The Mind and the Stormy Ocean

The Mind and the Stormy Ocean

Swamiananda and his disciple Ranga were strolling on the beach by the ocean. It was a cold day and the wind was blowing strongly over the ocean, raising very high waves.

After walking for some time, Swamiananda stopped, looked at his disciple and asked: "What does the choppy ocean remind you?"

"It reminds me of my mind. Of my rushing and restless thoughts," answered Ranga.

"Yes, the stormy ocean is like the mind, and the waves are the thoughts. The mind is neutral like the water. It is neither good, nor bad. The wind is causing the waves, as desires and fears produce thoughts," said Swamiananda.

"I wouldn't want to be on a boat, in the middle of the ocean, in a storm like this," said Ranga.

"You are there all the time," responded Swamiananda and continued, "Most people are on a rudderless boat in the middle of a choppy ocean, even if they do not realize it. The mind of most people is very restless. Thoughts of all kinds come and go incessantly, agitating the mind like the ocean's waves."

"Yes," Ranga interrupted him, "You don't have to tell me. This is the reason I am with you. I want to calm down the waves of my mind."

Swamiananda looked at Ranga for a while, smiled and said: "You don't calm the ocean by holding the water and not letting it move. What is necessary is to stop the wind. The wind is made of your thoughts, desires and fears. Don't let them rule your life. Learn to control them by controlling your attention, and then the ocean of your mind becomes calm."

"And how do I do that?"

"Suppose it is possible for the ocean to disregard the wind, what would happen then?" asked Swamiananda.

"The waves would cease. But no one can stop the wind."

Swamiananda looked at him with a mysterious smile and said: "Why not? The wind, the ocean, and thoughts are all within the mind. When you can control the mind, you can control everything within it. But first you have to control your mind, which means you have to control your attention."

--- By Remez Sasson --- Submitted by Kiran Shinde --- India

A Clever King

A Clever King

There was a country long time ago where the people would change a king every year. The person who would become the king had to agree to a contract that he will be sent to an island after his one year of being a king. So, one king finished his term and it was time for him to go to the island and live there. The people dressed him up in expensive clothes and put him on an elephant and took him around the cities to say goodbye to all the people. This was the moment of sadness for all the kings who ruled for one year. After saying goodbye, the people took the king with a boat to the remote island and left him there. On their way back, they discovered a ship that had sunk just recently. They saw a young man who survived by holding on to a floating piece of wood. As they needed a new king, they picked up the young man and took him to their country. They requested him to be a king for a year. First he refused but later he agreed to be a king. People told him about all the rules and regulations and that how he will be sent to an island after one year.

After three days of being a king, he asked the ministers if they could show him the island where all the other kings were sent. They agreed and took him to the island. The island was covered with thick jungles and sound of vicious animals were heard coming out of them. The king went little bit inside to see how it was and discovered the dead bodies of all the past kings. He understood that as soon as they were left in the island, the animals came and killed them.

The king then went back to the country and requested the people to provide him with 100 strong workers. He was provided with 100 workers and he took them to the island and told them to remove all the deadly animals and to cut down all the trees. He would visit the island every month to see how the work is progressing.

In the first month, all the animals were removed and many trees were cut down. In the second month, the whole island was cleaned out. The king then told the workers to plant gardens in various parts of the island. He also took with himself useful animals like chickens, ducks, birds, goats, cows etc. In the third month, he ordered the workers to build big houses and docking stations for ships. Over the months, the island turned into a beautiful place. The young king would wear simple clothes and spend very little from his earnings. He sent all the earnings to the island for storage. Nine months have passed like this. The king called the people and told them that "I know that I have to go the island after one year, but I would like to go there right now." But the people didn't agree to this and said that he have to wait for another 3 months to complete the year.

3 months passed and now it was a full year. The people dressed up the young king and put him on an elephant to take him around the country to say goodbye to others. However, this king is unusually happy to leave the kingdom. People asked him, "All the other kings would cry at this moment and why are you laughing?" He replied, "Don't you know what the wise people say? They say that when you came to this world as a baby, you were crying and everyone was smiling. Live such a life that when you are dieing, you will be smiling and everyone around you will be crying. I have lived that life. While all the other kings were lost into the luxuries of the kingdom, I always thought about the future and planned for it. I turned the deadly island into a beautiful abode for me where I can stay peacefullly."

The 3 Rs to save the Planet

The 3 Rs to save the Planet

Worldwide, the rate at we use up for raw maerials and generate waste from it is increasing. The climate is changing, the winter is cooler, the summer is hotter, raining season and hot season cycle is messed up. One district is flooding, and the neighboring district is draught. The storm is getting wider, longger and wider. Crops are failing, bees do not return to their home. The everlsting snow is melting on the Himalayan mountain, the ice on the Poles are cracking and melting, the corals are bleaching, uncontrollable forest fire and bush fire, and there’s still a lot more sign that you can see in your sorroundings if you spare your time to think for a while. We can only change this if we can all act together as a Human race not as a dividing country and race, not for in the name of economy, for the sake of human race and for the God who lend us this world for us to take care. We must do more harder to reduce, re-use, and recycle OUR waste, yes our or should you said to your self “My waste”, so start thinking about what you can do, not what others can do.

We have to reduce, re-use, recycle ( the three Rs) because:
1. We produce too much waste.
2. It is expensive to dispose of it.
3. The raw materials we use will eventually run out.
4. Throwing things away is a waste of our resources.
5. It takes more energy to create new products from raw materials than it does to
recycle from existing materials.

In other words, there are significant envomental as well as economic costs associated with waste management. The governments already pay considerable amounts of money for waste collectionand disposal. In the long term, money can be saved if new ecycling waste are introduced. Orginising collection schemes and subsidising reprocessing plants also help to recycle waste more efectively the top down approach. But most importanly, as individual we have to take esponsibility of our own waste. So, how do we reduce, re-use and recycle?

