Cologne was first produced in the German city of the same name; it has been used for many purposes including as a substitute for alcohol. It usually contains distilled water with 70% alcohol and 6% of fragrant oils added for perfuming.
Eau de Cologne evokes images of swooning corseted Victorian ladies, who were used to being fanned with perfumed handkerchiefs to beat the sultry summer heat and the sweaty odors of tropical summers.
I n the old days Neanderthals, cave men and women, due to lack of personal hygiene smelt like skunks. This meant that social and sexual intercourse were severely restricted- nature’s way of family planning one assumes.
However as homo-sapiens evolved the ancient Egyptians discovered perfumes and the Persians perfected the art of blending and storing them, thereby considerably diminishing the assault on the olfactory senses. Cologne’s medicinal properties have not been confirmed, but in India a cold compress was used on foreheads to reduce fever.
Gian Paolo Feminis created the Eau de Cologne in 1709. Deodorants appeared many decades later and is mainly used to mask body odor. Unlike perfumes deodorants come in a variety of forms i.e. roll- on, sprays, gels, and liquids. deodorants were first commercially produced in Philadelphia, USA in 1888 and the brand name was “Mum’’ it consisted of aluminum derivatives, though of late aluminum free deo’s are also available.
Cologne and perfume are applied to pulse points unlike Deodorants which are applied to underarms. Manufacturers fool men into believing that Deodorants can attract women to them, while ladies are made to believe that perfumes will draw men like bees to honey. However though both claims are debatable it has spawned a billion dollar industry worldwide. – In cocktail conversations sprayed by Yusuf Begg-
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Tweet Tweet!
Birds were born to make the repetitive, pleasant, meaningless sounds called twittering.The tweet is a pure expression in bird form of communication. If homo -sapiens after evolving for countless years, acquiring knowledge in arts, literature and science revert to twitter in their communications; it would seem like a human reincarnation of bird brains in their after life of progress.
Lots of people on Twitter do think you’ll enjoy the spectacle of their snacks. They tell you what they’re eating, where they’re going, what they’re consuming, never mind why you should care. They tweet something cryptic to the point of senselessness. This is the tweet that says, whatever its actual content, “I have nothing to say but I want to say something.”
The Rise of the Tweet takes place amid an internet-induced cheapening of language, in both good and bad senses. The economic cheapness of digital publication democratizes expression and gives a necessary public to writers, and types of writing, that otherwise would be confined to the hard drive or the desk drawer. And yet the supreme ease of putting words online has opened up vast new space for carelessness, confusion, whateverism. Outside of Twitter, a coercive blogginess, a paradoxically de rigueur relaxation, menaces a whole generation’s prose (no, yeah, ours too).
This means that Twitter, officially a microblogging platform, in practice has often functioned in a way opposite to the blog. Of course a tweet is just a tweet, not to be made too much of. Aphorisms are ideally consumed like nuts or candies, a handful at a time. It has also brought about a surprising revival of the epigrammatic impulse in a literary culture. Write as short as you can/ In order/ Of what matters.
Few things could appear much worse, to the lurker, glimpser, or guesser, than this scrolling suicide note of Western civilization. Never more than 140 characters at a time? Looks like the human attention span crumbling like a Roman aqueduct. – n+1 Please RT.- Beep Beep the IT Road Runners are here.
Gods have feet of Clay
.
Whether it is Greek, Eastern mythology or the holy books, the Gods and Goddesses have human frailties. This is why it makes it easier for us to empathize and identify ourselves with these characters and sensibilities. If Jesus was identified as a superman then he couldn’t have been killed. So like Grimm’s fairy tales all these chronicles strive to drive home moral statements.
In Hindu philosophy the emphasis is on the earth’s process of transient conservation, which is a result of the continuous cycle of creation and destruction. However in nature we must be careful not to overuse our natural resources at a faster rate than we can replenish them. Wanton destruction of the Amazonian rain forests is a grim reminder that we should not destroy the habitats of the birds, fish, earthworms or even the tiny bacteria which help us keep the ecological balance.
The Garden of Eden is a classic example where Adam is warned against yielding to the temptation of biting or consuming more than one can chew or needs. Because in your greed, if you destroy Eden, it will be difficult to build another garden as beautiful. Everything in nature including the sunlight that is beamed at us is designed to absorb and at the same time reflect outwards.
Here too the simple philosophy is apparent, what we absorb or take from nature is designed in such a way that we end up reflecting more than what we absorb. This is the true essence of the philosophy of spirituality and science also endorses the phenomena that light color reflections are greater than the absorptions.
Our life is a journey in space and time, both symbolic and mythical because the manifestation of the infinite is an incomplete finite. The truth is we can never measure up to the full potential of homo-sapiens until we properly understand; that all of us including God if any are tiny particles of the Universe and its wholeness.
Similarly whether it is god or mankind, both will be beyond human comprehension unless we take acceptance of the complexities of humanity. Chaos is the pre-condition for destruction and creativity and even the Gods will not be spared
Guide to Bible
Suppose you had never heard of Christianity, and then one Sunday morning, a stranger standing in a pulpit, told you about a Holy book whose authors could not be authenticated and whose contents, written hundreds of years ago, included blood curdling legends of slaughter and intrigue – fables about unnatural happenings such as virgin births, devils that inhabit human bodies and talk, people rising from the dead on the third day and ascending to live in the clouds and suns that stand still.
Suppose, he then asked you to believe that an uneducated, unkempt man described in that book was a God who could get you into an eternal fantasy- place called Heaven, when you die. Would you, as an intelligent rational person, even bother to read such utter nonsense, let alone pattern your entire life upon it? Ruth Green-
Do you have thoughts about Death and what happens after Death?
Well, no single person who has ever lived will be able to tell you what happens, period. And no single person who died has come back to tell us. There are so many theories floating around, nobody’s right and nobody are wrong. So what do you do, then? How does our minds work, and what we think about—let’s call it “The disappearing mind stream”—when you follow your thoughts and watch them attach to certain things, it makes certain things real and other things unreal, and you realize that this is all created by your mind.
