https://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?80642-sadhana The largest classic literature discussion forum on the Internet. Read Write Teach Share. en Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:28:47 GMT vBulletin 10 https://www.online-literature.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg https://www.online-literature.com/forums/blog.php?80642-sadhana https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?12388-Forgetfulness-has-become-natural Mon, 07 May 2012 08:07:20 GMT How often have we searched in our minds for the name of a familiar person and regretted not having remembered it? How often have we kept our keys and... How often have we searched in our minds for the name of a familiar person and regretted not having remembered it? How often have we kept our keys and valuables in a certain place and forgotten them? How often have fathers taken their baby out for a quick shopping nearby and forgotten to take the baby home, and left with only the grocery?
These are very common symptoms of the failure of memory in us. It is quite natural to have memory losses as we grow older. Just as our other faculties become weaker over a long period of time, e.g. we begin to wear glasses, move slowly, and walk around with a walking stick, in a similar way our memory becomes weaker.
The question is should we fear this propensity to lose our memory or should we look for reasons to justify our seeming loss? A blind man develops extra sensory powers whereby his physical deficiency is compensated. A deaf man too has a deeper sense of things. We believe that we have powers well beyond the physical sense to comprehend and realize. Arguing from this point of view we may well say then that loss of memory is deliberately intended for us by Nature as a means to help us forget the physical reality and develop deeper insights about life and death.
If to grow older means to grow wiser, then forgetting the mundane and the gross realities of life may be necessary to help the mind find space and power enough to be in touch with the most essential truths of life and to be a spiritual reference point for a civilization which is fast progressing in a direction that is leading it to more and more materialism.
Yet we find that the majority is growing older without showing any such signs of development. I have come to experience the tragedy of growing old as something which involves more and more losses. Alzheimer’s disease has hit us like an epidemic. Older people are becoming increasingly prone to it s disastrous effects.
Society is losing its elders who once used to be a strong bulwark against the forces of disintegration. Their experience and wisdom were great assets for the family and the nation. But our elders who are the political leaders today have shown by their behavior that wisdom does not always come with age. They have forgotten the high ideals of benevolent governance and what we are left with is a group of senile servitors who know only how to service themselves. Justice, peace and compassion are ideals forgotten conveniently, and all other ideals of humanity are left for the young to fight for ]]> sadhana https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?12388-Forgetfulness-has-become-natural https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?12385-Legitimising-identities Wed, 02 May 2012 11:50:09 GMT We live in societies which are so different from each other. When we travel from one place to another there is the necessity to change our... We live in societies which are so different from each other. When we travel from one place to another there is the necessity to change our perspectives and loyalties to suit the situation in which we find ourselves. We cannot remain the same at all times. The result is that we begin to assume several identities to make ourselves feel comfortable and to fulfill our material and emotional needs.

Should we then be denounced as wearers of masks and as hypocrits untrue to the culture and beliefs of their places of origin? Identities are always in a flux and there is the great need today to shun the age old notions of being true to one self. We now do not have only one self , but several selves , and we may have to remain true to all of them. As we proceed in time and space begin to discover more and more of these selves, and we begin to feel amazed as to how many different selves keep popping out of the one box we call the Self.

All these selves are true because they are born of the self same Self and there is therefore the need to legitimise all these identities. ]]> sadhana https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?12385-Legitimising-identities https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?12353-Cheerfulness Sat, 14 Apr 2012 16:41:29 GMT Whatever the weather , remain cheerful. Why bother about tomorrow and be unhappy when today there is life and love. Even if death comes, let him come... Whatever the weather , remain cheerful. Why bother about tomorrow and be unhappy when today there is life and love. Even if death comes, let him come as a lover you have known for years in your heart but not seen and whom you are yearning to meet .

Cheerfulness comes when you know that you are free from all bondages, even from the bondage of trying to live effectively. Freedom from the necessity to conform or rebel or to do or not to do-- brings in the cheer.

Smile through tsunamis and tornados, and when you sleep, curl into the embrace of oblivion. ]]> sadhana https://www.online-literature.com/forums/entry.php?12353-Cheerfulness