As a mother, I gave birth & showed you the light of the Earth,

You crawled, you stood, you ran and climbed the train’s Berth.

I sat with you to teach the lesson but can’t help you to learn,

Everywhere I was there with you to help and not to get any burn.

In each and every path of life, I gave you the direction,

I gave you freedom in every step to take a proper decision.

I taught you the right and wrong, what I knew was the right,

You had sometimes chosen the wrong path and I had scolded a lot.

I gave you so many toys, when you make my expectation clear,

You might not have liked those toys, but accepted them with honour.

I taught you to share with all and never to become selfish,

You followed it often, continued it & never a chance to miss.

Though I taught you to respect elders, yet can’t force you to follow

I tried to give you the value of life, but may not teach you to follow.

I told you many moral stories and discuss about God,

Godliness is difficult to follow as it is like a iron rod.

Though I had carried you in my womb and taken care till now,

Yet I cannot teach you   the eternal life and exact system to bow.

There is a saying ‘Failure is the pillar of success ’. Young people do not believe in this saying. They become disappointed if success does not come easily.

Failure is the challenge to success, which we have seen in many instances. The student, who always stands first in the class and first in everything, cannot tolerate the failure. Failure teaches us more things what success cannot. For example, this year, I have seen in the newspaper that one boy appeared twelve times in SSC exam and passed. He was also working somewhere. As soon as he passed, he immediately got a promotion and his mother was very happy. After being demotivated for twelve long years, he now decided to continue his studies. Now if he was disappointed by his failure, he would not have got his promotion and remain in the same place. So success is the progressive realisation of worthy dreams, goal and objectives. If anybody sees the summit of success in the beginning and does not work for it, his dreams will be day-dreaming and he will never be successful in life.

I call success as the eye ball of fish where Arjun concentrated seeing the reflection of a fish in water and pierced the fish with his arrow. For success, one needs to concentrate on the goal and aim for it.

People become sad when they are unsuccessful drowned in planning. The realisation of one’s drawback is the pillar of success. Once a person realises his mistake and rectifies it, his path of success is ready for exploration. Negative thought brings negative vibration in the body. So success or failure depends upon the vibration of one’s thoughts.

But the main enemies of success are over enthusiasm, carelessness and sleeping nature (lazy).

If the goal is not correct according to ones nature and is over enthusiastic by working harder and harder, the goal cannot be achieved.

If the goal is aimed at destination and does not carefully guide the aim, it is difficult to arrive at the point of goal, destination and objectives and success will run away from the point of goal.

If the goal is not by action but only by day-dreaming, it will be only a dream not the real picture.

Wildly running after the goal is akin to seeing a mirage in the desert. It will be like searching for precious diamond in a heap of sand.

सेवा
दो सौ साल तो हम
पराधीन थे, अब कँहा स्वाधीन !
केवल अंग्रेज नहीं है
देश पर अभी, हम है अभी भ्रष्टाचार के अधीन |

सौ साल पहले तेत्रिस करोर्ड
आबादी थी यहाँ, आज तो है अलग
गांधीजी का अनशन तभी, गोरेकी कानो में गूंजता

साठ सालो मे, साठ करोर्ड
आबादी बन गया, और भ्रष्टाचार छा गया
अब आ गए अन्ना महान, धन्य हो गया हिन्दुस्थान
चौहत्तर साल के बूढ़े -स्वदेशी, ले लिए है प्रण
भ्रष्टाचार को ख़तम करना, इसका नहीं है भ्रम

छब्बीस साल के उम्र से, स्वामी विवेकानंद के पथ
अनुशरण करके, चला रहे है रथ
सेवा का धर्म ही सबसे ऊँचा, ईश्वर का बसेरा है यँहा |

यही मान कर अनशन करना, आसान नहीं है काम
फिर भी यह चुना आपने, आयेगा नया दिन का शाम |

My small contribution to respected Annaji

What are Values? According to dictionary meaning, values are principles or righteousness. The ideas and beliefs which give us the path to walk in life. Values are the guiding principles which give direction to life. These principles bring joy and happiness in life. Values protect us from unwanted events and gives satisfaction and peace in life. Some values can be acquired from the family, school and other environment. Family values settles the person in life.

Value education period is introduced in the school. During this period, no values are taught because teachers are busy with their portion. They always try to utilise this period for extra teaching which is in the syllabus. Actually the syllabus is framed in such a way that teachers run after the portion only. Many teachers tried to teach value-education, but pressure was from the authority or PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) to complete the syllabus first. Some teachers/schools maintain a note book of value education, but no values are inculcated properly in these children. When this value education is taught compulsorily like other academic subjects with exams and marks, thenvalue education may be invaluable.

http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/list-of-values.htm

There are many values which this site relates to. Acceptance is a value.  But firstly, child should understand the meaning of acceptance, what to accept and what not. Suppose a child is given a packet of cocaine, should he accept it from a unknown or known person and fall into a trap? Abundance is also a value in this list, if a child is given a lot of chocolate, should he eat all together or he should taste and throw all or should he know to share those chocolate with others? Bravery is another value, to save someone from an unwanted scene is bravery but if he is not taught the value of it, he will misuse in unlawful activities. Discipline is another value, which is taught from the school. In a class, may be 50 students, got same kind of discipline, but how may will follow that value throughout their life. Punctuality is another value which is also given from childhood. How many are really following the same?

