Tag: Bhagavad Gita Passage

Louise L. Hay, Siddhartha, The Fountain, Daily Stoic, and a Bhagavad Gita Passage

Louise L. Hay, Siddhartha, The Fountain, Daily Stoic, and a Bhagavad Gita Passage

Published by Drew Alexander Ross on November 24, 2024

Sunday Supplement #185 (November 24th, 2024)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

Please take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for ‘we’ are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.”

– Louise L. Hay

Book of the Week:

Siddhartha – Herman Hesse

Herman Hesse’s 1922 novel tells the story of a wealthy Indian Brahmin who casts off a life of privilege to seek spiritual fulfillment.

The Indian Brahmin Siddhartha experiences homelessness, fasting, and meditation with his friend Govinda at the start of his journey.

Siddhartha eventually takes his own path and pursues a partnership with a woman, Kamala, while attaining wealth. His final journey leads him on another pilgrimage to enlightenment.

Hesse’s classic novel meditates on various philosophies, including Eastern religions, Western individualism, and Jungian archetypes.

I highly recommend this novel for a meaningful exploration of purpose and balance in life.

Movie of the Week:

The Fountain

Oscar-nominated director Darren Aronofsky has had an incredible film career, with films such as Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan, and The Whale.

However, my favorite Aronofsky film remains The Fountain.

The film consists of three storylines involving a quest for immortality, a dying love, and a pursuit of avoiding fate in this life or the next.

One story is set in the Spanish Conquistador era, one in the present, and one in the 26th century. Each features versions of the same main characters portrayed by Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.

The Fountain is a brilliant film that utilizes every element of the medium to craft a beautiful story.

Brainfood of the Week:

How Stoics Find Balance in Their Life | Daily Stoic

Ryan Holiday is a bestselling author, businessman, and podcaster. His YouTube Channel, Daily Stoic, has almost two million followers and features videos on Stoicism for modern times.

I featured Ryan Holiday’s book The Obstacle is the Way in Sunday Supplement #36 and another Daily Stoic video in Sunday Supplement #102.

In this video, Holiday discusses principles the Stoics followed that allowed them to find balance in their lives, including temperance, presence, and negative capability.

Holiday’s work, the Stoics, and this video are worth checking out.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Content with whatever gains come of its own accord, and free from envy, they are beyond the dualities of life. Being equipoised in success and failure, they are not bound by their actions, even while performing all kinds of activities.”

– Bhagavad Gita 4:22

This Bhagavad Gita verse is an excellent reminder to find balance amidst life’s positive and negative experiences.

We cannot remove all negative experiences from our lives, but we can find a way to accept them and move forward.

If we overly attach ourselves to positivity, we can begin to avoid anything that could result in failure and fall victim to a hubris nature.

Instead, this verse reminds us to take things in stride and not get overly caught up in narratives around our actions.

Find balance and calm in your presence, and have a blessed week ahead!

Comments closed

Paulo Coelho, The Hero’s Journey, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Calm, and a Bhagavad Gita Passage

Published by Drew Alexander Ross on October 13, 2024

Sunday Supplement #179 (October 13th, 2024)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

Please take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“When you say ‘yes’ to others make sure you are not saying ‘no’ to yourself.”

– Paulo Coelho

Book of the Week:

The Hero’s Journey – Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell was a writer and professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College. His work in mythology and religion is famous.

You may have heard of the phrase “the hero’s journey” before. Campbell believed it to be a monomyth of the archetypal hero shared through various mythologies.

I featured Campbell’s books about the field in previous Sunday Supplements. This book is an autobiography/biography of Campbell’s own life fit into the frame of the hero’s journey.

The book dives into Campbell’s life, his discoveries, conversations with poets, anthropologists, and philosophers, and the role of myth in our lives.

Movie of the Week:

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Jason Segel wrote and starred in the 2008 comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Segel plays Peter, who, after getting dumped, takes a Hawaiian vacation getaway only to find that his ex Sarah is at the same resort with her new boyfriend.

