!654- Who is Happy? The Peacock and The Crow

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A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied in life. But one day he saw a swan. “This swan is so white,” he thought, “and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.”
He expressed his thoughts to the swan. “Actually,” the swan replied, “I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot, which has two colors. I now think the parrot is the happiest bird in creation.”

The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life until I saw a peacock. I have only two colors, but the peacock has multiple colors.”

The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock. “Dear peacock,” the crow said, “you are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately shoo me away. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet.”
The peacock replied, “I always thought that I was the most beautiful and happy bird on the planet. But because of my beauty, I am entrapped in this zoo. I have examined the zoo very carefully, and I have realized that the crow is the only bird not kept in a cage. So for past few days I have been thinking that if I were a crow, I could happily roam everywhere.”

That’s our problem too.
We want what we don’t have and
are trapped in the vicious circle of sadness.
We make unnecessary comparison with others and become sad. We don’t value what God has given us. This all leads to the vicious cycle of unhappiness. Learn to be happy in what you have instead of looking at what you don’t have. There will always be someone who will have more or less than you have. Person who is satisfied with what he/she has, is the happiest person in the world.
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1653- INTROVERTS

1652-A list of things you need to teach your Child(ren) at early age:

1: Warn your Girl Child Never to sit on anyone's laps no matter the situation including uncles.
2: Avoid Getting Dressed in front of your child once he/she is 2 years old. Learn to excuse them or yourself.
3. Never allow any adult refer to your child as 'my wife' or 'my husband'
4. Whenever your child goes out to play with friends make sure you look for a way to find out what kind of play they do, because young people now sexually abuse themselves.
5. Never force your child to visit any adult he or she is not comfortable with and also be observant if your child becomes too fond of a particular adult.
6. Once a very lively child suddenly becomes withdrawn you may need to patiently ask lots of questions from your child.
7. Carefully educate your grown ups about the right values of sex . If you don't, the society will teach them the wrong values.
8: It is always advisable you go through any new Material like cartoons you just bought for them before they start seeing it themselves.
9. Ensure you activate parental controls on your cable networks and advice your friends especially those your child(ren) visit(s) often.
10. Teach your 3 year olds how to wash their private parts properly and warn them never to allow anyone touch those areas and that
includes you (remember, charity begins from home and with you).
11: Blacklist some materials/associates you think could threaten the sanity of your child (this includes music, movies and even friends and families).
12. Let your child(ren) understand the value of standing out of the crowd.
13: Once your child complains about a particular person, don't keep quiet about it.
Take up the case and show them you can defend them.
Remember, we are either parents or parents-to-be.
(Courtesy: IAS Paper)
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1651- The peace Prayer Of Saint Francis of Assisi!

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The Prayer of Saint Francis, also known as 'Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace' is a Christian prayer.
Widely but erroneously attributed to the THIRTEENTH-CENTURY saint Francis of Assisi. It was very likely inspired by St. Francis's life, and some of his phrases might be reflected in it, but he didn't write it. The prayer had at some point been printed on the back of cards bearing images of St. Francis, hence the confusion.

The prayer in its present form cannot be traced back further than 1912, when it was printed in Paris in French, in a small spiritual magazine called La Clochette (The Little Bell), published by La Ligue de la Sainte-Messe (The Holy Mass League). The author's name was not given, although it may have been the founder of La Ligue, Fr. Esther Bouquerel. And it became wildly popular only after it was reprinted in L’Osservatore Romano in 1916 at the behest of Pope Benedict XV, who wanted a prayer for peace in the throes of World War I.
A professor at the University of Orleans in France, Dr. Christian Renoux, published a study of the prayer and its history in French in 2001.
The prayer has been known in the United States since 1927 when its first known translation in English appeared in January of that year in the Quaker magazine Friends' Intelligencer (Philadelphia),where it was attributed toSt. Francis of Assisi. Cardinal Francis Spellman and Senator Albert W. Hawkes distributed millions of copies of the prayer during and just after World War II.
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The "Canticle of the Sun", also known as the "Canticle of the Creatures" or "Laudes Creaturarum" ("Praise of the Creatures"), is the religious song composed by Saint Francis of Assisi. It was written in the Umbrian dialect of Italian but has since been translated into many languages.
The "Canticle of the Sun" in its praise of God thanks Him for such creations as "Brother Fire" and "Sister Water". It is an affirmation of Francis' personal theology as he often referred to animals as brothers and sisters to Mankind, rejected material accumulation and sensual comforts in favour of "Lady Poverty".
(Wikipedia and Yahoo! Answers)

1650- WAYS TO LOVE

1649- Books

1648- If an engineer becomes a doctor...

