Practically useful Graphology ;)

Disclaimer 1: This is an interesting article i came across in the net and am sharing with you here. Heartily, thank the original author of this article as i do but don't worry who that is as i don't !
Disclaimer 2: After reading this article if you go around reading handwriting and signatures trying to decode people and their dispositions, then the "Plagiarized author" shall not stand responsible for the act and consequences. :).
Disclaimer 3: This article is not for people can understand the objective of this article by being more "adventurous" and "practical".

This article explores the "sexual disposition" of an individual based on their handwriting. Some times theories aren't all that boring!... Lets see what the article is all about.

"The handwriting is divided in 3 zones. The upper, middle and lower zone. The lower zone deals with sexual tendencies. The lower the loop the stronger the tendency. The harder the pressure the instincts are more stronger. Alphabets f, g, j, p, q, y and z have lower loops.

Lets take an alphabet "y". This alphabet can be written in various ways and every way written has its own meaning."

1) Believes in healthy sex.

2) Believes in having sex with one person at one time. If this loop is seen all through the handwriting then it means monogamy and loyalty to their partner.

3) Likes to have sex only when feel like. Will not care for other partners need.

4) Does not even masturbate. Has decided to remove sexual urges from their life.

5) Wants sex but has stopped for some reason.

6) Has decided to stop their sexual desires. Restricted themselves to a limit.

7) Has desires for healthy sex but will stop itself at the last moment. Could also stop itself after reaching the bed with their partner.

8) Avoids sex totally. Disinterested in sex.

9) Has great sexual desires and will do anything to get it fulfilled. Will take full initiative to fulfill it.

10) Open to any kind of sexual activities. A person inquisitive to try all kinds of sexual activities.

11) Very fussy about what they want from their partner while having sex.

12) Very selective of whom to have sex with.

13) Has stopped their sexual urges and diverted their mind to some kind of fitness or sports activities.

14) If this stroke is once in the handwriting then it means fetishes. But if it is repeated in a person's handwriting then it means the person is a gay or lesbian.

15) 100% gay or lesbian.

16) Irresponsible towards sex. Will not care if other person is getting hurt while having sex.

17) Twisted attitude towards sex. Attracted towards their own sex.

18) Sexually frustrated.

19) Despondency towards sex.

While we could have read few articles on "graphology", but you would agree that this is great piece of general knowledge that is practically useful too for the "less adventurous". What say?

Happy reading !

Musings: "Nowness" is my religion

Musings followed post reading some tibetian thoughts ! Many of us live in the past or in the future hijacked by the memories - good or bad, hopes and fears - of change, uncertainity, death and ignore the present. Recognize the present ! thats our greatest possession ! Come join my religion !

Pleasant memories make me
Live in the past and ignore the present
Bad memories make me feel
Life isn’t worth living in the present

Thirst for survival makes me
Incapable of living in the present
Fear of future makes me pump
Adrenaline in anticipation in the present

I am not sure which comes first
My hobbies or my work
I am not sure which comes first
My health or wealth

I am not sure which comes first
Death or my next breath
I am not sure which comes first
Tomorrow or next life

For there is nothing called day
If there is no sunset
For there is nothing called bravery
If there is no cowardice

For there is nothing called humility
If there is no pride
For there is nothing called good
If there is no evil

For there is nothing called justice
If there is no crime
For there is nothing called world
If there is no mind

For there is nothing called life
If there is no death
For there is nothing called God
If there is no death

Seems Death is the only certainty!
I live with the fear of uncertainty!
I live with the fear of Change!
But, why should I live with the fear of certainty?!

For death is not here to terminate life
For death is not here as a full stop to life
For death is here to start the next chapter in life
For "death" is here as a job creator in life

I agree with the monk who said that*
Life a journey from one death to another!
For death offers meaning to life
For "death" is the real meaning of life
(* AdiShankara said "mritusya mrituym gachchadi")

If change is the only constant of life
If ephemeral is the true nature of life
If impermanence is the meaning of life
If illusion is what I have consumed all my life

As time flies past gets elongated
As time flies future gets shortened
As time flies present remains as such
As time flies one present changes to another

For what is past is already past
For what is in future does not exist
For what is present is a "present" to us
Then why don’t I realize that

God is in NOWNESS!
I possess thy NOWNESS!
I possess God in thy NOWNESS!
Even god can’t take away “NOWNESS” from me
So, my greatest possession is NOWNESS!

I realize!

"NOWNESS" is my religion
"This second" is my God
"Loving all" is my ritual
"Living life" is my prayer!

Yes!

"NOWNESS" is my religion
"This second" is my God
"Loving all" is my ritual
"Living life" is my prayer!

If you agree, Come join the religion !

Happy reading!

Musings: God is in Union !

I was reading some Zen stories and that has probably prompted me to write this blog, though you may not find too much correlation. Quite often we hear or even say "leave me alone" without realizing that we can never be alone. I wanted to stress (to myself ) that nothing is alone including God and God is actually in Union. Probably, realization of God is in Union could be more apt statement. I have taken multiple topics like "Man & Woman", "Life & death" , "Thoughts & Perception", "Virtues & Sins", "Prosperity & Power", etc. Of all i liked the way i could coin "Heavenly Virtues" and "Cardinal Sins" and I hope you would like it too!

Man and woman
Union of man and woman is Orgasm
Union of man and woman is progeny
Union of man and woman is family
Union of family and family is society

Life
Union of sun and sea is cloud
Union of cloud and cloud is rain
Union of rain and land is river
Union of land and seed is sprout

Union of sprout and sun is crop
Union of crop and labor is grain
Union of grain and fire is food
Union of food and fire* is life
(* - digestive fire)
Life and Death
Union of mind and Matter is life
Union of mind and breath is time
Union of mind and time is age
Union of life and time is death

Thoughts
Union of desire and depth is passion
Union of passion and priority is time
Union of passion and time is values
Union of values and time is thoughts

Perception & Common sense
Union of Air and nose is smell
Union of Flute and artist is music
Union of Food and buds is taste
Union of Light and eyes is form

Union of Wind and skin is touch
Union of Object and Organ is stimuli
Union of stimuli and sense is perception
Union of perception and time is common sense

Heavenly Virtues
Union of desire and strong mind is discipline
Union of desire and discipline is temperance
Union of temperance and coitus is chastity
Union of temperance and time is patience

Union of discipline and time is divinity
Union of divinity and recognition is humility
Union of humility and awareness is learning
Union of effort and time is Diligence

Union of love and life is kindness
Union of kindness and life is mother
Union of kindness and sharing is charity
Union of kindness and charity is heaven

Cardinal Sins
Union of desire and weak mind is temptation
Union of temptation and consent is sin
Union of sin and correction is repentance
Union of repentance and forgiveness is humanity

Union of temptation and coitus is lust
Union of temptation and fire* is Gluttony
Union of temptation and possessiveness is Greed
Union of temptation and inaction is Sloth
(*uncontrolled digestive fire)

Union of temptation and irritation is Wrath
Union of temptation and deficiency is Envy
Union of temptation and power is pride
Union of temptations and time is hell

Prosperity
Union of problem and solution is idea
Union of will power and effort is action
Union of idea and action is invention
Union of invention and application is product

Union of products and production is supply
Union of money and market is demand
Union of supply and demand is society
Union of society and welfare is prosperity

Disease
Union of prosperity and moderation is endowment
Union of endowment and time is heaven
Union of prosperity and indulgence is disorder
Union of disorder and time is disease

Power
Union of disease and doctor is medicine
Union of medicine and belief is cure
Union of cure and moderation is strength
Union of strength and restrain is power

Nature
Union of energy and expression is power
Union of rhythm and time is order
Union of order and energy is nature
Union of order and beauty is nature

Luck & Fate
Union of time and effort is outcome
Union of outcome and desire is success
Union of outcome and hate is fate
Union of success and consistency is luck

Rainbow & Melody aren’t alone
Man & Woman aren’t alone
Life & death aren’t alone
Thoughts & Perceptions aren’t alone
Virtues & sins aren’t alone
Heaven & Hell aren’t alone
Power & Prosperity aren’t alone
Luck & Fate aren’t alone

God is in man
God is in woman
God is in life
God is in death

God is in thoughts
God is in common sense
God is in virtues
God is in sins

God is in Prosperity
God is in Power
God is in luck
God is in fate

God is in Nature
God is in you
God is in me
We aren't alone

God is in union !
Yes, God is in Union!

