The mathematics of humour, or the humour of mathematics? You're kidding. They're as different as chalk and cheese. Or are they?

We're familiar with those witty mathematical puzzles which delight children of all ages. We speak of a comedian's sense of 'timing', a term suggestive of arithmetical calibration. We talk of jokes that 'click', like tumblers falling into place in a numerical combination lock.

(See also: Mathematics, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

A beautiful woman is one who values herself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Beauty is the total impact of all these aspects. Mind and body are inter-related; the state of one reflects on the other.

Yet another dimension is the soul, the inner beauty. It is more a part of us than mere body and mind; it is indestructible. Beauty includes inner beauty. To be a complete person, you have to work on not only your external beauty; you have to develop your inner beauty also.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

In literature, art and cinema, death has been almost always depicted as a terrible thing, the final end, although in reality it is merely a release from the burden of the physical body.

Every religious tradition recognises that to reach the final truth, one must pass through death. This is the meaning behind Aanea's descent to the underworld in Virgil, of Dante's descent into hell in the Divine Comedy and the Christian baptism: “You were baptised into the death of Christ”.

(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)

You deal with people and situations effectively only when you are happy. Otherwise, in your unhappiness, it won't matter what good intentions you have, you will only spread misery in the world. Being happy or unhappy is actually your choice.

People have chosen to be unhappy because they think that by being unhappy they will get something. Once you are unhappy, whatever you get, what does it matter? If you are happy, if you don't get anything, what does it matter? This is not a philosophy; this is your true nature.

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Advocates of peace all over the world continue with their avowed mission. They are working towards creating greater awareness of the need for promoting universal feelings of amity and compassion.

The annual Maramon Convention held recently in Kerala - which was first organised in 1896 by the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, an ancient Christian community of India - is one such collective effort to bring out the spiritual essence of the Word of God.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

"A Brahmachari should avoid looking at a woman with lustful eyes. He should not have a desire to touch her or go near her with evil intention. He should not play, cut jokes or talk with her. He should not praise a woman's qualities within himself or to his friends."

From "Easy Steps to Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Brahmacharya: How to Keep Up Brahmacharya

Makara Shankranti:

Salutations to Surya, the Sun-God, who on this great day embarks on his northward journey.

The Sanskrit term "Shankramana" means "to begin to move". The day on which the sun begins to move northwards is called Makara Shankranti. It usually falls in the middle of January.

From Hindu Fasts & Festivals by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Makara Shankranti: Hindu Worship - Makara Shankranti:

One should become perfectly desireless and should be full of Vairagya before attempting to awaken Kundalini. It can be awakened only when a man rises above Kama, Krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and other impurities. Kundalini can be awakened through rising above desires of the senses. The Yogi, who has got a pure heart and a mind free from passions and desires will be benefited by awakening Kundalini. If a man with a lot of impurities in the mind awakens the Sakti by sheer force through Asanas, Pranayamas and Mudras, he will break his legs and stumble down.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Yoga Sadhana: Yoga Sadhanas for Kundalini Awakening

Dhauti, Basti, Neti, Nauli, Tratak and Kapalabhati. These are known as Shat-Karma or the six purificatory exercises in Hatha Yoga.

From "Kundalini Yoga" by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Shat-Karma: Shat-Karma or the six purificatory exercises in Hatha Yoga.

The nature of Atman is pure consciousness, and though the phenomena are perceived to be taking place, in reality they are only aspects of consciousness. Consciousness is not affected by them. The Atman is 'hidden’ inside all of us, as a bee is hidden inside a lotus flower. It will be futile to seek it in the water or air outside.

(See also: Nirvikalp Samadhi, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Tai Chi Chuan is one way of working towards harmonising our energies both internally and externally so that we live in tune with nature. Because the movements of Tai Chi Chuan are slow and meditative, they put us indirect contact with nature.

Tai Chi Chuan not only provides a foundation for self-defence, but also teaches principles of harmonious action. Being in harmony requires flexibility in thought and the ability to release an idea free from the ego.

Tai Chi Chuan emphasises becoming aware of the inter-relationship of all the parts of one'sbody - both with one another and with the environment and moving these parts harmoniously under the direction of the mind. To be able to do this, special training is required.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

India needs rejuvenation. This rejuvenation will come only with the revival of our great Indian ideals. India needs shakti. For this, extensive re-building needs to be initiated for the country to acquire physical, mental and spiritual strength.

