Breaking Down Love

I saw two pigeons today. The female did not share a care with the world. She twirled and ducked her way through random routes on a distant terrace. Her stare was not directed at anything in particular. Perhaps, she did not bother to honour any object of the world by the courtesy of observation and saw a hazy blur of it all, preferring it that way.

Most unusual was the behaviour of the male. He seemed to care about the reality surrounding him. He seemed to be wary of the stones and stairs on that terrace of dangerous possibilities. He was the rational realist of the two, as rational and real as a pigeon can be.

In spite of his sense of the hard reality, he seemed to follow the female in her aimless pursuit through the mysteries of the terrace. He followed her not only in her wandering, but also in her gesture and poise. My cousin followed my glance and exclaimed in a tone of ecstasy, "the follies of young love!".

I agreed with my silence, and we stared for a while at yet another phenomenal event of this world.

After a while the female almost jumped off the terrace and took her flight, and as we confidently predicted, the male hesitated for a while at the edge and then followed her to another wandering on another mystic terrace.

Even the simplest creatures felt the violent urge for love and longing, which I believe is a way to reach a higher string of existence with the right partner. This extremely complex event of pairing in humans, I realized, is quite simple in other creatures of this planet. We exactly behave like these simple beings but like to believe in the grandeur of our emotions and physical needs, thinking that simplicity cannot be at par with greatness. I cannot quote anybody stating this, but simplicity is grand. Simplicity is the crux of complexity. Break down a terribly complex structure and you will find very simple elements which add up to the grandness we so desperately cling to.

In the pigeons it was indeed the simple impulse of the moment, a simple thing, but it was triggered by the urge to live on in this planet even after their inevitable demise. It is a beautiful story of genetic longing to find a match to preserve the genes for generations to come. It is poetic to admire the signature features of one's partner but if only one knew how our subconscious, stacked with information from distant ages, play a significant role in admiring them. We are so wakeful and ignorant that it is beautiful.

We gravitate towards a certain person, get conscious of features which stand out to us and wonder how the world can be blind to those very elements which intoxicates our mind during odd hours. They say love is a matter of the soul, but then the soul must be contriving with the body, because one cannot deny that genetic memory helps us identify the key elements of the one who will put our genetic anxiety of a sudden stop to a peaceful death.

It is this simplicity, carried over from our farthest ancestors, that shape the unrecognizable and confusing emotional state of the present. We stay up nights, losing sleep over the WHYs and HOWs of love, solving the riddle of the heart which ignites us to the bones.

Only if we had payed heed to the profound words of Descartes;
Only if we knew how to break, in order to build.

Love is grand and it is quite simple, but only if we allow it to be.

Eternal Life - Live for as long as you want.

I feel really blank today...sitting with a pen and a paper just for the sake of it.

Usually I write only when my mind is overflowing with thoughts...but today I'm just hopelessly blank...so I guess I'll just summarize few of my past experiences...

Recently, I visited Bangalore and Bhubaneshwar for exam and admission purpose...so naturally, I got to explore and tour a lot...and the most interesting part of this whole journey was that every little thing felt so extravagantly beautiful. From sky scraping buildings to old men at coffee shops....from flightless little birds to the endless cacophony of the traffic. Every passing moment was personified for some reason...and it made me feel like life was finally being lived.

I kept linking this unnatural experience to something I heard in the distant past. "We all live a little longer as a kid." Time is stretched for the younger souls. As a child, everything our senses touch upon, is new. We put more focus into everything that surrounds us, we are awestruck by the simplest of events just...just because they are new. All our senses remain alert for us to intensely experience every moment. We live the most.

On growing, our alertness to everything around us diminish...and we get the illusion that time is flying away, at tremendous speed. This piece of theory intrigued me...affected me deeply. As I've mentioned previously, I already feel that my time is limited, so, when I heard about this theory,  I sort of realized that there's a way to live way beyond the years that Time allot to each and everyone of us.

It is the simple act of observation. I am a witness myself. When I really observe something, I get connected with it, which helps me to understand the true nature of the object. It can be anything and everything...mountains, bottles, cats, clouds...absolutely anything. When we are observing something, we are actually sparing a thought or two for that object. This is a very quick process, but as we are thinking...and we know that thinking is a very complicated process, we have the illusion that time is being stretched.

And this really works...when we wonder like a child at everything we  see, every moment elongates itself, making us live a longer life in our mind.

The only obstacle to this illusory long life is that most of us don't bother to wonder at the simplest thing our life gifts us. We just don't give a damn about the common everyday stuff...which can very smoothly be turned into a rare piece of admiration. The key ingredient is imagination...with a hint of rationalism. This mix acts like a magical potion which connects the internal and external world. Every other time one sees an object, he must view it with a different perception...view it from varying angles. Flexibility of the mind is very important. Once we see an object, we form opinions about it...but the next time we see it, our minds must be powerful enough to go past those opinions...and...and look beyond!

