Stream Lining!

An amazing word! (I felt)...

'Now all we gonna do is to 'stream-line' things here'... announces a leader, when the 'set-up' is up-set at a place.

A (water)stream, runs the way it finds a slope... Armed with this 'knowledge', as a kid (school-days), I barely managed to decipher the togetherness-wala-meaning of stream, and lining it up! But the quest did not go a waste!... I had my play-partners, at the native village, where my cousins were 'destined' to end up as farmers, when the stock-in-trade of that family was cultivable lands at the very backyard. Then, it was a 'two-in-one' for them... Lining the stream was a game + help to elders... And for me, it was a 'strictly-prohibited' area of no entry... Summer months were the holidays there, and water was a little scarce... These cousin-play-mates used to take that mud-scraper (the desi-version of a spade), and 'line-the-stream' of water to reach the farthest of trees, plants and fields to quench the thirst of 'awaiting' live things, we call as 'greenery' ...

It was then... I noticed, the line of stream.. was deliberately made crooked! (Like in algebra, we manipulate equations, to easily 'solve' them later, with things like 'dividing throughout by 'x'', adding some-nonsense to 'both the sides' etc...).... The crookedness was to match the eccentricity of a small shrub, a tiny plant, (often of high medicinal value), which is adamant about 'surviving a transplantation'(very much like a few 'modern' bride who resists 'relocation', unlike old times, where a baalika-vadhu hardly would notice the difference)! The tiny shrub was 'pampered' with deviated 'stream-lining'! Something that a very dexterous Guru would do to 'oblige' a high-potential-filled disciple, when he scales down his own 'sense of discipline' which, otherwise seems a 'rigor' to that 'rouge-within-the-otherwise-innocent/ignorant-disciple'!!!

Armed with these 'quixotic-ideas' of mine-alone... ( I felt too embarrassed to 'share' it even, with other kids... they might 'find' yet another scope, to mock-at-me, for my 'out-of-this-world' and needless, stupid, philosophies!).. so, armed with these 'ideas', I felt... time to try out 'stream-lining' my own routine, as an experiment...

Very soon, I discovered... the 'mind' is what needed to be stream-lined.... cohesively, so as to stay riveted into/onto ... a task, that is sought to be stream-lined. The best of advantages came out in the form of an 'inspiration' when I saw that any stream-lined repetitive task became effort+time-efficient! (It is only later that Ifelt, this word 'inspiration' was a thorough over valuation of such benefits... the word 'inspiration' deserves a better candidate to confer itself as an attribute, instead of these worldly-side-benefits!).

Stream-lining the spiritual concepts, when it is sought to be reached, through arduous looking tools and techniques, became a real task, a real challenge! In essence, it was initially about 'stream-lining' the very 'thought-stream' (vichaar pravaah), into a manageable thought-trickle (vichaar-dhaara)... the way the medicinal oil is to trickle at the top of the head of the patient, when he is subjected to the conceptual-essence of 'life-sciences' that we know as 'Ayur-veda'!

Streamed, but not-yet lined-up, yours,

psn(8th July, 2014)

Scars!

“क्षतचिह्न"

The attempt to translate it had to be from the 'meaning' rather than the word itself...!

Hindi speaking people from Hind-us-thaan (or India that is Bhaarat), may not have bothered too much about 'scars' in the ancient days! Dunno! But... again, interestingly, the ancients were not 'entirely' unconcerned about 'scars'... I did feel 'intrigued' when they called that 'turmeric-stained rice grains' used for blessing, with a symbolic gesture ... as 'A-kshatah' ... a 'non-scarred one'...!!! It 'seems', the husk was carefully peeled without letting the grain to 'even-know' that it was being stripped of its clothing! Perhaps, they 'knew' the worth of 'seeding', while we have mutilated-in-practice/application-part, the significance of what we call a few gathering/s as 'seminars', instead of 'conference'/meeting/etc. Today, the 'disposable' kind of rice (usually, rationed-rice at fair-price-shop, is the 'chosen' one to be turmeric stained, and thrown on the 'well-dyed' heads of 'beneficiaries'! Anyway, it is not 'that-fit' for consumption... throw it, litter it, spill it... in a 'religious-way'!).

'Daag' has a different connotation. While on clothes, it is not without a solution (though the stain might be insoluble in cleansing chemicals), but at subtle levels, this 'stain' connotes what our 'status' holds for others... scar is slightly different... we carry it upon-ourselves!

Women(at least some of them), are 'more worried' about a scar, than the injury itself, that had caused it!... (A lady colleague of mine, once suffered skin abrasions, when the pressure cooker chose to intimate a bit loudly that she, the working-cooker, had forgotten to 'water the plant' ... the cooker's inside-base with those two crucial cups of water, before placing the 'priority-dish' with its own cooking-water!... Out of the 'stream' of visitors to the hospital ward, the voiced-concern of her close lady-colleagues was.... 'is the scar going to be permanent?'... and I was all attention to 'see' what the face-expression is going to say, while the words would lean towards 'only an appropriate' reply ... 'our courtesy' levels demand that such 'ex-gratia' acts are received with 'strict-adherance' to 'appropriate-replies' rather than factual-based experiences. This lady chose to be uninsured, and said 'I really don't know'.. She was good-looking despite that scar already, and this, might have irritated a few others around! ).

Only after I 'grew' up beyond the physical growth even, did I notice that scars came to be 'sought-after-thing' for some youngsters... But they liked it only on their clothes... the Jeans-pant! The cow-boy-movie-heroes with torn-and-stitched pants with those patches became a 'rage'... I tried to look-out for something similar in girls, but only 'rare-ones' (In all probability, they might be 'trial' sessions, out of 'borrowed-garments-never-fit-well' wala scheme!).

Villains have a scar as a 'make-up' in movies... it is a show-of-sustenance levels (not exactly a 'tolerance' level)!

I was in for a surprise, when that spiritual pursuit tried to reveal the mind-related problems presenting a hurdle into deepening of perception beyond sensory levels! That is when this scar's scary business got itself into a 'limelight' in my view/vision! The solace, initially, ..... and the solution, later on... dawned with the 'reassurance' in the words 'Api chaydasi paapebhyaha... vrijinam sam-tarishyasee' (Gita, the song-divine)... And what better place to place it than a war-field where scar-wounds abound!

As a society, or as a nation... tainted-politicians respond to 'public-exposure' a lot-differently today. (And we take after them, often. Maybe it is thus... that... the phrase 'innocent-divorcee' got coined to signify, that the 'so-called-scar' is not really 'that-deep', while the surface scar of 'divorce' itself is no-more a 'scar-like' at all, but the in-thing, or the 'fashion-of-the-day' itself!). 'They' say , in places like Japan, a small scar as a 'taint' even, is good-enough for a politician to step-down at once, and then scurry into oblivion, while we find it adorable! My teacher at college said 'the founder of this charitable educational institution was declared insolvent some 32 times!' (and left it to us, to guess... whether to adore it or to despise it!... The subtle message was the 'reasons', the parameters, to decide either ways, had to be reconstructed afresh, ab-initio!).

