Math, Science and others

Music with a male and female voice singing together and for a fraction of a second, total oneness with the voices and a moment of bliss in the listener, trees through which, sun casts its golden coins, shimmering on mud earth ; a blissful moment; waking up in the morning with a theory or a concept flashing with total clarity that was elluding for weeks together causing a blissful state.

Are you losing time, could it be a short term memory loss ? The entire beauty of the moment wiped out in a second.

It is always - till I experience something it does not exist.

Is there anyway a theory like reducto ad absurdum that Kasthuri wrote about help in these situations - where it exists is proved by beginning with an assumption it does not exist.

Ban

Legalizing drugs - cannabis in particular was the topic of discussion with a friend. People will overdose and create problems for society and family , suffer ill health .....

Points presented in favor of legalizing cannabis -

People hoard money through illegal means - can we ban money
People overeat and get obese - suffer ill health, families get affected - do we ban food
Drug sale is legalized in Amsterdam for personal consumption - if the above logic holds good, is everyone there a drug addict?

Anything done in excess does lead to problems and with all aspects of life there will be a section that carries things to extreme, therefore banning something is not the answer.

Ideal and real self

To accept my real self means falling short of so many things, as I aspire to become my ideal self there are so many unanswered questions - Is the ideal self for me defined by the external world, my experiences and internalizations; is it too high an expectation; or too low to satisfy my real self?

Depending on the answers to the above from my real self, my effort to become the ideal self appear futile, too easy or needless :)-

At what point do these two meet and is that what is known as integrity in terms of thought, word and deed? Kaya, Vacha, Manasa - in total harmony

Kinder souls

Pedigree dogs are "allowed" to mate when the owner thinks it is time and "permitted" to litter, and then a buyer comes , separates the pup of his/her choice from the mothers as young as it can be and the pup cries the whole night and day for months, changes the diet to match the family's diet , made to feel bonded with the family, left in animal care when he/she travels and then die... ..................

Is love and kindness absolute?

If it is absolute, how come people who have pedigree dogs/cats or any animal for a pet, and are willing to devote time, energy (cleaning potty, cleaning the mess, giving food on time, medicines etc, etc) do not think of bringing home a child and raising it?

Sujatha (tamil writer) once mentioned that he brought home a baby and the baby kept crying the whole night and him and his wife decided to "return" the baby !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! May be I missed the whole story here :(- and wish I am totally misinformed on this since I hate to believe it happened.

All of us should spend a few hours in an orphange (I hate this term - someone give me a positive sounding one - please) on a regular basis to probably empathize with what I am saying.

Ps. I love animals and I care for them. I am just sort of perplexed with the concept of forced breeding and the exhorbitant sums spent on a pedigree dog/animal...

Gestalt

Whole is more than the sum of its parts ....

When science demystifies something like Buddha's search for truth and "scientists " talking so definitively about the experiences of Buddha, and drawing similarities it to mood enhancing drugs, (like the 'nod' a smack addict experiecences and time expands to infinity), I want to scream that the whole is more than the sum of its parts , how much ever you guys demystify these, you will still miss out on the magic of the binding thread that bonds all experiences of these great souls and presents itself to the whole world.

Death

I read somewhere that the biggest fear of death is about not being able to share that experience with anyone.

As I read and write blogs, I realize how strong is the need in each of us to share and let others know of our experiences. Do we aim for immortality through every effort, to leave some parts of us to go on with life?

The transient nature of cyberspace, has not deterred us from attempting at immortality through writing. Isn't it an irony that one click of the button we will all die a cyber death either out of our own will or some one decides the eblogging is not a good thing to happen and makes the technology obsolete!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but still go on talking about our experiences.

Even the thought of not talking about experiences and only listening sounds so difficult.

Religion and discipline

All religions seem to lay emphasis on self control, renunciation of sensory pleasures, submitting these pleasures to the supreme and dissociating ourselves, implying everything about human existence is inadequate and wrong unless it is dedicated to the search of truth/supreme being. There seems to be a implicit punishment associated with these religious rituals and rites when they are not followed. Either no Moksha, or rotting in hell ...

One may choose to take this path or not, but its impact on people seem to be diverse.

