web diary / blog

A New Name

tejvan — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 06:00:39

Yesterday, I received a new name from my Guru, Sri Chinmoy. The name is Tejvan. It means "enthusiasm, dynamism and self giving"

It was a very good experience to receive a new name, now all I need to do is update 70 odd websites and blogs...

Post by Shardul on the meaning of his name

The Art of Writing

tejvan — Mon, 21 May 2007 03:50:21

At school, I never really remember being taught how to write. Maybe I didn't pay much attention, or maybe it wasn't covered.

Therefore, recently I thought it would be useful to try and learn the many rules about using the comma.

How to Use the Comma

The problem with writing an article like this, is that my use of comma's is less than perfect. But, at least I have a better idea than before.

The Art of Writing Good Emails

Everybody writes emails but here are a few tips to write better emails.

The art of writing emails

If you have any other tips, please leave a comment.

"Sri Chinmoy" Tulip

tejvan — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:47:16

A variety of Tulips called, "Sri Chinmoy", currently flowering in my garden.

Interesting photos + links

tejvan — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:49:49

Sri Chinmoy in Thailand with Buddhist monks.

I am a great admirer of Projjwal's photo's. His recent collection from Thailand are well worth seeing. Thailand 2007
World Harmony Run 2007 has already begun in Europe. Enjoy the photos and reports from the run live from the road.
Tomorrow is Shutdown day. Could you survive for a day without the internet? It would be difficult but I'm tempted to give it a try. I'm just trying to remember what I did before the advent of the internet.
20 Greatest Historical Myths Noivedya has written an entertaining list of 20 historical myths.
Fawlty Towers episodes watch some selected highlights of one of the great comedy programs of all time.
Monty Python video clips

Every Morning

tejvan — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 10:41:09

Daffodils in Oxford Botanic Gardens March 2007

Every morning
I garland my mind
With positive thoughts

# 27,427

Self criticism
Is
of no avail

# 27,374

From Seventy Seven Thousand Services Trees.

By: Sri Chinmoy

The God of Wild Places

tejvan — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 06:31:57

I enjoyed reading this article by Roger called "The God of Wild Places"

"The mountaineer, the adventure racer, the desert explorer, the backpacker trekking in remote mountains or jungles- what is it they are seeking, and why are they seeking it in the extremes of nature and the elements? Undoubtedly there is some "vital urge" in us that thirsts for new and more intense sensations and experiences, even those potentially painful or arduous. But does this urge have its roots in something deeper, a spiritual longing or impulse from the soul?"

Sri Chinmoy has often spoken on the inherent divinity of nature.

Why is it the beauty of nature gives me boundless joy?

Sri Chinmoy: Precisely because the beauty of nature is the expression of the One who is all Beauty. Whenever we see something, we see inside that thing the inner presence, the inner consciousness, of its creator. The Creator of nature is God Himself. He expresses Himself in and through Nature. When we see nature's beauty, we get overwhelming joy because the Creator and Owner is God."

Sri Chinmoy Library

Ashrita's Blog and the Celebrity Duck

tejvan — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 17:42:22

I am enjoying reading Ashrita's Blog

Ashrita finds time to break numerous world records, and seems to have a lot of fun in the process.

This post will make you smile:

The Celebrity Duck

The Value of Time

tejvan — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 16:00:48

In the spiritual life we come to learn of the immortality of the soul and the idea of eternity. But at the same time a spiritual seeker needs to value the importance of time. It is tempting to feel that after making a certain amount of progress we can stop and relax. Sri Chinmoy suggests that during our meditation, we should not think about anything but our meditation. It is no good to spend time in meditation when our attention is elsewhere.

“Always say, 'Today is the only chance I have, absolutely the last chance.' Then you are bound to get a good meditation. Otherwise, there is no goal. If you feel, 'Oh, now I am only twenty-eight. At the age of seventy-eight I will realise God,' then you will never realise God. Perhaps at the age of thirty or forty God will call you to the other side.”

