BIODIVERSITY-by Anup Shah

Anup Shah, Biodiversity, Global Issues, Updated: January 16, 2011

It is lovely to live

It is lovely to live
I love my life even with all the strife,
To live happily in the family with wife,
Children, brothers, sisters, relatives,
And loving parents-God’s representatives.

I don’t want to hate life
Because the world evil spells
When my heart in goodness dwells.

I don’ want to hate life
Because nature is spoilt by growing cities
And human nature by atrocities.
Why should I hate life?
When my aim and attitude chief
Is to nurture kindness and niceties.

I don’ want to hate life
Because violence and scandals do people disport
And only that the newspapers and television report
When I have the solid proof
That with non-violence we won our freedom and comfort.

I don’t want to hate life
Because traditional values are waning fast
And life too is becoming too complicated and fast
When my faith in fraternity and family is steadfast
I love my life and want to live
To love and it is lovely to live.

All tree leaves have built-in thermostat

Scientists have long believed that temperature of tree leaves is controlled by the outside environment, but a new University of Pennsylvania study has challenged this belief, by finding that healthy, photosynthesizing tree leaves have an inherent tendency to control their own temperature.
London, June 12 : Scientists have long believed that temperature of tree leaves is controlled by the outside environment, but a new University of Pennsylvania study has challenged this belief, by finding that healthy, photosynthesizing tree leaves have an inherent tendency to control their own temperature.
In the study, the researchers surveyed 39 tree species ranging in location from subtropical to boreal climates, and found that the temperature in tree leaves was almost constant.
With these findings, scientists will get new insights in how tree branches and leaves maintain a homeostatic temperature, which is ideal for photosynthesis. It also indicates that plant physiology and ecology should also be considered vital by biologists to tap trees for investigating climate change.
The study said that Tree photosynthesis usually occurs when leaf temperatures touch almost 21 degrees celsius, where latitude or average growing-season temperature play little, if any, role.
Such homeostasis of leaf temperature indicates that in colder climates leaves increase their temperatures and in case of warmer climates tree leaves cool to reach optimal conditions for photosynthesis. Thus, the old belief that leaf temperature is fixed needs a re-thinking.
"It is not surprising to think that a polar bear in northern Canada and a black bear in Florida have the same internal body temperature. They are endothermic mammals like us ,and they generate their own heat. However, to think that a black spruce in Canada and a Caribbean pine in Puerto Rico have the same average leaf temperature is quite astonishing, particularly since trees are most definitely not endothermic," Nature quoted Brent Helliker, professor of biology in the School of Arts and Sciences at Penn, as saying.
"Our research suggests that they use a combination of purely physical phenomena - like the cooling from water evaporation or the warming caused by packing a lot of leaves together - to maintain what looks like leaf-temperature homeostasis," he added.
Now, one can consider leaf temperature, cooled by the physiological and morphological techniques of evaporation, leaf angle or reflection and heated by a decrease in evaporation and an increase in the number of leaves per branch, as adaptations in the run to achieve homeostasis.
Also, the study offers a new hypothesis asking the reason behind certain trees growing specifically in certain climates. It may also lead to a new theory for how and why trees in the north will suffer from global warming, by overheating due to the mechanisms they have evolved for keeping their leaves warm.
Besides, weather-forecasting models are based on precise estimates of surface-water evaporation, which mainly comes from tree leaves. Such knowledge of the temperature of these leaves may help in accurately predicting future climate scenarios.
The study is published online in the latest issue of Nature.

Read more: http://www.andhranews.net/Technology/2008/June/12-tree-leaves-built-49164.asp#ixzz12lAxGW2o

Why normally on auspicious days like religious festivals we do not make ulundu vadai but for lord hanuman we make ulundu vadai malai and in north indi

Why normally on auspicious days like religious festivals we do not make ulundu vadai but for lord hanuman we make ulundu vadai malai and in north india ther offer jangree?

Any traditional practice is basically based on or done for either personal physical wellbeing which includes external beauty, health of internal organs and hormone stimulation etc; for social welfare ; for spiritual understanding leading to spiritual realization; for cultivating cultural and aesthetic appreciation and for promoting the perception of the multiple aspects of life. The hidden facts remain hidden due to either lack knowledge or interest or inquisitiveness to know the significance. Whether we bother to reason them and learn their significance or not, it would be better to follow them and to make us follow those healthy traditional practices the religious ways and myths were the best source in those days because in old times people accepted anything coated with religious ritualism with uncritical love. So, naturally most important things were coated and prescribed, as the candies are coated with color so as to make people follow them. Even vegetarianism is one such thing because in the plant kingdom I mean chlorophyll, every cell is made of magnesium centered with molecules of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen [formula for chlorophyll C55, H72 O5, N4 AND MG and under the microscope it is 12 petalled daisy shaped combo around the 12^th element. Incidentally the word daisy is derived from ‘DAY’ S EYE’ meaning the sun]. We are known as belonging to solar race as per theosophists and occultists. Sun’s rays work these miracles only with water that comes through plant leaves and not on other water surfaces. The only difference between chlorophyll and blood is that the same four chemicals carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen are around the center of iron atom instead of magnesium. So any plant food is good for the human body. I am planning to study the inner temperature of leaves I feel they too if they are healthy, like the human body, must be maintaining a specific heat/temperature. Dear VTS sir ,please do enlighten me on this.

