No need to dread death

Below is a beautiful article by Mr. Rajiv Vij published in "Mind Set" column of Times Of India on 21st Feb 2010. The article tries throws light up on a paradigm on "Death" which I never came across. It was a total of-the-box experience for me.

Being aware of dying does not mean fearing it but realizing that it’s a part of the renewal process of the universe, says Rajiv Vij.

Death is not a subject we often think about or are even comfortable talking about. In fact, a number of contemporary sociologists believe that despite widespread liberalization of thought in modern times, death is one of the topics where the extent of taboo has actually grown.

There are two keys perspectives to understanding death. Firstly, that death is an integral part of life. All organisms are evolving and renewing simultaneously in some way; we are dead and alive at the same time. How conscious are us of the fact that despite our feeling completely healthy while reading this article, millions of cells in our body are dying right now? Our body is made up of cells, and cells are made of atoms, which in turn are made of electrons, protons and neutrons. These subatomic particles, moving about at amazing speed, zoom in and out of our existence all the time.

Simultaneously, these atoms and molecules vibrate, dance and reconfigure continuously. Same goes for our cells that break down incessantly, only to regenerate: 98% of atoms in a human body are replaced annually, the stomach lining partly packs up whenever we eat food and rebuilds itself about every five days, the skin, nails and hair cells are dying all the time and are made afresh every month. These individual cells die and renew frequently so the whole (our body) can live on. Similarly, we are a small part of the bigger whole (the universe), and we die and renew to keep the bigger whole alive.

Secondly, the universe is totally fluid and there is no fixed solidity anywhere — and so, everything and every organism is constantly transforming. When we eat an apple, its essence does not disappear, its nutritious elements just get transformed into energy inside our body.

Similarly, if it falls to the ground, it decomposes into soil, perhaps to turn into nourishment for another apple tree one day. Ice peaks turn into rivers, and oceans into clouds — while their underlying composition remains constant, the changing frequency of vibration of the hydrogen and oxygen molecules results in different physical forms of ice and steam.

Similarly, an adult was once a child, and the child once a fertilized egg. Through all these forms, of an egg, child and adult, the only constant is the underlying consciousness. All external appearances are impermanent — the only thing eternal is the formless consciousness which manifests in different forms from time to time.

It’s another matter that based on our conditioned beliefs, we tend to identify rather strongly with our physical form — the body, the mind and the senses. We fail to recognize that the physical form is not solid matter, even though it appears so, but essentially made up of fluid energy — the same energy that runs the universe. This energy (or consciousness) is unborn and undying and irrespective of whether we are dead or alive in the human form, we remain this consciousness. How else would you describe the transformation of forms in the above examples?

Would you say the apple died; or the egg or the child died, even though they physically ceased to be so at some point in time? So, while we may die in the physical plane, we never die in the spiritual one. Once we realize this, we can appreciate, as is said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a human experience.”

As we become familiar with this thought process, it gives us a perspective on the purpose of our existence. As we see the ephemeral nature of all our sensual experiences, we start to become less identified with our physical self. Then, we also realize the futility of many of our vain pursuits after titles, power, money and external success. When we are even slightly prepared for death, we can appreciate each moment of life’s beauty better. The purpose of reflecting on death is not to fear it all the time, but to live in the awareness of the fragility of our existence. Reflecting on death guides us towards focusing on how we want to dedicate our lives towards more meaningful objectives. Only when we begin to know about death, do we actually learn to start living. As David Wolpe, an accomplished Rabbi, said, “The aim of life is not to know whether there is immortality, but to live so you deserve it.”

Often this wisdom about death begins to dawn on us only when we grow old and notice the limitations of our selfish existence. That’s when people start to realize the impermanence of their egoistic pursuits and acquisitions. As death draws near, the attachment to possessions and form begins to fade. That’s when people tend to become more compassionate and focused on serving others.

For the most part of our lives, we ignore paying attention to these issues. Guess, we are somewhat like the Buddha’s father, King Suddhodana, who hoped that as long as his son wasn’t exposed to death, sickness or any other suffering, he would never give up worldly ambitions.

In a way, we all think as long as we don’t think about death, life is quite okay. Also, sometimes people fear that if they focused too hard on these questions, they may lose interest in life in general — including in their work and family. This fear then makes us cling to the world of attachments and physical form. However, when we reflect deeply on death, we realize that this need not be the case. In fact, as we thus conduct ourselves with an attitude of let go and surrender, our productivity at work goes up and our relationships blossom further.

