I had a…let’s call it…a “minor” difference of opinion with my mother. Rather, we were in total agreement: I felt that she was totally out of her mind. And she felt the same about me. I felt she was being unreasonable, impractical, immature, myopic and egotistic. And oddly enough, she felt exactly the same thing…
Chemistry
At a recent spiritual retreat I attended, Mahatria shared the following anecdote. It was the last day of a workshop that Mahatria had conducted for a group of business leaders. Each of the workshop attendees took turns to share their experiences. They would go up on stage, speak a few words and then step down….
This *and* That
[The following story and lesson were taught by Mahatria at a recent spiritual retreat I attended.] There’s a famous story – about Alexander and Diogenes. Alexander (the conquerer) wants to take Diogenes (the Philosopher) back to his hometown, as a gift for his teacher (Aristotle). There’s a large battalion along with him, constantly shouting “Alexander…
“Cathartic”
A young friend of mine was glued to her phone for more than an hour. I suggested that she take a break from her phone and do something else. She nodded, then walked around for a bit and then got back to her phone, once again starting to text furiously. It was almost as if…
The power of community
A month ago, I signed up for a speed reading course. Reading faster has been a goal of mine for a long time now. But nothing I had tried before worked for me. I just couldn’t stick through any of the training programs I’d signed up for. —- One day, an Indian speaking broken English…
The secret benefit of a marathon
When I launched this blog in late February, my goal was to publish a post every single day. On the days I couldn’t write and publish a new post, I cross-posted content from my now-defunct medium blog. This way I maintained my daily streak for about 2 weeks. —- Then the first crack in my…
“On top of the world”
“Good” “Fine” Those are two words that we usually respond with, to the question “How are you doing?” When things are normal, it’s a spontaneous response, with almost no thought given to it. When things aren’t so good, we still respond with “Fine”, because we feel pressured to do it. Either way, this initial exchange…
When the student is ready…
“I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down.” – Abraham Lincoln —- When someone expects you to do something hard, how often do you feel driven to do it? Not out of fear of punishment, but because: They set high…
106 days of Pranayama: How I (almost) conquered anger
“There are two things a person should never be angry at; What they can help, and what they cannot.” – Plato —- The Bhagavad Gita talks about 3 demons: Lust, Anger, and Greed. If we don’t securely lock them away, we’re doomed. And among the 3, anger was the demon that I found hardest to…
When not to quit
I made a decision to start writing regularly a couple of months ago. The first month was a breeze. High levels of motivation. The excitement of launching my own blog. It was hard not to write. The excitement dissipated after a few weeks, but I was largely able to retain the momentum. Then it got…