Needed - A New Paradigm Of Development

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced human civilisation cannot continue on our present path of development for too long. The paradigm of development we have, which encourages and is sustained by limitless and conspicous consumption of everything - including the animals that co-exist with us on this planet - is inherently flawed. We are leaving too much toxic debris around for us to continue far this way.We may invest in cleaner fuels, we may shun plastics... but all that is not going to do much other than postpone the inevitable for a few more years or, maybe, decades.
There needs to a new paradigm of development, and there needs to be strong political will to enforce it. Enforce it because there is no way a people bred on a culture of greed and self-aggrandisement can be made to wilfully adapt such a new paradigm for the common good.
There are several obstacles to achieving this. First, the new paradigm need to be drawn up by someone with enough foresight and perspicacity. Second, the political will cannot come from our current political system, with the leaders who rely on appeasement of the masses and who have mutualistic relations with businesses, which would be highly interested in continuing with the current paradigm.
If we can overcome these obstacles, then we can say with confidence that human civilisation will survive the crisis it is creating for itself. But it is a tall order, and if we fail, we are eternally doomed.

How A Neuroscientist Discovered Yogic Bliss

This is a wonderful story of a neuroscientist who had a brain haemorrhage and stroke. She recovered fully, but found out some interesting things about her brain. Basically, what she experienced (though that is not the case for all such patients) is akin to one of the higher states of bliss induced by Yoga. Very interesting read. Her book on her experiences, My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, is availabe in Amazon now.

Slowly, as our solar system travels closer to the magnetic centre of the galaxy, I think science is understanding some of the science behind the teachings of the ancient masters. And it is high time (though Time is only a concept within our minds) because of all the suffering we are going through, and all the suffering we are inflicting on the ecosystem through our ignorance.

God Works, Through Radical Muslim Youth, This Time!

The hunt for fake godmen that has intensified over the last few weeks in Kerala is something that should be sustained. I had read a few years back about some great sage, forgot who it was, saying the fake godmen are the scum of Indian society and when the society starts to become dynamic, they will be washed away. I think it was Vivekananda.
And now that time seems to have come. These self-proclaimed godmen thrive by instilling a sense of fear and dependence on people who flock to them; those are the very opposite of the qualities you need to discover and realize yourself, according to the Himalayan masters. I personally know of a fake godman in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, who claims to be Hanuman.
He was a perfectly ordinary guy, with a little bit of intuition, before his marriage. Then the mutation happened - he decided that he was Hanuman, and he got mad at me when I questioned it. He still runs a thriving business in Thiruvananthapuram, complete with personally selling women's underwears in a textile shop supposedly run by his brother-in-law.
The campaign against these godmen are spearheaded by Solidarity, a movement of radical Muslim youth. But in this case I think they are doing a wonderful service to society. These godmen are a curse on society - whichever religion they are from - and need to be rooted out. For once, I think, the agenda of these young Muslim activists is in perfect harmony with a national need.
And, after all, God is in them as well as every one else!

The Challenge We Face

A recent report says the huge amounts of carbon dioxide being added to the atmosphere due to human activity is making the ocean waters acidic. While that was known for some time, what is causing concern is that those waters, hitherto restricted to the depths of the big oceans, are now finding their way to the coastal shelves. And these acidic waters are thinning the shells of corals and other animals.
We have gone on polluting our air, water and other resources regardless of the fact that pollution is never confined to the area of pollution. We live in a connected eco-system and the pollutants and other toxins we add to one part of the earth will, sooner or later, find its way around the globe.
If we look at the pollution in some of our industrial cities and compare that with the serene air of the Himalayas or the Amazon, we may think only those living in highly polluted areas need to worry about the problem. Not so. Those pollutants are going to find their way to you, and affect to coming generations all over the earth.
We have been so short-sighted about this problem; and polluting and greedy businesses have glossed over it. But I read in a book about Swami Rama that the Himalayan sages were aware of it even at the beginning of the last century!
We had gone on polluting merrily and now we really do have a problem on our hands: we can continue to do what we do and condemn ourselves, the coming generations, and the whole ecosystem itself; or we can stop this madness and try to mend our ways.
But the second option would mean we change the way we live, and put an end to this conspicuous consumption we had taken for granted in the last 100 years. Are we up to the challenge?

Time To Bring Back The Philosopher Kings

The news of businessmen and film stars grabbing forest land in the Western Ghats comes as no surprise to me, considering the kind of rulers we have. The problem is we like to read and revel in such news, but scarcely do anything about it other than blame the government. But we are the ones who elect our own rulers, and when it comes the time to select our representatives we forget our duty -- we prefer to go by our religious, caste, regional and other parochial preferences than about the suitableness of the candidate. And then we blame the government. What a sorry state of affairs. We are digging our own grave and we blame others when they are just trying to finish off the job we started, and bury us!

