Musings: Hail the frailty

 

We are conditioned and brought up in a world which eulogizes qualities like strength, hardness, manliness, power and mightiness. There is a very small section of people who recognize softness, womanhood, frailty and yielding can overcome the qualities of hardness and brutal force. This blog is an attempt to highlight that softness which is apparently a weak, meek and frail nature of things is superior to its manly counterpart on the following accounts:

1. In the process of evolution the more evolved things / beings are softer / weaker / meeker / more frail. That is harder and so called manliness are less evolved…. in the scheme of nature.
2. We can also see that the higher the complexity and criticality the softer the beings / things are. The same is true that the essence and quality of softer things / beings is higher and better than the hard / grosser items.

While it is true that manliness (Yang) and womanliness (Yin) are two sides of the same coin and one cannot exist without the other, but it is important to highlight that while celebrating the “Yang”ness we seem to belittle or condemn the “Yin”ness in anything.

So without ignoring the importance of Yin-yang balance, i am going to bat for the “Yin”ness and encourage you all to “Hail the frailty”, “Celebrate the meekness” and “Be proud of your weakness”.

First lets look at the nature’s scheme of evolution:

• In the plant life, the roots are the strongest part and the roots are stronger than the stem. The stem is stronger than the branches. The leaves, flowers and fruits are progressively softer / weaker than the earlier one. The seed which evolves from the fruits are the softest, weakest and most frail thing in the plant life. So what we see is essentially that as the evolution progresses the nature of things becomes more frail. The gross becomes subtle, and the hard evolves into soft.

“The duty of the root is in taking but the duty (beauty) of the fruit is in giving”… Isn’t giving is more evolved than taking?

Next lets look at the composition of human body:

• I am going to quote some concepts from TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) for it to be little more authoritative but if you ignore the framework of TCM and just logically look at this argument still this will hold good.
• There are 12 major organs in the body and these organs are classified as Yang organs and Yin organs. You can Google about Yin and Yang but broadly they refer to the bipolar nature of things viz. Yang / Yin represents - light / dark, hard /soft, man/woman, Heat / Cold etc in that order.
• The 6 Yang (male / hard) organs which are Gall bladder, Large Intestine, Small Intestine, Stomach, Urinary bladder and Triple warmer.
• The 6 Yin Organs are heart, Lungs, Liver, Kidney, Spleen and Pericardium.
• Needless to explain that as the internal body organs evolve the more critical the functions are the softer / weaker / more frail the organs.

Next lets look at the Yogic way of explanation on nature of bodies:

• Every living organism is made of multiple bodies primarily ranging from 3 to 5.
• They are Annamaya Kosha (Physical Body), Pranamaya Kosha (Etheric Body), Manonmaya Kosha (Astral Body), Vignanamaya Kosha (Mental Body) and the Anandamaya Kosha (Causal Body). Kosha actually means ‘Sheath” and not body. So it can be considered as layers.
• It is told that organisms like plants have the first 3 sheaths / bodies / layers and human beings and animals have 5. But irrespective of how many we have each one is more subtle than the previous one and causal body is the most subtle of them all.
• The point i am trying to make is not that one is superior to another since all the 5 form one organic entity but certainly in the scheme of nature the more a component / organism evolves the more subtle / frail / softer it becomes.

Let me also quote the words of our friend, Lao Tzu, highlights the importance of being soft, yielding etc. Generally Taoists say that we should be like water, very soft, very yielding, takes the shape of the container yet it can exert the greatest force and can overcome the hardest things like steel and rocks. In Tai Chi and other internal arts the brutal force of the opponent is not countered with an equally / more brutal force but with a soft / yielding force.

