GardenTalk06-A Magic solution for all your gardening problems!

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In the previous episode we were talking about some miraculous finds of a senior Indian scientist namely Dr. Krishan Chandra. Let me continue on that.

(Mind17)-Science, Philosophy and Spirituality

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I started this series of talks apparently about mind two months ago.

(Mind16)-Everything can be explained logically!

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Reasoning is a very powerful tool used by our mind to know that which is not directly apparent to our senses. Can we use logic to know everything – even those that cannot be perceived by our senses?

GardenTalk05-A Green Yogi!

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You probably are aware of an Indian Yogi who is quite popular these days. This Yogi who runs multi-billion corporate houses, with his finger in almost in every pie, has made his version of Yoga almost a craze among the Indian masses.

(Mind15)-Describing the indescribable

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Ancient Indians believed that the entire Vedic literature is the recording of visions of various sages when they were in deep states of meditation. They did not compose them. But they merely had the visions that they later recorded.

One such record of visions of a sage by name Mandukya, namely the Mandukya Upanishad, is considered to be the essence of all the Vedas by philosophers like Sankara. It is a very short record with only 12 verses. Gaud pada uses this short composition as a basis of his theory that we discussed in the previous episode. What do these 12 verses say?

(Mind14)-It is just a grand illusion!

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Buddhism that started with its anicca or impermanence theory, gradually developed into many more forms. 

First, they said that both the body and the mind appear and disappear in quick succession, both being impermanent. Then some of them came up with the theory that bodies don’t exist at all, and ‘it is all in the mind’ as we discussed in the previous episode.

GardenTalk04-Wealth locked is wealth lost!

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Imagine a miserly man who always stashes his wealth in a locker. He has lot of wealth but it is of no use. Unless he takes it out from the locker and uses it, it is as good as his not having it!








 

(Mind13)-It is all in the Mind!

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Buddhism that started as Tera Vada Buddhism, evolved into many more forms over a period of time. Adherents to each form claimed authority from Buddha himself. There was Mahayana, Vajrayana, Zen and so on.

One interesting development that revolved around the Mind, which is the topic of interest to us, is the so called Vijnyana Vada that got developed as an offshoot of Mahayana Buddhism sometime around 4th century A.D. They had some interesting views about the Mind.

(Mind12)-Buddhist view on the Mind

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Buddhism is generally attributed to the great reformer philosopher Siddhartha Gautama who probably lived during 623-543 B.C. Buddha was more concerned with the miseries that afflicted common people and he gave up his throne and went in search of a solution to all the miseries of mankind.

The early form of the religion that got formulated sometime during 300 B.C., i.e. two centuries after the death of Buddha, was called ‘Teravada’ Buddhism – a word that simply meant – ‘the path of the elders’. 

Most of what I am going to talk in this episode pertains to this early form of Buddhism which is believed to be based on the preaching of Buddha as recorded in the Tipitakas.

GardenTalk03-A dwarf can be a giant!

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There is an interesting story in the ancient Indian mythology. Apparently, there was a wicked King by name Bali. God wanted to minimize his menace to mankind. So, God took the form of a dwarf – Vamana and approached the king asking for 3 foot holds of land. 

The king thought – “Afterall a dwarf! How much land he can lay his foot on?” So, he agreed to give him that much land. 

(Mind11)-Early attempts to know the Mind by the Greeks

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For the past several episodes I discussed our current scientific views about our Mind. I took some interesting excerpts from my book “How does the Mind Work?” while explaining the scientific views.

In the next few episodes, I am going to pick up some interesting ideas about the Mind from my book “Missing dimensions in our current understanding of the Mind”.

My idea is to approach the Mind from both sides – modern science as well as ancient philosophy, pick useful things from both, and finally take you to regions beyond the mind itself! So, stay tuned till the end of this series.

(Mind10)-The biggest puzzle!

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We started our discussions with the fundamental premise that brain and mind are almost synonymous. One by one, we saw how many aspects of our mind can be mapped on to the activities of the brain.

We said that our feelings, thoughts, consciousness and even the so called ‘free will’ are all just happenings in our brain. We were almost close to concluding that even the illusive entity namely the soul does not exist. We can explain everything about our existence without taking recourse to concepts like soul etc.

But do we really have all the answers?

GardenTalk02-Miracle makers

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Now-a-days one keeps coming across many Gurus, who use miracles to attract more followers. They write books on their mystic experiences; put up internet ads promising wonderful results if you enroll in their courses.

But we often close our eyes to miracles that have been going on around us since ages and still very active. But these miracle makers don’t put up ads, nor they are interested in our ‘donations’. 

