See… even the very title needs no elaboration! Our mind pops up the ‘implied’ meaning!
Perhaps this has been the most difficult problem that I have been facing when trying to help people as a ‘volunteer’ when I was assigned the humble task(18 years ago), of ‘back-office-support’ after they attend certain spiritual oriented programs. Invariably, the bulk of them are already better informed than me, well learned, and unfortunately for me, already more clever in ‘worldly-ways’! What ever little progress that I ‘happened’ to make on my ‘approach’ to that pathless spiritual path, I owe it to two major contributors. One is my ‘weakness’ to blank-out when something is being told and look at it afresh, as if learning it for the first time, and more importantly, next contributor, my dear spiritual guide who is already a past-master at the art of molding such gullible much more effortlessly and very compassionately! In fact, I recognise how stupid I am for lack of true appreciation for that rare gift, only when I look at the tremendous rate of ‘drop-outs’ who constitute those well learned, well informed, and knowledgeable people!
(My earliest memories date back to childhood, where, I even misunderstood partially, a wonderful Sanskrit couplet/saying explained to me by my uncle… “Pustakastaatu Yaa Vidhya, parahasta gatam dhanam, karya kaale samutpanney, na sa vidya, na tat dhanam… meaning, knowledge lying in books, and our money in other person’s hands do not come to our rescue in times of need! That misunderstanding or rather the lack of it, persuaded me to jump into practical/live chase of spiritual oriented pursuits, instead of waiting for that abundant wealth of ancient texts to seep into me! ) Oh! This is tending to become more of a ‘confessional’ narrative! Quite redundant, to the purpose.
Surprisingly enough we have stories that show that unskilled people somehow manage to land that injured aircraft damaged in mid-air, with the pilots also disabled! It is not to belittle book-knowledge or theoretical-skill, but to bridge the gap in those people who have potential, but are yet to learn something theoretically. At least, they would not reduce the cooking time to exactly half, when they ‘trial-cook’ from a recipe book, using less than half the ingredients, to try it out!
I thought I made a wrong guess, when my answer tried to incline towards spiritual aspect, but was surprised, when the asker agreed to the answer, making a special mention about that ‘mystic’ element(in the comments about the answer)! I thought that the question confined itself to the practical implementation difficulties of managerial skills learnt in those business schools, where as my answer had failed to ‘touch’ any such aspect!
I on my part have to remain contended with what ever little ‘bookish knowledge’ that I happened to acquire/retain, and consider myself to be a bit fortunate to be able to manage with practical experience (especially in the field of my special interest!). At banks especially, they say ‘practice prevails over the law’. Needless to add, on a humorous note, even politicians seem to concur, when they practice utter disregard to all of the known bookish-laws!
It is the asker’s choice in my favor, with a relatively quick response, that prompted me to share it here with you.
Regards,
Psn(21st July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100720064325AAylHa4&r=w#NbUvWzq9WThW9GWqYeRc
We are good in theory but very poor in practical life ,why? How can we use our bookish knowledge in real life?
My answer:
If only the answer, the solution to this question were so easy for implementation!
Robots are very practical. They perform as per the 'program-parameters' till the last ounce of energy (battery-power) is left in them! .... No hurdles like,........
a) if, but, how, why, only if.. etc, and
b) they don't have those negative emotions we know as anger, jealousy, hatred and fear!
c) lastly but not 'in least' their focus is never interrupted by their own 'thought-process', especially those doubt-creating & self-opposing, self-negating, self-canceling thoughts like we humans have.
These three are major differences, we can go on listing, smaller ones like procrastination (putting off, postponement of plans, etc).
On the other hand, if we are only willing, we can do better than a robot if our emotions are well balanced, because we have that unique human gift of self awareness, whereby, we can become flexible and also, we can draw that power, the mystic power from 'nature' which is quite logic-defying, rare and looks 'super-human' too (and hence quite difficult to even accept, agree, or listen to!).
As an abundant example, we do defy logic, when we experience that 'extra-gravitational' pull on our bed, when it is already late to get up, and we tend to once again yield to drowsy sleep, after waking at that irritating noise of the alarm clock!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
That is what you think
We had become a freak-like group amidst our classmates at school, and used to engage ourselves in funny games. Well, others had a good ‘check-nut’ firm in place, and did fare well, later in life, while I just remained where I was, a ‘loose-nut’, spinning at the same place, around a worn out groove!
Once, we tried out saying “that is what you think” to every thing that the other kid says to us. We had resolved to stick to this for a while, where as the other kids, not quite prepared for this ordeal, got a mental fatigue, hearing this stupid response to everything and anything that they tried to tell us, even with an improvisation in their attempts. We almost forgot the ‘fun’ we had. But at least to me, it left a very deep residue. Many times, I did re-look at this ‘that is what you think’ and now, as an adult, it seems to scare me! Now it also seems too late to get rid of this ‘that is what you think’ (especially when it is addressed to oneself!). The problem is not with the ‘thinking process’ itself. It is with the incessant inclination and tendency to jump into conclusions (what we call as pre-judice, pre-conclusions, pre-mature judgment etc). Clarity is far better, when the observation is with fewer thought processes. The hard part is that the hard-thinking that we did till then actually helps to eliminate extraneous data to arrive at the correct observation. Please see, that “Eureka” happened in a bath tub, but after a huge mental fatigue till the previous eve, fighting a bitter lost battle with the problem of ‘somehow’ testing the purity of gold without melting the crown! The ‘falling-apple’ revealed the ‘gravity’ only when the mind was on the look out for something, having tried out all other clues! The lid of the tea kettle came off due to the steam pressure of the boiling water, and revealed the locomotive power, only because there was a search within, for some form of (alternate) power to push a heavy vehicle on wheels. It is not just about those great scientists. At work places, we gave up looking for that error in books of accounts, out of sheer fatigue, and in the morning with that ‘fresh’ mind, we just glance casually, and the elusive error is right there, just under our very noses (we would have passed along its side several times!). At home, sometimes, we happen to locate a misplaced item, after the need has ‘died’ (and now, we are surprised why we could find it so easily)!
But, when it comes to ‘think’ in-order-to understand ourselves????
Quite a serious business. Nevertheless, all I hoped was to help the asker, with my answer, was to avoid the paths that might lead to a dead-end very soon, and cause fatigue. After all, it is one’s own journey, very personal too.
Psn(20th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100719154408AAPINMf
How to think and understand about myself.... ?
seriously.. I tried to think about myself, but couldnot understand where to start. i really donno much abt myself. people tell me more abt myself than i know. i should start knowing myself very well... where should i start and wt should i do?thank you, sandy
My answer:
That is the toughest job.
The toughest part is being honest to oneself, coming to 'terms' with reality.
When we attempt to start thinking, the mind will only try to justify everything with a 'because' or 'but', if, therefore, etc... If we try to just look, like a witness without any judgement, then, may be, we would see things as they are, within ourselves, and with patience, clarity would occur.
(Every thought is a judgement, some way or other, that is the problem. At school, when a kid, we tried this game, saying 'that is what you think' to our friends and classmates, to 'whatever' they say! Even we ourselves did not expect that it would suit so well! Very soon they would 'drop-off' very irritated by our stupid repetition of 'that's what you think!' (But neither of us grasped the significance of a great concept that we unknowingly employed! We were too young and ignorant at that age!)...
What others tell about us is what they see. They see only the finished product, and that too, just the manifest part of it. That is why, we admire a good movie, when a hero 'fakes' the roles so well! We even get tears out of emotional empathy. We get so stuck to the character of that hero that we try to look at him 'as we saw in the movie'. Some heroes have encashed this stupidity to get votes, and became a political leader, forsaking just the acting! Oh! perhaps, now they are acting for 'real' as 'honest' politicians (we asked for that trouble!). Only a genuine spiritual guide can give that expert guidance about 'what we are' (simply because, that master would have evolved to perceive beyond the sensory levels of perception. But we have to necessarily 'trust' !). We can try that 'looking' without trying to justify, within ourselves, and we can 'see' (what the eyes cannot). It may require some patience, time and practice. No harm in trying. Eventually, we would only evolve, with that big side-benefit of a better ability at focusing (that scientific temper of keen non-judgemental observation!).
Best wishes.
Once, we tried out saying “that is what you think” to every thing that the other kid says to us. We had resolved to stick to this for a while, where as the other kids, not quite prepared for this ordeal, got a mental fatigue, hearing this stupid response to everything and anything that they tried to tell us, even with an improvisation in their attempts. We almost forgot the ‘fun’ we had. But at least to me, it left a very deep residue. Many times, I did re-look at this ‘that is what you think’ and now, as an adult, it seems to scare me! Now it also seems too late to get rid of this ‘that is what you think’ (especially when it is addressed to oneself!). The problem is not with the ‘thinking process’ itself. It is with the incessant inclination and tendency to jump into conclusions (what we call as pre-judice, pre-conclusions, pre-mature judgment etc). Clarity is far better, when the observation is with fewer thought processes. The hard part is that the hard-thinking that we did till then actually helps to eliminate extraneous data to arrive at the correct observation. Please see, that “Eureka” happened in a bath tub, but after a huge mental fatigue till the previous eve, fighting a bitter lost battle with the problem of ‘somehow’ testing the purity of gold without melting the crown! The ‘falling-apple’ revealed the ‘gravity’ only when the mind was on the look out for something, having tried out all other clues! The lid of the tea kettle came off due to the steam pressure of the boiling water, and revealed the locomotive power, only because there was a search within, for some form of (alternate) power to push a heavy vehicle on wheels. It is not just about those great scientists. At work places, we gave up looking for that error in books of accounts, out of sheer fatigue, and in the morning with that ‘fresh’ mind, we just glance casually, and the elusive error is right there, just under our very noses (we would have passed along its side several times!). At home, sometimes, we happen to locate a misplaced item, after the need has ‘died’ (and now, we are surprised why we could find it so easily)!
But, when it comes to ‘think’ in-order-to understand ourselves????
Quite a serious business. Nevertheless, all I hoped was to help the asker, with my answer, was to avoid the paths that might lead to a dead-end very soon, and cause fatigue. After all, it is one’s own journey, very personal too.
Psn(20th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100719154408AAPINMf
How to think and understand about myself.... ?
seriously.. I tried to think about myself, but couldnot understand where to start. i really donno much abt myself. people tell me more abt myself than i know. i should start knowing myself very well... where should i start and wt should i do?thank you, sandy
My answer:
That is the toughest job.
The toughest part is being honest to oneself, coming to 'terms' with reality.
When we attempt to start thinking, the mind will only try to justify everything with a 'because' or 'but', if, therefore, etc... If we try to just look, like a witness without any judgement, then, may be, we would see things as they are, within ourselves, and with patience, clarity would occur.
(Every thought is a judgement, some way or other, that is the problem. At school, when a kid, we tried this game, saying 'that is what you think' to our friends and classmates, to 'whatever' they say! Even we ourselves did not expect that it would suit so well! Very soon they would 'drop-off' very irritated by our stupid repetition of 'that's what you think!' (But neither of us grasped the significance of a great concept that we unknowingly employed! We were too young and ignorant at that age!)...
What others tell about us is what they see. They see only the finished product, and that too, just the manifest part of it. That is why, we admire a good movie, when a hero 'fakes' the roles so well! We even get tears out of emotional empathy. We get so stuck to the character of that hero that we try to look at him 'as we saw in the movie'. Some heroes have encashed this stupidity to get votes, and became a political leader, forsaking just the acting! Oh! perhaps, now they are acting for 'real' as 'honest' politicians (we asked for that trouble!). Only a genuine spiritual guide can give that expert guidance about 'what we are' (simply because, that master would have evolved to perceive beyond the sensory levels of perception. But we have to necessarily 'trust' !). We can try that 'looking' without trying to justify, within ourselves, and we can 'see' (what the eyes cannot). It may require some patience, time and practice. No harm in trying. Eventually, we would only evolve, with that big side-benefit of a better ability at focusing (that scientific temper of keen non-judgemental observation!).
Best wishes.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Chemistry Matching
A view at ‘macro-level’ seems to suggest that marriages too have been ‘subjected’ to sophistication, along with our household gadgets, and perhaps nothing more, in ‘essence’.
Instead of horoscope matching, now it is more of ‘chemistry-matching’. But the problems are perhaps like these few….
the conclusions too have to be arrived at by those ‘chemicals’ themselves (out-sourcing seems too risky!).
present day ‘life-situation’ seems to demand ‘diverse’ capabilities. But the very same ‘seem’ to also accelerate our ‘divorce’ capabilities. The youth are baffled when they see the rate of divorces increasing at such a fast rate. While they feel comforted at the ‘more-liberalized’ atmosphere in favor of women’s freedom, to free-themselves from forced bonds, it does not sound too comforting to spend that precious youth just hunting for that ‘compatibility’.
the youth are wondering silently within, ‘how is it that these old couples managed to live together, despite such basic incompatibilities, for so long? Even after so many years of married life, they still keep quarreling on such basic issues!’
a few smart ones are trying to find out the hidden element by asking clandestine questions, trying to ‘winkle out’, or ‘prise out’ (extracting information with difficulty)! Why else would there be so many questions about ‘quantum entanglement’, related purely to physics, be asked linking a possibility of application to two human beings, two people trying to improve ‘communicative-compatibility’? Somewhere there is a lurking doubt, whether those old blokes did really had it right when they looked at ‘stars & planets’ to indicate the ‘chemical’ proton level quantum-entanglement??!! (I felt baffled at the extraneous matter juxtaposed along with questions from ‘not-likely-to-be-so-seriously-concerned ‘ people, giving ample evidence about their mind set from the very choice of wording the questions! … Yes, even army resolves this issue of tendency to ask ‘base-less’ questions, when they train ordinary soldiers, on the very first day of the training…. It is an interesting and humorous thing, so it would not ‘cost’ when narrated…. The ‘boss’ (instructor) asks fresh recruits to dig pits of exact specifications, and at the end of the day, painstakingly measure each pit (height, width and length) by each soldier, for accuracy. Then they ask them to fill these pits back with the same excavated soil! The instructor now asks them to line up and asks “Today’s training being over, any questions or doubts?” …. Invariably, he is rewarded with a few ‘logical’ wizards who raise their hands. He asks them to step aside, and the rest are asked to leave, to get ready for next class tomorrow. He does not even bother to ask these ‘stepped-aside’ brilliant, as to what their doubts are (yes, even we have guessed it…. It is the purpose of those pits, if they are to be filled up so soon after digging, and especially that accurate measuring!). He announces “Good! I appreciate that you are intelligent and have good questions to ask! Please dig a fresh pit tomorrow (much larger size, now!)”. War does not wait for all doubts of the soldiers to be clarified first and then fire the bullet! Life does not wait till all the doubts/differences of the spouses to be resolved and then continue ‘happily’ thereafter.
Most of the youth of the yester years were busy chasing those beautiful butterflies, joyously, not ‘thinking’ or searching for their botanical unpronounceable names. Today, they are forced to find out how to match the ‘chemistry’. In essence, the query is ‘how to love logically?’ (emotional love seems elusive, and often illogical!). They try out that ‘chat’ , ‘meet’ and other modes. But all they find is that these ‘complementary’ angles of views are looking away from each-other, though together they form a ‘straight-line’ (be it acute or obtuse!). It is one thing to fit in uneven sizes of jig-saw-puzzle to form a perfect picture (team work), at a work place, and another thing to converge at a common point with different views, looking in different angles at different sides. The angles themselves have to open up a different perspective to become aware of possibility of a point of convergence, but at sensory level, all they can view is they are ‘differently abled’ or even ‘indifferently-abled’ when placed side-by-side, to complement!
If my guess is right, the purpose of the question was not just about ‘what is love’. It is about ‘how to make it happen’ with this ‘scientific’ attitude (logical skill is all that they have perhaps sharpened, while that ‘scientific temper ‘ demands a lot more!). So, here is my feeble attempt to remain confined to logic.
Regards,
Psn(18th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100717100232AAjWTaZ
Hi there what is the true meaning of love actual pls explain scientific reason behind this?
My answer:
We can try a logical answer. Whether it 'sounds' scientific enough, is to be decided.Because, emotions do not follow 'logical-rules'. And we perhaps should agree, love is an emotion too...
Now, suppose we are on a strike, of 'fast-unto-death' and are sitting on a protest at a prominent place. A mosquito bites us. The skin would swell there a little, and our hand responds (quite innocently), to scratch it, to subside the feeling of itch at the swelling. At cellular level of intelligence, the cells at that spot (where the mosquito had bitten) feels that they want to 'live' ( not on strike like you!), and there fore do not even wait for your 'official' permission to fight back the insect poison(that is why the swelling). Example of love for life, for living. And, unconditional too. The cells do not know if they are going to survive the insect poison-attack.
(Cows and buffaloes yield more milk, when some music is played in the farm. Experiments have shown this in western countries. The chemistry of the animals respond 'lovingly' . Perhaps, those nursing mothers, and those who remember their experience would agree, when they were in cheerful and loving moods, feeding their child was easier and a joyous experience)...
The confusion: We use our right hand more than the left. Suppose a very similar injury occurs to our left hand little finger and also the right hand's index finger, which finger gets the better care and "pampering" from us? Obviously, and logically, that little finger of left hand is given ample bandage, care, and made to work less. The right hand index finger is made to slog, with less of medicinal paste, for lesser time, lesser bandage, etc. Do we love our index finger less? If somebody gives us a choice, which one to be chopped off (pointing a gun, and chopping is inevitable), then our natural choice would be left hand's little finger! Now if those two fingers had their own self awareness, in addition to cellular level intelligence, they might ask us ('their' God, their Boss, their incharge for well-being) 'why this partiality? We can neither explain that extra bandage to the little finger, nor explain the choice of allowing chopping the very same finger! This is how love confuses when it does not follow logic. Mothers usually face the difficulty when one child complains about her extra-love for another child!
