Religion & God

An interesting debate forwarded by a good friend :) and i thought instead of getting into a debate i would put my views on religion and god and etc...

i have simple thoughts around this:

RELIGION

To me religion is nothing but a code of conduct/ code of discipline which some geinius wise people have made so as to help people live righteously. See most of us are running for fulfilling our responsibilities, trying to become perfect in our hobbies, interests. So religion takes care of a basic subject of what we need to do nor not do by some genius wise man. There have been several such genius wise men and therfore there are so many religions. for e.g. in scientific discovery like mobile phones do we all need to learn to make/ manufacture mobile phones? No some genius scientist discoverd it and is sold to us as a product and we just use it. Now you have a Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, and so many other brands.. all have same underlying principles but are at the same time different.. Can all of us develop capability to develop mobile phones? no you have to be genious and a scientist its not every ones cup of tea.

simialrly some genius social/ life scientists or genius wise men created religion. it is a product to be used for better living. Choose whichever, criticize any each has its good aspects and flaws afterall no mobile is perfect some other scientist make it better so is the same with religion. But all religions underlying principles is to how to live a good peaceful happy life, how to become a better human being. There is nothing more which suits you follow and if think you are bigger and smarter than a christ or a buddha please create your own... but are you, just get that right else you may get caught in what the wise called maya....

Religion gets corrupted and some time the caretakers of religion for their good and greed of power misuse the trust bestowed on religion. But one cannot judge religion by the caretakers.. people who think religion has no meaning i would suggest they read the core text of such a religion though it will need some intelligence to understand it. Can religion lead to salvation... my answer is no it will lead you to a point but the journey is long and after the point you have to walk with a faculty and capabilities developed in the course of life.

Is religion made to control people? No the caretakers are misusing the powers, it does talk of controlling your mind, negative emotions but what is the harm in it? the rules of religion or the controlling nature has come from the caretakers and not the core text...

do you have to follow it to be better? Do you need to use a mobile to talk always? No so not necessary there are other ways too... to each his own

God

this one is difficult.. to say someone physically sits up above is difficult to believe. But there is a lot more than as we understand life and there is a larger system which lies beyond all of our understanding. Call it supernatural, heaven-hell, god, super power, nature, whatever. Yes i do believe in that. Why? Well come to think of it it is just amazing to have such perfect human beings, we are such perfect machines!! the functioining , male female, birth, growing up, senses, love, sex, death, mind, thoughts, eating, i can just go on .. No scientist has ever reached near this and will ever do.. no robot no car can eat food and walk/ run the roads... it can never feel... it obviously make you think there is some more to life than what we understand.. for simplicity we call it god... Different wise men in different religion have expressed it diffferently buddha says god is in you, attain it through the understading the 4 noble truths and the 8 fold path... Jesus said compassion and love can lead you to that understding... etc, i am not sure which is correct as it is not easy for me to understand or experience i experiment and so do urge others and to discover...

I have tried some occult/ spitirual practices and it amazes me the reults it shows.. nothing short of miracle and it cannot be understood by scientists... so i believe there is something larger than life as we humans understand.. call it god or whatever... it is a higher ideal to live and achieve.. how an established religion? or my own or some other way... that is a choice i have given i am not a genius wise i choose religion (buddhisim is for me..).. it will take me to a point from where i have to anyway make my own religion but till then let me not rediscover a wheel but follow the one which suits me as an individual....

life is crazy

a thought which crosses my mind several times.... life is like a movie, imagine at at this very moment someone is getting up and some other sleeping.. at this very time someone just gave birth to a child and someone breathed his last, someone got married and someone got divorced... someone just fell in love and someone heart broke... someone is crying over faliure and someone partying success... somone reading blogs someone writing a blog... someone killing himself someone making grandeur plans of future... someone having his first smoke, someone quitting it... someone getting selected, someone is rejected... someone is eating someone is shitting... someone is feeling arrogant and someone else is dperessed...

think about it anything and everythng is happening insome corner of the world this very moment... a movie being made.. all are living or it is a movie.. different stories with similar ending of death and similar chain of experiences and yet we are differnt or are we different? ... it is just amazing to even think about it....

it is crazy

assessing human behaviour

An important aspect in life to be successful be it work, relationships, is ability to assess people ... By assessment i mean understanding their nature/ abilities/ attitudes/ etc. Once you have assessed you make choices to work with such people for a more fulfilling life (work or personal)...

We are always making these assessments, you meet new people and you decide if he is your type or not and if you will like to meet the person again. Some people go by their logic and some others go by the feel/ instinct/ or vibes.. The vibes method may work well but it is not an easy one as the vibes can only let you know whether one is good natured or not but will not help one to predict the real person, that has to be a combination of 2... I am here to talk about the 2nd method which is through logic...

