Ajay0

An interesting excerpt on nihilism as per Buddhism, that I read recently... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism

Ethical conduct in the form of right speech, right livelihood and right effort are considered to be vital practices leading to enlightenment in Buddhism or Buddhahood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path https://studybuddhism.com/en/tibetan-buddhism/about-buddhism/buddha-s-basic-message/a-full-buddhist-life-the-eightfold-path/the-three-trainings Ethical conduct is also emphasized in the religious philosophies of Hinduism, Jainism and Sufism for attaining enlightenment. This itself is a refutation of the nihilist and existentialist premise that life is meaningless and all values and virtues are but abstract mental contrivances without any relevance of their own.

Balakishore of Brahmakumaris expounds on the necessity for synergy between Principle, Context and Practice for optimal results. This also enables elimination of misunderstandings and conflicts between various groups leading to promotion of universal harmony. https://balakishore.in/articles/principle-context-practice/

Teachings of Sri Avinash... https://www.sriavinash.org/teachings-from-the-master/

Sri Avinash on his journey from a Vietnamese refugee child to being an enlightened sage.. https://www.sriavinash.org/sri-avinash/awakening-and-mission/#PAGE-3

To let go of desires you have to follow a certain code of conduct. This is the manure by which the rose of love will blossom. ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Love is a state of mind where self interests are removed. The mind dwells in its natural state of sat-chit-ananda - existence, consciousness, bliss. Love is not created; it is a mental state which develops by living a disciplined life and developing positive qualities. Human ego is very attracted to negative qualities, so it needs much austerity to develop positive qualities. ~ Baba Hari Dass Love is connected to virtues. Virtues create love within the self and within others. When virtues reduce, the quality of love is also reduced. When all virtues are present, there is complete and pure love. ~ Dadi Janki, Brahmakumaris

A free pdf book by Sister Aruna Ladva of the Brahmakumaris (Certified Negotiator in Conflict Resolution) on Conflict Resolution and its management. https://www.itstimetomeditate.org/book/conflict-resolution-free-download/ https://arunaladvaitstime.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/aruna_conflictres_2014.pdf The Brahmakumaris have received seven UN Peace Messenger Awards for their services around the world in the interests of global peace and harmony.

Higher prana levels equate to high joy and bliss levels as per Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. https://wisdomfromsrisriravishankar.blogspot.com/2010/01/ I had created a thread on prana by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar earlier...

The Pope has also similarly asked for the restoration of dialogue between the two warring parties. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce8en1jn3n5o

The Dalai Lama has sought the restoration of dialogue to establish peace in Ukraine. https://www.dalailama.com/news/2022/hope-for-dialogue-to-restore-pease-in-ukraine The two world wars of the previous century which started in europe on the basis of military alliances killed more than a hundred million people and injured much more. Proper global leadership could have preempted such wars and conflicts , but unfortunately they were allowed to grow in size and scale reaching critical mass levels due to lack of the same. The third world war based on nuclear weapons can eliminate total nations and continents. World civilization will be regressed back to a few centuries till normality prevails again. Even the present situation has resulted in economic recession and hardship for the masses while the rich and powerful are insulated from it. Massive destruction of life and property happened in europe in the last two world wars and it is important to ensure that a culture of peace and nonviolence is created in europe to check the momentum of the past periods of brutality and violence which is threatening to reveal itself again. So it is important to rein in aggressive instincts and allow rationality and non-emotivity to develop so as to prevent worse case scenarios and ensure that best case scenarios are allowed to emerge instead. As Abraham Lincoln stated, 'Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?' Hence communication channels should be kept open with space for dialogue to resolve all disagreements. Global leadership not partial to any military alliances are the need of the hour to exercise sound judgement with respect to solutions that may bring peace and global progress in its wake.