In school, teacher takes children to the garden for planting trees. That moment children learn how to take care and love the trees. After some years the same 80% of children will pluck the leaves and flowers from the tree and harm the plants. May be two children out of this group learn this value and inculcate it. Same for other values also. These are short-term system of implanting Values.

Now the question is why these values are difficult to inculcate. Spiritually the answer can be given properly. Probably 80% of people will not believe it. It is due to the Sanskar i.e. mental impressions, the traits and tendencies of a soul, caused by past experiences and behaviour patterns of the previous birth. Sanskar is the learning aspect which is subtly registered in the soul.

Basically the process of ‘Sanskar’ has three components, namely: (http://sanskaramvatika.com/why.html)

1. Purification (Doshapanayan) – To purify a person physically, vitally mentally and to eradicate/ weed out the negative mental thoughts and tendencies, which may exist in a person at the time of his birth and/or which he may have acquired from his family and surrounding environment.
2. Making up Deficiency (Heenangpoorti) – To make up the deficiency of human values which he lacks.
3. Value Enrichment (Gunaadhaan) – To inculcate qualities and transform him into an ideal, compassionate, responsible, dutiful and outstanding human who follows his duties diligently towards himself, his family, the society and the universe.

Some people at the age of 50 or 60 read the spiritual book and believe in values. Indirectly they imbibe all these values strongly. Then these Sanskars will be transferred to his next birth and then values can be easily inculcated.

The dictionary meaning of aggression is an unprovoked offensive action .e.g. a student is upset for failing and asks the teacher or principal to take the examination again, but it is not in the system says the teacher, resulting the student into aggression. When the mind cannot express its will, the outburst action is called Aggression. It is ignorance and egoism.

Irritation, frowning, resentment, indignation, rage, fury, wrath are the varieties of aggression, according to the degree or intensity.

There are many general causes of aggression—
1. Broken Home
2. Poverty
3. Racism
4. Inequality
5. Chemical imbalance in the brain
6. T.V. violence
7. Sexual repression
8. Sexual freedom
9. Overpopulation
10. Bad genes

Human desires are endless. Every human-being wants comforts & luxuries. Everyone wants perpetual health, unconditional love and continuous attention. Some people are realistic to the situation but some are violent due to frustration. They compare themselves to other and when all the requirement are not fulfilled, they become aggressive.

What are the causes ?
There are five key factors — Neurosis, Desperation, Envy, Greed and Collectivism.
Neurosis — Irritating thoughts and acts causing harm to self and others. e.g. not getting the love of his/her choice
Desperation — Worst situation and the environment push the person to do the unwanted act. e.g. slum dweller (Child) does not know who his father is and enters into criminal act.
Envy — Inequality brings the person to become envious. e.g. in the class comparison between two equal calibre or two mischievous children.
Greed — Greed is the obsessive desire for material possession. e.g. by hook or crook get the material of desire.
Collectivism — Social collective — society, the people, state, mob tendency etc. has rights, needs and moral authority.

Types of aggression:

Identification:

• Has a substance abuse problem
• Engaged in violent behaviour
• Tantrums and uncontrolled angry outburst
• Continues to exhibit antisocial behavior
• Often engaged in name-calling, cursing and abusing
• Bringing weapon to threaten or attack
• Sudden poor performance
• Few or no close friend
• Little parental supervision
• Blame others for own mistake
• Express sadistic, violent, prejudicial or intolerant attitude
• Destructive nature by damaging environment
• Not empathetic to others pain

Remedy :
Some actions minimize most of the aggression :

• Create a constructive environment where general norms are accepted by reasoning and analyzing.
• Provide rational, moral, emotional, spiritual education to adolescent and youth, explaining that aggression neither solves self and others problem.
• Greed, Intoxication, Desire, Lust and Envy are irrational as they instigate by decreasing goodness and positiveness.
• Reject the “myth of the Mob tendency” – involving the nation, state or race when inner-self identity is lost and innovative or creativeness will die.

Human is identified by Soul, which is Peaceful, Blissful and Freedom loving. Due to social, cultural and geographical environment make them violent like animals without controlling the basic instinct. Aggression leads to frustration and loneliness.

Aggression may never be eliminated entirely, but it can be reduced to very low levels by creating societies of freedom, self-awareness and compassion.

