Category: Philosophy
-
Observing Thoughts
When I first learned Vipassana at the 10 day Goenka retreat in Dhamma Paphulla in 2016, I was taught to practise watching sensations in the body exactly as it is, not as I want it to be. The idea was to watch every sensation as it came and to realise that every sensation has only…
-
Observing the Breath
What exactly should one observe in the Breath during meditation? That was my nagging question after the first few sittings of Aaana Paana at Dhamma Paphulla in Jan of 2016, when I went in for my first 10 day retreat. I went into the 10 day retreat with a lot of excitement and motivation. But…
-
Vipassana and Anger
I had a violent and angry outburst three days ago, the kind I had not experienced in a long time. I have been consistently practicing vipassana for close to 8 weeks. In the past 4 weeks, its been two sessions of an hour each, every single day. I know that I am making progress on…
-
An approach to getting fit
Being fit has a whole lot of benefits associated with it. Getting fit, on the other hand may feel like a roller-coaster ride. The process seems to feel less than inspiring. One has to deal with making new year resolutions, only to break it just a couple of weeks later, while simultaneously noticing other people…
-
Seeing, not with eyes. Hearing, not with ears.
Eyes are not the only ones seeing, ears are not the only ones hearing. Vision is a sensation, but it is not always something that happens in the eyes. Hearing is a sensation, but it is not always something that happens in the ears. Pain is a sensation, but it is not always something that…
-
Waves of Sensations
When one sits by the beach and watches waves in the ocean, it becomes clear that waves arise, do their thing and pass away. No wave stays put. Once arisen, they move, and ultimately pass away. Each wave is made of the same water as every other wave. No new water is created, or destroyed.…
-
Back to Vipassana
My first and only vipassana retreat was in January 2016. The retreat was great and I got back with lot of enthusiasm. I did attempt to get into regular practice once I got back, but soon I realised that I was getting nowhere. So, I stopped my practice entirely in April 2016, a mere three…
-
Learning Backwards
Watching my son and a several other kids at Aarohi Open Learning community, I have come to notice a new kind of learning – which I would like to call as “backward learning.” However, before I can actually get to describing it, I would like to first talk about something else first … Forward Learning…
-
It’s a city – we will throw dirt on each other …
While driving in the city, I seem to constantly get irritated, worked-up, angry and even shout at other people driving on the roads. I am sure this evokes a sense of understanding and empathy from most people. However, I have recently observed something new: Other people seem to be constantly getting irritated, worked-up, angry and…
-
Lifestyle Changes
Sometime in November last year, a few months after I had turned 40, I looked at myself and felt dissatisfied about my health & fitness. I had been dissatisfied for a long time, but it felt like I had reached my threshold by Nov 2021. Nutrition – Lifestyle I signed up for a 3 month…
-
It’s not a problem, it’s just what’s so.
Recently I bought “Speaking Being” and started reading it. The book is more like a screenplay of a specific 4 day and 1 evening Forum that was held from 27th December 1988. That particular Forum had 502 participants PLUS 40 Forum Leaders attending as participants PLUS another 100 people participating as observers. The 4 days…
-
My son knows how to create his relationships
Yesterday evening, I was working on something. Advay, my 8 year old came by and without giving a damn about the fact that I was occupied with something, he started telling me something and demanded that I pay attention to him. I was super-pissed. In a angry tone I said – “Please give me some…
-
What is the meaning of meaning?
Advay (my 8 year old) asks me: “Appa, what is the meaning of meaning?” Having read a lot of philosophy, this question appealed to the philosopher in me. I paused for a while, pondered over the question and tried to grasp the depth of such a question. After spending a while in deep thought I…
-
No freedom, only responsibility
The words freedom and responsibility mean different things to different people. When someone says “Sam is free to do xyz“, it could either mean “Sam can choose to do xyz, if he ‘wants’” OR “Sam is not ‘banned’ from doing xyz, so he can potentially do it” OR “Sam can try out xyz ‘for size’…
-
Anxiety about unlimited freedom
Tight rope walking is scary because there are no rails to hold on to while walking on the tight rope. So, it causes an obvious anxiety about walking on the rope. Anxiety stems from the fact that, without support, one might fall off to the left OR to the right OR forward OR backward OR…