Jerusalem - sung at the Royal Wedding

This is a great poem by William Blake:

Blake's poem

And did those feet in ancient time.
Walk upon England's mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On England's pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England's green & pleasant Land

You can read more about it in Wikipedia.

This was recited in the Westminster Abbey yesterday at the royal wedding. Enjoy it on You Tube:

Ten symptoms of Dhoni-ism

Ranchi Mental Hospital

Time 100 of 2011 named Mahendra Singh Dhoni one of the most influencial persons in the world. The List shows many names most Indians are not aware of. But in the last 24 hours PTI pretty much implied that Dhoni, rated above Obama, Ambani, Premji and neuro-scientist Ramachandran, is the biggest thing that happened to India since Mahatma Gandhi.

I call this syndrome Dhoni-ism. Its symptoms include and go beyond cronyism and crazy-ism. To recognize a victim of Dhoni-ism, you need to listen carefully for statements like the following:

1. Give Dhoni Bharat Ratna right now.
2. Ask Anna Hazare to shut up. Dhoni could win the ICC World Cup without saying a word about the billions of corruption allegations in Indian Cricket.
3. India needs cricket more than education and politics. Did you watch Lagaan?
4. India invented cricket. (search elsewhere in the blog for that piece).
5. The Indian GDP growth rate is directly linked to the IPL 4 run rate.
6. Poor people should not pray for rain or government tax concessions. Self belief, combined with some cricket, will deliver results.
7. We should make Dhoni and other such heroes act in movies to improve our Oscar chances.
8. Dhoni will win the next 3 World Cups also and show India is better than 3-time winners Australia. This is crystal clear in his horoscope where the Sun and Jupiter are housed together in the seventh house favourably.
9. Dhoni should be the joint CM of Bihar, Jharkhand, UP and MP.
10. Dhoni should sing the national anthem and that should become our official track.

Life is Beautiful - Soprano Cheryl Barker's Portrait

Just listening to ABC Classic FM featuring this soprano singer Cheryl Barker. Her famous rendering of Puccini's classic operatic pieces in Madame Butterfly inspired the artist Yin to paint her portrait, 'Hearing Meditation' which has become a finalist at the 2011 Archibald Prize.

Going fancy-tech

I went to the Marina Bay Sands at last. It was the team dinner. I did not explore all the sights, shoppes and splurges (casinos et al) but already got a flavour of it.

1. MBS is the happening place for all those who feel young and rich.
2. It is big. You will feel as if you are an ant crawling in a bowl of honey.
3. The food is plenty in a restaurant called Rise. But not much for an Indian palate.
4. After Maria Bay Sands the next happening place is Clark Quay. It is full of young starry-eyed skimpily clad girls and men.
5. You will feel a warm glow for a couple of days after MBS+CQ. Especially if you can blog about it via an iPad gifted by the team at dinner to you, as I was.

Who is Anna Hazare?

Click here to watch this video

India invented Cricket

Prof. Thirunavakkarasu and Pandit Vishwanatha Shastri have submitted a secret paper to the Prime Minister which proves India invented cricket during Mahabharata times.

This sensational discovery could not be revealed earlier as it would have unnecessarily distracted India's World Cup campaign.

Tracing a lead in Shilappadikaram, the scholars researched rare manuscripts in Bhandarkar Institute Pune and discovered that during Mahabharata,  Bhima and Arjuna invented cricket when they got a sabbatical trip to Swargaloka. Everyone knows how Arjuna spurned Urvashi's advances and in turn was cursed to behave like a eunuch and teach dance later on to Uttara. During the same visit to Swarga, a bored Bhima used his gada to play left arm spin bowling from Arjuna on an idle sunny afternoon. Sage Agasthya spotted them and said lo, we have the makings of a grand game here!

Vishnu and Shiva led the two teams.  Bhima, Manmatha, Vashishta, Narada, Indra and Vayu were in Vishnu's team. Shiva had Kumara, Ganesha, Agni, Nandi, Arjuna and Vishwamitra. VIshwamitra opened the pace attack. Arjuna like Gary Sobers could bowl left arm and bat right-handed. Bhima hit many sixes. Vishnu played a captain's knock down the order and ran cheeky singles. You can even now see he needs Lakshmi's leg massage often. Brahma, who was trikala gyani, was the umpire who needed no referral system.

Just when the match was going great Durvasa appeared. He was livid that Ashwini kumaras were not included in the teams. He cursed that the game should be forgotten forever. Narada interceded and won a concession that the game's heavenly origins would come to light when India won a world competition on home soil.

Incredible!? Kreekata in Sanskrit means a game played with girded loins (they had to tie their flowing angavastra around the waist). Vaara was one 7 ball cycle which became 'over'. When a batsman was caught (the only way to get out) he had to untie the waist cloth - vikata.

A British scholar took the idea from the Pune library in 18th century.

The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : India are World Champions!

The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : India are World Champions!

Our Lifetime's Greatest Sports Moment in India

From Lagaan to Lagan

Once  outsiders that flashed the World Cup aloft at Lord's

Called Devils as they were truly unknown to the world as winners;

To the world centre-stage of cricket here, back home, in amchi Mumbai;

A glorious tournament, full of happy crowds and healthy rivalry-

No shadowy fixers, no skirmishing fans, no bad-mouthing leaders, no ignominious losers.

Wearing lightly the heavy mantle of expectation of 1.2102 billion people,

Soaking up a million sagely words of caution, concern and criticism;

Beyond propitiating Sehwag and Sachin to fire up and notch up hundreds,

Gambhir in confidence, Mahendra when the moment demanded-

Worthy victors over a great rival team, India have arrived.

iPad 2 - while I'm still waiting (not in the line yet!)

Dilbert - Totally Brilliant

What's great music?

I was treated to a wonderful presentation of this world famous piece "Bolero"by Ravel on Australia Network - Sydney Symphony, conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti. I found a variation on You Tube:


Enjoy!

What's in a Word?

We call things in our language 'padArtha'. That means literally word-meaning. in other words, things seem to take on an existence because we choose to identify and label them! What an advaitic thought indeed since we are imputing to ourselves the power of making our own reality. Whereas at one level it is true, in reality (!), we often substitute our words and concepts for the actual reality. It is a bit like a mathematical transform function that maps from one domain into another. In the process, the interrelationships and properties may change.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say that wringing an almanac which has a prediction of rainfall today does not produce rain drops!

I just came upon this quote:
'I am not so lost in lexicography as to forget that words are the daughters of earth, and that things are the sons of heaven.'- Samuel Johnson, in his preface to his Dictionary of the English Language.

