People often turn to religious music and hymns in old age, hoping no doubt to earn some indulgence from the Lord for a few little sins
People don't follow their hearts, because its not on the " right side. I don't take decisions with my heart because its " below" my brain. -Vinay-
We are all guilty of crime, the great crime of not living life king size to its fullest.
If I were to follow my heart, I would be stalking all the beautiful women in the world.
Love is the slowest form of suicide, it kills you slowly and softly! Graffiti.
Botox is the only investment that enhances your face value.
If the truth can set you free, why are we still bound to religion?
If you do not know where you are going any religion will take you there.If you do not turn around now and open your eyes, you might just get where you are going.
Truth is not a concrete object lurking in a dark corner that one can discover and proclaim proprietary rights over. It is constructed, distorted and manufactured by the anthropic principle not by religion, culture or politics . Hence, any religions or state's attempt to monopolize the truth and censor those who don't believe a religion that hasn’t even been proved here by indulging in crystal ball gazing of its own insult to our great universe.
Crime, in short, has been normalized as a way of life in today's world!
Virtue is like a prison for the soul.
Now that Russia has banned GEETA I will have to tweak my X'mas travel plans; I will have to take along with me an Uzbek Natasha as my escort/companion to entertain and keep me warm in the bleak Siberian winter!
During Christmas I must recreate the bond with friends and family, which I have ignored because all evenings and nights have drifted away from me in posting and chatting on face book and twitter.
Biotechnology will cause us in some way to lose our humanity - that is, some essential quality that had a difficult period of our history.
I used to play cricket and love it when it was a sport, now it is just another big business- and there are no gentlemen in flannels anymore.
Midnight mass where everyone is dressed up seductively, is no spiritual guide for young people looking to overcome the inevitable temptations of the world.
Ah! New Year resolutions, I plan to add more vices to my existing laundry list of addictions like drinking, smoking and sex as time is leaving me - There is a genuine shortage of clean healthy exciting sin and vice in this world.-Vinay
My Blackberry is pinging seductively with messages from old flames and awesome women - asking me to pirouette the last tango with them on New Years Eve!
Anus Viejas ~ Old year has been burned at midnight ringing in 2012. I have replaced all my old cells with new ones and i am a new " reborn" now. My genetic instinct told me not to change my name, passwords, and sense of humour as it would create an identity crisis with all my family and friends. So here I am same old wine in a new Avatar.
Indeed, if we want to save our souls, the mind must lead a more athletic life than it has ever done before, and we must more passionately than ever practice and rejoice in the pleasures of life.
Long before the mobile telephony revolution, Indian housewives were beating a beeline to souks and jewellery shops to satiate their desires for 2G (Greed for Gold ornaments). Time has proved the infinite wisdom of these women, as it is the best performing asset class in the world today!
The Holy books are like the spoon, scissors, the hammer and the wheel. Once created or published, it cannot be improved or up graded.
The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.
Rethinking Knowledge Now that the Facts Aren’t the Facts, Experts Are Everywhere, and the Smartest Person in the Room Is Google.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Religion an obsolete product lost in transition
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We all love happiness and feverishly search for it in this tumultuous world. Religion understands this weakness and preys on unsuspecting believers by promising everlasting salvation. “Let all our wishes come true let all of us be free of suffering of danger of disease and sadness! Let peace and happiness descend on earth. This sorts of war cry amongst all religions & while 2000 monks chanted this in Elista capital Kalmykia, all their temples and relics were destroyed by Stalin in 1930. Recently in Afghanistan the Bamiyan Buddha statues were blown off the face of earth. This is the harsh reality which we refuse to accept time and again. There is no self discovery or heaven on earth it is all about violence, death and decay.
Spiritual awakening is about discovering what is real, real work and life in our waking hours, not the distraction of religion and its hollow promise. What is truth? There is no truth, what is the meaning of life? There is no meaning. Truth it is not about seeking it is about living there is no outward quest but inward towards our self—self reliance—self—determination—self discovery of what the hell is going on around me. How do I feed my family, buy an apartment, get a decent Job, and educate my children, small dreams and home “truths” Not merely to complain about fate or pray to god.
Instead we want to hold on to the widely held fantasy that enlightenment means freedom from suffering, the transcendence of pain and struggle, into a state of perpetual, love, bliss and peace. A celestial Utopia, are we all so naïve to believe this will happen?
We all love happiness and feverishly search for it in this tumultuous world. Religion understands this weakness and preys on unsuspecting believers by promising everlasting salvation. “Let all our wishes come true let all of us be free of suffering of danger of disease and sadness! Let peace and happiness descend on earth. This sorts of war cry amongst all religions & while 2000 monks chanted this in Elista capital Kalmykia, all their temples and relics were destroyed by Stalin in 1930. Recently in Afghanistan the Bamiyan Buddha statues were blown off the face of earth. This is the harsh reality which we refuse to accept time and again. There is no self discovery or heaven on earth it is all about violence, death and decay.
Spiritual awakening is about discovering what is real, real work and life in our waking hours, not the distraction of religion and its hollow promise. What is truth? There is no truth, what is the meaning of life? There is no meaning. Truth it is not about seeking it is about living there is no outward quest but inward towards our self—self reliance—self—determination—self discovery of what the hell is going on around me. How do I feed my family, buy an apartment, get a decent Job, and educate my children, small dreams and home “truths” Not merely to complain about fate or pray to god.
Instead we want to hold on to the widely held fantasy that enlightenment means freedom from suffering, the transcendence of pain and struggle, into a state of perpetual, love, bliss and peace. A celestial Utopia, are we all so naïve to believe this will happen?
Stretch your dreams till it breaks into a flip flop.
Way back in 1960, an unknown athlete called Dick Fosbury virtually “inverted” the traditional technique of high jumping. He created a revolution in athletics by clearing the bar with his back to it, as opposed to the conventional straddle method of lead arm and leg followed by stomach.
But most athletes who had practiced and were conditioned over the years did not change their technique for more than a decade even after this stupendous feat. It was only when the next crop of new kids who had nothing to lose started copying this style that it became popular and has become a standard method in the sport now.
Similarly the creative idea of Face book has overnight become the biggest business entity in just 3 years. Steve Jobs also likewise changed the face of the cell phone and laptop industry. It means we have to stretch our dreams and imaginations to explore new horizons while ignoring the obvious.
An adolescent day dream can have earth shattering implications and become utterly beautiful transforming our whole lives. We inhabit a strange world where disruption is the new mantra. Turn all conventions and traditions upside down, question all logic and theories, aspire to be different, do not follow the herd, believe no one, create your own path that is true liberation. – Vinay-
But most athletes who had practiced and were conditioned over the years did not change their technique for more than a decade even after this stupendous feat. It was only when the next crop of new kids who had nothing to lose started copying this style that it became popular and has become a standard method in the sport now.
Similarly the creative idea of Face book has overnight become the biggest business entity in just 3 years. Steve Jobs also likewise changed the face of the cell phone and laptop industry. It means we have to stretch our dreams and imaginations to explore new horizons while ignoring the obvious.
An adolescent day dream can have earth shattering implications and become utterly beautiful transforming our whole lives. We inhabit a strange world where disruption is the new mantra. Turn all conventions and traditions upside down, question all logic and theories, aspire to be different, do not follow the herd, believe no one, create your own path that is true liberation. – Vinay-
oga the New Satanic Poses ?
Y
The 86 year old Father Gabriele Amorth who has been cloaked in anonymity for years has suddenly emerged from the shadows of the Vatican’s dubious designation as “chief exorcist”. In his endeavor to earn his 5 minutes of fame before the Lord summons him to Headquarters’ has deemed the practice of yoga as satanic and evil. In his profound ignorance he has claimed that yoga is worship of Hindu religion; after 86 years on this planet the poor soul and theologist has not even comprehended that “Hinduism” is not a religion but a way of life.
What he perhaps will never understand with his conditioned duck brain is that neither Yoga nor Hinduism are religions. In feet it is more popular in the west where it has proliferated like wild fire. The fallout of such popularity is that there has been massive monetization of yoga as a discipline. Sinister yogi’s have moved in, and like a product tried to take it to the next business level, which has caused the externalization of yoga in the west.
Yoga simply means union or junction; it is more or less a physical, mental and spiritual discipline. A technique to still the mind from the outer and increase concentration and thereby consciousness in an attempt to integrate and strengthen the inner & outer compartments and reduce turmoil.
However the Vedic view is not introspective but rather extrovert tilting towards the predatory! Stilling the mind requires years of practice and the west with its love of instant gratification is trying to project yoga like a product or Nike shoe. Just don your yoga outfit and “Stop it”. (Mind), which is easier, said than done. But father Gabriel should try yoga as he seems to have developed arteriosclerosis of the mind.
The 86 year old Father Gabriele Amorth who has been cloaked in anonymity for years has suddenly emerged from the shadows of the Vatican’s dubious designation as “chief exorcist”. In his endeavor to earn his 5 minutes of fame before the Lord summons him to Headquarters’ has deemed the practice of yoga as satanic and evil. In his profound ignorance he has claimed that yoga is worship of Hindu religion; after 86 years on this planet the poor soul and theologist has not even comprehended that “Hinduism” is not a religion but a way of life.
What he perhaps will never understand with his conditioned duck brain is that neither Yoga nor Hinduism are religions. In feet it is more popular in the west where it has proliferated like wild fire. The fallout of such popularity is that there has been massive monetization of yoga as a discipline. Sinister yogi’s have moved in, and like a product tried to take it to the next business level, which has caused the externalization of yoga in the west.
Yoga simply means union or junction; it is more or less a physical, mental and spiritual discipline. A technique to still the mind from the outer and increase concentration and thereby consciousness in an attempt to integrate and strengthen the inner & outer compartments and reduce turmoil.
However the Vedic view is not introspective but rather extrovert tilting towards the predatory! Stilling the mind requires years of practice and the west with its love of instant gratification is trying to project yoga like a product or Nike shoe. Just don your yoga outfit and “Stop it”. (Mind), which is easier, said than done. But father Gabriel should try yoga as he seems to have developed arteriosclerosis of the mind.
genesis of twitter.
It’s been rumored that back in Hollywood’s early days movie stars and moguls communicated with each other using the 140-character instant-messaging system we now know as Twitter.
According to legend, the system was invented by the actress Hedy Lamarr, over drinks at the Mocambo club with Howard Hughes, shortly before she patented the frequency-hopping spread-spectrum radio technology that paved the way for cell phones, dooming America to decades of listening to actresses insist they were not just talented or beautiful, but smart.
