Monday, 16 January 2017
Fascinating Myths
Long ago,
when people were frightened by thunder and lighting they might have said ‘Listen
The sky god is shouting! That flash of lightning is his sky –axe being hurled
into the Earth because he is so angry!
All around the world, people have developed stories to
explain natural events to explain natural events which they saw but did not
understand , such as why night follows day and spring follows winter, where
fire came form, and how men and women came to be n Earth in first place. These tales
were handed down, often by word of mouth, and gradually became more
complicated. They are known and shared by everyone in the group. We call such
stories myths.
A myth about fire.
In the cold
northern part of the world great fires wee lit at midwinter to help the Sun to
be reborn. The ancient Greeks tell a
myth in which Prometheus stole fire from Zeus, the chief god, and brought it
from heaven to humans in a hollow reed. Furious at this theft. Zeus chained Prometheus
to stone where his liver was eaten by an
eagle every day but grew again every night. Old Man Winter and Summer queen
Changes in
an seasons seemed mysterious to people who did not know how the Earth Journeys
round the Sun Native Americans told this story to explain why it is cold in
winter and warm in summer. Old Man Winter lived in the frozen north in a
kingdom of snow and ice. One day he began walking south. Wherever he stopped, lakes
froze , trees turned to ice blocks birds fell from the sky like stones. The people
were terrified. They huddled round their fires, waiting to die. Glookap, their
chief travelled to the warm south, and asked Summer Queen to help , She brought
warmth and sunshine , to melt the ice . The Glooskap saw that Old Man Winter
was melting too, the way a snowman disappears in spring. Please save him. He said
to Summer Queen, So, for six months every year, Summer Queen stays in the
south, and Old Man winter rules the north. Then Summer Queen forces him back to
his snow-kingdom, and bring back spring
Quote from the True Charm and Power
of Vedanta
Great work
requires great and persistent effort for
a long time. Neither need we trouble ourselves if a few fail. It is in
the nature of things that many should fall, that troubles should come, that tremendous
difficulties should arise, that selfishness and all the other devils in the
human heart should struggle hard when they are about to be driven out by the
fire of spirituality. The road to the Good is the roughest and steepest in the
universe. It is a wonder that so many succeed, no wonder so many fall.
Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.
The mind, to
have non-attachment, must be clear, good, and rational. Why should we practise?
Because each action is like the pulsations quivering over the surface of the
lake. The vibration dies out, and what is left? The, the samskaras , the impressions
.When a large number of these impressions are left on the mind, they coalesce
and become a habit. It is said “Habit is second nature”, it is first nature
also, and the whole nature of man; everything that we are the result of habit. That
gives us consolation, because, if it is only habit, we can make and unmake it
at any time. The samskaras are left by these vibrations passing out of our
mind, each one of them leaving its result. Our character is the sum –total of these
marks, and according as some particular wave prevails one takes that tone. If good
prevails, one becomes good; if wickedness, one becomes wicked; if joyfulness,
ne becomes happy. The only remedy for
bad habits is counter habits; all the bad habits that have left their impressions
are to be controlled by good habits. Go on doing good, thinking holy thoughts continuously;
that is the only way to suppress base impressions. Never say any man is
hopeless , because he only represents a character, a bundle of habits, which
can be checked by new and better ones. Character is repeated habits, and
repeated habits alone can reform character.
Give up ,
renounce the world, Now we are like dogs strayed into a kitchen and eating a
piece of meat, looking round in fear lest at any moment some one may come and
drive them out . Instead of that, be a king and know you own the world. This never
come until you give it up and ceases to bind. Give up mentally, if you do not
physically. Give up from the heart of hearts. Have vairagaya (renunciation).
This is the real sacrifice, and without it, it is impossible to attain
spirituality. Do not desire , for what you desire you get and with it comes
terrible bondage.
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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