Life and Spirituality

Recently when my daughters visited they informed that they consume neither tea nor coffee anymore. However when I suggested a floral tea they agreed. They loved the cuppa. I explained to them how to create their own. This method is shared with all now in view of its usefulness. Dear reader you could create your own wonderful floral tea for free or very little expense in this manner Discovering suitable flowers: The first step is to make a list of flowers that are available in reasonable abundance in your area. These may be available in the wild in due season or in your own garden. Some dry flowers may be available at reasonable prices in your local market and you may add these to your list. Flowers from some trees are also great. Trees produce these in great abundance in season. Now note, not all flowers in your list will be suitable for tea. Some may even be toxic as for example larkspur and oleander. Discovering what flowers are suitable for a tea is the nex

Y esterday while walking through the local Bazaar I noticed a boy, a roadside vendor, selling some cheap clay toys and things. I purchased a small plastic vase from him that had a few plastic leaves and flowers stuck in it. I did not quite need it but the boy did not seem to be making any sales. He was delighted at the sale; perhaps it would help him later with his daily meal. It cost thirty rupees or half a dollar. At home, in my kitchen, there is a kitchen table by a window. It attracts a lot of afternoon sun and any cut flowers placed in a vase there just wilt away rapidly. Therefore I placed this little inexpensive flower vase there and immediately the room lit up. Later in the day a visitor remarked that it looked pretty. I have some unused expensive vases at home too and could easily place this inside those but it is not necessary. I shall let them lie unused for it is not expense that makes a home pretty but love and goodness. Many a mansion of the rich have I visi

Death of Adonis by Luca Giordano O n a walk back from the corner store yesterday, I noticed a man walking towards the market. He was in his early fifties and the unfortunate thing was that his legs, hands, back etc. were bent and crooked. The poor man was an ugly sight indeed as he made his way towards the market. At other times, one notices someone beautiful and is wonder struck at their beauty. A Human can change clothing easily but making changes to the body, at least in any major way, is not possible. A body forms at birth automatically based on genes its inherits and then changes with age according to a gene map and external influences, much as a tree may develop from   seed. One can not help but reflect on these differences between humans, some are ugly or insipid looking and others full of charm and charisma. One famous personality I noticed in media has a nose that goes in one direction while his lips go in another. However as explained next, how poor or awful a per

"A human has to choose either happiness or success as the first priority of life, it is either one or the other, the choice is yours"   author M y last post about the apocalypse would have been ignored by some whereas it would have got some concerned. However my own attitude to the issue is that there is nothing to worry. Life is limited for all and far more important than the number of its days are how they are spent and with a hope of continued better days ahead even in new lives if one accepts the fact of an after life in new bodies and situations. To a large extent life can be beautiful if we so choose. When one pursues success, happiness recedes; when one pursues happiness, any necessary success follows The first step to making one's life beautiful is to give up the pursuit of wealth and success as a major priority of life that many have done in this apocalyptic age. I myself prefer to try for happiness instead. When one aims for happiness whic

  W hile the Lord decided to color the sky in shades of blue, plants in shades of green and earth in shades of grays and browns, other brilliant colors appear in sunset and sunrise and in different flowers on earth from time to time. Some humans do not appreciate the beauty of flowers because a certain degree of evolution is required before beauty can be appreciated and its value understood just as the value of fine music too requires a certain degree of evolution for appreciation. According to the a theory of creation of life - Panspermia or its adaptation Pansmeria,  ( See ), the genes of various life forms arrive on different planets from other planets in the universe from time to time through various mechanisms such as in the icy interiors of comets. Accordingly, the genes of plants and animals have probably reached earth in this manner. While some of these may have come from planets that are earth like, others would have arrived from planets with superior climatic and e

Dwellings of Heavenly Peace and Beauty I spent a lot of time dreaming about the plans for my present home around a quarter century ago and then built it in three phases spread apart by five years each between breaks in work as I saved money for each phase by working across the globe. It is a large and comfortable home in a modern urban area. When I began the home it was in near wilderness but with the grace of the Lord it has now developed into one of the most modern areas in the country, a modernization that I have contributed to, including naming the streets on a North American pattern. However, my first love has always been and still is the country side, hills and forests and I keep frequenting that area, living in rented places or guest houses. Human history attests to the fact that those who are spiritually inclined love modest dwellings in quiet and green isolated locations. Queen Victoria, who became the mightiest of Queens our planet has seen during her lifetime, wa

