An Example of Being in The Present

This story is about detachment, about living in the moment. It is convenient to attach to and detach from situations as our need. Being always attached to anything, always carrying it in the mind is a handicap- a dependency.

Two Zen monks were on a pilgrimage. On the way, they came upon a rapid stream. They were about to wade through when they saw a beautiful woman in distress, by the bank of the stream. One of the monks went up to her and enquired about her problem.

She wanted to cross the stream to go to her village. But she was too afraid to step into the rapid waters and the slippery rocks. 

"Is that all?" He said, "I'll carry you across."

And he lifted the woman on to his shoulders, and waded across the stream.

The other monk, who had listened to this exchange stood dumb, looking on at the duo. After a while, he too crossed the stream.

The woman thanked the monk and went on her way.

The monks completed the rest of the day's walk in silence, without the philosophical chat they used to have on long treks.

In the evening, they reached a village, and stopped to rest there.

"I just can’t believe what you did today!" the second monk finally blurted to his companion.

"About what?" asked the monk who had helped the lady.

"You have broken the sacred vows-we monks are not supposed to even look at women or speak to them. You spoke to her, and even touched her! Sacrilegious!" the rant continued.

"Oh, her! My friend, I left her at the stream. But you're still carrying her!"

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Wouldn't it be nice for you to have a collection of Zen stories on paper back at your bed side ? Paul Reps' Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, has a large collection of Zen stories classified under various desirable qualities. A really good read. To order, click the following image:

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I Believe

Magnificent video, originally made by BBC One - Planet Earth :
http://www.andiesisle.com/creation/magnificent.html
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Hope For The Suicide-Prone: Perspectives From The Other Side

It may be difficult to find individuals who have not contemplated suicide at some point in their lives.
Suicide is not an easy, forever escape from the problems of life. At least that is what documented studies of suicide NDEs (Near Death Experiences) report.
This the true story of a woman who was so disgusted with life that she tried to put an end to it-- not once but two times-on successive days:
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/suicide03.html
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The Power of One

Do you have such a lot of ideas and goals that you find it hard to manage them all? This article could be of use to you in that case. It is for people who have too many plans on hand that they are left confused, not finishing any thing.

I collect books of all sorts-from Self help to Massage therapy, Yoga to Software development. And it has happened many times that I did not complete the ones I bought before buying the next one. Perhaps it is a disorder or a bad habit-finding release in shopping for books- Biblioholism?

Those entrepreneurs who ambitiously aim for a number of goals at the same time, find that it drains their energy. It discourages, for they can't see any measurable results, as they are firing off in all directions-writing books, developing software, learning languages, starting charities...

Harnessing the Power of One can help us overcome this roadblock and set us moving forward once again.

So what is the Power of One here?

• You unleash the Power of One when you take only one thing off your task list at a time.
• No matter how many other tasks you have, focus only on the one task at hand.
• The Power of One is a natural outcome of practicing being in the Here and Now.

For example, if you are on the phone with your partner at 3:00 and you have a sales presentation at 4:00, you'd have a nice time if you just forget the presentation while talking on the phone. And when you hang up, what next? Switch off the conversation from the mind as well, and focus on the presentation.

"Banal, and I already know that", could be your reaction. However, few people actually try to focus on one thing at a time. Otherwise, we wouldn't have so many road fatalities. Studies show that using mobile phones while driving greatly increases the risk of accidents. See this. And this. The second article is about plane crashes happening because pilots tried to combine flying with drinking.

So, welcome the Power of One into your life, to lead a safer, saner, and successful life. One at a time.

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Happiness Metaphors

We all do things for a common reason: happiness.

Perhaps we do not realize it: Nobody does actions that (he/she believes) bring unhappiness to them. Paradoxically though, most people stumble through life not knowing why they're doing something in the first place: it's for happiness. Whether its sex, eating out, reading, having a conversation, holding a job, building a house,...down to the minutest actions like scratching an itch and blinking--all are for attaining happiness.

Happiness may not be the right word that you prefer: perhaps it is satisfaction, fulfillment, joy, or bliss...