In search of the truth about Twitter’s allegedly glamorous origins, Vanity Fair sent contributing editor Bruce Feirstein to the bottom of a salt mine in Kansas, where the studios store their archives and original film negatives. There, among ancient contracts and discarded film scripts by dimly remembered hacks such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner, Feirstein confirmed the story and discovered the lost tweets of Golden Age Hollywood …
Among the first unearthed was this tweet, from the notoriously private star of Ninotchka "Pls stop following me I want to be alone". Greta Garbo.
According to legend, the system was invented by the actress Hedy Lamarr, over drinks at the Mocambo club with Howard Hughes, shortly before she patented the frequency-hopping spread-spectrum radio technology that paved the way for cell phones, dooming America to decades of listening to actresses insist they were not just talented or beautiful, but smart.
In search of the truth about Twitter’s allegedly glamorous origins, Vanity Fair sent contributing editor Bruce Feirstein to the bottom of a salt mine in Kansas, where the studios store their archives and original film negatives. There, among ancient contracts and discarded film scripts by dimly remembered hacks such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner, Feirstein confirmed the story and discovered the lost tweets of Golden Age Hollywood …
Among the first unearthed was this tweet, from the notoriously private star of Ninotchka "Pls stop following me I want to be alone". Greta Garbo.
genesis of twitter.
It’s been rumored that back in Hollywood’s early days movie stars and moguls communicated with each other using the 140-character instant-messaging system we now know as Twitter.
According to legend, the system was invented by the actress Hedy Lamarr, over drinks at the Mocambo club with Howard Hughes, shortly before she patented the frequency-hopping spread-spectrum radio technology that paved the way for cell phones, dooming America to decades of listening to actresses insist they were not just talented or beautiful, but smart.
In search of the truth about Twitter’s allegedly glamorous origins, Vanity Fair sent contributing editor Bruce Feirstein to the bottom of a salt mine in Kansas, where the studios store their archives and original film negatives. There, among ancient contracts and discarded film scripts by dimly remembered hacks such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner, Feirstein confirmed the story and discovered the lost tweets of Golden Age Hollywood …
Among the first unearthed was this tweet, from the notoriously private star of Ninotchka "Pls stop following me I want to be alone". Greta Garbo.
According to legend, the system was invented by the actress Hedy Lamarr, over drinks at the Mocambo club with Howard Hughes, shortly before she patented the frequency-hopping spread-spectrum radio technology that paved the way for cell phones, dooming America to decades of listening to actresses insist they were not just talented or beautiful, but smart.
In search of the truth about Twitter’s allegedly glamorous origins, Vanity Fair sent contributing editor Bruce Feirstein to the bottom of a salt mine in Kansas, where the studios store their archives and original film negatives. There, among ancient contracts and discarded film scripts by dimly remembered hacks such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner, Feirstein confirmed the story and discovered the lost tweets of Golden Age Hollywood …
Among the first unearthed was this tweet, from the notoriously private star of Ninotchka "Pls stop following me I want to be alone". Greta Garbo.
The Power of Erotic capital.
French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s distinction between economic, social and cultural capital missed out a vital additional aspect of what makes up all human beings, namely Erotic capital. Catherine Hakim calls it the ‘fourth personal asset’. Erotic capital comprises six elements or seven in some cultures where fertility is highly valued. The six elements are beauty, sexual attractiveness, social ability, liveliness (physical fitness, social energy and good humor), social presentation and sexual competence.
Hakim explained the existence of a ‘male sex deficit’; essentially, the idea is that, in general, men want more sex than women (shock horror). This means that women have more bargaining power and therefore a higher level of erotic capital than men do. Feminist theory often erects a false dichotomy: either a woman is valued for her human capital (her brains, education, work experience and dedication to her career) or she is valued for her erotic capital (her beauty, elegant figure, dress style, grace and charm). Women are not encouraged to do both.
Catherine also states, quite rightly, that ‘men who buy sexual services are not deviants but ordinary, normal people’. While she does put men’s demand for sexual services down to the elusive ‘male-sex deficit’, she also makes an important point that is often overlooked. Too often men who pay for sexual services are seen as monsters rather than human beings capable of distinguishing between fantasy and reality. She points out; many women (particularly migrant workers) see the sex industry as a crucial source of employment, as something that enables them to gain some independence.
Feminists who seek to take this choice away on the grounds of supposed exploitation are not empowering women. In fact, they’re doing the complete opposite by seeking to undermine the choices we all make.Today’s feminists are squeamish about the idea of women using their feminine wiles to get ahead.The meritocratic capitalist values of the Western world invite us to admire people who exploit their erotic capital for its full value should not be equally admired. Honey Money by Catherine Hakim.
Hakim explained the existence of a ‘male sex deficit’; essentially, the idea is that, in general, men want more sex than women (shock horror). This means that women have more bargaining power and therefore a higher level of erotic capital than men do. Feminist theory often erects a false dichotomy: either a woman is valued for her human capital (her brains, education, work experience and dedication to her career) or she is valued for her erotic capital (her beauty, elegant figure, dress style, grace and charm). Women are not encouraged to do both.
Catherine also states, quite rightly, that ‘men who buy sexual services are not deviants but ordinary, normal people’. While she does put men’s demand for sexual services down to the elusive ‘male-sex deficit’, she also makes an important point that is often overlooked. Too often men who pay for sexual services are seen as monsters rather than human beings capable of distinguishing between fantasy and reality. She points out; many women (particularly migrant workers) see the sex industry as a crucial source of employment, as something that enables them to gain some independence.
Feminists who seek to take this choice away on the grounds of supposed exploitation are not empowering women. In fact, they’re doing the complete opposite by seeking to undermine the choices we all make.Today’s feminists are squeamish about the idea of women using their feminine wiles to get ahead.The meritocratic capitalist values of the Western world invite us to admire people who exploit their erotic capital for its full value should not be equally admired. Honey Money by Catherine Hakim.
If you're not interested in gossip, you're not a fully grown woman.
Most people delight in censure, when they are not the objects of it; however they are offended by any publicity exposing their private vices. Yet everyone takes a vicarious satisfaction, to indulge in gossip, of their friends and neighbors in the same circumstances.
A man or woman without any interest in gossip may be impressive in his or her restraint, but also wanting in curiosity, uninterested in the cariousness of human nature, dead to the wildly abundant oddity of life, and thereby, in some central way, deficient.
Gossip- what was once a more refined custom has degenerated into a tabloid-infested culture of Internet slurs and an obsessive focus on the personal lives of public figures.
While gossip is an activity that almost everyone partakes in, it's hard to define. The first step is distinguish gossip from rumors, with the latter being “less specific’’, more general, more diffuse, less personal in content and in the manner in which they are disseminated. Rumors can lead to gossip, and gossip can reinforce rumors. But gossip is particular, told to a carefully chosen audience, and is specifically information about other people. Gossip can be false. There is of course the wish to harm someone else’s reputation by spreading stories of moral failures or sexual liaisons (here gossip and rumor can supplement each other). Just imagine how boring life and news would be, if the reportage in the tabloids left out all those titillating gossip columns and printed stock prices and inflation. The voyeuristic pleasure comes from reading the shenanigans and private lives of Monroe, Kennedys, Onassis, Clinton, Tiger Woods, Shane/ Hurley, Salman Rushdie and the salacious news of Berlusconi, Julian Assange, Dominique Strauss and other celebrities. Gossip is not about politics or celebrity, but rather people, even if they happen to be politicians or celebrities.
A man or woman without any interest in gossip may be impressive in his or her restraint, but also wanting in curiosity, uninterested in the cariousness of human nature, dead to the wildly abundant oddity of life, and thereby, in some central way, deficient.
Gossip- what was once a more refined custom has degenerated into a tabloid-infested culture of Internet slurs and an obsessive focus on the personal lives of public figures.
While gossip is an activity that almost everyone partakes in, it's hard to define. The first step is distinguish gossip from rumors, with the latter being “less specific’’, more general, more diffuse, less personal in content and in the manner in which they are disseminated. Rumors can lead to gossip, and gossip can reinforce rumors. But gossip is particular, told to a carefully chosen audience, and is specifically information about other people. Gossip can be false. There is of course the wish to harm someone else’s reputation by spreading stories of moral failures or sexual liaisons (here gossip and rumor can supplement each other). Just imagine how boring life and news would be, if the reportage in the tabloids left out all those titillating gossip columns and printed stock prices and inflation. The voyeuristic pleasure comes from reading the shenanigans and private lives of Monroe, Kennedys, Onassis, Clinton, Tiger Woods, Shane/ Hurley, Salman Rushdie and the salacious news of Berlusconi, Julian Assange, Dominique Strauss and other celebrities. Gossip is not about politics or celebrity, but rather people, even if they happen to be politicians or celebrities.
Deafening sound of Silence.
We have heard the term silence is golden many times but paid scant regard to it. Silence is the most neglected and the least understood dimension in our lives. Yet all of us at sometime or other indulged in the luxury of silence. Being silent is not alien to us “homo sapiens” unknowingly we spend a lot of time in silent introspection.
Silence has always been with us like a silent shadow, in youth, as a partner, as a parent and in old age. It resonates with our changing view of life in all these stages, at each particular point of time and we get inspiration every time everywhere. Silence is beyond boundaries of caste, color, religion and nationality.
Silence provides a measure of solace, and greets us solemnly in grief, displacement, loneliness, when traveling to an unknown place and even in joy or mirth. We have been immune to bouts of silence, in the bustling cacophony of city life where we lay extra emphasis on empty rhetoric and shallow pedestrian conversations. We wear a mask and walk to a Babel of voices and sounds of the polluted noisy traffic—in a city that is perpetually—a work in progress.
We live in a confused world where the decibels levels of intolerance, violence, hate have reached a crescendo— our changing lifestyles, cityscapes, tolerating the hypocrisies and moral turpitudes of modern society. We sadly ignore the quietude of reality in every walk of life—in every mundane phase ~ the changing skyline and nature, recedes as the concrete jungle takes over our lives. We become mute spectators as we observe the degradation of human values, and lives in this digital age. In deep and solemn rituals or even in the Buddhist and Hindu spirituality, silence is the name given to meditation, like an invalid taking to the promise of a new treatment. The aesthetics of doing nothing borders on the spiritual; a sort of mental process that stills the mind — enhances the consciousness and powers of imagination.
