The mind has a tendency to be restless – to constantly keep thinking of hundreds of things at once. Even when you sit still, the mind is never still. It keeps making up stories, analyzing imaginary scenarios, depending into daydreaming….The whole process of yoga is aimed at calming this restless mind. Asanas serve no greater purpose …
A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. Various cultures around the world, especially the older ones, have detailed rights of passage for both boys and girls. Among Native Americans, for example, the …
Epishura. Now, chances are that you have not heard of this. Nor had I. Epishura inhabits Lake Baikal, the largest source of freshwater in the world. It contains 23% of the worlds’s freshwater, and is renowned for it’s pure H2O. But how does the lake remain so clean? The answer lies in a zooplankton species …
अणुभ्यश्च महद्भ्यश्च शास्त्रेभ्यः कुशलो नरः।सर्वतः सारमादद्यात् पुष्पेभ्य इव षट्पदः।। – Skilled people learn from every source, be it big or small, much like honey bees, who collect nectar from all types of flowers. Writing about the Panchatantra opened a whole new world to me, one what stayed with me for over half a year, and 165 posts. I had to …
The summer of 91. The last exam had ended, and the vacations had begun. And so had my affair with the written word, again. Back in the 90s, we ran a neighbourhood library (now you know how I managed to read so much) and access to so many books made me delirious at times:) But …
Just as the sun, despite being lustrous, cannot shine without its rays, similarly, a king, even though he may be full of majesty, cannot be appreciated without capable servants. राजा तुष्टो हि भृत्यानाम् अर्थ-मात्रं प्रयच्छति ।ते तु संमान-मात्रेण प्राणैर् अप्य् उपकुर्वते ॥ ९१ ॥ rājā tuṣṭo hi bhṛtyānām artha-mātraṃ prayacchati |te tu saṃmāna-mātreṇa prāṇair apy upakurvate || …
To have gained and lost, is worse than not to have gained at all… Human life is all about striving towards something. Some work towards accumulating wealth, others strive hard to improve their quality of life. The journey towards our goals is hard, but the hope of getting there makes it worth the while. And …
As mentioned yesterday, am reading “The Anxious Generation” that is quite startling in terms of the subject matter – children are being rewired (actually have already been) and have transitioned from “play-based” childhood to “phone-based” childhood. A transition that will have lasting repercussions on the human race in general. I will write separately on the …
Tomorrow is Nirjala Ekādashi – a vrata without food and water. Started at sunrise, and will end the day after tomorrow, a bit post sunrise. 24 hours without food and water. Not as difficult as you think:) Also started a new book, that revolves around this central premise: “My central claim in this book is …
How do I start yoga? Quite a common question yes? Most people are used to enrolling in the neighbourhood yoga class, where the instructor quickly takes you through preparatory stretching, gets into simple postures and wraps it up with a 5 or 10 minute meditation routine. While this may work in a gymnasium or a …
