SVL 1.5: A weekend in Michigan

 Posted on August 11, 2015  |  3 minutes  |  464 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

<p> <img class="aligncenter" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=bc3f134ea3&view=att&th=147c738735f746ac&attid=0.3&disp=emb&realattid=ii_hyqcavj23_147c7125b21f0304&zw&atsh=1" alt="" width="342" height="456" /> </div> <p> <img class="aligncenter" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=bc3f134ea3&view=att&th=147c738735f746ac&attid=0.6&disp=emb&realattid=ii_hyqcavdy2_147c7125b21f0304&zw&atsh=1" alt="" width="342" height="456" /> </div> <p> <img class="aligncenter" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=bc3f134ea3&view=att&th=147c738735f746ac&attid=0.1&disp=emb&realattid=ii_hyqcav8a1_147c7125b21f0304&zw&atsh=1" alt="" width="342" height="456" /> </div> </div> <div class="gmail_default"> This was between meeting a group of Santosh&#8217;s friends for Philz coffee and a walk around the Infinite Loop and meeting more of his friends in Zenny, an Ethiopian restaurant in San Jose. [Read More]
ABCD  advaitam  ann arbor  apple headquarters  Apple's Mothership  avatar: the last airbender  bhakti  Bharatnatyam  boating  california  canoe  chinmaya mission  culture  devotion  dvaitam  english  Ethiopian restaurant  faith  Germany  kayak  language  Michigan  Phoenix  raft  regional language  storm  USA  zenny 

SVL 1.4: The Great Outdoors and Indoors

 Posted on July 29, 2015  |  3 minutes  |  626 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

After I wrote to you the previous time, we went out and went to DeeDees, a Gujarati restaurant for dinner. Just near where we parked, I took these pictures. [Read More]
Amici's pizza  Chaathouse  deedees  food  halfmoon bay  learning to drive  lemos farm  Merit Vegetarian Chinese restaurant  minigolf  mountainview  Nirvanah Icecreams  skyline boulevard  swimming  Wholefoods Japanese rolls and Buritos  writing 

The refreshing effect of Om Chanting in Yoga

 Posted on July 28, 2015  |  5 minutes  |  874 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

Om is a syllable, not a word. And though it has a lot of mythical and symbolic importance in the Hindu tradition, it has no single meaning to be pinned down to. [Read More]
acoustics  AUM  breath  chanting  class  cross legged  Deep relaxation technique  DRT  energy  frequency  fresh  lotus posture  lung  meditation  mudra  Om  Padmasana  relaxation  Shavasana  singer  singing  sound  Sukhasana  teacher  tone  vibration  voice  yoga 

The Relevance of Culture

 Posted on July 5, 2015  |  16 minutes  |  3291 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

A conversation with an old friend of mine revealed to me that the word culture is too often associated only with religion and ritualism and dismissed as irrelevant. [Read More]
art  avatar: the last airbender  ayurveda  clothing  cuisine  culture  customs  dance  dean ornish  devdutt patnaik  diet  diseases  food  good and evil  herbal remedies  home remedies  language  lord of the rings  mc donald's  medicinal plants  medicine  meditation  music  mythology  myths that mystify  philosophy  preventive medicine research institute  Religion  ritualism  stories  translation  values  western science  yoga 

LOG 3.4: Munich

 Posted on November 19, 2013  |  7 minutes  |  1491 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

Hello, Happy Pillayaar Chathurthi (festival for Ganesha- the elephant headed god) to you and your families 🙂 I just got back from lunch with my Indian friends. [Read More]
anoushka shankar  bad music  baklava  bands  bavarian  beautiful buildings  beer garten  bikes  bright  brother  carnatic  dirndles  englisch garten  food  friendly  ganesha  hare krishna  hindustani  indian music  international  jazz  laderhosen  Mitfahrzentrum  munich  music  oktober fest  old friends  parks  pillayaar chathurthi  prasadam  sheesha bar  shiny  sitar  soldiers  tabla  turkish  u-bahn 

Introduction to the Indian Caste System

 Posted on April 10, 2013  |  8 minutes  |  1506 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

