Category: <span>Musings & More</span>

Soldiers & Spirituality – Part 2

Newsletter No.7

Dear LWP Readers,

This newsletter contains news about the much awaited Part 2 of the exclusive LWP interview with Maj Gen GD Bakshi.  As usual, the weekly digest is included further below.

(FYI, you can sign up to receive these newsletters via email every Sunday)

Important Updates

Here’s Part 2 of the exclusive 3 part interview with Maj Gen GD Bakshi on the theme, Soldiers & Spirituality

General Bakshi is well-known in India for his views on military and defence matters but in this interview, he reveals a very different aspect of his life – the mystic and spiritual. It’s GD Bakshi like you’ve never seen him before!

In case you missed Part 1 of the conversation, you can find it here. In Part 1, GD Bakshi spoke about his guru.

In this Part 2, General Bakshi discusses his experiences in meditation as a sadhak, which included experiences of ecstasy as well as a near death experience that had a profound impact on his life.

He also talks about his two questions to his guru for which the circumstances shaped themselves into answer. The first question General Bakshi asked was whether he should dedicate his life to meditation and spirituality or continue his career in the army. The second question was, what is the meaning of Adhidaiva, Adhibhuta and Adhiyajna, that are mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita where Lord Krishna says:

“O Supreme among the Embodied (Arjuna)! Adhibhuta is the basis of physical existence; Adhidaiva is the basis of astral existence; and I (the Spirit manifested ideationally, both macro- and micro-cosmically) am Adhiyagya.”

—The Bhagavad Gita 8:4, from The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita by Swami Kriyananda

Hope you enjoy this Part 2 of the interview and don’t forget to leave your feedback and comments on Facebook and YouTube!

Also, look out for the final Part 3 next weekend in which General Bakshi speaks more generally about the role of spirituality in the lives of soldiers and how the scriptures like the Gita and Ramayana are still relevant today.

See Part 3 of the interview.

 

From Dior to Dharma

I’m happy to announce that my book, From Dior to Dharma was reviewed in Creative India magazine this week. It’s always very interesting for an author to see the book through the readers’ eyes and this review was particularly perceptive. You can read it here.

Update: Check out my Facebook Live Indic Chat (with Indic Book Club) about my book.

You can buy the book on Amazon (also Flipkart in India). I’d love for you to read it and share your thoughts on it with me!

Weekly Digest

Here’s what else happened on LWP this week:

– This past Monday marked the start of the month of Shravan (or Sawan), the auspicious month dedicated to Lord Shiva. LWP shared some quick facts about the month. This year’s Shravan is considered to be especially important because the month starts and ends on a Monday, the day traditionally observed as Lord Shiva’s day.

– Joe Nazar, a yoga and Ayurveda practitioner gave us a brief introduction to the two sister sciences and provided some tips on how we can use yoga and Ayurveda in daily life.

Subhash Kak shared his poem Pura Tirtha Empul, the great Vishnu pilgrimage temple in Bali, Indonesia which illuminates through a confluence of the five elements.

– LWP shared 5 tips for happiness such as being aware of the present moment and letting things be! Check them out.

Last Sunday’s newsletter was a Guru Purnima special about how the guru helps us go ‘from darkness to light’ (tamaso ma jyotirgamaya). The words of Sri Ramana Maharishi were also invoked to inspire us on Guru Purnima day.

– As mentioned above, you can also now read the first chapter of From Dior to Dharma on LWP.

 

As always, I look forward to your comments, feedback, suggestions and article contributions. Do share this with those you think may be interested so that they can also and join the wiser-living movement!

Wishing you a lovely Sunday wherever in the world you may be and don’t forget to share your comments on the GD Bakshi interview!

Warm regards,
Shruti Bakshi
Editor, the LivingWise Project

From Darkness to Light – Guru Purnima Blessings

Newsletter No.6

Dear LWP Readers,

This newsletter contains news about the much awaited exclusive LWP interview with Maj Gen GD Bakshi as well as Guru Purnima blessings for one and all.  As usual, the weekly digest is included further below.

From Darkness to Light – Guru Purnima Blessings

The full moon following the summer solstice is of great significance to spiritual seekers, being the day of Guru Purnima. In ancient India, Guru Purnima was one of the most important days of the year.

The word “Guru” comes from the Sanskrit roots “gu” which means darkness and “ru” which means dispeller. The Guru is the light that dispels the darkness of ignorance. That moves one from untruth to truth. As the ancient verse from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad goes:

Om Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya |
Tamaso Maa Jyotir-Gamaya |
Mrtyor-Maa Amrtam Gamaya |
Om Shaantih Shaantih Shaantih ||

Lead me from unreality to reality. From darkness to light. From death to immortality. Let there be peace. Om.

In Indian culture, the first Guru, Adi Guru, is considered to be Shiva, who first gave the tools of yoga to the seven rishis (saptrishis) who then passed them down to humanity. Since that time, many gurus have walked the land of India and still do, showing the way of liberation to humanity.

And yet, the Guru is not in the essence, a person with a teaching. A guru is not someone who preaches morality, a man of principle. The Guru is the principle – the Guru Tattva – inside the heart of all sentient beings. The Guru is the universal Self. The Guru is the silence that quietens the mind.