1. Fear as the motivating factor to do something good
2. Requiring a moral police all the time
3. Suffering from guilt if one violates from these rules and regulations either voluntarily or by force - leading to neurosis and psychosis
4. Difficulty in moving out of the comfort zone, preferring to suffer rather than try something new
5. An extreme belief that one is an inferior being and therefore acting in a servile manner in all contexts or putting on a front of aggressive behavior to compensate for this inferiority

I do wonder if religious scriptures are binding us or liberating us?

Vishesha Dharma and Management

A story in Mahabharat goes like this -Krishna runs away after stealing butter from a few homes and the womenfolk are chasing Krishna to punish him. Krishna goes into a house and hides inside a pot and tells the man there, not to let the women who come chasing know that he is hiding. As promised the man tells these angry women that Krishna never came there. Krishna comes out of the pot and shows his true form. The man asks for moksha and Krishna grants it to the man and also to the pot.

The discussion that ensues ater this wish was granted, is interesting. The man asks - how come he gets moksha for telling a lie and Krishna says that there are two types of dharma - saamanya (ordinary) dharma and vishesha (exceptional) dharma. Saamanya dharma includes truth, honesty etc, etc whereas vishesha dharma is about exercising saamanya dharma in exceptional situations like saving a life. One can tell a lie to save a life and that is vishesha dharma and the man and the pot got moksha for exercising vishesha dharma.

In organizations everything is about saamanya dharma, there is a rule book, be it for HR, Technology, Finance....... saamanya dharma is elucidated and documented well and followed. Probably that is why we have managers and not leaders in organization. Are people assembly line products that these rules will apply in all contexts to all?

Semco appears to be the only organization in the world that practices the true ideology of vishesha dharma. (Anyone who is interested in knowing more about Semco - please read Maverick).

Abstract thinking

Mind doctors talk about different types of intellect and also the different levels. Focus seems to be on challenged individuals whereas in so called "normal" population too these levels are present. Have you experienced a situation where you are talking about a concept or an idea and use an analogy and the listener gets stuck with the analogy and does not move beyond that. It scares to me to no end, if this mismatch happens in a relationship, how does one handle it.

I know, I know that comments will pour on love and not reason as the basis of a relationship .... ...... but still .....

Dr Shantha and Magsaysay award

The award has gained more meaning by going to Dr Shantha.

In this current age of emails, cell phone and other electronic communication a two line letter on a POST CARD from anywhere, is sufficient to fix an appointment with Dr Shantha. Her office writes back to us promptly. Never do letters get lost or misplaced in this institution. She is there when you go to see her and carries out the examination personally with total care and concern. Though the situation under which I met with her was quite tense and scary, I am glad I have had the opportunity to see this great soul.

Nirai kudam thalumbathoonu solradu poiye illai. (In English the adage used in the place of this tamil expression is empty vessels make the most noice - in Tamil it is positive and talks about a vessel that is full.)

What is the English word for talumbadu?

Technophobia

I need HELP !!! How do I add links on the sidebar - for example - I read - dubukku, agelessbonding, thewitchyangel, thekfactor, thenathan world, jikku etc. etc. How do I get this appear on the side bar ?

If anyone chooses to help me out with this, please remember that I am allergic to technology, I can get rashes and I am also suscpetible to spontaneous combustion on hearing any technical word/slang and therefore you need to go reaaaaaaaaaaal sloooooooooow on explaining stuff to me using basic English

Understanding human mind

Read Thi Jaa's 'Sembaruthi' and Jayakanthan's 'Adum Naarkali.'

Once again these stories validated the depth of understanding these two writers have about human beings. Psychologists and psychiatrists can take a couple of lessons from these two !!!!!

They are not preachy and JK lives upto his own maxim that writers are not to judge people and present individual characters the way they are. The themes they have chosen and the way they are able to vividly describe places is amazing.

Witchy angel - you may want to read these two if you can lay your hands on them

Eblogging and the comfort of anonymity

The tamil expression "Mottai Kadidasu" (anonymous letter) has a strong negative connotation and when I look at the eblogging and the number of anonymous comments, it makes me wonder if anonymous writing is negative at all ???????

