The Illusioned Word - Civilization

The other day I just came across this word 'Civilization". Being a human being, anxiety led me to discover and understand something more about it. I immediately goggled (searched) it, as we call it today and found the definition as "a society in an advanced state of social development (e.g., with complex legal and political and religious organizations)". I found myself to be pretty much correct in that it related to the society as it exists or existed at different points of time, like studied in history like Harappa civilization. By this time, I understood that at different times, society in various forms (civilizations) had been having different salient features. But somehow I was also forced to ponder at the current society which is thought of in the most advanced of all the stages.

The current society is talked about as the most developed one. But is that really so? There are quite big political, legal or religious organizations. Science has reached new heights. Same is the case with economy everywhere. But does that mean present human civilization has reached its peaks.

As a layman, I understood that early man didn't know how to cook or eat or dress up. But today's man takes great amount of care in his dress up or the food he eats. But does this basic thing to live or eat the sole criteria for any civilization. If we see around, human being today is controlled in every possible way simply to make him act in a desired way that is thought to be perfect. He is guided where to walk, when to walk and even what to do or not. There are fines and strict rules all around. The reason seems like making the human act in the assumed perfect way. Doesn't everybody know all these basic things for himself.

If all the rules and all the fines are removed for even a single hour, there will be chaos everywhere. Probably, man may behave as an early man except that he will eat cooked food and dress up with clothes. And the same way if an early man comes up and is put in the same structure as today, won’t he act the same way as today's man. It really seems quite funny.

On what basis do we really say that the present civilization is in the most advanced state. Probably, the times when there will be no rules to be acted upon and the human himself will know what to do and what not, would be the most civilized state.

Moving Attitudes

A thought is something that makes human as a human.Whatever we do or speak is a mere consequence of our thoughts. In simple words, a thought is something in human brain that makes him unique from other living creatures in the world. We may call it an object that is an output of the mind's processing. Mind constantly takes in inputs from around in various ways. That may be listening to something, seeing something or even simply feeling anything. All the things happening around constantly feed the mind resulting in some thoughts. This thinking allows an individual to model the world and to deal with it effectively according to his goals,plans or desires. Scientifically speaking "Thinking involves the cerebral manipulation of information, as when we form concepts, engage in problem solving, reason and make decisions".

Have we ever wondered how beautifully a thought impacts us as a human being, constantly driving us towards our actions. A thought just comes and in less than a second it is gone and we are fed up with a new thought. Seems like they are constantly flowing in around us. We are happy at a moment for something and the next moment we find ourselves sad about the same thing. Although the object remains the same, but our thoughts change about the same. This is the beauty of thoughts that indulges us in different activities, liking or disliking something or somebody at different points.

Well, the real thing is that the most talked about thing in most of the success books around the globe and various motivational sessions, the 'ATTITUDE', is itself a result of these very thoughts. A positive attitude is what is recommended in various forms and words. Very true, what we think is how we become or what we do. A positive environment drives positive thoughts which drive a positive attitude leading to success. An attitude may be described as how we see the world and how we take the life. And life takes us the same way how we take it.

When it comes to attitude, we all know how important a positive attitude is but how many of us really have that at all the times. We feel good, feel motivated at certain times about the things and develop a great positive attitude about that. At a different point of time, we feel bad about certain things and attitude is transformed into negative, resulting from some negative thoughts flowing in mind.And we are just entangled in these 'MOVING ATTITUDES' moving us in different directions every time. Just like a sinusoidal curve, up-down..up-down...

99% people know what success is and whats the best of the best way to reach there where success meets you. But hardly 1% of those are successful. Most people develop positive attitudes at some point in life but still don't achieve the same levels. The difference lies not in the levels of motivation or the attitudes, but in the 'MOVING ATTITUDES'. These moving attitudes keep us away from the realms of success. They key seems like lying in maintaining consistent attitudes about all the positives in one's life. That’s what I call 'Consistent Positive Attitude'.

Thoughts for this New Year

Countdown has already begun and its some 24 hours now when all the calendars hanging around for last one year will get replaced by the New Year 2008. A lot of excitement and zeal all around as the new year starts. Like every year, 2007 has also been a mix of good and bad events on all levels, international, national or personal.

Well, it seems a good junction between the past and the future, to look in retrospect and plan for the future. Lets analyse the past one year to see all the achievements, learnings and of course some bad things or mistakes we wish to avoid in the coming year to take ourselves ahead in the paths chosen by us.

Lets plan to create or define our own dictionaries including everything for us and exluding rest all junk.

'Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits'. Lets not do this to ourselves.

Wishing all my fellows on Planet Earth a more worthy Year 2008 ahead.

New Year's Day is every man's birthday. Celebrate it.

The Silent Mind

Ever experienced sometime being with your Silent Mind? It has a lot of things to tell you; about you, your surroundings and all.
Everyday, rather every moment we are just lost in ourselves and the world around us that it hardly gives any chance to be with self for a moment. Life has become so complex that every time we tend to be engrossed with one problem or the other and in all this vicious circle, we have lost a mere sense of what a Silent Mind is.
A Silent Mind is not something very silent but free from unnecessary noises. A Silent Mind is something that gives you a real feel of what you are and not what you appear to be.
The truth is that without listening to this Silent Mind, mind tends to become and think so narrow that instead of solving your problems, it creates a chain of problems. And if you develop the habit of listening to it, it redefines the meaning of life for you.
Mind is a thing that is always working; 24*7 ; every moment something is going on. And the most beautiful thing in all this is that things going on change like a streak of lightning. You are very sad and suddenly you become so happy.
Have you ever just experienced how a particular thought enters your mind, what effect it has on you and suddenly how it leaves , simultaneously creating space for a new thought.
Just experience with your closed eyes for sometime how thoughts come and leave your mind and try to listen your Silent Mind what it has for you.

