Warrier's Collage May 17, 2021
Welcome to
Warrier's COLLAGE
On Monday
MAY 17, 2021
Prasadam
https://gopal.farm/pages/indian_temple_cuisine
The Deity is considered a person, who will eat the offering by His eyes, being omnipotent.
This famous verse from the venerated Bhagavad Gita (9.26) explains the reason of the offering.
पत्रं पुष्पं फलं तोयं यो मे भक्त्या प्रयच्छति।
तदहं भक्त्युपहृतमश्नामि प्रयतात्मनः।।9.26।।
patraṁ puṣpaṁ phalaṁ toyaṁ
yo me bhaktyā prayacchati
tad ahaṁ bhakty-upahṛtam
aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ
"If one offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit and water,
I will accept it."
Good Morning
Nice Day
M G Warrier
M
Satsangam with Panchapagesan
Anahamkara: Absence of egoism
Gita XIII Slokas 7 to 11.....20 qualities of a GNANI
The ego functions in three ways ..
I am Supreme, I only exist, I am the doer...
These egoistic feelings cause us to feel separate and distinct from the rest of mankind..We live in an island of our own..
Segregate ourself from the totality..Fall out Harmony with nature..
Fear that one is going to deceive us, another is going to harm us,
Yet another is going to take away something from us..
We are in continual struggle against the world...We naturally suffer the sorrows of separation and isolation...
No two individuals in the world fit the same description..
The entire human race is a heterogeneous mixture of personalities.
We ought not to develop any complex..We are not any less or more important..We have a part to play in the world..Recognize our part and play it well....
If we thus have a totality view, then we will not feel the sense of egoism..
When we view all activities of the world from time immemorial, our present action is merely a drop in the ocean of activity..We realize that whatever be
our ability or expertise it is a result of the contributions of countless people
Millions have helped us reach our present status..
So what ability or activity can we claim as ours?
Suppose the designer of the latest Mercedes arrogates the design as his, he suffers from a misconception..Has he designed the car all by himself?
Did he educate himself? Right from basic alphabets to studying car technology..
Did he design the first car body? The first engine? Did he take part in all the
subsequent modifications? Millions of people all over the world
For generations have contributed towards the effort...This flow of activity has
existed externally..To claim the latest design as his ignoring all the
contributions of predecessors is Egoism...
A GNANI has no such misconception.. No egoism.....
V. T. Panchapagesan
Collage Editorial
Optimization of use of resources
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/warriersviews/optimization-of-use-of-resources-32064/
Have you watched any TV News channel recently? Everyone exhorts
us to stay home, stay safe. Money is spent to advertise Covid Protocol.
About physical distancing. About the risks in causing or being part of crowds.
This piece is on just one point.
About optimization of deployment of resources including manpower by Media.
My suggestions are:
1) Create State level and national level associations to self-regulate
all activities of news and entertainment channels.
2) Introduce sharing of resources and work
3) Illustratively:
Cover events and functions by turn, one function being covered
by two major national channels and two regional channels.
Those covering events should share content online with all
other channels on pre-decided terms.
M G Warrier Mumbai
A
Interaction
1) V Babusenan Thiruvananthapuram
Our Collage readers may like the Malayalam film song I venture to quote below.It can be rightly regarded as a song of secularism.
"Kuri varatchaalum kurisu varatchaalum
Kumpittu niskaritchaalum
Kaanunnathum onnu kelkkunnathum
onnu
Karunaamayanaam daivam onnu"
(One may draw on one's forehead the Kuri or the cross or one may bow and fall on one's knees for prayer.All
of us see the same merciful God and hear the voice of the same God.)
" Pampa sarassu thadam loka
manoharam
Pankilam aakkaruthe raktha pankilam
aakkaruthe
Vindhya himaachala sahyasaanukkalil
Vitthu vithaykkaruthe vargeeya
Vitthu vithaykkaruthe."
(The bank of the Pampa river is one of the loveliest places in the world-The lyricist is referring to the
Sabarimala temple and its surroundings. Please don't defile it's sanctity with bloodshed. Please
don't sow the seeds of communal spite in the valleys of Vindhya,Himalaya and Sahya.)
"Geethayum bibilum visuddha
khuraanum
Bhaaratha hridayamallo advaitha
Bhaaratha hridayamallo
Sindhuvum gangayum vaigayum
nilayum
Indiathan akshaya nidhikal
Indiathan eiswarya khanikal."
(The Geetha,the Bible and the sacred Khuraan form India's advaitha -undivided -heart.The rivers Sindhu,Ganga,
Vaiga and Nila-Bharathappuzha-are India's inexhaustible treasures,mines of India's prosperity.)
