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Birthday Aspirations I am told that on August 2, I shall turn 98. And I say to myself: “Not I, but my body.” Age belongs to the body. As the Gita says: The body is only a garment which I have worn. I have put on and off innumerable bodies and learnt many lessons. In the body which I now wear, the important lesson I am trying to learn is that I am That which indwells the body. I am neither the body, nor the body-mind complex. To be able to do so, I must take note of the following: 1. My Home is not here. My Home is in Eternity. 2. I must be patient in the midst of difficulties and dangers of life. I must remind myself again and again. “This too, shall pass away.” 3. I must, every day, meditate on death, for death approaches us with each passing moment. 4. I must give the service of love to all. 5. I must seek fellowship with saints and holy men so that the tiny drop that I am may become a mighty ocean, wide enough to hold within it a thousand oceans.
- J. P. Vaswani
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A Teacher of Teachers SADHU VASWANI
A vulgar materialism, a coarse capitalism, and a soulless secularism threaten to strangulate the life of India, today. And no “isms” will save us until we renew ourselves with the healing waters of the wisdom of him, Sri Krishna, who taught that they truly serve who renounce the “ego” and all its allurements. *August 24 is the sacred Janmashtami.
Many years ago, an eminent man of letters said: “A dozen writers have achieved immortality in the past 2,500 years.” Men in different parts still hold debates as to whom to include in the list of the Immortal Twelve. The composite choice of fifteen distinguished writers have fallen on the following twelve: Shakespeare, Dante, Homer,
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Virgil, Balzac, Cervantes, Goethe, Mohere, Plato, Dickens, Milton, Voltaire.
with God; (2) fellowship with man or service; and (3) creativity.
They all have written classics of enduring worth. Not one of them, to my mind, is inspired by a vision so rich, so synthetic, so vital as the Bhagavad Gita, which Sri Krishna gave on the field of Kurukshetra. Centuries have saluted him as Sri Bhagavan, as Krishna the Singer of Love Divine. Krishna’s Name has by many non-Christians been associated with Moses, Zoroaster and Jesus: and these four have been called by them the “great Prophets” of ‘’Revealed Religion”.
Hegel’s contribution to thought was his great insight into the common bond and interest of opposites. Krishna saw the secret of the Life Divine. Among Krishna’s insights was his communion with the lonely and despised, fellowship with the little ones, the gopis. In this insight of Krishna is the refutation of Nietzsche’s “will to power”.
It was an age of crisis, intellectually and politically, when Sri Krishna was born over five thousand years ago. India, then, led civilisation. India’s great scripture enshrined Krishna’s teaching that the ideal aimed at was the Life Divine: and the Life Divine, Krishna taught, was found in the union of love and understanding, of action and sympathy, of aspiration and service of the poor. The Life Divine, outlined in the teaching of the Gita, recognises the Socratic interdependence of “knowledge” and “virtue”, but is really richer. The Life Divine is the synthetic life. The Life Divine is a harmony of the three absolute values: (1) communion
Sri Krishna longed that Aryan India should be a model nation. And Sri Krishna endeavoured to avert the Kurukshetra War. But the War was in the plan of evolution. The War was inevitable: the War could not be averted. In the Kurukshetra War, brother fought against brother. It was a War between two great families. Each family had kshatryas—warriors of valour and renown: and in the War, kshatrya stood against kshatrya. The kshatrya community destroyed itself, and India fell! India has not arisen since. Sri Krishna came to give utterance to the greatest scripture in the world’s history: the Bhagavad Gita is a scripture for Humanity. He started life as an humble man. Out in the open he lived. He tilled the field. He tended the cows, and his heart was
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open to the strange mystic voices of Nature and the inner realm of the Spirit. At last, came through him the Great Revelation of wisdom enshrined in the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavata Purana. This cowherd became a Seer, a Prophet, a Teacher: and they who heard him said never man spake as this man! Sri Krishna was a great Way-shower. He showed the way to multitudes. His way was a blend of karma (action), gyana (wisdom), and bhakti (love). He taught his disciples how to serve and, through service, grow in wisdom and blend service with love. In the teaching of the Gita, Sri Krishna unifies the margas, the ways of earlier teachers, to the Goal of life. Men come by differing roads to the Goal, says the Gita. The Gita is a scripture of synthesis. The secret of Krishna’s insight and his power upon the multitudes was his realisation. He saw the One Universal Life, Vasudeva, flowing into all men, all birds and beasts, all forms of manifestation. In the stars in their courses, as in the birds in their flight, he saw the One Universal Life, the Atman. Seeing the One in all, he saw that love was the mightiest force in life, the constructive, upbuilding power of growth or evolution. He radiated love: his life was a moving picture of
