Democracy For Kings and Queens - I

                     
                          With the lives of people awash in blood and sweat,
                          a sparkling freedom was won.
                          Only to be lost to the worst in humanity.                        
                          With a structure built on reason,dignity and vision giving way to a
                          structure built on desperation, stolen blood and sweat,                        
                          and with the words of truth being cloaked in layers of falsehood to keep minds
                          in a prison of ignorance and distrust,
                          a mysterious cloud of darkness has spread over to blind the people                        
                          in the democracy for Kings and Queens.

                     
   
                         "The idea of democracy rests on enlightened citizenship." -Immanuel Kant

                 " The national idea, with the flag as totem, is today an aggrandizer of  the nursery ego, not the annihilator of the infantile situation. Its parody-rituals of the parade ground serve the ends of Hold-fast, the tyrant dragon, not the God in whom self-interest is annihilate. And the numerous saints of this anti-cult-namely the patriots whose ubiquitous photographs, draped with flags, serve as official icons are precisely the local threshold guardians whom it is the first problem of the hero to surpass. 

                    Nor can the great world religions as at present understood, meet the requirement. For they have become associated with the causes of the factions, as instruments of propaganda and self-congratulation. The universal triumph of the secular state has thrown all religious organizations into such a definitely secondary and finally ineffectual, position that religious pantomime is hardly more today than a sanctimonious exercise for Sunday morning, where as business ethics and patriotism stand for the reminder of the week. Such a monkey-holiness is not what the world needs; rather, a transmutation of the whole social order is necessary, so that through every detail and act of secular life the vitalizing image of the universal god-man who is actually immanent and effective in all of us may be somehow made known to consciousness. " 

                                                            

                                                             - The Hero With A Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell

                 " Every one of us shares the supreme ordeal- carries the cross of the redeemer- not in the bright moments of his tribe's great victories, but in the silences of his/her personal despair"
                                                           
                                                               - The Hero With A Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell

The Hero With A Thousand Faces-Book Cover

                                             Nationalism that reinforces specific identities is not unique to
mono-ethnic monarchies,oligarchies and communist states, but also to the world's largest multi-ethnic democracies. While it may not be right to put the blame on these figures on flags and maps as this has been the way of things for a long time now, it is certainly right to question ourselves regarding the rightness and meaning of these practices we see all around us. Intentions regardless of its nature don't translate into actions and events outside the social context in democracies, which itself is determined by the combination of political power and the psyche of its people, each with their ambitions, values and ethos,

Such things make us wonder if a true democracy where every one's voice is heard is even possible and whether we are limited by our own nature in realizing such a noble ideal. Or even if this tendency to reinforce specific identities is a response to the widening divide in the fragmented rest of the world?

Several countries started this remarkable experiment of democratic governance at different time points in the history of the world. It is an experiment/experience with millions of participants driving it with their choices with in a frame work of certain ideas that form the governing principles. Each country despite adopting this broadly similar framework has evolved its own practice of democracy given its socio-cultural and historical context. The way people conduct democracy or even participate in that process seems to be determined by a host of factors like value systems, ethos, psycho dynamics of its people and so on.

Modi's Image On Saffronized India

                       

Bush's image draped in National Flag

       
                                             
The Effect of Ethos On The Practice Of Democracy:

While people in one of the large and oldest democracy (US) are pursuing legal cases for millions of dollars against corporations for accidental contamination of food with other substances, people in the largest democracy (India) eat from the floor as a ritual seeking blessings for their elected leader. It is really hard to imagine Americans eating pizza from the floor for their Presidents or Governors. This at least points out a healthy respect or lack of it among American people for its leaders.

People in South India eating from floor as a ritual seeking blessings for their leader

President Obama joking about his presidency in a popular talk show

 


While people are open to criticize and engage in debate with their leader in one, the leaders are generally deified and made into demigods who sort of hold an unquestionable authority over their decisions. People criticize such authorities ,even in respectful tones, only at a huge risk to their careers and life.

A leader is shown in deity image bestowing riches to the people who vote for the party

Another leader shown in a famous movie character image as envisioned by his followers

While US has been conducting democracy for more than 300 years and has had a lot of time to mature (questionably so) in its practice, while India's foray into democracy began relatively recent (67 years old).Given the fact that people are still debating and struggling to improve the practice of democracy in both the countries should remind us that it is something that is to be improved consciously and diligently.

One of the important characteristic of the way people conduct society and democratic practices is the historical imprint on the psyche of its people. People in India have historically lived under monarchs for several millenia, with only some monarchs espousing democratic ideals. Only after they freed themselves from the British who ruled again for around 300 years, did they start this experiment in democracy. It was a bold step forward for a people who were largely under the rule of small monarchies for several thousand years. The words used even today in popular media are suggestive of this past, where the word 'rule' is used instead of governance. Some Indian words used to describe Governments are the same as Kings/Queens (Arasu/Raj). People are expected to obey them blindly and wall posters of their leaders are decorated with flowers and people do religious rituals with them. Even now some ministers sing paeans in praise of their leaders in parliaments in some Indian states, while it is certainly rare in other democracies.

