S0ME THOUGHTS FROM MY MEMORY

 

                S0ME THOUGHTS FROM MY MEMORY

1. He who digs a pit for others himself falls into it.

2.  When you think of God, you think of this truth: If you take perfect from perfect, what will remain will be as perfect as before.

3. The man who claims that he knows, knows nothing.

4. Wealth cannot satisfy a man.

5. A man does not kill nor is he killed.

6. Everything owes life and movement to Spirit.

7. Matter is life.

8. Life is immorality.

9.  Blunderers, charlatans, weaklings cannot attain the Self. It is attained by the pure, daring and cautious man.

10. Om is Spirit. Everything is but Om.

11. Food is the chief of things. It is the universal medicine.

12. Food has three qualities ---the grossest becomes excrement; the finest mind, and whatever is midway becomes flesh.

13. Mind comes from food and life from water.

14.There  are six gods : Fire, earth, wind, air, sun,  and sky.    

15, Education is a preparation for life.

16. Some people praise ancient times. I admire the present.

17.Every thing appears  yellow to a jaundiced eye.

18. Lies have short legs but long wings.

19. Religion belongs to the higher mind of humanity.

20. Even in madness there is method.

                                    G.R.Kanwal

                                    16 September 2026

 

                                     

A BEST LOVED POEM

 

A BEST LOVED POEM

 

            The poem that is quoted below is one of the best-loved inspirational choices. It is written by the English poet and philanthropist Adelaide Anne Proctor (1825-864) . She had started writing invigorating  poetry when she was just a teenager.

 

            Unfortunately, she died young at the age of 30 years.

 

            Her poems were published in the English novelist Charles Dickens’s periodicals Household Words and All the Year Round. The subjects of these journals  were “homelessness, poverty, and fallen women among whom she performed philanthropic work.“

 

                        The  title of one of her famous poems , which is reproduced below,  is    Now.

 

                        The message  of the poem lies in these selected lines:

                        *Rise! For the day is passing

                         And you lie dreaming on.

                       

                        **Rise from your dreams of the Future---

                         Of gaining some hard-fought field.

                       

                         ***Rise ! if the Past detains you,

                          Her sunshine and storms forget.

                       

                        ****Stay not to sharpen your weapons,

                          Or the hour will strike at last,

                          When, from dreams of a coming battle,

                           You may wake to find it past!

                                                …..                                                                                                      The full text of the poem follows:                         

                               

 

RISE! for the day is passing,

And you lie dreaming on

The others have buckled their armor,

And forth to the fight are gone:

A place in the ranks awaits you,

Each man has some part to play;

The Past and the Future are nothing,

In the face of the stern To-day.

 

Rise from your dreams of the Future,—

Of gaining some hard-fought field;

Of storming some airy fortress,

Or bidding some giant yield;

Your Future has deeds of glory,

Of honor (God grant it may!)

But your arm will never be stronger,

Or the need so great as To-day.

 

Rise! if the Past detains you,

Her sunshine and storms forget;

No chains so unworthy to hold you

As those of a vain regret;

Sad or bright, she is lifeless ever;

Cast her phantom arms away,

Nor look back, save to learn the lesson

Of a nobler strife To-day.

 

Rise! for the day is passing;

The sound that you scarcely hear

Is the enemy marching to battle:

Arise! for the foe is here!

Stay not to sharpen your weapons,

Or the hour will strike at last,

When, from dreams of a coming battle,

You may wake to find it past!

 

                                                ********

G.R.Kanwal

15 September 2026

AN INSPIRATIONAL POEM

 

AN INSPIRATIONAL POEM

            To inspire a person is to encourage, animate, elevate, exalt, cheer. hearten, or invigorate him.

            A psalm is a hymn, sacred song, song of praise, religious song, or anthem.

            The title of the poem which is given below is ‘A PSALM OF LIFE.’ It  was written by the American poet and educator HENRY Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882).

           

            The principal message of the poem is that it is unwise to treat life as an empty dream. Life is, on the contrary, a  hard reality. It has to be lived actively and fruitfully. There should be no pessimism about the purpose of life. To fill it  with enthusiasm and the intention to make it lofty, grand, elevated, dignified, glorious, magnificent, or superb, one should study the biographies of great men which remind the readers that they can make their lives sublime, and departing leave behind them footprints on the sands of time. These footprints dissolve pessimism, low spirits, and a feeling of inability.

 

            H. W. Longfellow tells the readers:

                        Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

                          Is our destined end or way:

                          But to act, that each tomorrow

                          Finds us farther than today.

 

            The text of the complete poem follows:

               

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

   Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

   And things are not what they seem.

 

Life is real! Life is earnest!

   And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

   Was not spoken of the soul.

 

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

   Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

   Find us farther than to-day.

 

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

   And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

   Funeral marches to the grave.

 

In the world’s broad field of battle,

   In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

   Be a hero in the strife!

 

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!

   Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act,— act in the living Present!

   Heart within, and God o’erhead!

 

Lives of great men all remind us

   We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

   Footprints on the sands of time;

 

Footprints, that perhaps another,

   Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

   Seeing, shall take heart again.

 

Let us, then, be up and doing,

   With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

   Learn to labour and to wait.

                                    *********

G.R.Kanwal

13 September 2026

SOME VIEWS ON MAN

 

                    SOME VIEWS ON MAN

               The statesman and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom William Gladstone (1809-1898) said :  Man himself is the crowning wonder of creation; the study of his nature  the noblest study the world affords.

               According to the English romantic poet Lord Byron (17881824) : Man is half dust, half deity, alike unfit to sink or soar.