Instead of horoscope matching, now it is more of ‘chemistry-matching’. But the problems are perhaps like these few….
the conclusions too have to be arrived at by those ‘chemicals’ themselves (out-sourcing seems too risky!).
present day ‘life-situation’ seems to demand ‘diverse’ capabilities. But the very same ‘seem’ to also accelerate our ‘divorce’ capabilities. The youth are baffled when they see the rate of divorces increasing at such a fast rate. While they feel comforted at the ‘more-liberalized’ atmosphere in favor of women’s freedom, to free-themselves from forced bonds, it does not sound too comforting to spend that precious youth just hunting for that ‘compatibility’.
the youth are wondering silently within, ‘how is it that these old couples managed to live together, despite such basic incompatibilities, for so long? Even after so many years of married life, they still keep quarreling on such basic issues!’
a few smart ones are trying to find out the hidden element by asking clandestine questions, trying to ‘winkle out’, or ‘prise out’ (extracting information with difficulty)! Why else would there be so many questions about ‘quantum entanglement’, related purely to physics, be asked linking a possibility of application to two human beings, two people trying to improve ‘communicative-compatibility’? Somewhere there is a lurking doubt, whether those old blokes did really had it right when they looked at ‘stars & planets’ to indicate the ‘chemical’ proton level quantum-entanglement??!! (I felt baffled at the extraneous matter juxtaposed along with questions from ‘not-likely-to-be-so-seriously-concerned ‘ people, giving ample evidence about their mind set from the very choice of wording the questions! … Yes, even army resolves this issue of tendency to ask ‘base-less’ questions, when they train ordinary soldiers, on the very first day of the training…. It is an interesting and humorous thing, so it would not ‘cost’ when narrated…. The ‘boss’ (instructor) asks fresh recruits to dig pits of exact specifications, and at the end of the day, painstakingly measure each pit (height, width and length) by each soldier, for accuracy. Then they ask them to fill these pits back with the same excavated soil! The instructor now asks them to line up and asks “Today’s training being over, any questions or doubts?” …. Invariably, he is rewarded with a few ‘logical’ wizards who raise their hands. He asks them to step aside, and the rest are asked to leave, to get ready for next class tomorrow. He does not even bother to ask these ‘stepped-aside’ brilliant, as to what their doubts are (yes, even we have guessed it…. It is the purpose of those pits, if they are to be filled up so soon after digging, and especially that accurate measuring!). He announces “Good! I appreciate that you are intelligent and have good questions to ask! Please dig a fresh pit tomorrow (much larger size, now!)”. War does not wait for all doubts of the soldiers to be clarified first and then fire the bullet! Life does not wait till all the doubts/differences of the spouses to be resolved and then continue ‘happily’ thereafter.
Most of the youth of the yester years were busy chasing those beautiful butterflies, joyously, not ‘thinking’ or searching for their botanical unpronounceable names. Today, they are forced to find out how to match the ‘chemistry’. In essence, the query is ‘how to love logically?’ (emotional love seems elusive, and often illogical!). They try out that ‘chat’ , ‘meet’ and other modes. But all they find is that these ‘complementary’ angles of views are looking away from each-other, though together they form a ‘straight-line’ (be it acute or obtuse!). It is one thing to fit in uneven sizes of jig-saw-puzzle to form a perfect picture (team work), at a work place, and another thing to converge at a common point with different views, looking in different angles at different sides. The angles themselves have to open up a different perspective to become aware of possibility of a point of convergence, but at sensory level, all they can view is they are ‘differently abled’ or even ‘indifferently-abled’ when placed side-by-side, to complement!
If my guess is right, the purpose of the question was not just about ‘what is love’. It is about ‘how to make it happen’ with this ‘scientific’ attitude (logical skill is all that they have perhaps sharpened, while that ‘scientific temper ‘ demands a lot more!). So, here is my feeble attempt to remain confined to logic.
Regards,
Psn(18th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100717100232AAjWTaZ
Hi there what is the true meaning of love actual pls explain scientific reason behind this?
My answer:
We can try a logical answer. Whether it 'sounds' scientific enough, is to be decided.Because, emotions do not follow 'logical-rules'. And we perhaps should agree, love is an emotion too...
Now, suppose we are on a strike, of 'fast-unto-death' and are sitting on a protest at a prominent place. A mosquito bites us. The skin would swell there a little, and our hand responds (quite innocently), to scratch it, to subside the feeling of itch at the swelling. At cellular level of intelligence, the cells at that spot (where the mosquito had bitten) feels that they want to 'live' ( not on strike like you!), and there fore do not even wait for your 'official' permission to fight back the insect poison(that is why the swelling). Example of love for life, for living. And, unconditional too. The cells do not know if they are going to survive the insect poison-attack.
(Cows and buffaloes yield more milk, when some music is played in the farm. Experiments have shown this in western countries. The chemistry of the animals respond 'lovingly' . Perhaps, those nursing mothers, and those who remember their experience would agree, when they were in cheerful and loving moods, feeding their child was easier and a joyous experience)...
The confusion: We use our right hand more than the left. Suppose a very similar injury occurs to our left hand little finger and also the right hand's index finger, which finger gets the better care and "pampering" from us? Obviously, and logically, that little finger of left hand is given ample bandage, care, and made to work less. The right hand index finger is made to slog, with less of medicinal paste, for lesser time, lesser bandage, etc. Do we love our index finger less? If somebody gives us a choice, which one to be chopped off (pointing a gun, and chopping is inevitable), then our natural choice would be left hand's little finger! Now if those two fingers had their own self awareness, in addition to cellular level intelligence, they might ask us ('their' God, their Boss, their incharge for well-being) 'why this partiality? We can neither explain that extra bandage to the little finger, nor explain the choice of allowing chopping the very same finger! This is how love confuses when it does not follow logic. Mothers usually face the difficulty when one child complains about her extra-love for another child!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Sanctification
Sanctification and consecration are two words, used interchangeably at times.
There is a tradition of revitalizing the energies of a place of worship, handed down by spiritual masters, with only the rituals differing from place to place, according to local customs and practices.
We invariably seek that ‘feeling’ of ‘peace’ as a source of reassurance that our attempt to reach the ‘divine’ has been fruitful at least to some extent.
Those who insist on tangible, perceivable evidence of ‘blind-belief’(about places of worship) would settle for just beautiful places for visit, and then, they too look out for some peace too there.
I felt intrigued by a question asking for such a place on the planet. Now, how could anybody answer ‘objectively’ unless that person has visited all such objects (places)?
So, I felt that it would not be ‘out-of-place’, if I try to point the place within, as a re-source (as a variation to out-sourcing)!
I did feel fortunate to have remembered to mention about that strange ‘mystic-looking-phenomenon’ by many visitors to that pre-independence prisons at Andaman & Nicobar Islands. (In that famous Gettysburg speech by Abraham Lincoln, he to mentioned that those who laid down their lives there had ‘consecrated’ that piece of land!)
I feel proud of the rich cultural and spiritual heritage handed down by ancient masters, who gave us the tools and techniques to ‘energize’ even our homes thus! It is indeed fortunate that this art is still available for those willing, to learn. It gives us the choice then, like a good photographer,(who would say thus: “If you are not beautiful, I will make you look beautiful, and if you are beautiful, I will capture your beauty!”), we can either enjoy the energy of a place, and /or add some, to it.
Psn(17th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100717010258AAhaOv2
What do you think is the most beautiful or peacful place on the planet?
Any opinions shared would be awesome, thanks!
My answer:
That place where we feel expanded enough to completely merge, dissolve ourselves into!
(Now, it happens at various levels, at various places, at various occasions, in a very relative way to each individual).
One can evolve into 'making it happen' any time any where , at will, consciously, for oneself in the beginning, and then out of compassion, for yet others who also have to extend the 'willingness' to allow it to happen for them too.
At sensory levels, that 'common-minimum-program' which comes to us with 'bundled-original-equipment', that self awareness, affords us samples, glimpses of it at some places of natural beauty like lofty snow-clad mountains, waterfalls (Niagara, etc), rocky mountains (Grand canyon), places of worship (especially ancient ones), and wonder of wonders in most unexpected places like those prisons of Andaman & Nicobar islands (now turned as national monuments/historic-places-of-visits) where many number of extremely patriotic people embraced death by torture, in such deep states of acceptance that visitors were quite unprepared to 'experience' strange serenity which vaguely resembles the sanctity of places of worship!
There is a tradition of revitalizing the energies of a place of worship, handed down by spiritual masters, with only the rituals differing from place to place, according to local customs and practices.
We invariably seek that ‘feeling’ of ‘peace’ as a source of reassurance that our attempt to reach the ‘divine’ has been fruitful at least to some extent.
Those who insist on tangible, perceivable evidence of ‘blind-belief’(about places of worship) would settle for just beautiful places for visit, and then, they too look out for some peace too there.
I felt intrigued by a question asking for such a place on the planet. Now, how could anybody answer ‘objectively’ unless that person has visited all such objects (places)?
So, I felt that it would not be ‘out-of-place’, if I try to point the place within, as a re-source (as a variation to out-sourcing)!
I did feel fortunate to have remembered to mention about that strange ‘mystic-looking-phenomenon’ by many visitors to that pre-independence prisons at Andaman & Nicobar Islands. (In that famous Gettysburg speech by Abraham Lincoln, he to mentioned that those who laid down their lives there had ‘consecrated’ that piece of land!)
I feel proud of the rich cultural and spiritual heritage handed down by ancient masters, who gave us the tools and techniques to ‘energize’ even our homes thus! It is indeed fortunate that this art is still available for those willing, to learn. It gives us the choice then, like a good photographer,(who would say thus: “If you are not beautiful, I will make you look beautiful, and if you are beautiful, I will capture your beauty!”), we can either enjoy the energy of a place, and /or add some, to it.
Psn(17th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100717010258AAhaOv2
What do you think is the most beautiful or peacful place on the planet?
Any opinions shared would be awesome, thanks!
My answer:
That place where we feel expanded enough to completely merge, dissolve ourselves into!
(Now, it happens at various levels, at various places, at various occasions, in a very relative way to each individual).
One can evolve into 'making it happen' any time any where , at will, consciously, for oneself in the beginning, and then out of compassion, for yet others who also have to extend the 'willingness' to allow it to happen for them too.
At sensory levels, that 'common-minimum-program' which comes to us with 'bundled-original-equipment', that self awareness, affords us samples, glimpses of it at some places of natural beauty like lofty snow-clad mountains, waterfalls (Niagara, etc), rocky mountains (Grand canyon), places of worship (especially ancient ones), and wonder of wonders in most unexpected places like those prisons of Andaman & Nicobar islands (now turned as national monuments/historic-places-of-visits) where many number of extremely patriotic people embraced death by torture, in such deep states of acceptance that visitors were quite unprepared to 'experience' strange serenity which vaguely resembles the sanctity of places of worship!
Too much of too little
Yes. It is the ‘too much’ of too little that keeps us busy in the rat-race of life. We realize having missed many wonderful things in life a bit too late….
Now, I do not wish to add too much to the already too much of too little, that is ‘other-wise’ occupying our mind already too much.
But, it is worth taking a look at what could be the ‘middle’ . It was the mention about the middle that persuaded me to take up and attempt an answer.
May be, it may inspire some of us to ponder.
Regards,
Psn(17th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100717033239AAln8QD
Tell me, spiritually or otherwise.. what is the difference between "too much" and "not enough"?
What happens in the middle?
Have anything to add?
One Love!
~Tyler
My answer:
Well, spiritually, the middle is not actually in the "middle" itself.It is the fuzzy middle. It is the real middle of a balanced mind, which is equanimous to the outside situation, and as a result of which, invariably 'looks' at everything as that 'middle'!
Please see, wherever the mind is involved, it says not enough or too much according to getting some benefit or misery!
Where the mind is 'disallowed' to involve and judge, the real middle matches the person's middle. When we are invited to a feast, and if we are quite hungry, and all the dishes are tasty and excellent, very soon we will reach that middle, and announce "enough" (the middle), at least till we are once again hungry. It seems there was a place (Nottingham or so...), where people have some community feast (some town hall or so), where, the diner goes to the wash basin nearby, puts two fingers deep into the throat, and invokes a vomit, to be able to fill in more food! Even in this extreme example, the 'enough' is merely delayed!
Our own physical limitations can demonstrate an "enough". Continuous movie-viewing, carnal pleasures and such other...
But coming to wealth, it is usually 'not enough'. Allotment of work-load at work place is usually "too much"...
When a person "experiences" quite deep enough, in full awareness, being quite alert, and very conscious, that "the mind and the body belongs to the being" there is scope for that middle, that joyous state, whatever the outside situation. That is the spiritual part of it. We all know what it is "other"-wise.....
Nice 'tickle', this question. Thanks
Now, I do not wish to add too much to the already too much of too little, that is ‘other-wise’ occupying our mind already too much.
But, it is worth taking a look at what could be the ‘middle’ . It was the mention about the middle that persuaded me to take up and attempt an answer.
May be, it may inspire some of us to ponder.
Regards,
Psn(17th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100717033239AAln8QD
Tell me, spiritually or otherwise.. what is the difference between "too much" and "not enough"?
What happens in the middle?
Have anything to add?
One Love!
~Tyler
My answer:
Well, spiritually, the middle is not actually in the "middle" itself.It is the fuzzy middle. It is the real middle of a balanced mind, which is equanimous to the outside situation, and as a result of which, invariably 'looks' at everything as that 'middle'!
Please see, wherever the mind is involved, it says not enough or too much according to getting some benefit or misery!
Where the mind is 'disallowed' to involve and judge, the real middle matches the person's middle. When we are invited to a feast, and if we are quite hungry, and all the dishes are tasty and excellent, very soon we will reach that middle, and announce "enough" (the middle), at least till we are once again hungry. It seems there was a place (Nottingham or so...), where people have some community feast (some town hall or so), where, the diner goes to the wash basin nearby, puts two fingers deep into the throat, and invokes a vomit, to be able to fill in more food! Even in this extreme example, the 'enough' is merely delayed!
Our own physical limitations can demonstrate an "enough". Continuous movie-viewing, carnal pleasures and such other...
But coming to wealth, it is usually 'not enough'. Allotment of work-load at work place is usually "too much"...
When a person "experiences" quite deep enough, in full awareness, being quite alert, and very conscious, that "the mind and the body belongs to the being" there is scope for that middle, that joyous state, whatever the outside situation. That is the spiritual part of it. We all know what it is "other"-wise.....
Nice 'tickle', this question. Thanks
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Intense Problem
It is about being ‘intense’ that is the problem, and therefore, may be this problem has now become an intense one.
There was an ‘ad’ on the TV… A kid requests his dad to become a ‘horse’ so that the kid can ride on his back. But, the dad tries to offer himself as a crocodile, instead! It takes much less effort for this dad to ‘play’ the role of ride-vehicle-crocodile (all he has to do is just lie down on his stomach, and continue his mid day nap)! The kid’s face shows disappointment.
As we grow into adulthood, we simply drop games. The transition is cunningly dubious. We first drop toys, then kid games, then replace with youth games, adult games, and then retire much faster than any professional sportspersons. Even that indoor couch-potato game with playing cards, we simply cannot think of playing for pea-nuts.
We forget how to become intense without any result to be chased. Not that children are doing it without any goal. But they can afford to forget the result no matter which way it was. But they also are not aware of their capability to become intense. What ever they do, they are intense at it.
The shift that happens in us is very subtle. We first become result-oriented, when we receive incentives, motivation speeches, advices from elders around. Even a romance offers us that ‘drive’ to go to any length of stupidity or madness, to become intense. We become intense in social work to achieve that ‘feel-good’ factor when we get appreciated.
Slowly, our intensity gets restricted to areas of our own ‘self-interest’. It does not just stay there. We almost forget how to become intense. Every thing, everyday becomes a drudgery, a dull-daily-routine. When we pay the poor fellow(rickshaw-puller, coolie etc) who carried our load as a casual laborer, he feels disappointed at the casualness with which we hand over the money. It is the helplessness of poverty and commonality that he sees with people around that helps him to compromise with our lack-luster body language response for his hard labor, which has forced a physical level of intensive labor that he experienced.
If we happened to know that, due to some delay, the results were approximated and compiled conclusively, and yet we are compelled to comply with submission of some periodical statement at work place, we find preparation of that particular statement to be unusually burden-some! The superiors at controlling office do not like to set a bad precedent, waiving the submission, though it is now redundant. Even tax authorities know, the tax payers do not relish preparation of tax returns and therefore expect the bulk of returns submission only at the last minute, on the last day.
This tendency to shed our intense capability too often takes a very heavy toll on the domestic front, where relationships and its bonds are purely based on the adhesive called emotions. Stubbornness is the only way the other person provokes us to become intense about something when love fails to invoke it. As the age advances, stubbornness becomes too glaringly obvious, and such people pave their own way to homes for the aged. At this age, it becomes too late to become intense.
We try to mix up some other qualities to make up the short fall of intensity. We become serious, tense, rigid etc, when all that is required to become intense. When scores do not enter the mind, that cricket batsman never pardons a loose ball! But, when he starts chasing scores, he becomes serious, tense and rigid, and that is when the ball finds it way to mid-wicket. Even the duck-out batsman is fortunate compared to us. The game is over for him, when he leaves the ‘pitch’. We remain ‘pitched’ all the time.
For dramatized examples, please look at that character of Omar Sharif in “Meckana’s Gold” . He seems casual throughout the movie, but is very intense about his goal, throughout the journey. His expressions change only when he becomes alert to any threat, otherwise, he maintains a villainous-smile throughout. He is very intense and relaxed.
In real life, we see an expert surgeon requesting his trusted colleague to do the job when the patient in that operation theatre is a very close relative of that expert surgeon! He knows, he cannot be intense and relaxed at the same time. (I could have my bit of experience, when I noticed that I am not “entirely” relaxed when it came to counting out my own salary, during my early days at job as a cashier. Cashiers can’t afford to be casual, but can be relaxed with practice, even when intense in their precarious hazardous job of counting currency notes.)