CELEBRATING INDEPENDENCE DAY

Today’s National Holiday (15th Aug.) made me have some thought over INDIA, my motherland who got free from the curbs of British in 1947. Till that time, this day is celebrated with a lot of excitement, excitement of INDIA being an independent nation.

I think the feeling of freedom is the best feeling for a human being and is worth celebrating. But are the people of INDIA really free today? Is INDIA on the right track of development? Is INDIA taking ahead the efforts of her great freedom fighters? Does INDIA today deserve to celebrate this day?

It may seem that the writer is against INDIA (or to be better called in INDIA as a Pakistani). But, I also love INDIA and have concerns for her, my motherland.

We are a great democracy, rather the world’s largest democracy. But the purpose of democracy is defeated in most of the cases. All the system is too much corrupted to be cleaned in the coming years.

For the last 60 years, our leaders have been unable to provide the nation with basic amenities as water and electricity.

The problems of INDIA can be just categorized under a single head called GOVERNMENT. If you are dealing with any aspect concerned with government, you are going to face huge problems in that. You are dealing with some government office or you are consuming something that is a government responsibility to provide, you are just screwed up.

Is this the so called Freedom which we are celebrating today???

And the hype is that we promote the leaders knowing that they are corrupt or have a bad background, that’s in fact the true INDIANism.

Don’t see any possible solution in the coming times for INDIAN democracy.

The Story of Discipline

Different people, different Goals. But the bottomline is same – Discipline. Nobody can achieve any Goal of any kind without discipline. People set up Goals, imagine the end result ,fantasize it, plan out the possible course of action to achieve the same in a proper time frame. But gradually, that action lacks as was planned for that fantasy or GOAL , whatever it is.
But still, human being is a great creation of GOD. He now comes out with a new creation called EXCUSE and that too for himself to satisfy his very inner self that he is performing great and soon be with his fantasized GOAL and still feels good about him and the GOAL. The story continues till he realizes the significance of discipline in life.
Sooner or later, one has to learn this very truth about the discipline. There are 2 options – either learn it or life will make you learn itself. A very simple case of indiscipline is a person delaying the credit card payment. And the bank will soon fetch from him a huge amount as fine. So, it has to be learnt in any case. Better one learns it himself. Take control of your life or life will take control of you.
Everybody wants freedom to the fullest. But to tell the truth nobody can experience the true freedom without discipline. Indiscipline leads to one being controlled by life and the various circumstances. And these very things curtail freedom. To enjoy freedom, amplify your self discipline and your fantasies will no longer be fantasies.
There is always a struggle going on – struggle between head and heart , struggle between emotions and facts….The solution is discipline. And the result is either your goals or your excuses run your life.
I know all sounds very true and mouth-watering and everybody wants the same in life. But the more true thing about discipline is it is very easy to be not to be disciplined. And discipline is just an act of cultivation. Today’s actions will be tomorrow’s results. Sow it today and reap it tomorrow. And discipline will tell you which is the right season to sow and which to reap.

Come out of excuses; discipline is a key driver to success; and experience all your fantasies!!!

Journey to Exploration-I

It was Tuesday and 20th September, 1983 when I started my journey on the planet Earth. I started exploring the new and amazing things around me. I started recognizing different things and giving them different names. I discovered something beautiful and called it a flower, encountered another thing of the same type and thus started categorizing different flowers by different names. I identified various colours by various names, saw the sky high above me and gave that colour the name blue. Lot of new things (not all to mention here) were around me and explored them one by one. Slowly and slowly I started making my own paradoxes of beautiful and ugly, good and bad.
Then, I explored different words, their meanings; gave different things different names. Started giving people around me different relational names, explored the words’Mother’,’Father’,’Brother’,’Sister’ and lots more.
Slowly and slowly, my so-called knowledge grew on and my exploration diminished. The paradoxes ,perceptions I made in my mind made my mind narrow which once used to be so open and was willing to let enter in any new thing through its doors .And I was happy unknowing of this bitter fact.
Then, I went to school; discovered more new things, new experiences and made more and more fixed perceptions. My mind had increasing number of fixed ideas. This is bad, that is bad. But why? This I never dared to question or explore for myself.
Things went on like this only all the time ;College ,job ,everywhere…..Not that I was not discovering or exploring but that my inner urge to explore was diminishing all the time. Mind becoming more and more fixed all the time and a junk of more fixed ideas each time.
Today, at the age of 22, when in my silent mind, I introspect myself and my journey till now, I want myself again to go back the time when it was ‘20th September, 1983’ and my explorative and open mind was working at 100%.As a reader, you might think and laugh what I am saying .But, for once try to introspect yourself and may be you also find this thing true for you and try to understand why this happened.
Science has upto this time not developed that much to take in the past (may be after some years we find those things) but having the same exploration power and desire is what we can have. There are more things unexplored than explored in this world.