Kindness...timely display..!

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.

He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house.
However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. 

She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large
glass of milk He drank it slowly, and then asked, "How much do I owe you?""You don't owe me anything," she replied "Mother has taught us never to accept payment for a kindness."

He said... "Then I thank you from my heart." 
As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt; stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit. Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation.
When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor's gown he went in to see her. 

He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation
room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval.

He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side as she read these
words...... 

"Paid in full with one glass of milk." (Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.
Tears of joy flooded her eyes & happy heart.
****


(.....A collection from one of the  mails I got )

Science...Discarding It..?! (Part 2)

In Facebook or other social media, I see some comments on religion and science (mostly making fun of them). But, please understand that... In olden days, science and religion are practiced together. They tried to spread science under the cover of religious respect...which are easy to follow even by those who did not understand them. gradually, the people who knew the actual science became extinct and there is increment of  people who go on  degrade religious customs without properly  understanding them. Some people say growing tulasi at home is for religious symbol. Actually few Western scientists are conducting  large-scale trials to confirm the benefits of tulsi leaves, including its anticancerous effects. If our aurveda says Kakara (bitter gourd) is good for madhu meha, the so-called  pseudo-scientific people will laugh. But,  some  colarado scientists declared recently that kakara(bitter gourd) cures diabetes and  pancreatic cancer.  Is there any name for the present day pseudo- scientists, whose priority agenda is to discard religious values and ancient knowledge without properly understanding them..? It is becoming a fashion to elevate our scientific value by degrading culture and religious values.  True scientists try to explore, understand and experiment  while Pseudo scientists try to project themselves as scientists by constantly criticising and show intolerance towards the religious values and ancient knowledge.
Just to share a recent news clipping about kakara (bitter gourd):
http://archives.eenadu.net/03-14-2013/news/newsitem.aspx?item=story&no=5
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NTR's awesome performance: Praying for Lord Shiva

NTR's awesome performance: Praying for Lord Shiva
in the movie, "Seetarama Kalyanam", produced and directed by him.  After the siva tandava stotram, the performance of rudraveena is even more spectacular.
Part 1 : siva tandava stotram
Part 2 : Rudra veena

A Distressing day

A particularly distressing day for me...got into tears after reading the Sri Lanka episode... Let it be any country or race, why people become so brutal towards  fellow human beings...? why should people kill others? couldn't they find ways to resolve the issues with peace? why sadism is ruling the minds? we blame bacteria and viruses for killing the people...and spend millions of dollars to find a cure. who will finance the cure for sadism ? will there be any cure at all....for the greedy, who destroys his own race? What happened to all the rulers who thought that they are immortal? Does anybody has a right to take other's life lawfully or unlawfully? whose life is permanent?! why can't we keep our transient stay on this earth peaceful and cohesive?

Geeta Makarandam

Listening to the commentaries by sri vidya prakasanandagir swami on Bhagavadgeeta (Geeta Makarandam):


One devotee is praying to Lord Krishna
(in sanscrit : Ksheera sara mapavrutya sankaya sweekrutham yadi palaayanam, mamake mama ghanadha tamase...nanda nandana kadham naleeyase..!) :

క్షీర సార మప వృత్య శంకయా  స్వీకృతం యది పలాయనం ..
మామకే మమ ఘనాన్ధ తామసే  నంద నందన కధం నలీయసే..!

 O Lord Krishna, after stealing butter if you are looking for dark places to hide (to hide from Yashoda), you can happily hide in the darkness of my mind (filled with ignorance).

Simple....extraordinary...!

Just listening to a commentary on Bhagavadgeetha by Vidyaprakasandagiri swamy. In a context, he mentions the following quote (author unknown) :
"A great man is not the one who does extraordinary things, but who does ordinary things in an extraordinary way...!"
I remember a similar quote from Mother Theresa : "We need not do great things but little things with great love".
These look simple  but carry a great meaning. And if followed, they bring about a great impact on our woking nature and the result such work brings. 

Humanity..? where are you..!

