GOING WITH THE FLOW

Tue, 5 Nov, 20:01 (16 hours ago) to Good Morning!!! God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; and Wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done. *~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~* November 6, 2024 GOING WITH THE FLOW Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him... TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 96 The first words I speak when arising in the morning are, “I arise, O God, to do Thy will.” This is the shortest prayer I know and it is deeply ingrained in me. Prayer doesn't change God’s attitude toward me; it changes my attitude toward God. As distinguished from prayer, meditation is a quiet time, without words. To be centered is to be physically relaxed, emotionally calm, mentally focused and spiritually aware. One way to keep the channel open and to improve my conscious contact with God is to maintain a grateful attitude. On the days when I am grateful, good things seem to happen in my life. The instant I start cursing things in my life, however, the flow of good stops. God did not interrupt the flow; my own negativity did.

THE KAFIR DIDN’T KNOW

Good Morning!!! THE KAFIR DIDN’T KNOW Around the Year with Emmet Fox November 6 About the middle of the last century, a traveler was journeying along through what was then a remote part of South Africa. One day while smoking his pipe outside the hut in a native village, he noticed a group of little naked children playing what was evidently a native version of the time-honored game of marbles. He watched the game idly for a while, and then something about the rough stones caught his attention. They were quite small pebbles, dull, but—here his pulse began to steeplechase. He spoke to the children’s father, with studied carelessness, and the Kaffir said, “Oh yes, the children like these little stones. They have some more in the hut,” and he brought forth a small basket containing several more. Repressing his excitement, the traveler took out a large plug of tobacco, worth perhaps twenty or thirty cents in our money, and said, “I would like to take the stones home for my children. I will give you this tobacco for them. Are you willing?” The Kaffir laughed and said, “I am robbing you but if you insist, all right,” and the bargain was sealed— which not only enriched the stranger but led in time to the great discovery of the South African diamond fields. The fate of the Kaffir is really the fate of most human beings. Man holds a fabulous treasure in his possession— the power of the Spoken Word—and yet, in most cases, he does not know it. “The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure … to bless all the work of thine hand”. Deuteronomy 28:12

If Aryabhatta invented 0 then how do we know that Ravana had 10 heads?

If Aryabhatta invented 0 then how do we know that Ravana had 10 heads? Originally Answered: If Aryabhatta invented 0, then how did we know that Ravana had 10 heads? This is one of the biggest misconception in India. It has created the huge confusion among the Indians. Aryabhatt never invented or discovered zero! He invented a unique symbol for mathematical purpose. Why did he do so? If the concept of zero pre-existed before Aryabhatta, then why does a mere mathematical symbol is so important to us? Actually there are two ways to write numbers. One is symboling form and other is alphabetic form. Before the discovery of zero, people used to represent the numbers largely alphabetically like saying 'ten', 'hundred' and so on. But there was a problem! In symbolic system,after each set of ten number system, we used to use a different set of number whose complexity gradually increases with respect to increase in numerical values like the way in Roman numbers. It was quite dificult to remember the higher order numbers in that way. What Aryabhatt did was to solve this problem was unique and very important. The properties of zero makes the number system a lot easier to cram due to it's simplistic repeadity.

*Election President USA*

*Election President USA* Democrats : Blue Republican : Red Summarised 👇 This is a self assessment A. *Electoral College* In United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every 4 years during the presidential election; its purpose: voting for the president and vice president. Voting on 5th Nov is for electing *538 member Electoral College*. If in a State a Democrat (Blue) is elected in this election, all votes polled in this round go to Democratic candidate for President. {Barring few exceptions above system is adopted by all States}. Winner is one who wins 270 Electoral College votes (> half of 538). In 2020 presidential election, Biden received 306 & Trump 232 of the total 538 electoral votes. Electoral College of 538 : Every State is allocated a number of votes equal to the number of Senators and Representatives in its U.S. Congressional delegation. Different States have different no. of Electoral College members B) *Swing States* : Where both major parties enjoy similar level of support among voting population (within a few percentage points of each other in polls). Since 2000, five states — Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, & Virginia — have matched the eventual election winner in all but one election. Hence they are called Swing States (this is a rough assessment). C. *7 Critical States* Arizona (Blue 11 Electoral college votes), Georgia (Blue 16), Nevada (Blue 6); Michigan (15), Wisconsin (10), North Carolina (16), & Pennsylvania (19). *Each have high no. of Electoral College Vote*. {In 6 of the 7 – all but North Carolina – Biden beat Trump in 2020, giving him a lead that allowed him to win the White House}. D. *Pennsylvania* The state which decides this election

