Fields of Scotland

Another landscape in acrylic.

I have used neo-impressionist style at places, especially to add light and shadow... Most of the painting is plain colours with minimal shading.

Georgengarten, Hannover, Germany

Step-by-step how to paint the scene from Hannover, Germany

I began with pale and bright lemon yellow for the canopy and shades of ochre for the ground.

Painting was made keeping in mind the distance.

Lodalen, Norway

Another one of my step-by-step landscape posts...

This one is based on a picture of Norway.
I think one day I shall settle in the Nordic lands... *wishful thinking*

(Please do pray for me :P )

Glen Brittle, Scotland

I am down with fever and after several hours of sleeping and lying down and getting bored, I decided to make a quick painting.
My muse was 'Glen Brittle, Scotland'
My medium is acrylic.
In this post I have given serial pictures to show the painting evolve.
I am not particularly happy with the end result but then, I couldn't sit any longer.

Perhaps I will add some finishing touches to it later.

RED ORANGE YELLOW FLICKER BEAT

I never do reviews of songs. I dare say this is a start, it however is a first.
I couldn't help it, it was compelling: the beauty and sheer genius of what Lorde has composed (salutes!!!)

The song 'Yellow Flicker Beat' is a beauty beyond description (I am talking specifically about the lyrics and how they have been sung. )

It is a poem, nay, an amazing poem!!

Here are the lyrics:

"Yellow Flicker Beat"

I’m a princess cut from marble, smoother than a storm.
And the scars that mark my body, they’re silver and gold,
My blood is a flood of rubies, precious stones,
It keeps my veins hot, the fire's found a home in me.
I move through town, I’m quiet like a fight,
And my necklace is of rope, I tie it and untie.

And now people talk to me, but nothing ever hits home
People talk to me, and all the voices just burn holes.
I’m done with it (ooh)

This is the start of how it all ends
They used to shout my name, now they whisper it
I’m speeding up and this is the red, orange, yellow flicker beat sparking up my heart
We're at the start, the colours disappear
I never watch the stars, there’s so much down here
So I just try to keep up with the red, orange, yellow flicker beat sparking up my heart

I dream all year, but they’re not the sweet kinds
And the shivers move down my shoulder blades in double time

And now people talk to me, I’m slipping out of reach now
People talk to me, and all their faces blur
But I got my fingers laced together and I made a little prison
And I’m locking up everyone who ever laid a finger on me
I’m done with it (ooh)

And this is the red, orange, yellow flicker beat sparking up my heart
And this is the red, orange, yellow flicker beat-beat-beat-beat


Full of fire and head strong will power, this song does describe Katniss and what she felt like. The way Lorde sings it, the song successfully makes the most inattentive of audiences know exactly what is inside a rebel, what is pain and grief and what is the flaming hot colour of the red orange yellow flickering fire that oppression and injustice lights up.

When there is just so much pain that the person becomes numb to it, that is the fire that lights up a rebellion.

Every single line can be spoken about, however I particularly love the way Lorde sings the line 'And I’m locking up everyone who ever laid a finger on me' . Beautiful!

The song also highlights her dilemmas and fears. As it progresses, we can visualise Katniss growing stronger and deeper into the fight. Her "dark" rebellious side that very aptly touches the fringes of 'ruthlessness' is what makes the song so realistic. However, what makes the song surreal is the minimum words doing so much talking!

Pure genius, Lorde!

Creating Yourself

Life is as beautiful as you nurture it to be.

There are many ways to live life. No one is better than the other.

A small lump of clay, amorphous, complete with full potential, just like a blank canvas, sits idle on the wheel.
Many factors make it, mould it, create it into what it becomes. The potter, water, wheel, the sun, wind, temperature, furnace; each has its effect on the final pot that is made. Once made, the pot cannot be reshaped. It is what it is, on one hand, a beautiful creation but on the other hand, rigid and unyielding. The potential it had, realised or lost?

Then there is clay that grows into many lovely things. Like water, the element representative of love, it can take many shapes, solve many purposes. It doesn't differentiate between that what is like it and that what isn't simply because everything is in it and it sees itself in everything. This is clay that is shaped not by a potter but by the loving life force of the nurturing universe/chi/prana what ever it is known as, to you.

This clay is forever growing, forever loving and is the perfect example of 'Life is as beautiful as you nurture it to be'.

Choose.

CELEBRATING YOUTH

"Born anew, new sun each morn

New hopes and heights every new dawn

Such is the sparkle that lights up the day

And so is our youth, and so they say”

The youth of a nation is not just the muscle but also often a breath of fresh wind that showcases the mundane in a magical light. The world has always been here and always will be, but our perspective can make it look new and different and

this perspective is the true power of youth. When fearless, the youth of the world can bring about change that few would expect and it is this gripping fear that anchors down our youth and hence, us. So what exactly is this fear and who has put it into our world? What keeps the youth from being all that they could be? Today we know that stress levels and depression is extremely high in the youth and this is not only shameful, it also cripples our progress as a country as well as mankind in general. What exactly is the reason behind these issues? this is what we tried to explore this August.

On 12th and 13th August, we (The Department of Community Medicine) at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College (Safdarjung Hospital), New Delhi, celebrated the United Nations International Youth Day, in collaboration with the ‘Indian Association For Adolescent Health’. This year, the theme for this annual global event was ‘Youth Civic Engagement’. We hosted multiple inter-college events conforming with the theme and also tried to explore certain medical issues of today’s youth.

The idea was spontaneously conceived, almost out of no where, and it got together each one of us here to help it become a reality. At first, it was just a bunch of first year post graduate students fiddling with an idea that seemed too difficult to chase in the short span of time that they had. Then, some undergraduate students got interested. “Let us do it.” That is the spirit of youth. It is almost poetic that youth got together to attain something seemingly uphill, to showcase the power of youth.

However, no seed ever germinated without the cool water and warm earth nurturing it and no plant ever becomes a tree without standing tall in the harshest of sun. And so, the seniors ( and I mean seniors as well as the faculty ) carefully helped the idea materialise.

