A friend of mine passed away last Saturday 10/10/09. It has sunk in slowly and sadly. Thanks to the material world and its demands and ability to preoccupy human mind. It was the first tragic-death of someone very close to me after I turned 14. I have read the book “Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance”, and In the very end in fact in the epilogue, the narrator expresses his son’s death. I read those passage again and again and it helped me to be transcendent to my friend’s death.

But yesterday, I spoke to my brother for an hour, during the conversation he mentioned something about Ramana Mahirshi, I’ve heard or known about him as a saint practicing silence, but that was it. But out of curiosity, I googled him, and found a thought which had occurred to his mind when he was 13 before his enlightenment when his father suddenly fell seriously ill and unexpectedly died several days later at the age of 42, for some hours after his father's death he contemplated the matter of death, and how his father's body was still there, but the 'I' was gone from it.

I researched a bit more,  and I got to read a conversation titled “Who am I”. It was the best spiritual conversation I had ever read. Precise and concise. I am copying it with no notice or request, I don’t think it is an act of plagiarism, it is just a mere simple way of spreading the priceless truth.

So, the context is that, the Mahirshi(Saint) was met by a government employee who was also a philosopher, he wanted spiritual guidance from the master, so the conversation was in the form of questions and answers to understand self-enquiry. As Master was not talking then, not because of any vow he had taken, but because he did not have the inclination to talk, he answered the questions put to him by gestures, and when these were not understood, by writing.

Be patient enough to read the complete conversation.

1 . Who am I ?

The gross body which is composed of the seven humours (dhatus), I am not; the five cognitive sense organs, viz. the senses of hearing, touch, sight, taste, and smell, which apprehend their respective objects, viz. sound, touch, colour, taste, and odour, I am not; the five cognitive sense-organs, viz. the organs of speech, locomotion, grasping, excretion, and procreation, which have as their respective functions speaking, moving, grasping, excreting, and enjoying, I am not; the five vital airs, prana, etc., which perform respectively the five functions of in-breathing, etc., I am not; even the mind which thinks, I am not; the nescience too, which is endowed only with the residual impressions of objects, and in which there are no objects and no functioning's, I am not.

2. If I am none of these, then who am I?

After negating all of the above-mentioned as 'not this', 'not this', that Awareness which alone remains - that I am.

3. What is the nature of Awareness?

The nature of Awareness is existence-consciousness-bliss

4. When will the realization of the Self be gained?

When the world which is what-is-seen has been removed, there will be realization of the Self which is the seer.

5. Will there not be realization of the Self even while the world is there (taken as real)?

There will not be.

6. Why?

The seer and the object seen are like the rope and the snake. Just as the knowledge of the rope which is the substrate will not arise unless the false knowledge of the illusory serpent goes, so the realization of the Self which is the substrate will not be gained unless the belief that the world is real is removed.

7. When will the world which is the object seen be removed?

When the mind, which is the cause of all cognition's and of all actions, becomes quiescent, the world will disappear.

8. What is the nature of the mind?

What is called 'mind' is a wondrous power residing in the Self. It causes all thoughts to arise. Apart from thoughts, there is no such thing as mind. Therefore, thought is the nature of mind. Apart from thoughts, there is no independent entity called the world. In deep sleep there are no thoughts, and there is no world. In the states of waking and dream, there are thoughts, and there is a world also. Just as the spider emits the thread (of the web) out of itself and again withdraws it into itself, likewise the mind projects the world out of itself and again resolves it into itself. When the mind comes out of the Self, the world appears. Therefore, when the world appears (to be real), the Self does not appear; and when the Self appears (shines) the world does not appear. When one persistently inquires into the nature of the mind, the mind will end leaving the Self (as the residue). What is referred to as the Self is the Atman. The mind always exists only in dependence on something gross; it cannot stay alone. It is the mind that is called the subtle body or the soul (jiva).

