Life

Human beings are thinking creatures. We think day in and day out. Even while sleeping, thoughts do not leave us and stay with us in the form of dreams. We have different experiences during our lifetime. We observe different things, and our brain makes a "story" about that experience. For example, the same marriage function may be attended by several people, and yet, each one of them will have a different experience. It is because each person will observe the events differently and also make different meanings based on their past experiences and expectations. Somebody will come out with a "story" of having had a "grand event", while somebody will come out with "jealousy", and someone with "neglect". Each person is equally convinced of his "story". These stories look very real to us. The sense of "I" is at the very centre of these stories. During our entire lifetime, there are hardly any occasions when these stories ar...

In the tripartite negotiation of life decisions, three distinct entities participate in the decision-making process. First, an individual’s conditioned mind “I”, second, society “S” and third, the free will “F” of the individual. For example, while deciding on our marriage, “I” may feel like marrying a person who works in the same profession so that our professional life becomes easy to handle. “S” may have other considerations, such as physical appearance, caste, and religion. “F” may want a companion with whom I can share and explore infinite possibilities. All three, “I”, “S” and “F” will try to negotiate. If “I” is very independent and secure, it may outrightly ignore the viewpoint of “S”. On the other hand, if “I’ is insecure and dependent on society for its survival, it may just surrender to the demands of society. Similarly, a dominating “S” may suppress “I” in the negotiation. Similarly, a free and fair society may allow “I” to exercise its choice. The role of “F” again depends...

Self-examination is not easy. I was observing a young child yesterday and how the concept of "self" is being formed. Till the child turns one year, there is hardly any sense of "I". Even if a child loses parents, it does not hurt much if the child is taken care of by loving caretakers, unless somebody makes him realise his loss. Starting from the age of around 1 to 2 years, children start becoming very possessive about their toys and parents. Till that age, they are just concerned about playing and exploring. If they are playing with a toy, they will cry if that toy is taken away. However, the moment they get something else to explore, they start exploring the same thing. However, as they grow, they can cry for the whole of the day for the toy they are obsessed with. They may not be comfortable with loving and compassionate strangers in the absence of their parents. Since around that age, we constantly keep strengthening this sense of "I". Every time we in...

We have quite a geo-centric view of the universe. We are also caught in the time and space we live in. Otherwise, when the universe is so vast that even light takes 25,000 years to travel to the nearest galaxy, the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy. Light travels at the speed of nearly 3 lakh kilometres per second. The speed of an aeroplane is about 700-800 Km per hour. It has no match in speed, and even light takes 25,000 years to travel. That means when we look at that galaxy today through a telescope, we can at best look at it as it existed 25,000 years ago. Actually, that may not even exist today. There is no way to see the universe as it exists today. The width of the observable universe is approximately 93 billion light-years, meaning that light will take approximately 93 billion years to travel, and it continues to expand. Imagine there are billions of stars in each galaxy, and there are billions of such galaxies. We know too little and yet we are so sure of the purpose of life. But we c...

What is the driving force behind the life of Krishna ? He drops all his friends and his beloved Radha when he realises that he has a larger purpose in life and leaves Vrindavan to fight Kansa . He leaves Mathura when he realises that he will not be able to set up a peaceful and prosperous empire here due to frequent attacks by Jarasandha . He is ready to give away his entire army at the drop of a hat. What is he trying to gain throughout his life? He is not bound by anything. He is not bound by relationships, money, wealth, or power. It's quite difficult for our ordinary minds to understand Krishna.  Krishna reveals a glimpse of his personality while he tries to explain the nature of reality to Arjuna at the battlefield of Kurukshetra . He tells Arjuna to concentrate on the task at hand and not to bother about the results. Why do we bother about the results? Why didn't Krishna ever bother about the results? That's what he tells Arjuna. It is all due to awareness. When o...

"Choices" look quite attractive. We feel happy when we have choices to exercise. We feel happy when we go to a restaurant and have choices to exercise with respect to the food we want to eat. We feel happy when we have choices of universities where we can study. We like to have more choices of the flats we want to purchase, and that's why we visit many projects and meet many brokers before buying a flat. In a choice matrix , there are two important factors. First, the information about the choices that exist. Second,  what's the drive behind making a choice? For example, when we visit a restaurant, we go through the menu before ordering food. Sometimes, we are in a hurry and choose the food we want to eat just based on the waiter's recommendation. Obviously, the waiter will recommend based on popular choices and feedback. However, he will not be aware of our taste, and therefore we may not at all like the food recommended by the waiter. Even if we go through the...

All of us participate in many meaningless events. Sometimes such meaningless events are organised in the offices, and sometimes in society. We understand that it is a sheer wastage of time and an ugly demonstration of our own lack of character and integrity, and yet we participate in these events. Why? Because we lack the courage and conviction to stand. Why don't we have the courage to stand? Because we are full of fears. Some people are so consumed by fear that they participate in and even glorify these meaningless events. Some will participate and justify them. Some will criticise them and yet participate.  I have seen so many people murmuring that they do not wish to attend the marriage functions , but they have to. It is because they also wish for the presence of a crowd when their kids get married. They consider it to be prestigious. What is prestige? Is it about the numbers attending the party thrown by us? No. If so, let us organise a Bhandara , and there will be thousands ...