Scar-edly yours,

psn(8th July, 2014)

ps: (“Scar-edly”... was, not exactly 'scaredy' ... for, that was 'found to be' thus: “a scaredy-cat (informal)

someone who is frightened when there is no reason to be

Usage notes: This phrase is used especially by children.)

Being country-Good

We do talk of things like “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam”(Global 'family'), “Loka Samasthaa sukhino Bhavantu” (Global prosperity) , etc...

We also admire 'good' songs..... 'Apne liye, jiye tou kya jiye...'

Quite a few people try to do 'good' for others, when they feel, they owe their life to what supports this very life on this planet (deep interdependence on everything and everyone).

Individually, we are usually constrained or confined to the proximity of those around us, and hence the 'good' that we 'try' to do would reach or benefit only those close by...

As a nation... as a country... which one is 'good' to the rest of the world? I came across an interesting video talk,

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_anholt_which_country_does_the_most_good_for_the_world?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2014-07-05&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_content=talk_of_the_week_button

The transcript of that talk:

http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_anholt_which_country_does_the_most_good_for_the_world/transcript

The web page of organisation that collects data and analysis a 'good' country:

http://www.goodcountry.org/

It is interesting to note that the 'good' country also happens to be the one that is said to have gone bankrupt as a nation/country, during the recent economic depression!

Now it is our choice to find out if... India ever ranked as the most-good country by these parameters, since ancient times.. If yes... then why and how?... Has it got to do something with spirituality?.. Spiritual people, or those who walk the spiritual path.. do they 'fit-in' into these parameters of 'being-good'? (interestingly, the speaker of that TED talk uses the term 'good' with a unique style of comparative degrees.. good-gooder-goodest... instead of good/better/best..!! That changes the base of its very concept!)

Not-yet...Good-enough... Yours,

psn(6th July, 2014)

Messy Mess-up

I did enjoy reading one of meanings each, of these two words, 'messy' and 'mess-up'.....

Messy = Unpleasantly difficult to settle or resolve

Mess-up = something badly botched or muddled

I had looked it up at 'thefreedictionary dot com ....

I felt a deep compassion towards some of my fellow seekers(during my days of 'volunteering' while I was engaged with ancient spiritual practices, modified to suit the present-day-mind, and thus evolved into newer-form-of-techniques), ... when I saw that they were struggling to get into a groove, to get a feel , a glimpse... of that 'meditative state' after which the very practice turns into an abundant source of inspiration!

Only then on, I paid adequate attention to people around me who frequently used to utter certain 'standard-phrases' in certain situations, where their desire for a 'positive-result' turns into a sort-of-anxiety (the 'mind' even thinks of this as a very-positive-anxiety... A few modern-Mom's provide themselves of such 'commendable/appreciable anxiety' when they try to 'bring-up' their children 'well'...!! And the kid wonders, 'am I going to have a stunted growth, especially that vertical-growth... if not for my 'mom's anxiety-syndrome' that puts me off so badly, so often?')...

“ Oh! I must succeed “... (still-worse: “ I must somehow succeed”... here the anxiety level is breaking the check-dams!)

“I must not 'mess-up' this event , and so, I must keep my 'sporadic-anger' in a check! (still worse: “ I must not become 'over-anxious' about the 'smooth' conduct of this event.. Little realising, that this “I must not become 'over-anxious'.. this 'over anxiety' is sought-to-be curbed 'only-with' an 'over-dose' of further over-anxiety!

Exam-scores-chasing-kids, would keep chanting, 'I must do well in the exam'... 'I must remember this chapter/key-words/ to 'somehow' impress the evaluator of the exam paper that 'I-do-now' this concept quite well'... (here the 'chant' ... effectively.... interrupts the 'committing-to-memory' that jargon, that un-understood, and 'yet-important' .. 'portion'.. the tick-mark, the underlining mark, the inverted commas.. is all that they manage to remember at the exam-hall, not the contents!)...

I wonder, how this 'pre-emptive-strike' by this 'positive-anxiety' is going to be countered, especially when it is about the other-person's anxiety, which is now-my-anxiety!!! All I end up doing is ... further messing-up the already-mess-up ... messy-mess-up of that other messy person!!! (It took a very long time to even understand/grasp the 'oddity' of the strange, and seemingly-untimely-comment of the teacher, when he suddenly/abruptly walked out of a meditative session , saying “Sometimes, my very presence would feel oppressive to you... so I leave this place 'physically' for a while now”...!!! I could not 'feel' the absence even!...

For us commoners, that implicit trust is a simple, handy and easy tool, to get started with, to handle this 'positive-anxiety-syndrome' (my guess!).. But again, this trust itself is an 'already-messed-up' concept, to-our/in-our understanding!!!

Under-standing-ly yours,

psn(4th July, 2014)

post script: I am a 'tube-light' perhaps! I realised a bit late, the 'deeper implication' (that positive-anxiety-syndrome's concept), though , right in my school, my English teacher quoted a saying “ I spoiled my own health, drinking to 'other's health' too often”!! There is a tradition of drinking a 'toast' with 'cheers' ... ( I was busy thinking about 'bread-toast' perhaps! English-teacher, grammar-classes, nounform, verb form mix-up/mess-up!).

Witnessing a death!

On 14th June, 2014, I had the exclusive opportunity to witness the death of a person known to me very closely.

I had witnessed quite a few deaths over years. But this one offered quite unique lessons to observe,learn, and perceive...

Never before have I seen a person 'exiting' from the mortal body, while standing, and only when the life ebbed out did the body fail to stand erect. The 'exit' lasted just about a minute or so, with three brief inhalations, separated by longer duration after exhalations.

Never did I see a person (or even people around hear it too often), leaving the body without desecrating the outer surface of the body due to excretion at various levels, in different forms!

Only the palm and the feet became cold even after about 3 hours, while the temperature remained reasonably warm (if only the medical experts had not examined thoroughly, we as lay persons, would be tempted to imagine that may be, the person might even revive)....

What I witnessed, left a deep impact of the spiritual aspects of death... (my earlier sessions of meditative practices about a decade or more ago, had of course helped me to 'keep' that keen observant eye, so as not-to-miss any details, worth noticing...). The bulk of it is not worth describing here, since it would be only a 'yet-another-story' to the readers, and so I confine myself only to what 'might-find-some-appeal' (yes, as per my fair, sincere assessment, which is also out-of-a-genuine concern for others).

