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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Wayside Temples-27: "Sri Vazhividum Vinayagar Temple"

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Sri Vazhividum Vinayagar Temple, Near Auto Stand, Sriram Nagar, Kottaiyur

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Videos for Spiritual Aspirants-3: "How to transform oneself?"

141,642 views so far.
Uploaded by IshaFoundationVideo on Dec 18, 2007 
http://www.InnerEngineering.com 
http://www.ishafoundation.org 
Sadhguru answers this seeker's question about transforming oneself... talks about difference between change and transformation, using the analogy of a rose flower explains how..   Excerpt from, "In the Presence of the Master series" DVD titled "Living Life to the Fullest." Please visit http://www.ishafoundation.org/IDS to download talks by Sadhguru. 
Grateful thanks to Sadhguru Vasudev, Isha Yoga Foundation and YouTube.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Gems from Gandhiji-5:

Not to hurt any living is a part of Ahimsa. But it is least expression. The principle of Ahimsa is hurt by every evil thought, by undue haste, by lying, by hatred, by wishing ill to anybody. It is also violated by our holding on to what the world needs.

Gems from James Allen-13:

In every soul, the battle is waged, and as a soldier cannot engage at once in two opposing armies, so every heart is enlisted in the ranks of self or of Truth. There is no half-and-half course: "There is self and there is Truth; where self is, Truth is not, where Truth is, self is not." Thus spake Buddha, the teacher of Truth, and Jesus, the manifested Christ, declared that: "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon."

Gems from the Bhagavad Gita-25:

The turbulent senses, forcibly lead astray the mind of even the struggling wise person.... Verily, his wisdom is steady, whose senses are under control.

Gems from Sri Ramakrishna-11:

The companionship of the holy and the wise is one of the main elements of spiritual progress.

Gems from Holy Mother-13:

Such is life, here today, gone tomorrow! Nothing goes with one, except one's merit and demerit; good and evil deeds follow one even after death!

Gems from Swami Vivekananda-37:

This is the great fact: Strength is life; weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery, weakness is death.

Gems from the Bible-17:

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Wayside Temples-26: "Sri Vinayagar Temple"

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Sri Vinayagar Temple, near Bus Stand, Cuddalore

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Wayside Temples-25: "Sri Veera Anjaneya Swami Temple"

Sri Veera Anjaneya Swami Temple,
Near Bus Stand, Cuddalore

Monday, September 14, 2009

Temples of India-5: "Sri Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai"



Grateful thanks to 'StillsAndMoves' and YouTube.

Gems from James Allen-12:

Believe that a life of absolute meekness is possible; believe that a life of stainless purity is possible; believe that a life of perfect holiness is possible; believe that the realization of the highest truth is possible. He who so believes, climbs rapidly the heavenly hills, whilst the unbelievers continue to grope darkly and painfully in the fog-bound valleys.

Gems from the Vedanta-20:

A personality is great to the extent he embraces principles.

Gems from the Bhagavad Gita-24:

He who enjoys what is given by gods without offering it to them, is indeed a thief.

Gems from Sri Ramakrishna-10:

Dispute not. As you rest firmly on your own faith and opinion, all others also equal liberty to stand by their own faith and opinion.

Gems from Holy Mother-12:

The mind is by nature restless. Therefore at the outset, to make the mind steady, one may practice meditation by regulating the breathing a little. That helps to steady the mind. But one must not overdo it. That heats the brain. You may talk of the vision of God or of meditation, But remember, mind is everything. One gets everything when the mind becomes steady.

Gems from Swami Vivekananda-36:

Be strong, my young friends, that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to heaven through football than through the study of the Gita. These are bold words, but I have to say them, for I love you. I know where the shoe pinches. I have gained a little experience. You will understand the Gita better with your biceps, your muscles, a little stronger.

Gems from the Bible-16:

Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Great Souls of India-2: "Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa"



Grateful thanks to 'thakurma' and YouTube.

