Confidence

I wonder whether 'confidence' is the exact opposite of fear, anxiety, apprehension or its likes. 'Courage' doesn't seem to fit in as an opposite of those negative emotions. For instance, a person who is confident that the last bus has not yet left, and awaits that bus at that desolate bus stop, in utter darkness, cannot be called 'courageous' , unless that situation is attributed with additional vulnerabilities like 'ghost-ridden' place at night-times, etc. 'Fearless' could simply mean absence of fear and not necessarily a presence of courage. Maybe 'confide' comes closer to confidence, and if we have that self-confidence, it simply means we have that “self-trust”! Now, trust is a personal quality, and does not pre-suppose any performance-guarantee. In that sense, if that self-confidence fails, later on, we can always rename it as 'my own over-confidence'!

Instead of asking about positive traits, there was an asker who simply chose to seek the clarification about 'fear' and 'fearless' which comes 'sometimes'. The innocence of the asker's mind is in the words 'caught' by fear! The contrast is 'became' fearless! Now that ought to attract any person who is keen to address the 'mind of the asker'.

Great spiritual masters have spoken at length and in-depth about fear. It is not that easy to even grasp the concepts, leave alone getting rid of it! Fear is perhaps the last of the negative emotions to leave us. What I attempted is to suggest a simple and practical 'approach'. This 'approach' to be really practical, has to be within the reach of the asker. Maybe, others may find it worth re-visiting their own fears or even the false-pretensions about fearlessness, as I did unto myself, while attempting an answer.
psn(11th June, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110610130857AAQDSJf
My trouble is some times fear caught me and i cant do any thing & some times i became fearless and do anything?
how i will be more confident!
My Answer:
Fear is the most difficult one to get rid of, amongst the negative emotions. Also, fear comes up faster than other negatives. It gives less response time, like that fielder on the 'slip' or the wicket keeper, who is close to the batsman.
If we are familiar with a few situations, which we know that it is likely to cause fear, we can try to visualise those situations when we feel quite relaxed, healthy, safe, and strong. Allow the fear to creep in during those visualisation sessions, and just observe them. But care should be taken to disallow "our" participation to those fear-thought-processes, or invoking memories that aggrevate the fear. Yes, fear too is a mere thought process. If there is a venomous snake beside us, and we fail to recognise its shape, size etc, there is no room for fear (by the way, snake can remain more still than even a stone, which is 'supposed' to be inanimate!). This exercise is tough, but when the asker indicated that 'sometimes i become fearless'.... the potential to undertake such exercise is evident!!
(Food, or intakes, nervous stimulants, also affects the fear recurrence).
For those who are eager to go deeper, they can look within, and improve the 'positive attitude' (a less popular word is 'Right center' of the mind). When that 'right center' dominates, fear has less grip over us. We common people often oscillate between right and wrong centers, and then invoke memory and imagination, that too quite unawares, and that causes such uncertain/unpredictable tendencies. With some practice, we can learn two things, first to root at right/positive center, two to invoke memory and / or imagination at will. Eminent teachers at higher schools of learning like MBA etc strive to train students of high level/aptitude/skills into such skills, to be able to manage tough situations in business enterprises, where interpersonal skills matter the most at apex levels!
Confidence is a consequence of evolvement, and not the purpose

Behavior, nature and then spirituality

I am not quite sure, whether it is my 'behavior' or my 'nature' that takes me towards such tricky questions!

When people say, “it is his nature”, I used to wonder, as to what exactly they are referring to? His habit, behaviour, reaction-pattern, or just that 'nature' that could be unique to each individual as a contra-distinguished from general 'human-nature'. Being 'used to' wonder thus, has perhaps landed me where I am now! (helplessly struck into that deep quick-sand of 'tendency to give out unsolicited suggestions... advice.... ideas... or whatever!!!).

Quite concerned to know if I happen to be disturbing the 'settled' minds of people, youngsters in particular, I got a chance to ask an youngster who I presumed, would have been reading some of my blogs, question-answers, etc. The response, was a reward in itself, as far as I was concerned! It did disturb the youngster, not in the sense of causing irritation (disturb is just stirring... we disturb a sleeping person, where becoming alert, awake etc also is a better choice... in that sense of disturbing, stirring, to stimulate interest...). That youngster said that reading them sets that youngster to look at what makes that youngster think the way that person does! Anyway, this paragraph is slightly out of context, but I thought it might be handy for a person who is likely to get interested to look deeper into that thin overlapping line between behavior and nature.

'Spirituality is to go beyond nature'.. is what I was taught by my teacher. (this is the only piece that I had to omit out of the answer, but it finds a rightful place in the blog.

psn(9th June, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110609011601AAnUWEy
What is the difference between human behaviour and human nature......?
My answer:
Behavior is response or reaction by the mind (We say, why do you 'act' like a mad fellow!)
Nature is physiological (of which, the brain is also an integral part, and is likely to be mistaken as the mind.) We say, to err is human... it simply means the physiological limitations, to be still more specific, the sensory level of perceptions, which are limited and hence prone or vulnerable to errors (not that 'refusal' to learn, which leads to repeated errors!).
Very thoughtful question. The answer should have been comprehensive. But even an 'indicative' one should work to inspire/motivate someone to reach deeper.
Thanks for the question.

Meaning of life

Some time or other, we all face this question from deep within…. …

May be in verbal or non verbal form……

“What is all this about?... this life, my life, the life around?.....” etc…

When I try to answer such questions on the Yahoo Answers forum, I try to re-look at it afresh, each time, and then try to answer. If the answer repeats/replicates/refreshes each time, or if it improves, innovates, invigorates each time, the experience, for me at least, is afresh.

( A cousin of mine, more importantly a co-traveler on the spiritual path, happened to remind me the famous observation by the eminent scientist Dr. Albert Einstein, that during any experiment, the observer, by mere reason of observing, happens to affect the experiment to some extent. That is to say, the subject and the object are bound to be entangled, in some subtle way at least. That gives good reasons for me to believe that my efforts or commitment to look at the answer afresh would justify the attempts and the efforts! The impressive teachers who came along my path, have inspired me by their successes in doing thus!).

All this elaboration so far, has nothing to do with the actual meaning of life. And yet, I had thought of writing it because of the very nature of the concept of the answer that I had thought of offering. This answer is from my own experience, observation, and contemplation so far.

I felt amply rewarded that the asker was impressed.

Psn(30^th May, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110527071857AAIYBQo

What is the meaning of life?Answer carefully..?

I mean 99% of the people do the same thing from birth to death...they find a job,then marry and have children,work and make money,then retire and then finally die..what is the meaning of life if everyone from one generation to another do the same thing ..isn't there any variety??Do you think everyone knows about this?Isn't there any life other than this??
See i'm also following the above rule..but i'm just curious why god created humans in earth??to follow the same path from generation to generation??do you think humans failed to understand the meaning of life??

My answer:

Even that "answering carefully" might not really help. For answering, we use only our power of reasoning, the logic, the mind. Our ideas, our concepts, the reasoning, is just everything that we got from outside, by looking, hearing, listening, etc. And what we look, listen etc is just what "people do the same thing from birth to death".....
Instead, if we look at why this question occurs.... it takes us a bit deeper inside. There is no where else to seek the "why" and "where from" of this question. What makes us search for the "true" purpose of life? Who within us, is so keen to know the purpose of life. The mind, if we care to see logically, is simply not capable of understanding the purpose of life. A robot cannot understand the purpose of creating it.. Maybe it may repeat a program, when we 'feed' the purpose as a data. That is exactly what human mind also does when trying to answer this question "carefully". The "carefulness" makes the search very intense, sincere and the result would also match complexity beyond average level of intelligence!
Instead, we have evidence that it is the "unlettered" ones who constitute the bulk of enlightened people! The reason is simple. They are not even capable of 'complicating' it in a sophisticated manner like the 'literate giants'! Quite ironical. But there can be exceptions. If we choose to be consciously exceptional, then we have to be prepared to take exceptional efforts too. Silencing the mind consciously is the way. When the mind is silent, the first thing that can happen is we come into 'touch' with existence! The whole existence is happening now, here, this moment, and we are always in the past, since our mind CAN ONLY BE in the past.
Many have "experienced" the purpose or meaning of life, when they came into contact with the core of their being (the self which is not the body, mind, etc, but that which holds the body and mind).
Just as we "see" everything around clearly when we switch on the lights, the purpose/meaning of "life" becomes instantly clear when we become consciously aware of our own self. Till then, we have to keep depending on ideas, ideas, ideas, and keep renewing them endlessly(For, they begin to seem stale very soon!).