With a lot of team work, a lot of institutions were included and events held. Both medical colleges and non medical institutes got together under one roof to express the various concerns of today's youth via art, photography and the spoken word.

On 12th of August, we had a photography as well as poster making competition. While the photography competition highlighted the ‘Role of Junk Food in Adolescent Obesity’, the poster making competition was an open invitation for participants to express ‘The Power of Youth’ or ‘The issues faced By Today’s Youth’. There were also literary events. A debate competition was organised to compare the role of youth in their health versus the role of the government in promoting the same. In the extempore competition, different participants had different topics, all relevant to today’s youth. All these events witnessed enthusiastic participation by students from various colleges across Delhi and with each participant, the audience could appreciate the various aspects to the multi-factorial issues that revolve around youth.

Since youth is what the children are made into, our program also included a school for underprivileged children. The posters they made emphasised on how junk food was affecting the health of the youth and many children participated. On 13th, we had the opportunity to directly communicate with the children after the extempore competition, which had various youth related topics.

As the event concluded, we realised we made so many new memories for so many people. The beauty of practising ‘public health’ is the impact that it has on the root of an issue. Many gigantic issues can be easily resolved if only seemingly trivial and at times overtly simple, grass root level interventions are devised and implemented and this event was one such small yet significant step.

In youth we learn, in age we understand and since we shall never be as young as we are right now, it makes ‘now’ the perfect time to realise what youth is all about.

Dyson sphere: my silly little query

Wikipedia describes a Dyson sphere as "a hypotheticalmegastructure that completely encompasses a star and hence captures most or all of its power output. "
It was first described by Freeman Dyson.

Dyson speculated that such structures would be the logical consequence of the long-term survival and escalating energy needs of a technological civilization, and proposed that searching for evidence of the existence of such structures might lead to the detection of advanced intelligent extraterrestrial life.

The link at technology review , describes a new class of Dyson sphere, one that is built around a white dwarf instead of a star in its youth, so to say. It argues that constructing a Dyson sphere around a white dwarf would require much less material and would also explain earth like gravity.

It sounds pretty good, except I don't understand who will construct such a sphere? I mean, the species that this theory requires to construct the sphere would perish as their star turns into the dwarf, wouldn't they?

So either the sphere is constructed before hand (then explain the size?) or the species create some technology to survive the transition of their star into a white dwarf, or, intelligent life forms create a Dyson Sphere on one of the already existing white dwarves.

I don't know how is this working out, this bizarre idea.

Anyone with any possible explanation?

VIBGYOR

All the discussion of intolerance towards love (I am refraining from the use of same love or gay marriage or queer or homophobia etc as using such terms infact highlights the discrimination) has finally started to allow many bright human beings to breathe, but there is one catch. Phobia is not limited to love and gender preference but it extends to many many other "rules" that "decide" who loves and who doesn't.

Is it not a shame that we still stand divided on the basis of trivial differences of nationality, religion, race, caste and what not?

This is way deeper and way more serious than it seems. It is a cold, stony ice berg of sorts: one that is still affecting our 'Titanic of humanity to sail' (excuse me going all dramatic about it).

I may be an American. It doesn't give me the right to harass a Pakistani.

I may be a royal child in my own right, it doesn't give me the right to think of others as 'beneath' me.

I may be a high priestess, it doesn't give me the right to look upon others with a smug face and superiority complex.

I may be straight to the core, it doesn't give me the right to call others 'queer'.

We are all, people.

We are under the same sun, are made up of a DNA that is 99% same, eat more or less similar things, grow old and die. Why might we spend our lives teaching our children how we are better than our neighbour instead of teaching them about the beauty of life?

Infact, I believe all those so called "superior" souls/ "knowledgeable" people/ "better" race/ "enlightened" beings who actually THINK and PREACH that they are better than someone else must wake up, for they are free to have their freedom of choice only if they agree to let others have their share of freedom.

India, especially, a country where you can see the glimpse of entire world, has many ethnic sub groups. Each of us have our own unique set of qualities and challenges. Some of us are culturally better off, some financially and so on. To teach the notion that some of us are backward feeds our children a sense of inferiority. What any child needs is a sense of self esteem. The great psycho-social disparity in India feeds half of us with a superiority complex and the rest of us with an inferiority complex. No one benefits. This system benefits only the political parties and that too at the cost of our one child feeling inferior to the other. This system must be reformed to meet economic requirements such that it ensures psycho-social equality instead of thriving on discrimination.

LGBTQ "community" is no separate community but our own brethren. We all stood up for equal rights and we won them. It is time we all stand up to end fake secularism , racism and casteism.

We are all the same.
We need no criminalisation.
We need not be looked down upon.
We need not get any special treatment either.
Such will be the glorious day where we realise that the sun shines equally upon us all.

Why Namasté?

'Namasté' isn't just a gesture that belongs to Hindus. It isn't religious although it was initially practised  by Hindus.

'Namasté' is a deeper and much more spiritual switch that enables in ascension of individual souls and thus in that of the planet.

The internet is full of loose translations, often grammatically incorrect, however correct in emphasising what the term implies . From my little knowledge of Sanskrit I take the privilege of sharing my understanding of the term and what it stands for. The information I thus share is to the best of my knowledge and is not taken from any references. I request that any corrections needed be pointed out.

Importance of the word:

'Namasté' may be read as a combination of two words 'namah' and 'te'.
'Namah' implies 'to pray' or 'to bow', not physically but from a mental point of view. 'To bow' implies 'shedding of ego' in this context. It is not 'prayer' as people offer to God or deities. Nonetheless, no conventional prayer can be successful unless the ego is shed. Hence, 'namah' is significant in prayers as well as in daily greetings. This is also why most Sanskrit Shlokas and chants have 'namah' somewhere in them. For instance, 'om namah shivay' wherein we shed our ego (or, so to say, surrender) to lord Shiv.