This multi-angled view sometimes makes us lose faith in our own decision making skills...because every angle which used to be wrong, seems legit from another angle...Having a different set of opinions for different perceptions will cause internal conflict, but only then can one understand the beauty of the bigger picture and the pleasure of conflict...and ultimately, the decisions grow firmer, better.

So, when we'll view things from varying angles, every other time, we'll be amazed by the discovery of a new potential the object traps in itself. The more we'll observe, more alert will be our senses, the more we'll live in our minds.

Its really that simple. The key to eternal life is mere observation.

...and I'm grateful for having realized this.

So, coming back to the link between the tourist spots and the theory, I think all those places...the monuments, the lighted streets, the strangers from the new city...everyone and everything, opened my senses a tad bit more! I wanted to take it all in at once..everything was new and fascinating. Perhaps that was the reason I felt so rich mentally.

There's a high possibility that this theory edges on not being accurate, but I believe in it, because my experiences tell me to do so. It has made me live longer than I would have usually lived in a given time span.

It is a major illusion...or may be not
...but most things are...
And sometimes...just sometimes...
Illusions are better than reality.

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Date: 22nd May, 2015

Time: 4:20 PM

Picture courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

The Certainty of Randomness

                           All these years, I've observed one thing...we humans have been structured in such a way that we have a strange faith in 'randomness'...a term which we often confuse with 'luck'. We have the faith yet we prevent its true meaning to seep through us. Defining 'faith', 'randomness' or 'luck' isn't an easy task...and it'll perhaps take years to define and understand their true meaning.


                          Presently, I'm on a train, heading to Bangalore, and however strange it may sound..the simplest landscapes are attempting to make me weep...the simplest thing like a quirky curved banyan tree or the ups and downs of the little hills passing by...the curves of these mounds are beautiful...more fascinating than anything I've come across before.

...and all they are, are just shabby brown rocks...and I don't know why they are having this strange effect...


                          Maybe its not the beauty of it which induces the emotions. Perhaps its the strange apparent sensation of time and space being curved...and this train of thought occurred to me recently. In fact, I think I just realized that I've been living in such a relative span of time and space all along! I say "relative" since it appears as if everything that's happening or will happen are relative to one reference point....which is my everyday life.


                          Its like we live everyday in a given region, balance everything we do on the to-and-fro motion of a moving pendulum...then suddenly one day...we are miles away from that given region within hours...the same hours we would have probably used up to scroll through a silly random site. Suddenly we see people of whose existence we could've only thought of...or not even that.

                          Its all a matter of chance and randomness...how suddenly any point in space (us), which has a pattern of traversing through time....suddenly speeds up and moves way beyond the region it used to be in...and it all happens quite suddenly...this point goes to places so similar and so different....


                           Now imagine a seed of a tree carried by a bird from a far away land to another far away land. That seed is cared for by the water from rain which comes from yet another land...and then you, from another far away land, meet that grown up tree through the window of a train which carries you to another land! Such a rare occasion with minimal possibilities, yet so less wonder or curiosity to ignite minds.



                           If seen the other way around...space and time made an effort just to make this unique possibility a reality. I'm so sure its magical...otherwise how can such a uniquely beautiful phenomenon occur to each and every one of us! This magic is so common that it has become a part of us...we don't take notice of it anymore...we are taught not to.



                         Well, all of it is just another perspective...but in a way it is also kind of a reality...and in a way this very perspective enhances the essence of travelling by a ton!



                        All these faces here...so lost and drained out...they take no notice of the magic of uniqueness and randomness that surround each of them. They ignore the very fact that its not just a bland train journey...its so much more!



                       There's so much to thank for...yet complains never end and miseries never die.



                       People ask and people thank...but by the end of it all, hopefully they'll realize the value and beauty of randomness...and the very importance of it.
After all, they have been chosen randomly by every dawn, to be the ones who get to keep their lives...they are the ones chosen by dusk to still keep breathing...
Still...
..and that's so much more than we can ask for...

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Date: 7th May, 2015

Time: 8:55 AM

Image courtesy: givey.com

What's Your Story?

                           

                                    Lately, I’ve been realizing many things. These realizations tend to give my life a new meaning and a new perspective. I’ve written about it previously, but I’ll mention it again. This is that realization which says that every human is as important as the other. Its a very common thing to say perhaps, but its highly difficult to realize. I talk about this often as this fact strikes me everyday. 

