Renewal

Sadhguru's talk at TED India

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:18:12 PST

Nothing much left to say - he owned the stage!

The blue planet

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:33:54 PST

The earth is in a very precarious position. On the one side, on a universal scale, it amounts to nothingness in size. On the other end, it is amazingly resilient. Given the uncertainty, where if the sun decides tomorrow, it can gobble up the earth in no time, it has already lasted five million years or so.

What is more, it is at that exact spot away from the sun in distance that sustains conscious life. It is also said that the water inside the earth got unlocked with precise timing to form oceans*. While I am certain there is life outside earth - by sheer probability from the vastness of the universe, there is currently no known concrete proof of conscious life outside planet earth.

This blue planet is truly a wondrous miracle. It is living two realities at the same time - potential overnight annihilation, yet this incredible colorful dance - like tightrope walking*. Somewhere, somehow, I feel that life placed the wrong sort of guests on this planet. The thing that keeps me in peace is that, tomorrow, if one smart guy nukes the planet, the earth will still be fine -just the humans would be gone. Another five thousand or ten thousand years later, after the trees and oceans and rivers are replenished, she will start from scratch - may be with a sigh! I do feel sorry for the forests, rivers and animals though.

Sorry Ma - we're too big for our shoes, and you must be smiling looking at us!

*1 - Too early, it would have vaporized into space. Too late, it would have inundated the planet without any feasibility to create life.

*2 - It is said that, if the earth was created on Jan 1st, the first humans walked in during Dec 31st, 11:45 PM!

*3 - A few years ago, I wrote a story about this. More like a rambling about what we're doing and what we can do!

Global Warming: Time lapse proof of extreme ice loss into oceans

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:44:45 PST

To add to the existing "debate" and "ambiguity". I will do my bit to muddle the already existing chaos. Unless we get clarity on what's going on, aren't these evidences cause for a little bit of concern at least?

Things that hit us eventually

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:41:54 PDT

Things that we were stupid about
Things that we did not care about
Things that we turned our back on (passed the responsibility on)

The biggie (and the seemingly most unfair one)
Things that we were ignorant about

Learning from (others') mistakes!

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:14:05 PDT

I remember that night I was standing in the balcony many years ago, holding a cigarette in my hand. I was playing out a deep dilemma whether I wanted to take in my first cigarette or not. My friend walked into the balcony, and was shocked to see the cigarette in my hand.

"What are you doing with that cigarette?"

"I am just thinking if I should smoke this or not."

"Why would you want to smoke that?"

"Just experimenting"

"Take my advice. My addiction with cigarettes started with that first one, and I am still struggling. Don't take it."

I did take it - his advice that is! And I am glad I did. Given how I handle things in my life, I am sure I would at this point be "trying" or "planning" to quit smoking. But is there anything wrong in experimenting? No! But why would you want to experiment with something that his been tried already and a historical legacy of the results are available? One reason I think is that "experimenting" results in "experience" which engages multiple dimensions of yourself to register the results. The pleasure or the mistake (pain/suffering) is stored and can be accessed, perhaps, without even thinking. The way of intelligence is different. It involves short-circuiting to the end result without experience. Which means it needs insight - shallow or deep depending on the circumstance. The deeper the insight, more are the vistas that are available for making decisions without experience. While experience is a powerful communicator of results, it is a very slow process of creation and evolution. With intelligence, very rapid strides can be made in progress (any form of progress - learning, spiritual or decision making) because bypassing experience allows leaps in the journey.

It is quite intelligent to rely on intelligence!

Creating a protective atmosphere

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:07:30 PDT

I feel that a lot of restlessness in the world might be loosened if only we took away some silly constraints we have. I imagine there are people who might feel a lot better if they just let out one high pitched scream. What are the possibilities of doing that today without being judged or labeled? I think even bathroom singing is an outcome of this fear of judgement.