2) Vathsala Jayaraman Chennai
Zohnerism
Very interesting forward by Kiran Warrier!
All of the points that Zohner used to convey his argument were 100 percent factually correct - he just skewed all of the information in his favor by omitting certain facts. Zohner himself admitted that he was appalled that his peers were so easily misled.
In recognition of his experiment, journalist James K Glassman coined the term “Zohnerism” to refer to “the use of a true fact to lead a scientifically and mathematically ignorant public to a false conclusion”.
Zohnerism has entered the pages of Dictionary.
Today, Zohnerism is not just being ignorant about science or math, it is a term that best describes the gullibility of most of us when presented with facts and figures that simply overwhelm us by their seeming accuracy, erudition, methodical and sequential presentation; such that it sounds genuine and convincing.
In 1957 when we were doing Chemistry we also knew that water is dihydrogen monoxide in liquid form/We were told thtat when the gases were liquified, demon changes into divine. We were listening to lectures with awe.
Now children are very smart. Same facts with different robes altogether present a different picture.
Zohnerism is today driving our daily consumption of news and shaping our understanding of most issues - our political dialogue, our economic narrative, our build-up of personalities, our assessment of events and happenings, our perspectives on religion, violence, tolerance, harmony, the books we read, the content we consume, the opinions we form. Almost everything. Everyone around us seems to revel in being economical with the truth but whatever is shared and circulated is slickly packaged in selective truth that is made out to be the entire truth.
Our ancient literature ( Sangam Poetry) -may be the same with other ancient languages too. Crisp poems with four lines when disintegrated into many terms grammatically, altogether conveyed a totally different meaning, even transforming curses into blessings.
Poets were too smart. It was also a type of Zohnerism.
The malaise of Zohnerism has plagued advertising as a business in particular. The all-pervasive problem of brands and their agencies trying to persuade consumers with half-truth - actually “convenient” truths that much like Zohner’s school project don’t lie - but present it through motivated (sometimes even jaundiced) lenses.
We have read in papers that Zohnerism has tapped the doors of even Supreme Court to justify the supremacy of soaps on PH neutrality.
Similarly, the recent controversy when Saurav Ganguly came down with a heart attack focused attention on Fortune cooking oil and its mumbo-jumbo claims of having “gamma oryzanol”, which made it “a heart healthy oil” -
Not very far back, food researchers at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) picked samples from 13 brands of honey, including Dabur, Patanjali, Baidyanath, and Zandu and subjected them to tests that are required under national food regulatory laws.
Most of the brands passed muster but when subjected to one test, called the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) that can ascertain the composition of a product at the molecular level, was done at a lab in Germany, only three brands (spanning six samples) passed: Saffola, Markfed Sohna, and Nature’s Nectar (one sample of two). Of course, a full-fledged war of claims and counter-claims followed over the next few days.
The moot question is whether these brands were being economical with the truth. The point is that none of them was perhaps lying - they were just not telling the whole truth. They were all practicing shades of Zohnerism; playing on the gullibility of their consumers by saying stuff in their advertising that was true, yet not true.
So where does that leave the ordinary consumer? Should he disbelieve everything brands say?
B
Book Review: Sadhana By Tagore
http://www.uncustomarybookreview.com/2010/12/sadhana-the-realisation-of-life/
Quote from the book:
". “All our poetry, philosophy, science, art and religion are serving to extend the scope of our consciousness towards higher and larger spheres. Man does not acquire rights through the occupation of larger space nor through external contact, but his rights extend only so far as he is real, and his reality is measured by the scope of his consciousness. We have, however, to pay a price for this attainment of the freedom of consciousness. What is the price? It is to give one’s ‘self’ away. Our soul can realize its ‘Self’ truly only by denying its ‘self’.”
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Story Time with J P Sarma*
Fourth Leg of Righteousness by Jayanthi Prakash Sarma
(Translated by Dr Suguna Kannan)
It was early morning when my wife and I boarded the Janmabhoomi train at Visakhapatnam station to attend my friend’s daughter’s wedding at Rajahmundry. The early morning breeze and the train’s rocking movement were soporific and we dozed off until the train halted at Tuni. I hailed a passing vendor and asked for two cups of coffee. I handed over one cup to my wife and took a sip. I complimented him on the coffee and asked, “How much?” as I opened my wallet to find that it had only 200-rupee notes. Hearing his response of twenty rupees, I handed over a 200-rupees note to him.
