Excerpts from " Gratitude & Humility " by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

One of the fundamental qualities invariably found in a grateful person is humility. Gratitude is the overflow of a humble heart, just as surely as an ungrateful, complaining spirit flows out of a proud heart.

Proud people are wrapped up in themselves. They think much of themselves and little of others. If people or circumstances don’t please or suit them, they are prone to whine or become resentful. This month’s study reminds us that “God opposes the proud.” The concept is that He stiff-arms them, He keeps them at a distance, He “sets Himself in battle array” against them.

But when we choose to humble ourselves, as we are exhorted in James 4, God draws near to us and pours His grace into our lives. His Spirit does a cleansing, purifying work in our hearts; gives us victory over the noisy, demanding tyrant of self; and enables us to be thankful people, even in the midst of challenging circumstances.

Humble people are wrapped up in Christ. A humble person thinks much of God and others, and little–if at all–of himself. He recognizes that anything he has is better than he deserves. He does not feel anyone owes him anything. He does not feel entitled to have more, or for life to be easy, or for everyone to love him and treat him well. He is grateful for the least little kindness that is extended to him, knowing it is more than he deserves.

The biblical account of Ruth is one that I find particularly moving and instructive every time I read it. Ruth was a woman with a humble heart–a trait that is a companion virtue of gratitude. She didn’t claim her rights. She didn’t insist that Boaz provide her a living by letting her glean in his fields. And because she relinquished her demands for certain expectations, she was able to be genuinely thankful when she actually did receive the blessing of his generosity. Ruth 2:10 and 13 are not a show of false flattery, but the expressions of a heart operating out of humble gratitude.

Too many of us live with a chip on our shoulder, as if the world owes us something. “You ought to do this for me. You ought to serve me. You ought to meet my needs.” But the humble heart–the grateful heart–says, “I don’t deserve this, and it’s an amazing act of grace that you should minister to my needs.”

I once journaled the following prayer after meditating on Ruth’s story: “O God, please take me back to see where You found me and where I would be today apart from You. Please strip me of my proud, demanding ways and clothe me in meekness, humility and gratitude. Empty me of myself and fill me with the sweet, gracious nature of Jesus Christ.”

Ruth just went out to serve with a humble, thankful heart. And as a result, God made sure her needs were met. He’ll do the same for you.

Gratitude in the Scriptures
Read James 4:6-10.

1. What is the source of grace, and where does God bestow it, according to verse 6?
2. The truly humble will show humility in their attitudes and works. What will the humble do, according to verses 7 and 8?
3. What happens when we humble ourselves before God? (See verse 10.)

Read Ruth 2:1-13 and appreciate this woman with a humble heart.
Gratitude in Action

1. Make a list of anything you can recall whining about recently. Include things like frustrating people, annoying circumstances, wanting something you couldn’t get (such as an uninterrupted nap), or having something you wished you didn’t have (such as a cold). How does your complaining manifest a spirit of pride, entitlement and expectations?
2. Sit quietly before the Lord for a time today and say, “I sit on the ground before You.” You may even want to literally bow your head down to the ground as you come into His presence, as an expression of your desire to humble yourself before Him. Confess any pride that has shown itself in complaining, irritability, anger or resentment, rather than giving of thanks. Humbly tell Him that you don’t deserve any of His favor, and give Him thanks for any specific recent blessings He brings to mind–including those situations you have complained about! (If a circumstance involves something sinful or evil, ask how He might want to use it in your life to make you more like Jesus.)
3. Whom do you know who consistently exhibits a grateful spirit? What is it about them that makes them so remarkable? What can you learn from them?

प्यार की सही परिभाषा

क्या खूब लिखा है किसीने - " मिल जाये तो मिटटी , खो जाये तो सोना ! "

जो मिल जाता है , उसका कोई मोल नहीं रहता

और जो खो जाता है , वो हमेशा याद आता है

शायद इसीलिए हीर-राँझा , लैला-मजनू की पहचान दुनिया में बनी

मिल जाते,  तो क्या पता वक़्त के साथ उनका प्यार भी ऊब जाता, उनके नाम कही गुमनामी में बह जाते

इंसान का प्यार भी कैसा निराला !

