All the random thoughts

Love is a symptom of spirituality. It is the God inside us manifesting Himself, ever so briefly, in an external object - living or otherwise. That manifestation, and our identifying it, is a call from the inside to look inward. To pursue the Paramatma. The object itself is not really important. However that fleeting symptom of spiritual possibility remains etched in our memory as something desirable. That memory becomes an emotion and manifests itself as a feeling every time we come across that object.  Nothing wrong in identifying that symptom with that object that gave rise to it. The problem is we forget that the object was a trigger. The purpose of that trigger was to seek the source inside us that responded to that trigger. The source inside, or the Paramatma, has just given us a signal as to the purpose of our life. And that is to pursue that symptom and find its source - the Paramatma Himself. Love, therefore, is a clear clarion call to be spiritual, to seek the God within. ...

"You said we will talk about Rama's treatment of Sita. Should we?" "Now might be as good a time as any other. Why not?" "So why the Agni Pareeksha? Why banish a pregnant lady to the jungles?" "Slow down. Before we discuss that, let us try and define Dharma, as we know that Rama's philosophy was rooted in Dharma" "I agree. But they say Dharma is to follow the Shastras. Now that is a big ask. Shastras are voluminous and endless" "We have the essence of everything in the Gita. Remember, understanding and appreciating Rama and his path is best done after a reading of Gita" "So be it. What's the essence of Dharma?" "Dharma is based on a three dimensional perspective of life and it's vagaries. First dimension is to accept that everything happening to anyone is based on Prakriti or Vidhi or 'the system'" "So we two talking here is predestined and not because I was curious?...

"Whatever you may say, Rama's treatment of Vaali and attitude towards Sita weren't right" "Possibly. Let us break down the Vaali episode for the moment" "OK" "You know that Rama was directed to meet Sugriva by Kabandha, a demon freed from his curse by Rama, in the forest. Right?" "Maybe. I do not know to that level of detail. But if he had to direct, he would have directed Rama to the more powerful Vaali who could have made the task of finding Sita easier. Why Sugriva?" "Good. Now Kabandha possibly knew the whole Vaali/Sugriva story. He knew Vaali was powerful yet he directed Rama to Sugriva because partnering with Vaali would have been Adharmic or unethical for Rama. Vaali had taken away Sugriva's wife so technically he was to Sugriva what Ravana was to Rama" "Hmmm.. Ok" "Sugriva, on the other and, was a natural ally because of their shared situation of losing the wife and wandering in the fo...

Ours is the land of Sanatana Dharma Our work ethos is Nishkama Karma, Ours is the land of God spoken Veda With schools of thought from Saankhya to Abheda. We are taught to wildly celebrate holy colors And yet also solemnly worship feminine powers. Reminders abound of the triumph of good over evil, Yet we value the good in both the Divine and devil. A culture rooted in 'Vasudhaika Kutumbam' A life designed for 'Varnashrama Dharmam', Forever treating nature as supreme Mother Goddess For the soul mattered more and material world less. There was also an interest to study wonders of nature but gentle and non-intrusive approach was it's feature The purpose of learning was to seek God in His creation, We understood that man, despite the learning, must live on a ration. Into this subtle culture entered brute forces of science from the occident that celebrated gross minds, Material greed suddenly became our new passion as gentler life of Dharma went out of...

"Happy Krishnashtami" "Yes. But you know, I am not a great fan" "Why not? Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum. He is the Guru of the Universe" "Well, they say so. But the way he helped Pandavas win the Bharata war is not fair" "Why? He was only protecting Dharma" "Maybe. But Duryodhana was a good king for his people. It was just his cousins he was jealous of. In a fair war, with no support from Krishna, it definitely feels like Kauravas would have won. The way Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Saindhava, Duryodhana, Bhagadatta etc. were killed, it is bad and unfair" "Ok. Let us see. You have read Gita, I presume" "Yes, I did" "In chapter 11, sloka 34 Krishna told Arjuna that 'Drona, Karna, Bhishma, Jayadratha and other heroes have already been killed by me. You just fight the rest'. What do you understand by that, considering Gita happened before the war?" "Interesting. Never thought about it...

"Happy Vinayaka Chavithi" "Same to you. But am telling you, there was so much crowd in the market that to get home the God of obstacles, I had to face many obstacles ! These beliefs can be tiring, man" "Interesting that you talk of obstacles. I think we tend to ignore the meaning of obstacles when we follow beliefs just for the sake of following" "What do you mean? There were indeed obstacles. Police closed the entrance for vehicles, lot of jostling and pushing in the crowd and, as usual, people trying to win at every place. I had to convince myself that the pain is worth the belief" "Obstacles to what? Remember we talked about ours being the original POP culture? Culture for the Pursuit of Paramatma, that is. You know in pursuit of self realization, where the biggest obstacles come from?" "From the world around?" "Our senses and their attachment to their objects. And the mind that encourages the senses to pursue th...

The Vagabond and the new manager stood next to each other and stared at the barren landscape in front of them. It was still early on a cold morning in ITVille. The new manager looked grim and concerned. It was hard to discern what was going on in his mind at that moment though the expression did convey that he was thinking about something sinister that either happened already or was about to happen. The Vagabond started humming. “What’s that you are humming? The occasion doesn’t really warrant a song” the manager was grimly curious. “Just an old.. ah…Beatles song, sir” the Vagabond assumed it must be some song written by someone who knew the English language really well. The manager wasn’t ready to let go. He wanted to dig deeper in the hope that it could lighten up the mood before they get on with the task at hand. “Beatles? How does the song go? I think I can recognize a Beatles song if I hear one”. “Oh it is not really much sir” the Vagabond replied. “But if yo...