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love. The world, alas! does not yet see the truth of the law of love. The world still believes in strife and fighting and war. And the world is losing millions in pursuing the way of strife and fear and hatred. Sri Krishna’s way is the way of sympathy, cooperation, love. The Kauravas listened not to Him: and the modern world, dominated by desires and selfseeking, listens, not to Him. Yet in His way is still the hope of the world, and nations will not be truly free, until they rise above all cults of exclusiveness to a vision of sympathy, cooperation, love, as the hope of this darksome world. The world needs inspirers and leaders filled with the Krishnaspirit. Thousands of temples have been built to Krishna’s Name: and even on mountain-heights have they printed his Face and his Flute. Yet many, alas! knew Him not! Today, poverty and hunger surround us: the village folk starve: and Governments look on! They turn not to Krishna, a sign and a symbol, to guide their weak, unsteady feet. Krishna loved children. “Of such” He said, “is my Kingdom unseen of men.” At this hour, thousands and tens of thousands of our children, alas! are hungry and homeless. I pray for them every day, and I cry to the Lord: “Remember their tears!”
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JAMSHED*:
CHANNEL OF GOD’S LOVE SADHU VASWANI
India has, today, many distinguished men. I know of not one among them whom I could compare with dear Jamshed in compassionate love for the poor. His religion was compassion. The last days of his life were clouded with sorrow. But he never lost the faith of his heart. He continued to serve the sad and stricken ones: and he served with utter selflessness. Jamshed was one of the humblest men I have known. His faith in Humanity never
wavered. His love for the poor never flagged. His reverence for the simple folk, who lived in the village and the broken cottage, never dimmed. He served them all with faith in Eternal Goodness. Jamshed was like the Kohinoor: hold him to the light, and from each facet is reflected brilliant colour. His voyage came to its end when he was 66. The news came to me in my exile from Beloved Sind, and I exclaimed: “Jamshed! thou hast passed
*Aug. 1 is sacred as the anniversary of Jamshed Nusserwanji.
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away young: Sind hath need of thee! India, too!” I count Jamshed among the great men, among the greatest men, of modern India. Socrates said he was not of Athens but of the world. Jamshed was not of Karachi alone but of India: not of India alone but of Humanity. He revered Zarathustra, the spiritual Leader of his ancestral faith — but, also, Jesus and Krishna, Buddha and Chaitanya, Nanak and Kabir. The Gita, I know, was dear to him as much as the “Gathas” of the Parsi Faith and the “New Testament” and the “Al Koran” and the “Holy Granth”. Jamshed was a big businessman: but he spent the riches of his purse in the service of the poor. Jamshed was elected nine times as the Mayor of Karachi. He was the President of the Rishi Dayaram College Board. He was a member of the Mira School Board: and he blessed the School by presiding at an annual function of the Institution. His talk to teachers and students will not be easily forgotten. Near to him in thought and love were the poor and needy: he served them day and night. His heart was a healer:
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his face was full of kindness and love. St. Teresa beheld the Lord walking “among the pots and pans”: to Brother Lawrence God spoke “amid the clatter and confusion of the kitchen.” Brother Jamshed beheld God walking among the poor and lowly of the Lyari Quarter, Karachi. Born amidst wealth and comfort, he learnt to renounce luxury, to live on simple food, and wear simple clothes. Like Kagawa, in Japan, Jamshed loved to be with the poor and glorified God as a servant of the simple, the lowly and the lost. “Compassion”, was the secret of Jamshed’s life. At the age of fourteen, he saw the agony of a cow being dragged to a slaughter-house and he forthwith gave up meat-eating: he became a vegetarian. Jamshed, a brother of the poor, became a brother of the bird and the beast. His ‘’Daily Prayer” gives us the key to his map of daily life :— O Lord! Make me useful: Make me harmless: Make me pure: And make me A channel of Thy Love! The deepest aspiration of his life, indeed, was to be a “channel of God’s Love”.
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SADHU VASWANI
What is prayer? Prayer is out-pouring of the heart.
the treasures world.
