Song of Death

No matter where you lead thee
There, me you will see

Waiting with clutches open
Only till your karmaa-s ripen

Trained in your foolish teachings
You think you're beyond my reachings

With your yantra, mantra and tantra
You can't escape my shadyantra

Your grave has already been long dug
Someday I'll force you out of your cosy rug

En passant

There's a rule in chess called the en passant. I like it as a good analogy for life's (spiritual) progress. The main goal being promotion (to Queen) for the pawn, still, it allows itself to wander around and cut across other squares to capture an opponent, even at the eleventh hour. Now, that poses an interesting problem for me to see. I seem to be doing something that I'm not supposed to do. Forget me, I'm kind of a backward pawn or a doubled/tripled pawn thats not even near the promotion from any angle. Consider a sanyaasi for example. He may *seem* to be wandering off (limits) as defined by the people, but he may not actually be doing so. To him, nothing matters. It only affects people who think that their rules bind the renunciate! They've no idea of what the sanyaasi lives. All that they all know is superficial life.

Coming back to the *pawn* analogy, the aim remains *promotion* even though it goes diagonally across to capture other pieces of the *opponent*. But it may well end up in a *file* that is blocked further by stronger opponents, in which case, things may be a lot worse than they were in its earlier file! So the pawn needs to be calculative on how to lead through files or just the current file too. This calculation is what makes *chess* interesting.

Mathematically, if we replace the asterisked words above with the following, we'll get to what I wanted to draw chess parallels with.

pawn = human
promotion = liberation
opponent = (an aspect of) maayaa
file = life or stages/paths of life
chess = bhavasaagara

To elaborate, although human's life is aimed at liberation, one may cross over into different aspects of maayaa and still reach across, while others think not so. However, one needs to be careful about stepping through various stages/paths so as to not get trapped in maayic pitfalls, forget the goal and end up in a not-so-likeable life!

Crossing over to en passant which we started with, in the last stage of a human pawn's life, that is sanyaasa, one may step across various maayaa aspects or so it may seem. The renunciate is so near the goal that he's an apt passed pawn. Moreover, be sure to know that the en passant rule is not for all pawns, its only for the pawn that's made it to the said square!

Lastly, a yoga-bhrashta would be an underpromotion for the pawn, who otherwise would have made a passed pawn, ideally; the rest who are involved in the worldly life are, perhaps, under stalemate!

"The pawns are the soul of chess." - Philidor

Someday, Maya, someday!

No matter what you do
Someday, I will prove

Day in and day out, you trouble me so
Miseries of mine remain, they just don't go

You have them multiplied, I don't care
Sooner than later, they'll really wear

Now, you're the stronger of us two
In time, I'll be blessed by better than you

Till then, be happy that I'm trapped in you
Someday, that formula will reverse, its true

The management whys!

Every time I decide that I'll spend a good day at work, I don't. I always find myself posed with a set of questions then. I'm tired of asking these to people who know not the meaning of the question; expecting an answer is just too much to ask... hence this blog.

  • Why ask, when you don't listen?
  • Why do something, when it doesn't need be done?
  • Why show an option when the decision is already taken?
  • Why light up the fire when you know its going to burn?
  • Why add fuel to fire then?
  • Why show you care when you're careless?
  • Why preach the impractical?
  • Why create hell for others whether or not you're in heaven?
  • Why live when you're already dead?

I refuse to believe that management can't be good. Its just that they don't want to be good. Its a choice. You decide.

I, I

Ramana's "Who am I?" enquiry process is expected to end in *I, I* for everyone. Here's where my understanding led me yesterday on why its called as *I, I* against just *I*:
  • Its continuous; any continuity need be expressed more than once.
  • It indicates that the I he talks of as Self is not the I we know as ego.
  • It shows that the I lives with other (perceived) I's around.
  • It expresses that the nirguna I and saguna I go hand-in-hand.
  • It means that the I is advaitic, even while living in dvaita.
  • It voices that this I is that I.
  • Its the living expression of tat tvam asi.
ramaNArpaNamastu

Piecemeal

I was drawn to an article by Lindsay on rediff about Indians being hypocrites. Well, to start with, lets say that its Lindsay's *opinion* and there's no need to get wild about it. But I'm about to pose some Qs to the author, piecemeal.

