Tuesday 30 September 2014

Listen to Heart: 32. Listen to Heart – Opening up Leads to Openness...

Listen to Heart: 32. Listen to Heart – Opening up Leads to Openness...: Hari Bol.... 32. Listen to Heart – Opening up Leads to Openness…. Openness is an experience. It is mindset of a person. He is read...

32. Listen to Heart – Opening up Leads to Openness….

Hari Bol....

32. Listen to Heart – Opening up Leads to Openness….


Openness is an experience. It is mindset of a person. He is ready to accept. He is ready to change. He accepts feedbacks. Accepting feedbacks of positive is an easy game but openness to negative feedback is totally dependent on the persons’ attitude and nature. It is dependent on his mindset. He has to believe that I have to change and not change others. It helps us to be away from confused state of mind. We have seen in the article “Listen to Heart - Don’t be fused by being confused…..” We should make our mind clear and be ready to learn by unlearning process. I would once again refer to the previous article “Listen to Heart - Learning by Unlearning has No Bar ….”


Openness helps you to be more alert thus increases the alertness. A man with openness in nature is very frank and free as his thoughts are clear. He is a man to respects and believes in honesty. His principle of life would be based on sincerity and transparency. He is a man who believes and practices listening to heart. He is true to himself and others. He believes in humanity. Openness is always based on a relationship which is further based on honesty. They are open to suggestions so that improvement can be made.


Openness is dependent on intellectual curiosity, intellectual interests, perceived intelligence, imagination, creativity, artistic and aesthetic interests, emotional and fantasy richness, and unconventionality. Creative achievement comprises of creativity across the arts, sciences and life. The factor which controls is explicit cognitive ability, intellectual engagement, affective engagement, and aesthetic engagement. Affective engagement and aesthetic engagement were associated with creative achievement in the arts, whereas explicit cognitive ability and intellectual engagement were associated with creative achievement in the sciences. Intellectual and Openness aspects of the broader openness to experience personality and are related to different modes of information processing and predict different forms of creative achievement.


One can get a sense of openness by simplest way by looking. People who are not open to openness would be staying alone and would love to be aloof and lonely. They would be with negative energy and would be boring and dull and on the other hand people who are open to openness would be enthusiastic in nature and would love to mingle with people and would be with positive energy. So if you think everyone around you is boring, then you're relatively open; if you think they're all nuts, you're relatively closed. Here's how openness is a positive at work and how to cultivate it correctly. The artists are most creative has a tendency towards activity, a tendency to initiate numerous activities that lead to, or provoke, rich external stimulation. This richness of input creates a corresponding richness of output. It is a state of mind. It is the layer of mind soil where ideas are able to take root.


“Glasnost” was a policy that called for increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities in the Soviet Union. It was introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s. Glasnost is often paired with Perestroika (literally: Restructuring), another reform instituted by Gorbachev at the same time. The word "glasnost" has been used in Russian at least since the end of the 18th century. The word was frequently used by Gorbachev to specify the policies he believed might help reduce the corruption at the top of the Communist Party and the Soviet government and moderate the abuse of administrative power in the Central Committee. Russian human rights activist and dissident Lyudmila Alexeyeva explained "glasnost" as a word that "had been in the Russian language for centuries. It was in the dictionaries and law books as long as there had been dictionaries and law books. It was an ordinary, hardworking, nondescript word that was used to refer to a process, any process of justice of governance, being conducted in the open." Glasnost can also refer to the specific period in the history of the USSR during the 1980s when there was less censorship and greater freedom of information.




The talk started between two close friends, namely the Hrishikesa and the Gudakesa. As friends, both of them were on the same level, but Arjuna voluntarily became a student of the Krishna because of his open mind as he wanted his advice as none could have better than Krishna for him. Krishna was smiling because a friend had chosen to become a disciple. As Lord of all, He is always in the superior position as the master of everyone, and yet the Lord agrees to be a friend, a son, or a lover for a devotee who wants Him in such a role. But when He was accepted as the master, He at once assumed the role and talked with the disciple like the master - with gravity, as it is required. It appears that the talk between the master and the disciple was openly exchanged in the presence of both armies so that all were benefitted.


