Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Stray Thoughts of Dr. Y. V . Rao


Stray Thoughts of Dr. Y. V. Rao-1

                                                                                                Dr. Yerneni Venkateswara Rao
    M.Sc., Ph. D
Retired Principal
Akkineni Nageswara Rao College
GUDIVADA- A.P
yernenivrao@gmail.com
 B1-115
Not to be able to live according to one’s own cherishes values is a tragedy. A worse tragedy however, is to suddenly find that the values one has been holding all the while  to be self-evident, sacrosanct and inviolable are after all illusory or mistaken, and , impliedly , that the certitudes of the past are just not there anymore. Yet, paradoxically, the very ability to perceive the hollowness of one’s erstwhile values and the courage to stare truth in the face can turn the tragedy into a triumph by at once, setting one on the path of truth lighted by the right values for a perspicacious mind with steadfast adherence to truth knows no other path.
  But by far, the worst possible tragedy, worse even than death is to continue to live in the shadow of the same values even after knowing that they are phony and spurious , and to hang on to the same picture of the world even after discovering that it is based on monstrous lies and moribund ideologies. Surprisingly, people who do so either out of reluctance to move out of the cosy comfort of the cocoon built around the old values or out of fear of venturing forth into the uncertain real of the emerging new world view or both are legion.
B1-116
Achieving celebrity status is like mounting a tread mill with no option to dismount until death. One has to keep running faster and faster to stay where one is. No earth shaking enterprise after all, yet so alluring!
B1-117
A fool and his money are soon parted for, he is apt to mistake the greedy toadies gravitating towards him for the much needed well wishers to be reached out to and sought after by him.
B1-118
Consistent reliance on one’s deeds rather than words to do one’s talking, which the former know how to do best is a true mark of maturity.
B1-119
A wise man is aware of his weaknesses and vulnerabilities and works on them to mitigate their negative impact on his character whereas a fool, on the one hand is busy digging up from imagination, non-existent strengths and virtues and a rascal on the other hand  makes  a virtue of every blemish and inadequacy in his character with such passion and devotion as are unknown to either the wise one or the fool and each goes about proclaiming his fictitious account of himself to the wide world.
 B1-120
Career caters to greed masquerading as need relentlessly pushing its unfortunate victim up and up until he finally reaches a state of total alienation from his near and dear ones and even his own environment, moral as well as material, with no exit anywhere in sight. The extent of his success getting reflected in how alone, isolated and alienated he is while calling is a way of life, a self fulfilling mission, a need based activity in the service of both man and community and a stabilizing process, stabilizing oneself as well as one’s community and paving the way for the ultimate integration of the self into the very web of life.
B1-121
What one is naturally, one need not proclaim himself to be (that) but should demonstrate through one’s conduct and character. A proclamation of one’s state of mind/being  involves a doubt and a need for confirmation. Repeated declarations like ‘I am fine’ , ‘I am great’, ‘I am good’ etc are supposed to reflect positive thinking .If they really do, does it mean that positive thinking is so pathetically vulnerable as to need such periodic reassurances and reaffirmations for its survival and sustenance?
B1-122
Mental states are too personal to be proclaimed to the world from rooftops just as privacy is too precious to be paraded in the streets , sashayed on the catwalk or ramp, or exhibited on the stage; they should get reflected in one’s mien and manner.
B1-123
One need not streak in the streets to draw public attention to oneself but some of our wily politicians obviously think otherwise and act accordingly inside and outside the State Legislatures and Parliament, the last sanctuaries of democratic decencies and values, day in and day out to the utter dismay and shame of every civilized soul in this country. One may not expect them to live up to Utopian or exasperatingly exacting or exceedingly high standards of excellence or rectitude but certainly, one can/has a right to expect them to appreciate that such standards do indeed exist and pay heed to them now and then , just for a change from their disgustingly disgraceful routine.
B1-124
However hard one strives, one cannot prevent certain events from happening; the wise know how to limit the damage and adapt to the altered reality and move on.
B1-125
It is a bad situation if words do all the talking leaving no scope for deeds/ actions which, in fact should speak louder than words; it is far worse if they are in perpetual conflict with each other.
B1-126
Context is too important to be overlooked in any situation. So obviously crucial is it to some, yet, as obviously irrelevant or redundant does it appear to be to some others in evaluating any issue under scrutiny. It illuminates the issue and puts it in its proper perspective for a precise assessment of its worth, for the benefit of the former while to the latter, usually a passionate lot , it shows the issue for what it is worth , an insignificant detail in a broad picture, to their utter dismay and consternation, for it robs them of their raison d’etre by divesting them of their prized possession , namely the issue viewed out of context with all its incendiary potential and explosive possibilities. On all such occasions, they find themselves utterly lost for issues. Either way , it is a boon to the wise for, it helps in discriminating between what is worthy and what is unworthy in life and in steering clear of the emotional whirlpools and intellectual booby traps.
  More importantly, facts or events taken out of context may mean any number of different things that may have little or no resemblance to what they actually signify. Decontextualized facts easily lend themselves to be interpreted differently by different people depending on their personal predilections rather than on the truth about what really happened or transpired. Worse is the case where facts are deliberately embedded in a alien context when they get so badly distorted that they not only misrepresent truth but present a wholly unfounded fantasy as hard reality with all the attendant consequences—a subterfuge resorted to by unscrupulous people when confronted with inconvenient and hence, unacceptable facts.
  Facts and context are interdependent and are in interactive unity just as any organism and its environment are.
B1-127
A man is great in proportion to his ability to turn every vulnerability in his character into a source of strength and every challenge in life into an opportunity for advancement, personal as well as usual.
B1-128
The more crushing the burden of failure in one’s home front, the more pressing will be the need for proving oneself in the world outside; but strangely, the greater the external success appears to be, the more devastating the agony of domestic failure will become.
B1- 129
Can there be a worse hell for anyone than his own family, in which every member is aware of his inadequacies and vulnerabilities , and what is worse/more, makes it a point to dilate on them in season and out of season? Oh, yes, a family, passionately preoccupied with any and every other triviality in the world except the fact of his being/ existence can be one such.
B1-130
Context illumines and highlights issues. When the illumination is right , it adds clarity to the issue but when it is excessive , it obscures the issue from view altogether. Context, like a person’s attire, should present facts as they are, no more, no less.
   That’s why it is said that secretaries clarify issues by filling in the background so that the foreground goes underground.
                                                              (To be continued )

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Always beware of wicked people


