Sleep

The spiritual masters of ancient India did not spare even that sleep from their deep observation! All we are left with today is a few names, with prefixes to the Sanskrit name for sleep ‘Nidra’. Our present day experience is no different than our western counterparts, and sadly enough, not even as deep as theirs, at gross level. Their sleeping pills, techniques of psychiatrists, etc are by and large far advanced than what is commercially available here. The by-product of sleep, which we call as dreams are mostly interpreted by ‘predictions’. Where as, they had classified it according to the person, time, place etc. We have a ‘belief’ that early morning dreams are likely to come true. There is also a belief that in real life, the opposite of a bad dream would happen(whether this is for some kind of consolation only, is also a matter of doubt). Meditative practices handed down from Indian culture enable a person to sleep consciously, and ‘dream’ in such a way that the ‘chemistry’ undergoes a transformation, paving way for spirituality to creep in! The names in Sanskrit for these states and practices are technical and not too relevant here.

Somebody asked a very basic and fundamental question, as to ‘why do we sleep’!

This was all that I needed to mount my answer with a subtle dose of philosophical aspect that might persuade the asker or subsequent readers to look a bit deeper within. What I forgot to add in the answer is a bit of verifiable evidence about the rich heritage of Indian culture, when they designated the early morning hours around 4 am to 6 am (where ever we are on the planet, not to bother about IST, GMT etc.) to be that precious period for whatever kind of ‘sleep’ we choose! Load bearing trucks are usually parked for a while during this period for a brief ‘nap’ for the driver. They find it difficult to ward off that ‘dozing-off’ tendency at that time. Patients with excruciating pain in hospital wards find some relief during this period. Experienced surgeons try to plan a surgery during this period. I hesitate to mention the mystic aspect, that spiritual masters perform through their practices, during this period, which helps them to progress, while also helping the people around up to a certain radius of distance.
(It would perhaps be useful for our present day people, to find out whether the teachers at “Yoga” class(of whatever kind) they try to attend, address the quality of sleep, with a few techniques that they try to impart).
Psn(28th September, 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100922034430AAeY3P1
Whats so important about the question 'why do we sleep'?
isn't it enough we sleep to take rest can be an answer.
Additional Details
what the scientist are really looking so much on it to find?

My answer:
Sleep is the only way right now, for most of us to go to our 'nothingness', to recover the strength to sustain the 'something' that we claim to be in our wakeful life. (Even that 'holiday' after a hectic work is to bring in that element of 'nothingness' to some extent, dropping or diluting the intense role we do, or perform, at work!
People who start with meditation, happen to 'drop' that somethingness for some time, and if they happen to experience the meditation better, they find a noticeable drop in their sleep-quota requirement.
Animals are in their natural state mostly (they do not 'assume' any role like humans), so they just need rest, and not the 'sleep' the way we do. It is the mind, that needs the rest, which is possible usually only through sleep(without plugging our nose and ears, we happen to withdraw our sensory perceptions, the input devices for the mind's activity).

Funeral

I came across a humorous ‘forward’ which is bound to make some of us a bit uncomfortable, and perhaps annoy the ‘chronic’ cases amidst us.

They say, a genuine teacher keeps the students/disciples a bit uncomfortable always, so that they do not stagnate in the name of getting ‘settled’. Let us not misconstrue the effort of keeping us uncomfortable to be an act of causing ‘discomfort’. That is where a ‘positive’ approach has a role to play.

Regards,
Psn(26th September, 2010)

Quote:
One day, all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on the door on which it was written:
"Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym."
At first everyone was sad to hear that one of their colleagues had died, but after a while they started getting curious about who this person might be. The excitement grew as the employees arrived at the gym to pay their last respects. Everyone wondered: "Who is this person who was hindering my progress? Well, at least he is no longer here!"
One by one the employees got closer to the coffin and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood over the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see himself.
There was also a sign next to the mirror that said:
"There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth:
it is YOU."
YOU are the only person who can revolutionize your life.
YOU are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success. YOU are the only person who can help yourself.
Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your company changes.
Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that YOU ARE the only one responsible for your life.
The most important relationship you can have, is the one you have with yourself" Examine yourself, watch yourself. Don't be afraid of difficulties, impossibilities and losses:
be a winner, build yourself and your reality.
The world is like a mirror: it gives back to anyone the reflection of the thoughts in which one has strongly believed. The world and your reality are like mirrors lying in a coffin, which show to any individual the death of his divine capability to imagine and create his happiness and his success.
It's the way you face Life that makes the difference.

Thought Momentum

There was a saying….
“Every great revolution was a private opinion at the beginning.”

This is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that thoughts do gain momentum.

But, when the question seeks a deeper insight, the temptation is obviously there to try out a matching answer. What if, the asker is trying to find out about powerful, unwavering thought? Not the ones that do not seek casual support, because they are usually short lived though of enormous magnitude? We have those large looming clouds which merely threaten and dissipate too soon, into nowhere! And then, we have dense clouds too, which burst altogether, flooding a small town itself, and drowning a few unprepared innocent people! Also, the ones that stay put and drizzle incessantly for days!

Managements of large business houses often fail to observe the basic nature of a collective thought, and assume its momentum, force, velocity etc by taking just a cursory glance at its magnitude and volume. That is how big projects, big ideas, etc fizzle out! Error in judgments ends up in financial imbalance. When it is families, societies, political arenas, it is the misunderstanding of those emotional thoughts that end up in negative relationships. Now-a-days, we have a whole science branched out for deeper study of these ‘momentum’ phenomenon.

