amachwe

Quotes from Journey to the West

Journey to the West is a Chinese classic. It is an epic (fictional) story about how Buddhist teachings were brought to China.

The English Language version (Chinese Foreign Languages Press edition translated by W.J. F. Jenner) is full of amazing quotes. I will be posting my favourite ones here.

Quote 1: Chapter 26

“If you don’t fight, you can’t make friends”

Quote 2: Chapter 31

“If a man has been your teacher for a day, you should treat him as your father for the rest of his life”

Quote 3: Chapter 33

“A tall tree invites the wind; The wind then shakes the tree;

Whoever strives for fame; destroyed by fame is he”

Quote 4: Chapter 44

“In the dust under one’s eyes are three thousand worlds”

Life in a few lines…

The roar of life is in my ear,
The roar becomes a song.

Life is a blur,
The blur becomes a painting.

I go deep within myself,
I become the egg,
I become the shell.

These above few lines were written by me on the 15th of October 2008.

The Great Indian Truth: Ignorance is Bliss

“In 2008, stampedes have killed 360, blasts 156” – A news item on the Times of India website (1 Oct 2008, 0354 hrs IST) (Click here for the article)

Still thinking why we should have to die from a terrorist bomb?

Death has many forms and one cannot control it. Every form of death has a cause.. and more often than not another human is the cause. With respect to terrorism there is just a clearer connection between the hand holding the smoking gun and the bullet which killed the victim…

This terrorism nonsense is highlighted just because it has deep political implications and for some reason people are scared of bombs. This can be used to focus people’s attention and to increase your votebank. It has another handy side-effect: people give up their civil liberties without much of a fight. It makes people easier to control. Entering a PVR theater in Delhi feels like entering a high-security prison.

More people die every year because of smoking cigarettes than bombs. But we don’t see politicians making a universal smoking ban a hot issue. That second hand smoke you are breathing in while partying in a nightclub is more lethal than a bomb.

If one dies of a heart attack sure enough the cause of death can be traced back to things like bad eating habits, smoking and alcohol abuse. All these point the finger at the person’s parents who could not prevent these bad habits from developing within their child. So how different is the above incident (see link) where surely a local politicians as well as civil servants are to blame along with the temple administration and local police authority. What makes them so different from the so called terrorists?

The funny thing is we GAVE these people the power to kill us. We ELECT the politician and the civil administration which then kills us slowly day by day. At least in case of terrorists they were not given power by us, voluntarily.

In the end I think that is what really hits us. Terrorism is like being stripped naked in public where you know you are being looked at by 100 different people.

Whereas failure of civic machinery is more like a hidden camera movie of someone changing clothes taken by people they trust! The person remains blissfully ignorant of the fact that within hours 1000s of people are downloading a video of them changing and life goes on normally till one fine day when they find out what has been happening behind their backs. But by then the excitement is over, ignorance is bliss and the incident is best forgotten.

In case of a terrorist attack we undergo both the incidents described above. We feel naked and exposed when terrorists hit at familiar everyday locations like a market. We get angry. But for some strange reason we don’t get angry at being decieved by the people we trusted to take care of us.

Ignorance is bliss. Life goes on. One day at a time. Till the clock stops ticking.

Achieving Greatness

The Tao-te Ching is fundamental to the Taoist school of philosophy. It is a gift to the world from ancient China.

About achieving greatness it says the following:

Plan for what is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small.

The most difficult things in the world must be done while they are still easy, the greatest things in the world must be done while they are still small.

For this reason sages never do what is great, and this is why they can achieve that greatness.

The above words written thousands of years ago still hold true. Keeping in shape is easier than loosing loads of weight. Saving early and regularly is easier than waiting for that one big injection of money!

Bullets and Pillows

While I was waiting at the roadside today morning I had a very strong insight about life which I want to share with you.

We all, sometimes, crib about life being tough and there being issues.

I realised that life is not tough. We make it tough by resisting it.

We expect life to be like a pillow. In reality we have to be like a bullet. A bullet offers minimum resistance to the air, it is hard and goes through stuff.

So be a bullet. Don’t resist life and at the same time be tough so that you have the power to go through things that come in the way!

Terrorism: A Failed Concept

Terrorism is being defeated. Step by step. Blast by blast.

Earlier the targets were important locations and people. Bombs were hidden in briefcases, cars and often carried by terrorists on their person.

Now targets are common places and the general population. Bombs are hidden in garbage bins.

This shows how terrorists are unable to target those in power. So now they target those being controlled by the people who have power. If you can’t attack the masters then attack the slaves.

What they don’t realise is that the slaves have enough problems. Another few people being blown to bits is not going to affect them. As a friend said: ‘People have to work so that they can earn money and feed themselves and their families’.

India is not a welfare state where people have the option of living of the state. So people have developed thicker skins. They need to go out and struggle every day. If that involves dealing with killer Blue-line buses, corrupt Government machinery, pathetic hospitals or toxic ground-water then so be it. Add to that a terrorist bomb… who cares!

A terrorist bomb can kill you once. Bad water kills you day by day. Bad electricity supply creates stress minute by minute and the slow machienary of the Government grinds any left over life to bits over a lifetime.

Who need to fear the terrorists the most? People who are not struggling out there. People in power. People sitting on a pile of money which was earned under the table.

A friend of mine asked me (in anger): ‘Why should we be killed by a terrorist bomb?’

In my view the only way you can decide how you will die is if you commit suicide. Then also not all methods of commiting suicide are failsafe.

Terrorism is a mental disease. You have to be insane if you can kill innocent people. Like some diseases it can be cured. Like other diseases it can kill.