The point here is that if living this way and becoming spiritually aware is important at a later age, how can we learn to live that way throughout our lives? “Are you not ashamed,” said Seneca, the Roman philosopher “to reserve for yourself only the remnant of life, and to set apart for wisdom only that time which can’t be devoted to any business? How late it is to begin to live just when we must cease to live.” If only we could start to live this way when we are younger, we can create a meaningful life for ourselves.

It Is Not All That Easy To Have Faith

The following article appeared in "The Speaking Tree" column in Times of India on 20th Aug 2009. The article is written by B Jivan Yati Maharaj.

French pilot Ronald Nikson was flying his plane and he and his four colleagues were trying to locate the defence facilities of the German army during World War I. They entered German air space and were hiding their plane behind clouds. Nikson needed to clearly view the defence sites, so he took the risk of lowering his plane. His plane was hit. The German army was firing at them and the plane was in flames.

Nikson later wrote of the incident: ‘‘I was a non-believer in God. Observing that my burning plane was losing height rapidly and would soon crash, with no chance of survival, i murmured, ‘If there is a God, save me.’ I went blank after that. On regaining consciousness, i was told that i remained unconscious for almost 2 months. When i inquired about my colleagues, i was told that somehow the burning plane re-entered French border territory and fell there. Nothing remained, none of the others survived – except the pilot, yours truly.

‘‘After getting discharged i began going to church and inquiring about God from various priests. If God exists then i should find Him and talk to Him. I was not satisfied with the answers i got and eventually began reading many holy books. My desire to meet God increased day by day. After all He was my saviour. I was advised to visit India to learn further about God. I was informed that sages of ancient India had researched deeply into this topic. I resigned from the Royal Air Force, and came to India in search of God.’’

Nikson came to India and took up a position as professor in the English department at Lucknow University. Krishna says in the Gita that He helps those who seek Him out with sincerity. Nikson familiarised himself with Indian scriptures including the Gita, the Upanishads, the Vedas and the Srimad Bhagavatam. He took the name of Sri Krishna Prema. He established a centre at Mirtola in UP, now known as ‘’Uttar Vrindavan’. It is said that he realised the Supreme Lord here and used to talk to the Lord. .

Once Srila Madhav Maharaj met the Nobel prize-winning scientist C V Raman. During the course of a discussion, the scientist said to Maharaj that if he could show Krishna to him, then he would concur with the Maharaj’s words. They were in a laboratory in Kolkata city.

The northern side of the laboratory had a wall without windows. Maharaj asked Raman, ‘‘I am unable to see anything beyond that wall. If i say, ‘there is nothing outside this wall’, will it be correct?’’ Raman replied, ‘‘I can see through my instruments.’’ Maharaj said, ‘‘There is a limit to your instruments. You can see only as far as your instruments allow you to see.’’ Raman said, ‘‘I will not give any attention to anything that is not within my sense-experience.’’ Maharaj then said, ‘‘If your students say to you, they will study your scientific findings only if you make them realise the results first, what would be your reaction?’’

Raman replied that the students would have to go through the learning process first. ‘‘If this is true for you and your scientific knowledge, can not our seers say the same thing? Follow their process and see whether you experience God’s existence or not.’’

The writer is general secretary, All India Sree Chaitanya Gaudiya Math.

Enjoy The Effort No Matter What The Effect

The following article appeared in "The Speaking Tree" column in Times of India on 7th Aug 2009. The article is written by Swami Sukhabodhananda.

We have many desires and targets. We don’t always get what we want. Some of us are happy with what we get, and others remain dissatisfied. Still others don’t give up; they keep trying. Which approach would be the right one?

I will recommend another approach. You can have a desire. Put in your best effort to fulfil it. But make sure you enjoy the effort rather than its fruits. There are those who make the effort grumbling and are happy only when the desire is achieved. There are others who exhaust themselves making the effort to such a degree that they have no strength or enthusiasm left to enjoy the fruit. My method is: Enjoy the effort no matter what the effect.

My approach is to celebrate the march towards the destination. If the destination is reached, we will be happy. Even if it is not reached, nobody can take away the sense of thrill at having run the race, the delicious fatigue felt along the whole body. My happiness is derived not from reaching a goal, but from the struggle i wage as part of my attempt at reaching it. I am engaged in talking to you now. Suppose i feel i will be happy only if you give me a thundering ovation when i conclude my lecture. That means i am not fully enjoying my teaching, rather, my mind is set on a particular goal. That very concern may prevent me from giving my best to my teaching and thus act as a barrier to my attaining the goal.

