If I hate nothing or no one, my life would be very boring
What's that? A conundrum. Gandhi, the Mahatma that he is, will surely come to my rescue again.
But on some occasions I do feel that his thoughts are a little too idealistic for me to implement in reality at this nascent stage in my life. For example take his views on fasting. Gandhi apologizing to "his medical friends" advocates fasting if you are:
a) constipated, b)anemic, c)feverish, d)suffering from indigestion, e) "headached" f) rheumatic g) gouty h)fretting and fuming i)depressed and j) overjoyed.
Now if I follow Gandhi's teachings blindly, then points g) and h) are true always and I will never be able to have another bite of Chettinad curry or chicken tikka masala because I would have to fast. So the trick is to go small steps at a time.
Lets take the case of feeling worried, or as Gandhi puts it, "fretting and fuming." Gandhi says that "resist not evil" has a much deeper meaning on the surface alone. Suppose you are a nice person. And someone is bad to you always (like Hotmail who has just sent me a message from Omaha Steaks). Or some friend who leaves stamp collecting for a hobby and keeps doing you in repeatedly. One must understand that it is futile to hope that the other person will change. She will no more change than a leopard can change its spots (why would a leopard want to change its spots?). We are nice people. We act according to our nature. "They" are evil bastards. They act according to theirs. Why should we worry about it? If we worry we resist evil. Counteracting evil leads to more evil. We should embrace evil with good, not resist it. If we exchange good with good then we are merely conducting an exchange. Even animals do this. What would cause Darwin to nod with approval is exchanging evil with good. The evil will cease before it. (I picture Gandhi taking harsh blows from batons of South African policemen with no malice in his heart, but he did have the last word). In the individual resides the universe, and if the individual is good all is good.
Now this is all very logical. But a life without hate, criticism or cynicism would be quite boring. Hence I have resolved to let people be true to their natures. I shall stay true to mine. No worrying. No fretting. Nor fuming. But once in a while, I shall let go like the occasional cigarette. I cannot wait for Rocky VI.
What's that? A conundrum. Gandhi, the Mahatma that he is, will surely come to my rescue again.
But on some occasions I do feel that his thoughts are a little too idealistic for me to implement in reality at this nascent stage in my life. For example take his views on fasting. Gandhi apologizing to "his medical friends" advocates fasting if you are:
a) constipated, b)anemic, c)feverish, d)suffering from indigestion, e) "headached" f) rheumatic g) gouty h)fretting and fuming i)depressed and j) overjoyed.
Now if I follow Gandhi's teachings blindly, then points g) and h) are true always and I will never be able to have another bite of Chettinad curry or chicken tikka masala because I would have to fast. So the trick is to go small steps at a time.
Lets take the case of feeling worried, or as Gandhi puts it, "fretting and fuming." Gandhi says that "resist not evil" has a much deeper meaning on the surface alone. Suppose you are a nice person. And someone is bad to you always (like Hotmail who has just sent me a message from Omaha Steaks). Or some friend who leaves stamp collecting for a hobby and keeps doing you in repeatedly. One must understand that it is futile to hope that the other person will change. She will no more change than a leopard can change its spots (why would a leopard want to change its spots?). We are nice people. We act according to our nature. "They" are evil bastards. They act according to theirs. Why should we worry about it? If we worry we resist evil. Counteracting evil leads to more evil. We should embrace evil with good, not resist it. If we exchange good with good then we are merely conducting an exchange. Even animals do this. What would cause Darwin to nod with approval is exchanging evil with good. The evil will cease before it. (I picture Gandhi taking harsh blows from batons of South African policemen with no malice in his heart, but he did have the last word). In the individual resides the universe, and if the individual is good all is good.
Now this is all very logical. But a life without hate, criticism or cynicism would be quite boring. Hence I have resolved to let people be true to their natures. I shall stay true to mine. No worrying. No fretting. Nor fuming. But once in a while, I shall let go like the occasional cigarette. I cannot wait for Rocky VI.
God and Southern Africa
A very strange thing has been happening to me over the last two days (not the depression that came with the umbilical cord at birth), but I have started to sense the tangible presence of the word God. God, as in something or maybe someone to place ones total and complete belief in. I have always been into many religions (I forgot which one, but once in India I joined a religious gathering for the free mango ice cream), not as any ritual but more as a way of life. Just like Hindi movies, many of which screened in a western city to a new audience would appear to be total crap. But when viewed in the heat, crowd and congestion of Bombay - where boss and work and relationships are low on the ladder of problems and you have little time to think about them -the relief of a saucy song and dance is as pleasant as a violent summer breeze. Very pleasing. However, not to digress, over the last two days, I have been in the throes of a massive depression and doing everything that is bad for a young man in his formative years - chain smoking, no exercise, sloppy posture, etc. Gandhi says that it is very important to place at all times ones mind outside (within you and without you sort of thing) and totally in God. So, I have been imagining this formless being, with a mellow voice and floating around noiselessly from point A to Point B, with a hairstyle like Gautama and wishing I could meditate entirely on this person. Away from problems, away from my ego (which like the Fly, "grows bigger and bigger with every passing reel). Gandhi, as usual is the man. This does work, when you stop thinking of your problems as real and place faith in a God, whose fortunes are constant and whose batting averages don't fluctuate with the weather.
