WISE MEN AND POLITICS

Throughout the ages wise men and politicians have either awkward or very awkward relationship with each other. Wise men if ever they make a mistake of joining politics lose their wisdom. One can also say that the very fact that somebody wants to join politics means he is not wise. Politicians themselves secretly deride the wise men and invite them to join politics and learn for themselves the problems involved. This cannot happen for various reasons.

Politics is all about ambition. Wise men know that ambition is stupid. Wise person will immediately give up if somebody says he wants to move ahead of him. He will say whether you serve the country as Prime Minister or I serve the country as prime minister its OK. Not so in politics. A politician will never give another person a chance to become Prime Minister if he can help it. Politics is about division. Wisdom is about synthesis. Wise men know that language is for communication. Politicians use it for division. Thus all the great politicians of this country never thought twice before they instituted states based on language as criteria and petty politicians used language to divide people by creating hatred amongst them.

Wise men know religion as a tool to reach sublime levels of understanding and awareness about the Universe. Politicians use it as a tool to create vote banks and enhance their power. Wise men will study every religion and perceive truth in various forms. Politicians will not only not study religion but also create bigots who think nothing of killing in the name of religion.

Wise men know truth as a perpetual change. Politicians change truth to suit their purpose. Politicians would like to take credit for any good happening and would throw the responsibility on someone else for any disaster. Wise person never takes any credit. He understands the universal design. He smiles when people give credit to him and he smiles when people hold him responsible for any disaster. He is not shameless he is beyond shame and glory. Politician wants only glory and he is shameless in its pursuit.

This can be endless. It is true that somebody must rule the country. Wise people do not rule any country for the above mentioned reasons. Then how to reconcile the rulers and wise men? In ancient times kings used to consult wise men before taking any decisions. Wise men never hesitated reprimanding the king. The king was sporting enough to take this in good spirit. These wise men were not the employees who could be intimidated by the employer who used to the king.

Somewhere down the line not so wise men agreed to be employees of the kings. Dronacharya was historically the first person to be employed by the rulers. Any wise person who is employed loses freedom so necessary to nourish wisdom. This results in his loss of power to tell the truth of the moment, as he perceives it. This is not far from sycophancy. Once the wise person loses his independence he loses his wisdom. Hence wise men never seek politicians and never give advice unless asked.

Therefore it is for the politicians to use some sense and seek such wise men who are always there in any society. Scoundrels masquerading as wise men often market themselves as per the present trend goes proving the adage,” One who knows doesn’t speak and one who speaks doesn’t know.” Rulers like King Janak were rare even then and they are just not there today in any country of the world.

Politicians today have reached the Nadir or Zenith of irresponsible behavior, depending on the way you look at it. They have divided the country by caste, creed, language, religion, race, state you name it. They have used any misfortune to forward their greed for power. It is difficult to imagine any single individual with the good of the country at heart.

Fortunately we have a very wise president. He is probably the only person who doesn’t think anything else but the betterment of this country. Will our politicians solicit his advice? Will they emulate his impeccable behavior? Right from the day he became President he has done amazing things which no other President even thought of doing. He is not very young but he dreams for the young. He knows the drawbacks of his generation and knows the capacity of the present generation. Citizens must show their appreciation for their president by listening to him carefully.

The mockery of democracy will continue if we vote when we know that no candidate is the right candidate. One vote loses its importance if hundred bogus votes are cast. When winning at all cost is the motto of all political parties, there is no way they are going to allow the other party to rule peacefully. When A party grabs power B party starts destabilizing it. This is the worst of democracy. No party even if willing can do much for the country simply because it has to fight the other party from pulling it down. So much energy is wasted in doing this.

India is known for sages. Politicians must search for them and get their advice. Politicians as they are may not listen to that advice but listening can be a good beginning.

