The Meaning Workshop

Realisation, Illumination And Evolution

noreply@blogger.com (vam) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 13:46:00 +0000

Realisation is a phenomenon that illuminates the individual,

his mind and intellect, and the constant I - sense - idea in which

one is rooted through action, emotion, thought and knowledge.

Post realisation, the person isn't the same... as in his paradigms,

values, beliefs, perspectives, and the idea one has of the universe,

life, nature, history, beings, situation, other people, and of oneself.

One : Realisation causes surge of a new set of desire primarily for causing, enabling and facilitating realisation among others, to which however one is not attached for results or for satisfaction to oneself. The desire does bring forth an untiring will tempered equally with endless patience, absolute fearlessness accompanied with deepest compassion, and uninhibited action and behaviour with pervasive mindfulness and concern for spiritual welfare.

The truth paradigm is characterised with clear break and protection from that transient subjectivity of before, which could take over or even overwhelm occasionally but not asunder or blanket access to this integrated consciousness... universal, homogeneous and unified... that and liberates the individual forever from all states of doubt, confusion, want and unhappiness.

And, two : Realisation erases those self - serving desires, active urges and potent memories, values perspectives arising of experiences impressed and evolutionary past remnant in one's subconscious... that keep the individual tethered to particular psychological habits, formed of impacts from outside of other people's form, status, thoughts and views, of fear, of concern with being right or wrong, and of least want to be what one is already not or have what one already does not have.

This " realisation " process, in practice, takes one through stages of fullness and freedom along what could be termed as the " path " of spiritual evolution of man.

The path is ever about having to choose between the electable derived of longer validity truths and happiness and the pleasurable that serve our constantly urging but transient self - satisfactions. The pleasurable are what we grow up with, look about for... which we are fixated to exert for and have. However, study and self - examination by one on a quest for " something " more in our life takes us to the domain of higher morals, ethics, values and truths. The discovered electable sticks with us as ideas but needs our time, attention and exertion to be established as our " very own " truth. Most of us though, most of the time, do not have these personal resources available from our survival imperatives. The rest are employ them at tasks necessary to better secure their middle or high status and for even faster social mobility.

It is on these resources of ours - Time, Attention and Exertion, and in the willing priorities of our I - being, that the actual conflict between the reigning lower nature and the drawing higher nature of ours takes place within us. It may take a moment or ages for us to resolve to go with the electable, depending upon how we are spiritually poised along the evolution scale. The starting up event however is simply an exercise of choice, as a matter of fact... choose to forego ( the rather intense reality of ) the pleasurable, of objects that are greatly but merely desirable, and spend our being's resources on making the electable more real for ourself than mere ideas that we know and are aware of. For the electable are markers pointing to something higher than what we then might be subscribing to in our priorities and preferences. The source they lead to, admittedly within ourself, exceeds our very I - being then...

Our spiritual evolution is not in the esoteric images that modern - day practitioners and commercial preachers of the East entice the populace to. It is exoteric in its effect : uprooting the evil, its lure and potential within us. The time period and the scale along which this process takes place is not uniform or predictable. And the results are definitely non - linear.

The evolution curve takes us through consciousness particular to diverse multi - dimensional convergence domains including Time - Space - Species constrained limitations, knowledge, awareness and values perspectives ... each with their specific material - physical - mental - intellectual - spiritual content of being.

The distribution of individuals along the evolution scale is pyramidal, with a base that has an endless spread. The barriers to rising up are exponentially higher, from the lowest to the highest. In these terms, the divide between the material and spiritual is huge.

Very few ( occasionally ) actually transcend it. Because we are born, inveterate materialists. Say, abiding agreement based on shared values alone, not on lure of rewards or fear of punishment, and committment to such an agreement, is a very evolved thing to happen. That is why it is rare, which is also why trust is at such a premium !

Given the species we are, at any point in time ... ( space specific differentiation cause more disagreements ) ... there are very few who by their realisation - values - perspective would agree to the same thing.