“Guru is the Self. Sometimes in his life a man becomes dissatisfied and, not content with what he has, he seeks the satisfaction of his desires through prayer to God. His mind is gradually purified until he longs to know God, more to obtain his grace than to satisfy his worldly desires. Then, God’s grace begins to manifest. God takes the form of a Guru and appears to the devotee, teaches him the truth and, moreover, purifies his mind by association. The devotee’s mind gains strength and is then able to turn inward. By meditation it is further purified and it remains still without the least ripple. The calm expanse is the Self. The Guru is both external and internal. From the exterior he gives a push to the mind to turn it inwards. From the interior he pulls the mind towards the Self and helps in the quieting of the mind. That is the Guru’s grace. There is no difference between God, Guru and the Self.”

– Sri Ramana Maharshi (Be as you are, The teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi, p. 91)

We don’t need to strategize about ways to dispel the different forms of darkness  – we just have to let the light of Grace shine. Guru Purnima is the time when it is easiest for humans to experience Grace. It is therefore believed to be a day that we must try to spend in contemplation, meditation and fortifying our spiritual aspirations.

How much Grace we allow into our lives is completely up to us because Grace itself is always ‘on’, always flowing.

May everyone experience the Grace of the Guru this full moon day – Guru Purnima Blessings!

 

 

Updates

My conversation with GD Bakshi on ‘Soldiers & Spirituality’ was personally very interesting and enlightening. The first part of this video interview was released on LWP yesterday. In this part, GD Bakshi spoke about his guru, a fitting topic for this Guru Purnima! Many viewers of the video expressed their surprise at this heretofore hidden side to GD Bakshi who is more popular for talking about all things war and defence!

I think you will find the upcoming parts of this conversation even more interesting – revolving around GD Bakshi’s peronal meditation experiences and a broader discussion about the role of spirituality in the lives of soldiers (an apparently obvious connection given that soldiers constantly face death, but yet not a much discussed/explored one). Look out for these videos on the LWP website and YouTube channel.

Below is the Part 1 video incase you missed it.

Weekly Digest

Here’s some other important highlights from the past week on LWP:

– Glimpses of the Rath Jatra 2017 in pictures. This annual festival of Lord Jagannath (Lord of the Universe) is enigmatic, colourful and a true display of universality in which people from all walks of life (including tribals and Muslims) participate.

– Beloo Mehra shared with us a touching piece in memory of her late mother. Sometimes a person’s cooking feeds not only the stomach but also the soul as this beautiful piece shows.

– If you’re thinking of visiting Korea, know that it is a meat obsessed society but there’s ways of getting by on a healthy vegetarian diet. Danielle Oakes shared some survival tips for going ‘Meatless in Korea’.

– LWP shared Dr David Frawley’s piece on Guru Purnima – the Full Moon of the Universal Guru – an enlightening piece on the significance of this day tracing back to ancient times.

Last Sunday’s newsletter included Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev’s video on the #RallyforRivers initiative being led by the Isha Foundation to save and rejuvenate the badly depleted Indian rivers. Do watch and share the video and pledge your support for the cause (a missed call to the number: 80009 80009  registers as a support to the petition for saving the rivers which will be placed before the Indian government in October 2017). LWP supports this cause and will be sharing much more information, knowledge and support in the coming weeks.

 

As always, I look forward to your comments, feedback, suggestions and article contributions. Do share this with those you think may be interested so that they can also and join the wiser-living movement!

Wishing you a lovely Sunday wherever in the world you are and may you have a truly blessed Guru Purnima!

Warm regards,
Shruti Bakshi
Editor, the LivingWise Project

Meatless in Korea: Vegan Survival Guide

Koreans love their rice, a necessary staple at every meal, but they also love their BBQ. It’s no secret that meat, dairy, and seafood are widely consumed in Korea. In fact, many Koreans are unfortunately under the illusion that meat, dairy, and seafood are integral parts of a healthy diet.

From my observations, a contributing factor to this disillusion is collectivism vs. individualism. An integral part of Korean culture is living community-oriented lives where sameness is encouraged and differences are concealed, for fear of being shamed. Given their collective approach, it doesn’t come as a surprise that many are ignorant when it comes to meatless diets and the reasons why people choose to go meatless. However I must note that they do understand those who abstain for religious reasons.

Prior to moving here, I researched online and became educated on the challenges I’d face if I pursued a vegan lifestyle.  It seemed likely that it would require extreme effort to be vegan while sustaining my health. As a result, I made a conscious decision to eat a mostly vegetarian diet with a little seafood on occasion, so in other words, pescatarian. Although I’m in rural Korea, I have found a way to make it work and it’s not as difficult as you may think. Don’t get me wrong, there are many instances when I’m frustrated with the situation, but if you adopt a diet similar to mine, then it’s feasible. And even a vegan diet is doable.

Here are some pearls of wisdom that will help you along the way and things you should remain aware of:

1. They really don’t get it.

Many Koreans truly don’t understand the concept. And I’m really not trying to be rude or crass, it’s just the reality. Eating meatless isn’t a diet their culture entirely supports. Not to mention, children aren’t typically exposed to empathy or compassion towards livestock. In their eyes, raising animals for food consumption is just the way of life. You will come across some who understand what a “vegetarian” is, but even so, it’s not widely accepted because of collectivism. They will be polite, but don’t be surprised if your reasons are questioned. On a rare occasion, you may even feel judgmental vibes emanating from an individual who asks. Generally speaking though, Koreans are more so interested in your reasons.

