kr4

What exactly zero-trust mean here?

Just curious: how do you get featured by Apple, or by any other app store for that matter? Based on users or quality?

SO you're justifying 1990 killings and displacement of Pandits as a revenge for 1947? From the same Wikipedia article you linked also has a similar justification then for 1947 Jamu vilence:

the Jammu province which was contiguous to Punjab, experienced mass migration that led to violent inter-religious activity. Large numbers of Hindus and Sikhs from Rawalpindi and Sialkot started arriving since March 1947, bringing "harrowing stories of Muslim atrocities in West Punjab". According to scholar Ilyas Chattha, this provoked counter-violence on Jammu Muslims, which had "many parallels with that in Sialkot". He writes, "the Kashmiri Muslims were to pay a heavy price in September–October 1947 for the earlier violence of West Punjab."

Additionally, Pandits have been on the receiving end - once a majority of the Kashmiri population about 600 years ago. Seven times at least they've been forced to exit, countless killed or forcefully converted to Islam https://www.quora.com/What-atrocities-were-committed-on-Kash... But despite all this, Pandits have never opted for taking arms in hands and become terrorist killing civilians.

To prevent over-thinking at the time of sleep you can try a simple meditation technique I had shared a while ago which I've been following for several years https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17906598

Regarding how to be in the present reality: It is a natural tendency of conditioned mind to worry about the future and be guilty about the past. Ordinarily such a mind can only be in present moment when it's involved in doing something it likes. However, you can train your mind and learn the skill of being in present moment by following a simple technique. Ask yourself this question frequently throughout the day "What am I doing right now?" whenever you raise a question your mind is by its nature compelled to give you answer. SO asking this question will break whatever train of thoughts your mind has been riding through and bring you to the current moment. Now ask another question, what should I be doing at this moment? and then focus on the thing you should be doing (as in focus on eating food or sipping coffee). This technique is taken from mind full to mindful (https://amzn.to/2phvft7 )

Above all, in my personal opinion, it is important to realize that most of things that happen to us can't be controlled/managed by us. The universe is infinitely huge and I'm just a tiny spec of particle compared to its magnanimous size. A change in prospective is required which makes us focus on the deed (karma) we are supposed to do and stop focussing on the result/fruits (phal) thereof. Meditation/chanting can help in realizing this reality.

Quoting from https://os.me/the-heart-of-success/

In Indian villages, even today, when an elephant passes through a village, all the elders gather and fold their hands in reverence. They also nudge the children to do the same and bow to the majestic pachyderm. “This is Lord Ganesha,” they say. And the kids quickly bring their hands together in reverence and holler, “Ganapati Bappa Morya!” and so on. The women step out of their homes to offer sweetmeats, lentils, flour, fruits and veggies to the mahout. Some feed the elephant bananas and sugarcane.

While this procession is on the move, a fascinating, though unsettling, thing happens: all the stray dogs of the village, puppies included, start following the elephant, barking and growling relentlessly.

What problem could the dogs possibly have with the elephant? It’s not like they are a match in any way. What competition could the hounds and pooches pose to the mighty tusker?

I’m sure if someone could ask the dogs the reason for their incessant barking, they would answer, “We have no problem with the elephant per se. It’s these people folding hands and offering all that food to the elephant that bothers us.”

But, the dogs don’t have the nerve to jump in front of the elephant or block his way. They will never come in front and will never stop barking from the back.

And so is the way of the world—the more the number of those who look up to you and stand in front with gifts, the greater the number of those who will bark behind you.

The elephant, however, never stops to shoo away the dogs or to tackle them. It keeps on walking, indifferent to the uncouth and clownish behavior of the dogs. But what makes the elephant truly unique and masterful is not just that it doesn’t stop for the dogs. It’s something more profound.

If the elephant doesn’t stop for the dogs, it doesn’t halt for the ones bowing in reverence either.