प्यार वही तक चलता है, जहाँ तक मतलब निकलता है !

मुश्किल मोड़ आने पर, अपना रुख बद्दल लेता है

हरियाली में तो हर कोई साथ निभाता है

कसौटी प्यार की तब होती है जब सूखा आता है !

प्यार के भी कई रूप रंग और कई है उसकी परिभाषा ! उदाहरण :

जिस प्यार में चूर होकर शाहजहां ने ताजमहल बनवाया, उसी प्यार के वास्ते गरीब मजदूरों ने अपने बेशकीमती हाथ गवाये

कोई अपनी जिद्द को प्यार कहता है तो कोई अपनी हवस को

कोई मातृभूमि के प्यार में शहीद होता है , तो कोई प्यार के जूनून में क़त्ल करता है

कोई प्यार में सिर्फ समझौता करता है तो कोई प्यार के नाम पर सिर्फ दगा करता है

माँ का  प्यार सिर्फ देना जानता  है , तो माशूका का प्यार सिर्फ लेना जानता है

यूं तो प्यार इश्क मोहब्बत कहने को सब एक ही कहलाते है ,

पर इसको  सही मायने में समझने का वक़्त किसके पास है?  समझ भी पाए तो निभाने का साहस कौन रखता है?

सच्चा प्यार एक वही है दोस्तों जो किसी के प्रति शर्तरहित होता है

ऐसा प्यार तो सिर्फ किसी के प्रति अप्रतिम अपार करुणा होता है

और

वह केवल संत , गुरु, फ़रिश्ते और  भगवान् का होता है !

- डॉ रचना फाडिया 

Lessons from Life!

Everyone is trying to find the missing spark in their lives. The missing spark could be love, warmth, sympathy, affection, friendship, romance, recognition, wealth, companionship etc etc. What creates this deficit? Is it the haste in taking decisions of life or missing out making the right ones; its either right ones at wrong time and wrong ones at any point of time. Or is it the false ego one constantly wants to satisfy, or the pursuasion of unending list of desires or the race to compete with peers or the vindiction with the estranged partner or rebel with the principles of dear ones ???  Human mind is the greatest mystery.. too diffucult to comprehend, untangle and very diversively unstable.
Equally strenuous is keeping Everyone around you happy all the time and on same page as you are! One point of an unpleasant truth and down you go the drain of their minds!
Experience has taught me few lessons in the bargain. Jotting down a few:
1. Be honest to yourself. Do not change yourself for making others happy because  that will only hurt you in long run
2. Learn to say NO. So that your self-respect in your own eyes never go down
3. Cut out the negativity in all its forms frm your life – it could be negative people, selfish people, harmful people, complaining and all time nagging people, dominating people, hypocrites.
4. Be grateful for every little thing God has gifted you. Gratitude multiplies the strength of prayers and healing comes naturally.
5. Never retort to ungrateful people because your understanding is with God not with the mortals
6. Keep yourself surrounded by best friends called Books  they never ditch, never cheat, never expect too much except that you handle them with care and mostly they only know how to give!
7. Believe you can and you will! This is the Guru mantra for success in all endeavours
8. Be focussed and stick to roots but also remember – “who moved my cheese”
9. Nobody is indispensable in this world, so keep innovating, keep moving on and never behave pricey! World can move on without you too!
10. Be humble. You neverr know the person you humiliated can someday be on the other side of the table and you can be on the receiving ends
11. Remember “Memento Mori ” so Keep a big heart , forgive, forget and move ahead. Most importantly first forgive yourself.
12. Never discuss personal issues with anyone except yourself. There can be no third person except you and yourself knowing them. People might give sympathy while hearing them but enjoy tequila shots with others while sharing and spreading them, sometimes even manipulating them
13. Trust slowly, judge none
14. Let the failures go only with you to your grave
15. Bad things happen and theres always a lesson to be learnt but remember to not repeat them again.
16. Meditate. Thats the only gate to the mysteries burried deep inside your conscious and subconscious!