(some of the words have been written with improper spacing to avoid irrelevant searches from landing here)
  • K i s sing: Do you know the difference between k i s sing in public vs in private?
  • S e xuality: Hope you've seen the movie Page-3. But do you know the difference between accepting h o m o s e xuality vs teaching the society to follow it; eg, a how-to?
  • S e x: Did you not know that children are a result of s e x u a l activity? Still have doubts on how Indian population rose so high? Heard of K a m a s u t r a?
  • Cricket: Have you heard of Vishwanathan Anand, Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander Paes, Dhanraj Pillai & Sania Mirza? Do you know what "nobody's perfect" means?
  • Religion, riots: Do you know the religions of our respected President & Prime Minister? Would you know what beliefs did the earlier ones belong to? Does India not having invaded any country mean anything to you? Do you know why Ayodhya issue is at a standstill? Do you know that Hindu temples were converted into public toilets in our neighboring country without finding a mention? Do you know how people who convert other's religion forcibly are rewarded in other countries?
  • Women: Have you heard of Rani Lakshmibai, Akka Mahadevi, Indira Gandhi, Sushma Swaraj, Maneka Gandhi, Kiran Bedi and the like?
  • Teachers: Do you see contradiction between what you write here: "We teach our sons that teaching is not just a job for women" and what you've written about women earlier? If your parents had told you of this noble profession, would you've grown up to be a teacher? Would you know where the now-English-too word *guru* comes from?
  • Culture: Can you define Indian culture before commenting and would you say that you befit such?
  • Monuments: Do you know if the monuments of India that you mention were scribbled over by *all*, they would no longer exist?
  • Marriages: Would you understand if I tell you that when a person allows a son to marry by choice and not the daughter so, the marrying son marries someone else's daughter who herself is marrying by choice?
  • Loving the country: Do you know what the Quit India movement was?
You may well say that I've picked specifics to pose an argument to your case. But so have you made the exceptions as general! Overall, any Indian-to-the-heart wouldn't be less than happy in India.

Personally, I dislike hypocrites. But even worse are those who curse everyone around them, not helping the system, calling people names, focusing only on the negatives and not on the good things that the country offers them. Lindsay, as a character-building exercise, for once, try writing good about the country. Try dropping your thanklessness, comparing the freedom of speech you and I have today in India, with that you would've had elsewhere.

Look at your biases towards the western society and their followings and so-called freedom. Think how our country would've been treated had we gone against UN and attacked our neighbors, for example.

(Anyways, a friend and I'd bought some stuff from rediff and thats when we concluded that rediff sucks. In fact, rediff should read as read-if... )

Satyameva jayate, vande maataram

A month to Ganges...

... and a year to Kailash; I'm living on these thoughts today.

Next month, I'm planned on a trip to Gangotri & Yamnotri; two of the many sources of holy Ganges. In this connection, there are two things that happened today. I was reminded of the following Meera bhajan by Sriram, who is the other half of the team.

calo man gangA jamunA tIr
gangA jamunA nirmal pAnI, shItal hot sharIr
bansI bajAvat gAvat kAnhA, sang liyE balabIr
mor mukuT pItAmbar sohE, kuNDal jalakat hIr
mIrA kahe prabhu giridhar nAgar, caraN-kamal par shIr

I also chanced upon this from the Rig Veda today, while going through the book, Sacred Waters, by Stephen Alter:

The waters of the sky or those that flow,
those that are dug out or those that arise by themselves,
those pure and clear waters that seek the ocean
as their goal -- let the waters, who are
goddesses, help me here and now.

Need I say more?

The spiritual heart

The heart on the right is always right, while that on the left is mostly wrong, since the former is a physical heart while the latter is the spiritual heart. Ramana says that this spiritual heart is on the right side at more or less the same level as the physical heart. He said that the Kundalini has to be brought down to the (/this) heart after reaching the seventh chakra. The left side heart binds one in the mayic emotions, while the right side heart frees us.

Also, as a yogic meditation technique, if we concentrate on the physical heart, we are more likely to become yoga bhrasthraas, than yogis. (Thats not a bad thing according to the laukik, but from the adhyaatmic angle, one would've fallen then)

Quote unquote 8

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time. --Stephen Wright.
My take: No matter where you go, there you are!

Ayodhya attack!

Sadly, Ayodhya was attacked this week and we know that our good soldiers knocked down these terrorists. And in time too. They were about to entire the tent that makes up a temporary temple in the inner area of Ayodhya!