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year to all !

Happy reading !

Welcome to the "Century of bubbles"....

Disclaimer 1: I read this story in web and am just reproducing it here with minor edits....
Disclaimer 2: Understanding this article demands some thing that is very scarce nowadays and that is ...patience! :)

Once there was a little island country. The land of this country was the tiny island itself. The total money in circulation was 2 dollars as there were only two pieces of 1 dollar coins circulating around.

1) There were 3 citizens living on this island country. A owned the land. B and C each owned 1 dollar.

2) B decided to purchase the land from A for 1 dollar. So, now A and C own 1 dollar each while B owned a piece of land that is worth 1 dollar.* The net asset of the country now = 3 dollars.

3) Now C thought that since there is only one piece of land in the country, and land is non producible asset, its value must definitely go up. So, he borrowed 1 dollar from A, and together with his own 1 dollar, he bought the land from B for 2 dollars.*A has a loan to C of 1 dollar, so his net asset is 1 dollar. * B sold his land and got 2 dollars, so his net asset is 2 dollars. * C owned the piece of land worth 2 dollars but with his 1 dollar debt to A, his net residual asset is 1 dollar. * Thus, the net asset of the country = 4 dollars.

4) A saw that the land he once owned has risen in value. He regretted having sold it. Luckily, he has a 1 dollar loan to C. He then borrowed 2 dollars from B and acquired the land back from C for 3 dollars. The payment is by 2 dollars cash (which he borrowed) and cancellation of the 1 dollar loan to C. As a result, A now owned a piece of land that is worth 3 dollars. But since he owed B 2 dollars, his net asset is 1 dollar.* B loaned 2 dollars to A. So his net asset is 2 dollars. * C now has the 2 coins. His net asset is also 2 dollars. * The net asset of the country = 5 dollars. A bubble is building up.

(5) B saw that the value of land kept rising. He also wanted to own the land. So he bought the land from A for 4 dollars. The payment is by borrowing 2 dollars from C, and cancellation of his 2 dollars loan to A.* As a result, A has got his debt cleared and he got the 2 coins. His net asset is 2 dollars. * B owned a piece of land that is worth 4 dollars, but since he has a debt of 2 dollars with C, his net Asset is 2 dollars. * C loaned 2 dollars to B, so his net asset is 2 dollars.* The net asset of the country = 6 dollars; even though, the country has only one piece of land and 2 Dollars in circulation.

(6) Everybody has made money and everybody felt happy and prosperous.

(7) One day an evil wind blew, and an evil thought came to C’s mind. “Hey, what if the land price stop going up, how could B repay my loan. There is only 2 dollars in circulation, and, I think after all the land that B owns is worth at most only 1 dollar, and no more.”

(8) A also thought the same way.

(9) Nobody wanted to buy land anymore.* So, in the end, A owns the 2 dollar coins, his net asset is 2 dollars. * B owed C 2 dollars and the land he owned which he thought worth 4 dollars is now 1 dollar. So his net asset is only 1 dollar. * C has a loan of 2 dollars to B. But it is a bad debt. Although his net asset is still 2 dollars, his Heart is palpitating. * The net asset of the country = 3 dollars again.

(10) So, who has stolen the 3 dollars from the country ? Of course, before the bubble burst B thought his land was worth 4 dollars. Actually, right before the collapse, the net asset of the country was 6 dollars on paper. B’s net asset is still 2 dollars, his heart is palpitating.

(11) B had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. C as to relinquish his 2 dollars bad debt to B, but in return he acquired the land which is worth 1 dollar now.* A owns the 2 coins, his net asset is 2 dollars. * B is bankrupt, his net asset is 0 dollar. ( he lost everything ) * C got no choice but end up with a land worth only 1 dollar* The net asset of the country = 3 dollars.

There is however a redistribution of wealth. A is the winner, B is the loser, C is lucky that he is spared.

So, whats the moral of the story? Check out the following....

(1) When a bubble is building up, the debt of individuals to one another in a country is also building up.

(2) This story of the island is a closed system whereby there is no other country and hence no foreign debt. The worth of the asset can only be calculated using the island’s own currency. Hence, there is no net loss.

(3) An over-damped system is assumed when the bubble burst, meaning the land’s value did not go down to below 1 dollar.

(4) When the bubble burst, the fellow with cash is the winner. The fellows having the land or extending loan to others are the losers. The asset could shrink or in worst case, they go bankrupt.

(5) If there is another citizen D either holding a dollar or another piece of land but refrains from taking part in the game, he will neither win nor lose. But he will see the value of his money or land go up and down like a see saw.

(6) When the bubble was in the growing phase, everybody made money.

(7) If you are smart and know that you are living in a growing bubble, it is worthwhile to borrow money (like A ) and take part in the game. But you must know when you should change everything back to cash !!

(8) As in the case of land, the above phenomenon applies to stocks as well.

(9) The actual worth of land or stocks depend largely on psychology.

Finally, if we are fiscally prudent then we can wait for such cycles to hit the bottom and accumulate specific assets. I can also claim that this century seems to be giving us a series of bubbles... started with dot com bubble, now the housing bubble manifesting itself as a financial bubble.

Let’s see what’s next! I would bet that it would be a War bubble!... I will stop it at that allow you to think what that means.

Happy reading!

Musings: “Education - The inculcation of the irrelevant into the ignorant by the incompetent”

If you believe that “No one is born stupid till they are educated” then read on!

Once there was a king who had three sons – all dullards (like me!). His despair was to find a way to educate his sons and make them smart. Based on the references the king received, he summoned a guy called Vishnu Sharma and gave him just 6 months to make his sons wiser. (Gosh! Looks like bosses have never been realistic and rational about setting timelines!.)

But to his utter disbelief the king started to see the miracle unfolding in front of his eyes. Mr. Sharma blended myth with reality in a series of stories that were weaved with one another and used simple animal characters to reinforce aspects like morality, value, judgment, decision making, pragmatism, cunningness, situation analysis, friendship, enmity, thinking on the feet, and lateral thinking. After this the princes became wiser enough to manage the kingdom and went on to become good kings. The king rewarded Mr. Sharma handsomely (this does not seem to happen in our corporate world!)

If you are interested Mr. Sharma used just five following topics to narrate his stories. Just 5!

• Rift between friends (Mitrabhed)
• Friends and acquiring good friends (Mitrasamprapti)
• Pragmatism – Worldly wisdom (Kakolukiyum)
• The slip between cup and lip (Labdhapranasha) – stressing that which is acquired unjustly is bound to be lost.
• New efforts – (Aparikshitakaraka) – Limitations of theoretical knowledge and importance of practical thinking.
  

Life is a progressive discovery of our ignorance!. What if we are ignorant about the education and education systems itself? We all have read these stories (atleast who have been born and brought up in India), without realizing the significance or even remembering what it all means – a typical way that is reflective of how we live our lives.

This story line is atleast 2000 years old and is called as “Panchatantra – Five treatises” and is generally available as cartoon stories with just animal characters. I am sure some of us can recollect some of the stories the 4 bulls and a lion (Mitrabhed), pigeons who are caught in a net flying off with the net (Mitrasamprapti), thirsty elephants and the rabbits story (Kakolukiyam), crocodile and the monkey (labdhapranasha), 4 friends after learning a new mantra bring back a dead lion to life (Aparikshitakaraka).

What I have admired about these stories is its ability to teach us some thing or the other when ever you read them. It’s actually a wrong notion to consider that these stories are for just children. On the contrary these stories are for those people who are not sharp and lack worldly wisdom irrespective of the age and hence this is highly applicable to me!, and I end up understating something new every time I read this. For the ones who are rightly tuned there are a lot of leadership secrets in these stories.

But the point I was trying to make was slightly different from the above. Not so long ago our education system was probably lot different from what it is now. There was a subject called “Moral sciences” some 30 years back which probably has been dropped out of syllabus. In the earlier days of “Gurukul” type of education where the student spends almost 12 years with his master away from his family (like the boarding schools of the present days) achieved 2 significant objectives.