Let me introduce you to the caste system in India. There are four main castes usually listed in the following order; The Castes Brahmins, the teachers, and priests who occupied themselves with the task of performing common ceremonies such as weddings, naming ceremonies, funerals and house-warming as well as yagnas and other religious activities. [Read More]
administrators  archery  auspicious days  brahmin  brahmins  buddhism  business  caste  caste system  caste system in india  castes  ceremonies  cleaning  construction work  corrupt  dharma  discrimination  duties  duty  economic status  education  education system  equality  equals  farmers  funerals  genetic predisposition  god  grudge  height of buildings  hierarchy  identiy  indian caste system  inferiority  inter-caste  inter-caste marriage  kingdoms  kshatriya  land  largest genetic experiment  later vedic era  marriage  meat  menial labour  money  naming ceremonies  neighbouring kingdoms  opportunity  order of castes  outcasts  paraiya  policies  policy  poor  positive discrimination  power  predisposition  priests  quota  reformation  religious  reservation  respect  richest  rigid  rituals  servants  shudra  simple  spiritual life  spritual  strategic thinking  strength  strong arms  superiority  swordsmanship  travel  unskilled labour  untouchability  untouchables  vaishya  values of a society  vegetarian  warriors  weddings  yagna 

Spiritual, religious or philosophical?

 Posted on October 14, 2012  |  6 minutes  |  1271 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

Many people confuse spirituality with religiousness, and philosophy with spirituality. Here I will attempt to tease out the differences as I see them. To be religious is to follow a given set of rules generally defined by an existing system of organised faith. [Read More]
adam and eve  arne naess  carbon cycle  categorise  ceremonies  christians and muslims  conflict  culture  deep ecology  deep experience  define  diversity  duality  duality of language  earth  eden  energy cycle  eternal bliss  forbidden fruit  god  identity  intellectual pursuit  joseph campbell  knowledge  language  maharishi  mantrams  math  matter cycle  meditation  mental definitions  merge with god  mind  moksha  monk  mountain  music  mythology  nirvana  organised faith  particle physics  peace  philisophical  philosophy  poetry  prayer  quantum physics  ramana maharishi  religious  religious philosophies  religious philosophy  rituals  role of mythology  salvation  sanyasi  social  spiritual  spirituality  theology  Unity  universe  water cycle  who am i?  who are we  wolf  yoga 

LOG 1.12: DMT, The Discovery of Dro"gen Hasen Weg and the Super Extreme Moon

 Posted on October 6, 2012  |  4 minutes  |  740 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

18th March, 2011 Hello everyone, I watched this video recently. http://www.esoterictube.com/dmt-the-spirit-molecule.htmlIt corresponds with what Joseph Campbell says about the spiritual world (as represented by myths and anecdotes from those who meditate, and shamans), drugs and psychological diseases like schizophrenia. [Read More]
beautiful houses  biology  book  bright  careful  chemical  closest to the earth in 20 years  DMT  documentary  equinox  existence  fukushima  full moon  god  houses  japan  joseph campbell  ka  large  limitation of language  mental health  mythological state  one  one with the trees  research  same time  science  spirit molecule  T=0  the vedic experience  thrift shop  time isn't there  trees  umlout  Unity  universe  vivid dreams 

LOG 1.10: The first signs

 Posted on September 22, 2012  |  2 minutes  |  404 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

28th February, 2011 Hello, It is now possible to see the first signs of Spring. The trees are bearing buds that will leaf and flower forth. [Read More]
books  buds  byrin  ediburgh  english books  fantasy  flowers  grey's anatomy  heavy metal  idiocracy  leaves  library  Light  Oldenburg  sci-fi  shakespeare  singing  spring  star trek  tennyson  the vedic experience  vaaranam aayiram 

