Why God Allows Pain ?
Posted by in God on December 11th, 2009
This is one of the best explanations of why God allows pain and suffering that I have seen…
A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed.
As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation.
They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said:
“I don’t believe that God exists.”
“Why do you say that?” asked the customer. “Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn’t exist.
Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people?
Would there be abandoned children?
If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain.
I can’t imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.”
The customer thought for a moment, but didn’t respond because he didn’t want to start an argument.
The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.
Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard.
He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:
“You know what? Barbers do not exist.”
“How can you say that?” asked the surprised barber.
“I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!”
“No!” the customer exclaimed. “Barbers don’t exist because
if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.”
“Ah, but barbers DO exist! That’s what happens when people do not come to me.”
“Exactly!” affirmed the customer. “That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist!
That’s what happens when people do not go to Him and don’t look to Him for help.
That’s why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world.”
Big John doesn’t pay - Management lesson
Posted by in Blogs on November 5th, 2009
> One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus,
> and drove off along the route. No problems for the first few stops - a
> few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well. At
> the next stop, however, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet
> eight,built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He
> glared at the driver and said, ” Big John doesn’t pay!” and sat down
at the back.
>
> Did I mention that the driver was five feet three, thin, and basically
> meek? Well, he was. Naturally, he didn’t argue with Big John, but he
> wasn’t happy about it. The next day the same thing happened - Big John
> got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And the
> next day, and the next.
>
> This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way
> Big John was taking advantage of him. Finally he could stand it no
> longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all
> that good stuff.
>
> By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong; what’s more, he
> felt really good about himself. So on the next Monday, when Big John
> once again got on the bus and said, ” Big John doesn’t pay!”
>
> The driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and screamed, ” And
> why not ?”
>
> With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, ” Big John has a
> bus pass .”
>
> Management Lesson: “Be sure there is a problem in the first place
> before working hard to solve one.”
FRIENDS
Posted by in Friends on November 5th, 2009
Around the corner I have a friend,*
*In this great city that has no end,*
*Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,*
*And before I know it, a year is gone.*
*And I never see my old friends face,*
*For life is a swift and terrible race,*
*He knows I like him just as well,*
*As in the days when I rang his bell.*
*And he rang mine but we were younger then,*
*And now we are busy, tired men.*
*Tired of playing a foolish game,*
*Tired of trying to make a name.*
*”Tomorrow” I say! “I will call on Jim*
*Just to show that I’m thinking of him.”*
*But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,*
*And distance between us grows and grows.*
*Around the corner, yet miles away,*
*”Here’s a telegram sir,” “Jim died today.”*
*And that’s what we get and deserve in the end.*
*Around the corner, a vanished friend
Life Style Management
Posted by in Blogs on August 31st, 2009
The Buddha explained how to handle insult and maintain compassion.
One day Buddha was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young
man came up and began insulting him. “You have no right teaching others,”
he shouted. ”You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a
fake.”
Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man “Tell
me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to
whom does the gift belong?”
The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, “It
would belong to me, because I bought the gift.”
The Buddha smiled and said, “That is correct. And it is exactly the same
with your anger.
If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls
back on you.
You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All you have done is
hurt yourself.”
“If you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and
become loving instead. When you hate others, you yourself become unhappy.
But when you love others, everyone is happy.”
The young man listened closely to these wise words of the Buddha. “You are
right, o Enlightened One, “he said. “Please teach me the path of love. I
wish to become your follower.”
The Buddha answered kindly, “Of course. I teach anyone who truly wants to
learn. Come with me.”
Excellence - Worth reading!
Posted by in Blogs on August 31st, 2009
A German once visited a temple under construction where he saw a
sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol
lying nearby.
Surprised, he asked the sculptor, “Do you need two statues of the same
idol?”
“No,” said the sculptor without looking up, “We need only one, but the
first one got damaged at the last stage.”
The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage.
“Where is the damage?” he asked.
“There is a scratch on the nose of the idol.” said the sculptor, still
busy
with his work.
“Where are you going to install the idol?”
The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet
high.
“If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch
on the nose?” the gentleman asked.
The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and
said, “I will know it.”
The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else
appreciates it or not.
“Excellence” is a drive from inside, not outside “.
Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own
satisfaction and efficiency..
MOTHERS DAY.
Posted by in Blogs on August 13th, 2009
memories, she was like that. She had only one eye and that made her to look
different than other ladies. She loved him very much for he was her only
son. Her husband died sometime back and she had to toil hard to give her
son a decent living. She used to take him down to the valley, where a small
stream flowed crackling sound. Amidst the lilies and butterflies she used
to sing him soulful lullabies. She had a beautiful voice.