But what are the results we are getting? Are we searching in the right place ? Are we getting the final beatitude -the ONE experience that ends our endless quest?

Consider: we set out on our sensual pursuits-again and again. Each time we have a vague notion: this is it. I'm going to do my favorite thing now. And I will be happy-forever. Or I am going to have a relationship with that wonderful person and my life is going to bloom into bliss-forever.

The growing rate of marriage failures and re-marriages illustrate the above fact. My last partner was not the right one for me, so it did not work out. Let me find the right one, and it will be perfect, for ever after.

Are we missing something here? We'll try to see in the coming paras.

I'd like to share with you some anecdotes that point out mankind's (elusive) search for happiness.
These stories come from all over the world: the Indian subcontinent, the middle-east, the far east, and the west and the far west. They are also from different religious paths: Hindu, Buddhist, Judaism, Christian, Islam, ...
These stories and examples  illustrate why our actions do not yield the happiness that we crave- and offer a hint as to where we need to look.

The first example is about an old lady who has lost her sewing needle and is searching for it. It appears in the Mullah Nasrudin stories.

Looking in the right place?
An old lady was busy searching for something under the street lamp at a junction. A bystander got curious, and asked her what she was looking for. She replied she had lost her sewing needle at home.

"But then why are you searching here? You should be looking for it at your home." he asked.
"That's fine. But there is no lamp there and its dark. So I am searching here".

The next one is famous. It is about how travellers are deceived by the mirage in the deserts.

Seemingly so, but not really
When travelers in the desert run out of water, they become desperate and frantically search for it. They may see mirages and mistake them for water. The hot desert air produces mirages. (You can see mirages on a hot day on a tarred road too). The mirage is the hot air's reflection in the distance which gives the appearance of rippling water. Not realizing this, the travellers go after it,... of course they will never reach it.

Just like this, man pursues sense pleasures in the hope that they will give lasting happiness. If only we looked within our minds, we would find it.

The promise of lasting joy draws people forward on the path of sense-enjoyment
A donkey pulls a cart. The driver uses a trick to get the donkey moving, without using a whip.
He sits in the cart, ties a carrot to a long stick, and holds it in front of the donkey. The donkey moves forward, trying to get the dangling carrot. As he moves forward, he pulls the cart and the driver forward, along with the carrot. However much he tries the donkey cannot get the carrot.

Isn't humanity repeating the same actions forever, hoping to get  happiness out of them?

Searching for Joy, but in the wrong place again
This one is based on another animal, the Musk deer. The Musk deer exudes the fragrance of musk. The musk fragrance is extracted from its glandular secretions (I realized this just now, from a Wikipedia search. Till then I had thought this was another folk tale.)
The animal does not however, realize this fact. It is enchanted by the fragrance and goes around in search of its origin. Alas, if it had only looked at itself, it could realize this fact, and stop the wandering.

Isn't this story pointing at us humans who search all over the world for happiness, which is actually within us?
Would you like to see how choices affect our happiness? It is here: The Choice Quandary
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The Neurology of Awakening

I found this slide show by Rick Hanson on slideshare.net. It starts with an analysis of thought, lists out the prerequisites of meditation, and nicely tells how to go about it. There are also research findings on meditation, if you're interested. However, if you need just to know about practice, you can skip those slides


The Neurology of Awakening: Using the New Brain Research to Steady Your Mind
http://www.slideshare.net/drrickhanson/the-neurology-of-awakening-using-the-new-brain-research-to-steady-your-mind


Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a neuropsychologist and author of Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom  and Just One Thing: Developing a Buddha Brain One Simple Practice at a Time. Founder of the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom and Affiliate of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, he’s taught at Oxford, Stanford, and Harvard, and in meditation centers worldwide. His blog – Just One Thing – has nearly 30,000 subscribers.

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Your Twin Wings to Success

Dream vision and baby steps-your twin wings to success


Lets look at two critical items most people need to reach success. We will call them as Dream vision and Baby steps. Self-help authors call them by different names- however, you get the idea: broadly, it is making use of (1) the conscious mind (baby steps) and (2) the unconscious mind (dream vision).

