Goodbye 2009!

Bible Quotes : 15

Bible Quotes : 14

Five pillars of islam

Ash-hadu anla ilaha illal-Lahu Wahdahu la Sharika Lahu wa-ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu

(" I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, the One, without any partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.")

1. Faith 
There is no go worthy worship except God and Muhammad is His messenger. The declaration of faith is called the Shahada, a simple formula which all the faithful pronounce. In Arabic, the first part is la ilaha illa'Llah- 'there is no god except God'; ilaha(god) can refer to anything which we may be tempted to put in place of God- wealth, power, and the like. Then comes illa'Llah: 'except God', the source of all Creation. The second part of the Shahada is Muhammadun rasulu'Llah: 'Muhammad is the messenger of God.' A message of guidance has come through a man like ourselves.

2. Prayer 
Salat is the name for the obligatory prayers which are performed five times a day, and are direct link between the worshipper and God. There is no hierarchical authority in Islam, and no priests, so the prayers are led by a learned person who knows the Quran, chosen by the congregation. These five prayers contain verses from the Quran, and are said in Arabic, the language of the Revelation, but personal supplication can be offered in one's own language.

Prayers are said at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and nightfall, and thus determine the rhythm of the entire day. Although it is preferable to worship together in a mosque, a Muslim may pray almost anywhere.

3. The Zakat 
One of the most important principles of Islam is that all things belong to God, and that wealth is therefore held by human beings in trust. The word zakat means both 'purification' and 'growth'. Our possessions are purified by setting aside a portion for those in need, and, like the pruning of plants, this cutting back balances and encourages new growth.

Each year Muslim calculates his or her own zakat individually. For most purposes this involves payment each year of two and a half percent of one's capital.

A pious person may also give as much as he or she pleases as sadaqa, and does so preferably in secret. Although this word can be translated as 'voluntary charity it has a wider meaning.

4. The Fast 
Every year in the month of Ramadan, all Muslims fast from first light until sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations. Those who are sick, elderly, or on o journey, and women who are pregnant or nursing are permitted to break the fast and make up an equal number of days later in the year. If they are physically unable to do this, they must feed a needy person for every day missed. Children begin to fast (and to observe the prayer) from puberty, although many start earlier.

Although the fast is most beneficial to the health it is regarded principally as a method of self-purification. By cutting oneself off from worldly comforts, even for a short time, a fasting person gains true sympathy with those who go hungry as well as growth in one's spiritual life.

5. Pilgrimage (Hajj) 
The annual pilgrimage to Makkah- the Hajj- is an obligation only for those who are physically and financially able to perform it. Nevertheless, about two million people go to Makkah each year from every corner of the globe providing a unique opportunity for those of different nations to meet one another. Although Makkah is always filled with visitors, the annual Hajj begins in the twelfth month of the Islamic year (which is lunar, not solar, so that Hajj and Ramadan fall sometimes in summer, sometimes in winter). Pilgrims wear special clothes: simple garments which strip away distinctions of class and culture, so that all stand equal before God.

The rites of the Hajj, which are of Abrahamic origin, include circling the Ka'ba seven times, and going seven times between the mountains of Safa and Marwa as did Hagar during her search for water. The pilgrims stand together on the wide plain of Arafat and join in prayers for God's forgiveness, in what is often thought of as a preview of the Last Judgement.

The close of the Hajj is marked by a festival, the Eid al-Adha, which is celebrated with prayers and the exchange of gifts in Muslim communities everywhere. This, and the Eid al-Fitr, a feast-day commemorating the end of Ramadan, are the main festivals of the Muslim Calendar.

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Quran Quote

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Merry Christmas!

A carol

Gentle Mary Laid her Child

Lowly in a manger;

There He lay, the undefiled,

To the world a stranger.

Such a Babe in such a place.

Can he be the saviour?

Ask the saved of all the race

Who have found His favour.

 

Angels sang about His birth,

Wise men sought and found Him;

Heaven’s star shone brightly forth

Glory all around Him.

Shepherds saw the wondrous sight,

Heard the angels singing;

All the plains were lit that night,

All the hills were ringing.

 

Gentle Mary laid her Child

Lowly  in a manger;

He is still the undefiled,

But no more a stranger.

Son of God of humble birth,

Beautiful the story;

Praise His Name in all the earth,

Hail! The King of Glory!