The 'death-in-the-air':

Most of us are almost familiar, when we feel that 'death-in-the-air' (the ambiance, etc), when we 'know' what to 'expect' when we visit for a death-condolence, especially when the body awaits a disposal)... Here, but for the body being kept for some three to four hours awaiting a cremation, the 'air' seemed to carry an aura of 'intense-life' instead of 'our-expectation' of 'a' death in the air! To further help a clarity, I would try to quote a very strange incident, when I visited a 'wedding reception' of the daughter of a very close spiritual co-seeker, whom my family knew quite well... My son, who was perhaps barely 8 years then, made an observation which he conveyed to me in a gentle whisper, when we were a little away from the reception-venue, while leaving homewards, “Hey dad, why did I feel 'a death in the air' at this wedding reception, when everything there ought to be 'positive', including the lavish decoration, the feast, the music-orchestra, etc?”... I told him, “Good that you waited to ask this, when we are well-out-of.... ear-shot... otherwise, it is a very inappropriate thing to ask in that-kind-of-a-situation”... And what I did not tell him was, I too felt almost the same, but then, I thought it was a 'erroneous' perception of mine... On the third or fourth day, I got the news that the bride's father died! If what we felt as 'death-in-the-air' was of any significance, then this one of 14th June was also of a greater significance, of a contrasting nature, and also of great value to me!

I felt, when I contemplated upon what I saw, was that... death is perhaps 'nature's' one way of ensuring that it gives a sample, a glimpse of spiritual-touch, at least by way of a 'parting gift' ... if so... what other occasion could be more befitting than death itself, when nature withdraws everything that it gave hitherto, to a 'being', a 'spirit'..!!! (Maybe, quite a few of us happen to miss, even that parting gift, a touch of 'spiritual-essence' as a 'glimpse', while all our life, we might have negated everything that has anything to do with 'spirit' or its related 'spirituality'!... Yes, I did rejoice the dawn of this 'revelation', which is perhaps confined to only me/my-grasp, while others have only a choice to agree out of their own experience, what ever it means, or to decide upon negating it, or at the best, keep it open as a possibility with a 'maybe, let me see' type of attitude.... When I felt thus, I was reminded of a teacher's opinion that ancient spiritual giants (especially those who took a 'Yogi's path', were quite keen to 'know' their date-of-expiry', the way we look at vital drugs, food-packs, etc ! Having known it, what else they do with this 'info' is quite an elaborate matter!).

Yes,

One more aspect was.... this person happened to share, witness and very keenly observe most of my 'activities', especially those related to my spiritual pursuits, for at least some 3 decades, and hence our levels of mutual-communication were quite 'more than average', and this channel of communication perhaps touched its admirable peak in that person's individual potential! Something that amazed me!

Deadly yours,

psn (21^st June, 2014)

post-script: The use of 'deadly' has several contextual meanings... here I intended it as “Extremely accurate; unerring:” (the one I picked from 'the freedictionary-dot-com' to be the one that describes nearest, what I tried to say... spiritual pursuit has been inspiring me towards 'inclusiveness', and what better chance could there be, than when I try to use a closing salutation that says, 'Yours-etc'!. And yes, the choice is about relating it a bit closer to the very theme of the blog, so I own up the subtle 'dig' too! :))...)

Discovery of a beggar in me!

"Why do we offer 'only' food/rice-grains to a beggar?"

One out of my long list of 'stupid' questions that I used to ask to elders around when I was a kid...

The elders parry such questions usually... The nearest to what might constitute a 'logical' explanation was “If we give them money, they might end up squandering it at the nearest country-liquor shop”.. and then the usual suffix would be “Now go and play” (an insurance against the next-possible-set of complicating queries, related to the 'logical-answer')...!!!

I was not quite satisfied with it....

A few years later, I came across a story, where the God of Gods, 'Shiva' took to begging... and his consort, Parvati, had to reach rushing, at the inaugural session of that 'begging' (they say it was Kaashi, Benares).. and offer 'food' after 'assuming' the form of a Godess, which came to be known as Godess of a 'Complete-planned-food' ... Anna-Poorna-Eshwari...!

Today, when I happened to look at a 'sutra' a thread... suggesting that 'being a beggar' is of great advantage to a 'seeker of spirituality'... it invoked the early childhood memories...

I did respond to the thread with a comment: quote: “I am already a beggar!
This body was 'given' to me.. It grew, and got nourished with materials given to me..
Ideas came forth, and I call it a 'mind' (a processor to incessantly analyse data... Sometimes, the keyboard commands do not reach the processor, and system 'hangs'! )
...
The ancient stories tried to teach me this... (as I try to view it, understand it).. through a very heavy set of symbolisms... Shiva tatwa, says.. 'Bhawathi Bhikshaam Dehi'... and Shakti tatwa rushes to meet this 'humility' in the form of 'Annapoorna Eshwari' to offer the Bhiksha...
This was perhaps sought to be 'traditionalized' in the form of a ritual, when a 7 year old kid, gets initiated into 'shiva-tawa' and the very first experience that he is offered is when he is taught to say, 'Bhavati bhikshaam dehi' .. just thrice, and walk off.. (The woman folk are not to be left behind.. they tie a few fists-full of rice grains at the loose-end of their traditional attire, and reach the 'initiation-venue' to offer alms to this 'tender-young-fresh-initiate' and make intense efforts to pour out the entire love possible within them along with the fist-full of rice grains, thrice... increment-ing the intensity each time! In earlier days, it was an 'occasion' to feel what the 'energy-charge' means.. Now-a-days, it is the photographer who views it through out-sourced-vision, the lens of his camera while his own bottom blocks the view of others around!)
psn”

Unquote

And then I was reminded...

the earlier question haunted me for a few more years.. “why food?”

I had to conjure up 'something' to quench my thirst, out of my own resources (borrowed data bank, begged via perception, plus... my mind)

Maybe, (I felt).. maybe, even the richest and most powerful person on earth, does feel hungry, and as badly as the poorest/deprived fellow-being-of-him, when it is lunch time.. and it is the same material that they consume... food coming out of earth! (A rich man cannot substitute earth-originated food, with any other 'costly-material')..

This explanation did not seem to suffice! The whole of everything-and-anything that we can perceive at sensory levels has been already classified broadly into 5 basic 'elements' by ancient Masters .. it is earth-ness, fire-ness, water-ness, airy-ness, and space-ness! And food is the only substance that becomes 'me' at a gross level/body-level... So, 'food' does serve with adequate symbolism!

