(Photo source:https://www.dreamstime.com/two-sleeping-brothers-bed-white-bedclothes-image153184941)
Rich or Poor?
A poor man didn't know he was poor till he met a rich man,
A rich man didn't know he was rich till he met a poor man.
"The Three Vinegar Tasters! "
The Three Vinegar Tasters
The Three Vinegar Tasters is a very old theme reflected in some paintings and murals.
It shows three wise men surrounding a big pot of vinegar. The three men have tasted the vinegar by dipping their fingers and now their faces show their reactions of the taste of the vinegar.
As per their expressions one man found it sour, another tasteless and the third one found it sweet.
These three men represent the concept of life of Confucious, Buddha and Lao-tse, the three figureheads of the major streams of chinese life and spirituality, which are Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
In the picture Confucious found the vinegar of life sour. The Confucious' philosophies finds life and society ab-intio imperfect and therefore has formulated the ideal code for behaviour of every person in every role to construct a happy and peaceful society. That is, in view of Confucious, the natural way of life and things are imperfect by design and needs manipulation and improvement for an ideal life and society.
Again, in the picture, Buddha finds the vinegar tasteless or bland. Buddhism was based on teachings of Buddha who in his youth as Siddartha had left his house and society to find a way to relase humans from sufferings of Sorrow, disease, old age and death. The same theme remained dominant in the various braches of Buddhism. The major perception among the followers and teachers remained that life was like a perilous yet compulsory journey, which at could be undertaken, at best, without pain and suffering by following Buddha's path of detachment and middle path.
However, in this picture, Lao Tze, the greatest master of Taoism, finds the Vinegar sweet. Taoists do not think of life as good or bad by nature. They consider life real and accept it the way it is. By accepting life and the world, they also find the way to be in harmony with the forces of life and nature, and by this harmony they find happiness.
So, the picture depicts the view of the nature of life by the Confucians, Buddhists and Taoists respectively as imperfect, at best tasteless and tasty.
However, the company of the three Masters together, at one place, also conveys a messages of co-existence and harmony of the three philosophies.
The conplete message can be summarised as, "Life is imperfect and can be full of miseries and sufferings, which can be resolved by a bit of detachment and by following the middle path, and further, the same life can be enjoyed by accepting the things as they are without judgements of good or bad and by being in harmony with forces of life and universe.
The Three Vinegar Tasters is a very old theme reflected in some paintings and murals.
It shows three wise men surrounding a big pot of vinegar. The three men have tasted the vinegar by dipping their fingers and now their faces show their reactions of the taste of the vinegar.
As per their expressions one man found it sour, another tasteless and the third one found it sweet.
These three men represent the concept of life of Confucious, Buddha and Lao-tse, the three figureheads of the major streams of chinese life and spirituality, which are Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.
In the picture Confucious found the vinegar of life sour. The Confucious' philosophies finds life and society ab-intio imperfect and therefore has formulated the ideal code for behaviour of every person in every role to construct a happy and peaceful society. That is, in view of Confucious, the natural way of life and things are imperfect by design and needs manipulation and improvement for an ideal life and society.
Again, in the picture, Buddha finds the vinegar tasteless or bland. Buddhism was based on teachings of Buddha who in his youth as Siddartha had left his house and society to find a way to relase humans from sufferings of Sorrow, disease, old age and death. The same theme remained dominant in the various braches of Buddhism. The major perception among the followers and teachers remained that life was like a perilous yet compulsory journey, which at could be undertaken, at best, without pain and suffering by following Buddha's path of detachment and middle path.
However, in this picture, Lao Tze, the greatest master of Taoism, finds the Vinegar sweet. Taoists do not think of life as good or bad by nature. They consider life real and accept it the way it is. By accepting life and the world, they also find the way to be in harmony with the forces of life and nature, and by this harmony they find happiness.
So, the picture depicts the view of the nature of life by the Confucians, Buddhists and Taoists respectively as imperfect, at best tasteless and tasty.