In the end life goes on. Nothing can stop it. That is why terrorism fails especially in a country like India. Nothing grounds to a halt. The Americans, in the biggest act of terror, to date, dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima AND Nagasaki (in Japan) resulting in large number of civilian casualties. Today Japan is one of the most advanced countries out there.

That is one thing the terrorists have understood. That is why terrorism is a failed concept.

Nuclear Energy

The Nuclear Deal is through. The deal took something like three years to go through. There were problems, both internal and external. But it went through.

One has to admire what money can do. Impossible odds become high probability happenings. It is after all a $40 billion market!

What next people will ask. Will this make the politicians richer? Will it improve the overall power situation in India? Will it lead to radioactive waste polluting the already polluted Indian countryside?

I don’t think it will make politicians richer. One interesting thing to note is that Atomic Energy is not handled by a Goverment of India ministry. It is handled by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The DAE is under the direct control of the Prime Minister even though it comes under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

It is under the administration of one of the most important people in India’s nuclear energy setup: Dr Anil Kakodkar. Most of the power plant construction is going to be carried out by private companies. Finally since it is going to have a lot of international involvement the room for small players is limited.

What the UPA government has done is kept the nuclear energy department as separate from rest of the Government of India (GOI) machinery as possible. I think that is why the opposition parties were hopping mad. It neutralised their control/influence on the deal.

The drama that was played out in the Parliament over the nuclear deal shamed the whole nation. It also shows how greedy our politicians can get when it comes to money.

It should also improve the power situation but not in the near future. India plans to add increase nuclear power generation from approx 4200 MW (currently) to 52,000 MW by 2020. But 2020 is a long way down the road. Plans can change and then change again in 12 years.

The effort towards getting thorium-based nuclear power plants up and running (India has one of the highest reserves of thorium in the world) will be one of the most important measures of success of this deal looking at it from the point of view of India.

Nuclear waste and saftey will remain a big issue. India is not known for good saftey records when it comes to industries. But entering into international agreements will ensure that the Indian nuclear power plants come under international safeguards.

Next 5 years will tell the true story of the nuclear deal. The Indian public and the World will know what the signing that deal really meant.

Good luck to India and Good luck to the citizens of India

Desires and Expectations: Q&A with myself

What are desires? What are expectations? How are they different? Is it possible to do anything in a perfectly objective manner, without any desires?

Wise men say free yourself from desire and you will be at peace.

I believe that expectations are good. Desires are bad. But how are they different?

Desires result in a deep hunger in your heart and mind. Expectations produce a warm glow. It is difficult to live with desires but very easy to live with expectations.

It is possible to do things without a desire?

Yes it is!

Is it possible to get rid of expectations?

No it isn’t!

When you worship god, you may not have any desires. But expectations are always there. There is an expectation of positive feedback.

Learn to differentiate between desires and expectations, wants and needs. You will always be happy!

The American Gift

The year was 1969. The American company Union Carbide set up a giant pesticide manufacturing plant in Bhopal. They were excited about selling their pesticides to millions of Indian farmers.

Soon it employed a large workforce and settlements/shanty towns came up around the factory.

In 1979 a plant for producing Methyl Isocyanate (required for ‘SEVIN’) was added.

Then things started going wrong. Due to falling crops the sale of pesticides went down. This led to massive layoffs at the Bhopal plant as well as scaling back of the saftey systems. Systems which were critical since the plant used toxic substances like Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) and Phosgene.

Early morning of the 3rd of December, !984 all the pieces of the puzzle came together and the Bhopal Gas Tragedy took place. Till date it is the biggest industrial disaster taking approximately 8,000 lives within few weeks.

Obviously the people responsible for it and the ‘big fish’ got away. Their ‘gift’ left behind a poisoned land. The main reason for this was improper technology transfer. The workers at the plant were never told that water could enter the MIC tank and make the chemical unstable.

Now, the year is 2008.

The Americans are offering another gift. That of nuclear technology. Possibly looking to increase the use of nuclear power in India which leaves behind radioactive waste. Much more harmful than Methyl Isocyanate. What do we do with this gift?

Should we get ready for a bigger disaster? Will we be left hanging in the middle?

The only option is to keep it in our hands. To take it forward on our own. Control should always remain with Indians. So that never in the future do we curse the ‘gifts’ we have received.

Hinduism and the Devadasi: Religious Sanction for Prostitution and Pedophilia

This post aims to enlighten people about the concept of the Devadasi and how it has been twisted around its head to justify pedophilia and prostitution.

If you are blindly religious or just weak hearted do not read any further.

Devadasi concept (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devadasi for details) goes back to 9th century BC. It is described as:

The term Devadasi originally described a Hindu religious practice in which girls were “married” to a deity. In addition to taking care of the temple, they learned and practiced Bharatanatyam and other classical Indian arts traditions, and enjoyed a high social status.

This practice has been corrupted over the ages. The initiation process and so called coming-of-age rites for girls are used by the temple priests to have sex with 12-13 year old girls. All this is done willingly, under the cover of ‘religion’.

This practice is still carried out in parts of Northern Karnataka and Andra Pradesh.

I did not want this post to be a one-dimensional attack on this practice. The basic fact is if you want to go and dedicate your life to God then it is your choice. The key word here is choice. Can a 12-13 year old girl choose this? Or is it just something that she is forced to do?

I don’t think a child of that age can understand the implications of what takes place. This practice can be carried out once the girl becomes an adult if she wants to go ahead with it. But no way should innocent kids be pushed into this.

This for one warns us about how religious practices, when carried out blindly, harm society and damage Hinduism!