Temple of my Soul

Depending on our experiences and our learning both formal and informal, religious, social or otherwise we come to generally believe in the East that 'I am a soul with a body' or in the West, 'I am a body with a soul'. Atheists believe different things or disbelieve almost everything.

Who am I? Almost all of us will never know the answer though many will seek to know so we can only believe.

I believe, 'I am nothing more than energy concentrated in the form of an eternal soul, housed within a constantly ageing body and driven and controlled by my mind.'

When the three interrelated aspects of our existence, body, mind and soul, are in harmony with one another we can claim to be at ease and healthy. When the natural rhythm, pulse, and synchronisation is disturbed we suffer from a case of 'dis-ease' and hence the origin of the term 'disease'.

All traditional practices of health such a 'Ayurveda' (the knowledge of life) have focussed in restoring the balance and harmony in 'dis eased' beings both within themselves and with the rest of existence.

All these thoughts and beliefs remain theory until we experience major dis-ease or imbalance, as I happened to experience by physical injury very recently. Medicines and treatments alleviated my pain but were not making me healthy. I suddenly realised that while I was nourishing my soul and mind I had all but neglected my body, the temple of my soul.

Now I understood why traditional Indian temples were not only places of worship but each a 'Gurukul'. A Gurukul being an integrated centre for transmission of theory and practice of a wide range of subjects, physical education and practice of yoga and meditation, music and arts, literature and culture, etc. with a learned, wise and experienced Guru at the very centre. This formed the backbone and basic core of Indian civilisation until it was significantly damaged by neglect, corruption, invasions and imported ideologies.

A neglected or unhealthy body adversely affects our ability to function both physically and mentally and impedes the realisation of our spiritually.

We are at our prime of our physical health between age 16 and 20 years. After that our bodies begin to decay. Our joints begin to stiffen and we lose about 8% of our muscle mass each decade, hence our strength, stamina and flexibility degrade. Our brain cells begin to die more rapidly than they are regenerated, and eventually we can suffer from conditions like dementia.

Both ancient and modern scientific thinking agree that a healthy body and mind can be achieved by following some universal truths.

• Exercise, either by imbedding physical activity such as walking and climbing in our daily routine or develop a workout regime. I have discovered the latter with the help of a good trainer to be fun and very effective.
• Proper diet and nutrition in moderation provides the right fuel and energy eliminating 90% of dis-ease.
• Avoid intoxicants and artificial stimulants, wherever and whenever possible.
• Get sufficient and fitful sleep (Physical exercise helps a lot in this regard).
• Constantly challenge and recharge the mind by continuous learning and contemplation.
• Nourish the soul by meditation.
• Harmonise the mind, body and soul by practice of pranayama and yoga.

Scientists have discovered by studies and many of us by experience that exercise, yoga and meditation increases the feel good factor (caused by hormones like endorphins) and sharpens the mind.

It is useful to remember, the body benefits from movement, and the mind benefits from stillness. Hence physical exercise, sport or various sports, coupled with hobbies or interests that challenges the mind, nourishes and strengthens it.

Sadly like most people, after leaving school at age 16, I had stopped exercising and working out, as a result over next 47 years my body has decayed and weakened much more rapidly than it should have.  

The good news is that because of our son Pavit's nagging and his part ownership in Hotfut sports and ILESEUM clubs I had easy access to numerous gyms and good trainers.

As a result our entire family have begun to work out regularly. I have discovered that while ageing cannot be reversed, a lot of health can be recovered and restored.

I wish you all good health.

Interesting Links:

• Not every teacher is a Guru ~ Guru Wonder
• The importance of the Gurukul system and why Indian education needs it ~ Times of India
• How New Brain Cells Regenerate ~ Very Well Mind
• The Adult Brain Does Grow New Neurons After All, Study Says ~ Scientific American
• Hotfut sports
• ILESEUM clubs ~ Inclusive Localism For Excellence in Sports Education and Urban Living Management Clubs

More from Guru Wonder:

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South Asia Analysis Group - Tumblr - Twitter

It is time of the season, but without awakening, there can be no cheer.

 

 

Wish you Happy, Happy ...,   Happy This, Happy That. 

Seasons greetings, are more common this time of the year. Yet in spite of the brave faces and the plastic smiles, hardly anyone feels particularly cheerful or happy.

Instead of Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, the tone is definitely Merry Crisis and a Happy New Fear. 

Fear is driving a wedge between us. We have grown distant from one another over the past year and even more from ourselves, because of genuine but more so due to imaginary fears.