When an intense seeker decides to transcend (not by-pass) this symbolic-food... he works on the very same material (his body), and seeks to 'sophisticate' it further... And very much in-tune/in-keeping with our modern technology, which reduces dependence at gross levels, (example, we go wireless, from wired connectivity.. we go 'on-line' and 'in-real-time'/etc, from physical-proximity-connectivity/etc..)... this seeker dropped dependence on gross form of food, and went 'on-line' using his pituitary glands, which evolve/sophisticate, to directly get plugged to existance and seek food 'in-real-time' and .... 'direct'... (a few rigorous spiritual tools and techniques, which goes by the name 'mudra' and 'kriya' constitute the 'software' to activate the pituitary glands to do this function, when-needed-only, and not as a 'default-process)... The begging is still in-tact!... Only that the 'acknowledgement' to the 'Anna-poorna-Eashwari' is also now a bit subtle and more sophisticated!

Yours a beggar,

psn(11th June, 2014)

Reverence towards reverential people

Becoming reverential is quite tough... (I was to learn this only during my teenage.... And I still feel a little less fortunate about it, when my counterparts of kid age, some 500 years ago, got it 'just-like-that'!... The silver lining is that 'I discovered the advantage of reverence' )...

Some 'incidents' bring good-fortune along with it... If we are somehow-alert, we benefit this fortune.

Somewhere in my 4th or 5th standard, a late-comer to the 'academic-year' dropped in.. His name was 'announced'.. 'Manas Mukherjee'... The teacher asked the 'fellow' at the corner of the first bench to squeeze in a little.. And I was that 'fellow'... So this Manas-ji parked himself beside me.. The teacher also added, 'He is new ... not only to this school, but this city too.. so try to make him as comfortable-as-possible, till he gets used to this place, school, and our lessons'.. The teacher then looked at me and said, 'You.... help him, as and when needed'.. (To me, it at-once announced a tax-exemption from that ..... ranking in the 'class-monitor's list of names of 'those-who-talked' in the class!' The rule was, we talk only to the teacher when we have a doubt, and with the teacher when questions were answered--- almost like our MPs are 'expected' to address only the Speaker of the Lok-Sabha!... 'As-and-when-required' was adequate licence to remind the Monitor, to ignore my frequent whispers to this Manas-ji was to be treated as 'help' and not that criminal-act of talkativeness!)...

That is how I happened to ask him, 'Where do you come from?'.

“Kolkata” he said, and I discovered, he pronounces only with a 'kol' for 'Cal' of Calcutta... Now-a-days, we all are obliged to do the same when the spelling adheres to the correct phonetics.

'Pooja holidays' he said, when I asked about their usual spell-of-merriment..

And when he explained, 'Durga-pooja'.. I got alerted! The photo of Durga is slightly different from that of other deities.. At that kid age, the thought that occured to me was 'These people must be really very courageous, to afford to do a pooja to that kind of godess!' To me, it looked as if the Durga-ma had barely-calmed-down after a fierce spell of Krodh/anger... and any error by somebody while propitiating Her, might infuriate this anger very soon!.. I am not 'that-prepared' for such a risky-pooja right now, I felt then..

Much later, I revisited these early memories, and tried to 'guess'... such kind of propitiation might have to do a lot with 'Tantric' rituals too(Tantra, expects 'reverence' at very high levels.. As per Puranic stories, Parvati while learning Tantra from Lord Shiva, was initially found to be lacking that reverence a little, when the story-form called it 'shraddha' for easy understanding... )! And, somebody who is likely to revert to an earlier spell-of-anger a bit easily, is going to excuse/exempt only a deep-reverential-attitude,... especially when we humans are prone to fallibility! And so, the obvious choice of 'reverence-filled' form of propitiation, be it Tantra too!... Oh! If this guess is correct even to a little extent, then it does rhyme with the 'general-trait' that such people who 'specialise' in reverence (due to the very scope afforded by rituals, traditions, and its symbolisms), are also going to be well insulated from the temptation to 'seek' recognition and fame!.. What an amazing platform, from spiritual point of view! I felt thus... 'Now it is worth looking out for more such subtle details', I felt.. (And the rewards were ample).

The next best option(when “Becoming reverential is quite tough”), I found ..... was to consciously practice, cultivate and try out, a reverence towards reverential people! (people to whom, reverence was 'their way of being', a way of life, etc!). Obviously, the people around me now 'mattered' from this point-of-view also! And here, I happened to discover a side-benefit... Trust found its own way, from me into them, while, any pre-judice that crept it, collapsed a bit effortlessly, as the gaze-awareness kept looking out for a tiny-bleep/beep/blink even on that 'reverence-radar'! At times, these non-chasers of fame/recognition threw a glance of surprise at me, when their attention got caught at my over-enthusiastic stare at them!

Reverentially yours,

psn(4th June, 2014)

Conditions 'apply'!

“Only we-two-of-us know, that there is not (isn't) any bullet in this gun!” Said the hero to the girl who deceived him by tricking him into a hotel room, surrounded by a posse of policemen to nab him! And very smartly, she found a chance to empty the cylinder of his gun, just in case... (I saw just one version of the movie 'Don'.. it was the Amitabh Bachhan of first few minutes, who was averse to Banarasi paan.. (Hmm... yet another conditioning!).

But, that hero's brains could not be emptied by that girl! And being trained to 'survive' against odds, most of his waking+sleeping hours, the resources of response to life-threat was far more deepened than that, in we-the-common-people. Now this 'deepening of resources' also involved taking a look at the 'conditioning' of his 'usual-adversaries'... the police, and his own competitors, and the spies of these two who upset all conditions of implied-trust that he invests in 'seemingly-loyal' close ones!

During the early days of my struggle to deepen the response to spiritual potential latent in me, I did find a lot of 'conditioning/s' right within me, to be the foremost thing to be tackled, and that too, all-by-myself-only... if I were to counter this 'conditions-apply' clauses,.... that deterred my spiritual progress!

The food! The body was 'conditioned' by the food I take, and a little later on, the food that I can take in, becomes the 'only-food' that I can take.. a typical case of 'reverse-conditions-apply'... reciprocity of conditions! (The mom 'trains' a child, for example... not to 'trust' anybody around... do not take eatables from 'total-strangers', don't tell 'all' the facts to strangers etc.. The kid initially wonders 'where does this list of items under 'total' and 'all' really end, so as to decide who is to be excluded from 'strangers'?... The kid grows, and then 'decides', ... “may be 'this-mom' deserves to be included in a list of 'partial-stranger' when she does not even 'know' my likes/dislikes, why-I-like/like-not..certain things!”.. And as with total-strangers, proportionate distrust with partial-strangers! Mom-included! Hey, I strayed a bit... back to my food!)..