     Always beware of wicked  people

డాక్టర్. చిలకమర్తి దుర్గాప్రసాద రావు

సమాజంలో రకరకాల స్వభావం కలిగిన వ్యక్తులు౦టారు . కొంతమంది మంచివారు, మరి కొంతమంది నీచులు, ఇంకా కొంతమంది నీచాతినీచులు. వీళ్ళల్లో నీచాతినీచులకు ఇతరులయొక్క మంచి గుణాలతో పనిలేదు. వాళ్ళు ఎవరికైనా అపకారం , హాని చెయ్యడానికి వెనుకాడరు .   కాబట్టి మనం మంచిగానే ఉన్నాం మనకి ఇతరుల వలన ప్రమాదమేమీ ఉండదని ఎవరు ఎన్నడు భావించకూడదు . నీచాతినీచులు ఉంటారని  చెప్పుకున్నాం . వాళ్ళు ఎప్పుడు అజ్ఞానా౦ధకారంలోనే ఉంటారు . కోపంతో మిడిసి పడుతూనే ఉంటారు . అటువంటి వారికి ఇతరుల మంచిగుణాలతో పని లేదు . వాళ్ళకు ఇతరులు ఎంత గొప్పవాళ్లైనా వాళ్ళకు   వారి గొప్పదనంతోను, గుణగణాలతోను  పనిలేదు . ఉదాహరణకి కొన్ని సంఘటనలు మనం పరిశీలిద్దాం . వేదానికి ఆరు అంగాలుంటాయి . అవి శిక్షా , వ్యాకరణం , ఛందస్సు , నిరుక్తం , జ్యోతిషం , కల్పం అనేవి .  వాటిలో వ్యాకరణశాస్త్రం పాణినిమహార్షి మనకందించారు. ఆయన మహామేధావి ,  గొప్పవ్యక్తి . అటువంటి ఆయన్ని ఒక సింహం చాల క్రూరంగా చంపేసింది .
అలాగే  ఛందశ్శాస్త్రాన్ని రచించిన మహనీయుడు పింగళనాగుడు. ఆయన వేలానదిలో స్నానం చేస్తుంటే ఒక మొసలి ఆయన్ని లోపలి ఈడ్చుకు పొయి, చంపి తినేసింది. ఇక ఆస్తికదర్శనాలలో పూర్వమీమాంస అనే శాస్త్రం ఒకటుంది. అది వైదికకార్యకలాపాలను గురించి చర్చించిన గొప్పశాస్త్రం . ఆ శాస్త్రానికి ఆదిప్రవక్త జైమిని . ఆయన్ని ఒక ఏనుగు త్రొక్కి చంపేసింది . దీన్ని బట్టి మనం గమనించ వలసిందేమిటంటే అజ్ఞానంతో కళ్ళు మూసుకుపోయిన వారికి , అతిగా కోపి౦చే వారికి ఇతరుల మంచి గుణాలతో పనిలేదంటాడు పంచతంత్రకర్త విష్ణుశర్మ. ఈ సంఘటనలను బట్టి మనం గ్రహించవలసిం దేంటంటే  మనం ఇతరులకు కీడు చెయ్యనివారమే అయినప్పటికీ ఇతరులవలన మనకు కీడు జరగదు అని అను కోరాదు  మన జాగ్రత్తలో మనం ఉండాలి.     ఇక్కడ కవి పేర్కొన్న సంఘటనలు  జంతువులకు సంబంధించినవి అయినప్పటికీ మనం అందులో ఉండే తాత్పర్యాన్ని గ్రహించాలి .  
सिंहो व्याकरणस्य कर्तुरहरत् प्राणान् प्रियान् पाणिनेः
मीमांसाकृतमुन्ममाथ सहसा हस्ती मुनिं जैमिनिम्
छन्दोज्ञाननिधिं जघान मकरो वेलातटे पिङ्गलम्
अज्ञानावृतचेतसामतिरुषां कोऽर्थ: परेषां  गुणैः 
సింహో వ్యాకరణస్య కర్తురహరత్  ప్రాణాన్ ప్రియాన్ పాణినే:
మీమాం సా కృతమున్మమాథ సహసా హస్తీ మునిం జైమినిం
ఛందో జ్ఞాననిధిం జఘాన మకరో వేలాతటే పింగళ౦
అజ్ఞానావృత చేతసా మతిరుషాం కోsర్థ: పరేషాం  గుణై:
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Thursday, November 21, 2019

BOON OR A BOONDOGGLE ?-5 (డా|| వై.వి.రావ్)


         BOON OR A BOONDOGGLE ?-5
Dr. Yerneni Venkateswara Rao
M.Sc., Ph. D
Retired Principal
Akkineni Nageswara Rao College
GUDIVADA- A.P


