I've been meaning to write about this one since a real long time, but its not something you casually talk about. I've kept this with me for quite some time sharing with a couple of close satsangis, but today I do feel like letting it out, mixing it with a lot of deviations here and there, ahem, as usual if I may add! :)
Anahata is the chakra at the level of the heart. Its also the 4th or the middle chakra among the seven, not only because its mid way when mapped onto the body, at the heart level, or middle of the count, but also because its the centre of the worldly and spiritual worlds. This is an interesting point that I haven't really come across elsewhere. Its something that occurred to me over the years and this blog is basically trying to express that.
Any kundalini practitioner knows that after the kundalini begins its rise, it needs to be guided up or held at the current level with constant practice, failing which, it will begin its downward journey back into the muladhara. Anahata is interesting because its midway to sahasrara, or from sahasrara in case of Aurobindo's downward count. I suppose in some kriyas, it is considered other way. (To my imagination, its like the calculation of electric current conventionally thought of from positive to negative poles but later on understood to be really from -ve to +ve because electrons move towards the +ve causing an electric current. However, the conventional symbol continued). Similarly, in tantra, its either thought of as the Shakti moving upwards to Shiva or in a balancing act Shiva moving towards Shakti in some explanations. The latter, I reckon, is symbolic and not actually a movement. At least in my learning I haven't come across it followed thoroughly. I'll return to this downward movement towards the end, which is truly an original contribution of Ramana Maharshi to the Kunadalini world.
Heart is the seat of emotions in the poetic, even psychological, expressions. In science, its the main organ of the body. In other expressions, anything in the centre is referred to as the heart of the system. To me, when the kundalini rises from Anahata upwards, one is crossing the bridge from the worldly pursuits to the spiritual one. Its not as easy as crossing a concrete bridge though. I think it takes a lot of commitment to actually reach the anahata, but to cross it is the true milestone what Swami Krishnananda would call the human to divine change. All the lower chakras till the anahata are so tied to bodily impact that they will, if not used well, lead to make the person baser, lowering from human to animal levels. In fact, a person who cannot handle animal instincts is best kept away from kundalini because the muladhara, surely the svadhisthana and even at times the manipura will deepen the animal instincts in human if not channelized well. There are many great souls and masters lost in this world of lower chakras. Thats also where, I imagine, tantra splits into the dark world. So its obvious that reaching the anahata itself is a great place to reach.
Now this place is so crucial that it can make or break a yogi, not necessarily into dark world, but into the emotional crisis. Opening the anahata chakra brings along a heightened perception of others' sufferings, humans or not. Great masters have an anahata that perhaps maps across many anahatas of several beings that they knowingly or unknowingly help. My Guru Sridhara says that even equating such a heart to butter that melts on applying some heat is incomplete justice. He says that a sadhu's heart doesn't even need any heat to melt. It beats to others' benefit, so to say! Now imagine such a feeling of another's pain to someone who is incapable or isn't mature enough to bear. He would surely get stuck, burdened or even lost. That is the strength of anahata. Even with the great powers that come with each chakra, anahata can bind a person down into not only one's own emotional issues but others' emotions. If the person is capable enough to handle the additional load over and above one's own, the learnings can be well used to streamline, analyze even, and march upwards for the vishuddha. But where such focus is lost into using those emotional peeks into others for personal benefit, or for neutralizing their karma, which is against their prarabdha, instead of the personal goal of yoga, the union that the person is born for, it will lead to more sanchita for the yogi. This point cannot be stressed enough that a person may get carried into living others' lives at this point. It also cannot be overstated that helping others directly curing their prarabdha affects not only the subject's karmic path but also the yogi's. Such yogis become yogabhrashtas, restarting the yogi's path from perhaps nowhere!
Anahata is special that way. Emotions make us more human, but its also an animal instinct that most people forget. You can't possibly think an animal loves its young ones any lesser than parents love their children. Humans, however, can analyze those emotions while animals can't. Thats what has the seed to take the human away from the inbuilt animal instincts into tapping the divinity within. Its a true test that anahata opens up with itself opening. Where a yogi manages to spend more time in anahata0, trying to understand its wonderful feelings, with its embedded traps, he can pass through into vishuddha. And it surely is a beautiful breakthrough. I'm not saying the path is any easier then on, but its a major hurdle crossed over. It reassures one's own commitment from not wanting to be either a bhogi, a sevak, or even an egoistic guru, but lights the hope for union with the divine, the true aim of human birth.
Before closing on this topic, I'd like to touch upon another thing that happens at the level of anahata, which is not the anahata though. Its also possible for one to confuse that particular feel with anahata or vice versa. Its what Bhagavan Ramana calls the right heart or the spiritual heart. This is where, He said, the kundalini has to be brought down to, from after opening the sahasrara. Kundalini, as a practice, is taught and written about to end on the opening of sahasrara, the thousand petaled lotus. But the Maharshi says that it may be the most blissful feeling not necessarily leading to moksha. One may get stuck into the sahasrara forever, not knowing anything about. There are yogis that have voiced that the body will drop off in keeping the sahasrara open for twenty days. When, however, the kundalini is brought down from sahasrara, it has the potency to break open the hridaya granthi that binds the human into his karmic bandhana, the root of endless cyclical births and deaths. I understand that the effort of actually trying to run the kundalini by unfocused means into this granthi, not unlike trickle charging a battery, will have a painful effect. It will likely cause immense bodily pain at the anahata level and the kundalini will feel stuck, burning, not being able to move either way. At this moment, one must either struggle and commit to the path regardless of the pain and confusion, thereby pumping in more kundalini energy with immense focus or give up for a while and restart when comfortable. Its not a complete failure, nothing is. Its a learning that nothing happens in a day in matters of the world; in this case, nothing happens in a life time!
