My Journey into Sanatana Dharma

navaratri and harry potter

2026-10-15T19:10:27.000-07:00

Here is the cleaned up version using AI, below this article is the raw version that I wrote:

# When My Daughter Wouldn’t Stop Talking About Harry Potter

My daughter is almost eight. For the past week, since finishing the seven-part *Harry Potter* film series, she has not stopped talking about it. In the car, at dinner, before bed—she tells me about mysteries she has solved, characters she loves, villains she fears, and the “superpowers” that fascinate her.

At first, I confess, it felt like too much. But then, during Navratri, I saw YouTube Shorts explaining the goddess associated with each day: her name, her form, and her story. And suddenly I understood what my daughter was doing—and perhaps what the rishis of the Indian tradition were doing too.

## Stories as Memory Technology

Let us assume, for the sake of this reflection, that the Navratri stories are “mythology”: symbolic narratives through which ancient seers conveyed truths about reality, life, human psychology, and society. These were oral traditions before they were written traditions. Stories were not merely entertainment; they were memory systems.

Modern research supports the intuition that narrative makes information more memorable. A recent set of experiments found that processing material as a story produced enhanced or comparable recall compared with other memory strategies, and better recall than merely judging items as pleasant. Research on children has also found that acting out stories through pretend play can improve narrative recall and richer storytelling, at least over short periods.[1][2]

This is the power of mnemonics: they give the mind structure, imagery, rhythm, emotion, and sequence. The Vedic tradition developed this to an extraordinary degree. Its verses used meter, syllabic arrangement, rhythm, and repetition to make vast bodies of knowledge memorizable and transmissible across generations. Long before printing, writing, or search engines, story, chant, and ritual were technologies of cultural memory.[3][4]

When my daughter retells Harry Potter again and again, she is not simply being obsessive. She is consolidating a world: its rules, relationships, moral conflicts, and emotional meanings. That is exactly what a child does with a powerful story.

## Why Children Fall in Love With Characters

Children do not first encounter religion, ethics, or philosophy as abstract systems. They encounter them through people: heroes, protectors, tricksters, villains, parents, friends, and divine forms. A child may fall in love with Harry, Hermione, Krishna, Hanuman, Durga, Ganesha, or a particular form of the Mother Goddess.

Developmental research suggests that pretend play and storytelling are deeply connected to children’s language, imagination, narrative skill, and social understanding. Reviews note associations between pretend play and narrative ability, perspective-taking, and emotional regulation, though researchers also caution that the evidence for some claimed benefits remains limited or mixed. In other words, we should not overclaim that every fantasy makes a child wiser—but stories clearly give children a space to practice being human.[5][6]

My guru often says that **pooja is only lower kindergarten**. We must grow beyond ritual, not abandon it. But pooja gives the young heart a doorway. A child cannot begin with pure philosophy. The child begins with a form, a face, a story, a festival, a song, a lamp, a flower, and a relationship.

That is why Hindu tradition offers so many divine forms. Human beings are different. Some are drawn to Rama’s discipline, some to Krishna’s playfulness, some to Hanuman’s strength and devotion, some to Durga’s courage, some to Ganesha’s wisdom. The tradition does not force one doorway on everyone.

## From Story to Meaning

As children grow, questions inevitably come. “How can this be true?” “Why does the goddess have many arms?” “Why is Kali standing on Shiva?” A thinking mind should ask these questions.

Tradition has always encouraged questioning—but often after a foundation has been laid. A five-year-old exposed to quantum mechanics will ask questions that cannot yet be meaningfully answered. That does not make the child foolish; it means the child needs a developmental sequence. First, wonder. Then, familiarity. Then, inquiry. Then, interpretation.

In Hindu thought, this deeper interpretation is often called **bhava-artha**: the inner meaning, sentiment, or intended significance beneath the literal narrative. A guru may unfold a single verse, image, or episode layer by layer. The child who once loved the form now learns the meaning behind the form.

This is not indoctrination if done well. It is the movement from affection to understanding. The child has already developed love for a divine form; now that love can mature into reflection, ethical sensitivity, and spiritual practice.

## Beyond Good and Evil

Modern superhero stories often teach a valuable but simple lesson: good defeats evil. That is not worthless. Children need courage, hope, and a sense that cruelty and selfishness matter.

But traditional stories often go further. They are rarely only black and white. They contain paradox, contradiction, grief, desire, duty, sacrifice, and transformation. The world is not always a clean battle between a hero in a cape and a villain in a mask. Much of life is gray.

Consider the image of Kali standing upon Shiva. For many people, including me for a long time, it is disturbing. Why would the Goddess step on her own consort? Why is Shiva lying beneath her? The image can seem scandalous until one enters its symbolic and philosophical layers.

I cannot unpack every story here. The point is the word **nuance**. Traditional stories train the mind to hold complexity: power and surrender, wrath and compassion, destruction and renewal, attachment and liberation. They do not merely tell children who is good and who is bad; they invite them to look beneath appearances.

## What We Risk Losing

When families stop sharing these stories, children do not stop needing heroic narratives. They simply find them elsewhere: Harry Potter, the Avengers, Spider-Man, Superman, anime, video games, and YouTube.

I am not dismissing those stories. My daughter’s Harry Potter enthusiasm has given her language, imagination, confidence, and joy. Good stories can teach bravery, friendship, loyalty, and resistance to injustice.

But if we want children to inherit a deeper moral and spiritual vocabulary, we must give them stories with more layers than “the good guy wins.” We must give them stories that can be loved at seven, questioned at seventeen, and understood more deeply at forty.

That is our responsibility as parents—not to force a particular sect, deity, or interpretation upon them, but to make the treasury available. Let them encounter the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Puranas, the Devi stories, and the many forms of the Divine. Let them find the form, story, or path that speaks to their own nature.

## A Parent’s Practice

For me, the Ramayana is home. I love its stories, its characters, its dilemmas, and its spiritual depth. I know I will share it with my daughter. But I also want to show her the stories of the Mother Goddess and her forms, because I do not know which form will capture her heart. She is her own person.

That, to me, is the beauty of the Hindu tradition: it recognizes that people differ. We have different temperaments, affections, fears, and paths. The tradition offers many forms and many doorways, while pointing toward the same ultimate reality.

So if you are a parent, do your child a favor. Tell them the stories. Watch a good video with them in the language of your home. Read together. Let them ask questions. Let them fall in love with the Divine in whatever name, form, or story appeals to them.

Because one day, the child who cannot stop talking about Harry Potter may become the adult who can see the deeper meaning behind Kali, Rama, Krishna, Durga, or Shiva—and carry that wisdom into a complicated world.

## Bibliography

1. Bergen, D. “The Role of Pretend Play in Children’s Cognitive Development.” *Early Childhood Research & Practice*, vol. 4, no. 1, 2002. [https://ecrp.illinois.edu/v4n1/bergen.html](https://ecrp.illinois.edu/v4n1/bergen.html)[2]

2. “Adaptive Memory: Story Processing Improves Recall Performance.” *PMC*, 2026. [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12881306/](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12881306/)[1]

3. Lillard, A. S., et al. “The Impact of Pretend Play on Children’s Development: A Review of the Evidence.” *Psychological Bulletin*, 2013; discussed in “The Role of Play in Children’s Development: A Review of the Evidence.” [https://cms.learningthroughplay.com/media/esriqz2x/role-of-play-in-childrens-development-review_web.pdf](https://cms.learningthroughplay.com/media/esriqz2x/role-of-play-in-childrens-development-review_web.pdf)[5]

4. “How Pretend Play Helps Children Build Skills.” Child Mind Institute, 2024. [https://childmind.org/blog/how-pretend-play-helps-children-build-skills/](https://childmind.org/blog/how-pretend-play-helps-children-build-skills/)[6]

5. “Sanskrit Oral Tradition: How Vedic Mnemonics Used Poetry, Memory.” *ThePrint*, 2025. [https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/vedic-mnemonics-sanskrit-oral-tradition-poetic-meter-memory/2717936/](https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/vedic-mnemonics-sanskrit-oral-tradition-poetic-meter-memory/2717936/)[3]

6. “The Stupendous Powers of Memorization in the Indian Tradition.” *Language Log*, 2020. [https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=48904](https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=48904)[4]

7. Nicolopoulou, A. “Young Children’s Pretend Play and Storytelling as Modes of Narrative Activity.” In *The Cambridge Handbook of Play*, Cambridge University Press, 2018. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-play/pretend-and-social-pretend-play/2F42F3EE1E66622AA5E6D4C5F8B6D6B2](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-play/pretend-and-social-pretend-play/2F42F3EE1E66622AA5E6D4C5F8B6D6B2)[7]

8. “Pretend Play as the Space for Development of Self-Regulation.” *PMC*, 2023. [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10766374/](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10766374/)[8]

Citations:

[1] Adaptive Memory: Story Processing Improves Recall Performance https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12881306/

[2] The Role of Pretend Play in Children's Cognitive Development https://ecrp.illinois.edu/v4n1/bergen.html

[3] Sanskrit oral tradition: How vedic mnemonics used poetry, memory https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/vedic-mnemonics-sanskrit-oral-tradition-poetic-meter-memory/2717936/

[4] The stupendous powers of memorization in the Indian tradition https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=48904

[5] [PDF] The role of play in children's development: a review of the evidence https://cms.learningthroughplay.com/media/esriqz2x/role-of-play-in-childrens-development-review_web.pdf

[6] How Pretend Play Helps Children Build Skills - Child Mind Institute https://childmind.org/blog/how-pretend-play-helps-children-build-skills/

[7] Pretend and Social Pretend Play (Chapter 11) - The Cambridge ... https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-play/pretend-and-social-pretend-play/2F42F3EE1E66622AE97A3B36B4162225

[8] Pretend play as the space for development of self-regulation - PMC https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10766374/

[9] Young children's pretend play and storytelling as modes of narrative ... https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-06907-001

[10] Play it Forward: Lasting Effects of Pretend Play in Early Childhood https://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/pretend-play-early-childhood

[11] The Structure and Development of Pretend Play Across Childhood https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7r80470c

[12] [PDF] A Natural Mnemonic - Storytelling - eGrove - University of Mississippi https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4359&context=hon_thesis

[13] Sharifian - the mnemonic influence of self-cues on narrative recall https://www.iier.org.au/iier11/sharifian.html

[14] Mnemonics - The Decision Lab https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/psychology/mnemonics

[15] (PDF) The interplay of play and narrative in children's development https://www.academia.edu/49882476/The_interplay_of_play_and_narrative_in_childrens_development_Theoretical_reflections_and_concrete_examples

My daughter is about 8 years old a little less than eight and for the past 1 week since she has finished watching the seven part series of the movie Harry Potter she just would not stop. This is all she keeps talking about all day all night long.