In fact, 99% of the things and events we are fearful of never actually occur. Then why are we so fearful?

Fear of any kind is considered the most effective method to control and exploit a people.

If we look carefully at the origins of the fear, we will discover that the proponents of fearful belief are the very same people who stand to benefit from providing us solutions to our fears. The media of course is almost always complicit in the spread of these fears.

An unawakened mind finds it difficult to differentiate between rumour and fact. Most of us possess conscious but unawakened minds. That is the ability to see and sense but lack the ability to differentiate between fact and fiction. This is why we live in fear.

We do not need magic or therapy to awaken our minds, just to be one's own best friend and be honest with oneself. To take time to self examine our situation.

To speak with oneself for the answers to our own problems can best be found within our own being. Once the answer is found, the path to negotiate through the various  conundrums in life come forth almost by themselves.

I send you greetings and wishes, hoping that you become and remain your own best friend. The  easiest way to awakening the self.

The folly of seeking happiness in the 'Rat Race'

 

Ever wondered what is this 'Rat Race'? 

Well this video provides a good idea. Many of us can relate to this depiction for the answer.

We run in the race because of FOMO (fear of missing out).

How can we escape the Rat Race?

Simple. Don't run in the race. 

We can escape if we focus on our needs rather than wants, because our needs are limited, whereas our wants are infinite.

Our inner being speaks to us, telling us what really appeals to us, suits us and what does not. 

Most elements in society tell us how inadequate or incomplete we re because we are lacking this or that. So we pursue what we are told is appealing rather than what is genuinely appealing to us. 

If we follow our heart and take the mind with us, we can escape the 'Rat Race'.

The 'Rat Race' can only hold the promise of success. Success however is external to our being so we have to look for it outside. Happiness is inherent within us, it only has to be realised from within our being. 

Rich or poor, the 'Rat Race' cannot deliver happiness.  More money, power or success does not mean more health and happiness. They just help to buy a better quality of unhappiness. If we examine carefully we will notice that the rich are comfortably unhappy and the poor are uncomfortably unhappy. 

Live simply, eat moderately, love intensely, work and play passionately is a good mantra for living outside the 'Rat Race'.

If it's not for money, then why do you write?

 

A friend asked me, "If it's not for money then why do you write?"

It would be foolish to say that 'money is not important' but can that and should that be, the only reason for doing anything? 

Writing I suppose is like playing golf. 

One really doesn't play for money or against an opponent, but for oneself against oneself. Attempting to improve oneself from the previous day. Meaning that one should write for one's own sake and for oneself, improving with each piece in clarity, brevity, impact and pleasure.

If I write something nice, correct or agreeable, I get a decent number of replies providing me some new learning.

If I wish to learn something more, I have to only make or plant an error. Then I am bombarded with criticism, corrections and different perspective.

I suppose like men can usually never resist a bad girl, it is difficult for readers to resist a writer who in their opinion needs correcting and learning.

____________

Because of my writing, I have found several teachers, discovered some students, and befriended many, in this insanely wonderful world.

Every day offers an opportunity to share good wishes. Today is special because it is the new year day for the vast majority of Indians. I send you greetings and good wishes.

What Meditation is not

 

The Western mind deeply influenced by Judaism, Christianity and Islam which has no room for meditation. Contemplation yes, meditation no. Hence the Oxford dictionary erroneously defines 'meditation' and 'indulgence in thought. Ignorance can mislead us.

The concept of meditation originated in the East where great Masters shared it with their disciples. Unfortunately, even though India is the birth place of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, there is a lot of misunderstanding about meditation. Arrogance can mislead us.

Every seeker of the Truth struggles to experience and understand. A true master teaches without considerations of money, power, or benefit of any kind.  (Disciples out of gratitude almost always make a voluntary contribution in money or kind to their teacher). Hence the true master remains openly honest, terribly blunt and virtuously open, keeping only the disciples development in focus.

Here is  something from the great Master J. Krishnamurti that I would like to share with my readers. 

There are many schools of meditation, each following its own methods and systems. claiming that if one practice these methods /systems, the practitioner will achieve a certain form of enlightenment. They claim that by their methods of meditation one can realise or experience an extraordinary state of existence.

A system or a method implies a mechanical repetition and that cannot be called as meditation, because repetition can only dull the mind. 

Meditation is awareness, the awareness of our own thoughts, without trying to suppress,  manipulate or control our thoughts. To simply observe dispassionately, the whole momentum of our thinking, this constant chattering that is going on within us.