सर्व मंगल मांगल्ये, शिवे सर्वाथ साधिके,
शरैन्ये त्रियाम्बके गौरी नारायणी नमःस्तुते

Bengal is bestowed with wealth by nature. Seasons create a multicoloured mixture in our life. In Bengal, all six seasons Grishma (summer ), Barsha (Rainy season ), Shorat ( Early Autumn), Hemanto( Late Autumn ), Sheeth( Winter ) and Basanto(Spring ) can be observed minutely. Durga puja comes in the autumn.
The last day of Pitripaksha is celebrated as Mahalaya. Mahalaya is observed on the Amavasya day or New moon day of Ashwin (September/October). It is the auspicious occasion to invoke the Goddess of supreme power. All are involved to celebrate the nine days of Navratri from the next day of Mahalaya. It is the belief that these nine days the powerful goddess will protect us from all unwanted evils.

Durga puja is the biggest festival of Bengal. It is celebrated in the early autumn. It is the festival of socio-cultural events. Every Bengalee waits for this festival to arrive. There is no rich and poor feeling in the mind of people. All are busy with buying the new clothes for the festival. Children and youth take part in different cultural activities. Mature and old people are interested in dramas and they like to perform different roles.

There are some symbolic custom when wearing the following colours during Navratri. The first days Green symbolizes Growth and Harmony. The second days Grey symolises elegancy. The third days Pink symbolizes Appreciation and Gratitude. The fourth day White symbolisesPurity and Truth. The fifth day Red symbolisesLove and Passion. The sixth days Blue symbolizes Faith and Wisdom. The seventh days Yellow symbolizes Happiness and Joy. The eight days Violet symbolizes Power and Luxury. The ninth days Peacock Green symbolizes Truth and Hope. Bengalees celebrate from Panchami. There is bhog in every pandal. In the evening , there are different cultural programmes.

.
The nine Navratri colors for 2010 published in local newspapers on October 6, 2010. They are:
1. Pratipada – Oct 8, 2010 (Friday) – Green
2. Dwitiya – Oct 9 (Saturday) – Grey
3. Tritiya – Oct 10 (Sunday) – Pink
4. Chaturthi – Oct 11 (Monday) – White
5. Panchami – Oct 12 (Tuesday) – Red
6. Shasti – Oct 13 (Wednesday) – Blue
7. Saptami – Oct 14 (Thursday) – Yellow
8. Ashtami – Oct 15 (Friday) – Violet
9. Navami – Oct 16 (Saturday) – Peacock Green

During Navaratri, we invoke the energy aspect of God in the form of the universal mother, commonly referred to as “Durga,” which literally means the remover of miseries of life. She is also referred to as “Devi” (goddess) or “Shakti” (energy or power). It is this energy, which helps God to proceed with the work of creation, preservation and destruction. In other words, you can say that God is motionless, absolutely changeless, and the Divine Mother Durga, does everything. Truly speaking, our worship of Shakti re-confirms the scientific theory that energy is imperishable. It cannot be created or destroyed. It is always there.
The prominence of Durga Puja increased gradually during the British Raj in Bengal. After the Hindu reformists resemble Durga with India, she had become an icon for the Indian independence movement. In the first quarter of the 20th century, the tradition of Baroyari or Community Puja was popularised due to this. After independence, Durga Puja became one of the largest celebrated festivals in the whole world.
It is believed that Idol ( Protima) is made from the clay of prostitution’s courtyard. It symbolises that prostitutes save the society from Asura or evils. This symbolizes that evil in society is saved by these women. Durga kathamo (Framework) is made with her four children —Kartik , Ganesh, Saraswati and Lakshmi representing respectively the protector, the initiator of the puja, knowledge and the provider—signifies the complete manifestation of the goddess. Durga is known as the divine spouse of the Lord Shiva.

भारत देश महान है
प्यारा हिंदुस्तान है
हम उसके संतान है
अलग होकर भी एक है |

मिटटी इसका सोना है
नदी का जल तो रूपा है
दोनों के ही मिलने से
अमृत का फल मिलता है |

भिन्न भिन्न जाती है
रहन – सहन अलग है
अलग अलग भाषा है
फिर भी हम एक है |

कोई बंगाली , कोई मद्रासी
कोई मराठी , कोई गुजरती
कोई कश्मीरी , कोई पंजाबी
बोलते छब्बीस सुन्दर बोली |

भाषा अलग , बेश अलग
अलग उत्सव मनाते है
लेकिन सबके स्वर में एकही भाषा
हम बोलते प्यार की भाषा |

सतंत्रता के चौसठ साल
हम बिताये बेमिसाल
हर साल में कुछ पाया
तो कुछ साल में कुछ खोया |

आज हम गर्व करते
कहते भारत महान
कहा गये वे सुपुत संतान
जिनके लिए भारत ने पाया खुब सम्मान |

आओ आज पंद्रह अगस्त पर
सिर झुकाकर नमन करे
याद करे वे हजारों दिलोको
जिसने बलिदान किया स्वयं को |                                                                                       

This life is based alternately as Unknown-Worldly-Reasonable. Let’s share views where debate abounds from time immemorable, without giving away to Abuse & Violence.