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An Engineer was not getting a job even after two years of graduation. so he decided to open a clinic & wrote outside:
"Any treatment in Rs.300/- & if we cant treat, we will pay you back Rs.1000/-. "

A CLEVER Doctor thought that he will fool the engineer and & get Rs.1000 from him.
He says to the Engineer:
I cant feel any taste on my tongue...
Engineer asks the Nurse to put few
drops of medicine from box no 22.
After that the doctor shouts: "What d _____ ...its URINE!!
The engineer says congratulations your sense of taste is back now.
The Doctor was angry as he lost Rs.300.

After 2 weeks the same doctor comes back again & this time he thinks to get back his previous 300 too.
Doctor : I've lost my memory.
Engineer: Nurse! pls put some drops of medicine from Box no 22 on his tongue.
DOCTOR : Wait Engineer but that medicine is for sense of taste.
Engineer: Congratulations your memory is back.

Moral: Don't try to be over-smart with a desperate unemployed Engineer...

1647- నవ్వుతో కూడిన ధైర్యం, కృషి , పట్టుదల

1646- Don't underestimate the power of a WIFE!

A woman went shopping, At cash counter she opened her purse to pay.
The cashier noticed a TV remote in her purse.
He cud'nt control his curiosity so asked "Do u always carry ur TV remote with u?"
She replied " No, not always, but my husband refused to accompany me for shopping today.."

The story continues....
The shopkeeper laughs and takes back all the items that lady had purchased.
Shocked at this act, she asks the shopkeeper what is he doing.
He said "your husband has blocked your credit card."
MORAL : Respect the hobbies of your husband.

Story continues....
Wife took out her husband's credit card from purse and uses it to clear all the bills. Unfortunately he didn't block his own card.
Moral:...... Dont underestimate the power of a WIFE.

1645- అసూయ ,అహంకారం ,అనుమానాలు

1644- PUBLIC SERVANT

1643- HAPPINESS! Pleasure versus Happiness!

HAPPINESS!

The fundamental nature of any living being is to attain happiness and to avoid unhappiness/ inconvenience.
"Human desires manifest as two powerful motivations in life-
(1)acquisition and
(2)enjoyment.
You want to acquire whatever you desire from the world.
And after acquiring you long to enjoy what you have acquired.
There is no taboo to acquisition. But if not adopted moderation in acquisition, propelled by these two motivations you crave to acquire and enjoy more and more in the world. You consume your entire life chasing images of happiness. None has found true happiness in mere acquisition or enjoyment. Yet the chase never ends. People are ultimately exhausted with their futile efforts and become frustrated and unhappy.
Hence there is no joy in the external world.

We can reduce the number of desires entertained by learning to understand that the real locus of happiness is within oneself, not in outside objects or circumstances. So happiness is a state of mind.
Anando Brahman!"
- Swamy Parthasarathy
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Pleasure versus Happiness:

"Pleasure is great-but it doesn’t last. Pleasure comes from your 5 senses. From a great meal, a nice glass of wine and a new car. Nothing wrong with these things-they make the experience of life better. But they are fleeting.
Happiness, well, that’s a different story than pleasure. pleasure comes from something on the outside. Happiness comes from within. It’s a state you create by choice. It’s a decision. It’s an act of will.
People can be happy when they are going through great pain and adversity. There’s no pleasure happening in their external lives and yet they are content on the inside. And, conversely, tons of people are surrounded by pleasure (fast cars, nice homes, great clothes) but there’s no joy within. You can’t control life on the outside. Hard stuff will happen. But you can control what goes on inside."
- Robin Sharma