It remains unmoved by both the glory and the growls. Our true self is beyond praise and criticism, it is beyond disease, death and decay. It shines in its own splendor. (Though a common analogy, someone had shared this story with me from a discourse by Swami Rajeshwaranand.)

The emotions we experience when showered with praises or hit with criticism are temporary feelings that mostly arise when we forget how incredibly empowered and powerful we truly are.

The path of success is littered with opinions and suggestions. Everyone you meet will have some kind of an opinion and you are likely to cross paths with many who won’t believe in you. They will give you a million reasons why you will fail. It’s alright, that’s all they know. You’ll also meet some who may offer you false praise, just to attain a desired outcome. It’s the way of the material world. Then you’ll also meet some who are genuine and will influence your life in a phenomenal way.

Like the elephant, if you can keep your head on your shoulders and remain unmoved by such people and have faith in your own conviction as well as the wisdom to know when and how much to listen to someone, success is yours for the taking.

The biggest spiritual revolution will take a strong shape during this decade based on values of kindness, compassion and empathy. This is because people will gradually realize that almost all the current problems including mental diseases (depression), religious conflicts, political turmoil, economic and military warfare are happening because of selfish living, and very narrow mindset. Though technology and comfort wise humans have progressed a lot over last couple of centuries but mentally the same degree of evolution hasn't happened. (if it had, we’d have no physical borders/huge national militaries etc. when in technology we’ve broken all distance and boundaries) The fault lines are increasingly visible again which may cause WW3 but spiritual revolution is coming with or without WW3.

The objectivity you are assigning to the world of waking state is also subject to your mind. Different kinds of minds experience the world differently. Scientific investigation confirms us that the object we experience do not exist like that; it's just set of atoms which are empty by their nature. There's nothing solid or liquid in actual, it's our mind way of interpreting the input from senses that makes us experience solidity/etc.

Regarding the persistency argument, the waking world seems persistent to you because it has a longer duration relative to your dream. Sometimes we dream in a dream and experience continuity of the dream-world as well. There are stories of people experiencing years of life in dreaming [0] which confirms that continuity in dream is also possible.

That said, I'm not trying to prove that waking and dreaming state are literally the same. The idea is to ponder on the generality behind waking and dreaming states and question/contemplate on the true nature of reality. Do we not observe that it's the mind which seems to be the cause of us experiencing both these states the way we experience them? If so and if the dream seems to be our personal creation then the question arises what if the waking world is a our collective (cosmic) mind dream? If it's a cosmic dream then we can start deducing answers such as there cannot be any boundary to the universe because it's all in mind as a reflection. And multiverse is also possible as the same cosmic mind can dream N number of worls/universes as it's not bound by any real material quantity.

There have been interesting books [1] written on this subject going very deep into above idea which also talk about methods to realize it as experience rather than just as an intelectual exercise.

0: https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-most-inexplicable-experience... 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripura_Rahasya

I can give one thing for you to ponder: what's the true difference of the world you experience in the waking state and the world you experience during dreaming state and the cause behind both of these? The puzzle of the universe, infinity and multiverse can become apparent if you ponder over the above question.

You can try a two-step exercise mentioned in this post: https://os.me/forgive-yourself/

You can try a yogic practice (Trataka – Still Gazing).

>> Many years ago, someone who used to work for me was struggling with poor memory. He wanted to be alert and disciplined but it was almost like laziness was a disease and he was suffering from it. Not in the physical sense because he was out and about working on stuff all the time but there was no productivity, focus or any significant output. We (him and I) figured he severely lacked focus. I told him to practice trataka for three months every day. It would help him with his memory and focus. He followed the instructions diligently and at the end of three months, there was remarkable improvement in his memory and recall. But, memory improvement wasn’t the main thing. As a result of the practice, another, totally unexpected, thing happened. He reported a blurred vision in spite of wearing spectacles. He went to the optometrist only to find out that he no longer needed the prescription glasses (for short-sightedness or myopia). He had been wearing glasses for more than a decade. I’ve observed on numerous occasions that yogic practices do channelize the flow of various energies in the body. It changes your gaze, gait and movements. It even affects your speech in its own positive way. You slow down a bit but become more effective, more mindful. An unfailing sign of a true yogi is stillness of the gaze. Even some advanced meditators struggle to keep their eyeballs still (even when their eyes are closed). Stillness of the gaze has a remarkable effect on the energy flow in your body. There is a specific yogic practice to perfect your gaze. The method of fixing your gaze on an object is called trāṭaka. Movement in the eyes, flickering of the eyelids represent a subtle flaw in your posture as well as meditation. Practice of trataka is the best practice to eliminate this flaw. Like all other yogic practices, do it every day for at least 40 days to benefit from it.

