On The Value Of Time

Each second is equally important,

The time you spend standing in line to get into a stadium to watch your favourite team play is equally important as the time you spend watching the game.

The time you spend on the road to reach your vacation destination is equally important as the time you spend on the destination.

Do not overlook this equality of value.

Do not make up your own theory and start giving some moments a special importance.

Reconsider your plan if you are going to spend long hours in a waiting line to watch a short-timed event.

Reconsider your plan if you are going to be stuck in traffic for hours before reaching your vacation destination.

In short, don’t pass a lot of time to enjoy for a short time.

Passing time is a habit that doesn’t go away easily.

Realize that being present and aware each second of your life is the ultimate vacation.

Being present while cooking will make every dish your favourite dish.

Being present while cooking is the path to becoming an outstanding chef.

Being present while eating will make you appreciate every dish.

Being present while eating is the path to developing a sense of different flavours.

Passing time is not about not utilizing time, it is not about not being productive,

It is just that you have forgotten that you have limited time on this planet.

You are more close to your grave than you were a moment ago.

Hence, each second is equally important.

You cannot keep making the same mistakes, and fall into the same pits.

For it is not about repeating the mistake, but about the tremendous amount of time lost in the process.

Time that is equally important to the time of someone not making the same mistake again.

Therefore, fill each moment with awareness, knowing that the one who skips the present moment skips life.

Each Second Is Equally Important was originally published in Mindfully Speaking on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Identify With Your Ignorance

Live with the facts …

Live with the fact that you are going to die one day,

That you do not get to choose the date and time of your death,

That you do not get to choose the way you die,

That you do not get to choose the place of your death,

That you may be away from your family when you die,

That you may die because of another person’s mistake,

That you may die very young,

That you may die on the day you retire,

That you may die on vacation,

That you may die in an instant,

That you may not get any time to think before you die,

That you may not wake up tomorrow,

That you will not see death coming,

That you are mortal.

Live with the fact that this world was not waiting for you to arrive,

That this world will not do anything to stop you from going,

That this world was doing fine before you,

That this world will do fine after you,

That you will be misunderstood in your lifetime and after,

That your life’s work may go unrecognized,

That you may never be with the person you love,

That you may not be able to achieve your goals,

That you may not be able to fulfill your dreams.

Live with the fact that you had parents while growing up,

That some children grow up in an orphanage,

That some children grow up in the slums,

That your parents could afford your education,

That your father is not an addict,

That you were born into a wealthy family,

That you were born in a rich country,

That you have the privilege of passing time,

That you have the privilege to pursue a hobby,

That you have the privilege to fail at something,

That you did not choose your religion,

That you were not discriminated against,

That you may have discriminated unknowingly,

That you did not choose your genetic makeup,

That some people are born with permanent disabilities.

Live with the fact that there is no such concept as “I deserve this”

Live with the fact that there can never be a “Self-Made Man”

Live with the fact that you are enjoying your ignorance.

Live With The Facts was originally published in Mindfully Speaking on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Quotes That Played The Role of a Guide

As I grew up, my knowledge increased, my experience of life increased, and I got exposed to many new things. All this resulted in me making a different sense of what was happening within and around me at different points in time.

I have saved a lot of quotes on my Instagram and Twitter over time. In this piece, I have put them in chronological order to depict how I evolved with time.

