Why is nature so beautiful? A guest post by Spiritualbee.com

Why is nature so beautiful? Why does a short walk amidst nature have such a calming influence on our mind? Why does the sight of flowers, butterflies and rainbows fill our hearts with joy unspeakable?

Mankind’s love for nature is perhaps one of the greatest mysteries of life, one that even evolutionary biologists are hard-pressed to explain. After all, what is the utility in admiring a sunset, or delighting at the sight of snow-capped mountains, when it serves no evolutionary purpose?

While evolution and science can explain many facts of our daily existence, the answer to this profound puzzle lies a little beyond the reaches of present day science, and in the realms of the super-conscious.

Nature is Beautiful Because it is a Manifestation of God’s Joy

It is in the advanced stages of meditative super-consciousness, that the ancient sages of India first lifted the veil over this great mystery. The profound answer that they witnessed is chronicled as a Sanskrit verse in the Taittiriya Upanishad (page 225, World, India):

A translation and explanation of this verse is presented below from the writings of Rabindranath Tagore:

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Swami Vivekananda and his charismatic personality- in the words of a critic !

The below mentioned  letter is a quote from  " The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda" and captures through a newspaper critics lens the personality and charismatic impact of Swami Vivekananda's personality and teachings  on a Western audience. 
The passage emphasises that the philosophy of the Vedas ( referred) to as "philosophy of the ancients" has deep relevance and significance for the modern man and present day "seekers of Knowledge'.
The sum and substance of the Vedas is that each soul is potentially divine, and that each soul has to rise above mere idolatry worship in the pursuit of self refinement and knowledge,  and that salvation can be achieved through the realisation of our responsibility towards nature and by being of service to  fellow mankind.That is by realising the "divinity" present in each of us.

PERSONAL TRAITS

(Critic, October 7, 1893)

. . . It was an outgrowth of the Parliament of Religions, which opened our eyes to the fact that the philosophy of the ancient creeds contains much beauty for the moderns. 
When we had once clearly perceived this, our interest in their exponents quickened, and with characteristic eagerness we set out in pursuit of knowledge. The most available means of obtaining it, after the close of the Parliament, was through the addresses and lectures of Swami Vivekananda, who is still in this city [Chicago]. 
His original purpose in coming to this country was to interest Americans in the starting of new industries among the Hindoos, but he has abandoned this for the present, because he finds that, as "the Americans are the most charitable people in the world," every man with a purpose comes here for assistance in carrying it out. 
When asked about the relative condition of the poor here and in India, he replied that our poor would be princes there, and that he had been taken through the worst quarter of the city only to find it, from the standpoint of his knowledge, comfortable and even pleasant.

A Brahmin of the Brahmins, Vivekananda gave up his rank to join the brotherhood of monks, where all pride of caste is voluntarily relinquished. And yet he bears the mark of race upon his person. His culture, his eloquence, and his fascinating personality have given us a new idea of Hindoo civilization.

He is an interesting figure, his fine, intelligent, mobile face in its setting of yellows, and his deep, musical voice prepossessing one at once in his favor. So it is not strange that he has been taken up by the literary clubs, has preached and lectured in churches, until the life of Buddha and the doctrines of his faith have grown familiar to us. 

He speaks without notes, presenting his facts and his conclusions with the greatest art, the most convincing sincerity; and rising at times to a rich, inspiring eloquence. 
As learned and cultivated, apparently, as the most accomplished Jesuit, he has also something Jesuitical in the character of his mind; but though the little sarcasms thrown into his discourses are as keen as a rapier, they are so delicate as to be lost on many of his hearers. Nevertheless his courtesy is unfailing, for these thrusts are never pointed so directly at our customs as to be rude. 
At present he contents himself with enlightening us in regard to his religion and the words of its philosophers. He looks forward to the time when we shall pass beyond idolatry — now necessary in his opinion to the ignorant classes — beyond worship, even, to a knowledge of the presence of God in nature, of the divinity and responsibility of man. "Work out your own salvation," he says with the dying Buddha; "I cannot help you. No man can help you. Help yourself."