om tat sat
ramanArpaNamastu
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Food habits
Some people have a standard time of food, no. of meals to have and what to eat. Others eat on the go, unplanned, depending on the time available and around their schedule, but still with a look at the clock. But as I understand, there are very few who eat on need basis. Here when I say need basis, its based on two factors: hunger and bodily needs. Being trained of eating at specific times due to bringing up or work schedules or circumstantial, we can hardly think on our need of food intake.
I switched to the first factor of need some 5-6 years back or maybe more, some time when I hit my spiritual depths. With that, I used to eat when hungry and skip when not. So that meant no particular timing during waking hours, but my body made a timing on its own. My body found its own slot to express hunger not the way I was trained to eat. Breakfast was always an important meal for me. I don't remember having been any productive without a breakfast. I do know though that without a breakfast, I have not only had a bad work day, but also bad health through the day even with decent lunch fills. What I used to do though is that delay the breakfast some midway through to lunch, calling it brunch the way they all do. This helped me beat the breakfast and lunch crowd at the messy restaurants. Did I say that I hate crowds too? :) But this was a side effect. What I was doing, indeed, is feeding myself only when hungry.
I was also avoiding the dinner crowd by eating an early dinner between lunch and dinner, calling it linner like no one else I know of calls it. This helped me a lot to be on the run when needed, twist schedules of sleeping and waking around my spiritual reading. It also helped me stay active most part of the day and night, sleep less and in small sets of naps, instead of a long continuous stretch. Either way, the entire experience helped me understand how my body reacts and why it does. It led me to the 2nd factor of the need based eating, which meant eating what the body needs. I started thinking if I'm not burning much in physical activity, I need to eat less. That helped me on my sabbatical when I was hardly doing any physical or mental work. I was mostly in reading, silence or on my own, not even expending energy talking. During those times, I used to have regular breakfast and lunch but no dinner. I'd some great personalities forcing me food at dinner time and I used to politely refuse and when they didn't understand what "eating what you need" meant, I used to hurtfully refuse. It faded away in a while and I started feeling how good my sleep was. Whenever I had a dinner, I used stay awake most of the night without a wink of sleep.
The funny thing is that from that sabbatical I returned to a job that made 16-18 hrs of my workday. This meant some physical strain, but a lot of mental work. I had to switch to 4 or even 5 meals a day, all full sized. I have eaten breakfast, lunch, evening snack, dinner, and middle of the night 2nd dinner on returning home and heading for work next day. That was necessity feed and I managed to stay healthy albeit putting on some weight. I wouldn't have been able to survive the stress and deliver work without that. I also used to eat a lot during couple of treks I took. So its always good, I feel, to eat based on need than by the clock.
So I think its safe to say that my discipline, therefore, is to not have a normal discipline in food, but to switch based on circumstances. :)
I switched to the first factor of need some 5-6 years back or maybe more, some time when I hit my spiritual depths. With that, I used to eat when hungry and skip when not. So that meant no particular timing during waking hours, but my body made a timing on its own. My body found its own slot to express hunger not the way I was trained to eat. Breakfast was always an important meal for me. I don't remember having been any productive without a breakfast. I do know though that without a breakfast, I have not only had a bad work day, but also bad health through the day even with decent lunch fills. What I used to do though is that delay the breakfast some midway through to lunch, calling it brunch the way they all do. This helped me beat the breakfast and lunch crowd at the messy restaurants. Did I say that I hate crowds too? :) But this was a side effect. What I was doing, indeed, is feeding myself only when hungry.
I was also avoiding the dinner crowd by eating an early dinner between lunch and dinner, calling it linner like no one else I know of calls it. This helped me a lot to be on the run when needed, twist schedules of sleeping and waking around my spiritual reading. It also helped me stay active most part of the day and night, sleep less and in small sets of naps, instead of a long continuous stretch. Either way, the entire experience helped me understand how my body reacts and why it does. It led me to the 2nd factor of the need based eating, which meant eating what the body needs. I started thinking if I'm not burning much in physical activity, I need to eat less. That helped me on my sabbatical when I was hardly doing any physical or mental work. I was mostly in reading, silence or on my own, not even expending energy talking. During those times, I used to have regular breakfast and lunch but no dinner. I'd some great personalities forcing me food at dinner time and I used to politely refuse and when they didn't understand what "eating what you need" meant, I used to hurtfully refuse. It faded away in a while and I started feeling how good my sleep was. Whenever I had a dinner, I used stay awake most of the night without a wink of sleep.
The funny thing is that from that sabbatical I returned to a job that made 16-18 hrs of my workday. This meant some physical strain, but a lot of mental work. I had to switch to 4 or even 5 meals a day, all full sized. I have eaten breakfast, lunch, evening snack, dinner, and middle of the night 2nd dinner on returning home and heading for work next day. That was necessity feed and I managed to stay healthy albeit putting on some weight. I wouldn't have been able to survive the stress and deliver work without that. I also used to eat a lot during couple of treks I took. So its always good, I feel, to eat based on need than by the clock.