However, the company of the three Masters together, at one place, also conveys a messages of co-existence and harmony of the three philosophies.
The conplete message can be summarised as, "Life is imperfect and can be full of miseries and sufferings, which can be resolved by a bit of detachment and by following the middle path, and further, the same life can be enjoyed by accepting the things as they are without judgements of good or bad and by being in harmony with forces of life and universe.
Ignorance!!
Ignorance is nurtured & protected by Ignorance of Ignorance!!
Awareness starts with awareness of Ignorance!!
Lockdown and Winter Depression
Winter Depression is a common observed phenomena, especially in Colder countries in North.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is depression that gets triggered by a change in seasons, usually when fall starts. This seasonal depression gets worse in the winter before ending in the spring
People with seasonal affective disorder may also have other mental conditions, such as:
Anxiety disorder.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Eating disorder.
Panic disorder.
(https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9293-seasonal-depression)
So people who have seasonal affective disorder may have signs of depression, including:
Sadness.
Anxiety.
Carbohydrate cravings and weight gain.
Extreme fatigue and lack of energy.
Feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness.
Inability to concentrate.
Irritability.
Limbs feeling heavy.
Loss of interest in usual activities, including withdrawing from social activities.
Sleeping more.
Cause :Vitamin D deficiency due to less sin exposure.
Treatment : Sunlight and Vitamin D supplement.
Many researches have also linked Vitamin D deficiency with Panic, anxiety etc.
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5922262/&ved=2ahUKEwjfkNOej9_wAhWRzzgGHSMwAckQFjAKegQIEBAC&usg=AOvVaw34y_pysL2OjHNA2xheljTA)
The Covid lockdown has also brought months of house restriction and minimal sun exposure.
In such a scenario depression, panic, anxiety etc are very likely, esp with continuous bombardment of bad news and negativity.
In such a scenario proper Vitamin D supplement may be advisable, especially if such symptoms occur.
“Mindfulness through Yoga- the gateway to calmer, happier, more productive life leading to self-realization”
(An abridged version of this post was published in a copy of an E-Mag OM RISE, downloadable at OM RISE)
What is
“Mindfulness”?
“To become different from what we are,
we must have some awareness of what we are.”
(Eric
Hoffer, in The Passionate State of Mind, and Other Aphorisms (1955)
Aphorism 151, p. 93)
Mindfulness can be described as the psychological
process of one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment
or it can more simply be described as ‘Awareness’,
‘Self-awareness’, ‘Self-Observation’ , ‘Atma-Darshan’ or ‘Externalization’
as practiced by different Yoga or Spiritual schools.
Here, it may be worthwhile to note that the
Sanskrit word ‘Adhyatma’, for which english word ‘Spirituality’
is used as a loose translation, actually means ‘Adhyaan’ of ‘Atma’
i.e.‘Study of Self’.
Mindfulness is a state of non-conceptual
awareness i.e. “bare attention” and not thinking. It does not get
involved with thought or concepts. It does not get hung up on ideas or opinions
or memories. It just looks. Mindfulness registers experiences, but it does not
compare them. It does not label them or categorize them. It just observes everything
as if it was occurring for the first time. It is not analysis that is based on
reflection and memory. It is, rather, the direct and immediate experiencing of
whatever is happening, without the medium of thought. It comes before thought
in the perceptual process.
“Mindfulness is present-moment awareness. It
takes place in the here and now. It is the observance of what is happening
right now, in the present. It stays forever in the present, perpetually on the
crest of the ongoing wave of passing time”
(Henepola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain
English (2011), p. 134)
A mindful or self-aware state enables heightened
sensory perception, an awareness of surroundings & environment, of one’s actions
and words before spoken, and the mental processes behind the actions and even a perception of slower lapse of time.