'Te' means 'to you'

The term 'Namasté' thus implies '(I) bow to you' which actually means 'I surrender my ego to you'

Often the gesture is associated with a physical bowing of the head. That is complimentary and Namasté doesn't necessarily require us to bow physically as it is the bending of ego that is far more important than bowing of the head. Those who lose in wars also bow their head to the victor. It doesn't guarantee allegiance. It doesn't imply that there shall be peace. Often such people get back with much vengeance!

Namasté, or bending of the ego on the other hand, is the foundation of peace! For when we bend our ego, we see the divine in the other. When we see divine in all, we have no problem in accepting their point of view.
Bending the ego kills superiority complex and when we are not superior to anyone, we are free from the fear of becoming inferior to anyone. When we are free from fear, we are free from greed and jealousy as lack of this fear renders the competition worthless.
And when we see the divine that is present in all,  we are not afraid to love all. When we love all, we unite and contributed to peace!

The gesture:

The physical act of 'Namasté' brings the  together, close to each other and to the heart chakra. This is also very significant. Hands are tools of magic. Like mouth is a portal for the entry of food, our hands are portals for exchange of energy.
Usually, the left hand is receptive while the right hand transmits. When we bring the palms together, we neither receive nor radiate any energy to or from the other person. In a way it is protective to both as a greeting may be made at anytime irrespective of our state of mind and while greeting someone, we don't know their energy either. Folding the palms together protect both the people involved from transmission of unwanted energy.
(This is also why most deities are shown with their right palm facing us as that signifies their grace radiating out us. But harnessing energy using consciousness and intent is another topic.)

Bringing the palms together also shiftd our consciousness to them and subsequently as we bring them close to the heart chakra , we shift our consciousness to it. This ensures that our greeting is from a place of 'love'. Love cannot be without mutual respect and we cannot honour the divine in anyone unless we love and respect them.

The knowledge of the gesture enables us to focus on the intent behind the term. The entire process is akin to casting a spell for universal peace and brotherhood!

The simple yet profound act of 'Namasté' is a powerful act of watering the tree of peace that can wither unless it is carefully nurtured.

The act of Namasté unites us and I encourage you to try to simply speak it and then speak it with the gesture and intent. You will notice the difference yourself!

The Doorway: Chapter 1

The white priest

It was one morning after many many days of trying. The wind was light yet powerful in its own way. There was a clarity in the air. It did not seem like the rest of the towns. It was as if there was a void. A void with a contentment barely explainable.  A void where there was no heaviness, no attachments, no sorrow.
He never knew a void could have something that the more 'fuller' places lack.
"How paradoxical it is!" He wondered. And that's how he stood in his tired jeans and a shirt with sleeves rolled up. Waiting, hopeful that today he will finally have his answer.
As he stood by the gate of the monastery, waiting for the white priest, he tried to look what was inside. All he could see was a jungle. A narrow path that was basically a clearing meandered through the grass going to where he believed the white priest lived.
He saw a bare boulder by the old, ornate yet simple, tall yet humble gateway and sat down. It seemed the monastery was a void within this one. He wondered what that would feel like.

Finally he saw him: a priest, young looking, clad in white, surrounded by a few disciples, clad in orange to yellow to red robes. He stood up excitedly. The group walked slowly, stopping at a bush somewhere looking at some fallen berry somewhere. Twice he looked at his watch and after what was about 15 minutes, they finally reached the gate.
"What the hell!" He wondered. Then shrugged the thought aside.
The priest looked at him. Then he looked at a man standing onto his left side. The guy nodded.
"Why are you here?"
"For you" he plainly replied.
"What do you need?"
"I want to get to the doorway"
The priest raised an eyebrow. It was difficult to tell if he was pleased or surprised. He was probably both yet neither was evident.

"Who told you about the doorway?" He finally asked.
"I know about it, priest. And I need to get to it."
"Oh do you! Well...well.." The priest seemed to be scanning him. He felt oddly uncomfortable.

"I can't tell you. Go back now lad"
The priest said and continued walking towards the temple near the gate.

The man who had introduced him to the priest glanced at him briefly and joined the rest of the monks.

He kept standing, irritated and a little confused.
Why hadn't the monk told the white priest how he met him in that very temple. The gates of the monastery were always open and he should be respected for not simply walking in, he thought.

"No one ever goes inside until the priest asks for them to." He remembered the monk telling him. "You will have to be here when the priest comes"
"And what day will that be?" He had asked
After a pause the monk had said "It was supposed to be today, but he is busy and sent me instead. It is usually on a Tuesday that he comes to address the people."
He had taken no chances and reached the gate at 6am sharp every single day. He wasn't a morning person and until now he had never seen what 6am was.
Finally the priest came and did not even spend five decent minutes listening to him!

He felt angry.

"I am so stupid!" He wondered. "I should have barged in an met him. All this is bloody nonsense anyway!"

He looked around. No body seemed to notice him. People flocked towards the temple. He turned around and walked lazily in the direction back to his guest room.
"Boss will probably fire me now. Oh this is messed up! And all of this for nothing!" He thought. His leave had been untimely, in the middle of important meetings and extended three times already!

He walked past the trees and wondered how they grow despite the tonnes of earth above them.

"This world is crapped up." He thought. People pulling down each other all the time. You give them a little power, and they exert it like they were some king!

I am done with this place.
                              

HUMAN ZOO

Human zoos were ethnographic displays where humans were kept caged, much like our present day zoos. Cruel, don't you think?

My heart goes out for the poor girl! Thank God the Human Zoos were banned!
These ethnographic displays slowly died out after World War II. First banned by Hitler, the last was in Belgium in 1958.

An Excerpt from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16295827

"The saddest emblem of the coming era was the South African Saartjie Baartman, later to be known as the Hottentot Venus. Born around 1780, she was brought to London in 1810 and put on display.
She had the genetic characteristic known as steatopygia - extremely protuberant buttocks and elongated labia - which evidently delighted the cabaret-goers of the British capital.
When she died in poverty, her skeleton was put on display. It remained on show in the Museum of Mankind in Paris until 1974. In 2002, her remains were repatriated and buried in South Africa."