All Glories to Lord Krishna & All His Loving Devotees….. Hari Bol……
Courtesy: Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ) ,  Srimad Bhagavad-Gita ( by A. Parthasarathy  & www.gitadaily.com ) Chapter 2 : Text 10 , www.google.com, Wikipedia, Cohen, Stephen F.; Katrina Vanden Heuvel (1989 repr. 1990). Voices of Glasnost: Interviews with Gorbachev's Reformers. W. W. Norton & Company.  Check date values in: |date= (help)

Saturday 27 September 2014

Listen to Heart: 31. Listen to Heart – Self-Center is Hindrance in ...

Listen to Heart: 31. Listen to Heart – Self-Center is Hindrance in ...: Hari Bol.... 31. Listen to Heart – Self-Center is Hindrance in Self-Realization….. A person who is self-centered is limited to; or...

31. Listen to Heart – Self-Center is Hindrance in Self-Realization…..

Hari Bol....

31. Listen to Heart – Self-Center is Hindrance in Self-Realization…..


A person who is self-centered is limited to; or caring only about himself and his own needs. They are engrossed in themselves and one's own affairs. They are selfish by nature. They are egoistic people who are devoted to his own interests and advancement. Egocentric people hold the view that the ego is the center, object, and norm of all experience. They are confined in attitude and interest to their own needs or affairs. They only care about themselves. They view or perceive from their own mind as a center. They take their own self as the starting point in a philosophical system. They regard themselves as the center of all things. They have little or no regard for interests or feelings other than themselves.


Selfish has a worse connotation. Self-centered can be merely eccentric... but selfish seems to signify evil. One could be self-centered yet not morally bereft of compassion and generosity. Similarly, a self-centered person might want to further to his or her objectives, whether or not that meant behaving selfishly in any given situation. A selfish person has a strong bias toward not giving anything - time, money, effort, energy, or other support to anyone other than him or herself. And that seems much more unpleasant than the alternative. A self-centered person would be inclined toward selfish behavior, but not necessarily so. Being self-centered implies finding oneself more fascinating than anything else. But it doesn't necessarily cause such a person to behave in the stingy, venal way associated with selfishness. A self-centered person always keeps his opinion on top of others' opinions. Selfish (of a person, action, or motive) means lacking consideration for others, and/or is concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure. A self-centered means being preoccupied with oneself and one's affairs.


Another way of looking at it is as follows: A self-centered person sees only himself as the center of everything and does not consider what his actions would mean to others. For e.g. blind people are quite independent and do not really want help from others, unless they ask for it. A self-centered person would reach out to a blind person, catch his hand and help him across the road, not really bothering to find out if that person wanted help in the first place. Only his actions count, he wants the world to think the best of him. He is not bothered about the feelings of the blind man. A selfish person would not bother to help the blind man in the first place. If he must, it is conditional (whether he has time, is not too inconvenienced, etc.). A selfish person wants to receive more than they give. They will happily give if they think that their return will be larger than their investment. A self-centered person wants to be the focus of attention. All eyes must be on them no matter what they're doing, selfish or altruistic.
 

This world is loaded with more of self-centered people, and short on self-less people. In one of the article, “Listen to Heart – Selflessness is its own Reward….” we discussed about Mother Teresa. I respect you (Mother) as a self-less person. Self-centered people haven’t learned how to be a friend, because they’ve probably never had a real friend before. You need to be that first real friend for them, if applicable. This role requires patience, a positive attitude and your own real friend. A real friend that you can look up to, someone you want to be more like and will give you good advice when you hit a wall with your self-centered friend. A real friend can be the teacher, Master, Parents and the best is the Lord who abodes in our heart and He is the controller of everything and everyone always.

