Why the Hero was always Present during Rehearsals? Osho stories -4

I have heard about a small drama company. They were rehearsing. The real drama was getting postponed every day because the rehearsal was never complete. One day the heroine was not there, another day some other actor was not there, one day something else happened- the electricity failed or something – and it went on being postponed.

But the manager was happy for at least one thing: that the hero of the drama had always been present, he had never been absent.

The last rehearsal day he thanked the hero. He said, “You are the only person who can be relied upon. All these other people are unreliable. You are the only one who has never been absent. Summer or winter, cold or hot, you have always been here.”

The hero said, “There is something I would like to say. I am going to get married on the day the real drama is going to be placed, so I thought that I should al least attend the rehearsals. I will not be here on that day – that’s why I have never absented myself.”

source..." Come Follow To You" - by OSHO

LOVE & FEAR ... OSHO Stories. 3.

It happened: a young man, recently married, was going on his honeymoon. He was a Samurai, a Japanese warrior. They were going on a boat to an island when suddenly a storm came. The boat was small and the storm was tremendously terrible, and there was every possibility that they would be drowned.

The wife became very much afraid, started trembling. But she looked at the samurai, her husband. He was sitting silently as if nothing was happening. And they were in the throes of death! And any moment the boat would be gone under the sea.

The woman said,"What are you doing? Why are you sitting like a statue?"

The samurai pulled his sword out of its sheath - the wife could not believe it, what was he doing? - and he put his naked sword just near the throat of the wife. She started laughing and he said, "Why are you laughing? The sword is so near your throat - just a little move and your head will go."

The wife said, "But it is in your hands, so there is no problem. The sword is dangerous, but it is in your hands."

The samurai put his sword back and said, "The storm is in my God's hands. The storm is dangerous, but it is in the hands of somebody whom I love and who loves me. That's why I am unafraid."

When the sword is in your master's hand and he is going to kill you, if you trust him, only then will you die peacefully, lovingly, gracefully. And out of that grace ....... and out of that peace ....... and out of that love ....... you will create the possibility where the new arrives. If you die afraid, the new will not arrive. You will simply die.

source .....'Come Follow to You' .... OSHO.

Why did Marilyn Monroe commit suicide? OSHO stories -2

" One of the most famous actresses, Marilyn Monroe, committed suicide, and psychoanalysts have been brooding on the reason why. She was one of the most beautiful women ever, one of the most successful. Even the President of America, Kennedy, was in love with her, and she had thousands of lovers. One cannot think of what more you can have. She had everything. But she was public and she knew it. Even in her love chamber when President Kennedy would be there she used to address him as Mr. President- as if one was making love not to a man, but to an institution.

She was an institution. By and by she became aware that she had nothing private. Once somebody asked her- she had just posed for a nude calendar and somebody asked, "Did you have anything on while you posed for the nude calendar?"

She said," Yes, I had something on. The radio."

Exposed, nude, no private self. My feeling is that she committed suicide because that was the only thing left she could have done privately. Everything was public, that was the only thing left she could do on her own, alone- something absolutely intimate and secret.

Public figures are always tempted towards suicide because only through suicide can they have a glimpse of who they are.

All that is beautiful is inner, and the inner means privacy.

...... Source.. Come Follow To You... by OSHO..

A busy Psychiatrist & a busy Patient. -- OSHO stories 1

" A very high powered New York Psychiatrist was talking to one of his new patients and he told the patient,

"I am very busy, in fact too busy. It will be good if you can help me. The first interview is always one-sided: you will be telling me all that you want to tell me. If I can get it down and look at it, and study it later on at my own convenience, it will be a great help. So here is the tape recorder. I will leave the tape recorder- put the machine on and talk to the tape recorder. Whatsoever you have to say ....... Say all that you would like to say to me and later on I will listen to it." The Psychiatrist asked: "Are you willing?"

The man said,"Of course. It is perfectly alright."

The tape recorder was put on and the Psychiatrist left, but after just two minutes he saw the man leaving the office. He ran after him, stopped him and said, "So soon? You could not have talked much to the tape recorder."

The man said, "Listen, I am also a very busy man. In fact more busy than you. And you are not the first psychiatrist I have consulted. Go back to the consulting room and you will see sitting just by the side of your tape recorder my small dictaphone- talking to the tape recorder."

Osho continues his explanation.

