Nuggets of wisdom

On Jan 8, 2008, I had the good fortune of attending a spiritual discourse by Swami Ishwarananda of the Chinmaya Mission, Los Angeles, USA. (Hard to believe he was a software engineer before he turned to this path and that was 23 years ago.)

He gave some wonderful tips on "Successful living". I put forward the same as understood by myself.

1. Change yourself - We cannot change anyone and attempting to do so only brings sorrow. However, we can change ourselves. Gandhiji once said "You have to be the change you want to see".

2. We should have the strength to change what we can; The courage to accept what we cannot; and the wisdom to know the difference between the two.

3. Success is relative to happiness - Do not rely on others for your happiness as that only paves the way for sorrow.

4. Smart people learn from other peoples' experiences.

5. (This I still have to learn to do) Know how to die cheerfully!

Anger Prevention Kit

Think!
A matchstick has a head but no brain.


Whenever there is a little friction, it fires up.


Let us learn from this little matchstick.


We have both heads and brains.


Therefore, let us not react on impulses.


Always judge and then act.


Keep Smiling!

Courtesy: Bal Vihar magazine Oct, 2009.

Hi! Recently I was gifted this book "Seeds of Wisdom" by Osho by a very dear Aunt of mine. The book is a compilation of short anecdotes which Osho uses to enlighten the ordinary human mind towards the Higher Truth.

I have read a book partly since it needs to be digested and not swallowed. Here, I share a short story from the book.

"Our Mind, Too, Is Full Of Holes"

The night is past and the rays of the morning sun are spreading over the fields. We have just crossed a small stream. Hearing the sound of train, a flock of white herons flies from the white lilies towards the sun.

Then something happens and the train stops. Halting in this lonely place feels good to me. My unknown fellow passengers are also awake. They boarded at some wayside station in the middle of the night. Perhaps taking me for a sannyasin, they come as though to touch my feet. An eagerness to ask something is in their eyes.

Finally one of them speaks, "If it does not inconvenience you, I wish to ask a question. I am interested in God and I have tried hard to reach him, but all to no avail. Does this mean that God does not favor me?"

I say, "Yesterday I went to a garden. Some friends were with me. One of them was thirsty so he lowered a bucket into the well. The well was very deep and it took some effort to pull the bucket up, but when it appeared at the top of the well it was empty. All the others laughed."

It seemed to me that the bucket was like a man's mind; it had many cracks and holes. Of course, at first it was filled with water, but every drop ran out through the holes. Our mind, too, is full of holes.

Offer the leaking mind to existence as persistently as you wish, it will return to you empty. If you repair the bucket beforehand, my friends, it becomes easy ti fill it with water. Of course, the leaking bucket may cause you to undertake many exercises in asceticism, but it will not quench your thirst.

Remember that existence is neither sympathetic nor unsympathetic. It is your responsibility to keep your bucket intact. The well is always ready to offer you water. It will not deny you.

Kaminey

Don't go by the title, it's just the name of a new hindi movie starring Shahid Kapoor (in a double role), Priyanka Chopra, Amol Gupte and many others.

The first time I heard the song "Dhan Te Nan" on TV, I was hooked. Something inside me (not my Conscience, my instinct) told me this movie is going to be a cult movie. I had the feeling it was going to be different from the others (how cliched). And refreshingly, it is DIFFERENT!!

To begin with, the title is so unusual. I mean, Kaminey means RASCAL and nobody wants to have a swear word as a title, but it totally justifies the movie. The music is simply fantabulous (Vishal Bharadwaj after Omkara, and no hangover after beedi cos the music is different). Gulzar's lyrics are simple yet deep. I would say Gulzar is one talented person who has been completely overshadowed by the more-glamorous peers.

The story as all know is about twins brothers Charlie and Guddu (played excellently by Shahid Kapoor). The two brothers have a speech defect each, where in Charlie cannot say 's' and he instead says 'f', like "manhoos" would be said as "manhoof" by Charlie. Actually, he does say it in the movie and it sounded really funny. Guddu on the other hand stammers in his speech.

The story revolves around the two brothers and their lives.

The first half of the movie is slow-paced (do not mistake it with tortoise-paced, its much faster than that) where the director (Vishal Bharadwaj) is setting the base for the movie which seems to fly in the second half.

Not a dull moment in the movie. You would expect such movies to be serious, but its a pleasant surprise to see some light moments in the movie which are so natural. I mean, you don't have to force a laugh, you automatically laugh.

Shahid Kapoor shines in his portrayal of Charlie, Guddu is lovable but wonderfully executed by Shahid again. Priyanka as Sweety, Guddu's girl is superb. A typical maharashtrian girl, loud and gets her way out of sticky situations. One particular scene that I totally liked her in is when she confronts her politician-goonda brother Bhope Bhau (Amol Gupte) and his gang towards the end of the movie with a gun that looks heavier than she is. The look on her face where she wants to protect her husband is so natural.

I also liked the character Mikhail (played by Chandana..., sorry I don't know the full name). His friendship with Charlie is so deep inspite of being in the underworld.

The movie Kaminey has a negative title, but the message I got from the movie is

• good always prevails over evil
• blood in thicker than water

Ultimately, Guddu succeeds in partly transforming his wayward brother Charlie and the two brothers come to each other's rescue.

I loved the movie! Worth a watch, definitely!

Is life really so cheap?

In the news today I saw the report on MYSORE TENSED after two people were hacked to death. It really made me sit-up and think "Is life really so cheap?" People just kill others without even giving a thought to the family of the person. Whosoever it may be. I mean, how can you just take somebody's life? I wonder what goes through the minds of those people at that time. Don't they even stop to think about what they are doing? Has all reasoning evaporated from their minds?

When are we going to stop watching disasters on tv and get some good news as well?

Or is there nothing good happening around the world?

God, please help the human race....