Are you aware of them?

(Mind09)-Do we really have a free will?

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We often think that what really makes us different from inanimate things is the ‘free will’ that we are supposed to be having.

An inanimate thing like a fan for example, can start, stop, run slowly or very fast, not on its own but only when we switch it on or off, or when we tweak the regulator. That is because the fan is not alive, though it can move. It does not have a will of its own. It just does what we want it to do.

(Mind08)-Are you conscious?

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I know it sounds a bit absurd to ask such a question. It is like asking someone whether he or she is asleep! If you are not conscious, there is no way you can answer my question.

GardenTalk01-Self propelled endless store of nutrients

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I see spirituality in most of what I do. To me gardening is not just a hobby or pastime, but a deep involvement with the nature around. Some form of meditation, some way of universalizing.

(Mind07)-What is thought?

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You probably have noticed that our thoughts are often influenced by our past experiences and memories. One Guru of recent times even goes to the extent of dismissing thoughts as just a jumbling of memories and nothing else!

(Mind06)-What is our brain made of?

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Brain is such a complex part of our body that you may need a detailed book to understand that. That is what I have attempted to do in my book “How does the Mind work?”. But still, what I have presented in that book is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

(Mind05)-Faith can do miracles!

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Homeopathy is one medical discipline which can cure any disease without any harmful side effects. Nor does it need any invasive procedures, not even any painful pricks. Just take some sugar pills and you can cure yourselves.

(Mind04) Love – not divine after all!

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Love is one of the human emotions that is often eulogized to the extent of raising it to divinity! Not that animals don’t exhibit this emotion. But they probably don’t believe in God as we do 😉
 

(Mind03 ) Are you getting old?!

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It is all right. Everyone does. That is the natural process. Have you noticed the first symptom of getting old? Yes, you guessed it right. You start forgetting things!

Not that you forget everything. You still remember all those nasty things you did in your younger days. Those happy carefree days, those scolding you got from your parents for no fault of yours, and so on. But somehow, you start forgetting where you just left your mobile phone or the spectacles!

(Mind02) Are you left brained or right brained?

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You probably have heard about this. Some of us are supposed to be left brain dominated and others right brain dominated. Not that we have two brains. What it means is that in some of us one of our brain ‘hemispheres’ plays a dominant role.

(Mind01) Mind your own busyness!

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When some one fools around a bit too much with a long poky nose, we tell that person - “Mind your own business!”
But unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, Mind IS my BUSYness!

MB21-Why was Krishna right in doing what he did

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No, I am not playing the devil’s advocate. But I am only trying to look deeper and see whether there is any justification to whatever Krishna did; Whether Vyasa really convey the intricacies of righteousness or Dharma through his master piece namely the Mahabharata.

MB20-Was it really a war of righteousness?!

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For the past several weeks, we have been discussing the great Indian Epic namely the Mahabharata. 

As we saw, the most significant part of this story is the final war in which millions were massacred – brothers killed brothers, students killed their teachers, sons killed their parents and grandparents, friends killed their friends, and so on. It was a saga of brutal killing and ‘fight unto death’ with utter disregard to right and wrong.


In that case, how was the war called the war of righteousness? Apparently, the author of this Epic, namely Vyasa, is supposed to have written it to convey what righteousness is all about!

MB19-One last act of deceit!

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As we discussed in the previous episode, the stage was all set for the final act of this drama of war of righteousness!

Duryodhana had emerged from his hideout from beneath the lake. Though tired, he was ready to fight his archrival Bhima in a last ‘do or die’ act. Bhima who was waiting all along for this opportunity was all the more ready.

MB18-The devil quoting the bible

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Well, we are discussing a story that probably took place when Bible was not even there. I am just using a popular phrase!

After the death of Karna, that we discussed in the previous episode, the Kauravas were totally disarrayed. Duryodhana was struck by immense grief. He not only lost his best friend, but also lost the last surviving warrior who could possibly win him the kingdom that seemed to go into the hands of the Pandavas.

MB17-The Sun finally sets

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Many of us remember righteousness only when we are at the receiving end. When all is well with us, we don’t care for right and wrong. But, when we are helpless, suddenly we remember righteousness and start preaching others about how they should act!

MB16-Ashwatthama’s last minute bid to end the war

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Having promised his elder brother Yudhishthira that he would slay Karna that day, Arjuna along with Krishna rushed to the battle field looking for Karna.

Karna too was all set. He had made up his mind that either he would kill Arjuna that day or get killed by him. There was no way both could return from the war field live that day.

MB15-Frustration blinds even the wisest!

