SPEAKING TREE ARTICLES

by **Admin** Sat Sep 19, 2009 8:13 pm

HERE ME GONNA POST ARTICLES OF SPEAKING TREE

by **Admin** Sat Sep 19, 2009 8:15 pm

(1)" Life is Beautiful Don't End It "

It is sheer desperation that pushes some to contemplate ending their lives. Several persons actually do it. However opting out of life is not the solution. While many texts extol the value of life, the epic Ramayana, simulating situations of extreme despair, has quite a few instances where one or more characters mull over whether or not to take this extreme step. The counsel forms the storyline: if the said character had taken his or her life, the story of the Ramayana would not be what it is and good would never have conquered evil.
When Hanuman goes to Lanka for Sita, he searches figh and low, but nowhere is he able to find Vaidehi. Desperate, he reproaches himself: "What will happen if I go back and tell them I have not been able to gind Vaidehi? Rama will not be able to bear it, he may fall dead immediately. On seeing this, Lakshman will not be able to live a second longer. If they perish Sugriva, my king, too, will perish. If Sugriva gives up his life, so will Tara and Angada. If our beloved chief dies, the whole monkey race will self-destruct".
Hanuman began considering different ways of ending his own life. That Hanuman, who is known for his strength, valour and courage too could hit such an all-time low, is comforting to the not-so-strong mortals. Hanuman's alternatives begin with lighting a raging fire and entering it. Or starving and letting the crows and birds of prey eat up his body. Or, jumping into the waters and drowning. Valmiki describes all these options in such a beautiful manner that you can fell Hanuman's joy in the thought that his problems will finally come to an end. But then, argues Hanuman, the way to prosperity has never been through despair. Motivating himslef, he rises with renewed energy and finds Sita in Ashok Vatika soon afterwards.
When he finds Sita, he discovers that she, too, was considering the option of taking her life. Rama had not, till now, found her, She wondered if Rama had lost interest in her. She felt she deserved this punishment. Yet, she wonders: "How is it that my heart indeed is still in one piece? Having been struck by such a thunderbolt, it should have by now shattered into a thousand nits. Is it made of granite?" So she decides to commit suicide. "It is not at all sinful to do so", she assures herself, for the alternative is to face Ravana's advances and may be even cruelty.
She too wonders how to execute this action. She decides to use her braids, the only instrument available, to hang herself. But the exercise of despiring gives her new strength. A sudden spurt of hope saves her that instant. Hanuman who is observing all this, so fresh from a similar predicament himself, sees the foolishness of such an act. In his reflection is the counsel. He realises the futility of his, Rama's and the monkey army's efforts if Sita should kill herslef. Hanuman assures her that her husband is ever thinking of her, she has only only to be patient. For it is in her wait that her husband's courage would be attested: the cause for which she wants to die is the cause for which she should live.
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Plz comment if u like it ............. If u like it then i shall post it forward means the next aritcle tomorrow..........

by **Admin** Sun Sep 20, 2009 1:36 pm

(2)Remove All The Pressure That Builds Up Within You
3rd April, 2008

The secret behind T'ai Chi's popularity is its ability to improve the lives of people of many different ages and occupations. It can progressively increase the potential inherent in most of us and reduce the harm caused by living a stressed-out life. T'ai Chi can be practised to improve health, reduce stress and experience being alive. Its martial arts aspects appeal mostly to the young.

Many people operate under a tight set of deadlines and put in excessively long hours at work. In doing so, they often go without adequate rest or sleep, which depletes them for their tasks. It then requires them to put in yet more hours at work in order to make up for the deficits. Short T'ai Chi breaks can relax your system sufficiently and help you attend to your work in a more functional and healthy way.

How does T'ai Chi manage this? The neurological overload caused by lack of rest slows down your ability to think creatively or make accurate observations. Your capacity to send correct signals to your subconscious mind gets diminished. Your subconscious mind is like a slave. It will obey any order you give it. That is the thought behind hypnotism.

Therefore, it is important to refrain from telling our sub-conscious mind anything that will impede our progress. T'ai Chi, by relaxing your nerves, regenerates your subconscious mind, restoring its ability to function at normal speed.

Changing the internal environment brings about space in your mind that often acts as a precursor to sudden problem-solving insights. We often find ourselves in a situation where we work hard on a complex problem all day and can't quite figure out what to do about it. After a good night's sleep, however, the solution seems to appear out of nowhere. Artists and writers often practise T'ai Chi to uplift their creative mood or to spruce up their body and mind.

