tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-312600042024-03-05T14:08:07.036+05:30The Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow ۞My Psyche Is The Only Thing That Exists, Because Time Is An Illusion.Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-20545306727819568732011-12-15T00:01:00.304+05:302012-02-04T10:50:58.765+05:30Sayonara - 10,000 days of life.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you figure out why."</span> </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">~ Mark Twain</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICOSwhqendujx8yQI-B8GXdvJFspMTR7lKs2FMb3usLSBc6fmuzjVkKSTu1nQeErt3TvMDFm85hEn0oSZQ19vt_HOgwEuniiBH1zn55IZh398Qdae4MmBH8z7e0cFwqemgMgS/s1600/CleanSlate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiICOSwhqendujx8yQI-B8GXdvJFspMTR7lKs2FMb3usLSBc6fmuzjVkKSTu1nQeErt3TvMDFm85hEn0oSZQ19vt_HOgwEuniiBH1zn55IZh398Qdae4MmBH8z7e0cFwqemgMgS/s400/CleanSlate.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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“I was lost all these years; but now I found my<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruh"> <i style="color: purple;">self</i></a>”, moving to alternate pastures - so the blogging stops here. The response for any question remotely in line with the "Why quit the blog?" part shall be dealt in below segments.<br />
Last time there was a piece of emptiness that filled in as<span style="color: blue;"> </span><a href="http://lifeiskicking.blogspot.com/2007/04/time-to-say-sayonara.html" style="color: blue;">I had quit blogging</a>, and so<span style="color: blue;"> </span><a href="http://lifeiskicking.blogspot.com/2007/04/liar-liar.html" style="color: blue;">I returned</a><span style="color: blue;"> </span>for a second stint that lasted much longer until now. <br />
This post is part of proper goodbye, as I do not intend this space to be dangling without "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_%28philosophy%29#End"><b><span style="color: #990000;">the story ends here</span></b></a>" sign <i>(though I see the fact that, if I had <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death"><span style="color: blue;">passed away</span></a> suddenly, this space would have been left dangling for sure)</i>.<br />
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People say good bye to various things as their life evolves, and I've decided to say a good bye to this blog which I had been using as a part of exercise to discover my identity - since the end of my college (way back in 2006), time offered some amazing experiences through these years to analyse, contemplate, mimic, ridicule, appreciate and be hypocritical about various things that flowed through my life in those <a href="http://lifeiskicking.blogspot.com/" style="color: blue;">5 five years</a>. And doing so had been a very interesting learning-curve. It had pushed me to constantly expand the boundaries of my knowledge, to seek answers for all and any question I had. <br />
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At one point I began investigating psychology(<i>Freud, Carl Jung & Bernays</i>), and any attempt to put my psyche to test didn't turn out very constructive. I could easily be classified to fit to many disorders and therefore psychology as subject lacked the insight to have a comprehensive oversight. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ho-fGUqeikzXk4lghE42uHnfqfU7xqYdPpaXeRimzVpGgO_Eu67gAH45MRhZ_T2robHhwZcX9idzpZW5R1VegNiGBh6McFxwIrKbMQWEYbF0cgsQOw2fWfIgOsy54MktxY-w/s1600/self-portrait-or-desperate-man-gustave-courbet.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ho-fGUqeikzXk4lghE42uHnfqfU7xqYdPpaXeRimzVpGgO_Eu67gAH45MRhZ_T2robHhwZcX9idzpZW5R1VegNiGBh6McFxwIrKbMQWEYbF0cgsQOw2fWfIgOsy54MktxY-w/s320/self-portrait-or-desperate-man-gustave-courbet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Moreover exploring the distant corners of my thoughts linked to the past or future frightened me by some of the dark experiences I encountered there. I ended up depressed by the pointlessness and sadness of the world. There was hope though, I became skeptical against all human inputs and interpretations of abstract and so called scientific results, a beginning, and had a long way to go. But I see that I then believed in something which defied locial empirical explanations - such grinding in my heart made me search for answers through the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_science"><span style="color: blue;">philosophy of science</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_mathematics"><span style="color: blue;">mathematics</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_mind"><span style="color: blue;">mind ,</span></a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_language" style="color: blue;">language </a>and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_religion" style="color: blue;">religion</a>.<br />
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What causes our consciousness, our awareness to be confined to a present? Understanding the why; what is the universe; what is matter; what is time and space; and why is it that way - what is reality. I had all these questions in mind, yet tried to drown them in my daily chores and sometimes worse - made mockery of my own questions (<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">some of which</span></i><i><i> </i><u><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">amateurishly</span></u></i><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> is reflected in my earliest blogposts</span></i>). <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-movO3S42_Na1iIhhTItL5OLkmQMD3jNTZlNjUOYMEbWm7c9K94qc35kq3XCV5JB0Alssd1u0E-DWAjd8tiTUI7z3hQ3h9jdDE_jKtkyt1RJtCevwflomr2PabvRy4A5YG47p/s1600/384276_10150985768955501_781790500_21973712_760671338_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-movO3S42_Na1iIhhTItL5OLkmQMD3jNTZlNjUOYMEbWm7c9K94qc35kq3XCV5JB0Alssd1u0E-DWAjd8tiTUI7z3hQ3h9jdDE_jKtkyt1RJtCevwflomr2PabvRy4A5YG47p/s400/384276_10150985768955501_781790500_21973712_760671338_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
But there were some signs that were cracking the cage of my long-rusted heart and began polishing it through some unlikely sources.I was quite active on online forums pertaining to these topics, and somebody posted a link about the linguistic miracle of the Qur'an. I had known about them before, but always overlooked and had waved that off thinking it would probably be interpretation and make-belief. I decided to give a try and five minutes into that got me intrigued. Made me conclude that I should check <a href="http://corpus.quran.com/"><span style="color: blue;">Qur'an myself in its source language</span></a>, rather than relying on translations, and the result I found it flawless. Not only did my attempts in finding flaws fell short, but I was also shocked by the profoundness, perfection and deepness of the words used. I was also intrigued by how the book felt psychologically custom made for the human mind and also garnished with <a href="http://alsunna.org/The-Quran-Verses-Muhkamat-ayat-Mutashabihat-ayat.html"><u style="color: blue;">signs</u></a> which have been scientifically proven statements pertaining to fields of embryology, geology, space-science, origin of the universe, philosophy, knowledge and of course psychology . <br />
In short, the book seemed like pure genius on every level and aspect. Made me conclude no way was this nothing more then a fraction of someone's imagination several centuries ago; as I had first thought simply because, such an explanation just doesn't add up. <br />
Thus began a new journey of self-discovery through the portals of mathematics, mind, psyche and science, and Quran which are all actually 'sign-posts' towards Divine (i.e, Spirituality, Religion, and God)...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDm4VUzR7dBQLUtsAws19QfzvYxRnQRjx7HLfiGHh9jTxauFvJXYW72UODoAWzbGi3U3_weVF-Kvbt4r1U3ZqUOip1umbP9xwkz5tmpSDl7lJdHhMyYRsKDrrHlmaeg-VommWc/s1600/butterfly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDm4VUzR7dBQLUtsAws19QfzvYxRnQRjx7HLfiGHh9jTxauFvJXYW72UODoAWzbGi3U3_weVF-Kvbt4r1U3ZqUOip1umbP9xwkz5tmpSDl7lJdHhMyYRsKDrrHlmaeg-VommWc/s320/butterfly.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I have been through an evolution/metamorphosis of some sort during this blog-phase, and therefore now definitely - I neither represent the insane-blogger, nor the agnostic-anarchist who may be reflected in my earlier posts - I'm a changed man. I apologise for having said any wrong/intolerant/pride-filled/ignorant message through this media. There are couple of blog-posts of my earlier times with which I could no longer identify myself, and few of them I detest and am ashamed of putting such meaningless <i>narcissistic</i> posts.<br />
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Today I've come a long way (<span style="font-size: x-small;">infact the opposite direction</span>) from there and shrugged-off those materialistic-wordlview for a Quranic-worldview, yet I realize I still have a lot to learn and a lot of details to fill in. But one moment(<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>during the learning process</i></span>) during this phase was like a light switch. Finally, because of which, I could at least see where I'm going as I'm looking for my path, finally I had a solid base to build upon.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1YN6Avmjg_2myEUUDbdLdwZsHymkJYRu97dgU8UeuXXFFsPAY89k9tL0yER72dFEkhMZXvpp97ZHUJBsUsDBkxsRWP0Ygv5fMynxCRxIKPwNcAL9YK_6-Z968Nu-_gG1UVjWE/s1600/freedoem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1YN6Avmjg_2myEUUDbdLdwZsHymkJYRu97dgU8UeuXXFFsPAY89k9tL0yER72dFEkhMZXvpp97ZHUJBsUsDBkxsRWP0Ygv5fMynxCRxIKPwNcAL9YK_6-Z968Nu-_gG1UVjWE/s400/freedoem.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I began as a seeker, evolved into a rebel & warrior against <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nafs" style="color: blue;">the self</a>, and there has now come a phase where I have grown into hopefully a mature human who feels close to his purpose of existence and a greater sense of responsibility, and this blog did help me find that purpose to a great extent in the seeking process.<br />
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And as the clock has ticked 00:00 hours, this counts as my 10,000th day of life on earth - and God willing here's for another 10,000 days of life.<br />
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Well, life is too short to give explanations for things like departing. Just as 'death' is natural and integral part of existence. Imagine, the angel of death stole this account's credentials, the blog died today. It's over. <br />
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Wishing my beloved brothers, sisters & friends in humanity - a peaceful and meaningful life ahead.<br />
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If I could end with just a single advice:<br />
"Be honest to yourself!"<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i style="color: #0b5394;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}">The key to everything is the way you start. All beginnings are difficult, because you are trying to turn things from one direction to the opposite direction. But once a start has been made, you begin to get used to the direction you are going in and things are no longer so hard. The level of awe and devotion a person attains each day depends on the way he starts. Every day you should go backwards <span class="text_exposed_show">in the sense that you should always try and draw inspiration from the start, which was the hardest thing of all. You must always make a frest start.<br />
- </span></span></i><i>Nachman of Breslov</i><br />
<h1 class="firstHeading" id="firstHeading"></h1></blockquote><h6 class="uiStreamMessage" data-ft="{"type":1}"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show"> </span></span></h6></blockquote><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show">May the Master of the Worlds help us all to have great beginnings and to use each beginning as a springboard to start over and over and over, and strive & struggle to keep ourslves on <a href="http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=35"><i style="color: #38761d;">clear & straight path</i></a> in our <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibadah"><i><span style="color: #38761d;">ibadah</span></i></a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_%28name%29"><i style="color: #38761d;">abd</i></a> of <a href="http://sufism.org/foundations/al-malik-al-mulk-the-owner-of-all-2"><i style="color: #38761d;">Malik al-Mulk</i></a></span></span></span><a href="http://sufism.org/foundations/ninety-nine-names" style="color: #274e13;"><i><b></b></i></a><i><b><a href="http://sufism.org/foundations/al-malik-al-mulk-the-owner-of-all-2"><i><b></b></i></a></b></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><a href="http://sufism.org/foundations/ninety-nine-names"><i><span style="color: #274e13;"></span></i></a>.<br />
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<i><span style="color: #274e13;"> ~ <b>Shukran Jazeelan.</b></span></i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgacFCvqjw7kjxuFjKk4E_u1JGF1Lb_qPvy2FW5ry_lM7jKzY0Cw9pZTfbKILaf4PW-4cDre-e4mIqv-i7kTT8ThOUjYeKvr4fjSUmR40fG9ZsNiJwqIlM-v4cvQf0i5X8Hi5Rr/s1600/mel-blanc-tombstone-thats-all-folks-man-of-1000-vo.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgacFCvqjw7kjxuFjKk4E_u1JGF1Lb_qPvy2FW5ry_lM7jKzY0Cw9pZTfbKILaf4PW-4cDre-e4mIqv-i7kTT8ThOUjYeKvr4fjSUmR40fG9ZsNiJwqIlM-v4cvQf0i5X8Hi5Rr/s320/mel-blanc-tombstone-thats-all-folks-man-of-1000-vo.jpg" width="264" /></a><br />
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<i><b>--</b></i><i><b> <span class="body">A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist.</span></b> </i><br />
<span class="bodybold"><u><span style="color: blue;">Stewart Alsop</span></u></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="color: purple;">P.S:</span></u><i><span style="color: purple;"> </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: purple;">The thoughts published here(since 2006) </span><b style="color: purple;">may</b><span style="color: purple;"> or </span><b style="color: purple;">may not</b><span style="color: purple;"> define my current or future perspectives/paradigms.<br />
I would like to apologise to few individuals/groups openly through this note for not seeking permission to reuse their material, quotes, pictures etc. that were used in building this blog in the past. (</span></i></span><span style="color: purple; font-size: x-small;">you can't blame me, I was an anarchist then</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="color: purple;">).</span></i></span><br />
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-51500853999895652872011-11-11T00:51:00.017+05:302011-12-31T14:16:19.737+05:30Eight Lessons in 27 years<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;">As I am slowly moving towards the end of a <b><i style="color: purple;">journey</i></b> (<i>you may probably learn in <a href="http://lifeiskicking.blogspot.com/2011/12/sayonara-10000-days-of-life.html"><u><span style="color: #351c75;">next post</span></u></a> - what's this journey</i>), I would like to list down the important lessons that I learnt(learning) in my life through various incidents, experiences, sources, art, literature, philosophies, mysticism, psychology, science, abstractness, falsehood, deception, grief, hunger, illness, patriotism, rebellion, wealth, temptations, pride, arrogance, envy, ignorance, power, fear, culture, language, parents and my extended human, animal and plant families .. here's an attempt to paint them with images and quotes for you to reflect and agree or disagree .. </span><b style="color: purple;"><br />
</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b style="color: purple;">1. On Existence (On Ego & Soul)</b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNfoau1fbFygQ546TbMfAglPz1z_ssSiUc9XfMku_9Ucq0xoqGLL0_bZKvk0ZFvZ5wXOCTuV1JmJpL3bFnqTROD6erQvFny8mTB_d3EQpw_Cxq-XHfXyqtmEY6lx12UEVHYuc/s1600/as.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNfoau1fbFygQ546TbMfAglPz1z_ssSiUc9XfMku_9Ucq0xoqGLL0_bZKvk0ZFvZ5wXOCTuV1JmJpL3bFnqTROD6erQvFny8mTB_d3EQpw_Cxq-XHfXyqtmEY6lx12UEVHYuc/s400/as.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><br />
</span> </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;"><i>“I can't believe, I'm simply <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing"><b style="color: purple;">not</b></a> existing because it doesn't seem true, and I would just be lying to myself.“</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">"My soul is my guide, for my soul is of that abode</span></b></span></i></span><br />
<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">I will not speak of the earthly, I am of the unknown." </span></b></span></i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
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"</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="st">I did <i>not</i> come <i>here</i> on my own accord, nor will I thus leave. </span></i></span></div><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;"><i><span class="st">He who brought me here, shall return me to my very own."</span></i></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </i><br />
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<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;">"</span><i>The sun itself is proof the sun exists!</i></div><br />
<i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Seek your proofs, but don't turn your face from it."<br />
</i><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: black;">"Do not ask, Where is God? <br />
Rather ask, Where am I?"</span></i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></b></i><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;">"All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be doing? I have no idea. My soul is from elsewhere, I'm sure of that, and I intend to end up there."</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;"><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;">"I am naught, He is all; there is no being but God's."</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> <span style="color: purple;"><b>2. On Knowledge (On Intuition & Intellect)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0RzS8mxhndIr5PBoxyckYD_Ltw2adHuO8Yw_4ReagcYnVprwIxG9XWNuzun46VuG2Kh9EIcvhlbzFP-ILG0U95YzvTinaobf8aEJyLTqqzzKRiJEAQbl4H5S-DFiFhHmehc1X/s1600/shapeimage_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0RzS8mxhndIr5PBoxyckYD_Ltw2adHuO8Yw_4ReagcYnVprwIxG9XWNuzun46VuG2Kh9EIcvhlbzFP-ILG0U95YzvTinaobf8aEJyLTqqzzKRiJEAQbl4H5S-DFiFhHmehc1X/s400/shapeimage_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span class="sqq"><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”</i></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i><span style="color: purple;"><b>"</b></span>Given that true reality (<i>haqiqat</i>) is obscured by forms and appearances, as we have seen, an epistemological question is inevitable: how reliable are intellect and logic as a means of discovering and knowing the real? Can we humans reach certainty about our knowledge and our beliefs? "</i><span style="color: purple;"><b><i> </i><br />
</b></span><span style="color: purple;"> </span><br />
<i> <i>"</i></i><i>Knowledge that is acquired <br />
is not like this. <br />
Those who have it worry if <br />
audiences like it or not. <br />
It's a bait for popularity. <br />
Disputational knowing wants customers. <br />
It has no soul.</i></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>The only real customer is God. <br />
Chew quietly <br />
your sweet sugarcane God-Love, and stay <br />
playfully childish.”</i></div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>"Come, seek, for search is the foundation of fortune:<br />
every success depends upon focusing the heart.</i><i>Everything you possess of skill, and wealth and handicraft,<br />
wasn't it first merely a thought and a quest?</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>"</i></span></div><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><br />
3. On Mistakes (On Lessons & Wisdom)<br />
</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMPqwEBq1LT9pzsCCJbm8ulrzhUetpoHcBEoUVb0G2-ssji71S4j5faEsUlJVF7iIsCaZDMkyf-_6Xqh83xOWbleGvgtTu44SOwKGRXK1bDHjZGr6g9_wDaa0VBtbBJM3CPwX/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMPqwEBq1LT9pzsCCJbm8ulrzhUetpoHcBEoUVb0G2-ssji71S4j5faEsUlJVF7iIsCaZDMkyf-_6Xqh83xOWbleGvgtTu44SOwKGRXK1bDHjZGr6g9_wDaa0VBtbBJM3CPwX/s400/Untitled.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from."</i><br />
<br />
"<i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Mistakes are the portals of discovery.</i>"<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;">“Come follow me and you will find the way.<br />
Your <span class="highlightedSearchTerm">mistake</span>s can also lead you to the Truth.<br />
When you ask, the answer will be given.”<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"</span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue - so, t</i><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">he most important lessons lay not in what I needed to learn, but in what I first needed to unlearn.</i><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"<br />
<br />
<i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"</i></i><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Who are the learned? Those who practice what they know."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><br />
4. On Evil (On Choice & Consequences)<br />
</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0HxWn1psGCCfMFEAXM3bj0LyazbgMcySspDd90_KNmBlePrsmUJ_OJqhcsLCAaPQgWwYyj2zdLZASsPWX3f9svvocUW-BxuWA2cmmjDWgpbtXYJtYUH49TMK32TvQCzSOLHO/s1600/Evil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0HxWn1psGCCfMFEAXM3bj0LyazbgMcySspDd90_KNmBlePrsmUJ_OJqhcsLCAaPQgWwYyj2zdLZASsPWX3f9svvocUW-BxuWA2cmmjDWgpbtXYJtYUH49TMK32TvQCzSOLHO/s400/Evil.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"We stopped checking for monsters under our bed and we realized they were inside of us?"</span></i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"The lion who breaks the enemy's ranks<br />
is a minor hero<br />
compared to the lion who overcomes himself."</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;">"</span></span>Thou does not know evil till thou knowst good: (only) from (one) contrary is it possible to discern (the other) contrary, 0 youth!"</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"</i><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">All evil qualities—oppression, hatred, envy, greed, mercilessness, pride—when they are within yourself, they bring no pain. When you see them in another, then you shy away and feel the pain."</i></span><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly, not one."</span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“…whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. "</span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> <br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>5. On Love (On Need & Greed)</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6EcPthbaNud3ZOUY4YeZcRjaEQgyto2x7bISDIQmXs62vXCbSGInadg5wpovJt9m-1f0npV4zzSnw7ETll109c_vLJaRsjvgpTv-Fv3HD6VuB_PiR6NZkuB9H3bOkM_qYith/s1600/muslim_wedding_hands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6EcPthbaNud3ZOUY4YeZcRjaEQgyto2x7bISDIQmXs62vXCbSGInadg5wpovJt9m-1f0npV4zzSnw7ETll109c_vLJaRsjvgpTv-Fv3HD6VuB_PiR6NZkuB9H3bOkM_qYith/s400/muslim_wedding_hands.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;"><i>"One should not confuse true love with the feeling felt for members of the opposite sex. Such love, although sometimes transformed into true love, is deficient, temporary, and has no inherent value </i></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;"><i><span class="sqq">unless he desireth for his neighbour that which he desireth for himself</span></i></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;"><i>."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br style="color: black;" /><i style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">And if a person were given all of the world and what is in it, it <br />
would not fill this emptiness(greed)."</span></i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="color: black;"><br />