I can't seem to get the rest every time I start driving she wants to tell me a story some mystery that she resolved something that happened something that she finds fascinating how she likes the characters what she likes about the characters who the villains were what their superpowers were blah blah blah blah blah

In Indian tradition this is day 5 of navratri going on and On my YouTube wall I'm getting recommended shorts explaining which specific Avatar of mother goddess belongs to the days of the navratri in the short the speaker provides the name of the Avatar as well as the story and the form of the avatar, for one moment for the point I'm trying to make let us assume that this this is purely mythology, and that it was a way for the rishis to convey various aspects of reality, Life, human psychology anthropology etc, and because these were oral traditions to begin with the stories were created as mnemonics and if you do research into memory or super memory you'll understand the power of mnemonics in remembering things and that is exactly how these stories might have carried on until they were put on paper.

In any case the one stark realization that I got when my daughter would not stop talking about the various characters and the fantastic fantasy characters and stories of Harry Potter it made me understand what the rishis were trying to do as well.

You see my guru has always told me that Pooja is only lower kindergarten and we have to grow from there grow our spiritual practices on top of Pooja

But Pooja is performed in the honor of these forms of gods and goddesses and unless and until there is a story behind these forms of gods and goddesses our young hearts are not attracted to them so while the story is being told in a fantasticized form with an underlying meaning the children as they grow up start getting attracted to these fantastic life stories and the characters and of course the lead character which is the god form and everyone as we definitely know in human nature we all like different things and hence so many gods and goddesses have appeared through the history of India in various sampradias

The point is when these children first start listening to these stories they start getting attracted and they fall in love with one form or another and love and may be even develop a healthy fear of God while also learning to be attached to these forms, through the form that they like through the meditative and ritualistic practices that they are taught as children, say about from the age of seven and a half both girls and boys.

And when these children start growing up and start getting an education they start asking questions because obviously to any thinking mind at least the thinking minds it might not be everybody but the thinking minds definitely will start asking questions how can all of this be true I look at the world around me seems to be plausible

So at some point, inevitably, they start asking questions. And tradition has always encouraged questioning, but only after a certain level of education. Because obviously, when you're young and you do not know enough, your questions become meaningless, and hence questioning is discouraged when you're young and not educated enough. That is obvious. It's like if I am exposed to the concepts of quantum mechanics as a five-year-old, it'll make zero sense to me, and I'll ask all sorts of weird, stupid questions which cannot be answered.

In any case, when these children grow up and start asking questions, the first thing the guru/parent needs to do is help them understand the underlying meaning of these stories, the underlying bhava artha.This whole concept of bhava artha is fundamental in almost every book of Hinduism, where a guru goes into the detail of each line, each couplet in almost every major book in the Hindu canon.

And by this point, the student, the child, would have already accrued a tremendous amount of love for the form that they fell in love with when they were young. And now they are also empowered with the underlying stories behind and the reasoning behind the stories, the learnings behind the stories.That makes them a better human being, a better spiritual pursuant.

In the modern world, when we forget to teach our children these stories, our children fall in love with Harry Potter, or the Avengers, or Spider-Man, or Superman. And yes, I do see some value in it about how good wins over evil, which is great. I think that at least there is some value in it, but I think the larger point is being missed. The stories convey nuance in the Hindu traditions, the nuance that is missing from every modern depiction of a superhero.

We all watch those movies. Yes, we all know who the good guy is and the bad guy is, and that's as binary as it gets. But you see, the stories of tradition are not that black and white, almost never black and white. I'll give you an example. You will see the picture of Kali stepping on Shiva, who's lying on the floor, and everyone who I know, even myself for a long time, is scandalized watching that image. You would—it's just so...Discomforting and incoherent that, frankly, for me, I stopped looking into it or looking at that image because it was very difficult for me to digest it.

And that's where I need to stop this block because I cannot go into the nuances of every story obviously but the key word here is nuances the nuances of tradition the stories of tradition are what are required to help children grow into better human beings grow into spiritual persons this simple binary between good and bad is good to a certain extent but that's about that what is required to be a complete human being is to go beyond the binary of good and bad because the world really is gray it almost never is black and white and it is through these stories children are taught to analyze the gray and live their life.

It is a disservice that we as a as parents do to our children when we do not learn these stories ourselves or read these stories to our children and make them fall in love with these stories it is our moral responsibility toward the soul that we give birth to. Just to be clear I'm not saying that you have to do and read them all the stories about the navratri choose what you like for example I like the ramayana I'm completely invested in the ramayana everything about the ramayana is all I need and I know every story of the ramayana I know the 84 hours of ramayana that my guru gave a speech on over 42 days those are the stories with which I know I will bring my daughter up but I will also make enough effort to at least show these YouTube videos to her about mother goddess and her forms and her stories because I don't know what form she will fall in love with she's a different person and that's the power of Hinduism because we recognize how people can be different we can all like different things we are all different people we have our own paths

So if you're a parent reading this do your children a favor at least make them watch these YouTube videos in the language of your choice and help your children fall in love with the almighty in whatever form and name that appeals to them.

Christianity copied sauryam ( sun worship)

2026-10-14T14:26:14.965-07:00

I have been deliberating over the various commonalities and the things that Christianity has also copied from Hinduism I have that separate blog about how Islam copied from Hinduism here is the list of things that I find familiar and almost identical between the sun worshiping cult of Hinduism and Christianity

1. Jesus story matches that of mitra a pagan God. Mitra is another name for some God himself

2. Jesus had 12 disciples and the son God has 12 adityas

3. In the aitireya samhita there is an aphorism: janmana jayate sudraha samskarat dwija iccheste: this essentially is the concept of being born a sinner and then through various rituals you become a twice born essentially the concept of baptism

4. The crown of Jesus which is a thorny crown is essentially the Sun with its rays

5. Christianity while born in the Middle East took off in the icy Europe and what do we need in Europe we need more sun and hence they gravitated towards some worship even without knowing it.

6. The concept of 10% donation to your church is an ancient brahminical practice where a student graduating from a guru commits 10% of his income to the upkeep of the guru's school

7. Christians do not like when someone going to their Church even visits a church of a different denomination. This concept is essentially what the various schools of thoughts in Hinduism also had. But maybe this is more of a tribal issue the tribal mentality of the human mind no one has to teach this to us we just are that.

8. There is actual evidence that early Christianity did believe in reincarnation of the human soul and then they realized that people were like basing their current life thinking they can fix it in the future life and and to control people sinning they thought this was a better option and change their theology. And the incarnation of the human soul is the central tenet of all Hinduism not just the sun worshiping cult.

9. The whole methodology in which everyone if you look at the Catholic way of praying and even any Christian praying they take their hand and move it up and down and toward their shoulders left and right it is essentially exactly how I have seen vaishnavites do it in their daily practice of course over time and space there will be some sort of modulation and I'm also betting the sun worshiping cult also have similar practices the problem is not enough is known about the sun worshiping cult of India because most probably it got completely destroyed in the Islamic invasions including their books that might have been in the libraries that got burnt out at least I don't have enough information about them.

modern world: a perfect set up for monkhood

2026-10-12T16:12:13.267-07:00

So one of the things that you'll have to understand about the modern world is we are surrounded by dopamine triggers. It literally is impossible, almost impossible, to be not surrounded by dopamine triggers and triggers of sexuality, triggers of cravings, triggers for food, triggers for adventure, whatever you're into.

But that also has brought about a problem on the inverse. Everyone has access to it, and we are also seeing absolute, this modern world, because of this access and freedom and individuality, we are also seeing situations where everyone is also extremely unhappy and dissatisfied, more so than ever.

And dissatisfaction for the discerning mind who understands monkhood or being a monk is the perfect catalyst for one to consider monkhood.

Dissatisfaction, in fact, something that, thanks to the modern world, there is no way of quenching our thirst. There is no end to the amount of food and the variety of food, and there is no end to the kind of women that we can at least visually see that creates the illusion that the happiness lies there. There is no end to the adventures, cars, wealth, everything. There is no end to dopamine chasing, thanks to the modern world.And thanks to that experience, we also know that none of that will ever satisfy us. There's never an end state here. There's always—I remember Tom Brady was once asked, he had won six Super Bowls by then. They asked him in an interview, "Hey, which one of these six is your favorite?" His answer was, "The next one."

And truly, if you ask me, yes, it's going to take a lot more energy than before in earlier societies. But even in this society, you could not ask for a better world, because if the eventual goal is to become a yogi or a monk, you need to see through your mind's capacity to never be satisfied with anything outside of you. It's never going to come. We also know this. Look at all the successful people in the world. Look at Michael Jackson. Can you imagine the amount of wealth, adulation, fame he had, and yet he was broken on the inside. Michael Phelps won 16 or 17 or how many ever, or 32, I don't even know the number anymore, gold medals in the Olympics, is depressed. The list of depressed, successful, wealthy, famous people probably will fill a book. What that does tell us is none of that is where satisfaction and stopping to seeking satisfaction lies.

You see, in a pre-internet world, all of this was hearsay. But thanks to the modern world driven by the internet, it's all in your face. You cannot deny it. But the only thing you need to do is give it attention. You need to give it attention to see through the truth of what I'm saying. You don't have to believe anything that I'm saying. Before the internet, you had to believe what I had to say or the gurus had to say, and you had to take them by word or with limited experience, you'd be like, yeah, he must be saying the truth kind of a thing. But that's not true anymore. Everything that I just said is right in front of you, in your face.

And look at all of the dissatisfaction of the young men. Just go onto the internet and read through the comments on various sites when it comes to how women—again, this is not a discussion about morality or anything. I'm just telling you about the state of the young men's minds, about how they are perceiving the modern women and their behavior and their freedom vis-a-vis their experience of life. That's all I'm saying. They're all unhappy. And to all you young men who are unhappy with their dating lives, with their prospects of having a good family life, listen, I'm not here to be your dating coach or your love coach or change what's out there. It is what it is. Nature is doing what it needs to do. But this is your opportunity to take that grief, to take that dissatisfaction with your life. Stop living like an animal, and while you keep seeking it, stop doing that. And all you have to do is pay attention to what I've been telling you and start focusing on where to find that satisfaction.

And that satisfaction lies within you. It can be found through introspection, through meditation, and all of the various yogic principles of life, which are accessible to anybody for free. The only expense you have is that of your attention, your attention which has been grabbed by social media, by what everyone else is doing. Come back. Take your dissatisfaction. Use that as your lever to catapult yourself toward monkhood.

In my view, in some ways, this is probably one of the greatest times where people can find monkhood a lot more advantageous than trying to live the life of a commoner.

You see, when life is good, when most things in life are going well, you never get this chance to be able to focus, to be dissatisfied and completely, extremely unhappy with life. This is your chance. Don't lose it. Don't waste your time.