But at the school when other boys called him, son of a ‘witch’ he cursed
his mother for the torment she caused. Slowly the gap increased. When he
saw the beautiful mothers of his friends, he cursed even god for giving a
mother so ugly.
The first day when he was going for the boarding school, she wept the whole
night for he was her only attachment in this world. She had to work even
harder to meet his boarding expenses. But she was happy. One day my son
shall be a big man. He will look after his mother, she thought.
Time rolled on….the son graduated from the professional college and got a
job in a far away city. In fact he opted for it. His visits to his mother
was minimum and her pleadings made him annoyed. Now she was old and longed
for her son’s affection.
Time went on….the son got married,and his visit to his mother lessened.
In the end he put her in an old age home. She told the inmates that her son
is a big officer and a busy man, and that is the reason for his rare
visitings.
One day he received a telegram from the rector of the old age home, telling
that his mother had expired. Instead of feeling vivid emotion, strangely
the son felt relieved!
After the burial, the rector handed a letter to the son. He said, “your
mother gave me this letter some time back and instructed me to give it to
you only after her death.”
The son opend the letter. “My son, like every mother I loved you close to
my heart. I still remember your younger days, how we spent together near
the stream, you running after the butterflies and the wild lilies in full
bloom. Those were the memories gave me strength when I was in this old age
home. Son, when you were about 2 years old a strange disease attacked your
eyes. One eye was effected more and it has to be removed to save the other.
I could not imagine my child with one eye. I requested the doctors to
remove my eye and fix it in place of your lost eye. I might have lost an
eye, but I could behold your beautiful face forever in my hands. My son, if
there is a life after, I pray to almighty to grant you as my son. Dear, I
love you and may God protect you in your life.
Your ever loving Mom.”
Raj….
Naam to suna hi Hoga……. 
baloon kid
Posted by in Blogs on August 8th, 2009
There was a crowed of kids around the balloon seller. As usual he was an
expert in his trade. He tookout colourful balloons from his shoulder bag,
thrust it on the helium cylinder nozzle, blew it and with his deft fingers
he then tie the inflated balloon with a long string. With a winning smile,
he would then hand over balloon to the bunch of eager hands beckoning him
fervently. The kids were eyeing him with awe! Because he produced the
inflated balloon like magic, out of nowhere!
The balloons were in brilliant colours of red, yellow, pink, green and
white. The kids would hold the strings, tugging playfully for a few
seconds, then release their hold making the helium gas soar the balloons up
in the sky. The vivid colours made the balloons looked like a bunch of
emperor butterflies in their maiden flight. The suns golden rays casted a
scintillating hue over them.
The black little boy stood aloof, for he was scared. Among the shining
apparels of the fair skinned kids, his old cloths looked out of place like
himself. Like the balloons there was not a single kid with dark
skin ..except him.
.
When all the kids left, the black boy approached the vendor nervously and
asked: "Sir, do you have a black balloon?"
"Sure, son I do have some black coloured balloons. Do you want one?"
enquired the man with balloons
"No Sir, but .. is it possible for the black balloons too can go high?"
Doubt and a bit of anxiety were shrouded in the little boy's countenance.
The man knelt in front of the boy, looked straight into his eyes and said
"Son, the black balloons definitely can go high. It is not the colour,
which makes them to go up, but the material inside and irrespective of the
colours, it is the same."
Shri Basavaeswara
Posted by in Philosophy on August 7th, 2009
Recently
we all celebrated the birthday of one of the greatest sons of Karnataka, Shri
Basaveswara. He was much ahead of his times. Basvanna's controversial
philosophy on life, religion and marriage shook the very foundation of the
social structure and set the tone for a great social revolution in the 12 th.
Century.
Great
minds express their thoughts in simple words. Jagajyoti, which means the divine
light for the world, Basaveswara, the reviver of Lingayat or Veerashiva religion,
belongs to this genre. Better known as
Basavanna, the spiritual guru of the 12 th. Century had taken it upon himself
to reform society and people at large by popularising moral, ethical and
spiritual values meant for peaceful and purposeful life. He lived as a man of
God and also devised Ways to help others follow the path to spiritual
enlightenment. He was also called Krantikari Basavanna for his revolution in the
cast and evil ridden society.
