Find the right track to achieve bliss (2)

In other words, we have the choice. Until we try ourselves to get rid of the "shackles of misery", no divine power can come to our rescue. Our gurus can only show us the way, but the real "action" is in our hands.

Therefore, the Buddha presented the path of Sila or ethical conduct, Samadhi or meditation and Panna or wisdom as the means to purify the mind. These are quite often referred to as the threefold training or tividhasikkha system; but none of these is an end in itself. Each one is only a means to an end. And these three means go together.

Sila strengthens one's mental discipline. So does samadhi. And the two lead to panna. It is wisdom that differentiates us from other life forms. It enables us to see life as it is, arising and passing away. The materialistic world has too many temptations. Our desire for fame, name, wealth and power has led us far away from the path of deliverance. Hatred, distrust and violence is the outcome of the lack of understanding of life. Our love for the gratification of senses has led to our experiencing bankruptcy of mind.

However, a little more determination can still put us on to the right path. The Buddha's Eightfold Path can help us realise our objectives. The path to deliverance is difficult only for those who avoid it. Constant heedfulness and mindfulness can make the path easy to track. These practices are a way of life, and not just an "add-on" to life. Those who try to live life through moral, spiritual and intellectual perfection are the ones who will be the ultimate reapers of happiness and bliss. Self-discipline in body, mind and word go a long way in helping one get closer to reality of life. –The Times of India

Father and Son

This is my medical store. It's a 24 hour store. I took my son Shivam there to see and be aware of what we have in life. Even if he still young I tried to show him and tell him the importance of a medical store. Most of the kids only wanted to play and play. Yes, Shivam has his time to play but whenever I'm around he sees to it that he have time for us together. I know my son is happy of what he is knowing about facts of life. Gradually, I'm opening his eyes of what life is. How life is going, how hard is life, how sad is life. But the most important thing is that I showed my son how happy is life. I want my son to learn things in life even if he is still a kid. I want to prepare my son, not only physically but spiritually wise. I'm glad that he is a kid that he has potential to be like me in the future.

Love is a Many-Leveled Thing – 2

We are soon left to wonder where the truth lies in all of this. When spiritual teachers used the word love, what kind of love are they talking about? Is eros (romantic love) really different from agape, so-called unconditional or spiritual love? Is devotional love, the same as compassion, or love for humanity? And how is it that some teachers goal, while others seem to ignore the subject altogether?

In spiritual life alone, the word love is used in at least three ways, and our experience and understanding of love will differ according to which aspect of it we are thinking about. For the sake of discussion, let’s refer to those there aspects of love as (1) Absolute Love, or the Great Love, which Ramakrishna, Rumi, and the teachers of the bhakti yoga and nondualist Tantra traditions tell us is ever-present, impersonal, and the very underpinning of the universe; (2) Our individual experience of love, which is quirky, personal, and usually directed at something or someone: and (3) love as sadhama (practice).