Project Gita Saransh

Meri(My) Slam Book :)

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The 5 Rules of Happiness by Burt Goldman

You know when you're happy, and certainly no one has to tell you when you're sad. But what is it that makes a person happy?

It is important to realize that what makes you happy might depress another person. There are people, because of guilt, a feeling they do not deserve what they have, or a feeling they will lose what they have that makes them unhappy when they should be happy.

Possessions are a poor measure of happiness. Possessions are subjective and relative to the individual and the individual's viewpoint. Instead, we will use a philosophy as an example.

This philosophy is about enjoying things you like, avoiding or changing things you do not like, and accepting what you cannot avoid or change by the skillful use of your viewpoint. The use of this philosophy, as embodied in the five rules, will allow you to test many problem areas in your life and find solutions. With this philosophy, you will be well on your way on your pursuit of happiness.

Rule Number One: If You Like a Thing, Enjoy It.
Now that seems outrageously simple. At first you might say, "That's ridiculous, of course if I like something I'm going to enjoy it." But when you stop to think about it you'll probably agree that there are many things in life that we like but don't enjoy. The reasons we don't enjoy things we like are (a) guilt, and (b) fear. You will not enjoy something you like if you feel guilty after having done the thing, or if you are fearful of the consequences of doing it.

Rule Number Two: If You Don't Like a Thing, Avoid It.
The second rule seems simple enough, but reflect for a moment on how many people are involved with things they do not like — a job, a person, a vehicle, a type of food, any one of a thousand things — and for some reason they don't avoid those things. "Well, I can't avoid it. I have to work there because I need the money." Or, "I have to be involved with this person for many valid reasons." How many justifications can you think of for not avoiding the things you do not like to do?

Rule Number Three: If You Don't Like a Thing, and You Cannot Avoid It, Change It.
Here again, the answer is simple: change it. But just as in avoidance we rationalize that we need something about it — the money, the time, the security — something is holding you to that particular thing if you don't like it, cannot avoid it, won't change it, but are still involved with it.

Rule Number Four: If You Don't Like a Thing, Cannot Avoid It, and Cannot or will Not Change It, Accept It.
Acceptance — now there is a catch. How can you accept something you don't like? How in the world do you accept something that is 'unacceptable'? How do you accept a situation that you're not happy with? How do you accept a person that you're not happy with? Well, you really don't have to accept anything; you can, of course, be unhappy. If you don't like it, won't change it, cannot avoid it, and will not accept it, I guarantee that you will be unhappy. There are, however, five rules to the secret of happiness, and within the fifth lies the key.

Rule Number Five: You Accept a Thing By Changing Your Attitude Towards It.
You are the result of your viewpoints and attitudes. Everything is relative to the person experiencing it. There are no absolutes — nothing is good, nothing bad, except as it relates to you. Nor is life good or bad. Life simply is. You change those things you wish by changing your viewpoint about them.

How easy!
How difficult!

Your attitudes and viewpoints are all part of your mind and once you develop the power of self mind control you will be the master of your own attitudes and viewpoints. Using these five rules you'll soon find yourself on the right path on the pursuit of happiness. You'll realize why people are unhappy. Eventually it will become automatic, and you'll find happiness a predominant state of mind. Once you realize the ease of acquiring this emotion, you develop an entirely new scale of highs and lows.

Unremitting happiness, of course, is not a possible or desirable state. According to the principle of rhythm, there is always an inflow and outflow, an ebb tide and a flood tide. You'll always have highs and lows — there's no way to avoid that. However, your highs will be higher and your lows will be higher. You'll then find that what is a happy state for you might be a state of depression for someone unaware of the Five Rules of Happiness.

One Day For Change - Are You Ready To Support?

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHVTUzRuVlRCXzdDdXlGTl9lZ182cmc6MA

This survey is an attempt by a network of socially responsible students to reach as many people as possible to figure how feasible is it to engage a large number of us in small acts of change .. actions which we can carry out even in our spare time but which together can bring about a significant change.

The Formula For Success by Jim Rohn

Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day.

Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters.

On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn't result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escape from any immediate consequences of our deeds.

If we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after the first ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days, and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn't seem to matter. And herein lies the great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters!

Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health problem, but the joy of the moment overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter. Those who smoke too much or drink too much go on making these poor choices year after year after year... because it doesn't seem to matter. But the pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time. Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives and the price must be paid for our poor choices - choices that didn't seem to matter.

Failure's most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term those little errors don't seem to make any difference. We do not seem to be failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors in judgment occur throughout a period of great joy and prosperity in our lives. Since nothing terrible happens to us, since there are no instant consequences to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day to the next, repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the wrong voices and making the wrong choices. The sky did not fall in on us yesterday; therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed to have no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat.

But we must become better educated than that!

If at the end of the day when we made our first error in judgment the sky had fallen in on us, we undoubtedly would have taken immediate steps to ensure that the act would never be repeated again. Like the child who places his hand on a hot burner despite his parents' warnings, we would have had an instantaneous experience accompanying our error in judgment.

Unfortunately, failure does not shout out its warnings as our parents once did. This is why it is imperative to refine our philosophy in order to be able to make better choices. With a powerful, personal philosophy guiding our every step, we become more aware of our errors in judgment and more aware that each error really does matter.

Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow: It's a few simple disciplines practiced every day.

Now here is an interesting question worth pondering: How can we change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy.

Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this is true, why don't more people take time to ponder the future? The answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn't seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow.

But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success-oriented disciplines. In other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old.

One of the exciting things about the formula for success - a few simple disciplines practiced every day - is that the results are almost immediate. As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines, we experience positive results in a very short period of time. When we change our diet, our health improves noticeably in just a few weeks. When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence. Whatever new discipline we begin to practice daily will produce exciting results that will drive us to become even better at developing new disciplines.

The real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to amend our thinking. If we were to start today to read the books, keep a journal, attend the classes, listen more and observe more, then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better future. If we were to start today to try harder, and in every way make a conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive and rewarding disciplines, we would never again settle for a life of existence — not once we have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!

Who is Balakrishnan Kuppuswamy?

During work, Raman and Narayan were chatting:

Raman: Narayan, I've been attending night classes for 5 months now and I have an exam next week.

Narayan: oh!

Raman: For example, do you know who is Graham Bell?

Narayan: No

Raman: He's the inventor of the phone in 1876; if you take night Courses you would know this.

The next day, the same discussion took place:

Raman: Do you know who Alexander Dumas is?

Narayan: No

Raman: He's the author of "The 3 Musketeers", if you take night courses, you would know this.

The next day, once again:

Raman: And do you know who Jean Jacques Rousseau is?

Narayan: No

Raman: He's the author of "Confessions", if you take night courses, you would know this.

This time, Narayan got irritated and said: And you, do you know who is Balakrishnan Kuppuswamy?

Raman: No

Narayan: He's the guy roaming with your wife!! If you stop night courses, you would know.

"Moral : There is 'something' important in life than Work and General Knowledge ;-). "

Positive Approach

Kautilya's Arthashastra

About The Book

Kautilya, also known as Chanakya, is India's most illustrious political economist of all time. He regarded economic activity as the driving force behind the functioning of any political dispensation. In fact, he went to the extent of saying that revenue should take priority over the army because sustaining the army was possible out of a well-managed revenue system.

Kautilya advocated limiting the taxation power of the State, having low rates of taxation, maintaining a gradual increase in taxation and most importantly devising a tax structure that ensured compliance. He strongly encouraged foreign trade, basing it on the premise that for a successful trade contract to be established, it had to be beneficial to all. He emphasised State control and investment in land, water and mining.

Kautilya was a true statesman who bridged the gap between experience and vision. For Kautilya, good governance was paramount. He suggested built-in checks and balances in systems and procedures for the containment of malpractices. Many postulates of Kautilya's philosophy of political economy are applicable to contemporary times.

A Brief Outline

Kautilya belonged to the Magadh State, which corresponds to present day South Bihar. Magadh was then the biggest state in India. Kautilya studied at one of the world's oldest universities, Takshasila University. He joined Chandragupta Maurya's empire, after a brief stint with the previous Nanda Dynasty. He served as the Mahaamatya, in the Mauryan empire, a post similar to the present day Prime Minister and, thus, possessed rich experience in political administraion and defence matters. Eventually, Kautilya became an intelligent scholar, fearless thinker, capable secretary, and astute politician.