One thing that is particularly alarming is their lack of acknowledgement when it comes to the connection between the meat industry and climate change. Koreans are extremely passionate about the environment and take drastic measures to participate in the global awareness surrounding global warming, hence the hypocrisy is a bit ironic.

2. School lunches are vegetarian friendly.

This is purely based on my experiences working at two schools. Lunches contain meat on most days, but it is generally easy to eat around. Luckily for us herbivores, Korea has this amazing thing called 반찬 (banchan) or, in other words, side dishes. Most of the side dishes are vegetable based, so on days where meat is the focal dish, you can load up on extra banchan. Sometimes they’ll even make a vegetarian version of meat dishes.

Related: are veggies living-wiser?

3. Beware of any hidden ingredients.

Korea is infamous for including ingredients in dishes that you wouldn’t necessarily expect to find in there. For example, I bought a vegetable croquette one time and when I opened it up at home, can you guess what I discovered? Meat. It may not be characteristic of you to ask a lot of questions, but don’t be afraid to inquire when you’re purchasing something that you’re going to be ingesting. There’s no harm in asking, especially if it’s due to dietary restrictions.

4. Examine everything (even after questioning).

There have been a number of instances when I’ve ordered something, questioned the cashier, and somehow still ended up with meat in my dish.

There was a time when I ordered a curry dish, asked if it contained any meat, was told no, and it turns out there was ground beef in the sauce. Luckily I caught them in time and instead was served meatless sauce they had set aside. In the end, the dish contained bits of beef here and there, but I still ate it anyways – just took some extra time to meticulously pick around the meat.

Korea is notorious for these mishaps, so for those of you who are strict vegans, I highly recommend that you double, triple, and quadruple check everything before taking a bite.

5 . Tofu is readily available.

So don’t worry! You’ll find tofu in many soups and side dishes. Grocery stores are always fully stocked in that department. Although you may be sick of it towards the end of your stay, know that endless tofu scrambles are always an option. You’ve got to get your protein somehow!

6. Even at BBQ restaurants, you can order bibimbap (비빔밥).

Every single BBQ place I’ve been to has had bibimbap on their menu. It’s a really nice option because BBQ is an extremely popular group activity, so everyone can join in regardless of their lifestyle choices.

7 . If you’re exclusively vegan, living in rural Korea will be a challenge.

Kimchi

Firstly, kimchi is everywhere and as delicious as it is, it contains fish sauce. Secondly, seafood is commonly found in school lunches and if you’re already excluding meat, then your options are pretty scarce. Thirdly, eating out will pose several challenges because of everything I’ve discussed thus far. Even bibimbap includes kimchi in the mix (more often than not).

In order to make it work, you’d probably have to supplement school lunches with food from home or better yet, pack your own lunch altogether. And when eating out, you should identify a couple dishes you know you can eat, no problem, and stick to those.

8. The 5 survival words you should know.

  • i] Let’s start with the obvious. Vegetable = 야채 (yachae)
  • ii] The next obvious, is meat. Meat = 고기 (gogi)
  • iii] When asking if a dish has a certain ingredient, for example meat, you would use the word 있어요 (isseoyo). Bibimbap sometimes contains meat, so you would say “bibimbap, gogi isseoyo?” Which quite literally means, is there meat in the bibimbap? If the person’s response is “isseoyo,” that means there is meat in the bibimbap.
  • iv] However, if the response is 없어요 (upsseoyo), this means the bibimbap does not have meat. You’re safe to go, most likely.
  • v] Most importantly, without = 빼고 (bbaego). So if the response is isseoyo, then you would say “bibimbap, gogi bbaego juseyo” or in English words, I want the bibimbap without meat please.

9. Practice self-compassion, always.

You may be the strictest vegan in the world, but you’re going to have to make some sacrifices here and there and be okay with compromising at times. You may think you’re doing a fantastic job at avoiding certain things, but chances are you’ve accidentally and unknowingly inhaled some byproduct or trace of meat somewhere along the way. And it’s just something you have to swallow, literally and figuratively, and be okay with.

You can only do the best that you can do. If that means being okay with the lunch ladies using the meat ladle for your vegetable version of the dish or being gracious if you find a piece of meat in your meal or whatever it may be for you, then great. The more you can surrender and simultaneously love yourself despite the slip ups, the better off you’ll be.

Know that you’re already doing the world and animals a great service and enormous deed by dedicating your life to eliminating meat consumption, so if it becomes too difficult and you need to include seafood or some other food group or byproduct to maintain a balanced diet while you’re in Korea, then that’s okay. Be content with minimizing.

No matter what anyone says, you are healing the world and making a difference by choosing this lifestyle. Given your limited control over outside influences, work with what you can. Take pride in your choices and be good to yourself. Most of all, practice self-compassion every single day.

you might also like: A Sanctuary of Peace Atop a Bangkok Hill

A version of this article was originally published on EPIK e-Press.