All of this started when we asked children jumping around in the house to shut up. For a better world, I think we need to reverse this. At least in our homes. There should be at least one place where people can be without their defenses.

Help me

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 02:24:21 PDT

I takes a lot of courage to say those words.

One the one side, people might think it is a matter of finding the right person to say those words. Right person in terms of not exploiting or not looking down upon someone asking help.

But there is a larger obstacle beyond the first one - which is that of exposing one's vulnerability in asking help. This is nothing less than a stumbling block - because it involves putting all or a part of oneself aside in the process of asking help.

When you encounter such a person who can help you, the sooner you say those words, the better. And it need not be verbal.

a million shades of gray

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:03:28 PDT

the sky a giant canvas
on that cool dusk
a million shades of gray
splashed on it
as strokes of light and cloud
the mountain ranges afar
might have been silhouettes
the one with a peak perched on the peak
standing out on the sight
eerie to behold,
an ominous tone it all struck
but a feeling of awe said otherwise
a thought it gave rise to
"only you can show off so much and yet be humble"

Note: I am glad I didn't have a camera then. Now it's all left to your imagination :)

Is Global Warming for real?

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:20:55 PDT

On the one end, we have people like Lewis Pugh swimming in the north pole, trying to gather the attention of world leaders to the momentum global warming is gathering. On the other hand, we have the people who can actually amass momentum towards the direction of reducing our emissions and in turn reduce the impact of (the hypothesized) global warming. But they are in very firm denial. Me, honestly, every cell in my body thinks GW is real. But I have no proof. I've seen people splitting their hairs arguing both sides of it. But there is a reality - and what it is, we will know in ten years from now. What if it is too late then? Seriously, either the deniers are sincerely convinced that the GW threat is a fad, or that is their pitch to maintain status quo. The latter would be such a crying shame!

The video below shows Lewis Pugh's talk at TED and a snippet of his north pole swim project. The footage that showed the polar bear and its cub brought tears to my eyes. This is such an amazing creation - and if we lose this from here, I will never be able to forgive myself. We have no capability to create an iota of this magnificence, so how come we are so irresponsible with the destruction!

Of love and righteousness

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:12:54 PDT

you have a thousand reasons to hate
but so few to love, oh silly human!
as leaves from the tree of life wither by
at the end of it all
"i was right" would be but just an empty shell
waiting to crumble into the sands of time!

Showing Appreciation

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:18:56 PDT

One of the biggest corporate mantras is to show appreciation. "Good job", "Keep it up" - these are ubiquitous phrases one encounters on a day to day basis. I am sure they mean well, but my feeling is that it inevitably degenerates to a process.

In life, it is said that everything proceeds from a be -> think -> say -> do paradigm. In other words, you "be" what you want to create, then you think about it, they say it (optionally) and then finally do. The "be" part is critical because it is vital energy for the action. I feel this "be" aspect is missing many times in the "showing appreciation" scenario. A vital connection between the appreciator and the appreciatee is missing as a result.

The fix is that all complements need to go through a "genuine feeling" quality check before they transcend into words.

* I made appreciatee up

Dhyanalinga, Death and the Andhra CM

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:14:35 PDT

My friend visited the Dhyanalinga yesterday, for the first time.

Inside the temple, the thought that crossed him was: this is a fleeting life and will be gone without a moment's notice. Why would that thought come to him? And when the news of the Andhra CM's demise came in, it only reinforced his thought, very strongly. He was almost teary eyed and was saying - "We do all these things in life. For what? It could all be gone in a moment!"

Very weird - the way the Dhyanalinga works. Unfortunately, I've been able to glimpse this only in fleeting moments. What does it take!

Note: It's unfortunate that the CM had to pass away like this. But we were talking about that as well in the office today. How could we not find him for 24 hours+? It looks like our technological skills are sorely lacking and reflects very badly on our state of affairs. And this is the CM! I hope and wish all that passed away in that incident passed on peacefully.