Playing football is one kind of joy, winning is another kind. The problem is we identify joy exclusively with winning. Classical musicians are so absorbed in their performance that for all practical purposes, they are unmindful of the audience, the applause at climactic points, or the money they will receive from the organisers at the end. What they enjoy is their involvement in bringing their art alive, not the end result in the form of ovation or payment. So enjoy the process. Enjoy the travel. Enjoy the endeavour.

Ensure that you will be working smart, not just hard. Don’t go fishing in the bathtub. Don’t try to work up lather in a running stream. Instead, fish in a stream, and work up lather in a bathtub. Set and evaluate your goals, estimate the quantum and quality of efforts to be invested in attaining the goals, calculate the ROI (return on investment) quotient carefully, and then, if you are convinced the ratio is as satisfactory, go ahead and work towards your goals. That is smart work, intelligent effort.

Failure is a fact of life. In all competitive contexts as in sports, for example, one side has to lose. So why not enjoy the effort rather than exult at success or mope at failure? I think it is better mental discipline to celebrate the successes rather than brood on the losses. It is definitely a healthier strategy for the future for anyone wishing to continue in competitive endeavours.

There is also a spiritual lesson in every failure. Failures are necessary to remind people of their essential human vulnerabilities. An unbroken string of successes can create pride and a sense of invincibility about oneself in a high achiever. Remember the bragging, “I am the greatest” that comes out of the mouths of wrestlers and boxing stars? As the common maxim goes, such pride always precedes a great fall. Surrendering to the Lord is an act of bhakti – devotion, and surrender happens only in a spirit of humility.

Experience Nature To Feel That Oneness

The following article appeared in "The Speaking Tree" column in Times of India on 9th Sept 2008. The article is written by Surendra Pal.

Human beings have been drawing spiritual inspiration from nature. This has been going on for ages. According to Buddhist philosopher and photographer Daisaku Ikeda, the response to nature’s beauty is not merely aesthetic but reflects also the ability to discern a deeper meaning and interconnectedness in things. The photographer of nature’s beauty serves as a bridge connecting the hearts of people everywhere with a language that is universal.
Osho in his discourse on ‘Intuition’ quotes the haiku of Basho the Zen mystic and master: “When I look carefully/ I see nazunia blooming/ by the hedge!” Osho says that the deep meaning of it cannot be understood intellectually but only intuitively. The idea is that one can draw deep spiritual inspiration even from a simple message. By observing an ordinary flower and pondering over its beauty, one could feel inspired to try and unravel the mystery of creation. For hasn’t Keats said that “Beauty is truth, truth beauty. That is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
To feel love and compassion for all, observe nature with totality of mind without getting affected by previously constructed images, opinions or past knowledge. Look around to observe things as if you are seeing them for the first time. Become one with the object of observation. The sun provides light and warmth irrespective of who benefits from it. Clouds, rivers, mountains and jungles follow the same example of universal love.
Trees provide the shade, fruits and flowers with the same unattached benevolence for all. They do not demand favours in return. The earth matures seeds into plants irrespective of who planted the seeds or who will benefit from them. This truly is like a mother’s love for her children. A mother loves all her children and is forgiving even when some are the cause of hurt.
If one learns to appreciate nature, the world will be a much better place to live in. Because through such appreciation, destructive tendencies like jealousy, envy, hatred and selfishness will be overcome. A new era of mutual love and trust will descend on earth. All differences will melt away. Most of our problems have arisen because we have stopped learning from nature.
Imagine the blissful feeling one gets when listening to the chirping of birds at dawn, observing the river flowing placidly in its course, looking at the snow-clad peaks of mountains, taking a stroll in a forest with majestically standing tall trees and looking at the moon on a full-moon night or a star-studded sky on amavasya (new moon) night.
Divine feelings generated by experiences close to nature compel one to ponder over the meaning of life and our place in the universe. This creates in us the urge to become one with the Divine to experience eternal bliss. Live with nature, love nature, protect nature, learn from nature and you will soon rise above all your narrow parochial tendencies. You will become a votary of universal love. The main cause of discontent is because we spend too much time indoors and away from the nurturing restorative powers of nature. So, try to get back to nature in some way. Give yourself some time in the woods, mountains, open meadows or walk barefoot on the beach. Drink in the beauty of nature as much as you can. Even if you live in the city, go and walk along the grass in a park. You will feel more complete, rejuvenated and blissful. So delight in the beauty you see around you.