Now, important facts of the main ingredient in both ulundu pepper vadai and jhangree is Ulundu.

1] The nutritional protein in Urad dal is comparable to the protein derived from animal sources.

2] According to Ayurveda, Urad is Balya (gives strength) what type of strength- to be specific the muscles. In fact black lentil oil is used for people, who have muscular dystrophy,

3] It is Vrishya (spermatogenic) it is taken to increase the quantity of healthy sperms in the testes,

4] Brihan (fattening) given to children who are too under weight,

5] It is Stanya Janan (increase mother’s milk),

6] Most importantly it decreases the HDL bad fats from the body when eaten in large quantities [that’s why I make it a point to eat at least 5 vadas at a time, less than that will only increase your weight.

7] Like all protein rich vegetarian food items it is also a carminative food item that’s why as an antidote it works better when mixed with ingie [ raw ginger] or pepper [ which enables the vayu minions inside the intestines to move southwards through the anus with varying sounds and smells]

8] Ladoos made from Urad strengthen the nervous system, and the paste of Urad is used for massaging the body. In the villages even today when a girl attains puberty as there are lots hormonal and inner physiological changes especially in the pelvic regions for the first three days ulundu urundai is a compulsory food.

9] Coming to Jhangree .Ghee is rich in iron so when soaked in ghee and sugar which quickens the absorption in the system help good protein to reach the blood fast because of iron.

10] Note let us not leave ulundu uppuma, it must be made with perungayam and in nallaennai.

Let me discuss about Anjeneya mahimai later on as now we are focused on vadai and jhangree.

HINDU'' DOES NOT COME FROM ''SINDHU''

'HINDU'' DOES NOT COME FROM ''SINDHU''

How many times have you explained that the name of your religion is a
concoction invented by the Persians who called the people who lived
beyond the Sindhu River ''Hindus,'' mispronouncing the ''S''?
Recant.
A. Krishna Kumar of Hyderabad, India, explains. ''This [Sindhu/Hindu]
view is untenable since Indians at that time enviably ranked highest
in the world in terms of civilization and wealth would not have been
without a name. They were not the unknown aborigines waiting to be
discovered, identified and Christened by foreigners.''
He cites a more solid argument from the book Self-Government in India
by N. B. Pavgee, published in 1912. The author tells of an old Swami
and Sanskrit scholar Mangal Nathji, who found an ancient Puran known
as Brihannaradi in the Sham village, Hoshiarpur, Punjab. It
contained the verse:
HIMALAYAM SAMARABHYA YAVAT BINDUSAROVARAM
HINDUSTHANAMITI QYATAM HI ANTARAKSHARAYOGATAH
Kumar translates it as:
''The country lying between the Himalayan mountain and Bindu Sarovara
(Cape Comorin sea) is known as Hindusthan by combination of the first
letter 'hi' of 'Himalaya' and the last compound letter 'ndu' of the
word 'Bindu.'''

also read 
http://www.b-i-f.com/Hindu.pdf

and this one too 
http://indianrealist.com/2008/12/25/how-old-is-the-word-hindu-2/

We need to set right lot of things, undo many of our past mistakes

We need to set right lot of things, undo many of our past mistakes

There is no point in continuously complaining about many bluffs made by the westerners as that was the tool with which they ruled and continue to rule the world. However why they rule? While we have been only grumbling why? It is high time we raise our economic stature, power and start owning or having control over major media I mean search engines, television channels only then we can establish truth. Otherwise we can at best react to every issue that goes against truth, that too, very late and by the time the falsehood has got enough credibility that people dismiss you as a fanatic without any job. We have failed to document our knowledge, resources and achievements in all fields, we have failed to publicize, we have allowed ourselves to be raped by whoever came to rule us; we have not taken pains to master and create if not anything new at least our ancient scriptures which unfold and unravel many gems useful for the whole of humanity and make it to have a global appeal and acceptance. When the power was decided by  war and establishing authority we sulked and prided ourselves as big pacifists and as a result we have a religion where even goddesses have weapons and there are so many stories of them waging fierce battles we passively allowed to be raped by whichever invader came and submissively obeyed them. When industrial revolution made huge strides we failed to make a mark we improved belatedly, when modern military R & D was promoted everywhere we did nothing, when media started ruling the world as mass opinion molders we just remained mute spectators or copied others, when the internet revolution started we were willingly working for them as a result be it Microsoft, Google or Del or Yahoo who owns them and who can manipulate them, all our top brains may be the CEOs and techies but they are not the key to operate and manipulate; initially we suffered from a sense of superiority complex before the middle ages and enjoyed unquestioned superiority but in exclusivity [ this is an undeniable fact irrespective of whatever justification is given to support this]. We failed to understand that in the process of human evolution, especially the advancement of civilization and its growth it is imperative to link everything in a broad inclusive structure of social aspects involving harmony among all human beings around, after all human beings are primarily animals, and then social beings then evolved human beings or even divine beings. There must be a conscious effort to structure and cater to every ring in this ladder of evolution; this is only a broad outline. Unfortunately we have failed to pay attention to this fact especially as a group we have even failed to acknowledge these facts. We, I mean the Indians in general, have culturally evolved as a very sophisticated, enlightened species wherein the individual human being was given immense importance than the group. That’s why even all aspects of our life has this imprint of importance for individual excellence, enjoyment and enlightenment rather than collective good or group harmony , ideally that should be the outcome if every individual in the group elevated himself in totality of life. There is very old joke. once when one British was bragging about how lucky were the species that got a chance to be in NOAH's boat and turning to the Indian sitting by his side he asked what you Indians would have done if such a thing happened in Hindustan to which the Indian replied then each one of us would have built or had a boat for us and not depend on one Noah. That’s why in our religion the individual independent worship in the form of meditation is important; in music the individual improvisation and melody is stressed unlike the western music where harmony is given more importance; we never master any team sport and if at all we shine in any team sport that is the result of few individual excellence; our medicines like Siddha and Ayurveda do not accept or advocate universal application to any disease [rightly so, because the same disease could be for different reasons in different individuals and its impact also will be different and may require different types or at least different levels of treatment; all our best dance forms are performed by individuals; all our greatest monuments have been carved by a few dedicated and talented sculptors and so on and so forth but the unfortunate negative side of it is, that it also created lack of social cohesion and the gradual subconscious development of total lack of concern to share and in many cases indifference too. This continues even today in many families which are low middle class, one fellow will be fortunate to go and work abroad and earn a lot but he would not bother to contribute and develop the status of his own family, leave alone the society. There are some exceptions.

