Miracle

I always knew that this was said by Albert Einstein, but this December edition of Reader's Digest confirmed it in the Quotes section

“There are only two ways to live life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other as though everything is a miracle.”

From as long as I can remember I have always been intrigued by each and everything that kept happening around me. Every small little thing kept fascinating me. I am not talking about some butterfly in some garden or a sunset at the beach (which are standard items for people to reminiscence about), I am referring to the normal lives of people and how each of them reacts to the same things differently. In school, I honestly loathed certain students because of their behavior in class. I just couldn't believe that they could be so careless towards studies or that they could behave in such an irresponsible manner as they did, most importantly I couldn't comprehend why or what made them the way they were (they were kids I know, but then I was one too). Gradually this loathing turned into a fascination which ultimately led me to become a kinda psychoanalyst of people. So what was as a kid shocking to me became the most miraculous thing as I grew up. A miracle which gradually turned into a fact of life. I began to accept not just the behavior of people in all its entirety but I became more & more sure about my own behavior in all situations.
I just opened up my mind to all possibilities of people and their attitudes. Nothing seemed abnormal or wrong. My definitions of good, bad, wrong, right, beautiful,ugly had to undergo radical changes if I was to accept this truth of life and trust me radical is a very mild word to describe the changes I underwent. Nothing seemed to amaze me anymore, it was as if I had fully come to terms with the miracle called Life. It was not that my feelings became numbed because of the daily drudgery, but its just that a miracle ceases to be a miracle once you accept that it is a miracle. So this miracle of the variety of people and their personalities actually has become a daily routine.

The list of things which I find miraculous is too big to even imagine, so let me put it as 'if I don't find anything miraculous that itself is a miracle'. So in one way I am treating everything as a miracle and this very acceptance of miracle in everything means that I am treating nothing as a miracle.

Simplifying the complexity of Philosophy

These are excerpts from The Speaking Tree (TOI 26th November) written by Yaron Barzilay.

When mention is made of philosophy, one might imagine that a rain of words will fall combined with complicated sentences and theories. This way of seeing philosophy is far from the true spirit of philosophy which basically aims to bring us closer to simplicity and clarity.
It is customary to credit Pythagoras for pronouncing the term Philosophy first when he described himself not as a 'wise man' but as a 'man who is in love with wisdom', a "Philosophos".

Philo or love is the ability to unite with wisdom, or we can also say with life itself. The love of wisdom therefore is an active process in which one learns the principles of life and changes himself accordingly. This process brings man to live in harmony with nature.
Philosophy is not a theoretical concept trying to describe life, but an active state where man is in a constant process of change. We can also refer to it as an ethical way of living where we discover our true virtues.

To be a philosopher is not to stay at a cold distance from others but to develop a sense of belonging to life and to the mutual essence of things. It was said in the temple of Delphi, the holy centre of ancient Greece: "Know thyself and know the world and the Gods"

"When you come to the edge of all the light, and you know you are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown , faith is knowing one of the two things will happen :
Either there will be something solid to stand on or ... You will be taught how to fly."

Choice

The immediate inspirations for this post are the movies ---- The Matrix (all the three) and The Butterfly Effect (I wouldnt suggest this to anyone) and one photo.

Photo??? I guess a week ago in the last page of The Hindu there was this photo .... a lonely kashmiri fisherman throwing his net into the river and surrounded by water everywhere and the caption saying that the fishing season had begun. He was absolutely lonely and I am sure he himself wasnt sure how long he would just sit there waiting for his net to fill. So what would he do all that while? Its not like he had a bottle of beer with a novel for company. So what would he do when it is not the fishing season? Wait for the season to arrive... duh!!! I couldnt help wonder if he ever felt bored of waiting ... waiting for the season to arrive .. and waiting for the fish once the season arrived. After all these thoughts crossed my mind the first question that came to my mind was "Does he have a choice?"The obvious answer being that he doesnt. The second question that comes up (to those who are even remotely bothered) is "Does he want any other choice?". I would like to believe that he doesnt.

The Butterfly Effect is a crappy movie to watch but the underlying concept that they have tried to bring out is good. It tries to bring out the fact that whatever is happening in your life now is because of the continuous series of events that have happened throughout your life. Its that typical "If things had happened that way then, things would have been different now", "If only I had made that choice then ..... ". But its not in our hands to say "I will do like this now, so that things will be like that later". Nothing can be changed. Its only after things have happened that you can say "How I wish ..". Things are perfect just the way they are is the best thing that you can tell yourself and move on.

The Matrix ... well what can i say about the movie .. its one super awesome movie and people who think its just another-futuristc-sci-fi movie have not got anywhere near understanding the core concept of the movie which is the unifying factor between man & machine .. CHOICE. Either this or that. Digitally speaking 0 or 1.