9. What is the path of inquiry for understanding the nature of the mind?

That which rises as 'I' in this body is the mind. If one inquires as to where in the body the thought 'I' rises first, one would discover that it rises in the heart. That is the place of the mind's origin. Even if one thinks constantly 'I' 'I', one will be led to that place. Of all the thoughts that arise in the mind, the 'I' thought is the first. It is only after the rise of this that the other thoughts arise. It is after the appearance of the first personal pronoun that the second and third personal pronouns appear; without the first personal pronoun there will not be the second and third.

10. How will the mind become quiescent?

By the inquiry 'Who am I?'. The thought 'who am I?' will destroy all other thoughts, and like the stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise Self-realization.

11. What is the means for constantly holding on to the thought 'Who am I?'

When other thoughts arise, one should not pursue them, but should inquire: 'To whom do they arise?' It does not matter how many thoughts arise. As each thought arises, one should inquire with diligence, "To whom has this thought arisen?". The answer that would emerge would be "To me". Thereupon if one inquires "Who am I?", the mind will go back to its source; and the thought that arose will become quiescent. With repeated practice in this manner, the mind will develop the skill to stay in its source. When the mind that is subtle goes out through the brain and the sense-organs, the gross names and forms appear; when it stays in the heart, the names and forms disappear. Not letting the mind go out, but retaining it in the Heart is what is called "inwardness" (antar-mukha). Letting the mind go out of the Heart is known as "externalization" (bahir-mukha). Thus, when the mind stays in the Heart, the 'I' which is the source of all thoughts will go, and the Self which ever exists will shine. Whatever one does, one should do without the egoity "I". If one acts in that way, all will appear as of the nature of Siva (God).

12. Are there no other means for making the mind quiescent?

Other than inquiry, there are no adequate means. If through other means it is sought to control the mind, the mind will appear to be controlled, but will again go forth. Through the control of breath also, the mind will become quiescent; but it will be quiescent only so long as the breath remains controlled, and when the breath resumes the mind also will again start moving and will wander as impelled by residual impressions. The source is the same for both mind and breath. Thought, indeed, is the nature of the mind. The thought "I" is the first thought of the mind; and that is egoity. It is from that whence egoity originates that breath also originates. Therefore, when the mind becomes quiescent, the breath is controlled, and when the breath is controlled the mind becomes quiescent. But in deep sleep, although the mind becomes quiescent, the breath does not stop. This is because of the will of God, so that the body may be preserved and other people may not be under the impression that it is dead. In the state of waking and in samadhi, when the mind becomes quiescent the breath is controlled. Breath is the gross form of mind. Till the time of death, the mind keeps breath in the body; and when the body dies the mind takes the breath along with it. Therefore, the exercise of breath-control is only an aid for rendering the mind quiescent (manonigraha); it will not destroy the mind (manonasa).

Like the practice of breath-control. meditation on the forms of God, repetition of mantras, restriction on food, etc., are but aids for rendering the mind quiescent.

Through meditation on the forms of God and through repetition of mantras, the mind becomes one-pointed. The mind will always be wandering. Just as when a chain is given to an elephant to hold in its trunk it will go along grasping the chain and nothing else, so also when the mind is occupied with a name or form it will grasp that alone. When the mind expands in the form of countless thoughts, each thought becomes weak; but as thoughts get resolved the mind becomes one-pointed and strong; for such a mind Self-inquiry will become easy. Of all the restrictive rules, that relating to the taking of sattvic food in moderate quantities is the best; by observing this rule, the sattvic quality of mind will increase, and that will be helpful to Self-inquiry.

13. The residual impressions (thoughts) of objects appear wending like the waves of an ocean. When will all of them get destroyed?

As the meditation on the Self rises higher and higher, the thoughts will get destroyed.

14. Is it possible for the residual impressions of objects that come from beginning-less time, as it were, to be resolved, and for one to remain as the pure Self?