Silence is a dramatic multilayered reality, complex yet simple rendering it into the realm of the meta-physical in a graphic form.
Silence brings us closer to the center of gravity of our lives. It is powerful because it is not conceptual; it expresses a deep message that cannot be expressed in words. It eludes even the most sophisticated explanations of its power. The uncanny powers of silence are awesome when combined with wisdom. Silence is the fourth instinct, a primeval potential to clam up - which sets us free, isolated with no before or after. For the culmination of misery, noise must be renounced, till it is abandoned in the grave. Like the raindrop that is absorbed by the earth everything merges with nature. True enlightenment is the silence of the tomb as wisdom is always silent. Vinay-
Silence has always been with us like a silent shadow, in youth, as a partner, as a parent and in old age. It resonates with our changing view of life in all these stages, at each particular point of time and we get inspiration every time everywhere. Silence is beyond boundaries of caste, color, religion and nationality.
Silence provides a measure of solace, and greets us solemnly in grief, displacement, loneliness, when traveling to an unknown place and even in joy or mirth. We have been immune to bouts of silence, in the bustling cacophony of city life where we lay extra emphasis on empty rhetoric and shallow pedestrian conversations. We wear a mask and walk to a Babel of voices and sounds of the polluted noisy traffic—in a city that is perpetually—a work in progress.
We live in a confused world where the decibels levels of intolerance, violence, hate have reached a crescendo— our changing lifestyles, cityscapes, tolerating the hypocrisies and moral turpitudes of modern society. We sadly ignore the quietude of reality in every walk of life—in every mundane phase ~ the changing skyline and nature, recedes as the concrete jungle takes over our lives. We become mute spectators as we observe the degradation of human values, and lives in this digital age. In deep and solemn rituals or even in the Buddhist and Hindu spirituality, silence is the name given to meditation, like an invalid taking to the promise of a new treatment. The aesthetics of doing nothing borders on the spiritual; a sort of mental process that stills the mind — enhances the consciousness and powers of imagination.
Silence is a dramatic multilayered reality, complex yet simple rendering it into the realm of the meta-physical in a graphic form.
Silence brings us closer to the center of gravity of our lives. It is powerful because it is not conceptual; it expresses a deep message that cannot be expressed in words. It eludes even the most sophisticated explanations of its power. The uncanny powers of silence are awesome when combined with wisdom. Silence is the fourth instinct, a primeval potential to clam up - which sets us free, isolated with no before or after. For the culmination of misery, noise must be renounced, till it is abandoned in the grave. Like the raindrop that is absorbed by the earth everything merges with nature. True enlightenment is the silence of the tomb as wisdom is always silent. Vinay-
Either way we must decide! Or go jump over the cliff.
Life is never going to be easy, what you do with your life, is only of concern to you. Life makes us an offer but in return asks for perseverance. Everything is more complicated than you think, you see only the tip o f the iceberg, there are millions of strings attached to every decision you make. You can destroy many things by making a wrong choice. It is our knowledge that makes us take a calculated decision and stay afloat. We need to keep applying this knowledge and ask our conscience “are we doing the night thing”? We all need to do something about the situations that crop up in life; we can’t hold back hoping for miracles.
From our youth till we die, we are constantly facing the formidable task of making decisions. We may in our minds try to rationalize or justify our decisions before indulging in it. You can’t use assumptions sitting at home, you have to know all the components or source. You can’t waste a lifetime for that elusive phone, letter or someone to walk into your life. There is so much falsehood in this world, that if you believe it you will regret it or wait in hope for a better tomorrow, to make you complete, feel loved and wanted.
There are many occasions when we have to wrestle with our conscience and depending on how critical the situation is you hesitate. Sometimes our decisions can alter the course of not just our lives but impact the lives of others. We are expected to lead a decent, stress free life, modestly plodding through everyday problems. Many times everything you do ends disastrously and there is a devilish streak in us that assaults our sensibilities unforgivably, dwarfing our self esteem. Life sometimes is like a pendulum swinging violently alternating between hedonism and virtue, pleasure and pain or between self castigation and achievement. Because we don’t accept the truth of transience we are sometimes indecisive and this slowly architects our decay.
You live only once and we play it out with our career, marriage, children, divorce and goals. The more difficult the journey of life, the greater is the sense of achievement. When we have to overcome obstacles to reach our goals it is like climbing a mountain. It is the journey, and not about climbing to see the summit, which is only a temporary goal, we have to look beyond the mountains into our soul. One does not strike an attitude in front of a mountain; similarly don’t let the din drown the voice of your soul.
In life we must expropriate the old worn out self; your past, your future—the moment is full, neither past nor future is important. Beginning and ending are only partial steps in the eternal process. The process is everything. The only place where these is no change is the grave. –Vinay
From our youth till we die, we are constantly facing the formidable task of making decisions. We may in our minds try to rationalize or justify our decisions before indulging in it. You can’t use assumptions sitting at home, you have to know all the components or source. You can’t waste a lifetime for that elusive phone, letter or someone to walk into your life. There is so much falsehood in this world, that if you believe it you will regret it or wait in hope for a better tomorrow, to make you complete, feel loved and wanted.
There are many occasions when we have to wrestle with our conscience and depending on how critical the situation is you hesitate. Sometimes our decisions can alter the course of not just our lives but impact the lives of others. We are expected to lead a decent, stress free life, modestly plodding through everyday problems. Many times everything you do ends disastrously and there is a devilish streak in us that assaults our sensibilities unforgivably, dwarfing our self esteem. Life sometimes is like a pendulum swinging violently alternating between hedonism and virtue, pleasure and pain or between self castigation and achievement. Because we don’t accept the truth of transience we are sometimes indecisive and this slowly architects our decay.
You live only once and we play it out with our career, marriage, children, divorce and goals. The more difficult the journey of life, the greater is the sense of achievement. When we have to overcome obstacles to reach our goals it is like climbing a mountain. It is the journey, and not about climbing to see the summit, which is only a temporary goal, we have to look beyond the mountains into our soul. One does not strike an attitude in front of a mountain; similarly don’t let the din drown the voice of your soul.
In life we must expropriate the old worn out self; your past, your future—the moment is full, neither past nor future is important. Beginning and ending are only partial steps in the eternal process. The process is everything. The only place where these is no change is the grave. –Vinay
religion not history
Modern society requires and deserves a truly secular state, by which I do not mean state of atheism, as imposed by Arab countries, but state neutrality in all matters pertaining to religion.
A depressingly large number of intelligent and educated people, despite having outgrown religious faith, still vaguely presume without thinking about it that religious faith is somehow 'good' for other people, good for society, good for public order, good for instilling morals, good for the common people even if we chaps don't need it. What’s true of us is true of nature. If we are conscious, as our species seems to have become, then nature is conscious. Nature became conscious in us, perhaps in order to observe itself. It may be holding us out and turning us around like a crab does its victim. Whatever the reason, that thing out there, with the black holes and the nebulae and whatnot, is conscious.
One cannot look in the mirror and rationally deny this. It experiences love and desire, or thinks it does. The idea is enough to render the Judeo-Christian cosmos sort of quaint. . . Rafinesque perfected his variant of this honorable philosophy while botanizing in them in the literal backyards of his childhood, examining ruderal plants, and so psychology has appropriated it from him, with minor tweaks. It works perfectly as a religion. Others talk about God, and we feel we can sit together, that God is one of this thing’s masks, or that this thing is God. Faith schools (Madrassa’s) don’t so much teach about religion as indoctrinate in the particular region that runs the school. As Richard Dawkin’s stated “telling a child that he or she belongs to one particular faith "paves the way . . . for a lifetime of discrimination and prejudice". In the guise of moral science each religion tries to indoctrinate their own dogmas into the minds of innocent children.
They aren’t evil, really, and the impulse behind it is so close to camaraderie it almost smells right. We all need help, and we all want to help each other, which makes the nuances of the transaction murky.
We can’t say it’s honest since no work of religion is honest, since fiction is a synonym for holy books and scriptures, which is why they call it religion and not history. .
A depressingly large number of intelligent and educated people, despite having outgrown religious faith, still vaguely presume without thinking about it that religious faith is somehow 'good' for other people, good for society, good for public order, good for instilling morals, good for the common people even if we chaps don't need it. What’s true of us is true of nature. If we are conscious, as our species seems to have become, then nature is conscious. Nature became conscious in us, perhaps in order to observe itself. It may be holding us out and turning us around like a crab does its victim. Whatever the reason, that thing out there, with the black holes and the nebulae and whatnot, is conscious.
One cannot look in the mirror and rationally deny this. It experiences love and desire, or thinks it does. The idea is enough to render the Judeo-Christian cosmos sort of quaint. . . Rafinesque perfected his variant of this honorable philosophy while botanizing in them in the literal backyards of his childhood, examining ruderal plants, and so psychology has appropriated it from him, with minor tweaks. It works perfectly as a religion. Others talk about God, and we feel we can sit together, that God is one of this thing’s masks, or that this thing is God. Faith schools (Madrassa’s) don’t so much teach about religion as indoctrinate in the particular region that runs the school. As Richard Dawkin’s stated “telling a child that he or she belongs to one particular faith "paves the way . . . for a lifetime of discrimination and prejudice". In the guise of moral science each religion tries to indoctrinate their own dogmas into the minds of innocent children.
They aren’t evil, really, and the impulse behind it is so close to camaraderie it almost smells right. We all need help, and we all want to help each other, which makes the nuances of the transaction murky.
We can’t say it’s honest since no work of religion is honest, since fiction is a synonym for holy books and scriptures, which is why they call it religion and not history. .
religion not history
Modern society requires and deserves a truly secular state, by which I do not mean state of atheism, as imposed by Arab countries, but state neutrality in all matters pertaining to religion.
A depressingly large number of intelligent and educated people, despite having outgrown religious faith, still vaguely presume without thinking about it that religious faith is somehow 'good' for other people, good for society, good for public order, good for instilling morals, good for the common people even if we chaps don't need it. What’s true of us is true of nature. If we are conscious, as our species seems to have become, then nature is conscious. Nature became conscious in us, perhaps in order to observe itself. It may be holding us out and turning us around like a crab does its victim. Whatever the reason, that thing out there, with the black holes and the nebulae and whatnot, is conscious.
