Ajay0

There is a saying by the enlightened sage Meher Baba , "Bravery and strength overcome all difficulties." One can contemplate on this teaching and realize that difficulties will overcome the weak and cowardly. Mahatma Gandhi has similarly stated thus, " Wealth does not lie in gold and silver, it lies in intelligence and good work ethics." One can similarly contemplate on this teaching and deduce that ignorance and bad work ethics are bound to embrace poverty, instead of prosperity. Hope you find these teachings inspiring.

Try to figure out your passion, so that you can research careers that align with it. If you don't have such industries in India that align with your passion, obviously the right thing to do is to get a career that gives you money enough to train yourself to industry standards and pursue your dream career, possibly in other countries. You can later bring the same industry to India as an entrepreneur. However you might have to do some seemingly lowly jobs and activities in the process of pursuing your dream. Bill Gates for example as a teenager, used to do dumpster diving and retrieving operating system listings or source codes from garbage cans of computer centers as he considered them as a primary source of learning. Elon Musk similarly supported himself during his struggling days with coding jobs which he was not passionate about, but provided him with money to follow his interests. India's richest man and multi-billionaire Dhirubhai Ambani started as a petrol pump attendant. I think if you move around a bit, you will find your perspective on careers changing as well. You might become more interested in being a businessman. There are many rags to riches stories in India of entrepreneurs who spotted ideas and solved problems related to supplies or logistics after doing market research, thereby providing competitive products and services which was a instant hit in the market.

Tamil Nadu in India has an excellent manufacturing industry, especially automobiles. The other day I came across a school dropout Tamilian woman who became a successful farming entrepreneur after creating value added agricultural products. Many are becoming millionaires from the farming industry alone. It is not just IT industry producing millionaires. You need to expand your horizons and become more dynamic.

India is the world's largest democracy and a member of the non-aligned movement, which had been created in 1961 to prevent the conditions for world war 3. The two world wars which originated in europe came up on the basis of opposing military alliances. The two wars killed over a hundred million and created heavy losses of property and life in europe . Military historians have stated that the two world wars originated due to poor diplomacy and negotiations between the belligerent military alliances in europe and was potentially largely preventable by wise statesmanship. Seeing that conditions for a third world war was arising, India, Indonesia,Egypt, Ghana, Yugoslavia and other countries created the non-aligned movement so as to create a dispassionate space of neutrality for reducing tensions between the military blocs. Though India is the world's largest democracy, it came to confrontation with western powers and western military alliances over Goa liberation, Bangladesh war and so on , and in the process developed a good relationship ironically with the Russians who supported the Indian position. So it is ironic that the world's largest democracy was supported by the so-called dictatorial and evil Russians rather than the western so-called champions of democracy and was ignored by the latter. Now that India has emerged as both the fourth largest economic and military power on earth, the western so-called champions of democracy have suddenly realized that India is also the world's largest democracy and strongly argues that democractic India should be in its alliances and not the Russian, and wants India to forget its past friendly relationship with Russia ! Talk about historical amnesia and attitude ! However India is true to its position in the non-aligned movement and wants to use this position to reduce friction between the western bloc and russia-china bloc and prevent a global nuclear war between them. A third world war originating again in europe will not serve the purpose of humanity.

India rejected as "factually incorrect, baseless, careless", Nato chiefs remarks to a reporter, on Modi calling Putin to discuss war strategy on Ukraine. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/careless-india-rejects-nato-chiefs-pm-called-putin-for-ukraine-plan-claim-says-no-such-talk-took-place-2793921-2025-09-26 https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-rejects-baseless-nato-chiefs-remarks-about-modi-putin-talks-2025-09-26/

Geopolitical writer and commentator Arnaud Bertrand has praised India for its political courage which EU lacks, as per his perception. He also praised India for upgrading its diplomatic ties with China. https://www.businesstoday.in/amp/india/story/modi-has-the-political-courage-europe-lacks-entrepreneur-says-eu-lacks-will-courage-shame-for-giving-in-to-trumps-demands-490405-2025-08-21

While I like using the cross-legged position, there are times when I get discomfort out of it and sit in a chair or sofa, or even lie down on the mat. So it boils down to comfort as well, which is necessary for relaxation. There are meditators who sit on chairs as well for comfort. There are even back rests for meditation, and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had promoted back rests as well during meditation. You use what works and what is comfortable for yourself. As Bruce Lee stated with respect to his martial arts philosophy of Jeet Kune Do, "Research your own experience; absorb what is useful, discard what is useless, and add what is essentially your own." I believe this is sound advice for anyone as well on this matter.