Coming Soon: Maj Gen GD Bakshi Interview & #RALLYFORRIVERS

Newsletter No.5

Dear LWP Readers,

There’s 2 exciting announcements to make this weekend so let’s get right to it! As usual, the weekly digest is included further down.

(FYI, you can sign up to receive these newsletters via email every Sunday)

Important Updates

Exclusive Interview with Major General GD Bakshi

I recently caught up with Major General GD Bakshi who, as those of you from India would know, is a very prominent and popular figure in current affairs relating to defence. LWP will be releasing my video interview with him which showcases General Bakshi as you’ve never seen him before! It will be a surprise for people to learn about his spiritual side and see him in the role of a seeker.

The video will be aired in 2 parts. In the first part, General Bakshi talks about his personal spiritual journey and his own guru whom he met when he was a young army officer trying to figure out questions about career and marriage but most importantly, life. This Part-1 will be released next weekend which happens to be marked by Guru Purnima (on 9 July), the day dedicated to gurus – being the day that the yogic sciences were first transmitted by the first guru, Adi Guru, Shiva, to humanity. The occasion therefore appears to be amply fitting to hear General Bakshi recount how he found his way onto the spiritual path and his learnings from and experiences with his guru.

Here is the first exclusive look at the interview promo which contains a sneak preview of Part-1!

In the second part, General Bakshi talks about soldiers and saints and the spiritual dimension of a soldier’s life. Relating the epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata to modern times, General Bakshi discusses the topics of courage on the battlefield (of war and life), global terrorism and what is needed in the world today.

Do look out for these videos on the LWP website and YouTube channel. To make sure you don’t miss any updates from LWP, I recommend you sign-up for our email notifications and newsletters and subscribe on YouTube!

This Exclusive Interview is now on LWP

LWP joins the Rally for Rivers

The second important announcement is that LWP has pledged its support for the Rally for Rivers initiative being led by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of the Isha Foundation. Do watch and share the video below where Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev brings to light the desperate situation of our rivers in India (LWP gets no monetary benefit from the video views or any other part of this project).

You can support the initiative by spreading awareness about the cause (share the above and related videos, articles, etc.). Do also register a missed call at the following number; your call will count as a signature on a petition to save the rivers, to be laid before the government of India in October 2017.

Give a missed call to: 80009 80009

LWP will be sharing much more information and enthusiasm about the initiative in the coming weeks on our website and on Facebook. Also, we have previously published special articles featuring some of our rivers like Ganga and Narmada and will be doing more of this too. If you would like to contribute articles on this topic, do write in.

Weekly Digest

This past week, LWP featured some interesting articles:

– The Amarnath Yatra commenced  a few days ago, and will go on until 7 August. Given how little most people even in India know about this significant pilgrimage, we published a post summarising what it’s all about.

– LWP featured an exclusive interview with Swami Chidanand Saraswati of the Parmarth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh which many of you would know is an institution doing stellar social work in addition to holding one of the most beautiful evening Ganga aartis in the country. Swami Chidanand Saraswati talked about yoga being beyond religion and about PM Modi being a man of vision, mission and wisdom.

– Yogibanker Scott Robinson shared his experiences of being both a yogi and a banker which to some would seem a contradiction in terms. But as Scott says, it’s all about balance!

– An interesting insight into the tech and start-up world’s fascination for spirituality was also featured. From Steve Jobs’ deep appreciation for the book Autobiography of a Yogi and the popularity of the Kainchi Dham temple (Nainital) among tech titans, to some new-age start-ups encouraging team members to fast, Burning Man and ayahuasca, the tech world seems to love hacking spirituality!

– LWP shared a wonderful short and simple video by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev that explains the 4 paths of yoga. While the 4 paths of karma, bhakti, jnana and kriya appear to be opposed on the surface, a true yogi is only produced when these 4 dimensions of body, emotion, mind and energy find alignment. It’s amazing how Sadhguru JV manages to convey such timeless wisdom in a ~3 min animated video!

– Last Sunday’s newsletter, in case you missed it, discussed whether all the hullabaloo about shrinking attention spans is really valid. My take is that the attention span concerns are somewhat exaggerated and that the real reason why people can’t commit to content is not because their attention spans are impaired, but because of the democratisation of content which means that there is just too much out there and not all of decent quality! I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on this topic.

 

As always, I look forward to your comments, feedback, suggestions and article contributions. Do share this with those you think may be interested so that they can also and join the wiser-living movement!

Wishing you a lovely Sunday wherever in the world you may be and don’t forget to support our rivers!

Warm regards,
Shruti Bakshi
Editor, the LivingWise Project

Tech & Start-up World Hack Spirituality to Boost Performance

Steve Jobs’ obsession with the Autobiography of a Yogi, Mark Zukerberg’s visit to a temple in Nainital and the latest attempts by start-ups to ‘hack’ spirituality – what’s with Silicon Valley’s fascination with spirituality?

 

Perhaps the foremost example of the tech world’s fascination with spirituality is Steve Jobs’ deep appreciation of the book Autobiography of a Yogi by Parmahansa Yogananda. It was the only book Jobs downloaded on his iPad and read every year since he first came across it as a teenager. Jobs even asked for copies of the book to be distributed at this memorial service.