• The student lived away from his parents and under the protection of his teacher and hence has to live off him by serving him which inculcated a lot of discipline and humility in him. The ultimate object of education has been realization and this stage cannot be reached without humility. Hence this type of education imparted “Humility ingrained education”. In fact humility and learning are opposite poles!
• Since the teacher knew the pupil so well, based on the pupil’s strengths and weaknesses his education was filtered. Access to higher levels of secrets and techniques were restricted by default and offered only if the teacher is convinced that the pupil would use these wisely.

Now from this stage we moved on to a situation where we taught everything including “Moral sciences” and now to a situation that morality as a topic is completely misunderstood, considered as a form of philosophy and hence need to understand post retirement and conveniently overlooked. As a Buddhist proverb goes “A master appears when you are ready for learning”. But only when we are ready!.

In earlier days moral values were blended in our education system and this need not be taken as a separate subject like it is now - thanks to the Macaulay’s system of education! that has deprived us and our kids of the education system we had. Our moral fabric was so strong that the worst punishment one could receive for mistakes committed few hundred years back is actually “Social ostracism”. Our society today has largely lost this fabric and in many quarters “the notion of guilt” does not exist which is worrisome.

Today education is one of the few things we are ready to pay for and not receive. Post education we seems to be moving from “thinking uncertainty” to “ignorantly certain”.

Just like “A for Apple”, Tamil (this is my mother tongue and I can talk about this!) is taught with lots of moral values like Prefer (do) Charity, Control Anger etc (“Auvaiyaar’s aathichudi”). We have choices.

• Should we live in past extoling practices that are non-existent today or should we make an attempt to transform ourselves trying to adapt them to todays situation?
• Should we ignore what we had (which was actually superior) under the compulsions of what we have now? Is there a way out of this rut now?!

I too don’t know …But how about a crude attempt as below to trigger the thinking in these lines for our educationists …

A - Ask Why?, Await sunrise!, Ahimsa always
B - Be positive, Brush your brains, Burn your lust
C - Committed to charity, Contagiously +ve
D - Dare to dream, Driven by passion
E - Enjoy your challenges, Exercise for health, Exercise restraint
F - Fight for your rights, Friends are for life!
G - Good thoughts, Good words, Good deeds, Gratitude always, Graciousness always
H - Humility always
I - Ignore gossips, Ignite thinking, Imagination is helpful
J - Journey is the destination, Jealousy is harmful
K - Kindness always
L - Learn from Mistakes, Laugh heartily
M - Moderation in everything, Modesty always
N - No to drugs!, Never give up
O - Optimism always, Obsession is harmful
P - Preserve environment, Proudly traditional, Passion driven always, Protect the weak, Play to win
Q - Quest for learning, Question to learn
R - Reined by reason, Respect others
S - Simplicity always, Smile when you speak, Success is subjective, Shun superstitions
T - Thank from the heart, Tread after thinking, Trust judiciously
U - Unity in diversity, Unlearning is also learning
V - Voluntarily repentant, Violence is harmful
W - Wear your attitude, Watch your thoughts
X - X-ray vision (Look below the surface)
Y - “Yes-man” attitude is harmful; Yearn for peace, You are unique, Yesterday is past, Yoga daily, Yoghurt always (personal dispositions do find a place ;))
Z - Zealous living is good, Zodiacs don’t matter

Indian education system imparted through Indian languages would always be strong in moral values and the thousands of stories and history about our past are rich and brushes all of us in the right way!. It’s our ability to recognize this and pass on to the next generation would ensure continuity for we are obligated to handover what we have inherited and we don’t have the right to bury what we have inherited!

Let us not allow Education and the process to be notoriously known as “The inculcation of the irrelevant into the ignorant by the incompetent”. I wish:

Our good Living is in loving

Our good living is in Sharing

Our good Living is in learning
Our good living is in sharing the learning
Our good living is in unlearning
For me, Unlearning is also learning!

Thats been the thought behind "To Live, To Love, To Learn :)".

Happy reading!

Musings: Change induced mutation!

The prevailing situation which threatens the economic and physical security is playing in every one's mind. This is divided into 2 parts, a situation analysis written under "AS IS" and a plan of action under "TO BE". Its an attempt trying to capture an average citizen's mood (thats me) in India. I am calling for mutation which is a sudden change instead of a gradual change such as enhancements and renovations in the situation....

As is:
Its depression led destruction
As People run for floatation
Its cycles of frustration
As economic cycles under go rotation

When Physical security is threatened
People do look frightened
When Economic security is threatened
People do look disillusioned
Our social fabric is threatened
When both come blended

Is our security so vulnerable?
Is our future so susceptible?
Are our systems so Ineffectual?
Are we so incapable?

As government looks powerless
As people look helpless
As justice looks toothless
As society looks defenseless

As gaps lie exposed
As laws look expired
As forces look immobilized
As we feel cheated

As rich become richer
As poor become poorer
As justice becomes richer
As justice becomes rarer

As world becomes unfair
As explosions become fanfare
As people become despair
As peace is confined to armchair

As bad times rain pain
Value systems are under strain
As it won’t improve if you just complain
From responsibilities, never refrain

To be:
Being shameless is useless
Being restless is useless
Being useless is hopeless
Being Hopeless is lifeless

It’s natural to be negative
It’s natural to be aggressive
It’s rightful to be positive
It’s rightful to be constructive

Let’s repent for incompetence
Let’s repent for ignorance
Let’s repent for indifference
Let’s repent for impotence

Lets get rid of the irritant
Lets get rid of the uninvited immigrant
Lets get rid of the arrogant
Lets get rid of the unwanted militant

Don’t bother about Enhancements
Don’t bother about Alterations
Don’t bother about Renovations
Don’t bother about Conversions
Stop bothering about conversions!

Genes have to be mutated
Risks have to be mitigated
Minds have to be disciplined
Responsibility have to be ingrained

Lets start isoloating the terrorism
Let’s start terminating the extremism
Let’s stop secularizing terrorism
Let’s stop nationalizing the extremism

Let’s be fiscally prudent
Lets be inefficiency intolerant
Let’s be ideologically divergent
Let’s be voluntarily repentant

Its time for preservation
Its time for revolution
Its time for adaptation
Its time for transformation

Good Living is in learning
Good living is in Sharing
Good living is in sharing the learning
Good living is in unlearning
For me, Unlearning is also learning !

For justice ingrained gravitation
For love ingrained ammunition
For humility ingrained education
For reason ingrained disposition

We need Change induced mutation!
We need Change induced mutation!

Happy reading!

Recognize the Positive cycle of change......

Once there was a monk who was also a teacher of martial arts. One day a student who wanted to learn martial arts goes to this monk and requests him to teach martial arts. Though the monk is reluctant since he finds this student arrogant he is impressed with his passion and sincerity in learning something. So the monk asks this guy, “Tell me how strong you are and how many people can you fight now?”

This arrogant brat (like me!) is also well built and strong (unlike me!) and hence says that “Master, I can fight over 100 people and win over them.”

The monk smirks to himself and asks him to join the school. After few years, monk wants to find out what this guy has learnt and asks him the same question. “Tell me how strong you are and how many people can you fight now?”

Not to monk’s surprise but to our surprise this guy says that “Master, I think i can fight over 50 people and win over them.”

Many years pass by and then the monk asks him the same question. “Tell me how strong you are and how many people can you fight now?”

Not to monk’s surprise but to our surprise again this guy says that “Master, how can I tell you without knowing who the enemy is and what their strength is. But irrespective of how strong they are and how many they are I shall put a good fight”. The monk is impressed and tells him that he can go out of the school as his learning is complete.

There is a theory called as “The positive cycle of change”, where every individual would move through phases. They are:

1. Uninformed optimism
2. Informed Pessimism
3. Informed Optimism
4. Completion

Check out the URL which explains the theory. http://changingminds.org/disciplines/change_management/psychology_change/positive_change.htm

Our student has gone through these phases and we can easily relate this to our professional life too. When we join a new company or get married then the first stage we have is uninformed optimism. This is the honey moon period. We have accepted the change and have great expectations but our information levels are pretty low. But as time progresses just like the student above we also get to see the reality.

