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 […]
Aghora 1, At the left hand of God, by Robert Svoboda: Book Review
In Varanasi, I found a Spanish friend who had been living there for over 8 years. And she was the first person who told me a little about what she knew of the Aghora community. They eat dead bodies she said. I was curious. We went to the Harishchandra ghat to spot any Aghori at […]
Parents : A different viewpoint to ponder on
In our indic culture there is galores of stuff written and taught about parents. The most fundamental is respect towards older folks, specifically parents and grandparents. It is almost basic norm for us kids to touch feet of older folks. And some other respect related habits which only after seeing western or other very different […]
Sadhguru’s ‘Taliban’ controversy and Pondering on the Meaning of Words
I had never given much thought to the word ‘Taliban’. It has a clear negative and violent association with it as I don’t know a thing about Arabic or Persian language. I only know about the group that calls itself so and then indulges in abject violence. However, I do know the words ‘liberal’ and […]
The Second Half of 30s
One of the first blog posts here was when I turned 30. I was very happy and upbeat with my life. And quite characteristically I thought I was awesome. (I still do). 😀 Everyone should think they are awesome. Not in a fake way. Live a really deep life and feel awesome. There are some […]
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. […]
Year in Review : Revelations & So Much To Ponder
This review post for the year Vikram Samvat 2074 has taken its time. Usually, when I write a blog post – what I want to write is already clear in my mind. And then the thoughts get typed out smoothly or sometimes too many Qs and rethinking happens. Only rarely, it happens that I have […]
Sadhguru’s Youth & Truth Campaign Reminded me of finding the Guru in my 20s
A while back you may have come across the Youth & Truth campaign by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. He visited academic institutions across the country for an open discussion and debate with the students. Many of which have generated a lot of controversy owing to disagreements and impetuous questioning of the man by the students. I […]
Inside V/S Outside the Ashram
I have been thinking about writing this post for a while, because I have *some* experience of staying long-term in an ashram (only a year, but I had gone without an end-time in mind so I kind of stayed there like a long-term resident). Moreover, I have known many people closely who chose to stay […]
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 […]