Feeling Ugly

I was quite surprised to see an old answer of mine getting a ‘thumps up’ now!

There was a very good question from an asker who felt both , ugly and ‘good’ about oneself, at different times.

The question was about the ‘feeling’ itself, irrespective of ‘tangible reality’.

This does happen to most teenagers. And the girls usually get caught up in the situation, the outside situation, and thereby, grossly miss the greatest “benediction” that mother nature had showered upon here by mere reason of her being a female! The ‘body-awareness’ is thrust upon her, especially during the teenage. If only there is someone around who would gently guide this teenage girl into delving further deeper into herself, beyond the body, at that well-timed ‘period’, the spiritual awareness can dawn much more effortlessly!

This was the question:

Quote:

Why do I feel ugly somedays and attractive on others?When will I stop feeling like this?

i'm 19 so i guess its normal but when will it end? there will be a period of time when i feel attractive and confident then the next i feel ugly as hell and really self conscious about my appearance starting with my big lips and being skinny. i hate feeling that way i just want to feel comfortable.

Unquote:

I did not lose the chance to ‘address’ the mind of the asker. I was amply rewarded with the asker’s kind comments.

I had let it rest at that, there.

But somehow, when that thumbs-up came up, I felt tempted to share it with yet others here.

(The first use of “thumPs” is a bit intentional. I was amused to see a ‘seal’ –a rubber stamp—at a document-registrar’s office declaring it to be “thump impression” of so-and-so. That made me realize , “what a THUMPING” majority we are, the electorate of our country, and the elected ones too, till recently! I did mention it to the ‘concerned’ person there to get the error rectified, offering even, to replace the rubber seal at my expense, since they know ‘only how to receive’ but are yet to learn to spend! The response was however ‘on expected lines’….. )

psn(29^th May, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmwSixTq2i8AJXG0KWpftqaQHQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20071222170005AA9G56J

My answer:

Oh! The mind and the body are indeed related.
Please see, when we get some very bad news, the mind instantly triggers a chemical change right upto our stomach, and despite intense hunger, we simply cannot eat even a morsel of food, and if somebody forces it down our throat, we might vomit.
We have to now consciously 'cultivate' the thought process such that it keeps the body chemistry 'positive' at all times, and creates that 'feel good factor', and makes us feel attractive.
It is our own body chemistry that matters more than the features, looks etc, that makes us attractive. That is why many film actors do not seem to attract a large fan-following despite being gifted with good-looking features, where as some 'ordinary-looking' actors have that tremendous mass-appeal!

Mental Peace

I do not know how this can happen! As long there is a mind, there can be no peace. Mind finds its existence itself in its very activity. But people refer to a confusion, and when they want it to ‘settle’ down, they want the ‘confusion’ itself to settle down. Maybe, that is how the word got coined. No problem. As long as we are able to understand it the way the other person does, it is communication indeed. (And there is another word “mental”. Some people are referred to as “He/she is …….. ‘a mental’….”).

The question comes up very often. I did not face this question from my within, when I confronted it for the first time. But it was posed to me as my problem. Or rather, through this question, I had become THE problem! “Will you allow me SOME mental peace at least FOR A WHILE” was what they asked of me, when I was a kid! And, I, in all innocence, set about wondering how I could do it. Already I had posed several embarrassing questions that could not have evaporated all at once from the mind of the other person, and how was I going to ‘undo’ my misdeed all of a sudden and that too ‘for a while’!

(May be, that is how, I even got ‘initiated’, as a kid, into the process of ‘experiencing’ that subtle level of ‘empathy’ into the ‘mental’ pain of others!). Quite funnily enough, there was yet more baffling declaration from womenfolk who were my elders around me, during the kid days. They used to say “You are taking away my life!”. Now, I was pushed into taking into account the two things together…. “Giving” some mental peace, and “not taking” away the other’s life! At that innocent age, the solution was too simple. Just avoid getting into their way. Still better, ‘oblige’ them doing things ONLY their way. Well, it was only for a while. I was back into my own agenda, taking more care this time, to avoid being ‘conspicuous’. That is how I could formulate the idea of ‘mystic’ way of doing things! (The initiation into it took place much later only, of course!).

These kind of instances happen to almost all people during their kid days. Nothing very special(about it). Only the memories are very special, simply because it was an intense experience, bereft of any ‘attachments’ then! It is fortunate, if also, the concepts stay back within us. My experience is that it does help to evolve into deeper spiritual concepts.

For some reason, I was tempted to take up an ‘ordinary looking question’ about ‘mental peace’. There was a nice ‘catch’ when the asker posed a condition about forgetting love, affection and relations.

Psn(29^th May, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110527211339AAUcXth

How to attain mental peace?

How one can attain mental peace ? A state of mind when one did not feel sad and remain always pleased. Is it necessary to forget about all love affection and relations to achieve this state?

My answer:

A child is already at mental peace.
An animal is already at mental peace.
Both these worry only when basic wants become urgent.
We seldom lose that mental peace for basic wants. The bulk of quarrel all over the world is not for basic necessities.
But, the child and the animal do not have that deep level of self awareness. That is the difference. So their peace also is not retained at will.
Love, affection and relations do not cause disturbance to mental peace if we do not put conditions. Please see, "unconditional" love, affection or relationship does not "expect" anything in return. When there is no expectation (or very little of it), the inner peace is free from outside situation. Outside situation is never at the control of any individual. We know this. But we do not "maintain" the awareness when there is a mismatch between what we 'like' and what the outside situation happens to be at a given point of time. That alone disturbs the mental peace. Nothing else. Everyone knows, becoming angry reduces intelligence during that period. But when already angry, this 'knowing' is not really maintained.

Freeze-Response

“Freeze” is the word used by the police and the villains “alike” when they try to take full control over a person (as we see in movies too!).

But what if, a person needlessly responds with a ‘freeze’ at all occasions? A kid learns hard the lessons, and when the question paper is given out in the exam hall, the first unwitting response is a ‘freeze’ that chills the fingers holding the question paper, the known answers seem to just evaporate into thin air! The better response would have been to fight or ‘flight-from-question, using choice of any-five out of ten’ etc. Such better-responding students manage to ‘cook’ up some answer, using a few “key” words from here and there, and manage to squeeze out a few ‘grace’ marks at least, and boost up the aggregate marks to a ‘respectable’ score overall! That ‘freezing’ kid ends up scoring a bit lesser than the marks actually deserved for the intense study, hard work, and the knowledge acquired all through! (Good reputed organizations have excellent HR tools, which identify such “average-scorers-due to-freeze response”, and hire them at a lesser cost, and then ‘squeeze’ out the better productivity in a “cost-effective” way, and pocket the residual profits!). This fight-flight candidate learns the art of ‘managing well’ with ‘available-gimmicks’ and ends up as a good ‘marketing’ executive, pockets a tidy sum, climbing up the business ladder. These are generalized examples, to illustrate the pattern of fall outs. In real life, other aspects also affect the attitude, situations vary and so also the results.

