tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39184229805120797992024-09-29T06:20:05.737+05:30Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-48922962047073409882009-12-04T06:47:00.001+05:302009-12-04T08:47:53.322+05:30

Zen master Taisen Deshimaru said, “Only two things matter, energy and action.” The practice of zazen, seated meditation, can free you from your limitations and help you realise your original nature. It energises you, by helping to regulate the nervous system, increasing your vital capacity and the efficiency of oxygen exchange. However, if you were to withdraw from the frenetic chaos of life to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-25974143599417487682009-12-03T06:26:00.001+05:302009-12-03T14:27:33.303+05:30

Mantras are sound vibrations that permeate every cell of your being; they let the mind dissolve. Mantras are impulses or rhythms of consciousness. They create spiritual vibrations. Mantra is that which saves you from repetitiveness. A repetitive thought is a worry. Mantras help to free you from worries. Often we wonder why we chant some sounds without understanding their meanings. Can

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-70450869090937990322009-12-02T06:47:00.000+05:302009-12-02T11:48:05.335+05:30

It is human nature to get disenchanted with the world when we see around us much violence, crime and degradation of values. It makes us worry over what is in store for future generations. However, the present time is as good or bad as any other time and the state of the world and society could not be some thing other than what it is now. Our predecessors have poured out their anguish at the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-53911302392239833002009-12-01T06:11:00.000+05:302009-12-01T14:13:37.007+05:30

While Mount Kailash is regarded as the divine abode of Shiva, the Arunachala Hill at Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, is regarded as Shiva Himself. That is why it impels more than 15 lakh pilgrims to walk barefoot on the 14-km path around it every full moon night. The Shiva Purana says that Shiva manifested here as a Tejoling or subtle column of the blazing light of knowledge. In the Satya Yuga,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-12993366296480604352009-11-30T06:59:00.000+05:302009-11-30T10:01:29.391+05:30

Upanishad means to sit close. You can sit close to someone on the physical plane but there may remain a huge distance in the mind. The Upanishads talk about mental proximity. In the Isha Upanishad, Isha represents the “I” or energy and “sha” is the completeness: the full, silent, vast, divine. The invocation begins with an exclamation of fullness, or “That is full”. What is that fullness

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-34849379927830904472009-11-29T06:24:00.000+05:302009-11-29T15:26:06.553+05:30

Women are intrinsically compassionate. It is often believed that they have a capacity to forgive acts of violence more easily than men, even if the act has taken a terrible personal toll. But it now seems that it is not always possible, even for women, to abandon their longing for retributive justice. Three days before the first anniversary of the Mumbai terror attack, Kavita Karkare and

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-3862363605316559802009-11-28T06:15:00.000+05:302009-11-28T12:17:37.170+05:30

Who doesn’t wish for happiness? Can money buy happiness? Do great achievements bring true happiness? Riches, success and achievements may bring name, fame and pride, but they do not always bring happiness. If lack of money and success creates sorrow and suffering, their possession does not give happiness either. The question then is how can you be peaceful and happy, irrespective of whether you

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-533827278583435282009-11-27T06:14:00.000+05:302009-11-28T12:15:11.488+05:30

Apilgrimage undertaken with sincerity and devotion could be a life-transforming, spiritually invigorating experience. This is what happened to me when i went for Umra a few years ago. Umra can be taken up during any part of the year and it involves most of the rituals of Haj, but it is not a Haj. My experience with two important rituals that are also a part of Haj – tawaf or circumambulating the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-86401309945660251082009-11-26T06:01:00.001+05:302009-11-26T12:02:20.888+05:30

The older we get, the larger our memory banks become. Our memories, like everything else in life, are a medley of the good and bad, the positive and negative. Memory is more than just a receptacle of past experiences. We can review the contents of our memory bank and either energise ourselves and live a full life, or put ourselves down and feel blue. Memories are also made up of our

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-40353262863430891802009-11-25T06:56:00.001+05:302009-11-26T12:00:28.665+05:30

French painter Paul Gaugin lived the last few years of his life on an island in the South Pacific. Shortly before his death, he finished his last masterpiece, entitled Whoarewe? Wheredo we come from? Where are we going? He wrote: ‘I have put all my energies into this work before dying – a passion so painful, a vision so clear.’ Osho, is there any more you can say about the role of creativity?

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-52040098045331286322009-11-24T06:04:00.001+05:302009-11-24T10:05:17.039+05:30

Your voice could help you establish a direct connection with the Divine. In Hindustani music, this is called sakshatkar. It is the development of a voice that sings using the halak or full breath rather than the vocal chords alone. This is easier said than done. Singing aa-wise, mouth opened in the aakaar is to be replaced by singing haa-wise, mouth opened to the haakaar, so as to open the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-89791628518826105202009-11-23T06:52:00.002+05:302009-11-23T09:54:28.131+05:30

The Srimad Bhagavatam lit a new path to the Divine, free from binding ritual and esoteric abstractions. On the one hand, it portrayed the majesty and might, the mahatmya of the Supreme Being. On the other, it revealed the tantalising possibility of blissful communion with Him in a loving relationship. In doing so, the Bhagavatam introduced the liberating and transcendental gospel of bhakti yoga.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-12959412264807187352009-11-22T05:46:00.000+05:302009-11-22T17:46:58.691+05:30