An article by Master Choa Kok Sui on prana... https://www.thepranichealers.com/what-is-pranic-energy

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved a significant milestone with the successful operation of its first space robotic arm aboard the POEM4 platform in space. https://spacewatch.global/2025/01/isro-successfully-tests-rrm-td-robotic-arm-in-space/ https://www.republicworld.com/science/isro-demonstrates-robotic-technology-successfully-captures-space-debris-with-robotic-arm

India is eyeing a 2028 launch for its Chandrayaan-4 moon sample-return mission. https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/india-targets-2028-for-chandrayaan-4-sample-return-mission-to-moons-south-pole

An insightful saying of Carter lamenting American military expansion at the cost of its social and infrastructural development.. "I normalized diplomatic relations with China in 1979. Since 1979, do you know how many times China has been at war with anybody? None. And we have stayed at war. (Carter said the United States is) the most warlike nation in the history of the world... How many miles of high-speed railroad do we have in this country?... We have wasted, I think, $3 trillion (military spending) ... China has not wasted a single penny on war, and that's why they're ahead of us. In almost every way... And I think the difference is if you take $3 trillion and put it in American infrastructure, you'd probably have $2 trillion left over. We'd have high-speed railroad. We'd have bridges that aren't collapsing. We'd have roads that are maintained properly. Our education system would be as good as that of, say, South Korea or Hong Kong...."

He was one of those rare American and world leaders who made a positive impact in his country and the world in both the presidential and post-presidential phases of his life. He won the Nobel peace prize in 2002 for his humanitarian efforts around the world through his NGO Carter center and which played a major role in eliminating the dreaded guinea worm disease. Hence he is remembered with respect and affection around the world. https://www.cartercenter.org/ He was noted for his work on peace and wanted the US to be a leader of peace rather than the world's largest supplier of weapons. He had also expressed his concerns over American democracy and felt that it has become an oligarchy instead.

“The more you are identified with your thinking, your likes and dislikes, judgments and interpretations, which is to say the less present you are as the watching consciousness, the stronger the emotional energy charge will be, whether you are aware of it or not.~ Eckhart Tolle You can't control emotions by thought; you can invoke emotions by thought. Only by being more aware, emotions settle down. ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Peace ends when you are emotionally involved in a situation. The practice of being a detached observer helps you stay stable and calm. It is the best way to approach a decision in any circumstance. ~ Prajapita Brahmakumaris

Emotions when properly employed can bring happiness and creativity in life, while improperly employed through lack of discrimination or discretion can result in reactions leading to regressive conflict and strife . Through Awareness, one goes beyond the realm of conditioned likes and dislikes, attain better self-mastery, and cultivate a progressive positive attitude in all situations and circumstances in life.

Teachings of the Masters on Awareness-Proactivty and Unconsciousness-Ego-Reactivity.... Act. Do not react. --Sri Ravi Shankar Sin is never in action. It is always in reaction. -- Swami Chinmayananda Virtuous ( proactive) action increases intelligence, while sinful ( reactive ) acts decreases intelligence. --Vidura Neeti ( Mahabharatha ) If you want to progress in your life and grow, act not to react. --Harbhajan Yogi Bhajan Respond. Do not react. --Osho Just stay focused. Don't react. Just be a witness and you will see the magic of it. --Swami Chidanand Saraswati Be proactive. Do not be reactive. --Stephen Covey ( Author of 7 habits of highly effective people ) Habitually we react to external stimuli, that is we are generally overwhelmed by retaliatory emotional forces within us demanding appropriate action. But surely this cannot be called 'action' , it is in fact ' re-action' . Discipline of the reasoning mind controls the reactive forces and results in appropriate 'action' rather than 're-action', one should endeavour to establish control and avoid retaliatory behaviour. --Acharya Mahaprajna Quality of life depends on what happens in the space between stimulus and response. -- Stephen Covey Because of the space between stimulus and response, people have the power of choice; therefore,leaders are neither born nor made meaning environmentally trained and nurtured. They are self-made through chosen responses, and if they choose based on principles and develop increasingly greater discipline, their freedom to choose increases. -- Stephen Covey Reaction is unconscious. You do not know exactly that you are being manipulated. You are not aware that you are behaving like a slave, not like a master. Action out of consciousness is response. -- Osho You can act in two ways -- one is reaction, another is response. Reaction comes out of your past conditionings; it is mechanical. Response comes out of your presence, awareness, consciousness; it is non-mechanical. The ability to respond is one of the greatest principles of growth. You are not following any order, any commandment; you are simply following your awareness. You are functioning like a mirror, reflecting the situation and responding to it -- not out of your memory from past experiences of similar situations, not repeating your reactions, but acting fresh, new, in this very moment. Neither the situation is old, nor your response -- both are new. -- Osho One who is obsessed with worldly pursuits, one who is body-oriented, cannot really go into this. We need to develop a distance from our mind and not give in to impulsiveness. Those who react are the ones who are living mindlessly. So in a way, we can say that living mindfully is being in meditation. -- Anandmurti Gurumaa So action which is born of reaction breeds sorrow. Most of our thoughts are the result of the past, of time. A mind that is not built on the past, that has totally understood this whole process of reaction, can act every minute totally, completely, wholly. J. Krishnamurti Action which is born of reaction breeds sorrow. J. Krishnamurti

