The Escaped Lab Bunny
A rabbit one day managed to break free from the laboratory where he had been born and brought up. As he scurried away from the fencing of the compound, he felt grass under his little feet and saw the dawn breaking for the first time in his life.

"Wow, this is great," he thought. It wasn't long before he came to a hedge and after squeezing under it he saw a wonderful sight - lots of other bunny rabbits, all free and nibbling at the lush grass.

"Hey," he called. "I'm a rabbit from the laboratory and I've just escaped. Are you wild rabbits?"

"Yes. Come and join us," they cried. Our friend hopped over to them and started eating the grass. It tasted so good. "What else do you wild rabbits do?" he asked.
"Well," one of them said. "You see that field there? It's got carrots growing in it. We dig them up and eat them." This, he couldn't resist and he spent the next hour eating the most succulent carrots. They were wonderful. Later, he asked them again, "What else do you do?"

"You see that field there? It's got lettuce growing in it. We eat that as well." The lettuce tasted just as good and he returned a while later completely full.

"It's fantastic out here in the world" he told them.

"So are you going to live with us then?" one of them asked.

"I'm sorry, I had a great time but I can't." The wild rabbits all stared at him, a bit
surprised. "Why? We thought you liked it here."

"I do," the rabbit replied. "But I must get back to the lab. I'm dying for a cigarette.

A Chat With Jesus !
Jesus: Hello. Did you call me?

Man: Called you? No. Who is this?

Jesus: This is Jesus. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat.

Man: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something.

Jesus: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.

Man: Don’t know. But I can’t find free time. Life has become hectic. It’s rush hour all the time.

Jesus: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.

Man: I understand. But I still can’t figure out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.

Jesus: Well I wanted to resolve your fight for time,by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.

Man: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?

Jesus: Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.

Man: why are we then constantly unhappy?

Jesus: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That’s why you are not happy.

Man: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?

Jesus: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.

Man: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty.

Jesus: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

Man: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?

Jesus: Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don’t suffer. With that experience their life become better not bitter.

Man: You mean to say such experience is useful?

Jesus: Yes. In every term, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.

Man: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can’t we be free from problems?

Jesus: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons (to) Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.

Man: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don’t know where we are heading.

Jesus: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.

Man: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?

Jesus: Success is a measure as decided by others. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead. You work with the compass. Let others work with the clock.

Man: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?

Jesus: Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.

Man: What surprises you about people?

Jesus: When they suffer they ask, “why me? When they prosper, they never ask “Why me” Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth.

Man: Sometimes I ask, who I am, why am I here. I can’t get the answer.

Jesus: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation.

Man: How can I get the best out of life?

Jesus: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

Man: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.

Jesus: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.

Man: Thank you for this wonderful chat. I am so happy to start the day with a new sense of inspiration.

Jesus: Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don’t believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve not a problem to resolve. Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to live.

Man: Thank you so much.

Jesus: You are always welcome. Have a good day my friend.

How to perform Home pooja for a Moorthy

Let us see how to perform the pooja at home offered to a Moorthy as a figurine or a picture. To perform this, one does not need the special deeksha. This can be performed in a simple short way. First, one should understand the proper rules and methods to perform the pooja. Let us first see which way we should keep the figurine or the picture and which way the person should sit to perform the pooja.  If the picture of figurine is kept facing east, the person should sit on the right side facing North. If it faces north, they should sit facing east. They should not sit in front of the image facing it directly.

 

If these two directions are not possible, then we can set the image facing west and sit in front of the Image facing east and perform pooja. When the Moorthy is set facing west, one should not sit on the right side which is facing south to perform pooja. One should not sit on the left side of the Image. The Image should not be set facing south. The person should not sit facing south. It is not proper according to Sasthra to eat food prior to performing the pooja. When it is possible, one should always learn from a Guru about the proper sasthras and rules and receive deeksha before performing pooja at home.

 

To pray and to invite the Divine which is in our heart to come out to reside in the Image that is being worshipped. Then, light a lamp, offer argyam, paathyam, achamaneeyam and do an abhishekam. Then decorate the image with cloth and flowers. Then pray with offering of flowers. Then we can light a lamp, agarbhatti or burning incense or camphor to perform the pooja.  Then the regular pooja will be conducted with one of the several methods.

 

Japa Samarpanam: Through the Manthras of the Deity, recite the prayers manthras 108 or 54 or 27 times in the mind and offer flowers.

 

Prarthana: Recite Devotional prayer songs in any language of choice, like Thevaram, Thiruvachagam or any other devotional songs.

 

Yathasthanam, Padhyam, Achamaniyam, and Argyam are offered to the Image and praying with thanks to the Divine force which came from our heart to get in back there.

 

Dhvanichandar Pooja: Performing a pooja to Dvanichandar – the Upa-Devatha of the Deity like Chandikeswarar for Siva - offering the flowers and Prasadam that was offered to the Divine and praying to bless us with the effects of the service to us.

 

At the conclusion of pooja the prasadam are taken by everyone. The above are the rules of pooja rules according to Agamas and Sasthras.  