The film is brilliantly written with a great supporting cast, including Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Bill Hader, Russell Brand, and Paul Rudd.

I was surprised at how much depth the film has for such a raunchy comedy. It earns its R rating but packs more heart and intelligence than cheap laughs.

You should check out the reasons for the rating before watching it, but it is one of my top-shelf recommended Comedies.

Brainfood of the Week:

Daily Calm Live Stream: Disconnect to Connect | Calm

Over the years, I have fallen into and out of a meditation routine. Whenever I’m not practicing meditation regularly, I look back and wish I’d make time for it.

Calm is the number one app for meditation and sleep. The app has many facets, but this post focuses on its daily ten-minute guided meditation.

Their app has some free features, and their YouTube channel posts regular meditation-videos, tips, and other guides to leading a calm life.

I featured a Calm guided meditation in Sunday Supplement #31. I highly recommend looking into a mediation practice and finding one that works for you.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“With thorough discipline, they learn to withdraw the mind from selfish cravings and rivet it on the unsurpassable good of the self. Such persons are said to be in Yog and are free from all yearning of the senses.”

– Bhagavad Gita 6:18

I’ve featured Chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita in a few previous Sunday Supplements. The chapter speaks on conquering the mind through meditation.

This verse focuses on the absence of selfish cravings and the yearning of the senses, leading to the unsurpassable good of the self.

I’ve found mediation to be a powerful tool and experience. I think we have so many demands on our senses and our minds each day that it is vital to find a healthy method of disconnecting.

Make self-care a part of your routine, and have a blessed week ahead!

Comments closed

Angela Duckworth, The War of the Worlds, The Hunt, The Art of Improvement, and a Bhagavad Gita Verse

Angela Duckworth, The War of the Worlds, The Hunt, The Art of Improvement, and a Bhagavad Gita Verse

Published by Drew Alexander Ross on September 1, 2024

Sunday Supplement #173 (September 1st, 2024)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

Please take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.”

– Angela Duckworth

Book of the Week:

The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells was a prolific writer with over fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His famous book The War of the Worlds was serialized in 1987 Pearson’s Magazine and Cosmopolitan.

The novel follows the first-person narrative of an unnamed protagonist and his younger brother as Martians invade southern England.

As the aliens move across the country in huge three-legged machines, they incinerate those in their path with a heat ray and toxic gasses.

The War of the Worlds is one of the first novels to depict a conflict between humans and extraterrestrials.

H.G. Wells’s science fiction classic has never been out of print and has been adapted into many different mediums, including the famous radio drama by Orson Welles.

Movie of the Week:

The Hunt

The Hunt, directed by Thomas Vinterberg and written by Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm, currently ranks at #95 on IMDb’s Top 250 movies list.

Mads Mikkelsen stars in this Danish film about a teacher living a solitary life while struggling over his son’s custody.

The teacher’s life slowly improves as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but the new boost is shattered when an innocent little lie gets loose.

The Hunt was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year at the 2014 Academy Awards. It is an upsetting story, but it is well done and worth watching.

Brainfood of the Week:

Ten Ways to Build and Develop Resilience | The Art of Improvement

This The Art of Improvement video starts by stating that we all encounter hardships and that we can either let them swallow us up or make the best of them.

Resilience is the ability to pick yourself back up and move forward after tragedy or challenges—deciding not to quit.

The Art of Improvement explains that resilience is a skill, not an innate ability. It must be built up and developed over time through mindset shifts, practice, and healthy habits.

The video then highlights ten ways to build and develop resilience. Two of my favorite tips are to be proactive about problems and to change your mindset about adversity.

I’ve featured The Art of Improvement in a few previous Sunday Supplements. Their videos focus on helping viewers learn how to better themselves and be more productive.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“And that determination which cannot go beyond dreaming, fearfulness, lamentation, moroseness, and illusion— such unintelligent determination is the mode of darkness.”

