Actor and observer. Waking Up from Sam Harris is asking us to realize that there is no observer “I” separate from our bodies, and what we call as “I” is an invention that we created while growing up. An interesting parable from Sam can help explain what we learn about “I” when we meditate. A north European tour bus is at a rest stop, and an Asian woman tourist, unaware of the customs and language, comes back to the empty bus and changes her clothes....
Ladybird picture books were my childhood pals even before I learned to read a single word. I warmly recall cozy winter afternoon siestas spent right next to my mom, wondrously poring over lives of Snow White, Thumbelina, Rapunzel, Hansel & Gretel, Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty… My friendship circle widened over time, and I had many historical adventures with gods and kings in Amar Chitra Katha’s, accompanied with laughs in the company of Chacha Chaudhary, Sabu and Suppandi....
I have further questions than reasons given in my previous post on meditation. Questions like: Why is having a meditative state of mind better than a non-meditative one? Why does meditation or spirituality interest people my age? Information and good reasons from the book I found good arguments (that resonated well) while reading Sam Harris’s 2014 book: Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion. Sam is a Stanford graduate, and has a PhD in Nueroscience from UCLA....
I feel blessed and deeply grateful for family and friends celebrating and showering us with love. It was an entertaining energetic evening, and a fabulous kick start for a rocking 2023! 6:30p was the time, and driving along the rain soaked highways made us concerned of being late ourselves. Settling into Amber’s lower party hall was a breeze, and the place resembled more of a cozy, elegant and comfortable living room....
Rain storms in a drought ridden state are a rarity, and worth savoring. Growing up, I have fond memories of wearing rubber raincoats and making my way to school in Delhi’s heavy rains. I love the earthy smell, the pitter patter of raindrops, the breeze that typically accompanies a rainfall. Figure 1: Morning rain, Delhi, India I love freedom and lightness when submerged in water. Taking the mundane daily shower is one of the most fun daily activities....
Its been a rocky start for my journey to be a consistent meditation practitioner. As resources, I referred to both the Calm app and Pema Chodron’s book on How to meditate. I am finding the book more useful and relevant for my current milestone to quiten my mind. I practice meditation in the morning, at the beginning of the day. I start a new Meditation workout on my Apple watch (in the hope that maybe health data such as BPM will be a useful review later on)....
I find joy, happiness, and pleasure in anticipating, experiencing, and reminiscing life events. Our 2016 sojourn in Iceland has me excited for our upcoming summer vacation plan to tour Scandinavia. Scandinavia is one of the least populated, most scenic, and well connected parts of Europe. Politically, Scandinavia is the collection of five countries: Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Estonia. English is the second language of all peoples, making it convenient for US travelers....
I struggle maintaining healthy work life balance, and I suspect that this is true for many other software engineers. Recently, joining back work after an extended holiday break, I felt this disruption acutely. I actively need to tackle this problem, as otherwise I slip into an unhealthy pattern of constantly ruminating on work concerns. This leads to affecting quality time spent with family, and ultimately making performance at work suffer....
It took us three hours from the Atocha in Madrid to reach Granada. Hotel Anacapri, located in the moorish quarter of Granada, remained an unsolved mystery for our taxi guy. Dragging our luggage, we found our way into our quaint and small room. They were sold out, so our request for an upgrade also went amiss. Unperturbed, we stuck to our plan of hiking up to San Nicholas viewpoint. The hike goes right through the middle of the town, and the colorful lamps constantly attracted us like moths to a flame....
Writing a daily personal journal is a procedure to express and record our thoughts for ourselves. It is not easy to journal consistently My earliest surviving journal entry from 2017 attests to this difficulty in a rather stark manner: [2017-09-23 Sat] diary? 3rd attempt to start a daily diary. grievances: - fucking nothing happening on my own startup - whatever Journal entries Weekly reviews Year Tooling 4 0 2017 Google docs 2 13 2018 Google docs, sheets 8 15 2019 Google docs, sheets 18 1 2020 Google docs, sheets 91 5 2021 Git, Emacs, Org-mode 334 0 2022 Git, Emacs, Org-mode My journaling journey is a story of six failed starts, three or more changes in tooling, and finally resulting in one year of being somewhat consistent....