Well, spiritual growth, to a very large extent leans heavily upon becoming extremely relaxed and extremely intense simultaneously. Without either of this, the physical aspect of the practices could be counter-productive even. With just intenseness, we turn some of the exercises into muscle-building aerobics. And with relaxation alone, we become ‘senior’ yogis in the eyes of others, with no worthwhile progress within! There are stories to demonstrate this. That full time dacoit(angulimal ‘wearer of human-fingers as garland) got his mind-attitude transformed in no time(into later becoming a saint/sage-Valmiki), because he looked at “life” in a very intense way, with a calm and relaxed mind, and the futility of amassing wealth by plundering others dawned on him. A devotee enters the temple of worship with tremendous intensity, giving up all rigidities, with a sense of surrender (a forced relaxation), and experiences divinity far better than the priest who performs the rituals on a daily basis, but with some lack of intensity, in a casual routine manner! A yet another demonstrable example, we have seen a few, though not all or many, of the physically disabled people when they decide to live their life ‘intensely’ they perform miraculously with their legs, what we struggle to do with hands(painting with fingers on legs, holding the pen between teeth to write, etc).
Intensely yours,
Psn(14th July, 2010)
There was an ‘ad’ on the TV… A kid requests his dad to become a ‘horse’ so that the kid can ride on his back. But, the dad tries to offer himself as a crocodile, instead! It takes much less effort for this dad to ‘play’ the role of ride-vehicle-crocodile (all he has to do is just lie down on his stomach, and continue his mid day nap)! The kid’s face shows disappointment.
As we grow into adulthood, we simply drop games. The transition is cunningly dubious. We first drop toys, then kid games, then replace with youth games, adult games, and then retire much faster than any professional sportspersons. Even that indoor couch-potato game with playing cards, we simply cannot think of playing for pea-nuts.
We forget how to become intense without any result to be chased. Not that children are doing it without any goal. But they can afford to forget the result no matter which way it was. But they also are not aware of their capability to become intense. What ever they do, they are intense at it.
The shift that happens in us is very subtle. We first become result-oriented, when we receive incentives, motivation speeches, advices from elders around. Even a romance offers us that ‘drive’ to go to any length of stupidity or madness, to become intense. We become intense in social work to achieve that ‘feel-good’ factor when we get appreciated.
Slowly, our intensity gets restricted to areas of our own ‘self-interest’. It does not just stay there. We almost forget how to become intense. Every thing, everyday becomes a drudgery, a dull-daily-routine. When we pay the poor fellow(rickshaw-puller, coolie etc) who carried our load as a casual laborer, he feels disappointed at the casualness with which we hand over the money. It is the helplessness of poverty and commonality that he sees with people around that helps him to compromise with our lack-luster body language response for his hard labor, which has forced a physical level of intensive labor that he experienced.
If we happened to know that, due to some delay, the results were approximated and compiled conclusively, and yet we are compelled to comply with submission of some periodical statement at work place, we find preparation of that particular statement to be unusually burden-some! The superiors at controlling office do not like to set a bad precedent, waiving the submission, though it is now redundant. Even tax authorities know, the tax payers do not relish preparation of tax returns and therefore expect the bulk of returns submission only at the last minute, on the last day.
This tendency to shed our intense capability too often takes a very heavy toll on the domestic front, where relationships and its bonds are purely based on the adhesive called emotions. Stubbornness is the only way the other person provokes us to become intense about something when love fails to invoke it. As the age advances, stubbornness becomes too glaringly obvious, and such people pave their own way to homes for the aged. At this age, it becomes too late to become intense.
We try to mix up some other qualities to make up the short fall of intensity. We become serious, tense, rigid etc, when all that is required to become intense. When scores do not enter the mind, that cricket batsman never pardons a loose ball! But, when he starts chasing scores, he becomes serious, tense and rigid, and that is when the ball finds it way to mid-wicket. Even the duck-out batsman is fortunate compared to us. The game is over for him, when he leaves the ‘pitch’. We remain ‘pitched’ all the time.
For dramatized examples, please look at that character of Omar Sharif in “Meckana’s Gold” . He seems casual throughout the movie, but is very intense about his goal, throughout the journey. His expressions change only when he becomes alert to any threat, otherwise, he maintains a villainous-smile throughout. He is very intense and relaxed.
In real life, we see an expert surgeon requesting his trusted colleague to do the job when the patient in that operation theatre is a very close relative of that expert surgeon! He knows, he cannot be intense and relaxed at the same time. (I could have my bit of experience, when I noticed that I am not “entirely” relaxed when it came to counting out my own salary, during my early days at job as a cashier. Cashiers can’t afford to be casual, but can be relaxed with practice, even when intense in their precarious hazardous job of counting currency notes.)
Well, spiritual growth, to a very large extent leans heavily upon becoming extremely relaxed and extremely intense simultaneously. Without either of this, the physical aspect of the practices could be counter-productive even. With just intenseness, we turn some of the exercises into muscle-building aerobics. And with relaxation alone, we become ‘senior’ yogis in the eyes of others, with no worthwhile progress within! There are stories to demonstrate this. That full time dacoit(angulimal ‘wearer of human-fingers as garland) got his mind-attitude transformed in no time(into later becoming a saint/sage-Valmiki), because he looked at “life” in a very intense way, with a calm and relaxed mind, and the futility of amassing wealth by plundering others dawned on him. A devotee enters the temple of worship with tremendous intensity, giving up all rigidities, with a sense of surrender (a forced relaxation), and experiences divinity far better than the priest who performs the rituals on a daily basis, but with some lack of intensity, in a casual routine manner! A yet another demonstrable example, we have seen a few, though not all or many, of the physically disabled people when they decide to live their life ‘intensely’ they perform miraculously with their legs, what we struggle to do with hands(painting with fingers on legs, holding the pen between teeth to write, etc).
Intensely yours,
Psn(14th July, 2010)
Question quest
The quest usually is preceded by a question.
It is all the more interesting when the quest is about a question itself!
Quite reasonable, when we find questions pouring in from all over, when somebody starts looking at that itself as a big question, as to what was the ‘most’ in a particular class of question.
When somebody asked about a ‘greatest’ question, the answer looked very elusive, since the greatness of a question lasts only till we realize the stupidity about it (our own questions, I mean. It would be yet again a stupidity to adjudge someone else’s question as stupid, since it only would discourage the other that wonderful chance to rise above it, if we start ‘pronouncing’ it so. That is why it is insisted during a teacher’s training, not to discourage ‘any’ type of question!). But yes, we can ‘notch’ a question as most something (interesting, confusing, mystic, etc) so far, till another one crops up.
I had to give up becoming annoyed at myself when I found the number of times grew unmanageable, when my own mind could not hold on to some great idea for too long a time. Obviously, I am talking about those ‘kid’ days. During adult hood, we seldom find time for such niceties! I used to get easily persuaded to pursue any good quality when somebody around demonstrates a dexterity at it. At school every ‘guy’ seemed good at something. And I did find it worthwhile to chase that quality (no other way to find out what I am good at!). By the way, shaping us into ‘good-at-studies’ seemed to be the job of teachers, parents etc, since that was all they were focusing at when they interacted with us ‘meaningfully’ with some ‘quality-looking-time’! (Funny enough, some of us have ‘managed’ to retain this attitude even at the ‘refresher’ course provided by ‘staff-training colleges’ for the aged, at work places! For us, it was just a ‘paid-holiday’ and it was the ‘headache’ of the faculty to somehow make us dexterous at work!). Playing with marbles, running fast, talking in gibberish, walking over precarious narrow edges, shooting down that unreachable mango at the tallest branch with a good throw of the sharp edged stone, flying kites, etc., all these seemed sure signs of becoming something ‘special’! Most of these had to given up very soon, simply because ‘the grapes were sour’! Yes, even today, that pint sized nephew takes pleasure in teasing me with that whistle he produces so easily using just the two fingers, a folded tongue, and a gush of air out of his lungs!
So, when I looked at the whole lot of early age questions, I could ‘feel’ that one question which had kept tickling me for too long a time! I was tempted to share it here too.
Regards,
Psn(14th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100713174159AAD64TM
What's the greatest question that you've ever pondered?
My answer:
There was a question. It was not "greatest". But it was "most" intriguing question to me.
I used to wonder "Why is it that only the humans are unable to remain steadfast to any of their desires, goals, intentions, objectives, resolves, etc, for a sustainable length of time?"
Even as children at school, a story, a lesson, an example of a great person deeply motivates us. We resolve to be 'like' that person, at least try to be. But very soon, something else takes over. The World cup football evokes tremendous response among children who start playing with a ball in by-lanes, and narrow roads beside their houses. But soon something else takes over. Why even a kid gets disinterested very soon with the same toy. Scientists look at 'exploring outer space, other planets, even before having fully explored at least the accessible areas of just the surface of the earth!
(Now it seems quite clear to me, but the answer, obviously has to deal with human mind, the way of its functioning, and so presentation of it in brief acceptable form is not quite easy, apart from the 'mystic' intuitive 'element' that shrouds the 'phenomenon'!)
It is all the more interesting when the quest is about a question itself!
Quite reasonable, when we find questions pouring in from all over, when somebody starts looking at that itself as a big question, as to what was the ‘most’ in a particular class of question.
When somebody asked about a ‘greatest’ question, the answer looked very elusive, since the greatness of a question lasts only till we realize the stupidity about it (our own questions, I mean. It would be yet again a stupidity to adjudge someone else’s question as stupid, since it only would discourage the other that wonderful chance to rise above it, if we start ‘pronouncing’ it so. That is why it is insisted during a teacher’s training, not to discourage ‘any’ type of question!). But yes, we can ‘notch’ a question as most something (interesting, confusing, mystic, etc) so far, till another one crops up.
I had to give up becoming annoyed at myself when I found the number of times grew unmanageable, when my own mind could not hold on to some great idea for too long a time. Obviously, I am talking about those ‘kid’ days. During adult hood, we seldom find time for such niceties! I used to get easily persuaded to pursue any good quality when somebody around demonstrates a dexterity at it. At school every ‘guy’ seemed good at something. And I did find it worthwhile to chase that quality (no other way to find out what I am good at!). By the way, shaping us into ‘good-at-studies’ seemed to be the job of teachers, parents etc, since that was all they were focusing at when they interacted with us ‘meaningfully’ with some ‘quality-looking-time’! (Funny enough, some of us have ‘managed’ to retain this attitude even at the ‘refresher’ course provided by ‘staff-training colleges’ for the aged, at work places! For us, it was just a ‘paid-holiday’ and it was the ‘headache’ of the faculty to somehow make us dexterous at work!). Playing with marbles, running fast, talking in gibberish, walking over precarious narrow edges, shooting down that unreachable mango at the tallest branch with a good throw of the sharp edged stone, flying kites, etc., all these seemed sure signs of becoming something ‘special’! Most of these had to given up very soon, simply because ‘the grapes were sour’! Yes, even today, that pint sized nephew takes pleasure in teasing me with that whistle he produces so easily using just the two fingers, a folded tongue, and a gush of air out of his lungs!
So, when I looked at the whole lot of early age questions, I could ‘feel’ that one question which had kept tickling me for too long a time! I was tempted to share it here too.
Regards,
Psn(14th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100713174159AAD64TM
What's the greatest question that you've ever pondered?
My answer:
There was a question. It was not "greatest". But it was "most" intriguing question to me.
I used to wonder "Why is it that only the humans are unable to remain steadfast to any of their desires, goals, intentions, objectives, resolves, etc, for a sustainable length of time?"
Even as children at school, a story, a lesson, an example of a great person deeply motivates us. We resolve to be 'like' that person, at least try to be. But very soon, something else takes over. The World cup football evokes tremendous response among children who start playing with a ball in by-lanes, and narrow roads beside their houses. But soon something else takes over. Why even a kid gets disinterested very soon with the same toy. Scientists look at 'exploring outer space, other planets, even before having fully explored at least the accessible areas of just the surface of the earth!
(Now it seems quite clear to me, but the answer, obviously has to deal with human mind, the way of its functioning, and so presentation of it in brief acceptable form is not quite easy, apart from the 'mystic' intuitive 'element' that shrouds the 'phenomenon'!)
Monday, July 12, 2010
Upturned.
I used to feel a bit ‘unfortunate’ at very ‘wrong’ places, and quite often too, during my childhood. Some things, some happenings, some incidents used to affect me deep enough to leave a long-term residue. It happens to almost everyone. Nothing so special about me. But, if it happens on occasions which most people would say “Oh! Is that all?”, then I have a valid reason to feel isolated! Very funny, that even miseries bind people together, when they find commonality, and isolate when it ‘seems’ unique!
Well, something did really “upset” me literally! I was eagerly looking forward to fascinating facts getting revealed to me about life around, when our ‘Physics” teacher assured that we are set-about to learn about “why” and “how” of life and things around us, as we wade through the lessons in physics.
The tragedy occurred after that simple experiment with that candle , a cardboard with a slit-hole to let in the light from the candle flame, and yet another card board beyond this one was placed to show how the image of the flame looks upside down. Even that earlier theory class did not have such an impact, like when we saw it ‘live’. And the cruel teacher even happened to compare it(that little hole in the cardboard) with the functioning of our eye, after having ‘explained’ how a box-camera’s lens works! I distinctly remember that the rest of the classes and lessons of that day passed just over my head! I was gripped with a fear-sense, when it occurred to me thus: “Have I been looking at the world upside down all this time?”.
After reaching home, I tried several times, bending down looking through between my knees (the short-knickers that we children wore at that age seemed a blessing! All the elders at home wore garments that wound around the whole length of their legs together!). But looking thus head bent down seemed an uncomfortable proposition, and could never be extended for too long (this I discovered, when I found my head spinning after bringing up my head to get a lung-full of air. Even simple breathing seemed difficult when bent at waist). I had to abandon this ‘practice-sessions’ when elders around repeated their warnings at an increased decibel of sound in their voice. I had to abandon this ‘practice’ for fear of incurring the wrath of elders.
But I resolved mentally to ‘equip’ myself, by becoming ‘differently-abled’ in my perspective, not willing to leave it chance, or waiting for some physics teacher like person to reveal any shortcomings in my understanding of world around (after all, I have to walk, talk and think upright, or ‘down-right-practically’ , Oh! whichever way it ‘should be’!). When I look back, it seems that perhaps this is how I was mercilessly ‘pushed’ into that vast turbulent sea of spiritual processes, the pathless path, where I had to find my way, the deepening-process of perspectives, by myself, alone, with nobody around to teach me to swim or stay afloat.
But my ‘upside-down-viewing’ theory remained subsided only till I reached my early days at work place! It got revived all over again, when I tripped upon a very small booklet by an eminent authority, no less than the Reserve Bank of India, which suggested looking at signatures “upside-down” to come closer to a reliable, dependable verification method to find out fake signatures, when comparing them with specimens on record! I had to wait another 5 years only after which I could find it to be of a very practical use when I was ‘authorised’ officially to ‘pass’ signatures! (I even wondered, why I could not find another colleague who happened to talk of having come across that so useful a booklet! Reserve Bank used to do “something about it…” thus, like this booklet when there is a spurt of news about instances of fake signature, forged currency etc.
I got used to re-routing my journey-plans thus, upside down very often thence forth.
So, it was not surprising when I found myself answering a very serious question about “straightening” the world around, in a funny way. But it surprised me that it appealed to the asker!
I hope the brief question and the brief answer (this time), would help regaining/normalizing the reader’s vitreous humor(or the sense of humour) in case I had inadvertently turned upside down!
Regards,
Psn(12th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100706023041AAxo7rB
Why do people strive to straighten the world ?
Features are like dog's curly tail
Additional Details
World is like the curly tail of a dog.
My answer:
And we find our own tail itself to be missing!Much 'comfortable' to spend the whole of our life straightening the 'world' around.It offers great consolation (mutual benefit scheme!).
Well, something did really “upset” me literally! I was eagerly looking forward to fascinating facts getting revealed to me about life around, when our ‘Physics” teacher assured that we are set-about to learn about “why” and “how” of life and things around us, as we wade through the lessons in physics.
The tragedy occurred after that simple experiment with that candle , a cardboard with a slit-hole to let in the light from the candle flame, and yet another card board beyond this one was placed to show how the image of the flame looks upside down. Even that earlier theory class did not have such an impact, like when we saw it ‘live’. And the cruel teacher even happened to compare it(that little hole in the cardboard) with the functioning of our eye, after having ‘explained’ how a box-camera’s lens works! I distinctly remember that the rest of the classes and lessons of that day passed just over my head! I was gripped with a fear-sense, when it occurred to me thus: “Have I been looking at the world upside down all this time?”.
After reaching home, I tried several times, bending down looking through between my knees (the short-knickers that we children wore at that age seemed a blessing! All the elders at home wore garments that wound around the whole length of their legs together!). But looking thus head bent down seemed an uncomfortable proposition, and could never be extended for too long (this I discovered, when I found my head spinning after bringing up my head to get a lung-full of air. Even simple breathing seemed difficult when bent at waist). I had to abandon this ‘practice-sessions’ when elders around repeated their warnings at an increased decibel of sound in their voice. I had to abandon this ‘practice’ for fear of incurring the wrath of elders.
But I resolved mentally to ‘equip’ myself, by becoming ‘differently-abled’ in my perspective, not willing to leave it chance, or waiting for some physics teacher like person to reveal any shortcomings in my understanding of world around (after all, I have to walk, talk and think upright, or ‘down-right-practically’ , Oh! whichever way it ‘should be’!). When I look back, it seems that perhaps this is how I was mercilessly ‘pushed’ into that vast turbulent sea of spiritual processes, the pathless path, where I had to find my way, the deepening-process of perspectives, by myself, alone, with nobody around to teach me to swim or stay afloat.
But my ‘upside-down-viewing’ theory remained subsided only till I reached my early days at work place! It got revived all over again, when I tripped upon a very small booklet by an eminent authority, no less than the Reserve Bank of India, which suggested looking at signatures “upside-down” to come closer to a reliable, dependable verification method to find out fake signatures, when comparing them with specimens on record! I had to wait another 5 years only after which I could find it to be of a very practical use when I was ‘authorised’ officially to ‘pass’ signatures! (I even wondered, why I could not find another colleague who happened to talk of having come across that so useful a booklet! Reserve Bank used to do “something about it…” thus, like this booklet when there is a spurt of news about instances of fake signature, forged currency etc.
