An analysis of India's geopolitical strategy against the US-China nested game, exploring Operation Sindoor, the Mecca Agreement, and macro-micro decoupling.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsA re-imagination of Western management through the lens of Vedantic philosophy to build a conscious, resilient, and ethical framework for 21st-century business.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAn analysis of Pakistan's garrison state, its game-theoretic traps, and why India's pluralistic framework offers a stable cooperative alternative.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsUncover how ancient Bharata, shielded by ecology, became Afro-Eurasia's demographic powerhouse, seeding global civilization, wealth, and culture. Dismantling colonial timelines with empirical data.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsExplore the game theory behind manufactured revolts like the 'Cockroach Janta Party.' This analysis uncovers AstroTurfing, external interference, and counter-strategies for states.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsTHE ARCHITECTURE OF THE SUBTLE BODY A Biophysical Unification of Glympho-Vasomotor Fields, Bone Mechanotransduction, Eastern Energetics, and Ajātavāda Advaita Vedānta INTRODUCTION For decades, we've been told that our...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaP. Desikan In the fourth sarga of Balakanda of Sri Valmiki Ramayana, an account is given of Sage Valmiki teaching young Lava and Kusha to recite the Kavya he had just composed and the youngsters turning out to do a...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe fiction of a predictable, rules-based multilateral world order came to a formal end at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year.
Categories: Strategy & Geopolitics॥ चित्प्रतिबिम्बसूत्रम् ॥ Cit-Pratibimba-Sūtram The Aphorisms on the Reflections of Consciousness --- मङ्गलाचरणम् (Opening Invocation) नमः शिवायै चित्यै प्रकाशविमर्शरूपिण्यै ॥ namaḥ śivāyai cityai...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGet the copy here - The trail climbed steeply through wet pine and stone. Adi’s breath came in sharp pulls as he pushed upward through the mist. The monsoon clouds wrapped the mountain in a gray cocoon.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsRavana's shiva thandava stotram describes the dance of Shiva at the times of primordial Universe and how His 'will' and 'desire' leads to the creation and evolution of Universe.
Categories: Texts & StotramsMoha mudgaram has 33 slokas while 11 or 12 are mostly sung. This is an attempt to get the unsung verses to be sung with modern music. Our attachments are never lost irrespective of age, health and wealth.
Categories: Texts & StotramsHere is a collection of 10 vedic mantras in samskrt and tamil which teach us how to approach our life and we have to recite daily. In this collection 1.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThe Philosophical Convergence of Daoism and Vedanta Daoist and Vedantic philosophies, despite their distinct origins, share remarkable similarities in their views on reality, the nature of the self, and how to live in...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaWhat is Art? Is it an expression of the subconscious flowing through on a canvas, through words, music, forms etched out of a slab of wood or rock? Is it therapy for the soul? An avenue of release of unexpressed...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHow does a society heal from trauma? Acknowledging a malaise so one can treat it is valuable. In the case of Bharat, there was a social malaise of jati (caste) discrimination.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThyagaraja swamy's song Seetha Kalyana Vaibhogame defines qualities of rAmA, that makes him the best choice for Seetha and hence sung in all marriages.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsShree is the opulence of Universe, which is all its existences including living and non-living. The nourisher of all existences is mA bhavani, the goddess of existences.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMoha mudgaram is a set of 33 stanzas, out of which 12 are said to be from Adi Shankara, the rest by others. Mudgara means hammer.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaWake up Lord Srinivasa, who is verily rAmA, rAmA, the son of kausalya, bravest of men, to do divine duty of causing prosperity to 3 worlds.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAnything that can go wrong will go wrong is murphy's law. That's Vigna, the disturbance in every work we do. How do we fail murphy's law, overcome Vigna that makes work go wrong..
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaGanapati dyAnam sloka Vishnu, who is dark in color, holds/bears the white speckled Universe's expanse.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaShakti, the external manifestation of Shiva, the consciousness, is known (vid) in biological beings through Signaling, Response to stimulus, Reproduction, Adaptation, Organization, Growth, Death, Metabolism, Mind that...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsmahAperiyava says "Vedic tattvam is more clearly communicated in tamil. Vedas are called 'marai', which means hidden. They are called 'ezhuthaa kilavi' which means 'unwritten verses'.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen Yama is near, markandeya clings on to Lord Shiva. That action of clinging on to Lord Shiva, provides him liberation.
Categories: Texts & StotramsScience says Big Bang created the energy of Universe, which was followed by 'Inflation/Expansion' of spacetime, in which spacetime expanded hugely. This is called 'Cosmic Inflation'.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhenever 'golden eyed' asuras assault Mother Earth, hide her under their 'rasatala', varAha descends liberating Mother Earth and destroying those Asuras. Vara-Aha means 'pre-eminent or superior'.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsRgveda 10.129, nasadiya suktam talks about what could exists beyond the Universe and all its manifestations.
Categories: Texts & StotramsSubmit to that one with no attributes, unmoving, omnipresent, formless, behind all matter forms (as energy), behind all life forms (as consciousness), gracious to drink the poison to sustain Universe, blissful faced,...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn Paramartha stuti, Swami Vedanta desikan praises Lord Vijayaraghava in thiruputkuzhi as the best of the warriors and submits to him.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaLalita pancharatnam asks us to submit to Goddess Lalita at the dawn. The whole Universe that is 'seen', all the biological forms that 'see' are manifestations of 'Shakti'.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThe play of Lalita may appear random to us, but she is playing it at her 'will', thus ruling as 'Raja Rajeswari'.
Categories: Texts & StotramsIn any 'organization', the 'values' that people cherish and use to improve their daily ordinary lives acts as a glue aligning people together. A national flag represents such values for a nation.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsClassification of vedic texts The vedic scriptures are seen through classification of saMhita, brAhmaNa, Aranyaka and UpaniSat. There are various ideas about what and how these classifications are meant for.
Categories: Texts & StotramsSri Sachidananda Shivabhinava nRsimha bhArati, the 33rd pItathipati of Sringeri mutt, a treasure of learning, who composed several slokas, ever immersed in Atma niStA, travelled all over India along with this guru...
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Rgveda 10.191 is set in the background of a sacrifice (Yajna) by assembly of priests, in which Agni which is the messenger that takes the oblations to devas, is addressed.
Categories: Texts & StotramsI believe in this Universe, there is a 'design pattern' followed for matter evolution and biological evolution. In the last post, I had talked about whatever we call as 'energy' (whatever that is seen).
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIf I mix my understanding of vedic scriptures with science with a little bit of imagination, this is how universe/multi-verses keep getting formed. A scalar field is a distribution of a particular scalar quantity.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsShiva is energy, known only through its effects. A sAksi. This energy manifests in various forms, one of which is motion or mechanical energy symbolized by River Ganga.
Categories: Texts & Stotramsdharma are simply laws. Laws of Universe (across all domains), laws of social groups of biological beings, laws made by human beings for their societal evolution.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSant Eknath lived in later part of 1500s, wrote his version of bhagavata purana, ramayana etc apart from various abhangs emphasizing bhakti as the way to jnana. Sant Eknath was from varkari tradition, a Krishna devotee.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe movie, "The Kashmir Files" has been taking India by storm since its release last weekend.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsnAma japA by mind or by speech helps us to devote our mind, develop bhakti and lead us in the path of jnAnA says mahAperiyavA.
Categories: Texts & StotramsP. Desikan This happened on October 3, 2021, when I had turned eighty-five. This gul mohur tree just outside our apartment building that appeared alive and well up to about 5-15 pm that day suddenly got uprooted by the...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEthnomethodology is the field of study that explains how one sustains ‘reality’. It says there are five features to our reality- reflexivity, coherence, interaction, fragility, and permeability.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsCarl sagan says “Ancient tamil festival of Pongal is not just celebration of harvest (unlike other festivals), as it marks return of Sun (Uttarayana), leading to earth’s seasonal cycles.
Categories: Texts & StotramsAgnihotram rAmAnuja tattacharyar's book 'Hindu matham enge pogirathu' was discussed in U2Brutus channel.
Categories: Texts & StotramsShiva is the ‘white’ (from which all colors diverge). In Universe, Shiva is Energy from which all matter & beings diverge. But we do not perceive energy directly. We perceive Energy through ‘Momentum’, the Shakti.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAnalogous to science concepts of today, in matter domain, Shiva is Energy. Vishnu is the property of ‘mass’.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThis is a very fascinating talk and is the most convincing/logical explanation of the Indus script decipherment that I’ve seen. https://youtu.be/8HXfIUYLxu0
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI happened to see this in U2 Brutus channel. At the outset, U2 Brutus is 'opposite' of vedabhasya channel.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhat are siddhis..? what is realization..? There are 'patterns' lurking behind in every aspect of universe.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnesssAstha means ‘conservator’ or ‘chastiser’ one who punishes to conserve dharma. Village deities like Aiyanar (karuppu, muni) punish to ensure people conserve/follow dharma. They are the sAsthAs.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaPunnaagavanam P. Desikan Punnai, Punnaagam or Pungam, the Indian laurel tree, known in Sri Lanka as Indian doomba oil tree and in Southeast Asia and Oceania as bintangur, bitaog, tamanu, or kamani, has the binomial...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsVedanta desika, while explaining isavasya upanishad talks about how a person consuming one morsel more than what is needed for sustenance is a thief.
Categories: Texts & StotramsWas on a walk today and noticed the leaves turning yellow as fall sets in. I closely inspected a leaf and noticed that the green in the leaf was gradually shrinking in a fractal pattern much the same as a plant grows in...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsmahAperiyavA says, Brahma vidya is the biggest of the vidyas, which is realizing that all matter/beings are same. It’s not just knowing it intellectually, but realizing it from our ‘self’.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaHappy Gokulashtami.. A translation of Adi Shankaras 'Vasudeva sutam devam..', sung in tamil, essence in english..
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Shiva is Energy. Shakti is Momentum. Shiva-Shakti is the Energy-Momentum (EM) couple. Shakti, the Momentum is what is seen outward.
Categories: Texts & StotramsI am copying here a happy announcement by Prof Michel Danino and an equally happy acknowledgement by Dr S Kalyanaraman,both of whom are very well known to Medhavis: Great work, Michel.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground This post is a summary of understanding of my analysis of scriptures, surfing across them at a top-level. I had made a detailed poston understanding of matter domain, in depth earlier.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground There are a lot of internet 'stories' and 'posters' talking about Rg veda indicating the speed of light. Here is my analysis of it. Rk Veda sloka 1.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSri Sanjiv Sanyal has given an illuminating lecture on the Rig Veda. One realizes after listening to the lecture what Hindus have missed for depending blindly on western scholars to understand the Rig Veda.
Categories: Texts & StotramsmahAperiyavA's classic 'maitrim bhajata' translated and sung in tamil. It calls for Universal friendship, building human bonds, seeing others as ourselves, giving up war and mindless violence and says that leads to...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAdi Shankara describes six characteristics of Vishnu in Vishnu Shatpadi stotram. The six characteristics of Vishnu described are 1. Vishnu eliminates pride by being our controlling manas that removes mirages we see. 2.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThere's a term in Japanese - "Ikigai", which roughly translates to "reason for being" which resonates very strongly with me.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics[mbm\book\grid id='6323'] Authors [mbm\author\list include\photo="yes" include\bio="yes" group\by\letter="yes" include\blanks="no" display="name"]
Categories: Arts & AestheticszaM’ means welfare, happiness, prosperity. zaM-kara is one who makes this welfare, happiness, prosperity. zaM-bhu is that exists as welfare, happiness and prosperity.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMadhu is anything that does not ‘expire’ or ‘go bad’ or ‘die’ easily. Hence it indicates honey, liquor or the demon madhu who dies only when he wishes or ‘weak’ force that decays matter slowly.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOnce Shankara waited for one of his disciples to start his talk. Other disciples told Shankara that he is not worth that wait, as he had never talked till then. The disciple arrived, singing with hand-clapping.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaManisha panchakam is a set of 5 stanzas that record Adi Shankaracharya's realization of jnana.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaHow mouse Live in holes by Rishab
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDr.Vikram Rajagopal is my classmate from KMC Manipal. He and his wife Dr.Shweta went back to India leaving their cushy jobs in the USA to be caregivers to their aging parents.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsShiva is Energy. Uma is quiet potential energy and durgA is ‘impassable’ kinetic energy of matter forms. Easwari is the sum of these two, the internal energy of matter forms.
Categories: Texts & StotramskAsi is a place of learning wisdom and self-realization. Universe is kAsi, our body is kAsi says Adi shankaracharya. Why is kAsi yAtra part of marriage ceremony in many communities.? Watch the melodious song https://www.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaOothukadu venkata kavi was a genius personified whose compositions are used by singers, dancers, harikatha exponents et al.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsShiva is Energy in matter domain. Universe evolves on energy through eight evolutionary processes that are time-irreversible. Time-irreversible means there is no way of realistically reversing these processes.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen something is incomplete and we don't understand it fully, we ask 'What's (use of) that..?" (tatah kim..?) Guru ashtakam says, without attaching our 'manas' to the feet of 'Guru', nothing is complete.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaI've been on "the path" for more than two decades now. When I first started, I was reeling from the death of my father, who passed away in the most unexpected manner, literally like a bolt from the blue.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantamAyA is the process that creates self-identities (maya) and perspectives (aham-kAra) and thus 'differentiates' (vi-bheda).
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIn vedic traditions, all divinities are based on some existing natural force (that's why the multiplicity) and the idea is to invoke those forces in us through bhakti, learn from these forces, to help facilitate evolve.
Categories: Texts & StotramsShiva is the property of Energy. Uma is quiet, potential energy. durgA is impassable the kinetic energy which cannot be made zero (absolute zero impossible). Universe matter forms evolve on the matted hair of Shiva.
Categories: Texts & StotramsI can hear the rustling of her saree. I can hear the tinkle of her bangles , the majestic but musical sounds of her silambu ,her voice that calls out to my name and the sweet sound of veena.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe recent Physics Nobel Prize given to Penrose reminded me of a teacher of mine Professor Amal Kumar Raychoudhury (AKR). I attended his Classical Mechanics course in Presidency College in 1977.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessAdi Shankaracharya' highlights the characteristics of Subrahmanya or Kanda in bhujangam style, which is like a snake moving on the sides. Subrahmanya means one who is auspicious for brahman, the evolution.
Categories: Texts & StotramsUniverse's evolution is driven by a design pattern of an external observer driving the evolution, just by observation. We call this observer, the Atman and the evolution as Brahman.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta[embed]https://youtu.be/CT3wBZmGZGo[/embed] nArAyaNi is the total internal energy of any matter form. nArAyaNi stuti from Devi mahAtmyam.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics[embed]https://youtu.be/LwmxtKjzLbo[/embed] Vinayaga (in matter forms) is 'Work' or 'Action' or 'வினை' in tamil. It is the 'Work' in science parlance as well.
Categories: Texts & StotramsShankara's description of Buddhists in his time > Among them there are three schools: some are Sarvastivadins (divided into the Sautantrikas and Vaibhasikas, believing respectively in the inferential and perceptual...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaHindu spiritual literature talks about many types of Rishis, Rajarshi, Devarshi and Brahmarshi. Rajarshi means a king who is also a rishi. Devarshi means a god like rishi.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics[embed]https://youtu.be/XPAt0E6zvDY[/embed] Ashtalakshmi stotram tranlsation in Tamil and essence in English. Ashta-Lakshmis are the eight attributes of matter forms and biological forms. In matter forms.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThe forward only moving ‘Arrow of Time’ or ‘kAla’ is the most frightful divinity in our Universe. ‘kAlA’ is synonymous to ‘death’ because arrow of time and death cannot be reversed.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAdi Shankara's Lakshmi nRsimha Karavalambam translated to tamil and essence explained in english. [embed]https://youtu.be/5lEWUDN-yoM[/embed]
Categories: Texts & StotramsShiva Thandava Stotram's essence explained in English, while song translated in tamil.
Categories: Texts & StotramsMost of us here have a practical background, having spent many years in the practice of a meditative method or art (e.g., qigong, yoga, taijiquan, etc).
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground As I travel through the Vedas and Upanishads, here is a look-back or gist of my understanding, as it stands now. This is a summary of my understanding spread over many blog posts and few of my books.
Categories: Texts & StotramsIN HONOR OF MY FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE RAMAKRISHNA PULIGANDLA JNANA YOGA James W. Kidd, Ph.D.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA video seminar at Jain University, Bangalore on Vedic Irina and the Rann of Kutch P .
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn my last post on Ayurveda (1), I had talked about Ayurveda being a framework to analyse a biological body and in particular human beings. Any human body can be seen as a matrix of 1.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground I am not an ayurved 'doctor' or 'specialist'. I am describing the foundational principles of Ayurved as I understand it. Ayur-ved simply means knowledge of life.
Categories: Science & Consciousness“আজ নিখিলের আনন্দধারায় ধুইয়ে দাও, মনের কোণের সব দীনতা মলিনতা ধুইয়ে দাও। আমার পরান-বীণায় ঘুমিয়ে আছে অমৃত গান– তার নাইকো বাণী, নাইকো ছন্দ, নাইকো তান। তারে আনন্দের এই জাগরণী ছুঁইয়ে দাও…”(song by Rabindranath Tagore) “In...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺 \Sri Rama Rama Rama Rama\ 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞 A thousand Suns rose after mid - noon that day. It was the ninth day of Shukla paksha in Meena maasa. The Sun was past the highest point in the sky - dome.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPredictive modelling is a science of making informed inferences based on data from multi-dimensional sources, correlating them, making models out of them, continuously refining the models with more and more data.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHere is my link to blog on Asvins the electromagnetic field based on Rg veda Mandala 1 Hymn 180 and Hari, iSa and Asvins based on Rg Veda Mandala 1 Hymn 181.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground In the past few chapters, we went through 1. Force-fields (Scalar Higgs/Vishnu, Vector/Chakra, Spinor/Conch) (1) 2.
Categories: Texts & Stotrams(Episode of Bhakta Prahlada being tortured in many ways Kedareshwara temple, Halebidu, Karnataka) The key thinking of the Upanishads is to find the unity behind the diversity and changes in this apparent life- the...
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground In the past few chapters, we went through 1. Force-fields (Scalar Higgs/Vishnu, Vector/Chakra, Spinor/Conch) (1) 2.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThe black Bamboo Partha Desikan The pilgrim had picked me up from a cluster of black bamboos in Kamarupa. He had been using me as a walking stick for miles upon miles.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaChapter 6. Believe in the uniqueness of every individual arising from genetic and other native differences influencing responses to life-experiences P.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessTime of the year to turn-around Overwhelm, overcome the moribund Our Sun demonstrates this every year Changes its course to northern hemisphere..
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaPlease do watch and feedback on what the book Inspiring Palita Perspectives talk about..? [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iixzOiD6RvM&feature=youtu.be[/embed]
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhat is the mystical Indra's net..? How do I become a node in that net..? A birthday poem for wife's birthday..
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHey, my new book (e-books and paperback edition) is out. The subject of the book is, Is there a 'design pattern' in the evolution of Universe..
Categories: Texts & StotramsOver a period of time, having participated in discussions at various online venues, it has become clear that discourse is a topic that is much misunderstood by most netizens on the various internet fora.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMany of the world’s popular religions condemn Idol worship. Hindus counter this by saying that Hindus worship God in a murthi only after the prana-pratistha ritual converts a life-less idol into a living murthi.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe last name based caste system is a jati (community) system and is not Varna based system (Varnashram dharma) discussed in foundational Hindu scripture. There is no mention of caste in the Vedas.
Categories: Texts & StotramsUPDATE -- Happy to share the news that my first full length novel is now available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle eBook format. I've added the links below and the cover image with this post.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBhagavad Gita speaks about Varna and not caste. I give below Gita’s Varna interpreted according to Swami Vivekananda’s psychological theory of Varna and as explained by Swami Tapasyananda.
Categories: Texts & StotramsWhat is Diwali or Deepavali..? Diwali or Deepavali is a festival of lights that heralds a new dawn. In some places it marks the 'birth of Lakshmi (wealth of matter).
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Summary of Chapter 1 'I' or 'You' or 'Self' is just our 'thoughts' and not the physical bodies. Make these thoughts as observers of what's happening around.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIntroduction: What is Education? We are born with the instinct to survive. Birth, consuming food, reproduction, sleep and death are the cycles which we all live through just as all other creatures do.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhat is worship..? Worship in Vedic dharma is to get the divine inspiration from the characteristics of 'devatha' in us.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Rsis of the Vedas are not human beings. But they are symmetry breaking events that originated everything in the Universe (4). The Rsis till now are described here (13) and here (14).
Categories: Arts & AestheticsUnchanging observer drives the evolution Sa-akSi means 'that eye'. It is the 'witnessing' eye, the eye of 'third party' that is witnessing, but not interacting with what's happening or not changing due to the...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHere is the first area that is being put forward for discussion in this forum. Are Schools serving to be the hubs of education? The education system includes close to one and half decades of academic learning.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe New Education Policy Draft was made and circulated widely in our country with the education panel asking for feedback and suggestions from one and all.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessThat Hindu scriptures talk about many lokas is well known. What is not so well known is that there is also some description of these Lokas. I am giving below Vyasa’s commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 3.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsImage courtesy: Aruna Radhakrishnan - originally posted to Flickr as dashaavathaaram...ദശാവതാരം..., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5049537 Background purANa means a thing of past.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe meaning of cakSusa satyata As Brhadharanyaka Upanishad says 'cakSusa satyata'. Observation is Satyata/Existence. The satyata/existence is reality for the observer.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground How the Universe expanded in Cosmic Inflation epoch and came into existence is explained here (1). In the 'expanded space' (Brahma) rudras (force-fields) manifest one by one.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessAdi Shankaracharya, in the Dakshinamurthy Stotram, says -- विश्वं दर्पणदृश्यमाननगरीतुल्यं निजान्तर्गतं पश्यन्नात्मनि मायया बहिरिवोद्भूतं यथा निद्रया । यः साक्षात्कुरुते प्रबोधसमये स्वात्मानमेवाद्वयं तस्मै...
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground When events in the evolution of Universe and matter/energy forms of the early Universe are visualized as human beings, we end up in bizzare descriptions.
Categories: Texts & StotramsSunnie D. Kidd and Jim Kidd, Ph.D. This presentation will utilize the Continental Philosophies of Existential Phenomenology and Dialogal Existentialism to uncover and elucidate Inspired Fellowship.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen I was 3-4 years into my Tai chi journey, my first teacher's recommendation of "letting go" became very real for me.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Rsis are symmetry breaking events that originate everything in the Universe. Marici is the Higgs field acquiring Vacuum Expectation Value. Kashyapa is the Electroweak symmetry breaking event.
Categories: Strategy & Geopolitics[embed]https://youtu.be/fr9HIf54Xo0[/embed] This is an informal conversation with my master, Sifu Jose Perez. Just calling him a Tai chi master is an understatement.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA comment on your tweet where you had shared the link to our paper presentation at Swadeshi Indology – 3 popped up on my twitter notification.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsJust found out that Ravi Joshi aka Karigar Medha (on FB), who was a co-founder and crucial member of MedhaJournal, and a dear friend, passed away from a massive cardiac arrest. I’m beyond shocked.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground How the Universe expanded in Cosmic Inflation epoch and came into existence is explained here (1). The inflation potential (dakSa) interacting with force-fields (panchajani) creates the particles.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground How the Universe expanded in Cosmic Inflation epoch and came into existence is explained here (1). The inflation potential (dakSa) interacting with force-fields (panchajani) creates the particles.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMany reasons have been given to explain the reason for the attack on the Somnath Temple by the Sultan of Ghazny.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsBackground During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsChapter 5. Believe in being a Conduit rather than a Storage Vessel The reputed Sanskrit grammarian and poet of 5th century CE, Bhartrhari came out in his Shatakatraya poems with his observations and admonitions about...
Categories: Texts & StotramsHave you ever wondered what the meaning of life is? Have you ever pondered why we are here? This world of struggle seems extremely painful where pleasures and suffering go hand in hand What have we done to deserve such...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPlease read this blog https://medhajournal.com/sri-jogendranath-mandals-resignation-letter-to-Khan to understand the situation of Bengali Hindus in the 1930-1950 period.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsBackground During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBy Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46720159 I was recently requested by Medhavis to write something about the plight of Bengali Hindus of East Pakistan.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsSri Sankaracharya strongly recommended Jnana Yoga. He considered Nirguna Brahman to be the only Reality and Saguna Brahman is not ultimately real. Yet he wrote stirring hymns to different forms of God..
Categories: Texts & StotramsI'd like to introduce a new video blog series we're starting in The Medha Journal, where we'll post interviews and discussions with different people on various subjects, ranging from Arts, creativity, philosophy to...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe dual and the non-dual...should the twain never intersect? I find many non-dualist sādhakas admonish ordinary folks such as myself that the non-dual absolute (paramārthika) should never be brought into a dualistic...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe terrible state of the world, the terrorism, injustice, etc, gives rise to the question as to whether God cares about humanity.
Categories: SystemMatrika Chakra (from wikimedia commons) Sanskrit is considered a divine language by Hindus. I will give a step by step explanation of the reason why Sanskrit is considered as important in Hinduism.
Categories: Texts & StotramsJapa is repetition of mantra. Mantra (man + tra) means liberating the mind. There are hidden powers in the human mind. These powers are located in Chakras that are present in seed form in every human mind.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaBackground The Universe is 'inside' a womb of 'dark energy'. This womb is the Hiranya Garbha. The dark energy is distributed in a dark energy scalar field. This dark energy is the 'Shiva'.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaTechniques/postures/methods are secondary to meditation. They are means to an end.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaRecently I saw a press report that stated that Imran Khan has said that Sultan Mahmud of Ghazny looted and destroyed Somnath temple in order to stop the looting of Hindu devotees.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground The Universe is 'inside' a womb of 'dark energy'. The dark energy is distributed in a dark energy scalar field. This dark energy is the 'Shiva'. The scalar field is the 'Atmanas' or 'Manas'.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Stri is the vacuum energy that fills the empty space or AkAsa. Rudra are the quantum force-fields that manifest in the vacuum energy. Rudra are the 'rupA' or 'form' of Stri.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Rudra are the quantum force-fields. prANa are the energy in these force-fields. This energy moves in vacuum of spacetime, without a medium in the force-fields.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground In the previous blog posts I had talked about vAk a four-fold design pattern in the evolution of Universe. 1.
Categories: Texts & StotramsIn the diagram shown, there are two models of consciousness/being. In fact, on one hand (Left hand side), is a Zen Buddhist model of consciousness, as illustrated in Roshi Philip Kapleau's book titled "Zen: Dawn in the...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaBackground The Sloka 1.4 of Brhadharanyaka Upanishad traces the evolution (ati-sRsti) from Atma's ichha to split Purusha to the evolution of manuSya.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Atman establishes Purusha and Stri. The empty space is filled with Stri. Stri are background oscillations of energy that fill the vacuum. Purusha is the 'dark' component (dark energy).
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Atman establishes Purusha and Stri. The empty space is filled with Stri. Stri are background oscillations of energy that fill the vacuum. Purusha is the 'dark' component (dark energy).
Categories: Texts & StotramsSabarimala - attributed to Saisumanth532 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons A. Background A.1. Sabarimalai.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere seems to be an entrenched view among certain groups of spiritual practitioners, that “love” is a “four-lettered word” that needs to be discarded.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaFirst let me wish all the readers a very happy and prosperous 2019. As we entered this new year, I thought hard about posting this blog.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSomething new is said to be born When existing symmetry is broken or torn Small perturbations break the symmetries Create Universe’s evolutionary opportunities Vigna means perturbation; Cause of disruption Vigneswara...
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessBackground The desire (preyas) for Atman that is deep inside in every being is spoken externally, spills out as love (priyam) of other beings also, and thus this desire/love gets 'banked', binding all the matter/beings...
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Starting from Brhthari's vAkyapadiya, Sabda and vAk have the same meaning as in other texts like Rg Veda, Brhadharanyaka Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad and saMkhya kArika, irrespective of their timelines,...
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Human beings and Universe have a similar design pattern (1). This design pattern is talked about across all our scriptures from Upanishads to saMkhya kArika. This design pattern is the 'four-fold' vAk.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThere are many reasons for Britain leaving India. However, the economic and the military situation seem to have been the main reasons for withdrawal. American pressure also played a role.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsSrimati Praveena Anand, a learned scholar of SrIvaishNava lore was on Face Book on December 16, which coincided this year as it does most years with the first day of the Tamil mArgazhi month (mArgasIrsha, dhanus).
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOnce in between waking and a dream, The blue one came to me… He showed me the secret play of light, which shines for eternity. The light is knowing, the light is being, the light is pure love...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSome people claim that Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda say that all religions are same.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPlenary Session: Professor Ramakrishna Puligandla Retirement Felicitation at the Thirteenth International Congress of Vedanta, 15 September 2002, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio As you know an absolute cannot be...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaOne day I saw a shining tower In my inner space In that tower was a blazing fire There I saw Zarathustra's face. He asked me to step right in And I did, without a second thought.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground The concepts of Atman and Brahman is referred to in the Vedic texts, but are elaborated more in Upanishads. The attempt to Understanding of Upanishads lead to several vedantic philosophies.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground vAk - The design pattern Like speech is expression of beings, Universe is the expression of Atman. vAk is that expression. It is four-fold.
Categories: Texts & StotramsOur body-mind complex can not and does not have free will. Yet if there is no free will then there will be no way to distinguish between morally good or bad karma.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaBackground In the last 2 posts on Learning physics through vedas and puranas, here and here, I had talked about concepts of energy, entropy and heat.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground I had explained here, thermodynamic concepts of Energy, Entropy and Second law of thermodynamics using the Shiva, Ganapati and Skanda story.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessThe Rig Veda is supposedly a source text of Hindu Dharma. Yet given the archaic nature of the Rig Vedic Sanskrit and the complete absence of ancient commentaries there is confusion about what exactly the Rig Veda says.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Energy and Entropy are two key thermodynamic concepts. Let me explain them and the second law of thermodynamics with reference to Shiva/Ganapati/Skanda and their 'jnAna-pazham' story here.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessBackground This was my post on prAna prathisthA. Here is a summary of it. idol to mUrti mUrti' is not just an idol. mUrta is that which has settled into a form or shape.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaLet me start this post by sharing a story I had heard a while back. I don't remember the source so unfortunately cannot share it -- however, it is one of those timeless Indian fables of yore.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaI had written down here my translation of iSa upanishad. This is a brief summary of the main points here. iSa resides in all matter and beings which are born and/or moving in the Universe.
Categories: Texts & StotramsReligion certainly seems very dangerous in the modern world. The problem with religion is the way it is taught to people.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIsa Upanishad iSa Upanishad also called iSAvAsya Upanishad has 18 verses. It is part of Shukla Yajur Veda.
Categories: Texts & StotramsDeep sleep is like the thoughtless samadhi sensed in that concept-less moment of cognizing paradox, or that space of pause between two breaths. A natural feeling of being, from which one concludes, "I slept.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaConsciousness objectifies itself, as reflections in itself, that it may know itself. A spontaneity devoid of will or assigned meaning wherein its motion and the motionlessness from which it springs, are one.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere is much confusion about concepts like Maya, the illusory nature of our waking experience. There are many who reject the Advaita claim about the illusory nature of the universe and the waking state.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaBackground "andham tamah pravisanti ye avidyam upasate tato bhuya iva te tamah ya u vidyayam ratah" - says Isa upanishad. One who is situated/worships/serves avidya enters the blind tamas.
Categories: Texts & StotramsChandogya Upanishad discusses the process of rebirth of a Jiva. The whole process of taking birth is very difficult as the following shlokas show: > Residing in that (region of the moon) till they have exhausted (the...
Categories: Texts & StotramsJambo! That is how they say "Hello" in Kenya and Tanzania. The following video is the confluence of some music that I had composed, inspired by glorious sunrises I witnessed during my travels to Kenya and Tanzania in...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsChapter 4 Believe in the Need for Us to think and become a benevolent Link in the Future of Evolution Many if not all living beings are able to seek out light, which benefits them in one or more ways.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Like speech is the expression of beings, this Universe is the expression of that Atman. Rg Veda Mandala 1 Hymn 164 talk of four-fold vAk, which is the four-fold expression of Universe.
Categories: Texts & StotramsDedicated to Dwai for triggering this In the million years earth has held sway So many beings have come and gone away Like the train of thoughts in your brain Matter and Beings appear, vanish in vain Does a thought try...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaDr S Kalyanaraman, the Director of Sarasvati Research Institute, Chennai has done elaborate work on reading the hypertexts available from a very large number of artifacts found in the Sindhu Sarasvati archaeological...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIndic traditions have long held that waking, dreaming and deep sleep are three conditions that appear and disappear in pure consciousness.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSwami Tapasyananda discusses the conceptual difference between Vedantic diety and the monothesitic deity of Abrahamic faiths.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta[embed]https://soundcloud.com/dwai-lahiri/sunrise-over-the-goldenway[/embed]
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAs the day comes to an end And darkness creeps in When the edges between day and night start to quiver and spin Look up to the horizon see the majestic skies half awake and half asleep a palette of colors before your...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Rg Veda Mandala 1 Hymn 164, Upanishad and vAkyapaidya talk of four-fold vAk. Rg Veda Mandala1 Hymn 164 says what is being talked about as Indra, Agni, vAyu are all those in the fourth stage only.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Like speech is the expression of beings, this Universe is the expression of that Atman. Like speech carries the 'knowledge', the Universe carries the 'matter' forms.
Categories: Texts & StotramsSecularists do not want to acknowledge the mayhem caused by Muslim rulers to Hindus and their temples.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMore than a decade ago I got into touch with this fantastic master of many branches of knowledge, Dr R N Iyengar, to clear some doubts I had in the the geography of Bharatavarsha as depicted in Valmiki Ramayana.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIn course of many years of meandering in the world of spiritual practices and beliefs, I eventually found a home that made perfect sense and confirmed the intuitive understandings and knowledge that arose from time to...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Sabda are simply oscillations. Sabda at first is para. Sabda exists in AkAsa. In Universe's expression AkAsa is the cosmic space, the vacuum. In Human expression, AkAsa is the sky filled with atmosphere/air.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessBackground In the last part, my analysis was focused on vakypadiya(4). Reference to sabda and vAk are present in Vedas, Upanishads and Vedanta.
Categories: Texts & StotramsChapter 3. Believe in your Biological Clock and its Circadian Rhythm When a machine in use develops a malfunction, which prevents its use or makes such use less than efficient, we stop its use and have a knowledgeable...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIn the introductory part, we gave a practical definition to education and the present scenario in Bharatîya formal education system.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground The Universe’s expression (call it the expression of the Atman) and human expression (of Speech) follow the same pattern.
Categories: Texts & StotramsSunnie D. Kidd Jim Kidd, Ph.D. Using a thematic methodology in qualitative research offers opportunities to expand the already established horizons of knowledge.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI have dealt with pancha mahA yajnAs here I am addressing the question on funeral rites in that background. Evolution of manuSya The Universe is a ‘Yajna’ a sacrifice performed by Atma, sacrificing a Purusha.
Categories: Texts & StotramsJames W. Kidd, Ph.D. The Daoist themes presented here are based on the thought and expression of Chuang Tzu (399-295). They transcend the mundane world yet are always in the depth of life.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis series is a humble attempt to create a solid framework that has been worked upon by me towards a better and more effective education system.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHindus are attacked for the prevalence of Sati pratha among Hindus.As far as I know there is no Hindu philosophy that supports Sati Pratha.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHumankind has always been obsessed with measuring everything. Everything needs to have a metric and needs to be calculated to the very last detail.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA. Introduction: A.1. Recently I came across this article by Dr. Nicholas Kazanas, in which he ‘proves’ that nityatva/ apaurusheyatva (‘eternality/universality’ and ‘non-humanness’) exist in all languages and thus all...
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Yajna means a sacrifice. Sacrifice is not just an act of giving up ownership, but dedicating that giving up of ownership to a larger purpose.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground The term Varna Asrama Dharma invokes a picture of backward, regressive social system in which some people enjoyed a higher social status due to their birth while many were enslaved.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaChapter 2. Believe in Nature and align with it to the extent possible. A new born baby learns very soon to look for and find comfort in the loving gaze and warm touch of its mother and the nourishment she offers it...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn Bharatiya tradition, when a large river in the course of its flow forks out clearly enough into two streams, either one or both of which being named differently from the mother river, the forking spot is considered a...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSrautasutras, Grhyasutras and Dharmasutras Sutras are short expositions of a basic truth. Each sutra connects to the previous and following thereby forming a chain of truths.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsJust Believe P. Desikan Foreword Every man believes that whatever he believes in is either true, or should be true, because otherwise he would not be believing in it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground - Sloka 1.4.1 to 1.4.7 Atma existed before any kinds of Purusa. Atma is the ‘manas’ as it ‘sees itself. It was all alone. It is also the ‘aham’ that exists before any expression.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThis is a complex topic to consider for sure. Why complex? Because it posits a paralyzingly simple possibility.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaBackground The Atma that the pravrAjina/brAhmana desire to realize, for which they wander/perform Yajna/dAna/destructive tapas or learn verses, is not capturable, not perceivable, not attachable, not interactive, not...
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Asrama is a dharma, the law of the Universe. Whether one wishes or not they get subjected to this dharma. To be happy, it is better we understand this dharma and align our living to this dharma.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaWe have this acquired tendency to gauge the value of a message based on the appearance of the person bearing the message. If you (reader) claim that you don't judge the message by its messenger, you are simply lying.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is nice video by Advaitin James Swartz, titled "Advanced Argument for Enlightened People", as part of a discussion on the Panćadaśi.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBy Ramanarayanadatta astri I am posting here excerpts from Mahabharata discussion on ethics. Vidura was a wise man and gave a series of advice to Dhritarashta. I have posted below some excerpts from Vidura's advice.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe series of 'jnA' - the 'to know' 1. jnA is knowing 2. pra-jnA means before knowing or the 'first' of knowing, the 'prominent' knowing etc. 1. prajnA is awareness. It is the stage before 'knowing'. 2.
Categories: Texts & StotramsIn a recent trip to Africa, we saw animals in their natural habitats, zebras in the grasslands of Masai Mara, Impala, Thomson's Gazelles, Lions, Cheetah, Leopard, and so on.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Atma tore apart Stri, established the 'Svah' (the heavens) which was just AkAsa (empty space or vacuum) and fills the AkAsa wtih Stri. On Stri, all production occurs in pairs.
Categories: Texts & Stotrams[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuOHxzJbhHU[/embed]
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSummary till now Atma tore apart Purusha and Stri. It establishes the Sva (the heavens) which was Akasa the empty space or vaccum, so swiftly, like a pea split into half. Stri becomes filled in vacuum or empty space.
Categories: Texts & StotramsSummary till now Atma tore apart Purusha and Stri due to 'desire' or 'iccha' to enjoy (rame) and not due to fear. Of these purusha does not have desire to manifest. Stri becomes filled in vacuum or empty space.
Categories: Texts & StotramsI was traveling with two friends over the weekend to and from our Master's home in Wisconsin. The drive was long and my friend Juan was riding next to me as I drove the car.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedantadown vote[Some say, Brahman is everything. Does this mean, even non living objects like rocks, mountains, rivers, chairs, cars, are they all Brahman?][Some say, Brahman is everything.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaNow you might accuse me of flogging an already dead horse, but I'd like to suggest that "this" is not the same as the "horse" that is considered already dead.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaSummary till now Atma existed before any kinds of Purusa. Atma is the ‘manas’ as it ‘sees itself. It was all alone. It is also the ‘aham’ that exists before any expression.
Categories: Texts & StotramsSloka 1.4.2 sa abibhet tasmād ekākī bibheti; sa ha ayam īkṣāṃ cakre, yat mad anyan nāsti, kaṣma annu bibhema īti, tata evāsya bhayaṃ vīyāya, kasma addhyabheṣyat dvitīyādvai bhayaṃ bhavati Translation That (sa) became...
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground This is my translation and understanding of Sloka 1.4.1 to 1.4.17 of Brhad Aranyaka Upanishad. The sloka 1.4.10 of this Upanishad has the mahAvAkya 'Aham brahma asmi'.
Categories: Texts & StotramsSunnie D. Kidd James W. Kidd, Ph.D. Preface Henri Bergson once said “always follow your inspiration.” We have found this to be true. Inspiration is the human being’s most creative act.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsVedanta and Buddhism differ on the existence of the Self. While Vedanta affirms, Buddhism denies the existence of the Self.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaQuestion Refer the mahAvAkya 'tat tvam asi'. If everything is Atman/Brahman then who is surrendering to whom..? What is the need for surrender..? My thoughts Let's analyse in what context it is said.
Categories: Texts & StotramsJames W. Kidd, Ph.D. This presentation of Taoism will be placed in relation to Hermeneutic Phenomenology. It begins in San Francisco, the western edge. From here where does one go? This is it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSwami Sarvapriyananda's lectures are phenomenal. I would strongly recommend watching these sermons.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaSo first we have to get to know the seer who is seeing the seen - the witness. This seer, when trying to see itself as its own object, goes into an infinite loop of whether the object and the subject are dependently...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsStand in the posture, your feet like tree-trunks. Tuck your tail, round your back, raise your crown. Breath into the lower elixir field, your mind will slow down and finally stop.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaKalisantaranopanishad Partha Desikan This is a sweet little upanishad containing about twenty sentences. Its name means, the upanishad for crossing Kali with.
Categories: Texts & StotramsWith time and increasing sung (relaxation) and ting (sensitivity), we can start to feel the energies outside our body limits. We begin to feel like we are inside a sphere of energy that spans several feet around us.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsQuestion Why does Isvara tell pArvati 'Sri rAma rAma rAma iti rame rAme manorame sahasra nAma tatulyam rAma nAma varAnane".
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe whole process of taking birth is very difficult as the following shlokas show: > Residing in that (region of the moon) till they have exhausted (the results of action) [1] they then return [2] again [3] the same way...
Categories: Texts & Stotrams| | | --- | | | | Tai chi stance meditation | In Temple style Tai Chi and Dao Gong practice, we often hear the phrase "Not too much, not too little" being used.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaLet me if you please begin with a quote from Ramakrishna Puligandla which succinctly sets the ground for international research in Asian and Comparative Philosophy: > To understand a people and its culture is to...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPeople are mystified with or annoyed at people who have woken up making statements like “all you need is to be silent/still” or “nothing needs to be done”.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBuddha clearly said that there are gods. > When this was said, the brahmin student Sangarava said to the Blessed One: “Master Gotama’s striving was unfaltering.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaAs I worked through the revival of The Medha Journal, it didn't seem like a lot of time had passed since we had taken the website down.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhy is Shiva worshipped as a Lingam? The answer is that the Saivites use the linga form to signify nameless and formless aspects of the deity. > Sages said:- 8. Everywhere the deities are worshipped only in their image.
Categories: Texts & StotramsIt is said that one should not fixate on experiences in the spiritual path. The seeking for spiritual succor, which is in essence a quest for ending of suffering, is not an easy path for those of us who are caught up in...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHinduism says that there are four goals of life, dharma, artha (wealth), kama (desire) and moksha. Many Hindus concentrate on the first three goals.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHindus regard their scripture merely as a spoon and not the food that is eaten with the spoon. So the food can still be eaten even if the spoon is defective.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe word god does not quite represent the Hindu concept of the Divine. It is better to think in terms of the Ultimate Reality which is called Brahman.
Categories: Texts & StotramsParthasarathy Desikan Kim japan muchyate jantu: janmasamsaarabandhanaat? wonders Yudhishthira and asks Bhishma this question which has haunted many many minds before him and would continue to so haunt for millennia...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsJnana Yoga talks of the illusory nature of the world. What does this mean? This world is projected by Maya Shakti of Brahman.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaWe often hear the terms "Absolute Good" or "Absolute Evil" being used in context of some historical figure or another. When we are based on a dualistic world view, yes there well might be such absolute dualities.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNothing happens to the Atman which is merely a witness. It is the subtle body that is affected by death.Check Gita 2.17-2.22 for the answer to your question. For example, Gita 2.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaAs human beings, we have a unique ability that seems to be missing from the rest of the animal kingdom, on Earth.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHinduism does not invoke a Satan to account for evil. Both good and bad are properties of a dualistic world. They are anthropomorphic ideas and do not apply to the Divine.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaLet me attempt to document the journey of a spiritual seeker in brief. Chasing Pleasure 1. Individual experiences pains and pleasures in life. 2.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA person practices Karma Yoga when his work benefits other peopleand the work is done without caring about the result or name, fame, promotion, wealth etc. This type of work is called nishkama karma.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe answer is no. > 'Thus the rousing of the Kundalini is the one and only wayto attaining Divine Wisdom, superconscious perception, realisation of the spirit.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaVedanta, the most popular school in Hinduism, has many schools. The principal two schools are Advaita Vedanta of Sankaracharya and Vishishtadvaita of Ramanujacharya. Their interpretations are significantly different.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe Chinese original spiritual tradition is Daoism. It is old. Perhaps not as old as the Vedas, but there are Daoist texts from as early as 2500 BCE. Most people don’t understand what Daoism entails.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaParthasarathy Desikan In the XIII chapter of the Gita, Sri Krishna talks to Arjuna about the knowledge that the wise have about the human body. Kshetrajnas know the human body to be a very special field, the Kshetra.
Categories: Texts & StotramsShould we believe blindly anything written in Hindus scripture? Does reason play any role in interpreting Hindu scripture? This is what Swami Vivekananda has written about Hindu dharma.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHow else can it be? The infinitude of everything rises from a big reservoir of no-thingness. The infinite everything is like while light, containing in itself all the colors.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI am writing this to supplement the post 'Is the truth one? So what if the wise call it by different names?' In that article Rig Veda 1.
Categories: Texts & Stotrams> "Abiding in the Self means the dropping away of subject, object and false identification with the body, the root and source of all suffering.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIn Temple style Tai Chi and Dao Gong practice, we often hear the phrase "Not too much, not too little" being used.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere are two approaches to moksha. One approach is to directly try to attain moksha. Jnana Yogis try to do that. There is another approach called the path of krama mukti or gradual liberation by stages.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere is a trend these days of claiming that the Rg Veda 1.164.46 verse has been "appropriated" and is being "misused"by those who are called "The Sameness Myth Perpetrators".
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe via negativa path is the neti neti (not this, not this) path of Jnana Marga. > No one can say with finality that God is only 'this' and nothing else. He is formless and again He has forms.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaWe know that moksha is the most important of the purusharthas (goals) of life according to Hinduism. Thus it would be nice to know what Hindus scriptures say about it. Here are some passages explaining moksha.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn spiritual traditions we often hear the term "Satsang" being used. It is considered highly needed for seekers in the spiritual path.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn course of meditation such as breath observation or any repetitive action (preferably done in a relaxed manner), the mind naturally tends to wander (even running tends to do that, and is true for walking as well).
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThat our normal "reality" is formed by objects is an understatement. However, at a spiritual level, we claim our focus is turned inward (albeit I'm not referring to those who seek God outside in the heavens somewhere).
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn Daoism and Vedantic tradition, there is a term used for effortless action, which arises spontaneously. This is possible when personal doer-ship is not the primary driver or engine for action anymore.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaI was reflecting on my "Who am I?" meditation, which I undertook in somewhat of skeptical manner, after re-re-re-reading Ramana Maharshi's collected works of his teachings and "Be as you are".