Unfortunately, most self-help systems emphasize only one of them-using the unconscious mind. Some people tend to expect miracles just by feeding some suggestions or affirmations into their subconscious mind. This does work-at a fast pace for prepared minds and for others, at a slower pace. We will see how both methods are essential to manifesting your ideal life.

Dream vision

This is actually the end goal that you want to reach: a magnificent career, a desired amount of money, owning a magnificent mansion or other possessions, getting the desired life partner etc. It is contrary to daily goals, it must be huge that is something people say the stuff dreams are made of.

Dream visions give spring to our steps, put energy into our efforts. They give us joy while beholding the promise even though it may be in the distant future. Athletes, artists, and entrepreneurs derive energy from periodically visualizing their dream goals. It makes our daily chores interesting, and inspire us to persist.

In short, having a long term dream vision:

• Generates ideas from the subconscious
• Helps notice opportunities conducive to our goals
• Inspires while performing routine tasks
• Energizes us when we feel worn out

This is not necessarily a long term one; in fact your dream goals may manifest in a short period of time, if you have mastered the flow of thoughts in your mind. Now mastering the flow of thoughts to turn them in your desired direction at will, requires commitment and consistent practice. If you are already able to do that, you probably acquired it earlier. For the rest of us, that is the majority; it is an eye opener to discover the state of our own self-mastery. We realize who is the real master: we or our minds?

How to generate and feed your long term dreams
People generally use one or more of these exercises:

• Affirmations (writing and saying)
• Visualization
• Auto suggestion
• Using a vision board

Besides these, there are many more exercises that you can find on the Internet. Just google.

The Secret (Movie and book) elaborates on the subconscious aspect of manifesting your ideal life.

Waiting for Dreams to become real

However, dream goals may not manifest overnight. Expecting that can lead to frustration. So how do we carry our day to day life activities?

It is helpful to break down our long term dream visions into small, achievable daily chunks that you are sure to reach. For instance, if I were to achieve a high level of expertise in a foreign language so as to be an instructor, it might seem a far-off goal. However, if I memorize a few words/ grammar rules daily, I will be sure of achieving it, through repeated efforts. This also gives me the satisfaction of having achieved something. It is a baby step that I take towards my dream goal.

Baby steps are the actual conscious steps to reach your dream
You can say these are the solid steps that you take on a daily basis towards your dream. Thus, if you aspire to be a writer, five minutes of grammar review everyday would be one of the baby steps towards that goal. One needs to identify the skill sets required to reach a goal and spend some time every day developing them.

Baby steps help us be not overwhelmed by the enormity of the dream. To think of how to be a best-selling author may be bewildering. It may be disheartening to discover how your current performance bears in relation to your goal. At the same time, following a small step at a time enables to build confidence, establish a habit and a liking for the path, and keeps us centered. Another important benefit is that you will be better able to receive hints from the subconscious that will speed you up towards the final goal.


If  you are not sure of what steps to take, start with the first part (Affirmations/Visualizations/...)-the subconscious will reveal to you what to do.
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What the Bleep do We Know ?

This movie can change the way you look at yourself and your world. The visuals really take off from 3:38 onwards. Its a bit archaic till then.
For an introduction, see :http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/what-the-bleep-do-we-know/



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Are You Discussing or Arguing ?

Most of us wouldn't pass up the chance to tout our favorites- be it beliefs on religion, politics, career, lifestyle or anything within societal norms. We would say it is a discussion. But it doesn't take long to see that most discussions are crusades to win others over to one's own point of view.

Isn't this the dreaded fear of being outnumbered ?

If anybody dared challenge our favorite dogma or belief, how many of us are willing to hear out their side of the argument, impartially, weigh its pros and cons, and take an unbiased decision?

Life and its numberless issues are too complex to be disposed of with blind, one-sided arguments.

So each time we try to bulldoze others' opinions, we lose a chance to gain a fresh perspective, and probably a closer approach to the truth.

