Oslo- the Saudi of Europe

Norway, with its population of 4.6 million on the northern flank of Europe, is today one of the most wealthy nations in the world, both measured as GDP per capita and in capital stock. On the United Nation Human Development Index, Norway has been among the three top countries for several years, and in some years the very top nation.

It is a very beautiful city which breathtaking natural sceneries, and the rose gardens are awesome:

In 1969 Philips Petroleum discovered petroleum resources at the Ekofisk field, which was defined as part of the Norwegian continental shelf. This enabled Norway to run a countercyclical financial policy during the stagflation period in the 1970s. Thus, economic growth was higher and unemployment lower than for most other western countries.

All residents with residence permit in Norway are usually members of the National Insurance Scheme. This allows for social security for all people, giving them the benefit of pensions, benefits for unemployment, pregnancy and birth, single parental care, sickness and injury, disability, old age and death.

But while roaming around Oslo, the city didn't reek of the richness that we expected. The railway platforms were dirty, there were many beggars on the street.

 We were extremely lucky to get sunny days to explore the city. We thought we had arranged for beds in Anker hostel, but on arrival, realized that the beds were in the Anker apartment. Usually the stay in hostels are enjoyable, the common kitchen is  a meeting place for people of different nationalities. And they provide breakfast too.

In the Anker apartment, there was no breakfast. Though there was a refrigerator and hotplates in the room, there were no utensils at all! One has to take the kitchen box that  contained some pans, plates, cups, ladle by giving a deposit of 100 kroners, and return it within three hours, everything cleaned and dried, and get back the deposit. This was too much of a hassle.

On arrival we wanted to have some coffee, and got just 30 ml of espresso coffee in a minuscule cup for 15 kroners! On the first day we went walking to the botanical garden and really enjoyed the scenic areas with beautiful flowers and water bodies. One can really relax and enjoy the botanical variety and diversity. Most of the area is designed as an Arboretum, with about 1800 different plants. There is a large and varied collection of trees and shrubs planted in a systematic fashion after plant family.

Views of the botanical garden:

To explore the city it is economical to take a three day Oslo pass, which gives unlimited usage of buses, trains, boats, trams, free entry to the museums (and there are many museums with stiff entry fee), and a 20% discount in some selected restaurants.

The Munch Museum's collection was left to the city of Oslo by Edward Munch, who has a unique position among Nordic painters, and is considered a pioneer in expressionism. The museum has a collection of paintings, graphical prints and drawings.

The Nobel Peace Center is about the Nobel Peace Prize. This center opened in the heart of Oslo on 11th June 2005. One can learn about the various Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and their activities as well as the remarkable history of Alfred Nobel. It was a moment of pride too, to watch big pictures of Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian who  delivered his Nobel lecture on December 11, 2014 at the Oslo City Hall, Norway.

One morning we took a boat ride to the island Nesoddtangen. On the way we saw a castle and the opera house. When we reached the island, bus was waiting which took us around the island for an hour. The island was so beautiful and  full of greenery. An interesting finding there was that post boxes with names of the local residents were hung on the wall in the bus stops. Many of them were not even locked!

An afternoon was spent in visiting three museums - Mairtime  museum, Kon Tiki museum and the Reptile museum. The first one is for ship building, fishing and marine archaeology, boat models and marine paintings. Norway's oldest boat, Stokkebaten, is also exhibited here. The Kon Tiki museum has on display the original boats and exhibits from Thor Heyerdahl's world famous expeditions. The Oslo Reptile park contains more than 100 species of reptiles. It has a wide range of exotic and colorful animals like snakes, frogs, spiders and crocodiles. On Tuesdays there is a feeding show and we wee lucky to be there on a Tuesday. It was interesting to watch a small snake swallow a whole rat, slowly and steadily.

It is important to keep in mind that a flat fee is charged every time you exchange money in Oslo. Despite being a touristic city, there are very few places to change currency, like airport, railway station and big public places.

Leaving The Hair Open….

Hair style has an important role in the appearance of an individual. While dealing with many individuals suffering from constant tiredness, weakness and unexplained diseases, I have seen that the way we care for our hair and our hairstyle affects us at a spiritual level.

Hair and nails are relatively more Raja-Tama predominant than the rest of our body. As a result of this, ghosts (demons, negative energies) who are also Raja-Tama predominant find it easier to attack us through our hair. Negative energies attach themselves onto the hair creating subtle black energy centers, and from here, they affect a person.

This means that the way we manage and care for our hair can either aid in negative energies affecting us or it can minimize the risk of them attacking us from the spiritual dimension.

Nowadays it is common for women worldwide to leave their hair open and this is especially so when they step out for the evening wanting to look their best.

Why are women affected more?

Generally women are more Raja predominant than men from a spiritual level, and so they are more emotional by nature.

By leaving her hair open, the Raja component within her hair increases even further. An increase in the Raja subtle-component makes a person’s mind more fickle and also increases the tendency to be frivolous. This fickleness of the mind can be taken advantage of by negative energies to affect a woman and make her do and say things she normally wouldn’t.