Accepting growth

Nothing is attained without some pain. This is true in all realities, physical or spiritual. Often it is the fear of this pain that keeps us from claiming our own rightful growth.

Should you want to grow, you must be ready for braving the path that leads to it. 
There is no need for fear in this scenario. None at all!

Fear, in this scenario, is simply a sieve to filter the brave from the ignorant. I wouldn't call the rest of us 'weak hearted' but 'ignorant' as should someone guide us into the truth of all matters (and should we LET OURSELVES be thus guided) we would no longer have any fear.

There is only wisdom or the absence of it.

Let your self learn from a little plant. A plant so young and tender, yet a victor and a brave heart!

Namaste!

Are We Creating Our Own Computer Game?

We have all heard that 'Time and space is an illusion'. From a spiritual person's point of view, it seems very valid. It also explains why people dealing with alternative healing such as reiki teach that it heals irrespective of time and place. Distance reiki is just as effective, it is said.

The question then arises,  what then IS the time and space as perceived by us?

Can this be compared with a really high definition computer game run on a super-quantum computer, that being us?

After all, what WE perceive is what we PERCEIVE. It is similar to collecting gold coins in a computer game. Do the coins really exist? No! But we try and collect them because the tiny number on the corner of the screen increases and "enables" us to, say, buy a new modification, or a potion or whatever.
For as long as we play the game, we are in fact living in another universe called the Laptop in another dimension called XYZ game... Only, we are playing 'God'. But what is the character inside the screen playing? If he were to feel, what would he feel? Would the commando feel the pain when he is shot at?

Not just that, imagine space-time from the point of view of a game.

At any instant, the computer is displaying 1's and 0's on the screen. At any instant, all those bits are in the 'memory'/hard disk. Irrespective of whether the character is on level one or two, or if he just died in the game, the truth is that the 'bits' that make up the character ARE very much alive in the system! The truth is, even when the character may 'feel' (if characters as advanced as us were made) that he is moving forward in life (game), he still is on that same screen! That 3-D reality of the character is but a play of the codes!

Time , may be loosely defined as the rate at which a particular event/ predefined denominator, changes. For instance, in a computer game, the rate at which the character "moves" on the screen could decide the time elapsed in that game. One, it doesn't mean the character is actually moving. We as an external observer can conveniently say that the bits defining the character are where they are at each moment. The character, however, would live in an illusion of moving forward.
Two, we hit 'pause' and the screen freezes. Time, with respect to game , stops. Does this mean that time actually stopped? Or does this makes time absolutely a variable, only as powerful as the power we entitle it?

Also, does freezing the screen means a state of 'inactivity' is attained? No! For as long as the screen is displaying an image, implies the binary code is being sent from the processor to the display unit. Observing the same screen (in a paused game) essentially means that the same code is being sent over and over again.

But again, all this is easy to assimilate when we detach ourselves from the game. Which we do, conveniently. We know, for now, that a game is a game. At least until such high definition games cone in that mimic reality better than "reality". Such games would make it difficult for us to differentiate between the real game and the game in the system.

A theory suggests that , just as a computer memory, using predefined codes, creates a virtual reality (which IS in fact getting more and more detailed these days), similarly, our brain uses predefined codes within it and creates this " reality" we call life.

Seriously, the easiest way to understand the illusive world of Maya is via computer games. I mean, imagine our lives to be very detailed game of, say, Farmville. I bet that clears a few doubts!

Do you think we can also talk about the much debated idea of 'shared consciousness' using our computer games? Well, look at it this way. A code of binaries that represent, say a gold mine in 'Age of Empires' would be "perceived", so to say, as gold mines by all the characters in that game. The moon is the moon is the moon.

Do you know, we see objects in colour vision because our code (DNA) thus enables. That doesn't make us superior to or inferior to an insect that perceives everything in reds blues and yellows via the infrared emissions as is encoded by its genes! So who is more correct in his description of the said object? Is not the comparison made null and void?

I guess the era of computer games would take us closer to our " reality", pun intended. :P

ANCIENT ADVANCES

SCIENCE IN THE ANCIENT INDIAN TEXTS:

Sanskrit texts not only describe advanced technology, but also guide as to how to make the machines and operate them. No wonder scientists from across the globe have been interested in learning Sanskrit.
Ramayana describes double decker cylindrical vimanas and also mentions visiting the moon:

"The Ramayana, does have a highly detailed story in it of a trip to the moon in a Vihmana (or "Astra"), and in fact details a battle on the moon with an "Asvin" airship. This is a small bit of evidence of anti-gravity and aerospace technology used by Indians."
(Read here.)

"Gurkha flying in his swift and powerful Vimana hurled against the three cities of the Vrishis and Andhakas a single projectile charged with all the power of the Universe. An incandescent column of smoke and fire, as brilliant as ten thousands suns, rose in all its splendor. It was the unknown weapon, the Iron Thunderbolt, a gigantic messenger of death which reduced to ashesthe entire race of the Vrishnis and Andhakas.

The after-affects of this Iron Thunderbolt have an ominously recognizable ring. Apparently, those killed by it were so burnt that their corpses were unidentifiable. The survivors fared little better, as it caused their hair and nails to fall out."

This is clear cut description of nuclear warfare and radiation poisoning. Certain sites still have elevated levels of radiation and manifest as birth defects and cancer.

The Samara Sutradhara is a scientific treatise dealing with the construction, take-off, cruising, normal and forced landings, and possible collisions with birds

Exerpts from Samarangana Sutradhara state: Strong and durable must the body of the Vihmana ... Inside one must put the mercury engine with its iron heating apparatus underneath... The movements of the Vimana are such that it can vertically ascend, vertically descend, move slanting forwards and backwards.

Ancient Indians flew around in these vehicles, all over Asia, and even, apparently, to South America.
In fact this site questions if Easter Island was an Indian Airbase.