Agreements are easier to accomplish for spoils or gains for material objects. They readily satisfy the will gravitated to our lower nature.

But, bat an eye, the agreement disappears. And The Reign Of Terror ensues.

The me - mine - myself anchor is more, far far more powerful than all attractions of knowledge, reason and ' ideas.'

Ironically, nobody can be faulted. Blame the Time - Space - Species - Individual realisation and evolution curve coordinate, if you will !

The monster is the Buddha.

The Chakra Tantra offers a very simplified picture of the realisation and evolution scale.

... Context To The Discussion …

On Oct 21, 12:43 am, ornamentalmind wrote:>

" What I find is that all truths are obvious. If that is the aim, then there is nothing to be done, except to ' see.'" Vam

Exactly so Vam ! I think it was my retelling of the Sufi story of 3 men all being right that first struck a chord in Neil. In fact, there is nothing to be done in one sense. In another, I do not cease eating, sleeping nor even thinking. Also, while we may have known all truths… when a child, I was happy to have met and read remarkable wo/men along the path who shared more clarified and purified apprehensions than I had at the time. So, it is in a way incumbent upon those who can to do.

" 01 Unity is one thing, unity through agreement is quite another ¦ Unity through agreement is impossible, except on a limited scale. There will always be disagreement, expressed or not." Vam

I almost left your very eloquent words now replaced by the ellipsis so they could be read again! However, what you suggest here, a sort of criticism and argument, is true too. However, to be clear, I do not propose a tyrannical agreement nor a 1984 type either. Unity of subjective words can only manifest in what you have clearly said, words are subjective ! We agree. And, in this process, (using words online) specific recognitions can and have been addressed in a fully functional way. I expect no more nor no less here. More importantly, both a fact and a direction for ˜work" is presented. This, even though we know that in any ultimate sense, nothing can be done, AND knowing that what we ARE ˜doing" may be part of this so called non-doing too.

" 02 Unity in effort, interest, programme or association is possible, more completely at reduced scales. Unity through affinity, need, characterisation or empathy too is possible ... more readily around carnal and commonplace basics like birth, food, sex, security, power, death and their auxilliaries such as money, money, money, money, money and money ... and less and less readily around the exalted and the intangibles such as feeling, emotion, thought, idea, knowledge ... " Vam

Yes Vam, I fully empathize. And, as humans we all have feelings, emotions, thoughts, ideas and knowledge. This is an aspect of how we are one. We are of the same pattern. Most of us have had quite similar if not equal feelings, emotions, thoughts and ideas albeit at different points in time. Yes, our specific associations with words may differ, yet the same seed is found within. So, in this pure sense, our knowledge is one too. How do we know this? One way is to share as we do here at Minds Eye !

More to your real point about agreement being apparently impossible – I'm not so sure this is in fact the case. IF one uses the more common paradigms, ones that we know have not been successful, of course this is the case. There is something about those who keep trying the same thing expecting a different result, no ?

So, while accepting the apparent contradiction of agreement and unity being mutually exclusive, I suggest we continue using the axiom that they are not (exclusive) and see how that goes. What do you think ? Again, a possibly poor analogy would be the different types of non - Euclidean geometries that arise when one of Euclid's axioms is assumed to not be true. To explore in these realms, memes must be severed.

On Oct 20, 9:42 am, Vamadevananda wrote:

You strike the chords in my core ... indeed !

What I find is that all truths are obvious. If that is the aim, then there is nothing to be done, except to ' see.'

01 Unity is one thing, unity through agreement is quite another.

Differences and diversity abounds. Every part of speech - nouns, adjectives, adverbs ... brings in view an endless range of differentiation. Conditioned to these differences ( and inequities ), unity to us is a mere term of abstraction.

To a de - conditioned mind however, when differences and diversity remains superceded, unity is obvious and immediate in our view. Cows are different ; each cow is innately aware of such differentiation. But all differences disappear in ' cowhood.' All cows are characterised by this cowhood, that makes each a cow.

