So action which is born of reaction breeds sorrow. Most of our thoughts are the result of the past, of time. A mind that is not built on the past, that has totally understood this whole process of reaction, can act every minute totally, completely, wholly. Read more
I regard three books as THE most profound in the "Hindu" philosophy. All three follow a Question and Answer tradition - where challenging the Master or teacher was an important feature. These three are Yoga Vasistha, Bhagwad Gita, and Ashtavakra Gita/Samhita. I have read the first two (or their credible translations). Unfortunately, I have not been able to read the third. Ashtavakra Gita is a dialog between King Janak and his Guru Maharishi Ashtavakra. Thankfully, I found Dr. Mridul Kirti's lovely Hindi translations in poetry form, which bring out the meaning of Ashtavakra very well. I want to thank her for this. I thought maybe I could recite them for the general audience which may want to also enjoy it. Some times it is not easy to read but one can download the audio and carry along on the road. I will try to do my best with the pronunciation, but I may make mistakes, and when I do, please pardon me and let me know. I will try my best to improve. This is also my chance to take this journey with all of you! Read more
This is an excerpt from the book Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time by Joel Comm with Ken Burge, brought to you specially by Drishtikone.com Every conversation has rules. We know not to interrupt someone when they're talking. We know not to use bad language when we talk. We know not to talk too loudly. And we know too how and when to break all of the rules. Exactly the same is true for a Twitter conversation. The site hasn't been around for long, but Twitterers have already tried to figure out something like a Twittering etiquette. Some of those etiquette rules are smart, sensible, and should always be followed. Others are smart, sensible, and should usually be followed. While it's important to know the rules, it's just as important then to know when to break them -- and what happens when you do. Read more
Slumdog Millionaire, Yoga etc have moved people to explore India as a culture. But one thing that Slumdog Millionaire has also done is to create an interest in Americans in "Bollywood Dancing". We, from India, all know what it is.. a mix of just about everything - break-dance, hip-hop, Bhangra, stylized Latin American stuff, and anything else that comes along! All mixed with a unique Bollywood spicey masala.. a recipe that is potent. People who went to gym and used Salsa, modern dancing etc as a gym exercise, but some folks have gotten hooked by the Bollywood version really bad. 🙂 It is the exotic-ness and the unique vigor that probably provides a potent mix.[1] "I'd tried all of it. Modern dance and salsa and swing. Nothing has hooked me like this. I love the culture and the community and the spice," says Bollywood West student Claire Polsky, 45. Even non-Indian dance studios are incorporating Bollywood-style dancing into their repertoire. At the Atlanta Belly Dance studio, Bollywood moves have been incorporated into dances set to American pop songs. "Americans like exotic, but they like dancing to songs they know," says Schadia Hazlett, an owner of three studios of Atlanta Belly Dance, which has several hundred to 1,000 students at times. "It attracts a totally different clientele than salsa or samba." Read more
During the hours after the Mumbai Attacks, i had written an analysis, where I had suggested that it is important for India to emphasis and promote Sufi Islam within the Muslim society. For, I believe, it is entirely hypocritical on part of everyone to praise and eulogize Akbar and Dara Shikoh's spiritual paths but follow Aurangzeb's radical Islam. Now, it is no longer a question of "faith" and religious instruction itself - but the very foundation of Islam. Take for example the word "Jehad". The "moderates" are wont to say that Jehad's real meaning is self introspection. Well, the news for such moderates is that in Wahabi and other radical Islamic traditions, Jehad has been PRACTISED exactly how the terrorists potray it as!! So, If they are looking for the spiritual meaning of Jehad, it has ONLY really (as in.... practised) existed in Sufi traditions as an inherent practice! So, to follow the radical strains of Islam that are so symptomatic of popular Sunni Islam over the centuries, is to FORCIBLY restrict the meaning of Jehad to mindless and senseless violence. If that is where you faith lies, then you lose the moral right to brandish the other meaning as the real one! Because you cannot rubbish an ideology as false to start with and yet use its peaceful tenets as a cloak for the more extremist tenets of your own ideology!! Read more
As long as the mind is seeking, there must be endeavor, effort, which is invariably based on the action of will, and however refined, will is the outcome of desire. Will may be the outcome of many integrated desires, or of a single desire, and that will expresses itself through action, does it not? When you say you are seeking truth, behind all the meditation, the devotion, the discipline entailed in that search, there is surely this action of will, which is desire... Read more
Or so I believe! 😉 Well, we got featured on the India page at AllTop.com - a unique kind of an "Online Magazine Rack" where the best content from the web is "handpicked" by the editors on various topics and showcased. So, for example on the India page, you find all kinds of newspapers from India and some big blogs. This is a brain-child of Guy Kawasaki - a pioneer in blogging and web. It was nice to be in that company and we are truly honored. It also gives more people a chance to check us out while they are on this topic. Hope to bring more and more and better content to you as we go on.. Read more
Here is a beautiful explanation of the final state that I happened to read in Vasistha Yoga today. It is from the story of Vitahvya and is being explained by Maharishi Vasistha to Sri Ram. I think the beauty and interesting part of it is that Maharishi Vasistha talks about all the various "strains" of philosophies that have defined and, also distorted the highest wisdom of Hinduism over the centuries. I had thought that some of these came later. But apparently all these were as old as thought! ============== He abandoned al objectivity of consciousness and even the slightest movement of consciousness. He crossed the state known as "pasyanti" and reached the deep sleep consciousness. He continued beyond that too, and reached the transcedental or turiya consciousness. It is a state of bliss that is not its description, which is both the "is" and "is not", both something and not-something, light and darkness. It is full of non-consciousness and (objectless)consciousness, it can only be indicated by negation (not this, not this). He became that which is beyond description. Read more
I have often wondered who were the All time best Indian batsmen in test cricket. I formulated my own stat comprising Runs per innings and a combination of no. of 50s and 100s one scored with no. of Not outs per innings average added and the ducks deducted. After all it is not only important to score runs... but also have some consistency. Specially in test cricket. I used the later stat as a Reliability Factor (Composite Reliability Score). What came out was an interesting list of players. You may or may not agree with this list.. but I would like to get your thoughts on who you think should have or not made the list. Read more
This is a very sensitive poem by Dr. Prabha Thakur. Dr. Prabha Thakur, a noted Hindi poetess, is a politician from Indian National Congress party and currently a Member of the Parliament of India representing Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. Read more
Drishtikone
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In