Who is an intellectual?

The following article appeared in Times of India, written by Anil Dharker. It argues and helps us to think about "intellectual" in a much better way.

Everyone loves making lists and everyone loves reading lists. So list-makers, in theory at least, cannot fail. Yet do they always succeed? When it comes to objective lists, there's no problem: computing a rich list, for example, is a matter of collating a lot of figures containing a lot of zeroes in them. Other forms of number crunching give us fascinating, and generally indisputable, lists like the Highest Grossing Movies of All Time. Gone With The Wind ruled for years, then came the Star Wars films, then The Titanic. Now the list changes every year. Then there are those like Best Selling Books Ever (the Bible, always the Bible) or the Most Expensive Real Estate in India (Rs 50,000 for the little space you stand on).


The problem begins when you make lists that require subjective judgment. The Ten Best Movies of All Time? Citizen Kane will be on everyone's piece of paper, but no one will agree on the other nine. The Best Cricket Team ever? Don Bradman will be on all lists but the other 10 players will be more a reflection of the list-maker's nationality and vintage than his knowledge of the game. The Best Recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony? If one said Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic, what's the betting that someone will remember versions by Bruno Walter or Wilhelm Furtwangler?


However difficult it is for people to agree on these subjective lists, there is at least agreement on what you are making a list about (movies, cricket team, symphony). Now folks at the American Foreign Policy magazine have rushed in where angels fear to tread. And the angels are wary of butting in for a very good reason: How do you make a list called The World's Top 100 Intellectuals, when it's difficult to agree on a definition of "intellectual" to start with?


Foreign Policy tries to make its selfimposed task easier by considering only what it calls "public intellectuals", which begs the question: What are "private intellectuals"? Then it names in its list people like former US vice president turned-green crusader Al Gore, longtime Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew, Mohammed Yunus of Grameen Bank fame and the controversial Indian environmentalist Sunita Narain. In what sense do they qualify as intellectuals? By definition (and not prejudice), one should eliminate all politicians and most social activists from a list of intellectuals, not because they lack intelligence but because they deal in certainties, an essential prerequisite for men (and women) of action, whereas the intellectual deals in the opposite spectrum of uncertainty, reasoned speculation, philosophical discussion and the like.


It is a given that an intellectual possesses an acute intelligence, but it doesn't follow that a very intelligent person is an intellectual. To give a deliberately outrageous example, Shane Warne in the ongoing IPL cricket tournament has displayed a highly developed intelligence. But wouldn't you become a bit of a joke if you called him intellectual? As for Sunita Narain, she may have shown an ability to influence wider debate as the magazine put it but did she consider both sides of the question, an essential trait of an intellectual before denouncing Coke and Pepsi? And if you become an intellectual by provoking vigorous debate should we consider Raj Thackeray an intellectual too?


The list also assumes that writers, because they live by their brains, are necessarily intellectuals. But there are writers and writers. Two on Foreign Policy's list, Salman Rushdie and Umberto Eco, have wonderful imaginations. They play hide-and-seek with plot and characters, and perform acrobatics with language, but do they deal with abstract concepts and pure reason? Do they deal with pursuits that exercise the intellect, or do they, instead, cleverly manipulate our emotions?


To make an ideal list of intellectuals, it would be more fitting to start by first defining the term. How about Albert Camus's definition from his Notebooks? He said, "An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself". The Foreign Policy list, on the other hand, contains too many who want us to watch their minds. And marvel at their brilliance.

The Wheel Is Useless As A Stand-alone Invention

The following is an article I came across. Written by Deepak Ranade, a neurosurgeon. The article appeared in Times of India, on 31st July 2008. It has great meaning in it, I liked it alot so preserving it here.

The wheel was a path-breaking invention. The wheel, however, might not have been as useful if not for the invention of brakes and gears that help us control movement. The wheel made locomotion plausible but brakes regulated this motion.

The defining quality of any system is probably based on the degree of control one can exercise on it. In karate, up to the black belt stage, the discipline and regimen is for strengthening the body and speeding up reflexes. Thereafter, all subsequent degrees are attained by perfecting selfcontrol and restraint.

