Aditi Chaudhary: My daughter Aisha Chaudhary's legacy!

Published on 5 Aug 2015

http://inktalks.com In this heartfelt conversation with Lakshmi Pratury, INK Speaker Aisha Chaudhary’s mother Aditi Chaudhary gives us a closer glimpse of Aisha’s remarkable resolve through her struggles with a life-threatening disease.

ABOUT INK: INKtalks are personal narratives that get straight to the heart of issues in 18 minutes or less. We are committed to capturing and sharing breakthrough ideas, inspiring stories and surprising perspectives--for free!

Watch an INKtalk and meet the people who are designing the future--now.

Aisha Chaudhary: Finding happiness!!

Published on 31 Oct 2013

http://inktalks.com The endearing Aisha Chaudhary returns to the INK stage to share with us how she finds happiness and continues to smile despite a life-threatening illness.

UPDATE: Aisha Chaudhary sadly passed away on the morning of January 24th, 2015 after battling an immune deficiency disorder and Pulmonary Fibrosis throughout her life.
Get Aisha's book "My Little Epiphanies": http://fkrt.it/oownF8NN

Note: This talk is available with English subtitles. Click on the Closed Captions button on the bottom of the player to view them.

ABOUT INK: INKtalks are personal narratives that get straight to the heart of issues in 18 minutes or less. We are committed to capturing and sharing breakthrough ideas, inspiring stories and surprising perspectives--for free!

Watch an INKtalk and meet the people who are designing the future--now.
http://INKtalks.com

ABOUT AISHA CHAUDHARY:
Seventeen year-old Aisha Chaudhary was born with an immune deficiency disorder and overcame a predicted life expectancy of only one year to have become an accomplished artist today. Despite a serious lung disease called Pulmonary Fibrosis, her persistent optimism, extraordinary maturity in the face of impossible odds, and calm perspective on life's challenges have been an inspiration to many.

Aisha Chaudhary: Singing in the life boat!

Uploaded on 6 Jan 2012

http://www.INKtalks.com Like Voltaire, she believes a shipwreck gives us an opportunity to sing in the life boats. Little Aisha Chaudhary, the first INK Youth Fellow, teaches us a big lesson even as she is battling a life-threatening medical condition. All of 15, Aisha has taught herself to paint, take pictures, run with her dog and dance at her cousin's wedding, not just once but twice. Aisha learned art at the American Embassy School. "You live every moment twice, once in your mind and once when you actually live it," she said to a standing ovation.

UPDATE: Aisha Chaudhary sadly passed away on the morning of January 24th, 2015 after battling an immune deficiency disorder and Pulmonary Fibrosis throughout her life.
Get Aisha's book "My Little Epiphanies": http://fkrt.it/oownF8NN

Note: This talk is available with English subtitles. Click the CC button on player to view the talk with subtitles.

ABOUT INK: INKtalks are personal narratives that get straight to the heart of issues in 18 minutes or less. We are committed to capturing and sharing breakthrough ideas, inspiring stories and surprising perspectives--for free!

Watch an INKtalk and meet the people who are designing the future--now.

http://www.INKtalks.com

ABOUT AISHA CHAUDHARY: Fifteen year-old Aisha Chaudhary was born with an immune deficiency disorder and overcame a predicted life expectancy of only one year to have become an accomplished artist today. Despite a serious lung disease called Pulmonary Fibrosis, her persistent optimism, extraordinary maturity in the face of impossible odds, and calm perspective on life's challenges have been an inspiration to many.

CNN’s Kate Bolduan Begins to Cry While Sharing Video of Bloodied Syrian Child, Omran Daqneesh!

Published on 18 Aug 2016

CNN’s Kate Bolduan is a reporter who asks tough questions and is often expressive and emphatic when she does it. Today, however, she was expressive in a very different way. While sharing a video of a five-year-old Syrian named Omran Daqneesh sitting in the back of an ambulance with blood and soot all over him, Bolduan was tasked with explaining that he and his family were pulled from the rubble that was once their house. She said that there had been an air strike — which is common, as the country has been embroiled in a violent civil war for years — but had to stop and compose herself a few times.

