Destined Destination, But may be we can yet travel in style!

'Destiny', I could see ... could not control only one thing perhaps... a debate about it!

So, no point in debating about that singular exclusive characteristic about it, its evasiveness about its own conclusiveness!

But no harm in having stories about it..! Rich entertainment value at least!

The first story dates back to those days, when astrologers were really good... The best one was allowed the privilege of going into day to day details about the king's horoscope.. it used to make sense.... if the king is 'ably' guided, the subjects can afford small inconsistencies about their own individual predictions from astrologers of lesser expertise, since a King takes 'real' care of his subjects, not like our 'security bills' of democratic governments where even scams are not for 'collective good' of all those involved (wrong predictions dominate even in scams... somebody scuttles even the investigations, when a deal 'goes through' mid way, enough to shelve the scams-reports, not the scam itself!..  Obviously, today's astrologers bear the brunt!)

One such 'good' astrologer of an ancient King was taking a stroll on the sea shore, and found a skull!.. A human skull... He would have discarded it, but his 'expertise' reached even beyond skill level, lines on the palms of a live-hand! He interpreted it with reference to a known verbal form of his days... Yes, a Sanskrit sloka came in his mind... “Kinchit sheshaam Bhavishyati” meaning “something more is in store!” He was intrigued! He became curious to know 'what is ... more... in store... for a mere skull?'... He picked it up, took it home, locked it up in a trunk box, not willing to take chances, missing the 'event' in store for it!

Days passed by... Mrs. Astrologer, a devoted lady, observed 'some' change in her Mister! 'Hey!', she thought... 'this guy was never so secretive! Every day, he unlocks, and then opens the trunk box, takes a look, and quietly closes it, locks it!.. He doesn't even trust me, to even tell me what it is all about!'... Thus, the gossip went out of the home, into that 'ever-waiting' neighboring lady... Such gossips are invariably 'across' a fencing around the back yard, for obvious reasons! So it was that the gossip snowballed into a suspicion now.. Mrs. Neighbour somehow managed to convince Mrs.Astro'.. 'Look, poor thing you! Should not be too sincere thus! Prone to get deceived!... Your Mister is 'otherwise' a very good guy... but... you see... one can never 'predict' when they become 'confirmed' husbands!... Better be on the guard.. that is all I can say'... This non-committal way of pushing the 'message' did work the trick! Our Mrs. Astro could 'see'..... so clearly! That the other lady is not exactly about creating a 'divide' between the spouses... but only a 'true-well-wisher'... So she now 'consulted' instead of the hitherto gossip.. the consultation 'seamlessly' got interwoven into a conspiracy!

They waited for the right moment... Our Mr.Astro-ji had to attend to royal summons, and was away for a day or two... The ladies teamed up (the job-requirement!), to break open using a 'manly-hammer' that wretched enemy, the box, that housed the 'secret'!... And we already know what was there... Only the ladies 'wowed!' at the element of surprise that met their eyes!

The justification was from the 'other side' of the fence... 'It has to be some lady... our 'hero' might have been running after before he met you'... This is something that catches fire very instantly without requiring a second match stick even! They lost no time... the hammer is already there ready! Only the receptacle is to be changed... At the backyard stood the grain-pounding stone with a crevice 'just enough' to contain this damned skull... So it got pounded, the hammer changing hands, when they were tired to hold it...

Our hero, Mr.Astrologer, happened to cut-short his visit, and came right-through... in.. the ladies even forgot to latch the front door.. .. He was famished with thirst and hunger, so walked straight towards the kitchen to hunt for something to bite, and drink... But lo! Strange noises from back yard.. He peeped out of the kitchen window... And in an instant, he could 'see it all'...

He had a hearty laugh!

Second story!

(Obviously, the second one has to be a bit, spiritual-oriented... otherwise, if upturned, people will leave this story-business right here!..... But only one more story ... for the present !)

This story came to me during a question-answer session... Can spirituality help to maneuver destiny?

The teacher said 'Yes, to a certain extent...' And I could see... the story had to contain 'characters' of spiritual orientation!

The story:

A great sage, took leave of his pregnant wife, leaving her to the care of his chief disciple, with instructions, 'not-to-allow' anyone inside the place when she was delivering the baby!

The D-day came! Our disciple-in-chief stood guard! Nobody was going to come there in that forest hermitage, he thought, and sat by the door, a bit relaxed..

But no! Deputy superintendent of Lord Brahma arrived to write that kid's destiny under 'delegated' authority, under powers conferred unto him, in strict conformity with 'general plan' envisaged by Shri Brahma for the entire planet!

Our disciple was a senior one, and had 'good' powers... He could 'see' that Dy.S.D... He denied entry! Baffled, the dignitary-official of Office of Brahma, department of scripting-future of new born male kids, retreated, and requested his boss, 'Sir... it is a VIP case involved... You yourself have to take 'proper-action'!...' Brahma-ji, seeing no other alternative, asked his 'other' deputy to officiate for a while, and presented himself at this stupid hut, only to be confronted by this 'denial-mode' of our disciple-ji!... An arguement ensued.. This disciple was very confident, anything on 'behalf of a Guru' sails through , sans-recourse!.. He issued a threat, “I will curse you, if you force an entry!”... Brahma-ji was not unfamiliar with repercussions of a curse... he had already lost a head into it! He could not afford to take any 'more' chances! Especially if 'voting-pattern' .... up there.... at some future date... turns into a mere 'head-count' not withstanding the 'excellent creative contents within a head'(Brahma-ji's destiny, as always is decided by his own boss, the 'higher-high-command'!)! They both consulted the 'opposition' parties, separately, and secretly too, before arriving at a pact, an agreement!

