असतो मा सद्गमय | तमसो मा ज्योतिर् गम्य || मृत्योर्मामृतं गम्य |||
ओम् तत् सत्,शान्तिःशान्तिःशान्तिः
a logical way of Living
“If you wanna live happy, give up your free-will, do you karma according to your dharma; enjoy present w/o worrying about or borrowing from future, or thinking about past; time runs in a cycle, neither good nor bad times will last long.” ~ TheVIP
although untapped in Science, Hinduism extensively covers the subject of Human Behavior; starting with Upanishads & vast coverage in Bhag.vad.geeta; the funny thing is that i had an exposure to both in 7th grade … so my destiny was set long time ago
a video on Hinduism by Dr. Nick Sutton
of the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
My God – Oh, My God ..!
for those “who only believe in Science ..”
no matter how qualified some people are, if they say that they only believe in something when scientifically proven, i call them closed people (just like closed mutual funds!) because they only believe in what’s written in a text book .. based on their qualifications, these folks understand science, but do not understand the scientific process .. here, i am also not saying that you need to accept anything blindly, but be open to have an experience .. & if you stop reading beyond this point because of this harsh statement, i say, “good for you” .. but if you have an open mind .. let me explain the scientific process … it has following stages:
1. necessity
2. hypothesis
3. experiments (proof) & theory
4. a scientific discovery / law
5. technology (application of science)
typically, people call steps 2-4 as a scientific process, but they forget that there are steps beyond them … let me take you through an example: when Newton saw the apple falling from the tree, and not flying in the sky, in his mind, he needed to call it something to explain the phenomenon, and so he discovered gravity [as a necessity] … note that i used the term discovered the gravity .. just because Newton discovered gravity in 1687, it doesn’t mean that gravity didn’t exist in 1686 .. it has always been there, however, people are not aware of it in those terms but you feel it & experience it everyday ..
imagine in 1686, you are a 4 years old child and you jump from the 4th floor – you are going to beak your leg or back, regardless whether gravity is discovered or not, proven or not, & whether you believe in it or not … rather, in 1686 you may say that there is an evil in the ground which pulled you in – a perfect answer in 1686 ..!
the point is the science is simply a step in the process, & just because science hasn’t proven something, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist .. so keep your senses open ..!
similarly, Higgs boson was invented out of necessity, a part of a hypothesis, which became a theory and was proven with an experiment much later .. also know as God particle … even physicists start using God in their stuff .. the theory was developed in 1964 and it was proven in 2012, but the particle has been in existence forever .. & someone has to believe in its existence first to discover it ..!
why we keep on inquiring about God ..?
lately with Sadhguru, but prior to him, J Krishnamurthy and others, i have observed folks asking these scholars a question again & again … “does God exist .?
to the fact that we know that at present, there is no scientific way to prove whether God exist or not .. then why we keeping on inquiring about him, when we know, its not provable ..
here is what i think: it is because of personal necessity, as God is a wonderful thing .. (just like the song!)
say, you have an exam tomorrow & you didn’t have much opportunity to study .. so who would you ask for help the night before ..? OR say several banks have rejected your application of loan which yo need desperately & this bank seem to be your last chance and as you are submitting your application, who would you call for help .? .. using the concept of inversion, if things are going well in your life .. getting all A, job is good – getting 2 promotions in 3 years, business is well – 50% annual growth etc.. do you really need God ..?
moral of the story is that God is simply an individual necessity, which becomes real in our life time-to-time and in those times, you need someone to help w/o compensation and God seems to be the only one who fulfills that “unmet need.” – hence a wonderful thing ..!
those who don’t believe in God have a better choice because this question doesn’t arise, and since there is no God, there is no expectation … now, then there are people who believe in God and would like to believe in God; to answer for them – its all about expectations – IF you have no expectations from God, then, whether her/she exist or not – how does it matter ..?