There is little point in describing her visceral reaction when you can watch it right here for yourself:

“What strikes me is we shed tears, but there are no tears here,” she observed as her voice cracked. “He doesn’t cry once. That little boy is in total shock. He’s stunned, inside his home one moment and the next, lost in the fury and the flurry of war and chaos.”

After sharing how many thousands have died in Aleppo, Syria, alone, she closed with, “This is Omran. He’s alive. We wanted you to know.”

#Business Rocks 2016: Steve Wozniak Interview (Apple Co-Founder)!

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak

"No one on this earth doubts that without Steve Wozniak there would be no Apple - but the same is equally true of Steve Jobs; ideas without execution are simply hallucinations."

#BR2016: Steve Wozniak Interview (Apple Co-Founder)

Published on 28 Apr 2016

BR2016 Day 1, Steve Wozniak Sunday Times Interview

What we as children should always pray for (divine blessings) to fulfill our basic duties to our wonderful parents!

Buddham Saranam Gacchami! Dhammam Saranam Gacchami!! Sangham Saranam Gacchami!!!

Now is the Knowing!

When people ask, ‘What do you have to do to become a Buddhist?’, we say that we take refuge in Buddha Dhamma Sangha. And to take refuge we recite a formula in the Pali language:

Buddham saranam gacchami
I go to the Buddha for refuge

Dhammam saranam gacchami
I go to the Dhamma for refuge

Sangham saranam gacchami
I go to the Sangha for refuge.

As we practise more and more and begin to realize the profundity of the Buddhist Teachings, it becomes a real joy to take these refuges, and even just their recitation inspires the mind. After twenty-two years as a monk, I still like to chant ‘Buddham saranam gacchami’ — in fact I like it more than I did twenty-one years ago — because then it didn’t really mean anything to me, I just chanted it because I had to, because it was part of the tradition. Merely taking refuge verbally in the Buddha doesn’t mean you take refuge in anything: a parrot could be trained to say ‘Buddham saranam gacchami’, and it would probably be as meaningful to a parrot as it is to many Buddhists. These words are for reflection, looking at them and actually investigating what they mean: what ‘refuge’ means, what ‘Buddha’ means. When we say, ‘I take refuge in the Buddha,’ what do we mean by that? How can we use that so it is not just a repetition of nonsense syllables, but something that really helps to remind us, gives us direction and increases our devotion, our dedication to the path of the Buddha?

The word ‘Buddha’ is a lovely word — it means ‘The one who knows’— and the first refuge is in Buddha as the personification of wisdom. Un-personified wisdom remains too abstract for us: we can’t conceive a bodiless, soul-less wisdom, and so as wisdom always seems to have a personal quality to it, using Buddha as its symbol is very useful.

We can use the word Buddha to refer to Gotama, the founder of what is now known as Buddhism, the historical sage who attained Parinibbana in India 2,500 years ago, the teacher of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, teachings from which we still benefit today. But when we take refuge in the Buddha, it doesn’t mean that we take refuge in some historical prophet, but in that which is wise in the universe, in our minds, that which is not separate from us but is more real than anything we can conceive with the mind or experience through the senses. Without any Buddha-wisdom in the universe, life for any length of time would be totally impossible; it is the Buddha-wisdom that protects. We call it Buddha-wisdom, other people can call it other things if they want, these are just words. We happen to use the words of our tradition. We’re not going to argue about Pali words, Sanskrit words, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English or any other, we’re just using the term Buddha-wisdom as a conventional symbol to help remind us to be wise, to be alert, to be awake.

Many forest bhikkhus in the North-East of Thailand use the word ‘Buddho’ as their meditation object. They use it as a kind of koan. Firstly, they calm the mind by following the inhalations and exhalations using the syllables BUD-DHO, and then begin to contemplate, ‘What is Buddho, the ‘one who knows’?’ ‘What is the knowing?’

When I used to travel around the North-East of Thailand on tudong I liked to go and stay at the monastery of Ajahn Fun. Ajahn Fun was a much-loved and deeply respected monk, the teacher of the Royal Family, and he was so popular that he was constantly receiving guests. I would sit at his kuti [hut] and hear him give the most amazing kind of Dhamma talks, all on the subject of ‘Buddho’— as far as I could see, it was all that he taught. He could make it into a really profound meditation, whether for an illiterate farmer or an elegant, western-educated Thai aristocrat. The main part of his teaching was to not just mechanically repeat ‘Buddho’, but to reflect and investigate, to awaken the mind to really look into the ‘Buddho’, ‘the one who knows’ really investigate its beginning, its end, above and below, so that one’s whole attention was stuck onto it. When one did that, ‘Buddho’ became something that echoed through the mind. One would investigate it, look at it, examine it before it was said and after it was said, and eventually one would start listening to it and hear beyond the sound, until one heard the silence.