Once a sense of reality sets in then per the theory the person adjusts him to the situation and moves forward in life with realistic goals. If you notice the student’s confidence is reflected in this stage but he does not over estimate him.

One of the important things I look for in potential managers is his ability to propel himself from a state of informed pessimism to a stage of informed optimism. How soon can he do for himself and how well can he propel his team. The optimist is a human incarnation of a spring. The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead. Working in ambiguity and in tough situations like the one we are facing now requires this leadership trait and unfortunately many of our colleagues and friends do not pass through to the 3rd stage from the 2nd. They may end up visiting / caught in the “Grief Cycle”. If you are people manager beware of this situation and this is a serious issue as this mentality is very contagious. http://changingminds.org/disciplines/change_management/kubler_ross/kubler_ross.htm

Don’t under estimate the importance of pessimists as they are Optimists with the right experience. But, both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute. I also came across this brilliant video clip which argues about the “the case for optimism”.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/larry_brilliant_makes_the_case_for_optimism.html

Yours contagiously +ve !

Happy Reading !

Do you suffer from Hyper active False positive Fronto-temporal disorder......(HAFPFTD)

• Train Ticket from Bangalore to Chennai via Tatkal: Rs. 350/-
• Drop to Station by Taxi and return: Rs. 550/-
• Magazines and mineral water: Rs. 150/-
• Feeling while sending off your Mother-in-law after a hard days work on a Friday..... priceless.
• Having an ice cream at midnight with Priya at railway station savoring the moment (though the official reason for icecream was to cheer her up)... Matchless.

Contraints stem creativity. Saturday morning was obviously set for the juice to flow. Some of the news topics that were very thought provoking and that turned me on today below...

News: Failure to detect sarcasm can be signs of dementia….actually its called FTD - frontotemporal dementia..
Now I wanted to understand why people find me sarcastic when I am not. This is the other side of the problem and I wanted to term it as HAFPFTDR - Hyperaactive False positive Frontotemporal disorder. Most of my friends suffer from this HAFPFTDR some times and few of them suffer all the time. ...:)....If you are wondering why there is a R in the last...it is just to signify that this disease is coined by me and hence suffixed with my prefix.

News: Activists want ministry for Men
The argument for this demand seems to be very logical… when there is a ministry for animal welfare then why not for men? According to National crime records bureau 2007, 57593 married men committed suicide compared to 30064 married women. Hence the legal framework today seems to have a huge gender bias in favor of women and they call it as “legal terrorism” by state against "mankind".

Few very close to me know that I am stuck by most creative thoughts when I take bath. I don’t know the relationship between bathroom and creativity but there is a definite link. I strongly recommend that Indian government should fund this research to understand the link.

But the “creative thoughts” I had today morning is the creation of Pollywood & institute an award ceremony called Pollywood awards in my own way. This is primarily triggered by the reference to “non-state actors” by Mr.10%. When there are actors (state or non-state) there will be acting and films. Hence lets do something for the film industry.

If Hollywood is in America, Bollywood is in Mumbai, Kollywood is in Chennai… Where would Pollywood be? If your answer is Patna then you are yet to be “globalized”. It’s actually in Pakistan. It’s a shame on Pollywood that despite having great actors, industry is not known to produce any great films… most of the works remotely match “Class C” films per Indian standards. Irrespective of the country the film making industry or the actor’s guild is not nationalized and hence every where an actor is essentially a “non-state actor”.

Commiserating with the talent that’s available in Pakistan I have decided to conduct this award ceremony on behalf of the Pakistan government and give away the following awards.

• Best Film for the year 2008:
  Nominations: Serial attack in Bangalore, Serial Attack in Delhi, Serial attack in Ahmedabad, Marriott hotel Islamabad, Mumbai attack
  And the award for the Best film of the year goes to “Mumbai attack”.

• Award for the “Best director” goes to “Hafeez Saeed and Lakhvi” of JuD.

• Award for the “Best Producer” goes to the ISI of Pakistan.

• Award for the “Best Villain” goes to NSG and Marine commandos in India.

• Award for the “Best support for the villain” goes to Mumbai police.

• Award for the “Best Joker” for Mr. Jaiswal, who is the Minister of State in the Home Ministry in India for his comments on TV (after the attack) that this Mumbai attack, is planned by Hindu Extremists. He also got an award in “Can you believe that?” category too.

• Award for the “Best Impotent Character” goes to Ex-home minister of India Mr. Shivraj Patil. There is no competition here and was a unanimous choice.

• Award for the “Best actor” goes to all the 10 guys who acted in this film. The actor who got caught alive (Ajmal) has also got an additional ‘You are not a Citizen of Pakistan” award.

• We, the people of India have jointly won “You are the best sucker” Award for putting up with all this.

• The International community has got the "best non-participative audience"

Hey! dont blame me for not awarding any award for "Best actress". Most of them looks like a "all-male" film.

We are living in times when News channel has become the best action channel giving “AXN” very tough competition. Our news readers start the news by saying “Good morning” or “Good afternoon” and after that almost spend 30 minutes to tell us why it is not a good morning or evening.

Its just about 60 years before both nations (India and Pakistan) started their journey and its surprising that one is being talked as a "likely superpower" exporting cutting edge IT services and other being closely branded as a "Failed State" but exporting "Terrorism". What i cannot understand is the fact that how some Kashmiris are so eager to be part of the "failed state" than the "likely super power"? I have started to doubt that if "Man is a rational animal". Do you?

Remember, if you think (or even if you agree without thinking that) i am very sarcastic after reading this article then you are suffering from HAFPFTD :). If you think iam not sarcastic, then you are not bold enough to accept that you have this disorder. :)

Happy weekend!

Happy reading!

Musings: I am what I am !

(One more attempt and a poetic disposition from thinking hearts!)

I wish I am passion driven and reason reined
But I am desire driven and fear reined

I wish I am intelligence ingrained and happiness destined
But I am ignorance ingrained and ignominy destined

I wish I am lucid in thinking and have freedom in living.
But I am shallow in thinking and sarcastic about living

I wish my living is in loving and my loving is in giving
But I am living in my earning and my earning is in competing

I wish I am quick in learning and transparent in sharing
But I am transparent to learning and selfishly taking

I wish I am logical in analyzing and rational in thinking
But I am logical in lying and rational in plotting

I wish I am building on my hopes and realizing my dreams.
But I am building on dreams as I am realigning my hopes

I wish I am liberal in views and conservative in actions
But I am conservative if and when I think but mostly act without thinking

I wish I am living with my heart and eating for my stomach
But I am eating for my buds and shooting from my hips

I wish summer in my eyes and winter in my heart
But I have winter in my eyes and summer in my head

I wish spring in my feat and autumn to my defeats
But I have spring to my problems and autumn to my hopes

I wish I am omnipotent else least powerful enough to change the world
But I find even my breathing isn’t effortless and my body itself is a burden

I wish I am humble in my character and polite in my behavior
But I tumble at every step as yield to my temptations

I wish I am comparatively kind and naturally energetic
But I am compassionate yet cruel and congenially lazy.

I wish I am sincere in my prayers and prayed for my sincerity
But I find as I play in a casino, most sincere my prayers are

What if I don’t have clarity in speech?
What if, I am not universal in reach?
What if I am not versatile in subjects?
What if I am not detached from the objects?
What if my breathing isn’t easy?
What if I am always looking dizzy?
What if I am congenially arrogant?
What if I am incorrigibly ignorant?

But beware,

Never attempt to change me
Nor bother to correct me
For I am like a muddy water, best cleared left undisturbed
For I believe lessons are not given but taken
For if god wanted me otherwise, he would have created me otherwise
For I know my reputation is what you perceive about me
For I know my honor is what i realize about myself
For I know my wishes are ideal and "what I am" are natural
For I know the gap between ideal and natural
For I am sure on my death bed i would realize that am a 'lil closer to ideal!

For I know my wishes are ideal and "what I am" are natural
For I know the gap between ideal and natural
For I am sure on my death bed i would realize that am a 'lil closer to ideal!