Knowledge is just like this. Nobody is present: dictaphones talking to tape recorders. Your mind is just a tape recorder and scriptures are old dictaphones- an old medium, but still the same. Somebody has said something, it is recorded there. Then you read it and it becomes recorded in your own tape recorder. But there is no personal touch.

Knowing is personal, knowledge mechanical. Through a mechanical approach you can never come to discover the reality, the truth. It is going to be a dead affair. You will attain much information, but you will never attain to transformation.

You may come to know many things, but you will never know the thing which needs to be known: the being that you are and the being that surrounds you - and that which surrounds you is the same as that which is within you. A deep personal contact is needed."

........source - Come follow to You - by OSHO.

Teenagers Learn What they Live

Teenagers Learn What they Live

Dorothy Law Nolte & Rachel Harris

If teenagers live with pressure, they learn to be stressed.

If teenagers live with failure, they learn to give up.

If teenagers live with rejection, they learn to feel lost.

If teenagers live with too many rules, they learn to get around them.

If teenagers live with too few rules, they learn to ignore the needs of others.

If teenagers live with broken promises, they learn to be disappointed.

If teenagers live with respect, they learn to honour others.

If teenagers live with trust, they learn to tell the truth.

If teenagers live with openness, they learn to discover themselves.

If teenagers live with natural consequences, they learn to be accountable.

If teenagers live with responsibility, they learn to be self-reliant.

If teenagers live with healthy habits, they learn to be kind to their bodies.

If teenagers live with support, they learn to feel good about themselves.

If teenagers live with creativity, they learn to share who they are.

If teenagers live with caring attention, they learn how to love.

If teenagers live with positive expectations, they learn to help build a better world.

ABOUT TEENAGERS LEARN WHAT THEY LIVE

Parenting by example. Using the simple, powerful message that turned Children Learn What They Liveinto an international bestseller with over 1.5 million copies in print, Drs. Dorothy Law Nolte and Rachel Harris bring their unique perspective to families with adolescents.

Structured, like the first book, around an inspirational poem, Teenagers Learn What They Live addresses the turbulent teenage years, when a stew of hormones, pressures, and temptations makes for such extreme challenges for parents and children. Teenagersaddresses popularity and peer pressure ("If teenagers live with rejection, they learn to feel lost"); the responsibilities of maturity ("If teenagers live with too many rules, they learn how to get around them./ If teenagers live with too few rules, they learn to ignore the needs of others"); body image and the allure of cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol ("If teenagers live with healthy habits, they learn to be kind to their bodies"). Central to the book are ways for parents to communicate with their teenage children-including how to deal with being "tuned out" and when to start the conversation again-and how to strike the right balance between holding on and accepting a teen's growing independence. Hundreds of examples of parent-child interactions cover everything from the all-night graduation party to problems of sexual identity, providing great guidance as well as effective conversation starters.

ABOUT DOROTHY LAW NOLTE Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D. is a lifelong teacher and lecturer on family life education, and is the author of the poem "Children Learn What They Live," which has been translated into 20 languages and is used the world over by parents and educators. The mother of three, grandmother of three, and great grandmother of five, she lived and worked in southern California.

ABOUT RACHEL HARRIS Rachel Harris, L.C.S.W., Ph.D., is a psychotherapist who completed postgraduate training in family therapy and parenting education. She lives with her teenage daughter in Princeton, New Jersey. Rachel has known Dorothy Law Nolte for almost 30 years as teaching associates and co-workers Copy right - authors. My English Teacher at Kaitharam Govt. High School, Mr. K.M.Julian (late) used to give life counseling classes to us. He was much fond of this inspirational poem. Occasionally he would blurt out in his resounding voice that " any fool can become a father. So take care". In his loving memory I post this poem with courtesy to the great authors.

Children Learn What They Live

Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Copyright © 1972 by Dorothy Law Nolte

Dorothy Law Nolte, whose poem crafted on deadline for a Torrance (Los Angeles County) newspaper in 1954 became -- without her knowledge -- a child-rearing anthem that parents posted on refrigerators around the world, has died. She was 81.

Mrs. Nolte, a family life educator, died Sunday of cancer at her home in Rancho Santa Margarita (Orange County) said her daughter, Lisa Mulvania.

"Children Learn What They Live," originally written to fill Mrs. Nolte's weekly family advice column in the now-defunct Torrance Herald, has been reprinted in 30 languages and probably appeared more than a few times in "Dear Abby."

