Below is an extract from The Arabian Nights. It gives some excellent advice that will help all who have to deal with peers, superiors and inferiors; that is to say everybody. EXTRACT BEGINS HERE ‘What advice do you give yourself?’ asked Mu’awiya. ‘I plant my feet on the ground, move them slowly and keep my […]
Author Archives: nikhilmg
The Path to Bliss
This article is based on something that I have experienced myself. About 15 to 16 years ago I was doing Vipassana meditation regularly. And I experienced what I can only describe as bliss or ecstasy on some lengths of time. I then suffered an emotional crisis and foolishly quit my meditation practice. And I have […]
Find a Worthwhile Reason to Suffer
What do I mean when I say, “Find a worthwhile reason to suffer.” What I have to say is a summary of chapter 7 of the book, Everything is F*cked by Mark Manson. The chapter starts with some academic studies that prove that no matter what the circumstances of our lives we will never be […]
On Marriage – Some Comments
I have the reputation of being a controversial and notorious person. Much of it is to do with my open attitude to sex and marriage although I did behave in eccentric ways otherwise when I was young. So you would expect me to write about why I am still single earlier than today. But it […]
Why is there Suffering in the World?
I read Rumi a few months ago. It was a worthwhile experience. There were many insights and overall the mood of what was written was that of ecstasy that comes with union with God. One of the insights that appealed to me was Rumi’s answer to the question – Why do people suffer? It is […]
How to Read Serious Books
This article on how to read serious books is based on a book that I have mentioned earlier in my blog: How to read a Book by Mortimer Adler and Charles Van Doren. Link to my earlier article is below; The essence of the book is that you need to be a demanding and active […]
How to Read Philosophy
I start with a short description of how I used to read philosophy book. I made a fundamental error in my reading described below: I read philosophy books the same way I read bestsellers and novels. That is, I just skimmed through the pages without forethought or afterthought. This resulted in my not understanding almost […]
Throw the Lumber Over
It was my birthday recently and I received a gift voucher from my family to buy what I want from Amazon. I have a choice of buying some books – that I may not afterwards read – and a pair of jeans that I need badly. I have more than 500 books already and I […]
I just learned that I don’t know how to read
I have in my library in Mumbai and Pune more than 500 books. I am known to be a person who reads a lot and I did, when I was young, spend a lot of time with books. I am well qualified and have a blog (this one) and more than a thousand answers in […]
In Praise of Idleness
The above headline is the title of a famous and celebrated essay by Bertrand Russell. Link to browse the book at Amazon is below (not an affiliate link): But I have come across another much deeper and more succinct expression of the virtues of laziness in the following Hindi poem that I learnt in school. […]