On another note, today morning was sobering to say the very least. I had to write up this one page insert on the food crisis in Southern Africa and to read of 13 million people who could die, if they don’t receive external aid was depressing. Most of these people have AIDS and women especially are in no position to cope. My boss told me write a politically correct message, but my mind was searching for ways that Mugabe would leave and also the obvious "What would Gandhi do?" Gandhi says that the “entire world is one family” and advises people to place themselves in the service of others. This especially applies to people that are more intelligent or wealthy. But he also says that one has obvious limitations and before jet setting around the globe, should serve one’s own community first. But with all this Internet technology, the world has indeed become a very small place. Southern Africa is a part of our community. So, kudos to people and governments serving people of these countries. Zimbabwe, unlike most of Africa is very developed. It has excellent infrastructure and a largely educated population. It shouldn’t have to face a famine. But Mugabe is more of a dictator and less of an “elected official”. He does not feel that he is accountable to the people anymore and matters have gone totally out of hand. Instead of toppling Saddam, can’t Bush nudge Mugabe gently? I am sure that with his improved knowledge of world history, Bush knows where Zimbabwe is. But does he care?
Gandhi’s advice as regards serving local communities first is still valid. The west needs to strengthen the pro-democracy forces in Zimbabwe and rest of Southern Africa, so that they might serve their own areas openly and effectively. The rest of the world, then merely needs to work with these constructive elements in order to rebuild these beleaguered nations.
Let's play chess folks. Think ahead. Life is not a game of croquet (These as you can see are not Gandhi's words, they are mine).
A very strange thing has been happening to me over the last two days (not the depression that came with the umbilical cord at birth), but I have started to sense the tangible presence of the word God. God, as in something or maybe someone to place ones total and complete belief in. I have always been into many religions (I forgot which one, but once in India I joined a religious gathering for the free mango ice cream), not as any ritual but more as a way of life. Just like Hindi movies, many of which screened in a western city to a new audience would appear to be total crap. But when viewed in the heat, crowd and congestion of Bombay - where boss and work and relationships are low on the ladder of problems and you have little time to think about them -the relief of a saucy song and dance is as pleasant as a violent summer breeze. Very pleasing. However, not to digress, over the last two days, I have been in the throes of a massive depression and doing everything that is bad for a young man in his formative years - chain smoking, no exercise, sloppy posture, etc. Gandhi says that it is very important to place at all times ones mind outside (within you and without you sort of thing) and totally in God. So, I have been imagining this formless being, with a mellow voice and floating around noiselessly from point A to Point B, with a hairstyle like Gautama and wishing I could meditate entirely on this person. Away from problems, away from my ego (which like the Fly, "grows bigger and bigger with every passing reel). Gandhi, as usual is the man. This does work, when you stop thinking of your problems as real and place faith in a God, whose fortunes are constant and whose batting averages don't fluctuate with the weather.
On another note, today morning was sobering to say the very least. I had to write up this one page insert on the food crisis in Southern Africa and to read of 13 million people who could die, if they don’t receive external aid was depressing. Most of these people have AIDS and women especially are in no position to cope. My boss told me write a politically correct message, but my mind was searching for ways that Mugabe would leave and also the obvious "What would Gandhi do?" Gandhi says that the “entire world is one family” and advises people to place themselves in the service of others. This especially applies to people that are more intelligent or wealthy. But he also says that one has obvious limitations and before jet setting around the globe, should serve one’s own community first. But with all this Internet technology, the world has indeed become a very small place. Southern Africa is a part of our community. So, kudos to people and governments serving people of these countries. Zimbabwe, unlike most of Africa is very developed. It has excellent infrastructure and a largely educated population. It shouldn’t have to face a famine. But Mugabe is more of a dictator and less of an “elected official”. He does not feel that he is accountable to the people anymore and matters have gone totally out of hand. Instead of toppling Saddam, can’t Bush nudge Mugabe gently? I am sure that with his improved knowledge of world history, Bush knows where Zimbabwe is. But does he care?
Gandhi’s advice as regards serving local communities first is still valid. The west needs to strengthen the pro-democracy forces in Zimbabwe and rest of Southern Africa, so that they might serve their own areas openly and effectively. The rest of the world, then merely needs to work with these constructive elements in order to rebuild these beleaguered nations.