Preparation

Preparation for anything starts with a correct perspective of that particular event in our life. If perspective is skewed then preparation suffers. The perspective gets skewed if result of that event becomes unduly prominent in our mind. If result becomes all important then the process of preparation suffers. Mind dwells in future and not on the present which is equivalent to the ongoing process of preparation. Hence the preparation should be process oriented and not result oriented. There has to be an appreciation that logical efforts depend on the data available for any preparation. If all the data is available then logic is accurate. However in the universal design all the data is impossible to get hence logic tends to be inaccurate in one single instance. Fate intervenes in various ways which are usually unforeseen. Hence doing something our "efforts" are dependant on fate and the fate is dependant on efforts. Correct attitude towards any event takes into consideration these facts.
Physical preparation thus includes correct breathing i.e. abdominal breathing. It influences both mind and body and the organism is in the healing mode.
Awareness is then accumulated bit by bit. Awareness leads to right action. Right action leads to right result. This "Right Result" is right from Universal perspective and not from individual perspective. If Universal perspective and individual perspective coincide there is no failure, no grief, no sadness. Thus is Tao.

AWARENESS

1. Awareness cannot be taught.
2. Awareness can be learnt.
3. Awareness is continuous, simultaneous, nonjudgmental and total perception of internal and external environment.
4. To know that one is unaware is the beginning of awareness.
5. To think that one is aware is the beginning of unawareness.
6. Change is constant.
7. Therefore awareness fluctuates.
8. Senses conceal; awareness reveals.
9. Breathing is the bridge between mind and body.
10. Attitude is the bridge between mind and spirit.
11. Awareness that mind and body are one leads one to spirit.
12. Spirit increases awareness.
13. One needs to be aware to be more aware.
14. How one first becomes aware is mystery.
15. Whatever covers, itself remains uncovered. Hence cover truth with a lie and it will remain uncovered.
16. Sensations come from the body, thoughts are mind, emotions from the spirit.
17. Body is in the mind, mind is in the body. Both constantly influence each other. Thus sensations affect mind and thoughts affect body.
18. Spirit is free of body/mind yet influences them and is influenced by them.
19. Food is body in future.
20. Tangible food becomes body. Intangible food becomes mind.
21. Desire is stress. Its fulfillment without awareness leads to more desire and its fulfillment with awareness leads to its disappearance.
22. Ambition is not understanding the flow of nature; so is frustration.
23. Breathing is the most sensitive function in the organism which subtly alters with subtlest stress.
24. Body is but an interface between external environment and internal environment.
25.

Learning how to learn:

Learning is the most important single activity done by a newborn animal. This ability to learn new skills and techniques determines the quality of its survival. Human beings have institutionalized this activity in the form of schools and colleges. However how to learn is never taught in the schools, as it is taken almost for granted that “Teachers teach and students learn”. This is not so. As every teacher knows that nobody can teach unless somebody wants to learn. In fact one who wants to learn will learn even if nobody is there to teach him. The story of Eklavya is a pointer in this direction.

Extreme emphasis is given on memorization in today’s education and understanding takes a backseat in the process. A thing which is well understood is better memorized is forgotten. Therefore we must know the prerequisites of understanding. To understand any given situation the mind has to be still. A still mind focuses in an instant and can stay focussed for a long time. The best way to focus mind is simple abdominal breathing. Anybody whose breathing is disturbed is unable to focus and thus unable to understand. Pain can suddenly focus the mind as all of us know a sudden slap on the back or bottom makes us immediately focussed. Many tennis players slap themselves to bring their attention to the moment. However giving pain to somebody or even to oneself is a violent act and as such should not be used unless an exceptional situation demands it.

Once the mind is still and therefore focussed information can be transferred audio visually or kinesthetically. There are many types of students and there are many different ways in which a student can absorb information, analyze it, understand its significance and synthesize it as per his or her requirement for future use. A large number of students are unable to absorb information simply through audiovisual means. These students learn only through actual use of their body and not only through the use of two senses. Thus while teaching division by simply telling the students that twenty five mangoes are to be evenly distributed amongst five students is not sufficient information for these students unless physically this is done. They are unable to comprehend how come each gets five mangoes unless they actually physically feel this happening. Given today’s overcrowded schools imparting knowledge kinesthetically appears impossible. However some thought must be given to this handicap of many students.