Let’s begin,

1. Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so we may fear less. — Marie Curie
2. When kids look up to great scientists the way they do to great musicians and actors, civilization will jump to the next level. — Brian Greene
3. No man should escape our universities without knowing how little he knows. — J. Robert Oppenheimer
4. Any fool can know. The point is to understand. — Albert Einstein
5. Faith can move mountains, but it freezes your mind. — Sadhguru
6. I know I am talking nonsense, but I’d rather go rambling on, and partly expressing something I find it difficult to express, than to keep on transmitting faultless platitudes. — Thomas Mann
7. Some think it’s in the wine, and others think it’s in the divine, but pleasantness is what everyone’s seeking. — Sadhguru
8. The silence you feel in the Himalayas is not your silence, it belongs to the Himalayas. But if in the marketplace you can feel silence, you can be utterly at ease and relaxed, it is yours. Then you have a Himalaya in your heart. — Osho
9. Raising the bar of attention is more important than information. With enhanced attention, you ultimately become conscious. — Sadhguru
10. Knowledge isn't free. You have to pay attention. — Richard P. Feynman
11. Life is in the details. Just look at a flower or an ant, how intricately every piece of creation is engineered! — Sadhguru
12. The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life that is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run. — Henry David Thoreau
13. If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever. — Thomas Aquinas
14. Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others. — Edward Abbey

Now, I have not read all the quotes there are. But these are the quotes I read over time and feel that they articulate the evolution of my understanding of life in a precise manner.

These quotes are like the truths of life revealed to me one by one by my curiosity. They all add up to form a framework on which my experience of life will be built by my compulsive responses and conscious actions.

I am making my curiosity work hard to find more such truths as it is always a good idea to have a solid and stable framework.

I was not sure whether to put this piece together or not, but then I remembered what Krishna says in the Gita,

The worst crime in the world is indecision.

Quotes That Felt Like Checkpoints In The Journey Of Life was originally published in Know Thyself, Heal Thyself on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My Relationship With Science

Can I ever write something that is really valuable to anyone except me?

Yes, I can. That is pretty easy. My mother will surely appreciate anything I write. So will my father, my brother, and my close friends.

But, can I ever write something that is really valuable to a lot many strangers?

I have read books, and articles, and quotes that proved to be really valuable for me. So, I can write too.

But what kind of writing will that be?

Will it be poems that express my emotions?

I don’t think so. My emotions are my business. They are unique. In no scenario do they replicate in another being.

Will it be my philosophy of life?

It won’t work either. Philosophy provides solace, sometimes solutions. I am not looking to give people solace.

Can I write fiction?

I must be joking if I said yes. I have found literature to be extremely useful in making real-life decisions. But I don’t think I have what it takes to write a well stitched story.

I can’t help myself most of the times, being in the chains of my physicality. No point taking about writing self-help stuff.

I have no advice to give. I have not figured out most of my things, nor will I ever be able to. It’s not that easy, that I have realized.

I don’t go well with popular opinions either. What do I know about the history, religions, politics, economics, and so on.

Surely, I can’t teach you how to make money. I skip meals sometimes and I don’t have a grooming routine.

I am not a career man. I try to do what is needed for me to stay in the game.

Then what should I write?

Maybe I should replicate the work I found useful. For I know, I can’t be an outlier in this all connected world.

I should write the truth, only the truth, and nothing except the truth. That which is true for all beings, humans or not.

That sun never rises and sets, instead, the earth revolves around the sun.

That the natural state of this universe is dark, we just get light for sometime.

That species were not created separately, but evolved from a common point.

That what we see are not stars, but light emitted by them long time ago before dying.

I have found this useful, you will too. This is my philosophy, my religion, and our history, the existential reality. May it become yours too.

For you too cannot survive without food and water. For you get sick by overeating and feel better by fasting too.

For you and me are mortals, the past is gone, and the clock is ticking.

An Ode to Science was originally published in Know Thyself, Heal Thyself on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Every Action has its Consequences

Some time ago, I read a quote by Henry David Thoreau. The quote goes,

The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life that is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.

I could immediately relate to this sentence and that is why I decided to write about what is my learning from this quote.

Let us suppose you want to buy a house for yourself by the end of your twenties and you are in your early twenties now. You did some research and found out that you need to earn 100,000 dollars every year from now on till your late thirties to fulfill your wish. So, you start looking for job profiles that pay 100,000 dollars a year. You shortlist a few job profiles that you feel will comfort you and start preparing to get those jobs. Now, the cost of that house is the amount of time and energy that you will spend in making sure that you get that job and retain it till your house is fully paid off. The cost of that house also includes all the things that you will not do to devote your time and energy to your job. The cost of that house also includes all those job profiles that you will not even look into because they do not pay enough but might be a far better match to your inner longings. In short, the cost of that house is the collection of experiences that you choose to go through for that house to be yours, plus the collection of experiences you choose to avoid consciously or unconsciously to free your time and energy. Since life is what you experience, it is basically the amount of life you will have to exchange for the ownership of that house. Does it sound a bit frightening?