 B1-114
 The rationalist’s contention that if God exists, He being omniscient, omnipresent , omnipotent , compassionate and benevolent , there should be no place for inequality, injustice and suffering in His creation, and since they abound in the world, God must be either wicked or non existent, and since He cannot by definition be wicked, He must be non-existent is fine as tour de force in forensic praxis and reasoning prowess. However, if God were to prove His existence to the satisfaction of the rationalist by intervening in the affairs of the world on a day-to-day basis, what will become of him and the world at large? Will he be any more than a glorified puppeteer and the world any more than an elaborate puppet show?  In such a world, will there be any scope for the existence of the very essence of life, its joys and sorrows , conflicts and concordance , drama and dreams and unfulfilled longings and the heights and the depths of human experience as also any room for the display of courage to meet the challenges , patience to go through the travails of life, fortitude in adversity, dignity in facing failures, and humility in accepting victories? More importantly, will the omniscient God be so naïve as to put himself out of a job by making the world perfect with no room left for poverty, inequity and injustice, disease and suffering and all forms of evil in it? Besides, won’t the human mind, whose forte is categorization and analysis become dysfunctional if only the good, the just, the joyful and the beautiful exist apart from their counterparts by cutting the very ground on which it stands from under its feet and will not life degenerate into a dull and drab routine and a humdrum chore beyond endurance with nothing to wonder at, nor anything to be curious about , virtually throwing the rationalist out of his job? And will it not be far worse than any Kafkaesque situation/nightmare imaginable? – insufferably monotonous and impenetrably oppressive?  If indeed, life were entirely rational , where would be any need for God or a rationalist? A lowly computer –super or superduper one as the case may be—would have taken care of everything. It is perhaps because of such thoughts that Albert Einstein during his middle age said :” I believe in a God who reveals himself in the harmony of all that exists , not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and actions of men.”
  What the rationalists forget is that existence of God is not a subject of debate or a problem of logic nor even a matter of faith but one of inner awareness and intuitive understanding. One may wonder if the issue cannot be settled through scientific investigation, that all-powerful means to unravel the mysteries of nature. No, it is not possible. “’God exists or does not exist’ are both unscientific hypotheses because they cannot be refuted experimentally whereas ‘Moon’s surface is made of butter’ or ‘Jupiter has n number of moons’ is an excellent scientific hypothesis , for it could be refuted by experiment.” Propositions about God’s existence or non-existence being untestable, and unfalsifiable fall outside the ambit of science. Hence arises the comment in ‘Scientific American’: “the hand of God may well be all around us, but it is not nor it can be the task of science to dust for fingerprints .” Those that have a logical bent of mind and argue otherwise often take recourse to the riddle of the great Greek philosopher, Epicurus to prove their point: “ Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then, he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?” A variation of the argument on the same theme by Anatole France runs like this : “ Either God would prevent evil if he could, but could not, or he could but would not, or he neither could nor would, or he both would and could. If he would but could not , he is impotent; if he could but would not, he is perverse; if he neither could nor would, he is at once impotent and perverse; if he both could and would, why on earth doesn’t he do it, Father?”
    Irrefutable logic indeed!
  However unassailable logic maybe , it does not always take us to the truth about things as, for example , it fails to do in the case of an electron : “If we ask, for instance, whether the position of the electron remains the same, we must say ‘no’; if we ask whether the electron’s position changes with time, we must say ‘no’; if we ask whether the electron is at rest, we must say ‘no’, if we ask whether it is in motion , we must say ‘no’ (Robert Oppenheimer , in Science and the Common understanding ,1954 O.U. press)
  Patently illogical and highly irrational but absolutely true !
 When this is the case with the lowly electron , what right have we to expect logic and rationality to do any better in proving or disproving the existence of God?
  Equally illogical, if not more is what Is’avasyopanishad (sloka 5) had to say about the Ultimate Reality:
“ It moves, It moves not
It is far , and it is near
It is within all this,
And it is outside of all this”
 Or for the matter of that, no less illogical is what As’vaghosha(1st century AD) the greatest exponent of Mahayana Buddhism , said about suchness: “ Suchness is neither that which is existence nor that which is non-existence , nor that which is at once existence and non-existence, nor that which is at not at once existence and non-existence.”
  They sound totally absurd and highly irrational but that doesn’t make them any the less true , for they are the highest truths experienced by the highly eveloved souls, the men of God , in their moments of heightened awareness when their mind fields were flooded with spiritual illumination. Until we train ourselves and graduate to that state, we have to necessarily rely on such supreme teachers and benefactors of mankind for enlightenment and guidance in our pursuit of that quintessential truth and Ultimate Reality. But whatever we learn from such exemplary beings as also from sacred scriptures has to be reflected upon , examined under the microscope of our discrimination, clarified in the crucible of our intellect and judged/confirmed in the light of our personal experience—a process which leads to a rock like conviction—that should serve as the starting point of our spiritual journey if it is to culminate in God realization, the Supreme goal of life. Their unanimous message is that man should renounce the sense of his doership as well as the fruits of his actions, acquire the faculty of discrimination that throws the spotlight on the eternal and the ephemeral and imbues his heart with love by filling it to the brim , and develop a state of mind that dedicates his ‘all’  to God, thereby absolving himself of any sense of ego. For, it is the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ that is the greatest barrier in the path to God realization.
    Yet another down-to-earth argument in the same genre goes like this : “Seeing is believing; I don’t see God; why should I believe that he exists? A moment’s reflection however reveals that we believe in the existence of a whole lot of things that we do not see nor do we care to look at, let alone see. We simply base our belief on experts’ observations and conclusions. Why not the same criterion be applied in the case of God too? For instance, one needs a microscope to see the most minute objects like bacteria and virus particles and a telescope to observe the farthest objects, stellar or terrestrial. So does one need a divine eye , en eye of intuition to see God. Just as we implicitly believe the biologists and astronomers , even as we do not actually see what they perceive so should we believe the seers and saints who have acquired the divine eye through constant meditation, penance, yoga and other spiritual practices and disciplines (sadhana) and seen God even if we don’t see him with our physical eyes. Likewise, when physicists insist that energy is one though its manifestations – the myriad different objects in the universe, large and small—are many , we implicitly believe in them but find it hard to believe the spiritual masters when they assert that the Spirit /Consciousness is one while its manifestations—animate and inanimate, sensate and insensate entities in the world—are many. Why? For the matter of that, we experience hunger, thirst, satiation, happiness, fatigue, sorrow and many other emotions but we cannot see or demonstrate them. Yet that cannot be a ground for denying their existence and none ever questions their veracity because they are universally shared feelings and hence, self evident truths and acknowledged facts, they being part and parcel of everyone’s psychological experience.
  More importantly, we experience our true being—the undying ‘I’ as consciousness—as directly and intensely as we are aware of our ego—the mortal ‘I’ as the body-mind-intellect personality ever wallowing in its deluded existence as doer and enjoyer – if not more, although we cannot prove the core of our being as easily and readily as we can establish our tangible physical existence .Our inevitability to prove our true being , the conscious observer in our body mind complex, who is aware of the physical and mental changes taking place as age advances but who remains constant, thereby establishing our real , permanent identity in a more concrete and tangible way , however, doesn’t make us any the less real. If there is anything in existence about which we can be absolutely certain, it is the ‘I’ we experience as the very essence of our being although all may not be able to articulate what they experience as a matter of course. Such self evident truths stemming from pan human experience need no substantiation, they being beyond the bounds of proof. Besides, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
  The trouble with most people is that they cherry pick the issues and facts that suit their particular taste and fancy that their beliefs, in sharp contrast to those of others, are based on logical thinking and reasoned argument.
Even at the risk of repetition, it must be stressed that the almighty is not an entity that can be grasped through logical reasoning, theoretical discussion or rational analysis but one that can be sought through impeccable piety, genuine love, sincere devotion and total surrender and apprehended through inner experience or direct awareness.
