2021 was a slow year for the number of books I read compared to 2020. Mainly because the deep nature of the books, which needed more time to comprehend. But the quality of the content I consumed is immense in 2021.

These are the books I read or listened to in 2021. The 14 linked titles are the ones I found to be very exciting and I have listed them in the order I’ve read them.

• Wim hof method by Wim hof & Elissa Epel phD
• Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nestor
• The future is asian by Parag Khanna
• The oxygen advantage by Patrick Mckeown
• Mind gut connection by Emeran mayer
• Peace in every step by Thich nhat Hanh
• Unfuck your brain by Faith G. Harper
• The heart of understanding by Thich nhat Hanh
• Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are? by Frans de Waal
• Why we sleep by Matthew Walker
• What doesn’t kill us by Scott Carney
• Fiber fueled – Dr. Will Bulsiewicz
• How not to die by Michael Greger MD
• Superlife by Darin Olien
• Breaking the habit of being yourself by Joe dispenza
• E squared by Pam grout
• Metahuman by Deepak chopra
• Becoming super natural by Joe Dispenza
• Healing back pain by Dr john sarno
• No mud no lotus by Thich nhat Hanh
• Electric body electric health by Eileen day mckusick 
• You are the universe by deepak chopra
• Heart minded by Sarah blondin
•  

Documentaries, Podcasts & Interviews

In 2021 I also started listening to conscious media documentaries, podcasts and interviews via gaia.com or spotify podcast channels. Below is the list of those conscious media that I found to be moving and very exciting. I have bolded some of the titles that were exceptional.

• Gaia – Qigong for healing by chunyi li
• Gaia – The art of loving your dreams / Mike dooley
• Gaia – Facing our trans human future – gregg breden
• Darinolien show – Dr Amy shah intermittent fasting
• Gaia – Natural resonance meditation with John gray
• Gaia – Being you changing the world – Dian heer
• Gaia – Connecting with your life now with Sam horn
• Gaia – Five levels of manifestation with Pam oslie
• Gaia – How suffering transform us – Rabi steve ledger
• Gaia – Life of peaceful warrior- dan milman
• Gaia – Thriving through uncertainty- tama kieves
• Gaia – Happiness from inside out – Marci shimoff
• Gaia – Adventures beyond the body – William buhlman
• Gaia – The choice for love – barbara de angelis
• Gaia – The energy codes w/ sue morter
• Gaia – Liberated living with kute blackson
• Gaia – Quantum physics on everyday life with fred allen wolf
• Gaia – Becoming nobody by Ram Das

I come from the eastern part of the world relatively called east by British Emperor. From there I left the east completely to submerge myself in the west, for my quest to seek financial freedom. I did everything to be like a westerner, I ate their food, I dressed like them, I talked like them, I surround myself with plastic things, I even pop pills for illnesses like them. It was quite nice to be away from hard down-to-earth eastern-ness and be surrounded by a completely new world where things were done differently, where happiness was pursued tirelessly with instant pleasures. All this time, I thought west was superior to east. The western science was so far ahead compared to eastern intuitions and folk beliefs and plant medicine that took long time to heal things, which could be solved so fast with a western pill. I was living on the western high. Because why wouldn’t I, there is so much catchy things that offers instant delight and pleasures, forget the long term whatever.  When I visit back east, I could not imagine ever living in east, in such inconveniences. I acted as if I was superior to eastern people – my people, because I have lived in the west.

Little did I know all of these mind illusions came crashing down after one big event. Ok well two. One was seeing a life threatening allergic reactions to food by someone that was a part of me. The other was my own gut telling me, “stop this nonsense I’ve had enough of this garbage American food” and deciding to send me various gut issues to finally make me hear clear of the nonsensical western life style I was living. And I listened, and years have passed in my transformation back into my old eastern ways of living, back to the earth.

Not many people can see the illusions and the profit driven choices presented nonstop to people in western world (in fact everywhere in the world now, sadly) and perceive them as detrimental or ineffective ways for healthy living and that they been separating us from nature little by little over time. A gigantic shift in the inner energy is required to create the understanding and the awakening. Looking back I am very grateful that I left the east, because if it wasn’t for that I would have never come to realize the beauty and the magic of it. Looking back I am very grateful that I had the big events to turn things around to find my way back to the beginning.