What is prayer? Prayer is offering flowers plucked from the garden of the heart.
And I sometimes say prayer is a voyage of discovery. For, if you but know how to pray, you begin to discover a mighty world around you, the Spiritworld. And even as you learn to pray, more and more, you come in touch, more and more, with the Spirit-world. To pray is to receive the key to a mighty spiritual treasure. Jesus asked his disciples to ask of the Master.
What is prayer? Prayer is the cry of the wounded heart to the Beloved. What is prayer? Prayer is the soul’s ascent to the mount of vision. This word, this English word, “prayer”, means, literally, “asking”. I recall the words of Jesus spoken on a memorable occasion to his disciples. Jesus said: “Ask and it shall be given to you.” Prayer is “asking”. Asking for what? And asking how? Prayer is asking for the key to
of the
Spirit-
How shall we ask? And what shall we ask? We have a beautiful word for “prayer” in the ancient Indian language, the Sanskrit language. That word is, upasna. Do you know what upasna means? The
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literal meaning, of the word is, up-asna, “sitting under”. That is prayer, “sitting under” the influence of the Spirit. And sitting here with you, beneath these beautiful trees and under the ancient skies, I have felt that I have been sitting under the influence of the Spirit. Prayer is sitting under the influence of the Spirit. Blessed is this evening when we, sisters and brothers, are met together with trusting hearts in this beautiful spot under the influence of the Spirit. Many years ago, when I was in England, one sweet little English girl came to me and said to me: “Teach me what to pray.” I said to her: “My child! the Spirit alone may teach us what to pray.” But she said: “You must speak to me: you must give me some words which I may recite everyday!”
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And I passed on to her the words of an ancient rishi: “Out of darkness lead me into light!” And I said to her: “Recite these words and, in silence, meditate on their meaning.” I was staying with the parents of this girl: I was a guest in their house. One day, I looked into a little room and saw her sitting, this sweet English girl, and she was lisping the words: “Out of darkness lead me into the Light.” And she offered the prayer in such sincerity, with such love in her heart, I saw her face illuminated, her eyes aglow with light, and I said to myself: “I have seen the Face of God.” True it is, that from time to time you see a person filled with the spirit of prayer, and gazing at his face you feel that you see the Face of God.
TEN TIPS Ten tips for daily living: 1. There will never be another ‘today’ so make the most of it. 2. Include other people’s happiness in your own. 3. Laugh from your heart. 4. Put your heart into every thing you do. 5. Learn to say “Yes!” instantly. 6. Accept others as they are. 7. Be a friend to all. 8. See your work as service and an opportunity to give. 9. Be happy in yourself not in outer circumstances. 10. If you don’t like what you see, try changing your angle.
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Fear Not! God Is With You! J. P. VASWANI
[1] She was a sweet child of God. She had been bed-ridden for many months. At times her pain became almost unbearable: it was so excruciating that, she told me once, were it not for her faith in God, she would want to shoot herself. But there was always a beautiful smile on her face. And out of her parted lips the words came, again and again: “This, too, is for my good, Lord! Blessed be Thy Name!” It was my privilege to be of some little service to her, from time to time. She bore all sufferings in the true heroic spirit. She was a girl of deep, abiding faith in God. And many came to her for blessings: she blessed them all. And she prayed for them, for she believed profoundly in the power of prayer. I found her, one day, in the throes of physical agony. I said to her: “Beloved sister! why do you not pray to God to cure you? He will surely answer your prayers!” And she said to me that there were three important reasons why she had never asked God to cure her: 1. God is Love, all-loving Love. And He will never send
us pain unless it be for our good. “Physical and other maladies,” she said to me, “are not without a purpose. They come to teach us lessons we need to grow in the Life Divine. When these lessons are learnt in full, the afflictions fall of themselves”. “One of the lessons I am learning in this illness,” she added, “is that it is the body that suffers. I am not the body. The body is but a garment I have put on to fulfil the Plan God has meant for me. What I am, in essence, may not be touched by physical affliction or mental suffering. I am of the Atman whom, as Sri Krishna says in the Gita, weapons cannot cleave, fire cannot burn, waters cannot wet, and wind cannot dry away.” 2. The seeker after God should aspire to do God’s Will and not even dream of asking God to do his will. “If it be God’s Will that I suffer bodily pain,” she said, “then I should not wish to be well. If God wills anything for me, it is because He loves me: and if I desire that God should not will it for me, it means that I do not want God to love me. Better were it for me to burn in the fires of hell and be loved by God than, that I should enjoy the
