Life and Spirituality

Over the last century, planet Earth and condition of all life that dwells upon it has entered a completely new phase, vastly different from any that existed in the past. The first striking difference is the burgeoning population of humans on the planet. They have crossed seven billion and are heading towards ten billion strong in the coming decades. The invention of antibiotics and vaccines has contributed to this increase. The increasing population of humans and their needs has displaced not just much animal life on the planet but also the green side of it so that many species have become extinct or are on the verge of becoming so. The second huge difference is emergence of technologies that were once visualized only in fairy tales. Computers, television, mobile devices and nuclear devices are all inventions over the last century. They have changed human lives and behavior in drastic ways. Thinkers and philosophers wonder where humans and the planet they occupy ar

https://www.pexels.com/photo/beautiful-bloom-blooming-blossom-414160/ Yesterday, in another post, I was saying that no one can help all the suffering people of the world but everyone can help at least some. When we spread happiness, the Universe returns happiness in our lives. Personally, I campaign a lot for issues that touch my heart through social media. These issues have been suffering of children in war zones; those separated from parents on American borders and in general those who hunger anywhere in the world. Another issue that I campaigned a lot about is the environment, in particular the need to grow more forests and trees on the planet. Trees and forests provide food and a home to wild animals and birds, medicines and fruit for humans as well as help control adverse climate changes. Some of my campaigning has included messages to influential political leaders. Some have been critical and knowingly I take the risk that if I annoyed them, they can easily har

An old picture of Nand Rani (Nando) from around 1950 with her first born Deepak Malhotra I n life one shall come across humans who habitually create stress, conflict and hate while there are others who are peacemakers and spread love and peace. I have intimate experience of both kinds. My father who retired as a Colonel from the Indian Army was of the first type while mother was of the second type. She was indeed a godly soul if ever there is one among humans. Much of her life was spent in smoothing out obstacles and conflicts father would create for himself and others in the family, until she breathed her last on April 25 th  1999. They came to love each other nevertheless perhaps because life creates attraction of opposites. Moreover, she had confided in me that when she fully realized that at a young age, she had infant children on her hands and there was no question but to stick by him for the sake of children. The marriage had been an arranged one and I have describ

Road and mountain landscape. Photo by Alexander Kozlovsky . They called me King in Piland Babaji in a cave A Doc or Prof at work But my mama just Ashok For that simply was my name One’s journey through the jungle On one’s own one must make If the path is marked by love and beauty Just the love of duty The Journey and destination Surely shall be lovely and a cutie Just LOL with your Laughter Jump on board the roller coaster

T he sun is barely up We have one here who is ready to begin a new day. Just now though there is a little time to sit down over a cup of coffee, to worry about so many things humans have to worry about every day of their lives, to deal with their fears and to make plans to escape them, plans against so many different problems that can arise in a life. Soon he must dress up and rush to work. The work shall be weary, that daily grind, but it will serve to distract from worries, fears and insecurities for a while. But today he is greeted by Babaji, “Son you are worrying about so many things but you are forgetting the most important one. Soon these weary days shall become to an end, suddenly, unexpectedly. While your flesh and bones returns to the Earth from whence it arose, your soul shall escape. It shall look down at your body and say, “Look at this pitiable body that lies here in the ground, soon it shall rot and the stench shall be unbearable, or the maggots w

Karma is a pain We have one here whose life is nothing but pain and suffering. People he could have counted on - spouse, siblings even children and friends provide no solace but add to his woes. There is pain in the body and there is pain in the pocket as financial worries trouble. He tosses and turns in his bed at night as anguish, trauma and memories of injustices torment his soul. There is neither good food to eat nor a good place to live. He has lost all hope in this world. He looks upward and beyond, is there a god up there who might help? He learns of the value of truth as from his suffering compassion and wisdom. His troubles may be steep but he finds solace in lending a helping hand to a fellow human, in little deeds of kindness. The Unseen Eye watches all. Time and forgiveness wipes out his anguish and tears. His traumas are lost in the mists of time and history. People around him become sweet again and there is good money and profits that have begun to po

