Today went for drinks to Sheilu Sreenivasan's (Dignity Foundation). I was invited by Historian Mr Hiro Shroff (hiroshroff@hotmail.com) who has penned his experiences in 'Down Memory Lane.
It was a fine gathering of 'thinkers' and 'those who try to bring a difference in their way'
The meeting was held to meet Ms Deborah Moggachh an acclaimed British author. She has written 'Those foolish things' and I believe the screen script of Pride and Prejudice.
It was heartening to hear her praise India and our values.She said that the elders are so much better looked after in India...that we should maybe have elders homes for the Western elderly here...India has a warmer climate...good cheaper medical bills...
But I wonder...how about the mosquitoes and malaria and the jaundice....

While we are speaking of depressing issues...I heard in an earlier meeting that some places in some of the third world countries will not have toilets built for them free because the menfolk are afraid that their wives will be raped in them !

Just read the following wise words...(not related to what I have written above)


TREAT EVERYONE WITH POLITENESS
EVEN THOSE WHO ARE RUDE TO YOU,
NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT NICE
BUT BECAUSE YOU ARE NICE...

NEVER SEARCH YOUR HAPPINESS IN OTHERS
WHICH WILL MAKE YOU FEEL ALONE,
RATHER SEARCH IT IN YOURSELF
YOU WILL FEEL HAPPY
EVEN IF YOU ARE LEFT ALONE...

ALWAYS HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE IN LIFE.
THERE IS SOMETHING POSITIVE
IN EVERY PERSON.
EVEN A STOPPED WATCH
IS RIGHT TWICE A DAY...

Some of the dignitaries present at
World Inter-Religious Conference on Peace (India) WIRCP

On the 24th of Feb 2007 a meeting was held for the formation of an Indian National Interfaith Council for Peace and Harmony to which I had the good fortune of being invited as I strongly believe that this is the need of the hour...We have to bring together men and women of all religions to discuss and identify problems...to publish works, materials and periodicals...

The initiative was hosted by Mr Pratap Bhogilal at the instance of H.H Sugunendra Theerth Swamiji

Read my book, It is free for perusal and it may help in 'the children not becoming prejudiced by grown-ups, Click :
http://www.dalsabzi.com/Books/kids_kahaani/kahaani_intro.htm

What do you think? I am on a boat? at the beach? No actually at a the Radio club with the theme 'Picnic'organized by the Unati Mandal with my friend Mala.
Good fun and good job!
Just a little imagination and the right attitude to have all the fun in the world!

Remember I told you about Oprah speaking grandly about the video 'The Secret?
Well I received these quotes from the Internet...Have edited it...Removed some repetitions...change your life...read this everyday...act upon it!
Good Luck always,

Quotes from "The Secret"

We all work with one infinite power

Whatever is going on in your mind is what you are attracting

Thoughts send out a magnetic energy

People think about what they don't want and attract more of the same

Thought = creation. If these thoughts are attached to powerful emotions (good or bad) that speeds the creation

9. Those who speak most of illness have illness, those who speak most of prosperity have it..etc..


12. Choose your thoughts carefully .. you are a masterpiece of your life

13. It's OK that thoughts don't manifest into reality immediately (if we saw a picture of an elephant and it instantly appeared , that would be too soon)

15. Your thoughts cause your feelings

16. We don't need to complicate all the "reasons" behind our emotions. It's much simpler than that. Two categories .. good feelings, bad feelings.

17. Thoughts that bring about good feelings mean you are on the right track. Thoughts that bring about bad feelings means you are not on the right track.

18. Whatever it is you are feeling is a perfect reflection of what is in the process of becoming

19. You get exactly what you are FEELING

20. Happy feelings will attract more happy circumstances

21. You can begin feeling whatever you want (even if it's not there).. the universe will correspond to the nature of your song


27. You can change your emotion immediately .. by thinking of something joyful, or singing a song, or remembering a happy experience

28. When you get the hang of this, before you know it you will KNOW you are the creator


31. Start by using this sentence for all of your wants: "I'm so happy and grateful now that.... "

32. You don't need to know HOW the universe is going to rearrange itself


34. You might get an inspired thought or idea to help you move towards what you want faster

35. The universe likes SPEED. Don't delay, don't second-guess, don't doubt..

36. When the opportunity or impulse is there .. ACT

37. You will attract everything you require - money, people, connections.. PAY ATTENTION to what's being set in front of you

38. You can start with nothing .. and out of nothing or no way - a WAY will be provided.

39. HOW LONG??? No rules on time .. the more aligned you are with positive feelings the quicker things happen

40. Size is nothing to the universe (unlimited abundance if that's what you wish) We make the rules on size and time

41. No rules according to the universe .. you provide the feelings of having it now and the universe will respond

42. Most people offer the majority of their thought in response to what they are observing (bills in the mail, being late, having bad luck...etc ..)

