Sanskrit : Origin, Evolution and Importance

Sanskrit is not an ordinary human language. It is a collection of sounds that leads to the deepest experiences that human beings have ever had. It is true that even music of many varieties can lead to such experiences for some people, but the most important aspect of Sanskrit in this regard is that it offers a systematic and objective way to reach such experiences. The most important source of these mystical Sanskrit verses is the Veda, which is considered to be several millennia old. The Vedic mantras have a power no less universal than that of modern science and engineering! An interesting aspect of Sanskrit is that it is not only available in the form of these powerful verses, but also in the form of a spoken language that humans can use to communicate with each other. There are various theories about how this language came into existence and how it evolved. Though there is a lot of debate going on about its geographical origin and extent, what we will examine here is its temporal origin and evolution. How did humans come to acquire this almost magical language? What effects did it have on the society? And what effects did society have on the language? As they say, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction!

Yogic Siddhis, Science and Samyama

When a child is born, does it first become aware of its own existence or that of its mother? We will perhaps never know the answer to this question. But what we know for sure is that as soon as a child comes out of the Mother's womb, the mother becomes the other! The mother is then no longer a part of the child's sense of Self, but is still someone the child feels deeply connected with. For some months after the child's birth, there is also perhaps the confusion about whether the child and the mother are two separate individuals or the same. Though this confusion subsides over the years, there are other things the child gets to interact with at varying levels of intimacy. There is a sense of separateness with certain things at certain points of time, and then there is also a feeling of oneness. The love and hatred that a person experiences for his/her favourite sports teams is also a result of his/her own changing mental landscape. There is a world that exists outside, and there is its reflection that exists inside. Another perspective could be that the world outside is a reflection of the world inside. Which of these perspectives is right, and which of these worlds is more real is hard to say. But the two worlds do exist and they are not really the same. The world outside is made of matter. And the world inside consists of the mind and consciousness. The world outside can be measured. And the world inside can be experienced. Can a measurement be experienced, and an experience measured? 

Maintaining Good Health

Scientific developments of the last century have led to unprecedented advancements in healthcare facilities and medical treatment which have significantly improved the average human life span. However, this improved understanding of the human system and associated chemical compounds has also inadvertently led to huge health related problems mainly in three ways. Firstly, as Michael Moss describes in his book titled "Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us", many companies and establishments in the food industry cleverly design foods that will get people hopelessly addicted and make them indulge in over-consumption finally leading to huge deterioration in health and prevalence of deadly diseases. Secondly, there has been an increased use of pesticides and artificial ripening agents which get inside healthy looking foods and cause irreparable damage in the long run. Thirdly, most of educated people nowadays work in sedentary jobs with minimal physical activity and their work is usually so demanding and/or the personal ambitions are so high that they hardly get any time for exercise. One approach to solving these problems could be resort to science itself. But as Albert Einstein once said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them".

Does a stitch in time always save nine?

Proverbs are some of the most powerful collection of words in any language, and one good example of such a proverb is, "A stitch in time saves nine". The literal meaning of this proverb is that if there is a small cut in a piece of cloth, getting it stitched as early as possible prevents the cut from getting bigger and requiring more number of stitches. But the actual intended meaning is that if there is a problem, fixing it early prevents the problem from growing bigger and getting worse. Now, if its just about a cut in a cloth, the problem is easy to identify and equally easy to fix. But, for good or bad, real life problems are neither so easy to identify nor to solve. And many times, if one person identifies a particular problem, not everyone around necessarily agree that the problem exists. And even if they agree, they may not agree about the extent of the problem and the need for an immediate solution. And sometimes the justification for this is another equally important proverb, "Time is the best healer"! The idea is that some problems may actually get aggravated by human intervention and are best resolved on their own. For example, if we get a mild fever, its sometimes better to allow the fever to subside on its own rather than popping a pill as soon as the thermometer crosses 100.