Update - 5th Sep 2009: The next day, I saw the photograph of the Dhyanalinga on my friend's desk with fresh flowers in front of it. Whatever!

When trouble strikes...

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:02:20 PDT

This is a rehash of my post in tamil:

When trouble strikes our personal lives - we have to take action. Life leaves us no other choice.

However, in the common lives we share (societal and environmental), any common issue is promptly ignored (in India this is 100% true). Throw into the mix incompetent or careless officials, you have a truly vegetating atmosphere. Normally, we do one of the things

- We learn to live tolerating the mess
- We seethe with anger, then move on with our lives
- We rot with the rotting mess

You can see this in multiple facets - traffic signals, irresponsible police work and what not. A negligible few (not so negligible in impact, as I learnt recently) learn to live without worsening the problems and do their bit to clean up. But this will work only if a sustainable mass takes this approach, and is the true long term solution. The rare few go down to the roots and clean up a problem completely.

I witnessed an example recently of Ramesh. The water in his mansion stay area was contaminated with fecal matter to the tune of 36%. I still cannot believe this percentage and the fact that the owner did nothing to address this. His account of how he faced so many hurdles over the past ten months overcoming abuse from police, the owner and finally rectified the issue is present in the following blog posts of his. He has even posted recordings of "police inquiry" and "water inspector inquiry" in his blog.

In spite of reading all this, I am in doubt if we can pursue the same course of action with the same courage and determination that he has. Perhaps, that is what separates people in quality!

1) The true face of Tamil Nadu police
2) A success from the side of Dharma

Sublimation of Sensitivity

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:28:39 PDT

I remember a scene from the Tamil movie Bheema.

The hero is a brute, who grows up fighting. Until, as usual, he falls in love. So he calls his roommate one morning and points to a flower.

He tells him - "See that?"
His room mate shrugs - "A flower has blossomed"
He tells his room mate - "A flower has blossomed" (hope you got the emphasis and the change in context)

Essentially, he has been living his live in one way. Until the feeling of love changes the way he looks at things that appeared mundane earlier.

At scale zero - a person butchers through life. Everything and everyone is a means to his end. Driving forces are power, food and sex.
Some where in the middle - the threshold changes. The person appreciates somethings for what they really are, but a lot of other things still remain out of grasp. Here, still the goal is to fulfill his end of things, but through subtler means - knowledge, ambition.
At scale infinity - a person is blissed out just by the sheer perception of his existence.

Unless we are at scale zero, which is very low probability, we should be able to realize that these sensitivities can be sublimated. And higher up we go, more work needs to be done and more fulfilling the experiences are.

In general, our effort should be to grasp the highest sensitivity we can imagine - or have experienced once and have fallen back for whatever reasons. The higher we go, the more vistas that open up. I don't think there is any other meaningful way to live!

Building a climate of trust

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:43:24 PDT

I was travelling on my 2-wheeler last night (~3AM), when a man asked me for a lift. I didn't stop.

There was no thinking involved. It was an impulse decision. But the impulse is a by product of so much that happened before. Especially, stories I heard about muggings that happened in Bangalore. Systematically, they had broken down a simple act of helping another person by making use of the feeling in itself*.

Anyway, my post was not to provide an excuse of why I did not stop my vehicle. Accounting for 80-20 probability (80 being, the man really needed a lift), I could have stopped the vehicle. But after I passed on, I felt very sad at what transpired.

So my question is, what can we do to rebuild this trust between two human beings. Especially when it costs close to nothing to help another? If I review the kind of things that are doubt prone today, it is mind boggling:

- If someone asks to watch over their bags where they step out for a moment
- If someone offers some food or snacks on the bus or train out of genuine friendliness
- If someone asks for a lift on the road
- If someone asks for five rupees to get a bus ticket back home

Can we undo the damage and bring back a trusting environment? Or beyond repair?