Excerpted from: https://www.amazon.com/Million-Thoughts-Meditation-Himalayan...

China's all-weather partner, Pakistan, has been doing similar information warfare against India regarding Kashmir after abrogation of article 370 on Aug5.

"We have found that just after the annulment of Article 370, more than 1,500 bots (fake profiles) from Pakistan surfaced on social media and started trending anti-India narrative. In these tweets, they are also urging United Nations to intervene," said Tarun Vig, co-founder of Innefu Labs, a cybersecurity firm. He added on August 5 alone, more than 1,000 Twitter accounts were created from Pakistan which was discussing India and Kashmir. Bot profiles were sharing the same tweets over and over again.

0: https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/newsindia/pakistan-bots-wage-...

Some fake videos: https://www.altnews.in/pak-minister-shares-edited-clip-to-fa... https://www.indiatoday.in/fact-check/story/kashmir-massacre-... https://www.republicworld.com/india-news/general-news/isi-ba...

Some twitter action: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/check-our-transpar...

It's possible to give not one but multiple proofs to a genuanly curious mind; however, it's impossible to prove anything otherwise to a mind which has already made up an opinion.

But as you said, you're not quite there yet. How do you know that what you described is really achievable? What else can you do but take other people by their word?

I've read somewhere that it takes 10k hours to master anything. Let's consider example of a musical instrument, say Piano, that you're learning. It will take you 10k hours of sincere practice to reach to a state of mastery in which playing piano will be a subconscious, effortless act, you'd be able to listen to any song and start playing it. However, this effortless will be preceded by state of conscious competence in which you can play a song after listening it, but it takes some effort and even then, it's not perfect. You know you're progressing but you're not there yet. You can see the goal but you also know that it'll take good effort to reach there.

Another advantage you have at this stage is you can appreciate the expert player from a charlatan. It's not easy to fool you anymore.

So, you can consider me that 3k hours pianist re meditation. I started practicing meditation in 2014 inspired by this HN post https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6910041

> The Really Unexpected My forehead caught on “fire”. No--really. This was the single strangest event of the entire challenge, and I have no explanation for it, but what took place was that after about 30 days, the centre of my forehead felt like it was emitting or radiating what I can only describe a kind of heatless, lightless flame.

I started in June2014 and my first experience happened in about a month. I've never stopped meditating daily ever since (apart from some not-so-frequent days of urgent work/function/illness) (I try to do it in three sessions in morning/evening/night) The experiences continue to come. Then if you read books by expert meditator, you'll be able to relate their experiences with yours.

Some people claim that through meditation, they could literally levitate. What's to stop anyone from just claiming something that's impossible to prove wrong?

Why do you believe such a claim? Let that person demonstrate it if he's so claiming. You don't have to believe anything or anyone. But at the same time, you shouldn't reject something without giving it a chance. Both of these are functions of a conditioned mind blinded by a sense of superiority that what it knows is the truth and that it cannot be wrong.