A refuge is a place of safety, and so when superstitious people would come to my teacher Ajahn Chah, wanting charmed medallions or little talismans to protect them from bullets and knives, ghosts and so on, he would say, ‘Why do you want things like that? The only real protection is taking refuge in the Buddha. Taking refuge in the Buddha is enough.’ But their faith in Buddha usually wasn’t quite as much as their faith in those silly little medallions. They wanted something made out of bronze and clay, stamped and blessed. This is what is called taking refuge in bronze and clay, taking refuge in superstition, taking refuge in that which is truly unsafe and cannot really help us.

Today in modern Britain we find that generally people are more sophisticated. They don’t take refuge in magic charms, they take refuge in things like the Westminster Bank — but that is still taking refuge in something that offers no safety. Taking refuge in the Buddha, in wisdom, means that we have a place of safety. When there is wisdom, when we act wisely and live wisely, we are truly safe. The conditions around us might change. We can’t guarantee what will happen to the material standard of living, or that the Westminster Bank will survive the decade. The future remains unknown and mysterious, but in the present, by taking refuge in the Buddha we have that presence of mind now to reflect on and learn from life as we live it.

Wisdom doesn’t mean having a lot of knowledge about the world; we don’t have to go to university and collect information about the world to be wise. Wisdom means knowing the nature of conditions as we’re experiencing them. It is not just being caught up in reacting to and absorbing into the conditions of our bodies and minds out of habit, out of fear, worry, doubt, greed and so on, but it is using that ‘Buddho’, that ‘one who knows,’ to observe that these conditions are changing. It is the knowing of that change that we call Buddha and in which we take refuge. We make no claims to Buddha as being ‘me’ or ‘mine’. We don’t say, ‘I am Buddha,’ but rather, ‘I take refuge in Buddha.’ It is a way of humbly submitting to that wisdom, being aware, being awake.

Although in one sense taking refuge is something we are doing all the time, the Pali formula we use is a reminder — because we forget, because we habitually take refuge in worry, doubt, fear, anger, greed and so on. The Buddha-image is similar; when we bow to it we don’t imagine that it is anything other than a bronze image, a symbol. It is a reflection and makes us a little more aware of Buddha, of our refuge in Buddha Dhamma Sangha. The Buddha image sits in great dignity and calm, not in a trance but fully alert, with a look of wakefulness and kindness, not being caught in the changing conditions around it. Though the image is made of brass and we have these flesh-and-blood bodies and it is much more difficult for us, still it is a reminder. Some people get very puritanical about Buddha-images, but here in the West I haven’t found them to be a danger. The real idols that we believe in and worship and that constantly delude us are our thoughts, views and opinions, our loves and hates, our self-conceit and pride.

The second refuge is in the Dhamma, in ultimate truth or ultimate reality. Dhamma is impersonal; we don’t in any way try to personify it to make it any kind of personal deity. When we chant in Pali the verse on Dhamma, we say it is ‘sanditthiko akaliko ehipassiko opanayiko paccattam veditabbo vinnuhi’. As Dhamma has no personal attributes, we can’t even say it is good or bad or anything that has any superlative or comparative quality; it is beyond the dualistic conceptions of mind.

So when we describe Dhamma or give an impression of it, we do it through words such as ‘sanditthiko’, which means immanent, here-and-now. That brings us back into the present; we feel a sense of immediacy, of now. You may think that Dhamma is some kind of thing that is ‘out there’, something you have to find elsewhere, butsanditthikodhamma means that it is immanent, here-and-now.

Akalikadhamma means that Dhamma is not bound by any time condition. The word akala means timeless. Our conceptual mind can’t conceive of anything that is timeless, because our conceptions and perceptions are time-based conditions, but what we can say is that Dhamma is akala, not bound by time.