Mark Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com said at a TechCrunch conference in 2013 (2 years after Jobs passed away): “Yogananda…had this book on self-realization…. [Steve’s] last message to us was that here is Yogananda’s book…. Actualize yourself….I look at Steve as a very spiritual person…[Steve] had this incredible realization–that his intuition was his greatest gift and he needed to look at the world from the inside out.”

Seemingly continuing in the company founder’s tradition of an affinity with Indian spirituality, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited a famous 200-year-old  Ganesha temple (Siddhivinayak) in Mumbai on his visit to India in May 2016.

It appears that Steve Jobs also inspired Facebook CEO Mark Zukerberg to visit the Kainchi Dham temple in Nainital, India. “He [Jobs] told me that in order to reconnect with what I believed as the mission of the company I should visit this temple that he had gone to in India, early on in his evolution of thinking about what he wanted Apple and his vision of the future to be,” Zuckerberg told India’s PM Modi at a town hall meeting in 2015. Google’s Larry Page and Jeffrey Skoll, co-founder of eBay, have also made the pilgrimage.

There are several other instances of the tech world drawing inspiration from the spiritual domain. Google, for example, is well-known for its mindfulness meditation training (having its roots in Buddhism) offered in-house. The tech giant has also given a platform to the views of spiritual leaders – Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev for instance recently spoke about ‘Developing Inclusive Consciousness’ at an event hosted by Jonathan Berent, Director of Customer Experience at Google.

The Temple of Transition at Burning Man (2011)

A ‘ritual’ of sorts for tech titans like Zukerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk is the annual pilgrimage to the Burning Man festival in the deserts of Nevada, USA. According to Silicon Valley venture capitalist Greg Horowitt, “You come into Burning Man knowing that your values align with the values of the people here, and it’s all about creation and experimentation.” The festival has taken on a ritualistic reputation, almost like a religion or spiritual process for the faithful.

Coming to the new crop of Silicon Valley start-ups, there is a growing fascination with “bio-hacking” techniques. For instance, Nootrobox, a San Francisco company that makes brain supplements, has adopted a practice (what they see as a “ritual”) where the entire company collectively fasts for 36 hours every week. According to the start-up, the fast days are one of the most productive days of the week! Fasting, as we know is an ancient spiritual practice followed by almost all religions in some form or the other.

Then there’s the growing fascination with the mind and consciousness altering herb ‘ayahuasca‘ found in the Peruvian Amazon, that has been dubbed as Silicon Valley’s new craze. Apparently the psychedelic substance is becoming as ubiquitous as coffee. Its popularity with young entrepreneurs is based on its supposed ability to abate the insecurities and pressures they face in the start-up world and the fact that the Peruvian trips serve as much as a networking opportunities as spiritual retreats!

But should spiritual practices be hacked for productivity? Or should increased productivity and creativity be viewed as the beneficial side-effects of a deeper inner transformation which should be the aim? Surely some entrepreneurs’ trysts with spirituality will be more genuine than others’. One can only hope the genuine prevails.

Related: The Need for India’s Spiritual Light

Can a Banker be a Yogi?

Every morning, as I put on my suit after my daily session of yoga and meditation, I know that I am putting on my armour, ready to be the ‘warrior’ (like the yoga pose) and roam the floors of the bank as a yogi in disguise.

I also know that I’m just doing my job, a job I ended up falling into after leaving university. I’m feeding my inner drive to be successful and ambitious; after all, I’m doing what I’m good at, and I’ve worked hard to get this far, too. Five years at law school wasn’t a walk in the park.

A living oxymoron

Some people may say that being a yogi in an investment bank seems incomprehensible. I beg to differ. For me, it’s about finding a way to optimise your performance at work while maintaining a philosophical view of the role you play in the institution, and the contribution you make to society, no matter how obscure that view may seem…

The inner Agni (or fire) of the modern-day City yogi burns brightly as an example that one can show to others.

However, some may challenge this in the light of the 2008 financial crisis and the scandals that have emerged since. The values of a yogi seem in stark contrast with the actions of a few people who have tarnished the industry’s reputation.
But, the conditioning of humans means that such events are almost inevitable, and not just limited to the banking sector. Greed and deception has found its way into many forms of corporate organisation.

Spiritual banking

In fact, science itself is not immune to the worst aspects of the human mind. Nuclear weapons, human cloning, genetically modified food; the ego knows no boundaries.

Fortunately, ethics and spirituality ultimately decide whether the discoveries of science are, in fact, right. I have realised that spirituality also has a role to play in the world of high finance. Acting like a ‘third eye’, finding the right balance between financial institutions’ need to be profitable and an appropriate level of prudential supervision, the ‘spiritual regulator’ is essential to ensure a successful but safe financial sector.

Stability is key

We saw after the most recent financial crisis that regulation, controls and infrastructure were inadequate; and now we are consumed by them, perhaps a little too much. But a stable financial system is what ultimately permits a society to flourish, while at the same time allowing for the most efficient allocation of risk. This is when capitalism can be at its best.

