Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

Warner apologises but leaves out the detail, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-j-vLU8XtU , around 11 mins by cricket.com.au dated 30th March 2018. Given below is the transcript of David Warner's statement which starts from the beginning of above video. I have not provided the Q & A transcript. [Australian ex vice-captain David Warner:] First of all I'd like to thank you all for coming this morning. To the fans and the lovers of the game who have supported and inspired me on my journey as a cricketer, I want to sincerely apologise for betraying your trust in me. I have let you down badly. I hope in time I can find a way to repay you for all you've given me and possibly earn your respect again. To my teammates and support staff, I apologise for my actions and I take full responsibility for my part in what happened on day three in the Newlands Test. To Cricket Australia, I apologise for my actions and the effect it has had on our game under your care and control....

Last updated on 31st March 2018 Note: Readers who prefer not to read about rock song lyrics which refer to ladies as 'chicks', may please skip reading rest of this post. Extracts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_for_Nothing_(song) : "Money for Nothing" is a single by British rock band Dire Straits, taken from their 1985 studio album Brothers in Arms. The song's lyrics are written from the point of view of two working-class men watching music videos and commenting on what they see. The song features a guest appearance by Sting singing background vocals, providing both the signature falsetto introduction and backing chorus of "I want my MTV." The groundbreaking video was the first to be aired on MTV Europe when the network launched on 1 August 1987. It was Dire Straits' most commercially successful single, peaking at number 1 for three weeks in the United States, number 1 for three weeks on the US Top Rock Tracks chart and number 4 i...

More details on the ball tampering matter. It was NOT sticky tape but sandpaper! And Australian vice-captain, David Warner, demonstrated how it should be done to Cameron Bancroft. The article below also has the "full statement from Cricket Australia, the charges against the players and penalties imposed for ball-tampering". CA says sandpaper was used to tamper, not sticky tape as Bancroft claimed, http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/22940383/cricket-australia-says-sandpaper-was-used-tamper-not-sticky-tape-cameron-bancroft-claimed , 28th March 2018. Ravi: Great job by Cricket Australia in sharing these details publicly. That's the way to go. I think this investigation can become the gold standard for how such cheating matters at top international cricket level, are investigated and reported to the public by associated country's cricket board/organization. ----- A small extract from the article given below: "Among Bancroft's biggest regrets is t...

Smith breaks down during emotional press conference, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmLBrhiZxLU , 4 min. 45 secs, published by cricket.com.au on 29th March 2018. I have given below a transcript of the initial part of the video which is his full statement before he takes questions: [Australian cricket captain, Steve Smith:] Good evening! Thanks for coming. [Appreciate it.] To all of my teammates, to fans of cricket all over the world, and to all Australians, very disappointed and angry: I am sorry. What happened in Cape Town [South Africa] has already been laid out by Cricket Australia. Tonight, I want to make clear that as captain of the Australian cricket team, I take full responsibility. I made a serious error of judgement and I now understand the consequences. It was a failure of leadership - my leadership. [Smith is visibly struggling to speak as he is overcome by emotion.] I will do everything I can to make up for my mistake and the damage its caused. If any good com...

I have heard this song so many times since I heard it first in the second half of the 1980s, either when I was living in Belgium or when I was living in the USA. I think I never tire of listening to and enjoying this song. Thank you so much Stevie Wonder for the great joy you have given me with this song. The official video: Stevie Wonder - I Just Called To Say I Love You, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwOU3bnuU0k , 4 min. 24 secs, published on 13th Dec. 2009, has over 100 million views. About Stevie Wonder from his wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (né Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. A child prodigy, he is considered to be one of the most critically and commercially successful musical performers of the late 20th century. Wonder signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, and he continued performin...