The great man Johnson conveys how creation and existence precede our endeavours to label them with our words: ours is a very 'human' activity not shorn of sentiment (hence words are daughters!?)

Without words there would be no conversation, let alone thoughts.
And without thoughts man would either descend to animal status or rise to the fourth state of consciousness and become a meditative and radiant Buddha.

Wisdom begins where Knowledge ends.

Purandara Dasa - Music and Philosophy

(The Hindu remembers the saint)

 I had a delightful evening in Singapore devoted to this great saint and grand-father of Carnatic music recently. The celebration was held in the beautiful Sempaga Vinagar temple.

 The opening song sung by Mrs. Bhagya Murthy and her disciples (including Mrs. Lata Vishwanath whose family had so kindly taken me there), was "Ura Devara" - audio linked here MusicIndiaOnline (M.S.Sheela)

I was at once struck by the profundity of meaning and how one can relate to this song at many levels.
I can see how Purandara is summing up the devotional yoga extolled down the ages.

To a casual listener, the words convey that Purandara is advising a villager to find a way to bring the village temple with animal sacrifice etc. into his own mind and worship God to get rid of his troubles. But at a different level, he is referring to a number of great concepts. These are beautifully covered in the Bhagavadgita, and he refers to ideas there in several places.

sarva-karmAni manasA sannyasyAste sukhaM vaSI
nava-dvAre purE dehI naiva kurvan na kArayan  (Bhagavadgita V.13)

When the embodied living being controls his nature and mentally renounces all actions, he resides happily in the city of nine gates [the material body], neither working nor causing work to be done.

And then, the need to meditate on the chosen deity by focussing on the inner eye ( bhruvor madhye prANamM AvESya samyak sa tam param puruSham upaiti divyam BG VIII.10).

 Purandara is also referring to worship of the deity in the eight-petalled lotus in Sri Chakra. He also hints at the spiritual progress by traversing upward through the Kundalini chakras.

Also, when he refers to the inevitability of Death and the need to develop detachment to the external world (symbolised by the dearest ones in life - wife and children) he is in fact recalling the words from the Gita:

asaktir anabhiSvangah putra-dArA-gRhAdiSu
nityaM ca sama-cittatvaM iShThAniShThOpapattiSu
mayi cAnanya-yogena bhaktir avyabhicAriNI
vivikta-deSa-sevitvaM aratir jana-saMsadi  ( BG XIII. 10,11)

Nonattachment to children, wife, home and the rest, and evenmindedness amid pleasant and unpleasant events; constant and unalloyed devotion to Me, resorting to solitary places, detachment from the general mass of people.

The final words in the song beautifully describe the devotional path. Purandara Dasa says that by forgetting the hardships of the past, and not being swayed by the promise of  future glories, we need to focus now on the worship of the Real and Absolute, the abiding principle that guides our lives and liberates us.

Ayurveda vs. Modern Medicine

(Read WSJ on Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore - Photo: Lord Dhanvantari statue in the hospital lobby)


Of late, I am the odd man out in discussions where my Indian colleagues and friends quote godmen, gurus and medical men who propound that moden medicine is very immature, treats only symptoms in an attempt to fight disease and is nowhere as developed as ancient Ayurveda which helped men to live healthy and long - up to 120 years and more, as it was a holistic system.

I have problems with this type of thinking. Let me first state that I have been in the medical equipment industry for 30 years and have dealt with the best surgeons and physicians in India and abroad. But I have also seen the crass commericialisation of modern medicine by the unscrupulous. I am aware of how industry and trade has been hell-bent on pushing unwanted and unnecessary scanners and pills, and how doctors have been harvesting their investments by exploiting hapless patients.

I am also often a witness to cynical patients and families who avoid treatments and accuse doctors of malpractice whenever they advise someone to undergo angioplasty or surgery. There are also associations and doctors who conduct camps to "Treat your Heart without Surgery" and who strenuously advocate life-style change and natural methods to resolve heart ailments. So I am not surprised by everyone's urge to go back to ancient Ayurveda. In fact I also tried it a few times before.

Ayurveda, purportedly given to us by Lord Dhanvantari and practised successfully for thousands of years by Indians for longevity and good health, has seen a resurgence now. Today's pollution, adulteration and pills-for -every-symptom approach are pointed to be the reason for the explosion of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in India. Now we all long to go back to pure and natural and wise Ayurveda!

In this context, I am an upholder of modern medicine. Here are my reasons:

1. To judge medicine, we have to see its best proponents and practitioners, rather than the over-commercialised version. Like everything around us, there are good doctors and bad doctors.


2. Modern medicine is the evolution of a science and is not opposed to Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, Yunani or anything else. Down the ages, the science has been growing through cross-fertilizing ideas. Greeks surely learnt from ancient Indian sages during Alexander's travels.


3. The language of science is mathematics. The Greek and Roman terminology employed in modern medicine, coupled with medical statistics, is a robust scientific platform. Perhaps this level of rigour is missing in most traditional methods.


4. Modern medicine believes firmly in tried and tested methods. It believes in data-driven diagnoses. There has been no real data-driven research in tradional methods. Thus they are unable to submit the required data for US FDA or international patents.


5. The key to successful Ayurveda practice is standardisation of training, medicine production, and
   "peer-reviewed" professionalism. That will go a long way in proving its success.


6. The first principle of medicine is "do no harm". So like Ayurveda, modern medicine in its pure form is conservative. Life-style changes and food habits are to be addressed first before medication. It is unfortunate that we run after doctors who dish out instant remedies.


7. The body cures itself. That is the power of life. The will power to cure oneself works wonders. That can also be called the placebo effect. Psychology functions particularly in life-style diseases and chronic diseases where more than a cure, we want alleviation and management of symptoms.


8. Yoga is totally focussed on psycho-physical activity. It is the peak of human endeavour to heal oneself and evolve. It is the method for achieving well-being here and hereafter. But Yoga should not be confused with Ayurveda.


9. Yoga has four elements - Asana, Pranayama, Mudra and Bandha. It can always be combined with modern medicine without any issue.


10. If holistic medicine and life-style management as propounded by Yoga is adopted, this is NOT AGAINST modern medicine. Just as the ancients believed in Aushadi, Pathya, and Kriya, medicine can absorb and benefit from the wisdom of "healing oneself".


11. As I said before, the body can be helped to heal itself rather than dump treatment and medication. That is an important attitude we can cultivate within the context of any school of medicine. Today's "good" Ayurveda practioners are doing this and their positive results are based on that holistic approach.


