One in Mind, Body and Soul

One in Mind, Body and Soul

English : One in Mind, Body and Soul

English : One in Mind, Body and Soul: One in Mind, Body and Soul She stood before me, and let her clothes fall off, She looked at me, plain and simple, my love, ...

I am what I am...

I am what I am...

I am simply what I am,

I feel no real pain, fear or guilt,

All the things that used to bother me,

Have died centuries ago,

Now I simply am with a wonder

At life, and its simplicity.

It is simple but I also know

How extraordinary this life is,

This blankness inside paves the way

For limitless adventurous thought and action!!

I am far far away from the madding crowd,

I am simple, aloof, cold, and dead to the world.

Yet I feel so connected to all that exists,

I see the pain but it does not enter my consciousness,

It all seems so alien, senseless,

I say- it is a fact, the world is all screwed up,

But it does not enter my consciousness,

I know the world, and its ways,

I know men thoroughly, and I see through

Their pettiness, their silly ways,

And I feel no pain, I laugh at that worthlessness,

That is why I draw out the best in men,

I respect totally, and believe they can be perfectly free,

I am filled with ideas to do a hundred things,

I love to create, add and give meaning to this world,

I change things, transform and bring in the light,

With fresh, original creations and I love that!!

That is all I love, my mind active on its own power!!

I am a machine like man, and I love Man!!

To the Mother of My Child

To the Mother of My Child

My Dear, we became one, long back, it is 15 years now, and here is our child, who is 12

On the threshold of life he is, full of activity and vigor, we both love him, you a bit more.

And we both want him to have a great, joyous life, and we both worry, and we are serious

About his well being, the things he learns, the things he needs, the things he must do.

But I have a greater fear, a fear that our son would share in the core of his being,

He may not want the things we need from him, he may not want to do what we want him to do,

You see him, always hyper, and all the time you need to shout at him to get the simplest things done,

It can exasperate us, is it not, when he seemingly fails to do his duties, sometimes simple things.

But we both know, and we share that, how sensitive he is too, and how intelligent, how deep,

We both know his sharp mind, his enthusiasm, when he loves something and his infinite energy.

And at such times, sweetheart, I am afraid, very afraid, of whether we are loving towards him

Or whether we are, unknowingly, cruel, and unsparing, and excessively bothered to make him perform.

He is first in everything, but is he really? Deep within we 3 know that this so called education gives nothing.

It cripples even our ability to ask questions and finally we end up so inert, dead and unfeeling,

Today our child is happy, free, energetic, hyper and enthusiastic, and full of life!!

But would he be like that tomorrow. I worry when he is made to study, and I see that no questioning

Comes from that content, no wonder, not even reading, no pausing, no discovery, no insight.

I know my son is not learning though coming first in the class, and may be if we insist too much

The natural interest would die a natural death, and he will be like everybody else.

Is it our fear, imposed on him? Is it unknowingly our ambition, and our standards

That we impose on so delicate a creature? I am not sure that we are right.

And we need to together think, feel, stop, and look at OUR CHILD with no expectation.

Let us begin a new chapter in parenting, leave him, and yet love him, let us learn and teach!!!

Why I need you as a friend

Why I need you as a friend

This world is pretty lonely, you go anywhere, and you find nobody interested in YOU, they look for what they can get from you.

But you see me, and you delight in me, as I delight in you, so simple it is, and being with you, makes me feel- the world is fine!!!

You are my companion, and I share everything with you, talking to you is like talking to myself, and that is a release and I too am that for you and we both know it!!

That is the doubling up of life, and so much energy s released for living, for working, for sharing, for clarifying, for thinking, for inspiration, each happy with the success that now follow!!

Life is a journey and each friend brings a special quality of sweetness and if that is not there, then why live, for what, for whom?

Is this too much to ask, that we all have friends, it is sad when I see, most people, they do not want true friends, they want success, name for showing their greatness in others’ eyes!! What a strange reversal, is it not?

Find one friend, a true friend, your life is blessed then, and then you will get the energy, the motivation the meaning to do a100 things and you will know what you truly need and what is more, you will get all the things that you truly need.

Food for the body and soul!!

“Mastan Bhai”

Food for the body and soul!!