Men are different. Humanity is one. Living beings are different. The Earth is one. ... Planets are different. The Galaxy is one. ... Galaxies are different. The universe is one.

Differences are natural, in this manifest state of minimum potential. To be able to see the unity takes effort, like taking water up the slope.

Unity through agreement is impossible, except on a limited scale. There will always be disagreement, expressed or not.

02 Unity in effort, interest, programme or association is possible, more completely at reduced scales. Unity through affinity, need, characterisation or empathy too is possible ...

>> more readily around carnal and commonplace basics like birth, food, sex, security, power, death and their auxilliaries such as money, money, money, money, money and money ...

>> and less and less readily around the exalted and the intangibles such as feeling, emotion, thought, idea, knowledge ...

---

THE MATERIALIST CAVALIER …

In an interview, a top ranking ' star ' seemed tortured and confused to me.

His refrain was : Come on, I'm a materialist. I'm just doing a job ... a f*****g job ! That's all ! !

The spiritual aspect to it is that there's no job that is " just a f****** job."

Imagine a soldier or, better still, the contorted face of an Ortsgruppenleiter, saying that !

To tell the truth, all soldiers of modern armies are mercenaries. Theirs is not just a f******* job.

They are paid to kill other people, on command, no disobedience allowed except at the risk of being court marshalled or even summary execution.

Theirs is a job that kills other people, right or wrong.

The ' star ' endorses products and becomes brand(s) ambassador.

That too isn't just a f**king job. You are actually telling people what they should believe, buy, consume, where to invest their savings ... without really knowing much about the product or service quality, or the organisation, at least in the medium and longer term.

A proof of which is that you would endorse a competing product or brand in a couple of years time, without a thought to what actually your previous ' job ' meant and did to other people !

All ' jobs ' affect other people, environment, life, and impact on societal norms and values ... more or less, the right or wrong way.

Unfortunately, 90% of the world's ' employee ' population cannot choose their jobs, where the agenda is set by the paying counterpart.

They are lucky to have one, even if the employer is a mafia ' Don !'

It's bad and dirty, but spells business.

Anybody who has the right reference values and the ability, with insistence, to view things critically is a ' spiritual ' person.

And, you can see why such gnomes are scarce ... Because acquiring those qualifications is difficult, the mastery rather extremely !

---

THE ARTIST'S WAY …

" ... nothing mattered but this -- that she loved him and he loved her.

Nothing else was of any account, not the planes, not the bombs, nothing but this.

This was what happiness was -- he'd never known it before ; this melting away, this exaltation,

your guts spilling into your head, filling your eyes -- your mind transformed into your body, your body instinct with joy in your mind ;

this sensation of reality having met its end."

......from The Glass Palace : Amitav Ghosh

This projection of the experience touches us.

It speaks of Reality, this Existence we live in our experience ... its truth is our Truth. The specifics recede into the background.

The experience is real, if scarcely. Its unreal, commonly. And both, its reality and its unreality, are true.

But, the first one is a higher, superior truth in value ... positive, breathing, happy, liberating.

In fact infinitely more, compared to the truth of its unreality.

The realised truth of its reality remains in our memory, ever obvious and overwhelming over other impressions.

In practice, the apparent unreality of what is so crucial, and vital to us, serves the thankless process of our detachment, our de - identification with every thing and its fruits, their meaning and relatedness.

What we know or not in truth... is what and how we are in fact !

30 Books To Read Before You Turn 30 !

noreply@blogger.com (vam) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 08:00:00 +0000

01 Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse – A powerful story about the importance of life experiences as they relate to approaching an understanding of reality and attaining enlightenment.

02 1984 by George Orwell – 1984 still holds chief significance nearly 60 years after it was written in 1949. It is widely acclaimed for its haunting vision of an all-knowing government which uses pervasive, 24/7 surveillance tactics to manipulate all citizens of the populace.

