Dr Dosti Regmi Blog

मलाई आफुभन्दा पछि नपार्नू, म हराउन सक्छु। मलाई आफुभन्दा अगाडि जान पनि नदिनू, म अत्तालिन सक्छु। मलाई तिमी आफू सङ्सङै हिडाउनू, मेरो प्रिय "पल"! तिमी मलाई आफै भित्र समेट्नू।

    Ordinary is extraordinary. The book " How Proust Can Change Your Life" by Alain De Botton shows how  a great novel can be nothing less than life-transforming. It can be a companion  to read  Michel Proust's masterpiece “ In Search of Lost Time” which was published in 1913 is a seven-volume novel with 3444 pages that follows its narrator also named M arcel   as remembers his life from early childhood to imminent death in aristocratic 19th century France. Reading is therapeutic. Proust says while we are reading we are reading ourselves. We habitually match the characters with people from our own life. A piece of literature is alive by the ways in which it parallels our own life. At first, the character’s manners might seem remote and their concerns irrelevant to us but we will soon find points of resonance between their lives and ours and be drawn to them. Reading Proust will also make us less lonely. We find comfort in the experiences we share wit...

These days... I don´t know why. I prefer to slow down.  I prefer to forget than to remember.  I prefer to heal rather than hurt myself. I don't know!  What did I become?  Did I become wise? ;  Or Did I become old?  Happy birthday to me… किन किन अचेल, सुस्ताइरहन मन लाग्छ। सम्झिन भन्दा बिर्सिन मन लाग्छ। चित्त दुखाउन भन्दा बुझाउन मन लाग्छ। थाहा छैन ! के बाट म के भएँ ? ज्ञानी भएँ ? ; कि बुढो भएँ ? ह्याप्पी बर्थडे टु मी।

Stressed? Ask these 6 " C"  questions. Do I need the C haos?  - No! Do I need the  C omplexity?  - No! Do I need the  C hase? - No! Should  I depend on the  C ircumstance? - No! Should I depend on another  C haracter/person ? - No! Should I depend on other  C (s)ubstance? - No! Can I be  C heerful,  C omfortable, and  C alm; away from the chaos, complexity, and chase; without depending on the people, circumstances, and substance? - YES! Picture: The Thinker  ( French:   Le Penseur ), bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin.  

The monk´s secret to happiness.     -Dosti Regmi In a remote mountain monastery nestled amidst mist-covered peaks, there lived a humble monk known for his serenity, tranquility, and joy.  One day, a weary traveler ventured up the winding path to the monastery to ask, "Master, what is the secret of your happiness?" Monk answered, "Its all about choice ! Every morning I ask myself whether I want to be happy or sad. I choose to be happy and stick to it all day long. Simple!"

Satipathana Sutta : The basis of the Mindfulness Meditation, Vipassanna, Introspection and Cognitive Therapy.    -Dosti Regmi Human beings are deep wired for chaos, complexity, chase, and  dissatisfaction because of the dichotomy between the impulsive limbic brain and the reasoning of the neo-cortex. Human being is the only species of animal that regrets the past, is fearful of the future, and is dissatisfied with the present. Our emotional excitements often lead us to dissatisfaction in life which is called suffering (dukkha). Our thinking traps and cognitive distortions make us think in unhelpful ways. Buddha’s teaching is to live intentionally, choosing our own emotions and thoughts wisely. All mental phenomena have mind as their forerunner; they have mind as their chief; they are mind-made. If one speaks or acts with an evil mind, ‘dukkha’ follows him just as the wheel follows the hoof print of the ox that draws the cart. All mental phenomena have mind as their ...

The Heart Sutra is very popular among Buddhists both for its brevity and depth of meaning. With  14    Sanskrit  verses ( slokas), it is  the most highly abbreviated version of the Perfection of Wisdom (prajna-paramita) texts. Here is its Sanskrit text and the English translation by Edward Conze. Sunyata is often misunderstood. Someone came to Bodhidharma and said he knows Buddhism. Bodhidharma asks, so what is it. "Sunyata" he answers. Bodhidharma gives him a punch in his face. Then he cries in pain. "If it is all sunyata then why are you crying?" Our self and senses and opinions are real but they are not really real. We are not a soul or stardust. We are a river. A flux. No true essence. Just a composite of many things and interrelated with many things. Who we are and what we think and feel is determined by a thousand other things and we think that it is our original true thought. Buddhism is like the deconstruction of the soul concept of the Advaita Vedanta. ...

