while returning from Gayatri camp

i was coming back from Gaytri camp. in our small group there were two ladies. we entered a train compartment. seats were almost occupied. they found one seat empty. they went near the seat but they could not decide who should sit. so they requested each other to sit. it went on for some time before the person sitting next to that empty seat could not bear the sense of sacrifice they were attempting for each other. so got up from his seat and offered them both of them to sit happily. expressing thanks they took the seat. if somebody wanted then they could have thought of this incident a trick by these reverential ladies and taking undue advantage of that generous person. in Bharat it may look common for men giving place to ladies but i dont think that happens in Japan. here only sick, extremely old, person with broken limbs, pregnant lady or infant feeding ladies are given priority. and to get that priority too there are fixed priority seats. but neither these ladies fall in any of these categories and nor that was priority seat.
after some time we changed train. here one of the elderly man from our group sat at on of the priority seat. such seat can accommodate three people. our man was sitting in middle. soon three old people entered. one of them being much frail sat at the right side. there was a lady in that group of three and she were interacting a lot. so our man offered the lady to sit on other side which she refused. our man thought that the man sitting next to him and the lady are couple and would not like our man to be between them. so, he moved to side. still that lady did not sit. to me it looked that our man thought again about whole situation. i think, it appeared to him that the other man who is standing along with the lady is her husband. then it indeed appeared natural that the lady would prefer to rather stand along with her husband rather than sitting between two other men. i think our man correct his opinion and got up from his seat to offer lady and her new husband seat to those two people. so these two also sat down. our man was standing and these three were sitting. they were very jovial elderly people. soon at one of the station the "new husband" of them took leave of rest two and got down. so we revised our opinion that they were were not couple rather than the the man who is sitting is the husband. at the next station even this man got down and only the elderly lady remain. after few station even she got down. then we realized that none were related to each other and rather they were just friend. and we thought so much.

what is your coice?

people think that money, position and connections will make them secure. but is such security our main pursuit? i dont think so. to be happy is our main pursuit. from security you can think that you will be relaxed and that relaxation will give you happiness. but i think it works otherwise. the need of security comes from sense of insecurity, which have been slowly built in us as we grew. we dont believe our fellow being and anything. every wrong incident makes that feeling of insecurity stronger than before. there comes a point that any good incident is seen as exception and wrong becomes the rule. in such a condition any amount of security will never be adequate. you get the news that burglar alarm at some place did not work and you doubt your own alarm. somebody's son did not follow him and and you doubt your own son. it appears that people have started loving sense of insecurity. they think it keeps them updated and active. people love to worry. if somebody is not worrying then there is something wrong with him. they think that worrying is a positive contribution towards society.
i have a different model. first of all happiness is my nature and i dont have to derive it from elsewhere. so if i am myself i will be happy. always do something according to your capacity. it may happen or not happen. dont worry about that. revise, realize and resume. an honest happiness makes other happy. so people around you will be happy. derive happiness from that. steal smiles from your fellow being and give them back with interest. life is may be short or long. have plans for living but try to understand the plan of life. you may be thinking of a pleasant life but life might be having suffering in store for you. accept and be happy. adjust and be happy. allow and be happy. any factor can make your time hard, hot and heavy but cannot take away your choice to be happy.
think of the time you are leaving your body. you are entering an unknown zone. all your wealth, position and connection will be falling apart for you. factors which made you so secure will no longer be with you. how will you feel. so insecure. isnt it? people cry and wail at that time, if they have power . while others continue to worry more deeply while they step out. even if you think that it is end of everything. what a bad end to a seemingly good story of life. we have come across many stories just to name few which come to my mind now. harishchandra. had a tough time but story ends at good not we are happy. think of story of Ravana. he his life story was one of majesty and glamor but end was tragic. we feel pity for him. they may be extreme examples but we do carry few shades of those characters.
whatis our choice?

teacher and politics

i was talking with Raman when a topic came up. it was about state of Science in our country. we had our opinion regarding that. but there was another thought which came up. it has some roots in my desire to be a teacher.
i think teacher is one who inspires people to dream and also teaches them methods to realize their dream. politicians are one who realizes the dreams and aspiration of people and tries to see a pattern and facilitates its realization. there is some common pattern in that. and that makes me think about my role beyond teaching.

His way of doing

generally devotees are very much excited when they hear about some life saving experience or about some miracle. But the definition of miracle itself is different for people. there was something different observed on Holi celebration. Children from Mithila region of Bihar state were putting up Sita Kalyanam. Swami was not there when the main portion of drama was going on. Sby the time Swami arrived drama was over. it would have been any other cultural even page in the diary of Prashati Nilayam but Swami made it special. He chose to redirect the Drama infront of him. it is reported that the children artists were very nervous while following the Divine directions. may be the fear of doing mistake would have been high. another factor may also be operating. still we are used to getting directions from some human. so when the divine directions arrive the mind is unable to unable to take it. it is easy to keep oneself stable in case of high ecstasy. it is understandable. one can go through the detail from various sources providing Prashanti news.
There is another point to notice. if one looks at the process it looks very simple but look at the effect. by very simple act Swami has given so much of joy to may people who were witnessing him and even mention and talking about it gives so much of joy.
This is nature of divine act (Lila).
Sairam