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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Rumblings: CWG is a four letter word…

 

Torn between the 2 categories of people in this country:

1. A segment that is extremely poor ,fighting for their day today survival and is not bothered about anything other than that.

2. A segment which is extremely affluent with lots of apathy towards nation and the happenings, very busy in their own world … what ever it may be.

There is a big segment of some “in-between” creatures who are educated with a decent living, still believing in their national pride, now extremely disappointed with what they hear and see in the media about the CWG fiasco. They are suffering from a blended feeling of helplessness, anger and dismay, suffering from those rare moments during which being silent is harder than the expressing something.

If you are an “in-between” creature like me, then you may be interested in this blog and so read on…

CWG in my opinion though still has an hangover (should i say stinks?) of the colonial past of imperialism, is yet one of the greatest moments for the selected sport citizens of the world to get together, express camaraderie, show their skills, entertain the crowd but most importantly stretch the boundaries of the human possibilities.

I have always been wondering as to why it was called “Common Wealth States” in the first place and why major sports events are always conducted once in 4 years? Why not every year or once in 2 or 3 years.

Leaving that aside, the 2010 episode of CWG had 2 things from day 1.

Lack of any “common sense” and lot of “Common Ground”. Common sense lacking from the government and organizers in terms of execution and Common ground essentially in terms of being an magnificent magnet for attracting negative publicity.

Let me try to summarize some of the following points:

  1. Moving beyond the media statements and the negatives we are hearing i believe much of the infrastructure they have put up and the services that are commissioned are world class. Presuming we are rational animals, we need to open our eyes to them. But the presumption is not right always. As human beings our ability to rally around negative emotions, shout for anything’s downfall, be skeptic about anything and everything, our ability to spot negative things… just negative things only, nurture them at the core of our heart and mind, dwell on the same with extraordinary blinkers without any holistic picture is natural, spontaneous, congenial and makes us a cursed organism in the evolution process.
  2. Having said that, the lapses also have been significant. Lets try to see the root cause than the symptoms. In my opinion:
    • The root cause of all our problems today is the attitude of the Government and the organizing committee for the last few years / months. There was a very fine blend of ignorance, arrogance and a stupid belief that they cannot fail all rooted in the “denial mode” gene.
    • The problem started on the day the government and the OC said that everything is fine, will be fine and there are no issues at all. The moment we get into a denial mode that there is no problem, i guess we are trapped in the quicksand of immaturity and arrogance. Had we accepted that there is a problem probably we would have looked for a solution.
    • The reaction of the government on the charges of corruption, literally rejecting them is more shameful than anything we know before. The public outcry about Rs.4000/- toilet papers and et al was ignored just highlighting that this government neither have their “Ears or feet to the ground”.
    • It shall be immature on our part to expect any politicians starting from invisible our prime minister to any one down below to take the accountability, be remorseful and get punished.
  3. Common ground” was there from day 1.
    • A small section of world population was interested in seeing India not rising up to the need of the hour. You can call them by any name… China, Pakistan, any Islamic terrorist groups. Yet they achieved their objectives without having to do anything significantly. Probably they judged our ability to shoot ourselves in the foot. They are / were right about this government.
    • More damage is done now by ourselves than probably a terrorist attack. God forbid, If there is a terrorist attack we could easily blamed anyone and got away with lesser damage to the image in a few months.
    • Our own ministers in the government and members within the Congress party were either not too excited about the games or have expressed openly that they are praying for the games to fail. I am not sure how we as a nation can pull through major International events if we are not aligned at that level.
    • Most of the top stars have either dropped out or not willing to come based on these reports have done much damage to the credibility of our country in the long run.

If we are what we perceive, then perception is reality. The common perception about the CWG games organization in India this year is that of poor coordination, flawed execution, poor hygiene standards, possible security risks (due to poor quality of construction, not because of terrorist attacks).

The common perception is that India has failed itself in the International arena to assert that it is capable of raising above these mundane challenges in as small a sporting event like CWG and we are ready to take larger responsibilities. Thanks Mr. Prime minister for this great gift to us and you shall be remembered for this.

If “hand is the cutting edge of the mind”, then we were mindless. Mindless about the risk to reputation and the damage to the image and pride of the country.

We may still have the participation of all the countries with their Class B stars and we may yet have a peaceful and successful completion to the games. Lets hope and pray for that.