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedantai recall a pastor the decon from philadelphia said in mass 'a man can only serve one master'... interesting pun how so then does a man greet his peers for he may have many masters... a catholic proverb...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsRamo madhurah, Sita madhuraa Partha Desikan In his very widely read Shri Sai Satcharita, Shri Hemadpant highlights a small but graphic discourse by the Shirdi saint, in which the latter extols the path of devotion as...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics40 miles offshore trolling a weed line catching dorado (mahi mahi) and best of all we saw a sunfish finning and idled up on a pod of 350 to 400 pilot whales the mythological sunfish and pilots whales averaging 250 to...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticscalm day out front running to the bait patch in the heidi baby we caught ballyhoo fast that morning we anchored on a patch and made a few quick throws with the ten foot net me and jose our wells were round live wells...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticshit practice at bay jam practicing my serve to reggae beats tennis landing more and more shots in play went to whale harbor for a pink lemonade and had the cracked conch three cups of pink lemonade and fried conch...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsbooks are the key even if they sell for $3 dollars i listed my favorite authors soren kierkegaard srila prabhupad ernest hemingway and satsvarupa now how i've collected all of these books is a long list of library...
Categories: Science & Consciousnessearly morning in zion grove sipping on coffee gathering our steel shot and decoys in the dark loading our gear into the boston whaler marty "i got the good java!" we each had a thomas thermos to take with us for the...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsropebond Background Vedas, in my view and study are a more in-depth literature that unites science, history and our day-to-day life.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen the results of the 2011 Census of India were announced two factors were most noticed: (i) a reduction in the total fertility rate from 2.9 in 2001 to 2.62 in 2011, and (ii) deterioration in the gender balance, i.e.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction One of the worlds most towering spiritual figures for the past few centuries celebrates his 150th anniversary this year. Swami Vivekananda needs no introduction to most readers.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground I had written about Aditya Hrdayam in a similar but not exactly same fashion few years back.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen I was asked to speak at a forum to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Swami Vivekananda I began to wonder what I, as a hard core practitioner of the dismal science of economics, could say about Swami...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsi've bee battling scizophrienia for almost 14 years now... my first trip to a psychologist was after an LSD arrest in bloomsburg in '96 before my senior year in high school...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe book "Being Different - An Indian challenge to Western Universalism" is blazing a trail of sparking interest & discussions across all levels of readers interested in Hinduism and Dhharmic thought.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsResponse to Nicholas F. Gier I am deeply appreciative of the close reading and serious attention Nicholas Gier has brought to Being Different, and for his agreement with its general purpose and intent.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsResponse to Robert Yelle India is an amazingly fertile crucible, being the birthplace of the largest number of modern faiths outside the Abrahamic religions.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Clash over Coherence: Author’s Response to Larson Recently, I was invited to the ashram of a prominent Hindu guru in the US, where a Jewish American professor of Hinduism at a US university was explaining what she...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsbreaking claws in my fingers and nibbling on stone's i see swift feet i see a braided crown and a glow to a face beaming like the jovial sun queens jestor miracle of life dazed and confused one finds clarity like a...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{ Medha Editor's Note: Below is the Paper based on which Dr Puligandla gave his recent talk - 20th Feb 2013 - at the annual East-West Lecture Series at the University OF Toledo.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn a mail group,known as [The Becoming], Sri Venkat (Ah Venkitesh) drew the attention of fellow members to an excellent critique of Romila Thapar's literary efforts, by providing as an attachment, Chapter 15 of Volume...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEditor's note: Below is an important article Rajiv wrote on Swami Vivekananda that shows his not-so-well known influence and his importance to western philosophy today.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe confused mind thrown hither and thither In life, alone yet seeking here one and there another Where it may project its own self And then dwell like a reflection in the mirror True to life, yet not alive… So is the...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsyin (feminine energy) explodes like a bomb a mans true mastery (yang) is the numbing effect of his (yin) and the wave of energy he is traversing on you know i clasp my hands and pray what drives a man mad is what he...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsRaja-yoga Whenever we think of Raja-yoga we think of eight-limbed (ashtanga) path mentioned in Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras in Samkhya tradition.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedantagod is my vehicle yeilds to my rain dance creates the weather god answers my prayers and always watches out for me and yeah she's pretty what yajnas do you perform i know mine i'm not crying i'm loving my deity inti...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsi was coaching hockey practice in a dream and a dropdead gorgeous blond newsreporter was there to interview me... i had the kids playing soccer on skates...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticspenelope "hold on a minute i'll be right there" jack "hi" penelope "hi" jack "hey is anybody yellowtail fishing at night" penelope "what do you mean" jack "are the boats going commercial fishing at night" penelope "well...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn bhakti yoga we make our connection to Krishna our spark and flame that ignites that binds us to Godhead. I live in a fishing village so Matsya the fish incarnation or Kurma the tortoise are very manifest.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaI could sense that I was moving very fast. I looked all around. I could identify many people. Am I in a train...? I couldn't decide.. Am I in some kind of spaceship..? Probably.. I tried to figure out where I am.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Puranic Ganapati Sloka The Puranic Ganapati derived its form and shape from the Rg Veda Ganapati. Probably people depicted the form and shape of Ganapati from the descriptions of Ganapati.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessThe Little Puddle He is coming with us today to the grazing fields. He is barely two; He runs so fast his feet never touch the ground. His high pitched child’s voice babbles about this or that excitedly all the time.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Ganapati is the 'Brain' of us. This was my explanation for the stotra starting 'Suklam Bhartram Vishnum'.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Several Puranas are actually a continuation of the Vedas. While Vedas seem to be raw knowledge as heard, Puranas are simplified story versions that often continue the Vedic knowledge in a simplified way that...
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsVinayaga Chaturthi is being celebrated today with a lot of fervor today. Happy Vinayaga Chaturthi. Vedic dharma in my view, if properly understood, is the most scientific and a rational dharma.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessTirukkural, Puzzles and Solutions- A psychological viewpoint (TirukkuraL, PuthirgaLum TheervugaLum- Or uLaviyal paarvai) A book in Tamil by Prof. R. Venkatachalam.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Several of our puranas, in my view, are actually cosmic events that have been put in the form of an ‘understandable’ story to a target audience.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction by Senior Medhavi Dr Partha Desikan Sri Vedanta Desika (Swami Desika, Swami Vedanta Desika, Thoopul Nigamaanta Desika) (1269–1370) was a Sri Vaishnava Gurushreshtha.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIntroduction The eleven names of Rudra correspond to eleven forces that are in nature and those that make up the cosmic space as we perceive it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn the Rudram Namakam, the Eleven Rudras are praised as follows with Eleven names.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta...so the first time i was at sweat records was with lizzy pitch first time in lemon city... later on i met kimmy drake my trendi record store friend of beach day... sweat records has the best soy milk coffee in miami...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground In the Vedic literature, Devas are explicitly expressed forces that carry the evolution, while asuras are hidden forces .
Categories: Texts & StotramsI've not blogged in a long time...so here is a very short post with a link to a forum discussion that follows several year's prior discussion both on The Medhajournal and The Tao Bums regarding Advaita Vedanta and...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaEleven Forces that evolve from Atma In 2008, I wrote an explanation for Aitareya Upanishad, which talks about the evolution of Universe from Atman. Refer my blog here. http://thebigthinkg.sulekha.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Let’s go through the Rig vedic references to Varna names which will give us a sense of how these Varna names came about. That would set clear the real meaning behind the Varna name.
Categories: Texts & Stotramscoyote jack's um i think one of the things to keep in mind is um ya know how we got started on our path and ya know where we were at before if we keep in mind where we were before if we were in a different town or city...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground All through the Rig veda the references to Aryas and Sudasas depict Aryas as givers and Sudasas as receivers.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground What does Arya mean..? In this series I am arguing that Arya is not a race, but a civilizational identity based on various scriptures.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground Knowledge and ‘History’ are synonymous in some dimensions. The moment an information that is extremely useful to our evolution becomes available and understable to people, it is knowledge as well as history.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground The Varna Asrama Dharma that I have been writing about in this series is different from what is viewed as Varna Asrama Dharma.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Varna Asrama Dharma is a law of societies at all times. If we understand a law we will make better use of it. Same is the case with Varna Asrama Dharma.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Interpretations often come up based on personal perceptions. It is very hard to interpret a data without an element of ‘bias’ going into it. The data as it exists is ‘fact’. It has no properties or attributes.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsa gloom falls over me and my eyes turn grey as a stone the light feeling i had is gone i shivered in joy and watched a fairy tale unfold sometimes when it is raining down on us we see our faith is true the beacon in a...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsnipping on flower buds chanting krishna i see the sunlight beam in through the windows and the open door the air is brisk good for breathing a sudden glimps though the looking glass and the eyes of a hawk that soars...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics> walk backwards up the staircase > and fall far below > face the darkness > into the depths of night > light a wax candle > and leave it on the window sil > so wayfarers yeild > and wic away the ghosts and goblins >...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics> when i see a hawk i see her face > > > when i see her blouse slip off of her shoulder i see her feet in the clouds > > > someone has made a landing > > > there to lift me up > > > to see if i have fallen > > > winged...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction by Senior Medhavi Dr Partha Desikan Sri Garudadwajan on Kulasekhara’s Garland for Mukunda Partha Desikan In January 2009, in my blog in these pages on Parashurama Kshetra (Part 4), I was able to talk about...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground In the Vedic approach, everything evolved out of the Atma that existed before everything.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaMedha Editor Note: Below was first published at: Re-published here for wider circulation of this clear articulation of his position by author, the "Medha Geopolitical Guru" Rajiv Malhotra.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsBackground In the process of evolution of intelligence, convergence and divergence are the tools. Our thoughts, value systems, philosophies converge and diverge all the time, giving rise to new mosaic of systems ever.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Logic is a function of time. What was logical at one time becomes illogical at another time and vice-versa, as knowledge keeps evolving.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Culture is institutionalized learning. We transfer our learning and experiences as culture to the next generation. Hence culture is highly susceptible to change.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground As I have been writing, the four Varnas (Knowledge Providers, Service Providers, Material Providers and Labor) are present in any societal structure.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsVijaya Rajiva (like Sandhya Jain, on whom I've written before) has been around for a long time, so it is difficult for me to write what I write below.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground I think the basic flaw is in understanding Aryan as a Race, while it is NOT. It is a Civilization that could have been adopted by any set of people.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaA few months ago, Rajiv Malhotra published his groundbreaking book, Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground I had talked about Varna and Asrama in detail in the previous chapters. These are stark truths that do not require much evidences in general.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWest Mambalam remembers MC with Love Partha Desikan Addressing a gathering at Chennai on the occasion of the birth centenary celebrations of M C Subrahmanyam, founder of The Public Health Centre at West Mambalam, on...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaBackground I had talked about the THREE types of professions based on learning and a profession just based on labor that are prevalent in the world at all times.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Before I move on to Aryan society evolution, I thought I would share some modern data on innovators and also some thoughts on real Sanyasa Asrama.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessBackground In the last chapter we saw how the Asrama system was tuned to human developmental needs. Brahmacharya is the stage when brain development and learning happens.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta“Becoming fully developed human being –is the aim of our life and it is the chief object of 'MahaDharma' –the way of real life.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground The term Varna Asrama Dharma invokes a picture of backward, regressive social system in which some people enjoyed a higher social status due to their birth while many were enslaved.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground The Varna system in which social beings either drive the A) evolution/knowledge levels of society or B) Provide service to society or C) Provide goods to society by exploiting natural resources was derived...
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessBackground The Varnas or professional types are a manifestation of the Gunas. The entire Universe can be seen as an interplay of purusha, prakrti and gunas.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDear friends, ... I wanted to share some thoughts below regarding what reader segments are targeted by the book, and what I hope it offers each of them.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMedha Editor Note: In its attempt to keep readers updated on the activities regarding this seminal book, we publish below a few important reviews of the book by influential academicians & leaders.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsBackground People know about Varna Asrama Dharma through the Caste System. The Caste System as it was practiced in India went from social aggregation to segregation and outright discrimination based on one’s birth.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaBackground I had presented a paper during the WAVES 2011 Conference on Varna, Jati and Kula. I plan to elaborate it with lot more explanations as a series of blogs.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Life on this planet becomes more complex as intelligence evolves. This poses a challenge to the evolution of intelligence itself, as mind aspires far beyond the capabilities of our body and the environment.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBrahma Kamal blooms in Bangalore "Epiphyllum oxypetalum "or "Night blooming Cereus". The flower blooms once in a year which makes it auspicious.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Life on this planet becomes more complex as intelligence evolves. This poses a challenge to the evolution of intelligence itself, as mind aspires far beyond the capabilities of our body and the environment.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWishing all medhavis a very happy and prosperous Deepawali ! May we all move steadily towards light. asato ma sadgamaya tamaso ma jyotirgamaya mrtyorma amrtam gamaya Lead me from the asat to the sat.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground In the last blog on Surya Narayana Mantra, I had talked about Namaskara and Samarpana. We perform Namaskara to Elders from whom we learn.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics'I am simply using the dharmic perspective to reverse the analytical gaze which normally goes from West to East and unconsciously privileges the former.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Sandhya Vandanam is a procedure that provides big and balanced thinking. Big and Balanced thinking is required for learning and evolution.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIt was a near miss, this fruit But when the wretched owner of the orchard Looked away, I managed to grab it It looks green, firm and shiny.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground Anna Hazare, had talked about five important goals to be like ‘Anna’. They are ‘Shudh Vichaar’ (Clean thoughts), ‘Shudh Aachar’ (Clean deeds), ‘Nishkalank Jivan” (Impeccable Integrity), ‘Tyag’ (Sacrifice) and...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticssubtle bite of morning they are the puddles of water in the road that send his car nervous warnings startled merge of consciousness yet as he traverses and settles on his bearing the tires throw out a surge of water...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground We visited the abode of Atma, saluted the characteristics of that Atma (Change, Self-drive, Nuetral/Creation, Fast movement/Knowledge). Then we saluted all the forces that emanated from Atma.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaFor days , we had been waiting for her. We heard the jingle of her bangles, the rustle of her sari and inhaled the fragrance of the flowers she wears. We were rewarded as we are every year by her visit.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere is not one drop of Natural Fresh River Water in River Yamuna in Delhi & Beyond. Almost 97% of Original River Waters are taken away from River Yamuna, only a few kilometers from its birthplace - Yamnotri.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground I chose to intersperse my writeup on TSV with mapping of science, some of which may become true or proved otherwise in future.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaEDITOR's NOTE: Caste is such a controversial topic that it behooves Hindus; as the only ones who are constantly barraged with attacks on this subject by assorted activists & "experts"; to do their due diligence and come...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics(www.wavesinternational.net) “Na hi Jnanena Sadrsam – There is nothing equivalent to knowledge” The Bhagavad Gita – IV.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground After taming the body with slow breathing synchronized with mind, we invoked the Gayatri in us to remain neutral. If we need to self-drive ourselves, we need to be neutral.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsas far as i know krishna made the clouds on the horizon it might rain tonight if we see pegasus or the great bear we see krishna the evidence of water on one of the moons of jupiter is a satellite reservoir of life yes...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground In the TSV procedure, four ‘devi’s are addressed. I had already explained that Devas are forces that express outside and asuras are forces that are hidden.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsbee nectar the taste is bitter a tangy sweet give me tonic a tactile sip sometimes i tremble a cosmic void is all i see i sweat like a pine tree oozing sap all night one subtle spring morning the pollen made me sneeze...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBhagavan , Bhaktha, and Bhagavatham I am posting some nectar of Bhakthi by some extraordinary bhaktas [ devotees].
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics(www.wavesinternational.net) “Na hi Jnanena Sadrsam – There is nothing equivalent to knowledge” The Bhagavad Gita – IV.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBackground The beauty of Vedas actually lie in the fact that they make us learn from science and nature. Our greatest guru lies there in front of our eyes and ears.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackGround TSV is not about language. It is about using our brain, breathing and thoughts to influence our body and keep us synchronized and balanced with the natural flow of events and thereby become part of the...
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessBackground TSV broadly consists of two parts. One part where we prepare mentally and physically to visit the abode of Atman and another part actually we do it.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaOf Stones and Shells Partha Desikan The rain, which falls on a mountain and flows as a river on to the sea, carries mementos throughout its course. Boulders and smaller pieces of rock accompany it in the beginning.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDeva Tarpanam – Cosmic forces our ancestors Background I suspect many of the puranic lores are actually a way of understanding of particular real events.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA six year old boy composes beautiful poems! The first poem is for the robin bird who has decided to have 3 sets of kids (each time 4 baby robins) on his front door.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsswift feet in battle the echo of kettle drums rising spirit cat on the prowl archer on the point swordsman in the field earthquake of men sea of death pool of blood in the sand full speed ahead the war chant stand tall...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticswhat wraith is it calling on what did i see? forbidden yajna blanket in the air it wells up out of the earth screeching to the pulse of the drums till a shadow falls over the moon erie apparition cold spell in the night...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPlease go through once again, my blog in December 2008 on the Indian languages question https://medhajournal.com/partha-says.../588-the-indian-languages-question.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Mantra-Tantras of SandhyaVandanam – Finishing the Bath Background TSV is actually very simple to do, if we understand it. Since we did not understand, it becomes mystical and then complex.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground If one wants to cultivate the habit of TSV, it need to be cultivated as a post-bath habit. It is as important as taking bath. Taking Bath cleans our body.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Mantra-Tantras of SandhyaVandanam – Taking Bath Background In TSV, one lifts mentally into the abode of Atma (with Achamanam/AngaVandanam), invokes peace from the consciousness inside (with Ganapati Dyanam), tames...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe Mantra-Tantras of TSV - Breath Control – Pranayama Background Even people who do TSV regularly do not do it sincerely. For eg.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGanapati Dyanam - Invoke peace in our actions Background TSV as a wholesome training for body and mind synchronization can be done by any individual of any age and any religion.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Mantra-Tantras of Sandhya Vandanam – Part I Background TSV is generally seen as a religious ritual in which one prays to different gods of Hindu pantheon. In particular it is seen as a ‘worshipping’ of Sun God.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsLet me state first that I am neither a Yoga selling Baba nor Spiritualism selling Swamiji.
Categories: Texts & Stotramsi caught the metro rail to SOMI, and walked to Sunset Tavern for Cat's acoustic gig Bartender "what can i get ya" Jim "a miller light" it was just Cat, and Mau Jim "Cat, hi" Cat "hey man" Jim "how is it going?" Cat...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMy Bio-data The following is my brief Resume: ‘Sthala-Jala-Bhrama’ is my first name Chasing mirages is my major expertise Going off track is my long term experience Holding packets sans any content is my Qualification!...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPreamble Arjuna doubts which of the two ways - whether renunciation of action or participation in action - is the nobler and the greater.
Categories: Texts & StotramsPreamble Sri Krishna explains the spirit of renunciation and the state of Supreme Being in more details.
Categories: Texts & StotramsPreamble The Gita has been described as an elaborate commentary on the mahavakya of the Chhandogya Upanishad, 'tat tvam asi - that thou art'.
Categories: Texts & StotramsPreamble We have seen Sri Bhgavan describing the process of meditation. He continues the discussion in the following verses pointing out that the controlled mind remains peaceful and explaining the process by which the...
Categories: Texts & StotramsBhagavad Gita: Chapter 4 (Part-1) Jnaana Karma Sanyaasa Yogah : Yoga of Renunciation of Action in Knowledge T.N.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBhagavad Gita: Chapter 4 (Part-2) Jnaana Karma Sanyaasa Yogah: Yoga of Renunciation of Action in Knowledge T.N.
Categories: Texts & StotramsWendy Doniger’s scholarship was critiqued at a Roundtable Panel in Hawaii for two hours. The book in question was Doniger’s, The Hindus: An Alternative History (2009).
Categories: Arts & AestheticsT.N.Sethumadhavan IDENTITY OF THE TRINITY Siva is one of the deities of the Hindu Trinity. He is responsible for the dissolution of the universe.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsJOY! It’s Love, It’s Bliss, It’s Eternal Look, see, feel, sense, enjoy It’s there Inside, outside, everywhere It’s love, it’s inspiration, it’s the divine bliss Emanating it is, from our hearts It’s been there all...
Categories: Texts & StotramsA DREAMY TURN Before the Dream In the long tunnel of dark, I travelled, visibility was zero Couldn’t see where I was going or who’re with me… Sounds, smells, tactility were my guides that led me through What was real...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsfalling leaves in the wind a fox scurries past shooting stars up above into the thicket to where the rabbit led a foot on a tree no earth below the cover of night crows at sun rise fog lifts on the horizon startled to...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsi noticed the sound check the humble one with the bald forehead his diagnostics test kind of bashful his gaze fixed on the wires on the deck ample sound effect to give it a go reminds me of a freind who taught me what...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsasleep on a fence awake in a dream a gasp for air a sip of water i taste the leaf nibble on the bract now the compass gives me a little direction i like to sweat to give you oxygen middling plateau synaptic rift i like...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsnote one dialog of Visal das talking about how he got into teaching Prabhupada once said to be a teacher you have to be a student first.
Categories: Texts & Stotramslittle krishna in a deep blue overcoat drifting through time gaura nitai in lime green flaunting his bliss resting radhas pink lotus palm jaganatha so proud candle on the windowsil the echo of voices in the dark a shot...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsbeacon on the shore in the blade grass on the sand dunes basking in the tropical sun chasing fiddler crabs in the wet sand tip toeing messenger scouting out the perimeter there to meet me in the moonlight little shadow...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn my blog on ‘Upanayanam Explained’, I had illustrated the inverted banyan tree and the ‘Urdhva Mulam” sloka in Bhagavad Gita in the context of nAndi ceremony. Many people couldn’t connect the two.
Categories: Texts & StotramsWe are preparing for our Son's Upanayanam (Sacred thread wearing ceremony). Though Upanayanam has become a 'Lougiga' festival these days with lot of style and no substance, it is indeed a 'knowledege' ceremony, which...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics(www.wavesinternational.net) “Na hi Jnanena Sadrsam – There is nothing equivalent to knowledge” The Bhagavad Gita – IV.
Categories: Texts & StotramsProfessor Amit Goswami continues to bridge a mighty gap spanning quantum physics on the one side and the most cherished spiritual ideas from his early training in India on the other. This film takes you on his journey.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessSaankhya Yogah: Yoga of Knowledge Preamble In the 1st Chapter we have seen that Arjuna asked Krishna to place the chariot in the midst of the two armies.
Categories: Texts & StotramsSaankhya Yogah: The Yoga of Knowledge Preamble We have seen the dejection of Arjuna and his determination not to wage the war.
Categories: Texts & StotramsSaankhya Yogah : Yoga of Knowledge Preamble Last time we studied up to verse 2.22 dealing with Krishna’s exposition about the permanent nature of the Soul and the impermanent nature of the physical body wherein the Lord...
Categories: Texts & StotramsSaankhya Yogah : Yoga Of Knowledge T.N.Sethumadhavan Preamble Up to the verse 2.38 we have seen the Lord establishing the propriety of Arjuna engaging in the war from the point of view of Sankhya Yoga or the Yoga of...
Categories: Texts & StotramsSaankhya Yogah : Yoga Of Knowledge T.N.Sethumadhavan Preamble The Lord told Arjuna that when his mind would have crossed the mire of delusion and would develop indifference towards the enjoyment of this world and the...
Categories: Texts & StotramsKarma Yogah : Yoga Of Action T.N.Sethumadhavan Preamble This Chapter analyses from various points of view and establishes the fact that the performance of prescribed duties is obligatory for everyone.
Categories: Texts & StotramsKarma Yogah : Yoga Of Action T.N.Sethumadhavan Preamble We had seen in the previous verses that by citing His own example The Lord described the consequences of not doing any action and proved that for the sake of the...
Categories: Texts & Stotrams20th century Astronomers have made 2 great discoveries that have changed the scientific view of the universe. Some new, unknown sort of matter usually called dark matter seems to make up 23% of the universe.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI am glad to post here an excerpt from Pandit Vamadeva Shastri's [ Dr. David Frawley] book "Yoga and the Sacred Fire" with the permission of the site the link below leads to.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBackground In the previous blog, I had written about the basic concept of Mandalas. Here I look into every Mandala in some more detail. Refer to my previuos blog here.
Categories: Texts & StotramsFrom Aditya Hrdyam something made me to move to Vastu Sastra. I had been reading about it for several months now. What I present here are my understandings and in some case mappings of my understandings.
Categories: Texts & StotramsIn Upanisads Moksa is viewed as a state of absorption into the universal nature of Brahman where the individual merges into the universal spirit...
Categories: Texts & StotramsEditor's Note: This critique was issued in the form of an open letter (to Mihir Meghani, HAF President) in the immediate aftermath of the report that was published late Dec 2010 --- Dear Mihir, I’m sure that by now...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOriginal article at: https://medhajournal.com/indology/256-indias-conjured-caste-conundrum-by-raghbendra-jha.html
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEditor's Note: This critique was issued in the form of emails to HAF in the immediate aftermath of the report that was published late Dec 2010, and some later re-iterations, all compiled here by the author.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEditor's Note: This critique was issued in the form of open letters to HAF leadership in a series of emails in the aftermath of the report that was published late Dec 2010.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEditor's Note: This critique was issued in the form of an email to HAF in the immediate aftermath of the report that was published late Dec 2010 --- Friends: I have carefully read HAF’s recent report on CASTE.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEditor's Note: This critique was issued in the form of an email to HAF in the immediate aftermath of the report that was published late Dec 2010 --- The political implications of HAF on Caste and Hinduism -----Original...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsRe-published courtesy: http://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters/When-caste-was-not-a-bad-word-1.aspx --- Were caste equations always as bad as they are today? Not quite.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA critique of the Hindu American Foundation’s report “Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste Seeking an End to Caste-based Discrimination 2010” Why this critique? The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) is a US-based Hindu advocacy...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSummary of Major Issues with the HAF Report on Caste Contents Executive Summary A Brief History The Political Implications of the Report Substantive Flaws in the Contents of the Report What now? Executive Summary Many...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsReview If you like the idea of watching a really good National Geographic article brought to life, with the lush photography, fascinating facts, sense of discovery and slight superficiality that implies, you ll love THE...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsthe sun is up in the frost covered hills time stands still a chill to the air a prism of light spring is near cardinals land in fresh seed a rabbit on the edge of a thicket now i see it
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction This book has emerged as a result of several experiences that have deeply influenced my research and scholarship over the past decade.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticspurple lightning bug the flash of a snapdragon fair maiden shifting light sallow beacon in the night little pilot in flight lotus flower bumblebee land on me
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIt is clear that as evidence for reincarnation we can only expect the claimant to reveal certain facts which he has hitherto not known or been exposed to and has no means of inferring it until the examiner allows him to.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOne often refers to seeing or thinking more objectively and less subjectively as the foundation of the scientific method.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe HAF Report on Caste & Its Implications: A Critique from Members of the Hindu Community and Hindu Groups at Large A Brief History On August 7, 2010, Hindu American Foundation (HAF) made an invited presentation at the...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFor some time I had been quite enthusiastic about researching the evidence on reincarnation and paranormal claims because I considered it to be of great consequence to how I would live my daily life.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhat is the difference between holy and healthy prayer and goal-setting prophecy and schedule revelation and discovery endowment and potential saint and social worker sin and error lust and addiction hell and pain...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOriginal location at: https://medhajournal.com/indian-news/1071-gayatri-parivars-open-letter-to-haf.html
Categories: Arts & AestheticsTuesday, January 25, 2011 An ardent Hindu denounces the HAF report on caste You are by now familiar with the ill-conceived report on caste by HAF.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOM! Sri! Priya Sanatana Dharmi Bhaiyyon Aur Beheno: Sasneh namaskar. The wheel has come full circle.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSri Nagendra's response to the esteemed Swami Vigyananand ji; Jt. General Secretary; Vishva Hindu Parishad Head – International Coordination...
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta... I am deliberately writing this message in yellow press, demagogic and repetitive language – Mass Communications 300 at Wharton / Annenberg School of Mass Communications on agitprop tactics.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSri Gurubhyo namaH HariH OM Shambhave namaH Cover Letter for Sri Pejawar Swamiji’s Sandesham February 7, 2011 The Directors Hindu American Foundation Washington DC Namaste to all, About two weeks ago, we had received a...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaOriginal location at: https://medhajournal.com/indian-news/1072-puttige-maths-open-letter-to-haf.html
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOriginal location at: https://medhajournal.com/indian-news/1073-swami-dayananda-saraswatis-open-letter-to-haf.html
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOriginal location at: https://medhajournal.com/indian-news/1070-swami-ramdevs-open-letter-to-haf.html
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOn December 10, 2010, the Hindu American Foundation (“HAF”) published a report on caste entitled “Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste.” The issuance of the report generated immediate debate and controversy.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOriginal Location at: https://medhajournal.com/karigar's-corner/1068-haf-report-casting-a-net-full-of-holes.html
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been running for some time now. So this is now the right time ( January, 2011) for an interim report. There is in fact nothing to report as yet.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessIt is not yet dawn. But soon it will be. Periyazhwar [ Vishnu Siddhar] walks on, immersed as he is in Narayana . He is collecting flowers and tulsi from his nandavanam for his Lord.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWe seek here to investigate by means a priori whether free will can be reasonably held to be true in the sphere of ordinary human endeavour or not.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsKrishna is about to fall asleep, hush! His lotus eyes now opening,now closing Long lashes now meeting ,now parting Rose bud lips now curving in a smile Hush! Hush! Hush! Krishna is about to fall asleep.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics23 O Lord of all the worlds, O God of Gods, O Soul and Stay of all things that live and move, O Five-faced ONE whose begging palm feeds all - The vision of whose sixth face, the ONE SOUL Is the reward of all that have...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaWake up, yea, to see this beautiful world Of skyrises, land rangers, androids pearled Comfort’s ocean, fount of titillation Man’s glory, wondrous civilisation! We’ve lit the country whole but not our soul Know each...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsKnow ye first these Principles of Science Keep ye them in mind and upon them meditate And by the excellent zeal upon it thy heart set By thy hand do thou build wondrous appliance View, observe, discover, watch thou...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMEDHA EDITOR's NOTE: Keeping in mind the 'hot' topic of 'Caste", Medha Journal brings you a series of perspectives. This one by Prof M Lal Goel is the first in the series. India’s Caste System and Pluralism M.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics19 It is not once but many a time that pride, Blind to life's lessons harsh, must falter and fall, Ere in its final painful overthrow It crashes in the whirl of slaughter and storm: True Nandi's curse, all knew, would...
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessBhagavad Gita - Chapter 1 (Part-2): Yoga of the Despondency of Arjuna T.N.Sethumadhavan --- When the Gods deal defeat to a person, they first take his mind away, so that he sees things wrongly.
Categories: Texts & StotramsA story in four chapters presenting the potential for a fast-forward in evolution through a guided tour.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics15 Delighted Dakshayani told the king The three eyed Lord of Kailas would come and wed; And Daksha's joy was more than plain to see, And he gave orders for arrangements to speed.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics10 Dynamic Shakti parts from Consciousness (As seen on the plane relative where we move, But Consciousness and Shakti are not apart!) And each in love from basic oneness spring, Towards the other moves in ecstasy, And...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics5 "Do lead, Abode of Sattwa, guide along, O Vishnu, lead; O Power that protect, guide; With Brahma by Thy side, do show the way To Shiva's home where hope eternal shines, To KAILAS where all founts of valour spring; Do...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSkanda Puranam, the greatest of the Eighteen Mahapuranas, is as sacred to the Shaivites as the Srimad Bhagavatam is to the Vaishnavites.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedantai saw krishna he was walking with a lantern so i followed him and it was easier the inner light is lit krishna holding the lantern walking on the path we love the light that is the reason we go to it again and again if...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAdi Shankara’s Bhaja Govindam: An effective Stress Management Technique T.N.Sethumadhavan [This essay was originally published in the August, 2007 issue of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ illustrated monthly...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaYoga of the Despondency of Arjuna T.N.Sethumadhavan (First published in esamskriti.
Categories: Texts & StotramsAnother Sequel to Sri Matsya Narayana: Nepali Homage in Malmas Partha Desikan I had the pleasure of interaction with our friends on the Sri Matsya Narayana avatara through two blogs posted earlier this year.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaSI Metric Mass and Electrical Unit Converter Problems involving an electrical unit convertermay be analyzed by applying the moment-of-momentum principle at convertunitsnow.com .
Categories: Arts & AestheticsScience of Surya Mantra and Aditya Hrdayam Preface There is a great consistency in the meanings I find across slokas of Nasaidya Suktam, Purusha Suktam, Aitareya Upanishad, Rudram Chamakam, Rudram Namakam, Surya Mantra,...
Categories: Texts & StotramsBuzz, learn and lead! A story in four chapters presenting the potential for a fast-forward in evolution through a guided tour Chapter 3 Innate Immunity “We have a lot in common, bees and humans, I mean.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics(First published in esamskriti.com) Origins of the Temple THE temple of Sri Venkateswara (Balaji) at Tirumala, Tiupati in Andhra Pradesh is perhaps the most popular of all the Hindu temples in our country.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsLet me wish all my medhavi friends a glorious Navarathri, filled with the joy of the Grace of Ma Shakti in all her manifestations and with fresh opportunities to deal effectively with obstacles in their paths with her...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsINTRODUCTION The worship of Shakti dates back to the Rig Veda where she is praised as ‘the supporter of the earth living in heaven’.
Categories: Texts & StotramsIntroducing Srimad Bhagavad Gita: A User’s Manual for Every Day Living T.N.Sethumadhavan --- “Live in the world but don’t be of the world. Live in the world but don’t let the world live within you.
Categories: Texts & Stotramssomeone walked over a lit candle in a brass anvil to greet me asking the plant to forgive again on most mornings i ask krishna to turn the plant back into sita the faint light is enough if we are content as a plant...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBuzz, learn and lead! A story in four chapters presenting the potential for a fast-forward in evolution through a guided tour. Chapter 2 Long-distance Flights When I awoke, I did not find either my companion or the sage.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsthe falconer called on the falcon for his spate on a leaf go to the queen the falcon soared into the clouds in a rattle on the pounce of a rival falcon cascade to a stream one of the fisherman to find a little girl on...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI am deeply indebted to Shri Partha Desikanji and Shri Rudraji for locating me in the maze of Websites and encouraging me to become a part of the Medhavi community - a medhavi in Sanskrit means an intellectual, a man of...
Categories: Texts & StotramsSteve on the Linda D IV found me walking along the dock in 2004. He asked if I was the kid looking for a job. I mentioned the boats that I had worked on before to give him an idea of what sort of experience I had.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA story in four chapters presenting the potential for a fast-forward in evolution through a guided tour. Chapter 1 I want a Change You will agree with me that I am in a rather serious kind of predicament.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsLord Ganapati is the most popular Deity among the Hindus. No Pooja or religious rites or for that matter no daily activity in any Hindu household commences without first worshipping Ganapati.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPartha Desikan The Upward Spiral is a powerful paperback written by the lawyer turned author, speaker and educator on the wellbeing of lawyers, Harvey Hyman J. D, who is now CEO of Lawyers’ Wellbeing Inc.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsYesterday was the 5 th of September and Teachers ‘ Day was celebrated throughout India. This was the day a stalwart Son of India was born many years ago. He was Dr S.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWe knew this day was coming. We ‘d discussed this earlier and we had been waiting…for what had seemed like an eternity. Still, I find it hard to believe that the dark skinned baby is in my arms.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsthe mind is a treasure chest the nerve endings grow like tree branches even sprout leaves or flowers sometimes old trees are removed and new ones grow i fell through a rabbit hole once a vast abstraction i thought i had...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsINDICA THE TASTE SO SWEET BLUE PETALS BLOOMING UNDER THE SUN INDICA SO POTENT OUR SOURCE OF NATURE OUR SENSE OF WHAT IS REAL OUR SPIRITUAL FLOW INTENSE AS CAN BE OUR NATURAL GO THE PHASES OF THE MOON GUIDING OUR FORTUNE...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA very happy Indian independence day to all Medhavis. Let’s us salute all the men and women who sacrificed their all so that we’d see this day, the brave men and women who guard our borders today, and also the...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI came across this incredible video on an internet forum a few days ago. Watching it gave me goosebumps (the good kind). I thought our Medhavis would like to see it too...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsTraveling around the Miami area using mass transit has been an adventure in and of its own.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSea Of Cold devaguraji waterdroplet What is it that makes plants grow? We know that plants are rooted in the earth. It is the rain that provides nourishment. Plants grow towards the sunlight or the source.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe bus stopped in Orlando so north bound travelers could get on the next bus. After that we changed over in Savanna Georgia. It went north to Washington DC. I hopped on a bus to Baltimore from there.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe rink had its own architectural plan. The roof was slanted. The main beams for the roof were massive wooden planks. The wood had aged from the cold humid atmosphere of the rink. The aura of the rink was like Ontario.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction I have been recently reading Digha Nikaya and Samyutta Niyaka, the Buddhist Pali scriptures.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Western Jin gained control of the Yangzte with the fleet it had of warships in 279. The Sui founder Yang Jain followed the path of the Jin building a fleet of ships on his own.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI was at a BBQ pool party last evening and somehow managed to discuss meditation and consciousness with a friend.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedantathe jigsaw puzzle how did it form now it all fits in place the rainfall the plants of the earth the cold water springs the favoring wind the cosmic mist climbing a ladder each stone overturned in the last chapter we...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn a few hours from now, my millions of brothers all over the world would sit before the TV to watch the FIFA finals [ while the ladies in their lives would be happy that the season is ending for now] .
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOne morning in October of 2004 while fishing just offshore of Sand Key Light all of the sudden fog began to move in on us. Our GPS was malfunctioning so all we had to use was our compass or our instinct to find our way.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticspaint the image of a bird dog in a field or along the edge of a river the dog is running all over laughing there is nothing the dog wants to do more than to fetch a bird the dog is content chasing birds that is what the...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsour black cat kali wincing at me the sweat bee is going to sting me i need fertilizer for the tomato plants i just agitated all of the roots pollen drifting through the air nectar for the hummingbirds does a bee buzz...
Categories: Arts & Aestheticscaught waves at low tide at the inlet right to the shoreline the great awakening was paddling out to catch a wave at the pier at sunset we might do all sorts of far out things catching waves we still walk off drenched...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDawn is still an hour away. I look at the lamp- lit street that stretches before me. It seems messier than usual. The street’s surface feels rough against my bare feet.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsat the edge of the cold mountain stream barefoot sifting for flatstones to find Govinda the awakening again the laughter of the blackbirds the leaves buding the lotus petals sprouting the source of inertia the shadow of...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe Rudram Chamakam Background This work is a culmination of my last six months or so of my effort. As usual I am not sure on how I landed into Rudra or Chamakam.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsLearning to be pure finding santosa orcontentment orsvadhyaya, the reading of the scriptures are all aspects of entering the dhaama or sheltered asrama for arjava, upright meditation on the absolute.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaI found this touching anecdote about Lakshmi the cow who was fortunate enough to live and later on ,breathe her last in Ramana Ashramam , Thiruvannamalai .
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaProfessor Sethuramiah’s haiku, Avani and Ishaan Partha Desikan Our friends will remember Susumu Takiguchi’s Keynote Address at the World Haiku Festival, Bangalore 2008, and my blog highlighting its focus on Tagore and...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMy friend Evgeny and I go to learn Yoga from a Tamil Siddha Yogi and also learn Taiji Chuan from a student from an authentic Taoist Lineage.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNyagrodha-Udumbara-Ashvattha, the three gentle giants Partha Desikan Prologue: The very large span in seven of the eight aishvaryas (as different from corresponding siddhis which men attain through sadhana) that...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWe inhabit an age of unprecedented access to information. We get news about anyone anywhere in the world moments after an elapsed event. We watch closely, and are watched in return.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsLessons from the Nithyananda Scandal-II The Christian Church has the longest continuous history of governance, with a tremendous track record of protecting its interests under all circumstances.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMEDHA EDITOR'S NOTE: In our quest to foster quality discussions & debates on serious & topical issues of the day, we look forward to your participation in the freshly ignited debate on that old perennial favorite,...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOriginal location at: https://medhajournal.com/geopolitics-guru/1060-critique-of-hindu-american-foundations-report-on-caste.html
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsRajiv Malhotra, Oct 15, 2010. This morning, Times of India celebrates the headlines, "Harvard gets biggest international donation in 102 yrs, from Tata group." ".
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Passions are raised whenever the standard universalistic Hindu position, ”All religions are valid” , is discussed.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaMy Birthday Poem 19-4-2010 Today (April 19), I am beginning my Sixty Fourth circumambulation about the Sun. When I look around from the 64th story of my life-edifice, I see many changes.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsTamil new year day was celebrated with the usual fervor on the 14 th of April this year A traditional meal consisting of the sweet [ jaggery] laced with the bitter [ neem flowers] is made on this day to symbolise life...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMedha Editor's Note: With the public hooked onto scandals where sexuality vis a vis spirituality became a central focus of public discourse, it is fitting that we take a look at the deeper philosophical side of the...
Categories: Science & Consciousnessin a talk about Srila Prabhupada one night someone claimed the words or his writings or purports were unarguable the bhagavad gita is unarguable in plain translation i guess the feedback i had on the outlook or...
Categories: Texts & StotramsSpace like time can be seen in just one dimension if we lineraize it. For eg a spiral can enumerate a three dimensional space in just one dimension (linearize it) as a continuous set of numbers.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAnti-hindu activities and defamation by Sandhya Jain and Radha Rajan of Acharyas and others Their attempt to divide the Hindu Acharyas is clear from the Tamil circular doing the rounds.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMedha Editor's note: For those needing more background on the divisive antics mentioned here by Dr Kalyanaraman, please read this piece at Sulekha: Update: Also see https://medhajournal.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaBackground Aitareya Upanishad says Purusha was drawn out and spread to protect the Universe, from the same essence/soul from which Amba came.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThe Susquehanna Rick made a long cast into the main river current. Rick had gotten out of the boat then waded onto the shallows where there was vegetation full of minnows in the warmer surface column amist the late...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsScotch Run looking for natives Patrick had a small ultra light spinning rod with a micro shimano reel. Whenever fishing a trout stream he used 2 lb. test. When wading he wore a vest to keep his hooks, jigs or spinners.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics'My story that should make The civilized society hide its face In the interiors of the earth, in shame – In which canto of your country’s famed history Will you write it down, my story?' (From a Telugu dalit poem...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe subconscious mind is a powerful thing. Our subconscious mind has all sorts of hidden paths to it.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessLogic tells us that there must be a creator for the universe to exist. St. Thomas calls God the first mover. In Shorter Summa, the existence of God is the first topic St. Thomas explains that God is eternal.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsRevisions of Srila Prabhupada quotes out of the writings of Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami about his travels...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Image of Shiva was found in the ruins of the Indus River civilization. The parallel of worship of Shiva is the worship of shakti or the power of the active forces of the universe.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticssomeone asked me what happens to a drop of water when it hits the ocean? i said it becomes a part of the ocean he said right...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSandhya Jain [1] has been around for a long time, so it is difficult for me to write what I write below.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSpirit Level to Spiritual Radio Mannequins can also be our Teachers We all have seen human-look-alike mannequins exhibiting various types of attires at the entrances of many a textile showroom.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAsha Stanford's Holi 2010 When: March 27, 2010, 11 am - 3 pm Where: Sandhill fields, Stanford University Tickets can be bought at: - We'll give you 3000 pounds of color to render your friends completely unrecognizable!...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBrahma is the source of the cosmic explosion at the beginning of the universe…his energies were first.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen the sex scandal of Swami Nithyananda suddenly erupted on March 2, 2010, I was already in Delhi as part of a group to go to Kumbh Mela.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics> If we look to the stratosphere we notice the clouds or the variations of the hue of the horizon above us. If we see where we are standing we get to the realization that we are on a planet.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAll religions are true You must remember that humanity travels not from error to truth, but from truth to truth; it may be, if you like it better, from lower truth to higher truth, but never from error to truth.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction and Background In my previous article on Sankhya Philosophy, I had stated about the interplay of purusha, prakrti and Gunas in every dimension of this universe.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessMy childhood does not seem that far away. Not since I have become a Mom myself. As I sing my son to sleep I remember snatches of long-forgotten lullabies that Grandma used to sing to us about a sister trying to awaken...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWorship of ancestors While taking the journey with Hinduism through History, it was seen that one of the most rudimentary - yet profound - ways of worship is by venerating the dead.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThus ends the disgusting cacophonic melange of celebrity parade masquerading as something really noble. With this, the Slimes has managed to herald the onset of dumbing down Republic Day.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBreakfast, Penance & The Ecstasy An Exceptional Experience in Guruvayoor First Hurdle -The Jam Night It seems that the traffic peak hours fall on the Bangalore-Salem-Palakkad-Thrissur route during that 12-hour stretch,...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need. --From the Charaka Samhita, one of the most ancient and venerated Ayurvedic textbooks.
Categories: Texts & StotramsAt The Feet Of My Cosmic Beloved! Craving much for I’m to enter Your hallowed chamber, Deep within me, but hidden away! It is a dream that I wait on to realize, all thro’ my life That of present and the past; You are my...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI have been thinking about this for a while now (at least since "The Rift between Advaita and Vaishnavism" article).
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaDo I have anything of My Own to offer YOU? This is my Floral Offering at the lotus feet of the Creator of every entity from Atom to Atman When I eulogize YOUR Glories, I forget that, The thoughts, the words, the voice...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaWordless Conversation With A Winged Wiseman “Yet another zoo! What could be new?” I walked past grinning camels, munching goats Contemplative cows and sleepy wild cats when I stopped in my tracks, drawn by his intense...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsCome, Share My Dream World “From the unicellular green algae in the depth of the primordial soup, we traversed to the peak, but, ……….
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI, You & the Cosmic I A Personal Voyage As I offer You a flower, Ma, I come to You as the very flower! As I smell and savor the beguiling scent, I become the scent, the flower & the space between! As I collect the...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPartha Desikan Fast food, tobacco and alcohol are pouring into India, promoting a consumer culture. India should beware.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics"If India cannot articulate a vision about its being one of the poles in a multipolar world, it does not deserve any respect.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsConsciousness, Cosmology, and Science: An Advaitic1 Analysis The purpose of this brief essay is twofold: (1) To clarify what it is to study anything scientifically and show that consciousness cannot, in principle, be...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaComments on Serious Mistranslations of The Central Upanishadic Terms Ramakrishna Puligandla I am provoked to write this brief essay on my having seen so many articles and books, ancient, modern, and contemporary, the...
Categories: Texts & StotramsThe main purpose of this brief essay is to show that, contrary to the widespread view of many scholars of Madhyamaka and Advaita-Vedanta, the Sunya-vada of Nagarjuna and the non-dualism of Samkara are non-different, one...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe main purpose of this brief essay is to examine the longstanding controversy about (and thereby the debates between) parinama-vada and vivarta-vada, and show that vivarta-vada, correctly understood, does not oppose...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaA sequel to Shri Matsya Narayana Partha Desikan If we have read the story of the saving of the Vedas by the direct intervention of the Infinite in the Matsya form and are informed that there could be slightly different...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere is no self, said a Self to itself... that is what the scriptures say, so it must be true From all things interconnected all things rise...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsShri Matsya Narayana Partha Desikan Gururgurutamo dhaama satyah satyaparaakramah | Nimisho (a)nimishah sragvee vaachaspatir udaaradheeh || Agraneer graamaneeh shreemaan nyaayo netaa sameeranah | The above three lines...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsINTO THE DARKNESS THEN OUT OF THE LIGHT THE FIRE OF THE SUN THE ECHO OF THE WORLDS THE LIFEBREATH OF THE MIND THE CORE OF THE EARTH THE CENTER OF THE SOUL ONE WHO CONQUERS THE WORLDS THE MAKER OF EVIL THE SPRING OF THE...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGOT LOST IN THE ISLAND MAZE SOARED THROUGH THE AIR LOOKED LIKE A FALCON AS AGILE AS A MERLIN DRIFTED THROUGH THE RAIN VIERED TO THE SHORE THE CLOUDS LIFTED IN THE HAZE MOONLIT NIGHT WRECKED ON THE CORAL SOMEHOW GOT...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn Path of Fire and Light Swami Rama shares with Western students, for the first time, remarkable and practical information on the systematic techniques of an ancient and profound tradition of spiritual growth.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CHAKRAS The word, Chakra, literally means wheel, circle, vortex, or whirlpool.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNADIS The Sanskrit word, “Nadi,” derives from the root, Nad, which means flow, motion, vibration. These nadis are creative energies of the subtle body.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessNew Year’s Day marks the end of one year and beginning of the other. It is the perfect time to look back into the past and make plans for the future.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSomewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives a very unusual man. His fellow-monks are confused by his bizarre conduct.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsrecapturing Crete Jim Clark A warrior who lost his men wandered off into a canyon in a foreign land. He traveled there to fight against invading armies who attacked the natives. Several ships went ashore.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere are questions about al-Qaeda that are to some extent answered that remain. The negative impact al-Qaeda has had on the US or India is evident.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics...saltwater footnotes At lobster walk the dock looked like an aquaculture farm as a result of Dave Curls who became a commercial diver collecting tropical fish.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA visual stunning, spellbinding spiritual journey to a world rarely seen by outsiders. The Buddhist concept of reincarnation, while both mysterious and enchanting, is hard for most Westerners to grasp.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAbout the verbs in the Mahavakyas Partha Desikan All the Vedantacharyas, in particular the founders of the Advaita , Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita doctrines, namely Sri Sankara, Sri Ramanuja and Sri Madhva relied totally...