T'ai Chi provides a thorough stretch to the muscles of the neck, back and shoulders, melting strains and pains that you acquire during work. Nagging pain in these areas increases your susceptibility to anger, frustration, and depression, which impedes your thinking and ability to relate positively with your colleagues.

By increasing oxygen delivery to the body, T'ai Chi increases blood and energy circulation to and from the brain. When the brain doesn't receive sufficient blood, you experience difficulty while making decisions. When enough blood gets to the brain, you can easily bring in new ideas, energies and plans necessary to achieve your objective.

People in the 30 to 50-year age group constitute the largest section of the workforce. This midlife phase is the toughest but also the most productive phase of life. You feel you have the experience and energy to face life's challenges. During midlife, the pressure is on! Your working, social and family responsibilities mount year after year. If you allow your physical or mental stamina to drop, you will not be able to realise your potential.

What we often forget is that we all possess latent powers like energy, skill, sound judgment, creative ideas and even physical strength and endurance, in greater measure than we realise. Through stillness and movement, T'ai Chi taps into these powers, giving you the much-needed confidence to endure ever-increasing pressures with a smiling face.

Guys do comment yaar
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wats dis didnt u liked it?????
do reply frnds

by **Fatema Abidi** Sun Sep 20, 2009 1:41 pm

They r great Bhai

by **Admin** Sun Sep 20, 2009 1:46 pm

hMM I KNEW THEY U WULD LIKE IT

by **Admin** Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:03 pm

A Special Day To Celebrate Victory Of The Spirit-- 21st September-- Monday

Eid means recurring happiness or festivity. There are two Eid in Islam. The first is called Eid al-Fitr, the festival of 'fast-breaking'. It

falls on the first day of Shawwaal, the tenth month of the Muslim year, following the month of Ramadan in which the Holy Quran was revealed and which is the month of fasting.

The second is called Eid al-Adhaa, the festival of sacrifice. It falls on the tenth day of Zulhijjah, the final month of the Muslim year. The Islamic Eid days are unique in every way. There is nothing similar in any other religion... Besides their highly spiritual and moral characteristics, they have matchless qualities.

Each Eid is a wholesome celebration of a remarkable achievement of the individual Muslim in the service of Allah. The first Eid comes after an entire month of 'absolute' fasting during the days of the month. The second Eid marks the completion of Hajj to Mecca, a course in which the Muslim handsomely demonstrates his renouncement of the mundane concerns and hearkens only to the eternal voice of Allah.

Each Eid is a thanksgiving day where Muslims assemble in a brotherly and joyful atmosphere to offer their gratitude to Allah for helping them to fulfil their spiritual obligations prior to the Eid. This form of thanksgiving is not confined to spiritual devotion and verbal expressions. It goes far beyond to manifest itself in a social and humanitarian spirit. Muslims who have completed the fasting of Ramadan express their thanks to Allah by distributing alms among the poor and needy on the first Eid before the prayer.

Eid also is a day of remembrance. Even in their most joyful times Muslims start the day with prayers to Allah. They pray to Him and glorify His name to demonstrate their remembrance of His favours. Along with that they remember the deceased by praying for their souls, the needy by extending a hand of help, the aggrieved by showing them sympathy and consolation, the sick by cheerful visits and utterances of good wishes, the absentees by cordial greetings and sincere consideration.

Most imams, when delivering the Eid khutbah, will make a mention that Eid is a day of victory. The individual who succeeds in securing his spiritual rights and growth receives the Eid with a victorious spirit. The individual who faithfully observes the duties, which are associated with the Eid, is a triumphant one. He proves that he holds a strong command over his desires, exercises sound self-control and enjoys the taste of disciplinary life.
Once a person acquires these qualities, he has achieved his greatest victory because the person who knows how to control himself and discipline his desires is free from sin and wrong, from fear and cowardice, from vice and indecency, from jealousy and greed, from humiliation and all other causes of enslavement. Therefore, when he receives the Eid, which marks the achievement of this freedom, he is in fact celebrating his victory, and the Eid thus becomes a day of victory.

Eid is a celebration of the freedom of the individual from desires. It is a day of thanksgiving, a day of festive remembrance and a day of moral victory. An Islamic Eid is all this and is much more because it is a day of Islam, a day of Allah.

to all those who have ID today
ID MUBARAK

by **Admin** Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:32 pm

Speaking Tree: Giving Thanks For The Good And The Bad

Discourse: Sant Rajinder Singh

We might face many difficulties, hardships and disappointments in our lives. Things do not always go our way. If we listen to the discussions of others and review our own words and thoughts, we find that many of them are complaints about how life is treating us. There is a bitter feeling.

