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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Who is laughing Buddha?

Every one must have seen the statue of "Laughing Buddha". He is also called as the "Happy Man".


In actuality he was named Hotei or Pu-Tai is best known as the jolly Laughing Buddha.In China, he is known as the Loving or Friendly One.He is based on an eccentric Chinese Ch'an (Zen) monk who lived over 1,000 years ago and has become a significant part of Buddhist and Shinto culture.Because of this monk's benevolent nature, he came to be regarded as an incarnation of the bodhisattva who will be Maitreya (the Future Buddha). His large protruding stomach and jolly smile have given him the common designation "Laughing Buddha.".

He was truly a great zen master and legend has a great story which is so inspirational for all of us.

The jolly good saint that he was used to go from one place to the other.He went to the Town Square and soon people gathered around him. He was so funny looking and always smiling that people used to crowd around him.

He would then distribute sweets and small toys to all children who had gathered around him. Then keep his bag down, look to the sky and just start laughing. He used to laugh madly and he was not interested whether other laughed or not. Soon his laughter used to be contagious and all who had gathered would start to laugh.

The whole town used to laugh and laugh.After sometime he would pick the bag, which he had kept down, smile to all, and go to the next town. All his life he did only this action and it was said that many people attained Nirvana, enlightenment just through this process.Hence he was called as the laughing Buddha because Buddha is someone who is enlightened and laughter was his unique method. Never before him or never after him such a simple aspect was used to achieve what all humans strive for-moksha or enlightenment.

He would rarely speak and once when he was asked to describe his method he told, that he gave sweets to children to symbolically that the more you give, the more comes to you. Thereby he unveiled the secret of "Giving with joy". Children are said to be GOD because they represent the GOD Nature, which is always, be in Present time, smiling and joyful, ego less, and most important is without judge mental mind.

The bag represented problems that all humans encounter. We are mistaken that when we have problems, that GOD only gave you a problem and the rest are so happy. The problems appear big because we are associated with it- calling it as "My Problem".Look at a funny phenomenon, if anyone comes to you with any problem of theirs and seek solutions or advice, what you do. You tell them so many solutions so easily as though you are an expert in all the fields in the Universe. However big the others problems are you can solve it so easily, you are a master solver of problems. But then what happens to your own problems. Hmm Hmm it is impossible to find any solution.

This happens only because of your attachment and association with the problem.So laughing Buddha said, simple keep your problem down (symbolically keeping the bag down) means "Disassociate with your Problem", "Separate form it" and yes just Laugh. What else can one do? Think and thank GOD that you only have such a small problem as compared to so many others. Whether you laugh or cry the problem is going to be there right. So why not laugh at it. Therein is the magic and mind you no small magic, it is huge, apply it to realize about the power of laughter.

On laughing your whole internal chemistry changes and thereby the body produces certain enzymes that are only released in a state of laughter. The problem now looks too tiny and as you pick it (symbolically he picks back the bag before going to the next place) the problem is solved.

Such a great zen master was Hotei or Laughing Buddha. So next time you look at the statue of "laughing Buddha" associate with that great teaching he gave all of us, the power of laughter. Each time you see the Laughing Buddha and if it reminds you to laugh, a great work has been done.

Whole life Hotei lived in Laughter. And when the time came to pass away, he knew he had to give up his life at an appropriate time. He called his disciples and said that after he passes away, they should immediately burn his body. The disciples were surprised because there was no tradition of burning in Zen. But they followed the master wishes. And as they lit fire to his body, "Fire Works and Crackers" started flying all over.

Hotei was so great that just before he died he hid a lot of crackers and rockets in his clothes.So there also he created such laughter by the suddenness of the situation.So Hotei not only lived in laughter all through his life, he also died in laughter.

Let us all learn from the great zen master that "It is our birth right to laugh" and "No matter what happens we should come back to laughter".

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Anybody wants Peace of mind?!


Usually human beings used to get messed up with issues and try to solve it at the moment as I always do thinking it will give a solution immediately. But every time it will get worse and then it will soft down with the remains of anger which will be one of the reason to fight again.

Love, Expectation, Affection, Attention, and Satisfaction is all each and every human being want and if it fails at any moment, will lead to heavy fights, anger, depression as though our lives are going to end up here if we don’t get all that. Is that all life?!

NO is my final answer after realizing things so far. After reading the story below, I felt bad for a minute and realized one thing. We should allow misunderstanding or any fight to settle down with a clear mind. And then have to talk straight and sort it away. Anything may come and interfere in your peace of mind. But you have to be clear that your happiness is in your hands. Anger is not going to help us lead our life happily. Peace will die when anger stays. Vent your anger in a healthy way. Here is the story to give you Peace Of Mind.

Peace of mind

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there.”