There are reports of blasts in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Bahrain showing signs of escalation. The two world wars which originated in Europe killed over a hundred million people and heavily traumatized europe. The world wars were attributed by historians to have arose due to failures in diplomacy. I am hoping that the Middle East in Asia will be spared of a similar tragedy, and the concerned parties will get back to the negotiating table again asap , learning from the errors of others wisely. Ironically, an Omani diplomat stated that the talks were showing signs of progress. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/28/peace-within-reach-as-iran-agrees-no-nuclear-material-stockpile-oman-fm

India has friendly ties with both Iran and Israel, and wants a best case scenario of friendly ties between them as well through diplomacy,negotiations and dialogue, instead of war and bloodshed. There are news reports stating that Iran had agreed to cease its pursuit of wmd, during negotiations. So I am wondering what is the reason for the new strikes ! https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/28/peace-within-reach-as-iran-agrees-no-nuclear-material-stockpile-oman-fm https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-iran-deal-within-our-reach-oman-mediator-says/

The essential thing is awareness. One can sit in a cross-legged position unconsciously or sit in a chair consciously. The cross-legged position is an aid to meditation as I stated earlier, but need not necessarily lead to the same if the meditator is not vigilant enough.

This is a very knowledgeable and useful statement. The sexual energy properly channeled rises to higher states of consciousness, and Kundalini usually provides the quantum leap for the same. However, those who are not well-established in meditation, self-control and a disciplined lifestyle will have trouble with the same. This is a reason why you can see religious adherents and even preachers in many religions getting involved in scandals, as they are not able to handle the kundalini rise after acts of devotion. This is particularly troublesome in a materialistic and hedonistic environment. Swami Vivekananda, an eastern saint of the nineteenth century had stated on the same... Vivekananda also cautioned against confusing spiritual growth with emotionalism, and stated that states of emotional excitement can have dangerous consequences if not handled prudently.

Most yoga asanas were developed watching animals and birds relax themselves. You can clearly see a dog performing yoga after getting up from a nap and stretching its legs. Also sitting in an asana is also stated by yogis to stabilize the mind quickly and thereby bring clarity of mind faster. I had created a thread in this regard as well here. I personally use chairs myself, but after realizing the effect of yogic asanas in clearing up the mind swiftly through my own experiences, I now mostly sit in padmasana as much as possible, and have bought mats for the same. There were times when I was in a brooding binge, thinking incessantly over unnecessary stuff. When I sat down in padamasana or lotus position, I found that the thoughts and emotions, often of a negative character, slowed down tangibly. So I would say that being in a meditation posture is a kind of meditation in itself. I also know of Japanese managers who have a room for themselves to sit in cross-legged position, perhaps to ensure better mental clarity and clear thinking. Considering the lack of mental clarity as well as large-scale emotivity and reactivity these days , I would say that sitting in a cross-legged or lotus position or padmasana is an excellent tool in one's mental hygiene tool kit with zero expense. I would exhort people here to practice siting in lotus position if they are disturbed or agitated and see if they calm down faster. If they do, they can obviously use it . If not, they can forget it.

Europe is hemmed on the west by the US seeking Greenland for its strategic objectives and on the east by both Russia and China. India's short war against Pakistan during operation sindoor came to an end after four days due to overwhelming assymetry in military power leading to a comfortable victory for India . This is not the case with the ukrainian war extending to four years now, with no end in sight, and the prospect of a nuclear war and holocaust in europe. Loss of cheap russian energy and its replacement by expensive american energy would also mean a weaker european economy in the longer run and more submissiveness to the US, and receptivity to American demands.

Nina Kulagina was a famous female Russian psychic who possessed psychic abilities, especially in psychokinesis. This is interesting considering Soviet abhorrence for the paranormal, mysticism and religion during that time period, they were conducting lab tests on her to figure out her abilities, and had to create new terminology for ESP. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Kulagina https://www.unrevealedfiles.com/nina-kulagina-woman-with-ability-to-move-objects-using-mind/ https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kulagina-nina-s-1926-1990

This happened during the 1857 mutiny where Indian mercenaries fought against the east india company. The rebellion was put down by Indian mercenaries loyal to the company. Violence was there during the non-violent movement , especially during the jallian wala bagh massacre where over a thousand Indian civilians were machine-gunned down by British forces. This however was instrumental in changing Gandhi from a supporter of the british empire demanding autonomy for India, to demanding total independence for India. There was similar violence during the civil rights movement in the US, where police beat down African-American protesters, in what is known as 'bloody sunday'. Just like the Jallianwala bagh massacre, this brought heavy international criticism of the American handling of the protestors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_to_Montgomery_marches Dr. Martin Luther King continued with the civil rights movement however, and finally achieved the goals set by the movement, though he was shot dead in the process by a white segregationist.

