Thought

The Quality of our Thinking

The recent dastardly coward act of the Maoist group of attacking the train, where innocent civilians who are unarmed men, women, children, completely unaware of the happenings around them were killed by the meticulously planned strike, once again highlight the fact that that the quality of thinking determines the quality of our life. Whether the serial bombing in Guwahati, or the 26/11 happenings of the Mumbai act or any terrorist attack in Pakistan. When events such as a terrorist bombing that kills hundreds, people all over the world are affected. They feel the tension wave of those unstable situations even though they're not directly impacted. The collective energy generated from the feelings, thoughts, and attitudes of the almost six billion people on this planet creates an atmosphere or 'consciousness climate.' Surrounding us like the air we breathe, this consciousness climate affects us most strongly on energetic and emotional levels. An increase in “coherent” thoughts and feelings creates an uplifting momentum in the consciousness climate. An increase in “incoherent” thoughts and feelings creates a stress momentum in the consciousness climate. In other words, coherence or incoherence is broadcast via the consciousness climate much as music or noise is broadcast via radio signals.

The quality of our thinking determines the quality of our life. If we improve the quality of our thinking, in any area, we improve the quality of our life in that area. By using our mind, our ability to think we become a creator of circumstances rather than a creature of circumstances. We move from being powerless to being powerful. We determine everything that happens to us by the way we think about it, in advance. We may not be what we think we are, but what we think we are.

The recent activity of the various terrorist groups operating in India, unfortunately India is the only country where we are faced with three types of terrorist Ideological, Ethnic, and the Religious Fundamentals which make worse for the security force as the approach for each group becomes completely different, worse again we have yet to make a concrete strategy for the ideological terrorist group like the Maoist, the Home ministry is still groping whether to go soft or hammer and tong. Well coming to the main issue of thinking the recent activity of the civilian attack proves beyond doubt that the Ideological group has lost the power of rational thinking. Thought is a power and has its effect on the material world. Thoughts, if powerful enough, travel from one mind to another. If we keep thinking the same thought, people in our environment perceive it and act on it, furthering, usually in an unconscious manner, the materialization of our desires. It reminds me of Bhaja Govindam where a verse depicts our positive attitude of life…..

Translation

As water on a lotus leaf is very unstable, life is extremely unsteady. Know that the whole world is stricken with disease and arrogance and afflicted with sorrow.

Interpretation

The Pratipaksha Bhavana continues. Look at life afresh and you see an uncertain future. Shankara says life is as unsteady as a drop of water on a lotus leaf. A slight breeze is enough to tilt the leaf and the drop of water falls in the pond. Similarly life is unpredictable. At any age, however healthy or strong you may be, there is no security against death. It takes away anyone, at any time.

There is no time to waste. We have a tendency to procrastinate, postpone investment in the spiritual field. This verse conveys the urgency of the situation. Now you have the health, mental and intellectual faculties to develop the spiritual quotient. Who knows what the future has in store? The same facilities may not be available later. So use this precious time for self-enhancement.

Even during this uncertain tenure life is beset with all kinds of problems. There is disease at the physical level, sorrow at the emotional plane and arrogance at the intellectual stage. All of which create agitations. But we have got accustomed to them and do not feel the need to rise above them. We cannot visualise a life free from these hardships. Hence there is no attempt to rid ourselves of them. Bhaja Govindam tries to awaken us to the truth that as human beings we are meant to experience a hassle-free life, one full of cheer and joy.

This does not mean we should take the approach that we might die any moment. The point of this verse is that we must utilise our time judiciously. Invest in our spiritual growth and make our life worthwhile. We seem to think the study of the scriptures is for retirees, but the truth couldn’t be farther from that. Every one of us must set aside a little time for spiritual study everyday, think about it and strive to put it into practice. Before being diagnosed with cancer, Lance Armstrong took it easy on the cycling track. As a result, he didn’t cycle as well he should have. It was only during his fight against cancer that he realized he wasn’t performing to his potential. He decided to commit himself to giving his best everyday. From then on, Lance Armstrong has gone on to win a world-record six Tour de France titles. Unlike Lance, we shouldn’t wait for cancer or some disease to hit us before we start giving our best. So take affirmative action NOW. Refuse to pamper your body. Desist from pandering to your whims and fancies. Make a concerted effort to abide by your own deeper aspirations. Entertain the thought of the higher always. And see the difference.

Neglect is like an infection. Left unchecked it will spread throughout our entire system of disciplines and eventually lead to a complete breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life.