According to me, it should sound frightening. When you think about it, you want to buy that house because you want a good place to live for yourself and your family. Some other factors that contribute to your wish may be security, social status, peer pressure, following the crowd, leaving resources for progeny, and retirement plans. Beyond these, I cannot see any possible reason that will motivate you to work so hard for almost two decades. But consider this, you can rent a good place to live for yourself and your family. So, it is these other factors that are playing on your mind and making you do all the work. Here, two scenarios arise.

First is that you think that things like security, social status, peer pressure, following the crowd, leaving resources for progeny, and retirement plans are things that are needed to be taken off to live a happy and satisfying life. In this case, you need to remember that you are mortal. How can a mortal life find its full potential by succumbing to peer pressure or following the crowd?

Your life is like a movie in which you are the main character. Just like in every movie, your life has a starting point and an end. There is just one twist. Unlike a movie, your life plays out only once. But there is one advantage, you get to write the script as well. Succumbing to peer pressure means you do not recognize all this and you decide to be a part of somebody else’s movie. Similarly, following the crowd means you decide to write your movie script as most people have written. In both cases, you do not value your own life enough to live it your own way. You do not realize that regret is far worse than failure. All because you keep forgetting that you are mortal and you only live once.

Once you are fully conscious of your mortality, you will not seek security in your life. You begin to understand that the walls of self-protection that you build around yourself start turning into walls of self-imprisonment after a point of time. You get entangled with things that provide you with safety, so you cannot just walk away one fine day. Also, you realize that your silly plans for the future will not stand the test of time. Your planning for retirement sounds like you are here forever, so you will collect all the resources first and then start enjoying your life. On the other hand, mortality teaches you that every second of your brief life is equally important and should be invested in activities that ensure your survival and fulfillment at the same time. Talking about taking care of your progeny, they need to learn the truths of life through your life story more than anything else. If you will be able to give them a good story, resources will never be a problem for them. Lastly, you will not care about your social status, i.e., what people think of you because you know that their thoughts and opinions are of no existential consequence.

The second scenario is that you know that security, social status, peer pressure, following the crowd, leaving resources for progeny, retirement plans, etc. are not the factors to consider while making the decision because they are quite irrelevant. But at the same time, you feel that there is no other way around these things. You feel that you have to follow society because you are unable to find out an alternative. In this case, you need to give yourself more time to figure things out and educate yourself on how to better deal with situations like this.

Now comes the price that you will pay for making the decision to buy that house without knowing all this. You will most probably get stuck in an office job in the accounting department or something like that, looking at numbers 40 hours a week. You will most probably never think of leaving that job because you worked so hard to get it. Even if you are bored and question your purpose in life sitting in the office one day, you will not have the courage to quit because your monthly income goes into home loan EMI which you have to pay at all costs. You will regret not taking those extra courses in literature and tried pursuing a career in writing which was always your inner longing. You will miss all the travel that you could have done had you rented a house and saved a lot of money. This list can go on and on. The price cannot even be calculated, it is so overwhelming that only the word life can capture it. In short, you will exchange a huge part of your life for that house.

On the other hand, if you drop your plan of buying a house because you realized that it is not the smartest thing to do, life will be different. You may become a writer, working remotely from a hill station, exploring different places around the world now and then. Again, this list can go on and on. You will be able to live a lot more. But most importantly, you will have a story for your children.

I imagined a hypothetical case of buying a house just to explain how the system works. There is a cost for everything. Nothing comes free in life. All I learned from this quote is that when you decide to do something, remember the cost in terms of the amount of life that has to be paid to do it. You may be able to get some things for a very less cost, maybe buying a house also comes under this category of you. Just be aware of that one wrong choice that can take your chunk of life.

