Theonefun

As the Covid-19 pandemic upends our lives, some of us struggle to find meaning in our collective misery. It is heartbreaking to see images of migrants --those who build our cities, work in our farms and help us in running our homes smoothly -- take long arduous, sometimes fatal journeys to find their way home. Their agony has moved even the most stoic among us. During such times when suffering is ubiquitous, Indic wisdom traditions can help us make sense of what’s going on.  The truth of suffering and its suspension is the essence of the Buddha’s teaching. The Buddha had realised long ago that cessation of suffering can be achieved by realising our interdependence on a host of causes and conditions, many of them beyond our control. His teaching of dependent origination is referred to as Pratityasamutpada, meaning that all things are devoid of an intrinsic and independent existence. It does not mean that we don’t exist; it simply means that we depend on many other big and small thin...

To say that individuals do not exist, is a startling statement. Am i not an individual, with my own independent thoughts, feelings, opinions, habits, aspirations and prejudices, making me what i am, an individual? It’s really not that simple. The interconnectedness concept that spiritual masters and philosophers talk of and the Buddhist Pratityasamutpada, Law of Dependent Origination, all point to the belief that nothing in the universe is a stand-alone entity. What is revelatory is that it’s not just belief; it is turning out to be fact. Although Pratityasamutpada refers more to the metaphysics of existence and the causality factor, it could add up in the physical sphere as well. Let’s take marine biology. According to a Nature magazine brief, “Scientists exploring the deep sea off the coast of Australia have discovered up to 30 new underwater species — including this string-like creature known as a siphonophore, which might be the longest animal ever discovered. Measuring 46 metres… ...

Not many people can tell the difference, and while many act on impulse, very few know when to trust their intuition. It is intuition that generally poses a mystery. When is it different from a premonition, for example? By comparison, impulses are very familiar. The impulse to have another piece of dessert when you know you shouldn’t offers a perfect example. Impulses are sudden urges of desire or emotion. Someone who is hot-tempered finds it hard to resist the impulse to get angry. Intuition isn’t about desire, urges, or impulses. It is a quiet knowing from the silent mind. There is no urgency about it, and if the intuition is genuine, it feels certain. Here is where the ego leads us astray. Hunches are just another version of the ego’s desire to be right and to have things go its own way. The result is that we all listen to our ego’s fears, wishes, dreams, hunches, and premonitions far more than we should. They have no basis in deeper awareness. Intuition isn’t personal. It comes from...

Financial worries and job loss are making many people lose their balance and emotional well-being. That is only one half of the picture — the other half is this: many of the world’s richest people have all the money they want, but their material prosperity has not assured them of peace and contentment. It is time, then, that we realise that happiness is in the mind, not in the objects we possess, not in our bank accounts. Money can definitely give us lots of comforts; some people actually say money can buy anything — but money cannot buy us happiness. Money cannot buy us peace of mind. Money cannot assure us of our emotional well-being. I know many of us would love to have a million dollars. But let me ask you, if someone were to offer you a million dollars, would you give away both your eyes? When you become aware of the ‘abundance’ in your own life, your attitude will change; your emotions will regain their lost balance and you will be prepared to face ‘lean’ and ‘dark’ days with a m...

For some, immediate survival is the only agenda at the moment. For others, it is a challenge to face the uncertainty and figure out new ways of dealing with the new normal, once the lockdown enforced on account of the Covid-19 coronavirus is eased. The pandemic has most unexpectedly thrown a collective challenge and shaken up all of us, globally. It is a poignant reminder that human life is very fragile. Also, that our circumstances do not define our lives so much as what we make of those circumstances. So this adversity could also be seen as a learning opportunity. When physical access to wise teachers is not possible, one can turn to the following three teachers for their unique lessons: Nature: We stand humbled by a microorganism that is invisible. In our arrogance of taking control over the whole planet, we have forgotten that we are also part of the natural habitat and planetary ecosystem. From ants to anacondas and from bats to bears, all play a key role in maintaining the ecosys...