Why a few of us ‘freeze’ was the question. It is not often that we find such a deep question. Even those who are experts at fight-flight responses, do freeze when “confronted inadvertently” with spiritual-related situations/issues in their lives! That is when they “really” realize that they were “really” never free from a deep-lying “freeze” response system within! Someday, everybody might have to concede, that those who manage to avoid a freeze-response to spiritual aspect of life are fortunate, and if from an early life, then it is “very very” fortunate!

(There was even a saying, “If you find suddenly that you are surrounded by “too many” friends, start telling them your problems, worries etc, and in no time, they would all vanish. Those who still stay back are true friends!” This is one advantage of using the ‘freeze’ tactics on others!)

psn(6^th May, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110505182725AAvzQXM

Why do I freeze when I'm scared instead of using my fight or flight response?

Well basically the question explains it, I've noticed when I get scared I just freeze...I don't flee or fight...why?

My answer:

At cellular levels, the early responses as a child become impulses, instincts and then habits. It starts right from within the womb. (For example, there was a story of an instance where a doctor treating a pregnant woman had to induce a slight burn injury at the abdomen of the woman, to make the child withdraw its limb and stay crouched tight in the womb, instead of stretching out the limb and causing discomfort to the mother. As a kid, when we "experience" a burn injury, we 'withdraw' our affected part from the source of pain, also like during an electric shock).

Over a period of time, if there is a significant absence of 'instances-to-learn-from' to also stay back and fight or to run away, our response system gets habituated to withdrawal. And, freezing is the process. A tortoise withdraws its limbs inwards when it senses danger (it can neither run or fight... its hard shell is the only defense).

Providing examples and varieties of response-systems constitutes a very significant aspect of training a child. (A typical example would be, a person "thinking" of HOW TO STOP THIS TURBULENT MIGHTY RIVER, and then conceiving the idea of building a dam, instead of just helplessly watching like others, the floods swallowing lives, and material for years, ages, centuries! ). The very Education System has to take care of this aspect. Freezing is not necessarily an act of fear, or cowardice. But that is what logic would try to tell us 'instantly' (For example, a soldier, who infiltrates into enemy area to reach the center-most point would 'freeze' momentarily, to escape notice by a guard passing by, to avoid catching attention half way, and to avoid abort of "mission" half way! The clue is, these responses are wonderful, when we do it consciously, in full awareness, and good alertness EACH time!

A good question. The purpose of the question has a very deep and wide reach. Thanks!

Linguistic Impact

We often recognise the mother tongue of a person from the accent in which some other language is spoken.

Way beyond that, we also see the impact of the language, especially the colloquial in vogue, which affects the attitude to some significant extent. Typically, when two people who speak the same native tongue meet at an ‘off-site’ location the compatibility levels are far better when they speak the local language, instead of their common mother tongue. There is mix of contrast in this aspect. They do rejoice having seen somebody who speaks their mother tongue, but such joy is short lived, and should be spanned if it is to last, not on a cohabitation-basis. That is exactly the point. Exceptions are always there.

It was perhaps under this backdrop that a wonderful question caught my attention.

There was a deeper twist to the question. It was about the “cognitive process” ….. being ‘affected’ by the language, the mother tongue in particular. We cannot rule out entirely the relevance of the question, especially when we find the ‘Urdu’ language, which by itself induces certain grace amidst the speakers, especially the ones skilled at the language. This language is able to effortlessly express certain subtle emotions leaving the bulk of many prominent global languages languishing behind, in its competition. Even a simple work like ‘Thanks’ finds direct translation only in Urdu, to its perfection. It is not about trying to compare and elevate one language by devaluing another. Each language has many unique characteristics, which makes it incomparable. For instance, Telugu is considered the sweetest. The best and bulk of musical compositions (Carnatic classical) are found in Telugu language only. Similarly, Tamil has only light consonants, which makes it the only language that can be loudly spoken by a lady even during the advanced stage of pregnancy!

So, it was the “process” of cognition that needed attention. Obviously perception and its levels was what the question tried to address.

PSN(5^TH May, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110428165413AAqtxzp

Are our cognitive processes affected by our mother language?

My reply:

Cognitive processes get 'conditioned' over a period of time, due to deterioration in the perception levels.
Perception deteriorates due to preoccupied mind. Babies are at the peak of cognitive processes upto the age of 2 at least. The question occurs because the language is picked up around the age of 2 and onwards, and then on the cognition percentage drops gently but steadily. It is not the language by itself, but the conditioning of mind into which the language drives a person. Cognition is the function of the intellect, which by itself, and importantly, when left to itself, is at peak levels. For example, the cognition of gravity happened when the mind was relaxed, silent but alert, when the eyes saw the apple fall. The lid of the tea kettle blew up due to steam pressure, and we got the locomotives. The water overflowed displacing the odd-sized, odd-dimensioned body immersed in the bath tub, and there was "Eureka" (the famous ratio between mass and volume!). All these are demonstrable examples of excellent 'cognition processes, not affected by language, because when the mind is silent, alert and relaxed, language has no scope to interfere (not even the verbal thought processes)

Love Break

Oh! It does sound like some “commercial” break (for those TV ads!)…

The break in relationship is what is meant.

During those black and white movie days, I do remember the audience voice a deep appreciation in almost a chorus, when that hero or the heroine stage-manages a love-break, feigning some treachery, just to save the other from abrupt, premature widowhood/widower hood, as also to holdback the information about being stricken by some fatal disease (usually it is cancer, in those days, since this was the only sure-death disease that common folk were aware of!).

But that is not the only kind of love that would break us apart.

What if a sprinter loses a leg? A percussion artist or a painter loses a finger? A football player finds the kneecap injury incurable? A vocalist loses the vocal chords?

And in most marriages the better half tastes like a bitter half after the initial glamour! Getting along for the ‘rest’ of the life is not an easy thing, when this love breaks!

It is excellent, if the youngsters seek and find clarity by themselves for themselves, since the whole concept is purely “experiential”, and somebody can give only some kind of indicative reference by way of inspiration/motivation.

It is indeed worth the effort, because, if the work, the duty, becomes like a love-affair, then the rest of the life seems restful, though hectic !

Psn(27^th April, 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110425031831AAwIa0V

The question:

What does if love break?

When friendship/ relationship breaks, enemity arise?
What does if love break?

My answer:

When love breaks, only two possibilities.
First, the usual possibility, a dejection, a seeking afresh, a search 'all over again' , etc. (It is the dejection, the depression, the unfulfilled desire that may give rise to a negative emotion, an emotion which is opposite of love--the positive emotion. The vulnerability due to this dejection is far more, and seldom gives the needed 'space' for a person to restart, to begin afresh!).
..
Second, the unusual, the uncommon, the rare, the lucky/fortunate possibility. Clarity about the nature of relationship. Even death 'breaks' the narrow love of the proximity, and clarity elevates a person to NOW EXPERIENCE the bodiless being as a part of oneself. So nothing prevents from holding the person within us, in our heart, even though at gross levels that 'other' person refuses to allow us to see his/her face even!
..
(A wonderful question, indeed! A person who is keen to look deeper, for that person a wonderful possibility opens up!) Thanks for that!

Cursorily a curse, eventually a blessing.

It is an oddity that I happened to notice, which made me delve a little deeper into the significance of the usage, of a couple of words. While the ‘rest of the country’ sought for asheervad (blessing), people belonging to God’s own country just asked for Anugraha (benediction)!.

And now somebody is keen to know whether we are cursed or blessed?

The intent is laudable. Somebody is very keen to get his exact bearings! To begin a journey the very first thing we need to know is where we are right now! Without knowing that, no sense of direction can ‘work’ accurately. It is wonderful to see the youth waking up very early, while they still have the age, energy, the strong will, and still more importantly, the strong sense of discretion. Once the clarity occurs, everything HAS to work their way, and everything around HAS to work like a blessing!

