Are you using Technology Or are you being used by it ?

Some of us belong to a generation that watched technology grow from almost nothing to the exponentially expanding world of AI we live in today. We grew up outdoors—no TV, no phone, no gadgets. Just long afternoons, friends, family, and unhurried conversations. And now? We can work from home. Groceries arrive at the door. Flights and trains are one click away.

So the question arises: Was then better, or is now better?
For anyone who has learned to use technology without being used by it, this era is truly wonderful. Used consciously, technology gives us something priceless: time.

As I write this, I’m sitting in warm sunlight, feeling its soft rays on my hands while children play downstairs. I’m grateful I don’t have to stand in long queues or push through crowded stores. I can design my days with intention. We don’t have a television at home, and we keep our mobile usage disciplined. Because of that, we spend real time talking as a family—sharing daily dinners, heartfelt conversations, sometimes with soothing music in the background. We go for walks. We dance or paint with our child. We read every day. The possibilities feel endless.
Technology has given me more time with myself—but only because of this:
I remain the master of technology. I use it; it doesn’t use me.
No endless scrolling.
No reacting to every notification.
Clear boundaries around work and devices keep us present and aware.

Yet the irony is - we are constantly trying to reclaim time through AI and automation, while forgetting how to be free and being with oneself.

Learning to be free is becoming significant in the age of AI.
Learning to master technology — rather than being mastered by it — will determine whether we benefit from this technological revolution or feel overwhelmed by it.

So how do we do this?

The Three Simple Practices

1. Create gadget-free spaces
 No mobiles or gadgets in the bedroom
 No devices in common family areas (keep a dedicated gadget corner instead)
 No phones or TV during meals — just family time, presence, and gratitude for food

2. Protect personal time
Schedule boundaries on phone and mute notifications during personal hours.

3. Respect transition hours
Avoid screens at least 1–2 hours before sleep and for 1 hour after waking up.
Using phones before sleep disrupts rest and can contribute to insomnia. The moments before sleeping and after waking are deeply influential — whatever we consume during these times settles into our subconscious.
These are ideal hours for meditation, gentle music, reflection, reading, or a quiet walk.
Begin your day by connecting with yourself — not with a screen.
 
By practicing small acts of digital discipline, we often discover greater happiness, deeper relationships, and improved productivity.

Do you already practice any of these habits? I would love to hear your thoughts.

- Tanu Shree

The Power Is In You

Nothing in this world,

can make you sad—
except your own self.

The power is IN YOU.

Nothing can make you anxious or depressed,
except your own self.
The power is IN YOU.

Nothing can make you angry or hateful.
except your own self.
The power is IN YOU.

But I understand your pain.
I understand your confusion.
No one has ever talked to you like this.
No one has ever told you
that the power is IN YOU.

Or maybe someone did,
and you took it lightly,
and you took your weakness seriously.

But, my dear one,
let me remind you again—

Let nothing of this world
make you happy or sad,
anxious or peaceful,
angry or patient,
depressed or joyful,
hateful or loving—

except your own self.
The power is IN YOU.

Reclaim your power.
Reclaim your glory.
Because—

the Power is

IN YOU.

- Tanu Shree

Honoring the Masters

For me, A Master is the live example of our ULTIMATE POTENTIAL.

The master knows, 

The master guides,

The master reminds

Of

Our Limitless Being

Our Oneness with the Supreme Consciousness.

I bow down to all the Masters!

- Tanu Shree

2026 - Let us bring our attention to the Present Moment

Life is mysterious, we might know it or not. 

The one who dives into one-self, find the deep mysteries that life has to offer ...
That is also what makes life fulfilling. 

When I see 2026 - a whole New Year ahead of me,
I see INFINITE POSSIBILITIES!
I see opportunities to live at my peak potential
I see millions of moments available 
To be loving,
To be peaceful,
To be creative,
To be joyous,
To BE with the loved ones with the whole of our presence.

