In my 3 months at Tiruvannamalai, I came across Ramana Maharshi’s Updesa Saram, literally it means the essence (saram) of his teachings (updesha). It became very dear to me very quickly. And I spent quite some time delving into it. Spending time in the amazing Ramana Maharshi ashram, I went through the entire song word […]
Spiritual Roots
The ONE Path
A lot of the bhajans and spiritual material are full of praises of their own path. Often even at the cost of other (genuine) paths. Praising their own path, developing an ego about it, thinking it is the best is an inherent aspect of most spiritual communities. And I have realised it is inevitable (will […]
The “Heart” in Spiritual Teachings
I had earlier written about navigating the proverbial Heart v/s Mind conflict situation. This refers to a logic v/s emotional dilemma. ‘Heart’ is used in these situations to mean the emotional or illogical desire. Cultivating a ‘sense’ of the situation is the solution. The sense of the situation goes deeper than both logic and emotion. […]
Actions that Liberate: Doing Our Best [Karma Yoga]
In any situation, it seems the best option is to DO OUR BEST. Whatever it may be. A situation we like – do our best. A situation we don’t like – do our best. Over time it does not matter whether we like or we don’t like the situation. We just do our best. This […]
Two Different Spiritual Paths and Gurus – Can It Work?
As I write this post, I have been staying in Tiruvannamalai for over 2 and half months. And in these days many people have expressed that they don’t understand which path I am following now. I do the kriya practices of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of Isha Foundation. And now I am spending time at Ramanasramam […]
Mistake #2 : Enlightenment is Unreachable (Too Tough)
I got many responses to my solo cycling tour from Berlin to Copenhagen in 2015. One of them which was oft repeated was, “I would love to do this once in my life”. It was a very weird statement and I couldn’t identify with it at all. Because if it is something we love to […]
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निश्चल तत्वं : Spirituality in the Cosmopolitan Society
One of the demands of a spiritual life is steadfastness on your path. There are ups and downs. There are doubts and deep experiences of clarity. Through it all the consistent, steadfastness is significant. निश्चल तत्वं जीवन मुक्ति Nischala tatvam jeevanmukti Unshakable Steadfastness leads to liberation (Sadhguru explains this line here) In today’s cosmopolitan society […]
Discipline In Spiritual Paths To Transcend Likes & Dislikes
While having ice-cream with family, Aunty: *something finicky about food* Me: Aunty you are too fussy Uncle: Aren’t you fussy? Me: No, not really Uncle: Ok how about we have some bhel… Me: I can have bhel, of course with no onion and garlic Uncle: Why? Isn’t that fussy too? Me: No that is discipline… […]
Karma Yoga: Spirituality is NOT Social Service
This seems to be a common theme in a lot of my disgruntled conversations with people. Either they have this zeal to help and improve the world, which is fine, BUT they channel it with a complete and utter disregard for spiritual & religious traditions. Because mistakenly they think that social service is a better form […]
Renunciation: A Look At Its Meaning & Associated Myths
Lately I have a new interest – Podcasts. Podcasts aren’t really new to the online space and I am a digital marketeer, but I have just very recently connected with the joy of podcast listening. 😉 It was prompted by a vitamin deficiency driven insomnia. At night, I would lie down and rest my eyes. […]