Life and Spirituality

Through much study and experience, I discovered two of the simplest ways to relieve stress, fear, anxiety, pain and a variety of other things that trouble humans are Mindful breathing Mantra Jap Not only do either of these ancient and time tested methods relieve problems mentioned they can also be used for emotional and spiritual development when practiced in peaceful moments. Mindful breathing is a type of mindfulness when a person focuses on one’s breathing silently. The interested reader can find an excellent note on it by the author at, https://ashokbabaji.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-breath-of-life.html Mantra Jaap (or Jap)is repetition of holy word or name of the Lord. One may use any word that one can repeat comfortably, musically or even in a monotonous manner. While mindful breathing can be practiced if one believes in God or not, Mantra Jap is for those who believe in God. Personally I feel that it is not possible to attain peace without b...

H aving been a professor and scientist for much of my life, I have collected a huge amount of documents, files and books. Added to that are some files dating back to childhood. Needless to say this mass of paper would be quite useless unless well organized. It is an exercise that has to be repeated every few years as new files are added, some become redundant enough to discard and some get disorganized with use. The exercise stretches over days. My most recent shot at it was last month. While the task of this sorting is on, I remove batches from shelves and look through them in different locations of the home ranging from different tables and desks as also the bed. A double bed is a comfortable place for such an exercise because one can lay out the files on one of the beds while sitting against the headboard of the bed on the other against a fluffy pillow with a coffee or tea mug on the side table. It is a habit I developed in college residence when one had only one sma...

Ready for the cooking S ome say there is a God And there is a Devil Some say there is no God There is no devil Merely creations of imagination Creations of a human mind At times to exploit Theirs is the power of lies At times to understand The Infinite that is beyond comprehension Who made the stars? And all life within So magical From whence comes This infinite love That ever flows? These are seekers of truth All know There is life There is death There is the power for good And a power for evil A power with lies A power with truth Lies are for moments Forever is truth Around these thoughts of humans Were born religions And cults of Satan The cults of God called themselves godly Some of the cults of Satan in secret and dark Also called themselves godly When they came out to solicit For theirs is the power of lies How is man to know? Who is for God? And who for the devil? It is simple dear frien...

Four O'Clock blooms in the author's garden this morning I n ancient times King Solomon the wise said that true protection cannot be provided by horses, guards and soldiers but lies in the Lord. While trying to understand ancient spiritual works in the light of modern scientific knowledge, this author has described in earlier posts that he considers God to be the entire universe and beyond, all of its seen and unseen even unknown parts and while one may view Him in various personified forms for ease of building a relationship He is Infinite and formless yet he is also all the forms in which a devotee may view Him with faith. Yet, just as we have our intelligence the universe as a whole has intelligence too and controls all that happens within it, inanimate matter and any life form from humans to viruses that are parts of it. In modern times the rich and those considered powerful surround themselves with much security apparatus and armed guards etc. While such an inf...

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_Louise_17092005.jpg W hile on a spiritual topic a question that is often asked,   If there is God why is there pain, suffering and troubles in the world? My most recent answer to this question is a brief one, What made you assume God is sitting around to relieve yours or anyone's  suffering? Personally I do believe firmly in God and regard the entire universe as just one of His manifestations. He is the creator of everything in this universe including all life within it. Therefore He is the eventual and eternal Father and Mother of all life. Our biological parents are for this single life only. As a parent of all life, God is around to oversee everything in the universe, including the education of all souls to better and more evolved states. In this process, He gives life much freedom as also opportunity to learn from their mistakes, even as our biological parents did often when we were young. The suffering...

A Picture from the garden of author's home W hen we were young Life was fun Worries were for Mama Life was to play and run Early morning we went to school Later we were off to work Mama said don’t be late Come evening, you must relax at home Mama and Papa to heaven have gone So we went to another home The home of love where lives the Lord Our Eternal Mother and Father So as not to be insecure and alone It was evening then, relax He said Come night, when you have had your rest We shall have a new dress for you For you to begin a game In a new life, new day, all over again Note: The different stages of a life may be compared to different parts of a day; read about that here: http://someitemshave.blogspot.in/2011/01/five-stages-of-human-life.html And through it all only a few lucky ones hear the seven truths, for it is not ears one needs to hear these truths, it is not eyes one needs to see these truths, yet there are s...

  A facet of the universe, just one facet of God Nature too is a facet of God M any persons in the modern world do not believe in God because they say physical scientific evidence has not been found that can prove His existence. But the evidence is all around you. Some evidence lies within each one of us. We know that we can feel love or hatred, joy or sorrow etc. Nothing that scientists and engineers have constructed so far possesses any such feelings. Moreover, we all believe that we possess free will i.e. the ability to make choices every moment of our lives (albeit within constraints). Machines cannot possess such freedom of choice. All actions of machines are based on their design, programming and inputs. Machines do not even possess a consciousness. They neither exhibit fear nor make any attempt to protect themselves if you destroy them T hus, life possesses something that goes beyond anything that has been found in purely material and physical constructi...