I get up every morning, thinking about my own day and everything that can go wrong with it...but when I step out of the door and face the world and its faces, I can’t stop myself from imagining their stories and realizing again, that at that very moment, all those faces have a reason to live....not because they are an “extra” in my story or a supporting actor perhaps...but because they are the lead of their own amazing story. They live with the knowledge that their story must go on...because its important...in their own minds. 

I go to sleep thinking about the faces and how I no longer am the protagonist of my own story. My mind gives way to million other stories, which are so gloriously beautiful, that it no longer feels like concentrating on one trickling story...which is my own. Every night I cease to be the protagonist because I choose to...but also there is no other protagonist...my mind becomes a book of short stories. 

However, again when I wake up the next morning, perhaps because of natural human instinct, I go back to how my day will proceed, how she will react to what I say, what impression I’ll have on him and so on...but realizing everyday, that its not all about I, me or myself, just by observing random faces of people I may never know, is strange indeed...

                            Coming to the second observation, I feel I’m losing the power of youth. There was a point in time when I strongly believed that I had no limits...that I can’t perish under any circumstance...but sadly, I suddenly have come to realize that I actually have my limits, which were previously blurred by the illusion of youth. I’ve found that I’m neither perfect nor the best but I’ve found joy in this very fact. 

My mind has lost most of its power...things are draining out and I do not know why. They say...a mind can never cease to grow...and I do hope earnestly that they are right. I can’t remember things...things which are supposed to be remembered forever...they are lost in the maze of my memories. Sometimes, I feel that its a gift...to forget...and sometimes I feel that its a curse. I think I owe my lack of emotions and inability to cry truly, to this power of forgetfulness. 

The best part is that I’ve learned to control my memories. I can choose to forget and remember at will, which is another drawback of draining youth (and I'm not as old as this sentence suggests. 17. In fact, I'm supposed to be gaining youth instead of seeing it drained). Dark lanes of my past are still hidden somewhere in my mind...but when I choose to remember them I simultaneously choose to not remember the feelings and my association with that moment. This is perhaps why recently, moments of nostalgia get me into an utter state of confusion...because nostalgia brings back feelings, without my permission,...and I’ve been living all along thinking that I’ve forgotten how to feel. 

...and well, when the happy moments get in the way, all I can gift it, is a moment of gratefulness...because I’ve forgotten how to cherish memories...I can only live the moments now (another excuse to click tons of groupfies).

          

                          Third. I’ve also realized that its a sin to stop dreaming. Its never too late to be someone we have always dreamed to be. For instance, I’ve always wanted to be someone who’s above the crowd, someone different, someone who is known for having done something worth doing. This is also why I do not regret becoming the protagonist every morning...after all, its not so bad to think about our own selves. 

I’ve always wanted fame, knowledge and prosperity...and I believe that its not only my dream...this dream belongs to all those random faces in the crowd who get up thinking about themselves and end up trapped in another story which isn’t their own. I want to live their dream and follow my own too in the pursuit of finding a reality better than all our dreams. I know, its too much to ask for...but I don’t expect anything miraculous to happen...and neither do they. All those faces who stare blankly at the stars thinking of red carpets, lush gardens and abundant love from all who can acknowledge the same stars, are the ones who truly know what it is to live a dream within a dream...and honestly, sometimes, just sometimes, dreaming is way better than realizing that very dream. 

"I have a dream."

...and I suggest you do too. 

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Date: 3rd March, 2015

Time: 10:03 AM

Magic to Decode Magic

                                 

                                    Sometimes, it feels like magic is the most awesome thing that can ever be! I do not speak of the "magic" which humans would generally associate with the word...Here, I speak of the magic which we are used to in our day to day life. The definition of magic is highly relative...and here's what I think of it...

                                    Think about our very own universe and world...Where else can someone find twinkling objects floating around for billions of years? Where else can someone find awesome looking creatures with 'legs', 'arms', two 'ear'-like things sticking out from what these creatures call 'face'? Where else can someone find life being carved out from the lifeless? 

                                     Think of those curvy thread like objects peeking out from the dormant looking soil...they call these things 'trees' and I am fascinated just to see how these 'trees' are so similar to our veins and nerves. Perhaps they are the veins and nerves. The earth is as full of life as we are. 'Trees' show us why. Its a magical place...a magical place to be in.

                                     Things like the invisible sheet of what they call 'air', a beautiful liquid which they call 'life' and sometimes 'water', a granular soil or a mix of the dead, which is walked upon by the living...everything...everything that's there has become 'us', a part of our minds. Its "magical" be 'us'...a magical thing to be.