When the hair is left open, women become more conscious of their five senses and their body. Very quickly the Raja component can be converted into the Tama component by negative energies. This leads to an increase in feelings such as depression, worry, and increased sexual thoughts leading to promiscuity.

Women with short hair are at a disadvantage as they generally keep their hair open. As a result, distressing energies from the environment are continuously attracted to the hair left open. Short hair on a woman is more likely to become charged with distressing vibrations.

When a woman sleeps with her hair open, the tips of the hair shaft are exposed. When sleeping we are more vulnerable to negative energy as they are more active at night due the increased Raja–Tama vibrations in the environment. This is especially so for women who do not do regular spiritual practice.

Why are men not affected by short hair?

At a spiritual level men generally have less of the Raja subtle-component than women; hence they are less emotional and are also less sensitive. They also have a higher ability to fight with negativity. As a result they are less prone to a subtle-attack because of their hair being cut. Men have a higher ability to imbibe the Sattva component with short and open hair.

In conclusion, as much as possible, women should not leave their hair down. It is better to put their hair up in a bun or tied in a plait or braid. Even while sleeping, it is better to tie one’s hair up.

Some interesting aspects:

Hair is an amazing gift of nature, and from a yogic perspective, it can actually help raise the Kundalini energy (creative life force), which increases vitality, intuition, and tranquility.

In olden days, people in many cultures didn’t cut their hair, because it was a part of who they were. Often, when people were conquered or enslaved, their hair was cut as a recognized sign of slavery. It was also understood that this would serve as punishment and decrease the power of those enslaved.

The bones in the forehead are porous and function to transmit light to the pineal gland, which affects brain activity, as well as thyroid and sexual hormones. Cutting bangs which cover the forehead impedes this process. When Genghis Khan conquered China, he considered the Chinese to be a very wise, intelligent people who would not allow themselves to be subjugated. He therefore required all women in the country to cut their hair and wear bangs, because he knew this would serve to keep them timid and more easily controlled.

As whole tribes or societies were conquered, cut hair became so prevalent that the importance of hair was lost after a few generations, and hairstyles and fashion grew to be the focus.

During the Vietnam War, undercover experts from the military searched American Indian Reserves for talented navigators, men with superior, if not supernatural, tracking abilities. After extensively documenting their skills for survival and tracking, they were enlisted. But once they were, whatever skills and talents they exhibited on the reserve seemed to vanish into thin air. Failures and fatalities led the government to conduct some expensive research on these recruits. When asked about their failure to perform well, the older recruits replied almost without exception, that when they received the mandatory military haircut, they could no longer ‘sense’ the enemy.

Hair is an extension of the nervous system, it can be correctly seen as exteriorized nerves, a type of highly evolved 'feelers' or 'antennae' that transmit vast amounts of important information to the brain stem, the limbic system, and the neocortex.

Cutting of hair is a contributing factor to unawareness of environmental distress in local ecosystems. It is also a contributing factor to insensitivity in relationships of all kinds. It contributes to sexual frustration.

Ref:

http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/hair-down

https://www.quantumbalancing.com/spiritualhair.htm
https://dailyoccupation.com/2017/07/26/spiritual-truth-american-indians-long-hair-tale-untold/

The world without me

It was in 2008 that my mother passed away, leaving a vacuum in my life. She was a working woman, with strong  moral principles and of bit of an  aggressive nature. I was on the  peaceful side, like my father. This was a reason for many heated  discussions between me and her. But  this did not reduce my love and  respect for her.

After her demise we have visited my maternal home many times. But my recent visit, in  June 2015 was a different one.  Usually we (my husband and I) would be busy visiting relatives and friends,  doing the shopping rounds, cooking  etc.., Now there wasn't much of  cooking to be done, visits were not  happening due to several reasons and  we were alone in the house a  major amount of time.

I got a lot of alone time which led to  some introspection. If I could relive the earlier years, would I like to behave differently? I think I was  a dutiful daughter, discussing all the major events in my life with my mother and taking her advice. After my marriage, I never let anything touch her self respect and pride (yes, she was lucky to have two great  sons-in-law, who were more of sons to her). But towards her last years I could have shown more patience, been more expressive in  my love and concern.

 At home when I was alone, I could feel her presence so  strongly. It was like two scenes running simultaneously in mind, one - of those days when she was  all over the house - multitasking. And the other - the home remaining without her, it is still existing….

Then something clicked inside me- I was experiencing the world without me. Now  that I have come back to my own house -  when I am doing things, I experience
two worlds simultaneously. One in which I see myself in the house, and another where I no longer exist, but the house is still existing. Nobody is indispensable in this world. We all have a small role to play, and then have to leave the stage.

More than the materialistic things that we accumulate or positions that we achieve, it is what we mean to somebody else, how much time we can give for a loved one, that matters. This awareness of a world without me, is giving me a great spiritual experience. It seems that a part of the colored glass in front of eyes is gone, changing my perception a little. Let me keep working at it… and wait for the Grace to descend!