Here for writing

DRIDANISHTHAIKASIDDHYARTHAM  MANASSUDDHIRAPEKSITA TADARTHAM  SADHAKAH  SARVE  YATANTAM  DRIDANISCAYAH This line again reiterates the importance of mind purification. Previously, we saw how important abidance to the Supreme Truth was . Here, Swami Tejomayananda says that to have that firm abidance in the Supreme Self, purity of mind is required. Hence, all resolute seekers must strive to purify their mind. A new year is just around the corner. Even though I may wrinkle my nose at the thought of new year resolutions, somewhere deep inside,  I can't help but feel that "Here is a chance to start afresh. A whole year is stretching ahead of me. I must make good use of the days that God has given me." 2014 has been such a task master. But, I look back with gratitude, because whatever said and done, I was blessed this year with good health. And if the body is healthy, the mind automatically becomes focused. Personally, I feel that one of the key factors to purify

NISTHA  BHAVAT  PARANANDO  JIVANMUKTASYA  YOGINAH SADHAKAIR-NANUBHUYETA  VIPHALAM  TARHI  SADHANAM In the absence of this abidance -i.e, the abidance in the truth and supreme self, seekers do not experience the supreme bliss enjoyed by jivanmuktas. When this supreme bliss is not experienced, then the seekers' practice become fruitless. Who are the Jivanmuktas? Remember, I mentioned earlier about being in the state of bliss and oneness while going on with our lives? Those blessed ones are the jivanmuktas -ie, they have attained mukti, or freedom from all the sorrows of life, even while living. This verse says that unless we firmly abide by the truth, we cannot attain the state of jivan mukti. And if we don't attain jivanmukti, all our sadhanas or spiritual practice becomes useless. We have to focus on two things here -One, on our belief and two, on our practice. I wanted to understand what does the abidance in the truth exactly means and sought my Guru for cl

Before we start on the verse, let us take a moment to pay respect to all the diet plans and food promises that we have buried alive with all those yummy food that we have tucked in shamelessly. What?? Don't tell me that you have never felt, especially after a guilty junk food binge, that it is about time you should start eating healthy. Even though I run and keep myself active, I have a weakness for salt. I just love to munch on savories. And you know what is even worse? I tend to keep eating something if I feel bored. I definitely need something in my mouth when I am engrossed in a book. And I get very tempted to eat when I see food. I can't stop myself from grabbing that handful of chips if I see the packet lying on the table, even if it is just 2 minutes after finishing my dinner. While I know that eating junk is bad, I sometimes just can't control myself. Even if I have enjoyed the benefits of healthy eating, it is so easy to stray off the path and indulge myself.

YAVANMALA  NA  KSIYANTE  MANASO  RAGARUPAKAH TAVANNA  TATTVAJIJNASA  JAYATE  MANUSE  HRDI As long as the impurities of the mind such as attachment etc, are not weakened or washed away, the desire to know the truth does not raise in the human heart. Taken as is, this sounds like, "If your mind is not evolved, then you wont be interested in knowing the truth." Can we say that? Absolutely not. But at least, we can find a bit of solace in this lines because, more often than not, people who get into this introspection mode are the ones who get ridiculed. You don't believe me? Well, let me tell you this. I shamelessly share all that I write through facebook, whatsapp, sms and what not. I hound the people I know to go read my blogs. But as far as my observations on Manah Sodhanam goes, I have just kept it pretty much to myself. Why? Because, I feel that I will be ridiculed for reading and writing about "Finding the truth". "Why this unnecessar

After this serious rant on happiness , I have thought of some thing that I like to call as the "Happiness Litmus Test". It is actually pretty simple. According to all scriptures and great masters, the true state of bliss is not dependent on anything or anyone. This bliss comes from within and it is permanent. To identify the true bliss, just ask yourself this simple question when anything makes you happy -"Will the absence of this thing/ person/ scenario cause me grief?" If yes, then what you are experiencing is transient and impermanent. For example, the day of salary credit brings about a flash of joy and relief. But, the thought of not having that money brings great fear and anxiety. Similarly, your kids are a source of great joy. But the thought of anything untoward happening to them makes us sad and worried. So all those things that we think brings us happiness do not really do so. They bring a brief spurt of joy and also, along with them, bring attachmen

PARAMATMA'  DVAYANANDAH  SARVABHUTASTHITO'  PI  HA AJNANENAVRTO  DRSTAH  TATHAIVA  CA  MANOMALAIH That sounds pretty straight forward eh? The Paramatma is non dual and full of bliss...present in all beings. But then, we don't get to experience the Paramatma due to our own ignorance and impurities of the mind. The thing that really stumps me is this truth -stated over and over and over in all scriptures -that we are beings of bliss. Our true state is that of happiness. If we can actually get to experience that bliss, won't our lives be just fantastic? Our happiness is strongly associated with what we have and don't have. A good job, a steady income, health, love, children, new car, own house, vacations -we run behind all these things and much more - just for the sake of some imagined, temporary happiness. While we undoubtedly feel happy when we get what we want, our mind immediately creates another void. Then we run to fill that void to experience our nex

