Journal of Life
By Siddhartha Jha
This podcast discusses issues from our daily life that are not usually discussed with the help of literary works from eminent saints, poets and artists. The speaker, Siddhartha, is a trainer by profession and with shares his experience on various unspoken facets of our daily living. It is bound to make you come closer to yourself and reflect upon the way of life we are leading.
Journal of LifeJul 28, 2021
Episode 43 - Meaning of 'Ik Onkar'
youtube.com/c/JournalofLife Baisakhi marks the beginning of the harvesting season. It also marks the day when Guru Gobind Singh Ji marked the beginning of Khalsa. So, there could not have been a better day to re-visit the Moolmantra of Japuji Sahib (part of Guru Granth Sahib), which we have all heard being recited in Gurudwaras and try and find out the priceless meaning it holds for everyone of us. Hope you guys like this episode.
Episode 42|| In Conversation Episode#4|| Decoding: The Psychology of Weak People
One of Dr. Jordan B. Peterson's most famous quote says, "And if you think strong men are hurtful, wait until you see what weak men are capable of." Now, the narrative that most of us have been listening to since childhood says that the one who has the power oppresses and exploits people and they hurt the weak ones. So, is Jordan Peterson saying just the opposite or is he actually clarifying what we have always seen right in front of our eyes but never really understood. What did Ayn Rand want to tell us by creating the character named 'Ellsworth Toohey' in her classic novel: 'The Fountainhead'. We also know, that most of Swami Vivekananda's teachings revolved around the principle of Strength.
Now, the question arises what does Strength mean? Why did Swami Ji preach Strength all his life? What makes weak people dangerous? How to identify weak people around you? How to be strong in the face of inequality and injustice? Discussing all of these questions and much more in the latest episode. Hope you guys like it!!
Episode 41 || In Conversation #3 || Science v/S Religion
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There is often a lot of conversation in the intellectual circles regarding the debate of Science and Religion. Generally, the conventional images associated with that of a man dedicated to science is of rationality and empiricism whereas, Religion is often associated with orthodoxy and conservatism. Is this image true? What is the need and purpose of religion? Why do people look for religion? What do we mean by Religion? What is the need for Science? What is the objective of Science? Are any of the two Dispensable? What happens if you remove any of the two from the equation. What are the implication of both of them on an individual, socio political level!? Discussing all of the above and much more in the upcoming episode of 'In Conversation' on our podcast: ' Journal of Life'. Hope you guys like it!!
Episode 40|| In Conversation #2 || The Medium is the Message
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There has been a surge in our information sources in the past decade or so especially with the advent of social media. Most of the community is gathering their information from one or the pother social media platform. Now, here is a food for thought: What if the info is not just info but a means to manipulate and control? How do we decide if the platform owner is not just using the platform but filtering the info too according to their own whims? In such a situation how does one remain uninfluenced? Marshal McLuhan's Theory sheds light on this issue. Also, what is the importance of language? How does Language shape reality? How is language being attacked in the contemporary world? Discussing all of these questions and much more in the new episode of 'In conversation' series of our podcast 'Journal of Life.' Hope you guys like it!!
Episode 39||In Conversation #01|| Reality and Connecting to Life
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A lot of people have been widely investigating into the idea that the current generation has already entered in a Huxlian Dystopia. Among those who have presented substantive theories as to what we are dealing with today, Jean Baudillard and Mark Fisher are the two most prominent ones. Their theories on Simulacra and Simulation, Hyper reality and Capitalist Realism can help us understand the current situation in a far better way.
Is there any alternative to Capitalism? What is reality? Do we know what is Real anymore? How is the market seducing us towards Hyperreality?Discussing both of these theories along with their sociological, economic, cultural and religious impacts in this beautiful free-flowing and spontaneous conversation with two of my friends one of whom is a writer, poet and a spiritual seeker. the other is a philosophically inclined Jungian analyst with a bend towards Filmmaking. Hope you like this conversation and do let me know what you think of it.