• “Yield and Overcome”…
• “Soft and weak overcome the hard and strong”… The softest thing in the universe overcomes the hardest thing.
• Returning is the motion of Tao.
• Yielding is the way of Tao”

• "To bend like a reed in the wind, that is real strength" - Taoist philosophy

We can stack more and more examples that highlight this phenomenon. So, let me summarize the argument:

• The secret of the nature and nature of the secrets are in Subtlety and are frail. At the primordial source the subtleness merges into / as formless. In other words the source has devolved into more gross things in nature and our evolution is in moving towards the source.
• If we claim woman to be more frail / weak than men, then does it not mean that they are more evolved than us.
• As one wise man said “Women when made equal to man, is superior to him”. That’s the reason in many cultures / races it is designed as a male dominated society.
• No wonder women, being more subtle, they are tuned to finer things. They can see 15 odd shades between any 2 colors segments to pick up a matching dress but most men cant see anything more than 7 colors… all hues and tints put together. It applies to other aspects also.
• Isn’t rather unfortunate that we see a “Yang” driven world where woman having ignored their “Yin”/ feminine qualities want to live and behave like a man? Isn’t this a downward spiral movement?
• If this is applicable from every organism to macro universe then why is that we shun and belittle the subtler, frail and weaker scheme of things within us. Why is weakness abhorred? Why should it be strengthened?
• By this logic, is it not the weakness  and frailty in us the most evolved aspect or part of us? Should we not recognize this and celebrate this instead of shunning / belittling this?
• Isn’t love forgiveness and divinity are the most subtle aspects of human life?

The pendulum of nature has swung too much to the Yang side and the desire is to see the pendulum swing back before it balances itself close to the median.

“Might is right only if we are in a fight". If we consider life is a journey and not a race then lets celebrate our meekness, be proud of our weakness and Hail the frailty.

 

Yours frailly

Happy Reading !

Musings: When the "Seeker is the Sought"

Does the cooking vessel understand the sweetness of the dish it has cooked? It does not. One Tamil Siddhar compared human being to this stating that we are all like cooking utensils who do not understand the divinity within us.  I have given this beautiful poem in Tamil at the bottom of this blog with meaning.

In another instance attributed to mystic Sufi woman Rabia Al Adawia, she lost something inside her house and was searching for it under a street light outside her house. When asked how she can find what she has lost inside the house by searching it outside the house and why she is doing it, she quipped that there is light here and there is no light inside the house. To me, this parable has  great significance since the seeker is seeking something outside while what he / she has lost is deep inside.

We are continuously seeking something. The emphasis is on the direction of the search which is always directed outside but at one of point time in our life has to be be redirected within us. This is the journey inside when the Seeker seeks and realizes that seeker is the sought.

Not sure why such philosophical thoughts emerge when you are physically and mentally tired, but it surfaced yesterday when i was waiting at Mumbai airport taking the 20.20hrs flight to Bangalore which was delayed by over an hour. The working day was very hectic and I was brain dead. Its then the above 2 thoughts surfaced and i quickly scribbled the following lines as i settled inside the aircraft... Hope you like them.

"What did the seeker seek?

and

Where did the seeker seek?

As the seer peeks out within the seeker

Yet the sought is seen outside the seeker

In a materialistic world, marching to death

The seeker seeks the sought, that isn't worth

For what is lost is deep inside

Yet the lost is sought since there is light outside !

Lost somewhere, yet its sought elsewhere

A search so wrong, however hard leads nowhere

With love as the goal & life as the journey,

With the eyes closed, the wise tame the (mind) monkey

The blind search in the darkness lay

The brightest light showing the natures way

As the sought is seen

Beyond the soul of the dark night 

The wisdom dawns in us
Not by the seeker getting to his sought

But by realizing that
"The Seeker is the Sought"!

Yes,

May the wisdom dawn

That "The Seeker is the Sought"!"

Happy reading

PS:

This is a poem by Siddhar Sivakkyar. His compilation of about 400 odd poems is one of the best i have read. The line is consistent that the divinity is within us and lets not waste time and energy in rituals and idol worship. The following poem is a classic if you can read Tamil and understand the multidimensional power of these words. The last line of the poem is generally quipped by the wise when they come across some adamant or idiotic characters that they can't get them to see the truth / beauty.

