Company of self

*A challenge for you.....*

🪷 A Wisdom Article 🪷

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If you want to live a sane, intense and amazing life - *you need to face yourself.*

And one of the easiest ways is to just sit alone for some time.

Let us understand more about this in today's article.

*Questioner:* Sometimes I have a free day, and I plan to just sit at home. But then I really get bored. 

Why does this happen? If I want to just sit, why is it so difficult?

*Sadhguru:* If you are alone and getting bored, obviously you are in bad company.

By the end of the day, if you are feeling miserable, you are in super-bad company.

The fundamental question is: “What is my problem? I have all my limbs intact, I can see, I can hear, I can smell, I can taste, what’s my problem?”

But that is the big problem. That, you will know only if you sit alone.

When there are people around you, you find excuses. 

If you are with someone, it is easy to say, “This guy is horrible, so I’m irritated. She’s not okay, that’s not okay, this is not okay.”

*But when you sit alone and the problem still exists, now you know what the source of the problem is.*

It is like in golf. A lot of people eulogize the game today – that it involves so much and it is not like other games – they are taking it to heaven.

Many people think it is the most difficult, impossible game because when they try to hit the ball, they dig up the course.

So they think it requires so much concentration and focus.

But if you look at any other game you play, the ball comes at you at different velocities, different angles, different spins, you have to judge it in a split second and act.

Here, the ball is just sitting there! You have all the time in the world.

You can think, you can stand, you can adjust and re-adjust yourself – it sits right there!

Even then, many people dig the course.

Sitting alone is the same thing. 

*You are just supposed to sit, not climb a mountain, sing a song or solve a great problem.*

*That’s meditation – nothing; simply sit.*

That’s the easiest thing, isn’t it?

But just see how many problems you have simply sitting by yourself!

Everything looks unnecessarily complicated because *we have never paid attention to that which you call “myself”.*

There is no complication in this. This is a beautiful machine.

It is nice when it is quiet, and it is nice when it makes noise – it can do both well if you keep it well.

*If you have not kept it well, when it is supposed to be quiet, it will make noise, and when it is supposed to make noise, nothing will come out.*

You must sit alone – it is very important. 

The company of the divine is available only to those who do not seek company.

If you have something to share, that’s different but if you are seeking company, the divine thinks “Okay, he’s seeking somebody else’s company. Why am I needed?”

I realized this very early – unless you sit alone, you know nothing.

In company, you can hide so many things.

*When you sit alone, you have to stand the test of your own intelligence, which is severe. You cannot get away from that.*

It is better you are put under the severest possible knife at the earliest possible time in your life. Otherwise, you will grow up into an old fool.

It is all right to be a young fool, but you should not be an old fool.

A young fool is tolerable, but there is no excuse for an old fool.

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Do this as suggested by Sadhguru, try sitting by yourself, all alone and observe your mind every day for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Best wishes.

​​Pranam,

*Yash from Yog Prachar*

From Blogger iPhone client

Love living old

*People who reach 90 without bitterness all share these 7 traits.*

 (A Four-minute Philosophical Read: please read at your leisure)

_Hint: It is not forgiveness, optimism, or gratitude. It is a specific relationship with disappointment that most people never learn to build._

 

Ever wonder why some people who hit the 90 are still laughing at life’s absurdities while others cannot make it past 60 without turning bitter?

A longitudinal study from Harvard that’s been running for over 80 years found something fascinating. 

The people who age without bitterness do not necessarily have more optimism, practice more gratitude, or even forgive more readily than everyone else. 

What they do have is something most self-help books _never_ mention: a radically different relationship with disappointment.

 

(1) *Elastic Boundaries:*

The 90s people have mastered something different about relationships: boundaries that breathe. They are firm when it matters and flexible when it does not. They protect their energy without becoming fortress-like. 

Not too rigid, not too loose. 

Like a tree that bends in the wind but doesn’t break.

 

(2) *Selective Memory Enhancement:*

Researchers found that people who age without bitterness do not have better memories. 

They have more “intentional” ones. 

They actively choose which stories from their past deserve time in their present. 

Not by denying that the hard stuff happened, but by refusing to let it become the only focus. 

Think of it like being the head of your own mental museum. You do not throw out the difficult memories. But you do not make them the centrepiece either. 

_They will remember about the job they lost, sure. But they will also remember the family member who helped them._

Both happened. 

Both are true. 

But the former gets more mental priority.

 

(3) *Genuinely Curious About Being Wrong:*

Want to know the fastest way to become bitter? 

