srinig.com

Of late, I have been reading the book Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. Abdul Kalam, as we know, is not just a missile scientist and a rocket engineer who went on to become the 11th President of India, he is also a nation builder, a visionary, motivator, a management guru, a philosopher, a poet, and above all he is a deeply spiritual person and an ideal karma yogi. Needless to say, his autobiography, Wings of Fire is one of my all time favourite books. I have nothing more to add to all that has already been wonderfully said about the book. So, let me just quickly share a few quotes from Kalam that I have collected from his book.

I wonder why some people tend to see science as something which takes man away from God. As I look at it, the path of science can always wind through the heart. For me, science has always been the path to spiritual enrichment and self-realisation.

the best way to win was to not need to win. The best performances are accomplished when you are relaxed and free of doubt.

… Continue reading ‘Quotes from ‘Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of Abdul Kalam’’ »

Anybody who visited my site during the last week of March would have found that it was temporarily down as it exceeded the monthly bandwidth limit. Not that my site suddenly got popular overnight, nor is it due to any digg effect or stumbling upon. It’s due to a monster called MSNBot coming to my site and sucking away all my bandwidth in a span of two and a half days. … Continue reading ‘A monster called MSNBot’ »

“As many faiths, so many paths.” It can be said that this one little sentence reflects the whole life and message of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Today, 9th March 2008, is the birth anniversary of Ramakrishna (according to Bengali calendar), a perfect day to ponder over the message of Ramakrishna. Here are some quotes from Sri Ramakrishna.

I had to practise each religion for a time — Hinduism, Islām, Christianity. Furthermore, I followed the paths of the Śāktas, Vaishnavas, and Vedāntists. I realized that there is only one God toward whom all are travelling; but the paths are different.

Truth is one; only It is called by different names. All people are seeking the same Truth; the variance is due to climate, temperament, and name. A lake has many ghats. From one ghat the Hindus take water in jars and call it ‘jal’. From another ghat the Mussalmāns take water in leather bags and call it ‘pāni’. From a third the Christians take the same thing and call it ‘water’. Suppose someone says that the thing is not ‘jal’ but ‘pāni’, or that it is not ‘pāni’ but ‘water’, or that it is not ‘water’ but ‘jal’, It would indeed be ridiculous. But this very thing is at the root of the friction among sects, their misunderstandings and quarrels. This is why people injure and kill one another, and shed blood, in the name of religion. But this is not good. Everyone is going toward God. They will all realize Him if they have sincerity and longing of heart.

… Continue reading ‘It’s Ramakrishna Jayanti today.’ »

Look at what this man is doing…

Image source: The Star

Yes, there are many who can perform this Yoga posture, but what’s special about the man in the picture is that he performs all such complex Hatha yoga postures with such an ease at the age of 99 . His name is Swami Yogananda (not the Paramahansa Yogananda of ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ and ‘Kriya Yoga’ fame). This 99 year old Yogananda works in association with the the Art of Living Foundation and travels around the world to teach his brand of yoga called ‘Sukshma Vyayama’.

Swami Yogananda has never taken medication in his 99 years of life on earth. He is such an expert … Continue reading ‘Swami Yogananda: A 99 year old yogi’ »

I first came to know about this film called “The Secret” a few months ago, and I’ve been hearing about it a lot in the last month or so from various sources. Last week, I finally got to watch the film. If you don’t already know about The Secret, it’s a ’self-help’ documentary film that talks about the power of positive thinking and the “Law of Attraction” — a law which can be roughly stated as, “You attract to you what you think of the most”. There is nothing new and there’s nothing secret about the concepts discussed in this film. Everything said in the film has been publicly pronounced by great thinkers and successful people all over the world from time to time in some form or the other. … Continue reading ‘‘The Secret’, ‘Law of Attraction’ and positive thinking’ »