Autobiography in 5 Chapters

1) I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk

I fall in.

I am lost...I am hopeless.

It isn't my fault.

It takes forever to find a way out.

2) I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk

I pretend I dont see it.

I fall in again.

I cant believe I am in the same place .

But it isn't my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out.

3) I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk

I see it is there.

I still fall in....its a habit

My eyes are open

I know where I am

It is my fault.

I get out immediately.

4) I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk

I walk around it.

5) I walk down another street.

By Portia Nelson

Its a life truth this above - the street with the deep hole represents each of our problems and obstacles that we face while living our lives, and the journey out of the deep hole on the street represents our journey to overcome our problems and pass the obstacles in our way.

Who we actually are ?

I read the most amazing book called The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying written by Sogyal Rinpoche. He explains an essential truth I believe so I added it to my book of essential truths !!

I plan to post my favorite parts from this book now and then - heres the first one with my understandings an notes below

"So like an amnesia patient 'we' (our souls) have lost their ability to remember or experience who we actually are - and in desperation of 'forgetting' there is this instinctive grasping and self preservation. Grasping is a desperation to find an identity to replace the one we cant seem to find.

Therefore we replace it with our physical and mental identities bot are not our real identities and we know it and that is why we grasp and cannot let go and try by any means to preserve our 'selves' our of fear of the truth [and because we have no identity to put in place of our so called 'selves' because we do not know it or recognize it] which is unknown and unexperienced by us at present as we have forgotten.

Frantically and in real dread we cast around and improvise another identity, one we clutch onto with all the desperation of someone falling continuously into an abyss. This false and ignorantly assumed identity is ego. So ego then is the abscense of true knowledge of who we really are, together with its result : a doomed clutching on at all costs, to a cobbled together makeshift image of ourselves, an inevitable chameleon, charlatan self that keeps changing and has to, to keep alive the fiction of its existence...."

Sogyal Rinpoche

Heaven

We all long for Heaven where God is, but

we have it in our power to be in heaven with

him at this very moment. BUT being HAPPY

WITH HIM NOW means :

LOVING AS HE LOVES

HELPING AS HE HELPS

GIVING AS HE GIVES

SERVING AS HE SERVES

RECUEING AS HE RESCUES

Being with him twenty fours, touching him in his distressing disguise.

By Mother Teresa

This is one of the sayings from my sayings book that always moves me to understand how to act in life. We all do love (others, things, actions) but at our convenience as is emotionally and mentally comfortable for ourselves - thats not loving the way god loves each of us. We are loved by God despite all our shortcomings and flaws, we are accepted and loved just the way we are without stipulations or conditions and thats how we also truly love when we actually do.

The same goes for help, giving and serving another . Think about it. In such a small verse Mother Teresa has revealed a secret of the universe.

Sri Krishna Photos

Baby Sri Shiva

Lord Shiva as a  child - very rare photo usually he is never shown as a baby or child. 

The Nine Sri Durga's

The Nine Sri Durga's

Durga Mata Photos

Ma Sri Durga - Some photos  

12 Jyotir lingams of Lord Shiva & Goddess Parvati

12 Jyotir lingams of Lord Shiva & Mata Parvati

Sri Nageshwar( at Darukavana in Maharashtra), 

Sri Vishwanath(Kashi or Varanasi),

Sri Triambakeshwar (near Nasik in Maharshtra) ,

Sri Kedarnath (Uttarkhand in Himalayas),

Sri Ghumeshwar ( Viasalakam near Ellora in Maharashtra),

 Sri Somnath (Kathiawad Gujarat),

Sri Rameshwar (Setubandha at Tamil Nadu),

Sri Mammaleshwar (Omkareshwar on banks of Narmada river),

Sri Mahakaleshwar(Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh),

Sri Baidyanath (Deogarh in Bihar), 

Sri Bhimshankar (Dhakini near Pune in Maharashtra), 

Sri Mallika Arjun (Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh).

The Meaning and Symbolism of Lord Shiva

The Meaning and Symbolism of Lord Shiva - This photo beautifully depicts what Lord Shiva stands for and the meanings behind his attire

Lords Shiva and Godess Parvati with Baby Ganesha

Lords Shiva & Godess Ma Parvati with Baby Ganesha - some photos

God Shiva And Goddess Parvati

Lord Shiva And Ma Parvati - some beautiful photos. Their wedding anniversary is celebrated as Mahashivaratri. The legend behind their wedding is also very unique.

It is said that Ma Parvati is the Godess Sati ( Lord Shiva's first wife) reborn. Ma Parvati or Gauri was born to King Himavat after many prayers to Godess Durga for a child. Godess Durga then told Himavat that she herself would take birth in his house but he must never question what she does as his daughter. Ma Parvati went through great penance in order to attain Lod Shiva as her husband as Lord Shiva had renounced the worldy life and went into samadhi after Godess Sati's death. Kamsa dev ( the god of love) and his wife Rati devi tried to memerise and allure LordShiva to fall in love with godess Parvati but Lord Shiva burned Kamsa dev with his third eye in anger but being ever benevolent and kind he granted a boon to Rati devi that Kamsa dev would be returned to her. Ma Parvati won over Lord Shiva with he penence and great austerities and prayers. Once Lord Shiva agreed to marry her she told her parents that she would marry only Lord Shiva and no other. It is said that when Lord Shiva's baraat came to Ma Parvati's door her mother cried out in fear and shock as the groom was smeared with ash, wore a loincloth and carried a trishul weapon. He was accompanied by Nandi,bhoots,and other scary pisachas as he was also Lord of Destruction. However legend says he took pity on his mother in law and changed his appearance so that she could see an illusion of Lord Shiva dressed in rich jewels and clothes like a King.

Akshay Trittiya 2009

This year 2009 Akshay Trittiya is on April 27th 2009. Its an extremely auspicious day for buying gold or real estate. I had previously written about it in an earlier blogpost. I have given below the link to my blogpostexplaining Akshay Trittiya and its puja,meaning etc 

Akshay Trittiya Significance, Puja, Traditions and Legends

A Photo Ode to God Shiva

A Photo Ode to God Shiva