myolam.org

“Hooked on Internet?  Help is a just a click away.”  ~Author Unknown

If you didn’t get the newspaper tomorrow morning, would you completely freak out? When you forget to take your cell phone with you, do you keep reaching into your pocket for it again and again? How long can you go without checking your mail? How often do you check the news on TV or the Internet?

Information has become a bare necessity these days. It is imperative for us to stay connected. Information and connectivity make us feel in control. We feel that we will lag behind if we don’t connect. We want to be constantly wired. We want the world to be with us all the time. It makes us secure. It keeps us from facing ourselves. It has become almost impossible for us to spend a few minutes by ourselves, doing nothing.

Experts believe information addiction is a real and present concern. Information, according to them, secretes a hormone called dopamine, which gives us a high. But information can be as addictive as narcotics. Information addiction can disrupt our lives. It impinges on our relationships and our social lives. It makes us lose sleep. The negativity of news vitiates our lives.

Information addiction does not happen overnight. We are aware of it while we are getting caught into the mire. It is important that we stop before it gets really serious.

You can start today. Start cutting down on your Internet time. Get the news only from one source and only once a day (Altogether staying away from news is not a bad idea either). Every weekend, visit a person you would have otherwise emailed.

In order to connect with yourself, it is important you get disconnected.

“Nature is the art of God.”  ~Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, 1635

Nature is the manifestation of God’s love for us. Just like we bestow gifts on our children, all the wonders of nature are God’s gifts to his children - us. I would like to quote Tagore in Geetanjali:

“When I bring to you colored toys, my child, I understand why there is such a play of colors on clouds, on water, and why flowers are painted in tints…

When I sing to make you dance I truly know why there I music in leaves…

When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling, I surely understand what pleasure streams from the sky in the morning light, and what delight that is which summer breeze brings to my body – when I kiss you to make you smile.”

The mountains, the plains, the entire terrain are like the fingerprints of god. And when we heartlessly slash trees and mindless alter the terrain to build our houses – we erase god’s fingerprints. We are the only organisms on this earth who destroy the homes of countless plants and animals to make our own homes.

In the name of development we are irreparably and irreversibly changing what god made for us.   The Indian government, for example, is planning to destroy Ram Sethu or Rama’s bridge, which is a chain of shoals connecting the southernmost tip of India with Sri Lanka.  It is believed that Rama Sethu was built by the Lord Rama’s army in order to reach Sri Lanka, where demon-king Ravana had kept Ma Sita (Rama’s consort) hostage.

NASA has confirmed that the actual bridge closely resembles its description in an ancient Hindu scripture. ‘We can see the picture dramatically resembles the description given in Kalidasa’s Raghuvamsham.  Kalidasa wrote, (sarga 13): ‘Rama, while returning from Sri Lanka in Pushpaka Vimaana told Sita: “Behold, Sita, My Setu of mountains dividing this frothy ocean is like the milky way dividing the sky into two parts”, ‘ confirms George M Low, the then deputy director of Manned Spacecraft Center, NASA. Christians believe that the bridge was made by Adam and hence it is also known as ‘Adam’s bridge’.

Heedless to the religious sentiments of billions of Hindus, the government of India is adamant on destroying Rama Sethu as a part of a project for the creation of a shorter alternative route for ships to cross.  Needless to say, the project will contribute enormously to the government exchequer (and a part of which will inevitably go into the pockets of powerful politicians).

In addition to the destruction of a site of religious significance, the project will also jeopardize the fragile ecosystem in the area.
The trees, the rocks, the seas, the landscape are supposed to be the way god made them.  Let us hope that millions of those who are protesting against the destruction of Ram Sethu prevail over the Indian government.  Let us hope and pray that god prevails!

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” ~ Buddha

Ever wonder why there is starvation, why there is deprivation? Why do millions die of hunger and cold and rain?

There is enough for each one of us on this earth. It is we who create pseudo-poverty. Mother Earth offers her bounty to each one of us. But a handful of us, the powerful and fortunate ones, withhold her gifts and do not let them reach the teeming millions. We erect fences and build walls to control what is not rightfully ours.