ON a related note, the problem for spirituality is that people get attracted to it by these stories of wonderful powers that they can gain, and lose the sight of true goal of Yoga: to reach to a state of union with one's eternal, imperishable atman (soul). That's actually a good test of expert: he will not sell meditation or other practices as a means to attained powers. He knows such powers (even if considered possible for a moment) are a hindrance in awakening and these are just another form of material entertainment for the conditioned mind while the goal is to rise above conditioning to experience state of oneness with the universe; with atman. Once you have become that, you can yourself verify if you really can get these powers, chances are, you will no longer be interested in them.

but at some point I just don't don't buy it, like when you speak of a "constant state of pleasure". I don't think that's physically possible, at some point the receptors in your brain will need time to recover.

Who says you won't need rest? As long as you're in this physical body, you'll need rest. But the source of your joy will be within rather than dependent on external factors like money, appreciation, fame, success ETC. which keep on changing. You'll be able to maintain your state of inner peace and bliss even in absence of these.

First of all, how do you know that all these people claiming enlightenment - exactly as you describe it - aren't all full of shit?

Exactly as in any other field of expertise. Through your practice, knowledge/experiences you gain from that practice. Mere reading the books doesn't take one far in any field.

Secondly, let's say it's all true. Why is that so desirable?

Who says it's desirable to everyone? It's individual's choice. If you get pleasure in learning something else, feel free to do that.

But someone might also want to go to the source of pleasure so he can maintain state of pleasure at all times regardless of circumstances outside, meditation is one sure way to that. Just like a hard core engineer may want to know how the whole thing works down to transistor, some people eventually get this desire to experience their whole being down to one's soul and even the super soul. Such people aren't satisfied being mere servant to the needs of body or mind for whole of their lives. They want to experience the eternity if there's such a thing. It's an arduous but a rewarding journey, with wonderful experiences at every little milestone on the path. But this thread isn't an appropriate place to write details about them.

Btw if you are thinking meditation or enlightenment means withdrawal from the world, or becoming something inert or passive, or stop enjoyment/learning, then you've not understood it correctly.

How do I tell the difference between myself achieving enlightenment and merely having an opinion that I have achieved it?

How would you describe a state of mind in which you remain thoughtless as long as you want? Thoughts will only arrive in your conscious mind when you summon them and you can hold a thought as long as you want. You remain perfectly peaceful, tranquil without blabbering and urges of the mind without exerting as in meditation. Meditation is no longer an act but a state of your mind.

When your mind is perfectly under control without effort, you have become awakened (or enlightened), because now you truly possess a free will in the truest sense of the word. Earlier when your mind was in control, your innate tendencies were driving your actions, based on external stimuli. Anger, greed, lust, envy, fear and other negative emotions thrive in such a state of mind naturally and one has to exert to check them.

I'd urge you to try concentrative meditation, wherein one tries to hold a thought (could be visualizing a form, or listening to a sound ETC) and see the power of conditioned mind. Observe how long you can hold it. For instance, if you're visualizing a form, you may discover that within matter of few seconds it starts fading, dancing or completely gone. Similarly If you are meditating on sound, you will find that within few seconds your mind has distracted and you have to exert to retain your focus. The mind is not in your control and such a conditioned mind can form opinions and dilute you. But an enlightened mind, perfectly in control cannot have delusion and ever lives in present moment. Opinions and judgement are tools of a conditioned mind, ever fearful and constantly striving to ensure survival of the body.

That said, I'm not yet an enlightened being; I'm striving for it by walking path of meditation, kindness and chanting [0]. I do have experiences and glimses confirming most of what I've written, but I have not attained the final state yet. If you're truly curious and want to read, learn and practice more about this, I'd encourage you to read Om Swami's books. The one on meditation [1] takes you through the journey of a meditator with states and stages of mind and awareness that you'll find intriguing and hopefully interesting to pursue. Simple yet precise methods and practices have been given along with a method to measure one's progress.

0: I use Black Lotus app for logging and measuring my meditation and chanting sessions as well as random acts of kindness (RAKs) (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rt.pinpric...) - inspired by same author 1: https://www.amazon.com/Million-Thoughts-Meditation-Himalayan...

