Buddhi – Buddha – Budha
The following is a master piece of comparative research between Mythology & History by Sri Devdutt Pattanaik – establishing the connection between Buddhi (Intellect); Buddha (The Founding Lord of Buddhism); Budha (The Planet Mercury)
Buddha and Budh represent the two ends of the spectrum of possibilities offered by the human intellect, writes DEVDUTT PATTANAIK
There is often confusion between Buddha, the enlightened sage who saw desire as the cause of all suffering, and Budh, the god of the planet mercury, who is associated with communication, trade and mischief; Budh also means Wednesday. Both these names can be traced to buddhi or intellect, the human ability to distinguish between reality and delusion. Buddha uses intellect to become wise. Budh uses intellect to be smart, slippery, even cunning. The two cannot be more different from each other. Buddha is associated with silence, stillness and serenity; Budh is associated with communication, travel and exchange. And yet, both crave for the truth.
Buddhist scriptures inform us that the Buddha’s birth is preceded by auspicious omens. His mother dreams of a white elephant entering her womb; it is foretold that the child will either be a great king or a great sage. The Buddha’s mother, Maya, dies soon after birth. He is raised by his aunt Mahaprajapati. He is named Siddhartha. He marries, has a child, but then is confronted with the miseries of worldly life — old age, sickness, death — that he has been kept away from by his father, Suddhodhan. He wonders what is the cause of suffering. He goes in search of the truth. Truth makes him Buddha, the enlightened one. Read the rest of this entry
Women – Spirituality
Why are not many women found in the spiritual path? I have started reading a translation of “Bhagavata Puranam” by Sri Ramesh Menon. I came across a statement which said … Vyasa composed Mahabharatham for women, shudras and impure members of the higher castes – who should not read the Vedas. Is that true?
The above were the questions put to me by a highly educated & intelligent lady – a leading HRD specialist in Coimbatore. The following was my answer.
My father was my principal Guru. He taught me to “question & doubt” everything and find my own satisfactory answers – but without being suspicious or cynical about the issues.
Teaching is not answering – but making one think to discover answers.
Now coming to your specific questions…. What is spirituality? When the “spirit of humanism” dominates & controls the “mischievous of mind” – it can be called spirituality. Till a man reaches the highest point of humanism – higher realms of spiritualism is not even a remote possibility. Humanity has to transcend its upper limits to enter divinity – which is spirituality! Read the rest of this entry
Child is the guru of humans
The saying goes that – “Past is History – Future is Mystery – Present is Real” … So – get immersed in the “present” and Live it to the hilt and so be happy! More one thinks of it – more one is convinced about the poignancy and the validity of this statement.
Living the present means – “Living like a Child”. For a child – Past is learning – Future is hope – Present is Play. Contrast this with a grown up adult – Past is Pain – Future is Fear – Present is Struggle”.
What makes it so diametrically opposite & vastly different for the same individual, in 2 different stages in life? The answer is “attitude”. Why does this attitude change for worse over the time?
The answer is simple. During childhood, the child lives its own – in born, inherent, latent and natural personality. When it imitates others, it is part of learning but not copying. The child does it with such level of innocence that its ego does not play any role in this process of learning – hence it remains a simple matter of fact! When the child does not know – it simply shakes its head to say so. What and when it knows – it simply does without showing off! Read the rest of this entry
Why your weight stays ?
You’ve been living on the treadmill and eating organic lettuce, but it doesn’t show on the scale. Check if you are making one of these mistakes
It’s been almost two months since your New Year resolution to lose weight was set in motion. While you are hitting the gym, running the extra mile and keeping a check on your food intake, those pesky kilos have just refuse to leave your body. If you still wear a swimsuit with a towel around you, or can’t slip into the one-size-smaller skinny jeans you bought in hope, our experts give you a few reasons why those pounds aren’t dropping yet.
Inadequate fat in diet
Recognizing which fat is good for your body is one of the most important aspects of weight loss. Nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar says, “While on a diet, most people cut out on fat. What’s worse is that they keep gobbling ‘diet biscuits’ which are rich in trans fatty acid — the bad fats — while cutting down ghee, white butter and paneer, all of which provide the body with the essential fatty acids. These fats are required for mobilizing fatty acids from the stubborn fat areas of the body.” Read the rest of this entry
Drugs & Medicines
Dear Health Seeker,
Welcome! Please spend a minute reading the following – it is worth your while!
You may have been consuming drugs for health – but getting sickly more and more? Did you ever think why? Drugs don’t cure! Do you know that? They only relieve or control..! Medicines alone help cure! Actually Body & Mind can completely cure themselves with the right kind of help. Do you know the actual difference between a drug and a medicine? Contrary to the normal belief that they are synonyms (same) – they are actually antonyms (opposite). Drugs take away control of your body & mind from You! Medicines reverse this and restore the control back to You!
Let me elaborately clarify here how it is so …
Drug:
A drug is a chemical substance that takes control of your body or mind depending on its own inherent nature. For example – when you take a sleeping pill, it puts you to sleep no matter how much you want to be awake! It rules over your body & mind. You can repeat this exercise many times – and you will experience the same every time.
It does not stop there! Subsequently when you want to sleep, it will make your body ask for the pill again. As you start yielding to its demand, it will keep asking progressively for more and more pills for the same amount of sleep while reducing the quality of sleep! You will finally end up in a state that – unless you have many pills each time – you simply cannot have even normal sleep – which is so natural to all living creatures. By now you have become totally a slave to that pill. Pill is the lord & master! This state is called drug dependence. Your life will not be under your control – but the drug. Read the rest of this entry
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