03 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee – The story surveys the controversial issues of race and economic class in the 1930’s Deep South via a court case of a black man charged with the rape and abuse of a young white girl. It’s a moving tale that delivers a profound message about fighting for justice and against prejudice.

04 A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess – A nightmarish vision of insane youth culture that depicts heart wrenching insight into the life of a disturbed adolescent. This novel will blow you away… leaving you breathless, livid, thrilled, and concerned.

05 For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway – A short, powerful contemplation on death, ideology and the incredible brutality of war.

06 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – This masterpiece is so enormous even Tolstoy said it couldn’t be described as a standard novel. The storyline takes place in Russian society during the Napoleonic Era, following the characters of Andrei, Pierre and Natasha… and the tragic and unanticipated way in which their lives interconnect.

07 The Rights of Man by Tom Paine – Written during the era of the French Revolution, this book was one of the first to introduce the concept of human rights from the standpoint of democracy.

08 The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau – A famous quote from the book states that “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” This accurately summarizes the book’s prime position on the importance of individual human rights within society.

09 One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez – This novel does not have a plot in the conventional sense, but instead uses various narratives to portray a clear message about the general importance of remembering our cultural history.

10 The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin – Few books have had as significant an impact on the way society views the natural world and the genesis of humankind.

11 The Wisdom of the Desert by Thomas Merton – A collection of thoughts, meditations and reflections that give insight into what life is like to live simply and purely, dedicated to a greater power than ourselves.

12 The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell – Gladwell looks at how a small idea, or product concept, can spread like a virus and spark global sociological changes. Specifically, he analyzes “the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable.”

13 The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham – Arguably one of the best children’s books ever written; this short novel will help you appreciate the simple pleasures in life. It’s most notable for its playful mixture of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie.

14 The Art of War by Sun Tzu – One of the oldest books on military strategy in the world. It’s easily the most successful written work on the mechanics of general strategy and business tactics.

15 The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien – One of the greatest fictional stories ever told, and by far one of the most popular and influential written works in 20th-century literature. Once you pick up the first book, you’ll read them all.

16 David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – This is a tale that lingers on the topic of attaining and maintaining a disciplined heart as it relates to one’s emotional and moral life. Dickens states that we must learn to go against “the first mistaken impulse of the undisciplined heart.”

17 Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot – Probably the wisest poetic prose of modern times. It was written during World War II, and is still entirely relevant today… here’s an excerpt: “The dove descending breaks the air/With flame of incandescent terror/Of which the tongues declare/The only discharge from sin and error/The only hope, or the despair/Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre–/To be redeemed from fire by fire./Who then devised this torment?/Love/Love is the unfamiliar Name/Behind the hands that wave/The intolerable shirt of flame/Which human power cannot remove./We only live, only suspire/Consumed by either fire or fire.”

18 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller – This book coined the self-titled term “catch-22” that is widely used in modern-day dialogue. As for the story, its message is clear: What’s commonly held to be good, may be bad… what is sensible, is nonsense. Its one of the greatest literary works of the 20th century. Read it.

19 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – Set in the Jazz Age of the roaring 20’s, this book unravels a cautionary tale of the American dream. Specifically, the reader learns that a few good friends are far more important that a zillion acquaintances, and the drive created from the desire to have something is more valuable than actually having it.

20 The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger – This novel firmly stands as an icon for accurately representing the ups and downs of teen angst, defiance and rebellion. If nothing else, it serves as a reminder of the unpredictable teenage mindset.

21 Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – A smooth-flowing, captivating novel of a young man living in poverty who criminally succumbs to the desire for money, and the hefty phychological impact this has on him and the people closest to him.

22 The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli – This book does a great job at describing situations of power and statesmanship. From political and corporate power struggles to attaining advancement, influence and authority over others, Machiavelli’s observations apply.

23 Walden by Henry David Thoreau – Thoreau spent two years, two months and two days writing this book in a secluded cabin near the banks of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. This is a story about being truly free from the pressures of society. The book can speak for itself: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

24 The Republic by Plato – A gripping and enduring work of philosophy on how life should be lived, justice should be served, and leaders should lead. It also gives the reader a fundamental understanding of western political theory.

