck a deal to buy it from the owner who did, however, pass on one key piece of information.

"We are a religious family, Mr.Marlow, and we've instilled those values in our horse. To get him to gallop you must say 'Thanks God' to get him to stop you must say 'Our Father Who Art in Heaven,"

Settling into the saddle, Marlow said " Thanks God," and the animal took off. They rode for miles; suddenly they were coming up to a cliff. Unfortunately, Marlow couldn't remember the phrase to make the animal stop and tried every Biblical passage he could think of until, just a few feet from the edge of the cliff, he shouted,
 " Our Father Who Art in Heaven!"
The animal stopped instantly. Shaking and perspiring, Marlow reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief.
"Thanks God," he said as he mopped his brow...
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Seva - A Spontaneous Goodness

Seva is spontaneous service
as flowers give out their fragrance
without questioning why or who
when or why to help without ego
doing so, don’t dwell on own demands
get going with what task commands
Noticed or unnoticed move ahead
every action will turn out to be good
For the soul to become noble and pure
this is the way, it’s Krishna’s cure!
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I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.- Rabindranath Tagore
===============================Humor
One day, a grandpa and his grandson go golfing. The young one is really good and the old one is just giving him tips. They are on hole 8 and there is a tree in the way and the grandpa says, "When I was your age, I would hit the ball right over that tree." So, the grandson hits the ball and it bumps against the tree and lands not to far from where it started. "Of course," added the grandpa, "when I was your age, the tree was only 3 feet tall."
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Vote for Devotion

To dedicate one’s life for the love of God is DEVOTION….so enumerated Sri Rama to Shabhari the nine ways to love God:
Drawing oneself to the company of good people
Earful listening to stories of God
Votary to serve Guru without ego
Offering one’s heart by singing the qualities of God
Tuning the mind by chanting the name of God
Inner control, character building and detachment by following noble teachings
Only seeing God as the world and saints as greater than God
Never seeing wrong in others even in dream and being content
Simplicity in dealing with others with balanced emotions
===============================Quote
Devotion to duty is a fire that warms us but worldly ambition is a fire that consumes us
============================Humor
A famous art collector is walking through the city when he notices a mangy cat lapping milk from a saucer in the doorway of a store and he does a double take. He recognizes that the saucer is extremely old and very valuable, so he walks casually into the store and offers to buy the cat for two dollars.
The store-owner replies "I'm sorry, but the cat isn't for sale.
The collector says, "Please, I need a hungry cat around the house to catch mice. I'll pay you twenty dollars for that cat."
And the owner says "Sold," and hands over the cat.
The collector continues, "Hey, for the twenty bucks I wonder if you could throw in that old saucer. The cat's used to it and it'll save me from having to get a dish."
And the owner says, "Sorry buddy, but that's my lucky saucer. So far this week I've sold sixty-eight cats."=================================================

Community - Common Unity

A community must have a common vision that strives for unity. When such a vision is compromised, community will become mere commercial entity. Mahatma Gandhi observed the following as ‘Sins’ that can potentially destroy a community:
Wealth without work
Knowledge without character
Pleasure without conscience
Commerce without morality
Science without humanity
Politics without principle
Religion without sacrifice
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Action expresses priorities – Mahatma Gandhi
==========================================Humor
A lawyer died and arrived at the pearly gates. To his dismay, there were thousands of people ahead of him in line to see St. Peter. To his surprise, St. Peter left his desk at the gate and came down the long line to where the lawyer was, and greeted him warmly. Then St. Peter and one of his assistants took the lawyer by the hands and guided him up to the front of the line, and into a comfortable chair by his desk. The lawyer said, "I don't mind all this attention, but what makes me so special?" St. Peter replied, "Well, I've added up all the hours for which you billed your clients, and by my calculation you must be about 193 years old!"
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Transform to Reform

Sadhana is  to transform –
Boasting with the Body to Beneficence
‘Mine’-ness of the Mind to Meditation
‘I’-ness of the Intellect to Intuition
Prejudice of the Perceiver to Perpetrate
Fickleness of the Feeler to Felicitation
Torpidity of the Thinker to Transcendence
Obsession with Objects to Observation
Exhaustion with Emotions to Empowerment
Tossing with Thoughts to Tranquility…
=================================================Quote
Man can no longer live his life for himself alone. We realize that all life is valuable and that we are united to all this life. From this knowledge comes our spiritual relationship with the universe. -- Albert Schweitzer
=================================================Humor
Two elderly couples were enjoying friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other,” Fred, how was the memory clinic you went to last month?" "Outstanding," Fred replied. "They taught us all the latest psychological techniques: visualization, association, etc. It was great." "That's great! And what was the name of the clinic?" Fred went blank. He thought and thought, but couldn't remember. Then a smile broke across his face and he asked, "What do you call that flower with the long stem and thorns?"

"You mean a rose?"

"Yes, that's it!" He turned to his wife, "Rose, what was the name of that memory clinic?"

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