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11 Lessons From Lord Shiva You May Practice In Your Life

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There is a reason Shiva is called 'The Devo ke Dev-Mahadev'. The tranquil-looking lord can turn into a destroyer, and can also be a bholenath. He has multiple shades to his personality, and is one god who can truly teach us the wisdom to live life. Take a look at 11 lessons we can learn from him.

1. Come what may, you must never tolerate evil 

Lord Shiva was known as the destroyer of evil. He couldn't tolerate injustice and destroyed the evil rakshasas in a fair manner. Similarly, even we should try to keep zero tolerance for the evil happening around us and take a stand against injustice.

2. Self-control is the key to living life to the fullest

An uncontrolled mind can lead you to live a disastrous life. You cannot win battles when you lose focus and fall prey to your desires and addictions. Therefore, it’s necessary to keep your mind aligned to your goals and heart too.

3. Keep calm and carry on

Shiva was called a ‘Maha Yogi’ because he meditated for hours for the well-being of the universe. His calm state of mind was disturbed only due to extreme reasons, but otherwise he would always be in a meditative state of mind. Thus highlighting the fact that you can win half the battle just by being calm in a stressful situation. It's really the best strategy to sorting out a problem. 

4. Materialistic happiness never stays for long

Take a look at Shiva’s attire for a second. Only armed with a trishul and damru, Lord Shiva always stayed away from wealth. You’re missing out on nothing in life if you’re not attached to wealth and materialistic things. Because materialistic happiness is temporary. You need to find your happiness in events and experiences, and not things.

5. You must learn how to suppress negativity gracefully

Shiva was a ‘neelkanth’ because he swallowed poison named ‘halahala’, that emerged from the ocean. Only Shiva could have consumed this poison and suppressed it in his throat. The important lesson to take back from this incident is to take negativity in our stride, and turn it into positivity.

6. Desires lead to obsessions and obsessions lead to destruction

Since he was free from desires, Shiva never obsessed over things. It is a fact that desires always lead to obsessions, and these in turn make us self-destructive. 

7. Respect your better half

Shiva was ‘Ardhanarishwar’, where half of him was Parvati. He treated Parvati with utmost respect and care. She was his ‘shakti’ and he gave her the importance she deserved. 

8. You must control your ego and let go off pride

Your ego is the only thing that prevents you from attaining greatness. It is your ego that comes between your goals and your dreams, and makes you a less loving person. It is said that Shiva carried his trishul to keep his ego in check. He never let his ego get the better of himself. On the other hand, nor did he tolerate anyone else’s ego.

9. Do thorough research on something you're likely to get into

The Ganga in Shiva’s hair symbolises the end of ignorance. This implies that you should know what you are getting into. Being in denial about facts is not going to help.

10. Understand that everything is temporary 

Maha yogis don’t fall for ‘moh maya’. They know that life is ephemeral and what happens today is not going to exist forever. Time changes and so do we. 

11. Dance

Lord Shiva is known as Nataraja or the King of Dance. Although his ‘tandav’ destroyed the world, it was also an art that passed on to us.  

References

www.indiatimes.com/culture/who-we-are/11-lessons-from-lord-shiva-you-can-apply-to-your-life-247674.html
posted Feb 24, 2017 by Babita Thawani

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The Ramayana is one of the greatest epics of Hindu Mythology. Written by the Hindu sage Valmiki, the Ramayana is not just a story, but also an educational medium used by the ancient sages to espouse the importance of doing your dharma (duty) in relationships. The Ramayana depicts characters that we should aspire to be like, such as the ideal father, ideal son, ideal brother, ideal leader, ideal wife, etc. It also highlight true values which we must try to incorporate in our lives.

Let's take a look at 10 life lessons from the Ramayana that will help you lead a better life:

1. Victory of truth over evil

The first and the foremost teaching or message of this great epic is Good always wins over evil. The way Goddess Sita is lured by evil and finally Lord Rama wins her back by defeating wicked Ravana, the moral of the story is, it doesn’t matter how mighty or maleficent the evil is but noble values and good intentions will always win over it.

2. Unity in diversity

One of the most important teachings that come through is unity in diversity. Dashratha has three wives and four sons, all of them loved each other immensely and when life put them through tough times, their hearts were united even when they were apart physically. You should always stand by your family because when together a family can win over any difficulty. The fruits of togetherness give the power to sail the ship when the tide seems higher than the sky.

