Freedom is to be yourself

"You are totally free to choose, but once you choose, your very choice brings a limitation.If you want to remain totally free, then don't choose. That's where the teaching of choiceless awareness comes in. Why the insistence of the great masters just to be aware and not to choose? Because the moment you choose, you have lost your total freedom, you are left with only a part. But if you remain choiceless, your freedom remains total.So there is only one thing which is totally free and that is choiceless awareness. Everything else is limited."
Excerpted from 'Freedom, The Courage to be Yourself' by Osho

Liberation

"...it is truth that liberates, not your effort to be free."
~ Excerpted from 'The First and Last Freedom' by J. Krishnamurti

Truth

“An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Sunday Morning Gyan

Learn from the success of others and not their mistakes.

Not learning from the mistakes may be debated, but just think it this way that mistakes made in one scenario might not be the mistake in another. It also depends on the circumstances and the manner any step is taken and when we tend to learn from someone's mistake, we tend to generally opine that the reason why that person failed is not the right way to deal with something.

While learning from someone's success we learn what is the right way to do something, so..... think as the Sunday Morning Gyan is a Food For Thought.

Mayank

Ordinary man

"The ordinary man is living a very abnormal life, because his values are upside down. Money is more important than meditation; logic is more important than love; mind is more important than heart; power over others is more important than power over one's own being. Mundane things are more important than finding some treasures which death cannot destroy." ~ Osho

Result of our thoughts

"All that we are, and all that we become, is the direct result of our thoughts". ~ Buddha

Witnessing

"Just be a simple witness, a mirror which reflects and makes no judgment. This very moment you can become a witness. Witnessing is the only religion there is." ~ Osho

Creating organic unity

The word religion is very beautiful, but because of these priests it has fallen into wrong company. The word comes from an origin which means "coming together." But the priests have been doing just the opposite! They are creating splits in man, not oneness. Religion means creating in man ...an organic unity. It has nothing to do with God, it has something to do with you. It has nothing to do with worship, it has something to do with a transformation of your own consciousness. ~ Osho

Understand the whole

"You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Quest

"A quest is the most significant thing for a seeker. A quest means you want to know, you want to experience, you want to be the truth itself." ~ Osho

Children

A woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children." And he said: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
Excerpt from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran

Experience

"All conditionings are based on belief. And my whole effort is that experience should be the only criterion, not belief." ~ Osho

Joy & Sorrow

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Excerpted from 'Joy and Sorrow' by Kahlil Gibran

Respect all religion

(Chorus)
I and I respect all Religion
I and I me pray to the Almighty One
Me give thanks and praise fe the righteous way
But me can't follow...no me can't follow one

(Verse 1)
Me say me look to the Hindu ca me a Indian
Me look to the Muslim and Sikhism
Ina India too much to choose from
Sit down with Sadoo.. Indian holy man
Listen man a talk and me start understand
Go down Africa and me reach a Jam One
Sit down with Rasta and start fe reason
Read out of the bible talk to Christian
When you check it out could a confusion
Religion bring war and contradiction
One god we have one destination
Respect each other and nothing can wrong

(Verse 2)
Me say me learn bout Rama and Hari Krishna
Guru Gobind Singh and the height of Allah
Me look to the East and pray to Mecca
Jesus Christ Christian Messiah
Ina Jerusalem was born the saviour
King Salassi I down a Ethiopia
The conquering lion of the tribe of Judah
Natty Rastafari and me pray to Jah Jah
Me look and me search and me study Buddha
Say nuff mon a talk bout Sai Baba
God bless all mon who fight evil doer
That's why the angels a fan me with the eagles feather

(Verse 3)
Ca me say nuff mon a pray to animal and images
Some kill animal in sacrifices
Say nuff of them a follow demon and witches
Them worship the devil and satanic verses
But I and I no mek fe mek no compromises
Give thanks to the Lord and the highest praises
You spread the good word and bring good wishes
You mix ina evil the highest watches
You clean up your heart and break no promises
Live good with all colour and all races
Overcome tribulation man faces
A me say dust-to-dust and ashes to ashes

