The very word itself is confusing. I still remember, when I heard another name first, before I really allowed the word ‘confusion’ to percolate into me clearly. It was in our History lessons, a great being called “Confucious” happened to visit India. And then, the strange similarity in the pronunciation led me to look at confusion. As a kid, I was wondering, how it would be to undergo that utter confusion. We kids were quite clear about almost anything, then! (The very first few steps into adulthood engulfed the mind into dense clouds of that confusion. Now the search was about what was that root cause of such confusion, not about ‘how does it feel when confused!’
Confusion brings along an intense search for ‘trust’, because mind, by its very nature does not afford any confusion to stay too long! It keeps us uneasy all the time. When ‘trust’ depends on a ‘search’, distrust seems an easy and safe option. (This is where the traditional methods of ‘guidance’ helps a smooth transition through that turbulent stage of life). The turbulence ignited by the puberty causes its own polarization in a undue hurry. The logic seeks crystallization of concepts with undue haste, in its own pursuit of chasing the precious time, to achieve logical actualization of life goals as an insulation against visible uncertainties of survival needs, comforts, and luxuries too. Somewhere in between there is also a subtle query about validity of all these priorities from existential point of view. But that gets buried under the heap of surmounting tangible priorities!
It was a long and arduous journey to reach that point where sliding down does not happen any further.
Any way, the question about who creates ‘more confusion’ brought back the sweet memories of the mind’s journey through several paths (yes, quite simultaneously too).
There was also a confusion about the difference between ‘instinct’ and ‘intuition’. http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnXAPmNg0KEmcg7y7jggEa2RHQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20101225034340AA76JHl Most people decided the possible answers quite instinctively, and missed reference to the subtle ‘intuitive’ capabilities that everyone, as humans, is blessed with!
Psn(30th December, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101228204600AAvQTue
Why/who/how is creating confusion in world ....theist or atheist.?
My answer:
We ourselves.....
neither the the theist or atheist.
It is much convenient to find a scapegoat than take the accountability ourselves...
This confusion is a healthy thing, in fact, only if we just learn to handle it properly. It seems there was a story about Gautama Buddha. In those days, there were experts in just arguing. There job was to argue, confuse, win, and earn.Now one such person became expert in arguing that there was no God. He was a bit aged and got worried, thinking 'What if there is really a God! He wouldn't spare me! All my life I was working only against Him!' ... So to clear this doubt, he visited Buddha in the dark hours, trying to meet him alone. Buddha said 'Yes' to his query. A few disciples over heard it and announced. The same day evening, another person who strongly argued about theism also met with a similar but opposite kind of doubt. To him, Buddha said 'NO'! ...
Now the disciples got confused. The same Buddha saying quite opposite thing the same day?
(Buddha was not at all worried about others branding him this way or that way. His compassion towards fellow beings was great, and he saw greater purpose in invoking the thirst, disallowing the mind to 'settle'! From spiritual point of view, a settled mind is worse than a confused mind, when quietening of the mind is the main aim!)
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Creativity
Quite understandably, there would be very few takers, for a question about how to ‘develop’ this creativity!
With the ‘head hunters’ putting up a huge price-tag for such creative people, looking out for that ‘out of box’ thinkers, asking mind-boggling questions to find out ‘lateral-thinking’ minds, average people would obviously feel it safer to shy away from the limelight when it comes to creativity.
That is where an ancient civilization happens to ‘score’, when the bulk of the people of those ancient times settled for nothing less than the ‘creator’ Himself! Spirituality, while it leads us towards that, can the mysticism about that ‘creativity’ remain elusive for too long!
Psn(22nd December, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101220005347AASnA49
How to be very creative n develop our creativity?
My answer:
Creativity is very basic, fundamental, and perhaps, simple too (simple, only if we allow it to remain simple! It is not easy, because our judgmental mind hurries to pre-conclude about almost anything and everything, using its logic, and memory of past judgments! Otherwise, life abounds with scope for creativity. Creat-ures are creations. Nature does the job. We are ever welcome to participate, using our intelligence, and self awareness, to do something beyond nature! The day somebody decided to something more than just helplessly looking at a river flooding and taking away innocent lives, creativity took place, and check-dams were built!)
The problem is also perhaps, with our wide ranging and far reaching definition about 'creativity' that is thrust upon us by the situation. An example of any 'creative' person seems too difficult to 'copy'. Unless people around us 'recognize' that we are creative, we ourselves are not really convinced that we too can be creative! But it is as simple as contributing to any life positive effort. A doctor saves the life of a patient, and the doctor is creative. That life saved is almost same as a life created afresh! As we keep doing things with a 'fresh' mind, using reference to memory only when needed and at our will, this creativity of ours would evolve, and then we would start discovering new ways of doing things (without that needless interruption by mind/memory that 'this is the only way it can be done', etc). Even the possibility of inventions would open up. Many inventions, or discoveries might have been lost without that adequate 'notice', when the person does not 'seek' publicity, or when that person lacks communication skills, or does not look for any recognition
With the ‘head hunters’ putting up a huge price-tag for such creative people, looking out for that ‘out of box’ thinkers, asking mind-boggling questions to find out ‘lateral-thinking’ minds, average people would obviously feel it safer to shy away from the limelight when it comes to creativity.
That is where an ancient civilization happens to ‘score’, when the bulk of the people of those ancient times settled for nothing less than the ‘creator’ Himself! Spirituality, while it leads us towards that, can the mysticism about that ‘creativity’ remain elusive for too long!
Psn(22nd December, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101220005347AASnA49
How to be very creative n develop our creativity?
My answer:
Creativity is very basic, fundamental, and perhaps, simple too (simple, only if we allow it to remain simple! It is not easy, because our judgmental mind hurries to pre-conclude about almost anything and everything, using its logic, and memory of past judgments! Otherwise, life abounds with scope for creativity. Creat-ures are creations. Nature does the job. We are ever welcome to participate, using our intelligence, and self awareness, to do something beyond nature! The day somebody decided to something more than just helplessly looking at a river flooding and taking away innocent lives, creativity took place, and check-dams were built!)
The problem is also perhaps, with our wide ranging and far reaching definition about 'creativity' that is thrust upon us by the situation. An example of any 'creative' person seems too difficult to 'copy'. Unless people around us 'recognize' that we are creative, we ourselves are not really convinced that we too can be creative! But it is as simple as contributing to any life positive effort. A doctor saves the life of a patient, and the doctor is creative. That life saved is almost same as a life created afresh! As we keep doing things with a 'fresh' mind, using reference to memory only when needed and at our will, this creativity of ours would evolve, and then we would start discovering new ways of doing things (without that needless interruption by mind/memory that 'this is the only way it can be done', etc). Even the possibility of inventions would open up. Many inventions, or discoveries might have been lost without that adequate 'notice', when the person does not 'seek' publicity, or when that person lacks communication skills, or does not look for any recognition
Justification
Justification.... That is what we try to do most of the times, the moment we open our mouth to say something ‘in response’ to a question, or even just a statement of fact (during conversations)!
For instance, an elderly lady happened to comment thus: ‘The youth now-a-days feel very hesitant to bend down to touch the feet of elders in the family to receive their blessing!’ (There is an ancient tradition in India, to touch the feet of elders, as soon as they meet, before taking their leave, or when they leave after a visit). I happened to puzzle this lady, with an unexpected remark “Yes, and they are quite right, in their hesitation!” …. And then, after allowing a few moments for the statement to sink in, I quietly added, ‘Are these elders quite sure about what they are doing,(or at least what they are supposed to do), in response to that mark of respect, when youngsters touch their feet?’ This unexpected question showed clearly on the lady’s face, with an expression that she could not find time to hide. The facial expression-response was instant. And then, I added, “Well, there was a time, when most people knew, what it meant to ‘bless’ or benedict, and did only what was appropriate on the occasion!..... It is perhaps time, before we try to re-impose those rituals on the youth, we re-equip ourselves, about the wherewithal, the know-how, and other technical details ….”
I was amused to find a simple straight response to a question about ‘feeling’ justified in telling a lie!
Quote:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101221132647AAKOlEt
“When do you feel justified in telling a lie?”
(Somebody gave a wonderful answer! )
“Always. We tell lies because we think they are justified.”
Unquote:
As simple as that! Are we not feeling ‘justified’ about everything that we say? Then, where is the ‘special’ treatment about a lie?
(The mind becomes a useful tool in our hands, only when we disable this reckless ‘justification’ about anything and everything, a bit consciously! A demonstrable situation is created by Spiritual Masters, during certain programs, where the participants feel utterly relaxed, when they ‘let go’ themselves free of their past, dropping the justification, especially the justification about their own ‘guilt’ about their past! The participants feel light, joyous, and cheerful for a while at least, soon after that program. Only the few alert ones pursue this ‘key’ later, when they roll back into their routine lives!)
psn(22nd December, 2010)
For instance, an elderly lady happened to comment thus: ‘The youth now-a-days feel very hesitant to bend down to touch the feet of elders in the family to receive their blessing!’ (There is an ancient tradition in India, to touch the feet of elders, as soon as they meet, before taking their leave, or when they leave after a visit). I happened to puzzle this lady, with an unexpected remark “Yes, and they are quite right, in their hesitation!” …. And then, after allowing a few moments for the statement to sink in, I quietly added, ‘Are these elders quite sure about what they are doing,(or at least what they are supposed to do), in response to that mark of respect, when youngsters touch their feet?’ This unexpected question showed clearly on the lady’s face, with an expression that she could not find time to hide. The facial expression-response was instant. And then, I added, “Well, there was a time, when most people knew, what it meant to ‘bless’ or benedict, and did only what was appropriate on the occasion!..... It is perhaps time, before we try to re-impose those rituals on the youth, we re-equip ourselves, about the wherewithal, the know-how, and other technical details ….”
I was amused to find a simple straight response to a question about ‘feeling’ justified in telling a lie!
Quote:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101221132647AAKOlEt
“When do you feel justified in telling a lie?”
(Somebody gave a wonderful answer! )
“Always. We tell lies because we think they are justified.”
Unquote:
As simple as that! Are we not feeling ‘justified’ about everything that we say? Then, where is the ‘special’ treatment about a lie?
(The mind becomes a useful tool in our hands, only when we disable this reckless ‘justification’ about anything and everything, a bit consciously! A demonstrable situation is created by Spiritual Masters, during certain programs, where the participants feel utterly relaxed, when they ‘let go’ themselves free of their past, dropping the justification, especially the justification about their own ‘guilt’ about their past! The participants feel light, joyous, and cheerful for a while at least, soon after that program. Only the few alert ones pursue this ‘key’ later, when they roll back into their routine lives!)
psn(22nd December, 2010)
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Misunderstanding
“See, you didn’t get me”……..
When we use these words, we often miss the other side of the coin, ‘Did we get them properly, in the first place?”
I had become sort of accustomed to envy ridden remarks, when colleagues around found me, seldom adhering to the ‘accepted’ tenets of a ‘friendly approach’ while ‘dealing’ with customers, and yet managed a wide acceptance at a deeper level amongst customers, who found it to their advantage to ‘tolerate’ me on an ‘as is where is’ basis!
It is not that we can do away with those ‘prescriptions’ for a ‘friendly’ approach. They ‘may’ be needed initially to ‘short-circuit’ the relationship. Nor do I subscribe to the idea of scoffing at those time tested tenets. But, when these don’t work, we have to re-look, whether we inadvertently ended up making them into mere ‘gimmicks’!
{The experience of being mercilessly ‘hammered’ by a spiritual master, out of utter compassion, is not entirely without a few incidental benefits :) }
psn(8th December, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101207173832AABh3ho
I feel like I am constantly being misunderstood or people dont' get me?
Either I make alot of assumptions about them and expect them to know because I think they identify with me, or either I get a false image of them, and seek to identify with them. What the f*ck had happened? I don't understand... am I communicating wrong?
My answer:
Compatibility, connectivity, continuity, are the usual problems.
Compatibility is two-way, when it concerns human beings, unlike gadgets, softwares.
Connectivity is more about removing distractions, with humans, unlike with gadgets. (That is why a 'classroom' ambiance works always better!).
Continuity is about 'holding' attention, the toughest aspect of communication! (for proof, please look at the commercial ads. Even a child, looks at ads, more than the serial itself! The ads aim at holding the attention more than the serial makers!)
When we use these words, we often miss the other side of the coin, ‘Did we get them properly, in the first place?”
I had become sort of accustomed to envy ridden remarks, when colleagues around found me, seldom adhering to the ‘accepted’ tenets of a ‘friendly approach’ while ‘dealing’ with customers, and yet managed a wide acceptance at a deeper level amongst customers, who found it to their advantage to ‘tolerate’ me on an ‘as is where is’ basis!
It is not that we can do away with those ‘prescriptions’ for a ‘friendly’ approach. They ‘may’ be needed initially to ‘short-circuit’ the relationship. Nor do I subscribe to the idea of scoffing at those time tested tenets. But, when these don’t work, we have to re-look, whether we inadvertently ended up making them into mere ‘gimmicks’!
{The experience of being mercilessly ‘hammered’ by a spiritual master, out of utter compassion, is not entirely without a few incidental benefits :) }
psn(8th December, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101207173832AABh3ho
I feel like I am constantly being misunderstood or people dont' get me?
Either I make alot of assumptions about them and expect them to know because I think they identify with me, or either I get a false image of them, and seek to identify with them. What the f*ck had happened? I don't understand... am I communicating wrong?
My answer:
Compatibility, connectivity, continuity, are the usual problems.
Compatibility is two-way, when it concerns human beings, unlike gadgets, softwares.
Connectivity is more about removing distractions, with humans, unlike with gadgets. (That is why a 'classroom' ambiance works always better!).
Continuity is about 'holding' attention, the toughest aspect of communication! (for proof, please look at the commercial ads. Even a child, looks at ads, more than the serial itself! The ads aim at holding the attention more than the serial makers!)
Monday, December 06, 2010
Multidimensional Relationships!
It was amusing to look at the thought process which highlighted this aspect of the mind!
Instead of the usual ‘long winding sentences’ (that my close childhood-friend once remarked), let me attempt simple approach.
For instance, a youth gets ‘relocated’ due to a job opportunity, and after initial ‘settling down’ , finds a calm day which invokes the warmth and fond memories of the childhood, that happened in the safe and secure insulation, which the parents had provided during the early age. It instantly evokes a sense of comparison with, the present ‘all by yourself’, insecure scenario. The deep buried emotional bonds resurface, and this youth attempts to relive them afresh, by planning a brief visit to ‘home’. But alas, soon after landing, even the not so important, ritualistic child-welfare-enquiries by the parents sparks off a logical stand-off and the emotional thirst simply vanishes like a person sinking fast into quicksand quite inadvertently! And the youth now wonders, ‘Did I come here for all this? Was I stupid to give-in for this poor bargain? I used up the precious two-day leave that I managed to wriggle out of that ‘demanding’ boss after lot of haggling! And with this frustration, I will be doubly burdened with the backlog of work after return!..... etc’
From the parent’s angle, they keep wondering, ‘what happened to the childhood closeness they felt about their child, which has got transformed into a ‘fuzzy’ mistrust!’
I am tempted to make a humble guess. The child, (in its ‘hood’ …. That is why perhaps the child-hood) was mostly emotion oriented (logic is yet to evolve). When logic improves, the relationships get slightly re-aligned. And logic shows no mercy towards emotional bonds! Even spouses wonder ‘what happened to that deeeep love that I felt (during early years of marriage) for my other half?
The source of this thought process was thus:
I happened to muster will to fight back the tendency to stay rooted and grounded at one place (5 years of retired life), and ventured a visit to my colleague(Mr.K) to repay the kindness of his unique close ‘bonds’ which had sprung some 30 years ago, having met and worked together for a few years, at the same office. He insisted that we halt for a unreasonably brief while, enroute our journey to another place of pilgrimage, at the very same city where we worked together 30 years ago. We had common colleagues, a few of them already retired. Within a matter of 15 minutes, a few of them converged at our halting place, and exchanged pleasantries. After returning home, I felt a bit guilty having missed to inform another close colleague (Mr.S), who was also retired and resided quite nearby to that ‘halting place’. So before I called him up now, to inform of our brief unexpected visit, and apologized for my lapse, I tried to think of what to ‘cook up and tell him’. Nothing but truth appealed to my mind. I blurted it out ‘blunt, raw and crude’ as I experienced it within. And it ‘sailed through’ smoothly, when I spoke to him briefly! Omitting the persons and personalities, I felt it worth while to share my experience here.
What I told him was, I had ‘happened’ to maintain multi-dimensional relationships with people around, and the bonds with Mr.K was a bit unique. It needed no less than an exclusive and personal proximity, by a visit, however brief, to ‘payback’ my dues. Where as this ‘S’ was in more frequent contact, (voice-mode), and it seemed adequate enough to hold on to the relationship. ‘S’ was more of a logical oriented disposition. He viewed emotions as temporal and as mere ‘outbursts’, of no logical consequence, other than of some nuisance value, of derailing us from deft handling of routine life! And I looked at my relationship with these two with an equanimous mind, and strove to do justice to both, exclusively, at its deserved appropriateness. The redundant bit of conversation was my own ‘surmise’ about possible consequences of such ‘orientation’ of mind. I made a reference to two main paths towards spirituality. Knowledge-path and emotional-path. Logic steers the knowledge path. Experience steers our way through the emotional path. (I was fortunate to be able to align myself to these two and also many other paths, by consciously shifting myself to suit the situation and the opportunities that demanded a particular path! Thus it came about that my relationships with people, often appeared to look a bit ‘mystic’, to the onlookers!)