Categories: Texts & StotramsHaving to do with Jayanth Kaikini's Ondu Jilebi Partha Desikan An inspiring contemporary young Kannada poet has recently published a collection of his poems and there was a formal release in Bangalore.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen the flow of concentration (Dharana) is uninterrupted, the state that arises is Dhyana. Dhyana is the study of deep concentration, calmness, and tranquility of the mind.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThis documentary follows the life of a 29-yo white male from New York, as he immerses himself into a "Yogic" lifestyle.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHumanism, Vaishnavite style Partha Desikan I would like to state at the outset that Vaishnavism is as much a product of Hindu/Vedantic genius as Advaita is and that the two belong to different sets and should not be...
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta> We can now ask whether it is ever possible to distinguish experience from the interpretation of it. If not, it is unclear how any experience can be said to be self-assuring.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAs we come to the end of the year and the days grow shorter, the temperatures lower, it is time to change the focus of your practice.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSite Selection The previous four parts of this series can be found below. Part I Part II Part III Part IV In this part, I continue with the topic of site selection of Hindu temples.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction The impact of colonial rule by large empires on the colonised is a well known phenomenon.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNOTE: I have posted this as a thread on Medhaam Dehi (our forum) but NS suggested I post it as a blog entry. So here goes... I've been sucked into this debate (I should say I inadvertently stumbled into it) on Facebook.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaSunnie D. Kidd and James W. Kidd If we consider consciousness as undivided the distinction between the knower and the known disappears. Experience is complete in itself and is self-assuring.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDefinition of Beauty as a short story by 1st grader, my son Ishan Beauty is like your positive energy. Beauty comes from your positive energy.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis poem by an Old man is doing rounds of Internet Crabby Old Man What do you see nurses? . . What do you see? What are you thinking . . . . . when you're looking at me? A crabby old man, . ... .
Categories: Arts & AestheticsYesterday was a special day. Throughout the world, followers of the Sikh path celebrated the birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is a pdf circulating among some Dharmic-types on the Internet. I thought I'd share it with the Medhavis.
Categories: Texts & StotramsCows, Commodities, Greenhouse Gases Partha Desikan Wild cats hunting for food would have been indeed very happy when man had not yet learnt to tame some ruminants which later became his cattle wealth.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSidddhasana (the accomplished pose) is the most rewarding of all the sitting postures. It is one of the most important asanas (the best among 84 lakh asanas), whose practice purifies the 72,000 Nadis in the body.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaI have been recently reading through Meera Nanda’s article, “Intellectual Treason”. I have prepared a general reply to that article which will be posted eventually in TMJ.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessHere's a song from the Malayalam movie Jagadguru Adisankaran [ 1977] . The film may seem different from G V Iyer's version as it caters to a much wider audience.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaNo suitors for me in sight till now. I ‘d rather be single than marry someone I don’t love. Saw him yesterday from my balcony and did not sleep a wink last night. He is the one. I know for sure.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDear Friends, It is soon going to be three years since we started Medha Journal. I know we don't usually celebrate many of our festivals on Medha Journal.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAnemia is a condition in which hemoglobin concentration, or the number of red blood cells, is below the defined level. The job of hemoglobin is to carry oxygen around the body.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAlmost a year back Ishan had written a letter to Mr. President on Global Warming issues..:)) It was something that he came up with and I just encouraged him to complete the letter....
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI recently posted a review of a book by Daniel Quinn titled "Ishmael". The book is a semi-fiction/philosophical dialog between Daniel Quinn and an old Gorilla called Ishmael (of course Ishmael is the archetype of a wise...
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessQuinn ( Dreamer ) won the Turner Tomorrow Award's half-million-dollar first prize for this fascinating and odd book--not a novel by any conventional definition--which was written 13 years ago but could not find a...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Sankhya Philosophy Purusha In Sankhya Philosophy, evolution happens in three dimensions. The dimensions are Purusha, Prakrti and the Gunas.
Categories: Texts & StotramsYoga is a stimulating way to reach children, especially those with Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Attention Deficit Disorder, Learning Disabilities, and other developmental delays.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe nadaswaram (sometimes spelt nadhaswaram, and also called nagaswaram) is one of the most popular classical (Carnatic style) instruments of South India and acclaimed as the world's loudest non-brass acoustic...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAmerican Exceptionalism and the Myth of the Frontiers Editor's note: From a true global perspective, it is important for anyone to figure the role the United States of America has played & and continues to play in the...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEditor's Note: V Sundaram (Retd. IAS officer) has written a blistering critique of Indian Media and it's mishandling of the Swami Nityananda issue.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsLaughter is an interval between sorrows A man was sitting on one side of the road crying. He seemed to be depressed and worried.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere has been continuous controversy about the yield of the Indian weapon tests (Pokhran 1 in 1974; Pokhran 2 in 1998) for the last 35 years.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGreatness of acquiring a Human form Human being crowns the top most hierarchy of living beings.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's parables are famous and cherished. Little glimpses from the Master's life often read like parables themselves.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBande Mataram! Sujalam, Suphalam, malayaja shitalam, Shasyashyamalam Mataram! I bow to thee Mother, richly-watered, richly fruited cool with the winds of the south, dark with the crops of the harvests The Mother!...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGrowing up in Bharat (India), I have heard people proclaiming time and again that “All Religions are the same and they teach the same thing”.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsJaswant Singh’s latest book has raised a fresh controversy on who was responsible for the partition of India. Some think it was Jinnah while others say it was Nehru/Patel.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsGreetings, Medhavis. Namaste! And Jaya Shri Krishna! This past weekend, I had the great pleasure to attend and even greater fortune to meet Medha Journal's own Ravi Joshi at the Hindu Mandir Executives Conference, 2009,...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI arrived in Saint-Etienne at the beginning of July. The summer months see people moving out of the cities and into the holiday locations for their annual vacations. As a result, the city seems deserted.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics1962 India/China war. Every Indian who experienced that Chinese perfidy just cannot forget the feeling of backstabbing .
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsThe Mother's Divine Dance Partha Desikan Rabindranath Tagore met Sree Narayana Guru in 1922 and was deeply impressed both by the spiritual heights of his thoughts and by his enduring commitment to fight caste based...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsINTRODUCTION There are many paths of yoga for attaining clarity of mind. Raja Yoga is one of the paths that focuses on meditation and contemplation. Raja means king, and king is always in a state of enlightenment.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThe Goddess of Night She descends, in her dark beauty When her fair sister departs To pull a thick veil over men And their actions of that day.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe following three videos brought back memories of 1971 war. I was only part of logistics but we know the Pakistani army is committing lot of mistakes.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsIntroduction One of the signs of the present age is the attitude towards the interpretation of scripture. "Anything goes" pretty much sums up the modern attitude.
Categories: Texts & StotramsHere is another micro-story, friends. I see Him now. The newborn child opened its eyes looking for Him. The eyes went all around. No, He was not to be found. A charcha ensued between the eyes and the child's soul.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen the purpose of sAdhanA and the final destination of the soul is understood, there remain no more doubts in the sadhaka’s mind as regards the imperativeness of yoga sAdhanA.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaEditor's note: Below talk becomes even more relevant in the context of this Newsweek article (ClickHere), putting a broader & deeper spotlight on Hinduism.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessThe most common question asked by people is "What is Taichi". The art of Taichi has been around for thousands of years, and is one of the few complete systems of moving meditation in existence today.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta{To Read Author's General Note click here } Aitareya Upanishad i: This Upanishad is part of the Rg Veda.
Categories: Texts & Stotrams{To Read Author's General Note click here } For Part I, click here In part I it was said that the universe with all its constituents is the creation of Brahman. This part deals with creation in more detail.
Categories: Texts & Stotrams{To Read Author's General Note click here } There are two recensions of this Upanishad with minor variation. Swami Madhavaananda had dealt with both in a combined form. We shall follow him.
Categories: Texts & Stotrams{To Read Author's General Note click here } (Contd... from Part I) - There are four seats of consciousness in the Purusha. These are the navel, the heart, the throat and the head.
Categories: Texts & Stotrams{To Read Author's General Note click here } (Contd... from Part II) In the first part of the Upanishad the origin of life is dealt with. Praana or aerobic life is considered an important evolutionary state.
Categories: Texts & Stotrams{To Read Author's General Note click here } (Contd... fromPart III) There are four unrelated parts in this Upanishad. The Upanishad itself is not divided. The division is by me.
Categories: Texts & Stotrams{To Read Author's General Note click here } Mundaka Upanishad ‘U’ is pronounced short as in ‘full’. ‘n’ is pronounced as Venu; d as in dog. The Upanishad is meant for study by monks or sannyasis.
Categories: Texts & Stotrams{To Read Author's General Note click here } (Contd. from Part I & II) ...Mundaka Upanishad Mundaka Upanishad III 1.
Categories: Texts & Stotrams{To Read Author's General Note click here } (Contd. from Part III & IV) ...Mundaka Upanishad Mundaka Upanishad V In part I it was said that Brahman is omniscient. The universe is his creation. Life evolves from his will.
Categories: Texts & StotramsSamskrita Bharati organized a 10 day Spoken Sanskrit programme in several parts of the City during last week. The concept of ‘Spoken Sanskrit’ attracted me and I made it a point to attend their classes most of the days.
Categories: Texts & StotramsEverybody enjoys monsoon season because we love the rain, pleasant weather, and everything associated with it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMedha Editor's Note: We are pleased to offer to Medhavis a new series on Upanishads, the creme-de-la-creme of Indic Philosophy, which has influenced the thought & living in India & other influenced cultures for...
Categories: Texts & StotramsGoal of human life The goal of human life according to Advaita Vedanta is Brahmajnana (knowledge of Brahman).
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe word obesity is derived from a Latin word “Obesus,” which means to eat. It is a nutritional condition of the body characterized by over accumulation of fat under the skin and around certain internal organs.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAs a follow up to my Advaita and Buddhism article, I must inform the medhavis that perhaps my ego or some other (unlikely) compulsion led to me engage in further debates with some "Buddhists" on the website http://www.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThis is an excerpt from a brief Znet interview with Angana Chatterji about her new book Violent Gods, which according to her is "an exploration of Hindu nationalism in India today.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPratyahara means withdrawal of the senses. It is derived from two Sanskrit words- Prati and Ahara, where Prati means away or against and Ahara means nourishment.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOne of the principal items on the agenda of the US Secretary of the State’s visit to India was facilitating a transition in India’s position on climate change to accepting a global emissions trading scheme (ETS).
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessShall I try to tell you all a 'micro' story as well? The ultimate Sacrifice. The vulture had casually watched as a fruit from that free fell down. A wild goat ate it and died. Its flesh tasted good.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIt appears that Dr Giridhar Madras of the University of California @ Davis submitted to the site , on Guru poornima day in 1996, an article entitled Dakshinamurti Stotra.
Categories: Texts & StotramsWhy this silence on organised anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh? Reports began trickling out of Bangladesh this spring about an anti-Hindu violence in the heart of its capital carried out in three stages: March 30,...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis format limits the story to 250 words. I pruned it down to 206 words [ including the title]. Just posted in TMJ. The Musical Way Our hero is a regular guy [so it seemed] with an irregular goal in life.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics“Dahyante dhamayamananam, dhatunam hi yatha malaha, tatha indriyanam dahyante, doshaha pranasga nigrahat.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaI came across the micro story concept in Sulekha blogs a couple of years ago. A story has to be told in limited words , in this case, less than 125 words.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFrom Swami Devananda- "Christianity is a parasitical religion, which attaches itself to a host culture and feeds off it, absorbing its spirit and lifeblood into itself until the host culture dies and become Christian.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBased on the novel that has been called Japan's Gone With the Wind, Hiroshi Inagaki's acclaimed Samurai Trilogy is a sweeping saga of the legendary 17th-century samurai Musashi Miyamoto (portrayed by Toshiro Mifune) set...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsKnee pain is a nagging malady, which can immobilize a person – thus making one helpless. Knee pain may vary from mild to severe, depending on the cause of the pain.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPatanjali says you have something permanent with you and that is called “The Monkey Mind.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Sanskrit has been a link language in India up to about 1100 c.e. Except possibly for Tamil all the other major Indian languages are either derived from Sanskrit or closely linked to it. Since 1100 c.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics[First Published 2003 in Rediff] 'You have to be as careful giving away your money as you were in making it' -- Bill Gates The Clinton administration made an official policy concerning India which the Bush...
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsNormal 0 Also published at Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 2, Dated Jan 17, 2009 India breathes through her multiplicity, not her fragmenting voices THERE IS a buzz about India becoming a superpower.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBuilding Sustainable Communities: The Marketers’ Perspective applied to Indian Society Building a Case for thinking ‘Green’ from the marketers perspective Participant ID -25 Medhajournal, India When Indians – a large...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEco- City Participant ID - 6 Medhajunior, Grade 5th, USA While I walk down the road to my friend’s house, birds chirp in the oak trees.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGlobal Warming Participant ID - 12 Medhajunior, Grade, Unknown, India Global warming is the most biggest disease of today.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGlobal Warming Participant ID - 13 Medhajunior, Grade, 7th, India Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGlobal Warming Participant ID - 18 Medhajunior, Grade, 8th, India One night I had dream that took me 2080. In contradiction to my expectation I saw a very horrifying view of the future.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGlobal Warming Participant ID - 19 Medhajunior, Grade, 6th, India Dear Sir/Madam, I have received information from my school to send a paragraph on global warming to you.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGlobal Warming Participant ID - 20 Medhajunior, Grade, 8th, India PARAGRAPH ON GLOBAL WARMING At this moment the people on the earth are facing a dire consequence of global warming.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHow to Save the Planet Participant ID - 3 MedhaJunior, Grade: 2nd , USA Have you ever wondered how uncomfortable you can feel if someone puts a warm blanket around you on a warm day? Well, planet Earth feels the same...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHow to save the Planet!? Participant ID -26 MedhaJournal, Australia Mmmmmmm, a good question that seeks an answer yes? Humans are a funny breed, we are dominated by Need, Greed, and Want….those are our Gods.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI am doing my part to save the earth Participant ID - 7 Medhajunior, Grade, Kindergartner, USA We cause global warming. I save water. Don’t waste electricity. Greenhouse ages are causing pollution.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNo Vehicle Day! Participant ID - 9 Medhajunior, Grade, 3rd, USA A sustainable community is a community that can function without relying on other places.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsOur Duty towards Our Planet Participant ID -2 MedhaJunior, Age 12 years, UAE | | | --- | | Environment and ecology | In our school, as part of our Social Studies class, we learn about Environment and ecology.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPeople are the Key to a Greener Planet Participant ID -1 Medhajunior, Age: 16 years, USA The majority of the world uses automobiles for transportation, which are powered by fossil fuels.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics"Saving our world" Participant ID - 16 Medhajunior, Grade, 2nd, USA We live in a great world. We have food and water but we are running out of natural resources like crude oil and facing global warming.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsReusing Plastic Bags Participant ID - 10 Medhajunior, Grade, 3rd, USA I want to reuse plastic bags by making them into backpacks and other things.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSave the Earth Participant ID - 8 Medhajunior, Grade, Kindergartner, USA We all cause global warming. We all waste paper. All of us pollute.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSmall Drops of an Ocean Participant ID -24 Medhajournal, UAE When I was growing up, I was fed up] with a meal time story about the poet- saint [ThiruvaLLuvar,\ the author of “ThirukuraL”.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSustainable Communities Participant ID - 5 Medhajunior, Grade 8th, USA Sustainable development is an important concern in the upcoming future. Our planet has been ravaged by pollution and global warming.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSustainable Community Participant ID - 14 Medhajunior, Grade, 4th, USA I think a sustainable community is where you don't do things that pollute the earth and have local farms.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSustainable Community Participant ID - 15 Medhajunior, Grade, 4th, USA In case you don't know what a sustainable community is, it is a community that does not waste or pollute.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSustainable Community Participant ID - 17 Medhajunior, Grade, 4th, USA If I could make my own sustainable community, I would do many things such as the following to help save whatever needs to be saved.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGreen Revolution Participant ID - 4 Medhajunior, Grade 7th, USA In the last 200 years with the advances in technology and oil exploration we are destroying the delicate ecology of the earth at an alarming rate.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSustainable Community? Participant ID -22Medhajunior, Grade 8, USA What is our world turning like now? What has happened to that clean and fresh land our founding fathers once stepped foot on? It has turned into a...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI will be giving a talk on The Indic Intellectual tradition at the 17th biannual TANA convention at the Rosemont convention center in Chicago during July 2 to July 4.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Windmill Participant ID - 11 Medhajunior, Grade, 3rd, USA My idea is that to make Fremont to put more windmills on more hills to make more electricity. We will put them on biggest hill in Fremont.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPublished earlier in the Indian Philosophical Quarterly Vol 34, No. 1 (January - March 2007) The purpose of this brief essay is to show that monotheistic religious traditions, simply by being what they are - based on...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen Pakistan won the T20 world cup , there was this usual awards,celebrations and it was welcome to a nation which is having a battle on its hands.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsBook Review Two new books on the history and products of ancient Indian iron and steel technology Infinity Foundation Series – Contributions to History of Indian Science and Technology Rupa and Co.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSet in modern day India, Swades is a film that tackles the issues that development throws up on a grass root level.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA New Triple Eclipse series on Hand ParthaDesikan The world is about to witness a rare astronomical event - a series of triple eclipses, beginning July 2009.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI went through a very interesting HR exercise today on Diversity. As part of our training, we were asked to watch a short film put together by ABC in 1968, in the wake of Dr Martin Luther King's assasination.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction On August 23, 2008 (Janmāṣṭamī day), an armed group from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) killed revered Hindu religious leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and some followers at his ashram in district...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaI beat the Pre-Poll Surveys Conducted by the Media Wings as well as the Professional Organizations. LS 2004 missed predicting the NDA figure by 7 or 8. There was a Prize Contest going on, remember.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFaced with the imminent dangers of climate change and global warming, we have three options: 1.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHow to think about the world?
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNa taato, na maata, na bandur na daataa, Na putro, na putri, na bhratyo, na bhartaa, Na jayaa na Vidyaa, na Vrithir mamaiva, Gatistvam, Gatistvam Tvam ekaa Bhavani.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe 13th century Persian Sufi poet Hafiz has been one of my favorite poets. Hafiz was a moulana in a mosque in Iran. His extreme liberality drew him the ire of the Islamic establishment of his time.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is a translation of two web pages about the French writer André Malraux, and his views on India and Bangladesh, published by the "Association pour la Diffusion de la Pensée Française" (Association for the Spread of...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIshaan is an 8 year old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate; colors, fish, dogs, and kites are just not important in the world of adults, who are much more interested in things like...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction As I realize the sociological implications of the social engineering going on in the name of Secularism, I am filled with a deep sense of nausea and revulsion for the concept of Secularism as it is...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsCourtesy: Dr. Rita Khanna's Yogashaastra Studio. A popular studio that helps you find natural solutions for complete health and detoxification.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAuthor's Note: This blog was originally published in Hindi in Devnagari Script. On the advice of the editor and a reader I have appended below an English translation.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaA spiritual love-story set in the majestic landscape of Ladakh, Himalayas. Samsara is a quest; one man's struggle to find spiritual Enlightenment by renouncing the world.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAlong the highest mountain passes of the Himalayas, tough, intrepid Jalan (Milind Soman) and his gang earn their living by stealing from unsuspecting travelers.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOn Peacocks (and peahens?) and dancing Partha Desikan This is a line up of two short stories, both having to do with one or more peacocks or peahens.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis sane advice given to Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora around the world by the Strategy and Security expert, Mr.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIt is an extreme article. Speculates too much. Uses some theories, which fly around unproven. Like what is going to happen in 2012.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIndic studies Foundation www.indicstudies.us Acceptance of Ancient and medieval Indic Epistemes in the sciences of antiquity by the occident or “why does the Occidental have such a great difficulty in recognizing the...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMedha Editor's Note: We encourage the authors who bring in linguistic diversity, as in the below article in Devnagari script.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsTo, Dear Friends I came across this article written by Shashi Tharoor. I though it is well written but that the contents are open to different interpretations.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsJnana-yoga or "The Path of Knowledge" is one of the four central paths to knowledge of man and the world and realization of the ultimate reality as obtained in the ancient religious and philosophical traditions of India.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics"We have met the Zionists and them is us" - / - --- Medha Editor's Note: Below Essay strikes one as a philosophical take on the vexed problem of the Israel-Palestine question.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA talk given on February 2 2009, Delhi At India Habitat Center, New Delhi, India The Ramakrishna Hegde Memorial Lecture Series {Previous lectures have been by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and Lord Meghnad Desai }...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAfter suffering from cold and congestion for months, my five year old had forgotten to breath through the nose.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEditor's Note: Following is the third & concluding part of our interview with our new Medha Gold personality, our Resident Philosopher.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBetal Aur Betal Fiction "Hey, Preets, see what I've got for you". "Wow! A new salwar set? Lemme open the pack. Oh-oh , it's a candy pink." "You like it? For our special day , honey". "Shree sweetie pie, I ...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSustainable Communities MedhaJournal - Participant ID23 Being a person acutely conscious of the environment, one was struck by the topic given to write an essay about.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSWEETSWORD 34 [ Ne Science Na Laynn ] By Poga Humayun Dundiwala BISMILLAH ALLAH said to brother of Aaron Moses to take his shoe off And Baratha brother of Lakkan placed the shoe on the Rama's throne Shaitan said i have...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOn the antiquity of Dravidian scripts. Partha Desikan Sri M V Vasu has interviewed Professor S. Settar for the Friday Review section of The Hindu dated May 8, 2009. The interview made very interesting reading.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis article is based on the views of the venerable Bhikku Bodhi of Forest Hermitage, Kandy, Sri Lanka, as expressed in his Introduction to a special edition of Dhammapada.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI sometimes visit a website dedicated to my other passion, Taoism and Tai Chi, called "Tao Bums -- http://www.thetaobums.com".
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaDivine Love in the Hills. Partha Desikan The apparently still, permanently snow clad Himalayan peaks seem to signify the ultimate in silence and peace.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen I was an undergraduate student of mathematics in the late 1970s I always wondered why am I learning what has been taught to me. Simply because I was good in Mathematics did not mean that I understood it.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaMr. Krish Murali Eswar and Anuradha Eswar have been associated with this non-profit organization, for about 7 years and have served it as freelancers, consultants and in the past few years as trustees.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI posted the question on the Facebook side of MJ, but probably here is the more appropriate forum. I always wanted to know.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessEarth Day is this Wednesday, and from the celebration of all things “green” in San Francisco, I knew I had arrived at the right place for a week of vacation.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI have been going through Aitareya Upanishad for sometime. In particular, I have been going through original Sanskrit verses and translations as offered by Sitarama Sastri and Swami Muni Narayana Prasad.
Categories: Texts & StotramsDid you know that the world's finest pearls have always been formed under a rainbow? Not just any rainbow, mind my words, but the permanent one.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA brain wave vibration practice, very simplistically written by the author, talks about power of human brain. Author talks about sipritual practice with the power of yoga and meditation or using brain power!
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedantai-phone advertisement by little Ishan. Ishan is 5 years old student studying in Gomes Elementary School, Fremont, CA. He enjoys writing journal and playing with the i-phone application games, when he gets permission.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA fantastic book by Richard Dawkins on the delusional nature of religions and their followers and explains the true nature of this God entity
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis classic contains a collection of three of Deng Ming Dao's books -- The Wandering Taoist, Seven Bamboo Tablets of the Cloudy Satchel and Gateway to a Vast World.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI feel bright and wonderful as I see myself grow and change. The growth and change is contained in every moment of now and the spontaneity of the self. This moment brings in so much of magic and potential.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis text presents a biograpy of Wang Liping, the 18th generation transmitter of Dragon Gate Taoism, heir to a tradition of esoteric knowledge and practice accumulated and refined over 11 centuries.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is a refreshing alternative to the usual deep, philosophical expositions on Taoism. It is a well-developed manual of how one can live a good life as defined by the tenets of Taoism.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe hero of the Brotherhood of the Conch series, now fifteen, is settling back into his life as an apprentice in the lush Silver Valley, nestled high in the Himalayas.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis 2-DVD set is a breathtaking journey of sight and sound that illuminates the essence of yoga as its creators understood it thousands of years ago.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsmogambo has many friends who like to living the life of luxury and wealth with their multiple cars and bikes and many with multiple houses that they may or may not call "home". mogambo has been one of these people too.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThree Cups of Tea is a truly inspiring story of one man's mission to build schools in the most dangerous areas of Pakistan & Afghanistan to "Promote peace one school at a time".
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsThis story is true. It is about something I did a long time ago. The bell at 1:15 pm marked the end of the school day. After the prayer, I hastily packed up my books into my bag, and ran out into the courtyard.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is a masterpiece of a book on the topic of the Rabidity of the Hindu Right in India, specifically pertinent in light of the Pogrom against Muslims in Gujarat in 2002.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMogambo likes to do Yoga and reads and mentally chews on the Sutras of Patanjali. Yoga he can understand, but the biggest challenge to Mogambo's little brain is the existence of religion.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessMind is like a blooming lotus. There are many stages and many parts of blooming conscious mind. Preconscious to insect conscious, after that - reptile conscious mind blooms gradually.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta{First Published in 2005} | | | --- | | I. Sanskrit and the Multicultural Sanskriti (Indic Civilization) II. Pan-Asian Sanskriti III. Decline of Sanskrit IV. Sanskrit Influence on Modern Europe V.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsThe tree blossoms and flower blooms are spreading the news that the spring is here. It feels like the Nature is waking up after a deep sleep during cold winter.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere are four Shivas (or Shivs) as far I know. First is the real Shiva, once who had a physical existence -the great sage for ever. Second is mythological Shiva.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEthnography, allegory, anthropology, psychology and a touch of Kafka's Metamorphoses are all components of this unusual case history of one man's hallucinogenic experience.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\quote\right}This is a MUST READ for all lovers of fiction and good prose. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an immensely talented writer and one can only revel in her mastery by diving deep into this magical world...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\quote\right}Move aside Harry Potter, Anand and his friends are here!{/xtypo\quote\right}This is the sequel to The Conch Bearer and carries Anand's adventure farther than you could imagine! Written in Divakaruni's...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAt a national seminar on “Positive Discrimination: Some Unexplored Dimensions” organised by the Institute of Development Studies, Mysore, yesterday (Friday the 13th March, 2009), Shri N.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI run to the wild as I cross the grounds of distractions and prophesies of this world. I embrace all the beauty I see and I walk through my conditioning, erasing myself in bits and pieces.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNow in this extreme critical time, only true-spiritual revolutionary movement can save us. Also a true- spiritual high-flow-tide is growing up behind the screen.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAt the beginning, Religion came into existence by the designers against mankind. It had taken place to deceive the mankind, to oppress -to exploit the mankind skillfully catching in their trap, to misappropriate human...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction After Nasadiya Suktam, I was looking at materials for Hiranyagarbha suktam, Ratri suktam etc, but could not devote enough time.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThe Steel Frame It is a tribute to the persistence and tenacity of the colonial overlords that dominated the Indian subcontinent for a relatively short period of 200 years that the prevailing paradigm on the origins and...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhat does a person do when faced with extreme situations? Hunker down and face them head-on? Curl up into a fetal ball and hope to weather out whatever is bothering them? A little of both? Growing up, I have been aware...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFrom Library Journal With this work, the authors, all three renowned Yoga and Vedic scholars with multiple publications to their names, set out to challenge the generally held theory that advanced culture began in Sumer...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFrom Publishers Weekly Feuerstein has attempted a daunting task, defining Tantric Yoga drawn from Hindu and not Tibetan Buddhist sources.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsCirca the British rule in India, a man named Senapathy decides to rebel against the British in a violent way, learns a rare martial art that enables him to kill with his bare hands, and travels to Singapore, joins the...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI received this mail from a friend and i found this interesting. Any one who suffers from Head ache, can try this and put their comments.Thanks Our noses have left and right nostrils.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFrom Library Journal Is India's caste system the remnant of ancient India's social practices or the result of the historical relationship between India and British colonial rule? Dirks (history and anthropology,...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAs critic Roger Ebert observed in his original review of Ran, this epic tragedy might have been attempted by a younger director, but only the Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, who made the film at age 75, could bring the...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA Satyajit Ray classic -- this movie showcases some stellar performances by Uptal Dutta, Mamata Shankar and the rest of the cast.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe definitive guide to the philosophy and practice of Yoga--the ancient healing discipline for body and mind--by its greatest living teacher.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis valuable book provides a complete manual for the study and practice of Raja Yoga, the path of concentration and meditation.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIshan Bhattacharjee who is studying in Kindergarten in Gomes Elementary School, Fremont California, re-wrote the nursery rhyme.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is another Japanese folk tale called Neko no Sara (Cat's Plate). In the era when Tokyo was known as Edo, there was an antique shop owner, who would scout the city for antiques that the owners would have without any...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is the first volume of a two-part series on The Taoist Water Meditation techniques, as taught to B K Frantzis by his teacher Liu Hung Chieh, a Taoist Master. Frantzis is now the lineage holder in this tradition.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThis is the second volume of Bruce Frantzis' two-part series on the Water Method of Taoist Meditation.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaPaula Fouce's beautiful, illuminating documentary "Naked in Ashes" takes the viewer into the profoundly spiritual world of India's yogis, who see their taking on the sins of humanity as a source of healing and...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBrimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, Rashomon is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDr Biplab Nandi has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Calcutta. He held several key positions in the Government of India.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI am not the author of this story. I heard it from a friend, and would like to share it with you. It is an old Japanese tale, called Shibahama.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA little over a year ago, in appreciation of little Ishan's blog on cow trouble, I wrote a story explaining the nursery rhyme ‘Hey diddle diddle', entitled ‘This is how it happened, Ishan'.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPhysics is currently going through a crisis. It is of course true that Physics has faced crisis even in earlier times.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessRed and pink are synonymous with Valentine's Day but instead of sending "pink chaddis" to Mutalik’s Sri Rama Sena, how about going green this ‘V’ day? That is going environmentally green rather than green with envy.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHindu Temple Architecture-IV Site Selection & Analysis [continued from the previous post - Hindu Temple Architecture III ] The Previous article at this link discusses site analysis in the modern sense and compares that...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsReporting from Guwahati on February 6 this year, for The Hindu, Sushanta Talukdar writes: ‘A safari in the Kaziranga National Park has left the visiting Princess of Thailand Maha Chakri Sirindhorn fascinated.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAs America is retreating( so called surge is basically asking for fig leaf before the exit as in Iraq) , there is tremendous amount of churning going on in Afghanistan. This was evident to everyone for sometime .
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA love story of 1930. The small town of Palayamkottai (called oxford of south now)in Tirunelvelli district did not have a ladies college like the Sarah tucker college of today. So when Mr.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsParashurama Kshetra - A Miscellany and the Epilogue Partha Desikan I can hear plain sighs of relief after a look at the title.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Stalker-Betal tales I There he was. Shwetha froze when she saw him up close. She was walking towards the lift when she saw him standing inside the lift with a raised hand, presumably to press the buttons.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNuclear dilemma of India/ some answers Pakistani military has realized that in case of any future India - Pakistan war, the possibility of either side achieving a clear-cut victory or suffering an abject or total defeat...
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsLive and let live, Kerala Style Lord Parashurama may or may not have intended, when he threw his legendary axe and created India's Arabian Sea-coast west of the Sahyadri Mountains, that his Kshetra would forever be open...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsTerrorism is probably the most common word flowing out of our tireless lips these days, closely followed by recession and job losses. There is little doubt that acts like these need to be condemned and stopped.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsDear Readers, seeing the interest that Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's books on The Conch Bearer series has generated, we are presenting an excerpt from the book that was provided to us by the author including a letter to...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsCheras, on a Roll till the Rise of the Chozhas For most of the hoary past recorded in available and lost Tamil Sangam literature and corroborated in Sanskrit lore as well, the Tamil country was ruled by three royal...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAbstract This essay examines the often-repeated claim by Hindus and non-Hindus alike that Hinduism is the same as other religions.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMuch has been written recently about the plight of women in India. It is certainly true that on the scale of most economic and social indicators, women are lagging behind men.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPanel discussion: "World Peace - Challenges and Impact of Globalization" Organizer: Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey Date: Nov 16, 2008 in Somerset, New Jersey, USA. Panelists: Rajiv Malhotra and Dr.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsImagine a biofuel feedstock that saves the world without raising food prices, a vacuum that sucks up globe-warming carbon dioxide, and even a material that makes bioplastics, which disintegrate easily into compost.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNuclearisation of Pakistan The following You tube Programme called YAUM-E-TAKBEER is very interesting from the view point of India and Israel.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsPalestinians/ the Eternal Wailers As an Indian Christian i had this admiration for Israeli David who felled the giant Palestinian fighter Goliath with his catapult.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhy refer to legends at all? Before proceeding to our next topic, the Chozha and the Pandya connections of Keralite kings, I wish to answer the question, ‘Why should we refer at all to legends, when it is historic...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics"The great seers of ancient India saw so far ahead of their time that the world has to wait centuries yet to appreciate their wisdom, and it is this very inability on the part of their own descendants to appreciate the...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaPrehistory and Legends of Kerala There is a reference to the Kerala regions in the Kishkindha Kanda of the ancient Indian epic, the Ramayana of Valmiki.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaPartha wishes today to hope that there can be fewer negatives, less evil, less malice, no despair, no frustration to hope that all will learn poise, balance, moderation to wish away the option of violence in a solution...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWe keep hearing about Web 2.0 and how it is changing the way the internet operates. Well, Medha Journal has been a web 2.0 site since inception, but we've also received plenty of requests to make it more 2.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis article will highlight some of the misinterpretations of Hinduism in Encyclopædia Britannica, many of which are very offending to any Hindu reader and those who know and respect Hinduism.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn the midst of a heated debate over the now almost-defunct Aryan Invasion Theory, I came upon Subhash Kak's wikipedia page. For those who don't know much about Dr.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}S{/xtypo\dropcap}ome more on Indian languages... Indian languages can be called Indian for two reasons.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFrom the Homepage of the gifted multi-faceted research scholar Dr. Gift Siromoney, I am giving below an article by Gift Siromoney and R.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis Cut is free Partha Desikan I accidentally came across my short story, ‘The Sweet Bamboo’ in its first unedited form in my good friend Murali Ramaswami’s online magazine Patrika (July-August 2002, the Newsletter of...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}D{/xtypo\dropcap}ear Medhavis... Sometime between yesterday and today, we have found a Million Reasons to thank you all.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}O{/xtypo\dropcap}ne of the dhyaana slokas of Srimad Bhagavad Gita goes like this: > sarvopanishado gAvo dogdhA gopAlanandana: | > > pArtho vatsa: sudhIr bhoktA dugdham gItAmrtam mahat || All the...
Categories: Texts & Stotrams{xtypo\dropcap}I{/xtypo\dropcap}n the Bhagavad Gita, God appears in human form as Krishna, to guide Arjuna in the fight / don't fight dilemma that Arjuna faces.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThe Lord of Lords never takes birth On the day of 'Arudra\', he appeared first The cosmic dance of Rudra began thus On our Mother Earth, on this day of Winter Solstice! The force of Rudra blew off the Sun The Third of...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}T{/xtypo\dropcap}he effects of climate change are already being felt by natural systems in many places.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}T{/xtypo\dropcap}his is an old story my Dadabhai (Grandfather) used to tell us...he was a master story-teller.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}S{/xtypo\dropcap}hri Govindrao Raghunath Dabholkar, more popularly known as Hemadpant (1856-1929), wrote his famous Shri Sai Satcharita in the Ovi metric style of Marathi blank verse and his work is read...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}T{/xtypo\dropcap}here is much emphasis on the nutritional needs of expectant mothers as it is vital for the development of the growing fetus.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessRETREATING AMERICA/Choice before INDIA. When Americans elected Obama, they showed to the world that they are fed up of the policies pursued by President George Bush.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEditor's Note: Below is a transcript of the interview with our new Medha Gold personality, our Resident Philosopher. We will also make available the audio of this interview, which has more details on each conversation.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessEditor's Note: Following is the second part of our interview with our new Medha Gold personality, our Resident Philosopher.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction {xtypo\dropcap}A{/xtypo\dropcap}fter my work on Purusha Suktam, frankly I don't know what drove me to Nasadiya Suktam.
Categories: Texts & StotramsAn Interview with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni by Soumi Basu Soumi Basu, a member of Medha Journal, presents Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni to our readers in this thought-provoking interview.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}M{/xtypo\dropcap}y mother, many millennia old, bleeds and weeps in silence. She feels lonely, alone among her billion children.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}S{/xtypo\dropcap}ixty hours of jihadist terror depradations throughout India's financial capital, Mumbai -- during which nearly 200 innocent victims were murdered, and 300 wounded -- apparently ceased...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsVigilance, Community Style, not Vigilantism Partha Desikan The Hindu has published a feature article today by Professor Sreeram Chaulia of International Affairs Department, Maxwell Center, Syracuse University, USA, on...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}S{/xtypo\dropcap}heldon Pollock, Ransford Professor of Sanskrit and Indian studies, Columbia University, New York, writing in The Hindu today (Nov 27, 2008), confesses to have been bemused by the debates...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}O{/xtypo\dropcap}ctober 27th 1893: It was late afternoon, slightly after four, as Richard Shandok slowly trudged up the snaking bridle path that led to the large mud house on top of the hill.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Japan was crushing the United States in business and trade.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}A{/xtypo\dropcap}s we look at India at the dawn of the 21st century, we find it confronted by some confounding challenges, as it tries to break out of its colonial shackles and assert its own – organic...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}T{/xtypo\dropcap}his article1 is an attempt to explore the idea of an India to see whether the idea is meaningful, and if so, to trace the birth and the evolution of the idea.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{xtypo\dropcap}D{/xtypo\dropcap}ear Friends, You will start noticing a little block on the left navigation bar (right under Navigate) titled "My Medha Bucks".
Categories: SystemThe climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEvery coin has two sides, each side showing a different aspect. Think about our health for a moment. So far, we look at health as treating a disease, but those pills don’t solve all the problems.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessThe following is the series of exchanges that took place with Dr. Karen Carr - whose website was found to have a highly distorted version of The Ramayana - and several eminent personalities and practising Hindus.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaFor the person who has once had a taste of how it is to lose his freedom, maintaining his integrity of self is not an easy task.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPartha Desikan The title of this blog means exactly what I intended it to mean. I do not propose to go into the ethical questions stirred up by the dawn of this discipline towards the end of the twentieth century and...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Law of Attraction simply says that one naturally attracts into one's life whatever one think about deeply. One's dominant thoughts will always find a way to manifest themselves.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAs has become a norm (or so it seems) these days, my Sunday mornings are spent driving up to my Tai Chi teacher's home with my friend Evgeny for semi-private lessons.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaSustainable development means different things to different people. It has become the buzz word of our generation without a clear definition for many.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA friend of mine sent me this link. A very thought provoking and gripping film on the nature of Religion, Fundamentalism and how power in the hands of religious fundamentalists is a recipe for disaster by former Roman...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsKidipede - History for Kids began in 1995 as a community service learning project for sophomores at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaHello Medhavis, It is really good to see so much enthusiasm amongst the Medhavis. So here is a humble submission of Ayurvedic food wisdom to you all.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDr Balasubramanian Partha Desikan I invite you to look at the biodata of a highly respected scientist engaged in very active research at an ophtalmic hospital and research centre in Hyderabad, India. http://www.drdo.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhy does one blog? Partha Desikan Today's Hindu, MetroPlus supplement features this take by Neeti sarkar, following a rather high power research on the motivation for blogging from a hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto based...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics"Ehsaas Hai?" - Do you feel? - An interview with Rotarian Mahesh Nihalani. That is the name of the concert being hosted by the Rotary Club of Cupertino to support it's Global Polio Eradication program featuring world...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsUnknowability of Brahman Reason is strongly stressed in Hindu dharma. Hindu dharma admits, however, that Brahman is beyond reason. For example, the Upanishads say poetically, 1.
Categories: Texts & StotramsOne of my friends is a busy RJ. She lives in music. Still, she writes to me often.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMithila Museum in Japan Partha Desikan The following recent news release through Bihar Times is heartwarming.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaHinduism through History (Part - 3) Heartfelt thanks for help and support: Shri S. Sreenivasa Rao & Karigar This part of the paper focuses on the history of Temples.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI had blogged about Purusha Suktam and my interpretation in this blog here. I had blogged a commentary on it in this blog here.
Categories: Texts & StotramsI had written about Purusha Suktam and my interpretation of it in this blog, here.
Categories: Texts & StotramsIt is close to celebrate the rise and victory of the Goddess of Power, [[Shakti]] herself, the Divine Mother [[Durga]] . It's been several years (almost close to a decade) since I attended the last Durga Puja.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEverybody says God is love and love is God. But i love my partner, my children and all the expensive things i own.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction I have been reading Purusha Suktham for some time trying to map what the sages were trying to say.
Categories: Texts & StotramsWhile a dimension expresses a specific type of physical quantity, a unit assigns a number so that the dimension can be measured. For example, measurement of volume (a dimension) can be expressed using units of liters.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFinally the season has started changing for the Better Fall. This is actually a most important time where one season is slowly transitioning into another.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThai Ramayana lights up desert sky in Rajasthan Partha Desikan An article on the above subject was published by the Indo-Asian News Service on Thursday, February 28, 2008.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaSite selection and Analysis-part I This is the third part of the series but the first part of the articles titled "Site selection". Fellow medhavis can be forewarned that this topic may be posted in three or more parts.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will start its first operation on September 10, 2008. The world of Particle Physics is all agog with excitement. What will the LHC see? I give below a list of possibilities.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessMagical realism Partha Desikan This is what Wikipedia has to say about the accomplished octogenarian Colombian Nobel Laureate in Literature, Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIt was time to let go of the butterflies in my stomach. Time to let go of obsessive thoughts and fears. It was not the time to mull over the fact that I was probably doing something very foolish and terrifying.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIndian Christians response to kandhmaal "Forgive my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me", this is part of our Lord's prayer and we Christians say it by rote, that when I became an adult I found it...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGünümüzde insanlar teknolojiden had safhada yararlanmaktadır. Ev almak isteyenler, ev satmak isteyenler, ev kiralamak veya evlerini kiraya vermek isteyenler işlemlerini internet üzerinden yapabilmektedir.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta{mgmediabot2}path=http://audio.wbez.org/wv/2008/09/wv\20080905b.mp3|height=500|width=500{/mgmediabot2} I found some of his statements very interesting.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBy Dr Partha Desikan (R&D and technical management, Scholar, engagement in academia, translated Sanskrit and Tamil classics, research into classics, study of Vedanta, Indian culture and miscellaneous freelance writing)...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaReady. Set.Go! The runners are off. The cheers of the spectators engulf the stadium. The excitement rings in the air.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsBuddhist Tripitaka scriptures were written about 200 years after Buddha's parinirvana. These scriptures now form the bed rock of Theravada Buddhism.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsGreetings dear chubby elephant, I thought of staying at home today as it is your special day but you probably wanted to tell me Karma Yoga is very important Thanks a lot for sending me to work today.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOn August 14, 2008, President Bush signed H.R. 4137, the Higher Education Opportunity Act.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBuddha Brahma Paraatpara Partha Desikan A Japanese fictional book in 14 volumes, written by Osamu Tezuka and published by Ushio Shuppan had first been serialized between 1972 and 1983 in the magazine Kibou no Tomo.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA fact that I recently discovered that I have no feeling left in myself. I am a blank person. No anger, No joy, no sadness and no sense of usual triumph; meaningless triumph.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI don't usually visit Sulekha much these days. Today, during lunch I had some spare time and decided to see the "latest" developments on Sulekha.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe beauty of Social Networking (such as our own TMJ) is that people from all walks of life get together and create something that is dynamic, beautiful, enchanting and awe-inspiring.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe twelve-name shield/cage Partha Desikan A stotra (prayer) of eight slokas, known as Dvadasa Nama Panjaram, namely the protective cage of twelve names of Bhagavan Hari, is recited along with an invocation to...
Categories: Texts & StotramsThat Night, in a Prison cell at Mathura In a trance they sit, The mother and father Holding the new baby All those years of waiting All the hurt of hoping And all the pain of losing Already forgotten.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsLev Grossman intoducing the Off-Line American Partha Desikan Dr. Abdul Kalam, who until fairly recently occupied the exalted position of the President of India, knew that his office was not that of the Chief Executive.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe iQUBE Do you remember the Rubik's Cube? Do you have fond memories of those hours spent twisting its creeking faces? Can you still picture where you were when you finally solved it the first time? Here is your next...
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessIam pasting the article at this link here. Imminent Danger to Thanjavur Big Temple 21/08/2008 18:49:44 G P Srinivasan | | | --- | | ASI (Archelogical Survey of India), department under Government of India | , has been...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBook Three: The Book of the Divine Mother Canto Two: The Adoration of the Divine Mother A stillness absolute, incommunicable, Meets the sheer self-discovery of the soul; A wall of stillness shuts it from the world, A...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsCAN GURU-SHISHYA PARAMPARA BE ALLOWED TO CAVE IN? Sant Shri Asaramji, endearingly called ‘Bapu', gave me some of his precious moments the other day at the Rajokri Ashram in Delhi, just ahead of a pious dissertation...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDear Mother, I know I don't write to you very often and I would be lying if I say I think of you all the time... I don't ,and I think of you only when I am down or upset.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAdventures with Food Fish Steak in Lemon Almond Sauce with Sautéed Vegetables It was a Thursday evening, and as commonplace as a Thursday evening can be.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn course of my attempts at meditation (more or less daily, since the past 5 years and more intermittently for a few years prior to that), I have repeatedly come across the issue of the classical triad of observer,...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaOur Defining Golden moment-Thank You Abhinav! I was returning from work today when I heard about the first ever Olympic Gold medal for an individual event India has got .
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOBAMA IS A MUSLIM ? First the NEW YORKER cartoon and now subtle emails,blogs making him out to be a Muslim. This has actually raised the fears of White Americans which was lying dormant to the fore front again.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is a reappraisal of the book, 'Neo-Vedanta and Modernity' by Prof Bithika Mukherji (BM). Previously I had criticized her book assuming that she means Sri Ramakrishna when she talks of neo-vedanta.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaDr. Brahmachari reporting on the historicity of Mahabharata Partha Desikan Dr Radhasyam Brahmachari studied at Vidyasagar College , Calcutta , Rama Krishna Mission Residential College , Narendrapur and the University of...
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessInterview with Dr Sohini Ray as narrated to Sreeparna Lahiri Sreeparna Lahiri, from Medha-Journal was a child student in Manipuri Nartanalaya, Kolkata in the late 1970s, at a time Sohini Ray was a prominent child...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA couple of weeks ago when oil was hitting record $140 per barrel, I over-heard a comment, which stopped me right in my tracks as I was hiking the mountains of Santa Cruz in California.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Nineteenth century was a century of ferment in India. New ideas from the western world poured into India through the medium of British presence in India.
