tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-107012182011-04-22T01:36:19.796+05:30This blog contains select articles on & about life and its lessons as we know it.... and @ times... as we dont...Orteganoreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1142415109329297942006-03-15T15:01:00.000+05:302006-03-15T15:01:49.340+05:30

‘This is not the Indian way,’ is how most Indian men/women dismiss the lack of expression of affection or physical intimacy, but it is something most partners appear to crave for. While an average Indian partner (especially those from the smaller towns) are shy about any public display of physical affection from her spouse, he/she certainly hankers for it from the partner in private, and that too

Orteganoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107961419843465482005-02-09T20:33:00.000+05:302005-02-09T20:33:39.843+05:30

Simply put, happiness is satisfaction of mind. However, different individuals have different perceptions of how to achieve happiness. For some, happiness lies in wealth; for others, it is in rank and position; yet others find happiness in fame and name. Commonly, happiness is measured by achievement in terms of money, property, other material possessions, power, name, fame, education, lifestyle,

Orteganoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107961373640564282005-02-09T20:32:00.000+05:302005-02-09T20:32:53.640+05:30

Once a messenger walking past a tree heard a voice say: "Will you accept seven jars full of gold?" The messenger looked around, but could see no one. The offer was too good to refuse, so he cried aloud: "Yes, I shall accept the seven jars." At once the voice replied: "Go home, I have carried the jars to your house." The messenger ran home and when he entered the house he saw the jars and found

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107961286683050752005-02-09T20:31:00.000+05:302005-02-09T20:31:26.683+05:30

There are some people who do little, but make others do a lot. Brahman, the pure Consciousness, too, is actionless — but in Its presence, everything else works. Observe an infant. It does little other than kick about, cry and laugh but it spurs everybody into willing action. The mere presence of an infant brings joy. What makes a baby so lovable, a source of joy for all? The answer is simple

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107933166711983272005-02-09T12:42:00.000+05:302005-02-09T12:47:14.336+05:30

We constantly confuse worth with usefulness. Witness the way we treat the old - no longer do we seek to benefit from their wisdom and experience. A carpenter and his apprentice were walking through a large forest. They came across an old oak tree. The carpenter asked his apprentice: "Do you know why this tree is so tall, so huge, so gnarled and beautiful?" The apprentice looked at his master

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107933133185610932005-02-09T12:40:00.000+05:302005-02-09T12:42:13.186+05:30

What is conventionally called 'love' is an ego strategy to avoid surrender. You are looking to someone to give you that which can only come to you in the state of surrender. The ego uses that person as a substitute to avoid having to surrender. The Spanish language is the most honest in this respect. It uses the same verb, te quiero, for 'I love you' and 'I want you'. To the ego, loving and

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107881380805903982005-02-08T22:19:00.000+05:302005-02-08T22:19:40.806+05:30

The enormity of death is felt by people when they lose someone close to them. Knowledge and spirituality are often the light at the end of the tunnel in such moments of sadness. A human being who has died, is like a torch extinguished. However, the flame of his life burns in his children, friends, work, and in his ideas. He has enriched the earth on which he has walked, the rivers in which

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107881355806768332005-02-08T22:18:00.000+05:302005-02-08T22:19:15.806+05:30

This morning, work took me to a place where little children and old people were lying on the floor — an unreal heat, an unreal poverty, but very real people. Three little children like little broken Christs or broken Krishnas (I couldn’t tell their religion) condemned to a life that the old around them were probably waiting to end. And this evening as I stood in the Fire Temple, I wondered,

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107881303571140352005-02-08T22:17:00.000+05:302005-02-08T22:24:12.066+05:30

"Hey, I'm in Nirvana!" We talk like this when we feel good. But what is it like to actually attain nirvana, otherwise known as moksha or self-realisation? Self-realisation is the goal of life. Vedic rishis found that everything in the world that blooms is also subject to ultimate decay. Are we here just to live a brief life and then pass away? They reasoned that life cannot be devoid of some

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107881241502217732005-02-08T22:16:00.000+05:302005-02-08T22:17:21.503+05:30

It can happen to anyone. Destiny can strike suddenly, changing your life forever. God has plans for everyone. The wisdom and kindness of God is beyond our minds' reach. We can only try to understand it if we surrender totally to God and have deep faith. The way to deal with crisis and life-threatening situations is to resolve to do our best and let God do the rest... When there is

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107881157655385962005-02-08T22:15:00.000+05:302005-02-08T22:15:57.656+05:30