For creating this stupendous energy, India needs a new spiritual awakening. A new direction. The inspiration for such an awakening could come from a prophet of peace, for instance, someone like Guru Nanak, who proclaimed: "Love the saints of every faith, Put away the pride! The essence of religion is Humility, service, and sympathy.  Not fine clothes, Not the yogi'sgarb and ashes, Not the blowing of horn, Not the shaven head, Not long prayers...".

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Consciousness is beauty and Creation is an expression of consciousness. Beauty is present in all creation. Eastern philosophy believes beauty is the nature of things, while western thought sees it as perception. Perhaps beauty is both subjective and objective.

The East emphasises subjectivity; it sees beauty as the nature of existence - as Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram, an objective phenomenon.

In the West, where objectivity is emphasised, beauty is seen as a subjective phenomenon. But as the old proverb goes, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Beauty bridges the subject-object divide.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

In Hindu devotional practice, three kinds of external symbols are used for worship of the Supreme Being, who is actually formless and nameless. The most external is that of divine images cast in human form, with paraphernalia symbolising supra-human divinity.

The most subtle is that of the mantras or divine names with certain sounds. A mantra is divine power clothed in sound. Between these two come the yantras or chakras , representing the deity in geometrical diagrams. Worshippers of Shakti consider the Srichakra the holiest and most significant of divine symbols.

(See also: Srichakra, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

After having won the Mahabharata war, King Yuddhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas, performed the Ashvamedha Yagna in which he gave away his riches to the deserving.

Just then a half-golden mongoose sneaked in and began rolling all over the ground. It then looked at its fur and seemed disappointed. The mongoose said sadly, "Ah! This is no sacrifice."

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Success can be external or internal. Externally, it is the measure of a job well done and the accompanying recognition from society. Internally, it is a feeling of achievement, satisfaction and fullness which comes on the completion of a task or the fulfilment of a desire. What is a true measure of success, the outer accolades or the inner joy and peace?

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

The funny thing about life is that there usually isn't much to laugh about!

"I'm not very happy most of the time," quipped Woody Allen. "The rest of the time I'm not happy at all."

On television, the joke is on someone else, so we laugh. Someone else's slip-up, struggles, loss of face, sleepless nights. In real life, however, the joke is usually on us. Maybe comedies bring us relief from our own frustrations and failures by drawing our attention to the fictional disasters of others. Or is it that we get to view a reflection of ourselves in those characters on the screen and so present a disguised opportunity to see the humorous angle of what happens to all of us; a form of catharsis; a chance to unwind and ease the tension of our troubled minds?

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Most people see money as the starting point of exchange, a means to acquiring goods and services. To be able to access more and more of goods and services, we strive to acquire more and more money, working extra hours.

What we often tend to forget is that money comes at a real price. Money is not the first point of exchange in this world: it is an intermediate point. You earn money for a good life, and, ironically, even as you are struggling to earn money, you are exchanging your good life for it.

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Men pass, mountains remain. Little wonder, why mountains are a sign of solidity and stability. They tower over us, touching the sky, sometimes through clouds ... they convey a sense of mystery.

In fact, philosophers say that the mountain is the point where heaven and earth meet. Mountains, therefore, are considered holy in many faiths. They are believed to be the abode of gods, even a place where one can find salvation.

Christian literature reveals the symbolic role of mountains. In the Old Testament, God was depicted as God of the mountains. But God was also a God of the valleys.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

It does not matter to a man of awareness whether he is successful or unsuccessful, well-known or absolutely unknown, powerful or just a nobody. To a man of awareness, these dualities don't matter at all, because awareness is the greatest treasure. When you have it, you don't want anything else. You don't want to become the president or prime minister of a country.

Those who pursue power suffer even in success - they live in the eternal fear that they might lose it. At first they suffered because they were not successful; now after being successful, too, they are suffering because of a feeling of insecurity.

(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Our lives are a series of experiences. Although these experiences appear to be linear, actually, they are not so. We discover this when we pause to carefully reflect on them. Life is a form of language with its own punctuation marks, much like the written language, where each punctuation mark has an unspoken meaning.

I experienced the visible language of life recently when I was down with a viral fever with a severe chest congestion. I was completely dependent upon others to even get up on my feet. Without the care and support of my family, I would have had to be hospitalised. Because of the intensive care I received at home, I bounced back to good health within a reasonable period of time.

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)