Even though the whole new next year is available to us,
The beauty is...
that it all begins with just
ONE MOMENT AT A TIME
JUST THIS MOMENT
JUST THIS NOW

When this moment is lived with our total presence,
our total attention brought to the present moment,
with ALL of our senses here and now ...
Our eyes are looking around at the people and everything that is surrounding us in this moment.
Our ears listening to the sounds, without any judgement ...
Our senses of smelling, tasting and feeling with total awareness, whatever this moment is offering to each one of us, wherever we are....

It is such a precious little moment 
When lived with our total presence HERE and NOW
This LITTLE PRECIOUS MOMENT has the potential
To transform the entire year, and our entire life
Into a WONDER FILLED ride.
Just ONE MOMENT AT A TIME
Just THIS MOMENT
JUST THIS NOW

Life IS Mysterious,
This MOMENT HERE AND NOW is powerful
but it also passes by quickly
the moment our attention moves away to the past or future.

In 2026, let's bring our attention to the present moment
and 
live as Presence every moment
and
see the MAGIC of LIFE Unfolding for us. 

Happy New Year!

With deep gratitude, and blessings for a wonder-filled year and life ahead!


Tanu Shree

healandknow

Be a Light Unto Yourself

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Let us Reflect on the Life lived in the past year

Reflections are powerful.

Spending some time with oneself,  reflecting on how we have lived the life in the past year. 
Was I able to BE in the moments?
or 
the moments just passed by without me even realizing it.

Did I experience some moments of peace, gratitude, lovingness?
or 
was it full of stress, anxiety and restlessness?

For a few days, let's take a break and see the life that we have lived, and also reflect on how I want to live the next year.
Let's write down, what is it that I want to do in the upcoming new year.

What are my priorities? 
How do I want to live my life?

In the initial years of my life, I used to ask myself this question a lot, 
If I have to live my life all over again, would I like to live it?
I found that my answer was "No", but then consistently asking this question,
I noticed my answer changed to "Yes".
It is always "Yes" for many years.

What changed is that I intentionally prioritized time on what makes me truly happy instead of just living a routine life. 
I prioritized time spent with my loved ones, and not using my phone.
I spend a few minutes of my day reading, or painting vs watching Netflix.
I started relaxing more and more while doing the little things and even my work productivity improved exponentially.
Small changes when done consistently transform the course of life in the long run.

But it all started with writing down my reflections and asking myself this question.
So, this December I am going to take a break and reflect again on the life lived in the year 2025 and how I want to live my life in 2025.

I am going to visit my reflection journal and see how I started my new year and whether, I really used my time wisely or is there still a scope of improvement.
:) :) :)

Do share your stories if you feel like. It would be inspiring for me to know how you have felt about my newsletters :) 

The Power of Gratitude

The one most powerful feeling and action that has the power to instantly change our state from unhappy or low to peace and happiness is Gratitude.

Gratitude is not just expressing thank you in words. 

In truth, Gratitude is a hearful acknowldgement of the countless blessings that have been bestowed upon us every second, 

Or the heartful recognition and appreciation towards others for their action of kindness towards us.

When we feel gratitude in our heart, sometimes, we cannot express it in words, and it can only be expressed through tears of joy in our eyes. Tears because we feel so loved by that power that has brought us to this world and that is taking care of us in inexplicable ways. 

Most of us have countless blessings, each day that we wake up healthy, with all our body parts intact, eyes that can see, limbs that work perfectly, ears that can hear, mouth that can talk and enjoy the tastes of this world, a sharp mind that has helped us to have a great career in one of the best companies in the world. Each day we see our loved ones, our kids, partners, pets, family and friends are all healthy and taken care of, wherever they are in the world. In this cold winter, we have a warm home with all possible conveninecs of clean water, a kitchen full of food, clothes to keep us warm. We have jobs, that give us enough money to take care of all our material needs, and while many do not have jobs or struggle with daily needs, we are blessed to be working. We live in a country that is safe, and we have clean air to breathe, a support system around us for difficult times. This list is endless.