“The Tale of My Heart is directed by Lord ~ in your light, I learn how to love, in your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest, where no one sees you.”


One should try to help a self-centered person. The following could be the means as read in an article which I would like to share so that we are available for if someone needs.

 

·        Identify the issue: What is your friend most self-centered about? What bothers you most about this friend?
·        Consider underlying problems: Your friend most likely behaves in selfish way. If you find yourself to be a good interpreter of behavior, try and understand why your friend may be acting so selfishly. If you can talk to your friend about this, you may be able to help him/her deal with the issue at hand.
·        Check yourself: We all have a tendency to be selfish in at least one area of our lives from time to time. Know which area(s) you struggle with. For example, if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend and feel they should spend all their time with you, this is selfish. Avoid this area with your self-centered friend. If you both struggle with the same area, you can’t help them until you help yourself.
·        Create opportunities to spend time alone together: You can’t be of much help, or support, with a group of people around.
·        Listen more, speak less: Listen to what’s not being said. Ignore negative, noisy talk and recognize where their struggles are.
·        Encourage them: If money management is an area where they struggle, help them identify one area where they can improve upon their spending.
·        Check your progress: Pick up where you left off with your friend. How is the area of improvement going?
·        Recognize that if your friend is not trying to improve or change, you may need to end the friendship: Give it time, though; change is hard.
·        Talk to your friend: They may not even realize they're being self-centered. Tell them how they're making you feel, and they may stop.
·        If all else fails, either tell them you feel that you need a small break from each other: You may even start acting likewise so that they get a "taste of their own medicine", so to speak. This Last one can backfire!! Make sure you're annoying them, but don't let it get to your head. This can ruin the entire thing. It is really best for your relationship with your friend if you can be upfront with your own feelings.
·        Be super positive: They can and will kick you in the gut with hurtful words, so stay positive and hope it all ends with a snap of a finger.

 

·        If they just seem too mean and self-centered, maybe you should just ditch them: They might just be trying to drag you down! Fight back with positive-ness and never forget that other people matter too.

 


Sanjay said: Having spoken thus, Arjuna, chastiser of enemies, told Krishna, “Govinda, I shall not fight,” and fell silent. Hrsikesa is Krishna which means ‘Lord of the senses’. Gudakesa is Arjuna which means ‘the conqueror of sleep’ meaning ‘sleep of ignorance’. Dhritrashtra must have been very glad to understand that Arjuna was not going to fight and was instead leaving the battlefield for the begging profession. But Sanjay disappointed him again in relating that Arjuna was competent to kill his enemies (parantapah - which means destroyer of foes).

From now Arjuna starts getting into the phase of self-realization from self-centered. If a person is engaged in himself he starts moving towards self-centered state which is almost selfish in nature. He thinks about his interest. He starts loosing enthusiasm towards his work i.e. Karma. He gets emotional and gets entrapped in intellectual fatigue. In todays’ scenario of materialistic world we are all over shadowed. We develop nausea for karma. He generally prefers to give up our professionalism and think for pre-retirement and look for holidays and vacations. We join the club of the people who suffers from high Blood Pressure and Sugar and live on the medication and term ourselves as member of elite group of professional for false satisfaction. On the contrary, a person who works for noble cause and higher ideals remain ever enthusiastic and energetic. He reveals in what he does.

Although Arjuna was, for the time being, overwhelmed with false grief due to family affection, he surrendered unto Krishna, the supreme spiritual master, as a disciple. This indicated that he would soon be free from the false lamentation resulting from family affection and would be enlightened with perfect knowledge of self-realization, or Krishna consciousness, and would then surely fight. Thus Dhritrashtra’s joy would be frustrated, since Arjuna would be enlightened by Krishna and would fight to the end.