25 Lolita – This is the kind of book that blows your mind wide open to conflicting feelings of life, love and corruption… and at times makes you deeply question your own perceptions of each. The story is as devious as it is beautiful.

26 Getting Things Done by David Allen – The quintessential guide to organizing your life and getting things done. Nuff said.

27 How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie – This is the granddaddy of all self-improvement books. It is a comprehensive, easy to read guide for winning people over to your way of thinking in both business and personal relationships.

28 Lord of the Flies by William Golding – A powerful and alarming look at the possibilities for savagery in a lawless environment, where compassionate human reasoning is replaced by anarchistic, animal instinct.

29 The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck – Steinbeck’s deeply touching tale about the survival of displaced families desperately searching for work in a nation stuck by depression will never cease to be relevant.

30 The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov – This anticommunist masterpiece is a multifaceted novel about the clash between good and evil. It dives head first into the topics of greed, corruption and deception as they relate to human nature.

BONUS 1 How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman – 900 pages of simple instructions on how to cook everything you could ever dream of eating. Pretty much the greatest cookbook ever written. Get through a few recipes each week, and you’ll be a master chef by the time you’re 30.

BONUS 2 Honeymoon with My Brother by Franz Wisner – Franz Wisner had it all… a great job and a beautiful fiancée. Life was good. But then his fiancée dumped him days before their wedding, and his boss basically fired him. So he dragged his younger brother to Costa Rica for his already-scheduled honeymoon and they never turned back… around the world they went for two full years. This is a fun, heartfelt adventure story about life, relationships, and self discovery.

What we know or not, in truth... is what and how we are in fact !

Living Meaningfully ...

noreply@blogger.com (vam) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 22:33:00 +0000

LIVING MEANINGFULLY !

There is only one self – evident Truth : your Self.

Every other truth follows, to you, in its evidence.

It then appears, seems, modifies, mutates… and is only in the moment.

That’s what and how things mean to us, in that moment.

It may be, if our memory is deep, sharp and focused enough…

that we discover one such truth that modifies no more and mutates no further.

It appears again and again, and seems the same,

unaffected by time, ourself or the environment we might ourself in.

We then become aware of something with a longer time - scale validity.

Such an unchanging truth, in respect of one object, being or attribute, is of value.

It becomes a core around which other facts, the truths of the moment,

pertaining to the same or like things may link, cluster and arrange...

Several such cores together come to form a foundation over time on which, thereafter,

facts we experience or realise are easily laid on and about.

The link – cluster – arranged and laid on meaning of one thing connects with another such, of another thing, and with one more… and so on in time, to an aggregate that presents a more accurate and complete perspective of life and living, beings and things, world and our experience.

Life perspectives, arising from longer validity truths,

yield valuable guides to effective living,

decisive morals we do not have to belabour at when the need is already too hot nor try to commit to memory from what may have been gained in hindsight.

Living with truths having long time scale validity

is the way to living meaningfully, truthfully, and more completely.

_____________________________

What we know or not in truth...

is what and how we are in fact !

The Books You Have Read ...

noreply@blogger.com (vam) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:53:00 +0000

HAVE YOU READ THESE BOOKS ?

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma -Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Inferno - Dante

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

You are welcome to open the comments section to discuss a book, offer a review, or suggest more titles / authors.

What we know or not in truth... = What and how we are in fact !

What Does It Mean To Us ?

noreply@blogger.com (vam) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 08:59:00 +0000

What Does It Mean ... words, actions,

people, situation,

life, fact, value,

view, idea, belief ... ?

A dialogue between a believer and a non - believer -

NB ... " You say : " God is infinite knowledge
whereas humans have very limited knowledge."

"This sentence maybe short but is VERY HEAVY on airy bullshit.

"There are several terms you'd be hard put to reveal what they mean."

