Animal Kingdom - 1

Animal Kingdom - 1

Let us know more about Mother Nature !

DO U KNOW????

All species have their own unique abilities.
Humans have highly developed brains. Ants never sleep. Elephants can smell water 3 miles away. Snails can grow new eyes…

Enjoy this little journey to the miraculous world of animals.

Hope you learn a thing or two along the way! Sl no 13 16 are most important.

1. Australian termites can build mounds twenty feet high and at least 100 feet wide.

2. Birds don’t urinate.

3. Ants never sleep. Also they don’t have lungs. Worker ants may live seven years and the queen may live as long as 15 years.

4. Horses and cows sleep while standing up.

5. If you lift a kangaroo’s tail off the ground it can’t hop – they use their tails for balance.

6. The horn of a rhinoceros is made from compacted hair rather than bone or another substance.

7. The bat is the only mammal that can fly. The leg bones of a bat are so thin that no bat can walk.

8. Bats always turn left when leaving a cave.

9. A tarantula spider can survive for more than two years without food.

10. Even when a snake has its eyes closed, it can still see through its eyelids.

11. Despite the white, fluffy appearance of Polar Bears fur, it actually has black skin.

12. The average housefly only lives for 2 or 3 weeks.

13. Male mosquitos do not bite, only female mosquito bites.

14. For every human in the world there are one million ants.

15. For every person there are rougly 200 million insects.

16. Even a small amount of alcohol placed on a scorpion will make it go crazy and sting itself to death!

17. Alligators and sharks can live up to 100 years.

18. Rats breed so quickly that in just 18 months, 2 rats could have created over 1 million relatives.

19. A bee must visit 4,000 flowers in order to make one tablespoon of honey.

20. A honeybee has two stomaches- one for honey, one for food.

Om Namah Shivay

How to Bring Down Cosmic Energy

How to Bring Down Cosmic Energy

Sometimes, a yantra, which means a diagram, would be put in temples.

If you open a radio, there is a chip with some design on it; even your cell phone has a chip. The chip has a little design that you and me cannot understand. However, when you put the chip, only that number comes on your cell phone.

Similarly, these yantras were the universal energy’s diagrams, the cosmic energy’s diagrams. There are many yantras; one of them is the Star of David, which is used in the Jewish tradition.

These yantras are charged and put (in temples), and the statues are placed on top of the yantras. The statue is not important, but this yantra, this diagram underneath is most important.

There is mantra (chant), yantra (diagram) and tantra (technique). Tantra is the technique, i.e., how to energize the yantra, the diagram; the technique to do that is tantra. This is why we have yagnas (one of the techniques used to bring down the cosmic energy through the five elements). One has to know how many herbs have to be taken, how they should be taken, how to do the chanting.

In a yagna, the energy is brought down from the space element through chanting, to the air element; then to the fire element; then from fire to water, and from water to the yantra, the diagram (the earth element). So, in yagnas, this energy is being brought down from the subtle to the gross; this is the whole technique.

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If it is raining outside, then that is destiny. But whether to get wet or not is your choice. It is your self-effort. If you take an umbrella and walk, then you will not get wet in the rain, otherwise you will get drenched. Being on the spiritual path means to enhance both your destiny and the quality of your self-effort

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Feel infinitely indebted for your body, for knowledge, for the things you have received, for your own life. Then you will bask in the abundance of the Creator.

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Q: Do I go for a smart girl or a good looking girl?

Guruji: The choice is entirely yours. Just don't tell her why you chose her later on, okay? You will be in trouble. You will not be smart then!

Om Namah Shivay

Purity in Heart and Clarity in Mind

Purity in Heart and Clarity in Mind

When the mind is not clear and the heart is full of hatred, then your actions lead you to disaster. We need to maintain a pure heart; the way nature made us. If you maintain purity in the heart, then clarity in the mind comes, and actions become more harmonious, pleasant, and constructive, and you spread happiness.

Now, how to purify the heart? Purity comes through breathing practices and meditation. With this, all the tension goes away and our heart gets back to the original state, that it came to this world with. With pranayama and meditation, then the mind also becomes clear. We have all experienced clarity in our mind at some time or the other, where you know exactly what you want, and what to do, isn't it?