Ehipassikadhamma means to come and see, to turn towards or go to the Dhamma. It means to look, to be aware. It is not that we pray to the Dhamma to come, or wait for it to tap us on the shoulder; we have to put forth effort. It is like Christ’s saying, ‘Knock on the door and it shall be opened.’ Ehipassiko means that we have to put forward that effort, to turn towards that truth.

Opanayiko means leading inwards, towards the peace within the mind. Dhamma doesn’t take us into fascination, into excitement, romance and adventure, but leads toNibbana, to calm, to silence.

Paccattam veditabbo vinnuhi means that we can only know Dhamma through direct experience. It is like the taste of honey — if someone else tastes it, we still don’t know its flavour. We may know the chemical formula or be able to recite all the great poetry ever written about honey, but only when we taste it for ourselves do we really know what it is like. It is the same with Dhamma: we have to taste it, we have to know it directly.

Taking refuge in Dhamma is taking another safe refuge. It is not taking refuge in philosophy or intellectual concepts, in theories, in ideas, in doctrines or beliefs of any sort. It is not taking refuge in a belief in Dhamma, or a belief in God or in some kind of force in outer space or something beyond or something separate, something that we have to find sometime later. The descriptions of the Dhamma keep us in the present, in the here-and-now, unbound by time. Taking refuge is an immediate immanent reflection in the mind, it is not just repeating ‘Dhammam Saranam gacchami’ like a parrot, thinking, ‘Buddhists say this so I have to say it.’ We turn towards the Dhamma, we are aware now, take refuge in Dhamma, now as an immediate action, an immediate reflection of being the Dhamma, being that very truth.

Because our conceiving mind tends always to delude us, it takes us into becoming. We think, ‘I’ll practise meditation so that I’ll become enlightened in the future. I will take the Three Refuges in order to become a Buddhist. I want to become wise. I want to get away from suffering and ignorance and become something else.’ This is the conceiving mind, the desire mind, the mind that always deludes us. Rather than constantly thinking in terms of becoming something, we take refuge in being Dhamma in the present.

The impersonality of Dhamma bothers many people, because devotional religion tends to personify everything and people coming from such traditions don’t feel right if they can’t have some sort of personal relationship with it. I remember one time, a French Catholic missionary came to stay in our monastery and practise meditation. He felt at something of a loss with Buddhism because he said it was like ‘cold surgery’, there was no personal relationship with God. One cannot have a personal relationship with Dhamma, one cannot say ‘Love the Dhamma!’ or ‘The Dhamma loves me!’; there is no need for that. We only need a personal relationship with something we are not, like our mother, father, husband or wife, something separate from us.

We don’t need to take refuge in mother or father again, someone to protect us and love us and say, ‘I love you no matter what you do. Everything is going to be all right,’ and pat us on the head. The Buddha-Dhamma is a very maturing refuge, it is a religious practice that is a complete sanity or maturity, in which we are no longer seeking a mother or father, because we don’t need to become any’ thing any more. We don’t need to be loved or protected by anyone any more, because we can love and protect others, and that is all that is important. We no longer have to ask or demand things from others, whether it is from other people or even some deity or force that we feel is separate from us and has to be prayed to and asked for guidance.

We give up all our attempts to conceive Dhamma as being this or that or anything at all, and let go of our desire to have a personal relationship with the truth. We have to be that truth, here and now. Being that truth, taking that refuge, calls for an immediate awakening, for being wise now, being Buddha, being Dhamma in the present.

The Third refuge is Sangha, which means a group. ‘Sangha’ may be the Bhikkhu-Sangha [the order of monks] — or the Ariya-Sangha, the group of the Noble Beings, all those who live virtuously, doing good and refraining from evil with bodily action and speech. Here, taking refuge in the Sangha with ‘Sangham saranam gacchami’ means we take refuge in virtue, in that which is good, virtuous, kind, compassionate and generous. We don’t take refuge in those things in our minds that are mean, nasty, cruel, selfish, jealous, hateful, angry — even though admittedly that is what we often tend to do out of heedlessness, out of not reflecting, not being awake, but just reacting to conditions. Taking refuge in the Sangha means, on the conventional level, doing good and refraining from evil with bodily action and speech.

