WHO IS AN OUTCAST?

 

WHO     IS   AN  OUTCAST?

When asked who is an outcast Lord Gautam Buddha replied : Not by birth does one become an outcast , not by birth does one become a Brahman.  It is by the nature of his deeds  that one becomes an outcast or a Brahman.  

According to deeds, an outcast is one who bursts into anger, bears hatred, acts wickedly, thinks  hypocritically, embraces error and behaves  deceitfully.

He is greedy, full of evil desires, wickedness, jealousy and shamelessness. He commits wrongs without fear. 

His birth has no connection with these evil deeds. Even a Brahman who commits these deeds may not be called a Brahman,  

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22nd August 2022.                                            G. R. KANWAL   

LORD KRISHNA SAID

 

LORD KRISHNA SAID

On this birthday of Lord Krishna, let us recall some of his sayings which are eternally preserved in his epic song ‘The Gita’.

The first saying which is most important and gives strength to humanity is that life is not perishable.  It is the body which becomes lifeless at its appointed time. The soul that keeps the body alive is imperishable. It is both birthless and deathless.  It is cyclic, moves from one body, into another.  It is unlike material bodies which can be burnt by fire or cut into pieces by a weapon like a sword. With these words, the Lord successfully makes human beings fearless of death.

Several other sayings of the Lord act as a guide to peaceful and  dynamic life.  Action, says He, is better than inaction. Duty has to be performed as a right but its reward cannot be claimed as a right. Peace depends upon the state of one’s own mind. Too many desires destroy happiness. Anger, lust and greed are the three greatest enemies of humans. . A man is the epitome of his beliefs. Ego and envy are negative forces. Positivity lies in love, compassion and humility. The greatest conquest is the conquest of one’s mind. Don’t’ entertain worries about the future. The present time is the only  real time, embrace it. God can be won only by love. Have empathy. Feel the joys  and sorrows of others as your own.  This will lead to a spiritual union between you and them.   There are five disciplines of the mind to be practiced. These are self-control, purity of thought, gentleness,  silence and  calmness. The mind of man is fickle. It must be made steady by the use of intellect whenever it goes estray.

Make these sayings the guidelines of your life and lead a most successful and joyous life.

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19^th August 2022                                                            G. R.KANWAL

 

 

 

A POET”S PRAYER

 

 

                             A       POET”S      PRAYER

 

WHEN the heart is hard and parched up,

Come upon me with a shower of mercy.        

 

When grace is lost from life, come with

a burst of song.

 

When tumultuous work raises its din

on all sides shutting me out from beyond,

come to me, my lord of silence, with thy

peace and rest.

 

When my beggarly heart sits crouched,

shut up in a corner, break open the  door,

my king, and come with the ceremony of

a king.

 

When desire blinds the mind with

delusion and dust, O thou holy one, thou

wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder.

 

                The author of this lovely prayer is the  Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941), It is taken from his ‘soothing garland of verses’ called “Gitanjali” which won him Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.

                Tagore often addresses God as his king. In the short prayer which is given above, the poet is in an unbalanced condition. His heart has become dry and parched up and the remedy for this is a dose of mercy without which the heart is devoid of delicate feelings. The tumultuous work  which raises a lot of din and shuts up the poet from the silent gates of heaven is unbearable, so he prays to his God of silence, to come with his peace and rest and fill the space with tranquillity.

                The poet treats himself as a beggar who depends on the bounty of his Lord, the king. Whenever his heart becomes poor and he sits crouched up in a corner, he appeals to him  to come with the ceremony of a king and enrich him with the specific treasure that befits a pious and generous  heart.

                                The poet is not in favour of cherishing unholy  desires that blind the mind with dust and delusion. At such a time, he wants God , the Holy One, to come with light and thunder and shake him up so that he wakes up and does not entertain the unholy desires.     

                                 This short prayer is almost a perfect prayer. Though Tagore wrote it and is the supplicating  voice of his own  heart, it may be considered as the payer of every sane and  pious heart in the world.                     

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17^th August 2022                            ,,                                                    G.  R. KANWAL

 

 

 

 

SOME COUNCELS FOR Judges

 

SOME COUNCELS FOR Judges

There is wisdom in old books. Not in all of them but surely in such ones  as scriptures and classics.  

One among the literary classics is a Persian book bearing the title The Qabus Nama , translated into English as A Mirror For Princes,   by a  Cambridge University professor Reuben Levy. This  book contains counsels for princes to be promulged by them in various spheres of their responsibilities.

Given below are some counsels for judges.

Published in the eleventh century this book of wise counsels is  as valid and relevant  as if it had been written just today.

            “Although you (judge, magistrate) should be very unassuming at home, yet in a court of law the more awe-inspiring, stern-faced and unsmiling you are,  the better, in order to preserve the distinction and eminence of your position. Further, be dignified and of few words, but never weary of listening to argument or of making decisions. And never display impatience, but be forbearing; if a problem occurs, do not be content to reply upon your own judgment, but seek advice of jurisconsults also. Keep your judgment unclouded and never rest from studying problems and beliefs.

                The qadi (judge, magistrate) then must be a person self-controlled, God-fearing, pious and capable of elucidating the law. There are certain times at which he should refrain from sitting in judgment. They are when he is hungry or thirsty, at times of personal distress or when some anxiety over everyday affairs distracts him.”

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6^th August 2022                                               G. R. Kanwal