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pleasures of heaven and be far from His love. His love is all that matters. And when I know that He loves me, the pain He sends becomes sweet.” I understood why, in spite of the excruciating pain, there always played a sweet smile on her radiant face. 3. “To ask God for anything short of Himself appears childish to me,” she said. “When, in prayer, I go to God, I can never ask Him for any worldly favour or comfort. I ask Him to give me the gift of Himself. When He is mine, all that He has is already mine! I have no need of anything.” [2] Suffering is of two types: 1. There is the suffering we create for ourselves through violation of the laws of life, through impure thinking and wrong feelings, through wild imagination and unbalanced emotion, through harmful habits and unhealthy desires, and through a wrong use of our energies and powers to unworthy ends. Such suffering serves no useful purpose. Such suffering can, and should, be avoided by bringing our thought, will and imagination under control and by directing our energies to the fulfilment of life’s true purpose on earth. So many of us go out of our way to create unnecessary suffering for ourselves. The
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cause of most of our sufferings is that we cry over spilt milk, we worry over things which have already happened and for which nothing can be done; we let this worry spoil our present; and we look with fear to an unknown future. Fear of the future makes us imagine all sorts of horrible things. I know of a girl who, for many months, lived in mortal fear of a dread disease which she thought would soon overtake her. Her parents argued with her: eminent doctors examined her carefully and pronounced the verdict that there was no chance of her being attacked by the disease. All to no avail! Every .moment of her life she lived in fear. She could not eat: she could not work: she lost all interest in life. Her suffering was terrible, until she met Sadhu Vaswaniji. He spoke to her lovingly. He let her open out her mind to him. He asked her to abandon all fear and, in its place, cultivate childlike trust in God, who is the loving Father-Mother of us all. “In Thee I trust! To Thee I surrender myself!” When we grow in this attitude, we are freed from fear of the future and are saved much needless suffering. The future is not in our hands. We may not have a future at all. Or, when it actually comes, it may be so-different from what we imagine it to be. The future
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has been concealed from us by a loving Providence. Why probe into what God chooses to hide from us? To do so is to invite suffering. For, bitter is the fruit of man’s wisdom. Let us trust without seeing. Let us live without trying to unveil that which has been veiled to our sight. Let us build our life in the words of Jesus which have a deeper practical significance than most of us may know: “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof!” 2. The second type of suffering is that which comes to us from God. It is not the result of the violation of the laws of life. It comes to the best of men, to the noblest of souls. It came to Krishna and Christ, to Buddha and Zoroaster, to Moses and Muhammad, to Nanak and Kabir, to Chaitanya and Mira, to all lovers of God and Man. This type of suffering does not come alone: it brings with itself the strength which endures, the comfort which lends sweetness to suffering. This is what distinguishes it from suffering of the first type. Unaccompanied, as it is, by the soothing touch of God, the suffering which man creates for himself becomes hard and unbearable: it breaks down his spirits and throws him into an abyss of grief and despair. The suffering which comes
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to us from God is for our good: but we do not understand this until we have cast all thought of self aside. When the self is thrown off, then and only then do we behold the loving Hand of God in every circumstance and situation of life. Everything that happens works for our good. The seeming cruelty and injustice of men, their selfishness and ruthless disregard of values we hold dear, are seen to be the results of God’s infinite goodness and unfailing love. [3] Whom God loves, He makes him suffer pain and loss for His sake. Whoever would be chosen of God must gladly submit to a process of purification. He must be prepared to pass through the fire of suffering: he must be purified as thrice-burnished gold. He must be found worthy of facing trials and tribulations, of courting dishonour and disgrace for the love of God. In a passage of great beauty, the beloved poet of Sind, Shah Abdul Latif says: “I have known of no one who met the Beloved in happiness!” The Law of Love is the Law of the Gross, the Law of Sacrifice. Shah Latif sings: They who embrace the Cross And surrender their life-breath, To them is given the vision of God! To the seeker after God
