Life

Right from getting up in the morning to falling into bed fully tired, everything is fully packed. We follow a similar routine almost every day. I don't really understand why. This Earth, which could have been such a beautiful place, has turned into a treadmill where everybody is running aimlessly. It's like a production line where everybody enters as a raw material, "educated" by schools and colleges, "conditioned" by society and parents to follow the norms and belief systems of society, "frightened" by insensitivity and uncertainty all around, "motivated" to accumulate the resources to allay fears, and to ensure that nobody revolts, "primed" with certain sensula pleasures.  There are three fundamental pillars of this structure: fear, belief, and pleasure. Society inflicts fear in the minds of kids from a very early age. If you do not study, you will be a failure. If you do not listen to your parents and elders, you will commit ...

Most people often reject spirituality, stating that if we become desireless, there will be no motivation left in life. Generally, we get motivated to work because of our desire to earn money or the power to obtain the comforts and pleasures we like. If desires are gone, what will we work hard for? We will become dull and lifeless. I think that's a valid observation and appears to be quite true on the surface. People work for money because they need it to fulfill their desires for comfort. People also work for appreciation because appreciation enhances their self-image, which is very dear to people. People also work for power because power makes people feel that they are in control of things, and therefore, they feel secure. People also work for their beliefs because these beliefs form the foundation of their existence. People work for their relatives and friends because they are an extension of their selves. Now, if people drop their desire for money, power, social validation, beli...

I often wonder while millions of us pray to he idol of Krishna, when Krishna was actually alive, many of the contemporary kings insulted him. In fact, Duryodhana tried to imprison him. When Buddha was alive, many people hated him and even tried to kill him. The same was the fate of Jesus. Then why do people pray for these people after they leave this world? Are there no Jesus, Buddha, or Krishna in today's world? What is their fate? Are they being appreciated? Most people having attributes like Jesus, Krishna, and Buddha are not appreciated by contemporary society because they want us to change, and we do not want to change. We want them to bless us with what we wish. That's the sole use case of God in our lives. When God asks us to change, we reject such a God. We want a God who can listen to all our prayers, even if our prayers are self-defeating.  We want comforts, fun, and pleasure, and we try to negotiate the same every time we pray. God, you are so good, I will sing your ...

 In Vipassana, we observe sensations in different parts of our bodies. There are always sensations in different parts of the body, whether we are aware of them or not. Even when we are not practicing Vipassana, we occasionally feel them. For example, we feel heat when it is extremely hot, we sweat, we feel strange sensations in our stomach when we are ill-prepared for a crucial meeting or examination, and we feel heat when we get extremely angry. Through these sensations, the mind communicates with the body and vice versa. Our thoughts activate the secretion of different hormones, which result in changes in the functioning of internal organs, which are experienced by us in the form of sensations in different parts of the body.  However, the body too is a storehouse of unconscious memories. When it experiences similar sensations again, the old memories get triggered, and the body starts sending signals to the brain. For example, had we had a free fall in a lift and felt extreme...

It's not easy to realize our own fixations. How can a fixated mind be "aware" of its own fixations? While in a car, we can notice the movement of other vehicles, but it is difficult to notice the movement of the vehicle we are riding in. That's how we can easily notice where others are fixated, but it is difficult to notice our own fixation. Somebody is excessively worried about the settlement of his kids, or his career progression, health, disputes of properties, or a divorce case. We can see his fixation and, at times, advise our friends and relatives facing similar issues quite magnanimously. On the other hand, when we face similar issues, the trouble appears quite real and we don't want "free ki advice" from anybody. Similarly, when somebody is stuck with a belief system that appears quite stupid, but when we are stuck with our belief system, that appears quite real. Why do our brains create this hallucination? Probably, the brain wants to be certain...

I feel our generation would be the first generation to face huge cases of mental disorders due to excessive use of screen use. Our generation is the one that got access to computers and the internet in their 20s. As of this date, almost the entire work in offices has shifted to emails and WhatsApp in almost any organization. There is no division between the office and personal life. The office continues till late at night, and people are forced to check their mobile screens constantly. In fact, it has become a habit of almost all of us to check our mobile screens as the last thing before going to bed and the first thing after getting out of bed. As if that were not enough, big corporations are using AI to design YouTube ads that capture the attention of almost everyone to sell their products. People scroll through the shots for hours. Even kids are getting addicted to the same. Everybody just wants our clicks and time on the screen. For almost everybody, human beings are just tools to ...