               The writer and former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom  Edmund Burke (1729-1797) had this to say: How little man is; yet, in his own mind how great ! He is lord and master of all things, yet scarce can command anything. He is given a freedom of his will, but wherefore? Was it but to torment and perplex him the more? How little avails this freedom, if the objects he is to act upon be not so much disposed to obey as he is to command!

               The English poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) said in his play Hamlet, Ac 1, Sc.4:

               What a piece of work is man ! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty ! In form and moving how express and admirable ! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals!

               The last view is by the English poet and translator Alexander Pope (1688-1744). It is extracted from his poem  An Essay on Man: Epistle II:

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;

The proper study of mankind is man.

Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,

A being darkly wise, and rudely great:

With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,

With too much weakness for the stoic’s pride,

He hangs between; in doubt to act or rest,

In doubt to deem himself a god or beast,

In doubt his mind or body to prefer,

Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;

Alike in ignorance, his reason such,

Whether he thinks too little or too much:

Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;

Still by himself abused or disabused;

Created half to rise and half to fall,

Great lord of all things, but a prey to all;

Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:

The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!

 

                                                            *********

G.R.Kanwal

11 September 2026

 

WHAT, IF YOU ARE GREAT?

 

                WHAT,  IF YOU ARE GREAT?

            What, if you are great and you are looked upon by lots of people as : mighty, powerful, invincible, unparallel, god-like, authoritative,  terrible in the use of your powers, resources, arms, and  all that?

                You may be a great king, emperor, ruler, governor, leader, conqueror, etc.         

                  You may be having many followers, helpers, subordinates, hirelings, slaves, servants, coordinators, partners, etc.  

                        Your material resources may be unlimited. Your arms and weapons may be deadliest.  Your fighters and soldiers may be uncountable.

                        In spite of every asset mentioned above you are not immortal. You will die one day. Your empire will come to an end. Your friends and followers and the people at large who were just like your slaves will forget you.

                        Here is a sonnet titled Ozymandias written by the famous English poet Percy Bysshe Shelly (1792-1822). Its moral is that all human power, greatness, and pride are transitory,

                        “No matter how mighty a ruler is or how vast their empire becomes ,time and nature will inevitably destroy their legacy and reduce it to dust.”

                           The full text of the sonnet follows:

                                                OZYMANDIAS

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:

And on the pedestal these words appear:

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

 

G. R. Kanwal

10 th September 2026

 

TWO VIEWS ABOU EAST AND WEST

 

                TWO VIEWS ABOU EAST AND WEST

            It was Rudyard Kipling ,the English poet, journalist and novelist (1865-1936)  who wrote in his  1889 poem  ‘The Ballad of East and West’, that ----

            Oh, East is East and West is West,  and  never the twain shall meet,

             The Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;-----

           

            But there is neither East nor  West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,

            When two strong men stand Face to face, though they

            Come from the ends of the Earth!”

 

            According to Kipling Eastern and Western cultures are so fundamentally different that they can never truly understand each other or come together.     

 

            Now look at the views of the Indian academic, philosopher and statesman who served as the President of India.

 

            Whereas  Rudyard Kipling won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907 , Dr. S, Radhakrishnan was honoured with The Bharat Ratna , the highest civilian  award  of the Republic of India in 1954.

            Disagreeing with Mr. Kipling  Dr. S. Radhakrishnan  said there was no reason to believe that there are fundamental differences between the East and the West.

            Human beings are  everywhere human and hold the same deepest values. The differences which are, no doubt, significant, are related to external, temporary social conditions and are alterable with them.

           

            East and West are relative terms. They are geographical expressions and  not cultural types. The differences among countries like China, Japan and India are quite as significant as those among European or American countries.

 

            Specific cultural patterns with distinctive beliefs and habits developed in different regions in relative isolation from one another.

            The world has now reached a stage of inter-communication. All societies are fast becoming industrialized and new sets of values are springing up. We are called upon to participate in the painful birth of new civilization. If we are to live together in peace we must develop international co-operation and understanding.

                                                ********

G.R.Kanwal

9 September 2026     

 

LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

 

          LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

            Lead Kindly Light is a poem written by Cardinal John Henry Newman. He was an English poet, theologian and academic. Born on February 21, 1801. In the city of London, England ,  he died in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, on August 11, 1890.

            His poem mentioned above is a spiritual lyric. It is loved and appreciated by every reader who knows human pride which ultimately ends in humility.

            Initially, man regards himself self-reliant in the difficult journey of life. His pride enables him to lead a life of enjoyments with no thought of God. But not long after he faces difficulties. Darkness envelopes his path and he feels the need of step by step light,  which means divine help and guidance. His pride vanishes giving enough room to humility. He then bursts into a hymn addressed to God and prays : Lead Kindly Light. The word ‘Light’ symbolizes God who is kind to humans when they surrender themselves before Him.

                 The poet believes that the end of earthly life and suffering will result in meeting his loved ones who died in the past and are presently in heaven with peaceful angelic faces.

                        The full text of the poem which was written in 1833 was the result of an unfortunate event that caused fever to the poet, making him not only physically sick but also emotionally distressed.

                                    LEAD KINDLY LIGHT

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,

Lead Thou me on;

The night is dark, and I am far from home,

Lead Thou me on.

Keep Thou my feet;

I do not ask to see the distant scene;

one step enough for me.

 

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that

Thou shouldst lead me on;

I loved to choose and see my path; but now

Lead Thou me on.

I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, pride ruled my will; Remember not past years.

 

So long Thy power hath blessed me, sure it still

Will  lead me on.

O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till

The night is gone;

And with the morn those angel faces smile,

Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

                                                *******

G. R. Kanwal

8 September 2026

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