I got used to re-routing my journey-plans thus, upside down very often thence forth.
So, it was not surprising when I found myself answering a very serious question about “straightening” the world around, in a funny way. But it surprised me that it appealed to the asker!
I hope the brief question and the brief answer (this time), would help regaining/normalizing the reader’s vitreous humor(or the sense of humour) in case I had inadvertently turned upside down!
Regards,
Psn(12th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100706023041AAxo7rB
Why do people strive to straighten the world ?
Features are like dog's curly tail
Additional Details
World is like the curly tail of a dog.
My answer:
And we find our own tail itself to be missing!Much 'comfortable' to spend the whole of our life straightening the 'world' around.It offers great consolation (mutual benefit scheme!).
Unreasonable thoughts!
Yes!
It is these unreasonable thoughts that disturb us, till we helplessly tolerate it, get addicted over a period of time, and then it is too late to do something about it. Growing children find it embarrassing to seek help from elders around due to the very ‘classification’ (unreasonable is un-‘ask-able’ too!). Now, if they are to turn to their ‘close’ friends, this time, they really regret having kept those minority class of friends (honest, blunt, sincere and frank fault-finders) at a ‘convenient’ distance. The others, sailing in the same boat, would end up nurturing such unreasonable thoughts.
I attempted to look at a question seeking a way to handle these unreasonable thoughts.
To keep the answer brief, I broadly classified such thought processes in just two main categories. Interestingly, the second type seems just age-related, but not really so. If maturity happens at least with the aging process, may be it works. Otherwise, the mind by itself, happens to race towards that ‘second’ childhood with advanced aging, and so, on its way, also obviously traverses the ‘youthful’ urges too, on its way, now that aged people are usually classified as ‘elders’!
If the answer finds any appeal, then we can work towards a way to ‘train’ the youth and children into retaining an emotional balance, and then they would carry the ‘insulation’ wherever they go (it is not possible to insulate the situation and surroundings).
Psn(12th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100711195612AA4xUzN
How to forget an unreasonable thought?
I guess I might be a little obsessive over things...But sometimes I will have the most unreasonable thoughts come through my mind, and they will haunt me over and over. Sometimes I feel quite frustrated by these thoughts. I like to discuss the things on my mind, it usually makes them go away, but somethings are just so embarrassing and disturbing to me, that I really rather not discuss them out loud. I know its unreasonable and ridiculous really, but its just really bothering me that I would think up such a thing. So, if there is some way to get rid of it, please tell me. Otherwise I will eventually just have to discuss this with someone, and I don't want to do that. I don't know why I get like this sometimes.
35 minutes ago
- 4 days left to answer.
Additional Details
It seems like it might be OCD. I mean...I sometimes get caught up into the habit of washing my hands excessively. But I only do this when there is something pressing on my mind...I am going to talk about it though to someone. Its just going to sit there on my mind if I don't. Thanks everyone for your great advice. :)
My answer:
When we find our own thoughts to be 'unreasonable' there could be two main reasons.
1- Our desires and expectations do not match practical possibility of fulfilment. This is the most commonly found 'unreasonable-ness' in our thoughts. This gives rise to inner conflicts, and consequently persuades negative emotions like anger, hate, jealousy and fear to 'flourish'.
2. Our basic urges, instincts due to biological reasons, inherited reasons, genetic reasons, and such other reasons, when not handled properly seem to overpower our 'social-sense' or acceptable norms of the society, and they build up some kind of pressure seeking an outlet. If the emotional balance is lacking, the frequency of such outbursts is common. It is these urges that give rise to such 'unreasonable' thoughts. If these thoughts are not 'resolved' conclusively, they remain like an unexploded live bomb, vulnerable to take us by surprise at any time! Expert HR people actually find it easier to test the emotional balance by 'provoking' such latent thought processes. [for example, it seems in one of the IAS interviews(a very high-profile civil service job), a few candidates scored equal marks upto the final level. Ages even could not be used to decide 'seniority'. So, an additional round of testing was used with just one common question, to find out the best candidate. It so happned, that all these candidates were males. The question was "You find enter a room, and suddenly find your sister fully naked. What do you do(How do you react)? When one candidate was selected, the others protested to know what was so special about this answer that theirs was not found 'reasonable'? The answers by these 'others' were almost similar and on 'expected' lines... like, "I would close my eyes", "I would take off my shirt/coat and cover her", "I would leave the room " etc... But this 'selected' candidate's answer was surprising. He said "I would hug her, and give her a kiss"! The selectors justified this answer, explaining that they had not stipulated the sister's age. A two year old child looks charming in her birthday-suit, and it is not an 'unreasonable' thought, to think of giving her a loving hug and kiss!]. When we use our self-awareness to evolve beyond these basic urges like hunger, thirst, survival, self-preservation etc, we are less vulnerable to such 'unreasonable' thoughts, and we do not remain crude and primitive.
Best wishes.
It is these unreasonable thoughts that disturb us, till we helplessly tolerate it, get addicted over a period of time, and then it is too late to do something about it. Growing children find it embarrassing to seek help from elders around due to the very ‘classification’ (unreasonable is un-‘ask-able’ too!). Now, if they are to turn to their ‘close’ friends, this time, they really regret having kept those minority class of friends (honest, blunt, sincere and frank fault-finders) at a ‘convenient’ distance. The others, sailing in the same boat, would end up nurturing such unreasonable thoughts.
I attempted to look at a question seeking a way to handle these unreasonable thoughts.
To keep the answer brief, I broadly classified such thought processes in just two main categories. Interestingly, the second type seems just age-related, but not really so. If maturity happens at least with the aging process, may be it works. Otherwise, the mind by itself, happens to race towards that ‘second’ childhood with advanced aging, and so, on its way, also obviously traverses the ‘youthful’ urges too, on its way, now that aged people are usually classified as ‘elders’!
If the answer finds any appeal, then we can work towards a way to ‘train’ the youth and children into retaining an emotional balance, and then they would carry the ‘insulation’ wherever they go (it is not possible to insulate the situation and surroundings).
Psn(12th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100711195612AA4xUzN
How to forget an unreasonable thought?
I guess I might be a little obsessive over things...But sometimes I will have the most unreasonable thoughts come through my mind, and they will haunt me over and over. Sometimes I feel quite frustrated by these thoughts. I like to discuss the things on my mind, it usually makes them go away, but somethings are just so embarrassing and disturbing to me, that I really rather not discuss them out loud. I know its unreasonable and ridiculous really, but its just really bothering me that I would think up such a thing. So, if there is some way to get rid of it, please tell me. Otherwise I will eventually just have to discuss this with someone, and I don't want to do that. I don't know why I get like this sometimes.
35 minutes ago
- 4 days left to answer.
Additional Details
It seems like it might be OCD. I mean...I sometimes get caught up into the habit of washing my hands excessively. But I only do this when there is something pressing on my mind...I am going to talk about it though to someone. Its just going to sit there on my mind if I don't. Thanks everyone for your great advice. :)
My answer:
When we find our own thoughts to be 'unreasonable' there could be two main reasons.
1- Our desires and expectations do not match practical possibility of fulfilment. This is the most commonly found 'unreasonable-ness' in our thoughts. This gives rise to inner conflicts, and consequently persuades negative emotions like anger, hate, jealousy and fear to 'flourish'.
2. Our basic urges, instincts due to biological reasons, inherited reasons, genetic reasons, and such other reasons, when not handled properly seem to overpower our 'social-sense' or acceptable norms of the society, and they build up some kind of pressure seeking an outlet. If the emotional balance is lacking, the frequency of such outbursts is common. It is these urges that give rise to such 'unreasonable' thoughts. If these thoughts are not 'resolved' conclusively, they remain like an unexploded live bomb, vulnerable to take us by surprise at any time! Expert HR people actually find it easier to test the emotional balance by 'provoking' such latent thought processes. [for example, it seems in one of the IAS interviews(a very high-profile civil service job), a few candidates scored equal marks upto the final level. Ages even could not be used to decide 'seniority'. So, an additional round of testing was used with just one common question, to find out the best candidate. It so happned, that all these candidates were males. The question was "You find enter a room, and suddenly find your sister fully naked. What do you do(How do you react)? When one candidate was selected, the others protested to know what was so special about this answer that theirs was not found 'reasonable'? The answers by these 'others' were almost similar and on 'expected' lines... like, "I would close my eyes", "I would take off my shirt/coat and cover her", "I would leave the room " etc... But this 'selected' candidate's answer was surprising. He said "I would hug her, and give her a kiss"! The selectors justified this answer, explaining that they had not stipulated the sister's age. A two year old child looks charming in her birthday-suit, and it is not an 'unreasonable' thought, to think of giving her a loving hug and kiss!]. When we use our self-awareness to evolve beyond these basic urges like hunger, thirst, survival, self-preservation etc, we are less vulnerable to such 'unreasonable' thoughts, and we do not remain crude and primitive.
Best wishes.
Arterial question
Some people just ‘happen’ to keep away from art forms. There is no strict social norm that everybody ought to even appreciate some form of art. They need not even ‘tolerate’ it. This is one area where people seem to ‘agree-to-disagree’ by non-verbalized mutual consensus!
It is not a surprise therefore to find a question that seeks to find out the ‘worth’ of art in social life. By itself, art is the very life breath to its fans, worshippers etc. To people in ancient days, art was even an effective tool for spiritual upliftment, and like a sugar-coated pill, instead of those rigorous and arduous spiritual practices. But with some of our people who are simply not interested in any form of art, what is the ‘social’ value of art, is the question.
If the answer finds an acceptance and then some appeal, then may be, it might persuade those who are yet to be initiated into the intoxicant-drink called art, to have a sip, a taste of it, and then, it a sure way to bliss!
Regards,
Psn (12th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100711190232AALFOQB
How does art relate to our social life?
how does art relate to our social life?
My(relative) answer:
We can call it a social life only when there is an emotional bond of some sort between people. Art is when there is some harmony in the manifest form of an emotional creativity. Harmonic expressions of emotion find easy appeal to others and thus weaving a social fabric is easier with art. Once people are 'tuned' to each other through art, which itself being very harmonic, finds instant mass appeal, social togetherness is easier and faster.
It is not a surprise therefore to find a question that seeks to find out the ‘worth’ of art in social life. By itself, art is the very life breath to its fans, worshippers etc. To people in ancient days, art was even an effective tool for spiritual upliftment, and like a sugar-coated pill, instead of those rigorous and arduous spiritual practices. But with some of our people who are simply not interested in any form of art, what is the ‘social’ value of art, is the question.
If the answer finds an acceptance and then some appeal, then may be, it might persuade those who are yet to be initiated into the intoxicant-drink called art, to have a sip, a taste of it, and then, it a sure way to bliss!
Regards,
Psn (12th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100711190232AALFOQB
How does art relate to our social life?
how does art relate to our social life?
My(relative) answer:
We can call it a social life only when there is an emotional bond of some sort between people. Art is when there is some harmony in the manifest form of an emotional creativity. Harmonic expressions of emotion find easy appeal to others and thus weaving a social fabric is easier with art. Once people are 'tuned' to each other through art, which itself being very harmonic, finds instant mass appeal, social togetherness is easier and faster.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
A memorable middle-school experience!
In keeping with the theme of this blog, I felt that I need not hesitate to bring in here and then look at a simple question that I found on ‘Yahoo Answers’, which got deleted before I could post my answer. The question was good, so I thought I might as well share it here on my blog, with just my answer. If the link to the question were available, we would have had the opportunity to look at other answers as well. We draw inspiration from our teachers, in an ideal situation. There was a time, when every elder around looked upon oneself as a responsible teacher to all the kids around, and the parents found it reassuring when they could allow children to move freely around the neighborhood, and we did not feel being ‘watched’ by our own parents needlessly. Now that source of inspiration has dwindled somehow, and even school teachers find it difficult to play this role of inspirers/motivators etc.
This was the question:
What was your memorable middle school experience?
An answer to a q. I asked inspired me to ask this.So, what memory, if any, was most memorable to you?
My answer:
(Fortunately, this incident, is real, and was ‘live’ and true for me and my class mates then… It ‘lives’ in me even now!)
One day, our teacher decided to give us a precious lesson (not in the syllabus!).
We had that class 'monitor' who minds the class during the brief intervals when one teacher is to take over from the previous teacher of previous class-period. This monitor notes down the names of those who 'talk' (make noise), and the next teacher gives a mild punishment to those few (stand up on the bench for 10 minutes, don't do it again, etc). The chit of these names was rarely blank! This monitor was usually a person who had physical looks so that he cannot be intimidated by others 'outside' the class for writing down the names.
On this day, the teacher asked the class, "who is the weakest fellow among you, who can be intimidated by all others very easily". We all knew who that timid small guy was. The teacher too now knew when we all glanced in that direction. Then the teacher asked, if this (Master X) is going to be 'appointed' as a monitor, is he going to be successful? "No....." was our chorus reply! None of us are ever going to be afraid of him. Instead, his chit (list of names of talkative offenders) would always be blank, and the class would be noisiest ever, during those brief intervals. Then the teacher asked us, if we are 'willing' to try to make sure that this fellow becomes successful! This time, we are to take it as a challenge that if he fails, it is in fact 'we' who failed. We were made to realize, that we were powerful enough to decide that even a weak person can win, if only we decide upon it. We became excited, and decided to try it for just ONE day. We succeeded. No body 'talked'. So, we played a game, deciding not to commit a 'foul'. We in fact extended this experiment for a week, and we realized that we had learnt the power of
1)commitment, 2)Unity 3)voluntarily giving up of our ‘limited rights’ in favor acquiring a much greater privilege 4)"true" sense of democracy 5)Team spirit….. And many other such valuable concepts! (It is not that all of us looked at it so positively. There were a few, who perhaps learnt the concept of “king-maker”, and they would have even used it to play ‘politics’, later in their lives! Incidents by themselves are not really infallible, when we look at it as a source of inspiration. It is our own preparedness to look at it thus. Again, it is attitude that matters!)
I am sure, if my classmates might happen to read this story, they may re-live that wonderful experience, and the precious lesson we learnt, and would pay our deep respects to that wonderful teacher in our hearts yet again today, as we read this and remember him!
(Incidentally, this guy, our ‘weak-yet-successful-monitor-for a week’, was a close friend of mine, and had deep emotional bonds of ‘true-friendship’. I learnt from him, how significant a small ‘token’ of gratitude can be, at that tender age! It is yet an-other different story. I don’t know if I would have courage to narrate it, not because it is a big secret, but it looks too sacred for me!)
psn(10th July, 2010)
This was the question:
What was your memorable middle school experience?
An answer to a q. I asked inspired me to ask this.So, what memory, if any, was most memorable to you?
My answer:
(Fortunately, this incident, is real, and was ‘live’ and true for me and my class mates then… It ‘lives’ in me even now!)
One day, our teacher decided to give us a precious lesson (not in the syllabus!).
We had that class 'monitor' who minds the class during the brief intervals when one teacher is to take over from the previous teacher of previous class-period. This monitor notes down the names of those who 'talk' (make noise), and the next teacher gives a mild punishment to those few (stand up on the bench for 10 minutes, don't do it again, etc). The chit of these names was rarely blank! This monitor was usually a person who had physical looks so that he cannot be intimidated by others 'outside' the class for writing down the names.
On this day, the teacher asked the class, "who is the weakest fellow among you, who can be intimidated by all others very easily". We all knew who that timid small guy was. The teacher too now knew when we all glanced in that direction. Then the teacher asked, if this (Master X) is going to be 'appointed' as a monitor, is he going to be successful? "No....." was our chorus reply! None of us are ever going to be afraid of him. Instead, his chit (list of names of talkative offenders) would always be blank, and the class would be noisiest ever, during those brief intervals. Then the teacher asked us, if we are 'willing' to try to make sure that this fellow becomes successful! This time, we are to take it as a challenge that if he fails, it is in fact 'we' who failed. We were made to realize, that we were powerful enough to decide that even a weak person can win, if only we decide upon it. We became excited, and decided to try it for just ONE day. We succeeded. No body 'talked'. So, we played a game, deciding not to commit a 'foul'. We in fact extended this experiment for a week, and we realized that we had learnt the power of
1)commitment, 2)Unity 3)voluntarily giving up of our ‘limited rights’ in favor acquiring a much greater privilege 4)"true" sense of democracy 5)Team spirit….. And many other such valuable concepts! (It is not that all of us looked at it so positively. There were a few, who perhaps learnt the concept of “king-maker”, and they would have even used it to play ‘politics’, later in their lives! Incidents by themselves are not really infallible, when we look at it as a source of inspiration. It is our own preparedness to look at it thus. Again, it is attitude that matters!)
I am sure, if my classmates might happen to read this story, they may re-live that wonderful experience, and the precious lesson we learnt, and would pay our deep respects to that wonderful teacher in our hearts yet again today, as we read this and remember him!
(Incidentally, this guy, our ‘weak-yet-successful-monitor-for a week’, was a close friend of mine, and had deep emotional bonds of ‘true-friendship’. I learnt from him, how significant a small ‘token’ of gratitude can be, at that tender age! It is yet an-other different story. I don’t know if I would have courage to narrate it, not because it is a big secret, but it looks too sacred for me!)
psn(10th July, 2010)
Friday, July 09, 2010
Black Magic
Now, this is a fascinating topic.
A bit scary too, for those who feel ‘uncertain’ about those ‘mystic’ looking phenomenon!
I was wondering, if it is possible to keep an open mind, without blindly believing or even disbelieving in existence or efficacy of such negative arts.
When I tripped upon such a question, where the asker seemed to give the ‘benefit-of-doubt’ towards a possibility of threat from so called ‘black-magic’ (may be even out of a sense of abundant caution, saying to oneself, ‘why take chances’), I thought it is worth while to use this topic, to at least persuade the minds to evolve towards a ‘scientific-temper’ (at least one aspect of a scientific temper, the readiness to say “let me see”). As goes the saying, “Absence of proof is not proof of absence”!
