The emptiness with which we live beating the boring existence, is a sure shot way to understand the meditative void. After all, the goodness and the badness of thinking, saying and doing is projected on the Self. The emptiness of the feel that falsely projects that I'm nothing attempts to say I am, nothing else beyond that. The same entity that identifies with nothingness is the expresser of the void. The void so expressed by that something can't be void and hence makes it completely opposite to void. The great void is not for I to reach it, but I to negate all that there seems to be to witness the great void. That witnessing of meditative void is not the end of journey but a convincing experiment to verify the existence of void in all that is materialistic, only an apparent reality of pratibhasika satya.
What singing competition?
Well, am I glad that Sanjaya Malakar is out of the American Idol contest! Nah, I'm not following it or anything, but a few days back, the newspapers caught my attention when there was all that nonsense talked about Sanjaya of the American Idol fame. The funny point is, if Indians or whoever it is that voted in bulk for him, whose fault is it? If people vote in a show that bases winners on votes, you can't define who votes for whom. Why have such a show in the first place if all people can think of is making racist remarks later, in support or against!
Till the last airing, if Sanjaya was leading, it was said to be due to the *outsourced Indians* voting for him or even faking votes since he's half-Indian!!! Now that he's out, they seem to be saying that justice prevailed. Back here in India, we call such nonsense as "chit bhi meri, pat bhi meri" or put in the Andaz Apna Apna way, "chit main jeeta, pat tu hara". (That is, heads I win, tails you lose!) :)
Now for my own perspective on Sanjaya. Only today, I came across it while switching channels, and incidently it was returning home time for Sanjaya. I just heard him sing "Let's Give Them Something To Talk About" after his losing cry and I *liked* his singing, not the weird hairdos that he presented himself in the recap shown! In recaps, I also saw that quite a few judges and singers liked him. I think the judges do understand that he's a 17 yr kid and has a lot of growing up to do. However, I did read his answers on American Idol website and he's done a fair job at it. I'm not sure if he deserves to be the American Idol; if he really likes singing, thats the wrong show to compete in anyways!
For closing remarks, I don't care if Sanjaya rocks or sucks, what I do care is to note that shows such as American Idol or the Indian version of it, Indian Idol, are not *singing* competitions since they are not on the *quality* of singing, but a *popularity* show based on votes and votes alone. Had it been a singing competition, we would have had quality judges judging singing and not those stupid hairdos or questioning races, again, whether for him or against!
PS: By the way, if all of you missed the big point that these shows are all about, here it is: money. Ads, news, interviews, telecom companies, etc... sell it while Sanjaya's case is still hot! Let whoever hate him, people who are making money using him really must be loving him! :)
Till the last airing, if Sanjaya was leading, it was said to be due to the *outsourced Indians* voting for him or even faking votes since he's half-Indian!!! Now that he's out, they seem to be saying that justice prevailed. Back here in India, we call such nonsense as "chit bhi meri, pat bhi meri" or put in the Andaz Apna Apna way, "chit main jeeta, pat tu hara". (That is, heads I win, tails you lose!) :)
Now for my own perspective on Sanjaya. Only today, I came across it while switching channels, and incidently it was returning home time for Sanjaya. I just heard him sing "Let's Give Them Something To Talk About" after his losing cry and I *liked* his singing, not the weird hairdos that he presented himself in the recap shown! In recaps, I also saw that quite a few judges and singers liked him. I think the judges do understand that he's a 17 yr kid and has a lot of growing up to do. However, I did read his answers on American Idol website and he's done a fair job at it. I'm not sure if he deserves to be the American Idol; if he really likes singing, thats the wrong show to compete in anyways!
For closing remarks, I don't care if Sanjaya rocks or sucks, what I do care is to note that shows such as American Idol or the Indian version of it, Indian Idol, are not *singing* competitions since they are not on the *quality* of singing, but a *popularity* show based on votes and votes alone. Had it been a singing competition, we would have had quality judges judging singing and not those stupid hairdos or questioning races, again, whether for him or against!
PS: By the way, if all of you missed the big point that these shows are all about, here it is: money. Ads, news, interviews, telecom companies, etc... sell it while Sanjaya's case is still hot! Let whoever hate him, people who are making money using him really must be loving him! :)
Waking up to daily news
Every day is atleast a tragedy! Each morning you wake up to see the newspapers stained with blood, only with varying counts of deaths and rapes! Cheating and robbery don't even make it to the papers these days, since they have become commonplace and we are no more surprised with any such incidents. The keyword *trust* does not exist anymore as an essential unmentionable feature of individuals. Instead, if such a thing does exist, its a rarity enough to become news material! Yesterday, I read that a Bambaiyya taxidriver returned a necklace and a (licensed) revolver forgotten behind by a businessman. Well, I'd have liked to live in a place and time where thats expected normal behavior. Wouldn't we all?
The only pleasing thing I've read in days was today. An article mentions Denmark to be such a place, where people are the happiest in Europe (perhaps, the world), due to work-life-balance, responsible family life, responsive and approachable government, safe streets, etc. Thank God, for some piece of heaven on earth, atleast for some!
