“A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.”Albert Einstein
The human spirit is not dead. It lives on in secret... It has come to believed that compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind.-” Albert Schweitzer
In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.” Immanuel Kant
The ideals which have always shone before me and filled me with the joy of living are goodness, beauty, and truth. To make a goal of comfort or happiness has never appealed to me; a system of ethics built on this basis would be sufficient only for a herd of cattle.” Albert Einstein
A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.” Albert Camus
You do not know our culture, our ethics, or the unwritten codes that already provide our society more order than could be obtained by any of your impositions.” John Perry Barlow
Good or bad? Is this that easy? Why do we differ in our opinion on very same subject? Is there anything that determines this inference of good or bad?
A cognitive psychologist will argue this is our previous experiences that determine our perception and interpretation of subject. A religious leader will say it is the sacred writings that make decision on goodness. A statesman will say it is the common purpose that determines goodness. What about the cultural dimension of goodness? Can culture determine goodness? Are we not confused?
In human interaction we always face the challenge to differ between good and bad. And when we fail to do it right, we are in trouble. Philosophers argue to define goodness. But we are not here to argue the complexity, we are common people and we need a simple answer. We are here to get some good understanding about what is good and what is not. This understanding will help us making a choice to bring us wellbeing.
Good is what is Godly. The sacred writings of all religions and faiths have some guidance on what is good. We may follow any one of them or in combinations.
Good is what is natural. This neutrality speaks of human nature. It’s natural to expect that everybody speaks and practice truth. So the truthfulness is good.
Good is what makes us happy. This happiness needs to be of greater number of people. If only I become happy but at the cost of many other people’s happiness then that’s not good. That’s selfishness and selfishness is not good. Good has to have common purpose. Good should lead us to the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
Good is what gives people respect and dignity. Good treats people as God. If a particular expression treats people as a thing rather than person then that expression is not good.
Examples of good can be- truthfulness, courage, self control, benevolence, sincerity, diligence, humbleness, wisdom, compassion, honesty, mercy, generosity etc.
We must remember that we have simplified the definition of good. In reality the understanding and application of good can be very challenging. Because in this universe there is no such thing called absolute rule. Our understanding of good is influenced by our culture and our value system. What may appear good in one culture may not be so in other culture. And this is called moral relativism. And that is why it’s so important for us to train our mind everyday and on every occasion to develop a discerning mind. And that is wisdom. To search for wisdom is an ongoing journey.
We are still in search for right answer in number of issues like abortions, euthanasia, in-vitro fertilization, killings of babies and children with genetic disorders etc. We are still divided to justify the use of force and violence to stop another force and violence. And this conflict is called moral conflict or dilemma. There are many such dilemmas in personal or group level those we face in our life. They are challenging situations and do have the potentiality to lead us to danger. In those situations it’s wise to ask help from wise man or to ask help from divine guidance. But one simple truth is that we must always choose common good over individual good.
Friday, February 27, 2009
God versus Commonsense
“In the beginning Man created God; and in the image of Man created he him.” Jethro Tull
“The tendency to turn human judgments into divine commands makes religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world.” Georgia Harkness
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.” Steven Weinberg
“I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.” Richard Dawkins
“If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult than religion.” Edmond de Goncourt
“If there were no God, it would have been necessary to invent him.” Voltaire
“God has no religion” Mahatma Gandhi
I often wonder, is this really important to prove or disprove God? To me this is not as important as knowing the truth is. And the truth is that human being is absolutely nothing in comparison to the existence of this universe. No matter how big the human knowledge grows in science, philosophy or any other subject of understanding, the universe will still remain unknown and powerful; the power of human doings will still remain trivial and negligible. This leads me to conclusion that humility is the ultimate truth. The wisdom is to know the truth. The wisdom should begin with understanding of this humility.
This truth will empower human being not take this world, this nature and this universe for granted. It is good to have knowledge and confidence but it is better to know our limitations. This will make us humble. Humbleness will promote the idea of co-operation and cohabitation. Haughtiness and pride are self destructive.
Once we start with this understanding of humility in mind, we will be wise enough not to be absorbed in pride and arrogance. This will ensure peace and wellbeing.
To me God is a conceptual being! His/her existence is matter of convenience. For some people it is convenient to conceptualize God (in their own way) for other people it is convenient not to conceptualize God. My perception is very clear about the existence of God. I think those complicated arguments of philosophers and theology experts are imaginary. Those arguments are good as exercise for our brain and thought process but so far application of this argument in human life is concerned, it’s useless.
I am sure you all may be broadly categorized into three groups. Groups-Who believe in God.Who don’t believe in God.Who don’t care!Personally, I feel you all are right. You do whatever you love to do. You do whatever suits you most. Because the bottom line is that your belief should bring you wellbeing. But a warning- that your wellbeing should not be at the cost of others.
My humble submission is, I am not here to question or support the existence of God. I am here to find some relationship between the concept of God and the wellbeing. But while doing so I will discuss different perspectives on the issue of God’ existence.
Long ago, a young boy from Kolkata, Narendranath Dutta was obsessed with the idea of seeing God. He met several learned and wise men asking them “sir, have you seen God?” He was not happy with the answers of those learned people. He wanted some easy answer to calm his young mind. At last he met an illiterate priest in Kali (A Hindu Goddess) Temple of Dakshineswar, Kolkata. This simple priest replied to his question in simple language- “yes, I have seen God. I have seen Him more tangibly than I see you. I have talked to Him more intimately than I talk to you”.
With this story I want to make couple of points. The right answer to the question of existence of God depends on -1. The maturity of questioner in the context of his capacity to think abstract.2. The attitude of questioner to the life3. The attitude of the questioner to know the unknown4. The ability of the questioner to assimilate abstract concept into reality to give meaning to life.
There are thousands of examples of things which we can’t sense with our five senses.We can’t see our mind but we still know mind exists. We can’t sense numbers one to nine but we know that these numbers exist. Because the mind and all these conceptual numbers can solve many puzzles. Existence is not in sensing physically, existence is in meaning. To get a meaning from the abstract we need to have some initiated perceptual process. The result of perceiving abstracts are immense. This kind of perception can make our life really meaningful.