Daydreaming is not meditation, for meditation requires a great discipline. Not the discipline of suppression or control, but the subtle discipline born out of observing one's own thinking.

One can therefore meditate at any time of one's choosing and at any place. Meditation is observation, an acute awareness of what is happening around us and also within oneself.

Meditation is not praying, for meditation is the emptying of the mind of everything we know, for only then can we begin to know the unknown.  To see something new one must empty the mind of the past. Our experience of God or Truth or whatever we choose to call it has to be something new. It cannot be something born out of centuries and even thousands of years of conditioning or propaganda.

God or truth as we know it by organised religion is constantly decaying, if not dead. Truth is a living experience, that means it is here and now without baggage from the past. 

A mind must be emptied of the past to become aware of the living Truth as it is today. To realise this Truth of the present the mind is silenced of all baggage of the past and all the chatter in the mind in the present.

The silent mind is not the absence of noise, rather it is the mind that has become aware of and understood its own thoughts. Such a mind grows silent and the body stills. Then an extraordinary state is achieved, the brain cells themselves become quiet. That is real meditation. 

Meditation is often misunderstood as submission to some scriptural or human authority, or the chanting or mere repetition of words.

Real meditation is 'Simran' a stilling of the body and mind so as to be acutely aware of all that is without and within our mind. It is only then can we awaken to the Truth frequently referred to as God, a 'Truth' realised by ourselves rather than one given to us by others. 

Do we possess, the audacity to awaken?

Why are friendships sometimes lost?

 

In spite of wanting to see his friend, the  wise man restrained himself, thus not visiting his friend for many days.

When he did go to visit him, his friend remonstrated, 'Why have you taken so long to visit?'

The wise man replied, 'It is better than you asking me, why have you come again?'

Friendships are strained and even lost by interacting either too rarely or too often.

Friendship is like a 'Diya', an oil lamp. It requires a regular supply of fuel oil to keep  the flame of friendship alive. 

Meeting rarely or staying out of touch for long periods, is like depriving the lamp of sufficient oil. As a result the flame flickers and eventually dies out. 

Meeting too often is like pouring an excess of oil into the lamp, thus extinguishing the flame. Only the empty lamp remains, possibly with a few sparks but there is no flame. So it is with friendship.

Another way of understanding why friendships do not sustain is, what I describe as threshold capacity of one's personal space.

Each person has his or her threshold of having other people in their physical, intellectual, and emotional space.

Some need and want more, others a lot less.

Spending a lot of time sharing space with others, like in the army, or in travelling or working intimately together, being a member of a large and active joint family,  or having spent an extended time at boarding schools etc. it tends to enhance the threshold of accepting people in our life space.

Hence, I have a very high threshold for accommodating a large number of high intensity interactions simultaneously.   On the other hand my wife Mohini and some of my friends have a low threshold. They need the comfort of their private space a lot more and calibrate their lives accordingly.  

When friends, even good ones with widely different thresholds share their personal space, then, either sparks fly or exhaustion causes them to withdraw.

The solution is to be sensitive and understand the threshold levels of others. 

Unfortunately people sometimes misjudge or forget where that threshold level is, and I am one of them.

Note: Understanding and respecting the threshold is applicable not only to friendships but in fact all relationships. It is key to achieving success and realising happiness.

Who is a friend?

 

"Everyone is the other and no one is himself."

~ Martin Heidegger

Carrying Coronavirus fear much too far

 

A policeman stopped and fined a friend for driving his car without wearing a mask, even though  the glasses of the automobile were rolled up and there were no other passengers in the car.

This is typical behaviour of people who implement guidelines without understanding the intent or application of mind. Actually, that is not entirely true, they are indeed thinking, but about the wrong things. Rather than focussing on doing a good job, of assisting, they are thinking more about how to dominate and control others. 

Those who have volunteered or been paid to be appointed into any position of responsibility tends to attract people who want to exert control and dominance over others. 

Wearing a mask is an excellent idea when one comes in contact with other people outside their immediate family circle. 

The best prevention for nose, throat or lung infection is to breathe fresh air. Most masks permit adequate oxygen to reach the lungs but there is tendency for masks to pick up dust and pathogens. So disposable ones must not be reused, and reusable ones must be washed and cleaned regularly. 

An associate informed me that there are three of them at home, and stay confined to their bedrooms, emerging only when essential.  They wear masks all the time, even within the house.