In some way it’s that elusive, intangible struggle that propels everyone forward—it has no end. So you’re doing something that’s endless, and you will never find out what it means, but you do it anyway. Having a little bit of a context gives you this illusion of its having meaning, but what is the meaning, really? Then it becomes beyond terrifying. What are you doing it for?
Illusion is one of the most interesting things that we have found to think and talk about. We don’t really know how it works, but we know that in some way we are and in some way we’re not having this conversation. Just look at yesterday, and what you were doing, and how important it was, and how nonexistent it is now! How dreamlike it is! Same thing with tomorrow. So where are we living?
Tibetans and Eastern spirituality have unbelievably fascinating answers to that. This is what I’m studying, insightful introspection because my dog diedand it is called Karma. –Xanadu-
Demystifying the Vedas.
Out of ignorance people tend to confuse religion with spirituality. Similarly the Upanishads and Rig Vedas a treatise on life and nature is identified incorrectly with holy books like the Bible and Koran.
The Vedas are the gist of a compendious account of nature using a semi scientific approach which if interpreted correctly can lead us to an understanding of ourselves vis a vis the Universe. However to arrive at this understanding is like forming a diamond from carbon and coal. One has to dig deep and search to find the truth contained in it.
The infinite universe consists of inanimate, sentient, insentient and external energy or spiritual substance. Apart from earth, fire, air, water and ether, there are infinite spiritual entities which form the subtler parts of the universe. Out of this chaos through a centrifugal action directed outwards is the force that controls the world, the old and new world is part of this same material.
Like the eye of the storm if you can enter the centre of your being, you will find the answers to all that you seek. According to the Vedas our minds our endowed with limited knowledge and understanding. Only with great intellectual powers and development can we perceive that which is not visible. Hence we need to build our thoughts to realize the higher consciousness.
Lesser mortals due to limited version think they perceive God in the invisible multifarious ways of the world. They discern him through images, photos, idols, temples, churches, mosques and create multiple religions each one differing fundamentally in their beliefs. Hence, so much strife, discords, conflicts and violence is perpetuated in the name of God.
These meta-physical truths are clearly expounded in the Vedas where man’s relationship with nature converges on common ground. Spiritual evolution does not require God or religion, just awareness of the mind and self. Sometimes a common belief which everyone follows and thinks is obvious can also be wrong. God may be fascinating but our classical view of spirituality as part of religion is definitely wrong. Spirituality is self correcting, reality is never easy, and there is no blasphemy or sacrilege or sin in spirituality, it only enables one to understand the universe and be a part of it. –Vinay-
Social intercourse
Social bonding is amongst the most basic of human desires and was prevalent in the old liberal regimes of the past. In the early colonial period ladies and gentlemen dressed in intellectual costumes, would frequent English dining rooms, Scottish Pubs, and French salons.
It was the age of eloquence and conversations, as people dabbled in political engagement with cultural authority. A vibrant literary culture thrived during the 19th century as people sought out human connections.
The melancholic temperaments of that era were conducive to the idea that bodily fluids determined character. When political authority collapsed these people carried out their everyday diplomatic dinner meetings to look beyond themselves. All of them wanted stronger relationship, and were not sure how to go about establishing this human bondage.
The old world charm was to be courteous, deal seriously with grave matters and gracefully with the lighter ones. They considered it bad manners to criticize people behind their backs or talk about oneself and generally stuck to subjects of general interest like the weather or economy and never lost their tempers or shouted at each other. Intellectually engaging a wide array of discerning people in soirees is a dying art with the advent of internet, face book, LinkedIn and chat.
The new cyber world will produce a new electronic collectivization of complex and efficient form of cognition and communication, but it can also lead to historical amnesia and mass manipulation.
Will it erode our civic virtues and traditions of the past? Only time will tell. All of us are now elated with the prospect of staying up all night and chatting with friends or lovers….
Unholy philosophy
Socrates was condemned to death in Athens in the spring of 399 BC for failing to worship the city’s gods and corrupting the youth with his atheistic views. Before leaving for court he prepares to drink a cup of hemlock with his woe begone friends.
In court he was given a chance to renounce his philosophy and join the believers. He responded with his legendary equanimity – that he would rather stick with what he thought was true rather than follow the herd with their popular beliefs.
French philosopher Voltaire stated that atheism is fine for the masses hence he never thrust his beliefs on his servants. Spiritual columnist Mukul Sharma without committing very cleverly & succinctly states that both Historian Edward Gibbons and Author Alain de Botton though atheists feel that religious doctrines could sometimes be socially useful for the masses.
For me having been brought up on a fare of Grimm’s fairy tales and Greek mythology the religious books and other voluminous body of narratives have a lot of inspiring philosophies and stories. I endorse Botton’s view that although the supernatural claims are completely false, it is better to plagiaries religion to convey important thoughts rather than mock the narratives.
I am careful to distance myself from both the fanatic religious and staunchly atheistic groups who are intent on ripping each other’s throats continuously, while the agnostics duck and watch the fun from the sidelines. Their philosophy of discretion being the better part of valour, is commendable yet I still dont allow believers to stand in the way of expressing my strong opinions and viewpoints.
Blasphemy and sacrilege cannot achieve much but plagiarism of the essence is the better part of philosophical writing to create my own narrative around these doctrines. The huge bodies of religion have a lot of wonderful insights which are incomprehensible to the blind believer and fanatic. So instead of overly reacting to their moral doctrines, I try to hoist them with their own religious petard.
Aqua Vitae- The Water of life.
James Bond likes his Martini shaken not stirred, blistering barnacles! states Captain Haddock, endorsed by John Rain, Inspectors Dalziel and Alan Rain all whiskey drinkers like me.
There is no greater pleasure than enjoying a glass of the golden liquid in the evening, when the day is done and nighttime falls as the shadows gather around the backyard- warming your throat and heart reminiscent of Donald Sutherland nursing a Cragganmore – 12 in “A Time to kill”.
Millions of purists all over the world would swear by their single malts, the ultimate whiskey earlier called “Uisgebaugh in Gaelic now referred to as “Uisge Beatha” in Scotland and Ireland.