There is even a book in the market titled :" How to argue and win every time".
It may be useful for debaters and lawyers and others of like professions.

However, when people try to adopt the same approach in their relationships, one can imagine the damage wreaked. This is normal, considering that arguments are from the head (intellect), whereas an open discussion requires us to be considerate of others (this is an aspect of the heart, that is, feelings).

The intellect cuts and separates, while the heart unifies (stitches together). (This is a quote from Mata Amritanandamayi,  a world famous mystic).

The intellect analyses, and the heart synthesizes. We do need both, in their relevant places.

So the next time you get into an argument, try to listen and consider the other person's point of view. Thank you for considering this!
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The Law of Karma: Is It True ?

Even though there are unanswerable questions like the ones posed here :Have you been born before?, which strongly support the existence of the law of Karma, there are also questions which cannot be answered by the Law of Karma. For example: what was the first action that set off the Karmic cycle?

But either way, we only stand to gain: both-the existence as well as the non-existence of the Law of Karma offer a tremendous opportunity for us.

The benefits if the Law of Karma is true:

We never need grudge our fate again. All that we are going through is the result of our own actions, words, and thoughts. So nobody can be blamed for our experiences. We only need to cultivate the subtlety of intellect to discern the causes. We can alter our karma by suitable good actions and spiritual practices.

The benefits if the Law of Karma is not true:

If our past actions will not rebound on us, we will not be held accountable for our actions (except by human law). There are no unseen elements from the past which hold sway over us. Which means our life is totally in our control. We have absolute freedom of will, not dictated by our past. This means our future is entirely in our hands.

So it is a thumbs-up either way.

One can question Karmic law, however, evidence is overwhelmingly in its favor. See here. (The same article linked at the top of this article)

The fact remains that to get the true picture of Karma and existence, one has to rise above Karma, beyond the pairs of opposites. A vision unbiased by our past.

The School of Medicine at the University of Virginia has several resources on documented reincarnation.
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The Happiness Experience -II

Click here for The Happiness Experience - I

According to Yoga* and Vedanta**, happiness or bliss is within us. It is our intrinsic nature. This is why the sages of India called truth as SAT-CHIT-ANANDA (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss). They asserted that everything contains this Truth. You and me, too.


Proof that happiness is within us is in the fact that we in our most blissful moments, we close our eyes, we are no longer conscious of the external world. This happens in the fraction of a second, that we may not detect it. If you observe people in the pinnacle of any form of extreme pleasure or ecstasy, you will notice this fact: closed eyes. Even if the eyes are open, they will be blank, indrawn, not seeing outside.


We can see further proof of this fact in deep sleep. Everybody enjoys deep sleep. It is an indescribable experience. After a bout of the deepest sleep, we feel as if we have drunk some divine elixir, from deep within us. As soon as our mind is ruffled by desires and thoughts of the everyday world, this bliss fades away.


Which points us to how this happiness is experienced.


We experience real happiness in stillness. When a desire is fulfilled, there is a temporary lull in the ever rippling mental lake. This infinitesimal stillness enables us to catch a tiny glimpse of the bliss within us. We can experience this bliss by short-circuiting the process. That is, by avoiding having a desire, and developing stillness of mind.


Mind you, this is a wakeful stillness. It is experiencing the bliss of deep sleep while being wide awake. It is stillness achieved through constant, focused action and meditation. It has nothing to do with inaction.


*Cognitive meditation is accompanied by reasoning, discrimination, bliss and the sense of 'I am.'-The Yogasutras of Patanjali, 1.17. , translated by BonGiovanni.

**I am indeed, that eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva, love and pure consciousness- Atma Shatakam by Sri Sankara.

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The Happiness Experience-I

What is it that you really enjoy doing? What gives you true happiness ?

For most people, it is a fun activity-like football, baseball, tennis, swimming, camping, or any other sport. For others, it is enjoying delectable delicacies at their favorite restaurant. It may be reading their favorite authors for some others. Movies, sex, sightseeing, hanging out with friends, conversing with your partner, playing with kids, indulging your hobbies, immersing in the work which you love-favorite activities for happiness are many.