– Bhagavad Gita 18:35

This Bhagavad Gita passage is an interesting insight into how we can determinately get lost in our own negativity.

We often stumble or find ourselves facing adverse situations. In those moments, it can be easy to drop your head or to think of past failures.

This Bhagavad Gita verse reminds us that this way of thinking is lost in emotion and will only lead us to darker places.

We must pay attention to our emotions but find balance and remind ourselves that we can take action to improve our situation.

Find the right mode of resilience, and have a blessed week ahead!

Comments closed

Crystal Paine, Jaws, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Andrew Huberman Ph.D., and a Bhagavad Gita Verse

Crystal Paine, Jaws, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Andrew Huberman Ph.D., and a Bhagavad Gita Verse

Published by Drew Alexander Ross on June 30, 2024

Sunday Supplement #164 (June 30th, 2024)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

Please take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Living with intention means saying no to the things that aren’t important so we can say yes to what matters most.”

– Crystal Paine

Book of the Week:

Jaws – Peter Benchley

Most people have seen or at least heard of Stephen Spielberg’s film Jaws, which is often described as the original Summer Blockbuster movie.

That movie was based on Peter Benchley’s horror novel. After watching the film, I was curious to read the book. I was surprised to find the differences between the two.

The story follows the fictional seaside town of Amity as it becomes plagued by the attacks of a great white shark.

Chief Brody leads the attempts to kill the shark, with help from Quint, a shark hunter, and Hooper, an ichthyologist.

Mafia ties, affairs, and who dies are a few differences between the book and the film. I recommend Jaws for summer reading if it piques your interest.

Movie of the Week:

The Bridge on the River Kwai

The 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai is based on the 1952 novel. It follows a group of British POWS who are forced to build a railway bridge for their Japanese captors in Burma.

A standoff ensues between officers and camp commandant Colonel Saito. Neither party knows that a commando raid is planned to destroy the bridge.

Without spoiling too much of the film, the last thing I’ll say is that its leading characters are excellently written. The intentions and ambitions of both dominate the story.

The film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Alec Guinness won Best Actor in a Leading Role for Colonel Nicholson, and Sessue Hayakawa was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Colonel Saito.

There’s some great history behind the making of the film, including McCarthy-era reasons for the screenwriters (Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson) not receiving credit.

I love it when old films stand up to modern viewing; some even cast shadows over what’s made today. The Bridge on the River Kwai looms large in Cinema history and deservedly so.

Brainfood of the Week:

The Optimal Morning Routine – Andrew Huberman | After Skool

Andrew Huberman, Ph. D., a neuroscientist and Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, provides examples of practical tools for optimizing your morning routine.

In this video, Huberman discusses how sunlight in the morning affects your circadian rhythm, how caffeine intake can cause crashes depending on when you have your first cup of coffee, and how exercise and cool showers can benefit and kickstart your day.

The video is 16 minutes long and will surely provide a useful tip for you to add to aid your morning routine. If you enjoyed this video, check out my other Sunday Supplement featuring Andrew Huberman.

After Skool animates the background for videos of various life lessons presented by individuals and texts. I’ve featured their channel in a few previous Sunday Supplements.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Free from expectations and the sense of ownership, with the mind and intellect fully controlled, they incur no sin even though performing actions by their body.”

– Bhagavad Gita 4:21

I found this Bhagavad Gita verse an interesting look at intention and how we view the results of our actions.

This verse speaks to the idea that if we do our best and have just intentions, a bad result does not add negative karma to our lives.

An example would be telling someone a harsh truth. If someone takes this poorly, it is not your fault. However, the delivery of a harsh truth must be done with the best intentions, genuinely seeking to help.

It’s easy to think your intentions are pure while not reflecting on your actions. For me, this verse is a reminder to diligently observe your thoughts and intentions before acting.

