Ramblings of another geek

“The giving of wealth results in obtaining wealth, the giving of teaching results in obtaining wisdom, the giving of fearlessness results in obtaining health and long life.” –Buddhist teaching Kabir – The couplet ??????? ???? ?? ?? ???, ??? ?? ????? ? ??? | ??? ??? ?? ? ???, ?? ??? ??? ???? || transliterated:…

“It is lack of love for ourselves that inhibits our compassion toward others. If we make friends with ourselves, then there is no obstacle to opening our hearts and minds to others.” -unknown Kabir – The couplet ???? ??? ??? ?? ???, ????? ?? ? ??? | ??? ????? ????? ??, ???? ?? ????? ???…

” A mistake is not a truth because it is shared by many people, just as a truth is not false because it is emitted by a single individual. ” – Mahatma Ghandi Kabir – The couplet ??? ?? ?? ?? ?????, ?? ?? ??? ? ??? | ????? ????? ???? ????, ????? ????? ????…

“Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they’re yours.” – Richard Bach Kabir – The couplet ???? ?? ??? ??? ??, ??? ?? ???? ??? | ??? ? ??? ??????, ??? ??? ??? ??? || transliterated: Meetha sab koi khaat hai, vish hai laage dhaay | Neem na koi peevasi, sabe rog mit jaay ||…

“Now that it’s all over, what did you really do yesterday that’s worth mentioning? “ – Coleman Cox Kabir – The couplet ???? ???? ?????????, ???? ?????? ???? | ???? ?????? ??? ??? ??, ?????? ?? ??? ??? ?? || transliterated: Sheetal shabd ucchhariye, aham maaniye naahi | Tera preetam tujh mein hai, dushman bhi…

“I am not young enough to know everything.” – Oscar Wilde Kabir – The couplet ???? ???? ???? ???, ???? ? ???? ??? | ??? ???? ??? ????, ?? ?? ???? ?? ??? || transliterated: Padha suna seekha sabhi, miti na sanshay shool | Kahe Kabir – kaise kahoon, yeh sab dukh ka mool ||…

“Self importance is our greatest enemy….our self importance requires that we spend most of our lives offended by someone.” –Carlos Castaneda Kabir – The couplet ???? ??? ?? ???? ???, ??? ??? ? ???? | ??? ???? ?????? ???, ??? ??? ?? ???? || transliterated: Maya taja to kya hua, maan taja na jaaye |…

“We smile at the ignorance of the savage who cuts down the tree in order to reach its fruit; but the same blunder is made by every person who is over eager and impatient in the pursuit of pleasure.” — William Channing Kabir – The couplet ???? ???? ?? ???, ???? ?? ??? ??? |…

People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates. – Thomas Szasz, “Personal Conduct,” The Second Sin, 1973 Kabir – The couplet ??????? ????? ???, ??? ???? ?? ???? | ??? ??? ??? ??? ??, ?????? ???? ????…

“While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions.” – Stephen Covey Kabir – The couplet ???? ?? ?? ????? ????, ?? ??? ????? ????? | ???? ???? ???? ??, ?? ???? ?? ??? || transliterated: Karta tha so kyon kiya, ab kare kyon pachtaye…

“Fast, easy and cheap may work for a one-night-stand, if that’s what you’re into, but it’s not going to work for a healthy, sustainable relationship. Once we make a real committment, the other changes will follow.” – Beth Bader (http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2008/12/05/food-for-thought-we-are-what-we-eat/ ) Kabir – The couplet ???? ???? ??????, ???? ?? ?? ??? | ???? ????…

“Humility gives you a teachable spirit that makes everything easier.” – Seth Barnes (http://www.sethbarnes.com/?filename=the-importance-of-humility) Kabir – The couplet ???? ????? ?? ???, ????? ?? ?? ??? | ???? ??????? ?? ????????, ??? ??? ?? ??? || transliterated: Sabse laghuta hi bhala, laghuta se sab hoye | Jaise dwitiya ka chandrama, shashi lahai sab koye ||…

“Have you ever noticed how refreshingly fun it is to be around positive thinking people who seem to naturally maintain a positive attitude? No matter how bad the circumstances, negativity never even enters their minds, let alone crosses their lips to form negative, faithless words!” – Positive Attitude Tips – by Karen Wolf about.com –…