“Don’t you have change?” he asked as he put down his flask and started searching for change in his shirt pocket. The train started, before he could take the change out of his pocket and sped away. Our compartment was next to the engine so he got no chance to hand over the change though he did attempt to run after the train.
I blamed myself for having ordered coffee without checking the availability of change.
“Oh my God! How foolish of you! Could you not have taken the change and then handed over the note? What’s the use of your age and experience?”, my wife gleefully took the opportunity to snub me.
I tried to justify my action,“Okay, suppose he had given the change and the train had started before I could give him the note…then would it not have been a loss to him?”
“What loss? From morning, he would have met ten people like you and at the end of the day he will have only profit, no loss!” replied my wife, with a cynical smile on her face.
“We should trust people; poor fellow, what can he do if the train started? Will he subsist on our money?”
My better half was irritated to hear me defending him. “They wait for just such opportunities. If he meets four simpletons like you, it will be enough to earn a day’s living,” grumbled my wife glaring at me. I maintained a stoic silence.
“Anyway, you cannot expect him be as honest and as principled as you are”, she concluded looking around at the other co-passengers, who were all looking at us. The train had picked up speed and we crossed the next station Annavaram. Gradually, I let go of the slender hope that I had of getting back the change.
My wife believes that I get cheated by people since I have a naïve faith in mankind and am kind. I was quite accustomed to being put down by her and being scolded since I believe that she is not correct in distrusting others. I strongly believe that we should see goodness in others and if anyone lacks it, their baseness should be attributed to the environment and conditions in which they grew up. I believe that inside each of us, there is the potential for both good and evil - what we choose depends on the circumstances. Though I have been proved wrong by her on many similar occasions, it did not affect my faith. I believe that dharma or righteousness is upheld by its fourth leg of trustfulness.
“Let it go! Poor people! Are they going to build palaces with our money? Forget it!” I said trying to pacify her. She stayed silent, out of her affection for me and I was in no mood to prolong the conversation.
The compartment was filled with many standing passengers. I let my gaze slide outside to the fleeing fields. By then many of my co passengers were looking at me and assessing me according to their perception – some were thinking of me as a fool while others were looking at me with sympathy and pity; some were smiling to themselves about the free entertainment they had enjoyed and some were curious to see what would happen next. By the time the train reached the outskirts of Pitapuram, all had lost their interest in us and were lost in their thoughts.
It was then that I heard a voice, “Sir, was it not you who bought two coffees and gave a 200- rupees note?”
I turned towards the voice. Pushing his way through the crowd was a teenage boy, who stopped in front of my seat. Suddenly I felt elated though he did not look like the coffee vendor whom I remembered as being middle aged.
“Yes, Son! I did give a 200-rupee note to a coffee vendor but the train sped away before I could receive the change. However, I do not remember buying coffee from you,” I said honestly.
“Yes, Sir! But are you the person, who drank the coffee at Tuni station”, he asked me again.
“Why would I lie? If you want you can ask these people here.”
“No! No, Sir! I do not doubt you but I was just confirming to avoid making a mistake!” Saying this, he took out the change of 180 rupees from his pocket and handed it over to me.
“You are...?”
“I am his son, Sir”
I looked at him with surprise since he seemed to have guessed my doubt.
“Sir, every day one or two such incidents happen at Tuni station because the train does not stop for long. In that short time many people panic, give a note and the train starts before they can receive back the change. That is why, I usually board the train and wait. My father messages me giving details of the persons (of the amount, compartment and seat number) to whom the change has to be returned. I return the change and get down at the next station and return back to Tuni by another train. My father leaves some change with me for such transactions.”
I was surprised but still managed to ask, “Are you studying?”
“Tenth class, Sir! My elder brother helps father in the afternoon and I help him in the mornings”.
When I heard his this, I felt like talking to his father, so asked him for his father’s phone number and dialled the number.
“Your son has just returned the change for the 200-rupees note. I am calling to express my appreciation for your actions. I am so very happy that you are not only educating your children but more important instilling in them the values of honesty and integrity”, I said complimenting him.
“That is very nice of you, Sir! I feel honoured that you are taking the trouble to call just to express your appreciation. I have only studied up to fifth class. In those days, short stories about ethics and morality were narrated to us and textbooks also had material that strengthened values like honesty and integrity so we learnt to differentiate between good and bad, right from wrong. It is those principles, which guide me to lead a trouble-free honest life.”
As I listened to his words on the phone, I was amazed by his words and thought process.