Now I see things clearer than yesterday. Back in the east, in the rural village town of Gorakadeniya the jewelry maker’s wife would go to the store with her bag made of palm leaves wearing cotton clothes with no plastic, the store owner would weigh it and give her 500g of sugar in a paper funnel made from the newspaper. Villagers knew an insane amount of knowledge about their surrounding plants that they taught to their children. Rural farmers knew how to grow plants in combination with other plants and share it with animals. A very powerful buddhist motto of looking at every sentient beings (animals and people) as “they too feel pain and they too wish to be happy”, was rooted in everyone’s hearts to treat animals, people and even plants with respect and gratitude. There was no convenient gadgets, a hard labor of love was needed to perform the tasks. A task which would make them stronger and healthier and the end product, which would become worthy of giving gratitude for. The people very frequently walked barefoot connected to earth’s electromagnetic healing powers and sat in Yogic squat to mingle with others. In a village where the night sky would only be disturbed by a wax lighten lantern or a burning flame. A villager with chronic pain would find his way to the village doctor (weda mahaththaya) where he was treated with plants with no side effects. The plants that healed him taught him how to surrender to pain, the lessons of patience of the slow process of nature and to overcome the pain with gratitude. An earth where fallen leaves are left to decay to feed the new growth and some cleared up using rakes made from sticks in coconut leaves. I have heard stories and lived to some extent of this life where people lived in harmony with nature, without plastic, without EMF radiations, without noise pollution, without all this cancerous petroleum junk. 

But those people and me that lived there thought that we were missing something and we had to pursue a modern life to get what was missing, the luxuries, the comforts, the conveniences, the power, the status. But now I see, it was all an illusion of empty dreams, which makes you want more and more and never feel enough. The real gold had always been back in the east, in that village, but that village is no more, it too had been modernized in its innocent ways.

Life forward on this earth can only be built bringing awareness to the ways our ancestors lived, and identifying the ways that they lived in harmoniously with nature. It is very obvious isn’t it, every decision made forward must be made with the well being of our nature and earth as the highest priority. If we continue to make decisions purely for money and profits, yes we will make lot of it and some day we will be left to eat money, we may not even have that if money was all digital, in that case we’d have to feed ourselves on hard drives. Before making decisions for the future, we must leave our climate controlled AC rooms and breathe the fresh air, go touch a tree, take off our rubber shoes and connect with earth’s electromagnetic vibrations and walk on grass, and feel the earth so we can align ourselves to make the correct decisions for the earth. 

As for my life, step by step I have been able to find the gold in my current modern western life to create a new life with the essence from eastern villager. I have been eating predominately plant-based whole food, which we prepare from raw food most of the time with a great labor of love. I try to stand barefoot on my backyard in the suburbia of modern world and touch the earth and walk on grass. I try to get sunlight on my bare skin. I choose paper and wood over plastic products. Following ancient philosophies, I regularly practice yoga and meditations. I do not shy away from jumping full-on to various ancient natural practices and methods such as Ice tank theraphy, energy sound healing etc. We make plant based herbal medicine, teas, concoctions and tinctures that relieve common colds, flus, coughs, sore throats, pains very effectively without any side effects. Every fall season, we clear our leaf covered yard with a metal rake or let them decompose on the grass to nourish the soil. We are working on creating a food forest in our backyard and grow our vegetables without pesticides but home-made compost. The teachings have been laid out 1000s of years ago. But the industrial revolution has taken us away from it, and now we have to listen to the lessons again. Because if we take care of the earth and lived in a way harmonious with it, it will take care of us so we can create a brighter new life tomorrow. 

Since coming across the ice man in “Tools of the titans” by Tim Ferris, my interest grew of Wim hof. I have read his book “Wim hof method” and another related book called “What doesnt kill us” by Scott Carney. Currently I am doing the 10 week classic course by the master himself. The master of Ice!