(written by: Steve Kapur)

Focus on future

“At the point of realization, do not look into your past; but focus on your future.
Use knowledge, not to dissect your past; but to construct your future.”
Experted from 'Frozen Thoughts' Vol. 10: Issue 4 (October, 2010)

Truth, a pathless land

"Truth is a pathless land, and you can not approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect.....the moment you follow someone you cease to follow Truth." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Pride and arrogance

"It is those people who do not empty or share what they have that suffer from pride and arrogance."
Excerpted from 'Frozen Thoughts' Vol. 10: Issue 3 (September, 2010)

My love

“Love is love, only when, what yo do and what you do not do, does not alter my love for you."
Excerpted from 'Frozen Thoughts' Vol. 10: Issue 3 (September, 2010)

Secrets of life

"Without meditation you do not know the secrets of life, you only know the surface of life" ~ Osho

Kindness

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness." ~ Dalai Lama

The message

"There are so many messengers carrying loads of messages everyday, which we fail to observe in our mundane life. The message is important and not the messenger."
Excerpted from 'Frozen Thoughts' Vol. 10: Issue 4 (October, 2010)

Frozen thought

"Religion is the frozen thought of man out of which they built temples." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Forward thinking

"At the point of realisation, do not look into your past; but focus on your future.
Use knowledge, not to dissect your past; but to construct your future."
Excerpted from 'Frozen Thoughts' Vol. 10: Issue 4 (October, 2010)

Authority & intelligence

"The following of authority is the denial of intelligence...and the process, self-knowledge & freedom are abandoned." ~ J.Krishnamurti

Keep me away

"Keep me away from the wisdom, which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children." ~ Kahlil Gibran

I or Hari

"Jab Mein Tha Tab Hari Nahin, Jab Hari Hai Mein Nahin
Sab Andhiyara Mit Gaya, Jab Deepak Dekhya Mahin" ~ Kabir

When "I" was then Hari was not, Now Hari "is" and "I" am not
All the darkness (illusions) mitigated, When I saw the light (illumination) within.

With the flow

"When you go with the flow, you become one with existence and when existence is with you... everything is possible."
Excerpted from 'Frozen Thoughts' Vol. 10: Issue 3 (September, 2010)

Be quite

“A seed while growing makes no sound. A tree when falling makes huge noise. Destruction shouts, but creation is always quite. Be quite, achieve more.” ~ Unknown

No greed

“Sayeen Itna Deejiye, Ja Mein Kutumb Samaye
Main Bhi Bhookha Na Rahun, Sadhu Na Bhookha Jaye” ~ Kabir

Give so much O God, suffice to envelop my clan
I should suffer no hunger, nor the visitor goes unfed

Undisturbed

Lord Buddha was sitting under a banyan tree. One day, a furious Brahmin came to him and started abusing him. The Brahmin thought that Buddha would reciprocate in the same manner, but to his utter surprise, there was not the slightest change in the expression on his face. Now, the Brahmin became more furious. He hurled more and more abuses at Buddha. However, Buddha was completely unmoved. Actually there was a look of compassion on his ace. Ultimately the Brahmin was tired of abusing him. He asked, "I have been abusing you like anything, but why are you not angry at all ?"

Lord Buddha calmly replied, "My dear brother, I have not accepted a single abuse from you." "But you heard all of them, didn't you?" The Brahmin argued half-heartedly. Buddha said, "I do not need the abuses, so why should I even hear them?" Now the Brahmin was even more puzzled. He could not understand the calm reply from Buddha. Looking at his disturbed face, Buddha further explained, "All those abuses remain with you." "It cannot be possible. I have hurled all of them at you," the Brahmin persisted. Buddha calmly repeated his reply, "But I have not accepted even a single abuse from you ! Dear brother, suppose you give some coins to somebody, and if he does not accept them, with whom will those coins remain?" The Brahmin replied, "If I have given the coins and not needed by someone, then naturally they would remain with me."

