Blissful Life

Blog

Notice: after planning it for years, I moved this blog out of blogger/blogspot (which google has abandoned long ago) to wordpress on a fine evening in Dec 2024. This notice will stay here to warn that things might be broken. Let me know if you find anything.

  • How a Pen and a Pad can Save You a Lot of Time and Mind

    There is scarcely anyone unaware of the ultimate to do list manager. It is not a software. It is not a web based app. It is the age old, evergreen, ultimate productivity tool called ‘pen and paper’.
    Whereas it is paper that is used usually, I would suggest using a stack of small rectangular papers, single lined and bound using a clip – a reminder pad.
    Now the advantages of actually writing down your tasks and then crossing it off one by one over any software are that:

    1. There is unparallell functionality (including handwriting recognition and instant switching of font, size, style, etc)
    2. Extreme portability: A standard reminder pad is designed so as to exactly fit into your pocket.
    3. Quick, lightning quick: No booting required, no saving, no backing up.
    4. Simple: Take any web based app, you will have to log in to access your tasks and that is an added disadvantage.

    Well, once you’ve started using it, you will find that unlike when you start with the web based apps or any software, you don’t give up writing your tasks after the initial enthusiasm ends up. It’s such a simple yet effective tool that you’ll soon get addicted to it.
    And what more, you’ll soon be able to live in the present.

  • thebigview.com – Biggest Views About Philosophy and Modern Physics

    Thebigview.com is an excellent website that I recently found out. I must say that I was very fortunate, because I found this site rather unintentionally, during a google search for uncertainty principle.
    The articles in the site are from just two areas – philosophy and physics.
    Just go through the contents here and select which one to read first. (Of course you will want to read it all)

    Buddhism

    A few enlightening views on Buddhism, including that of Albert Einstein.

    Greek Philosophy

    Astonishing insights into an ancient civilization.

    Space Time

    The philosophical consequences of relativity and quantum physics.

    Past Life Analysis

    Find out who you were in your last life.

    Big Views

    Essays on philosophy, science, spirituality and other topics from various authors.

    Tao Te Ching

    Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching – the way.

    Mind & Consciousness

    Explore the mystery of mind and consciousness.

    Or just go to the contents page

  • How Much of Confidence is Overconfidence?

    Every time someone sure to win fails, others attribute a reason, almost instantaneously – “he was overconfident”.
    But, how much of confidence is overconfidence?
    Usain Bolt was sure he would be the Olympic Champion even before the 9.69s run began. And how would have people reacted if he failed in winning the race, after showing the ‘V’ sign even before the “Go” word? Of course, news channels would have been beaming with special bulletins that criticized the act of him imagining himself to be a winner as one of brimming overconfidence. ‘Sports specialists’ would start advising their listeners as to why one should never celebrate success before achieving it.
    But, visualising success and enjoying the fruit before it flowers are all techniques that stand out among self-help techniques. These have been used by many with considerable success in their endeavors. And these are one of the sure fire techniques that allow human bodies to activate the mechanisms that are required in order to achieve the feat that is to follow.

    Still, when you are confident, and when you lose, people criticize you. These fangs are inescapable. You can’t shake off the agony that grips you either.

    So, how do we make sure that we are not overconfident and that we have just that critical amount of fire burning to take us through?
    If we are able to answer this question, we will be able to save ourselves from that embarrassing moment when our confidence present itself as overconfidence to others.

    If you decide not to practice,
    If you decide not to be worried about it,
    If you decide not to look forward to it,
    If you decide not to prepare the failure speech,
    Then, my friend, you can make sure, you are overconfident.

    But, otherwise, every gesture of confidence that you make are completely justified, and the people who call you ‘too confident’ are the people who deserve sympathy for commenting about what they don’t know.

    Be confident. Be overconfident. (Because, as for anything else, sky is the limit for confidence)

  • Have we Turned Cultureless or Cultured

    Indians do have lost their ancient culture. That is beyond doubt.
    But the question is, was that loss a loss at all?

    There are two options.
    A) Yes, our ancient culture was better
    B) No, the new culture is better
    Of course, answering this question requires thoughts and experiments on large scale.

    But, let us try to agree on at least one thing:
    Our ancient culture was practical (at that time when an average Indian never went outside the circle of radius 50 km and center their home).
    But for us to be compatible with the latest innovations in any field (even in spirituality), we must be able to change. Yes, it is survival of the fittest, and if we are not ready to change, we will have to keep our mouth shut, and that’s it.
    So, nowadays the question has changed – do you want to be recognized, or do you want the older culture.
    And the choice is a tough one to make, especially if you consider both of them as essential. (Can we select multiple options)
    So, my answer is C) None of the above (
    Do your best in trying to have the sweet essence of any culture inculcated in the personality that belongs to you.
    )

    And a nice practical tip: Reflect the culture of those around you

  • Search Wikipedia

    Search Wikipedia:

  • Calendar

  • Dictionary

    You can double click any word in Change and instantly see its meaning in a new window.

    Otherwise, you can use one of these resources:
    Free Online Dictionary (thefreedictionary.com)

    Cambridge Dictionaries Online


    Search:
    for



    ________________________
    Other tools:

  • Tools

    Here are some awesome tools available on this blog

    Calculator : Get results as you type
    Calendar : Organise
    Dictionary : Look it up

  • Instantly Calculate


    ________________________
    Other tools:

  • I Shall Suffer From Fever, But I Won’t Take Medicines

    A female mosquito of the Culicidae family (Cul...Image via Wikipedia

    I was bedridden last Saturday and Sunday, and parts of the preceding Friday, of fever. The fever that comes along with the rains. This year, we forgot to clean our surroundings. I mean, everyone in Kannur forgot to do so. And what more, our family decided to shift to the urban Kannur this month. And so, when it started raining, I was conveniently located for the mosquitoes to have a bite. They were here, they were there and they were everywhere. We managed to keep them out of our bedrooms using Mortein. But Mortein actually works only when we have closed every door and window so that no mosquito can enter from outside. And there was this colony of mosquitoes in the bathroom. They come through the closet, like ghosts in Hollywood movies. So, there was no stopping them from looming around us, posing a deadly threat of numerous diseases including malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever and filariasis. Still, we managed to escape their deadly stingers.
    But it so happened that on Friday evening, when I was returning from my new school (Chinmaya Vidyalaya Kannur) I was very tired and the next thing I remember properly is that I was sleeping in bed.

    Now, it was a confirmed case of viral fever. But I didn’t take any medicine. I knew that there was no efficient anti-viral drug with my father. And so I knew that whatever he gives me would be of no use. But, evenif he had a medicine, my father would not tell me to take any medicine. Becuase after almost 20 years of treating patients, he knows that it is better for the body to take no medicine at all rather than take all sorts of anti-biotics that suppress the symptoms of the disease and give momentary relief, destroying the body’s capacity to fight and win over foreign bodies while doing so. And I believe him completely. There can be no medicine stronger than the white blood cells in our body. Just trust your body, give it rest and give it a chance to show what it can do, I’m sure, no disease will ever haunt you for more than a week.

    What I learned from having suffered fevers, alone, for the last 10 years of my life is that, the best way out of a fever, is to suffer it completely.

    Reblog this post [with Zemanta]