All these reflect the different trajectories democracies take depending on the specific cultural context. The democratic ideals were conceived by a band of brilliant visionaries who had the courage to step in to such an experiment just like the visionaries who framed the constitution of USA. Were people prepared for such responsibilities in a democracy and are they prepared now? Is it a case of en-thrusting responsibility on its people when they were unprepared for it?

The Tides In Democracies:

People did start such an experiment and it has been going on for a handful of generations now. Given that, millions of people did take up the responsibility and have prepared themselves for democracy in a big way. However, a huge fraction of people are still under the psychic structure of  monarchy. It is this huge fraction of people who facilitate the installation of leaders with monarchic ideals in a democracy. In contrast to the servile fraction, some have taken this newly found freedom to the other extreme and indulge in hooliganism with an utter disrespect to any principle of justice that holds together any democratic state.

While this scenario attests to the adaptability of a huge fraction of the population, it is also a grim pointer to the challenges ahead. Will people forfeit democracy itself and change their system? while it is highly unlikely that people will change the system of governance in a dramatic way within a small time, the road is bumpy and unpredictable with regards to the nature of democratic practice as attested by the constant shift in the forces in defining people's identity.

When India started this grand noble experiment in democracy, it started in a secular framework respecting and honoring all of its thousand years of history. It was a statement that accepted the grand history of a world in which ambitious monarchs and empires invaded one another over several hundreds of years and influenced each other in good and bad ways. It was also a statement that declared the start of a new way of life with a relatively new system of governance in which it is not only important to espouse democratic ideals, but also to live peacefully with other people differentiated by several criteria.

The nature of the political forces trying to define an identity for billions of people do shift often and millions of people along with these noble ideals are still taken for a ride putting them in anxiety and a phase of distrust and tension regarding national identities if it can be defined at all. People in democracies all over the world are constantly undertaking this debate to define a dynamic identity. While democracies like US are still debating about including immigrants from some countries, even though they have opened up to people from several nationalities, there are seldom movements to reverse events that happened several hundreds of years back and extend this debate to an already integrated population of millions.

These events point to the fact that the tides in democracies are not restricted just to changes in policies regarding economic development or other developmental policies, but sometimes has to do with the broad framework of democratic structures itself.


To be continued.... with the following ideas: 

Corruption of Choices In Democracies, Truth And Freedom in Democracies, Selective Forces in Democracies, Breaking Away From the Democracy For Kings And Queens

Revelations To The Lord of Guinea Pigs From People (The Lords of the World) In 2014

I want to share some revelations that were forced on my attention in 2014.

1) Truth seems to be an esoteric idea that is not relevant to many lives. People build world upon world, event upon event and engage in action upon action based on lies. For most people, what ever people see on TV is the truth, even if it is a fiction movie in some countries.

2) It is the enduring love-hate romantic relation between P-party (Political Party) members and the G-gang (Gangster Gang) members that was revealed to me in more than required details which is going to last in my memory for a long time. They are like secret lovers who fight to the outside world because they have to, but actually have a passionate relationship overflowing with respect for each other. In fact, several G-gang members are aspiring P-party members. If P-party members focus on Science, G-gang members do the same and if the P-party are fond of arts, the G-gang take over the Arts domain too. But they seem to be ignorant of the fact such love seldom goes unnoticed. It is all over them in word and deed.

3) Reinventing our decaying, dysfunctional institutions is one of the challenges of our times.The institutions people built for their protection, well being and advancement have turned into oppressors just like machines turning humans in to slaves in the science fiction of recent decades. This is believed to have happened mostly due to the nature of values people hold and nature of dispositions in people who control these institutions.

4) The power of perceptions : The popular perception about America is that when American citizens are in trouble in any part of the world, men and women wearing sexy black dress will drop down from choppers and rescue these suffering Americans no matter what. Once you step inside the country, the situation remains the same as other countries in the world, with nothing falling from choppers top save your day even if you are starving to death.

Another popularly held perception among a huge fraction of Indians is that every European and American is Einstein and Edison incarnate. So when some one from India talks anything resembling science, they are quick to point out that they are acting like those Britishers. Similar to the widely held perception that every Chinese guy is Bruce lee incarnate.

5) The problem of fractions: The problem with countries like China and India is that huge numbers is really huge and even a small integer fraction is really huge with millions and millions of humans encompassed in that small number. Even if 25-30% of people do well and the rest suffer, the countries get a pass grade based on economy and development.

6) Power really really corrupts most people and changes them in to something you wouldn't want them inside your sweet home.

7) People are desperate, only they know for what.

8) Veterans in receiving and tolerating post-modern methods of torture are always required to give other people hope.

9) When animals in the neighborhood (wherever I go) seem to think of me as some kind of Lord of the world, my social position is still that of Lord of the Guinea Pigs...It is the painful reality I've to face everyday...