Buddha said: ‘contentment is the greatest wealth’. I would argue that ‘contentment’ can mean a harmonious society where banks facilitate the extension of credit, while allowing for the risk-taking by sophisticated investors in a safe, well-capitalised banking system; then we can truly say that we have found a state of capitalist ‘nirvana’.

Finance is also an environment that caters for the aspirations of bright, ambitious young people in a complex yet fascinating world – and, more often than you realise, underneath that pin-striped suit lies a simple yogi – striving to find that balancing point, each and every day.

 

This post was first published in Balance magazine and has been reproduced here with the author’s permission.

 

Attention! You’re Better than a Goldfish (Busting the Attention Span Myth)

Newsletter No.4

Dear LWP Readers,

The past week was a big week for yoga with the International Day of Yoga on 21 June. It was wonderful to see so many yogis and yoginis turn out to celebrate the unity of humanity in yoga – from Times Square to the Great Wall of China to yoga with PM Modi in Lucknow. I hope you enjoyed our special yoga features – you can always find them here in case you missed them.

(FYI, you can sign up to receive these newsletters via email every Sunday)

Weekend Thoughts: Attention! You’re Better than a Goldfish (Busting the Attention Span Myth)

In my fairly new role as a writer and the Editor of LWP, one topic that I spend quite a bit of time thinking about is the attention span of readers. Are human attention spans really shrinking drastically? It’s what the ‘authorities’ would have us believe.

Time magazine has declared that “You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish” and so have other media majors like the New York Times, Telegraph and many more. Countless blogs jumped on the bandwagon thereafter (especially those concerned with giving marketing advice) to spread the word all over the internet that humans are indeed lagging behind the goldfish with our average ~8 second attention span compared to the goldfish’s much more impressive 9 seconds. It’s sent marketing professionals all over the world in a frenzy to help media companies figure out ‘how to market to goldfish’. The result? Digital media content is becoming more and more ridiculous and diluted in an effort to pander to the slightest possible periods of attention.

Origins of the myth

The articles touting the claim that human attention spans underperform those of goldfish, refer to a non-peer-reviewed study by Microsoft’s Consumer Insights (Advertising related) division in Canada in 2015. However, there are several problems with treating this study as evidence.

Notably, the study itself states “Think digital is killing attention spans? Think again”. And in fact, the 8 second figure doesn’t come from this study at all, but is sourced to Statistic Brain which in turn refers to a 2008 paper by Harald Weinreich, Hartmut Obendorf, Eelco Herder, and Matthias Mayer: “Not quite the average: An empirical study of Web use”. This paper is not based on a study of human attention spans, but a study rather of web-surfing behaviour. PolicyViz and others have done a good job of deconstructing the attention span myth based on a review of the credibility of the data and statistics being quoted to justify the damning verdict on our ability to pay attention.

Further, the Microsoft study itself says that “connected consumers are becoming better at doing more with less via shorter bursts of high attention and more efficient encoding to memory”. This is an important factor. Maybe we are just becoming better at processing information and deciding whether or not we want to continue paying attention to something. This means that we’re not just ‘drifting’ when we move our attention away from something. On the contrary I would venture to say that we may be strengthening our powers of discrimination regarding what we give our attention to.

What is really happening?

This is what I think is really happening. With the democratisation of content creation, it’s easy as pie to create a website, make a video, create a social media profile etc. This naturally means that consumers are bombarded with ever more content and options to choose from. This naturally means that we sharpen our discrimination and will not give our precious attention to a video, say, when a minute into it we realise that the video is uninteresting, low quality or the speaker is, for lack of a better word, BS-ing. Digital marketers tracking our behaviour however, jump out of their seats at our appalling inability to commit our attention to bad content, shouting “goldfish!”

What’s the proof of my theory? Well there’s no study I could find to back this up (perhaps because it suits Microsoft, Google, Facebook and the like to have small and medium business owners believe that attention spans are shortening so that they will spend big dollars on marketing and advertising) but consider the following questions from your own experience.

– Do you have the ability to read through a long article or watch a long video on a topic that interests you?
–  Are you able to spend an entire weekend watching a series of a sitcom you love?
– Is it not a fact that gamers spend hours on end engrossed in games (take the recent Pokemon Go craze for example which reportedly caused 110,000 road accidents in the US in just 10 days because people were so fully engrossed in the game).
– Do you ever see people randomly walk out of a movie theatre because of an inability to pay attention to a movie they are interested in?
– How many more people do you know that practice yoga or meditation (which involves focused attention) today than say 10 years ago (according to US government statistics, the number of American adults who do yoga nearly doubled between 2002 and 2012)?
– What about the astounding success of the Harry Potter series that had millions glued to the books for days and weeks?

My take is that the ease of content creation today makes it necessary for people to sift through it with a finer sieve which behaviour marketers interpret as shrinking attention spans. What’s more, such thinking is even seeping into other fields like litigation advocacy with lawyers trying to keep the juror’s apparently afflicted attention engaged with all kinds of tactics!

Phew, you’re not a goldfish!

So, in my view, people are not wandering off from a webpage because they’re unable to pay attention or because ‘attention’ is being irreparably impaired, but because, on the contrary, they’re looking for something to engage their attention in a flood of often mediocre content. And that’s a good thing because our attention is the most powerful tool we have. The fact that we’re not just giving it to any damn thing is a good thing! Marketing companies use the short attention span myth to exhort businesses to spend more and more to money to grab users’ attention which often makes things worse with dumbed-down content and bombarding strategies.

