Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Really Sir, Its Surreal.

The man slept when people were alive and singing. He slept while people were dying and crying. He slept while people wept. He slept and slept. Then he woke up. Then he cursed the alarm clock. The alarm clock saw the meaninglessness of life. It started sleeping. The man had woken up. He saw a beautiful girl out of the window. He wanted to sleep with her.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Back to where I belong. The place where there is no rhythm and song.

There is perpetual restlessness in the air.
Unease and discomfort writ large in people`s brows. Knitted deep till the brows mate. Like lovers connected by affinity.

Trying to find meaning in their lives has become the meaning in their lives.
Trying to outmaneuver and outlast their imaginary foes and competitors.

Trying to make futile attempts to make their lives worthy.
Hoping against hope that they win, succeed and achieve or atleast have a good time while they are at it.

Clutching wildly at straws as if they are the last source of happiness.
Not realizing that the more you chase happiness the more elusive it becomes.

They are fighting for time, fighting for survival, fighting for self esteem or just fighting for fighting`s sake.
They want to be there. In the deluded world called success and achievement.

They want to be. They want to be the wannabes. We just let them be. Because we are them and they are us.
Living in the circle of outmaneuvering and outlasting. Cycling through a circular loop.

Thats why its called the human race.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Yes Sir, its surreal.

Could not understand poems written in a surrealism style. Gave it a try to see whats it about. This is the end result....

His breath was still. Still. So still that the mosquito nearby was getting bored of the lullness.And thus started singing a lullaby. It broke the silence.

In the realm there is meaning. Meaning that leaves you less knowing than before.
And u wish u had never known.

In the deep chasm of reality. There was truth biding away its time. Trying to capture the inglorious destiny of eternity.

The End (Thankfully).

Friday, December 25, 2009

About rationality and the rational mind

Before writing about the rational mind, it is more rational to talk about the mind first. The mind, in itself, is an enigma. Where is it located? A layman like me would say it is located in the brain. No not really. The brain is located in the brain. Not the mind. The brain and mind are used interchangeably but the fact is that mind and brain are different entities. As I am writing about something I have not much idea of, I have no idea what I am writing about. Thus there will be usage of words like might, could and can in this piece of writing. Anyways there is no certainty in the thinking of man. But that is a different issue altogether. The thing is that mind and brain can be different entities. Maybe there is no such thing as mind. People just confused it with the brain. A distant possibility. But a possibility nevertheless. Has the perfect making to be called as the great deception though. In popular literature, the mind is connected with thinking and the thinking process. Whereas the heart is connected with emotions and feelings. As if what we feel and emote is due to the heart. All the heart does is that it beats and pumps something or the other, I dont know what , through something known as the arteries and veins. It has got nothing to do with how we feel and our emotions. This might just be a grand misconception that people have. At the most, I can concede, due to physiological reasons, the heart might beat faster when we see a loved one. The exact reason for this is, I dont know. Anyways the gist of what i am saying is that basically mind can be an illusion. If it does exist, it might not necessarily be lodged in the brain. My guess is it is located somewhere near the tummy. The reason is that most of our decisions are based on hunger. Both normal and carnal. Now that we have solidly tackled the issue of uncertainty over whether mind exists or nor and where it is located, we can safely talk about the rational mind. Lets assume that the abode of the mind is infact in the brain. Thus our thought process and generation of thoughts is through our mind. We might know much definitely about the mind but a lot is known about the brain and the workings of it. The brain is responsible for our cognition as well as our emotions. The emotions are created from a source in the brain known as the amygdala or something like that. Now we have to talk about the rational mind. The reason for this is that it is the title for the topic. No other reason to talk about such a dry topic which does not interest even me. The rational mind is an important concept though. Carrying forward our assumption disclaimed previously all our thoughts stem from our mind. Well, mostly all. Some stem from the tummy and the organs nearby the tummy. Nevertheless, the mind is the creator and the originator of our thoughts and ideas. Whatever that has been done has been done because a man has deemed his thought to be rational. This is a complex process though. An “Insane” person will certify even the most irrational thoughts. What is irrational and who is insane, I do not know and am no one to judge. But for argument`s sake, the insane are the people who are residing in a mental asylum. Their behaviour might seem irrational to a “sane” observer, but to the insane people themselves they are behaving perfectly normally. Thus rationality is a matter of perception. If I could hazard a guess, I would say that all of what man does, thinks and says does not really make sense i.e is irrational. This guess is just a gut feeling, an intuition which I have no means to prove.
Some people contemplate suicide. Suicide has easy entry into my list of irrational activities. It might not into yours, but as I said, what is rational and what is not is a matter of perception. For me, suicide just does not make sense. You are just running away from perceived troubles. Your troubles mat not be troubles at all. Take for example the hypothetical case of Mr X. Mr X is in deep shit. He swindled people and now he is caught. He is sentenced to around 32 years in prison. He contemplates suicide and is on the verge of committing it. Pretty reasonable, you might say. I think not. The time spent in prison may still be positive. He and his prospective roommate in prison may turn out to be the best of friends. He might start realising that in prison he has nothing to prove to anyone and he might start doing things for himself rather than for others. Infact he will start doing things just for the heck of it. He might pursue things that he always wanted to. He might start gardening, reading, playing chess or even better do nothing. He will have no desires and no ambitions. A much higher state of authority than me like Gautama Buddha has said that this is the perfect state of being to be in. Staying in prison might turn out to be the most rewarding time of his life. Committing suicide is nothing but denying that such a possibility ever existed. Thus, I believe that suicide is an irrational tragedy. Suicide is being committed for silly reasons like depression or heartbreak. They are definitely not reasons to rejoice and celebrate but they are not reasons for suicide either. Thus I can say with conviction that suicide is irrational.
Enough said about the irrational mind. What can be said about the rational one. Rationality is a matter of perception. Rationality to me is something very difficult to achieve. The word rationality in commonday usage represents the decision making process. Good decisions are equal to rational ones. So rationality is basically the right thing to do.

