Meditations on Transcendence

Sound is one of the most important aspect of life. Imagine a world without sound. One cannot chit chat with friends, no melodious music, no great conversations. One would be bored to death without sound. It is such an integral part of life itself. According to vedic creation, sound is one of the fundamental element created along with taste, form, touch, and smell. We deal with varieties of sounds in our day-to-day life. They are vocal language sounds, instrumentals, singing of various genres etc. Sounds can generate emotions influencing our subtle conscious body. Music therapy is prevalent in many cultures of the world where diseases related to depression are cured using vocal and instrumental sound. Sounds from leaders like Martin Luther King, Hitler, Gandhi have triggered contrasting revolutions moving millions of hearts to action. Why do sounds from some people propel their followers to action and some do not? What is the extra flavor in the sounds emanated from these powerful pe...

The nuclear disaster in Japan has reached to Chernobyl levels. It was so unanticipated. The earthquake followed by the tsunami and boom the reactor is damaged leading to uncontrolled radiation. ‘Padam padam etad vipadam’ – in this material world we court danger every moment. Danger means environment imposes things which tend to destroy our existence. The soul never gets destroyed but the conditioned soul is put into that virtual reality of being effaced. The unexpected events in nature which change the course of history are called the Black swan events. One can learn how properly to react to an unexpected event, one can never plan for it. Its like the surprise tests in IITs, one has to be on the go at all times. But why the world is designed for unexpected events? Of course the big bang guys who think the world was never designed but just happens will definitely not have an answer. The unexpected events are a sign that this place is not for permanent settlement, where death is staring ...

Coaches, consultants and advisors form an integral part of the formula to achieve excellence in any field. Be it team games like soccer, cricket or hockey, or individual games like tennis, badminton, coaches play a very important part in deciding the fate of matches and winning glory for the team. In soccer, many times the coach is more vital than the players. In 2010 we all experienced the mega sporting event on earth – the Soccer World Cup in South Africa - which comes once every four years. Spain defeated the Netherlands to take home the trophy. We experienced the contrasting strategies of coaches from Spain , Germany and the Netherlands . Germany depended on swift counter attacks whereas Netherlands depended on playing rough. The style of Spain was having possession and waiting for the gaps.

Happy new year 2011. The greetings were all around in the air as i arrived for the first day in office for 2011. Innumerable handshakes, SMS, emails!!! I joined in it part of group think, which makes one do a ritual just because everyone is doing. Inside me i was thinking ‘what is happy about arrival of a new year?’. I have wished for the past 30 years but nothing better has happened. Corruption levels have increased, crime rates are on rising trend in all major cities and around us. We are constantly at fear of an imminent terrorist attack. So why we are all part of this ritual of wishing when the First of January arrives every year? Have we become very mechanical in life? Have we stopped questioning the intent of anything due to the ever increasing busy life. By the time my first day in office had ended, i had got heavily cynical of these new year wishes. As i was overhearing numerous wishes over the phone across my cubicle i was feeling how empty these wishes are. How many times do ...