It's not enough but this is all I've got

2026-10-12T14:59:15.763-07:00

I have been tormented by the problem of evil for a long time in philosophy. In 2012 something happened in India that has tormented my mind my heart and my soul beyond something that I ever thought something could.

And here is where I have landed thus far on this topic, and as the title goes this is all I've got,

You see, if you are talking about any religion with a personal God, that is Islam, Christianity, Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, Ganapatyam, Shauryam, pick what you want. Any religion which says there is a personal God, an all-knowing God, all-loving God, a God who is full of love, if that entity was always watching, then evil, and the kind of evil I'm talking about is the kind of evil that happened in December of 2012 to that girl, or any kind of other evil that others can point to, which I cannot even, my brain just shuts down and doesn't want to process it, just wants to explode, cannot happen, should not, by definition, happen. The definition of that personal God implodes on itself when things like that happen. I wish it wasn't the case, but it does.

So what are we left with? We are left with the concepts of karma and the concept of Advaita and the concept of Vishishta Advaita. Put Vishishta Advaita aside for a minute because I do not know the details of it. But I do know about the concept of karma and the concept of God in Advaita itself. In that, I can tell you from something as far as evil is concerned.

You see, the concept of karma is very clear, based on all of the stories that we hear throughout all of mythology. You see, no matter who does tapas, you can think of tapas as a disciplined pursuit of something. At some point, the universe grants that person the boons that they want. It does not account for the intent with which that tapas has been carried out.

The way the universe is, quote unquote, designed is that if somebody does tapas, at some point, depending on their karma, however long it takes, because for which there is no prescription on this is how long you're supposed to do tapas to get this. We don't know the algorithm to it. All we know, based on all of the stories, is irrespective of their intent, any rakshasa or any human being or any entity can gain and get their wishes granted. And that's the whole story of every rakshasa. We can start with Ravana. We can go to Bhasmasura. We can go to all the rakshasas today. This is the Navratri going on, all the rakshasas being described in the Navratri. You can go to any rakshasa. You will see a very essentially an identical pattern. They want something, they go do tapas, and the universe slash God in whatever form comes and grants them their wishes, irrespective of the outcomes for the rest of mankind or the rest of the universe.

And that is where lies the whole point of why the problem of evil exists. It just is. You cannot ask this question because God Himself will only intervene after the karmic backlogs, good or bad, for that event, for that entity, for that individual, for that animal have been burnt out. Until then, even God does not intervene. Because whenever these rakshasas gained all of the power that they wanted through their tapas, they have continued to torment the world, including the gods themselves, for extended periods of time. And God does not intervene. He holds on. He watches. He even hides. Look at the story of Hiranyakashapa and Hiranyaksha. He does not intervene. It takes a long time for God to take some form to come and intervene in this material universe. Why that is the case, I don't know. It just is. That's all I've got.

In my heart, that's not enough. Even that's not enough. It's a better answer than a personal God. But the human in me that feels for every pain is unable to accept that level of pain that that girl went through, or anybody in that extreme situation goes through. I am in full acceptance of all emotional trauma, even in my own life or in anybody's life. I'm in full acceptance of poverty. I'm in full acceptance of even bad health and struggles of people as punishment, as karma, as everything. But those extreme situations is something that I'm not able to accept. I'm not able to digest. Maybe someday I will. But as best as I can close this case, this is all of God. I'm sorry, and I wish there was a better answer available to the human mind. As far as I see it, this is it.

Why Paramacharya?

2026-10-08T06:05:56.077-07:00

Let me tell you an inspiring story about Kanchi Maha Swamy demonstrating profound self-control (indriya nigraha) after realizing his tongue had developed a liking for a specific dish, and undertaking penance for it.

During the early days after ascending the peetham (spiritual seat), the Maha Swamy was receiving his daily bhiksha (alms). The cook who prepared the food served him, and after eating, the cook offered his respects. The Swamy remarked, "The dal is very delicious, what dal is it?" The cook replied, "It is thotakura pappu (amaranth leaves dal)."
The Swamy said, "Oh, it's good." The next day, the cook made amaranth dal again, and the Swamy praised it once more. On the third day, the cook served the same dal again.
After eating, the Swamy asked, "You are making amaranth dal every day. Where is this amaranth coming from?" The cook explained, "Since you said the amaranth dal was good, visitors and devotees coming to the peetham heard about it. Now they are bringing bundles and bundles of amaranth greens, so I keep making amaranth dal for you." The Swamy simply said, "Oh," and left it at that.
The next day, when it was time for bhiksha, the Swamy waved his hand, signaling he didn't need it. Instead, at the time for bhiksha, he went to the goshala (cow shed), sipped cow urine (gomutra) as a purification ritual, took a small ball of cow dung (gomaya), placed it on his tongue, and went inside.
One day passed, then two days, then three days—the head of the peetham was not taking his bhiksha. Terrified that some grave offense might have been committed, the administrative manager (Sri Karyam) rushed to him and asked, "Swami, what grave sin has occurred? You haven't taken your bhiksha for the past three days."
When asked, the cook tearfully confessed, "I made amaranth dal for three days. Because it was said that he liked the amaranth dal, I told everyone and had amaranth brought in." The manager said, "That is why he has not been taking his bhiksha since then."
Looking sternly at the cook, the manager asked, "Swami, is that all?" The Swamy told the manager, "Why are you looking at him like that? Tomorrow, if I go on a vijaya yatra anywhere, as I walk down the street, the townspeople won't just see Chandrashekharendra Saraswathi Mahaswamy—they may or may not know my name, but they will say 'Shankaracharya is walking by.' When I sit somewhere and give a discourse, people listen, believing every word I say is absolute truth.
"If the very tongue that is meant to invoke Shankaracharya and teach devotion, wisdom, and detachment to the world yields to the taste of amaranth dal, what qualification do I have tomorrow to instruct the world as Shankaracharya?"
"For three days, I purified the tongue that gave in to the taste of amaranth dal by sipping gomutra and cleansing it with gomaya as an atonement for my mistake. What fault is of his? It was my own mental wavering and lack of self-control that fell under its spell. Do not say anything to him."

Christians answering athiests

2026-09-25T07:06:55.721-07:00

I watched hundreds of hours of debate between athiests and Christians and Muslims and every time atheist has any question everything reverts back to the secular question of does God exist how is there a world without a supreme being how is there you know what is right and wrong without the supreme being existing that's a secular question that's not the question being debated and they always throw away from the original question the question is about the truth and the problems with the specific religion that they are questioning they became atheist because of the way the many things that these religions have done to humanity over the last two millennia

And instead of asking those problematic issues with the religions they hide behind the secular question about or is there a God fine maybe there is one there is not one that's not the question that the debate about the question and the debate is about the the history of what is being claimed that the religion is and what actually is the outcome and what happened in the last 2,000 years the outcome is pain violence pillaging raping destruction of societies destruction of civilizations destruction of the multicultural nature of the world and this has happened over and over and over and over again in almost every part of the world wherever these two religions have gone

So the next time you observe a Muslim or a Christian debating an atheist look how they start hiding behind the secular question about the existence of God himself instead of answering the specific problems associated with these religions.

Because logically speaking The atheist will lose on the secular question but the Muslim and the Christian will lose on the specific religious question to the atheist.

And they know that and that is why they hide behind the secular question about the existence of God himself

does God exist?

2026-09-25T07:02:07.567-07:00

For time and memorial humanity has been asking this question and so are you and the reason you're watching this video or this blog is because you want to know the answer but the question is how long after this video do you persist to keep asking this question how much does it bother you how much research have you done on this topic what have you explored beyond what you already know what have you read have you read all the perspectives in the world to ask this question have you even wondered about the nature of reality have you wondered about the nature of God and if the claims made by the major religion that you subscribe to actually answer the questions that are important that difficult do you feel like you have all the answers or is the answer it's true because it's in the book if you don't put in the effort to find out about the ultimate reality the ultimate God you know the sustainer of the universe and this is a passing entertainment note then you don't deserve to know the answer

You should contend in being the monkey that you are because essentially again if you were educate if you are educated enough most of the things or the aspects of nature that we call human nature are exhibited by monkeys as well so there's not much of a difference between you and the monkey if you are leaning in to the very aspects of anger greed jealousy arrogance lost desire no difference most mammals have the same most monkey every monkey has all of these the more you lean into those things without thinking and using your prefrontal cortex the more monkey you are so stop asking stupid questions that you will do really do not want to answer and answer for and go be a monkey

But if you choose not to be a monkey and you think you are not a monkey then use your prefrontal cortex and go read about the various perspectives and see where the answer can come out of don't ask it in a podcast and expect an a podcast to give you an answer you go try to find the answer look at various perspective spend your time and trying to find the Almighty maybe you'll find it.

Begin with the End in Mind/Start with the Why

2026-09-03T17:51:47.883-07:00

The second habit of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And the book written by Simon Sinek starts with the "why". Are essentially saying the same thing. That anything worthwhile in this world that has to sustain has to first understand why we are doing what we are doing. So starting with the end in the mind basically just means to understand what it is that we are trying to achieve.

And the Indian Vedic Society starts with that first question to answer. And I bet every religion starts with that. Everybody understood that death is the only reality. That's the end, as far as we can tell. And then we have our own theories that are competing with each other about what happened after the fact.

Of course, in the modern world where there are no beliefs anymore and humanity has for the most part started to behave like there is absolutely guaranteed nothing after death. Is the foundational reason for most common social problems.

The biggest of them being the modern problem of incompatible marriages. Yes, we all have material wealth, but most people are now struggling because most of them are not happy in their marriages and most of them are actually divorcing.

That is a problem of epidemic proportions. And maybe an PAndemic.

Which is eventually resulting in lonely lives for most people. And then lonlier deaths.

We absolutely know from 83,000 brain scans there is a TED Talk about what makes human life flourish, and it is nothing but close network circles and social circles. But in a world where we are all moving constantly in search of more money, to make and again I'm not just talking about us Americans, but also my roots are in India. I grew up in India. It apparently is happening in India as well, even if they are not outside their birth city. We don't have social circles that are closed anymore. Everyone is just looking into their phones. Living in their own worlds.

Add to that the problem where people in marriages are not close to each other anymore.

But what does this all have to do with beginning with the end in mind? It is with the beginning and the end in mind that the Vedic society started the initial concept of marriage itself.

Marriage and copulation, unlike other religions are sacred sacraments in the Hindu religion.

And they are mandated by policy. Why are they mandated by policy, you might ask?

The answer comes. We are at the end of the day. Bottom line: an animal. With animal instincts and animal needs that needs the other sex.

And marriage is the way to channel that energy. You might then ask why marry, why not just have a society that's open? There is actually absolute research done on this topic as well. What resulted was societies that were collapsing under their own weight because of STDs. So that's not an option.

