Sunday, May 31, 2015

Soma

THE ASSASSIN LOTUS is an adventure thriller involving the rediscovery of a long-lost elixir called soma, much praised in the ancient sacred texts of both India and Persia. As Wikipedia explains:
"Soma (Sanskrit: सोम sóma), or Haoma (Avestan), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sauma-, was a Vedic ritual drink[1] of importance among the early Indo-Iranians, and the subsequent greater Indian and greater Persian cultures. It is frequently mentioned in the Rigveda, whose Soma Mandala contains 114 hymns, many praising its energizing qualities. In the [Persian] Avesta, Haoma has the entire Yašt 20 and Yasna 9-11 dedicated to it.
"It is described as being prepared by extracting juice from the stalks of a certain plant. In both Hindu and Zoroastrian tradition, the name of the drink and the plant are the same, and also personified as a divinity, the three forming a religious or mythological unity.
Indra, god of war
"There has been much speculation concerning what is most likely to have been the identity of the original plantSoma is associated with the warrior-god Indra and appears to have been drunk before battle. For these reasons, there are stimulant (amphetamine-like) plants as well as entheogenic plants among the candidates that have been suggested. [However,] there is no consensus on the question..."
THE ASSASSIN LOTUS presents a possible theory of the soma plant's identity, and asserts that it played a central role in the origins of Hinduism and Buddhism. The insights soma offered into human consciousness may have been what triggered the ancient warriors' turning inward, eventually leading to the meditation and yoga practices still widely used today. Soma's hidden history would seem to suggest that warriors and mystics share a talent for transcendence, that courage in battle and peace of mind may share the same deep source.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

The Foundation

Acropolis by Leo von Klenze
"Make up your minds that happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous."
~ Pericles, funeral oration, 431BC

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Palmyra

ISIS now controls this famous oasis city of the Silk Road. How long before they bulldoze the spectacular ancient ruins?





Monday, May 11, 2015

SuperHuman

“Fear is a kind of pain, an anticipative pain, like the ‘ache’ of desire. It brings energy, intensity, strength. In a way, you might say it’s the source of courage.” ~Anand Pandava, the Indian intelligence agent in THE ASSASSIN LOTUS
"When we find ourselves under intense pressure, fear unleashes reserves of energy that normally remain inaccessible. With the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis fully activated, our bodies and brains can utilize their resources so fully that we become, in effect, superhuman."
~Jeff Wise, EXTREME FEAR, The Science of Your Mind in Danger


Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Act Brave, Be Brave

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
"There were all kinds of things of which I was afraid at first. But by acting as if I was not afraid, I gradually ceased to be afraid. Most men can have the same experience."  ~T.R.