A different perspective would reveal to us how fortunate we are. During the Great Depression in early 20th century America, a government agency representative travelled through some of the poorer parts of the country to provide financial assistance to farmers to buy seeds, fix their homes and run their farms. The agent came across an elderly woman living in a shack without flooring. She had covered the broken windows with tarpaper. She barely managed to survive. The agent asked: "If the government gave you 200 dollars, what would you do with it?" The woman replied without hesitation: "I would give it to someone who is homeless."

There is the story of a king, who, one day while sitting with his most devoted servant, Ayaz, ventured to share a cucumber with him. Ayaz thanked him and happily ate the piece given to him by the king. When he had finished, the king then took a bite of his own half. "Yuk!" he cried, as he made a disgusted face, and spit out the cucumber. "This is so bitter! How could you have eaten your piece if it tasted like bitter poison? "Ayaz replied: "My dear king, i have enjoyed so many favours and blessings from you all these years. Whatever you give me tastes sweet!"

A true wildcard of God lives in gratitude and so is able to consider the good, the sweet and the bitter as a gift from the Beloved. Ayaz had received so much from the king that he did not think it his place to complain if one of these gifts was bitter. He accepted all that the king gave him with love and gratitude.

If we could accept the cloudy days with the same gratitude as we do the sunny days, we would find our lives to be filled with more love, peace and happiness. If we could appreciate the weeds as well as the roses, we would get enriched. Not only do we need to learn to be content, we need to expand our heart to embrace all Creation.

Like the poor woman from the Great Depression, in order to return to God we need to be compassionate and feel universal love. Most of us have love for a small circle of people which includes our family and close friends. However, as we progress spiritually, our heart expands to embrace community, society, country, world and beyond. The ultimate state of love is having love for the cosmos.

The practice of meditation enables us to cultivate the qualities of compassion and contentment. The bliss and happiness we experience in meditation stays with us even after we come out of meditation. It is a wellspring of love and peace that we can tap into, any time we wish. The experience is so powerful and fulfilling that it helps us to transcend the pains and sorrows of life. No matter what happens to us in life, we have a fountain of nectar within us from which we can drink at any time. This is the gift we can achieve through meditation.

by **Admin** Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:04 pm

Be Playful And Access The Motherboard Of Life

If you wish to experience bliss referred to as satchitananda, nirvana or enlightenment it would help to first come to an understanding of yourself in a scientific as well as spiritual sense.
Scientifically we have the gross physical body that is matter, and spiritually, that is, energy-wise, we have the causal and ethereal bodies. If the body that is made of flesh and bone is understood to be our physical body, then what constitutes the spiritual body?
The spiritual body consists of the causal body. It is made up of mind, intellect, logic, reasoning, analytical powers, skill, talent, inherited and self-retained tendencies from past lives, self-learnt and practised habits by association, education and society norms and cultures from this life. All these are stored in the four sheaths or energy fields.
There is a second aspect to the causal body: the ethereal body. That is, the energy field of bliss or ananda, the cosmic mind or chit which is the built-in software or motherboard of our system, life and sat, the truth. Sat is the pure cosmic energy of the Creator.
The fruition or the activation, the blossoming of life happens when the three factors blend together as sat-chit-ananda. The chit or consciousness in us is like a trampoline or the bouncing membrane wherein all our spiritual and religious sadhana effects might bounce off because of a lack of awareness of the pure energy in us.
Invoking the Divine Mother Devi as Lalita during the Navaratri celebrations would enable us to regard her as a guru and therefore inspire us to ignite and stoke the chit within and blend it into sat. When sat and chit meet, the next step is attainment of ananda or bliss, with the blessings of the Mother Goddess as Lalita.
During the Navaratri season when we start invoking Devi as Lalita whose nature is playful the whole of cosmic creation is revealed to be her divine play. Lalita, when faced with the devotion of those who invoke her, she uses the devotee's chit as her platform to perform the dance of ultimate enlightenment or the amalgamation of knowledge, existence and bliss as sat-chit-ananda.
In this manner, by invoking Lalita in our own chit or cosmic mind, we can connect the cosmic consciousness to our physical body through the umbilicus or belly button. This place is nabhi, where the primordial sound or nada the shabda resides. At the navel the nada links itself to our breath and becomes the naadi or pulse that can trigger the Pranava Naada, the AUM sound.
This is in a way a kind of cosmic combustion for it releases a lot of cosmic energy that is totally divine. It further infuses sat or truth as artha, the meaning of life, to our causal body of intellect, mind, logic and reason. There is a total awareness that has not been hitherto experienced.
When the chit is activated in this way, we begin to get intuitive prompts from within. Intuition effortlessly reveals the right course of action in every moment of our life. With the faculty of intuition, our future is known and our life is full of certainties and security. Intuition and inspiration make each day in our lives divine and extraordinary. Then all our confusion, conflict, duality, ignorance, mindset, the vagaries of the past and future totally vanish, and we get established totally in the present.