Let's play chess folks. Think ahead. Life is not a game of croquet (These as you can see are not Gandhi's words, they are mine).
Hi
I have just come to a realization. The great people of the world truly had one thing figured out - women. What is common to Buddha (Siddhartha), Gandhi, Lennon and other great philosophisers? They had their woman angle figured out. Gandhi, Siddhartha went for arranged marriage (and now I am beginning to view this form of marital engagement with slight favor), Lennon married early. The twenties are a time when a man or woman chooses what to do with their life. Are they going to spend it speaking aggressively at corporate boardrooms using words like "synergy" and "yes"? Or are they going to be one with all and grow coffee seeds in Guatemala or the hilly slopes of Assam? To do either, one needs to be productive. One cannot spend time at bars, drinking gallons of liquor and spewing cheesy lines at women with hearts of stone and eyes for other men. Think of all the hours lost due to hangovers. The trick is surely to get this love angle sorted out. Then when, one is sure of a steady love and all that, you can put your mind at rest as far as this matter is concerned. Your mind will be free to write stories, compose music or check if e=mc^2 is really true. There is this old Hindi movie, in which there is a song, which goes:
If when alone, I fall down
I am sure that more often than not, I will be able to stand up again,
But if you hold my hand, I am sure that
I will be able to change the world,
I am asking you to be mine, only for the sake of the world
True.
On another note, I often wonder if I am going to be blessed with such luck. For most of my life, though I have been kicked around by a particularly defensive football team from leg to leg. I often wonder, "Why is this woman so non committal" or "Why does she keep calling?" or...
Not surprisingly, Gandhi has an answer.
He tells young men to listen to a story. There is a scorpion drowning. A fisherman rescues it and pulls it out to land. As soon as the scorpion had dried out, it stings the fisherman. He is naturally pissed off and asks "Why scorpion? I saved your life and you sting me in this manner? Why?" The scorpion says,” I couldn't help it. It is my nature."
So Gandhi says, let us not try to waste time trying to change other people. A scorpion will sting. A bird will fly. A deer will run across highways in Philadelphia. Trying to change this is a waste of time. To be productive, one must not think about this. One must be ceaseless in duty and try to be the "expert in one's field". I remember an interview with Lennon's aunt Mimi, where she says,” He was always up to something. Drawing, playing an instrument, writing and even singing himself to sleep." That, young jedis is the way to go.
I have just come to a realization. The great people of the world truly had one thing figured out - women. What is common to Buddha (Siddhartha), Gandhi, Lennon and other great philosophisers? They had their woman angle figured out. Gandhi, Siddhartha went for arranged marriage (and now I am beginning to view this form of marital engagement with slight favor), Lennon married early. The twenties are a time when a man or woman chooses what to do with their life. Are they going to spend it speaking aggressively at corporate boardrooms using words like "synergy" and "yes"? Or are they going to be one with all and grow coffee seeds in Guatemala or the hilly slopes of Assam? To do either, one needs to be productive. One cannot spend time at bars, drinking gallons of liquor and spewing cheesy lines at women with hearts of stone and eyes for other men. Think of all the hours lost due to hangovers. The trick is surely to get this love angle sorted out. Then when, one is sure of a steady love and all that, you can put your mind at rest as far as this matter is concerned. Your mind will be free to write stories, compose music or check if e=mc^2 is really true. There is this old Hindi movie, in which there is a song, which goes:
If when alone, I fall down
I am sure that more often than not, I will be able to stand up again,
But if you hold my hand, I am sure that
I will be able to change the world,
I am asking you to be mine, only for the sake of the world
True.
On another note, I often wonder if I am going to be blessed with such luck. For most of my life, though I have been kicked around by a particularly defensive football team from leg to leg. I often wonder, "Why is this woman so non committal" or "Why does she keep calling?" or...
Not surprisingly, Gandhi has an answer.
He tells young men to listen to a story. There is a scorpion drowning. A fisherman rescues it and pulls it out to land. As soon as the scorpion had dried out, it stings the fisherman. He is naturally pissed off and asks "Why scorpion? I saved your life and you sting me in this manner? Why?" The scorpion says,” I couldn't help it. It is my nature."
So Gandhi says, let us not try to waste time trying to change other people. A scorpion will sting. A bird will fly. A deer will run across highways in Philadelphia. Trying to change this is a waste of time. To be productive, one must not think about this. One must be ceaseless in duty and try to be the "expert in one's field". I remember an interview with Lennon's aunt Mimi, where she says,” He was always up to something. Drawing, playing an instrument, writing and even singing himself to sleep." That, young jedis is the way to go.
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