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Category: knowledge

Classification of men

Classification of men

Published February 27, 2023

Came across an interesting classification of men as per Tantra Sadhana.

1. Pashu – which means animal. Man as an animal. No brains, not evolved, just doing some random stuff. Zero interest in spirituality. Purely materialistic life.

2. Vir – which means brave. This is the type of person that does tantra Sadhana. Such a person is not brave or heroic because he is doing tantra Sadhana, but because he is valiantly fighting his own bad tendencies (anger lust, greed, jealousy etc).

3. Divya – which means divine being. Once one has achieved this state, there are no more rules (unlike the prior stage), because divinity has already been attained.

Thought provoking, no?

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GitaGPT

GitaGPT

Published February 24, 2023

Only someone living under the proverbial rock would not know about ChatGPT now. This AI tool has taken the world by storm, providing instant answers to insane questions in the blink of an eye.

Sure enough, there’s now not one but at least 5 (and more are coming surely!) GitaGPTs as well. It’s almost like we are Arjuna and we are seeking advice from Lord Krishna himself. You can Google for GitaGPT and give it a try.

Here’s a question I asked. “Dear Krishna, How can I write about this GitaGPT tool on my blog on spirituality?”

Here’s the answer from KrishnAI: “Oh Arjuna, If your blog is about spirituality, you can use the GPT tool to help your readers understand the Bhagavad Gita. You can use the tool to explain the concepts of karma, dharma, and reincarnation. You can also use the tool to discuss the importance of yoga and meditation.”

Another one, “Hi Krishna, How can I be happy at work?” Pat came the answer: “Oh Arjuna, the secret to happiness at work is to find delight in your tasks, no matter how mundane they may be. Work becomes worship when it is done with love and attention. The Bhagavad Gita teaches that we should see the Divine in all things, including our work. When we view our work as an offering to the Divine, we can find happiness and satisfaction even in the most menial of tasks.”

How cool is that!

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Fruits of action

Fruits of action

Published February 11, 2023

We are often told by Lord Krishna in the Gita to give up the “fruits” of our actions. What are these fruits?

We typically tend to associate these fruits with the various results we get. You put in a lot of hardwork, and it resulted in you getting a promotion. And so that becomes your fruit of action.

But is this all there is to it?

The word fruit is emblematic of something far deeper. It indicates the cycle of birth and death, and the incessant repetitive nature of creation and dissolution.

An apple fruit contains within it various seeds, each of which in turn containing the latent potential of not just future trees, but also future apples, future seeds, and future grandchildren-trees!

The fruits of our actions are no different. They contain seeds which propel further action. The promotion of today will lead to a desire for more wealth and promotions for future years, ad infinitum.

These fruits might seems sweet and delicious, but in effect only bind us more and lead to more pain. The only way, as Krishna says, is to renounce the fruits.

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Mental farmland

Mental farmland

Published February 8, 2023

Have you ever had that experience, where you think and think and think – searching for an answer – but that answer just stays elusive?

You feel so stupid. The answer seems to be just on the tip of your tongue. And still it evades you.

But then you go for a walk, or a shower, or are sitting aimlessly carelessly somewhere sometime, and boom, the answer hits you. Why is this?

Simon Sinek, the author of bestselling book “Start with Why”, and the host of the awesome podcast “A bit of optimism”, has a scientific answer.

According to him, our minds have access to data at 2 levels. The conscious mind (which we use to quickly look for an answer) has about 2 feet of data access. Think of it like a small local database.

But our subconscious mind? It has access to 11 acres of data! No wonder we remember so much, but the timing is not in our hands.

This is why ‘brainstorming’ is actually about asking the right questions. The right answers will come later, likely in the shower!

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Good and Bad

Good and Bad

Published January 13, 2023

Here are some outstanding lines from the Ashtavakra Gita:

He who has known that adversity and prosperity come through the effects of past actions is ever contented.

