I would like to discuss with you about philosophy & spirituality. Most of this articles are copycat with due permissions. When I go through some articles, it correlates with my spiritual/ideological wavelength. This happens when we discuss with some people also. I also would like to present here some personalities, texts, articles, organisations to you which really touched my mind.
Even those with Bhakti must have certain qualities to gain the grace of God. This is explained in detail in Chapter 12, Shloks (verses) 13-20 of the Gita. The ideal devotee (Bhakta) should…
not hate any living being
cultivate friendship and compassion
give up the feeling of "I and Mine"
be unmoved by happiness or misery
be forgiving
strive for self-control
always be content with what he/she has
have a strong determination
surrender his/her mind and intellect to God.
not be afraid of anyone; and none in the world should fear him/her
desire nothing
be pure and efficient
be free from elation, anger, fear and turbulence of mind
be indifferent to what befalls him/her
be free from weakness of mind
free from the feeling that he/she is an independent agent
have no feeling of elation and enmity or desire
develop an attitude of mind which rejects good as well as bad things
have no attachments and should accept pain and pleasure, honor and disgrace, heat and cold equally as his/her portion
look upon friends and foes alike
not indulge in idle talk
not attached to any fixed abode
be steadfast in mind.
It is such a 'Bhakta' that is dear to Sri Krishna. And most important of all, those Bhaktas are most dear to God who love him with full faith in his supremacy.
Osho - I remembered about the original Shankaracharya, Adi Shankaracharya. He is a predecessor of nearly fourteen hundred years ago. He died a young man, he died when he was thirty-three. He created a new tradition of sannyasins, he created four temples in all the four directions, and he appointed four shankaracharyas, one for each direction.
I remembered about him that he traveled all over the country defeating great, well-known philosophers -- that was in a totally different atmosphere. One great philosopher was Mandan Mishra; he had a great following. Still in his memory a town exists. I have been there many times. It is on a beautiful bank of the Narmada, one of the most beautiful rivers.
That is the place where the river descends from the mountains, so it has tremendous beauty. The city is called Mandala, in memory of Mandan Mishra. Shankara must have been at the age of thirty when he reached Mandala. Just on the outskirts of the town, by a well, a few women were drawing water. He asked them, "I want to know where the great philosopher Mandan Mishra lives."
Those women started giggling and they said, "Don't be worried, you just go inside. You will find it."Shankara said, "How will I find it?"
They said, "You will find it, because even the parrots around his house -- he has a big garden and there are so many parrots in the garden -- they repeat poetries from the UPANISHADS, from the VEDAS. If you hear parrots repeating, singing beautiful poetries from the Upanishads, you can be certain that this is the house of Mandan Mishra."
He could not believe it, but when he went and he saw, he had to believe. He asked Mandan Mishra -- he was old, nearabout seventy -- "I have come a very long way from South India to have a discussion with you, with a condition: If I am defeated, I will become your disciple, and if you are defeated, you will have to become my disciple. Naturally, when I become your disciple all my disciples will become your disciples and the same will be true if you become my disciple -- all your disciples will become my disciples."
Old Mandan Mishra looked at the young man and he said, "You are too young and I feel a little hesitant whether to accept this challenge or not. But if you are insistent, then there is no way; I have to accept it. But it does not look right that a seventy year old man who has fought thousands of debates should be fighting with a young man of thirty.
But to balance, I would suggest one thing" -- and this was the atmosphere that has a tremendous value -- "to substitute, I will give you the chance to choose the judge who will decide. So you find a judge. You are too young, and I feel that if you are defeated at least you should have the satisfaction that the judge was your choice."
Now where to find a judge? The young man had heard much about Mandan Mishra's wife. Her name was Bharti. She was also old, sixty-five. He said, "I will choose your wife to be the judge."
This is the atmosphere, so human, so loving. First Mandan Mishra gave him the chance to choose, and then Shankara chose Maridan Mishra's own wife! And Bharti said, "But this is not right, I'm his wife, and if you are defeated you may think it is because I may have been prejudiced, favorable towards my husband."
Shankara said, "There is no question of any suspicion. I have heard much about your sincerity. If I'm defeated, I'm defeated. And I know perfectly well if your husband is defeated, you will be the last person to hide the fact." Six months it took for the discussion. On each single point that man has thought about they quarreled, argued, quoted, interpreted, and after six months the wife said, "Shankara is declared victorious. Mandan Mishra is defeated."
