Nourishing Reads For Mental Well-Being

  If asked, what is faith, people would reply according to their own interpretations, and probably everyone will be right. But I believe that most of the answers will be, believing in a higher power that is watching over and taking care of us. The other day, I watched a very interesting video. A devotee requests his favorite deity to visit his home as his mother wished to see Him. The deity agrees on the condition that the devotee must take His place in the temple. The devotee agrees. So, the deity dresses up His devotee as Himself and leaves for his home with these parting lines – ‘Just stand in place and let the people bow and pray to you. Do not be granting any wishes, for everyone will get their fair share of Karma.’ I believe this will come as a shock to all those who place their faith on divine powers and believe that they will be granted everything they wish for. Last night, I watched the movie Mahavatar Narsimha (which is a splendid, spectacular creation that people m...

In my previous two blogs, I wrote about two rituals that I follow every night to calm down my mind, i.e. practicing gratitude and forgiveness. There is one more ritual I follow that completes the trilogy and that is – surrender. The spiritually wise would say that the term ‘surrender’ is a misnomer, for, to surrender something, we need to own it in the first place and we really do not own anything in the universe. We came empty-handed, we will depart empty-handed, what is there to surrender!? We may not own anything but our mind sure gets attached to things, events and people and forms impressions that last for a lifetime. While past regrets and worries for the future pose a challenge to living a peaceful life, it is the everyday little things that consume a lot of our mental resources and leave us feeling drained at the end of the day. Many years ago I had read a book on positive thinking and I came across a delightful ritual followed by a man who had a lot of responsibilities u...

  For this week, I would like to talk about the healing power of forgiveness. There is no person who goes through life unscathed. As if the events aren’t enough, there are people who hurt us, either knowingly or unknowingly. Some hurt physically, some emotionally but both ways, the pain is life-altering and shapes the future versions of ourselves. While some move on and leave their hurts behind, many carry the impressions with them, often unaware. At some point or the other, the lingering hurt catches up with us and acts as triggers, often making us behave in ways that we would never normally do.   And then there are those of us who cannot forgive ourselves for some kind of wrong we feel we did. I came across a sentence that has never made more sense than today where so many people are fighting mental demons. The toughest prison to break through is that of our own mind. How true is this! How difficult is it to forgive ourselves, to let go of guilt and regret and to liv...

  I like to read books on the self-help genre. I have been reading this genre for two decades. These books have helped me to get through a lot of tough times. In my younger years, I went through these books to get insights on career development, personal growth and creating a good life for myself. I read the self-help genre today too, in my mid-forties, but the purpose has changed. Many times, while reading these books, a question used to trouble me – what is the point of reading these books at this late phase? I searched for the answer for a long time until I realized it today. The answer I found is – I read these books today to get through my days. There will always be tough times in life. The difficulties will come as and when they are meant to. Grief and sorrow are as much a part of life as celebration and happiness. What we need is something that will remind us every now and then about a greater purpose of our life which is, to live it fully despite the many challenges...

  The other day I was watching a travel documentary on Bali. It is indeed a paradise tucked away into the folds of Indonesia. Beautiful beaches, mountains looming yonder and cute, picturesque locales – Bali has it all. What caught my attention was the concept of Nyepi, also called as Balinese Day Of Silence. On this day, which is celebrated as the new year day in Bali, nothing is done, and by nothing, I mean NOTHING. There is no work, no travel or transportation, no internet, no lights and no entertainment. The entire island observes a day of lockdown where people do not leave their houses (until absolutely required) and only emergency services are available. Why, even the airport itself is closed on this day. So how do people spend the day? They spend it at their homes in stillness, quietness, meditating, self-reflection and prayers. The lights, both inside and outside the homes are either kept at bare minimum or turned off completely. What a fascinating tradition! Can you i...

  I stand at the balcony of my house and see my son running off to school. I see the time and shake my head. It is 8.45 a.m, the time when he has to be inside the school premises to attend the school’s assembly prayer. The school isn’t very far from my home which is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Advantage because the kid takes his own sweet leisurely time to leave for school. Disadvantage, because, since the school is quite nearby, the kid takes his own sweet leisurely time to leave for school. In the meanwhile, my husband storms off to work. It has been another morning; the kid is late for school like always, and my husband has given him a piece of his mind but to no avail. Every day explosive sparks fly between father and son but matters do not change. Does this happen in your house? I am reading a book titled Effective Life Management by Swami Amartyananda and I came across a paragraph in the same wherein the author has shared some anecdotes. He talks about a psy...