What Henry David Thoreau Taught Me? was originally published in ILLUMINATION’S MIRROR on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

My Title Sequence Recommendations

During the lockdown because of the covid pandemic, I was left with limited options to invest time. One of these options was watching the cinema and I spent a lot of time at it. Now, I pay the utmost attention and show full involvement in whatever I do. As a result, I became a nut for cinema. And soon, I started noticing things in movies or television show episodes that I did not notice earlier. One of these things is the title sequence of a web series/television show.

According to Wikipedia, a title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programs present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often an opening theme song with visuals, akin to a brief music video). It typically includes (or begins) the text of the opening credits, and helps establish the setting and tone of the program. It may consist of live action, animation, music, still images, and/or graphics.

Or you can just search for the title sequence of your favorite show on youtube and you will know what I am talking about.

I feel the title sequences are impressive and deserve the same amount of appreciation and engagement from the audience as the rest of the film. They are a sort of independent creation, still, suck you into the process of watching the episode and getting your full attention on the screen. So, here are my three recommendations for great title sequences, and doing this exercise is my way of appreciating all the hard work done behind creating the title sequences for the shows.

1. Sherlock — It has to be my first recommendation because this was the first time I really noticed the sheer art in the opening credits and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The title track perfectly aligns with the detective vibe of the show.
2. The Good Doctor — The title sequence of this show has both, great music and great visuals. It gave me feel good and positive vibes whenever I saw it. In case you have not watched this show, I recommend you to go for it.
3. Rocket Boys — The title sequence of this web series is my favorite of all the shows that I have watched. It has all the elements in it. The opening theme song is very powerful, and so are the visuals.

I got the adrenaline rush every time I saw these opening credits and never got bored of them. I am sure you must have your favorites. Share with the world what you feel about them because that is how it should be.

My Fascination for the Title Sequences was originally published in Writers’ Blokke on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How Milarepa got Enlightened?

Tibet has a unique culture. It has its own spiritual processes. Some of the all-time great people from Tibet became so by following a combination of spiritual processes and occult practices. Of these people, Milarepa stands out.

When Milarepa was young, he lost his father. His father was rich. He lived in a good house, possessed a good amount of land and property. But once Milarepa’s father died, his uncle took control over everything and treated his mother, younger sister and him like slaves in the family. His uncle abused and tortured them in so many ways. Due to this, Milarepa grew up with a lot of resentment and anger within himself.

When he became an adult, he left the family and went away. He wanted to take revenge on his uncle and aunt who made him and his loved ones suffer for such a long time. So, he went to learn the occult and mastered some occult practices. After many years, when he went back to his uncle’s house, he found that his mother and younger sister are dead. Milarepa became angrier on knowing this. He waited for the right opportunity to take revenge on his uncle and aunt.

Soon, the wedding day of his uncle’s son came. His uncle had invited all his friends to attend the wedding at his house. On that day, Milarepa used his occult and brought large hail falling on the house of his uncle. His uncle and aunt died with almost 80 other people on that day. The whole place was heaped with hail. Milarepa felt very happy and satisfied after what he had done. But after some time, this act started bothering him. He realized that he has misused his life and capabilities in a very fundamental way. There is no justification for this act. Something deep inside him got disturbed.

Milarepa decided to absolve himself of all this. He wanted to seek the spiritual process and find a way to be freed in this lifetime. So, he went in search of a master and met many people. All of them were sincere enough to admit that they did not know the way to attain realization in this lifetime. They offered to teach him some practices (like practice love, practice compassion, practice kindness, etc.) which will help him evolve during this lifetime and the next ones. But Milarepa was not satisfied with those things. Still, a certain amount of anger, resentment and regret was within him. At last, somebody told him that Marpa is the man who can help him the way he wants.