All of us have both good thoughts and intentions and bad ones. Sankharas [conditioned phenomena] are that way, some are good and some aren’t, some are indifferent, some are wonderful and some are nasty. Conditions in the world are changing conditions. We can’t just think the best, the most refined thoughts and feel only the best and the kindest feelings; both good and bad thoughts and feelings come and go, but we take refuge in virtue rather than in hatred. We take refuge in that in all of us that intends to do good, which is compassionate and kind and loving towards ourselves and others.

So the refuge of Sangha is a very practical refuge for day-to-day living within the human form, within this body, in relation to the bodies of other beings and the physical world that we live in. When we take this refuge we do not act in any way that causes division, disharmony, cruelty, meanness or unkindness to any living being, including ourself, our own body and mind. This is being ‘supatipanno’, one who practises well.

When we are aware and mindful, when we reflect and observe, we begin to see that acting on impulses that are cruel and selfish only brings harm and misery to ourself as well as to others. It doesn’t take any great powers of observation to see that. If you’ve met any criminals in your life, people who have acted selfishly and evilly, you’ll find them constantly frightened, obsessed, paranoid, suspicious, having to drink a lot, take drugs, keep busy, do all kinds of things, because living with themselves is so horrible. Five minutes alone with themselves without any dope or drink or anything would seem to them like eternal hell, because the kammic result of evil is so appalling, mentally. Even if they’re never caught by the police or sent to prison, don’t think they’re going to get away with anything. In fact sometimes that is the kindest thing, to put them in prison and punish them; it makes them feel better. I was never a criminal, but I have managed to tell a few lies and do a few mean and nasty things in my lifetime, and the results were always unpleasant. Even today when I think of those things, it is not a pleasant memory, it is not something that I want to go to announce to everybody, not something that I feel joy when I think about.

When we are meditating we realize that we have to be completely responsible for how we live. In no way can we blame anyone else for anything at all. Before I started to meditate I used to blame people and society: ‘If only my parents had been completely wise, enlightened arahants, I would be all right. If only the United Sates of America had a truly wise, compassionate government that never made any mistakes, supported me completely and appreciated me fully. If only my friends were wise and encouraging and the teachers truly wise, generous and kind. If everyone around me was perfect, if the society was perfect, if the world was wise and perfect, then I wouldn’t have any of these problems. But all have failed me.’

My parents had a few flaws and they did mak e a few mistakes, but now when I look back on it they didn’t make very many. At the time when I was look-ing to blame others and I was desperately trying to think of the faults of my parents, I really had to work at it. My generation was very good at blaming everything on the United States, and that is a really easy one because the United States makes a lot of mistakes.

But when we meditate it means we can no longer get away with that kind of lying to ourselves. We suddenly realize that no matter what anyone else has done, or how unjust the society might be or what our parents might have been like, we can in no way spend the rest of our lives blaming anyone else — that is a complete waste of time. We have to accept complete responsibility for our life, and live it. Even if we did have miserable parents, were raised in a terrible society with no opportunities, it still doesn’t matter. There is no one else to blame for our suffering now but ourselves, our own ignorance, selfishness and conceit.
In the crucifixion of Jesus we can see a brilliant example of a man in pain, stripped naked, made fun of, completely humiliated and then publicly executed in the most horrible, excruciating way, yet without blaming anyone: ‘Forgive them, Lord, they know not what they do.’ This is a sign of wisdom — it means that even if people are crucifying us, nailing us to the cross, scourging us, humiliating us in every way, it is our aversion, self-pity, pettiness and selfishness that is the problem, the suffering. It is not even the physical pain that is the suffering, it is the aversion. Now if Jesus Christ had said, ‘Curse you for treating me like this!’, he would have been just another criminal and would have been forgotten a few days later.

Reflect on this, because we tend to easily blame others for our suffering, and we can justify it because maybe other people are mistreating us or exploiting us or don’t understand us or are doing dreadful things to us. We’re not denying that, but we make nothing of it any more. We forgive, we let go of those memories, because taking refuge in Sangha means, here and now, doing good and refraining from doing evil with bodily action and speech.

So may you reflect on this and really see Buddha Dhamma Sangha as a refuge. Look on them as opportunities for reflection and consideration. It is not a matter of believing in Buddha Dhamma Sangha — not a faith in concepts — but a using of symbols for mindfulness, for awakening the mind here-and-now, being here-and-now.

