Solitude

Your mind is nothing but dreams — of the past and future, of how things should be, of great ambitions and achievements Think that all phenomena are like dreams. The mind is nothing but dreams and dreams — dreams of the past, dreams of the future, dreams of how things should be, dreams of great ambitions, achievements. Dreams and desires, these are the stuff the mind is made of. “Phenomena” means all that you see, all that you  experience. All that can ever be experienced is all phenomena. Remember, not only are the objects of the world phenomena and dreams, but also objects of consciousness. They may be objects of the world, they may be just objects of the mind. They may be great spiritual experiences. You may see  kundalini  rising in you: that too is a phenomenon — a beautiful dream, a very sweet dream, but it is a dream all the same. You may see great light flooding your being, but that light is also a phenomenon. You may see lotuses blooming inside you a...

Daydreams and flying time are kissing cousins.... Mathew*, a twenty year old college student, Terri*, a thirty-three year old who works in finance, and Pete*, a fifty-nine year old granddad, might not have much to talk about. But they have at least one thing in common: they all feel that the days, weeks and months are speeding by too quickly. “I barely have time to breathe,” says Terri. Mathew echoes, “I can’t seem to find a minute just to think.” The theory that I have always heard (and one underscored by scientists like   neuroscientist David Eagleman of Baylor College of Medicine and Warren Meck, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University ) is that, for a number of reasons, time seems to go faster as we get older. But these days it’s not just the over-forties who are complaining. Speeding time seems to be afflicting us all, from small children to folks in their mid-nineties!  It seems that life is moving too quickly. There are pl...

No need to envy marathoners. Walking is just as good for your mind and body.                                         A Mighty Heart Biking and rowing may get your heart racing, but a low-intensity stroll in the park five to six times a week is actually more effective in preventing obesity and eliminating heart risk factors including insulin sensitivity, total cholesterol, and blood pressure. Walkers trimmed their waistlines more and shed more weight. A Walk to Remember Walking improves memory. Subjects who walked on a treadmill were better at correctly identifying which numbers were repeated in a series of digits read aloud. Walking also improves attention, bolstering your ability to ignore distractions—probably because walking activates brain regions associated with attention. A Spring in Your Step Your gait reflects your emotional state: Sad people walk slow...

Giving healthy food to their children is a constant concern for parents no matter what social status they belong to. But not all parents are aware of what constitutes healthy nutritious food. The Human Development Report (2009) prepared by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reported high rates of malnutrition among children in slums, and the urban elite. Malnutrition among slum children is not a surprise as they do not have access to nutritious food. This report highlighted the co-emergence of malnutrition and overnutrition where rich urban children eat excessive calorie rich but nutrient empty food (devoid of minerals and vitamins). Intake of palatably tasty but nutritiously poor fast foods, aerated drinks, foods high in trans fat, saturated fats and sugar (such as pizzas, burgers, sodas and colas, cakes and pastries, samosa, French fries) do not provide the necessary minerals and vitamins required for daily intake although they may provide the necessary calories. Obe...

Grief and loss can be debilitating but can be overcome.  Ms Howard stood rigid and unemotional by the grave in which her 20-year-old son Patrick was buried. Life as she knew it was over. Time was now referred to as, “Before Patrick's death” and “After Patrick's death.” It's been 10 years since her loss. As she sat on my sofa, she said with a smile, “You know, Patrick wanted to be a psychologist. He wanted to work with people who had lost someone dear and look at the irony... here I am, still grieving Patrick, even after 10 years.” It has taken Ms Howard years to reach out and ask for support. All this time has been spent trying to hold her family together, move on, live life and “get over it”. “After a point people merely feel sympathy, but no empathy. They said that I should try to forget and stop grieving. People keep telling me that 10 years is a long time. I feel very depressed that I am unable to move on.” Part of life Grief and loss can come disgui...

I think of death twice daily: Soon after my wake-up time in the morning and after taking stock of the day’s work, before going to bed at night.  This reminds me of the reality of life and how to make every day worthwhile and meaningful . This also makes one ponder over the intensity and pain of the fear and feeling of death. In turn, one tends to be humble and reasonable in one’s way of life, besides making one look for ways as to how to overcome it or minimise its fear. One can say there are many ways to defeat the fear of death. Since death is as sure as sunset, what is the use of getting scared of it? Since you are aware that death will come and you are not aware of the permanence of life through pure consciousness, you are always scared of death. Liberation from the scare of death involves several steps. Or, in a simpler way, one can say there are several ways. We can go through the three more practical and obvious ones. First, there is no escape from death and hence one can ...