Not doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty and guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more ... and on and on it goes.

Positive Action is verily a signature of life. Life manifests most vividly in the form of actions. If the very life principle is said to be the eternal divinity then its manifestation in the form of action is indeed its divine fragrance. To be able to act is indeed a blessing, and anyone who acts in a dynamic, creative way out of the feeling of well being for all becomes a blessing for all those around him, and paves the path for his total fulfillment too. Any philosophy of life which gives due importance to action alone facilitates people to make the best of their lives and vice versa any philosophy which professes an inactive life becomes responsible for the fall of that person, society or the nation

**** Verse & Translation: Vedanta Vision,

Save Mother

300 million Indians go hungry everyday!

Browsing through the internet to know about the extinction of Tiger, I suddenly stumbled upon the headline that 300 million Indians go hungry every day, it was a great shock to me, suddenly I thought just like tiger will the Indian population will go on extinct, because with a population of 1.173 billion, the hungry make up over 25 per cent, i.e. of one in four in the country. It is a matter of great concern that despite our country’s economic successes, India leads the world in hunger. According to the 2008 Global Hunger Index, which is calculated by the International Food Policy Research Institute, India has close to 350 million people who are food insecure -- in other words, who are not sure where their next meal will come from. To put that into context, that is the same as the entire populations of Germany, France and the United Kingdom all going hungry, beside that 21 per cent of the Indian population is undernourished, and 46% of Indian children below the age of 5 are underweight.

Being myself a member of WWF and “Youngclimatesaver” I always try to contribute towards society in the best possible way whatever little time I can afford, that I have after study to make an impact for clean and healthy environment.

Well, my little brain with very little knowledge wondered whether there is any relation or any reason related to depletion of Tiger population, global warming and the growing hunger in India and the world over, because the global warming phenomena is becoming an increasing matter of grave concern for the entire world. I asked my Father about the relationship between all these things, if he can through any light on it, he loves to discusses on issues which touch the human mind and our life, not only that he is a person who loves to keep himself acquaint with all he happenings around the world, and whenever I need any help on any topic I turn up to him for my guidance. He gave me a graphic presentation about the co-relation between all the three major issues, Hunger, Global warming, and extinction of tiger. It was really an eye opener for me that how the ecosystem is related to for the betterment of all living creatures on this earth. If any of the chain process in the ecosystem is disturbed then the whole system slowly collapse and it may endanger our very existence on this planet.

According to my father Tigers play an important role in maintaining and balancing the eco-system, despite tiger being carnivorous it also depends on grass as tigers main source of food is the Herbivores like Axis deer or chital and sambhar that form the prey basis of tigers, feed upon these grasses that are further preyed upon by tigers. So, it is apparent and amazing, although not directly tigers are indirectly dependent on grasses. In nature each organism is dependent upon other organism. We all know about food chains. Billions of these food chains exist in nature and their each level is called trophic level. Plants such as grasses form the basis of most of food chains on land as they have ability to carry out photosynthesis. Sometimes some things might look ridiculous but if we look deep into it we can see the reality, for example Tigers help in bringing rain and global warming. The simple reason is that tigers protect forests by keeping the number of herbivores in check. Without tigers these herbivores will eat up all the forests. In general forests help in cloud formation by contributing lots of water vapour in the atmosphere that they release during the process of evapo-transpiration. Thus, the same concept is proved that in nature everything is interconnected and it also helps in global warming by creating nature and checking the misadventure of human beings in unauthorized cutting down of trees and forest encroachment to the best possible extent in fear of tiger attack on humans and tiger reserves extended by the Government.

The interdependency of living forms in a food chain is obvious as the wild tiger is dependant upon herbivores for its survival where he maintains there population which in turn prevents the grasslands from being overgrazed.

The herbivores depend upon the producers as grasses, herbs, shrubs, algae, fungi and large trees for survival and they in turn maintain a balance in vegetation by controlling the extent of vegetation or flora.

Birds survive on herbs, shrubs and trees on fruits and nectar and in turn act as seed dispersal agent for them to spread the population of the floral elements in an ecosystem.

Now it is high time that we must shift our conservation thinking from viewing top carnivores as an isolated part of ecosystem management to viewing the maintenance of viable populations of top carnivores as essential components of an integrated system of sustainable ecosystem management. The critically endangered top carnivores are indicators of ecosystems in decline. As we set our conservation sights on recovery, top carnivores can be the stars in our ongoing efforts that restore and maintain biodiversity. But the star-power of top carnivores, their flagship and umbrella role, is more than symbolic. Without top carnivores our efforts to stem the loss of biodiversity will not prevail.

