http://karanvas.com/ Recent content on Karan Vasudeva Hugo -- gohugo.io en-us Fri, 07 Feb 2020 12:19:17 +0530 http://karanvas.com/posts/ordinary-karma/ Fri, 07 Feb 2020 12:19:17 +0530 http://karanvas.com/posts/ordinary-karma/ If we are able to monitor emotional states such as anxiety and motivation throughout the day, we can also build up, from experience, knowledge of the sets of actions that influence the buildup of such emotions later in the day, e.g. reducing anxiety or increasing anxiety; and so on for other sets of actions that influence other emotional states. For instance, if I organise my TO-DO list earlier in the day and then finish off a couple of actions straight from that list; or I sit down and read fifty pages of a book I had been meaning to read; or I watch a difficult video lecture on a topic I’ve been meaning to learn (perhaps not as a way to put off something more urgent); and I can see, later in that day, that that specific action earlier in the day has resulted in me feeling less anxious and more motivated – this will give me a repertoire of ‘skilful or wholesome actions’ (in Buddhist terms) that I should be doing to improve my condition vis-a-vis emotional states like anxiety and motivation. http://karanvas.com/posts/adventures-at-the-vipassana-enlightenment-factory/ Sun, 05 Jan 2020 09:14:03 +0530 http://karanvas.com/posts/adventures-at-the-vipassana-enlightenment-factory/ In December 2019 I completed a 10-day introductory course in Vipassana Meditation as taught by SN Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin. These are my notes and thoughts on this retreat as compiled afterwards. Overview and rules A quick introduction to this tradition: although they are ‘taught’ by SN Goenka, Goenka himself passed away in 2013. So the teachings are presented as audio and video recordings of Goenka taken while he was teaching former retreats in person. http://karanvas.com/posts/learning-about-ourselves-through-our-bookshelves/ Fri, 20 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000 http://karanvas.com/posts/learning-about-ourselves-through-our-bookshelves/ Imagine you are an explorer in a desolate, post-apocalyptic landscape who comes across an abandoned house. The occupants are long departed but all their belongings are still there. Which of the objects in the house should you look at first to understand what kind of people the former inhabitants were? My suggestion is that you start by looking over their books. But we don’t have to wait for a nuclear winter to perform this thought experiment on our own personal libraries. http://karanvas.com/posts/numberconnect-in-html5/ Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:56:31 +0530 http://karanvas.com/posts/numberconnect-in-html5/ Here’s an HTML5 port of my iOS game Alphabet Connection written using the Tresensa game engine. Play it here.