Happiest of New Years

Hello Readers,

Wish you all a Very Happy New Year. Let the Year give u fresh hopes and motivate to achieve what u aspire! Love to all and may there be peace, prosperity and happiness all over :):).

I was thinking to post another before penning down  the New Year wishes. I am at home with my family, so you can expect how pampered and spoiled I am now. Hence, laziness dominates my intention to sit straight n type few lines. Well, moving on from my laziness, I would want make some New Year resolutions. If you wonder, if ever I have followed all my resolutions, I would say "yes partly" ;).  Whatever, this year's resolutions are a little tough and need a lot of determination and of course dedication. The resolutions which needed so much description are Accountability( which I am worse at), Early to Bed & Early to rise( the toughest) and Launching my Dream (can't disclose more now..let your curiosity ponder on this page ). So please wish me luck folks :)

Okay, coming to the New Year Party fun...I hope you all had a rocking time welcoming the New Year. I had a good one too..this time its family time. After 5 long years, I have spent the New Year party with Family. But, I can't conclude before relishing my memories of 2011 New Year Gala at London Eye which was by far the best ever New Year fun I had.  If you are based in UK or planning to visit UK, you better plan to spend your New Year night in London...I am sure you will have a best night.

Once again, wishing you all a Happiest of New Years.

Cheers

Vennela

Spiritual but not religious!

Hello Readers,

I think winter has already started showering frozen flakes in most parts. Here while am penning this down, I see no trace of cold breeze in south east part of India. I hated my last London winter so much, but now I miss it terribly not because I wanted to feel the warmth but because my winter collection will be lying in the closet waiting for their turn. Am I bugging too much about my wardrobe love? Can't help it folks.

I was really busy although my lines are waiting to be phrased n blogged. My blog posts often are comments/elaborate thoughts that ponder in my mind while observing some people/deeds. So is this one.

 Spiritual but not Religious!!! A lot of us would have heard about this phrase many a times and many of us would have stated it too. But as I was reading Swami Vivekananda's speeches, the man who was regarded as one of great spiritual gurus made no distinction between spirituality and religion. In his words it is religion which teaches us spirituality. This might seem very confusing to those have believed and have been believing that Spirituality and Religion are both distinct. This is because, most of us are surely not aware about the essence of these terms. We simply think that being religious narrows our thoughts and will never embrace broader horizons. And we believe that "I am spiritual" statement is a way prove that we are very open minded. This has certainly come from our celebrities who often state that they are not religious but spiritual. Of course I myself never really gave a thought about the terms. Although I am neither too spiritual nor too religious.

After reading Swamiji's speeches, I have clearly understood that religion is the entry pass for spiritual world. However, when we use the term religion, we tend to narrow our thoughts to one particular religion mostly our own religion. If one knows how to travel through the path of religion to reach the spiritual realms, there would never be a question of confusion about leading a religious life. Our ancient Gurus have taught in similar fashion. 

But today, spirituality has become a separate entity. Most gurus/preachers today preach spirituality as different practice that has not much to do with religion. I have seen some of my friends stating that they are spiritual, just because they follow a famous spiritual guru. And those who say spiritual but not religious...surprisingly from what I have observed most of these are very much biased and religion obsessed.

Moreover, when you just think about turning spiritual, what motivates you (other than a Spiritual Guru)???.  

As I mentioned that the greatest guru himself clearly said that the two terms are intertwined...now for those who would want to state the above phrase, you better give it a double check!

Cheers

Vennela