"</span></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">You know what love is?</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It is all kindness, generosity.</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Disharm</span><span class="highlightedSearchTerm" style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">on</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">y prevails when </span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">You c</span><span class="highlightedSearchTerm" style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">on</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">fuse lust with love, while </span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The distance between the two</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Is endless."</span></i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"</span></span></i></span></span></span><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The lover’s ailment is different from all ailments; Love is the astrolabe of God’s mysteries."</span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> <br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>6. On Struggle (On Purpose & Goals) </b></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMyqCjaFeNpC6Z91FTo50S5iOy9lFDGueSyrXTHDp5nBGrZjuRHZGHAxM59NNiFkBZrNUd0j8lSdlW7dObK_KnDhiYUXrzIfnYT_rWatkVeAL4bQO1u-Xo1rhyxrQbvSjlR1A/s1600/tumblr_lto7swu4KR1r5vnjoo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMyqCjaFeNpC6Z91FTo50S5iOy9lFDGueSyrXTHDp5nBGrZjuRHZGHAxM59NNiFkBZrNUd0j8lSdlW7dObK_KnDhiYUXrzIfnYT_rWatkVeAL4bQO1u-Xo1rhyxrQbvSjlR1A/s400/tumblr_lto7swu4KR1r5vnjoo1_500.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;">"</span></span>The angel is saved by knowledge, The beast by brute ignorance;<br />
Midway between and struggling Such a predicament is man's!"</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Verily never will God change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves.”</span></i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"The intelligent desire self-control;<br />
children want candy."</i></span><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Speak truth, even in the face of a tyrant."</span></span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;"><i>"The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> <br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>7. On Freedom (On Oppression & Responsibility)</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAEsqD1uJHA9y4D7baoz8GoyqSbnLEJk5eP0zSF9qUCzHHeokUHAiWlMp5gTJboaDIwYnisQadjjKYVSTDg08zLGU3ZIlZyPduf3gICffgbcQB5O9vzfXcP-PLrcuBh7n4kco/s1600/woman-face-bleeding-israel-soldier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAEsqD1uJHA9y4D7baoz8GoyqSbnLEJk5eP0zSF9qUCzHHeokUHAiWlMp5gTJboaDIwYnisQadjjKYVSTDg08zLGU3ZIlZyPduf3gICffgbcQB5O9vzfXcP-PLrcuBh7n4kco/s400/woman-face-bleeding-israel-soldier.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;">"Knowing your enemy is winning half the battle"</span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"It doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time, I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence."</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change."</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</i><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"The undisciplined person doesn’t wrong himself alone–<br />
but sets fire to the whole world."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
"Either way, change will come. It could be bloody, or it could be beautiful. It depends on us."</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Lawless are they that make their wills their law." </i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: arial,Arial,Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> <i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"If you do not feel ashamed of anything, then you can do whatever your desires want." </span></span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"> <br />
</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>8. On Submission </b></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>(On Liberation & Peace)</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQ4gvpJIGJRJO60AXgqJlUJkUoD6CAdFhB-5p0_ki7pEB3QZUQWvDFcC96hQ3Uscy2DPdEh0kmoqTyOK0c8fQQkTY8NiT2LPnlfirNZP9yrXHN5Sb36jopVS-nvclFS1sNg4v/s1600/sujud%2527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHQ4gvpJIGJRJO60AXgqJlUJkUoD6CAdFhB-5p0_ki7pEB3QZUQWvDFcC96hQ3Uscy2DPdEh0kmoqTyOK0c8fQQkTY8NiT2LPnlfirNZP9yrXHN5Sb36jopVS-nvclFS1sNg4v/s400/sujud%2527.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjqaInYDYRJ-lMYPbGRmm45X_LM8i7OeV2BmQL8asQCa2fhATtFgd1wH5xiq3hpzPossp8klAX9zB_i-NGNNME3cCSb0W5l0ltB8Jp9WIGWtKRLv08MJH72Y50rJNM7iQ2KUV/s1600/070119_muslim_hlrg_330a.hlarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></span></i></span></b></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"The worldly comforts are not for me. I am like a traveler, who takes a rest under a tree in the shade and then goes on his way."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</span></i></span></b></span></span></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: black;">"Let God be the ruler over your hearts, not the duniya (world)"<br />
</span></i></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace; font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: black;"></span></i></span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> </span></i></span></b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"</span></i></span></b></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Do you want to enter paradise?</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">To walk the path of Truth</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">You need the grace of God.</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">We all face death in the end.</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">But </span><span class="highlightedSearchTerm" style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">on</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> the way, be careful</span><br style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;" /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Never to hurt a human heart!"</span></i><br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;">"People who attach their identity & happiness to things of the material, who are happy when their relationship is going good, or when their work is going good, or when their financial status is good, they will be among the losers. A submitter's happiness is attached to Divine. And the Divine is eternal, That is why a submitter always says 'I seek refuge in God' to whatever good or bad things that happen to them"<br />
<br />
"Forgiveness is a creative act, a true gift, that changes us from prisoners of the past to liberated people at peace with our memories"<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">True devotion is for itself:</span><span class="messageBody" data-ft="{"type":3}" style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> <br />
not to desire heaven nor to fear hell."<br />
<br />
</span></i></span><br />
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<br />
~ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds."</span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-74719490704249329682011-10-01T01:57:00.001+05:302011-11-20T17:51:54.993+05:30Mark Twain's 'The Mysterious Stranger'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFyQPTqFNOxIP5TRf8QSEPF18fEhCE8Ul9lmpGjV2g28e67xoypYuLHa4bIYhTk9ZKPR3D4Clg7kRDEAV_ora4QV-hA3fOwsi0jloUN97CpXUByPiVT5fGlEkqipPXq82rYBM1/s1600/7748.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFyQPTqFNOxIP5TRf8QSEPF18fEhCE8Ul9lmpGjV2g28e67xoypYuLHa4bIYhTk9ZKPR3D4Clg7kRDEAV_ora4QV-hA3fOwsi0jloUN97CpXUByPiVT5fGlEkqipPXq82rYBM1/s400/7748.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The year is 1590, a few boys are living happy sheltered lives in a remote Austrian village named Eseldorf. (<i><span style="color: #38761d;">Esel means "donkey" in German and can refer to a stupid or ignorant person, and "dorf" means village, so in essence it is a village of stupid people.</span></i>) <br />
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The story is narrated by one of the boys — Theodor, the village organist's son in a first-person narrative. One day, a handsome teenage boy named Satan appears in the village. He explains that he is an angel and the nephew of the fallen angel Satan. Young Satan performs several magical feats. He claims to be able to foresee the future and informs the group of unfortunate events that will soon befall those they care about. The boys don't believe Satan's claims until one of his predictions comes true. Satan proceeds to describe further tragedies that will befall their friends. The boys beg Satan to intercede. Satan agrees, but operates under the technical definition of <i>mercy</i>. For instance, instead of a lingering death due to illness, Satan simply causes one of Theodor's friends to die immediately.</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Mayhem ensues — <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_trial" title="Witch trial">witch trials</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_by_burning" title="Execution by burning">burnings</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging" title="Hanging">hangings</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death" title="Death">deaths</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_hysteria" title="Mass hysteria">mass hysteria</a>. Satan vanishes with a brief explanation:</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><blockquote style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
<div style="background-color: white;"><i><b>"In a little while you will be alone in shoreless space, to wander its limitless solitudes without friend or comrade forever--for you will remain a thought, the only existent thought, and by your nature inextinguishable, indestructible. But I, your poor servant, have revealed you to yourself and set you free. Dream other dreams, and better!<br />
<br />
"Strange! that you should not have suspected years ago - centuries, ages, eons, ago! - for you have existed, companionless, through all the eternities.<br />
<br />
Strange, indeed, that you should not have suspected that your universe and its contents were only dreams, visions, fiction! Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane - like all dreams: a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice and invented hell - mouths mercy and invented hell - mouths Golden Rules, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who mouths morals to other people and has none himself; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man's acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him! . . .</b> <b><br />
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You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly creations of an imagination that is not conscious of its freaks - in a word, that they are a dream, and you the maker of it. The dream-marks are all present; you should have recognized them earlier.</b> <b><br />
<br />
It is true, that which I have revealed to you; there is no God, no universe, no human race, no earthly life, no heaven, no hell. It is all a dream - a grotesque and foolish dream. </b><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solipsism" title="Solipsism">Nothing exists but you</a>. And you are but a thought - a vagrant thought, a useless thought, a homeless thought, wandering forlorn among the empty eternities!"</b></i> </div></blockquote><br />
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<i style="color: #990000;">~</i><span class="body"><i style="color: #990000;"> We must remember that Satan has his miracles, too</i>.</span> <br />
<span class="bodybold"> <u style="color: blue;">John Calvin</u> </span> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-22463058041803292362011-09-18T02:38:00.026+05:302011-11-20T17:51:54.994+05:30The Self<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiiJZqUkdM9W46v0uKATzEVxAg4InGSHYaxA4QaeY8PmKbXwMNjYXxie6iyhipli1_VrApOrwDGujciGIFPlkznV3pM0MLj8_oFwa4ruP3at14xI6mSMqZHujrTcMGaJA7FfDt/s1600/brain-manmoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiiJZqUkdM9W46v0uKATzEVxAg4InGSHYaxA4QaeY8PmKbXwMNjYXxie6iyhipli1_VrApOrwDGujciGIFPlkznV3pM0MLj8_oFwa4ruP3at14xI6mSMqZHujrTcMGaJA7FfDt/s400/brain-manmoon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><blockquote><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">The <i style="color: blue;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nafs">nafs</a> </i>is a sea of calm until it roars.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
The nafs is a Hell that radiates little heat.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
The nafs is an ankle-deep river you drown in.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Better to be ignorant of worldly concerns,</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">better to be mad and flee from self-interest,</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">better to drink poison and spill the water of life,</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">better to revile those who praise you,</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">and lend both the capital and the interest to</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">the poor, forgo safety and make a home in danger.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
Sacrifice your reputation and become notorious.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">I have tried caution and forethought;</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">from now on I will make myself mad.</span></div></blockquote><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">- Mevlana Rumi</span></b></div><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">~ ".. I am both the candle and the moth crazy around it ..'"</span></b></i><br />
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-1935834484443787112011-09-11T05:30:00.639+05:302011-12-11T15:33:31.639+05:3010 years of smoking towers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><blockquote style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #351c75;">"</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #351c75;">On September 11th our lives changed forever. We witnessed an act of aggression that in many ways does not have a parallel in past or present times. There are several elements that make this act unique, from the use of civilian planes as weapons of mass destruction to the attack on the most widely recognised skyscrapers in the world. Nor have we ever witnessed the terrible indictment of Islam as having a part to play in such a heinous crime .. " </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #38761d;">~ Sheikh Hamza Yusuf</span></span></span></i> </blockquote><blockquote style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgls0wU1BpfTwLpzOBg8bl9WqqZDkAKqjI745QlLaajZY2Km4ln40HBDmpiv0aNoG4Dj3tblMP6OpstquI9okoX7YHE4rdQt39FnZW38gbrWdVD7v_HJVq4E59SUA2a_MqGTG-x/s1600/Statue-of-Liberty-from-Je-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgls0wU1BpfTwLpzOBg8bl9WqqZDkAKqjI745QlLaajZY2Km4ln40HBDmpiv0aNoG4Dj3tblMP6OpstquI9okoX7YHE4rdQt39FnZW38gbrWdVD7v_HJVq4E59SUA2a_MqGTG-x/s1600/Statue-of-Liberty-from-Je-007.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-GB"></span></span></div></blockquote><div style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN-GB">I was in my living room, preparing for my school-exams, as I heard footsteps descending down the stairs rapidly, it was my neighbor's son - a student of 6th grade. There was something unusual with his tone, and he gasped and gave a direct command of some sort - "switch on the television!". </span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN-GB">The immediate thought was, probably some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket" style="color: blue;">cricket</a> match was on as this fella was an ardent sports fan. <br />
I lazily moved and turned on the tube to receive a frame of smoke among the skyscrapers - the skyline looked familiar, I assumed - an earthquake probably, or was it some kind of air-crash accident .. two minutes into the content of the tube, a flash scrolled by - 'Terrorists attack on Twin-towers, estimated death-toll in hundreds'. Scores of questions fired in my brain, but apparently I wasn't thinking, it was like a mixed-mashedup-mind experiencing shock & confusion. I was in my high-school when it happened, what went down in history as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks" style="color: blue;">the 9-11 attacks</a>.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN-GB"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN-GB">The next day the news focussed on the tragic events with an unbelieveable content,<b><i>"</i></b></span><i><span lang="EN-GB">Muslims are seen rejoicing in some parts of the world</span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB">"</span></i><span lang="EN-GB">. This gave me a jolt much heavier than the tragedy itself. The thought in my mind was the people who died in the attacks are civilians - people with dreams, people like me - children, women, old-men and people living normal life.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br />
</span>In folowing days my imagination went too far when I assumed Muslims not to celebrate even their birthdays and anniversaries, if it fell on September 11<sup>th</sup>. “We can’t have Muslims walking into bakeries and ordering cakes with big smiles on their faces or exchanging roses on this day shouting ‘Happy Anniversary!’ at restaurants,” explained my turbid-brain, “It would be highly suspicious and inhuman if Muslims appeared even remotely happy or laugh on this day and, as international citizens, I implore Muslims to appear sad on this day.”<br />
And after all these turbidity it took me almost half-a-decade to learn that the media bias, mis-information and subtle-propaganda could hard-wire a normal human to associate two entirely different things and yet would convince himself/herself that they are one and the same. This idea sedimented so much into a average human that if "black" meant "color", then "Islam" meant "terrorism".<br />
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With so much confusion over 5 years, slowly made me drift into the world of agnosticism(ridiculous enough to be influenced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Delusion" style="color: blue;">Richard Dawkins</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_Faith" style="color: blue;">Sam Harris</a>), religion & belief became just tags for me, nothing more than a cultural stamping upon my identity, and this view-point grew upon me for over 5+ years and it was partly due to the following facts<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;"><li>I was ignorant of what my original faith represented or spoke about.</li>
<li>I believed whatever the Television suggested to be undeniable realities.</li>
</ol>I was fortunate among many Muslims, who were also taken for a ride after such an event, during my agnosticism phase I was destined to meet and befriend a fellow Muslim - who took his faith seriously. What followed were series of conversations, and a period of enlightenment for my '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nafs" style="color: blue;">nafs</a>'<br />
I learnt that unfortunately, much of the world does not know what almost every Muslim who has studied Islam knows; that the worst enemies of Islam are from within. The worst of these are the <b><span class="SpellE" style="color: blue;"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khawarij">khawaarij</a></i></span></b> who delude others by the deeply dyed religious exterior that they project.<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Muhammad-Biography-Prophet-Karen-Armstrong/dp/0062508865" style="color: blue;">The Prophet</a>, peace <span class="GramE">be</span> upon him, said about them, <span style="color: #990000;">“When you see them pray you will consider your own prayers insignificant. They recite the <span class="SpellE">Quran</span> but it does not exceed the limits of their throat.”</span> In other words, they don’t understand the wisdom & true meanings. The outward religious appearance and character of the <span class="SpellE"><i>khawaarij</i></span> deluded thousands in the past, and continues to delude people today. Every Common-Muslim should therefore be aware that despite the <span class="SpellE"><i>khawaarij</i></span> adherence to certain aspects of Islam, they are extremists of the worst type. As Dr.Lang suggests,<b><span style="color: #38761d;">"Islam has the best religion and probably the worst believers"</span></b><br />
<br />
<span id="goog_199142293"></span><span id="goog_199142294"></span>The Prophet said, peace be upon him, “<span style="color: #38761d;">Beware of extremism in your religion.</span>” <br />
Islam is the middle way between excess and neglect. Zealots are a plague upon religion. These extremists roughly come in two types. <br />
The first group is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_nationalism" style="color: blue;">reactionary extremist</a> who falls far right of a centre-point. Reactionary extremists do not want any pluralism; they view the world in melodramatic, black and white, good and evil terms. They are good and anyone who opposes them is evil. From among the Muslims these are people who ‘excommunicate’ any Muslim who fails to share their interpretations of the <span class="SpellE">Quran</span>. They are used often by the Western media in order to scare simple people and cause them to believe that Muslims are insane and barbaric. Unfortunately, some Muslim individuals and communities provide them with much fuel to fire their incendiary flames.<br />
<div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The second group are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing" style="color: blue;">radical extremists</a>, who while they are almost identical with the former group, differ in that they will use violence to further their cause. They are <span class="GramE">actually</span> more dangerous & worse than the first. They believe like every nefarious secret society before them that ‘the end justifies the means.’ They see any act as acceptable if it will further their ‘cause.’ This is blatantly anti-Islamic for a number of reasons.<br />
Then came the wave of conspiracy theories. These were not limited to the Islamic world - infact much of these theories are rooted with the individuals living in America and were actively voicing such diverging interpretations(<i>propagated by people like </i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_Planet" style="color: blue;"><i>Alex Jones</i></a><i>, and scores of other such people</i>) and, year by year they were becoming increasingly prevalent among Muslim communities, and some theory-makers went as far as claiming the the world is run by '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_icke" style="color: blue;">green aliens</a>' in White-House, and many paranoid common-Muslims were sucked into these games and some of these paranoid-Muslims went to trigger their own 'X-Files type' interpretation of '<a href="http://muslimmatters.org/2010/05/03/analysis-of-the-arrivals-video-series/" style="color: blue;">End Times Map</a>', and it grew so popular that it forced few Muslim Scholars to study the series and provide their refutations.<br />
<br />
The 9-11 incident though tragic became a poster-advertisemt for Islamophobia, there were series of events that triggered the divide of 'Islam and West' - almost all the major geo-political events and incidents over the decade that followed, subtly-mapped into a Muslim-mind as suppression of Islam, and steadily becoming a victim of injustice: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan_war" style="color: blue;">War on Afghanistan</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_war" style="color: blue;">War on Iraq</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniconism_in_Islam" style="color: blue;">Cartoons Controversy</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minaret_ban_in_Switzerland#Federal_constitutional_amendment_banning_the_construction_of_minarets" style="color: blue;">Minaret Ban</a>, <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/the-casbah/morocco-should-loudspeakers-be-banned-at-mosques" style="color: blue;">Adhan Ban</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niqab_ban" style="color: blue;">Niqab ban</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flotilla_Massacre" style="color: blue;">Flotila incident</a>,<span style="color: blue;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse" style="color: blue;">Abu Garib</a>, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/22/iraq-war-logs-military-leaks" style="color: blue;">Civilian Deaths</a>, <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=3116" style="color: blue;">Depleted Uranium</a>, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/09/us-soldiers-afghan-civilians-fingers" style="color: blue;">Psycho-Soldiers</a>, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/07/german-trial-hijab-murder-egypt" style="color: blue;">more Psychos</a>, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/photo_galleries/middleeast/2010103132115872256.html" style="color: blue;">Ariel Sharon Incident</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violence" style="color: blue;">Gujarat riots</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove_World_Quran-burning_controversy" style="color: blue;">Quran burning</a>, <a href="http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-29/opinion/syed.muslim.while.flying_1_profiling-muslim-women-head-scarf?_s=PM:OPINION" style="color: blue;">Profiling at Airports</a> (the <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2624194.ece" style="color: blue;">ex-President of India</a> was also a target), and such.</div></div><div align="left" style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br />