LUCY MONROE.

Source and credits :

Visit our Life Transforming books section to read The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. The above mentioned excerpt is from Volume 3 , Frame 3 of the above mentioned compilation.

Exercise to improve your memory (2) : " The scientific way of increasing knowledge and wisdom"

The enclosed article describes an everyday exercise to increase our memory or our ability to remember. This  passage is an English translation of a paragraph  in Hindi, taken  from Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya's book "बुद्धि बढ़ाने की वैज्ञानिक विधि" or in English " The scientific method of Increasing your memory". 

स्मरण शक्ति बढ़ाने का व्यायाम -2.

"यह उपाय सबसे पुराना है और अब तक सबसे अधिक यही काम में लाया जाता है कि जो बात याद रखनी हो उसे बार-बार दुहराई जाये। बार-बार दुहराना, रटाई, मश्क यह शिक्षा प्राप्त करने की आवश्यक विधि है। परंतु कई बार यह विधि भी व्यर्थ प्रमाणित होती। विद्यार्थी रटता है, पर वह शब्दावली याद नहीं होती, या याद भी हो जाती है, तो बहुत ही जल्द विस्मरण हो जाती है।
कारण यह है कि ऐसी रटाई निरर्थक श्रेणी में चली जाती है और मनोविज्ञान का यह नियम है कि निरर्थक बातों को हम बहुत जल्द भूल जाते हैं। इसलिए रटाई सार्थक बनाने का प्रयत्न करना चाहिए, ऐसा करने से यह बहुत जल्द याद हो जाएगी और बहुत दिन तक विस्मरण न होगी। जो पद्य आपको याद करना हो, पहले उसका अर्थ समझिए, इससे उसको याद करना सरल हो जायेगा। जिस विषय के ज्ञान को आप याद रखना चाहते हैं, उसके आवश्यक सूत्रों का अर्थ अच्छी तरह समझिए, उसका भाव भली प्रकार मन में लाइये। इसके उपरांत उसे बार-बार दुहराएँ। पढ़िए या रटिए, वह बात मस्तिष्क में स्थान ग्रहण कर लेगी और सार्थक होने के कारण स्मरण बनी रहेगी। 

-पं. श्रीराम शर्मा आचार्य,बुद्धि बढ़ाने की वैज्ञानिक विधि - पृ.36"

Translated passage : Tips on how to increase your memory

"This method of memorising is perhaps the oldest  and is used most commonly by us.Using this method we  try and remember something,by  repeating  it to ourselves again and again. That is  we try and memorise through the mechanism of repitition.

Though the  method of continual revision through repition is necessary  in the field of education, however  many times it is noticed that this method fails to obtain the  desired results. 
Students memorize the words  but may fail to remember them. Even  if they do remember  the words/passage  they tend to forget the learned matter in a short time itself. The reason being  that this mere repetition is a meaningless exercise devoid any  real understanding and is therfore an exercise in futility.The field of psychology also  suggests to us  that meaningless  learning is difficult to retain. Therefore we should try to make rote learning meaningful and effective, so that the learning process is speedy and we  retain all that we learned for a longer time. 

To do this , we must first fully understand the meaning and understand the emotion  behind the topic or the passage that we are trying  to learn and memorise. 
Try and do this at least three times so that it is set in your mind. We must  understand the  message( information, emotion) that the pasage is trying to convey along with  the salient points of the passage. Thereafter, repeat the passage to yourself or study it to memorise it. Whatever the method, as you have now understood the passage, you are more than likely to recall and remember it for a long period of time."
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Source and credits :A translated excerpt from the book in Hindi -" Buddhi Badhane Ki Vagyanik Vidhi"(The Scientific way of Increasing Knowledge and wisdom), by Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya.       
Visit our Life Transforming Books section to read many books in Hindi and English on personality and skill development. Recommended book " Jivan Sadhna" by Acharya Shriram Sharma.   