Align your thoughts and intentions with your actions, and have a blessed week ahead!

Comments closed

Ernest Hemingway, Our Man in Havana, Hamilton, Dr. Russ Harris, and a Bhagavad Gita Passage

Ernest Hemingway, Our Man in Havana, Hamilton, Dr. Russ Harris, and a Bhagavad Gita Passage

Published by Drew Alexander Ross on April 14, 2024

Sunday Supplement #153 (April 14th, 2024)

Below is another Sunday Supplement with a quote worth sharing, a book worth reading, a movie worth watching, brainfood worth consuming, and a spiritual passage worth pondering.

Please take something away from these recommendations that enriches your week ahead!

Quote of the Week:

“Never mistake motion for action.”

– Ernest Hemingway

Book of the Week:

Our Man in Havana – Graham Greene

A few years ago, I went on a binge of reading Graham Greene books. I plan to return to his works soon because the ones I read had beautiful prose and sharp narratives.

Our Man in Havana follows Wormold, a vacuum cleaner in Cuba in the late 1950s, as he accepts the offer of a side job in espionage to help support his teenage daughter.

Wormold’s dull reports threaten to deplete the extra income he received from MI6, so he starts embellishing his accounts. The proceeding events spiral with effect.

Graham was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times and received the Shakespeare Prize and the Jerusalem Prize.

I’ve read about five of Graham’s books, but Our Man in Havana is my favorite. The novel is a fantastic mix of espionage and political satire.

Movie of the Week:

Hamilton

I’m not a big musical person. I’ve greatly enjoyed some of the classics and featured musicals in previous Sunday Supplements, but I’m a harsh critic of the genre.

Hamilton is a blast from start to finish. While it isn’t the pinnacle of historical accuracy, I think it accomplishes what it set out to achieve and can make history engaging for those who don’t typically seek it out.

The musical follows the stories of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr as each navigate the years of America’s founding fathers. This version captures a live Broadway production from Richard Rodgers Theater with the original Broadway cast.

There’s so much to appreciate about the musical, including the writing and choreography, but my favorite highlights are the performances of Leslie Odom Jr., Renée Elise Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs, and Jonathan Groff.

Hamilton holds the record for most Tony Award nominations, and this recording received the 2021 Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded).

Brainfood of the Week:

The Choice Point: A Map for a Meaningful Life | Dr. Russ Harris

Dr. Russ Harris is a psychotherapist, medical practitioner, and bestselling author of The Happiness Trap.

In this video, Harris breaks down our decisions (conscious or unconscious) into actions that move us toward our desired life or away from it.

When life is going well, choosing actions that move us toward the life we want is easier. However, life isn’t always easy, and we can get caught up in negative thoughts and feelings.

Harris’s video discusses identifying values and becoming more aware of the choice points of our actions. He doesn’t go into more detail since the video promotes his book and his classes, but identifying whether your choices align with your values seems to be the goal.

Dr. Harris’s channel has some interesting videos, not all of which end on cliffhangers. I’m curious to check out his book. The video was a good reminder of the consequences of our actions if we aren’t conscious and in alignment with our values.

Closing Spiritual Passage:

“Those who see action in inaction and inaction in action are truly wise amongst humans. Although performing all kinds of actions, they are yogis and masters of all their actions.”

– Bhagavad Gita 4:18

This Bhagavad Gita passage can be broken down in a few different ways. The two that stand out to me are that inaction can be a choice, and there can be senseless action.

The second one reminds me of the Hemingway quote. Often, we can mistake mindless action as meaningful. Sometimes, we need to move forward, but other times, it’s better to think about the best way to move forward before acting.

On the other hand, we can often refrain from making a choice, which itself becomes a choice. By not making a decision, we think we can avoid a situation.

I think some of the most challenging decisions we face are meaningful action and knowing the right time to act.

Do the best you can, make conscious choices, and have a blessed week ahead!

Comments closed