Mother of all religions

Hi,

Musing#19

Like me, many humanitarians worth his/her salt must be really disheartened and saddened by the senseless killings which are taking place in the name of religion.

We have progressed scientifically to reach the fathoms of the sea like the great whales(with submarines ) and soar in the sky Putting the high flying eagles also to shame(with rockets ),but we have regressed spiritually to such an extent that even we are not living as good human beings on this Terra fir ma. All because of religious intolerance.

God created this world. But he did not create these religions. You take any religion and any sane person will agree that religions are creation of mankind over a period of time. God created so many lovely living species, beautiful flowers with enchanting fragrances, seasons, planets, etc. etc.

We will notice that all the creations of God are full of life or they are life sustaining. Whereas man made religions have only snuffed out more lives and they are life threatening.

Religions are similar to the brands created by the marketing honchos. Like every detergent brand claims that by using that brand the clothes will be washed of all dirt and the clothes will reach their ultimate Nirvana by becoming dazzling white. Similarly all the religious bigots claim that by following their religion only every one will be washed of their sins and they will get their ultimate salvation.

In the marketing war fare they go to the extent of belittling the other brands by showing how the clothes washed with other brands become dull or get damaged and still remain dirty whereas clothes rinsed with their brands shine bright, last longer and devoid of all dirt. This we can take even with handful of salt as part of aggressive marketing as this does not cause any great damage to our fellow beings. But adopting the same aggressive method to propagate religion and trying to show one religion as superior to others is causing immense damage and destruction all over. The only thing common in the aggressive marketing of brands and religion is that there is lot of money to be made in both the cases.

We find people following all religions go through the same cycle of birth, misery, happiness, sickness and death then how any one religion can be superior to others.Like all detergents are made up of the same ingredients, similarly all religions also have the same tenets.It is only the religious fanatics who are misleading the faithfuls to fore go the good in their religion and indulge in acts which are contrary to the preaching and practices of their religion.

Let us all get converted back to our original religion called HUMANITY which is the religion of the God who is the manifestation of LOVE.

Let there be only one GOD ....................Love

and only one RELIGION .................................HUMANITY.

To be contd.................

mentor mohan

Long life............. with lots of wives?

Hi,
Musing#18
"Polygamy can aid longevity"
The above catch line is the heading of a news item(TOI,21/8) I came across the other day. As per the details given there, Virpi Lummaa an ecologist and his associate at the university of Sheffield, U.K., has done research on the longevity of polygamous men spread across 140 countries and their finding is that polygamous men on an average lived 12% longer than monogamous ones.But in the case of women their longevity is directly proportional to the number of the grand children they have. The more longer they live, more are the chances of having grand children which further increases their life span. It appears that doting on and pampering the grand children aids their longevity. This they have labelled as the "grand mother effect". But the research did not reveal such "grand father effect" in the case of men, but fathering more kids with more wives leads to increased male longevity as per their research.
My immediate reaction to this was that this is yet another cranky research by a crazy scientist and I was about to trash it when another news item caught my eyes(TOI, dt.23/8) regarding one Mr.Abubakar from Nigeria who is 84 years old and has 86 wives and 170 children(no mention about grand children, may be he lost the count). In this case he has been admonished by the religious authority that as per their law he can have only 4 wives and hence he has to choose only 4 and relinquish the balance and also give his repentance, and if he fails to comply he will face the death penalty.
Two paradoxical things emerged out of this, one may be more wives ensured he became an octogenarian and still going strong and the other is that this may prove to be his nemesis also as if he doesn't comply to this diktat it may cut short his life also.
On a serious note if we really analyse what sustains any life, not just human alone,then only one common factor becomes crystal clear that it is all pervading LOVE.
It is not that with more wives one gets more LOVE. Many a men who had more wives have come to grief, take the case of King Dasarath who got only more misery and his life was cut short .It is not in the quantity but in the quality. Lots of monogamous men also have lived long when they were besotted with loving wives and children.
It has also been proved that people who were advised to keep a pet after recovering from serious illness recovered faster and lived a longer life. The pets Love and affection rejuvenates them. Lonely people who do gardening with lots of love,they also live longer as they can experience the response of the plants to their loving and nurturing care by their beautiful flowering and the fragrance they spread.
In fact we know that our mother earth is revolving around an axis, and that axis is nothing but the axis of LOVE. If the whole world becomes devoid of any LOVE, who knows even the Mother Earth will stop revolving and the whole world will come to a standstill.
That's why it is said,
God is Love and Love is God
mentor mohan