10) There is this discomforting feeling that all of this may continue into 2015. I'll try to remain hopeful that this sick situation in my world will end and a new healthier state will begin.

Rumors On Air & Issues To Ignore

News -1: When Intelligence officers with a huge dose of intelligence were watching desperate house wives, a janitor stole one of the most advanced technology any superpower possesses and sold it to street thugs in India for a mug of beer. Now the secret to the powers of the universe lies in the hands of street thugs in Tamil Nadu. The mission, if you choose to accept, is to save the universe from some street thugs and small time criminals who apparently are also part of a bigger global network. This is the first time we are crowd sourcing earth saving mission to people coasting along in the ship of fools. So approach it with caution and wisdom...

News-2: Worms that reside inside the bodies of people (in stomach, nether regions of the body and throat) have evolved speech abilities. While some of their speech are just meaningless grunts, the rest of it mimics human language. Their intention is clear. Just like some other parasites that hijack the body-minds of insects and mammals, these worms hijack the speech centers, control of excretory system and sleep centers of people to use it for their own purposes. These worms challenge the idea of evolution by natural selection and points towards intelligent design. Intelligent design by aliens to hijack human body-minds. The minds of these worms seem to be an amalgamation of the parasitic minds of Toxoplasma, Trypanosomes, Wolbachia and other such clever parasites...


News-3: Inception tech becomes real. Tamil movie & TV personnel have acquired patent and rights to use this technology. As usual they work for their political agenda of turning people into authentic Tamils. So they plant Tamil seeds in the deeper layers of our psyche by playing Tamil mega serials, ghaana songs and punch dialogues by leading Tamil actors in our dreams...One of the motives is that when you wake up from your dreams, you will only be led to anything Tamil in your waking life like bees to honey. In the sense you will eat only idli, vada with filter coffee for breakfast and dosa/idiappam for dinner. The final rite of passage to the Kingdom of Tamils, to become an authentic Tamil, is done by dancing to a recent Tamil Kutthu/item number. You can request for dance practice tutorials in your dreams, that it comes out naturally and pleases the judgement of Tamil leaders who generally are experts at all this..In the near future, this tech is going to be applied to every other group people can think of and will be used for the amusement of proprietors of humans.....One trivial side effect is people starting to shout Tamilan da, American da, African da, etc, etc.. endlessly...


News 4: ISIS gets honorary PhD degree in Tech entrepreneurship from Ivy league university in the US. This is to be conferred for their innovative use of IT technology for spreading terror. This has created rage among other terror and criminal groups that use religion as a tool for terrorism and profit. They are planning to sue the world nations in international court for discrimination based on religion and are demanding PhD degree in religion for all their cadres. This has raised panic among job deprived graduates with advanced degrees. They believe such a scenario is due to extending the nation of equality and non-discrimination to criminals and terror groups. Non-discrimination practices and equal opportunities for criminals has led to them performing their jobs with out any harassment and this has led to their flourishing. Experts feel that this is bound to happen in a nihilist society and this is only our karma in action.



News 5: US psychiatrist pays millions of dollars for misdiagnosing patient as paranoid.The patient was diagnosed as suffering from paranoid delusions for having occasional weekend worries about being under surveillance. The doctor holds this radical belief that no such thing is happening in the world and that all such people are deluded and paranoid. So without investigating he prescribed medications just to be sued later. He didn't think of this patient as Edward Snowden's distant cousin in the human family tree. To people who don't know about Snowden, he is this brave hearted cousin who was transported to a parallel universe that exists somewhere in the east, when he broke the widely believed and known top secret that several innocent citizens are under the radar of govt agencies. People in India felt that Snowden could have learnt Indian head shaking for answering yes/no questions..It is a survival strategy that provides selective advantage over more straight forward people. It is the art of shaking your head in a confusing way that will leave the onlooker confused for eternity..Indians felt that Edward Snowden could have used this strategy for the question whether American people were under surveillance....


News 6: Courts of justice in several nations have changed the format of court proceedings to reflect the current state of socio-political reality. Looking at the empirical data over several years and realizing that arguments never win justice and in order to avoid bias, the proceedings will be done in silence. In this version there is literal impartial weighing of bank account balance and the weight of vasta and connections. The weight will be given according to a standardized scale of connection power. The heavier one wins. The lawyers after verifying the validity of the documents and visiting cards provided, collect the bank account balance and connection weights and ceremonially produces this to the judge in silence. The judge weighs the two sides and offers justice. This improvement avoids the usual hoopla, argument and noise that goes along with court proceedings. People across the world who keep count are eagerly awaiting it's implementation....


Thought For The Day: 

Thought for the day -1: A common complaint against the manufactured products of state education system in India is that they are just stupid regurgitating machines. According to almost everyone, humans are machines and machines do what they are programmed to do. If the education system is programmed to manufacture stupid regurgitating robots over several years, the robots will do just that. Is it morally right to blame the robots? If you want to put an Einstein in every home, you need Einstein manufacturing systems rather than stupid robots manufacturing units. The designers of the system and the molding components need to take the blame if the machines they produce turn out to be stupid...


