All Entries Tagged With: "Wisdom"

Myths have a way of perpetuating themselves. There are quite a few related to training and learning too. Everyone seems to believe in them. So much so that they have become sacrosanct and no one even bothers to question them.

With great power lies great responsibility. Unlike nature that has very efficient methods of balancing power centers, man’s power centers are haphazard and self-regulated. Man is the only creature who can simultaneously live in two worlds: one on the inside and other on the outside.

Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to – John Ed Pierce My grandfather was Leonard Alphonse Laporte. (Note the small ‘p’ in LaPorte – in high school I decided a capital P was more elegant.) Like most French Canadian grand-daughters, I called him Pepe [...]

The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize. – Robert Hughes A well known painter friend of mine once said that having an art show is like “pulling down your pants in public.” My favourite mystery quote about acting is, “acting is like [...]

I hold this to be true: the best leaders are not famous. When I asked a class to talk about someone they considered a great leader, all of them identified leaders in history, or famous business personalities. Names like Gandhi, Trudeau, and Trump were mentioned. Then they asked me whom I considered a leader. I [...]

This is Part One of a two part exercise. Repeat: this is not a philosophical declaration to carry around in your heart. Rather, it’s a soul-teaser to wind through your bean and shake up some thought forms. The world will go on if : you don’t show up at work. : you don’t post to [...]

There is a new found optimism in air. “Green shoots” are appearing all over the parched land and dead woods. Fewer hearts palpitate now when the swiping of access cards results in a loud beep accompanied by the door not opening. One waits patiently while the security politely presses the switch to let one in. [...]

Recently, I wanted to try a bus route to reach my office, so I left my home very early on feet to get to the station. When I arrived there I got a direct bus to reach my office. There was no rush in the bus and so I got a window seat. I was [...]

I worked with a TV producer once who prided herself on being disciplined. “I get up every morning at 5am to run,” she told me over dinner. “I hate it, but it needs to be done.” And she went on to explain that for Lent, she gave up swearing and hadn’t cussed in four years, [...]

One of my best friends and I have a sick tradition. We get excited about each others’ hardship.

It’s about time you stop comparing yourself to and liberating yourself from men. Enjoy your power as a woman and your role as a nurturer as you complement and balance the human equation to make it whole.

Once perhaps in a decade, you get to read a book that reflects your thinking and experiences so exactly, it make you wonder in awe, leaving you thinking, blinking and bewildered. You wonder why you did not write the book! One such effort with a very mind boggling title came my way, thanks to my [...]

We’re so occupied with home improvement and self-improvement that it’s difficult to see the true self that’s underneath. Who are you fixing, anyway? Do you know? Maybe you don’t need improving at all. Perhaps your original self is more beautiful than you even imagined.

In the midst of our pursuits in  life, we experience many simple happy moments as well as wonderful life affirming events like births, graduations and marriages. And at  other times, certain events frustrate and challenge us. We seem to have little or no control over them. Despite adopting a ‘positive thinking’ attitude, we are faced [...]

When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing. Anonymous The concept of a book starts within someone who is restless with a concept. So restless that he cannot keep it to himself. He feels like sharing it with anyone who’s interested. He becomes like a live volcano wanting to [...]

The best writing advice I ever received was this: “Sometimes you have to let go of the jewels.” You have to cut out the best part. You have to detach from your brilliance. You have to trust that the whole piece is better the individual shiny parts that make you seem clever or wise. So [...]

Unhappiness is the difference between what you have and what you want. Frustration is the prime symptom of unhappiness. With our hectic and money-focused modern lifestyle, frustration has become as common as breathing. It leads us to feeling helpless, angry and insecure

One mile south of Georgia O’Keefe’s beloved Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, thirteen miles down a cliff-hugging dirt road in the heart of Chama Canyon, you will find Christ In The Desert. The Benedictine Monastery is cloister to about twenty monks. I’d fantasized about retreating to the remote monastery for about fifteen years. And when [...]

Saraswati, by Pieter Welteverde www.sanatansociety.com Saraswati is my #1 Goddess. She rules what I dig most. I’m surprised she’s not up there with Kali and Aphrodite in mass popularity. Saraswati is regarded as the Goddess of knowledge and the arts. She represents consciousness and wisdom, is regarded as the goddess of sound and speech, and [...]

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is: What am I drawn to? Plenty of people are inspirationally challenged – not sure of what lights their fire. Others are so selective about what floats their boat that not much new can get past their preferences. Whether you’re confused or highly particular, curiosity [...]

I’m turning 40 in a few weeks. Bizarre. Surreal. Cannot believe it. Just yesterday I was at ecstatically getting the hell out of high school, wearing shoulder pads and stilettos underneath my graduation gown; knowing full well that the world was my oyster and that extra-hold hair mousse would get me through almost any encounter. [...]

“The mind knows no limitations aside from those it accepts,” says Jaime Licauco, President and Founder of the Inner Mind Development Institute, Manila, Philippines. This, in fact, is the motto of the institute he established in 1988.

 The 69-year-old Filipino is his country’s foremost authority on inner mind development, paranormal phenomena and Philippine mysticism. He [...]

Aunt Prema or Prema Mashima, as Ma used to address her, was one of Mamai, my paternal grandmother’s closest friends. She also happened to come from the Tripura royal family. Mamai had taught me to address Prema Mashima as Princess, a title the latter always cringed at and which I later learnt she truly held [...]

A sage who lived in the jungle was very popular with the masses. The emperor was very curious to know the ways of the sage and invited the wise man to stay in his palace. The emperor wanted to observe the sage. As soon as the sage came near the palace he said, “Wow, what [...]

In March 2001, when I was at the lowest point in my life, I went with my cousin to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, up in the Indian Himalayas, where he has lived in exile since 1959. The meeting lasted perhaps 20 minutes — I can’t be sure because I lost track of time [...]

I stay in the coastal city of Chennai and one of my favorite pastimes is to explore the coastline that borders one side of the city. Starting from the crowded marina and Eliot’s Beach to the less crowded and secluded ones that dot the East Coast Road (or ECR as it is called), I have [...]

Allowing Evolution : Esther Speaks You will, eventually, in your human experiences, witness the fall of your intellect. One who has witnessed the Source within becomes open to shifting/ascending… thus choosing to live in a paradigm of freedom, abundance and endless wonderment. This however will not be achieved in one go. The journey involves many [...]

I wanted to share this tribute to my mother as the world celebrates Mother’s Day. My beloved mother is the woman who has given me life and unconditional love, my most cherished human values and the best traditions of my Indian heritage. My mother is loving and kind, yet strong and independent. Tell her a [...]

A friend of mine is an auditor whose job it is to audit the accounts of government departments and companies. She complains that her audit reports are consigned to dusty cupboards a minute after she has handed them and left the office building. I asked her what really transpired at her final meeting with the [...]

First Important Lesson – Cleaning Lady During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one: ‘What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?’ Surely this was some kind of joke. [...]

I am off for a well deserved vacation. During the last 6 months I have been a gracious host to lots of relatives and friends so it was about time I perched my ample butt somewhere comfortable and sipped something cool while I did NOTHING. So this morning over a cup of chai, I scanned [...]

It’s been around three decades since I left School. Recently, after having gone through the grinds of education in engineering and then work life in India, Hong Kong and now Canada, I had the opportunity to connect with some of my classmates. We used to be a bunch of fun loving students yet eager to [...]

During every mock interview I do with a student or graduate I ask the question, “Who is your role model and why?” At least 95% of the respondents say “My mother.” It is like a contest, knowing the student if I think they will or won’t choose their mom, granted my odds are pretty good [...]