So, I decided to try with food, the way 'nature' has designed me to eat it... All other life forms are so comfortable with 'natural form of food'.. Those with shearing teeth, tear the flesh, pop it in, and the smaller digestive canal throws out the waste soon-enough before that raw meat stinks inside the warmer-than-room temperature of its body.. Those with masticating teeth, go for slightly higher quality food, vegetables, fruits etc, where the life-energy is not 'second-hand', but single-owner vehicle..

Perhaps, I was tempted to try with 'food' more because, the other places of 'conditions-apply' seemed too elaborate (Patanjali's formulas were expounded too elaborately, while ancient scriptures, traditions, rituals looked too difficult to 'fit-into' present day life-style)... 'Let us see', I said to myself, 'if this one 'removal' of 'conditions-apply-clause' goes well with my body, and it becomes a little more receptive to all these 'elaborate' routes through some short-cut (like , some air-routes are far shorter, even-distance-wise, than the related road-routes, which circles around god-made-mountains, or man-made round-about-routes)'.

The second or third of this food-experiment, envisaged newer 'conditions-to-be-applied' with the boss of the kitchen.. I thought out of the briefest possible 'text' that might include most vital details (not necessarily the 'important' ones, though! Vital is often not going to look important, that is the problem with nature! Ecology, is an outside example, and liver is an ''inside' example... Howizzz-life?, and we say 'depends on the liver'.. Life liver, and kidney's neighbour-hood-liver behave alike here!).. The very exercise of 'trying out' for a brief-text, taught me to admire the 'Yoga-sutras' a little better... Of course, Gita had always been beyond my reach, for its encryption-features!... And the text was... 'Nothing placed on a stove' will land on my meals-plate... When something is said very briefly, most people tend to 'agree' (falling for its superficial simplicity).. The boss of my kitchen was no exception! 'Good,' was the first-response, and added, 'that makes my life-span better used, .. a little more of it outside the kitchen'.. I remained as stoic-as-possible, while my joy within knew no-bounds!... It was much later that the con-sequence was I 'looked' skin-&-bones within a month or so! The physical-exercise part of intensifying the aasanas (postures), and a few pranayams drained the flab at an incredible speed.. The movement around seemed like the smooth flow of a river, or the light feel which the driver of a 'volvo' bus gets when he drives the empty bus to the garage for those few kilometeres from the last-stop... The needs of the body to carry itself around felt lesser and lesser with each day of these practices! Within me, I did regret, that simple logic did not occur to me all along!

After a few months, I discovered so many of the 'conditions-apply' clauses collapsing within me, which had all along put hurdles to my perception-levels, in the name of 'putting conditions' and 'getting-conditioned' to the 'life-style' approved by sheer majority-numbers, and sheer-length-of-time for which it was perpetuated by generations who refused stubbornly to 'look' deep-enough! And for the same reason, I saw wisdom in 'trying' not-to-share my deeper experiences (conditions-apply, works too well, for others, against me!)..

The exuberance of this exhilarating experience, of playing with body, now made me turn my attention towards another subtle body of mine... THE mind! (but that is quite another fascinating story... the diet for mind, cooked and uncooked, has lots of complexities... even the pressure of the pressure-cooker is amazingly unique... )..

Yours, (unconditionally-conditioned),

psn(21st May, 2014)

Spurious Emotions!

Even the best speeches by any politician is today, looked at with a suspicison of, that of a one, intended to stoke the emotions of the audience to be turned towards one's own advantage...

With the bulk of the politicians doing the same or similar thing, the safe option 'seems' to be to distrust everyone, indiscriminately... obviating even the need to know, if one of them 'happens' to be a genuine one! And so, we look at these speeches as 'spurious emotions'...

Now, who are the losers, if one of such speeches were really 'genuine', even if the person making such a speech was not genuine or sincere about it? This(theme of the question), at once takes us to the very common question about a 'genuine guru' , when there are too many fakes around!

If the seeker is genuine, he feels the 'need' to know the distinction. I see no other option available.. though, 'outsourcing' the consequences of such a 'subtle or future-need' can actually precede the rising even, of such a need, or the realisation of such a need/want... (This aspect of 'outsourcing' was dealt-with so amazingly, by the ancients, when they made it into a tradition where the parents ensure a good tutelage for the child, either by themselves, or by initiating the child at the hands of a trust-worthy guru/teacher etc.)

We have cases like that of a 'padma-paada' where the deliverer of a 'worthy' message himself lacked adequate faith in it..

We have a joke-story, where a miserably-failed businessman, heavily debt ridden, decides to end himself, but accidentally meets a total stranger who gives him a bearer cheque for one million dollars, 'just-like-that'... and this businessman finds a new hope and inspiration, takes that cheque, and manages to come out of the troubles, but strangely enough without ever encashing that cheque. He now looks out for the person who gave him that cheque, and after haunting that very same place (where he met that benefactor) for few days, does meet him one day, but as he was about to return that un-encashed cheque 'with-thanks', finds a few white-uniformed people 'collecting' this benefactor, and they also asked this businessman, 'Did he give you a cheque for a million dollars?.. well he does that often, whenever he escapes from the mental asylum hoodwinking us!'

Now, the businessman gapes! Who was the 'real-source' of his inspiration?

As I listened to the speech by Shri Narendra Modi addressed to nation, through the audience at Ahmedabad at about 9 pm on 16th May, 2014 soon after the 'victory'... I found a lot of hints in it that a person can make use of, for one's own evolvement, whether a person seeks to be a leader, whether a person seeks to evolve oneself materially, or even whether a person seeks to evolve spiritually! These hints are not direct derivations out of the words spoken, but instead out of my own 'look out to learn something out of anything and everything'.. It is not often that I get to learn a lot from so little! And this at once amused me when I also knew there are bound to be hard-critics all over whose own-suspicions would prevent them from taking/receiving a 'clue' for their own betterment! (We have a sufficiently 'magnified' example, when share market 'attained' a volatility, attributed to the victory of this new-leader for the nation!.. But then, houseflies do get attracted towards carelessly strewn sweets, sugar, blood-stained materials, or at unflushed toilets even... And these flies do not oblige the people around with anything else other than contagious diseases... Perhaps, it is better to keep the place clean than keep-blaming those poor flies! I wonder who created this share-market itself, in the first place? Concept of 'shares' was okay, and very good.. trading too was very good, but over-speculation?)... That is where 'choices' made, often leads a person into a kind of helpless-choicelessness eventually. And we call it fate, destiny, etc!

'Spuriously' yours,

psn(17th May, 2014)

Decision Making (body)!

The moment I became acquainted with the existence of abstract-concepts, this was perhaps the most intriguing question for me, when I was a kid!

The kid seldom 'gets' to make any decision at all... even about oneself!

The elders simply 'assume' the powers to decide anything and everything about a kid!