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ocean_Hawaii_landscape.jpg B eginning with the love of a mother, humans experience love of other humans for brief or long periods through life in various forms. It is rare for human love to last for an entire life time though. For those who believe in God, it is only His love that is everlasting. What about those who do not believe in God. His love nevertheless flows for them although they miss the full experience and benefit of it. If you ask them what created this vast and wonderful universe of which we all are a small part, they would say, if they had some scientific knowledge, that it was fundamental laws - laws such as the law of gravity which resulted in this universe. One may ask them then who created those laws and perhaps they would say nothing. That is it dear friend, this vast infinite Nothing that created this universe, planets, stars and galaxies and every cell of your body and all other life besides. If it was powerfu...

The God Matrix S ome believe ardently in God, others do not believe and there are those who are unsure or too busy at the moment to bother about the question just now. Each human has his or her own understanding of what God means and therefore a detailed discussion must begin with clarifying what one means by God, nevertheless when speaking of God all understand it as a higher Almighty power that has huge, even infinite powers to influence our lives, those of others as well as all large or small events in the universe. Without discussing the question of existence of God, without agreeing or disagreeing with those who believe or do not believe, let us consider where our position lands us. It is simple logic that even a child can understand and it is summarized in the table. The point the table illustrates is that even if one does not know yet if God exists or not and one has no sure proof of it either way, it is a beneficial position to believe in God because then o...

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.

  A still from the author's garden A mongst one of the reasons for atheists to be atheists is that God cannot be seen. However, that is not a good enough reason to be an atheist. There are better ones. There are a lot of things that cannot be seen such as radio waves, gravity, love, hate free will etc. Atheists do not deny these other things. Other atheists try to deny God based on reasoning and logic and that too is a poor basis because for every piece of logic they offer there is a counter one. Some others deny God because of fear, frustration, anger, hurt etc. all negative emotions and this only strengthens the belief of theists. The only sound basis for denying God and being an atheist to my mind is faith. There can be nothing more secure than that. On the other hand there can be nothing more secure than accepting God because of faith and that is what my previous post was about. AfterNote: A lively discussion follows from person engaged in the spiritual arena fo...

    Image shared from: https://twitter.com/worthSeeingPic/status/627317306184437760/photo/1 Nothing made by man comes anywhere near the beauty created by God. Men may only build a path through it, or a build a monument to honor it. If they build a monument to desecrate the beauty and goodness that emanates from God then a time shall surely come when they shall be crushed even as insects are crushed by the wind. B y nature humans are a mixture of good and evil. In their journey through life humans do both kinds of things. Differences arise because some do more of one than the other at different times. Looking back at my own life, at this age of 65, it was so with me too. When I did good, its source was discerned to be an inner self, the true and essential part of life, a part of Universe and therefore there was hardly anything for me in person to be proud of except for the fact that at those moments of good one may draw satisfaction from the f...

   ---------------------------------------------------- NOTE: This blog post is an extract from a more formal note with some informal elaboration, from https://www.scribd.com/doc/266317668/On-the-Identification-of-Soma-of-Rig-Veda-with-Cornus-SericeaSoma-Article ------------------------------------------------------- Thou by thine insight art most wise, O Soma, strong by thine energies and all possessing, Mighty art thou by all thy powers and greatness, by glories art thou glorious, guide of mortals...,    Rig Veda   T he previous post described the god of plants, Soma that made humans who consumed its juice processed in a certain manner like immortal gods. Please do read that post to appreciate this one fully.  The god of plants was lost to mankind ever since ancient times .   It may be pointed out that even though Soma became extinct in ancient times in the Himalayas especially in areas where it was usually collected from, p...

O ne teaches by example Examples never fail to teach One whose lust rapes a girl One who hurts another Sets an example For same to be done to him An angel of the Lord Is one from amongst us Just one more life In this universe so very wide Who loves the Lord so To serve Him so That there is nothing to cover The light that shines forth With his burdens lifted Is it a surprise? If far he flies One who loves and trusts the Lord How can the Lord disappoint such a soul? But one who does not believe How can the Lord interfere in his goal? Yet all cry for Him When difficulties arise And this perhaps is His reply Had you called in time Why would difficulties arrive? Secrets and deepest intrigues Some for love some for discord With much ease He does read The angels and the Lord A human judge one may mislead Not the Lord, beware do heed   Public domain art images, courtesy of Wikipedia comm...