- God ... please let us know what exactly does it MEAN to YOU in a FEW Words.

For instance, if you were to ask me the same question, my reply would be :

IT is everything that gives me joy, strength and light.

Actually, then, I'd be including all objects and beings in my sight, and experiences,

sciences and disciplines, foods and drinks, even testosterone

and the goddesses that sleep in women !

All of that, and more, including myself, would be God to me.

- Infinite ... WTH does the word mean to you ! ?

- Knowledge ... does it include the sciences ?

Or, does the word knowledge mean something else to you ? WTH is it ?

- Humans ... why the h**l should it be God vs Humans ?

Why not God with Humans ? Or, better still, God IN Humans ?

My confusion is about your perspective, life view and value system !

- Limited Knowledge ... and why should " limited " knowledge not be considered
knowledge enough, till we have something better in hand ?

That " infinite knowledge " means nothing to me if I AM not privy to it !

Or, is it that you are privy to such " infinite knowledge " ? Please confirm.

WHAT EXACTLY DOES THE WORLD MEAN TO US ?

OUR WORK ?

LIFE ?

DAY ?

DEATH ?

OR, FOR THAT MATTER, OUR FAMILY AND COLLEAGUES AT WORKPLACE ?

AND THE WORDS WE HEAR AND USE ALL THE TIME ?

OUR TITLES & POSSESSIONS ?

THE IMPACTING IMAGES ?

THEN, THERE IS THE SUBCONSCIOUS ... ...

WHERE AN OBJECT, BEING OR PERSON

MEANS WHOLLY DIFFERENTLY

THAN WHAT YOU THINK

AND BELIEVE IT IS,

WHAT YOU TELL YOURSELF

AND HAVE TO SAY TO OTHERS

ABOUT IT.

ACTUALLY, OUR THOUGHTS, IDEAS AND BELIEFS

MAY BE, AND USUALLY ARE, QUITE HELPLESS

WHEN THE DESIRE, DRIVE AND WILL IS RED HOT !

THE OFT HEARD ADVICE ... " LIVE IN THE PRESENT "... IS THE BEST,

FOR THE PRESENT ALONE WOULD CREATE OUR FUTURE.

BUT, HOW DO WE WIPE OUT THESE NETHER WORLD CAULDRONS ...

ALTERNATELY COLD, SIMMERING AND BOILING,

PUTREFYING, NAUSEATING, PLEASING, HOPING, DEMANDING,

HABITUATING AND ADDICTING THE SELF

TO A PAST LITTLE UNDERSTOOD AND TO AN UNKNOWN FUTURE ?

HOW DO WE WIPE OUR SUBCONSCIOUS CLEAN

AND RENDER IT OPEN TO THE PRESENT ALONE ?

IN A WORLD THAT STILL RELIES ON THE " MIGHT IS RIGHT " RULE,

HOW DO WE TAKE OUR FOCUS AWAY FROM ACQUIRING MERE STRENGTH AND POWER

THROUGH ALL POSSIBLE MEANS ... PHYSICAL, POLITICAL, FINANCIAL, MENTAL, ET AL ?

AH, THE PLEASURES OF TASTE AND SEX ...

THE SENSUOUS ECSTASIES !

SETTING US ON TO SNIFFING FOR MORE

TO WHAT ELSE IS THERE ?

FOR ... WHAT ?

WE KNOW BUT CANNOT REALLY SUM IT UP.

TO BE FREE ...

UNCEASINGLY HAPPY

CLEAR AND ILLUMINED.

TO BEING SELF - EMPOWERED,

HAVING THE POWER OF CHOICE...

IN TRUTH.

AND TO ACT WITHOUT FEAR,

LIVE WITHOUT INNER CONFLICT !

_______________________________________________________

What we know or not in truth determines what and how we are in fact !

As Fate Would Have...

noreply@blogger.com (vam) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 08:23:00 +0000

Taken as a noun, a being or thing, it is easy to understand the opposing positions about the reality or unreality of " fate." The truth however is that fate is an occurrence, a happening, with nothing behind it. And, as that, it is as real and undeniable as any matte of fact can ever be.