3. Value relationships over money

The brotherly love where greed, anger or treachery could never penetrate, is yet another example set in the Hindu epic. While Laxman followed Rama for fourteen years and supported him in both good and bad, Bharata (Queen Kaikeyi’s son) did not take up the kingdom even when he has the opportunity to take it. Instead, he sought for Lord Rama’s forgiveness and asked him to take up the kingdom as it belonged to Lord Rama rightfully. This positive tale of Brotherly love asks us in the modern world to forgo greed and material gain rather value relationships over money or property.

4. The value of a promise

Dashrath had granted Kaikeyi two boons when she had saved his life on the battlefield. The day before Dashrath was to retire and crown his eldest son Rama as king, Kaikeyi demanded that Dashrath grant her the boons she desired as promised. Her first desire was that Rama should be exiled to the forest for fourteen years, and the second, that her son, Bharat, be crowned King in his stead. Dashrath was naturally heartbroken at the prospect of having to send his son into exile for fourteen years, but for this noble hearted clan, honouring one’s word is the highest duty. Even when Dashrath began to falter at the prospect of actually following through on his promises due to his love for his first born and pleaded with Rama not to leave, Rama reminded his father of the value of a promise given and left Ayodhya to keep his father’s word. When Bharat begged Rama to return to Ayodhya, Rama once again reminded Bharat that he could not and would not dishonour his father by breaking the promise he had made to Kaikeyi.

5. Love and respect for parents

Rama's insistence on keeping the promise made by his father also shows the deep love and devotion that he had for his parents. He willingly chose to spend 14 years in exile in a forest to protect his father’s much respected honour. Such was the regard he paid to his father. Dashrath too loved his child so deeply that when Rama left for the forest, Dashrath could not bear the thought of being away from his son for 14 years and breathed his last. This demonstrates the love and respect Rama had for his parents. He listened to every command his parents made, he honoured their promises and ensured that no one could accuse them of being unfair. He did not go against his parents’ wishes even though being passed over for the throne was unfair to the firstborn son of the ruler of a mighty kingdom. He obeyed his parents and is immortalised for doing so.

6. Importance of keeping good company

The epic also emphasizes on the relevance of good company. Queen Kaikeyi loved Rama more dearly than her own son Bharata. But due to the ill thoughts and negative feed from her handmaiden, Manthara, Kaikeyi was lured into committing the hideous act of asking for Rama’s fourteen years of exile. It is important that we maintain a healthy circle that motivates to be the best version of ourselves rather than negatively pushing us to a downfall.

7. True devotion and surrender

Hanumanji, the monkey god stands as an image of irrevocable faith and love for the lord. His unwavering devotion and service to the Lord Rama and always being available when a friend needed him, works as teaching to the entire human race. It asks us to surrender ourselves in the lotus feet of the divine without any question or doubts. When we have an attitude of surrender and gratitude towards almighty, we can expect to attain nirvana and get rid of the circle of karma.

8. Treat everyone equally

Lord Rama treated everyone equally and that’s how he earned the love and respect among everyone. No matter if a person was younger or elder, poor or rich, he was the same person for everyone. Even when Sabri (the sage’s daughter) offered him the already tasted berry fruits he ate them without giving a second thought. He was always kind and humble to people. We should toe inhere this quality. We should always treat everyone with equality and should not discriminate on the basis of status, sex, age, or cast. We should treat animals equally as the true human being is the one who knows that everyone deserves an equal treatment.

9. Forgiveness is a better attitude than revenge

Ravana’s abduction of Goddess Sita leads to his downfall, although he was also a well versed and a knowledgeable man. This shows us that in the fire of revenge we often burn our own house rather than bringing much harm to the other party. When Ravana goes to teach Lord Rama a lesson as Laxmana had insulted Supnakha (Ravana’s sister) then Ravana falls into his own trap of anger, treachery and vengeance. Therefore, we should always maintain an attitude of forgiveness rather than giving into the ills like revenge, ego and anger.

10. Love and compassion

Lastly but most important Lord Rama is an epitome of love, compassion and positivity and if we human beings try to embody even 10% of Lord Rama in our daily lives, we can expect to emerge as a true human being with a happy and satiated life. His peaceful and kind ways to complete surrender to his duties as a son, a husband, a brother and a king, Ramayana outlays the importance of human values and mutual love and respect.

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  9. Death is a man’s greatest fear.

    But it’s not the end, only a transition from one life to another.

  10. I am the whole universe’s origin and the dissolution.

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