Friday 20 April 2012

A Prayer (Just For Laughs)

This was sent to me by a friend, just sharing it through my blog .... to see you smile :)

TO: God.Com
Dear Lord,

Every single evening
When I lie here in bed,
This tiny little Prayer
Keeps running through my head:

God, bless all my family
For they're so close to me
Keep them safe and warm
And from all evil and no harm.

And, there is one more thing
Hope you don't mind me asking,
That I  know you will graciously do:
God! Please bless, my gadget, too...

I know that it sounds pretty odd,
So let me explain it Lord,
For inside this tiny compartments,
Rests so.. many long lost friends.

Please take an extra minute
From your duties beyond limit,
To bless those in my friends list
And those to whom request sent.

Bless all those in my message inbox,
And the clever ones who helped me unlock
The games I could never clear...
Especially the ones, who hit- 'like' n 'share'.

Bless the ones who never missed 
My Birthday which was lovingly wished
And all those who sent me a smiley
Or a joke, a link, a thought, almost daily.

Please do save this little prayer
In your grand heavenly computer
For it to be stored in the CD ROM 
As an earnest message to God.com
Amen

Sunday 15 April 2012

The Khecheopalri Lake...Wishing Lake, Sikkim (Unexplored Lands)


Perched at an altitude of 6100 ft is Peling, a small town in the district of West Sikkim. It offers the most spectacular and a closest view one can get of Mt.Kanchenjunga, right from the comfort of our Hotels.  Its a laid back town which is set on a back drop of  the snow clad mighty Himalayas with a few monasteries and falls around it and is an ideal place to relax during a short vacation. While at Peling one must visit The Wishing Lake which is a sacred lake known for its tranquility and scenic beauty. 
                                                                  (Image from Google search)

The Khecheopalri Lake  or the Wishing Lake lies 34km from Peling and  is also known as Kha-Chot-Palri (meaning the heaven of Padmasambhava). It is a sacred Lake for both Buddhists and Hindus and is believed to be a wish fulfilling lake. This sacred lake is located near Khecheopalri village.
The local name for the lake is Sho Dzo Sho, which means "Oh Lady, Sit Here".This sacred lake is embedded in the midst of the Khechoedpaldri hill. These hills are also considered  sacred and  is one of the pilgrim places of  Buddhists. We can find a few of them seated near the banks chanting their prayers in whispers so not to disturb the stillness of this beautiful lake.

                                                                                          (Image From Google Search)

A very interesting feature of this lake is that not a single leaf  floats on its surface. It is believed the birds pick  them up immediately, leaving the waters clear and clean, that makes this lake resemble a sheet of sparkling glass from the banks.

How To Reach And Where To Stay
The nearest railway station to Peling is the New Jalpaiguri Station, W Bengal. Taxis ply regularly from the railway station to Peling and to other places of Sikkim. There are plenty of hotels at Peling ranging from budget stays to expensive ones according to the view of Kanchenjunga from its hotel complex.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Dhyanalinga Temple, (Temples Of Tamil Nadu)



The Dhyanalinga,  a Yogic temple is located at the foothills of Vellangiri mountains, 30 km from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu .The temple was consecrated by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, a yogi and mystic. This  Temple offers a meditative space that does not ascribe to any particular faith or belief. Absolute silence that prevails adds serenity and beauty to this place which is embedded in lush greenery and natural scenic beauty.

Dhyana in the Sanskrit language, means meditation and linga means form. Dhyanalinga is claimed to be a powerful and unique energy created from the distilled essence of yogic sciences and the first of its kind to be completed in over 2,000 years.

What amazes everyone who visit this temple is its architectural skills and the energy re vibrating in the premise. In ancient temples, the structure that houses the Deity is as important as the Deity itself. The parikrama or the walkway of the temple, the garbhagriha or the innermost shrine of the temple, the shape and the size of the idol, the mudra held by the idol and the mantra (sound) used for the consecration of the temple are the fundamental parameters of a temple. These elements are matched and built according to a certain science and based upon the understanding of the energies, thereby creating a powerful energy situation and facilitating inner transformation. The energies of the Dhyanalinga have been consecrated to last for more than 5000 years without any dissipation.

