Page 9

Jai Mata Di

Happy Nava Raatri to all. These are very auspicious days in the Hindu calender. Each day is worshipped with different forms of Mata. Buying new things are ideal in this period.

These days are followed by Dusshera and then Diwali. Which is triumph of Good over Evil.

May the Goddess of Power & Prosperity always illuminate our life with happiness and progress

Podi Podi Chad de Jao,

Jai Mata Di Karde Jao.

Jai Mata Di

Page 8

Taking versus Giving

According to the vedanta vision, one should always adopt a givers attitude and not takkers or grabbers.

Heres a story to demonstrate what I'm trying to say

Few ladies in a neigbourhood used to have a get together. (Which is always better, as your mind gets preoccupied, moreover, if Indian, you would know the phrase - "Khalee dimag shaitaan ka ghar" or I suppose in English that would be - "Empty mind is devils house ". Also provided that there conversations are meaningful, constructive and healthy, and not just criticizm and other negative stuff.)

Each of the ladies were supposed to bring various dishes themselves. However there were two ladies totally in contrast with respect to each other. One of them never used to bring anything, and the other, out of pure love and passion for cooking, usually brought more than one dish.

Then one fine day, the ladies decided and said to the worksherker - " You do not bring anything. Henceforth you shall have to bring two dishes, else your membership stands cancelled !"

and to the other lady they replied - " You need not bring any dish for our next meeting...".

So in the end, the lady with the givers attitude benifitted.....

Now the most important part of givers atitude is that is REDUCES your desires..

For instance if you are a foodie like me, sharing your meal among others is a givers attitude, which obviously leads to lesser consumption, and decreases your desire of eating...

Page 7

Manifestation

The story goes like this....

A venamous snake used to bite the villagers. The villagers were terrified.

One fine day, a sage passed through that village. The villagers requested

the sage to see into this matter and save them from the evil snake.

The sage said - " O.K. I'll see what I can do. ".

Another day the sage passed through the forest. He met with the snake there.

The snake payed his homage to the great sage. (Evenevil people respect great people, like duryodhan

respected and prayed to Shri Krishan.)

Sage asked him not to bite the villagers. The snake agreed.

Months later, the sage passed through the same village. He was shocked to see the snake

in a battered condition. What Happened? - asked the great sage.

The snake replied - "Sir, this is your prasad". You told me not to bite anybody, But see now they

are not afraid of me and have beaten me black and blue.

"You fool. I told you not to bite. But. I did not tell you yo stop hissing" - replied the Sage.

I hope you understood the meaning of the above story.

Another topic...

Love

versus

Obligation.

Now we know that we should have oneness with all. So u'll try to love everyone. But theres obligation to your family first

and then towards other, if you are capable. People often get confused in this regard. (One who have purity of heart, or strive

for achieving one)

- As said on Astha Channel By Smt. Jaya Row

Srimad Bhagvad Gita Chaptetr 08

Page 6

Golden, silver and iron Shackles

Garima Mathur, HT Media

There was once a prince, a minister's son and a treasrer's son who were all very good friends. All three set out on a long journey to distant lands. On the way they happened to arrive at a royal palace where the king of that land was absent, but his daughter, the princess, was staying with her two closest friend; one the minister's daughter and the other the treasurer's daughter.

It wasn't long before the three young men proposed to those three damsels. But they hesitated, as it was the custom to get permission from their parents for the marriage. However, they decided to marry without further delay, according to the old saying "anything auspicious should be hastened."

So their marriage were solemnised. Thereafter when the king, with his minister and treasurer, came back he was shocked that the princess and her two friends were chatting with the three strangers. Hearing that those three men had trespassed into the royal palace, only to flirt with the girls and talk them into an illegal marriage, the king ordered there arrest.

The girls begged their fathers for mercy. However, the king did not release the young husbands, but ordered that proper respect should be shown to the prince by binding him with golden shackles, wheres the son of the minister was given silver shackles, and the treasurer's son bound with iron shackles. They were freed only after they submitted to the king's mercy.

What's the message here?

The Supreme Lord binds up all living entities similarly in the three types of shackles. The bondage of goodness may be compared to golden shackles that of passion to silver shackles and entanglement in ignorance to iron shackles.

Whatever might be the elements or metals with which the shackles are made, they are simply meant for imprisonment. Unless and until one goes beyond these three material modes or entaglements, one can never be considered free and liberated. Only one who has completely surrenders to the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord unconditionally may be delivered from such bondage.

Page 5

Bubbles & the Sea

An Example...

Think of the bubbles and the sea.

With respect to the bubbles, there is a lot happening (uthal-puthal). But w.r.t the sea, more or less is static.

What happens when one bubble tries to grow bigger and bigger than the other ?

It eventually bursts. However w.r.t the sea, nothing at all has happened. Bubbles are fomrmed and destroyed, sea remain calm and quiet.

Same is the thing with us. We try to grow bigger and bigger with the wrong attitude.

A doubting self leads to devastation.

Page 4

The Nintendo Nani

Alzheimer or AD as it is known begins slowly with mild forgetfulness, trouble remembering recent events (like combing your hair, brushing upteeth etc.)The lady thought "protect me from this disease!"

I had just turned 64 and was feeling slightly paranoid. I wanted to test my memory. My gtandson Madhav came running to me with his portable gaming system, "Nintendo". It keeps him occupied for hours together. He used to play "Super Mario". But I realised there were other great educational games too, like "Brain Training", meant to improve memory. I learned to play this game from Madhav, my grandson and soon got the hang of it.

I do realise this is an expensive item. However the big lesson I learnt from this game is "Be engaged". The cheapest and best way to save oneself is to be active, physically and mentally. Possessing a religious bent of mind, I attend weekly shloka classes.

Instead of sitting at home like a couch potato, we can lead an active life and ward off losing our faculities.

Taken from HT media,

By Lakshmi Subramaniam

Page 3

These thoughts are my compilation, as said by Smt. Jaya Row on Srimad Bhagvad Gita. She is the ambassador of Vedanta vision.

A person is driven in this world by the net resultant of his desires, but one should always consult his intellect for making decisions. Security and safety are really important.

Set yourself a higher goal and work towards that goal. A higher goal means something different, away from your self-centered, selfish interests.

We have various desires like physical, intellectual, spiritual etc. These desires create a bondage b/w the Desiree and the desire. If we get deprived from them, we feel sad.

For instance, if we someone has strong desire of eating, he may eat anything of his likings, in any quantities. But when deprived, it makes him feel sorrow, sad.

However, the spiritual desire differs itself from other desires. It does not create any kind of bondage.

One feels happy for a very small amount of time and the feeling passes away almost instantly.

The feeling of oneness should always be present. We should not look upon others as inferior or compete with others, lacking spirit. When however done with competition, hatred, it degrades ur own performance.

Look upon others with love, does not mean face wrong doings, but be polite, gentle, pure hearted etc.If u possess these qualities, everything falls in place for u.

Hate the sin, not the sinner. Always remember, hatred is a slow poison. It destroys you.