GENEROSITY

 

          GENEROSITY

Generosity is the willingness of a person to give somebody money, gifts, time or kindness freely and frequently. Its synonyms are, liberality, hospitality, charitableness, benevolence, bounteousness, open-handedness, magnanimity , lavishness, philanthropy, etc.  

  The quality of generosity is found not only in the very rich or not so rich but also in those who have not enough and to spare. It is not only a social but also a religious quality. It is an act of sharing and feeling happier.

God is the most generous of all of us. He has given away all for those whom He has created. There is no miserliness in Him. Even the tiniest creature gets his requisite food and other requirements.

English author Francis Quarles (1592-1644) said : He that gives all, though but little gives much; because God looks not to the quantity of the gift, but to the quality of the giver.

Also note that he who gives what he would as readily throw away does not perform an act of generosity because the essence of generosity is self-sacrifice which makes one happier and spiritually stronger. This type of generosity takes him/her closer to God.

Finally, the viewpoint of Roman naturalist Pliny The Elder (23-79}: I would have a man generous to his country, his neighbours, his kindred, his friends, and most of all his poor friends. Not like some who are most lavish with those who are able to give most to them.”

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G.R.Kanwal

23 June 2024

 

REMEMBERING SANT KABIR

 

REMEMBERING  SANT KABIR

Today (22 June 2024) is being celebrated as the birth anniversary of the mystic poet Sant Kabir  who was born in1398 in Varanasi and died at the age of 120  in Maghar (Uttar Pradesh). He was an abandoned child, picked up and adopted as his own by a Muslim weaver and named as Kabir.  

After some struggle because of being a Muslim, he won the spiritual mentorship of great Vaishnava saint  Ramananda.

Kabir believed that God is one and is called by different names such as “Ishwar”, “Allah” etc.

He advocated Hindu Muslim Unity. His emphasis was on devotion to God and Truth. He had no faith in religious rituals and pilgrimages.  

He believed in brotherhood of man and abstained from caste distinctions. Salvation, according to him, could be achieved only through good and righteous deeds.

Kabir regarded the guru, the spiritual teacher, as the source of all wisdom. His logic was : “If Hari becomes angry, there still is some chance of not being adversely affected; but if the Guru gets angry, then there is no chance whatever.”   

            Kabir’s teachings are available in his poetry. Here are two quotations:

1.The Yogi dyes his garments, instead of dyeing his mind in the colours of love. He sits within the temple of the Lord, leaving Brahma to worship a stone.

 2. Set not thy heart on the worship of other gods, there is no worth in the worship of other masters. Thus thou shalt never find the Beloved.

            Finally, a partial English translation of Kabir’s: JAB MAIN BHULA RE BHAI, by one of the greatest Indian mystics OSHO (1931-1990):

  I do not ring the temple bell : I do not set the idol on its throne: I do not worship the image with flowers. It is not the austerities that mortify the flesh which are pleasing to the Lord. When you leave off your clothes and kill your senses, you do not please the Lord: The man who is kind and who practices righteousness, who remains passive amidst the affairs of the world, who considers all creatures on earth as his own self, he attains the Immortal  Being, the true God is ever with him. Kabir says:’He attains the true Name whose words are pure, and who is free from pride and conceit.’  

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G.R.Kanwal

22 June 2024

 

WORLD MUSIC DAY

 

WORLD MUSIC DAY

Music is defined as sounds that are arranged in a way that that is pleasant or exciting to listen to. It may be sung or played on instruments. It is as old as this universe though the celebration of World Music Day (June 21) is a recent phenomenon.  In India there is an ancient Sanskrit Veda of melodies and chants called Samaveda.

Today there is hardly an occasion where music in not used. In fact, we are born with music and leave this world with music. Most of our social events and festivals are celebrated with music.

 Music is liked by everybody -- children, youngsters, adults, elderly persons, etc. Prayers all over the world are musical. None of the sacred books is void of musical renderings.

One of the powerful quotes on music says: It touches our hearts, enriches our souls, and creates connections that transcend time, culture, and language. In every note, every rhythm and every melody, the power of music echoes, and one’s journey becomes a magical composition of emotions and experiences.

Lovers cannot do without some sort of music. English dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616) says in Twelfth Night, Act 1, Sc,1.: “ If music be the food of love, play on.”

In another play Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Sc.1: he says:

“The man that hath no music in himself,/Nor is not mov’d with concord of sweet sounds,/Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;/The motions of his spirit are dull at night,/And his affections dark as Erebus:/Let no such man be trusted.” Note: In Greek religion Erebus is the god of a dark region.

Here is a humorous quote: No music no life, know music know life.

Music is a great tranquilizer.  It de-stresses you, uplifts your mood, cures  insomnia and makes you emotionally upbeat. .

According to German humorist Jean Paul Richter (1763-1826) music is the only one of the fine arts  in which not only man, but all other animals, have a common property,--mice and elephants, spiders and birds.

Finally, let us agree that music is the fourth great material want of nature, --first food, then raiment, then shelter, then music.

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G.R.Kanwal

21 June 2024

 

SOME THOUGHTS ON READING

 

                SOME THOUGHTS ON READING

In education, reading is one of the four major skills. It is also a part of literacy.