1642- Perception/ paradigm/ how you see it

1641- 15 of Soren Kierkegaard’s Most Challenging Quotes on God

(On the anniversary of his death, a few thoughts from a philosophical giant-By Jesse Carey)November 11, 2014
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On November 11, in 1855, philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard died at the age of just 42 years old. Even though he lived a relatively short life, his writings on faith, the Church, ethics and the nature of God have gone on to have a profound influence on Western Culture and the legions of Christian thinkers who’ve encountered them ever since.
Here’s a look back at some of Kierkegaard's most powerful quotes.
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(1)On Observing Scripture
The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.
― Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard
(2)On Purpose and Potential
If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating as possibility!
― Either/Or: A Fragment of Life
(3)On a Loving God
It is really remarkable that while all the other attributes ascribed to God are adjectives, “Love” alone is a substantive, and it would scarcely occur to one to make the mistake of saying: “God is lovely.” Thus, language itself has given expression to the substantial element that is found in this attribute.
― The Journals of Kierkegaard
(4)On Dying for What You Believe
The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins.
― The Journals of Kierkegaard
(5)On Being Christlike
Present-day Christendom really lives as if the situation were as follows: Christ is the great hero and benefactor who has once and for all secured salvation for us; now we must merely be happy and delighted with the innocent goods of earthly life and leave the rest to Him. But Christ is essentially the exemplar, that is we are to resemble Him, not mere profit from Him.
― The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard
(6)On Salvation
God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: He makes saints out of sinners.
― The Journals of Kierkegaard
(7)On Pride
The proud person always wants to do the right thing, the great thing. But because he wants to do it in his own strength, he is fighting not with man, but with God.
― Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard
(8)On Faith
And this is one of the most crucial definitions for the whole of Christianity; that the opposite of sin is not virtue but faith.
― Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death
(9)On Challenges
The task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted.
― The Journals of Kierkegaard
(10)On Obedience to God
This much is certain: The greatest thing each person can is to give himself to God utterly and unconditionally—weakness, fears, and all. For God love obedience more than good intentions or second-best offerings, which are all too often made under the guide of weakness.
― Provocations: Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard
(11)On Legacy
What the age needs is not a genius—it has had geniuses enough, but a martyr, who in order to teach men to obey would himself be obedient unto death. What the age needs is awakening. And therefore someday, not only my writings but my whole life, all the intriguing mystery of the machine will be studied and studied. I never forget how God helps me and it is therefore my last wish that everything may be to His honour.
― The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard
(12)On Truth
The truth is a trap: you cannot get it without it getting you; you cannot get the truth by capturing it, only by its capturing you.
― The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard
(13)On Forgiveness
Never cease loving a person, and never give up hope for him, for even the prodigal son who had fallen most low, could still be saved; the bitterest enemy and also he who was your friend could again be your friend; love that has grown cold can kindle.
― Referenced in The Westminster Collection of Christian Quotations
(14)On the Virtue of Faith
Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further.
― Fear and Trembling
(15)On Christ’s Atonement
What precisely is profound in Christianity is that Christ is both our atoner and our judge, not that one is our atoner and another our judge, for then we would nevertheless come to be judged, but that the atoner and the judge are the same.
― The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard
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Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/…/15-soren-kierkegaards-mos…

1640- CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA(II):

