Life and Spirituality

Food and the 1-2-3-4 Method of healthy selection I s your daily diet an adequate and healthy one? Here is a simple method called the 1-2-3- 4 (pronounced one two three four) method that may ensure that. If your daily diet includes the following divided over three or four meal or snack times it is  very likely a  healthy one: 1 Serving of Fruit (or Salad if fruit is not available) 2 Servings of protein rich food such as eggs, milk products, lentils or fish 3 Serving of vegetables with one of them uncooked as salad 4 Servings of carbohydrates rich food grain preparations from wheat, rice, corn etc. These make ten items of food that may then be divided in four meal times with one or two being substantial meals and the rest lighter meals or snack. This would make breakfast, lunch and dinner with one snack time that would vary with persons, daily routines and customs. Those who have early breakfasts prefer a mid-morning snack. Those who have late eve...

F rom time to time saints and mystics have appeared who have focused more on internal and spiritual development as compared to the external world. Major religions have developed around teachings of some of these saints. However, the preachers and teachers that have followed later have not interpreted the original messages correctly in all cases and thus compromised the teachings. The most stupid is the assertion in many religious schools that a human may attain progress only through their system. It is stupid if not outright criminal because it is a lie in most cases. It has to be, because if one of them is true all others have to be liars or fools. Few humans have the time or inclination to go directly to original messages of saints. They depend on preachers that follow. Discouraged by false teachings, many modern humans have discarded religion all together. Along with that many have also discarded the central focus of religion – God. That is unfortunate because one could hav...

A Photo from the author's garden I n the last post plans for some cottages were described. This post is an addendum to it and includes one more plan. It has been made invoking the older design concept of using a hallway or passage that leads to room. Such a passage although requiring some additional construction space makes the management and arrangement of furniture in rooms much easier because much communication than takes place through the passage rather than rooms. The present plan also includes a staircase. Design and construction of staircases is one of the most complicated parts of home designs. It is because of this that many homes that are not carefully designed end up with either uncomfortable staircases or ones that waste much space. In the present design construction and design is both simplified by placing the staircase in a separate extension towards the back of the building. The same staircase can be set on the side of the building too using the central ...

I n the past spiritual hermits, or a group of hermits with disciples and students lived in isolated dwellings in forests or mountains in Himalayas or the plains below. The dwelling for students and disciples were shared rooms while for the principal hermit it was just a single large room that combined bed, living, study and store along with a veranda in front that was used for sitting, study, meditation or receiving guests in partially open space. The kitchen and bathrooms of such units were in separate structures. However with modern equipment used in kitchen and bathrooms, all can be combined in a single cottage that would lead to a plan as shown in the figure. The arrangement leads to a smaller additional room that may be used as a study or bed for an attendant or guest. The small room can have a window on the side too if there is a good open view on that side. Plan for a cottage with primarily one large room It must be noted that while a single large room leads...

A Custard Apple Tree W hile many forests on the planet have been removed over the last century for various human needs, many now realize that it was a mistake. Forests are an essential cover of Mother Earth, support life, help to stabilize climate extremes and absorb excess carbon year after year. Their fallen leaves help to improve fertility of soils. Aside from all this, forests are beautiful and while food feeds the body, forests feed the soul. The need is being felt acutely now to restore as much forest cover on the planet as possible and such efforts are underway in many parts of the world that have governments and citizens who are environmentally conscious and socially responsible. It may be pointed out that nature on its own replants forests on barren land that have some moisture over time if they are not disrupted by humans or much grazing. However because the natural process is a slow one and climate change needs more urgent, human effort is needed. Whil...

  Ha Ha Valley, Bhutan  ( Ha Ha Valley is author's usage for Ha Valley) A ncient saints have repeatedly stressed that peace and happiness for humans does not lie merely in increasing material prosperity but much else that has nothing to do with wealth. Things like love, kindness for each other, green valleys and sunshine, inner development contribute far more. It is obvious that one would not be able to enjoy a drive on a wonderful scenic road through a green mountain valley if the very car one is driving is bumpy and rickety. It is necessary to improve our own apparatus, our inner selves in order to find peace and happiness in the world. It is because of this that some are greatly happy with even a little and while others who go through life depressed even with a lot of wealth, just as some children are happy without toys making do with sticks and stones whereas some others are unhappy even with a roomful of toys. While such thoughts had a strong impact on som...

Cannabis O ur planet produces some drugs of plant and synthetic chemical origin that have simultaneous medicinal and recreational use. For brevity we shall just call these drugs in this note as in common parlance but as different from other substances that have exclusive medicinal use only such as antibiotics that are not included in this note. Because of their recreational use, there is possibility of misuse of drugs. Some are highly addictive and some that can kill in excess dose as indeed even alcohol can but much sooner. It is because of such dangers that laws have been instituted around the world to control production, consumption and distribution of drugs. But demand for these drugs continues. As a result, a world wide illegal trade has developed around drug sales involving crime syndicates, drug mafia, corruption of state actors and gang wars leading to huge numbers of deaths and crime. So fearful has been the ensuing violence in some countries that thousands of...

How to make peace, how to make war W hile many horrific wars continue in many parts of the world and humans are forced to abandon their homes and flee for their lives, the countries that contributed to creating wars often withdraw from helping out distressed refugees. Just as the character of a human is revealed in times of stress and difficulty, so is the character of nations. Anyone with his own children knows how stressful it is to walk even a mile with a babe in arms or a toddler holding a finger but the world now witnesses thousands fleeing hundreds of mile in this very situation. While they are welcomed in some countries, they witness harsh cruel behavior in others, not sympathy and help. It is even more difficult for an old or handicapped person to walk across to the corner store as every old person knows and here we see some forced to walk hundreds of mile. How upset all of us get when a prized personal possession in our homes gets damaged or lost and here we...

W hile a human may live from anywhere from zero to hundred some years after being born and animals for assorted periods as has been allocated to them by nature, it is heartbreaking when a human or animal passes away young without even growing up fully. It is in little children when we see the consciousness of God most clearly charged with innocence, love, truth, humility and simplicity and it is only as they grow up other things such as pride, greed etc. take a foothold casting a shadow on their inner divine consciousness, except saints and angels who may manage to free it again even when they are old. Therefore, the soul of a small infant child is most like that of an angel even though, physically they remain young and not fully competent. When a young soul that one loves passes away, one is saddened much, I have tried to reconcile this with my beliefs in an afterlife and rebirth and it would seem that young souls passing away in the most goodness of life are the o...