That is what motivates me to ‘hang on’…… for a while longer at least…….. The keenness of the youth to know the basics, the fundamentals, AFRESH! Just as they wanted to know the subtle difference between ‘need’ and ‘greed’, now it is the still more vital thing, the curse, and the blessing! I used to ask the ‘elders’ who are invited to “grand” occasions, for seeking their ‘Blessings”, as to how and what actually they do, when they stretch out their palms down turned and ‘shown’ facing, or at best, placed on the head of the youngster making the physical obeisance (namaskar) to receive the blessing! A diplomatic smile is all they manage to ‘squeeze’ out of their faces!

To me, personally, the very question, the seeking for the answer, the inquisitiveness, the sincerity, seems to invoke the blessings of the blessed ones! May it happen to them!

Yours Clandestinely,

Psn(26^th April, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110419101647AA6xPZf

How do we know that we are cursed or blessed?

How do we know that we are cursed or blessed while living, ones eternal destiny is known only after his death. Your view please?

My Answer:

As long as our acceptance does not deepen enough, even blessings looks like a curse!
We need to know the basic difference between a curse and a blessing, besides the commonly accepted difference that they are opposites of each other!
It is actually, a benediction versus curse.
Blessing never comes in the way of a curse, ever!
Blessings are always in disguise. We 'feel' blessed. We do not 'see' that we are blessed. The confusion is just because blessings are used to mean material possessions, comforts, benefits, etc.
Only a few people use the words 'benediction' and 'blessing' with amazing clarity. I came across a wedding invitation, which requested the invitee to make their 'presence' available at the sacred occasion of the wedding of their daughter, bless the young couple, and THEREBY, Benedict the parent host who extends the invitation!

Transformation of Need into Greed

It is not at all a new thing for any of us, this transition/transformation, from need to greed.

There was even a joke! A villager on his visit to a metro town for the first time, was warned by a experienced ‘senior’ to bargain for half the quoted price, when buying anything….. “Be careful, it is written all over your face that you are from a village…”

Now this villager took this advice too carefully, and went to buy an umbrella. He asked for 50 when the price quoted was 100. Being the very first customer of the day, the poor shopkeeper felt sentimentally not good to return the customer empty handed. So he conceded. But at once the villager now asked for 25 since 50 was thee new ‘quoted price’! The haggling went on, and out of sheer frustration and suppressed anger the shopkeeper shouted “Please take it for free and get lost”…. But our villager friend would not give up, and asked for two umbrellas as free! (The quoted offer is one for free!). The greed crept into the need, somewhere, and now we have a hearty laugh.

In fact, there are political parties that have a slogan of ‘From each according to ability, to each according to need’. And, in practice, it changes to “from each beyond his capacity to each according to greed”! The taxes throttle the common man, and greed of corrupt people in power grows and grows.

It is not that only very few are greedy. It is obvious because of the magnitude. For most of us, this greed camouflages and presents itself in totally different colour. It is very relevant to know how to fix the need. Because, need keeps changing according to situation. The size of the operation or surgery decides the need of additional blood. Doctors prescribe needless quantity of tablets, medicines and drugs which end up a pile of junk, beyond the expiry date. At least these wastages would have saved many poor lives! We do need to do something very strongly about this wastage that follows the immediate footsteps of the greed. It is the greed for a ‘name’ that makes a person throw a lavish party, where another set of greedy people respond by wasting precious enriched food to the extent of 80 % for sheer ‘fashion’ sake. Corruption has reached dizzy heights due to this greed.

The fight against corruption has sprung out of need to curb the greed! It would be nice if the people who are ‘convicted’ for corruption, should not be allowed to even respect the NATIONAL FLAG! They should never be invited to flag-hoisting functions, etc. They should be kept away from national flag. May be, this step would deter their greed from growing beyond the tolerance capacity of common man’s pocket!

This urge or upsurge to fight against corruption which is the result of greed , would have naturally led to a logical question, as to why/when the need becomes a greed! No point in pointing fingers against others, when the seed of greed is about to germinate inside the ‘need’! So, the question is genuine, and should be respected with a genuine attempt to answer it and logically too. There are several aspects to the reply. I just make a humble beginning by way of inspirational effort.

Psn(25^th April, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110419013430AApza3f

Why/ when does need transform to greed?

SL
how does we know that we are in need or greed?

My reply:

When the needs turns too personal, way beyond the need of the 'situation'.
Our body is "ours", and "we " are not the body itself. So, when body needs something it is 'situational' need. When we look out for tasty junk food, it is not the body's need but our greed's need!
Please look at other living beings. There is no scope to point fingers at their greed! When the deer loiters within the reach of a huge lion, we can be certain of two things... the deer has good perception that it can sense the difference between a hungry lion, and a well fed lion. Second, the lion is incapable of greed (the greed to eat inclusive).
Animals cannot sacrifice too. We can do both.. we can be greedy, we can choose to forgo as an act of sacrifice.

Merciful Killing

I felt amused to find a question that seemed to suggest that few of us are just one step 'beyond' from, the (now-a-days) “almost acceptable” mercy-killing called euthanasia.

Whether we are tired of living by ourselves, or we are sympathetic looking at the others, applying brakes on an ‘as is where is’ condition is the first ‘idea’ that strikes to an innocent mind. Please see, even a kid, all of a sudden, at half-way on a walk-journey towards a market, theatre or so, suddenly exclaims ‘I want to go home.. NOW”. The kid simply refuses to go even one step further. Parents/elders learn thus, what patience really is! (The same kids, having tasted the comforts of gadgets, automation, ‘ready-to-eat’ /use stuffs, now apply the same brakes when at a job (increasing attrition rate!), or when into a marital obligation(increasing ‘divorce’ rates).

The question was direct, to the point, and ‘all inclusive’ (meaning, once and for all, solve all problems!).

Psn(24^th April, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110423175728AAYnj2Z

If death is liberation, then does it make moral sense to kill as many beings as possible in your lifetime?

Why is death wrong? Why do we assume life is better, have you ever thought about it? Sometimes life is hell on earth. Breaking one free from life could be the greatest gift you could give to another living soul, particularly if you believe in God, because after they die they would be reunited with God.

My answer:

After a continuous and long bus journey, , almost everybody gets down, stretches out the limb in all possible directions, lets out some freak sounds of great relief and "freedom" / "liberation" (except the driver, who is already damn fresh!).
Now, a kid observes that "stopping of bus means a lot of liberation" to all the poor passengers, and so pushes out the driver on the way, and dashes the bus off the mountain into a gorge, or against another bus or a tree, or a train (All that is needed is to abruptly STOP the bus!). The passengers who manage a bit of survival have to undergo a 'painful journey' to the nearest hospital, That is how people who die suddenly reach the nearest womb, and come out with a few deformities even!
..
(Any time, it feels wonderful to gently bring the vehicle to a slow halt, apply brakes, engage handbrakes, majestically open the door, dramatically walk out of the Car, wave hand cheerfully at others... all this "AT WILL", consciously, in full awareness, THAT is liberation. Even the seemingly 'normal' death that we think so, is not really 'at will'. The body is unfit to sustain life ... maybe age, dis-ease, deformity,, or what ever. Just leave the body, when healthy, is what is 'liberation from body'. Once this is possible, the next liberation can even be thought of, now. "The liberation of the "being",,,,," )}

Conscious Compassionate Creativity!

For too long a time, I was just ‘average’ in about most of the things that ordinary people do in life (mercifully, not about life). I had no reason to suspect the presence of any sort of creativity within me. As a school-going kid, my only experience with ‘creativity’ trying to surge inside me was when I visited sea shore, where we are allowed to ‘freely’ access ‘any’ amount of wet sand to play with, but only till sunset. I did not have to try for too long. All I could manage was a huge ‘mountain’ (anything which was about my own kid-size was of course, ‘huge’!). Or I managed a zig-zag-tunnel in sand restricted in its length and depth to the extent of my tiny arm. At best it was a combination of both, a tunnel half way up that mound, where an other kid manages to have a through-and-through visibility.

