Impressions and expressions

In the second part of the documentary " Enemies of reason ", Richard Dawkins evaluates the scientific basis of Homeopathy . I am surprised to learn that Homeopathy believes in " like cures like ". This is exact opposite of what Ayurveda believes (like increases like) and what modern medical science knows. Dawkins explains that this is not the same concept as a "vaccine" which introduces a diminished form of a virus to provoke the body's immune system. Instead, Homeopathy believes that "what causes similar symptoms cures those symptoms". So diluted poison ivy cures skin rash because undiluted poise ivy causes rash! To cure streaming eyes, the medicine is, you guessed it, diluted red onions! Even more curiously, Homeopathy believes that "the more the active ingredient is diluted, the more potent it becomes". Most Homeopathic medicines are marked 30c. This is, hold your breath, 1 part medicine : 100^30 parts water! This is so hu...

When we have a Guru who strikes a chord with people, there will be always be Guru-haters too who keep spreading lies to damage and discredit the Guru. So it is not surprising that Sadhguru (of Isha Foundation) has his fair share of critics who call him a fraud and his spiritual movement a “cult”. I addressed some of these “cult concerns” in my earlier article . Most of this so-called “criticism” is not worth considering because it is devoid of facts and is full of hate-filled propaganda. But we must keep listening to the critics because they may sometimes dig out a fact that deserves some attention. This article focuses on one such fact. The allegation An allegation I heard long back about Sadhguru is that he got trained under one Rishi Prabhakar of Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY), learnt all the yoga techniques from him, left him and started his own organization (Isha Foundation). I discarded this allegation as “silly propaganda” and never really paid much attention to it. But...

The Bhava Spandana Program (BSP) offered by Isha Foundation is described in their website as "an opportunity to experience higher levels of consciousness". It is an "experiential" program and this has drawn me to it, as I consider myself to be an "always thinking" person. Also this program involves stay at the ashram for 3 days and I thought it would be a nice experience, much like a vacation. Isha does not reveal the agenda of their programs to the participants. So there is always a surprise element in their programs and BSP is no different. In fact, it is nothing like I imagined. Thus my assumed "vacation" turned out to be a "revelation" of sorts. For some of the participants, it was even a transforming experience. The way the program is designed shows the thinking and innovation that went behind it. It is almost like watching a movie with twists, turns and suspense and only in the end you can connect all the dots. I am not sure if...

Sometime back I was casually browsing the net and found one interesting article which claimed that Jaggi Vasudev (founder of Isha foundation, revered as Sadguru ) is a fraud.  The article is very informative  and well written. You must read it even if you are a big Isha fan. The author claims that he was once an Isha devotee and that he had stayed in the ashram for some time. So the implication is that he is speaking from direct experience and  not just imagining things. This chap wrote another article which argues that "Isha  is a cult".  My current article is not a response to these articles. I am not interested to prove or disprove anything. I just want to share some thoughts on these "cult" accusations. First of all, what is a cult? I don’t know, so I googled to find out. I still don’t fully understand what characterizes a cult, but apparently a religious/spiritual  cult has some typical characteristics like A charismatic Guru who can ...

I am one guy whom many would consider non-religious or even atheistic. I do not particularly enjoy doing Pujas or following religious traditions or visiting temples. But I consider myself to be spiritual. I was actually very religious during my childhood days. Later I became more logical and got interested towards philosophy. Swami Vivekananda had a great influence on me and after reading his works I became more convinced with "formless God" ( niraakaara Brahma). Then during my engineering days I read Jiddu Krishnamurti and really liked the "jargon-less" approach. So here I am, a guy who started in religion and ended in philosophy. They say "Knowledge is power" but knowledge is not just information as most of us think. So reading books might make you more informed but not necessarily knowledgeable. I read many personality development books and at the end of it I lacked the will-power to exercise daily. Believe me or not, I tried many approaches from the p...