Lol... There is no shortage of entertainment after trump took over. Beats the tv soap operas anytime. I wonder what the european leaders have to say to Rutte's remark that Europe deserves to pay as they should in a big way, and his compliments of Trump. Both Macron and Rutte has been subject to global humiliation over an alliance that should not have existed after the cold war.

Ukraine is suffering heavy losses of manpower due to the ongoing war. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/05/world/society/ukraine-population-collapse/

Ukraine seems to have a demographic problem even before the war started, as per this report. https://euobserver.com/health-and-society/ar978eff35

A report has linked european trophy hunters to more than 80% of cheetah deaths around the world. https://the-european.eu/story-46267/exclusive-european-trophy-hunters-linked-to-more-than-80-of-global-cheetah-kills-report-warns.html

Many endangered animals other than cheetahs are also facing the heat from trophy hunters seeking perverse fun from killing them, taking advantage of weak regulations and rules in europe. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/trophy-hunt-animals-uk-ban-elephant-b2777875.html

This is true, and consequently I don't think this is something special or anything. Psychic abilities may come up due to spiritual exercises in this life or past lives , though it may seem serendipitous in the beginning. Decades back, I remember reading an article of a western woman who had some abilities related to x-ray eyes , and who was obviously disturbed seeing the internal organs of living people around her. As per author Dan Brown, most of the so-called witches in europe were actually spiritually evolved women who had psychic abilities as a consequence. However, their abilities attracted the wrong attention to them, leading to their genocide leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of women with spiritual potential. As per Brown, this created an inauspicious vacuum of the spiritual, feminine qualities and domination of the masculine qualities in europe, leading to a large number of wars disproportionate to the population, reducing it to a fraction of what it ought to be.

Yogananda wrote a story related to a yogi in his book , ' Autobiography of a yogi', of a naked yogi stumbling into the tent and harem of a muslim chieftain . Seeing the commotion caused by the naked yogi, the chieftain lopped off his hand with his sword. Unperturbed , the yogi just walked away. Feeling sorry for what he done, the chieftain took the lopped hand back to the yogi, who just reattached and healed it. The yogi then imparted some wisdom to the chieftain who sought the same. This is how the story goes in the book. There is no tiger and yogananda was not present during this incident, but only wrote it out of hearsay. I am not inclined to believe it unless there is direct witnessing. However I have read, heard and seen yogis capable of doing some fantastic stuff with their bodies and minds, some of which has been documented as well, so I won't be that surprised if the above story is true as well. I incline to the agnostic position here.

I suppose the reference is for the psychic abilities mentioned that most westerners find hard to believe. As a skeptic-rationalist myself, I have myself witnessed many psychic abilities in enlightened sages and yogis in India, which heavily eroded the skepticism within me. In course of meditation and Satsang, I found psychic abilities even rising in my own person, which left me totally convinced of such abilities. Imho, it is only when we discover such abilities rising in ourselves, that the cocoon of disbelief in them is finally shattered. These psychic abilities can be manifest in any healthy human being provided there are the right causes. Yogananda mentions such psychic abilities and astral dimensions and so on in his book, 'The autobiography of a yogi'. I don't know about the astral dimensions due to lack of direct personal experience but I do know that psychic abilities is a fact. However the likes of Buddha and Ramakrishna discouraged the exhibition of such psychic abilities which comes automatically in the spiritual process, as they are bound to increase the ego and tendencies to show off which can be detrimental to spiritual growth. However a utility of such psychic abilities is that one realizes the limitations of modern education and the voidness of the notion that the material world is the fundamental and only reality.

The two world wars which originated in europe and killed over a hundred million people, were said to have been a consequence of failures in diplomacy by short-sighted politicians as per historians. It is important to learn from the lessons of the european past, and ensure a robust mechanism for diplomacy and dialogue in europe to prevent any habitual return to unnecessary conflicts and wars leading to casualties and injuries. The UN, NAM and other neutral and unbiased international bodies can play a role in ensuring diplomatic channels for dialogue in Europe as they lack the emotivity and reactivity of european countries associated with the long history of national and regional conflicts over there, and which prevents an impartial observation of the situation and perception of the bigger picture.

If BRICS get involved, I would say the ukraine war will be over in a second. Both India and China have the two largest armies on earth, and is ranked third and fourth respective in air power. Either one have nearly inexhaustible manpower resources which can enable the creation of any number of million-strong armies that can overrun any battle field on earth. China especially has officially stated that Russian defeat in the ukraine war is not an option for neighboring chinese strategic interests, considering its own feud with Nato, and hence it will keep on supporting Russia to the very end till a russian victory is gained. This does not include the rest of the brics nations and global south that are supporting Russia officially or clandestinely. Europe , with an ageing and shrinking population, and a weakening economy due to lack of cheap russian energy, should see the writing on the wall, and get into diplomatic talks with russia.