Thought for the day-2: There are some strange mindsets floating around in the brains of our leaders' minds. When they feel that their "own" people are suffering and getting sicker day by day, the response is to make the healthy ones feel the same sickness so that they can suffer in a amplified resonant sickness. I recently learnt that this is sort of the attitude that several leaders who look down on lesser specimens from their citadels have. They want more and more sick specimens to increase the chances of a few evolving resistance and redeem the chances of survival for the species. I believe these leaders should have been the leaders of bacterial and viral populations...

Equanimity In the Context of Duty and Compassion

"He who is the same to friend and foe, in honor and dishonor, in heat and cold, in pleasure and pain, in censure and praise, free from attachment, silent, content with anything, steady-minded, full of devotion to Me, is dear to Me." 
                                                                                                                        - Lord Krishna 


Upeksha/Equanimity is an important aspect that is emphasized in almost all spiritual traditions, but its importance in our everyday lives is seldom discussed. Equanimity is a state of mind characterized by non-attachment, non-discrimination and even-mindedness. Non-attachment to what and who depends largely on the context. 

Attachment is a very complex cohesive feature in our lives that it could be to anything in the universe. Attachment could to objects, could be to sensory pleasure, could be to some people, could be to a way of life, it could even be to an abstract principle or to our pursuits and goals. The idea of non-discrimination generally refers to non-discrimination against people and sometimes events. Both these ideas can't be separated from the context and are inter-woven into our individual and social lives.

http://what-buddha-said.net/Pics/equanimity.blue.balance.jpgion

A Brief Note On Dharma/Ethics: 

Dharma is the principle that which upholds. As reality is multi-layered and has many levels, it has different meanings in different levels. In short, it refers to the principles of organization of systems at several levels. At the level of atoms and molecules, it is the principles of nature people have found out through science. This also operates at the level of human societies and individuals. Here it is expressed as principles that uphold societies and helps in the development and flourishing of people. 

The range of behavior and phenomena for lower level systems such as atoms or molecules is very limited, hence their behavior as understood by some physical principles seem to be less variable. As highly complex sentient beings with the potential of autonomy and agency, our behaviors are highly variable. Our systems of organizations are highly variable and flexible to accommodate this huge range of experience and action possible for humans.

In human societies, dharma is expressed as ethical principles that uphold societies. So one of the aims of a dharmic life is to live according to these principles that hold higher systems of organization together. As it is evident there are many ways of living in this world, some healthier and others less so. At any point of time, we live in a world with people who are highly heterogeneous with regards to the age, dispositions, acquired habits, values, knowledge, skills and other resources. In such a scenario, it seems like there is no one right way of living.

An ethical life is not necessarily devoid of pleasures, ambition and prosperity. In fact it is defined by where we place our values when it comes into conflict with something else. What if my pursuit of some worthy goal comes into conflict with another person's freedom, life or well being?


The Different Goals of Life And Equanimity: 

In addition to all those differences people have different goals and intentions in that their actions are motivated by a desire to achieve some end. People broadly classify these ends in to four categories: pleasure, wealth/fame, justice/ethics and spiritual realization/knowledge. None of these ends by itself is unethical or leads to conflict with other ends. Ethical dilemmas arise when these ends come into conflict. 

Whether we make the choices regarding our actions with full awareness or mindlessly is a separate issue altogether. Attachment to some pleasure, wealth or fame strays us from doing what is right in many ways. When we deviate from these principles of organization, the state of well being in a system declines to various extents. Equanimity in our pursuit of pleasure and ambition may help us make the right choices that doesn't affect the health of the system in a negative way. 

The aim of spiritual practice across many traditions is to transcend the duality inherent in reality and realize the non-dual state of being. It is exemplified by the act of Christ when he wishes for the well being of people who torture and crucify him. Such a degree of equanimity in the context of compassion demands a greater realization of the oneness of self at the deepest level.


Reality, Rationality And The Idea of Duty and Compassion: 

The idea of duty assumes rational beings coming together to lead life in a society performing roles they choose to do in return of something they agree upon. There are roles people choose to perform and roles that are acquired at birth owing to our inter-dependent nature.

It is quite obvious that only when we perform the duties we have chosen to perform to the best of our abilities, the system functions well. Otherwise the system breaks down to different degrees. The choice involved in selecting our roles and relinquishing it seems to be an important feature of defining duty as it is applicable only for sentient, rational beings with a certain degree of autonomy. The question regarding the extent of freedom in these choices is a separate issue. 

Weber defined three different kinds of rationality: purposive-rationality (as in scientific and technological knowledge), formal rationality (math and logic) and practical rationality (as in moral behavior and communication). While the first two inform each other to a great extent, the integration of purposive and formal rationality to practical rationality and moral reasoning seem to depend largely on the ethical system and the underlying metaphysics assumed or believed to be true.