1. Brahma was to be allowed a 'one-time-entry' for a specific purpose, to write whatever 'nonsense' on the forehead of that kid (usually that was the space allotted—the forehead-- for 'extraneous matter', ......like endorsements on the reverse of our Bank cheque... the obverse was 'governed' by negotiability-laws!)...
2. Brahma ji had laid a stipulation... that the disciple will not make any 'public-disclosure' under any event.. even a future CBI enquiry... about the 'contents' written on the forehead.. to this, our disciple agreed (he had 'good' politicians around, to tell him about... how to deal with 'CBI' people!).
3. Ah yes! This point should have been under number 'one' or even earlier.. The disciple agreed to permit that one-time-entry to Brahma, only on the condition that the latter would 'disclose' what was written on the forehead!... (Now the readers will be able to understand the politics behind the MOU....!!!

And so it came to be that the child delivery was 'normal' (normally it was 'normal' in those days!).. The kid grew up into a fine boy... He could even support his mother by himself... It was time for the disciple to move to other places, he had to spread his knowledge! The guru never came back (that was the story!.. dunno why!)... The kid became a cowherd! That is all, that was written on his forehead! Now, please do not ask how I came to know? I forgot to ask this to my teacher!...

Years passed by...

It so happened, the disciple(now himself a Guru-like, but let us keep it as 'disciple' to avoid confusions in this story.. please!)... the disciple had to once again pass that very same way... where this kid was tending cows... The lad had grown up, and the disciple could not recognise him from his looks.. But that lad at once recognised the 'disciple-uncle', and said, 'Hello'... They had that emotional 'routine'... and after initial enquiries, the disciple decided to 'get down to business' now!

Disciple: 'Do you still respect me, trust me.. and therefore will obey me, unconditionally?'

Kid: 'Respected Uncle ji!! What a question to ask! Of course... why the doubt at all? My dad, your Guru never asked you thus!!! Check your own 'premises' please... if you may!'..

Disciple: 'Okay then... Just wanted to make sure.. You will see soon, why I liked to check up first'...

Disciple (continued): From tomorrow on-wards.. till I tell you... Every day... sell one of the cows, before taking it back to your master's cow-shed... for any price offered by a prospective buyer, and .... 'Blow the money... entirely... not saving a penny/paisa/whatever.... I am not too sure about your currencies, and the presently volatile 'exchange' rates you see... too long.. I am out of touch!'

Kid: 'Oh! Only this much! Nothing suits me better... Done!'

And thus a few days passed by...

Brahma ji, this time did not require to be nudged by a deputy... His internal security systems were excellent! He could see the bug, that had crept in!... He saw no way out except to meet that hacker in person, and make yet another deal!

Brahma ji: 'Hello'

Disciple: “Let the hello aside.. no body else is around.. skip the formalities..... please come to the point... I remember our last 'underhand' dealing.. I haven't flouted any norms.... what is your problem?'

Brahma: You know it better! I have to 'replace' that stupid cow.. and unofficially too! My prestige issue you see... can't ask let my deputies to discover a 'flaw' in my unethical MOU with you, years ago!... And I do not have that kind of a clout now-a-days... the opposition has grown too strong over the years... thanks to growing scams that my people have perpetuated over years!'

Disciple: 'Okay... I can offer yet another 'compromise' settlement... Even I am decent you see!... Let your 'writing' continue to prevail... but allow a small loop hole in the 'enactment'....

Brahma: 'Just a minute! Why do you say enactment? It is a 'routine' office order, that my deputies even carry out, writing on the idiot's forehead... he isn't even a VIP... only that you interfered and all this mess now!'

Disciple: 'Doesn't matter what we call it... Anything from 'high command' like you is almost a law, an 'enactment-like'... even if your party spokesperson blurts it his/her way, howsoever crude the language be!.. but lets get to the 'formula'... Let that kid be a cowherd for this entire life time... But... henceforth, let that old tag be just within brackets.. “King” (of cowherds)... this is the best-rate I can offer you right now.. and I must be going... it was only you that I was waiting for, just in case, you have second thoughts... otherwise, I am okay with present status even!

Brahma: 'So be it'!

And then they all lived happily thereafter...

(Yes story is over!)

retold by,

psn (27th August, 2013)

Favorite Movie Dialogue!

Ask just about anything... to grab enough attention!

Maybe that is what must have prompted the official 'team' to ask a question 'what's your favorite movie quote?'

Then, it's up to me, to match the challenge with “Answer with just about anything... to grab adequate awareness”.... (my hidden agenda... ethical cunningness!)

Yes, by the grace of Madam Lady-Luck, even the dialogue I quoted is genuinely one of my favorite ones... (Just that the 'embellishment' of 'explain-why?' came out... only as I wrote it out...)...

Here, when I share it, I just liked to share the possibility that if we only are ready to try, we can maintain that 'spiritual awareness' alongside every activity, and thereby keep growing too!

(The question is open as I write this... if there is an itch, we can reach there... and if we are late, have a treat, glancing through some of the punch dialogues of those English movies, poured in by movie buffs!.. I give the link, question, and my answer herein below!)

Psn (24th August, 2013)

quote:

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130823135647AAWfRRU&cp=2

Question

What is your favorite quote from a movie, and why?

Sometimes in conversation we find ourselves quoting movies all the time. Some we know well, and some we don't. So we wanted to ask you, what's your favorite quote or quotes? And don't forget to tell us why!

My answer:

"What is admirable in large-scale is monstrous in small..!!!"
Dialogue by Mr.Omar Shariff
Movie: "The Night of the Generals"

It was in reply to the 'taunt' "Oh! Murder is their profession" (Hero was investigating a charge of murder allegedly comitted by a superior officer--A General! The hotel manager was asked to give some detais)..

Why I like this quote:
Often we, as emotional beings, get caught up with the situation and tend to forget core human values!
This dialogue brings a sharp contract between the extremes of such values, for the very same act!
The greatest war ever fought, as per ancient epics , was the Mahabharatha... And right on the battle ground was the 'song divine' delivered to the greatest ever warrior Arjuna... It was the Lord himself, who explained the "converse" of this dialogue, when Arjuna saw all "his" dear ones lined up on the opposite side, and "felt" that if they get killed even in a fair fight at his hands, he would perhaps end up 'murdering' his own dear elders (Grandfather Bhishma!), teacher (Guru Drona), and thus committing a grave sin! None other than Bhagawan Krishna had to clarify this deep confusion!
This dialogue for me, looks like 'converse theorem of that highest teaching'! Hats off to the script-writer, and of course the hero for his flawless tone, mannerism, deep piercing eyes, subtle emphasis while uttering this dialogue "What's Admirable in Large-scale , is.... Monstrous in small!!!"

