Rediscovering Yoga
By Alok Pandey - Oct 15, 2023
ĀsanasāsanasyogaāsanasHatha yogaAsṣtṭāṅgayogaāsanasprānāyāma
The Seeking of Happiness
By Soumitra Basu - Jul 15, 2023
Most of us are seeking happiness in a world torn by conflict, strife, stress and war. Most of us are seeking a refuge where there can be some peace from this turmoil of life. But we are usually misled for we do not know the art of seeking happiness. We seek happiness from things which are impermanent. These include external things, relationships and ideas. Things do not last forever, relationships break, if not forcibly then by death, and ideas and beliefs fluctuate constantly. We seek happiness in them but overlook their transient nature and as a result, sorrow becomes our constant companion (1).
The Physician and the Soldier
By Soumitra Basu - Jan 15, 2023
Both the physician and the soldier have certain things in common. Both have to face life and death in complex playing fields, both have to be spectators of gruesome tragedies and finally, both have to learn to be detached. But there are important differences.
Apropos destruction
By Soumitra Basu - Oct 15, 2021
Is the human being alone responsible for all destruction, even that of destruction by Nature’s fury? In a sense, man does destroy through his folly, his jealousy, his hatred, his craving for power and his idiosyncratic ideas. But when a cyclone lashes, or an earthquake quivers or a viral pandemic rages unstoppably — is it facilitated due to some corresponding destructible component in the human psyche?
Dealing with the ego
By Soumitra Basu - Jul 15, 2019
In Yoga Vasistha, an important Vedanta treatise, the psychological significance of the ego is beautifully described in the parable of the mighty demon, Sambara who had produced from himself three projected formations or emanations in the form of three apparently invincible demons. These were robot-like zombies who had no ego and hence no psychological attributes. They did not know about victory or defeat and were only programmed to kill. The gods were terrified and turned to Brahma, the Supreme Creator, for help.