Thus all life forms including tiger are interlinked with each other in an ecosystem, and their survival depends upon how intact the ecosystem is and thus we can save our planet from the Global warming by turning to nature and using products of nature sensibly, saving energy and reducing the emission of toxic elements from the air

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Human Touch

All living being whether human being or animals do have a right for respectful living. I am a non-vegetarian and do love to eat meat, but few days back I have seen a shocking way when a pig was transported on a bicycle, the poor pig’s mouth was tied tightly without giving the poor pig any chance to cry, then his leg was tied tightly and the pig was pushed in the rod just above the pedal lying in the spine,,,,,,,,,seeing the pig I visualized myself in similar condition I felt severe pain in my spine and horrified fear ran through my body. Now I came to realize why my father converted himself to vegetarian, and now he is a strict vegetarian for the last 7 years. After the incident I joined PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and now resolved my mind to fight for the cause of animal and against any cruelty towards animal. It is very pathetic to see that animals are often transported in abysmal conditions to slaughterhouses.

According to (PETA), the international voluntary organization that spearheads the campaign in India, all atrocities listed in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (beating, kicking, overloading and overcrowding animals during transit; depriving animals of food and water during transportation; selling abused or mutilated animals; and killing animals cruelly) these are committed mostly in the leather and meat industries. Animal transport laws specify that only six cows be transported in a lorry. But, according to PETA, four times as many animals are forced into a single vehicle.

Animals slaughtered for their meat and skin is most often transported in abysmal conditions. Most of them get injured, and many are trampled or gored to death as they are thrown about in the Lorries that drive at breakneck speed. Also, animals are tied together with ropes running through their pierced noses and forced into "death marches" for hundreds of kilometers, illegally crossing State borders as several States have banned cow slaughter. The handlers force the pace of the animals by snapping their tails at each joint and rubbing tobacco, chilly powder or salt into their eyes. Thus, by the time the animals arrive at the slaughterhouses, many of them would be so sick that they have to be dragged inside. As for the method of slaughtering, fortunate are those whose throats are slit. Others have their legs hacked off or are skinned alive. The animals suffer from factory over-crowding, un-anaesthetized castration, branding, tail-docking and dehorning. Since it is illegal to kill healthy young cattle, they are often maimed: their legs are broken or they are poisoned so that they can be declared fit for slaughter.

Exotic animals such as alligators are also factory farmed for their skins. According to PETA, ranched alligators, of over 600, are kept in small enclosures that reek of rancid meat, alligator waste and stagnant water. Although alligators may naturally live up to 60 years, on farms they are usually butchered before they are four years old. Snakes and lizards are often skinned alive because of the widespread belief that live flaying enhances the suppleness of the finished leather. Kids are boiled alive to make kid gloves and the skin of aborted calves and lambs are used, as they are considered especially "luxurious".

So now I am thinking what is the use of eating meat for the for the simple reason of satisfying our own taste bud of our tongue as research and leading scientist has proved that what we eat directly affects the quality of our lives. While animal foods contribute to cancer, heart disease, obesity and many other killers, a vegetarian diet can make us healthier. With the right food selections, we can have clearer skin, lose weight permanently, prevent heart attacks and even reverse existing heart disease. Studies have shown that vegetarians have stronger immune systems than meat-eaters and are far less likely to die of heart disease or cancer. The consumption of meat and dairy products is also linked to diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, clogged arteries, obesity, asthma and impotence. Additionally, as deadly animal-borne diseases such as SARS, mad cow disease and avian flu spread across the globe, adopting a meat-free diet is now more important than ever.

A vegetarian diet helps animals. Modern high-pressure agriculture commonly keeps cows, calves, pigs, chickens and other animals in extremely crowded stalls, cages, crates or sheds in which they are often unable to turn around or take even a single step in any direction for their entire lives. Deprived of veterinary care, exercise, sunlight and the feel of grass beneath their feet, these living, breathing, thinking, feeling beings, whose senses are so similar to ours, suffer and die at a rate of millions per day just so that we can eat meat. So when we eat, we have a choice between adding to the level of violence in the world or respecting animals and eating vegetarian instead. Haa I will try to be vegetarian,,,,,,,not sure when! But sure I will try to be a vegetarian just like my Father.

*****Sources & Data collected from PETA(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)