Life

It is difficult to appreciate something we have not experienced. For example, it is difficult for a layperson to appreciate the hard work an astronaut puts in, especially when they have no idea of the processes the astronaut must undergo before entering outer space. It will be difficult for us to appreciate the dedication and hard work of the scientists who carry out research to unravel the secrets of nature. It will be difficult for us to appreciate what Buddha must have gone through while being in the forest searching for the truth. There would always be a few individuals in society who would continue to strive to excel beyond the norm. On the other hand, the narrative of the society will always be set by the average intelligence. Therefore, it will be almost impossible for the masses to understand these outliers. They will always be considered weird or strange. This weirdness will be a generally accepted attribute of the outliers. However, it is also true that whenever society prog...

 Something struck me suddenly while having a discussion. So much pomp and show, and so much expenditure, people make in their ceremonies. For what? You ask them, after they have attended the functions, whether they are happy and how long they will remain so. If somebody dared to tell the truth, the reality would be that it was just a momentary joy. Even while coming back from the ceremony, the joy would have already faded away. In fact, for most people, it was never a joy with their hearts filled with feelings of comparison and jealousy. Still, people spend crores of rupees on these functions. Isn't it such an expensive way to get the pleasure. Each family that participates in these functions and ceremonies spends thousands of rupees, sometimes even lakhs. Lakhs of rupees spent for such a momentary joy. In fact, people save money for years, dreaming of organising these functions for their children's weddings. Years of savings spent for a few moments of joy. On the other hand, p...

Looking at the pigeon sitting on the balcony, a thought just struck my mind. It is free to fly, while human beings can't fly. Does that make human beings lesser mortals? No, we have so many different things, such as the brain, which we have created so many wonders on this earth. In fact, using the brain we have designed aeroplanes using which we can also experience flying in space. Does that mean the pigeon is a lesser mortal? No, it lives life to the fullest.  Where is the need for comparison? There are 12 houses in astrology , and when we examine the horoscopes of different individuals, everybody has some strong and some weak planets. Everyone has certain aspects of life represented by specific houses: some they have a natural strength in, and others they are bound to face challenges in. That's what makes every human being unique. Somebody will have a very strong house of Lagna and will therefore be generally healthy and decisive, while others may have affliction in the 2nd...

I don't think that there is even an iota of doubt in the mind of anybody that we know very little. We neither know about the quantum world nor about the cosmos . Our understanding of ourselves is also very limited. We still do not know the seat of consciousness in the human brain . Still, almost all of us are so sure of ourselves. We have very well-defined likes and dislikes. We are quite sure of what we want to do in our lives. Even children as young as 10-12 years have decided to take the IIT-JEE and NEET and enrol in coaching institutes. We are so sure that the acquisition of a piece of land on this planet Earth is the purpose of our lives. Nowadays, it is not even a piece of land; it is just one apartment, with no rights to the land beneath it or the sky above it. That one piece of land on the planet Earth, which is itself hanging in space and rotating around the Sun at an amazing speed. I was just reading an article in the Hindu today that says that if we travel at a constan...

I really don't know what we mean by liberty and freedom . Would a street dog like to go with a rich man to become a pet? What is more important for the dog? Material well-being or the freedom of movement? I don't know. A stray dog may not like to become a pet. Similarly, a pet may also not like to become a stray dog because it has become used to the comforts of life. He has become more disconnected from the freedom of the streets, and that's why the street's risks and vulnerabilities may be too great for the pet. Man has also got used to the comforts. The luxuries of the flats and the safety of society. Why would he dare to stay alone? That's too dangerous and risky. Who would take care of Buddha in the forest? An animal may kill him, an insect may bite, or he may not get food. He may not even get a clean toilet to use. There is no certainty of safe drinking water. He may not have any place to stay, and under the sky, he may fall ill with no one to take care of him...

 Yesterday, I had a very profound discussion with a few close friends. My friend, who is a practising doctor and spiritual practitioner, told me something that made me think. She said that a person does not die till she surrenders to death. The body will keep fighting till that time. That made me think a lot. When we encounter new unforeseen situations in our lives, why do we become so sad? Because the ego wants to maintain the status quo at any cost.  When we get cheated in a relationship, our plot of land is captured by somebody, a close relative suffers some diseases, we get a tough boss who fails to recognise the hard work put in by us, there is a road rage and somebody unreasonably argues with us, somebody takes away credit for the hard work done by us, our children do not listen to our advice, we are not able to buy the flat we have aimed for many years, and there are many more instances that make us sad. We do not want to face these situations and try our level best to...

Today, I had a profound discussion with a friend.  When we talk of change, what is it that is changing? When we say "I want to change", how can I change myself? If I am some total of my thoughts, is it that part of me is trying to change the other part? How will the first part be sure that the other part is wrong and needs to be changed? It may, on the other hand, be the other way around. The reality may be that the first part is wrong and the second is right. Thus, whenever there is an urge to change, the first question that should come to our mind is who wants to change whom? If a part of the mind is trying to change the other part, I am not very sure whether there is a willingness to change or if it is just a trick of the ego . The ego may be trying to gain social approval , become more acceptable to others, or make oneself more comfortable. On the other hand, the drive to change may also emanate from very different sources. It may come from a witness state where I am dif...