The Vaimānika Śāstra ( वैमानिक शास्त्र, lit. "shastra on the topic of Vimanas"; sometimes also rendered Vimanika, Vymanika, Vyamanika) is an early 20th-century Sanskrit text on aerospace technology. It makes the claim that the vimānas mentioned in ancient Sanskrit epics were advanced aerodynamic flying vehicles, similar to a rocket.

The existence of the text was revealed in 1952 by G. R. Josyer.

Video

The Vaimanika Sastra, written by Bharadvajya, using even older texts found as his source, deals with the operation of Vimanas and included information on the steering, precautions for long flights, protection of the airships from storms and lightning and how to switch the drive to "solar energy" from a free energy source which sounds like "anti-gravity." The Vaimanika Sastra describes three types of aircraft in texts and diagrams. It includes fire resistant apparatuses and construction materials (of 16 types) which absorb light and heat.

Ancient nuclear warfare:

A heavy layer of radioactive ash in Rajasthan, India, covers a three-square mile area, ten miles west ofJodhpur. There is a very high rate of birth defects and cancer in the area and very high levels of radiation have been registered.

Scientists have unearthed sites in the Indus Valley where evidence shows an atomic blast dating back thousands of years, from 8,000 to 12,000 years, destroyed most of the buildings and probably a half-million people. One researcher estimates that the nuclear bomb used was about the size of the ones dropped on Japan in 1945.  

Video

Modern application:

Shivkur Bapuji Talpade, a Sanskrit scholar, flew an unmanned aircraft, eight years before the Wright brothers flew in 1903, He built his aircraft entirely from the rich treasury of India’s Vedas. His demonstration flight took place before a large audience in the Chowpathy beach of Bombay. The historian Evan Koshtka, has described Talpade as the ‘first creator of an aircraft’.

Robert Oppenheimer inventor of the atom bomb was well known for studying ancient Indian texts and famously quoted from the Gita saying, ‘I have become Death, Destroyer of Worlds'
(See the first video)

Starting in 1930's, Hitler used to send expeditions to India and Tibet for acquiring scientific data.

Only a few years ago, the Chinese discovered some Sanskrit documents in Lhasa, Tibet and sent them to the University of Chandigarh for translation. The document contains directions for building interstellar spaceships

Read here.

Dr. Ruth Reyna says Their method of propulsion was "anti- gravitational" and was based upon a system analogous to that of "laghima"

According to Hindu Yogis, it is this "laghima" which enables a person to levitate and is “The power to decrease the weight of the physical body to that of a feather. We can float in the air with the physical body, thanks to this power.” - Samael Aun Weor

Dr. Reyna said the ancient Indians could send men onto any planet. The manuscripts were also said to reveal the secret of "antima"; "the cap of invisibility" and "garima"; "how to become as heavy as a mountain of lead."

This reminds of the Ramayana quoting Anagad, after placing his foot firmly, challenged Ravana to move it, which he couldn't.

It is just amazing how much information is stored in ancient texts!

Could you be a Cactus ?

The picture in the background served as a muse for the thoughts expressed..

Who would wonder upon just looking at a succulent, that amongst the thorns, it would one day grow the brightest of blossoms! Thus, we must not form opinions about someone's capabilities by just giving a lazy glance for some people have untapped potential, yet another group has potential way more magical and mind blowing! 

Believe , and you can be...

KUNDALINI, an introduction

The concept of Kundalini is mentioned in Upanishads (9th century BCE - 3rd century BCE). The Sanskrit adjective kuṇḍalin means "circular, annular". It does occur as a noun for "a snake" (in the sense "coiled", as in "forming ringlets") in the 12th-century Rajatarangini chronicle .

What is Kundalini?

Kundalini (Sanskrit kuṇḍalinī, कुण्डलिनी) stems from yogicphilosophy as a form of shakti or "corporeal energy" and is often described as an indwelling spiritual energy that can be awakened.
Sir John Woodroffe coined the phrase "serpent power" to describe it.

What is interesting is there is a lot of debate about whether or not kundalini is dormant/sleeping. One school of thought says kundalini is always present in all of us. It is correct, yes , but 'a dormant kundalini' is a metaphoric explaination of a concept. Anyway, it doesn't matter! The point is we can all benefit by awakening kundalini. (let's be diplomatically correct and call it enhancement)

Kundalini - root meaning:

Kun is the Earth ... add the "di" (sometimes spelt "ti") and its the little pot of earth (one cell) in the earth (physical manifestation) .. and the bits added to the end which some transcribe as "lini" are the perpetual consciousness of the 'alpha and the omega' expressed as potential .. Kundalini is the Refiner's Fire which straightens out the mind's distortions of Life and Nature (Kundalini definition)

Kundalini is, thus, the energy of our natural physical beingness - the life energy of each cell of the Physical Body -- particularly the 'stem cells'.

Kundalini is the latent potential of the Feminine Principle of Creation - the Life-Force and life consciousness of every cell of all physical life. We are all born with Kundalini already awakened .. we would be very dead if it wasn't.

(From: Transpersonal)

KUNDALINI  AND YOGA:

"Take the simple analogy of a lake. A lake is made up of water. The lake water evaporates from the lake, and goes up into the air... the vapor becomes rain, it comes back to the lake immediately, and the circle is completed without any problem.

On the other hand, if the vapor gets carried to a nearby mountain, and conditions turn it into snow, the mountain might hold the water for some time. *However, sooner or later, the sun will warm up that snow, and it is bound to melt. It will start to dribble down the mountain, drop by drop, slowly becoming a stream, and it will eventually find its way back to its source.*

The Kundalini spiral is like the water from the lake. Despite its erratic movement, there is a constant pull towards the center that will eventually bring it back to its point of origin.

*It is one of the most vital messages of yoga. Namely, that there is no such thing as eternal damnation.* It may take you one hundred years; it may take you one hundred lifetimes, but having left the source, the constant pull towards the center will bring you back."