Mind gets focussed simply if the situation is interesting or threatening to the individual. It is easy to threaten small children but it is very difficult to attract their interest. Here lies the trick with which a teacher becomes successful. Any subject that is made interesting is easily learnt by the students. This requires great understanding of the subject, acting talents, communication skills and many other lesser attributes.

In teaching physical skills “doing” and “happening” has to be properly understood. When a student is learning to make a serve in tennis he is trying to do something repeatedly. Initially he or she may not be able to connect but suddenly it is possible to connect without any apparent reason. This is “happening”. This happening leaves a memory trail in our brain that lasts for a few seconds. This is the time to mentally repeat the movement to strengthen that trail so that this happening can be brought into doing. Once any movement can be done at will the student has to persevere and wait for further happenings that can be brought into doings.

Awareness is continuous, simultaneous, nonjudgmental and if possible total perception of internal and external environment. Learning needs great awareness, which may not be there with an average student. However awareness is one quality which can be transferred from one person to the other. If teachers are aware and become more and more aware, their presence works like a catalyst and the students become more and more aware. This is much like a flame being transferred from one wick to the other and nothing diminishes from the lit wick but everything changes for the unlit wick.

Prerequisite of learning is to know how to learn. Simply pouring information from a book or a computer means little in terms of learning. The students attention can be trapped in as many ways as there are teachers but the ultimate learning can happen if the recipient of this information can analyze it resynthesize it and turn it into knowledge out of understanding. Great teachers are those who simply induce in their students a state of awareness which leads to learning. They really teach without teaching.