As every coin has two-faces, on the flip-side 9-11 incidents also tried to balance the Muslim-minds by giving them an opportunity to bridge the gaps, prejudices and misconceptions - Scholars, Intellectuals and Common-men alike came forward to the break the stereotypes, and therefore it led to a domino-effect of different kind: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8544531.stm" style="color: blue;">Rejection of extremism by scholors</a>, <a href="http://islam.about.com/cs/currentevents/a/9_11statements.htm" style="color: blue;">condemnation of the 911 incident</a>, and as bridges were built it surprisingly led to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/24/post-911-islam-converts_n_935572.html" style="color: blue;">growth of Islam in the West</a>, and more surprisingly among <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/women--islam-the-rise-and-rise-of-the-convert-6258015.html" style="color: blue;">western-women</a>. </div><div align="left" style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><br />
This was followed by waves of Young Muslims coming forward to dismantle the "<a href="http://manifestliberty.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Angry-Muslim2.jpg" style="color: blue;">Angry-Muslim</a>" caricature built by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0948465/" style="color: blue;">news-media and popular-movies</a> , and helped by young generation of scholars, converts, and preachers like: <a href="http://hamzayusuf.faithweb.com/" style="color: blue;">Hamza Yusuf</a>, <a href="http://www.nakcollection.com/biography.html" style="color: blue;">Nouman Ali Khan</a>, <a href="http://www.ummahfilms.com/" style="color: blue;">Ali Ardekani</a>, <a href="http://www.idristawfiq.com/" style="color: blue;">Idris Tawfiq</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Losing-My-Religion-Call-Help/dp/1590080270/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321631035&sr=1-11" style="color: blue;">Jeffrey Lang</a>, <a href="http://www.thedeenshow.com/shows.php?action=aboutus" style="color: blue;">Eddie</a>, <a href="http://www.hamzatzortzis.com/" style="color: blue;">Hamza Tzortzis</a>, <a href="http://www.adamdeen.com/" style="color: blue;">Adam Deen</a>, <a href="http://www.suhaibwebb.com/" style="color: blue;">Suhaib Webb</a>, <a href="http://dawahaddict.blogspot.com/p/home.html" style="color: blue;">Peter Casey</a>, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/rageh-omaar-the-scud-stud-aims-for-truth-478237.html" style="color: blue;">Rageh Omaar</a> and such, were also balanced by wisdom and patience through a number of experienced Muslims in similar/same fields. </div><div align="left" style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Thanks to technology and internet - forums like <a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2084273_2084272_2084270-2,00.html" style="color: blue;">social-networking sites</a>, <a href="http://www.inspiredbymuhammad.com/" style="color: blue;">campaigns</a> and <a href="http://maniacmuslim.com/forums/" style="color: blue;">discussion-rooms</a> opened up possibilites for Muslims to express themselves - and suddenly these initiatives were complemented with popular Muslims coming to spotlight: <a href="http://www.allahmademefunny.com/about/index.html" style="color: blue;">Muslim Comedians</a>, <a href="http://www.arrahman.com/" style="color: blue;">Oscar-winners</a>, <a href="http://www.yusufislam.com/" style="color: blue;">Pop-stars</a>, <a href="http://yvonneridley.org/" style="color: blue;">Journalists</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Egyptian_revolution" style="color: blue;"><b>Peaceful-Revolutionaries</b></a><i>(aka Twitter revolutionaries),</i> <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/story/525114.html" style="color: blue;">Athletes</a>, and even<span style="color: blue;"> </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5eAw4wstiQ" style="color: blue;">Muslim animals, mountains, and planets</a> coming into visiblity on the world-stage, and the biggest of them we <u>nearly</u> had a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_religion_conspiracy_theories#Claims_that_Obama_secretly_practices_Islam" style="color: blue;">Muslim President</a> in White-House!:)<br />
Though the final one was a disappointment.. yet, we had <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Blair" style="color: blue;">Tony Blair's</a><span style="color: blue;"> </span>sister-in-law, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/24/lauren-booth-converts-to-islam" style="color: blue;">Lauren Booth</a> choosing Islam, and Islam is now counted to be growing popular among <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/8961754?story_id=8961754" style="color: blue;">Russians</a>, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wilfredo-amr-ruiz/latino-muslims-in-america_b_1095672.html" style="color: blue;">South Americans</a>, <a href="http://religion.info/english/articles/article_508.shtml" style="color: blue;">Australian-Aborigines</a> and <a href="http://messageinternational.org/from-mulberry-to-silk-the-journey-of-islam-in-china/" style="color: blue;">Chinese</a> based on many independent yet, converging reports.<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
<span style="color: black;">Well, what does all these little details & unrelated things about demographics, statistics and projections have to say to me? - personally, I have learnt that: Islam is not a blind and barbaric faith defined by a minute fraction of violent individuals, neither is the Prophet, peace be upon him, a liar nor a mad-man, and logically could not be both - as many individuals like Daniel Pipes, Pamela Geller, Geert Wilders, Alisina, Sam Shamoun, Robert Spencer, Ayaan Hirsi Ali,</span></span></span><i></i><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"> Walid Shoebat, </span></span></span>Nonie Darwish<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;">, Wafa Sultan, and Terry Jones (loosely put the <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=neocon" style="color: blue;">neocons</a>) would say, and also work hard to propagate the idea openly/sublimally that '<a href="http://davidgmcafee.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/alg_koran_terry-jones.jpg" style="color: blue;">Islam is of the evil</a>'.<br />
This post is kind of a 'thank you note' to my fellow Muslim friend who guided me out of agnosticism - by engaging me in discussions and how... reason, rationality, spirituality, science, God and religion are not conflicting spheres, and also thanking Dr.Lang for his wonderful book '<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Struggling-Surrender-Impressions-American-Convert/dp/0915957264/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321631035&sr=1-10" style="color: blue;">Struggling to surrender</a>',that helped to open up my heart for Islam to enter again.<br />
And by some coincidence about 2 years ago, I was introduced to an amazing bunch of individuals under a forum on facebook - who in my opinion are the 'centre of wisdom' on facebook, though not a strictly theistic forum - it definitely is an oasis in 'desert of materialism</span>',</span><span style="color: black;">and I came to know there are plans for launching a web-page based on the group's discussions, posts and paradigms <i>(<span style="color: #999999;">would share the link here once the project is online</span>).</i></span></span></div><div style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;">Coming back to this blog-post, it wasn't all good though - we had Israel & Iran getting locked into an escalating battle of ego, and Iran's envious neighbor Saudi approving Israel's use of their Air-space for possible air-raids on Iran. Afghan tribal Muslim cutting off his wife's nose, Female circumcision among some Muslim in North Africa, Sectarian conflicts in Pakistan, Apostacy arrests, Rebel uprisings and attacks on NATO+US in Afghanistan & Iraq, the usual EDL vs Muslims clashes, Islamophobia still evident in Europe & USA, Dawkins gang suggesting that Muslims are delusional-beings, and Subramanian Swami suggesting to revoke voting rights of all Indian Muslims and more.. - but I'm happy emphasising the positives, things like these (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDd-RyDmvZo&feature=share" style="color: blue;">link</a>) and these (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y2Or0LlO6g" style="color: blue;">link</a>) that there have been efforts by people from both camps to reach out to common-terms, be compassionate and most importantly be <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXEjqqmVGOc&ob=av2n" style="color: blue;"><b>Insaan</b></a>(human).</span></span> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #38761d;">(<u>P.S:</u> Only those individuals who are striving to live by the spirit of Islam as a <i>'way of life' </i>are referenced as the popular Muslims above. Hence the list didn't include the likes of Kasab, Salman Rushdie, Lockerbie/Underwear bombers, and such - on expected lines weren't advertised)</span></span></span></div></div><div align="left" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">~ “Knowledge exists potentially in the human soul like the seed in the soil; by learning the potential becomes actual.” <br />
― <a href="http://www.ghazalipoject.com/" style="color: blue;">Imam Al-Ghazali</a></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-72705816802327136532011-09-01T09:44:00.006+05:302011-11-20T17:51:54.997+05:30The Nothing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-USoFKgKo2mhkN_a2WUCyrAxJNffvdbj2EFpcvT16KTLTQ16vdDZ1RTMdB3rZxuUiI7KqRCJnC2RrFjhuHf17bJ-07ZAK01DxfwsAeDz8ve9X-2LqKh3ZkebbwoXjol2X_dv/s1600/three_laughing-monks.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-USoFKgKo2mhkN_a2WUCyrAxJNffvdbj2EFpcvT16KTLTQ16vdDZ1RTMdB3rZxuUiI7KqRCJnC2RrFjhuHf17bJ-07ZAK01DxfwsAeDz8ve9X-2LqKh3ZkebbwoXjol2X_dv/s1600/three_laughing-monks.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-USoFKgKo2mhkN_a2WUCyrAxJNffvdbj2EFpcvT16KTLTQ16vdDZ1RTMdB3rZxuUiI7KqRCJnC2RrFjhuHf17bJ-07ZAK01DxfwsAeDz8ve9X-2LqKh3ZkebbwoXjol2X_dv/s1600/three_laughing-monks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAlnVo_ixoAAvvaqjqyy9UVNrhgUjQQW87NZvDumxcQS204iDgXDHBt9iqMso6NzLqsJlFak9fmHaohcYf_9Nrs0MWfTIHbINReakhZIGC0qH8YILdEQCnOtnNRVGcVAn1Tq4/s1600/Melting-Heart-1024x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0S3hqAL6ikb_u6P96_vpQW5ypMifemXmPJnEAgF9NoSZoBuEJNnRVAaisumgmX3L3g3fT5WbFDr3h34l9mzVMLxZTCLNwn8iYepwlfh-ayIIjFeU3XJhdZJ7SAro4f1tDfPGe/s1600/SuperStock_4069-6820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Buddhist Monk next to them giggled. "Why worship anything at all? Nothing exists."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The Rabbi and the Pagan-Priest looked at the Monk and laughed like only a pair of stoned hippies could. "You're right Monk! Nothing exists! I guess we should stay here and worship nothingness instead?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The rabbi got-up, smiled and greeted the others farewell. He took one last puff on the hookah and passed it to the monk.<br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Where are you going?" asked the Monk as the Rabbi went to the door.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAlnVo_ixoAAvvaqjqyy9UVNrhgUjQQW87NZvDumxcQS204iDgXDHBt9iqMso6NzLqsJlFak9fmHaohcYf_9Nrs0MWfTIHbINReakhZIGC0qH8YILdEQCnOtnNRVGcVAn1Tq4/s1600/Melting-Heart-1024x1024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEAlnVo_ixoAAvvaqjqyy9UVNrhgUjQQW87NZvDumxcQS204iDgXDHBt9iqMso6NzLqsJlFak9fmHaohcYf_9Nrs0MWfTIHbINReakhZIGC0qH8YILdEQCnOtnNRVGcVAn1Tq4/s320/Melting-Heart-1024x1024.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"I'm going back to my land 'Canaan' and speak to my people there about 'softening their hearts' - and teach them about a message that preaches love and tolerance!" responded the Rabbi and added, "I just wish that they don't demand of me like walking on water, and turning water into wine."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0S3hqAL6ikb_u6P96_vpQW5ypMifemXmPJnEAgF9NoSZoBuEJNnRVAaisumgmX3L3g3fT5WbFDr3h34l9mzVMLxZTCLNwn8iYepwlfh-ayIIjFeU3XJhdZJ7SAro4f1tDfPGe/s1600/SuperStock_4069-6820.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0S3hqAL6ikb_u6P96_vpQW5ypMifemXmPJnEAgF9NoSZoBuEJNnRVAaisumgmX3L3g3fT5WbFDr3h34l9mzVMLxZTCLNwn8iYepwlfh-ayIIjFeU3XJhdZJ7SAro4f1tDfPGe/s320/SuperStock_4069-6820.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">"Thats not a very nice thing to do. Messing with people's minds and their traditions is risky business. They might kill you for it.",said the Monk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The clay-lump which had been shaped into a bird-figure by the Jewish rabbi during their conversation all of a sudden came to life and flew out of the hut. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0S3hqAL6ikb_u6P96_vpQW5ypMifemXmPJnEAgF9NoSZoBuEJNnRVAaisumgmX3L3g3fT5WbFDr3h34l9mzVMLxZTCLNwn8iYepwlfh-ayIIjFeU3XJhdZJ7SAro4f1tDfPGe/s1600/SuperStock_4069-6820.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">~ “Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.”</span><br />
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<div style="color: #6aa84f;">(C.S. Lewis)</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-91991898314250108372011-08-01T00:18:00.000+05:302011-11-20T17:51:54.999+05:30Who Says Words With My Mouth?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwKtLhpM9s5oMMLTrr9egZLP-cBEF9Chnb4JmPYnyk331MAIH9wJG4zwFgCEdao6h63T0uGJ5vEU2_V3HCwEDMs16B39CRkUiFAfZKEo_rorvqtBhBcCN1DuDhauoa4MotUlpr/s1600/work.5135207.2.flat%252C550x550%252C075%252Cf.whirling-dervish.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwKtLhpM9s5oMMLTrr9egZLP-cBEF9Chnb4JmPYnyk331MAIH9wJG4zwFgCEdao6h63T0uGJ5vEU2_V3HCwEDMs16B39CRkUiFAfZKEo_rorvqtBhBcCN1DuDhauoa4MotUlpr/s400/work.5135207.2.flat%252C550x550%252C075%252Cf.whirling-dervish.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628563124258390370" border="0" /></a><br />
<div style="font-family: courier new;" class="poem">All day I think about it,<br />
then at night I say it.<br />
<br />
Where did I come from,<br />
and what am I supposed to be doing?<br />
<br />
I have no idea.<br />
<br />
My soul is from elsewhere,<br />
I'm sure of that,<br />
and I intend to end up there.<br />
<br />
This drunkenness<br />
began in some other tavern.<br />
<br />
When I get back around<br />
to that place,<br />
I'll be completely sober.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, I'm like a bird<br />
from another continent,<br />
sitting in this aviary.<br />
<br />
The day is coming when I fly off,<br />
but who is it now in my ear<br />
who hears my voice?<br />
<br />
Who says words with my mouth?<br />
<br />
Who looks out with my eyes?<br />
<br />
What is the soul?<br />
<br />
<br />
I cannot stop asking.<br />
<br />
<br />
If I could taste<br />
one sip of an answer,<br />
I could break out<br />
of this prison for drunks.<br />
<br />
I didn't come here of my own accord,<br />
and I can't leave that way.<br />
<br />
Whoever brought me here<br />
will have to take me home.<br />
<br />
This poetry,<br />
<br />
I never know<br />
what I'm going to say.<br />
<br />
I don't plan it.<br />
<br />
When I'm outside the saying of it,<br />
I get very quiet<br />
and rarely speak at all.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
</div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyv5YzPeLsb9LhCfy5CLTTSRda-xEcyjw8hD0bK0Mfz85AHsi2pIJksUef94loH0tYBfhpa7RmfWlg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size:78%;">From <b>The Essential Rumi</b>, page 2. Translated by Coleman Barks.<br />
</span><span class="copyright" style="font-size:78%;">© Copyright, 2004, HarperSanFrancisco. Permission pending; fair use intended. </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;" class="sqq">“We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">~ MEVLANA RUMI</span><br />
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-16688692658492124322011-07-06T13:26:00.005+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.000+05:3010 Ways to marry the wrong person<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvI-XANpXLSj5jFlOPNPvsqM7SyMxeyet3zhgopyeaoyi_Dc_aRpSwvhq8_1GO5RVfejFeEEa6TxwH3e92O3uP0tAKbuXwcSgPU6deStTmIjfhhiS3PJvtu37VE_kCSks-qvZ1/s1600/muslim-couple-seated-outside.jpg"><span style="font-family:courier new;"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 243px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626146814699715810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvI-XANpXLSj5jFlOPNPvsqM7SyMxeyet3zhgopyeaoyi_Dc_aRpSwvhq8_1GO5RVfejFeEEa6TxwH3e92O3uP0tAKbuXwcSgPU6deStTmIjfhhiS3PJvtu37VE_kCSks-qvZ1/s400/muslim-couple-seated-outside.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family:courier new;"><br />1) <span style="color:#000099;"><strong>Expect the person to change after marriage.<br /></strong></span>One must accept people for who they are. Don't marry potential for change, especially regarding religious differences, bad communication skills, bad habits.<br /><br />2) <strong><span style="color:#000099;">Focus on chemistry, not on character.</span></strong> </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Never get married solely because you are in love. Love does not conquer all. Oftentimes people mistake infatuation or lust for love.<br /><br />3) <strong><span style="color:#000099;">Don't make an effort to understand the emotional needs of the other person.<br /></span></strong><br />4) <strong><span style="color:#000099;">Don't share a common life purpose and priorities. </span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">People connect because of chemistry, common interests and a common life purpose. Common life purpose builds a deeper, stronger bond.<br /><br />5) <strong><span style="color:#000099;">Get intimately involved before you are intellectually committed.</span></strong> </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">One's ability to evaluate the character, quality and life philosophy of another person is clouded by having an intimate relationship first. One tends to romanticize the relationship; it is harder to face issues.<br /><br />6) <strong><span style="color:#000099;">Don't have a deep emotional connection to the person. </span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">We are not talking about passion. Do you respect and admire this person (not are you impressed with the person)? Do you trust this person? Do you feel a sense of peace with this person?<br /><br />7) <span style="color:#000099;"><strong>Choose someone with whom you don't feel emotionally safe.</strong></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">If you can't express your feelings and opinions, if the person is controlling or raises his/her voice, this has the potential to be an abusive relationship.<br /><br />8) <strong><span style="color:#000099;">Don't discuss essential and important issues before getting married.</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">What are the other person's goals, ambitions, values? Does the person want to have children? How are the children to be raised? Hear what the person says and how s/he says it.<br /><br />9) <strong><span style="color:#000099;">Think that marriage will solve your problems.</span></strong> </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">If a person is unhappy as a person and with his life as a single, most likely he or she will be miserable in marriage. One takes his/her emotional baggage into the relationship. Your spouse in not responsible for your happiness.<br /><br />10) <strong><span style="color:#000099;">Pick someone who is not emotionally healthy.</span></strong></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">A person with issues brings more than himself/herself into the marriage. If there is a dominating parent, then there are 3 people in the marriage and one's spouse can't fully be emotionally open. Never marry an addict -- whether to drugs, work, hobbies, status. You can't fix them!<br /><br />Thanks,<br /></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/bryan-johnston/10-ways-to-marry-the-wrong-person/205601902820150#!/bryanlloydjohnston"><span style="font-family:courier new;">Bryan Johnston</span></a><span style="font-family:courier new;"> </span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPpLZKloSl1IeWKuikJjdjMziyGW9c8aMjVoeFe2aSw5T_PfP7lVPyTxmdomEQ1wipwAHkfaXRyzhNnvqJ-5gSK1Xg2TvgoauzoKbVufT8Pr6GcfSc3DobQjg9NSCUq-yiWVp/s1600/425556.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 274px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626147504290808194" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPpLZKloSl1IeWKuikJjdjMziyGW9c8aMjVoeFe2aSw5T_PfP7lVPyTxmdomEQ1wipwAHkfaXRyzhNnvqJ-5gSK1Xg2TvgoauzoKbVufT8Pr6GcfSc3DobQjg9NSCUq-yiWVp/s400/425556.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em><span style="color:#006600;">A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.<br /></span></em>~ <strong><span style="font-size:85%;">John Steinbeck<br /><br /></span></strong><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></strong><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-8522519571487646612011-06-11T16:05:00.013+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.001+05:30Consensus<div><div><br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxJtLA8InjA6c9p2gAbBs_572wUPLd3nrWmfJOX0jXReDtgZO3v29aPG4CcKDwV3s9edV6q-RdZ4U-1vELGjkXYk77kujKml1oOykd02VpbJ738rtg0FqQb1ejMm4FHGk_SoR/s1600/consensus.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 163px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616912225791663026" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAxJtLA8InjA6c9p2gAbBs_572wUPLd3nrWmfJOX0jXReDtgZO3v29aPG4CcKDwV3s9edV6q-RdZ4U-1vELGjkXYk77kujKml1oOykd02VpbJ738rtg0FqQb1ejMm4FHGk_SoR/s400/consensus.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:courier new;">Consensus. It seems to have a magic of its own, but even if we don't discuss that right now, the minimum that humanity needs today, especially in today's divided world for its survival, is that everyone should be willing to modify their views in order to accomodate others'.<br /><br />We might be amazed to see that none of the so-called progressive ideologies and so-called perfect democracies have this on their agenda. They have created myths of "commitment", "conviction", etc, all nice words to hide the fact that no political party, ideology or "ism" today is willing to say, "<em><span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 255);">I may be wrong as well, and I will know this from your response.</span></em>"<br /><br /><strong><em>This</em></strong> is what we need to change. What do u think?</span></div></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGyt-HRcXFeCV-SsmZspM27w2KADpxs_-2BTT1nkG_4tC7wtX3D05VFRxfLbVVCJRKicxq8CUpMYcJ4WAF8BFRkVKQqgmJ_Ha4lNGQzCG7x8XkVeN-IgbHgdGtrVq6LDLWVuC/s1600/imagesCA2WZWJ6.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px; height: 198px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616912454175443442" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGyt-HRcXFeCV-SsmZspM27w2KADpxs_-2BTT1nkG_4tC7wtX3D05VFRxfLbVVCJRKicxq8CUpMYcJ4WAF8BFRkVKQqgmJ_Ha4lNGQzCG7x8XkVeN-IgbHgdGtrVq6LDLWVuC/s400/imagesCA2WZWJ6.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />~ “Uniform ideas originating among entire peoples unknown to each other must have a common ground of truth”</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-75914191771153029902011-05-05T00:30:00.010+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.002+05:30El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm-X)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