Vishnugupt's (better known as Kautilya, or Chanakya) (c. 350-c. 275 BC) treatise Arthashastra deals extensively with aspects of political, economic, and social management and is the oldest book on management in the world. It was written by Kautilya around 350 BC. When literally translated, it means 'Scripture of Wealth'.

Kautilya was credited with bringing down the Nanda Dynasty and influencing the defeat of Alexander in India when the warrior was on his way to conquer the world. As a political thinker, he was the first to visualise the concept of a 'nation' for the first time in human history. During his time, India was spilt into various kingdoms. He brought all of them together under one 'Central Governance', thus creating a nation called 'Aryavartha', which later became India.

Kautilya's Arthashastra is an important source of knowledge on polity, economy and administration. However, this important document had been forgotten for centuries. Thanks to Syamasastri, who first interpreted Kautilya's economic and political thoughts in a book published in English in 1909, we had insights into the writings of that brilliant mind.

Though the general impression is that Kautilya had not written much about economics, the fact is that Kautilya by taking a holistic and integrated approach to governance, had provided a new dimension to the field of economics, which unfortunately has remained neglected all this time. Economics works well with resource management, efficient administration, a fair judicial system, knowledgeable people with integrity, capable of taking up high positions.

Kautilya's philosophy is based on the principles of "sam, dam, dand, bhed" (persuasion, temptation, punishment, and division) as various, different, and sequential means to achieve an end.

Governance - Role Of Ethics

Kautilya used the word 'dharma' (which in general, means 'duty') and righteousness in personal and social conduct. He described the basic ethical (dharmic) values as, "Duties common to all - ahimsa (abstaining from injury to all living creatures); satyam (truthfulness); cleanliness; freedom from malice; compassion and tolerance."

Interest

Five different kinds of interest were distinguished by Kautilya: compound interest, periodical interest, stipulated interest, daily interest, and the use of a pledged article.

Indeed the idea of expressing interest as a percentage originated in India.

Wages

He recommended that the aggregate wage bill of the State should not exceed one-fourth of its revenue.

Prevention of Unfair Trade Practices

Kautilya's policies, when seen in totality, represent a very pro-merchant and artisan stance, with the State playing the role of facilitator and protector of commercial interests.

Conceptualising Good Governance

The Arthashastra equates political governance with economic governance. The end is economic governance while political governance is the means. But as economic objectives are not realised in the absence of political ones, then political governance becomes an end and economic governance the means. 'The end justifies the means', this is supposed to be the basis of Kautilyan and Machiavellian philosophy. Political power and material wealth according to Kautilya are the means and ends of governance. And good governance - political or economic - depends upon justifying the ends and means as the socio, economic and political conditions.

The three constituents of power are: intellectual power, military might, and enthusiasm and morale.

Principles of Economic Administration

The cardinal principle of economic administration was laid down in Kautilya's Arthshastra in the following words - "The root of wealth is economic activity and lack of it brings material distress. In the absence of fruitful economic activity, both current prosperity and future growth are in danger of destruction. The King shall populate the countryside by creating new villages on virgin lands or reviving abandoned village sites."

Profit Margins

Arthashastra indicated the profit margin allowed to merchants as:

1-5% for locally produced goods, and

2-10% for imported goods

Principles of Taxation

Kautilya's discussion of taxation has several underlying principles - the taxing power of the state should be limited, tax should not be felt to be heavy or excessive, tax hikes should be introduced gradually, tax should be levied in the proper place, time and form, and tax level should be equitable and reasonable.

Ideally, the government should collect taxes like a honeybee that sucks just the right amount of honey from the flower so that both can survive.

Kautilya's scheme of taxation involved the elements of sacrifice by the taxpayer, direct benefit to the taxpayers, redistribution of income (the state took care of the poor), and tax incentives for desired investments.

Winning over Seducible and Non-Seducible parties in enemy territory

There were four types of behaviour that he felt made a man seducible -

anger, fear, greed, and pride.

Many of Kautilya's teachings and policies were influenced by the Vedas, which tell us that a human being is made up of mind, body, and intellect (brain). Of these, the body acts either at the command of the mind or at the insistence of the intellect. Intellect is defined as the capacity to control the mind and this comes from study and reflection. The mind is a collection of our feelings, emotions, thoughts etc. While intellect rationalises, the mind dictates the emotion. Further, the mind is insatiable, it wanders (perhaps even faster than the speed of light), and it gets attached. All these things make one dependent on the world.

