Culture and Delusion

Culture is a delusion that we have everything under control. But it’s a delusion that can never be satisfied, so we fear its unravelling. We try harder, then, to define everything that is ‘in’ and everything that is ‘out’, fuelling our fear, stifling our empathy, turning imagination into stifled literalism.

Empathy and Darshan

Devdutt Pattanaik in the ‘7 Secrets of Shiva’ tells us that without empathy there is no evolution. He illustrates this with the story of Shiva, as Rudra, beheading Brahma for wanting freedom from fear through control.

Fear and Tranquillity

Death seems to be the last taboo of the West, something not to be discussed over the dinner table. Indeed, our fear of death is such that we spend inordinate amounts of money trying to hold it at bay. But death, it seems, stops for no one. Meanwhile, in the East, the fear of death is one of our five outer obstacles (Kleshas) to be mastered.

Imagination and Shiva-Linga

Devdutt Pattanaik in the ‘7 Secrets of Shiva’ tells us that imagination is what makes us human, and that it is the fountainhead of Shiva-linga, “Only the human mind, blessed with imagination, can challenge the laws of nature, withdraw from it and even break free from it. This is moksha, or liberation.”

What is Yog?

Patanjali, in The Yog Sutra, says Yog is a science and an art. It is a discipline to break the pattern of repetitive cycles of thought, to see and be seen in our True Nature; that is, for self-realisation. This is Sutra 1, 2 and 3 of Patanjali’s Yog Sutra.

Are we Real?

I am a huge fan of Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and am forever dipping in and out of his book I AM THAT. However, the spiritual journey, if nothing else, is a journey of discernment. Curiosity and questioning play a major role in that.