With regular practice of Yoga, it is possible
to achieve a more or less permanent state of mindfulness. Observing
continuously of our bodily sensations, paying attention to the happenings
around us, understanding the sensory stimuli, breathing, detaching the mind
from the internal torrent of thoughts, emotions are certain ways to achieve
mindfulness.
A mindful state is not burdened by connecting
events around us like our memories, our past experiences, our conditioned
perceptions and it does not attach motives, and does not look at the events as opportunities
or threats ab initio.
Reaction & Response:
We all have an idea about the meaning of
phrases like “application of mind” and “mindless impulsive actions”.
Let’s see a simple example:
Imagine a fender bender accident on a Monday
when one is already late for an important meeting and behind deadlines as well.
Depending upon his as well as the other driver’s state of mind, this incident
may be more than likely to lead to a scuffle.
In
certain extreme cases this road rage can lead to homicide as well, which
obviously has happened in real life road rage events.
However, in a different state of mind of the
drivers, it may lead to an amicable settlement and, who knows, additionally
even to a long term friendship.
What caused the stark and extreme difference in
the outcomes of the situation?
Mindfulness!
The difference is that one is a ‘spontaneous
reaction’ while the other is a ‘mindful response’! While resorting
to verbal or physical violence in such a scenario would have been an automatic
reaction of a stress state of mind especially if compounded by panic, lack of
sleep etc, in the other case a mindful approach would have summed up the whole
scenario in a glance and selected the best response to the issue.
A mindful person or a person ‘present in the present’
not only observes his surrounding in much more detail, he or she also observes
his own emotions rising , thoughts forming and converting to an actionable
option.
Further he may also understand the particular
pattern of thoughts and may analyze the root of such pattern in his
personality, his own psychological profile and thereby improve his own
personality as a continuous process.
Mindfulness and Productivity/Creativity
The level of sensory observation in a mindful
state is so much on a different scale. We all know about the story of Newton
and the apple and the origin of Theory of gravitation. Had Newton, or for that
matter others, not observed falling things before? Or the instance of
Archimedes discovering the theory of buoyancy in a bathtub?
So what was different in this instance?
Perhaps, a state of mindfulness at the
particular instance.
Mindfulness and happiness
An internalized mind is vulnerable to being
trapped in its memories of the past and fears about the future. The mind when
without a task uses its own vast resources to create scenarios for itself and
replay memories again and again. An internalized mind therefore may suffer from
panic, depression and complexes.
An externalized mind, by observing its sensory stimuli,
observing its own thought process, observing its environment, environmental
inputs and its response to them is not only free from the complexes, but is active, involved and in a
happier and higher state of existence.
A man requested a master to take him as a
disciple and remedy his problem of depression, anxiety and stress. The master
took him and allotted him a simple task of boiling water for everyone, all day,
every day. The disciple found the repetitive and simple, boring task so taking
his stress at the breaking point of his sanity. However, but then, once he
started minutely observing the boiling water and found that observing the minute changes made him calmer.
Soon This act of pointed observation itself started relaxing him and lead him
to calmness through externalization.
Mindfulness and Perception of Time
“We argue that the emergence of the arrow of
time is directly related to the nature and properties of physical observer.”
(From: “On decoherence in
quantum gravity”, Author: Podolsky, Dmitry and Lanza, Robert, Year: 2016,
Journal: Annalen der Physik, Volume:528 )
“Put
your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a
pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.”― Albert Einstein
For any individual,
time remains the most precious but an un-replenishable resource, exhausting
every second, mercilessly.
However, besides in
the circadian cycles, perception of time exists in our minds as well.
Which means that time moves as slow or as fast as we
perceive it to.
For example, imagine a 100 m sprint.
A casual watcher who is bored, daydreaming or talking
would almost fail to notice anything except the start or finish while an avid
watcher would watch the race, as it happens, but it would seem to him at a very
fast speed, too fast to watch all contestants. However, as for the sprinter,
for him the time slows down before the race starts, remains slow and becomes
slower as his chest touches the ribbon. The experience of these persons for the
same 10 seconds quite differs.