It was indeed a pleasant surprise that my answer found an appeal! I had happened to mention it as just a thread, a sutra, quite indicatively. It is an altogether different matter that several incantations in Sanskrit language, in a very similarly compressed manner afford live visualization right within the person while chanting it……. … provided that person is keen enough to intensely desire a spiritual perception too!

Psn(26th September, 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100922170034AAAGO5O
Do positive thoughts gain momentum?
Even when they are forced?

My reply:
And the evidence is all there in the whole of galaxy, milky way, with all those stars and planets traveling at tremendous speed, with great accuracy, demonstrably in all possible directions of momentum, since many years! It is this thought-power-momentum that compelled our scientists to focus upon 'quantum-entanglement'! The momentum, its speed itself is the problem for our scientists to observe, with the observer's low speed of observation!

Basic Nature

I came across a wonderful story, which I quote below(Quote 1), and would also try to suggest a practical way of making use of it.
Another friend of mine had sent me a brief article, which was equally inspiring.
I find that also to be worth quoting here (quote 2).

We all have something called tolerance levels. At times, we mistake our sustaining levels to be our tolerance levels, and that is where we are likely to run into trouble.

Being too overcautious, we try to suppress our basic nature, to avoid over-exploitation by others, and thereby deprive ourselves the joy that would have been all ours, if we manifest our basic nature. This suppression too causes needless suffocation. That might eventually even make our life seem hollow, purposeless, empty or futile! And if this realization dawns too late, at the age of retirement or so, it would be really sad!

I have my own personal experience, to put forth as a reasonable base, to be able to suggest this ‘via-media’. Many a times, at my work place, a few of my colleagues used to suggest not to ‘show’ too much of output or productivity, or else, there would be people to ‘exploit’. I know they were quite sincere about this suggestion. It does work. That is why we hear of so many motivational programs, incentive plans etc at work places, churned out by those ‘brilliant’ HRD people! I did listen and hear to all those suggestions, looking at it ‘afresh’ each time, even with a sense of gratitude, and then decided upon my own ‘via-media’, using my ‘tolerance’ levels as a yardstick. (It is altogether a different matter, that I happened to benefit ‘quite incidentally’ when my tolerance levels increased along with the sustaining levels, as also my grasp on the true understanding about my own limits, as a consequence of my spiritual pursuit! Spirituality, or that pathless path, also happens to allow us to have a shift even in our “basic nature”… a transformation of sorts! ). A time did come, when I felt that enough is enough. And then, I could joyously retire, not waiting for that stipulated age of superannuation. Spittoons are provided at posh railway stations, airports and such public places. They are for ‘convenience’. We need not really insist on spitting into each and every bin, with the idea of making “full” use of these provisions, just because they are ‘freebies”! It is this clarity, which affords us, which enables us, empowers us, or makes us eligible, to enjoy yet better things in life.

I hope you would at least enjoy the story, and the other quote, if not my suggestion.
What works for me, need not work for others too! I am reminded of a brief cartoon story. A Zen story it was. When a blind man was leaving his friend’s house, the friend handed him a lantern to take on his way.
Blind man : “I don’t need a lantern. It is all the same to me, whether it is dark or light.
Friend: “I know, but if you don’t have a light with you, someone might accidentally run into you”
Blind man: “Oh! Alright”.
He took the light, and proceeded. On his way somebody did bump into him.
Blind man : “Can’t you see a light right in front of your face?”
That somebody: “Hey buddy, your light was already out!”
(Using another person’s ideas to enlighten other people, is like the blind man carrying a lantern – the light may go out along the way, and you’ll never know!)


Psn(25th September, 2010)


Quote-1:
The saint and the scorpion

One day a sadhu went to the river to bathe. There he noticed a scorpion struggling in the water. Scorpions cannot swim and the sadhu knew that if he did not save the scorpion, it would drown...

Therefore, carefully picking up the scorpion, the monk rescued it from drowning and was just about to set it down gently on land when the scorpion stung his finger. In pain, the sadhu instinctively flung his hand and the scorpion went flying, back into the river. As soon as the sadhu regained his composure from the sting, he again lifted the scorpion out of the water. Again, before he could set the scorpion safely on land, the creature stung him. This drama went on for several minutes as the sadhu continued to try to save the life of the drowning scorpion and the scorpion continued to sting his saviour's hand before reaching the freedom of the riverbank.

A hunter watched as the saint carefully and gingerly lifted the creature out of the water, only to fling it back in as he convulsed in pain from each fresh sting.

Finally, the hunter said to the sadhu, "Forgive me for my frankness, but it is clear that the scorpion is simply going to continue to sting you each and every time you try to carry it to safety. Why don't you give up and just let it drown?"

The sadhu replied: "My dear child, the scorpion is not stinging me out of malice or evil intent. Just as it is the water's nature to make me wet, so it is the scorpion's nature to sting. He doesn't realise that I am carrying him to safety. That is a level of conscious comprehension greater than what his brain can achieve. But, just as it is the scorpion's nature to sting, so it is my nature to save. Just as he is not leaving his nature, why should I leave my nature? My dharma is to help any creature of any kind, human or animal. Why should I let a small scorpion rob me of the divine nature which I have cultivated through years of sadhana?"

