By SIVA PRASAD The ability to learn throughout life is a human endowment. The fundamental question is how to learn and what to learn. Krishna says, "Know 'that' by prostration, questioning and service, the wise who have realised the Truth..

Q. I teach in a school. Since the last few months, I have been feeling a lack of confidence in myself, I don't feel good about anything at all. An incident at the workplace might be the reason where I had to face backlash for somebody else's mistake. And with that came insecurities, and feeling low confidence, and so on. I am always in fear of whether I will fail in my work, I will not be able to have the confidence I used to have and it all seems to fall apart I really don’t understand what to do. ..

   By RUPALI SETHI  Life is Beautiful by Dr Urvashi Tandon is a poignant and heartfelt exploration of human spirit, resilience, and pursuit of joy amidst life’s vicissitudes. This powerful narrative stands out as a testament to t..

  By DR BHUSHAN KUMAR UPADHYAYA Life after death has been a subject of curiosity and research amongst all the societies of the world since ancient period. All the dominant streams of religions and ancient philosophies believe in life after..

The Kumbha is the most vibrant, monumental and largest celebration of the Hindus. It is woven into an intricate tapestry of faith, symbols, traditions, culture, astrology, spirituality and social harmony. It is held at the four places namely Prayagaraja, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar at a gap of twelve years each. It has become an integral part of Indian oral traditions that the nectar splashed at the four places from its pitcher after the Samudra Manthan or the churning of the ocean in the attempt by ..

   By DR BHUSHAN KUMAR UPADHYAYA  It is a great challenge to cultivate relaxed alertness. Emotions run high in case of challenges and anxiety. As a result, the rational brain does not function optimally and there is a chaotic ment..

The spirit of inquiry is the soul of scientific discoveries and inventions. No society or community will progress without a strong tradition of inquiry and investigation. Spirit of inquiry is based upon open mindedness and curiosity. Evidence based practices are the foundation stone of the spirit of inquiry. ..

   By DR BHUSHAN KUMAR UPADHYAYA T he Vedic tradition which is more ritualistic in nature in the beginning culminates into the superfine discovery, declaration and exploration of consciousness and ultimate reality with the emergence of..

T he Vedic tradition which is more ritualistic in nature in the beginning culminates into the superfine discovery, declaration and exploration of consciousness and ultimate reality with the emergence of the Upanishads. The four Mahavakyas or the great declarations are the outcome of the transformative spiritual growth and investigation of the Indian sages, pursued inwardly through self inquiry and self awareness. The first Mahavakya - Prajnanam Brahma is found in the Aitareya Upanishad. The great ..

O ne of the greatest gifts India has given to humanity is Yoga. Yoga has evolved over thousands of years. The word Yoga is generic, involving physical, respiratory, mental ,psychological and spiritual practices. According to Yoga statistics, about 300 million people practise Yoga. Yoga starts from the body and culminates into the refinement of consciousness. So it is as mystic as it is gross. The earlier texts like the Vedas, Upanishads and later Vedic literature have prominently mentioned the practices ..

C erebral integration is one of the core concepts of neuroscience. It is the state of the brain when the different parts of the brain work optimally with coordination and equilibrium. According to the lateralisation theory of the brain, the brain has two hemispheres, left and right. The left hemisphere is associated with the logical and mathematical abilities of the brain. The right part of the brain is poetic and emotional. The right part of the body is controlled by the left brain and the left part ..

  By RITA AGGARWAL (Consulting Psychologist) :  Q. My child is beginning to show some signs of poor attention. He is restless and fidgeting most times. He does not stay still and keeps moving here and there in the house. His teacher complai..

T hrough the stoicism he paradoxically wore on his mildly smiling face, the inner emotion of Azali Assoumani, Honorary President of the African Union, could be sensed as Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugged him and ushered the entry of the African segment of the Global South -- on September 9, 2023 in New Delhi -- into the prestigious and critically important G20 grouping of which India was President last year. Narendra Modi’s eyes, too, betrayed a little wetness as he led the President of the African ..

A number of civilisations came into existence in ancient times. All died out or were wiped out by external aggression except the two Indian and Chinese. With the prolonged communist regime of China, the ancient Chinese civilisation has been decimated to a great extent. Each and every aspect of life is dictated by the communist rule. Diversity and differences of opinions have suffered irreparable loss on Chinese land. On the contrary, India has adopted a constitution which is in consonance with ..