 Yesterday, the news of the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad filled everybody with tears and fear. When we hear such news, our mind immediately transports us to the scene, and we feel the pain that the travellers would have gone through. We are also concerned about the surviving children and their family members, as well as their future. But we do not want to live with those emotions, and therefore, we immediately withdraw our attention from that news and divert the same towards the task at hand. Some of us have the luxury of time and watch the same news again and again on different news channels and get panicky about every family member or friend travelling by flight in the next few days. However, soon the practicalities of the world take over, and we tend to believe that if something happens, we will be the lucky survivor, and the show goes on.  The show goes on, but does the fear go? No fear stays in the background, and that's why till the memories of the incident are alive,...

पोथी पढ़ि पढ़ि जग मुआ, पंडित भया न कोय । ढाई आखर प्रेम का, पढ़े सो पंडित होय ।। This is a famous couplet from Kabir. It means that we may read thousands of books and scriptures and yet may behave stupidly. To be wise just requires reading a few words of love. It looks quite counterintuitive. Society places a high premium on intellect. Our entire education system aims to develop the logic and intellect of children. Is that all waste? Moreover, we all love. We love our family, kids, friends, and relatives. Going by this logic, everybody should be wise because almost everybody in today's world has not only read a few words of love but even more, and in addition to that, we all read hundreds of books in school, and therefore, we should be super wise. On the contrary, the reality of the world today is that the most intelligent people look so stupid. Their understanding of life is quite shallow. They are mostly full of fear and aggression. There is a constant rise in mental disorders in alm...

People say that spirituality is a post-retirement pursuit. Different people justify this in different ways. Some say that they have a lot of responsibilities and therefore it's not possible to spare time for a spiritual quest. Some have to work hard to survive and earn their living, and they do not have any time and energy left after they return from their work. Some feel that life is for enjoyment and not to be wasted on something like a spiritual quest. Probably none of these is able to understand the true meaning of spirituality. Do we stop loving our kids and parents due to our responsibilities, needs, or enjoyment? Spirituality is a way of living, and therefore, the argument that spirituality can't be pursued due to responsibilities or needs is a fundamentally flawed argument. Spirituality is not an intellectual speculation of reality; rather, it is all about observing and understanding the nature of reality. Why would we defer reading the manual of a machine till its expi...

Habit patterns are not easy to change because they are intrinsically connected to our bodies. Every time we follow our habit, pleasant sensations are felt, while every time we try to change our habit, unpleasant sensations are felt. Every time we taste good food, return home, talk to our family members, spend time with a dear friend, receive appreciation, feel in control of things, earn money, or buy a home, we feel good. On the other hand, every time we taste food that does not suit our taste buds, are forced to stay away from home, are unable to meet our friends, receive criticism, feel like not have control over our lives, lose money, or face a financial crisis, we feel bad. Our mind has two layers. One is conscious while the other is unconscious. We make many decisions like what food to eat, which investment to make, where to go for the holiday trip, whether to change the job or continue the same, etc, consciously. However, behind every conscious decision, there are layers and laye...

 Our lives are driven by our own mental stories. We assign different meanings to different phenomena based on our understanding. There may be two different ways to live life. Society conveys meanings of the purpose of life, the meaning of relationships, the importance of money, right and wrong, and good and bad. We may pick these meanings without examination to save effort. It's like driving on a well-regulated highway where we just follow the signposts and reach our destination safely. However, quite often we see that signposts are not well-maintained. Having been hit by a vehicle, its arrow has turned in a different direction, and if we follow the signpost, we will reach the wrong place. Similarly, in our society, many meanings have been distorted due to a perpetual lack of awareness and examination, and therefore, following these meanings will not take us anywhere. In addition to that, there are conflicting signposts. One is asking us to go in one direction, and the other is ask...