You would perceive, through observation, that nature does not hurry. It is never in haste, everything happens in due course. Look at the sun, it religiously rises in the morning and sets in the evening. This has gone on for centuries, and it will continue to do so for centuries to come. The sun keeps shining, giving its light to earth and sustaining life on it. Likewise, the trees stand firm;  they do not complain, they bless us by providing us with shade, fuel, wood and fruit. A tree is invaluable to man. And yet we pay no attention to its presence or indeed acknowledge the many benefits we receive from it. There was a nurse in a hospital who looked after her patients very sincerely and devotedly. In her ward was a seriously ill patient. His condition was critical and the doctors had ordered that he should be kept off all food and water, and put on drips. The nurse would attend to him everyday, and serve him dutifully. With her tender care and loving concern, the patient improved ...

We must make an attempt to radiate thoughts of love, to live a life of service, says DADA J P VASWANI Why do the vast majority of us live perpetually in fear of something? Perhaps, one reason is that we are lonely. Despite an ever-increasing number of clubs and cinemas, museums and parks, hotels and restaurants, at heart, we feel so lonely. Not A Burden Why do we feel lonely? We lack the security of protection. We are like the child who, taken to a fair, has lost its mother in the crowd. His cries for his mother, “Ma! Ma!” rent the air, but we have forgotten to even cry for our Divine Mother. It is this sense of being alone that leads to a feeling of frustration, and there are those who do not find it worthwhile to live in the world. Many people see life as a burden. Some take the extreme step of committing suicide. The rest die what are regarded as natural deaths but which are, in many cases, premature. Loneliness sits as a heavy burden on the heart, sapping its strength, eating into ...

This is how you can make your adolescent process emotions positively during a difficult phase Social distancing can be hard, especially for teenagers used to spending most of their waking hours with friends. Now, during this lockdown, several teenagers are struggling with being confined to the home. “Most teenagers are experiencing insomnia or sleep pattern disruptions. They’re sleeping at 5 or 6 am and getting up in the afternoon. There is a lack of concentration and focus, low motivational drive, and irritability. They’re getting into scraps with their parents over home chores. Their use of social media and gaming have gone up. And unfortunately, even pornography,” says Dr Zirak Marker, senior psychiatrist and advisor at Mpower - The Centre. Experts share how to help young adults deal with the situation: Find the trigger “First, figure out why the lockdown is difficult for them,” says clinical psychologist Priyanka Kartari. “Is it because they don’t have access to their friends? Is i...

Swami MUKTIDANANDA writes of the urgent need  to decongest cities and clean up our relationship with our environment Wisdom lies in seeing the Covid-19 pandemic as an opportunity to learn from nature. Despite being blessed with a wonderful habitat such as Planet Earth, human beings have exploited nature and, according to a World Wildlife Fund report, have decimated 60% of all other species in the period 1970-2014. We need to shift from our humancentric approach to a nature-centric one that will take into account the well-being of all species, and also stop polluting air, water and land recklessly. To ensure genuine human welfare, there is an urgent need to respect nature and reorient civilisation in the direction of compassion, sensitivity and respect for all beings. Modern lifestyles that produce enormous amounts of non-biodegradable waste, have seriously compromised nature’s bio-geo cycles like the carbon cycle and hydrological cycle. The result of all these is degradation of the...

Today, loneliness is a familiar occurrence. Being alone is not synonymous with being lonely. Loneliness does not arise from being ‘alone’ with ourselves; it emerges when we crave recognition and acceptance and feel isolated. Careful analysis reveals that we bring loneliness on ourselves because we do not wish others to curtail our desires or prevent us from doing what we want. The first people we create a distance from is our own family as we don’t want elders, teachers, parents, or in-laws to admonish or correct us. Gradually, we shrink into a smaller unit and separate ourselves from others, even though at a deeper, subconscious level, we long for a sense of community and togetherness. That is why we love celebrations and parties. Yet, under the misguided dread of rejection, of being disregarded or because of ego tussles, we tend to isolate ourselves. Thus, loneliness slowly and surely creeps into our lives. The recent, popular term ‘social distancing’ is somewhat incorrect. When we c...