I find the freedom to write anonymously very liberating. No one knows who I am, how I look, what is my background and read whatever I write as just thoughts and ideas from a head and a heart. Strangely the negative comments or accusation of a anonymous writer, makes me introspect and think about the comment rather than about the personality of the writer.

It is healthy in the psychological sense, if we can overcome the block of considering an anonymous writer as someone timid, shy, mean or manipulative and look at this person as someone who just wants his/her thoughts to be read or heard.

Knowledge and cash

Are the days of knowledge for knowledge sake is over?

BBC had a program on students not enrolling in adequate numbers for higher level courses on certain subjects. The key point of discussion centered around - 'should courses like physics, chemistry and philosophy be removed and be replaced with courses that are in demand like management, journalism etc'.

I am glad that Socrates, Einstein, Descartes, Huxley, Sartre, Freud, Jung and other thinkers are not here to hear this.

No wonder school kids have seen through this and have started using education as a means to make money and not as a vehicle for knowledge gain.

Stereotypes

Primo Levi's book on Survival in Auschwitz talks about several things, "are all concentration camp survivors, noble". "what did they do and did not do, to survive the camp", "how many stole their fellow inmates food, clothing and killed in order to survive" etc and talks about how easily it became a passport for being known as a "good" person .

Many people may find this quite controversial and not palatable (oh my God they have suffered so much and how can you call them as evil or bad - kind of reaction).

The other thought that has been nagging me is, how easily we marginalize people by stereotyping them.

1. Rich people are not kind, whereas poor people are always kind
2. People who wear fashionable clothes are show offs
3. People (Indians) who speak with American or European accents are show offs
4. People who wear ManU jersey or paint their faces in Indian tricolor don't know much about the sport
5. Simple people are nice people and are knowledgeable
6.Poor people are unhappy people

The bottom line is every individual is different and not to judge anyone.

Why can't we accept individual differences and accept people the way they are.

Changes in work life

Leadership meeting announced that the org chart which was like a joint family clothes line is to be compressed and made into a smart looking stand that are used in apartments. Not sure how many clothes will fall down and lines get cut. Kattundom, poruthiuppum..... kaalam maarum ...

Kelviyin nayagigal

Pakkathu veettil 3 akka thangaigal ... vishama kodukkungra varthaikku uruvam kidachapola . Idhai padichutu ellam 3/4 vayasunu ninaikka vendaam, 10-15 vayasukulla irukkum.

Avanga amma vayatherichala kottikkave, kelvi kettu padaa paduthum moonum. Avanga amma edungala "maanam poradu ungalale"nu solli thittuvaanga. Oru naal thalai pinnikka varumbodu seepu konduvaralai, adukku anda amma, "oru velai ozhunga panna therialai, ippadi irukkeengale, enakku maanam poradu"nu solli mudikkavum, kadai kutti, romba paavama moonjiya vechundu - "maanam ennamma adikkadi poittu poittu varumaa" nu kettudu, adukappuram mudugula naalu podara satham mattum k0nja neram...

anda ponnukku ippo badil kidachurukkamanu kekkanum , avalukkum ippo 2 ponnu irukkunu kelvi..

Innocence and wisdom

Three days were spent on teaching a 13 year old, wordly wisdom!!!!!!!!

He has been battered and bruised by a team of adults because he had presented his viewpoints to his teacher who had extremely favorable view points towards a particular religion. Since most adults have lost the ability to focus on the mind speaking and not on age, size, gender, socio economic status and every other factor, it was not palatable to an adult that a child had countered his sentiments.

Bottomline is that he was taught to replace his courage of conviction and his genuine self with cunning, manipulation and compromise.

Tentative step

Never have written a diary or aired views in public. Inspired by ammani, dubukku et al... have taken the first step

OK here we go - roll my sleeves, fingers on the key board ... nothing is happening... total nirvana ..no thoughts ... no ideas... nothing to say ....

Do I have a sense of humor - yes - others say so ......
Can I make sensible conversation - yes - so do others say...
Can I think logically - yes - come on I know this.....
I can do a lot of things ...

then why the hell am I struggling to get some thing posted......