In the Upanishads, there is a thought-provoking story of a musk deer (Kasturi-Mriga) which elucidates the nature of real happiness… Once when roaming about and frolicking among the hills and dales, a Kasturi-Mriga suddenly became aware of an exquisite musk-scent which stirred the innermost depths of its soul so profoundly that the deer was determined to find the…
Ancient Indian literature, both, spiritual as well as historical, has several references to Lord Ganesha- the lovable elephant-God who is the deity of beginnings and a terrific trouble-shooter (vignaharta). The Skandapurana delineates his origin while the Ganesh Purana is named after him. The Nagdala Purana says that rishis and munis bowed before him saying, ‘Om Ganeshaya Namaha’ (meaning, I bow to Lord Ganesha). The Yajnavalkya…
On a lovely afternoon, Meherbai’s Mandli met for a Club Lunch. Meherbai and her group of girls (all over 75) thought of going on a cruise “atleast once before we die,” as Freny Fatakri put it. “We’ll all have to work on our Kanjoos and lazy husbands and talk them into it,” said Naju Malai-No-Khaju. Said Meherbai, “Lets’ decide…
Ancient Indian literature always referred to the mind as a monkey – jumping from one branch to another i.e. one useless thought to another. To counteract this, the Smritis teach us Mansik-Ekagrata or centering the mind. A centered mind is free of worries and emotions. It is quiet, at peace, concentrated and focused. But it is not…
An ancient Indian legend tells of a prince who met a maiden with the body of a Goddess and eyes of a gazelle in spring-time. He told her, “I know why you are wearing this black sari embroidered in gold –it’s coz in a primeval forest you were a tigress and I was a tiger….
The famous Meherbai Mandli ‘girls’ (all over 75) and ‘boys’ (all over 80) met for a Club-lunch and the discussion turned to relationships. “The most important relationship is the one we have with God” said Meherbai, confessing she was not very religious or a ritualistic freak, but rather a spiritual person who never hurts others….
Every disease starts in the mind. Mental disorders are becoming frequent in the world today. All physical illnesses, including cancer, have their genesis on a mental level and are mere manifestations of negative emotions which have gone out of control in the patients’ mind. To control and counteract illnesses, to enjoy optimum good health (especially…
In India we are exposed to the writings of Western authors, doctors, scientists and others, but rarely do we get exposure to Japanese and Chinese authors. I recently came across a book on psychotherapy developed by a Japanese, Dr. Shoma Morita, a contemporary of Dr. Sigmud Freud and would like to share the same with…
Musicologist Joachim-Berendt says in his book, `The Third Ear’, that in this Aquarian (spiritual) age, we are moving out of the age of sensory dominance of the eye and moving towards the age of the ear which is a more receptive organ because hearing is the first sense within the foetus to develop in the…
Sacred symbols have been used since ages to express the profound spiritual, metaphysical and philosophical concepts regarding man and his evolution towards the Supreme Reality. Symbols are found in various forms across different religions of the world and their universality can be substantiated by their appearance in widely separated cultures. Every symbol yields a wealth…
Love is a double-edged sword that can cut as well as heal. If we are under the illusion that love is some external commodity available for consumption, we may fantasize that perhaps someday, someone will manage to package it into a free, small, plastic gizmo that we sometimes find at the bottom of a cereal…