One of my One-Liners!

What amounts to an evening spent well - Two friends with pure hearts and words of warmth exchanged !

One of my one-liners!

A Life well-lived would tantamount to striking a good balance between the Practical, Emotional and Spiritual aspects of ones' ownself..

Thoughts for the same Concern, Echo Together!

Am surprisingly glad, am not the only fish in the ocean of world to think the way I do, as I mentioned in my previous Blogs about the exponentially progressing science and technology - whether a boon or a curse? This question has always lingered since the beginning of the History of Mankind. Many Civilizations dawned up on the surface of earth, progressed enormously in their understandings of matter but somewhere on the way to achieving Godliness, without the sanity and control over their mind, brought upon Doom to themselves. Few of the ones like Mayan Civilization, the much spoken and much controversial Atlantis, The Ancient Egyptians (I read that only their Chief Priests knew how to regenerate human tissues with the help of some crystal and much more but this knowledge was classified information  and only supposed to be passed from one Chief Priest to other in hierarchy) and many more may be. 

Reproducing what I assimilated from Shri S.N.Goenka Gurujis lecture in Vipassana <REAL FACT>

A famous scientist discovers the truth about Atoms in Nuclear physics (with a very focussed mind but lacking peace and equanimity) and was awarded nobel prize. This discovery lead to creation of Atom Bomb and we all know the history of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When a Vipassana meditator who was from same place, visited him after knowing about him from one of Vipassana courses(this happened while they all were alive), he found what a mental wreck the scientist had become.. filled with so much anger, frustration and an obsessive madness. His discovery not only made him INSANE but also spread hatred and destruction in the real world.

On the other hand Lord Gautam Buddha had realised the same truth about atoms and mentioned it 2500 years ago through perseverance of insight meditation (Vipassana) with the help of only instrument - his human body (with a razor sharp focussed mind AND Equanimity) ! The results of HIS discovery not only made HIM liberated but also spread love, peace, tolerance, kindness and benevolence wherever HIS teachings spread during HIS time. 

EXCERPTS FROM THE DISCOURSES OF SHRI S N GOENKA AND SAYAGYI U BA KHIN ON VIPASSANA:

"Modern science has given us, for what it is worth, the atomic bomb, the most wonderful and yet at the same time the most dreadful product of man's intelligence. Is man using his intelligence in the right direction?

Why not use intelligence to look within? Know ourselves? This will give us the "peace within" and enable us to share it with all others. We will then radiate such powerful and purified mental forces as will successfully counteract the evil forces which are all around us. Just as the light of a single candle has the power to dispel darkness in a room, so also the light developed in one man can help dispel the darkness in several others

To imagine that good can be done by the means of evil is an illusion, a nightmare. For all the loss of lives, bloodshed and war, are we nearer to, or further away, from peace? These are the lessons which we have learnt. Change of mankind's mental attitude alone is the solution. What is necessary at the moment is mastery over the mind and not only mastery over matter."

whole article on - http://www.buddhanet.net/bvk_study/bvk21d.htm

Happenstancely I watched this movie yesterday- Avengers- Age of  Ultron (the sci-fi movie buff that I am ;) ) which again showed how human calculation and creation error can cost himself with  evolution of artificial intelligence. Movies have to show a winning end, always, as its a business of fantasy world supposed to entertain us and the audience only want to watch us(humans) win... whereas in reality the tables can turn with complete wipe off of the human species... Just like Ancient Red Indians were wiped out for reasons of technological prowess of their killers. Or in that case even the misuse of advanced Bio-Weapons in modern world as nicely shown in this movie "Doomsday"; the mention of which gives me goosebumps even now!

All this and todays Times of India Article "Soon, phones smarter than us" on page 17 by a Director of Research at Duke University (attached below) echoes the same concern about how far we should go in advancing technology and how to safeguard Peace?

Give it a thought!