Modern Perspective of Yoga

Hatha Yoga is slowly gaining popularity in Western World mainly as a form of some kind of spiritual training involving human body. To appreciate the full value of such training in Hatha Yoga it is necessary to appreciate the historical perspective of Hatha Yoga. This tradition of training in Hatha Yoga is ancient and various people put it around 5 to 10,000 years. We can imagine the life style of that age which must have involved a lot of body work. Our body is around 60% of muscle in an average person. However in present life style with great emphasis on mechanization of all our activities this 60% of our body is fast becoming the least utilized part of the human body. As if this is not enough we tend to overuse our brain much more and produce interpretive stresses through our excessive mental activity. A sedentary body with hyperactive mind leads to a feeling of spiritual emptiness. People try to escape that feeling through various means available to them and Hatha Yoga is touted as one of these means.
Many Hatha yoga teachers are unaware of the anatomy and physiology of human body and thus do not understand body mechanisms and their response to any stimulus given in the form of exercise. Many a times Yoga classes tend to take the form of a sadistic teacher teaching his masochistic disciples. This principally happens because of ignorance of signals emanating from the human body. Human body always puts forth pain and pleasure as two basic signals upon which a conscious organism has to act. However the illusion or maya is such that exactly opposite is the behavior of human beings who take great pleasure in boasting about doing some extremely painful things including hatha yoga. In fact it is socially accepted that unless you go through some extremely painful situations or tapa you will not learn anything. No pain no gain is the slogan of many teachers and I know of at least one teacher in hatha yoga who announces in his class, "Welcome to the torture chamber!!!"
Many people going to Hatha Yoga classes continue to have some pain in their body for years thinking this is the price they have to pay for some kind of spiritual upliftment. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Many yoga teachers in fact deliberately give more and more painful poses thinking this will relieve pain. This will never happen. Students in their firm belief that they have to unquestioningly surrender to their teachers commands if they have to understand eastern philosophy go through this torture for years and in the bargain end with a decrepit body which is as far as ever from enlightenment. The introduction of props to help attain a pose has deteriorated into machines in torture chambers which twist, stretch, hang, press and compress human body to turn it into a contortionist nightmare.
Yoga is for healing, body, mind and spirit of the organism. Therefore let us consider various aspects of Hatha Yoga which must be addressed to before any training is initiated in Hatha Yoga.
TYPES OF ASANA:
There are basic four types of asanas depending on the motor characterisitics stressed in those poses. 1. Static flexibility: The example is Padmasana. 2. Static strength : The example is Mayurasana. 3. Balance : Sheershasana 4. A combination of these three : For example Utthitapadmasana.
PRNCIPLES OF TRAINING:
The training needs to be individualized. In a group activity this may sound an unwise advice but this is the demand of each organism. Every Individual as the word itself suggests, is different. His or her body needs a very specific stimulus to become better. A sequence of asana which is truly tailor made for her or his individual needs. This must take some trial and error and of course more of trial and less of error if the teacher pays due respect to the pain sensation in her or his body and then the students body. Once the sequence is well set the person must practice it either alone or in a group depending on his temperament. The proportion of asanas mentioned in the types of asanas must be carefully determined and modified according to the changing needs of the student depending on aging, biorhythms, emotional status.
The exercise duration and intensity must be economized. There is no rule that a class must last for an hour. Depending on the individual needs and depending on the time taken for recovery the teacher must either shorten or prolong the duration of total time taken for the session or the time taken for each pose. Many times a wrong concept of asanjaya seems prevalent which mentions that if you stay in one pose for some forty minutes then you have conquered that pose. This is a classic example of subtle ego thinking in terms of conquest over material or immaterial things. If one wants to understand this concept one should not take it as a conquest but as an ability to attain that pose anytime of day and night.
Thus Hatha Yoga training must be as flexible as the poses taught to improve flexibility and must not drop into a mindless painful training day after day. The principle adopted especially for the poses emphasizing static stretches is as follows : The stretch should be comfortably prolonged, chronic, cyclic, complimentary and always submaximal. The words comfortably prolonged mean the duration of that stretch should give a pleasurable sensation and should be prolonged till that sensation lasts. The word chronic means this stretch should be repeated for many days, months and years. The word cyclic means the stretch should be repeated in a circular fashion interspersed with periods of relaxation. The word complimentary means the stretch should be balanced by an opposite stretch of similar magnitude. The word submaximal means the stretch should not evoke a painful response from the body either in intensity or extent.
PRINCIPLE OF AWARENESS :
The student must be aware of what is happening in her or his body and what is
she or he doing to it. Thus he must continuously, simultaneously, nonjudgementally and totally perceive her or his internal and external environment.
A training in any aspect of human life looses its value if awareness is not there,
Hatha Yoga is no exception.

Reality and illusion

Whatever “is” is real and whatever is not but appears is “illusion”. This duality exists out of this simple statement. Somehow reality and illusion interchange so rapidly that it is impossible to understand what is real and what is illusory. One understands the truth that there is illusion in this world. However at the same time it is impossible to understand the fact that if illusion is not real how can it exist? One can go crazy with words. As if this were not enough one equates reality and truth as if the were interchangeable words. Since childhood we are told to speak the truth. Little does one realizes that “speak” and “truth” these two words cannot exist together. We cannot speak truth. If we open our mouth to speak we start talking what we do not want to convey. There is no word in any language which can convey “what Is”. This is the helplessness of any language. Words can neither tell the truth nor convey a lie. How to tell about anything “which is not “? All the nouns in any language are in fact verbs because everything is continuously changing. Noun shows a state and anything and everything is changing continuously. Change is constant.