He continued, “But today those values are not taught in schools. What children are taught these days is as unhealthy as giving spicy food to babies. When my children were studying at home, I used to listen to them and I noticed that the curriculum no longer has moral stories, inspiring poetry or children’s books by Paravastu Chinnayasuri – nothing of value! That is why I entrust them with simple tasks like these to pass on the few values that I know. That is all!” I was amazed by the foresight of this man and I just patted the son on his shoulders.
My wife was taken aback seeing the glow of joy on my face as I placed the 180 rupees, returned by the boy in my wallet. She gave me an apologetic sheepish smile because she knew that the joy was not for the money regained!
I remembered that in Srimad Bhagavatham, righteousness or dharma is described as Nandi the ‘bull’ who stands on four ‘legs’—austerity, cleanliness, kindness and trust or truthfulness. The Bhagavatham also predicts that all the four legs will not be equally strong over epochs of time - representing the degree of decline of righteousness. In the world, during the Satya Yuga, the first stage of development, the bull would stand firmly on all four legs but as the yugas changed, one by one the legs would be broken and lost until finally in Kali-yuga (the present age) only truthfulness or trust would be the dominant form of Dharma or righteousness.
This humble coffee vendor’s action appears to be proof that as predicted righteousness or dharma still flourishes in this World though it is on its fourth leg of truthfulness. As I watched the boy move down the compartment, I mentally saluted the coffee vendor!
(Shri J P Sarma is a State Bank of India employee and the author of Edari Parugu: Kadhala Samputi in Telugu)
_You are requested to forward this story to your near and dear without editing details and writer's name. It is the respect we have to pay for the writer and collector of good stories. Thank you_
*Received from Dr T V Surendran Mananthavady and S Venugopal Chennai (by Group mail)
D
Readers' Contribution
Your mind is an astrologer- A "Prediction King"
Vathsala Jayaraman
Traditionally, the psychologist categorized various emotions by measuring the movement of muscles, facial expressions, body language and words expressed. That created a fingerprint of each emotion to be defined. The assumption one makes is emotions are triggered based on actions made or words expressed by others or how our mind reacted to, after assimilating such actions and words.
The science behind 'mind' is undergoing lot of change.
The new development indicates that emotions are not triggered but constructed by each mind based on the concepts built inside of it. Emotions are not hard-wired, cannot be detected through facial expressions, there are no standards for emotions across people, nations or cultures, there are no distinct parts of the brain dedicated to specific emotions and lastly, emotions are not subtle reactions to external events. The emotions are concepts that are constructed by the brain.
It is true that our brain is a warehouse of our experiences and lessons learned out of them, but it would take a long time for it to consider thousands of old memories, one at a time. A concept or design is like a summary report built by our brain from the metadata of past experiences. Concepts are labels or categories that our brain assigns to make sense of the world around us. When we encounter an experience, the brain is not investigating what it is and instead it finds what it is comparable with from the stored memory in the brain. In simple terms, our brain is constantly tabulating and trying to categorize everything we perceive into an existing category. It instantly presents the probability as opposed to a definitive decision built from its detailed analysis.
To act more quickly, the brain starts reacting even before it has received all the data. It simulates or predicts what is likely to happen and hence it is merely a guess with no definitive data reviewed with precision.
Prediction is a fundamental activity of the human brain that some scientists consider it the brain’s default mode of operation. The analytical brain cannot provide instant solution and therefore can provide only predictive models of our experiences. That is why the longer the discrimination, the better the decision is.
The data from our senses are only 10% when the other 90% are connections from the parts of our brain, making predictions about what we are experiencing.
Then the question may arise what would happen when the brain’s prediction is wrong? It can change predictions to match what the senses experienced but it is likely to do the opposite meaning it could stick with the original prediction and filter the incoming data to match its prediction pretty much like how the media organizations present data matching with their views. In clear terms, our brain is wired for delusion and our experiences are nothing but an elaborate world of our own creation. An astrologer stands firm in his predictions. We feel proud that we adhere to our Mana Saakshi.
AUM
In the sanskrit word "Aum", the small curve in the main letter is waking state, a large, elongated curve is the dreaming state and the one that projects sidewards from the main letter is deep-sleep state and the curve above the main letter is the maya and the dot above the letter is the reality that is immortal. We dwell in these three states accepting the concepts as apparent reality as opposed to ultimate reality beyond the illusion (maya). If the mind subordinates the one reality that powers it instead of relying on its own power drawn from the reality (like the moon drawing the light from the Sun), then, the distinction that is created by the duality becomes part of the whole reality. Let us move away from the concept to reality.
MIND
On many occasions we question our own decision of having become angry
for no valid reasons. The mind is the real culprit.