Without yielding to the doubt "Is it possible, or not?", one should persistently hold on to the meditation on the Self. Even if one be a great sinner, one should not worry and weep "Oh! I am a sinner, how can I be saved?"; one should completely renounce the thought "I am a sinner"; and concentrate keenly on meditation on the Self; then, one would surely succeed. There are not two minds - one good and the other evil; the mind is only one. It is the residual impressions that are of two kinds - auspicious and inauspicious. When the mind is under the influence of auspicious impressions it is called good; and when it is under the influence of inauspicious impressions it is regarded as evil.

The mind should not be allowed to wander towards worldly objects and what concerns other people. However bad other people may be, one should bear no hatred for them. Both desire and hatred should be eschewed. All that one gives to others one gives to one's self. If this truth is understood who will not give to others? When one's self arises all arises; when one's self becomes quiescent all becomes quiescent. To the extent we behave with humility, to that extent there will result good. If the mind is rendered quiescent, one may live anywhere.

15. How long should inquiry be practiced?

As long as there are impressions of objects in the mind, so long the inquiry "Who am I?" is required. As thoughts arise they should be destroyed then and there in the very place of their origin, through inquiry. If one resorts to contemplation of the Self unintermittently, until the Self is gained, that alone would do. As long as there are enemies within the fortress, they will continue to sally forth; if they are destroyed as they emerge, the fortress will fall into our hands.

16. What is the nature of the Self?

What exists in truth is the Self alone. The world, the individual soul, and God are appearances in it. like silver in mother-of-pearl, these three appear at the same time, and disappear at the same time. The Self is that where there is absolutely no "I" thought. That is called "Silence". The Self itself is the world; the Self itself is "I"; the Self itself is God; all is Siva, the Self.

17. Is not everything the work of God?

Without desire, resolve, or effort, the sun rises; and in its mere presence, the sun-stone emits fire, the lotus blooms, water evaporates; people perform their various functions and then rest. Just as in the presence of the magnet the needle moves, it is by virtue of the mere presence of God that the souls governed by the three (cosmic) functions or the fivefold divine activity perform their actions and then rest, in accordance with their respective karmas. God has no resolve; no karma attaches itself to Him. That is like worldly actions not affecting the sun, or like the merits and demerits of the other four elements not affecting all pervading space.

18. Of the devotees, who is the greatest?

He who gives himself up to the Self that is God is the most excellent devotee. Giving one's self up to God means remaining constantly in the Self without giving room for the rise of any thoughts other than that of the Self. Whatever burdens are thrown on God, He bears them. Since the supreme power of God makes all things move, why should we, without submitting ourselves to it, constantly worry ourselves with thoughts as to what should be done and how, and what should not be done and how not? We know that the train carries all loads, so after getting on it why should we carry our small luggage on our head to our discomfort, instead of putting it down in the train and feeling at ease?

19. What is non-attachment?

As thoughts arise, destroying them utterly without any residue in the very place of their origin is non-attachment. Just as the pearl-diver ties a stone to his waist, sinks to the bottom of the sea and there takes the pearls, so each one of us should be endowed with non-attachment, dive within oneself and obtain the Self-Pearl.

20. Is it not possible for God and the Guru to effect the release of a soul?

God and the Guru will only show the way to release; they will not by themselves take the soul to the state of release. In truth, God and the Guru are not different. Just as the prey which has fallen into the jaws of a tiger has no escape, so those who have come within the ambit of the Guru's gracious look will be saved by the Guru and will not get lost; yet, each one should by his own effort pursue the path shown by God or Guru and gain release. One can know oneself only with one's own eye of knowledge, and not with somebody else's. Does he who is Rama require the help of a mirror to know that he is Rama?

21. Is it necessary for one who longs for release to inquire into the nature of categories (tattvas)?

Just as one who wants to throw away garbage has no need to analyze it and see what it is, so one who wants to know the Self has no need to count the number of categories or inquire into their characteristics; what he has to do is to reject altogether the categories that hide the Self. The world should be considered like a dream.