It blesses and reassures, receives and gives, invites and bids goodbye, creates abhinaya and mudras, writes HARSHA V DEHEJIA of the human hand The human hand with the prehensile thumb is the most beautiful and evocative part of the human body. Not only is it of utility in carrying out the many functions of human life but even more, raises it towards the sky to reach for the heavens; it expresses feelings, holds a kalam to write a love song and a chisel to transform a stone into a celestial image, and handles a needle to create beautiful embroidery. Our gods and goddesses speak to us through their hands. The Varada Hasta of Vishnu assures us of blessings; the Abhyaya Mudra of Shiva gives us protection. The left hand of Shrinathji calls us to join him in his krida, games, and when Venugopal holds the flute with his two hands, it is a call to his madhurya, sweetness. When Durga wields the trishul, trident, with her hand, it is an assurance of the victory of good over evil; when Lakshmi ho...

Shakti symbolises power — the divine power to create, sustain and evolve. Woman is a storehouse of hidden powers and talents, but she is so suppressed that these remain dormant in her, unharnessed and unutilised. Women have suffered mental and physical atrocities since ages. Sometimes she is humiliated in her home and at other times, outside the home. From childhood, she is taught to be dependent and constantly made to think that she is weak and fragile. Can a religion that has Durga, Kali and Lakshmi as its three main goddesses say that a woman is inferior to men? No way! The truth is that you are not a body; existentially, you are god as in godliness. God is not a person but is existence. In Atmashatakam, Adi Shankaracharya wrote: I am thoughtless and formless I am all pervasive and beyond senses I am eternally present Bondage and freedom is not in me I am consciousness I am Shiva I am Shiva Shankaracharya did not say these words for men alone. Nowhere does he say that man is Shiva a...

Signs of good luck in marriage With marriage, comes along numerous expectations between the two individuals set to tying the knot and their respective families. Their first and foremost expectation is to believe that this holy union would bring happiness in the lives of all. Importance of Kundli Milan In Hindu marriages, astrology plays a significant role in ensuring the same. Not all, but some families believe in Kundli Milan of the ‘couple in question’ to see if their ‘gunas’ do match or not. These astrological calculations are based on the couple’s respective horoscopes and planetary motion. Compatibility of couple The entire procedure and the expectations of family lead to one conclusion and i.e. good luck & prosperous future for the people involved and their families. For example, knowing if the couple are compatible based on their respective nature. Physical feature linked to future predictions On the other hand, several ancient scriptures give in their view that sometimes an...

Ancient warnings for men In Hinduism, all the ancient scriptures that have been mentioned have very little knowledge of the period during Satyuga. Nothing in detail, other than an explanation of how Lord Vishnu’s Matsya avatara ordered Manu and his wife, to prepare a boat that could inhabit, male-female pair of each species and Sapt Rishis, before the impending flood hits them. Matsya saving rishis It is assumed by the conversations of Lord Vishnu and Manu, mentioned in sacred scriptures that the earlier humans had no rules, or restrictions, even direction to live through. They cared nothing about Dharma and Karma; as a result, all hell broke loose. So, there was no other option than to destroying everything, in order to re-establish life. Manu-Matsya conversation After the flood receded, and everything was restablished, Lord Vishnu’s Matsya avatara imparted the knowledge and importance of Dharma and Karma. He asked Manu, to set a direction for humans- a set of regulations or rule, to ...

It is human nature to want to be liked and recognized, hence the insane hunt of conformity. But you can make a mindful effort to stop giving a damn; to let yourself free. It’s a skill that needs to be practiced, like any other skill. Once you truly understand how to let go, you will see the world from a completely different perspective. Obviously there is nothing wrong with being nice. But having the neurotic desire to be nice is dangerous for a number of reasons. Here’s why: 1. You suppress your emotions Inevitably, wanting to be loved and needed by others all the time results in suppressing tons of uncomfortable emotions. I’m talking rage, hatred, bitterness, annoyance, grief and stress — anything that is contrary to the altruistic image you crave to portray. You might not be conscious of repressing these types of emotions, but rest assured, it comes with the job description. You can’t give yourself entirely to other people, deny yourself, and expect to feel fine and dandy in the lon...