The tastiest snack made, clean snack, filling and a pleasure,

A pleasure for a hungry stomach, a taste that never changes,

His hands move continuously, from dawn to night, and 100s come,

Not a five star, or a three star but a road star. Better than junk food,

Clean, original, delicious served with a smile, happy and inviting,

These are “Mastan Bhai” snacks, nobody can repeat them,

The taste is irresistible and you will have to go there and fill yourself,

Food is part and parcel of Human life, food satisfies the stomach, mind and soul!!

All need it and this fact unites us all human animals, hungry to fill , for the pleasure!!

“Mastan Bhais” are there in every city and in every important corner,

Hands moving, stomachs filling, a local flavour and lovely food,

Swarmed by foodies who cannot do without those unusual snacks!!

The Wonder of History (The Coming of Civilizations)

The Wonder of History 

(The Coming of Civilizations)

How did we get civilizations? What is a civilization? We have all heard of large empires and civilizations that ruled large regions where people lived. That is a Civilization.

The ancient civilizations were The Egyptian Civilization, The Indus Civilization, The Mesopotomian Civilization and the Chinese Ancient civilization.

All these come near the river valleys. But the question really is – How did all these Civilizations come about, each with a distinctive mode of belief, behaviour, laws, organization and rules of functioning.

First, when Agriculture came into existence, small pockets, settlements, villages came into existence, 12000 years back.

People for the first time began to co-exist. They had to co-exist peacefully and in a stable way.

So naturally, there were rules set up, rules of behaviour, of trading, rules with respect to marriages, rules that all had to follow. The tribal rules were omnipotent and any deviation was not allowed. These tribal rules are today, in good part, still followed!!

Man is inherently still tribal in outlook. He needs the security and safety of the tribe and a feeling of –nothing will happen to me!! Fear of the world, that deep, primordial insecurity is deeply inherent in Man’s nature both metaphysically and also, mainly culturally.

The use of stone and then iron and copper and bronze made each region powerful and another aspect of man is might and power lust. This lust is the cause of all conquest and wars. There is always the threat of war even today.

In fact, in simple terms History is nothing but alternative periods of wars and peace. The wars were conducted in the name of region/colour of skin/religion/wealth.

People in the world have died, not because neighbours killed neighbours but one power with its combination of belief and might together wanted to conquer another land. Might has always been perceived as Right especially in the earlier times, when concepts of moral restraint had not pervaded the land. But again, the bloodiest wars took place even after the enlightenment and scientific revolution!!

So it is deeply a belief system that governs man. Some belief system seems to be a pervasive need of man. If the belief says, kill, man would kill, not for himself or his gain, but for the belief. Man cannot live without a structure of thought, a perspective on the world, a belief system.

This is his deepest psychological need. Imagine a person who has no beliefs, it would terrify him. belonging to a group, on the basis of belief, is the primary psychological necessity for man.

So the villages became civilizations, slowly, very slowly, over a period of around 5000 years.

Man has a powerful energy, and in every society, these emerge, for good or for bad. The energy within man is the human energy, the ability to imagine, to think, to plan, to do large scale things.

But this energy can lead to wars, and to useful inventions, both. Both have happened in history!!

So, surely there is the good and the bad things that have happened in history to speak in simple terms.

The ancient civilizations were the result of power and organization on a large scale, with certain fixed belief systems. Thus, each civilization had their own distinctive mode of organization and these civilizations originated and perpetuated large scale organized living based on beliefs.

The beliefs evolved. So did the organization. And that is the whole unfoldment of History!!

You may see that unfoldment, the whole of our History, in our continued series of “The Wonder of History” .

History is still in the making today also…..

THE WONDER OF HISTORY (THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION)

The Wonder of History 

(The Agricultural Revolution)

Finally man found rest, after 40000 years of moving and fearful living with unimaginable struggle and strain.

Man discovered Agriculture, the fact that he could deliberately plant and reap. 

And reap he did from that revolution 12000 years back till now. 
What a simple but powerful revolution that was!!
Think!!

His basic need, as a biological entity was at one satisfied, his basic need to be in one place was secured, his basic need to relax, his spirit, mind and soul was granted, his basic need to contemplate and deeply enjoy the living was given, his basic need for stability, security, physical and psychological, was satisfied...