My interest is whether the concept of God can help us living a meaningful life? Historically the concept of God has helped us in doing so. The concept of God is still helping millions of people in their pain and sufferings. I am not interested in question whether the God ‘really exists’? That is the domain of philosophers and we will let them keep arguing and come up with their answers.
However, just for knowledge I will briefly discuss the philosophical aspect of the God’s existence. There are some traditional proofs of God’s existence like-
1. The argument from designHave we ever thought about the vastness and complexity yet the discipline of the universe? Are we not mesmerised? Are we not baffled with the thought of this wonderful design? Is this possible that this might have happened by chance? There should definitely be somebody who has done this wonderful job! What happens if we call him God?
2. The ontological argumentGod is the perfect being. As He is most perfect, He must have all perfections. If God lacked existence He would not be perfect, as He is perfect he must exist.
3. The cosmological argumentWe believe in causal relationship of our all existences. We say everything that exists has a cause. Think of those things with their all those causes. There must be some first cause prior to all other causes. I mean the cause of causes. What happens if we name this pioneer cause as God?
Now we will have a look at what the wise men say-Blaise Pascal (The French mathematician) argues-God either exists or he does not. If we believe in God and he exists, we will be rewarded with eternal bliss in heaven. If we believe in God and he does not exist then at worst all we have forgone is a few sinful pleasures. If we do not believe in God and he does exist we may enjoy a few sinful pleasures, but we may face eternal damnation. If we do not believe in God and he does not exist then our sins will not be punished. Would any rational gambler think that the experience of a few sinful pleasures is worth the risk of eternal damnation?
Feuerbach and Marx argue-God does not make man. Rather "God" is the invention of human consciousness.
Marx comments that religion is part of an ideological view that encourages the oppressed and poor to accept their life as a fate. He says: “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people”.
Steven Weinberg says “Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.”
Søren Kierkegaard (first existentialist) supports Kant that the existence of God can’t be proven by reason. However Kierkegaard does not think that it is rational to believe in God, rather one should have faith in God even if this seems to reason to be absurd.
Nietzsche writes- "Have you not heard the madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place and cried incessantly, 'I seek God! I seek God!’... Why, did he get lost? Said one. Did he lose his way like a child? Said another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? Or emigrated?... The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his glances. "'Whither is God'? He cried. 'I shall tell you. We have killed him - you and I. All of us are his murderers...'" "...the madman fell silent and looked again at his listeners; and they were silent and stared at him in astonishment. At last he threw his lantern on the ground, and it broke and went out. 'I came too early,' he said then; 'my time has not come yet. This tremendous event is still on its way, still wandering -it has not yet reached the ears of man."
Nietzsche’s writings about God and “Death of God” concept appear at same time of history. Nietzsche shows the inevitable unfolding of anthropocentrism (putting man at the centre of the world). If we view our existence through human categories, then our concept of God is itself a human creation. He suggests that if we are aware of the fact that the concept of God is our own creation we can no longer base our religious and moral beliefs on any notion of a divine external reality.
We are not discussing politics here. But I find those comments interesting in context of God. This shows that the same concept which can be utilised for goodness can also be utilised for destruction. God and the religion have been used to destroy creation in the past and if we don’t understand the truth we will use God and the religion to destroy creation in future too.
Personally I respect the view of both believer and non-believer. Like many others I do have my own view on God and religion. I basically come from Hindu family but I know very little of Hinduism and other religion. In my journey, I have learnt that the existence and concept of God and Religion are just means but are not the end. Now I have understood that the end is- the understanding of the truth. I now firmly believe that the most important truth is the humility. Once I have learnt little bit of this humility (I still deviate and quite often!), this learning has changed my life altogether. I now understand the hollowness of pride and possessions. This leads me to peace and serenity. This keeps me away from anger, hatred and arrogance. I feel good about life. I do have problems like all of you have but now I know that no problem in this world can lead me to madness.
I follow what I conceive as human religion. I do have my own description of what I mean by this. I am a member of humanity. To me, any other member of this family is my brother or sister. And the principle of living this religion is, we all will live together in harmony and will help each other. We will happily accept the differences we have and will joyously celebrate the beauty of these differences.
I do believe in God because this belief suits me. I may find myself frustrated with some obstacle or failure and then I get back to God to get some peace. I speak in silence “God, give me more courage and wisdom to help me grow stronger”. Or if I find myself in dilemma, I ask for divine help to guide me through this dilemma. Sometimes it clicks and other times it does not. Even when it does not click, I maintain my calm and serenity with this belief. But like many of you I am not sure whether God really exists but that does not stop me to believe or conceptualize God. To me God is a conceptual being that I have created for my own convenience.
I am interested in wellbeing of myself and other members of this planet. I think each of us can choose anything we want. The question of ‘real existence’ of God is immaterial to our purpose of journey to wellbeing. Our bottom line is our belief or disbelief should lead us to wellbeing. And our belief or disbelief should not cause any harm to others.
It is unfortunate and heartbreaking to find the conflicts and killings of our brothers and sisters across this world on ground of differences in faith and religion. This is an absolute stupidity of human mind. Everybody has the right to choose his faith and belief. Everybody should be granted that privilege. But in return we all will expect he will not interfere with the belief of others. This is so simple truth!
Ralph Waldo Emerson says “Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble.” And Dalai Lama says “We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.”
“The tendency to turn human judgments into divine commands makes religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world.” Georgia Harkness
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.” Steven Weinberg
“I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.” Richard Dawkins
“If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult than religion.” Edmond de Goncourt
“If there were no God, it would have been necessary to invent him.” Voltaire
“God has no religion” Mahatma Gandhi
I often wonder, is this really important to prove or disprove God? To me this is not as important as knowing the truth is. And the truth is that human being is absolutely nothing in comparison to the existence of this universe. No matter how big the human knowledge grows in science, philosophy or any other subject of understanding, the universe will still remain unknown and powerful; the power of human doings will still remain trivial and negligible. This leads me to conclusion that humility is the ultimate truth. The wisdom is to know the truth. The wisdom should begin with understanding of this humility.