It only matters when you need help – now come the true question – will God come to my help, when i need one ..? & in that context the answer is quite simple … God ain’t come to rescue you, when you need help … guaranteed – now do you still wanna ask the question ..?
by design, God has given you free-will, so you can jump from 4th floor, if you like, but then you expect God to help you with broken leg .. its just doesn’t makes sense … IF God wanted to help you, he/she wouldn’t have given you free-will in first place … but what would bring you out of your pain is You – the God in you – & that’s why in Hinduism – we say Ahm Brahmosmi – I am the God ..! You have full authority on you .. got it ..!
do i believe in God ..?
first, i am simply a seeker of knowledge … hence my job title is an Explorer.
well, i have not seen God yet; interestingly, i haven’t seen gravity either; but i have experienced both of them everywhere; good things have happened to me throughout my life … things that can only be explained if there is a higher plan, which have a brought a boy from old Delhi to where i am, must be a plan of God … & i am still seeking.
i don’t think that God is a person or entity or an organization who keeps track and support billions of people currently living and those who have lived in past for their minute by minute actions (good as well as bad), your debts etc. … that will be absolutely impossible without a serious super computing power & a huge IT department to run them … (& if it is true, it is good for Indians as they are good in both) … although i learn from stories in various religious texts because they talk about morality, life cycles and how to live a happy life.
now come to the glory details … in Hinduism, at the top level, God’s activities are divided in three tasks – creation, development & transformation (or recycle which leads to next creation) – in an endless cycle represented by three figures … also called as trimurti – Brahma, Vishnu & Mahesh (Shiva) … which is similar to activities run by Mother nature – creation (birth), development (life) & destruction (death), same as re-birth (as in Eastern thinking); hence, Nature follows cycles, and therefore, is a form of God.
& for computer geeks, these activities are in parallel to 1) constructor, 2) Get, Set & Action methods & 3) destructor (which gives up memory for future usage) in object oriented programming .. so as a computer programmer, you are also acting as a God to control the life of your program.
moreover, Nature runs its various cycles to do its job & controls our lives … human species is a creation of nature and nature has provided everything we need to survive, at no cost.
further, as i look around myself; i describe things around me as: nature’s creation – humans, animals, plants, rivers, mountains etc. & human creation – smart phones, computers, furniture, cars, guns, etc. .. but keep in mind that human creation is simply a manifestation of a human mind; i.e. a man made things (good or bad) were created in human mind first …!
it all starts with aum …
in the western world, those who do yoga and meditation are familiar with the word aum …
it consists of 3 syllables from Hindi language – a – u – m .. signifying the trinity of forces that run the world cycle; i.e. creation – preservation – transformation(or recycle, as i like to call) … this trinity becomes functional as in Brahma – Vishnu – Mahesh defined next.
aum is simply a sound which reverberates the human body – in facts various parts of the body – from stomach/lower body (a), to upper body (u) & mind (m).
what i find funny is that on wall-street, money managers are measured based on AUM, as it stands for assets under management, how convenient ..?
Brahma, Vishnu & Mahesh (Shiva) -The Trinity (Trimurti)
Nature not only creates things (Hinduism : Brahma), it lets us transform, play & enjoy (Hinduism : Vishnu) and eventually cleanses (Hinduism : Shiva) … to be born again … it’s all about cycles … like economy & financial markets.
what do i need as a minimum to survive .. water [to survive/live], air [to breathe/live], fire [to warm / cooking], sky / sun [source of energy] & earth [to grow food] … then there are humans who turn water into whisky and charge you a lot of money & so on … interestingly, you can survive without whisky, but can’t survive without water … so, whatever your must needs are for survival, all of are provided to you at no cost, and hence i believe in God .. & God never says that you need to donate money to survive … on the contrary, if God (not humans) starts charging me for these things someday that i need to survive, then i will stop believing in God … but if you wanna live in a five star hotel & like to eat in Michelin certified restaurants … & you blame God that you can’t have them … that’s another story
the concept of money & debt (borrow money from someone for your benefit & paying interest) are man’s creation …. nature has not made a rich or poor person – just humans, & of course, humans are blessed with enormous computing power called mind, which they use to build new gadgets like computer, phone & airplanes which help mankind OR to kill other people, to beg/borrow/steal money & assets from others, & to manipulated people for an individual’s short-term advantage … & a few who gain power use their mind to create rules, regulations & laws to govern the society … but keep in mind that these are concepts developed by humans, as most of this stuff only existed in last 2000 years, while mankind has lived on earth for much longer
& to clarify, i believe in capitalism and all the benefits you get by hard work and effective use of resources to bring comforts of life that we have built in last few hundred years & we are so used to everything that we can’t imagine living without them, but again, those are man’s creation and Not Gods’ .. so God has nothing to do with them .. e.g. i remember growing up in India, people will look to God to send electricity … really … you think God has any idea of electricity or Govt. electrical department ..!