* - In Bangalore, they used to mug people by posing as a desperate bystander needing help. The courteous ones who stopped got mugged. Then as news spread, people started to not stop. So, the muggers enlisted a woman to stop the car. It is much harder to not stop when a desperate woman is asking for help in the night. Then, the courteous ones got mugged again. Today, no one stops. So, a really needy person owing to whatever circumstances is bound to be ignored at night.

Inside Job

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:54:41 PDT

A scene in Training Day:
A few thugs hold the barrel of a gun on Ethan Hawke's face. This is the kind of gun, if used on the fingers, would rip them off completely. Needless to say, Ethan Hawke is terrified to the core. But as twist of fate would have it, or his good karma (he earlier saves one of the thugs' cousin sister from danger), he comes out of it.

But the episode changes his stance totally. He walks into a very hostile neighborhood with a new found calm and does what he is supposed to do. That NDE (near death experience) mutates him completely into a new plane. However, technically, nothing much changed on the outside (a few thugs pointed a gun at him and let him go). It is just that, the incident broke some limitation inside him.

In spirituality, they say everything is an inside job. So much to the extent that it includes everything we perceive through the senses, that we think is outside, down to what we experience and how we respond. So, can we make whatever changes we need to make within us without outside help?

Eventually, the change will happen only on the inside. But we certainly can make good use of available outside help - which is essentially every life situation we face everyday!

Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:55:09 PDT

Happiness is a decision. In our conquest of the world, we often hand it over to the object of our conquest.

Note: The image in this post is licensed with creative commons.

The copyright for this image belongs to deepakkt. Click on the image or here to view the image on deepakkt's website.

Soliloquy

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:10:36 PDT

Over the last week, I met (came across) at least two folks who were talking to themselves. One of them was clearly distressed. I couldn't help overhearing (because he was quite loud) - and it appeared either his wife, or someone he knew well and cared about was having an affair. He wasn't aware he was talking out aloud though.

The strange thing is, there is not much difference between them and us. Most of us are soliloquists. It is just that, for some of us, the degree just crosses the bar where it moves from within one's mind to aloud for everyone to hear. But that is only of social relevance. On the existential scale, all of us are in the same boat.

What is relevant here is how much in the grip of the mind we are all in. There doesn't have to be a problem per se. The mind likes to mull over just about anything. Yesterday's match, today's movie or about tomorrow's big party! Just how fast and how needlessly the machine is spinning can be understood if we sit down and watch it for just one hour even.

So three things:

1) Judging others is meaningless. It is just that watching oneself is harder than watching others

2) Take a pause, once a while, for reflection!

3) Finally, it is action like this (in unawareness) that is said to cause karma [residual imprint of actions] - as if what is already in store isn't enough! We can do very well to not build on what we already have in store.

Match Scratch Fever

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 06:41:20 PDT

I originally posted this as a comment on Rams' blog, then realized that this is too good to stay on a comment. No substantiation required; watch this, it would be worthwhile! This is too charming [and deep] to be unnoticed!

While you're at it, you can also link back to the original post on Rams' blog and watch that as well. That would have been better as a video instead of a series of HTML pages.

This is an abundant creation

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:11:59 PDT

Some time back, it was mildly drizzling in Coimbatore. A friend had come to visit me at home after visiting the Isha Yoga Center, which is about 35 kms away from my place. He told me there was a torrential downpour there all through the weekend. That time, I just remarked to him - "It's funny. With the forest there, that's the place that least needs the rain."

Suddenly, it struck me, it is always that way. During one Satsang, Saduguru laughed and said*, "It's funny. The people who have a lot of need for relationships do not get them. The person who has no needs, all the people want to be around him."

This is an abundant creation. Abundance attracts abundance. The creation, just on the physical plane is so abundant. Some years back, I was reading that there are over 1500 species of catfish. Not fish, just catfish. I thought to myself at that time, "This guy is a total nut case.". The sun is so extremely powerful that it sustains the earth effortlessly. Just assuming that there were five or six more planets on the earth's orbit, it would sustain them just as easily. Yet, the sun is not even a speck on the universal scale.