This truth will empower human being not take this world, this nature and this universe for granted. It is good to have knowledge and confidence but it is better to know our limitations. This will make us humble. Humbleness will promote the idea of co-operation and cohabitation. Haughtiness and pride are self destructive.
Once we start with this understanding of humility in mind, we will be wise enough not to be absorbed in pride and arrogance. This will ensure peace and wellbeing.
To me God is a conceptual being! His/her existence is matter of convenience. For some people it is convenient to conceptualize God (in their own way) for other people it is convenient not to conceptualize God. My perception is very clear about the existence of God. I think those complicated arguments of philosophers and theology experts are imaginary. Those arguments are good as exercise for our brain and thought process but so far application of this argument in human life is concerned, it’s useless.
I am sure you all may be broadly categorized into three groups. Groups-Who believe in God.Who don’t believe in God.Who don’t care!Personally, I feel you all are right. You do whatever you love to do. You do whatever suits you most. Because the bottom line is that your belief should bring you wellbeing. But a warning- that your wellbeing should not be at the cost of others.
My humble submission is, I am not here to question or support the existence of God. I am here to find some relationship between the concept of God and the wellbeing. But while doing so I will discuss different perspectives on the issue of God’ existence.
Long ago, a young boy from Kolkata, Narendranath Dutta was obsessed with the idea of seeing God. He met several learned and wise men asking them “sir, have you seen God?” He was not happy with the answers of those learned people. He wanted some easy answer to calm his young mind. At last he met an illiterate priest in Kali (A Hindu Goddess) Temple of Dakshineswar, Kolkata. This simple priest replied to his question in simple language- “yes, I have seen God. I have seen Him more tangibly than I see you. I have talked to Him more intimately than I talk to you”.
With this story I want to make couple of points. The right answer to the question of existence of God depends on -1. The maturity of questioner in the context of his capacity to think abstract.2. The attitude of questioner to the life3. The attitude of the questioner to know the unknown4. The ability of the questioner to assimilate abstract concept into reality to give meaning to life.
There are thousands of examples of things which we can’t sense with our five senses.We can’t see our mind but we still know mind exists. We can’t sense numbers one to nine but we know that these numbers exist. Because the mind and all these conceptual numbers can solve many puzzles. Existence is not in sensing physically, existence is in meaning. To get a meaning from the abstract we need to have some initiated perceptual process. The result of perceiving abstracts are immense. This kind of perception can make our life really meaningful.
My interest is whether the concept of God can help us living a meaningful life? Historically the concept of God has helped us in doing so. The concept of God is still helping millions of people in their pain and sufferings. I am not interested in question whether the God ‘really exists’? That is the domain of philosophers and we will let them keep arguing and come up with their answers.
However, just for knowledge I will briefly discuss the philosophical aspect of the God’s existence. There are some traditional proofs of God’s existence like-
1. The argument from designHave we ever thought about the vastness and complexity yet the discipline of the universe? Are we not mesmerised? Are we not baffled with the thought of this wonderful design? Is this possible that this might have happened by chance? There should definitely be somebody who has done this wonderful job! What happens if we call him God?
2. The ontological argumentGod is the perfect being. As He is most perfect, He must have all perfections. If God lacked existence He would not be perfect, as He is perfect he must exist.
3. The cosmological argumentWe believe in causal relationship of our all existences. We say everything that exists has a cause. Think of those things with their all those causes. There must be some first cause prior to all other causes. I mean the cause of causes. What happens if we name this pioneer cause as God?
Now we will have a look at what the wise men say-Blaise Pascal (The French mathematician) argues-God either exists or he does not. If we believe in God and he exists, we will be rewarded with eternal bliss in heaven. If we believe in God and he does not exist then at worst all we have forgone is a few sinful pleasures. If we do not believe in God and he does exist we may enjoy a few sinful pleasures, but we may face eternal damnation. If we do not believe in God and he does not exist then our sins will not be punished. Would any rational gambler think that the experience of a few sinful pleasures is worth the risk of eternal damnation?
Feuerbach and Marx argue-God does not make man. Rather "God" is the invention of human consciousness.
Marx comments that religion is part of an ideological view that encourages the oppressed and poor to accept their life as a fate. He says: “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people”.
Steven Weinberg says “Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.”
Søren Kierkegaard (first existentialist) supports Kant that the existence of God can’t be proven by reason. However Kierkegaard does not think that it is rational to believe in God, rather one should have faith in God even if this seems to reason to be absurd.
Nietzsche writes- "Have you not heard the madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market place and cried incessantly, 'I seek God! I seek God!’... Why, did he get lost? Said one. Did he lose his way like a child? Said another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? Or emigrated?... The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his glances. "'Whither is God'? He cried. 'I shall tell you. We have killed him - you and I. All of us are his murderers...'" "...the madman fell silent and looked again at his listeners; and they were silent and stared at him in astonishment. At last he threw his lantern on the ground, and it broke and went out. 'I came too early,' he said then; 'my time has not come yet. This tremendous event is still on its way, still wandering -it has not yet reached the ears of man."
Nietzsche’s writings about God and “Death of God” concept appear at same time of history. Nietzsche shows the inevitable unfolding of anthropocentrism (putting man at the centre of the world). If we view our existence through human categories, then our concept of God is itself a human creation. He suggests that if we are aware of the fact that the concept of God is our own creation we can no longer base our religious and moral beliefs on any notion of a divine external reality.
We are not discussing politics here. But I find those comments interesting in context of God. This shows that the same concept which can be utilised for goodness can also be utilised for destruction. God and the religion have been used to destroy creation in the past and if we don’t understand the truth we will use God and the religion to destroy creation in future too.