With a meaningful smile on his face, Buddha said, "Now you are right. The same has happened with your abuses. You came here and hurled abuses at me, but I have not accepted a single abuse from you. Hence, all those abuses remain with you only. So there is no reason to be angry with you." The Brahmin remained speechless. He was ashamed of his behavior and begged for Buddha's forgiveness.

Freedom from thought

"The ending of sorrow is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge is always within the shadow of ignorance. Meditation is freedom from thought and a movement in the ecstasy of truth. Meditation is explosion of intelligence." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Man's own mind

"It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways." ~ Buddha

Problem and solution

"If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Difference

“How the world sees you makes a small difference. How you see yourself makes all the difference.”
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 10: Issue 3 (September, 2010)

Like a shadow

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. " ~ Buddha

Freedom and love

"Freedom and love go together. Love is not a reaction. If I love you because you love me, that is mere trade, a thing to be bought in the market; it is not love. To love is not to ask anything in return, not even to feel that you are giving something- and it is only such love that can know freedom." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Mask of ideas

"Do not repeat after me words that you do not understand. Do not merely put on a mask of my ideas, for it will be an illusion and you will thereby deceive yourself." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Healed people heal

"Hurt people hurt and healed people heal." ~ Gil Fronsdal

Without judgement

“The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judgement." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Still mind

"To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet, still." ~ J. Krishnamurti

Restless mind

“Maala Pherat Jug Bhaya, Mita Na Man Ka Pher
Kar Ka Manka Chhor De, Man Ka Manka Pher” ~ Kabir

Eons have passed whirling rosary, restless remains the mind
Give up the beads of rosary and rotate the beads of mind

Law, order and society

Lao Tzu became very famous, a wise man, and he was without doubt one of the wisest men ever. The emperor of China asked him very humbly to become his chief of the supreme court, because nobody could guide the country's laws better than he could. He tried to persuade the emperor, "I am not the right man," but the emperor was insistent.

Lao Tzu said, "If you don't listen to me... just one day in the court and you will be convinced that I am not the right man, because the system is wrong. Out of humbleness I was not saying the truth to you. Either I can exist or your law and order and your society can exist. So... let us try it."

The first day a thief who had stolen almost half the treasures of the richest man in the capital was brought into the court. Lao Tzu listened to the case and then he said that the thief and the richest man should both go to jail for six months.

The rich man said, "What are you saying? I have been stolen from, I have been robbed—what kind of justice is this, that you are sending me to jail for the same amount of time as the thief?"

Lao Tzu said, "I am certainly being unfair to the thief. Your need to be in jail is greater, because you have collected so much money to yourself, deprived so many people of money... thousands of people are downtrodden and you are collecting and collecting money. For what? Your very greed is creating these thieves. You are responsible.
The first crime is yours."

Stop having opinions

Don't search for truth, simply stop having opinions

Enlightenment is not an opinion, but a state achieved through the absence of all opinions. It is not an idea, but an awareness of the consciousness that experiences all ideas.
This consciousness is vast and limitless, like a clear blue sky, and ideas are clouds that pass across the sky. When we focus on the clouds, we miss seeing the base that holds them all.

Within

As in the within, so in the without! As your thoughts, as your feelings, so will be your world. What is the point in pointing figures outside and crying? It’s like cleaning the bottle from outside, while it is dirty inside. There is no outside world as such – it’s just the reflection of your inner world. Let the evil within disappear, and see how it evaporates, bit by bit, from the world outside too.
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 10: Issue 2 (August, 2010)