. We are also gregarious in appreciating something or someone and unkind in our criticisms. Everything and everyone suffers from unloving criticism and uncritical love. The whole nation will adulate some without any sense of perception or criticize the cricket team heartlessly when they fail in a tournament. This is an unbecoming contradiction of the Indian psyche which while always promoting individual importance resorts to collective folly of adulation and criticism for irrelevant reason. This started with some of our popular leaders, a sort of hypocrisy adopted to camouflage our short comings and used as an effective tool to divert others from perceiving our short coming and in the process gradually and subconsciously we failed to even notice the short comings. We have seen how even our most respected leaders resorting to all attention grabbing activities to project themselves as an ascetics, making a big propaganda about their religious practices and as a result they became an incorrigible and incomprehensible mixture meandering in vacuous inanity. In these aspects we are as bad as the Americans who suffer from mass paranoia and untreatable fear psychosis. We need to set right lot of things, undo many of our past mistakes, amend our innate weakness of indifference and lack of sense of sharing and caring and learn to grow as a cohesive team of excellent individuals.

Do we need the god brokers?

Reply to a friend who mentioned his great reverence for a Swamiji who he said helped him to know many things and he does lot of miracles etc and that’s why people are flocking to him.

Dear Sir,

I don't know the context of this discussion. Initially I felt, being a not so orthodox person , I should refrain from expressing my views on something that comes from a person like you whom I respect much. However the very fact that you have sent me this mail I felt you expect my views. That is why you marked a copy to me. Hence my opinion.

Not at the least meant to hurt any believer of any swamy.

If someone does a miracle, can he be a god man? It is a decadent concept.

I beg to disagree with this Sai Baba philosophy to cheat gullible people.

Modi Mastans and P C Sarkar are then the best god men.

There are lot of miracle men and women in the world. Are they avatars of God?

Hitler had very many miraculous escapes in his life. Many of them due to his intuition and premonition.

'Miracle has no part in religion,' observed Gandhiji.

This is from Swamy Vivekananda. “If you want to be religious, enter not the gate of any organized religions. They do a hundred times more evil than good, because they stop the growth of each one’s individual development… Religion is only between you and your god, and no third person must come between you”. (Complete Works, Volume 1)I respect such views.

That is the reason all great spiritually charged religious societies have multiple methods of worship and many gods. That is the reason why even in societies which have been culturally curtailed, religiously restricted and psychologically hypnotized into believing only in one god, one scripture and one institution the individual's innate aspirations and blooming of the inner self are veering towards expressions  in some platforms outside their religion or diverting to different activities or totally derailing in from their spiritual track and this has lead to NRMs [detailed article in my blog in the link below] after all life and nature are many faceted splendor

http://contentwriteups.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-religious-movements-nrms.html

Organized religions and creating institutions and promoting them for religious purpose are inevitable aspects of promoting and protecting interests of sects, cults and the beneficiaries and to have an edge over other competitors and appeal to beings who cannot and will not go beyond average and mundane intellectual and emotional perception.

Humankind basically needs two vital items. Spirituality  and materialism.

Battle of the belly and battle of the mind. Name one god man who talks about belly problems of poor, though many of them are pot bellied! They don't talk about materialism as if it is a sin. But maintain huge wealth.

Name a sadhu who fights social evils. In fact, many swamys say caste is varna. But varna in Sanskrit means colour.

Last but not least.

Religious wars killed maximum people.

Do we need the god brokers?

