Balle Balle, it’s Baisakhi!

They may be away from the fertile fields of their home state where Baisakhi heralds the harvest season, but Punjabis enjoy the festivities here with their Gujarati pals. This year, celebrations kicked off on Sunday and are spread over three days. The reason: Baisakhi is to be ‘officially’ celebrated on April 14 as per the Sikh calendar, whereas traditionally it’s celebrated on April 13. “More than 300 Punjabis with Gujarati friends joined the festivities. We have invited a special bhangra group from Punjab to create the mood. The budget is tighter on account of recession, but the spirit is the same,” says Surjit Singh Bagga, chairman of Guru Gobinddham gurudwara on SG Highway. Most families are busy making rice kheer for guests. Back home in Punjab, sweet rice flavoured with saffron is also prepared. A visit to the gurudwara is a must.

 

Source:TOI

 

 

Miracle ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

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People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child ~ our own two eyes. All is a miracle. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

F E A R

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"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." ~ Marianne Williamson

Rethinking Complaining

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We all know someone who has elevated the process of complaining to a high art. Sometimes funny, sometimes exhausting, these people have the ability to find a problem just about anywhere. In its more evolved form, complaining is simply the ability to see what's not working, in one's own life or in the external world, and it can be quite useful if followed to its natural conclusion—finding a solution and applying it. However, many of us don't get that far, and we find that complaining has become an end in itself. In small doses, this is not a big problem, but if complaining has become a huge part of our identities, it may be time to take a good look at how we are spending our energy.

Complaining is a person's way of acknowledging that they are not happy with the way things are. In a metaphorical way, when we complain or criticize, we are tearing down an undesirable structure in order to make room for something new. But if all we do is tear down, never bothering to summon the creative energy required to create something new, we are not fulfilling the process. In fact, we are at risk for becoming a stagnant and destructive force in our own lives and in the lives of the people we love. Another issue with complaining is that we sometimes tend to focus on other people, whom we can't change, as a way of deflecting attention from the one person we can change—ourselves. So transforming complaining into something useful is a twofold process that begins with turning our critical eye to look at things we can actually do something about, and then taking positive action.

When we find ourselves complaining, the last thing we need to do is get down on ourselves. Instead, we can begin by noticing that we are in the mode of wanting to make some changes. But rather than lashing out at somebody or an organization, we can look for an appropriate place to channel this energy—not our neighbor's house, but possibly parts of our own. Finally, we can ask ourselves the positive question of what we would like to create in the place of whatever it is we want to tear down. When we do this, we channel a negative habit into a creative process, thus using our energy to change the world around us in a positive way.

source: here

Thoughts for Meditation

"Let me turn my consciousness away from the temporary dependencies and connect with the pure stream of Life which is prevailing. Merging with that consciousness, I find my everlasting protection, my inner world."