Ajahn Sumedo!!

http://www.buddhanet.net/nowknow1.htm

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam [October 15, 1931 - July 27, 2015] | Philosopher-Scientist And A Great Inspiration!

You have to Dream Before Your Dreams Can Come True!

Dream! Dream! Dream! Dreams and imagination are always be the foundation of the innovation and success. So never stop dreaming.  Moreover never stop fulfilling your dreams. You have to dream before your dreams can come true. ~ Dr Abdul Kalam, Former President of India.

A P J Abdul Kalam, former President of India, was a man of integrity. Intellectually, he was scientific in temper and morally, a very humble person. He was born into a poor South Indian family which could not even afford to pay his school fees.But he worked very hard and continued with his education, and consequently went on to become a highly respected aerospace scientist in the country.

Abdul Kalam was not `born with a silver spoon in his mouth'; yet he was born with a great `incentive spoon' which was responsible for his tremendous success. His self-motivation and high ideals helped him, and he rose to the highest office of the country . Kalam's life has a very significant lesson, that is, that people's categorisation into rich and poor or haves and havenots is unrealistic. The real categorisation is that people are either ac tual haves or potential haves. Those who today apparently belong to the category of have-nots can convert their potential into actuality, and thus enter the category of haves.

Kalam once said that, “If a country is to be corruption-free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, mother and teacher.“

This statement is a correct analysis of nation-building, because a person develops his personality in his formative period, during which he is under the supervision of his parents and teachers. If these three members of society resolve to guide the child in the right direction, then within one generation the whol within one generation the whole situation of India will undergo a drastic change.

Regarding youth, Kalam said: “My message, especially to young people, is to have courage to think differently, to invent, to travel the unexplored path, discover the impossible and to overcome problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards.“ If we express these qualities in one word, it can be said that young people should make `excellence' their goal; they should not accept anything less than striving for the excellent. In doing so, not only will they re ach great heights of success, but will also be able to reform society along constructive lines.

It is said that even amidst his tight schedule, Kalam found time to put pen to paper, almost every day . This is a ve ry creative habit because if a person restricts himself only to routine office work, he will experience intellectual stagnation. However, if he makes time for reading and writing, his intellectual development will go on unhindered.

Kalam once also said: “India has a message for the world that religion could be transformed into a mighty spiritual force.“ This is without doubt a realistic statement, because India has traditionally been a country of high spiritual values. If India develops in spirituality, it will certainly become a lighthouse of spirituality for the world.

When Kalam was President, a reporter who was interviewing him was referring to him as “Your Excellency“.Kalam cut him short, saying, “Call me Kalam“. This is the key to Kalam's personality ­he was modest to the core.His message is: Be modest and you will achieve success.

TheSpeakingTree | ToI | Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

A Wake Up Call From God! Sant Rajinder Singh!!

Sometimes we wonder why God does not grant us a life of ease, free of burdens.

Life is filled with many problems. Why do we struggle with health problems, financial, relationship and emotional problems?

Here's an example from nature. The eagle finds the tallest tree or highest mountain ledge to build its nest.

The eagle lays the first layer of the nest with sharp objects such as thorns and stones. Next, the eagle covers the layer of sharp objects with soft material, such as wood, feathers, and animal fur. As the baby birds hatch, the soft layer of the nest surrounds them.

After they grow a bit, the mother eagle takes the nest material and mixes it up. The jumbled mass becomes a mixture of sharp objects and soft ones. Some of the sharp edges even cut the baby birds' skin. Soon, the mother stops putting food from her mouth into the babies' mouths.Suddenly , their comfortable world has become painful. They are hungry and in pain from the sharp edges cutting into their bodies. The discomfort becomes so great that the babies begin to fly away to get out of the nest.

This beautiful analogy from nature explains the value of suffering in our lives. If people were too happy and comfortable in their physical existence, they would never seek God. Most people turn to God only in times of trouble.

When they are faced with intolerable pain, an incurable illness, a devastating loss, or a financial disaster, they find that life is not as great as they thought it was. Suddenly , life becomes difficult. It is during those times of pain and crises that we begin to question if there is a God, and ask, what is the purpose of this life?

Suffering has the value of turning our attention to the Lord. Without it most people would not give God a second thought.They would live and die without even thinking about God. Suffering makes us pray to God to help us.