Entire nation erupted over brutal rape and murder of  Delhi girl...And will the Nation responds to the painful facts revealed by the friend of the Delhi girl?!
certain things..better not said here...lighting candles..shouting slogans to punish the suspect....propose various forms of punishment...all happen..but, little attention will be paid to modification of human behaviour to help the needy in time (and the law/rules contribute to inaction... it is more important to bring about change in attitude of police and public. ).
Sometimes, help denied in time or delayed, will be more grievous (physically and mentally) than the crime itself. A change in human behavior is needed more importantly than to suggest the law various killing methods or methods to make the criminals impotent...Law will give necessary punishment. No comment here. But, when it comes to change in our behavior to help others, we always think that the other person/others in society are responsible for it... we conveniently ignore our role..we expect somebody else or the system to change..without contributing ourselves anything to the change. we get immense energy to put blame on others or the system. But, we forget that we are also part of the system.
Change in the individual level  is reflected as change in the society.
Humanity...where are you? please come out from the shades of the lighted candles...come out from the silence hiding behind the aggressive slogans...!
And Humanity, please prove that you really exist persistently and not just in the temporary emotional outbursts occurring  episodically...!

Happy new year ...?!

Happy new year...yet it sounds odd to me...what extra happiness we can derive by changing the calendar.. from tomorrow, it will be just the same again..waiting for another new year...another birthday.. or another 'reason' to celebrate....it always surprises me....! anyway, if I comment like this, it may appear cynical........ But, Infact, for me, every day, or every minute is a happy one.... We should be happy to be able to wake up alive each day....thank God for giving another day...to do the things we like..to help others......we should "live" and love every moment. And every moment should be a celebration...towards emotional enhancement...!

LOUIS PASTEUR : A TRIBUTE

LOUIS PASTEUR

(December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895)

A tribute to the great man of science , regarded as Father of Microbiology, on his birth anniversary

Louis Pasteur was born on December 27 1822 in Dole in the Jura region of France and grew up in the town of Arbois. His father, Jean Pasteur, was a poorly educated tanner. Louis's aptitude was recognized by his college headmaster, who recommended that the young man apply for the École Normale Supérieure. After serving briefly as professor of physics at Dijon Lycée in 1848, Pasteur became professor of chemistry at Strasbourg University where he met Marie Laurent, daughter of the university's rector in 1849. They were married on May 29, 1849. They had five children, only two of whom survived to adulthood.

Though Pasteur began as a chemist working on the optical properties of tartaric acid and its stereochemistry (1849), his studies on fermentation led him to take interest in microorganisms. He coined the terms ‘microbiology’, as the study of the living organisms of microscopic size and ‘vaccine’. He disapproved the theory of spontaneous generation. This led to understanding of the germ theory of infection, and his method of killing harmful bacteria in liquids by holding them for a time at a given temperature, which is now known as pasteurisation.

He created and tested vaccines for diphtheria, cholera, yellow fever, plague, rabies, anthrax, and tuberculosis. He is regarded as one of the three main founders of microbiology, together with Ferdinand Cohn and Robert Koch. In 1888, in recognition of his achievements, the Pasteur Institute of Paris (Institut Pasteur) was built by public contribution during his lifetime for investigations of infectious diseases and preparation of vaccines. He died in Paris on September 28, 1895. He is buried beneath the Institut Pasteur, a rare honor in France.

Some of the Quotes by and on Pasteur :

I am on the edge of mysteries and the veil is getting thinner and thinner.Letter (December 1851); as quoted in The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague In History (2004) by John M. Barry
Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence.As quoted in Louis Pasteur, Free Lance of Science (1960) by René Jules Dubos, Ch. 3 "Pasteur in Action"

I am utterly convinced that Science and Peace will triumph over Ignorance and War, that nations will eventually unite not to destroy but to edify, and that the future will belong to those who have done the most for the sake of suffering humanity.
As quoted in Louis Pasteur, Free Lance of Science (1960) by René Jules Dubos, Ch. 3 "Pasteur in Action"
"To will is a great thing dear sisters, for Action and Work usually follow Will, and almost always Work is accompanied by Success. These three things, Work, Will, Success, fill human existence. Will opens the door to success both brilliant and happy; Work passes these doors, and at the end of the journey Success comes to crown one's efforts."Louis Pasteur wrote this in a letter to his sisters

In the field of observation, chance favours only the prepared mind.Inaugural Address as Professor of Chemistry and Dean of Faculty of Science, Lillie, France (1854). In Hugh Chisholm, The Encyclopædia Britannica Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information (1911), Vol. 20, 893.

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My only strength lies in my tenacity.
Quoted in René Dubos, Louis Pasteur: Freelance of Science (1950). In W.I.B. Beveridge, The Art of Scientific Investigation (1953), 140.