Gems from James Allen-11:

In your meditations, let your heart grow and expand with ever-broadening love, until, freed from all hatred, and passion, and condemnation, it embraces the whole universe with thoughtful tenderness. As the flower opens its petals to receive the morning light, so open your soul more and more to the gracious light of Truth. Soar upward upon the wings of aspiration; be fearless, and believe in the loftiest possibilities.

Gems from the Vedanta-19:

Lord! You are the Inner Light; lead me to the Inner Light.

Gems from the Bhagavad Gita-23:

He who is moderate in food and movements, in his engagement in actions, and in sleep and wakefulness, attains to yoga which destroys misery.

Gems from Sri Ramakrishna-9:

Till one becomes simple like a child, one cannot get divine illumination.

Gems from Holy Mother-11:

The mind is everything. It is in the mind alone that one feels pure and impure. A man, first of all, makes his own mind guilty and then alone he sees another man's guilt.

Gems from Swami Vivekananda-35:

This life is short, the vanities of the world are transient; but they alone live, who live for others; the rest are more dead than alive.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Wayside Temples-24: "Sri Kutralanathar Temple, Courtallam"

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Sri Kutralanathar Temple, Near Main Falls, Courtallam

Gems from the Vedanta-18:

Keep the body virile and the mind serene.

Gems from the Bhagavad Gita-22:

Among things profound, I am SILENCE - Lord Krishna

Gems from Holy Mother-10:

One realizes God in proportion to the intensity of one's feeling for Him. He who is really eager to cross the ocean of the world will somehow break his bonds. No one can entangle him.

Gems from Sri Ramakrishna-8:

If you must be mad, be mad not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.

Gems from Swami Vivekananda-34:

This world is a gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Great Souls of India-1: "Holy Mother Sarada Devi"



Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi Slideshow. Music by Ron Bartlett, from the DVD "Unsolicited Grace: Accounts of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi".

Grateful thanks to Thakurma, Ron Bartlett and YouTube.

Wayside Temples-23:





Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaga Temple on the
Courtallam-Shencottah Road, Courtallam.


Gems from James Allen-10:

There is an inmost centre in us all, where Truth abides in fullness.

Gems from Holy Mother-9:

One must experience the effect of past action... None can escape it. But 'japa' minimizes its intensity.

Gems from Sri Ramakrishna-7:

As one thinks, so does one become.

Gems from the Bhagavad Gita-21:

Man is the architect of his own destiny.

Gems from the Vedanta-17:

In man, consciousness is the axle on which the body and mind move and evolve.

Gems from Swami Vivekananda-33:

Religion is the idea which is raising the brute unto man, and man unto God.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Wayside Temples-22:

Five Great Meditations of the Buddha

Gautama Buddha instructed his disciples in the following "FIVE GREAT MEDITATIONS":

The first meditation is the meditation of love, in which you so adjust your heart that you long for the weal and welfare of all beings, including the happiness of your enemies.

The second meditation is the meditation of pity, in which you think of all beings in distress, vividly representing in your imagination their sorrows and anxieties so as to arouse a deep compassion for them in your soul.

The third meditation is the meditation of joy, in which you think of the prosperity of others, and rejoice at with their rejoicings.

The fourth meditation is the meditation of impurity, in which you consider the evil consequences of corruption, the effects of sin and diseases. How trivial often the pleasure of the moment, and how fatal its consequences.

The fifth meditation is the meditation on serenity, in which you rise above love and hate, tyranny and oppression, wealth and want, and regard your own fate with impartial calmness and perfect tranquility.

- Excerpt from 'The Way of Peace' by James Allen

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Gems from James Allen-8:

Meditation must be distinguished from idle reverie. There is nothing dreamy and unpractical about it. It is a process of searching and uncompromising thought which allows nothing to remain but the simple and naked truth. Thus meditating, you will no longer strive to build yourself up in your prejudices, but, forgetting self, you will remember only that you are seeking the Truth. And so you will remove one by one, the errors which you have built around yourself in the past, and will patiently wait for the revelation of Truth which will come when your errors have been sufficiently removed. In the silent humility of your heart, you will realize that there is an inmost centre in us all, where Truth abides in fullness.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Gems from Jainism-9:

Perfect meditation is attained through knowledge and by meditation, all karmas are annihilated. By annihilating the karmas, a person becomes liberated. Hence one should be engaged constantly in the acquisition of knowledge.