The philosophy of Gita helps Arjuna to lift himself from grief, depression and self-centered state to make him realize is karma i.e. his duty and responsibility. Krishna tells to work for selfless goal rather than ego and egocentric desires. Arjuna woke up and was ready to fight the battle as a Khashtriya. The wisdom of Gita can help anyone to overcome the challenges that meet one in life and create success both materially and spiritually.



All Glories to Lord Krishna & All His Loving Devotees….. Hari Bol……
Courtesy : Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ) ,  Srimad Bhagavad-Gita ( by A. Parthasarathy  & www.gitadaily.com ) Chapter 2 : Text 9 , www.google.com, Wikipedia

Saturday 20 September 2014

Listen to Heart: 30. Listen to Heart – End is not the End; End is t...

Listen to Heart: 30. Listen to Heart – End is not the End; End is t...: Hari Bol... 30. Listen to Heart – End is not the End; End is the Beginning of …. An Ashrama in Hinduism is one of four stages in ...

30. Listen to Heart – End is not the End; End is the Beginning of ….

Hari Bol...

30. Listen to Heart – End is not the End; End is the Beginning of ….


An Ashrama in Hinduism is one of four stages in an age-based social system. Under the Ashram system, the human life was divided into four periods. The goal of each period was the ideal fulfillment of each of the four consecutive stages of life. The Ashram system is believed by the Hindus to lead to a fulfillment of the four aims of life namely, Dharma (righteousness), Artha (wealth), Kama (pleasure), and Moksha (liberation).


Brahmacharya : It is a student life. The student life is considered till the age of 24 years. The male child would live with his family till the age of 5. He would then be sent to a Gurukul (house of the guru) and typically would live with a Guru (teacher), acquiring knowledge of science, philosophy, scriptures and logic, practicing self-discipline and evangelicalism, learning to live a life of dharma (righteousness). The ritual of Upanayana takes place. Devanagari: ब्रह्मचर्य behavior that leads to Brahman, is one of the four stages of life in an age-based social system as laid out in the Manu Smrti and later Classical Sanskrit texts in Hinduism. It refers to an educational period which starts before the age of puberty. During this time the traditional Vedic sciences are studied, along with the religious texts contained within the Vedas and Upanishads. This stage of life was characterized by the practice of strict celibacy. Among the Hindu monastic as well as Sramanic traditions, Brahmacharya is the term used for the practice of self-imposed celibacy that is generally considered an essential prerequisite for Spiritual practice. These characteristics correspond to Western notions of the religious life as practiced in monastic settings.





Grihastha : This phase of life is of household. Grihasthya refers to the second phase of an individual's life in the Hindu ashram system. It is often called 'the householder's life' revolving as it does around the duties of maintaining a household and leading a family-centered life. The age is generally from 24 – 49 years. This word is used to denote the person who is currently in that phase of his life which is called 'Garhastha' according to the ancient Hindu system of life called Chaturashrama, prescribed in Manusmriti for the Dvija castes.A person becomes a 'Grihastha' from the age of 25 and this Garhastha phase ends at the age of 49. Once a man becomes a Grihastha, he is expected to settle down, get married & produce children. The phase of "Grihastha" is preceded by the phase of Brahmacharya and followed by the phase of Vanaprastha. The four purusarthas (human goals) of grihastha ashram are summarised as follows.

·        Dharma (religious principles)
·        Artha (economic development)
·        Kama (sense gratification)
·        Moksha (liberation)


The four principles of life allow one to live according to religious principles, to earn money according to one's position in society, to allow the senses to enjoy the sense objects according to regulations, and to progress along the path of liberation from this material attachment. The ideal householder life is spent in enjoying family life, carrying out one's duties to family and society, and gainful labor. The man in this ashram has to shoulder responsibilities of the other three ashrams.  The ritual is Samavartana at entry and other rituals of Hindu marriage later.