In our daily lives, we tend to follow a routine and be robotic (there are exceptions), that make us take a lot for granted and hide the countless blessings bestowed on us.

Recently I had a small slip from the stairs and injured my ankle. After 3-4 weeks of bed rest, when I felt both my feet walking normal, I was dancing and celebrating movement like never before. It is easy to take everything and everyone for granted. Practicing Gratitude enables us to realize the countless blessings that go unnoticed in daily lifes. But practicing gratitude needs effort and discipline to remind ourselves how blessed we are.

I practice gratitude just before sleeping, and immediately after waking up. I play some calming music before sleeping, and with eyes closed and hands folded, I count my blessings and let my heart be overwhelmed with gratitude. I sleep with this feeling and after waking up, it is easy to feel grateful. I also have stickys of on my bathroom mirrors, workspace, bedside etc, to remind myself to feel  grateful.

Try it for yourself and see how relaxation comes easy. The more we feel gratitude in our hearts, the more we feel like we are so well taken care of. And the more we attract great things in life and more and more abundance.

- Tanu Shree

How to be happy, peaceful ???

We might be aware or not but most of us are striving every-day, doing everything that we can do to find peace and happiness.

The question is then why don't we feel peaceful or joyful in our lives consistently. Why is it that those moments are momentary?

Through my 20 years of meditation practice and observing myself and willing to evolve, I have realized that Peace and Happiness are easy. Like, if we observe small children, they are always happy and at ease in every moment. As adults, somehow, we begin to hold onto something very tight that makes us feel tensed and unhappy through various situations.

Let us try an experiment to understand this.

"Close your fist very tight.

Now try hard to open the fist but without actually willing to open the fist.

Now....just stop closing the fist. Stop the effort that was needed to close the fist and.... magic happens. The fist opens by itself."

To open the fist, there was nothing that we need to do. We just need to drop the effort to close the fist, and the fist opens by itself.

Likewise, in our individual lives, we are holding onto many different things, our habits, our desires, our egos, which keep us away from peace and happiness that is already here, already within us.

Meditation to me is a medium that can simply show us where we are stuck. As we become aware of our patterns that are keeping us stuck, we can then transcend these patterns to allow us the freedom to be happier, peaceful beings.

Last year (in 2024), I had observed various patterns that are keeping me unhappy (in certain situations). This year (in 2025) I have an intent and inclination to transcend these limiting patterns, and let myself be free, happy and peaceful consistently in every situation.

What is your intent for the new year?

With the start of the new year, let there be new beginnings in your lives in various realms. 

My heartful wishes for you for the new year is a Healthy Body, a Joyful Heart, a Peaceful being and a Happy Family.

- Tanu Shree



Conversations and guidance from a child-god

We all say that every child is god like. Or it may be that every god is child-like.

Being with a small child (aged 3), I have experienced this many times.

Just before Chaytanya's 4th birthday, I wanted to record some insightful conversations that I have had with her, and hence I have been feeling a pull to write a blog post dedicated to some of these conversations. I will continue to update this post until her 4th Birthday. Below are just few of those, that I remember.

All of these conversations happened in Hindi.

********************************************************

Chaytanyas said once, "Mama, mandir, masjid, gurudwara are in our heart"

Another time - "Mama, God is inside our heart (Bhagwan hamare dil mein hai)"

Once I was telling her, how we bought this home just before she was born. She asked me if this is my home. I said, "yes, it is my home."

She said, "Mummy, (apka ghar apke andar hai) your home is within you."

*******************************************************

Just before sleeping on some nights, I had started doing a Thank you prayer to god, which used to go like this. 

"Thank you bhagwanji for blessing me with chaytanya etc. etc.". I never asked her to do the same or to follow me.

She used to listen to my prayer for many nights, and on one night she told me, shall I teach you a thank you prayer?