One cannot look in the mirror and rationally deny this. It experiences love and desire, or thinks it does. The idea is enough to render the Judeo-Christian cosmos sort of quaint. . . Rafinesque perfected his variant of this honorable philosophy while botanizing in them in the literal backyards of his childhood, examining ruderal plants, and so psychology has appropriated it from him, with minor tweaks. It works perfectly as a religion. Others talk about God, and we feel we can sit together, that God is one of this thing’s masks, or that this thing is God. Faith schools (Madrassa’s) don’t so much teach about religion as indoctrinate in the particular region that runs the school. As Richard Dawkin’s stated “telling a child that he or she belongs to one particular faith "paves the way . . . for a lifetime of discrimination and prejudice". In the guise of moral science each religion tries to indoctrinate their own dogmas into the minds of innocent children.
They aren’t evil, really, and the impulse behind it is so close to camaraderie it almost smells right. We all need help, and we all want to help each other, which makes the nuances of the transaction murky.
We can’t say it’s honest since no work of religion is honest, since fiction is a synonym for holy books and scriptures, which is why they call it religion and not history. .
A depressingly large number of intelligent and educated people, despite having outgrown religious faith, still vaguely presume without thinking about it that religious faith is somehow 'good' for other people, good for society, good for public order, good for instilling morals, good for the common people even if we chaps don't need it. What’s true of us is true of nature. If we are conscious, as our species seems to have become, then nature is conscious. Nature became conscious in us, perhaps in order to observe itself. It may be holding us out and turning us around like a crab does its victim. Whatever the reason, that thing out there, with the black holes and the nebulae and whatnot, is conscious.
One cannot look in the mirror and rationally deny this. It experiences love and desire, or thinks it does. The idea is enough to render the Judeo-Christian cosmos sort of quaint. . . Rafinesque perfected his variant of this honorable philosophy while botanizing in them in the literal backyards of his childhood, examining ruderal plants, and so psychology has appropriated it from him, with minor tweaks. It works perfectly as a religion. Others talk about God, and we feel we can sit together, that God is one of this thing’s masks, or that this thing is God. Faith schools (Madrassa’s) don’t so much teach about religion as indoctrinate in the particular region that runs the school. As Richard Dawkin’s stated “telling a child that he or she belongs to one particular faith "paves the way . . . for a lifetime of discrimination and prejudice". In the guise of moral science each religion tries to indoctrinate their own dogmas into the minds of innocent children.
They aren’t evil, really, and the impulse behind it is so close to camaraderie it almost smells right. We all need help, and we all want to help each other, which makes the nuances of the transaction murky.
We can’t say it’s honest since no work of religion is honest, since fiction is a synonym for holy books and scriptures, which is why they call it religion and not history. .
INBUILT HAPPINESS
From childhood we learn that our happiness is dependent on outside forces. On how successful we are, our status, the stuff we own, our marriage and family. This view is driven home by parents, peers and society, TV and internet too. The pressure to perform is humungous; psychologically we are scarred by circumstances and end up unhappy. It is a malaise affecting the whole world.
We can see the marks of misery and woe on every persons face, all those who are shackled by their own mental limitations or visions imposed by society, -- which tries to inculcate respect for convention and hierarchy.
Religion has more to learn form the natural sciences if they are to claim a realistic model of human behavior. Dogmas and scriptures form important components of religious works. It attempts to construct a grand theory of deception—continually painting a distorted world full of sin—so that they can easily lure you with deliverance. People are rarely rational and frequently rue failures to take the clear reasoning option.
If we try to be independent of these malefic influences, we must be prepared for the long haul, to accept adversity with courage and equanimity. Happiness is a state of mind, and emotion; bear in mind that pain and misery are also transient as joy and happiness. Overall happiness is based on our own subjective view point about life. So don’t be bothered about thoughts that have been forced on you by society, whose brain washing, is out of prejudice or cowardice, to break free. Independence creates problems galore but the rewards far exceed a life of subjugation and slavery to others thought processes.
We can see the marks of misery and woe on every persons face, all those who are shackled by their own mental limitations or visions imposed by society, -- which tries to inculcate respect for convention and hierarchy.
Religion has more to learn form the natural sciences if they are to claim a realistic model of human behavior. Dogmas and scriptures form important components of religious works. It attempts to construct a grand theory of deception—continually painting a distorted world full of sin—so that they can easily lure you with deliverance. People are rarely rational and frequently rue failures to take the clear reasoning option.
If we try to be independent of these malefic influences, we must be prepared for the long haul, to accept adversity with courage and equanimity. Happiness is a state of mind, and emotion; bear in mind that pain and misery are also transient as joy and happiness. Overall happiness is based on our own subjective view point about life. So don’t be bothered about thoughts that have been forced on you by society, whose brain washing, is out of prejudice or cowardice, to break free. Independence creates problems galore but the rewards far exceed a life of subjugation and slavery to others thought processes.
Emigration the new foreign legionaries !
There are many ways in which the migration of skilled labour may aid poorer countries. Many skilled personnel may have been jobless had they stayed in their own countries. The wage disparity between rich and poor countries is a major magnet for emigration. The emotional cost of leaving ones home town though heavy is now offset to a certain extent thanks to technological innovation like skype and mobile phones.
When a Bangladeshi man goes to work on a construction site in the Middle East his wife typically moves into the husbands family. This creates a sort of larger joint family support system, than the nuclear family situation that was prevailing. Migration is an effective tool against poverty and reduces the global imbalance also. The number of migrants has doubled from 100 M to 200 million in one decade. Increased mobility with cheaper communication means that in the future, the global community will be connected in a manner never dreamt before, since our small world evolutionary origins.
Immigration is unpopular in certain European countries, because people overestimate its costs while understanding its benefits. The main fear is that an influx of unskilled workers from other countries may drag down the prevailing market sates of the original natives. Labour shortage in rich countries can only be solved by migration.
The other side of the coin is that “brain drain” of skilled people may hurt the economy of developing nations as much of their education has been subsidized by the government. This logic might seem true, but fails to take into account the huge remittances which can offset the subsidies. The flip side is that these early emigrants to Silicon Valley also enabled Indian software companies break into the lucrative American market in the early days. Finally in a flat globalized village educated and skilled people will go wherever they want to go and will lead to a more productive pairing of peoples skills in a mutually beneficial manner. In the wild savannahs of Africa the wild beest and animals migrate in search of greener pastures while birds migrate in summer and winter. It is the way of nature.
When a Bangladeshi man goes to work on a construction site in the Middle East his wife typically moves into the husbands family. This creates a sort of larger joint family support system, than the nuclear family situation that was prevailing. Migration is an effective tool against poverty and reduces the global imbalance also. The number of migrants has doubled from 100 M to 200 million in one decade. Increased mobility with cheaper communication means that in the future, the global community will be connected in a manner never dreamt before, since our small world evolutionary origins.
Immigration is unpopular in certain European countries, because people overestimate its costs while understanding its benefits. The main fear is that an influx of unskilled workers from other countries may drag down the prevailing market sates of the original natives. Labour shortage in rich countries can only be solved by migration.
The other side of the coin is that “brain drain” of skilled people may hurt the economy of developing nations as much of their education has been subsidized by the government. This logic might seem true, but fails to take into account the huge remittances which can offset the subsidies. The flip side is that these early emigrants to Silicon Valley also enabled Indian software companies break into the lucrative American market in the early days. Finally in a flat globalized village educated and skilled people will go wherever they want to go and will lead to a more productive pairing of peoples skills in a mutually beneficial manner. In the wild savannahs of Africa the wild beest and animals migrate in search of greener pastures while birds migrate in summer and winter. It is the way of nature.
Dreams die first…
Dreams are beautiful visions when we are sleeping, but the moment we wake up, it disappears and we do not have anything left to chase these dreams. The law of cause and effect is hopeless when you want to follow your dream. The dreamer seeks vainly to find form and shape that will fit his ethereal essence, forever inert to waste away …. like a celestial folly.
Imagination is the voice of the daring and knowledge empowers you. Nothing gives you more pleasure than creating a bond with friends, family and others and helping them find their inherent potential. What does a seeker desire? Most of us want to know how the universe was created, how humans came to exist, what happens when we die? And what are the answers we get from Religion, the stock answer is God made this Universe, he is the creator, the supreme primate and there is a heaven and hell on earth. So if you want deliverance and salvation you must follow your religion and bow in obeisance to god. Yet in our struggles of daily life and misery neither God nor religion can help us even though we are advised to just pray and hope for the best. Though god exists in every sand and stone he is a mute spectator, watching the fun and games while we wallow in misery.
Yet all humans with a higher consciousness fall down and prostrate for nirvana and salvation. Our moments of blackest despair, pain, sorrow and misery our own and god cannot deliver us from whatever evil that befalls us. This is the honest moment of truth, the lucid moment when the real “verily” of truth is revealed. Religion is the biggest hype; it cannot solve any of yours or the world’s problems. It can only divide mankind and create more misery, hate and violence. So ask what we know about the truth. Now that you have the correct perspective lets wipe the slate clean. Anything that is not about getting to the truth should be abandoned. We have to only open up, only discover what is already there, scriptures have been conceived in darkness and baptized in light.
Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get heartache when we read those lines written by great philosophers and poets. We recognize them as our own words wrenched from our tormented souls, as the tender shoots which we had stifled in our hearts, because we lacked faith and conviction to believe in our own powers and our own criterion of the truth and beauty.
Every man and woman, when quiet, when they are really honest with themselves, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source, we have to open up, only discover what is already there within. There is no mystery about the origins of things; we are all part of the universe, all kings, poets, philosopher’s priests, all flora, fauna, mountains, rivers, and nature. Like the haunting lyrics of a bygone song, “Beautiful dreamer wake unto me starlight and sunshine are waiting for thee”
Imagination is the voice of the daring and knowledge empowers you. Nothing gives you more pleasure than creating a bond with friends, family and others and helping them find their inherent potential. What does a seeker desire? Most of us want to know how the universe was created, how humans came to exist, what happens when we die? And what are the answers we get from Religion, the stock answer is God made this Universe, he is the creator, the supreme primate and there is a heaven and hell on earth. So if you want deliverance and salvation you must follow your religion and bow in obeisance to god. Yet in our struggles of daily life and misery neither God nor religion can help us even though we are advised to just pray and hope for the best. Though god exists in every sand and stone he is a mute spectator, watching the fun and games while we wallow in misery.
Yet all humans with a higher consciousness fall down and prostrate for nirvana and salvation. Our moments of blackest despair, pain, sorrow and misery our own and god cannot deliver us from whatever evil that befalls us. This is the honest moment of truth, the lucid moment when the real “verily” of truth is revealed. Religion is the biggest hype; it cannot solve any of yours or the world’s problems. It can only divide mankind and create more misery, hate and violence. So ask what we know about the truth. Now that you have the correct perspective lets wipe the slate clean. Anything that is not about getting to the truth should be abandoned. We have to only open up, only discover what is already there, scriptures have been conceived in darkness and baptized in light.
Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get heartache when we read those lines written by great philosophers and poets. We recognize them as our own words wrenched from our tormented souls, as the tender shoots which we had stifled in our hearts, because we lacked faith and conviction to believe in our own powers and our own criterion of the truth and beauty.
Every man and woman, when quiet, when they are really honest with themselves, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source, we have to open up, only discover what is already there within. There is no mystery about the origins of things; we are all part of the universe, all kings, poets, philosopher’s priests, all flora, fauna, mountains, rivers, and nature. Like the haunting lyrics of a bygone song, “Beautiful dreamer wake unto me starlight and sunshine are waiting for thee”
There is no purpose in life. Your life is the holy book.
What is the meaning of life? Every religion tries to instill in us the thought that there is a mysterious purpose in life. There is a silly notion that everyone no matter how far gone, can be saved, saved from what? Reality is there everywhere yet we want to chase illusions.
What does a seeker desire? Most of us want to know how the universe was created, how humans came to exist, what happens when we die? And what are the answers we get from Religion, the stock answer is God made this Universe, he is the creator, the supreme primate and there is a heaven and hell is on earth. So if you want deliverance and salvation you must follow your religion and bow in obeisance to god. Yet in our struggles of daily life, sorrow and misery or in our moments of blackest despair, pain, and agony neither God nor religion can deliver us or alleviate hardship. We are advised to just pray and hope for the best, like clutching at a straw when the typhoon vents its fury. Though god exists in every sand and stone he is a mute spectator, watching the fun and games while we wallow in our misery.
Yet all humans with a higher consciousness fall down and prostrate for nirvana and salvation. This is the honest moment of truth, the lucid moment when the real “verily” of truth is revealed. Religion is the biggest hype; it cannot solve any of yours or the world’s problems. It can only divide mankind and create more misery, hate and violence. So ask ourselves what we know about the truth. Now that you have the correct perspective lets wipe the slate clean. Anything that is not about getting to the truth should be abandoned. We have to only open up, only discover what is already there, all teachings and scriptures are mere words and references which have been conceived in darkness and baptized in light.
In the ultimate analysis it’s how well you live your life till the end. Like the Chinese proverb “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water and cook, after enlightenment, chop wood, carry water and cook. So if you still have to live your life and die, then why bother about the purpose of life? Greed, desire, religions, pride and prejudice are like the beguiling colors of the rainbow, ephemeral, and transient with no pot of enlightenment at the end of the illusion. The sacred texts of the east termed loosely as Hinduism is a way of life- which tells us that it is easier to lead a life of moral correctness and abide by our duty to humanity as we battle with relationships, aspirations and love in this world.
Fear which is rampant in all of us is a hangover from the lower forms and emerged as humans make us neurotic. We are scared of failure, animals are better, they live in the “now” don’t look for a purpose and accept reality. The greatest teachers always state that everyone becomes a healer the moment he forgets about himself, and stops chasing the elusive blue bird called enlightenment. Wisdom is silent does not preach; only gospelers who are ignorant, spend their lives converting and promising eternal salvation. Ideally we should accept our experiences in the world as our reality, success and failure are also part of experience.
Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed. The real purpose is not transcending anything but existing and doing everything with a smile on one’s lips and chin up during misfortune while journeying in this world. There is no mystery and we do not need a Sherlock Holmes or religions to unravel anything.
We construct ourselves by assembling and living through our experiences, desires, and actions; like a book giving coherence to true incidental plots. In this way we generate meaning through the continuous act of self creation. In short we “create our own version of the Koran, Torah or Bible”-Vinay-
What does a seeker desire? Most of us want to know how the universe was created, how humans came to exist, what happens when we die? And what are the answers we get from Religion, the stock answer is God made this Universe, he is the creator, the supreme primate and there is a heaven and hell is on earth. So if you want deliverance and salvation you must follow your religion and bow in obeisance to god. Yet in our struggles of daily life, sorrow and misery or in our moments of blackest despair, pain, and agony neither God nor religion can deliver us or alleviate hardship. We are advised to just pray and hope for the best, like clutching at a straw when the typhoon vents its fury. Though god exists in every sand and stone he is a mute spectator, watching the fun and games while we wallow in our misery.
Yet all humans with a higher consciousness fall down and prostrate for nirvana and salvation. This is the honest moment of truth, the lucid moment when the real “verily” of truth is revealed. Religion is the biggest hype; it cannot solve any of yours or the world’s problems. It can only divide mankind and create more misery, hate and violence. So ask ourselves what we know about the truth. Now that you have the correct perspective lets wipe the slate clean. Anything that is not about getting to the truth should be abandoned. We have to only open up, only discover what is already there, all teachings and scriptures are mere words and references which have been conceived in darkness and baptized in light.
In the ultimate analysis it’s how well you live your life till the end. Like the Chinese proverb “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water and cook, after enlightenment, chop wood, carry water and cook. So if you still have to live your life and die, then why bother about the purpose of life? Greed, desire, religions, pride and prejudice are like the beguiling colors of the rainbow, ephemeral, and transient with no pot of enlightenment at the end of the illusion. The sacred texts of the east termed loosely as Hinduism is a way of life- which tells us that it is easier to lead a life of moral correctness and abide by our duty to humanity as we battle with relationships, aspirations and love in this world.
Fear which is rampant in all of us is a hangover from the lower forms and emerged as humans make us neurotic. We are scared of failure, animals are better, they live in the “now” don’t look for a purpose and accept reality. The greatest teachers always state that everyone becomes a healer the moment he forgets about himself, and stops chasing the elusive blue bird called enlightenment. Wisdom is silent does not preach; only gospelers who are ignorant, spend their lives converting and promising eternal salvation. Ideally we should accept our experiences in the world as our reality, success and failure are also part of experience.
Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed. The real purpose is not transcending anything but existing and doing everything with a smile on one’s lips and chin up during misfortune while journeying in this world. There is no mystery and we do not need a Sherlock Holmes or religions to unravel anything.
We construct ourselves by assembling and living through our experiences, desires, and actions; like a book giving coherence to true incidental plots. In this way we generate meaning through the continuous act of self creation. In short we “create our own version of the Koran, Torah or Bible”-Vinay-
Despair is a mortal sin!
Our greatest enemy is boredom and despair. It is really physical, there are times when you wallow in self pity and you really do not realize you are a body and sink to a point of depletion, where it doesn’t seem worthwhile to get up. Many of us have been in such a situation and require a herculean effort or a blessings counter to summon enough reasons to make the effort to come out of our shells. Out of this deadwood it’s worth putting the effort to spring forth into a new life.
The constructs of the mind must vanish; this helps us to look beyond the constructs of the mind. When your mind is elevated when you are in a flow, creative work such as writing, painting and poetry comes effortlessly. It is about surrendering the mind, just as much as we surrender material possessions. It is one of the ways in which we can influence our environment and life.
Then we won’t be sorry for ourselves. The memory which caused the despair must be treated like a doorway passing through which you emerge into a new room. We have the power of choice to either leave the room or go back into the room of despair. The future is always outward not locked in the recesses of our memory. It is better to forget the past misery and enjoy the new future which is in perpetual transition year after year. –Vinay-
The constructs of the mind must vanish; this helps us to look beyond the constructs of the mind. When your mind is elevated when you are in a flow, creative work such as writing, painting and poetry comes effortlessly. It is about surrendering the mind, just as much as we surrender material possessions. It is one of the ways in which we can influence our environment and life.
Then we won’t be sorry for ourselves. The memory which caused the despair must be treated like a doorway passing through which you emerge into a new room. We have the power of choice to either leave the room or go back into the room of despair. The future is always outward not locked in the recesses of our memory. It is better to forget the past misery and enjoy the new future which is in perpetual transition year after year. –Vinay-
Can the empire strike back?
As you land in to China’s shiny new Airport and drive into town you are immediately stuck with the modern highways steel and glass city infrastructure that china has managed to put in place in just under two decades. China was technologically one of the most powerful nations for centuries having invented even gunpowder in the 15th century. But till now and even up to the 19th century it was considered a poor country, mainly as it had put in severe restrictions on trade in the middle kingdom.
Argentina was also another country that well endowed like the USA in the 19th century but went bankrupt three times, while the US has enjoyed an uninterrupted run of more than 100 years of prosperity. The implication is that sudden shifts are relatively rare in history. But consider continental Europe over the past 70 years - until recently a normal human lifetime. Unless they were Swedish or Swiss, an ordinary European man or woman lived during that period under several quite different systems of government. But all nations and civilizations decline; is it time for US Empire to down the drain like Egypt, Greece, Britain, and India like China in the past? However the Silicon Valley’s overwhelming bias towards optimism remains one of America’s enduring assets.
America with its great wealth, depth of learning, advanced technologies and solid democratic institutions should be able to weather all storms. However the recent economic crisis is not a short term business debacle but a deeper malaise and ongoing deterioration of politics and the culture of power. The abject failure of financial regulation, 9/11 terrorism senseless war on Iraq, massive military budgets, war in Afghanistan, bailout of investment banks and corporations shows that the rot runs a lot deeper. The road ahead is strewn with many other obstacles like the bowing down to lobbyists and a government that chases the fat cats for power and wealth at the cost of the rest of the world is a disquieting aspect of a government that is becoming shamefully inept. Politics splintered into extremist parties with Wall Street owning the Democrats and big oil corporations / Industry owning the Republicans it’s a catch 22 situation. America’s elite, super rich and industry and government is only offering lip service to CSR( corporate social responsibity) has been abandoned as more and more policies are anti-people.
Unless there is a return to civic virtue and the incentives to Corporations to corrupt the Government are removed the economic slide will continue till like other nations us will also be another nation that was once a superpower. We seem to be approaching one of those periods of discontinuity that have happened so often in the past. It may seem unthinkable that the European banking system could implode, or that a global currency like the euro could dissolve into nothing. Surely we would be better off if we put an end to our obsession with endings. Humans are sturdy creatures built to withstand regular disruption. Conflict never ceases, but neither does human resourcefulness, adaptability or courage.