                                     As I grew up, I was always told, "magic" is an illusion, it never was and never will be. Whatever was or is, is supposed to be normal stuff...things which we are supposed to get used to. They told me, its not magic, its science...its logic. I wish they only knew, science is another kind of magic, and the scientists, they are the grand magicians, illusionists! Science is the magic to decode magic like a program created to verify and judge another program.

                                     We ourselves are magical creatures, more magical than unicorns and satyrs, or maybe just the same...coz' if we go into the superficial details, most creatures are made of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen...which I believe are the magical ingredients. The universe can be the great cauldron to stir the magical potions...I wonder who's the wizard then? Is it the cauldron itself?...or something beyond or inside the cauldron? Assuming that magical 'someone' to be the 'creator', why does it (not sure of the gender) create stuff which aim at seeking the creator itself? Why does this creator create magic to decode and sense its own magic?...Does it need an audience?...or is it just experimenting?

                                    Also, sometimes I wonder who created the creator?...and who created the creator who created the creator? How can something exist from nothing? Why are we existing at all? Are we an experiment gone wrong? Then in that case, the magician must be the greatest magician ever, coz' even the wrong seems so right! Maybe this 'creation' thing is like those infinite images in two consecutive mirrors. The image of the ultimate creator is so small and so hard to perceive, but the creator stands right in between the two mirrors...which is the sole reason for the existence of the image.

                                   If we humans print some form of micro life from a 3D printer (if possible at all...actually its almost at the verge of becoming possible in the near future!) and leave that life in a distant habitable planet, evolution can kick in and give those creatures the power to think and decode the magic that's around them. Then they'll ask the same questions perhaps..."who created us?", "who created the creator who created us?", "why are we here at all?". If the 'humans' are fortunate enough to survive for so long, perhaps they'll (we'll) send satellites and spying devices just to monitor the 'experiment'. Then those creatures may notice one or two unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and think of us as aliens or whatever word they use to describe what we call 'aliens'. Then their search for other life forms and the creator will begin....and then one fine day, they may also decide to plant life somewhere else...and so on and so forth. Creation will continue as long as the magical ingredients keep themselves from getting exhausted.

                                 However, the obvious question is- What happens next? After every life-forming and magic-forming ingredient is exhausted? Is our cauldron, our very own universe, discarded?...to be replaced by a new one?...but if the creator is itself inside the cauldron (assumption), will it like to put an end to itself? Maybe in the creator's terms, 'life' and 'death' exchange roles, even though they are mostly same everywhere. It dies or it may want to die to make place for something new.

                                 With the end of everything that's there, everything magical...time will stop too, because time is a by-product of magic. The presence of matter generates time. Without matter, there'll be no time. I believe time does not age us or any form of matter. We get old because we create time, and if we want to stop getting old, we have to stop creating time, which is highly impossible because time will exist as soon as an object comes into existence.

"Time does not wrinkle us, 
As age is the mother of time.

Wrinkles are just the scars
One gets after the birth of time."                                     

~Creation of Time by Mr. X

                                 Is it possible to become absolutely invincible? We may develop stuff to reverse our growing and ageing process (imitating the process of life cycle from Japanese jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii), but can we ever stop time?

Its the property of matter- to generate time. 

                            Now, imagine a really empty space. Without even one single molecule, wave, dark matter, or anything that can exist. Now suppose I put a human there. Four things are likely to happen. First, humans on earth will praise me for having found such a place. Second, they'll turn me into a villain instantly for putting the lad in there (a completely different scenario if I were to put an animal). Third, the man will face death. Fourth, the instant I put the person in there (without being there- hypothetical stuff), at that very instant, time will begin in the space which is no longer empty. The body will age, compounds and elements will get scattered, and there'll be so much generation of time, that there'll suddenly be a lot of time in that empty space. Time will touch a place which was once only surrounded by time. 

                           Time...just a by-product, yet so intriguing! Now, imagine how intriguing we ourselves are...life...the main product of every process...or may be not. Everything around us has so much potential...but we are yet to discover it. By now, we have only reached the by-products, and I hope that soon enough, we'll reach the core of magic that we are surrounded with, that we are ourselves. 

                           However, today we prefer to be ignorant of the spell that's all around us. Our world is more magical than that of Harry Potter's, Percy Jackson's or even Frodo Baggins'. All one needs is the right pair of eyes. Harry uses a wand to create magic but you don't need to. You are a walking and talking pack of magic. They call the 'unusual' stuff magic. I think its most of us...we are intrigued by a magic which is just a representation of the magic that's real. Reality is an amusing thing, it takes years for someone to understand it, and then just a few seconds maybe, to again lose track of it.   