Do The Right Thing Every Time

Do The Right Thing Every Time It was the year 1946. Germany stood devastated by the Second World War. The Allies had won the war, and many German cities, including Munich, had been severely damaged by the British Royal Air Force. Munich, the picturesque capital of the Bavarian region of Germany, and centre of the country’s diesel engine production, had suffered as many as 74 air-raids. More than half the entire city had been damaged or destroyed. On one gloomy morning that year, at the Munich Railway station, stood the Directors of Krauss Maffei, the reputed German engineering Company. They were waiting for the arrival of their guests from India. Founded in 1838, Krauss Maffei was a leading maker of locomotives of various types, and an engineering company with a formidable reputation. Unfortunately, the Company now stood devastated by the World War, since their factories had been destroyed by the Allied Forces. The guests from India got down from their train. They were Directors from the Tata Group in India. If you had been there, you would have seen JRD Tata, the young, tall, lanky Chairman of the Group, get off the train. And accompanying him was a forty-year old engineer, Sumant Moolgaonkar representing TELCO (now Tata Motors). They had come to Munich for discussions with Krauss Maffei, regarding the manufacture of locomotives in India. What they found, instead, were scenes of destruction and ruin. The Germans requested the Indians to take some of their unemployed engineers to India, alongwith their families, and provide them jobs and shelter. The Directors of Krauss Maffei are reported to have told the Tata Directors – "They are very skilled people. They will do whatever you ask them if you take care of them. They can also teach your people." This would have to be done without a formal contract, because the British, who were still ruling India, had forbidden Indian Companies from having any contracts with German Corporations, during those times of the World War. But this request was urgent, and compelling. Because in that year, with factories lying destroyed, unemployment in Germany was rampant, and the then German currency, the Reichsmark had become almost worthless. The Tata Directors agreed to this request, and assured the Germans that their people would be well looked after. The German engineers from Krauss Maffei then came to India, and they were provided good jobs and housing by the Tata Group. They were well taken care of, and they also rendered great service to Tata Motors. In 1945, Tata Motors had signed an agreement with the Indian Railways for manufacture of steam locomotives and this is where German engineers provided valuable technicalexpertise. They helped the Company manufacture locomotives, which were amongst the Company’s very first products. In 1947, India became independent. In the 1950s, Tata Motors moved on to manufacture trucks in collaboration with Daimler Benz. Many years had now passed since that fateful meeting at the Munich Railway Station. Germany had substantially recovered from the ravages of the war, and the reconstruction effort had borne great fruit. In one of these happier years, the Board of Directors of Krauss Maffei was surprised to suddenly receive a letter from India. This letter was from the Tata Group. It offered grateful thanks for the services of the German engineers and it contained an offer of compensation to Krauss Maffei for the skills which had been transferred by the Germans to Tata Motors. Krauss Maffei was surprised, even taken aback at this offer. There was no legal contract, and therefore no obligation for the Tata Group to pay any compensation In fact, I think, neither did this expectation exist, because the Tata Group had helped by providing jobs and shelter to the otherwise unemployed German engineers during those dark days. So, the Germans were astonished,as they read the Tata letter This story was narrated many, many years later, in the 1970s, by Directors of Krauss Maffei, to Arun Maira, then a senior Director of Tata Motors. Arun Maira is one of India’s most respected and distinguished business thinkers today. In a thoughtful article that he wrote for the Economic Times in 2005 (thank you, Mr. Maira, for this wonderful piece), he recollects how 2 elderly German gentlemen met him as part of a business transaction in Malaysia, jumped up, shook his hands, expressed their deepest gratitude to him. They narrated to him this fascinating story which, they said, is now part of their Company’s folklore. One interesting and unexpected sidelight of this story occurred when Tata Motors was asked to provide a legally binding financial guarantee in the 1970s, but this was rendered very difficult because of the Indian Government’s regulations at that time. This matter was taken up to German bankers, who said that a guarantee on a Tata letterhead, signed by the Chairman, was more valuable than any banker’s guarantee. I do not know what exact thoughts ran through the minds of Tata Directors in the 1950s before they sent that letter to Krauss Maffei, offering compensation where none was agreed upon or expected. But I think the Tata Group did this because it was the right thing to do. The right thing to do is never defined by formal agreements or legal contracts alone. Neither is it defined by the expectations that others have of us. What is right is defined by our own high expectations of ourselves, by the culture of fairness and trust that we wish to establish. Are we being truly fair to the people and the Companies we work with? We always know, if we listen deeply enough to our inner voice, whether we are being totally fair and right. The Krauss Maffei story holds such a beautiful lesson for all of us. 🙏.

