Prayer

A soul without prayer is a soul without a home.

Pray where you are. God is present everywhere and ready to  listen. Pray to God simply and naturally, as to a friend. Tell him what is in your mind. Pray remembering the good things God has done for you. Pray for others, remembering the situations they confront and the help they need. Pray for the world in its need, asking God to bring better things and offering your plan to help him. Pray above everything else that God’s Will may be done in you and in the world.

We hear in these days of scientific enlightenment a great deal of discussion about the efficacy of prayer. Many reasons are given why we should not pray. Others give reasons why we should pray. Very little is said of the reason we do pray. The reason is simple. We pray because we cannot help praying. Ravenhill says the self sufficient do not pray, the self-satisfied will not pray, the self-righteous cannot pray. No man is greater than his prayer life. That prayer has great power which a person makes with all his might. It makes a sour heart sweet, a sad heart merry, a poor heart rich, a foolish heart wise, a timid heart brave, a sick heart well, a blind heart full of sight, a cold heart ardent. Begin your day with prayer and make it so soulful that it may remain with you until the evening. Close the day with prayer so that you may have a peaceful night free from nightmares.

While journeying on the horse back one day, St.Bernard met a farmer walking along the road. 

“You’ve got an easy job,” said the farmer. ”Why don’t I become a man of prayer? Then I too would be travelling on the horseback.”

“You think praying is easy,” replied the saint. “If you can say one Our Father without any distraction, you can have this horse.”

“It is a bargain.” said the farmer. Closing his eyes and folding his hands he began to say the Our Father……….

Suddenly he stopped and looked up. 

“Shall I get the saddle and bridle too?”

A lot of kneeling keeps you in good standing with God.

Sr (Dr) Lilly Thokkanattu

Krishna on perfection (contd…)

By way of these illustrations Krishna persuades Arjuna that if he flowers to maximum as a warrior- which is his innate nature- he will become a Krishna in his own right. Had Krishna been born 2000 years later he would have said, “I am Arjuna among the warrior.” When Krishna declares his being, he is not claiming greatness. To claim greatness he need not compare himself with beasts and birds, snakes and reptiles. Claims to greatness can be made directly, but Krishna really does not claim any greatness for himself. He is speaking about a law of growth, a universal law which is that when you draw out the best in you, when you actualize your highest potential you become God. When there is no difference what so ever between our potentiality and actuality, we become God. When the highest possibility of our life is actualized we attain to Godhood. If there is a distance between our potential and actual states of being, it means we are yet on the way to our destiny. And Godliness is everybody’s destiny. 

Here Krishna has to play double role. Krishna will be of no use if he is only his friend, but if he reveals his Godliness indiscriminately, Arjuna may be so frightened that he runs away. So all the time Krishna has to strike a balance between the two roles he is playing. While he continues to be Arjuna’s friend he also declares his Godliness from time to time. Whenever he finds Arjuna is relaxed, he declares his Godliness. And when Arjuna is assailed with doubt and confusion he returns to his friendly approach. His approach is very delicate, and very few Buddha’s have had to deal with such a situation as Krishna faces in the war of Mahabharata. Buddha does not have to deal with such a delicate situation. He knows his people clearly; he knows that his people have come to sit at his feet to learn truth from him, so the communication with them is easy and straight. Mahavira too, has no such difficulties with his listeners. Krishna’s difficulty with Arjuna is real; he has to play a double role. It is really difficult to teach a friend, to be his or her teacher. It is difficult even to be an adviser to a friend. So Krishna on one hand placates him with phrases like “O great warrior,” and on the other he tells him “You are an ignoramus, you don’t know the reality.” If we bear in mind this aspect of Gita, we will have very less difficulty understanding it. 

To understand Gita, let us try and understand Krishna. 

Dr Dwarakanath - Mitran Foundation

No Help is Small

In a mutually dependent society, we all need each other’s help and no good life can be imagined without it. The sole purpose of having friends and relatives is to seek their help or to extend our help to them whenever such a need arises. At the same time, it is also a fact that only close relatives and friends turn into enemies when such obligations are not met as per our or their expectations. Therefore, it is essential to understand what precaution is required to avoid this situation. 

Many years back, I was attending a seminar of the famous motivator Shiv Khera in Nainital. During the course of the discussion he touched upon this aspect and I drew a very important lesson out of that. He mentioned that most of us are very casual in seeking help and take it for granted. Quite often we seek help from others in a very by-the-way manner. Help is sought in such a manner as if no effort is required on the part of the helper and further, as if it is an obligation on his part to help. Moreover, for seeking such help, a lot of time is wasted on irrelevant talks. What Mr Shiv Khera meant was that if we seek help from others, howsoever small it may be, it should be sought with great politeness and without beating around the bush. Also, the difficulty or the dilemma of the person should be kept in mind and so a margin should always be given to him to apply his discretion. When it is not done, sooner or later it affects our relationship and no wonder a point may come when such a relationship turns into enmity. 