Be right all the time. 

Or at least, believe you are. 

The 90-somethings without bitterness have this wild trait: they get excited when they discover they have been wrong about something. 

Not ashamed or defensive. 

Excited.

Why? Because being wrong means the world is still bigger and more mysterious than they thought. They have replaced the need to be right with the joy of being surprised.

(4) *Asymmetric relationships:*

The relationships that keep you from bitterness are NOT the equal ones. 

They are the asymmetric ones. 

Helping a brother who can never pay you back. 

Caring for a grandchild who will not remember these years. 

Helping strangers you will never see again. 

The 90s people pour energy into relationships where the ledger will *never* balance.

And somehow, that imbalance is exactly what keeps their hearts soft.

The ego needs reciprocity but the soul needs generosity.

 

(5) *Temporal Flexibility:*

Bitter people live in one timeline. Usually the past, sometimes the future, rarely the present. 

But these thriving 90-year-olds? They time travel at the good and bad times at will. 

They do not get stuck in any one time- zone. When the present is painful, they can access the peace of the long view. When they are tempted by nostalgia, they can anchor into right now.

 

(6) *Productive Forgetting:*

Not forgiveness.

Forgetting.

But not the kind that comes from denial or dementia. 

The kind that comes from choice. 

These individuals have learned to let certain grievances simply evaporate. 

Not through forgiveness but through deliberate inattention. 

One researcher called it “selective amnesia.” 

You remember what serves you and let the rest get hazy. 

Not because you are naïve but because you are economical with your mental resources. 

Why waste your energy on the relative that snubbed you at a wedding in 1987?

 

(7) *Disappointment Is Not Treated as Damage:*

People who age without bitterness do not see disappointment as something that happens to them. 

They see it as information. 

Suffering comes from attachment to expectations. 

When disappointment shows up, they ask: “What is this teaching me about real life?” and not “Why is life unfair?”

See the difference? 

It is *not* about having no expectations. 

These 90-year-olds who stay sane do have plenty of expectations. 

They just do not get disappointed if the reality does not match up to their expectations.

*Conclusion:*

The central skill, the seventh one, that relationship with disappointment, is available to you right now. You do not have to wait until you’re 90 to start treating disappointment as a teacher rather than a thief.

*The choice is this: you can collect wounds or collect wisdom.*

From Blogger iPhone client

Sadguru’s Holi

Yesterday was Holi celebrations here where I live currently.

A long beautiful lawn. Pipes lining the roof, drizzling water like soft rain. 

A loud DJ. People dancing, drenched, throwing colours at each other, laughing, screaming. 

Children running wild. Elders forgetting they are elders. 

A burst of colour and exuberance and life. It was beautiful. Truly beautiful. 

The kind of beauty that makes you stop and just watch.

I stood on the side for a while and soaked it in. 

Not the water. Just the aliveness of it all. 

Then I went upstairs feeling very joyous. That was my Holi.

But something happened this morning that has stayed with me.

I was sitting in the society manager's office, just having some small talk with him, and a man walked in. 

Neat uniform. Professional. He works with the security team here. 

After the pleasantries, he said something very simple.

He said, _"I came to play Holi yesterday. I was desperately searching for somebody who would put colours on me. But nobody did."_

Just one sentence. Nothing dramatic. 

No self pity. Just a quiet confession.

And it made me very sad.

Because what he was really saying, even though he did not articulate it in these words, was something much deeper. 

What he was saying was... *my life is colourless. It is bland.* 

*And I was desperately waiting for somebody, anybody, to come and bring some exuberance and joy and colour into my life.* 

*And when I walked through that entire celebration and nobody did... I felt it.*

I have not stopped thinking about this. 

Because if you look at it honestly, this is not just his story. 

*This is the story of all of us.*

If we look at our lives internally, truthfully, without the decorations we put on for the world... it is a colourless, joyless, loveless, bland series of days. 

We know this. We feel this. 

But we do not say it. We just keep going.

And so we wait.

We wait for festivals to feel alive. 

We wait for cricket matches to feel excitement. 

We wait for promotions to feel worthy. 

We wait for vacations to feel free. 

We wait for a special somebody to walk into our life and finally fill it with colours and love and meaning. 

We wait for the next Holi. The next Diwali. The next long weekend.

And in between the waiting... *we just survive.*

This is a very sorry state of affairs if you really sit with it. 

Our entire life is spent waiting for colour to arrive from outside. 

*And sometimes it does.* 

For a day. For an evening. For a festival. And then it fades. 

And we go back to the bland. 

