Spiritually, karmic lives have no meaning!

Last updated on: November 23, 2008 at 6:44 am By Desh Kapoor

The individualised consciousness (the mind) has arisen in the supreme being, O Ram: it is both different and non-different from the infinite consciousness even as a wave is different and non-different from the ocean. To the enlightened the mind is the absolute Brahman and naught else. To the unenlightened, the mind is the cause of repetitive history (samsara). When dualistic concepts are used by us, O Rama, it is only to facilitate instruction: the division is not real. The absolute Brahman is omnipotent: and there is nothing which is outside of it. It is his own power or energy that pervades all things. That was precisely my point in the piece on "The limited leads to limitless". Of course, my facility with words is not as good as this translation demonstrates the Great Vasistha had! Read more

Ripples in infinite consciousness

Last updated on: November 23, 2008 at 5:32 am By Desh Kapoor

Though from the spiritual standpoint the whole universe is experienced here, from the physical point of view, millions of miles separate the planes. In the infinite consciousness, in every atom of it, universes come and go like particles of dust in a beam of sunlight that shines through a hole in the roof. These come and go like ripples on the ocean. Read more

Drishtikone wins "Blog of the Day" Award!

Last updated on: November 23, 2008 at 5:26 am By Desh Kapoor

This morning I had a surprise! Drishtikone had won the "Blog of the Day award" at Blog of the Day site. This is the first time Drishtikone has actually won a blog award anywhere. It has come close and has been praised but has never won the final thing. Although I don't write for awards.. I write for my own satisfaction but it helps if one can win an award and be encouraged. In journey, some people have joined me - dear friend Ezequiel Rodriguez (a Mexican Mystic) and my childhood friend, Jeshi - who also write on it equally share this distinction. I am sure many more people will discover Drishtikone and realize that it fulfills a special need. It may be just another blog but it is so diverse and lively that there are very few around which have the same "soul". Postings go from the humorous to the Spiritual, to the useful, to political to mystical... and that is its strength - the absolute unpredictability! Read more

Colors Speak English. Forms Speak Spanish

Last updated on: November 22, 2008 at 5:38 pm By Rev. Dr. Todd Littleton

We are where our minds think we are, and not where we actually are. A good fiction writer makes our minds mentally travel to places he/she wishes us to be. It is as our brains follow his words our minds experience the places he is describing using many perceptions as required to achieve the desired effect on us. On this occasion I’m asking for your cooperation regarding demonstrating something beneficial for everybody. It would be a wonderful idea if only for this time you read each sentence three times using your useful imagination. The first time please imagine that you are on your favorite summer spot in broad daylight as you read the sentence. On your second reading transport yourself to a vey dark winter night in front of a bonfire as you listen to this sentence uttered by an expert storyteller. And your third time will be of your choice. Please place yourself in whatever place you wish. Read more

The Problem of Pleasure

Last updated on: November 22, 2008 at 2:42 pm By Desh Kapoor

Without the understanding of pleasure you will never be able to understand love. Love is not pleasure. Love is something entirely different. And to understand pleasure, as I said, you have to learn about it. Now for most of us, for every human being, sex is a problem. Why? Read more

Gayatri Mantra: Illumine us

Last updated on: November 22, 2008 at 4:51 am By Desh Kapoor

VK has mentioned Gayatri mantra that his family recites at almost every time - meals and other times. Let us talk about the mantra. Here it is: ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः । तत् सवितुर्वरेण्यं । भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि । धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥ Or in English: oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ tat savitur vareṇyaṃ bhargo devasya dhīmahi dhiyo yo naḥ prachodayāt Here is the word for word translation: Read more

Save Detroit and jobs and dump top 3 car makers

Last updated on: November 22, 2008 at 4:35 am By Desh Kapoor

There is a lot of discussion of failure and bailout or otherwise of the US Auto industry. Here is a video as well with Peter Schiff discussing this thing. I agree with a lot of what he says. It can't be denied that lot of people will be affected if GM and other two die tomorrow. However, they need not. It is important to isolate what is critical and what is important and what is Nice to Have! And I have always believed that Sherlock Holmes advise is still relevant: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, has to be the truth." The need here is to eliminate the "impossible"! Here is my prescription: - Let these Top 3 companies go bankrupt - Give any company in the world which wants to set up factory or take over the existing ones, a 10 year tax holiday - just as India gave to the Indian software industry and other companies. And then let companies like Toyota, Hyundai, Tatas, Mahindras of the world make cars more efficiently. This way the names and brands would change but the cars would still be made in Detroit and the people will also be employed. So, instead of spending $25 billion on giving to the companies.... earmark it for shortage in taxes!! Have a combination of State and Federal tax cuts to motivate the foreign companies to set up shop here. Extraordinary times require extraordinary actions. This is one of those. Read more

Red wine may help in Alzheimers

Last updated on: November 22, 2008 at 4:11 am By Desh Kapoor

People may hate the French but their interest and loves with different things fascinate the world. Red wine is one of those things. French have lower death rate from heart attacks and one of the element is supposed to be their red wines. Now a UCLA professor says that this red wine may be good for fighting Alzheimers as well. David Teplow, a UCLA professor of neurology, and colleagues show how naturally occurring compounds in red wine called polyphenols block the formation of proteins that build the toxic plaques thought to destroy brain cells, and also how they reduce the toxicity of existing plaques, thus reducing cognitive deterioration. Polyphenols comprise a chemical class with more than 8,000 members, many of which are found in high concentrations in wine, tea, nuts, berries, cocoa and various plants. So either drink red wine or make sure at least you have enough tea, chocolate and berries. Read more

Claudia gets a windpipe of her own

Last updated on: November 22, 2008 at 3:37 am By Desh Kapoor

It is a major scientific breakthrough and I wanted to recognize it as well as chronicle it here at Drishtikone. For the first time, in a commercial way at least, a body part has been created out of tissue from a person's own stem cells. Here is the interesting procedure of how it was done: To create the new windpipe, the team took a seven-centimeter (2.75-inch) segment of trachea from a 51-year-old who had died. Over a six-week period, the team then removed all the cells from the donor trachea, because those cells could lead to rejection of the organ after transplant. All that remained of the donor's stripped-down trachea was a matrix of collagen, a sort of scaffolding onto which the team then put Castillo's own stem cells -- along with cells taken from a healthy part of her trachea. Birchall had already taken Castillo's stem cells from her bone marrow and grown them into a large population in his Bristol lab. Four days after putting Castillo's stem cells into the donor trachea, the team was able to perform the transplant operation at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona. Castillo had no complications from the operation and was discharged from the hospital 10 days later. The traditional way to solve the issue of what this lady was suffering from - severe collapse of lung - was to remove her lung, which has had a high mortality rate. This could also lead to human cloning. Read more

The toughest race that you may have seen!!

Last updated on: November 21, 2008 at 11:16 pm By Desh Kapoor

Here is the most bizarre race I have ever seen!! Three swimmers, two get disqualified.. and the one guy is ... .well.. competing with himself.. and THAT is one heck of a tough race!! Read more