The awareness of Self, the inner essence of one’s being underlying all human emotions, thoughts and actions as also the underlying substratum of all that exists which is independent of the body and the outside world is purely experiential and not all conceptual and hence, non rational. Although it is beyond the ken of all that is attainable through the senses and the mind and hence, ordinary human understanding , ‘IT’ is acceptable to the sincere seekers because of God’s boundless compassion and ever flowing grace for His devotees.  Following the prescription of the spiritual masters , when one attains this blissful state of experiencing one’s own Self, one realizes that it is part of an infinite, unbroken continuum , a boundless integral whole, which is the Universal Soul we call God. Self realization and God realization are two sides of the same coin.
  It is pertinent to note here that Kurt Godel’s paradigm altering incompleteness theorem (1931) showed that any logical system contains at least one true statement which the system itself can’t prove to be true, implying that every logical system , in principle , is incomplete in the sense that it is incapable of accounting for all truth, and that a refined mind can recognize an absolute truth , independent of logic and experiment with complete certainty and utmost precision. Intuition , although purely subjective projects/inspires ideas and throws up cognitions and revelations that come all at once and whole, with a sense of perfect certainty but with no proof or intervening logical steps , which would , of course, be worked out afterwards.  In fact, many of the most significant break throughs in science suddenly blossomed in someone’s mind unbidden, all at once. What entity could be nobler or worthier of man’s attention than the Ultimate Reality, and who or what could bar the human mind that is well prepared from experiencing  IT? As a step in that direction, one should mind the mind and guard against desire (kama) , anger(krodha), and miserliness (lobha) with a view to getting rid of them completely if possible, so that one’s mind becomes purified and one is in tune with one’s fellow beings , with nature and with life in general. Equally important , if not more, is the ability to retain one’s equanimity of mind at all costs and under all circumstances—adverse or enticing, formidable or favourable , intimidating or inviting, frustrating or fulfilling, daunting or delightful, by transcending the dualities of life. In short, one should become free from any trace of disharmony in life arising out of frustration due to unfulfilled desires or delusion due to entanglement in the likes and dislikes, preferences and prejudices and all the rest  of them , and be able to accept life as it is and as it comes, without so much as a murmur or a complaint in the full knowledge that to complain against life amounts to daring God’s will. If one’s aim is to experience His abounding grace and limitless glory through spiritual practice (sadhana).
  Shedding one’s ego through renunciation , one should look upon oneself as only an instrument, nay, one should truly become a conscious instrument in the hands of God and serve him with desireless devotion while constantly endeavouring to become an ever more perfect tool to serve not only the God Almighty, but also the God residing in man, and all living beings better and better. The appropriate frame of mind should be akin to that of a Shiva Bhakta (Shiva’s devotee) who worships thus: “Oh Shiva! You are myself. My mind is Parvathi. My praanas are your servants , my body is your house , my actions in this world are your worship. My sleep is Samadhi. My walk is circumambulation of you. My speech is your prayer .Thus do I offer all that I am to you.”
  Tall order no doubt, but then God-realization , the reward sought for is far too precious to be had cheaply. Our efforts after all, must be commensurate with our aspirations. The higher the latter, the more demanding the former. “If anything is to be achieved, and the price to be paid is this, so be it”, should be the attitude we must adopt. The greatest hurdle in the path of God realization being the sense of ego , the towering presence in human consciousness, one must immerse oneself in thoughts of God and his glory so completely as to leave no room for the play of ego. As long as the ego centric feeling of pride in one’s possessions such as one’s wealth, strength or learning persists, God realization cannot happen, it being an experience felt within one’s consciousness and not a matter of mind or intellect. In spite of its daunting nature, there are numerous illuminating examples of how saints and seers, sages and savants in our country down the centuries took this path to realize God with faith and courage, and persevered until they succeeded in attaining their goal of gaining the vision of God, the more recent such inspiring souls and exemplars being Ramakrishna Paramahamsa , Sri Aurobindo and Bhagawan Ramana Maharshi. These realized souls were able to recognize the strong thread of connectivity that runs through the entire universe cutting across the astonishing variety in creation. When one internalizes this truth, not as  a philosophical speculation or a mental concept but as conscious awareness, the ultimate knowledge of the self begins to dawn in one’s consciousness and one starts perceiving the universe as a grand celebration of the many differences in form, name and quality amidst its essential oneness. As long as one is conscious of one’s self as an individual, one is unable to feel connected. So by offering to God ‘the eye’ who fails to recognize this connectivity together with its ignorance and arrogance, one earns the right to enter the kingdom of God. Their unanimous assertion was that those who seek the Supreme with unshakeable faith are bound to attain the Supreme. Who knows, you may be the next one in that illustrious line of enlightened and evolved souls and men of God. For God has gifted every human being extraordinary faculties, enormous power and inexhaustible reservoirs of inner strength besides being ever ready to shower His bountiful grace, unfailing protection and infinite compassion on whoever turns to him with total devotion and absolute faith to overcome the hurdles encountered on the way to self fulfilment, and it is your privilege to use them for whatever purpose you choose and attain your goal even if that goal is Self-realization, which is another name for God- realization.
 Simply put, through discrimination , one should first control one’s mind and unshackle oneself from all worldly attachments and aversions and all other mundane preoccupations with a desire for the fruits thereof, and then through unfailing pursuit of desireless action ,unconditional/causeless love and disinterested benevolence together with deep and unseasoned devotion culminating in absolute/total surrender, the acme of devotion to the Supreme Beings one gains entry into the domain of divine grace ever present in one’s own heart, which though in this world, is not of it and stays anchored in that reality ever after. One who chooses the Divine is chosen by the Divine, asserts Lord Krishna (B.G IX 22 XVIII- 65, 66 Kathopanishad I ii 23) and also Mundakopanishad  (III ii 3).
  An easier an perhaps more practical way to realize God is through knowing man for what he really is and lovingly serve fellow human beings with humility, sincerity and dedication on the one hand, and realizing our Cosmic connection together with our inalienable bonds with the rest of the universe/world and acting in tune with that understanding on the other.
  Through body, we are tied to the non-living mineral world which, arising as it is out of stardust, has its roots in the stellar world, through life, we are bonded with the plant world, through instincts we are connected with the animal world, through mind and intellect we inhabit the human world and through consciousness / spirit, we dwell in the spiritual world which is our original home. In the light of these obvious linkages, it is utterly untenable for man to think of himself as someone special and different from the macrocosm or other life forms, especially his fellow beings.
  We alternate between these worlds choosing to stay for shorter or longer periods in each and interacting with its denizens depending on our innate inclinations and inherent tendencies—our nature which is determined by our karma, both good and bad accumulated through our actions in previous births. Yet, the choice of which world we elect to live in and make it our preferred or permanent dwelling place falls within the ambit of our free will and hence, is entirely our privilege. Right thinking and diligent discrimination however, clearly point to and goad us towards the higher planes of existence. But assent to loftier worlds demands strenuous effort and steadfast commitment to reach the goal, which we are perfectly capable of invoking if we wish sincerely enough.
  More importantly, just as the physical world is the manifestation of the cosmic energy in its multiple forms, so is the harmony one sees everywhere in the universe , the expression of the all-pervading Cosmic spirit in its infinite glory and majestic splendour. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that the same spirit/consciousness that informs and animates man informs and animates the Cosmos too , and since consciousness , like life is one , an inseparable whole , a seamless entity and an infinite unity, we are in essence one with the universal consciousness and hence we are no different from the Cosmic spirit. Else, how is this seemingly incomprehensible universe has become comprehensible? In a way, man is a micro version of the macrocosm. He is indeed the microcosm, which not only mirrors every single aspect and facet of the macrocosm but is imbued with each and every one of them. So, knowing man as he is is knowing the cosmos as it is. That is why some seekers of the knowledge of the Cosmic spirit chose to explore man’s inner world by probing such mystical and philosophical questions as “Who am I? “, “ What makes my mind think?” and “Does life have a purpose or is it a matter of chance?” and arrived at the universal realization that the Cosmic spirit is an eternal , infinite and all-pervading entity, a Reality that is beyond ordinary knowing and beyond everyday language and , above all, that IT is identical with their indwelling spirit. The awakened souls who realized God declared that God is infinite without beginning or end, and though engaged in the acts of creation, sustenance and dissolution on the Cosmic scale is also simultaneously the indwelling spirit of each and every living being. The bliss of such spiritual realization being ineffable, mystics who have revelled in It speak about it only metaphorically, the metaphor serving as signposts/fingerposts that help others reach the ultimate goal of Self-realization.
