Spiritual Leap

True success in any endeavor
demands evolution, not
a sluggish adjustment…
Spiritual life is also an evolution from -
comparison  to compassion
competition to competence
delusion to decision
division to devotion
imitation to ingenious
hostility to humility
repentance to reason
sensation to sensitivity
stress to    s  t  r  e  t  c  h…
This Year Let Us Leap Forward!!!
===================================quote
That's one small step for man... one giant leap for mankind. - Neil Armstrong
===================================humor
A tour bus driver drives with a bus full of seniors down a highway, when a little old lady taps him on his shoulder. She offers him a handful of almonds, which he gratefully munches up.
After approximately 15 minutes, she taps him on his shoulder again and she hands him another handful of almonds. She repeats this gesture about eight times.
At the ninth time he asks the little old lady: ‘why you people don't eat the almonds? ‘
She replied: ‘We have old teeth, not able to chew almonds.’
"Why do you buy them then?" he asks puzzled.
The old lady Answers, "We just love the chocolate around them."
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Divine Love

Like the fallen seeds of Ankola tree
at once moving to its parent, to be united and free
Like the iron filings sticking to magnet stone
even when shaken as though dancing in tune
Like a loving wife devoted to her beloved
remaining with him in thought, word and deed
Like  creeper to the tree attached and wound,
deriving all strength, sustenance and food
Like  gushing river merging into the ocean
joyfully forever, discovering  its destination
O Lord of beings,  let every thought of mine
find ultimate shelter at thy lotus feet shrine
deviating never as even  the thoughts move
such state of mind the sages call as divine LOVE
(inspiration from Shivananda Lahari – 61)
=======================================Quote
“Human beings must be known to be loved; but Divine beings must be loved to be known.” - Blaise Pascal
========================================Humor
The Surest Sign That Intelligent Life Exists Elsewhere In The Universe
Is The Fact That It Has Never Tried To Contact Us!!!!
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Shrine of Heart

Not all holy shrines are
meant for same purpose –
there are those meant
to pray for wealth and pleasure – bhukti
some for skill and knowledge – yukti
some for forbearance and power –shakti 
few for liberation – mukti
and rare ones  for devotion – bhakti
whereas, the wise ones seek
the shrine within in meditation
with yukti of Self-knowledge
to gain mukti from thoughts,
unconditional bhakti for the Lord and
Shakti to abide in the Self!
All in one holy shrine – the heart!
===========================================Quote
“The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and he has to wonder through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.” -  Rabindranath Tagore
===========================================Humor
Smart Alex went to an interview.
Interviewer: Imagine that you are in the fifteenth floor.  Suddenly fire bursts out, and there are many people who are struggling to survive.  In that situation, what will you do ?
Smart Alex: Oye! I will stop imagining!!!!
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Idea

A creative thought leads to idea
given life it is ideal,
When  exemplified, it is idol,
without life it remains idle!
====================================Quote
First, have a definite, clear practical ideal: a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends: wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end. -  Aristotle
=============================Humor
Two men were in a forest, when a lion came roaring towards them. One of them throws sand into its eyes, and runs. Second one stays unmoved. When asked why he is not running,  he  said: "Why should I be running? It is you who has thrown the sand!"
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Reflection...

Only –
when you think like a student
you can guide like a teacher 
when you feel like the child
you can feed like a mother
when you admire like a fan
you can perform like an artist
when you can love like God
you can seek Him like a devotee!
==============================Quote
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. -  William Arthur Ward
==============================Humor
Teacher: What is a skeleton?
Student: Sir, skeleton is a person who started dieting, but forgot to stop it!!
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Being and Doing

Thinking with time is to live with ego,
like watching endless sky through a narrow window
what you see is confined by the limited frame
so too ego’s vision defined by form and name
Its demands you to satiate the hunger of senses
that propels you to live with images and pretenses
Knowledge of the Self transforms you in a blink
the way you think and also why you think!
It makes self-inquiry as effortless way of life
Inquiring ‘who am I?’ is no more a strife
It stops you looking for meanings among matter
it beckons you to grow for a goal that is greater
you start making a choice between ‘doing’ and ‘being’
thinking precedes doing and beyond thoughts is ‘being’
relentlessly inquire to find the inner source of thought
no more among thoughts you will be ever caught
the window breaks and vision of your life expands
you see  beginning less past and endless presence
Scriptures roar, ‘Stop not till you reach this goal’
It is the only supreme goal for you, me, one and all
============================================Quote
If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or objects – Albert Einstein
============================================Humor
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience!!!
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Spiritual Nurture

On approaching the Guru for first time in his life,
disciple implored, ‘teach me to go beyond death and grief’
Smiled the Guru, ‘if you qualify, surely you will know…
First go ahead, fetch water from the river below
with a bamboo basket that is filthy and dirty
and help me water the plants, really thirsty.’
Ran the disciple intending to make him happy…
to the river below the hill that is narrow and sloppy.
He filled the basket with water up to the brim
alas, it leaked all the way as he began to climb.
Reaching the Guru with the basket empty, no water.
‘Go back again’ said the Guru, ‘and do this time better’
Again and again he attempted with no success ever.
Frustrated and exhausted he gave up the endeavor
‘I came here to learn’ said he, ‘not to wear out in work’
Guru said, ‘you have just begun…to qualify, to learn, to be awake.
Dirty basket that is clean now, no water in it stays.
So clean your mind first by service then ask, as Gita says…
no guru can save a mind that remains restless    
attached to the world that is empty and pith-less
in every action selflessly that is offered
from the ageless sins you will be delivered
neglect never the teaching of your loving teacher
with him alone you slowly gain the spiritual nurture
In the mind that is pure, knowledge stays for sure
inquire more to know that death has no cure
grief is not even brief for the wise who knows truth,
he is abode of peace, beyond knowledge is his path…’
=======================================Quote
We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. - Buddha
=======================================Humor
Jatin had just received his brand new drivers license. The family troops out to the driveway, and climbs in the car, where he is going to take them for a ride for the first time. Dad immediately heads for the back seat, directly behind the newly minted driver.

"I'll bet you're back there to get a change of scenery after all those months of sitting in the front passenger seat teaching me how to drive," says the beaming boy to his father.

"Nope," comes dad's reply, "I'm going to sit here and kick the back of your seat as you drive, just like you've been doing to me all these years."
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