In the book, "Holographic Universe", the author Michael Talbot explains that we have a misconception that seeing means the image of what we see falling in the screen inside our retina. In fact, as soon as we see an image, that data is analyzed by the brain and compared with all that we have stored in our memory and in a split second compared with what we had seen before. Therefore, we are constructing the image more than seeing it.
Bhagavad-Gita
Ancient wisdom says that both waking and dreaming states are unreal. We have to cross the border of the constructed world (Maya) to reach out to the blissful state.
Isn't it interesting to know that what the scientists are discovering now about emotions and how they are constructed are explained well Bhagavad-Gita, the ancient scripture?
I am reminded of Chapter 2 of Bhagavad Gita - the introduction of the word Sthita pragya (स्थितप्रज्ञ) - one whose mind doesn't get affected by emotions! Especially Slokas 62, 63, 64 details how we lose control of our emotions.
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंस: सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते | सङ्गात्सञ्जायते काम: कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते || 62||
While contemplating on the objects of the senses, one develops attachment to them. Attachment leads to desire, and from desire arises anger.
क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोह: सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रम: | स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति || 63||
Anger leads to clouding of judgement, which results in bewilderment of the memory. When the memory is bewildered, the intellect gets destroyed; and when the intellect is destroyed, one is ruined.
रागद्वेषवियुक्तैस्तु विषयानिन्द्रियैश्चरन् | आत्मवश्यैर्विधेयात्मा प्रसादमधिगच्छति || 64||
But one who controls the mind, and is free from attachment and aversion, even while using the objects of the senses, attains the Grace of God.
प्रसादे सर्वदु:खानां हानिरस्योपजायते | प्रसन्नचेतसो ह्याशु बुद्धि: पर्यवतिष्ठते || 65||
By divine grace comes the peace in which all sorrows end, and the intellect of such a person of tranquil mind soon becomes firmly established in God.
As long as we have raga and dvesha, the mind functions in duality. Desires and attachments are the root cause of man's grief.
For those who have not studied ancient wisdom or don't have time to dive into it due to various challenges, it is best to learn how our mind works from the new scientific development perspective.
Please remember our brain also is a created culprit, if we may say so, and
is a "Prediction King".
E
Analytical Psychology
Jung Vs Freud
https://iain26.medium.com/the-creaky-bookcase-jung-versus-freud-9e6fd5e1669b
Introduction:
In 1909 Jung and Freud became involved in a dispute involving possible
psi phenomena. Jung made claims of precognition and synchronicity.
Freud disagreed. Psychology Today magazine covered the topic with a
derisory approach to Jung and a strong bias in favour of Freud.
Here I’ll offer an interpretation with an appraisal of Jung.
F
Leisure
1) Making the train wait!
Making a train wait: https://thg.page.link/thgJNQsGNfn2Vr2UA
2) Smile*
It's not easy finding a Job.
.. At my first job I was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned. I just couldn't concentrate.
Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe.
After that, I tried being a tailor, but I wasn't suited for it - mainly because it was a sew-sew job. Next,
I tried working at Starbucks, but I had to quit because I got tired of the same old grind.
Then, I tried being a chef - I figured it would add spice to my life, but I just didn't have the thyme.
Next, I tried working in a deli, but any way I sliced it, I just couldn't cut the mustard.
My best job was as a musician, but I eventually found I wasn't noteworthy.
I studied for a long time to become a doctor, but I didn't have any patience.
Next up was a job in a shoe factory - I tried hard, but I just didn't fit in.
After that, I became a fisherman, but I discovered I couldn't live on my net income.
Next, I managed to get a job at a pool maintenance company, but the work was too draining.
So after that I got a job at a workout center, but they said I wasn't fit for the job.
After many years of trying to find steady work, I finally got a job as a historian, but I realised there was no future in it.
My last job was when I tried working in a muffler factory, but that was too exhausting.
So, I tried retirement! And I Found I'm PERFECT For the Job!
*Received from A P Ramadurai Cheñnai
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Quotes about Astrology
http://www.notable-quotes.com/a/astrology_quotes.html
Like:
"Astrology is of particular interest to the psychologist, since it contains a sort of psychological experience which we call "projected" -- this means that we find the psychological facts as it were in the constellations. This originally gave rise to the idea that these factors derive from the stars, whereas they are merely in a relation of synchronicity with them. I admit that this is a very curious fact which throws a peculiar light on the structure of the human mind.
CARL JUNG
(Carl Jung, in full Carl Gustav Jung, (born July 26, 1875, Kesswil, Switzerland—died June 6, 1961, Küsnacht), Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology, in some aspects a response to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of the extraverted and the introverted personality, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, literature and related fields.)
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