Here for writing

In the last post , we saw what is the meaning of Karma (Karma means action) and what prompts us to act. Now, let us look at the word Yoga. Yoga: Beside the done to death definition of yoga coming from the root word "yuj" and it means union, the term yoga here means the state of complete awareness and mindfulness. The state in which our mind is completely focused on the task at hand, in exclusion to all other thoughts. If we observe our mind, we often find that the thoughts are either from the past memories or about future expectations. Yoga is the state of "being" fully in the present moment. So, if we now look at the term Karma Yoga, it means mindful action. KARMA YOGA = MINDFUL ACTION The role of desire: In the previous post, we saw how desire for a better state of being is the driving force behind all our actions. The key to transforming all our karmas into karma yoga lies in channelizing this desire.  In the case of spiritua

For the longest time, I was under the impression that the term Karma yoga only means doing social service -maybe sweating it out in a beach clean up, sweeping the temples, cleaning the animals in a shelter and doing physical work for charities and NGOs. And needless to say, I felt that Karma Yoga makes no sense because I didn't have enough time to walk around with a broom stick. Looking back, it kind of feels funny that I have always associated Karma Yoga with sweeping and mopping.  Then came my initial Vedanta classes. When our Acharya used to talk about unselfish action, not working for fruits of action, work for work's sake, working without attachment and so on, I was still left scratching my head -not because of what she was telling, but because of my limited understanding and evolvement. At that time, I was still working in corporate and I often used to wonder, what it meant to work unselfishly? It is not that I was a selfish person anyways, so where am I

It is kind of sadly funny or rather, funnily sad, when we come to understand that to know the absolute, relative is the key. Absolute by itself is beyond comprehension. How can one define absolute? The dictionary definitions are rather interesting. These are some of the definitions given. absolute ˈabsəluːt / adjective 1 . not qualified or diminished in any way; total. "absolute secrecy" synonyms: complete ,   total ,   utter ,   out-and-out,   outright ,   entire ,   perfect ,   pure ,   decided ;   More 2 . viewed or existing independently and not in relation to other things; not relative or comparative. "absolute moral standards" synonyms: universal ,   fixed ,   independent ,   non-relative ,   non-variable ,   absolutist ;   More noun PHIL

It has taken me the longest to write about this last Niyama which is also the final and ultimate step of the yama niyama series. For everything else -right from satya to svadyaya, it takes a little bit of will, a little mindfulness, some intellectual discrimination and a lot of persistence. However, for Ishwara Pranidana, all it takes is complete surrender of the self, which means completely letting go of one's ego. Ego: In vedantic terms, ego is the identification of the Self with the body, mind and intellect, whereby we become this small and often petty "individual", whereas our true nature is that of infinite existence conscious bliss. In other words, anything that we say after "I am" is an expression of the ego. This ego is the glue that binds the self or the soul to this body, mind and intelligence (BMI). Because of this, comes the feeling of me and mine. because of this non apprehension of our true nature comes all the related pain and

It is frustrating to look around and see how much damage we are doing consciously to our environment. Now, more than ever, we are at a tipping point where unless we start cleaning up our act, there may not be a planet to give to our future generations. To even contemplate the current scenario is very depressing. Even more depressing is when we think we can't do anything about it. We have been brought up with the thought that an individual has no power and his act alone cannot bring about any change in the society. Well, if that is the case, the society is nothing but a collection of individuals. It is not like as if the society is an animal of its own with head and hands and legs. It is us, every one of us, who create the fabric called society.  Further, if we live under the illusion that as an individual or as a family, we are not contributing to environmental deterioration, well, we only have to take a look into our garbage bins to understand otherwise. Just look a

The last post ended with questions. "Who's fault is it that this world now has so many corporate zombies? People who hate their job and live weekend to weekend because they have a family to feed, emis to pay, things to buy and places to go? Where lies the solution for people who cannot afford to stop dead in their tracks and rechart the course of their life?" Well, I don't have an answer that may be applicable to all, as again, one size does not fit all. But there are some indicators, which I hope may help in the thought process of how to find lasting peace and happiness, especially if you are stuck to a job you don't like - like how I was a year back. 1. Do a pros and cons analysis Quitting a job may not be an answer for everyone . To see if this is for you, make a list of things that you hate in your job and a list of things that you are able to do because o your job. For example, for me, the biggest thing that I was able to do because of my job