No major updates and so this post will be a smattering of thoughts, pictures, a random rant and maybe a poem?
On the recent YES!+ course, I had a question for Bawa. How does one comfort someone who has lost a loved one? Or is witnessing a loved one go through a terminal illness? Bawa’s answer was simple and succinct. Aren’t we all *terminally ill* in a way? Some of us know when our end will come (courtesy doctors and their *diagnoses*) and some have no clue. To answer my question, he said, “There is nothing you can do to comfort someone in that situation. Be there, if you can, and pray.”
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Over the past couple of years, it has been my *fortune* that I have run into so many people shooting their mouth off topics as Hinduism, Vedic astrology, Vaastu Shastra and like. I guess it is my tapas, an exercise created by Someone for me to develop patience, tolerance, skill. I have one simple question: if one has half-knowledge on anything, how qualified is one to even comment on it? Till date, when I am quizzed on Hinduism or astrology or any of these complex sciences by anyone, I prefer to stay mum. Truth is, my knowledge is EXTREMELY limited and I’d hate to give incorrect information to anyone on basis of that. Yet, there are countless ignoramuses out there who throw around statements like ‘Astrology is ridiculous – one’s future cannot be predicted on the basis of some planets in the sky’ and like. If I were to claim that astrology was never intended to predict anyone’s future and that YOUR claim is misplaced, tell me, can you refute what I am saying? Do you have enough knowledge to even respond? Truth is, very few people today are qualified to comment on any of these Vedic sciences. All I can say is, if your understanding is based on hearsay, *common knowledge* or random thinking, stay mum. Go find a Guru or at least someone who has the knowledge to speak.
The Secret Sits
We dance round in a ring and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.
— Robert Frost
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Took an old pic and put a one-liner from Gurudev on it – lo, a gift was created and it went to one of my favourite people on the course and in general! Here it is…
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Fall is here and looks like winter will be early this year. This is such a vata period and the dryness has already set in. It is the perfect season for warm cream-based soups, hot dal with generous amounts of ghee spooned in, date barfis, soaked and peeled almonds-figs-walnuts in the morning, Lara bars, paneer dishes. This evening, we had carrot-potato-asparagus soup with cream, pepper, ginger and cumin. Delicious! With warm toast, it was a great dinner for a cool October night.
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Doing asanas in the morning requires so much more conviction and committment these days. As I start warming up, I hear all these tiny cracking noises. Neck, knee, ankle, upper back – it is so so so important to be warmed up properly before getting on to anything more intense. The Surya Namaskar is a perfect transition from warm ups to asanas. The first few sets, I can hardly reach my knees but by the time I reach the 8th-9th set, I can stretch nice and proper and nearly place my palms flat on the ground while keeping my legs straight – what joy in that feeling of mobility and smoothness!
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Watched Don on Sunday night. What I loved about the film,
#SRK’s Vijay avatar
#SRK’s dotted grey shirt
#Most of SRK’s clothes
#Priyanka Chopra
#Adaptation of the Main Hoon Don track
#Boman Irani
#Sushma Reddy – the brief cameo that she had – she is lovely!
#The ending
I have not seen the original and hence no comparisons from my end.
fugney says:
I guess it is my tapas, an exercise created by Someone for me to develop patience, tolerance, skill.
Was it me? 😉
I have one simple question: if one has half-knowledge on anything, how qualified is one to even comment on it?
But, by that argument one cannot reject this theory until one has studied that Bible in sufficient detail!
(which – for the fun of it – I suppose, is impossible).
October 25, 2006 — 5:38 am
fugney says:
Was it me? 😉
Who triggered the thought, that is.
October 25, 2006 — 5:40 am
Lakshmi says:
There have been many instances, Phani.
October 25, 2006 — 1:14 pm
fugney says:
“the bible” in sufficient detail…
October 25, 2006 — 6:44 am
bhuvi says:
“Over the past couple of years….”