Having said this I am not arrogating myself and claiming that I can travel the journey of life all alone but I need to do the travelling myself and in the journey every helper is welcome and I definitely need them too as in a train journey, when you board a train starting from the mechanic to check all the bolts ,nuts and joints to the driver to the signal operator to the track inspector to the level crossing operator to the signal lights to the station master to the toilet cleaner to the snack vendor to the porter to the fellow traveler everyone plays a role each significant in its own right but segregate and to deify a fellow traveler who voluntarily carried my suitcase or to deify the snacks vendor who brought me to my surprise my most favorite home- made Avial and claiming that without their help I could have never made the journey is not correct as it is the result of not only lack of comprehensive perception but distorted perception. Very often it is not even our perception but the scale of observation and frames of reference which creates the phenomenon. The scale of observation depends on man; it is he who creates it. In nature, different scales of observation do not exist. There is only one immense, harmonious phenomenon on a scale which, in general, escapes man. The structure of man's brain necessitates dividing into arbitrary compartments and cutting up into isolated pieces. With the aid of several instruments science creates more phantasmagoria: "on our scale of human observation, as pointed out before, the edge of a razor-blade is a continuous line. On the microscopic scale, it is a broken but solid line. On the chemic scale we have atoms of iron and carbon. On the sub-atomic scale we have electrons in perpetual motion which travel at the rate of several thousand miles per second. All these phenomena are in reality the manifestations of the same basic phenomenon, the motions of the electrons. The only difference which exists between them is the scale of observation" [Human Destiny, Lecomte du Nuoy- a marvelous book that everyone must read – if I remember correctly this comes in 34th page I have read that book at least 8 times].

Unfortunately many of the new trends are doing more harm than good to the spiritual journey.

CRAVINGS DO THEY HAPPEN DUE TO OUR GENES?

In fact I have without any exaggeration more than 1000 books and articles all very interesting, factual, sane, superb and most importantly highly scientific on different types of craving of the human body physically, emotionally and psychologically most of which are the result of explainable but not necessarily easily controllable and/or correctable. However, evolution, as it must and as it does always, either with or without our active participation or defective indifference, keeps exploring, expressing the secrets through some unprejudiced probing souls or enlightened wise spiritual beings. Surprisingly many things that happen to us or that we make to happen are decided by many factors but of these at least some are determined by certain hormones and genes and are scientifically provable but yet only some scientists and only certain quarters of knowledge hubs make them known or available as the rest are curled up in their comfort zone of narrow spectrum which sometimes is eulogized as focus and specialization, life which is perceived however well through any micro analysis will miss the overall splendor of macro view. It is the genetic makeup that would kill a pregnant Chettiyar community women if she is administered scoline because one of the 24 sects of Chettiyars, are fatally allergic to this anesthetic administration. Multanis in Pakistan, certain tribes of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Egypt, and many sections of Europeans carry this defect. Irrespective of any Viagra it is a particular gene that determines the size of your big toe and penis and many more like this. So you can be addicted to carbohydrates or carnatic music or cars or cash or proteins or alcohol or anything but the reason is or perhaps the reasons are not yet fully explained but very often they are all defended or defined away by justifications or logical fallacies or worse still, sick, explained away through statistical surveys.

All the books and materials that I have read are from such sources emanating from a wide spectrum of individuals some internationally renowned spiritual leaders, scientists, unsung and unnoticed heroes, people like me who follow many things in their cauldron of desultory hobbies whose contents and ingredients change with every dawn as they have weakness of enjoying many wonderful things that life offers, the many colors and fragrance of multiple splendor of nature like the butterfly that hops from flower to flower and like the butter fly they do play a very important role in evolution of life. Let the butterfly better fly now and allow you to read the attachments.

COMPETITION CAN WE AVOID IT

The first person to candidly accept and declare that only competition will rule with real life incidents and examples was one of my favorite Rajineesh [Osho] who said some 25 years back rather started his particular speech saying that our life is not decided by any or many theories of evolution but by competition and he went on to say we were born after one out of the millions of sperms competed successfully and reached the ovary to start our life’s journey. In real life and more so in commercial life there are multiple factors which determine the competitive edge of each one. Even with all the possible lateral thinking only a certain aspects get into the ambit of our perception [http://contentwriteups.blogspot.com/2010/02/real-perception.html ] and we miss out the rest of the subtle, lurking.... aspects in any field. Our life itself is decided and run on these yet unknown, unknowable mysteries for which our imagination has given many names, forms and also has taken many more from traditions and cultures and we may call them/ label them as different gods with different potentialities. One great advantage of this is ,at least this makes our ego to be humble and accept and acknowledge that there are many factors ,elements, aspects etc in every frequency of life that is beyond the ken of all our understanding and, correctly understanding this, is in fact the true understanding. There is an excellent verse or saiyul in Tirumular TiruMandiram it is titled as Kelvi Kettu Amaidal. Ask all questions and then keep quiet, do not jump to conclusions or judgments. That’s why even the greatest of texts suffer from different interpretations.-BALAYOGI

Jewels in the mud A Really Moving incident!!

