Spiritual Update; Spiritual Thoughts about Terrifying Military Attack Power Reality of World Now and Also About Space Travel

My last spiritual update post was in end Jan. this year. Here's a short update to that.

The Dissolve into God Sadhana (DIGS) is going on well. Regular prayer to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is also going on well.

Some notes I had made over the past few months are given below.

• Feel the lasting truth break. I can have this break when I need a break from activity that is straining me mentally. This can be a long session of software development work which is becoming difficult like a long unsuccessful debugging or trial and error session.
• I have had some success with this approach. Quite a few times, I take this break, which I also refer to as DIGS break. While I have not timed it, the impression I have is that after half an hour of such a break, my mental tiredness reduces significantly.
• PCMC stands for Prayer, Chanting, Meditation and Contemplation. In Hindi or Sanskrit: Prarthana, Jap, Dhyan and Chintan. Nowadays most of my spiritual activities or efforts are PCMC type.

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Terrifying Military Attack Power Reality of World Now

About why I have used the word, attack, in the above heading:

I am using the word 'Attack' to reflect the reality of ongoing wars in the world now which are not just about passive military power but about attempt to enforce will of attacking nations on attacked nations. This was something that was supposed to be history for the 21st century. Unfortunately, the world seems to be clearly back into early 20th century power equations which resulted in the two horrific world wars.

Firstly, as a man of prayer, I pray to Almighty God for peace in the world, especially peace amongst countries and their peoples who are at war today.

Secondly, I want to state that I am simply not in a position to judge whether the nations that have chosen to attack other nations are justified or not. So I am not getting into who is right and who is wrong.

Next I want to cover the terrifying reality of military attack power in the 2026 Iran war that could be seen by anybody on the Internet. Fortunately there is a ceasefire now but one does not know how long it will hold. To keep my spiritual views grounded in reality, from around 2011, I have been viewing videos and reading articles on such horrific wars. X was a powerful source of such videos for the 2026 Iran war and also about the similarly horrific Russia Ukraine war as well as the Israel Lebanon war.

It was terrifying to see the drone and missile attacks blowing up buildings, vehicles, people and even oil and gas refineries/storage areas. There were no human beings in the attack machines of destruction! The launchers and pilots were far away!

The anti-missile and anti-drone defensive weapons worked sometimes but failed sometimes leading to horrifying destruction captured by video available on social media platforms like X, some of which made it to regular news channels and Youtube.

This did not happen for only a day or two as a demonstration of the attackers military power to bring about submission of the attacked nation. It went on for around six weeks!

Then we have talk of AI (Artificial Intelligence) being used in these attacks. My God! Absolutely terrifying!

Nuclear weapons have not been used so far. But the conventional weapons used have still had horrific impact.

The Russia Ukraine war videos on X are horrific as well.

What do people who come under attack from a swarm of drones or ballistic missiles armed with conventional weapons, do? If you got some warning siren and were able to run to a bunker, you have some protection. But sometimes it may not be possible to run to a bunker, or bunkers may simply not be there, or there may not be any warning siren. Then if the anti-drone and anti-misslie weapons fail or are simply not there, we have helpless human beings at the complete mercy of the drones and missiles, which, I repeat, don't have any human being in them but may only be remotely piloted by human beings!

I was reflecting on the horrors that I saw through these videos of these wars and was thinking about what the people being attacked by these drones and missiles were feeling and thinking. What would I feel if I got into such a horrific situation? The first line of the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2 Verse 23 came to my mind:

First line of verse:

• Sanskrit: नैनं छिन्दन्ति शस्त्राणि नैनं दहति पावकः।
• English transliteration: Nainam chindanti shastrani nainam dahati pavakah
• English translation: Weapons do not cut It (Atma/Self), fire does not burn It

The weapon and its fire may destroy the body but it cannot harm the Atma/Self which is the core of my being. The body may drop but I (awareness-I/Atma) will continue to exist.

There is the absolutely terrifying case of debilitating injuries but not death, making life perhaps worse than death. Some spiritual approaches that I can think of to handle such scenarios, are too sensitive to mention here.

The attacker may destroy bodies through drones and missiles perhaps guided by Artificial Intelligence but cannot harm the 'Atma' of the people who are attacked.

I end this section with a prayer taught by my beloved and revered Gurudev, Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, that I say typically three times every day.

Samastha Loka Sukhino Bhavantu!

Samastha Loka Sukhino Bhavantu!

Samastha Loka Sukhino Bhavantu!

Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi!

English translation: May all the worlds be happy! Om peace peace peace!

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Space Travel

Artemis II going beyond earth's orbit after half a century was of great interest to me and I even put up a post on it. There clearly were risks of something going wrong while the spacecraft was out of earth's orbit or even while it was re-entering the earth's atmosphere (most risky part of the mission). Fortunately the mission was a great success and all the astronauts came back to earth safely.

I also saw some videos of the older Apollo missions, specifically the Apollo 13 mission which had a major mishap and due to heroic efforts of NASA and the Apollo 13 crew made it back to earth with all astronauts safe. I also had a quick look at Apollo 11 mission's touchdown on the moon as well as some interviews of Neil Armstrong (first man on the moon - Apollo 11 crew commander).

In this context, while Artemis II was outside earth's orbit, I recalled reading some science fiction type book where the author dwelled on the risk of a spacecraft or an astronaut in it drifting away in space or something like that. I had read it decades ago and I recall that that passage had struck a fear chord in me then which probably was the author's intent. The passage evoked the fear of the unknown as the astronaut/craft drifts away into the 'emptiness' of space.

But now (in 2026), when I recall that passage, my feeling is that my awareness-I/Atma is always with me, and so even that astronaut floating into the 'emptiness' of space has the Atma with him (even if he is not aware of it) and which will always be with him. So this passage does not evoke the same fear I had when I read it many years ago.

I also thought about the Artemis II astronauts and wondered whether they felt that their awareness/Atma was always with them, no matter what! Perhaps the believers in God among them like Victor Glover  (Christian) would have felt that God is with them.

I made a small 'thought' experiment. I imagined I was an astronaut in a spacecraft outside the earth's orbit like Artemis II. Would I feel my awareness/Atma there like I easily feel it here on earth? In my thought experiment 🙂, I clearly had the view that I would certainly feel my awareness/Atma easily like I can feel it on earth.

I also feel that like everything on earth is Maya - a passing show, space is also a passing show. The Atma is the eternal reality which exists through and beyond this passing show.