Thousands of people were listening for these six months. It was a great experience to listen to these two so refined logicians, and this was a tremendous experience, that the wife declared Shankara to be the winner. There was great silence a for few moments, and then Bharti said, "But remember that you are only half a winner, because according to the scriptures the wife and husband makes one whole. I'm half of Mandan Mishra. You have defeated one half; now you will have to discuss with me."
Shankara was at a loss. For six months he had tried so hard; many times he had been thinking of giving up -- the old man was really very sharp even in his old age. Nobody has been able to stand against Shankara for six months, and now the wife says his victory is only half. Bharti said, "But I will also give you the chance to choose your judge."
He said, "Where am I going to find a better judge than Mandan Mishra? You are such simple and fair and sincere people. But Bharti was very clever, more clever than Shankara had imagined, because she started asking questions about the science of sex.
Shankara said, "Forgive me, I am a celibate and I don't know anything about sex."
Bharti said, "Then you will have to accept your defeat, or if you want some time to study and experience, I'm willing to give you some time."
He was caught in such a strange situation; he asked for six months and six months were given. "You can go and learn as much as you can because this will be the subject to begin with, then later on, other subjects. It is not easy," Bharti said, "to beat Mandan Mishra. But that half was easier! I am a much harder woman. If I can declare the defeat of my husband, you can understand that I am a hard woman. It is not going to be easy. If you feel afraid don't come back; otherwise we will wait for six months."
This atmosphere continued for thousands of years. There was no question of being angry, there was no question of being abusive, there was no question of trying to prove that you are right by your physical strength or by your arms or by your armies. These were thought to be barbarous methods; these were not for the cultured people.
Swami Vivekananda UNIVERSAL TEACHINGS OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
SEE GOD IN ALL
This is the gist of all worship - to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Siva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Siva, and if he sees Siva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing Siva in him, without thinking of his cast, creed, or race, or anything, with him Siva is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples.
GOD IS WITHIN YOU
It is impossible to find God outside of ourselves. Our own souls contribute all of the divinity that is outside of us. We are the greatest temple. The objectification is only a faint imitation of what we see within ourselves.
PERSEVERE IN YOUR SEARCH FOR GOD
To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. "I will drink the ocean," says the persevering soul, "at my will mountains will crumble up." Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal.
TRUST COMPLETELY IN GOD
Stand up for God; let the world go. Blessed is the man who trusts in the God and whose trust is in the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a steam and will not fear when heat comes. But its leaves will be greenand it will not be anxious in a years of drought nor cease to yield fruit.
LOVE OF GOD IS ESSENTIAL
Giving up all other thoughts, with the whole mind day and night worship God. Thus being worshipped day and night, He reveals himself and makes His worshippers feel His presence.
I shall describe the people whom I love. They have goodwill towards all living beings, and are incapable of ill will. They are friendly and compassionate. They regard nothing as their own possession, and want no position of power for themselves. They are indifferent to both pleasure and pain. They are patient, contented, and self-controlled. They are firm in faith, and their hearts and minds are utterly devoted to me.
Their serenity is constant, and cannot be disturbed by others; on the contrary, their presence makes others feel serene. They are not elated by good fortune, nor depressed by misfortune. They do not compete with others and they have no fear of failure.
They are not attracted to particular people and places; nor are they repelled by particular people and places. They are both selfless and efficient in all their actions. They have no desire for pleasure and no fear of pain. They never grieve over the death of others or the loss of material goods; they accept with equanimity every event as it occurs.
They love friends and enemies equally. They are not encouraged by praise nor discouraged by blame. Whether they are honored or despised, they remain perfectly calm. Within their hearts there is silence.
These are the people whom I especially love. {From Bhagavad Gita 10, 13-16.}
[Bhagavad Gita is the dialog between Krishna and Arjuna before the Great Battle described in the epic Mhabharata. When the opposing armies stand ready to begin battle, the warrior prince Arjuna had a second thought about fighting and killing his kinsmen and lays down his arms.
Krishna, in the form of Arjuna's charioteer and friend, counsels him that, as a warrior, it is Arjuna's duty to fight. The discussion soon evolves into a general philosophical debate about the nature of the Self (atman), Brahman and the different paths to moksha. Krishna's 'Sermon of the Gita' is concerned with upholding the stability of society through the performance of one's duty (sva dharma).]
Prayer by Saint Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console,
not so much to be understood as to understand,
not so much to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying that we awake to eternal life.