My interpretation of rationality is different. The normal, real-time, second to second thinking process of man is deeply superficial, if there is any such phrase. This superficiality pervades almost every action of man. Perhaps that is the reason why I called man an irrational being. Being irrational is easy. Just go with the first decision that pops in your mind. Or at the most think of a few other options before you carry out the first decision that pops up in your mind. Thinking is basically a tiresome process. That is why it is said that humans are cognitively miser. And that is why most people do away with it. Rationality is more than just plain thinking. I would put forth it as contemplation. Buddhist philosophy rightly gives high importance to contemplation. As I am practically unversed in either meditation or contemplation, I only have a vague idea about the process and the effect of it. All I have realised is that there is a deeper layer to our consciousness. There is a term for it in pop psychology literature. Something called the subconscious mind. My own experiential learning tells me that it exists. I cannot say it with utmost certainty, but I can say it with definite conviction. Defining the subconscious is a difficult job for me. In vague terms, it is a deeper realm of mind. Accessing or tapping the subconscious leads to a heightened sense of awareness. Mostly awareness of self rather than the outer world. Basically, you are exploring the inner universe that exists within yourself. Rather, within your mind would be a better expression. Huge difference terminology makes. We know more about the outer universe than we know about the inner one. This is one of the biggest pitfalls of science. Science did not give due importance to the machinations of the mind. It mostly concentrated its efforts on the mechanics of machine. An undignified version of science called spirituality took up the mantle to know more about oneself, or as I put it, the inner universe. Exploration of the inner universe has been done by spiritual masters like Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. Through their intellect, they try to gain spiritual knowledge and experience. They were also in pursuit of a very dangerous and explosive thing called Truth. This word should not be bandied about and used lightly just like that. Henceforth, I will avoid using the word too. All mere mortals can do is try to gain deeper understanding of the world around them. All they can is theorise about anything and everything. The absolute truth is hidden to every mortal born on Earth. Even Gautama Buddha I suppose. And he was an enlightened chap.
The bottom-line of this whole essay is that contemplation is akin to rationality is my theory. When you contemplate you reach a higher plane of thought. All hocus pocus unless you experience it. Knowing gets you nowhere in this field. Experience gets you somewhere. Sometimes in the wrong direction, but in a direction nevertheless. Contemplation lets you explore the grey areas. Contemplation is a broader concept than we think of prima facie. It is a part of psychology, philosophy, logic, mysticism, spirituality, religion, neuroscience, sociology and even the arts. The higher plane of thought helps you see the bigger picture that is normally invisible. A rational mind helps one stand out among the crowd, because the herd hardly ever sees the bigger picture. It does things due to impulse or instincts. Never due to introspection, reflection, meditation or contemplation.
SAB and his mind

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

About Philosophy.

Philosophy is an intricate subject. Extremely tricky. It tries to tackle unimportant issues of life which nobody cares about. The useful thing that philosophy does though is it gives some freaky individuals the right to do nothing but daydream. Yet still have some respect in society and earn a living.

Whats the job of a dog. Its passing wind and writing a blog.

There is something wrong.
About what you might ask.
Dont ask, just listen to the song.
I say everyone wears a mask.

The essence of life is time. Please lend me a dime.