“I don’t want to come to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” – Diane Ackerman Kabir – The couplet ??? ????? ??? ????, ????? ???? ??? | ?? ???? ???? ???, ??? ?????? ???…

The significance of man is that he is that part of the universe that asks the question, What is the significance of Man? He alone can stand apart imaginatively and, regarding himself and the universe in their eternal aspects, pronounce a judgment: The significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of…

I believe that love cannot be bought except with love. – John Steinbeck Love cannot triumph unless it becomes the one passion of our life. Until we have a passionate love for Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament, we shall accomplish nothing. – St. Peter Eymard Kabir – The couplet ????? ? ???? ????,…

But have you ever tried to get your mind to wander? It’s about as easy as getting a cat to stay where you tell it to, or telling a toddler not to cry, or willing the heavy clouds not to rain on your picnic. – by Kristin on May 5, 2010 (http://www.halfwaytonormal.com/?p=1058) Kabir – The…

“When an ordinary man attains knowledge he is a sage; when a sage attains understanding he is an ordinary man.” –Zen Buddhism Kabir – The couplet ????? ???? ??????, ?? ?? ??? ???? | ????? ??????? ?? ?? ???, ???? ???? ? ??? || transliterated: Sahib teri saahibi, sab ghat rahi samai | Jyon mehendi…

“The soul of religion is one, but it is encased in a multitude of forms.” –Mahatma Gandhi Kabir – The couplet ??? ????? ????, ?? ?? ??? ???? | ?????? ?? ?? ??? ???, ??? ??? ???? || transliterated: Pachha pachhi ke karane, sab jag raha bhulan | Nirpachh ho ke hari bhaje, soi sant…

As an unperfect actor on the stage, Who with his fear is put beside his part, Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage, Whose strength’s abundance weakens his own heart; So I, for fear of trust, forget to say The perfect ceremony of love’s rite, And in mine own love’s strength seem to…

“The glories of our birth and state Are shadows, not substantial things; There is no armour against fate: Death lays his icy hands on kings; Sceptre and crown Must tumble down, And in the dust be equal made With the poor crooked scythe and spade.” –       James Shirley (Death’s Final Conquest) Kabir – The couplet…

“In this place, with thoughts of transience uppermost on my mind, I inevitably reflect on the words of others who once pondered the same things. At such times, I think of the question posed by a long-ago psalmist – “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” – or the Buddhist who meditated on…

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, “I used everything you gave me.” – Erma Bombeck The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water, but to walk…

“The Bible also tells us, “With humility comes wisdom.” Every day I realize I’m just a sinner like everyone else, and I have been forgiven only because of God’s grace. God gave us our gifts and abilities. He blessed our efforts. If we start thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to, it takes…

“A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and of vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness.” – Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1764 Kabir – The couplet ??? ???? ?? ?????, ??…

“Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things. As the world, which to the naked eye exhibits the greatest variety of objects, appears very simple in its internal constitution when surveyed by a philosophical understanding, and so much the simpler by how much the better it…

“Prayer reinforces humility. It is all too easy in the crush of human events to forget how little control we have. Indeed, it is to some degree a psychological necessity to think of ourselves as more effective, more powerful, and more in control than we really are. Just as necessary, though, Luther realized, is the…

. “And the small grain of sand That had bothered him so Was a beautiful pearl All richly aglow.” – from poem “Lessons from An Oyster” – full poem and source at end Kabir – The couplet ?????? ????? ?? ???????, ?? ???? ??? ??? | ????? ?? ????? ???, ??? ?????? ??? || transliterated:…

“You may have heard the expression ‘His pride stood in the way.’ This phrase is usually used to describe a person who is so determined to be ‘right’ that he lets an opportunity for happiness pass him by forever. Don’t let this happen to a friendship you care about. Remember: as time goes on, we…

“One certainly has a soul; but how it came to allow itself to be enclosed in a body is more than I can imagine. I only know if once mine gets out, I’ll have a bit of a tussle before I let it get in again to that of any other.” -Lord Byron Kabir –…

Is there anyone on earth who actually enjoys doing the dishes? Anyone who looks forward to cleaning up the house? Can we find joy in putting out the garbage, vacuuming the living room, washing the windows, ironing clothes? If, like millions of others, we consider these tasks a necessary evil, a tedious but unavoidable circumstance…