If the ultimate level of my being is defined in the individuated and differentiated body in perpetual competition with other beings, the way moral principles are laid out may be completely different from the moral principles derived from any other metaphysical system.

The nature of reality described in most eastern philosophical schools and implied in almost all spiritual traditions is the existence of one cosmic soul/subject experiencing and becoming aware of the world through its several manifestations. Almost all non-dual schools agree that the ground of our being is the eternal light of non-dual being where there is no subject-object bifurcation. Some theistic schools argue that this eternal light of being has the nature of subject or another level of cosmically interwoven being that has the nature of a subject. Buddhist schools argue that this cosmic subject comes into existence only on interaction with an object, hence its atheistic nature.

To claim our initial standing as rational beings and autonomous agents coming together to form a system, we need to integrate all aspects of reality in to our moral actions to the extent possible. If our view of reality is partial and our actions are based on that partial view, we may have to face the consequences of our ignorance of other aspects of reality. Knowing this truth and living according to this truth demands equanimity to a great extent.

Such equanimity is exemplified in the persona of the great heroes of the past and present. I suppose the lives of mythological heroes and spiritual teachers still remain a fertile ground for exploring these aspects and drawing lessons from them.


Equanimity In The Context Of Duty: 

The great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are full of incidents where almost all characters have to wade through different kinds of moral dilemmas. The way self-realized beings led their lives and dealt with these moral dilemmas is represented in world mythologies. Myths have an eternal component of our psyche imprinted on it, that we can draw a lot from it to inform our condition and our lives. 

The conflict of duties that arises in social life is beautifully captured in certain incidents and situations in Ramayana. To honor his father's kingly words, he renounces kingship to his brother and agrees to leave the kingdom. This act of renunciation goes against the wishes of people who want him to be the king.  He argues with them and tells them that his brother is as capable as he is to rule the kingdom and his act of renunciation to honor his father's promise is not going to hurt the welfare of people in any way. This conflict drives him to take the conventionally harder choice to leave his kingdom.

After the trio go to forest, several incidents happen after which Sita is abducted. This initiates the great war with Raavan. It is a war fought to get his love back and also restore the honor of his kingdom as he is also a kingdom's prince in exile. Considering all the damage this war can bring to both sides, he sends several messengers at every stage of the battle to talk peace with Raavan until the end. But at every stage, those efforts don't work and the war is fought. 

 After the war is won and the kingdom restored to Raavan's brother, they return to their kingdom after the exile years. Any contemporary person would agree that winning a war and returning the kingdom to the enemy's own brother, especially at a time when there were no international laws to regulate their actions takes non-attachment and staying true to the original intentions of the war. After they return to their own kingdom, he is anointed the king and things go well for sometime. After a while rumors spread about Sita's fidelity and moral behavior. According to the story in Valmiki's Ramayana, the intentions for renouncing Sita and separating from her is to maintain the integrity of his kingship and the honor of his dynasty, as they recognized the destructive nature of such scandals. Such a radical separation do seem odd now, even though political careers at the highest level are affected by such scandals even in the twenty-first century. Sita's equanimity in the face of these conflicts is nothing less than that of any other non-dual sage and deserves a whole section focusing just on that. 

Rama Renouncing His Kingdom

 http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/

Equanimity in the context of duty also has the meaning of doing our duty regardless of who the effects of our actions are directed towards or against. In Gita, Krishna takes the role of a statesman and prods Arjuna to do his duty as a prince fighting for a just cause. He points to Arjuna the idea of equanimity in the context of duty. He advises him the nature of relations and how our sense of justice needs to transcend that. He gives Arjuna an experience of the real nature of universe, where stars die and the whole universe is dissolved in to Brahman. He shows him that in the light of ultimate reality, everything in the universe is impermanent. It is important to remember Krishna is advising to a Prince to fight other kings and statesmen who are unjust and cunning after several attempts at peaceful negotiation. 

He points to Arjuna that his reasons for not fighting just because his enemies are his relatives doesn't make sense when viewed in the light of ultimate reality. He might not have advised the same thing to two lay people fighting over some property, as it is the duty of the state to deal with that. It is possible that it was advise given to Arjuna in a specific context to fight his battle to take back his kingdom to bring well being and justice to people. I suppose it is because injustice perpetrated by kings and statesmen have more effect on people than lay people. 



Equanimity In The Context Of Compassion:

The historical Buddha took the perspective of a physician to heal the suffering of people. He wanted to find methods to end the suffering of individuals. He found that one of the great ways to do that would be to transcend duality inherent in temporal existence and realizing certain fundamental truths about our existential condition. One way of understanding Siddhartha's decision to renounce his kingship against the duty imposed on him by the society as an affirmation of the role of choice in determining our duty. Renouncing his kingship and kingdom could even be considered a greater duty not just to his own people but to everyone and all beings. Buddha emphasized equanimity in the context of compassion. In this context, equanimity means showing compassionate behavior towards all beings regardless of whether they do us good or harm. 

