A Fountain of Wisdom: Lessons for Every Soul

 A Fountain of Wisdom: Lessons for Every Soul

 

One day, a merchant, an old man, and his young daughter happened to meet by the side of a clear, sparkling fountain. On the fountain was an inscription that read: “Learn from me!”

 

Each traveler paused and reflected on the message, drawing a unique lesson from the flowing water, shaped by their own experience and understanding.

 

The merchant spoke first.

“I see how this fountain began as a mere trickle but, as it journeys toward the sea, it is joined by brooks and streams until it becomes a mighty river. From this, I learn that we too should begin our work, however small, with determination. Over time, with effort and support, even humble beginnings can grow into great business enterprises.”

 

The old man then shared his thoughts.

“To me, the fountain teaches quiet service. It gives its water freely, asking nothing in return, serving both friends and strangers alike. I believe we too must serve others selflessly and silently, just as this fountain does.”

 

Finally, the little girl spoke with innocence and clarity.

“I think water is only useful if it’s pure. Even animals won’t drink it if it’s muddy. So I believe we should keep our hearts and lives clean and pure. Only then can we be truly useful.”

 

Though the Teacher is one—the fountain—the lessons drawn were different.

Everyone learns according to their aptitude and capacity.

In the great school of life, a day in which we learn nothing is a day lost.

  The Gita’s Timeless Guide to Greatness: Wisdom Beyond Time, Ego, and Limits

What inspired astronaut Sunita Williams to carry the Bhagavad Gita into space? What gave Olympic shooter Manu Bhaker the strength to strike gold? What guided Mahatma Gandhi through his monumental journey? The answer lies in the timeless wisdom of the Gita — a text that has illuminated paths to greatness for centuries.

Life often feels like a roller-coaster — soaring highs, gut-wrenching lows. We chase success, only to stumble into stress and burnout. We seek love but fall into conflict. We dream of greatness, only to be lost in routine. Is it possible to rise, to achieve, to love, without being broken along the way?

The Gita says: Yes.
But it doesn’t merely offer feel-good quotes — it provides a structured, scientific approach to living. Like gravity or motion, the Gita’s principles are universal. They cut through confusion, clarify purpose, and build inner strength. Ancient in origin, yet astonishingly modern in relevance.

Harvard research shows only 15% of success comes from knowledge. A whopping 85%? It’s attitude. Yet, most people invest 100% in facts and zero in mindset. We're often trapped in self-centeredness — the very thing that limits our potential. True greatness begins when we transcend the self.

Legends lived this truth.
Ustad Bismillah Khan played the shehnai for love, not awards. Einstein wasn’t chasing a Nobel — he was driven by wonder. Eric Liddell, Olympic gold medallist, said simply, “God made me to run, and I run for God.” That’s where excellence is born: from purpose, not pressure.

Success isn't reserved for the wealthy or the naturally gifted. Not everyone can be a Tendulkar. But every soul carries equal spirit. That’s the real power source. When you recognize your talent as a divine gift and act in gratitude, you unlock flow, focus, and fulfilment.

The Gita also reveals the root of broken relationships — attachment. When love gets polluted with selfish desire, it becomes transactional. But pure love — selfless, steady — transforms everything. It turns struggle into celebration, tasks into joy, and duty into devotion. As Christ echoed, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Above all, the Gita develops what modern education ignores: the intellect.
Many geniuses have fallen not from lack of talent, but from lack of direction. Diego Maradona’s brilliance faded due to poor choices; Messi thrived because of discipline. Elvis Presley had talent beyond compare, but no intellectual anchor. The intellect governs the mind’s impulses, brings stability, and fuels long-term growth. Yet no school teaches it — only wisdom traditions like the Gita do.

The difference between mediocrity and mastery, chaos and clarity, destruction and destiny — lies in this higher guidance.