Malt whiskey is produced from malted barley unlike blended or grain whiskey in which fermentable material is added or blended. The single malt whiskey which is the product of a single distillery and single cask is the ultimate Holy Grail, a limited edition of 300 bottles only come in each cask.
The amazing complexity and variations is due to a large number of variables like geography, quality, weather, stills and skills of the master distiller. World over, many distilleries and brands flourish and vie for market share like the Irish, Michael Collins, Tyrconnell, American, - McCarthy’s Oregon, St James Peregrine Rock, Canadian – Glen Burton, Japanese – Yamazaki, Hakushu and the Indian – Amrut. Some of the barrels used give it the district flavor i.e. Bourbon charred barrels.
It is an acquired and cultivated taste and there is a certain etiquette involved in drinking it. It is a sacrilege and cardinal sin to mix it with, soda coke or soft drinks as it ruins the structure of the malt on the palate. Purists’ drink it need but if you want to dilute use a wee bit of water.
So enjoy and savor your drink the wannabe’s and new kids on the block can have their Vodka, Rum, Gin and Tequila. As any true blooded Scottish Highlander would state – “There are two things a Highlander likes naked, and one of them is malt whiskey. Since I can’t find the former I’ll settle for the Malt Whiskey. –Vinay- Concoction and ingredients courtesy (F&B Manager Kuruvilla, Master distiller Hiroshi Miyamoto, critics Vishal and Smita).
Like · · Unfollow Post · June 12 at 3:55pm
Years Later.
At times
just
sometimes
it all comes back again
for time
may heal
but
seldom destroys
a memory
so mingled
with pain and joy,
and I would wonder
in mournful euphoria, what if ………
but
in the pressures of the present
that bubble breaks
and then it dawns on me
that we
like fleeting time
in our chosen destiny
never waited
for each other. –Vinay-
What lies beneath the Patina of city life!
As we traverse through our daily life we come across millions of images, but we only observe the large macro picture of success stories like Bill Gates (Microsoft) Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet and Mark Zuckerberg – our success stereotypes are so reassuringly confirmed.
The larger than life biographers of these people their moralistic messages, their astronomic wealth and clumsy philanthropic pursuits leave us gasping in awe. They also tend to highlight our human inequities, because we compare and want to emulate our lives with these rich and famous people. Therein lies the greatest paradox, because a sense of the real is missing in these portraits.
In our daily journey there are millions of other lives and stories which we ignore at our peril and do not give a second glance. The small men the struggling working class, those obscure individuals whose creative resilience and mere shadowy existence oppose the mechanization of our hearts, minds and soul. Tragically it is this real life, up close, with misery, discomfort and waste with a compulsive human side to it that lies beneath the patina of a mega polis.
If we can only give a second glance to these images that have a muted melancholic sepia tone that keeps the grain from showing the larger narrative of life. Growing up in the ghettos the complicated & intense is the only way of coping.
These ordinary people are never fleshed out, the back stories of struggling people who can rarely afford to bring gifts for their children – but who never forget to fight a daily battle to feed them and clothe them.
Poverty is their greatest handicap, and when the laughter of day dies out, there right images fill the small by lanes where manic depressions dissolves into pain and palpable desperation. if we can grasp the extent of their impoverishment it can reveal a lucid portrait that delves deep into the abstraction of obsessive misery. Neurosis and pain are so lucid that their back stories always carry dark undertones of tragedy waiting around every corner. But the rich and famous of this world have scaled up their lives to such dizzy heights of affluence from which poverty ceases to look tragic.
Millions of dollars are spent religions to propagate Christianity, Islam etc but by spreading it like a disease you cannot literate their misery. You don’t require meditation or prayer – but true spirituality with compassion and strong empathy can save them from bottomless pit of misery - Vinay Kumar>
Return to the Big Apple.
I had the pleasure of visiting the USA after many years to attend the convocation ceremony of my daughter who was graduating from Brandeis, Boston. Alighting at JFK airport the T shirts proclaiming “I love NY” were missing, however the density of commercial language and digital signage, billboards advertising for computers, luxury goods and electronics were everywhere.
Walking through the streets of New York I couldn’t help noticing the local inflections, that map the patois of a city that has appropriated the land from the native Red Indians and the languages and culture of it’s myriad emigrants as its own. The city appeared spiritually jaded and more decrepit than ever before – a spiritual and aesthetic vacuum hovering in the air.
It's not depressive that a climate of uncertainty hangs over the country as proof that it is impossible to know definitively another and rational nets that try to capture the essence of a superpower. However it does not mean that the US has to undergo severe austerity programmes, to escape the black economic hole the policy makers have dug for themselves. Even now all the greatest technological breakthroughs are coming out of the US or Silicon Valley and that is a powerful indicator that ‘’yes we can’’ recover.
Steve Jobs is in seventh heaven and even Adam would be tempted again to take bigger bite of the Apple stock – as it has become the ‘’apple” of everyone’s portfolio. I would like to endorse Paul Krugman when he said that the west should spend its way out of recession.
If the sales of Bespoke jeans at $1200 or the hand painted Italian bikes at $ 20000 are any indication then the celebrations have begun in a muted fashion though the toast may be with Red Bull rather than Dom Perignon in keeping with the new found conceit of understatement.
My daughters thought that it was like shopping in Paradise, but after 3 weeks I was bored and broke and this no country to be without the greenbacks. I wanted to go back to my own place which everyone says is unbearable and lousy but I am happy and appreciate its frugal warmth, where life is not so mechanical.
In the aircraft dinner is served and later cabin lights dimmed, while we are suspended in a void above the trackless water of the Atlantic Ocean. Despite the lack of oxygen and serotonin, a strong urge for physical linkage to a fellow mammal arises!
Finally we land in Bombay from the white noise of Paris – jet lag so heavy that our mortal souls are leagues behind us; being reeled in on some ghostly umbilical down, from the vanished wake of the plane. Our souls left behind like lost / unaccompanied baggage -Vinay
GURU DAKSHINA!
The word Upanishad literally means sitting at the feet of the Master or Guru.( Upa- ni – ne- shad verb Latin sit) which forms part of the spiritual treatises 800-400 BC. Atman: is the mystery of our life.