12. Health and Well-being are goals. We set goals as a part of our modern lives. That is no different from the old philosophy of yuktaahara-vihaarasya...yogo bhavati dukkhahaa ( Bhagavadgita Ch. 6)

Let me finally quote a Sanskrit shloka we had in our school text. It is purported to be an ancient sholka, when doctors were practising only Ayurveda. It states that Yama, the God of Death, takes away only our lives, but the doctor takes away our lives as well as our wealth!

Indian techie on foreign assignment!

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Bharata - a true hero of Ramayana

I went to Chitrakoot.

After Rama's banishment to the forest, he wanders with Sita and Lakshmana and arrives at Valmiki's ashrama. He requests the sage to suggest a suitable place for his sojourn in the forest. The sage suggests the beautiful, hilly forest of Chitrakoot. And while staying there, Rama receives Bharata and his entourage. The story of Bharata's encounter with Rama, his entreaties for Rama to come back to Ayodhya, Rama's conversations with king Janaka, sage Vasishta, and Rama's unshakeable resolve, are very touching parts of the story. But the most touching and abiding images are those of Bharata's asking and taking the padukas, and later enthroning them in Ayodhya. And Bharata dwells as a hermit in Nandigrama, living on roots and shoots much like Rama, for fourteen years, running the kingdom in trusteeship and devotion.This entire episode is called Bharat Milap.

Rama, after Hanuman returns successfully from Lanka with Sita's Choodamani, embraces him with tears and says "Bharata hi sama Bhayi"!"( a brother as close as Bharata!)

I went to the spot where Rama receives Bharata. Travelling to Chitrakoot and dealing with the priests there is a hassle. But the hill where Rama stayed and the Bharat Milap spot are sacred to devotees, who circumambulate the hill for 5 kilometers. The hill lies on the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and both states claim that Bharat Milap is their heritage.

Bharata is the true hero of Ramayana according to me. The epics are full of stories where people like us encounter and deal with life's challenges in a special way,with sacrifice, devotion and courage. Of all such stories, Bharata's story is incomparable. Let me summarise:

1. Bharata did not take shelter in the parental diktat to occupy the throne. He used his buddhi (wisdom).
2. His act of trusteeship was not merely politically astute, preserving Rama's inheritance and the family unity - he did it with love and devotion.
3. He need not have lived as a hermit. He need not have worshipped the sandals of Rama. He need not have gone to such lengths to persuade Rama to return. All this shows how he lived out of his heart, and his righteousness and devotion to truth. 
4. Bharata was singularly handicapped in his situation. His heart said the kingdom belonged to Rama, and the turn of events had to be corrected. He was a prince too, and all princes want to become kings. His mother had extracted a monster gift of Ayodhya for him, at the cost of his father's death. But he did not succumb to political expediency.
5. The way he marched to the forest, with Janaka and Vasishta, and tried to right the historical wrong to Rama shows true statesmanship. There is perhaps no other example of such an act in history. We hear of brothers killing each other, and cousins causing the death of hundreds of thousands for the kingdom. But this man was different.
6. In Mahabharata, when faced with "duty" and devotion to the throne as opposed to fighting for what is right, Bhishma and Drona came up short. They are not heroes. They did not fight for what is right. They went by expediency and convenience. They wanted to preserve their "name".  Bharata did something crazy in comparison.

If Ramayana is about righteousness, sacrifice, love, and steadfastness, its true hero is Bharata.

Let me share with you a link to a great song..Sada Enna Hrudayadalli... by the late Bhimsen Joshi. What music!

Sada Enna Hrudayadalli by Bhimsen Joshi

Marvellous Narmada

I travelled to Jabalpur recently. The river Narmada, even after being dammed a couple of times, flows majestically. She has gouged a deep marble ravine and you can go in a lovely boat ride and watch pink marble rocks running to several hundred feet high, just as cool and crystal clear Narmada flows majestically, in places up to 600 ft. deep. Up a few miles away is a mini Niagara- like fall at Bheraghat. It is called Dhuadhar or Dhauldhar. Watch it here!

If you liked Baghban

I saw this movie la Tete en Friche ( titled in English, My Afternoons with Marguerite). There is this 96 year-old actress acting as a 95 year-old lady left in an old age home by her nephew in a small French town. He is already complaining that he can't afford to keep her there, but the lady is still full of life as she is very well-read  and loves to go sit in the park watching pigeons and reading her books (like Albert Camus's Plague). Sitting one day on her favourite bench, she meets a middle-aged man Germain, who is also a regular there. He comes to watch over the pigeons. He has in fact given each one a name like Thief and Crabster, having closely watched and discerned their personae.

Germain ( enacted by Gerard Depardieu)  is a simpleton but with green fingers. He grows and sells vegetables. He also does odd jobs. Germain was abused as a child and often remembers how he never felt loved by his mother. She also drove out his father, a waster. She is now old and crazy and Germain simply shakes his head in mild irritation during her frequent outbursts when she uproots his plants and screams hell.

Germain was ridiculed at school as he never could read well. But he  has a very likeable child-like nature. Sitting on the park bench on languid afternoons, he is all good-humoured attention as the old lady reads and explains the classics to him. Their friendship develops beautifully as Germain really cares for the lady. One day she brings over a huge dictionary as a gift, and tells Germain how the dictionary is a fascinating journey from the world of one word to the world of the next. But Germain finds the dictionary a tough read, unable to spell words like labyrinth or Anette. He is also unhappy that the dictonary mentions only one type of tomatoes.

The town's social life revolves around a small restaurant, and you can tell that the folks there like Germain for a steady fellow. Germain is also dating young Anette who drives the local bus. They are a sweet and simple couple and Anette wants to have a child.

When the old lady tells Germain that her eye-sight is going down rapidly due to macular degeneration, Germain feels terribly for her, and at Anette's suggestion decides to learn to read to her. He goes to the library, and in a really humorous scene, succeeds in explaining what kind of a book he would like to borrow- not too thick, with a story of adventure, with pictures. Sitting up late in bed, word by word he struggles through the book with Anette's help, and gets to a point when he can indeed read to the old lady!

One day Germain's mother reveals that his real father was not her useless husband but a charming young man. In the next scene Germain comes home to see his mother dead. Sadly bewildered by the turn of events, Germain discovers a photo of his parents in a box of knick-knacks left behind for him. soon his mood changes to astonishment when he learns how his mother had finally been able to express her love in her own way -she had actually saved up her meagre pension and bought for Germain the house they lived in. Doubly happy to know that his girl friend Anette has gotten pregnant, Germain wants to share the news with the old lady. Alas, he finds out at the nursing home that her nephew has taken her away to Belgium, saying this place is too expensive.

