Life and Spirituality

W ith help of modern electronic media, we may if we wish, receive news from different parts and times of the world. We shall find in different places and times examples of extreme love and compassion, of extreme greed and cruelty, joy and misery, extreme energy and extreme lethargy, progressive places and backward places etc. Individual lives as well as those of entire communities; even nations have displayed these contrasts from the beginning of time. When intellectuals, experts and thinkers seek to analyze behavior of an individual or a nation, they arrive at reasons or causes for that behavior. However, a deeper analysis indicates that the cause traced is merely a symptom of a deeper cause. For example if we conclude that a human is lethargic because his health is not good we can analyze further to find out why that health is not good and so on. As analysis progresses, every cause traced becomes a symptom of a yet deeper cause so that at the root of it all we arrive a...

A Window near the South East corner of the author's home   I n one of the earlier posts it was mentioned that the life of ancient Himalayan sages living in lush green surroundings was so disciplined and regulated and they were so aware of their own bodies that they could discern the effect of any new food or herb on their bodies readily. From this was born the ancient Ayurveda science of Herbal medicines. My own life though far removed from that of ancient sages has been fairly well disciplined over the last several years and I too can sense the effect of new foods or changes on my body. Therefore when I noticed that I am sleeping right through the night rather than waking up in the middle of it once every night recently, I wondered what new food or change had taken place in my routine, thoughts or environment. There was nothing new in food etc. but one change had taken place. My home is around a quarter century old. It was self designed and self built on a plot...

  A n earlier post in this blog has a delicious recipe called Mother’s Bounty Chutney made with copra (dried coconut) and almonds. It was pointed out that it has three health benefits, first it makes up for weakness that vegetarians or vegans may suffer from not eating meat while protecting them and the planet from harm caused by it ( lovegans on the other hand do not suffer any deficiency because they consume eggs and milk products too); for students, it sharpens memory and for older people it discourages forgetfulness and Alzheimer. Both coconut and almonds provide such benefit but there is a season in which coconut is more beneficial and another when almonds are better. To determine which is which, keep a bottle of coconut oil at home. When the coconut oil is solid it is   a season for almonds and when the coconut oil melts it is a season for coconut, for as King Solomon the wise put it, there is a season to everything under the sun, A season to sow an...

The new rockery T o begin with here is a quick gardening tip  - attempt to include the five plant types and five basic garden components, howsoever small or large the garden. Large gardens may include additional stuff like garden ornaments, drift wood streams and groves of trees, but whatever the components, let them be nature like rather than geometric style e.g. an  irregular flower bed rather than a rectangular patch, a mixed flower bed rather than one filled with just a single variety etc for maximum effect.. The five plant types are ground hugging plants and flowers that may be perennial or seasonal but less than six inches tall; other plants some flowering and seasonal that are taller; bushes; climbing creepers against walls and finally trees Patches of the sixth- moss are also great if one can manage to grow some in a blank patch.. Even in nature, forests that include plants from all the five plant families mentioned here besides moss are the most beautiful o...

"A human has to choose either happiness or success as the first priority of life, it is either one or the other, the choice is yours"   author M y last post about the apocalypse would have been ignored by some whereas it would have got some concerned. However my own attitude to the issue is that there is nothing to worry. Life is limited for all and far more important than the number of its days are how they are spent and with a hope of continued better days ahead even in new lives if one accepts the fact of an after life in new bodies and situations. To a large extent life can be beautiful if we so choose. When one pursues success, happiness recedes; when one pursues happiness, any necessary success follows The first step to making one's life beautiful is to give up the pursuit of wealth and success as a major priority of life that many have done in this apocalyptic age. I myself prefer to try for happiness instead. When one aims for happiness whic...

http://www.artrenewal.org/artwork/154/3154/32410/apocalypse-large.jpg I n many ways, the last thirty years  have been some of the most unusual ones in human history. Three major changes have taken place in this period, one positive and two negative. On the positive side, human civilization has seen an unprecedented rise of communications from mobile devices to the internet. Neither good nor evil can be hidden any longer as it could be in the past and communication between humans and most countries now proceeds at the rate of thought. This does not mean that evil is being eradicated yet.   It is merely being exposed. Rather it seems, evil is also making use of these tools while it becomes more and more shameless. The other two changes in human civilization are on the negative side. The first of these is an unprecedented rise in human populations to what some fear is fast heading towards unsustainable levels. The other is  rise of greed and practices eme...

O xygen in the atmosphere comes mainly from photosynthesis in excess of decay of the products of photosynthesis. The precise proportions of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere depend on several environmental and cosmic factors. It has varied with time on earth and must be different on different planets  in the universe bearing liquid surface water and an atmosphere. What precise combination is best for oxygen and carbon breathing life in general and human life in particular is a matter for debate and study. We presently manage with around 21 percent oxygen, the rest being mainly nitrogen. Carbon dioxide in the present day atmosphere even after much use of fossil fuels is around .04% only. W ith modern technology it is a fairly simple matter to produce controlled atmospheric mixes different from the normal atmosphere in small enclosed spaces such as bars, meditation rooms and restaurants. The setting up of such spaces for use over limited periods may be of gr...