Musings Own Thoughts

The purpose of existence statement is something one can write at any point in one's life but we seldom get around to even  think about it and rarely write about it.  At the present stage of my life, if I were to answer this in one sentence the answer would be as follows. My purpose of existence is encapsulated in a verse in the Kathaupanishad.  In the secret cave of the heart, two are  Seated by life’s fountain.  The separate ego d rinks of the sweet and bitter stuff, l iking the sweet, disliking the bitter, w hile the supreme Self drinks sweet and bitter n either liking this nor disliking that. The ego gropes in darkness, while the Self l ives in light. So declare the illumined sages, a nd the householders who worship t he sacred fire in the name of the Lord.  May we light the fire of Nachiketa t hat burns out the ego, and enables us t o pass from fearful fragmentation t o fearless fullness in the changeless whole. This verse is from a passage called Razor...

This is a question today but with every passing day it seems to be fast transforming into a statement, almost like a self-evident truth. Let me define clinical medicine. It is a scientific method of evaluating a human being based on systematic history taking, followed by a thorough methodical clinical general and local examination to arrive at a diagnosis or a differential diagnosis. Then you start treatment based on your intuition or clinical judgement and order some pertinent investigations to confirm your diagnosis or decide which one of the differential diagnoses is correct. That is how we practiced medicine and even though we could be wrong at times our experience made us wiser and made us make less mistakes than before. Also, we had our seniors teachers and even our juniors and students provide a second opinion. My mind goes to two books Complications and Check List Syndrome both written by the same author Dr. Atul Gawande. The first book makes a plea that medicine is practic...

 For the lay readers a small primer on the word NEET. National Eligibility cum Entrance Test. Well admission to medical colleges in India say in 1979 when I got admission were based on the results and marks one obtained in the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) science stream exam. Within the exam the core science subjects were considered to be Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. A combination of marks in Physics, Chemistry and Biology determined the merit for admission in MBBS, Dentistry, Physiotherapy, Pharmacology streams of education. A combination of marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics determined the merit for admission in the Engineering and allied streams of education. In case of a tie the total marks were the tie breaker. Besides this state and local domicile certificate as a proof of local residency were a criterion to determine eligibility. This was a departure from Inter Science college marks, which were old school long form essay type of answers. T...

For any subject  to be understood the derivation to first principles is what matters.  Economics as a term to medical doctors like myself gives an image of a dry boring subject divorced from life. It deals with day today production consumption and transfer of wealth. Seems simple but the consequences of this simple interaction is huge and complex. So why should a doctor or anyone for that matter learn about Economics in general? Is it similar to a nonmedical person asking the same question about the study of Medicine. Over a period of time I have tried to hear and learn about the same and based on different stages of life and the maturity of my understanding formed certain opinions or actually, I would say get convinced by some opinion only to get more convinced of the contrary view as well. Does that leave me wiser? Yes and no is the ambivalent answer but the certain answer is that all this leaves me confused, more than before.  Since the time politics and elections beca...

Positive thinking, inner peace, egoless, unconditional love, optimism, harmony, humility, responsibility, compassion, justice, simplicity, and reciprocity .   The words given are the result of a google search on the qualities of a spiritual person. However, while we talk about all these in a broader universal context, we do not know where to begin and where to end. Therefore borrowing from a book on Zen habits I want to discuss 4 qualities which can sequentially lead to the highest enveloping quality of universal Love.  If the purpose of life is to realize the Self and go beyond the gross, subtle and causal states of the Body, Mind and Intellect consciousness then simple things done consistently might help. At all stages of life we are struggling with this process of Self Realization. I must put a disclaimer that the choice of the aces is not mine but I certainly think I endorse this simple choice. Very often reading the scriptures and listing qualities or actions that lead to...

Vegan diet or a vegan lifestyle means that one lives with the conviction that our food habits must be plant based and must have no direct consumption of animal products. Along with this the articles of use in daily life must be made from synthetic or plant origin materials. Strictly speaking this is not possible because if you define animal products to the level of insects, microbes, parasites and viruses we are consuming these in every breath or morsel of food we consume. The reason for the same is that microbes are there everywhere on the surface of every object including food. and other surfaces we come in contact with. "Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes t...

  The biggest obstacle to Self Realization is desire. Desire is known in the scriptures by various names in different religions. Satan in Christianity, Asuras or demons in Hinduism, Mara or desires in Buddhism. So why are these dreaded demons and what is it that make human beings run after them. If desire is so bad should we be inert desireless or should we desire something better in life?  We are all driven by one urge in life to become Sat Chid Ananda. Sat stands for truth and  existence Chid for knowledge and consciousness and Ananda for eternal Bliss. All of us who exist are all the time striving to get true happiness represented by  Purity, Love, Peace, happiness, Knowledge, Bliss and Power. We seek these things and strive to do this based on our nature and level of consciousness.  Living under the influence of gross body we use the organs of perception in the form of eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin to see, hear, smell, taste and feel. We go after what we ...