Heaven and hell

The old monk sat by the side of the road. With his eyes closed, his legs crossed and his hands folded in his lap, he sat. In deep meditation, he sat.
Suddenly his zazen was interrupted by the harsh and demanding voice of a samurai warrior. "Old man! Teach me about heaven and hell!"
At first, as though he had not heard, there was no perceptible response from the monk. But gradually he began to open his eyes, the faintest hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth as the samurai stood there, waiting impatiently, growing more and more agitated with each passing second.
"You wish to know the secrets of heaven and hell?" replied the monk at last. "You who are so unkempt. You whose hands and feet are covered with dirt. You whose hair is uncombed, whose breath is foul, whose sword is all rusty and neglected. You who are ugly and whose mother dresses you funny. You would ask me of heaven and hell?"
The samurai uttered a vile curse. He drew his sword and raised it high above his head. His face turned to crimson and the veins on his neck stood out in bold relief as he prepared to sever the monk's head from its shoulders.
"That is hell," said the old monk gently, just as the sword began its descent. In that fraction of a second, the samurai was overcome with amazement, awe, compassion and love for this gentle being who had dared to risk his very life to give him such a teaching. He stopped his sword in mid-flight and his eyes filled with grateful tears.
"And at," said the monk, "is heaven."

Effortless

Once Buddha was travelling with a few of his followers. While they were passing a lake, Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty, please get me some water from the lake.” The disciple walked up to the lake. At that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy and turbid.

The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?” So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”

After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake. The disciple went back, and found that the water was still muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same. After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back.

This time, the disciple found the mud had settled down, and the water was clean and clear. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water and then he looked up at the disciple and said,” See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be, and the mud settled down on its own – and you have clear water. Your mind is like that too! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time…. it will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.” Having ‘Peace of Mind’ is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process.

Good to man

“If only we can be as good to man as we are to god, no prophet or messiah would ever be required to visit this planet.

In fact, prophets and messiahs became so because they were as good to man, as they were to god.”
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 10: Issue 1 (June, 2010)

Giving and forgiving

Man keeps getting and forgetting and Nature, like the divine, keeps giving and forgiving. We have taken more from society that what we have given. To redeem ourselves from our karmic indebtedness, we should work to leave behind a peaceful world for posterity.
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 10: Issue 1 (June, 2010)

There are no secrets

The secret is ‘There are no secrets’.
Eventually, everybody will know it.

When you have nothing to hide,
you have nothing to avoid.
When you have nothing to avoid,
you have nothing to hide.

Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 10: Issue 1 (June, 2010)

Act Before Its Late

Zazen Wasan

From the beginning, all beings are Buddha;
Like water and ice, without water no ice,
Outside us, no Buddhas.
How near the Truth, yet how far we seek!
Like one in water crying, "I thirst",
Like the son of a rich man
Wandering poor on this earth,
We endlessly circle the Six Worlds.
From dark path to dark path
We've wandered in darkness.
How can we be free from the wheel of Samsara?

The Perfection of freedom is Zazen-Samadhi,
Beyond exaltation, beyond all our praises,
The pure Mahayana.
Observing the precepts, repentance and giving,
The countless good deeds, and the Way of Right Living,
All flow from this Zen.
Even one meditation extinguishes evil;
It purifies karma, dissolving obstruction.
Then where are the dark paths to lead us astray?
The Pure Lotus Land is not far away.
Hearing this Truth, heart humble and grateful,
To praise and embrace it, to practice its wisdom,
Brings unending blessings, brings mountains of merit.

But if we turn directly, and prove our True Nature,
That true Self is no-self,
Our own Self is no-self,
We stand beyond ego and past clever words.
Then the gate to the oneness of cause-and-effect is thrown open:
Not two, and not three,
Straight ahead runs the Way.
Now our form is no-form,
So in coming and going we never leave home.
Now our thought is no-thought,
So our dancing and songs are the voice of the Dharma.
How bright and transparent the moonlight of Wisdom!
What is there outside us, what is there we lack?
Nirvana is openly shown to our eyes.
This earth where we stand is the Pure Lotus Land,
And this very body, the body of Buddha!
('Zazen Wasan' - Song of Zazen by Hakuin)

They pay for their conduct

“Kabira Teri Jhompri Gal Katiyan Ke Paas
Jo Karenge So Bharenge Tu Kyon Bhayo Udaas” ~ Kabir

O Kabir! Your hut is next to the butcher’s bay
Why do you feel down? For their conduct they only shall pay

Nirvana is right here

“At this moment, is there anything lacking? Nirvana is right here now before our eyes. This place is the lotus land. This body now is the Buddha.” ~ Hakuin

