Friends and Friendship

What is friendship all about? Who are your true friends? Have you ever though about it?

What follows is some thoughts on different types of friends and a video depicting my first and last category of friends! Please read it and give me your comments...Do you have friends who fit in these categories?

1) True Friends- Are people you genuinely liked and currently are in touch with but distance is keeping you away you know what is happening in their life but not a part of it on a daily basis…but you know you will be there for them and they will be there for you and every time you meet you have a ball of a time!

2) Current Friends – People you really really like and want to spend time with and are currently touch with, hang out with

3) ‘Stale’ friends you have grown over and friendships you have grow out of ages back but you still don’t have the guts to admit that you don’t like those people anymore. Every time you meet these friends you hug and say “oh my god..long time…really miss you etc etc etc” but actually both parties are thinking what should I talk about next…or oh my god…what did I ever like about him/her..!

4) Activity friends- This category of friends are people you share a common activity. You may have nothing else in common with them except a sport/ passion for movies

5) Office Friends- These are people you make your daily life livable ,they are fun, they are great for office gossip, they are required for you to keep sane and functional

6) Lost friends- These are people you have lost touch over the years. Despite internet telephone etc there are so many people you have met liked but now have just become icons on your orkut, lost in the sea never to be found again. This is the saddest category of all

7) Potential Friends- These are people you meet and feel a connection with, but eventually you don’t become friends because you’ll just did not have the time and opportunity….eventually these people will come back to you …(in this life or the next!)

8) Rotaract Friends- For everyone who has ever been an active part of rotaract will sure agree with me on having ‘rotaract friends’ as a spate category. Eventually they may become a part of any of the other types of friends…but they will always remain ‘My Rotaract Friends’

9) Friend’s Friends – These are people you meet though your friends. If you like certain people chances are that you will like the people they like! This will hold true if you meet Category 1 and 2 friends of you Category 1 and 2 friends!

Imagine….If orkut/facebook has such a public categorization on these lines…You would know exactly where you stand with your friends…you could go out there and connect with good friends of your good friends!

Well networking sites do not have this…but I have been lucky to meet a lot of wonderful people through wonderful friends I have…and this video is a proof….I hope these friends don’t get into the ‘lost friends’ bucket eventually!

Friends enjoy the video...

The Law of Cause and Effect- Nichiren Daishōnin's Buddism Perspective

The law of “cause and effect” is as scientific as the “law of gravity”. It is exact, it is definitive and impartial.

Every action has a reaction every effect has a cause As you sow you shall reap. Life is eternal,you may not remember or be conscious of all the causes you have made in the past….but the law of cause and effect is fair and just.

If you want to know what causes you have made in the past, look at the state of your life today, if you want to know what would be the state of your life in the future.look at the causes you are making today. You may escape the laws of the land, but you will never escape the law of Karma.
I may cheat a shopkeeper of some money I have to give him.I may be caught which would be a manifest/immediate effect of my action however even if I am not caught this action of cheating will be lodged in my karma and it will come back to me eventually in the form of someone else cheating me of money/house/love in this life time or the next this would be the latent effect of my action.

The intensity of my negative karma would depend on what harm I have caused if I have only though bad about someone the negative impact will be present…but it will not be as severe as what it would be had I acted on my thoughts.

Well all this funda is nice to know good to hear but what do we do get aware of our actions and the causes we make think of what you want your life to be “think of the effect” and then make conscious causes to achieve it

When I read this I thougt I would go mad thinking about what cause am I creating in every single step of my life ,but rather than worrying about whether we are making good causes or bad causes which in itself is a cause of suffering, Buddhism teaches the importance of fundamentally purifying our inner sprit which motivates our actions.

To do this all we have to do is chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo this will manifest our Buddha naturethe more we chant the stronger our inherent Buddha become…chanting for our “Buddhahood” is similar to weight training for our muscles.

Every time we chant Nam Myho renge kyo, we are making a deposit of good fortune in our lives to draw on at a future date.

The effects of chanting may be immediate and we may get the job we want or the house we want…or they may be latent but the positive effect will definitely manifest

This is a piece I read out at a Soka Gakkai International (SGI) meeting. SGI is a group that follows Nichiren Daishōnin's Buddism

The Law Of...

What happens If I throw this pen up in the air - I am sure no body things that the pen will fly in the air. We are all familiar with the “Law of Gravity”,we cannot see it but we all know it exists If I throw a small piece of paper in the air it will fall down, It may take longer than the pen but the law of gravity will definitely act.

Ladies and Gentlemen for the next few minutes I am going to talk about a law which is as exact definitive and impartial as the Law of Gravity. You may or may not have heard of it, you may or may not trust me but if you understand the basic principals of this law believe me it will change your life like it has changed mine. Friends for the next few minutes I am going to talk about The Law of Cause and Effect or Law of Karma as it is sometimes popularly know and its relevance to our daily life…

There are two basic pillars on which this law resides….

The first which is very simple to understand and it states- "Every Action has a Reaction ; Every cause has an effect ; As you sow,you shall reap". This has been proved time and again by the science that we understand. We know we cannot sow a mango seed and expect to get a coconut tree.

The second premise which science as we know today may not fully explain is that “Life is eternal”. This is something I have read extensively about and I believe in it.It is said death is like going to sleep. When you get up from your sleep in the morning you don’t remember half the things you have done during the last day, similarly when you die and are born again ,you don’t remember the details of your previous lives but they have occurred.

The Law of cause and effect is eternal like life and transcends across life times. This explains our circumstances of birth to a great degree. It also explains why some apparently wonderful people suffer greatly and the crooks of the world and rich and famous.

I may cheat a shopkeeper of some money I have to give him I may be caught which would be a manifest/immediate effect of my action,however even if I am not caught this action of cheating will be lodged in my karma and it will come back to me eventually in the form of someone else cheating me of money/house/love in this life time or the next , this would be the latent effect of my action.

You may escape the laws of the land, but you will never escape the law of Karma.

The intensity of my negative karma would depend on what harm I have caused. If I have only though bad about someone the negative impact will be present but it will not be as severe as what it would be had I acted on my thoughts.

If I give a seat in the train to someone who needs it the positive deed that I have put into the universe will come back to you eventually as a seat when I am tired, or money I need or critical information required. Always remember every good deed that you do will come back to you in some form of the other.

If you curious and want to know what causes you have made in the past, look at the state of your life today and if you want to know what would be the state of your life in the future look at the causes you are making today.

Well all this is nice to hear good to know but what do we do with this how do we apply it to our daily life.

1) Firstly Get conscious of our actions and the causes we make.
I always though I am basically a nice person, I don’t kill for a living, don’t steel ,but reading about this law I have become conscious about my actions every time I want to say something bad about a colleague say something rude to my parents I stop and remind myself this will come back to me from the universe do I want to do this I don’t succeed every time I would be god if I did but I have sure become better

2) Secondly Think of what you want your life to be “think of the effect”and then make conscious causes to achieve it. You want a job that pays better maybe start teaching children/colleagues impart knowledge and money will come to you be nice and nice things will happen to you

To conclude I would recite some lines from my 5th standard autograph book which I remembered all these years but understand today

The world is like a mirror, Reflecting what you do
If you look at it and smile, It will smile back at you
So always keep smiling and may god bless you!

Thank you!

This is a Speech I gave for a intra club competition at Toastmasters Club TCS Maitri Mumbai on Thursday 22nd May 2008