My bonds with K:
I had to ‘see’ him in person to fulfill the commitment towards that kind of relationship. Gaps of time did not matter at all. This was amply evidenced by the wonderstruck remark of K’s daughter, nudging her mother and whispering quietly (I happened to ‘catch’ the remark! My own personal tools, mystic tools!)… the daughter, a student of advanced study of psychotherapy, told her mother ‘Did you observe… Dad is utterly different these two days! Even his strong addiction to the remote of our TV set has vanished!’. (This girl saw me for the first time, and knew very little about me, except for a casual mention by her ‘papa’ sometimes). The ‘mom’ fully shared her own delightful surprise with an affirmative nod at the daughter’s remarks! ‘K’ had his own style of prioritizing his goals. He did not mind at all, the adversities that he created for himself, due to refusal to adhere to ‘logical’ style of handling material aspects of life. He could not find many patrons around and his intimacy was therefore very limited. Ironically, he compensated adequately by enlarging the circle of close acquaintances who poured into his house in an incessant stream. He dealt with ‘logic’ with absolute simplicity. People loved being helped ‘without expectation’. He loved to look at even his own body (needless to add, his material belongings too!), as a mere vehicle for the spiritual journey of ‘life’ (or life-span), on this planet! Any incidental spill over of emotional bond beyond that materialistic greed and desires by people around was a ‘bonus’ for him! His well knit family is his greatest asset. Petty differences of opinion do not surface beyond a point. His daughter is gifted with unusual ‘sensitivity’ capability, and blends with ‘common’ goals of the family, quite effortlessly. In the process, she has evolved into appreciable levels of adaptability and flexibility, which is rare amidst youth of her age! Deep within her, she has accommodated her own ‘logical reasoning’ without any urgency for a compromise to suit the situation! Her present training sessions as a psychology-consultant/counselor adds to her data base of knowledge bank for a future reference when she would find mind-leisure to resolve deeper questions of life! The wife of K, has clear set compartments, presenting a unique blend of adherence to traditional values, rituals, heritage, and at the same time deftly dealing with multi-tasking skills which are demanded of a modern working woman! I was quite unprepared for an event that ‘exposed’ my attempts to pursue my spiritual commitments, my striving towards humble ‘repayment’ for what ever benedictions were bestowed upon me. This event turned out to be an utter failure. The way various people around looked at this failure was an unexpected windfall of rich experience for me. It is simply beyond my ‘logical’ mind to unravel the mystic source that prompted me to venture into a ‘process’ which got aborted in no time. I tried to attempt a possibility which was medically a non-possibility. The clinical details are unimportant. It concerned a child, carrying a deficiency, for no ‘apparent’ fault of hers, right from baby age! The parents could not find a way, to blend themselves, together, into the kind of a state of ‘deep acceptance’, which I felt, was needed for the ‘process’. I had to spell it out a bit bluntly that the father was perfectly ‘tuned’ while the mother was still in the grip of a residue of some bitter past. My part of the folly was to stretch the effort to bring the mother towards a deeper level of acceptance, beyond a level of tolerance, normal for a working mother faced with multitasking commitments. My dear friend K(who was keenly watching my efforts), could do no more than pitying at me, and mildly suggested that I restrict spelling out the ‘blunt’ aspects of attitude. He did not even need to look at my words to understand my sincerity (He simply ‘feels’ and experiences a person beyond barriers of language! It would not be out of place, to mention right here that when I informed him of my proposed visit, his joy knew no bounds, and all that he managed to say was ‘I await the pleasure of the experience when our ‘aura’s ‘ would merge once again!’. He never bothered to fine-tune his communication skills. Instead he chose for his actions to ‘speak’ and, it also did, only too well, and demonstrably too!) . The father of the child was strongly hoping that I would push forward to do ‘whatever it takes’, for the process which seemed to me as a tremendous possibility! That was the tragic end of this brief episode. Some episodes are wonderful, only with a tragic end, of part-1 at least! My curiosity still hopes for some kind of ‘miracle’ for that child, and in very near future too, and I sincerely wish it too! (Never before did I experience this kind of ‘absence’ of inhibition while confessing an utter failure. For that matter, to my memory, a failure of this magnitude is for the first time! For me, it still seems, only like a ‘seemingly’ and a temporary failure! And, anyway, the successes were never mine entirely).
There were several events of deep experiences during this 4-day visit. I could pay my respect to several spiritual beings, one of whom is alive, and quite young by his bodily age, and meeting this person presented many surprises to all those who witnessed, as co-visitors with me! But any attempt to narrate all of my experiences here, might cause fatigue to the casual reader, and result into needless injustice to the ‘beings’ involved! In my experience, these 4 days, and even the journey of 3 days to and fro, life happened very intensely, as if ‘a few lifetimes got compressed itself into a short span of these few days! I have to therefore, stop this narrative here!
My deepest and heartfelt gratitude and many thanks to several beings who made this visit happen to me thus, and not in the least, but more than all, to my dear friend, Mr.K! :)
Psn(6th December, 2010)
Instead of the usual ‘long winding sentences’ (that my close childhood-friend once remarked), let me attempt simple approach.
For instance, a youth gets ‘relocated’ due to a job opportunity, and after initial ‘settling down’ , finds a calm day which invokes the warmth and fond memories of the childhood, that happened in the safe and secure insulation, which the parents had provided during the early age. It instantly evokes a sense of comparison with, the present ‘all by yourself’, insecure scenario. The deep buried emotional bonds resurface, and this youth attempts to relive them afresh, by planning a brief visit to ‘home’. But alas, soon after landing, even the not so important, ritualistic child-welfare-enquiries by the parents sparks off a logical stand-off and the emotional thirst simply vanishes like a person sinking fast into quicksand quite inadvertently! And the youth now wonders, ‘Did I come here for all this? Was I stupid to give-in for this poor bargain? I used up the precious two-day leave that I managed to wriggle out of that ‘demanding’ boss after lot of haggling! And with this frustration, I will be doubly burdened with the backlog of work after return!..... etc’
From the parent’s angle, they keep wondering, ‘what happened to the childhood closeness they felt about their child, which has got transformed into a ‘fuzzy’ mistrust!’
I am tempted to make a humble guess. The child, (in its ‘hood’ …. That is why perhaps the child-hood) was mostly emotion oriented (logic is yet to evolve). When logic improves, the relationships get slightly re-aligned. And logic shows no mercy towards emotional bonds! Even spouses wonder ‘what happened to that deeeep love that I felt (during early years of marriage) for my other half?
The source of this thought process was thus:
I happened to muster will to fight back the tendency to stay rooted and grounded at one place (5 years of retired life), and ventured a visit to my colleague(Mr.K) to repay the kindness of his unique close ‘bonds’ which had sprung some 30 years ago, having met and worked together for a few years, at the same office. He insisted that we halt for a unreasonably brief while, enroute our journey to another place of pilgrimage, at the very same city where we worked together 30 years ago. We had common colleagues, a few of them already retired. Within a matter of 15 minutes, a few of them converged at our halting place, and exchanged pleasantries. After returning home, I felt a bit guilty having missed to inform another close colleague (Mr.S), who was also retired and resided quite nearby to that ‘halting place’. So before I called him up now, to inform of our brief unexpected visit, and apologized for my lapse, I tried to think of what to ‘cook up and tell him’. Nothing but truth appealed to my mind. I blurted it out ‘blunt, raw and crude’ as I experienced it within. And it ‘sailed through’ smoothly, when I spoke to him briefly! Omitting the persons and personalities, I felt it worth while to share my experience here.
What I told him was, I had ‘happened’ to maintain multi-dimensional relationships with people around, and the bonds with Mr.K was a bit unique. It needed no less than an exclusive and personal proximity, by a visit, however brief, to ‘payback’ my dues. Where as this ‘S’ was in more frequent contact, (voice-mode), and it seemed adequate enough to hold on to the relationship. ‘S’ was more of a logical oriented disposition. He viewed emotions as temporal and as mere ‘outbursts’, of no logical consequence, other than of some nuisance value, of derailing us from deft handling of routine life! And I looked at my relationship with these two with an equanimous mind, and strove to do justice to both, exclusively, at its deserved appropriateness. The redundant bit of conversation was my own ‘surmise’ about possible consequences of such ‘orientation’ of mind. I made a reference to two main paths towards spirituality. Knowledge-path and emotional-path. Logic steers the knowledge path. Experience steers our way through the emotional path. (I was fortunate to be able to align myself to these two and also many other paths, by consciously shifting myself to suit the situation and the opportunities that demanded a particular path! Thus it came about that my relationships with people, often appeared to look a bit ‘mystic’, to the onlookers!)
My bonds with K:
I had to ‘see’ him in person to fulfill the commitment towards that kind of relationship. Gaps of time did not matter at all. This was amply evidenced by the wonderstruck remark of K’s daughter, nudging her mother and whispering quietly (I happened to ‘catch’ the remark! My own personal tools, mystic tools!)… the daughter, a student of advanced study of psychotherapy, told her mother ‘Did you observe… Dad is utterly different these two days! Even his strong addiction to the remote of our TV set has vanished!’. (This girl saw me for the first time, and knew very little about me, except for a casual mention by her ‘papa’ sometimes). The ‘mom’ fully shared her own delightful surprise with an affirmative nod at the daughter’s remarks! ‘K’ had his own style of prioritizing his goals. He did not mind at all, the adversities that he created for himself, due to refusal to adhere to ‘logical’ style of handling material aspects of life. He could not find many patrons around and his intimacy was therefore very limited. Ironically, he compensated adequately by enlarging the circle of close acquaintances who poured into his house in an incessant stream. He dealt with ‘logic’ with absolute simplicity. People loved being helped ‘without expectation’. He loved to look at even his own body (needless to add, his material belongings too!), as a mere vehicle for the spiritual journey of ‘life’ (or life-span), on this planet! Any incidental spill over of emotional bond beyond that materialistic greed and desires by people around was a ‘bonus’ for him! His well knit family is his greatest asset. Petty differences of opinion do not surface beyond a point. His daughter is gifted with unusual ‘sensitivity’ capability, and blends with ‘common’ goals of the family, quite effortlessly. In the process, she has evolved into appreciable levels of adaptability and flexibility, which is rare amidst youth of her age! Deep within her, she has accommodated her own ‘logical reasoning’ without any urgency for a compromise to suit the situation! Her present training sessions as a psychology-consultant/counselor adds to her data base of knowledge bank for a future reference when she would find mind-leisure to resolve deeper questions of life! The wife of K, has clear set compartments, presenting a unique blend of adherence to traditional values, rituals, heritage, and at the same time deftly dealing with multi-tasking skills which are demanded of a modern working woman! I was quite unprepared for an event that ‘exposed’ my attempts to pursue my spiritual commitments, my striving towards humble ‘repayment’ for what ever benedictions were bestowed upon me. This event turned out to be an utter failure. The way various people around looked at this failure was an unexpected windfall of rich experience for me. It is simply beyond my ‘logical’ mind to unravel the mystic source that prompted me to venture into a ‘process’ which got aborted in no time. I tried to attempt a possibility which was medically a non-possibility. The clinical details are unimportant. It concerned a child, carrying a deficiency, for no ‘apparent’ fault of hers, right from baby age! The parents could not find a way, to blend themselves, together, into the kind of a state of ‘deep acceptance’, which I felt, was needed for the ‘process’. I had to spell it out a bit bluntly that the father was perfectly ‘tuned’ while the mother was still in the grip of a residue of some bitter past. My part of the folly was to stretch the effort to bring the mother towards a deeper level of acceptance, beyond a level of tolerance, normal for a working mother faced with multitasking commitments. My dear friend K(who was keenly watching my efforts), could do no more than pitying at me, and mildly suggested that I restrict spelling out the ‘blunt’ aspects of attitude. He did not even need to look at my words to understand my sincerity (He simply ‘feels’ and experiences a person beyond barriers of language! It would not be out of place, to mention right here that when I informed him of my proposed visit, his joy knew no bounds, and all that he managed to say was ‘I await the pleasure of the experience when our ‘aura’s ‘ would merge once again!’. He never bothered to fine-tune his communication skills. Instead he chose for his actions to ‘speak’ and, it also did, only too well, and demonstrably too!) . The father of the child was strongly hoping that I would push forward to do ‘whatever it takes’, for the process which seemed to me as a tremendous possibility! That was the tragic end of this brief episode. Some episodes are wonderful, only with a tragic end, of part-1 at least! My curiosity still hopes for some kind of ‘miracle’ for that child, and in very near future too, and I sincerely wish it too! (Never before did I experience this kind of ‘absence’ of inhibition while confessing an utter failure. For that matter, to my memory, a failure of this magnitude is for the first time! For me, it still seems, only like a ‘seemingly’ and a temporary failure! And, anyway, the successes were never mine entirely).
There were several events of deep experiences during this 4-day visit. I could pay my respect to several spiritual beings, one of whom is alive, and quite young by his bodily age, and meeting this person presented many surprises to all those who witnessed, as co-visitors with me! But any attempt to narrate all of my experiences here, might cause fatigue to the casual reader, and result into needless injustice to the ‘beings’ involved! In my experience, these 4 days, and even the journey of 3 days to and fro, life happened very intensely, as if ‘a few lifetimes got compressed itself into a short span of these few days! I have to therefore, stop this narrative here!
My deepest and heartfelt gratitude and many thanks to several beings who made this visit happen to me thus, and not in the least, but more than all, to my dear friend, Mr.K! :)
Psn(6th December, 2010)
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Disclosure
I wonder why I did not think of writing about this earlier! Anyway, I guess it would be a welcome variation, to some extent at least, when I decided to voluntarily ‘disclose’ a close weakness of mine. No.. no… it is not a weakness that incapacitates me in anyway. (Perhaps, I feel that we need not always look at all ‘weaknesses’ as some kind of affliction, necessarily very detrimental to health, physical or mental). This weakness of mine happens to give me (‘bestow me with’ would be more sacred way of putting it!) some unfair advantage over others! Mysteriously enough, it never became an addiction!
I love to play carroms. It is still a weakness, though it is years since I came anywhere near a carrom board. That is the advantage of having just a weakness, not an addiction!
Honestly, I still don’t know who ‘started’ this carroms. I am not sure whether it got invented, or it was first ‘discovered’ and then got modified. Because, it is just a game of ‘billiards’, minus a 180 degrees of aim while ‘shooting’. Somehow, it is very popular in India, throughout. But it never really got the status it deserves, commensurate with its popularity. It is almost like those honest people, who invariably go unnoticed, though it is they who collectively keep the country ‘going’ despite all types of obstacles which flourishes liberally. But it is not entirely without any reward. In fact the reward that these honest people enjoy is a bit mystic and utterly subtle too.
I look at this game as a sort of ‘guru’, a guide, a friend, a good critic, and also as a very good ‘informer’! The other players seem like an open book, the moment they get involved into the game. The nature of their mind seems quite easy to grasp (the contents of the mind was never of any use or interest to me, and it does remain unknown too). For me, this game is like a handy measuring tool, or a ‘monitor’ that can be used to test my ‘mental’ balance. When the mind is relaxed, steady, and alert, the game is almost mine, irrespective of how well matched the opponent is. On the other hand, when the mind is unsteady, turbulent, etc, even a simple and easy coin seems an uphill task to deal with! The value of ‘practice’ became too obvious, and it was directly proportional to the tolerance level of deftly handling the game with an emotionally shaky mind of that day! The board seemed a clear mirror of my own state of mind, when I dealt with the game. I felt quite surprised that the rules of the game looked quite familiar to me, (it was just the same as ‘I had felt it ought to be’, long before the ‘standardized’ rules was shown to me later, at ‘tournament’ levels!). It is the love for the game that took me into deep concepts about the ‘ethics’ of a ‘level playing field’. Since this game combines the factors of luck, skill, logic, judgment, and specifically, an emotional balance, with all these in a blend of a wonderful proportion, the rules and the administrator of it, calls for an excellent grasp on Jurisprudence. Now, this might seem too far fetched, an imaginative argument! But, let me state a typical example. Once it so happened that I got ‘caught up’ into participating into an inter-offices-tournament at a district headquarters. I got the warning to stay away from that ‘set’ of participants a bit too late. (A few decades ago, hockey was played at international levels between two particular rival countries thus. The sticks were used more to injure the opponent than to hit the ball!). Within a few rounds, situation became too difficult for me to play, and I walked off (giving a ‘walkover’, in the middle of the game). It so happened, that the chief organizer felt guilty, and nursed a secret desire to somehow compensate me. He ensured that I attend the prize giving ceremony, persuading me with reassurance that it would just a symbolic show of sportsman-spirit, to attend. Reluctantly, I obliged him. There, he made a surprise announcement of an award in my favor for an ‘all round performance’, and he quoted appropriate skills displayed, which did stand on its merits. But, the other prize winners who knew the underlying significance revolted instantly, and took shelter under the ‘concept of strictness of purpose’. They argued that this chief organizer’s act of awarding me an ‘unscheduled’ prize would tantamount to ‘misuse’ of funds allocated for ‘prizes’ (as decided by ‘committee’)! I was standing there facing the audience, thoroughly embarrassed. I did not even look at the chief guest and others, despite the curiosity to observe their ‘reaction’. But the chief guest (a cabinet minister of the state) ‘responded’ instead of ‘reacting’ sporadically. He calmly got hold of the mike, invoked his ministerial rank, powers, and ability to ask the ‘aide-de-camp’ in case of need, and then made an announcement that baffled me! He instantly touched the core principles of jurisprudence, justified the need for recognition of skill and the award, and decided to circumvent the allegation of ‘misuse’ of funds, by bearing the cost of the ‘prize and the official photograph’ all by himself, out of his private personal money! In those few moments, I learnt many a precious lessons, including those about principles of equity and judicious use of discretion! (Never thereafter did I lack that watchfulness to ‘lookout’ for trouble of such kind, and used to gracefully allow the opponent to win, when such times arose. My gain was enormous, compared to the pittance in the form of a prize that gets forgotten too soon, in view of the status accorded to the game itself!).