Then there are the extreme, not necessarily wholesome ones like alcohol, drugs, other intoxicants, porn,...

There is also the minority which derives their happiness from perversions-and other serious disorders...

You may protest at grouping all of these together-enjoying a game of cards is not in the same league as that of pedophilia.

I agree, but all of these have a common denominator-happiness. It is what all of us seek-perverts included. Aren't there people who derive happiness by teasing and taunting? In fact, the pursuit of happiness is such a complex, deep domain that lack of clarity about it can lead to hazardous habits, often self-destructive.

Lets try to analyse how we experience happiness. As a sample, we will take food. Many people try to drown their frustrations and sorrows by binging.

Anatomy of the happiness experience
Suppose you have a friend who likes Chocolate ice-cream very much. He is always ready for a cup. But how many cups can he take? At the most 3 or 4. Beyond that, if you keep on feeding him ice-creams (free of course!), he will reach a point where he will vomit, if he eats any more of it.

Here, the same ice-cream which gave him happiness, is now giving pain. How can the same object give pleasure as well as pain? Would that be possible, if it really were the source of happiness?

Lets consider another scenario, when a person is sad because of some personal tragedy. He will be in no mood to take ice creams. If you were not in the mood, you wouldn't be able to enjoy your favorite dishes. Would we try to comfort a bereaved adult by feeding him tasty food? That would be childish. It would cause him more pain.

Objects like ice-cream are unable to give happiness, all the time. Our mental condition has to support the enjoyment.

Now a third situation: I've some friends who can't stand the smell of ice-cream. They're averse to all milk products. You may know somebody like that too. How come the same object gives happiness to some and unhappiness to others? That shows again that ice-cream is not the source of happiness.

If so, why do people enjoy ice-cream?

Ice-cream entertains you only if you have a desire for it. The desire is like a ripple in the mind. When that desire is satisfied, the ripple disappears. The person experiences stillness of mind, for perhaps a nano second. This stillness or 'captivation of the mind' is the actual source of happiness.
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Addictions: To Overcome or Not?

Most of our lives, we try to satisfy the demands of our senses. We go sight seeing and watching movies, gorge on foods and drinks, fragrances, and a myriad other entertainments-treats for the eyes, ears, tongue, skin, nose, and the sex organ not the least. Often, we find ourselves indulging-even when we know deep inside that this is not good for us-or for our goals. Our senses take command over us and nudge us forward...enjoy it once more..just this one more time.

I've been fooled by this 'just once more ' argument many times-be it that tempting slice of chocolate cake, or while getting up early, or while skipping a TV program for a more productive use of time. It was as if the sense organ takes control over me, convincing me with its rationalizations. That is, until recently, when I started listening to the inner dialogue of the senses:

I realized they had only one voice: more..... more...... more.......Remember the creature Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy ?

It was just a never ending "more..........". The senses just want you to indulge till you drop down fatigued, till you are satiated to redundancy or exhaustion. Obviously then one cannot indulge anymore. It seems as if apparent wisdom awakes in the person within as he looks with some detachment towards indulgence. But this is only for a short while. As soon as the energy levels are restored, again the clamor starts:
"more.....more....more...."

This is to say that the arguments the mind advances in favor of enjoyment are just fallacies with which the person fools himself.


I recently lost a relative to alcoholism. He was a nice man within, eager and ready to help everybody. However, he did not try to face the issues within him which made him take relief in alcohol. He was too proud to accept help either. Each time he gave in to the temptation, he would say: "this is just one more time that  I will drink...I can stop whenever I want...you see?".

Hardly past 50, he suffered multiple organ failure: failure of the lungs and kidneys, dipping blood pressure and high blood sugar-a tragic testimony to the tyranny of the senses. The dance of desires is the dance of death- I remembered what I had read somewhere.

If we could enjoy pleasures without it being the other way-pleasures enjoying us-we can avert such tragedies. It is wise to take precaution and start spiritual practices at the earliest.
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