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difficulties and dangers, trials and temptations come in an endless procession. He does not shun them: he is not anxious to avoid them. The man who tries to escape trouble finds himself, sooner or later, in more serious trouble. Such is the law. The right way to overcome trouble is to accept it, make it a part of one’s life. For no trial comes to us without a purpose. Every trial is a teacher (Guru): it has some lesson or the other to teach. Trials must not be resisted. To resist is to make strong. Do not resist trials: but welcome them. Everything that we welcome is transformed. Suffering is transformed into love. This is the great mystery of life. Physical pain, mental agony, spiritual anguish, nothing lasts for ever. Everything lasts for as long as it has its work to do. When it has completed its task, it falls away like the dead, dry leaves of autumn. Many are the problems and perplexities that a pilgrim has to face, as he treads the Path. He knows that every one of them is necessary. So he does not complain. But he accepts each difficulty as it comes, makes it a part of his life, is enriched by it, and moves on one step nearer the goal. There are periods when a pilgrim finds himself
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surrounded by utter darkness. At such times, he finds it difficult to welcome trials and temptations with enthusiasm: but in no case does he avoid them. Deep within him is the faith that though the situation be exasperating enough, if only he can be patient and trusting, God will come and lead him by the hand out of danger to security, out of defeat to victory, out of darkness to Light! [4] The one practical way to meet a difficult situation is to walk right up to it, to look it in the face with courage and determination, and with the prayer: “So help me, God!’’ It is only when we are unwilling to meet a difficulty or are afraid to face it that it gets the better of us. When trusting in God, we go forward to meet it, as we would meet a friend, the impossible happens. What was thought to be a trial, what appeared to be a source of danger and difficulty, is seen to be a blessing in disguise. My thoughts go back to an incident which occurred in the days of my boyhood. It was a small incident to all appearances: but it taught me a lesson which I have not forgotten. It was the year 1925. I was a student in a Primary school: a private tutor taught me English at home. I asked a friend to give me a story book (in English), and
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he promised to bring it on the Holi Day, With eyes of shining expectation, I looked forward to get the book. A knock was heard on the door. I eagerly moved forward to open it. The sight which greeted me struck me with terror. There stood before me a boy with the fearful face of a lion. I screamed and ran back. Out of the lion’s mouth issued words in a sweet, familiar voice: “Be not afraid! ‘Tis I, Govind, thy dear friend! I have brought for thee the promised story book.” Immediately all fear vanished. I began to laugh. I moved forward to embrace my friend. I touched his face and found it covered with a mask of cardboard. The fearful lion’s face: dropped down at a single touch, and my dear friend’s face stood revealed in all its beauty and loveliness. Ever since, I have tried to look at difficulties and dangers, trials and temptations, as friends who come to me with fearful masks, but who always bring rich blessings. Meet every difficulty bravely. Do not try to avoid it. And you will find that difficulties are gifts which God sends us for the enrichment of our interior life. He is the Lord of Compassion and Love: and His works are ever the works of mercy. If only we trust Him and surrender ourselves to Him, asking Him to lead us wherever He will, fearing
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nothing, avoiding nothing, but rejoicing in all that He sends us, no harm can ever happen to us. And through every circumstance and situation in life will flow to us the Love and the Joy and the Peace of God. We must always find some reason or the other for which to feel thankful to God. If there is one thing which God loves, it is an humble, thankful heart. Even in the darkest hours of life, if only we turn around, we shall not fail to find something for which we should feel thankful to God. [5] Everything we have really belongs to God. It is ours so long as He chooses to keep it with us. The wealth of the world, its possessions and power, are a loan to us from God. If He takes back anything, who can blame Him? What reason have we to grumble or to complain? A Rabbi loved his two sons more than life. Every evening, as he returned from work, he would meet them, embrace them, seat them by his side and then eat his evening meal. One evening, he returns home, calls out his children by name and receives no answering response. He calls them again; again there is no answer. He feels restless. His wife asks him to take his food as it is getting cold. Reluctantly, he sits to his meals.
