Risk

Author Unknown

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to others is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken,
because the greatest hazard in life is to do nothing.

The person who risks nothing,
does nothing, has nothing, and is nothing.

They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live.

Chained by their attitudes, they are a slave,
they forfeited their freedom.

Only the person who risks can be free.

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Thanks to : French Connection

Siousx Indian Prayer

This prayer was chosen by the Indians when sixteen tribes met at Arizona. The original copy had come from Cabot's old Indian museum in Desert Hot Springs, California -- Author Unknown

It was printed in the Los Angeles newspapers to observe, "World Day Of Prayer" in 1958.

O Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds,
and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me.
I come before you, one of your many children.
l am small and weak.
I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty,
and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made,
my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise,
so that I may know the things you have taught my people,
and the lesson you have hidden in every leaf and rock.

I seek strength, not to be superior to my brothers,
but to be able to fight my greatest enemy - myself.
Make me ever ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes,
so when life fades as a fading Sunset,
my spirit will come to you without shame.
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Credits: Barefoot Windwalker

Flashes from Swami Vivekananda - 4

The only method of Education - 2

Results

All success in any line of work is the result of concentration. High achievements in arts, music, etc., are the result of concentration. When the mind is concentrated and turned back on itself, all within us will be our servants, not our masters.

The Greeks applied their concentration to the external world and the result was perfection in art, literature etc. The Hindu concentrated on the internal world, upon the unseen realms in the self and developed the science of yoga. The world is ready to give up its secrets if we only know how to knock, how to give the necessary blow. The strength and force of the blow come through concentration.

The power of concentration is the only key to the treasure-house of knowledge. In the present state of our body we are much distracted, and the mind is frittering away its energies upon a hundred things.

Only key to knowledge

As soon as I try to call on my thoughts and concentrate my mind upon any one object of knowledge, thousands of undesired impulses rush into the brain, thousands of thoughts rush into the mind and disturb it. How to check it and bring the mind under control is the whole subject of study in Rajayoga. The practice of meditation leads to mental concentration.

To me the very essence of education is concentration of mind, not the collection of facts. If I had to do my education once again, I would not study facts at all. I would develop the power of concentration and detachment, and then with a perfect instrument, collect facts at will.

Brahmacharya (continence) necessary for concentration

Power comes to him who observes unbroken Brahmacharya for a period of twelve years. Complete continence gives great intellectual and spiritual power. Controlled desire leads to the highest results. Transform the sexual energy into spiritual energy. The stronger this force, the more can be done with it. Only a powerful current of water can do hydraulic mining.

It is owing to want of continence that everything is on the brink of ruin in our country. By observance of strict Brahmacharya all learning can be mastered in a very short time; one acquires an unfailing memory of what one hears or knows but once.

The chaste brain has tremendous energy and gigantic will power. Without chastity there can be no spiritual strength. Continence gives wonderful control over mankind.
The spiritual leaders of men have been very continent and this is what gave them power.

Every boy should be trained to practice absolute Brahmacharya and then, and then alone faith and Shraddha will come. Chastity in thought, word and deed always and in all conditions is what is called Brahmacharya. Unchaste imagination is as bad as unchaste action. The Brahmacharin must be pure in thought, word and deed.

21 Chinese Good Luck Tantra Totems

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
3. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
4. When you say, “I love you”, mean it.
5. When you say, “I’m sorry”, look the person in the eye.
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don’t have dreams don’t have much.
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. Please No name calling.
11. Don’t judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, smile and ask, “Why do you want to know?”
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
15. Say “bless you” when you hear someone sneeze.
16. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
17. Remember the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
18. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
19. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
20. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
21. Spend some time alone.

Credits: Mahesh Mohan

Ways to deal with jealousy

When you feel jealous, a part of you knows the feeling and understands its petty nature, but still you cling to it. Amrit Sadhana tells how one can be free of this draining emotion.

Jealousy can be a draining emotion. Even though it creates misery, people cling to it because jealousy is considered to be a sign of deep love. Lack of jealousy is often misinterpreted as lack of love by the other person. Jealousy is often just a twinge, a passing thought and that is quite normal and everyone experiences it to some degree. However there are some for whom it can become an obsession and threaten their own sanity and relationships.

The best part is that inherently you will know a moment of superfluous jealousy for what it is; a part of you subconsciously knows and understands that this emotion rising in you is petty and does not reflect a loss of emotional unity in your relationship. But still you will feel tempted to revel in it, to let it engulf you. It’s a matter of knowing yourself and rising above emotions which you know do not warrant your mindspace.



To understand jealousy it is important to delve into and reexamine your conception of love. Osho talks about a fool-proof remedy that can help you drop jealousy and other petty feelings.

Said Osho: “Go deeper into your feelings. Don’t avoid them. But remember one thing: jealousy and insecurity are separate from you. You are the witness; as you go deeper, you will come across many things which you have suppressed; but you are as pure as a mirror. When you are going deeper, the mirror reflects jealousy, but the mirror is not jealousy. Just as the mirror reflects buffalo standing in front, it reflects your feelings. The mirror is not identified with anything that it reflects — the mirror is just empty, silent, and clean.

“In meditation you will come to recognize you are the mirror. All other things are reflected in you. A mirror is just a reflecting phenomenon; so are you. Be a mirror, and then all these problems, whatever their names, will start disappearing — they are only reflections. You need not try to get rid of them. The very idea of getting free of them still accepts that they are realities of your being.”

Credits: Times Wellness