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</span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: courier new; font-size: 100%;">"I want you to watch and see if I'm not right in what I say: that the white man in his press, is going to identify me with "hate." He will make use of me dead, as he has made use of me alive, as a convenient symbol of "hatred"—and that will help him to escape facing the truth."</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-family: courier new; font-size: 100%;">— The Autobiography of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (aka "Malcolm X")</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: courier new;">Since his assassination, Malcolm X's legacy has waned and his ideas have made few inroads into mainstream discourse. He is, at best, a marginal historical figure. He is rarely seen except as a t-shirt or a poster, scarcely quoted and generally perceived as a black supremacist hatemonger who got what was coming to him. He certainly remains "radioactive" in the political sphere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: courier new;">Despite this lingering perception of Malcolm X as a kind of black Hitler, the reality -- easily verified by historical speeches and interviews -- is that Malcolm X was an extremely intelligent, highly logical and rational man who understood and articulated the reality of being black in America as nobody had ever done before.</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_2JiC5nL1ejGG5PD1gMSUMY02YF2Q2JgBEkzcV6y0g7E7lGGYo_SjC_uhylgXI8U8tKp4tpkTUas0iN3oHhSE7s1uCtBBRaI0ZdFl9oMcy_k5ZprI34aSRYZyIpBPD539p_6/s1600/GECRbl.jpg" style="font-family: courier new;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602950858613624594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja_2JiC5nL1ejGG5PD1gMSUMY02YF2Q2JgBEkzcV6y0g7E7lGGYo_SjC_uhylgXI8U8tKp4tpkTUas0iN3oHhSE7s1uCtBBRaI0ZdFl9oMcy_k5ZprI34aSRYZyIpBPD539p_6/s400/GECRbl.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 294px;" /></a><span style="font-family: courier new;"> At the height of his influence he was not only one of the most respected black leaders in America, but he was also beginning to wield enormous influence across the entire planet. He was an honored guest wherever he traveled in Africa and the Middle East. An autodidact who educated himself in prison, he was a keen student of history and as accomplished as any orator of the 20th century. He had an accurate understanding of the global nature of the racial problems facing America and had a plan about what to do about it. His domestic pairing with Martin Luther King is now undeniable. However, that move shocked and disturbed the U.S. intelligence community to its core, and was seen by FBI as the single biggest threat to the national security of the United States.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: courier new;">He had left his nationalism behind and became an internationalist. He changed the very nature of the civil rights debate by globalizing it. Rather than discuss the problems of black people in America as an issue of civil rights, he labeled it a struggle for human rights that could be taken to the United Nations. In hindsight, it's difficult to deny that he made a substantial contribution to the political, social, religious and moral discourse of how we treat each other as human beings both in the United States and across the planet. He understood that the United States was not immune to international pressure and he intended to bring that pressure to bear in order to address the racial problems the country faced. Malcolm X's charges against the United States at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of violating the human rights of black people, essentially comparing it to South Africa and charging it with having its own system of apartheid under the name of second-class citizenship.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: courier new;">In a little over a decade, he went from just another prisoner to one of the most respected leaders on the world stage (and a neo-religious movement by name NOI presented him a perfect platform). His transformation was astonishing by any standard. Had his message been simply the pseudo-Islamic, quasi-mystic, black nationalism of Elijah Muhammad(founder of NOI), it's unlikely anybody would have ever heard of Malcolm X or the Nation of Islam. But his appeal to the masses of people was undeniably real. Amidst the language of peace, love, harmony and non-violence, Malcolm X spoke clearly, directly and with an uncompromising voice to articulate what the vast majority of black people were really thinking: the promises of future justice and future equality was small comfort compared to the daily reality of lynchings, murder, rapes, beatings, fire-hoses, police dogs, Jim Crow, disenfranchisement and a history that had been stolen 400 years ago. After 400 years of slavery, the white man had no moral right to ask the black man to wait any longer to enjoy the rights and freedoms upon which America prided itself. It denied black Americans equal rights even as it called on them again and again to fight and die abroad in the very name of those rights that they could not enjoy at home. Forty years later, his arguments still carry tremendous weight and yet for the most part, they remain too brutally honest to be faced directly by the public society of 2010. That brutal honesty is one of his enduring strengths.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: courier new;">He cut America no slack whatsoever and refused to express his criticisms in anything but the harshest terms:</span><br />
<br />
</span><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="color: #006600; font-size: 100%;">"I am speaking as a black man from America which is a racist society, no matter how much you hear it talk about democracy it’s as racist as South Africa or as racist as Portugal or as racist as any other racialist society on this earth. The only difference between it and South Africa, South Africa preaches separation and practices separation, America preaches integration and practices segregation. This is the only difference, they don’t practice what they preach, whereas South Africa practices and preaches the same thing. I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands, even if he’s wrong, than the one comes up like an angel and is nothing but a devil."</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 100%;">~ (Oxford Union Debate, December 3, 1964)</span></blockquote><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">At his most fierce, he invoked warnings that sounded more like threats:</span><br />
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</span><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="color: #006600; font-size: 100%;">"I, for one, as a Muslim, believe that the white man is intelligent enough...if he were made to realise how black people really feel and how fed up we are without that old compromising sweet talk...why you're the one who makes it hard for yourself. The white man believes you when you go to him with that old sweet talk, 'cause you've been sweet-talking him ever since he brought you here. Stop sweet-talking him. Tell him how you feel. Tell him what kind of hell you've been catching and let him know that if he's not ready to clean his house up... if he's not ready to clean his house up....he shouldn't have a house. It should catch on fire, and burn down."</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 100%;">~ (Speech in Los-Angeles after an attack on members of the Nation of Islam)</span></blockquote><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">He spoke in simple but striking analogies that painted his argument for him:</span><br />
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</span><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="color: #006600; font-size: 100%;"> "If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out three inches, that's not progress. If you pull it out six inches, that's not progress. If you pull it all the way out, that's not progress. The progress comes from healing the wound that the blow made, but they haven't even begun to pull the knife out...they won't even admit the knife is there."</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 100%;">~ (Interview after the NOI began eviction proceedings)</span></blockquote><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">His desire for revolutionary change was articulated frequently:</span><br />
</span><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span> <span style="color: #006600; font-size: 100%;">"Sometimes I'm inclined to believe that many of our people are using this word "revolution" loosely, without taking careful consideration of what this word actually means, and what its historic characteristics are. When you study the historic nature of revolutions, the motive of a revolution, the objective of a revolution, the result of a revolution, and the methods used in a revolution, you may change words. You may devise another program, you may change your goal and you may change your mind. Look at the American Revolution in 1776. That revolution was for what? For land. Why did they want land? Independence. How was it carried out? Bloodshed. Number one, it was based on land, the basis of independence. And the only way they could get it was bloodshed. The French Revolution...what was it based on? The landless against the landlord. What was it for? Land. How did they get it? Bloodshed. Was no love lost, was no compromise, was no negotiation. I'm telling you...you don't know what a revolution is. Because when you find out what it is, you'll get back in the alley, you'll get out of the way. The Russian Revolution...what was it based on? Land; the landless against the landlord. How did they bring it about? Bloodshed. You haven't got a revolution that doesn't involve bloodshed. And you're afraid to bleed. I said, you're afraid to bleed. As long as the white man sent you to Korea, you bled. He sent you to Germany, you bled. He sent you to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese, you bled. You bleed for white people, but when it comes to seeing your own churches being bombed and little black girls murdered, you haven't got any blood. You bleed when the white man says bleed; you bite when the white man says bite; and you bark when the white man says bark. I hate to say this about us, but it's true. How are you going to be nonviolent in Mississippi, as violent as you were in Korea? How can you justify being nonviolent in Mississippi and Alabama, when your churches are being bombed, and your little girls are being murdered, and at the same time you are going to get violent with Hitler, and Tojo, and somebody else you don't even know? If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it is wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and black men, then it is wrong for America to draft us and make us violent abroad in defense of her. And if it is right for America to draft us, and teach us how to be violent in defense of her, then it is right for you and me to do whatever is necessary to defend our own people right here in this country."</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 100%;">~ (The Ballot or the Bullet, October 10, 1963)</span></blockquote><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">His knowledge of scripture was comprehensive and he knew how to reach a religious audience:</span><br />
<br />
</span> <span style="color: #006600; font-family: courier new; font-size: 100%;">"They charged Jesus with sedition...didn't they do that? They said he was against Caesar. They said he was discriminating because he told his disciples, 'Go not the way of the gentiles, but rather go to the lost sheep.' Don't go near the gentiles. Go to the lost sheep. Go to the people who don't know who they are, who are lost from the knowledge of themselves and who are strangers in a land that is not theirs. Go to those people. Go to the slaves. Go to the second-class citizens. Go to the ones who are suffering the brunt of Caesar's brutality. And if Jesus were here in America today, he wouldn't be going to the white man. The white man is the oppressor. He would be going to the oppressed. He would be going to the humble. He would be going to the lowly. He would be going to the rejected and the despised. He would be going to the so-called American negro."</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-family: courier new; font-size: 100%;">~ (Malcolm X in Los Angeles, May 22, 1962)</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">Reading speeches and interviews from the last year of his life is to read Malcolm X urge that Islamic leaders pay greater attention to the plight of Muslim world. Sound advice in 2011, it's an astonishingly prescient message for 1965:</span><br />
<br />
</span><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="color: #006600; font-size: 100%;">"Since the Arab image is almost inseparable from the image of Islam, the Arab world has a multiple responsibility that it must live up to. Since Islam is a religion of brotherhood and unity those who take the lead in expounding this religion are duty-bound to set the highest example of brotherhood and unity. It is imperative that Cairo and Mecca (the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs and the Muslim World League) have a religious "summit" conference and show a greater degree of concern and responsibility for the present plight of the Muslim world, or other forces will rise up in this present generation of young, forward-thinking Muslims and the "power centers" will be taken from the hands of those that they are now in and placed elsewhere."</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 100%;">~ (Al-Muslimoon Magazine, February, 1965)</span></blockquote><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">None of his speeches or interviews can be properly appreciated without actually hearing them in the context in which they were delivered. His ability to speak about race in uncompromising terms, touch a crowd with the naked truth, articulate their anger, answer audience questions shrewedly and with style and deftly handle hostile interviewers remains unparalleled. Of all his rhetorical skills, his ability to defuse a situation with wit and humor has been buried the deepest but there can be no doubt that he could be a very funny man. The so-called leaders who followed in his wake, be it Farrakhan, Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton have never come close to matching Malcolm's oratorical power and thus have never come close to reaching the audience he reached. In 1963, he was second only to John F. Kennedy as the most sought-after speaker on college campuses in the U.S. and was a guest at Berkeley, Harvard, Oxford and Yale.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">Contrary to the almost universal public perception of him, Malcolm X never advocated violence. He advocated the right of self-defense and self-preservation that was deemed a fundamental right to all but black Americans. He demanded those rights by any means necessary. If somebody comes at you with a rifle or a club or a noose, and the government is either unwilling or unable to protect you, and you are exercising the freedom of speech or freedom of assembly or freedom of religion that your government prides itself upon, you are completely within your rights to defend yourself. It is a reasonable proposition now and it was a reasonable proposition then. As he once said when discussing the outrage over his statement that black people should go out and buy rifles and join rifle clubs: "White people been buying rifles all their lives...no commotion."</span><br />
<br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-family: courier new; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">What follows is a letter (in part or in whole) from Malcolm X, known as Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (after his conversion to Traditional Islam), to his followers in Harlem. It was reprinted in The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley.</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
<br />
</span><br />
<blockquote style="color: #006600; font-family: courier new;"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all the other Prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.<br />
<br />
I have been blessed to visit the Holy City of Mecca, I have made my seven circuits around the Ka'ba, led by a young Mutawaf named Muhammad, I drank water from the well of the Zam Zam. I ran seven times back and forth between the hills of Mt. Al-Safa and Al Marwah. I have prayed in the ancient city of Mina, and I have prayed on Mt. Arafat.<br />
<br />
There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and non-white.<br />
<br />
America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered white - but the white attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color.<br />
<br />
You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth.<br />
<br />
During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept on the same rug - while praying to the same God - with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the deeds of the white Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana.<br />
<br />
We were truly all the same (brothers) - because their belief in one God had removed the white from their minds, the white from their behavior, and the white from their attitude.<br />
<br />
I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man - and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their 'differences' in color.<br />
<br />
With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called 'Christian' white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save America from imminent disaster - the same destruction brought upon Germany by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves.<br />
<br />
Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual insights into what is happening in America between black and white. The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities - he is only reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the walls and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth - the only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to.<br />
<br />
Never have I been so highly honored. Never have I been made to feel more humble and unworthy. Who would believe the blessings that have been heaped upon an American Negro? A few nights ago, a man who would be called in America a white man, a United Nations diplomat, an ambassador, a companion of kings, gave me his hotel suite, his bed. Never would I have even thought of dreaming that I would ever be a recipient of such honors - honors that in America would be bestowed upon a King - not a Negro.<br />
<br />
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds.<br />
<br />
Sincerely,<br />
<br />
Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz</span></blockquote><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxT5mZjvwm5ceS7YcHda53h_uKMT_PlFWUvqJJt6faek4A7cjsiFusBD3wWw5toqn1XGkQ_VizcieA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">The trip to Mecca immensely affected his insight and it is undeniable that his views changed after looking at the world through the eyes of Islam, and these views would eventually break his relationship with his teacher Elijah Muhammad (NOI Black-nationalist Leader) - and then isolate him and his family - and would therefore lead to his assassination.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">As Malcolm X's profile rose, the rumours and lies being whispered into Elijah Muhammad's ears about the young minister's plans to usurp his power and take over the Nation spread steadily. The split between master and student had been well underway for some time.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">Forced out of the Nation against his will, the combination of enmity from both the NOI and the American intelligence community meant his days were numbered and he knew it. Throughout 1964 and 1965 he and his followers were under constant attack at home and abroad. As threats against his life grew more frequent and more serious, he publicly labeled the NOI a criminal organization and Elijah Muhammad insane. When he made a public statement about Elijah Muhammad's infidelities, he had signed his own death warrant and publicly stated so in several interview. ("We weren’t training to become black belts: we were training to kill black belts.") In one interview, when asked by CBS' Mike Wallace about the possibility of his life being in jeopardy, he stated matter-of-factly, "I probably am a dead man already". In his autobiography, he stated that he didn't expect to live long enough to see its publication. He was right, again.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">On January 14, 1965, his house was firebombed with his wife and children inside. The NOI publicly accused Malcolm X of trying to burn down his own house and murder his own family as a publicity stunt designed to delay eviction proceedings. One week later, Malcolm X prepared to deliver a major speech, outlining the founding principles of his newly established Organization of Afro-American Unity. On Sunday February 21, 1965, just after 3:00 p.m., Malcolm began speaking to an audience of about 400 people at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights, just north of Harlem. His wife (pregnant with twins) and his four daughters sat in the audience near the front. Just after Malcolm greeted the crowd with the traditional "As-Salamu Alaykum," an argument between two men started near the back of the crowd. Malcolm's security rushed to investigate, a smokebomb went off and the crowd began to panic. In the confusion, assassins who had been sitting in the front rows rushed the stage and unloaded on Malcolm with a shotgun blast and pistol shots, hitting him 16 times in total, killing him. He was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m., shortly after he arrived at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">The best book on the assassination of Malcolm X is Karl Evanzz' 1992 book The Judas Factor: The Plot to Kill Malcolm X. Evanzz had access to the FBI's complete file on Malcolm X and knows the subject matter intimately. His book is absolutely essential to understanding the massive campaign directed against Malcolm X.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">While his autobiography has never gone out of print and the text of many of his speeches have been available for years, the difference between reading his words on the page and seeing him deliver them in front of a receptive audience is the difference between black and white. While the climate may not have changed enough for his ideas to reach the mainstream, more and more people every day realize that the story of the hatemonger is a lie. They hear his actual words for himself and they see no reason to disassociate themselves from him thoroughly and completely:</span><br />
<br />
</span><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="color: #006600; font-size: 100%;">"I really don’t know what to think about Malcolm X. The media has portrayed him as a violent man, yet all the quotations that I could find from him were things I agree with completely. If I were to judge this man, solely on the quotations that I was able to find for him...I would laud him."</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 100%;">~ (Laura S. Moncur, Staff Writer, quotationspage.com)</span></blockquote><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="color: #006600; font-size: 100%;">"People today who claim Malcolm X was racist obviously have nowhere near a full comprehension of the type of era he lived in: lynching, burnings, and senseless random killings of black people. He just said out loud what most black people thought. For those who believed he should have been more peaceful and kind well he needed a reason to be. He believed in fighting back, and not taking any crap. Sorry if that isn't politically correct enough for you guys."</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 100%;">~ (youtube user, l9ois)</span></blockquote><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="color: #006600; font-size: 100%;">"I don't know much about Malcolm X but that one minute talk made a lot of sense to me....perhaps I have been lied to about this man."</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 100%;">~ (youtube user, snowball1776)</span></blockquote><br />
