Raji Lukkoor's Blog, page 2

Are You Living a Quality Life? Sign the Pledge

Sign the pledge to educate yourself and your family on life and living 


Young and vivacious Savita Halappanavar, a dentist by profession, died tragically on Oct 28, 2012 from septicemia, following the denial of a life-saving abortion in Ireland. I don't know why, but this case really struck a chord in me. May be, because, she's a woman, as am I. May be, because, she is Asian Indian, as am I. May be, it highlighted an issue that has forever beleaguered humankind – what constitutes "life" a...

13 Signs You're Experiencing an Awakening

You are experiencing an awakening, an "inner" earthquake, if:
You are able to quell past conditioning, focus on the present moment, and wholeheartedly empathize with others' feelings and emotions without judgmentYou are less self-critical, and more self awareYou are beginning to see the far-reaching consequences of your own thoughts, words, actions, and behaviorsYou are consciously learning to let go of past resentments, irrational fears, erroneous beliefs, blind faiths, and memories that no l...

Do You Think You are Your Thoughts?

There's one addiction in the world to which nearly all of humankind has unconsciously surrendered -- thought! Day after day, hour after hour, moment after moment, the mind keeps churning out thoughts, like silicon wafers on an assembly line. Because we don't understand how the mind works, we have simply come to believe that we are our thoughts, causing ourselves untold mental anguish and pain. Self pity, depression, hopelessness, dissatisfaction, anger, resentment, and disconnectedness, among...

Goodreads Book Giveaway -- Enter Now!

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Are You Fulfilling the Highest Expression of Your Self?

In a recent article in the Huffington Post, entitled "Five Guiding Questions for Living Life to the Fullest," writer Karen Talvera answered five questions within the context of her spiritual framework. Karen's answers gave me the shot of inspiration I needed to evaluate these questions within the context of my own life, my passion, goals, vision, and commitments. Here are the original questions and my answers:

1) Imagine this is the end of your life... What would you like to have said to the w...

The Realm and Rewards of Vipassana, Part III

This is the final piece in a 3-part series on this subject.

Read Part I here. Read Part II here.

Part III: The Harmony of Breath and Pain 
When vipassana boot camp ended, I was more than ready to return home and be with my family, and even more ready to plunge into my normal life with my husband, children, friends and family, and I did so with a renewed sense of spirit. One of my chief concerns during the course had tethered on whether I’d make the transition back into talking and how ch...

The Realm and Rewards of Vipassana, Part II

Read Part I here.

II: The Anguish of Pain 

The three-day rigorous practice of watching my breath prepared me—mind and body—to enter the realm of vipassana. The technique itself is not complicated; it consists of observing the sensations the breath creates. Sensations represent pre-conditioned, mental patterns of the mind. They are a basic form of experience and existence that precede the thought processes, i.e., they exist before the litany of commenting, editing, labeling, qualifying, an...

The Realm and Rewards of Vipassana, Part I

I: The Agony of the Breath
I dread committing gaffes. There—I said it! Until a few years ago, I wasn’t even aware of my fears or of the simmering, underlying dissatisfaction that fueled their existence. A surge of awareness has since developed, helping me become increasingly mindful. Today, I acknowledge and accept failures and limitations as a gallant step toward positive mental health. This is just one example of the many gifts vipassana meditation has given me.
To understand how an ancient m...

What is "Buddha Dhamma Sangha?"

What Will You Gain if You Lose?

Who doesn’t derive pleasure from spectacular sights, fragrant aromas, lip-smacking tastes, harmonious sounds, and tantalizing body contacts? The five senses originating from visual, olfactory, gustatory, auditory, and tactual stimuli provide the foundation for the human mind and body to function. Senses afford us freedoms: freedoms that deepen life experiences, allow us options, and broaden our perspective -- freedoms most humans with fully functional senses take for granted.
 Visually sp...