I got pushed into this game at a very early age. My father was no exception to a sense of loyalty to the ‘ethnicity’ of the native village where he grew into adulthood. This sense of ‘loyalty’ towards the ‘ethnicity’ is a bit unique to those who hail from that state! The uniqueness lies in their refusal to budge from a few of their ethnic traits. For instance, people from non-English speaking countries struggle to catch the correct accent of English due to the ‘impact’ of their own native tongue. But this unique set of people simply ‘refuse’ to adapt themselves to the correct accent though it is very easy for them due to their pre-existing skill with the tongue twisting nature of their own native language, and its lean, being mostly on Sanskrit, a language that is known to bestow multi-dimensional benefits! So, such people, who share similar loyalty, also like to preserve their harmless eccentricity, join up and form a group, and also find a relaxation right in the midst of their own homogenous kind, where they tense up between themselves over trifles, which are mostly due to slight mismatch of levels of their very same ‘unique’ stamp-marks of ethnic traits! Yes, I used to wonder as a kid, what was the ‘nature’ of relaxation they would be(better to say, they “might be”) drawing, out of such brawls which reach high crescendos of noise when they are really tensed up, even if it all about just a game of cards or carroms! I was taken to the regular meeting place of this association ‘office’ right after the school in the evening, simply because my father chose not to waste the travel time to drop me home and then join up the ‘session’ of evening round of game. I cannot really blame my father or the situation for my ‘weakness’ that crept in. It is almost a family weakness, ethnic weakness, state weakness, and perhaps country’s weakness to try out one’s fingers at this game of carroms! Almost every household with some modest means would provide a carrom board for the entertainment of their kids. Quite inadvertently, I acquired good skills at the game of carroms, when I kept fiddling with the coins, trying to knock them into the pocket during brief intervals when elders discussed the previous game. I had the unfair advantage of an uncluttered mind of a kid, and all I did was “when you want to shoot, shoot, don’t talk” (That punch dialogue of old English movie “Good Bad, and the Ugly”). I even participated in a tournament, and was thrown out of the event, when somebody pointed out that I was a kid, and hence a ‘non-member’ of the association (membership was only for 18 years old and above), and hence ineligible for a prize. This was when I reached too close to winning a final game of doubles, with an expert, who chose me partner! (My first taste of ‘victimization’ for no fault of mine! Now you know, how much this game has taught me, the way nature does, when they say, ‘nature is the best teacher’!).
Psn(24th November, 2010)
I love to play carroms. It is still a weakness, though it is years since I came anywhere near a carrom board. That is the advantage of having just a weakness, not an addiction!
Honestly, I still don’t know who ‘started’ this carroms. I am not sure whether it got invented, or it was first ‘discovered’ and then got modified. Because, it is just a game of ‘billiards’, minus a 180 degrees of aim while ‘shooting’. Somehow, it is very popular in India, throughout. But it never really got the status it deserves, commensurate with its popularity. It is almost like those honest people, who invariably go unnoticed, though it is they who collectively keep the country ‘going’ despite all types of obstacles which flourishes liberally. But it is not entirely without any reward. In fact the reward that these honest people enjoy is a bit mystic and utterly subtle too.
I look at this game as a sort of ‘guru’, a guide, a friend, a good critic, and also as a very good ‘informer’! The other players seem like an open book, the moment they get involved into the game. The nature of their mind seems quite easy to grasp (the contents of the mind was never of any use or interest to me, and it does remain unknown too). For me, this game is like a handy measuring tool, or a ‘monitor’ that can be used to test my ‘mental’ balance. When the mind is relaxed, steady, and alert, the game is almost mine, irrespective of how well matched the opponent is. On the other hand, when the mind is unsteady, turbulent, etc, even a simple and easy coin seems an uphill task to deal with! The value of ‘practice’ became too obvious, and it was directly proportional to the tolerance level of deftly handling the game with an emotionally shaky mind of that day! The board seemed a clear mirror of my own state of mind, when I dealt with the game. I felt quite surprised that the rules of the game looked quite familiar to me, (it was just the same as ‘I had felt it ought to be’, long before the ‘standardized’ rules was shown to me later, at ‘tournament’ levels!). It is the love for the game that took me into deep concepts about the ‘ethics’ of a ‘level playing field’. Since this game combines the factors of luck, skill, logic, judgment, and specifically, an emotional balance, with all these in a blend of a wonderful proportion, the rules and the administrator of it, calls for an excellent grasp on Jurisprudence. Now, this might seem too far fetched, an imaginative argument! But, let me state a typical example. Once it so happened that I got ‘caught up’ into participating into an inter-offices-tournament at a district headquarters. I got the warning to stay away from that ‘set’ of participants a bit too late. (A few decades ago, hockey was played at international levels between two particular rival countries thus. The sticks were used more to injure the opponent than to hit the ball!). Within a few rounds, situation became too difficult for me to play, and I walked off (giving a ‘walkover’, in the middle of the game). It so happened, that the chief organizer felt guilty, and nursed a secret desire to somehow compensate me. He ensured that I attend the prize giving ceremony, persuading me with reassurance that it would just a symbolic show of sportsman-spirit, to attend. Reluctantly, I obliged him. There, he made a surprise announcement of an award in my favor for an ‘all round performance’, and he quoted appropriate skills displayed, which did stand on its merits. But, the other prize winners who knew the underlying significance revolted instantly, and took shelter under the ‘concept of strictness of purpose’. They argued that this chief organizer’s act of awarding me an ‘unscheduled’ prize would tantamount to ‘misuse’ of funds allocated for ‘prizes’ (as decided by ‘committee’)! I was standing there facing the audience, thoroughly embarrassed. I did not even look at the chief guest and others, despite the curiosity to observe their ‘reaction’. But the chief guest (a cabinet minister of the state) ‘responded’ instead of ‘reacting’ sporadically. He calmly got hold of the mike, invoked his ministerial rank, powers, and ability to ask the ‘aide-de-camp’ in case of need, and then made an announcement that baffled me! He instantly touched the core principles of jurisprudence, justified the need for recognition of skill and the award, and decided to circumvent the allegation of ‘misuse’ of funds, by bearing the cost of the ‘prize and the official photograph’ all by himself, out of his private personal money! In those few moments, I learnt many a precious lessons, including those about principles of equity and judicious use of discretion! (Never thereafter did I lack that watchfulness to ‘lookout’ for trouble of such kind, and used to gracefully allow the opponent to win, when such times arose. My gain was enormous, compared to the pittance in the form of a prize that gets forgotten too soon, in view of the status accorded to the game itself!).
I got pushed into this game at a very early age. My father was no exception to a sense of loyalty to the ‘ethnicity’ of the native village where he grew into adulthood. This sense of ‘loyalty’ towards the ‘ethnicity’ is a bit unique to those who hail from that state! The uniqueness lies in their refusal to budge from a few of their ethnic traits. For instance, people from non-English speaking countries struggle to catch the correct accent of English due to the ‘impact’ of their own native tongue. But this unique set of people simply ‘refuse’ to adapt themselves to the correct accent though it is very easy for them due to their pre-existing skill with the tongue twisting nature of their own native language, and its lean, being mostly on Sanskrit, a language that is known to bestow multi-dimensional benefits! So, such people, who share similar loyalty, also like to preserve their harmless eccentricity, join up and form a group, and also find a relaxation right in the midst of their own homogenous kind, where they tense up between themselves over trifles, which are mostly due to slight mismatch of levels of their very same ‘unique’ stamp-marks of ethnic traits! Yes, I used to wonder as a kid, what was the ‘nature’ of relaxation they would be(better to say, they “might be”) drawing, out of such brawls which reach high crescendos of noise when they are really tensed up, even if it all about just a game of cards or carroms! I was taken to the regular meeting place of this association ‘office’ right after the school in the evening, simply because my father chose not to waste the travel time to drop me home and then join up the ‘session’ of evening round of game. I cannot really blame my father or the situation for my ‘weakness’ that crept in. It is almost a family weakness, ethnic weakness, state weakness, and perhaps country’s weakness to try out one’s fingers at this game of carroms! Almost every household with some modest means would provide a carrom board for the entertainment of their kids. Quite inadvertently, I acquired good skills at the game of carroms, when I kept fiddling with the coins, trying to knock them into the pocket during brief intervals when elders discussed the previous game. I had the unfair advantage of an uncluttered mind of a kid, and all I did was “when you want to shoot, shoot, don’t talk” (That punch dialogue of old English movie “Good Bad, and the Ugly”). I even participated in a tournament, and was thrown out of the event, when somebody pointed out that I was a kid, and hence a ‘non-member’ of the association (membership was only for 18 years old and above), and hence ineligible for a prize. This was when I reached too close to winning a final game of doubles, with an expert, who chose me partner! (My first taste of ‘victimization’ for no fault of mine! Now you know, how much this game has taught me, the way nature does, when they say, ‘nature is the best teacher’!).
Psn(24th November, 2010)
Monday, November 22, 2010
Perfectionism
There are two ways of looking at it. But casual critics mix up both these aspects or view points and come to a hasty conclusion.
If we try to perfect ourselves at doing something, it is ‘perfectly’ okay! It is good to do something better than the previous time. We keep evolving. Our focus gets better. Our involvement gets intensified. We fight that drudgery, fatigue, boredom, dullness, etc when we attempt at doing things more perfectly than before. Nothing at all is wrong about it.
The problem is when our craze for perfection is at the cost of others, and for the sake of our comfort. Usually, the burden of effort too rests upon others. That is something to be looked at, otherwise, time would catch up with us, and we get isolated in one way or other.
There are a few who adopt a ‘middle-path’ and use this ‘perfectionism’ for some petty advantage or to camouflage a lacuna. A hair dresser does not like his shop to appear desolate, and may choose to trim the hair of a helplessly lone visitor for an undue length of time, till another customer takes over! Here ‘feigning’ a ‘strive for perfection’ has nothing to do with improving the skill, or trying to wriggle out any undue benefit from other’s perfection.
Very few are fortunate to realize their own folly, looking for perfection from others, or things around. And then when they are genuinely interested to find a way to come out of it, they look for a ‘stable’ support, which would resolve the conflict within, paving way for a deep sense of acceptance, and then free themselves from this nagging problem!
I happened to stumble upon a question, where the asker seemed genuinely concerned about the needless attitude, and was eager to find a way to wriggle out of it.
(I was not quite sure, if this answer of mine ought to find a place in the blog, but then, it occurred to me that, perhaps, we may feel persuaded to look at ourselves, just in case, this perfectionism lingers around with a different name!)
Psn(22nd November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101121135914AAEGyGR
I hate myself for being a perfectionist?
Hello dear people,
I have a problem. Everything that I own has to be perfect. I will explain:
If a desk of mine has a bad scratch I replace it ( replaced 4 desks in 2 years time). I want to sell my laptop and buy another one because it has a scratch on it. I want to paint my room and buy new furniture because the furniture i have now has scratches on it.
I really hate myself for wanting to replace my stuff all the time because i`m using up my money and my parents money. But if I don`t replace that stuff I feel even worse. I also know that I should be really happy with what I have got because allot of people don`t have it, but still i want to have everything perfect. I want to replace my 2 month`s old TV just because it has some scratches on it.
I hate myself for this but I just cant stop thinking this way...
Is there anything i can do?
Thanks in advance.
I am re-posting my question because I didn`t get enough answers on the previous post.
My reply:
It is indeed a bit difficult to get 'enough' answers, because somewhere everyone is having this problem within themselves. Only the name changes. In general, people who like to have a 'smooth' life, are also hating scratches of stray incidents, which cause discomfort. And, can life be always really so 'smooth'? Even if it is, is it going to be really wonderful? Visualise a movie where the hero-heroine have an utterly smooth and comfortable life (all the 3 hours of that long movie). No villains, no untoward incident. Quite smooth. Interesting? Where is the thrill? Same with objects. Most people love to see thriller movies, where heroes suffer till the end, and somehow succeed at last. "Die hard" , that famous movie, full of trouble for the hero. And now we await the part-2,3,4 etc!!!
In real life, no body likes even a casual nudge in a crowded bus!
So, that hate for imperfection is merely a bit of resistence, a bit of intolerance. When such an emotion is 'noticed' please try some deep breathing, and just see whether it is possible to have perfection. Also, whether perfection "everywhere" is going to yield joy. (All leaves of all trees same size, flowers equally beautiful, fruits perfect round. Even drumsticks like vegetables perfect length, girls perfect beauties all alike, (Oh! I am reminded of that advertisement of pressure cooker, where the heroine asks her husband to visualise every family member looks like her... parents, brother, children, milkman, vendors etc.!! She wanted to suggest different shapes, colors and sizes of cookers! .... Just an ad... but the theme is to have variety, instead of perfection.). All this seems okay, but there is some difficulty in 'implementing' being so used to that instant repulsion towards imperfection. We have to try allowing the situation to decide, instead of "us" taking the 'control'. Then we have the freedom to blend with the situation, the freedom to correct the imperfect things if the situation needs, or else just learn to accept it gracefully, as a part of natural order of things. (You would notice, that generations at all times have been complaining about 'this' generation compared to the previous 'good' one during past time! An exception that people miss is that people on spiritual path 'never' complain. Once the 'inside' is smooth, everything outside appears 'smooth' whichever way it is!
If we try to perfect ourselves at doing something, it is ‘perfectly’ okay! It is good to do something better than the previous time. We keep evolving. Our focus gets better. Our involvement gets intensified. We fight that drudgery, fatigue, boredom, dullness, etc when we attempt at doing things more perfectly than before. Nothing at all is wrong about it.
The problem is when our craze for perfection is at the cost of others, and for the sake of our comfort. Usually, the burden of effort too rests upon others. That is something to be looked at, otherwise, time would catch up with us, and we get isolated in one way or other.
There are a few who adopt a ‘middle-path’ and use this ‘perfectionism’ for some petty advantage or to camouflage a lacuna. A hair dresser does not like his shop to appear desolate, and may choose to trim the hair of a helplessly lone visitor for an undue length of time, till another customer takes over! Here ‘feigning’ a ‘strive for perfection’ has nothing to do with improving the skill, or trying to wriggle out any undue benefit from other’s perfection.
Very few are fortunate to realize their own folly, looking for perfection from others, or things around. And then when they are genuinely interested to find a way to come out of it, they look for a ‘stable’ support, which would resolve the conflict within, paving way for a deep sense of acceptance, and then free themselves from this nagging problem!
I happened to stumble upon a question, where the asker seemed genuinely concerned about the needless attitude, and was eager to find a way to wriggle out of it.
(I was not quite sure, if this answer of mine ought to find a place in the blog, but then, it occurred to me that, perhaps, we may feel persuaded to look at ourselves, just in case, this perfectionism lingers around with a different name!)
Psn(22nd November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101121135914AAEGyGR
I hate myself for being a perfectionist?
Hello dear people,
I have a problem. Everything that I own has to be perfect. I will explain:
If a desk of mine has a bad scratch I replace it ( replaced 4 desks in 2 years time). I want to sell my laptop and buy another one because it has a scratch on it. I want to paint my room and buy new furniture because the furniture i have now has scratches on it.
I really hate myself for wanting to replace my stuff all the time because i`m using up my money and my parents money. But if I don`t replace that stuff I feel even worse. I also know that I should be really happy with what I have got because allot of people don`t have it, but still i want to have everything perfect. I want to replace my 2 month`s old TV just because it has some scratches on it.
I hate myself for this but I just cant stop thinking this way...
Is there anything i can do?
Thanks in advance.
I am re-posting my question because I didn`t get enough answers on the previous post.
My reply:
It is indeed a bit difficult to get 'enough' answers, because somewhere everyone is having this problem within themselves. Only the name changes. In general, people who like to have a 'smooth' life, are also hating scratches of stray incidents, which cause discomfort. And, can life be always really so 'smooth'? Even if it is, is it going to be really wonderful? Visualise a movie where the hero-heroine have an utterly smooth and comfortable life (all the 3 hours of that long movie). No villains, no untoward incident. Quite smooth. Interesting? Where is the thrill? Same with objects. Most people love to see thriller movies, where heroes suffer till the end, and somehow succeed at last. "Die hard" , that famous movie, full of trouble for the hero. And now we await the part-2,3,4 etc!!!
In real life, no body likes even a casual nudge in a crowded bus!
So, that hate for imperfection is merely a bit of resistence, a bit of intolerance. When such an emotion is 'noticed' please try some deep breathing, and just see whether it is possible to have perfection. Also, whether perfection "everywhere" is going to yield joy. (All leaves of all trees same size, flowers equally beautiful, fruits perfect round. Even drumsticks like vegetables perfect length, girls perfect beauties all alike, (Oh! I am reminded of that advertisement of pressure cooker, where the heroine asks her husband to visualise every family member looks like her... parents, brother, children, milkman, vendors etc.!! She wanted to suggest different shapes, colors and sizes of cookers! .... Just an ad... but the theme is to have variety, instead of perfection.). All this seems okay, but there is some difficulty in 'implementing' being so used to that instant repulsion towards imperfection. We have to try allowing the situation to decide, instead of "us" taking the 'control'. Then we have the freedom to blend with the situation, the freedom to correct the imperfect things if the situation needs, or else just learn to accept it gracefully, as a part of natural order of things. (You would notice, that generations at all times have been complaining about 'this' generation compared to the previous 'good' one during past time! An exception that people miss is that people on spiritual path 'never' complain. Once the 'inside' is smooth, everything outside appears 'smooth' whichever way it is!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
THE problem WITH "Ideas"
This time, “the pleasure is mine” to suggest a brief talk, about a very deep question!
Quite unfortunately, I missed the video viewing, because the question itself amazed me, and pulled me into spilling out my ‘ideas’ about an answer! (The asker had done everything possible with those additional details, to persuade the answerers to take a look at the video first, but …. Somehow, I was a bit late!)
The asker had chosen to put it to vote, being ‘torn’ between two answers (I still wonder which of those are the ‘two’!)
Anyway, my answer does not seem to matter at all, now that I decided to suggest a more captivating talk on this video clipping. I am sure, you would enjoy it well!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niZLWHY5OF0
(So, this time, I would not commit the stupidity of reproducing my answer ‘herein below’)
psn(20th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101110072902AApaI7G
Is my desire to remember my true self just a concept of my mind?
Why do I feel like I have to dig deep to remember who I am if on the deepest level I never forgot?This video really resonates on a deeeeeeep level:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niZLWHY5O…
if you don't have the patience to watch it all skip to around 7:00, but it is an awesome video so in my opinion it is all worth watching :)
Additional Details
lol...I am so confused though! :)
The video is:"Assimilated into The Collective Delusion & The Imagined Journey Out ~ Mooji" posted by Awakening Bridge
LOL I am absolutely torn between two answers. I am going to have to put this one to a vote.
Thank you all for your beautiful answers and willingness to share your point of view. Love and blessings!
Before I put this to a vote I must say that I am realizing the importance of being in the moment now. Because that IS where my true self resides. It currently is still hard for me, but I am going to keep on working on my meditation practice. Thank you.
Quite unfortunately, I missed the video viewing, because the question itself amazed me, and pulled me into spilling out my ‘ideas’ about an answer! (The asker had done everything possible with those additional details, to persuade the answerers to take a look at the video first, but …. Somehow, I was a bit late!)
The asker had chosen to put it to vote, being ‘torn’ between two answers (I still wonder which of those are the ‘two’!)
