Does soul exist? <---- Only the soul exists and nothing else!

The Upanishads declare that it was only the soul that existed in the very beginning. And this soul ‘became many’.

Does soul exist? <---- Of course it does.

The ancient Sänkhya philosophers adopted a purely dialectical approach to everything. They even went to the extent of rejecting the idea of God since,(according to them) the concept of God is not essential to explain the world as it exists. But they were very firm on the existence of soul.

Does soul exist? <---- Useless question to ask!

Buddhists, while they believe firmly in re-birth, at the same time insist that the soul does not exist – anatta* (no atta – no soul) as they declare!

Does soul exist? <---- There is no proof that it does

That is what a true scientist would say. He won’t say – “soul does not exist” since he does not have a proof for that either.

Watch out, you are reaching the limits!

The CEO of one US company used to annually post ‘April fool’ prank on his social media site just to confound his clients. But this year he refused to do so, since he felt that the way the social media has been used nowadays to spread all kinds of misinformation has made him sick.

Know your strength

Sometimes we tend to overlook our strengths and brood over our weak points. It is not arrogance to be aware of our strengths, but it is necessary at times.

It was a hot summer afternoon. I wanted to dispose off some vegetable and fruit peels. Normally, I feed some stray cattle that happen to come that way. I went out of the house looking for some prospective needy. Found a big stray bull standing under a tree. It was quite big and scary. I did not dare go anywhere near it. If it so wished, it could toss me around just by a slight movement of its hefty body. 

But I did not want to waste the peels either. So, I hesitatingly moved towards the bull. Surprisingly, the bull started running away from me! It was quite scared of me, though I was no match for its strength!. After a bit of enticing and cajoling. it stopped and looked at me. Only then I could throw the things at it. 

The bull was quite strong and I was no match for it. But it did not know that!

Think and be Enlightened- a new book just published

Just published a new book titled Think and be Enlightened. This is a compilation of some of my most popular posts in the area of Yoga, Indian philosophy and other inspirational thoughts. 

If you are a member of 'kindle unlimited', you can read this book free. At the moment this book is available only on amazon. 

Click the following link to view the product page on amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LR5WN4

ASIN : B071LR5WN4
Pages : 160 approx (on kindle) 

Don’t discourage questions

When we are too small, our elders often restricted us from doing several things without giving any valid reasons. Probably, that was the only way since we were too young to understand reason.

The most dangerous creature on the planet!

While strolling in my friend’s farm, I have often noticed that the red ants that flock the dry leaves, and inflict a rather painful sting, stop stinging once they get used to you.

“Let all positive things come to us from everywhere”

So goes one ancient Vedic saying (Rgveda 1.89.1). That is the epitome of openness. On the other extreme, we have people who are closed to anything outside their limited boundaries and prefer to live in an imaginary world.

What you experience and what actually IS, need not be the same!

Nowadays, I see some popular Gurus making their supposedly  ‘mysterious experiences’ as their USP. They urge their prospective disciples to believe what they experience as the ultimate reality.

How to be an achiever?

Rather than getting into philosophical discussion on “Who is an achiever?”, let me get down straight into a simple method that almost always works.

Why Yoga? Why not just enjoy life?

There are people who wonder why one has to undergo all kinds of restrictions – restrain desires, be honest, don’t hurt anyone, live a simple life, practice consistently, and so on, in the name of Yoga. Why not just enjoy life?

Higher is your qualification, more you are gullible?

Though very strange, I have often observed this happening. Many a highly qualified intellectuals get easily fooled by pseudo Gurus. I have always wondered why? 

More is not always better

Some modern ‘Yoga’ teachers advise their students to perform Yoga postures at a faster pace and do it for a longer duration – more is always better! In fact one of the research papers on Yoga benefits even compares Yoga with some African tribal dance that is supposed to be very strenuous!

Perplexing ‘Yoga’ breathing claims

I have heard many ‘Yoga’ Gurus making claims on how ‘Yoga’ breathing works. I am not sure whether their claims are medically sound.

Tail wagging the dog!

One of my readers recently complained to me that I give too much emphasis on ‘Yama’ and ‘Niyama’ of Yoga. The reader felt that ‘Yama’ and ‘Niyama’ are not at all necessary! And laying emphasis on them discourages people from practicing Yoga!

 

Well, he is not the only one who makes such statements.

Yogic hair splitting

Some of my readers have pointed out my ‘wrong’ usage of the word ‘steps’ while referring to Patanjali’s Ashtänga Yoga  as ‘Patanjali’s 8 step Yoga process’.

Yes. The word Ashtänga literally means 8 limbs and not 8 steps. But if you have carefully observed these 8

Yogic Law of Exponentials

Many people have asked me – “How long does it take to experience the effectiveness of Yoga?” The simple answer is “it depends!”