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Most of us tend to make silly mistakes when we are frustrated and desperate. Our wisdom evades us and we make fool of ourselves. Probably, that is what happened to Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas.

MB14-You are helpless if fate conspirers against you!

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That is what happened to Karna, the great friend of the Kaurava King Duryodhana.

Karna was actually an abandoned child brought up by a poor charioteer. So, all through his life, he was ridiculed as a ‘Soota Putra’, meaning a charioteer’s son.

MB13-Drona killed by deceit!

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After the slaughter of great warrior Abhimanyu by deceit, the saga of deceit continued with either side resorting to all kinds of unfair means to kill each other.

MB12-All is fair in love and war!

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At least that is how the saying goes and many of us really think so! But not so in a war that was meant to be a war of righteousness – or Dharmayuddha.

MB11-Drona – The Ancient Indian test-tube baby!

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Today we are all familiar with the procedure called In-Vitro Fertilization, which has come as a boon to many a mother who cannot conceive naturally. 

In common parlance, the babies born by such a procedure are called ‘test tube babies’, though they are really not born in a test tube per se. Only the fertilization of ovum by the sperm takes place outside the body of the would be mother, in a Petri dish – ‘test tube’ under controlled conditions.

But not so, in the case of Drona – if you believe what the story says. Drona was a true test tube baby!

MB10-Winning by ‘hook or crook’!

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After the fall of Bhishma, there was some hope that the war would end. Bhishma tried his best to dissuade the Kauravas from further massacre.

But the evil Kauravas were far from reforming. They somehow wanted to eliminate the Pandavas ‘by hook or crook’ as they say.

MB09-Amba finally takes her revenge!

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Having come to know about Bhishma’s decision not to confront Shikandi, or Amba in her previous birth, both sides, Kauravas as well as Pandavas were charting out their way ahead.

MB08-Shikandi – a transgender hell bent on revenge!

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Even great people commit heinous mistakes. So did Bhishma. And the result was Shikandi.

In his previous birth, Shikandi was the eldest of the three daughters of King of Kashi. In that birth his name was Amba. How Amba became Shikandi is a sad story which we will discuss now.

MB07-Bhishma’s Achilles heel!

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As promised to the Kauravas, Bhishma continued to wreak havoc on the Pandava army day in and day out. Thousands of soldiers and great warriors on the Pandava side were killed by raging Bhishma.

MB06-What do you do if God wants to kill you?!

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When you are in difficulties and when your life itself is at stake, you pray to God for help. What if God himself tries to attack you? You have no one else to turn to. Nor you can do anything to protect yourself.

That is what exactly must have happened to Bhishma.

MB05-Bhishma – the man the terrible!

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In the previous episode we were discussing the strange behavior of Bhishma. On one hand he was all for the Pandavas. But at the same time, he was hell bent on vanquishing them by siding with their opponent. Why? 

Let us dig a bit into Bhishma’s past. 

MB04-Seeking enemy’s permission before killing him!

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Have you ever heard of anyone seeking the permission of the enemy before killing him? That sounds ridiculous and insane. But Yudhishthira did exactly that.

BookTalk: Audio version of 'Mantra to Enhance Your Mental Capabilities'

In today’s book talk I am going to discuss about the audio version of my book “A Mantra to enhance your mental capabilities”.

MB03-Humiliation is impossible to forget!

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Many of us who have undergone humiliation know how difficult it is to forget and forgive. We may be very righteous, endowed with clarity, broad minded. But still, if we are humiliated, that too over and over again, we hardly forgive the person who has humiliated us. 

That is exactly what happened to Dhritarastra. 

MB02-Vyasa – A dark boy born on an island!

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Probably, there is no other author in the entire Indian history who is as revered, as versatile, as multifaceted, and as proficient as Vyasa who also happens to be the author of Mahabharata we are talking about. 

His actual name was Krishna Dvaipayana – literally meaning ‘a dark boy born on an island!’ What a strange name! 

Let me give a bit of his background. 

MB01-Mahabharata: The biggest Epic ever known

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Hi, I am happy to be back once again, after a short break. I hope that during my absence, you enjoyed listening to the Bhagavad Gita verses beautifully sung by Padmini Dinesh. If you have missed them for some reason, please go back to past episodes and do listen to them. I am sure you are going to like them and also have a new experience in Indian musical melody. She has done a great job. Thank you Padmini. 

Today, I am going to start another interesting series. My voice is almost fine now. But occasionally you may find some distortion. Please don’t mind. 

GV13…..Meditation can take you to the ultimate

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV12…..People follow different paths based on inherent nature

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV11…..The inherent nature makes people different

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV10…..How can we move beyond sense driven existence?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV9…..Why do we commit blunders?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

As usual, the verses are sung by Padmini Dinesh followed by English interpretations.