நட்ட கல்லை தெய்வம் என்று நாலு புஷ்பம் சாற்றியே

சுற்றி வந்து சொல்லும் மந்திரம் முணு முணு என்று ஏனடா 

நட்ட கல்லும் பேசுமோ நாதன் உள்ளிருக்கையில் 

சுட்ட சட்டி சட்டுவம் கறி சுவை அறியுமோ! 

The meaning as i understand is as follows:

"You have installed a stone, calling it an idol / god and you are decorating it with flowers,

You are going around the idol and chanting mantras, why?

When the god is within you why are you expecting the installed stone to speak with you,

Does the cooking utensil know the sweetness of the dish inside.  

For those who like tamil siddhar poems check this out which was blogged by me some time back. http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com/2009/09/blog-post.html

You may also like another blog http://ragsgopalan.blogspot.com/2009/01/musings-when-doer-disappears-yet-doing.html "When the doer disappears yet the doing continues"  

Key Indian gene decoded as I-1H-3C

 

Self proclaimed scientist, notorious individual well known in the field of lunacy Dr. Rags Gopalan is claiming to have decoded major part of the Indian gene, which has remained so far a mystery to many of the leading scientists. Instead of protecting the discovery with patents and intellectual property rights he has publicly disclosed the mystic code for the general benefit of the Indian public.

The rest of the article given below is the transcript of the disclosure done by Dr. Rags Gopalan.

“From time immemorial man has been inquisitive about nature. Composition of man’s own nature has been very illusive and not known to us for a long time. Currently it is believed that the field of Genetics and human gene details may hold the most primordial and secretive key code for the nature of all living beings.

While for the last half decade we have been making progress but the break through which we have achieved today is significant because of the following reasons:

1. So far all the genetics studies points that the genetic composition of one human being is very unique from the other. Hence it was difficult to establish a common gene across a race or a population. This revelation seems to have identified a common gene that is predominantly available across 1 billion population and more.
2. Many of the theories are formulated from research labs assiduously conducted and researched experiments, collating test results over a long period of time. This is the first time such a eminent result has been published using introspection, retrospection techniques, inducting and deducting reasons from behavioral science and that too at 30000 feet above sea level.
3. Most of the DNA codes represent the chemical composition of the gene but this discovery actually reveals the behavioral composition of the human gene.

While many of may be little perplexed at the above techniques and may not agree fully with the results, but lets understand as to when has the world and the “so called erudite society” has learned to appreciate anything from contemporaries. If you are little smart and believe in “Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion”, then consider this as opinion and read on.

Lets look at the composition of the human gene now.

3C: The 3Cs that make up our gene are Corruption, Caste-ism and Chaos.

• Corruption: The latest report from Transparency Index (2010) suggests that India is ranked in 87th place out of 1787 countries. It has slipped from 84th position to 87th place.

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results

I am pleasantly surprised at the results like many others. Considering there could be statistical errors and bias in a large global study we should be happy that we are not yet listed among the last 10% though we may be seriously there.

Check this site out… http://www.corruptioninindia.org/

Every effort to estimate the extent of corruption in India would fail. Recent study suggested that 30% of the Indians are totally corrupt and 50% of them are on the wall who would use bribery as a tool under necessity. Lets also give credit to the 20% who are either very upright and honest based on value system or due to the fact that they are not tested enough.

As one wise man said “Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country”.

Much to the chagrin of some of you i can confidently state that corruption is one of the founding pillars of Indian democracy and i would tend to believe that the concept of democracy in India would crumble if corruption is to be eliminated tomorrow. While this is a sweeping statement, the belief comes from the fact Corruption as a phenomenon is a democratized social tool that enables anyone from the bottom most rung in the society to come up in politics and make money unlike countries like Pakistan where very few of them make it.