The stoic philosopher Seneca wrote a short manifesto in AD 49 against dawdlers, procrastinators and other 'time-killers' that seems as fresh and relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. He began with what in those days was a common complaint: That we are cursed with too short a life span, which often seemed to end just when we were getting ready for it. Nor was it just the man in the

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107880946637134112005-02-08T22:12:00.000+05:302005-02-08T22:12:26.636+05:30

Let’s talk about pleasure and pain. Pleasure first, because it makes you feel good. But life’s pleasures seem so fleeting and evanescent, like glistening dewdrops that evaporate with the first hint of the warm rays of the sun. A pleasant state of being , we instinctively feel, is intrinsically unstable. Pleasure vanishes like a transient bubble, while pain endures. What is pleasant is

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107880855531623762005-02-08T22:10:00.000+05:302005-02-08T22:11:30.336+05:30

Detachment is not renunciation. It is a re-orientation of attitudes and lifestyles. It is a creative endeavour that involves a shift in consciousness. Free-flowing consciousness helps us reach a state of creative calm. According to Sri Aurobindo , when one withdraws from the turmoil of outer life, the evolving consciousness becomes centred and observant like a detached witness or sakshi .

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107880750221999602005-02-08T22:08:00.000+05:302005-02-08T22:09:10.223+05:30

Who doesn't want to be happy? We all desire happiness. We pursue pleasures systematically through life — it comes as naturally to us as the sunflower turns to the sun. But, pleasure once obtained does not last; so once again, the search begins. Moreover, pleasure is ephemeral; it eludes the seeker at the final moment. One may work very hard and get all that the world considers necessary for

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107880625852711662005-02-08T22:06:00.000+05:302005-02-08T22:07:05.853+05:30

Worry causes fear, anxiety, tension and stress. These emotions deplete energy and weaken the immune system. Worriers become sick and this is manifested in poor health, because of all the problems that are eating into their vitals. And worry is certainly not the same as constructive thinking; if it were, we would have found solutions to most of our problems. Worry usually occurs when we

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107880559979217522005-02-08T22:05:00.000+05:302005-02-08T22:24:50.593+05:30

A regular at religious discourses, I’ve often found followers of one guru or faith criticising other gurus, teachers and devotees, because they think that their own philosophy is far superior. They tend to assess the learnedness or otherwise of a teacher according to the number of disciples and ashrams. If those who profess to be spiritual seekers behave in this manner, what can we expect from

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107878389776919972005-02-08T21:29:00.000+05:302005-02-08T21:29:49.776+05:30

To know innate reality, the powers of the mind need to be turned back upon itself. With concentration, the mind can access its innermost secrets, just as the darkest places reveal their secrets to the penetrating rays of light. We can then perceive the truths about the soul, whether life exists for five minutes or for eternity, and whether there is a God. To go even beyond the mind and

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107878351286974942005-02-08T21:28:00.000+05:302005-02-08T21:29:11.286+05:30

Possessions burden your mind and are a distraction to deep thought. A well-to-do disciple was very fond of his frugal guru who used to live in a remote village, meditating under a tree most of the time. The guru was a free bird; he had neither family nor home. He sustained himself by begging for alms. There were days when he even went without food, but that did not seem to bother him. He

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107878124299777562005-02-08T21:24:00.000+05:302005-02-08T21:25:24.300+05:30

Of the three activities of thought, word and deed, perhaps thought is the most potent and powerful force, for it is the precursor of the other two. The battle is first fought and won in the mind, says industrialist Rahul Bajaj. Success is achieved twice, once in the mind and the second time in the real world. Visualising your goals and success is an important skill for any successful

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107878040501668532005-02-08T21:23:00.000+05:302005-02-08T21:24:00.500+05:30

It is now fashionable to ask: Why do we say "falling" in love and not "rising" in love? We "fall" in love because to love implies total surrender. Unless we surrender our ego to the object of our love, we cannot realise the power and expanse of love. There are two basic emotions which drive this world: love and hate. All relationships are affected in some way or other by these, and so they

Orteganoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10701218.post-1107877916566076442005-02-08T21:20:00.000+05:302005-02-08T21:21:56.566+05:30

I love the saying: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life". The past isn't important, for, from today onward, we can change. My guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, often said, "Forget the past". The thought of past mistakes pulls us down. People also live too much in their victories. In self-pride they say, "Oh, I did this and I did that", but that's history. The Bhagavad Gita tells us

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