In one word: selflessness. Acts of a truly enlightened or awakened being will be selfless. He has already realized the futility of doing actions for sense gratification. Please note the word realized. Intellectual understanding is different from realization. With the former your subconscious mind continues to propell you to strive for fulfilling selfish desires while realization will clean the slate. When we study the lives and sayings of great people, we find in them the quality of selflessness, no matter what their religious or cultural background might be.

There are also physical signs. There are no unnecessary bodily movements. The speech also becomes pleasing. Gestures are graceful. Such a person seems to emit a unearthly glow. People experience unconditional love and calmness in his presence. However physical signs aren't the definitive teller as most of these can be imitated for a limited public appearance. Hence the most important factor is the conduct.

Right. Living mindfully simply means that I'm aware of my gestures, words and actions. A good meditation does just that. For this awareness to remain at all times with you, a certain sense of detachment is inevitable but that doesn't imply that you are no longer supposed to care about what's going inside you. IN fact it should be opposite; once you're aware of content of your mind, you need to do cleansing to rise above conditioning that binds you [0].

0: In Mind Full to Mindful (book on Zen/mindful meditation https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Full-Mindful-Wisdom-Monks-ebook/... ) Om Swami has given a method to do Emotional Hygiene and Cleansing (Osoji). It is about emptying the baggage we carry in our minds. Believing Zen, if everything is empty, we may as well realize that essence in practice and not think of it merely as a philosophical proposition.

http://omswami.com/2018/04/enlightenment.html

In my personal experience, enlightenment is realizing, at the depth of my being, this prospective that nothing, absolutely nothing in this world, including my body, relationships, wealth and my possessions are going to last for ever; everything is impermanent and my problems are extremely tiny compare to the immensity of the universe, so I should take it easy and live life compassionately and kindfully. These positive emotions help me to experience and retain the bliss, peace and happiness

How to know someone is enlightened? Since I know what being enlightened is, the job becomes simple. Just observe that the person carries out himself in enlightened manner at all times; if he loses it in adverse/unacceptable situation, it means that he might be on the path but haven't reached to the other side yet.

It's considered possible to stop aging with a strict yogic lifestyle. Requires a sincere study to verify and learn from such ancient systems.

An act of kindness is a way to express our gratitude toward the society and/or nature by contributing with our skills and resources. It makes us feel that we have something valuable to offer and that certainly gives meaning to our life.

I think the key to attain ever-lasting happiness is to commit ourselves to doing kind or selfless deeds as a habit [0]. Scientifically it's been observed that when we make someone happy the same region lights up in our brain [1] when we do something to make ourselves happy.

Coupled with meditation that makes you more mindful so you can be more kind (kindfullness), you can attain a state of mind in which you can remain happy most of the time. The problems of the world will continue to be there but those will decreasingly have lesser impact on your inner state of happiness.

0: I track and share my random act of kindness (RAKs) on Black Lotus along with logging/measuring my meditation/chanting sessions (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rt.pinpric... )

1: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/want-to-be-happier-give-m_b_6...

I also practice concentrative meditation and the sensations just keep on increasing as you keep walking on the path. Seems like one is just full of these sensations. As per yogic texts, we have three bodies [0] comprising of five sheeths. One of the sheaths is called pranik (energy).

I alternate between sound (mantra) and form, and sometimes formless as well [1].

Ke to do concentrative meditation can be summed up in one line (taken from [2]) “Exert when relaxed and relax when exerted.”

As one walks the path, one invariably goes through these nine states of awareness: http://omswami.com/2015/02/nine-states-awareness.html

The rewards of concentrative meditation are huge. But most of them requires intense effort eventually [3].