Gems from the Buddha-11:

There is no fire like lust, and no crime like hatred.

Gems from the Bhagavad Gita-20:

For the protection of the righteous and the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment of 'dharma', I come into being from age to age.

Gems from Sri Ramakrishna-6:

Knowledge leads to unity; ignorance to diversity.

Gems from Holy Mother-8:

One should not hurt others even by words. One must not speak even an unpleasant truth unnecessarily. By indulging in rude words, one's nature becomes coarse. One's sensibility is lost if one has not control over one's speech.

Gems from Swami Vivekananda-32:

After so much austerity, I have understood this as the real truth - God is present in every JIVA; there is no other God besides that. Who serves JIVA, serves God indeed.

Gems from James Allen-7:

Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life.

Wayside Temples-21: "Sri Koothar Temple, Courtallam"

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Sri Koothar Temple, Courtallam

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Gems from the Bible-15:

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Prayer of the day-24:

Lord, You are the Inner Light; Lead me to the Inner Light.

Gems from the Vedanta-16:

When invoked, the dormant spiritual power in man becomes dynamic and vibrant.

Gems from Jainism-8:

Where there is neither pain nor pleasure, neither suffering nor obstacle, neither birth nor death, there is emancipation.

Gems from the Buddha-10:

Happy is he who has overcome all selfishness; happy is he who has attained peace and happy is he who has found the truth.

Gems from the Bhagavad Gita-19:

Whenever righteousness declines and unrighteousness prevails, I manifest Myself - Bhagwan Sri Krishna

Gems from Sri Ramakrishna-5:

Whatever you offer to God, will return to you a thousandfold.

Gems from Holy Mother-7:

The goal of life is to realize God and to be always immersed in His thought.

Gems from Swami Vivekananda-31:

Throughout the history of mankind, if any motive power has been more potent than another in the lives of all great men and women, it is that of FAITH IN THEMSELVES.

Wayside Temples-20: "Sri Ayyanar Sastha Temple, Courtallam"

Sri Ayyanar Sastha Temple, Near Five Falls, Courtallam

Gems from James Allen-6:

Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Gems from the Vedanta-14:

Give willingly. Do not give unwillingly. Give according to your resources. Give with modesty. Give with sympathy.

Gems from the Bhagavad Gita-18:

Let not the results of actions be your motive, nor be attached to inaction.

Gems from Jainism-7:

A person suffering from itch finds pleasure in scratching his body but gets immense pain later on. Similarly, an infatuated person erroneously considers the sensuous enjoyment as a source of happiness - Lord Mahavira

Gems from the Buddha-9:

To satisfy the necessities of life is not evil. To keep the body in good health is a duty, for otherwise we shall not be able to trim the lamp of wisdom, and keep our mind strong and clear.

Gems from James Allen-5:

Following the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts, by which he allows himself to be dominated, a man at last arrives at their fruition and fulfilment in the outer conditions of his life. The laws of growth and adjustment everywhere obtains.

Gems from Holy Mother-6:

The conjunction of the day and the night is the most auspicious time for calling on God. The mind remains pure at this time.

Gems from Sri Ramakrishna-4:

As a toy fruit or a toy elephant reminds one of the real fruit and the living animal, so do the images that are worshipped remind one of Him who is formless and eternal.

Gems from Swami Vivekananda-29:

Expansion is Life. Contraction is Death.

Wayside Temples-19: "Sri Sakthi Veeramakali Amman Temple"

Sri Sakthi Veeramakali Amman Temple, Karaikudi-Kottaiyur Bypass Road