Health is Wealth

Hi ,
Musing#17
All of us are familiar with the good -old adage "Health is Wealth". But does everyone take it seriously and follow a life style which guarantees good health. Unfortunately this is not the case. The prevalence of life style diseases like hypertension(B.P.), diabetes, coronary heart diseases,asthma,cancer etc. are on the rise at an alarming rate affecting the present generation.This, in spite of them ,having a better health care cover compared to the older generation. The older generation followed the dictum of "Prevention is better than the cure" and accordingly led a life style which protected them against these life style diseases. That is the reason many of our parents and grand parents lived past the age of eighty healthily.
By adhering to the following four Good Living Practices(GLP's) as advocated by many health care specialists one can, to a great extent ensure a healthy and long life.
1.Good Nutrition
"We are what we eat". This is a standard cliche, but it is very valid.
By eating right we can ensure good nutrition. Right eating first and foremost means"eat to live"and not "live to eat". As per the level of physical activity we carry out, to eat accordingly and also not to eat to one's heart's content ,if we have to ensure the health of our dear heart.
Avoid........ Red meat, hydrogenated oil(vanaspati),junk food
Restrict.........Meat, eggs, ghee, butter, sweets,desserts,fried food,chillies,salt
Add............. Plenty of vegetables(more fibrous the better),fruits,nuts(Walnut,almonds),yogurt(curds)
2. Good Hygiene
However nutritious our food may be but if our personal hygieneand surrounding hygiene is not good, then also we can not ensure good health.
The following practices are as part of good personal hygiene:
a)Emptying the bowels in the morning everyday is good personal hygiene as otherwise it leads to chronic constipation which is proved to be the triggering factor for many ailments.
b)Having a bath in the morning not only cleanses up and freshens us up, it also induces appetite and improves circulation.
c)"Cleanliness is next to Godliness", hence keep the surrounding clean not only at home or where we live in but in all the places where we spend time like school,offices,etc.
3.Good Habits
In Habit if you remove "H" ........ abit stays,
if you remove "A"also......bit stays,
if you remove "B" also......... it stays.
So, whether good or bad, habits once you cultivate "it" stays.
Hence it is better to cultivate only good habits which will keep us healthy till the end.
Avoid............. smoking in any form, gutka, snuff, binge drinking, pill popping
Restrict.......... alcohol,analgesics(pain killers)
Add........... 30mts. of walking/jogging, 15mts.of yoga, 6hrs. of sound sleep everyday.
If one is committed one can kick any bad habit, like 'yours truly' kicked the but after 36 years of smoking.
4.Good Psyche(Mind/Thoughts)
"A healthy mind is a healthy body". Very true, we may have the most nutritious food, very good hygiene, very good habits but if the mind is restless, agitated,corrupted, depressed or overall unhappy we can not be healthy.
Good mind is entirely due to the thought process of ours. If we have good,positive thoughts the mind is in a state of calmness and it helps all the cells in the body to remain healthy and function properly. On the contrary all the bad and negative thoughts kills large number of the cells in the body and makes the live cells also to malfunction.
Our thoughts are nothing but the constant conversations we keep on having with our own psyche(mind). As good and healthy conversations between people brings about only congeniality and happiness to one and all, similarly good and positive conversations with our own mind will bring about tranquility and happiness to our body thereby all the cells will function healthily and healthy regeneration of cells also will take place regularly.
Avoid............. anger, jealousy,hatred,being spiteful,arrogance,greediness
Have............... empathy,compassion,love,contentment,generosity.
Pass on this four cardinal principles of "Good Living Practices" to all your near and dear ones to see them in good health always.
mentor mohan