Every day, the news bulletin reminds us of everything that is evil in the world — bombings, murders, war. But with each act of violence comes a great opportunity — to forgive. Can we manage this, even when we suffer acutely from horrific acts? Difficult as it may sound, not doing so may be worse. As Robert Assaglioli observed: “Without forgiveness, life is governed...by an endless cycle of

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-78032625711486695852009-11-21T06:48:00.000+05:302009-11-21T18:49:26.166+05:30

Rainbow healing is an ancient method that heals the body and improves emotional and mental health. Gradually, through practice and meditation, visualisation and conscious imagination, the body of the practitioner soaks and breathes the seven components of light in the right proportion. In rainbow healing meditation, the practitioner delves into the subconscious and higher-conscious minds to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-44887412383634344322009-11-20T06:39:00.001+05:302009-11-20T10:11:24.035+05:30

We sometimes think: why are we so greedy for land and property, why are we motivated by political desires? Sometimes it’s hard to love like this. We should not detest the diseased. We should try to rid the disease because all living creatures are connected with one another. If we cannot love the violent, cruel-hearted, hateful and the envious, then we cannot love anyone. Just as iron is

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-50939004932202341312009-11-19T06:07:00.000+05:302009-11-20T10:09:10.613+05:30

What is the difference between Yoga and Tantra? Tantra says you have to accept yourself as you are – do not restrain, just accept, but be aware and you will transcend.’ Yoga promotes restraint. Both ways are acceptable. Tantra and Yoga may be two different manifestations but their genesis is the same. How is that? In Tantra you accept yourself because that is the expression of your

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-65707136880506053352009-11-18T06:41:00.000+05:302009-11-18T16:43:04.239+05:30

When we say ‘yoga’, for many of you it might mean some impossible physical postures. Yoga means to be in perfect tune. When you are in yoga, your body, mind and spirit, and existence, are in absolute harmony. When you finetune yourself to a point where everything functions beautifully within you, the best of your abilities will just flow out of you. When you are happy, your energies function

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-5449469574161761682009-11-17T06:46:00.000+05:302009-11-17T15:47:50.964+05:30

The message of the Bible is – be virtuous and you will attain the kingdom of heaven. But can being good alone help us live happily when we step into the ever-demanding world of today with its numerous stresses and strains? Despite our best efforts when we do not get a congenial environment, such as the right job to prove our worth, or people in whose company we feel good, we become unhappy. This

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-59292359277950068412009-11-16T06:57:00.001+05:302009-11-16T08:58:02.095+05:30

Almost all religions refer to the oneness of God. Prophets and gurus stress this trait of God in their scriptures where oneness appears as the precursor of all other traits of the Divine, such as omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience. Upon close scrutiny and analysis you will find that all the other traits attributed to God boil down to this trait of oneness. Oneness of the Divine is

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-51192386149587820472009-11-15T06:06:00.000+05:302009-11-15T15:09:25.375+05:30

Everyone constantly faces challenges — at home with our spouse, children or other family members; at work with our peers and bosses. Sometimes life itself seems a challenge because it throws up so many relationship-based and situational challenges. But the biggest challenge of them all is one’s mind. Often, it is possible to control everything else but one’s mind. Being master of the mind

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-2791721171050683652009-11-14T06:36:00.001+05:302009-11-14T09:38:13.333+05:30

Random Access Memory, RAM in short, is a feature that makes computers meaningful. It is hard to imagine a PC functioning minus RAM. Computers without RAM are like people with dysfunctional memory, who live a life divorced from reality. On coming across such people, we realise how blessed we are to have our memory alive and in order. Sages, however, might beg to differ. In Indian spiritual

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-4749456557106442392009-11-13T06:03:00.001+05:302009-11-13T14:06:44.292+05:30

Iwas a student of a village madrassa in Uttar Pradesh in the 1930s. We studied a poem by the renowned poet Ismail Meerathi in the Urdu reader. It was titled ‘Hamari Gaay’ – Our Cow. One of the verses went like this: ‘‘Kal jo ghas chari thi ban mein,/ Doodh bani woh gaay ke than mein.’’ It means that the cow is a special kind of animal. It takes (eats) grass and in return gives us milk. In

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-69960427583061653522009-11-12T06:50:00.000+05:302009-11-12T08:51:36.353+05:30

How should you live? With joy and exuberance. Joy should come not only from serving society but also from enjoying the best things in life. Just live with them, enjoy them. You do not have to possess something to enjoy it. Look at the butterfly. Its lifespan is so short, yet it enjoys itself thoroughly. It goes from flower to flower, the most beautiful creation of nature. It sucks nectar –

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-10093165796147983152009-11-11T06:52:00.000+05:302009-11-11T09:53:11.893+05:30

There are two kinds of Indian oral-aural art traditions: the concrete and the fluid. Although both their form and content are tangible, their purpose has been mystical. The concrete, like the statues of the 64 yoginis in Jabalpur and Bhubaneswar, are long-lasting and evidence of specific art traditions which went into firming up a culture. They represent cultural and scientific heritage.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3918422980512079799.post-60705227602176700912009-11-10T06:06:00.000+05:302009-11-10T09:07:20.699+05:30

Ch’i Kung, pronounced chee gung, literally means ’energy work’. Ch’i Kung is about cultivating an expanded awareness. It helps your mind gain control over the movement of the life force. It is the practice of learning how to concentrate, circulate and focus ch’i. It is considered to be the granddaddy of many internal and mindful arts, including T’ai Chi. Many have at least heard of T’ai Chi

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0