22. Is there no difference between waking and dream?

Waking is long and a dream short; other than this there is no difference. Just as waking happenings seem real while awake. so do those in a dream while dreaming. In dream the mind takes on another body. In both waking and dream states thoughts. names and forms occur simultaneously.

23. Is it any use reading books for those who long for release?

All the texts say that in order to gain release one should render the mind quiescent; therefore their conclusive teaching is that the mind should be rendered quiescent; once this has been understood there is no need for endless reading. In order to quieten the mind one has only to inquire within oneself what one's Self is; how could this search be done in books? One should know one's Self with one's own eye of wisdom. The Self is within the five sheaths; but books are outside them. Since the Self has to be inquired into by discarding the five sheaths, it is futile to search for it in books. There will come a time when one will have to forget all that one has learned.

24. What is happiness?

Happiness is the very nature of the Self; happiness and the Self are not different. There is no happiness in any object of the world. We imagine through our ignorance that we derive happiness from objects. When the mind goes out, it experiences misery. In truth, when its desires are fulfilled, it returns to its own place and enjoys the happiness that is the Self. Similarly, in the states of sleep, samadhi and fainting, and when the object desired is obtained or the object disliked is removed, the mind becomes inward-turned, and enjoys pure Self-Happiness. Thus the mind moves without rest alternately going out of the Self and returning to it. Under the tree the shade is pleasant; out in the open the heat is scorching. A person who has been going about in the sun feels cool when he reaches the shade. Someone who keeps on going from the shade into the sun and then back into the shade is a fool. A wise man stays permanently in the shade. Similarly, the mind of the one who knows the truth does not leave Brahman. The mind of the ignorant, on the contrary, revolves in the world, feeling miserable, and for a little time returns to Brahman to experience happiness. In fact, what is called the world is only thought. When the world disappears, i.e. when there is no thought, the mind experiences happiness; and when the world appears, it goes through misery.

25. What is wisdom-insight (jnana-drsti)?

Remaining quiet is what is called wisdom-insight. To remain quiet is to resolve the mind in the Self. Telepathy, knowing past, present and future happenings and clairvoyance do not constitute wisdom-insight.

26. What is the relation between desirelessness and wisdom?

Desirelessness is wisdom. The two are not different; they are the same. Desirelessness is refraining from turning the mind towards any object. Wisdom means the appearance of no object. In other words, not seeking what is other than the Self is detachment or desirelessness; not leaving the Self is wisdom.

27. What is the difference between inquiry and meditation?

Inquiry consists in retaining the mind in the Self. Meditation consists in thinking that one's self is Brahman, existence-consciousness-bliss.

28. What is release?

Inquiring into the nature of one's self that is in bondage, and realizing one's true nature is release.

-An inquirer.

Santhosh K Ramachandran

This is one of the topics, which I wanted to write for a long time. I was always amazed by the concept of God, How different people perceive it, How the concept is perceived the world over. How the communists see it, How atheists see it, How agnostics see it, How staunch believers of various faith perceive it. So I am going to try a hand in explaining what I feel and believe. It is heavily influenced by past thinkers from India notably Adi sankara, (known as Sankaracharya). The spark to write which was present for a long time, got a push when I couldn’t make a friend understand something which I wanted to tell about God. Happy Reading.

First and foremost, God is not a tribal leader to rule you, to grant you your wishes when you bow in front of him, to punish you if you don’t kneel down in front of him. He is not a jailer either and he doesn’t have a file for you to note down the good deeds and bad deeds and weigh you in terms of that and thereby to sent you to Hell or Heaven.. There is no hell with burning cauldron nor a heaven with virgins and wine. Even death in Sanskrit is called Yama, which is nothing but “Time”. It will come at its own time.