Acknowledgement!

Some things cannot be outsourced!.....

I am reminded of a humor-filled and a very popular 'saying' in Malayalam language....

"എല്ലാവരും കൂടി മുക്കി എന്റെ മോൾ പ്രസവിക്കട്ടെ !”

The 'rough' translation runs as, “May the forceful gesture of 'umph' by everybody around, help my dear daughter to deliver the child' (she was too weak to exert the muscular pressure to get the baby pushed out, and the 'rustic-nurses' were helplessly staring at her!... The 'concerned' parent, ... yes! Only a 'father' can try out such illogical solutions, when the apprehension overpowers the very faculty of reasoning, and urgency of the situation snatches the time needed for 'application-of-mind'!... the concerned parent blurted out this 'request' !)....

I am trying to look at that aspect of 'acknowledgement' which seeks exclusivity from all the 'known' niceties that we find in the popular sense of the term! Its relevance to 'spiritual growth'! (Quite an abstract concept, I agree!).

The concept attached to the 'English' version of the word 'acknowledgment' perhaps came to us, when registered letters mandated an 'acknowledgement-due' and the insistence(compulsion), gained more emphasis, in an inversely proportional manner when this acknowledgement was sought of, from unlettered lot! The 'impression' had to be so forceful... that the nominally educated fellow the humble postman presented it as “Thump-impression” ... instead of the 'thumb-impression' , yet again demonstrating 'what a “thumping majority”, that we are!'... Ironically, soon after placing the impression, and wiping off the residual dark stain(an 'acknowledgment' of the thumb having visited the ink pad), to merge into the strands of hair, supposedly protecting the grey matter beneath—the back of the head—the blank eyes now try to seek the 'mysterious message' lying enclosed in that hard-sealed envelope, having desptached its blind 'nod' towards the source, which can now boast of having 'conveyed' the jargon! That jargon will now surface only as a giant demon in that court of law perhaps!

Our roots from our humble villages are too strong! Even at work place, the acknowledgement is sought only when letters contemplating punishments are 'served' on the 'delinquent-employee' (routine circulars which actually go into strengthening the organisation, by highlighting its goals lucidly, are left to a 'matter of chance' whether it gets to be read at all, by all!)

“Jee Huzoor” is a way of aknowledgement, that we 'present' before those government officials, not to recognise any 'meritorious' thing they performed as 'public-servants' ... but just as an 'insurance-policy' to avoid a confrontation with their whimsical victimisation, apart from the 'bribe-acknowledgment' paid as advance tax!

'Wah Wah...' is only as safe as while in a crowd (the source is not traceable, to offer any vulnerability to 'really' explain what that wah-wah was all about!)... we acknowledge thus too...

(The 'acknowledgement' to our blogs and comments here, are 'exclusively unique', in as much as .. often they are 'mutually-exclusive'(!).... when it is about 'spiritual' blogs!.. 'Star' acknowledgements only seem to compound the 'problem' of having out-sourced it !)

I am no exception... Only after my spouse has left for shopping, and I discover that I am all alone at home, that the realisation dawns on me... somewhere I nodded my head, in 'token of having acknowledged' some message that failed to reach its proper destination into my head(I was engrossed into some spiritual activity... or still worse, an 'inactivity', blank to material world, eyes open..!)... and the faint memory of it sends me rushing.... first to the kitchen, to see if milk is trying to spill out on the burning stove, unable to tolerate its flame, when no human interference comes to its help, to doff the flame! No? Then what? The clothesline ... I try to sight, looking for the shirt and the banian playing twist-dance to the tune of the gentle breeze outside, enjoying the dry state, having borne the dripping burden of its wetness long enough! Not even that... What else could it be?... Mother-in-law likely to drop in? No chance! She would not leave-it-to-chance (I am that uncertainty called a 'chance' when it is about her mom!)... Aur kya ho sakta hai?... By the time I finish the list of what it was... she is back, and flashes that cheerful smile, looking at my puzzled face, a smile, which beats the joy of a recipient, of even the 'just-received-cable' from Stockholm, announcing the coveted distinction of henceforth being called a Nobel-laureate! She announces, to break the mystery... “I knew it.. that yours was a blank acknowledgement... so I hurried back home, to be able to meet the calling-bell of our milkman!

With such a poor sense-of-acknowledgement, it is a comedy that I am trying to spell it out with my quixotic clarity... Ac(cept the)Knowledge...!

In a very deep spiritual sense, the “very experience” (of deeper levels of perception in all its nuances of dimensions that unravels on the way), itself... constitutes the acknowledgement... perhaps, the mystic factor is because, it also forms an 'alloy' with 'deep levels of acceptance' (we know, acceptance is a 'form' of acknowledgement!)... It is a very deep and 'silent' acknowledgement!

At an intermediate level,.... yes, on the spiritual path itself, acknowledgement is a deep recognition of that very same experience, when it leaves traces of manifest forms due to the inner transformation that happens deep within... here it is a sort of recognising-the-milestones on our journey... it has to be 'rigidly-adhering-to-the facts'... taking care to avoid mirages which seem like a water body ahead... wait patiently till we get near to it, to verify with experiential-feel! (If fortunate, a Master will help ....us to acknowledge it.. he doesn't need any such acknowledgement!)

At communicable levels, it goes to serve only as a source of inspiration to yet others, that 'yes... it is possible for any human being'... So, this form of acknowledgement is usually adopted only by Masters whose compassion precedes their own journey, and whose communication abilities afford them to take all the needed precautions, to avoid the very process of acknowledgement becoming an impediment to the spiritual progress of others! (Such Masters look for the 'deep silence' in those who choose to stay at the 'deep' levels of acknowledgement... The quality of silence is ample communication of such spiritual-acknowledgement for the 'Masters'... It is of no use for all others, who are yet to set upon their journey!)