<blockquote style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="color: #006600; font-size: 100%;">"I'm white, and growing up in school during Black History Month it was always like 'OK kids, there were these two guys, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, and they were both civil rights leaders but Malcolm X was violent so he wasn't as good.' And I believed that for a long time, but I've watched a lot of these videos and even at his most radical he was only talking about self defense and almost everyone is OK with that. I wonder if it was like that for everyone else? I wonder if little kids today are still learning like that?"</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #000099; font-size: 100%;">~ (youtube user, shondeaphid)</span></blockquote><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">I'm pretty sure they are. He was not only too advanced for his own time, but for our time as well. In the end, he preached internationalism to a world that was still adjusting to life after colonialism. As long as the public associates him with hate and violence, it demonstrates a lack of understanding and perpetuates a lie that runs against our own best interests. However, it is a simple fact that the real philosophy of Malcolm X, a philosophy that cannot be erased or ignored and continues to spread, is still being seen and heard by more people every day. Over time, however long that time is, the truth does overcome lies. A time will come when Malcolm X is restored to the position of authority he held for many people during the last year of his life; as one of the most important human rights leaders the world has ever seen. Despite the best efforts of the FBI, the CIA, the NOI and the NYPD to silence the man, his words remain as strongly accusatory and accurate as ever. The criticism of global forces that denied human beings their legitimate rights remains as sharp and relevant as ever and the solution--peace, freedom, justice and equality for all people, by any means necessary--retains all of its honesty and power.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO9fbcf4lsT1Thvyysp32FbAM3QQMUz7_jRD2bnLZ2oEg5BIHtY7CISK-z73PrENCSJy9BvEfcjnpE-RTC8BP7TP15IKCdUHaGFWqg2XEWG2ANrMucLPnhwmGZTlLe8FrvxHHV/s1600/kiU2tl.jpg" style="font-family: courier new;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602951793953671186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO9fbcf4lsT1Thvyysp32FbAM3QQMUz7_jRD2bnLZ2oEg5BIHtY7CISK-z73PrENCSJy9BvEfcjnpE-RTC8BP7TP15IKCdUHaGFWqg2XEWG2ANrMucLPnhwmGZTlLe8FrvxHHV/s400/kiU2tl.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 248px;" /></a></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #666666; font-style: italic;">“You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.” </span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #38761d;">~ El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz</span><br />
</span><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></span></span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><u style="color: #4c1130;">NOTE:</u><br />
</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">The original detailed documentary based on which this post was inspired can found --</span></span><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><a href="http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/malcolm-x-prince-of-islam/">here</a></span></span></b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-style: italic;"><br />
</span><br />
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-27168170499447345602011-04-09T04:07:00.001+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.003+05:30This bird has flown around the bend!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9cLUbnc4jnkwiNPi0Vxljl1pNBlWzhoDeEJyOb9ACD9zV5CFVupUHNLGTZd29T4xRVgCp6Nuh51xurW_jEd4h28-sQk3P3r4Jz8_y4eBGjiO18o5BjJZNzSzwTTrdNx-LcChJ/s1600/jim_carrey_the_riddler_001_040810.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9cLUbnc4jnkwiNPi0Vxljl1pNBlWzhoDeEJyOb9ACD9zV5CFVupUHNLGTZd29T4xRVgCp6Nuh51xurW_jEd4h28-sQk3P3r4Jz8_y4eBGjiO18o5BjJZNzSzwTTrdNx-LcChJ/s400/jim_carrey_the_riddler_001_040810.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578317282978109442" border="0" /></a><br /><div class="reply-text" style="font-family:courier new;"> <p>This riddle– ”<span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">life has no purpose</span>” –is one that isn’t so easily solved for a single man, well into middle-age, who has few if any friends and is more or less alone in the world. He came to this point neither by mistake nor overnight.</p> <p>He has a little money, so he attempts to shake things up by quitting his job (which he didn’t like all that much anyway) and “letting it all hang out”: doing the things he enjoys, living like a retiree; basically trying to “prime” his life like a pump–pouring a little happiness in from the outside to see if that will get the happiness going inside.</p> <p>He tries. He prays. He allows his love for a woman to have a purchase in his life even though she doesn’t meaningfully reciprocate. He gets professional help and gets on a strong daily dose of psychotropic drugs. He gets involved in his community. He starts to write a book. He tries engagement groups. He makes improvements in his life: fixes up and redecorates his home. He treats himself to special “gifts”: a new stereo for his pickup truck, some new suits, et-cetera, et-cetera. He takes long walks on the dead-early-mornings (which is a 20-minute walk away) at least once and usually twice a day.</p> <p>He knows that he “has it made,” and just about everybody else in the whole world would kill to be in his situation.</p> <p>But it’s not so simple. He was a “problem child” who grew into a “problem adult”: clinically depressed and most definitely not really plugged into the same reality as most others. He doesn’t understand most of what he sees and hears.</p> <p>He’s very highly educated, very talented, has a “gifted” IQ and is accomplished in three different professions. He was earning his own way before he could read and is no stranger to hard work. He’s worked for three years and gone to distance-study simultaneously.</p> <p>He has pro-actively tried to find a solution to this life-long issue. He’s religiously attended spiritual group meetings. He’s tried to “make something happen.”</p> <p>But it hasn’t worked. When he was younger he could bounce back; tomorrow always had a promise. But he’s approaching his mid 50s now, and tomorrow has broken all of its promises. He’s tried it all: “positive mental attitude,” “get busy to get better,” et-cetera, et-cetera, et-cetera, and he’s still pushing that same boulder up that same mountain, and he’s tired: tired of trying and failing, and the only thing that keeps him putting one foot in front of the other and plodding aimlessly through life is his basic, organic will to survive: the same thing that makes single-celled organisms eat and reproduce.</p> <p>What’s the solution? How about a fling with a younger woman? How about a long trip? How about a job working as a school teacher or an amateur lecturer ?<br /></p> <p>He figures he ought to just go back to work, but he can’t find a reason why he should. He’s standing at reality’s porous border, and he feels like he could take one little step and fade into unreality without anyone noticing. He knows he could die in his redecorated, fixed-up home and nobody would know until his body started to decay and stink.</p> <p>He’s afraid to have faith because he’s had it before. He’s afraid to “make something happen” because he’s done that before with really bad results. When he prays that God’s “will be done,” he wonders exactly what he’s bringing on because God’s will, which is not always kind to human beings, is beginning to scare him.</p> <p>He’s not suicidal, but dying seems so easy and living seems so hard.</p> <p>He sees that things are important to other people: tasks to accomplish, goals to reach, people to see. He feels he must be missing something as plain as the hand on the end of his arm. He will see it any day now . . . any day now.</p> <p>When life has no purpose–when life really has no purpose–all the well-worn platitudes in the world won’t work. A man can hack his own path or build his own bridge through life, but if he hasn’t a place to go, and he keeps hacking and/or building anyway, thinking a place–a destination–will emerge, but one doesn’t, well, he stops. He puts down his tools, and he looks around and tries to make some sense out of all he has done and all that has happened to him, and finds it makes no sense at all. If he had never existed, that’d be one less grain of sand on an endless beach, and what difference would that make?<br /></p><p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilME3OJ5giuPeMsrwuWSTm5Cw7wFLgpFV22VXbOK55qwiRiI8Id9sNU-Xlb-V2Bipg9siCt8V-tFiyETcd6k4LJ79Kds6AWZ_f6hp414jrTAH6dHbGcphLGkWL5ijLhFyrzpC8/s1600/6a00d83451d48a69e200e5518619fd8834-800wi.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilME3OJ5giuPeMsrwuWSTm5Cw7wFLgpFV22VXbOK55qwiRiI8Id9sNU-Xlb-V2Bipg9siCt8V-tFiyETcd6k4LJ79Kds6AWZ_f6hp414jrTAH6dHbGcphLGkWL5ijLhFyrzpC8/s400/6a00d83451d48a69e200e5518619fd8834-800wi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593232086395324674" border="0" /></a><br />~ <span class="sqq">“<span class="sqq">A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free</span>” (</span> <a class="sqa" href="http://thinkexist.com/quotes/nikos_kazantzakis/">Nikos Kazantzakis </a><span class="sqq">)<br /></span></p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-10269653539143800932011-03-01T06:30:00.000+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.005+05:30Heart that Rocks the Cradle, also Digs a Grave<span style="font-family:courier new;">Why does the act of killing an infant not move the heart of the killer ?<br />Statistics say that 10 million female children vanish from India every year through various actions - abortions, female-infanticide, & related causes. That is how hard many hearts are becoming — imagine how hard it should have become, to bury one's daughter alive.<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:courier new;"><p></p></span><p></p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNa-wvxsUrE4m9J2P2TFPbZq1Q-g0Cvt9cjFoYeycpJ7ovAl5cYjnfaA69VeQcGDMFKu0_O1uo87vVB5BZpep8cCu2x0bQBAxIFpL7yX1tg7ILyAA_FFteXk3Mq4Mq_tmgOI2/s1600/Stone_Heart.jpg"><span style="font-family:courier new;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577972050830217026" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 238px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNa-wvxsUrE4m9J2P2TFPbZq1Q-g0Cvt9cjFoYeycpJ7ovAl5cYjnfaA69VeQcGDMFKu0_O1uo87vVB5BZpep8cCu2x0bQBAxIFpL7yX1tg7ILyAA_FFteXk3Mq4Mq_tmgOI2/s320/Stone_Heart.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:courier new;"><br /><br />Today's news media puts this grave act as a news-piece sandwiched between the news of some celebrity's new girl-friend & the weather-report.<br /><br />Almost no criminal charges are filed in these cases, and rightly so when the country is being rocked by scams amounting so heavy with which one can feed 3 African nations for 2 years - these murders of innocent things don't even get an attention.<br /><br />Our views on this world are becoming so materialistic that one feels anguish & pain when something of this life, like wealth, honour, status, etc, is lost. One feels as if been injured badly because he/she did not get what others did.<br />This extends into the mindset where it becomes: "When another has a boy, I have a (damn it!)girl."<br /><br />Bringing up children in certain parts of India (as so in general Asia/Africa) seems to be a huge challenge. The amount spent on their food, shelter, clothing, medication & if there is little money left that would be for the education. Then comes the biggie of all - 'Marriage'.<br /><br />Parents of the groom have little to worry, as the whole expense & costs of the wedding has to be taken care by the bride's family. Literally speaking, the Groom's family walks into the wedding and takes home the bride with all the 'freebies' the bride's family offers. It is just like making the best deal of the season - women are traded as products.<br /><br />So as soon as a baby is born, the simplest solution to these big economical complications seems to be throwing the newborn infants into ditch, wells, trash-cans, burying-alive & you-name-it(sickening!).<br />Now speaking about the killer : The person should reach a stage where he feels that his heart has turned into a solid rock that is not affected by anything to do such a crime.<br />I believe, even a soldier strong enough to kill a hundred opponents in battle would run away when ordered to kill a crying infant.<br />A hardened heart seems not to be affected by anything - This killer with such a hardened heart may even carry a corpse and bury it, yet, he/she walks from the infant's grave as if one were strolling in a garden!<br /><br />While we even have Zombie sympathisers these days, where do these sick people come from ?<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtgbzIjYLCi36NDjYHyU0qIiTpSlUJpswDx5mc8smugtA56AcL209Zv5uljMnMNqtiNInrTFX8tn77KaCGPX9Ue3_Gm0EDdKyRpRYrgr6kFLStwJ6JqarTy78GW3Z4MZJg_Wld/s1600/life1_lg.jpg"><span style="font-family:courier new;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577979115416176690" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 240px; height: 179px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtgbzIjYLCi36NDjYHyU0qIiTpSlUJpswDx5mc8smugtA56AcL209Zv5uljMnMNqtiNInrTFX8tn77KaCGPX9Ue3_Gm0EDdKyRpRYrgr6kFLStwJ6JqarTy78GW3Z4MZJg_Wld/s320/life1_lg.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:courier new;"> </span><p><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span> </p><p><span style="font-family:courier new;">~ A child is a gift, not a choice.</span></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-52789059934783444732011-02-02T00:03:00.007+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.006+05:30Progress - darn it !<div><span style="font-family:courier new;">It has to start with admitting that there is something wrong with our system. A system that discourages progressive thinking is definitely a system that pulls a society backwards if not at status quo. </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">One may argue on the word "progressive". Allow me to clarify my definition of "progressive", and for *starters*, it should not be solely about materialistic gains. Materialistic gains would be but a mere bonus, provided it be gained righteously. I meant progressiveness in a form of humanity. Simply put, <em><span style="color:#006600;">'It is not about what a man makes for himself, but what he makes out of himself'</span></em>.<br /><br />Serving humanity may require a stronghold in Science, Mathematics, Philosophy, Economy for example of course armed with good morals that even atheists can recognize, one's religion is secondary for that.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Those people who just do the complaining stuff, must learn not to just be contented with just getting by but need to strive for betterment towards contributing something good to humanity as a whole. Imagine what impact the person who came up with the Tuberculosis drug has on humanity, or on telecommunications such as the artificial intelligence which resulted in well, Blogger, Facebook or Twitter partly!! </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">You and I are able to communicate, share and exchange ideas like what we are doing now. Isn't the Search Engines such as Google a blessing for human knowledge???!! It blows my mind to think that we can Google anything, anywhere, anytime and now it's in the palm of our hands!!<br /><br />And who are the people who came up with all this? Who are the people who had the liberty and freedom of the minds that enabled them to become more creative to come up with these inventions? Are they the people who are bothered about trivial matters that will dampen their likeliness to succeed in whatever they strive for? </span></div><div><span style="font-family:courier new;"> </div></span><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 311px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564717945684567442" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjclXGBZTkm1tP0PNHW6MUz-096GgrFwF3nw_BLyn8kW40Sg-HLzACxwx2vBOQtAccyHQBEVqTKrX5xZ2TF_O-4PBYCssXeVhMUuKvg5QW5zjEyEwqdTiidSN9tKmEer6ZEpv63/s400/2008-8-500.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Free your minds. Until and only until we realize that our minds belong to the authorities/countries with their own personal agendas, and until we strive to free them, we shall forever get stuck in this brain refuge. A Matrix, prepared for us since childhood in the forms of racism, nationalism, sexism, and all other -isms that tries to put one human to be superior to another, as many in 1940s Germany would shout, "Hail Hitler !".<br /></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-ReiN5BE0O04o47opcTJof0aqueEEItK6L4cbPSNOtvsKt7PYVBdBEimAOCiOhrgegt1lpHyDamq7ujgx0YYdlCSvy3Qjgmm3LYhsHp8m-bXqGtbG8Vg4Py0S6xJ92BTQWWn/s1600/Thumb.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 324px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 332px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564718060012789010" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-ReiN5BE0O04o47opcTJof0aqueEEItK6L4cbPSNOtvsKt7PYVBdBEimAOCiOhrgegt1lpHyDamq7ujgx0YYdlCSvy3Qjgmm3LYhsHp8m-bXqGtbG8Vg4Py0S6xJ92BTQWWn/s400/Thumb.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><em>~</em> "<em>Newton gave a physical law that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, on a lighter note - if one were to apply this law to philosophy, what would this law do for every <strong>good-action</strong> performed by man"</em></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><em></em><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-77529052340241587382011-01-02T11:47:00.011+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.007+05:30Those useless stuff<span style="font-family:courier new;">Most of the individuals on this planet are no more different than a 'sheep', and to describe such an individual using jargon '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheeple">sheeple</a>' would be the right word and I was one such. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">More & more people are programmed to be in a way ready to 'serve' another rather than to 'lead' for a change.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Almost all the parents brainwash their children to get into the likes of Technical Sciences - Medical, Engineering, Operations & Finances.</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">What is the difference if you are going to be a worker in the end, by a reductionist approach: you as an individual are programmed as wanting to serve someone or something in the end. This is not education, this is bull-crap, brainwashing and running behind 'Money & Societal-Pressure' instead of 'Pure Potential'.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">I deeply believe anything remotely termed education has to deal with thought, deep reflection, thinking and intellectual pursuit and the subjects that fit this category are Sociology, History, Political Science, etc. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">And we know what the parents are going to say, pretty much in lines of: "What are you wasting your time for?", "why are you thinking about economics", "What kind of job are you gonna get", "What are you gonna do with sociology", "What are you gonna do with psychology, anthropology or history" and the Ad-hominem word "Useless stuff !"</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">These are the sciences & knowledge that are broadly called 'humanities', these are the sciences that are actually the foundations of any society. The people in these fields frame how the society functions. </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">The most critical are those subjects that makes one think and to understand the questions: "who we are", and "what does it mean to be a human-being".</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">In our days the wall street starts with Adam Smith, an economist, and the once huge Soviet-empire it starts with the thinker Karl Marx, a sociologist.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Wake-Up! The world is in dire need of better 'humans' than 'soul-less techies' & 'gear-wheels in the machine'.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPyGM5vzmkq93fbjtIRrWF03UWrr5tcA9iewRc5wmaa2Uf1hT9bUTF6Aabt6STieqMIlw0L_SG-FcyXEuhEV8wnFyyDF3MrfPUiq8ELvMjpRYbqlfggICnLJL_GJT-i45k9RSU/s1600/boy-and-world-300x199.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 313px; float: left; height: 221px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560625248185169730" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPyGM5vzmkq93fbjtIRrWF03UWrr5tcA9iewRc5wmaa2Uf1hT9bUTF6Aabt6STieqMIlw0L_SG-FcyXEuhEV8wnFyyDF3MrfPUiq8ELvMjpRYbqlfggICnLJL_GJT-i45k9RSU/s400/boy-and-world-300x199.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);font-family:Courier New;" ><em>~ Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of "crackpot" than the stigma of conformity. </em></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-7028034076465540212010-12-27T20:05:00.015+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.008+05:30Speaking with Gandhi<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmSKJ6Klg8tw0m8bOYFtgTYlk_ZjZxyXHrTI0Ofk8TKWPxELaDxqUDMSr6Ljcbg2ZVEIzLbL6HqC4iE3h3nugzDGZTEyJV4i1QghVBMdZc7yejluD1ncvb2V1BIzGtUCqjrL52/s1600/jammu-and-kashmir-ind512.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555392209985272002" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmSKJ6Klg8tw0m8bOYFtgTYlk_ZjZxyXHrTI0Ofk8TKWPxELaDxqUDMSr6Ljcbg2ZVEIzLbL6HqC4iE3h3nugzDGZTEyJV4i1QghVBMdZc7yejluD1ncvb2V1BIzGtUCqjrL52/s400/jammu-and-kashmir-ind512.jpg" /></a><br /><div><span style="color:#993300;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">"Nationalism?", questioned Gandhi. "Do you mean to question the struggle, that are based on principles of human-freedom and man's basic rights and paint it with Nationalism?" </span><br /></span><span style="font-family:Courier New;color:#3333ff;">"If not nationalism, why are you silent on all the chaos?" enquired the reporter.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;color:#009900;">"I belong to this country, but that does not mean that I would accept oppression at the hands of my native ruler - be it Buddhist or Hindu or Muslim or Christian or Atheist. If it were to happen, I would struggle with same strength and intentions as I was against the English. Remember, questioning the rule does not necessarily mean being anti-national."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">"So what would be your comments on the likes of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arundhati_Roy">'Arundhati Roy'</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky">'Noam Chomsky'</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie">'Rachel Corrie'</a>?", came the question out of blue.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Gandhi was silent for a moment, he gazed into the saffron flames that were making a crakling noise the flames were as if dancing in a ritual ceremony around the dead wood and the wooden-stove was busy in the process of reducing the wood into ashes.Gandhi slowly proceeded to answer the last question.</span> </div><div><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0wlD9k3kQ_5QzgKP1Kx2inHSQDh4Fc2QGeTN4RkpcD01rF2vdvZxIsSABgMYW3Rj2e51zJdOclXJg_ZXok-OKtMObPFJRtxoVJ2mEciTQ5hUZby8dwGt0qqI_f0quLZJwq00/s1600/flames.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555409363238084978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT0wlD9k3kQ_5QzgKP1Kx2inHSQDh4Fc2QGeTN4RkpcD01rF2vdvZxIsSABgMYW3Rj2e51zJdOclXJg_ZXok-OKtMObPFJRtxoVJ2mEciTQ5hUZby8dwGt0qqI_f0quLZJwq00/s400/flames.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;">" Although there are various things that I do not agree or approve of their methods, but I do understand that <strong><em>they are trying to be the change that they want to see in the world</em></strong>. </span><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;">To be honest, who does not want to see a happy and peaceful valley of Kashmir?, but the question that needs to be answered is '<em><span style="color:#666600;">What is Kashmir?</span></em>', Is it just a piece of land or Is it the living spirit of : a child, a tree, a breeze, a snow-flake, that adds value and meaning to that piece of land. What is the meaning of the word 'Kashmir' without considering its people - It is people that make Kashmir and not the other way round."</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;">As Gandhi was in the end of this conversation, there came a shout, "Bapu, Bapu ... Nandhini has given birth". Gandhi got up with the most beautiful smile a toothless face could sport, and said, "Excuse me <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karan_Thapar">Mr.Karan Thapar</a>, It was nice speaking to you, let's end it here. I am in need of someone for help, the cow in our farm has given birth."</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><div></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 350px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 375px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555390117747383538" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJTofqUNNnFoI06ZKxQV-vSkC-u59GRH-XKfvcp9OPFAHzAx5DDmk5anKesTe8PQ7VOiPXx6Fos6tNCeEhoqzqdQuvuSJjymG5iPujY5CmNqm3RkbiUG7RSLehD5r70pwxGPmu/s400/gandhi2.jpg" /><br />- <em><span style="color:#006600;">A good person will resist an evil system with his whole soul. Disobedience of the laws of an evil state is therefore a duty.</span></em> ~ <em>Gandhi</em><br /><br /><em><span style="color:#666666;">P.S:<br />------<br />It has been almost a century since India, Pakistan and China have been locked into conflict for the land of Kashmir, but the essential thing that all these three countries failed to understand is that 'The land of Kashmir', with its riches and beauty is not the real prize - instead it is the living souls and hearts that make Kashmir.</span></em></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-44658177507524307462010-12-01T18:50:00.011+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.010+05:302010 = 'Hibernation turned on'<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZP3uoZmv0hJydPRC0oT7aNleLNug4DLzV5jlOXtfxcn6ygq3-6e1WQdd7G6W_g-kV2fos5vg7FFbDqr_6RCKqgxp4FB7w9D6r2G38ebs99ilFFaRvFpfVP82m5FiZhmEJKgor/s1600/backpacker.