So I think its safe to say that my discipline, therefore, is to not have a normal discipline in food, but to switch based on circumstances. :)
Indian Passport Office
Since a year there has been lot of news about India catching up to speed with passport issue. From the earlier 45-60 days for a fresh passport, they said most offices had upgraded themselves to computer-assisted passport offices and so, the lag had come down to 14 days. Now if you read the fine print, or no print in this case, it is clear that there are at most a few Indian cities that follow this so-called fast process. On top of that, Indian passport office website carries tatkaal option, albeit available at select offices. Having seen Thane under that select list made me happy some time March end. Under that scheme, a reissue of a passport would be done in 3 days! I couldn't believe my eyes. It was too good to be true.
In any case, I read up all that there was to be to read about such reissue process and also what need be done for tatkaal process. I even wrote to the Thane passport office and heard back from them asking me to apply online. The website also says that applying online for the passport will give you a date and time of appointment due to which you'll be saved of the time to wait in long queues waiting for token. So what I did is apply online, take a print out of application, get all documents ready, old passport, its copies and the tatkaal documents: Annexure I [standard affidavit that cost me 400 bucks thanks to notarized crooks here :) ] and more than the 3 required proofs, 1000 bucks for fees and 1500 more for tatkaal. I thought its still worth it if I don't have to wait for 45-60 days.
I expected to come back home for lunch on the said day having been given an *appointment* at 1000hrs at Thane passport office, which was also printed on my online application. To my utter shock, I was told in their enquiry counter to stand in a queue, take a token and wait for the number to submit my application. There were tons of people doing just that, some with online application, some with manual application and yet some more who were buying the application forms there and filling it. All were in the same freaking queue! So much for "apply online, avoid queues" crap by our govt offices. Much past noon, I hit the scrutiny counter. The moron who was to scrutinize my application told me that I can't get a tatkaal reissue. On asking why not if I had the affidavit and more than all the required proofs as per the website FAQ, he told me "passport valid tar pahije" (your passport should be valid)! If my passport had been valid (not expired), why would I apply for reissue??? Is that so difficult to understand? Moreover, he asked me if I wanted the affidavit back. When I told him its no use elsewhere, he gave me the affidavit back saying "you can use it somewhere else". Where can you use an affidavit that says "Standard affidavit for passport"? :) I suppose thats what you get in hiring people under reservation schemes.
I returned home thinking how I wasted 500 bucks for paperwork for tatkaal, but then calmed down thinking I saved 1500 bucks. Now I wait in eternity for police to call for verification, pay their "fees" and someday get my passport. I realized if its too good to be true, perhaps it is.
In any case, I read up all that there was to be to read about such reissue process and also what need be done for tatkaal process. I even wrote to the Thane passport office and heard back from them asking me to apply online. The website also says that applying online for the passport will give you a date and time of appointment due to which you'll be saved of the time to wait in long queues waiting for token. So what I did is apply online, take a print out of application, get all documents ready, old passport, its copies and the tatkaal documents: Annexure I [standard affidavit that cost me 400 bucks thanks to notarized crooks here :) ] and more than the 3 required proofs, 1000 bucks for fees and 1500 more for tatkaal. I thought its still worth it if I don't have to wait for 45-60 days.
I expected to come back home for lunch on the said day having been given an *appointment* at 1000hrs at Thane passport office, which was also printed on my online application. To my utter shock, I was told in their enquiry counter to stand in a queue, take a token and wait for the number to submit my application. There were tons of people doing just that, some with online application, some with manual application and yet some more who were buying the application forms there and filling it. All were in the same freaking queue! So much for "apply online, avoid queues" crap by our govt offices. Much past noon, I hit the scrutiny counter. The moron who was to scrutinize my application told me that I can't get a tatkaal reissue. On asking why not if I had the affidavit and more than all the required proofs as per the website FAQ, he told me "passport valid tar pahije" (your passport should be valid)! If my passport had been valid (not expired), why would I apply for reissue??? Is that so difficult to understand? Moreover, he asked me if I wanted the affidavit back. When I told him its no use elsewhere, he gave me the affidavit back saying "you can use it somewhere else". Where can you use an affidavit that says "Standard affidavit for passport"? :) I suppose thats what you get in hiring people under reservation schemes.
I returned home thinking how I wasted 500 bucks for paperwork for tatkaal, but then calmed down thinking I saved 1500 bucks. Now I wait in eternity for police to call for verification, pay their "fees" and someday get my passport. I realized if its too good to be true, perhaps it is.
The defence
I don't quite know what this blog is about taking off from the title. I've a lot of things on my mind on this topic and having not blogged for long, I don't know how this one's gonna read. I tweeted an hour back so: Watching Never Back Down and kinda love it. Am not a fan of violence, but a huge fan of defence. I can't even point out what in the movie triggers this blog, there's so much of a tangential disconnect! The tagline of the movie went Everyone has their fight. Now thats true, be it with the actual, real life, physical, fight or what the fight stands for. It may be chess, your beliefs or your life. A lot many people have called me defensive, even in matters that didn't need defence; thats who I am. There are only two ways to deal with an attack: to fight back in defence or just pass. Passing is not giving up, its not losing. Its a gentleman's way out. Some beliefs are so strong that you can't pass. Then you ought to fight till the death or till you think you have reached a stage to pass it; that is, if you're not in the wrong.