It may look ironical, but spirituality demands a more stringent, sharp, alert kind of ‘scientific-temper’ than those required for the handling of physical sciences which are confined to time and space.
So, I have confined the answer, as much as possible, to permissible levels of abstractions that logic can afford.
Regards,
Psn (9th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100708042146AACEUBd
How do black magic work? Is there any permanent solution to get rid of, I mean any puja, havan etc.?
My answer:
When this kind of question comes up, surely there is some belief that there is 'black-magic'.
We have to depend on this 'belief' for a while at least, to look at a possible answer. Solution, after understanding the answer may not be within the reach right now. That is why people choose that 'black-magic'. It is nothing but a hidden way of fighting. There are problems with 'open-fight'.
Now, for black-magic to work, some subtle 'force' is necessary. Either a person becomes capable of such force, or engages some expert. The problem with accepting the existence of such force is that it is too subtle, and beyond reach of sensory level of perception. The confusion about why and how 'some' people believe, while others don't, is because, it does not work on every body. Why we do not feel electric shock when we wear rubber shoes, or stand on wood is easily understandable. But when such 'black-magic' does not work on somebody, and that somebody refuses to believe in existence of black magic itself, the other person is confused. We do not know why it does not work on some people. The insulation from such force is also not 'visible' like that force itself.
Once we can try to keep open a possibility of "may-be" there is such a subtle force, which can be directed upon somebody to do some hurt or damage, then, we know we need equal and opposite kind of force to counter it. This opposite force is also likely to be subtle (logically). That is why we look at the options of Puja, Havan etc. The effectiveness of the opposite force to neutralize this 'black-force' depends upon efficiency of puja, havan etc, and choosing the correct 'force-generating-device' (the right kind of puja etc)...
There is another way out. A bit tougher way. We become unavailable to any kind of negative force! To explain this, we may need a simple example. A force can act only when there is resistance, and a base. For electric force, we need that resistance (an appliance), and the neutral/earthing (the base). A simple example, try punching a loose cotton ball, hanging it by a thread. The cotton looks weak. But its strength is that it neither offers resistance nor a base for that punch to land. Try holding one of the cluster beans or any flexible and long beans like item, with just two tips of fingers at an end, dangling in the air, and use the other hand to hold a knife and slash the tip of the loose end of the bean(not the middle). Many attempts and lots of efforts would be required to cut it. Only scars will happen initially. Those who are not affected by such negative force are fortunate to be 'naturally' insulated (may be quite unawares), and thus they tend to 'disbelieve' in such force.
But please see, thoughts too are quite physical like those tangible material objects, though very subtle. Ask any teenager girl... she can 'feel' the staring glance at her back, without needing to turn back and look at the source of the glance. It is much easier to 'focus' the thought power from small distances or using 'related' objects. With practice, the 'range' of this 'missile' increases, and the capability too evolves better like that 'guided' missile. So, till we are able to become unavailable to such forces, we have to turn to some 'counter-devices'. Only an expert can do it after knowing symptoms, details, diagnosis etc. We have heard that spiritual people are able to remain unharmed by such 'black-magic'... that is how we become unavailable.
Best wishes.
A bit scary too, for those who feel ‘uncertain’ about those ‘mystic’ looking phenomenon!
I was wondering, if it is possible to keep an open mind, without blindly believing or even disbelieving in existence or efficacy of such negative arts.
When I tripped upon such a question, where the asker seemed to give the ‘benefit-of-doubt’ towards a possibility of threat from so called ‘black-magic’ (may be even out of a sense of abundant caution, saying to oneself, ‘why take chances’), I thought it is worth while to use this topic, to at least persuade the minds to evolve towards a ‘scientific-temper’ (at least one aspect of a scientific temper, the readiness to say “let me see”). As goes the saying, “Absence of proof is not proof of absence”!
It may look ironical, but spirituality demands a more stringent, sharp, alert kind of ‘scientific-temper’ than those required for the handling of physical sciences which are confined to time and space.
So, I have confined the answer, as much as possible, to permissible levels of abstractions that logic can afford.
Regards,
Psn (9th July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100708042146AACEUBd
How do black magic work? Is there any permanent solution to get rid of, I mean any puja, havan etc.?
My answer:
When this kind of question comes up, surely there is some belief that there is 'black-magic'.
We have to depend on this 'belief' for a while at least, to look at a possible answer. Solution, after understanding the answer may not be within the reach right now. That is why people choose that 'black-magic'. It is nothing but a hidden way of fighting. There are problems with 'open-fight'.
Now, for black-magic to work, some subtle 'force' is necessary. Either a person becomes capable of such force, or engages some expert. The problem with accepting the existence of such force is that it is too subtle, and beyond reach of sensory level of perception. The confusion about why and how 'some' people believe, while others don't, is because, it does not work on every body. Why we do not feel electric shock when we wear rubber shoes, or stand on wood is easily understandable. But when such 'black-magic' does not work on somebody, and that somebody refuses to believe in existence of black magic itself, the other person is confused. We do not know why it does not work on some people. The insulation from such force is also not 'visible' like that force itself.
Once we can try to keep open a possibility of "may-be" there is such a subtle force, which can be directed upon somebody to do some hurt or damage, then, we know we need equal and opposite kind of force to counter it. This opposite force is also likely to be subtle (logically). That is why we look at the options of Puja, Havan etc. The effectiveness of the opposite force to neutralize this 'black-force' depends upon efficiency of puja, havan etc, and choosing the correct 'force-generating-device' (the right kind of puja etc)...
There is another way out. A bit tougher way. We become unavailable to any kind of negative force! To explain this, we may need a simple example. A force can act only when there is resistance, and a base. For electric force, we need that resistance (an appliance), and the neutral/earthing (the base). A simple example, try punching a loose cotton ball, hanging it by a thread. The cotton looks weak. But its strength is that it neither offers resistance nor a base for that punch to land. Try holding one of the cluster beans or any flexible and long beans like item, with just two tips of fingers at an end, dangling in the air, and use the other hand to hold a knife and slash the tip of the loose end of the bean(not the middle). Many attempts and lots of efforts would be required to cut it. Only scars will happen initially. Those who are not affected by such negative force are fortunate to be 'naturally' insulated (may be quite unawares), and thus they tend to 'disbelieve' in such force.
But please see, thoughts too are quite physical like those tangible material objects, though very subtle. Ask any teenager girl... she can 'feel' the staring glance at her back, without needing to turn back and look at the source of the glance. It is much easier to 'focus' the thought power from small distances or using 'related' objects. With practice, the 'range' of this 'missile' increases, and the capability too evolves better like that 'guided' missile. So, till we are able to become unavailable to such forces, we have to turn to some 'counter-devices'. Only an expert can do it after knowing symptoms, details, diagnosis etc. We have heard that spiritual people are able to remain unharmed by such 'black-magic'... that is how we become unavailable.
Best wishes.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Flowery Worship!
Just because somebody agrees to what we say, it does not mean at all that it is correct.
I was ‘bogged down’ by an ancient saying “Pratyaksham kim pramanam” (or something to that effect in Sanskrit language, meaning ‘seeing is believing/proof’ or equivalent to that). But later, deeper levels of spiritual practices convinced me that perception levels can take us that far, where we can ‘see’ anything we like, at will! No point in trying to sell this idea any further.
But, this time, please see, the asker seems to adhere to a well-founded reasoning, tenable logic, and above all, an open mind, while asking a very practical question. Nature lovers, botanists, soldiers of ‘greenery movement’ etc would support him staunchly. At well maintained botanical gardens (like Ooty-hill station), money is spent to ensure that nobody plucks flowers recklessly. I admire the choice of words of the asker, and would like to encourage such equanimous mind, irrespective of whether we take a side in favour or opposition.
Any way, it so happens that much to my surprise, my answer did appeal, which gives me a ray of hope, that maybe a few others might be tempted to look at it as well.
Psn(2nd July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100701004325AARof9h
Is it right to pluck flowers from trees, in order to dedicate to the god?
In case of food, I believe that it is somehow the necessity as world cannot live without sufficient food however here, I am talking about flowers. Dead flower IS not the necessity. We can live happy with alive breathing flowers.The flowers are plucked from trees, in order to dedicate to the God in temples, mosques, gurudwaras, church etc. Flowers were alive and breathing, when they were on the trees. When they were plucked, they become dead and become deadbodies. Then those deadbodies of flowers were dedicated to God. After an hour I have seen those dead flowers flowing in the drains.. I believe that God is in each & every part of air. Therefore I feel that, When flowers were enjoying on the trees then also they were 100% dedicated to god, but were alive. After being plucked also they were dedicated to god, but dead. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
My reply:
The question is very valid.
If our 'experience' is limited to a 'feeling' that we are dedicating it to God, it may not be right.But, if we can experience the flower the same way that you have very correctly observed about food, then it is right. The problem is the difficulty in 'appreciating' the food-contents in the flowers too. The food part is quite tangible, and gross, compared to flower. The life in the flower, its energy, has to be imbibed, allowed to permeate into us. For that we have to evolve to first 'feel' the life, and energy in it.
(Even today, in that high-altitude place Tibet, very little vegetation happens, due to extreme cold. Native people depend on native doctors, who follow traditional methods of medicines. They train themselves quite intensely so as to be able to put their 'life-energy' which is quite subtle, into the very same few flowers, and give it to patients for most type of ailments. The skill lies in combining the type of their own energies, with the limited varieties of flowers that grow there, and managing to cure many varieties of ailments).
There have been instances where flowers placed at certain 'energy' places retain their life and freshness for abnormal duration of time.
What most people do is just to follow blindly an age old tradition. That is why even faded flowers are sometimes used for worship/dedication! There are a few experts who do certain 'processes' using flowers, holding them with designated finger-tips (postures, etc), and invoke energies through chantings (sound energy), and place them on copper-metalled-designs (form energy). The efficacy of such ancient practices are difficult to approve, accept or believe simply because we are yet to evolve beyond sensory levels of perception. We may attempt to look at such 'possibility' only due to one strong reason, that is, such practices have been there since hundreds of centuries! Maybe, there is something worth looking at, worth re-discovering, experientially at least!
(It would not be 'out-of-context' to also mention that medical world knows only "clinical-death", otherwise, the definite occurence of death(the correct definition of human death) remains still a mystery to science!)
I was ‘bogged down’ by an ancient saying “Pratyaksham kim pramanam” (or something to that effect in Sanskrit language, meaning ‘seeing is believing/proof’ or equivalent to that). But later, deeper levels of spiritual practices convinced me that perception levels can take us that far, where we can ‘see’ anything we like, at will! No point in trying to sell this idea any further.
But, this time, please see, the asker seems to adhere to a well-founded reasoning, tenable logic, and above all, an open mind, while asking a very practical question. Nature lovers, botanists, soldiers of ‘greenery movement’ etc would support him staunchly. At well maintained botanical gardens (like Ooty-hill station), money is spent to ensure that nobody plucks flowers recklessly. I admire the choice of words of the asker, and would like to encourage such equanimous mind, irrespective of whether we take a side in favour or opposition.
Any way, it so happens that much to my surprise, my answer did appeal, which gives me a ray of hope, that maybe a few others might be tempted to look at it as well.
Psn(2nd July, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100701004325AARof9h
Is it right to pluck flowers from trees, in order to dedicate to the god?
In case of food, I believe that it is somehow the necessity as world cannot live without sufficient food however here, I am talking about flowers. Dead flower IS not the necessity. We can live happy with alive breathing flowers.The flowers are plucked from trees, in order to dedicate to the God in temples, mosques, gurudwaras, church etc. Flowers were alive and breathing, when they were on the trees. When they were plucked, they become dead and become deadbodies. Then those deadbodies of flowers were dedicated to God. After an hour I have seen those dead flowers flowing in the drains.. I believe that God is in each & every part of air. Therefore I feel that, When flowers were enjoying on the trees then also they were 100% dedicated to god, but were alive. After being plucked also they were dedicated to god, but dead. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
My reply:
The question is very valid.
If our 'experience' is limited to a 'feeling' that we are dedicating it to God, it may not be right.But, if we can experience the flower the same way that you have very correctly observed about food, then it is right. The problem is the difficulty in 'appreciating' the food-contents in the flowers too. The food part is quite tangible, and gross, compared to flower. The life in the flower, its energy, has to be imbibed, allowed to permeate into us. For that we have to evolve to first 'feel' the life, and energy in it.
(Even today, in that high-altitude place Tibet, very little vegetation happens, due to extreme cold. Native people depend on native doctors, who follow traditional methods of medicines. They train themselves quite intensely so as to be able to put their 'life-energy' which is quite subtle, into the very same few flowers, and give it to patients for most type of ailments. The skill lies in combining the type of their own energies, with the limited varieties of flowers that grow there, and managing to cure many varieties of ailments).
There have been instances where flowers placed at certain 'energy' places retain their life and freshness for abnormal duration of time.
What most people do is just to follow blindly an age old tradition. That is why even faded flowers are sometimes used for worship/dedication! There are a few experts who do certain 'processes' using flowers, holding them with designated finger-tips (postures, etc), and invoke energies through chantings (sound energy), and place them on copper-metalled-designs (form energy). The efficacy of such ancient practices are difficult to approve, accept or believe simply because we are yet to evolve beyond sensory levels of perception. We may attempt to look at such 'possibility' only due to one strong reason, that is, such practices have been there since hundreds of centuries! Maybe, there is something worth looking at, worth re-discovering, experientially at least!
(It would not be 'out-of-context' to also mention that medical world knows only "clinical-death", otherwise, the definite occurence of death(the correct definition of human death) remains still a mystery to science!)
Monday, June 28, 2010
Yackety-Yak
Those who know me a bit closely would really try to avoid me when they do not have enough spare time or more aptly ‘cushion-time’. That is just because they are yet to learn as to ‘how to get rid of me’ after having collided with me inadvertently! The reasons for trying to get away are varied, fortunately. And the most unbelievable part is that I was a notoriously quiet person for the first half of my life!
Anyway, when somebody asks a question about how to get rid of being branded as a quiet person, I feel quite appropriate to provide a few of the ‘tricks of the trade’!
It would not be out of place to also remind ourselves, that it is worth looking at what kind of conversations do not cause any fatigue to us, and the other types that seems to cause a ‘traffic-jam’ in our heads, or some ‘can’t-stand-any-more-of-this’ type of talks. We seldom seem to be tired of ‘listening’ to our own ‘crap’ manufactured right inside our heads!
All this is going to shape our attitude some way or other.
There is a chain, which is wonderfully described by some great being thus:
Quote:
Watch out!
Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
Watch your words, they become your action.
Watch your actions, they become your habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character,
Watch your character, they become your destiny!
Unquote.
So, that was it. If possible please see if my reply seems to be helpful for that asker to convert into a talkative person. (And, for me, I would love to hear the ‘know-how’ for getting reconverted into that shy-quiet-person once again, before that eternally-silencing mechanism takes over!)
Regards,
Psn(28th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100628060132AAhQwZ4
How do I not be a quiet person anymore?
I'm known as a quiet person and I hate it. When I talk i want to be heard. I want to be the person revolved around the conversation. Please, just tell me what i need to do to be mentally and physically able to be talkative, not shy, and definitely not quiet. Thankyou soo much, you don't know how much this will mean if you give me a good answer. :D
My answer:
Well, that "when I talk i want to be heard" is the problematic area, which is perhaps why we have been talk-shy (not really shy).
Please try to look at the 'content-value' of most of the conversations. It is almost loud thinking. Try writing down every thought that occurs for next 2 minutes. It would take about 20 minutes to write down. Then we have a glimpse of what a mind can do! When we try to spell it out, some censoring is needed, to make it 'socially acceptable'. Some people have managed to 'switch on' certain 'topics' which are quite safe, acceptable, pleasant, and popular. The 'widgets' in the mind keeps updating those topics, and all that is needed is to access that file, and play the file, from memory, connecting it to the mouth-piece (our vocal cords!).
In your case, perhaps, you may be tuned to speaking only according to the need of the situation, more than the need to branded as a conversational-type(talkative) of person. Such people, when they try out to sincerely give relevant details in a long talk, in reply to a simple query find the listener not 'any more interested' after the few preliminary sentences (by which time, the asker of the query has discovered the 'brief' that he/she wanted to know 'what it is all about'), and is eager to jump to chase the next thought/query. Once we master the art of talking something of general interest, which does not mean much, which does not matter much if paid scant attention, then we would find eager listeners everywhere. Now, it does not matter even if the situation requires us to drop the conversation even in the middle of a sentence. But here the problem is, we have to sift conciously the people with whom we manage such 'filling-up-the-time-gap-talks' and serious meaningful talks. Otherwise, the relationships would fade too soon (the trust enjoyed hitherto might get diluted). Those people at "may I help you" counters give crisp, brief replies, which invariably seems to leave us only half-satisfied. This is because they are fed up with people leaving the counter half-heard, once their casual half-hearted, disinterested queries evoke the 'head-line-news' type of answers. The problem of the staff at such counters is that they are scared to give out details, fearing that treatment from askers, walking away hearing half of the sentence as if to say in return "please keep the rest of your reply in that trash can... I got what I wanted to know"... They become 'mechanical' and stoic in their attitude very soon.
All these details is to come closer to the clarity about how to become a successful talkative person. After some practice, it would be nice to spice the conversation with punch dialogues, laughter evoking bits in between to keep the other's attention rivetted at our talk. Salespersons who are stuck with slow moving products are quite good at it.That "I want to be heard" depends upon "how much of what I talk is going to be liked by the other". If we start narrating our woes, the other person cannot withstand a minute of conversation. But the other way round, just try listening to the others nagging problems for fifteen minutes, and the other would report you as a good conversationalist (though all that you uttered for these 15 minutes might be just "Hmmm... Hmmmm" !!
Best wishes.