In our lives we encounter people who harm us, insult us, plot against us, whose actions seem calculated to thwart the successful achievement of our goals. Sometimes these are obvious acts, such as a co-worker who continually steals our ideas or speaks badly of us to our boss. Sometimes these acts are subtle, a friend, relative or colleague who unexpectedly betrays us or who we find has been surreptitiously speaking negatively about us behind our back.

Slowly we find that our own actions, words and thoughts become driven by anger and pain. We find ourselves engaged in cunning thoughts of revenge. Before we realise it, we are injuring ourselves by allowing negative emotions dominate us. They insulted us or plotted against us or sabotaged a well-deserved achievement at work. But we injure ourselves more deeply and more gravely by allowing our hearts and minds to darken.

Our dharma is to be kind, pure, honest, giving, sharing and caring. Others, due to ignorance, lack of understanding or due to the way in which their own karmic drama is unfolding, may act with malice, deceit, selfishness and indifference. But we must not let their actions or their ignorance deprive us of fulfilling our dharma. We must not allow ourselves to be lowered by their ignorance, their habits or their greed. The darkness in their heart should not be allowed to penetrate into the lightness of our hearts.

Quote 2:
Who or What is causing your problems?

When people fail, they often blame someone else for their failure. People blame others when they do poorly at work. Blame is also used to justify personal problems.

When you blame someone or something else, you actually make yourself weak and ineffective. You make yourself "effect" instead of being the "cause" of the situation. You give power to the person or thing you blame.

"Blaming something else makes that something else cause; and as that cause takes on power, the individual in the same act loses control and becomes effect."

For example, you lost a business contract and you blame your assistant. You are making your assistant more powerful than you. You might say, "My assistant messed up the appointment, "which is just another way of saying, "My assistant determines if I succeed or fail in keeping an appointment."

If you take responsibility, you would say, "I need to train my assistant so he doesn't make mistakes".

As another example, you might blame someone’s behavior for your stress and anxiety. This makes that person behavior responsible for your feelings. If you say, "That person ruined my mood," you are actually saying, "That person is so powerful that he can control my emotions.

"If you wish to succeed in life, you have to end the blame game and accept responsibility for yourself. You only get ahead when you become "cause" over the situation and not the “effect”.

Reaction

“Sir/Madam, what is your reaction to this……. .” asks the media person to somebody, and this “somebody” suddenly becomes “more important” than anybody around, clears the throat, holds the mike, assumes an appropriate facial expression, and blurts out whatever comes to the mind! If luck favours, this ‘VIP’ may not be required to later on plead for publicity to the same media with a rejoinder to some unforeseen criticism, that this person was misquoted, quoted out of context etc!

That is what happens, when we try to react. Some mature media people ask for response, and then if that ‘somebody’ is also alert, sensible, and mature, would instantly come up with an equally sensible “does this warrant a response from me?”. We respond to the global warming by further reducing our carbon footprints, even if our own contribution is well within the “permissible” limits called ‘emission-entitlements’. Those who try to react, enact a structure that looks reasonable, call it with a sophisticated name called “carbon-trading” and then buy the entitlements from somebody who was foolish enough to be unable to even reach the ‘permissible’ limits of pollution! Reaction usually happens when somebody becomes a bit defensive, trying to hold back something, possessively, protectively. Whether a reaction is reasonable or not, whether it suits the occasion or not, whether the social norms permit such reactions or not, is altogether a different aspect.

All I meant was to try if it seems acceptable to shift from ‘reaction’ to a conscious ‘response’ ability, which would help us to go a long way to evolve as loving beings, not even just human beings.

Psn(23rd September, 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100923012452AAOhQCc
As responsible citizens, how should we react towards the verdict of the Ayodhya dispute?

My answer:
I am not quite sure if "reaction" and being "responsible" go together at all!We try to act in a situation, whatever the type of action is warranted by the situation. By action, we would like to look at it as our response, and our ability to respond sensibly is 'response-ability' or responsibility. In certain situations, inaction might be the most appropriate action, including an act of persuading others too to remain calm.
"Reaction" is what happens when people are simply carried away by "sentiments". Again, I am not sure if we have a correct translation for the word "sentiment" in Indian languages. As if the falsehood of emotion called as sentiment is not enough, we have also coined something called "false-sentiment"!
"Religious" sentiments would evoke "reactions" of unpredictable nature, which may cause loss of lives and property. The unprecedented security arrangements or "Bandobast" is out of apprehension of such "reactions". When emotions are totally out of control, it might take the shape of a reaction.
I would like to humbly respond by staying calm, and if possible, persuade yet others around to remain calm. That would perhaps be the best response, out of our ability to respond, if we happen to also maintain the awareness that we are responsible citizens.