I n our journey through life we confront good and bad times for such is the nature of life. Troubles arise from a whole range of issues varying from natural disasters, accidents, health, financial or legal etc. A very large proportion of our problems are due to other humans. While some help us forward in our journey through life or are just joyous companions, there are others who spare no effort to make it miserable. One can move away from people who are not helpful or even evil but there are some one cannot move from in a hurry. These are people one works with in a job or members of one’s family if they turn out to be the difficult ones. The best one can do at such times is to cope with difficulties, the best one can, as they arise while hoping and working towards better days ahead. Quite often humans add another dimension to the problem. When they are wronged by other humans, they carry with them feelings of hurt or anger towards such persons. While difficulties when t

  T hose who reflect on flow of events through life would not have failed to notice that there are times when we set out to do something and we face hurdles and obstacles all the way through, while there are other times when everything goes smoothly. These last are the times when the universe cooperates and assists, when we make the right choices and there is confidence in our heart that all is well. These last are the times when the Lord is holding our hands and leading us to experience what is in keeping with our karma. It is our reward, opportunity, education and experience to push us along in our endless journey through the universe. The times when we face obstacles and difficulties in whatever it is that we have set out to do may not be in accordance with our destiny and there is a chance that despite pain and effort we undertake the result will be less than satisfying. Wise persons must always stop to reflect if they should give up that undertaking or change plans

T oday the thought came of writing personal things from my own life while drawing inferences to the hell like conditions modern humans have created for themselves in parts of the world. It has been mentioned in many earlier posts that while some parts of Earth are heaven-like, others are hell-like. The hellish conditions are not just because of nature but also those created by humans through wars, overcrowded cities, pollution of air and water and the overwhelming greed of a few who, with the help of lawmakers they are able to influence, suck large number of humans into grinding poverty, even a homeless life on the streets, in some of the richest and most exploitative countries of our world. For the most part, my early life was spent in some of the most heaven-like parts, mostly in the Himalayas. In 1962, I came down for the first time to New Delhi where my mother had just finished building our first family home. The land had been provided by the government in exchange f

Happy New Year 2017 M ost humans aspire for a long life and wish the same for loved ones. Yet many mystics and spiritual persons have come to the realization that life is in fact immortal. The soul survives death and it is only the body that is discarded as a soul moves on to acquire yet newer bodies, just as a man discards worn out clothes and acquires a new dress. The source of our likes and dislikes, inner habits, emotions, joys and sorrows i.e. the essence of our personality is our soul and it survives death. The mind and body are only temporary acquisitions. The soul uses the mind to store and process information in some ways similar to the manner in which a person uses a computer. While computers may work with a windows or android operating system, the mind works on a God designed operating system. Yet not all are mystics or spiritual persons. Many are not convinced of the immortality of the soul. It is these latter who fear death and aspire for a long life.

E ven a casual observer would not have failed to note how varied life of humans on Earth is. There are times, places and individuals for which it is utter misery or even worse while there are other times, places and persons for whom it is filled with peace, happiness and joy. Mystics and spiritually inclined persons have pondered over the question since the beginning of civilization and arrived at the conclusion that it is our thoughts and choices we make every moment of our lives that determines our life. Those who are doing well in life often assume it is because they are so very smart and talented or hardworking while those who are having a difficult time say it is because of bad luck. Mystics say it is neither but simply a result of ones deeds emerging from one’s thoughts and choices that is showing up. Some say it is fate but then mystics say those are just past actions and the link has been forgotten. Some modern scientific persons say it is also due to random happ

O ur thought processes make a huge contribution to the quality of our lives. If  thoughts are disorganized and unproductive, so shall our life become. It has been observed that humans can spend a lot of time in thinking about their past or worrying about future, thus losing precious moments of their present lives. As a counter to this, a philosophy has emerged in recent times that suggests we should live in the moment because the past is gone and the future will take care of itself provided we utilize our present moments well. However, this last philosophy is a severe approximation of reality and of what is good for our lives. One does need to reflect on one’s past to resolve emotional dilemmas arising from it or they remain a burden on our souls. We learn much from it. One also has to plan for future. What is therefore required is not to try and ignore the past or future but to structure thoughts about them in the most beneficial and productive way so that we are freed to en