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Heaveno!!!
Its been long since I last updated the blog.Actually, I was confronting the eternal truth of creation and destruction.It is the 'truest' truth in this world that creation is a countdown to destruction.Destruction lays a path for creation.Nothing in this unfathomable universe is imperishable.All things come with an expiry date which may or may not be explicit but expiry is a surety.This is the beauty of creation.The surety of impermanence acts as a incessant alarm, constantly reminding one about the limited time and obligation to accomplish his 'role' on the planet in this short duration.This reminds me of the famous dialogue from one of my favourite movies- Anand which goes as:
Babu moshai zindagi aur maut uparwale ke hath hai jahapana, jise na aap badal sakte hain na main. Hum sab to rangmanch ki kathputliyan hain jiski dor us upar wale ke haathon main hai ..kab, kaun ,kahan,kaise uthega ye koi nahin bata sakta....
Let me assure you this is NOT a melancholic article which gives you an overdose of malady,which most of us have in plenty.I was just explaining the reason for my absence(in a philosophically fancy manner) which some of you may bother to ask.
Actually my laptop, which was about 5-6 years old finally took its last breath and with it my data is also presumably gone on a roadtrip to heaven(from where,we know that nobody returns).The last paragraph was my humble obituary to my old electronic companion.You can always derive inspiration from the things around you.J
As a famous saying goes-"The Show must go On".I truly abide by it and subsequently I bought a new laptop.The period since my last post has been very eventful.We witnessed Mr.Rajesh Khanna and Mr.Dara Singh pass away,yet another Anna Andolan and many other events which were significant(at least for India TV!!).So here I am!!(More excited than Ek tha Tiger fans).So with a new laptop,new college session(with a new bag) and a new zeal-Chaliye hum aur aap khelte hain Kaun Banega Crorepati.....@#$#$### JJJJ
In this post,as I promised in the earlier post,I am going to relate an incident which taught me the true meaning of faith and this enabled me to get insights into the realms of the controversial and ostensibly significant concept of religion.
One of my very good friends is an ardent devotee of Sathya Sai Baba.He was my classmate right from the kindergarten section to high school.We had many altercations on this issue which often culminated into 'don't talk to me' situations but somehow we have managed to keep our Friend'ship' sailing.Afterall,debate is one of the principal pillars of democracy.I thought of myself as an intellectual(Empty vessels sound much) and always tried to bully his views, arguing that you cannot consider a living person to be the creator,almighty God himself.I was not trying to display my intellect or to demean him by doing so.I just wanted that my friend should not fall prey to the so called 'godmen' ,who have devised a business model based on exploitation of people's faith.
One fine evening,we were taking a stroll in a public garden.We were discussing about movies, college life,music,girls and similar topics when out of somewhere,the topic of God broke out.I pounced upon the opportunity to criticise him for his belief in Sathya Sai.He had lately passed away and a lot of undisclosed cash and gold was recovered from his room.I used all my knowledge gathered recently from the news channels to censure his belief in Sathya Sai and was successful to an extent because he had no immediate answer to my questions.But his face looked pale.His faith hadn't stirred a bit but his eyes reflected the unusual anger which otherwise is miles away from his ever cheerful countenance.
"Sometimes I feel too much repulsion from you",he retorted.I felt really bad for hurting the sentiments of a dear friend but still my ego was so mammoth that I again ventured him into the debate.I said something,he said something and when the tension built up further,he said "Let's leave".I wanted to spend some more time with him but he was in no mood to continue the discussion which culminated into a heated argument.Then from somewhere inside me a voice emerged "Strive to be a good listener".I asked him to stay and change the topic.He agreed,we started talking about some girl we met at a friend's place.But the girl seemed immaterial infront of the latent and forcefully subdued raging urge to resume the debate.Somehow it again started.But this time I decided to be a better listener.
He politely asked me what's my problem with him worshipping Sathya Sai??I played my own record and said "Because first of all he is a human.Secondly,he displays kiddish magic tricks to prove his divinity and thirdly because of the "black money" found in his room.These tricks were performed live on national television by a 'magician' who called himself a mere entertainer".He said it's ok with him and again posed the same intriguing question before me."What's your problem if I believe?"