He who proclaims the existence of the Infinite, and none can avoid it — accumulates in that affirmation more of the supernatural than is to be found in all the miracles of all the religions; for the notion of the Infinite presents that double character that forces itself upon us and yet is incomprehensible. When this notion seizes upon our understanding we can but kneel ... I see everywhere the inevitable expression of the Infinite in the world; through it the supernatural is at the bottom of every heart. The idea of God is a form of the idea of the Infinite. As long as the mystery of the infinite weighs on human thought, temples will be erected for the worship of the Infinite, whether God is called Brahma, Allah, Jehovah, or Jesus; and on the pavement of these temples, men will be seen kneeling, prostrated, annihilated by the thought of the Infinite.As quoted by Sir William Osler in his introduction to The Life of Pasteur (1907) by Rene Vallery-Radot, as translated by R .L. Devonshire (1923)

***

Science.... discarding it ?!

It is painful to see the crop of people who distort the reality...distort the cultural values...
no morals... no ethics... no long term perspective.... criticising the ancient values is the only agenda....
We boast ourselves as 'scientifically well developed'...
we believe if  the so called scientists   are working on 'teleportation' ....  but we never want to believe that our ancient rishis practiced it.
we believe if some country talks about virtual world... we never believe 'trishanku swarga'...
we believe  tissue cultures or stem cells ... but we never believe how the kauravas are  born ..how dronacharya was born....
we believe in sperm donation... but we never believe how pandavas born...
we believe atom bomb or neutron bomb.... but we never believe brahmastra existed in india long back...
we believe that we can make laser light that can melt even the thickest iron sheets... but we never believe that Lord shiva used it long back...
our ancient people exactly calculated when the eclipses can occur, when the rains would come etc... but we spend crores of rupees on environmental institutes... and everybody knows how their predictions are (despite the boasted scientific equipment)..
if Einstein says E=MC2 and energy can not be destroyed-it only changes its form, everyone applauds... we are never prepared to accept that in Bhagavadgeetha, Lord Krishna told 'Ninam chindanti sastrani..." and also the form of energy, vishnu is changing his avataras to maintain the universe in equilibrium... the creating part is 'brahma'-maintaing part is-vishu while the destruction (as a preparation for new creation ) - shiva.. three roles worked in perfect harmony.
we believe that americans can make stinger weapons... but we never try to accept that even before ramayana, indians know to use 'sabda bhedi'...
so on... a big list to make here.
but  criticizing the mythology is becoming a fashion...without understanding it...   we say that the science never existed... without completely understanding it.. we speak negative things about it.  we  believe 'stephan covey' and similar genre who sell 'personality development'... but we never try to understand the  'Bhagavadgeeta' which is the best book available on personality development...and 'sundara kanda" is the best  treatise on communication skills... and Udyoga parvam is the best treatise on international politics and a guide for ambassadors ?
Some speaker  in a  TV channel was  commenting that he has never seen God.. so he never  believes the existence of God... whether he believes or  not will be his personal choice...it is not an universal fact. I wanted to ask  him, whether he has ever personally  seen  Ronald Reagon or Einstein or Karl Marx except in photos or videos.... we believe our videos and pictures as the proof that those people existed... we call it as science... but we never believe if something is written in 'tala patras' or vedas.... and discard them as old or rubbish... and the more vigorously a person discards them, the more scientifically he is projected....!
Is the relativity of time that makes things believable ? is it the materialistic proof that makes the things believable ?
How do you believe that a  remote control can operate a TV ? how do you believe a space scientist can communicate with the space ship thousands of miles away ? if we know about infra red rays only we can believe remote control.(if we don't know about it, we would have thought it is a miracle or some thing). but they became a common thing now... without understanding Infrared waves, we use remote... without the knowledge of  radio-frequencies, we use cell phone or FM radio... they became a part of our life. Can you make a  2-year old kid to understand infrared rays..though he uses TV remote? No...to understand the science, you expect a minimum background knowledge...and maturity. Till then, the true knowledge about the things will be obscure even if we continue to use them as a part of our life.
The ancient science is a similar one. we adopted certain cultures and ethical values. To understand it, we need certain level of basic knowledge and maturity coupled with wisdom. Till then it is obscure.  And, God is not there somewhere outside, but he is in every one of us...we can find it only with practiced introspection.... Without that inclination to explore,  is discarding our culture and values  is called vignana ? the real vignana will be trying to explore the hidden treasures of our  ancient wisdom and apply them to help the people  in coping with the present day complexities. It requires energy.. logic.. capacity to understand the ancient literature in depth...by applying our present day science.  
As long as we lack it, we continue to discard or disregard  the  ancient culture, values, ethics and morals;  and promote cheap gimmicks as true science, under the cover of rejecting some baseless superstitions.