Bible Quotes : 9

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Quotes from Bible : 2

Quotes from bible : 1

Greed

Greed is the root cause of all sins. Greed or desire inevitably brings sin with it. desire later blinds conscience, as a result man loses the sense of good and evil, and indulges into sin. Inivitin his own down fall. That is why desire is called the reason of greater sins and should must be destroyed.

When man gets attracted to material things desire forms. Desire subdues conscience and sensory organs start to rule our life. As conscience is blinded by desire man starts to look for pleasure, hunger for money follows and ends up with his destruction.

That is why Geeta says to refrain the sensory organs from getting indulged in material pleasures. When a person performs his duties and restrains from other things sensory organs come to his control by themselves.

Destroying desire

The sensory organs, mind and intelligence-these three are the dwelling place of desire. Desire clouds wisdom using these three tools, and finally opens the road to self destruction.

When the desire first raises its head man wants to enjoy the world through his sensory organs. In the early stages there is scarcity of materials, later that scarcity is over but these materials are shortlived (as per nature’s law). That doesnot reasons with a man who is determined to enjoy—he strives for them and tries to get them at any cost, by any means.

Thus desire first lures the indriyas – the sensory organs, then together they trap mind. Then all of them cloud wisdom and intelligence. The pathway to fall is paved for a person who identifies his existence by his “body” his “physical being”. Because if he knew that “body” is not him, “soul” is, his true self would have shunned all desires at the first place.

In next few shlokas the path of destroying desire is shown.

True guidance

Sages should be well versed with the duties performed by people addicted to works. In place of confusing them they should guide them toward higher consciousness through their works.

Sages should be well=versed in performance in various modes, and guide ordinary men to the path of God through their works. They should never confuse the ignorant people, instead of that they should slowly motivate them to the path of God.

Sages dedicate their lives to guide others to the path of God. They do it completely unselfishly, in place of preaching others to the path of God they make their own lives an example, so that others follow them by themselves.

If an ignorant person is told repeatedly that working with addiction to the result will result in rebirth he will ultimately lose belief in such preachings. As a result his addiction will stay the same, but he will leave doing good things. He will think as he is addicted to its output it wont do him any good, so why take the trouble.

So, instead of confusing him a sage should guide him to perform his duties perfectly, then slowly lift him to upper level. By showing him whats good and whats bad.

Sages should always guide normal people to the path of desirelessness through desire.

Yagnya.. the homage

When works are done for any other purpose but performance of duty- addiction occurs, and man gets addicted. Hence one should perform without addiction with the sole purpose of performance of one’s duty.

This shloka of geeta says:

Performing one’s duty is performing worship (yagnya). Doing one’s job, business, teaching etc as a duty is also worship as per geeta.

Every thing which is done for the sake of others is called yagnya/worship as per geeta. The person who can perform only for others soon gets over addiction to results.

A sage should never perform for own pleasure, happiness, pride or glory. These are counted as addiction, Geeta doesnot forbids performance, it asks to shun performing with desire.

Performance of our duty with desire of own happiness, fame, prosperity or luxury binds us to life or karma or rebirth.

brahmasthiti

When a sadhak is stable in brahma he is free from desire, lust, addiction and ownership tendency.

This shloka of geeta says:

When a person invokes brahmagyan inside himself he gets stable within brahma. He never again gets addicted to material pleasures.

When a person is stable in Brahma he is free from desire, lust, addiction and ownership tendency. This is called the condition of a person with brahmagyan, brahmisthiti. A person who has realized what brahma (God) is and is now stable in Brahma (brahmi+sthiti)

As he loses all addiction toward material world his wisdom automatically shifts to Brahma and becomes stable there. He never gets addicted to material world again.

Brahmagyan

When a sadhak is stable in brahma he is free from desire, lust, addiction and ownership tendency.

This shloka of geeta says:

When a person invokes brahmagyan inside himself he gets stable within brahma. He never again gets addicted to material pleasures.

When a person is stable in Brahma he is free from desire, lust, addiction and ownership tendency. This is called the condition of a person with brahmagyan, brahmisthiti. A person who has realized what brahma (God) is and is now stable in Brahma (brahmi+sthiti)

As he loses all addiction toward material world his wisdom automatically shifts to Brahma and becomes stable there. He never gets addicted to material world again.

Stable mind

When a Sadhak’s senses and mind have retrieved themselves from material pleasures his wisdom has become stable.

This shloka of geeta says:

A sadhak whose mind or body is no longer attracted to material world has reached stability of mind and wisdom.