Once the success of knowledge has been demonstrated by an action, everyone need not to experiment and rediscover the wheel. Since most of the people are engaged in their worldly pursuits like agriculture, manufacturing, software development etc, they need not to be learning the pure knowledge or the technical knowledge. Thus they are advised to…

Different things delight different people. But it is my delight to keep the ruling faculty sound without turning away either from any man or from any of the things which happen to men, but looking at and receiving all with welcome eyes and using everything according to its value. – Marcus Aurelius 121-180, Roman emperor…

Visualize a ray of the infinite light flowing into you from behind, through your medulla oblongata (at the base of the brain). Let it flow into your body and activate everything you do and say. God is in all things the real Doer. Meditating on this thought will help you to realize its truth. Feel…

Put aside your pride: “YOU WOULDN’T WORRY SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF YOU IF YOU KNEW HOW SELDOM THEY DO!” People are usually so busy worrying about how THEY appear to others, or how they look, or about the many things they have to get done today, or about the pain they are…

“Love every day. Each one is so short and they are so few”. – Norman Vincent Peale Kabir – The couplet transliterated: Durlabh manush janam hai, hoi na dooji baar | Pakka fal jo gir pada, laage na dooji bar || Translation: Human life is difficult to achieve, and it is only one we get…

“The emotional cost of failing to attain our goals is great, I won’t deny that. But what is the psychic cost of failing against the psychic cost of not setting goals beyond our abilities out of fear and lack of confidence in ourselves? That is, what is the value in not trying because we fear,…

“All good thoughts” in spite of righteousness is the kind of thoughts in spite of greatness. Often now the State is advocation. If we form a power of recognition. Forget loss and perfect advocation. If it drops or stays in convocation. All we praise is all we want in commerce All we praise is parties,…

The fragility of love: “Human relationships are too frail, those who build their world around it , those who consider their lovelife as the center of their life, were among those deeply hurt by it. Even the most beautiful and most affluent people are not exempted from the heartaches brought by an earthly romance.” –…

“…what one seeks in reading autobiography is not a date, a name, or a place, but a characteristic way of perceiving, of organizing, and of understanding, an individual way of feeling and expressing that one can somehow relate to oneself.” James Olney, quoted in ‘The Value of Worthless Lives’ by Ilaria Serra On the deaths…

A long gap since I last wrote to this list. A unique set of personal circumstances caused the hiatus as I struggled to find reason to write, to share, to expand. But suffice it is to say that I have found a light source at the end of another tunnel. So today’s couplet and thought…

Reading, knowledge and wisdom:   He had read much, if one considers his long life; but his contemplation was much more than his reading. He was wont to say that if he had read as much as other men he should have known no more than other men. – John Aubrey   Kabir Day 43:…

Today’s thought :   “We are sinful not merely because we have eaten of the tree of knowledge, but also because we have not eaten of the tree of life.” – Franz Kafka   ..and now Kabir Day 42:   The couplet transliterated: Hariya jaane kaavada, ras paani ka neh | Sookha kaat na jaanayi,…

Today’s thought (from this web link): “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” Bobby – age 7 An author and lecturer once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner…

Today’s thought – “The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.” Andrew Carnegie   Kabir Day 40   The couplet transliterated: Baazaigar ka bandara, jeeva man ke saath | Nana naach nachaya kari, raakhe apna haath ||…

Today’s thought – on giving..   “One of the great movements in my lifetime among educated people is the need to commit themselves to action. Most people are not satisfied with giving money; we also feel we need to work.” Peter Drucker   “Is the rich world aware of how four billion of the six…

Talking of teachers, for without teachers, how would we ever learn?   “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” – Henry B. Adams   “A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.” Patricia Neal   ..and now, fun but deep –…

Today’s thoughts (two but working as one 😉 )   “Just in case you believe that great social problems are beyond your scope, consider this story: God said to me: Your task is to build a better world. I answered: How can I do that? The world is such a large, vast place, so complicated…

Today’s thought –   “There must be more to life than having everything.” -Maurice Sendak   …and now, Kabir day 36:   The couplet transliterated: Man diya kahin aur hi, tan saadhan ke sangh | Kah Kabir kori gaji, kaise laage rang      ||   Translation: While the mind roams its myriad paths, the body exercises…