(Read more at: Daily Readings)

Ramana Maharshi mentioned that Kundalini is nothing but the natural energy of the Self, where Self is the universal consciousness (Paramatma) present in every being, and that the individual mind of thoughts cloaks this natural energy from unadulterated expression.

Swami Vivekananda described Kundalini briefly in London during his lectures on Raja Yoga. He spoke about the spiritual aspect of it as well as tried to  seek it in the human anatomy.  The language of the  wise men of ancient times is metaphoric and cryptic. However, analogies may be drawn.

He mentioned two nerve currents in the spinal column, called Pingalâ and Idâ, and a hollow canal called Sushumnâ running through the spinal cord.

He said:
"At the lower end of the hollow canal is what the Yogis call the "Lotus of the Kundalini". They describe it as triangular in form in which, in the symbolical language of the Yogis, there is a power called the Kundalini, coiled up. When that Kundalini awakes, it tries to force a passage through this hollow canal, and as it rises step by step, as it were, layer after layer of the mind becomes open and all the different visions and wonderful powers come to the Yogi. When it reaches the brain, the Yogi is perfectly detached from the body and mind; the soul finds itself free. We know that the spinal cord is composed in a peculiar manner. If we take the figure eight horizontally (∞) there are two parts which are connected in the middle. Suppose you add eight after eight, piled one on top of the other, that will represent the spinal cord. The left is the Ida, the right Pingala, and that hollow canal which runs through the centre of the spinal cord is the Sushumna. Where the spinal cord ends in some of the lumbar vertebrae, a fine fibre issues downwards, and the canal runs up even within that fibre, only much finer. The canal is closed at the lower end, which is situated near what is called the sacral plexus, which, according to modern physiology, is triangular in form. The different plexuses that have their centres in the spinal canal can very well stand for the different "lotuses" of the Yogi.

When Kundalini Shakti is conceived as a goddess, then, when it rises to the head, it unites itself with the Supreme Being (Lord Shiva). Then the aspirant becomes engrossed in deep meditation and infinite bliss"

Paramahansa Yogananda in his book God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita states:

At the command of the yogi in deep meditation, this creative force turns inward and flows back to its source in the thousand-petaled lotus, revealing the resplendent inner world of the divine forces and consciousness of the soul and Spirit. Yoga refers to this power flowing from the coccyx to Spirit as the awakened kundalini.

and

The yogi reverses the searchlights of intelligence, mind and life force inward through a secret astral passage, the coiled way of the kundalini in the coccygeal plexus, and upward through the sacral, the lumbar, and the higher dorsal, cervical, and medullary plexuses, and the spiritual eye at the point between the eyebrows, to reveal finally the soul's presence in the highest center (sahasrara) in the brain.

According to Hindu tradition, in order to be able to (wilfully) integrate this spiritual energy, a period of careful purification and strengthening of the body is required.
Patañjali emphasised following the path of an openhearted manner.
Although kundalini can "awaken" spontaneously as well.

(Read more at wikipedia )

This article has primarily been taken up from various online sources and I take no credits for it, whatsoever. All I did was compiled some interesting facts about kundalini in one place for the ease of reference.
In a subsequent post, I shall mention the "awakening" of kundalini as well as scientific data supporting it.

Namaste

Image courtesy:http://www.vapingmad.com.au/product/rainbow-serpent/

Light

It doesn't matter what we are, where we are from or how old we are. We can always spread love, light and truth in our little deeds...

Darkness is the limitations we tend to live in. 'Light' is realising those limitations are but false!

I heard someone say "we can go in a dark room and switch on a lightbulb but we cannot switch on darkness"

Darkness is simply the absence of light. A passive existence. An important existence. A potential.

Light, is realising that potential!

Namaste.

Left Brain Right?

Our world has been split into a dichotomy of sorts. A dichotomy that exists in all planes of our environment, from spiritual to physical and even biological. So we have good and bad, do and don't. We also have a left brain and a right one.

The human brain has two parts, right and left, and these are connected and work in an integrated fashion. However, broadly, their function could be divided into logical and analytical for the left brain and intuitive for the right.

Often to train ourselves about the working knowledge that is so essential for our survival, we empower our left brain more than the right. We "learn". We learn from our earthly experiences. These things that we learn are trivial. These are simple algorithms at best. Things like " if I wake up late, I will get late for work" is a simple algorithm that it's defining our behaviour. Depending on the beliefs we have been fed like softwares installed in a computer, we have become so dependent on these daily algorithms!
"I need to buy better clothes to look appropriate for the meeting"
"I need to smoke to be able to socialise better"
"I need to diet"
"I need to wear such and such clothes to be morally correct"
Don't you think we are being fed different 'softwares' in our 'systems' depending on which country/faith/belief system we are born in by default? It seems like the entire earth is a giant super computer manufacturing plant!

Above all, the layout of our work enforces us to depend more and more on the logical and analytical brain, thus trapping us further. Over centuries, our spiritual side is shriveling and it isn't leading to an end of dichotomy, it is in fact creating more of it by dividing people into believers and non believers!

We are making our matrix more complex and are rejoicing at that!

It is time we learn to trust our intuitive brain. Often times inexplicable things happen. They are "inexplicable" because the logical brain cannot explain it. It doesn't mean that it is in fact inexplicable. It only means we need to use our intuitive and better half of the brain.

The right brain is what leads to serendipitous discoveries in science, for example, the structure of benzene was "discovered" in sleep.

Roger Blandford of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology at Stanford University says this about Albert Einstein:  "He was guided not by mathematical ideas or mathematical techniques. He was guided first and foremost by physics intuition; that extraordinarily powerful physics intuition ...served him so well..."
Back in 1917, it wasn't thought that the universe as we know it, could be ever expanding. To accommodate this left brain belief into his theory of general relativity, Einstein inserted a term called the "cosmological constant" as a repulsive force that would counteract gravity and achieve a static universe.
In 1929, Edwin Hubble's observations showed that the universe is in fact expanding. This made Einstein drop the cosmological constant, making his theory as his intuition had told him originally. He called the introduction of that constant, the "biggest blunder" of his life.