The story ends with Germain rushing in a borrowed van to Belgium. He confronts the nephew, discovers where the lady is stowed away in a depressing old-age home, and rushes there to find her sitting like a faded picture in her wheel chair. He simply rushes out pushing her wheelchair, bundles her into the van and drives her back to his world. They are both happy that she can live with him and Anette and he will now read to her her favourite books. Life's truly happy moments are about sharing and caring.

YADA YADA – a call to God

“Hello, God, may I have a word with You please?” India's Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, looks all frazzled and bleary-eyed behind his spectacles as he croaks into the phone.

You see, it's not only Obama who has a Red Telephone on his desk. The Indian PM's office too has one in South Block. This antique phone instrument has in the Mahatma's own handwriting the famous motto of India, “Satyameva Jayate”. The Mahatma gave it to Nehru just before he was assassinated for his unfashionable beliefs. Nehru knew it was a hot-line to God, but actually he didn't care much for the Fellow and did not trust Him too much - not sure whether he would buy Nehru's patented Panchsheela. Later PMs had never till date felt so stressed out as to reach out to God, being quite able to manage the nation and survive wars, government collapses, gold auctions and of course scams.

“Yes, Manmohan, what's it?” God does not seem to be in the mood for a friendly chat.

“You see, God, it's this $40B scam of 2G. Yes I know God, these days everyone talks of 4G, but You should know that in India we have a policy of calibrated progress. So it's 2G that's hurting me, and I am at my wit's end how to manage this crisis and I need Your help”.

“Why, Manmohan, didn't your coalition partner dismiss the whole thing as a purely “notional” loss?”

“But God, only Tamil movie-goers will swallow that bit. Remember I was at Harvard”.

“But then Manmohan, why don't you do what Obama did – he printed a trillion dollars of green-backs and gave it out to all those who were involved in defrauding pensioners and home owners. In fact, you can give 1.77 Lakh Crore rupees in crisp 1000 Rupee notes to your coalition partners”.

“God, this is no time to be sarcastic. Need I remind you that you have promised in the Bhagavadgita that,

“ Yada yada hi dharmasya glanirbhavati Bharata/Abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srujamyaham!”? Righteousness is in a crisis in India and there is no better time to come down and help me, God!”

God bursts out testily. “Don't quote Me back to Myself! That Gita is one thing I regret the most. All of you down there constantly misquote Me out of context to justify your actions!

“Just the other day I confronted a serial floor crosser of a politician. You know what he said? “Vasamsi jirnani yatha vihaya, navani gruhnati naroparani/Tatha shareerani vihaya jirnani anyani samyati navani dehe!” No wonder politicians travel from losing parties to greener pastures all the time in their politics of convenience, not conscience. They say they only follow my Gita!

''And then there is this billionaire tycoon who goes for Tirupati grand darshan every time he gyps someone of a billion or more, sometimes even his brother, and quotes My words:

“Sarva dharman parityajya mamekam sharanam vraja/Aham tvam sarva papebhyo mokshaishyami ma shuchah!”meaning that I have Myself advised him to forsake all righteous paths and simply surrender to Me at Tirupati and everytime I will absolve him of all sins, so no worries!

“And do you know what the Chief Justice quoted to the public interest litigant about the scams?

He quoted My Gita: “Ishavarah sarvabhutanam hruddesherjuna tishthati/Bhramayan sarvabutani yantrarudhani mayaya!” meaning that it's God alone who resides in everyone's heart and makes people go around doing what they do, through His own maya!”

“But God, only YOU can make THIS shloka come true: Yada Yada...”

God says with irritation, “Don't go yaDa yaDa quoting me. Do you know the complete quotation at least? The next stanza completes what you recited. “Paritranaya sadhunam vinashaya cha dushkrutan/Dharma samshtapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge!”

“I would come down only to save the righteous. I am looking for them and for a reason to come down, but I don't see anyone or anything so pristine that they are worth saving.

“To tell you the truth, Manmohan, I have almost given up. I came as Rama, and I spent most of My time wandering in the forest; there was no improvement in anything. Then I came down as Krishna, and people thought I was there for a dance party. Recently I came down as Buddha and told them to abandon meaningless ritual and meditate, and they simply created an industry to make and worship my statues.

“After my recent MBA, I started delegating. And what happened? All these god-men I sent down are busy buying up prime real-estate, erecting temples to themselves, or cooking up some sacred magic potions, or getting caught on video doing any kind of hanky panky. There are umpteen TV channels showing their tamasha with disco-style bhajans.

“I tell you, Manmohan, go cook your own 2Goose!”

Mahavishnu - a great balancing job

Here at the Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, just after immigration, before you enter the duty-free shops, you're reminded of the cultural heritage of this region, with a huge golden tableau of Samudra Manthan, coming from the Hindu scriptures describing the churning of the ocean. In India it is believed that this primeval event occured just off the Puri Jagannatha coast in the Bay of Bengal. Across the sea of course is Thailand.

This churning was to acquire Amruta, the nectar of immortality. Vishnu became the Kurma or Turtle who balanced the churner mountain Meru, and devas and asuras tried a coalition effort using Vasuki, the snake, as the rope. The churning produced many great items, good and bad, including the Haalahala poison which Nilakantha Shiva drank up to save the world. And finally, when the Amruta came out, it was cleverly held back from the unreliable asuras or rakshasas by Vishnu. He felt only the good but feeble devas deserved to drink it. For this to be accomplished, He of course had to become Mohini, the ultimate female temptress.
I have also loaded my video on YouTube showing the full tableau:

Kartikeya - an interesting god

First thing : it is Karttikeya. Double t, and it comes from Krittika. The other spellings, Kartikeya and Karthikeya, can be condoned as common errors. Similarly the name Shanmuga comes from Shat-mukha (six heads), and SaravaNan comes from Sharavana-bhava ( meaning one born in a forest of shara grass).

This interesting deity is the darling of people from the South, with many lovely temples and rituals. Every Tamilian home has a Murugan (aaru-muga) picture day wall-calendar and many articles especially cloth-bags with the word Murugan.

This Hindu god is unique. He combines masculine valour, a boyish precociousness and also grace. He is in fact the military chief of the gods, and is considered the God of War, like Mars in Greek mythology (devasenapati). He is esoteric, and hence called "Guha', living in forested hills.