Until Mrs. Nolte decided to claim ownership of the poem by basing a 1998 book on it, she never earned a dime from the work often credited to anonymous. She also hadn't realized it was so revered.

"I simply wrote it and put it out there, where it has apparently moved through the world on its own momentum," Mrs. Nolte told the Los Angeles Times earlier this year.

When she discovered in 1972 that a company that made baby-nutrition products was distributing millions of copies of the poem to new parents, Mrs. Nolte decided to copyright the work. She let the company continue to use it for free.

The book, "Children Learn What They Live," devotes a chapter to each line of the poem and is filled with examples of positive teaching. The book has been reprinted in 19 countries and 18 languages.

She was born Dorothy Louise McDaniel on Jan. 12, 1924, in Los Angeles, the only child of Cyrus, an electrician, and his wife, Olga.

Married with two children, Mrs. Nolte trained as a family counselor in the early 1950s and constantly reinvented her career. She held parenting classes, founded a preschool, became a childbirth-education instructor, studied the stress-relieving technique known as Rolfing and called herself "a movement awareness specialist.

Many a writers on life counseling have quoted this poem at several occasions. Children all over the world like it, even though they will fail to be good parents later.

Who is a Friend? - words from Chinmayanandaji to us including Kunjalikkutty sahib.

"Cultivate friends! To have a friend is to make life easier and richer. A friend is a present that you give yourself. But you cannot pick up a friend. We have to discover a friend.

Friends are made by many acts: and friends are lost often by single thoughtless act. You must grow up to deserve a friend.... to have friends you must have friendliness in you: selfless and loving, with deep concern for others.

Perhaps dogs are lovable and become friends because they wag their tails..... rarely their tongues. Learn to speak softly, always words of love and affection, then friends multiply. In short, the ability to love and express it in action are the requirements in gathering more and more friends. In fact, "love in action" is the heart of all religions.

Who is a friend? He who comes to you with love and cheer, when all others have left you is a true friend! Such a true friend is discovered not by searching outside for the right person to be friend, but by your growing to be the right person, to deserve a friend!"

......Swami Chinmayananda......

What a great words. This I post to remind me and also to those others who may go through this blog. Our ex-Industry Minister P.K.Kunjalikkutty Sahib is in trouble which he says due to his one time friend Rauf. But when we go deep into the labyrinth of media blitzcreeg, one wonders that the same Kunjalikkutty sahib had the chance to have a long and consistent acquaintance with the great soul, Late Mr.Panakkad shihab Ali Thangal who led a life of service to all. But the long and continuous association with a great man, had not deter our beloved Kunjalikkutty sahib from seeking "friendship" with Mr. Rauf,the dirty Harry, whom he says was blackmailing him for the last 14 or 15 years.

This is not to blame Kunjalikkutty Sahib or any body else. But only to remind us that we are like him.All of us get a chance or many chances to have a company of a great soul who is walking along the same path with us, but with a different determination, aim, purpose, resolution and target. But the erring soul in us fails to deserve him.

With love to all, I quote the words of Swamiji once again, "....a true friend is discovered not by searching outside for the right person to be friend, but by your growing to be the right person, to deserve a friend!"

Why do we Love? or How to Love- Swami Chinmayananda.

"Recently, I met an old couple who had lived 53 years of married life! They had their tiffs, quarrels, mutual screamings at each other. Yet, they lived joyously and saw their children get educated, becoming independent and now they are living happily with their own growing families.

The old couple have grandchildren, great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. As I was talking to them, we went back in time and I asked what made him marry her. After a moment's pause, the toothless lips parted in a mischievous smile, and his bony hand moved quitely to hold the wrinkled and knotted fingers of the lady and said,"I married her and we remained in marriage so long because we have so many faults in common". The old lady admiringly smiled in to his face.

I asked her if she has an explanation for their married life; she shyly looked in his eyes and slowly reminded me, "Swamiji, we like someone 'because', but we love someone 'in spite of'.

I was silenced. I came away wiser carrying with me the picture of the old grandsire shaking his head in admiration for the lady!"

......Swami Chinmayananda..

Chinamayanandaji's formidable way of presenting a point is once again forcefully throws open many a locked doors inside us.