And we start waiting again.

But here is what I want to share with you this Holi.

This is not the only way to live.

You do not have to wait for somebody to put colours on you. 

You do not have to wait for a festival or a special occasion or a special person to arrive to make your life feel alive. 

*There is a way to experience the entire rainbow of life within yourself.* 

There is a way to experience immense joy and bursts of love and celebration within, not as a peak moment that fades *but as a steady living fragrance that stays.*

That is what meditation and spirituality is all about.

Not philosophy. Not concepts. 

Not sitting in a corner with your eyes closed trying to be peaceful. 

It is about becoming so alive from within that you do not need external events to colour your life. 

The colour comes from inside. 

The celebration comes from inside. 

The joy comes from inside.

And when that happens... something magical happens. 

*Interestingly, once your interiority becomes celebratory, your external life also becomes celebratory as a natural consequence.*

Every moment becomes a celebration on its own. 

Wherever you go, life starts throwing its colours on you. 

It does not wait for a Holi. 

The walk in the morning becomes colourful. 

The chit-chat with your friends becomes colourful. 

The stranger's smile becomes colourful. 

The wind on your face becomes colourful.

Life itself becomes the festival.

*So this Holi, let us make a resolve.* 

Not a small one. A strong one. A real one.

When we celebrate Holi, when we celebrate any festival, let us do it with full exuberance. 

Full celebration. Drench yourself. Dance. Throw colours. Laugh until your stomach hurts. Do not hold back.

But at the same time, let us also resolve that this is not just for one day or two days. 

That for the rest of the year, we will strive to make our life celebratory from within. 

Through meditation. Through turning inward. 

Through discovering the colours that are already inside us, waiting to be seen.

When you find that... you will never again desperately search for somebody to put colours on you.

*You will be the colour.*

Wishing you a very happy and meditative Holi 🌈

With love 🩷

*Yash from Yog Prachar* Sadguru

From Blogger iPhone client

Why doctors quit?

We are not losing doctors to money.

We are losing them to emotional exhaustion.

A few years ago, a fellow in my unit quit medicine.

Top ranker. Gold medalist. Brilliant hands.

He did not fail.

He walked away.

He joined an MBA program.

When I asked him why, he said something I will never forget:

“Sir, I can handle long hours. I cannot handle losing people and then being blamed for it.”

Another story.

A junior doctor I knew did not quit.

He died.

By suicide.

After months of relentless ICU duty, litigation threats from a patient’s family, and public humiliation on social media.

There was no headline.

No panel discussion.

No prime-time outrage.

Just a quiet funeral.

And a department that moved on the next morning.

A third one.

A surgeon in his 40s. Successful. Established.

One complication.

Not negligence. Not recklessness. A complication.

It spiraled into legal notices, online abuse, and political interference.

He now runs a wellness retreat in the hills.

He says he sleeps better.

He says he feels lighter.

He says he does not miss the operating room.

That sentence should terrify us.

We keep telling ourselves the system is fine.

It is not.

Across India. Across the UK. Across the US.

Doctors are leaving clinical medicine.

Some go into administration.

Some into startups.

Some into pharma.

Some into tech.

Some into complete silence.

And some into graves.

We do not talk about that enough.

Medicine demands competence.

But it survives on emotional resilience.

And that resilience is being crushed.

Not just by workload.

By distrust.

By constant suspicion.

By the assumption that if an outcome is bad, someone must be guilty.

By the idea that doctors must be perfect in an imperfect biological system.

We are trained to fight death.

We are not trained to fight public outrage every time biology wins.

Here is what scares me.

When the best doctors leave, it is not dramatic.

It is silent.

Residency seats go vacant.

Departments become transactional.

Young doctors stop taking high-risk cases.

Defensive medicine rises.

Compassion shrinks.

Risk-taking disappears.

And slowly, the system becomes average.

Not because doctors became less capable.

Because they became less willing.

I have seen brilliant residents say:

“I would rather build a company.”

“I would rather do consulting.”

“I would rather move abroad.”

“I would rather do anything but this.”

These are not lazy people.

They are tired people.

Tired of carrying outcomes that were never fully in their control.

Tired of being heroes in pandemics and villains in peacetime.

Tired of being called greedy for charging fees that barely match the emotional cost.

And when a doctor dies by suicide, the conversation lasts 48 hours.

Then we return to normal.

As if nothing is wrong.

But something is very wrong.

Because when healers start breaking at scale, it is not an individual weakness.

It is systemic strain.

If you are a doctor reading this, you know.