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560612867813388770" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZP3uoZmv0hJydPRC0oT7aNleLNug4DLzV5jlOXtfxcn6ygq3-6e1WQdd7G6W_g-kV2fos5vg7FFbDqr_6RCKqgxp4FB7w9D6r2G38ebs99ilFFaRvFpfVP82m5FiZhmEJKgor/s400/backpacker.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><strong><span style="color:#666666;">Hibernation </span></strong><em><span style="color:#666666;">is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate.</span></em></div><div><em><span style="color:#666666;"></span></em></div><div><span style="font-family:courier new;color:#000000;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:courier new;color:#000000;"><br />That is a dictionary definition of hibernation. How does it apply to me ? I was in a period of "Materialistic hibernation", 2010 was the year !</span></div><div><span style="font-family:courier new;color:#000000;">To be honest anyone reading this post would take me to be a nut-case or irresponsible & confused idiot, and <em>(this might be going overboard :P )</em> for the girl who is looking for a possible partner-in-all mould in me, you're gonna hate this.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;">2010 was the final member on the 2000's decade-list, and a year worth remembering for me <em>(when I grow really old) </em>as one where I made impact-decisions and probably in your language 'executing stupidity'. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;">This is going to be a peek back into the past and contemplating(smiling) on the money and resource(time & effort) involved in carrying out a self-deception and jumping-platforms to avoid contact with myself !</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>December 2010</strong> - <strong>Vagabond version 2.0:</strong> Backpacked to Kerala 2 weeks at : Ernakulam, Kochi, Kottayam, and Alappuza. This was more exciting as here I landed in a place where I do not understand the local language !</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>November 2010</strong> - Drifted to Chennai, and got to meet this strikingly beautiful lady, a divorcee - a life changing experience. And an old-foe came back to haunt my thoughts of my career that were lingering at back of my mind and so, I decided to get dirty & experimented my career-track on SAP-ABAP and hence joined training at SIEMENS, Chennai - which cost me about 0.375 million INR. The result was pretty impressive, I am now a 'Certified SAP Associate', and got interview calls from SIEMENS, Mahindra-Satyam, Amazon, Cognizant & CSC and I didn't take them simply because I wanted some time to ease around & I was not ready to switch into a 'money-making-machine' overnight. Hence kept idea of getting back to my Career as a 2011 New-Year resolution! </span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>October 2010 - Vagabond version 1.0 : </strong>Backpacked to Coastal Tamilnadu 3 weeks at: Tanjore, Nagapattinam fisherman villages, Nanillam, and Rural-Trichy - on foot, carts, bike, bus and train !</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;">It was an experience of common-man (about 80% of people on this planet), you land somewhere in middle of night and have nowhere to go or like you are in urgent need to use toilet and all you can see are empty fields and water-canals ! </span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;">*Darn Amazing*</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;">My diary has been flooded with all the emotions (both ugly & beautiful) I could capture within self during this ride.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><p><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>September 2010</strong> - My life was at a fork (with four ends or more ..): </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></p><ul><li><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Continue the efforts on taking the Post Graduation </span></li><li><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Shut-up thinking and get back to the industry using previous work experience, 3.5 years was a pretty good bet (but the idea as whole was not appealing to me)</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Courier New;">Look for alternate technologies and shift the previous work experience (Electronics, SAP, Java or whatever .. keep thinking)</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Courier New;">WTH else was there to do ? become a vagabond, kill the money & technology, lost from friends & parents (for that brief period !) - This was an idea that seem adventurous and I acknowledged this whisper that came from the back of my mind. I threw away my mobile, plastic-cards, and packed my bags for a series of hitch-hiking with Marx, Engels, Nietschze, Freud, Imran Hosein, Machiavelli & Muhammad Asad joined me on both the journeys. </span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>August 2010</strong> - Life is not all that you run behind for a rich-lavish and carry out the biddings of the society imposed on you: School-Education(which sucks by the way!), A Course for Big Career, A Career for Big-Money, Big money to fill your bones in golden coffin. This is self-deception, and Money sucks big !</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;">I was in a difficult situation of making choce : either ignore my inner-voice to live this robotic-materialistic-life "or" break the stereotype and follow in the quest in soul-searching. </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">I was undecided !</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>July 2010</strong> - It was a strange feeling, usually this kind of situation would have left an impression of sadness on anyone else - It seems I was not among that 'anyone', It was like a deja-vu instead ! </span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;">It seemed like an instant in present time-frame had happened to me again & again a million times in past. This month passed with marking my 26 years of life on this planet and an eye-opening & soul-awakening incident. My dearest uncle & aunt, both died in an accident.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>June 2010 </strong>- By this time I had invested a lot (a lot really !) into the quest for Post-graduation: and if by any reason I were to back-out from this quest, t</span><span style="font-family:Courier New;">hat is 70000 INR going up in smoke literally & it happened :)</span><br /></div><ul><li><span style="font-family:Courier New;">My health failed me at most critical stage, I was diagnosed by digestion disorder and typhus. It was a "Pop" and everything vanished right before the eyes. (The atempts from my side to negotiate with the School for next-intake failed, my fee was paid-back with some cuts from the School).</span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>May 2010 </strong>- Was offered scholarship on MBA from Kingston University (AMBA cluster) and was running high on plans and ideas; Would never have imagined that they could come to halt (but with a much-needed, intellectual & mature twist of circumstances)</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>April 2010 </strong>- I was offered a Dual-Masters from another top Singaporean University for <em><strong>June'10</strong></em> admission- was surprised & eleated in these few weeks, and was in full swing of getting into check-lists, economics, visa application and stay etc.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>March 2010 </strong>- My GRE & TOEFL mark-sheets reached home, Applied for MS in Logistics in Singapore(What was I thinking ! seriously ). I was Rejected!</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>February 2010</strong> - I quit a job from one of the top most MNC that was paying me more than half-a-million per year. GMAT & MBA were on the menu.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><strong></strong></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><br /><strong>January 2010 </strong>- That's when and where it all began ! :D</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;">I was not impressed with the direction in which my life was shaping up, and decided to look for some change - a Post-Graduation ? or moving to a different Career/Industry. There was a surprise in waiting, and my life unfolded in front of me, and there was a whole new perception was installed on the quesion of self, world & social-responsibility.</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;">If anyone do needs help on 'How to trash half-a-million?' - I am here for you :)</span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqM-c3BRstzlfdzGWuWrW2Ui_KVmdtYcn1CwVQXcMdlglDXPyFVDUtW_Axr4CufXLdRVYt-xsa97krtb8JaeVGd68NoRjT9rB-nk86jQBvQWcPMknuUMvlKnT_brQDphRLup8X/s1600/large%252520into%252520the%252520wild%252520blu-ray2.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 225px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560613393789556258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqM-c3BRstzlfdzGWuWrW2Ui_KVmdtYcn1CwVQXcMdlglDXPyFVDUtW_Axr4CufXLdRVYt-xsa97krtb8JaeVGd68NoRjT9rB-nk86jQBvQWcPMknuUMvlKnT_brQDphRLup8X/s400/large%252520into%252520the%252520wild%252520blu-ray2.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Courier New;color:#666666;"><em><strong>~ If I had a little less respect for money, I would not mind pissing on it.</strong></em></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-71831756329263108082010-11-02T11:48:00.000+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.011+05:30Towards Materialistic Horizons<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxzOVtcUtdS1HscnFV9i4UB0h-SoSbT63HNlJyaRvQOdrB9cPlOPKxi5sJbeU0SMotYsOJqMGWZQfJIENG_SCcbjCKTCCrFwyzPruZxpwwzdGMA7__3aRwW88SWf8JFa4Kq3N5/s1600/shoe_shopping2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525372657723379682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 250px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxzOVtcUtdS1HscnFV9i4UB0h-SoSbT63HNlJyaRvQOdrB9cPlOPKxi5sJbeU0SMotYsOJqMGWZQfJIENG_SCcbjCKTCCrFwyzPruZxpwwzdGMA7__3aRwW88SWf8JFa4Kq3N5/s400/shoe_shopping2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Materialism is a dirty word. It also gets a bad rap in psychology. Studies consistently show that people who agree with statements like "You will buy things just because you want them," tend to be:<br /><br />* Less satisfied with life,<br />* Less happy,<br />* More likely to be depressed,<br />* More likely to be paranoid,<br />* More likely to be narcissistic.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAOq_ZyQxJWPauIynHhpaQz-QAYLZU-ThnOUA_BO7raKb7Adpo-CcRT3DDIvm5JfGjSSyCENqUjOWVUgMc2tGoI1AHEQXoC0Sa_5nadhA25xBinPDqXCod-Ezwn5cYgKtr5317/s1600/motivator1391454.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525372753174883090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAOq_ZyQxJWPauIynHhpaQz-QAYLZU-ThnOUA_BO7raKb7Adpo-CcRT3DDIvm5JfGjSSyCENqUjOWVUgMc2tGoI1AHEQXoC0Sa_5nadhA25xBinPDqXCod-Ezwn5cYgKtr5317/s400/motivator1391454.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(204,0,0); FONT-STYLE: italic">Not a pretty picture, right?</span><br /><br />But, just like studies examining the connection between success and happiness, many of the findings are correlative. As a result we can't say for sure that materialism causes all these things, only that they're associated. So, for better evidence, cue the experiment.<br />Experiential versus material purchases<br /><br />Leaf Van Boven from the University of Colorado and Thomas Gilovich from Cornell University carried out an intriguing experiment that gets at this question of whether materialism results in less happiness (Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003).<br /><br />They randomly divided students into two groups and gave each group slightly different instructions:<br /><br />1. This group was asked to write a description of a material purchase that had made them happy. Material purchases include things like clothing, gadgets, computers and so on. This could be either something they had bought themselves or that had been bought for them.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKi-tNeiAsqPrih1O3zqE1-F75P9yNShmpIDbO3ic5ok30lzaSa5HCegae5pjN_tX4HO6YPhOMEdlBrfDnPGxw5NtirPwNYrRlHgSEf5JD10Eml0HAjB5N3RMR2i9I-rDse5t/s1600/best-buy-3g-iphone.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525372971332881234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 376px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKi-tNeiAsqPrih1O3zqE1-F75P9yNShmpIDbO3ic5ok30lzaSa5HCegae5pjN_tX4HO6YPhOMEdlBrfDnPGxw5NtirPwNYrRlHgSEf5JD10Eml0HAjB5N3RMR2i9I-rDse5t/s400/best-buy-3g-iphone.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />2. The task this group had was only slightly different. They were asked to write a description of an experiential purchase that had given them pleasure. Examples of experiential purchases are meals out, admission tickets to concerts and travel.<br /><br />To see how they were feeling in the moment, participants were given surreptitious measures both before and after writing these short descriptions. Then, after about a week, the same participants were given back their own descriptions of their purchases and asked to reflect on it. Again, they were asked to report on their feelings in the moment.<br /><br />Comparing these two groups provided a way of comparing how participants felt about two different types of purchases. The results showed that participants felt better when they were contemplating their experiential purchases than their material purchases.<br />Thinking about experience<br /><br />As a result of this experiment, Van Boven & Gilovich predicted that people spend more time overall contemplating their experiential rather than material purchases. To test this out they asked participants to think about experiential and material purchases they were particularly happy with. Then they were asked which they thought about more often. The results clearly showed it was the experiential purchases people thought about more often (83%).<br />Why do experiences fare better than possessions?<br /><br />It seems, then, that at some level we understand that our experiential purchases give us more pleasure than our material purchases. But why is that? Van Boven (2005) suggests three reasons:<br /><br />1. Experiences improve with time (possessions don't).<br />The reason why experiences improve with time may be because it is possible to think about experiences in a more abstract manner than possessions. For example if you think back to a fantastic summer from your youth, you might easily remember an abstract sense of warm sunshine and exuberance, but you're less likely to remember exactly what you did day-by-day. On a moment-by-moment basis you might have been quite bored, although you'll tend not to remember that.<br /><br />Material possessions are harder to think about in an abstract sense. The car you bought is still a car, that great new jacket you picked up cheap is still just a jacket. It's more likely the experience of that summer has taken on a symbolic meaning that can live longer in your memory than a possession.<br /><br />2. Experiences are resistant to unfavourable comparisons<br />It's well established that social comparisons can have a huge effect on how we view what might seem like positive events. One striking example is the finding that people prefer to earn $50,000 a year while everyone else earns $25,000, instead of earning $100,000 themselves and having other people earn $200,000 (Solnick & Hemenway, 1998).<br /><br />In other words it's not about how much we earn, it's about how much we earn in comparison to other people. It's the social comparison, then, not the actual amount of money, that affects how we feel about our earnings.<br /><br />A similar effect is seen for possessions. When there's so many flatscreen HD TVs to choose from, it's easy to make unfavourable comparisons between our choice and the others available (check out Barry Schwartz on why too much choice is bad for us).<br /><br />Experience, however, seems to be more resistant to these sorts of unfavourable comparisons. To explain this phenomenon, Van Boven puts forward the idea that it is because of the unique nature of experience. It's more difficult to make an unfavourable comparison when there is nothing directly comparable. After all, each of our youthful summers is different (even if only a little).<br /><br />I also think it's hard to really compare our own experiences with those of other people. Comparing possessions, however, is generally easy.<br /><br />3. Experiences have more social value<br />There are two reasons experiences have more social value than possessions. First, experiences tend to encourage social relationships and increased social relationships are good for our happiness. Second, it is more socially acceptable to discuss our experiences with others. People who bang on about their possessions are considered much less likeable than those who talk about their holiday adventures.<br />Limitations<br /><br />Of course, it has to be acknowledged that this type of research is at an early stage. Van Boven points to a couple of potential problems yet to be investigated:<br /><br />1. The experiments examined here looked at short-term emotions - will these short-term emotions add up to long-term happiness?<br />2. Highly materialistic people might actually get more pleasure out of material purchases than experiences.<br /><br />Materialist dilemmas<br /><br />Despite these limitations, it seems that along with experimental evidence, there are also some good psychological reasons why experiences are more likely to make us happy than material possessions. On top of this, at some level we do seem to understand that experiences probably beat possessions in terms of happiness.<br /><br />Set against this is the fact that we clearly live in a society awash with materialism, where objects are valued way beyond their possible contribution to our happiness. So how can this conflict possibly be resolved?<br /><br />One answer to this question is that while we're likely to think that other people are materialist, we defend our own purchases as necessary and at worst, indulgent. After all, materialism is a dirty word. A dirty word that's on everyone's minds.<br /><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">~ Thanks:</span> <span style="COLOR: rgb(0,153,0); FONT-STYLE: italic">www.spring.org.uk</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-7008514172721295612010-11-01T03:08:00.003+05:302012-04-18T12:04:44.147+05:30Being Alive - Live Curious<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhegoIU0XsKF7VNWMiG06KB4tMZWt6cm6OpbBrEcjcy1EiBh_PE0Y-XLQIY1-0dlzwWBrCQCRiIaWiNZWcY5MEge5N1WCjxOhgl6B2XJnFU1C38e4KFu8gHLD2yz8Ta26x8LDy/s1600/blue-polar-bear-hopkins-1052295-xl.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525374742034998226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhegoIU0XsKF7VNWMiG06KB4tMZWt6cm6OpbBrEcjcy1EiBh_PE0Y-XLQIY1-0dlzwWBrCQCRiIaWiNZWcY5MEge5N1WCjxOhgl6B2XJnFU1C38e4KFu8gHLD2yz8Ta26x8LDy/s400/blue-polar-bear-hopkins-1052295-xl.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
<div><span style="font-family: courier new;">If you are alive, you think.<br />
When you think, you talk.<br />
When you talk, you ask.<br />
When you ask, you reflect.<br />
When you reflect, you know.<br />
When you know, you experience.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimFIODIGzvnwFuW-8ctlkWyUukAepE8JSG51_oDLl4-Ilv6nDc0Gtxpkj5Xk1BRJfHtQPN8OglmSrbmPZ8jt8RPrPdmOPLs0nODTorijfApf5JMi6smj2xbOw7sjncnlrh3t-6/s1600/livecurious-b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525374837967917474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimFIODIGzvnwFuW-8ctlkWyUukAepE8JSG51_oDLl4-Ilv6nDc0Gtxpkj5Xk1BRJfHtQPN8OglmSrbmPZ8jt8RPrPdmOPLs0nODTorijfApf5JMi6smj2xbOw7sjncnlrh3t-6/s400/livecurious-b.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 254px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></span><span style="font-family: courier new;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: courier new;">When you experience, you learn.<br />
When you learn, you grow.<br />
When you grow, you find.<br />
And when you find...</span><span style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="color: #990000; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: large;">you doubt.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXDaiOjKaJuGxCmtCq9YtVqnJpfIKAHVoO8X-x4oCyTu3hToAh655EZKrLM7D4cLiKVJZ8JlWi-z0HyHobyorDwVFbnX4QS2xfmOl28F3vUYR6NrmzzxxilL-jaGDsueinrb8j/s1600/curious1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525375048217003442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXDaiOjKaJuGxCmtCq9YtVqnJpfIKAHVoO8X-x4oCyTu3hToAh655EZKrLM7D4cLiKVJZ8JlWi-z0HyHobyorDwVFbnX4QS2xfmOl28F3vUYR6NrmzzxxilL-jaGDsueinrb8j/s400/curious1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 226px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
</span>When you doubt, you question.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">When you question, you understand.<br />
When you understand, you know.<br />
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYICIaldbwb-JRjEnpQkXuuL30CYKgwdkvhowyKy6Cqrlyfx_xcG96Dr9J5QU08BmKV5r-D59pxrd9ZgYztGI-7tCGMmIVd9PVhBw0-g195yLrNnwbDXp9Ml2iT-zj2M1xYpR/s1600/4463200NationalGeoraphicWallpapers.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525375482245660866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYICIaldbwb-JRjEnpQkXuuL30CYKgwdkvhowyKy6Cqrlyfx_xcG96Dr9J5QU08BmKV5r-D59pxrd9ZgYztGI-7tCGMmIVd9PVhBw0-g195yLrNnwbDXp9Ml2iT-zj2M1xYpR/s400/4463200NationalGeoraphicWallpapers.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: courier new;">And when you know, you want to know more.<br />
And when you want to know more, you are ... <span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">alive.!</span></b></span> </span><br />
<div></div><br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #990000; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr4JNoW-m5QTiM99HC39zKaa0DTvwGlwvsWCEdWSyRs0g9ZYj9P0SNffQ7YSQxsP4u-JynAUYOZZQzYsapwY9lBt92Rv9iEWJUXLgPuXM-CBshGmCltEb1pSAYllXG8jq5S4oE/s1600/brazil_christ-redeemer.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525375875872922258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr4JNoW-m5QTiM99HC39zKaa0DTvwGlwvsWCEdWSyRs0g9ZYj9P0SNffQ7YSQxsP4u-JynAUYOZZQzYsapwY9lBt92Rv9iEWJUXLgPuXM-CBshGmCltEb1pSAYllXG8jq5S4oE/s400/brazil_christ-redeemer.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></span></span><br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #006600;"><i>~ Thanks to brand campaign of </i></span><a href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=115863"><span style="color: #006600;"><i>National Geographic Channel</i></span></a><br />
<br />
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<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_wXiNkY0lrKr9erqz-QoSEMwCwA3NgtLYn1rAVXwTef2kjF2xdGfK7TCkApdwVJkyMC9mWzwka1LbG503e_P6s1tnfUgYg1icfmb3DcuxhCRS3K5uvF-Im6PK6iGl7QUwwU8/s1600/42-19459491.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525376047121595234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE_wXiNkY0lrKr9erqz-QoSEMwCwA3NgtLYn1rAVXwTef2kjF2xdGfK7TCkApdwVJkyMC9mWzwka1LbG503e_P6s1tnfUgYg1icfmb3DcuxhCRS3K5uvF-Im6PK6iGl7QUwwU8/s320/42-19459491.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 214px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
