Life and Spirituality

Honey from the Backyard E arlier in the year a honeycomb began to develop in a corner of the backyard. It was on some very low dry branches and therefore one had to be very careful while watering the plants near it with a hose. Once when I sprinkled water on them by mistake the bees got after me and I ran indoors but not before a couple had bit me on the face. These are tiny local bees but their sting sure hurts. After that I was very careful in watering around that spot and it seems the bees too realized that and never ever bothered me again. Steadily the honeycomb became larger and larger. My mother used to say that a honeycomb is very fortunate in a home. She was a spiritual lady and from experience I believe in most of what she said. Wild honey as opposed to farm grown honey is also very medicinal and this honey was as close to wild as one can get in an urban area. However, I was in two minds if to take that honey. In my communing with nature, my understanding is...

I t is common with human beings to think of their past actions and feel sorry about things they could have done differently. As one ages, the length of one’s experience is longer and such regrets can become voluminous so that the mind focuses on that far more than enjoying the present moment and doing what is required here and now. Most humans then become sad or depressed about it. Essentially we may classify our past mistake into two categories. First are those that have caused harm to others and we should indeed be very sorry about that, especially if the harm has been to sweet innocent and vulnerable children. It is an unforgivable sin. However there is a second category of mistakes that have not harmed anyone else but harmed our own selves and these are such that should be a moment of celebration and joy because of the learning they have provided us. The joy in the present note is with reference to such mistakes and the essential learning they provide. There was a peri...

Cleanliness W hen Patanjali the father of Yoga listed the eight parts of yoga in his founding text on Yoga, the first thing he mentioned that a human needs to do after rejecting his animal and inhumane tendencies such as violence (yama) is cleanliness. He described the five rules or Niyams required for evolution after giving up animal characteristics like violence, stealing etc. These five rules were – cleanliness, contentment i.e. giving up on greed, tap i.e. order and discipline, self assessment to weed out weaknesses and finally trust in the Lord. When this author interpreted Yoga from a modern point of view he had coined the term Entropy Yoga described in an earlier post and cleanliness is the first step here too.   Civilization in the Indian subcontinent appears to have begun in the Indus valley and this civilization as evident from its ruins was a highly clean civilization. The people of this civilization invented the sewerage system and covered drains. How...

Two Children Playing   C hildren on the whole are happier than grown ups most times because children worry less about future, finances, health, career and everything else besides that troubles grown-ups and makes their lives less than happy. For the most part, children leave those worries to parents and other grown-ups while they concern themselves with their immediate needs of the day and their play. No wonder they sleep like a log and dream of sweet things while they do. When we grow up, either our parents have already departed or if not, they may have become too old to play the role they did when we were young and would be in need of care instead. However, there are some adults who trust in the Lord and regard Him as both father and mother and therefore are able to win back some of the happiness they experienced as children. Certainly the Lord is infinite and formless but since His consciousness flows through everything he may be regarded as a Father or Mother or...

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...

Farmer Joe's Postmodern Strip Farm The picture above shows the farm that Joe lives on with his wife. It is beside a paved road along with a collection of other strip farms that are narrow in front and deep length-wise so that many farms can be set side by side and avail the facilities of a main paved road in front, as are usually found in postmodern villages ( see here ). Joe lives on the farm with his wife. His two sons have grown up and study at a University and a daughter has married and lives in town. They visit often though and help out on the farm whenever they do. His grandchildren love to spend their entire vacations at the farm even without their parents because bobby loves to fish in the lake and his sister Jill loves to pick up the flowers and play with grandpa Joe who is in his mid fifties now.  Joe has a three story house on the farm. There is a basement to store his stuff and utilities, a main floor on which he lives with his wife and that has...

A Book on Dress Colors A lthough most posts of this blog are on important issues that matter to our world and our own inner selves, there are a few articles on a lighter note too. Some were on the absolutely hilarious or abominable practice, depending on how one looks at it, of additions to food that are taking place in the best of places on our planet. I choose to view these as ridiculous exceptions and therefore humorously, lest one stops eating anything that does not come from one's own kitchen because that article described how some famous chefs might be peeing into their gourmet creations to add that final exotic touch ( here ). A second set of posts on a playful note have been on choosing dress color Based on a small book on how to choose dress colors, applicable to both men and ladies, developed using some principles of astrology and numerology, I found a dashing shirt color for myself and some famous persons on our planet. My belief in these latter sciences...