The Artist’s Masterpiece

The Artist’s Masterpiece There was once a young artist named Maya, who lived in a small, quiet village. Maya had a passion for painting, and her dream was to create a masterpiece that would touch people’s hearts and make the world more beautiful. However, Maya had a habit of criticizing herself harshly. Every time she painted, she found flaws—whether it was the brush strokes, the colors, or the details. She never felt her work was good enough. One day, feeling particularly frustrated, Maya decided to travel to the mountains to seek the advice of an old, wise artist who lived in solitude. This artist was known to have created the most beautiful works anyone had ever seen, and Maya believed he could help her find the secret to perfection. After a long journey, she finally found the old artist sitting quietly by a stream, painting the landscape. She approached him and explained her problem, how she never felt satisfied with her work and constantly compared herself to others. The old artist listened carefully, and when she was done, he smiled and asked, “Do you love your paintings?” Maya was taken aback. “Love my paintings? How can I love them when they’re full of mistakes?” The old artist placed his paintbrush down and said, “Let me show you something.” He took Maya to a small room in his home, where many unfinished paintings were stacked in the corner. Some were incomplete, others had smudges, and a few seemed like they were abandoned in frustration. “These are my mistakes,” he said. “They aren’t perfect, but I love each one because they are part of my journey. Every painting, whether finished or flawed, is a reflection of where I was at that moment. The secret isn’t in creating a perfect painting, but in loving the process and accepting yourself along the way.” He continued, “When you love yourself, you embrace all that you are—your strengths, your flaws, your growth. You are your own greatest masterpiece, and self-love is what brings out your true beauty. The world may never see the strokes of your heart, but they will feel the love behind your work.” Maya stood in silence, letting his words sink in. She realized that in her pursuit of perfection, she had forgotten to appreciate the artist within herself. She was so focused on the outcome that she had neglected the beauty of her own journey. From that day forward, Maya approached her art differently. She no longer painted for approval or perfection. Instead, she painted with love—for her craft, for her growth, and for herself. As she embraced this self-love, her paintings transformed. They radiated with an energy and beauty that touched the hearts of those who saw them. In time, Maya became known not just for her talent but for the love and authenticity in her work. Her greatest masterpiece, however, was not on canvas but within herself—the realization that she was worthy of love, just as she was. This story reminds us that self-love is not about achieving perfection but about embracing ourselves fully, flaws and all. Just like an artist’s work, our personal growth is an ongoing process, and loving ourselves is what allows us to flourish, create, and live authentically.

Where to Stop is Satisfaction.

Where to Stop is Satisfaction. In a recent episode of "Kaun Banega Crorepati", Neeraj Saxena was the fastest to answer in the "Fastest Finger" round and took the hot seat. He sat very calmly, without shouting, dancing, crying, raising his hands, or hugging Amitabh. Neeraj is a scientist, a Ph.D., and a Vice-Chancellor of a university in Kolkata. He has a pleasant and simple personality. He considers himself fortunate to have worked with Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and mentioned that initially, he thought only about himself, but under Kalam's influence, he began thinking about others and the nation as well. Neeraj started playing. He used the audience poll once, but since he had the "Double Dip" lifeline, he got the chance to use it again. He answered all the questions with ease, and his intelligence was impressive. He won ₹3,20,000 and an equivalent bonus amount, and then there was a break. After the break, Amitabh announced, "Let's proceed, Dr. Sahab. Here comes the eleventh question..." Just then, Neeraj said, "Sir, I would like to quit." Amitabh was surprised. Someone playing so well, with three lifelines still left, and a good chance to win a crore (₹1,00,00,000), was quitting? He asked, "This has never happened before..." Neeraj calmly replied, "Other players are waiting, and they are younger than me. They should also get a chance. I have already won a lot of money. I feel 'what I have is enough.' I do not desire more." Amitabh was stunned, and there was a moment of silence. Then, everyone stood up and applauded him for a long time. It is the first time I have seen someone with such an opportunity before them, who thinks about others getting a chance and considers what they have as more than enough. Today, people are only chasing money. No matter how much they earn, there is no satisfaction, and the greed never ends. They are losing out on family, sleep, happiness, love, and friendship while chasing money. In such times, people like Dr. Neeraj Saxena come as a reminder. In this age, satisfied and selfless people are hard to find. After he quit the game, a girl took the hot seat and shared her story: "My father threw us out, including my mother, just because we are three daughters. Now, we live in an orphanage..." I thought, if Neeraj had not quit, being the last day, no one else would have gotten a chance. Because of his sacrifice, this poor girl got an opportunity to earn some money. In today's world, people are not ready to give up even a single penny from their inheritance. We see fights and even murders over it. God resides in humans like Neeraj, who think about others and the country. When your needs are fulfilled, you should stop and give others a chance.