Buddha Teaching His Disciples (image adapted from the web)

Christ

Christ's teachings has the same emphasis on equanimity in the context of compassion which was exemplified in his attitude during crucifixion. Equanimity in the context of justice and compassion is also seen in Prophet Mohammed's teachings. The same equanimity is emphasized in all traditions. This verse by Rumi who himself was a connoisseur of several spiritual traditions says it all. 

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn't make any sense.” -Rumi

One interpretation of this that God can be found in the realm of non-dual being where there is no separate self nor abstract thought to describe it. Such an extent of equanimity seem to  require a deep realization of the non-dual nature of being.

Equanimity In The Context of Duty and Compassion: 

Having made this difference between equanimity in these two contexts, it is not always easy to delineate distinct aspects of it. Equanimity in the context of duty may even be out of compassion towards people who are suffering. When Krishna advises Arjun to fight the war, it is hard to say it is not out of compassion towards the people who are suffering because of the wrong actions of some tyrants. Such a contradiction arises in society due to the dual nature of this level of reality. An understanding of the non-dual reality of our being helps to a great extent in dealing with these conflicts in a right way. 

One of the symbols for justice is a blind-folded maiden holding a balance. This symbolizes the impartial mind of a person who is administering justice with equanimity. This equanimity shines forth in both the contexts of duty and compassion. It is this equanimity that affirms the value of an individual, and the integrity and justness of a system. 




















Note: Some of the verses in Gita take the tone of Brahman speaking through the voice of Lord Krishna because he is that. For example, dear to me in the quote may mean that who transcend all these dualities only can see Brahman. Such verses may not refer to the Krishna as a human living in the world of duality. 



  

Angry Rants For Week 3 Of October,2014

• Looks like some people need the sovereign masters of pain and fear....May be they don't respond to anything else in this world... Didn't grow enough to appreciate other things in the world i guess... Even giving that to them needs patience it seems...Was wondering why every myth in TN ends with the burning down of the city (like Kannaki's story and all)...The same characters in the myth are so polite and reason with others when they go to other places..I guess it has to do with the completely deluded, megalomanical nature of people who rise to power there...Honestly, hollywood has made it extremely difficult for me to create fear of any sort in people who are perpetually confused between cinema and reality..Now I need to grow bigger than anything they have shown until now on screen to create a modicum of fear...(word is in the air that popcorn may be used as totems in cinema halls to distinguish it from the real world)..good suggestion heh...may even help me in some way...

Everything Burns

• Looks like Indian criminals have an inherent misunderstanding of their place on earth..Their threats to create huge riots and burn down places and property creates an urge in me to show them who is the master in burning down worlds... 

• A desire for instant gratification is common now, but a desire for instant destruction doesn't seem to be good for anyone. You know it is not being respectful of all the time and energy that this universe has taken to get to this moment...I kindly request you all to be patient in your quest for destruction..It will happen in its own pace...

     

• You know Kannaki's myth may not be relevant to us now...If we take it literally, we gotta be seeing millions of people burning cities all over the world every day seeking justice...Not at all a sustainable way of asking for justice in this corrupt, sick world..Especially with increasing oil prices, burning down even a rotten old building takes a lot of money let alone burning rotting cities and countries (mind it no casualties and no explosives of any sort)...The irony is that you need to be so corrupt to earn the money required to buy fuel to burn a city if you want to ask for justice....But the intentions and pain in Kannaki's myth is still there right...

• Politics 101: The popular way of corrupt politics is to create obstacle for every action you do behind the back and go to others and complain about it to make drama..In the end nothing ever gets done right...If some good comes it has to come through them otherwise no body cares about you....
  Nope if you want water, you don't go to water board, there is someone in the middle who has to be your savior to get water for you and get praise and votes...Otherwise no water.. Now who stopped water supply to be your savior? Well it is not just water bhai saab..It is everything...

•  Yeah, the world is overflowing with this kind..but you guys still opt for it.. and now I've to pay for it even though I'm in the US two big oceans away..Even their long hands are sick i guess...Now, everybody thinks I'm talking about Modi and I can see angry words coming my way...Even though he looks likes this one man army and I'm being told he has everything under his control, there may be some who have power in their own fiefdom...Can't even talk about them these days...No wonder India shifts between complete control over administration and complete freedom over his ministers...

Rants For Week 2 Of October,2014

My rants organized just for you because you are so special. I learnt all of us are special from several ads I grew up watching and now I know that for sure....

• It is very difficult for new groups to come to power due to several reasons...One is the huge network of well established parties who have won the loyalties of several important people in the government and general public and have consolidated their power over several years. That too in big countries with millions of people, the best way in order to bring change is through people demanding a change in the value systems of party people than vice versa...Largely groups have much smaller numbers than people...The most disruptive would be to take them out through other means... There is also this problem of new groups being infiltrated with affiliates of old groups to subvert new ones from the inside...

• In addition, media works by the power of association. You basically associate a word good or bad and repeat several thousand times over an hour to capture the attention...People at the max have 1 hour every day to listen to all kinds of news and keep track of things...If you can make that 1 hour all about these associations, that's what is going to last in their minds until someone changes that or their own actions change it...

