Life and Spirituality

The planet we live in, and the universe beyond has both beautiful and ugly things. Deep within us one may find the connection to the beautiful and joyous side of the universe. One may find this connection in a quiet moment beside a clear lake, in a beautiful green forest, in the company of a loved one, in meditation, sitting or lying in bed. Once we have found this connection it is possible to return to it frequently at will even when one is not in a green valley or in the company of a loved one. This inner bliss does not need a thing or place to connect to, although at first beautiful things may help us to make the connection. It needs a mind that is relatively free of thoughts, sense inputs and a consciousness that just experiences. The joy that comes from sense inputs is a temporary and different one. This joy is difficult to describe in words but wonderful to experience. It is free of fear, even fear of death because it knows that this consciousness and this universe of which it i...

W hereas most humans recognize that we live on an extremely beautiful planet consisting of mountains, oceans, rivers, forests and grasslands, most humans also recognize that some very ugly spots have developed on our planet as a result of adverse human activity. No other species on the planet has scarred the land more than humans through felled forests, jungles of concretes and unsanitary filthy human habitations. At the same time humans have the capabilities to restore the planet or parts of it to a healthy green state. One myth that stands in the way of greening the Earth is that trees and flowers do not grow in salt water and salty soils. Nothing could be further from the truth. While it is true that a large number of plants do not survive in salt water, there are also a very large number of plants that do rather well in saline conditions. The myth that plants do not grow in salty conditions needs to be busted. If it was so, the ocean floors would not be teeming with l...

Shyamu with his son Golu in the garden B y chance, this morning, I examined the dining room cupboard that stores various items of crockery, cups and glasses etc. that are used on special occasions. The crockery that we use on a daily basis is kept in the kitchen. Probably more than five years have passed since I gave the contents of this cupboard a good look. To my surprise the cupboard has much unnecessary stuff, some that will probably never be needed during my lifetime. The story is not very different in the other cupboards, closets and stores of my home. Fortunately, the home is large enough so that all the stuff can be stacked away neatly, out of sight, and not cause clutter. I am also fortunate enough to have an extremely efficient domestic aide – Shyamu – who takes care of storing everything neatly and retrieving an item whenever required. However, now I am beginning to question the very basis of having acquired all the stuff in the first place. Everything that one possesse...

G od has been defined in this blog in several places as everything there is, the entire universe and even beyond if there is anything beyond the universe, both the seen and unseen aspects of the universe . However that is a rather bland definition, perhaps a bit scientific. A new beautiful definition of God by Vincent has appeared at http://perpetual-lab.blogspot.com/ A Presence, an attentive Presence, there in times of need; the need to give thanks and the need to beg, and the need to surrender one’s life to something higher. I fully agree with this definition and cannot  improve upon it or perhaps a just bit by adding the additional words “ A loving, truthful and attentive Presence, all powerful and fully in control of everything that happens in the universe ” instead of just an attentive presence . But perhaps then the definition would become cumbersome and lose some of its beauty. There is much older post in this blog about God here or if o...

Off you go into the countryside T here was a time when a very substantial portion of the human population lived off the land in rural areas scattered across the planet. Since the industrial revolution, large portions of human population began to move towards cities to engage themselves in industrial production and other pursuits related to an urban life.  Consumption of energy and industrial production began to increase and with advent of things like antibiotics,  human population too began to increase rapidly. Nations that could produce and consume at increasingly large rates or provide for increasing consumption to other parts of the world grew rapidly. It is here that an inherent paradox and contradiction began to be built into modern economies. Many realize that the current rates of consumption in the most developed economies such as the US are not sustainable. As resources like energy and materials diminish, the planet may run out of cheap resources. On the other ...

Song of the Angels by W. Adolphe O nce I read somewhere (I forget the reference) that many meetings are like a visit to the toilet. It involves much sitting, noise and eventually the outcome is flushed down the toilet. As Raymond pointed out as a comment to a post in this blog, as regards spiritual matters, much time is wasted in worthless spiritual discussions and arguments. Nothing could be truer. Spirituality involves many things that are felt rather than seen. It also includes abstract concepts and therefore a meaningless argument becomes all the more likely. As a simple example consider how meaningless is the argument between two men about whether a particular actress is sexy or not. What is sexy to one may be repulsive to another, since in such matters much personal experience and taste is involved. Just as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, spiritual understanding is in the heart of the beholder. Consider the frequent argument between, theists and atheists whether G...

M ay the life of this sweet baby in the photo be blessed by the Almighty Lord. The beginning of human life is indeed inspiring and full of Joy. With some gentle care and a little foresight the joy may last a lifetime.In order to analyze human life one may use  the analogy of a lifetime with an average working day for convenience. A human life may be divided into five twenty year periods each and compared to the five periods of a working day – morning pre-work hours, morning working hours, afternoon working hours, evening and night. Each period of life involves fun and work. Presently this post is restricted to the work aspect. An important aspect of this work in each stage involves preparation for the following stage of life. Thus the morning preceding a normal workday consists of getting ready for work. The first approximately twenty years of life similarly involve getting ready for a working life. It is a time to develop disciplined, productive habits as well ...