I love you. Keep Calm and Hold on. (Yoga, Hinduism, Buddhism, Stoicism)

 Yogic Culture births Hinduism. Hinduism births Buddhism. And perhaps Stoicism?

In times like these, one is tempted to be sucked into the doldrums that besiege our nation- the alarming number of Covid cases has become a daily scoreboard for public sentiment. At time of writing, the numbers are at an all time high of 11,618 new cases. The higher the numbers climb, the more the hopeless masses sink into despair. Who can blame them? Their livelihoods have been severely curtailed, jobs have been wiped out, businesses have shutdown for months now. No solution is yet in sight.

How will people feed themselves or their families? How do they even survive? 

Here I distract myself from answering questions that have no plausible answers but write about spirituality because spirituality is where I seek solace and more importantly, clarity. While solace is a temporary feeling, clarity is actionable.

While I try to maintain an even keel with my life grounded in Stoicism principles outlined in my previous blog- Here- Stoicism, I am also a devotee of Hinduism, deeply rooted in the Yogic culture. 

I have come to realise there are great similarities in the two. Whether they are related or not I do not know.

I would like to highlight 5 Yogic Principles extolled numerous times by one of the most lucid and eloquent thinker and speaker on the subject of life. 

With great reverence and gratitude I would like to share practical enlightenment from Sadhguru.

1. Keep Account of Your Joy.

Everyday (Covid or no) all sorts of things and events happen to our life, most of which we have no control over. So what's important is that no matter what happens in our life situation, we must stay joyful and keep score of how many moments of Joy you have. Joy is not a goal to attain, joy is available to you at any time. Joy means you're at ease with no pain in the body or trouble in the mind. 

These are the only two kinds of human suffering- body and mind. 

Joy means life has come to ease you not mess you up. If you are at ease, your are in Joy. 

2. Eating With Gratitude.

Whatever you eat, just like whatever you do, you must do it consciously. There is life in food, as we consume it, it gives us life, keeping us alive. Therefore it is life giving material, so whatever and whenever we eat we must eat with reverence and gratitude. Especially now, when people aren't certain when they will have their next meal.

3. Connecting With The Earth.

This very earth that we walk upon has a certain power and memory. After all, all life on this planet has come out of this earth. Spend a few minutes outdoors in your garden, staying in touch with mother earth, touching the soil with our palms and our soles to connect with nature, touching the plants, the flowers and the trees. 

This is the basis of our life, this will harmonise our system. 

4. Wake Up With A Smile.

Before going to sleep each night, sit in bed for two minutes and imagine you're going to die in two minutes time. Then see how you sleep. You will see that when or if you wake up you will feel like a 'newborn'. If you are still alive, then give yourself a Big Smile. Statistics show some people may not wake up tomorrow morning. Being alive is the greatest thing happening to you. Not your possessions, not your family, not your titles or achievements. You're Alive right now. So Smile. Life is indeed very brief.

5. Resolve to get High on Life.

Your ability to live on this planet is essentially how well you can harness your body and your mind. To harness this, it's very important to keep a little space between You and your body and You and your mind. Remember whatever suffering is only experienced in the body or the mind. There is no other kind of suffering- only Physical suffering and Mental suffering. When you can keep a little distance between You and the body and mind, there is no fear of suffering. If you can do this for just a few minutes a day, you will truly get high on life. 

Only then you will explore the full depth and dimension of this life. 

All you need to resolve to do is;  Meditate.

If you'd like to do so, go to my earlier posts > Meditation #1, or Meditate #2, or Be Still  or Meditation #4 or just scroll down to the last post before this. Try it. It's highly recommended.

Stay Safe. Stay Joyful.

I love you. Tang Dynasty #2

 Religions & Philosophies.

Confucius- Getty Images

Laozi

Buddha

Jesus

During the era of great trade and exchange of cultures with the world, China became a hub for all religions. Many types of religions were observed and practiced. With the common practice of indigenous Taoism, along came Islam, Christianity and Buddhism. 

There was also the generally accepted and widely practiced philosophy of Confucianism. Instead of resisting the pursuit of knowledge of religions, Confucian scholars embraced Buddhism and Taoism to revise some aspects of Confucianism. 

Unlike modern day situations where beliefs and religions clashed, China underwent dynamic transformation in religious and philosophical pursuits mixing and matching different practices. A typical believer could visit a Buddhist temple, make sacrifices to Taoist deities and hang a cross on the wall. It was a mixture of Mahayana Buddhism and Taoism that gave birth to Zen buddhism in Japan.

This policy of inclusiveness and flexibility of religious beliefs and practices further contributed to better understanding and great prosperity among the people local or the international community. It is no wonder the Tang Dynasty was unrivalled at that time.