I said, "Yes"

She said, "(Aise bolo, thank you bhagwanji, apne andar aane ke liye). Thank God to come inside itself"

*******************************************************

On one occassion, I was putting chaytanya to sleep for her afternoon nap, rocking her on the rocking chair and she was in my lap. I started sharing with her about my journey. I told her that I have sought God, I have sought enlightment, I want to be free from Tanu, to be mukt. 

She said: "Mama, talk to your Guru, he will free you (Aap apne guruji se baat karo, wo apko mukt karenge)".

I was plesantly surprised as I have not mentioned about my guru to her. In our home there are no daily rituals performed of any kind, except the ritual of spending time together without gadgets and eating together.

I asked her, "Do you know who is my Guru"

She said, "No"

I said, "Mooji and Osho are my Guru."

She said, "okay" and then she slept in my lap.

*******************************************************

On another occassion, I asked Chaytanya "How come you are always happy?"

She said, "I don't know"

I asked, "How do you feel when you see adults being unhappy, sad, angry?"

She said, "(Accha nahi lagta, mujhe lagta hai ki main inhe khush kar doon, japhi paon, paari karun). I don't like it, I feel like making them happy by loving them, hugging them."

********************************************************

15-Dec-2024 

Just before sleeping. when I was lying down with her in the night, with background music playing (ae dil-e-nadan), she asked me, 

"Mama, Are you happy? 

I said, "Yes, I am very happy"

She said, "Is it because you are with your baby ?"

I said. "Yes", As in that moment, I was truly happy just because I was with her.

She said, "Charlie (neighbour's dog and Chaytanya's friend) is also Hema Aunty's (our neighbour) Baby"

I said, "Okay, Chaytanya", her response somehow touched my heart.

I asked softly, "Chaytanya, will you guide me?"

She said, "Guide you for what?"

I said, "To be free from Tanu"

She said, "I told you, that you should talk to Mooji ji, your Guru ji. He will free you. Ask him to free Chaytanya and Papa also. Then we will also not die and we will also be mukt. (fir hum bhi nahi marenge, hum bhi mukt honge)" 

Then she asked me if she can tell me a story.

I said, yes.

She told me a story that how she find all her friends (talking about 3 friends - Hari, Jas, Richa) who came to our house a day before), the same. She said that she finds that Hari is same as Jas, Jas is same as Hari. Richa is same as Hari, Hari is same as Jap. All are same mama. All are one."

Then she gave me a lot of sweet kisses and fell asleep.

The story of the two buddhas

 In my backyard, I have 2 buddha statues. Today was a beautiful day and while I was sitting on the swing, sipping my evening chai (cup of tea), I noticed that one of the buddha's statue (grey one) was in a dilapitated condition. And then I looked for the other buddha statue (earthy brown one), and this buddha was peaceful like never before.

I started wondering why there is such a huge difference in the two buddhas and while I was reflecting, I felt an urge to write this post.

The dilapitated grey buddha is made of stone and is easily impacted by every seasonal change which has led to such a condition of this buddha.

The evergreen peaceful one is made of plastic and is not impacted by any season or weather change. This buddha has seen many winters and summers and is still the same. In Indian spirituality, it is called "Sambhav"

Sam - means centred, same

Bhav - means emotion, feeling 

Sambhav means being the same within, whatever may be the situation

 resting in and as ones true self and not easily impacted by the external situation.

Seeing the grey dilapitated buddha statue and after reflecting upon the difference in the two buddhas, I was shook from within. I realized that if I am not seeking to be centered as my true being, in these ever changing life situations, this is how I might end up.

In our day to day lives, 

we forget to seek the meaning of life, 

to question who am I, 

to use every change as an opportunity to find the unchanging within.

The brown buddha reminds me to not waste time, and to use every situation to find my center and seek to be calm and centered in all life situations. This buddha gives me a hope that there is a possibility to be in Sambhav, and then whatever may happen will not touch me, 

the good or the bad, 

the praise or the criticism, 

the happiness or the sadness, 

the gain or the loss.