Man came of age in a  physical sense at least. And now began a different age, an age where his mind was set free, and unfortunately even his primordial instincts deeply co existing too, set free...history of man, the thrilling journey began...thrilling but alas!! The horrific facts too came to light...this Agricultural revolution set man free, to do what he pleased...and stared the tortuous journey of man in the blind and in part conscious and aware sense of finding ways to live or die...

Today the world lives on this Agriculture as our basic physical and by implication spiritual need is FOOD.

Food secured for man is more than a physical need satisfied. It sets him free to exercise his unusual power, his unique power to create, to secure and find deep joy in Thinking and Doing...the long progression of discoveries and inventions began with this one revolution. 

Also simultaneously the beginning of Man using force too came into being.

So as we can see, this was a great gift to mankind, and remains so till today. And it is a reminder that we need to secure this one thing to secure everything else!!

Food is an economic, social, psychological, spiritual need for man...and till today we are not totally clear on this fundamental, bio-centric fact.... 

This is what we must realize...

NARENDRA KUMAR

The Wonder of History (The Early Man)

The Wonder of History (The Early Man)

 Around 50000 years back, there was the early man who had evolved fully (called by the name HOMO SAPIENS). This man (and woman too) was like you and me. This is where he started. the journey of man began with him and he is our forefather. 

This world is still unknown to most men. This world is not yet grounded in the fact that this world is all there is. 

Implicitly it has been grounded in our psyche because of the long development of man in terms of knowledge, stability to some extent, and co existence. 

The mystery of life and the world is not that acute. Implicitly most men do not look at the world, fearfully on he conscious level.

Sure men are still ignorant, the knowledge discovered by few men and implemented in the world has not percolated down to the masses. It is still early. Deep within, most men are still namelessly fearful, insecure and not rooted and grounded. They cling to their traditions that are their immediate and basic framework and know nothing else consciously. Basic knowledge has not been transmitted to the masses and men are not on the level. 

But this feeling of insecurity, lack of rootedness, and a total ignorance of the world as such, must have been more pronounced in the first man, the early man...

Think!! What a life must have been the early man's ....

He had to survive each moment. Each moment was a challenge to physically survive and feel safe.And he had to also be on the move. because to be in one place would be death, by starvation. 

Thus he had to be a nomad, Think how happy our lives are today with all the luxuries we have!! How safe we are and how wonderfully interesting too.

But it is still early. We have not yet risen to embrace the beautiful world that had been created. the primordial terrors, the deep fears, the beast in man without light, moves blindly and causes havoc each time in a  cycle of up and down...

That has been our history. 

The early man teaches us that we are lucky, that we need to fight to survive, that life is indeed relentless battle , and that safety, happiness and secure inner feelings are to be earned and are not automatically given. 

There is no romance in the early , life lived purely in nature as some philosophers claim sitting in their comfortable homes and on their arm chairs.  

The Divorce

The Divorce

Sita came out of the courthouse. Her divorce was over and she did not feel like getting into her car. It was evening and not much traffic was there on the roads. She decided to walk. 

It felt as if an age was over. She felt strangely free. It was an odd feeling. Because now she was alone, and she had no need to convince, cajole, force, influence , entreat, expect, be hurt, be happy or anything at all. She had found the freedom to just be!!

It was not as if Prashant was wrong or anything. He was still her close one and now a good friend. But she suddenly felt clear in her mind with such a shocking simplicity and happiness , she actually felt guilty. How can I be so happy? She thought in wonder. 

Now she could do the things she always had wanted to do. She could sing on with abandon, she could sketch and write being the whole artist that she was. 

And she felt the hunger in her to speak, sketch and sing. She had learnt so much and now she felt the joy of wanting to express, the expectant joy!!

Also, she had grown to the limit. She realized that love is alone and that you need to love yourself, consummate your own destiny before the thought of love. She grasped that love is not a pleasure but an add on and now strangely she grasped the beauty and rarity of love. 

At the same time, she also grasped how each person had a right to this kind of love...she felt so benevolent at this moment and she stopped and smiled at the world around her. 

She knew that the new life had already begun...and life was beating in her heart.  

AYN RAND

SHAKESPEARE

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

LEO TOLSTOY

DOSTOEVSKY

PREMCHAND

RABINDRANATH TAGORE