"Nobody Loves Me"..... Who closed the door? -

Very often we hear some people complaining that "nobody loves me". The world is full of love. But generally our hearts are not open for the love to gush in to us. And the door of your heart ever remains closed. Nobody other than you can ever throw it open, for the door of your heart cannot be locked from outside and it can be open only from within. You alone are in your heart. You unconsciously got locked in and you cry to others to open up and release you. Nobody can.Stop crying. Find the handle and turn - Lo! It has opened, and you get immediately a blast of the life giving and reviving breeze of fragrant cool love from all around. Open up and receive all love.

............... Swami Chinmayananda.

Yes, Swamiji said it in resounding words. No body loves me is a common complaint that we hear not so infrequently raise. But what we forget that actually we are the only one responsible for what happened to us.

Sermon to the Birds- Francis of Assisi (about 1220)

My little sisters, the birds, much bounden are ye unto God, your Creator, and always in every place ought ye to praise Him, for that He hath given you liberty to fly about everywhere, and hath also given you double and triple raiment; moreover He preserved your seed in the ark of Noah, that your race might not perish out of the world; still more are ye beholden to Him for the element of the air which He hath appointed for you; beyond all this, ye sow not, neither do you reap; and God feedeth you, and giveth you the streams and fountains for your drink; the mountains and valleys for your refuge and the high trees whereon to make your nests; and because ye know not how to spin or sow, God clotheth you and your children; wherefore your Creator loveth you much, seeing that He hath bestowed on you so many benefits; and therefore, my little sisters, beware of the sin of ingratitude, and study always to give praises unto God.

This sermon has been attributed to the credit of Francis of Assisi and is considered a good and formidable example of sermon of gratitude. Attitude of gratitude leads to heaven and brings heaven unto you while the wages of ingratitude leads to your doom and that is in another term called hell.

കാണുന്നവർക്കല്ലെ വിഷമം, എനിക്കല്ല്ലല്ലൊ- ഓഷൊ കഥ

ഒരാൾ ഭയങ്കരമായ വിധത്തിൽ വിരൂപനായിരുന്നു. അയാളെകണ്ടാൽ ആർക്കും പേടിയും വെറുപ്പും തോന്നും. ഒരിക്കൽ അയോളോട് ആരൊ ചോദിച്ചൂ‍. “ ഇത്തരം മുഖവുമായി എങ്ങനെ ജീവിച്ചൂപോകാൻ കഴിയുന്നു? വിഷമം തോന്നുന്നില്ലെ?” “ഞാനെന്തിനു വിഷമിക്കണം!‘’ അയാൾ മറുപടി പറഞ്ഞു. “ഞാനൊരിക്കലും എന്റെ മുഖം കാണുന്നില്ല, നോക്കുന്നുമില്ല. മറ്റുള്ളവർക്കല്ലേ കാണലും നോക്കലും വിഷമിക്കലും”.

സീ‍നറി കണ്ടു മരിക്കാം - ഓഷൊ പറഞ്ഞ കഥ.

സസ്സെക് സിലെ ഒരു കടൽത്തീര വിനോദകേന്ദ്രം. വിനോദസഞ്ചാരത്തിനെത്തിയ നാണം കുണുങ്ങിയായ ഒരു ചെറുപ്പക്കാരൻ അവിടെയുള്ള കിഴുക്കാംതൂക്കായി നില്കുന്ന പാറമേൽ കയറുകയായിരുന്നു. അതിന്റെ അറ്റത്തോളം പോകാൻ അവൻ ഭയം മൂലം മടിച്ച് നിന്നു. അവനെ ഉത്സാഹിപ്പിച്ചുകൊണ്ടു നിൽകുന്ന വഴികാട്ടിയോട് (ഗൈഡ്) അയാൾ ചോദിച്ചു. “കാൽ തെറ്റി താഴെ വീണാൽ ഞാൻ എന്തു ചെയ്യും?’‘. “പേടിക്കേണ്ട. തഴെക്കു വീഴുമ്പോൾ വലത്തോട്ട് നോക്കിയാൽ മതി.” “എന്നാലോ?” “നല്ലൊരു മനോഹരമായൊരു സീനറി കണ്ടുകൊണ്ട് നിങ്ങൾക്ക് വീണു മരിക്കാം.” ഉന്മേഷവാനായ ആ വഴികാട്ടി, ചെറുപ്പക്കാരനോടു പറഞ്ഞൂ.