Here again, there are two types of people:

One type are very sensitive, and the other are very sensible.

People who are very sensible, very logical, very clear in their mind, they cannot stand imperfections. They get angry very fast. But in life, sensibility alone will not do. You need to be sensitive as well.

People who are very sensitive, they start crying at the drop of a hat. They get hurt very fast. They cannot stand criticism, and they cannot stand anything that they don’t like also; they get thrown off balance. They get into an emotional mess, and create a mess for everybody.

So in life, both are needed. A balance between sensitivity and sensibility; value of the heart and value of the mind.

So, when mistakes happens, see it as a happening. Through whom it happened is secondary. If you adopt this approach, it makes you very centered, and you feel connected with everybody. The mind becomes free from anger, jealousy, greed, and all these negative imperfections.

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Forget about how you feel, feelings keep changing. One minute it is good, next minute it is not good, so what! Move with valor and courage.

Om Namah Shivay

Getting Rid of Prejudice

Getting Rid of Prejudice

There are many types of prejudice. There is prejudice between generations. Young people will not sit and share their heart out with senior citizens. There is generation gap. You find this all over the world. People of certain age group only stay together and talk together. They don’t open up and mix with elders or people younger than them.

There is prejudice about class, and about gender as well. May not be so much here in Canada but in many parts of the world, there is prejudice against gender and prejudice about religion, culture, language, and so on. So many types of prejudices. Wisdom is to rise above prejudice and see the whole world as one family.

If this idea of the whole world as one family comes, there will be no war, no crime and none of the problems that we are facing in the world today. See how many people are being killed. There is so much violence in the world. This is all because of lack of a broad vision and wisdom.

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If you’re looking for a partner, know that you are there to contribute to their life. If you are looking for a partner to get something out of them and they also want to get something from you, then this ‘want to get’ will pull the two of you apart. But if your whole intention is to support, guide, and contribute to the other, then you will find that such a partnership will go on forever.

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Think about what you can do for others rather than just about yourself. Energize yourself with some service activity.

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You are a combination of the form and the formless. In the same way, the entire creation is the manifested form of the Divine, though He is formless. Consciousness is formless and the manifest creation in nature has form.

Om Namah Shivay

Look for God in others

Look for God in others

One day, when I was a freshman in high school,

I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.

His name was Kyle.

It looked like he was carrying all of his books.

I thought to myself, 'Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?

He must really be a nerd.'

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.

They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.

His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him...

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes .

My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, 'Those guys are jerks.'

They really should get lives.

' He looked at me and said, 'Hey thanks!'

There was a big smile on his face.

It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.

As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.

He said he had gone to private school before now.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.

He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

I asked him if he wanted to play a little football
with my friends .

He said yes.

We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.

I stopped him and said, 'Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!

' He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.

When we were seniors we began to think about college.

Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going to Duke.

I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never
be a problem.

He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship.

Kyle was valedictorian of our class.

I teased him all the time about being a nerd.

He had to prepare a speech for graduation.

I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak .

Graduation day, I saw Kyle.

He looked great.

He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous!

Today was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech.

So, I smacked him on the back and said, 'Hey, big guy, you'll be great!'

He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled....

' Thanks,' he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began ...

'Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years.

Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends....

I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.

I am going to tell you a story.'

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the first day we met.

He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.

He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home.

He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

'Thankfully, I was saved.

My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.'

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.

I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions.

With one small gesture you can change a person's life.

For better or for worse.

God puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for God in others.

Om Namah Shivay

Learning About the Mind

Learning About the Mind

There are many situations or states of mind, but generally you can categorize them into three kinds:

When there is craving or longing. Longing for worldly or spiritual experiences

When there is dullness. There is neither longing nor there is any interest in anything. a sense of inertia in our mind. You just go on with inertia. This situation can set now and then in life

When there is contentment, happiness and joy, The purpose of all this celebration is to move from inertia to joy, to move from longing to contentment. It’s so beautiful.