It has become a fad - everyone wants a guru who claims to be enlightened, walks through fire and on water with millions of followers in his wake. What good can he do for you? – Except quote some mystical verses about life and utter some profound gobblydock.
The trend for the western world is to embrace some eastern sages or gurus with weird robes and hairdo’s. It started with the Beatles way back in the sixties when they spent several weeks in Rishikesh at the foothills of the Himalayas. Here they tried to imbibe transcendental meditation and meaning of life under the tutelage of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The group split later and the visits and meditation petered out.
Julie Roberts also dabbled and converted to Hinduism while Richard Gere embraced Buddhism during his traumatic phase in the seventies. He along with Goldie Hawn and others follow the Dalai Lama the spiritual leader of the Tibetans.
Some of the Gurus like Sathya Sai Baba, Osho, and Shri Ravi Shankar have grown much bigger than their rich and famous devotees and become celebrities with wealth and following far in excess of their celebrity followers. A lot of home grown and garden variety of gurus and yoga teachers are still languishing in India.
The latest fad for a galaxy of stars and celebrities is Kabbalah an ancient religion forgotten by time like one of those supposedly extinct deep-sea creatures that wash up on the shores o every now and then. It came from a different era, shouldn’t have still existed, but nevertheless, there it was—old wine in new exotic bottle. In this “material” world it was introduced by Madonna and has followers like Lyndsay Lohan, Demi Moore,Gyneth Paltrow and Cat Stevens.
Newer religions and gurus are sprouting like mushrooms called New Age movement and the Western 'ascended ones' propaganda... all with a host of explanations like some sinister telekinesis going viral on the net. It is a case of the hunter becoming the hunted as these high profile Gurus accompanied by bodyguards and other accouterments become the new celebrities holding International Mega Events, brand identity strategies and a carnival type of jamborees and discourses enter the new world all of which comes at a huge cost to devotees.
If we follow these commercial Gurus who claim to perform miracles, walk through fire and on water, we will surely be drowned in their own hubris. Not, through following the intellect of these Gurus or their sacred teachings, nor through much learning is the Atman revealed. The mystery of life is unknown to the learned and known only to the simple.-Vinay- Kena Upanishads.
Religion and its discontents.
It was wishful thinking on the part of people who hoped that religion would solve all their problems and find it cannot, and then become frustrated. What is the function of religion in a society? That it usually functions as a technical device… Its, main purpose and insidious propaganda trying to convince simple minds about the miracles of the creator or supreme master.
The real nature is the obscene lust to convert. The preacher or proselyter is not interested in your problems, but merely wants a mass following of sheep. Finally when nothing works we return to our ancient religion of spirituality.
Spirituality doesn’t have any message; it is the beginning of a constant exploration of life. It draws inspiration from the universe and sources of nature, and its process and this process is the narrative. It shows the constant battle between mind and heart and the possibilities of integrating both into the Universe.
Nature represents the ideal beauty & tranquility which is sensuous and a symbol of love and everlasting beauty. Mother earth is the most rhythmic and expressive form of life in this planet that is eloquent as well as alluring. Her body language has various moods which translate into different seasons to convey different thoughts and concepts in a distinct mystical form.
The stillness and vastness that enables the Universe to be, is not just out there in space, it is also within you and can only be expressed,when you venture out into the stormy sea of life on your own- then your path and the universe becomes one.-Vinay-
Virtual Nirvana!
Everyone wants to attain Nirvana or Liberation! Nirvana means to go beyond suffering (Nir –suffering Vana – beyond) All religions claim that they can lead you you towards this objective if you follow their tradition and beliefs.
However my take is that we must learn how to enjoy suffering, joy, fear, anxiety because all of these emotions form part of our cyclic existence and that is why we invite them into our minds.
When desire becomes a sort of untamable energy overcoming all emotional and moral barriers then in one weak moment we give in to our human frailties whether it is love, lust, sex or sin. Life itself is full of chaos where order is beyond human comprehension, like in the old world where we tend to lead many lives.
There is no sharp thin line separating joy and sorrow, so both should be acceptable to us. We also face the onslaught of time sucking distractions like the Internet driven e-mail, face book, twitter, texting, chats, virtual relationships, cyber love et al. No wonder we have no time for real fun, love, sex, family or leisure. Enjoying life or seeking new goals is just another impossible dream – and our banished list of aspirations haunt us like a nightmare.
Isn’t it a cruel paradox that even though everyone claims he is seeking Nirvana – even the saddest and most miserable man on earth does not want to leave this planet and clings on to dear life. Its tempting and delicious because everyone is delirious about their new found freedom – a perpetual séance with Skype, Chat, Face book, and twitter and we cant relive this dream if our bodies are consumed in the funeral pyre. Unless by some Cosmic largesse Internet facilities are available in heaven and hell. Vinay-
Crossing the Ethical Rubicon
\
For Rajat Gupta former head of Mc Kinsey and board member of Goldman Sachs the dream run came to an end when the Jury found him guilty of insider trading. His dream was a marathon larger and longer than life in which he breasted what seemed like insurmountable odds in real life. His world of lucid dreams finally ended in a nightmare.
Gupta’s is a fairy tale narrative, an orphan from a nondescript town in Calcutta who rose to the highest office by dint of hard work & intellect to garner a scholarship in Harvard. There was no looking back as he went on to occupy the corner office as the first Indian to head Mc Kinsey and company one of the top five consulting firms in the world.
Dishonesty has today become a virtue and we tend to view corrupt and illegal behavior as the norm - in high finance and Wall Street-where insider trading secrets are exchanged like marbles and every one slips into illegality with nonchalance.
In the aftermath of the inglorious deluge of scams initiated by Milken’s, unethical behavior is not linked to morality – but treated more as a function of the cost benefit ratio of doing business and everyone turns a Nelson’s eye to issues of ethics and mortality. The perverse goal of short term acquisition of wealth is the Holy Grail and is encouraged by all big firms like Lehman Brothers and it’s ilk.
The Wall Street debacle showed us that scams, corruption and white collar crimes are all around us like an invisible shroud. Short terms gains, instant wealth and filthy lucre are the new buzz words and this gives rise to more and more crimes and corruption.
