Beautiful Soul

In life,we come across so many people but very few touch us .This post is dedicated to all those beautiful souls.Money,success and power has become three elements to define respect in the society. Let people be good or bad, beyond the judgement,each one of us either found or search for true friend ,true relationship who can be there for us during testing times,pain or even one ends up with nothing.

Personally, with god's grace, I am lucky to meet few good souls,this world still looks beautiful only because of them.How much ever one races in this rat race,everyone still ends up being a rat .I love the Indian Epics "Ramayana and Mahabharata", It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal father, ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king.Great epics teach us the way of life for every individual.What happens .....when you choose the path of right and wrong and where one ends up....Lot of good humans face so much of  obstacles in attaining even the very basic desire. I used to wonder,why god has to punish good people and make the criminal minded one's live in merry.

Well, thats the case even for Lords....Let it be Lord Ram,Seetha,Lakshmana,Hanuman in Ramayana or for the Pandavas in Mahabharata or Shirdi Sai Baba or Mahavira or Buddha or Jesus Christ or to all the holy saints who had visited earth to teach us humanity.When thats the case for Lords, then who am I to blame god. Life is not fair for everyone but end always leaves with a message,everything seems to have a reason behind it.

Its easy to say and write but to make the mind understand and accept the reality is little tough.I bow and salute to all the beautiful souls,the pain and the problems that you had and you are still going through is immense but dear heart,if you have chosen the right path,stick on to the same despite of all the gains or losses that you need to go through in this journey.Remember beautiful souls , you are truly god's children :)

Mahashivarathiri

Today is an auspicious day for all the believer's of Lord Shiva. Sanskrit word "Shiva"  means"auspicious, kind, gracious". He is the god of Yogis.Shiva is the most powerful god of the Hindu pantheon and one of the godhead's in the Hindu Trinity. The festival is called as "Mahashivarathiri", the Great Night of Shiva. Mahashivaratri falls on the 13th day of the dark half of Phalgun.Maha Shivaratri is traditionally celebrated with a series of elaborate pujas.

• Sanitization of the soul is represented by a bath given to the Shiva lingam with rose water, milk, honey and bilva leaves.
• Vermilion paste applied to the Shiv lingam is symbolic of a good feature.
• Offering of fruits made to the Shiv lingam represents long life and fulfillment of desires.
• Prosperity is produced by the burning of incense sticks.
• The lighting of the lamp means achievement of knowledge.
• Offering of Vilvam leaves portrays happiness

History behind Mahashivarathri 


The ritual culminates in the marriage of Shiva and Parvati (Shakti), which is symbolic union of consciousness and matter – the dance of universal creation.Lord Shiva appeared in the form of linga in front of Brahma and Vishnu on this day.By observing fast on this day and praying Lord Shiva, you can get benefits that one gets after one year of rigorous prayer.Legend says, Shiva once said that whoever worships him and Parvati's statue on this day will be very dearer to him.



Importance

Both Men and Women observe the fast of Shivaratri with immense faith, married women observe the fast for the well being of their family and unmarried girls observe fast for a good husband like Lord Shiva, he is considered as an ideal husband.


Lingam Symbol – True meaning


There has been significant misinterpretation on Lingam symbol by westerner's, that even Merriam -Webster  dictionary defines it as a stylized phallic symbol. This is not only a serious mistake, but also a grave blunder.Linga actually means a “mark” in Sanskrit, more accurately, a differentiating mark.. It is certainly not the sex-mark.


Lingam represents the beginningless and endless, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.


The Shivalingam denotes the primeval energy of the Creator. The Shivalingam is also a representation of the infinite Cosmic Column of fire, whose origins, Vishnu and Bhrama were unable to trace. Shivalingams in several temples are swayambus, or that which appeared on their own. On the other hand, there are temples where the Shivalingam is carved out of stone and installed.The upper portion of Shivalingam may be of various shapes,cylindrical,elliptical,umberalla shaped.Images may also be rarely carved on a Shivalingam.  



Wishing all a happy, pious Mahashivarathiri !!!