Below are some sayings on the nature of auspiciousness from various Hindu and Buddhist masters that I have compiled for better understanding of the subject from the perspective of eastern philosophy. So from here, we can see that it is the agitated mind that is productive of negative vibrations or inauspicious energies while the equanimious mind is productive of positive ones. The Bhagavad Gita states that mental equanimity is yoga and leads to skill in action. Awareness or mindfulness comes about in an equanimous mind. What agitates the mind is numerous strong desires in the form of cravings and aversions. In an extreme form, these cravings and aversions take on the form of vices like greed, hatred, lust,egoism,inordinate attachments which are the source of all crimes as well devoid of virtue. In the enlightened sage, the mind is equanimous at all times, and this results in undisturbed awareness or mindfulness productive of positive vibrations and energies which have a beneficial effect on those around them. In a village in my district , there lived a female enlightened master in the last century. This region, in comparison to other regions have a very low crime rate and low incidence of natural disasters which people attribute to the master's grace. Even now one can still feel the positive vibes and auspiciousness over this place and it is now a popular tourist site as well. I know of similar other regions which has an auspicious air about it due to the presence of enlightened sages. I think this is the factor that is in work at pilgrimage sites too.

Here are some metrics and statistics on the most developed states in India considering various factors like economic growth, human development index (HDI), infrastructure, healthcare, education, and quality of life.... https://www.adda247.com/school/top-10-richest-states-in-india/

I am glad that you are from Bihar . I have seen the film Gangaajal which depicts the poor law and order issues in Bihar,possibly the least developed state in India . I think a major problem is the very low police to population ratio in Bihar compared to other states. Unstable governments and poor administration is also one of the reasons why Bihar got so messed up. https://www.indiatoday.in/diu/story/poverty-joblessness-and-bad-infrastructure-how-unstable-governments-left-bihar-in-chaos-2495549-2024-01-30 Hope things are getting better over there. It is the land which gave birth to Buddha, Mahavira and Guruji Gobind Singh, so it has a great past but sad present.

Sadhguru is a genuine enlightened sage, and I have learnt a lot from his talks and videos and cleared much of my doubts. I regret not coming across his teachings at a much younger age, as it could have given my life a much healthier perspective and course formulation and corrections if needed. If people dislike him and avoid him, that is their personal choice and bad luck. It also means that they have not done their research and homework well.

Insightful article by the Brahmakumaris on creating a methodical roadmap to overcome old negative habits and addictions... https://www.brahmakumaris.com/blog/how-to-overcome-old-habits/

You are welcome. Since love is a higher state of consciousness , obviously virtue or value-based conduct is a means forward to achieve this state. These sayings can bring perspective in this regard... As for love being an antidote to nihilist despair, I would say that nihilist despair arises from the perception that the universe or existence is meaningless, random and chaotic. If you hold on to such a conditioned reality tunnel as a fact of life, despair is naturally and obviously the result. I had already stated that nihilism is a short-sighted perspective that does not take into account the phenomenon of Buddhahood or enlightenment (present in various religions like sufism, hinduism, buddhism, jainism, taoism.) and is based on a superficial, uni-dimensional understanding of reality . It is a philosophy that arose in the western civilization which does not have the antiquity of the eastern. I would exhort you to observe and study more world philosophies instead of settling for a certain segment of the philosophical spectrum. 'A few observations and much reasoning leads to error; many observations and a little reasoning to truth.' ~ .Alexis Carrell

It just came to my attention recently that the mass shooter is a girl, and that there has been nine such female shooters in the past. This is a bit unbelievable for me as females usually have a natural instinct for non-violence and compassion . I had listened a few days back to a video of a spiritual master stating that the balance between the masculine and feminine (or yin yang) in the world is overwhelmingly in favor of the masculine, around 85 percent, and even women are now imitating masculine values and traits. The feminine does not have much space for creative expression in the world at the moment. This obviously must lead to a grosser and more conflict-prone world. Just my thoughts on the subject.