The elliptical dome that houses the Dhyanalinga is 76 feet in diameter and 33 feet high. It was built without the use of steel, cement, or concrete but with only brick and mud mortar stabilized with lime, sand, alum and herbal additives. This is the only structure of its kind.

As we enter this temple, on the side of the walkway we come across the monolithic Trimurthy Panel depicting the three fundamental states of human growth known as tamas, rajas, and satva, symbolized by three glorious aspects of Shiva: Hara, Rudra, and Sadashiva. These beautifully carved faces bring a sense of peace within us by just looking at it.


In India it is a tradition to wet ones body before entering the sanctorium as it is more receptive to the energies of the temple, so is at Dhyanlingam. A dip in the Theertha Kundam itself is an unique experience.
A subterranean tank located 35 ft  below holds a lingam immersed in water. The lingam is made of solidified and purified mercury. The mercury is said to have been solidified at room temperature and is kept floating with the pranic powers of Sadh Guru. People can take a dip in this water before they enter the Dhyanalinga temple. A semi-circular brick vault covers this tank, the inner sides of which have murals is of pure natural dyes with its theme depicting a scene of The Maha Kumbha Mela.

At the heart of the temple, in the sannidhi or sanctum sanctorium we stand before the immense and awe-inspiring Dhyanalinga. Vibrating with the power of the primordial, casting its spell on all those who enter its enigmatic presence, the Dhyanalinga towers up to a height of 13 feet, 9 inches. It rises out of the seven-coiled receptacle, the avudaiyar, which has been designed in such a way that every part of the avudaiyar is 3 feet 3 inches in length and the total length of the avudaiyar is 13 feet 9 inches, the same as the height of the Linga.

Surrounding the Linga is the jalaseema, a water body that has a cooling effect on the Linga and gives the impression that the Dhyanalinga is floating on water.


The Dhyanalinga is made up of a single high-density black granite stone and the Avudaiyar is made of white granite. Both the Linga and the avudaiyar are energized with the qualities of the seven chakras; hence the Linga has seven copper rings and the Avudaiyar is in the form of a seven-coiled snake.

The Dhyanalinga is kept constantly wet to enable the meditator to easily receive the energies emanating from it. Water drips onto it from a hemispheric copper dome coated with gold, which is suspended above the Linga. The resonating sound of water dropping over the Linga, the shimmering reflections of the oil lamps on the golden dome, the subdued interiors, and the all-pervasive silence makes the entire structure ethereal. The natural draught of air and the choice of natural materials make the dome a cool and soothing space.

When at Dhyanlingam Temple one must experience the Nadha Aradhana-an offering of sound to the Dhyanalinga, an etheric blend of vocals, singing bowls, drums and various other instruments amplified within the reverberating dome, transports one into the timeless space. A few minutes meditating during this period  enhances one’s receptivity to the energies of Dhyanalinga and we can experience time losing itself here......


Friday 6 April 2012

To All My Facebook Friends (Just For Laughs)


 I am sure you will find this hilarious..

A 66-year-old woman walked down the hallway of an Addictions Clinic, searching for the right department. She passed the "Heroin Addiction Department (HAD)," the "Smoking Addiction Department (SAD)" and the "Bingo Addiction Department (BAD)." Then she spotted the department she was looking for: "Facebook Addiction Department (FAD)."

It was the busiest department in the clinic, with more than three dozen people filling the waiting room, most of them staring blankly into their Blackberries and iPhones. A middle-aged man with unkempt hair was pacing the room, muttering, "I need to milk my cows. I need to milk my cows."

A twenty-something man was prone on the floor, his face buried in his hands, while a curly-haired woman comforted him.

"Don't worry. It'll be all right."

"I just don't understand it. I thought my update was LOL-worthy, but none of my friends even clicked the 'like'button."

"How long has it been?"

"Almost five minutes. That's like five months in the real world."

The 66-year-old woman waited until her name was called, then followed the receptionist into the office of Alfred Zulu, Facebook Addiction Counselor.

"Please have a seat, Lydna," he said with a warm smile. "And tell me how it all started."

"Well, it's all my grandson's fault. He sent me an invitation to join Facebook. I had never heard of Facebook before, but I thought it was something for me, because I usually have my face in a book."