A person feels stress when his mind rules over his intellect. This is the state of unfulfilled desires. Whereas when intellect rules over the mind, the desires become aims and ambitions. Unfulfilled desires could lead one to anger (the mind experiences this as an obstruction to what one desires); greed (when the craving or the desire becomes very strong); this leads to arrogance, which with the passage of time becomes envy. Envy leads to fear (losing what one has). The fourth state that the Vedas talk about is Moha (delusion); but Kautilya lays stress on pride in a man that relates to arrogance as the fourth seducible element.

Education

Kautilya's Arthashastra identified the significance of training and learning. It clearly stated that training imparted discipline. Thus, the lessons of discipline could be imparted to those whose intellect had the desire to learn, capacity to listen attentively, power to grasp what was taught, to retain it in memory, discriminate between the important and the unimportant, draw inferences, deliberate and imbibe the truth and not to others.

From hearing (sruti) ensues knowledge; from knowledge, application (yoga) is possible; and from application, self-possession (atmavatta) is possible. This is what is meant by efficiency of learning (vidhyasamarthyam).

Kautilya stated that investment in human capital especially in higher education would have a greater impact on the growth and development of the economy.

Towards Higher Sustainable Economic Growth With People Welfare

Good governance in Kautilya's literature is aimed at fulfilling the welfare of the people. "In the happiness of the King's subjects lies his happiness, in their welfare, his welfare. Whatever pleases him personally, he shall not consider as good, but whatever makes his subjects happy, he shall consider good."

The jargon related to Human Resource Management was not prevalent then, but its essence was widely practised in Kautilya's times. "The King should look to the bodily comforts of his servants by providing such emoluments as can infuse in them the spirit of enthusiasm to work. He should not violate the course of righteousness and wealth. Thus, he shall not only maintain his servants, but also increase their subsistence and wages in consideration of their learning and work."

Kautilya said that good governance and stability go hand in hand. According to him, there is stability if rulers are responsive, responsible, accountable, removable, and recallable, otherwise there would be instability.

Rulers: Duties and Qualities

A ruler who administers justice on the basis of four principles: righteousness, evidence, history of the case, and the prevalent law, shall conquer the earth.

Military Policy

In day time, the crow kills the owl. At night the owl kills the crow (The time of fight is important).

In the fight between the dog and the pig, the ultimate victory is that of the pariah (who gets the meat to eat).

A dog on land drags a crocodile. A crocodile in water drags a dog (the place of fight is important).

Law, Justice, Punishment

When there is a conflict between established tradition and ethical principles, or between evidence and what is right (according to ethical principles) the case shall be decided on the basis of ethical principles.

Where scriptural laws conflict with what is righteous and just, there justice shall be the valid criterion, the written text loses its relevance.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the most important constituent of the economy.

Three principal vocations are recognised as providing men with the means of livelihood namely, krsi (agriculture), pasupalya (cattle rearing) and vanijya (trade). The three together constitute varita (derived vritti,-livelihood).

Where rain, free from wind and unmingled with sunshine, falls so as to render turns of ploughing possible, there the reaping of good harvest is certain.

With respect to taxes on agriculture, avoid extremes of either complete absence of taxes or exorbitant taxation.

Miscellaneous Dicta

Time (opportunity) approaches a man desirous of it only once. And will not come a second time when he wants to do his work.

Society undergoes constant change, leaving behind those who say 'no' to change.

Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer

About The Book

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

Following the international bestsellers Twilight and New Moon, Eclipse is the much-anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's captivating saga of vampire romance.

About the Author

Stephenie Meyer debut novel Twilight and the sequels New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn are international bestsellers. Her official website can be found at www.stepheniemeyer.com

The List Of Books/Novels Read By Me In The Year 2010

(1) Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer (Fiction) - The International Number One Bestseller

(2) Kautilya's Arthashastra - The Way Of Financial Management and Economic Governance - How Kautilya's Arthashastra, written about 2,400 years ago, can solve many of India's current economic and other problems - A Must Read

(3) The UPside of the Downturn - The Opportunity - 10 Management Strategies To Prevail In The Recession And Thrive In The Aftermath - Geoff Colvin - A Must Read

(4) Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer (Fiction) - The International Number One Bestseller