Anyway, when somebody asks a question about how to get rid of being branded as a quiet person, I feel quite appropriate to provide a few of the ‘tricks of the trade’!
It would not be out of place to also remind ourselves, that it is worth looking at what kind of conversations do not cause any fatigue to us, and the other types that seems to cause a ‘traffic-jam’ in our heads, or some ‘can’t-stand-any-more-of-this’ type of talks. We seldom seem to be tired of ‘listening’ to our own ‘crap’ manufactured right inside our heads!
All this is going to shape our attitude some way or other.
There is a chain, which is wonderfully described by some great being thus:
Quote:
Watch out!
Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
Watch your words, they become your action.
Watch your actions, they become your habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character,
Watch your character, they become your destiny!
Unquote.
So, that was it. If possible please see if my reply seems to be helpful for that asker to convert into a talkative person. (And, for me, I would love to hear the ‘know-how’ for getting reconverted into that shy-quiet-person once again, before that eternally-silencing mechanism takes over!)
Regards,
Psn(28th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100628060132AAhQwZ4
How do I not be a quiet person anymore?
I'm known as a quiet person and I hate it. When I talk i want to be heard. I want to be the person revolved around the conversation. Please, just tell me what i need to do to be mentally and physically able to be talkative, not shy, and definitely not quiet. Thankyou soo much, you don't know how much this will mean if you give me a good answer. :D
My answer:
Well, that "when I talk i want to be heard" is the problematic area, which is perhaps why we have been talk-shy (not really shy).
Please try to look at the 'content-value' of most of the conversations. It is almost loud thinking. Try writing down every thought that occurs for next 2 minutes. It would take about 20 minutes to write down. Then we have a glimpse of what a mind can do! When we try to spell it out, some censoring is needed, to make it 'socially acceptable'. Some people have managed to 'switch on' certain 'topics' which are quite safe, acceptable, pleasant, and popular. The 'widgets' in the mind keeps updating those topics, and all that is needed is to access that file, and play the file, from memory, connecting it to the mouth-piece (our vocal cords!).
In your case, perhaps, you may be tuned to speaking only according to the need of the situation, more than the need to branded as a conversational-type(talkative) of person. Such people, when they try out to sincerely give relevant details in a long talk, in reply to a simple query find the listener not 'any more interested' after the few preliminary sentences (by which time, the asker of the query has discovered the 'brief' that he/she wanted to know 'what it is all about'), and is eager to jump to chase the next thought/query. Once we master the art of talking something of general interest, which does not mean much, which does not matter much if paid scant attention, then we would find eager listeners everywhere. Now, it does not matter even if the situation requires us to drop the conversation even in the middle of a sentence. But here the problem is, we have to sift conciously the people with whom we manage such 'filling-up-the-time-gap-talks' and serious meaningful talks. Otherwise, the relationships would fade too soon (the trust enjoyed hitherto might get diluted). Those people at "may I help you" counters give crisp, brief replies, which invariably seems to leave us only half-satisfied. This is because they are fed up with people leaving the counter half-heard, once their casual half-hearted, disinterested queries evoke the 'head-line-news' type of answers. The problem of the staff at such counters is that they are scared to give out details, fearing that treatment from askers, walking away hearing half of the sentence as if to say in return "please keep the rest of your reply in that trash can... I got what I wanted to know"... They become 'mechanical' and stoic in their attitude very soon.
All these details is to come closer to the clarity about how to become a successful talkative person. After some practice, it would be nice to spice the conversation with punch dialogues, laughter evoking bits in between to keep the other's attention rivetted at our talk. Salespersons who are stuck with slow moving products are quite good at it.That "I want to be heard" depends upon "how much of what I talk is going to be liked by the other". If we start narrating our woes, the other person cannot withstand a minute of conversation. But the other way round, just try listening to the others nagging problems for fifteen minutes, and the other would report you as a good conversationalist (though all that you uttered for these 15 minutes might be just "Hmmm... Hmmmm" !!
Best wishes.
Dead-Lee and crazy dream
We all know that one day it is "going" to every one of us. Death is the only certainty in this life.
And all that blah-blah-blah….
I spare you from the rest of routine things we heard enough number of times.
Somehow, I felt that it is a bit rare to find a person talking about a dream where he /she finds himself ‘dead’! That makes it a bit interesting and worth looking at.
It would be nice if you happen to find time to ‘think’ of ‘trying’ to prepare for a journey that is of a relatively longer distance. Usually, the longer the distance we travel, more the ‘preparation’ that we undertake.
Regards,
Psn(28th June, 2010)
The question:
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100627203633AA1o1xg
I had a dream about being dead... what would this mean?
recently, i had a dream that i was dead. i do not know how i died but i was dead. i came back onto earth and could see everyone and everything going on. it was as if i was there but no one could hear me, see me, ect. the whole dream i spent trying to get people to acknowledge me and it didnt work which frusterated me. at one point i wanted to attempt suicide but suddenly realized i was already dead. at the end of the dream i found a way to connect to people on earth and this was through a phone call. at last i was about to make a phone call to my dad but that is when the dream ended. crazy dream...does anyone know what this dream means or signifies?
My answer:
Well, there could be two possibilities.
One is the popular and common one. That it was just a dream. A concoction of all the ideas that we have in our memory, spilled out during a relaxed-sleep-state where 'undigested' thoughts get processed by the mind without a 'driver' in his seat to hold the steering. We just remember the scary or very pleasant moments of such dreams where emotions are felt deeper than the unbridled logic. Most psychologists would agree on this theory, but with better concepts and technical words, due to their deeper grasp of the "science".
The second one is a very rare possibility, and yet very much a close possibility. Too many things could have coincided 'favorably'!! Even grasping this possibility (its concept) is quite difficult, leave alone trying to accept it. It is the choice of words and narration (its innocence, in particular) that prompts/persuades a mention of this possibility. It is a case of 'sleep' in a bit deeper state of awareness, where the mind is withdrawn for a while, the sense organs withdrawn(as usual in deep sleep states), and yet the 'being' is quite alert and aware to 'watch' ("witness" is the word that comes closer to better description of 'watching' here) the self. There are meditative practices to reach this 'wakeful-sleep' states. The idea is not just to master yet another super-human capability to brag around. It is a great need for spiritual evolvement. It helps a person to retain awareness of one's own 'original' or rather 'natural' state (stripped of all attributes that we get stuck to with the materialistic possessions including body and body-oriented-traits). The narrative also seems to indicate that 'chance' occurrence of 'unique-self-awareness'(not just the normal "I" memory post dream), during the dream state. That is why there is that feeling of the dream being 'crazy'! Mystic looking things also seem 'crazy'. There is nothing much to do about it or to worry about it, unless the experience has impacted deep enough to nurture a 'thirst' into spirituality!. (Though the 'source' of this answer should not make any sense or significance to the reader, it is the experience of having gone through such meditative practices several times! Something utterly an eastern cultural heritage--Indian spiritual Tradition!).
Thanks for sharing this 'crazy-looking' experience. Best wishes.
And all that blah-blah-blah….
I spare you from the rest of routine things we heard enough number of times.
Somehow, I felt that it is a bit rare to find a person talking about a dream where he /she finds himself ‘dead’! That makes it a bit interesting and worth looking at.
It would be nice if you happen to find time to ‘think’ of ‘trying’ to prepare for a journey that is of a relatively longer distance. Usually, the longer the distance we travel, more the ‘preparation’ that we undertake.
Regards,
Psn(28th June, 2010)
The question:
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100627203633AA1o1xg
I had a dream about being dead... what would this mean?
recently, i had a dream that i was dead. i do not know how i died but i was dead. i came back onto earth and could see everyone and everything going on. it was as if i was there but no one could hear me, see me, ect. the whole dream i spent trying to get people to acknowledge me and it didnt work which frusterated me. at one point i wanted to attempt suicide but suddenly realized i was already dead. at the end of the dream i found a way to connect to people on earth and this was through a phone call. at last i was about to make a phone call to my dad but that is when the dream ended. crazy dream...does anyone know what this dream means or signifies?
My answer:
Well, there could be two possibilities.
One is the popular and common one. That it was just a dream. A concoction of all the ideas that we have in our memory, spilled out during a relaxed-sleep-state where 'undigested' thoughts get processed by the mind without a 'driver' in his seat to hold the steering. We just remember the scary or very pleasant moments of such dreams where emotions are felt deeper than the unbridled logic. Most psychologists would agree on this theory, but with better concepts and technical words, due to their deeper grasp of the "science".
The second one is a very rare possibility, and yet very much a close possibility. Too many things could have coincided 'favorably'!! Even grasping this possibility (its concept) is quite difficult, leave alone trying to accept it. It is the choice of words and narration (its innocence, in particular) that prompts/persuades a mention of this possibility. It is a case of 'sleep' in a bit deeper state of awareness, where the mind is withdrawn for a while, the sense organs withdrawn(as usual in deep sleep states), and yet the 'being' is quite alert and aware to 'watch' ("witness" is the word that comes closer to better description of 'watching' here) the self. There are meditative practices to reach this 'wakeful-sleep' states. The idea is not just to master yet another super-human capability to brag around. It is a great need for spiritual evolvement. It helps a person to retain awareness of one's own 'original' or rather 'natural' state (stripped of all attributes that we get stuck to with the materialistic possessions including body and body-oriented-traits). The narrative also seems to indicate that 'chance' occurrence of 'unique-self-awareness'(not just the normal "I" memory post dream), during the dream state. That is why there is that feeling of the dream being 'crazy'! Mystic looking things also seem 'crazy'. There is nothing much to do about it or to worry about it, unless the experience has impacted deep enough to nurture a 'thirst' into spirituality!. (Though the 'source' of this answer should not make any sense or significance to the reader, it is the experience of having gone through such meditative practices several times! Something utterly an eastern cultural heritage--Indian spiritual Tradition!).
Thanks for sharing this 'crazy-looking' experience. Best wishes.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Accountability Redefined
It actually calls for a celebration, when a question like this comes up! If it so happens that more of this kind of people happen, or if people shift towards (and retain) this attitude, then, politicians, lawyers, courts, judges, laws, enactments, tax enforcement agencies, investigation agencies, why…. even insurance people…….. all these would find themselves out of business! These are the professions which actually ‘thrive’ on our inability to look beyond ‘accountability-oriented-attitude’. (Please see, within a well-knit-large-family, though very few are there are any left by now, these parasitical functions are redundant. Everybody is adequately responsible!)
I request your kind attention to the question, more than anything else, and try to view it as our own quest (not just a question, or a casual-time-pass-faq’s), and then try to see how we rank or how we can rate ourselves, if this were to be our real experiential search-and-seek-question!
My answer is not worth a dime more than an attempt to ‘re-assure’ the asker that he / she is right on the track to something far more precious than the comforting thought that this is a right way of looking at things! So the emphasis is on ability to retain this question right into our on-going-basis-priorities. The askers ‘beautiful mind’ is clearly seen in the innocence of the choice of words!
Psn(27th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100626170413AAOSWOD
In some way or the other its always WE who are responsible for whatever that happens to us?
Even if others are responsible and even if its no fault of oursI mean, we always say and cite others as a reason for our mis-happenings but its still we who allowed them to be that reason even though we may be valid in holding them as culprits,even though its totally not our faultWhen others do something to us and even if we are right and they are wrong, its still we who allowed them to do whatever they did to us.For the moment I'm not saying that you have to be careful with people,not trust them at all and blame everything onto ourselves allowing people to get away,just saying accept whatever that comes to us as our own making ,in that way, you wont have regrets as whatever that happened to you was because of your decisions and you hold responsibility for it,also it reduces the level of hatred we are bound to have on others.You dont have to think "Oh,its because of him my life is in total jeopardy", instead you can think "Whatever it was, I allowed that person to make it this way,it was my decision,but it was based on what I felt at that moment and it was quite justified in doing that ,so lets have no regrets "That forgives myself as well as the person in questionWhat do you think?
My answer:
Yes!That is the way of looking at things positively.
It expands the scope for positive action.
It opens up the possibility to do something about anything!
It affords us to look at "responsibility" in a better way .. that is "Response-Ability" instead of the Traditional view of "accountability".
Progressing thus, on this track, or groove, sooner or later, we would realise that we do have the capability to 'prevail upon' and influence others to respond to all the situations with positive actions, instead of merely reacting, and thereby, obviate the need to disown the 'inability' about doing something for anything and everything around! The best part is, this attitude affords us the transformation, which allows us to experience at deep levels our strong inter-dependence with everything, everyone around! We then get over that 'divisive' choice, and more towards the ultimate freedom of choicelessness! Best wishes.
I request your kind attention to the question, more than anything else, and try to view it as our own quest (not just a question, or a casual-time-pass-faq’s), and then try to see how we rank or how we can rate ourselves, if this were to be our real experiential search-and-seek-question!
My answer is not worth a dime more than an attempt to ‘re-assure’ the asker that he / she is right on the track to something far more precious than the comforting thought that this is a right way of looking at things! So the emphasis is on ability to retain this question right into our on-going-basis-priorities. The askers ‘beautiful mind’ is clearly seen in the innocence of the choice of words!
Psn(27th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100626170413AAOSWOD
In some way or the other its always WE who are responsible for whatever that happens to us?
Even if others are responsible and even if its no fault of oursI mean, we always say and cite others as a reason for our mis-happenings but its still we who allowed them to be that reason even though we may be valid in holding them as culprits,even though its totally not our faultWhen others do something to us and even if we are right and they are wrong, its still we who allowed them to do whatever they did to us.For the moment I'm not saying that you have to be careful with people,not trust them at all and blame everything onto ourselves allowing people to get away,just saying accept whatever that comes to us as our own making ,in that way, you wont have regrets as whatever that happened to you was because of your decisions and you hold responsibility for it,also it reduces the level of hatred we are bound to have on others.You dont have to think "Oh,its because of him my life is in total jeopardy", instead you can think "Whatever it was, I allowed that person to make it this way,it was my decision,but it was based on what I felt at that moment and it was quite justified in doing that ,so lets have no regrets "That forgives myself as well as the person in questionWhat do you think?
My answer:
Yes!That is the way of looking at things positively.
It expands the scope for positive action.
It opens up the possibility to do something about anything!
It affords us to look at "responsibility" in a better way .. that is "Response-Ability" instead of the Traditional view of "accountability".
Progressing thus, on this track, or groove, sooner or later, we would realise that we do have the capability to 'prevail upon' and influence others to respond to all the situations with positive actions, instead of merely reacting, and thereby, obviate the need to disown the 'inability' about doing something for anything and everything around! The best part is, this attitude affords us the transformation, which allows us to experience at deep levels our strong inter-dependence with everything, everyone around! We then get over that 'divisive' choice, and more towards the ultimate freedom of choicelessness! Best wishes.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
The Knotty Naughty comparison
Even a casual announcement of the result of a neighborhood child (He came first in his class!), evokes a burst of protest from own child “Please don’t EVER compare me with others!”…. This is a ‘preemptive strike’.
“She is so beautiful…” invokes a retort “which means to indirectly point out that I am ugly”.
“He is a very efficient worker”…. “which means, my case is closed, for a pay hike/ request-transfer/ promotion/etc”.
We know how safe it is to preserve the lavish praises till the obituaries! Even a mother-in-law qualifies!
Even a remote similarity or a coincidental reference to anything that comes any where near a “comparison” sparks that intolerance within those people, who balance their emotion with a heavy load of ‘trust-deficit’. Yeah! That is the ‘catch-word’ now… ‘Trust-deficit’. As long as we are willing to succumb, the media would commercialize any emotion, and dump us into an abyss of emotional deficiency, we would notice it too late, being so well addicted to ‘deficit-financing’ at all levels, starting from small nuclei-family to Union of States!
Intolerance is just the other side of the coin that is not shown publicly quite often, but invariably ends up into jealousy.
What to do about this naughty problem of ‘comparison’ which makes it more knotty, whether we loosen it or whether we tighten it? Yes! We can’t do away with it too, the ‘comparison’. We feel great comfort, when the doctor says, “compared to yesterday, my patient, your dear close relative, is far better today, and I am quite confident now that I can save his life, and he would survive, and even become completely normal” (majority of the words are results of comparison—my patient, your dear/close, life-saved-not lost, normal-below-normal, etc.
It is so simple that we would not even reach home after work, if we fail to compare the image of the correct route from our memory, while we look out and choose the roads, the turns, the land-marks, on our way back (reminded of dementia, eh?). How miserable we feel, when a very close person fails to remember us, and respond, just because our face, voice, image, etc bears no resemblance to what is stored in that person’s memory due to the long gap of time! Even the stupid computer needs at least one common ‘comparable’ data field, to match and then co-relate the additional inputs to the ‘base’. So, our memory too has its data as a ‘base’ which is quite bas-ic to know anything further, knowledge is from ‘known-to-unknown’ a process of compare-contrast(At school, these ‘compare and contrast’ questions were quite easy and almost like a life saving drug to fetch some marks at least, when we fell short of our target-scores!).
It is the wrong comparison of priorities that lands us in needless deep trouble (Oh! Had I not insisted on yielding to that stupid itch for a cup of coffee, I would not have missed the last bus! Anyway that cup of coffee was insipid too!).
This ‘comparison’ is a weapon that fires both ways, and always. The solution is not a one-time-patch, but essentially the periodic and regular cleansing of ourselves of that negative emotion called jealousy (which can also be referred to by a more easily acceptable name, intolerance), on an ongoing basis. This would give us the freedom to liberally extend our trust to others, whereby they can choose to freely give their opinion, and then, we have the choice to see how their intelligence ‘compares’ with the requirement of the situation, about which they opine, and also how other relevancy-parameters compare with priorities of the situation, effortlessly superseding our own highly-subjective-oriented negative tendencies (polarizations, to be more precise).
With commendably comparable regards,
Psn(19th June, 2010)
“She is so beautiful…” invokes a retort “which means to indirectly point out that I am ugly”.
“He is a very efficient worker”…. “which means, my case is closed, for a pay hike/ request-transfer/ promotion/etc”.
We know how safe it is to preserve the lavish praises till the obituaries! Even a mother-in-law qualifies!