In India 19^th June is celebrated as ‘Reading Day’ to recognize Puthuvayil Narayana Panicker’s contributions to promotion of literacy and libraries. He belonged to Kerala.  

There is no full literacy in India even today. Literacy and reading of old and new books, magazines, newspapers, and documents  depends on literacy.

“World Books Day” is also celebrated. It comes off on 23 April, the birthday of English poet-playwright William Shakespeare (1564-!616), and recognizes “the scope of books – a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures.”

 Today a lot of reading is taking place all over the world and due to this  knowledge has become power.

English essayist Francis Bacon (1561-1626) said:”Reading serves for delight, for ornament, for ability .----The crafty condemn it; the simple admire it; the wise use it.”

American theologian Tryon Edwards (1809-1894) said: “Always have a book at hand, in the parlor, on the table, for the family; a book of condensed thought and striking anecdote, of sound maxims and truthful apothegms. It will impress on your own mind a thousand valuable suggestions, and teach your children a thousand lessons of truth and duty. Such a book is a casket of jewels for your household.”

Finally, I would like to say reading is the cheapest entertainment and a most lasting pleasure for every literate person.

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G.R.Kanwal

20 June 2024

 

THIS, TOO, SHALL PASS AWAY

 

          THIS, TOO, SHALL PASS AWAY

This, Too, Shall Pass Away is a  famous poem by Lanta Wilson Smith. She was born on July 19, 1856 at Castine, Main, and died on October 19, 1939 at Taunton, Massachusetts.

As a prolific  poet, she contributed her poems to many different publications including the Inter Ocean , Zion’s Herald and Ram’s Horn.

This, Too, Shall Pass Away is one of her most famous poems. Its theme is the transient nature of life. No event whether good or bad, sorrowful or joyous, is everlasting. Nothing stays in this world; everything comes for some time and then disappears. None  should, therefore, take any event as endless.

Let any situation, good or bad, glad or sad may come. We should always react with these words: “This, Too, Shall Pass Away.”  

     Here is the full text of the poem:

WHEN some great sorrow, like a mighty river,

Flows through your life with peace-destroying power,

And dearest things are swept from sight forever,

Say to your heart each trying hour:

“This, too, shall pass away.”

 

When ceaseless toil has hushed your song of gladness,

And you have grown almost too tired to pray,

Let this truth banish from your heart its sadness,

And ease the burdens of each dying day:

“This, too, shall pass away.”

 

When fortune smiles, and, full of mirth and pleasure,

The days are flitting by without a care,

Lest you should rest with only earthly treasure,

Let these few words their fullest import bear:

“This, too, shall pass away.”

 

When earnest labor brings you fame and glory,

And all earth’s noblest ones upon you smile,

Remember that life’s longest, grandest story

Fills but a moment in earth’s little while:

“This, too, shall pass away.”

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G.R.Kanwal

19^th June 2024

 

 

 

 

 

I SHALL PASS THROUGH THIS WORLD BUT ONCE

 

                I SHALL PASS THROUGH THIS WORLD BUT ONCE

“I Shall Not Pass This Way Again” is another title of the same poem. The author of both the versions is the same, i.e. Etienne de Grellet. He was a Quaker missionary. Born in France on 28 October 1772, he died in the United States on 16 November 1855. Some anthologies have published his poem without his name because the poem was not then available in his anthology.

The subject matter of the poem is available in the Holy Bible.

            By its very tone and purpose the poem is inspirational. Its gist should be read and remembered by every human being like this : “I shall pass through this world but once, Any  good , therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. “

            Here is the full text of the poem “I Shall Not Pass This Way Again”:

“Through this toilsome world, alas!

Once and only once I pass;

If a kindness I may show,

If a good deed I may do

To a suffering fellow man,

Let me do it while I can.

No delay, for it is plain

I shall not pass this way again.”

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G.R.Kanwal

18^th June 2024

  

TRUE LOVE

 

                   TRUE LOVE

Love is a matter of the heart.It is mostly concerned with our feelings and emotions. It attracts us spontaneously towards somebody. Its synonyms are : life- long affection, fondness, care, concern, attachment, regard, warmth, intimacy, devotion, adoration, passion, yearning, etc.

            In his sonnet No, CXVI , English poet and dramatist  William Shakespeare (1564-1616) says : Love is not love/Which alters when it alteration finds,/or bends with the remover to remove. According to him: Love is not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks/Within its his bending  sickle’s compass come./Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, /But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

            The English author Maria Jane Jewsbury (1800-1833) says : Love is the purification of the heart; it strengthens and ennobles the character, gives a higher motive and a nobler aim to every action of life, and makes both man and woman strong, noble , and courageous; and the power to love truly and devotedly is the noblest gift with which a human being can be endowed; but it is a sacred fire that must not be burned to idols.

            Personally, I would like to say that a  man or woman whom we truly love is a religion.

            To conclude, let me say that true love is a great healer. No medicine can match its divine vitality. If you have a true lover in the shape of a friend or relative or anybody else  you don’t need any  physician to diagnose your illness and prescribe a medicine.

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G.R.Kanwal

17^th June 2024