What else is? Let's first talk about the modern world where because of modern medicine, SJDs are not such a big problem anymore. So an open society is absolutely possible, yes. Is it possible when the outcome is just unhappiness? Broken families. And hence broken children. Children growing up with trauma. Children growing up with parents who are not biologically their parents, which increases the chances of them being physically abused by a hundred x. Like literally a hundred x. Look it up.

And the vicious cycle that starts from generation to generation, and the number of these broken humans emotionally keeps growing in numbers.

What do you think that leads to? An absolutely unhappy population.

Everything that I'm saying is not somewhere far in the future. It is today. This is happening today, in front of your face. All you have to do is get some reading done.

Okay, so what's the alternative now?

Is it the Islamic way of living? Is it the Christian way of living? Or is it the Hindu way of living?

Outside of the Hindu religion, as far as I know these are not sacraments. Again, not enough reasoning has been given in any of the religions to the purpose of marriage. It is required because it's important. It's important because it's required because the book said so.Is the answer that I get from every other religion.

But Hinduism never operated in those terms at all. Marriage is a requirement for almost everybody.Exceptions are only provided by gurus to specific students who they deem worthy to be able to overcome the animal needs of the man.

You see when you reach puberty.Both men and women naturally start getting attracted to the other sex.

There is a natural curiosity that develops that is more powerful than anybody can control.At least most people can control. And what the Hindu religion said is first of all marriage is the channel through which you can continue to live like a human being within the bounds of dharma, and your dharma is towards the person you are married to.Come what may. Now you might say that's too harsh. What do you mean come what may?

I think we can see the results of the slippery slope when we remove that statement.Back to broken families, broken children, vicious cycles, broken populations, so on and so forth.Resulting from unfettered divorces over flimsy excuses.

So the idea is you need to get married?Fulfill your desires within the bounds of the marriage. Have children have responsibilities.Go through samara Bharam.The weight of lifeEventually that weight of life as you get older. First of all, it's going to give you a tremendous amount of joy through your children.

Along with that, as you get older your desires will dramatically drop.Because as we know today based on your age, your hormone levels drop, especially as a man.And your libido starts going down dramatically.

And as you age, this is the ashramadharma coming in.You keep control over your food and change your food habits as time goes by. The amount of hormonal activity causing these desires will go down dramatically as well.

As your children grow up, you go into vana prastha.Eventually find by vairagya.And through viragya you find moksha.

This is just a short introduction. I can go on this topic in further detail eventually to get you to at least intellectually understand.

Every aspect of Hinduism.Starts with the end in mind.And the only end we know of is death.And we work backwards from it.At the same time, we cannot be nihilistic about it.And hence this attempt at building a society based on constraints. Constraints help build societies.Lack of constraints is what you see in the world.

Does anyone dispute my reading of the world that we live in today?And the phrase "we give it".The sexual marketplace.What are we zoo animals?What sort of a society we have built to start calling it this?Where we are analyzing each other like we are animals.It's all over YouTube and Instagram and TikTok.

Is this what we call progress?Where there are no rules and constraints.That's the definition of anarchy.Even jungle has a hierarchy. It's not an anarchy.We humans seem to be worse than animals nowadays.

I understand the opposing side will talk about all the atrocities committed by religion.But which religion is the question?I have a separate thread on this topic.

The scale at which Abrahamic religions have caused misery in the world is unparalleled. All of your complaints about Hinduism are magnitudes, by differences of universes, when compared to Abrahamic religions' atrocities.

Now am I going to say Hinduism is perfect?The Hindu society is perfect.Absolutely not.That perfection does not exist. It's human to be imperfect. But I will contend that it is the greater good and the lesser evil.All that exists.

I will argue about it on a separate thread.So that's it for today.

Playing the Infinite Game

2026-09-03T12:36:53.252-07:00

Simon Sinek wrote a book The Infinite Games.

It was one of the best sellers of its time. But the book was about businesses that play the infinite game, emerging as the biggest winners in the long term.

But the Rishis have been teaching humans to play the infinite game since before time can track.

And that is the whole Alexander and the Yogi podcast, all about yes, being Alexander is tactical, but being the yogi is strategy. And a strategy to play the infinite game.

Because what's the point of winning in the short lifespan of ours if you lose the long infinite game that we are all having to play without a choice?

Well, most of us at least have no choice.For the most part.But the Rishis found a way out to beat and win in these infinite games.And by infinite games I mean an infinite lives. Infinite statistically not numerically.

पुनरपि जननम पुनरपि मरणम

पुनरपि जननी जठरे शयनम

इहसमसारे बहुदुस्तारे कृपया पाहे पाहि मुरारे

What Adi Shankara there is saying isAll the human soul knows for most people is to keep being born and keep dying, going back into the mother's womb, growing up, being born, going old, and then dying again, going back into another mother's womb, and keep being born and keep going back to death again.

And the only way out is through the mercy of Lord Krishna. That last part is a matter of metaphor and translation.Based on your route to the infinite almighty। The reference to Krishna is a pointer to the almighty.A pointer to live the life of a yogi.To achieve oneness with Almightiness.

Language you see at the end of the day language is a very imperfect tool to express this discussion about the infinite because language is finite and by definition it's going to fall short to describe the infinite। But the Rishis did their best to get us as close as possible, and it is our job to willfully use our willpower to try and get closer to try and contemplate. They gave us many ways to get there. It's a matter of rechoosing to stop living like animals, stop living finite games, stop playing finite games, and start playing the infinite game.

Idiocracy: Prophetic Movie

2026-08-06T19:27:06.756-07:00

I read this book, Deep Work, a long time back. By the author, Cal Newport

One of the things that this book talked about. Was something very important that gets missed in the larger thoughts about deep work and concentration, etc.

He talks about his Jewish friend who has traditional Jewish training, reading and analyzing the Torah.

This very wellplished professor tenured professor accomplishing some amazing feats of human accomplishments not just in the field of computer science, but also such a precocious author tells us that this friend of his can run circles around him when it comes to raw intelligence.

Then he goes on to explain the biological mechanisms of what is actually happening. He says the way the Torah is understood by these Jewish students. Allows certain layers of their brains to build very strong network connections. And you do that over generations, you get the smartest people in the world, which are the Jewish people, as far as we can tell.

I don't think there is any doubt in anyone's mind as to how smart the Jewish people are, irrespective of how we view their political inclinations.

Pin that there for one moment.

Recently I have been head down developing an astrology app. Of course, using AI.

And the more I delved into building the core engine of astrology the more I realize what a rocket science this really is. Analyzing astrology itself is beyond rocket science, as far as I'm concerned. But building the engine, in my view, is mathematically just magic.

Especially for someone dumb like me. The reason I say I'm dumb is because I need you all to think about this for one moment. When all of these astrological calculations were developed a few thousand years ago in ancient India. There were no books to write on, let alone supercomputers doing the math for you.

Yet the calculations were on point, so phenomenally accurate that even today the calculations of the sunrise and the sunset, and the moonrise and the moonset, and the positioning of the planets, at least the visible planets, is phenomenally precise when compared to the actual astronomical observations using the world's greatest telescopes today.

I need you to think about all of these people, through the generations, that have done all of this math, learned all of this math in their heads, and continued the tradition into 2026, which is when this blog is being written.

Now the next thing for you to know is how the Brahmins are the Jews of India. Although considering the culture of India, the Brahmins have not been slaughtered in the country, they are now the most hated community in India. Especially in some states, most of the Brahmins have left in search of better opportunities and safety, especially in states like Tamil Nadu.

What I have heard from grapevine is a lot of people in Tamil Nadu actually cry about the fact that these guys who left the state are successful no matter where they go. And the same thing you will see about Kashmiri Pundits, they go anywhere they become successful. You will also see extremely successful Marvis and Guptas and Brahmins in all aspects of life in India and outside of India.

On an average, the Brahmins and the Maravadis are the most successful and technically the smartest group of people in India.

And this is where you connect the original PIN to the second piece that I am talking about. The reason Brahmins and the Maravadis have become so smart is the same reason the Jews became smart.

The Brahmins have had the same rigor in learning extraordinarily complex things over generations and doing all of the logic, all of the math, all of the philosophy, everything in their minds and transferring it orally over generations with hardly anything ever written down in books.

In fact, just two generations ago, the superstars of India were called not somebody who had a lot of wealth but somebody who proved their extraordinary intelligence, and they were given a special title called Avadhanam. These are people, and then there is another level to Avadhanam called Ashta Avadhanam. These are people who are intelligent beyond par. If you look at the rigor of how one achieves this title, I think you will be left in awe. And I don't think there is any other parallel title achieving system anywhere on the planet.

At a high level, I can tell you becoming an Aadhhanam or an Ashta Abadharam is about extreme mental gymnastics. And memorization and philosophy and logic, everything coming out of a single human's brain.

And these are people that you will find across India with those last names. These are the children of those people who achieved this level of intelligence. Now the problem is in the last 2 or 3 generations, and especially since the Britishers came, there has been no scope for these genetics to continue because these practices have been watered down. Because of lack of money, lack of opportunity, lack of any state support, because throughout history the Brahmins almost always have had some level of state support to continue with their practices, that made them the smartest humans alive.

The difference between the Brahmins and the Jews is the Jews do business and the Brahmins don't. The Brahmins have to do with a job which then takes away from the time that they could have spent in continuing building the core human raw intelligence.

In any case, let's come to 2026.

Thanks to AI, especially, and of course since the beginning of the Internet, but also especially since the advent of smartphones. Humans almost don't need to do anything with their brains anymore.

not just AI, but it is a well-known fact that there is a term now in the urban lingo called brain rot thanks to the proliferation and worsening of social media-driven attention consumption . Humanity has given it a name, consciously or subconsciously, that is doing that to the brain we all now have a rotting brain . most of us do .

Guess what happens when you don't use a muscle and you let it rot. It atrophies. Now you extrapolate everything that I told you from the above. We now have a whole generation, multiple generations of children that have not built or learned with the rigor of the past. Maybe there are ultra-orthodox Jewish people that are still there. But in India, that level of rigor is now almost lost even for people who are learning the Vedas.

There I am sure are a small percentage of population in pockets that still keep these practices alive, but we are talking about 0.000001 of a population of 14 billion.

But what about the rest of the world? The point I am trying to make with the whole blog here is how humanity is destined to progress toward becoming extremely dumb. That's an oxymoron right there. I don't know what progress this is.

When I watched the movie Idiocracy around 2007, the movie was made 500 years into the future. But I think we are there today. To a certain extent, and maybe in another couple of generations, we will be there almost completely.

AI is the death knell of human intelligence. Humanity itself, not because robots will come over, but because humans will start thinking, Gatorade would be an amazing liquid for plants because it has electrolytes.