According to the Buddhist scripture Itivuttaka Sutra, the immortal Lord Buddha said, "If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without have given, nor would the stain of selfishness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared, if there were someone to receive their gift." It is a sin to consume more than we need. It is a sin to fill our coffers, while millions around the world starve.

Each one of us is responsible for bringing equity in the world. Mahatma Gandhi gave up elaborate clothing and decided to wear only a dhoti (loincloth) until the day each one of his countrymen would be fully clad. It is important that we share, what we are fortunate enough to have, with those less fortunate.

Hinduism propounds that nothing it ours, everything is god’s gift to us. It is only by giving that we can detach from material possessions and become worthy of the gifts that god gives to us unasked. It is only by giving that we can overcome desire, which is the root of all suffering.  So, resolve to give at least one thing everyday to someone who needs it. With each little thing you give, you realize that it was never yours to give.

“In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.”  ~Albert Camus

When we were children we were all full of hope and optimism. Over the years the positivity seems to have waned, but in each of us is still hidden that eternal summer, that perpetual sunshine. All we need to do is to let it shine.

If only we can refocus our attitude and start looking at the sunny side of the street, we will know that life is beautiful. The MindHabits games can help us do just that.  They help us look at life through rose glasses. The games are beautiful in their very simplicity.  How difficult is it to find a smiling face in a crowd of faces? Yet, our negative attitudes have clouded our ability to look at the positive side of things.  We are instinctively drawn towards sad or angry faces. The game helps us reorient ourselves to positive things and positive people.

Just playing the game for five minutes a day can work wonders for your outlook.  Based on the social intelligence principles of inhibition, association and activation, the game also helps you be more confident in the way you face various situations in life.  Some of us suffer from social anxiety and don’t fit in that easily. The matrix game in the MindHabits collection helps overcome this unease that we feel while interacting with people, especially members of the opposite sex.

You can play the games whenever you are feeling low or stressed out.  The MindHabits games will not only lift your spirits but will also ease your tension. Each of us has a child within us that is cheerful and carefree.  We just need to let that child take over and life will be wonderful again.

“But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh we deprive a soul of the sun and light, and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy.” ~ Plutarch

There is violence all around us, violence within us. We harbor negative thoughts – fear, anger, and pain – that take a toll on our well-being.  Hinduism elucidates that when we eat meat, we ingest all the fear, anger and pain that the animal felt while being slaughtered.  Complete harmony and total well-being is not possible unless we eliminate all negativity from our lives and meat-eating is a major source of negativity.

Vegetarianism has been at the heart of Hinduism since the very beginning of the religion.  Most Hindus are vegetarians and the reasons for this are manifold.  The first reason is ahimsa or non-violence.

“You must not use your God-given body for killing God’s creatures, whether they are human, animal or whatever” (Yajur Veda, 12.32). Scriptures abound in teachings of ahimsa.  Ahimsa is a foremost dharma or duty of Hindus.  All Hindus must fulfill their obligation towards god by being non-violent and compassionate.  Violence in the form of meat-eating is also considered detrimental to spiritual progress.

Karma or action is another reason why we should be vegetarians.  The law of karma states that we define our own destiny through our actions.  If we inflict pain on voiceless animals, we must face the karmic consequences and we do, not only physically but also mentally and spiritually.  Pythagorus said,  “Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.”  Vegetarianism helps us build positive karma, which ultimately leads us to happiness.

“…all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, should be done as an offering unto Me” (Bhagavad-gita 9.27).  Before eating, Hindus offer food to god and then they consume it as prasad or god’s blessing.  Meat is considered utterly impure and can never be given as offering to god.

Finally, in Hinduism all animals are considered sacred and worshipped as gods.  The cow, especially, is worshipped as mother.  Killing a cow is considered the ultimate sacrilege and no true Hindu would ever eat beef.

Vegetarianism is a definite path to positive living and complete well-being.  What we eat is not separate from what wish to be.