There is a fine line between always trusting your "intuition" and being delusional as often we mistake our 'thoughts' with our 'intuition'. A strong intuition, however, tells itself apart pretty clearly and is totally worth trusting it.

The question also arises that how much do we realise we are already 'in' the system?
For instance, after all this left brain versus right brain talk, how about I tell you that the left brain / right brain dichotomy has been challenged. A new book by Stephen M. Kosslyn and G. Wayne Miller argues that the left / right brain divide is largely bogus, and should instead be replaced by a top brain / bottom brain distinction.

Well! We are still talking in terms of dichotomy, God this is difficult!

:P

Stage 3

To be spiritual doesn't mean to shun all that is.
To be able to appreciate all without judgement, that is being spiritual.

Many spiritual beings wonder if indulging in materials of the earthly world is anti spirituality. No it isn't! This wonderful article explains the three stages of a spiritual mind. Most of us are at stage two. Remember, for as long as we yield to judgement, we are creating dichotomy. Shunning something or someone comes naturally but it is in fact counter intuitive. Think about it.

The third stage is what we must all try to attain.

Here is an excerpt:

http://modernagespirituality.com/2015/03/07/the-experience-of-the-state-of-pure-consciousness/

"The first one is to live life with the absolute attention on the outside. The outside world attracts you, and you create your life out of what you see outside. All the physical beauty in the form of human or an object attracts you. There is only one way for you to fulfill your desires, i.e through physical effort. You live outside and you have no clue of what’s happening in your inner world.

The second part of life is when you connect with your inner world. The world of energy, thoughts and emotions. You live inside out. You don’t follow the outside life, but you follow what’s going on in your inner world.

In this part of life, you are more connected to life. You follow your heart, develop your talent, use your skill and create life out of it. Here you are more creatively satisfied with your life. You are near to your source, and you look for inner satisfaction and not outside accomplishment.

The third part of life, is when you understand the process of life after self-realization. Than it doesn’t matter either you live materialistic life or be more creative with your life, you always remain above it. None of the world matters to you, than the truth that resides beyond both the physical and subtleworld.The world of pure consciousness."

Be well!

The Bountiful Bougainvillea

Native to Brazil, Bougainvillea has more to itself than its face value.

With this article I am trying to bring to notice the various uses of Bougainvillea in traditional medicine and its spill over into modern allopathic medicine.
In no way am I encouraging anyone to try any of these. Besides, since I haven't tried it on myself, I am not going to comment on its efficacy or any associated hazard.

Bougainvillea is reported to have anti inflammatory, anti helminthic and anti diabetic properties. Other than this, various parts of this plant have been used in many forms such as gargle, concoction etc for many ailments such as hepatitis, leucorrhea, (low?) blood pressure, metabolic syndrome etc.

Traditional practitioners in Mandsaur use the leaves for #diarrhea, and to reduce stomach #acidity . Both its leaves and flowers have been shown to be anti-ulcerative, anti-diarrhoeal and anti-microbial properties.
For leucorrhea: a decoction of dried flowers, 10 g in 4 glasses of water. For hepatitis, a decoction of dried stems, 10 g in 4 glasses of water is used in some traditional practises.

In Panama, an infusion of the flowers of B. glabra used as treatment for low blood pressure. (?)

Recent research has shown B. spectabilis to possess some potentially useful antiviral and antibacterial compounds (Balasaraswathi et al. 1998; Umamaheswari et al. 2008) as well as anti-diabetic properties (Adebayo et al. 2009).

Traditionally used to relieve upper respiratory tract problems, a tea of bougainvillea flowers (the flowers are the tiny white centre) has been used in Mexican folk medicine to treat a cough. 

Sugar Balancer- Bougainvillea
Leaves of the species Bougainvillea spectabilis are a source of a newly discovered compound, pinitol, used to treat metabolic diseases such as insulin-resistant diabetes. "Bougainvillea's strength and uniqueness lies in the presence of #pinitol , a substance that has an insulin-type effect, and is especially useful for those resistant to insulin and left with no options," says Dr UK Tiwari, herbal scientist. 

Studies have shown that the leaf extracts of this plant help in enhancing glucose tolerance and significantly reduced intestinal glucosidase activity.
They also suggest that it helps in regeneration of insulin-producing cells and thus naturally increases plasma insulin level.

Bougainvillea has also been shown to maintain HDL-LDL balance and help with age-related blood pressure problems.
It is also commercially available as: An extract or in combination with other herbs.

Cough:
"The bark of the bougainvillea tree can be used to treat a cough. The bark of the tree has to be ground into a thin fine powder. This powdered bark, should then be boiled in 250 ml of water on a low flame. Once the mixture has cooled, strain it into a glass and use the decoction to gargle your throat once a day. This will help in curing a throat infection while also releasing any mucus present.

Another alternative would be to take a pinch or two of the finely powdered bark and then sniff it. It will induce sneezing, which in turn will help in opening up the nasal passage. The flowers of the plant may also be used to treat a cough. Add a few flowers of the plant to 250 ml of boiling water. Let the two simmer for a few minutes on a low flame. Once the solution has cooled strain it into a glass and add a little honey for taste. This decoction should then be had to reduce the symptoms of a cough. This is considered to be a very popular Mexican home remedy for treating coughs"

Although, this is primarily due to its anti inflammatory property. It will be prudent to remember that a cough is not a disease but a symptom of many diseases. Your cough could be more than a sore throat. It could be Tuberculosis, related to heart disease or even cancer. I strongly oppose self medication especially if your cough persists for more than a week.