If that is so then the most important “Common wealth” we would gain is the learning about the mistakes we committed in the run up to this game and avoiding this in the future in a systemic way. Do you believe that this possible and we are up to this?

The common perception is that India has already lost the marketing and perception game in the world arena and its the CWG games that will go on now in which ever form.

I felt lot better when IPL was successfully conducted by Lalit Modi despite so many issues. With an air of arrogance yet with competence, with an image that he is prone to corruption, he was the best fit as our Sports minister. How many of you would back that…?

As one wise man said, “If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother…”

At this point of time as an “In-between” creature i can only hope and pray for the successful conduct of games. I wish we could change this image of an loser to a perception that we are a Stronger and matured nation.

Till then, I feel i am a couple of inches shorter.

Till then, CWG is a four letter word to me..

 

Let the real games begin!…

Happy reading!

Friday, September 17, 2010

zen stories: 2 words

There once was a monastery that was very strict. Following a vow of silence, no one was allowed to speak at all. But there was one exception to this rule. Every ten years, the monks were permitted to speak just two words. After spending his first ten years at the monastery, one monk went to the head monk. "It has been ten years," said the head monk. "What are the two words you would like to speak?"

"Bed... hard..." said the monk.

"I see," replied the head monk.

Ten years later, the monk returned to the head monk's office. "It has been ten more years," said the head monk. "What are the two words you would like to speak?"

"Food... stinks..." said the monk.

"I see," replied the head monk.

Yet another ten years passed and the monk once again met with the head monk who asked, "What are your two words now, after these ten years?"

"I... quit!" said the monk.

"Well, I can see why," replied the head monk. "All you ever do is complain."

------
I wish we also enforce some changes in our constitution to ration the number of words we speak. Most of us don't think that what comes out of our mouth is not as important as what goes in! May we be blessed to bask and revel in silence!... at will.


Happy reading!

PS: This is the first time I am trying to blog and post from my mobile. Barring formating which is impossible and minor hiccups this looks smooth!


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Vedic perspective - Matter and its quality: Part 3/3

Part 1/3                              Part 2/3                     Part 3/3


Cognition or Knowledge or Jnana which was original topic of my search comes here. The first 2 parts gives a perspective where this falls into. The todays topic of Psychology or Neuro-linguistic / Psycho studies are focussed on the physical structures of mind. Our quest is not on those lines but trying to understand what are the different types of knowledge acquisition process and et al.


Cognition is of 2 types. They are: 






1. Remembrance/Smriti: This is subdivided into the true and erroneous smriti or remembrance. Smriti is always a recollection either from the primary or secondary memory, which is actually filled with the Apprehension type of knowledge which is defined below.
  






2. Apprehension/Anubhava





Apprehension is of 2 types. Valid Apprehension and invalid Apprehension.






Valid Apprehension is of 4 types.







1. Pratyaksha Pramanna (Perception)





2. Anumana Pramanna (Inference)





3. Upamaana Pramanna (Analytical knowledge)





4. Sabda (Sayings of the great people)






Erroneous Apprehension are of 3 types:







1. Doubt/Samsayah





2. Misapprehension/Viparyaya





3. False Assumption.




I notice that I have already blogged about the various categories 2 years back and can be accessed here. This is a 2 part blog.


So, whats the summary or conclusion? 


1. In Hinduism all the knowledge sprouts from a common source and also linked to each other in its philosophy, mythology, legendary figures and also in rituals. I felt that part 1 and part 2 of the blog actually gave that link very well as to how every aspect is linked to the mother scripture the vedas. A little more understanding would highlight that even an art like cooking is well linked to Ayurveda and also to the vedas. Exploring and Understanding this manifested and unmanifested interconnection between each other happens at the heights of wisdom.


Also in tamil there are a very terse verse:
"கற்றது கைமண் அளவு, கல்லாதது உலகு அளவு "


which means what we have learnt is just handful and what we have to learn is to the size of this world, giving a relative size of knowledge we have. Lets recognize that this statement is made by people who are well versed with all the 18 disciplines we have listed in part 1 of this blog.

What certainly keeps one going is the list of items that you have to learn and understand and this certainly looks like multi-life event and not going to end up in this life!...

Tama soma Jyothir Gamaya!




Part 1/3                              Part 2/3                     Part 3/3

Happy Reading!