A white rose bush at home W hile our planet has numerous pretty flowers, the rose somehow has a very special place. The sight of a rose never fails to gladden the heart despite the fact that it has thorns underneath, perhaps as a warning to life that beauty must be treated with delicacy and care or it will bite. The home in which I have stayed most in the past quarter century was built by me bit by bit in a rather dry and hot part of the country. As a result rose bushes do not come up as well as in cooler northern parts that I have lived in too from time to time in this quarter century. Nevertheless rose bushes may be grown and they do bloom well for a part of the year with a little care for the plant.  White roses My favorites are the yellow and white varieties but these bloom with less profusion here than reds and pinks. Therefore in the first fifteen years or so the yellow and white varieties died off quickly. However a change has taken place in the last seven y

Mystic and  the Blossoms S ome consider beauty to be just a fad, luxury or indulgence but t here is an intrinsic connection between beauty and prosperity as also happiness. Rather than write a blog post about it, may I refer you to a novella (something longer than a short story but briefer than a novel)  on this subject. There is an older post in this blog that talks a little more of this ( here ). The Novella is available in both print and electronic editions at many online retailers including Amazon web sites. The Kindle edition of the book is a free download for five days starting now at: http://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Blossoms-Ashok-Malhotra-ebook/dp/B005GT391M/

W hile it becomes necessary to focus on some of the wrong that may be taking place in our world in areas crucial to human life with humble suggestions on how the wrong and the ensuing suffering it causes may be mitigated, as this blog has done from time to time, necessary because unless that is done a similar suffering may one day engulf us too, it is even more necessary to focus on whatever is beautiful and lovely on our planet because it is only from here that we can draw our strength. Focusing on the ugly side of human doings can only dissipate us. If not in human doings, one would find the beautiful side of our planet easily in nature, in open countryside, forests, mountains, mountain streams and lakes. Having focused my attention on the not so pretty side of human doings in this blog lately, I feel somewhat dissipated, for it is difficult for a human to remain detached and fully dispassionate in whatever one focuses on. The time has come to return a gaze to nature, its beauty and

A Lakeside road in Nainital M y childhood was spent in the beautiful Himalayan Town of Nainital. Aside from its bewitching beauty, there was something else in the town that was even more valuable. The lives of most people were filled with simplicity and goodness and that added to highly stress free and happy atmosphere. It seems that goodness and beauty are frequently two sides of the same coin. Unfortunately this town has not remained so with time and commercialization of the modern age. In later years, I have lived in many parts of the world for education, work and living but never found the same level of goodness prevailing. An increase of greed, lust, anger, jealousy, selfishness vitiates the atmosphere of any town or village and destroys this sense of peace and happiness. When a mind is obsessed with a desire arising out of greed, anger, lust, jealousy, pride etc it has obviously no space or capacity to enjoy the many joyous wonders life has to offer without aski

There are two older posts  ( here and here ) on coconut in this blog, on the tree and on its health benefits. A great recipe called Mother’s Bounty has also been described. However without mentioning the contribution of coconut to human beauty the information would be incomplete. Coconut oil is great for adding beauty to human skin and hair. It appears to restore damages to both rather quickly. It tends to solidify in winter but if one takes a spoonful and rubs it in the palms of one’s hands it melts immediately. The best way to use it for hair is to rub it into the hair and scalp about half an hour before a bath and then wash it off during a bath with a mild soap or shampoo. It will add health to the hair and act as a natural hair conditioner. It may be left on the hair all day too but then a greasy look is not at all fashionable. In India women and men in the province of Kerala use it regularly on hair and the people of this province have the thickest and healthies

A human being may survive for many days without food but he cannot survive for long without water. Good clean drinking water that is neither too hard nor too soft is the best health drink. Yet water is often combined with ingredients of food and with health supplements in a manner so as to produce a drink for enhanced health, beauty and joy. The fact that drinks are an ideal delivery system is apparent from the fact that even Nature thinks so. The first food chosen for a new born by Nature is a drink – mother’s milk. As one ages one may add a number of other drinks to one’s daily routine in order to optimize one’s health and well being. Here is a collection of some of the best ones from around the world as discovered by this author in his travels, study and reflection.   Following is a description of drinks for different times of day some or all of which could become a person's lifestyle if not already so. The really special and unique drinks, the best on the plan