GUYS U HAVENT REPLIED TO ATLEAST ONE
REPLY YAAR

by **Admin** Thu Sep 24, 2009 2:40 pm

Positive aura for healthy body, mind and spirit

Aura, the subtle energy shield, is often depicted as a halo in illustrations.

Aura is an electromagnetic field around every living body. In human beings, it is a storehouse of all negative and positive energies. An energy body of auras has seven layers, each layer being related to each of the seven energy charkas or wheels located along the spine. The auras are also related to the seven colours of the rainbow and are influenced by sound vibrations.

A healthy aura signifies healthy body, mind and spirit. Monitoring the changes in aura colours can help you in diagnosing ailments. Often, with the help of aura pictures, an illness can be detected much before the symptoms of the disease appear. You may even discover the emotional state and sense life's purpose.

It is not easy to look at one’s aura with the naked eye but the discovery of the Kirlian camera by a Russian scientist, S D Kirlian, has made it possible to take photographs of the aura. Clairvoyants can also discern the colours of the aura. Pure and shining colours in the aura indicate good health while those that are murky and dull reveal symptoms of impending illness.

The aura's health can be maintained, for instance, by regular practice of yoga, meditation, T’ai Chi, pranic healing, classical sound therapy or Reiki. It is important to keep the aura free from negative energies such as anger, worry, fear and such other emotions that disturb the normal functioning of physical, mental and emotional systems.

Any negative energy triggered by negative thoughts has to pierce the aura before it can manifest as a disease in the body. Reiki, as the art of tapping into universal life force energy for healing, is a handy tool to balance and harmonise the body energy by manipulating and realigning the energy centres that are connected to the aura. It enables them to collect, assimilate and distribute energy through the meridians, nadis or energy pathways to various parts of the body. In the process, it removes blockages, freeing up the pathways for free movement of energy.

A simple exercise known as Reiki shower involving scanning of aura can help repair it effectively :

1. Sit comfortably in a chair or stand upright and inhale deeply.

2. Do `Gassho’ by bringing the hands in prayer position before the chest.

3. Now separate the hands, stretching and raising them over your head in so that the palms face each other and the fingers point to the sky.

4. Visualise and feel the energy vibrations or light coming from the universal source in the centre of your palms.

5. Now bend the palms close to the head and scan the area from a distance of about two inches without touching the head.

6. Moving the hands downwards, palms facing the body, scan its areas slowly from a distance of about two inches, pausing against each chakra.

7. When you reach the feet, brush your palms against the ground to wash down superfluous energy to the earth.

8. `Gassho’ again to finish.

9. You may repeat the exercise at least two times or more, consecutively.

The exercise cleans the aura by brushing away inharmonic vibrations attached to it; it has a detoxifying effect. The scanning and repair of the aura as a morning routine can help you kickstart the day cheerfully. It is calming, and it improves concentration while providing relief from some common ailments. Maintaining a healthy aura by keeping it free of negative energies can help you stay relatively disease-free in body, mind and spirit.

by **Admin** Fri Sep 25, 2009 5:03 pm

Cosmic energy in full play during navratri

Subrahmania Bharati invokes Mahashakti: “Mind and words are powerless/ to encompass your glory/ whose extent is as immeasurable/ as that of cosmic space.”

Devi is beautiful and bountiful, beneficent and terrifying, compassionate and ruthlessly righteous. She is Durga and Kali in Bengal, Ambika and Bhadrakali in Gujarat, Vaishnodevi in Jammu and Kashmir, Chamunda in Karnataka, Santoshi Ma and Bhavani in Maharashtra and Kamakhya in Assam. She is invoked in many more forms that symbolize the Devi’s characteristic attributes. To most of us she is just Ma, the universal mother, who is conceived as protector of those who need her protection.

The 700 verses of the Devi Mahatmyam, also called Durga Saptasati of the Markandeya Purana , is recited during Durga Puja. She is hailed as the origin of all the worlds, and is said to have all the three gunas of sattva , rajas and tamas , that is, purity, passion and inertia. Yet she is without defects as the primordial matter, Prakriti , the ultimate resort of all and incomprehensible even to the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara .

