We need to develop personality based on character and not on achievements in life, since this is what is remembered by the world through eternity.There are four dimensions of the human personality i.e. Physical, Mental, Intellectual, and Spiritual. A harmonious growth of all these aspects constitutes the real personality. One must strive for sound health, strong mind, pure intellect, and spiritual growth simultaneously.

Now let's talk about Physical Dimension. Most of our miseries are caused by our physical weaknesses. Good health is the source of happiness and success in life. A healthy person always keeps his mind cool in all circumstances. He performs his duties efficiently, enthusiastically and cheerfully. Habits too play a vital role in developing physical dimension. So, nutritious food, regular exercise, cultivating good habits, and self-control help us to improve our health, which forms a part of personality development.
In Mental Dimension, the mind is superior to the body. Negative and evil thoughts make the mind weak. Violence, crime, killing, committing suicide are the outcome of weak minds. Such a mind acts upon us like an enemy. Sri Krishna says 'One should save oneself by oneself; one should not lower oneself. For oneself is verily one's own friend; oneself is verily one's own enemy'. The strong and disciplined mind acts like a friend, but the weak, uncontrolled, and frustrated mind acts like a enemy and leads to destruction. Here are a few observations about the strong and weak minds.

STRONG MIND
1. A strong mind always remains calm even in adversities.
2. It never succumbs to temptations, and develops tremendous courage to say 'No' to immoral thoughts and actions.
3. It always remains free from prejudice, suspicion, and jealousy.
4. Clarity of thinking makes it possible to take right decisions and comes to right judgements.
5. Such a mind will never indulge in wrong actions, prompted by evil emotions, such as desire, anger, greed, fear, hatred, etc., but will be always guided by serious, deep and right thinking.
6. Positive thinking, concentration, fearlessness, adventurous nature, and self-confidence are the vital qualities of a strong mind.

WEAK MIND
1. A weak mind gets irritated and loses temper over trifling matters and reacts violently.
2. Such a mind can easily succumb to temptations, like bribery, stealing, etc.
3. Due to confusion, suspicion, and prejudice, it fails to take the right decision and make impartial judgements.
4. Such a mind always compromises with and surrenders to evil forces.
5. It cannot face challenges in life, and tries to escape from them by adopting easy and cheap methods.
6. Such a mind always takes recourse to weeping and grumbling.
7. Such a mind never appreciates good qualities in others.
8. Restlessness, fear, tension, laziness, frustration, superstition, and negative thinking are the main characteristics of a weak mind.

Swami Vivekananda says 'Whateve you think, that you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be.'
Now coming to Intellectual Dimension, intellectual strength is superior to physical, and mental strength. We need to bring it out through deep thinking which is possible through the power of concentration. For this will power is required and at the same time you will need to discriminate between right and wrong.
And Spiritual Dimension is superior to all other aspects of personality. Lord Krishna says 'Knowledge remains covered by ignorance. The moment we remove this screen of ignorance, the knowledge of the Atman will shine forth, and then will manifest all the great virtues in our personality.' Ignorance is nothing but the impurity in mind. The person with the pure mind alone can realize this divine. And, therefore, one shoud never deviate from the path of righteousness. There are six enemies i.e. lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride, and jealousy. The moment we drive them away from the mind, the Divine will reflect in that pure mirror of our mind. These impurities can be removed through the path of devotion, discrimination, selfless action, meditation.

We all need to struggle for perfection in all these aspects which will ultimately lead us to the development of the real personality. And all this is almost related to personality development.

My favourite quotes of Swami Vivekananda's :
* 'Strength is life, weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery.'
# 'Neither money pays, nor name, nor fame, nor learning; it is CHARACTER that can cleave through adamantine walls of difficulties.'
* 'If you really want to judge the character of a man, look not at his great performances. Every fool may become a hero at one time or another. Watch a man do his most common actions; those are indeed the things which will tell you the real character of a great man.'
# 'We are to take care of ourselves - that much we can do - and give up attending to others for a time. Let us perfect the means; the end will take care of itself. For the world can be good and pure, only if our lives are good and pure. It is an effect, and we are the means. Therefore, let us purify ourselves. Let us make ourselves perfect.'
* 'The remedies for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men of the strength that is already within them.'