“Corruption party of India” is not certainly an acronym for CPI but every party has a stake in it as an “adjective” and it has become an equal opportunity phenomenon.

• Caste-ism: Lets agree that we are the most “caste-ist” society in the world. The difference between being a casteist and racist is in the width and depth and nothing else. This concept is deeply rooted in our subconscious mind and cannot be easily uprooted. The fact that every election is fought on caste / religion is not the root cause but a symptom that exploits the disposition. This is deeply rooted in our genes and culture and let me quote a very simple example from history.

Current day Kerala is called as “Parasurama Kshetram” (land of Parasuram). For the benefit of few who don’t know the pedigree of Parasuram… he is the 6th Avataar of Lord Vishnu before Lord Rama. He is the guru of King Karna in Mahabharata. He was born in a Brahmin family and hated the Kshatriyas clan and took vow to clean Kshatriyas for 21 generations. This deep rooted hatred came from the fact that his father (Sage Jamadagni) was killed by a king and Parasuram’s mother died along with her husband beating her chest 21 times.

In Indian mythology in those times there was no place called Kerala and the ocean (Arabian sea) started immediately after current Tamil Nadu border & Gokarna in Karnataka. Sage Parasuram, wanted to retire and he donated all the land he conquered. But after donating he noticed that he did not have any place to live / retire. He meditated and the Lord Varuna (God of water / Oceans) who came about to gave him a boon. “Throw your axe into the sea and till the distance the axe falls the sea shall withdraw and shall become your land”. Parasuram throws his axe and hence Kerala was formed reclaiming land from sea.

But beauty of Psychology of people and the importance of caste is revealed then. He got 64 families from the current Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to settle in his land and wanted to build the society. Since the place received incessant rains and for other reasons the families returned back to their native place. Sage Parasuram tried this few times and failed to retain them there. That’s when he thought that the only way to make them stay permanently in his land is when their native society rejects them as “strangers / people of different caste”. So he changed 64 of the existing customs / rituals and appearance to the new families ….like the Kerala Namboodri’s hair style which is different from the other clan in south India.

After this change in appearance and ritual when the families got back to their native place, the localities found these people to be very different from them and rejected them. So these families came back to Kerala and built their societies.

So the bottom line is as follows:

1. As human beings we have a very innate and deep rooted psychology to differentiate ourselves from the society, thinking that we are very unique with our customs and traditions and appearance. Our ability divide ourselves based on external factors are very high. Does not matter how well we preach about equality this is inherent. Lets be clear that this is not unique to India but to every country, every religion, every state, based on very language, and understandably to every human being in this world. If we belong to the same state then we want it divided into 2, If we are in the religion then we want different castes in it. These castes splits further into tribes of castes and so on.
2. The psychology of this deep rooted phenomenon is very well known to smart people and this has been exploited very well from time immemorial. This continues even today and this would continue till the world exists.
3. In modern day the concept of caste is more embedded in societal status and materialism than actual belief. Today this is about lower middle class, middle class and upper class mentality. In corporate world its about senior management, middle management and working class. The division exists in every aspect of our life and we just have to be sensitive enough to recognize it.

So since this phenomenon is a global factor we are the most caste-ist society since this is embedded in our genes for time immemorial.

• Chaos: We should take pride in the fact that one of our key differentiators is the ability to find a “method in madness”. While this is again a symptom and the way we have adapted ourselves as a society, the deep rooted reasons are a blend of “Indiscipline, contempt for a process and our deep rooted noncompliance to anything without a carrot or stick”. I am not going to elaborate anything on this as the best way to understand this to be little more circumspective. If you still don’t agree then  the circumspection isn’t sufficiently deep.

Now lets get to the next part of the code.

1H: Hypocrisy. We are also possibly the most hypocritical society. We seem to pretend that we represent the most ideal society in the world and seems to throw up a tantrum and utter surprise if anything that crops up in the society. This is basically because we want every one around us to be ideal but the same standards are not applicable to us.