Personally I respect the view of both believer and non-believer. Like many others I do have my own view on God and religion. I basically come from Hindu family but I know very little of Hinduism and other religion. In my journey, I have learnt that the existence and concept of God and Religion are just means but are not the end. Now I have understood that the end is- the understanding of the truth. I now firmly believe that the most important truth is the humility. Once I have learnt little bit of this humility (I still deviate and quite often!), this learning has changed my life altogether. I now understand the hollowness of pride and possessions. This leads me to peace and serenity. This keeps me away from anger, hatred and arrogance. I feel good about life. I do have problems like all of you have but now I know that no problem in this world can lead me to madness.
I follow what I conceive as human religion. I do have my own description of what I mean by this. I am a member of humanity. To me, any other member of this family is my brother or sister. And the principle of living this religion is, we all will live together in harmony and will help each other. We will happily accept the differences we have and will joyously celebrate the beauty of these differences.
I do believe in God because this belief suits me. I may find myself frustrated with some obstacle or failure and then I get back to God to get some peace. I speak in silence “God, give me more courage and wisdom to help me grow stronger”. Or if I find myself in dilemma, I ask for divine help to guide me through this dilemma. Sometimes it clicks and other times it does not. Even when it does not click, I maintain my calm and serenity with this belief. But like many of you I am not sure whether God really exists but that does not stop me to believe or conceptualize God. To me God is a conceptual being that I have created for my own convenience.
I am interested in wellbeing of myself and other members of this planet. I think each of us can choose anything we want. The question of ‘real existence’ of God is immaterial to our purpose of journey to wellbeing. Our bottom line is our belief or disbelief should lead us to wellbeing. And our belief or disbelief should not cause any harm to others.
It is unfortunate and heartbreaking to find the conflicts and killings of our brothers and sisters across this world on ground of differences in faith and religion. This is an absolute stupidity of human mind. Everybody has the right to choose his faith and belief. Everybody should be granted that privilege. But in return we all will expect he will not interfere with the belief of others. This is so simple truth!
Ralph Waldo Emerson says “Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble.” And Dalai Lama says “We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.”
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Wellbeing-A Real World, A Real Challenge!
“That the purpose of politics should be to bring the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people” Jeremy Bentham (1789)
“It’s time we admitted that there’s more to life than money, and it’s time we focused not just on GDP, but on GWB – general well-being" (BBC, 2006- David Cameron, HM Leader of the Opposition, Britain).
‘Not everything than can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted.’ Albert Einstein
“People consistently overestimate the effect of short term change and underestimate the effect of long term change”. Ian Morrison, former president of the Institute for the Future
It’s a funny world! You can conquer the space, you can destroy the world in a whisker but you don’t know what you want! You think this is progress, you think this is development! And because you don’t know what you want, you stumble and fail to reach your destination. You have everything but do you have wellbeing?
Wellbeing is not only an individual business; it’s the business of nations too. If you don’t have the social structure and policy that promote wellbeing it will be difficult for you to achieve wellbeing.
Our society still focused more on money and wealth. Our progress and development is defined more in term of financial success than in term of achievement of wellbeing. Wrong goal never can take us to right destination.
Couple of years back I attended a mental health conference where I heard the story of an unfortunate little girl. This little girl was picked up by police to mental health department of a general hospital. Apparently the girl was found naked on a street and was using offensive languages to passer by. The girl was born to a couple who got divorced and then the mother got married again. The girl was repeatedly sexually abused by her step father in front of her mother’s eyes. The mother did almost nothing! The girl was put to orphanage. There too, she was sexually abused by staff of orphanage. I was appalled by the cruelty and injustice done to this little girl. She was bombarded with anti depressant and anti psychotic but as expected, nothing seemed to help her. The learned experts were helpless! The department of child safety, the police department and the health staff were fighting the lost battle. The social structure and the social policy which directly or indirectly glorifies hunger for sex and individual comfort over children’s love don’t have any solution for such problem. Everybody involved in care of that little girl were doing splendid job but all in vain. This was because; the perpetuating factor persisted in the life of that little girl. And that perpetuating factor was her deprivation. She was deprived of her parental love, she was deprived of her peaceful childhood, and she was deprived of her safe shelter! God bless us- we are so cruel!
Individual wellbeing is very much based on social, political and economic context. Human being does have both internal environment and external environment. In his internal environment his body, mind and spirit are in fine balance. Any derangement I this balance causes him illness. Similarly, human being has an external environment with which he interacts 24X7. This interaction too has a fine balance and any disruption of this balance causes him illness. This external environment could be the natural physical world or could be the social, political and economic environment.
Modern science has done wonder but at what price? Modern science rejects faith and spirituality as impediment to development. This is contempt! Because science can’t explain certain things, does it mean that those things can’t exist! This is stupidity. This is utmost contempt and haughtiness. Science has endeavored to help create materialistic wealth. The prevailing materialistic ideology views the human race as racing genetic machines. Everywhere is the rat race to accumulate more fame and fortune. A man with few minutes to live still calculates the arithmetic of wealth. Reductionism, social Darwinism and Atheism rule our social sciences and medicine. But in reality they are creating another intolerant faith (they say they hate faith but what about their obsessive idealism, narcissism and haughtiness?). They contempt existence of God but they themselves want to be God. A funny world indeed!
Medicine is powerful today! Medicine is proud only to learn that still it doesn’t have the solution to epidemics, certain infectious diseases, environmental diseases, cancer etc. The ill effects of drugs, some are known and some are yet not known, the unhealthy, unethical life styles of population are threat to the pride of modern medicine. Modern medicine considers human being as a machine and tries repairing them in such a non human robotic manner! Human being is more than a container of flesh and blood! Human being has a body, a mind and a soul. Can we have a medicine that addresses human illness in its entirety? Can we not just treat the disease? Can we be healer instead of a doctor, dentist or a nurse? I am talking of holistic approach to illness. We talk about this but how many of us practice this in real sense? Are there any organized curricula in medical school that will teach us holistic and humane approach in addressing illnesses?