Y
ou cannot say anything with certainty. That is for certain. You cannot know for sure. The earth revolves round the sun, we think. This is a fact. It has been well proven beyond doubt. It is an act of nature. Nobody can deny it in today`s times. Thus we can say it with 99% certainty at least that the earth revolves around the sun. Who knows, later on a more powerful telescope might be developed and we might discover that the sun revolves around the earth after all. Copernicus, Galileo and their sidekicks, cronies and pallies might have been wrong after all. The point is that there is no doubt in nature. Otherwise there is doubt, conflict and confusion over anything that is not natural i.e man-made. Man`s thinking process especially is least reliable. What man builds can infact be durable and reliable, but what man understands or thinks that he does is most often a figment of his imagination and has no basis in reality. What I am writing now, for example, might not have a basis in reality and it is definitely a figment of my imagination. But that is exactly what I was trying to convey. My whole point actually. The point is that there is no point. In anything. Man has fixed notions of reality. And on these fixed notions he exists. His lifetime is built on his belief system. A man, for example, thinks that moneymaking is the main motive of existence. He tries to make loads of money. And then he dies. What can we make out of this. Probably nothing. Still, the thing is that when this man makes money he is satisfied. When he does not make money he is not satisfied. His joy, pleasure, happiness and satisfaction depends mainly on one parameter-money. When he is rich for a considerable period of time he gets bored of being rich. Time does not pass easily just being rich. After all time is an important, if not the most important aspect of life. We exist to pass time. We like doing those things in which time passes easily. When time passes easily we say it is enjoyable. Anyways, going back to the example. For this man, time does not pass easily just being rich, so he devotes time to being richer. Richer in comparison to others. Other factors like status, prestige, wanting to be known as charitable, importance in society and impression comes into the picture. The reason for this might be that in almost all cases satisfaction is temporal and at some point of time greed takes over. Thus a man with decent means wants to be a millionaire. A millionaire wants to be a multimillionaire and the multimillionaire, well you get the drift. The bottomline is that for this man moneymaking was an exciting venture and thus time passed easily and time as I have tried to convey is the basis of life. This man might have   missed some other aspects of life-adventure, travel, reading, music, cinema, T.V, art, spirituality, knowledge, romance or any other activity we can broadly classify as Experience. But because he concentrated on one aspect- money making he will think it was a life well lived and wont regret over missing out any other experience. Because time passed well for him.


But what about others. Others,for whom chasing money and making money seems meaningless. For them the world is rather cruel. Everything seems to run on money and money power. Thus the world is basically a playground for one breed of people-the money makers. Those who pursue other activities to pass time are either frowned upon or laughed upon. But ofcourse exceptions rule the world. Talented artists make a living out of their way of life. The buzzword here is talented. Those who are not, have to join the motley herd of the money chasers or the rat racers in other words. Thus they might live a life of meaninglessness or utter boredom where time passes slowly. Time, I think we know, is the essence of life.



Basically we know very little. A Human neither has the capability nor the capacity to really know. To know deeply. There are no absolutisms in a human`s life. There should only be viewpoints, opinions, judgements,theory, subjective interpretations or analysis. A Human should not bandy the word Fact too easily. Facts arise out of certainty, reliability or through nature. Not through a human`s incomplete understanding nor through man`s figment of imagination. Enough said.


Sunday, December 20, 2009

'Figure' out your life, and it will 'work out' with your wife.

Are we aware of reality. Or are we wading through life towards destruction and despair. Normal existence leads to confusion. But sometimes if there is belief in wrong ideas, then people with those ideas are satisfied. Arrogant people are satisfied most of the times. They do not know their own deficiencies. They do not know that they stand nowhere. Thus they are happy most of the time. Also arrogant people always see the positive side of themselves. So when they compare themselves to others they are always better off in their own eyes. The flip side is that  someday the ego goes bust. Then they deflate, then they become  extremely unhappy. As long as they are in the bubble they are OK.

Those who have seen the worst and have survived are also relatively happy. There are always exceptions. Exceptions are the norm anyway. Some people, after seeing the worst are perpetually insecure that the bad times will return. Those who learn the lessons that bad times have to offer will lead a meaningful life. Will caricature them as follows : They are kind, empathetic and avoid conflicts. They see the bigger picture. Small issues and problems in life does not matter to them as it would to others. Enough said.

Mockery of a poetic story.

When we don't have any expectations about ourselves
Thats when we do what we want.

What you do is not what you want
What you want is not what you get.

In spite of this, all we do is not be ourselves
People run after the idea of them being great
Even when they do become'great' they forget themselves.

Their whole life is a cycle of improvement
Or else, the whole life is stagnation.

People never know their own deficiencies
They think they are the best but are never satisfied with their own selves.

There are 6 billion perceptions on earth
Sum total of all perceptions may not lead to truth and reality.