So, Milarepa went in search of Marpa. Marpa was known as the Translator because he translated the great Indian tantric texts into the local languages of Tibet. He travelled to India three times, met certain masters and got teachings, methods and texts from them. Then he translated all this knowledge into the local languages of Tibet. When Milarepa approached the town in which Marpa lived, he met a bunch of children. So, he asked them the whereabouts of Marpa, the Translator. One boy told him that he knows where Marpa is and took him to a field where Marpa was ploughing.

When Milarepa reached there, Marpa looked at him and left the plough in the field. Marpa then gave Milarepa a glass of locally brewed beer and told him to drink it and then plough the land. Milarepa followed the instructions, drank the beer and started ploughing. Meanwhile, Marpa left while the boy stood there. After Milarepa completed the ploughing, the boy told Milarepa to come with him. The boy took him to Marpa’s house where Milarepa realized that the boy is Marpa’s son. Milarepa bowed down to Marpa and asked Marpa to give him a process through which he can attain realization and be liberated in this life only. He also asked Marpa to provide him with food and shelter.

On hearing this, Marpa told Milarepa that he can only get one thing from him. Milarepa can either receive food and shelter from Marpa and receive the methods from someone else, or he can arrange his own food and shelter and get the methods from Marpa. Milarepa decided to receive the teachings and methods from Marpa and arrange food and shelter on his own. So, he went out begging. Now, Milarepa was a very spirited man, whatever he did he overdid it a little. He went far and gathered sacks of wheat because he wanted to gather enough food for the whole year so that he can stay in one place and focus on learning the methods. He also brought a copper pot by selling some of the wheat he collected so that he can cook his own food. Then he carried all this heavy load and walked a long distance back to Marpa’s house.

On reaching there, he dropped the load on the floor with one big boom. Marpa was having lunch at that time. He left it halfway through and came out. Marpa told Milarepa that he looks very angry and his wheat and vessel have shook the whole house. Marpa also told Milarepa that it looks like he has come to destroy this house just as he destroyed his uncle’s house, therefore, he is not a suitable candidate to receive the teachings. Milarepa then explained the whole situation to Marpa but Marpa told him to just stay out of the house, plough the field and do other chores.

For almost eight years, Milarepa did all this. Other students periodically came and received the teachings. They stayed for a day and left after being given the methods for attaining realization. But Milarepa did not get single teaching despite doing all the hard work. Then one day he sneaked into a Satsang (spiritual discourse/a sacred gathering) where he is not supposed to be. Marpa was sitting with his eyes closed so Milarepa hoped that he would also get teachings like other students. Marpa stood up and walked towards Milarepa with his eyes closed. He thrashed Milarepa and threw him out of the place. This happened again and again, Milarepa sneaked in multiple times over the years in the hope of getting initiated into the spiritual process. More than 13 years passed, he did not get anything.

Then one day Milarepa pleaded with Marpa’s wife, who was like his mother, to ask Marpa to give him teaching. So she used her good offices with her husband. Marpa was convinced but he told Milarepa to first build a three-cornered house for his son, all by himself. Milarepa built the three-cornered house and took two years to do it. Marpa looked at the house and said that this house is not suitable for his son. He told Milarepa to build a four-cornered house. Milarepa followed the instructions and built a four-cornered house. But Marpa was still not satisfied, so he asked him to build a five-cornered house. Milarepa built the five-cornered house. This time, Marpa was satisfied with the house but he told Milarepa that he needed 60 feet high tower on each corner of the house. By the time Milarepa completed all this, he was ageing.

Then one day he crawled at the mother’s feet and asked her to do something as his life was passing away. Milarepa told her that he knows he has done horrible things in the past and misused the occult in a very fundamental way. But at the same time, he has done enough to make up for it. So the mother decided to do something out of compassion. She took Marpa’s letterhead and wrote a letter to another monk who was also empowered to initiate people into the spiritual process. She made the letter as if Marpa has written it himself. She gave the letter to Milarepa and Milarepa went to that monk and got initiated into the spiritual process, but nothing happened. The monk was shocked on seeing this because some changes should happen after the initiation.

