Krishna–Who is he and what is his message ?

Krishna is God incarnation in full. He is a very mysterious personality encompassing everything a man should be. He accepts life as it is and lives with the times. Different people have different views about Krishna. But he is indefinable. You cannot chain his personality in a string of words. Krishna seems to accept the apparent contradictions of life in a very demure manner. Krishna embraces life as it is and lives in the present. He does not make any plans and faces life as it comes. He is a naughty kid ; a romantic lover; a tactful advisor and a valuable mentor. There are many aspects to this multi-faceted personality. But he fulfills all of them completely. To this date, this mystic seems to be unexplored, because he is so full of life that life itself seems like a breeze to be lived and loved in full.

Krishna’s childhood is filled with stories of an active kid who steals butter, breaks the earthen clays of maidens and hides their clothes when they are having a bath. He also defeats monsters like Kaaliya, the snake and holds the Govardhan mountain on his little finger in time of torrential rains. He plays his flute which captivates everybody. He dances with maidens who all seek to get his attention, and plays ras-leela with them.He seems to know the mantra for attracting women. After all these youthful encounters, he takes up a role of a ministerial/royal nature, without any fuss. Whatever he does, seems to come so naturally to him, that  you wonder how a person can be so unruffled in times of  change.

Perhaps the most talked about Krishna is what he exhorts in the Bhagwad Geeta. Some people think that he supports war, when the fact of the matter is, sometimes war is inevitable. Especially when there is so much evil in humanity, sometimes even a righteous war is called for. He never says that we should go to war. But if that is the only solution, so be it. He suitably inspires Arjuna to do his duty. Duty is of paramount importance here. Duty, well done, reaps rewards. Duty, badly done, brings disgrace. In fact we should all act according to our duties. If you are a athlete, run like no one ever can. If you area carpenter, saw as much as you can. If you are a singer, sing from the bottom of your heart. There is nothing more important. This seems to be Krishna’s top most message.

He also mentions about the soul which is birth less and deathless. Nobody dies or is born. Because we are not our bodies but the infallible soul. Thus, we are all divine sparks of the same God that pervades everywhere.  Our journey on Earth is towards perfection i.e. God. We are known by our karma and not the family in which we are born. All names and forms are nothing but tags. What matters is what we accomplish on this planet and leave behind as a legacy. All have different paths but in the end the target is the same. Perfection. Krishna also maintains that happiness and sorrow come and go. They are two sides of the same coin. We should not get ruffled by them. And should accept them both with countenance and grace.

Krishna, if he were alive today, would live according to the times now. But his essential message would be the same. Go, do your job.

With all respects,

Guru30

Feeling good always …

Today I’m going to share with you the key secret of feeling good always. Number one. Accept yourself the way you are. This means being cognizant of your strengths and weaknesses and accepting them fully without any guilt. Let go off the past. Don’t let it interfere with your present. Develop your strengths and rectify your weaknesses. Do it one step at a time. There is no hurry. As you progress in this task you will feel more happy and complete. If you have done something wrong in the past, ask God for forgiveness and move on. Don’t let that pester you. Everyone makes mistakes. They are the stepping stones of learning. Learn, you must and make sure that you don’t repeat it.

Number two. Accept the world and its people as they are. You may be thinking that nobody knows your story and some people are behaving rather strange. Now, here’s news. Everyone has their own scripts and they are behaving as per that. You cannot change that. But one thing you can do. You can change yourself. You see in life no two people are the same. Even twins just look alike, but they are different. Accept the diversity of life and learn to live with contradictions. Everything is God given and hence divine. Do you know that the stone also has life? It’s just vibrating at a different frequency, hence you don’t see it. People are the highest evolution of the soul and they all have their own truths to find. Everyone’s journey is different. So respect that.

Number three. Spend time in the present. There is no point thinking about the past or the future. One has happened and the other is to happen. Both are fictitious. What matters is how you spend the time right now. Do spend time in the past to reevaluate and the future for your plans. But restrict that to say the day when you have a lot of time to spare. But too much dilly-dallying into the past and present will prove detrimental. Hence be living in the ‘Now’. Be fully alert. Enjoy the rain, that chirp of the sparrow, that smell of the coffee and the traffic in the rush hour. Just observe. Do not judge. They are all very interesting. Try to give some time to silence. Be silent for half an hour at least in a day.

Number four. Be optimistic. Scores has been written about the benefit of positive thinking. I can’t just reemphasize how beneficial it is. Look at the bright side of life always. If you listen to news, you might have noticed that there are several negative things that are aired. If you can do something about it, go do it. Else just leave it to God. He is watching everything. Not a single blade of grass moves without his permission. There are many things we do not understand as to why they happen. Going forward, trust that the dots will connect and you will get your answer. Have this faith and move on. Do not be stuck, as you know the rolling stone never gathers moss. Have a positive attitude and you will soon attract everything positive in your life.