The Devi Mahatmyam projects a three-fold vision of the goddess in three main episodes. First, Vishnu kills the two demons deluded by Mahamaya, Madhu and Kaitabha. In the second story, Mahishasura, the buffalo-demon with his gang of desperadoes creates havoc in heaven and drives out the gods from their abode. The Devi Chandi, created by the combined effulgence of the gods, mounted on a lion and equipped with their diverse weapons, kills the buffalo demon and his aides after a protracted and gruesome battle.

In the third and final episode, the longest one, she overcomes the ferocious Shumbha and Nishumbha along with their aides Chanda and Munda. She is therefore called Chamunda. Central to her identity is her victory over the buffalo-demon, his annihilation and subsequent restoration of cosmic balance. It is her emergence as Mahishasuramardini which is etched in the popular imagination and this is what is mainly celebrated during the Navratri festival.

The composite imagery of the supreme Shakti with the powers of all the gods concentrated in her, marking a shift of the power paradigm from the all-male preserve to the feminine dimension of divinity, is a unique aspect of the Hindu polytheistic pantheon. Devi Durga flanked by Saraswati, the goddess of learning, Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, Ganesha, the remover of obstacles and Kartikeya, the god of prowess, and her vaahan or vehicle, the lion, take on the buffalo demon to overpower him. This is a part of the iconographic representation of the cosmic struggle enacted every autumn during the Durga Puja. It is of great symbolic significance. The desire for wealth and power has to be regulated and integrated with the need for self-restraint through education and true learning to ensure the individual’s balanced growth. The lion overpowering the buffalo demon conveys the strength and determination with which the irrepressible ego and unbridled lust have to be curbed for good.

Mahashakti could have reduced the demons to ashes by merely looking at them. But she chooses to engage them in mortal combat and directs her weapons at them thus purifying them in the process with her divine touch to absolve them of their sins. There is no vendetta, only compassion. Eradicate the sin, not the sinner, seems to be the message. Shakti is also closely associated with vegetation and nourishment, so important for energy; hence her appearance around the harvest season.

SPEAKING TREE ARTICLES Maa

by **Admin** Sat Sep 26, 2009 12:22 pm

Speaking Tree: The Invisible Piper's Mysterious Tune- 26th September

There are so many things about us we cannot do much about, right from our DNA structure, to who our parents are, the place of our birth, and the length of our lives. We refer to these, as 'givens' and the actual list can be very long. Albert Einstein, putting on his philosopher's hat, goes a step further, saying that everything is determined by forces over which we have no control, and that we all dance to 'a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible piper'.

Against this list sits another one, where the items listed out are those over which we do have influence and things on which we can have an impact. Depending on our energy, willingness and level of risk-taking, we are able to generate a whole lot of transformations within ourselves and in the environment around us.

One of those prayers found everywhere in stores and curio shops, practically upon every sort of material from glass, to cloth, to wood, is the one that asks the Almighty to grant us serenity to accept the unchangeable and courage to change the changeable. Up to here it has enough insight contained in it. But the crucial few words kept for the third line are '...and wisdom to know the difference'.

There are many situations in life in which we fail to exercise this discerning wisdom, from our careers, marriages, dealing with our neighbours, or simply in our setting priorities.

While changing the material world and one's financial status are not impossible things to do, it takes a lifetime and many setbacks and knocks to realise that we cannot change others, and that we could have reserved a substantial amount of energy and resources if we had exercised the serenity to accept this.

Sufi master Bayazid Bistami offers some insight on this. When he was young he was a revolutionary, and all his prayers to God were to ask for energy to change the world. Approaching middle age, he realised that half his life had gone by without his truly changing a single soul. So he changed his prayer, now asking for power to change those he came in contact with just family and close friends, and he would be content.

Then comes this wisdom-statement: "Now that i am an old man and my days are numbered, my one prayer is, 'Lord, give me the grace to change myself'. If i had prayed for this right from the start i would not have wasted so much of my life."

So the first prayer is about serenity, courage and wisdom and the second one is about energy, power and grace. And this is interesting because there is a vital link here between wisdom and grace. In one sense a true prayer is about asking God to grant us grace and by that, or in the light of it, we may acquire wisdom.

Wisdom is not always about knowing what to do, but more importantly, understanding about what not to do. Sometimes simply listening, not rushing to help or to interfere can be enormously wise.

We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking to realise that in life a lot depends on the willingness to face all that happens to us, and at the same time on learning the limits and extent to which we can overcome, and also what we must learn to make peace with.

Life is about choice. But to choose well, Kofi Annan says: "...you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there."

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