Argentina was also another country that well endowed like the USA in the 19th century but went bankrupt three times, while the US has enjoyed an uninterrupted run of more than 100 years of prosperity. The implication is that sudden shifts are relatively rare in history. But consider continental Europe over the past 70 years - until recently a normal human lifetime. Unless they were Swedish or Swiss, an ordinary European man or woman lived during that period under several quite different systems of government. But all nations and civilizations decline; is it time for US Empire to down the drain like Egypt, Greece, Britain, and India like China in the past? However the Silicon Valley’s overwhelming bias towards optimism remains one of America’s enduring assets.
America with its great wealth, depth of learning, advanced technologies and solid democratic institutions should be able to weather all storms. However the recent economic crisis is not a short term business debacle but a deeper malaise and ongoing deterioration of politics and the culture of power. The abject failure of financial regulation, 9/11 terrorism senseless war on Iraq, massive military budgets, war in Afghanistan, bailout of investment banks and corporations shows that the rot runs a lot deeper. The road ahead is strewn with many other obstacles like the bowing down to lobbyists and a government that chases the fat cats for power and wealth at the cost of the rest of the world is a disquieting aspect of a government that is becoming shamefully inept. Politics splintered into extremist parties with Wall Street owning the Democrats and big oil corporations / Industry owning the Republicans it’s a catch 22 situation. America’s elite, super rich and industry and government is only offering lip service to CSR( corporate social responsibity) has been abandoned as more and more policies are anti-people.
Unless there is a return to civic virtue and the incentives to Corporations to corrupt the Government are removed the economic slide will continue till like other nations us will also be another nation that was once a superpower. We seem to be approaching one of those periods of discontinuity that have happened so often in the past. It may seem unthinkable that the European banking system could implode, or that a global currency like the euro could dissolve into nothing. Surely we would be better off if we put an end to our obsession with endings. Humans are sturdy creatures built to withstand regular disruption. Conflict never ceases, but neither does human resourcefulness, adaptability or courage.
Siesta…. A forgotten word in today’s mad rush hour.
My earliest recollections of siesta ( early afternoon nap) were in childhood when my parents would force me and my siblings to sleep in the sultry afternoons. I also remember my father taking a siesta in the afternoon after a lazy lunch; eat, drink and sleep used to be the motto in those days. In the pre-industrial era people performed fewer solitary tasks. Many years later in the eighties when I took up an assignment with Arvind Mills Ltd as their Marketing manager, this phenomenon appeared again. After a sumptuous lunch in the Executive dining room, I found an ante-room where there were rows of easy chairs (chaise) recliners on which all senior managers had a brief siesta after the lunch break.
Today as we multitask ourselves with cell phone, I-pad and Kindle, the mind is constantly whirling from twitter to texts without the gentle mental drift of day dreaming like in days of yore. E-mail, SMS, Twitter, fax and its ilk have reduced communications to zero, at the same time increasing its speed. Like nuclear energy, it may some day do something for us homo - sapiens consume us! Reminds me of the Zen master who became dejected upon attaining “Satori” – (knowledge), for he had nothing more to look forward to.
The old saying “mad dogs and English men go out in the noon day sun” strikes me as an archaic ‘verily”, as post luncheon sessions induce a state of comatose – or torpor – a state of mental and mortal inactivity with a suspension of sensibilities. This lethargy can be seen in all shops in Italy and Mexico as well as the Middle East where all activity ceases between 2.00p.m to 4.00p.m.
John Plotz an English professor calls it an illness (“noonday demon”) that befalls priests, pastors and bishops after a boring Latin prayer followed by a communal lunch. Plotz goes on to state that the desert fathers, monastic monks and nuns used to retreat into their cells or chambers to labor and meditate on matters in the spiritual realm, even in the fourth century. So day dreaming for which I have been rebuked on many occasions is not bad at all.
Acedia – as per the oxford dictionary terminology is – apathy and inactivity in the practice of a virtue. However sloth and gluttony are also a part of the seven deadly sins. Sloth suggests a sluggish, indolent, disinclination to work or exert oneself after a heavy meal it cannot be a sin its just simple pro-crastination.! – The anti-thesis of precision and fastidiousness.
In the Benedictine monastery, detachment was a self disciplinary exercise, which kept monks and nuns from temptation and situated their minds only on divine tasks and their bodies in the right place, so that they can leave behind continence – (the essence of self constraint in sexual matters), giving them the stoic demeanor, unaffected by pleasure or pain. These days when attention span is at an all time low, if our mind wanders to daydream, it is called a psychological distraction or medically labeled as ADHD ( Attention deficient hyperactivity disorder) a sort of behavioral illness.
The supposedly great misery of the 21st century despite all this internet technology is the lack of time itself or our sense of that – not a disinterested love of science or religion and certainly not wisdom. Why we devote such a huge proportion of the ingenuity and income of mankind to finding faster ways of doing things. Its seems as if the final aim of mankind was to grow closer no to perfect humanity, but a perfect lighting flash. The one commodity that is becoming scarce is the leisure to enjoy life or a simple siesta!
Today as we multitask ourselves with cell phone, I-pad and Kindle, the mind is constantly whirling from twitter to texts without the gentle mental drift of day dreaming like in days of yore. E-mail, SMS, Twitter, fax and its ilk have reduced communications to zero, at the same time increasing its speed. Like nuclear energy, it may some day do something for us homo - sapiens consume us! Reminds me of the Zen master who became dejected upon attaining “Satori” – (knowledge), for he had nothing more to look forward to.
The old saying “mad dogs and English men go out in the noon day sun” strikes me as an archaic ‘verily”, as post luncheon sessions induce a state of comatose – or torpor – a state of mental and mortal inactivity with a suspension of sensibilities. This lethargy can be seen in all shops in Italy and Mexico as well as the Middle East where all activity ceases between 2.00p.m to 4.00p.m.
John Plotz an English professor calls it an illness (“noonday demon”) that befalls priests, pastors and bishops after a boring Latin prayer followed by a communal lunch. Plotz goes on to state that the desert fathers, monastic monks and nuns used to retreat into their cells or chambers to labor and meditate on matters in the spiritual realm, even in the fourth century. So day dreaming for which I have been rebuked on many occasions is not bad at all.
Acedia – as per the oxford dictionary terminology is – apathy and inactivity in the practice of a virtue. However sloth and gluttony are also a part of the seven deadly sins. Sloth suggests a sluggish, indolent, disinclination to work or exert oneself after a heavy meal it cannot be a sin its just simple pro-crastination.! – The anti-thesis of precision and fastidiousness.
In the Benedictine monastery, detachment was a self disciplinary exercise, which kept monks and nuns from temptation and situated their minds only on divine tasks and their bodies in the right place, so that they can leave behind continence – (the essence of self constraint in sexual matters), giving them the stoic demeanor, unaffected by pleasure or pain. These days when attention span is at an all time low, if our mind wanders to daydream, it is called a psychological distraction or medically labeled as ADHD ( Attention deficient hyperactivity disorder) a sort of behavioral illness.
The supposedly great misery of the 21st century despite all this internet technology is the lack of time itself or our sense of that – not a disinterested love of science or religion and certainly not wisdom. Why we devote such a huge proportion of the ingenuity and income of mankind to finding faster ways of doing things. Its seems as if the final aim of mankind was to grow closer no to perfect humanity, but a perfect lighting flash. The one commodity that is becoming scarce is the leisure to enjoy life or a simple siesta!
Adversity is an inside job.
We all have had more than our share of hardship in life, but there is no point in brooding over the past. We have to find solutions, not unredeemed bleakness and move forward with defiant and cheerful stoicism. Acceptance of adversity must become second nature to successfully tackle life, as an opportunity. Only by learning what fear is can you finally learn to distinguish possible from the impossible and the false from the true.
As long as we live in this world, we are bound to encounter problems & it’s not ourselves but everyone, who has to undergo suffering, so don’t lose hope try to overcome hurdles. The few concepts of cause, effect, interdependence and impermanence must move beyond intellectual understanding.
Sometimes the greatest moments happen unplanned and the greatest regrets occur from not reaching what is planned. You have to hurt in order to know, fall in order to grow, and lose in order to gain because most of life’s lessons are learned in pain. All suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction.
Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed.
Don’t be afraid of death, be afraid of a life you didn’t live, you don’t have to live forever, you just have to live. The self is not a stable entity nor is there any “true” self to be discovered, the self is something that instantly changes skins like a snake. Everything is ultimately reduced to a physical existence and nothing exists outside the physical universe.
As long as we live in this world, we are bound to encounter problems & it’s not ourselves but everyone, who has to undergo suffering, so don’t lose hope try to overcome hurdles. The few concepts of cause, effect, interdependence and impermanence must move beyond intellectual understanding.
Sometimes the greatest moments happen unplanned and the greatest regrets occur from not reaching what is planned. You have to hurt in order to know, fall in order to grow, and lose in order to gain because most of life’s lessons are learned in pain. All suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction.
Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed.
Don’t be afraid of death, be afraid of a life you didn’t live, you don’t have to live forever, you just have to live. The self is not a stable entity nor is there any “true” self to be discovered, the self is something that instantly changes skins like a snake. Everything is ultimately reduced to a physical existence and nothing exists outside the physical universe.
From Gutenberg to face book
Five centuries before Face book and the Arab spring, social media helped bring about the Reformation.
It is a familiar-sounding tale: after decades of simmering discontent a new form of media gives opponents of an authoritarian regime a way to express their views, register their solidarity and co-ordinate their actions. The protesters’ message spreads virally through social networks, making it impossible to suppress and highlighting the extent of public support for revolution.
That’s what happened in the Arab spring. It’s also what happened during the Reformation, nearly 500 years ago, when Martin Luther and his allies took the new media of their day—pamphlets, ballads and woodcuts—and circulated them through social networks to promote their message of religious reform.
Now the internet offers a new perspective on this long-running debate, namely that the important factor was not the printing press itself (since the 1450s), but the wider system of media sharing along social networks—what is called “social media” today. Luther, like the Arab revolutionaries, grasped the dynamics of this new media environment very quickly, and saw how it could spread his message.
Modern digital networks may be able to do it more quickly, but even 500 years ago the sharing of media could play a supporting role in precipitating a revolution. Today’s social-media systems do not just connect us to each other: they also link us to the past.
Trans-created from the essay – Vinay-
It is a familiar-sounding tale: after decades of simmering discontent a new form of media gives opponents of an authoritarian regime a way to express their views, register their solidarity and co-ordinate their actions. The protesters’ message spreads virally through social networks, making it impossible to suppress and highlighting the extent of public support for revolution.