From a deeper existential perspective, one might ask, who watches attention? How do we know that our attention is wandering? Obviously because something within us watches/witnesses attention and inattention. What is that? Are we not identifying with the wrong thing when we feel that we’re drifting when really it’s our attention that’s drifting? If we can observe our attention, then we’re not the attention but attention is just a tool we possess – a very intimate and powerful tool.

I’ll leave you to contemplate these questions this Sunday and hope that it’s a relief to know that you’re not a goldfish! I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic so do leave your comments on this post. I’ll also take it as a confirmatory sign of your very healthy attention span that you made it through this article!

Weekly Digest

Finishing up with our picks from the past week on LWP, in case you missed them:

Professor Subhash Kak’s article, Ganga: The River of Heaven in which he traces the course of the Ganga from its descent from heaven to the rituals and traditions associated with the river.

– Shruti Bakshi’s Yoga Day article, Happy Yoga Day and Yoga for a Happy Day which discusses new scientific evidence that yoga can change our genes and reflects on the idea of yoga as a ‘Hindu’ practice.

– Beloo Mehra’s reflections on art and it’s aesthetic and educative purposes in the article, An Evening of Dance (Reflections on Art)

– An article by Nora von Ingersleben in which she finds a sanctuary of peace atop a hill in Bangkok, a city usually known more for its traffic and noise

– An introduction to Laughter Yoga

– A ginger-lemon detox drink recipe

– The final 4 asanas in our Yoga Day countdown: Ardha MatsyendrasanaGomukhasanaNaukasana and Shavasana . Hatha yoga teacher Ambika Gupta ran us through 10 asanas in our countdown, with scenic postcards from the banks of a Swiss lake.

– Last Sunday’s Newsletter: And Now, Yoga (Yoga Day Special)

As always, I look forward to your comments, feedback, suggestions and article contributions. Do share this email with those you think may be interested so that they can also and join the wiser-living movement!

Wishing you a lovely Sunday wherever in the world you may be.

Warm regards,
Shruti Bakshi
Editor, the LivingWise Project

A Sanctuary of Peace Atop a Bangkok Hill

Bangkok is truly a city that never sleeps. At all hours of the day and night, tuk tuks and bright pink taxis zip past street food stalls loaded with steaming pots of tom yum kung. Street sellers hawk their wares, ranging from illegal copies of blockbuster movies to counterfeit Nike sneakers. Wrinkly old women brew potions made of Chinese herbs in the city’s traditional pharmacies. Bangkok is modern and traditional, Asian and Western, all at the same time. There is a buzz and energy to the city that can be matched by few other metropolises. This has made the Thai capital into not only a favourite tourist destination, but also a hub for art and design that attracts creative minds from all over the world.

 

Read this article & more in the LivingWise Project Digest

 

And Now, Yoga Day (Why 21 June ?)

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (read more on this book), considered by yogis as the ultimate yoga handbook (even if only of 195 sutras), opens with the words:

अथ योगानुशासनम् (atha yoganushasanam)

This may be translated as “and now, the discipline of yoga”. Many commentators consider these words to be quite an abrupt start to a discussion on yoga. Some commentators don’t make much of these opening words while some note the word ‘anushasanam’ meaning ‘self-discipline’ which they stress is the foundation of yoga.

As Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev explains, the significance of these words is essentially that yoga can only be approached in earnest when one is ready for it. And one is usually ready for it when one has had their fill of life’s wine of materialism and realised that it hasn’t gotten them the everlasting high they hoped it would. “Now what?” Now, yoga.

It seems increasingly like humanity as a collective whole is reaching this point quite rapidly. That’s not to say that they collectively also realise it or know what to do about it. However the many enlightened beings who foresaw the state of our world in this century (like Sri Aurobindo, Vivekananda and Yogananda Parmahansa to name a few) as well as those who walk in our midst today, all stress the importance to humanity to take up the tools of yoga. Patanjali’s words, being timeless, seem to also directly address the world today.  In an age speeded along at a frenetic pace by technology, it is imperative that we know the stability and peace that yoga can bring to our lives. In times of rapid change, the need to find the eternal becomes more intense. The time has come, now yoga.

 

Significance of Yoga Day on 21 June

In 2015, thanks to the efforts of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 21 June was declared as the International Day of Yoga by the United Nations. The resolution set a record for being supported by the highest number of countries at the UN (175 out of 193).

21 June is the summer solstice, when the sun turns southwards in the sky in the northern hemisphere. In Indian culture, the phase of the sun in its ~6 month southward run is called Dakshinayana. This phase is referred to as sadhana pada or the phase when one should focus on sadhana i.e. spiritual practices (the phase of the sun’s northern run is called Uttarayana which is the kaivalaya pada, gnana pada or period associated with Samadhi). Dakshinayana is for purification and receptivity and Uttarayana is for fulfilment and enlightenment.