About untouchability:
(1)Dalit [(Panchamas("fifth varna"), and Asprushya ("untouchables")]
Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as untouchable.Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous social groups from all over India; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions. The term Dalit has been interchangeably used with term Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes these terms include all historically discriminated communities of India out-caste and Untouchables.
(2)Dalit population
In 2011, the proportion of Dalit population was 24.4 percent of India's total population. In 2011, the state of Punjab had the highest proportion of its population as Dalit, at about 31.9 percent, and the state of Mizoram had the lowest at nearly zero. The government of India recognises and protects them asScheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes(ST).
(3)Dalit status in the society
In the context of traditional Hindu society, Dalit status has often been historically associated with occupations regarded as ritually impure, such as any involving leatherwork, butchering, or removal of rubbish, animal carcasses, and waste. Dalits worked as manual labourers cleaning streets, latrines, and sewers.Engaging in these activities was considered to be polluting to the individual, and this pollution was considered contagious. As a result, Dalits were commonly segregated, and banned from full participation in Hindu social life. For example, they could not enter a temple or a school, and were required to stay outside the village. Elaborate precautions were sometimes observed to prevent incidental contact between Dalits and other castes.Discrimination against Dalits still exists in rural areas in the private sphere, in everyday matters such as access to eating places, schools, temples and water sources.It has largely disappeared in urban areas and in the public sphere.
(4) The Prevention of Atrocities Act (POA)
It is a tacit acknowledgement by the Indian government that caste relations are defined by violence, both incidental and systemic. In 1989, the Government of India passed the Prevention of Atrocities Act (POA), which clarified specific crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (the Dalits) as "atrocities", and created strategies and punishments to counter these acts. The purpose of The Act was to curb and punish violence against Dalits.
Firstly, it clarified what the atrocities were: both particular incidents of harm and humiliation, such as the forced consumption of noxious substances, and systemic violence still faced by many Dalits, especially in rural areas. Such systemic violence includes forced labour, denial of access to water and other public amenities, and sexual abuse of Dalit women.
Secondly, the Act created Special Courts to try cases registered under the POA.
Thirdly, the Act called on states with high levels of caste violence (said to be "atrocity-prone") to appoint qualified officers to monitor and maintain law and order. The POA gave legal redress to Dalits, but only two states have created separate Special Courts in accordance with the law. In practice the Act has suffered from a near-complete failure in implementation. Policemen have displayed a consistent unwillingness to register offences under the act. This reluctance stems partially from ignorance and also from peer protection. According to a 1999 study, nearly a quarter of those government officials charged with enforcing the Act are unaware of its existence.
(5)Before India's independence
in 1932, theBritish Raj recommended separate electorates for Dalits in the Communal Award. However Mohandas Gandhi opposed it; negotiations resulted in the Poona Pactwith B. R. Ambedkar. Since its independencein 1947, India has implemented an affirmative policy of reservation, the scope of which was further expanded in 1974, to set aside and provide jobs and education opportunities to Dalits.
While discrimination based on caste has been prohibited and untouchability abolished under the Constitution of India, discrimination and prejudice against Dalits still remains.
(6)Modern India
Since 1950, India has enacted and implemented many laws and social initiatives to protect and improve the socio-economic conditions of its Dalit population. To prevent untouchable act and other criminal acts on Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) Indian government commencedPrevention of Atrocity (POA) act . By 1995, of all jobs in India, 17.2 percent of the jobs were held by Dalits, greater than their proportion in Indian population. Of the highest paying, senior most jobs in government agencies and government controlled enterprises, over 10 percent of all highest paying jobs were held by members of the Dalit community, a tenfold increase in 40 years. Babu Jagjivan Ram was the first Dalit to hold the post of Deputy Prime Minister of India from 24 March 1977 to 28 July 1979. In 1997, India democratically elected K. R. Narayanan, a Dalit, as the nation's President. In India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, Dalits have revolutionised politics and have elected a popular Dalit chief minister Mayawati. In the last 15 years, Indians born in historically discriminated minority castes have been elected to its highest judicial and political offices. The quality of life of Dalit population in India, in 2001, in terms of metrics such as access to health care, life expectancy, education attainability, access to drinking water, housing, etc. was statistically similar to overall population of modern India.

1639- CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA (I)