We live in a world full of troubled relationships. Some are vocal, while some are silent. Some are visible to others, while some are invisible. However, the primary cause of almost all the troubles is a gap between expectations and reality. Why is this gap created? I feel that if we are able to observe the root cause of our troubles, we can really do something about that. Rejection of the problem does not yield any solution. The first and most important step is the recognition of the problem. Why do we have expectations from relationships? Because that is the very purpose of relationships. We form relationships so that they stand with us in our difficult times. We have expectations from our siblings that they will stand by us in moments of difficulty. Parents expect their kids they take care of them in their old age. There is an expectation from every relationship. We have an expectation from a friend to spare time to listen to us so that we can share what's going on in our minds. ...

I was discussing with a colleague today about driving in the USA. Here, we are often apprehensive even if our light is green and naturally press the brake, fearing that somebody would try to jump the red light and our car will bump into their vehicle. We often see pedestrians and two-wheelers jumping the red lights. Many people try to drive their vehicles on the wrong side, which creates immense possibilities of accidents. On the other hand, in the USA, if a person tries to press the brake while the light is green, it is considered a big irritant by the people who are behind that vehicle. Thus, there is a trust issue due to the habit pattern of people developed over a period of time.  The trust issue is not confined to driving; rather, it spreads across almost all the domains of our lives. We go to buy a product in the market and end up buying a spurious product. Next time, we will become quite cautious while buying the products from the market. We need to be cautious even while bu...

The word "responsibilities" originated from the word "response." Responsibilities are something we respond to. We respond to the things we are concerned about. The first thing we are concerned about is our own body. The moment we feel any pain in any part of our body, we respond quickly. Even a newborn baby responds to pain in their body. A newborn baby does not feel responsible for anything other than his body. However, as we grow up, we feel responsible towards many other things such as parents, wife, kids, job, friends, relatives, and so many more things. How do we assume these responsibilities? Why do different people feel responsible for different things? How can one person feel so responsible towards trees and forests that he spends the whole of his life to save forests, while the other person feels so responsible for his family that he cuts down trees to get a livelihood for his family? I feel that it's quite a complicated matrix. Our primary concern, as ...

We are so stuck with our daily routine that it is almost impossible to look beyond the routine. Yey, it is also a fact that life is precious. We have so many responsibilities for our families. We have to arrange money for the education of our kids, for their marriage, for our own old age, and the contingencies. For all these things, the job provides necessary finances, and therefore, we have to stick to the job. While we do the job, we have to listen to the employer and put in hard work, and that takes away a major portion of our lives. On the face of it, these arguments look quite convincing, and it appears that nobody can get out of the trap. With little awareness, we can break our "responsibilities" into pieces. The first part of our "responsibility" is about the essential things. For example, to arrange food, shelter, clothes, growth opportunities, and the safety of the family. There is no doubt about these. The second part of our "responsibility" is a...

 There is a growing trend among humans to have pets at home. The good-looking dogs turn into pets. They get good food, but at what cost? The cost of their freedom to move around. It's convenient for both the pets and their owners. Pets are satisfied with the food, and owners want controlled relationships. Where expectations are limited to food, and when they are done with the entertainment, they will either sell off the pet or set it free. We often listen to the story of a parrot in a golden cage. Parrot used to speak very pure mantras and therefore got the attention of the king. The king put the bird inside a golden cage. The bird loved his freedom more than the golden cage and the appreciation of the people. Unable to find a way out, he requested an enlightened person for some way out. The enlightened person told him to pretend as if he had died. When the bird pretended to have died, the king ordered the cage to be opened since the dead body was of no use. As soon as the cage was...

Everybody wants an ounce of flesh from this body. This is a feeling shared by many in this world. The worst part is that people do not want an ounce of flesh to eat, to give you satisfaction that at least you flesh was put to some use, rather, they just want that ounce of flesh to either ensure maximum utilization of their tools, or for getting a sadistic pleasure, or just to prove their "superiority". Many people across societies and organizations share this feeling.  Probably one of the biggest reasons for this feeling is that the inner disconnection is growing stronger day by day. The entire humanity is participating in a mad race for materialistic targets. In this mad race, nobody has time to stop for a minute and look inside. Due to that, we are losing awareness of the inner self day by day, and as a result, we are all growing more and more insecure. There is a very strange correlation between material well-being and insecurities. It is a well-documented fact that people...