Jewels in the mud
A Really Moving incident!!
After a simple Temple Darshan we entered "Giri Trading" and
started searching for this Book on Thatva Bodha..
We found many people buying various Books and CDs and from their smart
walks and accumulation of CDs from Bhajans to Bombay Jaishree,sent a
nice feeling in us,that,we have come to the right place indeed...
I was looking for this Book while my wife started collecting
Bharathiar's songs and Ms's Music..I searched everywhere for this
Book..
There was this Girl Kalaivani,standing next to the Cashier,sincerely
watching all our movements..a Black Girl,should be from a nearby
Village,might be 17 or 18,should not have crossed 8th Std.,Might be
out of POverty she is here..all my Journalist's brain unnecessarily
calculated about this Gullible Girl..and tho' she was repeatedly
watching me,I ignored her and started searching for"Thathva Bodha"
I saw many books from"Sandhya Vandanam" to Swami VIvekananda's Chicago
Speech" but having spent a good 40 minutes..I looked at her..she also
looked at me curiously..
I asked her,knowing fully well that such a girl cannot have any idea
of anything,leave alone Thathva Bodah..
"Sir,Shall I help you?"(in Tamil)
"Yes I am looking for Thatva Bodha?"
"Sanskrit Text or English /Sanskrit?"
God..she knows..
"Sanskrit& English"
"Do you like to have the PUblication from Chinmaya Mission or Indu
Publications or by Ramakrishna Mutt?"
"I dont know..I just want to only Learn you see..I dont really know indeed"
"Do you read Tamil Sir?"
"Yes I am a Tamilian "
(thinking to myself how most of mylife time
I like to act in most otherplaces
that I am not)
"Then Sir,you can take this"..she ran to the Shelf where I had
searched for 30 minutes,removed the books in the front side and came
out with a Book in Tamil
"This one in Tamil by N.Sivaraman by Indu Publications infact is
simple and wonderfullYou have the Sanskrit Text too inside.."
My God..Why did I under estimate such a Genius..Just because of my
Arrogance that I am an NRI..
Or Just because I presumed such a Black,gullible girl,
who wd have come for this JOb out of absolute poverty,
wdn't have any idea of"Thatva Bodha"
I decided to change my attitude and realise that I am absolutely an
'Idiot' at this moment in front of this wonderful girl and submitted
myself in all humilty..
"Madam,Ireally don't have any idea of even who wrote Thatva BOdha till
Yesterday..I just attended a lecture on this subject and was
fascinated by the lecture and hence"
"Did you attend Goda Venkateswara Sastri's lecture in BHarathiya Vidya Bhavan?"
"Oh God..How did you know?"
"He regularly takes classes on such subjects..infact he is one of the
best Sir,in the city on such subjects"

"You are interested in such subjects?"
"Yes Sir,I read a lot about Swami VIvekananda and Ramakrishna and
Thathva Bodha incidentally is my favourite Subject"
"You mean to say you have read Thatva Bodha.?"

"I have read this one by Sivaraman and once you read it you won't feel
like keeping that book on the table at all.."
"Why what is so great about this Book?"
"Sir,you must be Joking that you don't know about Thatva Bodha.."

"Really I accept my ignorance.."
my wife was watching from the corner,admiring all her Cd collections..
"Sir,according to me if you read this it gives the entire Vedanthic
Saramsam and one would become a bit more humble in life..

leaving Ahamkaram once for all.."
"Is it a fact that reading this simple book one would get so humble..
"Ofcourse one should be involved totally into the text..
Needs lot of conviction and devotion.."


My wife joined the conversation and she felt this girl is indeed a
very very talented intelligent girl..so she told me
"Why don't you interview her for Washington Post..why at all you should
think of Paris Hilton?"

I also felt that I owe something to her..so I asked her whether she
can spare sometime for an interview..
She politely refused saying
"My boss is to give me permission..Besides many people are looking for
guidance like you and hence I have to go.."

"What is your name anyway?"
"Kalaivani"..
My wife's admiration for her devotion to duty and her total
involvement in her work..made her go direct to the Boss.."Sir,that
girl Kalaivani.."

"Yes very hard working Girl.."
"This is my husband Viswanath .."
"Nice meeting you Sir"
"He is the Senior Journalist in Washington Post.."
Boss stood up.."Washington Post?"

"Yes Sir..I wd like to interview this girl..I am highly
impressed..with her ethics.."
Boss called her..Time was 5:45 Pm...
"Kalaivani,they have come all the way from USA..they wd like to spend
sometime with you..can you?"

"Sir,there are so many customers waiting for some guidance..
it is a rush time..if they can come again tomorrow.."
"OK OK I can come again tomorrow.."
I again came next day morning leaving all my appointments with Times
of India just to see this girl..It was no rush hour..

My wife and myself found out....

Kalaivani is from a nearby village near Arcot..She has 5 sisters..She
is the eldest one..Her father was a drunkard and he died a few years
ago caring for none of them..Her mother used to work as a helper in
Masonry and passed away two years back..leaving all the 6 on the
streets..


This girl who had completed her 9th std decided to search for a job
and Giri Trading came forward to help her out..She brought all her 5
sisters with her and with her meagre salary she is taking care of
them..all the 5 sisters are going to a nearby corporation school..

"Kalaivani..but when did you get this enthusiasm to learn about Thatva Bodha?"

"Sir after joining here,I decided that the best way to be of help to
the customers is to know the subject first..I took small Books on
Swami VIvekananda and started reading..I found the subject so
fascinating..I decided to read other books in Tamil like Bagavad Gita
and Viveka Choodamani..Thats how.."


"What is your salary?"
"Rs 2500..Sir"

"Are you able to manage all your expenses with the 5 sisters..?"