What do the words do then? They only indicate. Indicate what? Nothing and everything at the same time. They indicate reality and illusion but do not tell anything about them. Illusion covers reality and reality covers illusion. The world exists like a circle, which is apparent, when one rotates a point of light in darkness. A circle of light is present as well as absent. Just utter the word “I” and see if you have any locus standi. You are a change, body mind and spirit included.
Who watches this change?
Thus nobody has been able to tell what is reality and what is illusion. Nobody is likely to tell that in future because to tools with which to tell this are illusory. Just for the smooth working of society we have invented the concepts of reality and illusion. We call reality the truth and call illusion a lie. People swear by God to tell the truth and nothing but the truth without ever realizing that they do not know anything about either God or truth. The statements given after such comic oath are taken as truths and change people’s lives for better or worse.

One must realize that reality and illusion are the two sides of the same coin. Its like a person who is on his death bed and every single physician who has seen him has concluded that he has few days to live. In comes a master and tells the person that nothing is the matter and he will be walking about in a few days. Lo and behold ! It happens likewise. Now who told a lie and who spoke the truth? A truth was killing the person but a lie saved his life. While the master was assuring he was telling a lie but afterwards the same lie got converted into truth.

If we want to establish reality as a cause and effect relationship nothing could be farther from truth because the universe is synchronous. While you are reading this the stars are exploding atoms are uniting to form molecules people are moving all over the world, everything happening at the same time. To say that a flower bloomed after the sunrise and to say a flower bloomed as the sun was rising are two entirely different perspectives.

People have declared themselves to be in possession of truth and have thought about themselves as the last messiah or some such thing. People have murdered other people for not accepting their version of truth camouflaged as religion. On the contrary when all of see the sun rising in the east and setting in the west somebody telling us that the earth moves round the sun has endured imprisonment and torture. Who has seen earth moving round the sun? Very few people have actually seen the earth to be round. Now we accept it as the truth. However it is wise to assume that anything appearing real may be an illusion or anything appearing as illusion might be real.

Change being constant we must appreciate that reality is change. Fundamental truth is a stupid lie as the fundamentals are changing really. Reality is hiding behind illusion and illusion is hiding behind reality. Tai Chi tells us that. We become very healthily unsure of our stand. One question like, “what is the time?” elicits continuously different answers. In fact it is unanswerable.

Now who will say I know the truth ? One must understand all three things simultaneously. “I”, Know and Truth. Therefore be aware and realize the duality of reality and illusion.

FREE WILL AND UNIVERSAL DESIGN

We are born without knowing the reason. We reproduce without knowing the reason. We grow to reach a particular age and die without knowing the reason. We try to do things in this world without understanding the implications of our work and our actions. Sometimes we feel we are actually doing things and that we are in fact in control of our destiny. Some times we feel we are mere pawns in the hands of destiny. How do we reconcile to the fact that we live without knowing why, we act without knowing why, we disappear without knowing why.

If there is some universal design we cannot comprehend it. We use our free will with some doubt as to whether it is really free. Our free will is a part of universal design and universal design appears through our will. Free will can be exercised to an extent. For example we can climb stairs if we so desire. We may call it free will. However there is a chance, one in a google that an asteroid can at that instant crash against the staircase. Our free will can thus get thwarted.

We may not wish to do anything on a particular day but somehow things unfold in such a way that we have to do certain things. Free will thus appears fictional.

If one has to really understand that there is free will and there is universal design then one has to understand the process of breathing. We cannot stop our breathing. Thus it is part of universal design. We can accelerate or decelerate our breathing thus it is part of our free will. This one single process constantly reminds us of the interplay between free will and universal design. One is careful while saying “I” have done something. If one cannot breathe according to one’s wish then whatever else we do cannot be called as done by us. Sometime the breath goes out of our body never to return and rest of the breathing people say “He or she has died”
Every single breath tells us the story of life and death. Breath comes in and we watch. Life has started. Breath goes out and with it is a possibility that it may not return. We observe that death is really round the corner. In this interplay of life and death what should “I” do ? What should I let happen ?
Do I have a choice ? Every single moment opens infinite possibilities of action and inaction. You want to relax and the phone rings relaxation gone. You want to phone it is not possible to get a connection for whatever reason. Action is gone better relax.
Awareness can lead us to a choiceless state.