                            I don't know why we've chosen flying horses to be better than our running ones, or winged people to be more virtuous than our earthly featherless men. They are "magical" because they are unusual and rare...and I believe its a property of life, or maybe just humans, to preserve and protect the rare and the unusual. Whether it is an object, a human trait, or an idea, rare and unusual items will always find preference. 

                           To feel and observe the true magic, all we need to do is look closer, look past what is visible, look beyond time, look deeper and deeper. Most magicians will warn that the closer one looks, the easier it is to trick...but this ain't the magic which most magicians are used to perform. Do not look at the far and way too small image in the infinite-image-forming mirrors. Look right where you stand- right between the two mirrors...coz' I hope you didn't forget, we are magic. With the power to decode magic.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

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Date: 18th April 2015

Time: 8:30 PM

                               

                                   
Image from: youtube.com

A Puzzled Mind

                                   

                                       Recently, I've observed that I have lots of clashes with people regarding ideologies. It's strange how every other person's philosophy differ from mine and each of them have some common principles...It feels like its only me who completely differ and almost with everyone! In fact, at times, my thoughts create huge inner clashes as well. I can't seem to understand my own thoughts! They have clearly superseded my understanding. While talking with people, they try to convince me of their views and I do the same as well....but this is common knowledge, every idea must face some initial resistance. People will oppose a thought initially, and then present their own thought, try to prove that its better, and then settle with the better idea.

                                       Its also a fact that people can't bear to hear philosophical stuff from seventeen year olds...and more so if the ideas completely differ! Its true that they have experience on their side, but the youth has the power of perception, which is weaker in the older. Ideas, philosophies and thoughts are things that one discover...they cannot be incorporated into someone's mind solely from an external source. Forcing one's ideas on another is wrong and even I'm guilty of that sin.

                                        Coming to the inner clashes regarding my thoughts, recently I feel like I've lost the ability of decision making. My belief that tells me that there is nothing that can judge what is right and what is wrong, has made me lose faith in most human judgments. I no longer understand my mind...and sometimes there's this feeling that it has lost its romanticism...which makes things a bit bland, but also interesting in a different perspective.

                                       Realizing that so many questions of mine will remain unanswered till the last moment, makes me suffocate inside my own body. I'll never know what are the ultimate answers or even the ultimate questions. Everything I see, makes me think about the real significance of that very object, the significance of my very being and everything that's around...but there ain't no significance...right? Things are there just because they are there...but just maybe.

                                     Previously, I also mentioned 'death' in an article...and why death doesn't exist. Its just a transition from one form to another. This might sound spiritual but its something quite different. However, in spite of all these philosophies and mental support from my own brain, a part of me has started fearing death. Well, not even a quarter of my life is over and I already feel that my time is limited. In fact, my mind has literally inflicted tortures on me by taking me past time to an uncertain future and then back....and all of it felt so real. So real.

                                    Perhaps, I'll never understand my mind which is why I'll never know myself. Oh...just remembered a quote by Rabindranath Tagore..."A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It bleeds the hands that uses it.". No one wants to be the mind which is all logic... its suffocating, its scary and fearful! Sometimes, I feel I've forgotten how to see things the way others do. There's no normalcy anymore.

                                    I've always considered this as a gift...to see things differently. Everyone is gifted with that different pair of eyes which shows a different world...which is why we have a million worlds in one! I still consider this to be a gift. However, the fact that I've not been able to decipher this gift till date, unnerves me a bit...and the possibility that deciphering the meaning may not be possible at all, chills me to the bones.

                                    Accumulating all my experiences, I've realized this one thing- our very own mind humbles us by the power it sustains, much beyond its own understanding...and what makes our mind so special, so different from other creations is the amazing phenomenon- evolution. All of us have evolved from that tiny speck. We are ultimately, a bunch of elements governed by the universe...and I still don't get it - why we call a few objects living and the other ones non-living?! Its not only life that evolves, breathes or grows...everything does...more or less.

                                   Ah! Again I drifted away to another topic...but now do you see the great dilemma?! I don't seem to have the answers to the questions which are taught to infants. At least they know the difference between life and the non-living objects...and I'm still seeking an answer. Things were so much more clearer before, but now they are all jumbled up...Perhaps I've forgotten how to tell reality from illusion.

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Date: 28/02/2015

Time: 2:48 PM

Pic from: juanmadrazo.com

I Will Persist Till The End Of Time

Lately, the idea of "limit" has ceased my mind. I've just started exploring the newer aspects of life and already it feels like my days are numbered. Being of 17, I've already gone through scenes in my mind where I'm 70! Its a strange sensation and I wish I was capable enough to express those experiences through words. 


All I can say is, these strange visions make me feel completely powerless when compared to time. More importantly, it humbles me enough to make me realize we are just objects which originate at one point in space and time and then apparently disappear in another. So, we are basically just humans, like water droplets in the ocean, like grains of sands in the desert and like the little speck of dust - our world, in the universe. 


