Gurta Gaddi

The Sikh Guru, Gobind Singhji, came to Nanded in Maharashtra to get the Marathas to ally with him in fighting the tyranny of Aurangzeb the Mughal emperor. Unfortunately, the Guru was attacked and died of severe injuries in his back. He was just 42.
However, before he passed away, he ordained that there-after there would be no mortal Guru for the Sikhs. Instead, they would follow the teaching of the Guru Granth Sahib. This consecration of the Guru Granth Sahib as the perennial Guru is called 'Gurta Gaddi'. Nanded, therefore, is an emotion-laden place for the Sikhs and for all those who revere the Gurus.
It was 300 years ago in Oct' 1708 that Guru Gobind Singhji ordained this. The Sikhs are jubilant that this is the first centennial celebration of Gurta Gaddi to occur in free India, for, in the first 100 years since the Holy Book's consecration, the Sikhs fought the Mughals. Then came the British.
Of the 20 million Sikhs all over the world, at least 2.5 million, are expected to pay homage at Nanded this week.

Green Peace and Buddha

On the occasion of Buddha Jayanti, let's have a look at Buddha's role in preserving nature. I believe the Buddha was among the first environmentalists, who very consciously tried to protect not only all living beings but non-living things as well. Today, when we see ourselves in a sorry state of environmental degradation, it makes sense to recall the Buddha's stress on co-existense, compassion and tolerance.
Buddha says, "Know ye the grasses and the trees/know ye the worms and the moths/know ye the four-footed animals-small and big/know ye the serpents, the fish...." His concern for the world around him was primarily because of the fact that he was born in the forest, in the grave of Sal. Legand has it that he was able to walk as soon as he was born. Lotuses sprand all around when he took his first seven steps.
Sakyamuni's true home was the forest. As he grew up, he got into complete harmony with nature. His inspiration was nature, and later his enlightenment too was acheived under a pipal which is today known as Bodhi Tree. The jatakas narrate lovely birth stories about Buddha coupled with poetic appreciation of the nature and the need to preserve it with care and planning.Buddhism believes that all animals are within the field of human perception, with an opportunity to gain nirvana. The Buddha says human beings are only a part of nature, not its masters. He had warned that disregard for nature could mean our own peril.
Today, with all the dangers ahead - Antarctica's ice melting away, the Himalayan ice-caps fast receding, countries submerging into oceans and natural calamities like earthquakes, cyclones and tsunamis happening quite often - we must mend our ways. We have misused our intelligence to destroy this lovely planet. I dread to think that one day, in less than a century, our beautiful India Gate area will be a wasteland, because of neither water nor trees even there.
Let Buddha prevail.

It is Not too difficult to lead an Extraordinary Life

You can lead either of two kinds of lives: An ordinary life or an extraordinary life. when you lead an ordinary life, you move along with the current of your desires, preoccupied in fulfilling your own goal, aims and agendas. Ordinary beings are only conscious of their own life. Extraodinary beings are conscious of their life and are also constantly aware of Divinity. They are confident that God's Grace will resolve all their problems. They know that whatever life brings is ultimately for the best.
Those who lead an extraordinary life enjoy every minute of it. To them, every moment is precious. Even ordinary circumstances elicit a different response from them. The bowl beside me is full of fragrant roses. If i pick up a single rose and look at it, it is really beautiful. There is no need for any comparison. Like all the other roses here, it is unique. If we have the habit of comparing ourselves with others, our confidence sometimes soars and sometimes crashes. A truly extraordinary life is never based on comparison. It is the result of constant blossoming within. Human life is a rare privilege. Why waste a single minute of this precious gift.
When we enjoy every moment and every circumstance that comes our way, one negative element that flavours each day of our present existence disappears. This element is tension, stress which become things of the past. These emotions which were slowly draining away the energy of the soul disappear. When we enjoy every moment of life, it is always full of wonder and never grow stale.
Each and every situation that comes our way is not custom-made to fit our present frame of mind. It every circumstance were to our liking, internal growth and transformation would never take place; our life would become stagnant and sub-human. So it is our own perception that decides whether our life remain ordinary or becomes extraordinary. Life will always pose challenges; it is up to us to make it joyous. Flow like a river, revelling in every moment of life.

