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 “He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He is said to have grown up in still another village, where he worked with his father Joseph in a carpenter’s shop. . Then for just three years he was an itinerant preacher. A defender of unpopular causes. He counted among his friends the poor, the weak and the humble. He associated with outcasts and lawbreakers and was comfortable in their company. He never wrote a book and he never held any high offices. He never had a family or owned a house.

 He didn’t go to any College or University.  He is believed to have

 never travelled more than two hundred miles from his place of birth. He

 did none of the things one usually associates with greatness. He had

 no credentials but himself.

 

 He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned

 against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies

 and went through the mockery of a trial.

 

 He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his

 executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth.

 When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of

 a friend.

 

 Nearly 2,000 years have come and gone, and today he is a central

 figure of the human race and one of the great leader’s of men.

 

 All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all

 the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, all

 these together have not affected the life of man on this earth as much He.”

 

Long live the King

 

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

 

It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you.

~Mother Teresa

vihaya kaman yah sarvan
pumams carati nihsprhah
nirmamo nirahankarah
sa shantim adhigacchati

 

a person who has given up

all desires for sense gratification,

who lives free from desires,

who has given up all sense of proprietorship

and is devoid of false ego

he alone can attain real peace.

(bhagavad gita 2.71)

The Tibetans talk of the four Buddhist seals or axioms.. These are; all conditioned phenomena are impermanent;all conditioned phenomena are suffering;all phenomena are selfless and empty; and Nirvana is peace.

 

Any particular phenomena, which is dependent on its causes and conditions for its existence, is categorized as a conditioned phenomena. This is subject to causes and conditions. The fourth axiom is ‘Nirvana is peace’. a literal ranslation of the Tibetan usage is ‘transcendence of suffering is peace’. Here, transcendence of the dissatisfied state refers to afflictive emotions. It is only once you transcend the influence of afflictive emotions that you are able to achieve permanent peace and happiness. Therefore, Nirvana is peace.

 

Wise words indeed from the Dalai Lama.