~<span class="sqq" style="color: #990000; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">“<span class="sqq">The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.</span>”</span></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-31280449246606227552010-10-07T03:20:00.010+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.014+05:30The Circle of Life<span style="font-family:Courier New;"></span><br /><div><span style="font-family:courier new;">I would thank " Disney's - The Lion King" for without it I would not have any idea to explain away the buffet that took place yesterday in front of my youngest niece. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:courier new;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family:courier new;"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 284px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525061868639863874" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJIZfOJORAhIwqqh5ZurdJgdFTvu_OlVR8orQq5WuMCQS7zkrKQoGrA2BliSCCXT7S_9lp6BOWh1NaYG4zVyv7Xb4t3Jsq4Z-E5t_xK0e3U4nAM7w5V1F3nYZYU70-S3c_1BcB/s400/windowslivewriterlionking-df21lion-king221.jpg" border="0" /><br />While I was waiting, my little niece came out of her school, we noticed a few birds hovering about. We had great view while seated on parked bike and enjoyed this spectacular scene of nature for a few moments until I spotted exactly what these birds were up to . . . "road kill". A dead squirrel to be exact.<br />At a little distance but right in front of my bike.<br /><br />My niece is fond of these squirrels, enjoyed watching them actively running and stealing nuts, she found them cute and at one time insisted to take one as pet back home, probably after watching "Chipmuks" on TV.<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfzfoGZdSWrlRSCSDZ1VOAEQCV47odkJ6P4_iqiiBJmhDzI3ySGKuw5ZLZKtdEMT6ZUYxMANIFJI6U2M24C2js7wu5p7Db5RpT_WjBIO9HqE3dnbh117qXCdKCNPcgbDOpue33/s1600/1230859581vdXwjlM.jpg"><span style="font-family:courier new;"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 240px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525063779959719746" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfzfoGZdSWrlRSCSDZ1VOAEQCV47odkJ6P4_iqiiBJmhDzI3ySGKuw5ZLZKtdEMT6ZUYxMANIFJI6U2M24C2js7wu5p7Db5RpT_WjBIO9HqE3dnbh117qXCdKCNPcgbDOpue33/s320/1230859581vdXwjlM.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:courier new;"><br />Spotting the dead squirrel, instantly I got up in a bit of shock, I relaxed as it wasn’t me that hit the poor deceased squirrel. It looked like it had been dead a while what with its poor limbs all stuck up and all, and the insides exposed.<br /><br />I distracted the little niece, as started messing with my Sony Ericsson(K810i), but silently when out of the corner of my eye, to notice the feast begin. I immediately tried my to shelter my niece them from the violent incident taking place, but it was too late. She was already staring ... wide-eyed, mouths open ... unable to look away.<br />Innocence lost.!!<br /><br />I sighed and asked her to look at me so I could see how traumatized she was.<br />“That’s kind of nasty to see isn’t it princess?” I said scrambling for something profound yet funny to change the somber mood. Suddenly the words of Elton John’s Circle of Life song flashed and I managed to say “It’s life though.”, and I sighed.<br /><br />My lil'niece, a cartoon fanatic - must have heard the same thing as she piped up, “Yes, it’s the circle of life. That squirrel will feed the birds & then baby-birds in nest. It’s life.”<br /><br />“Yes, You are so right.” I replied.<br /><br />I looked closer and asked her if she was okay and she responded in a very wise tone, “I'm okay . . . those birds are just hungry.” came the reply with confidence.<br /><br />My niece is very wise and brave indeed. </span><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQ02OSiC73DCMzbTBBdirsxIK-bml5OfjdWnJPnifSLeHyKGlhD-KBCnbPWnybKhtE4voaaIkXi8-wMgFhq9zepvwRVO9NLTDc3j-KCd7o5DuBLXMZ9JqQd1e15xrXZ5NLEEG/s1600/vlcsnap-50683.png"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; float: left; height: 176px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525062476059548034" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwQ02OSiC73DCMzbTBBdirsxIK-bml5OfjdWnJPnifSLeHyKGlhD-KBCnbPWnybKhtE4voaaIkXi8-wMgFhq9zepvwRVO9NLTDc3j-KCd7o5DuBLXMZ9JqQd1e15xrXZ5NLEEG/s320/vlcsnap-50683.png" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><em>~ “One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.”</em></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-64155782915902738292010-10-04T20:09:00.001+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.015+05:30In the circle<span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0); font-style: italic;">A magical soft-Gothic, I have no words for how perfectly this song suits the human community and its common philosophy!</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwKeEpfbToncyfi6WJZK4Aews0vdjEFim6lt066J-qI3c2NELvKsvIT9VeklKE8yog5EFvzWZbnHos' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">The wind will drift and spread the flame<br />A spark will land inside your heart<br />You will never be the same<br />As ashes tear your life apart<br />Tragedy can make us stronger<br />But cannot be undone<br />If you wish it<br />It will happen<br />Fates aren't sealed for everyone<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNhAN_f_OUZ4HNP_URl6bzfIx1oI8zBb2j03pfESYxLO_Jsa68uqkkgsDZHL8ZqVqd03IHwF8z_M0MxD8My65koHA4s9BGZFFfdADcEFWLWOJYDEgRwkeZ3WtZWWQnjs81XRV/s1600/g8hrssjw.jpeg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 220px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNhAN_f_OUZ4HNP_URl6bzfIx1oI8zBb2j03pfESYxLO_Jsa68uqkkgsDZHL8ZqVqd03IHwF8z_M0MxD8My65koHA4s9BGZFFfdADcEFWLWOJYDEgRwkeZ3WtZWWQnjs81XRV/s320/g8hrssjw.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524249107887106530" border="0" /></a>It flickers in the circle<br />A dance of life for you<br />It's safer in the circle<br />Where visions remain true<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7zx8-AAb5vrdnDkF9-uVel4BZioAae1LZtGSYcSpy9yb__U8bH_wFBABBV7gE8u0GyY1P5CWj-g-sOppw_6-waV3ZMLBH21m7f68FmmrHSyKAZo26fqb_rGPo8zrjWV7nw7G/s1600/3-pple-ubuntu.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7zx8-AAb5vrdnDkF9-uVel4BZioAae1LZtGSYcSpy9yb__U8bH_wFBABBV7gE8u0GyY1P5CWj-g-sOppw_6-waV3ZMLBH21m7f68FmmrHSyKAZo26fqb_rGPo8zrjWV7nw7G/s320/3-pple-ubuntu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524249319096886898" border="0" /></a>So often people judge those<br />That they do not understand<br />The innocent are dying<br />At those judging hateful hands<br />If only we could show them<br />We do not wish them harm<br />Instead we'd like to live life<br />Inside each other's open arms<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnFjTbGuSS8mISR_xlbMX3xlFamZYd4EpSHS53XehHiQnUOIOLaxdbZnWKD1k5aGwoM6fSmk9GlLLSK4T0RtSq2KuDzyKobCffFL7po9MFugyCRJzGs-SKqUE9GcwVPL4ebVP/s1600/35929_102929719758103_100001232260889_16983_2935106_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnFjTbGuSS8mISR_xlbMX3xlFamZYd4EpSHS53XehHiQnUOIOLaxdbZnWKD1k5aGwoM6fSmk9GlLLSK4T0RtSq2KuDzyKobCffFL7po9MFugyCRJzGs-SKqUE9GcwVPL4ebVP/s320/35929_102929719758103_100001232260889_16983_2935106_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524249458832789474" border="0" /></a>We sparkle in the circle<br />There's fire in our eyes<br />So much magick in the circle<br />We're in need of no disguise<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtPtmb3KS4j9ULBrKd523ZGE_3Oudirj0L3N_p2wvi71DDIUpfEyfsQVOKv43RDa72pDMkLn-Ew0-ZJMfMM1cZtOpkYicAr-lkTOwxUNUYleXXHfnnZygb1Ubj61mJ-rSO_kxm/s1600/35929_102931233091285_100001232260889_17012_2760462_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 162px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtPtmb3KS4j9ULBrKd523ZGE_3Oudirj0L3N_p2wvi71DDIUpfEyfsQVOKv43RDa72pDMkLn-Ew0-ZJMfMM1cZtOpkYicAr-lkTOwxUNUYleXXHfnnZygb1Ubj61mJ-rSO_kxm/s320/35929_102931233091285_100001232260889_17012_2760462_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524249598108967362" border="0" /></a>Be with me in the circle<br />You're always welcome here<br />It's safer in the circle<br />But do not bring your fear<br />I'll meet you in the circle<br />Within your own good time<br />I'll be here in the circle<br />Forever with you intertwined.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6sxGa68lK_vlm0paiSKMiGgTYfCJCO8Go6Ri3U6CJXZyUZcq6Ss0wX7g1Az_P6ERqD6n_YHHmjQoHlbh4dZIQAAqpO5FXB5PMtZFVAx9Pu9Jcc0lwaj53z7hYJ6MqLkyjk5op/s1600/ubuntu_i_am_because_we_are_tshirt-p235421172116721211qt22_400.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 279px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6sxGa68lK_vlm0paiSKMiGgTYfCJCO8Go6Ri3U6CJXZyUZcq6Ss0wX7g1Az_P6ERqD6n_YHHmjQoHlbh4dZIQAAqpO5FXB5PMtZFVAx9Pu9Jcc0lwaj53z7hYJ6MqLkyjk5op/s320/ubuntu_i_am_because_we_are_tshirt-p235421172116721211qt22_400.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524250265988676018" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />~ <span class="sqq">“<span class="sqq">I</span><span class="sqq">f each man or woman could understand that every other human life is as full of sorrows, or joys, or base temptations, of heartaches and of remorse as his own . . . how much kinder, how much gentler he would be.</span>”<br />(</span> <a class="sqa" href="http://thinkexist.com/quotes/william_allen_white/">William Allen White </a><span class="sqb">)</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-9743127402959798162010-09-24T20:29:00.014+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.016+05:30Chicken Soup for the Terrorist Soul<blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Hello ! are you depressed because no one wants to fly in same plane as you ?</span> <span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Are you anxious because your name matches with one among several people's who are in International "Wanted list" ?</span></span> </span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"><br />Are you angry because every time you go to the airport, you are the only one "<span style="font-style: italic;">randomly</span>" selected for the screening ?</span> </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">You get "<span style="font-style: italic;">randomly</span>" selected even if you drop your friend at the airport ?</span></span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);"><br />Do you just want to be treated like a normal person again ?</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" >Then all you need is a 'time-machine' and travel back to pre 9/11 era</span><br /></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtOFBxMFTPs99Xk6AuIVlVzi_OT-T5Lf8JasoQji8UAUVymiDFKXQqJEXhXGysECxfxUxADn_G0yNQn21lmUxsBMGnJkgUBvAsfk46De8b-HTDLZijXd5iJIqE8CwLk4qAebYv/s1600/Islam_is_of_the_Devil_sign.png"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 306px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524213862286975890" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtOFBxMFTPs99Xk6AuIVlVzi_OT-T5Lf8JasoQji8UAUVymiDFKXQqJEXhXGysECxfxUxADn_G0yNQn21lmUxsBMGnJkgUBvAsfk46De8b-HTDLZijXd5iJIqE8CwLk4qAebYv/s400/Islam_is_of_the_Devil_sign.png" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Muslims in the world, are the new enemy. We replace the Soviet-Union and we are stuck here, till somebody replaces us. ;)<br />That's why i will be asking you all to follow <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">North Korea</span>, as close as possible.<br /></div><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhySzBcdcOoWl4JLESqTB9vht9BFuiNXicAPnKbWp7emD15KS-anEmxOkFOim59xb0l1N9YExWDCBcC3yoB5l4qS90vnR9rHsPX-voJArAcKELboIPS37UMTiygnMVmDm1JwC4l/s1600/axis_cartoon.gif"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; display: block; height: 297px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524214359178279906" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhySzBcdcOoWl4JLESqTB9vht9BFuiNXicAPnKbWp7emD15KS-anEmxOkFOim59xb0l1N9YExWDCBcC3yoB5l4qS90vnR9rHsPX-voJArAcKELboIPS37UMTiygnMVmDm1JwC4l/s400/axis_cartoon.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><br />History seems to have a nasty habit of repeating itself.<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">20th Century (Germany 1930's & 1940's)</span></li></ul><br />Nazi propaganda began with targeting "Jews", as a evil group - who share an intolerant common ideology "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goyim">Goyim</a>"(link). It started off as isolating Jews from the central community, restricting their freedom, seizing properties, randomly arresting them for imprisonment & finally it ended in roasting about 6 million of them in ovens specially prepared for them - The label was "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Final_Solution">The Final Solution</a>"(link).<br /><br /><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">21st Century (Europe & North-America 2000's & so on)</span></li></ul>The propaganda has begun with targeting "Muslims", as a evil group - who share an common ideology of "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad">Jihad</a>"(link). It has somehow succeeded in isolating Muslims, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minaret_controversy_in_Switzerland">ban on minarets</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ban_on_full-length_face_covering">ban on niqab</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamophobia">ban on call-to-prayer</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamophobia">restricting their travel freedom</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamophobia">restricting their purchase of properties</a>.<br />Something unhealthy is cooking in the western hemisphere.<br /><br /><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">What's the root-cause ?</span><br /></li></ul>The Nazi Propaganda helped Germany in certain ways: It took all Jewish wealth by force, It re-established Germany as imperialistic power, Hitler became the "Emperor" of Third Reich. So, some of those men did get material gain by making "Jews" look like "the enemies of the world".<br /><br /><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0); font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Conspiracy Reports ?</span><br /></li></ul>There are sizable number of references that Osama Bin Laden (<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/etc/cron.html">the most evil person on earth</a>), works (<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">or worked</span>) for the CIA <span style="font-size:78%;">[<a href="http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/aug/280810-Castro-claims-Osama-bin-Laden-CIA-agent.htm">1</a>][<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA-Osama_bin_Laden_controversy">2</a>][<a href="http://rupeenews.com/usa/the-taliban-was-a-construct-of-the-cia-and-was-armed-by-the-cia/">3</a>][<a href="http://polidics.com/cia/top-ranking-cia-operatives-admit-al-qaeda-is-a-complete-fabrication.html">4</a>]</span>.<br />Does the propaganda of so called "Islamic Evil" benefit someone? anyone ?<br /></div>Most people in Media believe - It's not so. Really ...??<br /></div></blockquote><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1PE6-_XlWUDAunjpYE50aUHU46LJqXX5YAf48UXJmcNa8AHxsmxj5Bb5ZwXq2dJAlz5YJyyqmfBhbSeBSiruOtwOMytgpR3xEfBAjyLhIP0p4zDHrAqYs4cqWEJyapAX6P-Ia/s1600/Tommy_Thomdean_Indonesia_1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1PE6-_XlWUDAunjpYE50aUHU46LJqXX5YAf48UXJmcNa8AHxsmxj5Bb5ZwXq2dJAlz5YJyyqmfBhbSeBSiruOtwOMytgpR3xEfBAjyLhIP0p4zDHrAqYs4cqWEJyapAX6P-Ia/s320/Tommy_Thomdean_Indonesia_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524222042017406626" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><u><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">~ Facts:</span></u> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:courier new;" >(Hyper-Links)</span></span><br /><br />1. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_proven_oil_reserves">Out of Top-15 Oil producing countries, 10 are Muslim Nations.</a><br />2. <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/US_military_bases_in_the_world.svg">USA has set-up military bases in all the Major Oil Producing Countries, either through diplomacy or through occupation.</a><br />3. <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Oil_Reserves_Updated.png">The golden connection of Oil-bases & Military bases.</a> (Compare map with #2 as above)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-55904332385624962412010-09-03T01:24:00.009+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.017+05:30Music - The Audio PornographyI am not persoanlly biased against any music culture or imagery, but I have this feeling deep-down, "Music <strong>today</strong> is one of the easiest way to lose your moral sense, the most affected are especially children"<br /><br />Music is increasingly becoming the audio pornography, It is explicit, it is shameless, it is vulgar and it takes your sense of humanity away from you and makes you look at women as nothing more than sexual-objects, and in some lyrics worse than sexual-objects - these people are talking about women like they are talking about disposable items, with an horrible and horrific language, - and you might be surprised that the Pop-culture uses these words in their lyrics openly <em><span style="color:#666666;">or</span></em> sublimaly !<br /><br />I would be happy to see children especially having a clean tongue, It is terrible to hear the 'F' word from an innocent loooking child, and the worse part that this word is given and market to child in form of hummable tune - thanks to M-TV & Channel-V.<br /><br />Children are being misguided and hypnotised into this and are deviated from their pre-disposition of being a Child. Like the fable of Pied-piper who first drove the mice, and later hypnotised and took the children. Today's Music culture is hypnotising the young minds, and further damaging are the so called 'Reality Shows'.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidptUjRDe2tI67kmcCiLNWiUWXNHfqmcOSXtZSL3C3q2wVihyphenhyphen7m9YXB5Lqk4vxXK6H485qBQjV4xYCUGB7GE7MCN7-Xkw1P2cGUVqch6EyuvDIIDda_DWMvP082Q1tZAGA0KcC/s1600/madonna_britney_2003.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 278px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516459345313256754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidptUjRDe2tI67kmcCiLNWiUWXNHfqmcOSXtZSL3C3q2wVihyphenhyphen7m9YXB5Lqk4vxXK6H485qBQjV4xYCUGB7GE7MCN7-Xkw1P2cGUVqch6EyuvDIIDda_DWMvP082Q1tZAGA0KcC/s400/madonna_britney_2003.jpg" /></a> The words used in the lyrics are similar to pouring gasoline on the sparks to ignite the young minds, no sooner the children are in school or college they are pushed by their sub-conscious desires to experiment, copy-cat and be the one like what they heard and saw on popular television. Their identity is crushed and the persona of a bitchy - sexy - groovy devil takes control of them. The consequences are very damaging, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/man-woman/Virginity-lost-it-yet/articleshow/6119246.cms">pre-marital pregnencies</a>, abortions, sex-addiction, losing peace-of-mind, the everfailing desire of being someone else who they are not !<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwgTqqLL088rJSIRT1LzTtwPbw9X23TlvNJBb0GvUv16iZe6aFCBk2V8_t0_gJUdlxKIRQXe-IiNsg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><p>In the 1991 video "Dreamworlds" the pop-star described the image of women in music videos as male adolescent fantasies: young and pretty, willing and eager to please men, saying no when meaning yes, often reduced to outward appearances and body parts.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkAn7EkpHNG0TaH17xz7ODu-49vDhfD1AQl-7NeMEjiWSUr3qh9Bul3XeZ8DwjL0j3AJVEYbn58q3psAashwcZzjAYCT-BUz5C8CBFaHpL_9AGP-RMfMISM8Q55hiwAZZ5NQb/s1600/katy+perry7.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 228px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516463370076747026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkAn7EkpHNG0TaH17xz7ODu-49vDhfD1AQl-7NeMEjiWSUr3qh9Bul3XeZ8DwjL0j3AJVEYbn58q3psAashwcZzjAYCT-BUz5C8CBFaHpL_9AGP-RMfMISM8Q55hiwAZZ5NQb/s320/katy+perry7.jpg" /></a> The interview host concluded that an unhealthy attitude towards sexual violence can be fostered by these videos, and calls for balancing them with other cultural representations of sexuality. He has been quoted as saying, “Advertising tells us that the way to happiness is through the consumption of objects. The immense accumulation of commodities has to be sold, and it is sold through the story of goods bringing happiness.” In his essay "Advertising at the Edge of the Apocalypse" and his video "Advertising and the End of the World" he argues that the major cultural force today, pervasive advertising, by constantly reinforcing a bogus association between consumerism and happiness and by focusing on individual immediate needs, stands in the way of a discussion of societal and long-term needs and leads to a squandering of resources. <a href="http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/killing-us-softly-3/">The video "Killing Us Softly III", created with Jean Kilbourne, is a critique of the image of women in advertising, and definitely an eye-opener.</a><br /><br />Among other of his quotes which the students of his communication classes will hear from him, two of the most unforgettable are "<em><span style="color:#666666;">knowing where something comes from, changes how you feel about it</span></em>" and the phrase "<span style="color:#666666;"><em>the discourse through and about objects</em></span>."<br /><br />Humans (read 'men') are exponentially being changed from being moral-sentients into passive consuming-machines, the individual becomes a thing that does only one thing "consume" material things from diamonds, cars, music, wealth and women.<br /><br />The ideal solution is probably, finding a better friend and the moral & ethical responsibility of parents to have connection with the child.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixgismd-LhfloSvRWtNfnCP7PBeGpgaBAhaQIkCkSGhQMB_RZlrcPaDdXUl9pDG09_b6kWha3vuTmRzGteySNtJ0byNvo6w_hMc67dBjqFpU-PVoKjECFBmqR96nVyNGr-tIB/s1600/evil-dead-2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 160px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516463938962227778" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixgismd-LhfloSvRWtNfnCP7PBeGpgaBAhaQIkCkSGhQMB_RZlrcPaDdXUl9pDG09_b6kWha3vuTmRzGteySNtJ0byNvo6w_hMc67dBjqFpU-PVoKjECFBmqR96nVyNGr-tIB/s200/evil-dead-2.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;"><strong>~ <em><span style="color:#006600;">The world today is becoming the phenomenon,</span> "Brain Dead"<br /></em></strong></span><br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-83172139610400962752010-08-16T06:45:00.002+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.019+05:30Is the 'dot' an ellipse or a polygon - a spiritual quest.Philosophy is a branch of knowledge and is also a longstanding tradition in the compatibility between reason and faith.<br />It is not necessarily concerned with religious issues, nor it is exclusively produced by Atheists.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 267px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505954318780386946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvB3HpYTbivuIj9KQ8VZd6P-ujJABb-eWVL9G3z_Eh26RQH1BX2w8tPlYfvH_JI4lnvsUVdidQtGnQwrKtl316UK6wvuuURYuEWbQv1iC_L9xLoyQABWxiVRUd6fSW9ZIaQOe/s400/20100610-spirituality.jpg" /><br />Among the concerns I have in person is that “time is moving faster - so that a whole year passes like a month, a month passes like a week, a week like a day, a day like an hour, and an hour like the amount of time it takes to light a fire.” Why so?<br /><br />I believe that the perception of time moving faster is in consequence of the our inner knowledge departing from the heart, and a preoccupation with the worldly life taking exclusive possession of the heart.<br />The consequence of this inner-spiritual vacuum is that "we lose the identity of ourselves, and began imitating and stealing identities, like the mannerism to imitate a star or idol in a particular field be it music, attire, dancing, to the extent of personal-looks and behaviour : We suppress our original-self and wear a mask of being someone else."<br /><br />These seem to be times of great betrayals in which “temptations are being presented to men’s hearts as a reed-mat is woven stick by stick, and any heart which is impregnated by them would have a black mark put in it. The result is that hearts are of two kinds, one, white like a white stone, which is not be harmed by temptation as long as the heavens and earth endure, and the other, black and dust-colored like a vessel which is upset, incapable of recognizing what is reputable, or rejecting what is disreputable, but being enveloped by its passions and desires.”<br /><br />There can be no doubt whatsoever that this so-called age of ‘progress’ is, indeed, the age when these signs of the spiritual breakdown have appeared. This is the age of secularism. Even the state is secular, and so too politics, the economy, education, the market, the media, sports, sciences, entertainment, etc. The dining room and the bedroom are today also secularized.<br />Secularism begins by ‘excluding God’, and would likely culminate by ‘denying God’! How so? When knowledge is secularized it leads to the belief that knowledge comes from only one source, i.e., external observation and rational enquiry. The implication of the adoption of this epistemology is as follows: since this material world is the only world we can ever ‘know’ in this way, it follows that this is the only world that really ‘exists’.<br /><br />Thus it is that secularism leads inevitably to materialism, i.e., the acceptance, for all practical purposes, that there is no reality beyond material reality. And materialism has led, naturally so, to a world of greed, lies, promiscuity, injustice, oppression, good-lessness, and great betrayals since the moral foundations of society cannot be sustained without the spiritual heart of goodness. And such a world is not bothered in the least with such things as the inner spiritual knowledge and guidance.<br /><br />What is ‘remembrance’? When a man visits in his heart the woman that he loves, he shudders as an enchanting fragrance envelops his heart. It happens every time! When he hears her name mentioned, the same thing happens. That is ‘remembrance’! Clearly ‘remembrance’ is only possible when there is true love.<br />And so it is really when love and quest for spirituality departs from the heart that ‘time’ moves faster and yet faster.