I instantly replied"I don't have a problem but you are deluded.What you are thinking of as gold is actually iron pyrites".The question again came to me-"It's alright with me but What's your problem??".To this I had no reply.He continued "I believe in him as a God.You don't believe.Nobody is asking you to to believe in him.I make wishes to him and they are fulfilled.He has extricated me from the worst of situations.If I give all the credit of the inexplicable 'miracles' that happened in my life to him even if they happened by chance or luck.If I serve the needy and the poor in the name of my 'False God' and you do nothing in the name of 'True God'
apart from chanting his name then who is a better devotee to God?We hold social service programs every month and participate in community service in baba's name.What do you do Mr. Critic?If I attribute all my achievements to a 'false God' whom I consider to be a true one,What's wrong in this?Moreover how can you prove that 'your' God is true and mine is not."
I was dumbfounded.I searched for a place to hide my shame exuding face.The ageless wisdom of faith was revealed to me by a fellow classmate unknowingly.
This post is not intended to praise or glorify or otherwise hurt someone.I still don't believe in Sathya Sai as a God.But What I learnt from this incident was to respect one's faith.I am now a completely different person from the one on that day.I don't respect Sathya Sai but I have greatest of respect for the unshakable faith of my friend in him.It gives him the limitless prowess which comes in gratis with faith that someone is always there to support you in times of distress and need.As a rationalist I can only say that whenever something good happened to him or his prayers were answered(by chance/luck or his efforts),he credited it to his lord and the faith increased 'exponentially'.
This wisdom of faith and devotion is best found in the discourses of Bhagwad Gita in which Sri Krishna tells Arjun that A devotee who consecrates all his thoughts to almighty and acts in complete devotion to the lord is very dear to him.
The case is same with most of the people in this world.They squabble over petty issues like "Your God" and "My God" and waste their lives in proving one's superiority over the other.They are like exhausted and thirsty people on the bank of a pond of nectarlike water quarrelling over the shape of their pots and dying of thirst while the wise men savour the water and quench their thirst from the water which was actually colourless.
(The Colourless nectarlike water pond is a metaphor used for God's inconceivable form and the pots symbolise the religions which serve as a utility to fetch water from the divine pond.)
Its been long since I last updated the blog.Actually, I was confronting the eternal truth of creation and destruction.It is the 'truest' truth in this world that creation is a countdown to destruction.Destruction lays a path for creation.Nothing in this unfathomable universe is imperishable.All things come with an expiry date which may or may not be explicit but expiry is a surety.This is the beauty of creation.The surety of impermanence acts as a incessant alarm, constantly reminding one about the limited time and obligation to accomplish his 'role' on the planet in this short duration.This reminds me of the famous dialogue from one of my favourite movies- Anand which goes as:
Babu moshai zindagi aur maut uparwale ke hath hai jahapana, jise na aap badal sakte hain na main. Hum sab to rangmanch ki kathputliyan hain jiski dor us upar wale ke haathon main hai ..kab, kaun ,kahan,kaise uthega ye koi nahin bata sakta....
Let me assure you this is NOT a melancholic article which gives you an overdose of malady,which most of us have in plenty.I was just explaining the reason for my absence(in a philosophically fancy manner) which some of you may bother to ask.
Actually my laptop, which was about 5-6 years old finally took its last breath and with it my data is also presumably gone on a roadtrip to heaven(from where,we know that nobody returns).The last paragraph was my humble obituary to my old electronic companion.You can always derive inspiration from the things around you.J
As a famous saying goes-"The Show must go On".I truly abide by it and subsequently I bought a new laptop.The period since my last post has been very eventful.We witnessed Mr.Rajesh Khanna and Mr.Dara Singh pass away,yet another Anna Andolan and many other events which were significant(at least for India TV!!).So here I am!!(More excited than Ek tha Tiger fans).So with a new laptop,new college session(with a new bag) and a new zeal-Chaliye hum aur aap khelte hain Kaun Banega Crorepati.....@#$#$### JJJJ
In this post,as I promised in the earlier post,I am going to relate an incident which taught me the true meaning of faith and this enabled me to get insights into the realms of the controversial and ostensibly significant concept of religion.