Obviously yours,

psn(23rd August, 2013)

Personal Detachment!

It is one thing to discuss 'detachment' sitting in the comforts of a home, attached to a couch, attached to a cozy ambiance, and get away with abstract concepts embellished with jugglery of words, sentences... and it is quite another thing to find one's own attachment with a mother, becoming a real nuisance!

Not many are going to even try to patronise a question about 'how to detach from 'mom'! (Hey! Old age homes are already overcrowded! And 'family values' threatening to sap the vital life-breath out of humans, when we try to further persuade the already breaking up of joint-ness of size of families of yester-years, when we try to promote the 'Do-it-yourself' kit for detachment from mother!).

Not really so!

Please look at the question:

(quote)

Have you ever been in a position where you just can't really "detach" a person?

Idk my mother is making my life miserable.. she's bipolar and very moody yet i just can't make myself really detach myself from her so that i can think only for myself for a while.

is it because i do go to school anymore and i have no connection with my friends anymore ?

(Unquote:)

It is in the 'additions' to the question, that the most 'tricky' part of 'how to..' gets revealed... It is about... mother!

But, the asker is not asking about 'how to stop-loving'!!!! It is mere 'detachment'... that little bit of space... not even 'total-freedom'.... where, the bonds do not restrict the reach towards other people around... (the 'attachment' prevents 'connection' with others.. for instance, 'friends' are an emotional outlet, or an emotional-freedom, where a person finds the greatest psychologcial “self-restoration” ... a person can feel a full, wholesome 'self' again with a few at least, of 'good-trustworthy friends'!

While the question is likely to find that 'easy-appeal' only among those who 'repel' at their moms, and therefore find this question 'attractive' enough... the solution cannot come from such repulsive minds!

I was interested in tapping the 'awareness' that has crept into the mind of the asker... a deep recognition of one's own 'craving' which is working against one-self! (the object of craving is just a 'name' .... but this time a very significant one... possibly the most significant of bonds... a mother!)...

Aadi Shankara had to do the 'fight' for detachement, on behalf of his mother, for her son, that is himself... and when we look at the story, very rarely did a son love his mother so much!

The answer, whether it finds an appeal for the asker, is not an 'attachment' for me... As usual, all I seek is a 'notice' at it, and then, the 'being' will find its own dubious ways to 'present' its case at an 'appropriate time'! That is the 'mystic-factor' about 'detachments' of all kinds!

Detachment-of-yours,

psn(21st August, 2013)

quote:

( http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130819203218AARVYZ8 )

My answer:

It is a very significant question....
Way beyond 'interest, curiosity, inquisitiveness, thirst' etc...
It decides how we view our vital 'priorities' in life....
It is no different to an addict, who asks,... 'How do you get rid of addiction?' (When somebody asks this, this person has by now realised that his addiction is taking away his life, but the craving doesn't allow a 'detachment'!).
Though a bit rare, we have cases, where a person cannot even detach from love of poisonous varieties of snakes... (this person is most likely to die of a snake bite-venom! Snakes do not reciprocate a similar sentiment!... Then what about religious fanatics, who take to violence to 'safeguard' their religion?... They even resort to 'terrorism, just to ensure a 'fast-forward-peace'!... They simply cannot detach from such religious sentiments!)...
...
A person who has learnt to 'detach' a little bit from one's own self, find that detachment from everything else to be merely a consequential, and incidental benefit, though of immense benefit! It is not that a person becomes disinterested in the 'self' (on the other hand he is now more into self!... For example, a doctor, an eminent surgeon, finds it difficult to perform a surgery on his own child, spouse or a close relative with whom he is 'too-much' attached!... A detached-attitude, affords an impartial, judicious, reasonable approach at oneself... It is something that we can acquire only with persistence, and conscious effort over a period of time!)... A very good scientist does not even need any outside help to find flaws in his research, if only he learns to detach from himself, and then become a critic, an auditor of his own 'theories'! This scientist, over a period of time, spends far less time in grasping newer concepts!
psn

Ethical Cunningness!

Somebody made a mention.. “he is cunning” .. and removed any doubts, by emphatically adding “(and I mean it)”... the way somebody hits the hammer on the nail, which is already driven right up to the head into that coarse-wood-packing case, a few more times, to ensure that the lid snugs to the horizontal-edge of vertical side, along with the fully-driven-nail, a bit more tightly!!!

The 'ethical' part of it is thus:

(an example)... popular examples have better appeal... Ethical-hacking is taught in computer field... One area where it finds application is , when 'key-word-related' ads(advertisements) appear along side an email, opened by the user... The ethically 'hacking-software' incorporates a 'crawler' which employs the 'share-point-technology' ... fully encrypted (that is the base of making it ethical), and internally surveys for certain predefined key words, dictated by highlighted 'offer-pages' from prospective funding/financing advertisers, retrieves the matching ad-hyper-links.. once again penetrates the email using a 'separately-together' share-point-technological design, cross-checks a few times (loops with lots of 'ifs, and, butts, commands), and then gently incorporates it right at the door step of those emails! (leaving it thereon... to the entire choice of the user, his itch, inkling, etc!)

I found a blog, dwelling a little more upon a 'random' thought... the thought that seemed to dwell more upon the deep emotional values, lying 'pristine' within... That 'cunning' in me brought it to my 'notice' and 'attention' (both are distinct... for me at least!).. I too looked at the blog, saw the theme, observed the 'notice' of the author, viewed the author's 'vision' for minute details of even non-descript aspects of life(!), and beheld the mind... Now the 'crawler' in me set to work (those programs attached to search-engines)... it chose the 'concepts' that can tow the line-of-the-author... mentioned it into a feedback/comment... and cunningly added the 'relative' ads (from spiritual world, of course)... and gently pushed the comment back to where it 'be-longs'!... The author took the bait! Now, another 'cunning' within me ... (this cunning is a 'reverse-internal-auditor'..!!! Like 'pure-maths' it finds application only in 'abstract' fields, and spirituality is indeed an abstract world itself, not just a field).. that reverse-auditor-cunning told me... 'leave it there, don't even turn back... but do open the rear side vision, to keep a view open!