Then again, Ayodhya stands for a-yodhya, that is, one that can't be won over. This incident just added more proof. Ayodhya nagari was built by Manu, the first man. Professor Ram Sharan Sharma writes in his booklet "Communal History and *Rama’s* Ayodhya": ‘Ayodhya *seems* to have emerged as a place of religious pilgrimage in medieval times. Although chapter 85 of the Vishnu Smriti lists as many as fifty-two places of pilgrimage, including towns, lakes, rivers, mountains, etc., it does not include Ayodhya in this list’. Watch the words he used that I've put in bold above. Need I say more?

(As an aside, it would be interesting to see how time deals with things. We live in a karmabhoomi and there's an effect that we see of all ill-doings too. The problem is that in a human's lifespan, one can't see much and one starts concluding things, forgetting that there was more that has gone before and there's a lot more to come yet. Its an endless cycle).

Quote unquote 7

There are many things in life that money can't buy. And there are many things in life that can't be bought without money.
My take: When money talks, morals walk!

Linux: Live Unix

I hereby confess that I've been hypocritical in claiming that I'm a non-technical person. I realize that a little corner in me wakes up once in a while and has a passion to do engineering things.

I particularly asked a friend today, even so as a joke, whether he'll replace himself with me at a place that he works, if he decides to quit Bangalore! Later, I also coded some c++ on Linux and saw that I was getting excited about it. Thats not been the case in a while. Aha! vi, I felt. I've been interviewing some candidates since past 3 weeks now and that must have silently added fuel to the fire within, or should I say: fg'd my bg'd engineer?

I do not know if these feelings will fade away and run as a daemon process again, thanks to Win-doze killing the engineer within me. (As a background, Win-doze happened to be an accident I was forced into and it added multiple injuries to me).

Whatever be the historical pun on Unix, Linus, etc, that led to naming Linux, I still feel that Linux stands for Live (every moment of) Unix or at least Love Thy Unix!

(If a win-doze lover drops by and expects a confession for this post, please do forgive me, for not confessing... ever)

Quote unquote 5-6

5. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
My take: ... or food!

6. A candle loses nothing of its light by lighting another candle.
My take: It loses anyway, by burning out. And the other candle loses too!

Heights of nonsense!

If you haven't guessed this, here's a hint: think workwise. Still if you haven't guessed it, you're perhaps a manager/leader!

Okay, here's what happens. This guy doesn't do his work, he wants you to do his work. He wants you to do your work too, but he doesn't let you do it. Here's a great example. He asks a chap to report the lines of code in the project. Wait, I've a better way to tell it out... managerial/leadership nonsense is best told in points. Thats how they like it, right? So here goes (abbvs used are SE for software engr and PL for project load, er, leader...)
  • PL: Report the no. of lines in the product code, split projectwise, modulewise, etc
  • SE: (Searches tools, makes a good report, sends)
  • PL: Which project is totally a part of the product, which is not?
  • SE: This is this, that is that, etc.
  • PL: Which one do we need to study out of this for our work?
  • SE: blah blah.
  • PL: Can you split your report into comments and active code?
  • SE: Report doesn't include comments, only active code!
  • PL: Can you split in code and headers, then?
  • SE: (thinking: why do we care? We can't read code without headers!) Tool doesn't allow.
  • PL: Which tool?
  • SE: This tool.
  • PL: Can you use this tool, instead?
  • PL once more: (Recalls mail)
  • PL again: Can you use this? blah blah link
  • SE: (?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! $#@#$@^^$%&@$)
More info awaited... but I'll stop here. It just doesn't make any sense, unless *non* means a lot!!!

We're rich!

Oh, yes we Indians are rich! What can you do with Rs.21,068 crore (US$4.8 billion) per year? Check out the results of Corruption survey!

Sadly, the education system makes the most money. But this is something that everyone knows: how screwed up the dirty competitive education system in India is getting. Bangalore city itself has a many number of engineering colleges, beating most states in India! One is surprised as to how a residential building kind of a structure with a handful of flats on a corner of a busy road qualifies to be an approved engineering college. Anyways, thats besides the point, since most of the corruption is within the 12th class! Consider the drastic effects that this will have. Anyone who has been through paying bribe in school, be it forced, will find the *need* to recover this through similar means in the following years of his/her career. It would surely have a rolling effect. This reminds me of a song: Insaaf ki dagar pe bacchon dikhaao chalke.. yeh desh hai tumhaaraa, netaa tumhi ho kalke. Thats how we have corrupt politicians already, I guess.