Reduce
By Things that have minimum packaging. Choose package that can be recycled at the end of their useful life. If a shop assistant asks whether you need another plastic bag to carry your shopping, say No and tell them to save it!

Re-use
Seond-hand and repaired item can be used again and again. Donating clothes to charity shops or selling them on as second-hand or through car boot sales is a good way of recycling unwanted clothes. Discarded clothes can also be transported to countries ravaged by war or natural disaster.

Recycle
Make waste useful in some other form. Compost raw kitchen waste at home and use it in the garden. Participate in or help to set up a local recycling schemes. Choose washable nappies over disposable ones. We can also take steps to reduce the amount of junk mail we receive through the post.
In many countries, there are an increasing number of local collection schemes for recycling paper (newpapers, magazines, junk mail, etc), glass (usually bottles, jars), aluminium (drink cans, foil, bottle caps) and tin (usually food cans). Other schemes for recycling plastics, cardboard, and garden waste are also common. In some countries, the people are not educated by thheir government to dospose their waste properly. Or sometimes their people want to dispose the waste properly, but their goverment don’t give them enough resource to support their people to dispose waste properly.
We cannot afford a short term, disposable approach of waste management, because as populations grow and become more affluent, the associated programs will worsen. If we all take responsibility for our own waste, we can all make a difference. The three Rs will improve the world in which we live, and the world we leave for our children.
Ask your self:
1. What have you done to save your place.
2. How many times in a week that you go on shopping and came home with abundance of little and big plastic bags.
3. Did you unplug your recharge adaptor when you are done using it?
4. If the world is not suitable for human beings any more...where will you live?
5. The water you drink is not dribkable any more?
6. The crops that grown is drying because of intense heat or get flushed away by the flood, what will you eat?
7. The trees are all cut down and exploited, what will you do??

What is Beauty

Images of beauty are all around us: in movies on television, in magazines, and on the internet, the scenery of the sea, the sky, the mountain, the savana, the jungle, and many others. However, the ideal of beauty for human changes through the centuries and varies from culture to culture.

Thousands of years ago, men liked healthy women who could have children with them. Women liked strong, healthy men who would be able to hunt for food and protect the family. Among the Olmec Indians, for example, women liked men with broad nostrils, thick lips, and full cheecks.


The ancient Egyptian's ideal of beauty is similar to the modern, Western ideal-a slim body, muscles, and broad shoulders for men; small waist, flat stomach, and long, thick hair for women.


During the sixteenth century in England, the ideal woman had snow white skin and red cheecks and lips. Women during those days applied very white make up to their faces and their necks. But elizabethan women did not take baths very often!


In burma, a beautiful woman is one with a very long neck, Girls from the age of five or six wear metal rings around their necks to make them longer. As the neck grows longer, more rings are added.


In Asian cultures, small, thin lips are considered attractive, but in Western cultures, large, full lips are preferred. Some movie stars and models even have cosmetic surgery to make their lips larger!


But, is physical beauty that important? Leave your comments.

Ispired from: Postcards 2

What Kind of story do you Like?

A story may be true because it based on real events and it really did haapen, or it may be made up by the writers fantasy. Just like Young people, like us, we just love to explore our mind and our world for new exiting andventure, and sometimes we express it trhough songs and writing. Which is most likely to interest other to read and to give comments.

The story may be very long and it could fill the whole book, or it may be just as short as one page. There are just so many kinds of stories that we can read also maches our interest to read.

Every reader has their own favorite kind of story. You may like easy funny stories, but your friend may enjoy complicated detective thirilling stories. It depends on what you want to experience from a story...

In some ways, we choose our favourite story just like choosing a favorite foods. We may like a thriling and spicy hot food for adventure that makes your ears blowing and your face glowing red hot. Or you are the kind of readers who love sweet and exotic pinaple ice cream, with a soothing umbrella dressing on top for a romantic story. You may like French fries because of their salty taste, but disslike sweet potatoes for dinner. It acts in the same way when we choose a story to read or any reading materials that you like. You may like stories about Romantic novel of Prince and Princess but not much of favor on whiz and tech gadgets.

In either way...the point is start reading to enrich your vocabulary and broaden your knowledge and experience.... Happy story Hunting...^_^... "Choose wise, you may want...Padawan, for you become a master"(Master Jedi)

Lets Read a Story

Everyone like stories. The cavemen drew their pictures on their caves wall to help them remember their great story to pass to their descendant. Kings and Queens have a Ballards to tell them and epic stories trough their songs, and they gave gifts to the story tellers who came to their castles. Children have always loved a good bed time story with the word "once a upon a time,". Now days we spend hours of time to watch movies and drama, reading a books about adventure, mystery, and love story.

The stroy seems to become so popular because off so many diiferent reason to tell. A good story will bring their audience escape from their own realworld and to live in another world. Everyone is looking to become someone else, to feel to live in a different strange new world that exiting new feeling to become a pilot, a magician, and any thing they want.

The story can show us what live in a different age and time. As the audience, in this case, a reader we can travel
trough time and places, to the past or to the future, to another planet or even just to the next door. You can share a new live while reading. As a reder we can also try a different feelings, just like my brother when he read scary story like 'goosebump' and feeling to become a magician in 'Harry potter' novel.

So you see..by reading...you can go to places beyond anyones can imagine....you can go for unpredictible thrilling new ride of an adventure...and most off all you can get more vocabulary just by reading this article...so get messy out there and start exploring your ultimate experience by reading...

Remember..you are always welcome to share your adventure here by leaving your comments.... Be save out there...in the junggle of Adventure.... ^_^