Tag: spirituality
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The Universe ‘I’s: Alan Watts on Death, Consciousness, and Being
Isn’t it remarkable that from the vast nothingness of what you don’t remember—your past before memory, before birth—you find yourself here, alive, conscious, watching, listening, being? Alan Watts, in one of his most haunting and poetic monologues, delves deep into the mystery that most people avoid thinking about: death. But rather than fear it, deny…
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Money as the Currency of Love: Reconciling Spirituality and Abundance
For many people who walk a spiritual path, the question arises at some point: is making money bad if I’m a spiritual person? It’s a question that lingers in meditation halls, in quiet conversations after yoga classes, or even within our own inner reflections. The unease comes from a common perception: that money, wealth, or…
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New Ways to Be Happier: Practical Wisdom from Vanessa King and a Growing Global Movement
We all want to feel happier and more resilient, especially when life gets messy. But what does it really take to build lasting wellbeing—not just for ourselves, but for the people we care about? For me, this question became personal. I’ve not only championed the Action for Happiness movement in my own life, but also…
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How Do We Measure the Meaning of Life?
What makes life feel meaningful? Is it having a clear sense of purpose, achieving personal goals, living according to one’s principles, or perhaps feeling that life itself is inherently valuable? For decades, philosophers and psychologists alike have wrestled with these questions, and in recent years, the quest to understand and measure “meaning in life” has…
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The Illusion of Self: What Altered Minds Teach Us About Who We Are
What if everything you thought you knew about yourself—your memories, your body, even your sense of being—was not as solid as it seemed? Science writer Anil Ananthaswamy invites us to explore this provocative idea through the lens of “altered selves,” experiences shaped by conditions like schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, foreign limb syndrome, and out-of-body phenomena. His exploration…
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The Conversation That Might Just Shift the World: A Meeting of Minds on Consciousness, Science, and Reality
Imagine a world where science and spirituality are no longer strange bedfellows but companions in the same inquiry. Where the age-old questions of “Who am I?” and “What is real?” are not dismissed as abstract musings but approached with the same rigor and reverence as particle physics or neuroscience. That world doesn’t just exist in…
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The Spiritual Cost of Productivity: Simone Weil’s Haunting Warning
We’re constantly told to hustle, to grind, to find our passion, build our personal brand, and make every moment count. Productivity is a virtue, distraction a sin. But what if the system that urges us to give it our all is, in fact, designed to take everything from us—our time, our spirit, our very humanity?…
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The Subtle Signs of Aging: What It Feels Like and How We Experience It
Aging is one of life’s most natural processes, but when does it really start? And how do we experience it? Most of us don’t notice it immediately—it’s a slow, subtle shift that begins in our late 20s or 30s. Let’s take a closer look at how aging unfolds for both men and women, and what…
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The Dance of Order and Disorder: Consciousness, Evolution, and Creativity
Have you ever thought about how life balances the chaos of randomness with the order of design? Dennis Noble, an acclaimed scientist, believes this balance is the key to understanding life, creativity, and even consciousness itself. In a recent interview, he explored how the interplay of order and disorder shapes evolution, biology, and our understanding of the…
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Exploring Consciousness: Beyond Brains, Quantum Fields, and Machines
Consciousness has puzzled scientists, philosophers, and thinkers for centuries. Federico Faggin, inventor of the first microprocessor and pioneer in touch technology, believes we need to fundamentally rethink our approach to understanding consciousness. In a recent interview, he shared insights from his book, Irreducible Consciousness: Life, Computers, and Human Nature, explaining his belief that consciousness is…
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The Illusion of Free Will and What It Means for Us
Sam Harris, a well-known author and thinker, challenges a fundamental belief: the existence of free will. In his talks, he argues that our sense of making conscious choices is just that—a sense, not reality. Let’s explore his arguments and what they mean for how we view ourselves, morality, and society. Why Free Will Might Be…
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Shankara, Academia, and the Quest for Truth: Bridging Spirituality and Science
When we think of Adi Shankaracharya, we often view him as one of the greatest spiritual figures in Indian philosophy. His work systematizing Advaita Vedanta and his deep commentary on the Upanishads laid the foundation for non-duality as a spiritual path. But what’s often underappreciated is the way Shankara approached this task—it wasn’t just spiritual;…
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Understanding Consciousness: Insights from Anil Seth’s TED Talks
As someone deeply interested in the topic of consciousness, I was profoundly moved and enlightened by Anil Seth’s TED talks. These talks and his book, Being You, have become cherished resources in my journey to understand the nature of consciousness. My fascination with this topic also draws me towards spiritual wisdom traditions such as Vedanta and…
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Unveiling ‘I am’: The Fundamental Sense of Existence
Is ‘I am’ a thought or feeling or cognition? The ‘I am’ or ‘aham vritti’ can be considered as a form of cognition, but it’s more than just a thought or a feeling. It’s a fundamental sense of existence or being.
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Beyond the Ladder: Expanding Your Self, not Your Ego, in Work and Life
We’re constantly bombarded with messages to “climb the ladder,” “hustle harder,” and “achieve more.” While striving for goals and self-improvement is valuable, the relentless pursuit of external validation can lead down a treacherous path: the inflation of the ego. But what if there was another way? What if, instead of expanding our ego, we focused…
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From Samsara to Moksha: How Vedanta Empowers Us to Break Free
The understanding of Vedanta, far from diminishing our engagement with the world, actually helps us embrace it more fully, enriches our understanding of it, and amplifies our happiness. Vedanta acts as a powerful tool for liberation and strengthens us in our pursuits rather than weakening us.
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The Religion of the Bhagavad Gita
It’s vacation season in many places in the western world. As travel has opened up after the pandemic, tourist destinations have been thronged by millions of people in India too. Most of us have experienced the difference between hiring a tour agency to plan our itinerary and the effort it takes to plan a travel…
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