Sri Chinmoy

From Sri Chinmoy Library

The Purusha Moon

tejvan — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 12:53:07

This beautiful image I found in Pavitrata's gallery.

When I see a good image in the gallery. I like to leave a comment. Usually I can't think of anything better to say than nice photo. But it makes it easier to find the really good photos. Because of the listing of recent comments.

Pavitrata's Gallery

Comic Genius of Peter Sellers

tejvan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 10:41:06

A comic genius like Peter Sellers comes along only very rarely. As an actor he was remarkably versatiles. In particular in the cold war satire "Dr Strangelove" he played several characters leading upto a memorable climax.

Of all his films my favourite are probably the Pink Panther Series in which Peter played the hapless Inspector Cleauseau.

Even if you have seen the Pink Panther films many times you will enjoy this compilation video: The Best of Pink Panther

The ability to do impersonations is often the sign of a great comic. Here Peter Sellers gives us a seemless impersonation of the various English accents, from Cockney to Queen's English. - I'm English and I would struggle to do any of them.

Peter Sellers impersonations.

Biography of Peter Sellers by R.Pettinger

Inspirational Speeches

tejvan — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 10:32:04

Recently I came across 2 audio recordings of most significant and illumining speeches.

The first is Swami Vivekananda's inaugural address to the world Parliament of Religions in 1893. Vivekananda was the delegate for Hinduism. He didn't try to claim his religion was the best, instead he was most eloquent in expressing the underlying unity of the world's religions.

Swami Vivekananda's Speech at World Parliament of Religions

Martin Luther King - I Have a dream

The second speech was delivered by Martin Luther King. His words are elegant and moving. He speaks with great force and passion. A truly remarkable speech

I have a Dream by Martin Luther King

When I live in the Mind

tejvan — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 07:12:45

   When
I live in the mind
I think I know
More than I really know.

   When
I live in the heart
I know I am loved
More than I really love.

By: Sri Chinmoy

From: Eternity's Silence heart

Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is in essence a philosophy of simplicity. In this article Chidananda explains the importance of using the capacity of the heart.

Sri Chinmoy's Philosophy of the Heart

Poem -"Mother Do Listen"

tejvan — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 03:39:55

Mother, this time do listen to my call.
May Thy Smile of moonlight
Enter into me.
May I be energised with the hope of the poet
And the silence-voice of the seer.
Mother, awake in me
Your universal Love.
May the flow of my river
Proceed towards You
Singing Your Victory-Song.
Mother, I want not to be lost anymore.
Mother, this time do listen to my call.

-By: Sri Chinmoy

From: Amar Dake Dao Ma Ebar Sara Amar

Peter Kay: Comedian

tejvan — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 15:11:53

My favourite comedian at the moment is Peter Kay. He's a good honest northener with a pleasing Lancashire accent. (P.Kay was born in bolton and alot of his comedy is based on observational humour of people he grew up with). He writes most of his material which is quite fresh and generally good taste. Often when he does stand ups his mothers is in the audience and its quite funny to see him trying to avoid swearing in front of his mother.

He has a great gift for communicating comedy in a laid back style.

A few videos of Peter Kay here. Some are actually adverts from 2002 which won an award for best ads of 2002.

Some quotes of peter kay

They are don't seem as funny written down. Alot of the comic talent comes through the manner of deliverance.

One for the Quantum Physicists

tejvan — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 12:43:08

Expand!

No.2

Infinity and not quite infinity

More new funny exam answers

Poems - Life

tejvan — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 12:37:57

Life

LIFE, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O why lament its fall ?

By: Charlotte Bronte
Featured: Poetseers Poem of the Day 18th Nov

Related Poems

Poems on life by Sri Chinmoy

New Camera Kodak Z612

tejvan — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 09:21:44

radcliffe camera from river thames

Queens Lane

Mozilla 2.0

tejvan — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 14:10:46

The latest version of Mozilla is now out.
You can download Mozilla 2.0 here
For more details on Mozilla see Mozilla.com and blog entry at Vasudevaservice.
Using Mozilla browser gives optimal viewing performance for Sri Chinmoy Centre.org

Inspiration Letters - Meditation

tejvan — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 07:01:20

It is a bit of cliché to say that meditation is one of those things which is difficult to write about. But meditation does deal with the domain beyond the mind and thought. To explain the experience of meditation is a bit like trying to describe a painting of Van Gogh to a person without sight.