Anyway, my answer does not seem to matter at all, now that I decided to suggest a more captivating talk on this video clipping. I am sure, you would enjoy it well!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niZLWHY5OF0
(So, this time, I would not commit the stupidity of reproducing my answer ‘herein below’)
psn(20th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101110072902AApaI7G
Is my desire to remember my true self just a concept of my mind?
Why do I feel like I have to dig deep to remember who I am if on the deepest level I never forgot?This video really resonates on a deeeeeeep level:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niZLWHY5O…
if you don't have the patience to watch it all skip to around 7:00, but it is an awesome video so in my opinion it is all worth watching :)
Additional Details
lol...I am so confused though! :)
The video is:"Assimilated into The Collective Delusion & The Imagined Journey Out ~ Mooji" posted by Awakening Bridge
LOL I am absolutely torn between two answers. I am going to have to put this one to a vote.
Thank you all for your beautiful answers and willingness to share your point of view. Love and blessings!
Before I put this to a vote I must say that I am realizing the importance of being in the moment now. Because that IS where my true self resides. It currently is still hard for me, but I am going to keep on working on my meditation practice. Thank you.
Final Jump
What ever a person does, to some how evolve into the ultimate possibility, there comes a stage, where there seems to be no where else to go!
Now, when a similar question arises, at a very early stage of this kind of arduous journey, what to do with this question? Is it worth all, keeping this question alive? That is the subtle question behind the ‘apparent’ or ‘surface’ level question!
The mystic set of people, continue to amaze everybody, every being, including themselves, when they find themselves engaged relentlessly to assist people to ‘hang on’ to such questions. (That small insignificant journey ‘across’ the pathless path seems quite enough, for a pint sized ‘me’ even to gauge this much). ‘After’ all, time itself is a mere concept of the ‘mind’, so where is the relevance of that ‘too early’ or ‘too late’? (That is where I find some ‘excuse’/justification, in reproducing this question, ‘soliciting’ your ‘kind’ attention)
Before it is too late (that is, before the mind gets too much fatigued, to even look at that wonderful question), let me ‘rest’ , ‘here’!
Psn(20th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101119112012AAcc0PC
Do you think the world exists?
When you are in deep dreamless sleep.If so..how do you know with absolute certainty.
Additional Details
We don't percieve anything when we are in dreamless sleep..
I am referring to dreamless sleep..not dreaming sleep.
My reply:
Well, the whole problem is,the world exists only when we are 'thinking', not when we are sleeping.Very right about that sleep state. All the sensory level perceptions are quite withdrawn, with no experience of even this 'earthly' life! (And incidentally, this is the very first problem of a dead person! To even know that the game is over now! )
The whole purpose of spirituality is to afford us the 'peek' look into that 'mystic' reality, where, the sleep happens in our full awareness! We go into that nothingness with that 'witnessing aspect' (unlike the 'absenteeism' during sleep that we are so 'familiar' about!! Yes, familiar about our unfamiliarity, is what I mean!).
(Honestly, I am amazed at the depth of questions such as these, that are slowly on the increase on this forum! When these questions become very intense, then, there is no going back! Whatever 'else' we do with our lives, this pulls us back into the 'groove' quite choicelessly! I bow humbly to such wonderful questions!)
Now, when a similar question arises, at a very early stage of this kind of arduous journey, what to do with this question? Is it worth all, keeping this question alive? That is the subtle question behind the ‘apparent’ or ‘surface’ level question!
The mystic set of people, continue to amaze everybody, every being, including themselves, when they find themselves engaged relentlessly to assist people to ‘hang on’ to such questions. (That small insignificant journey ‘across’ the pathless path seems quite enough, for a pint sized ‘me’ even to gauge this much). ‘After’ all, time itself is a mere concept of the ‘mind’, so where is the relevance of that ‘too early’ or ‘too late’? (That is where I find some ‘excuse’/justification, in reproducing this question, ‘soliciting’ your ‘kind’ attention)
Before it is too late (that is, before the mind gets too much fatigued, to even look at that wonderful question), let me ‘rest’ , ‘here’!
Psn(20th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101119112012AAcc0PC
Do you think the world exists?
When you are in deep dreamless sleep.If so..how do you know with absolute certainty.
Additional Details
We don't percieve anything when we are in dreamless sleep..
I am referring to dreamless sleep..not dreaming sleep.
My reply:
Well, the whole problem is,the world exists only when we are 'thinking', not when we are sleeping.Very right about that sleep state. All the sensory level perceptions are quite withdrawn, with no experience of even this 'earthly' life! (And incidentally, this is the very first problem of a dead person! To even know that the game is over now! )
The whole purpose of spirituality is to afford us the 'peek' look into that 'mystic' reality, where, the sleep happens in our full awareness! We go into that nothingness with that 'witnessing aspect' (unlike the 'absenteeism' during sleep that we are so 'familiar' about!! Yes, familiar about our unfamiliarity, is what I mean!).
(Honestly, I am amazed at the depth of questions such as these, that are slowly on the increase on this forum! When these questions become very intense, then, there is no going back! Whatever 'else' we do with our lives, this pulls us back into the 'groove' quite choicelessly! I bow humbly to such wonderful questions!)
Briefly Wise
Yeah. To put it quite simply, somebody wanted to look at: where this wisdom is going to really take us ! For most people, the word seems to scare, trying to demand some unusual and abnormal amount of involvement, efforts, diversion from the comforts of ‘routine’ etc. They settle down for just an ‘average’ life, where the routine happens without much hassles (occasional ups and down are okay…. Okay because…. It happens with everybody….. if it is going to happen only to us, then, even that is not okay!). That ‘wise’ seems too burdensome (we find even that ‘common sense’ in us being challenged so frequently… why run into risk trying to chase that ‘unearthly’ wisdom? That is the ‘stand’ to be taken to maintain a stable equilibrium of mind!).
I was amused, when a question sought to set things “straight”, one leading to the other, starting from simple ignorance.
(That, the proviso “maybe”, is carefully inserted, not out of doubts or apprehension, is all that I can say, about my own view point about it.)
psn(20th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Amulydwue6GJIX9TaxbamNWQHQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20101117235133AABq6Sm
What is wisdom if ..................?
Ignorance is the beginning of knowledge;
knowledge is the beginning of wisdom;
My reply:
Then.
Maybe, Wisdom is the beginning of awareness,
and Awareness the beginning of "ultimate"
I was amused, when a question sought to set things “straight”, one leading to the other, starting from simple ignorance.
(That, the proviso “maybe”, is carefully inserted, not out of doubts or apprehension, is all that I can say, about my own view point about it.)
psn(20th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Amulydwue6GJIX9TaxbamNWQHQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20101117235133AABq6Sm
What is wisdom if ..................?
Ignorance is the beginning of knowledge;
knowledge is the beginning of wisdom;
My reply:
Then.
Maybe, Wisdom is the beginning of awareness,
and Awareness the beginning of "ultimate"
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Strength
It is a very relative term! Exclusively, strength means nothing, of course, in the sense of its tangible form usually. We usually seek strength in the form of number game. We garner opinion. We persuade grouping. Those who are comfortable with their laziness, try to form a ‘team’ for a job, which could have been easily handled alone, and then propagate the advantages of a team-spirit, unity is strength, etc. So, we humans are quite clever to even disrobe our ‘other’ weaknesses by according needless, or rather redundant credits to ‘strengths’. The consequence is that we get enmeshed into our own concepts of strength. That is when we start losing that mental strength! Political people have a better scope for this unique experience of that ‘strength’ slipping off all of a sudden. It takes them by utter surprise. All of a sudden everything turns against them(they play too much with the concept of ‘strength’! Even in the game of chess, we have that famous game “smothered mate” where all the ‘big’ powers actually end up preventing the main deciding piece, “the king”, from moving anywhere! So, the strength from external sources are not really a very good insurance.
Even about strength of knowledge and money is quite limited in crucial circumstances! A Sanskrit verse translates as “knowledge lying in books, and money lying in the hands of others are of little use during exigencies”. We lose information when data is stuck in an Hard disk which is inaccessible, and we are stuck out of money, when our ATM card gets stuck inside the ATM machine.
Psychiatrists would agree, when a patient is unable to think cohesively due to memory loss, only the ‘will’ or a strong ‘spirit’ is what they count on, for the ‘body’ of the patient to ‘respond’ to medicines!
During the training sessions for candidates selected for ‘coast-guard’, they stress the importance of that ‘will’ when they warn that the last few thoughts, during the crucial 15 minutes just prior to that numbness caused in brain, would decide whether they would swim to safety or drown to death in cold waters! (‘Hypothermia’ or something like that is the state, which disconnects our nervous system from carrying out the commands of the brain, but continues to do the ‘last known command’). Here too, the will of a person counts!
Then, what about the failures, which shatters all our ‘inner’ strengths? That was the question!
Psn(13th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101110013832AAzcl3o
Is "Whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger." a silly philosophy?
Whatever doesn't kill you may sever your spinal cord, crush your rib cage, cave in your skull, and leave you helpless and paralyzed soaking in a puddle of your own waste.And if you mean mentally strong, it could also break your spirit and leave you emotionally unstable.Anyone else think?
My answer:
Yes, it does sound 'silly' if we look at it just logically, bereft of the emotional content.
(And, emotions never obeyed logic!).
But, if we look at it a bit intuitively, it is the inner strength that this tries to indicate at. "We should not be 'stuck' at the pointing finger, or we would miss all that heavenly glory!" (quote adapted from the English movie "Enter the Dragon")....
This statement, "whatever doesn't kill me" means that whatever adversities that we face in life, especially those, for facing which we lack strength, would obviously make us fail, or perhaps, as the question says, sever our spinal cord, crush our rib cage, etc.... But, if we are alive, it simply means we outlived that 'bad' phase. It has failed to kill us. Now, we are enriched by the experience, and may be (... not just 'may be'... but, surely,...)our abilities have got reduced after that incident.
Now, if only we are willing to live on, the way we are now, there are several things we can do, we have time for them, which we never had for hither to, and with that strength and courage, we can achieve a still greater glory and make our life more meaningful, and perhaps, well remembered. (Please see, that Great Scientist Stephen Hawking, we have no scope to look at anything beyond his intellectual abilities, though our eyes can see his physical difficulty on the monitor/screen! His intellectual "strength" dwarfs most of us around him!)
Even about strength of knowledge and money is quite limited in crucial circumstances! A Sanskrit verse translates as “knowledge lying in books, and money lying in the hands of others are of little use during exigencies”. We lose information when data is stuck in an Hard disk which is inaccessible, and we are stuck out of money, when our ATM card gets stuck inside the ATM machine.
Psychiatrists would agree, when a patient is unable to think cohesively due to memory loss, only the ‘will’ or a strong ‘spirit’ is what they count on, for the ‘body’ of the patient to ‘respond’ to medicines!
During the training sessions for candidates selected for ‘coast-guard’, they stress the importance of that ‘will’ when they warn that the last few thoughts, during the crucial 15 minutes just prior to that numbness caused in brain, would decide whether they would swim to safety or drown to death in cold waters! (‘Hypothermia’ or something like that is the state, which disconnects our nervous system from carrying out the commands of the brain, but continues to do the ‘last known command’). Here too, the will of a person counts!
Then, what about the failures, which shatters all our ‘inner’ strengths? That was the question!
Psn(13th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101110013832AAzcl3o
Is "Whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger." a silly philosophy?
Whatever doesn't kill you may sever your spinal cord, crush your rib cage, cave in your skull, and leave you helpless and paralyzed soaking in a puddle of your own waste.And if you mean mentally strong, it could also break your spirit and leave you emotionally unstable.Anyone else think?
My answer:
Yes, it does sound 'silly' if we look at it just logically, bereft of the emotional content.
(And, emotions never obeyed logic!).
But, if we look at it a bit intuitively, it is the inner strength that this tries to indicate at. "We should not be 'stuck' at the pointing finger, or we would miss all that heavenly glory!" (quote adapted from the English movie "Enter the Dragon")....
This statement, "whatever doesn't kill me" means that whatever adversities that we face in life, especially those, for facing which we lack strength, would obviously make us fail, or perhaps, as the question says, sever our spinal cord, crush our rib cage, etc.... But, if we are alive, it simply means we outlived that 'bad' phase. It has failed to kill us. Now, we are enriched by the experience, and may be (... not just 'may be'... but, surely,...)our abilities have got reduced after that incident.
Now, if only we are willing to live on, the way we are now, there are several things we can do, we have time for them, which we never had for hither to, and with that strength and courage, we can achieve a still greater glory and make our life more meaningful, and perhaps, well remembered. (Please see, that Great Scientist Stephen Hawking, we have no scope to look at anything beyond his intellectual abilities, though our eyes can see his physical difficulty on the monitor/screen! His intellectual "strength" dwarfs most of us around him!)
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Lawyer
Somebody, a 'passer by', happened to look at an engraving on a coffin which read “Here lies an honest man and a lawyer”….. He wondered loudly, “How could two people be fit into this coffin?”!
The very idea, of taking up a dispute to the court of law, floods in, a feeling of fatigue and weariness, in most people. So, the only thing that seems to persuade, instigate or provoke a person to persist on climbing the steps of a court room would be the stubbornness, adamancy, or to appear more polite, a sense of loyalty to the laws of the land seeking a manifest form out of a very great urge!
In an ideal situation, only complex cases, which require an equanimous mind to analyze and decide as to what ought to prevail, should reach the courts of law. For this to happen, the society as a whole has to evolve. Today, it seems a far fetched dream. But, if we only care to turn the pages of ancient history, we have great civilizations that have demonstrated this possibility. For a convincing ‘ready’ reference, even today, if we just look at the kind of laws that a society has, we would know how evolved the people are! There is a country where, just about 7 decades ago, chopping off a woman’s head, was as simple as beheading a chicken for food. Now they have evolved from that point at least, we can definitely say, when they brought women at par with men, in the eyes of the law. We still have places where simple crimes like petty theft, are punished too severely with chopping off of arms at a public place!
In the Hindu way of life, in ancient days, jurisprudence (not just the ‘laws’, as in other religions) was seamlessly incorporated into the texts which formulated suggestions for an ideal way of life, to evolve into the highest possibility of a human birth, quite effortlessly, by adopting the suggested life-routine. Over a period of time, these suggestions evolved into rituals and traditions, enriched by great beings who came along the time, and who prescribed time-related modifications to these suggestions. Obviously, these texts had to address an individual, not the society as a whole. The way a particular group of people understood and adapted these came to evolve as a unique homogenous group, and over a period of time, acquired traditions, rituals and practices unique to that group. We now see an array of such unique life-styles. Nomenclature follows, to aptly describe the ‘way’ of that group. So the laws were also seamlessly inter woven to suit the lifestyle, taking cue from the original texts, and the deeper concepts of jurisprudence, ensuring strict adherence to spirituality. The present day experts are simply baffled by the complexity of the ‘concepts’, theories, and principles of this ‘way of life’, and thus, even great intellectuals are stuck with just naming this way of life as “Hindu Religion” , unable to make any progress towards comprehending the ‘nature’ of this religion.
The sudden transition into industrialized societies, surmounted by the imposed prescriptions of foreign rule, the society could not adapt to the changed situation, nor could they adhere to the traditional life styles! For the first time, the entire society had to bear the brunt of an absence of a prescribed religious leader! By itself, this ‘religion’ did not ever need any ‘leader’ in the modern sense of the term. Today we find the bulk of the people confused about their own religion, while stray fortunate individuals quietly enjoy the fruit of their individual efforts of self-awareness, and personal pursuit towards a spiritual understanding of this ‘way of life’! The brighter side of this ‘way of life’ is that the whole of its teachings is available as a ‘freeware’ (whether we call it hard ware or a soft ware! It is ‘hard’ when someone turns up after seeing ‘everything’ else, as the opening sentences of that great work by that great master says … ‘And now, Yoga…”; … or,…… it is utterly ‘soft’, when somebody decides to start when it is not at all a need-like priority in routine life, and even when things happen utterly smooth for that person!). The text form is terse, mystic, and tiresome to grasp. The ‘web’ form is quite hi-tech, instantaneous, and self-educative, self-tutored, self-supportive, (and with all such ‘goody-goodies’), but subject to a few simple ‘conditions’ which are unfortunately not quite easy! These conditions are more about our own ‘conditioning’ of self. Not worth while to elaborate here.
Coming back to a ‘lawyer’, the question was about its definition. But, true to my own agenda, I assumed a little bit of that ‘cleverness’ to seek the garb of the category under which this was asked, and proceeded to give out the ‘philosophical’ sense of the term.
The foregoing narrative is to persuade the reader to find a way to justify the answer, if otherwise it looks acceptable in a practical sense!
(It is not just about that ‘professional’ lawyer…. That person has to emanate out of our very same society. So, it has to be about our own people, even right within the families, where youngsters feel dissuaded to present their ‘case’ before elders, even when it comes to crucial life-time affecting questions like career, marriage, co-residing with dependents, etc!)
Psn(9th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101108102614AAKKELZ
What's the definition of a lawyer?
My answer:
Obviously, what we are looking for is a 'philosophical' definition.
A lawyer is a person, learned in the enactments of the land and who represents the case on behalf of the client so as to present the case before the judge with maximum possible 'fitting' into the structure of law that is enacted by the land.
In doing so, if the law provides loop holes for a culprit to escape, then it is the law to be blamed, not the Vakil, or even the Judge. (As a law student, I had the good fortune to be told by an excellent 'Guru' in law, that the courts are there to administer law, basically, and it would be foolish to 'expect' that "somehow" justice would be rendered! In the whole world, it is in Indian courts perhaps, that we find this theory in a very demonstrable way!) We cannot find fault with common man/woman, when they find that justice is not always rendered in a court of law. Unless the concepts of "Jurisprudence" is well understood, the possibility is more of 'misunderstanding' the judicial process. This is true even for law students, other educated people, literate people, and the illiterate ones, in the ascending order of probability!
(This answer, if found even a little bit acceptable, happens to define the lawyer, the judge, the judicial process, and the institution of legal courts in an 'inclusive' manner. A lawyer does not find an exclusive definition apart from the comprehensive overview of the judicial system, when we look for a philosophical definition)
The very idea, of taking up a dispute to the court of law, floods in, a feeling of fatigue and weariness, in most people. So, the only thing that seems to persuade, instigate or provoke a person to persist on climbing the steps of a court room would be the stubbornness, adamancy, or to appear more polite, a sense of loyalty to the laws of the land seeking a manifest form out of a very great urge!