There are several Carnatic compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar whose chosen deity was Guruguha or Karttikeya. But my favourite is the Todi piece Karttikeya Gangeya Gauri Tanaya, by Papanasam Sivan. It is a majestic composition with alliterative beauty, metrical grandeur, lyrical profundity, and to cap it all, the musical element does, in my opinion, justice to this unique raga which is a challenge to any musician, especially a vocalist. It is a raga that plumbs the depths of the lower notes and sets up edifices at Ga and Ma, with lovely glides along other notes. Somewhat like the glorious mountain peaks inhabited by Karttikeya, with delightful valleys and rivers. The above picture from an Internet website is charming in many dimensions.

Did you know that Karttikeya was born out of the fire, and nourished by Ganga, and breast-fed by six celestial deities called Krittikas (the star cluster)? And in only one stream of mythology was he born of Gauri as Kumara, in the story so well told by Kalidasa in Kumarasambhavam. The rest of the iconography showing him as the younger brother of Ganesha etc. is of popular value.

That Karttikeya is worshipped by forest and mountain dwellers is appropriate, and in all probablity he was the earliest male god in the Hindu pantheon, stemming from early man's idolatry of young war heroes.

Here are links to two great renderings of the Todi masterpiece:

M.S. Subbulakshmi

Lalgudi G. Jayaraman

Now, let me show you the entry under Karttikeya in A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion by John Dowson, published first sometime about the middle of the 19th century and quite well-researched, like most European compilations (for that matter the most authoritative dictionary of Sanskrit is by Sir Monier Williams, as much as other Indian language reference dictionaries are by European scholars!)

So let us join in worshipping this wonderful deity, Karttikeya!

The Flute-player of Brindaban

The Flute-player of Brindaban

Sarojini Naidu

Why didst thou play thy matchless flute

'Neath the Kadamba tree,

And wound my idly dreaming heart

With poignant melody,

So where thou goest I must go

My flute-player with thee?

Still must I like a homeless bird

Wander, forsaking all

The earthly loves and worldly lures

That held my life in thrall,

And follow, follow, answering

Thy magical flute-call.

Bauls sing of the Beloved

I knew about the Bauls from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. But the experience of reading Osho's words on Bauls was profound (The Beloved Vols. 1 and 2) Here are some of his words:

The Bauls are called Bauls because they are mad people. The word 'Baul' comes from the Sanskrit root VATUL. It means: mad, affected by wind. The Baul belongs to no religion. He is neither Hindu nor Mohammedan nor Christian nor Buddhist. He is a simple human being. His rebellion is total. He does not belong to anybody; he only belongs to himself. He lives in a no man's land: no country is his, no religion is his, no scripture is his. His rebellion goes even deeper than the rebellion of the Zen Masters -- because at least formally, they belong to Buddhism; at least formally, they worship Buddha. Formally they have scriptures -- scriptures denouncing scriptures, of course -- but still they have. At least they have a few scriptures to burn.
Bauls have nothing -- no scripture, not even to burn; no church, no temple, no mosque -- nothing whatsoever. A Baul is a man always on the road. He has no house, no abode. God is his only abode, and the whole sky is his shelter. He possesses nothing except a poor man's quilt, a small, hand-made one-stringed instrument called AEKTARA, and a small drum, a kettle-drum. That's all that he possesses. He possesses only a musical instrument and a drum. He plays with one hand on the instrument and he goes on beating the drum with the other. The drum hangs by the side of his body, and he dances. That is all of his religion. Dance is his religion; singing is his worship. He does not even use the word 'God'.

There is a great Baul singer, performing and travelling a lot these days, Parvathy Baul. She is one of rare female Baul singers, and has a presence that locks you in. This You Tube video is a good one:

then, there is an hour-long interview, very well done, in English. You can watch this, and please don't mind the marketing clutter around the video. It is a good interview that brings out the authentic Baul singer that she is.
One final word. When asked how she handles people who want to surrender to her and wish her to lead them spiritually, she shrugs off that onerous responsibility... she says she's after all a singer. That is the reality of life. There is no "One", whether a musician, a dancer, an artist or a master, or a self-proclaimed guru, to whom you can surrender and hope to move ahead. Finally your guide is within yourself.. at the centre of your being, and not at the circumference which is our sensory world. But surrendering to anyone or anything is a vital first step... it cuts off your head!
Here is the video interview link... and happy watching!
http://video.webindia123.com/interviews/dancers/parvathybaul/index.htm

Winter in Finland - music that cheers

I watched last night a wonderful DVD produced in Australia, capturing Vivaldi's Four Seasons on video with great musicians performing the respective portions in Japanese spring, Australian summer, New York's autumn and Finnish winter.
The music and the filmography leave you with wonderful imagery. But I was most impressed with the music performed by a young violinist Pekka Kuusisto in a warm farmhouse in the middle of winter.
I was lucky to find two You Tube clips of the Winter scene... so here you are, and I give the one with the folk song!

Sea Lions and Orchids - Singapura!

Here are two videos we shot in the Orchid Garden and the Singapore Zoo... beauty and the beast - both thrilling!

The signs of human nature

+ - X ÷=

Have you thought of this - the entire gamut of human evolution and spectrum of human emotions can be depicted using the basic symbols of math!?

+ The Book says that God created Adam. Adam was lonely, and so God made Eve. They fell in love and the rest of mankind happened. And that love was surely a positive, additive, collaborative, communicative phenomenon. No wonder it was exactly what the PLUS sign says. And then the community organized itself in its activities, the most significant being prayer and religion. That profoundly influenced society and eventually controlled it. No wonder PLUS is the Greek Cross!
- The first effect of organized religion was to categorize believers and non-believers. That created distance between any two men more emphatically than anything else before. Now came a distance between two people which was not visible, but which was conceptual. That distance became the first major negative influence on mankind, the symbol of distance and reducing the total of happiness, emphasizing differences rather than commonality. That is the symbol MINUS...
X Then men organized themselves into groups, clans, countries and fought to expand their group or clan or country. They crossed swords and hoped to multiply their own at the expense of others and grow more powerful. Nothing can describe this expansionism better than the symbol X. MULTIPLY or die it was!
÷ Once wars were fought, they ended when there was a victor and a vanquished. The Victor ruled over the vanquished, and that was the most divisive social structure of high and low. That cannot be better symbolized than the symbol of DIVIDED BY ..
= Finally came the peace-makers, who went around saying everyone is equal and let there be peace. The EQUALS sign is very significant.... two equal lines, that never meet......