I don't follow the adage attack is the best form of defence. In chess, I've lost most games in attack because when I go all out, I lose the home ground defence. Thats one place where my multitasking skills have failed me. In life, I have my own set of beliefs. I defend them, regardless of who attacks them. I've gone against the most respected on these grounds. I've tried passing there, but its not always possible and nor is it always a good thing. A few months back, I was chatting with an old friend whom I caught up with after many years. He was surprised to know what I do or don't do now. Then I went a bit on a defensive, being me. He was very understanding, but he asked me why I was defending. I said because I felt too strongly about the path. To this, he had a mature thing to say: the path doesn't need a defence. He was right, but then not all understand that.
At times where I knew its a muck to get in, I don't defend. I pass. These times are tough for people in the game; they think of you as a team. I don't. I go solo. I don't like to depend on others for my defence. If I don't understand the subject to fight alone, then its not worth the defence. Any help is welcome and I would use it, not being thankless, but I wouldn't base my entire premise on expected team support. As for when I pass even when I feel strongly for the issue, its surely something where I'd be breaking my head on a wall otherwise; its quicksand. Here I remember a quote I read somewhere: never wrestle with a pig, you both get dirty and the pig likes it. Such debates are a strict no to me. A couple of years back, I backed out of a debate on a topic close to my heart, after which someone called me a coward. I applied the pig rule there and kept mum. Those are the times when I learn that patience is a virtue.
This brings me back full circle to the movie. As much as in physical encounters we forget to breathe and lose, in verbal confrontations too, we forget to breathe and lose. In the latter, the breath stands for thinking. The flow of prANa in breathing causes thoughts to be at the forefront. They help you build patience, grow wise by the breath. Breathing is very essential in the worldly as much as in the spiritual, both cases, slower the better. In the worldly we ought to focus on the thoughts that ride the breath, while in the spiritual we are to focus between breaths, the thoughtless state. In the end, we all have our focuses, we all have our fights. Some fight to make ends meet for the daily bread, others do it to make it to the top of the success ladder. Some defend their lives, others go out for an all out war to win the world. Some fight the outward projection calling it a battle of life & death, while some few defend within of whats left of their spiritual goal.
PS: I may have come off as a wuss here, but I'll pass the debate. :)
--
I don't follow the adage attack is the best form of defence. In chess, I've lost most games in attack because when I go all out, I lose the home ground defence. Thats one place where my multitasking skills have failed me. In life, I have my own set of beliefs. I defend them, regardless of who attacks them. I've gone against the most respected on these grounds. I've tried passing there, but its not always possible and nor is it always a good thing. A few months back, I was chatting with an old friend whom I caught up with after many years. He was surprised to know what I do or don't do now. Then I went a bit on a defensive, being me. He was very understanding, but he asked me why I was defending. I said because I felt too strongly about the path. To this, he had a mature thing to say: the path doesn't need a defence. He was right, but then not all understand that.
At times where I knew its a muck to get in, I don't defend. I pass. These times are tough for people in the game; they think of you as a team. I don't. I go solo. I don't like to depend on others for my defence. If I don't understand the subject to fight alone, then its not worth the defence. Any help is welcome and I would use it, not being thankless, but I wouldn't base my entire premise on expected team support. As for when I pass even when I feel strongly for the issue, its surely something where I'd be breaking my head on a wall otherwise; its quicksand. Here I remember a quote I read somewhere: never wrestle with a pig, you both get dirty and the pig likes it. Such debates are a strict no to me. A couple of years back, I backed out of a debate on a topic close to my heart, after which someone called me a coward. I applied the pig rule there and kept mum. Those are the times when I learn that patience is a virtue.
This brings me back full circle to the movie. As much as in physical encounters we forget to breathe and lose, in verbal confrontations too, we forget to breathe and lose. In the latter, the breath stands for thinking. The flow of prANa in breathing causes thoughts to be at the forefront. They help you build patience, grow wise by the breath. Breathing is very essential in the worldly as much as in the spiritual, both cases, slower the better. In the worldly we ought to focus on the thoughts that ride the breath, while in the spiritual we are to focus between breaths, the thoughtless state. In the end, we all have our focuses, we all have our fights. Some fight to make ends meet for the daily bread, others do it to make it to the top of the success ladder. Some defend their lives, others go out for an all out war to win the world. Some fight the outward projection calling it a battle of life & death, while some few defend within of whats left of their spiritual goal.