Love me for what I am
Hate me for what I am
Scold me for what I am
Kick me for what I am
But never leave me for what I am
Never leave me for what I am!
'coz I am what I am!
I am what Iam !

Happy reading!

Musings: Spiritual but not ritualistic!

That’s the fashion statement of the current generation and probably would remain so for the new generations to come! The geek in us is essentially trying to convey that they believe in the divinity of the soul but does not believe that you can realize it by being ritualistic. This is more or less an emotion that ranges between antipathy and apathy for rituals, which are mostly referred to religious rituals.

Let’s split the word “ritualistic” a little and see what it actually means.

Most of the religions have prescribed rituals which appear mostly irrelevant, utterly superstitious and above all an absolute waste of time. If some one is ritualistic today or even if they appear to be so in public life, they are an exception, certainly an object of ridicule and we display an attitude that is “last among equals” towards them.

What do these rituals consist of? In the management jargon any “practice” (say consulting practice, application development practices etc) has a defined objective, contains processes, procedures, metrics, tools and templates. So, professionally speaking, rituals are practices where in they define an objective, prescribe a process, stipulate few procedures, which are time of the day / day of the week / week of the month / month of the year specific, they insist on few tools and in some cases there are some metrics too. Let’s take few examples to explain this:

- Attending a Sunday morning assembly in the church and praying has all the above mentioned components.
- Doing Namas five times a day has all the above mentioned components.
- Performing a Pooja as per Hindu customs has all the above mentioned components.

You can add Buddhist, Jain, Taoist, Zoroastrian, Sufi, Persian, Jewish examples. So irrespective of the religion every one of them has prescribed “Practices”, which we all either ignore or hate. This antipathy is basically due to many factors some of the most popular being, we are not interested in achieving this objective or either don’t understand the meaning of the practice, or we understand it but don’t believe in it, or even if we believe we “don’t have time” for this.

I just want to analyze this a little more. There are few religions / philosophies which state that there is only one way to god and it’s based on the religions tenets and nothing else. At the same time there are certainly few religions like “Sanatana Dharma” (popularly known as Hinduism) which believes that there are many ways to realize ourselves. But a deeper look would reveal that all philosophies and schools of thought emphasis on some rituals or the other and essentially some are more ritualistic and some are less.

So, if we are talking about spirituality (which is either believing in god or divinity of soul or realizing ourselves as god) and if we believe that if religion is one of the ways to do it then I think the prescription is all about being ritualistic at least in the initial stages till we reach a stage. For the wise smiles at the wisdom of a man who says our mind can be controlled with techniques. I believe our mind is far too powerful for it to be controlled instantly. The energies of our mind should be diverted, distracted into a specific task over a prolonged period of time before we can get into a focused and meditative stage. The mind has to be led into such a situation over a prolonged period of time into which ever task it is. How else you can do it without practice as we agree that “practice makes perfect”. What ever we practice regularly calls for discipline and order bound by time and practiced over time and this is essentially packaged as rituals in our religious schools.

In the context of religion, if a symbolic worship / ritual is wrong then so is childhood, when we are learning initially with over simplifies pictures and try to grasp the alphabets before we read and write sentences. You can see the truth of this statement in the subsequent points also.

Now let’s looks at other aspects that are worldlier…

· If our religion is corporate life then I have not seen anything more ritualistic in conference calls and meetings. For we seems to know that we are in the call without an objective even if we know I don’t think we believe it will produce any result and we are just there. The reality here, work is not god, but making money and reaching higher levels are.

· If our religion is something like Yoga, Taoism which is not philosophical and not religious in nature then the asanas, pranayama, meditation procedures are more / equally ritualistic than anything else. The reality is here union is not god, but having a physically fit body and talking eloquently in gatherings about such topics are.

· If our religion is any form of arts (martial arts, marital arts, music, art, drama) then the process of being disciplined and even being creative is as ritualistic as anything else.

· If our religion is time, then being punctual is realizing god and harassing others to be punctual is a ritual.

· If love is our religion then non-violence, mercy & giving is a ritual. This is actually more ritualistic since most of the defined rituals prescribe to a specific time period but this has to be exhibited all the times.

· If cricket is our religion then look at the amount of procedures that are told about grounding the bat, running between the wickets, practice methodologies, fielding a ball, taking a catch.

· If money and honesty are our religion then working hard is our ritual.

· If cleanliness is next to godliness then cleaning and purifying are rituals…24/7.

· If just money is our religion then making it by any means can include following all the rituals that helps us realize this.

All people who have achieved something in life have been disciplined in one way or the other. They are disciplined enough to believe in something, work towards it without any hang ups, pouring undivided attention over a long period of time. There is no one who can challenge this.

I think we all have to realize that ultimate truth is not jumping across a ditch from the bank of falsehood to the back of truth but it’s a laborious climb on the ladder bearing rungs of relative truth. Nothing is absolutely final and false. As I said in one of my earlier blog the fact that sun rises in the east is as truthful as the fact that sun neither rises nor sets, it is just the earth which is rotating.

Hence to move on the path of realization irrespective of what the goal is requires rigorous discipline and that discipline is reflected only in we pouring our heart and mind in it overcoming any inertia that may crop up. At one level I see this adherence to a discipline is “ritual” and nothing else.

The problem I see is that we are all believers and practitioners of a religion that is “Epicureanism with a strong bias to hedonistic approach” and we practice a ritual called “physical comfort” aka “laziness” and hence live a shallow life. It suits us to say that I understand the concept of divinity but not interested in realizing it as it requires a great deal of discipline and subjects us to physical discomfort.

As long we have a deep driving passion to achieve something and live what we believe in! we can’t escape being ritualistic! Else we can always have this as a fashion statement without realizing what it actually means! and continue to lead a shallow life.

Yours spiritually and non-ritually!

Happy reading!

Musings: Does hatred beget Strength?

Does Hatred beget strength?

Priority begets time
Time begets passion
Passion begets value
Value begets thoughts
Thoughts begets words
Words begets deeds
Deeds begets habits
Habits begets character
Character begets destiny
Character begets friends
Character begets foes
Friends beget emotions
Foes beget emotions
Friends beget love
Foes beget hatred
Hatred begets adversity
Adversity begets endurance
Endurance begets Experience
Experience begets learning
Learning begets strength
Experience begets strength
Endurance begets strength
Adversity begets strength
Hatred begets hatred
Hatred begets strength

Looks like hatred begets strength!

But,

Strength begets strength
Strength begets restraint
Restraint begets love
Love begets friends
Friends begets friends
Friends begets strength
Love begets strength !
Yes, Love begets strength !

Looks like this is an easier & pleasant option!

Happy reading!

Draft beer & not people !

Why do nations go to wars?

War has been used for hundreds of thousands of years as a way of attaining a certain goal through the use of force. If you flip through the history the reasons for war varies significantly like to protect the weak and dharma and to kill the evil (reason for avatars of Hindu gods), for territorial gains, for wealth, for power & glory, for revenge / retribution, for self preservation / fear, for the superiority of an ideology like racial, cultural, religious, political etc, for resources and the list may go on.

Wars are always fought for money says Socrates. But the truth is “All nations want peace, but they want a peace that suits them.”

But let’s understand the situations that are leading to war. For many centuries when Kingdoms and monarchy were the primary / predominant governance model the decision to go to war is essentially from the King or his coterie and the wisdom is limited to that. The primary reasons for war were essentially territorial gains, wealth power, glory, and establishment of ideological superiority.

A closer study of the reasons behind the wars seems to be showing us that “establishment of superiority of ideologies” seems to be most important factor for war. There are many examples like the wars fought between 2 religious kingdoms and followers through out the 2000 years, rise of third Reich based on racial supremacy, the war in Vietnam (“Domino theory”) and cold war based on communism and democracy for the major part of last century, wars between India and Pakistan were essentially due to territorial disputes but the under current and the reason for partition itself has been essentially the difference in religious beliefs of the state. But most of these examples were decision taken by governments / leaders which (who) were mostly autocratic (even if they were elected) without much acceptance or approval from their people. People used to be submissive and look upon their kings and were ready to sacrifice their life at the drop their king’s hat.