Notice how it says both adversity and prosperity. Not only prosperity. It’s not only the good experiences and things we have which lead to contentment. Instead, it is the knowledge that both adversity and prosperity come from past karma – that’s what leads to true satisfaction. If something bad happens, it probably resulted from something much more than just what we did an hour ago. If something great happens, it too probably resulted from something more than just last hour’s effort. We must think not just about the outcome, but of the million billion incidents that had to all happen since we were born, in order to bring that specific event to fruition. 

He who knows that happiness and misery, birth and death are also due to the effects of past actions becomes free from care and is not attached even though engaged in action.
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Two-way street

Two-way street

Published January 1, 2023

We always think that focus comes only when we are interested in something.

Like if you love to play video games or watch YouTube videos, then you no doubt have massive focus on these activities. No matter who is calling you or what needs to be done, it’s possible to not hear anything of the outside world.

So if we like something, we will focus automatically.

But is this helpful? Not really, because what if we don’t like something. How can we focus then?

In a book calling Finding Flow by psychologist and author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, he mentions the following eye-popping sentence:

If you are interested in something, you will focus on it, and if you focus your attention on anything, it is likely that you will become interested in it. Many of the things we find interesting are not so by nature, but because we took the trouble of paying attention to them.

This means that focus-and-interest is not a one-way, but a two-way street!

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Plus minus equal coincidence

Plus minus equal coincidence

Published December 17, 2022

Have been reading one interesting book by a Robert Greene called the Laws of Power. In that, he mentions that he trained a young protégé at one point – a Ryan Holiday – to also become an author. All good.

Then in the newspaper today, I saw an op-ed where someone quoted something written by – you guessed it – Ryan Holiday! Nice coincidence.

But that’s not the reason for this post. The newspaper article said Ryan had an interesting learning on “Plus, Minus, Equal”, that a martial arts trainer used.

To become great he says, each fighter needs to have someone better they can learn from, someone lesser who they can teach, and someone equal who they challenge themselves against. So a plus, a minus and an equal.

The unsaid conclusion of this amazing philosophy, is that one is constantly learning, as one is always a student. Even the best of Gurus, have their own Gurus. Humility is key.

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Transitionary

Transitionary

Published November 24, 2022

Supple to firm to infirm.

Baby to youth to old.

Each one of us goes through this.

No exceptions.

Everything is short lived.

And still in this short time, we run after only short lived things.

Is this sensible?

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Little knowledge…

Little knowledge…

Published November 22, 2022

…is a dangerous thing, as they say. And this is absolutely true.

By the time he got to chapter 11 of the Gita, Arjuna thought he had an excellent understanding of how the Lord works. He had sat through much tougher chapters like 2 and 3 and 6. And so he felt he was ready.

He asked the Lord to show him His VishwaRoopa. He had seen the trailer and now he was ready for the movie, or so he thought. But to be fair, he had some doubt as well, which brought in some humility. He asked Krishna to show His VishwaRoopa only if He felt Arjuna was ready for it.

While the lesson in humility is superb for us, sometimes in real life, we need to take our chances (calculated risk as it is called).

As my Guru says, power is always taken, never given. So if we want to be successful in the material world, sometimes we need to ask and push our way through, because nobody is born a CEO.

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Cattywampus

Cattywampus

Published November 20, 2022

The Cattywampus was one of the fiercest animals to roam the planet during the Ice Age. I’d not heard of it before, but it was an interesting read. There was a professor who taught his students about the now-extinct animal, and also conduct a spot test thereafter, asking various questions such as the Cattywampus’ color, type of fur, size, diet and so on.

Given all the facts were fresh in their minds, every student answered each question exactly as the professor had just taught. Each student expected a nice 10/10 marks.

But they were shocked when they each got a 0 instead. And so they protested.

The professor’s response? “Yes you answered what I taught, but you did not verify if any of it was true. There is no such thing as a Cattywampus, it’s simply a figment of my imagination!”