The joy of having a large place all to oneself gives a strange kind of feeling of freedom to a kid, and they simply find a joy overflowing out of them... A large hall, a vast seashore, a wide playground, etc..! Somewhere, the 'choice' about 'do what you like' here seems to open up a bit wide!

(When the kid realises that his 'decision-making' is usurped, he very consciously evolves into making attempts to make and enforce his own-decisions, and this is seen as 'stubborn-ness' or obstinacy, by the elders around).

With legal entities, we humans call it a 'body' that makes a decision... The committee is the decision-making-body...

When we look at stories, the source of 'decision making' seems to give us precious lessons.. One kid-story that did make an impact on me was about... a mother bird leaving the nest early asking the kids to listen to what the farmer says, about harvesting, since the very life-span of their home, the nest... depended on the harvesting of paddy, in that rice-field.... The farmer says, 'tomorrow, I shall ask my relatives to help me'.. nothing happens. Next day, he says, 'I shall ask friends to help me'... still nothing happens.. next day, 'I shall ask my neighbours to help'... then the next day, 'I shall ask my children to help...'... The mother bird keeps track of it each evening after returning to the nest with food-for-kids. Then the farmer was heard saying, 'tomorrow, I shall start the harvest all-by-myself, not waiting for anybody'... and the mother bird also says, 'Kids... time to leave now!'

When we look at movies... Sholay steals the show! Somebody tells that sober friend, 'Hey, you friend is saying he would jump off that tall water tank!' and this sober friend says, 'Don't worry, when the drink in him wears off, he would climb down!' (He is so sure of the 'decision-making' pattern of his friend!)...

'Did I say too much?' asks the drunkard, and the sober one says, 'Having said it, let us face it together now!' (when the former makes a tall-claim about taking on all the 'enemies' at once!)...

The psychological impact on the audience climaxes, when this friend discovers that decisions were 'decisive' only by his sober friend, whose love was used by this drunkard as 'trust' .. The decisions were adequate to even insure the friend's life!.. the toss of coin was redundant, when both sides of this freak-coin were the same—heads!

Another movie is famous for its punch line, 'Once I make a decision, I never listen even to myself later on!' (the audience is thrilled, but very few give a thought about, 'why ain't I like that?')

This body, is itself a result of some decision-making about what we propose to do with this life time! Once this is made-aware-to-ourselves, the rest of the decisions become so 'clear'!

The spiritual Master 'likes-to-know' ... the 'source' of decision of a disciple, to enable this master to decide upon accepting the role of a teacher for that disciple!

What in us decides, as to whom for we are going cast our vote ? Do we vote in favour of our cravings(physical or mental), our knowledge potential, our common-sense, our emotions, our trust-potential, our 'energies'... and so on! And then, the next few decisions get out-sourced to that 'source in us'!

With that 'Don' in the movie 'Godfather' the style was 'I made a proposal which the other could not refuse'! ( a decisive proposal indeed!).. And when I tried to admire this 'punch-line'.. I at once realised that there were quite a few 'beings' hovering over my head, who decided to just keep chasing me, whatever happens! And the best advantage about them was, perhaps, time was/has-been... always on their-side! And now I could decide about my kid-old puzzle, 'who decided my spiritual quest'...!

Decidedly yours,

psn(11th May, 2014)

Put on Notice!

It was a very casual chat... Most of them were youngsters.. Only two were 'oldies'... Me and an elderly lady, much more senior to me.. We were almost trying to 'kill' the time! It was a gathering of close relatives, to formalise an alliance with a ritualistic ceremony, followed by some sundry events, and the intervening time gap had to be somehow spent.

The topic came up about 'causes' of diabetes... The youngsters felt cheerful to talk about it.. As it turned out at once, this lady was the only one to 'face the music'... She embarked on negating all the causes one-by-one, when these youngsters suggested..

'eating erratically—No!' ,

'Worrying—No!'..

'lack of exercise—No!'

“Angry-often?--NO!”

“Then, depression/stress/etc---No-no I am a mere house-wife all along!”.....

etc...

I was just observing silently... the youngsters had almost exhausted all known 'causes/reasons' and this lady could manage with a 'no' to all of those.. But the fact remained that she did depend on those medicines for 'sugar-problem' , and her consolation was 'at this age, it is okay now!'

There was a weakening of pressure on her.. Like those police people using water-cannons on a mob, and when water gets exhausted, the slogan-shouting becomes a little vigorous (shouting against a spray of water is cumbersome, we know!)...

I should have continued to keep quiet... But I didn't... I said gently/slowly, 'Maybe telling lies is the cause of diabetes!' (“झूट बोलने से शायद डाईबेटिस होता है " Actually, I had said it in Hindi!)

There was a sudden burst of laughter from all the youngsters! The moment became intensely 'dramatic'.. The laughter of the youngsters was at the 'stupidity' and contrast of the arguement.. when all 'sensible' causes failed, ... then ... why not this 'unconventional' cause of 'telling lies?'.. It amused them (the sense of timing was the 'chief-element' that evoked that burst of laughter... !)

But, that lady at once became a bit 'too-serious'... While the youngsters got lost into their own laughter, I took notice of this 'grim-faced-expression' and knew at once... that I had stepped on a painful-nerve.. (Something they say in hindi close to this... “दुखती राग पर हाथ रखना )...

Obviously, the literal sense of it was not what 'disturbed' her... In fact she was quite insistent about being uprighteous about things... And she had a reputation accruing to her, in the family circle for this quality... She did not mind being a little unpopular among those who were a little factitious/pretentious/etc...

I too was a little taken-aback, and quite unprepared to see, when my 'casual' remark found its mark deep within her! She was having a great struggle, holding on to these 'values' which are cherished traditionally... And it was this 'struggle' that raised a 'big' doubt, as to whether it really ended up into some kind of self-deception? Other wise, why was there such a struggle about it? Must be a very very subtle kind of self deception! The mention of 'lies' seemed to put-her-on-notice, and she was such a generous lady, her entire 'seriousness'/red-faced expression... etc was entirely at her-own-self, and not me, the culprit, who 'put her on-notice'...!

I did regret that inadvertant slip! I knew the vulnerability of certain expressions of mine, especially when the situation was 'just-right' ... but I gave in to the temptation of the 'thought' that these youngsters are 'going-to-laugh' at it... (I had to find an equipoise, within myself, between the joyousness of spurring a laughter in those youngsters, and at the same time, of having stirred a deep painful truth in somebody else...).. While others almost forgot he whole thing, the lady did take notice of it, and I could not keep track of what might have happened thereafter with her, due to this!

...

We often keep avoiding to be 'put on notice' of something that might not leave us thereafter!

Impersonal allegations are so comfortable to deal with!

'Being put-on-notice' is something that the 'escapists' are ever afraid of!... But, when some weakness of our get pointed out so bluntly, there is an 'after-effect'. We suddenly turn into an 'hitherto-escapist' A yet-another & a painful discovery!