Vedic perspective - Matter and its quality: Part 2/3

Part 1/3                              Part 2/3                     Part 3/3


Now lets come to the Nyaya discipline which actually gives a good classification of types of matter (Dravya / substances) and also the different qualities of the dravya.

But before we jump into that lets see some background. Gautama Maharsi who composed the Nyaya-sutra is called "Aksapada". He was always so wrapped up in thought that he was often oblivious of the outside world. We call scientists, professors and such people "absent-minded" and retail jokes about them. Gautama too was absent-minded. One day as he was walking along, brooding over some philosophical problem, he fell into a well. Lord Shiva then rescued him and fixed eyes to his feet. Thus, as he walked, he would be guided by the pair of new eyes. That is how he came to be called "Aksapada", one with eyes on his feet. Aksha means eyes and pada means legs in sanskrit. So goes the story. 

The point as per my understanding is Hinduism is not all about rituals and gods and mythology. This section of philosophy called Nyaya, which actually deals with Logic or the art of right thinking claims to take your to the ultimate through Tarka and logic.

Now lets try to answer couple of questions:

1. What are basic building elements upon which this universe is built? If you are material physicist or chemist then you may take the names of 85+ elements. If you are nuclear physicist then you have a list of unknown, unseen particles like neutrino, positron, electrons, neutrons, quarks etc. If you are an eastern philosopher then you may list the 5 elements Pancha bhutas like Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space. In Chinese its Wood and Metal instead of Air and Space.

Per Nyaya doctrine, substance or Dravya or Matter is divided into 9 categories. They are:




  • Earth/Prithvi


  • Water/Apa


  • Light/Tejah


  • Air/Vayu

  • Ether/Akasa

  • Time/Kala

  • Space/Dik

  • Soul/Atma

  • Mind/Manas


Each and every thing living or non-living thing we encounter in this universe (not just the earth) has to be composed of one or more of the nine items above.

Now lets look at the Quality of the matter. What is the quality of a substance?

Element Earth has smell has its quality. Element water has taste as its primary quality. Wind has touch as its primary quality. Likewise there are 24 primary qualities listed. Each matter may have one or more of the 24 qualities listed. These 24 qualities are:



  • Color/Rupa

  • Taste/Rasa

  • Odour/Gandha

  • Touch/Sparsa

  • Number/Sankhya

  • Magnitude/Parimana

  • Separateness/Prthaktva

  • Conjunction/Samayoga

  • Disjunction/Vibhaga

  • Remoteness/Paratva

  • Proximity/Apartva

  • Heaviness/Gurutva

  • Fluidity/Dravatva

  • Viscidity/Sneha

  • Sound/Sabda

  • Cognition/Budhi

  • Pleasure/Sukha

  • Pain/Dhuka


  • Desire/Ichha

  • Dislike/Dvesa

  • Volition/Prayatna


  • Merit/Dharma

  • Demerit/Adharma

  • Tendencies/Samskarah
While there are many websites & books which deals with each Substance and also the quality of the Dravya, i am not planning to get into those discussions.

If you have noticed Cognition or Buddhi is one of the qualities listed above and lets look at what this is all about in the next part.


Part 1/3                              Part 2/3                     Part 3/3

Happy Reading!

Vedic Perspective - Matter and its Quality: Part 1/3

Part 1/3                              Part 2/3                     Part 3/3

I was searching for some reading material on Cognition / Buddhi and landed upon several different books and topics before i decided to write on this blog. Though it is well known to my close circle of friends let me add the disclaimer that its purely my amateurish interest on such topics that prompts me to blog on them and it is certainly not from a position of authority. 

If there are any factual mistakes please point them out and as a familiar couplet in Tamil goes 
"குற்றம் கலைந்து குறை பெய்து வாசித்தல் கற்றறிந்தார் மாந்தர் கடன்.", which means "It is the responsibility of the learned to remove the mistakes from what they are reading and take the right / correct ones".

So banking on your "responsibility" as per the above saying i am proceeding to the blog.

In the first part of this blog i actually want to touch upon the key sources of knowledge  / works the Hindu / Vedic system is dependent on. Despite  having a huge treasure trove of knowledge most of us are not familiar even with the names of the works leave alone the contents. Let me very briefly touch upon those.

Lets try to answer few of the questions below:

1. Just like Bible or Koran is there an Hindu equivalent and if yes, what is this?
2. If its available then what is that and who have written them for us?
3. What is the language it is written in?
4. What are the broad components / parts of this scriptures? 