(1)Beginning of the rigid caste system
A new genetic study, carried out by Harvard Medical School and the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad, says that India's caste system, began about 2,000 years ago. The study adds that people from different genetic populations — from the North and the South — began to mix with each other about 4,200 years ago but that the mixing stopped about 2,000 years ago.
(2)Fluidity in the system
When the caste system had started, it was based on the duties one used to perform or on merits and no watertight compartments of castes. There was dignity of labour and no hereditary system of castes. In its later stages, the caste system is said to have become rigid, and caste began to be inherited rather than acquired by merit.
(3)The Beginning of the caste system
There are different theories about the establishment of the caste system. There are religious-mystical theories. There are biological theories. And there are socio-historical theories.
(3A)The religious theories
explain how the four Varnas were founded, but they do not explain how the Jatis in each Varna or the untouchables were founded. According the Rig Veda, the ancient Hindu book, the primal man - Purush - destroyed himself to create a human society. The different Varnas were created from different parts of his body. The Brahmans were created from his head; the Kshatrias from his hands; the Vaishias from his thighs and the Sudras from his feet. The Varna hierarchy is determined by the descending order of the different organs from which the Varnas were created.
(3B)The biological theory
claims that all existing things, animated and inanimated, inherent three qualities in different apportionment. Sattva qualities include wisdom, intelligence, honesty, goodness and other positive qualities. Rajas include qualities like passion, pride, valour and other passionate qualities. Tamas qualities include dullness, stupidity, lack of creativity and other negative qualities. People with different doses of these inherent qualities adopted different types of occupation.According to this theory the Brahmans inherent Sattva qualities. Kshatrias and Vaisias inherent Rajas qualities. And the Sudras inherent Tamas qualities.
(3C)The social historical theory
explains the creation of the Varnas, Jatis and of the untouchables. According to this theory, the caste system began with the arrival of the Aryans in India. The Aryans arrived in India around 1500 BC. The fair skinned Aryans arrived in India from south Europe and north Asia. Before the Aryans there were other communities in India of other origins. Among them Negrito, Mongoloid, Austroloid and Dravidian. The Negrito have physical features similar to people of Africa. The Mongoloid have Chinese features. The Austroloids have features similar the aboriginals of Australia. The Dravidians originate from the Mediterranean and they were the largest community in India. When the Aryans arrived in India their main contact was with the Dravidians and the Austroloids. The Aryans disregarded the local cultures. They began conquering and taking control over regions in north India and at the same time pushed the local people southwards or towards the jungles and mountains in north India.
The Aryans organized among themselves in three groups. The first group was of the warriors and they were called Rajayana, later they changed their name Rajayana to Kshatria. The second group was of the priests and they were called Brahmans. These two groups struggled politically for leadership among the Aryans. In this struggle the Brahmans got to be the leaders of the Aryan society. The third group was of the farmers and craftsmen and they were called Vaisia. The Aryans who conquered and took control over parts of north India subdued the locals and made them their servants. In this process the Vaisias who were the farmers and the craftsmen became the landlords and the businessmen of the society and the locals became the peasants and the craftsmen of the society. (This sort of thing we can see in small banks merging into big banks. When Bank of Tanjore was merged with our Indian bank, I saw their RMs reduced to writing scroll.)
The skin color was an important factor in the caste system. The meaning of the word "Varna" is not class or status but skin color.
Most of the communities that were in India before the arrival of the Aryans were integrated in the Sudra Varna or were made outcast depending on the professions of these communities. Communities who professed non-polluting jobs were integrated in Sudra Varna. And communities who professed polluting professions were made outcasts. The Brahmans are very strict about cleanliness. In the past people believed that diseases can also spread also through air and not only through physical touch. Perhaps because of this reason the untouchables were not only disallowed to touch the high caste communities but they also had to stand at a certain distance from the high castes.
(4)When decay sets in and atrocities are perpetrated on account of the system, then a reformer like Gautama Buddha appears. It happens in many a religions, even in Christianity, like Martin Luther.
(5)Satyakama Jabala's story
appears in Chapter IV of the Chandogya Upanishad whose story proves the fluidity of the caste system in earlier days. Wanting to go out in search of a teacher who would guide him in the path of Self-realisation, the goal of mystic life, he had enquired about his Gotra from his mother.
His mother, Jabala, who did not know about who his father was, told him to be truthful to his teacher about his own parentage. Indeed, Truth is the supreme virtue, the moral virtue that enables one to reach the Absolute (Chandogya Upanishad IV 4.1-5.)
Rishi Gautama Haridrumata convinced that only a Brahmin could be sincere, truthful, fearless and eager for knowledge agreed to instruct Satyakama – since HE SPOKE THE TRUTH HE WAS A BRAHMIN!

1638- 1000 MARBLES

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The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the backyard patio with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up to listen to a Saturday morning talk show I heard an older sounding gentleman, with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whoever he was talking with something about "a thousand marbles".
I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say...
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital."
He continued, “Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities."
And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles." "You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years."
"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.
Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part."
"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy."
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away."
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again.
You could have heard a pin drop on the radio when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about.
I had planned to work that morning. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a while since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."
(Source: Anonymous – email of mid 90’s.)