0: http://omswami.com/2011/10/depression-definition-cause-and-c... 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPL_eQKExN0 2. https://www.amazon.com/Million-Thoughts-Meditation-Himalayan... 3: http://omswami.com/2015/01/types-of-meditator.html

You can use tools like Hugo to generate static sites. Basically such tools gives you power to avoid duplication of reusable components on the page, as well as to generate static lists automatically like related pages/recommendations. See this discussion on such tools: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16472395

Of course you can have different kinds of experiences when you're meditating with discipline. Like deep sensations, seeing flashes of bright light in inner eye ETC. such experiences can indicate that you're doing it correctly but these are epiphenomena. This is not the real product.

I'm quoting a few extracts from an excellent book on meditation by a currently living enlightened monk: https://www.amazon.com/Million-Thoughts-Meditation-Himalayan...

>> Four Stages of Mental Stillness

The truth is that the mind is always talking. It is never silent. On the path of meditation the transformation of mind from a restless monkey to a docile cow happens in four stages. Experience of sustained and deep silence is not simply about feeling the bliss of quietude. It’s much more than that.

One of the most amazing things you discover is a radical change in how you see the world around you – nothing provokes you any longer. This is one of the greatest rewards of right meditation – a state of no provocation. People, their statements, their responses, your own thoughts, reactions, emotions and desires – none of it will be able to provoke you.

Imagine you live in a metropolitan city and you have taken a sabbatical to spend some time in peace in a far off location – in a small, quiet, countryside town close to a seashore. Your journey involves a long drive and your goal is to get away from the hustle-bustle of the city life to the peaceful seaside. That calm seaside is the ultimate stage of meditation – infinite, expansive, oceanic. However, before you settle in such state and beyond, you will invariably go through the following four stages:

1. Constant Activity – The Motorway

This is the first stage. Mind is always talking and most people remain unaware. When they want the mind to be quiet, like before sleeping or when they are depressed, and it does not shut up, that is when they realize how talkative mind is. There is constant activity going on in the mind. During this stage, when a meditator sits down to meditate, his mind does not quieten beyond sporadic short periods lasting no more than a few seconds. All that the meditator hears is chatter. The more he tries to quiet the mind, the louder it becomes. Thoughts from everywhere continue their onslaught, discouraging the practitioner. At the end of their 30-minute long session, they get up more drained and tired. Some mistake it for relaxation but in reality it is no more than a short nap.

...

The first stage of mental stillness is like the traffic on a major highway. Traffic is always flowing in both directions. The meditator is on the highway of thoughts. When you are on a highway, you have no control over the traffic around you. There are multiple lanes, there will be cars in front, in the left lane, in the right lane, behind you. Some are going slower than you, many are going faster than you, others are at the same pace as you. There is traffic flowing in your direction and in the opposite direction. People are not honking so nothing abruptly disrupts your cruise mode or distracts you, but you are aware of the traffic around you and you know this is normal on the freeway. You have to drive carefully, you cannot afford any mistakes while changing lanes. A meditator in the first stage has no control on the flow of thoughts. They are on a motorway and it is the peak hour. The only thing you can do is drive with utmost caution and eventually you will get off the freeway.

2. Frequent Activity – Suburban Road

In this stage, the flow of thoughts is frequent but not constant. A meditator experiences easiness and many quiet stints lasting several moments where they get a glimpse of a mind free from thoughts – a no-mind state, a heightened state of consciousness. Your ability to meditate for longer period increases by a few minutes. If in stage one, you could meditate for 30 minutes, now you can meditate for 45 minutes. Most people are unable to maintain their concentration beyond a few seconds.

...

Think of this stage as driving on a suburban road. The thoughts in your mind are no longer traveling in 16 lanes in both the directions. The speed has come down by half. There is still a degree of constancy to them, they haven’t come to a halt yet nor have they disappeared. Your thoughts are travelling at a slower speed now. The traffic is more manageable. Your attentiveness increases noticeably as you get to this stage.

...

3. Occasional Activity – The Countryside Road

...