In an ideal situation, only complex cases, which require an equanimous mind to analyze and decide as to what ought to prevail, should reach the courts of law. For this to happen, the society as a whole has to evolve. Today, it seems a far fetched dream. But, if we only care to turn the pages of ancient history, we have great civilizations that have demonstrated this possibility. For a convincing ‘ready’ reference, even today, if we just look at the kind of laws that a society has, we would know how evolved the people are! There is a country where, just about 7 decades ago, chopping off a woman’s head, was as simple as beheading a chicken for food. Now they have evolved from that point at least, we can definitely say, when they brought women at par with men, in the eyes of the law. We still have places where simple crimes like petty theft, are punished too severely with chopping off of arms at a public place!
In the Hindu way of life, in ancient days, jurisprudence (not just the ‘laws’, as in other religions) was seamlessly incorporated into the texts which formulated suggestions for an ideal way of life, to evolve into the highest possibility of a human birth, quite effortlessly, by adopting the suggested life-routine. Over a period of time, these suggestions evolved into rituals and traditions, enriched by great beings who came along the time, and who prescribed time-related modifications to these suggestions. Obviously, these texts had to address an individual, not the society as a whole. The way a particular group of people understood and adapted these came to evolve as a unique homogenous group, and over a period of time, acquired traditions, rituals and practices unique to that group. We now see an array of such unique life-styles. Nomenclature follows, to aptly describe the ‘way’ of that group. So the laws were also seamlessly inter woven to suit the lifestyle, taking cue from the original texts, and the deeper concepts of jurisprudence, ensuring strict adherence to spirituality. The present day experts are simply baffled by the complexity of the ‘concepts’, theories, and principles of this ‘way of life’, and thus, even great intellectuals are stuck with just naming this way of life as “Hindu Religion” , unable to make any progress towards comprehending the ‘nature’ of this religion.
The sudden transition into industrialized societies, surmounted by the imposed prescriptions of foreign rule, the society could not adapt to the changed situation, nor could they adhere to the traditional life styles! For the first time, the entire society had to bear the brunt of an absence of a prescribed religious leader! By itself, this ‘religion’ did not ever need any ‘leader’ in the modern sense of the term. Today we find the bulk of the people confused about their own religion, while stray fortunate individuals quietly enjoy the fruit of their individual efforts of self-awareness, and personal pursuit towards a spiritual understanding of this ‘way of life’! The brighter side of this ‘way of life’ is that the whole of its teachings is available as a ‘freeware’ (whether we call it hard ware or a soft ware! It is ‘hard’ when someone turns up after seeing ‘everything’ else, as the opening sentences of that great work by that great master says … ‘And now, Yoga…”; … or,…… it is utterly ‘soft’, when somebody decides to start when it is not at all a need-like priority in routine life, and even when things happen utterly smooth for that person!). The text form is terse, mystic, and tiresome to grasp. The ‘web’ form is quite hi-tech, instantaneous, and self-educative, self-tutored, self-supportive, (and with all such ‘goody-goodies’), but subject to a few simple ‘conditions’ which are unfortunately not quite easy! These conditions are more about our own ‘conditioning’ of self. Not worth while to elaborate here.
Coming back to a ‘lawyer’, the question was about its definition. But, true to my own agenda, I assumed a little bit of that ‘cleverness’ to seek the garb of the category under which this was asked, and proceeded to give out the ‘philosophical’ sense of the term.
The foregoing narrative is to persuade the reader to find a way to justify the answer, if otherwise it looks acceptable in a practical sense!
(It is not just about that ‘professional’ lawyer…. That person has to emanate out of our very same society. So, it has to be about our own people, even right within the families, where youngsters feel dissuaded to present their ‘case’ before elders, even when it comes to crucial life-time affecting questions like career, marriage, co-residing with dependents, etc!)
Psn(9th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101108102614AAKKELZ
What's the definition of a lawyer?
My answer:
Obviously, what we are looking for is a 'philosophical' definition.
A lawyer is a person, learned in the enactments of the land and who represents the case on behalf of the client so as to present the case before the judge with maximum possible 'fitting' into the structure of law that is enacted by the land.
In doing so, if the law provides loop holes for a culprit to escape, then it is the law to be blamed, not the Vakil, or even the Judge. (As a law student, I had the good fortune to be told by an excellent 'Guru' in law, that the courts are there to administer law, basically, and it would be foolish to 'expect' that "somehow" justice would be rendered! In the whole world, it is in Indian courts perhaps, that we find this theory in a very demonstrable way!) We cannot find fault with common man/woman, when they find that justice is not always rendered in a court of law. Unless the concepts of "Jurisprudence" is well understood, the possibility is more of 'misunderstanding' the judicial process. This is true even for law students, other educated people, literate people, and the illiterate ones, in the ascending order of probability!
(This answer, if found even a little bit acceptable, happens to define the lawyer, the judge, the judicial process, and the institution of legal courts in an 'inclusive' manner. A lawyer does not find an exclusive definition apart from the comprehensive overview of the judicial system, when we look for a philosophical definition)
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Emotional Confidence
In general, what we find is that logically oriented people exude more of ‘confidence’ situations. I say ‘situations’, because, ‘occasions’ doesn’t seem that much ‘all inclusive’.
Emotionally inclined ones do not ‘pose’ as if they are really ‘confident’ about themselves. It is the others, the onlookers, to whom a strong and emphatic manifestation of emotion seems to suggest that emotionally inclined are quite confident about themselves! (We even seem to know the properties of what we call as ‘chemically unstable substance’ where as the very nature of emotion are ‘unstable’ when we try to spy-look through the keyhole with logic-eyes….. emotions have never been opening its doors to logic!)
The whole of confusion is when neither we nor the onlookers are able to decide our orientation in a particular situation. A logical argument or discussion suddenly turns emotionally charged, and often goes out of control.
Some people who consciously focus on logical approach to philosophy for too long a time, feel having climbed on that ladder of confidence steadily and quite firmly too. This is quite normal amidst adults who are well qualified. And if their profession is teaching, the air of confidence becomes a bit more conscious. Further, if the study, practice and expertise is related more to logical aspects of philosophy, the confidence renders the emotions within to a sort of stoic state (the nearest expression, I find, to explain that ‘mixture of holding reins over emotion, tolerance of instability in others, etc). Psychiatrists often land into this sort of emotional ‘posture’ within! That is why their response seems ‘affected’ to other non-relevant onlookers.
Women are physiologically endowed with emotional orientation. But the increasing number of items to their multitasking job, forces them into that stoic-confidence level, to play well a pre-defined role in the civilized society. The heavy price for this deviation from their ‘natural’ orientation, is what women end up paying, in so many ways today! And we find that men ‘used’ to say .. ‘it is difficult to understand a woman’ . Now, it is more about ‘unpredictability’ rather than just the understanding.
Language adorns emotions, while it just connects logic. But the grammar seems to codify both logical use and the emotional expressions unsparingly. Please see, we are able to exempt only literary geniuses like Shakespeare and others, when they commit grammatically incorrect use of words, and invariably all such occasions are a clash between logic of grammar and inadequacy of expression to catch the grandeur of emotions!
I was rather amused, when a question insisted upon looking at ‘self’ as a grammatical structure! The suggestion was that there has to be “obviously’ some cohesiveness even about emotions within a person, just as there is a grammar for language which does express deep emotions! (We see a creeper entwine itself along the branches of a tree, not insisting on direct sunlight for its leaves, while these tree’s branches have formed a canopy at its extreme ends engulfing the entire sunlight! That is the grace of a woman who has been able to retain the beauty of ‘femininity’, not insisting on any ‘spotlight-focusing’ while adorning the logical male, with her everything, unconditionally, unassumingly, and in a total surrender!).
I felt a ‘stoic’ sense of reward, when the asker garlanded the answer with the remark, ‘reflecting my state of mind’… (Yes, emotions are quite confusing to a logical onlooker. Right from my early childhood, I have been fond of teasing the adults who pose to be accomplished-in logical analysis, with a simple question: “Why is it that a woman sums up with just a ‘sigh of relief’ when she could have bragged ‘victory’ or ‘success’ where the male partner failed to quieten a baby who was crying for too long, and she could effortlessly soften the baby soon?”).
Psn(7th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AkwkKuC0ANOhE74hX7OcTt6RHQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20101105040713AAQX3yf&show=7#profile-info-AA11199137
Have you ever lost your grammatical structure? If you so, when did you loose the grammatical structure?
At times, I feel that I have acquired insanity!
My answer:
We often underestimate our capability of emotions. It surpasses our logical 'estimates' in dimension and depth.That is why we are a bit shocked when experience takes us by surprise.
(That "acquired insanity" is a misnomer. It occurs thus, simply because logic is struggling for its own existence during such times! Has emotion ever been logical? If there is any doubt about it, please take a look at that irresistible charming face of that tiny baby, with that contagious smile, lavish laughter, and see if that kid is capable even of our style of adult-logic?)..(Another shocker is a spiritual experience that can also dawn by itself, and, that is why, it is wonderful to have the proximity of that experienced Master, who is an embodiment of compassion, to gently hold our hands and guide us through that 'insanity-like' experience!).
Best wishes
Emotionally inclined ones do not ‘pose’ as if they are really ‘confident’ about themselves. It is the others, the onlookers, to whom a strong and emphatic manifestation of emotion seems to suggest that emotionally inclined are quite confident about themselves! (We even seem to know the properties of what we call as ‘chemically unstable substance’ where as the very nature of emotion are ‘unstable’ when we try to spy-look through the keyhole with logic-eyes….. emotions have never been opening its doors to logic!)
The whole of confusion is when neither we nor the onlookers are able to decide our orientation in a particular situation. A logical argument or discussion suddenly turns emotionally charged, and often goes out of control.
Some people who consciously focus on logical approach to philosophy for too long a time, feel having climbed on that ladder of confidence steadily and quite firmly too. This is quite normal amidst adults who are well qualified. And if their profession is teaching, the air of confidence becomes a bit more conscious. Further, if the study, practice and expertise is related more to logical aspects of philosophy, the confidence renders the emotions within to a sort of stoic state (the nearest expression, I find, to explain that ‘mixture of holding reins over emotion, tolerance of instability in others, etc). Psychiatrists often land into this sort of emotional ‘posture’ within! That is why their response seems ‘affected’ to other non-relevant onlookers.
Women are physiologically endowed with emotional orientation. But the increasing number of items to their multitasking job, forces them into that stoic-confidence level, to play well a pre-defined role in the civilized society. The heavy price for this deviation from their ‘natural’ orientation, is what women end up paying, in so many ways today! And we find that men ‘used’ to say .. ‘it is difficult to understand a woman’ . Now, it is more about ‘unpredictability’ rather than just the understanding.
Language adorns emotions, while it just connects logic. But the grammar seems to codify both logical use and the emotional expressions unsparingly. Please see, we are able to exempt only literary geniuses like Shakespeare and others, when they commit grammatically incorrect use of words, and invariably all such occasions are a clash between logic of grammar and inadequacy of expression to catch the grandeur of emotions!
I was rather amused, when a question insisted upon looking at ‘self’ as a grammatical structure! The suggestion was that there has to be “obviously’ some cohesiveness even about emotions within a person, just as there is a grammar for language which does express deep emotions! (We see a creeper entwine itself along the branches of a tree, not insisting on direct sunlight for its leaves, while these tree’s branches have formed a canopy at its extreme ends engulfing the entire sunlight! That is the grace of a woman who has been able to retain the beauty of ‘femininity’, not insisting on any ‘spotlight-focusing’ while adorning the logical male, with her everything, unconditionally, unassumingly, and in a total surrender!).
I felt a ‘stoic’ sense of reward, when the asker garlanded the answer with the remark, ‘reflecting my state of mind’… (Yes, emotions are quite confusing to a logical onlooker. Right from my early childhood, I have been fond of teasing the adults who pose to be accomplished-in logical analysis, with a simple question: “Why is it that a woman sums up with just a ‘sigh of relief’ when she could have bragged ‘victory’ or ‘success’ where the male partner failed to quieten a baby who was crying for too long, and she could effortlessly soften the baby soon?”).
Psn(7th November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AkwkKuC0ANOhE74hX7OcTt6RHQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20101105040713AAQX3yf&show=7#profile-info-AA11199137
Have you ever lost your grammatical structure? If you so, when did you loose the grammatical structure?
At times, I feel that I have acquired insanity!
My answer:
We often underestimate our capability of emotions. It surpasses our logical 'estimates' in dimension and depth.That is why we are a bit shocked when experience takes us by surprise.
(That "acquired insanity" is a misnomer. It occurs thus, simply because logic is struggling for its own existence during such times! Has emotion ever been logical? If there is any doubt about it, please take a look at that irresistible charming face of that tiny baby, with that contagious smile, lavish laughter, and see if that kid is capable even of our style of adult-logic?)..(Another shocker is a spiritual experience that can also dawn by itself, and, that is why, it is wonderful to have the proximity of that experienced Master, who is an embodiment of compassion, to gently hold our hands and guide us through that 'insanity-like' experience!).
Best wishes
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Need Wanted
“Waste not, Want not”……. prescribed the teacher, to us, asking the kids in our class to ‘expand the idea contained in…’
Usually, when something so brief comes up, leaving us utterly clueless as to what they are talking about, we used to have a ‘closed’ session over our lunch boxes, amidst the din and dust of the school playground around which some pavements provided us place to squat and gobble our food.
Since then, we started looking at that ‘waste’ as something very costly in life! When something goes a waste, it takes lots of cost along with it! It simply meant that we failed to acknowledge the value of that which got frittered away, and lost its utility. “Time” came up as a priority for some time at least!
We were yet to ‘feel’ that ‘want’ in its true intrinsic importance, since we used to get whatever we wanted ‘just like that’ (parents were bankers provided by nature!). Also, we tried to ‘want’ only what was ‘feasible’.
It is this ‘need’ that did not seem quite easy to fit in somewhere nearby the want! And, to look at the very beginning of the life form of a child did not help much. We tried out that. The tiny baby did not seem to ‘need’ anything at all! On the other hand, it seemed to want everything that it laid its eyes upon! The baby’s needs were taken care of by its mother.
Oh! I was just trying to look back at how we used to start with these basic questions during those tender-age-years. It helps to understand where we started mis-taking life in between, and then we lost that childhood joy almost irretrievably! Adults too, chase so many wants, and end up trying to compromise with just a little peace! But that was what afforded us, initially, to ‘want’ something more!
Any way, this time a question was clearly set, to know the difference between ‘need and want’ I was reminded of that other question “What is man's greatest need?” and we had kneaded it well enough some time ago.
(The skill of present the day “techies” depends upon their ability to divulge ‘info’ on a need-to-know-basis’ if they seek to remain afloat!)
Psn(4th November, 2010)
What is the difference btwn a NEED and a WANT?
My answer:
Want is a matter of choice, and once decided to be a 'want' it "becomes" a need.Situation decides a 'need' irrespective of whether a person knows about that need or not.
(For instance, two good friends become sworn enemies due to a stupid misunderstanding. The need is that they get clarity about their stupidity or the misunderstanding. But they do not want any clarification, because they feel that they are quite right about deciding to become inimical to each other! ).
Nice question. Perhaps, if we are reminded about the difference at right time, most divorce cases would get dissolved even before they ripen! Perhaps, students would get the priority about going to a school right, if they maintain the awareness about the need of going to school, and would prevent other desires from becoming "wants", to spoil the true priority!
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Calm Up!
When somebody is shouting, shaking, making fists, and visibly tensed up, we suggest that they calm down.
That calming “down” could have possibly triggered an automated analysis in the mind that calming is inversely proportional to alertness, consciousness!
Most people who ‘manage’ restraining the manifest form of inner turbulence! (perhaps it is such people, who happen to provide an ideal example of ‘calm’. If so, the real intrinsic value of the correct form of ‘calm’ would remain elusive to the ‘aam aadmi’!). Now it is a different matter that such people who happen to suppress the turbulence at socially tolerable levels for too long a time, end up eventually as stress-related patients!
Please see, when we “heave” a sigh of relief, it is deep exhalation! The vital energies are ‘driven to the wall’ , and now they make a feeble attempt at ‘drawing our attention’. That should convince us ‘logically’ that breath-watching, meditative practices related to it, etc, are not just a fun-pastime for those who have nothing better to do! It is about evolving enough to do everything better!
Now before some of us are inclined to heave that sigh of relief, I would like to wrap up the prologue, and quote the question, the asker of which, surprised me, when he felt inclined to ‘consider’ my answer!
Psn(2nd November, 2010)
Quote:
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApXaV9DQWJhCcd.AmbUXzpOQHQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20101101023745AAfCJsN&show=7#profile-info-R6DaVtMcaa
Will not watching breath while meditating make oneself more self conscious and alert instead of calming down?
My answer:
If calming down is exactly equal to less alert and less conscious, drinks would do a better job, why take the trouble of meditation or that tedious 'breath' watching? Yes. It does work, and as a quick fix solution too! But the problems come back with a bigger magnitude, and after some time, even drinks do not work, instead they make the nerves totally unstable apart from other medical complications. Some people who are in a great hurry to calm down are tempted, and before they realise, they are addicts.
A person can be really alert and very conscious only when very calm. With lots of thought process going at great speed, where is the alertness? That breath watching is just to keep a tab on the thought process, basically. That way, we have some control over the thought getting translated into unintentional nerve related problems, or a negative chemical disorder physiologically. It cannot happen all at once. A sustained effort would very slowly afford an enriching experience. Calm is not at all 'dull'.
That calming “down” could have possibly triggered an automated analysis in the mind that calming is inversely proportional to alertness, consciousness!
Most people who ‘manage’ restraining the manifest form of inner turbulence! (perhaps it is such people, who happen to provide an ideal example of ‘calm’. If so, the real intrinsic value of the correct form of ‘calm’ would remain elusive to the ‘aam aadmi’!). Now it is a different matter that such people who happen to suppress the turbulence at socially tolerable levels for too long a time, end up eventually as stress-related patients!
Please see, when we “heave” a sigh of relief, it is deep exhalation! The vital energies are ‘driven to the wall’ , and now they make a feeble attempt at ‘drawing our attention’. That should convince us ‘logically’ that breath-watching, meditative practices related to it, etc, are not just a fun-pastime for those who have nothing better to do! It is about evolving enough to do everything better!
