Recently, I was talking to a friend about what should be done if the car skids and starts rotating. The answer to that question could also answer some important questions in life. In the driving booklet it is said that take the foot off of the gad paddle and keep on steering the car in the direction of the rotation. Now this is so opposite to what a person would do intuitively. The obvious reaction would be to resist the unwanted motion of the car and try to steer the wheel in direction which impedes that rotational motion. But turns out that doing the exact opposite is the right thing to do.

Now how exactly does this relate to life? Lets assume a similar situation in life. Things are going smooth and steady and suddenly something happens and you realise that things are getting out of control. A person's obvious reaction is to resist the change by steering the wheel against that change which requires more effort and would probabaly end up in a fatal accident. However, the right thing to do would be to stay calm and go with the change. Humans have this tendency of being afraid of change and resisting it. But then why do we resist it. I figure we just want to be with things that we are sure of.

Sometimes we just get stuck with the things which have passed that we fail to see the path ahead. We fail to realize that better things are yet to come. A leaf which is floating in a stream of water without offering any resistance reaches the end of its journey pretty easily and without must strain. On the other hand a leaf which is stuck at some rock or at some other obstruction in stream will probably never reach the end and will definitely suffer a lot as it is trying to stay stationary at its point against the force of the water. In case of human beings, we have to realize that we will come across number of people, number of ideas, number of emotions and numerous other things. But if we get strongly attached to it and refuse to move over it when we have to then ultimately it is going to harm us. I had heard this somewhere "Enjoy everything but in detached manner". It makes so much sense and takes so less effort to do it if we keep practicing it consistently. But as my advisor says, people like things that sound complex and takes more efforts to understand. No-one wants to stick with simplicity and things that are almost always obvious.

Probably, life comes in phases and we have live through each phase. How nicely can we sail through each phase depends on how exclusively we do it and our openness to accept the change which might just make things a little bit more simpler.

ZERO states

Assuming the average life of a person to be 65 there are 31536000 minutes in life. But not all minutes have equal importance. We spend some minutes in dejection, some in fear, some in agony, some in elation, some in confusion and some in similar other human emotions. In other words most of the times we are either positive or negative. But, what we miss out on is the state where we are neither positive nor negative. This article is about those rare moments in life of a human or, more appropriately, its about the moments where we can identify ourselves as humans and not just biologically. It is about us feeling closer to an entity within us which we rarely relate to.

We like to keep swinging like a pendulum but i think what we miss out on is that equilibrium state. Its like some pulley or a car where all the external forces on us are equally balanced. Its about those states when inner strength manifests in your action and words. Its about an instant when a boy realizes that he has turned into a man. Its about those states when you know that this is it. Its about the states when you connect with "Yourself"

We often don't realise that except of our heart and mind there is one more voice coming from within. That voice is the one which is "yours". The instances in life when you know what is your inner voice saying, the instances when you distinguish all three of them are the instances that matter. Those are the instances when life takes those crucial turns. We feel that immense strength and courage within us when we do what inner-self is saying. All the external factors like money, religion, culture, traditions, friends, family don't seem to be very important. It is the state when you realise that we need not look for happiness outside it is coming from within. There are points in life when you don't care about the result but realise that the journey or the path to the result is more important and those are the times when we connect to ourselves. Neither our emotions nor our mind guides us but everything which was vague and fuzzy starts to make sense and becomes clear.

Such instances in life make us realise that the brain they refer to is probably not just the picture that we see in biology textbooks but it is probably more than that. It is an entity which is able to identify such moments. This article is celebration of those instances when we actually act as humans, when we are not chasing after our never-ending wants but are are calm, content and composed. This article marks the importance of those moments of peace when we don't think don't react but are quiet and in unison with "ourselves". This is about realising that a number line is composed of three different areas : negative numbers, positive numbers and a ZERO. The important is not being positive but being at zero. This article is dedicated to all those moments where we identify ourselves as humans and not just biologically. It is about us feeling closer to an entity within us which we rarely relate to

Who knows..??!!!

