Life and Spirituality

Saint Paul in Athens by Raphael D emocracy is a form of government in which people through a vote choose representatives to govern them for defined periods, except in a few African and other states where a glue  appears to stick democratically elected leaders to their seats of power forever, metaphorically speaking. The precise form of democracy varies from country to country. Most have a written constitution that describes principles through which a state is governed. In many cases, though not all, democracies have produced greater welfare of people than other forms of government such as dictatorships, or monarchies. However, democracies as exists in most countries today are not free of defects, some serious. This brief note cannot go into various advantages and defects of democratic forms of government but it may be mentioned that the biggest short comings of democracies arise from the role of money in elections and later in law making so that people often end up ...

T his blog has explained that there are times in the lives of most when one may be financially hard up and such times are useful in teaching one how to stretch the dollars one has on hand. In this direction, there are notes explaining how little good food costs when one starts with basic ingredients like wheat flour etc. rather than prepared and processed foods from a store, how many edible leafy greens can be found on trees and fields or grown at home and how eggs and milk products are a good and cheaper source of protein rather than meat. The interested reader would find detailed articles on all this in going through this blog. This blog being one on life also has several plans and hints for another requirement of humans - shelter- with plans for several different type of cottages and homes. it is not expensive fittings but trees and flowers around the home that make  a home beautiful and these cost almost nothing except a little happy time tinkering in the garden. Th...

Four O'Clock blooms in the author's garden this morning I n ancient times King Solomon the wise said that true protection cannot be provided by horses, guards and soldiers but lies in the Lord. While trying to understand ancient spiritual works in the light of modern scientific knowledge, this author has described in earlier posts that he considers God to be the entire universe and beyond, all of its seen and unseen even unknown parts and while one may view Him in various personified forms for ease of building a relationship He is Infinite and formless yet he is also all the forms in which a devotee may view Him with faith. Yet, just as we have our intelligence the universe as a whole has intelligence too and controls all that happens within it, inanimate matter and any life form from humans to viruses that are parts of it. In modern times the rich and those considered powerful surround themselves with much security apparatus and armed guards etc. While such an inf...

A small purple sage bush in the author's garden E arlier posts in this blog have described many flowers and herbs that make an excellent tea. Nowadays my floral-herbal tea consists of five of them from the garden – Bougainvillea leaves and flowers, holy   basil, purple sage leaves and flowers, Palash flowers and scented red roses. Mixes of five different plants is about the upper limit for my herbal creations because my guess is that more than that is an unnecessary onslaught on the system The mix is excellent for aging persons because it has things that take care of stiffening bones, stress, cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, wrinkling etc. that age often causes. It must be working, because with the grace of Mother Earth and Papa Universe I am delightfully free of these things despite being well past sixty. There are detailed notes on these herbs and flowers in earlier postings, if an interested reader wishes to search through. The last two do not grow in my...

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malbec_grapes.jpg O ver the last hundred years, there has been an unprecedented rise of human population, such as never before seen on the planet. The housing and food needs of this huge population has led to clearing of forests for food and shelter. The result is that tree products such as timber that were available for free or near free a hundred years ago are an expensive commodity now. Food costs have become a significant portion of family budget with many having to compromise on quality and nutrition and a few even going to sleep on a hungry stomach. It is because the rise in human population has been sudden; the value of growing food plants and trees has not yet been fully appreciated by humans. In the past Mother Earth did most of the work but at the present time when humans are removing greenery faster than Earth can plant, a new attitude is needed.  Earlier posts in this blog have mentioned that even apartment dwe...

V inod, just sent me lovely birthday wishes composed as a poem. Vinod is a class fellow from IIT Delhi and retired a few years ago as one of the senior most officers of the Indian bureaucracy (he was at the top of the equivalent of IRS in India). We have known each other and been friends for precisely 50 years now. Happy Birthday Forgive us dear friend how could we forget we shouldn't forget our life and breath friend of friends monk among studs worldly too but not of the world wise and bold a style of your own with a sublime touch Happy birthday to you Dear Ashok ji and our best wishes though belated but warmest and most heartfelt and our fervent prayers for a long healthy and most fruitful life to you May God Bless you ever that you go on touching billions of hearts and souls! With lots of love and highest Regards Vinod Khurana

S oon after building a home some twenty five years ago, I planted a lot of trees around it. I began putting out some bird seed and bread etc. to attract the birds. Along with the birds came the squirrels and I discovered they like precisely the same food as the birds. A few of the squirrels became friends and I gave them silly sounding names which to the squirrels must have sounded quite proper and dignified. The squirrels would take bread pieces from my hands. Then around twelve years ago a brood of cats moved into the area. They were great for finishing up rats that inhabited the area from before the homes were built but unfortunately they wiped out the squirrels too. The birds have continued to live because most are much too smart for the cats; a black bird even teases them by hopping around in front of them. As a result the home is surrounded by bird songs all day, every day during daylight hours. I have not seen a squirrel here for about ten years now but today ...