Categories: Texts & StotramsPart I of this can be readhere This is a sequel to the part I which was published here last month. The following essay explains Vedic sanction to laws regarding marriage and meaning of Vivaha.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA mission with a "gift of vision" through the eyes of Murali Krishnamurthy, Chairman of Sankara Eye Foundation Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF) is a US based non-profit organization that supports community eye care...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAn Upakatha in Valmiki Ramayana: The Rshyasrnga Anecdote Partha Desikan Of the two great epics of India, the Mahabharata is really filled with anecdotal side stories or upakathas, which take up nearly seventy-five...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaWestern Culture A Concise Religio-Philosophical History for the Non Westerner The following are excerpts from the Book Neo-Vedanta and Modernity: Toward an Understanding Of The Ontology of Bliss in the Context of...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaKARACHI,BOMBAY, DUBAI/SAUDI ARABIA The recent riots in Kashmir engineered to protest the gifting of some forest land to Amarnath Shrine Board is orchestrated by Pakistan but funded by SAUDI ARABIA according to the state...
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsThe famous last Lecture Partha Desikan Just want to join a large number of Americans in saluting a charming Professor who was also a different man, who gave a much publicized last lecture on Sept 18, 2007, the videotape...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHindu Temple Architecture-II Prelude at this link https://medhajournal.com/content/view/468/76/ Part I I In this part, we will briefly discuss about the pre- design analysis that forms the basis of any design before...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPerusing the Indian News site RSS feeds, I found headlines such as "UPA wins 275 for, 256 against".
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA short essay on Essentials of Bhakti: An advanced lesson for the faithful Bhakti means intense devotion.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBack to Part - 2 Section - B: The Invalidity of the ARYAN INVASION THEORY Geographic mentions in the Rig Veda - the first among the surviving Vedas - refer to almost the same regions of the Sarasvati-Sindhu belt as the...
Categories: Texts & StotramsRama, Rajendra, Kesava, Kedili Partha Desikan An article on Three hundred Ramayanas' by Professor A.K. Ramanujan, written in 1987, is in the news once again.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaBack to Part-1 Note: Readers please click on the links to get details from reference material Section - A: History of Acceptance and Assimilation in India The Indian mind is broadly defined by the philosophy of...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsUighurs Partha Desikan Uighurs of Xinchiang in western china were in the news recently. Here is an account of their enviable cultural past from a book published seventeen years ago, as reproduced in apopular website.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAgainst Corruption Partha Desikan The United Nations Organization against Drugs and Crime (UNODC), had the nucleus of an idea for a convention aginst corruption all over the worldd, in 2000.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsVery often I come across kids who require this wonderful remedy Chamomilla. Occasionally I have to keep reminding myself not be prejudiced while doing a case perceiving.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHindu Temple Architecture-I This is a prelude to a series of articles on the evolution of Hindu temple architecture, from not just my background as an architect, but also from my other background, as that of a person...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFor part I, see: [Religion & US Constitution ] For most people, including new Americans, the topic is quite bewildering until a few facts & principles emerge, giving clarity to the picture.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOne of the most wonderful services on the Internet is [[StumbleUpon]] ( ). There is a nice little toolbar you can set up if you are a [[Firefox]] user (I am).
Categories: Arts & AestheticsCurry Leaves Partha Desikan Which among you Medhavis has never tasted curry leaves? There could be some who would have just enjoyed the flavour transferred from curry leaves to the main dish.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Higher criticism of the Bible is a huge area to cover. I decided to show how the crucifixion of Jesus Christ has been studied from the historical point of view as an example of higher criticism.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsLONG LASTING MARRIAGE/ some useful tips!!!! As i was about to leave for a game of chess with a friend, i was stopped by this young lady who has recently moved into our block after marrying a TAMBHRAM .
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI was apalled on reading this news snippet on the Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lone\minister\represents\govt\at\Manekshaws\funeral/articleshow/3173797.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAbstract This paper aims at bringing out, through archaeological evidences and references, the history of the evolution of Hinduism.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsJune 26, 2008: The Supreme Court has ruled today that Americans have a constitutional right to keep guns in their homes for self-defense, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun control in U.S. history.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPrithivi, our Mother Partha Desikan From the Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895], Book XII , Hymn I, namely Prithvi Sukta, which I have extracted from sacred-texts.
Categories: Texts & StotramsGLOBAL WARMING is beneficial to India!!! Global warming has become the Buzz word in Social science forums across the world.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAMERICANS of Indian,Pakistani,Bangladeshi origin/ONE OF A KIND "I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or...
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsIntroduction I have posted two articles giving examples of lower criticism of the Bible. Lower criticism is textual criticism, weeding out scribal errors and textual corruptions.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMedha Face of the month features individuals who strive to achieve a balance in their lives while at the same time, making a difference in that of others....
Categories: Arts & AestheticsForeword: My purpose in studying Indology is utterly selfish. It satisfies my curiosity, it thrills and excites me to take a look at distant past through the mists of antiquity.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIt is always fascinating how the US constitution, both in the way it was written down, and is practised, takes us back to the was I imagine some of our shastras may have been fashioned.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsVaidehi's short story in Kannada Bamboo Palya on a rainy Day Reproduced here by Partha Desikan I am happy to give below this lovely piece on the monsoon trail , a short story published in the magazine section of the...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAlong with my Tai Chi (Taiji Ch'uan) practice, I (as the dear reader might have guessed already) also gradually got pulled by the Tao (into the Tao).
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsRationally Speaking. Sanjaya was blessed with a divine vision and he was able to record what went on in the battle field. That was a different era.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHow much of news is too much news? When does reporting become sensationalism? Are we even aware when we exaggerate to create sensations that we have crossed the boundary between realistic reporting and reporting in bad...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSuffering or Oppression? Ask Marilyn Frye. Partha Desikan I had the opportunity to look at the Spring 2008 issue of Education Exchange, the half yearly publication of the School of Education, Syracuse University for its...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction The ancient world had no access to printing press. Consequently it depended on scribes to copy a book by hand.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDALIT CHRISTIANS, a word coined by a Texan lady who created DALIT FREEDOM NETWORK is now very active in India and has influence among the Indian parliamentarians who immediately jump at the bandwagon when they see a...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhat Shesh Carries "Who is that who groans? That haunts very much Those long painful moans! Who could that be, oh, Sage?" "That, is Shesh the serpent The one who carries the Earth's load On his thousand heads It gets...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI started this, Just as a plain loop. I was really bored and my brother had my music keyboard so I couldn't do much. The title comes from a certain instrument that sounds like the LOST soundtrack. you know...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIf you're considering the purchase of an individual bond or even a bond mutual fund, one of your first concerns = will be its yield.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA story about a tree, a boy and their destiny... www.igallopon.com There was once a tree Long had it stood Through snow, storm and hail Bearing the test of time and ravages of seasons To make perfect its art Of stealing...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFood prices have been rising for a while. In some countries this has resulted in food riots and in the case of Haiti where food prices almost doubled, the Prime Minister was forced out of office.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Bible has been the most influential text of the western world for nearly 1700 years ever since Christianity was legalized by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPope Bendict is the head of catholic church. Is he spreading the message of love or is he a politician playing the neocon agenda is the question .
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAnother poem based around an event in Mahabharat And tell me what do you see? He demanded of the prince My liege I see you... And? I see the sky, the trees, My brothers, my friends...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere is a Ramayana Partha Desikan There is a Rama, therefore, there is a Ramayana. Let us look at what Prof V.V.
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta6 year old Ronuk loves to make jokes and make others laugh!! He takes great effort in explaining why his jokes are really funny if you have a hard time laughing at them! Here are a few of them that hes been cracking...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsVincent always wished he had more time. He needed more time to finish his homework, he needed more time to sleep and he needed more time to play. Vincent was neither lazy nor stupid.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI've written about this subject many times in previous articles, but this my first attempt at putting together a little report on the Technology of Healing that is implicitly enabled by it. I give you [[Prana]]...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe other ‘versions’ of the Ramayana In this article,I am trying to look at the use of the words “translation” [ as in AKR ‘s translation of Sangam literature] , “version”, “adaptation”, and the telling “tellings”.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe topic is Three hundred Ramayans, The epic story's spectacular journey through the ages: An extract from The Collected Essays of AK Ramanujan This is an attempt to start a discussion on the above paper.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaDear Members, Please take some time off your schedules to update your profiles. We have added a tab in your profile page for a brief biography.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBased on an Episode in Mahabharat (Mythology) The Swayamvar The Swayamvar\ was set The condition but one By bow and arrow to be decided The target, a fishs eye hit Set on a pole a cubit high In between was a wheel Ever...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDestiny A sea breeze echoes softly thru my mind gently sings of my expectant morrow, and the languid life I left behind. It beckons me to turn my head ..
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe inspiration to this poem is a discussion we had been having on 'Set Sail', chiefly between me and Partha on Authorship.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThen a layman, who had sat distant conscious of his tattered clothes, came forth and said, "Speak to us of Happines." And he answered, saying: Happiness is an essence, permeates you when you are aware.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI find myself again In yet another square one The miles I've traveled Are all undone... I find myself again In yet another square one The miles I've traveled Are all undone...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMy first re-mix -- I haven't played a single note or beat on this myself -- this was created by remixing loop samples that come with Apple's GarageBand software. {mgmediabot2}path=https://medhajournal.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis game was originally written by Abel K of www.worldkit.com. Modified by Mita. writeFlash({quality:'high',src:'https://medhajournal.com/images/stories/Calixte/map-game2.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsKrishnagi Wari (Stories of Krishna) Manipuri dance is one of the many classical dances of the Indian sub-continent.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsShe had been made with love and care Timber, the best brought from distant woods Nails and bolts wrought by many a smithy Many a looms had sat spinning her canvas...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAn interesting article at this link. on Lord Muruga and also my favorite funny theory AIT/ATT. The first paragraph of this AIVS article refers to Subramanya as SanatKumara.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsStay yet a while Begged the tree of the leaf, For this is but, time in transit Just a season, meant to pass The bite of cold Will release its hold Then again will there be The season of plenty Stay yet a while Nay,...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsConstructing the Space of Possibility Partha Desikan Have you had a hand at designing games? If you have, or even if you have now developed an itch to try your hand, the following sensitive and insightful analysis by...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPrayer, in Hindu tradition, is one of the gateways to liberation. Of the four available methods, puja, prayer, japa and dhyana, prayer is considered the second slowest method to cleanse the mind.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaSri Aurobindo represents the completest synthesis that has been realized to this day of the genius of Asia and the genius of Europe... Romain Rolland, French Vedantist and Nobel laureate.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDoctorate In Family Arts "One more chocolate? Your quota is over!" "Amma, I am not asking. Grand ma is." The youngster looks like a lamb but one can make out that glint in his eyes.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDear Friends, We are on the cusp of a revolution (ahem...at least that's what us Medhavi-types like to think) here. Medha Journal is a unique place on the internet...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHow we are still here Partha Desikan All of us have heard the old biblical story of Cain killing Abel when humanity was said to have consisted only of four people, namely these two brothers and their parents.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFirst, let me start off by greeting you -- the reader who will make it (or not) worth the effort I shall spend here, writing (or not), reading (or not) and sharing (or not).
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI was having a conversation with my friend and Tai Chi partner yesterday on our way back from class about the nature of happiness. Please do not treat this article as a lecture of some sort.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMOMENT SWINGS BY WHILE THE BUTTERFLIES FLUTTER AND FLY SUDDENLY THE FLOWERS ARE IN FULL VIEW WITH ALL ITS COLORS AND HUE TIME SURPASSES WITH BEAUTIFUL LIFE BOUNCING TO AND FRO WITH HEIGHTENED STRIFE CREATING A GLIMPSE...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Story of Four Friends - by ZMAYORAZ
Categories: Arts & AestheticsContinous Search: While moving pieces over a chess board I find similarities between the movements in life and concepts of chess. These are real experiences I undergo both in life and over chessboard.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI was reading the NY Times yesterday (May 2nd, 2008) and a statement made by President Bush caught my eye. He said, The American people are generous people, and theyre compassionate people.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPerhaps it depends on where one was brought up, but if you were brought up in India, there is a very high probability that you will relate to what I am going to say here.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFather passed away Flame of liberty went out. There was blood shed On the icy white sari of mother. Bloodshed was there On the sacred shrine of her god.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHere's an ode to all Soumi's unsung Sitas!! Enjoy!!! Mita. Broken Rules I write words I barely comprehend, in tenets you do not grasp. Yet I continue to write for you.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsTagore and Haiku Partha Desikan Susumu Takiguchi is Chairman, The World Haiku Club.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBhishmasamprokshana Partha Desikan Some historians believe that the Mahabharata was composed in three stages.
Categories: Texts & StotramsAfter angling for it for the last one year, we finally did manage to wheedle out an invitation to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsVivekanandar illam 6 th February 1897. He was coming ! The man who travelled to distant America from his occupied motherland , the man who conquered hearts and minds there, the man who represented the aspirations of a...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMy interest in Sita's story began with Ramanand Sagar's Doordarshan serial Ramayana that began on January 1987 and continued for a year and a half. The whole country fell victim to this Ramayana fever and 9:30 A.M.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaToday is Earth Day. To honor this planet that we call home and tackle the environmental problems that we face today, we can all pitch in by going green in our own little ways.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsF Scale Partha Desikan A wellacclaimed personality scale with the designation California F Scale was published in 1950 by psychologists in the US and has since been used literally in hundreds of publications.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 was signed into law on February 13, 2008. The Act is intended to stimulate consumer spending in 2008, and features taxpayer rebate checks for more than 130 million individuals, as well...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis piece is a continuation of my previous article on the same subject. The aim of this article is to overcome some of the shortcomings of the previous articles in terms of the lack of illustrations (which we all know...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI am bitter from past few days!! The company that I worked for almost wrapped up its business. I worked for a biotechnology industry that did research for cancer therapy.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSome years ago I read a portion of Mahabharata (up to Gita) and made some notes for myself. I have given below some interesting shlokas.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsJessa sighed happily as she stretched out her legs in front of the fire, listening to the rain hitting hard on her roof. She was in a position that she had wished to be in for years.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPresident Franklin D Roosevelt was a philatelist. He said, "The best thing about stamp collecting is that the enthusiasm which it arouses in youth increases as the years pass.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is Meheka Mukherjee's second contribution. A veritable piece of excellence.... -- Editor
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is an excellent work of art by a little artist living in Mysore, India with her Grandmother/GrandAunt and Aunt. Meheka is a Seventh (7th) grade student and loves to draw.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Hindu scriptures have lately in popular press been subject of bashing for their treatment of women.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMayan Findings And Some Questions As a fifteen year old, I read Eric Von Danikens series of books, one of the books being, The chariots of the Gods and wondered whether the great monuments of the World were indeed...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaPrepared for: Medha Journal Readers Charitable giving can play an important role in many estate plans.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe story is a product of my over-active imagination. The plight of the flightless birds of New Zealand is most definitely not. They are fighting a losing battle for survival.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMedha family shares with you series of illustrative read of folk tales from the world. Gopal Bhar - The Star Counter is a popular folk tale from West Bengal, India.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI hit upon the idea of writing this article when I saw the huge list of comments on a recent article on the Medhajournal.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFor my 40th birthday, I decided to treat myself to Lasik surgery. I had been wearing glasses since my 8th grade and still have very painful memories of being called four-eyed among other things at that very sensitive...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn the course of my endeavors at learning the Martial Arts, I had not encountered the term [[Shoshin]] until I started learning [[Aikido]].
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Bamboo Pull Partha Desikan Here are four links. Feb 11 2007 ">This is the link to a short story that I blogged with Sulekha a little over a year ago.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAs we approach spring season we experience manifestations of allergies and congestions. In Ayurveda this is considered as “Kapha” time of the year.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessWikipedia has this telling info on an outstanding and much awarded CIO in the United Kingdom Mr. J P Rangaswami.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDo look at these sikshaavali quotes from Taittireeya upanishad, given by me in pairs. The first pair occurs separately in the original. satyam vada; satyaanna pramaditavyam.
Categories: Texts & StotramsI attempt to guess/intuit the motivation of the ascetics, who most willingly practise self-denial according to the scriptural recommendations.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Worship of Mahaganapati According to Nityotsava by Buhnemann, Gudrun 29 cm., pp. xlii+156, col. pl. 18, b/w 22, US$ 32.05 or Rs.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBOOKS ON BUDDHISM FROM INDIA (To Buy Online Visit Us at Online India Bookshop ) [1]. A History of Indian Buddhism : From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana by Hirakawa Akira, (Tr. & Ed. Paul Groner ) 1998, 23 cm., pp.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIndian News Headlines --- {kl\rssfeed}http://www.rediff.com/rss/newsrss.xml{/kl\rssfeed} World News Headlines --- {kl\rssfeed}http://rss.news.yahoo.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{kl\rssfeed}http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline\world\edition/south\asia/rss.xml{/kl\rssfeed}
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEver wonder why the sea is so salty? Here's a Japanese folk tale with the answer. Enjoy! The Magic Mortar Once upon a time two brothers lived in a little village in Japan.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{kl\rssfeed}http://www.rediff.com/rss/newsrss.xml{/kl\rssfeed}
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics{kl\rssfeed}http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/world{/kl\rssfeed}
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDid Buddha accept any Ultimate Reality? It is usually claimed that Buddha did not accept (or remained silent about) he concept of an Ultimate Reality unlike the Upanishads which claim that here exists an Ultimate...
Categories: Texts & StotramsPrepared for: Medha Journal Readers Owning a home outright is a dream that many Americans share. Having a mortgage can be a huge burden, and paying it off may be the first item on your financial to-do list.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDr. S. R .Rao's interview on Dwarka at this link I remember discussing Dwarka in Sulekha sometime ago. One had read thrillers of the underwater kind and Dirk Pitt seemed liked a hero.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOnce upon a time, many many moons ago, Great One sat with his vast potter wheel shaping the animals and birds who were to live and play on the newly created Earth.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsTHEN was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI am unable to decipher the map of Life My brain can never digest it The blurry road looks wild Without any hope of light Full of danger in every step It seems impossible to find the core.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessRoger Trigg, acting Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science at the University of Oxford, is understandably very happy.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMiracle can give you some extra time in your life. Here is a story of a man whose life was saved by a miracle? A man's life was saved by a chance handshake with a doctor, who diagnosed him with a life-threatening tumor.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessFor those who aren't aware (not that they should be), my other wordly profession is that of a System Engineer with a Communications company and I have the habit of surfing the blogosphere to read the tech (and also some...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFragrances From Another Time Kamban express had just moved out of Tambaram station when Meenakshi called. "Three cars at home..you travel second class...business man...status?...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaArthur Pakenham has been angry ever since his Manager in Calcutta, Hay-Smith informed him that he should delay his arrival by a fortnight as the Head Office will be closing for a week in October for a big religious...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFor the seventh time in my brief blogging innings at Medha, let me draw the attention of my friends to a link, this time to a news item, which I consider of great moment, in research related to cardiovascular patients.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNathan spends time creating his favorite characters everyday as he loves drawing and painting. He is sharing his favorite pictures with his Medha friends........ Cars...... Dinosaur.........
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFound a nice video on the nature of Kundalini. {mgmediabot2}type=googlevideo|docid=-8101989694941061600{/mgmediabot2} Whoever did this video has done an awesome job. Many thanks to his/her/them. Enjoy... Rudra
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe write up below was first prepared for readers in Singapore, specifically for the Chinese Peranakan community. No changes have been made, however, as the language is English, after all.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHere is a fun game to learn the continents of the world. We created this game for our 4 year old girl who is also the narrator. She loves this game .. and now knows her continents well.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA humorous French play written by a group who are passionate about learning other languages. Translation in English will follow soon...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPalash The JEE results would be out today and destiny decided for millions. For some it will be a life-changing day, for some it will be life-threatening.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsListen to the sloka and fill up the squares Partha Desikan In one of my earlier blogs having to do with knight movements in chess, I had pointed out that the late Krishnaraja Wodeyaru III (the proper Kannada way of...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics(An article by Barkha Dutt in the Outlook magazine triggered this article: http://www.outlookindia.com/full.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI had thought I would write that one piece Deconstructing Indian Secularism on Indian secularism and be done with the topic. Barkha Dutt's article had struck a chord and I was compelled to write.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsRead this piece on the Times Of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Jallianwala\Bagh\massacre\stirs\Britain/articleshow/954296.cms ) and couldn't help but opine.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI was going through an article on Evolution by Subhash Kak on Sulekha.com -- (A Most Subversive Idea - 26th June, 2002), when I came across the section where he writes about the analogy between the processes in living...
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessWhen I came into this world You stood by the birthing chamber anxiously One of two men pacing up and down before that door Both rejoiced when they heard the indignant wails cried angrily Floating in through the painful...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSwami Ramdev, Brinda Karat and Health Minister Ramdoss I was browsing the timesofindia.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessTears of Tired Eyes The whole world watches aghast, As the barbarians march onward and fast... Annihilating that last shred of humanity, That is left remaining in this society.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsArt How can one define Art? A quick search on my online dictionary yielded sixteen results. The one that caught my eye the most was this: Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAccording to the English dictionary (I refer to the online dictionary, Dictionary.com) Maya translates something like this: 1) The power of a god or demon to transform a concept into an element of the sensible world.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIt was the end of 2003 and I was returning from India after an abruptly interrupted vacation.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn the search for knowledge, people behave like Crows, jumping from one philosophy to the other -- seeking the all-elusive "Truth".
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhy is it always 'Us and Them' for human beings? What pleasure does one derive from creating barriers, groups, and all sorts of differences? Don't we realize that life is too short to spend squabbling, discriminating...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIt was a dull day, to say the least. A dull day indeed – he woke up late (a Sunday), spent some time getting oriented in the daylight (closer to noon actually), heard the wife moving around busily, clanking a few...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHere is something I created for my little sister who is fond of geometrical shapes and good music. Geometry Enjoy and let me know what you think of my music. Cal Calixte is a Freshman at Cupertino High School.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen time stops and the world fades away The senses collapse and the ropes begin to fray The heat of knowing gradually growing burns through the bonds that lead me astray As the waves flow through me one after one Even...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHere's a game of tennis!! Tennis Enjoy!
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHave your ever been green with envy when your neighbour traded his run-down Alto for a posh-red Swift? Turned purple with rage when a speeding car liberally splashed your new milk-white shirt with mud? Felt blue when...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMost of us are familiar with the board game of Ludo. The game however, is a westernized, highly simplistic form of childrens Pachisi. Pachisi is a national game of India.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI picked up a canvas, paint brush and paint after almost 15 years. I'm posting this with some apprehension. Hope you like it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAfter one year working on Medha Journal, TMJ team is proud to launch the Medha Junior section for the younger generation.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHey diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle. The cow jumped over the moon. The little dog laughed to see such fun, And the dish ran away with the spoon.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMercury is in the news once again. The Messenger photographs featuring the spider-like wrinkle-pattern on a possible crater have excited NASA scientists and Academic planet watchers alike, and confirmation of earlier...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsTic Tac Toe Another of those games that can keep you entertained for hours. Enjoy!
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIf you live in Eastern US or even if you have spent good vacation time there, you are very likely to have visited some part of Hiawatha country.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaSnakes and Ladder
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhen a newborn arrives on the planet, it has no understanding of the difference between night and day.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics(Part One) Our story begins from two million years ago when our forefathers the Homo erectus which means Upright Person (so called as they could stand on their two feet), lived in the continent of Africa.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIshan drew his day out to a farm in the neighborhood of Sunol hills (near Fremont), California.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHere's our very first game ... for toddlers!! Click on the link below to start the game!!! car game Enjoy! -m.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Are you interested in remodeling your outdated kitchen? Perhaps you're drowning in a sea of high-interest credit card debt, or need to find the money to send your child to college.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsKITTU’S TREE FRIEND Kittu kitten wanted to play. It was morning. It was also summer vacation time. “Shivani’s holidays have started!” Kittu happily thought and ran into Shivani’s room. “Hi, Kittu!” Shivani called out.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsRecords From India Then and “Records” From India Now. Our’s is a land of stories. The nation seems to be full of them and in ancient times, most of the “stories” were transmitted orally .
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhat is it? Mortgage refinancing generally refers to the process of taking out a new home mortgage loan and using some or all of the proceeds to pay off an existing mortgage (or mortgages) on the property.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhat are the tax considerations associated with refinancing and home equity loans? Generally, interest paid on loans to acquire an existing home or to construct a new home is tax deductible (with certain limitations;...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHere's an experiment - give some colors and a brush to a child and see what comes of it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction A kite needs no introduction. Many of us have enjoyed flying a kite on a beautiful clear day, seeing the kite gently rise and soar high above us, up in the sky.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is what happened, Ishan. Partha Desikan This is what prompted the cow, Ishan. MsoNormal"> It was another peaceful morning at Ivan the fiddler’s.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA child's imagination runs wild, and it is interesting to see your child think. I spend an hour everyday with my son, where we try to learn from each other, and know each other's mind....
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI have a group of friends and every year we exchange our New Year's resolution amongst us.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics- Translated by Esha Data from Sukumar Roy's Rajar Ashukh (Bengali Children story) Once there was a king who had a serious illness. Many doctors came every day to try and figure out what was wrong with the king.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFancy dress shows-being a little God[ dess] Whenever I can ,I watch the program “Malarum Mottum” [ Flower and blossom] in Sun TV.telecast on Wednesdays at 5:00 pm .
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Man's investigation of nature (science) or his own nature (adhyatma vidya) raises a fundamental question.
Categories: Texts & StotramsIt all started, they say, by a journalist of Charivari in 1874. But the picture that suggested the name, Monet's portrayal of the harbor at Le Havre, christened by the artist "Impression Rising Sun" was painted in...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNOTE: I had published this on Sulekha.com in 2002 Prelude Anahata -- that soft, melodic, soothing music. I can't hear it play; yet I hear it playing somewhere (perhaps from within?), encompassing my totality ...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNOTE: I had published this on Sulekha.com in 2002. The night I died of a heart attack… Well not exactly… I dreamt that I died of a heart attack. Perhaps it'd been sitting in the back of my head for some time now.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNOTE: I had published this on Sulekha.com in 2002 The constant desire for something unknown...super-imposed by the constant desire for familiarity and the need to stay grounded.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA Russian short story by: Anton P Chekov Abridged and translated by: Subodh Das In my lifetime I have seen many houses, big and small, stone houses and wooden houses. I particularly remember one house.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhat most people think when they hear the word dislocation is very different from what a materials scientist understands from it.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessOne who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool; shun him. One who knows not, and knows he knows not, is simple; teach him. One who knows, and knows not he knows, is asleep, awake him.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe tram has to slow down, as it makes this turn on to Wellesley Street, on its way to Wellington Square. Two boys with their school bags jumped onto the footboard of the second class compartment.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWords environmental pollution, chlorofluorocarbon, green house effect and global warming and so on are known to a large number of people and I will not go deep into these discussions.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBull Baiting Partha Desikan Popular sentiment in some segments of Tamil society is now pitted against a judicial decision seeking to ban the annual bull-baiting sport named jallikkattu conducted during Pongal...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics1. About the effect of worship of Bhagavan/Sadguru Worship is just a means of educating the emotions. Human impulses and emotions have to be guided and controlled.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAyurveda (The Science of Life) is a 5000 year old science which originated in India.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessOriginal story in Bengali: By Ronty Kar Translated into English: By Subodh Ranjan Das Abanibabu is about fifty-seven years of age. He has a slim build without excess fat.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHAPPY BIRTHDAY MEDHA JOURNAL! And Many more to come... We launched the Medha Journal on the 10th of January, 2007. It has been exactly one year since the launch.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBelow is a well written article on 'Casht Sishtum"... For kicks, see my sulekha blogs:[Casht Sishtum-Bhoil Da Bhoot explains – Part 1 ; Casht Sishtum-Bhoil Da Bhoot explains – Part 2 (other than some minor quibbles I...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsPeter opened his eyes slowly, and let the cool morning light flow in. As he looked out the window, he saw the blue autumn sky, providing the background for leaves drifting down to the earth after having lived out their...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsJhumpa Lahiri's new fiction short story called "Hell-Heaven" on The New Yorker times. Her writing is very simple but yet interesting to read.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDoes anyone in the Medha group have any clue as to what the contents of the Stonybrook Doctoral thesis referred to in the following link are? http://www.babelguides.com/view/person/13316 Thank you. Regards. Partha.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAn article on NY times dated January 1, 2008 caught my attention, an herbal medicinal approach in Shaman medicine.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDear Friends, The Year 2007 has been a meaningful and fruitful year for us at The Medha Journal. This would not have been possible without your participation and viewership.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsCurrently, as time permits, I am on the threshold of a discussion with a group of learned philosophers who have grouped together for several years now to discuss the philosophical treatise known as "The Metaphysics of...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaSita- Her Conviction And Compassion The Ramayana is the epic story of Sita ,says Valmikhi.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaNot killing ParthaDesikan This saintly, wise poet lived in the Tamil speaking region of our country, approximately two thousand years ago. His profession was weaving, but his chief preoccupation was thoughtful writing.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics">Tibetan Mahayoga Tantra (An Ethno-Historical Study of Skulls, Bones and Relics) by Andrea Loseries-Leick2008, 23 cm., pp. xxviii+226, US$ 38.33 or Rs.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDo you laugh or take this warning seriously? It is an irony that sindoor has a FDA ban for lead content. Although Sindoor is intended for religious function and worn by married women in India.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsI came across this interesting article on NPR while scanning my RSS feeds real quick today. Thought I'd share (didn't actually catch the program on Radio, but I will be listening to the complete article shortly).
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBetween 2003 and 2006 I practiced a gentle martial art called [[Aikido]], which is also referred to as the "Art of Peace", as described by it's founder, the late [[Morihei Ueshiba]].
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMARY JO MURPHY, writing in the Weekly Review of New York Times, dated September 23, 2007 talks about the etymology of a few significant words in some of the world's vanishing languages in a charming though brief sample...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsReliance - The Real Natwar by Arun K. Agrawal2008, 23 cm., pp. 282, Rs. 495.00 or US$ 12.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis question is directed to any person who visits medhaJ and knowledgeable about alternative medicines. Recently a friend asked me for alternative treatment to bypass surgery.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMilk from the Water buffalo ParthaDesikan > Long ago, roughly when Kennedy and Krushchaev faced each other eyeball to eyeball and nearly precipitated a world war with Cuba as first base, and perhaps a few months after...
Categories: Texts & StotramsPlease go through this article which has appeared in the issue of New Scientist dated 24th November 2007, already out. You will find out what you and I are capable of achieving by just observing. http://www.eurekalert.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsYoung mothers who may chance on this article dated 14th November, http://uk.reuters.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis work is not my original. This was shared by a friend. And I found it hilarious and I like to share with Medha family unknown work of a creative mind.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe Previous Avtar Of Lord Muruga/Kartikeya Who is Lord Muruga? I am translating from memory what I read in the book “Deivathin Kural”[ Voice Of the Divine] a collection of lectures by Sri Chandra Shekarendra Saraswathi...
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta'Best known for his work with Gary Hamel on resource-based strategy, which gave rise to the term core competences, more recently, Prahalad has turned his attention to the plight of the worlds poor,' said Stuart Crainer...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsLove is one of the oldest and deadliest diseases which has affected the highest form of biological species on the spaceship called Earth.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsEvery morning when I am driving to work, the news that I hear on NPR, is turbulence in Pakistan and declaration of military emergency in Pakistan by President General Pervez Musharraf.
Categories: Strategy & Geopolitics'Purvaparau Varinidhi vigahya sthitah prthivya iva manadandah' is Kalidasa's description of the stretch of our Himalayan range.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe rishis, who were gifted yogis too, wanted to see viraat-purusha. They closed their eyes and waited.
Categories: Texts & StotramsDear Friends, Those of you who have visited the site between October 26th, 2007 and October 28th, 2007 might have encountered some difiiculty in using the site.
Categories: SystemRama Siva Rama Siva ParthaDesikan All puranas, in any case the eighteen main ones, are believed to have been written by Vedavyasa.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe universe is not so much strange as brimming with lovely paradox. At least, that is what seems like as one strolls through the long and winding road of twentieth century Physics.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessSo, I Do Say, World Is Anthropocentric! Would I be here, if the Sun were a little bigger? No! Says the Science, as the Sun would have eaten himself by now!1 Would I be here, if the Sun were slightly smaller? Science...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsITS Issues-Ferrous Oxide And Flights Of Fancy Five years ago, I had taken a group of architecture students from a private college, to a village near Chennai, India , for a case study.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFriends, The article provided by the link below made absorbing reading. I am sure you know a lot of it already, but would still be interested in a mariner's professional view. http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/01inter.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsMy previous article "Who is a Yogi" dealt with the subject of Yoga practice and what qualifies one to be a Yogi. In this article I will try to deal with the reasons and motivations behind the practice of Yoga.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere are two fundamental ways that you can profit from owning bonds: from the interest that bonds pay, or from any increase in the bond's price.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics. (with ref to M Teresa's recently exposed inner torments.. Could Indian spirituality have helped Mother Teresa? By IANS Monday September 17, 07:50 AM Mother Teresa has done unparalleled service to India.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsShort-cut to Wikipedia pages within Medha Journal Using Wikipedia keywords within double square brackets will point back to wikipedia articles with same names.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaOf Fusion of Faith and History ParthaDesikan The well known historian Romila Thapar has addressed the above subject in an article given prominence in today’s issue of ‘The Hindu’.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOne doesn't have to ignore Vedanta until one reaches a certain age, or level of experience. The attempt here is to present a case study of practically implementing the education of basic Vedantic concepts to children.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaRama Sethu-Musings Of A Construction Worker The golden disc above Is beating down in his fury The blue sea looks menacing The task seems impossible The path insurmountable Would we be able to Build a bridge to reach The...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction I came across a Kolkata Telegraph editorial on the Gita. The editorial criticizes Judge Srivastava for his suggestion that the Gita should be made a national text.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOf Masters, Disciples and ‘Apostles’ ParthaDesikan If at all you are involved with this business of learning, study, enquiry, or more generally with acquisition of knowledge of any kind, you are bound to encounter three...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsA few years ago, my Sister-in-law (wife's sister) subscribed us to "The Yoga Journal", an american magazine (in print) that covers the enormous topic of Yoga and caters to what is claimed to be a huge market for Yoga...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAn Invocation to Truth ParthaDesikan You are parama, way beyond all possible thought and description. You are that indeed. Tat Tvamasi.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHere is a French scientist's account of the high handedness with which an outstanding Japanese primatologist was treated by his western counterparts. http://www.emory.edu/LIVING\LINKS/OurInnerApe/pdfs/WithoutWalls.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHere is a link http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/sep/04/ethicsofscience.internationalnews which is making, quite appropriately, ripples in the field of genomic research Dr.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsİlk olarak, Facebook’ta oynanmaya başlayan Web Tabanlı MMORPG oyunu Legend Online ’ı, Türkiye’de Joygame ile oynama şansını yakalamak için hemen Legend Online kayıt ol.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaSamvidullasah - Manifestation of Divine Consciousness (Swami Lakshman Joo : Saint-scholar of Kashmir Shaivism - A Centenary Tribute) by Baumer, Bettina & Kumar, Sarla 2007, 29 cm., pp. xiv+238, col. & b/w photo 52, D.K.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAnd Joy-filled, Flows the Yamuna Slowly, I am flowing, Carrying my fond hope That the promise will come true After all these years.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIn the ancient ashtapada form of the Indian chess game, Professor Rangachar Vasantha of Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur sees a manifestation of cosmological order determined by the play of numbers and spaces.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIf you're like most people, it's not that you don't appreciate the value of life insurance. In fact, many people believe they need more coverage. You probably wouldn't mind owning additional life insurance.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction I came across an interesting article on Sulekha recently that tried to draw parallels between the three Gunas of Indic philosophy with Western Psycho-analytic concepts of Id/Ego/Super-Ego and the general...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHumans hardly ever ventured into the colony of mutants, and mutants almost never came into the human world.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWhat follows was in fact intended to be an add-on to the string of scholarly comments received in March 2007 to Dr.
Categories: Texts & StotramsA Speculation on how the Koshas form All students of Yoga learn very early about the five sheaths in which our human form exists between birth and death, the panchakoshas, namely · annamaya kosha, consisting of the...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaA fourteen page document dated 1922 on the subject of the biology of a particular species of lotus borer has apparently been missing for all this while and Amazon.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWe know that humanity evolved from primordial apes without the aid of human knowledge as we know it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsCongratulations! Children are special. There's nothing like them. They can be our sweetest blessing, as well as our biggest frustration.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsINDIA : THE NEXT GLOBAL SUPER POWER? by Namita Bhandare (Ed.) 2007, 23 cm., pp. 252, ISBN : 978-8174365101, US$ 9.88 or Rs.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFibonaccis name is known to almost every high-school kid today. However, he was not very well known in his day. In the 15th century A.D.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Conflict between science and religion is a popular topic in the west. Hard line fundamentalist Christians go out of their way to challenge scientific findings that are not in agreement with the Bible.
Categories: Texts & StotramsThe Kaoboys of R&AW : Down Memory Laneby B. Raman2007, 23 cm., pp. 304, ISBN : 0-9796174-3-X, US$ 19.88 or Rs.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntuition and The Science of Decision making How many times have you come to a critical juncture in your life and had to make a decision? And how many times have those decisions been the right ones? By right decision, I...
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessAre faith and positive thinking synonymous..? Or is faith the basis of positive thinking..
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWorld this, is merely a big Idea in our mind! Great minds treat the world as illusory.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsQuantum Healing -- Any takers?? I met a very interesting person last weekend in Carmel, California which has become the seat of new-age healers.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessI was on the book's website (http://www.invadingthesacred.com) and then decided to google search it.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDo you picture yourself owning a new home, starting a business, or retiring comfortably? These are a few of the financial goals that may be important to you, and each comes with a price tag attached.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNews: Sex ratio drops in many parts of India due to female foeticide/infanticide Woman burnt alive due to dowry Infant girl abandoned next to a dust bin Educated professional women finding it difficult to find husbands...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsWe should be proud of the fact that India has graduated from the stage of importing jihadis from Pakistan, which is ever-helpful in such matters, to the self sufficiency in the home-grown variety of this species.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsIntroduction Jyotish is a controversial subject in Indian English language press. On the one hand, it is usually denounced as bogus by self appointed secularists.
Categories: Texts & StotramsWhat do the bright lights all over in Tokyo, dazzling Las vegas visible from space, and a dimly glowing incandescent lamp in a dark village have in common? Energy.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessI came across very interesting articles on language of enlightenment -Sanskrit and Sanskrit & Artificial Intelligence, and I wanted to share with Medhajournal community.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessMantras,,Jai Hind and Vande Mataram I was watching the Hindi movie "1942-ALove Story" for the umpteenth time , the other day and was surprised that I felt the same way I felt when I watched the movie for the first...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAfter reading the article titled "Alternative medicine- A faith based cure or science?" Sreeparna, I was inspired to throw in my two cents on the topic.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is a repost of an old article I'd written on Sulekha.com. I am in the process of restoring select articles from my old site (http://rudra.sulekha.com) to The Medha Journal.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNew Book, Invading the Sacred: An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America, Explores Academic Anti-India Bias New York, July 9 2007: The launch of a new book titled Invading the Sacred: an Analysis of Hinduism Studies...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAfter having seen Sivaji in the evening show and hearing 'Thiruvilayadal' in Audio during the night, I went to sleep and this is what I dreamt. Act -1 The King of Madurai is sitting in his throne with a long face.
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics"Yet Upasana's proclamation led us all to believe that she was actually talking about her previous birth," he said. "She claims that the spacecraft was hit by a huge ball of ice that sent it crashing and ended her life.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDear Friends, Due to popular demand, we have decided to bring Blogging capabilities to The Medha Journal.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsOn October 21, 2063, as the maglev train shot silently through the tunnel connecting the cities on opposite sides of the chain of hills, there was just a single sound that rang out feebly.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThere are very few among us who is not aware that Global Warming (GW) has become one of the most talked about issues for the last few years.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI am quite unsure about whether the Bangalore Municipal department has gone completely mad, or become extremely creative. Both causes have the same effect, I know.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsDear Readers, The Medha Journal editorial and management invites you (all readers) to register and share your thoughts and ideas with each other.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsCreeping Awareness What's wrong with us Indians? Why don't we even flinch when a hundred of our countrymen get mowed down like grass in a terror attack? When thousands of our brethren lose their entire lives' worth in...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction In the first part (How to West Defines India I ) I had discussed the role the West plays in every aspect of Indian life today and how it influences our cumulative (as a nation and society) self-image.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsABSTRACT The attempt here is to discuss the Westernized Identity over multiple articles. In the beginning we discuss the relevance of this for the Non-Westerner, specifically the Indian. Then we discuss external, i.e.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsIntroduction As an immigrant to America, a voter of a nation-state and as a practicing Hindu, I observe no contradiction in these three identities.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction In my various trysts at engaging so-called Scientific people via various media, I have often run into a brick wall when trying to discuss any phenomena or topics that delve slightly off the proverbial...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsECSTASY An article in Newsweek states that scientists have long known that epileptics often feel spiritual ecstasy during seizures.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessIntroduction From the Rig Veda to Plato the act of imagining is the secret technology of the mystics.
Categories: Texts & StotramsHeart Ethics: The Moral Imperative from Oral Cultures and Neurobiology By Way of Introduction Indoctrinated, as we are, into making decisions, even those on which our lives depend, based on the management of head...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction In 1968 an Irish Physicist, Bell, working in CERN worked out a theorem which gave us an insight into the nature of deep reality.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessDestiny & Free Will -- Are we mere puppets in the Gods hands? Synopsis The article reviews and reasons why no philosophical concept in the history of mankind has received as much acceptability as the concept of...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Ever since the internet became popular, starting with newsgroups, followed by managed websites and to the current day of bloggers, if there's one desi topic that's generated a large number of opinions,...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsNew discoveries in perceptual psychology, brain-chemistry, brain evolution, brain development, ethology, cultural anthropology, the more recent work of MacLean on the structure of the brains and the discovery by...
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessIntroduction In my previous article on Gayatri, I had discussed about how Gayatri Mantra explains the Big Bang and the expansion of Universe. Refer https://medhajournal.com/columns/philosophy/gayatri----the-big-bang.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsCLEANING HOUSE It was a brutal exercise training my young will to taste the intimacy of the gods by degrees and not all at once, to go beyond the immediate sensation of the fever burning my skin to those other fields...
Categories: Arts & Aesthetics> > "In Reading gaol in Reading town, > > There is this pit of shame, > > And in it lies a wretched man, > > Eaten by teeth of flame" > > -{Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol} > > > > > > PRELUDE > > ======== > > >...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is a story of an Indian woman, who is fighting a lone battle in New York City... pregnant and under extreme duress.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFreeeeze! Hmmmm, But How? The story goes like this; when Lord Hanuman was born, the first sight that grabbed the attention of his mischief-seeking eyes was the Sun rising with all his morning splendour.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIntroduction I had already written an article on AUM from a scientific perspective, mapping AUM to Universe through particle physics and states of matter. This article is about Gayatri Mantra.
Categories: Texts & StotramsIntroduction I have always wondered as to the relevance of the brain in yogic experience. What role does the brain play in yogic visions and experiences? I will discuss this question.
Categories: Texts & StotramsTERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE The Medha Journal (TMJ) is an online portal where like-minded people can interact and share knowledge, ideas and information. TYPES OF USERS There are three types of users on TMJ.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI had been wondering what I can contribute to Medha journal. I had been toying with several topics that were crossing my mind.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFrom me, Lord Venkateshwara I dont know when I came here, but it should have been several centuries before. From those days to this day there have been lot of changes around me.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsAn analysis of Madukya Upanishad in a modern perspective. So much of knowledge our ancestors accumulated, expressed in upanishads, have not been carried across times.
Categories: Texts & StotramsI generally infer that laws are similar across multiple domains. An undercurrent of law of nature in physics is applicable in chemistry or biology or even to our general life.
Categories: Texts & Stotramsby Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD Published in Experimental Gerontology, Volume 33, Nos.1/2,000-000, 1997Copyright 1997 Elsevier Science Inc. Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessA homage to a Grandfather This is the photograph of a painting by my grandfather Late Sri Abani Kanta Lahiri.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is a painting of Ma Kali. Artist is Sri Abani Kanta Lahiri.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHindu dharma is a diverse system. However, there are some basic concepts accepted by the vast majority of (astika) Hindus. These are: 1.
Categories: Texts & StotramsTHE BIOCULTURAL CORRECTIVE This part of the paper is the follow up on the previous paper entitled: Religion: The last weapon of discrimination.
Categories: Texts & StotramsBefore my daughters 2nd birthday, I was quizzing her on the colors. She had a deck of cards with colored shapes on them. I was showing her a purple octagon and was expecting to hear her say purple.
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessOverview Egalitarian -- Affirming, promoting, or characterized by belief in equal political, economic, social, and civil rights for all people.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction This paper is a corollary to Moor Nam’s excellent paper in Medha Journal “The Caste Non-System”.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsHave you ever felt the need to reach out to your roots? Are we all in search of our roots? What drives us to know our roots? I grew up hearing stories that our (my family) roots are not in West Bengal, India but from a...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsABSTRACT This paper is a corollary to Moor Nams excellent paper in Medha Journal The Caste Non-System.
Categories: Texts & StotramswriteQuickTime({src:'https://medhajournal.com/images/stories/my\wish\comes\true\kisna.
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsby Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD How and where can East and West meet? Can the West talk to the East, and if the East talks to the West how, and where does the dialogue begin? This paper is an effort to find the common...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIt is only recently that Hindus are discovering that the terms of discussion for Indic practices have been conducted for the last few centuries primarily based on Western terms, standards and nomenclature.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFrom Moksha Smith: Agni's Warrior-Sage by Antonio de Nicolas The full moon marked the paths of gravel and grass in the cemetery as I came upon this mysterious light, it sat with green light on the high edge of a...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFrom Moksha Smith: Agni's Warrior-Sageby Antonio de Nicolas He had been told that God was thought, so he stopped the rhythm of the sun, God, moon, stars, wife, children, flowers, grass and lined them in his head with...
Categories: Science & ConsciousnessIntroduction The story of Janasruti in Chandogya Upanishad (Ch. U.) is largely unknown to the vast majority of Hindus.
Categories: Texts & Stotramsby Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD The completely irreligious mind is, it seems to me, the unreal mind, the tense, void, abstracted mind that does not even see the things that grow out of the earth or feel glad about them:...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsFrom Moksha Smith: Agni's Warrior-Sage by Antonio de Nicolas --- I left the burning forest looking for waters to wash away the varnish people had laid on the cells of my timid soul: the rainbow of orthodoxy, the mauve...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsI am scared of my dreams! As a child, I dreamt a lot. Almost every night. Mostly I dreamt beautiful things about my friends and family.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThis is a song titled "Presence of Mind", composed during the heydays of my college music scene. Our own tech-guru Vivek S was the tabla player. Here's the break-down of the band (gosh, has it been 14 years already?).
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsby Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD I am arguing in this paper that in order to study cultures we must first be able to identify the models by which a culture forms itself. I distinguish.
Categories: Texts & StotramsIntroduction Posting a response to a question on the Nature of Consciousness, my fingers automatically started typing what is to follow next.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaIntroduction Khyati (Epistemology or sources of knowledge) has been a fierce subject of debate in India for many centuries.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaBy Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD Introduction The present paper is an attempt to clarify certain technologies that have come down to us as mystical and yet are the conditions for any creative human act.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsThe "hindu identity" subjected to the "Self Policing" vs "Self Defense" test. The ideas of two eminent thinkers, Amartya Sen's & Arvind Sharma, discussed & compared.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsBy Antonio T. De Nicolas, PhD Oh God, make me realize that the only way to reach you is by getting rid of you.