Into the Ice

No matter how many times I jumped into the cold, every new jump is as daunting as before. Once I get past the initial hurdle, I find that I can stay in there for 10 minutes ore more. Ice have taught me how to breath my way through high stress and uncomfortable situations.

Why I do Ice

The first 20 years of my life in Sri Lanka was passed without much of the first-world modern comforts. From what I remember it was filled with lots of great memories and never missing anything. In the current modern life, people live inside climate controlled environments day in day out never really breathing the fresh air. Wearing rubber shoes all the time and never really touching the earth and connecting with earth’s electromagnetic energy. In our modern lives we have become so disconnected from our source. However, our ancestors lived for 1000s of years without any of these comforts, yet connected with their environment in amazing ways. We read stories from our past of great warriors and giants with super strengths conquering vast land in extreme weathers without any of the modern comforts.

The modern comforts are great. It certainly makes things comfortable but it also makes us weak. Makes us rely on them so much so that we can not live without. Ice for me is one element that takes me direct to the source. It helps me get a glimpse of the hidden potentials of my ancestors’ past. Since the beginning of 2021, cold showers and Ice baths have become a part of my morning routine.

What the Ice Do

Stimulate Immune System

Turns out cold showers improves body’s resilience to common illnesses and diseases. (Ref 3) Not just that, it strengthen the body’s response to viruses and bacteria. The plunge into the immediate cold sends shock waves into the bloodstream and stimulates leukocytes (Ref 1) that helps fight infections.

Improve Blood Circulation

Ice cold water in the tank that is colder than body temperature makes the body work harder to maintain core temperature. (Ref 1) That cause the blood to circulate more efficiently, which combined with deep breathing, speed up the delivery of oxygenated blood into every part of the body.

Stimulates antidepressant hormones and improves mood

The cold water sends many electrical shocks to the brain. (Ref 1) Endorphins also called “Happy hormones” are one of them. I have noticed that I always gets out of the Ice tank feeling brighter about the day ahead and more optimistic about life and happier. The effect is more noticeable on the days I don’t jump into the tank. Quite the contrast.

Increase alertness, awareness and concentration

Going into Ice with deep breathing result in significant decrease in CO2, that clears the mind and improves awareness and concentration (Ref 5).

Speed up muscle soreness and recovery

The delivery of freshly oxygenated blood into sore muscles speed up recovery time. (Ref 1) I also practice target muscle concentrated breathing in the cold. Which I have found to relieve soreness of hurting muscle areas.

References

1. https://www.healthline.com/health/cold-shower-benefits#resistance
2. “The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work: A Randomized Controlled Trial” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27631616/
3. “Possible stimulation of anti-tumor immunity using repeated cold stress: a hypothesis” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2211456/
4. Wim hof method by wim hof
5. https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a19947976/benefits-of-cold-showers/

I keep coming at this thoughts again and again as I pass through western inventions with my heightened awareness – 2500 to 3000 years ago in the Asia, brahmans and shamans and bamunas and Vedas were fasting daily with meditations to still the mind. And these were passed on intuition from their ancestors. And then industrial revolution happened and people like Newton were hailed for discovering how things worked. It makes sense because before that people gave credits to gods or spirits for doing things like making it rain, for crops growing etc. But the science gave new understanding of why things happen the way they do and with that to be able to control it without waiting for gods. 

So that created the great science book with 500 pages (for example) and a very small microscope to inspect and dissect everything. The problem the way I see is, up until recently the western world has been trying very hard to measure the entire world and entire universe and the cosmos using this 500 page book and the tiny microscope. If a shaman comes to a white man and tell him to fast and that will heal his inside, he would say “it is not in my 500 page science book as it will heal my inside so what you say shaman is bullshit, move over I am going to bulldoze these stupid beliefs and spread my 500 page science book to your people too”. 

Dispensary were setup in villages – where people for 1000s of years lived using Ayurveda and herbal medicine, which were instantly transformed when the instant relief from a pill could cure things where herbal medicine took lot longer. This for me is the biggest catch of the science movement. The instant comfort, the instant relief from pain and suffering, is heavens to the one suffering utter pain. But the science was giving these comforts only using their 500 page book without any knowledge of how this instant relief could effect under long term use. 