Now before some of us are inclined to heave that sigh of relief, I would like to wrap up the prologue, and quote the question, the asker of which, surprised me, when he felt inclined to ‘consider’ my answer!
Psn(2nd November, 2010)
Quote:
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ApXaV9DQWJhCcd.AmbUXzpOQHQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20101101023745AAfCJsN&show=7#profile-info-R6DaVtMcaa
Will not watching breath while meditating make oneself more self conscious and alert instead of calming down?
My answer:
If calming down is exactly equal to less alert and less conscious, drinks would do a better job, why take the trouble of meditation or that tedious 'breath' watching? Yes. It does work, and as a quick fix solution too! But the problems come back with a bigger magnitude, and after some time, even drinks do not work, instead they make the nerves totally unstable apart from other medical complications. Some people who are in a great hurry to calm down are tempted, and before they realise, they are addicts.
A person can be really alert and very conscious only when very calm. With lots of thought process going at great speed, where is the alertness? That breath watching is just to keep a tab on the thought process, basically. That way, we have some control over the thought getting translated into unintentional nerve related problems, or a negative chemical disorder physiologically. It cannot happen all at once. A sustained effort would very slowly afford an enriching experience. Calm is not at all 'dull'.
Monday, November 01, 2010
Mantras
I could not help getting attracted towards this question.
The debate about ‘efficacy’ of simply chanting certain words, has always been looked at as a stupidity, a blind belief, and even an effort towards ‘escapism’ towards the ‘life’ problems!
The debate is obviously going to be inconclusive. Added to this, there is that prefix of “Hindu” to these words or ‘chanting-of-mantras’. Do we not find when we are introduced to a group by a certain infamous person, we instantly ‘acquire’ the same colour of that introducer , at least to some extent? And then, we have an uphill task right from day-one, to repaint a picture in the view of those others, especially if they are going to decide our fate! Anyway, chanting it is a matter of personal choice. And nothing prevents us from looking at it objectively, even if for a purely academic point of view.
( I had my share of very rewarding experience about 2 decades ago, in a very impartial situation, stripped of all kinds of ‘religious’ colours! That is what prompted me to attempt an answer. And I do not seek any sort of patronizing beyond just a persuasion to stimulate some interest into spirituality. The rest is of course, purely a matter of personal choice).
Regards,
Psn(1st November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101031081142AAcydGC
Does mantras solvethe problems in life and which one?
Sometimes one is going through problem or tensions because not able to take right decision in life. Does the chants of hindu mantras help to give peace to mind and help to take decision to proove correct in life. If somebody can help and suggest remedies.Which mantra to chant to become more focused
My answer:
Well, when you say "mantras" it would obviously mean, those words in Sanskrit language.
It so happens, that sanskrit is the only "discovered" language.
Somewhere in 1981, a great researcher has opined that it is the only language compatible to 5th generation computers (after testing about 1400 or so world languages). And the reason given was its unambiguity. Research is still on. But people started looking a bit 'objectively' towards this language, especially the scientific community. Others would also try to 'claim' something about their own religious sentiments, since it has that stamp of "Hindu" mantras. But, even Hindus are not really prevented from 'also' .. 'trying'... to look at it a bit more objectively too. It would only help to enhance the level of indepth knowledge about the great language, its potential, and traditional values. It is reasonable too, because, this so called 'religion' was once treated as a 'way of life'. Even the name was given by foreigners. The prescriptions are merely in the nature of suggestions. One unique aspect is that these suggestions are addressed to an individual, in contrast to other global religions which we find to be generally addressing to groups/societies/masses.
Now, these mantras are in a language that conform to theory of quantum mechanics. And so, the effect is scientifically a proven one. (For instance, making noise inside the tunnel/pathway of a huge dam across a river is prohibited, simply because the sound reverbrates, multiplies, and threatens to cause huge cracks in the walls of that dam).
So, we cannot 'guarantee' that these mantras would surely solve the problems in life. But it would also contribute with its own positive effect, due to repeated vibrations produced consciously. Other factors decide to the extent of their impact and contribution to the solving of the problem. (That is why, certain experienced and wise Masters try to suggest certain 'austerity', to be adhered to, while undertaking a regular chanting for a prescribed period. It is their subtle and 'mystic' way to ensure maximum results, by trying to minimise the deterrent side effects of those 'other-negative-factors'!)Hope this helps to come closer to the answer a bit rationally.
Best wishes.
The debate about ‘efficacy’ of simply chanting certain words, has always been looked at as a stupidity, a blind belief, and even an effort towards ‘escapism’ towards the ‘life’ problems!
The debate is obviously going to be inconclusive. Added to this, there is that prefix of “Hindu” to these words or ‘chanting-of-mantras’. Do we not find when we are introduced to a group by a certain infamous person, we instantly ‘acquire’ the same colour of that introducer , at least to some extent? And then, we have an uphill task right from day-one, to repaint a picture in the view of those others, especially if they are going to decide our fate! Anyway, chanting it is a matter of personal choice. And nothing prevents us from looking at it objectively, even if for a purely academic point of view.
( I had my share of very rewarding experience about 2 decades ago, in a very impartial situation, stripped of all kinds of ‘religious’ colours! That is what prompted me to attempt an answer. And I do not seek any sort of patronizing beyond just a persuasion to stimulate some interest into spirituality. The rest is of course, purely a matter of personal choice).
Regards,
Psn(1st November, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101031081142AAcydGC
Does mantras solvethe problems in life and which one?
Sometimes one is going through problem or tensions because not able to take right decision in life. Does the chants of hindu mantras help to give peace to mind and help to take decision to proove correct in life. If somebody can help and suggest remedies.Which mantra to chant to become more focused
My answer:
Well, when you say "mantras" it would obviously mean, those words in Sanskrit language.
It so happens, that sanskrit is the only "discovered" language.
Somewhere in 1981, a great researcher has opined that it is the only language compatible to 5th generation computers (after testing about 1400 or so world languages). And the reason given was its unambiguity. Research is still on. But people started looking a bit 'objectively' towards this language, especially the scientific community. Others would also try to 'claim' something about their own religious sentiments, since it has that stamp of "Hindu" mantras. But, even Hindus are not really prevented from 'also' .. 'trying'... to look at it a bit more objectively too. It would only help to enhance the level of indepth knowledge about the great language, its potential, and traditional values. It is reasonable too, because, this so called 'religion' was once treated as a 'way of life'. Even the name was given by foreigners. The prescriptions are merely in the nature of suggestions. One unique aspect is that these suggestions are addressed to an individual, in contrast to other global religions which we find to be generally addressing to groups/societies/masses.
Now, these mantras are in a language that conform to theory of quantum mechanics. And so, the effect is scientifically a proven one. (For instance, making noise inside the tunnel/pathway of a huge dam across a river is prohibited, simply because the sound reverbrates, multiplies, and threatens to cause huge cracks in the walls of that dam).
So, we cannot 'guarantee' that these mantras would surely solve the problems in life. But it would also contribute with its own positive effect, due to repeated vibrations produced consciously. Other factors decide to the extent of their impact and contribution to the solving of the problem. (That is why, certain experienced and wise Masters try to suggest certain 'austerity', to be adhered to, while undertaking a regular chanting for a prescribed period. It is their subtle and 'mystic' way to ensure maximum results, by trying to minimise the deterrent side effects of those 'other-negative-factors'!)Hope this helps to come closer to the answer a bit rationally.
Best wishes.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Fear
I am sure, that my answer does not help much, for practical purpose of getting rid of the emotion (negative emotion) called ‘fear’.
But it is worth looking at it, from the state of mind that we the ‘present day people’ have. May be we can come a bit closer to the issue, the aspects involved, and then perhaps, we may find ways and means of either adapting ourselves to the age old techniques, or try to remodel those techniques in a way that is more practical, to suit us the way we are presently.
Basically, we fear something that we don’t want to happen to us. Like death, injury, failure, disappointment, etc. But prior to that fear, there are two stages. Resistance and jealousy. Something that does not stay in those two sieves are the items that usually drop down below the fine mesh, and get precipitated! We are not afraid, at least initially, of being poor. We are envious of the rich, and then we may become jealous, and if it does not work, we start hating the rich. We become afraid of the rich only when we see that the rich can snatch away something else too from us, which we like to have, or we already have, using that money power!
What I liked about the question was that it asked about the fear itself, and not the source or problem that causes fear! That takes the question within, towards the ‘inside’ of us. To turn inwards, hunt for that fear, isolate that ‘fear’ and then face it, and then find out how it goes ‘away’ (where to?) is a very funny, abstract, fuzzy thing! (It is amusing to observe how children ‘slowly’ get used to those Diwali fire crackers, those that suddenly burst with a sound! There is a small length of sizzler that lights up, slowly burns out, taking the fire inwards, nearer towards that ‘actual’ packed power of powder, and then it ‘always’ takes us by surprise when the explosion happens! We do a lot of convincing, persuade the children to keep their eyes open, ears unplugged, and try to muster courage to ‘watch’ it and enjoy the thrill. They nod their head after great appeal, but when it actually happens, they wriggle free their arms out of our grip, plug their ears, squeeze their eyes tightly shut with eyelids compressed, and await for that fateful moment to pass by! I look at this example, because it is typical and unique. The fire crackers are not ‘exactly’ something that has passed the stage of ‘envy/jealousy/hate’ and then comedown as an object or source of fear. In fact they love to again go through the process (but of course with eyes closed, and ears plugged!). So elusive is that problem of driving out the fear! It is possible to explain the ‘process’ that happens in that child, which grows up and finds it easy to light the same cracker holding it between tips of fingers! This time, the problem of parent is other way around, to warn of the possible misfire, and health hazard! But the details of psychological phenomenon that causes the transformation is too elaborate and almost redundant. We have better ‘fears’ to deal with in our daily life!
Some items, about which we are clear that we cannot do anything about, right from the start, go down straight away, to evoke fear. We are afraid of, for example, the Policemen usually (that is what makes them suspect even the innocent people most of the times!). That is why the ‘authorities’ are now struggling to repaint the image about police in our minds (those people-friendly approaches etc). We nod our head and when we actually confront them in a ‘situation’ we just do what those kids did about fire crackers, close our minds, logic, emotions, etc and try to run the hell out of their view! Trust takes a long time to build up indeed, and gimmicks don’t work! Yeah! Trust, when it deepens, way beyond all its known forms, attributes, and meanings,……. simply dissolves all negative emotions, and we become ‘pure’!
Psn(28th October, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101017204010AA5TRTJ
How exactly fears go away when you face them?
how exactly that process works? I'm very curious cause I think that's one of the most common, but unsaid, things people gotta live with and don't know what to do about them.
My answer:
On 23rd March 1931, three people were hanged for being too patriotic to India. They had smile on their faces. (It seems, some diary of one of the officers who supervised the hanging officially, even mentioned that he witnessed a third type of death!). These three people had accepted the fate cheerfully, and welcomed death. They had no anger or hate for the people who carried out the death sentence, because they were only 'obeying' orders. (The dramatised version also states that many such people who faced patriotic death during freedom struggle, even pose a challenge, saying 'If there is a rebirth, we would come to offer our lives a hundred times for the same struggle, but how do you hangmen, punishers propose or plan to meet us next time?'
Fear is within us, it dissolves when we accept the situation, its possibilities, deep within us. ( It is not easy, though it looks simple! For example, those fire crackers, when lighted and about to explode, look at the faces of children who anxiously await the explosion and sound. They are quite tense. Logical acceptance at mind level(as a 'thought') does not help. Acceptance has to be a living experience. It is a bit subtle. Till then, as you rightly said, "gotta live with".
But it is worth looking at it, from the state of mind that we the ‘present day people’ have. May be we can come a bit closer to the issue, the aspects involved, and then perhaps, we may find ways and means of either adapting ourselves to the age old techniques, or try to remodel those techniques in a way that is more practical, to suit us the way we are presently.
Basically, we fear something that we don’t want to happen to us. Like death, injury, failure, disappointment, etc. But prior to that fear, there are two stages. Resistance and jealousy. Something that does not stay in those two sieves are the items that usually drop down below the fine mesh, and get precipitated! We are not afraid, at least initially, of being poor. We are envious of the rich, and then we may become jealous, and if it does not work, we start hating the rich. We become afraid of the rich only when we see that the rich can snatch away something else too from us, which we like to have, or we already have, using that money power!
What I liked about the question was that it asked about the fear itself, and not the source or problem that causes fear! That takes the question within, towards the ‘inside’ of us. To turn inwards, hunt for that fear, isolate that ‘fear’ and then face it, and then find out how it goes ‘away’ (where to?) is a very funny, abstract, fuzzy thing! (It is amusing to observe how children ‘slowly’ get used to those Diwali fire crackers, those that suddenly burst with a sound! There is a small length of sizzler that lights up, slowly burns out, taking the fire inwards, nearer towards that ‘actual’ packed power of powder, and then it ‘always’ takes us by surprise when the explosion happens! We do a lot of convincing, persuade the children to keep their eyes open, ears unplugged, and try to muster courage to ‘watch’ it and enjoy the thrill. They nod their head after great appeal, but when it actually happens, they wriggle free their arms out of our grip, plug their ears, squeeze their eyes tightly shut with eyelids compressed, and await for that fateful moment to pass by! I look at this example, because it is typical and unique. The fire crackers are not ‘exactly’ something that has passed the stage of ‘envy/jealousy/hate’ and then comedown as an object or source of fear. In fact they love to again go through the process (but of course with eyes closed, and ears plugged!). So elusive is that problem of driving out the fear! It is possible to explain the ‘process’ that happens in that child, which grows up and finds it easy to light the same cracker holding it between tips of fingers! This time, the problem of parent is other way around, to warn of the possible misfire, and health hazard! But the details of psychological phenomenon that causes the transformation is too elaborate and almost redundant. We have better ‘fears’ to deal with in our daily life!
Some items, about which we are clear that we cannot do anything about, right from the start, go down straight away, to evoke fear. We are afraid of, for example, the Policemen usually (that is what makes them suspect even the innocent people most of the times!). That is why the ‘authorities’ are now struggling to repaint the image about police in our minds (those people-friendly approaches etc). We nod our head and when we actually confront them in a ‘situation’ we just do what those kids did about fire crackers, close our minds, logic, emotions, etc and try to run the hell out of their view! Trust takes a long time to build up indeed, and gimmicks don’t work! Yeah! Trust, when it deepens, way beyond all its known forms, attributes, and meanings,……. simply dissolves all negative emotions, and we become ‘pure’!
Psn(28th October, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101017204010AA5TRTJ
How exactly fears go away when you face them?
how exactly that process works? I'm very curious cause I think that's one of the most common, but unsaid, things people gotta live with and don't know what to do about them.
My answer:
On 23rd March 1931, three people were hanged for being too patriotic to India. They had smile on their faces. (It seems, some diary of one of the officers who supervised the hanging officially, even mentioned that he witnessed a third type of death!). These three people had accepted the fate cheerfully, and welcomed death. They had no anger or hate for the people who carried out the death sentence, because they were only 'obeying' orders. (The dramatised version also states that many such people who faced patriotic death during freedom struggle, even pose a challenge, saying 'If there is a rebirth, we would come to offer our lives a hundred times for the same struggle, but how do you hangmen, punishers propose or plan to meet us next time?'
Fear is within us, it dissolves when we accept the situation, its possibilities, deep within us. ( It is not easy, though it looks simple! For example, those fire crackers, when lighted and about to explode, look at the faces of children who anxiously await the explosion and sound. They are quite tense. Logical acceptance at mind level(as a 'thought') does not help. Acceptance has to be a living experience. It is a bit subtle. Till then, as you rightly said, "gotta live with".
Friday, October 22, 2010
Inner Beauty
It implies a lot!
Insight itself, first and fore most! (Where is the time, for even a casual glance inwards, even if there is a lot of potential!)
And then the ‘capability’ to recognise anything that remotely resembles, at least, ‘our’ concept of beauty!
The asker, this time, has won instant admiration for the frank admission of a little bit of envy that genuinely springs, when we see a person with some inner-beauty! And surmounting that, the keen desire to overcome this envy!!! (Whether my answer is going to help or not, even a sincere attempt would go a long way to persuade, motivate and encourage the asker to hang on to the existing goodness at least! That is what I felt when I gave the answer.)
Psn(22nd October, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101015194225AAS8mTH
How can I stop being envious of this girl who has both outer and inner beauty?
She's 5 ft 3. hourglass shape. waist-length hair. big green eyes, long eyelashes. She volunteers at homeless shelter and an animal shelter. She takes care of younger siblings and her aging grandparents. She is polite, all the boys likes her. She works to support her family. She actually likes me also as a friend, and keeps telling me how difficult it is her for find a trustworthy female friend. The only real thing I have against her is she is not up-to-date with fashion and she has a promiscuous past.
My answer:
That fashion can only add or enhance the value of something original. Please see, otherwise, those dolls in show cases would have been the most sought after, not the 'real' models!
..
We need not try to stop our envy. It does not work. Instead, try to admire, quite sincerely. That is what we do when we behold a whole garden full of rare exquisite flowers! Then we become one with them. In a way, we are fortunate. We have somebody whom we know, and can point out, who is 'original' in beauty (especially inner beauty), since no 'make-up' works as far as inner beauty is concerned!
(Please see, that 'she' has one weakness, which only we can help... her difficulty in finding a 'trust' worthy friend! If we only focus on that a bit sincerely, she has no option but to 'dedicate' all her qualities to this 'trust-worthy-friend' which is the best gift anyone can ever expect! Even our 'God' does love our 'dedication' and our trust worthiness to Him. That friend would see the 'Unseen Hand of God' through us, if only we would care to become absolutely trustworthy, what ever it takes! Then onwards, the admired becomes the admirer!
(There is a 'bonus' we already have within us. How many can really 'see' first, feel and then appreciate the inner beauty of others?)
Insight itself, first and fore most! (Where is the time, for even a casual glance inwards, even if there is a lot of potential!)
And then the ‘capability’ to recognise anything that remotely resembles, at least, ‘our’ concept of beauty!
