Theme Explanation: Destruction
Yes, we are in the Kali Yugam. This is evidenced in Srimad Bhagavatam, the Bhagavad Gita, and countless other scriptures that detail the effects of Kali. There will be leaders that care only for their own benefit as greed will increase, spirituality will decline, fear and anxiety will increase, our concept of family will change for the worse as we quarrel with loved ones over petty matters, Dharma will decrease and our Earth will suffer the consequence of our materialistic desires. Per the Hindu Timescale, we also know that time is cyclical. We know that our time period starts with Satya (Krita), then Treta (where Sri Rama comes), Dwapara (Sri Krishna’s arrival) and then Kali, where the avatar Kalki will arrive. “And then, what?” you may ask. Well, the cycle starts again.
Theme Explanation: Devotion
Our history is a tapestry woven together in a pattern upheld by the human experiences that shape the way we see the world today. Each of us is a thread in that tapestry, an infinitely small, yet equally important part of an ever expanding whole. Understanding our history involves more than just an intellectual study, but an empathetic one - a curious, cultural look into the past. To understand our history is to understand the past, present & future. However, times shift, as we grow further away in years from those historic moments, do we render them irrelevant to the normal course of our lives?
Theme Explanation: Duty
We all have goals and dreams, wishes and desires. We work towards them in the ways we know how, trip over ourselves, go backwards and forwards, and sometimes, completely unaware of what the path in front of us looks like. I often think back to when I was 18 years old, I had just made the decision to go to business school and was about to start college in the fall. I had lists and lists of things I was going to accomplish, organizations I was going to be a part of, I even researched online for hours, may I add, how best to study in college.
Theme Explanation: Choice
You have a choice in this instance to modify your thoughts and feelings. The pathway to peace is perhaps only as complicated as we believe it is. The hoops we perceive we have to jump are constructs of our mind; we can tell ourselves that we are farther from our goal based on how we view success and our own fortitude.
Sneha’s Self Care Routine
I should first preface that the four self-care routines I’m about to list is by no means a hard-and-fast rule book on how to live life. As you will see, they are all heavily tailored to me and all of the ‘fun’ quirks my brain likes to throw at me at the most inconvenient of times. Nevertheless, I hope it finds you well and you can take something away from it.
From Your Diary: Keerthi Sekar
At the end of the day, I realized that I am going to be the person that will get myself through those tough times. It's not pessimistic, it's realistic. Our culture stresses on being with your communities or surrounding yourself constantly around other people but oftentimes going through things as an individual is a lot more powerful when it comes to being able to truly understand what you're comfortable with and what you believe in.