Financial executives of publicity traded companies; along with bankers, fund managers and other investors with vested interests are the root cause of this “nightmare at wall street” – the fable, the philosophical dissertation of the cancerous malaise. Is it rational or irrational ethics? The guilty are not embarrassed as they consider it akin to listening to pirated music or illegal parking, as everyone does it.
A star trader might transcend the prosaic legitimate business, but only a wily rogue trader can bring the coherence of vision that gives birth to great scams and billions of greenbacks – remember Rajaratnam and his Galleon funds? The apparent weakness in the regulatory system becomes the virtues of these wealth creators.
Don’t rock the Boat, row lightly in the river of life!
What you want to accomplish in your life stems from your innermost desire and becomes your goal. Sometimes this goal is obscured by life’s passing fancies and we accumulate a lot of luggage which must be jettisoned if we want to climb the mountain and reach the pinnacle of bliss. All the three western monotheistic religions state that enlightenment came from the mystic mountains.
The Prophet Mohammed received the Koran in the cave of Hira on the mountains of Jalal-al-Nur; Moses saw the burning bush on Mount Horeb & Jesus’s transfiguration was in the high mountain of the holy land. In eastern philosophy the snow peaks of the Himalayas is where the sages retreated for meditation. However Hindu philosophy always considers the holy river Ganges as the place for liberation and fulfillment. The river is always the metaphor for life and our lives are considered as the voyage in this river of life.
Imagine your life as sailing on a boat in the river, as life progresses you load up the boat with material possessions you think are essential in life. You acquire huge mansions with servant’s shining cars, expensive clothes, LED TV’s, a family, sometimes a mistress or two also tucked away and rare paintings & artifacts.
Also visualize a host of friends and sycophants who keep you entertained and praise your ostentation and fashionable wardrobe & other luxuries that cloy with sensual pleasure. What happens to the boat? Obviously it becomes very heavy and slows down; life becomes dangerous to manage all that stress, tension, mebbe a stroke, till finally the boat capsizes. So now we understand why this obsession for detachment is omnipresent in Hindu philosophy
Uber Cool Shades of Grey.
Long before the Iphone sparked a commercial cultural and technological revolution, another iconic product created a ubiquitous buzz worldwide. Yes it was the Aviator eye wear which hit the streets in 1936. It was the developed for pilots to protect their eyes when flying at higher altitudes and was called Anti Glare later rebranded as the Ray Bans Aviator – the rest is history.
It redefined the attitude of the rebel without a cause, the pop culture of the 60’s and aesthetic, slang and pre-cursor for the definition of the word “cool dude”. A macho shabby look with unkempt hair, a motorbike, a battered leather jacket, yet the picture is never complete without a pair of Ray Bans.
Johnny Depp’s hippy style and Michael Jackson sporting them in “Thriller” extended the fad well beyond the eighties. It got its greatest fillip when Tom Cruise straddled the screen wearing the aviator sunglasses in Top Gun. After 75 years this fad has refused to die out and was given a new lease when Johnny Depp in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” wore it with a reckless panacea adding a dash of hippy style to his rebel bordering on the homeless character.
From Indian film stars, President Obama, Idi Amin, to teenagers, pop stars and Uber cool politicians Ray Bans have always made a style statement. In fact Tom Cruise goes on to state that he never leaves his home without three things – Iphone, his credit card and his Ray Ban Aviator sunglasses. Looking at life through rose tinted sunglasses? It definitely adds an eccentric charm and adventure. Vinay Kumar
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Dallas Cowboy.
I grew up reading Max Brand, Zane Grey, the Lone Ranger- Tonto, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, Doc, Holiday etc. later the main fare was watching western movies like – Gunfight at OK corral, Billy the Kid, Magnificent Seven, Last Train from Gun hill, Images of John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Kirk Douglas, hover in my mind mingling with echoes of “scalp em’ Paleface & the Arizona Desert.
Over the years the Red Indians, Rustlers, Cowboys have all faded into distant memory as I moved beyond the Wild West. However when I landed in Fort Worth, Dallas - Texas, these evocative memories came alive once again.
As I got down at the Airport and drove to Plano a warm fragrance enveloped me and I strained hard to catch a glimpse of the Red Indians, Wigwams, Cowboys, Buffaloes, Cattle, Saloons and prairie- where have they all gone? I don’t know.
I found instead a vast land of ripe golden corn, large glass and concrete buildings, a labyrinth of free ways with shiny motor cars and pick ups whizzing past me in a blaze of dust. The Palefaces have taken the land and made it rich, a vast fertile growing field of corn, oats, rye, barley and shops bursting with things to eat.
No more Injuns, cowboys, scouts, no war cries no, tomahawks no Apache camps, no boot hill. The cemetery blooms and insects flap their wings in reckless joy as the phone towers hum with tweets, chat and messages.
I can stand forever but will never see the smoke signals, totem poles, tents or Sioux. The chanting has stopped as now cyberspace has forgotten the old spirits as it carries bits and terabytes - the happy hunting grounds of the nerds and geeks. – Vinay-
Neither Poem nor Prose posted with remorse.
S…… is an alphabet that connotes the sacred and the scary like a winding road up the mountain side. To replace sugar with saccharin is like being invited to the cellar and offered apple cider; this can also cause peptic
ulcers or even cancer. Spices do much delight to our taste buds and may be the vice of eating, but it also eats out the lower intestine,variety may be the spice of life,but when it concerns womanizing , it is considered as a vice of life; and salt may replenish dehydration in the summer heat, beware of the swollen tongue.
Smoking also adds to the salty effect of hardening the arteries which can lead to a failing heart! To counter this we have a drink to dilate our blood vessels and sex they say is good for the heart. September lingers in the death of summer, a month of nostalgia and tears.
And Satan the prince of darkness brings the scar upon your soul, the specter of foreboding, and a spirit best ignored as it stinks of death. The first act of war is to topple the temples of the enemy, to seek is to never know and safe in the security of a sanctuary is he? Suffering is pain and speaks for its own sake, to suffer may be noble, but it is still a pain.