It is almost as if the Universe is trying to show us through its physical immensity what lies behind that. But if you choose not to live abundantly, existence still blesses you and leaves you to live as per your wish. Most of humanity seems to have said "Yes, thank you" and have taken that option.

* - I am quoting this out of context, but it still stands on its own. It also may not be verbatim

India, my love

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:33:45 PDT

I am trying to think how best I can express my views on this. I won't succeed.

This is not patriotism. This is not a geographical identification. This is a spiritual identification. This is the land that gave me the light of my life. This is the land, that from time immemorial fixed its sight on the divine. It saw poverty. It saw famine. It saw war. It saw vengeance and blood. Yet, standing out like a shining star, on the under current lies its glorious connection with Infinity! It saw seers and sages, who by their sheer presence raised the consciousness of the planet. Yet, some did more. They stepped down, stretched out their hand, and pulled the willing ones as part of themselves. It is unbridled love, unabashed compassion, life encompassing life, that this land gave in the form of the One who knew. The Guru. The One who is limited and unlimited at once. This land that saw them walking on its sacred ground every other day - to this day.

Yet, is India, the space that is confined by three oceans on its sides and the mighty Himalayas on its crown? No! It is more. In fact, one of the Ones said as much as this: That he who strived for divinity itself is an Indian. And he who was born on this geographical space, yet knew nothing of the divine is not an Indian. Yes, such is the space this hallowed land created. As much impact as this has, that any man who awakens within, whereever on this planet, would have his roots in this space. India, my love. My land that gave me my light. Blessed are those who had the privilege of trodding this space.

On this day, the Guru Poornima, I know not how to pay my tributes to the Ones who awakened, or the Ones who did more - that to reach out to the clueless. I know not what to say. The One, and this space called India - so intertwined inseperably - please bless us all to be on the path. I need not ask, we already are!

Note: Was I blabbering above? I probably was. The insufficiency of words for something that is so beyond words. Anyway, I have this poem of Paramahansa Yogananda with me, which I reproduce below. It tells about this space called India, which so much of us have no clue about. On this day, it is a privilege to even think about this land and the Ones who trod this space.

My India

Not where the musk of happiness blows,

Not where darkness and fears never tread;

Not in the homes of perpetual smiles,

Nor in the heaven of a land of prosperity

Would I be born

If I must put on mortal garb once more.

Dread famine may prowl and tear my flesh,

Yet would I love to be again

In my Hindustan.

A million thieves of disease

May try to steal the body's fleeting health;

And clouds of fate

May shower scalding drops of searing sorrow -

Yet would I there, in India,

Love to reappear!

Is this love of mine blind sentiment

That sees not the pathways of reason?

Ah, no! I love India,

For there I learned first to love God

and all things beautiful.

Some teach to seize the fickle dewdrop, life,

Sliding down the lotus leaf of time;

Stubborn hopes are built

Around the gilded, brittle body-bubble.

But India taught me to love

The soul of deathless beauty in the dewdrop

and the bubble -

Not their fragile frames.

Her sages taught me to find my Self,

Buried beneath the ash heaps

Of incarnations of ignorance.

Though many a land of power, plenty, and science

My soul, garbed sometimes as an Oriental,

Sometimes as an Occidental,

Travelled far and wide,

Seeking Itself;

At last, in India, to find Itself.

Though mortal fires raze all her homes

and golden paddy fields,

Yet to sleep on her ashes and dream immortality,

O India, I will be there!

The guns of science and matter

Have boomed on her shores

Yet she is unconquered.

Her soul is free evermore!

Her soldier saints are away,

To rout with realization's ray

The bandits of hate, prejudice, and patriotic selfishness;

And to burn the walls of separation dark

Between children of the One, One Father.

The Western brothers by matter's might

have conquered my land;

Blow, blow aloud, her conch shells all!

India now invades with love,

To conquer their souls.