There are those who do not even look at their mind, they just keep working and working. Then there are others who keep looking at their own mind. Both are not good, take the middle path. Sometimes take a look at the mind, but not all the time. Do you see what I’m saying? Otherwise you will become self-centred, all the time thinking, 'What do I want?' Or 'I am feeling like this'.

Forget about how you feel, feelings keep changing. One minute it is good, next minute it is not good, so what! Move with valour and courage.

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The more we are in our comfort zone, just caring for ourselves and our immediate families, our life starts shrinking. Then we start being angry, upset, frustrated; all these negative thoughts start coming. If you keep yourself a little engaged in social and public activity, you will be less upset at home, and there will be more harmony at the home. front.

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Q: How do we manage stress and anxiety?

Guruji: Keep smiling as you are doing now. Don’t hold on to stress and anxiety. If you don’t hold on to it, then there is no question of managing it.

What is a Guru and ashram for? Leave all your anxieties, pray, have faith and move on. If you have the faith, you will reap the fruits.

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We need to lessen our needs and take more responsibility. If our needs are more and responsibilities are less, time will be bad for us. When we reduce our needs and take more responsibility we will be of use to the society. The society will take care of us and we will be able to take care of the society.

Om Namah Shivay

The Opposites!

The Opposites!
Don’t suppress your emotions, only change their inner polarity.

When the mind is disturbed by wrong thoughts, ponder on the opposites
— Patanjali’s sutra

This is a beautiful method. It will be useful for you. For example, if you are feeling discontented, what to do? Patanjali says ponder on the opposite: if you are feeling discontented, contemplate about contentment, what is contentment.

Bring a balance. If your mind is angry, bring compassion in. Think about compassion; and, immediately, the energy changes, because they are the same; the opposite is the same energy. Once you bring it in, it absorbs. When you sense that
anger is rising with you, contemplate on compassion.

Do one thing: keep a statue of Buddha, because that statue is the gesture of compassion. Whenever you are angry, go into the room, look at Buddha, sit Buddha-like, and feel compassion. Suddenly, you will see a transformation happening within you: the anger is changing, excitement gone...compassion arising. And it is not different energy; it is the same energy — the same energy of anger — changing its quality, going higher. Try it.

It is not suppression, remember. You go on pushing it down and you smile and you act as if you are not angry — and anger is bubbling there, boiling, ready to explode. Then it is suppression. No, we are not suppressing anything, and we are not creating a smile or anything; we are just changing the inner polarity.

The opposite is the pole. When you feel hateful, think of love. When you feel desire, think of desirelessness and the silence that comes in it. Whatsoever the case may be, bring the opposite in and watch what happens within you. Once you
have the knack for it, you become a master. Now you have the key: any moment, anger can be changed into compassion, any moment, hate can be turned into love, any moment, sadness can become ecstasy. Suffering can become bliss, because
suffering has the same energy as bliss; the energy is not different. You just have to know how to channel it.

Whenever there is anger, it can be transformed into compassion, but you have no idea how to do it. And it is not an art which can be taught; it is a knack. You have to do it and learn it through the process of doing it; there is no other way. It is just like swimming: you have to swim, and err, and sometimes get into danger, and sometimes you might feel lost — that life is lost and you are drowning. You have to pass all this, and then the knack comes, then you know what it is.

Next time, when there is anger, or there is sadness, just sit silently and allow the sadness to move towards happiness — just help push it a little. Don’t do too much and don’t be in a hurry. Sadness will be reluctant at first to go towards happiness, because for centuries, for many lives, you have not allowed it to move that way, it will be reluctant — much like a horse you are forcing towards a new path on which it has never been, it will be reluctant, it will try to go back to the old pattern, to the old path, to the old rut. But, by and by, persuade it, seduce it. Tell sadness, “Don’t be afraid. It is really groovy; come this way. You can become happiness, and there is nothing wrong in it, nothing impossible.” Just persuade, talk to your sadness, and one day, you will suddenly find that sadness has moved into a new channel: it has become happiness. That day, a yogi is born, not before it. Before that you are simply preparing.

Om Namah Shivay