The swinging generation!

The Sound of One Car Bombing

Vive la France!

As the French go out to vote a new President, I send them all my well-wishes...

I'm in two minds about which leader would be best. I quite like Ségolène Royal, but some people tells me she's mean and lack ideas. Nicholas Sarkozy has ideas and likes order and respect. Order in the sense of ORDER! or just good organisation, is a question. Royal was brought up in a military family and rebelled against her father's oppressive order. But she's not a hippie. Just look at her.

A curious fact is that both of them sued their own father (Sarkozy by helping his mother) for not paying for their children's maintenance and education. Sarkozy's father left the household when the kids were still very young, while Royal helped her mother divorce her abusive father.

I have nothing really clever to say about them or the French elections. Will some divine inspiration descend upon me in this very moment? Nope. I'm dry like an autumn leaf in the Gobi desert.

God bless!

I'm a Triolet...

If they told you I'm mad, then they lied. I'm odd, but it isn't compulsive. I'm the triolet, bursting with pride; If they told you I'm mad, then they lied. No, it isn't obsessive. Now hide All the spoons or I might get convulsive. If they told you I'm mad then they lied. I'm odd, but it isn't compulsive. What Poetry Form Are You?

The Pope and the European Union

The Pope has criticised the European Union for not including at least a mention about Europe's Christian roots in the Declaration for the Future of the European Union, signed on Sunday.

In one sense he is right, for if we study the history of Europe, and even the Enlightenment, Christianity has played an enormous part in its development and character. It would be foolish to deny, or dismiss, its influence. Should it therefore have a place in this document? Maybe. I only skimmed through it quickly, enough to see that it wasn't of particular importance to me, so I can't say.

It is understandable that the Churches want to be included into the European public sphere, for everything we do have moral and ethic component. We act according to our beliefs, and we reap the consequences of them too. Judging from the results (for example, decreased mental health), we're not doing that well as a society. We would therefore profit from a change of perspectives. But why?

The secular state is not (as many believe) a neutral repository of a diversity of beliefs, but advances its own values, beliefs, and goals. It needs to be challenged, for it often does not work for the benefit of all people, or for achieving peace. It therefore should be challenged and kept on its toes. And the Churches has all the right in the world to do so.

However, the Churches do need to acknowledge that Christianity is also the cause of secularism and atheistic humanism (that's btw why the humanists are so obsessed by Christianity - read the New Humanist and see for yourself). A lot of the conflicts, wars, bigotry in the 16th and 17th century were based on doctrinal differences. The violence defied all human logic and sense, and therefore led to what we today call the Enlightenment. The influence of the Churches was gradually restricted to the private sphere, and for very good reasons.

I would personally like to see a more open Europe today, where religion and spirituality is part of its varied landscape; I would like to see the Churches acknowledged for its thoughtful contribution and wisdom - but that will not happen unless the Churches acknowledges its part in the rise of secularism and atheism, and more importantly - root out their cause.

Maybe they will then notice that they have allies amongst all the Muslims, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, and all other spiritually minded people in Europe. If they come so far as to acknowledge their intrinsic worth, and to respect them, the root cause will certainly have dissolved...

God bless!

The Radcliffe Camera

Here are a couple of photos that I took today of the Radcliffe Camera as I was leaving the library. It's my favourite space in Oxford to read and study, especially the ground floor area. The colours are warm, the space is round, the 'slices' we sit in are cosy (in their own way). It's a great space. I'm not there that often, for the books I need right now are in the Indian Institute Library. But I miss it.

The photos came out quite well, despite the darkness.

Ok, I've procrastinated enough. Good night!

Give constant thanks

I came across this beautiful piece as I 'randomly' opened a page in Eileen Caddy's Opening Doors Within:

"Give constant thanks for everything. There is much to be grateful for; open your eyes, look around, and see how blessed you are. As you do, you will find yourself filled with an overwhelming feeling of love and gratitude, and the whole of life and living will take on a new meaning. The people around you will mean more to you because your heart is filled with love for them, and you have a deeper understanding and tolerance towards them. You will find yourself grateful for them, for their love and companionship, for just being themselves. Your eyes will be open to all the beauty and harmony around you, to the wonders of nature. You will see with eyes that really see; you will hear with ears that really hear; and you will speak with words pf love and understanding. Life will be good for you because you are taking nothing for granted, but are appreciative of everything and can see My hand in everything."