 

Vanaprastha : This is a retired life phase. The age is 48 – 72 years. After the completion of one's householder duties, one gradually withdraws from the world, freely shares wisdom with others, and prepares for the complete renunciation of the final stage. A Vanaprastha (Sanskrit: वानप्रस्थ) is a person who is living in the forest as a hermit after partially giving up material desires. Vanaprastha ashram is the third stage of life in the Vedic ashram system, when a person gradually withdraws from the world. This stage comes after the completion of household duties in the second ashram phase Grihastha (household life), but one can enter into it straight from the first stage Brahmacharya (student life) ashram. This word is generally used to denote a particular phase of life in the Vedic ashram system when a person is between the ages of 50 and 74. In this phase of life, the person is in a retreat from worldly life. He lives away from the city, in a forest as a hermit, with as little material possessions as possible. This stage denotes a transition phase from material to spiritual life. It is the third of four phases of a man in the system, as prescribed by the Manusmriti for the Dvija castes, in the Hindu religion. There is some controversy over which varnas (castes) were supposed to follow the Vedic ashram system. According to some texts, the system was only for the Brahmins. The term comes from the roots vana, meaning forest, and prastha, and meaning gone to; because one who is entering this stage of life is expected to learn to lose his worldly desires and retire to the forest. When a householder is considered to be older, perceiving his skin to have become wrinkled, his hair turned gray, and has grandchildren, the time is said to have come for him to enter the third stage of life, or vanaprastha. It is said that he should now disengage himself from all family ties, except that his wife may accompany him, if she chooses - although maintaining total celibacy, and retire to a lonely forest, taking with him only his sacred fires and the implements required for the daily and periodical worship. Clad in deerskin, a single piece of cloth, or in a bark garment, with his hair and nails uncut, the hermit is to subsist exclusively on food growing wild in the forest, such as roots, green herbs, wild rice, and grain. He must not accept gifts from any one, except of what may be absolutely necessary to maintain him; but with his own few possessions he should honor, to the best of his ability, those who visit his hermitage. His time must be spent in reading the metaphysical treatises of the Veda, in performing acts of bhakti (worship), and in undergoing various kinds of austerities, with a view to mortifying his passions and producing in his mind an entire indifference to worldly objects. Having by these means succeeded in overcoming all sensual affections and desires, and in acquiring perfect equanimity towards everything around him, the hermit has fitted himself for the final and most exalted order, that of devotee or religious mendicant of the fourth stage the (sannyasin) ashram.

Sannyasa : It is renounced life. It starts from the age of 72 years for rest of the life. One completely withdraws from the world and starts spiritual pursuits, the seeking of moksha (freedom from the cycle of rebirth), and practicing meditation to that end. Sannyasa (Devanagari: संन्यास, saṁnyāsa) is the life stage of the renouncer within the Hindu system of philosophy of four age-based life stages known as ashrams. It is the topmost and final stage of the ashram system and is traditionally taken by men or women over fifty or by young Brahmacharis who wish to renounce worldly and materialistic pursuits and dedicate their lives to spiritual pursuits. People in this stage of life develop vairāgya, or a state of dispassion and detachment from material life, renouncing worldly thoughts and desires in order to spend the remainder of their lives in spiritual contemplation. A member of the sannyasa order is known as a sannyasin (male or female) or "sannyasini" (female). During the sannyasa phase of life, a person abandons fire, or Agnihotra, allowed to the Grihastha ashram or householder phase of life. People who have entered the sannyasa ashram may choose not to cook, perform fire rituals or take heat from fire. In practice, however, Sannyasis do various services and partake in sacred rituals to set an example for others. Sannyasa focuses only on the self and spirituality and not even the gods (as abandoning fire suggests). Symbolically, a sannyasi casts his physical body into fire by wearing saffron robes when entering this phase, signifying purification of body through fire thus freeing the soul while the body is still alive. Hence, sannyasis are not cremated after death as most Hindus are, but may instead be buried. Saṃnyāsa in Sanskrit means "renunciation" or "abandonment". It is a tripartite compound of saṃ- with a "collective" meaning, ni- which means "down" and āsa from the root as, meaning "to throw" or "to put". A literal translation would be "laying everything down". In Dravidian languages, "sannyasi" is pronounced as "sanyasi" and also "sannasi" in colloquial form. Sanyasis are also known as Bhiksu, Parivraja/Parivrajaka, Sadhu, Siddha, Sramana, Tasapa/Tapasvin, Tyagis, Vairagis, and Yatis.


