Life and Spirituality

A s one goes through life, one passes through great years of joy as well as hard years of difficulty due to various reasons from health, finances, relationships and a host of other reasons that can make life tough. The difficult years are the ones when we learn most; without them one may end up quite foolish and stupid or at least I would have. It is in one’s good years that one has to be careful. It is usually a human habit that we tend to remember God in difficulty and forget him when the going is comfortable. The famous saint Kabir has said that if humans remembered God in good years too then there would be little reason for the Universe to grant us hard times. It is also important to be grateful to Father Universe and Mother Earth in good years for everything from sunshine to our life breath comes from Him and Her. It is also important to help others in whatever way one can, those who are going through hard times in these years, especially the poor and the vulnerab...

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sweet-dreams-dreaming-of-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarves.jpg W hatever we experience in life that has some emotional content attached to it such as joy, happiness, fear, anger etc, leaves a mark on our personality. It remains recorded on our inner being. It may recede from our conscious mind but stays in the subconscious like those files on your computer that do not open until clicked upon. Just as a lot of unnecessary files compromises performance of a computer, a lot carried by a human compromises human performance too. Some memories with strong emotional content exist as multiple copies every time we think and relive those experiences in our conscious hours. This store house of experiences is what makes human personality, different and unique for each individual. Even clones or identical twins are different because experiences of no two can be exactly alike. Some experiences strengthen a personality and others weaken and c...

  Franz-Senn-Hütte, Stubai Alps - Tirol Photo by Kogo via Wikimedia Commons http://www.hut-n-trek.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/FranzSennHuette.jpg D id you ever wonder how you got where you are right now? Five causes contribute to the situation each and every human is in at this very moment of their lives as they did for moments that have gone by and will be for moments that are yet to come. These five causes are - (1) conditions we inherit at birth, (2) what we choose to pursue in life, (3) what we avoid, (4) external circumstances that impinge on our lives from microbes, man, animals, nature and the universe; (The tiniest, microbes, and the largest being the most powerful of influences and all just part of the largest, the universe, that sends forth sunshine for us daily) and lastly (5) our own thoughts, actions and behavior. While three of these causes emerge from us and we have  some control over, two of them – our conditions at birth and externa...

T oday I was reminded of older articles in this blog on an ancient magical plant called Soma. A drink from this plant gave ancient Aryans magical powers of mind, body and soul. The interested reader will easily find articles on it through using the search tool in the left side bar. Details there are not repeated here. The ancient Soma plant is now lost or extinct. Several scholars have made many attempts to identify it in modern times, from ephedra to magic mushrooms,   each one supporting his own proposals enthusiastically but in the opinion of this author none seem to fit the bill. In the last decade or so, availability of internet and google search makes the task of a world wide search of plants much easier. This blogger did precisely that some time ago leading to articles just mentioned. As a result of the search, the author narrowed down two plants that came closest to ancient descriptions. These are the Cornus Sericea as found in North America presently and ...

Roasted Chickpeas Scroll down for dinner recipe R ecent reports on harmful effects of meat are encouraging many persons around the world to look for protein rich and delicious alternatives to meat. An older note lists ten categories of delightful alternatives full of good health. The present one is confined to just one of them, a healthy snack. Nuts like coconuts, almonds and walnuts are great snack full of protein and good health but while the former grows near oceans the latter grow in colder parts of out planet. In other parts they are less available or more expensive. However on inland plains with a moderate climate, Mother Earth has provided humans with two other plants that are an excellent replacement with good nutritional and protein value and are like nuts when roasted. These are Peanuts and Bengal Gram. Both can be had alone, mixed, salted or plain. Both have a skin that can be rubbed off or eaten. They have been a common snack in South Asia known as Chana and...

A n earlier note  (see here ) had described biscuits, crackers and cookies called OFR biscuits and cookies (Organic Food relief) that are an ideal emergency food for situations such as disaster or refugee relief when fresh food cannot be delivered or prepared in a hurry, for example, when persons are trapped in a flood. There are many different types of biscuits available in the market. However most contain primarily carbohydrates that can relieve hunger on an odd occasion but are not replacement for food because a human requires besides carbohydrates, proteins and a variety of micro-nutrients present in a variety of fruits and vegetables. There are fortified biscuits available that make up for some of these through addition of chemical minerals and vitamins. However, being of chemical origin they are not the best choice for long term use. The OFR biscuits on the other hand use only natural ingredients such as dehydrated vegetables mixed with flour so that they are...

  O nce, a man suffered a severe accident. He was moved to a hospital. After a few days he found himself confined to a hospital room in heavy plaster casts and stretching devices. He was told, he would be confined to a bed for the next few months but nurses would visit regularly and look after his needs. There was a TV in the room and they would bring magazines so that he might while away his time. But John, that was his name, had been an active man who loved the outdoors and felt depressed in this sorry state. Some weeks later a companion by the name of Harry joined him on the only other bed in the room and it became a little better because there was someone to talk to now. Harry was more mobile and could move around, even sit up and look through the window near his bed. John asked him about the view from the window. Harry described how the snow was melting in the fields and new grass had begun to sprout up. How children came to play now and that there was a beautiful ...