43. You have to find a different approach to what is through a different vantage point

44. "All that we are is a result of what we have thought" - Buddha

45. What can you do right now to turn your life around?? Gratitude

46. Gratitude will bring more into our lives immediately

47. What we think about and THANK about is what we bring about

48. What are the things you are grateful for?? Feel the gratitude.. focus on what you have right now that you are grateful for

49. Play the picture in your mind - focus on the end result

50. VISUALIZE!!! Rehearse your future

51. VISUALIZE!!! See it, feel it! This is where action begins

52. Feel the joy .. feel the happiness)

53. An affirmative thought is 100 times more powerful than a negative one

54. "What this power is, I cannot say. All I know is that it exists." Alexander Graham Bell

55. Our job is not to worry about the "How". The "How" will show up out of the commitment and belief in the "what"

58. Turn it over to the universe daily.. but it should never be a chore.

60. The only difference between people who are really living this way is they have habituated ways of being.

61. They remember to do it all the time

62. Create a Vision Board .. pictures of what you want to attract .. every day look at it and get into the feeling state of already having acquired these wants

63. "Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions." Albert Einstein

64. Decide what you want .. believe you can have it, believe you deserve it, believe it's possible for you

65. Close your eyes and visualize having what you already want - and the feeling of having it already.

66. Focus on being grateful for what you have already .. enjoy it!! Then release into the universe. The universe will manifest it.

67. "Whatever the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve" W. Clement Stone

68. Set a goal so big that if you achieved it, it would blow your mind.

69. When you have an inspired thought, you must trust it and act on it.

70. How can you become more prosperous?? INTEND IT!!

71. 'Checks are coming in the mail regularly'... or change your bank statement to whatever balance you want in there... and get behind the feeling of having it.

72. Life is meant to be abundant in ALL areas...

73. Go for the sense of inner joy and peace then all outside things appear

74. We are the creators of our universe

75. Relationships: Treat yourself the way you want to be treated by others .. love yourself and you will be loved

76. Healthy respect for yourself

77. For those you work with or interact with regularly .. get a notebook and write down positive aspects of each of those people.

78. Write down the things you like most about them (don't expect change from them). Law of attraction will not put you in the same space together if you frequencies don't match

79. When you realize your potential to feel good, you will ask no one to be different in order for you to feel good.

80. You will free yourself from the cumbersome impossibilities of needing to control the world, your friends, your mate, your children....

81. You are the only one that creates your reality

82. No one else can think or feel for you .. its YOU .. ONLY YOU.

83. Health: thank the universe for your own healing. Laugh, stress free happiness will keep you healthy.

84. Immune system will heal itself

85. Parts of our bodies are replace every day, every week..etc... Within a few years we have a brand new body

86. See yourself living in a new body. Hopeful = recovery. Happy = happier biochemistry. Stress degrades the bod.

87. Remove stress from the body and the body regenerates itself. You can heal yourself

88. Learn to become still .. and take your attention away from what you don't want, and place your attention on what you wish to experience

89. When the voice and vision on the inside become more profound and clear than the opinions on the outside, then you have mastered your life

90. You are not here to try to get the world to be just as you want it. You are here to create the world around you that you choose.

91. And allow the world as others choose to see it, exist as well

92. People think that if everyone knows the power of the LOA there won't be enough to go around .. This is a lie that's been ingrained in us and makes so many greedy.

93. The truth is there is more than enough love, creative ideas, power, joy, happiness to go around.

94. All of this abundance begins to shine through a mind that is aware of it's own infinite nature. There's enough for everyone. See it. Believe it. it will show up for you.

95. So let the variety of your reality thrill you as you choose all the things you want.. get behind the good feelings of all your wants.

96. Write your script. When you see things you don't want, don't think about them, write about them, talk about them, push against them, or join groups that focus on the don't wants... remove your attention from don't wants.. and place them on do wants

97. We are mass energy. Everything is energy. EVERYTHING.

98. Don't define yourself by your body .. it's the infinite being that's connected to everything in the universe.

99. One energy field. Our bodies have distracted us from our energy. We are the infinite field of unfolding possibilities. The creative force.

100. Are your thoughts worthy of you? If not - NOW is the time to change them. You can begin right were you are right now. Nothing matters but this moment and what you are focusing your attention on.

I believe one must know facts, ...specially the scholars...They must see the movie Parzania and read facts like this ( I shall not send this to all my readers, but the deeply thinking ones, will probably check this blog, Those who know me know that my passion is to bring about peace )

http://dalsabzi.com/Articles/interfaith_dialogue.htm

and I believe, mostly in the last para..
Do read when u hv time...
A street in Delhi in his name?
I definitly do not appreciate it...

