Life

Life is full of contradictions. It is very long and very short at the same time. When we are stuck in a situation that we do not like, life appears to be quite long; on the other hand, when we enjoy what we are doing, life passes in the blink of an eye. Life is full of choices and at the same time constrained of choices. We are free to make any decision to change our career, invest in new relationships, or explore different things in this world, but at the same time the old choices demand their share of time and we feel constrained to allot time to those choices. The more time we allot to those choices the more constrained we feel to make new choices.  Many such contradictions persist because we do not know the consequences of change. We are generally afraid of the unknown and that's why take the safe option of pursuing whatever path is shown by society. That's why most people get an education, marry, have kids, have some promotions, retire, and die. That's the entire story...

Human civilization is built around stories. We try to find reasons to celebrate. Celebrate different festivals based on the stories that are believed in by the whole of society. Celebrate birthdays based on the commonly held feel-good belief about the day of the year we were born. We celebrate the first day of the year. We also celebrate different days such as Father's Day, Mother's Day, etc. We have made stories about all these days which are believed in by human beings across the globe. In Organizations, we search for opportunities to celebrate the achievement of targets and outstanding achievements. What is the truth behind all these celebrations? Somebody just created a story and sold that to the public at large. Some time back nobody knew about all these Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Valentine's Day in India and today almost all the urban youths are mad about all these days. They will buy different types of gifts to celebrate and that is what the market wants...

Why do we want to contribute to the lives of others? Why do we want to do charity? To get some intangible benefits in the form of name and fame? Or to accumulate some "good deeds" in our balance sheer of life so that when we die, these "good deeds" help us secure a good position in the next life? Or do we feel an enhanced "self-esteem"? Can there be giving without any associated desire to get any of these things?  I feel that till there is "contribution", there will always be a commensurate desire to get something tangible or intangible in return. The moment there is a feeling that we are contributing, there will always be an associated feeling that we are "making an effort" and whenever there is an effort, we are naturally conditioned to expect something in return, whether tangible or intangible. However, there may also be a possibility where we are just enjoying the manifestation of a possibility and then leave it for others to accept...

We are emotionally attached to so many people including our parents, kids, and friends. If any of these people fall sick, we can feel their pain. We often pray that they do not suffer and that their sufferings are transmitted to us. I am not sure about other animals and plants, but these feelings are typical of human beings. Sometimes we feel a similar connection with the almighty as well. We feel emotionally attached to the "God" or "Goddess" we pray. We call it Bhakti. However, if we dive a little deeper, we will soon understand that all these emotional attachments are creations of the mind. Our mind has two typical parts. First being emotional and the second being rational. The emotional mind typically operates on memories that are essential for our survival. Parents take care of us in our childhood when we are quite vulnerable and that is the reason all of us have a very special emotional bond with our parents. Similarly, we, as parents take care of our kids whe...

 The present-day world is strange. Instant gratification is the new norm. If you want to eat something at midnight, there is no problem "Zomato" is there to serve you. You forgot to purchase groceries and running out of stock. There is no problem and "Blinkit" will order the same in minutes. If you want to read a book, just order that on Amazon, and the book will be delivered in hours, or buy a Kindle edition and you can read the same immediately. If you want to watch a movie, just type the name of the movie on YouTube or the OTT platform and you can watch the movie. You can listen to the music you wish just by giving Alexa a command.  When everything is so instant and kids are used to these instant gratifications, it seems to be quite a big task for them to wait for years to get into the college of their choice. They have to let go of fun with their friends, social functions and ceremonies, night outs and parties with their friends and so many other things and conc...

We appreciate Bhagar Singh as a hero in India because he sacrificed his life for the country's freedom. Mahatma Gandhi is the father of the nation. Ram is worshipped in almost every home. Yet, if we are allowed to draw the horoscope of our kids, none of us would like to have similar planets in the horoscope of our kids. Why should they be hanged like Bhagat Singh? Why should they live a life of detachment and sacrifice like Mahatma Gandhi? Why should they suffer in the forest like Rama? We want the "most comfortable" life for our kids. What stopped Gandhi from setting the target of becoming the best of the lawyers in South Africa and leading a wealthy lifestyle? What stopped Rama from accepting the request of Bharata to become the king of Ayodhya and live a comfortable life? What stopped Gautama from accepting the comforts arranged for him by his desperate father and living happily. All of them explored the domain of known and did not find that to be interesting enough. R...