 

For most people effectiveness means stress reduction which is one of the prominent effects of Yoga if practiced properly. Less stress means better health, better performance, peace of mind, and so on. Now, how long does it take?

Which is the best Yoga?

Nowadays, people have wide options even for Yoga – something like a menu card in a restaurant! Of course, each item comes tagged with a price 😉 How does one decide?

Yoga timeline (over 3000 years)

One keeps hearing/reading different things being called Yoga. Most people have various notions about Yoga that are quite confusing. So I thought of giving a brief timeline of Yoga (set of practices that apparently resemble the system propounded by Patanjali – a generally accepted source) spanning over 3000 years.

‘that’ which one needs to know

We started this series of posts with a question whether there is anything after knowing which we know everything; after hearing which we have heard everything. Or in other words, what is the essence of all the diversity we see around us as the world and our individual existences?

More ways to sink in the fundamental truth

In the previous posts we saw the origin and final destiny of the universe that we see around. But Swetaketu was still not convinced in spite of his father reasoning it out the way we did in previous posts. So, father gives more analogies to sink in the truth.

Forward trace instead of back tracing

In the previous post we back traced to infer the fundamental cause for this universe. There is one more way that can lead you to the same conclusion. Instead of back tracing, trace forward.

Supposing you have a dying man. Observe him carefully. Gradually, his ability to see, hear, feel and so on cease. And finally he dies. His body is still there but he is dead. Why? Because the soul has left the body. 

Trace the cause from the effect

If you want to know the origin of the universe, keep tracing back the cause, starting from the effect. You will eventually reach the starting point.

For example, you see a huge tree with hundreds of branches, thousands of leaves and so on. How did this tree come into existence?

Something can’t come from nothing

No matter what science says, ancient Indians were clear that something cannot come from nothing. What was that ‘thing’ which this world came from? 

 

For want of a better word, ancient Indians called that thing as Sath – which literally means existence. This world came from Sath and not from nothing. So ‘in the beginning’ there was this Sath that created or took the form of ‘everything’ that we see around – the world, the beings in it, and so on.

How does one infer that?

We will see that in the next post.

Start              Next           Previous

This is a series of posts based on the well known discussion in Chändogya Upanishad (part of Säma Veda, believed to have been recorded more than 3000 years ago) regarding ultimate truths.

Matter is not everything

Science says that everything is material. There is nothing else. Now the question is - "why is a living person living and a corpse a dead body? A living body as well as a dead body are both made up of the same set of basic elements. But one is alive and the other is dead. Why?"

Understand the fundamentals

There are probably infinitely many things in this world. Each is different in its own way. Each has a different use. Each has a different property. But all these infinitely many things are made of 3 fundamental particles – electrons, protons and neutrons. These 3 particles in different combinations and different configurations form all that that exists in this world.

You can spend your entire lifetime to understand each of the things in this world. Or if you understand these three fundamental particles and their properties, you almost know everything in this world. Rest are just the details!

Ancient Indians also talked about three fundamental things that formed everything in this material world. These three things are sathwa, rajas and tamas. Sathwa has no mass but it only has potential energy. It is like the proton. Rajas also has no mass but it has kinetic energy. It is like an electron.  And finally, the tamas is all mass and nothing else. It is like the neutron. 

The ancient Indians believed that once you know these three fundamental elements that form the entire material world, you know everything. 

Well, almost.  What is it that we left out?

We will see that in the next post.

Start              Next           Previous

This is a series of posts based on the well known discussion in Chändogya Upanishad (part of Säma Veda, believed to have been recorded more than 3000 years ago) regarding ultimate truths.

Do you know ‘that’?

What is it ‘that’ I am talking about? It is ‘that’ after knowing which you know everything; it is ‘that’ after hearing which you have heard all; it is that after understanding which there is nothing more to understand. 

Does any such thing exist?

Truth of truth

I came across a self claimed rationalist blogger vociferously declaring that belief in God is just a superstition since no such God exists. In response, another self claimed Guru counseled that the existence of God cannot be argued upon, but should be just experienced.

Which of these conclusions are correct? Actually, as far as truth is concerned, it is always relative. There is no absolute truth. If you are a person who can see the world, the entire world is colorful. But, for a born blind person, it could be sound full or even touch full but never colorful.

Most of the time, what is true is not that important but in what way it affects us is important. All truths have an associated weight. If two truths have the same weight, you can accept either of them.

If a Baba says that by breathing in a particular way, blockage in your arteries, even if it is 90%, can be cleared, there may be some truth with non zero weight in his statement. But there is high risk of having heart attack if you accept his truth as against the counsel of a cardiologist who has recommended angioplasty. You may still die of heart attack even after angioplasty but the chances are less. The reason is that the weight of Baba’s truth is much less than that of the Cardiologist’s truth. So, it is the weight which is important when it matters.

In rest of the cases, you are free to accept any truth depending on your choice.