PS: I may have come off as a wuss here, but I'll pass the debate. :)
--
Another useless conversation
I was dragged into another close to useless conversation some time back, which makes me write this another close to useless blog entry. :) I'll let the following conversation with a person who moved back in our society speak for itself. Let it be known that he was a hi-hello acquaintance for a year or so 10 yrs back before today.
me: hello uncle..blah blah
he: hello blah blah, you were in Haridwar na?
me: well.. yea for a while at Rishikesh...
he: haan Rishikesh, I'd called you at Bangalore once.
me: hmm
he: so what do you do now? You can work in Bby now that you're back.
me: (after telling him some history) I'm undecided, looking at options, but not in Bby.
he: how about business?
me: no
he: marriage plans?
me: no
he: no, no, you should get married.
me: I'm lonesome, wholesome.
he: wholesome?
me: yea
he: no, no, without marriage you can't be complete...
me: hehe, says who? Its your opinion. Mine differs. Its a trap. :)
he: you can say that after experiencing everything. At my age 50-55 you say so its a different matter...
me: why? Lot of people marry, its just a popular path. Nothing about completion in it.
he: God created man for...
me: (interrupting) God did not create man, its a misconception.
he: no, no, he created so many beautiful things.
me: well, okay :) (who's gonna argue on that) But dharma, artha, kama, moksha are 4 stages. One can go from brahmacharya to moksha directly.
he: You should think and do things.
me: I've thought a lot, this is a 15 year old decision.
he: there are some duties that one has to do.
me: (This was perhaps an indication towards my parents, which is where I get pissed off) Sir, the duties that I was born with, I'm doing already. I don't agree with people who add their own burden on their head and call it a duty. When you're traveling in the train, you don't carry your luggage on your head, do you? I don't and I still reach the destination with my baggage. :)
he: you have to think a lot on these matters. After 50...
me: Sir, I'm 34. Thinking is a continuous activity, its not something that you snap your fingers and do! Decisions keep getting refined as you progress in thinking. Saying that one person is 55 yrs old doesn't mean he has thought a lot. It depends on what that person has done in 55 yrs! :) Maybe, you've a lot more laukika experience, I've a lot more adhyatmika experience. A person who assumes, without knowing any background of another on what he's done, is doing wrong.
he: see you have to think about all these things...
me: that very statement there implies that I haven't thought about things. :) (case closed)
Then I learnt that this poor chap's wife is in Chennai, he keeps going theretill she joins him here. His daughter is married and son works in Chennai. Now, now... main hi mila? :F (new smiley, no prizes for guessing what it means. ;)
-
me: hello uncle..blah blah
he: hello blah blah, you were in Haridwar na?
me: well.. yea for a while at Rishikesh...
he: haan Rishikesh, I'd called you at Bangalore once.
me: hmm
he: so what do you do now? You can work in Bby now that you're back.
me: (after telling him some history) I'm undecided, looking at options, but not in Bby.
he: how about business?
me: no
he: marriage plans?
me: no
he: no, no, you should get married.
me: I'm lonesome, wholesome.
he: wholesome?
me: yea
he: no, no, without marriage you can't be complete...
me: hehe, says who? Its your opinion. Mine differs. Its a trap. :)
he: you can say that after experiencing everything. At my age 50-55 you say so its a different matter...
me: why? Lot of people marry, its just a popular path. Nothing about completion in it.
he: God created man for...
me: (interrupting) God did not create man, its a misconception.
he: no, no, he created so many beautiful things.
me: well, okay :) (who's gonna argue on that) But dharma, artha, kama, moksha are 4 stages. One can go from brahmacharya to moksha directly.
he: You should think and do things.
me: I've thought a lot, this is a 15 year old decision.
he: there are some duties that one has to do.
me: (This was perhaps an indication towards my parents, which is where I get pissed off) Sir, the duties that I was born with, I'm doing already. I don't agree with people who add their own burden on their head and call it a duty. When you're traveling in the train, you don't carry your luggage on your head, do you? I don't and I still reach the destination with my baggage. :)
he: you have to think a lot on these matters. After 50...
me: Sir, I'm 34. Thinking is a continuous activity, its not something that you snap your fingers and do! Decisions keep getting refined as you progress in thinking. Saying that one person is 55 yrs old doesn't mean he has thought a lot. It depends on what that person has done in 55 yrs! :) Maybe, you've a lot more laukika experience, I've a lot more adhyatmika experience. A person who assumes, without knowing any background of another on what he's done, is doing wrong.
he: see you have to think about all these things...
me: that very statement there implies that I haven't thought about things. :) (case closed)
Then I learnt that this poor chap's wife is in Chennai, he keeps going theretill she joins him here. His daughter is married and son works in Chennai. Now, now... main hi mila? :F (new smiley, no prizes for guessing what it means. ;)
-
This too shall pass
With a heavy heart I write
That all life is a fight
For some, this fact is a known one
While others figure when all is done
But each moment can be a pleasure
And then we learn how to treasure
Time, good or bad, will never return again#
So we do have the best bargain
#This line maybe inspired by the following incident: Akbar asked Birbal to write something that when said to a happy person will make him sad and when told to a sad person will make him happy. Birbal wrote: "This too shall pass."
_
That all life is a fight
For some, this fact is a known one
While others figure when all is done
But each moment can be a pleasure
And then we learn how to treasure
Time, good or bad, will never return again#
So we do have the best bargain
#This line maybe inspired by the following incident: Akbar asked Birbal to write something that when said to a happy person will make him sad and when told to a sad person will make him happy. Birbal wrote: "This too shall pass."
_
Off the cuff: hypertension
Its been a long time since I blogged and I recently learnt that there are a few followers, albeit handful of them, that read my blog regularly. I realize, therefore, its my duty to write every once in a while to bore them! :) Here's one topic off the cuff that I should've written upon since it also happened to me off the cuff: high blood pressure.