I have come to realize it is not an easy task... logic can only be applied to what one has been able to observe. so for this to work there are 2 aspects - one that you should be truly observing.. that is possible only if you are truly listening to the other person... no biases no judgements but just surrender to listen what the other person is saying... most of the time our mind just jumps to make judgements or is desparate to like or dislike based on what one likes or dislikes and hence clouding the listening capability

For example a person says i like spiritulaity.. lo and behold the mind says even i do, i am passionate about it... this guy has to be good. or he says he likes money... mind says he is pretty materialistic.. may not have integrity...  such biases and generalizations run all over the mind all the time... it is something i have experienced while observing my own mind.. each thought which takes birth is evaluated in this fashion immediately by another part of the mind... if its a good thought it creates desire for it or else some kind of hatred.... postive generalization to some negative generalizations.. and if it is a material or sensual thing it will create desire for it....

the first step therefore is to uncloud the mind, train it to not jump to such hasty conclusions, generalizations, likes or dislikes as each person has his her own reason to do what he/ she does.. there are many variables which wire the whole picture and one must be able to respect that..

Most of the people i know, the HR ones who interview all fall in liking or disliking a person based on what their likes or dislikes are... it is often unconscious... having said this.. this may also not be bad as your likes or dislikes do shape you and some aspects can predict a human behaviour...

But there is a further underlying aspect which we are able to establish can give us a good insight into another human being or even ourselves... the pattern of thought process... by pattern i mean that your mond follows a certain automatic response each time it is thrown to experience life... A meditative man will always mediatate on his/ her or experience.. thats the pattern... a materialistic woman will always look for how she could make most out of the experience in material terms... thats the pattern.... these are macro level patterns if i go deeper and micro.. there are emotional patterns when one is faced with faliure.. how one reacts is a pattern... some of us will have work harder, some will give up... some will get stressed and just freeze, some will get cynical.. etc etc... these are the patterns which make an individual.. micro is on the emotional plane and tells us how one deals with experiences and life.. if it is constructive or destructive...

the macro tells us with these constructive or destrutive deals what is one trying to build for oneself... wiser, richer, famous.. etc.. these are the bigger goals one wants to lead his life to...

these patterns are key to understand human behavior... the ability to see this can only be possible if he are able to listen.. once we are able to listen after removing all biases... one must look for both the macro and micro pattern... macro will let us know the value system or the larger goal of the person and the micro will let you know the path. emotional intelligence one has.. it is actually a very important aspect to know if he/ she will be successful in reaching or living the value system he has.

 

Of course some one will think why bother about the micro pattern... as long as macro is good the micro can be changed.. i used to believe that but now i know it cannot be changed easily especially for adults as once developed it becomes our crutch without which we cannot do anything.. difficult to give up or break.. even if it can be changed it can be by person own willingness.. he should be uncomfortable and should have a value system of personal growth.. growth in terms of wisdom and only then there is hope and no guarantees... Often one gorws comofortable in his her own pattern as you invest in wiring your brain, making social networks which nurture your patterns.. you grow comfortable and hence rarely can come out of it... what i mean imagine a person who has a pattern to bully, has fun by tormenting others... he has a frien circle which praise him for this, he reads books, interprets in manner which support his theory... he is convinced he has no reason to break such a pattern... breaking such  a pattern in adult life will mean that leaving all he has known, his friends admirers, his logics, theories.. and starting afrsh like a child alone... it is very difficult...

I no longer fool myself that i can change people, their pattern.. i choose people therefore who have a right pattern... but yes if someone is really willing and has the courage to drop incorrect patterns and learn... i will be more than willing to give support as much as possible....

relationship... my theories

I am in a mood to write... my fingers are itching so another one today

This one is my take on relationships, particulary emotional relationships, long term, in which people connect.. i have noticed 2 primary types of healthy relationships... one which almost all of us have and desire.. i would call it "mutual admiration".. well i mean that these are relationships which are created by us to feel good about ourselves, to fulfil our social need of being accepted by others, being praised, respected by others. where our individual self as is with whatever it is loved... the relationship underlying principle and the communication always between 2 individuals with healthy relationship is: "You are so beautiful and lovely" ... "Thank you, you know what, so are you"... so lets party together.. this beautiful and lovely comment could be on one aspect/ quality of individual and if there are numerous qualities/ aspects to mutually admire it gets the tag of intimate or close relationship... like of lovers or great friends, or couples....

You can never a relationship with someone who tells you how stupid you are...