Director: Rajkumar Hirani Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Saurab Shukla, Sanjay Dutt, What it is like to observe these religions of ours as an outsider? Is God capable of really answering our prayers? But then, is it really fair to seek God just to solve our problems? So, where is God? What does he do? If we are all his children, then does he want us to torture ourselves physically and mentally by fasting, doing anga pradhakshina etc, just to answer our prayers? PK makes you question all these things. Aamir is an alien astronaut who lands in earth. As soon as he lands, a man steals his transmitter through which he can summon his spaceship. The film starts here and follows Aamir's quest to his transmitter. When he seeks help, people tell him to ask "Bhagwan". He takes this quite literally and pleads with the Gods -the Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jain, Sikh way. along comes Anushka, a TV reporter who helps PK in his quest. The only one to

I love running. I took up running only in 2012. I didn't know that running could give me so much joy. Especially long distance running. I was fascinated and was in awe of myself when I completed running my first 5 kilo meters in the gym. I seriously didn't know that my body was capable of actually running for 5 kilo meters...the heavy 70 kg me! Running! OMG!!! I was just beyond myself. While I was a regular walker, who easily walks 10-12 kms in a stretch, running was beyond imagination. Now, when I say running, don't expect something like sprinting or thundering my way to glory. Just imagine a moderately paced jog at a speed of say, 8 kms/hr. Slowly, I got addicted to the endorphin rush and pushed myself to do my first 10km run in 2013 July. Since then, I have ran 2 other 10k runs and currently am practicing for my 21.5K run, which I want to do in June 2015. My mom hates the fact that I run. So does my dad. "Why do you strain yourself unnecessarily?" they

My very first experience with spirituality was through a book called "Kurai Undrum Illai", by Mukkur Lakshmi Narasimhachar. The book comprises of eight volumes and I have only read the first one...in my 10th standard. So, I think you can understand what would have been my level of comprehension of that book. But something inside me really enjoyed what the book said. Do you remember the scrapbooks that were all craze during our school times? This book was to supposedly help you keep in touch with your classmates and we all used to fill pages after pages just before our 10th and 12th finals. The more witty you wrote in the scrapbook, the cooler you were. And why I started off with that tangent is because, in the scrap book, you used to have a field, which asks "In my next birth, I want to be-------------------------" . And thinking I was very mature and cool and also because of what I read in the Kurai undrum illai book, I wrote "I don't want another birth&

It has been quite some time since I chanced upon a book that actually made me think. And before I proceed further, I still don’t  take back most of what I wrote about Sophie Hannah here . I have been rotting in the sad premise of bedside reading for years now. Most of my reading is just scanning. I don’t pay real attention to individual sentences or words. I have even skipped chapters when the author resorts to mindless description or endless dialogues or boring arguments that really don’t contribute to the plot. But Sophie Hannah made me re read the prologue twice –so compelling was her theory about stories and memories that I ended up poking my brain for memories and stories and tried to distinguish between the two based on her explanation. The book satisfied me on so many levels. This book is a classic whodunit which keeps hinting who the perpetrator is and also confirms it midway. But the author keeps us gripped because we want to know how the 3 apparently random i

 Finally, after 3 years of marriage, my family and I travelled to Trichy and Madurai to offer our prayers to Gods and Goddesses.   Madurai Meenakshi holds a very special place in my heart. Even after visiting numerous temples all over south India, I feel that no temple is as beautiful and no deity is as captivating as Meenakshi. My father's family is native to Madurai and before my wedding, we would definitely visit Meenakshi temple at least once in two years.   Meenakshi temple is a treasure trove of stories -historical and mythological. The story that captivated my interest this time was that of Malik Kafur and the stone elephants. My father told us how the invading Muslim army of Allauddin Khilji were on a temple destrying spree. After wrecking havoc in the Srirangam Temple, they turned their attention further south and came marauding to the seat of Pandiya's power and treasury -Meenakshi temple.   But when attempting to destroy the temple, a mendicant

Shantaram is based on the story of the author’s life, and what part of the story is fact and what is fiction is debatable. Some of it is on record, such as his imprisonment and escape from prison, and some are impossible to verify. The book begins with his arrival in Mumbai with a fake passport - a wanted man on the run after escaping from the Australian prison where he was jailed for robbing to finance his heroin habit. Leaving his friends, family and past behind, he makes Mumbai his home, serving as an unofficial doctor in the slums, making his living by guiding foreign tourists to the best sources of hash, and eventually joining the Mumbai mafia. He becomes fluent in Hindi & Marathi, spends 6 months in a remote Maharashtrian village, learns the ropes of all the black markets thriving in Mumbai, makes friends in the expat community, falls in love, and even fights in Afghanistan. Yet this book is about so much more than the story. There are fascinating descriptions of