Few of the recent wars like America’s decision to jump into WWII was mostly influenced by the provocation after the Pearl Harbor and War on Afghanistan was due to the 9/11 provocation. It is clear that “Self preservation & revenge” seems to be the predominant factors influenced by popular opinions are the reasons behind the war.

Men does not seem to have learnt from their history that “War does not determine who is right, only who is left.”

Let’s now understand the emergence of new social orders like democracy and public opinion for the last few centuries and its effect on the situations that lead to war. Public perceptions and opinions seem to be a major factor in decision making and this phenomenon would continue to increase as the time moves by. Communication technologies of today can share these perceptions instantly and on real time basis across the globe. Man is a rational animal when he is isolated. The “mob mentality” giving way to emotions (especially revenge and hatred) seems to be far more contagious than rationality. Instant communication seems to be a catalyst to increase the perception / emotions across the globe in a very short period of time.

Thomas Jefferson said that “The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to”. Few years back it was told that “It is dangerous to be right when the king is wrong”. But I think we are slowly giving ourselves to a situation that “It’s difficult for a government to be different from what the popular opinion is”. This relies essentially on the rationality of the human kind which seems to be evaporating when they are in groups.

If we are little sensitive to the current situation and have a global view at 30000 feet it will be very evident that the best recipes for war are just cooking and blending very well together as of now and the major factors at different times seems to be coming together now…

1. Emergence of ideological battle to a new pitch: Needless to explain as to what this is. A majority of us seems to have lost our ability to understand the value of human life. This insensitivity is not limited to the so called “terrorists” but shockingly leaders who head the governments too are reciprocating this absolute barbaric mentality.

2. Revenge and retribution: The wisdom behind “An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind” seems to be irrelevant and not any more applicable now. This seems to be the order of the day, be it in professional life, trade agreements between governments etc and we have become “tit for tat” beings.

3. Competitive Extremism: This seems to be the emotional state of many of us are in now. Be it office or personal life or social engagements we seem to have missed the boundary line between moderation, toleration and extremism. It’s always easy to garner energy and force behind “something against” than “something for” in this world. Hence the blend of competitive extremism combined with instant communication capabilities with the emotionally contagious attitude seems not only popular but also dangerous.

4. Weightage of Public Perception in governmental decision making: Unlike the last 2000 years this factor seems to be gaining Weightage and would prove to be lethal and fatal if rationality takes a back seat. A simple look at popular events would highlight that rationality has not only taken back seat but also has been thrown out of the car.

5. Self preservation: The most important issue seems to be the fight for self preservation within the vast population in this world. In the last few decades we have ensured that the world we live is not a fair place (Read http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com/2008/11/world-isnt-fair-place.html ). Rich-poor divide, exploitation of resources, effects of globalization and the essential insecurity that is given for granted to lead a normal life, has made leading a normal, peaceful life in this planet seems to be a god given gift for many of us. Never has been in the history of mankind the concern for self preservation is more predominant than now.

If you just see all these in a perspective (could be termed pessimistic!) all major factors that force people to fight for their survival at different times seems to be coming together now. If a powerful country like US gets into a crisis (currency meltdown, resource depletion, financial or otherwise) which does not have immediate short term solutions then the instinct to preserve may force them to start a war or be in one. Unfortunately & scarily there are many countries in the brink of collapse and there are enough “ideological” and “extremist” issues available as excuses. Misguided men and guided missiles seems to have mastered the art of converting outcome of war into profits in their personal and nation’s P&L sheet.

Unless we have leaders who can lead us from these difficult times to a path of peace we may have a war round the corner with significant participation (you can call it as world war 3) in an attempt to resolve / reset or least escape from these issues. God, for no obvious reasons, has turned stingy in the supply of DNAs to this world which matches that of Gandhi and Nelson Mandela to this world, who can lead people in the path of peace and be a true leader.

But god has given the world nuclear weapons that assures mutual self destruction and seems to be the only major deterrent from escalation. Should there be a treaty among nations that they would not use nuclear weapons for the next 1 year then the start of World war 3 seems imminent.

I think and feel that there is a war round the corner.. wish am wrong!

Draft beer and not people.

Yours anxiously!

Happy reading!

Part 2 - Perception - Art of seeing things as we are and not as they are!

Prameya - The aspects of reality and hence knowable is classified into 12 things. They are the soul, the body, 5 senses, Objects of senses, Cognition (Budhi), mind, activity (of the mind), dosa (mental defects), rebirth (life after death), Phala (fruits of our actions - pain, pleasure), suffering (dukha) and freedom from suffering.
If we are not ignorant about these 12 things then we would attain liberation but unfortunately we are bonded due to wrong or invalid knowledge on the above.

So whats the way we can achieve valid knowledge?

This is where Pramaana kicks in!... According to Nyaya there are 4 distinct fountains of current knowledge:

1. Perception (Pratyaksha Pramaana)
2. Inference (Anumaana Pramaana)
3. Comparison (Upamaana Pramaana)
4. Testimony (Sadba Pramaana)

Also knowledge is gained through Experience (Anubhava) and also through memory (Smriti). Experiential knowledge is received through above 4 ways and memory is essentially is acquired through anubhava but stored and recollected over a period of time.

There are few ways of Invalid knowledege (Aprama), which are Samsaya (Doubt - Inability to conclude / determine), faulty conginition (Bhrama) and Hypothetical argument (based on).

Lets look at what perception is.

Perception (Pratyaksha Pramaana) - Knowledge produced by the conjunction (Contact) of an object and an organ. So what are the operative components of perception, lets take an example of we perceiving a blue color jar. There are 6 components which are "recognized" during the perception process...

1. Conjunction - Samyoga Sannikarsah - Eye sees a Jar which is the conjunction of Object (Jar) and Organ - Eye.
2. Inherent Union with what has come into contact - Samyukta Samavayah (Blue color is the inherent union with the Jar which is also perceived)
3. Inherent Union with what is intimately united with a thing that has come into contact. - Samyukta Samaveta Samavayah (This is the recognition of Genus "Colorness" which is the inherent union that is Intimately united (blue color) with the object (Jar)).
4. Inherent Union of the organ - Samavayah Sannikarsah - through the organ of seeing - Eye in this case.
5. Inherent union with the intimately United - Samaveta Samavaya Sannikarsah. - (In the same way Genus "Sight")
6. The connection of the attribute to the substantiative. - Visesana Visesyabhava Sanniskara

• Perceptions could be classified based type of contact Ordinary perception- (Laukika) which is based on direct contact and Alukika (Extraordinary Perception) based on indirect contact.

The ordinary perception (laukika) process has 2 stages - Indeterminate (Nirvikalpa - without knowing the quality such as color, shape but recognizing the jar) and Determinate (Savikalpa) which is definite and explicit. Most perception processes are generally first indeterminate and then determinate. The speed at which this happens in an individual determines how sharp the person is.

The extraordinary perception (alaukika) is divided into:

• Samanya Lakshana (identification of classes or generality in one thing .... for example it can be understanding Human being are mortal. Here humanity and mortality are generic classes identified.)
• Jnana Lakshana (Perception of association) ... when we see ice we also perceive that it is cold, this does not happen because we directly feel coldness but through association.)
• Yogaja - Perceptions acquired through yogic practices.

Perceptions could also be classified based type of modes External perception- (Bahya) which is based on 5 senses and Internal (Manasa) based on mind as an internal faculty perceiving pain, pleasure, aversion, desire, cognition etc.

This is perception in brief. Just look at the depth of definition, classifications and most importantly the interlinkages between systems ex. Yogaja which is based on the Yoga school of thought and has little to do with Nyaya system.

When you take time to read the other aspects of this philosophy, you will understand and appreciate the depth of thinking, not loose but very structured that was there ages before which is our inheritence, but lost some where, some how...

We are ensconsed in "bliss" and even for those who have come across this for the first time in this blog would still be ignorant just like me, but for the fact that they would have moved one item from "unknown-unknown" to "known-unknown" .

By this measure the toughest jobs are that of "Quality or brand professionals" who earn their bread by managing & improving "perception of a perception".


Yours perceptionally!

Happy reading !