That was my creativity at its best during childhood! At home, there was nothing ‘creative’ to try with. And when visiting ‘other’s’ home, everything was non-touchable! So, there was a conflict of interests between ‘well-disciplined’ and ‘creative’ abilities.

Any way, there was yet one field which no one could ever restrict in any way. The thought process! The only good thing that occurred to me at that tiny pint-sized age was to try to equip myself with best tools to proceed with that thought-process-creativity. I wonder if it was that which eventually pushed me into a spiritual quest!

Anyway, with all giants of ‘creativity-teaching-skills’ all around (business schools, etc), I too tried to look at creativity, and two other basics (3-in-one, in fact!), in my own humble way, in all modesty, since I knew I had never ever demonstrated a ‘sizable’ creativity at any time, when somebody asked it on the ‘Yahoo!Answers’ forum.

(Now, I wonder if it quenches the thirst of average people like me, or something akin to ‘creativity for dummies’… .. etc!).

PSN(23^rd April, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110416220727AAQXQyA

True or false --consciousness, compassion & creativity are the basis of life--osho?

How we can develop all three at a time

My answer:

When we start experiencing more and more people and things around us as a part of ourselves, all these three 'have to' develop!
(A mother who is in dire need, and driven to a very extreme situation, brings forth all these three in an amazingly unbelievable manner! The steady growth of a deep sense of social responsibility, expansion of inclusiveness, in a person, etc... all these are portrayed too well in an old Hindi Movie, "Mother India" . I even wonder, if the title is not a mere matter of chance! The heroine simply grows, evolves, right through the movie. She would almost 'sell' herself to save her kids, and later, she did not hesitate to shoot down one of her kids, due to a deep sense of social responsibility! She 'created' a awareness in a whole village of innocent people!)

Being self

“Paradoxical” is the word that describes the feeling that I had to go through when I could bring myself to write something about ‘being self’.

The experience is rich, but when it comes to conveying the experience, there is a lot of hesitation. The hesitation is about the apprehension that the reader might be easily led to misconstrue what is being sought to be said.

The simple experience is that at least till the time I could complete about 5 to 7 years of schooling, I never knew any other way to be than myself! And honestly, it never occurred to me that others would feel any differently than this. The earliest memory of being required to be something else than being myself, was when a new teacher suddenly looked up at me and announced in the class “You will be the monitor”. There was a gush of strange experiences surging within me. It was almost like suddenly finding our image when looked at into a mirror resembles a strange monster! I knew almost all the trouble makers in the class, who would easily find a place in the list to be created by a class-monitor. The reason was simple. All of them were my very close friends! This was the only unenviable part of the task to be performed by a monitor. Other than that, it was mostly running errands for the teacher. Fortunately for me, this new assignment did not last more than a couple of days, and nobody really felt me as a ‘monitor’, and the whole thing was forgotten too soon. Even I would have forgotten it, but for that strange and new experience of being something other than myself! The experience kept haunting me, and used to ‘trap’ me, at the most inconvenient times, into a deep thought process!

Later, I just happened to fit into any role given to me, so that ‘being’ something else really never troubled me.

Much later, as spiritual quest began deepening, more surprises awaited me. The ‘role’ at times seemed more original than the ‘self’ that I was so well accustomed with! And it is these roles that usually irked people around me quite often. It is not that I could not contain myself, to remain peaceful with others. But I could not hold back, what I could do when I saw the potential within the others around. This struggle, this effort, this persistence helped me to understand, what not-being-self can do to others, or anyone.

It is in this backdrop that I did attempt to answer a question that had some fragrance of a genuine ‘seeking’. The details that followed the question impressed me a lot. Especially, the mention of a ‘mask’ that covers the ‘self’!

PSN(18^th April, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiIML1KwXzg1bsu_T4GVKuaRHQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20110331032637AAw1cP4

Can I be myself again? (A psychological question too)?

For those who have read my previous 2 questions , you would be more aware of my problem.Wearing a mask character made me lose my own personality (as I think).Pretending to be someone else for the comfortability of others have destroyed myself,what I was.Now I am filled with a horrible emotionlessness state.My high passions are gone, my thirst to study is also gone.Can I ever regain what I was , can I ever get that fiery spirit of passion and desires of my education and job.I want them as at present my mind is very blank.I have no desire to improve in anything.My academic brilliance is falling.I studied very well in previous , lowerclasses.But when the need for study is at the highest point in my academic life(Next Year Board Exam) I am not feeling any urge to study.I am a mere teenager with the whole of future infront of me.I know perfectly well that if I don't put on my best efforts in my education my previously cherished dreams , hopes all will be no more.But still even being aware of these facts I don't feel a thing.I have at least 10 years of education waiting infront of me.I don't know if I am feeling like this from this early age,what would my attitude be at the most hard work demanding(academicaly) times of my life.I am about to face my ClassX board exam around this time next year.If I am not preparing I will lose,by cheating not only myself but also my loving parents wh have set the expectations high in me.If I do so,then I don't see any point in living anymore.I just want my previous self back again.I want my passion or the ardent desire to concentrate on my goal.I had dreamt a lot about my brilliant perfomance in the coming class and in the XII too.But at present ,do you think I can make it?Now only I realise that having no stress and tension can ruin a man's life.I just want my spirit of passion back.Once my friend told me not to have much expectations.So I stopped expecting and you know without hoping or expecting,a man can never do his best.This too happened to meI know it is a lot boring to read till this end and I am sorry about it.But please help me as this is a most disturbing time for me.I would be very grateful if you tell me some effective study tips too.

My answer:

Very relevant, to mention that this is a psychological question too.
Those who are having that subtle ability to 'choose', for them, it is a philosophical question.
Those who are driven by the crazy state of mind, for them it is a psychological question, since their mind is just available with an open window through which somebody else can open, with lots of restrictions.
.
Now, please see, the very fact that the mind is asking about it, is enough proof that there is the ability to decide, the ability of choice, to choose. Which simply means, we have the 'discerning' power. This is available only to those who are in this 'human frame' ! If an open mind can understand the value, the significance, worth and time-limitation of this 'discerning ability' (the precious human lifetime!), only then something worthwhile "becomes" (happens-to-be) the choice of such a person. For all others, it is just 'yet-another-life'!
..
It is to be considered very fortunate that there is a thought process which has discovered that 'wearing a mask character made me lose my own personality....'
..
To make a humble beginning, please try out a very simple, but quite ancient and time tested device. Breath-watching. Elaborating the benefits, would raise the expectation so high, that now, the expectations itself would become a stumbling block for the benefits to accrue. (One thing can be said, to inspire, motivate, or even to reassure , that, when this breath awareness deepens, the thought process would become cohesive, smooth, and positive. Once the positive takes over, things would fit in at its proper place, and then you would be more towards your own very self!).
Best wishes.

Implication

These legal terms are at times much more honest, outspoken than most people around! Perhaps, that is why, the ‘conditions (that) apply’ are in very fine print!

What about the converse implications? In our day-to-day life, we often tend to overlook the impact, the consequences of these types of implications. Whenever we are too emphatic about our preferences, choices, etc, we are incurring the wrath of ‘excluding’ someone/something else that deserves perhaps, even a better attention! Even the ‘match-fixing’ (whether it is cricket, or a marriage alliance), works entirely on implied parts of ‘innocent looking’ pleasantries!