Everyday .. every moment I am making choices, most of them sub-consciously and a few with my entire intellect involved. These choices are nothing but a burden coz no matter how much precious time I spend on the right choice to be chosen, it is always a question mark. The rightness or wrongness of the choice chosen is only determined later when it is absolutely impossible to change what has happened but to accept things as is and move on. Then why make the choice in the first place?? coz it has to be done. Simple. Then why spend my energy-time-mental_effort on making it when the outcome is certainly a uncertainty?? This is the point I wanted to get to .. I dont have to. I gotta choose, so I choose but all the internal-conflicts my mind might subject me to is pointless.

I couldnt think of a better conclusion to this than the following conversation at the end of the epic-fight between Neo & Mr.Smith in the last of Matrix trilogy
Mr.Smith : "Why Mr.Anderson .. why why ... why do you persist?"
Neo : "Because I choose to."

Eternal calmness of the chaotic mind.

So many people in this world, what’s my significance?? But why should I be significant? Why should anyone be significant? Why should I go through the mundane routine of life?? What will I attain out of it?? But am I here to attain anything?? If yes, what if I don’t attain it?? If I am not here to attain anything then why am I here??? But why do I need a reason to be here?? I am unique (just like everyone else). The question of comparison doesn’t even arise. Everyone to himself. I look around & see things. When I see things I feel things (I am a human after all), when I feel things I think about it (I am an intelligent human after all). So what if I do?? There are many things I have & a few that I don’t, I desire it … many situations I have been in & a few I haven’t, I regret it… many people I have known & a few I haven’t, I wish I had … many dreams have been fulfilled & a few haven’t, I dream about them. But what am I going to get out of all this? … Happiness?? But in order to be happy (genuinely-permanently- happy) all one needs is ‘nothing’. You don’t have to do something or not-do something to be happy. You are either happy or you are not. You just do things & at the end of it, if you get happiness...good...if you don’t...screw happiness. Who says you can’t be happy about sadness? What is so sad about being sad?? So happiness is not what I seek & sadness is not something I would enforce upon myself. Maybe, I desire just for the sake of desiring, I regret just because there is nothing else to regret, I wish just because I know it’s never going to become true, I dream because there is nothing else to be dreamt about.
Am I really the kind of person I think I am?? What kind of perception do people have about me? Do I really know what kind of impression I am leaving on people? I feel certain people have certain impressions of me. I say, I don’t care about impressions, but is that just a thought? Do I really don’t care? if I say I don’t care & I think that I don’t care, do I really truly , sincerely don’t care??. How is one to know if one is thinking “truly” or not??? Is the truthfulness of a thought based on the conscious of the thinker?? Is it based on the notion that a man can lie even in his prayers to HIM but not to himself?? Isn’t it possible that, what we think about ourselves is not “what is” but “what we wish is”?? Then doesn’t this mean that, what we are sincerely thinking is not the reality of the situation. What is my true ambition?? Money? Luxury? Happiness? Family? Success? Fame? When will I be able to say that THIS is the ambition of my life?? Maybe I will never know that this is what I really want till I have actually got it … after I achieve that ambition, what else, another ambition?? Till when can I go on like this?? A thought once thought can never be taken back. It’s plainly impossible not to think about something just because you don’t want to. But just thinking about it doesn’t also mean that you necessarily “want” it. How should I know the difference between real thoughts & fake thoughts? Who is to differentiate between the two?? Me?? It’s my thoughts so maybe it has to be me only. I may not have the right to control what I think but surely I have the right to act on it or not act on it. But do I??? On what basis do I decide that a certain thought is real and needs my attention? Am I not conditioned from various society & worldly conditioning to believe that some thoughts are good & some are bad?? So if that kind of thinking is the basis for my actions then what role am I playing? I am neither controlling the actions committed by myself & nor am I controlling the thoughts governing those actions.
Every question doesn’t have an answer. Every action doesn’t have a purpose. Every situation doesn’t have a reason. Happiness, sadness, desire, ambition, a purpose, a reason, a regret.. all these feelings are purely ‘a thought’. A thought starts as a thought & ends as a thought. Neither is the thought immortal, nor are we. A thought is there to be thought about & a feeling is to be felt. Nothing is good & nothing is bad, because good & bad are again just “thoughts”. You can think in any which way you like & feel however you want & yet do whatever it is that has to be done, coz all that matters is what you DO & not what you FEEL, coz all that matters is WHO YOU ARE & not WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE.

I will never cease to think, but whenever I think, I will do so with the complete knowledge that “I am thinking”. This is the “Eternal calmness of the chaotic mind”. This is not just a thought; this is also the meaning of my last name – Nidhanee.