Our learning is to satisfy our materialistic hunger. Big pay roll, big car and a palatial house are our aim of learning. The magical global communication has adopted the role of social educator. The mass media and entertainment are being confused with the spread of knowledge and wisdom. A spreading global consumerist monoculture is ready to engulf the whole world. Filthy and dirty nudity is taken for beauty and fashion. Sexual perversion and sexual ill behavior is getting approval from the society. If we can’t fix the wrong, let’s legalize it! Media shout for freedom and fairness but media forgets that they are the people who are propagating wrong faster than light.
You know your right but you don’t know your responsibility. Your freedom is the vehicle to do all the wrong while remaining unaccounted for. In name of freedom you are creating individualistic attitude and breaking the cohesion in society. Micro family is the theme of the age! But when it comes to dealing with stressors in life, you look for sedatives, drugs and alcohol. You blame our parents, blame your siblings and blame your society. This is a wild game of fixing blame but not a practice of fixing problem.
Consumerism is replacing the word democracy. We are not addressed as human being, we are not addressed as son of immortal bliss, but we are addressed as consumers. We are number. Democratic process doesn’t interests us for it’s so meaningless. The don of consumer world dictate the formation and functioning of government. No surprise, we the common people are lost. The democratic journey to wellbeing is still a mirage! This is no surprise that we have grown apathy to political system. As a common people we feel so helpless! We know we need a change but we really don’t have any clue how to bring that change. We don’t wish to vote any of the contesting candidates in election for neither of them can bring that change. But some times we just vote. The true meaning of democracy cries in darkness of dungeon!
Civil cohabitation is still a theoretical concept. Imperialism, fundamentalism is still there may be under cover of some kind of idealism. We enjoy hating each other and we enjoy killing each other. We take pride to be the most rational being. We are superior to beast but we are more beasts in our deed. Can we live together ever with peace and harmony? If we can’t, we will never achieve wellbeing. Historically we have proved that faith is powerful though destructive. Can we use the same faith for creation? Can we respect and celebrate the differences we have amongst us? Can we be different but still be the same in context that we are all human being and we are all brothers and sisters?
35000 people die everyday of starvation, yet there are many of us who waste food everyday! 10 million children under the age of five die every year! Depression affects 120 million people worldwide! 25 million people are affected every year from pesticide poisoning! Starvation, malnutrition, environmental hazards are still prominent today. How challenging is our journey to wellbeing?
The painful contrast in the world is a nightmare! In same country we find unprecedented wealth and utmost poverty, unprecedented wastage and utmost scarcity! Inequality, social injustice and apathy prevails our world. We don’t want wealth we want wellbeing. Enough is enough; time is up that we trade our wealth for our wellbeing. Science has failed to ensure wellbeing; Religion has caused us much pain. Let’s try something different, try something unprecedented! We take best of both the science and the spirituality and apply them judiciously in our life. No contempt, no pride! After all we are after wellbeing. We deserve it and we must have it.
The wellbeing is not only an individual issue. The wellbeing is not only a health issue. Human being lives in a society. We all interact with each other and affect each other. Any change in social, political and economic issue should affect all of us directly or indirectly. As a result it will affect our wellbeing too.
Are we not already late enough to think seriously about true wellbeing? Are we not already late enough to bring a synergy between the science and the spirituality? Are we not already late enough to say enough is enough?
Secrets of Living!
I envy him, I love him.
Watching him play
My joy!
Palaces here, slums there.
A train line
Divides two worlds.
Here all glitter and shine,
There all dark and doom.
Except that little boy!
Tired with life
And dejected with my star
I search serenity.
This balcony
Overlooking the park
Is my great escape.
Here, my imagination
Flies high and
I walk my dream.
Here, I get a little break
From my self created misery.
Here I smile, I laugh.
I envy him, I love him
I watch him play
That’s my joy.
A little slum boy.
Black and dwarf
But happy and jolly.
Curly hair, big eyes
Strong hands, strong fists.
A don’t care attitude!
Dawn to dusks
He plays, he runs.
He smiles, he laughs.
It appears
He hasn’t learnt
Any other emotions!
He plays cricket, flies kites,
He plays king and queen
In his own world.
In rain, slums get flooded.
But he plays in water
And swims with swans.
In sun, skin burns
Who cares? He loves
Run under sun.
In cyclone, everybody’s home.
He climbs tree, swings with winds.
And sings soothing songs.
I envy him, I love him
I wonder if this is joy
Of having nothing!
Yet he enjoys everything
Of this beautiful world.
This sky, this sun and smell of flowers!
At my home-
Wall shines,
Floor glitters.
At my home-
TV shouts, gadgets laugh
And security alarm beeps.
But my son; never happy,
My daughter; never smiles,
And my wife; never content.
They fight, they complain
They whine, they lament
Nothing brings them joy.
They play not, they cheer not,
They hardly smile,
They are in trouble always.
In winter they get cold
In summer they get burnt
In rain they get bugs.
To my kids- school is hard
Parents are unkind
And nature is enemy.
I envy this boy!
I dream his smile
I dream his happiness.
Today, from street
He stares at me.
He smiles and then laugh!
Does he pity me?
Does he invite me
To his endless happiness?
I call lawyers
Make a will for my wife.
My wife is damn confused!
At dead night-I leave my home,
I leave my mistakes behind.
I find peace in having nothing
And owing nothing.
I am so free!
That little dwarf boy
Opens my eyes
I learn to live again!
“It’s time we admitted that there’s more to life than money, and it’s time we focused not just on GDP, but on GWB – general well-being" (BBC, 2006- David Cameron, HM Leader of the Opposition, Britain).
‘Not everything than can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted.’ Albert Einstein
“People consistently overestimate the effect of short term change and underestimate the effect of long term change”. Ian Morrison, former president of the Institute for the Future
It’s a funny world! You can conquer the space, you can destroy the world in a whisker but you don’t know what you want! You think this is progress, you think this is development! And because you don’t know what you want, you stumble and fail to reach your destination. You have everything but do you have wellbeing?
Wellbeing is not only an individual business; it’s the business of nations too. If you don’t have the social structure and policy that promote wellbeing it will be difficult for you to achieve wellbeing.
Our society still focused more on money and wealth. Our progress and development is defined more in term of financial success than in term of achievement of wellbeing. Wrong goal never can take us to right destination.