It was just the perfect message for me today. Thank you!

All Hearts

I couldn't resist putting up this picture of my marmelade hearts that I made for my granny last year. She had her 100th birthday in May!

Well, yes I know, it's Valentine's Day, and it's not about grannies - but why not?! Aren't they lovely though?

Anyway, I found an explanation about the origins of Valentine's day on Wikipedia and it seems that it originated from the Romans.They celebrated a fertility festival in the middle of February, which seemed quite lively...

It was called Lupercalia. This is from Plutarch (a Greek historian):

"Lupercalia, of which many write that it was anciently celebrated by shepherds, and has also some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea. At this time many of the noble youths and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those they meet with shaggy thongs. And many women of rank also purposely get in their way, and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will thus be helped in delivery, and the barren to pregnancy."

This festival was local to the city of Rome, but was banned by Pope Gelasius I (yes, the one that asserted the sacred power of bishops as separate from and over royal power in the end of 5th century - yes, that one!). February was also known for its festival of purification, from which the month got its name - februare "to purify" (yes, this speaks volumes to me as I'm born in February). Some would say that Candlemas (the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin) was put in the place of Lupercalia, but some argue differently. In any case, Pope Gelasius declared in 496 that the Feast of Valentine was to be held on the 14 February.

St. Valentine refers to one or more Christian martyrs "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God." In other words, Pope Gelasius did not know much about them.

I quite like that statement though, for it is entirely true that it's not possible for us to fully understand another. But God does. It reminds me of a verse in the Bhagavad-gita (7.26) where Krishna says: "I know everything that has happened in the past, all that is happening in the present, and all things that are yet to come. I also know all living entities; but Me no one knows."

Ad from God

Global warming

Today we finally got an official statement by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the planet is heating up due to 'human activity'. It took its time to figure that one out...

I guess that anything that makes us more conscious of our relationship with the planet and nature is good, but God did it take time to get there! I wonder though if it will change people's thinking, or if we will just find out another way of earning money - i.e. exploiting the green economy. I'm all for people becoming rich in good ways, but the same mentality that led us into an environmental disaster, won't bring us out of it.

We need green thinking, whatever that means. I guess I mean holistic thinking. That we stop thinking only 'what's good for me?', and think, 'what's good?', or 'what's the right thing to do?' The idea that 'what's good for me, is good for everyone' is passé. Now is the time for 'what's good for everyone, is good for me'. Don't you think?

I saw 'An Inconvenient Truth' last week, which I found quite revealing.

Kula Shaker and Govinda

It's such a long time since I heard Kula Shaker and now I've found them on the Tube...

Dark Clouds and modern life

Yesterday, as I walked my bike up from B&Q (having spent more time and money than advisable) I noticed the most beautiful and dramatic sky. It was full of rushing large dark blue clouds behind the last light of the day. It was dramatic and energising.

In any other scenery, by woodland, the sea or a mountain, it would have been a fantastic picture. But in the middle of suburban Oxford, it didn’t come to it’s full potency though.

I find that living in a city, even if Oxford doesn’t really have any high-rise buildings, is in one sense like living in an aquarium (as confined to a small space). The buildings become like walls that impede my vision of the horizon; and without that connection to the horizon, I somehow loose my connection to nature and to the greater reality, beyond the city street.

I cycled home in the rain and the wind, trying to keep myself and my bike straight in the gusts. I quite enjoyed it though. There’s nothing like feeling the force of nature for a few minutes, as long as I can crawl back into a heated room by the end of it…

It's finished

I'm back in Sweden, and the other night I heard on the news that 'it's finished - after 20 years'.

A police station had ordered toilet paper in 1986, as part of its routines, except that this time it took them 4 hours to unload. But the paper is now finally finished. After 20 years. And it made it to the news. And here. So now you know.

Bhagavad-gita

“…when doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of external tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita."

Speech at Meeting of Missionaries, 28 July 1925. CW XXVII p.435.

Karma Capitalism

Found this article on management and the Bhagavad-gita. Karma capitalism.