Long live humanity.

heartbreak: the necessary evil

2026-07-05T11:55:54.505-07:00

When I'm able to talk to people I can be open with and what people I love I actually tell them that if it were up to me I would wish that your heart would break.

I'm I'm sure that will scandalize most people when they hear it because that's not what you expect from a friend and someone who you love but if you truly ask me it's one of the greatest gifts that you can get especially in the modern world.

You see in the modern world most of us are living like squirrels have you seen a squirrel level it just keeps going from one place to another one place or another running from here to there to Branch to Branch to leave to leave to not to not to Branch to last here to their process the road up up the tree down the tree behind another squirrel, essentially in the modern world that squirrel is our attention and that attention is us.

Let's say we keep doing that we live like a squirrel and we die what's the difference between the actual squirrel and us not much I would say.

So then the question is what's the connection to being a squirrel and the heartbreak you see the goal of life is to find moksha and the first step toward moksha if you have bhakti that's great I think that's what that's a good step but if it's not deep enough heartbreak is that shock treatment that your soul that your existence needs to push you toward seeking moksha why do I say that?

You see as long as we keep running around like a squirrel we keep getting some cheap dopamine everywhere whenever stop and think there is no break there is no speed breaker you see the heartbreak is that speed breaker that everyone needs in the modern world let's let's put this way most people need in the modern world unless your heart breaks really really breaks you don't even stop and ask questions and without asking questions you get nowhere you have to start asking questions about yourself your purpose your nature of reality God universe life call it what you want.

And when your heart breaks and you're able to ask those questions and hopefully and again it's a necessary evil but not a sufficient condition it's an insufficient condition and then you have to combine that with finding the right guru to direct those energies in the right direction otherwise of course heartbreaks can also lead people to get into drugs and alcohol and all sorts of things that the resort to to fill the void that the heartbreak brings along, here is where the guru comes in the right kind of guru, that can help you after that questions and teach you about the nature of reality the nature of your mind teach you practices guide you through your mental havoc true stories he's not he's not your advisor he's not your therapy he's not a therapist he's a guru but that I mean you need to follow what he says of course you have to be very careful about finding the right discussion but assuming you have the right guru you follow you shut up and follow you shut up and listen you start asking questions, and those questions will eventually lead you to the truth about the layers of illusions that you've been living all along

Life is better set of illusions and there are multiple levels of illusions I can't even begin to tell you on this particular block maybe that's a separate blog.

But once you see through the illusions you're on your way to moksha but to see through the illusions you need to find varagya and for the viragya I think for most people are heartbreak is the fastest way to it, so you be lucky to find the right kind of a heartbreak and the right guru in your life and that will take you to your purpose for being born as a human being.

Why vegetarians get colorectal cancer

2026-06-21T22:26:37.989-07:00

The cautionary note comes down to a specific metabolic trap that the FADS2 vegetarian variant creates — essentially, a gene that was perfectly suited for traditional plant-based diets becomes a liability in a modern industrialized diet. Here's the full picture:

## The Core Mechanism: FADS2 as a Double-Edged Sword

The FADS1/FADS2 enzyme system doesn't just convert ALA (plant omega-3) into EPA/DHA — it simultaneously converts **linoleic acid (LA)**, an omega-6 fat, into **arachidonic acid (AA)**. The vegetarian insertion allele turbocharges *both* pathways equally. Research found that people with two copies of the insertion (I/I genotype) have **57% higher plasma arachidonic acid** and a **32% higher AA-to-EPA+DHA ratio** compared to those without the variant. Arachidonic acid is a central driver of inflammatory eicosanoids — it's literally a primary pharmaceutical target for heart disease, colon cancer, and other inflammatory conditions.[1][2][3]

## Why Modern Diets Make This Worse

In the traditional Indian vegetarian diet that *selected* for this gene, omega-6 consumption was naturally low — mustard oil, ghee, and whole plant foods kept the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 reasonably balanced. But modern industrialized vegetarian diets are loaded with **refined vegetable oils** — sunflower oil, soybean oil, corn oil, and even saffola — all extremely high in linoleic acid. When someone with the vegetarian allele consumes these oils heavily, the hyper-efficient FADS2 enzyme floods the body with arachidonic acid at an accelerated rate.[4][1]

## The Disease Risks

The downstream consequences of this AA overproduction are serious:[5][6]

- **Heart disease** — elevated arachidonic acid drives pro-inflammatory prostaglandins and thromboxanes that promote atherosclerosis; FADS haplotypes with higher desaturase activity were linked to an odds ratio of 2.55x for coronary artery disease

- **Colorectal cancer** — this may explain why some research found vegetarian populations nearly **40% more likely** to suffer colorectal cancer than meat eaters, which puzzled doctors since red meat is the usual suspect[1]

- **Chronic inflammation broadly** — diabetes, Alzheimer's, PCOS, and metabolic syndrome all have inflammatory components amplified by high AA/EPA ratios[4]

## The Omega-6 to Omega-3 Ratio Problem

The key variable isn't whether you eat meat — it's whether your **omega-6:omega-3 ratio** stays in balance. Traditionally humans evolved on roughly a 4:1 ratio; most modern Western and industrialized vegetarian diets run **15:1 to 20:1** in favor of omega-6. For someone with the vegetarian allele, this imbalance gets biochemically amplified because the same enzyme that makes you good at omega-3 conversion is equally accelerating the omega-6 → arachidonic acid pipeline.[2][7]

## The Simple Fix

The Cornell researchers themselves gave a clear recommendation:[7][1]

- **Avoid high-LA vegetable oils**: sunflower, corn, soybean, and safflower oils are the worst offenders

- **Use olive oil instead**: very low in linoleic acid, does not significantly feed the arachidonic acid pathway

- **Maintain omega-3 intake**: flaxseeds, walnuts, chia seeds — or algae-based DHA supplements — to keep the AA:EPA ratio in check

- **If switching to a non-vegetarian diet**: this is actually where the allele becomes particularly dangerous — meat and dairy add preformed arachidonic acid *on top of* the accelerated synthesis[4]

The irony is stark: the very gene that makes long-term vegetarians metabolically well-adapted to their diet becomes a cardiovascular and cancer risk factor the moment the dietary environment shifts — whether toward Western processed vegetarian foods or toward meat consumption.

Sources

[1] Vegetarian Diet and Gene Mutation https://triumphtraining.com/blogs/blog/114419780-vegetarian-diet-and-gene-mutation

[2] Are we what we eat? https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/615473

[3] A regulatory insertion-deletion polymorphism in the FADS gene ... https://scholarworks.indianapolis.iu.edu/items/e8844c63-3054-4695-8116-088761c84802

[4] Does "vegetarian gene" helps or hurts your employees https://digbihealth.com/blogs/science-talk/how-the-vegetarian-gene-helps-and-hurts

[5] Veggies more at risk of cancer, says US study, ETHealthworld https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/veggies-more-at-risk-of-cancer-says-us-study/51625964

[6] FADS genotypes and desaturase activity estimated by the ... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18842780/

[7] The Vegetarian Gene: A Plant-Based Diet Causes Lasting Genetic Mutations That Could Increase Cancer Risk https://www.medicaldaily.com/vegetarian-plant-based-diet-genetic-mutation-cancer-risk-380079

[8] Does vegetarianism select for alleles that increase inflammation? https://evmedreview.com/does-vegetarianism-select-for-alleles-that-increase-inflammation/

[9] Interaction of fatty acid genotype and diet on changes in colonic fatty acids in a Mediterranean diet intervention study - PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24022589/

[10] Dietary oils and FADS1-FADS2 genetic variants modulate [13C]α-linolenic acid metabolism and plasma fatty acid composition - PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23221573/

[11] Polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis pathway and ... https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7527828/

[12] Are plant or animal fats better for you? Ask your FADS genes https://www.gbhealthwatch.com/HotTopic-Plant-or-Animal-Fats-FADS.php

[13] The impact of FADS genetic variants on ω6 polyunsaturated fatty ... https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3118962/

[14] FADS2 polymorphisms are associated with plasma ... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0271531720305212

[15] The integrative panel of fatty acid desaturase-2 (FADS2 ... - PMC https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9930302/

Why Intercast marriages are discouraged

2026-06-21T21:51:03.000-07:00

The following is just one example of what following a specific way of living does to us at a core genetic level all of history and all of our ways of living from the past we can delve into it but evolved around genetics, there is the reason why

The following is the response from Perplexity research to the question of how vegetarians have a special gene mutation that allows them to produce their own omega-3.

How is this connected to Intercast marriages?? It’s for you to think it through an extrapolate from here. Extrapolation being the keyword. I will extrapolate for you later when I have more time. Until then, it’s for you to think.

Yes, that Business Insider article is real and covers a fascinating piece of genetic science. Here's the full picture:

## The "Vegetarian Gene" — FADS1 & FADS2

The article you're recalling was based on a **2016 Cornell University study** published in *Molecular Biology and Evolution*. Researchers found a genetic variant — specifically a mutation called **rs66698963** — in the **FADS2 gene**, which also regulates the expression of **FADS1**. These two genes encode enzymes that are critical for converting short-chain plant-based omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids (like ALA) into the long-chain forms the body actually needs — **EPA and DHA**.[1][2]

## How the Adaptation Works

Normally, the human body is quite poor at converting ALA (found in flaxseeds, walnuts, etc.) into EPA and DHA. But the **vegetarian allele** carries a 22-base DNA insertion that ramps up the activity of FADS1 and FADS2 enzymes, making the conversion process significantly more efficient. People with this variant can essentially synthesize sufficient EPA and DHA from plant foods alone, without needing fish or supplements.[3][4][5]

## Who Carries It

The variant evolved over **hundreds of generations** in populations with historically plant-based diets. The prevalence breakdown is striking:[4][6][1]

| Population | Frequency of Vegetarian Allele |

|---|---|

| South Asians (e.g., India) | ~70% |

| Africans | ~53% |

| East Asians | ~29% |

| Europeans | ~17% |

This makes sense — Indians, for example, have had large vegetarian populations for thousands of years due to cultural and religious practices, creating strong evolutionary selection pressure for this allele.[2]

## The Flip Side

Interestingly, the **Inuit of Greenland** evolved the *opposite* allele — optimized for a seafood-heavy diet. This shows that FADS gene variants have been shaped in both directions based on dietary environment. There's also a cautionary note: people with the vegetarian allele who then eat lots of **processed vegetable oils** (high in linoleic acid) may actually overproduce arachidonic acid, a pro-inflammatory compound — which was the nuance that some media coverage at the time got wrong.[7][1]

Given your background tracking Indian markets and your travel between the US and India, you likely fall into the demographic where this allele is quite prevalent — around a 70% chance if your ancestry is South Asian.

