Life and Spirituality

https://twitter.com/BEAUTIFULPlCS/status/634229660528869376/photo/1 T he majority of humankind now lives in cities around the world but some also live in farming villages scattered around the globe. While cities offer opportunities for modern services, they lack green and open spaces and also suffer from poor air quality. On the other hand, while farming villages offer green and open surroundings, they lack modern facilities. Many farmers, when they move to cities rarely want to return. This author applied his mind to the issue and tried to visualize urban and rural designs that overcome both these drawbacks so that mankind may achieve a much better quality of life than is possible now for most. Existing farms and villages can not be changed easily but whenever new cities or farming villages are conceived it would be wise to refer to these postmodern concepts. For ease of reference they have been termed as AM village or AM cities. AM Farming Villages https://twitt...

D ear readers, today’s blog post is on the design of a country cottage. It is a simple design with a living room, bed room, bath and kitchen separated by a passage. However, there is a large verandah in front that is a must for country living. It serves as a place for aging persons to read the newspaper, children to play, to entertain neighbors in daylight hours and to just sit and watch the rain or the rising sun. The entire plan fits in approximately a thousand square feet area and it is thirty feet wide. The Bathroom is spacious enough to have its own closet for dirty laundry and other things as well as to stick in a clothes washing machine while the kitchen is spacious enough for a small kitchen table next to the fridge. The bed room has been made large enough to have place for arm chairs and a desk. No staircase is shown but if desired the place for it on the side or back from the passage. As with many other designs in this blog no side windows have been left so that...

 children shoes captured during refugees crisis.  Budapest, Hungary, Central Europe,  2015. CAUTION: This article is deeply emotional and discretion is advised before choosing to read it. Please scroll to end of note for a new Xmas song being sung by some I saw an image that has touched me deeply on TV. It was a small boy. It was a fleeting image that has appeared more than once on BBC World service in a collage of images that are used as signatures before and after programs and many thoughts have   gone through my mind as I have tried to imagine what the full story of this sweet little boy of less than five might be, not very different from my own grandson at that age. Little children everywhere are so much alike especially when they are less than five. The image touched me even more than that of Aylan Kurdi of about the same age lying face down in the sand on a Turkish beach, because this boy had not yet left for heaven. https://pbs.twi...

W hile most humans focus on earning and accumulating wealth in their journey through life or at least try very hard to do so, there are a few amongst them that do not make this a prime focus of their life. It is not that they do not like or value wealth but they are either distracted with other things that life has to offer or consider other pursuits far more important. Saintly persons are some from amongst these latter. People like Gandhi when they became saints gave away everything they owned. The word saintly is not used here in any religious sense but in the sense of persons bearing a consciousness close to the divine or universal consciousness. The saintly lot of humans do not worry so much about accumulating wealth because somehow deep within them is the unshakable belief that the Lord or Universe would take care of their genuine needs as and when they arise and that accumulating much wealth in a life time is really not worth it except for its temporary use, tha...

Goosefoot in Yoghurt with hot buttered unleavened bread and a herbal chutney   Scroll down for recipes of items in the picture T he following four types of food if included as part of one’s regular meals would lead to simplicity yet good health for most humans as regards diet is concerned in the view of this author and these do not include meat although one may add eggs Food from seeds of grasses called food grains and the best of these are wheat and rice. A few are allergic to the gluten in wheat and they may choose from a range of other grass seeds Leafy green vegetable Milk or milk products such as yoghurt, processed and unprocessed cheese, butter A raw easily palatable food such as fruits and salad vegetables In this selection, milk products are the protein source. In case that is not available, protein must be be made up from other things such as lentil beans, fish or eggs. Between these four groups of food a human may find all the carbohydrates, proteins...

Words of Love for Muslims T oday there are some words of love in a picture for my Muslim friends and brothers across the world, especially those In Iraq and Syria. I have lived for several years amongst Muslims and Arabs and some of my most loving friends have been from amongst them. I love them even though I could not become a Muslim myself (Ahna Yishrab – Two words in Arabic that only my Arab friends will understand). This message, because it is from the depths of the heart, is really perhaps only through me and more from the Spirit of the Universe. The message also appears on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/dr_ashok_m/status/667186530583121920 It will also be shared on Google plus too so that it reaches as many as possible.

F ew on a path of self improvement would deny that physical violence must be avoided but not all realize that violence in speech is highly detrimental too. While physical violence drags the human soul back to the level of animals from whence it arose, verbal violence pushes a human to misery and denies the joy a human deserves. A path of self improvement involves a study of self and constant evaluation of one’s behavior to discover the good and the bad so that one may reduce bad and enhance good. Realizing what is poor is the first step, after that an effort is required to banish the shortcoming since it may persist out of habit for longer. I too do   a self review all the time and have come to realize that, while use of physical violence has not been a problem with me most of my life, I have been prone to use verbal violence at times and it is a shortcoming I am working on to eradicate, even though advanced in age. It is never too late for self improvement. Life con...

The sacred Nanda Devi and Sunanda Devi peaks in Himalayas. In the modern era, the peak Sunanda Devi earlier termed Nanda Devi east by British explorers was identified by the author of this note. Jai Ma Nanda, Jai Ma Sunanda Y oga is a means of evolution for the soul that dwells within each living body. A soul acquires a body at birth in keeping with its state of evolution at birth. As a human, it is possible for a soul to consciously make an effort to evolve and although one is stuck with one’s body for life, the soul within is free to evolve. There are many symptoms of an evolved soul with the most obvious one being its reaction to light. Since the Universal consciousness is a creator of light, souls closer to it emit and reflect more light from their faces and bodies than less evolved human souls who absorb light instead. During living, the state of a being changes from time to time and they are described as glowing when in evolved states. They may even remove ...

N o good kitchen is complete without a good selection of cooking oils or fats. But, there are so many to choose from and the information out there on which are the best is confusing. Hope this note would help the reader in making a better selection THREE FACTORS THAT DETERMINE CHOICE OF COOKING OIL OR FAT The three factors that decide which oil or fat to use in which recipe depends on: Health Cost Taste While good health cannot be sacrificed neither can good taste of food we consume. Cost of oil used also  matters for most except the very rich. TRADITION VS SCIENCE IN SELECTION A human uses traditional practices prevalent in one’s area in selecting the best cooking oils. Aside from this, humans are also influenced by various recommendations from scientific bodies or health organizations that are put out from time to time. My own personal decision in this regard is to value traditional knowledge more than scientific knowledge or advisories...