An example, (myself visiting USA): ‘I meet an Indian at a market and ask him, “Are you from India?” Replies, “No, from Pakistan, but my wife is from India”. Oh! I say, “I am from Mumbai”. He replies “How nice, she is also from Mumbai”. I ask, “Where in Mumbai?” He says, “She stays in MALAD and I have visited them many times”. I say, “Well we could meet and talk a lot as I am also from MALAD!” This incidence shows, we get closer and interact amicably when we have similarity between us. “Birds of the Same feather flock together” is well known. Thus discussion can be a nice Social set up when we talk of Spirituality and Science.

Social condition bridges the Spiritual and Scientific understanding. We can now define each. Religion is a social setup where spiritual philosophy is a part and we try to prove some of the situations scientifically based in a particular Culture. So religion (worldly) developed politically during a certain Period at a certain Place due to an important Person. Most of the ancient preaching by realised persons had no written text. Those illustrious poetic words were memorised in a set tune. This could be interpreted variously, so leaders misrepresented to suit their own selfish ends. Many great philosophical thinkers did not get political support and so did not develop into a cult. Those which developed into Religion were due to the kings’ clout and sometimes spread by force. Most of the intelligentsia who could not experiment in their own country, travelled where peace existed. So history tells that India was a place where philosophy developed through research in ‘Gurukul’ (residential schools) run by Saints. Here bountiful nature and hospitable people helped these intellectuals to think further and experiment without worrying for the physical condition. So Yoga and six philosophical ideas came into existence. Here, body was a part of Science to be experimented till death was defied. Thus an understanding of Life-n-After (Spiritual) was defined till existence of Soul and its constituents were made known to all. Then body and its control by the senses were to be regulated. Here the leader (guru) who guides the students had to control Ego and Desire, or else the system could be overruled by lineage and will be taken over by the pampered son. This has been the case in our society. The unknown (sprit) had to be connected with existence and its laws of Life. The ‘Cause and Effect’ theory and law of Karma (deed) was created into philosophical rules as ‘Upanishad’. Life and living was studied and public counselled to change accordingly. The story of ‘Valmiki’ was known as a great saint, after he was transformed from a looting and murderous outlaw (dacoit).

The social arrangement which connected our Body with the surrounding had to be ruled by an Intellectual mind. These humans had to be studied and defined. ‘Vedanta’ as the sixth ancient philosophy analyses in details stating, “We live by Choice and not by Chance”. Humans are looked upon as five types, based upon the relation with the surroundings:

1) Stone-man is one who lives depending on others and is totally self-centred.
2) Tree-man grows by sharing with closely attached who help themselves.
3) Animal-man is ruthlessly attached to same species (family) only.
4) Human are emotionally bound, reasonably defends rights with laws, not instincts.
5) God-man remains detached, desiring little for survival by serving others.
Humans are animals but Intelligent-animal, Social-animal and Rational-animal. Lastly God-man is elevated kind of selfless personality, always desiring realisation by trying to know the unknown logically through this body. We have to strive for this in Spirituality.

Also another form of analysing takes place by differentiating ‘Self’ and ‘World’. At every moment there is interaction between these two, where ‘My’ denotes World and ‘Me’ denotes Self when we ask “Is it my …….?” Answer ‘yes’ will denote world. If not then it is me = self. We find that even our Name belongs to the world. The world is developed by Scientists, Economists, Politician, teachers of today who go to build desire and motivate for worldly gains. But Self is developed my Saints (God-man). We have noticed that most of the projects have short life. The world is continuously changing and selfish short goal desires serve only the economic conditions. But, if the Self is developed before the World, then the projects can be lasting. The self and selfless serving acts are nearer to the Truth, which is everlasting. The everlasting things in the spirit system are the Soul and GOD.

We have related the Social and Scientific terms and seen how spirit is connected to the social set up. Now, how does the logic in Society relate to Science considering the Spirituality? The unknown is always seen as the image of the known. The self is considered as the shadow of the world. So the attributes of GOD is taken as the equivalent to modern definition of Energy. GOD is the Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent growing positive Energy, which can reduce due to our deeds (Karma) into the crashing negative energy (the devil).

Yes, if the Self is not properly trained by the society, then the world will slowly and steadily increase into negative energy (Global warming). Short sighted desires will finish this beautiful world as we have lost quite a lot of things which we see now in the Museums.

Spiritual<————-Social————->Scientific

BRIDGE