In utmost remorse, Milarepa was about to commit suicide. Then Marpa called Milarepa and told him that he will give him the teachings now. Marpa told Milarepa that he was just giving him the methods to work out the things which he had done in the past. If Milarepa just went by the words of Marpa, this would have been over a long time ago. But Milarepa did every task and took one sneaky way out of the process by disobeying Marpa. Due to this, everything got postponed for many years. Then Marpa told Milarepa that now his remorse is touching the core of his being in such a way that he is willing to die. Therefore, Milarepa is ready and Marpa initiated him into the spiritual process.

On the very third day, Milarepa had a vision of Dakini. In tantric technology, one goddess is created for every chakra (centers of spiritual power) in the body. A female form is consecrated and made alive that can be called forth to do certain things. So, Dakini came into Milarepa’s vision and told him that Marpa has given him the teaching except for one fundamental aspect, which Marpa does not know himself. Then Milarepa went back to Marpa. On seeing Milarepa, Marpa asked him the reason behind coming back to him. Milarepa told Marpa that Dakini came into his vision and said so and so things. He does not know whether this is for real or just his imagination. Marpa bowed down to Milarepa and told him that he does not know the missing thing. He asked Milarepa to travel with him to India to find out what is missing.

So, they both travelled to India to Marpa’s guru who lived on the border of modern Nepal and Bihar. When they met him, Marpa told his guru that Dakini said so and so things in the vision. On hearing this, Marpa’s guru told Marpa that this could not happen with him. He asked Marpa to tell him from where did he come to know about the fact that one fundamental aspect is missing. Marpa told him that this whole thing was experienced by one of his disciples.

Then the guru turned towards Tibet, bowed down, and said that at last one source of light has emerged in the dark north. He gave Marpa and Milarepa the whole teaching for attaining full enlightenment in this life. After that, both of them came back to Tibet. Marpa, who started as a guru, became a disciple of Milarepa. Milarepa became the source of light in the Tibetan culture. A lot of things that have been done in Tibetan culture in the last 300–400 years are on the base set up by Milarepa.

Eight Layers of Memory

When we talk about memory, we generally refer to what we remember. In actuality, this is not the case. Memory has layers to it. According to the yogic system, memory is an accumulation of responses and eight types of memory exist in this creation. These are,

1. Elemental Memory
2. Atomic Memory
3. Evolutionary Memory
4. Genetic Memory
5. Karmic Memory
6. Unconscious Memory
7. Subconscious Memory
8. Conscious Memory

These eight types of memory are classified into two groups, Inanimate Memory and Animate Memory.

In Inanimate Memory, we have Elemental Memory and Atomic Memory.

According to the yogic system, the first step in creation (from nothing to something) is the formation of five elements, namely, earth, water, air, fire and ether. Each name represents a distinctive attribute and not the substance itself. For example, earth represents solid and water represents liquid. These elements have different characteristics and are the basis for all creation.

Elemental Memory is the record of how these five elements interact with each other. For example, ether (which represents the vast empty space in the cosmos) contains earth (solid) is the way in which these elements interact with each other.

The next step in creation is the formation of material (eg. gases, liquids, etc.). Atomic Memory is the record of how this material is made and how it behaves. For example, how do the five elements make subatomic particles, atoms, and then molecules are contained in this memory.

Next comes the Animate Memory. In this, the first layer of memory is Evolutionary Memory. Evolutionary Memory is the record of how the evolution of life has taken place. To give the context, this memory plays a key role in making sure that human beings are born with two legs, two arms, two eyes, two hands, etc.

Upon the layer of Evolutionary Memory lies the layer of Genetic Memory. Genetic Memory is the record of all the genetic material passed on to the next generation by ancestors. To give the context, this memory plays a key role in making you a unique human being among all other human beings. It will do so by deciding your skin colour, the shape of your facial features, etc. through which you can be uniquely identified.