For the casual watcher, these 10 seconds did not exist at
all, for the avid watcher these were like 10 seconds and as for the sprinter,
the time almost took half a minute, as per his own perception.
In sports, many a
time a batsman, bowler, golf player or football player etc finds himself
watching the ball almost as in slow motion, as if frame by frame.
Remember, how
sometimes late in the night, when the clock seems to tick so loudly and at a
leisurely pace, even after the hours of the day have passed, like in a flash.
This is the capability of awareness. The higher the awareness, the slower is
the perception of time. Amphetamines and other stimulants have been used to
raise the wakefulness to this end.
Vice versa,
the more fragmented the focus, the lesser aware the mind, the faster is the
time.
So, the secret of the perception of time is mindfulness. By keeping our minds
lighter loaded, externalising our minds, we can improve our awareness and then
we can be far more efficient, productive and successful. Hours, days, months
and Life will all become longer in our own frame of reference resulting in
higher productivity success and thereby happiness.
Mindfulness through Yoga
Yoga Sutra by Patanjali (2nd BCE), the
first compilation of Philosophy of Ashtanga Yoga, has been treated as guidance
by almost all schools.
Sutra
35:(iv) of Yoga Sutra:
(The mind can
be made steady by …or…)
“Or by observing sense experience”
Viṣayavati
vā pravṛttirutpannā
manasaḥ
sthitinibandhani
(Viṣayavati :sensuous; vā: or; pravṛttih: functioning;
utpannā: arisen; manasaḥ: of the mind; sthiti: steadiness; nibandhani : which
binds)
Or else, the mind can be made steady by
bringing it into activity of sense experience. Here the mind is made to observe
itself in sense perception; that is, perception through the senses of seeing,
hearing, smelling, tasting and touching. By merging the mental consciousness
into these sense perceptions, the mind comes under control.
That is to say, the mental
consciousness can be merged into sound consciousness by repetition of mantras,
bhajan, kirtan, etc. A sophisticated person may not find this interesting, but
it is true that if one goes deep, one can control the mind by making it sound
conscious. This is a principle of Nada yoga. The mind can also be controlled by
making it form-conscious through Trataka, which is concentration on a
particular form, and similarly, in the case of touch-consciousness and
taste-consciousness. The former happens when the guru touches the disciple on
the head, and the latter is brought about by Khechari mudra. By concentrating
the mind on the tip of the nose, a subtle or psychic smell is experienced,
which can be utilized for controlling the mind. Taste consciousness is
developed by concentrating on the front part of the tongue. Colour visions are
developed by concentrating on the palate in khechari mudra. Psychic touch is
experienced by concentrating on the central part of the tongue. Psychic sound
is developed by concentrating on the root of the tongue. All these psychic
processes become the basis of self-control. When these psychic processes are
developed, the student starts concentrating on them. In due course his mind
transcends them and goes deeper. That is a state of complete mental control.
All this involves the action of the senses, the indriyas, in dharana and pratyahara.
(From: Four Chapters on
Freedom by Sw. Satyanand Sarawati, 2002)
Yogic Practices for Mindfulness
·
Pranayama
·
Breath awareness
·
Yogic exercise with awareness of body parts
Other techniques
Experience of ‘Strangeness’ improves the
mindfulness manifold. Strangeness is the experience of suddenly being within an
environment, totally new and strange to oneself.
This is the reason travelling to new and exotic
places is almost always an experience on a different level, providing much more
enthusiasm, interest, observation and boost to creativity.
When going through unknown areas and meeting strange
people, one is in a deeper awareness, can question, observe and think over
the same things, that he would miss entirely at his own home.
An example of this is that while we can notice all the
cobwebs and spiders, in detail, in the house of a host we are visiting, we do
not notice much larger ones in our own drawing room.
Travelling to new places, meeting new people of
different domains, changing interiors and exteriors of accommodation and
workplace, changing ones styling etc are techniques to improve mindfulness.