• Do we need to place electrodes in the brain for thought control/directing your thoughts to think about something? Nope, there are simpler alternatives...When we are mostly dealing with sensory information, it is possible to bombard any person with auditory and visual stimuli in a clever way to keep redirecting your thoughts to whatever anyone like.....What if you are not able to turn off the stimuli? It is possible to give the stimuli in a very restrained and directed manner that elects response...It is so easy to keep someone distracted. ..This is sort of changing the topic during our conversations with advanced technology...It is possible to change the topic so many times some provoking, some sweet, some reminding you of something pleasant and all... 

• It is true that we don't have to read complicated philosophy to know whatever we see in media is not true and whatever we see in our dreams are also not true (Yeh bhi sach nahi and woh bi sach nahi) So what is real? Is it just a matter of convention? Following this arbitrary status of our definition of reality, there are some "good" applications.One way of treating dictators like Hitler in the future would be to create appearances in his mind that he is actually growing his empire and invading territories, while he is actually sitting in his prison cell. That way he will be happy and it will be harmless to the world. It requires a combination people skilled in creating appearances of events, advanced mind tech and computers. Media people and some public personalities seem to fulfill the human requirement. As always there seem to be some problems in the real world, most of the times those exceedingly willful dictators possess these tech and have access to such people to put imprison and create appearances of things and events happening...

• Nope,I'm not shooting the messenger, they are the ones who seem to be shooting anyone, anywhere and for anything...Obviously, I'm not saying everyone in the media is only lying and spreading rumors...Just like we assess the truthfulness of any individual and believe in any person's words, it becomes important to assess the truthfulness of any media report...Yeah..The situation is more complicated with meta rumors and fabrications about truthfulness itself...Obviously the cleverness of a lie makes it much more difficult with bits of truth interspersed with lies making it much more difficult...no wonder people turn cynical about the whole enterprise and feel isolated and apathetic. .

  

• The thing about power in society is that people holding it have always had the ability to crush other's lives and dreams with the wink of their eyes or with just a phone call...Why they would want to do that is another question? With the growth of legal and regulatory structures, people tried to establish some tools to deal with abuses of power and create situations where they don't have to be afraid...

• I'm not sure If I can blame members of the British Empire for treating poor Indians like slaves in pre-independence colonial India...I can imagine them commenting to themselves after looking at those Indians: "Look at those arrogant Indians with their withering, hungry bodies and desperate life style, completely deluded to think they can stand against the most powerful empire on earth. Don't know what makes them follow an equally famished, half-naked man walking around with a stick who claims he can lead these half-dead bodies to freedom". They did stand against the most powerful empire and won their freedom. The problem is this sort of mentality is not specific to the British. Now I see Indians and others with power and money, making similar comments about unfortunate withering souls and treating them as slaves.... Will history repeat itself? Will someone rise to crush the deluded, deceptive empire some people are building for themselves...Only time can answer such questions...

• Before you condemn North Korea for its lack of openness to the outside world, it is important to ask ourselves whether the spirit of North Korea lives in towns and cities with in the so called free countries. One defining feature of North Korea is that it is sort of a black box to the outside world from which not much information comes out or reaches the people from outside. I believe there are several places that are sort of colored boxes. Some places are dark grey, pink, red, blue, saffron, brown, black and many other colors. When people live in monochromatic boxes, it is at least important for them to realize they may have only partial information filtered through one or a combination of these colors...

   

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Some Questions On Consciousness

• Is consciousness different from mind? Mind here is defined as thoughts (visual,auditory and other thoughts) and consciousness is the entity that is aware. One way to approach this problem would be to look at the phenomenon of relativity in the biological perception of time. If mind becomes aware of of itself, then it is reasonable to expect it needs to be instantaneous. If the entity that is becoming aware is something else than the mind, it is possible to have such a phenomena. 

• If consciousness is distinct from mind, does it have just one aspect or many? is there one entity that can become aware of a range of phenomena or do we need a whole spectrum of consciousness to become different ranges of phenomena? One system of thought ,Tantra approaches this question with a spectrum of consciousness. There is earth element in consciousness that becomes aware of coarse level phenomena, water element that becomes aware of fluid level, and so on up to the mind level, subtle mind and clear light mind itself. 

    

      More questions to ponder on consciousness....

• Do all beings have the whole spectrum and become aware of the whole range of phenomena..Do rocks have the whole spectrum? Or do they just lack the information transduction and integration machinery? 

• What are the different aspects of consciousness? Do we have similar aspects to what we see in living beings? At a material level, there is the information component in nucleic acids, energy component that comes as part of the cell to cite a few...Do we have similar aspects in consciousness? 

Myth In The Dark Knight Trilogy

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." 
                                                                                                                                   - Aristotle                         



Bruce Wayne's character in the The Dark Knight (TDK) trilogy follows a growth pattern that parallels the development of the psyche and its transformation in several of the world's heroes myth. The myth in TDK trilogy is steeped in the idea of renunciation, overcoming several kinds of fear and transcending self-interest to identify with a larger cause for the good. These are recurring themes in several of popular heroes myths from across the world.  