 

 

IF HE EXIST

 I drive joy there was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting 7 precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

ILLUSTRATED REVIEW : 7thheaven moment of the week IN gt won by 7 wk    

Mind according to Vedanta

Quote from true charm and power of Vedanta

Mind according to Vedanta 

During the dream-state, the mind becomes free from the body idea; it becomes associated with any impression that may be prevalent in the mind. When it is dominated by that impression, the mind has a particular ego idea. A dreamer can have any kind of ego. A queen may think she is a beggar-woman. Any kin d of ego can exist there because you do not know which impression will be prevalent in a person while dreaming. The will and power of judgement that are associated with the ego idea based upon the physical body, does not exist anymore. therefore, we do not have any kind of self –determination or definite will in the dream state . We do not have even any definite judgement of consistency or property in dream. In dream state a person does not have a definite ego idea, one does not have nay definite standard of judgment so nothing seems incoherent inn a dream. One also lacks in will power and one cannot resist when resistance is necessary. Any tendency, desire or idea may be prevalent of that time. We are actually at the mercy of the tendency or desire that prevails at that time. Being influenced by the desire or will, or wish, the mind creates an image or picture out of those impressions. The impressions become concretized. Just as we can see a picture painted on a canvas in al three dimensions, similarly , this mind is like a piece of canvas painted by al these imprison gathered during waking hours. 

How to fulfil your genuine desire for bliss

We all are striving hard to attain full satisfaction in a persistent manner. In the material world, nothing can give us such ecstasy. Consumption of a normal good is characterised by diminishing marginal utility; meaning that the additional consumption of the same good renders less and less satisfaction. Thus, we get fed up with it and look for another good to give us a feeling of complete satisfaction. But that also follows the same rule. There is no peace.
In the midst of this chaos, the truth is that complete bliss is possible to attain only through this life. Thus, unknowingly at the subconscious level, there is a constant struggle to seek the state of satiety, though we look for it materialistically. This happens because we get guided by our natural tendencies and the craze for an easy solution. The desire to attain bliss is genuine but the mechanisms we adopt to reach it can be faulty.

It is in this context that rationalisation and the role of conscience become important. The Buddha showed the path of withdrawal from indulgence in the material world and the perusal of the ultimate state through a disciplined life. The attainment of nirvana leaves a feeling of complete satisfaction and bliss. And interestingly, all this is possible only by accepting life. As Ramakrishna pointed out, what appears to be an illusion can actually manifest itself later as a part of truth. Thus, Ramakrishna’s Vedanta is unique and unravels a realistic approach. First attain it, spending time in silence and isolation, later look at the material world and realise the oneness. A combination of detachment and persuasion unfolds the mystic presence.

Introspection in silence establishes a unique connection between the vast and the individual. Even while one is in the midst of the duties and responsibilities in the material world, a sweeping breeze blows over to touch the mind and takes it away to an unknown state of joy. It is as if you have mingled with ecstasy itself and your every part of existence bears the ultimate happiness. Tagore tried to define it as an embodiment of an unembodied existence in your whole presence. The Vaishnavite simplify it in terms of the music flowing from the flute of Krishn, engulfing the existence of Radha and imparting ethereal joy. For, he stays nowhere but in the company of his devotees.

To an ignorant person, of course, a liberated soul may appear to be wandering aimlessly. But within that wandering, he has actually achieved what cannot be explained in words. His joy is too enormous to be defined materialistically.
The unique aspect of spiritualism is that it takes the individual to such heights that all desires get washed away with the glow of composedness that one is able to acquire. The Buddha suggested that we make repeated attempts to attain nirvana. Using an altered expression, Ramakrishna said that he would like to enjoy the enormity in different forms and in different ways. Thus, one can completely empty oneself forever. Once the lamp is lit in this world, its radiance will be evident in the path of eternity. The writer is professor of economics at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi

IF HE EXIST
 I drive joy There was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting ten precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting ten minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste ten minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 10 minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

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Healing of body and Mind

 Quote from the True Charm and power of Vedanta

Healing of body and Mind

Convinced that he is not the body and that he does not possess it; the wise man attains oneness with his higher Self, and casts aside all thought of himself as the doer. Samhita

 

It is more necessary for the soul to be cured than the body, for it is better to die then to live unworthily –Epictetus.

The soul gives sight to the eyes; He who gives sight to the soul is the great lord. Therefore one should worship Him with supreme love who does kindness to the soul.  Saiv Siddkantam

 

Live in this world as if God and your soul only were in it; that your heart may be a captive to no earthy thing.