Spiritual thought

A question that showed eagerness to find out the ‘kind’ of earliest ‘spiritual’ thought, seemed quite interesting to me!
Please see, we do not have many thoughts, which we can recall, belonging to our early childhood. We do have lots of memories of ‘experiences’. It is later on that we unconsciously attribute a thought, and corrupt such beautiful experiences, and keep recalling it as a futile effort. But it is not a ‘fault’ in the strict sense. This is our basic nature, once we are ‘armed’ with those instincts of self-preservation and survival.
Fortunate few people just happen to preserve some ‘experience’ in its raw basic form, and relive the experience within, recalling it from memory.
All this would seem quite confusing, and even a bit meaningless.
But, if we look at a child, and try to observe it quite keenly, with an open mind, we can see the ‘spiritual’ eagerness struggling to sprout too often. We are in a hurry to teach the child our ways, and so, we quite inadvertently happen to push down this subtle urge. Did we not happen to see a baby laugh lavishly for no apparent reason? As if somebody is tickling the child to evoke that uncontrollable laughter? It is a humble evidence of such ‘experience’ happening. Let medical science try and investigate the cause of such laughter! The child is yet to get a hold on ‘concepts’ the way we do. And even among we adults, not all of us grasp a joke with the same speed. It is the abstract concept that enables us to laugh at the funny side of life. When logic gets tamed under emotion, it paves the way for a hearty laugh. Otherwise, with bare logic, we just reason it out and close the matter like a robot. We find no reason to respond. A child is yet to form concepts, abstract concepts, etc. So, by elimination, we may, for the time being look at a possibility that it could be some spiritual experience. Now, if there was that self-awareness, this child would have been able to retain this experience in its conscious memory.
The idea of this narrative is to merely persuade a person to look at the possibility that, we humans are subjected to a spiritual experience, right from “Inception”. Usually, as adults, we brush aside the idea of spiritual pursuit as a futile exercise, irrelevant to normal life. There are several supporting theories that would substantiate the possibility of such spiritual quest in a child, but the narrative would become too tiring in its elaboration. I would prefer to leave it here with that mystic tickle.

Psn(20th September, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100919091103AAzOSo9
What was your earliest spiritual thought?
When I was maybe four or five, I can recall having the thought that there had been a time when I had no name, when I was content and not involved with interaction with human beings.The thought seemed like truth to me, a statement of actual fact. I was not a child who told lies to myself.When you were that age, did you have beliefs that had not come from your parents?

My answer:
In my opinion, we could have spiritual experience, and then, about that, we have thoughts, recalling from memory that we had some experience. Still, such thoughts do not, by itself re-create an experience. That is the whole problem! If we insist, we might end up creating illusions, hallucinations etc. We can have ideas or 'thoughts "about" spirituality, but the thought itself being spiritual, ... not quite sure.
Yes, we do have experiences. But we seldom notice it. Early childhood is 'blessed' with many such. But it all happens in innocence and not in full conscious awareness. That makes a tremendous difference. In the ancient Indian way of looking at things, there is a tradition to initiate a child as early as at 7 years of age, into that possibility of conscious spiritual experience. The child, soon after the ceremony is called a 'dwija' (sanskrit word for "twice-born"), just to signify that, the first time the child was born out of its mother's womb, it was unawares, and now he takes a conscious birth to experience life 'afresh' in full awareness! Unfortunately, it is reduced to a mere ritual now(exceptions are very rare), with neither party having experiential awareness of its importance or significance!

Experienced Teacher

A wonderful question!
I would right away dissuade the reader from reading any further if they are not at all interested to know about the difficulties of teaching-techniques involved in initiating a person into spiritual process.

But, to me, the question itself is a bonus. And I consider my self to be unduly fortunate to know and experience the difficulties involved in acquiring the teaching skills. I did spend a significant amount of time, in volunteering with a group which is associated with a great living master! Narrating my own experiences here would not only be redundant, but also a needless diversion from the main issue.

It is good enough, if the reader feels impressed by the ‘value’ of the question, irrespective of how it is worded, or even the ambiguity/inappropriateness/ inaccuracy/futility/inadequacy of my answer.

I would thank the asker here too, once again. Unless some ‘body’ asks, where is the relevance to speak about it?

Psn(10th September, 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100909154858AAmGAMe

Spiritually, can one teach based on what one has heard from others, or does one have to have experienced it?
In order to teach, do you have to have thoroughly seen the path first-hand, or can one do it based on conceptual knowledge either gathered by yourself or from others? Can you show others the way without having walked it yourself?
Additional Details
Bonus Question:
SHOULD you show another the way without having seen it yourself? Could this potentially be harmful for the other person, if you steer them the wrong way? Should you avoid giving advice if you have no first-hand experience with whatever aspect of the way that the other person is asking about?

My answer:
That 'Bonus' question explains it all too well!

That is perhaps, the only problem, with finding a genuine spiritual guide!

Almost any science can be taught theoritically, having acquired the 'knowledge' too similarly. But not spirituality. Actually, I am in a bit of hurry to wonder, and admire even that this question popped up so pleasantly surprising us!..

The difficulty is, a very small percentage of such 'experienced' people stay back (almost like, we get rid of that plaster soon after the bone is set... may be the delay is to reach a photographer, for a snap, at the most, for a memory). And out of those who stay back, a similar very small percentage are able to communicate well, to reach others (quite understandably, the main problem is compelling use of the very same language which is used just to convery perceptions at sensory levels only!). The flight of knowledge is from known to unknown. Here the task is a bit arduous, since there is no possible bridge between the known (sensory levels) and the unknown (beyond sensory levels--that is what spirituality is all about). So, that 'first-hand-knower' has a predicament to keep the student hooked on to seeking, and hoping that somehow that fellow would slip into the 'groove'. That is why they call it pathless path! If the problem of that 'first-hand-knower' is so big, what to talk of others, who just 'heard' about it, and never experienced it?! But there is a silver lining. Two things have to be meticulously adhered to. One, never dilute/tamper/complicate the instructions of that 'first-hand-knower'. Two, maintain awareness of the adage that a person can 'use the other person's experience, but not his intelligence'! With these two age-old-tenets, there have been spiritual schools right since the ancient times, which have evolved time-tested-techniques, which make an eager seeker more prepared with the least dependence of a direct proximity of that rare-breed, the 'first-hand-knower'!(In my own personal view, the care taken by a genuine guide(that first-hand-knower) goes almost un-noticed, quite helplessly too, to avoid the pitfalls mentioned in that 'Bonus-question'. So, the potential harm is all the more compounded when the task is handled by 'theoritically-leaned' person! Now, how at all are we to get a feel of that embodiment of compassion, that 'first-hand-knower' who undertakes such a stupendous task, knowing too well that it has to be done quite out of 'unconditional love', the rewards remaining confined in the task itself!)