When we are rich and living in the lap of luxury , we do not think about God. But when we suddenly lose all that we own, our stocks drop, or we lose our home, we begin to seek God. Misfortunes make us turn to a higher power for help.

Sometimes when we become too complacent, God may shake things up a bit to make us do our spiritual work.

God wants all of the baby eagles to soar. God wants us to soar from this physical region to the astral, from the astral to the causal region, from the causal to the supra-causal region, and from there to return to the highest spiritual realms. God may do whatever it takes to help all the eagles fly and return home through meditation. It is a wake-up call to teach us that we should not be too comfortable in the physical world.

We can wake up to the sharpness of life so that we can rise from this physical world and soar into spiritual realms within. At times, God removes the soft coverings so we can be reminded that this life is painful and full of suffering.

This realization will drive us to put in greater effort to meditate more and to soar to our home of true peace, the lap of God.

Follow Sant Rajinder Singh at speakingtree.in

What is Trigeminal Neuralgia? Symptoms, Causes, Treatments | Dr. Neil Martin - UCLA Neurosurgery

Trigeminal Neuralgia: Important Things To Know If You Have Facial Pain-UF Neurosurgery!

The PM knows he is the servant!

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's maiden Independence Day speech from the ram parts of Red Fort was a departure from earlier speeches by earlier prime ministers on many counts. However, from a philosophical viewpoint, him saying, “Mein pradhan mantri nahin, pradhan sevak hoon“ ­ “I am not prime minister; I am first servant“ could restore to public memory , the true place of elected representatives, as servants of the people who have chosen them to act on their behalf. Gandhiji was the one who first said, “President means Chief Servant.“ And in the 1970s, Robert Greenleaf, with his book on servant leadership, brought the issue of good leadership back into public discourse.

Clearly, those in governance are not meant to ride roughshod over people and exploit them for their own personal beliefs and ends or exult in the power that such positions bring, or see it as one more ac complishment to include in a CV , memoir or biography . Leaders are meant to take their responsibilities seriously , whether the position has come through popular mandate or nomination. In a democracy , the keyword is `service' just as seva or service is an integral part of any spiritual seeker's path to salvation.

“I'm not here to rule; I'm here to serve,“ said Modi, implying that he is different. If you have doubts, he would articulate that fact, to convince you. “I came here all prepared to crit icise Modi's speech,“ confessed M K Gandhi's grandson Tushar Gandhi to the moderator on a TV show that was analysing the I-Day speech. “But i can't find fault with the speech!“ Most Modi bashers ­ and those who Modi re fers to the as the `elite who hate me' ­ might be upset that Modi's speech presented him as a Mr Goody Two-Shoes, with a fabulous Humility Quotient full of good intentions.

Sages have advised seekers that when you lack a certain virtue, try , try and succeed.

In the beginning, if you don't feel humble but wish to become humble, then try faking humility . Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says, “If you can't make it, fake it!“ The idea is that with re peated auto-suggestion, you begin to acquire the virtue over time, and lo and behold, one day you are that humble person you have been trying to be. Humility is perhaps among the most difficult virtues to cultivate or acquire at a time when everything is so focused on satiation of the individual's wants or wishes. And hence the aggressive attitude we see all around us.

If you think it is aggression at work, relationships and markets, that makes things work, it is a skewed view. You could be soft-spoken and open and yet achieve results with out getting trodden all over, if only you allow the spirit of service to stay topmost in whatever you do. As Krishna points out in the Gita, Do your duty without an eye on the fruits of your action. Good thoughts and work are bound to produce good results.

Even business models are now being constructed with humility included as a parameter for good leadership; it is no longer considered a sign of low self-esteem or poor confidence.

Dada J P Vaswani points out that humility is an attitude which allows for others' greatness, and thus helps the manager create the right perspective which enables him ­ not just to manage, direct and order people ­ but to help them discover their best potential, by helping them to transform themselves.

The Speaking Tree | Narayani Ganesh

Bill and Melinda Gates' 2014 Stanford Commencement Address [June 15th, 2014]!

Jim Carrey's Commencement Address at the 2014 Maharishi University of Management Graduation!