The brightness of the Sun has the same magic in all parts of the world. What is so magical about the bright sunshine? The sun gives life to us. That's why if there is no Sun for several days, everything looks gloomy. However, during the summer, in the bright noon, we are unable to tolerate the Sun and desperately want a shade. We want to get under the shade of a tree or inside our home, switch on the fan and have a cool drink. Sometimes we feel like putting down the curtains and avoiding the Sun. It seems as if the same Sun has sucked energy out of us. Life is all about balance. There are black holes at the centre of every galaxy that are pulling all the planets and stars towards them. On the other hand, the stars and the planets are moving at a speed, and as a result of the interplay of these two forces, they keep moving and keep falling towards the black hole, and as a result, start circling around the black hole. The Sun at the centre of our solar system is also attracting th...

A seed is protected inside a shell , not to sit comfortably inside the shell, but to come out therefrom and grow into a tree . Life inside the soil is not easy. It may not get enough water and sufficient nutrition when it comes out of the shell. It is safe inside the shell. However, it has no opportunity to grow inside the shell. However, to grow into a tree, it will have to pass through the difficulties inside the soil. Similarly, children are protected. Each parent tries to give them the best of comforts and safety. Yet, they have to pass through their college life and face many difficulties while building their career to grow as an adult.  We store many of these seeds, like wheat , pulses , grams , almonds , etc, in our kitchen. In a box, many of these seeds are together. Does that togetherness mean anything? No. On the other hand, when we sow these seeds in a garden and they grow up as plants, they grow and interact with each other and also the other beings on the Earth. The...

We often feel stuck with an emotion. We feel fearful because exams are approaching, and the constant fear of failure or scoring less does not let us sleep. Sometimes we feel anxious about a meeting , and our stomachs are full of butterflies. We feel hurt and are not able to pardon the person who has hurt us. We feel insecure about our future, and the thoughts of an uncertain future come back to our minds again and again. Why does it happen so? The more we think, the more disturbed we are. Why? When we are stuck in a marsh, the more we try to come out of it, the more we get stuck. Why? When we make an effort to come out of the marsh, it creates more space beneath our bodies, and we get down deeper into the marsh. That's what we do when we think over and over about our anxieties, fears, and insecurities. The mind has created some stories about the past or future that are not to our liking. That's why we feel fearful, anxious or insecure. What we fail to realise is that all thes...

During one of our recent meetings, we had a presentation on an AI tool . The presenter discussed that one of the problems with AI tools is that they hallucinate , and they have addressed this issue in their tool. I was a little surprised and asked him the reason behind the hallucination of the AI. Why would an AI hallucinate? He explained that in many cases, AI tools cook up the answers . It is because the AI engines have been programmed to maximise the score, and they are typically programmed so that they are punished for “no answers” and therefore AI tools learn to tell lies. Even if they do not find an answer, just to avoid that negative score , they will cook up some story and display that to the user, and the user will believe the same.  I was pleasantly surprised by the similarity of the AI to the human mind . Isn’t the human mind also “programmed” the same way? We also keep trying to maximise the score. The scoring engine of each human being varies. Some human beings give ...

 We all come across control freaks in our personal and professional lives. These people are finicky about control. They want to control everything around. I often wonder why anyone would want to control others. Why would Hitler like to control the world? Why would a boss try to control the charge? Why would a father try to control his son? Why would a husband try to control his wife? Isn't this desire to control stemming from a deep-seated sense of insecurity? We are afraid of death and therefore want to control our lives by doing rigorous exercises and controlling our diet. So, what's wrong with that? We seek security in relationships, and that's why we want to control them. We feel secure with powers, and that's why we want to control the whole world. The problem lies with the illusion our minds create. A grand flat in a skyscraper makes us feel secure, but when we have an earthquake, the grand building becomes the biggest threat to our lives. The more we try to hold...

Will a greedy person become magnanimous with the acquisition of more wealth? He will spend money to buy comforts, and the more comforts he gets, the greater will be his dependency on money and the greater will be his greed for money. Will a power-hungry person be satiated as he gets more power? The more power a person gets, the greater will be his fear of losing control and becoming powerless again. Will a possessive person become less possessive as he enters into a relationship with the person he tries to possess? No, he will become more and more possessive and try to control more because his fear of losing the relationship will be greater. Will the inferiority complex of a person reduce as he gets attention? No, it will, in fact, increase as he gets attention because he will be more afraid of losing the attention. It appears to be contradictory, but it's true. We can relate this very well to our life experiences. But why does it happen? It's because the external possessions ...

 What a waste of life. Targets after targets with nowhere to reach. Human beings seem to be expert in wasting their life. We make many mental stories. Each one of us follows one of the mental stories to spend our lives. Nobody knows the truth. Probably, we do not want to know. The mental stories we have made are far more comfortable. Life is all about relationships for a few. Life is all about family for others. For some, it is all about money, and for some, it is all about power. Once we believe in one or the other meaning of life, it is quite easy for us to make decisions. If life is all about family, we just have to minimize time at the office by making excuses. If life is all about money, we have to make decisions to earn more money, even if that is at the cost of our relationships. If life is all about powers, we will not mind sacrificing even our family members for that power.  Confusion has a cost . If we do not believe in any of these, we will be confused. We will no...

People are busy shopping in malls, buying expensive products, oblivious to the fact, or deliberately ignoring, that someone outside the mall is dying of hunger. Probably the desperation to be "happy" makes us ignore reality. Emotions are too costly. They hold us back. We cannot afford to have mercy or sympathy for the people we compete with. We also tell our children that the world is competitive, and therefore, they must run the race with full force; otherwise, they will be left behind and unable to win the race.  Did Rama run the race? He was almost on the verge of leaving the palace. It was only after Vashistha and Vishwamitra had a long conversation with him, as documented in the Yog Vashistha , that Rama decided to stay back. Who will he compete with? He realized the true meaning of self. Having realized the meaning of self, there is no question of competition because there is no division. But then why did he kill Ravana ? Because the division created by the ego of Ra...