മുളയുടെ മരണം; ഉറവകളുടേയും. - ചെറിയപ്പിള്ളിയുടെ ചരിത്രം-3

മുളങ്കൂട്ടങ്ങള്‍ നിറഞ്ഞ നാടായിരുന്നു കുറെ കാലം മുന്പു വരെ നമ്മുടെ ചെറിയപ്പിള്ളി.

ജനങ്ങളബ്ദു --ചെറിയപ്പിള്ളിയുടെ ചരിത്രം-2

ചെറിയ്പ്പിള്ളിയിലെ പാടുകാരനാണ് അബ്ദു. “ജനങ്ങളബ്ദു“ എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞാലെ അറിയു. സ്വയം പരിചയപ്പെടുത്തുന്നതും ഇതെ പേരില്‍. പൈങ്ങാ കച്ചവടം നടത്തിയിരുന്നു.കച്ചവടം എന്നു പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ ഒരു ചാക്കും തോളില്‍ തൂക്കിയുള്ള ഒരു യാത്ര. ഇത് തൊഴിലായി സ്വീകരിച്ച മട്ടില്ല. അതും ചെയ്യൂ‍ന്നു എന്നു മാത്രം. ചിരിച്ചു കൊണ്ടല്ലാതെ സംസാരിക്കില്ല. ഇയാളെ ആര്‍ക്കും പരിഹസിക്കാം. അതിലും പുള്ളിക്കാരന്‍ ഒരു രസം കണ്ടെത്തും. കോലന്‍ മുടി. പഴുതാര മീശ. മുറിക്കയ്യന്‍ ഷര്‍ട്ട്. ഒറ്റ മുണ്ട്. മുടിയും ആളൂം പപ്പ്രച്ഛ. അലഞ്ഞു നടപ്പ്. സദാ സര്‍വത്ത്ര സര്‍വതിനോടും തൂമന്ദഹാസം. ജനങ്ങളെ ഒരു പാട്ടൂ പാടിയേ. പറയേണ്ട താമസം, ദാ പാടിക്കഴിഞ്ഞു. കോപ്പിറൈറ്റ് ഇല്ലാത്ത പാട്ട്. ആര്‍ക്കും പാടാം.

അള്ളോ യീ പട്ടിനെ വേഗം തല്ലിക്കൊല്ലന്നേ വാ എന്നു പറഞ്ഞപ്പ വാപ്പാനെ കടിച്ച് ഉ എന്നു പറഞ്ഞപ്പ ഉമ്മാനേം കടിച്ച് പള്ളീന്നെറങ്ങിയ മൊയല്യാരേം കടിച്ച് .....

അള്ളോയീ പട്ടിനെ.....