Francois Gautier
February 16, 2007
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/feb/16francois.htm
FACT, the Trust which I head, is holding an exhibition on 'Aurangzeb as he was according to Mughal documents', from February 16 to 20 at New Delhi's Habitat Center, the Palm Court Gallery, from 10 am to 9 pm.

Why an exhibition on Aurangzeb, some may ask. Firstly, I have been a close student of Indian history, and one of its most controversial figures has been Aurangzeb (1658-1707). It is true that under him the Mughal empire reached its zenith, but Aurangzeb was also a very cruel ruler ? some might even say monstrous.

What are the facts? Aurangzeb did not just build an isolated mosque on a destroyed temple, he ordered all temples destroyed, among them the Kashi Vishwanath temple, one of the most sacred places of Hinduism, and had mosques built on a number of cleared temple sites. Other Hindu sacred places within his reach equally suffered destruction, with mosques built on them. A few examples: Krishna's birth temple in Mathura; the rebuilt Somnath temple on the coast of Gujarat; the Vishnu temple replaced with the Alamgir mosque now overlooking Benares; and the Treta-ka-Thakur temple in Ayodhya. The number of temples destroyed by Aurangzeb is counted in four, if not five figures. Aurangzeb did not stop at destroying temples, their users were also wiped out; even his own brother Dara Shikoh was executed for taking an interest in Hindu religion; Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded because he objected to Aurangzeb's forced conversions.

Yet, Percival Spear, co-author with Romila Thapar of the prestigious A History of India (Penguin), writes: 'Aurangzeb's supposed intolerance is little more than a hostile legend based on isolated acts such as the erection of a mosque on a temple site in Benares.' L'histoire de l'Inde moderne (Fayard), the French equivalent of Percival Spear's history of India, praises Aurangzeb and says, 'He has been maligned by Hindu fundamentalists'. Even Indian politicians are ignorant of Aurangzeb's evil deeds. Nehru might have known about them, but for his own reasons he chose to keep quiet and instructed his historians to downplay Aurangzeb's destructive drive and instead praise him as a benefactor of arts.

Since then six generations of Marxist historians have done the same and betrayed their allegiance to truth. Very few people know for instance that Aurangzeb banned any kind of music and that painters had to flee his wrath and take refuge with some of Rajasthan's friendly maharajahs.

Thus, we thought we should get at the root of the matter. History (like journalism) is about documentation and first-hand experience. We decided to show Aurangzeb according to his own documents. There are an incredible number of farhans, original edicts of Aurangzeb hand-written in Persian, in India's museums, particularly in Rajasthan, such as the Bikaner archives. It was not always easy to scan them, we encountered resistance, sometimes downright hostility and we had to go once to the chief minister to get permission. Indeed, the director of Bikaner archives told us that in 50 years we were the first ones asking for the farhans dealing with Aurangzeb's destructive deeds. Then we asked painters from Rajasthan to reproduce in the ancient Mughal style some of the edicts: the destruction of Somnath temple; the trampling of Hindus protesting jaziya tax by Aurangzeb's elephants; or the order from Aurangzeb prohibiting Hindus to ride horses and palanquins; or the beheading of Teg Bahadur and Dara Shikoh.

People might say: 'OK, this is all true, Aurangzeb was indeed a monster, but why rake up the past, when we have tensions between Muslims and Hindus today?' There are two reasons for this exhibition. The first is that no nation can move forward unless its children are taught to look squarely at their own history, the good and the bad, the evil and the pure. The French, for instance, have many dark periods in their history, more recently some of the deeds they did during colonisation in North Africa or how they collaborated with the Nazis during the Second World War and handed over French Jews who died in concentration camps (the French are only now coming to terms with it).

The argument that looking at one's history will pit a community against the other does not hold either: French Catholics and Protestants, who share a very similar religion, fought each other bitterly. Catholics brutally murdered thousands of Protestants in the 18th century; yet today they live peacefully next to each other. France fought three wars with Germany in the last 150 years, yet they are great friends today.

Let Hindus and Muslims then come to terms with what happened under Aurangzeb, because Muslims suffered as much as Hindus. It was not only Shah Jahan or Dara Shikoh who were murdered, but also the forefathers of today's Indian Muslims who have been converted at 90 per cent. Aurangzeb was the Hitler, the asura of medieval India. No street is named after Hitler in the West, yet in New Delhi we have Aurangzeb Road, a constant reminder of the horrors Aurangzeb perpetrated against Indians, including his own people.