This ‘implying’ aspect plays a very significant role in interpersonal skills, and its evolvement. For instance, after years of keen observation, I had been suggesting to the superiors under whom I worked, to try to appreciate the person who is reasonably punctual, for a change, instead of lamenting at those who are punctually late for work! But the effect is very slow, and almost imperceptible, though very much a certainty, and may be therefore, that I really never got to see my suggestions imple-mented! Possibly, the bosses themselves were inadvertent victims of the phenomenon of ‘implication’!

All this calls for a discrete sense of discerning ability, and coupled with sharp alertness, and keen awareness of the witnessing aspect within the self, so as not to become entangled during the process of implication!

I found a question, seeking clarification about something that generally ‘implies’ a very laudable aspect! “I am proud to be an Indian” is the prescription. And here the question seeks clarification about the ‘latent’ violence in it! Both are valid, but only to a person who is able to comprehend the ‘implications’ which are not really ‘declared’ assets (personal assertions).

(I was even reminded of a joke by a famous journalist, a bit controversial one too, who brought out the funny aspect of the implication, when we try to overdo the repetition of calling somebody “Father of the nation”…. Then, what are other ordinary people?)

psn(16^th April, 2011)

The question:

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110413195850AA2WtbO

Why jiddu krishnamurti said -When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European,?
When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent

My reply:

It is just because of the 'implication' that we are so attached to, when we call ourselves as so-and-so.
It usually implies that we are a bit rigid about it. And rigidity offers resistance, which is violent. Definitely, J K did not imply any "active" violence. Please see the context. There is a potential violence that could turn active under severe provocation. It is the subtle vulnerability that is hinted at.
(We all enjoyed the movie "Independence Day"... maybe, that is because, we call ourselves 'earthlings'! And it was violence all over. Spirituality seeks to differentiate such 'qualified' violence/conditioned violence!)

Acceptability of Medicines

Sometimes, a poor background presents a few presents, which act as a kind of blessing in disguise. One such benefit is the focus on food during meals! There was nothing else to distract while eating, when I was a kid! As simple as that! And added to that was the lack of electricity to light up that humble bulb (the only source of light then), for the two months of summer holidays, when we paid our annual visit to native place. So the night meals (dinner) was soon after the music was played at a nearby temple, to announce the closure of the sanctum sanctorum, for that day (no wall clock, to decide the dinner time!). My grandmother would ‘allow’ food to be served to the children first at the dim lights of a small lamp, and then others would eat soon after. When this kind of focus happens due to compulsions of situation, the ‘nature of focus’ that we are required to perform with, turns into a pattern, which our very system, our very anatomy gets tuned to, as a sort of second nature, or habit. Something like an embedded program, a default functionality of a gadget. That is exactly the point I wished to state as my experience. Well, this, incidentally does impact a few other traits, in a very subtle manner.

We often hear that the ‘body rejects the medicine’ in the case of a ‘sinking’ patient. I used to wonder, how the body would ‘reject’ something. I could understand that the body is unable to accept something (may be in the “present-form” like some of those draft-enactments that the opposition members of parliament, reject, for sheer sake of diplomacy!). Yes, some un-chewed items of food stuff manages to escape all the check-posts of our digestive system, during its journey through it, and we may find it ‘in-tact’ the next day. That is the idea of ‘present-form’ (presented form too!).

Doctors keep changing the brand names of drugs during frequent visit, just to make sure that some ‘presented-form’ of that drug gets accepted by the patient’s body. This pattern is common with people of ‘rigid’ attitude. (Maybe, to some extent, the doctor ‘obliges’ the recent-most visitor-medical-representative of that brand, also).

What is surprising, is that children seem to accept a few types of tastes like bitter, sour (the two variations of sour), when the ‘presenting’ hands change! So, I felt there is something about that negative-positive attitude too!

I felt tempted to give out some additional inputs, just to inspire a focus on the aspect of ‘focus’ on food, when a question came up about negative attitude, and its lesser positive action of medicines on such people.

Psn(7^th April, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110404202555AAJ49Sm

Do you think medicines never act positively on the people who have negative attitude for life?

Additional details:

This question is asked for those who have lost interest in life and medication is not working on them at all......EVery .doctor says only positive attitude for life can create miracle with medicine.....now whom to blame doctor ,medicine or patient .

My answer:

Yes. To a significant extent.
The exception is when medicines are administered under anesthetic. Even then, the attitude causes some negativity at the cellular level, and it makes the medicine less acceptable, than the ideal condition where a normal dose brings a desirable level of result.
..
Even when eating food, it does matter, if we are paying attention to the food that we eat. When the brain or mind is inattentive, the stomach barely 'manages' to digest to some extent, and throws out many nutrients as waste due to mistaken identity. The taste buds send signal to the brain which in turn tells the stomach to excrete the correct fluids to digest that particular food. We notice this in a very 'pronounced' manner when we watch children eating 'tasty' or 'delicious' food very eagerly. Another example is, the food that helps to 'pick' up the tools/raw-materials, to form eyes, etc for a child in the womb, the brain tells the tongue to 'seek' sour type of food. Please see, when a large slice of a sour mango is bitten suddenly, the eyes squeeze and close, naturally! A pregnant lady requests for that sour dishes during the early months of pregnancy. Traditionally, there is a practice to give a large variety of sour dishes to that lady. The stomach picks up varieties of 'ingredients'/raw materials, to help the formation of healthy pair of eyes, and /or other organs, and does the necessary task. The cells of blood, etc are having very good cellular-level-intelligence to do its job, without our interference, or our own deep knowledge about anatomy. But we have to do some minimum contribution of ''participation' in the food/medicine/whatever. Now, in ancient India, they made this into a tradition/ritual, to treat food as sacred, to pray before meals, etc. , so that people would automatically pay the required attention to taste buds, obey basic laws of eating only when hungry, chewing properly, never wasting precious food etc. So we had fewer dis-ease cases then. Now it is Fast-food, junk-food, chemical-medicines, commercial-doctors, needless-checklists(scan, lab-tests, specialists who charge 'extra'.... and what not!). All this contributes to the 'aam aadmi' becoming unwilling to retain a positive attitude towards medicines/medical expenses/etc.
..
It is a matter of choice, now , whom to blame (except ourselves, of course). Fortunately, there is no law as yet, to just 'blame'. The problem will come only when we try to en-cash that blame (seeking compensation for inadequate medical care!).
..
Awareness is the only solution. Awareness may deepen perception. Deeper perception would improve clarity. Better clarity would pave way to positive action, instead of futile indulgence in 'blame-game'.
(Hope this lengthy answer would find a way to seek some tolerance with the readers!)

Smile Courtesy

We have enough ‘material’ about benefits of smiling, service with a smile, smile as a cost effective customer service etc.
But seldom have we found ‘genuineness’ in a smile.
That is why the question tempted me.
..
In fact, when I took my maiden flight about an year ago, I felt aghast at the plastic smile by the lady who was going through the motions of explaining the actions needed to be done in an emergency situation, with that air-filled safety balloon gadget placed below the seats. The talk was done by a pre-recorded noise, and all she had to do was synchronize the explanatory animation gestures! The struggle to retain the cheeks elongated sideways to simulate a purported smile was visibly quite painful for that entire duration of few minutes of playback of pre-recorded ‘talk’. I was under the illusion that, being well paid, they might be dedicated at least ‘during’ the smile, though not during the entire flight.
..
And I re-experienced afresh, a tremendous contrast, when I got into a local ordinary bus, soon after coming out of the airplane/airport. It so happened that an old lady was day-dreaming and delayed to get down at her stop, and the bus conductor, poorly paid, shabbily dressed, was visibly annoyed, and shouted at her, to become more alert and try not to miss her alighting stop. Fortunately, the bus was less crowded, and getting emptied when I was to get down at the last stop, and I managed a humble thanks to that conductor for his “genuine” concern for the passenger, and her safety and convenience, and fully endorsed his rough/crude tone, since that was the only way we could get the proper attention of a lady of that age, background, and poor literacy, especially, when the conductor was choice-less about the very brief time available, lack of proper ambience to think of niceties, decorum etc.
..
I was quite unexpectedly rewarded, when he acknowledged my appreciation with a gentle genuine smile, and in utter humility, and gratitude that “there are people who do notice their sense of social responsibility, passenger-concerns, amidst several job-constraints”. Now I took time to tell him the contrast I noticed when I was up in mid sky about half an hour ago, when the smile was plastic (despite the ‘elite-class’ high-literate passengers, and a high paid job, etc!).
..
I feel fortunate that my answer found a favourable appeal.
Psn

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110331231131AAixtm3
The question:
A genuine smile is rare....right ?
Additional Details: ...rare to find.

