Fragrance of love

Go not to temple to put flowers upon the feet of God,
First fill your own house with the fragrance of love.

Go not to temple to light earthen vessel before the
altar of God,
First remove the darkness of sin from your heart.

Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer,
First learn to bow in humility before your fellowmen.

Go not to temple to pray on bended knee,
First bend down to lift someone who is down trodden.

Go not to temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins,

First forgive from your heart those who have sinned
against you.

Rabindranath Tagore

Wisdom

Ever heard the story of the giant ship engine that failed? The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster.

He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life.

He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!"

So they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer..... $ 2.00
Knowing where to ......... $ 9998.00

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference.

One more of my Favorite

Copied from Sulekha - Dimwit

These are great thoughts, I want to keep it for chewing...

Skewed Economics

*Value: As defined and included in the GDP of a nation.

If economics drives a nation’s policies, and the goal is to increase the GDP year over year, then guess where value is going to come from?

A tree that stands and nurtures the environment, has no economic value. As soon as an axe cuts it down, it is assigned value.

The grass, the flowers, the plants and all those organic things that make a park for leisure have no economic value. The concrete pavement and the tarred road have value. The buildings, and even parking garages that take over these parks have tremendous value.

Mass produced agricultural produce, transported over great distance, sometimes frozen and then unfrozen for sale, with serious loss of nutrition – has value. Freshly picked produce from a kitchen garden, replete with nutrition – has no value.

Fresh groundwater laboriously filled by the villagers at the well, and then carted home in earthen pots has no economic value. Chlorinated water delivered at your home tap has value.

Solar powered homes reduce consumption of sold electricity, therefore lower GDP. Nuclear plants built to generate electricity add value. Dams and reservoirs that destroy natural landscape add value.

Oil generation has value. Environment destruction in the extraction process is not debited.

Oil traded and used has value. Environment pollution caused by its use is not debited.

A homemaker working at home has no economic value. If she crosses the street and works at another home, there is value.

Mother’s milk has no economic value. Baby formula has value.

Sperm donation, that requires masturbation, is paid for and therefore adds to the GDP. Egg donation, that requires body-invading procedure – it’s illegal to be paid for.

Safe driving has no economic value. A car crash acquires value.

A healthy child has no economic value. A sick one who needs medical care acquires value.

A home cooked meal has no economic value. Packaged and processed food, and restaurant or fast food has value.

A hand made card, a home made gift, a poem written in love, a basket of fresh fruit from your own fruit trees or wildflowers picked from a field have no economic value. Teddy bears stuffed with god-knows what, cheesy greetings written by strangers and printed on a card, sugar laden chocolatey treats, and flowers cut and packaged in plastic acquire value. Guess which one is promoted?

Peace has no value. War generates value - arms production, destruction, and regeneration. Especially war that is waged far away from one’s own country (thereby causing no stoppage of work domestically that could result in loss of value) adds great value to the GDP.

I wonder what it means when a country says that their GDP has increased. I seriously don't know whether to congratulate them or not anymore.