He who is confident will arrive at death, after he has truly lived his life. In the glow of December, here I stand kneeling with the cadaver of my youth, dragged away by the obscure events in my life, I turn like a corpse buried in the harsh winter of strain and stress. Jaundiced like the bourgeois whose life has no tears? Ah! to begin from scratch, like death reborn to the unrepressed love that invades me. –Vinay- An Unmuzzled Ox.
The Silence of the Monks.
There's a concept in Buddhist philosophy that the highest art you can attain is to fill your everyday moments with the full presence of yourself, and thus transform them into meditative acts. The Trappist Monks of Oka Abbey, in Quebec, are the only Western-based monastic order that still actively practices the “vow” of silence. Jeremy Mesiano managed to get them to discuss silence without breaking Omerta their code of silence through an E-mail exchange with a monk.
The silence does make us aware of our inner workings, however, what we call in the monastery, "self-knowledge.. Silence seems to keep us from idealizing ourselves. This says on one level that silence is in our lives to create an ambience of recollection so I'll remember and honor the universal presence. . On another level, silence reminds me that the misuse of words, the abuse of language can also be the sinful abuse of people; silence for us means not talking, more than not making noise…
On yet another level, silence means listening. "Listen." That's the great ethical element of silence: to check my words and listen to another point of view. I'll never have any real peace should my sense of well-being depend on soundless peace. When I can learn the patience of receiving, in an unthreatened way, what I'd rather not hear, then I can have a real measure of peace in any situation. Silence is an aid and not an end in itself. It aids prayer, communal and private, and seeks to reduce distractions. Silence aids deeper meditation and contemplation.
The first advantage contemplation and silence bring to me is the serenity, the calm and peace of mind. When there is lot of noise or movement around you, it’s tough to take notice of what you’re going through. It is sin that makes the world complicated, and sin comes from us. But if sin comes from in us, then a monk, living in silence and solitude, is sitting in the eye of the storm.
My own impression is that life in the world provides many diversions which guard a person from really engaging the battle with sin, and can even render him quite insensible of its existence. Such a person is not so much engaging the complexity of the world as becoming numb to it. In the cloister, on the other hand, you engage the Adversary face to face. It is hard for me to imagine where in the world a person more directly engages “the world in all its complexity” than battling with the very source of evil in one's own heart in the solitude and silence of the cloister.
The Opposite of Truth is not a Lie!
When does the truth set you free? ~ When as a life time traveler you have reached the end of your journey? ~ liberated from craving, attachment, misery and free of sin to get a berth in heaven? The Truth is about life before death, the ultimate reality of nature as it exists in an experiential level.
In the western and religious context it predicts events, freedom from sin, bondage a form of salvation etc. In the quantum spiritual philosophy, truth is a mystical perception of exciting possibilities in life. It has nothing to do with knowledge or religion, sin or virtue, but it has everything to do with simple awareness of all your senses being heightened and alert to the nuances and reality of the universe.
It is about essentials which are strewn in front of our eyes, but seem so hidden and out of sight that we have to keep reminding ourselves to seek it out. It is about the inner workings of contentment and happiness which we must strive to capture before it disappears into a time that passes before space. All it requires is a heightened sense of consciousness that transcends the complex elaborations of religious dogma.
We must assimilate the spiritual symbolism of nature into our hearts, where every sentient and insentient things are interconnected. Truth and freedom need not be inter – related. The opposite of truth is not a lie but another truth called awareness or cognizance.
The Truth shall let you “flee” …..!
This is an oft repeated verily in the Bible and used by every preacher worth his gown. The biblical implication is you are free from sin and no longer a slave – but unshackled from the religious context and semantics what does it mean?
Jesus stated “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one can reach the Father except through me (John 14.1) but what is the father like? What does it signify? In eastern philosophy they claim that bad Karma of the past can be erased if you attain Nirvana.
There are so many religious spiritual and philosophical interpretations that one is confused and can only shrug it off. If truth or reality is what exists then each religion, culture, society and individual perceives it with a different tinted spectacle till it becomes formless and invisible. Since we read too much into reality the, interpretations are totally different for every individual and this is the basis of conflict.
As Errol Morris states “the truth is out there, truth may be elusive, it may even be unknowable, but that doesn’t mean that reality is just a matter of subjective perspectives that one way of seeing things is just as good as another. Just like life the truth is also as explosion of contradictory perceptions and possibilities. Truth lies everywhere and partly in lies.
Truth can also be hate as Orwell stated “during times of Universal deceit, telling the truth can cause a revolution. The search for the truth is just a particular species for the search for purpose, meaning, and enlightenment and is as elusive as a wild goose chase.
Not through much learning is the mystery of life (Atman) reached – not through the intellect or sacred teachings.
-Katha Upanishads-
Writers block.
Writers block
I always experience a sort of joy while writing what can be described as a near spiritual process entering into a state of mind or being, where knowledge’s is available from philosophers / writers past, present and past future.
Drawing on all sources to create a visionary thought and I feel an urgent need to communicate primarily through my writings, no matter where my image comes from... From stenciling them repeatedly.
I am fascinated by people I meet at my watering holes and workplace struck by their everyday working class naturalism, and the bold new lifestyle of domestic realism. I am moved by the hurt and pain which most people carry silently, till it becomes unbearable. Trying to capture…. the darker elements of the psyche at the dawn of a new social realism. It’s an alternate vision where the world is nebulous and abstract like a painting and not a concrete reality.
The drama of decadence is also transitional, as one move from loose to drugs in search of a better reality. The fringe is unexplored territory where truth and fantasy are not disentangled and fight for supremacy. I try to combine truth with fantasy but when I have to choose one or the other, I choose fantasy.
You never know what enough is unless you know what is more than enough.
Banking on Superstition during hard times. Isn’t it strange that when we a
re down in the dumps we grasp at every straw, whether it is the Lord of the lies, Feng Shui, Eastern Mysticism or a pantheon of gods for solutions? Superstition plays an important part in our lives, as Mark Twain stated the lack of money is the root of all misery. You can be born with a silver spoon or work your way to riches but when you end up in the soup kitchen you try any remedy. During recessionary period’s people will resort to any sort of hocus focus? We accept many beliefs without questioning them.