Thanks, many thanks for this wonderful question!

Waste of Time

I could never muster enough confidence to actually pronounce these words “waste of time” on my own behalf! May be I had to mumble it a few times during these years of my life, just because it might comfort somebody due to the advantage of the situation. I could not really grasp the significance of it! The opposite of it, widely acceptable form of it that is, might be “best use of time”. Yeah! I could feel a bit more comfortable, attempting to deal with how to make the “best use of time” more so when I was a kid, and it was our school’s ‘summer-holidays’ or in the words of our unlettered grand-parents, ‘long-holidays’. The childhood innocence never seemed to really work well, to handle material aspect of life! The way these grandparents used to mention it, when they said that they were so eagerly awaiting us, I thought of trying to be ‘with them’ continuous, or non-stop at the very first chance after landing at our native village. But, too soon, they would say, “Okay, now let me get on with my work, be off, to play outside and come back home at meal-time”! I wondered, why they are unable to tolerate me continuous for too long? But, now that is not a problem. Even my long mails are seldom tolerated!

So, the best use of time, or waste of time, seemed too relative. Sitting outside the ICU leaving all the important work, there would be a herd of close relatives, doing almost nothing, but nobody would dare think of the time spent thus as a waste! In all probability, the time invested by these people out side the ICU might never get ‘reported’ to the patient, who is their ‘close’ one! And then, we have stories, where people quarrel all the time, and much later realize that the time they spent quarreling thus was the best period of their togetherness! We have those mythical stories where the ‘devotee’ was befriended by his/her lord all along, while they thought that this accompaniment was a nuisance all the while! Some where the candidate for a job got that edge over his only sole rival because he could quote having spent time to acquire additional skill at little bit of imaginative painting(which seemed utter waste of time then), which appealed to the job-giver as some special skill required for a web-designing-software-engineer!

What about a wrong choice of life partner? It seems too scary to think of a whole of lifetime wasted!

Then there is another ‘testing-time’…. I am reminded of an old joke. A King wished to know what would give the maximum happiness/joy/satisfaction. The minister was too annoyed by bouts of such questions from the king, overlooking other pressing matters of the state, and happened to blurt out that ‘it was emptying of bowels early, the first thing in the morning’ The King got too annoyed at this reply, and asked the minister to prove it, or else…. The minister humbly requested more time. A month was granted. Now the minister knew that the king’s mind never stayed too long on one topic or issue, and felt that it would tide over. But a month passed, and the minister was apprehensive. An idea occurred to him. In those days, only the Royal occupants of the house hold had the luxury of that ‘attached’ toilet, since it was too difficult to maintain it with open-manual-handling of night soil. So, only two people used the ‘royal’ toilet. The queen, besides the king himself. The minister cleverly placed the small water carrying vessel outside the door, to indicate that it was ‘occupied’. There was a practice to use this vessel to avoid the embarrassment of announcing it loudly… it was a ‘royal’ household, after all! The King made several rounds along the toilet, and was stupefied thinking ‘why is it taking her so long today?’… The pressure mounted and when the minister thought it was enough, he seized the right moment to get that vessel removed to indicate the line-was-clear. The king, as soon as he came out, heaved a huge sigh of relief, and said, “nothing gives more joy that this!” The minister lost no time in reminding the king of his commitment to prove it. Now the king knew the person behind this mischief. (I had heard this story, when I was a kid, and even enjoyed it, but was left wondering about the ‘waiting’ time, its utility-level, etc!).

So, that adage, “time is money”, etc doesn’t clarify our basic doubts beyond a point. Anyway, I did spend some time here, and also to answer a question about it.

The asker seemed to be impressed, and was even eager to reassure me that the question was with a ‘positive’ outlook!

Psn(10th September, 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100908235517AAojQCU
Isn't most of what we do in life a waste of time?
Authors spend countless hours writing manuscripts that never sell. The unemployed spend enormous amounts of time job-hunting and going to interviews only to end up where they started - without a job. We pursue dreams that amount to nothing, sit in front of the TV and learn nothing, then go to bed only to get up the next morning and repeat the same round of unproductive and unrewarding experiences. It seems the majority of our lives are spent doing things that have no lasting meaning or value. Am I correct?