"Not at all Sir but the Boss helps me a lot..?"
"What is your aim in LIfe?"
"I want all my sisters to get education..

then they wd get easily employments is it not?"
"If I give monthly Rs 10000 for meeting all your expenses..would that suffice..?"
"It is indeed too much but that also I would accept only thro' my Boss.."


We took her to the Boss and told him that we would like to send Rs 10000
every month so that all her sisters' education could be completed..Boss
said
"She deserves it Sir..You can trust me I will hand over the amount to
her every month or alternately you can open an account in her name and
start transferring.."


My friend John Paul,
who is the Regional Manager of Times of India had also come with
me..He said"You have done a good thing.."
My wife said"I pray that Karpagambal helps Kalaivani to become an
expert in Vedantha and start giving lectures in USA..

We can arrange for her lectures.."
We left wonderstruck....If we go into the interiors of BIhar and
Barrackpur..how many moreJewels can be found..
I really became humbled

NRIs Nice Real Indians like KAL RAMAN

There are 3 kinds of NRIs staying abroad

1] Not Required Indians

2] Never Realizing Indian heritage

3] Nice Real Indians like KAL RAMAN

Good one really nice to know about good souls unfortunately none of our putrefied media will report any such news both the print and audio visual, fortunately we have internet.

Here is the rags-to-riches story of an extremely talented boy from a small village in Tamil Nadu who has risen to be the chief executive officer of a company in Seattle, USA.

It is also the story of how Kalyana Raman Srinivasan, who was so indigent that he had to study under a streetlight, but then managed to score excellent marks, rose in life and became today's Kal Raman.

At every turn in his life, he took the difficult path and it turned out to be the right one and in the right direction. His rise to the top is more dramatic than a thriller. Today, he is a very successful entrepreneur and the founder-CEO of GlobalScholar.

Difficult childhood

Kal Raman was born and brought up in a small village called Mannarakoil in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. It was a comfortable normal middle class life for him and his siblings as his father was a Tahasildar there.

But the sudden death of his father at the age of 45 changed everything overnight.

Kal was 15 then. "My mother got a pension of Rs 420 a month and you can imagine how tough it is to educate four children and feed five mouths with Rs 420?"

His life changed dramatically after his father's death. The family moved from the rented house to a hut that had no proper water supply or electricity. Kal Raman remembers, "All of us used to study under the streetlight and, thank god, the streetlights used to work those days! MGR (M G Ramachandran) was the chief minister then. We had to sell the plates to buy rice to eat and my mother used to give us rice in our hands. That bad was our situation."

But his mother, who had studied till the 8th standard, was very particular that her children studied. "All our relatives wanted my elder brother to stop studying and take up the small job offered by the government but my mother wanted him to continue studying."

"Then they wanted me to learn typewriting and shorthand so that I could get some job after the 10th standard. But mother said, 'My children are going to get the best education I can offer. Education is our salvation.' She was my hero for her vision and she still is my hero."

What kept the family going? "We were sad but because we accepted our fate, we were at peace with whatever that happened to us. We knew our father would not come back to lift us up from poverty. We also knew our salvation was a long way away."

He didn't know why he used to tell his mother, "One day I will give you so much money that you will not know what to do with it!" Years later, he did exactly that!

First turning point in life

Kal Raman believes that God played a hand in all the major turning points in his life. The first turning point in life was after his 12th standard. He got good marks in both the engineering and medicine entrance exams, and for engineering, he got admission at the Anna University in Chennai while for medicine, it was in the Tirunelveli Medical College.

"While going in the bus with my mother to join the medical college, I told her, "If I join for medicine here, the high probability is that my life may begin and end in Tirunelveli. I really want to see the world.' She agreed with my decision to go to Chennai and join Anna University and study Electrical Engineering and Electronics."

So, he stepped into a new world outside Tirunelveli, and that was Chennai. Though he had got merit scholarship and a lot of good people helped him pay the initial fee, the scholarship amount never used to reach him regularly or on time.

"The mess fee was Rs 250 a month and I used to be a defaulter in the mess at least six months in a year. Till you pay the mess fee, you cannot eat in the mess. So, I used to live on day scholars' lunch boxes and also use to fast. That is when I learnt to fast ! I must say a lot of friends helped me with money and food."

Scarcity of money was so bad that he had no money to buy food just before the final semester exams. When he gave his final semester exams, he had not eaten for a day-and-a-half. "After finishing the exam, I almost fainted."

The day after the exams came all the scholarship money that was due and it was around Rs 5,000. "So, I went home a rich man and that helped us repay some loans."

First job

Like opting for Chennai and joining Anna University instead of a college in Tirunelveli, Kal Raman took another risk with his first job also. His first job was with Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE), and he had a choice of joining either Chennai or Mumbai.

Although he knew nobody in Mumbai, he chose the capital of Maharashtra.

He remembered the first day. "It was interesting. With bag and baggage, I went to the TCE office after taking a shower at the railway station as I had no money to go to any hotel. After the first introduction at the office, the manager noticed that I was wearing slippers to the office. He called me and said, "I don't care which college you are coming from but this is not acceptable. You should come in shoes tomorrow."

