MyLifeYoga

In the olden times, Kites as well as Swans had beautiful voices using which they sang lovely songs. But when they heard the neigh of the horse, they were so enchanted with the sound that they tried to imitate it. In trying to neigh, they forgot how to sing. And today all Kites and Swans can do is make high pitch calls resembling the neigh of the horse.

This story is from the Aesop fable, and it illustrates the danger of chasing imagined benefits, and losing the present blessings that we may already have.

Isn’t it true that growing up most of us are blessed with health and peace of mind that we take for granted? Then we begin chasing after ego-driven goals, and we lose both our peace of mind and health. And what do we gain in return? Is it worth it?

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Credits:This has been written by Raj Shah and edited by Ketna Shah.

The point of showing this video on MyLifeYoga is to illustrate the difficulty in creating accurate maps. We love our maps because they are so useful, but sometimes we forget that maps can be inaccurate and misrepresent reality.

From the point of view of Yoga, it is important to understand the role of maps in how we learn about reality. Everything we see and know about the external world is interpreted by us based on the models we have in our head. These models are like maps of reality that we have in our head. But because maps are only a partially accurate representation, what we think we know about reality may not be the whole truth.

One of the aim of yoga is therefore to seek direct experience without the aid of a map. This is so that we may know truth directly, without it being distorted by interpretation. The only thing that can be directly experienced without interpretation is consciousness itself. The direct experience of consciousness is called meditation, and is a great way to do yoga.

Related: The Brahmodaya Competition

The President

The President is the world’s second largest tree. Its 3200 years old!

Its so big that it has been impossible to photograph it in its totality. Now for the first time a picture has been stitched together from multiple images that gives us the full scope of its true size: 27 feet in diameter, 247 feet tall, 54 thousand cubic feet of wood and bark, and 2 Billion leaves!

It took a team of people 32 days and 126 separate pictures to create this image.

Related:
The story of how the picture was taken on You-tube.
Full account and more pictures
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
List of oldest trees