My answer:
That is why we have so many questions, repeated so many times, asking for the meaning of life.
The bulk of us seem to do nothing different from what ancient people did, except for the sophistication. TV sets tell us stories, instead of the old man in the caves to his grandchildren. Hunting for food has become hunting for job, paid pure water, pure air, pure love even, surplus of emission entitlements to trade, etc.
The question is correct.
The answer is a bit difficult. Logically, we seem to be inferior to all other living beings, physiologically. The stupid owl sees better. The slowest deer would any time defeat our olympic runner. We cannot free ourselves if a tiny monkey grips our wrist!
Only if our priorities shift, and this seeking the purpose of life seems reasonably important, there is a possibility that we make the best use of a gift unique to us, the humans. That self awareness. Irrespective of our performance, results, achievements, failures on the outside, we all have that wonderful opportunity to evolve within. The incidental side-benefit is that the handling of material aspect of life becomes effortless, though it may start to seem insignificant. We have several instances of the most accomplished people turning inwards. Very recently, a mathematician who happened to solve a 104 year puzzle, declined the most coveted award, retired from limelight and chose to live a hermit's life at a village very near city of Moscow or so, with his mother (it was a newspaper report). Two richest men of the world decide to give the bulk of their accumulated wealth in charity. Einstien wished during his last days, that if there is a rebirth, he would like to be just a farmer! (There was a whole society in ancient India that resolved this question conclusively, by evolving a way of life, where in the bulk of the people effortlessly reach the highest human possibility!)

Nice question. The best part is to keep this question a bit 'alive'. It does not cost anything, and does not come in the way of what ever we do to handle the routine life outside!

Job-Alternative

I knew, somebody is going to ask to find out what people do, when they have nothing on hand ‘needed’ to be done! Now the ‘needs’ are decided by a mind which itself has turned materialistic. That is why, most of us are scared of retirement, or even planning something ahead of the date.

A few centuries ago, the concept of job was not so popular. Going to “office” was unheard of. There was no “office” in the first place.

The pastime aspect never came up with so much clarity about the main purpose of life then! But, today, there is no point in trying to think of all those things. We need to know what we can do in a practical sense. At the same time, a few of us here and there who attempt to do something which is not quite common, and yet happen to retain their cheerfulness or even improve upon it, should not fail to attract some attention, at least to get us or set us to think of it. That was what prompted me to try to sell/tell my views to these questions.

The concept is not entirely strange even today. Most of the ‘office-going’ people in USA have an ‘alternative’ pastime, which takes up a very significant portion of their ‘life-focus’.
Where as in India, there are a significant number of people who quietly compromise for a very low profile, curbing their potential, profile, and threat of getting noticed(And, it works so well too, that, perhaps this could be the most significant ‘unsaid’ reason why youngsters migrate to west where they get their due worth as returns)!
Psn(8th September, 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100904163120AAIRJkY
What else do you do????????
Besides your job?

My answer:
Quite interestingly, in ancient India, a 'job' was considered as an alternative to 'living' itself! Quite strange and utterly illogical to modern mind! But the term used is still in vogue, though most people tend to look at the attributed meaning rather than the meaning which the word itself offers! It was a word in Sanskrit language "Upa-Jeevana-Maargam" (Upa is 'assisting'/deputy/alternative', and Jeevana is 'life/living, maarga is way/means). The very culture, the way of life, recognised the deeper purpose of life, even at the cost of losing a job, or forsaking it, or not having it at all!

Life after . . . . .

At every stage of life, there is this question, “after” this, what? Elders around add a tone of seriousness, to that tiny kid… “Now you are old enough to go to a school, so learn to become a good child, obedient, less mischievous etc..” Then, the school days are over, and college life is supposed to be taken more seriously. After education, at the job, it is the boss’ turn to turn us serious. The next sequences of events don’t allow us to ponder over what has been happening to us. Suddenly it is retirement. Now, we ourselves become quite ‘competent’ to ask our very selves, ‘what next?’…! (It is the elusiveness itself, of the answer that detests most of us from even thinking of a ‘meaningful’ retired life! Most people get even more inextricably ‘entangled’ into deeper commitments, and continue their evasiveness towards “a” commitment-sans-expectations!)

So, it is not quite surprising, when there is a question that shows an eagerness, some curiosity to know, what a person would like to do with ‘life’ when material aspects are reasonably taken care of!

Psn(6th September, 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100905205820AA6GvMr
What do you want to do for the rest of your life?
Suppose you received a lump sum of money that would last you the rest of your life and so you didn't need to work anymore. I suppose you'd quit your job. How would you spend your days instead of working?

My answer:
Allow life to happen the way it wants to, for me, and live it each moment, as intensely as possible.
I cannot create a huge thing so wonderful as this Universe around me. And I am gifted with this enormous, immeasurable universe, as a gift to and a still more precious self awareness, as a gift, to feel and experience it! All I can do is try and maintain my awareness at the sharpest levels, peak levels, and soak myself, drench myself, immensely, intensely and with 'my' best involvement, till 'life' decides to dissolve me completely into itself!
(Every small thought to 'adjudge', differ with what nature has designed, seems like an act of utter distrust, lack of love, etc, or in essence, just some kind of 'life-negative' attitude that would deprive me of 'life' experience. 'Allow action to flow forth according to the needs of the situation, to deal with it, to participate into it', seems to be the only way to live choicelessly... and choicelessness the best freedom!).
(Fortunately, there is no need to 'suppose'. The 'retired' life-style could happen as early as the very first day at work. Work place was a part of 'that' kind of life. That is why the 'real' retirement did not 'show' its line of demarcation in a pronounced way!)

Sensing Sense

This time, there is nothing much needed to be added!
It makes sense to leave people to sense it as it is.
Like that so called ‘Bum’ who lighted up the intellect of that posh-car owner, when he asked this Bum “Do you need any help?” ( In the sense, the rich fellow could afford to give any help to this Bum, but the Bum seemed helpless in everyway, without any money!).
All that the Bum asked in reply / response was, “Don’t we all?”

It seemed ( I felt), that I could sense this sensible question about sensing sense, a bit differently. To me, it does touch the sense that senses the senses. (That is because, but for this sense that senses sense, our usual senses are seldom under our control!)