The ambiguous and subtle dharma in the epic of the Mahabharata.   - Dosti Regmi Gurcharan Das was the CEO of a company.  He took an early retirement, learned Sanskrit, and delved into the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata for the answers of morality and dharma. Just like reality, morality and dharma are also ambiguous and subtle. The concept of dharma is not static and can be adapted to the myriad challenges of life. Dharma has many meanings. It can mean law, duty, and doing the right thing. And it is not written in the stone. There are no commandments or references to turn to. You are left to your own devices for that. The answers we have to search for ourselves. Das highlighted that good moral reasoning leads to good moral action, rather than an absolute path. So the burden of good reasoning is on the reader. I do believe the best books do not give you gimmicks, quick fixes, and promises. Neither does this book and I love this book for the same reason. It did no...

  Meeting the spiritual luminaries. -Dosti Regmi        In Memphis, autumn gracefully gives way to fall. The trees, once adorned in lush greens, now transform into crimson, amber, and gold. A cool, crisp breeze dances through the air, hinting at the colder days ahead. The golden leaves on the ground are evidence of the night-long romances of the winds and trees. I am on my balcony in the company of profound spiritual luminaries—J. Krishnamurti, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and Ramana Maharshi. Our dialogue unfolds amid this picturesque background of the setting sun across the Mississippi river.   J. Krishnamurti is sitting on the chair in an introspective mood and graceful aura. I look at the people walking on the trail and ask J. Krishnamurti,” What is the path to truth?” Krishnamurti looks at the birds flying in the pathless sky and says, "There is no path to truth; truth must be discovered, but it cannot be pointed out. It lies within you. Don't fo...

  “The You you don’t know: Covert influences on your behavior” by Webster Riggs, Jr., MD Today I saw this young lady in my radiology suite. She looked beautiful, calm and resilient. Yet it juxtaposed with the fact that she was there for Barium swallow study for strictures she had in her esophagus due to ingestion of lye in an attempt to suicide. She had a tattoo itched in her skin in her arm reading "perfectly imperfect". It was a poignant reminder that even the most seemingly resilient individuals could be battling inner turmoil. I started musing on the paradox of her tattoo. What determines perfect and imperfect? What determines what we think and do? Are we really in control of what we think and feel and do or are there covert influences that we are not even aware of. Keats wrote, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,-that is all”. Hindus have this satyam-shivam-sundaram , which means truth is beautiful and beneficial. We accept this because it’s pleasant or have we really ...

  Introvert’s world: Restorative bliss in a solitary niche. Dr Dosti Regmi Earlier, when I had visited a swimming pool in my neighborhood for a couple of times, I had observed people swimming, sunbathing and playing music and toasting beer for their health. But today’s visit was a bit different. Since winter had arrived, the swimming pool was deserted. No human could be seen there. Yet I found myself so much in peace. I laid in the sun, meditated on the ripple in the water and breezes in the trees. I felt at home, just like you feel at home, or say at your own home when the unwelcomed guests have left. It was brimming with a peaceful energy, the same peace that used to be abducted by the crowd during summer. I have always been choosy with friends since my childhood. I really enjoyed the comfort of a best friend at a point of my life. I was not outgoing but always found my peace in books. Most of the time I was comfortable with what I was, but I must admit that there were time...

After a lengthy late shift at the hospital, I was waiting for my Uber ride back home. As I stepped out into the warm Tennessee air, I noticed a black sedan pull up to the emergency entrance. The driver, an elderly African American woman with a warm and welcoming smile, greeted me with a twinkle in her eye. "Hello there, honey," she said, her voice filled with a deep, comforting South American drawl. "You've got yourself a mighty fine smile. It's good to see a smiling face." I couldn't help but return the compliment, telling her how her cheerful presence was exactly what I needed after a tough time in the hospital. As she was looking at the GPS for navigation, I asked her, “How was your day?” “I have been humming this beautiful song all my day. I must be happy.” I wanted to ask what she was happy about. Her looks as well as her reference to happiness and song reminded me of what Maya Angelou once said – A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sin...