Having said that, let me talk about Hinduism as religion, it is not a religion. Nothing revolutionary, it is not a religion just because it is not centered around a prophet or god, its a socio-cultural way of living which is being followed in south Asia for ages with foundation based on not just one single book. The religion is more called as Sanathana Dharma by certain scriptures (which means eternal religion), There is no mentioning of the word Hindu in any of the Vedas and the following literature. By the way,  Can a single book explain everything we need to live and understand about God? No way! So there are many sacred books in Hinduism rather than one, The foundation is based on Vedas,

There are four Vedas

1. Rig Veda (1028 hymns and 10,600 verses)
2. Yajur Veda (Sacrificial Prayers, Around 2000 Verses)
   1. Shukla Yajur Veda(White)
   2. Krishna Yajur Veda (Black)
3. Sama Veda(Around 1900 Verses)
4. Atharva Veda(760 hymns, few as verses, few as prose)

Can just Four books of so many verses explain the entire way of living and cosmos, No, So there are Brahmanas, which are commentaries on these Vedas, They are 16 in number(If I am right) which may be written in the form of Samhitas (collections). Apart from this there are Vedanta, Upanishads, Aranyakas. Then after that came Vedangas(which means limbs of Vedas) they consist of grammar, phonetics, astrology etc. Then there are Parisistas which when translated means supplement. Then there are 18 Puranas which gives details of creation and destruction of universe. Then there are Upavedas which are four in number, The famed Ayurveda comes under this. Then there are the Ithihasas which means history, under this comes the great epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana.

The size of Ramayana and Mahabharata itself is pretty amazing, it is pretty foolish to compare it with Iliad and odyssey of Homer. Mahabharata alone is ten times longer than Iliad and Odyssey combined, with more than 90,000 verses and 1.8 million words. Sadly, many of the ancient texts are not present anymore due to various reasons, destruction of ancient universities in Nalanda and elsewhere is one of the reason.

So, coming back, these books though form the basis of Hinduism( I’ll use the term Hinduism due to convenience) is not closed for questioning, one can question, argue, doubt and comment on it. That is why there is mentioning of atheism, agnosticism in Hinduism. After all, Hinduism as I know, is not monotheistic but can be so, is not Pantheistic but can be so, is not atheistic but can be so.

Upanishads mention God not as what it is but what it is not, Which is easier, It mentions God as follows,

That which makes the tongue speak, but which cannot be spoken by the tongue...
That which makes the mind think, but which cannot be thought by the mind...
That which makes the eyes see, but which cannot be seen by the eyes...
If you understand the meaning of I neither know nor don't know, then you understand God.
Those who know that God cannot be known, truly know God.

When I mentioned Atheism, what I meant was the belief of lack of super-human intervention of God in Human life. In other words, God is whatever is present and whatever is not present, in short God is the universe, just like one of my friend explained that God is like a spider’s web, The spider creates the web and lives in it and also is a part of it.

Also you might have noticed that God is mentioned as ‘that’ and ‘it’, and not as any he or she, Vedas call God by various names such as Nirguna- attributeless, Nirvikara- Opinionless, Nirakara- formless, Ananta- Infinite.

But few people in Hinduism  pray to the attributes of Universe, like Sun, Rain, Fire etc. Few scholars in the past propounded atheism to remove this stigma. But in actual Hinduism is neither atheistic nor theistic but it be called as trans-theistic.

In Hinduism, you can consider those forces as also God, after all, it is part of the universe, so it is part of God, so it is God. There is a verse as follows,

Ekam sat vipraa: Bahuda Vadanti

which when translated means, Truth is one, People say it in different ways.

Now as the time passed, the message of truth was lost in the lineage, So to makes things easier for the common man to understand, scholars built ways, so that common man can understand and reach the truth. Most importantly four philosophies were developed from four Vedas by Adi Sankara, those being,

• Prajñānam Brahma - Brahman is knowledge
• Aham Brahmasmi- I am Brahman
• Tat Tvam Asi-That thou art
• Ayamātmā Brahma-This Atman is Brahman

All the four are based on Advaita ( which means non-duality), Buddhism loosely dwells on this monistic way of thinking. Many Hindu conventional people criticized on his thoughts mentioning it as radical. But the same Upanishads and Vedas have the same arguments which those opponents couldn’t see. Sankara created these schools of thought based on sastra (scriptures), yukti (reason) and anubhava (experience), and aided by karmas (spiritual practices).