Episode 38 - Whom to Trust?
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All of us irrespective of our caste, creed, background go through very similar problems in our lives in most of the cases. Difficulty in trusting people can easily be said to be one of those problems.
Our lives includes a number of people, family, friend.ds, colleagues, neighbors etc. We have a relationship with each of them. We expect them to be a certain way but they eventually don't. This makes us feel stupid of ourselves for trusting. All the betrayals, all the hardships, the breakups , the spoilt relationships result into us turning into careful rather doubtful people. We can't really seem to understand whom to trust and whom to not! What is the real meaning of trust? How and whom should we trust? We all have trust issues. Discussing all these questions in this episode. Hope you guys like it!!
Episode 37 - Significance of Art and Philosophy
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Everything that we have or achieve in this world always tends to get deteriorated. Every order constructed in this world tends to become chaotic with time. Be it our own bodies, our wealth, money, respect , social status or anything else. Thus, it can be rightly said that here is an existential fear and insecurity that is inbuilt in our system. To solve this existential problem, great German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer gave two ways: one of which was the company of Art and Philosophy. Here is a video discussing the significance of Art and Philosophy and how they can help us resolve this existential problem. Hope you guys like it.
Episode 36 - Why are Super-Heroes attractive?
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Episode Details: The craze around SuperHero movies are on a rise and doesn't seem to stop anytime soon. Marvel and DC movies like Avengers and Justice League are made at exorbitant prices and are also bringing in huge numbers at the box office in return. For a normal moviegoer, these superhero movies are a form of entertainment. But are they merely that? What is the reason that they seem so relatable and appealing despite being the farthest from the reality of our daily lives. Here is a video discussing the Psychological aspect of the Superhero craze and the imagery that these heroes are presented with. Hope you guys like it.
Episode 35 - Philosophy Behind Life of Pi
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Probably, one of the finest movies in the past decade, Life of Pi is not just a visual spectacle but has a deep hidden philosophy behind it as well. The movie talks about deep issues like God, life, purpose, love and friendship. Here is a video discussing about one of the issues from the movie that people would find riveting and confusing at the same time. Hope you guys like it. Link for the channel in bio. Please, like and share the video and subscribe to the channel if you haven't yet!!
Episode 34- Why we need God?
Episode 33 - The Problems with Capitalism
Episode 32- Communism and Existentialism
Episode 31 - The Philosophy of 'Live and let live'
Episode 30 - Masculinity and Feminity
Episode 29- What makes India special?
Do we understand: What is India at it's core? What holds the people of India together? What do we mean when we say, "India, the nation?" What is it that makes India special? What do we mean by nationalism? Is Nationalism necessary? What is the difference between nationalism and Jingoism? Discussing all of these questions and much more in this episode of the podcast. Hope you guys like it.
Episode 28- Does Positive thinking work?
But, is this the entire picture or are we missing something? Have we given any thought to what is thought and thinking? What is the source of thoughts? What are desires? Where do these desires come from? What do we mean by positive and negative? Where do our desires come from? How do we know what we consider is actually positive? Is there any absolute positive? This episode discusses all of the above questions and much more.
Episode 27- Real meaning of 'Self-love'
The question to look at here is What is Self love? Do we understand these two terms: Self and love? We, being we, are already suffering and if we do not change we would keep suffering. Does self-love then mean to keep suffering? Does self love mean not to improve our fallacies? Do we really know what loving ourselves mean? And if we are unaware of love, can we really love anyone else? Discussing all of these questions and much more in this episode of the podcast
Episode 26 - Searching for Happiness?
The common consensus, prevalent, especially in today's era is that Happiness is the remedy to our sorrows. We seek happiness in every and anything we do in our lives. Excitement has become like our go to medicine for all problems. But are they really effective? What is the relationship between Happiness and Sorrow? If happiness is not the answer to our sorrows, then what is? This episode discusses all of these questions and much more.
Episode 25 - In search of True Love!?