(By the way, I'm going to try and live in denial of such nonsense surroundings as I start this entry with and see if it helps me be contented more than I already am. In that effort I attempt to list out funny incidents in Virar local trains, that make one survive the suffocating crowd! Coming up next...)
The only pleasing thing I've read in days was today. An article mentions Denmark to be such a place, where people are the happiest in Europe (perhaps, the world), due to work-life-balance, responsible family life, responsive and approachable government, safe streets, etc. Thank God, for some piece of heaven on earth, atleast for some!
(By the way, I'm going to try and live in denial of such nonsense surroundings as I start this entry with and see if it helps me be contented more than I already am. In that effort I attempt to list out funny incidents in Virar local trains, that make one survive the suffocating crowd! Coming up next...)
Nuclear India!
I'm immensely happy that we tested the 3,500 km-range Agni-III ballistic missile yesterday itself, loudly announcing that we're committed to our nuclear and missile research programme. More reasons on why so, follows.
The country that has built a paradise over bloodshed of countless Red Indians has voiced nonsense again! This time around, they've managed to call India greedy for our want of nuclear capabilities! Hah, US has *always* been greedy in everything, though. They are the people who want(ed) to patent turmeric-as-a-medicine thats used in almost every household in India since time unknown! They are also the same people who want(ed) to patent basmati rice, the one that makes festive food here, if not of daily use in many Indian homes! If thats not enough, they are also the people who fought several wars for the greed of oil in the gulf countries, killing millions, including nuking Japan! US has even gone for war against UN requests; the latter can go to hell for all they care! Ending wars, they also leave a trace of feel-nothing to the country, if they leave at all, once having entered for a so-called *police-action*.
Knowing history so, I do not know what US calls its military as, but ours is a defence and we've a no-first-use, but second strike, policy. We're a country surrounded by military dictators who haunt us not only grabbing boundaries inch-by-inch, but are also a cause for concern due to the terrorism within. We're a country where some cities pay as much as five times than what US cities pay for electricity, needing nuclear energy badly!
As it is, the Indo-US nuclear tie-up began with a bad taste. One needs to really understand why we in India are being called as nuclear greedy now that we want to keep to technology exchanges that would help us keep our nuclear (factually, civilian safeguarded) reactors going. US has imposed sanctions upon India due to Pokhran nuclear tests. Later, when we had found our own resources for nuclear fuel, suddenly US came back, for a hug this time. Well, they just want what they want, but if we ask for return in kind, we're nuclear greedy!
The country that has built a paradise over bloodshed of countless Red Indians has voiced nonsense again! This time around, they've managed to call India greedy for our want of nuclear capabilities! Hah, US has *always* been greedy in everything, though. They are the people who want(ed) to patent turmeric-as-a-medicine thats used in almost every household in India since time unknown! They are also the same people who want(ed) to patent basmati rice, the one that makes festive food here, if not of daily use in many Indian homes! If thats not enough, they are also the people who fought several wars for the greed of oil in the gulf countries, killing millions, including nuking Japan! US has even gone for war against UN requests; the latter can go to hell for all they care! Ending wars, they also leave a trace of feel-nothing to the country, if they leave at all, once having entered for a so-called *police-action*.
Knowing history so, I do not know what US calls its military as, but ours is a defence and we've a no-first-use, but second strike, policy. We're a country surrounded by military dictators who haunt us not only grabbing boundaries inch-by-inch, but are also a cause for concern due to the terrorism within. We're a country where some cities pay as much as five times than what US cities pay for electricity, needing nuclear energy badly!
As it is, the Indo-US nuclear tie-up began with a bad taste. One needs to really understand why we in India are being called as nuclear greedy now that we want to keep to technology exchanges that would help us keep our nuclear (factually, civilian safeguarded) reactors going. US has imposed sanctions upon India due to Pokhran nuclear tests. Later, when we had found our own resources for nuclear fuel, suddenly US came back, for a hug this time. Well, they just want what they want, but if we ask for return in kind, we're nuclear greedy!
Thoughts 64
64: Attack may well be the best form of defense elsewhere, but in chess, a good defense causes the opponent to attack himself!
First verses
First verses of many a great work (if not the first verse itself) are an end in themselves! Here I try to recall some examples to justify.
The brahma sutra says:
janmAdasya yataH,
--that from which all this is born!
The brahma samhita says:
ishwaraH paramaH krishNA sachidAnanda vigraH
anAdirAdiH govindaH sarva kAraNa kAraNam
--that ishwaraH (herein mentioned Krishna, but all the same) who is sat-chit-Ananda is the (causeless) cause of all causes!
The gaNapati atharvashirSopanishad says:
namaH te gaNapataye (I'm thankful to Mahabaleshwar-ji for pointing this out instead of the one that follows).
--revered salulations to thou, Ganapati
There's a lot of meaning in such a seemingly simple salutation. The te is rightly understood as the tvam pada of tattvamasi. And then, gaNapati is seen the tat as well as the tvam!
or the following verse...
tvameva pratyakshaM tattvamasi
--thou art that shruti mahAvAkya thou art that! So very beautifully
put. Ah, the bliss! AnandohaM AnandohaM AnandaM brahmAnandaM
gurorarpaNamastu
9, 9 and 18 more!