At first, things appear so different, but gradually all the differences appear as if they were similarities. Yes, I think, I feel, I act...very much unlike a rock...which does nothing. A rock is formed after years of chemical and physical reactions and even after the formation, the reactions do not halt. They continue and ultimately cause the death of the rock.


 How am I different? I was born due to chemical reactions, I function due to chemical reactions (thinking, feeling...actually everything)...and ultimately I'll die due to the various activities occurring between the elements. 


Ugh! I again drifted away...Anyways, coming back to the "limit of time", maybe its just an illusion. More so, as when we grow old (I realize this as I write), we think that our lot of joyful and sorrowful days are over and we'll die soon enough. However, shifting again to the chemical perspective, after we die, only a few of the million reactions cease to exist - those which help in creation of thoughts, emotions, message transfer and other life-functions. 


The matter in our body never stops reacting with the external environment like it did when we were living. The only difference is perhaps, a few reactions are replaced by new ones...and I was also thinking of mentioning that the new set of reactions are no longer concentrated to one human life, but then I realized, that's how it always works - be it a human dead or alive. 


So this obviously leads to the conclusion that there's a chain of reactions which we are a part of...in fact its common knowledge. A thing which exists, can never stop existing...even if not always as the "thing". Maybe this is why the concept of soul arrives. The concept is a proof that the ancients were remarkable thinkers who delivered the true message to us in encrypted format. Things persist, maybe not in the same form as they did when they first came into being, instead they occur in changing states and varying forms. So, we never actually die. We just change forms. (Sounds familiar?)


One day, when all the reactions end in one final step (which is very improbable) then on that day, maybe time will stop too. It will be the end of time and as all of us will be a part of the last reaction, we will persist till the end of time. 

I will clarify by the way, all of this is just another train of thought. Its completely upto you to decide whether to board the train or not. I just feel good to pen down these thoughts...because while writing, words show me a whole new perspective of life. It just showed me why I no longer need to fear age and death. Language is perhaps the most beautiful gift that has been bestowed on mankind...and by the way, this gift is also a by-product of electrons and nuclear particles!

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Date: 12/02/2015

Time: 8:35 PM

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Image from: theviewspaper.com

Dreams and the Perception of Reality (Warning: This will confuse you!)

Date: 08/02/15

Time: 11:45 PM

Location: Kolkata, India

                                I've come across many people who do not believe in the idea of dreams and dreaming. I do not speak of the casual dreams that we have at night and forget as soon as daylight pushes open the eyelids. This is in context of those dreams which are way beyond a given person's reach, and it's structure is supported by the aid of imagination and not a single hint of reality resides in it. These are those dreams which we would rather exchange for reality. Its not only about unearthly and fairy tale stuff, but its also about things which are real, but far too unreachable and beautiful for becoming a reality for a given person.

                                Dreaming big isn't that bad...it never was. Even if those extraordinary dreams do not come true, I'd say, its completely fine to waste our time there. Its very important that we do not pay heed to those who complain about the "dreamers" in the room. When we dream of things which are apparently elusive, we offer a part of our mind to actually be inside the dream. We want our minds to believe in the dream, which in turn makes the mind order the body to function accordingly. This makes the body react the way it would if the situations were real. For example, if you are dreaming about having a dog (can't think of any other example because this is my most recurrent dream, correction: unobtainable dream *sigh*), your body will probably release oxytocin, which will make you feel the same love, the same feelings of comfort and longing which you have when you look into the eyes of a cute and cuddly dog. 

                                Its wonderful actually, how we can feel the same things, experience the same situations and live the same moments...both in the real and the unreal world created by our minds. There's very little difference between the two worlds actually. Reality is a continuous phenomenon and a dream is reality, offered in bits. Alright, the previous statement may be a bit confusing if you have not heard of the "phaneron" concept. This theory says that there's a difference between reality and how we perceive reality. What we perceive is actually the product, obtained after the input is passed through the filters of our senses. Then again, there's filtration by our mind. This means whatever we understand from our surroundings, is actually a product of our mind...just like a dream. Reality is real because we think its real. Reality is what we perceive most of the time, and some random person from the past, decided to name this phenomenon "real". Our dream is "reality offered in bits" because we perceive things within dreams as well. This world of dreams is only experienced by us when we have the time and leisure to dream...unlike reality which we experience all the time. Both are products of our mind.

