Saturday, November 5, 2011

Connections

Came across a beautiful article today which describes inter-connectivity of all the experiences in life, almost validating the notion 'everything happens for a reason.'


Sometimes we have an experience that we don’t understand, but if we look deeply, or wait long enough, a reason for that experience will usually reveal itself. All the events in our lives lead to other events, and all that we have manifested in this present moment is the result of past events and experiences. We cannot easily tease apart the many threads that have been woven together to create our current reality. Experiences that don’t make sense, as well as any that we regret, are just as responsible for the good things in our lives as the experiences we do understand or label as “good.”

This is especially important to remember at times when we feel directionless or unsure of what to do. It is often at times like these that we take a job or move to a place without really knowing if it’s the right thing to do. We may ultimately end up leaving the job or the place, but often during that time we will have met someone who becomes an important friend, or we may have an experience that changes us in a profound way. When all the pieces of our life don’t quite make sense, we can remember that there may be some hidden gem of a reason that we are where we are having the experiences we are having.

It’s fun to look back on past experiences with an eye to uncovering those gems—the dreadful temporary job in a bland office building that introduced you to the love of your life; the roommate you couldn’t tolerate who gave you a book that changed your life; the time spent living in a city you didn’t like that led you into a deeper relationship with yourself. Remembering these past experiences can restore our faith in the present. Life is full of buried treasures. Chances are, you’re sitting on some right now.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Narrow minded fatheads

Wisdom from others; soul stirring lines full of beauty for the heart and mind.

There's always some madness in love, but there's also always a reason in the madness.

If I love you, what business is it of yours? - Goethe

I will indulge my sorrows, and give way to all the pangs and fury of despair - Joseph Addison.

Art is never finished, only abandoned - Leonardo da Vinci.

If you are truly humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are - Mother Teresa.

If you want to be happy in life, tie it to a goal, not people and things - Albert Einstein.

Waiting hurts. Forgetting hurts. But not knowing which decision to take is the worst of suffering - Paulo Coelho.

Relation is:
To help without hesitation,
To give without expectation,
To love without limitation &
To remember even without communication.

Beer: The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson.

Unsatisfied desire is in itself more desirable than any other satisfaction - C. S. Lewis.

It was the first time I was ever in love, and I learnt a lot. Before that I'd never even thought about killing myself - Steven Wright.

People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use - Soren Kirkegaard.

Friday, October 28, 2011

The Shiva trilogy

The true history and the religion of India is the encyclopedic book which managed to catch my fancy and brought me back into the realm of reading books. Held a book in my hands with a desire to read it after ages. Had some how lost interest in the concept of books after reading "Living with the Himalayan masters."

While reading up on my favorite topics had never ceased, had always been doing it, online, there was this emptiness and lack of joy which only comes when you actually hold a book in your hands and feel the pain in your back which makes you realize you've been in the same position for more than half a night and need to shift.

Then came this marvelous author, Amish Tripathi, with his concept of Indian mythology based fiction weaved in a compelling tale of real world historical characters and the philosophies behind creation of the most reverently followed customs & traditions. This being one of my super favorite topics, obviously had me hooked! So much, that the first two books of the trilogy were done in 3.5days flat! Felt damn nice.

Some interesting things which got through and reinforced beliefs are:

(The immortals of meluha)

- Defiant under pressure, magnanimous in victory. Page 234.

- The curse of constant strife is that we forget better life is possible. Page 210.

- Do not tempt fate! You still have to keep on winning. Page X?

- The most powerful force in a man's life is his immense desire to please the one he loves most. And the most powerful force in a woman's life is her need to be appreciated, loved and cherished for what she is. Page 152, 153.

- Whether a man is a legend or not, is decided by the history, not by the future. Page 141.

(Thoughts from here|there, discussions)

- People are to be loved and things, to be used. Not the other way round.

- The only realities of life are hunger, thirst & death. (Uma)

- You can't be entertained by what you can't become. (Uma)

- Compromise, more often than not leads to mediocrity.

- What's with fate, destiny and most importantly karma? Everybody should think about it.

- The content of your mind is not your choice - Sadguru.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Want & wanton's

Sometimes love is for a moment,
sometimes love is for a lifetime,
sometimes a moment is a lifetime.

Now, moving on to penning down a few do's and don't s learnt randomly over the years.

  1. Find your strengths.
  2. Always cherish, nurture and practice your strengths. Make choices based on it.
  3. Don't invest too much time in improving your weaknesses, in the end, you will become average at the most. If you must, do it as much as is required to move along.
    One of Google's management principle's: Feed the winner, Starve thee loser.
  4. Earn everything. Everything! The joy and satisfaction derived out of earning is something different altogether.
  5. Treat winning and losing equally. Both are natural. Allow neither of them to wander anywhere near your head.
  6. If you lose, which eventually happens to everyone, don't ever lose the lesson. Do a mental post-mortem if you need to, either on the situation which happened or on the role you played. But find that lesson.
  7. Be humble. Even if it's about our parents, near n dear ones, relatives & well-wishers, don't postpone, tell them what they mean to you and acknowledge their sacrifice's(even if its a blessing/goodluck wish).
    No one is perfect and we should not expect perfection from anyone but God. So do not put your anger and frustration out to throw on the faces of people who love you!
  8. Excellence, is not an act, its a habit. Imbibe it in yourself. It should come from mind, heart and soul!
    Your reach must always exceed your grasp. Observe the ones who are better, learn from them, become better!
  9. Never back down in the face of adversity, it shows up as a surprise without warning. Remember, the hardest steel had to endure the fiercest of fires to reach its destiny. If we persevere long enough, things will come into perspective.
  10. Be open to change without compromising on your core values. There's a saying in Marathi:
    ऐकावे जनाचे, पण करावे मनाचे| It means, listen to the world with an open mind and heart, but do what 'you' really feel like(after weighing in all the options and narrowing on the best one acceptable to your heart and soul).
  11. Keep the faith. Always. There will always be the ones, even from the closest of all people who with all good intention wish to tackle, so you shatter and lose the faith. Be strong. Keep the faith.