The car was on a dirt road. Something yanked the engine out of the car and pushed it on to the highway. Now it's just a metal shell. It can only go so far as the push can take it.
This illustrates what happens to a person when he/she loses their drive - the soul.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
The meat on the bone
Together, they make the body. The meat cannot stand without the bone, and the bone need not exist without the meat. Everybody wants the meat, but nobody wants the bone. Bones are piling up around you and meat is accumulating inside you. Look around you! Soon, the bones will fall upon you and crush you!
Dead fish in the river
It goes wherever the river goes. It has no will of its own, no direction of its own. It will rise with the water, and fall with the water. It loses slight parts of itself on the way, but the other living fish don't care. They have their own wills and directions. Ends up eventually in the sea, it will. And now, it's lost in oblivion, and its body decays. It becomes nothing, which makes up everything.
Secrets and lies
They grow old and they grow wise. They tell you what you want to hear. They forget what they want to say. When they say what they want to say, you explode! They had been hurt by small explosions in the past. They won't be comfortable near a huge one. So, they forget what they want to say.
So clever!
You say they should grow up, and yet they won't. You say they are pigs, and yes, pigs will be pigs. They will never turn into horses. If the pigs give you what you want, why do you want them not to be pigs?
You know what they want and yet, you cannot give them what they want. You want it too, but you don't want to say it. You are lucky to have the opportunity to get morally outraged when they ask, but when you say what you want, they simply get bored. How unfortunate it is, that they get to be just bored but you get to be so outraged?
They are so desperate and stupid, and yet you cannot keep them happy. So clever!
You know what they want and yet, you cannot give them what they want. You want it too, but you don't want to say it. You are lucky to have the opportunity to get morally outraged when they ask, but when you say what you want, they simply get bored. How unfortunate it is, that they get to be just bored but you get to be so outraged?
They are so desperate and stupid, and yet you cannot keep them happy. So clever!
The coin's other side
They say without meaning, and they mean what?
They show you they are worried and you tell them not to worry, but they solve their problems without your help. What do you get? Their worries. You are now miserable, and you feel cheated forever by their race.
Slice the coin, but each slice will still have two sides. What should you do?
They show you they are worried and you tell them not to worry, but they solve their problems without your help. What do you get? Their worries. You are now miserable, and you feel cheated forever by their race.
Slice the coin, but each slice will still have two sides. What should you do?
Don't touch it!
There it was. I touched it and it gave me pleasure. I pulled it closer and it broke. What was its purpose? Why was it there? I should have just ignored it. It would have at least existed.
Say it and lose it
I want to learn how to act. But if I act, how will you know what I am trying to tell you?
You ask me what you want from me. You ask me what you can do for me. But if I tell you, the purpose is lost. You will do whatever I ask you to do. That is not what I want you to do.
The moment I tell you, it loses its significance. The second you ask and I answer, it's importance vanishes.
You ask me what you want from me. You ask me what you can do for me. But if I tell you, the purpose is lost. You will do whatever I ask you to do. That is not what I want you to do.
The moment I tell you, it loses its significance. The second you ask and I answer, it's importance vanishes.
Squeezed
Everybody needs me, but nobody wants me.
I gave you everything, but I received nothing.
Don't keep polishing the nails, for they are dead and they have no inner beauty.
Bananas are yellow and coconuts are brown, but they are both white inside.
I gave you everything, but I received nothing.
Don't keep polishing the nails, for they are dead and they have no inner beauty.
Bananas are yellow and coconuts are brown, but they are both white inside.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Homelessness
He doesn't belong to this world. He doesn't want to feel attached to names and numbers, religions and nations, groups and kinds. What am I? I? What "is" I? It's almost impossible for him to spend a day without using the word "I". He wants to use the third person to refer to himself. His soul is craving to be separate from his body. He feels homeless everywhere. He can never tell if it's good or bad. Experience tells him there exists no absolute good or bad. All definitions of good and bad are subjective. One has only to use these terms to get on to something higher and "better". But, what IS it?
He believes in God, but he never saw a point in talking about it. The concept of God is extremely personal to everyone. But, sometimes he can't keep it to himself. He now thinks that the idea of God is an extremely useful idea to live an easy and "good" life.