MODERATION

Practise moderation in speech as it will help you in many ways. When the foot slips, the wound heals after a few months; when the tongue slips, the wound it causes in the heart of another will fester for life. The tongue is liable to four big errors â€" uttering falsehood, finding fault with others, excessive articulation and indulging in scandals. These have to be strictly avoided if there has to be peace for the individual and the society. The bond of love and brotherliness will be stronger if people would speak less and speak sweetly. Silence (mounam) has been prescribed as a spiritual practice, for this same reason. You are all spiritual aspirants at various stages of the road and so this discipline is valuable for you also.
When the house catches fire, you run about in desperate haste to get succour and to put out the flames. But you do not realise that the fire raging inside you is far more devastating and devouring. You must take up the duty of firefighting in right earnest and never rest until those flames are put out. Start the fight right now. That is Sadhana, spiritual effort. Start serving your parents, teachers, elders, the poor, the diseased and the distressed. Do not foster factions and divisions. Promote love, concord, co-operation and brotherliness. You all are in the state of bondage to the senses and to the objective world. Join the company of the good, the striving and the yearning aspirants and you will soon reach the stage of peace within and harmony without.

tHARPANAM

Amavasya tarpanam is the offering of water mixed with gingelly to the dead ancestors and it means “That offering which satisfies (our pitrus)”. The offering is addressed to three generations of father, grand father and great grand father along with their wives in one’s family and maternal grand father, his father and grand father along with their wives in our mother's birth family. Only those whose father is dead are eligible to do tarpanam. If maternal grand father is alive tarpanam is not done for his family but restricted to one’s family.

Dead ancestors are supposed to live in Pithru loka for some time and either reborn as any being or are in lokas like deva loka, Vaikunta etc or even attained salvation by merging with god. The pithru loka is populated by three group of pithru devas viz, Vasu, Rudra and Adhithya. These devas receive our oblations and make it reach to our ancestors wherever they are and in whichever form they are. The pithru loka is supposed to be on the unseen side of the moon. This portion gets exposed to sun on the new moon days. It is lunch time for the people populating the pithru loka. These pithrus — since they have left the world and are solely dependent on only their progenies to feed them — feeding them through tarpanams assumes importance and therefore it is assumed anyone not doing it will be cursed by Pithru devas leading to absence of male descendents to offer tarpanam to us when we are dead and gone.  

Nobody knows for sure what happens to the soul once it leaves the body. Suppose the soul has been reborn as per the karma theory? If our pitrus are reborn than whom are we feeding? Chances are that dead man would have been born sooner than later rather than he being irretrievably merging with God. Probably for saints like Tyagaraja this could hold true. But for millions of us we can sense the truth of being trapped in cycle of births and deaths owing to our sins that brought us to this earth in the first place. However we are ready to argue and fight till eternity that pitrus are waiting to be fed by us on the premise that our sastras can “never be wrong” and if someone refuses to agree to our views we can straightaway abuse him calling him names to show that how wiser we are indeed in our commitment to sastras.

The point is we have wilfully shaped our belief as definitive and refuse to except a differing viewpoint especially if someone with a different religious denomination disagrees with us. Once a close Muslim friend of mine told me, “why bother and waste money on a dead man once he is laid to rest? Forget him.” Should we take it as hurting our sentiments by an Islamist who cannot but be “anti-Hindu” or should we ponder if there is some truth in what he said? Nobody can say or dare say he holds the patent for the esoteric truth when no saint has even dared to do it. {For those who are waiting to pounce on me that I am questioning the very core of sastras and not intent on preserving Brahminism I wish to say that I am a believer in tarpanams and sradhams}

True, for many of us when we practice age old rituals we feel satisfied and feel there is less tension after we dutifully do the act and see our vadiyar go home satisfied. We feel God will reward us many times more than we paid the vadiyar. It acts as a soothing balm to our troubled mind. The real problem is when we consider rituals as en end in itself it becomes dangerous as we go overboard tending to undervalue the living. Many of us would happily neglect our parents, especially in their old age, than miss performing elaborate sradhams after they are gone. This is a tragedy as the honour for the living comes too late.

A FOOD FOR THOUGHT

This is something to think about when negative
people are doing their best to rain on your parade. So
remember this story the next time someone who knows nothing
and cares less tries to make your life miserable.

A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair
styled for a trip to Rome with her husband. She mentioned
the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:

"Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It's
crowded and dirty. You're crazy to go to Rome. So, how are
you getting there?"

"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a
great rate!"

"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser. "That's a
terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight
attendants are ugly, and they're always late. So, where are
you staying in Rome?"

"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on
Rome's Tiber River called Teste."

"Don't go any further. I know that place. Everybody
thinks it's gonna be something special and exclusive,
but it's really a dump."

"We're going to go to see the Vatican and maybe get
to see the Pope."

"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. You and a
million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size
of an ant. Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours.
You're going to need it."

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo.
The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome.

"It was wonderful," explained the woman, "not only
were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes,
but it was overbooked, and they bumped us up to first class.
The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome
28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot. And the
hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million
remodeling job, and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in
the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and
gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"

"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well
and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."

"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured
the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and
explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors,
and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and
wait, the Pope would personally greet me. Sure enough, five
minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my
hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."

"Oh, really! What'd he say?"

He said: "Who has spoiled  your hair?"

THOUGTS

Om Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram
Om Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram
Om Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram
Om Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram!'

As a mirror reflects all things held

before it, so when your feeling and

mind mirror remain perfectly calm,

you will be able to see reflected in it

the true quality of others. If you are

busy doing good to all, remaining

calm, the true character of whoever

comes to you will be revealed to you.