Couple of years back I attended a mental health conference where I heard the story of an unfortunate little girl. This little girl was picked up by police to mental health department of a general hospital. Apparently the girl was found naked on a street and was using offensive languages to passer by. The girl was born to a couple who got divorced and then the mother got married again. The girl was repeatedly sexually abused by her step father in front of her mother’s eyes. The mother did almost nothing! The girl was put to orphanage. There too, she was sexually abused by staff of orphanage. I was appalled by the cruelty and injustice done to this little girl. She was bombarded with anti depressant and anti psychotic but as expected, nothing seemed to help her. The learned experts were helpless! The department of child safety, the police department and the health staff were fighting the lost battle. The social structure and the social policy which directly or indirectly glorifies hunger for sex and individual comfort over children’s love don’t have any solution for such problem. Everybody involved in care of that little girl were doing splendid job but all in vain. This was because; the perpetuating factor persisted in the life of that little girl. And that perpetuating factor was her deprivation. She was deprived of her parental love, she was deprived of her peaceful childhood, and she was deprived of her safe shelter! God bless us- we are so cruel!
Individual wellbeing is very much based on social, political and economic context. Human being does have both internal environment and external environment. In his internal environment his body, mind and spirit are in fine balance. Any derangement I this balance causes him illness. Similarly, human being has an external environment with which he interacts 24X7. This interaction too has a fine balance and any disruption of this balance causes him illness. This external environment could be the natural physical world or could be the social, political and economic environment.
Modern science has done wonder but at what price? Modern science rejects faith and spirituality as impediment to development. This is contempt! Because science can’t explain certain things, does it mean that those things can’t exist! This is stupidity. This is utmost contempt and haughtiness. Science has endeavored to help create materialistic wealth. The prevailing materialistic ideology views the human race as racing genetic machines. Everywhere is the rat race to accumulate more fame and fortune. A man with few minutes to live still calculates the arithmetic of wealth. Reductionism, social Darwinism and Atheism rule our social sciences and medicine. But in reality they are creating another intolerant faith (they say they hate faith but what about their obsessive idealism, narcissism and haughtiness?). They contempt existence of God but they themselves want to be God. A funny world indeed!
Medicine is powerful today! Medicine is proud only to learn that still it doesn’t have the solution to epidemics, certain infectious diseases, environmental diseases, cancer etc. The ill effects of drugs, some are known and some are yet not known, the unhealthy, unethical life styles of population are threat to the pride of modern medicine. Modern medicine considers human being as a machine and tries repairing them in such a non human robotic manner! Human being is more than a container of flesh and blood! Human being has a body, a mind and a soul. Can we have a medicine that addresses human illness in its entirety? Can we not just treat the disease? Can we be healer instead of a doctor, dentist or a nurse? I am talking of holistic approach to illness. We talk about this but how many of us practice this in real sense? Are there any organized curricula in medical school that will teach us holistic and humane approach in addressing illnesses?
Our learning is to satisfy our materialistic hunger. Big pay roll, big car and a palatial house are our aim of learning. The magical global communication has adopted the role of social educator. The mass media and entertainment are being confused with the spread of knowledge and wisdom. A spreading global consumerist monoculture is ready to engulf the whole world. Filthy and dirty nudity is taken for beauty and fashion. Sexual perversion and sexual ill behavior is getting approval from the society. If we can’t fix the wrong, let’s legalize it! Media shout for freedom and fairness but media forgets that they are the people who are propagating wrong faster than light.
You know your right but you don’t know your responsibility. Your freedom is the vehicle to do all the wrong while remaining unaccounted for. In name of freedom you are creating individualistic attitude and breaking the cohesion in society. Micro family is the theme of the age! But when it comes to dealing with stressors in life, you look for sedatives, drugs and alcohol. You blame our parents, blame your siblings and blame your society. This is a wild game of fixing blame but not a practice of fixing problem.
Consumerism is replacing the word democracy. We are not addressed as human being, we are not addressed as son of immortal bliss, but we are addressed as consumers. We are number. Democratic process doesn’t interests us for it’s so meaningless. The don of consumer world dictate the formation and functioning of government. No surprise, we the common people are lost. The democratic journey to wellbeing is still a mirage! This is no surprise that we have grown apathy to political system. As a common people we feel so helpless! We know we need a change but we really don’t have any clue how to bring that change. We don’t wish to vote any of the contesting candidates in election for neither of them can bring that change. But some times we just vote. The true meaning of democracy cries in darkness of dungeon!
Civil cohabitation is still a theoretical concept. Imperialism, fundamentalism is still there may be under cover of some kind of idealism. We enjoy hating each other and we enjoy killing each other. We take pride to be the most rational being. We are superior to beast but we are more beasts in our deed. Can we live together ever with peace and harmony? If we can’t, we will never achieve wellbeing. Historically we have proved that faith is powerful though destructive. Can we use the same faith for creation? Can we respect and celebrate the differences we have amongst us? Can we be different but still be the same in context that we are all human being and we are all brothers and sisters?
35000 people die everyday of starvation, yet there are many of us who waste food everyday! 10 million children under the age of five die every year! Depression affects 120 million people worldwide! 25 million people are affected every year from pesticide poisoning! Starvation, malnutrition, environmental hazards are still prominent today. How challenging is our journey to wellbeing?
The painful contrast in the world is a nightmare! In same country we find unprecedented wealth and utmost poverty, unprecedented wastage and utmost scarcity! Inequality, social injustice and apathy prevails our world. We don’t want wealth we want wellbeing. Enough is enough; time is up that we trade our wealth for our wellbeing. Science has failed to ensure wellbeing; Religion has caused us much pain. Let’s try something different, try something unprecedented! We take best of both the science and the spirituality and apply them judiciously in our life. No contempt, no pride! After all we are after wellbeing. We deserve it and we must have it.
The wellbeing is not only an individual issue. The wellbeing is not only a health issue. Human being lives in a society. We all interact with each other and affect each other. Any change in social, political and economic issue should affect all of us directly or indirectly. As a result it will affect our wellbeing too.