No matter if he is alone at home or working among others, his mind is never indulged in worldly pleasures. His wisdom becomes so strong that his mind ceases to misguide it to worldly pleasures.

As his mind loses interest in worldly pleasures it can never cross his wisdom, which is stable in God.

His mind is completely free from addiction to material world, free from anger, hatred. As the poison tooth of the snake has been plucked his mind can no longer bite and poison his wisdom. It can no longer destroy the sadhak.

The cream of this shloka is the sadhak has to firmly determine that his only goal is God, not luxury or wealth. When his heart/mind is always aware about this goal his wisdom becomes automatically stable.

adrift

when the senses of a sadhak come in touch with material world they often overpower his wisdom and force it to their direction

This shloka of geeta says:

Here the condition of a sadhak, one who is trying to become one with God is compared with a boat. Jusl like wind sometimes forces a boat to its direction- the senses when they come in touch with material world, overpower the wisdom and force it to their direction.

But once a sadhak has found confirmation from his heart that all he wants is God his senses withdraw themselves from material world voluntarily and his wisdom stabilises in God. The fear of being driven by desires slowly vanishes.

Peace

a person whose mind and wisdom is not controlled cannot have the wisdom of being stable in only God. as a result he fails to achieve peace and happiness.

This shloka of geeta says:

A person whose mind and senses are not controlled can not have the fixed, only target of achieving God. because his uncontrolled mind and senses keep him dragging back to material world again and again.

He can never realize the golden truth that I have to do only my duties, without getting addicted to the results thereof. His senses and mind veer toward addiction.

As he is driven by his senses he fails to become dufiful. As a result of that he fails fulfill his duties with conviction and strength, and finally he fails to achieve peace.

A person without peace cant be happy. No matter how much he derives in material world his hunger increases. His heart is always restless and unsatisfied. So he fails to be peaceful and happy.

stay connected

When a karmayogi enjoys the material world through senses controlled by his mind he achieves happiness; by conquering that happiness too he achieves God- His wisdom becomes stable in God.

This shloka of geeta says:

Every karmayogi should keep his mind under his control. If he doesnot have control on his mind he will get addicted to the outputs of his works which may result in his fall.

Every yogi should control his mind, specially the karmayogi because he is never detached from social life.

As per geeta when a person gets addicted to the results of his works and his work is controlled by that addiction he is inviting self destruction.

On the other hand when his work is selfless he is blessed with true happiness and wisdom. his wisdome becomes stable in one thing – God. He knows that he has only one Goal in this life and that is to stay connected to God.

stability of wisdom

When the karmayogi removes his connection with his sensory organs and mind, then only he reaches the stability of wisdom.

To attain stability of wisdom a karmayogi removes the connection of his mind with five sensory organs which are his doorway to the material world. Eye, ear, tongue, nose and skin. By revoking this connection he discovers his connection with God. which is always within him but is covered by his materialistic pleasures.

work is must

A person who is able to work only for the well being of others is called the best, the luckiest

This shloka of geeta says:

Everything which is done for sake of others or performing once duty is worship as per Geeta. The person who can cherish the feeling of working for others soon gets over the addiction toward positive results and agonies related to the negative results of his works.

A sage should never perform for his own pride, fame, pleasure, happiness or luxury. These are counted as addiction in Geeta.

Even our every day duties if done without addiction is treated as worship in Geeta, Geeta doesnot forbids performance, it forbids performance with addiction (for positive result) and agony (for negative results). It suggests to perform nonchalantly. Without caring about the results.

Peformance of one’s duty with underlying desire of own happiness, fame, luxury etc binds us to the performance and results in rebirth.

satisfied soul

when a person is completely satisfied with himself & his life his works automatically flow toward God and welfare of mankind.

This shloka of geeta says:

Why does a person gets addicted to the positive results of his works? Because he is not satisfied with himself or his life. So he chases his dreams.

But, if he is completely satisfied with himself, his life, he loses interest in the outcomes of his works. His interest automatically shifts to selfless performance, performing for the welfare of others.

As they rise above attachment toward result of their works their works automatically flow toward welfare of mankind, towards service of God. They rise above the rules and bindings of religion and rules yet they work purely, selflessly for mankind. Automatically follow the path of God. They become absolutely happy with themselve and their life so every thing comes from within, no reminder or moral binding is needed to perform for others.