Some time in Oct 2009, I started to explore some in-house painting. After an online search on DIY, I went to a medical shop and picked some gloves. During the painting, however, my hands started itching and next day or so I'd to see a doctor with a handful of rashes! It turns out I have the quite common latex allergy... and while treating that, a regular blood pressure check landed the doc in shock! :) I was running 150/90, which over the week of changing doctors, going from allopathic to ayurvedic went to as high as 170/110 landed me to an expert doc in the field. He concluded that to be hereditary and put me on decent olmesartan doses. I particularly used to like this doctor since he treats my mother, but I gave up on him after some dosage disagreements. I'm yet to consult others for a second opinion or change to ayur/ homeopathic, but for now, I'm going with his medication with my dosage.
Thus far, I was sharing this news only to some on a need-basis or totally-unconnected basis because I was hoping it to be a temporary phenomenon, if that. However, with my kind of approach of checking BP and understanding how my body reacts to taking timely medication for a month and stopping it for 3 days at a stretch reveals that indeed this mortal body has hypertension, which to me, is a contradiction to my nature. In recent days, I've become a little short-tempered due to lot of interaction with useless service providers such as Reliance or circumstantial things locally. But these are no long term reasons for being hyper. Nor do I suspect lack of exercise and laziness to have led to it, but that is possible though frequent brisk walks didn't bring my blood pressure down. I've been neck-deep in stock markets too, but thats a fun pastime than any craze for making money or more likely the shock of losing it. And more people that know me know that I'm hardly concerned with money, even though I don't have much of it. :) So, the only valid reason, I reckon, is hereditary since both my parents have hypertension. I may be the cause of that for them, but I'm not the cause of it for me! ;)
Then again, blood pressure is a symptom, not a disease. More on BP some other time, if and when mood permits... adios.
Some time in Oct 2009, I started to explore some in-house painting. After an online search on DIY, I went to a medical shop and picked some gloves. During the painting, however, my hands started itching and next day or so I'd to see a doctor with a handful of rashes! It turns out I have the quite common latex allergy... and while treating that, a regular blood pressure check landed the doc in shock! :) I was running 150/90, which over the week of changing doctors, going from allopathic to ayurvedic went to as high as 170/110 landed me to an expert doc in the field. He concluded that to be hereditary and put me on decent olmesartan doses. I particularly used to like this doctor since he treats my mother, but I gave up on him after some dosage disagreements. I'm yet to consult others for a second opinion or change to ayur/ homeopathic, but for now, I'm going with his medication with my dosage.
Thus far, I was sharing this news only to some on a need-basis or totally-unconnected basis because I was hoping it to be a temporary phenomenon, if that. However, with my kind of approach of checking BP and understanding how my body reacts to taking timely medication for a month and stopping it for 3 days at a stretch reveals that indeed this mortal body has hypertension, which to me, is a contradiction to my nature. In recent days, I've become a little short-tempered due to lot of interaction with useless service providers such as Reliance or circumstantial things locally. But these are no long term reasons for being hyper. Nor do I suspect lack of exercise and laziness to have led to it, but that is possible though frequent brisk walks didn't bring my blood pressure down. I've been neck-deep in stock markets too, but thats a fun pastime than any craze for making money or more likely the shock of losing it. And more people that know me know that I'm hardly concerned with money, even though I don't have much of it. :) So, the only valid reason, I reckon, is hereditary since both my parents have hypertension. I may be the cause of that for them, but I'm not the cause of it for me! ;)
Then again, blood pressure is a symptom, not a disease. More on BP some other time, if and when mood permits... adios.
A peek down my frustration
Its been a long time since I've blabbered. Don't get me wrong, I do blabber off blog, I meant on anythingwise!
Okay, I don't know how to start this blog, there's a lot I want to say and I don't know if I can bring out all that or even some in a theme... I'll jump straight into it and see how it turns out raw. Lets just say that the theme is something that has made my short-temper.
Way back in 1996, I made a statement, as a biomedical engineer, to my moron-- and crook-- of a boss, something to the effect that "these days, some doctors just want to make money". Maybe, I didn't know he was a crook yet! He came back sharp and said "there's nothing wrong in doctors making money". To this day, I don't know what to make of it. In my statement "these days, some doctors just want to make money", my stress is basically on *just* and *doctors*. Just making money means ignoring patients which is the primary job. The best doctor who ignores patients is worse than the doctors who failed to make it through their exams. A lot of people, including doctors, seem to be illiterate of the fact that medicine was a noble profession, much like teaching. I told this to someone today and he said that all teachers take tuitions outside class and make money. Not that I don't know there are teachers that just make money. I even know of some who force their students to not only come to their classes outside, but also to bring many other students, failing which... they will fail. But this is where I have a problem. You pay hefty sums for your son's tuition and you brand all teachers as those who make money teaching outside of class! You want your son to compete, you tutor them outside, its not just the teacher with all the wrong. Worse yet, when I said "not everyone", he went on "some of those who don't take tuition are the leftovers". Hah! I know teachers that won't have it any other way. There are others who teach for the passion of teaching, regardless of whether there's money. I'd love to do that myself.
Another argument I hear for doctors after money is that engineers make money, so why shouldn't a doctor? I told this last person who threw that in my face: "Do you bow down in front of your engineer out of respect?" If you've been to some villages, there are people who treat some doctors like God. They can hardly pay for their medication, leave alone paying the doctor's charges. These are doctors who have made, and kept, the profession noble. OTOH, I heard of a doctor on one of my biomedical engineer's jobs that forced a sole child to somehow buy a water-bed for his hospitalized father because the patient had rashes on his back. The "doc" emotionally blackmailed the kid into believing that his father will be more comfortable in a water-bed. In a couple of days the young patient died... the doc knew this and thought he'd make money off it! Such docs, I'm told, are recovering their huge medical college fees. Well, how "noble".
