Wednesday, September 29, 2004

When does Coal turn into Diamond?

A strict disciplinarian, he was dogmatic in everything and extremely fastidious when it came to household chores. He rarely appreciated anyone. He had a judgmental character and was distrusting of everyone around him. He scolded anyone for committing the simplest of mistakes. He was a grumpy old man, my dad.
Needles to say, I and my siblings and our mom were full of resentment and indignation coupled with a feeling of helplessness for as long as he was alive.

Now, the reason I have divulged this, is because it occurred to me today that this man, my dad had played his role extremely well from a spiritual standpoint. He was placed in our midst for a divine reason; for us to learn patience and forgiveness and he provided plenty of opportunities for us to practice them. We must have been quite stubborn in learning the virtues, so he had to be tough. We weren’t thankful for the opportunity. So we couldn’t move on to a different experience. It was all perfectly orchestrated. Without pressure, coal wouldn’t turn into diamond.

This thought dawned on me as I was praying in the morning and as I do everyday, I was thanking God for everything he has blessed me with by going over a list in my mind and I was drawn to thank my dad for providing me the opportunity to be forgiving and patient. This simple act of thanking greatly reduced the resentment and indignation that I held in my mind and I realized the more I practice gratitude, the easier it will be for the virtues of forgiveness and patience to become part of my consciousness.


The Universe provides us with challenges all the time with only one purpose, to experience the various attributes. If you go through these experiences with equanimity, acceptance and gratitude, your experience becomes complete and hence it will be easier to tide over them. Resistance is futile.

So what challenges and pressures are you facing currently? What do you think you are supposed to learn from them?

Sunday, September 26, 2004

Serendipity at the Used book Sales store

One of my favorite activities is to browse through the 'Used Book sales' at my local library. What I love about it is the serendipity. I have been drawn to so many topics that otherwise I would have never come across even though they are fairly common topics. Frankly I am surprised at the topics that interest me.
It is like looking at yourself in a mirror, the topics that appeal to you are part of who you are, sometimes those parts
have been ignored or buried because of the busy lives we lead.

Some of the material that I have read/glanced include Speed Reading, PowerSpeaking, Public Speaking, Improve your memory, Photography, lot of books on Self-help, motivational topics by Anthony Robins, spiritual texts by Deepak Chopra, Neale Donald Walsh, Puzzles, Gardening, Autobiographies by Sam Walton, Lee Iacocca , Stock market, Relationships, Parenting (bought a couple of books recently titled '52 Simple ways to teach your child about God' and
TV-Proof your Kids) , Child development
and many many more.
I have to mention though, I don't read every single book from cover to cover, sometimes I read only a few sections or
even a few pages but I believe that that's all I need to know from them at that time. It doesn't hurt that it costs just a quarter.

Sometimes they are fun, sometimes they are even answers to my problems.
For example, once I was upset at myself for accepting an assignment at work when I was already overwhelmed and that day a book jumped at me titled 'Don't say yes when you want to say No' by Herbert Fensterheim . Hmmm.... Quite a message that was.
You bet I bought that book and read it. It even helped.

I love the excitement of not knowing what book might jump at me.
There are scores and scores of titles and I keep an open mind while I glance at all topics.

Everyone should try this sometime. It is fun and I feel it provides a means for God to answer your prayers, if you are listening.


Friday, September 24, 2004

Hello World !!!

I am delighted to BE here !!!

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