Greed for power, fame, lust and money and even knowledge is ruining the peace of mind of people
Pursuit of self knowledge though, shows that greed can be good. Even in wall street.

Short story-King died, Queen cried and their son ate fish fried.

What is the objective of doing a thing
The basic motive of everything is the need to become a king.

To rule the world is the basic instinct
This same behavior made the dinosaur extinct.

Life itself is a circle of misery
The source of eternal happiness is an ultimate mystery.

Waking up from sleep is a big effort
Mindless work is considered great, whereas dreamers are considered dirt.

Existence on earth is comparable to the position of tenant
Because nothing is permanent.

Johnny did not give a damn about a thing.
When he went to marketing class, he learnt customer was king.

What do I say, SRK is gay.

What is the meaning of our existence?
Just surviving or even thriving does not make sense.

99.9% of us are stuck in a rut.
The rest are happy but live in a hut.

The purpose of existence is not money or fame
Because life is not that easy a game.

Self realisation and self knowledge are pretty deep words
Spirituality is a subject that cannot be pursued by even geeks and nerds.

Philosophy and spirituality is supposed to be a thing for losers.
The meaninglessness of material life is realized by some smokers and boozers.

How did we come into being is a pretty good question
Knowing more about self is a pretty good addiction.

Life is a collection of transactions that affect the ego
What you reap is what you sow.

IQ and EQ are a pretty big deal in the "real world"
Those who are spiritual, to them abuses are hurled.

Suresh Raina hits the ball to the sky
The ball hit a woman and she started to cry.

What`s in a name, no two people are the same.

John was a very good boy
But he was silent, shy and coy.

Sam was a very bad guy
To decent work he never gave a try.

Never a bitter word was uttered from John`s mouth
But he was avoided and ignored. His fortunes were always going south.

Sam was a two faced conman
He smooth talked a lot of people with his partner Jason.

It is said that no two people are the same
Sam and John were the same person but with a different name.

What a classic case of Jekyll and Hyde
This poem is taking you for a ride.

Till death do us apart, we go to walmart.

Two people were having lunch
But they dint have enough money to buy fruit punch.

Due to hunger they had holes in their stomach
Their condition was comparable to that of a eunuch.

They wanted to lead a good life
All they got was pain, misery and strife.

To commit suicide they wanted a knife
For better or worse, they were husband and wife.

Rhyme till its actually a crime(Again, during a micro class)

Ghenghiz Khan rode on his stallion and gave a mighty roar
But his horse thought he was a mighty bore.

He was very strong, very brave and knew how to get things done
But he preferred chocolate cake to cream bun.

He used to admire his sword a lot
But his dream was to drink a tequila shot.

Consumption and Production. Is it clear? Is it clear?
What he is talking about, I cant listen but only hear.

There was a guy in town who applied for a job.
But they had reservation for people whose name was Bob.

Ghenghiz Khan wanted to hit a boy
Instead, he ate cake and played with a toy.


Saturday, December 19, 2009

Yanni being gyaani.

Sometimes we get caught up in our troubles and our problems and we let our lives slip away and life is precious. All of it. And we must try to take in as much of it as possible. Until the last moment.

Yanni.

Too bad to be sad

A handful of people are going to know themselves well
Others think they are in heaven but are actually in hell.

Suffocation leads to radical thinking
Thats how new insights come into being.

I`d rather be wise than be clever
Knowing information is the job of a survivor.

Change the world is the slogan of the new world order
They don`t realize that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

We are all doing what we are supposed to do
But we have no concerns about whether the supposition was right or true.

Ghenghiz Khan came, saw and conquered
The carnage was witnessed by a bird.





J.G is not a she.

Jonathan Grey was a guy who knew what he wanted to do
He could climb the Mt. Everest if he wanted to.

His lifestyle gave him a perpetual headache
Keeping up with the herd made him a complete fake.

He did not have a need to achieve and constantly do stuff
All he needed was a good ciggy puff.

He did not nod his head to useless information
Thats why he felt he don't need know education.

People want success so that others get jealous
To do what one wants is the game of the fearless.

Listening to your heart leads to unusual decision making
Act on what your heart has said and the world is for your taking.

Simplicity is at once utmost complexity

During a boring microeconomics class.

Two people walked on the street
Someone they wanted to beat.

They dint understand the concept of marginal utility
But they knew how to perform the nitty gritty

Their minds were rather dull
Due to economics(micro) they had a damaged skull

They were indifferent to the world around
But their TV`s had surround sound.

No two books are the same
Because the trees that were cut had a unique name.

This subject is a big bore
No more, no more

My IQ is dropping by the minute
My friend had a cricket kit.

Zubin sleeps a lot
One day he will get caught.

The class is sleeping around
But, I guess, it is better than sleeping around.