I will have a few things to say here. I am not sure how qualified any of us is to brand anyone’s knowledge as half-baked. In the larger scheme of things I strongly feel that truth evades us all. Some of these ‘gurus’ might just know a bit or a lot more than others. In that regard anyone who knows more than me or can teach me a thing or two is qualified to be my guru.
Another thing is that each of us has our own version of the truth. Mostly people don’t even know/think/wonder that what they know might be incorrect, insufficient and so on. To me, what I know is paramount. This is not with arrogance but with an honest belief. Unless someone counters me and shows me a side I dint know I will go on believeing that what I know is what it is.
Anyway…I am really looking forward to watch Don – getting some really conflicting reviews here 🙂 Some people loved it and some even walked out of the theatre! I guess die-hard Amitabh fans will have a difficulty digesting it. I am glad I do not have any vivid recollection of the original.
October 25, 2006 — 6:02 am
Lakshmi says:
In that regard anyone who knows more than me or can teach me a thing or two is qualified to be my guru.
Totally agree. However, in order to be a good student, one has to be ready to learn. And to acknowledge how little one actually knows. If one holds on to the half-knowledge one has and claims that it is gospel, how is the learning going to happen? That’s the trend I have seen with these folks I referred to.
Another thing is that each of us has our own version of the truth.
I agree. However, that was not the context of my post. I was referring to the Vedic Sciences mainly. They have been the subject of some really fiery debates…
October 25, 2006 — 1:18 pm
bhuvi says:
1. Agree:) The point I was trying to make here was that may be their learning is complete or so they feel/believe. They probably can’t learn beyond the point they’ve reached. You or me might feel they need to learn before they talk but they don’t. Your thirst is still not quenched and you’re gladly open to soaking up much more of the light unlike them.
2. I realised. But even in exact sciences people hold on to their point of view I’ve seen. So the thought.
p.s. M just curious about who are these guys anyway – your aol group?
p.p.s. Verry cute pic! Did u hv a haircut? (This was supposed to go in yesterday’s comment but I forgot…)
October 26, 2006 — 4:55 am
Lakshmi says:
M just curious about who are these guys anyway – your aol group?
Getting into Art of Living and doing my sadhana made me realise how absurdly little I know… The path to knowledge, I feel, begins with just that realization and then it opens up limitless fields of possibilities! I was not referring to anyone from my AOL group but there are hordes of people out there who come to mind…:)
p.p.s. Verry cute pic! Did u hv a haircut? (This was supposed to go in yesterday’s comment but I forgot…)
Thanks! This is a very old pic – just revamped it using Photoshop.
October 26, 2006 — 12:35 pm
quizling says:
> If I were to claim that astrology was never intended to predict anyone’s future and that YOUR claim is misplaced, tell me, can you refute what I am saying?
Not at all. But I feel it would be reasonable to ask what exactly astrology does, and how successfully it delivers what it purports to do.
October 25, 2006 — 6:15 am
Lakshmi says:
And my response to that would be, I am not qualified to tell you what exactly astrology does or even what it purports to do. You must find a jyotish if you really want to know. Until that, don’t make any claims to knowing the answers to any of the above questions. A true seeker is curious, interested, aware of how little he/she knows and is ready to receive the answers in a non-judgmental manner.
October 25, 2006 — 1:21 pm
quizling says:
If you’re not qualified to say what astrology does or what it purports to do, how can you make a sweeping statement such as “astrology was never intended to predict anyone’s future”? It may well be, for all you know. Be open to the possibility. (Unless you have some evidence to the contrary, of course.)
October 25, 2006 — 1:26 pm
Lakshmi says:
I did exactly that – made a sweeping statement to illustrate my point! My claim is as baseless as any of the others that I have come across…:-)
Hari, I agree that one should be open to possibilities. But if you agree that it is a possibility, how can it be used to base a judgment and make further pronouncements? Never mind, this is not meant to be a logical argument. What irks me is the arrogance of those that have limited understanding and half-knowledge – know what I mean?