Our posture says a lot about our personality, the way we carry ourselves and how we carry our mindset. A straight posture where we are at eye level with the rest of the world, and our torso in vertically and horizontally aligned with the posture of our head – it shows a lot of confidence on our part. An individual’s posture not only represents how they are feeling but also reflects how they will feel depending on their posture. You might be slightly shocked to know that an individual’s posture can really affect their cortisol level in their brains which can manipulate your stress levels to balance it and reduce the visible signs of it. Have you given it a thought what is that one pose that can pump up your spirit and amp up your mood? It is called the Power Pose. On a spiritual level standing up tall can make you receive all the energies from the Universe without being tampered or to flow through you bent and broken because of your bad posture. Here are 5 super-poses that you can pract...

Life has a separate section of surprise how it can throw you in a pit and then bring you back to breathe again. Sometimes it so happens that we get stuck in situations where we are wronged, we're pulled down and go through a hell ride. This is a situation where you're victimised and there's is really nothing you could do about it. But let's for a second twist the scenario... Have you ever wondered what will happen if you choose not to be victimised and take control? Who is a victim? A victim is anyone who has suffered and has been harmed, injured, killed as a result of an accident, crime or any other event. Victimisation can come in all shapes and forms — you could have been victimised by a dear one, your trust betrayed or you could be a victim of your own mindset or a horrible crime. You could have been done wrong and victimised by your country, society, your own family or friends. Being victimised can cause damage and it can have a lasting impact, however, being in th...

Children are the most valuable asset for any society. However, for many countries, the most common reason for the widespread poverty are deplorable health services, malnutrition, and lack of education for these valuable assets. Children in India also face these challenges leading to societal issues. A report by the World Bank reveals that “Almost half of India’s population drops out of school by the age of 13 and only one in 10 people receive some form of job training”. Lack of formal education leads to unemployment and poverty. India has over 1.2 billion people and 37% of the population lives below the poverty line, earning less than 1.25 US Dollars per day. Another key area of concern is lack of nutritional facilities for our children. According to UNICEF, a third of the world’s malnourished children live in India. Besides, our country has limited sanitation and hygiene facilities. According to the World Health Organisation, it is estimated that 98,000 people in India die due to diar...

Astrology- Significance of Day of birth All these years, we continued to cherish and celebrate the date of our birth, but do any of you remember the day you were born? Was it a Monday, Friday or a Sunday? Not just the date and time of birth, even the day has a huge influence in our life. Birth number and day of birth According to astrology, the birth number plays a major role in deciding one’s future, but did you know that the ‘Day of your birth’ has been having a secret control over your life? Days of the week in astrology As we know, each day of the week has its own distinctive ambience. Astrology also assigns a particular planet to a particular day. For instance, the Sun rules Sunday, the Moon rules Monday, Mars rules Tuesday, Mercury rules Wednesday, Jupiter rules Thursday, Venus rules Friday and Saturn influences Saturday. Astrology and personality connection So, by astrological design, the day you’re born influences the dynamics that distinguishes you from other people. It become...

Any relationship has to start with some amount of trust. One could develop trust over a period of time as we come to know more and more about the person and his behaviour. The trust may undergo tests of time and these tests, when passed, may help reinforce our trust further. Our expectations have to be clear and need to be repeated from time to time to another person. If trust is broken, we need to understand the context in which trust was broken. More than the action, what was the intention behind breaking the trust by that person? It helps to understand the other side so that we do not take unilateral decisions without knowing the situation. Breach of trust may attract some sanction or punishment for the person who has broken it. It could just be in token form, a verbal expression of our unhappiness or it could be based on our evaluation, just to make the other person understand that trust has to be maintained and breach of trust would have reciprocal consequences. We see in the Rama...