ultimately, it is all linked with the concept of Karma .. which simply means that our actions or in-actions have consequences … if you continue to go against the rules of society, you may get lucky a few times and get a free pass (just like in a casino), but once you get used to the free pass, your become confident in your [bad] actions, which will results into a major blunder and whatever you have accumulated will all be destroyed in single shot .. as narrated in the story of Ramayna.
further, famine or plague or wars are man’s creation … or at least now we know that they God has nothing to do with it, which was not the common belief say couple of thousand years ago … & since Bill Gates is able to eradicate polio from earth, you can say that it was not a God’s creation … OTOH, if your actions have good intentions, then good things will happen to you, in due course of time .. & that’s why Geeta says don’t expect the results [especially right away] … & so you don’t need God or an organizations to monitor the law of Karma.
It’s all about cycles … next level
within the construct of Trimurti above, Lord Vishnu has taken ten lives where earth was created and destroyed with each cycle.
this is a long-term cycle of planet creation and re-creation conceptualized in Indian mythology.
Bhag.vad.Geeta
The subject of Bhag.vad.Geeta entails the comprehension of five basic truths. There is Isvara, which means the controller, and there are jivas, the living entities, which are controlled. The living being is controlled in every respect, at least in his conditioned life by the Isvara. Prakurti (material nature) and kaal (or time, the duration of existence of the whole universe or the manifestation of material nature) and karma (activity) are discussed. All living entities are engaged in different activities, and Bhag.vad.geeta explains the relationship among the above.
Material nature is constituted by three qualities: the mode of goodness (Satvic), the mode of passion (Rajsic) and the mode of ignorance (Tamsic). Above these modes there is eternal time.
Out of the five, the first four are eternal while actions are not eternal … jiva & prakurti follow their cycles as a function of time (kaal).
The position of Isvara is that of super consciousness, while jiva are conscious … prakurti doesn’t have consciousness.
& finally, we are suffering or enjoying the fruits of our actions (karma).
significance of Deepawali pooja — “knowledge & wisdom .. Wealth .. Power” cycle
on Deepawali, in addition to Ganesha (to clear the hurdles in any activity) we worship the three Goddesses of power: Goddess Saraswati (knowledge & wisdom), Goddess Lakshmi (wealth) & Goddess Kali (muscle / human power).
life begins with acquiring knowledge & wisdom … given to us by Ma Saraswati … something i learned in my middle school … thanks to my principal Sh. Ishwar Chand Ahujaji … knowledge will lead you to better life making you a healthy & wealth person; i.e. you will be blessed by Ma Laskhmi … plus, learning is a continuous process … and in parallel, you should worship Ma Kali, who provides human/muscle power; however, using the muscle power for wrong use would lead to destruction … so, you need to strike a proper balance.
once you acquire wealth, first you should enjoy to the fullest, after all you worked hard for it … but what do you do, if you have excess … well, you have several choices … first, you can continue to hoard with yourself, which will end up disappearing as wealth doesn’t stay at one place for long … लक्ष्मी चलायमान है (more on this later) … at this point, you need to understand the inter-relationship among these three powers … once you acquire wealth, you can use it to gain more knowledge for yourself, which will provide a reasonable ROI (return on your investment) or you can use wealth to help others to gain knowledge, which will provide a huge ROI or you can use wealth to hurt people, providing a negative ROI … pictorially, from the middle (Ma Lakshmi), you can use a feedback mechanism going towards left (+ve ROI) or to the right (-ve ROI) or stay in the center (zero ROI) … it’s a choice you have to make … & now, you get another 3 credits for an investment course ..!