There is the Hindu goddess of wealth (Mahalaxmi) or Kuber the pot belied dwarf with one eye and eight teeth, who is worshipped by the devout to bring prosperity. If you like western mythology you can implore the Greek god Pluto who ensures allocation of resources (wonder why Greece is bankrupt). The Jhamlias are Chinese wealth gods & the Taoists have their laughing Buddha.
Feng Shui is the latest fad for bringing in dame fortune through you may have to re-locate your toilet to the main entrance & paint the main door in flaming yellow. Live plants and a mini waterfall is also a big help, three ancient coins tied in a knot bring in more wealth.
In the olden days you worked hard and the sweat would turn to gold and the lazy ones would many into money. Of course now we have credit cards and banks willing to extend easy personal loans & wealth managers to take it away from you.
But Bernie Madoff even in prison swears by Ponzi schemes, because like believers there are a billion suckers out there waiting to part with their money. So take a leap of faith: use a three legged toad for luck and launch a new scheme – a sure fire way to bag a grand slam with the new amulet or charms.-Vinay-
From a Babe in the woods to an enfant terrible.
Before entering this world in the reflected dark light of the womb as an embryo, you were involuntarily meditating, on the grand journey you would embark on earth. The comfort and security of the womb is the actual state of Nirvana, hence in life you crave to go back to that primordial tranquility. This is the deep driving desire in our sub-conscious that is embedded in all mankind.
Even as we perceive the depiction of life in its changing qualities, while seeking for what is euphemistically termed the “purpose” of life.At birth your life is an empty canvas and the background of upheavals, is kept out like hidden brush strokes. The mind without thought stirs fitfully, expanding and you begin the journey into the unknown.
At this point all society and religion will woo you, claiming that theirs is the only true path to Paradise. Your existential state exposes you to the misery, neuroses, the corruption of liberation through sin and insanity of the world and you decide you have had enough of the traditional religious systems, as you traipse an odyssey from virgin territory to the battlefield of life on earth.
Your quest is now to combat the abstract and remote from the concrete human experience, to capture the fleeting moment of time, capture the ethic of change in the subject of life with the perception to look into the future by impressionism. You realize that paradise remains a mystery ever for traditional religious. Just like the many drops of water which form the seven seas, there are myriad paths that can lead one to the inner stillness of the ocean.
Endless desires will distract you, from the journey, you try to control your mind and find a way to listen to your heart. The essence is to interpret nature not recreate it as society wants, the fragrance of life is hidden in the bouquet of the Universe.
As you begin the unending journey wading through unknown territory, through upheavals, experiment new ideas, the light and shadows of creatively swirl - to form the emotional turmoil and reality of life. The universe will inspire you to evolve within yourself and the inspiration will manifest itself.
Entre chien et Loup!
Breakthroughs in neuroscience show us how hormones affect the brain, influencing how we think and behave. Biology evolved over the millennia helped us to fight or flee and the same intuition helps our commercial sense and stock traders during bull or bear runs. As the testosterone levels rise like animals we are primed for a fight and our confidence and risk appetite increases.
Volatile markets and losses triggered stress hormones in traders, making them sensitive to uncontrollability and uncertainty. We get butterflies in our stomachs and this makes our blood vessels constrict. It is like the sphincter or erector pili muscles that pump blood to make things bigger and turgid during excitement or like a cat which raises its fur when threatened.
George Soros mentioned the onset of acute back pain that signaled to him that something was amiss in his portfolio, so bodies influence behavior and one can make or lose money. When, stocks crash, traders and investors are overwhelmed, by the stress hormone, cortisol. Testosterone and other hormones impair our judgment as sometimes we feel infallible which suspends our reason and we take on more risks.
Anyone who has been in a high stress executive career will know how before an important conference or meeting their bodies undergo physiological changes. They begin to sweat, heart rate increases, pupils dilate, breathing is irregular and faster, this coupled with the adrenaline rush are all symptoms of fear.
Jitterbugs, carbuncles, wind, periods, pussys, pancreas, panacea, paranoia, psychosis, pises, penis, punks, pernods et alii. Everyone marches to the men’s room/ toilet to exude the pent up fear – bowels liquefy, diarrhea and the stench of a slaughterhouse emanates.
We think with our bodies as well as our brains and it proves that the same physiological responses we feel in doing any dangerous feat like skydiving, or hunting a wounded mountain lion come into play. The moment of metamorphoses is called the hour between dog and wolf or as stated in French “entre chien et loup”.
It is a fascinating logic tracing the Hubris or Nemesis, overconfidence and downfall. – Joan Coates- The Hour between Dog and Wolf.
Cyber clouds on the Horizon.
The problem with the changing world is that the existence of reality has the great ability to re-asset itself using a variety to devious means. The global world is an extended madness with its celebrity culture, hyper monetized politics with frauds and scamsters flocking every town, in a tangled web of greed.
The combination of freedom and anonymity has transformed the very fabric and culture of our lives forever by embracing the metropolitan attitude we are validating the debauched duality of an internal cesspool and paradise on earth. As Jung states “the shadow is the moral problem that challenges the whole ego personality – for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable effort.
There is something in human about the digitally networked world, a muted solitude and a virtual spectacle of mass-consumed truthiness beamed at us, while our old fashioned world genuineness and meaning fade into historical oblivion.
In a world where the Lady Gaga culture blooms, discouragement of the self knowledge is the sickness or incoherence of the soul. Life is a funny tapestry; the human friction that makes the sparks is extinguished in the bizarre cyber dance.
Tantra and Upanishads.
In India the transcendental wisdom of Tantra and the Upanishads constitutes the sacred lore of mythology embedded in the civilization and is still part of the culture that invades every strata of Indian society. These myths similar to the fairy tales however differs that it carries profound philosophical wisdom and serves as an unending source of some of the most loftiest and abstract thoughts that is the foundation for rituals, religion and the early way of life.