The latest edition of Inspiration Letters does the most difficult thing of conveying a real sense of the mystery and joy of meditation. Sumangali offers a marvellous short piece which inspires through a poetic conciseness of language. Morris introduces the topic very well, Morris has seemingly a great capacity to discuss any subject with good humour in a way that is both engaging and thoughtful. Jogyata offers several illumining insights, it is quite funny to read his experience of working without any receiving any credit.

“…For a moment I grappled with the unholy desire to snatch the nearest microphone from its stand and announce ‘EXCUSE ME EVERYBODY COULD I HAVE YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION FOR A MOMENT PLEASE – ACTUALLY IT WAS ME,…”

All articles offer a unique perspective on meditation. I am also very happy to see an article on good food slipping into an edition on meditation. The importance of good food and successful meditation have many important parallels, or at least this is what many of my good friends tell me.

I look forward to the next edition, perhaps Morris will surprise everyone and produce the next edition in record time of under 2 weeks… Although more realistically we should perhaps remind ourselves that good things come to those who wait.

Latest Edition Inspiration Letters

Plone 2.5.1

tejvan — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 11:59:18

Today we upgraded our sites to a new version of Plone. - Plone 2.5.1

Plone 2.5.1 is a minor upgrade mainly focusing on bug fixes

Tip of the day: If you log in and can't see the edit screen try refreshing page and if necessary clearing cache.

Sidebars and floating images

tejvan — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 16:01:37

Picture of Christ Church floated to centre using :figclass: float-centre

This picture is hosted in my gallery and is 650px. You can specify a width of an image through

:width: 400px

Another way is Resizing images in plone

Image of Christ Church Meadow taken today

The image is not floated. Sidebars always float to the right. This is just an entry to experiment with sidebars and floating images.

Being part of the World Harmony Run

tejvan — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 10:59:50

Group photo of WHR at Lark Rise Primary School, Oxford

Recently the World Harmony Run visited Oxford, visiting 3 schools on the first day.

The harmony run team did a very good job of introducing the run. They presented the Harmony Run in a way which made the children feel very much part of it.

It is a very good experience to see the children respond to the runners with so much energy and enthusiasm. Pictures are more descriptive than words and on the harmony run website you can see many photos that capture the positive impression the run creates on those who participate.

Bridge of Sighs, central Oxford. The runners ran past on Saturday morning

Poems and Function Report

tejvan — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 03:20:03

Today a very good function report from Morris Klein:

Sri Chinmoy Inspiration

Selected Aphorisms

The criticising mind
Never sees anything
Inspiring or aspiring
  In others.

Everybody agrees
  On one thing:
The world is full of misunderstanding.

Silence is the only teacher
That can show us
How to speak to God.

Poems from: Seventy Seven Thousand Service Trees part 36

By: Sri Chinmoy

(unofficial)

A very good function report from Morris Klein:

Sri Chinmoy Inspiration

My Air India Experiences

tejvan — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:36:12

I often fly to New York to visit Sri Chinmoy and my friends in the Sri Chinmoy Centre. I'm always keen to find the cheapest flight so often end up travelling with Air India.