ഓണപ്പാട്ടുകള്‍ പാടുന്നതിലും മഹാ വിരുതനായിരുന്നു അബ്ദു. നിമിഷം കൊണ്ട് ഉണ്ടാക്കി പാടി മറ്റുള്ളവരെ അമ്പരപ്പിക്കാനും അബ്ദുവിനാകും. രാമായണത്തിലെ ഹനുമാന്‍ -രാവണ സംവാദം അബ്ദുവിന്റെ പാട്ടില്‍..... എന്താടാ രാവണാ നീ സീതനെ കക്കാന്‍ കാരണം നിന്നോടാരു പറഞ്ഞിട്ടാ തരവഴി കാട്ടി നടക്കണത്... ഇതിനു രാവണന്റെ മറുപടി, എന്നോടാരും പറഞ്ഞില്ല, എന്റെ മനസ്സി തോന്നീട്ടാ ......... അനവധി പാട്ടുകള്‍ ഇതു പോലെ ഉണ്ട്. എല്ലാം അബ്ദുവിനൊപ്പം മറഞ്ഞു പോയി. ലോറിയും ടെമ്പോയും വരുന്നതിനു മുമ്പ് വഞ്ചിയിലായിരുന്നു ചരക്കുകള്‍ വന്നിരുന്നത്. വഞ്ചിക്കാരെ പറ്റി ഒരു പാട്ട്. വഞ്ചിക്കാരന്‍ മീ‍രാന്‍ കാക്ക രണ്ടാം കെട്ടിനു കൂട് കെട്ടി കൊണ്ടോട്ടി ചെന്നൊരു പെണ്ണിനെ കണ്ട്.... പെണ്ണു കണ്ടാല്‍ അഴകുണ്ട്, വീടു കണ്ടാല്‍ അഴകുണ്ട്, അമ്മായിഅമ്മടെ മോറു കണ്ടാല്‍..... അങ്ങൊട്ടെങ്ങും അടുക്കൂലേ.......... ഈ പാട്ടു തന്നെ ലേശം മാറ്റിയും പാടാറുണ്ട്. അബ്ദു വണ്ടി വലിക്കുന്നവരെ കണ്ടാല്‍ വഞ്ചിക്കാരന്‍ മീരാന്‍ കാക്ക എന്നത് മാറ്റി വണ്ടിക്കാരന്‍ പൈലിച്ചേട്ട്ന്‍ എന്നാക്കും. ഹ ഇതെന്താ മാറ്റിപ്പാടണത് എന്ന് ചോദിച്ചപ്പോള്‍ അബ്ദു പറഞ്ഞു. പാട്ടു പാടണത് പാടണവനു വേണ്ടിയല്ല. കേള്‍ക്കണവണനു വേണ്ടിയാണ് പാട്ട്........ പെര്‍ഫോമന്‍സിന്റെ പ്രാധാന്യം പുള്ളിക്കാരന് അറിയാമായിരുന്നു. അയ്യപ്പപ്ണിക്കരുടെ കവിതയില്‍ പറയും പോലെ “കഥ കേള്‍പ്പോരുടെ കാതിന്‍ നീളം, കവിയുടെ നാവിനുമുണ്ടെന്നാകില്‍ മുഷിവറിയില്ല,,,,” ജനത്തിനെ രസിപ്പിക്കുന്നത് ജന്മാവകാശമാണെന്ന മട്ടില്‍ ആര്‍ക്കു മുന്നിലും പാട്ടായി പ്രത്യക്ഷപ്പെട്ട അബ്ദുവിന്റെ ജീവിതം, നിലത്ത് തൂവിപ്പോയ പാലു പോലെയായിരുന്നു. സ്വയം തീര്‍ത്തതും വന്നു ഭവിച്ചതുമായ കൊടുംതീമഴക്കാലം, നാടന്‍ പാട്ടിന്റെ കീറക്കുട ചൂടി മുറിച്ചു കടക്കാനാകില്ലല്ലോ..... തീരാ ദുരിതങ്ങള്‍ നിരന്തരം വേട്ടയാടുമ്പോഴും, നടക്കുന്ന വഴി മുഴുവന്‍ നാടന്‍ ശീലുകളാല്‍ നിറച്ച, വിരസവും ശുഷ്കവുമായ നാട്ടുജീവിതത്തെ പാടിപ്പൊലിപ്പിച്ച ജനങ്ങളബ്ദുവിനെ ആരെങ്കിലും ഓര്‍ക്കുന്നുണ്ടൊ ആവൊ........

20 quotes that are simply motivating- compiled by john anyasor

As quotes regularly motivate and inspire us, I’ve compiled a list of 20 quotes (most of which I’ve never heard of before). I’ll let the quotes do the rest of the talking. Enjoy!

1. We are what we repeatedly do. Therefore excellence is not an act, but a habit. –Aristotle

2. “Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great.” – Mark Twain

3. “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” – Michelangelo

4. “As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death.” – Leonardo da Vinci

5. “Obstacles are things a person sees when he takes his eyes off his goal.” –E. Joseph Cossman

6. “Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”

7. “I would much rather have regrets about not doing what people said, than regretting not doing what my heart led me to and wondering what life had been like if I’d just been myself.” – Brittany Renée

8. “You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” –Rabindranath Tagore

9. “Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” – Oscar Wilde

10. “The one who smiles rather than angers is always stronger.” – David Schary

11. “If you only do what you know you can do- you never do very much.” –Tom Krause

12. “Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.” – John Jakes

13. “To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are.”

14. “We have no right to ask when a sorrow comes, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ unless we ask the same question for every joy that comes our way.”

15. “Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.” – Albert Schweitzer

16. “What is not started today is never finished tomorrow.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

17. “To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” –Donald Laird

18. “Everyone is trying to accomplish something big, not realizing that life is made up of little things” – Frank A. Clark

19. “I still feel like I gotta prove something. There are a lot of people hoping I fail. I like that. I need to be hated.” – Howard Stern

20. “Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.” – James Dean

courtesy: http://hilife2b.com/blog . Read the blogs in this site, and get inspired. Quotes reveal to us a hitherto unknown horizon and the brevity in expressing familiarise an unknown continent. With deep felt gratitude I post this.