The each stage of life ends but it actually does not end; in fact it starts a new stage of life. It allows us to leave the earlier phase and take on the next phase. It is continuous cycle. End gives us a negative feeling on the other hand; Start gives us a positive feeling. It is just how you look at from your inner self. To be positive we have to find our own ways. The simplest is “Change yourself rather changing others….”

Arjuna found himself in big trouble at the start of the Bhagavad-Gita. He was anguished by the prospect of fighting a war in which he would have to kill his beloved elders. This agony forced him to recognize that nothing of what the world had taught him to pursue would bring relief. Not the sovereignty of the earth. Not even the delights of heaven. Our happiness depends ‘Not on our valuables, but on our values’. Our materialistic values impel us to direct our love at the material level. However, such love can be disrupted, even devastated, at any moment by worldly upheavals. The Bhagavad-Gita indicates how when our need for love is thwarted, no worldly attainment can relieve us of the resulting agony.

Arjuna overcame grief. He was with new vision and energy. He understood and was ready to do his karma as a Khashtriya for his army. This ended the stage in which Arjuna was and was struggling hard to come out of it and now Arjuna was ready for the beginning of the next stage.



Therefore, if we want to curb lamentation for good, then we have to take Shelter of Krishna, as Arjuna is seeking to do. So Arjuna asked Krishna to solve his problem definitely, and that is the way of Krishna consciousness.

Bhagwad-Gita enables you to face your challenges in life and relieve your mental tension. Thereby, you successfully play your role in the world and fulfill your obligations in life.


All Glories to Lord Krishna & All His Loving Devotees….. Hari Bol……
Courtesy : Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ) ,  Srimad Bhagavad-Gita ( by A. Parthasarathy  & www.gitadaily.com ) Chapter 2 : Text 8 , www.google.com, Wikipedia

Wednesday 17 September 2014

Listen to Heart: 29. Listen to Heart – Take grief to grave before g...

Listen to Heart: 29. Listen to Heart – Take grief to grave before g...: Hari Bol.... 29. Listen to Heart – Take grief to grave before grief takes you to grave….. Grief is a feeling due to emotions. It i...

29. Listen to Heart – Take grief to grave before grief takes you to grave…..

Hari Bol....

29. Listen to Heart – Take grief to grave before grief takes you to grave…..


Grief is a feeling due to emotions. It is a response to any loss.  The loss could be of materialistic and non-materialistic. The emotion arises due to ‘Moh and Maya’. It is ‘maya’ which increases the bonding. Grief is response to emotional loss mainly but it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, spiritual, and philosophical dimensions. While the terms are often used interchangeably, bereavement refers to the state of loss, and grief is the reaction to loss. Generally the grief is associated with death for most people, but individuals grieve in connection with a variety of losses throughout their lives, such as unemployment, ill health or the end of a relationship. Loss can be categorized as either physical or abstract.

Grief is deep mental anguish that arises from bereavement. It leads to annoyance and frustration. It exaggerates the trouble and difficulty. It gives rise to deep intense sorrow and distress. It is due to mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss, deep sorrow. The synonym of Grief is anguish, heartache, woe, misery, sadness, melancholy, moroseness and antonym is Joy. Grief is negative which creates and generates the negatives thoughts and surrounds a person in a negative atmosphere. One has to look into different ways to drive the grief to save himself else the grief can take a person to the grave. So control the grief before it controls you and drive away grief to get relief. The life is about not knowing, ready to change, taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what is going to happen next. One should be ready to change always as Change is the only constant in Life. The Soul also changes the body by getting into another body and leaving the previous body.
·        Grief is to man as certain as the grave  - George Crabbe
·        Griefless as a rich man’s funeral  - Sidney Dobell
·        Woman’s grief is like a summer storm, short as it is violent  - Joanna Bailie