The asker, this time, has won instant admiration for the frank admission of a little bit of envy that genuinely springs, when we see a person with some inner-beauty! And surmounting that, the keen desire to overcome this envy!!! (Whether my answer is going to help or not, even a sincere attempt would go a long way to persuade, motivate and encourage the asker to hang on to the existing goodness at least! That is what I felt when I gave the answer.)
Psn(22nd October, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101015194225AAS8mTH
How can I stop being envious of this girl who has both outer and inner beauty?
She's 5 ft 3. hourglass shape. waist-length hair. big green eyes, long eyelashes. She volunteers at homeless shelter and an animal shelter. She takes care of younger siblings and her aging grandparents. She is polite, all the boys likes her. She works to support her family. She actually likes me also as a friend, and keeps telling me how difficult it is her for find a trustworthy female friend. The only real thing I have against her is she is not up-to-date with fashion and she has a promiscuous past.
My answer:
That fashion can only add or enhance the value of something original. Please see, otherwise, those dolls in show cases would have been the most sought after, not the 'real' models!
..
We need not try to stop our envy. It does not work. Instead, try to admire, quite sincerely. That is what we do when we behold a whole garden full of rare exquisite flowers! Then we become one with them. In a way, we are fortunate. We have somebody whom we know, and can point out, who is 'original' in beauty (especially inner beauty), since no 'make-up' works as far as inner beauty is concerned!
(Please see, that 'she' has one weakness, which only we can help... her difficulty in finding a 'trust' worthy friend! If we only focus on that a bit sincerely, she has no option but to 'dedicate' all her qualities to this 'trust-worthy-friend' which is the best gift anyone can ever expect! Even our 'God' does love our 'dedication' and our trust worthiness to Him. That friend would see the 'Unseen Hand of God' through us, if only we would care to become absolutely trustworthy, what ever it takes! Then onwards, the admired becomes the admirer!
(There is a 'bonus' we already have within us. How many can really 'see' first, feel and then appreciate the inner beauty of others?)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Woman's Health
Whenever I encounter an argument about woman being inherently weak, I pose a regular question “ In the entire animal kingdom, in almost all the species, which is more stronger, a male or a female? Ask any experienced animal hunter, he would deal more cautiously when he has to deal with a female, and especially when is trying to pick up its kids! Even those animals which have the young ones of other species for food are extra cautious when their mother is around”.
True, this seems totally out of context when we try to compare human women. That is because we have got ourselves adapted to various kinds of lifestyles since times immemorial, and have lost many of our inherent potentials thereby. A small monkey, which lives barely on just fruits (bananas mostly), can grip our arm, and we might not be able to wriggle out of its grip! Physiologically, the monkey has many similarities, and our size is far better, so also our food intake. But we drain our energy elsewhere unlike the monkey. Even the monkey-clap of hands we see in zoo is indicative of how conservatively it spends energy, for the same sound-produce! Its hands hang loosely while clapping, where as we hold our palms rigid even when idle.
Anyway, there was a very pertinent question about health perils of a woman. And I decided to stay confined to the question, while looking at the suggestive answer.
Psn(19th October, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101013005726AAbOz8E
What are the health perils a woman faces in today's world? What can she do to stay healthy?
Changing life-styles, stressful relationships, improper diet, lack of exercise - there are many things that cause a woman's health to suffer, particularly, in today's world. As we spread awareness on breast cancer on Answers http://www.yanswersblogin.com/blog/?p=852, we would also like Answerers to consider other illnesses that might be equally life-threatening. What can a woman do to stay healthy in spite of her circumstances? Let's celebrate womanhood this October.
http://www.yanswersblogin.com/blog/?p=843
My answer:
Yes! The clue is in the question itself! Changing life styles (additional portfolios), stressful relationships (lack of mutual trust, due to heavy contribution by situation), improper diet (no time to cook, pick the right kind of food), lack of exercise (multitasker mask snatching away precious time space for self)!
..
The family that benefits from the woman who takes up these additional tasks, has to consciously share the task of minimizing health perils
...
The woman herself has to take into trust her family and extend the first step towards mutual sharing. Frank discussion must take place giving priority to seemingly small factors, which affect the health over a period of time. The woman must acknowledge the enormity of additional loads involved in terms of stress, health etc, and explore areas where there can be massive support from family members, colleagues at work, friends and relatives near and far too. The traditional outlook, viewpoint, opinion, inclination, etc has to become flexible to suit the needs around, without compromising the intrinsic values
...
Staying healthy for present day woman is not 'just exclusively' her own concern, her own task, her own responsibility. It has to be recognized as a family's joint and team effort. The benefits are reciprocal, and always towards a win-win situation. Physiologically, the present day stressful situation targets the very strong point(traditionally held as strength) of a woman, emotions.
True, this seems totally out of context when we try to compare human women. That is because we have got ourselves adapted to various kinds of lifestyles since times immemorial, and have lost many of our inherent potentials thereby. A small monkey, which lives barely on just fruits (bananas mostly), can grip our arm, and we might not be able to wriggle out of its grip! Physiologically, the monkey has many similarities, and our size is far better, so also our food intake. But we drain our energy elsewhere unlike the monkey. Even the monkey-clap of hands we see in zoo is indicative of how conservatively it spends energy, for the same sound-produce! Its hands hang loosely while clapping, where as we hold our palms rigid even when idle.
Anyway, there was a very pertinent question about health perils of a woman. And I decided to stay confined to the question, while looking at the suggestive answer.
Psn(19th October, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101013005726AAbOz8E
What are the health perils a woman faces in today's world? What can she do to stay healthy?
Changing life-styles, stressful relationships, improper diet, lack of exercise - there are many things that cause a woman's health to suffer, particularly, in today's world. As we spread awareness on breast cancer on Answers http://www.yanswersblogin.com/blog/?p=852, we would also like Answerers to consider other illnesses that might be equally life-threatening. What can a woman do to stay healthy in spite of her circumstances? Let's celebrate womanhood this October.
http://www.yanswersblogin.com/blog/?p=843
My answer:
Yes! The clue is in the question itself! Changing life styles (additional portfolios), stressful relationships (lack of mutual trust, due to heavy contribution by situation), improper diet (no time to cook, pick the right kind of food), lack of exercise (multitasker mask snatching away precious time space for self)!
..
The family that benefits from the woman who takes up these additional tasks, has to consciously share the task of minimizing health perils
...
The woman herself has to take into trust her family and extend the first step towards mutual sharing. Frank discussion must take place giving priority to seemingly small factors, which affect the health over a period of time. The woman must acknowledge the enormity of additional loads involved in terms of stress, health etc, and explore areas where there can be massive support from family members, colleagues at work, friends and relatives near and far too. The traditional outlook, viewpoint, opinion, inclination, etc has to become flexible to suit the needs around, without compromising the intrinsic values
...
Staying healthy for present day woman is not 'just exclusively' her own concern, her own task, her own responsibility. It has to be recognized as a family's joint and team effort. The benefits are reciprocal, and always towards a win-win situation. Physiologically, the present day stressful situation targets the very strong point(traditionally held as strength) of a woman, emotions.
Energy
My mind at once felt like a child, when I looked at this astonishing question, ‘Where do little children get so much energy from?’
When we happen to come across any saintly or pious type of person ( or, someone who is at least on some spiritual practices), we do ‘feel’ a little bit of that ‘radiance’ in their eyes or through their glance. If our mind is a bit silent but alert and observant, for no apparent reason, we feel like continuing to look at their eyes.
Whether it is wealth or energy, we get rich not by just earning. But by conserving, saving.
Once we decide to pay adequate attention to conservation of energy at physical levels, most of our ‘routine’ problems would get diluted, and then we can feel a bit of ease at handling them. When we are tired, even a petty problem seems insurmountable. As simple as that, it is.
Psn(19th October, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101017233614AAHY8Gh
Where do little children get so much energy from?!?
I mean, they eat so little as compared to adults, yet they remain indefatigable!!!If you don't believe me...let me tell you what I've seen :) On a seven-hour train journey recently, I found most adults drooping and wilting while children's energy, verve and chatter remained quite unaffected till the very end!What is their secret, according to you?
My reply:
We drain our energy through thought process. These children are seldom "totally" lost in thought. They are admirably closer to the 'present' than we can ever imagine. They seldom miss to take notice of things happening around. They lack communication skills to describe all that they notice.
Now, this thought process, it drains energy, and at the same time, prevents the body to draw energy! We think that food is the only source, and stomach the only battery charger. When we are too happy, we do not feel that hunger so badly! When we are awe-fully excited, due to something awesome, we are closer to the present, and less lost in thought process.
You gave that example of children during train journey. There is a still more irritating example. Please look at a small baby which is yet to turn over to lie down on its stomach and lift its head a little (that small in age). All it can do during its waking hours is to cycle its legs in air, and put up its arms with fist closed, punching in air. It does this activity most of the time. The only intake is a few millilitres of its mother's milk (not litres/gallons). Now try to imagine ourselves lying down beside that baby and imitating the same physical gestures, for equal length of time. We too can sleep when the baby sleeps. We can eat all the calorie rich food available all over the globe, to be able to store necessary energy. This baby draws energy all the time, through air, water, light, etc. The skin is clean and tender, it breathes fresh oxygen rich air (ancient elders, doctors, etc advise only loose clothing for a tender baby). This child seldom engages in any thought process.
(Traditionally, in ancient Indian 'way of life', those who step into spiritual path are put on practices that helps a person to drop dramatically on food needs for energy. Dependence is thus bare minimum, on others, making that precious time available for gainful meditative practices. Such people eat just a fist full, once in several days, and sustain quite energetically on just water, air, and light. Eyes are input device for energy, mainly, not just for 'seeing' as we commonly 'see' ! It can also be used to deliver energy. We have stories, myths about graceful-glances, etc.)
When we happen to come across any saintly or pious type of person ( or, someone who is at least on some spiritual practices), we do ‘feel’ a little bit of that ‘radiance’ in their eyes or through their glance. If our mind is a bit silent but alert and observant, for no apparent reason, we feel like continuing to look at their eyes.
Whether it is wealth or energy, we get rich not by just earning. But by conserving, saving.
Once we decide to pay adequate attention to conservation of energy at physical levels, most of our ‘routine’ problems would get diluted, and then we can feel a bit of ease at handling them. When we are tired, even a petty problem seems insurmountable. As simple as that, it is.
Psn(19th October, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101017233614AAHY8Gh
Where do little children get so much energy from?!?
I mean, they eat so little as compared to adults, yet they remain indefatigable!!!If you don't believe me...let me tell you what I've seen :) On a seven-hour train journey recently, I found most adults drooping and wilting while children's energy, verve and chatter remained quite unaffected till the very end!What is their secret, according to you?
My reply:
We drain our energy through thought process. These children are seldom "totally" lost in thought. They are admirably closer to the 'present' than we can ever imagine. They seldom miss to take notice of things happening around. They lack communication skills to describe all that they notice.
Now, this thought process, it drains energy, and at the same time, prevents the body to draw energy! We think that food is the only source, and stomach the only battery charger. When we are too happy, we do not feel that hunger so badly! When we are awe-fully excited, due to something awesome, we are closer to the present, and less lost in thought process.
You gave that example of children during train journey. There is a still more irritating example. Please look at a small baby which is yet to turn over to lie down on its stomach and lift its head a little (that small in age). All it can do during its waking hours is to cycle its legs in air, and put up its arms with fist closed, punching in air. It does this activity most of the time. The only intake is a few millilitres of its mother's milk (not litres/gallons). Now try to imagine ourselves lying down beside that baby and imitating the same physical gestures, for equal length of time. We too can sleep when the baby sleeps. We can eat all the calorie rich food available all over the globe, to be able to store necessary energy. This baby draws energy all the time, through air, water, light, etc. The skin is clean and tender, it breathes fresh oxygen rich air (ancient elders, doctors, etc advise only loose clothing for a tender baby). This child seldom engages in any thought process.
(Traditionally, in ancient Indian 'way of life', those who step into spiritual path are put on practices that helps a person to drop dramatically on food needs for energy. Dependence is thus bare minimum, on others, making that precious time available for gainful meditative practices. Such people eat just a fist full, once in several days, and sustain quite energetically on just water, air, and light. Eyes are input device for energy, mainly, not just for 'seeing' as we commonly 'see' ! It can also be used to deliver energy. We have stories, myths about graceful-glances, etc.)
Adoption
Adoption is a very user-friendly word!
The problem rarely arises, and only when the purpose of adoption back-fires (in one or many ways!). The title to this post finds some justification only at the end of this post, and I chose to restrict any further elaboration, than a mere indicative reference, only because it might hurt people at most inconvenient places!
I thank my good friends for their kind response, to my post on “Unlearning”.
Since the responses were a bit personalized, I would like to quote just the relevant text of their queries, omitting personal name references etc, for which, I have to ‘assume’ their kind permission (or, please try to find a way to pardon me!).
In brief, their responses were: (quote)
1) Does (the writer) ,mean "Unlearning" (which means "not learning" ) or"delearning" (which means forgetting, taking off from our minds, whatever wehave learnt) ? I think we should go through a process of delearning the things we have learnt all these years, and which are of no use to us any more, and give room in our grey cells to learn new things which could be of use to us, and help us to advance spiritually.It is a known fact and my experience too that whatever we learn will beuseful to us some day or the other in our life, but once the usefulness isover and the purpose has been served, it automatically goes out of themind. But who decides whether the usefulness is over or not? Only He cantell. That is why we say that they stay as "Vasanas" in our mind and staywith us for ever, whether we like it or not.It is important that we keep the minds full and occupied so that 1) theydont turn devil's workshops or 2) we dont fall victims to Alzheimer's orsomething similar to that. The mind of the senior citizen should always bekept full and actively employed. This is the reason why I took up theNarayaneeyam commentary as my retirement hobby. It has helped me to get outof my depression and turn spiritual.
2) The word "exaptation" refers to the idea whereby an innovationin one field leads unexpectedly to another innovation. To betterunderstand the idea, consider Gutenberg's printing press--itcombined ink, paper, moveable type and, surprisingly, the machinery ofthe wine press.It is impossible to predict the future but I do think we can stay onestep ahead by incorporating the idea of exaptation into our thinking.For example, let's consider how new advances in material science andnanotechnology might soon combine with continued advances insupercomputing, open-source software design and rapid prototypemanufacturing (3D printing). The result could be a new revolution inmanufacturing, perhaps, one even as big as the revolution caused by theprinting press.I don't know what exactly exaptation will bring about but I do knowit will require adaptation-- and unlearning.The Future Will Require UnlearningLet's start 'Helping Businesses of 'Unlearn'!
(Unquote).
My reply to the responses:
As a kid, I happened to ask elders as to why the books are kept 'closed' for 2 to 3 days, and we children are disallowed to 'read' our school lessons. Not that I 'expected' any credible answer, but, I wanted to 'leave no stone unturned'. Anyway, that was just a kid-story. Later, when I knew, that we have to 'seek' for ourselves, to really grasp the significance of any ritual prescribed, all by ourselves, I kept the question alive in me. Please see, almost all of such rituals carry no logical or tangible explanation. Personally, I felt that something coming down from centuries would not have been without any significance. It is difficult to communicate the significance even though we may be fortunate to have a glimpse of it. All we can do is persuade with some kind of indicative reference.
I fully agree that keeping the mind engaged with some activity helps us. But, spiritual growth depends upon evolving a bit further. We have to 'do what ever it takes', to silence the mind as much as possible, even in utter inactivity! We find traces of "aghora Yoga" being practised even today, especially in north India, towards this end.
"delearning" is also to be looked at as 'consciously' choosing to avoid needless reference to what we learnt, to be able to become more creative, more visualisation-capable, when situation permits. It is not about forgetting. Expansion of mind (the intuitive capability to evolve) would be more conducive to happen when we are able to keep aside for a while what we learnt to do instinctively. Modern 'management' teachers try to persuade that 'out of box' thinking, lateral thinking etc. A cluttered mind cannot hope to make it happen better.
I admire the contribution about the word, “exaptation” (‘There is future and in unlearning’) in this direction.
(Basically, our tendency to look at a suggestion is “How can I adopt it into what I have”! Sometimes, it is also worth trying to look at it as “How can I adopt myself, into what it has”. This calls for more flexibility, obviously.)
Thanks and regards,
PSN(19th October, 2010)
The problem rarely arises, and only when the purpose of adoption back-fires (in one or many ways!). The title to this post finds some justification only at the end of this post, and I chose to restrict any further elaboration, than a mere indicative reference, only because it might hurt people at most inconvenient places!
I thank my good friends for their kind response, to my post on “Unlearning”.
Since the responses were a bit personalized, I would like to quote just the relevant text of their queries, omitting personal name references etc, for which, I have to ‘assume’ their kind permission (or, please try to find a way to pardon me!).
In brief, their responses were: (quote)
1) Does (the writer) ,mean "Unlearning" (which means "not learning" ) or"delearning" (which means forgetting, taking off from our minds, whatever wehave learnt) ? I think we should go through a process of delearning the things we have learnt all these years, and which are of no use to us any more, and give room in our grey cells to learn new things which could be of use to us, and help us to advance spiritually.It is a known fact and my experience too that whatever we learn will beuseful to us some day or the other in our life, but once the usefulness isover and the purpose has been served, it automatically goes out of themind. But who decides whether the usefulness is over or not? Only He cantell. That is why we say that they stay as "Vasanas" in our mind and staywith us for ever, whether we like it or not.It is important that we keep the minds full and occupied so that 1) theydont turn devil's workshops or 2) we dont fall victims to Alzheimer's orsomething similar to that. The mind of the senior citizen should always bekept full and actively employed. This is the reason why I took up theNarayaneeyam commentary as my retirement hobby. It has helped me to get outof my depression and turn spiritual.
2) The word "exaptation" refers to the idea whereby an innovationin one field leads unexpectedly to another innovation. To betterunderstand the idea, consider Gutenberg's printing press--itcombined ink, paper, moveable type and, surprisingly, the machinery ofthe wine press.It is impossible to predict the future but I do think we can stay onestep ahead by incorporating the idea of exaptation into our thinking.For example, let's consider how new advances in material science andnanotechnology might soon combine with continued advances insupercomputing, open-source software design and rapid prototypemanufacturing (3D printing). The result could be a new revolution inmanufacturing, perhaps, one even as big as the revolution caused by theprinting press.I don't know what exactly exaptation will bring about but I do knowit will require adaptation-- and unlearning.The Future Will Require UnlearningLet's start 'Helping Businesses of 'Unlearn'!