Human beings have a strong desire to contribute. Almost all of us want to contribute to the lives of our children. We give them the best education and make the best resources available. We contribute to our organizations and communities in different ways. The desire to contribute is intrinsic to human beings because it gives them a purpose in life.  Some human beings prefer themselves and their "happiness" over such contributions. They would make excuses rather than take up additional responsibilities at the workplace. They would consume the resources of the community disproportionately. They would not mind spoiling the air by burning crackers for their momentary fun. They would not mind playing loud DJs and disturbing others for their momentary entertainment. Some of them would be so selfish that they would not mind sacrificing even their family members for their petty interests. Generally, we would find that the first category of people are happier in society than the secon...

I was reading a book titled "Fluke" written by Brian Klass. The author mentions a fascinating experiment called the "Long Term Evolution Experiment" carried out by a scientist named Lenski on E-coli bacteria. The bacteria pass through 6.54 generations per day, enabling scientists to observe the evolution of identical bacteria over 1.5 million years of human life. The bacteria feed on glucose and can not digest citric acid. There were hardly any known examples of E-coli eating citric acid. For the experiment, the identical bacteria were divided into 12 different parts. Ideally, in the same conditions and with the same food, the bacteria should have evolved the same way. However, bacteria in one of the 12 flasks developed the capacity to digest citric acid while the bacteria in the other 11 flasks could not develop the same.  I wonder whether the genetic mutation and evolution of the E. coli bacteria in the Long Term Evolution Experiment have anything to do with ...

"I did so much for him and he did such a bad thing to me". We hear this dialogue almost day in and day out in different contexts. Sometimes we have these complaints against our kids, sometimes against our friends, spouses, and sometimes organizations and colleagues. Probably all of us have a very strong self-image of being "givers". Being a "giver" gives us a sense of purpose. You ask any person in his 40s and 50s about the purpose of his life and in most cases, the answer will be "I am living life for my kids". However, a little deeper examination will reveal that almost in all situations, we are "takers" rather than "givers".  If we want to give a hundred rupee note to a street kid and he refuses the same, what will be our first reaction? probably most of us will feel hurt. If the purpose was to give, why would we feel hurt. It is because the primary purpose of offering that hundred rupee note was to get thanks from him to e...

One attribute distinguishing human beings from other living beings in this world is their inherent desire to manage their image. Tigers kill other animals and eat them but they do not pretend to be saints. Human beings invest a lot of time and energy in their image management. We notice almost every day the most corrupt people pretend to be honest, the people who do not understand even A, B, or C of spirituality become the caretakers of religion, people who are completely self-obsessed and narcissistic pretend to be most generous and caring, people who do not have a second thought on exploiting others pretend to be quite helpful. If we examine our society carefully, we will quickly notice that most people have disproportionately high desires as compared to their capabilities and that is the fundamental reason of falsity in their characters. We are quite lazy. Somehow this society places a huge premium on laziness and comfort. Best jobs are the ones with little amount of work and huge m...

People often go to the Astrologers for predictions as to whether their times to come are good or bad. Often many money-minded Astrologers use these opportunities to instill fear in the people's minds so that they become their regular customers. Once fear takes over, such people approach the astrologers again and again to find the right time to start different activities, find Muhurats, wear the stones, and do the "Totkas" told by the Astrologers.  It is not that Astrology is not accurate, but the way it is used by some Astrologers to make money is really sad. I have been doing research in Astrology for the last 14 years. It helps us understand how the forces of nature operate inside our bodies. The right understanding of Astrology is quite helpful in spiritual evolution. It makes us realize and see the temporariness of this entire world with our naked eyes. We can see that when Lagna is afflicted and the Dasha of the planet afflicting Lagna approaches, how a person faces ...

There is a very famous proverb in Hindi " घर का भेदी लंका ढाए". This proverb has its genesis in Ramayana. When Rama attacked Lanka, Vibhishana tried to convince Ranava that he should return Sita to Rama. But Ravana was very arrogant and did not listen to Vibhishana. Ravana's level of awareness was quite low. His "ego" made him very limited. Vibhishana has a far wider awareness and knows that Rama was the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and when he realized that Ravana had closed his ears to the truth, he decided to leave him. He told the secret of Ravana's death after that Rama killed Ravana and made Vibhishana the king of Lanka.  Thus, it was not so that Lanka was destroyed by Vibhishana. The reality was that the people of Lanka also shared Ravana's ignorance. Had most people objected to what Ravana was doing, Ravana probably would not have become so arrogant. Each and every person living in Lanka was responsible for the deterioration of Lanka. Vibhishana wa...