The next layer of memory is Karmic Memory. Karmic Memory is made by the accumulation of impressions. This accumulation is not limited to the current life but also contains impressions from all previous lives and the process of evolution. The way in which this memory plays its part is beyond our normal understanding.

The last layer of memory is the accumulation of impressions by the mind or mental body. There is a large portion of this memory that a person is completely unaware of, we call it Unconscious Memory. Then there is a portion of it that you can recollect and articulate. We call it Conscious Memory. Last is a portion of memory that lies just beneath the Conscious Memory, the Subconscious Memory.

For example, you may never recollect what you thought about your English teacher in the fourth grade. Similarly, you cannot recollect a lot of mental impressions you made in the past. These impressions do not go away. They are all stored in the unconscious memory.

Now, you may be able to recollect some of the boys/girls you liked in your school days. If not all of them, you will at least recollect some names. These impressions are a part of the subconscious memory as you cannot remember them fully but have some awareness about them.

But there are some impressions that you can easily recollect and articulate with precision even today. It may be how you felt after when your nation won the football world cup, the opinion you had for your calculus teacher in the university, etc. These impressions find their place in the conscious memory.

But whether the impressions are in unconscious, subconscious or conscious memory, it does not matter when it comes to shaping up your life to the point where it is now.

These are the eight kinds of memory according to the yogic system.

In yogic language,

These are the layers of memory that make you the life you are right now.

Types of Memory in Yoga was originally published in Mindfully Speaking on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Read Canonical Books

There are countably infinite books available to us today. Each book offers something unique to its readers. In this context, you can pick up any book and most probably you will learn something new. But this is not the way we select books.

We generally select books by some algorithm and everyone has his/her own algorithm. Let me give you an example. Suppose there is a freshman at ABC University. His name is Sam. Sam likes history and tends to pick up books written on historical events. In this case, Sam’s algorithm for selecting books is “select books according to my interests”. Some other examples of this algorithm can be “select books to learn a new subject”, “select books of my favourite author”, “select books that help in career advancement”, etc.

Although these algorithms are perfectly fine, I believe that everyone should add one more criterion to their algorithm for selecting books. The criterion is “read canonical books”. Now, what makes a book canonical? I will give you an answer.

Books exist in a relationship with one another. This is quite obvious. So, if we go back to the past, we can rank the books in order according to the degree to which they have influenced all other books. These books are ‘citations’ in some sense. And the books that have influenced the largest number of other books are the canonical books.

For example, the ultimate canonical book in the west is the biblical corpus because it has influenced virtually everything. You need to know it because it is implicit in other works. So, you start there and at least gain basic knowledge of it. This knowledge will give you the foundation (metaphorical foundation, conceptual foundation, mythical foundation, etc.) to read books that are down the order.

Also, you are in part a historical creature so these books are also about you and without knowing and understanding them you do not who you are and you may not be able to guide yourself properly in life. And it is not just about you here right now, it is about you that can unfold across the whole timeline.

Now, some books have hardly any relationships with other books. Most of these books are trivial. There is a possibility that some of them might be the undiscovered works of geniuses. But it does not matter because you cannot separate the wheat from the chaff at present. It's too difficult because there is too much chaff.

Hence, it is very important for you to figure out which books are canonical and then go through them. This will help in achieving the whole purpose of books and not just your purpose of reading, that is

Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible. — Barack Obama

In Multivariate Analysis

Design of Experiments (DoE) is a method used to analyze the relationship between a particular independent variable and the dependent variable when there are multiple independent variables affecting the dependent variable. I will try to explain this definition and the concept through multiple examples.

Suppose you own a piece of land and you grew a vegetable on this land. Let us call this vegetable, VegA. You are not satisfied with the total amount of VegA you got in this batch and you want to increase the output. How will you do it?

You decide to take help from me. I listen to your problem and decide to use DoE to solve the problem. First of all, I will note down all the factors which contribute to the level of output of VegA. I find that soil fertility, weather, availability of water and pests affect the total yield (There may be more factors. We are taking only four factors for understanding purpose). Here, these four factors are independent variables and total yield is a dependent variable (as total yield depends upon these factors).