Psn(5th September, 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100904163343AAXMom3
Can you sense, sense?

My answer:
But it carries a different name..... awareness.We can be aware of our 'self-awareness'.
It is unique to only we humans. That is why we ourselves can decide to go for an eye-check-up, when our sense of vision seems to become blurred or dull. Animals simply live with their perception levels. When humans sense sense, they evolve, after first realising(experientially, not just talking about it, thinking about it, like most people!) that they are humans! And when they evolve, it is the opening of doors to spirituality, with the perceptions (the senses), deepening beyond 'sensory' levels!
(Thanks for the new 'sense' given to senses! Only 'we' can afford to accomodate those who choose to call it non-sense! Yes, this is non-sense in a deeper sense. It is extra-sense, out of range of sense!)

Tolerance Level

We often notice that children (at least up to the age of 5), are unable to feign illness. And they continue to ignore the fatigue till they are unable to withstand it, and become too feeble to even walk! They are yet to grasp the concept of tolerance. Otherwise, they would not be stretching the elders around to their ‘limits’ by nagging with repetition of their questions, queries and doubts! We lose patience, and at times, disappoint them or even sadden them with outbursts of our impatience. And then consoling them seems futile.

As adults, we play with ‘tolerance’ levels. Even those global certifications which are proudly displayed along with brand names are mere indications of narrow tolerance levels of imperfections in quality.

When it comes to personal tolerance levels (physical-fatigue, mental-fatigue, and emotional-fatigue….. Oh! It seems to painfully remind us of the need to ‘maintain’ the awareness about need to distinguish them on an on-going basis!), we feel fuzzy. These individual levels are never static. The calibration and even its ‘standards’ varies due to our perception about our shifting priorities, situational support etc. That is why, in large organizations, the team leader is supposed to performing ‘excellently’, when the spirits of the team are ‘maintained’ at peak levels due to the efforts of that leader!

The problem with tolerance levels becomes too pronounced only when we mix it up with our ability to withstand something. Good weightlifters decide to ‘give it up’ even when the ‘lift’ causes some discomfort. The next level of ‘jerk’ might cause fatal injuries to muscles, etc. And, there is a bonus too. When we try to effectively maintain a watch over our tolerance levels, we invariably end up pushing up our levels too! And it does tell upon our productivity, alertness, receptivity, etc!

(Spiritual practices unfold these subtle aspects and even subtler levels of inner/deeper tolerance areas into newer dimensions! But that is entirely a different story, not relevant here)

Somebody seems to have asked, perhaps in all innocence, about becoming famous with ‘tolernts’! That is what prompted me to look within and see what it means. I would eagerly await to know, at least, if my views meet your tolerance levels!

Psn(4th September, 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100903193530AAq6kqb

I am famous with my tolernts?

My answer:
Then,
please take care to clearly distinguish the tolerance-lists from withstand-list. If we are unable to withstand, something that we erroneously 'think' that we might tolerate, we might break down, and sometimes irreparably!

Conservative Cactus

I learned conservation from a Cactus. That botany teacher explained how it absorbs moisture, and sustains life in a desert. It was a typical example of leaf modification. Much later, it occurred to me that it has an opposite spendthrift in a Banana plant. This one absorbs lot of water, and lets out too! Fortunately, I had a taste (literally) of how it feels when I could experience, the letting out of its water, when I ate my meals from a Banana leaf. In south of India, there is a tradition, which is still in vogue. Meals are served on a banana leaf, especially when the diners are distinguished guests. Another subtle aspect is that even today, the intrinsic properties of this banana leaf are put to great use, preserving the rich knowledge handed down through generations, and the credit goes to a few people, somewhere around Erode, a small city in the state of Tamilnadu, South of India. Banana leaves are used to reduce obesity. The paste of the leaves is applied all over the body, and then the leaves are also used as a ‘bandage’ for specified period of time, for several days.

When it comes to us, human beings, we look for uniformity of behavior! Somebody’s very chemistry is inclined towards being conservative, and they get branded as ‘misers’. Somebody else spends as fast as they earn or accumulate and they are branded as spendthrifts. We see married couples, who are conservative as a pair or spendthrifts as a pair. When they are sought to be balanced, they end up quarrelling with each other! A cactus and a banana plant can reside comfortably side by side. They lack self awareness. But when people team up, consciously, and decide to complement each other, respecting their individualistic ‘chemistry’, then it is a win-win situation. Other wise, it is a blame game of good and bad.

Now, when a question came up, asking if ‘good’ needs a ‘bad’, the whole issue had to be looked differently. It felt nice to see an asker taking efforts to give a routine and dull-looking question a poetic form. It indicates a sincere thirst, to know. And I did not hesitate to part with my views.

Psn(3rd Sept., 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100903032514AAfsK69

Do you agree that every "good" needs a "bad"?
I have expressed my views about this topic in form of a poem given below. Please read it & tell me whether you agree with me or not. Thanks.
Could you tell me what is good and what is bad?
Why are we happy and Why are we sad?
Is this question so sillythat no one would care to answer it?
Or is this question so difficultthat no one can find the answer to it?
Is a person born good or bad?
Or is it that the person makes himself good or bad?
Or is it that the person is what we consider as good or bad?
If only good is needed in this universe,Then why is bad kept in it?
Does good need a bad?
Or bad need a good?
Or they come on their own?
Can we smile without facing sorrow?
Can the universe be recreated without being destroyed?