  So , loving man is no different from loving the Cosmic spirit we call God. Our preference for viewing the Spirit as God is rooted in the fact that while a mere Cosmic entity, however sublime and lofty , could hardly inspire hope, faith, devotion or sacrifice and offer consolation to the distressed and courage to the embattled souls, a living God can do all this and much more, very much more indeed. For then , we can more easily relate to the divine Spirit by perceiving IT as a compassionate father or mother, an affectionate friend or preceptor or a loving companion or consort in accordance with our personal preference as practised in the hoary Indian tradition and the comfort and joy such an intimate and proximate relationship imbued with emotional appeal affords/reinforces the personal , subjective and individual approach to God-realization that does not depend on complex theoretical rhetoric and recondite scriptural texts. The deep devotion and total dedication with which we worship God and meditate on and commune with Him gets automatically reflected in everything we do and gets translated into our sincere love of, and selfless service to man, they being the manifest symptoms and outward symbols of our love of God , and service to Him.
  Hence, the assertion of the Upanishadic seers that one who sees all beings in oneself and oneself in all beings as naturally as one breathes and conducts oneself effortlessly as God intended one to while all the time staying attuned to the Supreme Being is a Realized Soul who enjoys the bliss of communion with God. The bliss of such spiritual experience being unique to each individual cannot be expressed in words which are meant to communicate collective experiences pertaining to sense objects encountered in the mundane world. The realized souls who have identified themselves with the infinite in their Siddhi state , however, transcend the states of ‘is’ and ‘is not’, ‘existence’ and ‘non-existence’, they being the attributes of the sensory world. So great souls who have revelled/exalted in IT prefer to remain either silent or speak about it in metaphors, symbols or occult language for the benefit of other spiritual aspirants. That is why scriptures describe the nature of the divine in lofty terms and much of the philosophical import is couched in a maze of theoretical exegeses and recondite terminology. This result of the inner quest, this spiritual goal can not only be attained through ‘jnaana’ of the highest order but can also be attained through deep devotion, total dedication and self surrender with not a shred of ego left. Preoccupation with matters material and pursuit of things spiritual are not incompatible with one another as many mistakenly or erroneously think but must run concurrently throughout life for the realization of God, provided that the engagement in worldly activities is with total renunciation and with no desire for the fruits thereof, with not even a desire for God realization. The sacred and the secular ,  though they appear to be mutually exclusive , are but two facets of the same Reality and the key to realizing it lies in harmonizing the two and leading an integrated life.
  Following up the theme of microcosm and macrocosm being mirror images of each other , one would be struck with wonder and awe when one realized that through the materiality of one’s body , one can extend in consciousness far beyond the narrow confines of one’s finite body and embrace everything material everywhere in the universe, through life one can realize one’s identity with all forms of life, through instinct one’s identity with all sentient beings, and through mind and intellect one’s identity with all of humanity. Whoever succeeds in accomplishing this ennobling and enlightening task, thereby acquiring an all-encompassing and a truly holistic perspective of one’s presence everywhere and in everything and stays anchored in such a sublime state of identity with all that exists, sees everything in oneself and oneself in everything and loves all as naturally as seasons follow one another and days alternate with nights. Such an elevating, yet humbling realization soothes, harmonises and unites one’s heart and mind with the Cosmic spirit and lends/reveals meaning and purpose to one’s own existence as well as that of the universe, that being the primeval urge of the infinite consciousness, the only extant Reality to realize Itself.
  Is it any wonder if the insightful thought that the Cosmic spirit in its seemingly endless endeavour to realize Itself, has finally succeeded in doing so in man’s realization of his true identity as a final fruit and crowning glory of man’s eternal quest for self knowledge flits across the mind’s eye? Arrogant though this thought may appear to be,, it is by far the most humbling experience one can have in as much as all the realized souls are the every personifications of humility with unconditional love and boundless compassion as their hallmark. In a manner of speaking, man is the macrocosm in miniature while the universe is the microcosm on a grand scale. They are but twins, different in scale and magnitude but same in substance and spirit. The observer and the observed being one, whenever we look out upon the universe, it is as if the universe is looking at itself through our eyes and It’s. 
Thus, through the study and understanding of the external world , man becomes aware of the underlying Cosmic spirit and starts contemplating on his multiple bonds with all that make up the universe while through inner awareness, he realizes his true nature and attains to that exalted/sublime state wherein he sees himself as the universe and the universe as himself. Though it appears paradoxical that two such diametrically opposite approaches , one leading to a profounder world knowledge (vijnaana) and the other to a deeper self knowledge (jnaana) converge essentially to the same goal, in fact, it is not, for Truth being what it is, en eternal infinite all pervading reality behind the outward appearances of the universe , every path must necessarily lie in It and lead to It, there being nothing else besides It. As the inimitable J Krishnamurthy puts it, “the way is the goal.”
  Striking a somewhat philosophical but eminently more pragmatic note, here is what Blaise Pascal , the man of varied gifts observed: “ either God exists or He does not and we cannot use reason to determine which alternative is true…since choosing to believe that God exists may lead to eternal life and happiness and nothing is lost if we are wrong about the other choice, it is better to accept the theistic alternative.” What is more, believing the other alternative is fraught with dangerous and frightful consequences as rightly warned by T.S Elliot : “If you will not have God(and He is a jealous God), you should pay your respects to Hitler or Stalin” for, “ When men stop believing in God, they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in anything”, according to GK Chesterton. In fact, one doesn’t have to look too far a field for proof of God’s existence. “ In the absence of any other proof , thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence”, asserted Sir Isaac Newton, the greatest scientist ever lived. A clear understanding of the crucial and critical role played by the opposing thumb , a unique gift granted to man, in building human civilization will enable one to appreciate the truth of this assertion better. A still more straight forward truth was offered by philosopher Spinoza : “ If this be denied, conceive , if it be possible, that God does not exist then it follows that his essence does not involve existence. But this is absurd. Therefore, God necessarily exists”, and added that “ God is the absolutely first cause”.
  It is appropriate to conclude this part of the discussion and pragmatic approaches to the issue of God’s existence with what that quintessential philosopher Plato, the very embodiment of philosophy, had to say in this regard: “ Granted that none of the beliefs about God , personal immortality, rebirth etc) can be demonstrated ; that God maybe after all only the personified ideal of our love and hope… yet surely (so runs the argument , Pascal like , of the Phaedo), it will do us no harm to believe and it may do us and our children immeasurable good.”
  Finally , won’t the striking similarity between the views of God expressed by two different visionaries who hail from two entirely different cultural and civilizational backgrounds testify/attest to the essential truth of His existence? A modern western author avers that God sleeps in the mineral , awakens in the vegetable , walks in the animal, thinks in man and reveals himself in a saint. According to Sri Aurobindo, a modern saint and seer of India, matter is nothing but God in form, life nothing but God in action and mind nothing but God as a supernal feeling and Supreme idea, a sublime emotion and a subtle thought.
  Either of these may not be a pithy description of God, yet each is as definitive and comprehensive a vision as any can be that fills the bill and evokes wonder , awe, humility and faith. Unless someone is unfortunate enough to have a mind, which is like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set he can look inside himself and all around him with an open mind, a keen eye and a pure heart, he is sure to find God everywhere.
  To sum up, God, the spiritual essence of all that exists is beyond the web of space, time and causality and hence is hardly amenable to logical thinking and rational analysis which, no doubt,  are good and effective tools to explore the physical reality. So the path of reason and rationality is not the one to be trodden for attaining God realization. Simply put, God cannot be the end product of an intellectual quest, however intense and thorough it be.
Even if one seeks to have no more than a peek into the spiritual domain or an inkling or a mere gleam/glimmering of understanding of the Supreme Reality one has to choose and if possible, tread the non-rational and supra logical path of intuition and inner awareness rather than that of logic and debate for, by Its very nature , the effulgent Truth , the ultimate Reality we call God is non conceptual and trans rational , nay , super rational.