The universe we live has an insane amount of intelligent that can not be expressed in a 500 page science book (which science is only now realizing). Since industrial revolution where science book was created – about 100 years of science methods has been bulldozing indigenous ancient ways of doing things on the earth for previous 20,000 years or more as if they did not matter any more. And has been ditching and not even considering anything that is outside the science book. 

Only in recent times the science has started opening their eye to things outside their book with the invention of bigger microscopes and generations born with science ways started seeing health issues in unexplainable ways according to the science book. Children born with food allergies like never before and various other ailments that never existed with our ancestors. 

And now with the bigger microscope science started seen things and ideas from east and from our ancestors that were earlier ditched as horse-shit beliefs. Science discovered microbiomes in our gut and how much intelligent there is in them that was previously neglected but was mentioned in ancient text and medicine. Latest science has now discovered that fasting is indeed good for your gut. All those shaman and brahmans 2500 years ago indeed had great wisdom which was ignored and it only took science that may years of ignorance to arrive back at the same ancient insight. 

What I am saying is science is not complete, we should not ignore what is not explained or impossible in science, because with bigger and bigger microscopes, science will come to prove again and again that what was earlier thought as bullshit is indeed true. If going down science path, this must be understood before viewing everything from science and its 500 page book. 

People lived 1000s of years before us had vast intuitive wisdom that was passed on from generation to generation. They lived and they experiment and that’s how they arrive at their conclusions and beliefs. This ancient wisdom we must not throw away just because the science book can not explain it or science says it’s bullshit. Because one day science will catch up to those ancient wisdom. 

This makes me wonder if the ancient vasthu shastra that people believed, may indeed have effects on what happens or not happen. Science says everything is made of atoms and inside an atom there is 99% space which is energy. So mater is energy and earth is constantly in fluctuations with magnetic field which is energy and cosmic energy. Alignments with these energies or not may in fact have effect on what happen. Vasthu shastra is only one of the things and there are many other ancient beliefs like those that may eventually come to show us that they were indeed accurate all those years ago.  

When I write code, develop algorithms or programs, I do them to the fullest of my skills – with all I know. Once I wrap things up, I know I did the work to the best of my abilities.

A year later, or even couple of months later (sometimes) revisiting the same codes or works, shows me see how lousy the work was. The future re-visitation allows me to adjust the code or even re-write them to a better, more efficient and logical way. This too will be dwarfed by another future visit eventually. Knowing the updated version’s dwarftation, should I have not bothered creating a better version?

However, if I did not write the code yesterday, I would not have the expanded realization of better version of the same code tomorrow. Today’s work must be there for it to be dwarfed by tomorrows work. It is an infinite continuation of the cycle for it to improve little by little, with an end no one knows when.

Wildfire Smoke

2 weeks ago Oregon had a bad wildfire spread from multiple wildfires, burning about 200k-300k acres of forests. In my time in Oregon, this is the second bad wildfire that happened closer to where I live. With the wind blowing north, the smoke from wild fires became so bad that an otherwise blue sky at noon looked brown and orange as it was 6pm. The smoke got so bad that it started coming through the doors and windows at night. All we could smell inside the house was smoke. It was like a nonstop campfire.

The Need for Fresh Air

In the need to get away from wild fire smoke, to breath a lung full of fresh air we decided to leave town and head east. When you breath fresh air, when you have fresh air at an abundance, we never think of the fresh air we breath. We take that simply unnoticeable fresh air for granted. Only when the fresh air is scares, and all the fresh air is now smoked air, then only you start to realize the lack of fresh air.

The Fresh Air we take for granted

Never did I think the fresh air I breath was so important and how badly I wanted to breath a bit of fresh air to get a break from smoke filled air, until it was no longer available in the air.

We pass along so many things in our lives that we take for granted – unnoticed in its consumption. It is these simple things in life, that we take for granted, that makes the life on earth so precious. What small things are you grateful for?