As I am going through all these, I strongly feel there is lot to learn in this world to build our own CHARACTER. And, we are not complete.

These are the guidelines from a Dental Foundation.

Do's
1. Brush your teeth after each meal and gargle after a sweet drink.
2. Eat protein rich food for prevention of dental diseases.
3. Keep your mouth free from food particles.
4. Remove any deposit, such as plaque, stains or tartar formation in your teeth regularly.
5. If a tooth falls after injury or accident, rush to a dentist keeping the tooth in salt water, as there is every chance of the tooth being fixed again.
6. After extraction of a tooth, it is better to replace it with an artificial tooth, except the wisdom tooth.
7. Take care to protect the enamel of your teeth. Use a toothpaste with flouride and use a toothbrush with rounded bristles. Discard a toothbrush when the bristles are bent.
8. Chewing raw vegetables, coconut kernel, carrot or cucumber helps to keep your teeth clean and free of food particles.
9. Each meal should end with a fruit. It helps to secrete saliva. The fibrous content and salivation helps to clean the mouth.
10. People with chronic skin ailments or pain in the joints should have a dental check up to rule out any septic focus in the teeth and gums.

Dont's
1. Avoid eating chocolates, biscuits or candies often as they may cause tooth decay.
2. Avoid drinking milk or eating sweets after a meal.
3. Take care of uneven teeth, as food particles get easily lodged between the teeth.
4. Decayed milk teeth should not be left untreated. Milk teeth should be preserved till their successors are ready to erupt.
5. Do not clean your toothbrush with hot water. Ordinary running water with a little antiseptic will do.
6. Do not breathe through your mouth. Keeping your upper and lower lips approximated, helps to keep gums healthy and also helps to have better aligned teeth.
7. Do not ignore bleeding gums. It is often the early signs of pyorrhoea.
8. Remember, bad breath cannot be cured by flavoured mouth washes alone. The cause should be identified and treatment should be given.
9. Do not ignore shaky teeth. They should be treated or extracted.
10. Smoking cigarette or chewing tobacco is bad for teeth and gums.

I used to question myself many times what are these chakras because I never understood them early, even till now. As I went through an article in one of the newspapers, it again made me think. I felt I got some answer atlast. It's from Paramahamsa Nithyananda and it says...
Every man lives in one of the seven chakras, the energy centres. If you are in the lowest level, that is the MULADHARA CHAKRA, you are caught in lust and desire. You worship a God who can grant all your boons. That is why God is understood as a giver of boons and is very popular. If not, you dethrone Him.
Next is the person who is caught in the SWADISHTHANA CHAKRA. You worship the God who gives confidence, who you believe will take care of you; you go behind the idols that have many weapons and many hands. You experience God as a protector. The third level person stays in the MANIPURAKA CHAKRA. You continuously worry and remain confused. You worship the God who gives clarity and peace. Next is the person who lives in the ANAHATA CHAKRA. Here, you are attracted towards the God who showers love on you. You worship the God who gives emotional fulfilment. Next, if you are raised to the level of the VISHUDDHI CHAKRA, the God of creativity or Energy appeals to you. You experience God as the creator. If you are centred in the AJNA CHAKRA, you are locked in the ego. Somebody in the egoless state attracts you: rishis, seers, sages, prophets and Masters attract you. The egoless man becomes your idol. In this chakra, the dialogue starts.
Only in the SAHASRARA CHAKRA, the communion happens. If you understand you are actually relating to your Gods and Masters from these chakras and that you need to go beyond this and catch the transcendental expression of the divine, all your problems will dissolve! If you are alert and aware, the Master can transform you. You just need to be passive for the alchemy to happen.

If you want to examine yourself, like what you are, click here.

These sites explain with Chakras paintings.
Indian Art Gallaries
Sahajayoga

Here are the snaps of Lord Ganesha taken after pooja was performed.