Persevarance pays

Hi,
Musing#16
The power of perseverance is such that it can move mountains too. The indomitable spirit paves the way to achieve the impossible also many a times in any walk of life.
Here is a story on a lighter vein to emphasise this.
"My good-old friend Subbu considers himself very intelligent and shrewd. Once he went to a temple wearing a new pair of sandals.As that temple was not only famous for the deity but also for the sandal/shoe thieves (who are always on the look out for brand new sandals), he shrewdly left one sandal in the left corner of the temple and another one in the extreme right corner of the temple. His logic was that as a single sandal will not tempt the thief to steal ,as he can not sell it to any one and as the thieves are usually of lazy nature they will not go in search of the other sandal. He happily went inside the temple patting himself for his shrewdness.
As Subbu was busy praying inside, a thief was surveying outside the temple for a good pair of sandals. His eyes fell upon the brand new sandal of Subbu. He picked up the sandal of left leg and started searching for the right one which was not to be seen. He started wondering about this, even getting a doubt whether the owner of this sandal is a one-legged fellow.He did not want to give it up as the new sandal was very tempting. He wrapped the sandal with an old news paper and put it inside his bag and hid behind a tree waiting to see the owner of this sandal.
After some time Subbu came out of the temple and went to the left corner and to his shock found his new sandal vanished into thin air. He searched desperately in and arond the corner for no avail. This was now being watched by the thief also and he was eagerly waiting for the next move of Subbu. Subbu rushed to the right corner and to his partial relief found his one sandal in its pristine newness lying there waiting for him. He also started wondering whether the thief was a one-legged fellow as otherwise what use a single sandal will be of use to the thief.
Now, the thief was certain that the owner of the sandal will throw away the single sandal as he can not wear a sandal on a single leg and walk around, however new the sandal is.
To his surprise and astonishment the thief saw Subbu also wrapping the single sandal with an old news paper, keeping it under his arm and walking briskly towards the market. The thief followed Subbu and saw him approaching a cobbler. He went very near Subbu and heard Subbu telling the cobbler that he has lost his one pair of sandal of the left leg and asks whether a replica of the same can be made with the help of the right one which he showed to the cobbler. The cobbler studied the single sandal and told that he can make it, but it will cost him Rs 100/- and he will need two days to mke it. Subbu again patted himself for his shrewdness as instead of losing a new sandal worth Rs.600/-, he could with just an addititonl cost of only hundred rupees could wear again the new sandal. He happily leaves the right sandal along with hundred rupees to the cobbler telling him he will come after two days.
The thief listened to the entire transaction between Subbu and the cobbler. The thief cuts across the road to the tea shop and orders a tea and keeps sipping the tea and trying to work out a plan to get the other sandal from the cobbler. An idea suddenly strikes him and he runs across to the cobbler shop and shows to the cobbler the other pair of sandal removing it from his bag and tells the cobbler that he is the servant of the gentleman who has given the cobbler the single sandal and hundred rupees to make a replica sandal for the other leg and as his boss could locate his mis-placed sandal he has sent him to collect back the sandal and also the hundred rupees which was given towards the order.
Seeing the other sandal and the convincing way of the thief the cobbler believes him and gives back the sandal and also the hundre rupees. The thief thanks him and goes away with a new pair of sandals and added to that a reward of hundred rupees for his perseverance".
So, perseverance definitely PAYS.
If you are all keen to know what happenned to my friend Subbu and the cobbler after two days, that is another day and another story.
mentor mohan.

Everything happens for the good

Hi,

Musing#15

Many a times things don't go according to our plan or we have to face sometimes untoward incidents also. At this juncture invariably everybody keeps rueing over their bad luck or misfortune and while away their brooding.

How about taking everything as it comes and consider that whatever happens, happens for the good only.

This message is brought out very well in the following story.

"Once a king and his well learned minister go for hunting in the forest.

While hunting, accidently the right thumb of king gets severed from his hand and he gets

very depressed as he can not shoot arrows from his bow due to loss of his thumb.

His minister in order to console him tells him that whatever has happenned has

happenned for the good only. This infuriates the king very much and in his anger he asks

his soldiers to take the minister back and put him in the prison. For this also the minister

says that this is also happenning for his good only. King thinks his minister has lost his

mental balance.

The king keeps going further alone into the forest to continue his hunting expedition.

Suddenly he comes across a group of cannibals who capture him and they start preparing

to stew the king in a big vessel. As part of the ritual they start examining the king

minutely to rule out any deformity as they can not consume any deformed men, as per

their custom. Then they notice that the king's right hand is deformed without his thumb.

Hence they set him free.

On the way back the king is thankful of his good fortune and recollects his minister's words

that his losing bhis thumb was for his good. After reaching his palace he goes straight to

the prison and releases the minister telling him the incidence with the cannibal.

Also the king asks the minister why he told that imprisoning the minister was for the

minister's good, for which the minister replies that if he was not imprisoned he would have

accompanied the king further into the forest and would have been caught by the

cannibals and would have become their meal as he was not having any deformity.

From that time onwards the king also accepted this philosophy of "Everything that happen

happens fo the good only" .