GV8…..How should one indulge in sense pleasures?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

As usual, the verses are sung by Padmini Dinesh followed by English interpretations.

GV7…..What is wrong in going after sense pleasures?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

As usual, the verses are sung by Padmini Dinesh followed by English interpretations.

GV6…..How does one steady the mind?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion. As usual, the verses are sung by Padmini Dinesh followed by English interpretations

GV5…..How does a real Yogi look like?

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

As usual, the verses are sung by Padmini Dinesh followed by English interpretations.

GV4…..How to be a real Yogi while still being in the world

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV3…..Don’t go after petty things – Aim big

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV2…..Why we should not worry about death

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Let me continue with more verses from Bhagavad Gita in this episode, taking off from our previous discussion.

GV1…..Verses from Bhagavad Gita

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Starting today, I will be posting some select verses from ancient Indian scripture namely Bhagavad Gita. This holy book is so well known that it needs hardly any introduction. So, I will skip that.

QV20.....Conclusion of ‘Quranic verses’ series

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In the past several episodes, I had a wonderful time sharing my thoughts on some of the verses from Holy Quran. Picking some really illuminating verses from the Holy Quran, I have tried to show how lofty these fundamental ideas are.

QV19.....Faith cannot be forced on others

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There are people who believe that Islam was spread at the point of a sword. There are even some Muslims, who think that their faith should be forced on others.

QV18.....Caught in the jaws of time!

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All of us, however successful or great we think we are, have to exit one day. Time spares none. It is as if we are all trapped in the jaws of time and the time is slowly gnawing us one after the other.

QV17.....Don’t waste your time; surrender to God

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As I said in the very beginning, Islam is a path of complete surrender. In a previous post, I gave reasons why we should surrender to God.

This idea of surrender as a chosen and inevitable path, is not something new to Quran or Islam. Even before prophet Muhammad, many ancient great men talked about the same path.

QV16.....World is but one family

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Today we see some people identifying themselves with specific color, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion and so on. But they forget that all of us belong to one big family, i.e. the family of humans.

NewBook: Towards a better understanding of Islam

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I am happy to announce the release of my 19th book “Towards a better understanding of Islam”.

QV15.....We are not responsible for our mistakes

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All of us would love to say that. We always want to blame someone else or the circumstances for all our mistakes. Unfortunately, we can’t get away with such excuses all the time!

QV14.....What happens when one dies?

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I have dealt with this very question earlier, when I discussed various Indian scriptures, whether it is the Upanishads, or the Bhagavad Gita, or even the Buddhist Tipitakas.

Though there are differences in the details, most Indian schools of thought do believe in re-birth – either the soul entering another new body, or the ‘dying consciousness’ of the person getting transmitted to another newly formed body, and resulting in rebirth.

QV13.....Why should one surrender to God?

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As I said in the very beginning, Islam is a path of complete surrender. But why should one surrender to God? Just because some religious scripture asks us to?

QV12.....What is the purpose of life?

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Many of us rarely bother to ask this question. Some say that the purpose is to enjoy! And some others say that purpose is to attain ultimate liberation. And some even consider the world to be a play of God!

BookTalk: Five simple grafting techniques

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In Today’s book talk, I am going to discuss about my book “Five simple grafting techniques best suited for most exotic fruit plants”.

QV11.....Islam’s way of balanced living

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Islam promotes a simple way of living. But does it mean that it advocates ascetic way of living?

QV10.....Why should one do charity?

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Continuing our discussion on the five fundamental injunctions of Islam, today let us discuss the importance of charity.

QV09.....Importance of prayers

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We were discussing the essentials of Islam. The holy Quran lays lot of emphasis on regular prayers or Salat or Namaz as they are called.

QV08.....How should we speak?

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We were discussing the essentials of Islam. As a third commandment, the holy Quran says –

“Speak fair to the people”. 

What does ‘fair’ mean? Does it mean speaking sugar coated words as we see nowadays?

BookTalk: Upanishads – A journey into the unknown

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In Today’s book talk I am going to discuss about my book “Upanishads – A journey into the unknown”.

The original title for this book that was in mind was – “Upanishads – A journey into the unknowable”. But then I changed it to the current title to avoid sounding a bit oxymoronic! If something is ‘unknowable’, there is no way you can know it!

QV07.....Why should we care for our parents and those in need?

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Continuing our discussion on the 5 essential commandments of Islam as listed by the Holy Quran, today let us take up the second commandment namely

“Treat with kindness your parents and kindred, and orphans and those in need.”