          

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne and Batman in TDK

During his childhood years, he falls in to a well filled with bats,while playing with his friend, and acquires a deep fear of them. His father's helping hand gets him out this predicament and it etches a strong memory of his parents being there for him during his early childhood. When they go to a theatre, his fear of bats brings the family out. There both his parents are killed by a petty criminal and Bruce is consumed by this guilt though out his early life. Over the years it develops in to a deep hatred for that criminal and he seeks revenge. When he fails in an attempt to kill that guy and confesses about that to his friend Rachel, she guides him to an understanding of what justice is about.

She points to him that justice is more than personal revenge and he has no clue about what he is dealing with. This prods him to renounce all his wealth and live as a petty criminal to understand the minds of criminals. This leads him to the league of shadows where he faces another test of his commitment to his ideals. When he is asked to murder a petty criminal as a punishment, he refuses to do that and instead fights with the whole group and escapes from there.


When he returns to Gotham, he finds that things have become worse and decides to fight crime from outside the system. He commits himself to this as the system that is supposed to fight crime itself has become corrupt. This sort of vigilantism in art seems to be a repeating theme in several of today's movies. It may be some sort of response to the prevalent corruption seen in several systems of governance across the world.

Towards the end, even though he confesses his love for Rachel he still keeps distance owing to his commitment to the fight and the inherent dangers involved with that. In this part, the personal journey of the character involves overcoming some fears acquired during his early childhood and realizing that the idea of justice is more than just personal revenge. It is also about committing to a path, in this case fighting for justice. This is how the Batman Trilogy begins.

 

Christian Bale as Batman in Batman Begins

 
In the second part, he encounters two opposing scenario. On the one side, he sees the growth of Harvey Dent who is willing to fight crime from with in the system and offers a face of hope to people. And on the other side, he encounters an agent of chaos in the joker, who just wants to see the world burn for its own sake.

The unstoppable growth of Joker and his destruction strains the city badly that people want Batman to give in as several people are killed for his surrender to Joker. With Alfred's help he decides to be patient and give in to the demands of the situation rather than to give in to the demands of a criminal.

Heath Ledger as Joker in The Dark Knight

 

There is a dialogue in the movie where Dent tells reporters that the night is darkest before the dawn and it is important not to lose hope. This statement sort of hints to the idea of cyclical growth of yin and yang forces in the society as described in the Taoist philosophy. Bruce giving in to the demands of the situation parallels the Taoist wisdom of doing the right action at the right time.

At one point in the movie, a conflicting scenario arises where he has to choose between his love Rachel and Harvey Dent to save one of them. At this moment, he looks beyond his own love and saves Harvey Dent as he believes in the greater good he can bring to people and sustain their hope. This is in one way honoring Rachel who taught him to look beyond his own self interest and saving the man she loves. This is a complicated moral decision for which he pays a huge cost in the later part of the story.

At the end, even Harvey Dent falls victim to the devious plans of Joker and turns against his previous friends. At a point, when Bruce has to fight Dent to save Gordon's son, he accidentally gets killed. Bruce takes the blame for this murder and goes in to hiding at the end of this part.


In the third part of trilogy, Bruce stays alone avoiding much contact with the society and sort of grieves for Rachel over several years. Gordon is also consumed by his guilt for hiding the real events surrounding Dent's death and placing the blame on Batman.

Things soon take a turn for the worse when strong destructive forces start building up strength beneath the surface. The stakes are higher in this part with the destructive forces led by Bane acquiring even a nuclear weapon at one point in the movie.

Tom Hardy as Bane with Batman

Bruce's financial assets are taken away from him and then his friend Alfred too leaves him not being able to see him suffer. When he is psychologically bruised, he is led into a trap by Cat Woman when Bane breaks his back in a fist fight. His identity is compromised and later all his weapons, gadgetry and property are taken away from him. His friends are later captured and made to work to weaponize the nuclear reactor. He is then put in a deep cave prison with several others.

The events here represent one of the components of many a hero's myth. It is overcoming the fear of death and at the same time using the fear of losing loved ones and the people you care about and transforming it into a force. It requires a deep acceptance of  our own limitations to develop a calm required to overcome such a grave situation.

The sequence when Bruce fails to jump across a deep gap in the wall repeatedly portrays this situation very well. His prison mate tells him to take the leap with out a rope that will keep his fear of death and its consequences alive in him. Only after realizing that he is able to make the jump to get out the cave and rescue others.

Later when everything in the city is under the control of Bane's men, he gathers force and helps them in their fight against Bane's men. In the end by saving the city and himself, he honors his friend Alfred's wishes.

The movie ends with the idea that the same heroic spirit is present in all of us awaiting expression in its varied forms. The way the recurring themes in heroes myth are portrayed in this trilogy makes it a classic in recent fiction in several ways.