Now I want to study the relationship between total yield and availability of water i.e., how does the amount of water given to the crop affects the total yield. To know this, I will create three boxes in my land and plant the same vegetable seeds in each of them. I will just vary the amount of water in these boxes and keep the rest of the things (amount of fertilizers, amount of pesticides) the same in each box. In the first box, I will supply the same amount of water I supplied in the previous batch. In the second box, I will supply more water and use less water in the third box.

Next, I will compare the yields from these boxes and I will be able to tell whether the availability of water and total yield have a positive correlation (yield increases with an increase in the water supply/yield decreases with a decrease in the water supply), negative correlation (yield increases with a decrease in the water supply/yield decreases with an increase in the water supply) or no correlation (total yield does not depend upon the amount of water used). In this way, I will know the exact relationship between these variables and use this information to my benefit.

Now I will create three more boxes and repeat the same process to determine the correlation (type of relationship) between soil fertility and total yield. This time I will vary the amount of fertilizer instead of water and collect the required information. Similarly, I will check the effect of pesticides on total yield.

To check the effect of weather on total yield, I will grow the vegetable in different seasons to determine whether the weather affects the total yield or not. If yes, I will know which season is best to grow VegA.

After all this is done, I will put together all the information and take the optimum value of each independent variable to get the maximum value of the dependent variable i.e., total yield.

Here I just designed appropriate experiments to study the effects of multiple independent variables on one dependent variable. This whole process is called “Design of Experiments”.

It is not necessary that only one-to-one relationships can be studied through DoE. We can also design experiments to study the effect of a combination of two or more independent variables on a dependent variable. In this example itself, we can study the combined effect of soil fertility and the availability of water on total yield.

To do this, I will keep the other two factors constant but use a unique combination of the amount of fertilizer and water in each box. For example, in the first box, I will put more water and less fertilizer. In the second box, I will put less water and more fertilizer. Like this, I will create nine boxes each having a unique formula. Now, I will be able to determine which combination is most suitable to increase the total yield of VegA.

Hence, DoE can be used to study every possible relationship that exists within dependent and independent variables. The example given above just creates a very basic understanding of the methodology. Usually, we design more detailed experiments so that the data we collect from these experiments is sufficient and appropriate for further statistical analysis. Let me give you another example in which we design a more detailed experiment.

Suppose you have created a homemade pill and you claim that this pill is effective in treating anxiety. How do you prove it firmly? Again, you come to me for help. Again, I decide to use DoE to solve the problem. First of all, I will collect a group of people who are having anxiety issues. Let us suppose I collect 60 people. Now I will divide them into three groups of 20 each. These groups are GroupA, GroupB, GroupC.

I will give the pills made by you to GroupA. I will give another set of pills to GroupB. But these pills are just sugar candies made to look like medicinal pills. They do not have any effect on humans. I will not give any pills to GroupC. Over a period of time (the amount of time you think it takes for pills to start showing results), GroupA and GroupB will continue to take the pills given to them (in the dosage recommended by you). GroupC will not take any kind of pill during this time.

After the time period is over, I will collect the data from everyone on whether their anxiety is cured or not. In the end, I will have sufficient data to perform further statistical analysis. Through this analysis, I will be able to determine whether the pills made by you are actually helpful or not, or it is the placebo effect that is curing anxiety. It can also be that anxiety goes itself after a certain amount of time and nothing external is required to solve the problem.

Hence, I designed an appropriate experiment which helped me in gathering enough data to test my hypothesis. This is what DoE is all about. To give an analogy “ DoE is to Statistics as Experimental Physics is to Physics”.

Through this article, I explained what does the term “Design of Experiment” means in layman's language. Obviously, there are a lot of factors involved in designing experiments that we have not discussed. In future, I will try to bring these factors to light. For now, I will end this article with,

Developmental scientists like me explore the basic science of learning by designing controlled experiments. — Alison Gopnik

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