One of my very good friends is an ardent devotee of Sathya Sai Baba.He was my classmate right from the kindergarten section to high school.We had many altercations on this issue which often culminated into 'don't talk to me' situations but somehow we have managed to keep our Friend'ship' sailing.Afterall,debate is one of the principal pillars of democracy.I thought of myself as an intellectual(Empty vessels sound much) and always tried to bully his views, arguing that you cannot consider a living person to be the creator,almighty God himself.I was not trying to display my intellect or to demean him by doing so.I just wanted that my friend should not fall prey to the so called 'godmen' ,who have devised a business model based on exploitation of people's faith.
One fine evening,we were taking a stroll in a public garden.We were discussing about movies, college life,music,girls and similar topics when out of somewhere,the topic of God broke out.I pounced upon the opportunity to criticise him for his belief in Sathya Sai.He had lately passed away and a lot of undisclosed cash and gold was recovered from his room.I used all my knowledge gathered recently from the news channels to censure his belief in Sathya Sai and was successful to an extent because he had no immediate answer to my questions.But his face looked pale.His faith hadn't stirred a bit but his eyes reflected the unusual anger which otherwise is miles away from his ever cheerful countenance.
"Sometimes I feel too much repulsion from you",he retorted.I felt really bad for hurting the sentiments of a dear friend but still my ego was so mammoth that I again ventured him into the debate.I said something,he said something and when the tension built up further,he said "Let's leave".I wanted to spend some more time with him but he was in no mood to continue the discussion which culminated into a heated argument.Then from somewhere inside me a voice emerged "Strive to be a good listener".I asked him to stay and change the topic.He agreed,we started talking about some girl we met at a friend's place.But the girl seemed immaterial infront of the latent and forcefully subdued raging urge to resume the debate.Somehow it again started.But this time I decided to be a better listener.
He politely asked me what's my problem with him worshipping Sathya Sai??I played my own record and said "Because first of all he is a human.Secondly,he displays kiddish magic tricks to prove his divinity and thirdly because of the "black money" found in his room.These tricks were performed live on national television by a 'magician' who called himself a mere entertainer".He said it's ok with him and again posed the same intriguing question before me."What's your problem if I believe?"
I instantly replied"I don't have a problem but you are deluded.What you are thinking of as gold is actually iron pyrites".The question again came to me-"It's alright with me but What's your problem??".To this I had no reply.He continued "I believe in him as a God.You don't believe.Nobody is asking you to to believe in him.I make wishes to him and they are fulfilled.He has extricated me from the worst of situations.If I give all the credit of the inexplicable 'miracles' that happened in my life to him even if they happened by chance or luck.If I serve the needy and the poor in the name of my 'False God' and you do nothing in the name of 'True God'
apart from chanting his name then who is a better devotee to God?We hold social service programs every month and participate in community service in baba's name.What do you do Mr. Critic?If I attribute all my achievements to a 'false God' whom I consider to be a true one,What's wrong in this?Moreover how can you prove that 'your' God is true and mine is not."
I was dumbfounded.I searched for a place to hide my shame exuding face.The ageless wisdom of faith was revealed to me by a fellow classmate unknowingly.
This post is not intended to praise or glorify or otherwise hurt someone.I still don't believe in Sathya Sai as a God.But What I learnt from this incident was to respect one's faith.I am now a completely different person from the one on that day.I don't respect Sathya Sai but I have greatest of respect for the unshakable faith of my friend in him.It gives him the limitless prowess which comes in gratis with faith that someone is always there to support you in times of distress and need.As a rationalist I can only say that whenever something good happened to him or his prayers were answered(by chance/luck or his efforts),he credited it to his lord and the faith increased 'exponentially'.
This wisdom of faith and devotion is best found in the discourses of Bhagwad Gita in which Sri Krishna tells Arjun that A devotee who consecrates all his thoughts to almighty and acts in complete devotion to the lord is very dear to him.
The case is same with most of the people in this world.They squabble over petty issues like "Your God" and "My God" and waste their lives in proving one's superiority over the other.They are like exhausted and thirsty people on the bank of a pond of nectarlike water quarrelling over the shape of their pots and dying of thirst while the wise men savour the water and quench their thirst from the water which was actually colourless.
(The Colourless nectarlike water pond is a metaphor used for God's inconceivable form and the pots symbolise the religions which serve as a utility to fetch water from the divine pond.)