The third stage is the countryside road. You can drive for several miles before you come across any other vehicle. Green fields, meadows, pastures, pristine air, blue sky, expansive views, beautiful landscapes, quiet surroundings, no rush – ah, the pleasure of countryside driving! You can go slower or a bit faster, you choose your own pace. The conditions permit you to do that. A meditator who has reached stage three learns to harness and channelize his thoughts. Most of their sessions comprise spans of quiescence and bliss with occasional thoughts emerging here and there, on and off. They don’t get up all relaxed from their meditation, for relaxed they already are, otherwise it would not have been possible to get to this stage. Instead, they get up feeling supercharged, refreshed and alert. A great meditator is always alert. Alertness is not only the reward but an essential ingredient for good meditation. A stage three meditator can easily sit unmoving for three hours.

4. No Activity – No Thorough Fare

Even though I have called it a stage, there is really no going beyond this stage. Intellectually, we may define an infinite number of stages. In all practicality though, stage four is the outcome of crossing the three stages successfully. It comes with great, persistent, prolonged, intelligent, alert, intense and correct practice. Please carefully note all the seven adjectives in the previous sentence. You miss on any of these and there is no hope. A stage four meditator can sit unmoving, like a rock, for as long as he wants.

At this stage you experience extraordinary absorption and understand the reality of things unknown and inconceivable by the ordinary mind. Buddha said, “The one who knows the reality of one thing knows the reality of everything.”

The fourth stage is enlightenment.

On your long drive to selfrealization, think of this stage as a private property, a large villa, an exclusive chateau. It has a path, a road but it is no thoroughfare – a large gate and a high fence block noise, traffic, people and any unwanted visitors. You have your own garden, comfort and peace. Any visitor will either have taken prior appointment which means you are aware of their arrival beforehand or you will have the choice to let them in or not. A stage four meditator is an adept, a siddha. He can stay on a thought for as long as he so chooses. The awareness is so crystallized that he can decide which thought he wants to entertain and which one he wishes to let go. There are no surprises.

Kundalini — An Untold Story by Om Swami https://www.amazon.com/Kundalini-Untold-Story-Himalayan/dp/0...

If you fancy about metaphysical and mystical stuff, If you think there's more to a living being than blood and tissues, and if you want to keen on not just entertaining but possibly learn to experience the truth (if any)s behind the claims of superhuman faculties, then read this book.

>> Kundalini is your polar opposite within you. When it awakens, you realize how immensely powerful you already are. You experience how there is a whole universe within you. It is your feminine energy if you are a man and your masculine energy if you are a woman. It is your passage, your path to eternal fulfillment within you.

>> Awakening of the kundalini is realization of your pure abstract intelligence, the type that is not conditioned by your fears, emotions and worries. It is your pristine nature. When you are able to tap into this latent source of energy, you truly become the master of your universe. You can manifest whatever you wish in your life because your scale of consciousness is no longer limited to your body alone; it envelops the whole universe.

A good reading on mindful parenting is [0]:

>> Mahatma Gandhi’s son Manilal Gandhi moved to South Africa to carry on the work his father had left behind – fight against injustice and discrimination. One day, Manilal had a daylong meeting in Johannesburg and he asked his son, Arun Gandhi, to drive him there. Arun thought this would be a good opportunity to also get his car serviced. They left for the meeting in the morning. In Arun’s words: I dropped my father off for his meeting and got the car to the garage by one. Since it was a long time until five o’clock, I figured I could go to the movies, which I did. That day there was a double feature being shown, and when I got out I checked my watch and realized that it was past five o’clock! I rushed to the corner where my father had said he would be waiting for me, and when I saw him there, standing in the rain, I tried to think of excuses I could make. I rushed up to him and said, ‘Father, you must forgive me. It is taking them longer to repair the automobile than I thought it would take, but if you wait here I will go and get the car. It should be ready by now.’ My father bowed his head and looked downward. He stood for a long moment and then he said, ‘When you were not here at our meeting time I called the garage to see why you were late. They told me that the automobile was ready at three o’clock. Now I have to give some thought as to how I have failed, so as to have a son who would lie to his own father. I will have to think about this, so I am going to walk home and use the time during my walk to meditate on this question.’ I followed my elderly father home that rainy, misty night, watching him stagger along the muddy road. I rode behind him with the headlights of the car flashing ahead of his steps. And as I watched him stumbling towards home, I beat on the steering wheel and said over and over, ‘I will never lie again! I will never lie again! I will never lie again!' What struck me as particularly interesting in this story was how Manilal didn’t shame his son, he didn’t start shouting at him or telling him how Arun had failed him as a son. Instead, he seemed to have understood one thing clearly: children do love their parents. They may act or behave otherwise but deep down they love their parents and need their parents’ love and presence in their lives. We can never inspire anyone to do anything by creating fear in their minds or by shaming them. We may force a child – or even an adult – to do something and they may do it well temporarily, but to instill in them a lifelong habit or to inspire them, love remains the only potent weapon. And no, by this I don’t mean mollycoddling. I simply mean embracing a sense of acceptance.

