HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE & ALL!

(Courtesy: 123greetings.com)

The year 2010 is just hours away. Soon, it'll be 1/1/10. Looks great, doesn't it? Makes you think, though, how time flies by. And the question begs to be asked, "What have you achieved in 2009?"

Often time, we live our lives with our eyes set on the larger goals, that we forget about the little things that truely matters to us and those around us. Many of us live our lives in a "don-ke-dam" fashion, if I may use creole here; we don't care if "today fall fah tomorrow." Once everything is alright with us, we don't care what happens outside of our home, our fence. But, is that really how life should be lived? Should we only be concerned for ourselves and our family's well-being?

I beg to differ. I strongly believe that life is meant to serve others, in essence, to selflessly serve God's creation in whatever way we possibly can. You see, service to humanity is service to God. This is an extraordinarily great philosophy that has been truely tested and tried over time by many ordinary people who eventually became great human beings.

As the New Year is fast approaching, let's take a moment to engage in some self-introspect analysis - look into the very core of our souls. Do we like what we see there? Are we proud of ourselves as human beings?

Still, with New Year comes new resolutions. One good goal to go after would be to count to ten each time we're on the verge of getting angry. That little action can safe us a lot of troubles later on.

So, here's a wish for a Peaceful, Healthy, Prosperous and Happy New Year - 2010 to all! And, whatever you may concieve God to be, please allow Him to be part of your life.

LET'S BE THE CHANGE WE WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD ...

After a meeting in Richmond Hill Saturday gone (12/19/2009), I returned home and parked the car (I named it Shakti) on the street like I do everyday. It looked like a normal day except that a blizzard was on its way.

Anyways, I began doing chores and after 6 PM, the phone rang. It was a call from my landlady. She said to hurry, someone had hit my car. I bundled myself up as fast as possible and ran down the stairs; it either didn't register or I was being detached about it.

I raced to the car outside and wow! It was really hit. The kids told me that their mother had already called the cops and their father had raced after the white van that smashed into the car and the neighbor's gate.

I went to see my car at a closer range. The bumper and another parts fell off on the ground and there was dent and marks. Shakti did take a serious hit.

One of the kids witnessed the hit-and-run accident but didn't realize that my car was damaged too.

Apparently, the van was parked opposite Shakti and reversed (driverless, yeah you got that right), rammed into the car and the neighbor's gate. The driver then got into the car and sped off. My landlord then gave chase.

Another person, Greg, saw what had happened too. He came over and expressed his shock at what he had saw. He managed only 3 letters from the plate - YMZ. I'm thankful to him. The landlord wasn't able to catch up with the hit-and-run driver. The police came in after an hour and several calls and I gave the report of what I had heard ocurred.

The morals from this story: We need to be responsible for our actions, good or bad and face the consequences of our actions.

Take that hit-and-run driver, for instance. His actions didn't speak much of him as a decent human being. How far can someone of his character go in life? He think he got away from the neighbor and myself. But, for that action, an equal reaction has been created and the consequences thereof will follow him for the rest of his life. None of us can escape the laws of karma.

You know, one can buy and sell cars everyday, but one cannot buy or sell good human characters anywhere in this world, it has to be earned.

So, here's a call for us to "be the change we want to see in this world." Let's think of how our words and actions will affect the other person before we perform them. Let's strive to be nice, decent human beings. Let's observe the basic laws of the land and face the consequences of our actions with a smile or tear and move on.

Some photos of Shakti and the first touch down of the snow for 2009...

Shakti's bumper on the ground ...

The neighbor's gate took a serious blow ...

GITA JAYANTHI NEEDS TO BE CELEBRATED ON A GRANDER SCALE

Hindus throughout the globe celebrated Gita Jayanthi on Saturday 28th November, 2009. Gita Jayanthi is the celebration of the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita is the sacred words of wisdom spoken by Shri Krishna to Arjuna, one of the five Pandavas, at the famous Battlefield of Kurukshetra.

The Bhagavad Gita consists of 18 chapters and 700 verses. The teachings of this great Vedantic text are universal in its context, hence, anyone from any country can apply the rich teachings to any given situations and find solutions to their problems. It was originally written in Sanskrit - the oldest language of the world.

The Bhagavad Gita's greatness is unparallel; it's glory is immeasureable; it's wisdom unfathomable; it is the book of life that Hindus need to worship and live by. One of the great phenomenon of the Bhagavad Gita is that each time you read a slok, each time you interpret it differently.

One person whose life was a clear reflection of the dynamic teachings of the Bhagavad Gita was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was the greatest student of the Bhagavad Gita that I know of and that made him one of Shri Krishna's greatest devotees. His greatness is eternally etched in the pages of human history and 61 years after his death, we're still talking about him and discussing his rich legacy. Can you imagine if all of us take one or two teachings from the Bhagavad Gita and practice them, what our lives would be like?

Despite the great importance of the Bhagavad Gita -the Celestial Song of Shri Krishna - Hindus tend to not pay much importance to Gita Jayanthi. I hope come 2010, Hindus would celebrate Gita Jayanthi with the great importance it deserves.

Below are some photos of Gita Jayanthi celebration at the Sanatan Dharma Mandir of New York - where the children and adults had to make presentations on the Bhagavad Gita.

Shri Krishna, the Supreme Consciousness, was Arjuna's, the brave warrior, charioteer...(online)


Rudresh and Hema chanting sloks from the Bhagavad Gita...


Little Krishna delivering his message from the Bhagavad Gita ....


A section of the gathering...