Factory of The Mind

I spent a day with a childhood friend and his family. We discussed how life has been over the recent years He mentioned that after hitting 40 or around then, life has been steady and calm. Cruising along, no stress. Vipassana helped a lot, his wife added. I enquired further how Vipassana affects diet, habits, etc. Very interestingly, I understood that it prescribes nothing other than practicing the meditation regularly. The meditation makes one more sensitive and consequently alterations to diet and mental frame get affected. Further interestingly, they explained how they were mentally calm and stress-free. They don't think much about past or future. Think what to cook when in kitchen, not before. Official work is left behind in office. Thinking too much is the cause of much stress, they explained. Don't think about what is wrong with the world and its ways. Staying calm is the key. This is what they concluded. I was stumped. The system sucks life out of people in many ways...

Exposure - it is a critical means of learning. Experience - it is perhaps the most effective learning methodology. Experimenting - it is how one can gain experience. You're fortunate if you're in a position to decide on a particular experiment in order to gain experience, to expose yourself to circumstances, which offer learning. Saarathi finds its meaning in facilitating an experiment, helping you get an exposure, being a part of your learning. Experimenting may not always be romantic or pleasurable. In fact challenging and adventurous experiments are fun and full of learning. Of course, you should be able to assess the risks and take on only those which seem sensible. So, what experiments we're talking about? Let's say, living a different lifestyle, in a new setting. For example an urban elite living on a farm without a maid, cook and on a negligible budget. Or a farmer's son traveling in Mumbai local trains. Or a Keralite, who has haver seen temperature...

Three years of homeschooling has answered most of the articulated concerns. In fact, as parents, we're happier than our happiest imagination. But I just got to know that my mom secretly tries to encourage kids to join a school. Why? She's not even conversant with the subject of education. She would have been fine if we were to send them to a Vipassana school or an Art of Living School. But no school is a crazy idea. Clearly, she's unable to bear the nonconformity. Why is it so important to Conform? Instead of taking a rhetorical view of the question, let us enquire. Conformity has many compelling benefits. 1. It gives me a sense of security and an identity within a social hierarchy. 2. It allows me to move ‘ahead’ instead of bothering about how everyday life has to be lived. Sending children to school, producing a certificate to prove professional ability, paying taxes so that the government fulfils its role, attending parties to fulfil social obligations and personal...