In fact, the entire Hindu religion was modeled to follow these schools of thought, the temples, idols were created to follow these philosophical and scientific traditions, though people forgot or are unaware of the reasons behind these traditions which paved way for the radicals of present day to consider some of it as superstitious due to its lack of purpose or reason is a sad state. Also there are right-wing Hindus who blindly believes in certain traditions which may have been relevant at a different point of time for a different socio-cultural reason is a sad state.

There is a temple in south Kerala deep in jungle, the pilgrims need to trek 4-5kms( it was around 20-40kms, before the roads were paved) to reach the temple, the trek is hard and laborious in the deep jungle, and before the trek the pilgrim is supposed to take 41 day of observing hard rites including but not limited to celibacy. Once the pilgrim reaches the  sanctum sanctorum very tired and exhausted, He is greeted by a message written in Devanagari script “तत्वमसि” which is “Tat Tvam Asi”. The pilgrim is not greeted by promises of gifts and blessings, but by this simple philosophical thought/truth.

- A believer, Santhosh K Ramachandran

Sources: Wikipedia, Few blogs, Few Hindu websites, Few original thoughts.

I may add one more part to this, considering opinions and comments, also am having a small doubt that I haven’t expressed what I wanted to…

We all ask questions, do we always ask for answers? May be Yes, may be No.

We don’t like to be questioned, whether its a History class, or where the stapler is when we are busy watching the movie, or about our attitude towards other people which includes our parents, dear ones and enemies, or even the intricate questions about life and existence, or going further we don’t even like to be questioned about our very own actions.

But, when someone asks a generic abstract question whose answer is non-existent or is trivial or tickles human perception and mind, he feels he is being intelligent to put up such a question in front of other people. May be his motive was innocent or he is just at awe when he wonders about the lopsided nature of questions and answers.

In our life, we ask more questions than we ever answer, It is either in a process of gathering information, or in a process of having a discussion or providing information to others in a thought provoking manner.

So, Thinking about answers, are there answers ? something in me tells that there is answer to every question possible.(For sensible qns). But sometimes certain questions which are not sensible may be sensible at a future point of time. How do we find an answer to a question? That is a prudent question.

How did Aryabhatta find the value of Pi? How did he find Zero?

How did Kekule find the structure of Benzene?

How did Einstein propound Relativity..?

These are works of great personalities of various times, On a common scale, How did you find the answers to simple questions you face everyday?

Like, the amount of salt, direction to your office, your thirst level, your sub-conscious driving..!

Its in you.. The answer is within you..! Whenever you hear an answer, until and unless you believe it with faith and conviction, that is not an answer for you.

So the answer is within you..! For how much you see, smell, taste, hear and feel, the mind inside you, need to comprehend and digest to make it truth for yourself. No matter whether its engraved in gold or rock, Its your conviction in the end that matters, may be that is why we have so many religions, gods, rituals and superstitions....

As I told, you can find answer to anything, any situation, any question, any problem, any challenge, any hurdle…all you need is a clear thoughtful mind…

Stop Googling, Start searching within you..!!

-Santhosh K Ramachandran (keep probing)

In your life, you always make choices, everyday, every moment you make choices out of your experiences, your education, from the training you have got, the instinct feeling you carry. You remember very few choices you have made, those important ones especially related to your career, love life, relationships, etc. On a spiritual, meta-physical level, what makes you take that choice or decision.

Is it the fate?

Is it your karma? based on your past and present life.

