The Pongal festival is a thanksgiving or harvest festival celebrated in South India at the end harvest season. Pongal also marks the beginning of the northward journey of the Sun from its southernmost-limit, a movement traditionally referred to as uttarayana.
The word pongal itself refers to the "boiling over" of milk and rice during the month of Thai. The saying "Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum" meaning "the commencement of Thai paves the way for new opportunities" is often quoted regarding the Pongal festival. Tamils thank the Sun god (Surya) for the good harvest and consecrate the first grain to him on this 'Surya Mangalyam'. Tamilians decorate their homes with banana and mango leaves and embellish the floor with decorative patterns drawn using rice flour.
In this auspicious day, let us all embrace life as our great Mentor said once, " LIFE passes by in an instant, which is why it is so important for us to keep striving and challenging ourselves.
WHEN you wage a struggle, you might win or you might lose. But, regardless of the short-term outcome, the very fact of your continuing struggle is proof of your victory as a human being. A strong spirit, strong faith and strong prayer - developing these are itself victory. It is Buddhahood.
NO effort based on faith is wasted or in vain. The state of our heart, the causes we make in our inner realm, determine precisely just what effects we shall receive. This is owing to the inscrutable mystic function of our life.
IT is a mistake to think that because one practices faith, one does not need to avail oneself to medical treatment. This way of thinking amounts to fanaticism. It is natural that we should seek and follow the instructions of doctors regarding the treatment of illness. Faith strengthens our inherent curative powers and at the same time enables us to change the fundamental causes of illness that exist in the depths of our lives.
NO matter what difficulty you may encounter, you should continue to advance true to your hopes and ideals. As long as you live up to this basic principle, ten, twenty or fifty years from now you will find that all your prayers have been answered thanks to the power of the Mystic Law."
- Daisaku Ikeda, SGI President
* Taken from : http://dailyguidance.blogspot.com/
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