Right time

“Dheere Dheere Re Mana, Dheere Sub Kutch Hoye
Mali Seenche So Ghara, Ritu Aaye Phal Hoye” ~ Kabir

Slowly, slowly O mind, everything happens in own pace
Gardner may water a hundred buckets; fruit comes only in its season

Karma

What happens to you is not in your control. Accept it. However, how you are going to respond to what is happening to you is absolutely in your control. Take responsibility for it. Your present is created by your past karma. How are you respond to your present will cause the Karma from which your future will come.
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 9: Issue 11 (May 2010)

Suffering

Suffering is caused when you mind wants life to go in a particular direction, but your life goes in a different one altogether. You try to define life, but life defines all definitions that you confine it to. Suffering is caused when you resist ‘What Is’.
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 9: Issue 11 (May 2010)

A religious man

A religious man is an organic unity, in balance. His head, his hands, his feet, his body, his mind, his souls, all are in deep harmony, in a deep rhythm. He is an orchestra.
Excerpted from the books of Osho

You got to believe

Questioning

"One of the important things in life is not to stop questioning. The moment one stops questioning, search ceases." ~ Vaibhav

A journey within

Religion and Fear

Religion has survived up to now because of your fear and greed. Of course I mean false religion. True religion has nothing to do with fear and greed. In fact, true religion means transcending fear and greed.

We call religious persons “god-fearing”. Fear has nothing to do with religion at all; fear is anti-religious. Love is religion. Authentic religious person will make you unafraid, fearless; not a slave, not a puppet in the hands of some unknown god, some fiction.

Excerpted from books of Osho

Peace emanates from soul

"Peace emanates from the soul, and is the sacred inner environment in which true happiness unfolds." ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Life...

There is no saturation in life…
only saturated minds.
There is no stagnation in life…
only stagnant people.

Life is a mere open parenthesis…
fill as much as you want…
there is no close parenthesis.

There us as much room
as your heart can conceive…
as much room
as your mind can believe…
as much room
as your attitude towards life.

The only word that can befit life is ‘More’.
Excerpted from ‘Unposted Letter’ by T.T. Ranga Rajan

Understanding comes with love

"Great understanding comes with great love. "
Wisdom and compassion are inseparable qualities of our true nature. To be wise is to love and to love is to be wise.
Wisdom is the quality of mind that sees beyond the limits of the ego-self and knows the ultimate connectedness of life. Love is the quality of heart that unites us with others and all of life, and frees us from our separateness.
The path to enlightenment is opening the mind to wisdom and the heart to compassion and love.

Author of health

Every human being is the author of his own health or disease. ~ Buddha

Greater person

"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds, your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be." ~ Patanjali

Why do we lie?

We lie because it helps us to escape a
situation which may not be pleasant

The curse of lying is that
it develops in us the ‘attitude to escape’.
The blessing of honesty is that
it develops in us the ‘attitude to face’.

If you want to hit the top
you need the ‘attitude to face’
everything in life.

And, what will shape this attitude in you?
Honesty!

Excerpted from ‘Unposted Letter’ by T.T. Ranga Rajan

Idea

"Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas." ~ Marie Curie

Solution

Even if we cannot be the solution,
let us at least be the solace.
Even if we cannot help, let us not harm.
Even if we cannot solve the problem,
let us not cause the problem.
Even if we cannot be the accelerant,
let us not be a retardant.

If you cannot be the pain balm
to the battered souls,
rather than being the cause of headache,
the world will come in search of you.

With compassion in words and actions,
help every man to find his solutions
and this world will belong to you.

Excerpted from ‘Unposted Letter’ by T.T. Ranga Rajan

That's life

Success is in the big things;
Happiness is in the small things;
Meditation is in nothing;
God is in everything.
That’s life.

Excerpted from ‘Unposted Letter’ by T.T. Ranga Rajan

Always alone

All relationships are only on the surface.
Deep inside you are always alone.

A thousand people may surround you;
yet a part of you is always alone.
Even when you embrace your beloved,
a part of you is always alone.