Once you define death as just non-existence of life but not an actual state, then is it better or worse to "live"? In this world of attachments and desires, how does one remain pure and perfect? He knows something but he can't explain it. He is limited by words and language. Someone told him that linguists couldn't take the idea that language is limiting. Language is a tool. Just like a book. When you understand what it's trying to convey, it's no longer useful. That doesn't mean books and languages are useless. Their purposes are temporary. Permanence only exists outside this so-called "reality". This world is transient. "Maya", it is called, according to "The eternal law". Why is the pursuit of the absolute so hard? Why is he not "there", instead of trying to keep "going" there? Who put him behind this veil and made him want to get out? He wants to use the idea of God just to refer to whatever is outside this virtual reality. God will help you when you are in need, but He is not always good. He will also make you suffer in this world to let you know that this world is not real, and only He is the absolute reality. This is why he and He are spelled differently. Wow! The "he" is trying to reach Him with His help.
This reality is full of frustrations, needs and wants, feelings and thoughts, desires and miseries! Oh God! Help him find peace! The last thing he wants to feel is fear. The only fear he wants to have is the fear of fear itself. How can he do that?
He believes in God, but he never saw a point in talking about it. The concept of God is extremely personal to everyone. But, sometimes he can't keep it to himself. He now thinks that the idea of God is an extremely useful idea to live an easy and "good" life.
Once you define death as just non-existence of life but not an actual state, then is it better or worse to "live"? In this world of attachments and desires, how does one remain pure and perfect? He knows something but he can't explain it. He is limited by words and language. Someone told him that linguists couldn't take the idea that language is limiting. Language is a tool. Just like a book. When you understand what it's trying to convey, it's no longer useful. That doesn't mean books and languages are useless. Their purposes are temporary. Permanence only exists outside this so-called "reality". This world is transient. "Maya", it is called, according to "The eternal law". Why is the pursuit of the absolute so hard? Why is he not "there", instead of trying to keep "going" there? Who put him behind this veil and made him want to get out? He wants to use the idea of God just to refer to whatever is outside this virtual reality. God will help you when you are in need, but He is not always good. He will also make you suffer in this world to let you know that this world is not real, and only He is the absolute reality. This is why he and He are spelled differently. Wow! The "he" is trying to reach Him with His help.
This reality is full of frustrations, needs and wants, feelings and thoughts, desires and miseries! Oh God! Help him find peace! The last thing he wants to feel is fear. The only fear he wants to have is the fear of fear itself. How can he do that?
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Hindus upset over Hollywood film "Love Guru"
Please read the article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7460522.stm
before you read my opinion on the issue.
I agree with Dr. Chopra that "the premature outcry against the film itself is religious propaganda". The best part I like about Hinduism is the tolerance it promotes towards other people's beliefs and practices.
"We all know when you show a person with a sari and a mark on their forehead that will be associated with Hinduism." If you have seen the movie "Khuda ke liye", or "In the name of God", and understood what Naseeruddin Shah meant by "Islam mein Daadi hein, magar Daadi mein Islam nahin hain", then you will see what my point of view is: "Hindus wear saris and marks on their foreheads, but saris and marks on foreheads don't make Hindus." One can keep arguing out the details: the points that support your view and the points that support my view, but arguments don't usually address the issue, they merely say "Here's an issue that worries me."
Changing the rating to disable a section of the population from seeing the film is not the way to go, I say, that is not Hinduism. If you are worried that young teenagers might get a skewed view of the religion, you must educate them about the religion and what it exactly is about. If the teenagers who see it think that's what Hinduism is about: Saffron robes, holy beads, saris and Tilakas (forehead marks), then that is what you are making them think. Tell them, that is not what that religion truly represents. Hinduism recommends you to find your own purpose of life and find your own way to achieve that goal. That requires adaptation to varying times and conditions. That means the time has come to question the adherence to dressing and bodily decorations - and it's for you to decide whether or not to keep and support that "tradition".
Religion is always an interesting issue to talk about!
before you read my opinion on the issue.
I agree with Dr. Chopra that "the premature outcry against the film itself is religious propaganda". The best part I like about Hinduism is the tolerance it promotes towards other people's beliefs and practices.
"We all know when you show a person with a sari and a mark on their forehead that will be associated with Hinduism." If you have seen the movie "Khuda ke liye", or "In the name of God", and understood what Naseeruddin Shah meant by "Islam mein Daadi hein, magar Daadi mein Islam nahin hain", then you will see what my point of view is: "Hindus wear saris and marks on their foreheads, but saris and marks on foreheads don't make Hindus." One can keep arguing out the details: the points that support your view and the points that support my view, but arguments don't usually address the issue, they merely say "Here's an issue that worries me."