This story was featured in a 1991 edition of Readers Digest. Pretty cool way to remind us to each ask questions of the things we see around us. Especially on social media, where there is a lot of fake nonsense. Even Arjuna constantly cross-questioned Krishna. There is nothing wrong in the approach, as long as the questioning is not done from arrogance, but rather a desire to learn.

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Knowledgeable, are we?

Knowledgeable, are we?

Published November 12, 2022

Found this in a newspaper clipping today. It was about the 5 types of knowledge, as mentioned in the Uttaradhyayana Sutra, which is an important spiritual treatise in Jainism.

1. Scriptural knowledge

2. Knowledge derived through the 5 senses + mind

3. Clairvoyance

4. Telepathy

5. Omniscience

The first two are alright. The last 3 are seemingly impossible, and logic-and-science defying.

And yet, we have all experienced these at some point. We know sometimes just a moment before that the phone is going to ring. Or that we are thinking of something that your friend is thinking about too. Or you have some intuition of something likely to pan out in a certain way, and it happens exactly like that. These stray incidents may be extremely rare and seemingly coincidental, but all our scriptures suggest that deep within us is present an extraordinary power for which even such ‘micracles’ are easy-peasy.

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How to increase devotion?

How to increase devotion?

Published October 11, 2022

This is a common question with a simple answer.

It’s no different from devotion to anyone or anything else.

Love Bollywood or Hollywood or cricket or football? Why is that? Because of constant exposure.

What do we see on Instagram or Twitter or TV? What do we read about in the newspaper?

As we keep reading more and more about the glories of celebrities and sports stars, that only becomes a virtuous reinforcing loop.

The same thing is applicable to God as well. The more we read about Him and His leelas through various stories and scriptures, the more our devotion will become stronger!

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What to renounce? – part 3

What to renounce? – part 3

Published September 13, 2022

So what is sattvika renunciation? That is doing one’s prescribed duty but giving up attachment and fruits.

So I do the work as though my life depended on it, but then do not worry about the results as if I know I’m going to live peacefully anyway.

Can this be confusing? Yes very, and so my Guru has provided various examples in his Amazing Simple Gita in chapter 18 verse 9’s purport:

  1. Manager forgiving the subordinate when the latter is not doing his work is foolishness and has nothing to do with the former’s Sattvik renunciation or prescribed duty
  2. It is foolishness to say it is alright that I did not get my bonus. What you need to do is to ask for and get your due share and then do charity out of it
  3. Doing self improvement workshops for students is the right thing and our prescribed duty
  4. We are duty bound. Duty has bound us, no escape, and so do duty the sattvika way
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What to renounce? – part 2

What to renounce? – part 2

Published September 12, 2022

Here are some examples provided by my Guru in the chapter 18 verse 8 purports related to incorrect renunciation, and I’ve paraphrased them, so any inconsistency is purely my error in understanding:

  1. For an agnihotra or fire worshipper, it doesn’t matter how they light the fire – whether by rubbing sticks or by lighting a match. Using an easier way (the matchbox) doesn’t make this wrong. What matters is the worship and mental state during worship.
  2. Wearing skimpy clothes or wearing 9 yards sari – neither is the former a sign of spiritual delinquency nor the latter a sign of spiritual progress. Outer paraphernalia have nothing to do with purity of the mind. “These vast changes in the world are only on account of the Lord’s wish to remove miseries of the oppressed class called women”.
  3. Bringing food for puja, ordering from outside on account of strain cannot entirely be construed as rajasik. If lethargy or wealthy comforts are involved, yes it is rajasik.

Eye opening aren’t these? What then is sattvika renunciation? More tomorrow…

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Education is what?

Education is what?

Published September 10, 2022

Is having a degree the same as education or being educated? I was reading a book by Steve Schwarzman, the CEO, co-founder and Chairman of Blackstone Private Equity, and here’s what he has to say:

I believe that education is a discipline. The object of this discipline is to learn how to think. Once we have mastered this we can use it to learn a vocation, appreciate art, or read a book. Education simply enables us to appreciate the ever-changing drama fashioned of God’s own hand, life itself. Education continues when we leave the classroom. Our associations with friends, our participation in clubs all increase our store of knowledge. In fact, we never stop learning until we die. My fellow ocers and I just hope that you will become aware of the purpose of education and follow its basic tenets, questioning and thinking, for the rest of your life.