You came into this world alone
and you will leave this world alone.

Liberation comes from knowing
‘Existential Aloneness’
is your true nature.

Relate from this space
and you will be dependable;
else, you will be dependant.

Excerpted from ‘Unposted Letter’ by T.T. Ranga Rajan

Attitude in life

Two thoughts decide your attitude in life:
1) What you think of yourself when you have nothing; and
2) What you think of others when you have everything.

Painting your life

At birth, your life was a plain canvas.
Your potential is the colours.
Your choices are the strokes on the canvas.

At death, this canvas
will either be a treasured masterpiece
or an unnoticed scribbling.

That would be the judgment day
on how good a painter you were
in painting your life.

Excerpted from ‘Unposted Letter’ by T.T. Ranga Rajan

Prayer & meditation

In prayer
you talk to existence.
In meditation,
you listen to existence.

In prayer,
you listen to your own voice.
In meditation,
you listen to the beyond.

Prayer is
communication with existence.
Meditation is
a communion with existence.

Excerpted from 'Unposted Letter' by T.T. Ranga Rajan

Live fearlessly

To live is to live fearlessly

When you have nothing to hide,
you have nothing to avoid.

True freedom if found
only in transparent living.

The greatest compliment
One can give to oneself
Is to declare,
“I am an open book.”

Excerpted from 'Unposted Letter' by T.T. Ranga Rajan

Give with love

"Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected" ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Generosity

"Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need."
Excerpted from 'Sand and Foam' by Kahlil Gibran

Wisdom listens

"Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens" ~ Jimi Hendrix

Involve me

“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.”
Chinese Proverb

Environment, Trees & Us

Vaibhav's post Save Trees made me wonder on what the Save Tree Campaign is? Why the Save Tree Campaign is? and Why we want to save Trees? After a lot of pondering on the topic and then brain searching I established that it's the selfish nature we have that we want to Save trees. Certainly our selfishness. Then I got confused, where does selfishness come in as we have enough to survive through our life, its more of selflessness towards the coming generations.....

Though confused, but yes I am determined that we need to save trees, we need to save forests and we need to save the wild animals that have their habitat in the wild woods. You must be thinking WHY? Well lets go through the following points to answer this Why -

1. Trees and forests are the source of clean air and most important is they are the source of oxygen that we thrive on.
2. Trees are the source that help us conserve the fertile soil and the water
3. Trees are the source of Food (don't we all love fruits?)
4. Trees are the source of Fuel (Dry wood) (Fossil Fuel - Oil etc)
   
5. Trees make forests that are habitat of the wild animals and these wild animals over ages would turn to be the source of Fossil Fuel for future generations (as is at the rate we are using the current resources, we would drain out all the oil in say next 100 or 200 years)

So Trees are certainly a lot helpful through the lifecycle and even after their lifecycle is over. Paper certainly is one product that we use, but using it in conservative manner is the crux to participate in the drive to save Trees and thus cascading down the effect till wild life. However, just being conservative in using the Paper would not solve the problem, if we are really concerned, we need to join the wave to plant a tree for every tree cut. That is we need to ensure that we set a target to plant one tree for say 50 sheets of paper, every pile of wood that we burn, every pile of wood we use in our furniture etc.

Do you want to join me in this initiative? Do you want to create a wave?????

So do I hear a Yes from you all who read this?

Save trees

Define Human Being: A creature that cuts trees, makes papers and writes ‘Save Trees' on it. SAVE TREES!