Meditative practices often encounters the problem of 'being put on notice' .. deep within, while on the other hand... we keep wondering as to why we do not evolve 'any-further'.. or why this meditative state refuses to deepen within us!

The teacher of the present day, often has to 'struggle' to make this 'putting on notice' to feel as comfortable as possible, to the seeker-disciple.. or else, the latter would simbly/simply drop off..

Acceptance, at its deepest levels, comes at a price, that everyone has to eventually pay-up, but few can really afford! (Even the 'constructive-notice' served is so painful!)

Noticing-ly yours,

psn(2nd May(be), 2014

Brahma-Raakshas

The name itself might raise the eye-brows, in those who are a little familiar 'about me' (though not 'with-me'...!)

Even I did not 'think-of' letting this loose, in the form a blog when I wrote it down, and so I had only shot-it, in the 'email-form', hoping that it would be so convenient to 'invite trouble' from only known adversaries!

But, looking at the poor response from a 'selective-group' of say... some two dozens, I am now tempted to keep the window open, a little wider...

It is the concept, 'built' around the term, that I am interested into more than the 'gimmicks' that ensures its popularity !

I hope readers would enjoy this in equal measure too..

psn(28th April, 2014)

quote:

Somewhere I came across a theory which may have only some conceptual relevance.

The dramatized version seems to contribute more towards reducing the credibility of stories, whereby the concept gets diluted or even goes un-noticed! Logic does demand a price!

A leisurely visit to ancient temples of Kerala, would familiarize a person with a place, built with low elevation, appearing like a single large room unfinished during construction, and stopped at plinth level, with that sand filling.

Devotees take a walk around it, with devotion, and a few pick up a pinch of that mud from the elevated place.

The name given to this sacrosanct place is 'BrahmaRakshas'.

Some Brahmins are of the opinion that Brahmins do not 'bow' to this place!

There is a belief that persons who acquired great knowledge, and yet refused to part with it, become such BrahmaRakshas! An abode or resting place is given to them thus! They appear or become perceivable to those vulnerable people who are prone to run into demons or Rakshasas, only during the early morning hours of Brahma-Muhurtham, and are quite harmless!

There is even a joke: It seems a young housewife was decorating the front yard with that 'Rangoli' (the traditional 'KOLAM'), and suddenly felt some presence behind her. Taking a look, she remarked very casually, "Oh! It is only you, a BrahmaRakshas, and I thought it to be my 'Naathanar' (sister-in-law)!". It is a custom to decorate the front yard with that Rangoli during very early hours, and the BrahmaRakshas would have come to 'verify' whether the design of Rangoli was as per prescriptions, free from 'bugs'! There is (or at least used to be) an entire science regarding this Rangoli, which serves among many other purposes, also that of an almanac or calendar!

They (BrahmaRakshas), it seems happen to realize a bit late (after having lost access to the gross body), that distributing knowledge to worthy disciples constitutes to be an integral part of spiritual evolvement. So, they stagnate at a point, and wander aimlessly! Basically they are supposed to be good souls; just that they discovered a bit late that spiritual knowledge is to be treated as 'open-source', 'free-ware' etc, and not to be jealously guarded, at least from non-hackers!

That reminds me, pilferage of knowledge (hacking) is not something new! It seems the Devas requested Kacha, the son of Brihaspati, the preceptor of Devas, to infiltrate into school of the of preceptor of Asuras(Main Server), through online-net-chatting on the 'web' access, with a damsel called Devayani (the daughter of asura-preceptor, Sukracharya). The soft ware to be hacked was known "Sanjivani'! The fall out was interesting.

The story does not seem important. The concept is. The spiritual experience gained by visiting a holy place is to be shared, and not withheld, and this place for "BrahmaRakshas" could serve as a mild reminder towards that responsibility (response-ability!).

Since all this is hearsay stories, I would gratefully acknowledge any additions, corrections to the theory of BrahmaRakshas.

Psn (17^th May, 2008)

Trust deployment

“Please continue to enjoy trusting my integrity if you wish, but do not extend it to my accuracy!.. I am not infallible, though better than aam-aadmi at counting currency notes, by virtue of my job...”

I used to say often...

(The moment they are able to trust me, their polarisation towards their comfort-zone seeks to invoke their laziness to speed ahead towards it, like we step on the accelerator on a smooth, vast, straight and lonely highway!... This is a 'trait' we find too often when we misconstrue 'reliability' as a 'dependability'.....)

And the other person ... unable to match this 'style of argument' for the time being at least (he is having more important things 'ready-at-hand' than trying to even grasp what I said, only then to conjure a counter-argument!)... he helplessly goes through the motions of 'confirming' my cohesiveness of my mind and fingers, when they matched the target of 99+1 (we cashiers, have a style, of 'claiming' that we count only up to 99... the 100th one is 'there, glaring at me' already! A Sadistic sense of achievement at a 'stupid-dexterity'!)...

The disclaimer on the note-slip, that forms a label of that 100-pieces-packet says, 'Satisfy yourself, that it is okay in every manner... later on don't haggle... no blame game' (effectively, this is what is says, in more-polite words).. The main worry is, about who is the 'holder-in-due-course' of a fake note... more than the loss of money, the 'running around' by that Uniformed personnel, who might have run-out-of pocket money that has to come from 'other sources' , not just-salary... might accelarate that 'needless run for money', sponsored by fake-money, for a change!..

How to deploy trust? (Already it is in short supply within us , right now!)

I guess, that it is this capability to 'deploy' trust is the fulcrum on which the edifice of interpersonal skill rests!

Testily yours,

psn(22 April, 2014)

Impersonal Allegations!

Dosti mei gustaqui karenge hum sirf ek baar....

dost sab paidal chalenge, aur hum janaazey pe sawaar...!

I was reminded of this 'gustaaqui' yet again, when I looked at what I churned out as an 'uninvited' response to a comment made by 'x' at a blog of 'y' (where as, I am not even an 'a/b/c' in the queue!)..

And the response I gave, ....

when I myself tried to look at it ,...

seemed like a 'same side goal'....!

(I am almost a critic of my own very 'religion'!... What a situation!)

this is what I wrote!

Quote:

“"why didn't Krishna told Gita to everyone present on the battlefield?" (the reference portion, used for my response...)