With all my heart,

Guru30

Dancing in the rains

It’s raining outside and the trees are dancing with joy, not to mention the kids who like to drench themselves. No Sun. But the feeling of joy everywhere. We stay at home and sip a hot cup of tea watching the rain fall all over the place. What a pleasure. The rain also optimizes the temperature around. It’s not hot anymore, neither cold. When I was a kid, I used to believe that rains are God’s tears. What a silly idea? Rains actually are Godsend gift from heaven that sustains the plants and animals. Especially the plants. When I look at the trees outside, it’s as if they are mesmerized by the rains. All standing out tall and beckoning the rain as if it were their hubbies. How romantic?

I wonder about desert places where it hardly rains. How do they manage to be so single? Wallowing in the heat of the Sun. I went outside today and got drenched. Initially my first reaction was to avoid the rain, which was falling mercilessly. But the more the rain touched my body, the more I felt better. Mustering enough strength, I let go of myself and actually enjoyed it. It’s like a shower except that, it is in the open and all showers are good. Makes you feel rejuvenated. Now as I sit here typing this on my blog editor, I can see the rain falling, the pace has decelerated, but the intentions are the same. To make me feel special. And I do. Truly I do …

If you long to smell the best perfume that is out there, do not look any farther. The first rain which emanates a scent of the Earth is what it is. I never knew that the Earth could have its own smell. But it does. And its so sweet. Unique. I remember having trekked a mountain in the rains. All sorts of insects like the earthworm and scorpions come out. Even the flies. I distinctly remember the taste of a mountain spring. So cool and so clear. Sparkling like wine. It is nothing but rainwater burrowing its way deep down into the Earth’s recesses and coming out as springs. Some water companies claim to collect water from such springs. How far it is true, I don’t know.

The other thing about rains. Kids waiting for their school buses. In umbrellas and overcoats. Parents trying to restrict these little ones not to get wet in the rain. And when a vehicle passes near by, it splashes the water on the bystanders. Some cursing away the person who was driving the car so fast. Water is just like kids. Can’t live without them. And flowing water. Have you ever heard a stream whizz by? I’m sure you have. Paid any attention to the drizzling sound. Euphoric, isn’t it? And waterfalls. I have been to some and love standing at the place where the water falls with a thud. I sometimes wonder – Why has God been so good to us? Perhaps we have done something good in our past lives.

Enjoy the rains.

Guru30

The next incarnation–Machines

Programming can be a real high. Programmers get so involved in their programs that they forget what is going on outside. In fact, some of them swear by their programs. So, why is programming so addictive? Well, the answer lies in the nature of programming. It’s a very dedicated task and requires enormous power of concentration. Otherwise you are bound  to make mistakes. Bugs, as they call it, are the errors that creep into a program due to lack of concentration. To troubleshoot bugs requires skill of a different kind. And finally when the program works, the ‘a-ha’ factor associated with it is incredible. Programmers final destination is a complete program and that gives them an enormous amount of satisfaction.

At its best, programming can be an exercise in meditation. Because both of them require you to concentrate. While one is focused on the inside, the other looks at the outside. Writing a program is like going on a pilgrimage. The journey is interesting and the final result is satisfaction. A program is invisible. It’s stored as ‘1’’s and ‘0’’s, but you can just see the output. The program itself is not having a material form. In this way, it’s like the mind and the brain. You require a place to store the program like a hard drive. Similarly all your thoughts (programs) require to be stored in the brain. But this gives rise to the mind (the output of the program) which is elusive.

This leads us to the concept of machine thinking. Can a machine really think? If you look at the thoughts that happen in or brain, they are nothing but spurts of electricity (neuro chemicals) happening at random in an uncontrolled mind. All these happen in parallel. Programming is also a bunch of electrical signals flowing inside a machine. These programs if connected on parallel machines can behave like human brains. So what are we saying here? Well, the mind has a concept of cognition or self awareness, which is difficult in a machine to come by. It can be simulated but as all simulations are, it is artificial. So, will a machine ever be able to think? At least not as we humans do.

A lot of research is going into what is termed as ‘AI’ or Artificial Intelligence. Have you come across programs like ‘Siri’ (Appe iPhone) which sometimes seem to display intelligent behavior? There are many of these around. And according to ‘Turing Test’ (A test which says if a computer behaves like a human and we are unable to make out the difference, the machine has become intelligent) some of these gadgets can be on the list of being called intelligence. But mind you, above intelligence is Wisdom and that is the power of discrimination. Can a programmed gadget ever have that? I doubt. And even if it does, it will be limited. God save the world. The convergence of man and machine is unstoppable. I say this specifically because in the Hindu scriptures mention is made of ‘Kalki’ (the next savior) who is part machine and part human.

This is getting interesting. Wait till it pans out.

Till then …

Cheers.

Guru30