whole MAN Podcast

Aman Arora

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How I am becoming a whole human—short reflections on everyday life, inner inquiry, and the middle path between personal and cultural identity. Notes on being a proud human and Indian, philosophy in practice, and living fully. www.amanarora.in

10/23/2025 · Bonus

Playing ODE to JOY on a Keyboard With Both Hands (For the First Time)

My left hand didn’t trust me. My right hand wanted to lead. When I sat down to play Ode to Joy with both hands for the first time, it felt like trying to pat my head and rub my belly while riding a bicycle on a tightrope. Simple melody. Complex coordination. My brain lit up like a city switching on its lights at dusk. Something shifted. Not just in the music. In me. I started slow. Thumb meets thumb. Then they split—one holding the ground, the other carrying the tune. I missed notes. I laughed. My fingers argued. And then, for a few bars, they agreed. Harmony. Like two friends finally walking in step. Something shifted. Not just in the music. In me. Playing with both hands is a workout for the brain You’re running two programs at once—melody and harmony—while your eyes track symbols, your ears check timing, and your muscles calibrate pressure. Executive functions, working memory, processing speed—this is their gym. Each repetition isn’t just practice; it’s construction. New roads. Better traffic. Faster routes between neighbourhoods that rarely spoke. Science backs this. Intensive piano practice trains the brain. It strengthens attention in noise. It sharpens working memory. It speeds how we process information. It even reshapes the map—more connectivity in frontal, temporal, parietal regions. More integrity in white matter highways. Less decline with age. More resilience. More life in the lights. I stopped playing for the last couple of weeks due to some reasons but after reading a scientific article recently I am starting again! What about you? Have you tried? Do you wish to? What happens in your body when both hands move? Do you feel the tug-of-war—or the truce? What song will you make your first handshake? A whole MAN is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to A whole MAN at www.amanarora.in/subscribe

1 min
06/30/2024

Do Creative Thoughts Originate in Your Brain? (EP-45)

So when you write down your thoughts two scenarios are possible: * Either your thoughts took shape in your mind after mixing all you have been reading, listening and watching * Or you are sitting silently and contemplating and an insight comes like a lightning strike and you try to catch a glimpse of it by writing it down. I wrote about something related in a previous edition listed below: You can be good at first scenario if you have a sharp and witty mind. And if you take care of your emotional and mental health. And if you have a good content diet. But to be good at the second scenario you need to have a pure soul which can not be cultivated by doing any of the worldly acitivities or habits or taking psychoactive substances. I mean every soul is pure but it is clouded by many dirty and filthy layers (due to conditioning). You can not peel off the layers by doing these worldly activities. You can peel off the layers if you question everything. If you enquire. If you talk to yourself. If you are mindful of things happening within and without. This is what came to my mind, out of nowhere, while returning home from the parking lot: Now I swear what arrived from beyond, through my mind, is not something that I had read or heard somewhere. At least I am not aware of that happening consciously. This makes me think of copyrights and trademark and all the rest of it. How can we lay claim to some thoughts or creative ideas or compositions written or composed through us? Because it certainly is not created by us. Fellow Explorers, what do you think of it? Do you really think that the creative thoughts and insights you get originate in your brain? I don’t know what science or research says but let’s discuss in the comments below! Get full access to A whole MAN at www.amanarora.in/subscribe

3 min
05/05/2024

Right Mindfulness Itself is Buddha (EP-42)

To practice mindfulness in us is to cultivate the Buddha within. Right mindfulness is not closing your eyes and focusing on your breath. No. Right mindfulness is to sustain your attention throughout the day. Accepting everything without any judgment or reaction. Right mindfulness is like a mother. She loves her child no matter what. In a similar vein, we need to be equally attentive to our every feeling. The Sanskrit word for mindfulness is Smriti. It means “to remember”. So, mindfulness means to remember to come back to the present moment. In Chinese calligraphy, the word mindfulness is expressed by two characters: The top character (a shelter) represents the word now; below that is the character for heart. The literal translation means bringing the heart into the present. Mindfulness to me I am mindful when I am completely, fully, and wholly involved and attentive in the present moment. I could be doing anything. Let’s take the example of eating. You are eating your dinner. But inside your head, you are regretting the harsh words you said to your mother a few hours ago. This means you are not fully present at the dining table. Eating with mindfulness would mean just eating with your eyes closed and giving full attention to how every morsel of your meal is felt inside your mouth and through the throat to your stomach. Listening mindfully would mean listening to every beat of the song preferably with eyes closed. You are so engrossed in listening that thoughts are coming and going and you don’t even notice them. So, when I am mindful of the coffee brewing and its aroma wafting through the air I not only acknowledge the aroma but also the instant inclination inside my mind in favor of the aroma. That is to say that the mind generated a liking for the sensation (smell in this case) and termed it as pleasant. Right mindfulness tells me that I need to smell the coffee aroma without any judgment - liking or disliking. But it doesn’t happen that way, right? Liking or disliking gets generated almost instantaneously. What can we do, then? Just be mindful of the liking or disliking. The best thing about mindfulness What I love about mindfulness is that we can be mindful at any time of the day. I need not be sitting cross-legged on the Yoga mat to practice mindfulness. I can be eating and be mindful. I can be doing the dishes and be mindful. I can be stuck in a traffic jam and be mindful of how it (irritating) feels. I can be walking through the woods and be mindful of the sights and sounds around me. I can be walking barefoot on the lawn and feel the grass underneath my feet and how it produces a tingling sensation. Overcoming bad habits through mindfulness We want to overcome a habit, let’s say smoking. So, when you smoke you inhale and exhale, right? Now, during inhalation be completely focused on the inhalation of the nicotine. The way it feels. But don’t judge or react. During exhalation just focus on the exhale. And feel it. Gradually, as your mindfulness energy becomes more powerful than the habit energy you will notice a transformation in you. One day you will start to hate smoking. And that’s the day when you will quit. Thanks for reading Eastern Perspective! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Conclusion Mindfulness is the energy that brings the eyes of a Buddha into our hands. When we practice mindfulness, we generate the awareness of the Buddha within us and around us, and this is what can save our world. A Buddha is someone mindful all day long. We are only part-time Buddhas. But with the practice of right mindfulness, we can inch closer to full-time Buddhahood. With the right mindfulness, we can change the world and bring happiness to many people. Get full access to A whole MAN at www.amanarora.in/subscribe

5 min

3 Episodes

Creator

Aman Arora
Years Active

2024 - 2025
Episodes

3
Rating

Clean
Show Website

whole MAN Podcast

whole MAN Podcast

Episodes

Playing ODE to JOY on a Keyboard With Both Hands (For the First Time)

Do Creative Thoughts Originate in Your Brain? (EP-45)

Right Mindfulness Itself is Buddha (EP-42)

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