Soma Purana

I wanted to suggest what type of experiences a US visitor should plan to acquire. My brother's family will visit us in West Windsor, NJ some time in the future. So I started making my list below what experiences I would arrange for them. This list is not in any particular order. I will continue to update this list. Take them to a Trenton court and see how a trial is conducted. We all see court trials on TV and movies, but that does not reflect reality. Depending on time availability see both a civil trial and a criminal trial at least one full day each.  Take them to Mercer County community college and let them sit through an entire class period (either my class class or another professor's class). This will give them an experience of how students interact with each other and with the professor. My feeling is they will see this interaction is quite different from what they have experienced in India. Take them to Princeton University and sit through a public talk, a classro...

Ian Johnson had posted this post: http://www.returnyoga.org/2012/07/09/dandayamana-janushirasana-the-ego-stands-naked/ So true!

How many times the  term "equality" appears in the originally written US constitution? Answer : zero times. How many times the  term "equality" appears in the 27 amendments to the  US constitution? Answer : exactly once. The 14th amendment says, no state shall " deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." A single reference, boy, how powerful it has been! This is a cornerstone of american civil rights.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1316376/posts

This question did not ever occur to me. Did it occur to you? We should always challenge status quo. I came across an article  that neuroscience and Buddhist beliefs agree that "the self" ever-changing. Doesn't seem far-fetched to me. I have seen numerous people who have changed so radically between their childhood and adult lives or even between two adult ages. We have heard the expression "you are not the same person anymore." Most mainstream religions seem to suggest that self is fixed. Some say self is indestructible, not even death eliminates the self. But interestingly radical transformation of "self" is visible in people who were not religious before became deeply religious (e.g., George W. Bush). Do you think Dalai Lama would be such a kind-hearted person if he were not chosen as the Lama and instead his life as farmer or a bank clerk? Religion always muddies up the water, if you ask me. While it says "the self" is fixed, ...

R proposed to S and S accepted. On 9/20 Pari and I went for dinner at Doasi Place with Anupam and Rumu. We had a wonderful time. On 9/21 we went to see a musical "Little Women" at Kelsey Theater. N came home on 9/21 and stayed with us for a few hours and drove back that night to Brooklyn. An eventful day!

I was discussing my friends Anupam and Rumu about the level of students that we teach. It is the usual diatribe about how bad they are, etc. I think it is difficult for professors to put themselves in a typical student's shoes. It is not always easy to for anyone to understand everything a professor teaches. In differential calculus, there is something called epsilon-delta definition of a limit which everyone hates. It is not all that critical and the sky doesn't fall if you skip teaching it. But most professors gamely go thru the ritual of teaching it and spoiling their hour and and their students feel they just sipped world's worst drink. My take on this, if students don't understand it, skip it. If it is really important condense it, simplify it, teach it in a way one can follow. Buddha understood this very well. He devised three different means or vehicles for imparting his teachings depending on the level of his audience. All three aim for the same Buddhahoo...

I have missed class on a few days in the last hundred days. But as before, I made it up by doing doubles on other days. I am waiting for 1000 to happen and then I will take a day off!

Interesting reading here .

These days, I come across so many words I am not sure what they mean. For instance, I started reading a research article and came across three terms in the short very first paragraph  that I had heard before but forgot their exact meaning, "sympathetic nervous system", "cohort", "prospective study." Thank god for Google to quickly find the meaning on the net and move on.

There are less than 100 glycobiologists in the entire US. Freeze is a one of the most talented one. Listen to his talk at a conference here .

Harrison Ford plays the glycobiologist in the movie. He studies a rare genetic disease called Pompe. Watch and listen here . The movie is based on the true story.

You should read this "The illustrated guide to a Ph.D."

I have found some exciting writings on rare genetic diseases. I am still reading this one . It is very interesting reading written by non-biologist Matt Might about a rare deadly diseases his young son has. Matt who is a computer science professor in the university of Utah won an award for best online science-writing. You may also want to read the same story written in a shorter version by a journalist here .

Frank Macfarlane Burnet was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1960 for his clonal selection theory which explains how our body's adaptive immune system works. 

In Epigenetics, we learn about methylation and acetylation. acetylation may not really be considered epigenetic marking since it is not heritable by mitosis.  Also, acetylation is marking on histone N-term tails which do not affect DNA directly but can be considered as chromatin remodellers by eating into histone's positive charge. Histones methylation does not alter the charge of the histone. H3K4me means methylation of the 4th Lysine (K) residue on histone 3. DNA Methylation, on the other hand, can occur on CpG islands in the DNA and can modify transcription.

Shashi is with us. On 3rd, Fri we went to NYC and took the Circle Line tour with Syl and her parents. Then went to a restaurant on the boat called Frying Pan - Neeraja also joined us. On 4th Sat went to East Brunswick to see Fireworks. That was spectacular. Today (7/5) planning to go see Cranbury fireworks. Actually, didn't do Cranbury. 

This post is meant evolve with time. I don't think any of the yoga methods is meant for losing weight. Some may indeed lose weight. But that should not be your focus to start or continue yoga. Losing weight requires dieting. I did not lose weight. Actually, I gained about 15 pounds in two years. The ones who regularly practice yoga but haven't lost a pound might say they gained muscle mass. The fact is I don't even look like I have lost weight.  Regular practice is important. If you don't practice regularly, then the yoga seems like a painful chore. I do yoga every day and I look forward to it.  It does not become easier. I have been practicing Bikram yoga non-stop for two ears but I still feel achy after every practice. I find difficulty in every one of the 26 asanas in Bikram yoga. I do find improvements in my asanas; they don't come soon. In my case, I can sense a slight improvement in an asana after many months.  I believe yoga helps in many aspects of ...

On Monday June 22, 2015, I finished 730 Bikram yoga classes in 730 days. Actually, it is 731 classes. It is strictly not in a row since the yoga studio was closed on three days due to snow and I missed two days due to vacation. But I made up by doing doubles on six days.

For the first time, went to New York city Times Square and did Bikram yoga out in the open. It was a fantastic experience. Parvathi and I first went to Brooklyn to Neeraja's place. Dropped her new bike and and took the subway to proceed to Manhattan Times Square. Unfortunately, Parvathi had to register and go to one place and Neera and I went another. We met up after a full 90-minute yoga class. Rajashree Choudhury, Donna Rubin, and Jennifer Lobo conducted the class. Donna and Jennifer led the standing series and Rajashri led the floor series. Parvathi was in the location where Rajashree was there which was great. Neera and I were in another location where Rajashree and othrer instructor's voice came over the speakers and two outstanding yogi's practiced on the stage for us. They were Joseph Ensinia and Charly Seamon. Charly was Neeraja's instructor. I spoke to both afterwords and Charly said a strange thing. She said, she recognized me because I looked just lik...