The best music of life

“Love is the best music in the score of life. Without it , one would forever be out of tune in the immense choir of humanity." ~ Roque Schneider

Milky Way

If the Milky Way were not within me how should I have seen it or known it?
Excerpted from ‘Sand and Foam’ by Kahlil Gibran

Teacher

I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.
Excerpted from ‘Sand and Foam’ by Kahlil Gibran

Life is ecstasy

"Every child is born ecstatic. Ecstasy is natural. It is not something that happens only to great sages. It is something that everybody brings with him into the world; everybody comes with it. It is life's innermost core. It is part of being alive. Life is ecstasy."
Excerpted from 'Ecstasy: The Forgotten Language' by Osho

True love (A Sufi story)

Shibli entered a profound mystical state and was placed in an asylum as a madman. As soon as they heard, his shocked disciples come to visit him. Shibli asked, "Who are you?" "We are some of those who love and follow you." Shibli began throwing stones at his students. They began to run away, crying, "It's true, Shibli really has gone crazy." Then Shibli called out to them, "Didn't I hear you say that you loved me? You could not even bear a stone or two before running away. What became of that sincere love you claimed you had for me? Did your love fly away with a couple of stones? If you had really loved me, you would have patiently endured the little bit of discomfort I caused you."

False must leave

"To find yourself is to lose yourself."
To know our true Self, we must cease to identify with the illusory identity which feels separated from the whole under the survival instincts fed by the ego. For the real to come, the false must leave.

The traveled path

"Never walk on the travelled path, because it only leads you where the others have been." ~ Graham Bell

Find the answer within

"Nothing can be taught to a man; but it’s possible to help him to find the answer within himself." ~ Galileo Galilei

Celebrate life

"Life should not only be lived, it should be celebrated." ~ Osho

Religion and science

"The third teaching of Bahá'u'lláh is that religion and science are in complete agreement. Every religion, which is not in accordance with established science is superstition. Religion must be with reason, it is superstition without foundation. It is like a mirage, which deceives man by leading him to think it is a body of water.
God has endowed man with reason that he may perceive what is true. If we insist that such a subject is not to be reasoned out and tested according to the established logical modes of the intellect, what is the use if the reason, which god has given to man." - Abdu'l-Bahá

Borrowed idea

"Your whole idea about yourself is borrowed--borrowed from those who have no idea of who they are themselves." - Osho

A Traveler

A traveler am I and a navigator, and every day I discover a new region within my soul.
Excerpted from 'Sand and Foam' by Kahlil Gibran

Still carrying

Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman. Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across. One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank. She thanked him and departed.

As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied. Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!"

"Brother," the second monk replied, "I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her."

Our conception

“If it were not for our conception of weights and measures we would stand in awe of the firefly as we do before the sun.”
Excerpted from ‘Sand and Foam’ by Kahlil Gibran

Truly great man

"The truly great man is he who would master no one, and who would be mastered by none."
Excerpted from ‘Sand and Foam’ by Kahlil Gibran

Absence of opinion

"Don't search for truth, simply stop having opinions"

Enlightenment is not an opinion, but a state achieved through the absence of all opinions. It is not an idea, but an awareness of the consciousness that experiences all ideas.
This consciousness is vast and limitless, like a clear blue sky, and ideas are clouds that pass across the sky. When we focus on the clouds, we miss seeing the base that holds them all.

Record our emptiness

Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky. We fell them down and turn them into paper that we may record our emptiness.
Excerpted from 'Sand and Foam' by Kahlil Gibran

A Rebel

A rebel is one who wants no rule in the world. A rebel is anarchic. A rebel is one who trusts nature, not man made structures, who trusts that if nature is left alone, everything will be beautiful.
Excerpted from 'Ecstasy: The forgotten Language' by Osho

Experience now

"Look and see with your own eyes. If you hesitate, you miss the mark forever."

If we know how to look and see into the nature of life, the present moment provides all the signs and answers to help our journey. Hesitating means missing the present moment and hence all it has to offer.
If we hold back from fully embracing life today, we will miss it forever; because "now" is the only reality and life is experienced "now".

Who are you?

Only once have I been made mute. It was when a man asked me, " Who are you?"
Excerpted from 'Sand and Foam' by Kahlil Gibran

Beautiful world

You are living in such a tremendously beautiful world, with all the stars and the planets and the sun and the moon... with the flowers and the mountains and the rivers and the rocks and the animals, the birds and the people.
This is the most perfect world possible, it cannot be improved upon. Enjoy its beauty. Relish the celebration that goes on around you.
It is a continuous celebration. - Osho