Categories: Texts & StotramsTransmitting Traditions-informally OR Ajji vandane-a tribute to the actual "Argumentative Indian" INTRODUCTION My grandma was an argumentative woman (she used the correct kannada word for it "Nyaya-adoodu" i.e.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaOverview Much is known about Indian philosophical disciplines, Indian Arts, Mathematics, and Sciences but not much is known about a very important aspect of our Society Martial Arts.
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsWhen we read Ramayan we feel Rama being Maryada Purushotham how could he sent Sita Ma to forest when she was pregnant. There are so many arguments on this subject. It seems there was a sad love story behind this.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaINTRODUCTION I found this book to be a passionate espousal of Athiesm, "absence of belief" and a strong denunciation of "blind belief".
Categories: Arts & Aestheticsby Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD The goal of all inquiry is experience, (anubhava) Brahma Sutra Bhashya. I. 1.2.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaThe Wrestling Angel I Our host lived in a castle protected like a nest in a valley between Katmandu and Lhasa as green as an emerald in summer when the caravans of scientists trekked up the mountains collecting the musk...
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaINTRODUCTION It is a pet theme of western athiests and westernised Hindus to point out that the presence of evil in this world is not compatible with a loving creator.
Categories: Metaphysics & VedantaEpistemological challenges: language from Global Strategies Project – Notes and commentaries by Anthony Judge Commentaries from Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential Editor's Note: This is an introduction...
Categories: Texts & StotramsINTRODUCTION Indian intellectual life has been dictated by a cabal of leftist intellectuals for the last 60 years. This leftist intellectual cabal views everything through the biased lens of what it claims is liberalism.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction It is said that the "Great Indian Middle-class" is on a roll, with India's burgeoning Economy, and an ever-growing Middle-class, India is finally Happening! But there are several dark counter-reactions...
Categories: Arts & AestheticsINTRODUCTION Recently West Bengal has been in news reports for problems associated with land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram. The principal opposition leader, Ms.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsSamadhi Translated literally, SamAdhi means To get integrated. Samadhi is often defined as the state of complete immersion into a cosmic consciousness that is beyond the realm of ordinary consciousness (as we...
Categories: Metaphysics & Vedanta| | | | --- | --- | | | People strive in vain during their entire lifetime chasing shadows and in the end the result that stares them in their face is a big zero.
Categories: Arts & AestheticsIntroduction Culture can also be likened to the Operating System of a Social machine the framework and rule sets which govern the operation of the machine (Of course, the Culture OS is a lot more complicated and has...
Categories: Strategy & GeopoliticsINTRODUCTION When I was young, I used to see the OM symbol in Hindu temples. I used to wonder at its meaning. It is only later that I learnt that OM is clearly explained in Mandukya Upanishad (MU).
Categories: Texts & StotramsMission statement Medha Journal's mission is to nurture a creative and intellectually stimulating platform for creative thinkers, to collectively grow in capability and knowledge as a community through sharing, learning...
Categories: SystemExplore 1,200+ essays across Vedanta, Consciousness, Geopolitics, and Art.
An analysis of India's geopolitical strategy against the US-China nested game, exploring Operation Sindoor, the Mecca Agreement, and macro-micro decoupling.
A re-imagination of Western management through the lens of Vedantic philosophy to build a conscious, resilient, and ethical framework for 21st-century business.
An analysis of Pakistan's garrison state, its game-theoretic traps, and why India's pluralistic framework offers a stable cooperative alternative.
Uncover how ancient Bharata, shielded by ecology, became Afro-Eurasia's demographic powerhouse, seeding global civilization, wealth, and culture. Dismantling colonial timelines with empirical data.
Explore the game theory behind manufactured revolts like the 'Cockroach Janta Party.' This analysis uncovers AstroTurfing, external interference, and counter-strategies for states.
THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE SUBTLE BODY A Biophysical Unification of Glympho-Vasomotor Fields, Bone Mechanotransduction, Eastern Energetics, and Ajātavāda Advaita Vedānta INTRODUCTION For decades, we've been told that our...
P. Desikan In the fourth sarga of Balakanda of Sri Valmiki Ramayana, an account is given of Sage Valmiki teaching young Lava and Kusha to recite the Kavya he had just composed and the youngsters turning out to do a...
The fiction of a predictable, rules-based multilateral world order came to a formal end at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year.
॥ चित्प्रतिबिम्बसूत्रम् ॥ Cit-Pratibimba-Sūtram The Aphorisms on the Reflections of Consciousness --- मङ्गलाचरणम् (Opening Invocation) नमः शिवायै चित्यै प्रकाशविमर्शरूपिण्यै ॥ namaḥ śivāyai cityai...
Get the copy here - The trail climbed steeply through wet pine and stone. Adi’s breath came in sharp pulls as he pushed upward through the mist. The monsoon clouds wrapped the mountain in a gray cocoon.
Ravana's shiva thandava stotram describes the dance of Shiva at the times of primordial Universe and how His 'will' and 'desire' leads to the creation and evolution of Universe.
Moha mudgaram has 33 slokas while 11 or 12 are mostly sung. This is an attempt to get the unsung verses to be sung with modern music. Our attachments are never lost irrespective of age, health and wealth.
Here is a collection of 10 vedic mantras in samskrt and tamil which teach us how to approach our life and we have to recite daily. In this collection 1.
The Philosophical Convergence of Daoism and Vedanta Daoist and Vedantic philosophies, despite their distinct origins, share remarkable similarities in their views on reality, the nature of the self, and how to live in...
What is Art? Is it an expression of the subconscious flowing through on a canvas, through words, music, forms etched out of a slab of wood or rock? Is it therapy for the soul? An avenue of release of unexpressed...
How does a society heal from trauma? Acknowledging a malaise so one can treat it is valuable. In the case of Bharat, there was a social malaise of jati (caste) discrimination.
Thyagaraja swamy's song Seetha Kalyana Vaibhogame defines qualities of rAmA, that makes him the best choice for Seetha and hence sung in all marriages.
Shree is the opulence of Universe, which is all its existences including living and non-living. The nourisher of all existences is mA bhavani, the goddess of existences.
Moha mudgaram is a set of 33 stanzas, out of which 12 are said to be from Adi Shankara, the rest by others. Mudgara means hammer.
Wake up Lord Srinivasa, who is verily rAmA, rAmA, the son of kausalya, bravest of men, to do divine duty of causing prosperity to 3 worlds.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong is murphy's law. That's Vigna, the disturbance in every work we do. How do we fail murphy's law, overcome Vigna that makes work go wrong..
Ganapati dyAnam sloka Vishnu, who is dark in color, holds/bears the white speckled Universe's expanse.
Shakti, the external manifestation of Shiva, the consciousness, is known (vid) in biological beings through Signaling, Response to stimulus, Reproduction, Adaptation, Organization, Growth, Death, Metabolism, Mind that...
mahAperiyava says "Vedic tattvam is more clearly communicated in tamil. Vedas are called 'marai', which means hidden. They are called 'ezhuthaa kilavi' which means 'unwritten verses'.
When Yama is near, markandeya clings on to Lord Shiva. That action of clinging on to Lord Shiva, provides him liberation.
Science says Big Bang created the energy of Universe, which was followed by 'Inflation/Expansion' of spacetime, in which spacetime expanded hugely. This is called 'Cosmic Inflation'.
Whenever 'golden eyed' asuras assault Mother Earth, hide her under their 'rasatala', varAha descends liberating Mother Earth and destroying those Asuras. Vara-Aha means 'pre-eminent or superior'.
Rgveda 10.129, nasadiya suktam talks about what could exists beyond the Universe and all its manifestations.
Submit to that one with no attributes, unmoving, omnipresent, formless, behind all matter forms (as energy), behind all life forms (as consciousness), gracious to drink the poison to sustain Universe, blissful faced,...
In Paramartha stuti, Swami Vedanta desikan praises Lord Vijayaraghava in thiruputkuzhi as the best of the warriors and submits to him.
Lalita pancharatnam asks us to submit to Goddess Lalita at the dawn. The whole Universe that is 'seen', all the biological forms that 'see' are manifestations of 'Shakti'.
The play of Lalita may appear random to us, but she is playing it at her 'will', thus ruling as 'Raja Rajeswari'.
In any 'organization', the 'values' that people cherish and use to improve their daily ordinary lives acts as a glue aligning people together. A national flag represents such values for a nation.
Classification of vedic texts The vedic scriptures are seen through classification of saMhita, brAhmaNa, Aranyaka and UpaniSat. There are various ideas about what and how these classifications are meant for.
Sri Sachidananda Shivabhinava nRsimha bhArati, the 33rd pItathipati of Sringeri mutt, a treasure of learning, who composed several slokas, ever immersed in Atma niStA, travelled all over India along with this guru...
Background Rgveda 10.191 is set in the background of a sacrifice (Yajna) by assembly of priests, in which Agni which is the messenger that takes the oblations to devas, is addressed.
I believe in this Universe, there is a 'design pattern' followed for matter evolution and biological evolution. In the last post, I had talked about whatever we call as 'energy' (whatever that is seen).
If I mix my understanding of vedic scriptures with science with a little bit of imagination, this is how universe/multi-verses keep getting formed. A scalar field is a distribution of a particular scalar quantity.
Shiva is energy, known only through its effects. A sAksi. This energy manifests in various forms, one of which is motion or mechanical energy symbolized by River Ganga.
dharma are simply laws. Laws of Universe (across all domains), laws of social groups of biological beings, laws made by human beings for their societal evolution.
Sant Eknath lived in later part of 1500s, wrote his version of bhagavata purana, ramayana etc apart from various abhangs emphasizing bhakti as the way to jnana. Sant Eknath was from varkari tradition, a Krishna devotee.
The movie, "The Kashmir Files" has been taking India by storm since its release last weekend.
nAma japA by mind or by speech helps us to devote our mind, develop bhakti and lead us in the path of jnAnA says mahAperiyavA.
P. Desikan This happened on October 3, 2021, when I had turned eighty-five. This gul mohur tree just outside our apartment building that appeared alive and well up to about 5-15 pm that day suddenly got uprooted by the...
Ethnomethodology is the field of study that explains how one sustains ‘reality’. It says there are five features to our reality- reflexivity, coherence, interaction, fragility, and permeability.
Carl sagan says “Ancient tamil festival of Pongal is not just celebration of harvest (unlike other festivals), as it marks return of Sun (Uttarayana), leading to earth’s seasonal cycles.
Agnihotram rAmAnuja tattacharyar's book 'Hindu matham enge pogirathu' was discussed in U2Brutus channel.
Shiva is the ‘white’ (from which all colors diverge). In Universe, Shiva is Energy from which all matter & beings diverge. But we do not perceive energy directly. We perceive Energy through ‘Momentum’, the Shakti.
Analogous to science concepts of today, in matter domain, Shiva is Energy. Vishnu is the property of ‘mass’.
This is a very fascinating talk and is the most convincing/logical explanation of the Indus script decipherment that I’ve seen. https://youtu.be/8HXfIUYLxu0
I happened to see this in U2 Brutus channel. At the outset, U2 Brutus is 'opposite' of vedabhasya channel.
What are siddhis..? what is realization..? There are 'patterns' lurking behind in every aspect of universe.
sAstha means ‘conservator’ or ‘chastiser’ one who punishes to conserve dharma. Village deities like Aiyanar (karuppu, muni) punish to ensure people conserve/follow dharma. They are the sAsthAs.
Punnaagavanam P. Desikan Punnai, Punnaagam or Pungam, the Indian laurel tree, known in Sri Lanka as Indian doomba oil tree and in Southeast Asia and Oceania as bintangur, bitaog, tamanu, or kamani, has the binomial...
Vedanta desika, while explaining isavasya upanishad talks about how a person consuming one morsel more than what is needed for sustenance is a thief.
Was on a walk today and noticed the leaves turning yellow as fall sets in. I closely inspected a leaf and noticed that the green in the leaf was gradually shrinking in a fractal pattern much the same as a plant grows in...
mahAperiyavA says, Brahma vidya is the biggest of the vidyas, which is realizing that all matter/beings are same. It’s not just knowing it intellectually, but realizing it from our ‘self’.
Happy Gokulashtami.. A translation of Adi Shankaras 'Vasudeva sutam devam..', sung in tamil, essence in english..
Background Shiva is Energy. Shakti is Momentum. Shiva-Shakti is the Energy-Momentum (EM) couple. Shakti, the Momentum is what is seen outward.
I am copying here a happy announcement by Prof Michel Danino and an equally happy acknowledgement by Dr S Kalyanaraman,both of whom are very well known to Medhavis: Great work, Michel.
Background This post is a summary of understanding of my analysis of scriptures, surfing across them at a top-level. I had made a detailed poston understanding of matter domain, in depth earlier.
Background There are a lot of internet 'stories' and 'posters' talking about Rg veda indicating the speed of light. Here is my analysis of it. Rk Veda sloka 1.
Sri Sanjiv Sanyal has given an illuminating lecture on the Rig Veda. One realizes after listening to the lecture what Hindus have missed for depending blindly on western scholars to understand the Rig Veda.
mahAperiyavA's classic 'maitrim bhajata' translated and sung in tamil. It calls for Universal friendship, building human bonds, seeing others as ourselves, giving up war and mindless violence and says that leads to...
Adi Shankara describes six characteristics of Vishnu in Vishnu Shatpadi stotram. The six characteristics of Vishnu described are 1. Vishnu eliminates pride by being our controlling manas that removes mirages we see. 2.
There's a term in Japanese - "Ikigai", which roughly translates to "reason for being" which resonates very strongly with me.
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zaM’ means welfare, happiness, prosperity. zaM-kara is one who makes this welfare, happiness, prosperity. zaM-bhu is that exists as welfare, happiness and prosperity.
Madhu is anything that does not ‘expire’ or ‘go bad’ or ‘die’ easily. Hence it indicates honey, liquor or the demon madhu who dies only when he wishes or ‘weak’ force that decays matter slowly.
Once Shankara waited for one of his disciples to start his talk. Other disciples told Shankara that he is not worth that wait, as he had never talked till then. The disciple arrived, singing with hand-clapping.
Manisha panchakam is a set of 5 stanzas that record Adi Shankaracharya's realization of jnana.
Dr.Vikram Rajagopal is my classmate from KMC Manipal. He and his wife Dr.Shweta went back to India leaving their cushy jobs in the USA to be caregivers to their aging parents.
Shiva is Energy. Uma is quiet potential energy and durgA is ‘impassable’ kinetic energy of matter forms. Easwari is the sum of these two, the internal energy of matter forms.
kAsi is a place of learning wisdom and self-realization. Universe is kAsi, our body is kAsi says Adi shankaracharya. Why is kAsi yAtra part of marriage ceremony in many communities.? Watch the melodious song https://www.
Oothukadu venkata kavi was a genius personified whose compositions are used by singers, dancers, harikatha exponents et al.
Shiva is Energy in matter domain. Universe evolves on energy through eight evolutionary processes that are time-irreversible. Time-irreversible means there is no way of realistically reversing these processes.
When something is incomplete and we don't understand it fully, we ask 'What's (use of) that..?" (tatah kim..?) Guru ashtakam says, without attaching our 'manas' to the feet of 'Guru', nothing is complete.
I've been on "the path" for more than two decades now. When I first started, I was reeling from the death of my father, who passed away in the most unexpected manner, literally like a bolt from the blue.
mAyA is the process that creates self-identities (maya) and perspectives (aham-kAra) and thus 'differentiates' (vi-bheda).
In vedic traditions, all divinities are based on some existing natural force (that's why the multiplicity) and the idea is to invoke those forces in us through bhakti, learn from these forces, to help facilitate evolve.
Shiva is the property of Energy. Uma is quiet, potential energy. durgA is impassable the kinetic energy which cannot be made zero (absolute zero impossible). Universe matter forms evolve on the matted hair of Shiva.
I can hear the rustling of her saree. I can hear the tinkle of her bangles , the majestic but musical sounds of her silambu ,her voice that calls out to my name and the sweet sound of veena.
The recent Physics Nobel Prize given to Penrose reminded me of a teacher of mine Professor Amal Kumar Raychoudhury (AKR). I attended his Classical Mechanics course in Presidency College in 1977.
Adi Shankaracharya' highlights the characteristics of Subrahmanya or Kanda in bhujangam style, which is like a snake moving on the sides. Subrahmanya means one who is auspicious for brahman, the evolution.
Universe's evolution is driven by a design pattern of an external observer driving the evolution, just by observation. We call this observer, the Atman and the evolution as Brahman.
[embed]https://youtu.be/CT3wBZmGZGo[/embed] nArAyaNi is the total internal energy of any matter form. nArAyaNi stuti from Devi mahAtmyam.
[embed]https://youtu.be/LwmxtKjzLbo[/embed] Vinayaga (in matter forms) is 'Work' or 'Action' or 'வினை' in tamil. It is the 'Work' in science parlance as well.
Shankara's description of Buddhists in his time > Among them there are three schools: some are Sarvastivadins (divided into the Sautantrikas and Vaibhasikas, believing respectively in the inferential and perceptual...
Hindu spiritual literature talks about many types of Rishis, Rajarshi, Devarshi and Brahmarshi. Rajarshi means a king who is also a rishi. Devarshi means a god like rishi.
[embed]https://youtu.be/XPAt0E6zvDY[/embed] Ashtalakshmi stotram tranlsation in Tamil and essence in English. Ashta-Lakshmis are the eight attributes of matter forms and biological forms. In matter forms.
The forward only moving ‘Arrow of Time’ or ‘kAla’ is the most frightful divinity in our Universe. ‘kAlA’ is synonymous to ‘death’ because arrow of time and death cannot be reversed.
Adi Shankara's Lakshmi nRsimha Karavalambam translated to tamil and essence explained in english. [embed]https://youtu.be/5lEWUDN-yoM[/embed]
Shiva Thandava Stotram's essence explained in English, while song translated in tamil.
Most of us here have a practical background, having spent many years in the practice of a meditative method or art (e.g., qigong, yoga, taijiquan, etc).
Background As I travel through the Vedas and Upanishads, here is a look-back or gist of my understanding, as it stands now. This is a summary of my understanding spread over many blog posts and few of my books.
IN HONOR OF MY FRIEND AND COLLEAGUE RAMAKRISHNA PULIGANDLA JNANA YOGA James W. Kidd, Ph.D.
A video seminar at Jain University, Bangalore on Vedic Irina and the Rann of Kutch P .
In my last post on Ayurveda (1), I had talked about Ayurveda being a framework to analyse a biological body and in particular human beings. Any human body can be seen as a matrix of 1.
Background I am not an ayurved 'doctor' or 'specialist'. I am describing the foundational principles of Ayurved as I understand it. Ayur-ved simply means knowledge of life.
“আজ নিখিলের আনন্দধারায় ধুইয়ে দাও, মনের কোণের সব দীনতা মলিনতা ধুইয়ে দাও। আমার পরান-বীণায় ঘুমিয়ে আছে অমৃত গান– তার নাইকো বাণী, নাইকো ছন্দ, নাইকো তান। তারে আনন্দের এই জাগরণী ছুঁইয়ে দাও…”(song by Rabindranath Tagore) “In...
🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺 \Sri Rama Rama Rama Rama\ 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞 A thousand Suns rose after mid - noon that day. It was the ninth day of Shukla paksha in Meena maasa. The Sun was past the highest point in the sky - dome.
Predictive modelling is a science of making informed inferences based on data from multi-dimensional sources, correlating them, making models out of them, continuously refining the models with more and more data.
Here is my link to blog on Asvins the electromagnetic field based on Rg veda Mandala 1 Hymn 180 and Hari, iSa and Asvins based on Rg Veda Mandala 1 Hymn 181.
Background In the past few chapters, we went through 1. Force-fields (Scalar Higgs/Vishnu, Vector/Chakra, Spinor/Conch) (1) 2.
(Episode of Bhakta Prahlada being tortured in many ways Kedareshwara temple, Halebidu, Karnataka) The key thinking of the Upanishads is to find the unity behind the diversity and changes in this apparent life- the...
Background In the past few chapters, we went through 1. Force-fields (Scalar Higgs/Vishnu, Vector/Chakra, Spinor/Conch) (1) 2.
The black Bamboo Partha Desikan The pilgrim had picked me up from a cluster of black bamboos in Kamarupa. He had been using me as a walking stick for miles upon miles.
Chapter 6. Believe in the uniqueness of every individual arising from genetic and other native differences influencing responses to life-experiences P.
Time of the year to turn-around Overwhelm, overcome the moribund Our Sun demonstrates this every year Changes its course to northern hemisphere..
Please do watch and feedback on what the book Inspiring Palita Perspectives talk about..? [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iixzOiD6RvM&feature=youtu.be[/embed]
What is the mystical Indra's net..? How do I become a node in that net..? A birthday poem for wife's birthday..
Hey, my new book (e-books and paperback edition) is out. The subject of the book is, Is there a 'design pattern' in the evolution of Universe..
Over a period of time, having participated in discussions at various online venues, it has become clear that discourse is a topic that is much misunderstood by most netizens on the various internet fora.
Many of the world’s popular religions condemn Idol worship. Hindus counter this by saying that Hindus worship God in a murthi only after the prana-pratistha ritual converts a life-less idol into a living murthi.
The last name based caste system is a jati (community) system and is not Varna based system (Varnashram dharma) discussed in foundational Hindu scripture. There is no mention of caste in the Vedas.
UPDATE -- Happy to share the news that my first full length novel is now available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle eBook format. I've added the links below and the cover image with this post.
Bhagavad Gita speaks about Varna and not caste. I give below Gita’s Varna interpreted according to Swami Vivekananda’s psychological theory of Varna and as explained by Swami Tapasyananda.
What is Diwali or Deepavali..? Diwali or Deepavali is a festival of lights that heralds a new dawn. In some places it marks the 'birth of Lakshmi (wealth of matter).
Background Summary of Chapter 1 'I' or 'You' or 'Self' is just our 'thoughts' and not the physical bodies. Make these thoughts as observers of what's happening around.
Introduction: What is Education? We are born with the instinct to survive. Birth, consuming food, reproduction, sleep and death are the cycles which we all live through just as all other creatures do.
What is worship..? Worship in Vedic dharma is to get the divine inspiration from the characteristics of 'devatha' in us.
Background Rsis of the Vedas are not human beings. But they are symmetry breaking events that originated everything in the Universe (4). The Rsis till now are described here (13) and here (14).
Unchanging observer drives the evolution Sa-akSi means 'that eye'. It is the 'witnessing' eye, the eye of 'third party' that is witnessing, but not interacting with what's happening or not changing due to the...
Here is the first area that is being put forward for discussion in this forum. Are Schools serving to be the hubs of education? The education system includes close to one and half decades of academic learning.
The New Education Policy Draft was made and circulated widely in our country with the education panel asking for feedback and suggestions from one and all.
That Hindu scriptures talk about many lokas is well known. What is not so well known is that there is also some description of these Lokas. I am giving below Vyasa’s commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra 3.
Image courtesy: Aruna Radhakrishnan - originally posted to Flickr as dashaavathaaram...ദശാവതാരം..., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5049537 Background purANa means a thing of past.
The meaning of cakSusa satyata As Brhadharanyaka Upanishad says 'cakSusa satyata'. Observation is Satyata/Existence. The satyata/existence is reality for the observer.
Background How the Universe expanded in Cosmic Inflation epoch and came into existence is explained here (1). In the 'expanded space' (Brahma) rudras (force-fields) manifest one by one.
Adi Shankaracharya, in the Dakshinamurthy Stotram, says -- विश्वं दर्पणदृश्यमाननगरीतुल्यं निजान्तर्गतं पश्यन्नात्मनि मायया बहिरिवोद्भूतं यथा निद्रया । यः साक्षात्कुरुते प्रबोधसमये स्वात्मानमेवाद्वयं तस्मै...
Background When events in the evolution of Universe and matter/energy forms of the early Universe are visualized as human beings, we end up in bizzare descriptions.
Sunnie D. Kidd and Jim Kidd, Ph.D. This presentation will utilize the Continental Philosophies of Existential Phenomenology and Dialogal Existentialism to uncover and elucidate Inspired Fellowship.
When I was 3-4 years into my Tai chi journey, my first teacher's recommendation of "letting go" became very real for me.
Background Rsis are symmetry breaking events that originate everything in the Universe. Marici is the Higgs field acquiring Vacuum Expectation Value. Kashyapa is the Electroweak symmetry breaking event.
[embed]https://youtu.be/fr9HIf54Xo0[/embed] This is an informal conversation with my master, Sifu Jose Perez. Just calling him a Tai chi master is an understatement.
A comment on your tweet where you had shared the link to our paper presentation at Swadeshi Indology – 3 popped up on my twitter notification.
Just found out that Ravi Joshi aka Karigar Medha (on FB), who was a co-founder and crucial member of MedhaJournal, and a dear friend, passed away from a massive cardiac arrest. I’m beyond shocked.
Background How the Universe expanded in Cosmic Inflation epoch and came into existence is explained here (1). The inflation potential (dakSa) interacting with force-fields (panchajani) creates the particles.
Background How the Universe expanded in Cosmic Inflation epoch and came into existence is explained here (1). The inflation potential (dakSa) interacting with force-fields (panchajani) creates the particles.
Many reasons have been given to explain the reason for the attack on the Somnath Temple by the Sultan of Ghazny.
Background During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
Background During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
Chapter 5. Believe in being a Conduit rather than a Storage Vessel The reputed Sanskrit grammarian and poet of 5th century CE, Bhartrhari came out in his Shatakatraya poems with his observations and admonitions about...
Have you ever wondered what the meaning of life is? Have you ever pondered why we are here? This world of struggle seems extremely painful where pleasures and suffering go hand in hand What have we done to deserve such...
Please read this blog https://medhajournal.com/sri-jogendranath-mandals-resignation-letter-to-Khan to understand the situation of Bengali Hindus in the 1930-1950 period.
Background During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46720159 I was recently requested by Medhavis to write something about the plight of Bengali Hindus of East Pakistan.
Sri Sankaracharya strongly recommended Jnana Yoga. He considered Nirguna Brahman to be the only Reality and Saguna Brahman is not ultimately real. Yet he wrote stirring hymns to different forms of God..
I'd like to introduce a new video blog series we're starting in The Medha Journal, where we'll post interviews and discussions with different people on various subjects, ranging from Arts, creativity, philosophy to...
Background During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
Background During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
The dual and the non-dual...should the twain never intersect? I find many non-dualist sādhakas admonish ordinary folks such as myself that the non-dual absolute (paramārthika) should never be brought into a dualistic...
The terrible state of the world, the terrorism, injustice, etc, gives rise to the question as to whether God cares about humanity.
Matrika Chakra (from wikimedia commons) Sanskrit is considered a divine language by Hindus. I will give a step by step explanation of the reason why Sanskrit is considered as important in Hinduism.
Japa is repetition of mantra. Mantra (man + tra) means liberating the mind. There are hidden powers in the human mind. These powers are located in Chakras that are present in seed form in every human mind.
Background During the Cosmic inflation epoch, the dark energy scalar field expanded, creating 'space' with vacuum inside it.
Background The Universe is 'inside' a womb of 'dark energy'. This womb is the Hiranya Garbha. The dark energy is distributed in a dark energy scalar field. This dark energy is the 'Shiva'.
Techniques/postures/methods are secondary to meditation. They are means to an end.
Recently I saw a press report that stated that Imran Khan has said that Sultan Mahmud of Ghazny looted and destroyed Somnath temple in order to stop the looting of Hindu devotees.
Background The Universe is 'inside' a womb of 'dark energy'. The dark energy is distributed in a dark energy scalar field. This dark energy is the 'Shiva'. The scalar field is the 'Atmanas' or 'Manas'.
Background Stri is the vacuum energy that fills the empty space or AkAsa. Rudra are the quantum force-fields that manifest in the vacuum energy. Rudra are the 'rupA' or 'form' of Stri.
Background Rudra are the quantum force-fields. prANa are the energy in these force-fields. This energy moves in vacuum of spacetime, without a medium in the force-fields.
Background In the previous blog posts I had talked about vAk a four-fold design pattern in the evolution of Universe. 1.
In the diagram shown, there are two models of consciousness/being. In fact, on one hand (Left hand side), is a Zen Buddhist model of consciousness, as illustrated in Roshi Philip Kapleau's book titled "Zen: Dawn in the...
Background The Sloka 1.4 of Brhadharanyaka Upanishad traces the evolution (ati-sRsti) from Atma's ichha to split Purusha to the evolution of manuSya.
Background Atman establishes Purusha and Stri. The empty space is filled with Stri. Stri are background oscillations of energy that fill the vacuum. Purusha is the 'dark' component (dark energy).
Background Atman establishes Purusha and Stri. The empty space is filled with Stri. Stri are background oscillations of energy that fill the vacuum. Purusha is the 'dark' component (dark energy).
Sabarimala - attributed to Saisumanth532 [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons A. Background A.1. Sabarimalai.
There seems to be an entrenched view among certain groups of spiritual practitioners, that “love” is a “four-lettered word” that needs to be discarded.
First let me wish all the readers a very happy and prosperous 2019. As we entered this new year, I thought hard about posting this blog.
Something new is said to be born When existing symmetry is broken or torn Small perturbations break the symmetries Create Universe’s evolutionary opportunities Vigna means perturbation; Cause of disruption Vigneswara...
Background The desire (preyas) for Atman that is deep inside in every being is spoken externally, spills out as love (priyam) of other beings also, and thus this desire/love gets 'banked', binding all the matter/beings...
Background Starting from Brhthari's vAkyapadiya, Sabda and vAk have the same meaning as in other texts like Rg Veda, Brhadharanyaka Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad and saMkhya kArika, irrespective of their timelines,...
Background Human beings and Universe have a similar design pattern (1). This design pattern is talked about across all our scriptures from Upanishads to saMkhya kArika. This design pattern is the 'four-fold' vAk.
There are many reasons for Britain leaving India. However, the economic and the military situation seem to have been the main reasons for withdrawal. American pressure also played a role.
Srimati Praveena Anand, a learned scholar of SrIvaishNava lore was on Face Book on December 16, which coincided this year as it does most years with the first day of the Tamil mArgazhi month (mArgasIrsha, dhanus).
Once in between waking and a dream, The blue one came to me… He showed me the secret play of light, which shines for eternity. The light is knowing, the light is being, the light is pure love...
Some people claim that Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda say that all religions are same.
Plenary Session: Professor Ramakrishna Puligandla Retirement Felicitation at the Thirteenth International Congress of Vedanta, 15 September 2002, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio As you know an absolute cannot be...
One day I saw a shining tower In my inner space In that tower was a blazing fire There I saw Zarathustra's face. He asked me to step right in And I did, without a second thought.
Background The concepts of Atman and Brahman is referred to in the Vedic texts, but are elaborated more in Upanishads. The attempt to Understanding of Upanishads lead to several vedantic philosophies.
Background vAk - The design pattern Like speech is expression of beings, Universe is the expression of Atman. vAk is that expression. It is four-fold.
Our body-mind complex can not and does not have free will. Yet if there is no free will then there will be no way to distinguish between morally good or bad karma.
Background In the last 2 posts on Learning physics through vedas and puranas, here and here, I had talked about concepts of energy, entropy and heat.
Background I had explained here, thermodynamic concepts of Energy, Entropy and Second law of thermodynamics using the Shiva, Ganapati and Skanda story.
The Rig Veda is supposedly a source text of Hindu Dharma. Yet given the archaic nature of the Rig Vedic Sanskrit and the complete absence of ancient commentaries there is confusion about what exactly the Rig Veda says.
Background Energy and Entropy are two key thermodynamic concepts. Let me explain them and the second law of thermodynamics with reference to Shiva/Ganapati/Skanda and their 'jnAna-pazham' story here.
Background This was my post on prAna prathisthA. Here is a summary of it. idol to mUrti mUrti' is not just an idol. mUrta is that which has settled into a form or shape.
Let me start this post by sharing a story I had heard a while back. I don't remember the source so unfortunately cannot share it -- however, it is one of those timeless Indian fables of yore.
I had written down here my translation of iSa upanishad. This is a brief summary of the main points here. iSa resides in all matter and beings which are born and/or moving in the Universe.
Religion certainly seems very dangerous in the modern world. The problem with religion is the way it is taught to people.
Isa Upanishad iSa Upanishad also called iSAvAsya Upanishad has 18 verses. It is part of Shukla Yajur Veda.
Deep sleep is like the thoughtless samadhi sensed in that concept-less moment of cognizing paradox, or that space of pause between two breaths. A natural feeling of being, from which one concludes, "I slept.
Consciousness objectifies itself, as reflections in itself, that it may know itself. A spontaneity devoid of will or assigned meaning wherein its motion and the motionlessness from which it springs, are one.
There is much confusion about concepts like Maya, the illusory nature of our waking experience. There are many who reject the Advaita claim about the illusory nature of the universe and the waking state.
Background "andham tamah pravisanti ye avidyam upasate tato bhuya iva te tamah ya u vidyayam ratah" - says Isa upanishad. One who is situated/worships/serves avidya enters the blind tamas.
Chandogya Upanishad discusses the process of rebirth of a Jiva. The whole process of taking birth is very difficult as the following shlokas show: > Residing in that (region of the moon) till they have exhausted (the...
Jambo! That is how they say "Hello" in Kenya and Tanzania. The following video is the confluence of some music that I had composed, inspired by glorious sunrises I witnessed during my travels to Kenya and Tanzania in...
Chapter 4 Believe in the Need for Us to think and become a benevolent Link in the Future of Evolution Many if not all living beings are able to seek out light, which benefits them in one or more ways.
Background Like speech is the expression of beings, this Universe is the expression of that Atman. Rg Veda Mandala 1 Hymn 164 talk of four-fold vAk, which is the four-fold expression of Universe.
Dedicated to Dwai for triggering this In the million years earth has held sway So many beings have come and gone away Like the train of thoughts in your brain Matter and Beings appear, vanish in vain Does a thought try...
Dr S Kalyanaraman, the Director of Sarasvati Research Institute, Chennai has done elaborate work on reading the hypertexts available from a very large number of artifacts found in the Sindhu Sarasvati archaeological...
Indic traditions have long held that waking, dreaming and deep sleep are three conditions that appear and disappear in pure consciousness.
Swami Tapasyananda discusses the conceptual difference between Vedantic diety and the monothesitic deity of Abrahamic faiths.
[embed]https://soundcloud.com/dwai-lahiri/sunrise-over-the-goldenway[/embed]
As the day comes to an end And darkness creeps in When the edges between day and night start to quiver and spin Look up to the horizon see the majestic skies half awake and half asleep a palette of colors before your...
Background Rg Veda Mandala 1 Hymn 164, Upanishad and vAkyapaidya talk of four-fold vAk. Rg Veda Mandala1 Hymn 164 says what is being talked about as Indra, Agni, vAyu are all those in the fourth stage only.
Background Like speech is the expression of beings, this Universe is the expression of that Atman. Like speech carries the 'knowledge', the Universe carries the 'matter' forms.
Secularists do not want to acknowledge the mayhem caused by Muslim rulers to Hindus and their temples.
More than a decade ago I got into touch with this fantastic master of many branches of knowledge, Dr R N Iyengar, to clear some doubts I had in the the geography of Bharatavarsha as depicted in Valmiki Ramayana.
In course of many years of meandering in the world of spiritual practices and beliefs, I eventually found a home that made perfect sense and confirmed the intuitive understandings and knowledge that arose from time to...
Background Sabda are simply oscillations. Sabda at first is para. Sabda exists in AkAsa. In Universe's expression AkAsa is the cosmic space, the vacuum. In Human expression, AkAsa is the sky filled with atmosphere/air.
Background In the last part, my analysis was focused on vakypadiya(4). Reference to sabda and vAk are present in Vedas, Upanishads and Vedanta.
Chapter 3. Believe in your Biological Clock and its Circadian Rhythm When a machine in use develops a malfunction, which prevents its use or makes such use less than efficient, we stop its use and have a knowledgeable...
In the introductory part, we gave a practical definition to education and the present scenario in Bharatîya formal education system.
Background The Universe’s expression (call it the expression of the Atman) and human expression (of Speech) follow the same pattern.
Sunnie D. Kidd Jim Kidd, Ph.D. Using a thematic methodology in qualitative research offers opportunities to expand the already established horizons of knowledge.
I have dealt with pancha mahA yajnAs here I am addressing the question on funeral rites in that background. Evolution of manuSya The Universe is a ‘Yajna’ a sacrifice performed by Atma, sacrificing a Purusha.
James W. Kidd, Ph.D. The Daoist themes presented here are based on the thought and expression of Chuang Tzu (399-295). They transcend the mundane world yet are always in the depth of life.
This series is a humble attempt to create a solid framework that has been worked upon by me towards a better and more effective education system.
Hindus are attacked for the prevalence of Sati pratha among Hindus.As far as I know there is no Hindu philosophy that supports Sati Pratha.
Humankind has always been obsessed with measuring everything. Everything needs to have a metric and needs to be calculated to the very last detail.
A. Introduction: A.1. Recently I came across this article by Dr. Nicholas Kazanas, in which he ‘proves’ that nityatva/ apaurusheyatva (‘eternality/universality’ and ‘non-humanness’) exist in all languages and thus all...
Background Yajna means a sacrifice. Sacrifice is not just an act of giving up ownership, but dedicating that giving up of ownership to a larger purpose.
Background The term Varna Asrama Dharma invokes a picture of backward, regressive social system in which some people enjoyed a higher social status due to their birth while many were enslaved.
Chapter 2. Believe in Nature and align with it to the extent possible. A new born baby learns very soon to look for and find comfort in the loving gaze and warm touch of its mother and the nourishment she offers it...
In Bharatiya tradition, when a large river in the course of its flow forks out clearly enough into two streams, either one or both of which being named differently from the mother river, the forking spot is considered a...
Srautasutras, Grhyasutras and Dharmasutras Sutras are short expositions of a basic truth. Each sutra connects to the previous and following thereby forming a chain of truths.
Just Believe P. Desikan Foreword Every man believes that whatever he believes in is either true, or should be true, because otherwise he would not be believing in it.
Background - Sloka 1.4.1 to 1.4.7 Atma existed before any kinds of Purusa. Atma is the ‘manas’ as it ‘sees itself. It was all alone. It is also the ‘aham’ that exists before any expression.
This is a complex topic to consider for sure. Why complex? Because it posits a paralyzingly simple possibility.
Background The Atma that the pravrAjina/brAhmana desire to realize, for which they wander/perform Yajna/dAna/destructive tapas or learn verses, is not capturable, not perceivable, not attachable, not interactive, not...
Background Asrama is a dharma, the law of the Universe. Whether one wishes or not they get subjected to this dharma. To be happy, it is better we understand this dharma and align our living to this dharma.
We have this acquired tendency to gauge the value of a message based on the appearance of the person bearing the message. If you (reader) claim that you don't judge the message by its messenger, you are simply lying.
This is nice video by Advaitin James Swartz, titled "Advanced Argument for Enlightened People", as part of a discussion on the Panćadaśi.
By Ramanarayanadatta astri I am posting here excerpts from Mahabharata discussion on ethics. Vidura was a wise man and gave a series of advice to Dhritarashta. I have posted below some excerpts from Vidura's advice.
The series of 'jnA' - the 'to know' 1. jnA is knowing 2. pra-jnA means before knowing or the 'first' of knowing, the 'prominent' knowing etc. 1. prajnA is awareness. It is the stage before 'knowing'. 2.
In a recent trip to Africa, we saw animals in their natural habitats, zebras in the grasslands of Masai Mara, Impala, Thomson's Gazelles, Lions, Cheetah, Leopard, and so on.
Background Atma tore apart Stri, established the 'Svah' (the heavens) which was just AkAsa (empty space or vacuum) and fills the AkAsa wtih Stri. On Stri, all production occurs in pairs.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuOHxzJbhHU[/embed]
Summary till now Atma tore apart Purusha and Stri. It establishes the Sva (the heavens) which was Akasa the empty space or vaccum, so swiftly, like a pea split into half. Stri becomes filled in vacuum or empty space.
Summary till now Atma tore apart Purusha and Stri due to 'desire' or 'iccha' to enjoy (rame) and not due to fear. Of these purusha does not have desire to manifest. Stri becomes filled in vacuum or empty space.
I was traveling with two friends over the weekend to and from our Master's home in Wisconsin. The drive was long and my friend Juan was riding next to me as I drove the car.
down vote[Some say, Brahman is everything. Does this mean, even non living objects like rocks, mountains, rivers, chairs, cars, are they all Brahman?][Some say, Brahman is everything.
Now you might accuse me of flogging an already dead horse, but I'd like to suggest that "this" is not the same as the "horse" that is considered already dead.
Summary till now Atma existed before any kinds of Purusa. Atma is the ‘manas’ as it ‘sees itself. It was all alone. It is also the ‘aham’ that exists before any expression.
Sloka 1.4.2 sa abibhet tasmād ekākī bibheti; sa ha ayam īkṣāṃ cakre, yat mad anyan nāsti, kaṣma annu bibhema īti, tata evāsya bhayaṃ vīyāya, kasma addhyabheṣyat dvitīyādvai bhayaṃ bhavati Translation That (sa) became...
Background This is my translation and understanding of Sloka 1.4.1 to 1.4.17 of Brhad Aranyaka Upanishad. The sloka 1.4.10 of this Upanishad has the mahAvAkya 'Aham brahma asmi'.
Sunnie D. Kidd James W. Kidd, Ph.D. Preface Henri Bergson once said “always follow your inspiration.” We have found this to be true. Inspiration is the human being’s most creative act.
Vedanta and Buddhism differ on the existence of the Self. While Vedanta affirms, Buddhism denies the existence of the Self.
Question Refer the mahAvAkya 'tat tvam asi'. If everything is Atman/Brahman then who is surrendering to whom..? What is the need for surrender..? My thoughts Let's analyse in what context it is said.
James W. Kidd, Ph.D. This presentation of Taoism will be placed in relation to Hermeneutic Phenomenology. It begins in San Francisco, the western edge. From here where does one go? This is it.
Swami Sarvapriyananda's lectures are phenomenal. I would strongly recommend watching these sermons.
So first we have to get to know the seer who is seeing the seen - the witness. This seer, when trying to see itself as its own object, goes into an infinite loop of whether the object and the subject are dependently...
Stand in the posture, your feet like tree-trunks. Tuck your tail, round your back, raise your crown. Breath into the lower elixir field, your mind will slow down and finally stop.
Kalisantaranopanishad Partha Desikan This is a sweet little upanishad containing about twenty sentences. Its name means, the upanishad for crossing Kali with.
With time and increasing sung (relaxation) and ting (sensitivity), we can start to feel the energies outside our body limits. We begin to feel like we are inside a sphere of energy that spans several feet around us.
Question Why does Isvara tell pArvati 'Sri rAma rAma rAma iti rame rAme manorame sahasra nAma tatulyam rAma nAma varAnane".
The whole process of taking birth is very difficult as the following shlokas show: > Residing in that (region of the moon) till they have exhausted (the results of action) [1] they then return [2] again [3] the same way...
| | | --- | | | | Tai chi stance meditation | In Temple style Tai Chi and Dao Gong practice, we often hear the phrase "Not too much, not too little" being used.
Let me if you please begin with a quote from Ramakrishna Puligandla which succinctly sets the ground for international research in Asian and Comparative Philosophy: > To understand a people and its culture is to...
People are mystified with or annoyed at people who have woken up making statements like “all you need is to be silent/still” or “nothing needs to be done”.
Buddha clearly said that there are gods. > When this was said, the brahmin student Sangarava said to the Blessed One: “Master Gotama’s striving was unfaltering.
As I worked through the revival of The Medha Journal, it didn't seem like a lot of time had passed since we had taken the website down.
Why is Shiva worshipped as a Lingam? The answer is that the Saivites use the linga form to signify nameless and formless aspects of the deity. > Sages said:- 8. Everywhere the deities are worshipped only in their image.
It is said that one should not fixate on experiences in the spiritual path. The seeking for spiritual succor, which is in essence a quest for ending of suffering, is not an easy path for those of us who are caught up in...
Hinduism says that there are four goals of life, dharma, artha (wealth), kama (desire) and moksha. Many Hindus concentrate on the first three goals.
Hindus regard their scripture merely as a spoon and not the food that is eaten with the spoon. So the food can still be eaten even if the spoon is defective.
The word god does not quite represent the Hindu concept of the Divine. It is better to think in terms of the Ultimate Reality which is called Brahman.
Parthasarathy Desikan Kim japan muchyate jantu: janmasamsaarabandhanaat? wonders Yudhishthira and asks Bhishma this question which has haunted many many minds before him and would continue to so haunt for millennia...
Jnana Yoga talks of the illusory nature of the world. What does this mean? This world is projected by Maya Shakti of Brahman.
We often hear the terms "Absolute Good" or "Absolute Evil" being used in context of some historical figure or another. When we are based on a dualistic world view, yes there well might be such absolute dualities.
Nothing happens to the Atman which is merely a witness. It is the subtle body that is affected by death.Check Gita 2.17-2.22 for the answer to your question. For example, Gita 2.
As human beings, we have a unique ability that seems to be missing from the rest of the animal kingdom, on Earth.
Hinduism does not invoke a Satan to account for evil. Both good and bad are properties of a dualistic world. They are anthropomorphic ideas and do not apply to the Divine.
Let me attempt to document the journey of a spiritual seeker in brief. Chasing Pleasure 1. Individual experiences pains and pleasures in life. 2.
A person practices Karma Yoga when his work benefits other peopleand the work is done without caring about the result or name, fame, promotion, wealth etc. This type of work is called nishkama karma.
The answer is no. > 'Thus the rousing of the Kundalini is the one and only wayto attaining Divine Wisdom, superconscious perception, realisation of the spirit.
Vedanta, the most popular school in Hinduism, has many schools. The principal two schools are Advaita Vedanta of Sankaracharya and Vishishtadvaita of Ramanujacharya. Their interpretations are significantly different.
The Chinese original spiritual tradition is Daoism. It is old. Perhaps not as old as the Vedas, but there are Daoist texts from as early as 2500 BCE. Most people don’t understand what Daoism entails.
Parthasarathy Desikan In the XIII chapter of the Gita, Sri Krishna talks to Arjuna about the knowledge that the wise have about the human body. Kshetrajnas know the human body to be a very special field, the Kshetra.
Should we believe blindly anything written in Hindus scripture? Does reason play any role in interpreting Hindu scripture? This is what Swami Vivekananda has written about Hindu dharma.
How else can it be? The infinitude of everything rises from a big reservoir of no-thingness. The infinite everything is like while light, containing in itself all the colors.
I am writing this to supplement the post 'Is the truth one? So what if the wise call it by different names?' In that article Rig Veda 1.
> "Abiding in the Self means the dropping away of subject, object and false identification with the body, the root and source of all suffering.
In Temple style Tai Chi and Dao Gong practice, we often hear the phrase "Not too much, not too little" being used.
There are two approaches to moksha. One approach is to directly try to attain moksha. Jnana Yogis try to do that. There is another approach called the path of krama mukti or gradual liberation by stages.
There is a trend these days of claiming that the Rg Veda 1.164.46 verse has been "appropriated" and is being "misused"by those who are called "The Sameness Myth Perpetrators".
The via negativa path is the neti neti (not this, not this) path of Jnana Marga. > No one can say with finality that God is only 'this' and nothing else. He is formless and again He has forms.
We know that moksha is the most important of the purusharthas (goals) of life according to Hinduism. Thus it would be nice to know what Hindus scriptures say about it. Here are some passages explaining moksha.
In spiritual traditions we often hear the term "Satsang" being used. It is considered highly needed for seekers in the spiritual path.
In course of meditation such as breath observation or any repetitive action (preferably done in a relaxed manner), the mind naturally tends to wander (even running tends to do that, and is true for walking as well).
That our normal "reality" is formed by objects is an understatement. However, at a spiritual level, we claim our focus is turned inward (albeit I'm not referring to those who seek God outside in the heavens somewhere).