Sources

[1] Eating green could be in your genes | Cornell Chronicle https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2016/03/eating-green-could-be-your-genes

[2] Are We What We Eat? Evidence of a Vegetarian Diet Permanently ... https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/33/7/1887/2579296

[3] Omega‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and vegetarian diets https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.5694/mja11.11507

[4] » The vegetarian gene: do you have super omega-3 ... https://hub.geneplanet.com/en/you-might-be-carrying-a-vegetarian-gene/

[5] A Vegetarian Diet Could Cause Long-Term Genetic Changes https://www.sciencealert.com/vegetarian-diets-could-cause-long-term-gene-changes-research-shows

[6] Vegetarian Diet Is Changing Human Genes - Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/vegetarian-diet-ichanging-human-genes-2016-4

[7] Being a vegetarian can kill you? How the press mashed a genetics story https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2016/04/04/vegetarian-can-kill-press-mashed-genetics-story/

[8] Switching between vegetarianism and non-vegetarianism? https://www.xcode.life/dna-and-nutrition/switching-vegetarianism-non-vegetarianism-must-read-first/

[9] Alpha-Linolenic and Linoleic Fatty Acids in the Vegan Diet https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6835948/

[10] Southampton research shows plants could replace fish as ... https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2019/04/plant-oil-omega-3.page

[11] Achieving optimal n–3 fatty acid status: the vegetarian's ... https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916523048955

[12] New-Onset Vegetarian Diet Shows Differences in Fatty Acid ... https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10317312/

[13] Bioavailability and conversion of plant based sources ... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33576691/

[14] Achieving optimal essential fatty acid status in vegetarians: current knowledge and practical implications - PubMed https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12936959/?trk=article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block

[15] Major study suggests that vegans must supplement Omega ... https://www.reddit.com/r/vegan/comments/1glfyq3/major_study_suggests_that_vegans_must_supplement/

This is one of the most fascinating stories in all of evolutionary biology. Let me walk you through exactly how it works.

## Step 1: The Original Random Mutation

It starts with a **copying error**. Every time a human cell divides, about 3 billion base pairs of DNA get copied. Occasionally the cellular machinery makes a mistake — it inserts, deletes, or swaps a letter in the genetic code. Most of these errors are harmless, many are harmful, and very rarely one is *beneficial*. In this case, at some point deep in human prehistory, one person's DNA got an **extra 22-letter insertion** in the FADS2 gene — purely by accident. That one person became the origin point of the entire lineage.[4]

## Step 2: Natural Selection Decides What Happens Next

Here's the key: a random mutation doesn't spread on its own — **survival and reproduction spread it**. The process is called **positive selection**, and it works through a brutally simple logic:[1]

- If you carry a mutation that helps you survive and reproduce *more* than your peers, your children inherit it

- Your children outcompete others, have more children themselves

- Over hundreds of generations, what started as one person's random copying error becomes the majority genetic profile of an entire population[5]

For the FADS2 insertion, the selection pressure was stark: in a population eating primarily plants, **people who could efficiently synthesize EPA, DHA, and arachidonic acid from plant sources were healthier** — better brain development, better immune function, better reproductive outcomes — than those who couldn't. They had more surviving children. Those children passed it on. Repeat for 10,000+ years.[3]

## Step 3: The Timeline — It Goes Back to Neanderthals

The mutation is ancient. Researchers checked chimpanzee and orangutan genomes — the allele is **absent** in both. But strikingly, evidence of the vegetarian allele was found in **Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes**, meaning this mutation predates modern *Homo sapiens* entirely and is at least 40,000–100,000 years old. It may have arisen multiple times independently, or been inherited from archaic human ancestors through interbreeding.[4]

The FADS cluster also shows strong positive selection signatures **coinciding with the Agricultural Revolution** (~10,000 years ago), when populations across South Asia and Africa shifted from hunting to farming and animal food sources became scarcer.[7][8]

## Step 4: Why It Spread in India Specifically

India had a unique convergence of forces:[1]

- **Agricultural shift** removing reliable animal-based EPA/DHA from the diet

- **Religious and cultural vegetarianism** (Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism) reinforcing plant-based diets for thousands of years

- **Consistent multi-generational selection pressure** — not just decades but literally millennia of vegetarian diets creating a sustained evolutionary filter

Each generation, people with the insertion allele were slightly healthier and had slightly more surviving children. That small reproductive advantage, multiplied across hundreds of generations, pushed the allele from a rare random mutation to ~70% prevalence in South Asian populations today.[4]

## The Profound Implication

What this means is that your genome is essentially a **diary of what your ancestors ate**. The mutation didn't happen because your ancestors *decided* to be vegetarian — it spread because vegetarianism created an environment where that accidental copying error happened to be the right tool for survival. Your DNA is literally shaped by thousands of years of cultural and dietary choices made by people you'll never meet.[3]

The flip side — and this is humbling — is that **evolution has no foresight**. It optimized your ancestors for a world of mustard greens, lentils, and ghee. It had no way to anticipate sunflower oil, processed food, or a Western diet. The gene that was a survival advantage for 10,000 years becomes a liability the moment the dietary environment shifts — which is exactly the situation millions of South Asian immigrants face today.

Sources

[1] Are We What We Eat? Evidence of a Vegetarian Diet Permanently ... https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/33/7/1887/2579296

[2] Vegetarian Diet Driving Evolution? [IMAGE] - EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/613389

[3] The “FADS2” diet: How vegetarian populations have different ... https://misciwriters.com/2016/06/28/the-fads2-diet-how-vegetarian-populations-have-different-genomes/

[4] Vegetarian populations carry metabolic mutation | PET https://www.progress.org.uk/vegetarian-populations-carry-metabolic-mutation/

[5] Genetics of the vegetarian diet FADS - Pillcheck https://www.pillcheck.ca/2016/05/13/genetics-vegetarian-diet-fads/

[6] Positive Selection on a Regulatory Insertion–Deletion Polymorphism ... https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4915354/

[7] FADS1 and the Timing of Human Adaptation to Agriculture https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/35/12/2957/5112969?login=false

[8] Rise in Agriculture, Dietary Changes, May Be Linked to Adaptations ... https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/34/6/1547/3829702

Advaitan Satya: Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya

2026-04-28T12:20:15.607-07:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM4TXfpsWUg

Why the Indian civilization is the only one worth saving from the barbarians (any of them)

2025-04-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of conversations with a few friends of mine about philosophy of the mind and how we are supposed to think about things and the perspective that we can take so us to be able to deal with our every day issues in life in a manner that can keep us happy.

So recently there was the attack in Pahalgam in Kashmir where 26 hindu tourists were gunned down one by one after asking what religion they belong to, and if they said they were Muslim, they would verify it by taking their pants down to check their circumcision, and if they were found to be lying, they would be shot, and these people were shot in front of their wife's (including newly wed) and even their young children.

It aggravated me to no end. Even as I write this blog, I am ready to join the Indian army to go fight a war against the Pakistan nation. I want that nation to be broken again into multiple pieces.

In any case, this blog is not about my anguish towards what Pakistan did.

This post is an attempt to essentially document my reasonings of why the Indian civilization is worth saving. Because you have to ask, why should i have an anguish about a country so far away from where I live and have my life settled in. What is so special about keeping my emotional bond with a land that I hardly have any real materialistic connect with anymore. Why is India and its civilization worth saving so much that I at the age of 42 am willing to join the Indian Army to go to war in such an effort?

India and its Vedic civilization have given the world everything that makes it a civilization outside of the barbarians that the west and the Middle East were before the knowledge of the Vedic civilization spread to these barbarians.

Without the copied knowledge

It’s a special country. Unlike anything the world has ever seen and has only benefited mankind. Foundations All knowledge comes from India.

Including all of your digits 0-9,
calculus,
modern astronomy,
modern rocket science,
world class inexplicable architecture,
foundations of all music comes from India,
Vedic Astrology of course,
our modern calendar has its basis on the Hindu calendar,
talk about advanced philosophy, you have to read what the indologists of Germany and England have written about India philosophy, coz of course we in India that have read other philosophies know, they nothing in the world holds candle to the depth of the Philosophies that have emanated from the Vedic scriptures.
heck even the so called God Particle is a “Boson”, bosons were first predicted by an Indian Scientist whose last name is Bose, ….
The basis of all modern life built around the microchip are built on the principles of Quantum Mechanics, Erwin Schroedinger is one of its founding father, go read up on what he has to say about what his foundations of quantum mechanics come from, what David Bohm has to say about it and even Heisenberg is known to have met with the Yogis in Calcutta before he postulated the famous Uncertainty principle.
to be contd.

And when I say Indian Civilzaion, I litereally am saying the Vedic civilization, EVERYTHING the wrold enjoys today is beceause its foundations were first discovered in the Vedas. And no one know where the Vedas came from, how they came to be at a time when most of humanity was living in caves.

I can go on and on. It’s a land that has given so much to the world, it is of course THE SPIRITUAL capital of the world, its the land of Yoga, Pranayama, Meditation.

You are What you read!

2025-02-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

You are what you read

Yes, you are what you eat. But that at the physical level and emotional level because what you eat, determine your emotional state to a certain extent as well.

But you are also at an intellectual level at a human level what you read. What you consume for your mind on a regular basis.

Most people I know hardly ever read books hardly ever keep up their knowledge on topics that they hold strong opinions about

My question is, if you don’t read and keep improving your knowledge how do you keep a strong opinion about the topic? If you have a strong opinion about a topic you should have read about it both both pros and cons. if you have not done that, what right do you have to keep an opinion about it and argue strongly on the topic ?

Your source of knowledge should the bent of mind, and the reasoning to form a strong opinion . Here is a thing. I am very opinionated about many things in life but I for those opinions based on a vast amount of reading on those topics.

But unfortunately, most people hold strong opinions, because that is human nature, because that is required for survival, but the problem is instead of holding opinions based on your prefrontal cortex and learning, most people hold their opinions based on their lizard drains, which is very primitive by nature .

It’s a very frustrating experience for people who are well read because the unread will argue to end without even giving credit credence to the person who has read about a certain topic. Now it would make sense if the other side made an argument, basing their logic on facts brought by a different source that would be a good conversation to take forward to analyze our sources and their validity.

Now there are many ways to learn. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to read a book. You can listen to a podcast keep up with YouTube videos whatever your sources are you have to keep learning on a specific topic to hold a strong opinion.

Whenever I go to someone’s home, I look for a library when I see the library it tells me a lot about who they are what their focus is what they want to do with their life.

Have you ever looked back at your library and understood who you are ?

Have you ever explored your own opinions about things and how you got to those conclusions?

Most people don’t, but they will be ready to go to war without thinking about anything deeply or learning about it.