Every idiot in the country knows how rotten the real estate market is. Its impossible to buy a house / property in Mumbai or Delhi without a significant % of this being in cash. Needless to add that a cash transaction is necessarily to subvert the legal charges and to generate a black market economy. 99% of the real estate transactions in the country are corrupt and i am excluding 1% since i sold my property with no component of cash, … just to include some suckers like me in this club.

While this is not surprising, but the way we react to something like Adarsh Scam is very surprisingly interesting. That’s where the hypocrisy is rooted. Every guy who commented against this scam would not have had a real estate transaction that is fully legal. I can bet on this.

This extends to we imposing exacting standards to Judiciary, Defense, Educational institutions, religious institutions, Adult entertainment etc. Every thing has emanated from the society and everything is as good or as rotten …. partially or substantially. The variation is just in the degree.

Maharashtra Chief Minister should still be wondering as to why he was asked to quit. My reasoning is “May be some one very close to power did not like his face. Nothing more, nothing less”.

I: Indifference: As a nation we are very Indifferent to ourselves. May be we don’t take pride in ourselves as a society. May be we don’t feel strong enough  as a part of this society. Does not matter what the issue is but this is the root cause. Every other problem can be solved if we can address this deficiency, but unfortunately this is the deepest and the strongest problem. As one wise man quoted “Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil”.

We can even safely conclude the Indifference and Hypocrisy are the parents of all other deficiencies / off springs of our nation. I would be happy to live in a society that is little intolerant than fully apathetic for they may be some hope that the pendulum shall swing to the other end. But in our society its indifference - firmly rooted in the middle, well balanced - for any meaningful movement to the desired end has become an eternal longing.

Had we been less indifferent then we would have legalized corruption or eliminated it, we would be having a more matured censor board and managed adult entertainment in  a better way, than taking a moralistic approach and have a thriving private adult entertainment industry, we would have legalized prostitution, for we would have better sense of cleanliness & social hygiene in our neighborhood etc etc...

Is it wrong to say that “our democracy thrives in the indifference of the majority.”

The best example i can think of Indifference and Hypocrisy is the fact that we still call Mr. Manmohan Singh as the most clean prime minister. If one has the distinction of presiding over some of the the largest scams in Indian history and that too with silently active complicity then being called as Mr. Clean makes me feel nauseating. There are millions of Indians who are as clean as Mr. Singh (there are no reasons to believe that he is a personal beneficiary in these scams), but if one is complicit in his subordinates looting the country, his party & colleagues being the beneficiary then that person is far from being Mr. Clean. The hope for judicial and governance reforms under Mr. Singh’s reign was given a deep burial even before this was hatched.

On a serious note dropping the sarcasm, as one wise man said “The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.”

Such a long blog is not because i have given up hope on our nation but its the helplessness and anger that hurts the ego, pride and love for our nation.

So the need of the hour is to be less Indifferent and less hypocritical and that change would possibly mutate our genes for the better. Till then please understand that its absolutely fine if I state “Yatha Praja, thatha Raja, Yatha Raja, thatha Spectrum Raja :)” (The way common man is, so is the king) and till then lets not agree that our genetic code certainly is “I-1H-3C”…. (for if we all agree we shall be less hypocritical).

 

Happy reading!

 

May the festival of lights help you find the light within...

Priya joins me in wishing you and your family a fun filled and happy Diwali!

"May a thousand suns make your life brighter
May a thousand moons make your life healthier

May a thousand prayers make your life peaceful
May a thousand sparkles make your life Joyful

May a thousand smiles make your life stronger
May a thousand sweets make your life sweeter

May the festival of lights on this autmn night

May help you fight the fight within!

May the festival of lights on this autmn night
May help you find the might within!

May the festival of lights on this autmn night
May bring forth the delight within!"

May the festival of lights on this autmn night
May help you find the light within!"

Happy Diwali!..

Happy reading!