Are we competent to love? It seems a very strange statement in the first instance. Do we need any competence to love? Love seems so natural. But the strange thing is that most of us do not love even ourselves. Do we? What do we love? Our self-image, our beliefs, body, and ambitions. "I" am good, and the others should appreciate me for being good. "I" believe in a particular thought or religion, and consider myself to be a sum-total of these thoughts and beliefs. "I" and my body, and therefore want to protect the body and become anxious whenever there is a threat to the body or a disease that does not get cured. "I" also become happy when this body feels instinctive pleasure, such as after eating tasty food, doing shopping, travelling to a place "I" like. "I" am my ambitions and work hard to achieve my targets. What is love, on the other hand? Love is a complete merger. When there is no difference between "I" and ...

Something struck with me today to make me realise that the fundamental reason for unhappiness is a lack of gratitude . When we have gratitude for what we have, we feel happy inside. Otherwise, we feel deprived and unhappy. It is never about what we have or don’t have. We may have 99 out of 100 things we need and yet be happy for the one thing we don’t have.  Unfortunately, the schools as well as parents, believe firmly that we need to feel discontented to be motivated in life. Children are made to feel deprived of money by creating so many false use cases for money and by selling dreams that can be fulfilled with money. They work hard to get admission to a good university and get a placement with a fast pay package. They are made to feel deprived of companionship , and they look desperately for someone with whom they can share and want to marry early. They are made to feel powerless, and they want to acquire power . Basically, the whole motivation system is based on deprivation. We...

I was just listening to a talk by Sister Shivani . She says that we don't need to choose. Rather, we need to surrender, and the almighty decides for us. That's almost an impossible thing for the control freaks. How can I not choose? My choices have made me what I am. For example, I decided to do CA and write the civil services examination , and that's what defines what I am today professionally. I decided not to drink liquor, and I am proud of the fact that I am a teetotaler . I chose to read thousands of books on Neurology, Philosophy, Psychology, Quantum Physics and Mysticism . I also decided to explore Astrology and practice Vipassana . I decided to take sessions for the children. I chose my friends and people I would like to spend time with. The sum total of all these things is what I am today. How can I give away choices?  Most achievers are control freaks, and it is quite difficult for them to give up their choices. In fact, they have reached to their present positi...

Yesterday, I watched the following video of Richard Feynman on fire: https://youtu.be/vdop32yJqWg?si=ne_1GX9r5TjR6GtT Mr Feynman has explained it beautifully that burning is nothing but the coming together of the atoms of carbon and oxygen and the release of energy in the process. The reverse process takes place when plants make food by releasing the atoms of oxygen into the atmosphere and absorbing the energy from sunlight. Basically what we call fire is just the release of energy that was absorbed by the plants from the Sun . When we burn some fossil fuel , it's like experiencing the energy of the sunlight that was stored by the plants millions of years ago. Every time we light a lamp in the morning, we create a mini Sun in our home. Isn't it so profound? The universe is expanding at its own speed. The Sun is giving light to us constantly. Billions of plants and infinite cells within the leaves are constantly working to make food and release oxygen into the atmosphere. Huma...

YouTube , social media , and book stalls are full of spiritual content, and yet the world is becoming more and more self-obsessed. We see thousands of people attending the camps and talks organised by the spiritual teachers ; people even spend money to get into these camps. There is a huge demand for the VIP darshans at the temples. People pay money to get the Aarti darshans . On the surface, it appears that more and more people are inclined towards spiritualism , and therefore, the world should improve. In reality, we see hatred, jealousy, and weakness everywhere. The ego is like a marshy land. Once we are caught in that, the more we make an effort, the more we get down. If two people are trapped in a marshy land, they can't save each other because neither of them has ground beneath their feet. Even if one of them throws a rope at the other, he will not be able to take him out of the marsh because he himself is trapped. That's why most of these videos on social media, the l...

What are we so adamant about not improving? The whole atmosphere is polluted, people are dying of lung cancer, and everybody is coughing and sneezing. Yet, we are not concerned. Psychological diseases are spreading very rapidly among children, even to the extent that many of them are undergoing treatment for depression at a very young age . Roads are full of traffic, and it has become almost impossible to commute, yet we are busy celebrating marriages. The young couples line up before the IVF centres to somehow get a baby, while so many babies are waiting in the orphanages, hoping for adoption. There is a crisis in almost every relation. Why has the world become like that? Why do we pollute the atmosphere? After doing some ritual, we want the bio-waste of flowers and ash not to be dumped with the regular garbage. We pack all these things in a polybag and go to the Yamuna and throw that into the river from the little opening in the net. Why do we do that? Since childhood, we have been...

I am really surprised to see societies, communities, and organisations where almost everybody feels that there is a lot of scope for improvement, and yet almost everybody feels helpless. Everybody has valid reasons to believe that "action lies at the end of some other person" and 'nothing will change'. People have given up and become lazy. I wonder why it happens? Why do we resign ourselves to our fate? And then we bring all types of explanations from the " Law of Karma " to the " Victimhood " to justify the ecosystem. The explanation of Kaliyuga is so widespread to justify the sufferings. These justifications become all the more unacceptable when we see so many other societies and organisations thriving so well in similar situations. Where lies the origin? My take is that the origin of this "hell" lies in the lack of awareness of the "heaven". Heaven and hell are both within us. Our actions may be guided by instinct or wisdom....