 "Social approval" is one of our primary needs. Since childhood, we get used to seeking social validation. We want people to approve of our actions. As kids, we want to be good boys and girls and a favorite of our parents. We want to become the best students when we go to the school. The need for social approval continues throughout our lives. We want to become good husbands, sons, daughters, parents, and employees. We want to gather medals and rewards to demonstrate our approval by society. People spend money to get their names imprinted on the walls of temples and benches in the park as donors. Desire for name, fame, and validation is intrinsic to our existence. The root cause of this strong desire appears to be rooted in "mirror neurons". Since human beings started living in societies, our brains evolved to mirror our ecosystem. Genetic mutation is quite slow in human beings as compared to viruses and bacteria. We recall the COVID-19 crisis wherein the virus gene...

There is a beautiful story of Narada in which Narada grows arrogant of being a devotee of Vishnu and Vishnu sends him to the Earth to get a glass of water. When Narada reaches a village, he sees a beautiful girl and falls in love with that girl. They decide to marry and have kids. Then Narada faces great financial difficulties and fights with neighbors and when he becomes quite sad, he recalls Vishnu and suddenly Vishnu appears and asks him for the water, Narada was supposed to bring. This is such a powerful story that depicts the nature of perspective. This often happens to us. An infant has no fear of examination. However, as kids grow, their minds are primed for competition. Their life's purpose is defined in terms of success or failure in the examination. The innocent minds of the kids accept the worldview presented to them by their parents and societies. Since their vision of life becomes limited, they develop ambitions for getting admission to the best colleges and at the sam...

There is a famous YouTube video "Cosmic Eye" which zooms in and zooms out. The video is available at the following link: https://youtu.be/8Are9dDbW24?si=BuaSGYm7tzXtrMBC The reality is always so grand. However, will a bacteria lying somewhere in a part of our body be able to realize the vastness of reality? Would a cell forming part of one of our body parts be ever able to realize the vastness of reality? Would human beings ever realize the vastness of the cosmic reality? The universe itself is expanding at the speed of light and even if we can make some spaceship, traveling at the speed of light, we can't be able to travel the boundaries of the universe. The diameter of the known universe is 94 billion light-years meaning thereby that light itself will take 94 billion years to travel across the universe.  We can't zoom out to the reality. We can neither zoom in to quantum reality. The strongest of the microscopes in this world are electron microscopes which can zoom ...

We get to meet different types of people in our life. Some are like cotton. We feel so light after meeting them. There are hardly any traces of ego and they have such a wide vision of life that we feel enlightened after interacting with them even for a few moments. On the other hand, some are like stones, lying in the abyss of ignorance due to their own weight of ego. Not so that cotton has no weight, but density is probably what matters. The "cotton" like people have such vast awareness that the little weight of ego is not felt while the "stone" like people have such a low awareness that the weight of their ego gets condensed and looks like a stone. God has been kind to make me meet people with extreme density and a very low density of ego. On the one hand, I had few opportunities to meet Mingyur Rinpoche who, after becoming a famous author of many books and after having a fan following of millions decided to disappear leaving his monastery for 3 years just to test...

Sometimes we get to meet some people and interaction with them even for a few minutes sucks our energy for the entire day. They are so grossly unreasonable that probably our body and mind get shocked at the gross unreasonableness and they take some time to recover from that shock😉. I wonder why these people become so unreasonable. Probably, it's a deadly mix of incompetence, a very low level of understanding of life, and also a chance to occupy high positions of authority. Ravana was very unreasonable but he too had only two of these factors. He occupied a very high position of authority and had a very low level of understanding of life. But he was quite competent and occupied the position of authority by his competence. Since he did hard work for that he appreciated the people who had the capacity and could do hard work. Similarly, Vali too was highly competent and occupied the position of authority by his competence.  People who occupy the highest of positions by sheer luck or m...