So, Friends as we have learnt that perhaps
Mindfulness is the best way to live a calmer, more productive life leading to
self realization, or in other words, Mindfullness is the way to live life.
“Life is a dance. Mindfulness is witnessing that
dance”
(Amit Ray, Mindfulness Living in the Moment - Living in the
Breath (2015)
मेरा, मेरा और मेरा संबंध।
मेरे और मेरे बीच में तो मैं मुझको ही पाऊँ,
बस बीच से मैं हट जाऊँ तो मैं से मैं मिल जाऊँ।
42 लघु कथाएं! - मेरी पहली पुस्तक आप सभी को समर्पित
42 लघु कथाएं (Hindi Edition) Kindle Edition
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दीप जी द्बारा दिया गया इस पुस्तक का रिव्यू :
The Enlightened (Part-1)
(Source: Buddhachrita by Ashvaghosh, 2nd CE)
It was well past midnight.
About 2500 yrs, ago the young prince of Kapilvastu (Land of Rishi Kapil), of shakya-kul from Ikshvaku lineage of Survanshi Kshatriyas was wide awake.
He had been standing at the balcony of his palace, for quite a long time, peering at nothing in the darkness.
His mind was made.
All his life he had known life as full of pleasures. However, last week had turned his life upside down.
He had, for the first time, come across the great sufferings of human life ie Sickness, old age and death.
He had learnt, to his shock, that all humans,whether they be mightiest kings, , most breathing beauties or strongest warriors , they all must grow old, be weak, be sick and die.
This revelation has shook his soul. Now, he could not enjoy the pleasures of his youth, seeing the temporal nature of them and the suffering waiting ahead.
His heart was only at some peace after he had met the ascetic who had renunciated the worldly pleasures & attachments and was doing tapa for liberation from death and other miseries of life.
Now , he also had decided to be an ascetic himself and through his tapa seek the remedy of sufferings, not only for himself, but for all mankind.
His father was shocked to hear of his intentions and beside forbidding him, had also arranged for his son to be engulfed in pleasures of wine, women and food as a last resort to change his mind.
This particular night he had fallen asleep after long hours of wine, women and music. When he suddenly wokeup, all were sleeping in tortuous postures all around him. The sight he saw had almost made him cringe. The faces of the greatest beauties of the land which used to enchanted him, now looked almost outright ugly with the twisted sleeping postures, open mouth, dripping saliva and flowing make up.
He was disgusted with his life and now felt sure to go far from all of this and find freedom in solace of the forest. He had to leaving his son and wife behind. However, the remedy he would find would help them also.
He swung from the balcony and walking on rooftops reached the stable, got his horse and soon vanished into darkness.
A fortnight of travelling has passed. He had left his royal clothes, jewels and his horse behind. He had been travelling through forest tracks on foot. At one time he remembered his ancestor Prince Ram who had once left his kingdom and lived as an ascetic for 14 years to honour an oath of his father.
He had passed Rajgriha, the capital of the mighty Magadh Empire and reached the ashram of Rishi Arada on his quest. The Rishi had taken him as a disciple and had taught him the mysteries of mind, soul and universe as well as practices of Dhyana and Tapa. He had visited Rishi Udarkas and learnt under him also.
Now he had arrived at an ashram in the city Gayapuri, named on Rishi Gaya.
He had joined 5 Ascetics and alongwith them started practicing the hardest Tapa. The practices requires starvation for days, sitting in extreme temperatures and other very painful hardships.
Now, 6 year had passed and he didn't find himself any further in his quest for knowledge.
He was now very weak from abstaining from food,just skin and bones.
Now he felt that this weakness can only be a detriment and the body and mind should not be so weak as to obstruct his quest.
Unsure, he rose from his tapa, and to the criticism of his 5 fellow ascetics, started wandering.
He passed the river Falgu and sat under a fig tree.