It's how, incidentally, my interest in lowly mattresses began. I mean, we all relate with our respective mattresses; perhaps more intimately than most other things in our lives. But take an interest ? Never, except when we at a shop, looking for one to buy.

Last year, in July end, we shifted home to another end of the National Capital Region ... in a ' mofussil ' area on the outskirts of Delhi, in Ghaziabad. Soon it was time to review the household inventory, and have a look at the wear and tear of each in the process. The kitchen exhaust needed to be replaced. The desert coolers required a raised stand. The several steel trunks, very usefully placed in the rooms, would have to be placed on low platforms to enable cleaning of the floor below them. The TV had to be wall mounted in the master bedroom. The utensil rack had be mounted at a height beside the sink...

And so we ambled over from one day to another, taking care of issues as came to our notice. The coir mattresses, ones we parents slept on, were 5 years old but had become somewhat uncomfortable for quite a while now. In fact, we'd hesitated for the longest at addressing a matter of mere discomfort, letting ourselves get around its uneven patches and becoming used to the rest. But it nevertheless stared at me, and dared, everytime I sat on my end of it and ruminated for just that brief moment before lying down. Until that morning, when I knew that it wouldn't do, that it must be replaced, no matter the paucity that had always plagued my life, about which but I'd always been so stoic about.

Driving the silver hatchback on the kilometer - long thoroughfare about which malls and shops were laid, I was light at heart if not actually singing, despite having depleted my savings account of its meagre holding. The animated if quiet encores came easy, more joyous and frequent, considering that I'd had those compositions on the music player for several years. At a showroom that had stacks of mattresses, I could see the salesman's surprise when I declared the price of a cheaper one as steep. Well, never were perspectives so removed, divorced and exclusive. But there was no way I could take on his, and I couldn't even try.

My rendezvous with Imtiaz was fated, because I saw it when I was not even looking for it, especially since I'd miss eight times out ten while peering intently for a particular shop or signboard. It wasn't a shop and not a signboard that boldly attains its respect at a place about its entrance. " Saira Mattresses " was a makeshift presence that you would pass by without noticing. A six-by-eight space on encroached land by the roadside, framed in canvas and plastic sheet, a row of stacks of thin gaudy mattresses folded twice at its front, a cot at the back for his old man, himself bent over behind an ancient sewing machine, and kids about... merged with the milling crowd that walked past, hiding the small signboard placed on the pavement extending the road edge.

But that mid - morning, when there were few on the road or beside it, I saw it loud and clear - SAIRA MATTRESSES. What however caught my attention was the smaller print : COIR MATTRESSES REFURBISHED HERE. I stopped right in front of the open entrance, and beckoned the bespectacled man trying to push the thread in the eye of the needle of that foot-driven machine. Opening the passenger door, I invited him in. There a palpable gasp of surprise and joy in the man's eye, an effect I then attributed to the air-conditioned wafts of air that hit sultry August sweat on his face. What transpired led to a relationship that is distant but deep and meaningful.

Imtiaz delivered a ' refurbished ' mattress pair that delighted, and continues to till this day. I came to know of his family, his traditional skills, and all the savvy else he absolutely lacks. It dawned on me that he can deliver a lot of value that all of us about are not even aware of, and would possibly not give a damn unless impressed upon in terms and forms they are accustomed to - advertising.

I decided to guide, fund and promote a line of " BREATHING HANDMADE MATTRESSES," to put Imtiaz's skills to good use, since he had little else to promote it with. I ordered for new mattresses, made to my specifications, and sat through the making process. It was tough work but the joy of having created something delightful was infectious.