Thus has mankind moved through the signs.... Five signs that tell the story of man.

Happy Deepaavali!

Happy Deepaavali! May your life be full of light and delight!

The Sentosa Songs of the Sea, full of light, laser, fire, fountain, laughter and music made our Deepaavali!

(Photo by Sumana Sachi)

Sleeper - Hilarious robotics by Woody Allen

Enthiran, bless Rajni, has whetted my appetite for robotics! If you want ribtickling HomoRobots, you should watch this 1973 movie by Woody Allen. He not only spoofs all Sci-Fi Robot movies, he anticipates by some 4 decades the kind of meaningless robot tripe that we would pay good money to watch! The only thing a greatly intelligent movie-maker like Woody Allen does is challenge our sense of what is right, but not what is stupid.

This movie shows a man who was accidentally frozen after a failed surgery in an American hospital and revived with 2173 technology and lands in a world of chaos not very different from our crazy police states of today!
If you go to the Youtube site, you can find lots of clips of the movie in a sequence. Thanks to Shinjikun2009!

Idli Suprabhata

Oh heavenly damsels clad in perfect white,

Your roundness adds more joy to my anticipation.

However many I eat of you, I want some more.

A profound satisfaction follows each bite.

Chutney especially fresh, dished out at pre-muhurtham breakfast is best,

To dip you in before the lovely swallow.

It seems God wasn't done with just creating the world's favourite food, rice.

For higher mortals like me he wanted to add shape, taste, and the ferment of anticipation.

Thus came about you angels fluffy and white

Ready to plunge and plunder the fire in the belly.

Idli, your'e matchless. Pity the dough-nuts, burger-freaks and leafy six-inchers.

With or without accompaniment, singing your morning prayer brings me bliss!



Yaa Devi...

Ultimate music, ultimate bliss, ultimate grace

Today, Goddess Saraswathi has conferred her ultimate grace on me. Ever since the sixties, I have been recalling a wonderful  Bhairavi alapana played by the maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman. I have spoken to many about it, and have searched here and there without success for a recording that harks back to that experience.

Like a Chatak bird, who waits to savour the Swati rain drop in autumn that becomes a pearl, I have waited. And today, Swati Solutions have delivered to me the album "Fourmost" (kalakendra.com) brought out to celebrate the maestro's 8oth birthday.  The four CDs are supposed to represent the best sample of his musical genius.

And the very first item on it? His Bhairavi alapana that I have been craving for!


I urge you to buy this CD set and listen to it. I have just heard the Bhairavi. And that is enough to show what else is in this treasure chest. Lalgudi Jayaraman in this Bhairavi alapana has produced the ultimate music, ultimate grace, and ultimate bliss. He is like Dattatreya, born of Vishnu's grace. Brahma's creativity and Shiva's prowess. He is the synthesis of  Bach's grandeur, Beethoven's virtuosity and Mozart's melody. He is the dear child of Bhairavi, frolicking in her courtyard, and delighting her in wonderful ways. Bhairavi's ultimate benediction is here.

I am impelled to recite:

Sarvamangalamangalye Shive Sarvarthasadhike  

Sharanye Tryambake Gauri Narayani Namostute!

Glory to the Mother! Glory to Lalgudi!

Osho on Pain

This is an extraordinary talk. I want you to listen to it in a quiet place with no distraction. It can be life-transforming. Osho is talking about pain. He begins thus, in response to a question on how to face physical pain towards the end. The questioner says that he knows how to deal with psychological pain, but is scared of physical pain.

PSYCHOLOGICAL PAIN can be dissolved; and only psychological pain can be
dissolved. The other pain, the physical pain, is part of life and death; there is no way to dissolve it. But it never creates a problem. Have you ever observed? -- the problem isonly when you are thinking about it. If you think of old age you become afraid, but old people are not trembling. If you think of illness you become afraid, but when the illness has already happened, there is no fear, there is no problem. One accepts it as a fact.

The real problem is always psychological. The physical pain is part of life. When you start thinking about it, it is not physical pain at all; it has become psychological. You think about death; there is fear. But when death actually happens there is no fear. Fear is always about something in the future. Fear never exists in the present moment. If you are going to the front in a war, you will be afraid, you will be very apprehensive. You will tremble, you will not be able to sleep: many nightmares will haunt you. But once you are on the front -- ask the soldiers -- once you are on the front, you forget all about it. Bullets may be passing and you can enjoy your lunch; and bombs may be falling and you can play cards.

The talk has worked on me. I have posted it in its entirety here. This is one of his talks from the series on Buddha, titled "The Discipline of Transcendence".
Part 1 Psychological pain
Part 2 Psychological Pain

Worshipping the Mother Goddess

Now is Navaratri, I started the day reading an email from a devout Upasaka of Devi Akhilandeshwari and Lalithamba. I am ending the day after listening to a lovely rendering of Lalitha Sahasranama by Smt.Vani Suresh, who readily sang this for us impromptu in front of her lovely Navaratri doll arrangement a few years back. Listen to the rendering below and see her mastery of music and Sanskrit. She is a close friend of my better half  Rathna for over 50 years.

Lalitha sahasranama by Smt. Vani Suresh

Endhiran - what fun!

I saw Endhiran. It's in 2D, but I can say it's 4D in fun! It's proved to me beyond all doubt that Indians love mythology and also mythology can do with a bit of technology like robotics and animation. I will not be a spoilsport and tell you the gripping story. I will just list a few things about Endhiran:

1. Rajni doesn't disappoint. I quite liked him and Ash. In fact the movie shows that there are a very small number of people irreplaceable in India like Rajni and Aishwarya.


2. The movie story line borrows heavily from Hindu epics with characters like Raktabijasura ( this is Navaratri time!) and Bhasmasura. However it is a true original.


3. In fact Chitti Chitti Bang Bang movie has copied the idea from Endhiran. You may wonder how, but you see Endhiran (his name is Chitti and he goes bang bang) defies the concept of time. For example the robot can instantly manufacture clones of himself and endow all of them with super programs which can be used in a cloud computing mode.


4. Rajni is called Dr.Vaseegaran. That is perhaps derived from the Sanskrit word Vashikara, which means a Captor. Like Ravana. But then it's not Rajni, but the robot-who-goes-bad Mr. Endhiran who becomes a Ravana. He falls in love with Ash and steals her from Dr. Vasi.