                                In fact, certain people (called solipsists) believe that whatever they perceive, is just a fragment of their mind. You'll never be able to make them believe that what they see really exists, simply because they consider even you to be a fragment of their thoughts. In this universe nothing is really certain. It might just be that these people are the one's who are correct in their perception. It is also possible that now, when I'm writing this, the pen, the paper...all are just moving and scribbling in my thoughts. Maybe nothing exists...not even my body, just the mind which makes a world of its own, a mind which thinks body parts exist, a mind which thinks that reality is real. 

                                In the very same way, it can be that you...yes YOU, you are the one who is making all this up. Maybe right now, you are reading just another fragment of your own mind. You just think that some other person has written this, but maybe that's not true...and probably, now your mind is revealing all the secrets to you as you read this. Its your mind which just thinks that its reading words on paper and thinks that the information is being supplied from an external source, but truly, all of it is a product of your fascinating mind which hides and reveals at the same moment...Remember Matrix? There was this character, Morpheus, who talks about the same thing, explains it just perfectly- "What is real? How do you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."...Then another one- Cypher - "You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious." Just replace the "Matrix is telling my brain" with "Mind is telling my body"...but all these perspectives and theories will always have a "maybe" hanging to it.

                               This two syllable word is in fact the law of the universe- "Maybe". Nothing is certain, it never was, it never will be...and probably that's the best part about this universe...Another great thing about this universe is the existence of human minds...we are more than fortunate to have one. Its our responsibility to do the best possible things with the aid of our minds...and dreaming certainly falls in the to-do list! 

                                It might just be, that one fine day you realize, your reality is just a dream, and what you dream of, is your real reality.

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Images from (order same as that of the images):
blogrope.com , linkdin.com , whats-your-sign.com , devianart.com , paulcbrunson.com

P.S.- In case you are thinking about why I mentioned pen and paper instead of keyboard and screen, this is part of a journal entry (written and not typed) dated 8th Feb, 2015. Lots of edits are there of-course, but I decided to keep that part untouched.

The Uncertain Path Towards Beauty

Date: 08/01/15

Time: 9:00 PM

Location: Kolkata, India

                                Sometimes, what we really want is, proceed in the direction where everyone is headed. There's this new faith and a longing for experiencing the subtle human emotions and behaviors by walking with the crowd itself (and not being a part of it at the same time). There's this sudden discovery of beauty in the everyday human lives and the humans themselves and all we know is how much we love being alive and that too as a human. We suddenly know what magic really means and realize the potential of every object that can exist.

From sas.rutgers.edu

                               That's exactly the feeling that I'm going through at this moment. There's this strange "feel-good" feeling which makes everything way more beautiful than they normally are- the heart feels lighter, people are more reliable, kids act as a symbol of joy rather than annoyance and I somehow manage time to watch the moon late at night and imagine strange disney stuff!...No, I'm not in love and also not quite a hopeless romantic. This just happens...and I'd say that I've been fortunate enough to realize the beauty of everything that's there, many a times. Its that time when we fall in love with not just one person...but everything that's human...and everything else too! Okay...if this is confusing...more simply it means that you suddenly know what it means to be alive and know how gorgeous life really is...and this knowledge is so intense that breathing in and out suddenly becomes the most magical experience that you've ever had! The beauty of the world becomes so overwhelming that you know tears were never made for sadness. 

From pathtoayurveda.com

                              Frankly, I do not know much about life or the living and this is so because I've not had the opportunity to experience much (did not yet step into the realms of the adult world)...but I know, I'm on my way to discover the most wonderful aspects of this world...the journey has already begun...and somehow I feel this journey towards a more experienced me, is going to be the most surreal experience. Sure, there'll be a lot of low points in this uncertain path, but that'll only amplify the beauty of what matters. Darkness is important because that way I'll know what is light. One of the most extraordinary part of this journey will be the path towards self discovery...because presently I'm highly uncertain about everything related to me. I know my name, but I don't really know who I am. I know my goals, but I'm unaware of my purpose. I know what my thoughts are about, but I don't have a clue about the secrets deep inside my own mind. I'm a stranger to myself if not to the world. I'm a stranger to the world if not to myself.

From quotesdump.com

                              When I think of the Earth, I feel that I simply need to know even the known facts. I know about the gorgeous Alps, the mind boggling Stonehenge, the tranquil Himalayas and even the unearthly Aurora Borealis. However, at that instant of time when I was told about these splendid features of our world, I had not the slightest idea of what 'beauty' meant. I was a child and did not know the skill of making the mind believe what is beautiful and what is not. I'm still not quite sure of what beauty really is but I've come across things and instances which make my mind feel at peace and spreads a sheet of serenity over it. 