The 'ethics' in spiritual arena is more 'exacting'!... the hacking-technology is much more hi-tech... and rewards 'nothing' itself!

(the blog I found was: http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/philosophy/biscuit-party .... Now anybody who happens to have a sly-eye, and adequate itch can look 'into' the blog ... otherwise, the blog, by itself is amazing, and so also is the picture-image it tags along!)

No point in elaborating any 'cunningness'... not in the least, this one too!

Cunningly yours!

Psn (17th August, 2013)

Clarity!

Let us be clear , to (at least) avoid 'getting cleared'... before time! ('Ahead of time' sounds a bit safer, .. )

...

Anyway, it is about clarity....

Simply stated, something works well for me, runs as : 'It is life positive? Yes! (then go ahead).. Is it life negative? Yes.. (then retreat from it... or if there is a choice, re-treat it, retreat it... whatever)...

...

Examples could be easy... like we had in the early lessons of maths! (Yes! I felt more annoyed, and a bit wondered too... why is it that 'examples' in a maths text book are always too easy, but the very first 'sum'.. a big bouncer... goes right over the head!... I cooked up a reason, when a kid... 'maybe.. that fellow knows only to ask a sum, not solve it.. so he chose the easier one for him, to 'show that he too knows, how it's done'......half way up, I understood it a little more... if a tough example is given... the easier ones would simply run away... and the tougher ones will get a little scared right at the beginning... Much later, I understood, it is the teacher who lacked clarity about the 'deliverance' of a concept of maths, that has to precede even before 'taking-up' of the easy-example... ! Concepts of maths are seldom taught at schools, and now I have clarity about it, so I will not try to unclear the doubts!

Doubts!

Teacher asks: Any doubts?

Kids: 'Yes!'

Teacher: 'But, Are you having clarity about your doubts?'

Kids: “????”

That is how it is ... about clarity!

Teacher : Any doubts?

Kids, (now a bit smarter): 'No...' ( A chorus, of course!)

Teacher: “That is because you have not at all ... even looked at the lesson.. it just passed over your heads!”

Kids: (only a silent prayer: Lord, may the bell ring soon... May the teacher not 'think' of asking test/check-up questions!)

J Krishnamurti: 'Did you understand Sir?'... (For him, every one is a “Sir”...)

Elite audience(usually): “(Nodding of heads, vertically side-ways, not horizontally, to signify “Yes”)

J Krishnamurti: (Ah! Now, I have to begin all over again!)

J Krishnamurti : 'Did you understand Sir?'

A few among audience (I am overambitious here.. even a 'One' is a great success): “(Silent stare)”

J Krishnamurti: (Only within himself: Oh! I think this-one/these-few ... 'Got-It'!...)

....

A ship is about to drown.... If one fellow is taken off that ship, it stays afloat till all are disembarked safely...

One fellow: “Let me jump into the sea, so that others can be saved” (life positive action!)

the other fellow: (within himself: Let me push that guy near the railing, into the sea, when no one else is looking... then I too will be saved, plus, God-ji may excuse me, since I saved other lives too! (Life negative action)..

...

Life is positive, and as if to give an example, we named a girl, not just a boy, as 'Clarity'... (boys seek 'clarification' usually, and end up more in numbers, into spirituality, till they 'become clarified'!.... 'getting' clarified is not as easy as 'seeking it'!

So clearly yours,

psn (14th August, 2013)

Unconventional Confusions!

We face confusion of all sorts...

In fact, when we say, 'there was a confusion all around the place'... we seem to assume utter clarity about it, obviating the need even, to see, whether we too are very much a part of it, by reason of the very mention about it!

This(blog) is not a 'convention' of confusions... please pardon me, if it 'seems' so...

It is about 'just a look' at a few 'not-so-common' confusions.. if, that 'unconventional' seems appropriate enough to describe it, which, you will be able to decide for yourself very soon..

Please, let not the size, the length of this blog , be a cause of confusion ... I have tried to divide the confusions into convenient parts... to let us choose, how we like to get confused...

1.We get confused about 'why at all something confuses others?'

2.We 'feel' confused, when the other 'sounds' so confusing about “such a non-issue” (the query is “what is there to be so confused?...”)...

4.We decide to get confused, 'just like the other' to be able to then ... grasp the joy-of-such-a-confusion (woh haseen dard de do.. jise mai galey laga loon'.... styled thus!)

5.We now get confused, not about how to resolve 'that' confusion... now, it is about 'how to get the hell out of all confusions'....

The last one (5) is good enough to warn me to stop here....

The rest of it(the source-of-my-inspiration!)... is a mere copy paste herein below,(except the sub-titles... the sub titles are to conventionalise it).

(I apologise, to the owners of blog and its comments, for assuming the liberty to reproduce the blog and the comments, though it is from an 'open' forum.... and I request them to 'find a way' to pardon me!)

unconventionally yours,

psn (13th August, 2013)

The source of my inspiration: (the comment about a blog, on the blog, to me)

Dear PSN sir, I have read your comments on this blog with utmost sincerity. I was confused on Seema's this blog! I put questions to Seema which are yet to be answered. However I have gone through other comments where Seema insisted to read your comments. Your comments in reply to to Nita are further confusing!. None of your comment in in context of Seema's blog, though your comments can be separate blogs with a new message! No where you have answered or elaborated what Seema wants to tell. You have refer to new stories with different context & different message.

I too find other commentators interpretation which were good but not at all connected to the title blog.