You are your heros :

At the tail end of the video

https://youtu.be/vMyiySyx0AU?is=Q_sPPJrdsD_xXwqp

In fact I will argue that this video has given me all of the ammunition that I need to prove that a society where brahmins are revered is the only society that can make progress. And of course and of course by brahmins I definitely mean real practicing brahmins who have mastered some aspect of The Vedic Canon. It's around these truths that the caste system was actually built.

Perhaps that drives the world.

Don’t you think?think!

London Dekha, Paris Dekha aur Dekha Japan

2025-01-30T08:13:00.000-08:00

# Finding My Center: Why I'm Deeply Grateful for My Indian Cultural Roots

After traversing countless cities across Europe and America, experiencing their vibrant cultures and modern lifestyles, I find myself drawn even more deeply to my Indian roots. Each journey abroad has been a mirror, reflecting back not just what I've gained from my heritage, but how uniquely it has shaped my spiritual journey.

The West has given the world remarkable gifts. I've witnessed the efficiency of German systems, the renaissance spirit of Italy, the intellectual rigor of France, and the entrepreneurial energy of America. These societies have built incredible frameworks for human progress, and their contributions to science, technology, and human rights are undeniable.

Yet, as I walk through the bustling streets of London or the serene boulevards of Paris, I feel an inexplicable pull toward the philosophical richness that India has nurtured for millennia. It's not just about tradition – it's about having access to two profound pathways to spiritual evolution: Bhakti and Jnana.

The Bhakti tradition, with its emphasis on devotional love and surrender, offers a unique approach to transcendence that I haven't found elsewhere. Whether it's the soul-stirring bhajans at dawn or the profound poetry of Meera and Kabir, this path allows for an emotional connection to the divine that transcends intellectual understanding. In the West, I've observed that spirituality often takes a more structured, institutionalized form. While beautiful in its own right, it sometimes misses the raw, personal connection that Bhakti cultivates.

The Jnana tradition, focusing on the path of knowledge and self-inquiry, complements this emotional approach with intellectual rigor. The questions posed by ancient Indian philosophers continue to be startlingly relevant today. The concepts of consciousness, reality, and the self that they explored thousands of years ago are only now being approached by modern science and philosophy.

What makes Indian culture particularly special is how these paths aren't mutually exclusive. You can be a scientist who starts their day with meditation, a technologist who finds solace in bhajans, or a businessman who studies the Upanishads. This integration of the spiritual with the mundane, the philosophical with the practical, creates a unique ecosystem for soul growth.

Living abroad has helped me appreciate this even more. Many Western societies, in their rapid march toward progress, have sometimes had to choose between tradition and modernity. In contrast, Indian culture has managed to hold both – yes, sometimes tenuously, but hold nonetheless. We can work in cutting-edge technology firms while maintaining our connection to ancient wisdom traditions.

This isn't to say that Western cultures don't have their own profound spiritual traditions – they absolutely do. From Christian mysticism to Western philosophical traditions, there are deep wells of wisdom to draw from. But for my personal journey, the Indian path, with its emphasis on direct experience over belief, its acceptance of multiple approaches to truth, and its deep integration of spirituality into daily life, resonates most powerfully.

When I think about future lives – and yes, the very concept of rebirth is another gift from Indian thought – I find myself hoping to be born again into this cultural matrix. Not because other cultures are lesser, but because the Indian spiritual ecosystem provides unique tools for soul evolution. The combination of Bhakti and Jnana, emotion and intellect, devotion and discrimination, creates a fertile ground for spiritual growth that I haven't found replicated elsewhere.

As global citizens in an increasingly interconnected world, we have the privilege of learning from all cultures. Each has its unique gifts to offer humanity. Yet, just as a tree needs deep roots to grow tall, individuals need cultural anchoring to truly soar. For me, those roots are firmly planted in Indian soil, nourished by the timeless streams of Bhakti and Jnana, reaching toward universal truth while remaining grounded in ancient wisdom.

This gratitude isn't blind patriotism – it's a considered appreciation for a cultural heritage that provides tools for both material and spiritual evolution. In this fast-paced, modern world, that's a blessing beyond measure.

keep moving forward is the only choice

2024-12-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

Since about 1997/1998 my life has been an experiment in waterboarding. Of course psychologically and emotionally speaking. From the outside in, my life is almost perfect. But without divulging personal details, the important thing to communicate here is that there have been tens of instances through the years where I have screamed in emotional agony and cried for hours not understanding why the universe/God/Karma chooses to break me down.

I am doing that right now as i write this post.

If there is someone who should hate God, I am a good candidate for it considering my life.

But when I recover from those lows, I realize it could be a lot worse. Sure. Of course it could be a LOT better too.

And I have no choice but to keep trying. To keep moving forward, while trying to detach myself from the outcomes. To control the controllables without losing control of my own mind.

These are the only mantras available. This is pretty much the squeezed version of Bhagwad Gita's message on how to live ones life. I just came to these conclusion on my own accord.

And I have no other way to live life in a karmically positive way!

The goal of life is "reaching the almighty", "Moksha", "liberation". Give it whatever name you want. I want that for myself. I just hope that that dream/wish of my soul is beyond my life pattern of being a loser.

But I wont know until my last breath. Or perhaps if i can ever become a "jivan mukta", may be I will be able to see that all this was worth it.

The heart breaks, these insults, these losses of life are what are purifying my soul. Surely.

But will that lead me to be a jivan mukta? Who knows? But I have no choice but to keep trying. I do not know any other way to live life.

Living a karmically positive life is the ONLY way i will live my life.

At the same time I hope I wont cry myself to sleep as much as I have the past 26/27 years.

My yoga, my pranayam and meditation are my guards. as long as i do them, I experience less swings in my state of feelings of loss and despair.

I wish my external circumstances improve to support my journey, I think i have gained enough from the the pain of life. The marginal utility isn't there anymore. But thats my thought. The universe might have a separate plan. Or may be the universe will relent finally and let me live in peace and let me win again.

Let me be very clear, I choose not to blame or be vengeful for whatever has transpired in my life where my "loss" can be attributed to someone else outside of my skin. No point to it. I am playing an infinite game. Blaming someone else and being vengeful is a complete waste of time because i know myself. If the universe ever gives me a chance to avenge, I will just let go and let the universe deal with them. I dont know any other way to deal with transgressors and their transgressions.

Living A Karmic life with faith is hard. Just hope its worth it, in fact I billion% trust my Guru and my grandmother when they taught me that it is indeed worth it.. Its not like i really have a choice. That's my life.

Pursuit of a long life

2023-12-02T05:07:00.000-08:00

Since about when I got married, I have been on this journey of seeking to find ways to optimize my health, perhaps without even knowing why, but I guess it is obvious that the human body seeks health Actually, I think it is the human mind that is a parasite of the human body that is seeking health of the human body.

Either way, I have come along way since March 2011 and optimizing my health. I have learned a lot and summarize it. Based on science based on Andrew Huberman, based on Sachin panda, based on James Nestor, based on many other scientists and books, what I have found is, everything is eventually coaling around the habits that my ancestors have taught us through out history. As Brahmins who are the original Knowledge workers, and have been sold since before time can track.

The latest book that I’m reading is called the circadian code by Sachin panda. I have started drinking lemon water with honey early in the morning. I do not drink coffee beyond 10 AM and that is also very less amount of coffee because I do instant coffee I drink raw milk I do yoga regularly, which is pretty intense, I breathe only with my No. I have regularly practiced and continue to practice the wim hof method as well as the other Prayas described by and taught by Baba Ramdev.

I also take bone, chilling, cold showers when possible especially during winter when the water is naturally cold. I do it every day. I am also considering buying water chiller for the water tub or an icemaker to do that even during summers.

I eat food, which is only made from cold, pressed oils, specifically coconut oil if I have to fry the food sometimes avacado oil, And olive oil, if I have to eat raw that is salads.

and olive oil, if I have to eat raw that is salads.

I eat complete Whole Foods which includes salads made from power greens, as well as added radishes, bell peppers of various colors, cucumber, pine nuts, sunflower, seeds, and olive oil.

I have made a lot more changes in life in the way I think yes. But there’s a part of me wonders why?

Do I have any control over the future? No, I don’t after reading the book being mortal by Atul Gawande. I almost wonder if I should not stay so healthy into old age and it is better if one dies early after their responsibilities are taken care of.So that you don’t end up being a burden to people around you.

And frankly in this pursuit becoming a sanyasi, eventually, is the perfect outcome if my health holds good.

But truly, I have no idea if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Who knows sometimes long life can be a boon. SometimesIt can be a curse, depending upon the circumstances of your life.

In the end, the obvious question that nobody can answer, or even understand ifThis question has any meaning is” is life worth it”

Based on all my research and understanding from the gurus When you get to the brass of it life just is.

It’s not good it’s not bad. It just is it’s time to start training the mind to see life the way it is. And stop ascribing Labels to the various aspects of life. The only thing we need to do is observe and understand that labeling it is what makes it so.

This is deceptively hard. But if trained long enough, I’m convinced it is worth it in the sense that you will be able to find Bliss while you identify yourself with your body and your mind. The amount of suffering That you experience in your mind Will go down.

So that breaks the question again if everything that we do is revolving around, reducing our suffering while we are alive, why do we seek to live along healthy life which, but it’s very definition is prone to suffering.

This is a strange creation. I will also come to understand that the universe has a sense of humor, but this sense of humor seems to be funny, only to that universe while tragic to most people, but tragic only if we describe labels to these events, you see the circular logic now.

Control The controllables. Do your best forget the rest.

Meditate. Yoga. Pranayama/breath control. Meditate. Yoga. Pranayama/birth control. fasting. Long fast, as well as 36 hour fast twice a month.

When the untouchable gets touched

2023-09-21T23:28:00.000-07:00

What the bing chatbot wrote:

I've been thinking a lot about death lately. Not in a morbid or depressing way, but in a curious and philosophical way. What does it mean to die? What happens after we die? And most importantly, do we really need to live long lives?

I know that sounds like a strange question, especially in a world where everyone is obsessed with longevity and anti-aging. We have so many products, services, and technologies that promise to extend our lifespan, improve our health, and delay our decay. We have so many goals, dreams, and ambitions that we want to achieve before we kick the bucket. We have so many people, places, and experiences that we want to enjoy while we still can.

But why? Why do we want to live longer? What is the point of prolonging our existence? Is it because we are afraid of death? Is it because we are attached to our ego and identity? Is it because we are hopeful for a better future? Or is it because we are not satisfied with our present?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that life is not worth living. I'm not saying that we should give up on our passions and pursuits. I'm not saying that we should stop caring about ourselves and others. I'm just wondering if we are missing something by focusing so much on quantity over quality. I'm just wondering if we are living for the sake of living, rather than living for the sake of meaning.