Part 1 - Perception - Art of seeing things as we are and not as they are !

" If we are what we think ! then we are shallow beings, since many of us who don't think deep enough.

If we are what we eat ! then we are empty beings, since majority of us are below the poverty line and invaribaly starve.

The lowest common denominator seems to be, we are what we perceive!

For Perception is the art of seeing things as we are
and not as they are ! "

Many of us think that we are in brighter times as men have turned "Rationalists" in the last few decades / centuries and is coming out of the dark ages of superstition and have understood the power of thinking and invented a new system of thought process.

Can you believe that our forefathers did not only have logical and rational thinking as a science but also showed us a path of extending that science to realize ourselves and its a pity that many of us are ignorant of this. The gem of a topic i am going to share with you and finally link up with the first few lines of this blog is essentially about Nyaya (aka Tarka Sastra) - a system of philosophy propounded by Gotama concerns with the achieving valid knowledge through science of logic and reasoning.

The goal of Nyaya philosophy is to attain the liberation of soul through logical thinking and attain valid knowledge. Valid Knowledge eradicates ignorance and hence paves way for realization. One of the important aspects i want to stress upon is there were many schools of thought in Indian Philosophy like Nyaya, Yoga, Samkhya & even Mimamsa (to a lesser degree) which were roads to realization of ourselves but did not follow idol worship. Even this aspect is not known to many of us for we choose to live in "bliss".

So what does Nyaya system deal with? I shall try to be as concise as possible and as always i would ask you to refer further details from our global guru for self learning - google.com.

All Indian philosophies are divided into 1. study of nonmanifested reality and 2. study of manifested reality. Nyaya system deals with both but mainly explains that from 2 broad topics (or atleast iam going to deal it that way) under 16 different categories. The broad topics are:

1. The object of knowledge (Prameya) - What is knowable.

2. Sources of valid Knowledge (Pramana) - Means to attain Valid knowledge

Etymologically, Prama means Budhi (Cognition) hence object of knowledge is prameya and sources through which we receive this knowledge is Pramana.

But before i "drink deeper" let me ask you few questions for you to think:

1. What do you think is knowable as you can list and can you categorize it?

2. What do you think are the sources of knowledge?

3. Can you define perception, Inference?

4. Can you tell me the difference between perception & Inference?

Now during my MBA program i had read some definition of perception in one of the management books followed up by multiple definitions of perception by various philosophers. Infact I can say that there is no philosophy / philosopher which (who) has not touched upon perception. Nyaya also deals with perception in a significant way (but i should say) & most comprehensive way in approach i have ever read...

There are few books in life that are difficult to understand in one go and few books that teach us something new when ever we read it repeatedly. Nyaya and Tarka related books fall under both categories for me.

Let me stop here and continue this in the next blog....

Yours logically

Happy reading !

Holistic view of the energy centers in our body!

Disclaimer: Unless and until you are interested in topics like Meditation, Yoga, Chakras and holistic aspects of the same please do not look at this article, else you will be wasting your time.

This is a compilation of 20 characteristics of the 7 chakras in our body which is available in fragmented form and that has been consolidated into one document by me.... The holistic view includes Physical forms / locations like the nerves, glands, functional system etc, the qualities of these locations like the color, svara etc. and the ethereal and meta aspects like devtas, petals, sheaths, doshas etc... (Click on the image to view it better....)

I can't and am not going to explain anything as, for those who know the basics and are interested in just details, here it is and for the rest there is no need for any explanation. :). If you are still interested then rely on the Global Guru for self teaching.... i mean "google.com".

It would be nice if you can add to this!

Happy reading

Thank the terrorists & Don't mourn the death of the heros!

It's been a very emotional 3 days for most of us that has managed to consume a huge amount of energy from more than half a billion people and the stress levels are unprecedented.

Stress is a response (In fact a psychosomatic response) to a stimulus (Stimuli), which in this case has been a terrorist attack. But how do people respond when they are stressed? (which is essentially characteristics of response for a response). Some of us would turn anxious, some would fear, and some may turn aggressive.

Ayurveda suggests that, people with 'Vata' prakruti are more likely to develop stress reaction, such as anxiety or fear. 'Pitta' individuals notice an increase in their dosha during stressful situations and typically react to it in a very aggressive way. They may also suffer from hypertension, peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis and other pitta disorders. Stress affects 'Kapha' individuals in a different way - these people may develop under-active thyroid, slow metabolism and even increased blood sugar, leading to a prediabetic condition. This gives them a tendency to stuff themselves with food, leading to obesity. (Are you listening?)

But being predominantly a Pitta prakruti individual, here are my thoughts now:

1. First and foremost we have to blame ourselves and no one else. If we cannot fence our house, dogs would come in. You can shoot the dogs but can't blame them. Its is in the nature of the dogs that they would come into houses that are open.
2. The second mistake from our part is to expect potency from an impotent leader. Dr. Manmohan Singh is an eminent economist and a great academician but not a politician and not certainly a leader that this country needs at this time. Just as all economists are clueless now across the world on their core subjects its our mistake to expect India's one of the greatest economist to be any different. I am surprised that how the entire administration has lost its potency under this government and should be termed as "EPA" (Eunuch Production agency) instead of "UPA".

Then the question arises what would i do if am in that position? You can be jingoistic and say please attack Pakistan and prove to have succumbed to emotions. But this is what i would suggest:

1. DO NOT ATTACK Pakistan. This would be mistake even if we attack the training camps. There is a time for this and this is not the right time.
2. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER mourn for the people who have been killed and whose lives are sacrificed. Once we mourn the emotions drain, once they are drained we would forget this and we would be not do anything and wait for the next attack. Media and the political leaders would admire the "resilient attitude" and crown us as "suckers". Nurture the wounds and pay back. Dont mourn till we believe we have protected our house and given it back to them. Its time to pay back and not mourn. Wash the blood of the innocents with the blood of the terrorists!
3. First and foremost revoke "MFN status" for Pakistan and announce them as "Enemy state".
4. Stop all trade, peace process, transportation, diplomatic links, entertainment and mutual visits. This has to come in place immediately.
5. Remove all the security protection from all leaders. The people who are accountable should have the same fear & insecurity that we and our families are subjected to. This is the only way this would improve. When Self preservation is closely linked to the overall security situation in the country then these politicians would feel the heat.
6. Its impossible for the government to protect all the buildings and institutions. Never expect the government to do this. Let the corporate houses adopt buildings, streets, institutions etc. There have been instances of corporates sponsoring schools and gardens and i think the time has come for them to adopt their local building, streets and areas. The government should cut the corporate tax by 5% and the savings that coming from this should NOT BE PAID to the government but utilized by the corporate them selves to improve security.
7. Business continuity & Disaster recovery are neglected areas in Indian corporates. Many companies have posts like "Head BCP & DR" and Indian companies have not even thought about these. These topics stand extremely neglected and this needs to be invested upon.
8. Topics like "First aid", "crisis response" has to be taught in schools to kids & in offices to prepare them for better situations.
9. Stronger laws alone does not solve the problem. But i just feel like shooting politicians who claim "That POTA prevented any terrorist attacks". A law by itself does not prevent the crime and its elementary knowledge that law and crime are not mutually exclusive but coexist. If we have to repeal ineffective laws then there wont be any laws in the country. Can you tell me one law (other than mother-in-law :)) which is really effective and not misused? Over and above law these issues suggest that Institutional failures and hence we need to strengthen these institutions. If the terrorists can plan for 6 months to carry out an attack think how long we need to plan to thwart it. This needs systemic thinking and institutional strengthening.
10. Nothing deters crime (not hard laws, not severe punishment) but instant or prompt punishment. Its the speed of justice that deters crime (comparitively / mos effective) and not the severity of it.

This attack is different from all other attacks so far. Most of the attacks are over in a matter of hours or minutes like an advertisement or a movie, but this time it went for almost 3 days and on Taj which does not stand for opulence but for the dignity of the Indians. The other important characterstic this time is the depth of the plan, extent of the explosives used and the sheer skill & determination of the terrorists which has shocked the nation.