Putting Prayer in Its Place - Teachings of Jesus Christ
(Matthew 6:5-13) Jesus’ instruction on prayer in Matthew begins this way:
“Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you”.
“When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him”.
“So pray this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors.
Jesus concludes His model prayer with these words: “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one”.
The Way of Love (1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit.
Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways. For now we see in a mirror indirectly,but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
She jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the operating room. She said: 'How is my little boy ? Is he going to be all right ? When can I see him ?'
The surgeon said, 'I'm sorry. We did all we could, but your boy didn't make it..'
Sally said, 'Why do little children get cancer ? Doesn't God care any more ? Where were you, God, when my son needed you ?'
The surgeon asked, 'Would you like some time alone with your son ? One of the nurses will be out in a few minutes, before he's transported to the university.'
Sally asked the nurse to stay with her while she said good bye to son. She ran her fingers lovingly through his thick red curly hair. 'Would you like a lock of his hair ?' the nurse asked. Sally nodded yes. The nurse cut a lock of the boy's hair, put it in a plastic bag and handed it to Sally.
The mother said, 'It was Jimmy's idea to donate his body to the University for Study. He said it might help somebody else. 'I said no at first, but Jimmy said, 'Mom, I won't be using it after I die. Maybe it will help some other little boy spend one more day with his Mom.' She went on, 'My Jimmy had a heart of gold. Always thinking of someone else. Always wanting to help others if he could.'
Sally walked out of Children's Mercy Hospital for the last time, after spending most of the last six months there. She put the bag with Jimmy's belongings on the seat beside her in the car.
The drive home was difficult. It was even harder to enter the empty house. She carried Jimmy's belongings, and the plastic bag with the lock of his hair to her son's room.
She started placing the model cars and other personal things back in his room exactly where he had always kept them. She laid down across his bed and, hugging his pillow, cried herself to sleep.
It was around midnight when Sally awoke. Laying beside her on the bed was a folded letter. The letter said:
'Dear Mom,
I know you're going to miss me; but don't think that I will ever forget you, or stop loving you, just 'cause I'm not around to say 'I Love You'. I will always love you, Mom, even more with each day. Someday we will see each other again. Until then, if you want to adopt a little boy so you won't be so lonely, that's okay with me. He can have my room and old stuff to play with. But, if you decide to get a girl instead, she probably wouldn't like the same things us boys do. You'll have to buy her dolls and stuff girls like, you know.
Don't be sad thinking about me. This really is a neat place. Grandma and Grandpa met me as soon as I got here and showed me around some, but it will take a long time to see everything. The angels are so cool. I love to watch them fly. And, you know what? Jesus doesn't look like any of his pictures. Yet, when I saw Him, I knew it was Him. Jesus himself took me to see GOD ! And guess what, Mom ? I got to sit on God's knee and talk to Him, like I was somebody important. That's when I told Him that I wanted to write you a letter, to tell you good bye and everything. But I already knew that wasn't allowed. Well, you know what Mom ? God handed me some paper and His own personal pen to write you this letter. I think Gabriel is the name of the angel who is going to drop this letter off to you. God said for me to give you the answer to one of the questions you asked Him 'Where was He when I needed him ?' 'God said He was in the same place with me, as when His son Jesus was on the cross. He was right there, as He always is with all His children.
Oh, by the way, Mom, no one else can see what I've written except you. To everyone else this is just a blank piece of paper. Isn't that cool ? I have to give God His pen back now He needs it to write some more names in the Book of Life. Tonight I get to sit at the table with Jesus for supper. I'm sure the food will be great.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I don't hurt anymore The cancer is all gone. I'm glad because I couldn't stand that pain anymore and God couldn't stand to see me hurt so much, either. That's when He sent The Angel of Mercy to come get me. The Angel said I was a Special Delivery ! How about that ?