Links:
http://healthyhomegardening.com/Plant.php?pid=2209

http://eol.org/pages/2899871/details

http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/askquestion/13425/cough-natural-herbs-i-heard-that-bougainvillea-flo.html

These journals mention the anti helminthic and antidiabetic properties of this plant:
www.ijppsjournal.com/Vol4Suppl2/30.pdf

www.acgpubs.org

In vitro Antibacterial Activity of Bougainvillea spectabilis Leaves:

idosi.org/abr/2(1-2)/1.pdf

For information on how to grow them:
http://www.botanical-online.com/english/bougainvillea.htm

A Quantum Leap

When we observe something, we change the outcome. This is what the video shows as proven scientifically. The question then arises WHY or HOW do we affect what we observe? And that, does it proves that what we see doesn't actually exist?

Check out the video here.

It shows how observing electrons make them behave as particles (seen as a definite outcome, a perceivable or notable  outcome while when not observed, the electrons can essentially 'split' into duplicates, interact with its own doubles, and produce a fringe pattern : a quality of waves.

So how is it that merely observing an electron can determine whether it is a wave or a particle?

This duality was first discovered in light which easily showed the fringes in double slit experiments we are taught about in high school and yet had particle like properties (thus acknowledged as: a photon or a 'quantum of energy')

The quantum enigma raises many interesting questions.

The video also talks about dark matter.
What is so dark about it anyway?
Basically it is matter that interacts with us, we know it exists, yet we can't see or record it. Why? Does it exist in a parallel universe affecting us in our "reality" via the theory of 'quantum entanglement'?
So do multiverses actually exist?

Another thing to ponder over is that while the existence of multiverses is also mentioned in THE BOOK, Gita, I personally do not remember it stating whether these universes are physically different, are they a macroscopic manifestation of the uncertainity principle, or are they distinct dimensions of existence all together! (Or perhaps I should read The book again and try search).

Quantum entanglement also raised another question in my mind. As subatomic particles are entangled over millions of miles, is it possible that two human beings (or different particles of different human beings) could be thus entangled? After all how many times we call a person to hear that they were in fact missing us or about to call us? This not only explains intuition, it also explains 'collective consciousness' and how the popular notion goes 'what we do affects many others' ? Could such entanglement explain 'love' beyond 'dopamine, norepinephrine and oxytocin'?
Can this also explain the notion that 'Love Is The Key' as is stated in most religions and spoken by wise. Does love actually create quantum entanglement?

Does 'Quantum Enigma' relates to the act of 'praying'?

"Dear God
I pray to thee
My thoughts are messed
Please watch over me
So from being crazy waveforms
With uncertain fringes
May I know my direction
Slit A or B"

:P :P :P

A troubled mind

One day God spoke about the infamous matrix and why were poor humans subjected to its insanity: "I make the matrix of life for all," God said, "but human beings are special. They are "intelligent" enough to make their own!
You need to undo your programming to escape your own matrix."

Are you troubled? Close your eyes and ask yourself honestly what is the cause of your issue. You may find a words or few, about something that you perhaps need. Ask more. Why do you seek it. What is REALLY the cause of your trouble?

Purpose

Do we know our purpose here?

Pause for a moment and please think. What is life? Is it the endless loop of growing up, making money, eating, sleeping and dying? Is that what we are here for?
Don't you think it is only slightly different from what animals do, if not akin to it?

Honey bees also have a queen and termites also build a 'society' to live in. Elephants have graveyards and pay homage to their dead and monkeys fight over fruits!

What is it that we are doing different, other than asphyxiating the earth?

We all have a responsibility towards, if not a purpose to, heal the planet as we live. Ascension of the planet as a whole should be our goal! We are one and we must stop all fighting now. If we stop storing for our graves and start providing for each other, we shall see we all have enough...

THE MYSTERIOUS MOTIFS: Part 2

EVOLUTION OF CROP CIRCLES

In this post I wish to consider the 'history of crop circles'.
For my introductory post on them, do see my previous post:

http://kritigangwar.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-mysterious-motifs.html

The documentation of crop circles in more modern times (not considering the ancient texts , drawings and other representations) started in the early 20th century, with a gradual increase in numbers. A marked increase in crop circles was seen in the 1960’s and then in 1990’s. With at least 190 formations documented in 1999 alone!

Since 1980's, these motifs are no longer simply circular and display a great variety. It is interesting to note is that they are always different, meaning, no design is ever repeated and their complexity increases with passing years.

Not just the basic design of the motif, the bending methods have also become more and more sophisticated. Thus, the stems may be bent in opposite directions, perpendicular to each other, or alternatively in radial and circular fashion in a large circular crop circle, for example. This can be seen in "The basket" made in 1996 and then in 2006.

Similarly, often the centre of a motif is emphasised by a bunch of stems that are left standing. This bunch can be simple or sometimes intertwined. Sometimes they may be bent to form a cone shape in the centre.

In a large circle, three very distinct patterns may be seen:
In some, the stems can be flattened and oriented from the centre towards the exterior in very regular waves.
In others, they may be bent in alternative radial and circular patterns in concentric fashion creating circles within the larger circle.
Third pattern that is seen is when stem are laid down radially around a point that is not the geometric centre of the main circle. "Off-centre circle" (Yatesbury - June 2007)

Here is an overview of the evolution:
•1678: mowing devil: early representation of a crop circle.
•Swirled circles became multiple circles
•Multiple circles arranged non randomly
•1978: first quintuplet was seen
•celtic crosses appeared as quintuplets showed outer satellite circles connected via rings
•1990: triple ringer
•1998: seven fold geometry appeared
•1999: nine fold geometry
•2000: eleven fold geometry
•2003: thirteen fold geometry
•Many crop circles these days are essentially 2-D representation of 3-D designs: like tetrahedron (1991)

Here are some interesting links:
http://www.crop-circles.eu/pages/origine_agroglyphes.php?lang=en

http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_14.htm

Photo credits:
Christophe Esti val
Daniel Harran
Nick Nicholson
Lucy Pringle
Ulrich
Some photographs have been taken from:
http://youtu.be/BndVb1ucKOA

Next we will try put our heads together and speculate what these crop circles are trying to tell us.