The Book of Cosmos -a poem by YANNIS YFANTIS

A difficult but frequently asked question that a writer faces is - ''why do you write?"

At times, the writer gets provoked and dismisses the question. But that question is answered in a

beautiful way by the Greek Poet Yannis Yfantis.

THE BOOK OF COSMOS

Only one book has been written

and it has been written by things and not by words

Only one book has been written

and it has been written by Cosmos through Cosmos for Cosmos.

Cosmos is the book of Cosmos.

Cosmos has no beginning and no end

but when the poet reveals Cosmos

It looks like creating Cosmos from the beginning.

There is only one book to be read

and this is the book of Cosmos.

To write means to read the book of Cosmos.

All my writings are nothing but underlines in the book of Cosmos.

All my writings are nothing but designs, notes, on the margin of its pages.

To write means to point out to the people

to try to share with them

the beauty or the horror I read in the book of Cosmos.

For no one can bear to read the book of Cosmos alone.

Yannis Yfantis:-

Greek Poet and author of Temple of Cosmos (1996)

Courtesy This too was published in the Journal of Literature & Aesthetics, July – December2001, Vol.1 and No.1 under the chief editorship of Dr. S. Sreenivasan, the veteran English Professor in Kollam. I got the old copy of the Journal from Hari Books Karunagappally.

GANAESHA a poem by R.PARTHASARATHY

Simply for the childlike inquisitiveness which is wonderfully depicted in it, I post the poem.

During the festival season in Kerala, the newspapers are flooded with the cruelties and offences committed towards the temple elephants and the ordeals that they undergo in the scorching heat of summer sun in the name of festivals and enjoyments. Our poet Sugathakumari has fervently appealed several times to stop this outrageous atrocities committed against the poor animals but in vain. Now see, even the Lord of Animals (Pasupati- Lord Shiva) has also done the same thing.Yes... no one is bothered to find what happened to the elephant.

Now read " GANAESHA a poem by R.PARTHASARATHY"

.

The god Shiva did not take kindly to it.

Who was this whelp trying to stop him,

from entering his wife Uma’s bath?

Ganesha’s rashness cost him his head.

A distraught Uma vowed to get even.

Where was her husband, she cried,

when she made the boy

from the scurf of her own sweet body?

The Lord of Animals then planted

hastily an elephant’s head on his son,

who rode off snorting

into the sunset on, of all things, a mouse.

And no one ever bothered to find out

what happened to the elephant.

Whose head, you wonder, will roll next?

R. Parthasarathy:-

An Indian poet, editor and translator, and lives in New York.

Works:- 1. Rough Passages

2. The Tale of an Anklet: an Epic of South India (translation)

Courtesy: It was published in the Journal of Literature & Aesthetics, July – December2001, Vol.1 and No.1 under the chief editorship of Dr. S, Sreenivasan, the veteran English Professor in Kollam. I got the old copy of the Journal from Hari Books Karunagappally

Trees --

Joyce Kilmer. 1886–1918

Trees

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,	5
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.	10
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree. This poem has inspired many and several videos are produced and are available in You tube. In various web sites on poetry this poem is available. simply to promote the environmental awareness with spirituality I post this with courtesy

The famous Letter of Chief of Seattle

"The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land.

But how can you buy or sell the sky, the land?

The idea is strange to us.

If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?
Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.

Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. all are holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins.

We are part of the earth and it is part of us.

The perfumed flowers are our sisters.

The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers.

The rocky crests, the dew in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man all belong to the same family.

The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors.

If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred.

Each glossy reflection in the clear waters of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people.

The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.
The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst.

They carry our canoes and feed our children.

So you must give the rivers the kindness that you would give any brother.

If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life that it supports.

The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh.

The wind also gives our children the spirit of life.

So if we sell our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.
Will you teach your children what we have taught our children?

That the earth is our mother?

What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.
This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.

All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.

Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.

Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

One thing we know: our God is also your God.

The earth is precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.
Your destiny is a mystery to us.

What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered? The wild horses tamed?

What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills is blotted with talking wires?

