These are some excerpts from the Milinda Panha, a Pali work dating to about the 100 B.C. The Milinda Panha is a dialogue between a Buddhist monk named Nàgasena and the Greek King Milinda(Melander), who ruled over Bactria(modern-day Afghanistan). The king raised a number of questions on the philosophy, psychology, and ethics of Buddhism, as well contradictions present in the life of the Buddha.
Tibetan monk and molecular geneticist Matthieu Ricard is the happiest man in the world according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin. The 66-year-old’s brain produces a level of gamma waves – those linked to consciousness, attention, learning and memory – never before reported in neuroscience.
Piers Morgan of CNN asks the Dalai Lama if he feels tempted when he sees a woman.
In the course of her talks with Ashram inmates, the Mother Mirra Alfassa would from time to time casually reminiscence incidents which had occurred in France. One particular anecdote she discussed was that of a woman who had experienced a spontaneous psychic joy after an act of generosity. Even though the woman is unnamed, given the personal details revealed, it is quite possible that this woman was the Mother herself. Alternately, it could be her friend Alexandra David-Neel. Irrespective of who the woman was, the incident is uplifting to read.
It is known that the restless mind cannot immediately enter into a state of thoughtlessness. That is why meditation is practised in stages. A 2005 paper “Meditation and the Neuroscience of Consciousness” by Antoine Lutz and his colleagues contains a very succinct description of this graded process accompanied by a concise table, which we highlight in this post. Continue reading
The Bhagavad Gita in Chapter 18, verses 60-61 states that all creatures are mounted on the machine of Nature and act accordingly. This post explicates the meaning of these two verses.
Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo & The Mother 