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His wife asks: “Tell me, husband! if some one left two precious pearls in my custody and after several years came back to claim them, would I be right in refusing to return them? “What a question!” the Rabbi exclaims. “Go, wife! and restore to the owner the two pearls, without delay!” After the Rabbi has finished his meals, his wife takes him to an inner apartment. There lie the dead bodies of their two sons covered in a white sheet. The Rabbi is disconsolate with grief: he bursts into a fit of weeping, “Why do you grieve?” says his wife to the Rabbi. “Did you not say a little while ago that what belongs to another must be restored to him without delay? Our two sons were precious pearls given us by God. He gave: He has taken. Blessed be His Name!” “Yes,” repeated the Rabbi, “He gave: He has taken. Blessed be His Name!” All that we have belongs to God. He is the Kul Malika, the absolute Owner of all that is. If He chooses to take back anything, or all that we have, He has but taken what belongs to Him. What reason is there for grief or sorrow? But He is the Compassionate One. And if there is a thing He takes away, He gives us something better in return. His “taking” and
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“giving” have always our good in view. When this “insight” comes to us, we pray out of the depths of our hearts the prayer of Jesus, which is, also, the prayer of the saints and the satpurukhas of humanity: “Thy will be done!” When troubles come to man, and he accepts them as gifts of God, he is not alone. God is with him. And he feels happy. Significant is the prayer of a disciple of Christ: Lord! grant me That I may be in trouble at all times! When I am in trouble Thou art beside me. And so, if troubles leave me not for a single moment, I shall have Thee with me at all times! What really matters is that we have Him at all times. Without Him the best boons of life are bitter as gall. With Him the deadliest poison is sweet as amrita (nectar). This realised Mira. And when the Rana sent her a poison, she beheld in it the beauteous Face of her Beloved— Sri Krishna—and readily drank it in. It became sweet as amrita. And Mira felt stronger, purer, more radiant, after drinking the poison. God is our greatest need: God is our one and only need. True it is, as St. Augustine says, the man “who is not satisfied with God is very avaricious and wise.” And
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again: Lord! If Thou turnest us away from Thee, Give us another Thee For we want nothing but Thee! One mark of the man who wants nothing but God is this: he is not afraid of trials and tribulations. To him trials are a proof of the love of God. Whom God loves, He chastises: “God slays His loved ones!” sings Shah Latif—the best-beloved poet of Sind. God tries and tests His chosen ones as gold is tested in the crucible. There is a beautiful incident in the life of St. Anthony. He has renounced the world for the love of God and is staying in a desert. Far from the madding crowds of men, he lives a life of communion with God. He has nothing to do with the world and its allurements. Yet even he is not free from trials. One day, he undergoes intense suffering. After he emerges from his trials, he says to God: “Ah! Beloved God! where wert Thou when I was in great distress?” And he hears the Voice of God say: “My child! I was with you all the time, even as I am with you now!
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But I wanted to see how brave you were!” Brave, heroic men, is what God wants. Well sang a saint of Gujarat: Only, a hero may tread this Path! Only he who hath offered His life and his all May take the Name of the Lord! He who accepts suffering, and sorrow as sacraments, he learns to offer his life and his all as a sacrifice unto the Eternal. He is a true hero. For him is the way of Lord. And as he treads the way, he finds that life’s difficulties and dangers do not arrest his progress: they but spur him on! He learns to summon new forces, new powers into action. He walks the way of victory. The sunlight of God’s presence is on the path he treads. He moves on, unafraid. He crosses dangerous territory with no fear in his heart. The Grace of God is with him and that is all he needs. Nothing can conquer him. He conquers everything, in the love and strength of God. God is his unfailing Friend: and there can be no failure with Him!
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Children’s Corner
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FARM FUN
Can you find the answers to the word problems listed below? 1. ire + c
= — — — — (grain)
2. thaw + e = — — — — — (grain) 3. relay + b = — — — — — — (grain) 4. ump + 1 = — — — — (fruit) 5. ape + r
= — — — — (fruit)
6. plea + p = — — — — — (fruit) 7. low + f
= — — — — (animal)
8. some + u = — — — — — (animal) 9. shoe + r = — — — — — (animal) 10. new + r = — — — — (bird) 11. gale + e = — — — — — (bird) 12. chin + f = — — — — — (bird)
DOT-TO-DOT PUZZLE Connect one to thirty-five— every single dot. Do this carefully to see who is doing what.
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HIDDEN-PICTURE PUZZLE Can you find 13 hidden items in this picture? Look for 2 sea gulls, 3 fish, 3 shells, a sailboat, a snail, a starfish, an anchor, and a snake.
Dot-to-Dot Puzzle: a rabbit ringing a bell. Answers: Farm Fun: 1. rice, 2. wheat, 3. barley, 4. plum, 5. pear, 6. apple, 7. wolf, 8. mouse, 9. horse, 10. wren, 11. eagle, 12. finch.