There are two things I want to divert into here; one, nobility and another, money. Although these are professions which are noble by their very nature of work, I believe all professions can find nobility in their own ways. Any decent job done without taking money becomes noble. If an engineer who built your house or an architect who designed it didn't take any money, I'm sure you'd call it a noble act. Isn't that why money or alms given to a homeless are a noble action? But, contrast this with doctors or teachers. If they just do their regular job with regular money in a regular way, those still are noble things. In which case, I submit, that the noble doctors and teachers become more ignoble, when they start charging hefty sums for routine things and so on, than if engineers do the same.
Continuing on the money front, things done without charging money become noble by the very act. About this, I've seen lot of people having trouble. These are the people who are convinced that there is not more than a handful of people like that. Even among them, they believe are people who are stinking rich. One of them, I recall, is my jackass of a manager in my first software days. Enter Linux/ GNU. Any Microsoft hater knows Linux. And any Linux lover knows that its not about 'free' but about 'freedom'. However, I want to focus on free...free as in without charging money. My manager asked me why would anyone write an OS for free? And how would anyone trust them to support. Well, he failed the argument when I asked him if he got support from MS ever? I also asked him to have an opinion, not even an argument, only if he is paying for his Microsoft OS on his PC! He did shut up.
These category of people who make up a large portion of the world know the language of money and money alone. They wouldn't believe you if you said that anyone would give away all the wealth to charity. An example someone like Warren Buffet who made money all his life. Instead, they think that people who give their money away are those who don't have their own offspring! On a related note, these are just basic things in the world, far be it then for them to ever understand the concept of saMnyAsa. Well, so much for them who see a world of money, people who want to make money any which way in any profession, noble or not, no charity anywhere, and no one to trust since all are cheaters. Moreover, they have accepted it as today's world and even call it fair. Sorry, I don't agree.
PS: I too have seen cheaters every once in a while all my life and have been seeing a lot of them in the past few years on a regular basis. And then there are also a bunch of liars which I always voice against. But still, I would not have it any other way with my life. I'd still trust people to do the right thing till they cheat me. Even today, I paid the paint shop upfront because there was load shedding and he couldn't mix the paint till a couple of hours. I told him my brother would pick up the paint later. Most people won't do this and instead call me stupid. I like it this way. Life's simple.
Okay, I don't know how to start this blog, there's a lot I want to say and I don't know if I can bring out all that or even some in a theme... I'll jump straight into it and see how it turns out raw. Lets just say that the theme is something that has made my short-temper.
Way back in 1996, I made a statement, as a biomedical engineer, to my moron-- and crook-- of a boss, something to the effect that "these days, some doctors just want to make money". Maybe, I didn't know he was a crook yet! He came back sharp and said "there's nothing wrong in doctors making money". To this day, I don't know what to make of it. In my statement "these days, some doctors just want to make money", my stress is basically on *just* and *doctors*. Just making money means ignoring patients which is the primary job. The best doctor who ignores patients is worse than the doctors who failed to make it through their exams. A lot of people, including doctors, seem to be illiterate of the fact that medicine was a noble profession, much like teaching. I told this to someone today and he said that all teachers take tuitions outside class and make money. Not that I don't know there are teachers that just make money. I even know of some who force their students to not only come to their classes outside, but also to bring many other students, failing which... they will fail. But this is where I have a problem. You pay hefty sums for your son's tuition and you brand all teachers as those who make money teaching outside of class! You want your son to compete, you tutor them outside, its not just the teacher with all the wrong. Worse yet, when I said "not everyone", he went on "some of those who don't take tuition are the leftovers". Hah! I know teachers that won't have it any other way. There are others who teach for the passion of teaching, regardless of whether there's money. I'd love to do that myself.
Another argument I hear for doctors after money is that engineers make money, so why shouldn't a doctor? I told this last person who threw that in my face: "Do you bow down in front of your engineer out of respect?" If you've been to some villages, there are people who treat some doctors like God. They can hardly pay for their medication, leave alone paying the doctor's charges. These are doctors who have made, and kept, the profession noble. OTOH, I heard of a doctor on one of my biomedical engineer's jobs that forced a sole child to somehow buy a water-bed for his hospitalized father because the patient had rashes on his back. The "doc" emotionally blackmailed the kid into believing that his father will be more comfortable in a water-bed. In a couple of days the young patient died... the doc knew this and thought he'd make money off it! Such docs, I'm told, are recovering their huge medical college fees. Well, how "noble".
There are two things I want to divert into here; one, nobility and another, money. Although these are professions which are noble by their very nature of work, I believe all professions can find nobility in their own ways. Any decent job done without taking money becomes noble. If an engineer who built your house or an architect who designed it didn't take any money, I'm sure you'd call it a noble act. Isn't that why money or alms given to a homeless are a noble action? But, contrast this with doctors or teachers. If they just do their regular job with regular money in a regular way, those still are noble things. In which case, I submit, that the noble doctors and teachers become more ignoble, when they start charging hefty sums for routine things and so on, than if engineers do the same.