May be Seema is extra genious & put a blog which 'Adham's like us may not understand. First point is why such a blog which doesn't have a clear message which can be understood by any ordinary soul! Second while you are defending her blog why don't you dissect every line of her blog in elaborating real meaning instead of diverting to a new story & new explanation which was not even mentioned in her blog even indirectly!

I raise this question because I have read some of her very touching & insightful blog earlier! This blog some how reach no where neither your defending bring any clarity. I believe blogs must having quality read along with quality message.

I requested Seema to answer individually, also I request you to clarify how your comments connects the blog.

I am really bit different in my approach. I usually put questions when I don't reconcile with an opinion/blog. Please don't mind my straight questions! I never accept something till I made understood logically.

Regards!

The reference of the above comment, to his earlier comment:

I am little confused on the message of the blog. First if some one is a Guru, why his message is not understood by the 'Sishya!' Then when somebody leaves his wedding & the whole world displaying his devotion to his Guru, how can he be fluctuate for a lady forget about her shadow? Also what's the meaning of saying Guru that she was guarding the lady in the forest.

I believe when one becomes Guru he must have developed a perfect wave length along with his student in such a manner, that the student can understand the real message even from facial expression of his Guru.

What was the message of 'Be alert & its urgent' a Guru sends to his disciple during later's marriage.

You are definitely very genius as I read your blogs. Some how I couldn't get anything from this blog. I request for elaborating your message & bottom line. I am not convinced that faith & duality is presented through this blog. Regards!

My reply:

Just out of curiosity, I had a look at your 'updates'...
I read this: “If you really want to kill somebody, First kill the beast with in you!..”
...
I will not contest, about your understanding of this sentence...
But instead, we can try to look at an imaginary third person's mind, and look at the ways in which it would 'read' this message...
a) 'Oh... that beast in me, is the protector of that person whom I want to kill... So, like those fairy tales, where the life of a demon might reside inside the neck of some small bird in a cage, we cannot kill the demon, unless the neck of that bird is first squeezed?'
b) Oh! The beast in me, is what prevents me from taking the proper aim at that other fellow whom I want to kill?
c) I am a soldier, and I have to kill the enemy, to save my country... why should I waste my time, to bother about that beast in me.. Actually, that beast in me is likely to inspire me, motivate me, with that 'killer-instinct' without which, the enemy might exploit my 'otherwise-kind-hearted-sentiments' to plead with me to spare his life, and then, if I oblige the enemy, he would soon get hold of a weapon, and finish me off the very next moment!!!
...
and so on.... (other examples)...
Do we find any of the three totally agreeing with our own 'message' with that sentence? May be one might come a bit closer than the other, but that is of no use.. Either it is 100% or a zero...
...
I happened to admire the blog, the element of surprise it holds through an element of suspense or confusion, or even a lack of clarity about the 'message'... I did not wish to 'terminate' the effect of the blog too soon... and yet, I wished to add to its value by giving a 'subtle hint' which would polarise the minds of the readers further ... either towards a clarity(in which case, the very same hint would try to reach a further-deeper-theme), or.. towards a increasing a thirst , a curiosity, to look a bit deeper (when a reader finds a comment, which 'seems-to-have' appreciated the subtle-message!)
..
While at school, I told my classmates about the 'nature of mind' to become inquisitive without a specific goal... and to demonstrate it, I requested two to three of my friends to team up with me... it was that big-interval... the lunch time, and soon after lunch, kids would raise the dust of that playground to a height of about 5 feet, making it difficult for the 'elderly teachers' to cross over that ground without covering their nose with a hand kerchief, or without bumping into a kid running fast, to escape being caught by another 'chasing-kid'... We went to the centre of that ground, and I pointed a finger towards sky, straight upwards, stretching my hand maximum, twisting my body above hips to synchronise with the other boy standing beside, to help him 'see' what I was 'looking' at.. He and others 'obliged' me, staring intently at that something, with rapt attention.. we kept this drama for just 3 to 4 minutes... soon a crowd gathered, and the play stopped.. the 'play-ground' turned into an 'observatory' to look for extra-terrestrial heavenly objects! We quietly moved away to the edge of the ground, and now, we 4 of us were the only ones, looking at the crowd, while the whole crowd even forgot as to 'who started this game!'....
Sir, let not this story divert your attention or misguide you into believing that the theme of this blog is 'similarly-empty'...
This story was to demonstrate 'just what I told my friends' ... to show how inquisitiveness works, at times, without a goal, and wait for the discovery to tell us later as to what we were trying to look for!!!
...
I very much appreciate the genuine keenness with which you have asked for that clarity! I actually wonder as to why our Seema Ji did not excercise the privilege of explaining your doubts!

If I have reached the right one... that 'unanswered' comment, I suppose, these are the questions:

1. “why his message is not understood by the 'Sishya!'”
2. how can he be fluctuate for a lady
3. Guru that she was guarding the lady in the forest.
4. in such a manner, that the student can understand the real message even from facial expression of his Guru.
5. Be alert & its urgent