Maybe, they are in the queue!... At the railway enquiry counter, we often find the counter-clerk showing that 'fatigue' (of having answered the same question over and over ,) so visibly.. when the next fellow asks it yet again! Especially the "late running trains, and its 'expected' time of arrival"... People can even read it on a scribbled white/black board nearby, or even that digital scroll (now-a-days), but still 'like to make it doubly-sure' ! 
Why do we "get" a question like, "is it ....'really'... applicable to others too?"... (Now, using the same 'railway counter' as an example... suppose that counter clerk got a 'news' that this 'delayed train' has met with some 'derailment'... details awaited... even that news was a 'spill-over'.. some unconfirmed reports... the scene changes! That 'next to the next' fellow leaning over 2-3 shoulders, would not 're-frame' the question, plus , he would now multiply his 'anxiety' about his family that was 'supposed' to arrive by that-same-train! He does not wait to see, if this information (leak news) really was 'addressed to him'! (Please try to see this 'simplistic' or 'silly-looking' example in the back drop of the entire 'so called religion.... Hinduism' .. it does not even 'compel' a temple visit... it is a 'take-it-or-leave-it' basis! The choices of temples vary (no-two are 'very- alike!.. The deities are same, not the temples! The 'message' almost seems to 'mock-at-my' ... common-sense... almost ridicules with an unsaid punch-dialogue "Hey! You mango-man/aam-aadmi... here are ... so many deities... different 'kinds' of consecration for each of these deities... now, ... you spend a life-time, choosing the 'right one' suited for you! You wouldn't have even visited all the temples available (even, after the quite a few ones that got demolished/etc)... Nor can you 'finish' reading even the bulk of scriptures in one life time... Nor can you grasp the 'full-significance' of even a couple of lines of 'one of those declaratory' verses... Nor can you finish learning all those awkward postures in one life time (number of Yog-aasana are too many).. nor can you 'fully grasp' even one aasana in one life time (Shri BKS Iyengar would vouch this... and he is 'fairly' reliable person... he has nothing to gain 'now' by telling an 'untruth' about something he loves more than his own-life, Yog-aasnas!)... "
Then what is the whole point?
dunno!
psn

भ्रष्ट आचार (corrupt conduct)

“I shall do my very best(at all times)...

I shall not seek any personal gain...

I shall not have any ulterior motive...”

I heard it said today... Somebody 'declared' a committment towards this....

(The best part was, this declaration preceded with a 'exclusivity-clause' that these three are said in the 'individual capacity'!... If somebody is interested to look 'positively', then, the obvious derivative 'may be'...

“Let others follow suit...”

and not.. that...

“it does not apply for others too”...!!!

...

It felt so nice to even 'get to hear such things'.. ..

(I was even tempted to 'cross-check' it within me... has it found applicability when I lived this far?.. Is is going to guide me/lead-me hereafter?_)...

Good enough, to make a humble beginning...

right 'within', first...

and only then to try to 'clean' the outside...

“Fight against corruption” has to be with oneself, first!

My intention of quoting this set of first three sentences of blog was to remind myself of its 'spiritual significance' though the declaration was in a 'political-context'... and so, I may not be able to respond 'satisfactorily' to any criticisms, about the politics involved around the quote!

psn (7th April, 2014)

(I can 'reasonably' trust the person who can declare thus, to absolve me from any 'copy-rights' issue of quoting that person... The implied meaning of what was said is itself a 'guarantee', this time!)

Assessment Tools

“Devi, Tum hans rahee ho?... Maa bankar dekho,...” The heroine in Mother India tells the idol, which seems to smile 'mockingly' at her, when she is torn apart mentally, between a compromise of starving her kids to death, or to lose her chastity to a greedy financier....

The scene impressed me very much... I was a kid, and the hand-painted posters used to weave 'dreams about that movie' everytime I passed by that road-side-advertisement-poster.. When the movie itself turns far better than that dream-about-movie that I weave within, my mind tells me 'good movie' other wise, it is just a so-so.. etc..

We can assess something, only by using some kind of a 'tool', often resembling a yardstick or a measurement scale, however fuzzy it is...

When it comes to emotions, there is a slight problem! We ourselves become the tool..! Or, is it possible staying out of it, and then measuring?... dunno! Why do people say, 'you won't understand...' to certain actions about which we try to ask, why did-you-do?... Is it that they 'know' ....that I am not going to become-a-tool, adequately enough,.... to understand the emotional reason for it?

Babies... emotion is all that they have!... They simply turn receptive to what ever predominates the ambiance just-outside-of-them! Their inside, at least physiologically is 'least-corrupted' from that emotion-receptivity point of view (though biologically that baby might have inherited even an HIV virus from the mom!)... Now, that baby might not respond/manifest, if the health problem is a 'retardation'... but for sure, the emotions are all that the baby is having, and capable of receiving right now! (it laughs and cries too intensely.. even funny sounds makes the child 'burst-itself' through a laughter!)...

Spirituality... Even to get into it... what kinds of tools are they, that are going to 'allow' us to gain some-kind-of-entry into that 'pathless-path'? Unless the 'mind' says 'go-for-it'... no point in trying it even... like we try out to watch-and-enjoy... an emotion-filled movie or so! Reading a stuff with 'spiritual' related content... or 'reproducing' it from some 'popular source'.. .. is almost like trying out a costly dress at a shop's dressing room!

(I wonder... if that pseudo-theism... plays a trick on our own selves... when it fakes an assessment-tool, that seems to be an emotional appreciation/evaluation, when it uses the feigned-emotions, the way those movie-stars do, when they work in shifts between shifted-roles for different movies!)...

Are logical tools going to work, to 'assess' spirituality?

Are emotional tools going to be 'used' like we use a fishing rod, sitting on a river bank, avoiding to get ourselves wet?

If.... it is so.....at all... that emotions “do matter”, for spirituality/theism... what level of emotions? (for sure, we need not 'count' the negative emotions, and add to the confusion...).

Is it the 'assessment-tools' itself... of a person.. that gets assessed by that 'job-giver' in an employment interview?

(Even for some new technology.. like... when 'brains are churning out new concepts of 'cloud-computing'... some other lab-workers are creating 'testing-tools' and asking these very cloudy-people to 'assess' those tools! Now, that does speak about a certain kind of 'trust'... when big money is spent into conferences, where the cloud-makers, and its tool-makers meet regularly!.. I have only spiritual-practices, to think about, when I try to assess as an idler-now... and that tempts me to wonder... how these Masters happen to exchange “even assessment tools” through their own unique 'blue-tooth' technology! When it is Spiritual Masters, the same 'dialogue'... 'Do whatever it takes' ... takes cosmic proportions! Size matters!)..

Are we serious about even taking a look at the kind of 'assessment-tools' that we use, when our mind 'incessantly' churns out conclusions, confusions, in the name of statements/observations, which are actually/effectively, judgements? Dunno!

When it is about blogs... it is so safe to copy-paste! Own stuff, renders our own assessment-tools, vulnerable to its inadequacies getting 'exposed'... But then, how to manage comments/responses? Dunno!

psn (5th April, 2014)