I myself have experienced this difficulty in my long career in the Administrative Services. Since we have access to almost all areas of public administration, help is sought by a large number of people. Quite often, they don’t come to the point immediately and waste time talking about other things. It is so annoying that one feels like snubbing the person concerned. Apart from that, they feel it requires no effort on our part and judge our sincerity, competence or influence on the basis of the outcome. This affects the relationship further. My own approach is to try my best in the case of a genuine need, but generally I am immune to the outcome and don’t get overjoyed by positive outcomes nor get upset by negative ones. But certainly, it is not the case with the person who seeks help. 

The message of this discussion is that when we seek help from others, we have to be very wise. The point to be kept in mind is that putting a demand or expectation is very easy but it requires quite an effort to act on that. So many factors play their role when something happens or does not happen. First of all, one’s expectation should be genuine and not unduly selfish. Secondly, the limitation of the other person should be understood and thirdly, it should not be placed as a matter of right but only as a prayer. The fact is that no help is small and each requires commitment, energy and sincerity. If nothing else, all these should be respected even if the outcome is not positive. If we take care of these factors, not only will the chances of a positive outcome increase, the chances of a souring relationship also decrease greatly. 

Rakesh Mittal I A S

Outliving the Dash

During one retreat, a priest asked the community to reflect on the dash, on every tomb in the cemetery, found engraved between the two dates of birth and death. He said that embedded in those dashes are what those deceased planted and uprooted, built up and tore down during their lives. He continued saying that hidden in those dashes are the times they wept and laughed, mourned and embraced, fell silent or spoke out. The priest has his view points and I have mine. However, outliving the dash is a challenge, for sure. Naturally, most of what we do in life is likely to transcend into a plane dash, shortly after we physically disappear from the world. Does it mean that all that everybody leaves behind is necessarily a dash?

I remember the story of a blonde lady who complained to the doctor that wherever she touches on her body, it is hurting. She pushed her finger on her shoulder and screamed; she pushed her finger on the elbow and screamed even more. The doctor was watching her, quite astonished. Because she screamed even while unknowingly touching her wallet, the doctor understood that the problem is with her finger, not the body. Many people we see around try to outlive the possible dash in their lives, with choice techniques of their own. According to them, there are problems with every situation they figure out. They never admit that the problems are with regard to their attitude and purpose. Outliving the dash requires commitment, consistency and purity of intention. Whoever or whatever uncompromisingly insists on these values truly outlives the dashes in their lives. That is what the bronze statue of an aging dog by name Hachiko at Shibuya Station in Japan tells us. 

Hachiko was a dog owned by a college professor named Hidesamuro Ueno. Each day, when Ueno left for work, Hachiko would stand by the door to watch him go. When the professor came home at 4 O’clock, Hachiko would go to the Shibuya Station to meet him. Unfortunately, Ueno died of a stroke while at the university. Hachiko didn’t realize that he was gone, and so the dog used to come to the train station every single day to await his master. For the railway men, 4’O Clock meant that Hatchiko is at the Station. Hachiko’s love for his master impressed many people who passed through the station, including one of Ueno’s former students, who began to write articles about Hachiko and his remarkable breed. After 10 long years of waiting for his master, Hachiko died in 1935. Shibuya Station installed a bronze statue of the dog, to honor its mascot. Though the statue was melted down during World War II, a new version was created in 1948 by the son of the original artist. Values are abstract. Living a life of abstract values erases the dash and leaves a vacuum wherever they were. 

Joseph Mattappally

Successful Communication

It is the goodness of God breaking forth into a desire to communicate with the cause and the beginning of creation- William Law

A world community can exist only with world communication, which means something more than extensive short wave facilities scattered about the Globe. It means common understanding, a common tradition, common ideas, and common ideals The swift advance of the means of communication tears down the barriers that time and space have created between people. One of the greatest accomplishments a man can attain is the power to put into words exactly what he means. That’s one of the highest marks of an educated man.

A good speaker leaves the listeners more informed and a little better off than they would be if he has kept quiet. Abraham Lincoln said, “I am never more embarrassed than when I have nothing to say”. Speaking for personal recognition is wasteful, speaking to provide a service to others is honourable. The best advice here is to have something to say and know what you’re saying, or keep quiet. Effective communication is important in the business world and it is equally important within personal relationship as well. Open communication fosters trust, trust increases ownership and ownership increases participation. Enunciate your words distinctly and accurately. Cultivate a pleasant quality of voice. Be simple, direct and sincere. Use the best language at your command. Cultivate honesty in your expression. At the moment of speaking do not try to dress up your thought in fine language. Action speaks louder than words.