Are we not already late enough to think seriously about true wellbeing? Are we not already late enough to bring a synergy between the science and the spirituality? Are we not already late enough to say enough is enough?
Secrets of Living!
I envy him, I love him.
Watching him play
My joy!
Palaces here, slums there.
A train line
Divides two worlds.
Here all glitter and shine,
There all dark and doom.
Except that little boy!
Tired with life
And dejected with my star
I search serenity.
This balcony
Overlooking the park
Is my great escape.
Here, my imagination
Flies high and
I walk my dream.
Here, I get a little break
From my self created misery.
Here I smile, I laugh.
I envy him, I love him
I watch him play
That’s my joy.
A little slum boy.
Black and dwarf
But happy and jolly.
Curly hair, big eyes
Strong hands, strong fists.
A don’t care attitude!
Dawn to dusks
He plays, he runs.
He smiles, he laughs.
It appears
He hasn’t learnt
Any other emotions!
He plays cricket, flies kites,
He plays king and queen
In his own world.
In rain, slums get flooded.
But he plays in water
And swims with swans.
In sun, skin burns
Who cares? He loves
Run under sun.
In cyclone, everybody’s home.
He climbs tree, swings with winds.
And sings soothing songs.
I envy him, I love him
I wonder if this is joy
Of having nothing!
Yet he enjoys everything
Of this beautiful world.
This sky, this sun and smell of flowers!
At my home-
Wall shines,
Floor glitters.
At my home-
TV shouts, gadgets laugh
And security alarm beeps.
But my son; never happy,
My daughter; never smiles,
And my wife; never content.
They fight, they complain
They whine, they lament
Nothing brings them joy.
They play not, they cheer not,
They hardly smile,
They are in trouble always.
In winter they get cold
In summer they get burnt
In rain they get bugs.
To my kids- school is hard
Parents are unkind
And nature is enemy.
I envy this boy!
I dream his smile
I dream his happiness.
Today, from street
He stares at me.
He smiles and then laugh!
Does he pity me?
Does he invite me
To his endless happiness?
I call lawyers
Make a will for my wife.
My wife is damn confused!
At dead night-I leave my home,
I leave my mistakes behind.
I find peace in having nothing
And owing nothing.
I am so free!
That little dwarf boy
Opens my eyes
I learn to live again!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Art
To uninitiated eye
It’s
Lovely! Pretty!
To initiated eye
It means
Deep! Divine!
You call it essence,
A flavour!
It flavours mind.
You call it emotion,
A sentiment!
It pervades mind.
You call it purpose,
A meaning!
It mends mind.
You call it heaven!
A habitat
It fills heart.
When art and artist
Dissolve in pure emotion
Creation begins-
Mind moves from,
Means to meanings,
Outer to inner.
Reality rouses,
Dream blooms.
Beauty in, beauty out!
Mind's eye suggests realism.
Art epitomizes
Realm of metaphysics.
In Art-
Creation manifests!
Creation un-manifests!
In Art-
Oneness of creation implies
One divine creator!
It’s
Lovely! Pretty!
To initiated eye
It means
Deep! Divine!
You call it essence,
A flavour!
It flavours mind.
You call it emotion,
A sentiment!
It pervades mind.
You call it purpose,
A meaning!
It mends mind.
You call it heaven!
A habitat
It fills heart.
When art and artist
Dissolve in pure emotion
Creation begins-
Mind moves from,
Means to meanings,
Outer to inner.
Reality rouses,
Dream blooms.
Beauty in, beauty out!
Mind's eye suggests realism.
Art epitomizes
Realm of metaphysics.
In Art-
Creation manifests!
Creation un-manifests!
In Art-
Oneness of creation implies
One divine creator!
My Way
Am soft and serene
Simple and sincere.
When I love,
Love intensely.
When I sing,
Sing passionately.
When I cry,
Cry loudly.
Love, passion
Emotion and sensation
My obsession!
My wife says
Am adorable but nuts.
My friends say
Am lovable but I’ve no guts.
My boss says
Am affable but am still a tot.
They try hard,
Take me to
Their world.
They teach me-
Control emotion
To live longer,
Manoeuvre love
To be wealthier,
Dull sensation
To be wiser.
I love them,
I ask no questions,
I follow them.
I throttle myself
To suffocation!
I lose my smile,
I lose my heart.
I die in me!
I give in.
I insist them
To leave me
In my world.
I don’t wanna be rich,
I don’t wanna be wise,
I just wanna live my life-
My way.
Simple and sincere.
When I love,
Love intensely.
When I sing,
Sing passionately.
When I cry,
Cry loudly.
Love, passion
Emotion and sensation
My obsession!
My wife says
Am adorable but nuts.
My friends say
Am lovable but I’ve no guts.
My boss says
Am affable but am still a tot.
They try hard,
Take me to
Their world.
They teach me-
Control emotion
To live longer,
Manoeuvre love
To be wealthier,
Dull sensation
To be wiser.
I love them,
I ask no questions,
I follow them.
I throttle myself
To suffocation!
I lose my smile,
I lose my heart.
I die in me!
I give in.
I insist them
To leave me
In my world.
I don’t wanna be rich,
I don’t wanna be wise,
I just wanna live my life-
My way.
Sinner
If her Bhanu
Could speak, smile
And move!
Fun, a great fun
It would be!
She laments.
Today a busy day,
A wedding day!
She’s excited
And sorry too.
Today is
Bhanu’s marriage.
She will go
Her in-law’s house!
Little Bhanu speaks not
But can feel.
Bhanu feels her love.
Bhanu is her mate
Bhanu is her love.
In silence,
She speaks to her
And advises
Dos and Don’ts
Of in-law’s house.
Who knows! At least
She knows not that
One day
She too, will go
Her in-law’s house.
In her young mind
She plays the play
Of doll’s marriage
But knows not
What marriage means!
One day
She leaves Bhanu behind
Goes her in-law’s house.
That day, in secret
She hugged Bhanu
And kissed Bhanu.
She handed her ‘love’
Over to her sister.