Superstition

Where ever there are people, there would be at least a few superstitions going around. The only problem is when there is a mismatch about belief in a particular superstition. There are problems about nomenclature too. Those who are staunch non-believers claim that they do not believe in any superstition. But their definition of superstition is yet to become ‘all inclusive’, is all I can say! Are they never under some false notion, fallacy? Just that their superstition is a bit private.
..
The problem here is not about how to deal with ‘superstitious’ people. It is about how it is going to affect open-mindedness!

I had the opportunity to grow amidst varieties of such superstitious people, I would say. The experience had enriched me and my ability to approach with superstitions. I have to acknowledge in all humility, that this exposure to subtle hurdles contributed a lot towards my growth into deeper perceptions, open mindedness, which are essential tools for spiritual journeys. I had the opportunity to observe an evolved person who even joked about a whole ‘Zoo’ inside a religion where Gods worshiped are many and in almost all animal forms, and yet the very same person led us into the deeper concepts of the very same religion, in full awareness, and deeper experience! So no way to escape answering a question such as this, where the aspirant is keen to avoid garbage of any kind, especially superstitious garbage when striving towards being open minded..

(Superstitiously?) yours,
(Yeah, ........ till there is a living experience, any ritualistic 'salutation' is a mere fallacy, false notion… ain’t it.. eh?)
psn

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110325202527AA9cz63

Does being open minded mean to let just any old superstitious garbage in there?

Human Bondage

Love seems to be a form of bondage, which would snatch away the independence out of us. The way religion is preached, it seems quite obvious that the known attributes of God was likely to create a heavy bondage, which would take away that precious independence forever! Maybe, a few of the atheists could have sprung up due to this! Whether this happens really in this way or not, the logic seems sound, if it is going to happen thus. The problem is about the ‘experience’, and the mind always suggests, ‘why take a chance?’

I used to wonder, if a person happens to be the lone dweller of an isolated island right from the birth, how would that person be ‘categorized’ by religion, whether an atheist or a theist? That fellow may not even know that he is a ‘human’ being, till he comes across another sample! For no fault of his, he has to be ‘a non- believer’, since he has never uttered the name of God, he has never worshipped, etc etc!!

Relationship would put us under a great strain of bondage, due to that unconditional love. So unless a person is really ready to take such a chance, it does seem wise to ‘limit’ the love. But, while dealing with God, we may not be having “a level playing ground/field”.
That is exactly the question that this asker had! It is no wonder that this asker could not even decide the worth of the question, and just left it to vote. I did ‘love’ the frankness about asking even, of such a question.

Psn(8th March, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110301014758AAzwp5Y
Which is highest, absolute independence or love of god? Why?
If you don't love God, he will not care for you. He can place you in maya or illusion? If you surrender he will protect you. If you don't surrender and don't love him, he will place you in maya. If you love him he will take care of you. If this is the case then, I demand God, to destroy me forever i.e. no individuality at all. If I exist, then I should be absolutely independent, I should not depend on any body for my happiness. If this is not possible i.e. absolute independence or loosing individuality irreversible then I hate my existence and God's existence. There fore I strongly feel that absolute independence is what I want in the ultimate analysis. I want to know whether absolute independence is possible or not? Whether irreversible loss of individuality is possible or not?


My answer:
For the demands in this question to be met, we will have to change the attributes of God. Effectively, we have to reduce the powers of God (since we are not capable, we have to ask God to reduce His own powers!). Only then, we can be 'free from Him'! Right now He is within us also. Right now, He is capable of loving us even though we may not love Him. Please look at the "known" qualities of God. Most of the preachers would find it difficult to match these qualities and their teachings, when they tell us that God 'expects' from us (something/anything!). Expectation is possible only for a helpless powerless person. God does not have any expectations! At least He is free from expectations, desires, problems, and the urge to control us or the urge to create Maya to trouble us! It is convenient to blame some harmless person for all our troubles and God's name is the most convenient one! We are already independent, and also absolutely! We have the freedom to remain in the illusion created by ourselves, that we are enslaved here, and this freedom is unlimited. Only we alone can choose to get out of this illusion, and God has allowed us so much freedom out of utter magnanimity! Very unfortunately, this illusion is so strong, that we cannot believe that we are already independent! It is just a question of "realization" !!! That is why that "enlightenment" is also known by the phrase of "self-realization". And we are allowed ample time. The whole of eternity is waiting patiently, there is no hurry at all. There is also the choice... have the fun all the same, but with full awareness of our independence, freedom, or suffer the illusion all the way!
Best wishes.

Opening up

There is something that still continues to puzzle me. The puzzle is about my own frequency of bumping into a certain pattern, which just seems to suit me too well at that point of time!

Now it is about ‘opening up’ of minds. I could see quite a few questions asking about that open mind, etc. May be, when I start thinking about an aspect quite intensely, I start noticing it all around the place. Anyway, this time, the question was wonderfully worded. Why patronize an ‘open mind’ just for its own sake?

Now, I could not keep away from an opportunity to appeal to the asker’s mind, ( almost like trying to strike when the iron is hot). And the comment was a very pleasing compliment indeed. Beyond that, I got that wonderful reassurance that the answer reached the asker with least possible distortions!

Psn(24th February, 2011)
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110221181650AAgHWNi
Why do we need to listen to those who communicate with an open mind?

My answer:
To be able to breathe easy!
When we have difficulty to breathe, we are put on oxygen , or ventilator etc in an ICU.But that does not compare with that wonderful gush of fresh air that rushes in freely through a very wide open window high up in that huge tall mansion overlooking a vast landscape on a tall mountain!
..
It feels very fortunate to listen to those who communicate with an open mind. Quite miraculously, even we become better receptive, by just listening! (Their openness seems to permeate into us!)
...
It is indeed a wonderful question! (to me, it seems to open the source code of the technology hidden behind that age old prescription of "sat-sangh"... the company of wise people!)

Odd relaxant!

But for this wonderful question, I would have failed to highlight a very simple common thing that most of us would have easily experienced several times, but, perhaps, did not bother to take cognizance of as a relaxant!

Most of us become relaxed during a haircut. Some even tend to fall asleep. I thought this factor may come very handy to try it out as a technique even very consciously. (In fact, I have been providing fun/entertainment to kids asking them to close their eyes, seated on a tall chair, a small robe around them, and just try to feel that hair cut. All I do is take a paper punch (the one that has spring mechanism, and when a thin sheet of paper is to be punched for filing, we insert the edge on this punch, press the handle). Continuous pressing of the handle produces a sound that ‘feels’ almost like a mechanical machine that cuts the hair. Kids enjoy it, and almost become relaxed!).

The best part is that this asker incidentally happened to ‘gift me’ with a wonderful connectivity of two odd things! Relaxation during a hair cut, as also during receiving a teaching!

My answer did find its mark. And pat came the generous acknowledgement with innocent evidence that the asker did “tend” to excel at school! (Once again, I feel fortunate to be able to ‘connect’ to the mind of the asker!)