Signed with Love from God, Jesus & Me. (a true...touching story received through e-mail)
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead." Hebrews 11:1-3 (By Faith) There are certain steps we must follow for faith to be properly incubated and a central truth about the realm faith operates in. There is also a basic principle about the spoken word that we need to understand. So I want to speak to you about the creative power of the spoken word and the reason why the useage of it is so important. One morning I was eating breakfast with one of Korea’s leading neurosurgeons, and he was telling me about a recent finding about various operations of the brain. He asked, “Dr. Cho, did you know that the speech center in the brain rules over all the nerves? You ministers really have power, because according to our recent findings in neurology, the speech center in the brain has total dominion over all the other nerves.” I laughed saying, “I’ve known that for a long time.” He asked me, “How did you know that? In the world of neurology, these are new findings.” I replied that I had learned it from Dr. James. “Who is this Dr. James,” he asked. “Why, he was one of the famous doctors in Biblical times nearly 2000 years ago,” I replied. “And in his book, chapter 3 the first few verses, Dr. James clearly defines the activity and the importance of the tongue and the speech center.” The neurosurgeon was completely amazed. “Does the Bible really teach about this?” “Yes, the tongue is the least member of the body, but it can bridle the whole body.” Then the neurosurgeon began to expond on their findings. He said that the speech nerve center has such power over all the body that simply speaking can give one control over his body to manipulate it in the way he wishes. He said, “if someone keeps on saying, ‘I’m going to become weak,’ then right away, all the nerves receive that message and they say, ‘oh, let’s prepare to become weak, for we have received instructions from our central communication that we should become weak.’ They then in natural sequence adjust their physical attitude to weakness. If someone says, ‘Well, I have no ability - I can’t do this job, then right away all the nerves begin to declare the same thing. ‘Yes, they respond, we received instructions from the central nervous system saying that we have no abilities. To give up striving to develop any capability we must prepare ourselves to become a part of an incapable person.’ “If someone keeps saying, ‘I’m very old, I’m so very old and so tired, I can’t do anything,’ then right away the speech central control response begins giving out orders to that effect. The nerves response - ‘yes, we are old. We are ready for the grave. Let’s be ready to disintigrate.’ If someone keeps on saying that he is old, then that person is soon going to die.” The neurosurgeon continued saying that man should never retire. Once a man retires, he keeps repeating to himself, “I am retired.” And all the nerves start responding and become less active and ready for a quick death. That conversation carried great meaning to me. It made an impact on my life. For I could see that one important useage of the spoken word is the creation of a successful personal life. People easily adapt to speaking in an negative way. “Boy am I poor. I don’t even have any money to the Lord.” When an opportunity does come for a job with a good salary, the nervous system responds. “I’m not able to be rich, because I haven’t received that reverse instruction from my nerve center yet. I’m supposed to be poor. So I can’t accept this job. I’m not supposed to have money.” Light attracts light. And since you act as if you were a poor person, you attract poverty. This attraction, if it remains permanent, will allow you to dwell permantly in poverty. Exactly as the Bible said 2000 years ago, it is so today. Medical science has just recently discovered this principle. This one neurosurgeon said that people should keep saying to themselves, “I am young, I am able, I can do the work of a young person, no matter what my chronological age is.” The nerves of that person will become alive and receive power and strength from the nerve center. The Bible says clearly that whosoever controls the tongue controls the whole body. What you speak, you are going to get. If you keep on saying you are poor, then all your system conditions yourself to attract poverty. You will feel at home in poverty. You would rather be poor and argue with people who aren’t. But if you will keep on saying that you are able - that you can achieve success, then all of your body would be bridled to success. You would be ready to meet any challenge; ready to conquer it. This is the reason you should never speak in a negative way. We have the habit of making frequent use of words that have to do with dying. Common expresions are, “it’s so warm I could die. Oh, I’ve eaten so much I could suffocate to death. Oh, I’m so happy I could die. Oh, I’m scared to death. Koreans repeatedly use these negative words. That is the reason that throughout Korea 5000 year history we have been constantly dying constantly at war. My generation has never seen peace in this country. I was born during World War II, and I grew up during the Korean War. And now we still live in a country on the brink of war. Before you can be changed, you must change your language. If you do not change your language, you cannot change yourself. If you want to see your children change, you must teach them how to use proper language. If you want to see rebellious and irresponsible children change into responsible adults, you must teach them this new language. Where can we learn this new language? From the best book of all. The Bible. From Genesis to Revelation. The Bible’s language, the Bible’s rules for the tongue. (Look up all the words having to do with the tongue such as “speak,” “speech,” “words,” “tongue,” etc, in the Bible. )* Feed your nervous system with these words. Constructive, progressive, productive, victorious words. Keep repeating them so that you can have control of your whole body. Then you will become victorious. For you will become completely conditioned to meet your environment and circumstances and achieve complete success.
® Dr. Paul David Yonggi Cho is a KoreanChristianminister. He is Senior Pastor and founder of the Yoido Full Gospel Church (Assemblies of God), the world's largest congregation with a membership of 830,000 (as of 2007)
an I see him ?' 