The author has a bunch of credentials and degrees under his belt, but so do many others. Not everyone is as successful or has given back as much to society. True progress is perhaps in constantly learning and applying.

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Educated guess

Educated guess

Published September 8, 2022

When someone says they are educated, what is it that comes to mind?

School, college, university, 12th grade, board exams, coding, chemistry, MBA, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, IIT, IIM, doctor, lawyer, engineer, CAT, UPSC, JEE. These could be a few of the top ones.

All good.

This is indeed what education means today.

What about character building? What about spirituality? Self discipline? Values of love, truthfulness, goodness and nobility?

But is this all?

Today’s education is mostly about living off of others, one-upmanship – always gaining something at someone else’s expense, always wanting more. More and more. The wants never stop.

True education is in our scriptures. They teach us that we should live not for ourselves, but for others.

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Gunas and roses

Gunas and roses

Published September 4, 2022

A lot of the Gita happens in threes. The most common threes are the gunas. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.

In some of the chapters, the Gita goes into the most excruciating detail on these 3.

Like how to work, divided into three gunas. How to eat, divided into 3 gunas. How to give – you guessed it – also divided into 3 gunas.

Why is this happening?

Because Lord Krishna states clearly that purification of the mind happens only when we are in Sattvik mode.

And how would we know what is Sattvik, until everything is cleanly categorized into one of the 3 guna variants? That’s the reason for this excruciating detail, and seen in this light, it’s not excruciating at all.

Now that we know this from Krishna himself, its up to us to act accordingly. Roses await.

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God alone knows?

God alone knows?

Published August 28, 2022

How difficult is it to attain moksha? Very hard. How difficult is it to attain moksha in this very life then? Infinitely more difficult. But as my Guru always says, “Difficult, but possible.”

In the Katha (Story) Upanishad, a young Nachiketas asks Lord Yama about the Secret Divine Knowledge which is the True Purpose of life. Since Yama had granted Nachiketas a boon, he had no option but to give him this Knowledge.

But Yama also tried at first to distract Nachiketas away from his question. He told him, that even the Gods don’t know about this Divine Secret, so why is a small boy asking questions on these lines!? But Nachiketas was adamant.

And so Yama beautifully explains the True Nature of ourselves and how we should choose the path of Shreyas over Preyas.

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The guaranteed setup for success

The guaranteed setup for success

Published August 27, 2022

It’s common knowledge to think that success comes from hard work. But does this make sense, is hard work sufficient, and what does hard work even mean really? Is 10 hours of working every day hard work? Or 12? Or 20?

More than hard work, it’s probably important to have a mindset that is hard. There are two separate but simple and related things I came across while reading something today.

One was on problems, and how we all try our best to run away from them. But if we think back to every single problem we each faced in our lives, then we would realize that every iota of growth and success actually came from surmounting these same problems. So does it make sense to run away from problems?

The other was on what’s being taught to kids. Opulence and cornucopia. Kids born even into middle class families today are pampered with every possible luxury, both tangible and intangible. Success comes from the ability to fight despite all odds. But with all odds in their favor since a very early age, how can they be expected to fend for themselves?

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Police dharma

Police dharma

Published July 17, 2022

The French word for police is gendarme. No I don’t speak French, but I was looking it up recently. Why?

Because I came across the word for police in a few other languages. “Jandarma”

Jan Dharma?

In Sanskrit, that would be amazing – what does the police do? Their dharma is towards the people. Pretty awesome!

But of course that wouldn’t necessarily be where the word came from. The French gendarme came from gens d’ arms, meaning the men who possessed arms (like guns etc.) and are hence the police. But nice wishful thinking for sure with the Sanskrit connection!

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