Its amazing that how simple choices in life can actually chisel the future of a person. Making a choice of going to a college and what college, what car to buy, what place to live in and with whom, even a simple choice of going to friends party may be life-changing. Its as if at each and every stage of life, no matter how simple and obvious it may seem, we have to make a choice and probably life might take a different route after that. Its like a switch-case statement in C++ (and other programming languages) where there are different possible options and with each option there exists different case; the difference being in real life we are not aware what statements are going to be executed in a particular case apriori.

With this in mind a person might start analyzing each and every small thing before he/she does something. There would exist such immense pressure to make a right choice always. But then arises two questions:

1] What is meant by right choice; how do we come to a conclusion that this is a bettern option

then other? We might be aware of all the immediate facts but what about something which is

not visible? How do we take into account those factors? More interestingly one might ask "Does

there exists a right choice?

2] Is it worth? Wasting so much of effort and brains on trying to analyze and predict things in

advance and then basing the decision on it. How do we predict stuff anyways ? Its just so hard

to analyze things and make a choice and then prove it to be correct one.

And probably things are already written..who knows? Possibly the whole story and screenplay has already been decided by a director called 'fate' and it takes care that things happen at right time. So does it make any sense in trying to think through stuff so vigorously to a point where we try to figure out things which are not even written yet. While doing so who knows what are we missing on.? Mabbe we are missing all the enjoyment that could have been derived without knowing everything. Perhaps that is the reason that we cannot know what will happen in the future.

I would say keeping it simple is the best available option but the irony is that it is the most difficult part as far as humans are concerned. We just like to mix so many things and make it so complicated that it becomes just so difficult to disentangle different wires from them. As per me going with the moment,taking into account all the obvious things, enjoying the present to the fullest, without worrying what will happen next and not restricting OURSELVES (theres a reason behind it being capital) by self-imposed bindings is the way to go. And this is the most difficult task for me as well; on the bright side, however, I can at least identify the problem and what remains is to work on it.

What is it about..temporary or permanent

They say that happiness comes from within. So if that is the case then is man truly a social animal. Do we really need someone to be with us to be fine. Can a person be happy by himself without any outside factors. And truly if happiness and peace, which kind of goes together, comes from within then what are we looking for outside of us in different people and in different places.
By observations, people are happy after they successfully drive a car for the first time, we are happy when we get a nice lucrative job, we feel happy when we help someone and so many other things. Similarly we feel sad when something wrong happens or something bad happens. But the thing is that none of it is eternal. With time both of those emotions start fading. The next thing that comes to mind is whether there exists an enlightened permanent state wherein you grow beyond these temporary emotions.
I would say we are made self-sufficient to the point where we don’t really need something, someone or some particular lifestyle in life to be happy. We end up spending our whole life running after some materialistic dream. There are two possible outcomes: either we fulfill it or we don’t. If we do it we are elated and if we don’t we are sad. But to think of it is any of these states permanent. Probably not. Both of those emotions are just an instant reaction to a realization which crops from fulfillment of a materialistic dream or otherwise. As the source, even that state is temporary.
Probably the key is to identify that it’s all within instead of looking for happiness outside; in different places or people. To get to a state of permanent peace we probably have to know ourselves and identify what we are actually longing for. And after identifying our ultimate goal, go for it.
But the difficult part is to get over so many distractions that are placed for us. How do you get over the feeling of having fun with your friends or getting married or the satisfaction that you get by fulfilling your parents’ dreams. The question to ask is: Do we have to do that? Do we have to get over these things to get to permanent steady and happy state. I am not sure. But the logic says that to get to a permanent state of peace and no confusion, we probably shouldn’t be affected by temporary things. Once we reach a point where the things from outside don’t affect us we can enjoy those materialistic things again and this time with no sense of attachment. But the thing that remains is: would we care about them once we reach that state.

Lots of questions. I guess asking questions is at least a nice start towards getting to a clear and big picture.

Next level

Over the course of lifetime, a realization has struck me: Its only when its lost or about to get lost that we start valuing the thing. Its like when a magnet is stuck to the piece of iron, when you try to detach them you feel the maximum resistance. What is it that keeps us from appreciatng the stuff when we have it or put in other words what is it that fear of loss does to us that we suddenly realise that the thing that was there was precious. Fear..?