Answer to the above questions are as follows:

1. Vedas are the most authoritative scriptures Hindus have and they are very popularly known as 4 Vedas... Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana Veda.

2. Unlike the scriptures of other religions where it is being told that it is the teaching of a prophet or messenger of god, Vedas are not written by any human being or even by God. They are called "Apourusheya" which means not created by man. 

Then where from did they appear. As per Hindu belief these Vedas are vibrations available eternally just like electromagnetic waves of say Radio FM or the satellite DTH. If you are capable of tuning to the same then you can receive it. Vedas are believed to be the "breath of god". 

But lets note that they are not god themselves. Vedas have a sound form but the supreme Brahman cannot be reached through actions or words hence Vedas cannot make you realize Supreme Brahman but can take you closer. I am sure some of you don't agree / want to discuss on this.

All the sages who have tuned themselves have revealed these vibrations and have told that they are not the creators. 

3. Lets come to question 3 as to in which language it is written? The most famous but a wrong answer is SANSKRIT. Yes. Vedas are not written in Sanskrit but in something called "Chandas" which is known as "metre". Lets see about this as a part of the next question.

4. Unlike our modern belief where in we "rationalists" think that we are scientifically advanced and the people of the stone age were hunting animals and so on, the hindu scriptures reveal that in Kali Yuga, which is currently running (we have entered Kali Yuga ~5000 years ago) large parts of mankind would lose most of their mental and physical capabilities like will power, memory etc. Hence sage Veda Vyasa segregated and compiled these 4 vedas for the benefit of the mankind and also created some more disciplines. So the bottom line is these 4 vedas were segregated and compiled by Sage Vyasa but not created by him and prior to this act we can assume that the vedas were not available in this form or format.

But lets come to the other disciplines which supports these 4 Vedas which have been the supporting knowledge streams for the Hindu Culture. I am not going to deal with them deeply but just give a overview.

There are 18 disciplines in all including the 4 vedas. Assuming Veda is a Man (purusha) then there are 4 Vedas which form the core,   6 Vedangaas which are organs of Vedas, 4 secondary limbs (Upangaas) and 4 Upavedas which are the supporting vedas. (Anga in sanskrit means part.)

Our knowledge stream is not limited to this but these form the core of the knowledge source in Hinduism. you may note that both Ramayana and Mahabharatha are not part of this and were part of "Itihasa". 

Lets see a little more about them:

1. Each Veda has 2 broad parts - Karma Kanda (which talks about rituals, procedure, actions) and Jnana kanda (This is also known as vedanta, which talks about philosophy and knowledge). Many of us are actually hooked on to the concepts of Vendanta aka. Upanishad and we tend to ignore the ritualistic part of the scriptures. 

2. Modern historians attribute a time frame like 3000 years or so for these vedas based on some evidence. Strong believers of hindu scriptures ignore these predictions and don't attribute any time for these vedas. If the age of the universe if 13billion light years then they say that the vedas have been there since then. I shall write a separate blog on the concept of time as per Hindus later.

3. Briefly about the four vedas:
  • Rig veda was given by Vyasa to sage Sage Paila which extols devatas or angels.
  • Yajur Veda was given by Vyasa to Sage Vysampayana which deals with ritualistic procedures of Yajna.
  • Sama Veda was given by Vyasa to Sage Jaimini, which has music and peace through very melodious hymns.
  • Atharvana Veda was given by Vyasa to Sage Sumanthu, which deals with warding of evils, hardships and enemies. This has components of so called black magic and tantra too.
4. Now lets get to the Organ of Vedas (Vedangaas) which are 6 in all.
  • Seeksha is the Nose and Lungs of Veda Purusha and deals with Euphony and Pronounciation - Tone, Duration, Pitch, Evenness, Compounding of words
  • Vyakarna is the mouth of the veda Purusha deals with Grammar. This has its origin from Lord Nataraja's (Shiva) Damru sound through 14 hymns. You may like a related blog on this topic and the interesting link to Islam and Shaivism. http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com/2008/11/interesting-linkage-between-shaivism.html
  • Chandas is the feet of Veda purusha which deals with the metre. The hymns that were recited all comply to a rule of how many letters per pada and how many pada per line of hymn. For example Gayatri mantra is made of 3 padas and each pada has 8 letters / aksharas. Valmiki Ramayana is written in Anushtub Chandas. It is because of this we find the recitation of vedas / mantras or slokas being so synchronised, measured and soothing. 
  • Nirukta are the ears and are equivalent to the dictionary of Vedas.
  • Jyotisha are the eyes of Vedas. This is an important part of veda and a science which is misunderstood and misused currently. Both Astrology and Astronomy are parts of this discipline. One branch of Jyotisha is called "Hora Sastra" which deals with time. It is believed that the word Hour has its root in "Hora" which is in sanskrit.
  • Kalpa - Arm of Vedas.