Man’s life is interrelated. His physical life is so absolutely dependent on his moral and his spiritual life that unless he pay proper heed to these, he can never hope to be healthy . whenever we violate the spiritual law and try to find a short cut to happiness, the fibre of our moral being is injured and we begin to feel pains and aches in the physical body. When these conditions continues and we do not try to remove them, a mark is made on the mind. Doubt despair, despondency arise and these react again on the body. The only healing which can be effective then, will be one which brings a regenerating influence into the mind and restores it to the normal state.

Boost your capacity

The Speaking Tree |Spirituality | ET

Sant Rajinder Singh

 

We are all interconnected. As members of one large family, when one of us suffers, we all suffer.

 

The global community is experiencing an unprecedented challenge during this pandemic. In these difficult and uncertain times, when fear, anxiety, apprehension and loss are our daily reality, we are all looking for stability, reassurance and comfort.

 

As our physical, mental and emotional health bears the impact of the global pandemic, let us remember to enhance our spiritual health and our spiritual capacity, as it will help us get through these challenging times. We can enhance our spiritual capacity through meditation.

 

 

 

Meditation is the means by which we experience the peace, love and stillness within us. It is about connecting with the Source of all love. When we experience this divine love, we are nourished, uplifted and elevated. It heals us, and changes our perspective of life, the world around us, and, ultimately, it transforms us.

 

When we experience God’s love for us, it gives us the stability, reassurance and comfort we seek, especially in times of need. While meditation does not eliminate the problems and challenges of life, it helps us develop higher vision.

 

The spiritual wisdom that we gain as we go within helps us understand the bigger picture, which enables us to look at difficulties in a different way and, thus, respond in a calmer, relaxed manner.

 

We learn, through meditation, that all things in life must come to pass. All challenges in life will subside in time. As we bear witness to the challenge before us, let us find the peace, stillness and strength within through meditation, and let us become a source of calm, comfort and strength to those around us.

 

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

 

–But, if He exists?

 

I drive joy There was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting ten precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting ten minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste ten minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 10 minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

ILLUSTRATED REVIEW : 7^th Heaven moment of the week in f1 Lewis Hmilton won his 7^th chimpion ship

Mind according to Vedanta

Monday, 07 October 2019

Quote from the True Charm and Power of Vedanta

Mind according to Vedanta

You have to reach the superconcious level through effort; you have to go beyond ego through ego; you have to go beyond reason though reason. Not by discarding reason, you have to go beyond action though action. Sri Krishna declares in the Bhagvad gita that you cannot reach the state or worklessness by simply giving up work. If you want to attain serenity of mind and the ability to live a contemplative life, you have to attain it through the right kind of work. Simply by giving up your duties or by not undertaking duties’ you cannot reach that state. Through work you go beyond work . if the work is rightly directed it can lead you beyond work . Similarly, your reason , rightly directed can lead you beyond its scope . Reason has a limited range, beyond that it is helpless. if you lose your way , you ask a traffic policeman for directions. He will direct you , but will not take you there personally . Reason functions in the same way. A man of God tells you of the nature of God and the world and of the path to take to realize God, but he cannot take you all the way. You reason on his works and eventually reach the goal, thus using reason to go beyond reason.

Through will you surrender the will . Self surrender does not mean that you are nothing. A simpleton. There are different kinds of self-surrender in this world. A robber enters your house and says that you have to give all your money to him otherwise he will kill you . you give him all the money you have. You surrender to him a compulsory self-surrender. In another case you understand the worthiness of a great noble laudable cause and you dedicate all you have to that cause; a voluntary self-surrender. Perhaps you find a person who can really guide you and you submit to his superior knowledge; another kind of self-surrender. or another man come and gets you to do certain things by bribing you; another kind of self-surrender . our will in the foregoing cases is overcoming through will .

The Speaking Tree | ET

By S P Mehta

There are only two things in existence. One is the ‘happening’ that we know as physical creation. And the other is the ‘lap’ in which such creation happens. A ‘happening’ — small or big — always happens in time.

That which happens in time is fleeting in nature and, hence, is temporary. Being temporary, physical creation is always subject to rise and fall. In a certain period of time, a ‘happening’ becomes happened.