Continuing on the money front, things done without charging money become noble by the very act. About this, I've seen lot of people having trouble. These are the people who are convinced that there is not more than a handful of people like that. Even among them, they believe are people who are stinking rich. One of them, I recall, is my jackass of a manager in my first software days. Enter Linux/ GNU. Any Microsoft hater knows Linux. And any Linux lover knows that its not about 'free' but about 'freedom'. However, I want to focus on free...free as in without charging money. My manager asked me why would anyone write an OS for free? And how would anyone trust them to support. Well, he failed the argument when I asked him if he got support from MS ever? I also asked him to have an opinion, not even an argument, only if he is paying for his Microsoft OS on his PC! He did shut up.
These category of people who make up a large portion of the world know the language of money and money alone. They wouldn't believe you if you said that anyone would give away all the wealth to charity. An example someone like Warren Buffet who made money all his life. Instead, they think that people who give their money away are those who don't have their own offspring! On a related note, these are just basic things in the world, far be it then for them to ever understand the concept of saMnyAsa. Well, so much for them who see a world of money, people who want to make money any which way in any profession, noble or not, no charity anywhere, and no one to trust since all are cheaters. Moreover, they have accepted it as today's world and even call it fair. Sorry, I don't agree.
PS: I too have seen cheaters every once in a while all my life and have been seeing a lot of them in the past few years on a regular basis. And then there are also a bunch of liars which I always voice against. But still, I would not have it any other way with my life. I'd still trust people to do the right thing till they cheat me. Even today, I paid the paint shop upfront because there was load shedding and he couldn't mix the paint till a couple of hours. I told him my brother would pick up the paint later. Most people won't do this and instead call me stupid. I like it this way. Life's simple.
Meet an ignorant, illiterate professor!
What would you call a person who makes statements such as "Hinduism is the only religion that has failed to negotiate and engage with reason and science"? He is a retard, if he seriously thinks so! Not only does the "professor" think that, he also thinks that it all happened due to varnashrama dharma! Read on for more nonsense. Then this ignorant chap goes on to say that dalits were the ones who were pioneers and inventors of technologies in many fields from agriculture to surgery! I'm sure this fella doesn't know what Veda, Vedanga, Ayurveda, etc is all about. There's more to say, but its just not worth it. Instead I wrote a comment on Times article webpage and pasted here:--------
I was shocked to see this ridiculous article in today's Times!
I'm yet to see a more ignorant and illiterate "professor"!! What earthy style did he dissect the Hindu social system in? The system he talks of has nothing to do with the Hindu religion. This fella should start reading books instead of writing. Dalits were not inventors of technologies used in agriculture, surgery or whatever. All were brahmins. Agriculture, as well as surgical medicine, is straight off the Vedas & Vedangas! How could a dalit who had no access to the Vedas, no learning whatsoever, be an inventor of its contents? Brahmins taught all of their knowledge free, unlike this professor who teaches and writes book to make money. Even today, the labourers work (as taught and trained) and the management earns the fruit. Don't forget though that without those owners, labourers don't have jobs and without labourers, owners don't have businesses; its a give-and-take win-win relation. And its completely fair.
Next, about inter-caste marriage, there are clear-cut rules as given by Manu, not that it is completely out of place. Moreover, the greats such as Socrates & Plato had come up with a caste system strikingly similar to the varnashrama dharma! They were true scholars & philosophers.
As for religious conversions, there is an ulterior motive encouraged by morons such as these. And this professor should give up his job, go back to school and start re-learning instead of suggesting "re-editing" whatever that means. Nobody has edited our spiritual books in the first place for them to be re-edited. At least then, he will be able to know the difference between religion and spirituality.
No one anywhere has said that its "impure to work with hands". Utter rubbish! Is this prof a retard?
PS: Prof, don't go to barbers for surgery of your ulcers and boils please! :)
I was shocked to see this ridiculous article in today's Times!
I'm yet to see a more ignorant and illiterate "professor"!! What earthy style did he dissect the Hindu social system in? The system he talks of has nothing to do with the Hindu religion. This fella should start reading books instead of writing. Dalits were not inventors of technologies used in agriculture, surgery or whatever. All were brahmins. Agriculture, as well as surgical medicine, is straight off the Vedas & Vedangas! How could a dalit who had no access to the Vedas, no learning whatsoever, be an inventor of its contents? Brahmins taught all of their knowledge free, unlike this professor who teaches and writes book to make money. Even today, the labourers work (as taught and trained) and the management earns the fruit. Don't forget though that without those owners, labourers don't have jobs and without labourers, owners don't have businesses; its a give-and-take win-win relation. And its completely fair.
Next, about inter-caste marriage, there are clear-cut rules as given by Manu, not that it is completely out of place. Moreover, the greats such as Socrates & Plato had come up with a caste system strikingly similar to the varnashrama dharma! They were true scholars & philosophers.
As for religious conversions, there is an ulterior motive encouraged by morons such as these. And this professor should give up his job, go back to school and start re-learning instead of suggesting "re-editing" whatever that means. Nobody has edited our spiritual books in the first place for them to be re-edited. At least then, he will be able to know the difference between religion and spirituality.
No one anywhere has said that its "impure to work with hands". Utter rubbish! Is this prof a retard?
PS: Prof, don't go to barbers for surgery of your ulcers and boils please! :)
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