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SIMPLE RULES OF HEALTH 6 AWESOME BODY HACKS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE Research, as well as common sense and personal experience, is showing us that small hacks help solve many common and annoying little problems we encounter daily. These hacks can improve your sleep, promote digestion, hold back tears, and even cure hiccups. Hacks are either based on information obtained through personal experience or through general real world experiences. While some hacks are approved by science, many are not necessarily scientifically or medically recognized. The key is to remember these hacks so you can use them when needed. Here are 6 awesome body hacks that will change your life. 1. Drink Upside Down to Reduce Hiccups It can be really annoying as well as irritating when you get a nasty case of hiccups in a public place. To reduce hiccups immediately, you need to increase the level of carbon dioxide in your bloodstream. Drinking water upside-down can help achieve this. It will take your mind off of your hiccups, which is also said to help stop hiccups. To do this: Fill a glass with cold water. Bend down at the waist and put your head down. Drink the water
from the opposite side of the glass than you would normally. If needed, repeat again. This remedy may not be feasible to do if you are in a public place. In such cases, try to hold your breath as long as you can, then exhale as slowly as you can. 2. Drink Cool Water to Suppress a Yawn When you are sitting in class listening to a lecture or attending a meeting, yawning is another annoying issue that most of us have to deal with. Yawning sends the signal that you are disinterested or bored. To suppress yawning, opt for a glass of cool water and sip it slowly. It will rejuvenate the body and suppress the feeling of yawning for some time. You can also try taking a few deep breaths through your nose and exhaling through your mouth until the urge to yawn has passed. 3. Hold Your Eyes Open to Prevent Tears Crying is an emotional reaction that most of us have to go through from time to time. But there are times when we all wish that we could just hold back our tears, especially in public places. Whenever you feel like crying and want to hold the tears back, hold your eyes open without blinking. This will prevent the tears from forming.
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If you’ve already started crying, blink a few times quickly to stop the flow of tears. Turning your face upward and looking up can also help prevent crying. Another option is distraction through pain. To do this, just pinch the webbed piece of skin between your thumb and index finger. The harder you pinch, the sooner you can stop yourself from crying.
The Pericardium (P6) acupoint can help get rid of nausea and vomiting. This point is located between the two large tendons on the inside of your wrist. To locate the point, measure three fingerwidths below the base of your palm.
4. Sleep on Your Left Side to Prevent Acid Reflux Acid reflux, which is characterized by heartburn or burning pain around the lower chest area, most often occurs after having a heavy meal for dinner. If you are prone to acid reflux, try sleeping on your left side. This will keep your stomach lower than your esophagus, which will prevent stomach acid from sliding up into your throat. Avoid sleeping on your right side. According to a 2000 study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, a right-side sleeping position causes higher acid levels and an increased incidence of acid reflux as compared to sleeping on the left side. Another option is to chew gum after eating a meal and going to bed soon after.
In this trial, women who received P6 acupuncture reported less nausea as compared to women who did not receive acupuncture.
5. Use Acupressure to Relieve Nausea If you’re prone to motion sickness while flying, or are dealing with nausea for another reason, try acupressure to feel better immediately.
A 2002 study published in the journal Birth reports that acupuncture can treat nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy.
Press this P6 point with your thumb for a few minutes. Repeat several times, as needed. 6. Scratch Your Ear to Stop a Tickling Throat When you’ve got an annoying tickling throat, you may wish you could shove your fingers down your throat to scratch it and stop the itch. But this is impossible to do. Instead, just scratch the back of your ear to stop a tickling throat. Avoid scratching too hard as it can cause scratch marks on the soft skin behind the ear. Scratching stimulates the nerves of the ear, which in turn creates a reflex in the throat that causes a muscle spasm. This relieves the tickle in your throat. Another option is to blow your nose to expel nasal blockage, one of the causes of a tickling throat. Drinking a glass of warm water is another simple way to get rid of a tickle in your throat.
