LIFE AND LAUGHTER

 

          LIFE AND LAUGHTER

It will be a blessing if we make laughter a feature  of our existence. Unfortunately, we don’t do so. We believe in being sad and serious. We think that to laugh is to misbehave. This is a grave misunderstanding. God does not want us to be gloomy when He has placed us in a vastly beautiful world where flowers bloom, birds sing, rivers flow, mountains welcome us with snow, cool water quenches our thirst, delicious fruits gratify our hunger, the bright sun lights our ways and the shining moon and stars fill our eyes with delight.

To laugh is to thank for all God’s blessings. The Indian mystic and philosopher Osho (1931-1990) said: Existence is hilarious. If you have eyes to see the hilarious points you will be surprised : in life there is no place to be serious. Everybody is slipping on banana peels  --- you just need an insight to see.”

The English essayist and poet Charles Lamb (1776-1834) considers a laugh worth a hundred groans. Another English essayist Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) thinks :“The man who cannot laugh is not only fit for treason, stratagems, and spoils ; but his whole life is already a treason and a stratagem.  According to the English novelist Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) :”A good laugh is sunshine in a house.“ And John Dryden, the English poet and literary critic (1631-1700) thought : “It is a good thing to laugh, at any rate; and if a straw can tickle a man, it is an instrument of happiness. Beasts can weep when they suffer, but they cannot laugh.”

People who don’t laugh suffer from perpetual melancholy which can be healed only by adopting the habit of frequent laughter.   

Finally, this anonymous quote : “A good laugh makes us better friends with ourselves and everybody around us.”

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G.R.Kanwal

7^th October 2024  

 

         

 

CHANGE IS THE LAW OF NATURE

 

CHANGE IS THE LAW OF NATURE

The English poet Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-92) says in his long poem Morte d’Arthur ”: And slowly answered Arthur from the barge:   

“The old order changeth, yielding place to new,

And God fulfils Himself in many ways,

Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.

Comfort thyself: what comfort is in me?

I have lived my life , and that which I have done

May He within Himself make pure! But thou.

If thou shouldst never see my face again,

Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer

Than this world dreams of.”

 

            The truth “Change is the only constant thing” is explained in many verses of the Bhagvad Gita. One of them reads: The mind is always happy in change. If you are in a busy place, you will feel happy by going to an isolated place. But, if you are in an isolated place, you will be happy by going to a busy place. Thus  happiness is not in any place or external atmosphere.  It is in the change of the state, which is totally related to one’s mind.

 

            Change should be for the better. It should give us a new progressive outlook. No change should mean stagnation, orthodoxy and rottenness. The English philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon  (1561-1626) said : He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils and according to the English poet-dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616) : It is not strange that even our loves should change with our fortunes.  

                       

             Let us note that the world we live is evolutionary,  involving or causing a complete or dramatic change. It is not static even for a minute. From dawn to dusk and from dusk to dawn it exhibits numerous changes. This is besides rotation of weathers and seasons.

 

            Finally this quote by American author Jim Rohn (1030-2009): Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.

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G.R.Kanwal

6^th October 2024

 

KNOW THYSELF

 

KNOW THYSELF

Greek philosophers were unanimous in the demand: Know thyself. However, this is not possible as soon as you become an adolescent. You are a joint product of heredity and environment. You inherit a lot from your parents and also from your environment. Education or any sort of training makes you what you ultimately become. There are rare persons who are born as what they do as adults. Born poets, born leaders, born scientists, born businessmen, born fighters, etc. are few and far between.

Everybody is not born with a readymade destiny. Nearly all of us are the architects of our fate and for that it is necessary to know what our predominant abilities are.

French philosopher Chateau de  Montaigne  (1533- 1592) said: I study myself more than any other subject; it is my metaphysics, and my physic.

According to the German poet and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)  “How shall we learn to know ourselves? By reflection? Never; but only through action. Strive to do thy duty; then shalt thou know what is in thee.

It is also the duty of the state to educate men and women according to its social needs. A state needs all sorts of workers and professional to fulfil its needs. Whereas we need manufacturers of medicines, we also need doctors to recommend their consumption.

A UNESCO report says educational systems must be changed off and on to meet the latest requirements of the ever-changing world.

   There is another eternal saying:  “Never lose sight of this important truth, that no one can be truly great until he has gained a knowledge of himself, a knowledge which can only be acquired by occasional retirement. “

Finally, this quote by the Chinese philosopher and writer  Lao tzu ( 571 BC---?)   “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is wisdom.”

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G.R.Kanwal

5^th October 2024

FORGIVENESS AGAIN

 

FORGIVENESS AGAIN

Forgiveness is one of the cardinal virtues. Although crime and punishment, sin and retribution go together, yet it cannot be denied that God is great. Forgiveness is one of His perpetual  qualities. Man commits wrong, God overlooks it if He is approached through genuine prayer.

