Life and Spirituality

Over the last century, planet Earth and condition of all life that dwells upon it has entered a completely new phase, vastly different from any that existed in the past. The first striking difference is the burgeoning population of humans on the planet. They have crossed seven billion and are heading towards ten billion strong in the coming decades. The invention of antibiotics and vaccines has contributed to this increase. The increasing population of humans and their needs has displaced not just much animal life on the planet but also the green side of it so that many species have become extinct or are on the verge of becoming so. The second huge difference is emergence of technologies that were once visualized only in fairy tales. Computers, television, mobile devices and nuclear devices are all inventions over the last century. They have changed human lives and behavior in drastic ways. Thinkers and philosophers wonder where humans and the planet they occupy ar...

Two little sisters in a fruit orchard and garden S ubsequent to retiring from active professional work in 2010, this author has spent time in campaigning on various issues to improve the planet and the life that dwells upon it. The issues have ranged from environment to spirituality, life style to child welfare. It is true that no one human can make a difference to the many challenges our world faces but all can make a little difference even by just a small act of kindness or just planting a tree anywhere they find ground for it. If one keeps at it, some of these efforts can make a huge difference in lives of many as a few of the posts of this blog have done including one encouraging a biscuit maker in India to replace trans-fats in their biscuits with a healthier oil. It is a biscuit that is consumed daily by millions of children across India because of its low cost and easy availability. On the issue of children, this author has personally campaigned much on social...

   A five-year-old god grandson of mine visits every month and has a new request every time. Usually it is colored pencils, sharpeners and eraser or little motorcars, a jeep or a tractor. He had also wanted a small plastic bat and a ball and all of these things I have been able to get for him. However last time he wanted a little dollhouse. Therefore I found a cardboard box, stuck some wooden color wrapping paper on it that had been lying around, cut a door and a window out from it. With a few stickers on it the house was ready as shown in the picture. We put in a few tree leaves in an empty medicine bottle to put in front because a home is scarcely pretty without one. The result is shown in the picture. The roof is a sloping one and removable. That makes placing furniture inside easier. So far we have only placed two beds and a curtain inside and are looking for more furniture. Another godson, Golu, described in some older posts of this blog is now ten years o...

O ur world has beautiful people and ugly people, beautiful places and ugly places, people with lovely characters and people with foul characters and the various mixes of it all. The beautiful people are not always those with lovely characters and there are ugly people with lovely characters. There are ugly people living lovely lives and lovely people living ugly ones. Once in a while, through it all, one finds a beautiful person with a lovely character living a beautiful life, but only rarely. One need not travel far and wide to see it all nowadays because of electronic media but when one does travel, one gets a better feel of it.   My younger life was full of travel around the country and around the world but after the age of fifty travels came down rapidly. The urge to travel as well as the energy for it was exhausted. Nevertheless, I still make brief trips every now and then as a recent one I made by train through North India. I met many people on the train an...

A ll countries require shelters for homeless and destitute people. In an earlier note here this author had suggested a shelter concept known as HISA. In view of its increasing importance, its essential features are summarized again here, 1. HISA centers are shelters that provide a single bed and closet in partially enclosed beds in a dorm type of setting to a person in need of shelter. A possible configuration is shown in the figure. Sets of ten to sixteen beds in a dormitory are connected to common bathroom, clothes washing, and toilet area on one end. At the other end is the exit that has a boiling hot and cold drinking water spout in a washbasin as well as trash bin. 2. Dormitories are segregated into three types within a HISA complex q        For women, girls and male children under the age of ten q        For men older than sixteen q        Boys between ten and ...

https://www.pexels.com/photo/beautiful-bloom-blooming-blossom-414160/ Yesterday, in another post, I was saying that no one can help all the suffering people of the world but everyone can help at least some. When we spread happiness, the Universe returns happiness in our lives. Personally, I campaign a lot for issues that touch my heart through social media. These issues have been suffering of children in war zones; those separated from parents on American borders and in general those who hunger anywhere in the world. Another issue that I campaigned a lot about is the environment, in particular the need to grow more forests and trees on the planet. Trees and forests provide food and a home to wild animals and birds, medicines and fruit for humans as well as help control adverse climate changes. Some of my campaigning has included messages to influential political leaders. Some have been critical and knowingly I take the risk that if I annoyed them, they can easily har...

Through much study and experience, I discovered two of the simplest ways to relieve stress, fear, anxiety, pain and a variety of other things that trouble humans are Mindful breathing Mantra Jap Not only do either of these ancient and time tested methods relieve problems mentioned they can also be used for emotional and spiritual development when practiced in peaceful moments. Mindful breathing is a type of mindfulness when a person focuses on one’s breathing silently. The interested reader can find an excellent note on it by the author at, https://ashokbabaji.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-breath-of-life.html Mantra Jaap (or Jap)is repetition of holy word or name of the Lord. One may use any word that one can repeat comfortably, musically or even in a monotonous manner. While mindful breathing can be practiced if one believes in God or not, Mantra Jap is for those who believe in God. Personally I feel that it is not possible to attain peace without b...