A personal reflection on God by Pandit Jasraj. ”A personal reflection on God by Pandit Jasraj. ”My first introduction to God happened when I was just 14, in the year 1944. Now I am turning 73. My older brother was then called to the small estate of Sanand near Ahmedabad to sing. In those days invitations from kings were rare and to only a few. So my brother and also my Guru Pandit Maniramji and I went there.”

Read more here: » Spiritual Inspiration: God and I by Pandit Jasraj

A regular at religious discourses, I've often found followers of one guru or faith criticising other gurus, teachers and devotees, because they think that their own philosophy is far superior. They tend to assess the learnedness or otherwise of a teacher according to the number of disciples and ashrams.

If those who profess to be spiritual seekers behave in this manner, what can we expect from lesser mortals? Why is it so difficult for us to respect the right of others to follow any teaching or teacher of their choice? No one who claims loyalty to any faith that advocates compassion, tolerance and understanding can afford to ignore these tenets.

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Love and Happiness: The Path Of True Love Is Never Smooth

A happy relationship is a universal ideal. Yet, few among us can claim to have perfect relationships. Worldwide, divorce rates are going up. Even most couples who do stay together for a considerable length of time allow their relationship to turn mechanical - there is little room for romance, intimacy or joy. Such couples end up transforming a beautiful partnership into a mere social institution, no more than a familial commitment empty of true love.

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Love and Happiness: The Fine Art of Staying in Love

One of the most difficult and painful things to do in life is to admit one's mistakes. When Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon the first words he meant to say and which he had practised several times were: "That's a small step for a man, but a giant leap for mankind". What he actually uttered was a contradiction: "That's a small step for man but a giant leap for mankind". But no one has acknowledged this error so far.

Most of us hesitate to confess our mistakes. We are equally reluctant to express regret, and it is a rare person who tries to make amends or even simply render a heartfelt apology.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Take Responsibility For Your Actions

Success can be external or internal. Externally, it is the measure of a job well done and the accompanying recognition from society. Internally, it is a feeling of achievement, satisfaction and fullness which comes on the completion of a task or the fulfilment of a desire. What is a true measure of success, the outer accolades or the inner joy and peace?

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Love and Happiness: Secret of Success: Team Spirit

If you are disappointed today about something, it does not mean that it is a permanent condition. There is always a tomorrow to look forward to.

If you refuse to be optimistic or hopeful for the morrow, you will find yourself getting dragged into a whirlpool of despair, which is in itself a generator of unhappiness.

Is there a secret, a magic formula for happiness? If there is, does it lie inside you or outside? Logically, it has to be inside you.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Selflessness Can Be A Huge Burden

A personal reflektion on God by Nagma. ”Ever since I was a child, I have felt protected by this image of Christ with a beard and in flowing white robes. I would even have these long conversations with Him. Till date, I have held on to this habit.”

Read more here: » Spiritual Inspiration: God and I by Nagma

Why are friends so special? Byron, while dedicating the fourth canto of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage to his friend, John Hobhouse, wrote: "To one whom I have known long, and accompanied far, whom I have found wakeful over my sickness and kind in my sorrow, glad in my prosperity and firm in my adversity, true in counsel and trusted in peril - to a friend often tried and never found wanting."

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Love and Happiness: True In Counsel, Trusted In Peril

If you really want the best deal in life, stop making deals. Yet, your very demeanour should be such that your client is simply bowled over. This is not a trick.

The deal will happen if it's necessary; it won't happen if it's not. It is for the well-being of both parties, so it must be needed by both of you. Once we're in this world, there are transactions, personal or otherwise.

(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Life and Death: There's More to Life Than Striking Deals

Studying Jain holy scriptures, I found I could draw a parallel between the behaviour of matter or non-living substance and the soul which is a living substance. Souls are infinite in number: Some are pure and liberated; others are unliberated and live a bodily or embodied existence.

Pure souls possess properties or characteristics comprising infinite knowledge, vision and bliss and are quite different from unliberated, mundane, souls which have limited knowledge through mind and sense organs, experiencing birth and death.

(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Life and Death: Metallurgy of The Soul: Back to Nature

Who doesn't want to be happy? We all desire happiness. We pursue pleasures systematically through life - it comes as naturally to us as the sunflower turns to the sun. But, pleasure once obtained does not last; so once again, the search begins. Moreover, pleasure is ephemeral; it eludes the seeker at the final moment. One may work very hard and get all that the world considers necessary for a happy life, yet none of these things can make us really happy.

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Love and Happiness: Why Small Things Can Shatter Happiness

Sage Narada had the knack of bringing about social change and spiritual growth wherever he went. Adored and respected by Lord Krishna, Narada employed different ways to bring people nearer to God. He convinced the dacoit Ratnakar to chant "Mara, Mara" - the reverse of "Rama, Rama" - helping him evolve enough to get transformed into a sage (Valmiki).