(I do not at all intend to indulge into suggesting the modalities of ‘how to use’ the idea contained herein, that is, if at all the idea finds any appeal. Each has to work out one’s own way into it. Spiritual practices have far enhanced tools for this, anyways!)

Psn(22nd February, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110221173341AAdY0li
Why does certain odd things relax me?
Like getting a haircut or someone teaching me something. IE say being taught in school or watching someone give a tutorial.

My answer:
Mind game!
Mind induces a bit of tense-ness when we hold on to something, like even an idea!
During the haircut, there is a sort of surrender, unconditional. This mind set, though quite inadvertent, and purely temporary, has a certain impact, a chemical impact on the nerves. Body relaxes, as it hands over the head to the person who does the cutting.

Teaching us also CAN give that opportunity. But very few are fortunate to be able to 'hand over' themselves to somebody who is teaching. So this is a rare and fortunate instance.
..
The mind becomes silent... (Some people tend to fall asleep during the haircut!).

Predictability

Children, up to a certain age are fairly predictable…. In the sense, that their body language, mannerisms, likes and dislikes, responses to toys, things around, mischief-prone temptation-causing items become more or less familiar to elders. The concerned parents know how safe it is to give or snatch away a material like toy, etc.

As we grow, this predictability aspect becomes fuzzy. A youth even finds it difficult to assess one’s own potential, likelihood of affinity for a specialized branch of study at post-matriculation level. The mother finds it difficult to predict her teenage daughter’s vulnerability to ‘outside’ temptations! The mood of the boss is usually unpredictable. Stock market is unpredictable. (At global economy level, a powerful country could not predict the adverse impact of ‘unaccounted’ dollars, when it tried to dump dollar currency into the ‘world-market’, to topple the economy of the native country to which dollars belonged! “Jai ho…..”!!)

Thus confronted with need to predict various things in life, a person succumbs to hero-worship people with better ability to predict. If this ability seems to defy logic, then this prediction-abled person becomes God-like! Thus, predictability seems to enlarge its scope, to include logical skills, diagnostic skills, assessability, imaginative skills, calculative skills, astrological skills, and what not!

My efforts to deter the asker from the temptation to attach too much importance to this predictability did not seem to yield the desired results and quite surprisingly, the answer found a favor despite its lack of appeal in a right sense, to the asker. I was reminded of the comment by a very learned professor, who crowned me with a wonderful phrase, “reaching the mind of the asker”. Well, this time, I did seem to have reached the asker (way beyond the construction of the question…. or , was it constriction?), though perhaps, my answer did not!

Predictability, to me, seems to be an incidental byproduct of deepening of perception, whichever way we try to look at it. And that is why, I added in my answer, that beyond a point, it does not matter to us, whether we employ this ability or not! It is quite another matter that we see a lot of evolved beings consciously spell out their predictions to suit the situation, demonstrating their unmatched ability to seamlessly interweave with the ‘cosmic’ law or its balance! Something that does give an immense sense of satisfaction and a feeling of ample reward in itself to humble beginners like me!

Psn(14th February, 2011)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110213023251AAGTAVi
When the person's life could be imagined by them?
Does it become the god for its predictable?

My answer:
It becomes 'wise' when it becomes more prediction--abled.
But it becomes Godly or more God-like, when it does not matter what happens to life!

Feel

This ‘feel’ is really not that innocent as it looks to be, if my ‘feeling’ is correct!

Examples:
I feel the heat on my forearm, because, I placed it on the window sill and the scorching sun’s light falls on it for too long!
I feel tired / tense /happy / excited / persuaded / enthusiastic /etc
Your voice feels harsh.
Gut feeling
Feels eerie in this place during the dark hours!
I can almost feel the presence that great being when I visit his birth place(he is dead and gone long ago!).
The judge feels that this time that professional liar is telling the truth, but also feels helpless since law does not provide scope to deliver the judgement that the judge’s conscience feels to be just! (After all, courts are there only to administer law according to law!).
..

Now that we are able to get a feel of what I am trying to say about ‘feel’ , I feel it is quite appropriate to pause narrating instances/examples here, and get on with trying to say the next thing to be said.

Well, this is what persuaded me to talk about ‘feelings’.

I had just returned from an unexpected grand treat of immense and intense spiritual experience, having visited a grand ancestral and traditional house for funeral and condolence. Many subtle miracles happened there, and as if nature is generous and liberal, a sample was there for everybody to see it clearly! Two elderly people, just friends, died within the same half an hour, and their funeral had to take place side by side, at the same time, because of inability of their close relatives to reach earlier than that! Amongst the several huge abnormal number of visitors who paid their last respects, several elderly people(both, by age and life experience!), expressed utter surprise at his ‘set’ of coincidences related to these two deaths. Both these were life time friends, having lived to see, and having tasted almost all the varieties of spices of ‘life’! Quite a few of close relatives of both these people, felt a bit guilty having ‘left out to inform’ the other about age related ailments, and failing health, etc. When these close relatives came on contact through ‘mobile’ a whole ‘set’ of coincidences was waiting to shock them! Personally, I would rate this set as the most insignificant of all the other subtler miracles that I ‘felt’!

Being thoroughly drenched in the ‘feels’ of such spiritual experience during the past couple of days, I thoroughly enjoyed the comments of the asker when he too seemed to join the chorus of a feel-beyond-sensory level of perception! So, this time I am thoroughly excused for quoting the ‘appreciation’ part of my own answer, since the ‘feel’ of it minuscule the appreciation itself!
(Quote: ) There is a "FEEL" in your answer which covers you and the readers.Thanks. (Unquote)
(Yeah! The unfolding of deeper perceptions that are beyond sensory level is usually in the form of a ‘feel’ experience, that initiates us into its world!

(Earlier, after having answered, I had ‘felt’ that I did not stand a chance at all, having taken up to plead(advocate) for the lesser popular side of the case! But the deeper feel took over the surface feel this time!)

With rejoice full feelings,
Psn(1st February, 2011)


http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110127205820AAcarrc
Do you get up the moment you come to know that your Boss is on telephone line?
I have seen many stand up even at home while talking to their Boss.An interesting incident is a police Inspector even saluting when a call came from a highest authority.

My answer:
Right from black and white movie days, there have been many jokes about animated talk while speaking on phone.
But, these gestures help focusing the mind. With appropriate gestures, the tone of the voice suits the emotion. (We shake our palms saying 'no' or while refusing.. try altering it like a cheer-wave, bye-bye-style, etc, and utter the same 'no' .. The stress gets diluted. We may argue that it is a matter of practice, etc. Yes with practice, we can swap gestures, and emotions. But if it suits and helps, why not use gestures? )

Getting up , saluting brings emotions from the body, which translates as vibrations, riding on the voice/noise/sound. It is a question of experience or belief. Experience for those who can perceive deep. Belief for those who trust. Also, nothing prevents us from enjoying a joke on those who keep gesturing 'blind' on phone.. they would certainly not mind it, if we do not stretch it too far.

(Please see, when we the better intelligent, better capable talk on phone quite successfully without those hand gestures, animations etc, .. if somebody on the other side happens to break a terribly saddening news, can we hold back the tears? These tears are not at all visible to the other person. Now think of smiling and yet talking with a sobbing-tone/voice!).

People pray before idols, pray before graves, make gestures, offer flowers, etc, but nobody seems to listen, see, or react on the other side!
..
(It so happened that a dubbing artist who had done 2700 + films, mostly malayalam, came as a guest-judge on a reality show this week. She repeated that emotion charged dialogue of Shobhana in the film 'Manichitrathaazhu, "Vida maatein".. She did wonderfully, and the TV screen was vertically split into two to show the video track in Sync... But even she could not hold back the expression on the face, bulging eyes, etc!).

And I was wondering how these people would speak at all on phone ,without gestures, when gesture is all that they have ....
quote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk02qPlnS…