                                                               

How to improve your memory (1)- A book by Shriram Sharma Acharya

The enclosed article contains a short exercise to help improve our memory. The enclosed passage is an English translation of a paragraph in Hindi, taken from Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya's book "बुद्धि बढ़ाने की वैज्ञानिक विधि" or translated in  English " The scientific method of Increasing your memory". 

"इच्छा और प्रयत्न से स्मरण

किसी बात को उपेक्षा की दृष्टि से देखा जाये और उसमें कुछ विशेष रुचि न हो, तो वह बात विस्मृत हो जायेगी, किंतु यदि उसी बात पर अच्छी तरह सोच-विचार किया जाये, तो वह याद बनी रहेगी। आप एक बगीचे में घूमने जाते हैं, सैकड़ों तरह के पौधे, वृक्ष, बेलें, फूल-फल देखते हैं, बगीचा छोड़ते ही कोई आपसे पूछे कि ‘बताइए किन-किन वृक्षों को आपने देखा ?‘ तो आप बहुत थोड़े वृक्ष और फूलों की बात बता सकेंगे, शेष को देखा होने पर भी भूल जायेंगे। दूसरे दिन आप दूसरे बगीचे में जाते हैं और सोचते हैं कि कल के पूछने वाले का आज ठीक जवाब दूँगा, तब उनके नाम याद करते हैं, ध्यान देते जाते हैं कि यह सब बात मुझे ध्यान रखनी है, साथ ही डरते जाते हैं कि कहीं भूल न जाऊँ और जिससे कल की तरह आज भी निरुत्तर होकर अपनी स्मरण शक्ति की स्थूलता का उपहास न सुनना पड़े। अब आप बगीचे से बाहर आइये, सारे बगीचे का चित्र मस्तिष्क में घूम रहा है। पूछने वाले को आप तुरंत ही चीजें बता देते हैं। अकबर किस सन् में पैदा हुआ था, यह बात स्कूल के विद्यार्थियों को ठीक याद होती है, पर उनसे पूछा जाये कि तुम्हारा छोटा भाई किस सन् पैदा हुआ था, तो उन्हें याद न होगा। इससे प्रकट है कि स्मरण शक्ति तभी ठीक काम कर सकती है, जब उसके पीछे याद रखने की इच्छा और प्रयत्न हो।"

- पं. श्रीराम शर्मा आचार्य, बुद्धि बढ़ाने की वैज्ञानिक विधि – पृ. ३१

English translation of the above excerpt:

Tips to improve your memory : The ability to memorize depends upon the desire and effort made to memorise.

If a thought is not given enough attention or if you do not have enough interest in it, then such thoughts are soon forgotten. However if the same thought is given careful consideration, than that thought remains in the memory for long.

For example, suppose you are walking through a garden and you come across hundreds of plants, trees, flowers and fruits. However as soon as you leave the garden if someone asks you to recall "what all plants,trees etc did you see"? ; you will be able to name only few of the plants and trees you saw, and the remainder of what you saw would have been forgotten.

Now on the second day you are asked to visit another garden. This time you will think to yourself that if someone asks me this question again , i should remember everything I saw accurately and you will make every attempt to memorise everything you saw in detail. This time you also fear that you should not fall short of an accurate answer. Hence this time as you leave the garden a detailed picture of the garden stays in your mind and recall is quick, accurate and easy.

It is also worthy of noting that the ability to memorise and recall works best when it is backed by a desire to memorise and an effort is made to memorise. As an example, a student will recall the year of birth of Emperor Akbar ( as he was required to memorise the same for an exam) and yet he may be unable to recall his younger brothers year of birth!"

Try this simple exercise for yourself -improve and strengthen your memory and see the results for yourself.
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Source and credits :A translated excerpt from the book in Hindi -" Buddhi Badhane Ki Vagyanik Vidhi"(The Scientific way of Increasing Knowledge and wisdom), by Pt. Shriram Sharma Acharya.       
Visit our Life Transforming Books section to read many books in Hindi and English on personality and skill development. Recommended book " Jivan Sadhna".