I said I couldn't come in shoes the next day and this the manager construed as arrogance. "How could you talk like this?" he asked me. I said, "Sir, it is not that I don't want to, but I can't afford to buy shoes. Only after I get my first pay cheque, can I buy shoes. Sir, I request you not to terminate my job because of this. I and my family need this job."

Shocked to hear the explanation, the manager asked, "Where are you staying?" and the reply was, "Dadar Railway Station."

So distressed was the manager to hear Kal speak that he immediately released a month's salary in advance and also arranged for him to be at his friend's place till he could find a place to stay.

"He bought me a pair of shoes and those were my first shoes. The next day, I sent Rs 1,500 from the advance to my mother.

From electrical engineering to programming

Kal's rise in career was meteoric in a short span of time. Within a month, he got a chance to move to Bengaluru (then Bangalore) and also to programming.

Soon, he was in Chennai with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Within a few months, he was sent to Edinburgh, UK.

From Edinburgh, his next stop was the United States. In 1992, he went to the US as an entry level contractor with Wal-Mart. In two years, he was a director running a division.

When he left Wal-Mart after six years, he was a man running the information systems for the International Division of the retail giant.

In 1998, he joined drugstore.com Online Pharmacy as the chief information officer and in 2001 at the age of 30, he was the CEO of the company.

He was at the right place at the right time. "God was there at every step guiding me to take the right decisions. I was also willing to take risks and tread new paths," Kal says.

Starting GlobalScholar

Philanthropist Mike Milken who had donated more than a billion dollars to education, wanted to use technology so that high quality education was accessible to ordinary people.

Milken convinced Kal to join him. That was the time Kal was building schools in his village for poor students.

In October 2007, GlobalScholar was launched targetting both teachers and students by acquiring four companies -- National Scholar (USA), Classof1 (India), Excelsior (USA), and Ex-Logica (USA) -- that were into education.

"Three months after the launch, I travelled all over the US, India, Singapore and China talking to teachers and companies and the public. I found that the only way to impact education was by impressing teachers. The biggest scarcity in the world is good teachers. We decided to help teachers with teaching practices and kids, learning practices."

Kal Raman decided to concentrate on the US market as the US is more advanced in using technology. "They are also willing to pay money for technology. At present, schools buy the material which can be used by teachers, students and parents."

Today, they have 200 people working for GlobalScholar in Chennai and 150 in the US. The study material is prepared in the Chennai office.

The company that was started with $50 million will have in excess of $32 million and will generate $5 million of profits. In 2008, the turnover of the company was Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) and in 2009, it was Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million). In the current year it will be 150-160 crore (Rs 1.5-1.6 billion).

"GlobalScholar is growing at 200 per cent every year. We have 1,000 schools and 10 million students, which is one out of 10 kids in the US, using our study material. This is almost 18 per cent of the US population. We are the fastest growing education company in the US."

GlobalScholar will soon introduce a pilot project in India and China. In the course of all this, Kalyana Raman became Kal Raman. "The country gave me everything and took half my name."

Giving back to society

Kal Raman is in India now for the Kumbhabhishekam of the temple at his village Mannarkoil. "It is taking place after 500 years. It is the culmination of two-and-a-half years of work. I have spent more than one and a half crore rupees (Rs 15 million) to renovate the temple and do the Kumbhabhishekam. More than anything else, I have given jobs to all my friends in the village who are masons and carpenters."

Other than this, he has also adopted all the orphanages around his village and he takes care of around 2,000 kids, some of whom are physically handicapped.

"I feel if I can educate these children, eventually we can make a difference in the society. We also help 100 children in their higher education. Around my village, everyone knows that if a kid who studies well cannot afford to pay fees, he has to only come to my house; his education will be taken care of."

"I do not do this as charity; its my responsibility. I am giving something back to the society that fed me, taught me, and took care of me and gave me hopes. "

Brahman: The Ultimate Reality of Sanatana Dharma

I would like to add to the following article one interesting poem of Tirumular in his Tirumanthirams titled 'kelvi ketu amaidhal' that goes well for ultimate reality this atman Brahman discussions. you need to ask all possible questions either get or find the answers then ultimately throw away all answers once you transcend the thresh hold of communicating about all your supposed knowledge about the unknown and probably unknowable and move on to having a real communion with the unknowable.Only then you reach only that stage where Atman and Brahman becomes one.

Brahman: The Ultimate Reality of Sanatana Dharma

Published on 07-16-2010 09:44 AM Number of Views: 621

By Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya

brahmano hi pratisthaham
amrtasyavyayasya ca
sasvatasya ca dharmasya
sukhasyaikantikasya ca

"Verily, I am the basis of the immortal Brahman, of eternal Dharma, and of the absolute bliss."

- Bhagavan Sri Krishna (Bhagavad Gita, 14:27)


Let us look at what Sanatana Dharma holds to be the Absolute. The ultimate goal and Absolute of Sanatana Dharma is termed "Brahman" in Sanskrit. The word comes from the Sanskrit verb root brh, meaning "to grow". Etymologically, the term means "that which grows" (brhati) and "which causes to grow" (brhmayati).