I personally feel India is not ripe for democracy. And thinking about it, why do we need this western adjunct to our political life. I am not saying we go back to our monarchies. God forbid! But we could try to bring back the philosopher kings who ruled in Indian's golden age, the ones who were guided by the great sages - the Rajgurus. But for that we need a fundamental change in the way we mould our new generations. Because such kings will arise and can thrive only in an enlightened society. And we can start doing that only by establishing educational and other institutions that go by the teachings of the Himalayan masters. Again, I am making a case for institution(s) for Vedic culture and knowledge. Any takers?

The Positive Side of $130 Oil

Oil hitting $130 a barrel may be worrying for the economy but I think there is a silver lining there. This would surely spur the big corporations and governments to act faster on alternative energy sources - and with the current expanding consciousness about the environment, we can confidently hope those alternative energy sources will also be greener. That last 100-150 years of development - powered mostly by fossil fuels - has already burdened nature with toxins that may take hundreds of years to clean up. We need to make a start somewhere to reduce and roll back the amount of those toxins. At the very worst, this kind of galloping oil prices can push the world's economy into a recession, and cut down on the huge amount of pollution we create daily.

At the same time, I have read reports of US politicians threatening to punish China and India over over-use of dirty fuels. I agree that what India and China are doing is a bad thing, but that is because these Asian nations are now following the crassly materialist path of development shown by the West. And man for man, people in these countries pollute less and consume less -- at least four fith less than the average American. So who should be punished?!

A New Educational System For India

Violence of various hues and forms are sweeping the world, apart from the floods and quakes that have claimed lives by the thousands in Myanmar and China. Today's papers carried news of India's home minister saying immigrants from Bangladesh would not be confined to camps, even as Muslim terrorists from that country are under the scanner for the recent blasts in Jaipur. The fact, is you can argue for both sides in this issue. Yes, Bangladeshi migrants in India are human beings too and we cannot just put them into concentration camps - that militates against humaneness. Again, we cannot let terrorists among them roam free and target Indian citizens with bombs at will. The only way to solve this is to incorporate the migrants into the intelligence gathering process. Recent reports say they are a very closed group, refusing to divulge any sort of information to intelligence agents.
If that is so, there is a clear case for them to be collectively held responsible. But I doubt if that version of affairs is actually true; there could be many well meaning Bangladeshi immigrants who want a secure future for themselves in India, as some news reports quoting some of them made it clear.
So why is this happening? The answer is politics, and corruption. These two are eating into the very fabric of Indian society and culture and, if let alone to continue, can bring about balkanisation of the whole nation.
It is sad that Indian democracy, which could have brought about justice, equality and prosperity to everyone in the country, is being held to ransom by thugs and robbers posing as politicians. But I think this was inevitable. Every institution will reflect the development and perspicacity of the individuals who are in it; and our political rulers have failed to put in place an educational system that instils values and helps the new generations aware of and practise the the messages of the Himalayan masters. Without such practical moral and spiritual teachings, it was inevitable that our society and politics deteriorated into the current state of travesty and moral turpitude. Yes, India needs to revamp its educational system - not just to create more quality engineers and doctors, but better men and women who understand and practise the teachings of the sages.
I think sooner or later I have to do my part in that effort.

A School of Vedic Culture and Religion

Sorry, I have been away for some time. But I will be updating this blog more frequently now. Last few days I have been reading up on Sri Vidya and tantra, especially the book 'At the Eleventh Hour: The Biography of Swami Rama' made a deep impression on me. The more I read it (I have read Swami Rama's 'Living With The Himalayan Masters' earlier), the more I feel humanity is hurtling down the path of destruction, and India, which had traditionally acted as a counterveiling force to the materialistic tendencies in the world has now switched sides, adding to the momentum of the destructive forces. The answer seems to lie in resurrecting the Vedic culture, not the Vedic culture that have come to us through the filter of Hindu priests, but in the original, unadulterated teachings of the Himalayan sages.
Those teachings are eternal - Sanatana - and hold valid for today's world as much as they did when they were first taught. It seems the competitive consumption we are indulging in, without regard to the impact on nature, is taking us to certain doom - unless we decide to apply the brakes now. But for that, the world intelligentsia and opinion leaders need to back a new way of living centred not on conspicuous consumption, but on sensitivity and respect to nature. If they don't, a new breed of more perspicacious opinion leaders and intelligentsia need to be created. That is where we need a School of Vedic Culture and Religion. The faster that is set up, the better.