Just like hackers identify vulnerability within our networks, just like dogs come into open houses and tell us that house is open, this act of terrorism would not go down as one more but would make poeple rally and demand better security and governance from the government. We should thank the terrorists who under took this attack and got this nation together !

Thank the terrorists to have reminded us that we are in a WAR ! But importantly, Its not the time to mourn but to pay back!

Thats an aggrieved & aggressive pitta prakruti for you!

Happy reading!

Disturbed, Distressed and Angry!

Just as the news of Mumbai siege is breaking out without any details on the overall picture, as one of the disturbed, distressed and angry souls in this country am venting out here.

I have an emotional attachment to Taj Mahal hotel which is a 100+ years old structure and stands for the diginity of the country and Indians. Built by an Indian for indians during a time when "Indians and dogs" were not allowed to such places.

The spirit it represents, the splendour it radiates and the warmth it exudes is unique and closer to my heart. Though i was as distressed when the Indian parliament was attacked but i think now am angry too. For Indian parliament has been the refuge of the criminals and their patrons for a long time (Rest of them who claim to be clean are impotent), this structure represents a great deal more than that.

Thinking calmly (after a great deal of effort) i believe the following should be our action points:

• The home minister of India and the home minister of Mumbai should quit or sacked. Incomptency and mothehood statements should be abhored.
• The prime ministers hand is tainted with the blood of the innocent Indians and visitors and he should be resolute enough to wash the same with the blood of the guilty. There can be no one else held responsible for the loss of lives than the leader himself.
• The officers who laid their life in the line of duty, let as a nation salute them and their families.
• Lets recognize the Islamic terrorism which is recognized world over and not be soft on terror. This does not mean that all muslims are terrorists or Islam preaches this but recognize the fact that under the pretext of religion we have this, real and hard in front of us.
• IB which was a pride of every indian has been known now as "Ignorant Bureau" instead of "Intelligence Bereau". I think they are currently staffed by economists who don't have any clue of whats going on. As a first step they should have an objective of being atleast as good in predictions like our astrologers. May be it should be staffed with astrologers instead of economists and intelligence officials.

What will follow is going to petty politics and this will be forgotten by every one after few weeks again to be remembered during the next attack.

"Athithi devo bhava", means all indians believed in a religion called Hospitality and the guests are our gods. Its sad that few are held hostage today and few probably have died.

I am distressed, disturned and angry like many other Indians today.

Yours angrily

Happy reading!

Rear view!

I started this blog on 29/Oct and its just about a month since then (If you think its still 4 days left, think of the sideral month) and I am pleasantly surprised for the following things:

• Posted over 30+ articles with an average of >1 per day. For the many who wonder how i do it the secret is here (This is the most asked question to me).... i wait for the best time for the juice to flow ; and mostly its between 10PM to 3AM and on one sitting i end up writing 2 or 3 articles.
• The website has had close 300 hits and thats >10 per day. You can read it from linkedin and Orkut too which i managed to link up.
• Many who visit the site have used the Y! ping box to chat with me...
• Some encouraging feedbacks most of them by Phone, Email and IM mostly being complimentary and hence am not going to publish that here and thump my chest.Actually i was not sure that there are many people around who like dry and heavy subjects which i mostly tend to blog about.

Height of it, the initiative was without any planning as i stumbled on the blogger site accidently aided by the sudden rush of energy (i dont know from where) that flew through my head and hands which i managed to use it wisely ;).

Didn’t know where he was going.
Didn’t know where he was when he got there.
Didn’t know where he had been when he got back.
And did it all on borrowed capital.’

Many of you would have heard the quote about one of the the greatest discoverer. If this can be achievement of poor planning, should we ever plan? (For those who have not heard, the above lines were on Christopher Columbus and now re-read the above passage to appreciate it.)

Though there is no comparison yet in the same lines,

Dont know how it started, Dont know why it continued

Dont know if its useful, Dont know if its tasteful,

Dont know if i would give the priority

Dont know if there would be regularity

Dont know what the perceptions are

Dont know if i would enjoy it the way i did it so far

But all i know is There is no road to happiness and the journey in the road is the happiness !!

It was a brief rear view ! to thank you for your feedback.

Happy reading!

Axis of Evil .... Part 1

Disclaimer:
1. The decision to read this article is fraught with dangerous and unimaginable consequences of it forcing you to think deeper (on issues that are practically unimportant, unimportantly fundamental and fundamentally inconclusive to lead a normal life) and hence people who are not adventurous and not accustomed to such events are advised not to proceed further. The author does not take any direct or indirect responsibility for the consequences barring to agree to discuss these things over a drink :)
2. Life is as simple as you want it to be. (Ref. Rule 1: Ten Commandments of Rags Gopalan http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com/2008/10/golden-rules.html) . If you are going to proceed after this, you may be complicating it more than required.
3. Please do not proceed to the article without understanding the disclaimer 1 & 2.

Axis of Evil: This popular term used by Dubya in 2002, triggered many reactions around the world, some public and others did not ... My reaction is simple...Why should axis is having only three entities always? Iran, Iraq and N.Korea now but Germany, Italy and Japan in WW II. I also read somewhere that Wipro, Infosys, TCS is the Indian software axis of evil killing upcoming software companies... while i don't subscribe to that view but again its just 3 here too... I think there is a primordial unwritten rule that "Two is company, three is axis".

But little did many of us (including Bush) realize that "good" and "evil" are not available with "form and name", but these represent our mental states and hence contextual, impermanent not incorrigible and essentially a state of mind.

Adhi Shankara states
"Sarva Praaneeshu Prathi deham, Devasura sangramo anadhi kala pravarthithaha" meaning
"The fight between Good and Evil has been happening within every person at all times". The sensory organs that divert our attention to external world and make us commit sins like lust, theft, jealousy etc are the evils and the force that focuses these sensory organs and our mind internally to realize what we are, and in the process makes us bind with Love, charity, mercy etc are the good.

A sudden thought arose and i was asking what would be the axis of evil within ourselves? Being a rebel without a cause i decided on the following:

• It would certainly have more than 3 names.
• My axis of evil is not certainly going to be a straight line as it is made out to be always. Then what can be the shape of the axis? As you know, a straight line extended infinitely is a curve and this curve as it progresses should meet itself, which means it could be a circle or ellipsoid. Then to be geometrically right the axis of evil has to be Circle of evil. But lets continue to call it axis of evil only for the time being.
  

Where does this axis of Evil begin? Let's analyse that:

• Good and Evil are essentially the result of widely accepted interpretations of what is right and wrong. Where does this sense of right and wrong lie?
• What is right and wrong are essentially value systems which are interpreted by the mind. (~ Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so. ~ William Shakespeare)
• But the roots of our mind are in the society for everything we do are based on the society we have grown up. The way we dress, we eat, we read, we work the reason for setting into marriage as an institution blah blah. As Einstein famously noted, common sense is a set of prejudices which we accumulate before the age of 18.
• These prejudices are unfortunately not stacked and arranged as black and white for easy interpretation but just like a rainbow not limited to 7 colors, but as a continuum of multiple shades of grey between white and black.
• This rainbow is also called as the "Individual conscience" which is the aggregation & accumulation of this value system over a period of time.
  

So the starting point of this axis of Evil is essentially the "Individual Conscience" which is ever evolving and is mostly based on the society we live. So we have the starting point as a "ever floating" point.

Let's analyse one more aspect of this starting point:

This "individual conscience" has a value system which is interpreted by the mind, but the mind is evolving from the society. No one would disagree that we have a society which is suffering from falling moral standards. Hence this floating point has a consistently falling altitude based on the falling moral standards of the society and hence the mind is preparing to accept lesser standards than it currently holds.

So based on the above, the starting point is actually not a Point, but a point which is circularly moving down which is essentially a SPIRAL moving downwards. Hence this is a dynamic entity and where does the seat of conscience lie?

Modern scientists and doctors are quick but certainly wrong in pointing out that its the brain. Scriptures from Hinduism and Buddhism indicate that its the heart but not the one that pumps but hridya the seat of feeling. In my opinion this should not be confined just to one place in a body but through the entire causal and ethereal body which is subtle and limitless.

Wow!, if you are fine so far, we have just understood the starting point.

(To be continued in the next article...)

Happy reading!