QV06.....Why should one worship only Allah?

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Continuing our discussion on the 5 essential commandments of Islam as listed by the Holy Quran, let us now see the second part of the first commandment. Quran says that one should worship Allah and only Allah. It quotes several past incidents when people had worshiped others as God and they were severely punished.

QV05.....Is Allah the God of Muslims?

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We were discussing the 5 essential commandments of Islam as listed by the Holy Quran. Let us now see the first commandment, namely “Worship Allah”.

Many of us think that Allah is the God of Muslims. And so do even some Muslim. But is that the case?

Essence of Islam

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Quran spells out a long list of Do’s and Don't s to be adhered to by a devout Muslim. Among these I feel the most essential things are the following.

BookTalk: Figure carving - the ethnic style

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In Today’s book talk I am going to discuss about my book “Figure carving = the ethnic style”.

Show us the way

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When you are on a spiritual journey it is important that you know how to proceed towards your destination. There may be several paths. Some may be easy, some extremely difficult. And some, that may take you just in the opposite direction!

What do these mystic sounds mean?

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There are strange combination of mystic sounds in the beginning of some chapters of Quran. No one knows for sure what those sounds really mean or why they are there in the beginning. A devout Muslim just chants them with devotion without worrying about what they mean.

Path of complete surrender

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“As-salamu alaykum”

Probably you are surprised to hear some non English words in the very beginning!. These are Arabic words meant to convey peace to the other person – a beautiful way of greeting each other. Salaam means peace.

We are 'that'!

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For the past several episodes, we were discussing how father Uddalaka tries to explain the unity of whole existence to his son Swetaketu.

Uddalaka arrives at his conclusion by systematically following the modern scientific approach – observation, experimentation and reasoning.

BookTalk: Buddha’s Soul

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In Today’s book talk I am going to talk about my book “Buddha’s Soul’.

Forward reasoning

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In the previous episodes, we saw how father Uddalaka traces the origin of the existence by backward reasoning. He continues, to show the same unity among all the existence by forward reasoning as well.

Material things are not everything

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In the previous episode, we saw how father Uddalaka traces the origin of all material things to three basic components – Satva, Rajas and Tamas.

Various combinations of these three basic constituents result in various material forms that we see around us.

Our worldly science seems to say that material things are everything. But Upanishads disagree.

Two way inferring

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The purpose of the story that we started discussing, namely the story of Uddalaka and Swetaketu was to declare the oneness of ‘everything’.

How do you say two things are same even though they appear to be different?

The God can think!

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I am just using a catchy title. By God I am referring to that root cause for the existence of this world. The Upanishads refrain from calling it by any name and they just refer to it as ‘Tat’ or ‘Sat’ - literally meaning ‘That’ or ‘Existence’.

Interestingly, many ancient scriptures – whether it is Bible or Quran or even the Upanishads have almost identical definition for God. They define God (or the ‘Tat’ in the Upanishads) as the one from which this world has emerged, the one that sustains whatever exists, and the one into which everything returns.

BookTalk: How and why of Yoga

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“I read this book with keen interest …. The author has succeeded in providing a comprehensive account on how Yoga can be effectively utilized in alleviating stress in a way common man can understand. The author has critically analyzed the role of mind-body interaction in the genesis of stress, and how Yoga helps in normalizing it…”

The reality behind this world

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As I said earlier, worldly science tries to deal with the diverse things that exist in this world around us. In contrast, spiritual science tries to see the unified view of this apparently diverse world.

The main contribution of the Upanishads is to declare that the apparent diversity is only superficial. Underneath this diversity, there is unity.

So the story we have been discussing, namely the story of father Uddalaka and son Swetaketu, starts off with the fundamental question of “how did this world come into existence?”

Knowing the essence is knowing everything

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There was this great sage Uddalaka who had a son by name Swetaketu. Probably this boy was a bit too much pampered. So unlike other boys who normally went to school, this boy did not, even when he reached an age of 12 years.

In ancient India, a Brahmin boy was supposed to join the school at an early age of say 5 to 8. If he did not, he was ridiculed as ‘Brahma bandhu’ - someone who merely calls himself as Brahmin, but not actually so.

Worldly science VS Spiritual science

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We often use the word ‘science’ to mean a discipline that predominantly emphasizes on objectivity, verifiability, and precision. These three aspects are the corner stones of all our scientific endeavor.

Look at closely what we do in science. We try to differentiate things from one another, understand each of them distinctly, and use that knowledge to better interact with the world around, live a better life and so on. Ultimately, science aims at making our lives more secure and comfortable. I call it worldly science.