(Unquote).
My reply to the responses:
As a kid, I happened to ask elders as to why the books are kept 'closed' for 2 to 3 days, and we children are disallowed to 'read' our school lessons. Not that I 'expected' any credible answer, but, I wanted to 'leave no stone unturned'. Anyway, that was just a kid-story. Later, when I knew, that we have to 'seek' for ourselves, to really grasp the significance of any ritual prescribed, all by ourselves, I kept the question alive in me. Please see, almost all of such rituals carry no logical or tangible explanation. Personally, I felt that something coming down from centuries would not have been without any significance. It is difficult to communicate the significance even though we may be fortunate to have a glimpse of it. All we can do is persuade with some kind of indicative reference.
I fully agree that keeping the mind engaged with some activity helps us. But, spiritual growth depends upon evolving a bit further. We have to 'do what ever it takes', to silence the mind as much as possible, even in utter inactivity! We find traces of "aghora Yoga" being practised even today, especially in north India, towards this end.
"delearning" is also to be looked at as 'consciously' choosing to avoid needless reference to what we learnt, to be able to become more creative, more visualisation-capable, when situation permits. It is not about forgetting. Expansion of mind (the intuitive capability to evolve) would be more conducive to happen when we are able to keep aside for a while what we learnt to do instinctively. Modern 'management' teachers try to persuade that 'out of box' thinking, lateral thinking etc. A cluttered mind cannot hope to make it happen better.
I admire the contribution about the word, “exaptation” (‘There is future and in unlearning’) in this direction.
(Basically, our tendency to look at a suggestion is “How can I adopt it into what I have”! Sometimes, it is also worth trying to look at it as “How can I adopt myself, into what it has”. This calls for more flexibility, obviously.)
Thanks and regards,
PSN(19th October, 2010)
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Unlearning
This day, every year, in Indian tradition, is said to be auspicious to start learning. The day is not certain, (it does not ‘fall’ on the same date /month / it goes by lunar time, phases, not even days!) since we have decided our ‘certainty’ to be related to a particular calendar, which is also globally ‘standardized’. (That reminds me, nay, confuses me, whether at all the bulk of my standards are reasonable, just because it is presently global standards!
I am quite perplexed at myself, as to why the thought of ‘unlearning’ occurred to me, when the whole lot of people around look at beginning to learn! This thought is not something new. I got initiated into this concept very early when somebody explained to me the concept that was ‘embedded’ in devotional couplet written by a great ‘mind’ who is said to have time-capsuled all that was known till that date into just 100 odd couplets! Funnily, (to those who glance casually,) quizzically (to those who are just curious, mystically (to those who are inquisitive), educationally (to those who are ready to do ‘what ever it takes’), the opening words of that pair of couplet seeks to remove or unlearn the bulk of knowledge that we acquired, and yet the next few words hint at the technique of enlivening dead cells of the brain, to restore memory recapitulation capabilities! I cannot help getting lost, or getting dissolved into admiration for that great saint, who sums up his entire work saying that his effort was minuscule enough to liken a person trying to show ‘light’ to the great Sun, by lighting up a few pieces of camphor! (Robotics as a science is striving to find ways and means of minimizing human interference to obtain a meaningful functionality through mechanization. Artificial intelligence has to complement in a bigger dimension to this, though other branches like networking, inter-compatibility bridges, sharing of security-covered accessing, data-management etc have to simultaneously and seamlessly get prepared to function cohesively). Looking at this couplets, we find (thanks to German brains, who could decipher it,) at least some of the not-so-apparent functionalities of this work of 100 pairs of couplets! Very few religious-like, devotional-like ‘beauty-waves’ are embedded with many scientific functionalities! There are ‘keys’ to invoke their ‘enlivened’ functionalities. At lower levels, they do function, but at quite harmless levels, in just invoking ‘self-corrective-factors’ (self-debugging-menus, which debug not the program, but the errors during human-handling of it! Yes, the ‘handling’ implies much deeper functionality that the mere ‘chanting’ of it!). Obviously, this work is in a language that is ‘found’ to be the most (or only) compatible one for the ‘proposed’ fifth generation computers (artificial intelligence oriented ones!). A by-product is that this ‘language’ satisfies the demands of mechanization, humanization, (at gross communication levels with least ambiguity about logic-defying emotional contents), as well as the interface with ‘quantum-entanglement-entities’ (entities, to what ever extent we ‘feel’ comfortable to make it mean!).
Oh! The mention of ‘entanglement’ now reminds me, that I too got entangled into something that I had not intended to delve into when I thought of taking up the task of writing this ‘post’.
All I wanted to say was about the phenomenon that I found in successful teams. Teams, when I say, I would like it to mean ideal teams of any kind…. Be it just a group of people, coming together for a common purpose, or a group who first decided to team up because of like-mindedness, and then to allow something to grow out of it! Be it, a forced relationship like a family, (joint or nuclear), be it a marriage of convenience or arrangement, social or commercial….. I repeat, I wanted to say about ‘say’. I could find a pattern. The success depends upon those who are allowed to have a ‘say’. It does not matter if they do not ‘hold’ power. It is enough if those with authority choose to delegate the decisiveness, however clandestinely! (I am reminded of a wonderful Hindi movie “Apne-Paraaye” which used this as the basic theme of the story!).
Unlearning could be a similar attribute, to allow a mystic functionality, delegated in utter privacy, purely personalized in its mannerism, to ensure that ‘learning’ happens afresh, as a living experience, with a conscious, concerted effort, choosing the most conducive atmospheric support (an extra-vagant gift by ‘nature’), and allow truth to permeate in! Perhaps, the ritual of ‘keeping’ the books closed under a sacred linen, avoiding any habitual reference to ‘prescribed’ books for the previous 3 days, seems to support the theory of ‘unlearning’ process. For an indicative example, we do purge, de-fragment, stove, stash etc, the data periodically in our hard-disks. We delegate the power to have a ‘say’ through the technique of ‘unlearning’. That perhaps, yet again, seems to explain, many traditional rituals, which are consecrational by nature of its appearances! (I do not dare to amplify as to ‘how it seems to explain’! It would need lots of patience, effort and time, apart from perceptional receptivity of deeper levels! Then, why (the hell), try to mention it? Frankly, ‘dunno’! I was under the impression, that I was in(or, undergoing) a ‘withdrawal’ mode, looking at the declining rate of posts, of late( I do not find to have any ‘say’, in any ‘matter’, of late!).
Respectful regards,
Psn(17th October, 2010)
I am quite perplexed at myself, as to why the thought of ‘unlearning’ occurred to me, when the whole lot of people around look at beginning to learn! This thought is not something new. I got initiated into this concept very early when somebody explained to me the concept that was ‘embedded’ in devotional couplet written by a great ‘mind’ who is said to have time-capsuled all that was known till that date into just 100 odd couplets! Funnily, (to those who glance casually,) quizzically (to those who are just curious, mystically (to those who are inquisitive), educationally (to those who are ready to do ‘what ever it takes’), the opening words of that pair of couplet seeks to remove or unlearn the bulk of knowledge that we acquired, and yet the next few words hint at the technique of enlivening dead cells of the brain, to restore memory recapitulation capabilities! I cannot help getting lost, or getting dissolved into admiration for that great saint, who sums up his entire work saying that his effort was minuscule enough to liken a person trying to show ‘light’ to the great Sun, by lighting up a few pieces of camphor! (Robotics as a science is striving to find ways and means of minimizing human interference to obtain a meaningful functionality through mechanization. Artificial intelligence has to complement in a bigger dimension to this, though other branches like networking, inter-compatibility bridges, sharing of security-covered accessing, data-management etc have to simultaneously and seamlessly get prepared to function cohesively). Looking at this couplets, we find (thanks to German brains, who could decipher it,) at least some of the not-so-apparent functionalities of this work of 100 pairs of couplets! Very few religious-like, devotional-like ‘beauty-waves’ are embedded with many scientific functionalities! There are ‘keys’ to invoke their ‘enlivened’ functionalities. At lower levels, they do function, but at quite harmless levels, in just invoking ‘self-corrective-factors’ (self-debugging-menus, which debug not the program, but the errors during human-handling of it! Yes, the ‘handling’ implies much deeper functionality that the mere ‘chanting’ of it!). Obviously, this work is in a language that is ‘found’ to be the most (or only) compatible one for the ‘proposed’ fifth generation computers (artificial intelligence oriented ones!). A by-product is that this ‘language’ satisfies the demands of mechanization, humanization, (at gross communication levels with least ambiguity about logic-defying emotional contents), as well as the interface with ‘quantum-entanglement-entities’ (entities, to what ever extent we ‘feel’ comfortable to make it mean!).
Oh! The mention of ‘entanglement’ now reminds me, that I too got entangled into something that I had not intended to delve into when I thought of taking up the task of writing this ‘post’.
All I wanted to say was about the phenomenon that I found in successful teams. Teams, when I say, I would like it to mean ideal teams of any kind…. Be it just a group of people, coming together for a common purpose, or a group who first decided to team up because of like-mindedness, and then to allow something to grow out of it! Be it, a forced relationship like a family, (joint or nuclear), be it a marriage of convenience or arrangement, social or commercial….. I repeat, I wanted to say about ‘say’. I could find a pattern. The success depends upon those who are allowed to have a ‘say’. It does not matter if they do not ‘hold’ power. It is enough if those with authority choose to delegate the decisiveness, however clandestinely! (I am reminded of a wonderful Hindi movie “Apne-Paraaye” which used this as the basic theme of the story!).
Unlearning could be a similar attribute, to allow a mystic functionality, delegated in utter privacy, purely personalized in its mannerism, to ensure that ‘learning’ happens afresh, as a living experience, with a conscious, concerted effort, choosing the most conducive atmospheric support (an extra-vagant gift by ‘nature’), and allow truth to permeate in! Perhaps, the ritual of ‘keeping’ the books closed under a sacred linen, avoiding any habitual reference to ‘prescribed’ books for the previous 3 days, seems to support the theory of ‘unlearning’ process. For an indicative example, we do purge, de-fragment, stove, stash etc, the data periodically in our hard-disks. We delegate the power to have a ‘say’ through the technique of ‘unlearning’. That perhaps, yet again, seems to explain, many traditional rituals, which are consecrational by nature of its appearances! (I do not dare to amplify as to ‘how it seems to explain’! It would need lots of patience, effort and time, apart from perceptional receptivity of deeper levels! Then, why (the hell), try to mention it? Frankly, ‘dunno’! I was under the impression, that I was in(or, undergoing) a ‘withdrawal’ mode, looking at the declining rate of posts, of late( I do not find to have any ‘say’, in any ‘matter’, of late!).
Respectful regards,
Psn(17th October, 2010)
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Interestingly disinterested!
Yeah!
That is how I felt and was amused, and even interested intensely to look at the ‘lack of interest’ growing amidst the youth, in most things that are quite fundamental to life!
This ‘pattern’ of disinterest is quite interesting! Young people simply drop out. They drop out of careers, jobs, projects, relationships, and what not! The clarity about basic concepts like ‘truth’, ‘love’, trust, emotions, life(also death), ‘to feel interested’, etc, is found varying to abnormal proportions from person to person. That is why those ‘proverbs’, sayings, quotes etc do not seem to make any further dent when it is quoted or repeated.
Alertness has become a rarity. The menacing sizes of the ads are ‘imposing’ testimonies of that! Getting the attention of somebody seems to be the main job of marketers. Once a person is got inside the groove, the rest is easy (we have those ‘conditions apply’ in a fine print).
Ask any young lady, who is an inexperienced first-time-mother of a pre-school toddler, as to how she is going to get the kid ‘interested’ in education! She would now immediately look at the most imposing ‘ad’ and ‘costlier’ the better, a location, pay up all the fees, and sit back to relax. Only when the school suggests a consultation for the kid with a ‘good’ psychiatrist, counselor, the mother starts experiencing the pangs of distrust all afresh! Somehow, the kid is fed into a ‘conveyor-belt’ of education which seems a smooth sail-through, only till that teenage creeps in. Now, school does not seem to be of any help. The gullible parents have the first feel of distrust of their children. The peaking of this distrust manifests when it comes to career-decisions, job-decisions, marriage-decisions, and finally a decision about parking the parents at home for aged!
Please see, all along, the basic element is about ‘evading’ the truth. We have clothed that ‘truth’ in all latest designs, to make it less ugly, less bitter, less hard on our emotions. Above that, if there is a lack of interest in truth, how to deal with it?
Well, that was the question. Why bother asking, in the first place, with that interestingly disinterestedness to know the truth?
Psn(7th October, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101006201336AAmGVAH&r=w#NbUvWzq9WThW9GWqYeRc
Why bother asking questions if one is not interested in the truth?
My reply:
'Interest in truth' is a dubious phrase. The intensity is quite elusive when we use 'interested' in a fuzzy manner. Reckless over use, abuse of that word 'interest' has made it too dull or faded now, to be 'easily' identified and recognised. We do not find 'truth' so 'interesting'. Trust is the other side of the coin which has faded out. One side is love, which cannot exist without the strong and visible engraving of 'trust' on the other side. Strong trust begets love (or 'interest') in truth! That is why the HRD departments have tried replacing it with "excited". They say, 'we like to offer you a project which is basically meant to be 'exciting' apart from the abundant loads of rewards, incentives, motivation, support, team-effort (and all other 'gimmicks')! What is the 'truth' behind thrusting this 'project' is kept evasive.
Please try looking at the same thing like this, 'Why bother asking questions if one is not intense enough to know the truth?' (The yardstick at once turns inwards, with no one around available to take the blame!). Now, when answers pour in (like on Yahoo Answers forum), the inclination to 'leave' it to vote would not occur at once. Even if the choice seems difficult, one would turn to people around, discuss, and try to arrive at a fair conclusion. Intensity drives a person like mad, 'seeking' what ever we feel thirsty to know about! No wonder, a true spiritual guide, quite often spends a lot of time and effort in just putting more salt into a thirsty seeker's mouth, so that now the intensity becomes unbearable, and the 'seeking' is the only priority in this person's life!!!
(At normal levels, a good school teacher would invoke, provoke, stimulate, stir, the intensity of the student to 'know'. Average teachers would just try to get along by 'somehow' rushing through the 'prescribed' syllabus, dictate standard 'notes', mark 'portions' for exam, and get 'done' with it as quickly and effortlessly as possible, since, for that teacher the only intensity is job security (with standardised-results), and the pay-packet. Government jobbers are no different. That is why those huge governments are so grossly blind about the 'truth' of common man's woes!)
That is how I felt and was amused, and even interested intensely to look at the ‘lack of interest’ growing amidst the youth, in most things that are quite fundamental to life!
This ‘pattern’ of disinterest is quite interesting! Young people simply drop out. They drop out of careers, jobs, projects, relationships, and what not! The clarity about basic concepts like ‘truth’, ‘love’, trust, emotions, life(also death), ‘to feel interested’, etc, is found varying to abnormal proportions from person to person. That is why those ‘proverbs’, sayings, quotes etc do not seem to make any further dent when it is quoted or repeated.
Alertness has become a rarity. The menacing sizes of the ads are ‘imposing’ testimonies of that! Getting the attention of somebody seems to be the main job of marketers. Once a person is got inside the groove, the rest is easy (we have those ‘conditions apply’ in a fine print).
Ask any young lady, who is an inexperienced first-time-mother of a pre-school toddler, as to how she is going to get the kid ‘interested’ in education! She would now immediately look at the most imposing ‘ad’ and ‘costlier’ the better, a location, pay up all the fees, and sit back to relax. Only when the school suggests a consultation for the kid with a ‘good’ psychiatrist, counselor, the mother starts experiencing the pangs of distrust all afresh! Somehow, the kid is fed into a ‘conveyor-belt’ of education which seems a smooth sail-through, only till that teenage creeps in. Now, school does not seem to be of any help. The gullible parents have the first feel of distrust of their children. The peaking of this distrust manifests when it comes to career-decisions, job-decisions, marriage-decisions, and finally a decision about parking the parents at home for aged!
Please see, all along, the basic element is about ‘evading’ the truth. We have clothed that ‘truth’ in all latest designs, to make it less ugly, less bitter, less hard on our emotions. Above that, if there is a lack of interest in truth, how to deal with it?
Well, that was the question. Why bother asking, in the first place, with that interestingly disinterestedness to know the truth?
Psn(7th October, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101006201336AAmGVAH&r=w#NbUvWzq9WThW9GWqYeRc
Why bother asking questions if one is not interested in the truth?
My reply:
'Interest in truth' is a dubious phrase. The intensity is quite elusive when we use 'interested' in a fuzzy manner. Reckless over use, abuse of that word 'interest' has made it too dull or faded now, to be 'easily' identified and recognised. We do not find 'truth' so 'interesting'. Trust is the other side of the coin which has faded out. One side is love, which cannot exist without the strong and visible engraving of 'trust' on the other side. Strong trust begets love (or 'interest') in truth! That is why the HRD departments have tried replacing it with "excited". They say, 'we like to offer you a project which is basically meant to be 'exciting' apart from the abundant loads of rewards, incentives, motivation, support, team-effort (and all other 'gimmicks')! What is the 'truth' behind thrusting this 'project' is kept evasive.
Please try looking at the same thing like this, 'Why bother asking questions if one is not intense enough to know the truth?' (The yardstick at once turns inwards, with no one around available to take the blame!). Now, when answers pour in (like on Yahoo Answers forum), the inclination to 'leave' it to vote would not occur at once. Even if the choice seems difficult, one would turn to people around, discuss, and try to arrive at a fair conclusion. Intensity drives a person like mad, 'seeking' what ever we feel thirsty to know about! No wonder, a true spiritual guide, quite often spends a lot of time and effort in just putting more salt into a thirsty seeker's mouth, so that now the intensity becomes unbearable, and the 'seeking' is the only priority in this person's life!!!
(At normal levels, a good school teacher would invoke, provoke, stimulate, stir, the intensity of the student to 'know'. Average teachers would just try to get along by 'somehow' rushing through the 'prescribed' syllabus, dictate standard 'notes', mark 'portions' for exam, and get 'done' with it as quickly and effortlessly as possible, since, for that teacher the only intensity is job security (with standardised-results), and the pay-packet. Government jobbers are no different. That is why those huge governments are so grossly blind about the 'truth' of common man's woes!)
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