I put up this image because I imagined that the terrified ones must be wearing masks even to bed. Now that is typical of most people who carry their fear so far that they have turned paranoid and I suppose it is their individual privilege. 

Caution is good but paranoia is not. The question is, 'Can paranoid people be permitted to make life impossible for others?'

________________

Interesting Links:

• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth Busters - World Health Organisation
• The COVID-19 Cytokine Storm; What We Know So Far - Frontiers in immunology
• COVID-19: Are 80% cases in India really asymptomatic - Down to Earth
• Global Coronavirus Statistics
• Fear does not stop death - Guru Wonder
• Will Coronavirus COVID-19, kill me? - Guru Wonder
• Can a coronavirus recovered patient be reinfected with Covid-19?

What it takes to be at peace with oneself

Goodbye, Dear Father

Loss of livelihoods is bad enough, compounded by illness and loss of some near and dear to many people.

Humanity now lives under a pall of great fear as the pandemic stalks the land.

No amount of sympathy and condolence can fill the void of sorrow. But life will go on irrespective of how we feel. 

I am reminded of the loss of my father Sardar Man Singh ji, his life and the great lessons he provided us.

Six years ago, on the 1st day of Sept with a gurgle and a cough my father left this world just as he arrived into it.

I was inconsolable, because my mindless heart could not stop crying.
I was unduly brave, because my heartless mind refused to let me grieve. 

Some said it was an auspicious day to die. 
How can any day be a good day to lose someone you love? 

Fate was both kind and cruel to our father, Sardar Man Singh ji (1928 -2014). In spite of his many failings his life was crowned with great success and accomplishments. In spite of his kind, brilliant, hardworking, witty and charming nature he encountered numerous misfortunes. Yet he never lost his balance nor his zest for life. 

On the contrary he transformed setbacks into success and taught his family, friends and colleagues so much by sharing through stories his own experiences and learning. He thus enriched the lives of whoever he touched.

Father was old but in good health, yet he knew that his time was near. He thanked everyone in his life and sought forgiveness from them  for any offence he may have caused them. He devoted the last decade of his life time and effort to helping whoever and whenever he could. The critical and aggressive nature so essential for achievement was replaced by understanding and compassion.

The spirit and wisdom
is transmitted through the generations

As the Guru taught, life is uncertain, for we are owners only of this moment this breath, for we know not whether the next moment, the next breath may come or not.

So use this moment and do what is important, to meditate and understand the insignificance of man and the infiniteness of Creation/Creator in the general scheme of existence.  

As I noticed with my father a transformation took place. We begin to view everyone as good at heart and some as merely misguided. The heart overflows with love and compassion, respect and contentment for whatever life doles out.  A friendly nature emerges not out of cowardice but fearlessness.

As I witnessed with our father, such an awakening enables us to confront all sorts of challenges, to unflinchingly cope with  the most difficult situation, possess the sagacity to accept the outcome and the courage to embrace the inevitable. 

Such a being, a warrior knows, one can fight and yet lose or one can pass on with dignity and grace and yet win.That is why they give life the best they can.

Please believe me. It is not what it seems like.

We now live in a society of organisations and institutions. Local, district, state, national and at international level. Each one of them managed by 'professionals' (bureaucrats) following complicated processes which no one can completely understand or implement. They are all political creatures, and therefore possess all of the negatives of politics.

We humans and even nations believe that things will just happen by themselves, but they never do. The cunning amongst us know this all too well and take full advantage.

In recent times the Chinese Communist Party has quietly and cunningly infiltrated every multilateral international organisation of consequence, across the world numerous politicians and their parties, governments, educational institutions, social platforms, gaming,  sports organisations, and finally media and film production. They do not serve the cause or the objectives of these organisations were created for but are servants of the CCP and its party members.

Learning from Plato, One could summarise 'The greatest penalty for refusing to actively participate in the governing and functioning of organisations that affect us is, we land up with the most ignoble, corrupt, and incompetent individuals and groups leading and governing us and our humanity. All this because of their great cunning and our intellectual and physical laziness.

The Coronavirus - CCP virus pandemic is proof of that.

The eighth wonder is, swallowing the world.

There is so much beauty, and wonder in the universe, but it seems, we spend most of our lives, wondering, 'What is wrong with the world?'
Nothing and yet everything.

Nothing is wrong with Nature and Creation, its exquisite and unfathomable. So what we do not understand, we condemn.
Humankind, now that is a completely different matter, for here, everything seems to be wrong.
Which leads us to the question, 'What is the root cause of all that is wrong?'

