As the year 2012 came to an end, and 2013 ushered in; I wish
you a year of peace, prosperity and joy. This time, the Golden Nuggets are
based on Ancient Wisdom of Hitopadesha. Written in the form of stories and
advice couplets, Hitopadesha captures the essence of Ancient Wisdom from Indian
scriptures including Gita and Panchtantra. I hope you will not only enjoy
reading them, but meditate on them and may the ancient wisdom from these golden
nuggets make 2013 a joyful year for you.
The
wise will strive for wealth and learning, As if to time and age immune;
But
not delay good works, realizing, that death may strike one anytime soon.
We often procrastinate on projects where our passion lies,
waiting for some event in the future to happen. I pray that 2013 inspires us
all to do things that we always wanted to do, especially sharing what we can
with those who are less privileged.
To
worthy people what you give, and that on which you daily live.
That
alone your wealth people merit: The rest you guard, others inherit.
Someone asked a saint, “Who is RICH?” I invite you to give a thought – “Who do YOU
think is rich?”
The saint responded, “The one who after taking care of his
needs and responsibilities; shares his / her resources with others – WITHOUT expecting anything in return”. I
pray that in 2013, we all will experience “The Joy of Selfless Giving”.
If
you have a contended mind, wealthy yourself you will find.
To
one with shoes on his feet, all roads are covered with soft leather sheet.
A king once had a whim that his kingdom roads should be
covered with carpet so his feet never fall on dusty roads. The wise minister
knew impracticality of the whim, so he asked the shoemaker to make shoes with
carpet lining. And now wherever the king went, he always had carpet under his
feet. I wish that 2013 will bring contentment to our life, so we can enjoy what
we have; instead of wanting to have something more to enjoy.
Even
after studying the sacred knowledge, or by going every day to college
You
will gain little just by doing this; unless you put your learning into practice
A
well-made medicine for the sick, cannot do any magic trick
The
suffering you cannot tame; just by uttering the medicine’s name.
I hope you will reflect on these golden nuggets and put to
practice what you find good out of them. I wish your family and you a very
happy new year!
2 comments:
I am very disturbed of hideous act that happened with the lady in Delhi .
While everyone is talking about laws and capital punishment , i wonder if our culture that is allowing westernization is actually responsible for all this .
Hello Maduri - Thanks for your comment.
What happened in Delhi is disturbing and my unfortunate feeling is that many equally brutal incidents in smaller cities and villages might have gone unnoticed/unreported. I think degrading value system is a primary cause of what is happening in our society. FROM India being the Golden Sparrow where people never locked their doors TO India where we don't feel safe in our locked homes; what has changed? I think it is total apathy towards need to develop character and value system. Gone are the days of Dada Dadi ki kahaniyan; now our kids are watching mature content cartoons or playing violent video games. Advertisements and movies are further worsening the corruption of mind. Listen to any of the recent "ITEM numbers" and observe how they are portraying a woman. The same song is watched by weak-character people in inebriated state - you can well imagine what kind of thought process they will have.
We can and should give harshest punishment to these criminal; yet to address this problem for good, parents need to spend more time with their kids; education need to be coupled with moral education; value system and education on value of values need to be mandatory part of the curriculum. You have triggered a nice thought and a good topic for next blog post.
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