Here for writing

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...