Better than Heaven or Arcadia

I love Thee, O my India!

And thy love I shall give

To every brother nation that lives.

God made the earth;

Man made confining countries

And their fancy-frozen boundaries.

But with newfound boundless love

I behold the borderland of my India

Expanding into the world.

Hail, mother of religions, lotus, scenic beauty,

And sages!

Thy wide doors are open,

Welcoming God's true sons through all ages.

Where Ganges, woods, Himalayan caves, and men dream God -

I am hallowed; my body touched that sod.

- P.Yogananda

- From Songs of The Soul

Note 2: Osho has talked about India. The title of the book is the title of the post above.

The day the leapord lied down with the baboon...

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:15:48 PDT

(you might want to watch the video before reading on)

This video hits me *so hard* emotionally. It was nature's answer for the question "What do you do when you have no clue what needs to be done?". So when I see a hurt dog on the road, or some men about to kill another man, I know what to do, yet I do not know what to do. Totally ironic, yet makes so much sense. It is another way to say "You can be responsible even though your actions can be limited or nil".

Sadly, by morning, the baby baboon passed away, mostly because it was famished I think. Consider these:

* The leopard notices the baby baboon after it killed its mother
* The leopard stayed with the baby until morning (all through the night) even though it had no clue what to do with it - until the baboon went still.

I put the behavior by the leopard on the same lines of the behavior by Hakuin, the great zen master below. BTW, the narration of the story is by Osho. Osho is talking about detachment below, but there is another aspect. Hakuin wasn't expecting the baby, yet he did what was required to be done. The first time I read this narration of the story (there are other versions on the net, but it doesn't have the same impact as when I read it in Osho's words), tears welled up in my eyes, and I did not even know why!

In a village where the great Zen master Hakuin was living, a girl became pregnant. Her father bullied her for the name of her lover and, in the end, to escape punishment she told him it was Hakuin. The father said no more, but when the time came and the child was born, he at once took the baby to Hakuin and threw it down. "It seems that this is your child," he said, and he piled on every insult and sneer at the disgrace of the affair.

Hakuin only said, "Oh, is that so?" and took the baby in his arms. Wherever he went thereafter, he took the baby, wrapped in the sleeve of his ragged robe. During rainy days and stormy nights he would go out to beg milk from the neighboring houses. Many of his disciples, considering him fallen, turned against him and left. And Hakuin said not a word.

Meantime, the mother found she could not bear the agony of separation from her child. She confessed the name of the real father, and her own father rushed to Hakuin and prostrated himself, begging over and over for forgiveness. Hakuin said only, "Oh, is that so?" and gave him the child back.

For the ordinary man what others say matters too much, because he has nothing of his own. Whatever he thinks he is, is just a collection of opinions of other people. Somebody has said, "You are beautiful," somebody has said, "You are intelligent," and he has been collecting all these. Hence he's always afraid: he should not behave in such a way that he loses his reputation, respectability. He is always afraid of public opinion, what people will say, because all that he knows about himself is what people have said about him. If they take it back, they leave him naked. Then he does not know who he is, ugly, beautiful, intelligent, unintelligent. He has no idea, even vaguely, of his own being; he depends on others.

But the man of meditation has no need of others' opinions. He knows himself, so it does not matter what others say. Even if the whole world says something that goes against his own experience, he will simply laugh. At the most, that can be the only response. But he is not going to take any step to change people's opinion. Who are they? They don't know themselves and they are trying to label him. He will reject labeling. He will simply say, "Whatever I am, I am, and this is the way I am going to be."

Paradigm Shift

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 07:44:09 PDT

What is it?
It is a shift in perception from one experiential plane to another. It re contextualizes our experience based on new definitions totally unconnected with earlier ones. It might be something that is desirable (think about some experience like love or compassion) or something that is harmful (think about some one being vengeful after a bitter experience).