Crying is a normal and natural part of grieving. Crying and talking about the loss is not the only healthy response and, if forced or excessive, can be harmful Responses or actions in the affected person, called “coping ugly” by researcher George Bonanno, may seem counter-intuitive or even appear dysfunctional, e.g., celebratory responses, laughter, or self-serving bias in interpreting events. Lack of crying is also a natural, healthy reaction, potentially protective of the individual, and may also be seen as a sign of resilience. Science has found that some healthy people who are grieving do not spontaneously talk about the loss. Pressing people to cry or retell the experience of a loss can be harmful. Genuine laughter is healthy.
Berger identifies five ways of grieving;
1.     Nomads: Nomads have not yet resolved their grief and do not seem to understand the loss that has affected their lives.
2.     Memorialists: This identity is committed to preserving the memory of the loved one that they have lost.
3.     Normalizers: This identity is committed to re-creating a sense of family and community.
4.     Activists: This identity focuses on helping other people who are dealing with the same disease or with the same issues that caused their loved one’s death.
5.     Seekers: This identity will adopt religious, philosophical, or spiritual beliefs to create meaning in their lives.

As a normal part of life, carries a degree of risk when grief is severe. Severe reactions affect approximately 10% to 15% of people. Severe reactions mainly occur in people with depression present before the loss event. Severe grief reactions may carry over into family relations. It has been found an increased risk of marital breakup following the death of a child, for example. Many studies have looked at the bereaved in terms of increased risks for stress-related illnesses. Colin Murray Parkes in the 1960s and 1970s in England noted increased doctor visits, with symptoms such as abdominal pain, breathing difficulties, and so forth in the first six months following a death. Others have noted increased mortality rates (Ward, A.W. 1976) and Bunch et al. found a five times greater risk of suicide in teens following the death of a parent.

I was walking towards station with one of my friend. I was enjoying the walk with as usual gossip. On the way I could find few friends of my colleague (daily passers). They wished each other “Good Morning “and kept on moving. Few even crossed us by just tapping on the back by saying “hey rush …. “. We started jogging. Reached the station could just managed to get into the rush where someone extended his hand and pulled us. “Ooohfff….” I said “we just managed it “. This was the experience every day for us and I used to say “we just managed it “. It just went on & on. One day as I reached the platform I could see the train was moving with the speed at which it was not possible to get into as it was unsafe. I said “Oohhh…. Shit, we missed it “. We were taking long breadth & trying to be normal. We saw there was a display of the next train timing. By the time the train reached the platform we could almost come to the normal. We were happy. We bored the train easily, got in the middle of the compartment so we were safe. We said “we managed it “. The life was going on this way. We were in grief as this was happening every day. This travel was giving us pain which made our travel an irritating one. One day we planned to be ready 15 minutes before the usual timing and so we were walking, decided not to take any unsafe steps, reached the platform waited for 7-10 minutes. The train arrived & we boarded the compartment safely & the journey was enjoyable. We realized that we have a train after every 10 minutes approximately so we are not late rather we are early for the train. By this I realized how I made my life complex and lived in grief.

People are in grief about different religion and its practices. We should all have high respect for are traditions. All these leads to communalism difference even to its extreme. We should respect all religion, tradition; its preaching’s and practices. All teaches us the humanity. When we have the occasion to be present at the place of worship of other religionists at the time of their worship, we should stay there in a respectful manner and mood; contemplating thus; Here is being worshiped my adorable highest entity God, in a different form than that of mine. Due to different practice of different kind, I cannot thoroughly comprehend this system of theirs. But seeing it, I am feeling a greater attachment for my own system. God is one. I bow down before His emblem as I see here and offer my prayer to my Lord who has adopted this different emblem so that He may increase my love toward Him in the form that is acceptable for me.