Is it really written? just like in the  “The alchemist”

Is it based on planetary positions?

or is it really your very own logical choice out of your mind? which you have no idea where it came from…!

Or even worse, is it based on emotions designed specifically to overwhelm logic and reason?

On an ironical note, you don’t have the choice of your color or physical appearance, no matter what the plastic surgeon or dermatologist claims.

You don’t have the choice to what race you are going to be born, you don’t have the choice where you want to be born, you don’t have the choice of caste or religion of your parents which you are most probably going to follow.

Even you don’t make the choice of your very own name, by which the entire world is going  to know you by.

Most of the violence and homicide of 20th century is based on the first two statements, which is not even your own choice.

If you have a political or philosophical belief, fight for it, no problem !!! (still, No Violence plz) Its your very own goddamn choice.

I normally ask people an “OR” question, so as to see how they make the choice…! Try it, and lets find the answers.

Since you have made the choice of reading this completely, Thank you and congrats.

"You're not here to find out what your choice is. You have already made the choice. You're here to find out why you made that choice."

-Oracle in Matrix

-Santhosh K Ramachandran

“I’ve always believed in cause and effect, or more formal way of expressing it by the terms causality, action and reaction. Sometimes it is too literal. For example, consider the sequential events of work and fatigue. That kind of events which are literal and more physical are easier to understand, follow, plan and execute because of the logic supporting it.”

But what about deeds? what about all those meta-physical things which are only supported by the reasoning put forward by the philosophers from time immemorial. That kind of causality makes it more intriguing,  and quite questionable! No matter how many examples are put forward to prove that, it can be disproved with the help of stating it as mere coincidence.

So is it just coincidence, Nope. The world and all its beings, the entire cosmos, the life, the human mind, its actions and thoughts are not just mere coincidence. Those who believe it as coincidence are just lazy enough to find the truth.

Now listen, The entire system is not here because of Genesis, those who have read Genesis( The first part in Bible) will acknowledge what is written below.

“God creates light and separates light from darkness, and day from night, on the first day. Yet he didn't make the light producing objects (the sun and the stars) until the fourth day” (1:14-19), (1:3-5)

See, If you follow Bible for answers, you will be following these illogical reasoning which any educated person will call as absurdity. check the link

But there can be stupid logic as well, For example.

“The Holy Religion of the Invisible Pink Unicorn is based upon both Logic and Faith. We have Faith that She is Pink; and we Logically know that She is Invisible, because we can't see Her.”

Isn’t every religion based on something like that. The above statement about that holy religion cannot be disproved, If someone argues about it, what can you answer rather than scream or laugh over it.

But good deeds will give you fruitful results, after all there is no harm in doing something good. Every religion thankfully support it. In Hinduism it speaks about moksha, nirvana and escaping from the continuous birth cycles. It also says that the actions performed in this birth will result in the status of your next life.

But what is promising is the statement in Gita which tells that good deeds will help you in this life as well. This statement was made famous by the father of atomic bomb Oppenheimer.

The quote says:

“In battle, in the forest, at the precipice in the mountains, On the dark great sea, in the midst of javelins and arrows, In sleep, in confusion, in the depths of shame, The good deeds a man has done before defend him “

-Gita

So even if you escape the laws of the constitution created by mortals, you can’t escape the laws of nature.

P.S. Let there be peace..!

What is life..?

A gift, a coincidence, a planned purposeful element in a larger scheme of things,  an effect of subsequent actions during the course of billion years..

No one knows its purpose, no one is even sure that the purpose of life is to find the purpose and perform it.

The question of destiny, salvation, the sciences, the intricacies, the complexities, the human illusions, the creator, the dimensions, the god, the right, the wrong, light, sound, warmth, cold, the meaning of time, the outer space, the inner mind, happiness, sadness, anger, passion, lust, and all those numerous emotions, nothing has been explained to full amount of satisfaction.

Why..why is that not possible..?

Is it because the human mind is hard to satisfy..?

Or isn’t the language capable of explaining those things..!