వ్యక్తిత్వం –వకారపంచకం


            వ్యక్తిత్వం వకారపంచకం
డాక్టర్ . చిలకమర్తి దుర్గాప్రసాద రావు
వస్త్రేణ వపుషా వాచా విద్యయా వినయేన
వకార పంచకేనైవ నరో భవతి పూజిత:

అన్నారు మన పెద్దలు . అంటే మనిషి వ్యక్తిత్వాన్నిసూచించే  అంశాలు ఐదు ఉన్నాయి.  అవే౦టంటే వస్త్రం , రూపం , మాటతీరు , విద్య , వినయం  అనేవి . వాటిగురించి క్రమంగా తెలుసుకుందాం .   

  1. వస్త్రం : 
మొదటిది వస్త్రం . ఒక మనిషి ధరించే బట్టల వల్ల అతడు ఎటువంటి వాడో చాలవరకు అందరికి తెలుస్తుంది . అందువల్ల ప్రతివ్యక్తి తనకున్నంతలో  ఎప్పుడు పరిశుభ్రమైన బట్టలనే  ధరించాలి. మురికి బట్టలు వేసుకో కూడదు .  మంచి బట్టలే వేసుకోవాలి  . బట్టలు వ్యక్తి  యొక్క హుందాతనాన్ని ప్రతిబింబించేవిగా ఉండాలి . ఇక్కడ మంచిబట్టలంటే ఖరీదైన బట్టలని కాదు పరిశుభ్రమైన బట్టలని మాత్రమే  . సమాజంలో   కొంతమంది బట్టలను బట్టి గౌరవించేవారు కూడ ఉంటారు. బట్టలను బట్టి వ్యక్తిని అంచనా వేయడం కేవలం మనుషుల్లోనే కాదు దేవతల్లో కూడ ఉంది .    ఇక మనుషుల సంగతి  వేరే చెప్పాలా!
విష్ణుమూర్తి పీతాంబరుడు కాబట్టి సముద్రుడు పిలిచి పిల్లనిచ్చాడని శివుడు గజచర్మధారి కాబట్టి విషం ఇచ్చాడని మన పెద్దలు చమత్కరించారు . ఈ విషయాన్ని వివరిస్తూ ఎప్పుడో నేనొక పద్యం కూడ వ్రాశాను .

భువిలో యోగ్యతకన్న వస్త్రమునకొప్పున్ భూషణాధిక్య గౌ
రవముల్ పచ్చని బట్టవానికి మహద్ రాగంబుతోడందనూ
భవనిచ్చెన్ గజచార్మధారియగు నా ఫాలాక్షుకాత్మోత్థీతో
గ్రవిషంబిచ్చె నదీకళత్రుడట వస్త్రంబే ప్రధానంబుగన్

అందువల్ల పరిశుభ్రమైన బట్టలు వేసుకోవాలి. ఎవరు ఆక్షేపించే   విధంగా ఉ౦డకూడదు .

కుచేలినం దంతమలాపహాసినం
బహ్వాశన౦ నిష్ఠురవాక్యభాషిణ౦
సూర్యోదయే చాస్తమాయే చ శాయినం
విముంచతి శ్రీ రపి చక్రపాణిన౦

అనే సూక్తి ఒకటుంది . మాసిపోయిన బట్టలు వేసుకున్న వాణ్ణి, ముఖం కడుక్కోని వాణ్ణి,  అతిగా తినే వాణ్ణి,  కఠినంగా మాట్లాడేవాణ్ణి, సూర్యోదయ - సూర్యాస్తమయ వేళల్లో పడుకునే వాణ్ణి లక్ష్మి దరిజేరదట. ఒక వేళ ఆ పనులు విష్ణువు చేస్తున్నా అతన్ని విడిచి పెట్టేస్తు౦దట.     
ఇక ఈ కాలంలో  కొంతమంది ఫ్యాషన్ పేరుతో అసభ్యకరమైన , అర్ధనగ్నంగా ఉండే బట్టలు ధరిస్తున్నారు .!  ఒకడు ముందు in-shirt చేసు కున్నాడు . వెనకాల in-shirt చేసుకోలేదు. వాడి స్నేహితుడు అడిగాడు ఏరా! ముందు in-shirt ఎందుకు చేసుకున్నావు ? సమాధానం: - చొక్కాచిరిగి పోయింది  . మరి వెనుక in-shirt ఎందుకు  చేసుకోలేదు ? పేంటు చిరిగిపోయింది . ఇదీ సమాధానం .  ఒకప్పుడు చిరిగిపోయిన బట్టలు వేసుకోవాలంటే నామోషి . కాని ఇప్పుడు బట్టలు చింపుకుని మరీ వేసుకుంటున్నారు . ఇది మరీ విడ్డూరం . కాబట్టి మనిషి ఇతరులు ఆక్షేపించే విధంగా కాకుండా పరిశుభ్రమైనవి , సంస్కారం ఉట్టి పడేటటువంటి   బట్టలు ధరించాలి.