In Daoism and Vedantic tradition, there is a term used for effortless action, which arises spontaneously. This is possible when personal doer-ship is not the primary driver or engine for action anymore.
I was reflecting on my "Who am I?" meditation, which I undertook in somewhat of skeptical manner, after re-re-re-reading Ramana Maharshi's collected works of his teachings and "Be as you are".
i recall a pastor the decon from philadelphia said in mass 'a man can only serve one master'... interesting pun how so then does a man greet his peers for he may have many masters... a catholic proverb...
Ramo madhurah, Sita madhuraa Partha Desikan In his very widely read Shri Sai Satcharita, Shri Hemadpant highlights a small but graphic discourse by the Shirdi saint, in which the latter extols the path of devotion as...
40 miles offshore trolling a weed line catching dorado (mahi mahi) and best of all we saw a sunfish finning and idled up on a pod of 350 to 400 pilot whales the mythological sunfish and pilots whales averaging 250 to...
calm day out front running to the bait patch in the heidi baby we caught ballyhoo fast that morning we anchored on a patch and made a few quick throws with the ten foot net me and jose our wells were round live wells...
hit practice at bay jam practicing my serve to reggae beats tennis landing more and more shots in play went to whale harbor for a pink lemonade and had the cracked conch three cups of pink lemonade and fried conch...
books are the key even if they sell for $3 dollars i listed my favorite authors soren kierkegaard srila prabhupad ernest hemingway and satsvarupa now how i've collected all of these books is a long list of library...
early morning in zion grove sipping on coffee gathering our steel shot and decoys in the dark loading our gear into the boston whaler marty "i got the good java!" we each had a thomas thermos to take with us for the...
ropebond Background Vedas, in my view and study are a more in-depth literature that unites science, history and our day-to-day life.
When the results of the 2011 Census of India were announced two factors were most noticed: (i) a reduction in the total fertility rate from 2.9 in 2001 to 2.62 in 2011, and (ii) deterioration in the gender balance, i.e.
Introduction One of the worlds most towering spiritual figures for the past few centuries celebrates his 150th anniversary this year. Swami Vivekananda needs no introduction to most readers.
Background I had written about Aditya Hrdayam in a similar but not exactly same fashion few years back.
When I was asked to speak at a forum to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Swami Vivekananda I began to wonder what I, as a hard core practitioner of the dismal science of economics, could say about Swami...
i've bee battling scizophrienia for almost 14 years now... my first trip to a psychologist was after an LSD arrest in bloomsburg in '96 before my senior year in high school...
The book "Being Different - An Indian challenge to Western Universalism" is blazing a trail of sparking interest & discussions across all levels of readers interested in Hinduism and Dhharmic thought.
Response to Nicholas F. Gier I am deeply appreciative of the close reading and serious attention Nicholas Gier has brought to Being Different, and for his agreement with its general purpose and intent.
Response to Robert Yelle India is an amazingly fertile crucible, being the birthplace of the largest number of modern faiths outside the Abrahamic religions.
The Clash over Coherence: Author’s Response to Larson Recently, I was invited to the ashram of a prominent Hindu guru in the US, where a Jewish American professor of Hinduism at a US university was explaining what she...
breaking claws in my fingers and nibbling on stone's i see swift feet i see a braided crown and a glow to a face beaming like the jovial sun queens jestor miracle of life dazed and confused one finds clarity like a...
{ Medha Editor's Note: Below is the Paper based on which Dr Puligandla gave his recent talk - 20th Feb 2013 - at the annual East-West Lecture Series at the University OF Toledo.
In a mail group,known as [The Becoming], Sri Venkat (Ah Venkitesh) drew the attention of fellow members to an excellent critique of Romila Thapar's literary efforts, by providing as an attachment, Chapter 15 of Volume...
Editor's note: Below is an important article Rajiv wrote on Swami Vivekananda that shows his not-so-well known influence and his importance to western philosophy today.
The confused mind thrown hither and thither In life, alone yet seeking here one and there another Where it may project its own self And then dwell like a reflection in the mirror True to life, yet not alive… So is the...
yin (feminine energy) explodes like a bomb a mans true mastery (yang) is the numbing effect of his (yin) and the wave of energy he is traversing on you know i clasp my hands and pray what drives a man mad is what he...
Raja-yoga Whenever we think of Raja-yoga we think of eight-limbed (ashtanga) path mentioned in Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras in Samkhya tradition.
god is my vehicle yeilds to my rain dance creates the weather god answers my prayers and always watches out for me and yeah she's pretty what yajnas do you perform i know mine i'm not crying i'm loving my deity inti...
i was coaching hockey practice in a dream and a dropdead gorgeous blond newsreporter was there to interview me... i had the kids playing soccer on skates...
penelope "hold on a minute i'll be right there" jack "hi" penelope "hi" jack "hey is anybody yellowtail fishing at night" penelope "what do you mean" jack "are the boats going commercial fishing at night" penelope "well...
In bhakti yoga we make our connection to Krishna our spark and flame that ignites that binds us to Godhead. I live in a fishing village so Matsya the fish incarnation or Kurma the tortoise are very manifest.
I could sense that I was moving very fast. I looked all around. I could identify many people. Am I in a train...? I couldn't decide.. Am I in some kind of spaceship..? Probably.. I tried to figure out where I am.
The Puranic Ganapati Sloka The Puranic Ganapati derived its form and shape from the Rg Veda Ganapati. Probably people depicted the form and shape of Ganapati from the descriptions of Ganapati.
The Little Puddle He is coming with us today to the grazing fields. He is barely two; He runs so fast his feet never touch the ground. His high pitched child’s voice babbles about this or that excitedly all the time.
Introduction Ganapati is the 'Brain' of us. This was my explanation for the stotra starting 'Suklam Bhartram Vishnum'.
Background Several Puranas are actually a continuation of the Vedas. While Vedas seem to be raw knowledge as heard, Puranas are simplified story versions that often continue the Vedic knowledge in a simplified way that...
Vinayaga Chaturthi is being celebrated today with a lot of fervor today. Happy Vinayaga Chaturthi. Vedic dharma in my view, if properly understood, is the most scientific and a rational dharma.
Tirukkural, Puzzles and Solutions- A psychological viewpoint (TirukkuraL, PuthirgaLum TheervugaLum- Or uLaviyal paarvai) A book in Tamil by Prof. R. Venkatachalam.
Introduction Several of our puranas, in my view, are actually cosmic events that have been put in the form of an ‘understandable’ story to a target audience.
Introduction by Senior Medhavi Dr Partha Desikan Sri Vedanta Desika (Swami Desika, Swami Vedanta Desika, Thoopul Nigamaanta Desika) (1269–1370) was a Sri Vaishnava Gurushreshtha.
Introduction The eleven names of Rudra correspond to eleven forces that are in nature and those that make up the cosmic space as we perceive it.
In the Rudram Namakam, the Eleven Rudras are praised as follows with Eleven names.
...so the first time i was at sweat records was with lizzy pitch first time in lemon city... later on i met kimmy drake my trendi record store friend of beach day... sweat records has the best soy milk coffee in miami...
Background In the Vedic literature, Devas are explicitly expressed forces that carry the evolution, while asuras are hidden forces .
I've not blogged in a long time...so here is a very short post with a link to a forum discussion that follows several year's prior discussion both on The Medhajournal and The Tao Bums regarding Advaita Vedanta and...
Eleven Forces that evolve from Atma In 2008, I wrote an explanation for Aitareya Upanishad, which talks about the evolution of Universe from Atman. Refer my blog here. http://thebigthinkg.sulekha.
Background Let’s go through the Rig vedic references to Varna names which will give us a sense of how these Varna names came about. That would set clear the real meaning behind the Varna name.
coyote jack's um i think one of the things to keep in mind is um ya know how we got started on our path and ya know where we were at before if we keep in mind where we were before if we were in a different town or city...
Background All through the Rig veda the references to Aryas and Sudasas depict Aryas as givers and Sudasas as receivers.
Background What does Arya mean..? In this series I am arguing that Arya is not a race, but a civilizational identity based on various scriptures.
Background Knowledge and ‘History’ are synonymous in some dimensions. The moment an information that is extremely useful to our evolution becomes available and understable to people, it is knowledge as well as history.
Background The Varna Asrama Dharma that I have been writing about in this series is different from what is viewed as Varna Asrama Dharma.
Background Varna Asrama Dharma is a law of societies at all times. If we understand a law we will make better use of it. Same is the case with Varna Asrama Dharma.
Background Interpretations often come up based on personal perceptions. It is very hard to interpret a data without an element of ‘bias’ going into it. The data as it exists is ‘fact’. It has no properties or attributes.
a gloom falls over me and my eyes turn grey as a stone the light feeling i had is gone i shivered in joy and watched a fairy tale unfold sometimes when it is raining down on us we see our faith is true the beacon in a...
nipping on flower buds chanting krishna i see the sunlight beam in through the windows and the open door the air is brisk good for breathing a sudden glimps though the looking glass and the eyes of a hawk that soars...
> walk backwards up the staircase > and fall far below > face the darkness > into the depths of night > light a wax candle > and leave it on the window sil > so wayfarers yeild > and wic away the ghosts and goblins >...
> when i see a hawk i see her face > > > when i see her blouse slip off of her shoulder i see her feet in the clouds > > > someone has made a landing > > > there to lift me up > > > to see if i have fallen > > > winged...
Introduction by Senior Medhavi Dr Partha Desikan Sri Garudadwajan on Kulasekhara’s Garland for Mukunda Partha Desikan In January 2009, in my blog in these pages on Parashurama Kshetra (Part 4), I was able to talk about...
Background In the Vedic approach, everything evolved out of the Atma that existed before everything.
Medha Editor Note: Below was first published at: Re-published here for wider circulation of this clear articulation of his position by author, the "Medha Geopolitical Guru" Rajiv Malhotra.
Background In the process of evolution of intelligence, convergence and divergence are the tools. Our thoughts, value systems, philosophies converge and diverge all the time, giving rise to new mosaic of systems ever.
Background Logic is a function of time. What was logical at one time becomes illogical at another time and vice-versa, as knowledge keeps evolving.
Background Culture is institutionalized learning. We transfer our learning and experiences as culture to the next generation. Hence culture is highly susceptible to change.
Background As I have been writing, the four Varnas (Knowledge Providers, Service Providers, Material Providers and Labor) are present in any societal structure.
Vijaya Rajiva (like Sandhya Jain, on whom I've written before) has been around for a long time, so it is difficult for me to write what I write below.
Background I think the basic flaw is in understanding Aryan as a Race, while it is NOT. It is a Civilization that could have been adopted by any set of people.
A few months ago, Rajiv Malhotra published his groundbreaking book, Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism.
Background I had talked about Varna and Asrama in detail in the previous chapters. These are stark truths that do not require much evidences in general.
West Mambalam remembers MC with Love Partha Desikan Addressing a gathering at Chennai on the occasion of the birth centenary celebrations of M C Subrahmanyam, founder of The Public Health Centre at West Mambalam, on...
Background I had talked about the THREE types of professions based on learning and a profession just based on labor that are prevalent in the world at all times.
Background Before I move on to Aryan society evolution, I thought I would share some modern data on innovators and also some thoughts on real Sanyasa Asrama.
Background In the last chapter we saw how the Asrama system was tuned to human developmental needs. Brahmacharya is the stage when brain development and learning happens.
“Becoming fully developed human being –is the aim of our life and it is the chief object of 'MahaDharma' –the way of real life.
Background The term Varna Asrama Dharma invokes a picture of backward, regressive social system in which some people enjoyed a higher social status due to their birth while many were enslaved.
Background The Varna system in which social beings either drive the A) evolution/knowledge levels of society or B) Provide service to society or C) Provide goods to society by exploiting natural resources was derived...
Background The Varnas or professional types are a manifestation of the Gunas. The entire Universe can be seen as an interplay of purusha, prakrti and gunas.
Dear friends, ... I wanted to share some thoughts below regarding what reader segments are targeted by the book, and what I hope it offers each of them.
Medha Editor Note: In its attempt to keep readers updated on the activities regarding this seminal book, we publish below a few important reviews of the book by influential academicians & leaders.
Background People know about Varna Asrama Dharma through the Caste System. The Caste System as it was practiced in India went from social aggregation to segregation and outright discrimination based on one’s birth.
Background I had presented a paper during the WAVES 2011 Conference on Varna, Jati and Kula. I plan to elaborate it with lot more explanations as a series of blogs.
Background Life on this planet becomes more complex as intelligence evolves. This poses a challenge to the evolution of intelligence itself, as mind aspires far beyond the capabilities of our body and the environment.
Brahma Kamal blooms in Bangalore "Epiphyllum oxypetalum "or "Night blooming Cereus". The flower blooms once in a year which makes it auspicious.
Background Life on this planet becomes more complex as intelligence evolves. This poses a challenge to the evolution of intelligence itself, as mind aspires far beyond the capabilities of our body and the environment.
Wishing all medhavis a very happy and prosperous Deepawali ! May we all move steadily towards light. asato ma sadgamaya tamaso ma jyotirgamaya mrtyorma amrtam gamaya Lead me from the asat to the sat.
Background In the last blog on Surya Narayana Mantra, I had talked about Namaskara and Samarpana. We perform Namaskara to Elders from whom we learn.
'I am simply using the dharmic perspective to reverse the analytical gaze which normally goes from West to East and unconsciously privileges the former.
Background Sandhya Vandanam is a procedure that provides big and balanced thinking. Big and Balanced thinking is required for learning and evolution.
It was a near miss, this fruit But when the wretched owner of the orchard Looked away, I managed to grab it It looks green, firm and shiny.
Background Anna Hazare, had talked about five important goals to be like ‘Anna’. They are ‘Shudh Vichaar’ (Clean thoughts), ‘Shudh Aachar’ (Clean deeds), ‘Nishkalank Jivan” (Impeccable Integrity), ‘Tyag’ (Sacrifice) and...
subtle bite of morning they are the puddles of water in the road that send his car nervous warnings startled merge of consciousness yet as he traverses and settles on his bearing the tires throw out a surge of water...
Background We visited the abode of Atma, saluted the characteristics of that Atma (Change, Self-drive, Nuetral/Creation, Fast movement/Knowledge). Then we saluted all the forces that emanated from Atma.
For days , we had been waiting for her. We heard the jingle of her bangles, the rustle of her sari and inhaled the fragrance of the flowers she wears. We were rewarded as we are every year by her visit.
There is not one drop of Natural Fresh River Water in River Yamuna in Delhi & Beyond. Almost 97% of Original River Waters are taken away from River Yamuna, only a few kilometers from its birthplace - Yamnotri.
Background I chose to intersperse my writeup on TSV with mapping of science, some of which may become true or proved otherwise in future.
EDITOR's NOTE: Caste is such a controversial topic that it behooves Hindus; as the only ones who are constantly barraged with attacks on this subject by assorted activists & "experts"; to do their due diligence and come...
(www.wavesinternational.net) “Na hi Jnanena Sadrsam – There is nothing equivalent to knowledge” The Bhagavad Gita – IV.
Background After taming the body with slow breathing synchronized with mind, we invoked the Gayatri in us to remain neutral. If we need to self-drive ourselves, we need to be neutral.
as far as i know krishna made the clouds on the horizon it might rain tonight if we see pegasus or the great bear we see krishna the evidence of water on one of the moons of jupiter is a satellite reservoir of life yes...
Background In the TSV procedure, four ‘devi’s are addressed. I had already explained that Devas are forces that express outside and asuras are forces that are hidden.
bee nectar the taste is bitter a tangy sweet give me tonic a tactile sip sometimes i tremble a cosmic void is all i see i sweat like a pine tree oozing sap all night one subtle spring morning the pollen made me sneeze...
Bhagavan , Bhaktha, and Bhagavatham I am posting some nectar of Bhakthi by some extraordinary bhaktas [ devotees].
(www.wavesinternational.net) “Na hi Jnanena Sadrsam – There is nothing equivalent to knowledge” The Bhagavad Gita – IV.
Background The beauty of Vedas actually lie in the fact that they make us learn from science and nature. Our greatest guru lies there in front of our eyes and ears.
BackGround TSV is not about language. It is about using our brain, breathing and thoughts to influence our body and keep us synchronized and balanced with the natural flow of events and thereby become part of the...
Background TSV broadly consists of two parts. One part where we prepare mentally and physically to visit the abode of Atman and another part actually we do it.
Of Stones and Shells Partha Desikan The rain, which falls on a mountain and flows as a river on to the sea, carries mementos throughout its course. Boulders and smaller pieces of rock accompany it in the beginning.
Deva Tarpanam – Cosmic forces our ancestors Background I suspect many of the puranic lores are actually a way of understanding of particular real events.
A six year old boy composes beautiful poems! The first poem is for the robin bird who has decided to have 3 sets of kids (each time 4 baby robins) on his front door.
swift feet in battle the echo of kettle drums rising spirit cat on the prowl archer on the point swordsman in the field earthquake of men sea of death pool of blood in the sand full speed ahead the war chant stand tall...
what wraith is it calling on what did i see? forbidden yajna blanket in the air it wells up out of the earth screeching to the pulse of the drums till a shadow falls over the moon erie apparition cold spell in the night...
Please go through once again, my blog in December 2008 on the Indian languages question https://medhajournal.com/partha-says.../588-the-indian-languages-question.
The Mantra-Tantras of SandhyaVandanam – Finishing the Bath Background TSV is actually very simple to do, if we understand it. Since we did not understand, it becomes mystical and then complex.
Background If one wants to cultivate the habit of TSV, it need to be cultivated as a post-bath habit. It is as important as taking bath. Taking Bath cleans our body.
The Mantra-Tantras of SandhyaVandanam – Taking Bath Background In TSV, one lifts mentally into the abode of Atma (with Achamanam/AngaVandanam), invokes peace from the consciousness inside (with Ganapati Dyanam), tames...
The Mantra-Tantras of TSV - Breath Control – Pranayama Background Even people who do TSV regularly do not do it sincerely. For eg.
Ganapati Dyanam - Invoke peace in our actions Background TSV as a wholesome training for body and mind synchronization can be done by any individual of any age and any religion.
The Mantra-Tantras of Sandhya Vandanam – Part I Background TSV is generally seen as a religious ritual in which one prays to different gods of Hindu pantheon. In particular it is seen as a ‘worshipping’ of Sun God.
Let me state first that I am neither a Yoga selling Baba nor Spiritualism selling Swamiji.
i caught the metro rail to SOMI, and walked to Sunset Tavern for Cat's acoustic gig Bartender "what can i get ya" Jim "a miller light" it was just Cat, and Mau Jim "Cat, hi" Cat "hey man" Jim "how is it going?" Cat...
My Bio-data The following is my brief Resume: ‘Sthala-Jala-Bhrama’ is my first name Chasing mirages is my major expertise Going off track is my long term experience Holding packets sans any content is my Qualification!...
Preamble Arjuna doubts which of the two ways - whether renunciation of action or participation in action - is the nobler and the greater.
Preamble Sri Krishna explains the spirit of renunciation and the state of Supreme Being in more details.
Preamble The Gita has been described as an elaborate commentary on the mahavakya of the Chhandogya Upanishad, 'tat tvam asi - that thou art'.
Preamble We have seen Sri Bhgavan describing the process of meditation. He continues the discussion in the following verses pointing out that the controlled mind remains peaceful and explaining the process by which the...
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 4 (Part-1) Jnaana Karma Sanyaasa Yogah : Yoga of Renunciation of Action in Knowledge T.N.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 4 (Part-2) Jnaana Karma Sanyaasa Yogah: Yoga of Renunciation of Action in Knowledge T.N.
Wendy Doniger’s scholarship was critiqued at a Roundtable Panel in Hawaii for two hours. The book in question was Doniger’s, The Hindus: An Alternative History (2009).
T.N.Sethumadhavan IDENTITY OF THE TRINITY Siva is one of the deities of the Hindu Trinity. He is responsible for the dissolution of the universe.
JOY! It’s Love, It’s Bliss, It’s Eternal Look, see, feel, sense, enjoy It’s there Inside, outside, everywhere It’s love, it’s inspiration, it’s the divine bliss Emanating it is, from our hearts It’s been there all...
A DREAMY TURN Before the Dream In the long tunnel of dark, I travelled, visibility was zero Couldn’t see where I was going or who’re with me… Sounds, smells, tactility were my guides that led me through What was real...
falling leaves in the wind a fox scurries past shooting stars up above into the thicket to where the rabbit led a foot on a tree no earth below the cover of night crows at sun rise fog lifts on the horizon startled to...
i noticed the sound check the humble one with the bald forehead his diagnostics test kind of bashful his gaze fixed on the wires on the deck ample sound effect to give it a go reminds me of a freind who taught me what...
asleep on a fence awake in a dream a gasp for air a sip of water i taste the leaf nibble on the bract now the compass gives me a little direction i like to sweat to give you oxygen middling plateau synaptic rift i like...
note one dialog of Visal das talking about how he got into teaching Prabhupada once said to be a teacher you have to be a student first.
little krishna in a deep blue overcoat drifting through time gaura nitai in lime green flaunting his bliss resting radhas pink lotus palm jaganatha so proud candle on the windowsil the echo of voices in the dark a shot...
beacon on the shore in the blade grass on the sand dunes basking in the tropical sun chasing fiddler crabs in the wet sand tip toeing messenger scouting out the perimeter there to meet me in the moonlight little shadow...
In my blog on ‘Upanayanam Explained’, I had illustrated the inverted banyan tree and the ‘Urdhva Mulam” sloka in Bhagavad Gita in the context of nAndi ceremony. Many people couldn’t connect the two.
We are preparing for our Son's Upanayanam (Sacred thread wearing ceremony). Though Upanayanam has become a 'Lougiga' festival these days with lot of style and no substance, it is indeed a 'knowledege' ceremony, which...
(www.wavesinternational.net) “Na hi Jnanena Sadrsam – There is nothing equivalent to knowledge” The Bhagavad Gita – IV.
Professor Amit Goswami continues to bridge a mighty gap spanning quantum physics on the one side and the most cherished spiritual ideas from his early training in India on the other. This film takes you on his journey.
Saankhya Yogah: Yoga of Knowledge Preamble In the 1st Chapter we have seen that Arjuna asked Krishna to place the chariot in the midst of the two armies.
Saankhya Yogah: The Yoga of Knowledge Preamble We have seen the dejection of Arjuna and his determination not to wage the war.
Saankhya Yogah : Yoga of Knowledge Preamble Last time we studied up to verse 2.22 dealing with Krishna’s exposition about the permanent nature of the Soul and the impermanent nature of the physical body wherein the Lord...
Saankhya Yogah : Yoga Of Knowledge T.N.Sethumadhavan Preamble Up to the verse 2.38 we have seen the Lord establishing the propriety of Arjuna engaging in the war from the point of view of Sankhya Yoga or the Yoga of...
Saankhya Yogah : Yoga Of Knowledge T.N.Sethumadhavan Preamble The Lord told Arjuna that when his mind would have crossed the mire of delusion and would develop indifference towards the enjoyment of this world and the...
Karma Yogah : Yoga Of Action T.N.Sethumadhavan Preamble This Chapter analyses from various points of view and establishes the fact that the performance of prescribed duties is obligatory for everyone.
Karma Yogah : Yoga Of Action T.N.Sethumadhavan Preamble We had seen in the previous verses that by citing His own example The Lord described the consequences of not doing any action and proved that for the sake of the...
20th century Astronomers have made 2 great discoveries that have changed the scientific view of the universe. Some new, unknown sort of matter usually called dark matter seems to make up 23% of the universe.
I am glad to post here an excerpt from Pandit Vamadeva Shastri's [ Dr. David Frawley] book "Yoga and the Sacred Fire" with the permission of the site the link below leads to.
Background In the previous blog, I had written about the basic concept of Mandalas. Here I look into every Mandala in some more detail. Refer to my previuos blog here.
From Aditya Hrdyam something made me to move to Vastu Sastra. I had been reading about it for several months now. What I present here are my understandings and in some case mappings of my understandings.
In Upanisads Moksa is viewed as a state of absorption into the universal nature of Brahman where the individual merges into the universal spirit...
Editor's Note: This critique was issued in the form of an open letter (to Mihir Meghani, HAF President) in the immediate aftermath of the report that was published late Dec 2010 --- Dear Mihir, I’m sure that by now...
Original article at: https://medhajournal.com/indology/256-indias-conjured-caste-conundrum-by-raghbendra-jha.html
Editor's Note: This critique was issued in the form of emails to HAF in the immediate aftermath of the report that was published late Dec 2010, and some later re-iterations, all compiled here by the author.
Editor's Note: This critique was issued in the form of open letters to HAF leadership in a series of emails in the aftermath of the report that was published late Dec 2010.
Editor's Note: This critique was issued in the form of an email to HAF in the immediate aftermath of the report that was published late Dec 2010 --- Friends: I have carefully read HAF’s recent report on CASTE.
Editor's Note: This critique was issued in the form of an email to HAF in the immediate aftermath of the report that was published late Dec 2010 --- The political implications of HAF on Caste and Hinduism -----Original...
Re-published courtesy: http://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters/When-caste-was-not-a-bad-word-1.aspx --- Were caste equations always as bad as they are today? Not quite.
A critique of the Hindu American Foundation’s report “Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste Seeking an End to Caste-based Discrimination 2010” Why this critique? The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) is a US-based Hindu advocacy...
Summary of Major Issues with the HAF Report on Caste Contents Executive Summary A Brief History The Political Implications of the Report Substantive Flaws in the Contents of the Report What now? Executive Summary Many...
Review If you like the idea of watching a really good National Geographic article brought to life, with the lush photography, fascinating facts, sense of discovery and slight superficiality that implies, you ll love THE...
the sun is up in the frost covered hills time stands still a chill to the air a prism of light spring is near cardinals land in fresh seed a rabbit on the edge of a thicket now i see it
Introduction This book has emerged as a result of several experiences that have deeply influenced my research and scholarship over the past decade.
purple lightning bug the flash of a snapdragon fair maiden shifting light sallow beacon in the night little pilot in flight lotus flower bumblebee land on me
It is clear that as evidence for reincarnation we can only expect the claimant to reveal certain facts which he has hitherto not known or been exposed to and has no means of inferring it until the examiner allows him to.
One often refers to seeing or thinking more objectively and less subjectively as the foundation of the scientific method.
The HAF Report on Caste & Its Implications: A Critique from Members of the Hindu Community and Hindu Groups at Large A Brief History On August 7, 2010, Hindu American Foundation (HAF) made an invited presentation at the...
For some time I had been quite enthusiastic about researching the evidence on reincarnation and paranormal claims because I considered it to be of great consequence to how I would live my daily life.
What is the difference between holy and healthy prayer and goal-setting prophecy and schedule revelation and discovery endowment and potential saint and social worker sin and error lust and addiction hell and pain...
Original location at: https://medhajournal.com/indian-news/1071-gayatri-parivars-open-letter-to-haf.html
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 An ardent Hindu denounces the HAF report on caste You are by now familiar with the ill-conceived report on caste by HAF.
OM! Sri! Priya Sanatana Dharmi Bhaiyyon Aur Beheno: Sasneh namaskar. The wheel has come full circle.
Sri Nagendra's response to the esteemed Swami Vigyananand ji; Jt. General Secretary; Vishva Hindu Parishad Head – International Coordination...
... I am deliberately writing this message in yellow press, demagogic and repetitive language – Mass Communications 300 at Wharton / Annenberg School of Mass Communications on agitprop tactics.
Sri Gurubhyo namaH HariH OM Shambhave namaH Cover Letter for Sri Pejawar Swamiji’s Sandesham February 7, 2011 The Directors Hindu American Foundation Washington DC Namaste to all, About two weeks ago, we had received a...
Original location at: https://medhajournal.com/indian-news/1072-puttige-maths-open-letter-to-haf.html
Original location at: https://medhajournal.com/indian-news/1073-swami-dayananda-saraswatis-open-letter-to-haf.html
Original location at: https://medhajournal.com/indian-news/1070-swami-ramdevs-open-letter-to-haf.html
On December 10, 2010, the Hindu American Foundation (“HAF”) published a report on caste entitled “Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste.” The issuance of the report generated immediate debate and controversy.
Original Location at: https://medhajournal.com/karigar's-corner/1068-haf-report-casting-a-net-full-of-holes.html
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been running for some time now. So this is now the right time ( January, 2011) for an interim report. There is in fact nothing to report as yet.
It is not yet dawn. But soon it will be. Periyazhwar [ Vishnu Siddhar] walks on, immersed as he is in Narayana . He is collecting flowers and tulsi from his nandavanam for his Lord.
We seek here to investigate by means a priori whether free will can be reasonably held to be true in the sphere of ordinary human endeavour or not.
Krishna is about to fall asleep, hush! His lotus eyes now opening,now closing Long lashes now meeting ,now parting Rose bud lips now curving in a smile Hush! Hush! Hush! Krishna is about to fall asleep.
23 O Lord of all the worlds, O God of Gods, O Soul and Stay of all things that live and move, O Five-faced ONE whose begging palm feeds all - The vision of whose sixth face, the ONE SOUL Is the reward of all that have...
Wake up, yea, to see this beautiful world Of skyrises, land rangers, androids pearled Comfort’s ocean, fount of titillation Man’s glory, wondrous civilisation! We’ve lit the country whole but not our soul Know each...
Know ye first these Principles of Science Keep ye them in mind and upon them meditate And by the excellent zeal upon it thy heart set By thy hand do thou build wondrous appliance View, observe, discover, watch thou...
MEDHA EDITOR's NOTE: Keeping in mind the 'hot' topic of 'Caste", Medha Journal brings you a series of perspectives. This one by Prof M Lal Goel is the first in the series. India’s Caste System and Pluralism M.
19 It is not once but many a time that pride, Blind to life's lessons harsh, must falter and fall, Ere in its final painful overthrow It crashes in the whirl of slaughter and storm: True Nandi's curse, all knew, would...
Bhagavad Gita - Chapter 1 (Part-2): Yoga of the Despondency of Arjuna T.N.Sethumadhavan --- When the Gods deal defeat to a person, they first take his mind away, so that he sees things wrongly.
A story in four chapters presenting the potential for a fast-forward in evolution through a guided tour.
15 Delighted Dakshayani told the king The three eyed Lord of Kailas would come and wed; And Daksha's joy was more than plain to see, And he gave orders for arrangements to speed.
10 Dynamic Shakti parts from Consciousness (As seen on the plane relative where we move, But Consciousness and Shakti are not apart!) And each in love from basic oneness spring, Towards the other moves in ecstasy, And...
5 "Do lead, Abode of Sattwa, guide along, O Vishnu, lead; O Power that protect, guide; With Brahma by Thy side, do show the way To Shiva's home where hope eternal shines, To KAILAS where all founts of valour spring; Do...
Skanda Puranam, the greatest of the Eighteen Mahapuranas, is as sacred to the Shaivites as the Srimad Bhagavatam is to the Vaishnavites.
i saw krishna he was walking with a lantern so i followed him and it was easier the inner light is lit krishna holding the lantern walking on the path we love the light that is the reason we go to it again and again if...
Adi Shankara’s Bhaja Govindam: An effective Stress Management Technique T.N.Sethumadhavan [This essay was originally published in the August, 2007 issue of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ illustrated monthly...
Yoga of the Despondency of Arjuna T.N.Sethumadhavan (First published in esamskriti.
Another Sequel to Sri Matsya Narayana: Nepali Homage in Malmas Partha Desikan I had the pleasure of interaction with our friends on the Sri Matsya Narayana avatara through two blogs posted earlier this year.
SI Metric Mass and Electrical Unit Converter Problems involving an electrical unit convertermay be analyzed by applying the moment-of-momentum principle at convertunitsnow.com .
Science of Surya Mantra and Aditya Hrdayam Preface There is a great consistency in the meanings I find across slokas of Nasaidya Suktam, Purusha Suktam, Aitareya Upanishad, Rudram Chamakam, Rudram Namakam, Surya Mantra,...
Buzz, learn and lead! A story in four chapters presenting the potential for a fast-forward in evolution through a guided tour Chapter 3 Innate Immunity “We have a lot in common, bees and humans, I mean.
(First published in esamskriti.com) Origins of the Temple THE temple of Sri Venkateswara (Balaji) at Tirumala, Tiupati in Andhra Pradesh is perhaps the most popular of all the Hindu temples in our country.
Let me wish all my medhavi friends a glorious Navarathri, filled with the joy of the Grace of Ma Shakti in all her manifestations and with fresh opportunities to deal effectively with obstacles in their paths with her...
INTRODUCTION The worship of Shakti dates back to the Rig Veda where she is praised as ‘the supporter of the earth living in heaven’.
Introducing Srimad Bhagavad Gita: A User’s Manual for Every Day Living T.N.Sethumadhavan --- “Live in the world but don’t be of the world. Live in the world but don’t let the world live within you.
someone walked over a lit candle in a brass anvil to greet me asking the plant to forgive again on most mornings i ask krishna to turn the plant back into sita the faint light is enough if we are content as a plant...
Buzz, learn and lead! A story in four chapters presenting the potential for a fast-forward in evolution through a guided tour. Chapter 2 Long-distance Flights When I awoke, I did not find either my companion or the sage.
the falconer called on the falcon for his spate on a leaf go to the queen the falcon soared into the clouds in a rattle on the pounce of a rival falcon cascade to a stream one of the fisherman to find a little girl on...
I am deeply indebted to Shri Partha Desikanji and Shri Rudraji for locating me in the maze of Websites and encouraging me to become a part of the Medhavi community - a medhavi in Sanskrit means an intellectual, a man of...
Steve on the Linda D IV found me walking along the dock in 2004. He asked if I was the kid looking for a job. I mentioned the boats that I had worked on before to give him an idea of what sort of experience I had.
A story in four chapters presenting the potential for a fast-forward in evolution through a guided tour. Chapter 1 I want a Change You will agree with me that I am in a rather serious kind of predicament.
Lord Ganapati is the most popular Deity among the Hindus. No Pooja or religious rites or for that matter no daily activity in any Hindu household commences without first worshipping Ganapati.
Partha Desikan The Upward Spiral is a powerful paperback written by the lawyer turned author, speaker and educator on the wellbeing of lawyers, Harvey Hyman J. D, who is now CEO of Lawyers’ Wellbeing Inc.
Yesterday was the 5 th of September and Teachers ‘ Day was celebrated throughout India. This was the day a stalwart Son of India was born many years ago. He was Dr S.
We knew this day was coming. We ‘d discussed this earlier and we had been waiting…for what had seemed like an eternity. Still, I find it hard to believe that the dark skinned baby is in my arms.
the mind is a treasure chest the nerve endings grow like tree branches even sprout leaves or flowers sometimes old trees are removed and new ones grow i fell through a rabbit hole once a vast abstraction i thought i had...
INDICA THE TASTE SO SWEET BLUE PETALS BLOOMING UNDER THE SUN INDICA SO POTENT OUR SOURCE OF NATURE OUR SENSE OF WHAT IS REAL OUR SPIRITUAL FLOW INTENSE AS CAN BE OUR NATURAL GO THE PHASES OF THE MOON GUIDING OUR FORTUNE...
A very happy Indian independence day to all Medhavis. Let’s us salute all the men and women who sacrificed their all so that we’d see this day, the brave men and women who guard our borders today, and also the...
I came across this incredible video on an internet forum a few days ago. Watching it gave me goosebumps (the good kind). I thought our Medhavis would like to see it too...
Traveling around the Miami area using mass transit has been an adventure in and of its own.
Sea Of Cold devaguraji waterdroplet What is it that makes plants grow? We know that plants are rooted in the earth. It is the rain that provides nourishment. Plants grow towards the sunlight or the source.
The bus stopped in Orlando so north bound travelers could get on the next bus. After that we changed over in Savanna Georgia. It went north to Washington DC. I hopped on a bus to Baltimore from there.
The rink had its own architectural plan. The roof was slanted. The main beams for the roof were massive wooden planks. The wood had aged from the cold humid atmosphere of the rink. The aura of the rink was like Ontario.
Introduction I have been recently reading Digha Nikaya and Samyutta Niyaka, the Buddhist Pali scriptures.
The Western Jin gained control of the Yangzte with the fleet it had of warships in 279. The Sui founder Yang Jain followed the path of the Jin building a fleet of ships on his own.
I was at a BBQ pool party last evening and somehow managed to discuss meditation and consciousness with a friend.
the jigsaw puzzle how did it form now it all fits in place the rainfall the plants of the earth the cold water springs the favoring wind the cosmic mist climbing a ladder each stone overturned in the last chapter we...
In a few hours from now, my millions of brothers all over the world would sit before the TV to watch the FIFA finals [ while the ladies in their lives would be happy that the season is ending for now] .
One morning in October of 2004 while fishing just offshore of Sand Key Light all of the sudden fog began to move in on us. Our GPS was malfunctioning so all we had to use was our compass or our instinct to find our way.
paint the image of a bird dog in a field or along the edge of a river the dog is running all over laughing there is nothing the dog wants to do more than to fetch a bird the dog is content chasing birds that is what the...
our black cat kali wincing at me the sweat bee is going to sting me i need fertilizer for the tomato plants i just agitated all of the roots pollen drifting through the air nectar for the hummingbirds does a bee buzz...
caught waves at low tide at the inlet right to the shoreline the great awakening was paddling out to catch a wave at the pier at sunset we might do all sorts of far out things catching waves we still walk off drenched...
Dawn is still an hour away. I look at the lamp- lit street that stretches before me. It seems messier than usual. The street’s surface feels rough against my bare feet.
at the edge of the cold mountain stream barefoot sifting for flatstones to find Govinda the awakening again the laughter of the blackbirds the leaves buding the lotus petals sprouting the source of inertia the shadow of...
The Rudram Chamakam Background This work is a culmination of my last six months or so of my effort. As usual I am not sure on how I landed into Rudra or Chamakam.
Learning to be pure finding santosa orcontentment orsvadhyaya, the reading of the scriptures are all aspects of entering the dhaama or sheltered asrama for arjava, upright meditation on the absolute.
I found this touching anecdote about Lakshmi the cow who was fortunate enough to live and later on ,breathe her last in Ramana Ashramam , Thiruvannamalai .
Professor Sethuramiah’s haiku, Avani and Ishaan Partha Desikan Our friends will remember Susumu Takiguchi’s Keynote Address at the World Haiku Festival, Bangalore 2008, and my blog highlighting its focus on Tagore and...
My friend Evgeny and I go to learn Yoga from a Tamil Siddha Yogi and also learn Taiji Chuan from a student from an authentic Taoist Lineage.
Nyagrodha-Udumbara-Ashvattha, the three gentle giants Partha Desikan Prologue: The very large span in seven of the eight aishvaryas (as different from corresponding siddhis which men attain through sadhana) that...
We inhabit an age of unprecedented access to information. We get news about anyone anywhere in the world moments after an elapsed event. We watch closely, and are watched in return.
Lessons from the Nithyananda Scandal-II The Christian Church has the longest continuous history of governance, with a tremendous track record of protecting its interests under all circumstances.
MEDHA EDITOR'S NOTE: In our quest to foster quality discussions & debates on serious & topical issues of the day, we look forward to your participation in the freshly ignited debate on that old perennial favorite,...
Original location at: https://medhajournal.com/geopolitics-guru/1060-critique-of-hindu-american-foundations-report-on-caste.html
Rajiv Malhotra, Oct 15, 2010. This morning, Times of India celebrates the headlines, "Harvard gets biggest international donation in 102 yrs, from Tata group." ".
Introduction Passions are raised whenever the standard universalistic Hindu position, ”All religions are valid” , is discussed.
My Birthday Poem 19-4-2010 Today (April 19), I am beginning my Sixty Fourth circumambulation about the Sun. When I look around from the 64th story of my life-edifice, I see many changes.
Tamil new year day was celebrated with the usual fervor on the 14 th of April this year A traditional meal consisting of the sweet [ jaggery] laced with the bitter [ neem flowers] is made on this day to symbolise life...
Medha Editor's Note: With the public hooked onto scandals where sexuality vis a vis spirituality became a central focus of public discourse, it is fitting that we take a look at the deeper philosophical side of the...
in a talk about Srila Prabhupada one night someone claimed the words or his writings or purports were unarguable the bhagavad gita is unarguable in plain translation i guess the feedback i had on the outlook or...
Space like time can be seen in just one dimension if we lineraize it. For eg a spiral can enumerate a three dimensional space in just one dimension (linearize it) as a continuous set of numbers.
Anti-hindu activities and defamation by Sandhya Jain and Radha Rajan of Acharyas and others Their attempt to divide the Hindu Acharyas is clear from the Tamil circular doing the rounds.
Medha Editor's note: For those needing more background on the divisive antics mentioned here by Dr Kalyanaraman, please read this piece at Sulekha: Update: Also see https://medhajournal.
Background Aitareya Upanishad says Purusha was drawn out and spread to protect the Universe, from the same essence/soul from which Amba came.
The Susquehanna Rick made a long cast into the main river current. Rick had gotten out of the boat then waded onto the shallows where there was vegetation full of minnows in the warmer surface column amist the late...
Scotch Run looking for natives Patrick had a small ultra light spinning rod with a micro shimano reel. Whenever fishing a trout stream he used 2 lb. test. When wading he wore a vest to keep his hooks, jigs or spinners.
'My story that should make The civilized society hide its face In the interiors of the earth, in shame – In which canto of your country’s famed history Will you write it down, my story?' (From a Telugu dalit poem...
The subconscious mind is a powerful thing. Our subconscious mind has all sorts of hidden paths to it.
Logic tells us that there must be a creator for the universe to exist. St. Thomas calls God the first mover. In Shorter Summa, the existence of God is the first topic St. Thomas explains that God is eternal.
Revisions of Srila Prabhupada quotes out of the writings of Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami about his travels...
The Image of Shiva was found in the ruins of the Indus River civilization. The parallel of worship of Shiva is the worship of shakti or the power of the active forces of the universe.
someone asked me what happens to a drop of water when it hits the ocean? i said it becomes a part of the ocean he said right...
Sandhya Jain [1] has been around for a long time, so it is difficult for me to write what I write below.
Spirit Level to Spiritual Radio Mannequins can also be our Teachers We all have seen human-look-alike mannequins exhibiting various types of attires at the entrances of many a textile showroom.
Asha Stanford's Holi 2010 When: March 27, 2010, 11 am - 3 pm Where: Sandhill fields, Stanford University Tickets can be bought at: - We'll give you 3000 pounds of color to render your friends completely unrecognizable!...
Brahma is the source of the cosmic explosion at the beginning of the universe…his energies were first.
When the sex scandal of Swami Nithyananda suddenly erupted on March 2, 2010, I was already in Delhi as part of a group to go to Kumbh Mela.
> If we look to the stratosphere we notice the clouds or the variations of the hue of the horizon above us. If we see where we are standing we get to the realization that we are on a planet.
All religions are true You must remember that humanity travels not from error to truth, but from truth to truth; it may be, if you like it better, from lower truth to higher truth, but never from error to truth.
Introduction and Background In my previous article on Sankhya Philosophy, I had stated about the interplay of purusha, prakrti and Gunas in every dimension of this universe.
My childhood does not seem that far away. Not since I have become a Mom myself. As I sing my son to sleep I remember snatches of long-forgotten lullabies that Grandma used to sing to us about a sister trying to awaken...
Worship of ancestors While taking the journey with Hinduism through History, it was seen that one of the most rudimentary - yet profound - ways of worship is by venerating the dead.
Thus ends the disgusting cacophonic melange of celebrity parade masquerading as something really noble. With this, the Slimes has managed to herald the onset of dumbing down Republic Day.
Breakfast, Penance & The Ecstasy An Exceptional Experience in Guruvayoor First Hurdle -The Jam Night It seems that the traffic peak hours fall on the Bangalore-Salem-Palakkad-Thrissur route during that 12-hour stretch,...
When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need. --From the Charaka Samhita, one of the most ancient and venerated Ayurvedic textbooks.
At The Feet Of My Cosmic Beloved! Craving much for I’m to enter Your hallowed chamber, Deep within me, but hidden away! It is a dream that I wait on to realize, all thro’ my life That of present and the past; You are my...
I have been thinking about this for a while now (at least since "The Rift between Advaita and Vaishnavism" article).
Do I have anything of My Own to offer YOU? This is my Floral Offering at the lotus feet of the Creator of every entity from Atom to Atman When I eulogize YOUR Glories, I forget that, The thoughts, the words, the voice...
Wordless Conversation With A Winged Wiseman “Yet another zoo! What could be new?” I walked past grinning camels, munching goats Contemplative cows and sleepy wild cats when I stopped in my tracks, drawn by his intense...
Come, Share My Dream World “From the unicellular green algae in the depth of the primordial soup, we traversed to the peak, but, ……….
I, You & the Cosmic I A Personal Voyage As I offer You a flower, Ma, I come to You as the very flower! As I smell and savor the beguiling scent, I become the scent, the flower & the space between! As I collect the...
Partha Desikan Fast food, tobacco and alcohol are pouring into India, promoting a consumer culture. India should beware.
"If India cannot articulate a vision about its being one of the poles in a multipolar world, it does not deserve any respect.
Consciousness, Cosmology, and Science: An Advaitic1 Analysis The purpose of this brief essay is twofold: (1) To clarify what it is to study anything scientifically and show that consciousness cannot, in principle, be...
Comments on Serious Mistranslations of The Central Upanishadic Terms Ramakrishna Puligandla I am provoked to write this brief essay on my having seen so many articles and books, ancient, modern, and contemporary, the...
The main purpose of this brief essay is to show that, contrary to the widespread view of many scholars of Madhyamaka and Advaita-Vedanta, the Sunya-vada of Nagarjuna and the non-dualism of Samkara are non-different, one...
The main purpose of this brief essay is to examine the longstanding controversy about (and thereby the debates between) parinama-vada and vivarta-vada, and show that vivarta-vada, correctly understood, does not oppose...
A sequel to Shri Matsya Narayana Partha Desikan If we have read the story of the saving of the Vedas by the direct intervention of the Infinite in the Matsya form and are informed that there could be slightly different...
There is no self, said a Self to itself... that is what the scriptures say, so it must be true From all things interconnected all things rise...
Shri Matsya Narayana Partha Desikan Gururgurutamo dhaama satyah satyaparaakramah | Nimisho (a)nimishah sragvee vaachaspatir udaaradheeh || Agraneer graamaneeh shreemaan nyaayo netaa sameeranah | The above three lines...
INTO THE DARKNESS THEN OUT OF THE LIGHT THE FIRE OF THE SUN THE ECHO OF THE WORLDS THE LIFEBREATH OF THE MIND THE CORE OF THE EARTH THE CENTER OF THE SOUL ONE WHO CONQUERS THE WORLDS THE MAKER OF EVIL THE SPRING OF THE...
GOT LOST IN THE ISLAND MAZE SOARED THROUGH THE AIR LOOKED LIKE A FALCON AS AGILE AS A MERLIN DRIFTED THROUGH THE RAIN VIERED TO THE SHORE THE CLOUDS LIFTED IN THE HAZE MOONLIT NIGHT WRECKED ON THE CORAL SOMEHOW GOT...
In Path of Fire and Light Swami Rama shares with Western students, for the first time, remarkable and practical information on the systematic techniques of an ancient and profound tradition of spiritual growth.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CHAKRAS The word, Chakra, literally means wheel, circle, vortex, or whirlpool.
NADIS The Sanskrit word, “Nadi,” derives from the root, Nad, which means flow, motion, vibration. These nadis are creative energies of the subtle body.
New Year’s Day marks the end of one year and beginning of the other. It is the perfect time to look back into the past and make plans for the future.
Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives a very unusual man. His fellow-monks are confused by his bizarre conduct.
recapturing Crete Jim Clark A warrior who lost his men wandered off into a canyon in a foreign land. He traveled there to fight against invading armies who attacked the natives. Several ships went ashore.