5. Endhiran is not your ordinary everyday robot. He has supersonic speed, super strength, and also SUPER magnetism (and speed 1 TeraHz and memory 1 ZettaByte- 10^21B). He can act like a 10 tesla magnet and attract large quantities of metallic objects. His preference is for machettes used to chop coconuts (he chops policemen's greedy palms).


6. Aishwarya is simply superb. Even a small nut will fall in love with her. Then why not a super robot? In fact he plans to produce robo sapiens after marrying her!


7. Even Endhiran will have to negotiate. But only with Madras mosquitoes. They tame him by reminding him of their powers of mass destruction which far exceed his capacity. They are also indestructible, and have fancy names like Rosalski.


8. Any resemblance to Toy Story 3 (robot gone wrong) and 3 Idiots (complicated delivery) is purely coincidental. If you want to know how to correct with your bare hands a wrong foetal presentation, read here.


9. It is no longer fashionable to say to a woman, "I love you." Better say, "ÿou're my wasabi".


10. You can make a full love song with words that rhyme with Kilimanjaro and Mohenjadaro. (No, they don't show scenes from these places. They use computer graphics for scenery).


11. If you thought all Bollywood dances show lots of men and women dance like robots think again. They ARE robots!


12. Robots will overtake India. They will build the next CWG stadia and stuff in time, without corruption, and without 1000% cost overrun. You see, we have the best software folks in the world like Vaseegaran!


13. However, we still need to solve one problem. Robots need electrical power. And once the power is cut, they fall down almost dead, but thank God we have lots of Amabassador cars stuck in traffic jams in Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai, T. Nagar and Nungambakkam High Road. The robots will rush or crawl and snatch power from their batteries!


14. Finally: some things never change. Sanskrit words mutate themselves so cutely in Tamil. Yantra becomes Endhiran!

Hanuman

This is Balinese Hanuman. I saw him first in an art store when I went to Jakarta. Later Niranjan and Meghana (my son and daughter-in-law) presented him to me after going to Bali for their honeymoon. The one I had seen first was black in colour but this one, showing the natural wood grain, is even more powerful. This is how he sits in my showcase. He has been meticulously hand-carved and never fails to stun the first-time viewer.

Hanuman is the ultimate creation of a poetic genius. He comes a close second to Krishna in his timeless appeal to me. In fact, Arjuna and Krishna have him on the chariot flag listening in on Bhagavadgita! And there can be no worship of Rama without Hanuman.

I give you ten points of why I love Hanuman:

1. He is the epitome of valour. He is totally fearless.


2. He is the epitome of devotion. There is no better example of a devotee with Ananya Bhakti.. Ananya here means nothing else exists for him except his God, Rama.


3. He is the ultimate diplomat. He handles the most tricky situations in Ramayana with incomparable aplomb - be it arranging the friendship pact with Sugriva, tiding over Sugriva's tardiness in discharging his side of the deal-of searching for Sita, or in finding out Sita's hide-out, or breaking news to her of Rama and vice-versa, or of tackling Ravana.


4. He is the ultimate action hero. He is totally focussed, and totally dependable. There cannot be a better example of this than how he brings Sanjivani.


5. He is the eternal worshipper. He is in constant chant.


6. He is the best listener. In fact Rama remarks, when Hanuman meets him and Lakshmana in disguise in the forest, how astutely he questions to find out about who they are.


7. He is intelligent. He works out how to prepare the ground for Rama's attack, by instilling the core of fear in the whole of Lanka and Ravana,when he is in Lanka


8. He is the only powerful hero who did not seek anything for himself. He does even better than Rama here.


9. He is totally egoless. He is the personification of someone living on this earth as a realized soul. Doing his duty totally out of love for all creation.


10. He is the most positive hero. One can never fail to be inspired by him... he has not a grain of negativity.

Jai Hanumaan Gyaan Gun Saagar!

Photosynth - a new way to look at photos!

Note: Play around with the controls. You can see both sides of the horse (choose 2D View and flip to the other side).. and also try the point cloud. It shows amazing colours!

Railways - the Arteries of India

Last night, in a chaos of colour and sound, the Commonwealth Games was inaugurated in New Delhi. Much as everyone expected, India's colours, culture and scale were truly evoked in the spectacular. And sure enough, when they wanted to show the kaleidoscope of Indian life, they used the tableau of a train winding its way slowly and colourfully, as in this picture.

Interesting that my weekend, filled with reading about Indian Railways, should end in this finale. The book I read is well written and comprehensive. Changing Tracks by V. Nilakant and S. Ramnarayan is about how Indian Railways made a dramatic financial turn-around  by conceiving and implementing  various strategic and major operational improvements and in the process made a cash surplus of 20000+ crore rupees in 2008, vastly different from their position of near bankruptcy in 2000. Various management pundits had suggested radial restructuring and privatization as well as fare increases. But the organization found leadership and commitment in Lalu Prasad, a savvy minister, and his Officer on Special Duty Sudhir Kumar. Lalu reinforced Railways' commitment to the common man. Sudhir Kumar assembled talent to go about executing a vision of a turn-around that should be the envy of any large world-famous corporation.

The authors are to be congratulated on a brilliant book. I give below pictures of the book and sleeve notes so you can quickly read what the book is about. At Rs. 399, Harper Collins have brought out a book that is a MUST READ text book for any Indian engineering or management student. 

I just give you some facts which fascinated me.

1. In 2007, India had the largest railway, ferrying 17 million passengers every day over 695 billion passenger kilometres every year!
2. Indian Railways employs 1.7 million people and supports 1.1 million pensioners.
3. The average fare in 2002  per passenger km was 0.55 cents (US) vs. China's 1.25 cents.
4. In 2000-1, accidents per million train km were 0.65, compared to 0.65 in Japan and 0.91 in Germany.

So Indian Railways is the largest, cheapest and one of the safest train systems in the world!

Some beautiful "human" stories in the book.

• Vivek Sahai, AGM, Western Railway and his crew restored the Bombay trains within 12 hours of a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in seven trains at 6:30PM (peak hour) on 11 July 2006 that ripped apart trains, cluttered the tracks and killed hundreds. It was an incredible act of engineering and commitment to fight all odds to restore life and the six million commuter traffic within hours to a city dulled by death and destruction. Sahai must have remembered Hanuman's heroic act of bringing Sanjeevani.
• When India was cut up during partition, Sardar Patel was keen to restore rail links to eastern Indian states like Assam. He gave a free hand to Chief Engineer Karnail Singh, who achieved the impossible task of building 700 km of track in malarial jungles with 635 cm of rainfall and several major rivers, by working on a war footing with 15000 workers (brought in from all over the country) within 18 months.
• At the behest of PM Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, the Railway Board Chairman Gujral ran 200 trains (during an illegal railway strike period), to transport a few lakh party workers overnight to arrive in Delhi for the political rally, He asked and got in return one favour too... everyone bought a ticket!
• Lalu wanted a Garib Rath, a poor man's A/C train. Sudhir Kumar took the challenge and designed and built with the best talent in Railways a train within EIGHT MONTHs with design and build quality to rival Tata locomotives. The train could carry 1920 passengers at a third  of  the COST of Rajdhani Express. An impressed Lalu told Sudhir Kumar, "Aapne to kamaal kar diya, ji!"