 We face various conflicts in our lives. Whether to play with friends or concentrate on studies is one of the most common conflicts of the students which has now been replaced with a conflict between the concentration on studies and spending time on social media and mobile. Adults often have trouble establishing a work-life balance. These conflicts are the reflection of the ongoing struggle between comforts and ambitions. We get some comfort due to the stars in our horoscope, we are born with, or our past efforts. Some choose to enjoy these comforts and pleasures while some delay gratification, constantly move along the X-axis, and have a very linear view of life. Others choose to work hard for their ambitions and give away the pleasures and comforts, move along the Y-axis, and have a "two-dimensional view of life". They grow in worldly terms and that is the reason why they occupy the best of positions, become industrialists and intellectuals, and develop the capacity to look...

While swimming in a stream, we do not stay aware of what is happening on the different parts of the Earth and while living on Earth, we do not stay mindful of the forces that are acting on the Earth. Similarly, while stuck with a thought, we lose awareness of different sensations in different parts of our body. We also lose awareness of the various forces working on our bodies. Mindfulness is all about being aware of the whole of the reality. There are so many sensations present in different parts of our body which are a product of the memories stored in the unconscious self. For example, if we have a bad colleague who uses foul language that we do not like, the moment we encounter him, our body will be full of unpleasant sensations. Similarly, if we have ever encountered a free fall in a lift and have been injured in such an accident, every time we get into the lift, we will have unpleasant sensations in our bodies. The body has a memory of its own. Like the weather system of the Eart...

We come across many people who deliberately harm others and use others as a tool to achieve their selfish interests. However, it is also true that all people have a sense of goodness within them. Then why does it happen that some become demons while some become angels? It appears that it depends upon the "level of awareness" and "competence". By "level of awareness", I mean the dimensions of life, we are aware of. Some are at a very low level of awareness, and remain concerned about the "survival" only. For survival, they can steal, murder, kill others, and break the rules of society. Some have a larger awareness about the existence of others and society, and yet their obsession with self is quite strong. They pretend to be concerned about the larger society and surreptitiously keep pursuing their self-interest. Some have still larger awareness and actually try to improve the lives of everybody around them and invest their time and energy to brin...

We can watch many great movies where the best actors have played villains. Based on the script's demands, the director decides who will play a hero or villain. The hero and the villain fight when the director announces action and appear to be the biggest enemies and as soon as the director announces cut, they become the best of the friends. It is because they remember that the role they are playing in the movie is just a role and off screen they are different than the role they are playing. If the actors lose awareness of the fact that they are just playing the role of hero and villain in the movie, they may kill each other while shooting. Is that is what happening in this world? Has the director created this grand illusion of death that nobody can see through? Is death tantamount to that "cut" and birth like that "action" between birth and death the entire movie is shot where the hero and villain have both lost awareness of the fact that they are just actors? I...

 Science fiction movies like "Jurassic Park", "time machine", "avatar" etc are big hits. Even people who have no interest in science watch these movies. It is because these movies catch their imagination. They show a story that people can relate to. The frames move very fast, there is a lot of suspense, and the script is full of surprises. Nature reveals its secrets very slowly. In the last 30-40 years, there has not been any major breakthrough in quantum physics. We have still not been able to understand the deeper mysteries even inside the core of the Earth leaving aside other solar systems and galaxies.   Moreover, reality is complex. Once I bought a book written by Roger Penrose to understand quantum physics and cosmos better. However, I realized that the mathematical expressions he used in his book were beyond my comprehension. That too when I did 12th with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as subjects. Calculus seems to be a distant dream now. As w...

 We human beings are great believers in stories. Each culture and civilization has its own stories and all the civilizations believe in their stories equally strongly. Some believe in capitalism and some in socialism and both have equally strong beliefs. Different people believe in different Gods. Strangely, if a child born in a Hindu family is brought up in a Christian family, he would be an equally strong believer in Christ. It appears that we have a very strong network of mirror neurons and tend to mirror whatever we see around us. That's the founding pillar of the society. Societies are formed when people believe in a common story.  One person wishes a birthday or puts a congratulatory message in the group and all of us start putting the same message in the group. A video goes viral and everybody starts watching the same as if the critical mass of an atomic reaction has crossed and the reaction is out of control very soon. Societies and communities have a tolerance range f...