So, we can feel it from within that when a person is completely satisfied with himself and his life his works automatically flow toward God and welfare of mankind.

working without addiction to results

Working without addiction is always better than withdrawing from work, thinking it will overcome the addiction of results.

This shloka of geeta says:

One should always do his duties, its always better to serve God through our service, and anyway, if we abstain ourselves from doing our duties we will perish.. because it will mean we will stop taking food etc.. they also are duties, done towards ourselves. So doing duty is always better than sitting idle as per geeta.

Performing or doing duty means all the tasks which a person does starting from eating to doing his duties.

We will perish if we stop eating and drinking, and our souls may perish if we stop doing our other duties.

As per geeta it is always better to approach God through our selfless services, than revoking ourselves from performing our duties and thinking this will help us overcome addiction to the results of our works.

Working without addiction is always better than trying to win addiction without working, by withdrawing from work instead of withdrawing from addiction.

falsehood

A person depriving himself from pleasures is keeping his thirst alive. But a siddha forgets his thirst by knowing his yog with God…

This shloka of geeta says:

Material luxuries can be enjoyed in two ways, first physically and the second through the mind.

Man often stops enjoying them through body by applying force upon himself, but his desire remains alive, and he keeps on enjoying them psychologically. That is inside his mind. Yet feels proud that I have detached myself from physical pleasures. This is called falsehood.

Sages say mental enjoyment, that is psychological enjoyment is the most dangerous type of enjoyment because it has no beginning or end point, you can keep on doing it through out the day and even in your dreams while you are depriving your body from everything. That is why they say to become a sage, one should not only overcome physical addictions, he should overcome psychological/mental addictions too.

Stopping the physical enjoyment by force and enjoying the same things through mind is called falsehood.

God

A person who can rise above the feelings of ownership, arrogance & desire of wealth & lives a desireless life, gains true peace.

This shloka of geeta says:

A sage thinks that the wealth which I think is mine is actually not mine. God owns it, because she is the one who controls these, not me. That proves that she is the owner of these things, not me. So she can do whatever she wants with them. I should use her things for her service only. I should not use it for my own pleasure. By thinking this way he loses his addiction, ownership tendency toward wealth and arrogance of being wealthy.

He also believes that his body, soul, mind, senses are also not his own, they are God’s, so he also belongs to God. and he should act that way.

By thinking this way he loses attachment and desire of all material things and wipes away any arrogancy related to them and reaches eternal peace.

ocean

The person in whose life things come like rivers joining ocean, without creating any change, gets peace, others don’t.

This shloka of geeta says:

Sages are like ocean, they live a social life hence rhey have to come in touch with every thing. But their attitude makes the difference.

Just like rivers join ocean, they pour down their water in it, sometimes in huge amount and sometimes very little, but the ocean remains unchanged. It doesnot dries up without their water or gets flooded by their extra water. It maintains its calm, stability.

Like ocean, sages come in touch with every thing but they are nonchalant towards them, they just don’t care if they are there or not. Its irrelevant to them whether they are flooded with them or don’t get even the minimum. They stay content with the things which they have within themselves. Their soul and stable belief in God. Naturally they get peace. And those who cant attain the stability of ocean, cant get above the attraction of materials fail to gain peace.

Ordinary people are in dark about God, spiritual welfare. Sages are in dark about material world, its pleasures.

To a family man consciousness means gathering material things, things which will give him a more prosperous, secured life. This is his awakening, his day, his real world. He is completely in dark about God and his own spiritual welfare. He is asleep about them, they don’t exist to him.

But to a sage God and his spiritual welfare is the light, daytime, he stays awake in these needs, that is, strives for these things. He is completely asleep about his material welfare.. property, money etc. They don’t hold any importance to him because they are fickle to him. They are illusion to him. Illusions which try to keep him away from his spiritual welfare, surrendering to God. hence he is in dark about them.

So the side of mind which is asleep in social man (god and spiritual self) is awake in sage, and the side of mind which is awake in family man (material world, money etc) is asleep in the sage.

controlled senses

A person whose senses are not controlled by his mind can never reach true happiness or peace, nor can he devote himself to God.

Karmayogi should control his mind, otherwise he will form attachments to his work or outcomes and slip.

A sadhak whose senses are under his control is free of love or hate. He neither loves or hates the outcome of his services. He is completely nonchalant to his success or failure and thus happy.