Mumbai and Dombivli (in Maharashtra state of India) where I lived, studied and worked (studied and worked only in Mumbai even when I was living in Dombivli), for most of the first four decades of my life, had quite a few Jains, and a few Jain temples as well! I also had a few Jain colleagues when I was working in the software industry! Whatever I saw of the Jain community's dedication to their religion was impressive! And then there were these extraordinary stories of young girls doing extraordinary fasts lasting for many days. One such case was in the same building as my aunt's flat in Sion area of Bombay/Mumbai in the 1980s. I used to go for lunch quite regularly to my aunt's (mother's sister's) apartment flat-home when I was studying in Ruia College at Matunga (from around mid 1978 to mid 1983 doing junior college science studies followed by B.Sc. Physics) and perhaps even when I was doing my M.Sc. (Physics with Electronics specialization) at Khalsa colleg...

Last updated on 28th March 2018 Given below is an exchange on Facebook that I had with Rajendra S. Chittar, an old software industry colleague and friend. Chittar and I both started our software development career in the same company, Datamatics Ltd. in Bombay/Mumbai, joining as trainee programmers. I joined Datamatics in March 1984 if I recall correctly. Chittar was from one batch senior to me and so would have joined sometime in second half of 1983. Chittar recently shared a 5 year old Facebook post (shared with friends, not public share) of his which was about 'Experiencing a "State of Wonder"' where he talks about life after withdrawing from full-time employment over the past couple of years (as of 2013 to which, I guess, we need to add 5 more years now). He does commercial work for only 2 days a week which gives him time to explore his many varied non-commercial interests and which keeps him busy during his non-work days but free of stress and "in a st...

Given below are some views of mine expressed to somebody in private (slightly edited), which I felt I could share publicly. Miracles are what attracts most people in Sathya Sai orgn. Sathya Sai tattwa (teachings/philosophy) attracts relatively few, but more evolved spiritual people. Further, music and bhajans (devotional songs) attract many more people than study circle where Swami (Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba) teachings are studied and discussed. I was part of study circle in my Dombivli Sathya Sai samithi in Maharashtra in the 90s and early 2000s. We used to get around ten people to attend study circle (some days lesser; some days a little more). Bhajans would have around 100 people. Ten times!!! This is a fact of life in Sathya Sai movement and it was so even when Swami was in physical form. That is why Swami himself said, if I recall correctly, that the great Adi Shankara taught Bhaja Govindam as the masses could follow that and enjoy the song!!!! It seems that most peopl...

A recent Facebook post titled, "Prof Kasturi and Governor’s Birthday", https://www.facebook.com/IncyRose1504/posts/10214506780638799 , dated 25th March 2018 by Saithra Leilani described an incident involving the state Governor's (Karnataka Governor, I presume) private secretary asking Shri N. Kasturi to pass a message to Bhagavan. The message was that the Governor was seeking permission from Bhagavan for the Governor visiting the Whitefield ashram the next day as it was the Governor's birthday and he wanted to offer his homage to Swami (Bhagavan) on that day. The article describes Kasturi waiting for the opportunity to ask Swami in private, and Swami's furious response when he did ask Swami about it. I wrote the following comment on the above Facebook post: Wonderful post, Saithra Leilani. Thanks for sharing! The most interesting part of this post for me was this part: "I went inside the bungalow, and waited for Swami being alone. Because, if Swami rep...

Last updated on 27th March 2018 The comments below are in the context of this Facebook video: https://www.facebook.com/vr.ganti.1/videos/10212006732468293/ which is around 1 min. 45 seconds long. My God! How can somebody be so foolish as to slip that yellow piece of whatever he had, from his pocket to inside the front part of his pants on the open cricket ground! What did he think? That nobody would have caught it? Terribly sad to see - not only the ball tampering stuff, but this guy's clownish attempt to cover it up. I wonder what the Muddenahalli Group Facebook Fake ID fellows based in Melbourne, Australia would be thinking about it. Maybe they know that one day they too will be caught in the act and will have to face being shamed publicly like their countryman in this video. I would like to add that I think the wiseguy types in Muddenahalli group, namely the Facebook Fake ID fellows who attack people like me who are exposing cheap imitator and FALSE BELIEF so called...