Finally, Aurangzeb is very relevant today because he thought that Sunni Islam was the purest form of his religion and he sought to impose it with ruthless efficiency -- even against those of his own faith, such as his brother. Aurangzeb clamped down on the more syncretic, more tolerant Islam, of the Sufi kind, which then existed in India. But he did not fully succeed. Four centuries later, is he going to have the last word? I remember, when I started covering Kashmir in the late '70s, that Islam had a much more open face. The Kashmir Muslim, who is also a descendant of converted Hindus, might have thought that Allah was the only true God, but he accepted his Kashmiri Pandit neighbour, went to his or her marriage, ate in his or her house and the Hindu in turn went to the mosque. Women used to walk with open faces, watch TV, films.

Then the shadow of Aurangzeb fell on Kashmir and the hardline Sunnis came from Pakistan and Afghanistan: cinemas were banned, the burqa imposed, 400,000 Kashmiri Pandits were chased out of Kashmir through violence and became refugees in their own land and the last Sufi shrine of Sharar-e-Sharif was burnt to the ground (I was there). Today the Shariat has been voted in Kashmir, a state of democratic, secular India, UP's Muslims have applauded, and the entire Indian media which went up in flames when the government wanted Vande Mataram to be sung, kept quiet. The spirit of Aurangzeb seems to triumph.

But what we need today in India -- and indeed in the world -- is a Dara Shikoh, who reintroduces an Islam which, while believing in the supremacy of its Prophet, not only accepts other faiths, but is also able to see the good in each religion, study them, maybe create a synthesis. Islam needs to adapt its scriptures which were created nearly 15 centuries ago for the people and customs of these times, but which are not necessarily relevant in some of their injunctions today. Kabir, Dara Shikoh and some of the Sufi saints attempted this task, but failed. Aurangzeb knew what he was doing when he had his own brother beheaded. And we know what we are saying when we say that this exhibition is very relevant to today's India.

May the Spirit of Dara Shikoh come back to India and bring back Islam to a more tolerant human face.

Deepak Chopra states:
…Simplistic as it may sound, the male principle of aggression can only be healed by the feminine principle of nurturing and love…
Click;
http://www.dalsabzi.com/women_movement/women_intro.htm

Har Gopi ka Valentine
Meera ka Goridhar Gopaal
Radha ke Praan aadhaar
My love too
I try to see Him in my One and other loved ones and the whole of Humanity...

I have often wondered why the 'children' should have to suffer for the fault of the 'fathers'
And then I read this:
The old testament says that the sins of the father are visited on the children into the third and fourth generation, that we are being affected negatively by what our fathers did before us. But WE are our fathers, just as we will be our children. The sins of our own past will haunt our presents until we can understand them and earn absolution. The sins of this lifetime will darken our futures, but as we acted wisely in the past, so our present is made lighter. If we act humanely now, we will bring our future selves closer to the One.
Same Soul Many bodies by Dr Brian Weiss

THE YOUNG, TO BE DALAI LAMA AT A FUNCTION I ATTENDED, THIS PHOTOGRAPH APPEARED IN THE TIMES OF INDIA (BOMBAY)


And my niece Tara wrote:Dear Aunty Shakun,

I think there was some mis-understanding. Charok Lama is not the young Dalai lama. Let me explain how it works.

When an enlightened being passes away, His conciousness leaves the body and voluntarily takes re-birth out of His great compassion to help sentient beings, unlike people like me whose re-birth is propelled by our karma and delusions. So this explains that there is only one Dalai Lama and that He is the 14th incarnation of the previous Dalai Lama's.

Charok Lama is a very special Lama, he is the previous reincarnation of the previous Charok Lama Rinpoche, a yogi/meditator who came from Charok, in the high altitudes of the Sulu Khumbu region of Nepal close to Mount Everest base camp. He meditated many many years in his cave which was close to the Lawudo Lama's cave. The Lawudo Lama is my present Guru, Lama Zopa Rinpoche (who you might have met at the private teachings) previous incarnation!

I hope this helps clarify,
Love Tara




"I hope that you understand what the word 'spiritual' really means. It means to search for – to investigate – the true nature of the mind. There’s nothing spiritual outside. My rosary isn’t spiritual; my robes aren’t spiritual. Spiritual means the mind and spiritual people are those who seek its nature." – Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Am reading 'Same Soul, Many bodies' by Dr Brian Weiss...
Some interesting information to ponder about:
...Also a few patients have told me that souls can split and have simultaneous experiences...
...Reincarnation was written in the New Testament until the time of Constantine, when the Romans censored it. Jesus himself may have believed in it, for he asked the apostles if they recognized John the Baptist as Elijah returned; Elijah had lived nine hundred years before John...

This Photo of the Dalai Lama came on the DNA newspaper...the one of the left is my my niece Tara Melwani...and that makes me proud...


Dalai Lama says...and I love what he says:

All religions belong to humanity. What's important is that once we make a decision to follow another religion we should keep in our minds that we must avoid criticizing our own previous tradition. We must show respect for it.