His
philosophy was, to be charitable with sincerity and never for publicity. He
said being kind to others is heaven and being harsh was to be in hell. He also
taught the dignity of manual labour by insisting on work as worship. Basavanna
considered all vocations to be equal value and his followers belonged to all
sorts of vocations. Basavanna also upheld gender equality, 800 years before the
present day activists could even think of it. There were women followers such
as Satyakka, Ramavve, and Somavve with their respective vocations. The sanctity
of family relations and the improvement in the status of womanhood were striven
for. The movement initiated by Basavanna through Anubhava Mantapa became the
basis of a religion of love and faith. It gave rise to a system of ethics and
education at once simple and exalted.
Eight
hundred years ago there lived a couple called Madarasa and Madalambike in a
village called Bagewadi of Bijapur district.
They were very pious and deeply religious. They were devotees of
Nandeeshwara, who bestowed a son to the couple in AD 1130. They named the boy
Basava. Later he came to be called Basaveswara.
When
he turned eight years, his father decided to perform Upanayana to his son. But
Basava opposed this practice and raised questions regarding the validity and
necessity of it. Finally Basava left home and reached 'Kodala Sangama' in
Bijapur district. He considered Lord Sangameshwara as his guru. This was a
turning point in Basavanna's life. He became deeply spiritual. He worshiped and
studied all the classics and debated on various aspects. His extraordinary
intelligence spread far and wide and reached Baladeva, a minister in the court
of king Bijjala. Baladeva invited him to hold a responsible position in the
court of Bijjala. Basavanna's guru advised him to agree to Baladevas proposal.
Basavanna
started his carrier as a junior officer in the state treasury of king Bijjala.
He introduced many welfare measures for the people and also improved the
financial stability of the state treasury. The king admired his sharp intellect
and administrative ability. King Bijjala appointed Basavanna as chief officer
of the treasury.
Basavanna's
reformative measures made an impact on the social structure and there were many
who disagreed with him and they created trouble. Undeterred, Basavanna
continued his efforts of emancipation at Anubhava Mantapa.
When
he arranged for the marriage of a couple belonging to different castes, with a
view that it would help eradicate cast
system in the society, his opponents complained to the king. They felt that
their sacred religious system was in danger because of Basavanna. Though
initially king Bijjala supported Basavanna, eventually differences of opinion
occurred between the two and king Bijjala took a decision against Basavanna.
There was also insurgent movement against him. Pained Basavanna resigned from
the ministership and returned to Sangam. His end came shortly in about AD 1167.
But his life and teachings are relevant even to this day.
Basavanna
said that there should not be any difference between speaking and way of life.
His preaching was simple and straight. They could easly be understood by common
people. His vachana is example for how to lead a clean life.
Do not steal, do not kill
Do not tell lies
Do not lose your temper
Do not do glorify yourself
Do not blame others
This is the inner purity
This is the outer purity
This is the way to please our
Lord Kudalasangama Deva
With kind regards,
RAJ.
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE GET ALL THE LUCK WHILE OTHERS NEVER GET THE BREAKS THEY DESERVE?
Posted by in Philosophy on August 7th, 2009
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE GET ALL THE LUCK WHILE OTHERS NEVER GET THE
BREAKS THEY
DESERVE?
Why do some people get all
the luck while others never get the breaks they deserve? Here's the answer by
Professor Richard Wiseman, University of Hertfordshire :
Ten years ago, I set out
to examine luck. I wanted to know why some people are always in the right place
at the right time, while others consistently
experience ill fortune. I
placed advertisements in national newspapers asking for people who felt
consistently lucky or unlucky to contact me.
Hundreds of extraordinary
men and women volunteered for my research and over the years, I have
interviewed them, monitored their lives and had them take part in experiments.
I carried out a simple
experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to
spot opportunities. I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked
them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. I had
secretly placed a large message halfway through the newspaper saying :
“Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win £250.”
This message took up half
of the page and was written in type that was more than two inches high. It was
staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it
and the lucky people spotted it.
It goes to show that they
miss opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else.
They go with the intention of finding their perfect partner and so miss
opportunities to make good friends.
My research eventually
revealed that lucky people make lucky decisions by listening to their
intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations and
adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.
Towards the end of the
work, I wondered whether these principles could be used to create good luck.
Finally, I had found the elusive “luck factor.”
Here is all, Professor
Wiseman has to say :
1) Listen to your gut
instincts - they are normally right,
2) Be open to new experiences
and breaking your normal routine,
3) Spend a few moments
each day remembering things that went well,
4) Visualize yourself
being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call. Luck is very often a
self- fulfilling prophecy.
Have a Lucky day and work for it.
RAJ……….
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