This article is about Karma and how we can skillfully use this teaching on a moment to moment basis as we go through the day. Specifically I will be discussing Prarabdha karma. Below is a link to an earlier blog on this topic: Ramana Maharshi – whose teachings I am following now – believed in […]
Category Archives: Spirituality
Jesus Christ Criticized
I was influenced, when I was young, by Bertrand Russell’s classic book Why I am not a Christian. Link is below: https://www.amazon.in/s?k=why+i+am+not+a+christian+bertrand+russell&crid=2ZZJCP9CNRES5&sprefix=why+I+am+not+a%2Caps%2C988&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_5_14 Russell acknowledged that Christ was good and wise although he preferred the Buddha and Socrates over him. But Russell also criticized Christ as portrayed in the New Testament. One of the passages containing […]
Why War is good
There is reason to think that war is not only inevitable but also desirable. What do I mean by that? I read chapter 2 of Osho’s book on Jesus’ teachings recently. The name of the book is The Mustard Seed and it is considered by some people to be a classic. Link is below. The […]
A Required Statutory Warning for Life
I have been a smoker for more than 35 years and I am familiar with statutory warnings on cigarette packets. You have graphic and unpleasant looking photos of diseased body parts with a message saying – Smoking Kills or Cigarette smoking is injurious to health. Now there is one statutory warning that is required as […]
Using Philosophy as a Pointer
How best are we to use philosophical concepts and teachings? What is their purpose and what motivated the sages to teach them to us? I’ll start with my own experience. I have been reading philosophical and spiritual books for many years now. And I read them – for many years – purely for entertainment; because […]
When You Are Treated Badly
I am sorry for revisiting this topic. It happens to be a particular favorite of mine; a teaching that I try – sometimes ineffectively but sincerely – to apply as I go through the day. Judge not that you be not judged – that says it all. The rest of this blog is basically just […]
See the Scorpion Pit for what it is
My psychiatrist cautioned me against spirituality when I last met her. She said that too much spirituality is not good if you want to lead an ordinary, conventional life and be respected by society. I can see her point of view now. I am reading Rumi and here are a couple of quotes that – […]
How and why to read Philosophy
Some of you may be wondering why I spend so much time reading books. What is my motive? Until just recently my motive could be summarized by this teaching of the Dhammapada: We are what we think,All that we are arises with our thoughts,With our thoughts we make the world,So speak or act with a […]
Syriana
Have you seen the movie Syriana. It stars George Clooney and Matt Damon. I watched it on TV and it is now available on Prime Video but you have to rent it for Rs 119/-. It is a thought provoking movie and gives a certain amount of sympathy to the Arab jihadis who are conducting […]
Take the Good with the Bad
The point I want to make in this article is that right and wrong, good and bad are joined at the hip. You can no more separate the good from the bad as you can have a right without a left. I’ll start with a quote from the Taoist masters: When everyone recognises beauty as […]