He had been offered Milk and rice by Sujata, a kind girl of the village and the subsequent energy rush in his starved body and fading consciousness and given him a new vigor and clarity of purpose.
He had made a firm resolute of rising only after realizing the true nature of live and universe.
It was past midnight. Deep in meditation, his resolve was getting weak under constant challenges by his desires, fears, weaknesses from depths of own subconscious.
After a seemingly very long and tenous struggle to maintain his pointed concentration on his quest during his dhyana, suddenly all the hurricanes in his mind vanished & the truth, as if , lit every corner of his mind with bright warm light.
He had it. He had learnt the truth of life. He was now enlightened.
He was no longer just Siddharth, now he was an arhat (one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence), Jina (Ultimate victor), Gautam (Remover of Darkness) & Buddha (Enlightened) .
Later people would revere him Tathagat (Who came thus) & Bhagwan (Blessed one) also.
Free from his bonds he could also remember his previous births as Bodhisattva (Individual on path of Bodhi-Chitta, awakening).
Finally he knew the mystery of life and suffering.
(Continued ....)
It was well past midnight.
About 2500 yrs, ago the young prince of Kapilvastu (Land of Rishi Kapil), of shakya-kul from Ikshvaku lineage of Survanshi Kshatriyas was wide awake.
He had been standing at the balcony of his palace, for quite a long time, peering at nothing in the darkness.
His mind was made.
All his life he had known life as full of pleasures. However, last week had turned his life upside down.
He had, for the first time, come across the great sufferings of human life ie Sickness, old age and death.
He had learnt, to his shock, that all humans,whether they be mightiest kings, , most breathing beauties or strongest warriors , they all must grow old, be weak, be sick and die.
This revelation has shook his soul. Now, he could not enjoy the pleasures of his youth, seeing the temporal nature of them and the suffering waiting ahead.
His heart was only at some peace after he had met the ascetic who had renunciated the worldly pleasures & attachments and was doing tapa for liberation from death and other miseries of life.
Now , he also had decided to be an ascetic himself and through his tapa seek the remedy of sufferings, not only for himself, but for all mankind.
His father was shocked to hear of his intentions and beside forbidding him, had also arranged for his son to be engulfed in pleasures of wine, women and food as a last resort to change his mind.
This particular night he had fallen asleep after long hours of wine, women and music. When he suddenly wokeup, all were sleeping in tortuous postures all around him. The sight he saw had almost made him cringe. The faces of the greatest beauties of the land which used to enchanted him, now looked almost outright ugly with the twisted sleeping postures, open mouth, dripping saliva and flowing make up.
He was disgusted with his life and now felt sure to go far from all of this and find freedom in solace of the forest. He had to leaving his son and wife behind. However, the remedy he would find would help them also.
He swung from the balcony and walking on rooftops reached the stable, got his horse and soon vanished into darkness.
A fortnight of travelling has passed. He had left his royal clothes, jewels and his horse behind. He had been travelling through forest tracks on foot. At one time he remembered his ancestor Prince Ram who had once left his kingdom and lived as an ascetic for 14 years to honour an oath of his father.
He had passed Rajgriha, the capital of the mighty Magadh Empire and reached the ashram of Rishi Arada on his quest. The Rishi had taken him as a disciple and had taught him the mysteries of mind, soul and universe as well as practices of Dhyana and Tapa. He had visited Rishi Udarkas and learnt under him also.
Now he had arrived at an ashram in the city Gayapuri, named on Rishi Gaya.
He had joined 5 Ascetics and alongwith them started practicing the hardest Tapa. The practices requires starvation for days, sitting in extreme temperatures and other very painful hardships.
Now, 6 year had passed and he didn't find himself any further in his quest for knowledge.
He was now very weak from abstaining from food,just skin and bones.
Now he felt that this weakness can only be a detriment and the body and mind should not be so weak as to obstruct his quest.
Unsure, he rose from his tapa, and to the criticism of his 5 fellow ascetics, started wandering.
He passed the river Falgu and sat under a fig tree.