Narada taught five-year-old Dhruv how to meditate. The result? The Lord manifested Himself before Dhruv. Narada'spointer that all eight children of Devaki could be a threat to King Kansa'slife led to Kansa being killed and liberated at the hands of God. Somehow, Narada brings all to God.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Divine Inspiration of Narada Bhakti Sutra

Poet Terhune recollects how when he was a child, his mother, returning after an hour from a neighbour's, asked him, "When I left you were playing on the floor and a sugar candy was there on the table. Now you are there, but not the candy." "I ate at it up, Mother," replied the child.

"But you already had your share and I had forbidden you to touch what was left" demanded the mother.

"You had, Mother, but believe me, I wept while I was eating it," said the boy.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: The Silent Soul Bides its Time

Marx wrote: "Life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life". He assumes that man's ability to think, and the quality of his thoughts depend largely on the quality of the life he lives.

Marx's thrust is primarily to improve the living conditions of man, a pre-condition for intellectual growth. Marx thus attributes primacy to living by establishing a hierarchy of 'living' and 'thinking'. Descartes' cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am) can be placed antithetically to Marx's perception. The Cartesian proposition, which is translated as "I think, therefore I exist", subverts the Marxian hierarchy by attributing primacy to 'thinking'.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Longing For Right Action

The Bhagavad Gita or the Lord's Song is one of the world's great literary works. The felicity of its verses, composed in the anusthubh metre, is more than matched by their philosophical profundity. "In comparison, our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial", wrote Henry David Thoreau.

(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Life and Death: Science of Gita's Nishkamya Karma

Men pass, mountains remain. Little wonder, why mountains are a sign of solidity and stability. They tower over us, touching the sky, sometimes through clouds ... they convey a sense of mystery.

In fact, philosophers say that the mountain is the point where heaven and earth meet. Mountains, therefore, are considered holy in many faiths. They are believed to be the abode of gods, even a place where one can find salvation.

Christian literature reveals the symbolic role of mountains. In the Old Testament, God was depicted as God of the mountains. But God was also a God of the valleys.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Mountains - Source of Divine Inspiration

The Brahmakumaris practise Raja Yoga, particularly the trataka form of meditation in order to achieve union with God. It involves keeping your eyes open and fixing your gaze on a tiny red spot with total attention. Raja Yoga gives knowledge of self and enables one to attain peace, purity and harmony.

Dawn is preceded by the darkest hour of the night. The Brahmakumaris consider the present time as the most critical period. This will be followed by a new age - the dawn in the great cycle of time. The agent of transition may be the person possessing knowledge of the true self, of a positive soul. One who reaches the highest stage of this knowledge becomes Brahma. The supreme divine being is Shiva, who is an embodiment of knowledge, peace, purity and harmony.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Darkness Before Dawn In Cycle of Yugas

Tai Chi Chuan is one way of working towards harmonising our energies both internally and externally so that we live in tune with nature. Because the movements of Tai Chi Chuan are slow and meditative, they put us indirect contact with nature.

Tai Chi Chuan not only provides a foundation for self-defence, but also teaches principles of harmonious action. Being in harmony requires flexibility in thought and the ability to release an idea free from the ego.

Tai Chi Chuan emphasises becoming aware of the inter-relationship of all the parts of one'sbody - both with one another and with the environment and moving these parts harmoniously under the direction of the mind. To be able to do this, special training is required.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace of Mind: Bring Harmony in to Your Life - Tai Chi Chuan

Why are wars waged? Why are some conflicts never resolved? All fanaticism, militancy, terrorism and war are flashpoints of ativada. An ativadi is one who carries an opinion, viewpoint, argument or a case of grievance to excess.

That's why sages have said: Ati sarvatra varjayet - avoid excesses everywhere. No case or argument is strong enough to be an excuse for excess, for breaking peace. A mantra in the Mundaka Upanishad says: "It is one and the same life-force that shines forth as all these beings. One who realises this never becomes an ativadi" (3.1.4).

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Do Not Be Driven by Sentiment

In India, many civilisations have come together over the years, creating new patterns of universal oneness. Raja Ram Mohan Roy ushered in the age of new thought in 1828. He wrote: "All mankind is one great family of which numerous nations and tribes existing are only various branches".

All religions tell us that the divine is within us. The Gospel according to St Thomas says: "He who has heard and assimilated my word is as I". In Sanatana Dharma it is Tat Tvam Asi. To find divinity within oneself it is important to act with compassion towards all beings.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Time to Rekindle Passion for Unity

The spiritual approach to peace-making is radically different from the worldly approach, said Jesus Christ. In the worldly approach, both peace and war are driven by vested interests - so the one is indistinguishable from the other. Wars, St Augustine warns us in The City of God, are waged mostly in the name of peace.

The road to peace is truly simple: Make peace politically profitable and war-mongering politically costly. There should be a constructive collaboration between democracy and spirituality.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Orient Your Life Towards Peace

It was said of Prophet Mohammed that God wanted him to be an example of how to live peacefully among others like a simple man, to nurture a family, to work for a living and to accept equally the joys and sorrows of life.

But there are some who, while professing loyalty to Islam, are actually doing more harm than good. For instance, Osama bin Laden's brand of "Islamic jehad" is utterly un-Islamic and goes against all tenets of Islam. In Islam, taking an innocent life is equated to killing the whole of humanity.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Peace Is Life, War Is Death