What does it cause?
A change in perception, and consequently a change in relationships. Relationships dont refer to just people but to how we hold our thoughts, what we hold as thoughts, how we view material possessions and how we relate to people (not just dear ones - or shall we say, who become our dear ones).

What causes it?
I heard an Isha meditator narrate his experience during his yoga program. It was not yet time for the class to start, but was close to starting time. He went outside the hall for some reason and he saw someone arranging the slippers strewn outside the class hall. He assumed it was a volunteer and returned inside. Later, he was shocked to realize it was the person conducting the class himself. He mentioned "The class wasn't necessary. That once incident did it all!"
So, the short answer is, one can never say. It depends on multiple things - the event itself, the disposition of the perceiver (his body, mind, emotions and may be energy) and few other criteria possibly. Two people can see the exact same thing and perceive it completely differently - may be even in diametrically opposite directions.

What does it mean to us?
It means that once it happens, we will relate to our surroundings differently. Think about the lady who scolded her brother just before they were separated in a concentration camp and never saw him again. She decided that she would view every encounter with another person thereafter as the last encounter. Contrast the difference if she had not made that decision versus after the decision. And it is important to realize that it is not a decision of the mind alone. It is possibly a change in the entire chemistry of the system that left her transformed completely.
So if something like that happens to us, we may drop some material things, move away from certain people, attract certain people, do different things, do things differently, quit your job, get a job if you were idle - a million things.

You cannot *ever* be prepared for *what* causes the paradigm shift. Life is too vast!
However, you can be prepared, to an extent, for *what you will become* if it happens if you realize that these changes will happen!

How can you facilitate one?
(For all purposes, I am not interested in a counter-productive paradigm shift).
May be it will anyway happen to you.
But I remember one of Sadhguru's quotes that sums up how one can keep herself to facilitate this.
"The way we think is the way we become. Whatever you hold as the highest, naturally all your energies get drawn towards that."
So one can say we can make a decision on what we hold as the highest.

Addictions

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:38:49 PDT

No one addiction is better than another. For example, an alcoholic's addiction is as much the same as someone who is addicted to caffeine. May be, some one is just damaging is body to a lesser extent. Again, may be, one addiction is socially acceptable than another. Essentially, it is a limitation or a crutch you cannot exist without.

You can swap one addiction with another to move from the socially unacceptable to the socially acceptable category. I had a friend who used to be addicted to eating paper (seriously). He then switched to Polo and it worked as a perfect substitute.

Or you can let it go completely.

What is the way out? There are only two fundamental methods - though the practical offshoot may be millions. One is for you to experience something larger than what the addiction offers. And this must be on a moment to moment basis and not a one time thing. I had a friend who used to smoke two or three cigarettes a day. He visited the IYC for a week and he mentioned that he did not even have the urge to smoke. That there would be no situation available to smoke there is another matter. Something worked at a deeper level and satisfied his body obviating the need to smoke. The habit obviously relapsed after he left the place.

The other is to sharpen your intelligence and see through the stupidity of the addiction. This is much harder! The very depth of clarity or insight can make the addiction fall off like a dead leaf, though I am not sure how many people are capable of something like that. This again needs to be sustained, because the bodily dependency on the additive / habit will keep going back to it. I read about a business man who dropped off his caffeine habit after just reading through the side effects - because he perceived his habit as stupid.

Anyway, either method - letting go of an addiction requires commitment and a lifestyle change. The taste of being liberated from an addiction and what takes its place is what will truly keep it away!

World Environment Day...

noreply@blogger.com (Deepak) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:25:18 PDT

5th June 2009

These days roll by every year (earth day just passed by).

We dressed in green at our office today and our office today removed non-veg as an option in the food court as a symbolic gesture to "go green". These are fine and are needed, but any practical inputs to make a tangible difference?

I was wondering, for starters, if we can take out plastic bags from our lives. No, this is not about using them and taking them properly to a recycling center, as is done in the west - it is about discontinuing its use altogether (unless they are 100% biodegradable).

Any tips?