Women & Beauty

 
 Next to Technology ranks Beauty & Weight Loss as the buzz word for 21st century.  In olden days, women with bigger hips where considered as  more attractive and beautiful ,it was a representation of fertility and healthy sign for bearing child.Medieval European paintings portrayed beautiful women as over weight category.Modern era has brought slim women as more attractive.High fashion models have the highest status among female models for their skinny physique & their uncanny resemblance to those of adolescent boys .My opinion is the fact that these aesthetic preference is the product of gay fashion designers, who are responsible for the typical skinniness of high fashion models


Beauty is famously in the eye of the beholder.To understand what it takes to be beautiful,beautiful means being physically appealing to men, thats a clear indicator of commodifying women .Men prefer women with full lips, sculpted chin and large eyes. Some lucky women have big eyes; others just seem to, thanks to the clever application of eyeshadow. As the classic commercial says, "Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline." (If it increases her options, who cares which it is?) Men, across cultures, are drawn to a woman with an hourglass figure. At one end of the spectrum are woman "Love me as I am! jargon and the other extreme are women who go around resembling available painted dolls.

Beauty of woman lies in the factor of how confident we can project ourself, let the weight loss focus be for the purpose of being healthy and fit rather than achieving hour class figure.

Theory of Karma

 Indian religions stress lot of importance on Karma, this is the "law of cause and effect". Concept of karma has a strong conscious impact on attitude and emotions. Many western culture have notions similar to Karma, "What goes around comes around".

The process of birth and death is occurring ages after ages but the life we go through in each stage is more or less the same but how many times have we questioned ourselves the purpose and meaning of life. There is always need and want.Needs are less but wants are more.when wants become more,the approach to attain the want is a matter of conscious decision .

We all know that our stay in earth comes with an expiry date but have we realized that fact.If and if we had realized it then there would be no greed, no corruption and no war.Imagine a planet with conscious minded individuals with virtue of righteousness ...how beautiful will that world be..:)

 A story here would illustrate this point:

A young student is sent overseas to study certain skills. This overseas country has a currency control. No money may be brought in or taken out of the country. However the student may earn a living to feed himself and pay for his tuition fees. The scholarship is for ten years. So he took a part time job while studying the skills that he was sent to learn. This part time job was so successful that in two years he made it a full time job. Then he acquired a flat, a car with credit cards. He joined prestigious clubs of that country, and he made his lucrative job his career, forgetting what he went there for. The skills that he went to learn were compassion, wisdom and unconditional love. All these were totally forgotten. So by the end of ten years at which time he has to go home, he failed miserably to acquire these skills. Neither could he bring home all his wealth because the foreign country does not allow any expatriation of its currency, and also his home country does not use money. The currency in his home is karma and merit. This is exactly what happens to all of us, except that the length of overseas study is between 50 to 80 years and not ten. And the country of our foreign study is planet earth. Our home is the spirit world.

Truth is here...can we go higher in learning the science of Wisdom..... Think think think!!!

"ALL IS WELL" - Power of Positive Thinking

Yesterday,I watched the tamil flick "Nanban" remake of Hindi Blockbuster "3 idiots",  the film looked so fresh as a remake version too. Jus loved it. How beautiful is the term " All is well". There are times, when we feel down,when expectation doesnt coincide with reality.During the tough times, its easy to quit but staying and proving one's worth is the real deal.It's always necessary for our mind to boost with the thought of "Everything happens for good"

As a school student, I was below average in academics.According to my maths teacher, i never existed at the first place and so was my maths scores too.When i moved to college, my teachers and fellow classmates said i am intelligent, that was totally a new word to me. The very word created interest to study and read books.Purpose of education shifted its focus from scores to attaining knowledge. Books can be a very beautiful companion,it does change our thought process.Life is the  best teacher,it always gives us choice to create ourselves. Searching and learning is where the miracle of life begins.