Like a supermarket or mall there is a galaxy of gods, Devils, heroes, and monsters -that have over the years, retained their rustic charm and these folk tales form a colorful tapestry; of the whole range of human emotions and experience. Love, hatred, courage, fear, nobility, meanness, compassion, wit and cowardice are all encompassed in these old beliefs where a pantheon of gods influenced the thoughts and patterns of a multitude of people.
Over the millennia invaders from the west, north and centre have tried to annihilate or distort these beliefs and mould them to their culture, but it has stood the test of time and even after 3500 years these customs and beliefs still fit into the philosophical scheme of everyday life.
The roots of Hinduism have nourished the Vedic gods and native deities, though Buddhism and to a certain extent Jainism have molded themselves by reforming some of the extremes of the original doctrine. History has been chronicled through mythology, where diversity and continuity are the dualistic themes that run through its ancient mountains, rivers and culture.
The Himalayas are regarded as the hallowed mountain home of the Hindu Gods and the river Indus rises from these glaciers and flows into the Arabian sea. Today as the western and European presence becomes apparent in a global scenario, the past is reinterpreted and reinvented as a new aesthetic in unique and innovative ways.
Do you have thoughts about Death and what happens after Death?
Well, no single person who has ever lived will be able to tell you what happens, period. And no single person who died has come back to tell us. There are so many theories floating around, nobody’s right and nobody are wrong. So what do you do, then? How does our minds work, and what we think about—let’s call it “The disappearing mind stream”—when you follow your thoughts and watch them attach to certain things, it makes certain things real and other things unreal, and you realize that this is all created by your mind.
In some way it’s that elusive, intangible struggle that propels everyone forward—it has no end. So you’re doing something that’s endless, and you will never find out what it means, but you do it anyway. Having a little bit of a context gives you this illusion of its having meaning, but what is the meaning, really? Then it becomes beyond terrifying. What are you doing it for?
Illusion is one of the most interesting things that we have found to think and talk about. We don’t really know how it works, but we know that in some way we are and in some way we’re not having this conversation. Just look at yesterday, and what you were doing, and how important it was, and how nonexistent it is now! How dreamlike it is! Same thing with tomorrow. So where are we living?
Tibetans and Eastern spirituality have unbelievably fascinating answers to that. This is what I’m studying, insightful introspection because my dog died and it is called Karma.
Demystifying the Vedas.
Out of ignorance people tend to confuse religion with spirituality. Similarly the Upanishads and Rig Vedas a treatise on life and nature is identified incorrectly with holy books like the Bible and Koran.
The Vedas are the gist of a compendious account of nature using a semi scientific approach which if interpreted correctly can lead us to an understanding of ourselves vis a vis the Universe. However to arrive at this understanding is like forming a diamond from carbon and coal. One has to dig deep and search to find the truth contained in it.
The infinite universe consists of inanimate, sentient, insentient and external energy or spiritual substance. Apart from earth, fire, air, water and ether, there are infinite spiritual entities which form the subtler parts of the universe. Out of this chaos through a centrifugal action directed outwards is the force that controls the world, the old and new world is part of this same material.
Like the eye of the storm if you can enter the centre of your being, you will find the answers to all that you seek. According to the Vedas our minds our endowed with limited knowledge and understanding. Only with great intellectual powers and development can we perceive that which is not visible. Hence we need to build our thoughts to realize the higher consciousness.
Lesser mortals due to limited version think they perceive God in the invisible multifarious ways of the world. They discern him through images, photos, idols, temples, churches, mosques and create multiple religions each one differing fundamentally in their beliefs. Hence, so much strife, discords, conflicts and violence is perpetuated in the name of God.
These meta-physical truths are clearly expounded in the Vedas where man’s relationship with nature converges on common ground. Spiritual evolution does not require God or religion, just awareness of the mind and self. Sometimes a common belief which everyone follows and thinks is obvious can also be wrong. God may be fascinating but our classical view of spirituality as part of religion is definitely wrong. Spirituality is self correcting, reality is never easy, and there is no blasphemy or sacrilege or sin in spirituality, it only enables one to understand the universe and be a part of it. –Vinay-
Social intercourse.
Unholy philosophy.
Aqua Vitae- The Water of life.
Aqua Vitae- The Water of life.
James Bond likes his Martini shaken not stirred, blistering barnacles! states Captain Haddock, endorsed by John Rain, Inspectors Dalziel and Alan Rain all whiskey drinkers like me.
There is no greater pleasure than enjoying a glass of the golden liquid in the evening, when the day is done and nighttime falls as the shadows gather around the backyard- warming your throat and heart reminiscent of Donald Sutherland nursing a Cragganmore – 12 in “A Time to kill”.
Millions of purists all over the world would swear by their single malts, the ultimate whiskey earlier called “Uisgebaugh in Gaelic now referred to as “Uisge Beatha” in Scotland and Ireland.
Malt whiskey is produced from malted barley unlike blended or grain whiskey in which fermentable material is added or blended. The single malt whiskey which is the product of a single distillery and single cask is the ultimate Holy Grail, a limited edition of 300 bottles only come in each cask.
The amazing complexity and variations is due to a large number of variables like geography, quality, weather, stills and skills of the master distiller. World over, many distilleries and brands flourish and vie for market share like the Irish, Michael Collins, Tyrconnell, American, - McCarthy’s Oregon, St James Peregrine Rock, Canadian – Glen Burton, Japanese – Yamazaki, Hakushu and the Indian – Amrut. Some of the barrels used give it the district flavor i.e. Bourbon charred barrels.
It is an acquired and cultivated taste and there is a certain etiquette involved in drinking it. It is a sacrilege and cardinal sin to mix it with, soda coke or soft drinks as it ruins the structure of the malt on the palate. Purists’ drink it need but if you want to dilute use a wee bit of water.
So enjoy and savor your drink the wannabe’s and new kids on the block can have their Vodka, Rum, Gin and Tequila. As any true blooded Scottish Highlander would state – “There are two things a Highlander likes naked, and one of them is malt whiskey. Since I can’t find the former I’ll settle for the Malt Whiskey. –Vinay- Concoction and ingredients courtesy (F&B Manager Kuruvilla, Master distiller Hiroshi Miyamoto, critics Vishal and Smita).
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