That’s what happened in the Arab spring. It’s also what happened during the Reformation, nearly 500 years ago, when Martin Luther and his allies took the new media of their day—pamphlets, ballads and woodcuts—and circulated them through social networks to promote their message of religious reform.
Now the internet offers a new perspective on this long-running debate, namely that the important factor was not the printing press itself (since the 1450s), but the wider system of media sharing along social networks—what is called “social media” today. Luther, like the Arab revolutionaries, grasped the dynamics of this new media environment very quickly, and saw how it could spread his message.
Modern digital networks may be able to do it more quickly, but even 500 years ago the sharing of media could play a supporting role in precipitating a revolution. Today’s social-media systems do not just connect us to each other: they also link us to the past.
Trans-created from the essay – Vinay-
Truth, Lies and Deceit.
People as a rule pay scant attention to facts which conflict with their interests, or self conceit. We hide reality from our conscious minds all the better to conceal it from onlookers. The more we believe our lies the more we can lie to others effectively states psychologist Trivers.
History and religion are also distorted to produce national halos, and the individual wears the warp of his experience with a comfortable mosaic of self justification. Hence the sins of nations cannot be indicted i.e. Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, or USA’s raw deal to Red Indians and Africans. Conversely religious fundamentalism sometimes restricts interaction with outsiders, (even if it is an offshoot of their own religion split into factions) to help protect the faithful from the infidels.
Their character may be noble, but if they also feel that their beliefs, opinions; religion/gods, state language, culture, heroes and their roles in history, are superior to any other – but everybody cannot be right. We willingly and unwittingly inflate the qualities of ourselves and others in our ethnic, cultural, and religious group, while we denigrate those in opposite camps as economic, sexual and political rivals- believing we are smarter and righteous than we really are.
Honesty and truth are not synonymous; they are comparative phases of one notion – Honesty being a profession of a philosophy, while Truth is an established law of existence. Honesty is applied to human behavior, while truth is as universal law. Deceit is vast ranging from fibs parents and children indulge to manipulate each other while political and religious leaders foist “false historical and religious narratives” on citizens and the world.
The historians and chroniclers of the holy books/scriptures may have been under the illusion that they were honest, because they looked into available data (available does not mean that they had access to all data available to others as well). The data they wanted to collect & present, which they were seeking in their subconscious mind is the one with which they wrote history and scriptures as they wanted it to be known.
In that process they left out the truth – truth pertaining to men / events and gave a lopsided view of what they wanted to portray about their own religion, territorial history, heroes and incidents which they state is truthfully recorded.
A real truthful record still awaits birth. Fooling others yields obvious benefits, but why do we often fool ourselves. Our illusions can have devastating consequences, from the simple dissolution of marriage, to stock market collapses, religious jihad and world wars.- Vinay-
History and religion are also distorted to produce national halos, and the individual wears the warp of his experience with a comfortable mosaic of self justification. Hence the sins of nations cannot be indicted i.e. Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, or USA’s raw deal to Red Indians and Africans. Conversely religious fundamentalism sometimes restricts interaction with outsiders, (even if it is an offshoot of their own religion split into factions) to help protect the faithful from the infidels.
Their character may be noble, but if they also feel that their beliefs, opinions; religion/gods, state language, culture, heroes and their roles in history, are superior to any other – but everybody cannot be right. We willingly and unwittingly inflate the qualities of ourselves and others in our ethnic, cultural, and religious group, while we denigrate those in opposite camps as economic, sexual and political rivals- believing we are smarter and righteous than we really are.
Honesty and truth are not synonymous; they are comparative phases of one notion – Honesty being a profession of a philosophy, while Truth is an established law of existence. Honesty is applied to human behavior, while truth is as universal law. Deceit is vast ranging from fibs parents and children indulge to manipulate each other while political and religious leaders foist “false historical and religious narratives” on citizens and the world.
The historians and chroniclers of the holy books/scriptures may have been under the illusion that they were honest, because they looked into available data (available does not mean that they had access to all data available to others as well). The data they wanted to collect & present, which they were seeking in their subconscious mind is the one with which they wrote history and scriptures as they wanted it to be known.
In that process they left out the truth – truth pertaining to men / events and gave a lopsided view of what they wanted to portray about their own religion, territorial history, heroes and incidents which they state is truthfully recorded.
A real truthful record still awaits birth. Fooling others yields obvious benefits, but why do we often fool ourselves. Our illusions can have devastating consequences, from the simple dissolution of marriage, to stock market collapses, religious jihad and world wars.- Vinay-
KARMA
When the devastating cyclone of 2004 hit Veluvedapathy a coastal town in Tamilnadu, it crippled areas up to Vellore. A lone Hindu temple and the church of our Lady of Velangani stood as mute witnesses to the fury of the angry sea! Though the sense of devastation sent shock waves around the world, the people in surrounding areas just attributed it to Karma or Fate.
In the Hindu spiritual tradition Karma is inbuilt to deal with calamity, misery and even though their life was reduced to rubble and many had no homes left to sleep, the community after the initial shock and tears went back to living a life with no future. Even our “Lady of perpetual succor” could not offer anything more concrete than sympathy to the affected people.
The resilience and stoicism seems to have been threaded into the mosaic of their lives along with Karma. The watched warily as some NGO’s rushed aid and food suppliers while their own treacherous Govt. machinery was evasive and immobile.
Karma or fatalism has deep and primitive roots in this subcontinent and most Indians believe that their destiny is fixed at birth itself and fate will play out the role assigned to it in their lives. The threat of death as a predator that lurks in a dark corner is an abiding thought carried by everyone. In a quiet corner of the eastern minds mystique, the physical possibility of death hovers like a faint shadow. This Karma module helps them to weather, pestilence, wars, earthquakes tsunami’s and the resultant hunger and misery and it has evolved to arise at the mere idea of a threat. Sitting somberly it urges contemplation rather than action depending on the circumstances. It is the only support system that they have to trust. For more than thousands of years this has historically been drummed into their minds and the wild bodies as the reality of suffering! An innocuous word “Karma’’ remains profoundly traditional in which individuals do not fight their destinies. Very difficult for the Zany western modern culture to understand and will always remain and enigma!
As everything is pre-ordained they stop taking life so seriously and enjoy the beauty that surrounds their poverty ridden life. They comprehend the timelessness of nature and revel in its infinite reach and stretch out to life in its full essence.
In the Hindu spiritual tradition Karma is inbuilt to deal with calamity, misery and even though their life was reduced to rubble and many had no homes left to sleep, the community after the initial shock and tears went back to living a life with no future. Even our “Lady of perpetual succor” could not offer anything more concrete than sympathy to the affected people.
The resilience and stoicism seems to have been threaded into the mosaic of their lives along with Karma. The watched warily as some NGO’s rushed aid and food suppliers while their own treacherous Govt. machinery was evasive and immobile.
Karma or fatalism has deep and primitive roots in this subcontinent and most Indians believe that their destiny is fixed at birth itself and fate will play out the role assigned to it in their lives. The threat of death as a predator that lurks in a dark corner is an abiding thought carried by everyone. In a quiet corner of the eastern minds mystique, the physical possibility of death hovers like a faint shadow. This Karma module helps them to weather, pestilence, wars, earthquakes tsunami’s and the resultant hunger and misery and it has evolved to arise at the mere idea of a threat. Sitting somberly it urges contemplation rather than action depending on the circumstances. It is the only support system that they have to trust. For more than thousands of years this has historically been drummed into their minds and the wild bodies as the reality of suffering! An innocuous word “Karma’’ remains profoundly traditional in which individuals do not fight their destinies. Very difficult for the Zany western modern culture to understand and will always remain and enigma!
As everything is pre-ordained they stop taking life so seriously and enjoy the beauty that surrounds their poverty ridden life. They comprehend the timelessness of nature and revel in its infinite reach and stretch out to life in its full essence.
Frithjof Schuon: Transcendent Unity of Religion (Preface)
Gnosis as I understand it is not a mystical term to confound the innocent, nor does it mean "special knowledge." It means knowledge simply, as in Paul's letters, or more accurately, direct knowing. Gnana, Gnosis, Rigpa, Pure Reason, Soul Vision, Vidya, Science, Chan and Zen are all words that mean this same thing. It is the Light of the Third Heaven, or Hall of Wisdom (from the Voice of the Silence), the Dharmakaya, or Causal level of Shankara.
The following by Frithjof Schuon explains and compares the differences and meaning of Gnosis, reason, and revelation:
"The transcendent character of metaphysical knowledge makes it independent of any purely human mode of thought... philosophy proceeds from reason (which is a purely individual faculty), whereas metaphysical knowledge proceeds exclusively from the Intellect [also called Intuition, the mental not the psychic sort]. The latter faculty has been defined by Meister Eckhart as follows: "There is something in the soul that is uncreate and uncreatable; if the whole soul were this it would be uncreate and uncreatable; and this is the Intellect."
"Since purely intellectual knowledge [ie, that which only meditation, gnosis or Pure Reason can reach- for the Intellect as he means it is the direct link to the Absolute in us] is by definition beyond the reach of the individual, being in its essence supra-individual, universal or divine, and since it proceeds from pure Intelligence, which is direct and not discursive, it follows that this knowledge goes not only infinitely further than reasoning, but even goes further than faith in the ordinary sense of the word. In other words intellectual knowledge also transcends the specifically theological point of view which is itself superior to the philosophical point of views, since like metaphysical knowledge it emanates from God and not from man; but whereas metaphysic proceeds wholly from intellectual intuition, religion proceeds from Revelation. The latter is the Word of God spoken to his creatures, whereas intellectual intuition is a direct and active participation in divine Knowledge and not an indirect and passive participation, as is faith. In other words in the case of intellectual intuition, knowledge is not possessed by the individual insofar as he is an individual, but insofar as in his innermost essence he is not distinct from the Divine Principle. Thus metaphysical certitude is absolute because of the identity between the knower and the known in the Intellect."
"The theological point of view because it is based in the minds of believers on a Revelation and not on a knowledge that is accessible to each one of them... will of necessity confuse the symbol or form with the naked and supraformal Truth....