There are questions about al-Qaeda that are to some extent answered that remain. The negative impact al-Qaeda has had on the US or India is evident.
...saltwater footnotes At lobster walk the dock looked like an aquaculture farm as a result of Dave Curls who became a commercial diver collecting tropical fish.
A visual stunning, spellbinding spiritual journey to a world rarely seen by outsiders. The Buddhist concept of reincarnation, while both mysterious and enchanting, is hard for most Westerners to grasp.
About the verbs in the Mahavakyas Partha Desikan All the Vedantacharyas, in particular the founders of the Advaita , Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita doctrines, namely Sri Sankara, Sri Ramanuja and Sri Madhva relied totally...
Having to do with Jayanth Kaikini's Ondu Jilebi Partha Desikan An inspiring contemporary young Kannada poet has recently published a collection of his poems and there was a formal release in Bangalore.
When the flow of concentration (Dharana) is uninterrupted, the state that arises is Dhyana. Dhyana is the study of deep concentration, calmness, and tranquility of the mind.
This documentary follows the life of a 29-yo white male from New York, as he immerses himself into a "Yogic" lifestyle.
Humanism, Vaishnavite style Partha Desikan I would like to state at the outset that Vaishnavism is as much a product of Hindu/Vedantic genius as Advaita is and that the two belong to different sets and should not be...
> We can now ask whether it is ever possible to distinguish experience from the interpretation of it. If not, it is unclear how any experience can be said to be self-assuring.
As we come to the end of the year and the days grow shorter, the temperatures lower, it is time to change the focus of your practice.
Site Selection The previous four parts of this series can be found below. Part I Part II Part III Part IV In this part, I continue with the topic of site selection of Hindu temples.
Introduction The impact of colonial rule by large empires on the colonised is a well known phenomenon.
NOTE: I have posted this as a thread on Medhaam Dehi (our forum) but NS suggested I post it as a blog entry. So here goes... I've been sucked into this debate (I should say I inadvertently stumbled into it) on Facebook.
Sunnie D. Kidd and James W. Kidd If we consider consciousness as undivided the distinction between the knower and the known disappears. Experience is complete in itself and is self-assuring.
Definition of Beauty as a short story by 1st grader, my son Ishan Beauty is like your positive energy. Beauty comes from your positive energy.
This poem by an Old man is doing rounds of Internet Crabby Old Man What do you see nurses? . . What do you see? What are you thinking . . . . . when you're looking at me? A crabby old man, . ... .
Yesterday was a special day. Throughout the world, followers of the Sikh path celebrated the birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev.
This is a pdf circulating among some Dharmic-types on the Internet. I thought I'd share it with the Medhavis.
Cows, Commodities, Greenhouse Gases Partha Desikan Wild cats hunting for food would have been indeed very happy when man had not yet learnt to tame some ruminants which later became his cattle wealth.
Sidddhasana (the accomplished pose) is the most rewarding of all the sitting postures. It is one of the most important asanas (the best among 84 lakh asanas), whose practice purifies the 72,000 Nadis in the body.
I have been recently reading through Meera Nanda’s article, “Intellectual Treason”. I have prepared a general reply to that article which will be posted eventually in TMJ.
Here's a song from the Malayalam movie Jagadguru Adisankaran [ 1977] . The film may seem different from G V Iyer's version as it caters to a much wider audience.
No suitors for me in sight till now. I ‘d rather be single than marry someone I don’t love. Saw him yesterday from my balcony and did not sleep a wink last night. He is the one. I know for sure.
Dear Friends, It is soon going to be three years since we started Medha Journal. I know we don't usually celebrate many of our festivals on Medha Journal.
Anemia is a condition in which hemoglobin concentration, or the number of red blood cells, is below the defined level. The job of hemoglobin is to carry oxygen around the body.
Almost a year back Ishan had written a letter to Mr. President on Global Warming issues..:)) It was something that he came up with and I just encouraged him to complete the letter....
I recently posted a review of a book by Daniel Quinn titled "Ishmael". The book is a semi-fiction/philosophical dialog between Daniel Quinn and an old Gorilla called Ishmael (of course Ishmael is the archetype of a wise...
Quinn ( Dreamer ) won the Turner Tomorrow Award's half-million-dollar first prize for this fascinating and odd book--not a novel by any conventional definition--which was written 13 years ago but could not find a...
The Sankhya Philosophy Purusha In Sankhya Philosophy, evolution happens in three dimensions. The dimensions are Purusha, Prakrti and the Gunas.
Yoga is a stimulating way to reach children, especially those with Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Attention Deficit Disorder, Learning Disabilities, and other developmental delays.
The nadaswaram (sometimes spelt nadhaswaram, and also called nagaswaram) is one of the most popular classical (Carnatic style) instruments of South India and acclaimed as the world's loudest non-brass acoustic...
American Exceptionalism and the Myth of the Frontiers Editor's note: From a true global perspective, it is important for anyone to figure the role the United States of America has played & and continues to play in the...
Editor's Note: V Sundaram (Retd. IAS officer) has written a blistering critique of Indian Media and it's mishandling of the Swami Nityananda issue.
Laughter is an interval between sorrows A man was sitting on one side of the road crying. He seemed to be depressed and worried.
There has been continuous controversy about the yield of the Indian weapon tests (Pokhran 1 in 1974; Pokhran 2 in 1998) for the last 35 years.
Greatness of acquiring a Human form Human being crowns the top most hierarchy of living beings.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's parables are famous and cherished. Little glimpses from the Master's life often read like parables themselves.
Bande Mataram! Sujalam, Suphalam, malayaja shitalam, Shasyashyamalam Mataram! I bow to thee Mother, richly-watered, richly fruited cool with the winds of the south, dark with the crops of the harvests The Mother!...
Growing up in Bharat (India), I have heard people proclaiming time and again that “All Religions are the same and they teach the same thing”.
Jaswant Singh’s latest book has raised a fresh controversy on who was responsible for the partition of India. Some think it was Jinnah while others say it was Nehru/Patel.
Greetings, Medhavis. Namaste! And Jaya Shri Krishna! This past weekend, I had the great pleasure to attend and even greater fortune to meet Medha Journal's own Ravi Joshi at the Hindu Mandir Executives Conference, 2009,...
I arrived in Saint-Etienne at the beginning of July. The summer months see people moving out of the cities and into the holiday locations for their annual vacations. As a result, the city seems deserted.
1962 India/China war. Every Indian who experienced that Chinese perfidy just cannot forget the feeling of backstabbing .
The Mother's Divine Dance Partha Desikan Rabindranath Tagore met Sree Narayana Guru in 1922 and was deeply impressed both by the spiritual heights of his thoughts and by his enduring commitment to fight caste based...
INTRODUCTION There are many paths of yoga for attaining clarity of mind. Raja Yoga is one of the paths that focuses on meditation and contemplation. Raja means king, and king is always in a state of enlightenment.
The Goddess of Night She descends, in her dark beauty When her fair sister departs To pull a thick veil over men And their actions of that day.
The following three videos brought back memories of 1971 war. I was only part of logistics but we know the Pakistani army is committing lot of mistakes.
Introduction One of the signs of the present age is the attitude towards the interpretation of scripture. "Anything goes" pretty much sums up the modern attitude.
Here is another micro-story, friends. I see Him now. The newborn child opened its eyes looking for Him. The eyes went all around. No, He was not to be found. A charcha ensued between the eyes and the child's soul.
When the purpose of sAdhanA and the final destination of the soul is understood, there remain no more doubts in the sadhaka’s mind as regards the imperativeness of yoga sAdhanA.
Editor's note: Below talk becomes even more relevant in the context of this Newsweek article (ClickHere), putting a broader & deeper spotlight on Hinduism.
The most common question asked by people is "What is Taichi". The art of Taichi has been around for thousands of years, and is one of the few complete systems of moving meditation in existence today.
{To Read Author's General Note click here } Aitareya Upanishad i: This Upanishad is part of the Rg Veda.
{To Read Author's General Note click here } For Part I, click here In part I it was said that the universe with all its constituents is the creation of Brahman. This part deals with creation in more detail.
{To Read Author's General Note click here } There are two recensions of this Upanishad with minor variation. Swami Madhavaananda had dealt with both in a combined form. We shall follow him.
{To Read Author's General Note click here } (Contd... from Part I) - There are four seats of consciousness in the Purusha. These are the navel, the heart, the throat and the head.
{To Read Author's General Note click here } (Contd... from Part II) In the first part of the Upanishad the origin of life is dealt with. Praana or aerobic life is considered an important evolutionary state.
{To Read Author's General Note click here } (Contd... fromPart III) There are four unrelated parts in this Upanishad. The Upanishad itself is not divided. The division is by me.
{To Read Author's General Note click here } Mundaka Upanishad ‘U’ is pronounced short as in ‘full’. ‘n’ is pronounced as Venu; d as in dog. The Upanishad is meant for study by monks or sannyasis.
{To Read Author's General Note click here } (Contd. from Part I & II) ...Mundaka Upanishad Mundaka Upanishad III 1.
{To Read Author's General Note click here } (Contd. from Part III & IV) ...Mundaka Upanishad Mundaka Upanishad V In part I it was said that Brahman is omniscient. The universe is his creation. Life evolves from his will.
Samskrita Bharati organized a 10 day Spoken Sanskrit programme in several parts of the City during last week. The concept of ‘Spoken Sanskrit’ attracted me and I made it a point to attend their classes most of the days.
Everybody enjoys monsoon season because we love the rain, pleasant weather, and everything associated with it.
Medha Editor's Note: We are pleased to offer to Medhavis a new series on Upanishads, the creme-de-la-creme of Indic Philosophy, which has influenced the thought & living in India & other influenced cultures for...
Goal of human life The goal of human life according to Advaita Vedanta is Brahmajnana (knowledge of Brahman).
The word obesity is derived from a Latin word “Obesus,” which means to eat. It is a nutritional condition of the body characterized by over accumulation of fat under the skin and around certain internal organs.
As a follow up to my Advaita and Buddhism article, I must inform the medhavis that perhaps my ego or some other (unlikely) compulsion led to me engage in further debates with some "Buddhists" on the website http://www.
This is an excerpt from a brief Znet interview with Angana Chatterji about her new book Violent Gods, which according to her is "an exploration of Hindu nationalism in India today.
Pratyahara means withdrawal of the senses. It is derived from two Sanskrit words- Prati and Ahara, where Prati means away or against and Ahara means nourishment.
One of the principal items on the agenda of the US Secretary of the State’s visit to India was facilitating a transition in India’s position on climate change to accepting a global emissions trading scheme (ETS).
Shall I try to tell you all a 'micro' story as well? The ultimate Sacrifice. The vulture had casually watched as a fruit from that free fell down. A wild goat ate it and died. Its flesh tasted good.
It appears that Dr Giridhar Madras of the University of California @ Davis submitted to the site , on Guru poornima day in 1996, an article entitled Dakshinamurti Stotra.
Why this silence on organised anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh? Reports began trickling out of Bangladesh this spring about an anti-Hindu violence in the heart of its capital carried out in three stages: March 30,...
This format limits the story to 250 words. I pruned it down to 206 words [ including the title]. Just posted in TMJ. The Musical Way Our hero is a regular guy [so it seemed] with an irregular goal in life.
“Dahyante dhamayamananam, dhatunam hi yatha malaha, tatha indriyanam dahyante, doshaha pranasga nigrahat.
I came across the micro story concept in Sulekha blogs a couple of years ago. A story has to be told in limited words , in this case, less than 125 words.
From Swami Devananda- "Christianity is a parasitical religion, which attaches itself to a host culture and feeds off it, absorbing its spirit and lifeblood into itself until the host culture dies and become Christian.
Based on the novel that has been called Japan's Gone With the Wind, Hiroshi Inagaki's acclaimed Samurai Trilogy is a sweeping saga of the legendary 17th-century samurai Musashi Miyamoto (portrayed by Toshiro Mifune) set...
Knee pain is a nagging malady, which can immobilize a person – thus making one helpless. Knee pain may vary from mild to severe, depending on the cause of the pain.
Patanjali says you have something permanent with you and that is called “The Monkey Mind.
Introduction Sanskrit has been a link language in India up to about 1100 c.e. Except possibly for Tamil all the other major Indian languages are either derived from Sanskrit or closely linked to it. Since 1100 c.
[First Published 2003 in Rediff] 'You have to be as careful giving away your money as you were in making it' -- Bill Gates The Clinton administration made an official policy concerning India which the Bush...
Normal 0 Also published at Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 2, Dated Jan 17, 2009 India breathes through her multiplicity, not her fragmenting voices THERE IS a buzz about India becoming a superpower.
Building Sustainable Communities: The Marketers’ Perspective applied to Indian Society Building a Case for thinking ‘Green’ from the marketers perspective Participant ID -25 Medhajournal, India When Indians – a large...
Eco- City Participant ID - 6 Medhajunior, Grade 5th, USA While I walk down the road to my friend’s house, birds chirp in the oak trees.
Global Warming Participant ID - 12 Medhajunior, Grade, Unknown, India Global warming is the most biggest disease of today.
Global Warming Participant ID - 13 Medhajunior, Grade, 7th, India Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to...
Global Warming Participant ID - 18 Medhajunior, Grade, 8th, India One night I had dream that took me 2080. In contradiction to my expectation I saw a very horrifying view of the future.
Global Warming Participant ID - 19 Medhajunior, Grade, 6th, India Dear Sir/Madam, I have received information from my school to send a paragraph on global warming to you.
Global Warming Participant ID - 20 Medhajunior, Grade, 8th, India PARAGRAPH ON GLOBAL WARMING At this moment the people on the earth are facing a dire consequence of global warming.
How to Save the Planet Participant ID - 3 MedhaJunior, Grade: 2nd , USA Have you ever wondered how uncomfortable you can feel if someone puts a warm blanket around you on a warm day? Well, planet Earth feels the same...
How to save the Planet!? Participant ID -26 MedhaJournal, Australia Mmmmmmm, a good question that seeks an answer yes? Humans are a funny breed, we are dominated by Need, Greed, and Want….those are our Gods.
I am doing my part to save the earth Participant ID - 7 Medhajunior, Grade, Kindergartner, USA We cause global warming. I save water. Don’t waste electricity. Greenhouse ages are causing pollution.
No Vehicle Day! Participant ID - 9 Medhajunior, Grade, 3rd, USA A sustainable community is a community that can function without relying on other places.
Our Duty towards Our Planet Participant ID -2 MedhaJunior, Age 12 years, UAE | | | --- | | Environment and ecology | In our school, as part of our Social Studies class, we learn about Environment and ecology.
People are the Key to a Greener Planet Participant ID -1 Medhajunior, Age: 16 years, USA The majority of the world uses automobiles for transportation, which are powered by fossil fuels.
"Saving our world" Participant ID - 16 Medhajunior, Grade, 2nd, USA We live in a great world. We have food and water but we are running out of natural resources like crude oil and facing global warming.
Reusing Plastic Bags Participant ID - 10 Medhajunior, Grade, 3rd, USA I want to reuse plastic bags by making them into backpacks and other things.
Save the Earth Participant ID - 8 Medhajunior, Grade, Kindergartner, USA We all cause global warming. We all waste paper. All of us pollute.
Small Drops of an Ocean Participant ID -24 Medhajournal, UAE When I was growing up, I was fed up] with a meal time story about the poet- saint [ThiruvaLLuvar,\ the author of “ThirukuraL”.
Sustainable Communities Participant ID - 5 Medhajunior, Grade 8th, USA Sustainable development is an important concern in the upcoming future. Our planet has been ravaged by pollution and global warming.
Sustainable Community Participant ID - 14 Medhajunior, Grade, 4th, USA I think a sustainable community is where you don't do things that pollute the earth and have local farms.
Sustainable Community Participant ID - 15 Medhajunior, Grade, 4th, USA In case you don't know what a sustainable community is, it is a community that does not waste or pollute.
Sustainable Community Participant ID - 17 Medhajunior, Grade, 4th, USA If I could make my own sustainable community, I would do many things such as the following to help save whatever needs to be saved.
Green Revolution Participant ID - 4 Medhajunior, Grade 7th, USA In the last 200 years with the advances in technology and oil exploration we are destroying the delicate ecology of the earth at an alarming rate.
Sustainable Community? Participant ID -22Medhajunior, Grade 8, USA What is our world turning like now? What has happened to that clean and fresh land our founding fathers once stepped foot on? It has turned into a...
I will be giving a talk on The Indic Intellectual tradition at the 17th biannual TANA convention at the Rosemont convention center in Chicago during July 2 to July 4.
The Windmill Participant ID - 11 Medhajunior, Grade, 3rd, USA My idea is that to make Fremont to put more windmills on more hills to make more electricity. We will put them on biggest hill in Fremont.
Published earlier in the Indian Philosophical Quarterly Vol 34, No. 1 (January - March 2007) The purpose of this brief essay is to show that monotheistic religious traditions, simply by being what they are - based on...
When Pakistan won the T20 world cup , there was this usual awards,celebrations and it was welcome to a nation which is having a battle on its hands.
Book Review Two new books on the history and products of ancient Indian iron and steel technology Infinity Foundation Series – Contributions to History of Indian Science and Technology Rupa and Co.
Set in modern day India, Swades is a film that tackles the issues that development throws up on a grass root level.
A New Triple Eclipse series on Hand ParthaDesikan The world is about to witness a rare astronomical event - a series of triple eclipses, beginning July 2009.
I went through a very interesting HR exercise today on Diversity. As part of our training, we were asked to watch a short film put together by ABC in 1968, in the wake of Dr Martin Luther King's assasination.
Introduction On August 23, 2008 (Janmāṣṭamī day), an armed group from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) killed revered Hindu religious leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and some followers at his ashram in district...
I beat the Pre-Poll Surveys Conducted by the Media Wings as well as the Professional Organizations. LS 2004 missed predicting the NDA figure by 7 or 8. There was a Prize Contest going on, remember.
Faced with the imminent dangers of climate change and global warming, we have three options: 1.
Na taato, na maata, na bandur na daataa, Na putro, na putri, na bhratyo, na bhartaa, Na jayaa na Vidyaa, na Vrithir mamaiva, Gatistvam, Gatistvam Tvam ekaa Bhavani.
The 13th century Persian Sufi poet Hafiz has been one of my favorite poets. Hafiz was a moulana in a mosque in Iran. His extreme liberality drew him the ire of the Islamic establishment of his time.
This is a translation of two web pages about the French writer André Malraux, and his views on India and Bangladesh, published by the "Association pour la Diffusion de la Pensée Française" (Association for the Spread of...
Ishaan is an 8 year old whose world is filled with wonders that no one else seems to appreciate; colors, fish, dogs, and kites are just not important in the world of adults, who are much more interested in things like...
Introduction As I realize the sociological implications of the social engineering going on in the name of Secularism, I am filled with a deep sense of nausea and revulsion for the concept of Secularism as it is...
Courtesy: Dr. Rita Khanna's Yogashaastra Studio. A popular studio that helps you find natural solutions for complete health and detoxification.
Author's Note: This blog was originally published in Hindi in Devnagari Script. On the advice of the editor and a reader I have appended below an English translation.
A spiritual love-story set in the majestic landscape of Ladakh, Himalayas. Samsara is a quest; one man's struggle to find spiritual Enlightenment by renouncing the world.
Along the highest mountain passes of the Himalayas, tough, intrepid Jalan (Milind Soman) and his gang earn their living by stealing from unsuspecting travelers.
On Peacocks (and peahens?) and dancing Partha Desikan This is a line up of two short stories, both having to do with one or more peacocks or peahens.
This sane advice given to Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora around the world by the Strategy and Security expert, Mr.
It is an extreme article. Speculates too much. Uses some theories, which fly around unproven. Like what is going to happen in 2012.
Indic studies Foundation www.indicstudies.us Acceptance of Ancient and medieval Indic Epistemes in the sciences of antiquity by the occident or “why does the Occidental have such a great difficulty in recognizing the...
Medha Editor's Note: We encourage the authors who bring in linguistic diversity, as in the below article in Devnagari script.
To, Dear Friends I came across this article written by Shashi Tharoor. I though it is well written but that the contents are open to different interpretations.
Jnana-yoga or "The Path of Knowledge" is one of the four central paths to knowledge of man and the world and realization of the ultimate reality as obtained in the ancient religious and philosophical traditions of India.
"We have met the Zionists and them is us" - / - --- Medha Editor's Note: Below Essay strikes one as a philosophical take on the vexed problem of the Israel-Palestine question.
A talk given on February 2 2009, Delhi At India Habitat Center, New Delhi, India The Ramakrishna Hegde Memorial Lecture Series {Previous lectures have been by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and Lord Meghnad Desai }...
After suffering from cold and congestion for months, my five year old had forgotten to breath through the nose.
Editor's Note: Following is the third & concluding part of our interview with our new Medha Gold personality, our Resident Philosopher.
Betal Aur Betal Fiction "Hey, Preets, see what I've got for you". "Wow! A new salwar set? Lemme open the pack. Oh-oh , it's a candy pink." "You like it? For our special day , honey". "Shree sweetie pie, I ...
Sustainable Communities MedhaJournal - Participant ID23 Being a person acutely conscious of the environment, one was struck by the topic given to write an essay about.
SWEETSWORD 34 [ Ne Science Na Laynn ] By Poga Humayun Dundiwala BISMILLAH ALLAH said to brother of Aaron Moses to take his shoe off And Baratha brother of Lakkan placed the shoe on the Rama's throne Shaitan said i have...
On the antiquity of Dravidian scripts. Partha Desikan Sri M V Vasu has interviewed Professor S. Settar for the Friday Review section of The Hindu dated May 8, 2009. The interview made very interesting reading.
This article is based on the views of the venerable Bhikku Bodhi of Forest Hermitage, Kandy, Sri Lanka, as expressed in his Introduction to a special edition of Dhammapada.
I sometimes visit a website dedicated to my other passion, Taoism and Tai Chi, called "Tao Bums -- http://www.thetaobums.com".
Divine Love in the Hills. Partha Desikan The apparently still, permanently snow clad Himalayan peaks seem to signify the ultimate in silence and peace.
When I was an undergraduate student of mathematics in the late 1970s I always wondered why am I learning what has been taught to me. Simply because I was good in Mathematics did not mean that I understood it.
Mr. Krish Murali Eswar and Anuradha Eswar have been associated with this non-profit organization, for about 7 years and have served it as freelancers, consultants and in the past few years as trustees.
I posted the question on the Facebook side of MJ, but probably here is the more appropriate forum. I always wanted to know.
Earth Day is this Wednesday, and from the celebration of all things “green” in San Francisco, I knew I had arrived at the right place for a week of vacation.
I have been going through Aitareya Upanishad for sometime. In particular, I have been going through original Sanskrit verses and translations as offered by Sitarama Sastri and Swami Muni Narayana Prasad.
Did you know that the world's finest pearls have always been formed under a rainbow? Not just any rainbow, mind my words, but the permanent one.
A brain wave vibration practice, very simplistically written by the author, talks about power of human brain. Author talks about sipritual practice with the power of yoga and meditation or using brain power!
i-phone advertisement by little Ishan. Ishan is 5 years old student studying in Gomes Elementary School, Fremont, CA. He enjoys writing journal and playing with the i-phone application games, when he gets permission.
A fantastic book by Richard Dawkins on the delusional nature of religions and their followers and explains the true nature of this God entity
This classic contains a collection of three of Deng Ming Dao's books -- The Wandering Taoist, Seven Bamboo Tablets of the Cloudy Satchel and Gateway to a Vast World.
I feel bright and wonderful as I see myself grow and change. The growth and change is contained in every moment of now and the spontaneity of the self. This moment brings in so much of magic and potential.
This text presents a biograpy of Wang Liping, the 18th generation transmitter of Dragon Gate Taoism, heir to a tradition of esoteric knowledge and practice accumulated and refined over 11 centuries.
This is a refreshing alternative to the usual deep, philosophical expositions on Taoism. It is a well-developed manual of how one can live a good life as defined by the tenets of Taoism.
The hero of the Brotherhood of the Conch series, now fifteen, is settling back into his life as an apprentice in the lush Silver Valley, nestled high in the Himalayas.
This 2-DVD set is a breathtaking journey of sight and sound that illuminates the essence of yoga as its creators understood it thousands of years ago.
mogambo has many friends who like to living the life of luxury and wealth with their multiple cars and bikes and many with multiple houses that they may or may not call "home". mogambo has been one of these people too.
Three Cups of Tea is a truly inspiring story of one man's mission to build schools in the most dangerous areas of Pakistan & Afghanistan to "Promote peace one school at a time".
This story is true. It is about something I did a long time ago. The bell at 1:15 pm marked the end of the school day. After the prayer, I hastily packed up my books into my bag, and ran out into the courtyard.
This is a masterpiece of a book on the topic of the Rabidity of the Hindu Right in India, specifically pertinent in light of the Pogrom against Muslims in Gujarat in 2002.
Mogambo likes to do Yoga and reads and mentally chews on the Sutras of Patanjali. Yoga he can understand, but the biggest challenge to Mogambo's little brain is the existence of religion.
Mind is like a blooming lotus. There are many stages and many parts of blooming conscious mind. Preconscious to insect conscious, after that - reptile conscious mind blooms gradually.
{First Published in 2005} | | | --- | | I. Sanskrit and the Multicultural Sanskriti (Indic Civilization) II. Pan-Asian Sanskriti III. Decline of Sanskrit IV. Sanskrit Influence on Modern Europe V.
The tree blossoms and flower blooms are spreading the news that the spring is here. It feels like the Nature is waking up after a deep sleep during cold winter.
There are four Shivas (or Shivs) as far I know. First is the real Shiva, once who had a physical existence -the great sage for ever. Second is mythological Shiva.
Ethnography, allegory, anthropology, psychology and a touch of Kafka's Metamorphoses are all components of this unusual case history of one man's hallucinogenic experience.
{xtypo\quote\right}This is a MUST READ for all lovers of fiction and good prose. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an immensely talented writer and one can only revel in her mastery by diving deep into this magical world...
{xtypo\quote\right}Move aside Harry Potter, Anand and his friends are here!{/xtypo\quote\right}This is the sequel to The Conch Bearer and carries Anand's adventure farther than you could imagine! Written in Divakaruni's...
At a national seminar on “Positive Discrimination: Some Unexplored Dimensions” organised by the Institute of Development Studies, Mysore, yesterday (Friday the 13th March, 2009), Shri N.
I run to the wild as I cross the grounds of distractions and prophesies of this world. I embrace all the beauty I see and I walk through my conditioning, erasing myself in bits and pieces.
Now in this extreme critical time, only true-spiritual revolutionary movement can save us. Also a true- spiritual high-flow-tide is growing up behind the screen.
At the beginning, Religion came into existence by the designers against mankind. It had taken place to deceive the mankind, to oppress -to exploit the mankind skillfully catching in their trap, to misappropriate human...
Introduction After Nasadiya Suktam, I was looking at materials for Hiranyagarbha suktam, Ratri suktam etc, but could not devote enough time.
The Steel Frame It is a tribute to the persistence and tenacity of the colonial overlords that dominated the Indian subcontinent for a relatively short period of 200 years that the prevailing paradigm on the origins and...
What does a person do when faced with extreme situations? Hunker down and face them head-on? Curl up into a fetal ball and hope to weather out whatever is bothering them? A little of both? Growing up, I have been aware...
From Library Journal With this work, the authors, all three renowned Yoga and Vedic scholars with multiple publications to their names, set out to challenge the generally held theory that advanced culture began in Sumer...
From Publishers Weekly Feuerstein has attempted a daunting task, defining Tantric Yoga drawn from Hindu and not Tibetan Buddhist sources.
Circa the British rule in India, a man named Senapathy decides to rebel against the British in a violent way, learns a rare martial art that enables him to kill with his bare hands, and travels to Singapore, joins the...
I received this mail from a friend and i found this interesting. Any one who suffers from Head ache, can try this and put their comments.Thanks Our noses have left and right nostrils.
From Library Journal Is India's caste system the remnant of ancient India's social practices or the result of the historical relationship between India and British colonial rule? Dirks (history and anthropology,...
As critic Roger Ebert observed in his original review of Ran, this epic tragedy might have been attempted by a younger director, but only the Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, who made the film at age 75, could bring the...
A Satyajit Ray classic -- this movie showcases some stellar performances by Uptal Dutta, Mamata Shankar and the rest of the cast.
The definitive guide to the philosophy and practice of Yoga--the ancient healing discipline for body and mind--by its greatest living teacher.
This valuable book provides a complete manual for the study and practice of Raja Yoga, the path of concentration and meditation.
Ishan Bhattacharjee who is studying in Kindergarten in Gomes Elementary School, Fremont California, re-wrote the nursery rhyme.
This is another Japanese folk tale called Neko no Sara (Cat's Plate). In the era when Tokyo was known as Edo, there was an antique shop owner, who would scout the city for antiques that the owners would have without any...
This is the first volume of a two-part series on The Taoist Water Meditation techniques, as taught to B K Frantzis by his teacher Liu Hung Chieh, a Taoist Master. Frantzis is now the lineage holder in this tradition.
This is the second volume of Bruce Frantzis' two-part series on the Water Method of Taoist Meditation.
Paula Fouce's beautiful, illuminating documentary "Naked in Ashes" takes the viewer into the profoundly spiritual world of India's yogis, who see their taking on the sins of humanity as a source of healing and...
Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, Rashomon is perhaps the finest film ever to investigate the philosophy of justice.
Dr Biplab Nandi has a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Calcutta. He held several key positions in the Government of India.
I am not the author of this story. I heard it from a friend, and would like to share it with you. It is an old Japanese tale, called Shibahama.
A little over a year ago, in appreciation of little Ishan's blog on cow trouble, I wrote a story explaining the nursery rhyme ‘Hey diddle diddle', entitled ‘This is how it happened, Ishan'.
Physics is currently going through a crisis. It is of course true that Physics has faced crisis even in earlier times.
Red and pink are synonymous with Valentine's Day but instead of sending "pink chaddis" to Mutalik’s Sri Rama Sena, how about going green this ‘V’ day? That is going environmentally green rather than green with envy.
Hindu Temple Architecture-IV Site Selection & Analysis [continued from the previous post - Hindu Temple Architecture III ] The Previous article at this link discusses site analysis in the modern sense and compares that...
Reporting from Guwahati on February 6 this year, for The Hindu, Sushanta Talukdar writes: ‘A safari in the Kaziranga National Park has left the visiting Princess of Thailand Maha Chakri Sirindhorn fascinated.
As America is retreating( so called surge is basically asking for fig leaf before the exit as in Iraq) , there is tremendous amount of churning going on in Afghanistan. This was evident to everyone for sometime .
A love story of 1930. The small town of Palayamkottai (called oxford of south now)in Tirunelvelli district did not have a ladies college like the Sarah tucker college of today. So when Mr.
Parashurama Kshetra - A Miscellany and the Epilogue Partha Desikan I can hear plain sighs of relief after a look at the title.
The Stalker-Betal tales I There he was. Shwetha froze when she saw him up close. She was walking towards the lift when she saw him standing inside the lift with a raised hand, presumably to press the buttons.
Nuclear dilemma of India/ some answers Pakistani military has realized that in case of any future India - Pakistan war, the possibility of either side achieving a clear-cut victory or suffering an abject or total defeat...
Live and let live, Kerala Style Lord Parashurama may or may not have intended, when he threw his legendary axe and created India's Arabian Sea-coast west of the Sahyadri Mountains, that his Kshetra would forever be open...
Terrorism is probably the most common word flowing out of our tireless lips these days, closely followed by recession and job losses. There is little doubt that acts like these need to be condemned and stopped.
Dear Readers, seeing the interest that Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's books on The Conch Bearer series has generated, we are presenting an excerpt from the book that was provided to us by the author including a letter to...
Cheras, on a Roll till the Rise of the Chozhas For most of the hoary past recorded in available and lost Tamil Sangam literature and corroborated in Sanskrit lore as well, the Tamil country was ruled by three royal...
Abstract This essay examines the often-repeated claim by Hindus and non-Hindus alike that Hinduism is the same as other religions.
Much has been written recently about the plight of women in India. It is certainly true that on the scale of most economic and social indicators, women are lagging behind men.
Panel discussion: "World Peace - Challenges and Impact of Globalization" Organizer: Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey Date: Nov 16, 2008 in Somerset, New Jersey, USA. Panelists: Rajiv Malhotra and Dr.
Imagine a biofuel feedstock that saves the world without raising food prices, a vacuum that sucks up globe-warming carbon dioxide, and even a material that makes bioplastics, which disintegrate easily into compost.
Nuclearisation of Pakistan The following You tube Programme called YAUM-E-TAKBEER is very interesting from the view point of India and Israel.
Palestinians/ the Eternal Wailers As an Indian Christian i had this admiration for Israeli David who felled the giant Palestinian fighter Goliath with his catapult.
Why refer to legends at all? Before proceeding to our next topic, the Chozha and the Pandya connections of Keralite kings, I wish to answer the question, ‘Why should we refer at all to legends, when it is historic...
"The great seers of ancient India saw so far ahead of their time that the world has to wait centuries yet to appreciate their wisdom, and it is this very inability on the part of their own descendants to appreciate the...
Prehistory and Legends of Kerala There is a reference to the Kerala regions in the Kishkindha Kanda of the ancient Indian epic, the Ramayana of Valmiki.
Partha wishes today to hope that there can be fewer negatives, less evil, less malice, no despair, no frustration to hope that all will learn poise, balance, moderation to wish away the option of violence in a solution...
We keep hearing about Web 2.0 and how it is changing the way the internet operates. Well, Medha Journal has been a web 2.0 site since inception, but we've also received plenty of requests to make it more 2.
This article will highlight some of the misinterpretations of Hinduism in Encyclopædia Britannica, many of which are very offending to any Hindu reader and those who know and respect Hinduism.
In the midst of a heated debate over the now almost-defunct Aryan Invasion Theory, I came upon Subhash Kak's wikipedia page. For those who don't know much about Dr.
{xtypo\dropcap}S{/xtypo\dropcap}ome more on Indian languages... Indian languages can be called Indian for two reasons.
From the Homepage of the gifted multi-faceted research scholar Dr. Gift Siromoney, I am giving below an article by Gift Siromoney and R.
This Cut is free Partha Desikan I accidentally came across my short story, ‘The Sweet Bamboo’ in its first unedited form in my good friend Murali Ramaswami’s online magazine Patrika (July-August 2002, the Newsletter of...
{xtypo\dropcap}D{/xtypo\dropcap}ear Medhavis... Sometime between yesterday and today, we have found a Million Reasons to thank you all.
{xtypo\dropcap}O{/xtypo\dropcap}ne of the dhyaana slokas of Srimad Bhagavad Gita goes like this: > sarvopanishado gAvo dogdhA gopAlanandana: | > > pArtho vatsa: sudhIr bhoktA dugdham gItAmrtam mahat || All the...
{xtypo\dropcap}I{/xtypo\dropcap}n the Bhagavad Gita, God appears in human form as Krishna, to guide Arjuna in the fight / don't fight dilemma that Arjuna faces.
The Lord of Lords never takes birth On the day of 'Arudra\', he appeared first The cosmic dance of Rudra began thus On our Mother Earth, on this day of Winter Solstice! The force of Rudra blew off the Sun The Third of...
{xtypo\dropcap}T{/xtypo\dropcap}he effects of climate change are already being felt by natural systems in many places.
{xtypo\dropcap}T{/xtypo\dropcap}his is an old story my Dadabhai (Grandfather) used to tell us...he was a master story-teller.
{xtypo\dropcap}S{/xtypo\dropcap}hri Govindrao Raghunath Dabholkar, more popularly known as Hemadpant (1856-1929), wrote his famous Shri Sai Satcharita in the Ovi metric style of Marathi blank verse and his work is read...
{xtypo\dropcap}T{/xtypo\dropcap}here is much emphasis on the nutritional needs of expectant mothers as it is vital for the development of the growing fetus.
RETREATING AMERICA/Choice before INDIA. When Americans elected Obama, they showed to the world that they are fed up of the policies pursued by President George Bush.
Editor's Note: Below is a transcript of the interview with our new Medha Gold personality, our Resident Philosopher. We will also make available the audio of this interview, which has more details on each conversation.
Editor's Note: Following is the second part of our interview with our new Medha Gold personality, our Resident Philosopher.
Introduction {xtypo\dropcap}A{/xtypo\dropcap}fter my work on Purusha Suktam, frankly I don't know what drove me to Nasadiya Suktam.
An Interview with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni by Soumi Basu Soumi Basu, a member of Medha Journal, presents Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni to our readers in this thought-provoking interview.
{xtypo\dropcap}M{/xtypo\dropcap}y mother, many millennia old, bleeds and weeps in silence. She feels lonely, alone among her billion children.
{xtypo\dropcap}S{/xtypo\dropcap}ixty hours of jihadist terror depradations throughout India's financial capital, Mumbai -- during which nearly 200 innocent victims were murdered, and 300 wounded -- apparently ceased...
Vigilance, Community Style, not Vigilantism Partha Desikan The Hindu has published a feature article today by Professor Sreeram Chaulia of International Affairs Department, Maxwell Center, Syracuse University, USA, on...
{xtypo\dropcap}S{/xtypo\dropcap}heldon Pollock, Ransford Professor of Sanskrit and Indian studies, Columbia University, New York, writing in The Hindu today (Nov 27, 2008), confesses to have been bemused by the debates...
{xtypo\dropcap}O{/xtypo\dropcap}ctober 27th 1893: It was late afternoon, slightly after four, as Richard Shandok slowly trudged up the snaking bridle path that led to the large mud house on top of the hill.
In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Japan was crushing the United States in business and trade.
{xtypo\dropcap}A{/xtypo\dropcap}s we look at India at the dawn of the 21st century, we find it confronted by some confounding challenges, as it tries to break out of its colonial shackles and assert its own – organic...
{xtypo\dropcap}T{/xtypo\dropcap}his article1 is an attempt to explore the idea of an India to see whether the idea is meaningful, and if so, to trace the birth and the evolution of the idea.
{xtypo\dropcap}D{/xtypo\dropcap}ear Friends, You will start noticing a little block on the left navigation bar (right under Navigate) titled "My Medha Bucks".
The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced.
Every coin has two sides, each side showing a different aspect. Think about our health for a moment. So far, we look at health as treating a disease, but those pills don’t solve all the problems.
The following is the series of exchanges that took place with Dr. Karen Carr - whose website was found to have a highly distorted version of The Ramayana - and several eminent personalities and practising Hindus.
For the person who has once had a taste of how it is to lose his freedom, maintaining his integrity of self is not an easy task.
Partha Desikan The title of this blog means exactly what I intended it to mean. I do not propose to go into the ethical questions stirred up by the dawn of this discipline towards the end of the twentieth century and...
The Law of Attraction simply says that one naturally attracts into one's life whatever one think about deeply. One's dominant thoughts will always find a way to manifest themselves.
As has become a norm (or so it seems) these days, my Sunday mornings are spent driving up to my Tai Chi teacher's home with my friend Evgeny for semi-private lessons.
Sustainable development means different things to different people. It has become the buzz word of our generation without a clear definition for many.
A friend of mine sent me this link. A very thought provoking and gripping film on the nature of Religion, Fundamentalism and how power in the hands of religious fundamentalists is a recipe for disaster by former Roman...
Kidipede - History for Kids began in 1995 as a community service learning project for sophomores at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.
Hello Medhavis, It is really good to see so much enthusiasm amongst the Medhavis. So here is a humble submission of Ayurvedic food wisdom to you all.
Dr Balasubramanian Partha Desikan I invite you to look at the biodata of a highly respected scientist engaged in very active research at an ophtalmic hospital and research centre in Hyderabad, India. http://www.drdo.
Why does one blog? Partha Desikan Today's Hindu, MetroPlus supplement features this take by Neeti sarkar, following a rather high power research on the motivation for blogging from a hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto based...
"Ehsaas Hai?" - Do you feel? - An interview with Rotarian Mahesh Nihalani. That is the name of the concert being hosted by the Rotary Club of Cupertino to support it's Global Polio Eradication program featuring world...
Unknowability of Brahman Reason is strongly stressed in Hindu dharma. Hindu dharma admits, however, that Brahman is beyond reason. For example, the Upanishads say poetically, 1.
One of my friends is a busy RJ. She lives in music. Still, she writes to me often.
Mithila Museum in Japan Partha Desikan The following recent news release through Bihar Times is heartwarming.
Hinduism through History (Part - 3) Heartfelt thanks for help and support: Shri S. Sreenivasa Rao & Karigar This part of the paper focuses on the history of Temples.
I had blogged about Purusha Suktam and my interpretation in this blog here. I had blogged a commentary on it in this blog here.
I had written about Purusha Suktam and my interpretation of it in this blog, here.
It is close to celebrate the rise and victory of the Goddess of Power, [[Shakti]] herself, the Divine Mother [[Durga]] . It's been several years (almost close to a decade) since I attended the last Durga Puja.
Everybody says God is love and love is God. But i love my partner, my children and all the expensive things i own.
Introduction I have been reading Purusha Suktham for some time trying to map what the sages were trying to say.
While a dimension expresses a specific type of physical quantity, a unit assigns a number so that the dimension can be measured. For example, measurement of volume (a dimension) can be expressed using units of liters.
Finally the season has started changing for the Better Fall. This is actually a most important time where one season is slowly transitioning into another.
Thai Ramayana lights up desert sky in Rajasthan Partha Desikan An article on the above subject was published by the Indo-Asian News Service on Thursday, February 28, 2008.
Site selection and Analysis-part I This is the third part of the series but the first part of the articles titled "Site selection". Fellow medhavis can be forewarned that this topic may be posted in three or more parts.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will start its first operation on September 10, 2008. The world of Particle Physics is all agog with excitement. What will the LHC see? I give below a list of possibilities.
Magical realism Partha Desikan This is what Wikipedia has to say about the accomplished octogenarian Colombian Nobel Laureate in Literature, Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez.
It was time to let go of the butterflies in my stomach. Time to let go of obsessive thoughts and fears. It was not the time to mull over the fact that I was probably doing something very foolish and terrifying.
Indian Christians response to kandhmaal "Forgive my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me", this is part of our Lord's prayer and we Christians say it by rote, that when I became an adult I found it...
Günümüzde insanlar teknolojiden had safhada yararlanmaktadır. Ev almak isteyenler, ev satmak isteyenler, ev kiralamak veya evlerini kiraya vermek isteyenler işlemlerini internet üzerinden yapabilmektedir.
{mgmediabot2}path=http://audio.wbez.org/wv/2008/09/wv\20080905b.mp3|height=500|width=500{/mgmediabot2} I found some of his statements very interesting.
By Dr Partha Desikan (R&D and technical management, Scholar, engagement in academia, translated Sanskrit and Tamil classics, research into classics, study of Vedanta, Indian culture and miscellaneous freelance writing)...
Ready. Set.Go! The runners are off. The cheers of the spectators engulf the stadium. The excitement rings in the air.
Buddhist Tripitaka scriptures were written about 200 years after Buddha's parinirvana. These scriptures now form the bed rock of Theravada Buddhism.
Greetings dear chubby elephant, I thought of staying at home today as it is your special day but you probably wanted to tell me Karma Yoga is very important Thanks a lot for sending me to work today.
On August 14, 2008, President Bush signed H.R. 4137, the Higher Education Opportunity Act.
Buddha Brahma Paraatpara Partha Desikan A Japanese fictional book in 14 volumes, written by Osamu Tezuka and published by Ushio Shuppan had first been serialized between 1972 and 1983 in the magazine Kibou no Tomo.
A fact that I recently discovered that I have no feeling left in myself. I am a blank person. No anger, No joy, no sadness and no sense of usual triumph; meaningless triumph.
I don't usually visit Sulekha much these days. Today, during lunch I had some spare time and decided to see the "latest" developments on Sulekha.
The beauty of Social Networking (such as our own TMJ) is that people from all walks of life get together and create something that is dynamic, beautiful, enchanting and awe-inspiring.
The twelve-name shield/cage Partha Desikan A stotra (prayer) of eight slokas, known as Dvadasa Nama Panjaram, namely the protective cage of twelve names of Bhagavan Hari, is recited along with an invocation to...
That Night, in a Prison cell at Mathura In a trance they sit, The mother and father Holding the new baby All those years of waiting All the hurt of hoping And all the pain of losing Already forgotten.
Lev Grossman intoducing the Off-Line American Partha Desikan Dr. Abdul Kalam, who until fairly recently occupied the exalted position of the President of India, knew that his office was not that of the Chief Executive.
The iQUBE Do you remember the Rubik's Cube? Do you have fond memories of those hours spent twisting its creeking faces? Can you still picture where you were when you finally solved it the first time? Here is your next...
Iam pasting the article at this link here. Imminent Danger to Thanjavur Big Temple 21/08/2008 18:49:44 G P Srinivasan | | | --- | | ASI (Archelogical Survey of India), department under Government of India | , has been...
Book Three: The Book of the Divine Mother Canto Two: The Adoration of the Divine Mother A stillness absolute, incommunicable, Meets the sheer self-discovery of the soul; A wall of stillness shuts it from the world, A...
CAN GURU-SHISHYA PARAMPARA BE ALLOWED TO CAVE IN? Sant Shri Asaramji, endearingly called ‘Bapu', gave me some of his precious moments the other day at the Rajokri Ashram in Delhi, just ahead of a pious dissertation...
Dear Mother, I know I don't write to you very often and I would be lying if I say I think of you all the time... I don't ,and I think of you only when I am down or upset.
Adventures with Food Fish Steak in Lemon Almond Sauce with Sautéed Vegetables It was a Thursday evening, and as commonplace as a Thursday evening can be.
In course of my attempts at meditation (more or less daily, since the past 5 years and more intermittently for a few years prior to that), I have repeatedly come across the issue of the classical triad of observer,...
Our Defining Golden moment-Thank You Abhinav! I was returning from work today when I heard about the first ever Olympic Gold medal for an individual event India has got .
OBAMA IS A MUSLIM ? First the NEW YORKER cartoon and now subtle emails,blogs making him out to be a Muslim. This has actually raised the fears of White Americans which was lying dormant to the fore front again.
This is a reappraisal of the book, 'Neo-Vedanta and Modernity' by Prof Bithika Mukherji (BM). Previously I had criticized her book assuming that she means Sri Ramakrishna when she talks of neo-vedanta.
Dr. Brahmachari reporting on the historicity of Mahabharata Partha Desikan Dr Radhasyam Brahmachari studied at Vidyasagar College , Calcutta , Rama Krishna Mission Residential College , Narendrapur and the University of...
Interview with Dr Sohini Ray as narrated to Sreeparna Lahiri Sreeparna Lahiri, from Medha-Journal was a child student in Manipuri Nartanalaya, Kolkata in the late 1970s, at a time Sohini Ray was a prominent child...
A couple of weeks ago when oil was hitting record $140 per barrel, I over-heard a comment, which stopped me right in my tracks as I was hiking the mountains of Santa Cruz in California.
Introduction Nineteenth century was a century of ferment in India. New ideas from the western world poured into India through the medium of British presence in India.
Part I of this can be readhere This is a sequel to the part I which was published here last month. The following essay explains Vedic sanction to laws regarding marriage and meaning of Vivaha.
A mission with a "gift of vision" through the eyes of Murali Krishnamurthy, Chairman of Sankara Eye Foundation Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF) is a US based non-profit organization that supports community eye care...
An Upakatha in Valmiki Ramayana: The Rshyasrnga Anecdote Partha Desikan Of the two great epics of India, the Mahabharata is really filled with anecdotal side stories or upakathas, which take up nearly seventy-five...
Western Culture A Concise Religio-Philosophical History for the Non Westerner The following are excerpts from the Book Neo-Vedanta and Modernity: Toward an Understanding Of The Ontology of Bliss in the Context of...
KARACHI,BOMBAY, DUBAI/SAUDI ARABIA The recent riots in Kashmir engineered to protest the gifting of some forest land to Amarnath Shrine Board is orchestrated by Pakistan but funded by SAUDI ARABIA according to the state...