5. Now lets look at Upaangas  - Secondary limbs of Vedas. 
  • Meemamsa  - Deals with Analysis & Interpretation and is divided as Poorva Meemamsa - Karma Kanda and Uttara Meemamsa - Jnana Kanda/ Brahmasutra in Upanishads. 
  • Nyaya Tarka - Deals with Logic, Tatva - Philosophy. There are very interesting aspects of logic such as Aarambha Vaada, Parinaama Vaada, Vivartha Vaada. This is one of the best topics i have read.
  • Puraana is the Magnifier of Mythology.  There are 18 puranaas which has about 400000 granthas. Each Grantha is a sloka with 32 syllables. 
  • Dharma Shastra deals with Codes of Conduct. Manu Dharma which is basis of the judicial system is part of Dharma Sastra.


6. Now lets look at Upavedas which are 4 in number.
  • Ayurveda deals with Science of Life. Most of us are familiar with this.
  • Arthasastra deals with Science of Wealth & Economics. Chanakya made this pretty popular. 
  • DhanurVeda Science of Weaponary 
  • Gaandharva Veda Treatises on Arts, Music. You may be knowing that there are 64 art forms and there is a treatise on each of them.

Our topic of discussion is part of the Nyaya-Tarka which is part of the Upaangas as described above. So part 1 deals with the context of this discipline among the 18 disciplines in Hindu scriptures.

Lets go to Part 2.
Part 1/3                              Part 2/3                     Part 3/3

Happy reading!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Theory of relativity... Simple yet powerful example

I liked this very interesting piece and sharing it...

A father passing by his teenage daughter's bedroom was astonished to see the bed was nicely made and everything was neat and tidy. Then he saw an envelope propped up prominently on the centre of the pillow. It was addressed "Dad". With the worst premonition, he opened the envelope and read the letter with trembling hands:-

Dear Dad,
It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you, but I'm leaving home. I had to elope with my new boyfriend Randy because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you. I've been finding real passion with Randy and he is so nice to me. 

I know when you meet him you'll like him too - even with all his piercing, tattoos, and motorcycle clothes. But it's not only the passion Dad, I'm pregnant and Randy said that he wants me to have the kid and that we can be very happy together. 

Even though Randy is much older than me (anyway, 42 isn't so old these days is it?), and has no money, really these things shouldn't stand in the way of our relationship, don't you agree?

Randy has a great CD collection; he already owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. It's true he has other girlfriends as well but I know he'll be faithful to me in his own way. He wants to have many more children with me and that's now one of my dreams too.

Randy taught me that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone and he'll be growing it for us and we'll trade it with our friends for all the cocaine and ecstasy we want. In the meantime, we'll pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Randy can get better; he sure deserves it!!

Don't worry Dad, I'm 15 years old now and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure we'll be back to visit so you can get to know your grandchildren.

Your loving daughter,
Rosie.

At the bottom of the page were the letters "PTO".

Hands still trembling, her father turned the sheet, and read:

PS:

Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at the neighbour's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than my report card that's in my desk centre drawer. Please sign it and call when it is safe for me to come home.

I love you!

Your loving daughter,
Rosie.

Happy Reading!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Triple Filter Test

Do you believe that what comes out of mouth is as important as what goes in? This beautiful conversation highlights the importance. If interested read on.


In ancient Greece, scholar and intellectual, Dr. Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said,

"Do you know what I just heard about one of your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Dr. Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."

"Triple filter?" asked the man.

"That's right," Dr. Socrates continued.

"Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. That's why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and wanted to tell it to you"

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

"No, on the contrary, it is bad "

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, Because there's one filter left: the filter of usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really." Replied the man.

"Well," concluded Dr. Socrates, if what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, and nor even useful to me, why tell it to me at all ."