Hope you all got the message.

mentor mohan

Close encounters of the last kind

Hi,
Musing#14
Recently Kerrang radio of U.K. did an interview with Dr.Edgar Mitchell and it has created quite a furore. In the interview he was asked whether our Mother Earth is being visited by Aliens and his response was an affirmative to this question.
For those of you who are not familiar with Dr. Edgar Mitchell here is his profile.
He Was part of Apollo 14 mission and he commandeered the lunar module and he was the sixth man to set his foot on the moon. He is now 77 years old.
In this radio interview to a question asked "whether he vouches for presence of aliens residing in other galaxies and do they visit our planet earth," his answer was in the affirmative.
We can't dismiss this as some blabbering of a senile man as he is also a doctorate from MIT.
He also holds the record for the longest walk on the lunar surface. (6 hrs plus).
He was also asked whether these aliens are hostile, for which his reply was in the negative and his explanation was that if they are hostile ,by this time they would have conquered our planet and would have been ruling us.
My take on this entire thing is as follows,
1. Yes. We were being visited by aliens regularly and these close encounters were going on for sometime.
2.They were not prepared to move into planet Earth because they found it,not a worthwhile place to move in.(Which residence of Almount Road will move into Dharavi slums in Mumbai or from Shantinagar to Tilaknagar in Delhi)
3.They are baffled by the senseless killing of fellow beings in the name of religion which is beyond their comprehension as they know no religi0n but know only God.
4.They are alarmed at the rate of decaying of this planet,that they have just lost their interest on our planet.
5. They are fed up with all those fake reality shows and the sickening saas-bahu /Desperate Housewife serials as entertaintment in the TV.
6.They are put-off by all the Jittery talks about Collapsing "top lines" and "bottom lines" by the executives whose middle lines ( waist lines) are Ever expanding.
7. They are not able to make any sense of the plummetting and the piking of the "Sensex" and also the controversy BEHIND marriage between the same sexes.
There could be many more reasons for them to shun us and treat us as very backward.
May be we can appeal to God on this ground of backwardness and request for some reservation in heaven for all the earthlings so that at least in heaven all of us will be equal and happy.
God will pose a question to us, as the seats are limited in Heaven by accommodating all of us in heaven , He will be compelled to put all the Aliens in the hell and they will be not pleased with that.
We earthlings will convince Him that, this need not worry Him as after sometime we will ensure that Aliens will have nothing to complain about as there won't be any difference between Heaven and hell due to the socialistic practices of ours that will bring Heaven on par with hell.
Let me close this with a thought provoking quote,
" Every body wants to go to Heaven, but no body wants to die for it."
mentor mohan.

The American way

Hi,
Musing#13
Am Back from my sabbatical, after spending two months in the U.S. Before going on this sabbatical had committed to myself (after goading from many of my well wishers) to give up smoking and lose some weight.
I'm happy I could fulfill both these commitments. I've not smoked for the past two months and also I've lost 8kgs in my weight, which has made me very fit and given me a slim and trim look.
I am thankful to my family and my friend who motivated me and inspired me to achieve this.

I am listing below some of the etiquettes to be observed in the U.S. Which will be useful for all the first time visitors.
1.Hold the door for the people following you.
2.Thank if someone has done this to you or as general courtesy.
3.Mention "you are welcome" if you are thanked.
4.When someone wishes you good day respond by saying "you too".
5. When you enter a restaurant wait to be seated even if the restaurant is empty.
6.In a buffet not to take already used plate but every time to take a fresh plate.
7. Minimum 10% of bill to be given as tip in a restaurant
8. While driving give preference to pedestrians by stopping and allowing them to cross road.
9. Do not honk, it is considered offensive gesture.
10.Do not cut a line in a queue.

I'm also giving below the right words/phrases to be used there.

1. You don't get into a lift to go up but into an elevator.
2. You don't walk on the foot path but on the side-walk.
3.You don't greet people asking "How are you" but "How you're doing".
4.You don't ask for the toilet but for the Rest room.
5.You don't put your baggage in the dicky of the car but in the trunk of the car.
6.You don't ask for take away in restaurant but ask for "to go".
7. You don't fill petrol into your car but fill gas.
8.You don't calculate mileage by Km per litre. but by miles per gallon.
9. You won't be given a challan for over speeding but given a ticket.
10. You refer to black people as African American.

I hope all these will be useful for all those first time visitors to the U.S.
mentor mohan