Changing the rating to disable a section of the population from seeing the film is not the way to go, I say, that is not Hinduism. If you are worried that young teenagers might get a skewed view of the religion, you must educate them about the religion and what it exactly is about. If the teenagers who see it think that's what Hinduism is about: Saffron robes, holy beads, saris and Tilakas (forehead marks), then that is what you are making them think. Tell them, that is not what that religion truly represents. Hinduism recommends you to find your own purpose of life and find your own way to achieve that goal. That requires adaptation to varying times and conditions. That means the time has come to question the adherence to dressing and bodily decorations - and it's for you to decide whether or not to keep and support that "tradition".
Religion is always an interesting issue to talk about!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Your children are not your children
Persian poet Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet:
Your children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself;
They come through you but not from you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For, they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls lie in the house of tomorrow,
Which you cannot visit,
Not even in your dreams!
I personally think this is one great poem. I have been trying to find a way to express my feelings about parents' control over their children. Control their emotions, but not their thoughts. What is that feeling you get when a poet writes exactly how you feel about something? Can I call it resonance? If I can call it so, I felt resonance with the line "You may give them your love but not your thoughts." Absolutely amazing line. And note the use of "may" in the line. Parents need not give their children the love they "need".
When A loves B, A must give what B wants, but not what A "thinks" what B wants or needs. That is unselfish love.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Delhi in China
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=china&ie=UTF8&ll=37.303552,97.57782&spn=0.605169,1.2854&z=10
Friday, May 02, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Friday, March 07, 2008
The spiritual need for marriage
After some experience with dating a girl from another country where dating is the culture, and given my past experience in a country from where Yogis, the perfect humans, come, I now think I have gained some knowledge to answer the question why one should get married. I am talking about the spiritual purpose of marriage; I am talking about love, which is inter-personal in nature, but not bhakti, which is the devotional love of God.
I say the path to God has innumerable obstacles, the most important of which are addictions that give illusory pleasure to our senses. Examples include spicy/tasty food, smoking, drinking, sex, drugs, and the worst of all, inter-personal relationships. The relationships I am talking about are between ANY two persons: Mother and child, husband and wife or sister and brother. I say they are the worst, because they last a lifetime.
I see a trend in the life of any person. A human is born to his parents, and he starts his life at the receiving end of love. His mother and father practically live for the child, and give him love. Love brings everything he needs. It can turn the world around. I completely agree with J.K.Rowling that it's the most powerful force in the entire universe. I could probably call it the only force in the universe. The child progresses through that stage to the next stage, where he shares that love with his siblings. A desire for independence starts with fighting with siblings (for toys?) and parents (for a bike?). Love that is shared, begins to cause conflict; but however, he gets used to it, and adjusts his life to suit the situation. He is learning. He is still at the receiving end of love. After going through that stage, he turns independent and is now single, or a brahmachari. He is living by himself now. But, he is not perfect yet. The role of love is not over in his life. The real fight has only just begun. When he is ready, he gets married. This is where he both gives and receives love. He is simultaneously in both the receiving and giving ends of love. Married life is both love and war. The received love is a desire, and the war is misery. He becomes a man now. The man is on a path to find the equilibrium between the two forms of love, and that conflict is not giving him what he really wants. He cannot find that eternal peace of mind we really craves for. Then arrive his children. Here begins the next generation. The man now is at the giving end of love, and remember, parents always love children more than children love their parents. The love the man gives to his children, is not returned to him in full. (This is kind of a law of nature. I don't know why.) But, he seems happier with his children than with his life partner. Now, why is that? He realizes that the happiness that comes from love, comes from loving, and not from being loved. Realization must come here, and that realization tells the man, that ideal love must be one-sided in one's heart, that is, only outwards, towards all creatures on Earth (or in the Universe, I could say). This is when the man realizes that receiving love is an addiction, and is a life-long illusion. This is why I called human relationships the worst of all. Because it takes a lifetime to end that addiction. A Turkish friend of mine, gave me that wonderful statement: "Love is an illusion." But then, what is the reality?