Controlling Stress

Stress is the wear and tear our body experiences and it diminishes our immune system. We, therefore, need to control it using effective holistic methods, says Acharya Vikrmaditya.
The benefits of yogasana,pranayama and dhyana include increased body awareness, release of muscular tension and better co-ordination between mind and body. It helps in better management of stress and ensure an overall feeling of well-being.
Symtoms of possible anxiety

• Feeling restless
• Being easily fatigued
• Difficulty in concentration or mind going blank
• Muscle tension
• Sleep disturbance

Yoga to destress
The following breathing excercise done and dhyana, while listening to the sounds of the soothing 'Om' chant for 20 minutes on a regular basis, helps in overcoming stress.

• Sit in any comfortable posture with head and spine straight and left hand in Gyan mudra (join tip of thumb and index finger)
• Close the left nostril with ring and little finger of right hand and inhale through right nostril. The breath should be slow, stready and fully.
• Then close the right nostril by pressing it gently with your thumb, and open your left nostril by relaxing your ring and little finger. Exhale fully, slowly and steadily.
• Now keeping the right nostril closed, inhale through the left; then close left and exhale through right.
• This completes one round (inhale through the right nostril, exhale through the left, and inhale through the left, exhale through the right).

Health Tips

• Excerise and physical activity reduces stress.
• Set realistic expectations. Do your best and remember that nobody is perfect.
• Learn to love yourself and respect others. Be with people who accept and respect you.
• Remember drugs and alcohol never solve problems.

God's Words & their Meaning

Always Keep the God's name on your tongue, Give more than your receive.
Love even those you receive. Love even those who hate you.
Keep enough who hate you. Keep enough wealth for your need but not for your greed.
Take care of every minute of your time. Make it a point to laugh everyday. Be always child-like but never be childish. Conquer anger,
Remember that God always gives you what you deserve but not what you desire.
Finally if you want to be happy, think of others and if you want to be miseable, think of yourself.
Money is the root cause of all misunderstandings and factions. Keep it in the background; give it the least importance. Have love, humility, detachment and service as your funds and don't forget to smile atleast a day to ease out from your daily stress. be happy and make others also to smile with you.

Hailing the glory of the great Sikh Saint - Shri Guru Nanak Dev

It was an evil period of dark cloud shrouding over the good and the righteous. With the enlightened apperance of Guru Nanak at that disastrous moment, was like a silver lining on the dark cloud. His preaching acted like gospel of brotherhood, love and peace, firing up the society to face the unpredictable, to overcame the evil and light up the human heart with love and devotion for God, which otherwise was waning. The great saint, Guru Nanak Dev was born in 1469 A.D. in Rai-Bhoi-ditalwandi, which is currently known as the Shekhupura district of Pakistan. He was the first of the 10 famous Sikh Gurus who gave the religion of Sikhism a compete new set of ideology. It was these 10 Gurus who shaped the cultural beliefs of the Sikhs and is till today hailed with utmost respect and love. Born in the month of Kartik or full moon NanakJi's birthday is celebrated not only in India but all over the world as Guru Nanak Jayanti by the Sikh community. This celebration is known as the Gurupurab. The Sikh worldwide consider it as one of the most auspicious occasion and hence during this day they glorify the saint by singing hymns in his praise and reading the Guru Granth Sahib non-stop for fort-eight hours at a stretch. The ceremony is always held in the Gurudawaras with a huge crowd who gathers for the occasion and sings hymns to glorify the great saint.
Guru Nanak's Teachings
Nanak preferred to eat with the poor than the rich. When asked why, he took two slices of bread, one belonging to a rich man and one to a poor man. When squeezed the poor man's bread, it oozed milk. And the rich man's bread oozed blood. In the manner, he taught that people should make an honest living. Once, while at Mecca - Medina, Nanak was taking a nap with his feet pointing to the 'Kaba'. An angry moulvi, shifted his feet. And in whichever direction Nanak's feet were sifted the 'Kaba' also shifted.In this way, the omnipresense of God was explained.
The 'Japji Sahib': 'Japji' means morning prayer: He has composed a set of poems that form the first chapter of the Sikh scripture and holy book - the Guru Granth Sahib. These poems talk about meditations and throughts from his teachings, and serve to inspire many - a - Sikh to live a good life, following the basic principles of prayer, right living and thinking and the Unity of God and our fellow beings.
Bid Adieu to the World
Guru Nank passed on in 1538 AD. at the age of 70. His own son did not succeed him. Instead he choose Lelna and renamed him Angad, which means 'my own limb' to be his successor and guide the Sikhs into new awakening.

