Slow

Why does the govt everywhere has to be so slow in its functioning? Go anywhere in this world - developed nations or developing nations , if it is associated with govt , it is bound to be slow . There is something about it that it just can not act fast. Its role should be enabling and not controlling and interfering. Freedom in true sense would encourage entrepreneurship and fast development.Privatising most of the facilities with checks and balances is the need of the hour.

Mayan Culture & Story of Ahiravan- Ancient Civilisations !

I have been thinking about it for a long time now. And a recent programme on History Channel only strengthened my views. First I would want to narrate in brief what I saw on History channel. It was about the Mayan culture. Mayan culture comes out to be one of the barbaric cultures among all the ancient civilisations as they practised human sacrifice on a large scale. Lots of very very deep caves dug really deep into the earth have been discovered with lots of human skeletons and signs of human sacrifices. It really struck me. First I thought that it is possible that the lands falling in American continent were considered as " Patal Lok" ( Under ground world) as from India's point of view , Americas would fall below it on a globe). But when I saw the deep and dangerous caves in the Mayan excavations , it struck me that these caves are as good as Underground World -' Patal Lok'.

Now compare it with the story of Ahiravan. Ahiravan was the king of Underworld. He was barbaric and practised human sacrifice as a mode of worship. He abducted Ram and Lakshman and took them to a place beneath the ground and tried to sacrifice them. It is so similar to the attributes of Mayan culture.

I believe that the ancient civilisations were in touch with each other . They were not isolated. Ancient people were really advanced but in course of time and because of natural calamities , we lost that knowledge. Now consider the following facts. Ahiravan was an ally of King Raavan .Our ancient scriptures talk of Asian continent as Jambu Dwip and also refer to a 'Shwet Dwip'( White Island or Island of the Whites) which many scholars believe to be the lost island of Atlantis. Many ancient maps have been found by the scholars that date back to times even before Columbus discovered America and these maps of the world are so precise that those who study them think how could they be so accurate. Even the coast of Antarctica which is invisible because of permafrost has been drawn perfectly. We have been able to draw the map of Antarctica's coastline only with the help of satellites. In the excavations of ancient sites in Colombia , little models of aeroplanes have been found and are exhibited there in the museums. Earlier it was thought that they were just the models of fish or butterflies. But nobody paid attention that a fish does not have an upright fin at the end like an aeroplane. It is only now that historians and Ufologists have started paying attention to such details. And these little models are all to scale. When a bigger model was made , they were found to be aerodynamic. And let us not forget that the concept of Vimaan finds mention in Ramayan . This means that the concept of aeroplane was not unknown. We had a term for it -'Vimaan'. If this concept did not exist then such terminology would also not have existed.

I think we should all change our mindset of thinking about the ancient people as a civilisation living in dark ages. They were technically advanced and were great explorers like we are today.

Sometimes I also think what if a cataclysmic event occurred and all our knowledge was lost ! What would we do ? We would make drawings on the stone about the technical advancements like aeroplanes , ships , satellites , our knowledge of planets and lots of signs for the future generations to know what the life was in our times. Now , I know what an aeroplane is and the basic principle involved in its flight. But I do know about the real science behind it and I do not know anything about its manufacturing. So what would I do ? I would write or draw that there was a metal body and it flew like a bird and people sat in it. And may be the future generations would think -" Duh ! It is some stupid mythology ...some stupid superstition". Just as we used to say as kids about the "Pushpak Vimaan" mentioned in the Ramayan.

If the ancient civilisations were so advanced , is it possible that some of their know-how is safely secured some where ? May be with the change in sea-land pattern , we have lost it or may be it is still hiding in some nook and corner of the Earth. A legend goes that there is a secret room near the right paw of the Sphinx in Egypt but the Egyptian Govt does not permit anyone to get into it. Many think that all the know-how is stored there and when the time is right it will manifest itself to us. No one knows how this legend came into being but it sure is interesting.

With advent of Internet and websites like YouTube , there is a quick and unprecedented transfer & exchange of knowledge. I am sure that we would be able to unlock lots of mysteries in near future. Again ,what if all the computer systems in the world were destroyed ? How would a surviving layman explain to his kids what Internet was ? .....With this curiosity and with a fresh & different point of view ,let us explore our world again .

An Incident From Ramcharitamanas !