Even a remote similarity or a coincidental reference to anything that comes any where near a “comparison” sparks that intolerance within those people, who balance their emotion with a heavy load of ‘trust-deficit’. Yeah! That is the ‘catch-word’ now… ‘Trust-deficit’. As long as we are willing to succumb, the media would commercialize any emotion, and dump us into an abyss of emotional deficiency, we would notice it too late, being so well addicted to ‘deficit-financing’ at all levels, starting from small nuclei-family to Union of States!
Intolerance is just the other side of the coin that is not shown publicly quite often, but invariably ends up into jealousy.
What to do about this naughty problem of ‘comparison’ which makes it more knotty, whether we loosen it or whether we tighten it? Yes! We can’t do away with it too, the ‘comparison’. We feel great comfort, when the doctor says, “compared to yesterday, my patient, your dear close relative, is far better today, and I am quite confident now that I can save his life, and he would survive, and even become completely normal” (majority of the words are results of comparison—my patient, your dear/close, life-saved-not lost, normal-below-normal, etc.
It is so simple that we would not even reach home after work, if we fail to compare the image of the correct route from our memory, while we look out and choose the roads, the turns, the land-marks, on our way back (reminded of dementia, eh?). How miserable we feel, when a very close person fails to remember us, and respond, just because our face, voice, image, etc bears no resemblance to what is stored in that person’s memory due to the long gap of time! Even the stupid computer needs at least one common ‘comparable’ data field, to match and then co-relate the additional inputs to the ‘base’. So, our memory too has its data as a ‘base’ which is quite bas-ic to know anything further, knowledge is from ‘known-to-unknown’ a process of compare-contrast(At school, these ‘compare and contrast’ questions were quite easy and almost like a life saving drug to fetch some marks at least, when we fell short of our target-scores!).
It is the wrong comparison of priorities that lands us in needless deep trouble (Oh! Had I not insisted on yielding to that stupid itch for a cup of coffee, I would not have missed the last bus! Anyway that cup of coffee was insipid too!).
This ‘comparison’ is a weapon that fires both ways, and always. The solution is not a one-time-patch, but essentially the periodic and regular cleansing of ourselves of that negative emotion called jealousy (which can also be referred to by a more easily acceptable name, intolerance), on an ongoing basis. This would give us the freedom to liberally extend our trust to others, whereby they can choose to freely give their opinion, and then, we have the choice to see how their intelligence ‘compares’ with the requirement of the situation, about which they opine, and also how other relevancy-parameters compare with priorities of the situation, effortlessly superseding our own highly-subjective-oriented negative tendencies (polarizations, to be more precise).
With commendably comparable regards,
Psn(19th June, 2010)
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Most prized question
Yes, at least once in a while, I feel entitled to ‘honor’ a question, for the sake of that reward of joy that comes from the very act of honoring! (We feel fortunate that we are ‘capable’ of acknowledging something great! When that happens, we can mumble ‘wah wah’ even within ourselves, to avoid complications of others overhearing it, and insisting on ‘explanations’).
As I mentioned in my answer itself, I really did not expect ‘this’ question so soon, though the turn of the minds of the present youth seemed to be heading towards something like this. Having answered, I gave in to my curiosity and looked at the profile of the asker from the link given and it reassured me, now. Had I looked at the profile first, I would not have attempted to answer, knowing well that I do not merit the eligibility to trample on the sacred space of answers, for questions from such great personalities! Usually, such questions are asked on behalf of others, not for oneself. When a person is bogged down by this question, he /she cannot even bring oneself to ‘pronounce’ it! It is the compassionate master, the guide, who ‘senses’ such questions, and provides not just the answers, but even the guiding techniques!
This post does not seek anything more. It feels like a complete reward in itself!
Rewarding regards,
Psn(17th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100616160958AAZLRDX
How to solve the puzzle of "Enlightenment"?
How to get rid from the "desire for enlightenment" which is the greatest barrier in attaining Enlightenment?It is one of the eternal question for the seekers of truth. On the one hand the mind go on saying, "Attain enlightenment," and on the other hand soul go on saying, "Don't desire it."? What to do? How to solve this Mystery?God Bless
Additional Details
Answer from a Mystic Perspective.
My humble submission:
The choice of words reminds me of the very 'opening' sentences of the most ancient and most acknowledged work on mysticism/spirituality, that leads to enlightenment, written by a great Master, "Patanjali"! Many consider it a very strange way to begin a book! It starts thus :...... " AND NOW, yoga....." !!!!
The person for whom the time is ripe enough would not feel it to be a strange beginning at all! In fact he would "melt" due to a 'feeling of trust' surging from within, like never before, out of some sense of reassurance that "this master had been waiting to deliver this text into my hand, at the right time, all the time, and so has been following me, in an invisible manner, never forsaking me! I can 'see' that this opening sentences refer to my entire past effort, and now onwards, it is going to lead me, holding my hands thus! ''!
The very next few sentences answers this puzzle! (How to rid from the desire for .....)!!
The mind has to consciously quieten (this desire can be no where else except in the mind!). Till the mind is quiet, there can be no unfolding of that 'attainment'. There is one form of meditation practiced since ancient times. It is the simplest, and unfortunately the toughest too. Various other practices would 'assist' a person to set the conditions better for this meditation to happen better. This meditation enhances our capability to allow the mind to quieten of its own. Now, this can happen in stray, rare, and fortunate cases 'by itself' too. That accounts for 'chance-enlightenments' and even those 'crude-method-looking incidents we hear of from stories about Zen masters'!
(Despite the feeling that it looks preposterous for 'me' to mention anything like this, the temptation is equally great, which gives way, and persuades me to add here that, I never expected such a question to come up so soon on Yahoo Answers! This very question adds that bit of precious 'mystic sanctity' to the forum, if I am permitted to say so! It would be wonderful to find far better people answering this, with the much needed embellishment to the language to adorn the reply with enough overdose of salt, to make the readers thirsty-like-never-before, to now seek nothing else more!)
As I mentioned in my answer itself, I really did not expect ‘this’ question so soon, though the turn of the minds of the present youth seemed to be heading towards something like this. Having answered, I gave in to my curiosity and looked at the profile of the asker from the link given and it reassured me, now. Had I looked at the profile first, I would not have attempted to answer, knowing well that I do not merit the eligibility to trample on the sacred space of answers, for questions from such great personalities! Usually, such questions are asked on behalf of others, not for oneself. When a person is bogged down by this question, he /she cannot even bring oneself to ‘pronounce’ it! It is the compassionate master, the guide, who ‘senses’ such questions, and provides not just the answers, but even the guiding techniques!
This post does not seek anything more. It feels like a complete reward in itself!
Rewarding regards,
Psn(17th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100616160958AAZLRDX
How to solve the puzzle of "Enlightenment"?
How to get rid from the "desire for enlightenment" which is the greatest barrier in attaining Enlightenment?It is one of the eternal question for the seekers of truth. On the one hand the mind go on saying, "Attain enlightenment," and on the other hand soul go on saying, "Don't desire it."? What to do? How to solve this Mystery?God Bless
Additional Details
Answer from a Mystic Perspective.
My humble submission:
The choice of words reminds me of the very 'opening' sentences of the most ancient and most acknowledged work on mysticism/spirituality, that leads to enlightenment, written by a great Master, "Patanjali"! Many consider it a very strange way to begin a book! It starts thus :...... " AND NOW, yoga....." !!!!
The person for whom the time is ripe enough would not feel it to be a strange beginning at all! In fact he would "melt" due to a 'feeling of trust' surging from within, like never before, out of some sense of reassurance that "this master had been waiting to deliver this text into my hand, at the right time, all the time, and so has been following me, in an invisible manner, never forsaking me! I can 'see' that this opening sentences refer to my entire past effort, and now onwards, it is going to lead me, holding my hands thus! ''!
The very next few sentences answers this puzzle! (How to rid from the desire for .....)!!
The mind has to consciously quieten (this desire can be no where else except in the mind!). Till the mind is quiet, there can be no unfolding of that 'attainment'. There is one form of meditation practiced since ancient times. It is the simplest, and unfortunately the toughest too. Various other practices would 'assist' a person to set the conditions better for this meditation to happen better. This meditation enhances our capability to allow the mind to quieten of its own. Now, this can happen in stray, rare, and fortunate cases 'by itself' too. That accounts for 'chance-enlightenments' and even those 'crude-method-looking incidents we hear of from stories about Zen masters'!
(Despite the feeling that it looks preposterous for 'me' to mention anything like this, the temptation is equally great, which gives way, and persuades me to add here that, I never expected such a question to come up so soon on Yahoo Answers! This very question adds that bit of precious 'mystic sanctity' to the forum, if I am permitted to say so! It would be wonderful to find far better people answering this, with the much needed embellishment to the language to adorn the reply with enough overdose of salt, to make the readers thirsty-like-never-before, to now seek nothing else more!)
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Bugs
I know, those who know me, are going to raise their eye-brows, looking at this title (not this, from an illiterate, they would say!) . Where as about 7 decades ago, people around would eagerly read further looking out for, to keep handy, yet another possible trick to keep those bed-bugs away from their homes.
I would not have even collided into this question, had it been asked under a sub-category ‘computers’. But when somebody perhaps chose to look at the philosophical aspect of the chaos caused by bugs in a software program, I could not contain the ‘cashew-nut’ tendency that is within me too! (That nut was in a great hurry to pop out, so it had to stay on the outside of the fruit!).
All these gadget that we have been discovering, improvising, innovating, and inventing are to sophisticate our basic actions, our basic functions like mobility (walking), seeing, hearing, talking, carrying loads, fighting, defending, preserving, etc. External improvements just sophisticate essentially, and do very little to improve the ‘quality’ of life. With simple weapons, we defend ourselves from or ‘eliminate’ just a few people face-to-face. With sophistication, we remotely ‘destroy’ (not just eliminate) a whole lot! The tendency is still the same. The sophistication in handling finances can plunder the economy globally (recession).
It is the ‘chaos’ created by ‘large-scale-effect’ of such sophistications that the asker wanted to point out and then ask ‘why’.
That is why, the ‘monkey-mind’ has to first evolve, otherwise, handing over a beautiful flower garland into the hands of a monkey would only result in crushing those beautifully woven garland of flowers! (With some experience, developed super-powers are hesitant about ‘technology-transfer’. But, with political chaos, the monkey-minds within there too, the sanctity of such hesitation gets diverted elsewhere, like that diversion of the sanctity of efforts for controlling pollution getting diluted into trading of pollution-entitlements!).
The wisdom in the ancients is perhaps in their ability to restrict all the sophistication to within themselves (their physical being, instead of materials around), and yet not lacking anything! We are yet to catch up with their level of handling material aspects of life, with all our sophistications! Evidence is there, when they could record the distances to those planets with fair accuracy, without scientific instruments of modern day. They gave the concept of mathematics, (including the precious ‘zero’), with adequate warning, not to stay stuck to decimal system, which is just a matter of convenience for ‘reading’ (like those monitor display of visuals) where as, for computing and processing, any smaller base, starting with binary is better (those ‘vinculum’ formulas are evidences).
Anyway, I made the answer concise to the extent, my own sophistication at brevity allows, and postponed and relocated the ‘scratching of the itches here and there’ to this post!
Psn(16th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100615170704AAcT7d2
Is software development chaotic ?
One developer will improve some software containing 2^N bugs, so that there are few or no bugs remaining. The software is then released.Another developer attempts to "improve" the software containing few bugs, but the number of bugs doubles at each of their "improvement" attempts. The software finished with 2^M bugs.The software is then released on unsuspecting users.So the quality of the released software is wildly fluctuating.
My reply:
Please try to look at the 'nature' of computers or that computing capability, and what it is designed 'after'....
We designed a wheel, a bullock cart, a bicycle and then automobiles, airplanes, spacecraft. It is transportation, starting with just our legs.
Medicine is about tampering expertly with our physical well being, to suit our 'luxury' to drift away with 'natural' way of living (people who adhere to the way we are designed to live, need less of medical help, stay away from hospitals. Others, fix bugs with medicines, which sometimes cures, and sometimes, gives scope for yet another set of bugs, we call as medical side-effects, fall outs, complications.)
Electricity was about lighting, heating, cooking etc initially.
Phones were about hearing even from a distance.
Movies, photos, cameras were about preserving images to re-live those visuals at a leisure, once again.
When we attempted to 'improve' our memory using gadgets, then it is "Enter the Dragon" called computers. From just memory machines, we started 'processing those memories'. We replicate our mind. So all the chaos that we carry is simply transferred into the software, aware or unawares. The design of the software almost reflects the mind of the design-engineer. The grasp of the concepts simply get reflected into the software. A teenager asked to buy vegetables, sent for it with a bag and some money, could get stuck at a way-side conjurer (performing small tricks like magic for a living), and forget the main purpose of buying vegetables. If this kid has a mobile, 'patches' are possible from remote (by mother at home, calling him with miss-calls), to put him back on track.
When we disturb a group of ants, proceeding in a line, for some time, those poor things go criss-cross, appearing chaotic, and then get back to their task in a line. We keep criss-crossing all the time, any time, and go in a line only occasionally (that is the difference, when we retain the choice, the source of this choice being, self-awareness-capability!)
(A joke, if fatigued by this long answer: A mom, cleverly designs her kid, a software, teaching the kid to say "I want to sing" instead of 'want to urinate', to avoid embarrassment in public. Later, the father, the end-user of this program, faces the brunt, when the kid insists in the middle of the night that he wants to sing loudly NOW! The unsuspecting father types the command line 'kid, please sing slowly into my ears, since eveybody around is asleep'. The mom, the software-designer, was away to her parents place, to be able to fix the bug 'on time'!)
I would not have even collided into this question, had it been asked under a sub-category ‘computers’. But when somebody perhaps chose to look at the philosophical aspect of the chaos caused by bugs in a software program, I could not contain the ‘cashew-nut’ tendency that is within me too! (That nut was in a great hurry to pop out, so it had to stay on the outside of the fruit!).
All these gadget that we have been discovering, improvising, innovating, and inventing are to sophisticate our basic actions, our basic functions like mobility (walking), seeing, hearing, talking, carrying loads, fighting, defending, preserving, etc. External improvements just sophisticate essentially, and do very little to improve the ‘quality’ of life. With simple weapons, we defend ourselves from or ‘eliminate’ just a few people face-to-face. With sophistication, we remotely ‘destroy’ (not just eliminate) a whole lot! The tendency is still the same. The sophistication in handling finances can plunder the economy globally (recession).
It is the ‘chaos’ created by ‘large-scale-effect’ of such sophistications that the asker wanted to point out and then ask ‘why’.
That is why, the ‘monkey-mind’ has to first evolve, otherwise, handing over a beautiful flower garland into the hands of a monkey would only result in crushing those beautifully woven garland of flowers! (With some experience, developed super-powers are hesitant about ‘technology-transfer’. But, with political chaos, the monkey-minds within there too, the sanctity of such hesitation gets diverted elsewhere, like that diversion of the sanctity of efforts for controlling pollution getting diluted into trading of pollution-entitlements!).
The wisdom in the ancients is perhaps in their ability to restrict all the sophistication to within themselves (their physical being, instead of materials around), and yet not lacking anything! We are yet to catch up with their level of handling material aspects of life, with all our sophistications! Evidence is there, when they could record the distances to those planets with fair accuracy, without scientific instruments of modern day. They gave the concept of mathematics, (including the precious ‘zero’), with adequate warning, not to stay stuck to decimal system, which is just a matter of convenience for ‘reading’ (like those monitor display of visuals) where as, for computing and processing, any smaller base, starting with binary is better (those ‘vinculum’ formulas are evidences).
Anyway, I made the answer concise to the extent, my own sophistication at brevity allows, and postponed and relocated the ‘scratching of the itches here and there’ to this post!
Psn(16th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100615170704AAcT7d2
Is software development chaotic ?
One developer will improve some software containing 2^N bugs, so that there are few or no bugs remaining. The software is then released.Another developer attempts to "improve" the software containing few bugs, but the number of bugs doubles at each of their "improvement" attempts. The software finished with 2^M bugs.The software is then released on unsuspecting users.So the quality of the released software is wildly fluctuating.
My reply:
Please try to look at the 'nature' of computers or that computing capability, and what it is designed 'after'....
We designed a wheel, a bullock cart, a bicycle and then automobiles, airplanes, spacecraft. It is transportation, starting with just our legs.
Medicine is about tampering expertly with our physical well being, to suit our 'luxury' to drift away with 'natural' way of living (people who adhere to the way we are designed to live, need less of medical help, stay away from hospitals. Others, fix bugs with medicines, which sometimes cures, and sometimes, gives scope for yet another set of bugs, we call as medical side-effects, fall outs, complications.)
Electricity was about lighting, heating, cooking etc initially.
Phones were about hearing even from a distance.
Movies, photos, cameras were about preserving images to re-live those visuals at a leisure, once again.
When we attempted to 'improve' our memory using gadgets, then it is "Enter the Dragon" called computers. From just memory machines, we started 'processing those memories'. We replicate our mind. So all the chaos that we carry is simply transferred into the software, aware or unawares. The design of the software almost reflects the mind of the design-engineer. The grasp of the concepts simply get reflected into the software. A teenager asked to buy vegetables, sent for it with a bag and some money, could get stuck at a way-side conjurer (performing small tricks like magic for a living), and forget the main purpose of buying vegetables. If this kid has a mobile, 'patches' are possible from remote (by mother at home, calling him with miss-calls), to put him back on track.
When we disturb a group of ants, proceeding in a line, for some time, those poor things go criss-cross, appearing chaotic, and then get back to their task in a line. We keep criss-crossing all the time, any time, and go in a line only occasionally (that is the difference, when we retain the choice, the source of this choice being, self-awareness-capability!)