   By DR BHUSHAN KUMAR UPADHYAYA  R ecently I had an opportunity to attend a discourse by Swami Gyanavatsalananda of the Swaminarayan sect at Nagpur. The theme of the discourse was ‘How to Become a Genius?’ The Swami o..

The modern time has seen very intricate inter connectivity and interaction at the global level. Something happening in a remote part of the world has ripples in other places. Mutual interdependence in all fields of life has become the order of the day. At the first glance the interconnectedness seems to be at the material and phenomenal levels. But profound research into the field of astrophysics has revealed that the universe has very deep interconnection. In his famous book, The Tao of Physics, ..

C ognition is one of the basic theories of the Western psychology. It deals with how thoughts arise in our brain and how they get converted into emotions both good or bad, ultimately impacting our behavior. Ulric Neisser is called the pioneer of cognitive psychology. According to the cognitive psychology of Neisser, thoughts influence our behaviour and mould it in different ways. Psychology propounds that thoughts are the self arising attributes of the brain. When different stimuli reach our brain ..

A staircase of 15 ritual steps through a passageway lit by bulbs led us to an eerie underground water table. The steps were like going to a medieval dungeon for prisoners. Well this is a 13th century Mikveh, the ceremonial Jewish bath, in the old central street of the Jewish quarter in Montpellier. The Jewish bath is like a hidden mystery of this medieval southern France city. As I emerged from the underground mikveh - that represents a thousand-year-old place of spirituality - into the Mediterranean ..

The decade of the 1990s witnessed two very crucial developments in the field of psychology and selfmanagement. The first was the discovery of neuroplasticity of the brain and the second was the popularisation of emotional intelligence. Bruce S MacEwen, an American endocrinologist, is credited with the discovery of the neuroplasticity of the brain. Peter Salevoy and John Mayer, researchers in the field of psychology, discovered the theory of EQ which was later popularised by Daniel Goleman in his book ..

Since the time immemorial Indian seers and sages have made an intuitive journey to know the real nature of truth. First, they focused on the senses and realised that the body is not the final reality. On the other hand there is consciousness which permeates the human body. The further inquiry into the nature of consciousness revealed that individual consciousness is the integral part of the cosmic consciousness. Tantra is one of the most ancient methods used by Indian seers to know the ultimate truth.The ..

The three previous articles have dealt with the three chapters of Patanjal Yoga Sutras defining Yoga, its purpose, means to calm down the mind and elevate consciousness.The fourth chapter of Patanjal Yoga Sutras is called Kaivalya Pada or the portion dealing with enlightenment. It has thirty four aphorisms. This segment is more philosophical in nature. Indian philosophers have conceptualised a state of consciousness without any dualism or traces of thoughts. This state is the pure consciousness and ..

The third chapter of PatanjalYoga Sutras is called Vibhuti Pada. The word Vibhuti means special powers or endowments. The chapter contains fifty five Sutras or aphorisms. Patanjali deals with the extraordinary faculties and abilities which are achieved through very long, sustained and devoted practice of Yoga. This chapter is scientific as well as para scientific. Patanjali has enumerated about fifty five such Vibhutis or special powers of Yogic practice. Most of the special powers are the miraculous ..

My neighbor, a 40-year-old combat veteran, who has been experiencing flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety following her military service. She avoids situationsthatremindherof thetraumaandfeelsconstantly on edge. She also struggles with feelings of guilt and hyper vigilance. The problem is that she is staying alone and has nobody to be there for her the whole time. How can I help her..

In the previous article the contents of the first chapter of PatanjalYoga Sutras named Samadhi Pada were summarised and different psychosomatic practices were discussed for calming down the racing mind. The second chapter is called the Sadhana Pada or the chapter dealing with different methods and means to elevate human consciousness. The chapter has fifty five Sutras or aphorisms. The chapter begins with the description of KriyaYoga. Kriya Yoga is the central spiritual practice found in varied forms ..

Q.My friendhas been feeling extremely anxious and overwhelmed lately. He is experiencing a financial crisis and hence he seems to be constantly worrying about various aspects of his life and it's starting to affect his ability to focus and relax. I'm reaching out to seek advice on how I can support them and help them manage their anxiety better. Ans. Anxiety is generally a useless emotion and keeps you in a state of tension and fear. A better option would be a problem-solving approach to find out ..