1. The message is to be understood by the intellect, not the mind, which is ever engaged into deciphering the data received through the input organs of 'sensing'.... (Abstract concepts are usually difficult to be understood or grasped in the very first instance! I had this problem... when the teacher said, 'watch your breath'... I thought it was 'so simple'... I started to 'see' that I was breathing... ! it was not quite easy! The breath got 'tampered' when I watch! When I am not observing, the pattern of breath is different! ... now I thought, 'I have to watch without the 'breath-watching-me'... ' that did not quite work!... One part of my mind started watching another part of my mind—watching the breath!... that is when the teacher added, 'be alert..!'.... When I tried that 'alertness' it only increased the complication! I had to let go everything and begin afresh... just breathe... then slowly coyly start watching it!... !!! the story went on...)
2. The 'fluctuation' for that lady is due to the age of that disciple, perhaps! Very soon after intensely reading or viewing a sensuous material, a student finds it difficult to focus on a dry school text book's chapter on geography which deals with the climate of arctic zone, or the grasslands, prairies and pampas of some far of continent! The initial excitement about the 'prospects' of a marriage is about the proximity and the pleasures it offers due to the proximity of the opposite gender... The message took him physically away from such prospects due-to-marriage, temporarily, but the mind is on the look out for it, at its own 'back-ground-music', so it fell a prey for what was 'readily available on the way'.. the way was to reach the hut of the Guru!
3. When we catch a cold, the body tries to sneeze of the virus with a powerful exhalation, a few times... when a few of such viruses stubbornly refuses to leave our chest, throat, and nose... the body generates an army of phlegm which now 'house-arrests' the virus, and keeps that virus under confinement, till it turns yellow, hard, solidified, and can be safely expelled as a 'lump'... the phlegm is not protecting the virus.. it is protecting us, by guarding that virus! And we take medicines, to get rid of that phlegm, since we look only a bit superficially, a bit symptomatically, and 'look' at the phlegm as a 'problem' instead of looking at it as a responsive-solution, automated by our wonderful human-design, our body!!!
4. communication is complete only when it is two way... the master's message depends upon the receptivity of the disciple... How can I understand a Chinese message, without knowing the language first? But a sincere Chinese friend would not wait to teach me the language first, when my life is in danger right now... He would supplement with gestures, ... but only when he is sure that articulations failed!
5. The message was kept brief, 'be alert ... it is urgent'... The excitement of the marriage (obvious, with any youth who is 'just about to get married') delays the 'attentiveness' a bit... so the second part 'urgent' got miscarried... he mistook 'urgent' as... 'urgently-see-me'... (where as the urgency is about being alert... because, marriage is a rare event... unless we are alert, how are we going to retain a “very detailed image of this event” to be cherished recalling it much later when we celebrate 50th anniversary of wedding?

All this is my imagination, after all...
Two people have to adjudicate... at least... the author, 'Respected Seema Ji', and the asker, 'Your Good selves'

Regards,
psn

Now, the very source of the blog, its confusing story!

http://www.speakingtree.in/public/spiritual-blogs/seekers/mysticism/be-alert-its-urgent

A man was getting married. Just then he received a message on a paper. It was from his guru who had written, ''Be alert, it's urgent'. The man left the ceremonies midway. The bride was bewildered, her parents pleaded with him to complete the ceremonies but he ran out. He had to cross the dense forest and it became dark. The groom decided to wait on this side of the forest. Night came and he wondered what could be the urgent matter of the Master. He was satisfied that he had thrown the world to one side for the Master.



From nowhere came the sound of anklets, songs and laughter. He noticed a light and followed it. A large tent in the middle of nowhere had sprung up and men were waiting outside cracking jokes. The guard stopped him saying, 'Madam is not ready'. The man saw shadow of a lady dressing up and wearing ornaments. What beauty! He pleaded with the guard to let him enter but the guard would not budge. Madam is eating, madam is rehearsing her steps, madam is with musicians, madam is talking to someone, madam is having a nap'. The excuses went on and it was soon dawn. With a heavy step he looked at the guard killingly and reluctantly continued with his journey contemplating that he would stop at the tent on return journey. He reached the Master's hut but the Master was sleeping.



'You are still sleeping', he exclaimed, 'I left my wedding, I ran from the weeping relatives, I waited near the forest, I remained awake the whole night because of your message and you are sleeping'.



The guru looked at his student disappointingly and said, 'Dear child, I was awake the whole night, guarding that woman's palace in the forest'.

Source :Self

Be a little in-disciplined!

Quite contrary to the 'popular sense'...

By itself, “Discipline” does not give any 'value addition' in terms of a special qualification! A disciplined person is something special, other than a non-disciplined person, or so...

Students(children), often get into its wrong sense and thereby miss the 'real-benefits' of a discipline!

“Discipline and obedience” get clubbed together.. and it suits the elders (teachers especially, when it is the sheer number game that they have to mange to 'prove their own merit'... ! )

...

Even at work place, 'disciplinary proceedings are initiated against a 'delinquent' employee!'

While some 'heavy' benefit is to be given, a 'clean-chit' is needed to certify that no 'disciplinary action is pending, initiated or contemplated'... ! (They did not spare the word 'contemplation' which is often the domain of only strict disciplines like philosophy, metaphysics etc!)...

I do not intend to quarrel with the world, for using 'discipline' to discipline everybody else other than themselves! (For instance, the movie “Soldier” focuses on discipline that affords the 'Master' to have-it-their-way... till the hero learns the 'discipline' of emotions, the hard way!... But an army can do things only through 'obedience in-a-disciplined-way!'.. so no quarrel about it... Only that we can 'also-afford' to take an indisciplined-look at it, and see if it serves any spiritual-discipline!)

But, when some body is eager to know ... why at all 'get entangled (quantum-ly) with that discipline?'... the 'secret'... the question and the asker's mind, ... it made me, it tempted me, to guess... perhaps, this some'body' is keen to discover the some'being'ness within oneself, and therefore asking a very common question, in a little uncommon way!

Quote:

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130810045304AAfQsbh

What makes a person disciplined?

What is the secret behind being disciplined?

Unquote:

I did not first look at the meaning of the word, through a 'strict' sense of discipline, the way science is looked at as a 'discipline'...

I just looked at it the way I looked it practically...

(the first 'looking' was for looking-out-for-the-answer... the second 'look' was at the way I looked at 'looking' itself, when it was discipline... I know, it may seem confusing... but even that “looking” is a discipline... which, once mastered ... does not allow other masters to master over us the way a master 'dictates' a disciplines others, merely for obedience sake, to make that masters life comfortable!)...

Perception is perhaps a 'discipline' that that the science of spirituality draws attention towards a conscious, concerted focus, so that ... such that.. no other discipline is needed to be focused upon, for the sake of it!...

