AWAKENINGS

The Link below will lead to video of Vegetable Orchestra. Music is being played by using all sorts of fresh vegetables reshaped as various musical instruments and the audience are served soup at the end of music with these vegetables! Enjoyable and Innovative http://www.gemueseorchester.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid =

The Law of the Garbage Truck Courtesy: G. Vaidyanathan (web source) Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly one can get back their focus on what's important. I learned it in the back of a taxi cab. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for a railway station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car's back end by just inches! The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean…he was friendly. So, I said, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, "The Law of the Garb...

Difference Between Working & Serving Courtesy: S. Shankar, Lucas-TVS “ Working and Serving are like doing what you like and liking what you do.While you get paid in the former with time bound restriction, the latter gives you happiness without any time frame. Read the article below to feel happy in your office. – Blogger. One evening a scholar was addressing the participants on the concept of work culture. One of the participants asked the following question: "I am a senior manager of Materials Department and I joined an organization 25 years ago as an Engineer Trainee and over the last 25 years I have gone through every experience in the organization. During the initial part of my career, the job was very challenging and interesting. However, all those exciting days are gone since I do not find my joy any more interesting because there is nothing new in my job. I am now feeling bored because I am doing a routine job. However, Sir, I am living in the same house for over forty ...

The Cracked Pot A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole, which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the masters house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his masters house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you." "Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?" "I have been...

Perfect Predictions: Swami Vivekanda and Astrologer Swami Vivekananda explains a very wonderful phenomenon seen in a village called Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. “In the said village lives a man of the Chetty caste, generally passing for an astrologer. I, with two other young men, went to see him. He was said to tell about anything a man thinks of. So, I wanted to put him to the test. Two months ago, I dreamt that my mother was dead and I was very anxious to know about her. My second was whether what my Guru had told me was right. The third was a test-question—a part of the Buddhistic mantra, in Tibetan tongue. These questions I determined upon, two days before going to this Govinda Chetty. Another young man had one of his sisters-in-law given poison to, by some unknown hand, from which she recovered. But he wanted to know the author of that delivery. When we first saw him, the fellow was almost ferocious. He said that some Europeans came to see him with the Dewan of Mysore and that since th...

Satyameva Jayate: The first word NICE is the abbreviation for Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises and the second word nice is an adjective. NICE which was entrusted with the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project referred to as BMIC project, could not complete the project – the remaining portion of the peripheral and link roads on account of stalling of the work by the H.D.Kumaraswamy government due to various allegations of corruptions, nepotisms, land grapping, irregular tenders etc. The JD(S) partnered Congress and BJP coalition governments put in every possible effort to stop the project, but the Supreme Court came in the way of the Kumarasway government’s plan. The government was rapped on five occasions by the high court and the SC in the past three years. The saddest part of the story is that the NICE had already completed 39.5 km of the total length of 41 km of peripheral road and 7.1 km of the 9.1 km of link road and only 4.5 km of expressway is to be completed...

Lord Krishna declares: Action is superior to Inaction. Action here means work done by body. Inaction here means not idleness, but, mental work powered by the knowledge. Hence action falls under the category of yoga of action, while Inaction falls under the category of yoga of knowledge. According to Krishna, physical work is superior to mental work. How? Yoga of action is outward looking. Yoga of Knowledge is inward looking. Works by the body – senses in particular duly monitored by the mind are the source of power and energy for yoga of action. Thoughts monitored by the mind are the source of power and energy for yoga of knowledge. Action leads to tyaga – sacrifice. Knowledge leads to sanyasa –renunciation. Action in its final stage becomes perfect or pure action. Knowledge in its final stage becomes actionlessness or salvation or samadhi. A man practicing Yoga of knowledge can cure or curse without any space constraint. Such Yogis are capable of inflicting their benevolence without a...

The following thoughts are based on the Bhagavad Gita. Wise, yogi and sanyasi achieve purity of Mind. Purity of Mind leads to peace of Mind. How does one achieve Purity of Mind? Mind is also a sense organ like eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and skin. But mind is not a tangible object like other organs. Activity of mind is thinking. Suppliers for mind’s activities are other sense organs through sight, sound, smell, speech and touch. Thoughts of mind may be bad, good or pure. Capacity to hold thoughts by mind depends upon its memory. Memory is controlled by Time. Time erases Memory due to power of Forgetfulness. Intellect getting support from Consciousness is the gatekeeper of mind. Intellect filters thoughts and helps to prevent bad ones to enter mind. But all cannot afford to have the gatekeeper and hence mind is filled with all bad thoughts in many human beings. Vehicles of Bad thoughts are Desires driven by Lust, Anger and Greed. Such Bad thoughts gatecrash into Mind defeating Gatekeeper I...

Satyameva Jayate: Explosive Expenses of Rs.56 crore The three buildings built a few years back at a cost of Rs 56 crore — Ambedkar museum, the library and the administrative block — are expected to be razed next week under the orders of Ms. Mayawati, the present Chief Minister of U.P. with the help of explosives. The three buildings to be demolished are spread over 25 acres adjacent to the Ambedkar Smarak. Actually, the three buildings were inaugurated by Ms.Mayawati, the BSP supremo herself in 2003. The decision to demolish the three structures was made on April 22 so that a new gallery complex and a screen wall would come in place of the demolished structures. The gallery would comprise an elephant court besides statues of BSP icons, including Mayawati. The court would have 62 elephants, (election symbol of BSP) each costing Rs 62 lakh. It is said to be the dream project of Ms.Mayawati. How does this going to help the dreams of the poor needs to be addressed by Ms. Mayawati, who has ...

Bhagavad Gita has this to state about ‘action and attachment’: "One has to do Karma or Action without any expectation of its resultant reward or Fruit. The motive force of action should not be the fruit of action. At the same time, Non-attachment to the fruit of action should not lead into inaction. One, who works only to enjoy the fruit of his labour, is verily unhappy because one has no control over the fruit of action." Explanatory Comments: Currency note has no value as a paper, as the paper cannot boil even a cup of water. But, the same currency note can buy us enough firewood to boil not only water but also to cook our food. Such is the power of the paper in view of the stamp of authority and approval printed on it. Action becomes powerful, if the action is stamped with ‘yoga of action’. Yoga of action here means selfless action or simply action without attachment to the fruit of action. The phrase – ‘Action without attachment to fruit of action’ contains two factors – ...

Satyameva Jayate: T. R. Baalu’s issue is rocking both houses of parliament for the last few days. I am not going to the merits or demerits of the politically surcharged situations. Then, ‘what prompts me to refer this issue?’ you may ask. When the opposition members in the Rajya Sabha raised the question about Baalu’s issue yesterday, it was reported that when Petroleum Minister Murli Deora rose from his seat to answer the allegations in the Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister Mr.Manmohan Singh who was presesnt since then, rose from his seat at the same time and left the house immediately! I am really pained that this act of our gentleman Prime Minister is disrespect to the democracy and to the public at large. But the same Prime Minister had told to the Press afterwards that his office has done ‘nothing unusual’ on the T.R.Baalu issue for it to stoke a controversy.