You know the quiet replay after a bad case.

You know the insomnia.

You know the smile you wear in front of patients.

You know the fear of one mistake defining your career.

You know the emotional math you do every night.

Stay or leave.

Fight or fold.

Care deeply or detach completely.

We are not losing doctors because they cannot survive medicine.

We are losing them because medicine is becoming emotionally unsafe.

And when that happens, the cost is not borne by doctors alone.

It is borne by society.

Because the next generation is watching.

And they are asking a simple question:

“Is this worth it?”

If the answer becomes no…

the shortage will not be numerical.

It will be moral.

Doctors are not murderers.

They are humans who are burning out quietly.

And unless we acknowledge that truth, the system will keep losing its best people.

#Doctors #DoctorBurnout #mentalhealthmatters #HealthcareCrisis #MedicalProfession #doctorsarenotmurderers #mentalhealth #surgeon

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𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫s 𝐨𝐟 '𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬' & 'Dear People, With Love And Care, Your Doctors

From Blogger iPhone client

Senior citizens week

*Happy Senior Citizens Week!* 

What should you reduce?

1. Salt

2. Sugar

3. White flour

4. Dairy products

5. Processed foods

6. Arguments

7. Unnecessary disputes

What should you eat?

1. Vegetables

2. Lentils

3. Peanuts/Legumes

4. Dry fruits

5. Cold-pressed oils (olive, coconut)

6. Fruits

7. Anything bitter from nature

8. Swallow your sorrows and move forward

Try to forget these things:

1. Your age

2. Your past

3. Your complaints

4. The hurts caused by relatives and friends.

Take special care of these:

1. Your family

2. Your friends

3. Your positive thoughts

4. A clean and happy home

5. Saving enough resources for possible tough times ahead

Adopt these habits:

1. Always keep smiling

2. Exercise regularly

3. Maintain your weight

4. Even if your tongue is not sweet, learn to speak sweetly

5. Develop the habit of listening to others

Six lifestyle habits to follow:

1. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty — drink water regularly

2. Don’t wait until you’re exhausted — rest on time

3. Don’t wait until you fall sick — get regular check-ups

4. Don’t wait for miracles

5. Believe in yourself

6. Always stay positive and think of a bright future

7. Don’t sit in one place for too long

Do you have friends aged 53 to 90? Then make sure to send them this message!

“Happy Senior Citizens Week!

Wishing every Senior Citizen in this group a healthy and joyful life!”

From Blogger iPhone client

After the age of 50

After fifty, the body stops sending polite emails and begins issuing official memos.

You wake up one morning and discover that your knees now have opinions. Your back has started keeping records. Your blood pressure has developed ambitions. Somewhere inside you, cholesterol is quietly building a retirement home along your arteries without asking for planning permission.

At this age, the doctor no longer greets you with “How are you?” but with “What are we monitoring this year?”

Cardiovascular disease waits like an old classmate who never forgot you owed him money. Type two diabetes lurks like a relative who visits without notice and stays longer than expected. Osteoporosis is busy negotiating with your bones, slowly convincing them that density is overrated. Arthritis joins the conversation just to ensure every movement is discussed in advance.

And cancer, well, cancer is that uninvited guest whose name everyone lowers their voice to mention.

This is the season of life where the body demands respect, receipts, and a lifestyle audit.

Suddenly you begin to hear sentences you once ignored. Eat more vegetables. Reduce salt. Walk daily. Sleep well. Avoid stress. Drink water. You realize these were not suggestions. They were survival tips that your younger self laughed at while chewing foofoo or deep fried dough pastries, at midnight.

Exercise becomes less about looking good and more about remaining able to stand up without negotiating with the furniture. You are told to do weight bearing exercises for your bones. Brisk walking, stair climbing, squats. At this point, even climbing into a bus feels like resistance training. You are advised to practice balance exercises like standing on one leg. You try it and immediately discover why chairs were invented.

Swimming is recommended for your joints. Cycling is excellent. Yoga is wonderful. Tai chi is calming. You nod seriously, knowing very well the only consistent exercise you have mastered is turning over in bed with skill and experience.

Then the diet arrives.

Calcium. Vitamin D. Vitamin K. Magnesium. Fiber. Protein. Antioxidants. Suddenly your plate begins to look like a pharmacy shelf. You are told to eat cabbage, cucumbers, collard greens, jute mallow, small dried sardines, beans, whole grains, fruits, nuts, fish, and leafy things that your younger self considered decoration.