"How soon were you hooked?"

"Faster than you can say 'create a profile.' I found myself on Facebook at least eight times each day -- and more times at night. Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night to check it, just in case there was an update from one of my new friends in India . My husband didn't like that. He said that friendship is a precious thing and should never be outsourced."

"What do you like most about Facebook?"

"It makes me feel like I have a life. In the real world, I have only five or six friends, but on Facebook, I have 674.I'm even friends with Juan Carlos Montoya."

"Who's he?"

"I don't know, but he's got 4,000 friends, so he must be famous."

"Facebook has helped you make some connections, I see."

"Oh yes. I've even connected with some of the gals from high school -- I still call them 'gals.' I hadn't heard from some of them in ages, so it was exciting to look at their profiles and figure out who's retired, who's still working, and who's had some work done. I love browsing their photos and reading their updates. I know where they've been on vacation, which movies they've watched, and whether they hang their toilet paper over or under. I've also been playing a game with some of them."

"Let me guess. Farmville?"

"No, Mafia Wars. I'm a Hitman. No one messes with Lydna."

"Wouldn't you rather meet some of your friends in person?"

"No, not really. It's so much easier on Facebook. We don't need to gussy ourselves up. We don't need to take baths or wear perfume or use mouthwash. That's the best thing about Facebook -- you can't smell anyone. Everyone is attractive, because everyone has picked a good profile pic. One of the gals is using a profile pic that was taken, I'm pretty certain, during the Graduation. "

"What pic are you using?"

"Well, I spent five hours searching for a profile pic, but couldn't find one I really liked. So I decided to visit the local beauty salon."

"To make yourself look prettier?"

"No, to take a pic of one of the young ladies there. That's what I'm using."

"Didn't your friends notice that you look different?"

"Some of them did, but I just told them I've been doing lots of yoga."

"When did you realize that your Facebooking might be a problem?"

"I realized it last Sunday night, when I was on Facebook and saw a message on my wall from my husband: 'I moved out of the house five days ago. Just thought you should know.'"

"What did you do?"

"What else? I unfriended him of course!"





PS:sharing a forwarded mail

Sunday 1 April 2012

Baba Harbhajan Singh, The story of a Ghost Soldier (Untold Tales)



About 60 km from Nathula, Sikkim lies a shrine for a deceased soldier of The Indian Army. 
Late Sepoy Harbhajan Singh hailed from a village in Punjab. He was recruited into the Indian Army as a sepoy in 1956. In 1965 he was enrolled into 23 Punjab Regiment and was posted to Nathula the borders of India and China.

 The story goes to the days of post Indo-China war, when this soldier while escorting a crowd of mules to a remote outpost was fatally drowned in a glacier. A manhunt was sent to find him. His body was recovered after three days and was cremated with full military honours. 

The strangeness of this story is that, it was the ghost of this soldier which led the search party to the place where his body was found. It is said that he had appeared in his friend's dream  and asked him to build and maintain a shrine for him at the place where he was cremated.

Hence this shrine at the valley of Kupkup was built. This shrine holds the belongings of Baba Harbhajan Singh. A camp bed is laid out every night for him.  His boots are kept polished with a set of neatly pressed uniform for him everyday. But it is found that the sheets are crumpled by the next morning and the shoes lay dirty by evening.  

This deceased soldier draws a month salary which is sent to his mother in  the village and also avails his annual leave till date. His name is still listed on the payroll of the Indian Army and he has been promoted to Honorary Major over the years. 

Every year on 14th September, a jeep departs with his personal belongings to the nearest railway station, New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, where it is then sent by train to his village in Punjab escorted by a soldier. As per train rule the reserved seat is never left vacant, but for Baba reservation is done to travel to his home town every year with soldiers to drop and bring him back from his home town during his annual leave. The soldiers in this region believe that he warns them of any mishaps three days in advance.

If one wonders that if it is only the Indian Army who believes in this Strange and Legendary Ghost Sepoy.…?
Its ...a ...NO..!
Even the Chinese Army claim to have seen him patrolling at the borders during the nights and set a chair for him during the Flag Meet between the two Nations.

The Army Believes in Him… Do You..?

Believe It Or Not…!!