The Reality is God. It's as simple as that. It's eternal. "The whole world is an illusion." Hearing this statement, Robert Pirsig (author of a book on Philosophy, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"), who was studying Oriental Philosophy in Banaras, India, got crazy. He couldn't believe that the whole world was an illusion. He quit studying Philosophy and went back to the US to be a reporter. Shakespeare said "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women are merely players..." Statements like this make most people crazy. They poisoned Socrates, and crucified Jesus. Ha!
I say the path to God has innumerable obstacles, the most important of which are addictions that give illusory pleasure to our senses. Examples include spicy/tasty food, smoking, drinking, sex, drugs, and the worst of all, inter-personal relationships. The relationships I am talking about are between ANY two persons: Mother and child, husband and wife or sister and brother. I say they are the worst, because they last a lifetime.
I see a trend in the life of any person. A human is born to his parents, and he starts his life at the receiving end of love. His mother and father practically live for the child, and give him love. Love brings everything he needs. It can turn the world around. I completely agree with J.K.Rowling that it's the most powerful force in the entire universe. I could probably call it the only force in the universe. The child progresses through that stage to the next stage, where he shares that love with his siblings. A desire for independence starts with fighting with siblings (for toys?) and parents (for a bike?). Love that is shared, begins to cause conflict; but however, he gets used to it, and adjusts his life to suit the situation. He is learning. He is still at the receiving end of love. After going through that stage, he turns independent and is now single, or a brahmachari. He is living by himself now. But, he is not perfect yet. The role of love is not over in his life. The real fight has only just begun. When he is ready, he gets married. This is where he both gives and receives love. He is simultaneously in both the receiving and giving ends of love. Married life is both love and war. The received love is a desire, and the war is misery. He becomes a man now. The man is on a path to find the equilibrium between the two forms of love, and that conflict is not giving him what he really wants. He cannot find that eternal peace of mind we really craves for. Then arrive his children. Here begins the next generation. The man now is at the giving end of love, and remember, parents always love children more than children love their parents. The love the man gives to his children, is not returned to him in full. (This is kind of a law of nature. I don't know why.) But, he seems happier with his children than with his life partner. Now, why is that? He realizes that the happiness that comes from love, comes from loving, and not from being loved. Realization must come here, and that realization tells the man, that ideal love must be one-sided in one's heart, that is, only outwards, towards all creatures on Earth (or in the Universe, I could say). This is when the man realizes that receiving love is an addiction, and is a life-long illusion. This is why I called human relationships the worst of all. Because it takes a lifetime to end that addiction. A Turkish friend of mine, gave me that wonderful statement: "Love is an illusion." But then, what is the reality?
The Reality is God. It's as simple as that. It's eternal. "The whole world is an illusion." Hearing this statement, Robert Pirsig (author of a book on Philosophy, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"), who was studying Oriental Philosophy in Banaras, India, got crazy. He couldn't believe that the whole world was an illusion. He quit studying Philosophy and went back to the US to be a reporter. Shakespeare said "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women are merely players..." Statements like this make most people crazy. They poisoned Socrates, and crucified Jesus. Ha!
Monday, February 04, 2008
I want to be free - Elvis Prisley
There's no joy in my heart,
only sorrow
And I'm sad
as a man can be
I sit alone in the darkness
of my lonely room
And this room
is a prison to me
I look at my window
and what to I see
I see a bird
way up in the tree
I want to be free free
Free - ee - ee - ee
I want to be free
like the bird in the tree
What good are my eyes,
they can't see you
And my arms,
they can't hold so tight
I have two lips
that are yearning,
but they're no good to me
Cause I know I can't kiss you tonight
I look at my window
and what to I see
I see a bird
way up in the tree
I want to be free free
Free - ee - ee - ee
I want to be free
like the bird in the tree
I want to be free
like the bird in the tree
only sorrow
And I'm sad
as a man can be
I sit alone in the darkness
of my lonely room
And this room
is a prison to me
I look at my window
and what to I see
I see a bird
way up in the tree
I want to be free free
Free - ee - ee - ee
I want to be free
like the bird in the tree
What good are my eyes,
they can't see you
And my arms,
they can't hold so tight
I have two lips
that are yearning,
but they're no good to me
Cause I know I can't kiss you tonight
I look at my window
and what to I see
I see a bird
way up in the tree
I want to be free free
Free - ee - ee - ee
I want to be free
like the bird in the tree
I want to be free
like the bird in the tree
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)