Tuesday 28 June 2011

God gives us only difficulties that we can tackle

Here's an interesting quote from Baba's discourses. It gives me strength to face the tough challenges of life.

Never feel depressed when you are weighed down by difficulties. God will never impose on you difficulties which you cannot bear. – Baba

Wednesday 22 June 2011

Never give up!

I came across the foll. lines in one of Baba's divine discourses. They are very encouraging and have strengthened my resolve. I thank Swami for His loving words of wisdom and for making them reach me today.

Having resolved, what ought to be resolved, hold on to it till you have succeeded. Having desired what ought to be desired, hold on to it till your desire is fulfilled. Having asked what ought to be asked, do not leave the hold till you get it. 
Having thought what ought to be thought, hold on to it till you have succeeded. 

With heart mellowed, the Lord must yield to your wishes or forgetting yourself, you should ask Him with all your heart. Persevere, be tenacious, and never give up, for it is the quality of a devotee never to retreat, abandoning his resolve.


Tuesday 21 June 2011

I'm never alone! (though my weary mind tells me I am)

It's amazing how God chooses to send His message for us, esp. when we're feeling even slightly low.

Here's a beautiful message I received on email today, from my Neale Donald subscriptions.

I believe God wants you to know...

...that you are part of a Larger Whole, and you are never, ever alone.

It is tempting, during difficult times, to feel very much alone, as if you are taking this journey in solo form, with no one at your side, and no one on your side.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

You are an aspect of The Divine. God lives in you, through you. 

"I am with you always, even unto the end of time" are not just pretty words. 
They are truth. 

I am ever grateful for God's grace upon me, which I believe is the sole reason for me feeling His presence so much. And by knowing that He's always with me, I derive great inner strength. :)






Wednesday 15 June 2011

Was that a Coincidence?! Nah! Divine Planning!

I was having an interesting discussion with a friend today on Google Chat. We spoke about how just sitting tight with just a prayer on the lips does not help. One needs to get down into action towards the goal one wishes to achieve. The efforts need to come from us. Only then God can grant us what we pray for.

As we kept chatting, I was reading through an earlier mail I had received a few months ago and came across these lines: "Efforts are always in our hands. Results are in His. But we must first make the effort, isn't it? Like the man who kept praying for a lottery win till God shouted saying "At least buy the ticket first, before I make you win!" I smiled when I read those lines 'coz the truth in them was so beautifully put.

Before I could copy paste them onto the chat window for my friend, she keyed in similar lines, saying she got them from an email from her friend. "Guy prays to Shiva to win the lottery. Does this for years. Finally Parvati tells her husband "Why don't you help him?" Shiva says,"I want to, but the guy hasn't bought a ticket yet."

Both of us had a hearty laugh and we were amazed at the strange coincidence! The same idea from two different people sent to two friends, who happened to chat today. :) Wow! What planning! No wonder God is the perfect master planner! Hats off to Him!

Although these lines have a tinge of humour, there is a strong inherent truth in them, which is "Start doing what you need to!! Only then can you expect God to help you." I thank God for this lovely message in my life today, as it did give me some clarity on something I was clueless about, until a few days back.


Happiness lies in being grateful for the l'il things in life!

I had a fairly good day today. I had wanted to book bus tickets for traveling to Puttaparthi next month for which I thought I would have to go to the APSRTC counter in the Koyambedu bus terminus. The APSRTC web site earlier allowed online booking only using credit cards and since I didn't have one, I had to go to the counter each time and book the tickets.

But today, when I logged on to the site to check availability of tickets, I found they had revamped the site and my earlier login id and password in fact did not work. So, I created a new id and when I checked availability of bus tickets for my date of travel, I was surprised to note that one could book tickets by using a debit card too. I guess this is a new update in this version of the Web site.

I was so glad and I immediately filled up the required details and then booked the tickets online. I immediately thanked Swami for enabling me to book tickets through the online mode easily, so that I could avoid traveling all the way to Koyambedu. :)

God does answer our little prayers. Sometimes, it's things like this that make my day. And I felt really happy today!







Monday 6 June 2011

Ninnai charan adaindhen (I surrender to you, o beloved!)

I just listened to an amazing rendition of 'Ninnai charan adaindhen' by Bombay Jayashree in the ragam Pantuvarali.

What beautiful lyrics by Bharatiyar!

ninnai charaN adaindhEn kaNNamma, ninnai charaN adaindhEn
ponnai uyarvaip pugazhai virumbidum
ennaik kavalaigaL thinnath thagaathendru (ninnai...)

midimaiyum achchamum meviyen nenjil
kudimai pugundhana, kondravai pOkkendru (ninnai...)

than seyal eNNith thavippathu theerndhingu
nin seyal seithu niRaivu peRum vaNNam (ninnai...)

thunbam ini illai sOrvillai sOrvillai thorpillai
nalladhu theeyadhu naamaRiyOm, naamaRiyOm naamaRiyOm
anbu neRiyil aRangal vaLarthida
nalladhu naattuga theemaiyai Ottuga


The first line means "I surrender to you, O beloved" ('kanna' in 'Tamil' is a term used to endearingly address someone)

I was touched by the lines "than seyal eNNith thavippathu theerndhingu, nin seyal seithu niRaivu peRum vaNNam" which means "Forgetting the pain of doing a task for myself, I seek fulfillment in doing your task". They were an answer to a lingering confusion in my mind. :) 

P.S. - I am still trying to figure out how to insert the audio clip in the blog post. Will insert the song as soon I resolve this issue.