From reddit.com

                              So, even though I know a bit about things which truly are beautiful, I'm still awaiting that time when I'll know how to appreciate the beauty to it's full potential. Maybe in the near future I'll learn a new way of feeling which will serve beauty and knowledge in the right proportions! The concept of beauty obviously is different for different minds...I'll just have to decide which one to plant in my own mind. 

From quotehd.com

                              So there are many questions which are best unanswered at this point. The list tends to be endless but more than being annoyed by the endless questions, it'll be wiser to appreciate them...because there's beauty even in the way these questions were born in the minds of the living. I don't know whether the answers will promise the same. Sometimes I fear that I'll remain unknown to myself forever but isn't that great?! Maybe I'll have the privilege to discover a new side to myself every moment. I'll never be complete because there'll always be some new attribute added to me each passing day! We can never be complete. Can we? 

From mrswilsonscience.com

                             Nothing is absolute in this Universe, not even the universe itself. Not even science is absolute or decisive...which obviously makes the answers hard to obtain. There's no one to decide which is a better question but even the silliest questions do not have an absolute answer. The uncertain path towards beauty promises the gift of the answers much sought after. The answers which may just change the next moment...

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First image from: diversehumancourse.com

Mindfulness and Free Will; Hope is Never Lost

Guest Article By Thomas Parisi

                                One of the greatest philosophical discussions of all time centers around the greatest gift we've ever known as a species. It is something that is ever-present and often overlooked. It leads us to our passionate and most joyful moments or to our agonizing and painful mistakes. I am talking of course about Free Will.

                                Free Will exists in every circumstance.  Even when we are unable to affect the unalterable confines of physical reality we can still choose how we think and act. We can choose how to address and handle each situation. We can even choose how we feel by reinforcing the patterns of thought and action that help us feel joyous and alive, or by abandoning the ones that promote negative emotions and behaviors. Feelings surround each of our choices, and if we recognize how we are affected we can learn to choose wisely. 

                               I have heard the argument time and again that we do not possess Free Will. Proponents of this theory believe that we are thinking, behaving, and existing solely at the end of a long progression of events that have given us no choice as to what will occur next.They make claims that Free Will is an Illusion. I find that statement oddly ironic because believing that free will is only an illusion can only be ascertained by exercising the free will to believe so! 

                               While I understand that yes, we are standing in the here and now, at the end of a lifelong progression of events that have led us to this very moment, I wholeheartedly disagree that we have no Free Will. We are not omniscient or omnipotent, so our freedom is limited only to what we can control as sovereign beings, and that is our choices. 

                             Life is a series of choices. Those choices lead us down an infinite number of pathways. Sometimes we choose incorrectly and we feel as though we are trapped. We sometimes feel that we have less freedom than we did before the choice was made, but this is only the illusion of reality. We can choose the wrong path over and over again only to feel trapped and in despair, but this is the true illusion. The illusion that hope is lost and that Free Will is non-existent is the antithesis to life, and it leads only to suffering and pain.

                            We are never without hope because we can always choose again.  We sometimes construct the negative thoughts and feelings that keep us bound but they are just that; constructs. They can be destroyed by action. No matter how confined you feel, or how stuck in your current situation you think you are, that can all be changed by choosing to act in ways that will change your situation. Action is always the result of a choice, we need only become mindful of our choices.

                           As conscientious and thoughtful creatures we possess the ability to think before we act. Consciously we can choose each step carefully and with intention. This is Free Will at it's essence. No matter how limited you believe your choices have become hope is never lost. Through a persistent mindfulness to discern the proper choice (and therefore course of action) you can begin to reshape the world around you, and with it your life.

                           Free Will should be viewed as making proper and healthy choices. Nourish yourself. Physically we must eat nutritionally complete meals and get enough exercise. Mentally we must be stimulated with information and experiences that keep us feeling fulfilled. Spiritually we must feel connected with Life and each other. 

                          Our sub-conscious minds collect and store everything we think and experience, every action and every feeling is catalogued to create a deep sea, and the undercurrents will affect you in a plethora of ways. By choosing the healthy choice each and every time you are enriching yourself. These proper choices add up over time- and before you know it you can and will be free; Free to choose wisely in every circumstance. 

                        Through mindfulness we can learn what choices enrich and inspire us. We can learn how we are affected by the patterns that develop from choosing one way or the other. We can choose to learn through observation how our choices affect us, and our surroundings. We can choose to exercise our Free Will and begin to step in the direction we were meant to. The journey becomes better than the destination when  each and every step is better than the last.

Thank you Samadrita Ghosh for allowing me to guest post here @ www.divergentoutlook.blogspot.com!!

Authored by: Thomas Parisi

Website: www.thinkhub.org Hoping to enrich and inspire toward social good.

Contact: dogfishparisi@gmail.com
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Image from: www.visionair.nl