2. రూపం :-  ఇది రెండో అంశం .  మనిషి రూపాన్ని బట్టి కూడ ఒక్కొక్కప్పుడు వ్యక్తిత్వాన్ని అంచనా వేస్తారు. యత్రాకృతి: తత్ర గుణా: భవంతి అన్నారు మన పెద్దలు . ఎక్కడ రూపం ఉంటుందో అక్కడ గుణాలు కూడ ఉంటాయని ప్రతీతి .  అంటే అందంగా ఉన్న ప్రతివాడు మంచివాడని  అందవికారంగా ఉన్నవాడు చెడ్డవాడని అర్థంకాదు . రూపం గుణాన్ని చాటే అంశాల్లో ఒకటని  మాత్రమే. అందువల్ల ప్రతిమనిషి తనకున్నంతలో అందంగా , హుందాగా  గంబీరంగా కనిపించాలి .

౩. వాక్కు :- ఇది మూడోది . మనిషి వ్యక్తిత్వం మాటతీరును బట్టి చెప్పొచ్చు . కొంతమంది మృదువుగా మాట్లాడతారు , కొంతమంది కఠినంగా మాట్లాడతారు . ఎంతో కఠినమైన విషయాన్ని కూడ మృదువుగా చెప్పొచ్చు . కొంతమంది ప్రతి చిన్న విషయాన్ని చాల కఠోరంగా మాట్లాడతారు . అందువల్ల ఇతరులకు బాధకలగకుండా మాట్లాడ గలగాలి .

4. విద్య :-  ఇది నాల్గో అంశం .
         మనిషికి విద్య నిజమైన అలంకారం . విద్యలేని వాడు వింతపశువు అన్నారు మన పెద్దలు . ఇప్పుడు చదువుకొన్నవాడు సంతపశువుగా ప్రవర్తిస్తున్నాడు . సరే ! ఆ విషయం అలా ఉంచుదాం .  ప్రతి తల్లి , తండ్రి తమపిల్లల్ని విధిగా చదివి౦చాలి.
"మాతా శతుర్ : పితా వైరీ యేన బాలో న పాఠిత:
న శోభతే సభా మధ్యే హంస మధ్యే బకో యథా" అంటుంది పంచతంత్రం .
 
పిల్లల్ని చదివి౦చని తల్లి , తండ్రి వారి పాలిట శత్రువులట. ఎందుకంటే  చదువులేని వాడు సమాజంలో హంసలమధ్య కొంగలా తేలిపోతాడట. అంతేకాకుండా పుత్ర: శత్రు: అపండిత: అని కూడ చెబుతుంది పంచతంత్రం   . అంటే చదువుకోని కుమారుడు, కుమార్తె  తల్లితండ్రుల  పాలిట శత్రువులట . అందువల్ల తల్లి దండ్రులు విధిగా తమపిల్లల్ని చదివించాలి . పిల్లలు విధిగా చదువుకోవాలి .

5. వినయం :- ఇది ఐదవ అంశం . చదువు ఎంత ముఖ్యమో చదువుతో పాటు వినయం కూడ అంతే ముఖ్యం. అందువల్ల మనిషి ఎంత విద్యావంతుడౌతాడో   అంత వినయవంతుడు కూడ కావాలి . వినయంలేని విద్య వాసన లేని పువ్వు వంటిది . అది ఎవరికీ ఉపయోగ పడదు . తనకు కూడ ప్రమాదాన్ని తెచ్చి పెడుతుంది .  మనిషి ఈ ఐదు అంశాలను పరిశీలించి తగిన విధంగా జాగ్రత్తగా మసలుకుంటే అది వ్యక్తిత్వవికాసానికి దోహదం చేస్తుంది .         
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Monday, November 18, 2019

BOON OR A BOONDOGGLE?-4 (Dr.Y.V. Rao)


         BOON OR A BOONDOGGLE?-4

                                                                                                Dr. Yerneni Venkateswara Rao
M.Sc., Ph. D
Retired Principal
Akkineni Nageswara Rao College
GUDIVADA- A.P
yernenivrao@gmail.com