If this advice is strictly followed then there may be dangerous repercussions ranging from an entire gossip industry vanishing from the scene of public media to the extent of invisible explosions in the heads of incessant gossipers driving them to the visible limits of insanity.

My mind immediately tried to recollect what is available in our scriptures on this topic and i could recollect this. The beauty of these 2 lines is, it asks us to be careful even when speaking the truth too. 

satyam bruyat, priyam bruyat, na bruyat satyam apriyam
priyam ca nanrutam bruyat, esha dharmah sanatanah
Meaning:
1. Speak the truth
2. Speak what is pleasant
3. Never speak truth, which is unpleasant to others. Speak truth in such a way that it should be pleasing to others. 
4. Never speak untruth, which might be pleasant.
5. This is the path of eternal morality, sanatana dharma.
To speak truth is an eternal value irrespective of time and place. But the expression of truth should be accompanied by two conditions. Firstly, it should be presented in a loving manner and secondly it should be spoken for the betterment of others. How you speak is as important as what is said. Priyam means speech that does not hurt others. Hitam is something that is said for the good or betterment of others. One should be careful of speaking truth but not hurting others.
Linking the nature and quality of speech to core of Sanatana Dharma emphasizes the importance given to it.
Even if one of the 3 filters are applied, the world and our society would be a much better place live in. Don't you agree?

Happy Reading!
  

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Floating in the field of thought forms....Part 2/2

Part 1/2                    Part 2/2


This is part 2 of the blog and hence please read Part 1/2 before this.

The solution to protect ourselves for the above problem sounds very simple but we all find it very difficult to follow that.

Remember the key characteristic of thoughts? "Likes attract and opposites repel."

If we nurture good thoughts then only good thoughts approach us. This is the rule of thumb.  We reap what we sow is highly applicable to the thinking process than just physical actions. There is no other way to this. No wonder every religion and philosophy has talked about the importance of thoughts. 

Its so difficult for us to avoid bad thoughts that we always seems to be suffering from the influence of the thought forms that we have created which is hovering around us and also attracting like energies together.

The other important aspect to note is when we consistently think about a single thing then we are energizing that thought form and it becomes stronger.

The understanding that behind "Laws of attraction",  and other similar topics of discussion is based on  this fundamental principle, is a great moment of truth for me. When we yearn something so strongly, deeply from the heart, nurture it every day with more energy then it is said that universe shall find a way to align all its energies to get you that.


As the great Kahlil Gibran said, "There is a space between man’s imagination and attainment that only be traversed by longing".

The famous quotes of Frank outlaw, Rene Descretas are universal truths and cannot be ignored. (As a side note, you may be interested in this old blog of mine on these 2 quotes and why i have named my blog as Thinking Hearts here http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com/2008/10/thinking-hearts-why-have-i-named-it-so.html).

We all agree that a poor decision today under a bad influence can make all the difference between happy living and distressed survival. So more than the electromagnetic field we need to be aware and conscious of "The floating fields of thought forms" that is surrounding us and we need to protect ourselves. 

So lets believe in the power of thoughts, nurture good thoughts and this shall prove to be beneficially contagious and a force multiplier.


To sum up, 
We are (just) what we think (or) 
We are also what others think!, 

is actually a matter of choice of how and what we think :)

Life is all about mind over matter. If you don't mind, it does not matter :).
Yours thoughtfully, 

Happy reading! 


PS: 
Couple of beautiful Hindu sayings below which are generally recited daily for the general well being of the individual and the society.



Om sarveshaam swastir bhavatu
Sarveshaam shantir bhavatu
Sarveshaam poornam bhavatu
Sarveshaam mangalam bhavatu
Sarve bhavantu sukhinah
Sarve santu niraamayaah
Sarve bhadraani pashyantu
Maakaschit duhkha bhaag bhavet
Meaning:
May Auspiciousness (swasti) be unto all;
May peace (shanti) be unto all;
May fullness (poornam) be unto all;
May prosperity (mangalam) be unto all.
May all be happy! (sukhinah)
May all be free from disabilities! (niraamayaah)
May all look (pashyantu)to the good of others!
May none suffer from sorrow! (duhkha)

This is for the individual:
Om asato maa satgamaya
Tamaso maa jyotir gamaya
Mrityor maa amritam gamaya
Meaning:
Lead us from the unreal to the Real
From darkness to Light
From death to Immortality