I used to wonder 7-8 years back when I listened to Rajiv Dikshit with fervour: what can't we do as a nation if we save the corruption monies? Now, its beyond my thinking. Lok Ayukta started some great work in KA with all sorts of raids. Funnily enough, their work is not reaching sufficient ends. The raids end up in filing reports and thats what they remain worth; no one takes action!!!

Given all this, we Indians are moving towards moral-suicide.

Feeding the subconscious

One needs to be careful of the senses, that we all know. Are we also aware that the way the senses act, with or without our knowledge, gets deep within? Anyone who has some association with the so-called mind control activity would guess what I'm talking about. Its about the layers of consciousness. In a control-mechanism, one is advised to be pure in thought, word and deed. Controlling the thoughts is actually controlling the mind since there's nothing like a mind, apart from a set of thoughts. This is an endless cycle and one is soon driven to a conclusion that the mind can't be controlled. So, we end up trying the other practical way around it. We start by limiting our habitual deeds. This, over a period, we achieve and then we move on to words. That comes quite easy too, except when under the influence of anger, where one loses control over most. Lets assume that the subject doesn't get angry and has a well-balanced temperament. This helps get over words too. Easy... done, are we? Not really, its time to purify the thought process!

After the two major hurdles of purification we went through, the thoughts are not far, we feel. But although we focus, in our daily routine, on one thing (maybe two) at a time, the thoughts come from a parallel-processing machine of infinite processors! All run true multitasking in real-time. So even if we don't think we are thinking, thinking happens. The mind is a big fat liar. It tells you that its not thinking. As Ramana says: its like the thief pretending to be a police!

Then, one reaches a phase of being fed-up and asking: whats the harm in the thoughts being impure? My actions are wise, I don't use bad words, etc. It has a multiform answer: for one, the mind is so strong with the karmic background its fed on, that knowingly or unknowingly, one has a risk of snapping back into usage of avoided words and deeds. Its like sleeping in a temple and waking up in a jungle. The mind drives you blind when it takes control. Further, even if one doesn't snap back, in sanaathana dharma, an act in thoughts is equivalent to the same act in deed. That adds vikarma too!

So whats the solution? One needs to be on guard through and through, not only in waking hours. The conscious state tells you all's well, but the subconscious acts when you sleep. Its akin to a thief stealing at night since there are people around in broad daylight! The subconscious also feeds in the company of like minds. That is, even if we've controlled the mind in our consciousness, while we work at that layer, the lower subconscious layer interacts with the peer of others in our company and builds itself. Thats where satsanga is valued. Its not for no reason that they say: a man is known by the company he keeps. Only the very advanced yogis can ignore the dirtiest rotten scoundrels around and still remain pure.

(Back in my chat addiction days, we used to use acronyms a lot and in the chat delay if we saw each other's statements that meant the same thing, we used to say: GMTA, meaning great minds think alike. Almost always, that was followed by SDNM: so do nasty minds!)

Who, what, where?

Was I like this before?
I don't know, therefore,

I ask, praying that you'll tell
Heeding to my tears that well

Answer to me, who am I?
Then I needn't anymore sigh!

Tell me what this life is for?
Even though I don't know who you are!

Wherefrom did I come?
I know not even some!

I believe you're the only one to know
For I hear your words: I told you so, I told you so!

Saraswati

Saraswati, commonly known as the Goddess of learning or a river, is actually a Goddess of inspiration from the Riks. (Rig Vedic hymns are known as Riks). There are 72 verses in praise of Saraswati, that have a very few which refer to her as the river in the Vedic times, that dried away. In the 70's, BARC geologists recorded facts from their research on water samples collected from the wells of Northern India to reconfirm this river's existence. So, barring those few verses, the others are clearly towards raising inspiration.

Incidentally, Aurobindo was the only person in modern times who saw Veda-s in the light of Vedanta. His works, Savitri and the like, are nonetheless indicative of his deep knowledge on the subject. The honorary chief of SAKSIVC, Dr. R.L. Kashyap is carrying forward the ideas developed by Aurobindo into his works on Veda Samhita-s. Personally, his Taittiriya Samhita introduction itself has been quite insightful.

(For more details, please refer to Dr. R.L. Kashyap's books, published by SAKSIVC)