He had been offered Milk and rice by Sujata, a kind girl of the village and the subsequent energy rush in his starved body and fading consciousness and given him a new vigor and clarity of purpose.
He had made a firm resolute of rising only after realizing the true nature of live and universe.
It was past midnight. Deep in meditation, his resolve was getting weak under constant challenges by his desires, fears, weaknesses from depths of own subconscious.
After a seemingly very long and tenous struggle to maintain his pointed concentration on his quest during his dhyana, suddenly all the hurricanes in his mind vanished & the truth, as if , lit every corner of his mind with bright warm light.
He had it. He had learnt the truth of life. He was now enlightened.
He was no longer just Siddharth, now he was an arhat (one who has gained insight into the true nature of existence), Jina (Ultimate victor), Gautam (Remover of Darkness) & Buddha (Enlightened) .
Later people would revere him Tathagat (Who came thus) & Bhagwan (Blessed one) also.
Free from his bonds he could also remember his previous births as Bodhisattva (Individual on path of Bodhi-Chitta, awakening).
Finally he knew the mystery of life and suffering.
(Continued ....)
Viral Ideologies!
Presently the humanity is facing maybe it's greatest threat so far, and mostly in self isolation. As isolation is an abnormal state for our species due to its social nature, we have taken to Social Media for our needs of social interaction. This has led to exponential rise in the communication on WA, Twitter, FB, Insta etc.
The exchange in most of the groups has a common element, besides certain particular topics, a common recurrent theme remains Pro vs Anti GOI or specifically as per the spirit of present Indian politics, Pro Vs Anti Modi debates.
No problem with any type of debates.
However, the debates are accompanied by continuous flow of 'content' such as forwards, memes, clips, jokes etc.
The content was generated by almost none of the forwarders, who in fact in almost all cases don't have a clue about the source and the path of their forwards.
Almost all of such content are manufactured and forwarded by a specialized industry as per need of their owners or clients.
However, why most of the people (unpaid) so eagerly push the content into so many forums? Sometimes with a sense of importance?
Why people get into so many online debates? Why people sacrifice time, effort and relationships over such arguments?
Is it just availability of lots of spare time?
Or it it some other urge? An urge to convince people? To bring them to our school of thought? Why does the idea of changing the other person's bent does excite us.
The excitement of being proved right? Of being not wrong?
Is it about vanity? Is it about recognition of intelligence?
Or do certain ideas motivate us to spread them?
Isn't this the cause of creation of so many books, forums, newspapers, blogs(like this one) , clips and all, when most of the spreaders only bear the costs and not enjoy the returns?
We have seen lacs of people sacrificing their lives for campaigning for their party, religion or ideology. Communism, Parties and Religions are what they are only due to such selfless campaigners?
Was it actually selfless? Didn't the success of bringing more into their fold did propel them? How the joy of achieving more followers of the ideology justify any cost?
Do certain idea, ideologies once seeded in minds do grow much faster then other, do they create the urge to spread seeds by thought, action and words of the individual?
Do the ideas make the individual, like, a carrier of the thought and spreader of its seeds?
In this way, aren't ideas like a contagion?
Do ideas have own existence, as if living organisms, at the plane of common consciousness? Don't they fight for dominance over each other? for elimination of other ideas? On Physical planes also, by battles, conflicts etc?
Human are born, they live and die but aren't ideas living over millenias, by using individuals as careers?
Aren't ideas and ideologies the players and the careers the pawns in this plane of common consciousness?
Is your mind space the actual territory for whose occupation battles of ideologies go on for centuries? Is occupation of your mindspace the power of these ideologies?
Finally, isn't the term 'Viral' now used for successful ideas achieving exponential growth very apt?
Whats the antivirus to maintain our thought process and evolution?
Simple, by not getting carried away!
By letting torrents of narratives & contents pass around the rock of oneself &
after critical analysis pick up the pieces worth adding to one's mind space.
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