First some background on Sufi Tahir Faridi Qawwal and the Sufi devotional music group he leads, Fanna-Fi-Allah. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanna-Fi-Allah : Fanna-Fi-Allah (Urdu: فنا فی الله‎) is a Canadian-American group which plays Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music popular in South Asia. It consists of seven members. Group leader Tahir Faridi Qawwal (formerly Geoffrey Lyons), originally from Nova Scotia, has studied music from some of the greatest qawwali masters in Pakistan and India over many years. Aminah Chishti is the student of Ustad Dildar Hussain (who played with the legend Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for more than 17 years) and is the first female tabla player to be initiated into the lineage of Qawwali. The group are ambassadors of sufi qawwali music in the west. --- end wiki extract --- Ravi: It gives me great joy to see these Canadian and/or American citizens, some being white origin, and some perhaps having Indian or Pakistani (South Asian) origin, p...

I love, very much love, Hindustani, ghazal and qawwali vocal devotional songs whether the worship is of Hindu tradition or of Islam tradition. Such songs cast a spell on me! I had heard and thoroughly enjoyed Gayiye Ganapati Jag Vandan song audio over the past few years. Today I got to see a video rendering of it! What an awesome treasure house youtube has become! Ganpati Vandana Ahmad Hussain_Mohammad Hussain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdl4TwnIt-Y , 11 min 6 secs (the song gets over after around 10 mins after which there is audio silence for most of the remainder of the video). ---- I love this song which seems to be a Meera bhajan: Only audio with still pic (audio quality is not all that great in some parts; listeners should please tolerate it) : Tum bin mori kaun khabar le govardhan giridhari, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfWz_05929o , 5 min 39 secs About the singers from their wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_and_Mohammed_Hussain : Ahmed Hussain ...

Over the past few days I shared some of the Telugu pop film songs that I got exposed to roughly between 2006 and 2010 in outside ashram Puttaparthi. In the same period though, I got exposed to far more Telugu Hindu devotional songs of the popular culture variety which I thoroughly enjoyed. Over the next few days I would like to share some of those Telugu Hindu devotional popular culture songs. Here is one such popular culture Telugu devotional song, which seems to be a composition of the great Telugu saint, Annamayya from the movie Annammaya, Adivo Alladivo Annamayya Song [Full Song] I Telugu Movie Annamayya, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taqau1lKDHs , 3 min. 51 secs. ---- Telugu Devotional song: Annamayya Songs - Nigama Nigamantha - Akkineni Nagarjuna, Ramya Krishnan, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amZkvV3V7O4 , around 4 mins ---- Vinnapalu Vinavle Annamayya Full Song I Telugu Movie Annamayya, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35CqE2CNQBI , around 4 mins. ---- Note: I p...

Note that this post is based on a recent comment of mine on Facebook. The English word, soul, in some contexts tends to mean more than Atma and includes feelings and emotions of the mind. So let me use the Sanskrit word, Atma, to avoid that confusion. My view is that the Atma is changeless and eternal. So it simply cannot be polluted at all. I understand Atma to be the awareness, the eternal witness part of our being. Regarding pollution, I think it is the body-mind complex that tends to get impacted (polluted) by strong attractions and strong repulsions (raga-dvesha), which keeps us trapped in the bhrama (illusion) that our identity is the changing and impermanent mind-body. This bhrama (illusion) holds us back from clearly experiencing (seeing) that our true identity is the changeless awareness (Atma) in us, and that the mind with its raga-dvesha (attraction and repulsion) in the world emerges from that unchanging awareness (Atma) and creates an illusory waking-dream reality. ...

1) An Unholy Fight Over a Saintly Beer, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/world/europe/monks-beer-supermarket.html , 15th March 2018 Interesting! The concerned Trappist monastery in Belgium says that they brew and sell beer (limited quantity at reasonable price, it seems) as a means of bread-winning (to sustain themselves)! The Dutch supermarket guys changed all that and so they don't like it. 2) The World Is Changing. This Trappist Abbey Isn’t. Can It Last?, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/us/trappist-monks-mepkin-abbey.html , 17th March 2018 Very interesting article about Trappist monks in the USA and how in one particular Trappist monk institution they are facing a crisis of dwindling membership and so are experimenting with new options like inviting people to be a Trappist monk for a month or a year! A small extract from the article: The abbey’s new affiliate program will offer two new short-term monastic options for people of any, or no, faith traditions: a mon...