Even though presently I am not deeply centered, but I will seek to use my life as an opportunity to be in sam bhav,  so that I do not end up like the grey buddha. I know such living beings who are like Sun, their inner peace, joy, shines bright where ever they are. They might be doing 100 things but inside they are one, at ease, totally resting in their being. I seek to be one of them. I seek to be ONE within.

May all beings of this world of this world find peace and joy within.

Thank you dear God for reminding me to continue on this path of self-realization.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Understanding the Importance of being Desireless using Dimensions

In 2019 while learning the AI concept of n-dimensional recommendations, I started realizing an important concept of - Importance of being desireless using dimensions. With this post, I am trying to explain the concept a bit in detail.

We all know that 1 dimension (1D) can be represented with a line. 2D with a painting or a photo etc, 3D with all 3D objects, consider sculpture as an example.

1D - Line 

2D - Painting, photo etc. 

3D - Sculpture etc.

 

Consider the object sculpture 

For the sculpture to move, it need space.

For space to exist, the sculpture need to move in time

If there is no space, then there is no time

If there is no time, then there is no space

The sculpure exists just as a point in space.

For a desire to exist, space is needed and so is time to fulfill the desire.

Desire is a mental construct and so is Space and Time to fulfill the desire are also mental constucts., because inspite of the perception of movement in a multi-dimensional space, object always exists as a Point in space at any given Time and Space.

This is also why perception of Time and Space is also experienced to each one differently as is the perception of their own speed of thoughts in the mind.

For a desireless person, Time and Space will stop to exist in feeling. That person would feel totally present in the moment, when desireless.

Whether or not one is desireless, one still exists as a point in space.

Understanding Spirituality from the perspective of AI - Part 1

We have entered the age of AI. By now, most of us know how AI works. We are familiar with the terminology of AI, GEN AI, training data, patterns, deep neural networks etc.

For years, I have been learning and understanding the foundational concepts of AI and observing the similarities between AI and the human mind. The connect between growth of a human child and foundational basics of an AI model seems obvious to me. When I see a child learning and writing the script of his/her life, I reflect that this is from where the foundational people who started working on Artificial Intelligence took its inspiration from.

With this article, my intent is to explore and understand spirituality from the perspective of AI. Sometimes, it is difficult to learn a new subject in which we have limited exposure or understanding but it can be made easier if we try to understand an unknown or new subject from the perspective of our existing knowledge or experience.

Artificial Intelligence is inspired from Human intelligence - how a human child learns, grows, processes information, makes decisions, reacts to situations, builds habits, develops a personality etc. Let’s try to understand spirituality from when a child is born. Consider when a child is born, a fresh, blank slate to a brand-new AI model scope. There is nothing yet, no training data which means at present there are INFINITE POSSIBILITIES.

EVERY CHILD and by every, I mean, EVERY CHILD is born with INFINITE POSSIBILITIES. Now, most of what the child will become depends on the training data. Here, the training data is the environment, surroundings, parents/guardians, neighborhood, schooling, peer group, country etc. Same for the brand-new AI model. A lot depends on the AI engineers who are going to feed the initial training data to build the AI model that uses a combination of several techniques like deep neural networks, logistic regression, n-dimensional recommendations etc. Here, the AI engineers are the child’s parents or guardians. The parents or guardians especially the one who spends most time with the child – it can be the mother, father, grandparent or a nanny, is the first AI engineers who introduces the world to the child.

Even without doing anything, the child is learning by observing (the possibility of the evolution of AI is in learning by observing). The child begins building the AI model by learning from the parents/guardians’ behaviors, reactions, responses, conversations, habits etc. For a newborn child, there is no filter. They absorb everything like a sponge. As the child grows, certain habits are built into the child for good e.g. – brushing the teeth, taking bath every day, sleep ritual, food habits etc. And this training data continues to build the AI model.

A lot more training happens in the first 7 years of the child’s life, that starts to define the limitations of this AI model, the likes, dislikes, reactions, habits, what makes the child happy, what can make the child sad, habits like if the child is attracted to using a mobile phone because the child has seen the parents on phone most of the time, or habit of singing, meditating, dancing, yoga, exercising etc.

