window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]     Most of us never get this question. We always assume that the world is indeed what we perceive it as. That is our notion of reality. p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]   Probably you think that it sounds like a long list of unrelated practices. But they are not. All of them belong to an overlapping series of mystic practices. These practices can be found in almost any part of the world, in any time period, though these keep changing in terms of their meaning, details, and the purpose. p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]      Have you ever tried listening to some wonderful music recital on your mobile phone, sitting in a bustling market place? You know it is futile, unless you are wearing noise cancelling earplugs. The surrounding noise would totally submerge the music coming from your phone. Either you have to move to a quiet place or use an appropriate device. p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]      Honestly, I don’t know what many of the modern Gurus mean when they say that they are ‘realized’. Someone attains realization while sitting casually on a rock, another gets it when waiting for a train in a busy railway station, and so on! p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]   I was once asked this question when I wrote my first book on Yoga. Well, let me remind that by Yoga I meant some meditative practice, and not the physical discipline that the word represents these days 😉  I was a bit irritated by that question. I was a purist who believed that Yoga is beyond experiencing, beyond mystifying. It is a journey beyond the mind. Hankering for some experience was demeaning the potential of Yoga, that is what I thought. p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause] In the last episode we saw how the Varna and caste system in India developed over a period of time. Its main drawback was that it became more and more dependent on the birth of an individual rather than on his/her nature or profession as originally envisaged. p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]   In the previous episode, we discussed the Varna system that was prevalent in India. It is this Varna system that later gave rise to the often-criticized caste system. p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause] In one of his talks, the well-known Hindu revivalist namely Mr. Rajiv Malhotra almost accuses India’s past colonial rulers for giving rise to the caste system in India. This great scholar based in US, with several books to his credit, goes into the genesis of the word ‘caste’ and tries to absolve India from this dark spot which has always tarnished the glorious past of India. p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]     I had an Indian friend who lived in US for a while. She was working in IT industry like most Indians who migrate to US. She told me an interesting incident. p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }

window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-8HXGBD0CVC'); [Quick links] [Pause]        Most westerners brush aside Hinduism as a polytheistic religion with idol worship at its core. People of Abrahamic religions pride themselves as practitioners of monotheistic faith. That they feel, makes their faith superior to ‘the rest of the Pagan’ faith systems. If you have followed my previous posts and or many of my earlier posts, you will agree that monotheism is not some prerogative of the Abrahamic religions. p { margin-top: 0.42cm; margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #00000a; line-height: 120%; text-align: justify; orphans: 2; widows: 2 }p.western { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji", serif; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-US }p.cjk { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 12pt; so-language: en-IN }p.ctl { font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; font-size: 14pt; so-language: ar-SA }a:link { color: #0000ff }