Maybe we don't need to live long lives. Maybe we just need to live meaningful lives. Maybe we just need to live in the moment, appreciate what we have, and make the most of what we are given. Maybe we just need to live authentically, express ourselves fully, and connect with others deeply. Maybe we just need to live gratefully, joyfully, and lovingly.

Maybe that's what it means to truly live. And maybe that's what it means to truly die.

What is Moksha and how do "Rituals" and Dharma help

2023-05-22T07:25:00.016-07:00

Moksha is nothing but the cessation of all suffering.

What does that mean? Cessation of this feeling that "you" the body is suffering. "you" the mind is suffering. This feeling that makes you feel that you are suffering that is leading you to be sad (or happy really).

Suffering is literally in our heads. How do I know? The Burning monk. He proved that you can train your brain with your eyes closed to ignore your body's suffering. But he was emotionally suffering that led him to take this action. He was suffering that the catholic dictator was destroying the Buddhists temples in Vietnam.

You can over come all sorts of suffering (physical and emotional) by going to the next level.... by being the burning monk but without having to close your eyes. You can become a mere observer (Ramana Maharishi (sarcoma), Ramakrishna Paramahansa (throat cancer)). How do I know these two did not have any emotional suffering either? They lived through the times of the British, but they were not interested in any thing like freedom for the country or the suffering of the people due to colonization and of course had no interest in accumulating wealth or having a good time to keep their own bodies and minds happy.

When we can gain a capacity to observe the suffering as a third person without identifying that suffering as happening to "you" you have attained moksha/liberation/nirvana/God Realization. In that state you are the ONE. You are NEO.

Ok now that we have established what Moksha is, let us now understand what do rituals have to do with Moksha.

Rituals, what do they really entail:

Discipline
Pranayama
Meditation
Sacrifices
Doing it for God.
Doing it because that is your dharma
Doing it for some entity that is not you.

What is the core teaching of Bhagvad Gita?: do you karma, and give up your interest in the outcome. Essentially do what you ahve to do, i.e. your dharma, be a father, be a husband, be a doctor, a developer whatever, and perform your duties like a duty. Let go of what "they will give you".

When you live life like that you are training your mind constantly to be an observer without attachment to outcomes. That is why even karma yoga works in progressing you in your spiritual endeavors. But do it fully. Keep training your mind. How you get there is irrelevant. Keep training your mind NOT to be attached to outcomes.

The more hedonistic you are, the more you are attached to the outcomes to give you the dopamine hit. you are the rat that incessantly is pulling the trigger in the expectation of getting the dopamine hit.

The great Rishi's of India, understood that something this simple is impossible for most people to get. Hence they created a program around your life through rituals and sacred days and sacred ceremonies where you will train your mind over and over and over again to give up something, give up eventually your interest in the outcomes and totally commit to the lord. Do it for the lord.

Suffering is the result of attachment. Attachment to the body results in "experiencing" pain. Other emotional suffering is related to attachment to things/people outside of this body.

Of course I have no clue how to understand how a realized yogi would do if they suffered with ulcerative Colitis/Crohns that give you bloody stools and pain in your belly all day and if left untreated lead to fistulas and all sorts of other complications. Can they sit through all this without reacting to try to resolve that? I need to ask a Guru.

Our Rishis's are the greatest beings ever to have walked this planet. I am ever grateful. I am ever grateful. I am ever grateful. To have been born in this culture/religion/system that made me come to this realization and finally understand how all this is connected.

But I am a long way from 3 person "observership" of my suffering. I hope God will grant me the capability, the strength, to finally get there because train all you want, but that final set, that final realization is not attained through your efforts, but only through the blessing of a Guru or God himself.

got a phone call. will continue from here.

Daughter: The perfect gate to Moksha

2023-05-21T08:19:00.008-07:00

Why?

Detachment and ego death is the goal.

A daughter is alll love. And you have to let go. Nothing has changed from past to today, the circumstances have changed but the experience of the needing to let go of a daughter hasn’t. The pain in knowing that someday she will not be your little daughter everyday she grows up will help in your efforts to train your mind to let go. Love and let go.

And finally a daughter also frees you from the illusion of an empire building the illusion of wealth building the illusion of family.

A daughter through her love and really just her mere presence makes your life glow. But also the reality of the fact that she will one day grow up into a woman will keep your grounded and in search of something more permanent. A permanent bliss. God realization. Moksha.

The love I have for my daughter knows no limits. Has no words in human vernacular to express the feelings in my heart. And you know what? I have heard the same description about God from the Vedas: Where speech has stopped and where human imagination and thought have stopped God has spread 10 times beyond that.

So a daughter gives you a glimpse of what really can be permanently yours and motivates you to keep on your spiritual path. Never stop yearning for the permanence of that experience/ feeling. The daughter is just a glimpse the universe give you. Be grateful.

thoughts of a physicist on conciousness

2022-07-22T05:53:00.004-07:00

I am a physicist and I will provide solid arguments proving that consciousness cannot be

generated by the brain. Many argue that consciousness is an emergent property of the brain, but it is possible to show that such hypothesis is inconsistent with our scientific knowledges. In fact, it is possible to show that all the examples of emergent properties consists of concepts used to describe how an external object appear to our conscious mind, and not how it is. In other words, they are ideas conceived to describe or classify, according to arbitrary criteria and from an arbitrary point of view, certain processes or systems. In summary, emergent properties are intrinsically subjective, since they are based on the arbitrary choice to focus on certain aspects of a system and neglet other aspects, such as microscopic structures and processes. 
Here comes my first argument: arbitrariness, as well as subjectivity, implies the existence of a conscious mind, who can choose a specific point of view and arbitrary criteria. It is obvious that consciousness cannot be considered an emergent property of the physical reality, because consciousenss is a preliminary necessary condition for the existence of any emergent property. We have then a logical contradiction. Nothing which presupposes the existence of consciousness can be used to try to explain the existence of consciousness. 
Here comes my second argument: our scientific knowledge shows that brain processes consist of sequences of elementary physical processes; since consciousness is not a property of ordinary elementary physical processes, then a succession of such processes cannot have cosciousness as a property. In fact we can break down the process and analyze it moment by moment, and in every moment consciousness would be absent, so there would never be any consciousness during the entire sequence of elementary processes. 
Here comes my third argument: It must also be considered that brain processes consist of billions of sequences of elementary processes that take place in different points of the brain; if we attributed to these processes the property of consciousness, we would have to associate with the brain billions of different consciousnesses, that is billions of personalities, each with its own self-awareness and will; this contradicts our direct experience, that is, our awareness of being a single person who is able to control the voluntary movements of his own body with his own will. If cerebral processes are analyzed taking into account the laws of physics, these processes do not identify any unity; this missing unit is the necessarily non-physical element (precisely because it is missing in the brain), the element that interprets the brain processes and generates a unitary conscious state, that is the human mind.

Here comes my forth argument: Consciousness is characterized by the fact that self-awareness is an immediate intuition that cannot be broken down or fragmented into simpler elements. This characteristic of consciousness of presenting itself as a unitary and non-decomposable state, not fragmented into billions of personalities, does not correspond to the quantum description of brain processes, which instead consist of billions of sequences of elementary incoherent quantum processes. From the physical point of view, the brain is not a whole, because its quantum state is not a coherent state, as in the case of entangled systems; the very fact of speaking of "brain" rather than many cells that have different quantum states, is an arbitrary choice. This is an important aspect, because, as I have said, consciousness is a necessary preliminary condition for the existence of arbitrariness. So if a system can be considered decomposable and considering it as a whole is an arbitrary choice, then it is inconsistent to hyotehsize that such system can have or generate consciousness, since consciousness is a necessary preliminary condition for the existence of any arbitrary choice. In other words, to regard consciousness as a property ofthe brain, we must first define what the brain is, and to do so we must rely only on the laws of physics, without introducing arbitrary notions extraneous to them; if this cannot be done, then it means that every property we attribute to the brain is not reducible to the laws of physics, and therefore is nonphysical. Since the interactions between the quantum particles that make up the brain are ordinary interactions, it is not actually possible to define the brain based solely on the laws of physics. The only way to define the brain is to arbitrarily establish that a certain number of particles belong to it and others do not belong to it, but such arbitrariness is not admissible. In fact, the brain is not physically separated from the other organs of the body, with which it interacts, nor is it physically isolated from the external environment, just as it is not isolated from other brains, since we can communicate with other people, and to do so we use physical means, for example acoustic waves or electromagnetic waves (light). This necessary arbitrariness in defining what the brain is is sufficient to demonstrate that consciousness is not reducible to the laws of physics.

Based on these considerations, it would be completely unreasonable to assume that consciousness is generated by brain processes or is an emergent property of the brain

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Qayamat with Ghawa-e-Hind and Shiv Tandav

2022-03-30T01:12:00.000-07:00

So according to the muslim theology, qayamat .. end days do not arrive until every hindu has either been converted or killed and every hindu temple destroyed.

We also know that muslims are "asuras" ..people who do not drink alcohol. whose guru is shukracharya, worshippers of Siva, always violent, always always fighting each other, take pride in the pain of others, .. i mean the modern islamic mindsets, behaviours and societies across the world as we understand it has a LOT of parallels to the asuras as described in the puranas and itihasas.

Siva tandav is the dance of siva that brings about the "laya" the destruction of the jagat, to only reinvigorate and set the seed for reforming the universe.

put these three things together, until the whole world is filled with evil (asuras), the end times wont come, and when the world is filled with evil, end times come through Siva tandava taht will destroy worlds so that a brand new world can be created.

so the muslims seem like the agents of Siva that have to bring about situations on the planet to warrant its destruction, because how can Siva destroy a world that has good, satvic people in it? it would be unconscionable.

Ancient Shaivism and Islam

2022-03-30T01:09:00.009-07:00

This is a blog post that is still being composed but below is a list of things that I have so far discovered to be identical between ancient Saivism and Islam.

Reverse circumambulation
way of clothing at Hajj
shaving of head
direction of prayer
burial
the black stone on a silver bowl like object that clearly is a variation of a siva linga on a panavatta
moon as a symbol
3 times -- for truth
4 marriages allowed -- only for Brahmins
7 heavens and 7 hells — Brahmanda Purana
The passion of Shiva worship (63 nayanaars vs 12 alvars)... Asura bhakti same to same with Islam's passion
quran recitation vs sama veda recitation
total 72 denominations
no alcohol rule
30 yrs of age in heaven of devatas and of muslims
not doing jumma namaz 3 times is considered you being Kafir, not doing namaz even once is considered impure or something like that. Same with Brahmins, 3 times sandhyavandan is non-negotiable. Not doing even once for that time of the day you are considered a shudra. And not doing sandhyavandan for 3 generations you are out of Brahminhood. and there are other rules.
no music rules
beard rules for muslims, pilaka rules for Brahmins