To avoid Grief – “Change yourself rather changing others….” To get relief from any grief, the simplest way is to chant. Practice chanting…The holy name is so powerful that even by chanting with offense, gradually he becomes pure. Therefore we should not give up chanting. Under any circumstances, we should chant
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare …..

Whenever we meet someone do pay respect and greet; be him / her to be elder to you or younger to you, senior to you or junior to you…..as we all are soul, so pay respect to the all souls around you as souls are Krishna, so pay respect to our dear Krishna and remember Krishna always so greet them;

Hari Bol....
Hare Krishna….
Radhe Radhe….
Jai Sri Krishna…
Jai Sri Ram…..
Ram Ram…
Krishna Krishna….
& So on (as you wish)….


Arjuna said to Krishna in the battlefield that I can find no means to drive away this grief which is drying up my senses. I will not be able to dispel it even if I win a prosperous, unrivaled kingdom on earth with sovereignty like the demigods in heaven.



Arjuna was giving different arguments for not fighting the battle but he was unable to resolve his real problem. Arjuna realized he needs help from his spiritual master. Arjuna could understand that his so-called knowledge was useless in driving away his problems, which were drying up his whole existence; and it was impossible for him to solve such perplexities without the help of a spiritual master like Lord Krishna. Arjuna surrenders himself to Krishna. Arjuna cannot see how such a burning grief can be appeased. Arjuna starts believing that even unrivalled sovereignty over the earth and lordship over the God in heaven cannot quench the inferno raging within him.

If a person has been overpowered by emotions he goes into the state of depression and feels helpless as his energy is reduced. Arjuna had reached to the state of depression and helplessness. He was blessed with message of Gita by his master Krishna.

Academic knowledge, scholarship, high position, etc., are all useless in solving the problems of life; help can be given only by a spiritual master like Krishna. Therefore, the conclusion is that a spiritual master who is one hundred percent Krishna conscious is the bona fide spiritual master, for he can solve the problems of life. Lord Caitanya said that one who is master in the science of Krishna consciousness, regardless of his social position, is the real spiritual master.

It does not matter whether a person is a learned person, is born in a lower family or in a higher family or is in the renounced order of life. If he is master in the science of Krishna, he is the perfect and bona fide spiritual master. So without being a master in the science of Krishna consciousness, no one is a bona fide spiritual master. It is also said in Vedic literature:

sat-karma nipuno vipro
mantra-tantra vaisaradah
avaisnavo gurur na syad
vaishanav sava-paco guruh


A scholarly brahmana, expert in all subjects of Vedic knowledge, is unfit to become a spiritual master without being a Vaishnava, or expert in the science of Krishna consciousness. But a person born in a family of a lower caste can become a spiritual master if he is a Vaishnava, or Krishna conscious.

If economic development and material comforts could drive away one’s Lamentations for family, social, national or international inebrieties, then Arjuna would not have said that even an unrivaled kingdom on earth or Supremacy like that of the demigods in the heavenly planets would be unable to drive away his lamentations. He sought, therefore, refuge in Krishna consciousness, and that is the right path for peace and harmony. Economic development or supremacy over the world can be finished at any moment by the cataclysms of material nature. Even elevation into a higher planetary situation, as men are now seeking on the moon planet, can also be finished at one stroke. The Bhagavad-Gita confirms that when the results of pious activities are finished, one falls down again from the peak of happiness to the lowest status of life. There are many examples in the world; who have fallen down in that way. Such downfalls only constitute more causes for lamentation.


All Glories to Lord Krishna & All His Loving Devotees….. Hari Bol……
Courtesy : Bhagavad-Gita As It Is (by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ) ,  Srimad Bhagavad-Gita ( by A. Parthasarathy  & www.gitadaily.com ) Chapter 2 : Text 8, www.google.com, Wikipedia