When Ram with his army reached the outskirts of Lanka , they camped near the ocean and spent the night admiring the night sky. Lord Ram wondered why does the Moon have dark spots in the centre. Almost everybody was ready with the answer. Some said that the dark spot is the cauldron of poison that the moon hides in its bossom. The others said that Rahu affected the moon and that is why the moon looks kind of dark. This theory and that ...But all this while Hanuman was silent . Then Lord Ram turned to him and asked , " Hanuman , what do you think about it?" And he said , " Prabhu , that is Moon's heart . Since the moon always has your 'saanwali murti' in it, therefore ,we see a dark spot there".
Such was the devotion of Hanuman. Overwhelming ! He was intelligent , a great warrior, an astrologer, a musician , an immensely talented person and reached the pinnacles of spirituality. But he never took pride in it. His common retort was that it was all the grace of Lord Ram. Can such a character be ever paralleled ? No . He performed all the important stuff in the story of Ram but never took credit for it. He was extremely grateful when he was able to do his duty well. And the Universe likes grateful people. These qualities and the Grace of God made a devotee attain the stature of God. No wonder till this day , this exceptional devotee himself has throngs of devotees. No other 'bhakt' has attained such heights.

Can we change fate ?

It is often said that everything is predestined. This thought has often made me restless.Even the smallest , most trivial of our acts has an effect and may be this is what destiny is all about-effect of all our past actions. But acting in accordance with our so called destiny , are we creating new causes which will have some particular kind of effects on our future? Can we make a difference at this stage?

I have often read the philosophies of several great men and women about spirituality and similar thoughts but the complexities of the thoughts and scriptures have scared me off too often . May be it is really hard to put the spiritual experiences in words and too hard for a person like me to understand.May be one doesn't hav eto make any effort to be spiritual.May be some experiences happen themselves. All that is required is to stay prepared by getting our basics right by being aware of our thoughts and acts and by being simple and straight at whatever we do.

Indians believe in a' sagun ' ( physical form of God ) and also in a 'nirakaar' form ( all pervasive God without any physical attributes ). However if and when they really pray they find that most of the prayers are being heard. Christians believe in God and Jesus and Guardian angels and they have their own experiences accordingly. Same is true for Muslims , Jews and every religion present in this world. So there is one energy which is present everywhere and which people perceive in different forms on the basis of the way they were brought up.

Humans and non humans are all different forms of that energy. We all are a part of a Big Cosmic Energy system but each one of us has a different level. May be the non living objects like stone etc are the lowest form of energy and from them ( including water, light and air ) emerged other forms of energy . And that makes humans the highest manifestation of the energy levels on our planet. Scientists have identified a phenomenon called ' Emergence'-emergence of planets from debris ; atmosphere from whatever there was on the planet and then the emergence of various forms of life and so on. May be this 'emergence ' is still going on and may be something better would emerge out of the present energy levels on the earth. It is possible that there are entities which are at a much much higher level than humans as a race.

Well , humans are alive and kicking because of that energy level in us which we may call soul or spirit. All living beings ,and may I add , non living beings have that soul but at a different level and I would want to think that they are at a low level than a human but you never know. A staunch Jain person would not even kick a stone as they believe that the stones also feel. However it is widely believed in Science circles that the mountains have a certain amount of energy level in them and many micro-organisms ( specially in initial years of Earth formation)stay alive by sucking that energy in.

Now , everything in this world is made up of energy; and the nature and response of a particular thing is based on its level.And we are surrounded by an all pervasive energy around us. That makes me think do we have a highly intelligent energy encompassing the universe that would respond if the lower energy levels like us really asked for something. When we pray from the bottom of our heart(irrespective of our religion) , we find the prayer answered. Does that mean that if we tap that all pervasive energy , we can change our circumsatnces?

It is also widely accepted that humans use less than 10% of their brain's potential. Is the brain a key to change the circumstances? If everything was predestined and everything had to happen in a mechanical manner then what was the purpose of emergence of humans. No part of our body and nothing in this nature is useless. So why do we have a brain whose potential is yet to be tapped? I think that through this organ , we have been provided with an opportunity and ability to change our circumstances. You know what the latest scientific marvel is ? Playing a computer game with brain-wave . The concept is not new but its application is. I was awestruck when a disabled person could make his image walk in a computer by using his brain wave. That means that if we use or attune our brains in a certain way , we can have the all pervasive intelligent cosmic energy change the circumstances around us. We have been given the power to change our fate only if we knew how to use our brains properly.

Now why am I calling the cosmic energy intelligent ? To be honest I had read this phrase somewhere most probably on the net. But I have used this phrase to convey that this energy level is at a much higher plane than us and it knows what it is doing and has the power to change our circumstances . And that makes our prayers heard and wishes granted.

Our problem is that we just know how to pray off and on. Once we are attuned to God or Cosmic energy , our wish is granted. But we are not able to keep that attunement going on forever. This is where we fail. But I believe staunchly that if we were to know how to use our full potential and attune our brains , we can change our fate too. Realisation of true potential and flow of strong spiritual energy made Savitri challenge death and made our very own Hanuman a Mahaveer.

These are my rambling thoughts. I have no source or proof to validate it. I am not sure whether I am correct and it really does not matter.