I have always taken life as the way it comes, guided by strong intuition. Till date, have no regrets about the way i am handling life ...it is important to set goal but if you are not sure of goal , dont bother ,there is and there will always be unexplored creative zone for one to explore and mark the niche

The very heaven and hell is not an external phenomena,its the way we see life. Religion makes us to believe that committing sin is the root cause for our birth   .True religion should teach us positive thinking ,it shouldnt degrade our very existence.Every situation that one goes through in life should make us a strong person and not as a weak one.When there is no struggle, there is no strength

Let however the time be...good or not so good kind. When something leaves you then it simply means there is something better awaiting for you . Till then just say "ALL IS WELL" :)

Art of Parenting

Recent incident took place in Chennai shook the entire state. 15 yr old boy stabbed his teacher in class during school hours.This is not a new incident, these kinds of juvenile crimes happens across the world.One has to realize that the new generation are very sensitive and overly aggressive.Thanks to media and adult sites for leading them to negative exposure.

The journey of Parenthood is not a smooth one,in modern society especially among nuclear families both the husband and wife have to slog for providing comforts for their children,in offering them best education and this scenario is applicable for single parent too.Spouses have no time for each other,work pressure and family demands and responsibilities are increased day by day. Parents set unlimited expectation from their children,right from scoring high grades to be a super duper in all extra curricular activities Children are going through lot of stress,we force them to mature at a younger age.From the concept of we to I interest has increased among individuals in the family.  

Present day kids learn the aggressive behavior right from age 4, all these video games are one way of initiating the aggressive behavior .Gone are those days,when children had the opportunity to hear moral stories and code of  behavior in the class. Schools have seized from a respectful educational institution  to money making industry.Each school is competing with other school to prove their worth through their academic scores which in turn could bring better input in increase in no.of seats for the following academic year.Parents & Teachers  have missed the importance of teaching human values to students."What we sow is what we reap".

Every child is influenced majorly by their peer group.It doesnt matter whether the kid has wonderful parents or teachers.Its the very choice of friends influence the mind of young adults.Adolescent problems has to kept as one among the curriculum, it is definitely the duty of society to nourish younger minds the art of empathy and compassion.All of us know, adolescence is a frustrating phase for young adults as there is so much of physical and psychological changes that every teen goes through....new friends,new habits ...they dont have time to think what is right and what is wrong, their only goal is to be accepted and be popular among their peer group.Parents should have friendly approach towards their teen kids,only if and if they can consider their parents as friends,they would be able to open up and discuss their thoughts to family members but by and large adults dont have an open mind in accepting their children faults.

It is essential to have practical parenting courses and classes to be conducted for Parents and Teachers in bringing up better adults to the society.

Science behind Love

Valentine's day is round the corner.People are intoxicated with thoughts of love & romance .Is love a matter of heart or a matter of mind.Most often,we confuse love with infatuation and lust.This attraction factor is neither a heart nor a matter of mind but a hormonal reaction.Brain becomes illogical in the throes of new romance,literally blind to the shortcomings of the lover .This fevered brain activity runs on hormones and neurochemicals such as dopamine,estrogen,oxytocin and testosterone.

There is some truth to the notion that people can become addicted to love.Romantic partners,especially in the initial phase of six months ,crave the ecstatic feeling of being together and helplessly dependent on each other.Studies of passionate love show this brain state lasts for roughly six to eight months .

During times of physical separation ,a deep longing for the beloved can set in."Absence makes the heart grow fonder".We are used to thinking of this longing as only psychological,but its actually physical.The brain is virtually in a drug - withdrawal state.Mothers often warn their daughters not to get too close with a new boyfriend,and this advice may be wiser than they realize.The act of hugging or cuddling releases the oxytocin in the female brain and its likely to trust the hugger.To bond successfully with a romantic partner,males are thought to need testosterone and vasopressin boosts a male's energy,attention and aggression.When men in love experience the effects of vasopressin,they have laser like focus on their beloved and actively track her in their mind's eyes,even when she isn't present.

Love circuits in men get extra kick when stress levels are high.After an intense physical challenge ,for instance , males will bond quickly with the first willing female they lay eyes on.This may be the reason,military men under stress of war often bring home brides.Women, by contrast,will be able to express affection and desire when she is stress free.This is one main reason, why couple's quarrel  during their middle age.When woman experience betrayal or loss of love ,they also respond differently than men do.When love is lost,abandoned men are three to four times more likely to commit sucide.Women ,by contrast,sink into depression.They crib and cry all the time and withdraw from social activities.Love is absolutely a phenomena of brain, the long term stay is possible only when the partner understand the biological difference and accept each other in totality.

Happy Valentines day :)