My answer:
Yes, unless there are ten people who are bad, I cannot be good.
Even to know that I am a "human" being (as a species), I need another 'sample' (another human being!). Comparison is the key. And still deeper, mind is the key. And still deeper, mind cannot function until it first divides something. The declaration of a division is judgment. There cannot be a single thought which is not a judgment in some way! Some decisions, conclusions, judgments, inferences (or whatever) is arrived at by comparison. This comparison could be selective or calibrated.
It is wonderful to see an impartial look at good and bad, viewing it as a bare concept.

Non Political Politics

Playing politics, some how gets around to polarize the person, who is dexterous at it, into looking after his own interests. It is seldom that we find a ‘good’ statesman, who also is good to the nation! Most are just ‘good’ about the statesmanship, or just ‘at’ it. He/she just ‘practices’ the science of politics with extreme care and sensitivity about the ‘strategy’ aspect of it, and skillfully camouflages the ‘playing’ into it.
Those politicians, who are yet to ‘elevate’ their skills to the level of statesmen, have ups and downs, due to competition from their own kind.

At micro level, most of us ‘employ’ strategy to our own selfish motives, advantages, and interests. At times, when the trick gets exposed too obviously, then the people around use that phrase ‘This person is playing politics even here!’.

Professionally successful people many a times owe their financial success to such ‘designs’. To quote a less risky example, where the person himself was ‘noble’ enough to feel and even admit it towards the fag end of a stupendously successful life, we may recall the nobility of Mr. Nobel himself! He was very good at handling business. But, when his products flourished at the cost of rivalries of two nations, intelligent people around lost no time to recognise him as ‘merchant of death’.

Doctors make a living, when the patient is reluctant to look at the root cause of their ailment. Managing an ailment means more income for the medico. The subtle area is indeed, where it is the mind, that needs the correction. There is hardly any risk in revealing the root cause. The present day life-style makes it almost impossible to access the root, only then, do we have any chance to ‘deal’ with it!

The question that I have quoted herein below, is just a typical instance to highlight the ‘technical’ fault that we often get stuck into. We realize too late that we ourselves are trapped, and remain trapped, into the web we weave for others! (The psychiatrist too, carries the guilt within, for too long, and needlessly too, being over-apprehensive about his own professional career!).

It would be too tedious to ‘deal’ with other types of instances, and ironically, the cause and effect of those other types are entirely unique, and well justified, if we can afford the wherewithal’s of it. Often, the very ‘raising’ of issues, topics, etc simply provokes the ‘negative’ sensitivity within us! So, it is yet another reason, why I consciously choose, not to make, even a ‘passing’ reference to those.
(Spiritual practices, the teaching techniques, the result-oriented approaches, etc do not permit us to take into consideration, our affordability aspect, very ironically indeed!)

Psn(3rd September, 2010)


http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100901192159AAzFrfB&r=w#NbUvWzq9WThW9GWqYeRc

Is it wrong on my part to wish that known people dont meet me when I go to a new place?
Like say, if I finish my school and go to college ,I wish that I dont get to see my school mates/friends in the college I'm into.Same way when I go to work,I hope that I dont meet the same people whom I have met in my school/college/whatever place I have been before.Same feeling when I go to a new city/state/countryIts mainly because I feel when I go to a new place and when I'm with a new group I want to start everything fresh and I dont want the past to influence me.Like,the people who know me would have formed some opinion about me and when they get to see me with a new group, they may describe based on what they have experienced about me in that past but whatever it have experience has happened in the past and I dont want that to come again and prevent me from moving on and change myself.......For example, I might have been like a moron in my previous college but when I'm currently in a different college, I might have become better but if there is someone who has already studied with me in my previous college he/she may say something that is based on what they have experienced with me in my previous college to a new set of friends that I have met in this college.So that makes me wish that I dont meet known faces!!!!..lolIs it weird on my part to think like that?..Its like as if I'm always being under surveillance


My answer:
There is another way to deal with this problem.

Are there not, instances where people get totally transformed due to the impact of just one incident in their lives? It takes time for people around, to recognise and then realise the change, in this person. But change does not wait or depend for concurrence of others. When mobile handsets included photography, the mobile company threw the camera company out of market.

Another aspect is that if somebody chooses to look at us one way, that is their problem. For instance, I happen to resemble a person who caused lot of trouble to Mr.X. Now, even if that Mr.X is going to meet me for the first time, he would instantly 'catalogue' me, brand me, as that trouble some person of his mind/memory/experience. No power on earth can change the opinion. It would be foolish, if I take it upon myself to appeal to this Mr.X. My efforts would only reaffirm his own doubts!

Technically, the 'same' person whom we meet is physically quite 'fresh'. Every three years, our body does not contain any of the old cells. The other way, psychologically, we adamantly 'carry-forward' many of the wonderful stupidities of our ancestors.

The residual issue, in essence, is we do not want the other person to remind us of some error, mistake, inadequacy, deformity etc (any type of shortcoming), at a new place. But if that other person were to vouch for any of our exceptional 'abilities'! Then we relish it, we need not 'waste' time to gain positive-popularity! What we need to accept experientially, (not just thinking), is that we can never control the situation outside. We can control our reaction to it...
(This is not only just a 'wonderful' question. Most people are shy to speak and discuss. Still more people are adamant about even recognising that they have this question! So psychiatrists never have to deal with this problem. Instead, they 'encash' a living out of the 'consequences' of such problems!)