October 25, 2006 — 2:32 pm
Lakshmi says:
What irks me is the arrogance of those that have limited understanding and half-knowledge
On the other hand, accepting that such people exist (and will continue to exist) and learning how to deal with them rather than stressing and fuming about it – that’s a skill I should cultivate!
October 25, 2006 — 2:45 pm
parag says:
There is a part of Indian Astrology that uses Vedic calculation methods to determine the location of celestial objects and chart their movements to make calendars. That is as scientific as any other science can get. It should be called Astronomy and not Astrology.
One doesn’t need to have complete knowledge of the process of future prediction in Astrology to criticize it. You can look at the rate of success of these predictions and make a judgement. An anology: I am sure you have had problems with and complained about Microsoft Windows, but do you have a complete knowledge of how it works? Well… you are an engineer, so, maybe you do have that knowledge. Sorry, wrong example. But, do you see what I mean?
Talking about Gurus… There are plenty of Gurus with half-baked knowledge to be found on every street corner. There is no dearth of those in India or elsewhere.
October 25, 2006 — 1:44 pm
Lakshmi says:
There are plenty of Gurus with half-baked knowledge to be found on every street corner.
Aah, a true Guru is one who spreads knowledge and awareness. Not one who takes advantage of people’s ignorance and uses it against them.
October 25, 2006 — 2:47 pm
sat_chit_anand says:
Well doesnt the person who uses the tool (Astrology in this case) a factor in determining the results. If he used the wrong set of rules/methods, wouldnt the conclusion come out incorrect? What I am trying to convey over here is wrong result might not be because of the tool being flawed but might be that the user is not using it correctly. This can happen in science also, if a weather man forecasts the weather incorrectly would you say metereology is useless? Maybe the weather man missed calculating some crucial things which led to the error. Also has any open and comperhensive study been done by any scientific organization to conclude that Astrology doesnt work? I am just curious.
October 25, 2006 — 6:27 pm
quizling says:
> has any open and comprehensive study been done by any scientific organization to conclude that Astrology doesnt work?
Plenty. Such as this one, for instance. Wouldn’t you say that a forty-year-long study involving 2000 subjects is good enough proof? Not really, because if a person has blind faith in astrology, it’s not likely that he or she is open to rethink, even when presented with any amount of evidence to the contrary.
October 26, 2006 — 1:06 pm
hemya says:
I’m still trying to remember…where was Sushma Reddy in the movie???…:)
I agree…that dotted shirt is really slick as are most of his clothes!!!
October 25, 2006 — 2:49 pm
Lakshmi says:
She plays the role of Geetha, Arjun Rampal’s wife – remember? Just a few shots, no dialogues or anything.
I LOVED the adaptation of Khaike Paan Banaaraswaala – really peppy with the new beats et al!
October 25, 2006 — 3:06 pm
hemya says:
ahhhhh now I remember…..so meghna reddy was the VJ right???
I liked the adaptation and the moive in general…but you could hear soo many people complain and compare before and after the movie …a friend of mine who was supopsed to accompany me…arrived an hr late….kept asking me for the story so far…..then said she does not remember much of the original or the characters and then when Khaike Paan Banaaraswaala came on she fashionably said…”ohhh he is no comparison to Big B”…..at that point i went ” duh!!!did you not just say ki you dont remember anything from the original”…I could go on and on….but i’ll STOP….glad you liked it…..I think I wanna see it again
October 25, 2006 — 3:17 pm
Lakshmi says:
Meghna is the VJ, Sushma is the one in Don and Sameera is the item lady who starred in Darna Mana Hain. Nice looking family, huh?
October 25, 2006 — 8:05 pm
on9thheaven says:
Ok, quit talking abt the movie 🙂 I just saw Krish (pathetic movie btw) and have to still catch up on Don :d
Now I will have to keep looking for the dotted shirt *sigh*
October 25, 2006 — 4:07 pm
Lakshmi says:
SRK has a fabulous wardrobe in this one – really liked his look!
October 25, 2006 — 8:04 pm
Anonymous says:
nice dig at moi.
Bharat
November 13, 2006 — 11:47 pm