Where will the thicket be? Gone! Where will the eagle be? Gone!

And what is to say goodbye to the swift pony and then hunt?

The end of living and the beginning of survival.

When the last red man has vanished with this wilderness and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will these shores and forests still be here?

Will there be any of the spirit of my people left?

We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother's heartbeat.

So, if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it.

Care for it, as we have cared for it.

Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you receive it.

Preserve the land for all children, and love it, as God loves us.
As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land.

This earth is precious to us.

It is also precious to you.
One thing we know - there is only one God.

No man, be he Red man or White man, can be apart.

We ARE all brothers after all."

***** ****** ****** ***** ***** ***** **** ***** ***** **** %%%%%%%%%%%****** ***** ******* ********

Chief Seattle's
LETTER TO ALL

Chief Seattle (more correctly known as Seathl) was a Susquamish chief who lived on the islands of the Puget Sound. As a young warrior, Chief Seattle was known for his courage, daring and leadership. He gained control of six of the local tribes and continued the friendly relations with the local whites that had been established by his father. His now famous speech was believed to have been given in December, 1854. There are several versions of his letter; the following was provided by Barefoot Bob. The gemerally accepted version of speech was published in the Irsih Times on 04-06-1976. But the genuiness of the letter is controversial. It is said that the speech was actually written by a Hollywood screen writer in the 1970’s for the movie “Home – Four Wagons West”. There are lot of controversies over this much publicized letter.It has almost achieved a mythical dimension. As always, myths die hard. Whoever wrote this, it serves as a good striking weapon in the hands of vibrant environment movement. That is why I post it here. It serves a good purpose, then it should be read and reread again and again.

DADDY - a poem by Sylvia Plath

DADDY

You do not do, you do not do

Any more, black shoe

In which I have lived like a foot

For thirty years, poor and white,

Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.

Daddy, I have had to kill you.

You died before I had time--

Marble-heavy, a bag full of God,

Ghastly statue with one gray toe

Big as a Frisco seal

And a head in the freakish Atlantic

Where it pours bean green over blue

In the waters off beautiful Nauset.

I used to pray to recover you.

Ach, du.

In the German tongue, in the Polish town

Scraped flat by the roller

Of wars, wars, wars.

But the name of the town is common.

My Polack friend

Says there are a dozen or two.

So I never could tell where you

Put your foot, your root,

I never could talk to you.

The tongue stuck in my jaw.

It stuck in a barb wire snare.

Ich, ich, ich, ich,

I could hardly speak.

I thought every German was you.

And the language obscene

An engine, an engine

Chuffing me off like a Jew.

A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen.

I began to talk like a Jew.

I think I may well be a Jew.

The snows of the Tyrol, the clear beer of Vienna

Are not very pure or true.

With my gipsy ancestress and my weird luck

And my Taroc pack and my Taroc pack

I may be a bit of a Jew.

I have always been scared of you,

With your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo.

And your neat mustache

And your Aryan eye, bright blue.

Panzer-man, panzer-man, O You--

Not God but a swastika

So black no sky could squeak through.

Every woman adores a Fascist,

The boot in the face, the brute

Brute heart of a brute like you.

You stand at the blackboard, daddy,

In the picture I have of you,

A cleft in your chin instead of your foot

But no less a devil for that, no not

Any less the black man who

Bit my pretty red heart in two.

I was ten when they buried you.

At twenty I tried to die

And get back, back, back to you.

I thought even the bones would do.

But they pulled me out of the sack,

And they stuck me together with glue.

And then I knew what to do.

I made a model of you,

A man in black with a Meinkampf look

And a love of the rack and the screw.

And I said I do, I do.

So daddy, I'm finally through.

The black telephone's off at the root,

The voices just can't worm through.

If I've killed one man, I've killed two--

The vampire who said he was you

And drank my blood for a year,

Seven years, if you want to know.

Daddy, you can lie back now.

There's a stake in your fat black heart

And the villagers never liked you.

They are dancing and stamping on you.

They always knew it was you.

Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::://:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::://::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

when you skip through the pages of news papers and stream through the channel news , one may find many a fathers are now languishing in jails for the crimes and offences they committed to their innocent little daughters. This poem may offend many, but it is a sad but true statement in harsh words. And it should be said so. Detailed studies are available in various web sites and also in wikipedia.

posted with the intention to make the fathers more sensible.....!