There was a very strict monastery that followed a vow of silence. The monks were not allowed to speak. At all. However, there was one exception to this rule. Once in ten years, the monks had permission to speak two words. One monk, after his first ten years at the monastery,…
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Have you found your Ikigai? Ikigai is a Japanese concept. Iki means “life,” and gai means “value” or “worth.” Gai comes from the word kai meaning “shell.” The concept dates back to the Heian period (794 to 1185), when shells were considered valuable. Thus, Ikigai is about finding value in one’s…
H is for Happiness and I bring you thirty happiness habits to practice every day! The theme for this year’s International Day of Happiness was “Share Happiness – focusing on the importance of relationships, kindness and helping each other.” I thought it was a wonderful theme to spread happiness and make…
It happened in 1982. Most of you reading this were probably not even born (couldn’t resist that—what with most people addressing me as anything but Vidya these days *evil grin*) I was in the first year of college, studying for a B.Sc. and had moved mid-year from Secunderabad to Madras. Yes,…
I first heard the word frenemy three decades ago. I thought the teenager who used it had made it up, and thought it was quite clever, as it made so much sense. But no—it has been used as far back as 1953. The Urban Dictionary’s top definition of Frenemy is: The…
I am late today because I had to empty the cup before I wrote this post. There’s this charming Zen story about Nan-in, the Zen master. People visited him from far and near to receive his wisdom. One day, a rather pompous professor came to him to learn about Zen. He…
Dayenu is a concept mentioned in the Jewish Haggadah which defines the order of the Passover Supper, the Seder, celebrating the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery (Book of Exodus). The eight days of Passover coincides with Holy Week celebrated by Christians all over the world. So what is Dayenu?…