In evolution, life forms have been empowered incrementally as they progress through stages. Human beings have the power of control, of temperance and restraint, and the ability to think beyond the self. Physiologically, higher centres in the brain have been given the responsibility of inhibition to maintain restrictive control on lower centres of the brain and spine. In spinal injuries, when the lower motor neurons are disconnected from the higher centres and they fire without control, it leads to reflex movements of the limbs, spasm of the muscles and so on. Though movement occurs, it is involuntary, uncontrolled and purposeless.

The ability to rise above reflex behaviour seems to be the summit of the evolutionary pyramid. Olympian Carl Lewis once explained the reason for his spectacular achievement: “I have mastered the art of self-denial”. Behaviour that rises above the primitive reflexes forms the essence of culture and sophistication. All religions have a set of behavioural restrictions like fasting, celibacy and observing silence. These restrictions help the individual increase his will power, temperance, self-control and discipline.

Some religions talk about renunciation.But renunciation eliminates choice. So it is probably indulgence in abstinence. The swing of the pendulum in the opposite direction charged with the potential energy to swing back to indulgence. It may also reflect a subconscious fear of lack of self-control. Like the instance of the guru, who was invited for a meal by his disciple. Whilst the other devotees were served on plantain leaves, the guru was served on silverware as a mark of reverence. The guru however was offended and walked off as he was a renunciate. He may as well have eaten in the silverware. If he was no longer in any mundane bondage, there ought to have been no distinction between silver and leaves.

In reproductive behaviour, too, human beings have the freedom to choose. Any control is self-imposed. This selfcontrol is the evolutionary upgrade. It is as if the remote control which operates all other animals has been substituted by a sharp discriminatory ability which bestows free will. In Hindu culture, it is called vivek buddhi. The intellect of discrimination. Free will reflects the ability to restrain rather than indulge. If indulgence was the purpose, all actions would have been reflexive, with scarce regard to volition.

Exercising restraint requires a higher form of intelligence. Indulgence required neither skill nor intellect. And renunciation relied more on extremism.

Obesity, alcoholism, hypertension and diabetes, when they are lifestyle-related, point to the diminishing self-regulatory process. Affluence has given man the opportunity to indulge like never before. Austerity is facing extinction. Patience, contentment are no longer virtues but are relegated to mere words. All catastrophes like global warming, nuclear threat and poverty are merely a reflection of our ever-increasing inclination for indulgence.

Life has its own lessons to teach us ...

It is always said that future is uncertain, probably true. I feel this makes life and living a challenging one. I mean what enthusiasm will we have if we know everything that's gonna come to us. One way of looking at this point is that life checks us at every point and notes down what all we need to learn (at much higher level) and puts one by one before us as we pass by. It is like saying we are being supervised by a person who looks at things at much higher level and teaches us what we need to learn. To connect it properly to first sentence, it is saying we plan something and most of the time we end up in a situation we arent willing for and this situation is unexpected or unwilling to us as we are put out of our comfort zone and outside this comfort zone is something to be taught to us.
Many a times we might not understand why things are happening the way they are. But they all are trying to tell us something new which we havent learnt before (may be there was no need any before). Many times I have asked questions like "Why me?" or "Why these things happen only with me?". The answer lies in the fact that life poses questions in the form of things that are happening to us and each one of us has his/her own journey. I realized that we evolve as we start looking at the possible answers to those questions. Ofcourse in the first place it is important to understand that it is just a learning or evolving process in nature. This is the very fact that took the fear of failure off from me. I just see failure as one more possibility to learn, infact we learn much more. I strongly feel both success and failure are same as both of them try to teach us a point or two, ofcourse former in a soft way and latter in a hard way. By using the terms "hard" and "soft" it might seem that I am more inclined to having a success-learning but it is just in human nature to look for a less strenuous way (even electrons look for a less resistive path).
But this view should not stop us from doing what we are supposed to do. We must also do it in the right way. By the word "right" I mean the one which is ethically right. One might ask "How am I supposed to know which is ethical and which is not?" I would just say "ask the person within you." I strongly feel that the spirit (soul) within us is purest of all. In order to talk to it and listen to it we need to follow some strict rules (shutting out ego, speaking truth always, looking at everything in an indifferent way, etc).
I may not be able to conclude this post in a proper way but all I want to say is "Life has its own lessons to teach us and in order to learn them we need to know ourselves well and once we learn them, our comfort zone expands and then we have next lesson ready, helping us to push it much more. "