Ganapati Pooja (गणेश पूजा) – a goal management cycle
it is so beautiful to learn that in Hindu philosophy even Gods follow a cycle … there is a time for them to come and there is time for them to go … to come back again next year … so, what’s meaning of doing a pooja at certain time of the year ..?
well, instead of going to a business school and learning all these fancy management concepts, the idea is that you do pooja (पूजा) with an expert, who can help you refresh the ideas …
since we are talking about Ganeshji … it is interesting to see the whole family (परिवार) … his parents are Shiva & Parvati … Lord Ganesha has two wives – Siddhi & Buddhi, two sons – Lakshya (also known as Shubha) & Labh, & a daughter Santoshi (the daughter is not a well known fact) …
now, look at Lord Ganesha’s family in a your personal context – to start a family or a venture you need Shiva (an ideal lover) & Parvati (power, शक्ति, commitment) … & then to improve your life or business, you need Buddhi (mind, बुद्धि) to get Siddhi (being famous, सिद्धि) … & to accomplish something, you need Lakshya (aim, goal, लक्षय) or Shubh (auspiciousness) to get Labh (लाभ, profit) … and once you have all of the above, you should become Santhoshi (संतोषी) … control your mann (मन) … equivalent to a 3 credits of a management course in one pooja.
i am doing my pooja regularly, but why doesn’t god listen to My problems …?
well, if there is God, then he must listen to everyone … would you agree ?
okay, if you follow Hinduism like me, the problem is much simpler as we have different Gods to solve “our problems” … say, you have money issues .. who doesn’t ..? and so you pray to Goddess Lakshmi …
keep in mind that all other Hindus are also praying to Goddess Lakshmi and there are roughly one billion Hindus in the world … so how much time Goddess Lakshmi can give you in an year ..? … approx 31 milliseconds … now try making a request in 31 milliseconds … still wondering how Lakshmiji is unable to listen to your request ..!
the point is that it is your smartness and hard work that will make you prosperous and not asking for money from God
when i am asked this question by Hindus, i suggest them worshiping Goddess Sarasawati [in addition to Goddess Lakshmi] .. why?
first, the path to success & wealth comes through knowledge & wisdom … so, if you follow Goddess Saraswati, Goddess Lakshmi will come to you by design …
second, using numbers … think how many people worship Goddess Saraswati (who choose a slow path of acquiring knowledge to become wealthy) versus who worship Ma Lakshmi (who want to become rich quickly) … a good guess would be a ratio of 1 to 100 for people who worship Goddess Saraswati versus Goddess Laskmi … so, if you are sending your request to Goddess Saraswati, you get roughly 3.1 seconds per year … and therefore, chances are high that you will be heard … the line is short here .. and, it will definitely work, as what you are asking God is to give you knowledge & wisdom, which in turn will make you healthy & wealthy.
bottom-line, in order to become successful, you need to continue learning & be persistent in your efforts.
btw, do you think God would know the concept of money … based on my knowledge, the concept of money is not more than a thousand years old; it’s a man made thing that makes one person poor and other richer … as per my understanding God made us all equal and he wouldn’t want to see us any other way … think about it ..!
does reincarnation exist …?
yes, is does & not because it is something based on religion, but because it can be proved using concept of economics or science; human body is made of five elements – earth, water, air, fire & sky/space – in terms of matter & energy .. & sum total of matter & energy has not changed in last millions of years, says Einstein – not me .. i am just quoting him – simply a transformation keeps on happening as mass becomes energy and vice versa but it is a zero sum game … so, nothing has escaped earth and nothing has entered either as .. barring a few aliens & astronauts ..! .. hence we are all made of re-cycled material, which comes from earth.
we are simply a piece of the earth based on the food that we have eaten and when we die, it all goes back to the same (either buried or cremated) .. not only that we are drinking the same water and breathing the same air that Lord Rama, Julius Cesar & Jesus did … !
& if science is not your forte, then let me try economics:
1. do you believe in the concept of economics that “there is no free lunch”, i.e. if you don’t pay your bills/debt someone else will … and, if you die before you pay your bills/debt, you children and grandchildren will pay …
2. if you don’t believe in 1, go ask someone living in Greece between 2010 & 2015 … they will tell you that the above statement is true & it is basic economics.
3. in a broader definition, as you live your life, you produce some stuff and consume some (not just the loan that you owe to your banker), and if your consumption is higher than your production, you owe debt to society.
4. do you also believe that your children and your grandchildren are some part of you … even if your children don’t resemble you (which is rare!), i bet your grandchildren certainly do … so part of you is definitely in them (they inherit your DNA!).