The gestation period of 9 months seems to have stuck on to me! The recent 9 month stories follow.
Oct 3, 2005: I spoke to my manager of my leaving my job. Over discussions, potential replacement interviews, stretching issues, new project modules, negotiations, ping-pongs, the final day saw 9 months more. (Its a different story that I took a vacation in the 9th month to push it a month further from exit).
Aug 10, 2006: This day saw a beginning of another gestation that delivered simple living with unplanned plans, do-nothing, be-nothing attitude.Towards the end of these 9 months, a breakthrough getaway is seen.
May 10, 2007: As I see, its a disconnected life, yet a connected one. Its time to shatter superficial faiths and bring deeper beliefs alive. Those deeper beliefs had, earlier, announced themselves in unacceptable terms to others, portrayed superficially, taking expensive time (18 months!!!), effort, monies, patience and all that mundane worldly stuff. Its time to recover those, boldly, for the truth as I see it. As my favorite manager used to say, have a one point agenda! Its still a formation of unattached attachment. I don't know if I can be with all older ties with new ones shaping up. I might relax norms and care less for anything else than the focus that is called for, however hurting it may seem!
Finally, I'd like to close with some shloka-s that are left to interpretation beyond my mention of thought 52 taken as grace:
duHsangaM ca parityajya pApakarma parityajet |
cittachinhamidaM yasya tasya dIkshA vidhIyate ||
cittatyAganiyuktashca krodhagarvavivarjitaH |
dvaitabhAvaparityAgI tasya dIkshA vidhIyate ||
etallakshaNaM saMyuktaM sarvabhUtahiteratam |
nirmalaM jIvitaM yasya tasya dIkshA vidhIyate ||
Oct 3, 2005: I spoke to my manager of my leaving my job. Over discussions, potential replacement interviews, stretching issues, new project modules, negotiations, ping-pongs, the final day saw 9 months more. (Its a different story that I took a vacation in the 9th month to push it a month further from exit).
Aug 10, 2006: This day saw a beginning of another gestation that delivered simple living with unplanned plans, do-nothing, be-nothing attitude.Towards the end of these 9 months, a breakthrough getaway is seen.
May 10, 2007: As I see, its a disconnected life, yet a connected one. Its time to shatter superficial faiths and bring deeper beliefs alive. Those deeper beliefs had, earlier, announced themselves in unacceptable terms to others, portrayed superficially, taking expensive time (18 months!!!), effort, monies, patience and all that mundane worldly stuff. Its time to recover those, boldly, for the truth as I see it. As my favorite manager used to say, have a one point agenda! Its still a formation of unattached attachment. I don't know if I can be with all older ties with new ones shaping up. I might relax norms and care less for anything else than the focus that is called for, however hurting it may seem!
Finally, I'd like to close with some shloka-s that are left to interpretation beyond my mention of thought 52 taken as grace:
duHsangaM ca parityajya pApakarma parityajet |
cittachinhamidaM yasya tasya dIkshA vidhIyate ||
cittatyAganiyuktashca krodhagarvavivarjitaH |
dvaitabhAvaparityAgI tasya dIkshA vidhIyate ||
etallakshaNaM saMyuktaM sarvabhUtahiteratam |
nirmalaM jIvitaM yasya tasya dIkshA vidhIyate ||
Sounding negative!
Whats wrong with our temperament, off late? There's a clear indication about it... its a writing on the wall... even the weather announces it with global warming!
The wars around the world, unethical fight for industry leadership, hatred amongst families, within the family, religious intolerance, meaningless friendships, backstabbing, environmental carelessness, short sightedness, ignorance about anything that doesn't directly affect us, etc, are some of the things that detail the same.
We've become more mean and the attitude problem that we live with and how easily we cook up a bunch of lies, for any trivial thing, has degraded our standards of morality to a drastic low... to a point of no recovery.
If we try to separate ourselves from such a society around us, we end up fighting with everyone, unable to stand anything that even closely resembles odds, frustration building every moment of our mortal existence....
As always, hideouts of silence are the only solution for us then!
The wars around the world, unethical fight for industry leadership, hatred amongst families, within the family, religious intolerance, meaningless friendships, backstabbing, environmental carelessness, short sightedness, ignorance about anything that doesn't directly affect us, etc, are some of the things that detail the same.
We've become more mean and the attitude problem that we live with and how easily we cook up a bunch of lies, for any trivial thing, has degraded our standards of morality to a drastic low... to a point of no recovery.
If we try to separate ourselves from such a society around us, we end up fighting with everyone, unable to stand anything that even closely resembles odds, frustration building every moment of our mortal existence....
As always, hideouts of silence are the only solution for us then!
Thoughts 61-62
61: Life is an unsolved mystery, solving which, many lives meet death!
62: Liking something and being good at it are two disparate things!
62: Liking something and being good at it are two disparate things!
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