Every public function /office is divine by virtue of its being a public trust and as such public functionaries—ministers, bureaucrats , judges et al—should perform their duties with worshipful attitude without ever forgetting that they themselves continue to be human with their petty egos overriding everything else including their integrity of character and basic human decency. Trouble starts when they begin to succumb to the temptation of thinking that they have become divine by virtue of the functions they happen to perform or the public offices they happen to hold at the moment. And this aberration, once set in , inevitably shows up in their failure to play fair by the society , that has placed them on a high pedestal reposing all its faith and hopes in them and expecting rectitude and competence in return from them.
  Now the question is, what is the prevailing situation in our society? How impervious or other wise are the functionaries to this aberration and how pervasive or otherwise are its disturbing consequences to the society? Sad to say, the aberration has already become a deep seated melody afflicting public functionaries/ office-holders at every level, and the scenario of society’s dashed hopes, unredeemed promises, unfulfilled aspirations, frustrated expectations and unrealized dreams is what is being played out endlessly everywhere in the country today.
  What will the situation be in our society? In other words,  how pervasive or otherwise will the aberration be and, if pervasive, how deeply disappointing will its consequences be to the society? This futuristic question can be answered in the present perfect because the very depressing consequences of public functionaries being afflicted by this deep-rooted melody have already become an integral part of everyday life of the society and the tragic drama of society’s forlorn hopes, unfulfilled expectations, broken promises and forsaken dreams is what is being enacted endlesslessly everywhere in the country today.
  Instances of persons committing the crime of abusing public office, betraying the trust and belying the hopes of the society and enriching themselves with total disdain for moral concerns are legion while in, contrast, instances of those that have been brought to book are few and far between, and the consequent disillusionment and frustration arising out of an acute sense/ feeling of being let down have already assumed menacing proportions; the all enveloping gloom, despondency, apathy and cynicism need hardly be mentioned.
  How well demarcated is the distinction between the divine function and the human functionary and yet, how often and how easily is it lost sight of! And again, how very clear and unambiguous is another equally cardinal proposition that holding a position in public life brings with it a need to live up to standards , not ordinarily expected of others and when such constraints are accepted voluntarily and adhered to scrupulously, the position provides exceptional opportunities to serve the community and the nation, which too is as often and as easily overlooked! Why? Why does this happen when things are so brilliantly luminous/patent as to be obvious even to the meanest intelligence? Shouldn’t the public functionaries, almost all of them, pause for a moment in their insane pursuit of/mad rush for power and pelf and ponder over the paramount importance of the not so subtle distinction between themselves as human individuals and their functions as divine duties , on the one hand, and the utter folly of bartering away a unique privilege to serve society in exchange for narrow personal gain, on the other and act according to their conscience through self imposed ineluctable restrictions on their baser instincts and appetites if for no other reason than that of saving their own humanity, the most precious possession we all are born with? Indeed they should and in all probability , they would too, for otherwise they would be overtaken by the events of the fast emerging environment of greater transparency and accountability in the governance of the country , thanks largely to the ever rising levels of public awareness, keen vigilance , possibly giving birth also to vigilantism and media alertness.
  Afterall, what can be more reasonable than to expect that just as they were quick to grasp an opportunity to stray from the straight path with impunity in a permissive milieu, so too would they be smart enough to know how to fall in line the moment the warning bells ring as they seem to have already started doing. He who knows how to fish in shallow waters knows how to avoid the perils of deep waters. Even if as little as a tenth of the concern and talk about these compulsions of the moment get translated into concrete reality in the form of built in checks and balances to ensure clean, hassle-free public life, which by no stretch of imagination can be dubbed as a cry for the moon, it would mean a tremendous boost to the sagging morale  of the people and a grand day-break after a long night of darkness. This is quite feasible since they are amenable to self correction as they should be , with the advantage of their educated background and privileged position in the society more readily than other sections of the society.
  The question, therefore, is not whether it would happen but when it would happen? We would succeed, our dreams , hopes , expectations and aspirations would soon come to fruition yielding a rich harvest and, more fundamentally, we would be wrong not to try sincerely enough.
  Finally to say all this is not to imply that every public functionary is a compulsive sinner or a personification of unmitigated evil. Far from it. The performance of a few of them is nothing short of admirable, marked as it is by such shining virtues as probity and honesty, impartiality and objectivity, and diligence and hard work . But the pity is that their number is so small as not to inspire hope and instil confidence in the country’s future. Hence the prayer, may their tribe multiply many fold.
B1-105
A relationship grounded on mutual trust and love knows no rights and duties, for in an environment of spontaneous love and trust, rights and duties cease to be, yielding place to mutuality of interests which reigns supreme.
B1-107, 108
Entered after 71.
B1-109
Maturity is when you know what you are without reference to what others think or say about you.
B1-110
To say that rhetoric rarely, if ever , is grounded on real intentions is much too self evident even to need mention. Yet, in a society steeped in illiteracy, ignorance and poverty, it is the common currency of political discourse and ready money of the politicians.
B1-111
Rigorous research, acute observation, brilliant analysis, persuasive arguments, precise presentation and lucid writing are the hallmarks of a good book. If in addition , the narrative style of the book is ‘hauntingly original’ and the writing idiomatic and copiously sprinkled with ‘luminous metaphors’ and telling phrases besides being permeated with “enduring fragrance of rich experience”, the author can look forward to wide readership , rave reviews and undying fame. It needs hardly be mentioned that irrespective of its success or failure in the marketplace to the extent to which one or the other of these ingredients suffers, to that extent the book is deficient.
B1-112 (B 2-14)
Fame is an enchantress that lures men to scale higher and higher peaks until they reach that peak that they take to be the tallest or the peak of the peaks, not knowing how it feels like to be there. And yet, their search for still loftier peaks goes on relentlessly. It is as if they feel impelled to press onwards and upwards until they find themselves on some precarious/precipitous pinnacle teetering with terror at the imminent prospect of being toppled down any moment only to be confronted in the end with an unexpectedly frightful feeling of loss and loneliness on the one hand, and a shattering sense of utter futility and pointlessness of the whole exercise on the other. Presumably, their predicament will be no different from that of a man standing on the verge of a precipice or the edge of an abyss, constantly struggling to steady himself lest he should fall , for he knows that if he falls, he dashes himself to pieces/ or he will be smashed into smithereens. Often times, they do indeed go over the cliff edge with their legs pumping furiously in thin air and with no escape from their imminent vertiginous plummet to earth to meet some grizzly end.
   That the iconic or the near iconic status is fraught with frightful perils is known to so few that many pursue it with single minded devotion only to realize in the end how huge a price they have paid and rue the consequences flowing from the undue demands that it continues to make on his resources—social, financial and psychological. They feel that they are isolated and alienated and find themselves trapped on all sides. A prison is a prison even if it be a golden one and the fact that it is entered into out of free choice does not make it any the less rigorous.
  “Fame is a very odd and very isolating experience…and people crave it.” One finds that very hard to understand. (Add B1-116)
B1-113
The true worth of money is known only to those few that have just enough of it to take care of their needs, the vast multitudes that have scarcely any money with the lessons of hardships and privations of poverty etched deeply on their psyche and those that have a little more than what they need with their dreams of imminent prosperity and plenty seemingly within reach of fulfilment tend to grossly overestimate its worth while the miniscule minority that have it in abundance are incline to treat it either as dirt or God according to their temperament , attitude of mind and outlook on life.
  No wonder the world is full of rupee chasers , profligates / wastrels and worshippers of wealth as an end in itself engrossed in their favourite pastimes hardly paying any heed to the wise few who know its true worth.
  However, far from the madding crowd, sitting in an obscure corner that one in a million mahatma is quietly paring away items from his already brief list of needs in his attempt to abbreviate it to the absolute /irreducible minimum, thereby eliminating the raison d’etre of money itself so he may devote himself totally to the perennial quest for the preternatural truth.
  Even from a purely worldly point of view, one should have just enough wealth to lead a comfortable life. Wealth being only a means to a happy life and not an end in itself , what matters is not how much money we have but how well we manage it. Extremes like poverty and luxury distort life and bring only problems with them; the former by making one a slave of one’s circumstances, and the latter by actually holding one in its thralldom, either alternative being equally degrading and dehumanizing.
                                                                                       (to be continued)