I think it's great that they're finding their ways to holistic ways of dealing with their lives and the planet. The Bhagavad-gita has so much in it for us all. But when using it we should consider it in a holistic way too. It is possible to use it to increase our ego, or as a tool for domination, if we just pick out a verse here and there. But of course, detachment to the result of our actions, which is quite a central theme, cannot be achieved through devious means.

Yes, we should consider all our employees, and all who profit and are affected by our business (including the earth), but that can only be achieved by putting God in the centre. We did not create the earth, after all, so whatever we use should be done as an act of gratitude to the creator. Otherwise we're thiefs, aren't we?

It's about perspectives, and stretching them just a bit further to include an increasingly bigger picture. If we move away from the 'competitive' paradigm to a more 'co-operational' one, we see how we also benefit by looking out for each other. In fact, we derive a greater satisfaction and pleasure by doing so.

The 'new' management paradigm further suggest that business become more successful and satisfying when leaders see themselves as servants to the employees, and the greater interest (society as a whole, the environment etc).

What the Bhagavad-gita is trying to do is to stretch our perspectives even further, to include the source of the creation. When we manage to do that, and to connect to that source with love, then everything just clicks to place, and makes complete sense. It will connect us with our deepest truth and dreams, and unleash a tremendous amount of satisfaction.

Midnight stream

Brambles and bumbles, and beer - naaaa
No alcohol here
We're as straight as Euclid's line, but real
Real blood, sweat, and tears
With love and tenderness,
with affectionate regard
Embarrassed at our feable need,
and here we are -
little ones, but oh so precious.
Precious to God,
- what else do we need?

Another quote

Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.

Nelson Mandela

Henry Miller

I've just come across some beautiful quotations by Henry Miller that I want to share:

"Imagination is the voice of daring. If there is anything Godlike about God it is that. He dared to imagine everything."

"Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such."

"Sex is one of the nine reasons for reincarnation. The other eight are unimportant."

"Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not understood."

"If there is to be any peace it will come through being, not having."

"The real leader has no need to lead - he is content to point the way."

I've never read anything by him, but he seems quite insightful.

Misfits

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them.

But the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Jack Kerouac

**************************************************

Maybe we shuld just go mad - and change the world!

I would say that Srila Prabhupada was such a person, in a spiritual sense. I read briefly yesterday a talk he gave to some international student society in 1969. He started of by speaking about the meaning of 'international', in that we want to bring people together, in e.g. the UN, but that we can only do that when we put God in the centre. That's a truly revolutionary thought, isn't it?

When you throw a stone in the water you get rings of ripples expanding from it, without them colliding with each other. But the opposite happens when you throw in a few stones at the same time. Real harmony can thus only be there when we place God is in the centre.

We expand our concerns from ourselves to international matters, like the expanding ripples in the water, but it will only work when the centre is right. It's such a simple concept, but, O so deep.

Some say that religion is the cause of all the troubles in the world: that we have too many people putting God in the centre and thus we have so many conflicts. I would say that we have too few putting God in the centre - far too few.

Sometimes we use the name of God for our own self-interest, or to justify our feelings of hatred and desires for revenge, but then we've strayed away from the centre. God is a not a baseball bat, nor a ladder for wealth and power - He's so much more sublime and wonderful than that.

A devotee of the Lord (Prabodhananda Sarasvati) compares the highest achievements in this world with a flower in the sky (akasha-pushpayate); i.e. they are imaginary or without real substance. A flower in the sky is not tangible, nor does it have any fragrance - it's just an idea. You can't enjoy it because it doesn't exist. This is how this devotee feels about wordly goals, because he's tasted some of the beauty of God.

This does not mean that such a devotee feels contempt for the world - no, he'll just remind us again, and again, to put God in the centre of our lives, just like Srila Prabhupada did. And that's maybe how we can change the world...

Invitation

I got this invitation the other day:

"We invite you to submit a paper/abstract to The 3rd International Symposium on Management, Engineering and Informatics (MEI 2007) in the Context of The 11th World Multi-conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (WMSCI 2007) (http://www.iiis-cyber.org/mei2007). IT will take place in Orlando, Florida, USA, from July 8-11, 2007. "

I thought it cute. What could I speak about? 'How to manage oneself out of a waste paper basket', or, 'Life Engineering - the life and experience of a human submarine'? Anyway, thank you for the invitation, but it's little bit away from my area...