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water and, right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!” So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”

After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be ... and the mud settled down on its own – and you got clear water... Your mind is also like that. When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”

What did Buddha emphasize here? He said, “It is effortless.” Having 'peace of mind' is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process. When there is peace inside you, that peace permeates to the outside. It spreads around you and in the environment, such that people around start feeling that peace and grace.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Rules For Friendly Fight Between Couples..!! :)


For some people, this is a truly radical idea: There is no need to fight with your partner. Ever. Accusations, recriminations, character assassination, threats, name-calling, and cursing, whether delivered at top volume or with a quiet sarcastic sneer, damage a relationship, often irrevocably. Nobody needs to be a monster or to be treated monstrously. Nobody who yells will ever be heard. In the heat of a moment, it is always a choice whether to go for a run or run your partner down.
On the other hand, no two people in the world, no matter how made for each other they feel, will ever agree about everything at all times. (It would be quite boring if they did.) Couples do need to be able to negotiate differences. They do need to have room for constructive criticism. They do need a way to assert opinions and to disagree. And they do need to have a way to express intense feelings (that the other person may not understand or support) without feeling that they will be judged as lacking for doing so.
A healthy relationship requires knowing the skills necessary for “friendly fighting” — dealing with conflict respectfully and working together to find a workable solution. Friendly fighting means working out differences that matter. It means engaging passionately about things we feel passionate about, without resorting to hurting one another. It helps us let off steam without getting burned. Friendly fighting lets us “fight” and still stay friends.
Couples in mature, healthy relationships seem intuitively to understand the notion of friendly fighting. Some people have been fortunate enough to grow up in families where their parents modeled how to disagree without being disagreeable. Others were so horrified by the way their folks treated each other that they refuse to repeat the behavior in their own relationships. Most couples, though, learn the art of friendly fighting by working it out together and supporting each other in staying in close relationship even when differences mystify, frustrate, and upset them. Most come up with stated or unstated rules for engagement that are surprisingly similar.
Below are some tips to ensure that conflicts will strengthen your marriage instead of harm it.
Ten rules for friendly fighting: or how to ensure that conflicts will strengthen your marriage instead of harm it.
  1. Embrace conflict. There is no need to fear it. Conflict is normal, even healthy. Differences between you mean that there are things you can learn from each other. Often conflict shows us where we can or need to grow.
  2. Go after the issue, not each other. Friendly fighting sticks with the issue. Neither party resorts to name calling or character assassination. It’s enough to deal with the problem without adding the new problem of hurting each other feelings.
  3. Listen respectfully. When people feel strongly about something, it’s only fair to hear them out. Respectful listening means acknowledging their feelings, either verbally or through focused attention. It means never telling someone that he or she “shouldn’t” feel that way. It means saving your point of view until after you’ve let the other person know you understand that they feel intensely about the subject, even if you don’t quite get it.
  4. Talk softly. The louder someone yells, the less likely they are to be heard. Even if your partner yells, there’s no need to yell back. Taking the volume down makes it possible for people to start focusing on the issues instead of reacting to the noise.
  5. Get curious, not defensive. Defending yourself, whether by vehemently protesting your innocence or rightness or by turning the tables and attacking, escalates the fight. Instead of upping the ante, ask for more information, details, and examples. There is usually some basis for the other person’s complaint. When you meet a complaint with curiosity, you make room for understanding.
  6. Ask for specifics. Global statements that include the words “always” and “never” almost always get you nowhere and never are true. When your partner has complaints, ask to move from global comments of exasperation to specific examples so you can understand exactly what he or she is talking about. When you have complaints, do your best to give your partner examples to work with.
  7. Find points of agreement. There almost always are parts of a conflict that can be points of agreement. Finding common ground, even if it’s agreeing that there is a problem, is an important start to finding a common solution.
  8. Look for options. Fighting ends when cooperation begins. Asking politely for suggestions or alternatives invites collaboration. Careful consideration of options shows respect. Offering alternatives of your own shows that you also are willing to try something new.
  9. Make concessions. Small concessions can turn the situation around. If you give a little, it makes room for the other person to make concessions too. Small concessions lead to larger compromises. Compromise doesn’t have to mean that you’re meeting each other exactly 50-50. Sometimes it’s a 60-40 or even 80-20 agreement. This isn’t about score keeping. It’s about finding a solution that is workable for both of you.
  10. Make peace. An elderly friend who has been married for 68 years tells me that she and her husband made a rule on their wedding day never to go to bed angry. They agreed from the outset that the relationship is more important than winning arguments. Sometimes this meant they stayed up very, very late until they came to a workable compromise. Sometimes it meant that one or the other of them decided the issue wasn’t really important enough to lose sleep over. Since they both value the marriage, neither one gave in or gave up most of the time. When one did give in or give up, the other showed appreciation and made a peace offering of his or her own. These folks still love each other after 68 years of the inevitable conflicts that come with living with another person. They are probably onto something.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

My Favourite Inspirational Quotes..!! :)

Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.
Albert Einstein

Every artist was first an amateur.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The more Difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be.
Horace Bushnell

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Wayne Gretzky

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.
Helen Keller

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts; therefore guard accordingly.
Marcus Aurelius

People with many interests live, not only longest, but happiest.
George Matthew Allen

There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you.
David Burns, Intimate Connections


THE ABOVE THOUGHTS ARE FROM A VERY FEW I CHOSE FROM MANY GREAT PEOPLE. HERE GOES MY OWN:

INSPIRATION MEANS POSITIVITY; POSITIVE THOUGHTS WILL LEAD YOU RIGHT. SO THINK RIGHT; LIVE RIGHT.
DIVYA