MIND SET - IT’S ALL IN YOUR MIND

You are the sole architect of your life. Your mind is one of your most prized possessions, says Jane Abram.
How would you feel and act right now if you had everything you wanted? Well, let’s just pause for a moment and visualise this: right now, see yourself acting as if you did have everything you wanted. See yourself acting in that way; capture the feeling of completeness and satisfaction that you would have. Luxuriate in that thought... What a wonderful feeling that is, and it is possible!

But let’s first ask ourselves how do we manifest prosperity? It is a fact that prosperity begins in mind. First as an idea, and then it comes into form. Thoughts are things and your thoughts create your reality. This, then, is absolutely true and in exact correlation with having enormous wealth and prosperity in your life. You can only have things that are in harmony with your thoughts. The great spiritual truth in regard to our wealth and prosperity is that God is the source and substance of your supply and people are merely channels! Well, it’s true on this human plane that it is people who hire us for our jobs, give us our paychecks, our bonuses and the like, but it is God that is the one true source.
When you are aware of this wonderful spiritual truth and incorporate that into your consciousness, you will begin to stop holding onto people, jobs and things so tenaciously and fearfully because they actually represent only one of many, many channels available to us. Stop giving your power away to these people and things and affirm, “This or something better.” Ease up. When we meditate and pray for more wealth and abundance in our lives, we don’t necessarily know where it’s going to come from and we don’t need to know.

To get more prosperity in your life you should affirm that you are prosperous. For those of you who are not familiar with affirmations or why they are important to your success, just think of them as positive statements that we can use to change our mind, belief system, attitudes and actions and therefore get the results we want.
A fabulous affirmation for prosperity would be: “By day and by night, i am being prospered in all my ways!” Another great affirmation is, “I am now, in the process of attracting greater abundance, prosperity and success into my life in everything i am undertaking!”
Each one of us has the gift of free will or the freedom to think whatever thoughts we choose to concentrate on most throughout each day. Ask yourself right now what thoughts are you concentrating on right now? Are you thinking about prosperity and success in your life or are you thinking about lack and limitation? Your environment and your feelings will let you know exactly what you are thinking because they are an exact replica of your thoughts and beliefs. It’s true that no one can think of prosperity all day long and we are all in agreement there.
As Emerson said, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” Your primary thoughts, the ones you concentrate on most, will be what you will see in the people you attract to you as well as in your life circumstances. One of the most popular sayings is ‘change your thoughts and change your life,’ but, of course, Rome wasn’t built in a day! It will take time to replace your habitual thoughts that are negative to more positive ones, but you can do it!

Domenic Polifrone once said if we wanted a new car that we needed to go down to the showroom and test drive it. He said it didn’t matter if we didn’t have one penny in the bank. Just go down to that showroom, get behind the wheel of that car and test drive it! Get a few brochures to keep. See and feel yourself driving and owning this beautiful, new car. Get into the consciousness of “i am prosperity and i am in the process of buying and owning this beautiful, new car!” Try it. This experiment works! Your mind is one of your most prized possessions. It has been said that you are the architect of your life.
Ask yourself right now what kind of life are you building for yourself ? A magnificent life or a limited life? Everything that has been available to everyone is also available to you. There is a wonderful quote which underscores this fact. He said, “No one is superior to what you might become!” Start knowing that the potentiality of one is the potentiality of all. If anybody has wealth you can have wealth; if anybody has a beautiful home, you can have a beautiful home. Life is a state of consciousness. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Change your consciousness and change your world.