Ravi S. Iyer: Spiritual

"Nothing destroys trust faster than making and breaking a promise. Conversely, nothing builds trust more than keeping a promise." - Stephen R. Covey #Trust #QOTD - https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=366933208135348&set=a.310931753735494 . Ravi: I think there is a lot of truth to this. For me, once somebody breaks a promise made to me or betrays my trust in some other way, and I come to know of that betrayal, it becomes very, very difficult for me to trust that person/institution again, and I tend to keep away from him/her/it. An exception situation is if the person/institution accepts their/its fault and makes a genuine apology to me and assures me that they will not betray me again. Then I am willing to try trusting them/it again. On the contrary, if a person/institution has kept its promise to me and stays true to the trust I have placed in them/it, I stay loyal and am grateful to them/it.

As per wiki page of Satcitananda (I would use spelling of Satchidanand), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satcitananda , Satcitananda (सच्चिदानंद) is a "description for the subjective experience of the ultimate unchanging reality", called Brahman in Vedanta. Satcitananda represents "existence, consciousness, and bliss" or "truth, consciousness, bliss". I think 'existential truth' or 'existential reality' is a good meaning for sat. I think the Sanskrit word 'anand', which is also used in Hindi, can be translated as joy.  While chit is typically translated as consciousness, I think chit can also be translated as (inner) awareness. So I think we could say that Satchidanand is "existential truth, (inner) awareness, joy" or "existential reality, (inner) awareness, joy". To express it slightly loosely but in a way that may be easier for folks to understand, we could say that Satchidanand refers to (the experience of) joy...

Last updated on 14th July 2021 One of the key reasons for putting up this post publicly is that I think it may provide encouragement to budding/future spiritual bloggers.  While I was in the software industry (1984 to 2002), 'Wang computers', 'Datamatics software consultancy/services', 'Mastek software consultancy/services' etc. were key brand names associated with the companies and minicomputers that I worked with as employee or as contractor/consultant. Note that 'Wang Laboratories' was the name of the US company that made and sold 'Wang computers'. From 1984 to 1990 most of my work was on Wang computers and included assignment stints to Wang Laboratories offices in Belgium and USA. Using these names in oral or written communications, clearly conveyed a lot about me, from a software development professional perspective, to others in the field. That's the power of well known brand names. As I got into blogging about spirituality and some wor...

Last updated on 5th Aug. 2021 Reject the thought "I am the doer" completely and remember only "I am". - Ramana Maharshi, Ramana Arunalchala p.41, https://www.facebook.com/RamanaMaharshi/posts/10159182802994631 , 9th July 2021 That's an interesting approach. I have not been much successful in viewing myself as an instrument and dedicating all actions to God. Maybe I have not tried that hard enough. Somehow that approach has not jelled with me so much. But this approach of not telling myself that 'I am the doer' and focusing only on the 'I am' part suits me, I think. I mean, I am into 'I am I' meditation and contemplation with Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba teaching me the 'I am I' aspect through discourse(s) of His (having the 'I am I' teaching), one of which I heard live sitting in Kulwant Hall and which message struck me very deeply. Perhaps I had read or heard Bhagavan's 'I am I' teaching earlier but at that t...

Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation; Indians say it is important to respect all religions, but major religious groups see little in common and want to live separately, https://www.pewforum.org/2021/06/29/religion-in-india-tolerance-and-segregation/ , 29th June 2021 First two paragraphs of the report are given below: More than 70 years after India became free from colonial rule, Indians generally feel their country has lived up to one of its post-independence ideals: a society where followers of many religions can live and practice freely. India’s massive population is diverse as well as devout. Not only do most of the world’s Hindus, Jains and Sikhs live in India, but it also is home to one of the world’s largest Muslim populations and to millions of Christians and Buddhists. --- end small extract from report --- The report also states that 97% of Indians say they believe in God!  I think this Pew report is in line with India being a land of great faith in God, and with a...