The answer that came out of the un-disciplined mind of mine (but in-to discipline on a need basis) :

quote:

When the defects/disadvantages of an in-disciplined life-style comes too much in the way !
Other wise, mere sermons-listening is a good pastime.. why bother with 'needless-restrictions' when life happens the way we like!
Now, somebody suddenly takes a liking to 'feel' how it would be on Moon! The discipline starts... health fitness to withstand a space travel, the ability to walk carefully at 1/6th of gravity, ability to conserve even breathing air (tension increases breathing, and depletes oxygen!!!)...
...
A surgeon who is going to sew up a nerve of brain which is thinner than a hair (seen only thro' microscope), without blocking the passage of blood through that nerve, has to ...
has to... 'discipline' by abstaining even a cup of 'coffee' , one week ahead of the operation... the tiny hand shake due to 'caffeine' needs such a discipline!
...
Suppose my doctor says, you will live only one more day... why waste time trying to have discipline! Enjoy!

Unquote:

And,

I was surprised when I saw a small reference to the latin word... learner/disciple!!!

quote

“Disciple comes from a Latin word meaning "learner" and discipline comes from one meaning "instruction, knowledge." (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/discipline )

Thus, ... discipline is perhaps, a much more serious business than all other kinds of strictness that the popular sense of the word seems to impose upon us... when it comes to being a 'disciple' of spirituality!!!

Indisciplined yours,

psn (11th August, 2013)

Tricky Tricks!

Yes, it is about the tricks that we gently try to disengage ourselves from, when everything else with these tricks fail, on our way to spirituality!

Funny bets, kids engage into, even at school age.. 'Hey can you manage to wear chappal tomorrow!' .. Done!... Red ink (fountain pen days..)... a little gum (khushi is what we have in abudance, at that age... so Gum is to be hunted!P... a tight fat bandage around the big toe (better visibility like the neon sign ... not like those inconspicous 'one-way-please' road signs!)

Joint families used to be fertile grounds for 'tricks' to sprout in kids!... My dad, told me this story... The eldest brother of my grandfather was incharge of kids... So, obviously, any 'good-trick' is going to be bad on him first! The bet was, 'Hey can you smoke a beedi in his presence?' Why not?... but not for free! Okay, the 4-anna-bit that they thrust into each kid's hand, on the Vishu day (that was the only attraction for kids about that Kerala festival!)... They obviously got half-a bundle (that is the least you get for whole-sale price, of that of a bundle!) of beedi... The bet was just about a couple of puffs! Why squander that whole-hole-wala-coin ?... Wait!... See whacha I gonna do!... They went to the cow shed (milk was only from cows... not bottles, packets, doodwala or the non-existant cold-storage bins... Yep, that is how(perhaps/maybe/etc.. please do not quarrel about stats now!) the earliest fridge had got born... to preserve a corpse!... They caught hold of the cow's kid (innocent ones are safe always), planted a couple of ants into its nostrils, and it made noise... Before that noise died down, they hurriedly summoned the 'Anna' (that's how the eldest was called by rest of the elders, so copy-paste...)... He got worried, and said, it has caught a 'cold'... What to do...?... Before anybody could even blink (not just think)... the bet-wala-candidate, said, 'Send a couple of beedi puffs into its nose... it works... so-and-so said! (In those days, even humans had to depend only on 'first-aid' that was usually the last of medical aid too... what to speak of Veterinary docs!.... And then... (its your guess! Ah yes... the trickster offered to other kids “Hey, I am unable to do it all alone, why don't you all help me! Here are a few more beedis... fortunately...” (That was an 'insurance' and the 4 anna bits the earnest-money-deposit, with performance guarantee!)...

We grew up thus!

Now, the ear-plugs work like a 'Do-Not-Disturb-me' sign... a trick that works... Worse, the bus conductor transfers that 'left over of unkindness' to idiots like me, who keeps gaping at him with a 'next me?' , clutching the 'exact' change of bus fare, with the firmness enough to keep a fatty from swaying along with the side-jerks of a bus!

At office, an officer ('above' me of course...) ensured that the large table was kept full (the desk top.. like the techies do now on the monitor!)... it kept any untoward flies away (Oh!.. sorry... I meant 'Files'...)... The few urgent papers usually took its time, even to get signed! Tired of this, my equal-rank-colleagues turned up to me and confessed, 'Howda get it dunnYar!'... 'Elementary dear watson... 'I said' .. Keep the things to be signed just below where he rests his right elbow! Notice it?... that's the only 'reserved-parking-slot' for his elbows... He sleeps only that way, after a heavy lunch... I got it done that way... watch out the 'left-out' areas of other's tricks!

That's it.. the left out areas ... are the only hope, where spiritual teachers manage to use the 'element of surprise'... when people flock at them for 'liberation from tricks'!!! And then Yoga! *(Patanjali ki Jai!)..

Tricks.. we ought to know all-of-them... chiefly of two kinds.... 1)We should not use, and 2)We cannot use... (the second one is what these tricks ... tricks us into, in trickles, of course, where no bucket ever really fills in!

Writing blogs at a frenzy pace is never going to work as a trick!... Only the stuff that worked for us, comes out as ... 'of some use to others'... not those which tricked us into it... And if we are not so harmonious a singer, singing aloud is not a good trick... Then why not sing into the ears of others (that's what a few pm's are doing!)... not going to work either!... Being tired of other garbage, we try a little spiritual garbage, keeping it in our head all the time, as 'lotta-data'... not gonna work!... Anyway, .. even I am not too sure about it... there is a prize money... that's for sure, not yet a trick!.. I ain't no good-at-it anyway!

Trickishly yours,

psn (2nd August, 2013)

Tail-piece-trick: (yep! That's actually how it is... the last of tricks, is to drop the desire for 'attaining'... and desire for 'dropping of the desire'... so much that ... you forgot the tricky part of it, and now go-to-seek a Guru to untie it... the trick!)... The Houdini-trick.. Heck! .. the Houdini-act it is... the vanishing trick... that works, when nothing else does.. until we recreate ourselves with a fresh set of tricks! Did I say 're-create'? Dunno! I got tricked my self... this time only!

(sorry, for that bit-bite-trick.. It shouddaBean-a-bye-bye-trick...!.. or a buy-my-trick... dunno!)

again,

psn