Congratulations to Prof. Nilakant and Prof. Ramnarayan!

(click below to see large in separate window)

Crumbling Faith

This Buddha is half gone but still holds his peace. Who's disintegrated, he or me with my crumbling faith in the Beyond?

Gopala Gokula Vallari Priya - Tulsi Bhajan

This song has been tuned and sung inimitably by Balamuralikrishna in the Hindustani raga Shyam Kalyan. My day began listening to his song, from a concert recorded in Bombay in 1963, accompanied by Lalgudi Jayaraman and Umayalpuram Sivaraman.

I give you the Audio here:

Gopala Gokula Vallari Priya

The words of this Tulsidas bhajan are sweet:

Oh Cowherd, you love the gardens and creepers of Gokula. Equally are you the beloved of all cowherds and calves! I am blessed to worship your feet, a feat difficult for even gods and sages.

Your dark mein is delightful; your gait is lovely. You're always giving joy to all, and putting them in your charm.You liberated the conch demon with your blessed vision. You're childlike in appearance, but so virtuous and kind!

Your curly tresses, your lovely mark on the forehead, your moon-like face all steal my heart, much like you banish my troubles. You love to roam in the Brindavan, oh gracious Shyaam! - Tulasidasa

Singapore - my fascination continues

When Tan Tock Seng Hospital, a large public hospital, did a good job of treating SARS victims, it received 8000 spontaneous 'thanks' cards from people all over, like this one from a Montessori school.. What a virtuous cycle of public good...

Life of Pi

An extraordinary novel about a Pondicherry zoo-keeper's son who loves his idlis and coconut chutney, shipwrecked and floating at sea and surviving in a 26 ft. life boat along with a tiger for 227 days. The Canadian writer Yann Martel has taken the idea from a Brazilian novel, and turned the idea into a story as colourful, fascinating, and thought-provoking as the sight of a Royal Bengal tiger.

The book is un-put-downable. No wonder it won the Man Booker Prize, and has sold 7 million copies. There is a pictorial illustrated version, and you can see samples here.

Here is what reviews said:

Chinese Garden Pagoda this morning

Chinese Garden Autumn Moon Cake Festival

iPhone photos in a walk-around witnessing the triumph of human imagination ushering in autumn in sweaty Singapore with lanterns and moon cakes Chinese style. The warrior metal statue is in fact on Orchard Road but belongs in spirit to the Chinese Garden.

Lalgudi 80 : Unforgettable moments

(click to view larger- shows expressions better!)

Lalgudi 80 on Facebook

Obeisances, Oh Maestro!

Congratulations to everyone who celebrated the birthday of this extraordinary musician, Lalgudi G. Jayaraman, who turned 80 on 17 September. There was an excellent webcast direct from the Chennai Music Academy spread over two days with wonderful music and presentations. I share with you this recording from the webcast, which shows the calibre of the people who participated. The music features Bombay Jayashri and Vithal Ramamurthy (violin), who presented 3 compositions of their Guru Lalgudi G. Jayaraman.

Blessed are we all to be in this day and age to enjoy this wonderful gift of God.
Bombay Jayashri sings 3 Lalgudi compositions

Totally HIlarious - Do You Have a Bullshit Job?

Stanley Bing, who has given many a laugh to readers of Fortune for some years, has written this side-splitting book..

100 Bullshit Jobs ... And How to Get Them

Here is a sample about the Food Critic.... and there's stuff too close to what you may be doing...Visit his blog

Wisdom and the Face of Death

The theme of death continues. It is not an obsession, but a theme much encountered in the last few days. The sudden death of a 40-year old colleague... and the New York Times Interview of Mentor Minister and the architect of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. Titled "Days of Reflection", the interview shows what thoughts and meditations keep the senior statesman of 87 occupied. He is still busy. He is still advising people on all matters of nation building. And he also thinks of the approaching end.....


I saw today a movie on Confucius. I continue to marvel at the stunning visuals, haunting music and intimate insights into the human saga that Chinese movies are made up of these days. I give you a clip from the movie, showing Confucius, banished from his kingdom for being too sagely and peace-loving, and wandering without food or shelter with his small set of disciples. The man is suffused with humanism and takes a moment to live in the world of music...it elevates everyone from their sad predicament.

Come, watch this clip:

The Death of a Zen Master

Osho talks about death in  "Vedanta-Seven Steps to Samadhi":
... Because only waves are born, the ocean remains the same. The many are born, the one remains the same. You are born and you will have to die; hence the fear of death, so much fear of death, but the Brahman in you is unborn and undying. Everyone is afraid of death. Why this fear? And nothing can be done about it; only one thing is certain in life, and that is death.
It is said of one Zen master, Tojo, that he remained silent his whole life, he would not speak. When he was a child it was thought that he was incapable of speaking, but he was so intelligent that sooner or later people realized that he was just keeping silence, he was not dumb. His eyes were so radiant,
intelligent, wise; his behavior, his actions, were so intelligent that people became aware that he was simply keeping a deep silence – maybe continuing some vow to remain silent that he may have taken in his past life. And he remained silent for eighty years.
The first and last statement he made was on the day he was going to die. The morning he was going to die, just as the sun was rising, he collected his followers – many had started following him. He was not speaking, but he was living something, and that living something became so significant to those who could understand that there were many who followed him; many were his disciples. They would just sit around Tojo, they would just be in contact with his silence, and many were transformed.
He collected all his followers and said, ”This evening when the sun sets, I will die. This is my first and last statement.”
So somebody said, ”But if you can speak, why did you remain silent your whole life?”
He said, ”Everything else is uncertain, only death is certain. And I want only to speak about something which is certain.” Once born, death is certain; everything else is uncertain. Why is death so certain? Nothing can be done about it. Science may help to prolong life, but death cannot be destroyed, because it is implied in the very phenomenon of birth; it has happened already.
Death is one pole of the same phenomenon of which birth is the beginning, the other pole.