You are told to reduce salt to less than two grams a day. Two grams. That is the amount of salt that accidentally falls from the shaker while you are thinking about something else.

Sugar becomes a criminal. Fried food becomes suspicious. Processed food becomes a public enemy. Ice creams are now spoken of in past tense like former lovers who were bad for your future.

You are advised to flavor food with garlic, ginger, lemon, and herbs. You discover that food without salt tastes like a motivational speech. Healthy, inspiring, and slightly difficult to swallow.

Portion control is introduced. A fist sized portion of carbohydrates. A palm sized portion of protein. You begin to look at your hands and wonder why they are not bigger.

But beneath all the humor, something becomes very clear.

After fifty, health is no longer automatic. It is a daily decision. It is a quiet discipline. It is choosing to walk when you could sit. Choosing vegetables when you could fry. Choosing sleep when you could scroll. Choosing kindness to your body the same way you should choose kindness to people.

You realize that old age is not decided by years but by habits.

So you walk. Slowly at first. You eat your recommended meals with new respect. You stare at veggies and whisper apologies for past neglect. You attempt a squat and hear sounds from your knees that remind you of opening an old wooden door.

And in the middle of all this, you laugh.

Because the same body that carried you recklessly through youth is now asking for a little cooperation. Not miracles. Just moderation. Not punishment. Just discipline.

After fifty, you finally understand something profound.

Good health is not a gift. It is a project.

And like all serious projects, it begins with small, stubborn, consistent actions.

From Blogger iPhone client

Our beloved teens

Not Spoiled….Just Wired…Gentle Boundaries …. Pause, Breathe, Connect: Practical Parenting …..for Gen Alpha

Who are Gen Alpha

Generation Alpha are the children born into a world where screens and constant connectivity are the default. They grew up with instant access to information, interactive media, and devices from toddlerhood, which shapes how they think, learn, and feel A. This is not about being “spoiled”; it’s about a different brain environment and a different developmental tempo B.

A brain in acceleration

Their nervous systems have been in acceleration mode since early childhood: fast inputs, bright instant rewards, and rapid mental processing. That speed brings strengths — quick learning, pattern recognition, and early fluency with technology — and vulnerabilities: waiting feels intolerable, long repetitive tasks drain them, and boredom registers as stress. This is an overloaded attention system, not simple misbehavior.

Screens are the strongest stimulus, not the enemy

Screens deliver the most powerful, concentrated stimulation these kids experience. The issue isn’t the gadget itself; it’s that the brain often doesn’t get the recovery it needs after intense input. After screen time, children need a return to the body:

• Movement

• Water and nourishing food

• Real human contact

Without those pauses, overstimulation builds and meltdowns follow A.

What overstimulation looks like

Gen Alpha children often receive more stimulation in a single day than previous generations did in a week. The common signs are:

• Faster fatigue

• Emotional outbursts

• “Everything is fine and then an explosion”

These reactions are a nervous system without pauses — not deliberate defiance. They may have a rich emotional vocabulary but still lack the regulation skills to hold intense feelings; connection must come before logic.

What doesn’t work and what does

What doesn’t work

• “Because I said so”

• Pressure

• Shouting

What does work

• A calm adult

• Predictable rules

• A feeling of “I am safe with you”

For Gen Alpha, authority equals stability, not fear. They are highly sensitive to evaluation even when they don’t show it, so home must be a recovery base — a place to be imperfect and unperformed, not another stage.

Why strictness backfires

Harshness raises anxiety, and anxiety blocks learning. The result is predictable: the child shuts down, resists, or breaks inside. These kids don’t learn through pressure; they learn through structure + support. That means boundaries that are firm but delivered from a regulated adult presence B.

What they really need

Not perfect parents. But:

• Clear boundaries

• Consistent routines

• An adult who can regulate their own emotions

Adult regulation equals child regulation. When caregivers stay steady, children can practice calming skills and rebuild their nervous systems with predictable pauses and recovery.

Practical starting points

• Create short, predictable transitions after screen time: a walk, a snack, a hug.

• Build routines that include movement and sensory breaks.

• Name feelings with the child, then offer containment before explanations.

• Model calm: breathe, lower your voice, and keep rules consistent.

• Make home a nonjudgmental zone where mistakes are learning, not performance.

In the end

Gen Alpha kids aren’t “too much.” They’re growing up in a high-stimulation world and need structure + connection, not pressure or fear. If you want to build strong boundaries without breaking your child’s spirit, start with steadiness: be the calm, predictable anchor they can return to when the world moves too fast

From Blogger iPhone client