The rest of the story continues ... through the unfeeling barriers of the world of business, market and money.

noreply@blogger.com (vam) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 11:14:00 +0000

21st Century Values

The society hurtles on leaving many behind,

setting a few along the path to accumulating wealth, power, increasing income and profit ... to this rush to hoard ownership to all manner of assets, because it comforts and ' secures ' us ...

while the rest aspire to the same material supports and mental security, and slog on through their misery and hope, watching this rapid process of being uprooted from their own land and being marginalised in that promising social structure which sets them to work, but sucks them dry ...

out – spacing them equally from roads, internet, media, heart and mind of powers that matter, who but do not even cast a glance and, instead, bring into public attention those celebrities, models and stars, doctors of all kinds ... perceived in their priviledge and wondrous advantages !

But, in truth, the quality of a society is measured by how it treats and cares for its weakest, its most underpriviledged and disadvantaged... its poor, sick or disabled, aged and infirm, its animals and their environment, and how we care for those essential resources freely available to rich and poor, which humanity holds in common with life everywhere !

Sadly, the roads are choked with vehicles, most land holdings are reduced to a few acres or less,

money in circulation exceeds manifold the value of essential commodities in the market, large populations are suffering hunger and thirst, medicines and medicare is not affordable to most people everywhere.

Corruption and violence is rampant worldwide and has now even become socially acceptable. of Resources, and their quality, which the whole of humanity holds in common for its survival and well being, are iniquitously available. ' Assets ' that each person and living being needs to exist with dignity and a modicum of happiness are already claimed and hoarded, and now priced in ' freedom.'

This economy, in which producers get 10% and remaining 90% of value is creamed off through speculation, sale and resale, in which inflation is desirable without ensuring a larger increase in the income of the poorest, in which the sacred most of emotions are pegged to material support and are thus ' priced ' ... this economy is already undermining our society and polity ... making it more unstable and insecure, a-moral and a-ethical, from within.

Give it a thought. Now. And hold it for as long as you can !

Perhaps, you will stand up for 21st Century values anchored in quality for all people everywhere and for sustainability of all life for our future of our planet.

Perhaps you will share this blog, or its idea, with your friends, on your respective blogs, social networks and local forums you are active on.

***

VALUES NOW …

(1) What people need most is time to think, examine and contemplate to know for, by and of themselves, or to use it as they wish.

(2) Instead everybody is burdened with survival needs, or wants for more, and is rushed through 12 hours of work each day as if it were a virtue ! ?

(3) Slaves work. So do beasts of burden. It leaves them none the wiser. Work gives us experience and dignity, then merely keeps us occupied !

(4)One of the greatest Masters we’ve ever had amongst us says : Everyone of us must find time to spend time by and with themselves !

(5)The world human order must recognize this new paradigm : Nobody deserves slavery because he has survival needs and not enough money !

(6)The business world, the enslaved minds conditioned to maximum profit, freeloaders skimming off the status quo, and the neo – cons will be the last to accept the 21st Century paradigms !

(7)The affairs and needs of this world or its future cannot be left to the enslaved for – max – profit conditioned minds !

(8)Everybody should be able to afford the time to explore the world and life, discover their values, perspectives, vision and their self !

(9)Wealth, position, popularity, education, communication and etiquette … none of these confer any soundness of character or wisdom !

(10)Work should pay enough for people to meet their survival needs and afford time for themselves, for them to do as they choose.

***

AND, ANYONE CAN BE VIRTUOUS …

Camus aspired for the nobility in man even, nay, especially in this absurd world.

It happens that everyone has the ability to become a chun-tzu, a magnanimous man of virtue.

Confucius taught that any man could be virtuous, and that the key elements of virtuous conduct could be both learnt and taught.

9 points to take care and be mindful of :

§   When observing, ensure that you see clearly
§   When listening, ensure that you hear distinctly
§ In your expression, ensure that you are amiable
§   In your attitude, ensure that you are deferential
§   In your speech, ensure that you are loyal
§   When on duty, ensure that you are respectful
§   When in doubt, ensure that you ask questions
§   When angry, ensure that you ponder the consequence
§   When gaining an advantage, ensure that you consider if it is just and fair.

For, if you do, you would be negotiating The Middle Path !