But, such relationships are hard to come by. In the first instance, all the relationships appear to be real and true but eventually, with time, their pretence fades away and the reality sets in. So, we again feel dejected and wonder if a true and real relationship does even exist? Is there something known as true love? Are all relationships bound to be such lifeless bonds? How can we be true lovers to somebody? What is true love and how can we define it? Discussing all of these questions and much more in this episode.
Episode 24 - Culprits we all are!!
So, what is the root cause of all such occurrences? How can a woman deal with it? What is the role of a male in all of this? How can we bring about a social change? Is it just that the other sex is violent or is there more to it than what meets the eye? This episode discusses all of these issues and what does the world need right now to cater to this problem.
Episode 23- On Gandhi, Non-violence and Freedom
Episode 22 - How to overcome failures?
People often say that, "everything happens for the better." "Don't worry about it too much" or things like: "success and failures are part and parcel of life." But, what do they actually mean by it? As impressive as it may seem, it often seems impractical. As a result, we fail to convince not only others, but even ourselves of this fact.
Then the question remains: What is failure? Why do we fail? Why does it hurt to fail? How to get over failure? Why can't we forget our failures? How to overcome failures? Discussing about all of the above questions and much more in this episode. This episode hopes to help the audience choose the right goals and understand the real meaning of success and failures in life.
Episode 21- Hurt by conflict with loved ones?
Why do we have ego tussles in our lives? Why do we keep trying to prove ourselves right and in the process get hurt? What is ego? What is love? What is attachment? How do we differentiate between the two? How do we manage relationships? How do we bring love in our relationships? How to reduce conflicts in our relationships so that they do not hurt us more than they help us. Discussing all of the above questions and much more in this episode. This episode is bound to make you come closer to yourself.
Episode 20 - Guilt, Shame and Change
Hence, arises a question what is Guilt? What is Shame? What is our relationship with guilt and shame? Where do they come from? How to get rid of Guilt and Shame? If we really have done something wrong in our pasts, how do we change in the real sense? What are mistakes? Why do we keep repeating those mistakes? Discussing all of these questions and much more in this episode. It intends to help us understand guilt, shame and change ourselves for the better.
Episode 19- How to reduce Overthinking and Anxiety?
A lot of people deal with the problem of overthinking and hence, unnecessary anxiety. Thoughts about hope or ambitions of the future, regrets of the past or fears from the past keep haunting us day in and day out. So, one naturally tries to control his senses. All one wants is the thinking to stop. As a result, various questions arise. Can one control the mind? How to stop the mind from overthinking? How to get rid of anxiety about the future and regrets from the past? This episode discusses all of these questions and much more, so that we can understand our relationship with the mind and the thoughts that keep circulating in them incessantly and how to deal with them.
Episode 18 - An Ode to Animals
Animals are probably the most gross form of nature available to humans. We deal with them in a variety of ways. Some of them, we keep as pets, others we treat as other than our pets. But have we ever wondered what should be our relationship to these animals and nature in totality? Why should we live in harmony with animals? Why should we love animals? What should our relationship be like with these animals? What effect does love and compassion have on a man as opposed to just operating from a center of loneliness and deprivation? This episode discusses all of these questions and much more. Hope this episode brings us closer to pets and nature!!
Episode 17- Lack of motivation at work?
But then, don't we often see people struggling with their jobs? Some might be skilled but don't feel like working? Some just don't understand what is it they want to do? How to find out one's 'calling?' How to find the lacking motivation in our jobs? Probably, the most common problem in everyone's life. This episode discusses all the above questions and much more. Hopefully, this will resolve one of the biggest hurdles of our lives.
Episode 16 - How to get over a Heart-Break?
How does one then face the pain and suffering, the guilt and the memories that come with them? How does one move on from a failed relationship? How does one resolve a heart break? This episode discusses these questions from all aspects of a relationship. For all those who have been suffering due to a relationship, in one way or the other, this one hopes to be a healer!!
Episode 15 - What makes a Hero?