(A joke, if fatigued by this long answer: A mom, cleverly designs her kid, a software, teaching the kid to say "I want to sing" instead of 'want to urinate', to avoid embarrassment in public. Later, the father, the end-user of this program, faces the brunt, when the kid insists in the middle of the night that he wants to sing loudly NOW! The unsuspecting father types the command line 'kid, please sing slowly into my ears, since eveybody around is asleep'. The mom, the software-designer, was away to her parents place, to be able to fix the bug 'on time'!)
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
The woodcutter’s axe begged for its handle from the tree. The tree gave it.
Our school Principal, our “Brother”, used to take some subject once in a way at least, to have a feel of how receptive the students of a particular class are.
And then, if some student is caught, being up to some mischief, he used to ask the very same fellow to walk up to “Principal’s room”, to fetch the ‘cane’, to receive the ‘caning’ as a punishment.
I gave an answer to a question, which obviously is not what the asker was looking for.
So, I do deserve to be ‘caned’ for this. Here, I by myself, am placing before you my answer, to enable you to proceed with the spanking.
(The title, is simply copied. It is also obvious, I am never going to be capable of writing so well. It is from Gurudev’s ‘Stray Birds)
Regards,
Psn
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100614195923AA31KWs
Who is your role model or inspiration? Why?
My answer:
Role model--no. No body. I never looked at rolling up myself to fit into somebody-like-image. It simply didn't occur.
Inspiration--yes. Almost everything around seems to inspire. That ant working incessantly, carrying a load many-times than its own weight. And then this huge, vast, large universe. For millions of years it travels at tremendous speed, with such huge mass, and with such precision! A little swerve from its track by any planet or star, would send the rest of them into collusion with each other, like some car skips its lane and hits another, yet another, and then all the rest get thrown off their track into collusion! If such a huge universe fails to inspire us, may be we need to correct our vision!
(Oh! sorry, Looks like, now, I am a bit off track! Choosing a role model FOR inspiration seems to limit us to that model itself, inadvertently, perhaps even borrowing that model's limitations too!)
And then, if some student is caught, being up to some mischief, he used to ask the very same fellow to walk up to “Principal’s room”, to fetch the ‘cane’, to receive the ‘caning’ as a punishment.
I gave an answer to a question, which obviously is not what the asker was looking for.
So, I do deserve to be ‘caned’ for this. Here, I by myself, am placing before you my answer, to enable you to proceed with the spanking.
(The title, is simply copied. It is also obvious, I am never going to be capable of writing so well. It is from Gurudev’s ‘Stray Birds)
Regards,
Psn
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100614195923AA31KWs
Who is your role model or inspiration? Why?
My answer:
Role model--no. No body. I never looked at rolling up myself to fit into somebody-like-image. It simply didn't occur.
Inspiration--yes. Almost everything around seems to inspire. That ant working incessantly, carrying a load many-times than its own weight. And then this huge, vast, large universe. For millions of years it travels at tremendous speed, with such huge mass, and with such precision! A little swerve from its track by any planet or star, would send the rest of them into collusion with each other, like some car skips its lane and hits another, yet another, and then all the rest get thrown off their track into collusion! If such a huge universe fails to inspire us, may be we need to correct our vision!
(Oh! sorry, Looks like, now, I am a bit off track! Choosing a role model FOR inspiration seems to limit us to that model itself, inadvertently, perhaps even borrowing that model's limitations too!)
Emotional Recession
A child holds tight in its fist that single remaining chocolate, refusing to part with it. Elders around try to plead ‘please give me a small bit’ and the child shakes its head vigorously to convey refusal emphatically, and unambiguously. We smile at the child, and we also look quite ‘wise’, since we know why this child is not ready to ‘let go’ or even share its prized possession. What happens to this wisdom of ours, when we find our bosses holding back the wage increase from us, a reasonable share of profits for which our contribution was proportionately significant? This Boss is no child, not-so-innocent, and we are not ‘elders’ any more than that monstrous boss!
The recent global recession has left behind a legacy, which will stay for some time, unless we consciously choose to get rid of it. A deep feeling of distrust.
When it comes to pruning staff strength, some doubts occur. Whether “this” fellow should go out first or “that” fellow? It is the fellow with high scores in distrust, who wins the way out, first. Why, some people even trust themselves a bit less, when it comes to need for curtailing ‘routine’ expenses as a result of recession (low salary, low income, no income, etc), and delegate the ‘purchase’ of not-so-basic-need items to a better prudent person at home. Those who had hitherto never compromised their dignity, and chose to dine at an expensive restaurant for lunch, now prefer that packed economical pre-fabricated low cost lunch. Why take chances with our own emotions… any temptation to order for another tasty side dish would create a hole in the purse.
Emotional strength weakens. That is the serious after effect of economic recession. In the west, divorce rate has slightly increased. Basically it is that trust that weakens. That is why gold prices have soared. Even currency takes the brunt of distrust. Investment portfolios are chosen with some distrust. For no reason, those innocent people at home also have to bear the brunt of spill-over of emotions carried over to within the homes. We feel like yelling ‘will someone show me where the switch is located, to switch-off that distrust-button at least while at home?”
It is only when we are pushed thus, deep into such helplessness, that we turn to look at what really went wrong with our emotions. Why spill over of economic-recession, into our emotions? It is time, to learn to consciously separate our emotions from material aspects of life, separate it from ‘conditioned-mind’. It cannot be always ‘productivity-linked’. It is the other way too. Productivity can also be a consequence of emotional strength, motivation, inspiration, etc.
Somebody asked, quite aptly, saying ‘how to deal with negative people (negativity in people)’.
With Positive regards,
Psn(15th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100614172154AAdkdOa
How to deal with negative people in everyday life, I am not used to this and why me?
I have had to make do with a "not soo good job" as of a reccession and not getting the job I aspired to do for five years and this goal made me happy...so a bit down anyhow...But in this temporary dead - end job for 1 year...people are obv unhappy with themselves and discreetly bully me and knock my self- esteem and this can't be proven, especially when it's most people in there. I feel it may be as if they are aware of my prospects and the kind of person I am including the opportunity I have available. Sometimes I feel it would be better if they did not know, but when they ask me I can't exactly lie!How do I deal with this, it hasn't worked standing up for myself with them, as now it's worse they know I am aware of what they are doing and I don't ant to tell the manager, as it's a lot of stress upon me, him and most of his employees...I know I wont be there forever and I have a life of my own, but when I'm there I at times can dislike it so much..What to do?
My answer:
After the recession, most people get only those 'not-so-good-job'.
The capacity to hire comes down. So over qualified people are given lesser jobs. The result is lesser job-satisfaction, and pay-satisfaction. If workers remain stuck to this negative feature (though inevitable), it would start a vicious circle of distrust, and it is we who give the needless momentum to it. All we have to do is to reverse the cycle, instead of blaming the wheel itself.
We have to just 'accept' what is inevitable, and start performing well where it does not really cost us much. A smile does not cost anything at all. Focusing on the job itself does not cost anything at all. Most importantly, we get paid, and we still have some job. We have to allow the genuine feeling of gratitude for this to grow within, and our body language would 'speak' by itself, through our gestures. Initially people around (manager no exception, as well), would look at it with a bit of suspicion, but over a period of time, they will have to accept our acceptance positively. Sudden recession brings in that caution, where people even distrust their own ability to spend prudently and that is why even consumer items show less/low sales-figure. Please look at this distrust with some love. It is difficult to look at it thus. But please see, with just one chocolate, even a baby kid doesn't trust close, known people. They don' let go this chocolate from their 'firm' gripped fist! Human nature. We have to evolve and help others to evolve by lending/extending that unconditional love.
The recent global recession has left behind a legacy, which will stay for some time, unless we consciously choose to get rid of it. A deep feeling of distrust.
When it comes to pruning staff strength, some doubts occur. Whether “this” fellow should go out first or “that” fellow? It is the fellow with high scores in distrust, who wins the way out, first. Why, some people even trust themselves a bit less, when it comes to need for curtailing ‘routine’ expenses as a result of recession (low salary, low income, no income, etc), and delegate the ‘purchase’ of not-so-basic-need items to a better prudent person at home. Those who had hitherto never compromised their dignity, and chose to dine at an expensive restaurant for lunch, now prefer that packed economical pre-fabricated low cost lunch. Why take chances with our own emotions… any temptation to order for another tasty side dish would create a hole in the purse.
Emotional strength weakens. That is the serious after effect of economic recession. In the west, divorce rate has slightly increased. Basically it is that trust that weakens. That is why gold prices have soared. Even currency takes the brunt of distrust. Investment portfolios are chosen with some distrust. For no reason, those innocent people at home also have to bear the brunt of spill-over of emotions carried over to within the homes. We feel like yelling ‘will someone show me where the switch is located, to switch-off that distrust-button at least while at home?”
It is only when we are pushed thus, deep into such helplessness, that we turn to look at what really went wrong with our emotions. Why spill over of economic-recession, into our emotions? It is time, to learn to consciously separate our emotions from material aspects of life, separate it from ‘conditioned-mind’. It cannot be always ‘productivity-linked’. It is the other way too. Productivity can also be a consequence of emotional strength, motivation, inspiration, etc.
Somebody asked, quite aptly, saying ‘how to deal with negative people (negativity in people)’.
With Positive regards,
Psn(15th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100614172154AAdkdOa
How to deal with negative people in everyday life, I am not used to this and why me?
I have had to make do with a "not soo good job" as of a reccession and not getting the job I aspired to do for five years and this goal made me happy...so a bit down anyhow...But in this temporary dead - end job for 1 year...people are obv unhappy with themselves and discreetly bully me and knock my self- esteem and this can't be proven, especially when it's most people in there. I feel it may be as if they are aware of my prospects and the kind of person I am including the opportunity I have available. Sometimes I feel it would be better if they did not know, but when they ask me I can't exactly lie!How do I deal with this, it hasn't worked standing up for myself with them, as now it's worse they know I am aware of what they are doing and I don't ant to tell the manager, as it's a lot of stress upon me, him and most of his employees...I know I wont be there forever and I have a life of my own, but when I'm there I at times can dislike it so much..What to do?
My answer:
After the recession, most people get only those 'not-so-good-job'.
The capacity to hire comes down. So over qualified people are given lesser jobs. The result is lesser job-satisfaction, and pay-satisfaction. If workers remain stuck to this negative feature (though inevitable), it would start a vicious circle of distrust, and it is we who give the needless momentum to it. All we have to do is to reverse the cycle, instead of blaming the wheel itself.
We have to just 'accept' what is inevitable, and start performing well where it does not really cost us much. A smile does not cost anything at all. Focusing on the job itself does not cost anything at all. Most importantly, we get paid, and we still have some job. We have to allow the genuine feeling of gratitude for this to grow within, and our body language would 'speak' by itself, through our gestures. Initially people around (manager no exception, as well), would look at it with a bit of suspicion, but over a period of time, they will have to accept our acceptance positively. Sudden recession brings in that caution, where people even distrust their own ability to spend prudently and that is why even consumer items show less/low sales-figure. Please look at this distrust with some love. It is difficult to look at it thus. But please see, with just one chocolate, even a baby kid doesn't trust close, known people. They don' let go this chocolate from their 'firm' gripped fist! Human nature. We have to evolve and help others to evolve by lending/extending that unconditional love.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Individually challenged
Like that “physically challenged” ( a polished & less-hurting name for handicapped people), a question that I came across seemed to challenge the ‘individuality’ of individuals!
We have awards for individual excellence, at work places for motivation, at political levels to highlight performers, and so on. (It is almost ritualistic, most of the times, when the awardees attribute their individual success to teamwork! Beyond the mumbling of those few words of ‘humility’ gesture, no thought is given to the constituents of our individuality.)
In a world where there is a rat race for the top slot in almost every field, we seem to lose track of the main concept of that individuality. We are driven by the situation, circumstances, and the goals set by materialistic society. When I said driven, I am tempted to compare our over-cluttered mind, with no scope for ‘our’ control over it, to that joke… A person trying to enter an overcrowded bus was being pushed away by the “out-standing” people hanging by the foot-board. When he still insisted on gaining entry, they asked him “what is so special about you, that you insist thus to enter in this crowd?”. He humbly appealed to them saying “But I am the driver of this bus!”. Our mind allows no space to us to reach the driver’s seat!
This question seemed a welcome variation amidst the clamor for individuality, and tips seeking help to reach that ‘unique-ness-slot’.
At least this time, the asker seemed to get what he wanted!
Indivisible regards,
Psn(14th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100608042854AAd0Evf
Is anyone really an individual?
My answer:
"Really" speaking, we are perhaps 'indivisibles'(and not individuals!).We are so deeply inter-dependent with everything and everyone around, that we have very little of our own to call it an 'individuality'. Now-a-days, that idiot box decides what we should be thinking about most of the time! The whole crap contained in the memory came from outside. And keeping it aside, we are just 'walking' vegetables. Most of our actions are 'prescribed'. It is almost like a 'baton-race' where we carry the baton for a while, to be handed over to next generation. Even that seems a great struggle now, when we have spoiled the ecology so badly!
We have awards for individual excellence, at work places for motivation, at political levels to highlight performers, and so on. (It is almost ritualistic, most of the times, when the awardees attribute their individual success to teamwork! Beyond the mumbling of those few words of ‘humility’ gesture, no thought is given to the constituents of our individuality.)
In a world where there is a rat race for the top slot in almost every field, we seem to lose track of the main concept of that individuality. We are driven by the situation, circumstances, and the goals set by materialistic society. When I said driven, I am tempted to compare our over-cluttered mind, with no scope for ‘our’ control over it, to that joke… A person trying to enter an overcrowded bus was being pushed away by the “out-standing” people hanging by the foot-board. When he still insisted on gaining entry, they asked him “what is so special about you, that you insist thus to enter in this crowd?”. He humbly appealed to them saying “But I am the driver of this bus!”. Our mind allows no space to us to reach the driver’s seat!
This question seemed a welcome variation amidst the clamor for individuality, and tips seeking help to reach that ‘unique-ness-slot’.
At least this time, the asker seemed to get what he wanted!
Indivisible regards,
Psn(14th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100608042854AAd0Evf
Is anyone really an individual?
My answer:
"Really" speaking, we are perhaps 'indivisibles'(and not individuals!).We are so deeply inter-dependent with everything and everyone around, that we have very little of our own to call it an 'individuality'. Now-a-days, that idiot box decides what we should be thinking about most of the time! The whole crap contained in the memory came from outside. And keeping it aside, we are just 'walking' vegetables. Most of our actions are 'prescribed'. It is almost like a 'baton-race' where we carry the baton for a while, to be handed over to next generation. Even that seems a great struggle now, when we have spoiled the ecology so badly!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
The zero factor
An amazing question!
(please ignore the humble answer, it is just a feeble attempt. It is the question that is worth looking at. My answer, at best is aimed at only inspiring, motivating, persuading to delve deeper. “Nothing”—is in deed—more than that!
With ‘zeroing’ in of regards,
Psn (13th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100612161804AAdmKG6
Is zero ever tangible?
Additional Details
Zero is never tangible in math.
My answer:
Ironically, "YES".
Unfortunately, ONLY to 'itself'.
The problem is, we have to become the "it". But right now we are stuck to "I.T." (just the information (about it) Technology!).Long ago, in ancient India, the Great Masters, made a very concise concept of it, when they had put it so simply: Tat Twam Asi (Thou art that)!
Zero represents "nothingness". Within our 'range' of perception, even the vast emptiness of that space, far beyond all those galaxies of the universe is still a 'space' not the 'nothingness' !
So, it feels so wonderful, when somebody says with such clarity, and certainty that Zero is NEVER tangible IN math! Yes, the very base of math is our ability to first "divide" all 'tangible" things (including the tangibles, conceptually, in abstractions as well...!).
So, OUT of math, is the next possibility. We merge into our very source, that intangible, unknowable, subtle nothingness, to become 'exclusively' tangible only at the highest level of consciousness! (here again, the word 'tangible' is used helplessly, and quite indicatively, or else, the whole attempt would collapse!).
Historians happen to say that (ancient) India gave 'zero' to the world. But, the fuzzy-patent to it seems to have been retained 'mystically' in the sophisticated antique-looking original name for that 'zero' called as "Shoonya"! The name is sophistication in itself! (Even today, the highest form of meditation is called by that very name!). There were no patent laws in ancient days. Documented laws imply the need for 'adjudicators'! Here, the very law itself adjudicates, as to who is eligible to 'see' it!
(please ignore the humble answer, it is just a feeble attempt. It is the question that is worth looking at. My answer, at best is aimed at only inspiring, motivating, persuading to delve deeper. “Nothing”—is in deed—more than that!
With ‘zeroing’ in of regards,
Psn (13th June, 2010)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100612161804AAdmKG6
Is zero ever tangible?
Additional Details
Zero is never tangible in math.
My answer:
Ironically, "YES".
Unfortunately, ONLY to 'itself'.
The problem is, we have to become the "it". But right now we are stuck to "I.T." (just the information (about it) Technology!).Long ago, in ancient India, the Great Masters, made a very concise concept of it, when they had put it so simply: Tat Twam Asi (Thou art that)!
Zero represents "nothingness". Within our 'range' of perception, even the vast emptiness of that space, far beyond all those galaxies of the universe is still a 'space' not the 'nothingness' !
So, it feels so wonderful, when somebody says with such clarity, and certainty that Zero is NEVER tangible IN math! Yes, the very base of math is our ability to first "divide" all 'tangible" things (including the tangibles, conceptually, in abstractions as well...!).
So, OUT of math, is the next possibility. We merge into our very source, that intangible, unknowable, subtle nothingness, to become 'exclusively' tangible only at the highest level of consciousness! (here again, the word 'tangible' is used helplessly, and quite indicatively, or else, the whole attempt would collapse!).
Historians happen to say that (ancient) India gave 'zero' to the world. But, the fuzzy-patent to it seems to have been retained 'mystically' in the sophisticated antique-looking original name for that 'zero' called as "Shoonya"! The name is sophistication in itself! (Even today, the highest form of meditation is called by that very name!). There were no patent laws in ancient days. Documented laws imply the need for 'adjudicators'! Here, the very law itself adjudicates, as to who is eligible to 'see' it!
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