5. now, think about that if you don’t pay your debt, and your grandchildren end up paying the same, who are part of you … which means your are still responsible for paying your debt.
6. and, if you are still reading and agree with 1-5 above, then you believe in reincarnation.
what is spirituality …?
first of all, spirituality has nothing to do with God or whether you believe in God or not .. at least not in Hinduism .. so let’s mark this as key point
second, i am not sure spirituality can be described; so we can talk about it in terms of either what it is NOT or even describing with an analogy .. keeping that in mind, let me give it a try
spirituality is simply about looking inward
& not about doing something or behaving differently than the rest.
as a human being, we all got five senses: eyes to see, nose to smell, ears to hear, mouth helps us taste and skin to touch & sense … these senses, or sensors as we call in electronics engineering, help you realize the external world .. but there is no sensor in human body that can help you realize what’s happening inside you .. when i say, inside you, it doesn’t mean in biological sense, as for that we have all sorts of probes that doctors can insert inside you and can tell you what’s happening there .. but you are not just a collection of biological pieces, rather you are a human being – a husband or wife, child or adult, student or teacher, who also has emotions like anger, fear, sad, compassion etc.
to look inside of you, we need a sensor, and it’s already there, but not open or visible outside … metaphorically, some people call it the third eye – on your forehead in between eyes, which is there but closed; & when you are able to open it up, again speaking metaphorically, you become spiritual … some people also call it the sixth sense — & if you remember the movie, you will start saying “I see people” – just like the child in the movie ..
anyway, let’s say you find a way to open your third eye and become spiritual – what’s the point of going through all this .. well, it will give you a total different perspective of who you are (again looking inward) – sort of a contrarian view in finance, as most other folks who you meet day-to-day are not spiritual, and will have a totally different perspective of life .. and if you are start talking about spirituality in-voluntarily, people will most likely declare you crazy …!
spirituality is about inclusiveness
let me take an example to describe inclusiveness for a human being … as a human being, your goal is to live a peaceful & happy life or at least simply live .. most people will say that besides people around them & money, you need a home to live a good life but that’s all outward looking.
let’s look at what’s needed for you to live life … well, you need air to breathe .. but you need oxygen to work your respiratory system .. right ..? … but where do you get your oxygen ..? of course, the obvious answer is that we get it from trees (unless you are one of those guys who carry the that big machine around their neck) … but do you have these tree in your home – NO, how about your backyard – maybe or on the street you live – likely, or the nearest place you need to go to find good number is tree is the park near your house .. so, you need this park for your survival .. hence it must become part of your home a place you need to live .. right? so you extend its definition … looking another way, half of your lungs are hanging on those tree and your respiratory system can’t function without them …
now, let’s try another thing – what else you need to survive ..? .. i would say water … & where do you get your water ? don’t tell me that you get it from the tab or the bottle water from your grocery store .. no .. you got to fetch it from nearby lake, river or stream .. so for residents of Las Vegas, it would be lake mead which is connected with Colorado river, which starts from Colorado state … so you need the mountain range in Colorado to fulfill in your needs of water; so what’ becomes your definition of home – well now we are talking across states …
next, let’s talk about food .. well, not much grow around Vegas, except that we have dates farm … next options is CA, from where we can get lettuce, garlic and pistachio but a lot of of stuff comes from Mexico .. so now we extend our life to another country …
finally, you need sun light for survival, as none of the plants would grow in earth without that .. & the whole ecosystem would collapse .. therefore, you better call the solar system as your home .. so looking from an individual or humanity’s survival point of view, your perspective changes dramatically .. in Sanskrit, its described as वसुधैव कुटुंबकम in one sentence
spirituality is about consciousness
this is another buzzword, but first your need to realize who you are: the body that you call you is just a piece of earth that you have gathered since you were born, & your mind is nothing but collection of thoughts that you have gathered & YOU are something that is beyond the both … so, being conscious simply means a realization that you are neither your body & nor your mind .. an example of it would be that you are a creation as well as creator at the same time … that a piece of bread you eat transforms into you by you .. that’s consciousness – that you have an ability to create another human being & for that you don’t need to go to any school .. because everyone knows that somehow.
& this are only three of many chapters of being spiritual.
Consciousness and lot more …