"Intellectual knowledge proceeds neither from belief nor from a process of reasoning- it goes beyond dogma in the sense that... it penetrates its internal dimension... In order to be absolutely clear on this point we must again insist that the rational mode of knowledge in no way extends beyond the realm of generalities and cannot by itself reach any transcendental truth; it may nevertheless serve as a means of expressing supra-rational knowledge.... This resemblance.. is due to the fact that all concepts once they are expressed are necessarily clothed in the modes of human thought.... it makes use of rational modes of thought as symbols to describe or translate knowledge possessing a greater degree of certainty than any knowledge of the sensible order... When philosophy uses reason to resolve a doubt this proves that its starting point is a doubt that it is striving to overcome, whereas the starting point of a metaphysical formulation is always essentially something intellectually evident or certain, which is communicated, to those able to recieve it, by symbolical or dialectical means designed to awaken in them the latent knowledge that they bear unconsciously... and eternally within them."
The following by Frithjof Schuon explains and compares the differences and meaning of Gnosis, reason, and revelation:
"The transcendent character of metaphysical knowledge makes it independent of any purely human mode of thought... philosophy proceeds from reason (which is a purely individual faculty), whereas metaphysical knowledge proceeds exclusively from the Intellect [also called Intuition, the mental not the psychic sort]. The latter faculty has been defined by Meister Eckhart as follows: "There is something in the soul that is uncreate and uncreatable; if the whole soul were this it would be uncreate and uncreatable; and this is the Intellect."
"Since purely intellectual knowledge [ie, that which only meditation, gnosis or Pure Reason can reach- for the Intellect as he means it is the direct link to the Absolute in us] is by definition beyond the reach of the individual, being in its essence supra-individual, universal or divine, and since it proceeds from pure Intelligence, which is direct and not discursive, it follows that this knowledge goes not only infinitely further than reasoning, but even goes further than faith in the ordinary sense of the word. In other words intellectual knowledge also transcends the specifically theological point of view which is itself superior to the philosophical point of views, since like metaphysical knowledge it emanates from God and not from man; but whereas metaphysic proceeds wholly from intellectual intuition, religion proceeds from Revelation. The latter is the Word of God spoken to his creatures, whereas intellectual intuition is a direct and active participation in divine Knowledge and not an indirect and passive participation, as is faith. In other words in the case of intellectual intuition, knowledge is not possessed by the individual insofar as he is an individual, but insofar as in his innermost essence he is not distinct from the Divine Principle. Thus metaphysical certitude is absolute because of the identity between the knower and the known in the Intellect."
"The theological point of view because it is based in the minds of believers on a Revelation and not on a knowledge that is accessible to each one of them... will of necessity confuse the symbol or form with the naked and supraformal Truth....
"Intellectual knowledge proceeds neither from belief nor from a process of reasoning- it goes beyond dogma in the sense that... it penetrates its internal dimension... In order to be absolutely clear on this point we must again insist that the rational mode of knowledge in no way extends beyond the realm of generalities and cannot by itself reach any transcendental truth; it may nevertheless serve as a means of expressing supra-rational knowledge.... This resemblance.. is due to the fact that all concepts once they are expressed are necessarily clothed in the modes of human thought.... it makes use of rational modes of thought as symbols to describe or translate knowledge possessing a greater degree of certainty than any knowledge of the sensible order... When philosophy uses reason to resolve a doubt this proves that its starting point is a doubt that it is striving to overcome, whereas the starting point of a metaphysical formulation is always essentially something intellectually evident or certain, which is communicated, to those able to recieve it, by symbolical or dialectical means designed to awaken in them the latent knowledge that they bear unconsciously... and eternally within them."
Religious fundamentalism is the bane of society.
Islamic/ Christian or other religious fundamentalism is the embodiment of the things we loathe the most – a kind of nadir of the worst inequities of religious belief and an ideology that is basically fascist.
It seems like a fight unto death, but the good news is that it’s impossible for these fundamentalists to win. It is not blasphemy to say that the world seriously needs help from atheists and a rational person like me, there is so much misery out there and not enough love.
As Swami Vivekananda once said” Life is good or evil according to the state of mind in which we look at it”. Like fire which by itself is not bad as it keeps us warm, but if we fan the fires of religious fundamentalism and intolerance it will burn us all.
If we can understand humanity and be selfless we can work without attachment to any religion. The world is like a dog’s tail that wags it at its master and cannot be straightened. Fanaticism cannot make progress for mankind; it is an element that retards progress by creating anger and hate in its wake of followers- causing them to fight each other in a holier than thou holy war where there can be no victor.
You don’t need religion for sympathy or love in this world. In the end ,empathy , helping each other irrespective of religion, caste, color and creed is the true path to progress. -Vinay-
It seems like a fight unto death, but the good news is that it’s impossible for these fundamentalists to win. It is not blasphemy to say that the world seriously needs help from atheists and a rational person like me, there is so much misery out there and not enough love.
As Swami Vivekananda once said” Life is good or evil according to the state of mind in which we look at it”. Like fire which by itself is not bad as it keeps us warm, but if we fan the fires of religious fundamentalism and intolerance it will burn us all.
If we can understand humanity and be selfless we can work without attachment to any religion. The world is like a dog’s tail that wags it at its master and cannot be straightened. Fanaticism cannot make progress for mankind; it is an element that retards progress by creating anger and hate in its wake of followers- causing them to fight each other in a holier than thou holy war where there can be no victor.
You don’t need religion for sympathy or love in this world. In the end ,empathy , helping each other irrespective of religion, caste, color and creed is the true path to progress. -Vinay-
Pen post is dead.
In a world where hand written letter are replaced with e-mails click, delete Ctrl… instant gratification…communication is the death of distance. The thing to do is to feel the texture of the page, still white before the ink lines form, let the fluid flow into the mute amazement of a sentence, a sort of interior decoration of the mind. Writing pushes us deeper & higher into ourselves, words seem to come first as an impulsion from nowhere and then pre-hension and it becomes less and less esoteric.
I lack the rigor of a trained writer, drinking and writing was like a spiritual quest. Pencil, fountain pens I am the only one who uses it nowadays, an anachronism in these days, yet with this entire new internet technology people can’t read, write or love, and it’s called progress.
Writing has been a liberating experience, like love, wherein I would reach out to people mostly of the opposite sex, a medium by which I communicate my thoughts and vision as I see them. To me writing is the medium of expression, which gives me liberty to transcend time and space and express my emotions as honestly as possible and played an important role in transforming my thoughts and vision apart from altering the way I perceived love.
Knowledge of the means to express our emotion is essential and can be acquired by experience and a curious unworldliness.
Human happiness is a mysterious thing, how it works, what will give you real meaning in life is universal love. Communication can be like an evocative and romantic letter leaving ample room for interpretation and introspection willing the pen to flow along with your meandering thoughts. By this your beautiful thoughts can acquire a quiet power and a mesmeric radiance where love is a sojourn to savor.
Somewhere between our heart and mind is a place which we seldom visit where we can transmute our passion into the force of love.
I lack the rigor of a trained writer, drinking and writing was like a spiritual quest. Pencil, fountain pens I am the only one who uses it nowadays, an anachronism in these days, yet with this entire new internet technology people can’t read, write or love, and it’s called progress.
Writing has been a liberating experience, like love, wherein I would reach out to people mostly of the opposite sex, a medium by which I communicate my thoughts and vision as I see them. To me writing is the medium of expression, which gives me liberty to transcend time and space and express my emotions as honestly as possible and played an important role in transforming my thoughts and vision apart from altering the way I perceived love.
Knowledge of the means to express our emotion is essential and can be acquired by experience and a curious unworldliness.
Human happiness is a mysterious thing, how it works, what will give you real meaning in life is universal love. Communication can be like an evocative and romantic letter leaving ample room for interpretation and introspection willing the pen to flow along with your meandering thoughts. By this your beautiful thoughts can acquire a quiet power and a mesmeric radiance where love is a sojourn to savor.
Somewhere between our heart and mind is a place which we seldom visit where we can transmute our passion into the force of love.
Dirty dozen global events and trends…
The year 2011 will go down in history as the year which heralded the maximum protests highlighting the role played by civil society in its bid to tell the governments that it cant hood wink its people al the time. Major initiatives have made a lot of noise towards reforms whether all of them will bear fruit is yet to be seen.
1. The Sovereign debt crises took the sheen out of the Euro zone.
2. The US economy descended deeply due to political paralysis and institutional stares.
3. Arab spring stormed the dictational barricades in Middle East.
4. The killing of Bin Laden started a US Pakistan war of words.
5. Capitalism was attached by “occupy will sheet” protests.
6. Steve Job demise gave a new inspective to technology.
7. US withdraw troops from Iraq and no one knows whether it liberated it or not.
8. 9/11 Anniversary of Islamofacism saw China close the ranks of power with USA.
9. The worlds 2nd largest democracy slowed down; due to a burgeoning budget deficit and protests from Anna Hazare against wide spread corruption in govt and high places.
10. Fukishama nuclear disaster saw the political lobbies of environmentalists, wind & solar energies & green political parties stepping up their ante.
11. Wikileaks, Berlusconi, IMF chief etc gave sex a chance to hit the headlines again and again.
12. Unethical media practices and nexus between diplomat’s corporate bigwigs and politicians were blown out causing the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch to eat humble pie.
The concept of private lives was basic to civilization. Its value could be measured by the thoroughness with which totalitarian states and dictatorships always did try their best to stamp it out. But now we have to face the possibility that the latest internet based stage of civilization in this era of perpetual alliteration, that we are living in right now might also be trying to stamp it out.
1. The Sovereign debt crises took the sheen out of the Euro zone.
2. The US economy descended deeply due to political paralysis and institutional stares.
3. Arab spring stormed the dictational barricades in Middle East.
4. The killing of Bin Laden started a US Pakistan war of words.
5. Capitalism was attached by “occupy will sheet” protests.
6. Steve Job demise gave a new inspective to technology.
7. US withdraw troops from Iraq and no one knows whether it liberated it or not.
8. 9/11 Anniversary of Islamofacism saw China close the ranks of power with USA.
9. The worlds 2nd largest democracy slowed down; due to a burgeoning budget deficit and protests from Anna Hazare against wide spread corruption in govt and high places.
10. Fukishama nuclear disaster saw the political lobbies of environmentalists, wind & solar energies & green political parties stepping up their ante.
11. Wikileaks, Berlusconi, IMF chief etc gave sex a chance to hit the headlines again and again.
12. Unethical media practices and nexus between diplomat’s corporate bigwigs and politicians were blown out causing the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch to eat humble pie.
The concept of private lives was basic to civilization. Its value could be measured by the thoroughness with which totalitarian states and dictatorships always did try their best to stamp it out. But now we have to face the possibility that the latest internet based stage of civilization in this era of perpetual alliteration, that we are living in right now might also be trying to stamp it out.
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