She cautioned her sister
Again and again
To take care
Of her ‘love’.
Perhaps that day
Bhanu too, cried much!
In-law’s house is
Not ‘her house’.
She can’t laugh
She can’t cry
As she wishes!
As if a pair of eyes
Prying her and
Censor her feelings.
Her husband works far.
He comes home
Once a year.
********************
Days pass, years pass
She becomes mother.
A young mother
With four children.
She feeds them,
She nurses them
And disciplines them.
Then once-
Bolt from the blue!
Disease of sin
Kills her husband!
She has had her
Childhood stolen
And independence stifled.
But now
Her only hope too
Is dead!
Loss of love
And loss of wedge
Horrify her future.
She despairs, then
She falls sick.
Doctor tells
“She has acquired her
Husband’s sin”!
News spread the way
The flood floods field.
Now, her in-laws
Despise her
Neighbours hate her.
Sin! Sin of enjoying
Forbidden fruit!
They expel her
Out of village.
But where would
She go?
Her in-laws deserted her.
Her parents, for fear
Desolated her.
Alas! This vast land
And this open sky
Could not accommodate
A poor life!
She whimpered
And resonated!
My lord!
They snatched my
Childhood away,
In name of marriage!
They snatched my
Independence away,
In name of marriage!
In name of marriage-
They
Gave me pain,
Gave me poverty,
Gave me sin!
Now, they expelled me
Out of your land!
Lord, just know that
I loved life
And wanted only
A living!
Could speak, smile
And move!
Fun, a great fun
It would be!
She laments.
Today a busy day,
A wedding day!
She’s excited
And sorry too.
Today is
Bhanu’s marriage.
She will go
Her in-law’s house!
Little Bhanu speaks not
But can feel.
Bhanu feels her love.
Bhanu is her mate
Bhanu is her love.
In silence,
She speaks to her
And advises
Dos and Don’ts
Of in-law’s house.
Who knows! At least
She knows not that
One day
She too, will go
Her in-law’s house.
In her young mind
She plays the play
Of doll’s marriage
But knows not
What marriage means!
One day
She leaves Bhanu behind
Goes her in-law’s house.
That day, in secret
She hugged Bhanu
And kissed Bhanu.
She handed her ‘love’
Over to her sister.
She cautioned her sister
Again and again
To take care
Of her ‘love’.
Perhaps that day
Bhanu too, cried much!
In-law’s house is
Not ‘her house’.
She can’t laugh
She can’t cry
As she wishes!
As if a pair of eyes
Prying her and
Censor her feelings.
Her husband works far.
He comes home
Once a year.
********************
Days pass, years pass
She becomes mother.
A young mother
With four children.
She feeds them,
She nurses them
And disciplines them.
Then once-
Bolt from the blue!
Disease of sin
Kills her husband!
She has had her
Childhood stolen
And independence stifled.
But now
Her only hope too
Is dead!
Loss of love
And loss of wedge
Horrify her future.
She despairs, then
She falls sick.
Doctor tells
“She has acquired her
Husband’s sin”!
News spread the way
The flood floods field.
Now, her in-laws
Despise her
Neighbours hate her.
Sin! Sin of enjoying
Forbidden fruit!
They expel her
Out of village.
But where would
She go?
Her in-laws deserted her.
Her parents, for fear
Desolated her.
Alas! This vast land
And this open sky
Could not accommodate
A poor life!
She whimpered
And resonated!
My lord!
They snatched my
Childhood away,
In name of marriage!
They snatched my
Independence away,
In name of marriage!
In name of marriage-
They
Gave me pain,
Gave me poverty,
Gave me sin!
Now, they expelled me
Out of your land!
Lord, just know that
I loved life
And wanted only
A living!
Action
Seas of ideas, loads of words and plenty of promises!
Still you are poor, pained, tortured and tormented!
Shame on you! For you know not
The magic word! Action!
Still you are poor, pained, tortured and tormented!
Shame on you! For you know not
The magic word! Action!
The Judge
He heard,
He listened.
Defendant and plaintiff
Equally.
He listened carefully,
He observed keenly.
In silence-
He smiled,
He laughed.
In silence-
He mourned,
He wept.
But he kept listening.
His heart beats
In tandem with
That of
Wounded and killer
Equally.
When hearing
Was done-
He left chair
Went inside
And cried much.
Pain of emotion
Broke his heart.
He restrained himself.
He got back to chair
He looked at the convict
He kept looking at.
His lips moved
But could not speak.
He tried again
But failed again.
What a pain
To be a judge!
He had to!
He had to!
He tried again,
He did it!
He did it this time!
“In name of God
I sentence you
To Death”!
He whimpered
He cried and
He broke down!
He listened.
Defendant and plaintiff
Equally.
He listened carefully,
He observed keenly.
In silence-
He smiled,
He laughed.
In silence-
He mourned,
He wept.
But he kept listening.
His heart beats
In tandem with
That of
Wounded and killer
Equally.
When hearing
Was done-
He left chair
Went inside
And cried much.
Pain of emotion
Broke his heart.
He restrained himself.
He got back to chair
He looked at the convict
He kept looking at.
His lips moved
But could not speak.
He tried again
But failed again.
What a pain
To be a judge!
He had to!
He had to!
He tried again,
He did it!
He did it this time!
“In name of God
I sentence you
To Death”!
He whimpered
He cried and
He broke down!
Today Be The day
Today be the day
My birth day
Lord!
In your world.
Today be the day
My christening day
Lord!
In your arms.
To be the day
My knowledge day
Lord!
In your wisdom.
Today be the day
My worship day
Lord!
In your kingdom.
Today be the day
My revolution day
Lord!
In your freedom.
Today be the day
My release day
Lord!
In your reincarnation.
My birth day
Lord!
In your world.
Today be the day
My christening day
Lord!
In your arms.
To be the day
My knowledge day
Lord!
In your wisdom.
Today be the day
My worship day
Lord!
In your kingdom.
Today be the day
My revolution day
Lord!
In your freedom.
Today be the day
My release day
Lord!
In your reincarnation.
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