<br />Hence it follows that when sincere love for 'grandoise of universe, nature and spirituality' allows truth to enter and take possession of the heart, that ‘time’ would surely move slower and yet slower, until that truth transports us to a ‘timeless’ world.<br /><br />People tend to forget the bigger question and concentrate on the little irrelavant details like I said - The question (which is irrelavant) but is still unanswered "<em><span style="color:#3333ff;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot_(diacritic)">Is the dot an ellipse or a polygon?</a></span></em>" .....<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxAKU9YOUVQTLM8nIbc8C7j_9DPk8oc40yqkgqkMVHtCk7SlLbKSphntgieQ-wuxmMEBP3EO29O1csDScLBpvS8eItANOrDZ1GR690p-c51-jh1HF__iSnU86okyjVhZ2UOVJ/s1600/spirituality1.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5505954881664044578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxAKU9YOUVQTLM8nIbc8C7j_9DPk8oc40yqkgqkMVHtCk7SlLbKSphntgieQ-wuxmMEBP3EO29O1csDScLBpvS8eItANOrDZ1GR690p-c51-jh1HF__iSnU86okyjVhZ2UOVJ/s320/spirituality1.jpg" /></a><br /><strong><span style="color:#006600;"><em>~ It is evident that everything which does not exist at first and then exists, is determined by something other than itself.</em></span></strong><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-5290361954350864262010-08-03T00:26:00.009+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.020+05:30Wikileak a 'mole-job' ?<span style="font-family:courier new;">The </span><a style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_War_Diary">wikileaks</a><span style="font-family:courier new;"> released the </span><i style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new"><b>Afghan War Diary</b></i><span style="font-family:courier new;"> (also called </span><i style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new"><b>The War Logs</b></i><span style="font-family:courier new;">) a collection of internal U.S. military logs of the War in Afghanistan published by Wikileaks on </span><span style="WHITE-SPACE: nowrap;font-family:courier new;" >25 July</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> 2010.</span> <span style="font-family:courier new;">The logs consist of 91,731 documents, covering the period between January 2004 and December 2009.</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">The documents which have caused controversy, speak of following main things :</span><br /><ul style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new"><li>Civilian killings in Afghanistan</li><li>Pakistan's ISI involvement with Terrorists to destabilize India </li></ul><span style="font-family:courier new;">So, could the event be a deliberate set-up by USA's Intelligence and AIPAC to bring India into Afghan-war ?</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">India may one day wake up with the government bought off, blackmailed, up to their neck in wars and insurgencies at home and fighting USA’s enemies abroad. India could be the next real target for espionage, destruction, destabilization by USA and the “Wiki-leak” can be just part of that game.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">I personally believe that 'Osama Bin Laden' is long dead, and there is a deliberate cover-up to continue the war.</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">After the </span><a style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange">Julian Assange</a><span style="font-family:courier new;"> incident, now “Wiki-Leaks” seems to be busy selling phony bin Laden stories, having the long dead Osama humiliating the most intelligent service in world : CIA by running around villages in Afghanistan selling vacuum cleaners.</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">What is the “leak” site really about? I see this is a dead news cycle.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkj_HeU5YHIWzyQxgIIBrCd1xHTdyJZLeeAN-iBGfGwOlrWES0lNC77HRRya7UMFvpOa3OAf6YrClHDU85tCIIdyhJEXICaNEMiFusCEVj4d30PQ-I-mmL6Duf2aqllC8uiTG0/s1600/lincoln_poster_100.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500900183444540530" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkj_HeU5YHIWzyQxgIIBrCd1xHTdyJZLeeAN-iBGfGwOlrWES0lNC77HRRya7UMFvpOa3OAf6YrClHDU85tCIIdyhJEXICaNEMiFusCEVj4d30PQ-I-mmL6Duf2aqllC8uiTG0/s400/lincoln_poster_100.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">The FIFA World Cup is over, people are on holiday and no major stories. Only in a dead news period like this, as 'Oliver Stone' pointed out, could the </span><a style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIPAC">AIPAC</a><span style="font-family:courier new;"> media dump a pile of lame rumors mixed in with box loads of chickenfeed, passing it off as the story of the century.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Even the cover story, the mysterious Assange fleeing the murderous CIA, working to save the world is lame. WikiLeaks is lame. My suggestion please, everyone, go to the leak-site and read leaked documents there. I have seen more confidential information on a weather report, these documents seem just candies thrown out open, to hide and smuggle the Cakes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">My Suspicion - India is what it is all really about. USA & Israel are playing India for for drawing them into their games they way they did with the Europe into Iraq and Afghanistan.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">When you read about another chosen victim, of Israel none other than, the United States, by checking the names of those who looted the American economy during 2008 recession, in the top dresser drawer of 80% of those who took the US into bankruptcy, you will find Israeli passports. </span><p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new">I was surprised why did no-one asked 'why nothing was reported in 90,000 pages regarding the massive drug dealing in Afghanistan?' With stories in the press around the world reporting that President Karzai and his brother are the biggest drug-lords in the world, why would this not be mentioned? Is it because Karzai is a good friend of the AIPAC alliance that runs Wiki-leaks?</p><p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new">Classified Army documents are filled to the brim with reports that the CIA and their private contractors are involved in drug operations with Karzai but also other names are named including many prominent Americans, some members of congress.<br /></p><p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new">If Wiki got what they say they got, then most of their documents would have reported corruption, drug dealing, governments of a dozen countries would have been mentioned.</p><p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new">If real leaks were made public and Americans can do something about it, first by arresting the gangsters and spies filling congress, the White House and every federal agency and If you want the names of those who would really be on leaked documents, check your TV listings. It isn’t a coincidence. Those chosen to lie on television are also being paid for other duties as well.</p><p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new">USA & Israel would have been cited for laundering drug money for the Taliban and hundreds of acres of Poppy-farms. Why weren't these documents released ?<br /></p><p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new">Hundreds of pages of reports of Israeli and Indian operatives in Pakistan’s region called Baluchistan were tossed out also. Their involvement in terrorism, not only against Iran but working directly with the Taliban in Pakistan was there but not included. So much wasn’t included. </p><p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new">Nothing involving drug flights being serviced by Israeli companies was released. It was in the files. If we really want to leak things, they are out there. It can get bloody.</p><p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new">Wikileaks leaves a trail of stench from Mr. Assange right to Tel Aviv. If anyone couldn’t see it, the corporate press or the Israeli press or whatever the current buzz word is for the useless press, they put you on the path. They are the ones putting a spotlight on the disinformation and failing miserably to note how obviously the leaks have been edited to serve Israeli games.</p><p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new">Wikileaks is Israeli controlled intelligence, and most likely to be Mossad than CIA. Assange probably works for them or is a just a "pawn" in grand set-up. I hate it when people are duped.<br /></p><p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new">It won’t be pleasant to see Pakistan and India building up for another big war.</p><p style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new">Let’s cut this short. Wikileaks is simply another ploy by the ultra powerful Israel lobby, a cheap game meant to humiliate the United States, get India and Pakistan into another Open-War and build a reputation for a puppet. I wish it will fail. </p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUS_yY6d-dV8lUhkjBIRkCc8l3H3coiw798fWjOEw-KqHXmsjoay2O-f3_QyDurx7r0DlfegbRqd83chyphenhyphen1ppJ6htwpoh8RJjCXW13bMIDyybjCuCCcKV0iU4a_2TEwL3BcN0n/s1600/israeliespionage.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 220px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 168px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500901190352062450" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUS_yY6d-dV8lUhkjBIRkCc8l3H3coiw798fWjOEw-KqHXmsjoay2O-f3_QyDurx7r0DlfegbRqd83chyphenhyphen1ppJ6htwpoh8RJjCXW13bMIDyybjCuCCcKV0iU4a_2TEwL3BcN0n/s400/israeliespionage.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">~ </span><span class="sqq" style="font-family:courier new;">“<span class="sqq">I have always loved truth so passionately that I have often resorted to lying as a way of introducing it into the minds which were ignorant of its charms</span>”<br />- </span><span class="sqa" style="font-family:courier new;">Giacomo Casanova </span><a style="FONT-FAMILY: courier new" class="sqa" href="http://thinkexist.com/quotes/giacomo_casanova/"><br /></a><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy1y57MarKR31Z0ivtaeV26T-ev9fNRCmdiC3aWXqrmgHqxay_6yOCV7tfCgdlbsuw1x6oxFu1VyNk' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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<!-- End GoStats Simple HTML Based Code --></div>Sanity in a world of Insanity is insanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15483517646879454650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31260004.post-61589745025255217892010-07-11T00:00:00.006+05:302011-11-20T17:51:55.021+05:30I Think, I See<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVPpsjqb8dYz5xU064Kx5GvKFdPaugP_nZFEY3fmzZriPgVRVadCh7gD4fTB0iUTqQJ6fvqf-_Z6u14i2nk-uocM57bPA6QOdOXxHb7tcGoL5MOBO-3XW4hQQo5DG9wrqwnLMB/s1600/thoughts_1_home.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 511px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVPpsjqb8dYz5xU064Kx5GvKFdPaugP_nZFEY3fmzZriPgVRVadCh7gD4fTB0iUTqQJ6fvqf-_Z6u14i2nk-uocM57bPA6QOdOXxHb7tcGoL5MOBO-3XW4hQQo5DG9wrqwnLMB/s400/thoughts_1_home.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5492347844974984482" border="0" /></a><br /><table class="body_text" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"><td><br /></td></tr><tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"><td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think."<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Socrates</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions. "<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Anonymous</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself."<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Chinese Proverb </span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td>"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school"<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Albert Einstein<br /><br /> </span></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td>"The best of all medicines is resting and fasting"<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Benjamin Franklin<br /><br /> </span></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td>"What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child."<br /> <span class="body_text_small">George Bernard Shaw </span><br /> <br /></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td>"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't."<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Anatole France </span><br /><br /></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td>"Education would be so much more effective if its purpose were to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they don't know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it."<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Sir William Haley</span><br /><br /></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td>Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you.<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Aldous Huxley<br /><br /> </span></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>Live amongst people in such a manner that if you die they weep over you and if you are alive they crave for your company.<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Imam Ali<br /> <br /> </span></p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Aesop quotes</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" alt="" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><strong>The Capacity to Forgive</strong></p> <p>We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Martin Luther King, jr</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><strong>The Journey</strong></p> <p>“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”<span class="body_text_small"><br /> Ursula K. Le Guin</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p class="bold_header"><strong>Good Character</strong></p> <p>"Cultivate good behaviour, then cultivate Knowledge."<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Umar ibn al-Khattab</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><strong class="bold_header">The Prisoner</strong><br /> <br />“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”<span class="body_text_small"><br /> Lewis B. Smedes</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><strong class="bold_header">Forgiveness & Love</strong><br /> <br />“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.”<span class="body_text_small"><br /> Robert Muller </span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><strong class="bold_header">Knowledge & Justice</strong><br /> <br />"Knowledge without justice ought to be called cunning rather than wisdom"<span class="body_text_small"><br /> Plato </span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><strong class="bold_header">A Night of Peace</strong><br /> <br />"Each morning sees some task begun. Each evening sees it close;<br />Something attempted, something done, has earned a night's repose"<span class="body_text_small"><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow </span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><span class="bold_header"><strong>Character Revealing</strong></span><br /> <br />Beware. Nothing is more revealing about a person's character than their pastimes and amusements.<span class="body_text_small"><br />Unknown</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p class="bold_header">Teachers & Perfect Timing </p> <p>When the student is ready, the Master appears.<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Buddhist Proverb</span><br /> <br /> Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Chinese Proverb</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><span class="bold_header"><strong>Faith</strong></span><br /> <br />Faith in God is to choose truth where it may harm you over a lie where it may benefit you.<br /><span class="body_text_small">Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><span class="bold_header"><strong>Character</strong></span><br /> <br />If you will think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself. Character is a by-product, and any man who devotes himself to its cultivation in his own case will become a selfish prig.<br /><span class="body_text_small">WoodrowWilson </span><br /><br /></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><span class="bold_header"><strong>If...</strong></span><br /> <br /> If there were no falsehood in the world, there would be no doubt.<br /> If there were no doubt their would be no inquiry;<br /> If no inquiry , no wisdom, no knowledge, no genius.<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Walter Savage Landor </span><br /> <span class="body_text_small"></span><br /></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><span class="bold_header"><strong>Within the Self </strong></span><br /> If you're attached to anything, you surely will go far astray.<br /> Only the crystal-clear question yields a transparent answer.<br /> All of the significant battles are waged within the self.<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Zen Sayings</span></p> <p><br /> <span class="body_text_small"></span></p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><span class="bold_header"><strong>Actions</strong></span><br /> As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Andrew Carnegie </span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><span class="bold_header"><strong>The Human Mind </strong></span><br /> Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Napoleon Hill </span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><span class="bold_header"><strong>Never Quit</strong></span><br /> "Before success comes in any man's life, he's sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That's exactly what the majority of men do."<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Napoleon Hill </span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><span class="bold_header"><strong>Actions & Goals</strong></span><br /> "A goal is a dream with a deadline."<br /> "Action is the real measure of intelligence."<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Napoleon Hill </span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>If you jump to conclusions, you are likely to hurt yourself in the fall.</p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>“Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize.”<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Elizabeth Harrison</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><span class="bold_header"><strong>The Glow</strong></span><br /> "Every one who delights in some act of devotion can't bear to miss it even for a short while. That disappointment and grief are worth a hundred prayers.<br /> What is a formal prayer compared to the glow of humble longing?"<br /> <span class="body_text_small"> Rumi</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"The eye of the spirit that focuses on the transient<br /> falls on its face wherever it goes<br /> Someone who focuses on the distances, without knowledge may see far<br /> but just as we do in a dream..."<br /> <span class="body_text_small"> Rumi</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." <br /> <span class="body_text_small"> Mohandas K. Gandhi</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: More than machinery we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost."<br /> <span class="body_text_small"> Charles Chaplin</span><br /> </p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><strong>Discouraged</strong></p> <p align="left">"Student says: I am very discouraged, what should I do?<br /> Master says: <em><strong>encourage</strong></em> others."<br /> <span class="body_text_small"> Zen proverb</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><strong>Happiness</strong></p> <p>"Thankfulness leads to contentment, and contentment is another word for happiness." <br /> <span class="body_text_small"> Yusuf</span> </p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><strong>Minds</strong></p> <p>"Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open."<br /> <span class="body_text_small"> Sir James Dewar, Scientist (1877-1925)</span><br /> </p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p><strong>Two Wings</strong></p> <p>"Observe the qualities of expansion and contraction<br /> in the fingers of your hand:<br /> surely after the closing of the fist comes the opening.<br /> If the fingers were always closed or always opened,<br /> the owner would be crippled.<br /> Your movement is governed by these two qualities:<br /> They are as necessary to you<br /> as two wings are to a bird"<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Rumi</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self. "<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Albert Einstein</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"There's too much judgement of others and not enough judgement of ourselves, `too much self righteousness and not enough self knowledge"<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Abdul Hakim Winter</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>And if a storm should come, and if you face a wave<br /> That may be the chance for you to be saved<br /> And if you make it through the trouble and the pain<br /> That may be the time for you to know His name<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Yusuf</span> </p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work"<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Thomas Alva Edison</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"There is a God<br /> You can know Him if you try<br /> You can approach Him if you try... "<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Yusuf</span></p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"Asceticism is not that you should not own anything, but that nothing should own you" <br /> <span class="body_text_small">Ali Ibn Abu Talib (600? - 661)</span><span class="body_text_small"><br /> <br /> <br /> </span></p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"All know that the drop merges into the ocean but few know that the ocean merges into the drop"<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Kabir (1450 - 1518)<br /> <br /> <br /> </span></p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"In history, search for answers about the Unseen, has always been a major force in motivating mankind towards the acquisition of knowledge: first, the teachings were from God, while the first teachers were the prophets of God. Therefore, the best educators ever to appear on the pages of time were all the teachers of God's Words and inspiration: The Prophets (upon whom be peace)."<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Yusuf Islam</span> </p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"It's very difficult to ignore humanitarian disasters. The royalties from my albums continue to support my charity work."<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Yusuf Islam</span> </p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"I found a religion that blended scientific reason with spiritual reality in a unifying faith far removed from the headlines of violence, destruction and terrorism."<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Yusuf Islam</span> </p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"I don't think that God sent us prophets and books to fight about these books and these prophets. But they were telling us, actually, how to live together. If we ignore those teachings...whichever faith you belong, you profess, then I think we'll be finding ourselves in an even deeper mess"<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Yusuf Islam</span> </p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td>"I always stood for the elimination of conflict and wars, and any of those causes that ignite them."<br /><span class="body_text_small">Yusuf Islam</span><br /><br /></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td width="6%"><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td width="94%"><p>"I am confident that, in the end, common sense and justice will prevail. I'm an optimist, brought up on the belief that if you wait to the end of the story, you get to see the good people live happily ever after"<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Yusuf Islam</span> </p> <p> </p></td> </tr> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td><img src="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/images/bullet_islamic.gif" height="21" width="26" /></td> <td><p>"There are three types of people: Those building Bridges; those bent on destroying them; and those waiting to cross"<br /> <span class="body_text_small">Yusuf Islam</span> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><a href="http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/thoughts.html"><span style="font-family:courier new;">Thanks to 'Cat Stevens'</span></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- GoStats Simple HTML Based Code -->
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