There are many thoughts on God’s and great people’s nature of forgiveness. For example:

i).To err is human; to forgive divine. ---English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744).

ii). He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven; for everyone has need to be forgiven.---English divine and poet George Herbert (1583-1633).

iii). We hand folks over to God’s mercy, and show none ourselves. ---English novelist George Eliot (1819-80).

iv). Life that needs forgiveness has for its first duty to forgive.---English novelist Bulwer-Lytton (1803-73).

v). Never does the human soul appear so strong, and noble as when it foregoes revenge, and dares to forgive an injury.---American clergy E.H.Chapin(181480).

vi). Little, vicious minds abound with anger and revenge, and are incapable of feeling the pleasure of forgiving their enemies. ---English courtier Philip Stanhope Chesterfield (1694-1773).

             It is not once or twice that people commit a legal or moral wrong. They do so many times and it is many times that they seek forgiveness. Never deny it because  it is never too late to mend.

            Finally, this short but a most effective quote: Blame keeps wounds open. Only forgiveness heals.

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G.R.Kanwal

4 October 2024

CONSEQUENCES OF WAR

 

          CONSEQUENCES OF WAR

‘War’ is defined as a situation in which two or more countries or groups of people fight against each other over a period of time.

In olden times, especially when there were no nuclear weapons to use, the consequences of war were also  terrible but not so terrible as they emerged to be after the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6 1945 at 8.15 AM.  The second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9 at 11.02 AM.

By the end 0f 1945, the aforesaid bombing had killed an estimated 140,000 people in Hiroshima, and a further 74, 000 in Nagasaki.

In the years that followed, many of the survivors had to face leukemia, cancer, or other terrible consequences from the radiation.

Now, more often than not, resolution of disputes is preferred through dialogue, not through wars.

Large scale death and destruction are the minimum consequences of war. To these may be added long-term physical and psychological harm to children and adults, as also reduction in material and human capital.

A German proverb says: “A great war leaves the country with three armies --- an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves.” The French military officer and statesman Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) considered war the as business of barbarians.

The 3^rd U.S.President Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) believed :”War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses.”

Finally, this short but most effective quote: “ The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.”

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G.R.Kanwal

3^rd October 2024

 

SPEAKING ABOUT MAHATMA GANDHI

 

          SPEAKING ABOUT MAHATMA GANDHI

Today 2^nd October 2024 is the 155^th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. His full name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was born at Porbandar on 2^nd October 1869 and was shot dead on 30 January 1948 at Birla House, New Delhi.  

He was an Indian lawyer, politician, social activist, and writer who became the chief leader of the Indian Independence Movement against the British Rule.

He did not use any armed force against the foreign rulers. His weapons were truth, non-violence, Sarvodaya  (progress of all) and Satyagraha (use of soul-force against all forms of injustice, oppression and exploitation).

When India became free on 15 August 1947, the grateful people of the country started calling him the Father of the Nation for his role in the fight against the British. Earlier, it is believed, that the Indian poet, writer and statesman Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) called him ‘Mahatma’ and Gandhiji called Rabindranath Tagore (the composer of the national anthem of India) ‘gurudev.’

   Gandhiji will remain immortal for his two ideals : non-violence and truth (Ahimsa and satya).

His final resting place is called Raj Ghat which is situated in New Delhi.

His birthday (2^nd October) is observed as national holiday.

The main purpose of life, according to Gandhiji, is to live rightly, think rightly and act rightly. The soul, he says, must languish when we give all our thought to the body.

His two other important sayings about life are :  (

1): It does not mean enjoyment -----eating, drinking and making merry----but praising God, i.e., rendering true service to humanity.

(2).“Live and let live or mutual forbearance and toleration is the Law of Life. That is the lesson I have learnt from the Quran, the Bible, the Zend Avesta and the Gita.

Finally, the following saying:

“ God is Light, not darkness. God is Love, not hate. God is Truth, not untruth. God alone is great. We, His creatures, are but dust. “

G.R.Kanwal                                                  ********

2^nd October 2024

 

IDLENESS

 

          IDLENESS

Idleness is used both in the negative and positive sense. Compulsory idleness like rest, repose, interval, unemployment is not bad or objectionable. For example, if a machine or factory is idle, it is not immoral. It is rather reluctant inactivity. A person who fails to get a job for no fault of his cannot be called an idler. One who is idle by his own choice is a sinner. He is inexcusable. He forgets that idleness is one of the seven deadly sins, the remaining six being ----lust, gluttony, greed, anger, jealousy and pride.    

Some synonyms of idleness are : laziness, inertia, indolence, lethargy, languor, inactivity, etc.

Idiomatically, an extremely idle person is good-for-nothing; he is a  couch potato and his mind is a devil’s workshop.

According to psychiatrists idleness is a cause of poor health, organic ailments, anxiety, depression, loss of memory, gloominess, etc.

The American author Richard E.Burton 1861----?) says:”Idleness is the bane of body and mind, the nurse of naughtiness, the chief author of all mischief, one of the seven deadly sins, the cushion upon which the devil chiefly reposes, and a great cause not only of melancholy, but of many other diseases; for the mind is naturally active; and if it be not occupied about some honest business, it rushes into mischief or sinks into melancholy.“

The English writer Thomas Carlyle (1705-1881 ) who struggled hard for many years to support himself by writing found perpetual despair in idleness.

Another English writer and poetess Hannah More (1745-1833)  said: “Idleness among children, as among men, is the root of all evil, and leads to no other evil more certain than ill temper.”

Finally, this short but relevant quote: Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and idleness, its opposite.

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G.R.Kanwal

1^st October 2024