OR is it that the truth is already out there, and the problem being that everyone is not capable of comprehending and accepting the truth.

OR is it following the theory that the universe will change to something more bizarre once it is fully comprehended, and that one such understanding of the universe had already occurred in the past.

Or is it that the design of the whole system also involves an element of incomprehensibility…

As one can see..The situation is so complex and out of the world that the problem itself is so complex and invites many possibilities that one even can’t imagine about the solution..!

So..what am I going to do now, Rush to finish my take home exam..!

Hope- "it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatest weakness."
We call ourselves rational beings, but 'to hope' is neither rational nor logical. May be that's what makes us human beings. "What an Irony..!"
Hope, Its the topmost thing in anyone's survival kit, even surpassing swiss army knife and a bottle of pure water.

What is hope?

It is one of the three theological virtues(in Christianity) along with LOVE and FAITH.
It is the human involvement on the future(on a time scale) emotionally.
Hope is not optimism, that is why I preferred to say emotionally, because optimism is a rational thing.
Hope is a beautiful "maya" to keep one going.
Many people find hope in a variety of things.
In god, In a poster, In nature, In the clouds in sky, In medicine, In food, In music, In People(parents, friends, teachers, students, colleagues, strangers, Sachin tendulkar), In words, In eyes, In a metaphysical force, And above all in the future.

Since Hope is more of a human thought,emotion... It is meant to affect or at least try to affect the events so as to bring the future to one's wish, demand or request. May be that is hope.

It sometimes seem to take the 4th dimension(time) into its hands. Which is not quite possible empirically. But I am not sure how it is influenced or affected; Through prayers, controlling cosmological elements and/or worldly factors. But it sometimes does get affected, few people call it coincidence(and they proudly calls themselves realists); few call it divine intervention; few call it the power of sub-conscious mind.

Whatever it is, We continue to hope.. The last resort of any wounded phoenix (before rising from the ashes)

When I was asked, what is the most valuable thing in one's life. I could come up with three answers, the first one was Freedom, the second one was Hope and the third one was Change..!

Freedom..!

It is the most important thing in the world for the one who is deprived of it, So if it is considered pretty significant, does that mean that a large chunk of world population doesn't own it. Sadly the answer is 99.99% doesn't own it, to varying levels.

So the question arise, what is actually freedom, what is independence, what has that to do with greed, what are limitations, what has the society done to it. The entire analysis of that particular word can take the entire human history as the reference!

Freedom or birth rights, The freedom of the press( does that include paparazzi,gossiping), freedom of the country(does that overlap with terrorism?) freedom from limitations imposed by parents, freedom to hold a gal's hand without inviting second look, freedom to choose, freedom from your spouse(sometimes), freedom to smoke, freedom to hunt, freedom to kill people, freedom to kill oneself, freedom to blaspheme, freedom to mug, lie, rob and rape...!

You could see people at one point in their life, may or may not accept to each of this "freedom" to do these things.

It doesn't look good, doesn't it?

So the rules and laws came into place, Ruling came into place, Constitution came into the world, Democracy came into the world.


Whatever it is, my urge to write on this topic came long back, when I was a teenager, when I was given limitations and most importantly when I started to think of my marriage(another law in the society) is going to be with a gal chosen by my parents.(Another freedom stolen)

As  you have noticed, the percentage I had given in the beginning was 99.99%, so what about the rest 0.01%, They are those lucky ppl who have found meaning to their life on a transcendental state, controlling their senses against lust, money and anger. Leading a life outside this material world, free from bondage, renounced from bodily comforts, Detached..That is freedom,

They are on their path to supreme abode on whatever path they have chosen, Either through Jnana(Knoweldge), Karma(Action), Bhakti(Devotion).

So let me take small small steps on that regard, by controlling my anger..! That is easier and beneficial.

P.S: Posting on the eve of finishing "Gita" for the second time, (I am at awe, every time I read it)