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Recipes For the Month
THUVAR DAL Ingredients: Tuvar dal...................................................1 cup Ghee.............................................1 tablespoon Fenugreek seeds............................ ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds................................... ½ teaspoon Asafetida powder...................................a pinch Salt................................................ ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder............................ ½ teaspoon Ginger, cut in long strips.............................. ½” Drumsticks or potatoes (optional)...............3-4 Curry leaves.................................................... 8 Green chillies.................................................. 4 Coriander leaves Tarmarind water......................... 4 tablespoons Sugar............................................1 tablespoon Method: Soak the dal for about an hour and then boil it in four cups of water till it becomes soft. Rub it through a sieve. Heat the ghee and brown the fenugreek, cumin seeds and asafetida. Add the liquid dal, salt, turmeric, ginger, drumstick or potatoes. Lower the heat and stir occasionally. After about twenty
minutes add curry leaves, green chillies, coriander leaves, tamarind and sugar. Simmer for another fifteen minutes. Add more water to bring it to the desired consistency. CHURI MOONG DAL Ingredients: Moong dal................................................1 cup Turmeric powder........................................1 tsp Green chillies chopped.................................... 2 Salt.......................................................... ½ tsp Butter or ghee.........................................2 tbsp Pomegranate seed powder........................1 tsp Method: Soak the dal. Boil it on a moderate fire in three cups of water. Add the tumeric and the green chillies. When it becomes quite soft, drain out any water still left. Then put in the butter/ ghee and pomegranate seed powder while it is quite hot. Shake the pan and cook for a few minutes more on the flame. The grains of the dal must be whole and dry, and not mashed. Serve with puris.
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SINDHI CURRY
TOMATO CURRY
Ingredients: Toovar dal – soaked and boiled, strained................................½ cup Tomatoes- pressure cooked and strained...........................................1½ kg Ladies finger, washed and slit.............. 100 gm Drumsticks,..................................................... 2 cleaned and cut to about 2 inch pieces Guvar, cleaned and washed.................. 100 gm Beans...................................................100 gms Green chillies, finely chopped......................... 4 Ginger, finely grated..................... ½ inch piece Besan (gram flour)..................................1 tbsp Red chilli powder.......................................1 tsp Tumeric powder....................................... ¼ tsp Sugar.........................................................1 tsp Kokum.......................................................2 tsp Hing (asafetida)....................................a pinch Mixture of rai, methi, jeera.......................1 tsp Oil.......................................................... 2 tbsps Curry leaves.................................................few Salt........................................................to taste
Ingredients: Thoovar Dal (soaked boiled, strained)...½ cup Tomatoes pressure cooked, strained.......1½ kg Ladies finger washed and slit..............100 gms Drumsticks cleaned and cut to about 2” pcs... 2 Guvar cleaned and washed.................100 gms Beans cleaned and washed..................100 gms Green chillies finely chopped.......................... 4 Ginger finely grated.......................... ½ “ piece Besan........................................................1tbsp Red chilly powder.......................................1tsp Haldi........................................................ ¼ tsp Sugar.........................................................1 tsp Kokum.......................................................2 tsp Hing.......................................................A pinch Mixed rai, methi, jeera...............................1tsp Oil............................................................2 tbsp Curry leaves............................................. A few Salt........................................................to taste
Method: Boil the dal and tomatoes. To the dal add 3 cups of water while straining. Heat oil in a thick bottomed vessel. Add hing, followed by besan. Add rai, methi, jeera. Fry for a few seconds Add chopped green chilies, curry leaves, grated ginger. Lower the flame and stir continuously till besan becomes a golden brown and gives off a lovely fragrance. Add red chilli powder, add haldi, boiled dal and tomato puree. Add salt to taste, sugar, and the kokum. Add the guvar, beans and let it come to a boil on a high flame. After 10 minutes add the drumsticks. After another 10 minutes add the ladies fingers. Reduce the flame and let it boil, till the veggies are cooked. It takes about ½ an hour to 45 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with steaming white rice.
Method: Boil the dal and tomatoes. To the dal add 3 cups water while straining. Heat oil in a thick bottomed vessel. Add hing, then besan, then rai, jeera and methi. Fry for a few seconds, add the chopped green chillies, curry leaves, grated ginger. Lower the flame and stir continuously till besan becomes a golden brown and gives off a lovely fragrance. Add red chilli powder, haldi, boiled dal, tomato puree. Add salt to taste, sugar and the kokum. Add the guvar and beans and let it come to a boil on a high flame. After 10 minutes, add drumsticks and lady’s fingers. Reduce the flame and let it boil till the vegetables are cooked. It takes about half an hour to 45 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with steaming hot rice.
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