According to yogic sciences, the summer solstice has a significant impact on the human system. If one were to understand the human body in relation to these two phases of the sun, then the lower 3 chakras (energy centres) of the body (Muladhara, Swadhisthana and Manipura) can be more easily purified during Dakshinayana and the higher 3 chakras (Vishuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara) can be more easily purified during Uttarayana. Hence the significance of sadhana involving the body such as yoga-asanas, during Dakshinayana beginning at the summer solstice.

 

From gross to subtle

Yoga, in essence, is about aligning with the cosmic. At the gross level, this involves yoga-asanas to align our inner geometries with the cosmic geometries. All spiritual practices aim at leading the individual from the gross to the subtle. The practices themselves too can be seen as evolving from gross to subtle as the sadhak advances on the path. What starts out as yoga-asanas or pranayama, focusing on the body and breath, ultimately leads one to the subtler practice of the real yoga, uniting with the Divine within.

So, I’m not going to shake my head too strongly at the sporty yoga practitioners who seem focused on the bodily and health benefits of yoga. There’s many ways to start and all are welcome because truly, it’s time for yoga.

For sources and more information about Dakshinayana, see articles by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev here and here.

Read also: 5 Reasons Why Yoga is Better than Gymming

 

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The Alchemy of Suffering and Freedom

The capacity to think and remember brings with it an acute feeling of separation and impending loss. We suffer both because we want more and are fearful that we will be deprived of what we have. A quiet scream rises inside when we remember that we have seen beauty but don’t know how to hold on to it.

But is suffering the human condition? Is it the basic nature of life, programmed, if you will, into the game of life? And must we, as many experts expound, simply change our attitude towards negative happenings and get on with it? “Think positive”, “Suffering is optional” are catchy phrases but is there a more existential explanation of what suffering is in the human context and is there a way of transforming this poison of life into nectar?

Samudra Manthan

The sea with its ebb and flow, high and low tides, the emptying of all rivers into the one ocean appears to describe our experience of life. The allegory of the Samudra Manthan (1) (churning of the ocean) holds many exquisite truths. It’s almost as if the more the waters of this legend are churned, the more they reveal the mystic secrets (just like the gifts emerging from the ocean in the legend itself). In an earlier article we looked at how the Samudra Manthan helps us understand the spiritual dimension of Ayurveda.

Samudra manthan, churning of the ocean with the devas on the right and asuras on the left. Vishnu’s Kurma (turtle) avatar supports Mount Mandhara at the base

The story illustrates how life is a dynamic interplay between the positive and negative, between light and dark, between good and bad. In the legend, the asuras (demons) and devas (lower gods) together churn the ocean of milk for the many gifts the ocean contains, the most coveted of which is the nectar of immortality. The churning of the ocean symbolises human life out of which emerge experiences that are either positive (gifts going to the devas) or negative (gifts going to the asuras).

The Samudra Manthan is symbolic of the truth that in the experience of life, duality is a given which means that illness, misery, failure and so on are as programmed into the game of life as are health, joy and success. Our suffering is due to these oppositions within us, which we are unable to bridge in any permanent way. At best, one can hope to dance between these oppositions and hope that one doesn’t trip in the process.

The poison of nothingness

The Samudra Manthan story describes not only the dualities of materiality and the spirit but also a deeper existential threat that arises in the form of an existential poison (halaahal). The poison threatens both the devas and the asuras and indeed all creation until Shiva (who is a witness to the churning and represents cosmic awareness) drinks it.

The poison is held by Shiva in his throat, turning it blue, hence his name ‘Nilakantha’ or blue-throated, and it generates tremendous heat in his body. The temple ritual of pouring water and milk over the shiva-linga is symbolic of cooling this heat. The ritual is sacred theatre to connect the worshiper to a deeper experience of the Self.

The poison is the existential dread of nothingness that afflicts existence. If it were to seep into one’s cells, that is the end of life. By holding it within his being, Shiva transforms the fear of nothingness into auspicious salvation. In this paradox lies the exchange of fear for Grace.

 

 

In the world but above it

The seven chakras in the human body
The seven chakras in the human body

A yogic interpretation of the symbolism may be that the poison is held in the throat at the vishuddha chakra, the chakra associated with filtering and discrimination, which lies at the intersection of the higher and lower centres of consciousness.

The poison emerging out of the play of life is thus willingly held by the experiencing Self (Shiva) in a way that both allows the lower energy centres to carry on the play of life and the higher consciousness centres to remain unaffected. In other words, the Self allows the play of duality, participating willingly for the sake of experience while at all times remaining untouched. Looked at another way, the only reason we can endure the churning of the ocean, the unceasing change that is life, is because we are the Self (Shiva), a dimension beyond, the unchanging one.

This is the central idea in Indian spiritual traditions that one can realise one’s higher Self while being a willing player in the game of life. The idea is often expressed through the metaphor of a lotus that blooms in a pond of mud while remaining spotlessly clean. It is the call to rise above maya or illusion by recognising the world as a divine play (leela) and being the witness (sakshi) of the play.

This is not the same as adopting a certain attitude or chanting positive affirmations, which though guiding us towards the light still keep us trapped in duality. This is about the realisation of the nature of our existence. It is neither about doing, nor undoing, but just simply being.

(1) For more and related information, see article here.

 

Read also: the Spiritual Foundations of ayurveda