Wednesday, September 9, 2015

How to grow in life ?

How to grow in life ?


Everyone wants to grow in life. Everyone wants to achieve more.

Get more qualification, more money, more power, more fame, more beauty, more strength and fitness.....

But how to grow in life ?

We will come back to that question in a moment...

Let us go for a walk on the countryside.

There was this beautiful lake and few Lotus floating on them. The Lotus is just on the surface of the water. You were not so happy with the growth of the Lotus. You want it to grow much above the water surface.

So, you took one strong stick, stick it in the mud next to lotus, pull the Lotus above the water surface and tie it to the stick next to it.

You come back after couple of days and see how it is. The Lotus died and withered away.

After few days, there was a heavy rain. The water level raised substantially in the pond. The other Lotus flowers have also raised to the surface.

How come they raised so effortlessly over night but when you pulled it few inches, it died ?

That is how the life is.

When our mind and heart grows, our life will grow.

Any amount of effort to grow without the mind and heart growing, will be like the first Lotus.

Man has two layers....the outer and the inner.

The outer layer is all related to the external world such as money, power, prestige, fame, etc.

The inner layer is all related to the inner being of the man such as love, ethics, aesthetics , sense of fairness, justice, empathy, sympathy etc.

The heart deals with the inner core. Unless your inner core grows, you cannot grow in life.

The water level has to raise for the Lotus to raise.

Science helps us to grow outwardly. It helps us to tame the external world, make us earn wealth, power, communicate, travel, transport etc.

Religion and literature helps us to grow internally.

Let us see how...

...

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Thiruvaasagam - An Introduction

Thiruvaasagam - An Introduction

Thiruvaasagam is a set of poems written by Manikka Vaasagar in 9th Century. It contains 51 compositions.  It is said that one whose heart does not melt for Thiruvaasagam will never melt for anything else. The poems in Thiruvaasagam are so melodious, soft, loving and sweet. If one reads with interest, it is sure to bring tears to eyes.
This is my attempt to bring some part of Thiruvaasagam in simple English so that the younger generation will get some interest to read it and get benefitted by it.

Before we get into the actual hymns, today’s youngsters will ask “Why should I read this Thevaaram, Thiruvaasagam, Ramayanam, Mahabharadham etc. What are the benefits of reading them? We already have so much to read, school work, homework, competitive exam preparations, tuition etc. Where do we find time for all these things? Moreover, what am I going to gain by reading them or lose by not reading them?”

This is a very pertinent question. We cannot move forward, without answering this question to their satisfaction.


So, why one should read these books?