The 'will to power', the desperate and insatiable desire to dominate all that we humans set our eyes on or even conceive, is the root cause of human suffering.

With time the methods and approach to acquiring power and dominating has changed and  grown more sophisticated. However two fundamental approaches remain unchanged, wealth and force. Both are transient, and temporary, but that has never stopped the human animal from relying on them.

Unfortunately other great human qualities of friendship, compassion, wisdom and respect which are more useful and enduring traits of our human nature have all been subordinated to the pursuit of wealth and power. The two are synonymous, because in a material world all power originates with wealth.

Almost every human benefit and progress, tragedy and setback can be traced to Man's pursuit of money.

So called modern society, is designed to earn, steal or extort money at every occasion. Government, politics, society, justice, law and order machinery, education, religion, healthcare/illness-care, art, literature, music, every aspect of society is structured focussed primarily on obtaining more wealth and power.

Those who don't have wealth want it, those who have it want even more of it. This craving is insatiable.

Unfortunately incredible material, and scientific progress has resulted in an unhappier, unhealthier and unsustainable world. This has made us beautiful humans, ugly.

The single greatest factor for all this misery is not poverty but a ridiculous excess of wealth. This wealth in the hands of few individuals, organisations and countries compels them to put this wealth to earn more wealth by deploying it as loans to others.

To get the world hooked on borrowing, we are made to feel inadequate about ourselves and our situation. Our GDP has to zoom, we must have this and we must have that. As aspirations rise by leaps and bounds while our ability to pay for them are restricted, we are compelled to borrow.

Not only individuals and families fall in this debt trap, many organisations, and all countries fall in this debt trap, spending money they do not have to get things they want but do not need. Then borrowing more money to pay the interest. Modern slaves are not in chains they are in debt.

Baron Rothschild a member of the wealthiest family in the world is supposed to have remarked, at a dinner party, "I can't name the Seven Wonders of the World,  but I can tell you that the Eighth Wonder is compound interest.”

'Compound Interest' is the accumulation of interest to the principal amount repeatedly on money borrowed. So by compounding the interest at a rate of 7% per year the amount invested doubles every 10 years. Or as in many developing countries where the interest rate of 18% per year the money returnable is doubled every 4 years.

The wealthy need to use their wealth to earn even more, and the way is lend it to earn more money by the compounding of interest on loans. It is because of the this the world of finance has come to dominate all aspects of human existence. This is why the people at the head of private banks, funds, and financial trading are paid obscene amounts by their employers.

This driving force that creeps and consumes humanity is compound interest. Debt is this cold and ruthless creature if not kept contained or limited slowly creeps and consumes the world.

From the lenders point of view, the beauty of lending money is that the lender can go about doing what they want while the meter of interest grows and compounds continuously, every second, night or day. In fact debt gnaws at the innards of its host the borrowers, eventually consuming all of humanity and the world.

When Napoleon had the concept of compound interest explained to him, he exclaimed: “I wonder, it has not swallowed the world.”


When 10% of the world wealthy have 80% of  the wealth, it creates an imbalance and everything in modern society and economic policy is designed to not only conserve but enhance this.

Numerous revolutions, religions and ideologies have failed to change this situation of human self destruction.
This is because we try to use the same thinking, philosophy, institutions and social order to solve the problem which itself we have created.

Throughout history, great spiritual and philosophical masters have come, warning us humans of our foolish and excessive ways. But we are so smart hat we have even converted them and their messages into instruments of increasing our wealth and power. Now God is sold as religion. Love, friendship, compassion, and our intrinsic nature itself are all being traded and sold.

Driven to despair many of us drown ourselves in alcohol and drugs, violence and plunder, and those who cannot escape by these means indulge ourselves in a frenzy of entertainment, and acquisition of things and relationships. It seems we are doomed to remain unfulfilled and unhappy.

Some of the materially wealthy seek escape by unburdening ourselves, we donate all ur possessions, to institutes of religion education,  government and social organisations. But our name must be there on the foundation stone and plaques. We trade cash for the wealth of a name in a memorial.

We try a number of ways to escape. To the hills, and wilderness, to the seas  and the desert, to monasteries and to therapy. Nothing helps because at the core of our being our nature remains unchanged.

To live with dignity one needs wealth, and relationships, but how much?
I have discovered to my surprise, that when I stopped exploiting things and relationships, seeking neither power nor wealth, I have become liberated, grown happier and more peaceful.