The important thing is the lap in which creation happens. In yogic lore, though this lap is named variously such as Consciousness, Reality and Truth, we can simply call it as the ‘Sakshi’, or witnessing. It’s non-physical and, hence, is never a part of the time. Sakshi is like the cinema screen on which entire creation appears and disappears and, yet, the screen remains unaffected. Also, the screen is there all the time. It never changes — neither appears nor disappears like physical existence.

Spirituality means to go beyond the physical. Because if you are lost in the physical, then you will belong to samsara that means continue moving in circles but not reaching any place.

Being a sakshi means becoming the very screen on which are projected all the happenings including what happens within you and, yet, remaining untouched by such happenings. An enlightened being is one who is always rooted in sakshi.

Liberation — mukti as we know in yogic wisdom — from physical existence is possible only by becoming a sakshi to the physical world. Meditation is the way forward to becoming a sakshi.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

But, if He exists?

I drive joy There was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting ten precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting ten minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste ten minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 10 minutes joy that I derive 4m.

ILLUSTRATED REVIEW : 7^th Heaven moment of the week Ashwin got 7 wk in an inngs, , in epl Chelsea no 7 scored a goal.

Cosmic Night of Shiva

Monday, 04 March 2019

Cosmic Night of Shiva

The Speaking Tree | India | ET

By PRANAV KHULLAR

The Dakshinamurthy Stotram describes Shiva as the youthful guru, facing southward, teaching his elderly disciples through jnana mudra. The Lingashtakamsings glories of Advaita Linga, symbol of the cosmos, Brahmananda. The Shiva Mahima Stotra of Pushpadanta sees him as the inexpressible Truth that yogis realise by concentrating their minds on the Self.

Shiva is the three-eyed One whose blue-stained neck is a symbolic reminder of his capacity to remove toxins from the world.

The Yajur Veda describes Him as the Master Yogin, Mahadeva, the great God. The panchakshara mantra, Aum Namah Shivaye, is a timeless chant propitiating the inscrutable invoking the easy-to-please Ashutosh.

Bhishma in his discourse on Dharma to Yudhishthir in the Mahabharata, describes the observance of the Mahashivratri fast by King Chitrabhanu.

In a previous birth, the king was Suswara the hunter, who one night had to seek refuge atop a bilva tree. He either cried or dropped the leaves down one by one to assuage his fear.

By doing so, he unwittingly worshipped a linga that was embedded in the earth, with the bilva leaves sacred to Shiva and, so, earned merit.

This allegorical story represents everyman’s inner journey, passing through the complex mind, with its conscious thinking and subconscious desires, where lust, hatred, greed and jealousy have to be overcome by rising above them, as Suswara climbed up the tree.

His nightlong vigil is a call to alertness and viveka, and the dawning of day symbolises the awakening into cosmic consciousness.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Quote from the True Charm and Power of Vedanta

In the Bhagavad-Gita Lord Krishna tells His disciple that it is very necessary to subdue the senses and learn to control the body and mind, but He says again that although one may starve the senses and thereby deaden their  feeling , one has not gained much spirituality because distress still linger in the heart; when , however , one has seen the Supreme, then all desires and limitations drop all forever . so whatever we do , whether we give discipline to the body and mind or whether we turn our whole thoughts n the opposite direction we must not forget that the main object of all our practice is to educate our inner being, to unfold our spiritual nature and to bring us face to face with the Supreme ; for He is the one real aim and object of all our search.

When we meditate on Him with conviction, then our heart becomes illumined with His light and we attain super-consciousness, the consciousness which includes all lesser forms of consciousness . as we go about our ordinary life, there fore, we should sometimes stop, draw our selves within and try to get the other point of view , to see that t other aspect of our life . it is this balancing of the two sides and gaining a state of equilibrium which prepares our mind for the knowledge of the Supreme. So long, however , as it is over powered by one aspect of life-the physical and material-we can never know our inner being and our soul will be strayed even though our body is fed.

 But, if He exists?

I drive joy There was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting ten precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting ten minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste ten minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 10 minutes joy that I derive 4m.

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