Everything is fed into this child’s AI model for a period of 7 years.

Many scriptures esp. the Hindu scriptures mention the importance of the first 7 years in a human being’s spiritual life. Research also shows that 100% of the brain development happen in the first 7 years out of which 80% happens up to the age of 2. So, by the time a child is 7 years of age, the AI model is ready to start running with test data. But, in the real world, there is not much testing, so we can say real data.

So, now the child uses this AI model. This AI model is the EGO- Human’s ego. A child learns that I have this name, I eat like this, I have these likes and dislikes, I have these boundaries etc.

By understanding the EGO from the perspective of the AI model gives us 2 insights.

One, that the first 7 years in a child’s age is an opportunity for us as parents or guardians to create a nourishing environment for our children to evolve as a human being, exposing them to variety of situations, to support them in creating a multi-dimensional personality and to teach them to be loving and happy by being examples. I can give an example of my life, I do not remember the situations that I was exposed to as a child, but when I started working, I found myself doing well as a computer engineer. Over the years I also,found myself painting, doing photography to the point of becoming a professional photographer, meditating, writing articles, poems, doing graphic designing, interior decoration, enjoying dancing, speaking at public places or counselling etc. My intent here is not to boast about myself but just exploring the possibility to create a multi-dimensional personality in a child instead of creating a boundary of doing just one job for their entire life etc.

It also gives us an insight that the child is learning by observing, so we as parents/guardians can let go of some  of our habits that the child is imitating and is injurious to their growth.

Second insight that this perspective gives us is to understand and become more aware of our own habits, reactions, behaviors, patterns. For example, I get angry in a certain situation. By observing my parents with whom I have spent most of the time with, I can see from where I have picked these habits from and realize that this is not what I am.

Originally, we consider our ego self as I am. It is just an accumulation of the learning that happened from the time I was born, my name given to me by my family, habits, reactions, behaviors, experiences learnt from my childhood environment and experiences. But there is something beyond this AI model, there is something beyond this ego self that I call as me, myself.

By becoming aware of our habits, triggers, reactions, our thinking patterns, I can start creating a distance from who I am and this egoic self and begin my journey to discovering Who AM I ?

The Joy of Self Discipline

Being brought up in a family where I was never told to wake up early or take bath after waking up etc., I found the joy of waking up early when I started living alone for my first job. 

Waking up and going for jogging just before sunrise made me feel so refreshed and looking forward to each day with excitement. I added morning meditation to my routine and some art like a small painting or a small dance and it made my days so beautiful. I continued this practice for almost 15 years, with some breaks, and I enjoyed myself and my days tremendously. Overtime, meditating for all these years, I had completely forgotten what boredom or laziness looks like. 

I just enjoyed myself. There was a change in this phase, after having a baby few years back. Even though it was one of the most rewarding experience ever, I was no more able to wake up early, meditate, spend time in any creative pursuit, since I was not getting enough sleep. Recently, I started the morning routine again, which started from having a light dinner, no gadgets at night, sleeping by 10 pm and waking up by 5 am. 

Waking up at 5 am, being alone with the silence of the twilight, gives me such orientation for the day. After taking bath, I sit for meditation and then yoga. I feel settled in my being and energetic in my body, I cook for my beloved people either in silence of some lovely background music. And then the day begins with my beloved people waking up - hugging them is so precious and makes me look forward to each day. I do not touch my mobile until around 8:45 am. 

This self discipline is not forced from outside but I thoroughly find joy after I discipline myself. I have always felt that Discipline comes out of joy and not out of restraint or external force. On days that I skip my morning routine, I feel a difference in myself and my body and hence I go back to my morning routine again. 

What wonders self discipline can do, we cannot imagine. What magic meditation does in the morning to our being, yoga or exercise to our body, we do not know unless we experiment ourselves. But discipline follows inner joy. It needs a little will in the beginning until we start enjoying ourselves.