Lord Ganesha is Modaka Priya. A modak is a dumpling made from rice flour with a stuffing of coconut, jaggery and some other condiments. But still, there is a meaning of MODAK — MODA means happiness and K is a suffix. Modak means "That which gives (or brings) happiness". You can know more from this link Lord Ganesha.

A closer view.

Our sweet little Pooja room with Lord Ganesha.

Snapshots taken when my husband was there.

Seagulls moving on and on

Fall rushes

A bridge connecting USA and Canada

My favourite snap

A view of moon in Canada

Colourful rushes

It reminds me of VIBGYOR. Guess what?

Night view of Canada

Ayurveda is one of the great gifts of the sages of ancient India. It is one of the oldest scientific medicinal systems in the world. It is also known as Fifth Veda or Pancham Veda. It just teaches us how to maintain and protect health, how to cure diseases and how to achieve longetivity.

Here is a good site to assess your body type (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha), since you need to eat right.
http://www.hotlib.com/articles/show.php?t=Ayurveda

And now, you can know more about Ayurveda from this site:
http://ayurveda-foryou.com/

Here are general tips for balance:
1.  In Ayurveda there are six tastes or rasas - sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent. Generally all meals should include at least a small amount of each taste.
2.  Eat in a settled environment when you are calm and relaxed.
3.  Always sit down to eat.
4.  Be silent while chewing.
5.  Minimise ice-cold food and drink.
6.  It is best to consume fruit (or fruit juice) separately from other foods.
7.  Enjoy a light nourishing breakfast and make lunch your largest meal of the day, with a smaller meal in the evening (3 - 4 hours before bed).
8.  Eat only when you are hungry and leave about 25% of your stomach empty as this will aid digestion.
9.  Wait approximately 4 hours between meals to allow adequate time to digest. This might be less between small meals and more between big meals.
10. Water should be avoided at least 15 minutes before food. The quantity of water after food should be small. Let it be drunk often.

You can know about Ayurvedic Therapies from this site:
http://www.goodhealthnyou.com/

This was one of my endless search. Atlast got some answers related to detachment. Felt like sharing the same and here are few points.

1. Even a fickle mind can be brought under control by the force of constant practice and detachment.  -  Lord Krishna
Here, practice implies incessant striving and repeated efforts. It's just like kids learning to write a few simple words and when they grow up, they just key in long passages effortlessly and fluently.
And, now coming to detachment. Does it mean sannyasa - renunciation? NO. Detachment means remaining aloof from all other temptations and attractions while striving to fulfil a chosen aim. That is, to retain interest and concern for the work in hand alone and to remain unconcerned about everything else - this is detachment. Since the goal of monks is self-realization, they have to renounce all the worldly things. And since the word 'detachment' has come to mean renunciation, whenever it is used today it is understood as becoming a monk and retiring to the forests. But this is not correct. Anyone engaged in accomplishing a particular goal is detached from other things to some extent.

2. The concentration that is developed through faith and love is the most natural; it involves no struggle and no strain.

3. 'Eka' is 'One'; 'agra' is 'tip'. Hence, 'Ekagrata' or 'Concentration' implies 'being one-pointed', putting all resources together in one place. Concentration of the mind is bringing all the scattered mental forces together and channelising the attention towards one object or aim.

Got back after a long long time. Met friends, relatives, watched movies,..... had a good break. Ofcourse, thought to key many things in between. But could not help myself. Many ideas yet to share. Let's start.

Frolicking
Relaxing
Interesting
Everlasting
Nourishing
Dancing
Sharing
Helping
Inspiring
Pleasing

Guess what?  :)    FRIENDSHIP.

HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY TO ALL OF YOU!!! (Belated wishes)

Saw this cute little poem in my cousin brother's place. Felt like placing it over here.

WORRY?

Worry never Climbed a Hill
Worry never Paid a Bill
Worry never Dried a Tear
Worry never Calmed a Fear
Worry never Darned a Heel
Worry never Cooked a Meal
Worry never Solved a Problem
but may well become a Problem
So Why Worry?