My first transatlantic flight to NY, was with Air India, in the company of my good friend Brian. Brian, who is aged 67, last season still managed to take 7 wickets in an innings (cricket) - a demon medium pacer.) Anyway we both got a veggie curry. I like to eat my greens so went straight for the "haricot vert" they had placed on top of the curry. Except it wasn't a green bean, but a chilli. Having eating nothing other than mild Korma's, ingesting a whole chilli was too much for my sensitive pallette. I was dying with heat, pain and thirst. Such an experience! Brain couldn't quite grasp the gravity of the situation, thinking it all rather amusing. But lesson number 1 flying Air India.
Don't eat whole chilli's

The second experience I always remember is travelling with a friend called Bijon. Bijon is a great guy and great actor. He seems to have a prediliction for falling into water, but always takes it in good jest. However on this particular flight poor Bijon had water dripping onto his head for most of the flight. A bit of water unfortunately, didn't seem of major concern to the stewarding staff, they seemed more concerned with eating their own meals. Anyway I did feel sorry for Bijon and not a little guilty when, at the end of my flight, I realised it had been my water bottle that had been dripping on him.

This year after a long break I again travelled Air India. To cut a long story short I never got a ticket and thus assumed it would be an e-ticket like 99% of all tickets are these days. Anyway it wasn't an e-ticket and so couldn't fly. After 2 days of ringing round various call centres in Mumbai, and getting nothing other than redirected elsewhere, I bit the bullet and bought an eticket with Virgin and got to NY the next day. Anyway on returning to England I asked my travel agency for a refund.

They have kindly just got back to me with the news that Air India will refund me the cost of my flight.... However the refund will take 2 years to come!

Yes! 2 years, not 2 months or even 2 days. 2 years! - thats approximately 730 days.

I can't help wondering why a refund could take 2 years to process? Are they perhaps growing special trees in Scandanavia for the paper to publish the special refund paper? Are they sending the money, via a courier on foot, from their head office in Mumbai? Are they investing the £500 in a special investment fund so when I finally get it, it will be worth £2000?

Best answer wins a lifetime supply of Air India "haricot verts"

Spirit News Blog

tejvan — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 15:27:38

We have started a blog at Write Spirit Spirit News Blog

Itis a mix of News on Spirituality, Self Transcendence and inspirational poems / quotes

Photos are from Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries

Categories includes

The very good logo at Write Spirit was designed by John-Paul.

Spiritual Videos

tejvan — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 17:25:43

Have been compiling a short list of Spiritual Videos

I hope to be adding to it so let me know any recommendations.

I particularly enjoyed the films about 2 Catholic Saints

St Francis of Assisi
The Song of Bernadette

Poetry and Photo from Coffee Shop

tejvan — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 17:15:14

Silence embodies
The beauty and fragrance
Of harmony.

Love divine
Has immortal wings
To fly
In infinity’s Sky.

Nothing lasts forever
My earthly inner turmoil
Is bound to cease
Sooner or later.

Do not wait for the world
To appreciate you.
It will never happen.
Only try to enjoy
God’s Blessings
Joy and Pride.)

These are short poems from one of Sri Chinmoy’s latest Service Trees.
(unofficial versions because I typed them.)

The photo above is the view from outside the Blackwels Coffee shop in Oxford where I selected these poems this morning.

After several hours on a computer I like to cycle into Oxford and goto a bookshop where I usually enjoy a cappuccino and read poetry. Some poetry you really have to concentrate and even then I don’t always fully understand it but Sri Chinmoy’s poetry is so easy to read.

More blog postings on Sri Chinmoy at my main blog

adding more than one tag

tejvan — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 16:10:58

When choosing a tag. If you want to add more than one hold the ctrl button down as you click with the mouse.

This enables you to choose more than 1 category.

This also works for choosing properties on a Plone page.

Its a very small thing but it took me 18 months of working on Plone sites to figure it out, and I felt a bit stupid when I realised how easy it was.

Working on websites there are so many things like this.

I used to rearrange the contents of a folder manually by pressing the up and down arrows, it used to take ao long. Then about 3 months ago Priyadarshan pointed out using Mozilla you can just drag and drop contents. So much time these little things can save!

If only I had the patience to read my way through a Plone manual from start to finish....

Incomplete help pages at Vasudevaserver.org

a few tips on blogging

tejvan — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 07:24:09

A few tips on blogging click here

Pinging your blog
Don't leave email in comments.
Other links

my blog

tejvan — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 10:54:51

My Blog