But, have we ever wondered what does it take to become a Hero? How does an ordinary person turn out to do extraordinary things? What does a hero comprise of? What is different in his life than us? How does one lead a life that becomes timeless? How does a man brought up in the same world turn out do something that is beyond the imagination of the same world? This episode discusses all of these questions and instances from lives of a few heroes from history on the auspicious occasion of India's Independence day. Hope the youth likes this episode particularly.
Episode 14 - Ram- Mandir, Democracy and Secularism
Although this issue is a highly polarising and sensitive one, but it needs to be addressed. For those who are in favour and those who are against, Who is Ram? What is the significance of Ram Mandir? Is this decision aligned with the constitution and democratic rights? Is it okay to be for or against it? What is the main purpose of the Ram-Mandir and what does it represent and stand for? This episode discusses all the aspects related to this decision in the light of teachings of saints and vedanta.
Episode 13 - Right Action V/S Wrong Action
Episode 12- The Myth of Expression
Expression means saying or doing what comes to our mind. We live in a society, we are a part of a society. Invariably, we feel the need to express ourselves. Besides, there has been a debate about introverts v/s extroverts since ages.
When should one express and should one, at any point suppress too? With our mind, always covered with thoughts, whom should we confide to? How does one express themselves and yet, not get perceived as arrogant? Where does different expressions arise from? This episode discusses all of these issues and much more. This episode is bound to make you come closer to ourselves and realize why do we express and say what we say.
Episode 11 - Love and Rebel
Episode 10 - Trust Issues
Our lives includes a number of people, family, friends, colleagues, neighbours etc. We have a relationship with each of them. We expect them to be a certain way but they eventually don't. This makes us feel stupid of ourselves for trusting. All the betrayals, all the hardships, the breakups , the spoiled relationships result into us turning into careful rather doubtful people. We can't really seem to understand whom to trust and whom to not! What is the real meaning of trust? How and whom should we trust? As a result, we all have trust issues.
Do these issues have something to do with our mind? How can we deal with this requirement for security and knowledge that we call trust? What is belief? What is faith? What is the difference between both of them? How can faith help us deal with our trust issues? This episode discusses all of this and much more. This episode promises to relieve us of fear and insecurity in our relationships and hopefully make them better and deeper.
Episode 9 - Raising Parents
How can a child contribute to the overall growth of his own life and the lives of his parents? Once a child becomes mature, what should be his approach towards life? What should be his behavior towards his parents? How much weightage should parents' advice have in their child's life? How to balance all of it above. This episode discusses all of this and much more. This episode is bound to bring parents/guardians closer to their kids and vice-versa!!
Episode 8 - The Real Beauty
How could one get exploited due to one's beauty? What happens when you pay attention to beauty? What are the subconscious tendencies that we should be careful about while caring about how we look and our physical appearances? Why do people say that looks don't matter!? What is the meaning of the saying, "Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder?" This episode answers all of these questions and much more. This episode is bound to bring you closer to yourself so that we can learn how to use our body rather being governed by it.
Episode 7- Understanding our Responsibility
Does this whole incident command a sense of responsibility? Was Sushant's death, the first time that something like this has happened? What is a common man's responsibility in such a scenario? What can we learn from all of this? What is the fundamental mistake that we, as a society, have been making? This episode discusses all of this and much more. It's a tribute to all the gems that the world has lost over the years and, at the same time, a reminder to every individual to correct our mistakes. This episode is bound to make us reflect on how we as a society collectively have been operating.
Episode 6- Loneliness!
Ever wondered what is love at its core? What is love fundamentally? A lonely mind is always in love; in love with what it wants to have: Peace, fulfillment, Joy!! This attraction towards completeness and fulfillment is called love! But why does the lonely mind not get what it so desperately needs!?
Answering all of the above questions and much more, this is the 6th Episode titled "Loneliness!'. This episode is bound to make you reflect on our ways of living and help us in finding out what we should and shouldn't do when we feel lonely.