Reflections on God 7: Current Beliefs

 Posted on May 31, 2012  |  3 minutes  |  436 words  |  Janani Dhinakaran

This is part of God Flux but split into smaller sections for an easier read. Views on other beliefs I retain a relatively moderate view on people who take an external god literally, so long as they never cross the line of violence especially with children, nature or other cultures. [Read More]
'holy' books  A Sand Country Almanac  A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity  absolute  abuse of children  academic study of Hinduism  agni  ahimsa  ailments  aldo leopold  almighty power  alter boys  anbe sivam  anger  atheism  athma  atrocities  attacks on diversity  auspicious days  back ache  back problem  bad for the world  bahkti poetry  beautiful  beliefs  benevolent  bhakti poets  bhooma devi  bible  biological basis for belief in god  biological origin for belief in god  bliss  blue  body and nimd  books  brain  brutality  buddha  buddhism  bylakuppe  C.S.Lewis  calm  carry mountains with one finger  caustic  chakras  children  chinese  choir  Christianity  clothing  clouds  common mythical structure  communal violence  communities  comparitive mythology  compassion  concept  contradictions  conversation  conversions  Coorg  corruption of god  critical thinking  cultural diversity  Dalai Lama  dangers  deep commitment  deep ecology  deep experience  deep questioning  depression  describe  dialogues  distract  divine  Do you believe in god?  dream  Dreams  drowning  drugs  early vedic  earth  Edinburgh  environmental science  equilibrium  evolution  evolutionarily advantageous  excludes and condemns possibilities other than it's own  existence  exposure  external god literally  faith  faith can be dangerous  fascinating  festivals  fire  five senses  flawed  food  forces of nature  forgive directly  forgiven  forgiveness  fritjof capra  gadgets  gandhi  gandhi philosophy  gandhian philosophy  geological integrity  gift from god  god  god and love  god is everything  god is mean  god is nothing  gods  gratitude  grow up  guidelines  happy  harmony  healing  heaven  hell  highest potentials  Himalayas  hindi lessons  hindu  hindu gods  hindu mythology  holy men  horrendous atrocities of the chinese  human capacity  human values  humans  humility  Illusion and other Realities  illusions  immaculate conception  infinite definitions  inherent biological feature  interconnectedness  interpretation  intrinsically linked with  irrational  irritable  jesus  jesus is a madman  jihad  joseph campbell  judgement  judo-christian  ka  kabir  Kamal  Kamal Hassan  killed  knowledge  Koran  krishna  Krishna lila  Krishnamurthi  krishnamurthi school  lakes  languages  laugh  laws of physics  layers of existence  leaves  letters from edinburgh  life forms  Light  Lord Krishna  love nature  love thy neighbour  loved by god  M.K. Gandhi  Mahabharatha  Mahatma Gandhi  material growth  materialistic  maya  maya jaal  meditating  meditation  meera bai  mental discipline  mercy  merge  metaphorical  mind and body  mindless sheep  mira bai  miracles  missionaries  moderate and tolerant views  moksha  mosques  mukthi  mukti  multiple headed snakes  myths to live by  nature  nature is sacred  Neuroscience  nirgun  nirvana  not follow spiritual teachers  nurturing  occident  oneness  only one  open  optimal use  organised religion  original  own path  papers  paradise  paramathma  peace  peaceful  perish  personal crisis  pettier  petty  Phantoms in the Brain  philosophies  philosophy  philosophy of yoga  plants  pluralism  poetry  political power play  poojas  power of love  power play  praise  praising jesus  protect nature  pure  question  radical atheism  radical atheist  ramayana  rational  read  reality  reason  reduce chronic pain  reflections  reiki  religion dangerous to humanity  rescue animals  respect  responsibility  reverent  rich mythology  richard bach  richard dawkins  ritualism  rituals  rivers  roberto calasso  running from safety  sacred  sacred rivers  sacrifice  sagun  sam harris  samsara  Santa Clause  sarcastic  sargun  schizophrenia  Schizophrenia: The Inward Journey  science  sections  sending his son  sensitive  seventy two virgins  shiva  sinner  sins  sky  sneh shapat  solipsism  spiritual  spiritual experiences  spiritual growth  spiritual path  spiritual progress  spirituality  spoon fed  stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise  streams  strokes  strong religious identities  suffering  suicide bombings  Sun  swayed  sydney  symbolic  symbolism  tao of physics  temper  temples  temporal lobe lesions  think  Tibetan settlement  tibetans  tiny ants  tolerance  torture  touched  trauma  trees  turn the other cheek  undefinable  utilitarian value  V.S. Ramachandran  varuna  vayu  videos  violence  water  welfare of the environment  wendy doniger  western philosophy  whole universe in his mouth  wild animals  wind  women  worship  worship nature  yoga  Yoga class