Managing the Academic Phase Transitions

Most of times, life feels like a continuous process going from one point in time to the next in a smooth fashion. However, there are several points in time when this smooth flow is broken and one has to go through very discontinuous jumps or phase transitions. These transitions bring in many unforeseen challenges which one is usually not well prepared to handle. These jumps can be heart-wrenching for those who are unable to handle the new situations, but can also be a great opportunity for others who were lagging behind in the previous phase of life. There are many people who do well in the early stages of life but loose out over time, and one of the main reasons for this is their inability to maintain success across various phase transitions. We should not assume that what made us successful in one phase of life will naturally lead to success in the next phase. It is very important to prepare ourselves accordingly and acquire new skills as and when required. In life outside college, these phase transitions can be quite unpredictable and so that much harder to be prepared for. But within the academic system, these phase transitions are actually quite well defined upto the senior professional level.

The first phase transition comes after 10th, when most good students are expected to start working towards cracking a professional examination at the end of their 12th class. Then the next phase transition is from 12th to college life, where often there is too much freedom than what one can handle. For most people, academic life ends with a bachelors or masters degree but for those who choose to pursue a PhD, thats another huge academic phase transition. A PhD is nothing like usual academics pursuits and requires a totally different approach. Most people who complete a PhD naturally look for faculty positions, but are again seldom aware of the totally new set of challenges it brings along! We will take these four major academic phase transitions one by one and try to analyse how one can be well prepared to handle these.

How to handle spiritual depression?

Like all other human endeavours, spiritual journey is also filled with its share of obstacles. In verse 7.3 of the Bhagwad Gita, Krishna says that among many who strive for spiritual perfection, only a few reach the final goal. One of the reasons which makes any material or spiritual endeavour especially difficult is that there are long periods of time when the journey seems too tasteless and even painful. Some people choose to change track during such times and pursue greener pastures, which may not be such a bad thing in some cases. But some get really depressed since they still have faith in the chosen path, but don't know how to get over the rough patch they are going through. In spiritual pursuits, this may manifest either in the form of an unwillingness to carry out the practices  (sadhana) for an extended period of time or as a lack of special experiences even after doing the practices sincerely for a long time. 

Caste System, First Borns and Technology

India is one of the most diverse countries in the world with a very rich cultural and philosophical heritage. It has also been making notable contribution to science, mathematics and medicine since ancient times. But as they say, one bad fish can spoil the whole pond. And in the case of India, that bad fish is the caste system. It is quite unfortunate that many of our intellectuals see ancient and medieval India primarily through the looking glass of caste system, and often ignore other aspects that will make any human feel great. There are some who are genuinely perturbed by the prevalence of social ills like untouchability and there are others who find vilifying India as a road to acceptance among other intellectuals who think that way. It is very strange that so many intellectuals in India take great pride in having read Plato and Aristotle, but feel no need to read Vivekananda and Aurobindo. Isn't that another form of caste system and untouchability? Vivekananda once said, "The caste system is opposed to Vedanta. Caste is a social custom, and all our great preachers have tried to break it down. From Buddhism downwards, every sect has preached against caste, and every time it has only riveted the chains. Caste is simply the outgrowth of the political institutions of India; it is a hereditary trade guild. Trade competition with Europe has broken caste more than any teaching."

What was Sri Ramakrishna’s message?

One distinguishing feature of almost all Indian spiritual Gurus is that they were all great poets. A poet is not necessarily someone who has a great command over a particular human language or someone who uses very flowery language in his/her writings and sayings. A poet is one whose words carry very deep spiritual meanings which keep evolving over many centuries and millennia to come. This is very important for conveying spiritual truths since, unlike mathematics, their meanings are very subjective and heavily dependent on time, space and situation. There is an element of objectivity present since the words spoken are still valid, but the meanings are subjective. It is like the eternal relation between Purusha and Prakriti. One aspect of reality is changeless and another keeps changing at every moment! Spiritual groups and organizations, which stick to the literal meanings of the words spoken by their Gurus, are often found to deteriorate quite quickly. Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev has rightly said, “There is only one way to put mystical experiences into words, and that is poetry.”