Life and Spirituality

The Turquoise lake of Nainital in Central Himalayas, childhood hometown of author T he Himalayan mountain ranges are full of snow capped peaks, majestic panoramas, lush green forests, lichen covered pine trees, lakes, rivers, springs, wild strawberry patches, wild roses and scented wild flower valleys. These have been a favorite haunt of spiritual mystics since ancient times. Among their many spiritual discoveries is one that although humans die after a certain number of years, in reality they never die because they possess an eternal soul. It is merely the physical body that dies. When a soul discards a body after death, it finds another to continue its endless journey through the universe. The new bodies need not be human. It could be that of an animal, a demon or a god born on Earth or elsewhere in the universe where such life forms exist. What is the purpose of it all? It was concluded in an earlier post that the purpose of life and soul within is to evolv...

  Child migrants from Central America     Little angels arriving on the American southern border in the thousands It must be mentioned at the outset that from every possible definition of a refugee, these unaccompanied children arriving on the US southern border are refugees and not immigrants, even though some in USA have been referring to them with the latter nomenclature. It may be mentioned that if a group of humans crossing an international border are refugees or immigrants is not determined by individuals but is an International determination. The UNHCR has concluded that a majority are refugees. The distinction is important because different laws apply to different groups. According to vox.com these children are fleeing from a situation that is twice as dangerous as Iraq , 2008-12. A report on these children by UNHCR is here http://unhcrwashington.org/children   For a formal definition of a refugee please see http://ashokmalhotra.wordpress.com/201...

American Crisis C hildren scared out of their wits are fleeing their homes, even two year old children, a violence fueled by War against Drugs that appears to have been initiated and encouraged by America, not just in Central America but around the world by pressing unwilling governments such as those in India to classify cannabis as an illegal drug, a herb that has been held as divine for thousands of years. Prior to 1985 many a poor farmer under distress from debt and drought calmed himself with a drink or smoke of cannabis. Now he commits suicide instead to the howls and wails of his screaming children and wife left behind. Alcohol is not an option, it is considered a crime causing and addictive poison in many an Indian village, which in fact is true. Thank you America but the world is not surprised when you can do it to your own Veterans who defended your country and now suffer from PTSD, compel them to ruin their guts and livers for big pharma profit perha...

W e could divide all humans that live on our planet in three broad categories. Humans are not frozen into these categories but may move from one to another during a single life time. First are the rich and powerful. They are small in numbers but control and influence our world in major ways. Second are a group of humans who are neither exceptionally rich nor exceptionally powerful but they have enough financial means to acquire nutritious food for themselves and their family most times, comfortable dwellings to live in open surroundings filled with sunshine, fresh air and soothing greenery. Perhaps they may not have enough money to get a new Benz or a Ferrari but enough to get most things humans need to live and get along with. Then there is a third group of humans that is struggling to meet their daily needs, who have to frequently compromise on nutrition in food, The worst of this third category may even have to go hungry from time to time. There number on earth is not jus...

Shyam Sherbet T here is an older post in this blog about drinks that make life healthier and more delightful here . However, when it comes to summer, one needs a nice soothing cold drink all through the day and night. It is because of this that commercial aerated drinks are such a hit. However, commercial drinks contain a lot of chemicals, some with known health issues and others about which not much is known, but one may not be fully assured about the latter because they are not natural substances. Food for life comes form life and whatever comes from a lab is suspect, at least to this blogger. In Middle East and Asia where it is hotter, a cooling summer drink called a sherbet is frequently consumed.  There are very many kinds of it. If it contains the right ingredients, it can be a great health booster too aside from the fact that a nice sherbet is simply delightful. Made at home, it does not cost much and one can be sure of what goes into it. May I share with ...

Corporate Taxes: Rule of Ninety I t is neither natural nor practical to have an equality of wealth and income for all in any society as perhaps some idealistic philosophers  may dream of at times. It is inequalities that motivate humans to work and also because inequality within limits is a natural thing. However, massive inequalities in any society are equally unnatural and damaging. Whereas it is natural for trees in a forest to be of different heights, it is not natural to have a few trees that are a million feet tall either. Unfortunately something like that has happened as regards human wealth and income distribution is concerned and these inequalities have been growing in recent decades. An earlier article described how less than one hundred humans on the planet possess a wealth equal to half of the seven billion humans on the planet, with the rest being owned by a very small percentage All this takes place in the backdrop of societies where huge numbers of hu...