He enjoys the material world without love or hate, as a result a deep peace and happiness comes over him. And when he overcomes even this feeling he reaches God. his heart is surrendered to God.

controlling senses

Thinking too much about pleasure causes obsession, desire, anger, loss of wit, memory & wisdom, finally ends in destruction.

The way too much attachment to material world destroys us is very beautifully explained in this Geeta Shloka. As per it:

When a person is immersed in materialistic pleasures he forms attraction towards them.

That attraction creates desire, the eagerness to enjoy them more and more.

When that desire is not satisfied anger forms, anger blinds the vision.

Due to this lack of vision a person acts blindly and loses his wits.

Once he loses his wits his wisdom also follows and his destruction becomes inevitable.

Karmayogi

Desert the desire for outcome, treat success and failure in the same way, perform with an nonchalance toward success and failure.

This is the explanation of a karmayogi.. a person who has achieved God through work/service. So whatever explanation will come to your mind, always remember that the person related is always living in society (you can think about mother teresa).

A karmayogi is never worried about being hurt, when he is working he is nonchalant toward obstruction in his works, insult, failure, negative outcomes. These things don’t make any effect on him.

His only purpose behind performing is helping others, benefit of others. He never performs for his own well being, comfort or luxury. His only goal is to complete his work properly. Due to this nonselfish attitude toward work his heart is always full of pleasure and no adversity can bring him down.

When he is receiving happiness through work, then too he is nonchalant.. rewards, successful completion, victory, honour.. these things don’t overwhelm him, he just stays as calm as he was during adverse moments.

A karmayogi never regrets or feels bad about adversity and he never looks forward towards positive outcomes or applauds. He just remains calm, happy and nonchalant.

That is where he shines over normal human beings, who are moved by both adversity and success.

This is why it is said that his wisdom is stable. Because there is only one feeling residing him.. feeling of peace, calm and happiness.. no matter what his surroundings are. His wisdom is completely laid on God, within God. he realizes that the entire universe is a part of God and everything else is forever changing, so he lays his wisdom on God and faces the world as an everchanging phenomenon. That is why he is so calm, happy and peaceful.

yog

What is Yog as per Shreemadbhagvat:

Yoga means the end of pursuing the means of physical welfare or pleasure (which are termed as the reason behind suffering) and creating a permanent connection (yog) with God.

That is the natural thing, the pursuing of physical pleasure by human beings is not the real human self (its called maya), the real human self is being stable in God.

So snapping off the connection with maya and connecting permanently with God is called Yog.

This permanent connection if achieved through work/service then it is named as Karmayog.

If it is achieved through knowledge then it is gyanyog.

If it is achieved through love for God then it is bhaktiyog.

If it is achieved through harmonisation of world then it is called layayog.

If it is achieved through pranayam then it is hathayog and

If it is done through self control etc then it is called ashtangayog.

immortal soul

Shreemadbhawat says: no one can destroy the immortal soul because it is indestructible. Its spread throughout the world. Nothing can destroy the soul.

mortal and immortal

Shreemadbhawat says: a mortal thing doesnot exists and an immortal thing is never destroyed.

Body never existed before/after death, it is never stable, its forever changing..heading toward death. So we can clearly see that it is not stable, never stable in one place. Or we can say it never exists in one specific form, as it changes before we can even clearly realize that form..it starts as a baby and at a rapid, uncontrolled way heads toward death, changing every second.

On the other hand, soul is never destroyed. It is/was and will be always here. It only changes the body.

Happy in adversity and prosperity.

Shreemadbhawat says: The person who is equally calm in happiness & sorrow,who is not moved by these feelings becomes immortal.

Human life is not to enjoy petty happiness and sorrow, but to rise above these and surrender oneself to the endless joy and happiness derived from surrendering to God.

The person who becomes nonchalant to happiness and sorrow by surrendering to God reaches immortality.

His heart is stable in God, hence he does not feels ecstassy, arrogancy or addiction when every thing is happening in his favour.

He doesnot feels pain, anguish or frustration when everything is going against him.

He knows the only thing stable in this world is his soul and its connection to God, every thing else will come and go, and will be left behind.

right to perform

You have right to only do the work, you have no right on the results, don’t be the reason behind results, don’t abstain from work.

Shreemadbhagwat says you have right to only perform, you should not look at the outputs, dont try to perform with motive of self satisfaction behind it, nor should you try to abstain from work, thinking it will save you from being obsessed with positive output of your works.

You should work, without the motive of personal gain, you should work for human kind and be nonchalant to the output. completely oblivious about their positive or negative results.