“Brother Leo said,” said Francis of Assisi “Let us go into the town and preach”. 

They went forth together, wandering up and down the principal streets. They smiled as they walked along and talked happily with one another. Sometimes they would pat a ragged boy and speak a cheery word to others. “Father,” said the young monk, “when do we start to preach?”

‘Why, my son,” said Francis, “We have been preaching. We have been seen.  Our behaviour has been marked. There is no use walking anywhere to preach unless we preach as we walk.”

Sr (Dr) Lilly Thokkanattu SJL

Krishna on Perfection

In Gita chapter 10, Krishna declares himself to be the best among all things- of all seasons he is the spring, of all cows he is the Kamadenu, of all elephants he is the Airavata. And secondly- and this more significant- he finds his peers even among the creatures like cows and horses. Both things should be taken together. While he declares himself to be the best among different classes of creatures, he does not distinguish between one class and another. Even when he claims to be Airavata among elephants, he remains nonetheless an elephant. Similarly he is quiet at home among cows, snakes and reptiles. He does not exclude the meanest categories as we think. He chooses to be the best even among the meanest creatures of this universe. And there is a reason. But why does he declare himself to be the best and the greatest among us all? 

On the surface it seems to us to be an egoistic declaration, because we are so much involved with our egos that everything we see appears egoistic. But if we go deep into it we will know what a great message is enshrined in Krishna’s declaration. When he says he is Airavata among elephants, he means to say every elephant is destined to be Airavata, and if one fails to be Airavata he fails to actualize his best and highest potential. Similarly every season has the potential to grow as pleasant as spring, and if one fails to attain to the highest in its nature, it fails its nature. In all these declarations, Krishna says only one thing: that he is the culmination, the perfection of nature in everything. Whoever and whatever attains to the sublime reflects godliness. This is the central message of this declaration. We must understand this deepest significance. 

Krishna says he reflects the innate potentiality of each being come to its completion that each being can grow into Krishna-hood, godliness. Krishna symbolizes the actualized form at its best, the highest of each one’s potentiality. Every being, everything is capable of attaining to Krishna-hood. And if we fail to realize our self fully, it simply means that we have betrayed our innate nature, we have deviated from it. There is not even a trace of egoism in Krishna’s declaration. This is way of saying that we cannot attain to godliness unless we become like the Lion among animals, like spring among seasons, like the Ganges among rivers. We come to God only when we attain to our own fullest flowering, not otherwise. By way of these illustrations Krishna persuades Arjuna that if he flowers to maximum as a warrior- which is his innate nature- he will become a Krishna in his own right. 

It is important to understand Krishna to properly understand Gita. 

Wishing you all good health & happiness,

Dr. Dwarakanath, Director, Mitran foundation- the stress management people

Backbone of India

Perhaps very few know that Lord Macaulay in his address to the British Parliament on February 2, 1835, made the following statement: “I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage. And, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.” 

When I first came to know of this statement, my apprehensions about the British strategy of ruling India got confirmed. During my twelve weeks stay in UK for a training programme way back in 1990, I had been contemplating on the point as to how a small nation like Britain could rule over countries like India and many others. My apprehension at that time was that the Britishers tried to split the nation by polluting its culture and this is what they did in India also. It is a fact that despite many centuries of foreign rule, India was still a culturally and materially rich nation. That is why it was known as the ‘Golden Bird’ at that time and this finds proof in the above statement of Lord Macaulay. This statement amply proves that our moral values, cultural heritage and spiritual wisdom were a matter of envy even for powerful nations like Britain. Britishers found it so formidable that they planned to break it first before they could think of ruling India for a long time. As a result, they intruded into our culture through the route of education and succeeded to a great extent. The legacy of this system continues till today. 

India’s freedom is now more than sixty years old. During this period, we have made tremendous progress in many fields. But to say that India is a developed and powerful nation in a true sense is wrong. A vast majority of the Indian population is still struggling for a dignified survival. The progress of a section of population cannot be called the progress of the nation. Our human development index is dismally low. With the rise in industrial growth rate, we are slipping on our integrity score, which puts India at the 93rd rank among 180 countries. Our education, health, sanitation and human rights parameters are poor and despite the deployment of huge funds, the situation is not improving appreciably. This is a matter of great concern for all those who are patriotic in the true sense. A lot of debate and serious thinking is going on in this regard. It is now being realised that the answer to these problems also lies in the statement of Lord Macaulay. Once again, we have to understand the depth of our ancient values and spiritual wisdom, which have no direct conflict with the modern times. At best, they need to be reinterpreted in the face of scientific and technological progress. If we are able to do so, India can once again achieve the place it used to occupy once upon a time. Time has now come to pay serious attention to our national values in order to restore them. Only then, the backbone of India will become straight and strong.  

Rakesh Mittal I A S