Vision

It is wisely said that what we think we become. We must take care of our thoughts. What we think, we feel it. And it influences our actions. Company of good thoughts makes us the master of self. After all light of knowledge illumines.   Knowledge is the highest good. And the reason is the highest good. Intellect is the invaluable gift of God. Through the medium of intellect, only a man can rise or fall. Here are a few verses and quotes selected to enlighten self. These are my favorite ones and gems of wisdom: Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become…habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny! What we think we become! ~ Lao Tzu ***** By Thought we rise; by Thought we fall; by Thought We stand or go: all destiny is wrought By its swift potency; and he who stands Master of Thought, and his desires

Life is a game, play it. Life is a puzzle, solve it. Life is a mystery, unfold it. How wise words these are! All the days are not the same. They vary. Up and down, to and fro are but natural. It’s like a roller coaster ride. It threatens sometimes. We may lose head and heart due to the variance.   In such an imbalance, how do we balance is the major point. In the midst of the conflict, in the midst of hardship, in the midst of the storm, how do we think and live, that carries the major attention. In the struggle, we may get disturbed. Negativity and distortion may drag us down. But the truth is: it’s a process, the process of development. No struggle can bring us down, but our own mind can. So it’s an opportunity to build a positive mind. So in the scuffle, instead of getting down, awake and arise. Build the mind with positive thoughts and emotions. Draw a meaning in difficult times and surely it will bring us up. Here is a heartening divine poem by Shri Aurobindo

Once upon a time, a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed. Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot and ground coffee beans in the third pot. He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her, he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?” “Potatoes, eggs and coffee,” she hastily replied. “Look closer”, he

Tagore is one the best spiritual poets of the contemporary century. For me, he is all time inspiration. Whenever I read his poems, I feel divinely delightful. He has heavenly mirth in his poems. His poems are devoted to God. That is the inner bliss runs beneath. Here in this one, he feels the presence of God with him. We may believe that God is in the temple, but the foremost wisdom is: God is with me, within me. So he keeps his body, mind and spirit pure. He keeps all untruths and evils away from him by knowing that God is in the inmost shrine of his heart. He reveals God’s divine touch in his endeavour because God gives him the strength to act. Here it is:                   Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing that thy living touch is upon all my limbs. I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind. I shall ever try to drive al

Restlessness, the longing for something different, something new, or something more, seems to be part of the human condition, and in this poem, George Herbert reflects on this human characteristic. The title is a metaphor drawn from mechanical engineering. A pulley is a device with which by pulling down you lift something up. Restlessness is a device by which God lifts men and women to Himself. Here is the poem:  When God at first made man, Having a glass of blessings standing by, “Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can. Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie, Contract into a span.” So strength first made a way; Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure. When almost all was out, God made a stay, Perceiving that, alone of all his treasure, Rest in the bottom lay. “For if I should,” said he, “Bestow this jewel also on my creature, He would adore my gifts instead of me, And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature; So both should

Once upon a time, there was a king who had gone to visit neighbouring kingdoms. He was gifted a pair of baby Macaw Parrots by the king of the last kingdom where he was visiting. They were the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. So, upon returning to his kingdom, he called for a bird trainer and asked him to train macaw parrots. The king also arranged a place in the palace garden for the parrots. He often looked at them from his palace window. As time passed, one day the trainer came to the palace and informed the king that though one of the parrots was flying majestically high in the sky, the other one was not moving from its branch since the day it had arrived. Upon hearing this, the king summoned trainer and healers from the nearby kingdoms. They all tried their best, but couldn’t make the parrot fly! He even asked his courtiers to try to find a way to make the parrot fly but they all failed. The parrot was not moving from his branch at all. Finally, after trying eve