0: https://www.amazon.com/Children-Tomorrow-Monks-Mindful-Paren...

You may find Om Swami's books interesting and accessible in modern time to understand the potential that each one of us carry for mystical enlightenment. For instance the book on kundalini: https://www.amazon.com/Kundalini-Untold-Story-Himalayan/dp/0...

>> Kundalini is your polar opposite within you. When it awakens, you realize how immensely powerful you already are. You experience how there is a whole universe within you. It is your feminine energy if you are a man and your masculine energy if you are a woman. It is your passage, your path to eternal fulfillment within you.

>> when you start meditating on the chakras, it is only from your experiences and newly gained abilities that you come to know that a transformation is taking place within you. The greatest transformation upon the awakening of the kundalini is not that you see blinding light (although, that can happen and has happened to me on numerous occasions) or you feel feather-light or you feel highly energetic. These are epiphenomena. This is not the real product; it’s more like buttermilk than the actual butter. The real transformation upon the awakening of kundalini is that you shed your old tendencies and negativity like a snake sheds its old skin. You no longer feel angry or flustered over trivial matters unlike the earlier times. Your emotions and thoughts don’t overpower and trample all over you anymore. You begin to gain control of yourself. ‘Supranormal’ streams of creativity and energy gush forth at the awakening, surprising even you with talents you never thought you had.

>> Awakening of the kundalini is reaching your innermost state of bliss and joy. This state is covered with ten layers – desire, anger, greed, attachment, ego, passion, jealousy, hatred, fear and selfconcern. As you elevate spiritually, you start shedding these layers. These avarana, layers, veil the true you. The real you that is beyond the duality of pain and grief, good and bad, moral and immoral. Awakening is a steady and gradual process on the path of kundalini sadhana. It is not an instant realization. It builds up, it grows on you. With each level of awakening, you discover bit more about the new you and you shed bit more of the old you.

>> Awakening of the kundalini is realization of your pure abstract intelligence, the type that is not conditioned by your fears, emotions and worries. It is your pristine nature. When you are able to tap into this latent source of energy, you truly become the master of your universe. You can manifest whatever you wish in your life because your scale of consciousness is no longer limited to your body alone; it envelops the whole universe.

>> What’s even more beautiful is that anyone who is willing to put in the effort can experience it.

This world is creation of our collective consciousness. We need a collective conscious effort to bring sanity to the sad state of the world today. Please join us in global meditation for peace on every Saturday http://blacklotusapp.org/

It's difficult to put forward the science behind Kundalini Yoga / meditation to audience stuck in modern scientific mindset. There's a huge literature in India for holistic living that encompasses from Ayurveda, yoga to tantra written over thousands of years based on direct experience and experiments. If you’re curious to know more you can start with The Wellness Sense https://www.amazon.com/Wellness-Sense-practical-emotional-Ay...

VVPAT is a nice feature for EVM verification. India has gone full electronic for the national election happening this year with VVPAT for all EVMs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_voting_in_India