Published on 30 May 2014

Maharishi University of Management (http://www.mum.edu) granted degrees to 285 students representing 54 countries. Jim Carrey gave the commencement address to Maharishi University of Management's class of 2014. The University Board of Trustees also presented Mr. Carrey with the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts Honoris Causa, in recognition of his significant lifetime achievements as a world-renowned comedian and actor, artist, author and philanthropist.

How you're missing out on life!?!

Amazing >> The American President Takes a Surprise Walk!!

Published on 22 May 2014

The President was heading over to the nearby Department of the Interior and decided to break with tradition and take a Springtime walk. On the way, he got a chance to meet with all sorts of folks, who weren't expecting to meet the President of the United States of America.

Manu Prakash: A 50-cent microscope that folds like origami!

Partition >> The Day India Burned!

Stunning Time-Lapse Video Shows Rare Views of Yosemite! National Geographic!!

Explore the night sky in Yosemite National Park from the top of Echo Ridge—all in the first eight seconds of the video.

California-based photographers Colin Delehanty and Sheldon Neill spent more than ten months backpacking across Yosemite National Park to create this stunning five-minute time-lapse video of the park in all four seasons.

Yosemite HD II is their second time-lapse video of the national park. The first, Yosemite HD, was published in 2012 after three months of shooting. But they knew they could do better.

After 200 miles (320 kilometers) and a total of 45 days in the park, they finally captured what Yosemite means to them. In order to do this, they had to get off the beaten path.

National Geographic asked them to guide viewers through the video and point out the difficult-to-reach places of Yosemite National Park.

1. Echo Ridge in Cathedral Range (0:00 in the video)

The photographers walked for a total of five hours round trip to capture the introductory shot of Yosemite, near one of the highest points in the Cathedral Range, known as Echo Peaks.

Echo Peaks and Echo Ridge are about 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) from the closest road and reach an elevation of 11,062 feet (3,372 meters) from the base. Echo Ridge connects Echo Peaks with nearby Unicorn Peak. (Learn about 3-D mapping of Yosemite's iconic mountain ranges.)

"It was freezing cold, and there wasn't much of a surface area," said Neill. "It was one of our more memorable trips because it was windy and the sunset was amazing. We were also fortunate to capture the Sierra Wave, which you don't see often."

In the first shot of the video, light pollution can be seen in the distance behind the Cathedral Range. Other shots of the Cathedral Range appear at 2:20, 2:52, and 2:48.

2. Clouds Rest (1:12 in the video)

Clouds Rest is the highest feature overlooking Yosemite Valley. It has an elevation of more than 9,921 feet (3,024 meters) and is a 14-mile (22-kilometer) journey from the valley below.

"I was hiking through deep snow without waterproof boots or snowshoes," said Delehanty, laughing. 

"The area that I used to approach Clouds Rest didn't get a lot of sun in the daytime."

Clouds Rest has an extensive view of most of the Yosemite landmarks, due to its elevation.

"From up there I developed a better understanding of how big the park is. I tried finding locations off in the distance that could be found on the map. I stayed up for 24 hours capturing footage," Delehanty added. "Since I hadn't planned on staying up there an additional day, I melted some snow for water and got comfortable while I waited for sunset the following day."

There are many different shots from Clouds Rest in the video. You can find Clouds Rest at 1:36, 3:00, 3:08, and 4:56.

3. Diving Board (4:00 in the video)

The Diving Board is a rock that juts out in front of the iconic Half Dome in Yosemite. It's where famed photographer Ansel Adams took the photo "The Monolith" in April 1927.

Delehanty and Neill traversed the back side of Half Dome in February 2013 to reach the Diving Board.

"We were pooped when we got to the top. The fog had rolled in, and behind it you couldn't see anything," said Neill. "The Diving Board was the only area where there was visibility. My back was completely frozen by the time we finished shooting."

Other shots from the Diving Board can be found at 0:24 and 3:52.

The photographers visited more than 24 different locations, some of them multiple times, in order to get the right shots of the park.

Yosemite National Park is 150 miles (240 kilometers) east of San Francisco and encompasses 761,266 acres of wilderness reserve, including waterfalls, forests, canyons, and the Sierra Nevada range. It has 150 miles of land without any roads, one of the largest roadless areas in the continental U.S.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140309-yosemite-national-park-time-lapse-video/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20131016_rw_membership_n1p_intl_dr_c1#close-modal

Gift! Rich - It's not in how much money you have...but in how much you give!!