But if it is fear then what is it about.? I guess its fear of what change it is going to bring to the life. We get so attached to some stuff that dont imagine life without that. Sub-consciously it is always there with you. But one fine day when one realises that it is gone, we are scared 'coz the circumstances have changed. And since we always try to resist the change, we try to get that back but after a while its gone completely. For a while the mind stops thinking. Mabbe after a lot of efforts and pain the we get over it. However, there is still no garuntee that this wont happen again.

So the whole point is should a person get attached to anything. All the pain and happiness, cold and warmth, comforts and misery and everything is temporary. So why get attached to them. Mabbe it would help if we get attached to eternal 'Self' or Creator. As it is said 'one has to tolerate the dualities of life like happiness and sorrow and by doing this one can become free from anxieties regarding loss and gain.

This probably is the thing that will take us to next level where we can enjoy stuff in a detached manner.

Freedom bounded by Practicality

Things almost always seem so complicated even though at the base of it, it might be so simple and striaght-forward to understand. Its so simple to do what you like but then all the pressures that we carry around makes it difficult. For example: Someone might like wearing fashionable/sexy clothes but he/she cannot because of cultural or religious or probably some social restrictions. Someone might like to travel the world but he/she cannot because as per others, there are always things to do. Someone would want to fall in love but he/she might be restricted by cultural and religious boundaries. To think of it, all these sound and seem so simple. You wanna wear clothes of your choice, go do it; you wanna travel, go do it; you are falling in love, let go of yourself ,fall into it and enjoy it. But again all we think of is how the things are gonna be after we do that. What if someone finds out, what if some other things go wrong and the one that hate I the most what if its not practical. Where did this word originate from..?? Who decides what is practical and relative to what..? Is carrying all the pressure along with you and acting under those pressures practical..? Is not doing what you want to do only because it violates some religious or cultural condition practical..?? Is not doing what your heart says practical..?

So to think of it..is being practical really practical..? What is more important: living life as you wish and derive happiness and enlightenment or living life practically and just die like everyone else leaving your dreams unfullfilled.

I understand that some things are just beyond human control but what about things that are within our control but we just dont do it because its not suited to our society or family or culture or religion. But arent these institutions there to help you develop and grow as human. To get a human close to absolute truth..? If all these institutions are just binding you from exploring the life, then what use are they of..?

Its good to have some form of order. But till what point should you control someone. To think of it are we even free.? Do we enjoy and live life freely..? Do we do what our heart wants freely..? Sometimes I feel all these are just restricting humans from reaching to one's own self and Supreme Personality of Creator. Mabbe 'Free' is more of a precise adjective for heart and 'Practical' is more to brain. But what is a balancing point between them wherein none of them is hampering the other. Right now I can certainly say Practicality beats Freedom. When are we gonna grow over this word PRACTICAL and do what we want to do FREEly..? Really a question to ponder upon

In the end...

Nope..i am not writing about Linkin Park. The other day, it just struck me what is it like at the end of this long journey called life. I might do my graduation, masters, work on some other degrees, have a job, have a family, and all that normal stuff.

But to think of it, should it be that way..??? Has nature created such complex beings called Humans (with BRAIN) to do this routine stuff. I am not saying that all this routine stuff is unworthy; all these degrees require decent amount of brain and understanding. But is der some other side to it..?? We might have great technomlogies, great engineering expertise but somehow i feel that mabbe this is not the only stuff we are capable of developing. All these materialistic things cant be the only entities that we can think of. Mabbe the greatest developement we can acheive is to develop one own self. We might know how a satellite works and how to reach MARS but whats the point when we cant reach within our own's selves.

Within me, I somewhere feel that things like flashy cars, huge buildings all distract us from the main purpose of Self-Development. The other day i was just thinking of it and suddenly a convertible merc passed which instantly distracted me from what i was thinking.

But does it mean that we shudnt enjoy all the great inventions created by man and nature. However i dont think while enjoyin nature we get distracted. Closer we are to nature closer we feel with ourself. I dream of being on beach, in the wild many times and i guess it will take me closer to myself. But the chances are while doing so mabbe we keep aside the actual purpose of human birth. Or why cant we strike a balance between two.

Mabbe everyone has to think for himself. I am still in the process of thinking and havent reached any conclusions yet.