The famous last Lecture Partha Desikan Just want to join a large number of Americans in saluting a charming Professor who was also a different man, who gave a much publicized last lecture on Sept 18, 2007, the videotape...
Hindu Temple Architecture-II Prelude at this link https://medhajournal.com/content/view/468/76/ Part I I In this part, we will briefly discuss about the pre- design analysis that forms the basis of any design before...
Perusing the Indian News site RSS feeds, I found headlines such as "UPA wins 275 for, 256 against".
A short essay on Essentials of Bhakti: An advanced lesson for the faithful Bhakti means intense devotion.
Back to Part - 2 Section - B: The Invalidity of the ARYAN INVASION THEORY Geographic mentions in the Rig Veda - the first among the surviving Vedas - refer to almost the same regions of the Sarasvati-Sindhu belt as the...
Rama, Rajendra, Kesava, Kedili Partha Desikan An article on Three hundred Ramayanas' by Professor A.K. Ramanujan, written in 1987, is in the news once again.
Back to Part-1 Note: Readers please click on the links to get details from reference material Section - A: History of Acceptance and Assimilation in India The Indian mind is broadly defined by the philosophy of...
Uighurs Partha Desikan Uighurs of Xinchiang in western china were in the news recently. Here is an account of their enviable cultural past from a book published seventeen years ago, as reproduced in apopular website.
Against Corruption Partha Desikan The United Nations Organization against Drugs and Crime (UNODC), had the nucleus of an idea for a convention aginst corruption all over the worldd, in 2000.
Very often I come across kids who require this wonderful remedy Chamomilla. Occasionally I have to keep reminding myself not be prejudiced while doing a case perceiving.
Hindu Temple Architecture-I This is a prelude to a series of articles on the evolution of Hindu temple architecture, from not just my background as an architect, but also from my other background, as that of a person...
For part I, see: [Religion & US Constitution ] For most people, including new Americans, the topic is quite bewildering until a few facts & principles emerge, giving clarity to the picture.
One of the most wonderful services on the Internet is [[StumbleUpon]] ( ). There is a nice little toolbar you can set up if you are a [[Firefox]] user (I am).
Curry Leaves Partha Desikan Which among you Medhavis has never tasted curry leaves? There could be some who would have just enjoyed the flavour transferred from curry leaves to the main dish.
Introduction Higher criticism of the Bible is a huge area to cover. I decided to show how the crucifixion of Jesus Christ has been studied from the historical point of view as an example of higher criticism.
LONG LASTING MARRIAGE/ some useful tips!!!! As i was about to leave for a game of chess with a friend, i was stopped by this young lady who has recently moved into our block after marrying a TAMBHRAM .
I was apalled on reading this news snippet on the Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Lone\minister\represents\govt\at\Manekshaws\funeral/articleshow/3173797.
Abstract This paper aims at bringing out, through archaeological evidences and references, the history of the evolution of Hinduism.
June 26, 2008: The Supreme Court has ruled today that Americans have a constitutional right to keep guns in their homes for self-defense, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun control in U.S. history.
Prithivi, our Mother Partha Desikan From the Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895], Book XII , Hymn I, namely Prithvi Sukta, which I have extracted from sacred-texts.
GLOBAL WARMING is beneficial to India!!! Global warming has become the Buzz word in Social science forums across the world.
AMERICANS of Indian,Pakistani,Bangladeshi origin/ONE OF A KIND "I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or...
Introduction I have posted two articles giving examples of lower criticism of the Bible. Lower criticism is textual criticism, weeding out scribal errors and textual corruptions.
Medha Face of the month features individuals who strive to achieve a balance in their lives while at the same time, making a difference in that of others....
Foreword: My purpose in studying Indology is utterly selfish. It satisfies my curiosity, it thrills and excites me to take a look at distant past through the mists of antiquity.
It is always fascinating how the US constitution, both in the way it was written down, and is practised, takes us back to the was I imagine some of our shastras may have been fashioned.
Vaidehi's short story in Kannada Bamboo Palya on a rainy Day Reproduced here by Partha Desikan I am happy to give below this lovely piece on the monsoon trail , a short story published in the magazine section of the...
Along with my Tai Chi (Taiji Ch'uan) practice, I (as the dear reader might have guessed already) also gradually got pulled by the Tao (into the Tao).
Rationally Speaking. Sanjaya was blessed with a divine vision and he was able to record what went on in the battle field. That was a different era.
How much of news is too much news? When does reporting become sensationalism? Are we even aware when we exaggerate to create sensations that we have crossed the boundary between realistic reporting and reporting in bad...
Suffering or Oppression? Ask Marilyn Frye. Partha Desikan I had the opportunity to look at the Spring 2008 issue of Education Exchange, the half yearly publication of the School of Education, Syracuse University for its...
Introduction The ancient world had no access to printing press. Consequently it depended on scribes to copy a book by hand.
DALIT CHRISTIANS, a word coined by a Texan lady who created DALIT FREEDOM NETWORK is now very active in India and has influence among the Indian parliamentarians who immediately jump at the bandwagon when they see a...
What Shesh Carries "Who is that who groans? That haunts very much Those long painful moans! Who could that be, oh, Sage?" "That, is Shesh the serpent The one who carries the Earth's load On his thousand heads It gets...
I started this, Just as a plain loop. I was really bored and my brother had my music keyboard so I couldn't do much. The title comes from a certain instrument that sounds like the LOST soundtrack. you know...
If you're considering the purchase of an individual bond or even a bond mutual fund, one of your first concerns = will be its yield.
A story about a tree, a boy and their destiny... www.igallopon.com There was once a tree Long had it stood Through snow, storm and hail Bearing the test of time and ravages of seasons To make perfect its art Of stealing...
Food prices have been rising for a while. In some countries this has resulted in food riots and in the case of Haiti where food prices almost doubled, the Prime Minister was forced out of office.
The Bible has been the most influential text of the western world for nearly 1700 years ever since Christianity was legalized by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century.
Pope Bendict is the head of catholic church. Is he spreading the message of love or is he a politician playing the neocon agenda is the question .
Another poem based around an event in Mahabharat And tell me what do you see? He demanded of the prince My liege I see you... And? I see the sky, the trees, My brothers, my friends...
There is a Ramayana Partha Desikan There is a Rama, therefore, there is a Ramayana. Let us look at what Prof V.V.
6 year old Ronuk loves to make jokes and make others laugh!! He takes great effort in explaining why his jokes are really funny if you have a hard time laughing at them! Here are a few of them that hes been cracking...
Vincent always wished he had more time. He needed more time to finish his homework, he needed more time to sleep and he needed more time to play. Vincent was neither lazy nor stupid.
I've written about this subject many times in previous articles, but this my first attempt at putting together a little report on the Technology of Healing that is implicitly enabled by it. I give you [[Prana]]...
The other ‘versions’ of the Ramayana In this article,I am trying to look at the use of the words “translation” [ as in AKR ‘s translation of Sangam literature] , “version”, “adaptation”, and the telling “tellings”.
The topic is Three hundred Ramayans, The epic story's spectacular journey through the ages: An extract from The Collected Essays of AK Ramanujan This is an attempt to start a discussion on the above paper.
Dear Members, Please take some time off your schedules to update your profiles. We have added a tab in your profile page for a brief biography.
Based on an Episode in Mahabharat (Mythology) The Swayamvar The Swayamvar\ was set The condition but one By bow and arrow to be decided The target, a fishs eye hit Set on a pole a cubit high In between was a wheel Ever...
Destiny A sea breeze echoes softly thru my mind gently sings of my expectant morrow, and the languid life I left behind. It beckons me to turn my head ..
The inspiration to this poem is a discussion we had been having on 'Set Sail', chiefly between me and Partha on Authorship.
Then a layman, who had sat distant conscious of his tattered clothes, came forth and said, "Speak to us of Happines." And he answered, saying: Happiness is an essence, permeates you when you are aware.
I find myself again In yet another square one The miles I've traveled Are all undone... I find myself again In yet another square one The miles I've traveled Are all undone...
My first re-mix -- I haven't played a single note or beat on this myself -- this was created by remixing loop samples that come with Apple's GarageBand software. {mgmediabot2}path=https://medhajournal.
This game was originally written by Abel K of www.worldkit.com. Modified by Mita. writeFlash({quality:'high',src:'https://medhajournal.com/images/stories/Calixte/map-game2.
Krishnagi Wari (Stories of Krishna) Manipuri dance is one of the many classical dances of the Indian sub-continent.
She had been made with love and care Timber, the best brought from distant woods Nails and bolts wrought by many a smithy Many a looms had sat spinning her canvas...
An interesting article at this link. on Lord Muruga and also my favorite funny theory AIT/ATT. The first paragraph of this AIVS article refers to Subramanya as SanatKumara.
Stay yet a while Begged the tree of the leaf, For this is but, time in transit Just a season, meant to pass The bite of cold Will release its hold Then again will there be The season of plenty Stay yet a while Nay,...
Constructing the Space of Possibility Partha Desikan Have you had a hand at designing games? If you have, or even if you have now developed an itch to try your hand, the following sensitive and insightful analysis by...
Prayer, in Hindu tradition, is one of the gateways to liberation. Of the four available methods, puja, prayer, japa and dhyana, prayer is considered the second slowest method to cleanse the mind.
Sri Aurobindo represents the completest synthesis that has been realized to this day of the genius of Asia and the genius of Europe... Romain Rolland, French Vedantist and Nobel laureate.
Doctorate In Family Arts "One more chocolate? Your quota is over!" "Amma, I am not asking. Grand ma is." The youngster looks like a lamb but one can make out that glint in his eyes.
Dear Friends, We are on the cusp of a revolution (ahem...at least that's what us Medhavi-types like to think) here. Medha Journal is a unique place on the internet...
How we are still here Partha Desikan All of us have heard the old biblical story of Cain killing Abel when humanity was said to have consisted only of four people, namely these two brothers and their parents.
First, let me start off by greeting you -- the reader who will make it (or not) worth the effort I shall spend here, writing (or not), reading (or not) and sharing (or not).
I was having a conversation with my friend and Tai Chi partner yesterday on our way back from class about the nature of happiness. Please do not treat this article as a lecture of some sort.
MOMENT SWINGS BY WHILE THE BUTTERFLIES FLUTTER AND FLY SUDDENLY THE FLOWERS ARE IN FULL VIEW WITH ALL ITS COLORS AND HUE TIME SURPASSES WITH BEAUTIFUL LIFE BOUNCING TO AND FRO WITH HEIGHTENED STRIFE CREATING A GLIMPSE...
Continous Search: While moving pieces over a chess board I find similarities between the movements in life and concepts of chess. These are real experiences I undergo both in life and over chessboard.
I was reading the NY Times yesterday (May 2nd, 2008) and a statement made by President Bush caught my eye. He said, The American people are generous people, and theyre compassionate people.
Perhaps it depends on where one was brought up, but if you were brought up in India, there is a very high probability that you will relate to what I am going to say here.
Father passed away Flame of liberty went out. There was blood shed On the icy white sari of mother. Bloodshed was there On the sacred shrine of her god.
Here's an ode to all Soumi's unsung Sitas!! Enjoy!!! Mita. Broken Rules I write words I barely comprehend, in tenets you do not grasp. Yet I continue to write for you.
Tagore and Haiku Partha Desikan Susumu Takiguchi is Chairman, The World Haiku Club.
Bhishmasamprokshana Partha Desikan Some historians believe that the Mahabharata was composed in three stages.
After angling for it for the last one year, we finally did manage to wheedle out an invitation to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Vivekanandar illam 6 th February 1897. He was coming ! The man who travelled to distant America from his occupied motherland , the man who conquered hearts and minds there, the man who represented the aspirations of a...
My interest in Sita's story began with Ramanand Sagar's Doordarshan serial Ramayana that began on January 1987 and continued for a year and a half. The whole country fell victim to this Ramayana fever and 9:30 A.M.
Today is Earth Day. To honor this planet that we call home and tackle the environmental problems that we face today, we can all pitch in by going green in our own little ways.
F Scale Partha Desikan A wellacclaimed personality scale with the designation California F Scale was published in 1950 by psychologists in the US and has since been used literally in hundreds of publications.
The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 was signed into law on February 13, 2008. The Act is intended to stimulate consumer spending in 2008, and features taxpayer rebate checks for more than 130 million individuals, as well...
This piece is a continuation of my previous article on the same subject. The aim of this article is to overcome some of the shortcomings of the previous articles in terms of the lack of illustrations (which we all know...
I am bitter from past few days!! The company that I worked for almost wrapped up its business. I worked for a biotechnology industry that did research for cancer therapy.
Some years ago I read a portion of Mahabharata (up to Gita) and made some notes for myself. I have given below some interesting shlokas.
Jessa sighed happily as she stretched out her legs in front of the fire, listening to the rain hitting hard on her roof. She was in a position that she had wished to be in for years.
President Franklin D Roosevelt was a philatelist. He said, "The best thing about stamp collecting is that the enthusiasm which it arouses in youth increases as the years pass.
This is Meheka Mukherjee's second contribution. A veritable piece of excellence.... -- Editor
This is an excellent work of art by a little artist living in Mysore, India with her Grandmother/GrandAunt and Aunt. Meheka is a Seventh (7th) grade student and loves to draw.
Introduction Hindu scriptures have lately in popular press been subject of bashing for their treatment of women.
Mayan Findings And Some Questions As a fifteen year old, I read Eric Von Danikens series of books, one of the books being, The chariots of the Gods and wondered whether the great monuments of the World were indeed...
Prepared for: Medha Journal Readers Charitable giving can play an important role in many estate plans.
The story is a product of my over-active imagination. The plight of the flightless birds of New Zealand is most definitely not. They are fighting a losing battle for survival.
Medha family shares with you series of illustrative read of folk tales from the world. Gopal Bhar - The Star Counter is a popular folk tale from West Bengal, India.
I hit upon the idea of writing this article when I saw the huge list of comments on a recent article on the Medhajournal.
For my 40th birthday, I decided to treat myself to Lasik surgery. I had been wearing glasses since my 8th grade and still have very painful memories of being called four-eyed among other things at that very sensitive...
In the course of my endeavors at learning the Martial Arts, I had not encountered the term [[Shoshin]] until I started learning [[Aikido]].
The Bamboo Pull Partha Desikan Here are four links. Feb 11 2007 ">This is the link to a short story that I blogged with Sulekha a little over a year ago.
As we approach spring season we experience manifestations of allergies and congestions. In Ayurveda this is considered as “Kapha” time of the year.
Wikipedia has this telling info on an outstanding and much awarded CIO in the United Kingdom Mr. J P Rangaswami.
Do look at these sikshaavali quotes from Taittireeya upanishad, given by me in pairs. The first pair occurs separately in the original. satyam vada; satyaanna pramaditavyam.
I attempt to guess/intuit the motivation of the ascetics, who most willingly practise self-denial according to the scriptural recommendations.
The Worship of Mahaganapati According to Nityotsava by Buhnemann, Gudrun 29 cm., pp. xlii+156, col. pl. 18, b/w 22, US$ 32.05 or Rs.
BOOKS ON BUDDHISM FROM INDIA (To Buy Online Visit Us at Online India Bookshop ) [1]. A History of Indian Buddhism : From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana by Hirakawa Akira, (Tr. & Ed. Paul Groner ) 1998, 23 cm., pp.
Indian News Headlines --- {kl\rssfeed}http://www.rediff.com/rss/newsrss.xml{/kl\rssfeed} World News Headlines --- {kl\rssfeed}http://rss.news.yahoo.
{kl\rssfeed}http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline\world\edition/south\asia/rss.xml{/kl\rssfeed}
Ever wonder why the sea is so salty? Here's a Japanese folk tale with the answer. Enjoy! The Magic Mortar Once upon a time two brothers lived in a little village in Japan.
{kl\rssfeed}http://www.rediff.com/rss/newsrss.xml{/kl\rssfeed}
Did Buddha accept any Ultimate Reality? It is usually claimed that Buddha did not accept (or remained silent about) he concept of an Ultimate Reality unlike the Upanishads which claim that here exists an Ultimate...
Prepared for: Medha Journal Readers Owning a home outright is a dream that many Americans share. Having a mortgage can be a huge burden, and paying it off may be the first item on your financial to-do list.
Dr. S. R .Rao's interview on Dwarka at this link I remember discussing Dwarka in Sulekha sometime ago. One had read thrillers of the underwater kind and Dirk Pitt seemed liked a hero.
Once upon a time, many many moons ago, Great One sat with his vast potter wheel shaping the animals and birds who were to live and play on the newly created Earth.
THEN was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.
I am unable to decipher the map of Life My brain can never digest it The blurry road looks wild Without any hope of light Full of danger in every step It seems impossible to find the core.
Roger Trigg, acting Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science at the University of Oxford, is understandably very happy.
Miracle can give you some extra time in your life. Here is a story of a man whose life was saved by a miracle? A man's life was saved by a chance handshake with a doctor, who diagnosed him with a life-threatening tumor.
For those who aren't aware (not that they should be), my other wordly profession is that of a System Engineer with a Communications company and I have the habit of surfing the blogosphere to read the tech (and also some...
Fragrances From Another Time Kamban express had just moved out of Tambaram station when Meenakshi called. "Three cars at home..you travel second class...business man...status?...
Arthur Pakenham has been angry ever since his Manager in Calcutta, Hay-Smith informed him that he should delay his arrival by a fortnight as the Head Office will be closing for a week in October for a big religious...
For the seventh time in my brief blogging innings at Medha, let me draw the attention of my friends to a link, this time to a news item, which I consider of great moment, in research related to cardiovascular patients.
Nathan spends time creating his favorite characters everyday as he loves drawing and painting. He is sharing his favorite pictures with his Medha friends........ Cars...... Dinosaur.........
Found a nice video on the nature of Kundalini. {mgmediabot2}type=googlevideo|docid=-8101989694941061600{/mgmediabot2} Whoever did this video has done an awesome job. Many thanks to his/her/them. Enjoy... Rudra
The write up below was first prepared for readers in Singapore, specifically for the Chinese Peranakan community. No changes have been made, however, as the language is English, after all.
Here is a fun game to learn the continents of the world. We created this game for our 4 year old girl who is also the narrator. She loves this game .. and now knows her continents well.
A humorous French play written by a group who are passionate about learning other languages. Translation in English will follow soon...
Palash The JEE results would be out today and destiny decided for millions. For some it will be a life-changing day, for some it will be life-threatening.
Listen to the sloka and fill up the squares Partha Desikan In one of my earlier blogs having to do with knight movements in chess, I had pointed out that the late Krishnaraja Wodeyaru III (the proper Kannada way of...
(An article by Barkha Dutt in the Outlook magazine triggered this article: http://www.outlookindia.com/full.
I had thought I would write that one piece Deconstructing Indian Secularism on Indian secularism and be done with the topic. Barkha Dutt's article had struck a chord and I was compelled to write.
Read this piece on the Times Of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Jallianwala\Bagh\massacre\stirs\Britain/articleshow/954296.cms ) and couldn't help but opine.
I was going through an article on Evolution by Subhash Kak on Sulekha.com -- (A Most Subversive Idea - 26th June, 2002), when I came across the section where he writes about the analogy between the processes in living...
When I came into this world You stood by the birthing chamber anxiously One of two men pacing up and down before that door Both rejoiced when they heard the indignant wails cried angrily Floating in through the painful...
Swami Ramdev, Brinda Karat and Health Minister Ramdoss I was browsing the timesofindia.
Tears of Tired Eyes The whole world watches aghast, As the barbarians march onward and fast... Annihilating that last shred of humanity, That is left remaining in this society.
Art How can one define Art? A quick search on my online dictionary yielded sixteen results. The one that caught my eye the most was this: Skill arising from the exercise of intuitive faculties...
According to the English dictionary (I refer to the online dictionary, Dictionary.com) Maya translates something like this: 1) The power of a god or demon to transform a concept into an element of the sensible world.
It was the end of 2003 and I was returning from India after an abruptly interrupted vacation.
In the search for knowledge, people behave like Crows, jumping from one philosophy to the other -- seeking the all-elusive "Truth".
Why is it always 'Us and Them' for human beings? What pleasure does one derive from creating barriers, groups, and all sorts of differences? Don't we realize that life is too short to spend squabbling, discriminating...
It was a dull day, to say the least. A dull day indeed – he woke up late (a Sunday), spent some time getting oriented in the daylight (closer to noon actually), heard the wife moving around busily, clanking a few...
Here is something I created for my little sister who is fond of geometrical shapes and good music. Geometry Enjoy and let me know what you think of my music. Cal Calixte is a Freshman at Cupertino High School.
When time stops and the world fades away The senses collapse and the ropes begin to fray The heat of knowing gradually growing burns through the bonds that lead me astray As the waves flow through me one after one Even...
Have your ever been green with envy when your neighbour traded his run-down Alto for a posh-red Swift? Turned purple with rage when a speeding car liberally splashed your new milk-white shirt with mud? Felt blue when...
Most of us are familiar with the board game of Ludo. The game however, is a westernized, highly simplistic form of childrens Pachisi. Pachisi is a national game of India.
I picked up a canvas, paint brush and paint after almost 15 years. I'm posting this with some apprehension. Hope you like it.
After one year working on Medha Journal, TMJ team is proud to launch the Medha Junior section for the younger generation.
Hey diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle. The cow jumped over the moon. The little dog laughed to see such fun, And the dish ran away with the spoon.
Mercury is in the news once again. The Messenger photographs featuring the spider-like wrinkle-pattern on a possible crater have excited NASA scientists and Academic planet watchers alike, and confirmation of earlier...
Tic Tac Toe Another of those games that can keep you entertained for hours. Enjoy!
If you live in Eastern US or even if you have spent good vacation time there, you are very likely to have visited some part of Hiawatha country.
When a newborn arrives on the planet, it has no understanding of the difference between night and day.
(Part One) Our story begins from two million years ago when our forefathers the Homo erectus which means Upright Person (so called as they could stand on their two feet), lived in the continent of Africa.
Ishan drew his day out to a farm in the neighborhood of Sunol hills (near Fremont), California.
Here's our very first game ... for toddlers!! Click on the link below to start the game!!! car game Enjoy! -m.
Introduction Are you interested in remodeling your outdated kitchen? Perhaps you're drowning in a sea of high-interest credit card debt, or need to find the money to send your child to college.
KITTU’S TREE FRIEND Kittu kitten wanted to play. It was morning. It was also summer vacation time. “Shivani’s holidays have started!” Kittu happily thought and ran into Shivani’s room. “Hi, Kittu!” Shivani called out.
Records From India Then and “Records” From India Now. Our’s is a land of stories. The nation seems to be full of them and in ancient times, most of the “stories” were transmitted orally .
What is it? Mortgage refinancing generally refers to the process of taking out a new home mortgage loan and using some or all of the proceeds to pay off an existing mortgage (or mortgages) on the property.
What are the tax considerations associated with refinancing and home equity loans? Generally, interest paid on loans to acquire an existing home or to construct a new home is tax deductible (with certain limitations;...
Here's an experiment - give some colors and a brush to a child and see what comes of it.
Introduction A kite needs no introduction. Many of us have enjoyed flying a kite on a beautiful clear day, seeing the kite gently rise and soar high above us, up in the sky.
This is what happened, Ishan. Partha Desikan This is what prompted the cow, Ishan. MsoNormal"> It was another peaceful morning at Ivan the fiddler’s.
A child's imagination runs wild, and it is interesting to see your child think. I spend an hour everyday with my son, where we try to learn from each other, and know each other's mind....
I have a group of friends and every year we exchange our New Year's resolution amongst us.
- Translated by Esha Data from Sukumar Roy's Rajar Ashukh (Bengali Children story) Once there was a king who had a serious illness. Many doctors came every day to try and figure out what was wrong with the king.
Fancy dress shows-being a little God[ dess] Whenever I can ,I watch the program “Malarum Mottum” [ Flower and blossom] in Sun TV.telecast on Wednesdays at 5:00 pm .
Introduction Man's investigation of nature (science) or his own nature (adhyatma vidya) raises a fundamental question.
It all started, they say, by a journalist of Charivari in 1874. But the picture that suggested the name, Monet's portrayal of the harbor at Le Havre, christened by the artist "Impression Rising Sun" was painted in...
NOTE: I had published this on Sulekha.com in 2002 Prelude Anahata -- that soft, melodic, soothing music. I can't hear it play; yet I hear it playing somewhere (perhaps from within?), encompassing my totality ...
NOTE: I had published this on Sulekha.com in 2002. The night I died of a heart attack… Well not exactly… I dreamt that I died of a heart attack. Perhaps it'd been sitting in the back of my head for some time now.
NOTE: I had published this on Sulekha.com in 2002 The constant desire for something unknown...super-imposed by the constant desire for familiarity and the need to stay grounded.
A Russian short story by: Anton P Chekov Abridged and translated by: Subodh Das In my lifetime I have seen many houses, big and small, stone houses and wooden houses. I particularly remember one house.
What most people think when they hear the word dislocation is very different from what a materials scientist understands from it.
One who knows not, and knows not he knows not, is a fool; shun him. One who knows not, and knows he knows not, is simple; teach him. One who knows, and knows not he knows, is asleep, awake him.
The tram has to slow down, as it makes this turn on to Wellesley Street, on its way to Wellington Square. Two boys with their school bags jumped onto the footboard of the second class compartment.
Words environmental pollution, chlorofluorocarbon, green house effect and global warming and so on are known to a large number of people and I will not go deep into these discussions.
Bull Baiting Partha Desikan Popular sentiment in some segments of Tamil society is now pitted against a judicial decision seeking to ban the annual bull-baiting sport named jallikkattu conducted during Pongal...
1. About the effect of worship of Bhagavan/Sadguru Worship is just a means of educating the emotions. Human impulses and emotions have to be guided and controlled.
Ayurveda (The Science of Life) is a 5000 year old science which originated in India.
Original story in Bengali: By Ronty Kar Translated into English: By Subodh Ranjan Das Abanibabu is about fifty-seven years of age. He has a slim build without excess fat.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEDHA JOURNAL! And Many more to come... We launched the Medha Journal on the 10th of January, 2007. It has been exactly one year since the launch.
Below is a well written article on 'Casht Sishtum"... For kicks, see my sulekha blogs:[Casht Sishtum-Bhoil Da Bhoot explains – Part 1 ; Casht Sishtum-Bhoil Da Bhoot explains – Part 2 (other than some minor quibbles I...
Peter opened his eyes slowly, and let the cool morning light flow in. As he looked out the window, he saw the blue autumn sky, providing the background for leaves drifting down to the earth after having lived out their...
Jhumpa Lahiri's new fiction short story called "Hell-Heaven" on The New Yorker times. Her writing is very simple but yet interesting to read.
Does anyone in the Medha group have any clue as to what the contents of the Stonybrook Doctoral thesis referred to in the following link are? http://www.babelguides.com/view/person/13316 Thank you. Regards. Partha.
An article on NY times dated January 1, 2008 caught my attention, an herbal medicinal approach in Shaman medicine.
Dear Friends, The Year 2007 has been a meaningful and fruitful year for us at The Medha Journal. This would not have been possible without your participation and viewership.
Currently, as time permits, I am on the threshold of a discussion with a group of learned philosophers who have grouped together for several years now to discuss the philosophical treatise known as "The Metaphysics of...
Sita- Her Conviction And Compassion The Ramayana is the epic story of Sita ,says Valmikhi.
Not killing ParthaDesikan This saintly, wise poet lived in the Tamil speaking region of our country, approximately two thousand years ago. His profession was weaving, but his chief preoccupation was thoughtful writing.
">Tibetan Mahayoga Tantra (An Ethno-Historical Study of Skulls, Bones and Relics) by Andrea Loseries-Leick2008, 23 cm., pp. xxviii+226, US$ 38.33 or Rs.
Do you laugh or take this warning seriously? It is an irony that sindoor has a FDA ban for lead content. Although Sindoor is intended for religious function and worn by married women in India.
I came across this interesting article on NPR while scanning my RSS feeds real quick today. Thought I'd share (didn't actually catch the program on Radio, but I will be listening to the complete article shortly).
Between 2003 and 2006 I practiced a gentle martial art called [[Aikido]], which is also referred to as the "Art of Peace", as described by it's founder, the late [[Morihei Ueshiba]].
MARY JO MURPHY, writing in the Weekly Review of New York Times, dated September 23, 2007 talks about the etymology of a few significant words in some of the world's vanishing languages in a charming though brief sample...
Reliance - The Real Natwar by Arun K. Agrawal2008, 23 cm., pp. 282, Rs. 495.00 or US$ 12.
This question is directed to any person who visits medhaJ and knowledgeable about alternative medicines. Recently a friend asked me for alternative treatment to bypass surgery.
Milk from the Water buffalo ParthaDesikan > Long ago, roughly when Kennedy and Krushchaev faced each other eyeball to eyeball and nearly precipitated a world war with Cuba as first base, and perhaps a few months after...
Please go through this article which has appeared in the issue of New Scientist dated 24th November 2007, already out. You will find out what you and I are capable of achieving by just observing. http://www.eurekalert.
Young mothers who may chance on this article dated 14th November, http://uk.reuters.
This work is not my original. This was shared by a friend. And I found it hilarious and I like to share with Medha family unknown work of a creative mind.
The Previous Avtar Of Lord Muruga/Kartikeya Who is Lord Muruga? I am translating from memory what I read in the book “Deivathin Kural”[ Voice Of the Divine] a collection of lectures by Sri Chandra Shekarendra Saraswathi...
'Best known for his work with Gary Hamel on resource-based strategy, which gave rise to the term core competences, more recently, Prahalad has turned his attention to the plight of the worlds poor,' said Stuart Crainer...
Love is one of the oldest and deadliest diseases which has affected the highest form of biological species on the spaceship called Earth.
Every morning when I am driving to work, the news that I hear on NPR, is turbulence in Pakistan and declaration of military emergency in Pakistan by President General Pervez Musharraf.
'Purvaparau Varinidhi vigahya sthitah prthivya iva manadandah' is Kalidasa's description of the stretch of our Himalayan range.
The rishis, who were gifted yogis too, wanted to see viraat-purusha. They closed their eyes and waited.
Dear Friends, Those of you who have visited the site between October 26th, 2007 and October 28th, 2007 might have encountered some difiiculty in using the site.
Rama Siva Rama Siva ParthaDesikan All puranas, in any case the eighteen main ones, are believed to have been written by Vedavyasa.
The universe is not so much strange as brimming with lovely paradox. At least, that is what seems like as one strolls through the long and winding road of twentieth century Physics.
So, I Do Say, World Is Anthropocentric! Would I be here, if the Sun were a little bigger? No! Says the Science, as the Sun would have eaten himself by now!1 Would I be here, if the Sun were slightly smaller? Science...
ITS Issues-Ferrous Oxide And Flights Of Fancy Five years ago, I had taken a group of architecture students from a private college, to a village near Chennai, India , for a case study.
Friends, The article provided by the link below made absorbing reading. I am sure you know a lot of it already, but would still be interested in a mariner's professional view. http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/01inter.
My previous article "Who is a Yogi" dealt with the subject of Yoga practice and what qualifies one to be a Yogi. In this article I will try to deal with the reasons and motivations behind the practice of Yoga.
There are two fundamental ways that you can profit from owning bonds: from the interest that bonds pay, or from any increase in the bond's price.
. (with ref to M Teresa's recently exposed inner torments.. Could Indian spirituality have helped Mother Teresa? By IANS Monday September 17, 07:50 AM Mother Teresa has done unparalleled service to India.
Short-cut to Wikipedia pages within Medha Journal Using Wikipedia keywords within double square brackets will point back to wikipedia articles with same names.
Of Fusion of Faith and History ParthaDesikan The well known historian Romila Thapar has addressed the above subject in an article given prominence in today’s issue of ‘The Hindu’.
One doesn't have to ignore Vedanta until one reaches a certain age, or level of experience. The attempt here is to present a case study of practically implementing the education of basic Vedantic concepts to children.
Rama Sethu-Musings Of A Construction Worker The golden disc above Is beating down in his fury The blue sea looks menacing The task seems impossible The path insurmountable Would we be able to Build a bridge to reach The...
Introduction I came across a Kolkata Telegraph editorial on the Gita. The editorial criticizes Judge Srivastava for his suggestion that the Gita should be made a national text.
Of Masters, Disciples and ‘Apostles’ ParthaDesikan If at all you are involved with this business of learning, study, enquiry, or more generally with acquisition of knowledge of any kind, you are bound to encounter three...
A few years ago, my Sister-in-law (wife's sister) subscribed us to "The Yoga Journal", an american magazine (in print) that covers the enormous topic of Yoga and caters to what is claimed to be a huge market for Yoga...
An Invocation to Truth ParthaDesikan You are parama, way beyond all possible thought and description. You are that indeed. Tat Tvamasi.
Here is a French scientist's account of the high handedness with which an outstanding Japanese primatologist was treated by his western counterparts. http://www.emory.edu/LIVING\LINKS/OurInnerApe/pdfs/WithoutWalls.
Here is a link http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/sep/04/ethicsofscience.internationalnews which is making, quite appropriately, ripples in the field of genomic research Dr.
İlk olarak, Facebook’ta oynanmaya başlayan Web Tabanlı MMORPG oyunu Legend Online ’ı, Türkiye’de Joygame ile oynama şansını yakalamak için hemen Legend Online kayıt ol.
Samvidullasah - Manifestation of Divine Consciousness (Swami Lakshman Joo : Saint-scholar of Kashmir Shaivism - A Centenary Tribute) by Baumer, Bettina & Kumar, Sarla 2007, 29 cm., pp. xiv+238, col. & b/w photo 52, D.K.
And Joy-filled, Flows the Yamuna Slowly, I am flowing, Carrying my fond hope That the promise will come true After all these years.
In the ancient ashtapada form of the Indian chess game, Professor Rangachar Vasantha of Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur sees a manifestation of cosmological order determined by the play of numbers and spaces.
If you're like most people, it's not that you don't appreciate the value of life insurance. In fact, many people believe they need more coverage. You probably wouldn't mind owning additional life insurance.
Introduction I came across an interesting article on Sulekha recently that tried to draw parallels between the three Gunas of Indic philosophy with Western Psycho-analytic concepts of Id/Ego/Super-Ego and the general...
Humans hardly ever ventured into the colony of mutants, and mutants almost never came into the human world.
What follows was in fact intended to be an add-on to the string of scholarly comments received in March 2007 to Dr.
A Speculation on how the Koshas form All students of Yoga learn very early about the five sheaths in which our human form exists between birth and death, the panchakoshas, namely · annamaya kosha, consisting of the...
A fourteen page document dated 1922 on the subject of the biology of a particular species of lotus borer has apparently been missing for all this while and Amazon.
We know that humanity evolved from primordial apes without the aid of human knowledge as we know it.
Congratulations! Children are special. There's nothing like them. They can be our sweetest blessing, as well as our biggest frustration.
INDIA : THE NEXT GLOBAL SUPER POWER? by Namita Bhandare (Ed.) 2007, 23 cm., pp. 252, ISBN : 978-8174365101, US$ 9.88 or Rs.
Fibonaccis name is known to almost every high-school kid today. However, he was not very well known in his day. In the 15th century A.D.
Introduction Conflict between science and religion is a popular topic in the west. Hard line fundamentalist Christians go out of their way to challenge scientific findings that are not in agreement with the Bible.
The Kaoboys of R&AW : Down Memory Laneby B. Raman2007, 23 cm., pp. 304, ISBN : 0-9796174-3-X, US$ 19.88 or Rs.
Intuition and The Science of Decision making How many times have you come to a critical juncture in your life and had to make a decision? And how many times have those decisions been the right ones? By right decision, I...
Are faith and positive thinking synonymous..? Or is faith the basis of positive thinking..
World this, is merely a big Idea in our mind! Great minds treat the world as illusory.
Quantum Healing -- Any takers?? I met a very interesting person last weekend in Carmel, California which has become the seat of new-age healers.
I was on the book's website (http://www.invadingthesacred.com) and then decided to google search it.
Do you picture yourself owning a new home, starting a business, or retiring comfortably? These are a few of the financial goals that may be important to you, and each comes with a price tag attached.
News: Sex ratio drops in many parts of India due to female foeticide/infanticide Woman burnt alive due to dowry Infant girl abandoned next to a dust bin Educated professional women finding it difficult to find husbands...
We should be proud of the fact that India has graduated from the stage of importing jihadis from Pakistan, which is ever-helpful in such matters, to the self sufficiency in the home-grown variety of this species.
Introduction Jyotish is a controversial subject in Indian English language press. On the one hand, it is usually denounced as bogus by self appointed secularists.
What do the bright lights all over in Tokyo, dazzling Las vegas visible from space, and a dimly glowing incandescent lamp in a dark village have in common? Energy.
I came across very interesting articles on language of enlightenment -Sanskrit and Sanskrit & Artificial Intelligence, and I wanted to share with Medhajournal community.
Mantras,,Jai Hind and Vande Mataram I was watching the Hindi movie "1942-ALove Story" for the umpteenth time , the other day and was surprised that I felt the same way I felt when I watched the movie for the first...
After reading the article titled "Alternative medicine- A faith based cure or science?" Sreeparna, I was inspired to throw in my two cents on the topic.
This is a repost of an old article I'd written on Sulekha.com. I am in the process of restoring select articles from my old site (http://rudra.sulekha.com) to The Medha Journal.
New Book, Invading the Sacred: An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America, Explores Academic Anti-India Bias New York, July 9 2007: The launch of a new book titled Invading the Sacred: an Analysis of Hinduism Studies...
After having seen Sivaji in the evening show and hearing 'Thiruvilayadal' in Audio during the night, I went to sleep and this is what I dreamt. Act -1 The King of Madurai is sitting in his throne with a long face.
"Yet Upasana's proclamation led us all to believe that she was actually talking about her previous birth," he said. "She claims that the spacecraft was hit by a huge ball of ice that sent it crashing and ended her life.
Dear Friends, Due to popular demand, we have decided to bring Blogging capabilities to The Medha Journal.
On October 21, 2063, as the maglev train shot silently through the tunnel connecting the cities on opposite sides of the chain of hills, there was just a single sound that rang out feebly.
There are very few among us who is not aware that Global Warming (GW) has become one of the most talked about issues for the last few years.
I am quite unsure about whether the Bangalore Municipal department has gone completely mad, or become extremely creative. Both causes have the same effect, I know.
Dear Readers, The Medha Journal editorial and management invites you (all readers) to register and share your thoughts and ideas with each other.
Creeping Awareness What's wrong with us Indians? Why don't we even flinch when a hundred of our countrymen get mowed down like grass in a terror attack? When thousands of our brethren lose their entire lives' worth in...
Introduction In the first part (How to West Defines India I ) I had discussed the role the West plays in every aspect of Indian life today and how it influences our cumulative (as a nation and society) self-image.
ABSTRACT The attempt here is to discuss the Westernized Identity over multiple articles. In the beginning we discuss the relevance of this for the Non-Westerner, specifically the Indian. Then we discuss external, i.e.
Introduction As an immigrant to America, a voter of a nation-state and as a practicing Hindu, I observe no contradiction in these three identities.
Introduction In my various trysts at engaging so-called Scientific people via various media, I have often run into a brick wall when trying to discuss any phenomena or topics that delve slightly off the proverbial...
ECSTASY An article in Newsweek states that scientists have long known that epileptics often feel spiritual ecstasy during seizures.
Introduction From the Rig Veda to Plato the act of imagining is the secret technology of the mystics.
Heart Ethics: The Moral Imperative from Oral Cultures and Neurobiology By Way of Introduction Indoctrinated, as we are, into making decisions, even those on which our lives depend, based on the management of head...
Introduction In 1968 an Irish Physicist, Bell, working in CERN worked out a theorem which gave us an insight into the nature of deep reality.
Destiny & Free Will -- Are we mere puppets in the Gods hands? Synopsis The article reviews and reasons why no philosophical concept in the history of mankind has received as much acceptability as the concept of...
Introduction Ever since the internet became popular, starting with newsgroups, followed by managed websites and to the current day of bloggers, if there's one desi topic that's generated a large number of opinions,...
New discoveries in perceptual psychology, brain-chemistry, brain evolution, brain development, ethology, cultural anthropology, the more recent work of MacLean on the structure of the brains and the discovery by...
Introduction In my previous article on Gayatri, I had discussed about how Gayatri Mantra explains the Big Bang and the expansion of Universe. Refer https://medhajournal.com/columns/philosophy/gayatri----the-big-bang.
CLEANING HOUSE It was a brutal exercise training my young will to taste the intimacy of the gods by degrees and not all at once, to go beyond the immediate sensation of the fever burning my skin to those other fields...
> > "In Reading gaol in Reading town, > > There is this pit of shame, > > And in it lies a wretched man, > > Eaten by teeth of flame" > > -{Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol} > > > > > > PRELUDE > > ======== > > >...
This is a story of an Indian woman, who is fighting a lone battle in New York City... pregnant and under extreme duress.
Freeeeze! Hmmmm, But How? The story goes like this; when Lord Hanuman was born, the first sight that grabbed the attention of his mischief-seeking eyes was the Sun rising with all his morning splendour.
Introduction I had already written an article on AUM from a scientific perspective, mapping AUM to Universe through particle physics and states of matter. This article is about Gayatri Mantra.
Introduction I have always wondered as to the relevance of the brain in yogic experience. What role does the brain play in yogic visions and experiences? I will discuss this question.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE The Medha Journal (TMJ) is an online portal where like-minded people can interact and share knowledge, ideas and information. TYPES OF USERS There are three types of users on TMJ.
I had been wondering what I can contribute to Medha journal. I had been toying with several topics that were crossing my mind.
From me, Lord Venkateshwara I dont know when I came here, but it should have been several centuries before. From those days to this day there have been lot of changes around me.
An analysis of Madukya Upanishad in a modern perspective. So much of knowledge our ancestors accumulated, expressed in upanishads, have not been carried across times.
I generally infer that laws are similar across multiple domains. An undercurrent of law of nature in physics is applicable in chemistry or biology or even to our general life.
by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD Published in Experimental Gerontology, Volume 33, Nos.1/2,000-000, 1997Copyright 1997 Elsevier Science Inc. Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.
A homage to a Grandfather This is the photograph of a painting by my grandfather Late Sri Abani Kanta Lahiri.
Hindu dharma is a diverse system. However, there are some basic concepts accepted by the vast majority of (astika) Hindus. These are: 1.
THE BIOCULTURAL CORRECTIVE This part of the paper is the follow up on the previous paper entitled: Religion: The last weapon of discrimination.
Before my daughters 2nd birthday, I was quizzing her on the colors. She had a deck of cards with colored shapes on them. I was showing her a purple octagon and was expecting to hear her say purple.
Overview Egalitarian -- Affirming, promoting, or characterized by belief in equal political, economic, social, and civil rights for all people.
Introduction This paper is a corollary to Moor Nam’s excellent paper in Medha Journal “The Caste Non-System”.
Have you ever felt the need to reach out to your roots? Are we all in search of our roots? What drives us to know our roots? I grew up hearing stories that our (my family) roots are not in West Bengal, India but from a...
ABSTRACT This paper is a corollary to Moor Nams excellent paper in Medha Journal The Caste Non-System.
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by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD How and where can East and West meet? Can the West talk to the East, and if the East talks to the West how, and where does the dialogue begin? This paper is an effort to find the common...
It is only recently that Hindus are discovering that the terms of discussion for Indic practices have been conducted for the last few centuries primarily based on Western terms, standards and nomenclature.
From Moksha Smith: Agni's Warrior-Sage by Antonio de Nicolas The full moon marked the paths of gravel and grass in the cemetery as I came upon this mysterious light, it sat with green light on the high edge of a...
From Moksha Smith: Agni's Warrior-Sageby Antonio de Nicolas He had been told that God was thought, so he stopped the rhythm of the sun, God, moon, stars, wife, children, flowers, grass and lined them in his head with...
Introduction The story of Janasruti in Chandogya Upanishad (Ch. U.) is largely unknown to the vast majority of Hindus.
by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD The completely irreligious mind is, it seems to me, the unreal mind, the tense, void, abstracted mind that does not even see the things that grow out of the earth or feel glad about them:...
From Moksha Smith: Agni's Warrior-Sage by Antonio de Nicolas --- I left the burning forest looking for waters to wash away the varnish people had laid on the cells of my timid soul: the rainbow of orthodoxy, the mauve...
I am scared of my dreams! As a child, I dreamt a lot. Almost every night. Mostly I dreamt beautiful things about my friends and family.
This is a song titled "Presence of Mind", composed during the heydays of my college music scene. Our own tech-guru Vivek S was the tabla player. Here's the break-down of the band (gosh, has it been 14 years already?).
by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD I am arguing in this paper that in order to study cultures we must first be able to identify the models by which a culture forms itself. I distinguish.
Introduction Posting a response to a question on the Nature of Consciousness, my fingers automatically started typing what is to follow next.
Introduction Khyati (Epistemology or sources of knowledge) has been a fierce subject of debate in India for many centuries.
By Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD Introduction The present paper is an attempt to clarify certain technologies that have come down to us as mystical and yet are the conditions for any creative human act.
The "hindu identity" subjected to the "Self Policing" vs "Self Defense" test. The ideas of two eminent thinkers, Amartya Sen's & Arvind Sharma, discussed & compared.
By Antonio T. De Nicolas, PhD Oh God, make me realize that the only way to reach you is by getting rid of you.
Transmitting Traditions-informally OR Ajji vandane-a tribute to the actual "Argumentative Indian" INTRODUCTION My grandma was an argumentative woman (she used the correct kannada word for it "Nyaya-adoodu" i.e.
Overview Much is known about Indian philosophical disciplines, Indian Arts, Mathematics, and Sciences but not much is known about a very important aspect of our Society Martial Arts.
When we read Ramayan we feel Rama being Maryada Purushotham how could he sent Sita Ma to forest when she was pregnant. There are so many arguments on this subject. It seems there was a sad love story behind this.
INTRODUCTION I found this book to be a passionate espousal of Athiesm, "absence of belief" and a strong denunciation of "blind belief".
by Antonio T. de Nicolas, PhD The goal of all inquiry is experience, (anubhava) Brahma Sutra Bhashya. I. 1.2.
The Wrestling Angel I Our host lived in a castle protected like a nest in a valley between Katmandu and Lhasa as green as an emerald in summer when the caravans of scientists trekked up the mountains collecting the musk...
INTRODUCTION It is a pet theme of western athiests and westernised Hindus to point out that the presence of evil in this world is not compatible with a loving creator.
Epistemological challenges: language from Global Strategies Project – Notes and commentaries by Anthony Judge Commentaries from Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential Editor's Note: This is an introduction...
INTRODUCTION Indian intellectual life has been dictated by a cabal of leftist intellectuals for the last 60 years. This leftist intellectual cabal views everything through the biased lens of what it claims is liberalism.
Introduction It is said that the "Great Indian Middle-class" is on a roll, with India's burgeoning Economy, and an ever-growing Middle-class, India is finally Happening! But there are several dark counter-reactions...
INTRODUCTION Recently West Bengal has been in news reports for problems associated with land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram. The principal opposition leader, Ms.
Samadhi Translated literally, SamAdhi means To get integrated. Samadhi is often defined as the state of complete immersion into a cosmic consciousness that is beyond the realm of ordinary consciousness (as we...
| | | | --- | --- | | | People strive in vain during their entire lifetime chasing shadows and in the end the result that stares them in their face is a big zero.
Introduction Culture can also be likened to the Operating System of a Social machine the framework and rule sets which govern the operation of the machine (Of course, the Culture OS is a lot more complicated and has...
INTRODUCTION When I was young, I used to see the OM symbol in Hindu temples. I used to wonder at its meaning. It is only later that I learnt that OM is clearly explained in Mandukya Upanishad (MU).
Mission statement Medha Journal's mission is to nurture a creative and intellectually stimulating platform for creative thinkers, to collectively grow in capability and knowledge as a community through sharing, learning...