This one if true and not marred by fake admiration are very fulfilling for an individual. fake admiration is what one need to watch out for... it can be fake by design or fake because mind is blurred... both are equally dangerous but the former is easy to identify...

latter is dangerous and thats why people say love is blind... our mind has biases and looks for generalizations... by generalizations i mean if you see one particular aspect in a person you tend to conclude or map the complete personality of a person.. like someone is passionate about classical music and you will chart this person how he/ she will be based on someone you know or have read about who is passionate about classical music... mind loves generalization it makes life very simple for it... it does not require to work... so one generalization lead to blinding us against what truth is... love and relationships can be blind. when the veil is unveiled and the blurred image is wiped off, it can be devastating...

Let me come back... "mutual admiration" is important for each one if us when we are growing from children to adults... as a child or when we are young.. meaning of life is derived primarily from what others think and therefore "mutual admiration" relationships are important.. it cannot be one sided admiration as it will not last or you will not value the admiration if it is one sided, you will take it for granted. it will be like getting an admiration from a 1 year old on your capability to run on your 2 feet... he may admire but you know he does not know that it is common at your age. it has to be mutual...

The other healthy relationship is nothing but a more evolved form of above, it is the 2nd stage, let me call it "mutual nurturing"..  this one is where you have become confident of yourself, of your being and you no longer need just admiration to establish your identity.. you understand that life comes with its bouquets and brickbats and you get comfortable with your self in whatever state you are... you no longer need admiration but need true companions who can support you and push you to grow as individuals.. help you nurture yourself to become a better being and realize the hidden capabilities we have as human beings... its not about the external world and the achievements but it is an internal journey...

most of us just get stuck in mutual admiration only.... to all the people who are looking for a long term fulfilling relationships, look for mutual admiration and potential in relationship to grow into mutual nurturing.. that will be a test for committing to a long term relationship... and beware of mind getting blurred with generalizations...

Random update of my life.. my mind

whenever i sit to write i feel like writing a master piece. I started with the premise of writing blog to clear my mind, delve deeper on various topics which keep running as random thoughts.. i realize each time i sit that need to get over with the feeling to prove myself... it is my thoughts i need to let it flow.. amen :)

last week was an extremely busy one, work seems to be getting busier and busier.... these are the times i think if i really want to chase some big corporate dream. I know i am amongst the good ones but something inside tells me life can be a lot more fun than this.. but somehow it eludes me.. i like my work and i like to be busy and feel important but at the same time there is this prallel thought.. am i missing something.. i never feel content when it comes to life, want to live more... i hope in the philosophical realm this urge, need is a higher order need.. i hope so as i dont want to be another human being driven by materialistic urges alone.. i pride myself in being more evolved :)

this mind and the image as we create for ourselves is such a maze.. i am articulating the above and i am getting more caught in it.. How? well it is a self realization and with this self realization there is a thought which is born, how smart err evolved i am i have self realization :)

this is getting quite random literally... but i am amazed and have come to realize that this mind is the most powerful animal.. i create an image about myself and chase, i believe in some random qualities and feel good... i do not believe that i have some random qualities and i feel miserable... this mind is the key to life..

tame it, discipline it and happiness is yours.. let it lose and you will be walking on a tight rope balancing yourself always so that you do not fall....

So, what did you do on new years eve?

So, where did you party?

Well my answer to all this is nowhere i slept through and well what a sleep :).... for me this is the best way i can celebrate. No i am not anti-social i just get surprised by the madness of the concept it seems insane, every day the clock strikes 12, every day the date changes so whats the big deal. I can understand for some people it is another reason to party, and they are always looking for one reason to another, it does not matter to them if it is a new year they will any way find occcasions to party hard all the year. That class deserves to party but i do not fathom the others who are otherwise simple, traditionalists who become wannabe on the new year eve and want to party and discuss next day what i did on the new year...

C'mon either be there or here just dont wander confused.. life is too short to create stupid talking points, figure out what you want to do and not just on a new year on an each day each second basis.. i am not against partying but this foolishness all of us go about trying to live life in a manner that pleases insiginificant others in life... just because the herd is dancing if i do not i may be left out... the actions which emerge out of not choice or liking but out of compulsion to prove yourself... out of fear that by being your self you may displease others... get comfortable with your own skin and do as you feel like and not just on a new year, it has to be a way of life. shit when you have to and not when everyone does, your body may just have a different rhythum....

i dont party as i dont want to party on a date which is artificial, i party in my own way when i have a reason to celebrate.. i party the way i wish to, it could be just shutting my laptop and the flood of mails and just chatting up with an friend about life, or these days writing this blog :)

my party is over for now, pretty late in the night just was feeling the itch to write.. but i shall party again and will be back :) i am addicted to my parties in my own way...