Brahman is not Anthropomorphic "God"

Brahman, as understood by the scriptures of Hinduism, as well as by the'acharyas' of the Vedanta school, is a very specific conception of the Absolute. This unique conception has not been replicated by any other religion on earth, and is exclusive to Sanatana Dharma. Thus to even call this conception of Brahman "God" is, in a sense, somewhat imprecise. This is the case because Brahman does not refer to the anthropomorphic concept of God of the Abrahamic religions. When we speak of Brahman, we are referring neither to the "old man in the sky" concept, nor to the idea of the Absolute as even capable of being vengeful, fearful or engaging in choosing a favorite people from among His creatures. For that matter, Brahman is not a "He" at all, but rather transcends all empirically discernible categories, limitations and dualities.What is Brahman?

In the 'Taittariya Upanishad' II.1, Brahman is described in the following manner: "satyam jnanam anantam brahma", "Brahman is of the nature of truth, knowledge and infinity." Infinite positive qualities and states have their existence secured solely by virtue of Brahman's very reality. Brahman is a necessary reality, eternal (i.e., beyond the purview of temporality), fully independent, non-contingent, and the source and ground of all things. Brahman is both immanently present in the realm of materiality, interpenetrating the whole of reality as the sustaining essence that gives it structure, meaning and existential being, yet Brahman is simultaneously the transcendent origin of all things (thus, panentheistic).

The Nature of Brahman

As the primary causal substance of material reality (jagat-karana), Brahman does not arbitrarily will the coming into being of the non-Brahman metaphysical principles of matter and jivas (individuated consciousness), but rather they are manifest into being as a natural result of the overflowing of Brahman's grandeur, beauty, bliss and love. Brahman cannot but create abundant good in a similar manner to how Brahman cannot but exist. Both existence and overflowing abundance are as much necessary properties of Brahman as love and nurturing are necessary qualities of any virtuous and loving mother.Brahman is the Source

One can say that Brahman Itself (Him/Herself) constitutes the essential building material of all reality, being the antecedent primeval ontological substance from whence all things proceed. There is no ex nihilo creation in Sanatana Dharma. Brahman does not create from nothing, but from the reality of Its own being. Thus Brahman is, in Aristotelian terms, both the Material Cause as well as the Efficient Cause of creation.

The Final Goal & the Final Cause

As the source of Dharma, the metaphysical ordering principles inherent in the design of the cosmos, Brahman can be viewed as the Formal Cause. And as the final goal of all reality, Brahman is also the Final Cause. Being the ontological source of all reality, Brahman is the only substantial real that truly exists, all other metaphysical categories being either a) contingent transformations of Brahman, having their very being subsisting in attributive dependence upon Brahman, or else b) illusory in nature. These views about the nature of Brahman are in general keeping with the theological teachings of both the Advaita and the Vishishta-Advaita schools of Hinduism.

Brahman is the Ultimate Reality

All reality has its source in Brahman. All reality has its grounding sustenance in Brahman. It is in Brahman that all reality has its ultimate repose. Sanatana Dharma , specifically, is consciously and exclusively aiming toward this reality termed Brahman. The totality of the Vedic scriptures proclaim with one united voice that this Brahman is none other than Sriman Narayana, who, in this age of Kali Yuga is manifest in His specific avatara of Bhagavan Sri Krishna.

namaḥ kṛṣṇāya śuddhāya
brahmaṇe paramātmane
yogeśvarāya yogāya
tvām ahaḿ śaraṇaḿ gatā

"I offer my obeisances unto You, Krishna, the supreme pure, the Absolute Brahman, and the Supersoul residing within the heart, the Lord of Yoga and the source of all knowledge. I have come to You for shelter." (Bhagavata Purana, 10.49.13)

It is in practicing Bhakti Yoga and cultivating devotional consciousness (bhakti) toward Bhagavan Sri Krishna that we can achieve God-consciousness (Brahma-vidya) in this age.


For further information on how you can achieve Brahma-vidya, or God-consciousness, please visit: http://www.dharmacentral.com


About the Author

Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya (Dr. Frank Morales, Ph.D.) has been practicing and teaching Dharma for over 35 years. With a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he is the Director of the Center for Dharma Studies.

Sri Acharyaji is currently recognized as one of the world's foremost scholars on the Yoga tradition, Dharma and meditation, as well as being a truly authentic spiritual teacher. He is the Founder-Acharya of the International Sanatana Dharma Society.

With a very large international following, Sri Acharyaji is especially renowned for his highly authentic approach to spirituality, his authoritative and scholarly method of teaching, and his clear emphasis on serious spiritual practice and direct experience of self-realization. He has lectured on Dharma at dozens of top universities, such as Harvard, Columbia, Rutgers, Cornell, and Northwestern. He has also served as a consultant for such Fortune 500 companies as Ford Motor Corporation and Lucent Technology.

Sri Acharyaji's teachings stress the achievement of enlightenment through the practice of meditation, Yoga, and directly experiencing the presence of the Divine. Another overarching aspect of Sri Acharyaji's teachings focuses on the importance of love, compassion and service toward all living beings.

Whether speaking to an audience of thousands, or having a heart-felt discussion with only one person, Sri Acharyaji vividly conveys a deeply moving sense of compassion, peace, humility, and spiritual insight that has endeared him to thousands of students and admirers throughout the world. For more information, visit: http://www.dharmacentral.com



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