Drishtikone
Interesting talk from Krishnamurti. I am obviously a fan of his.. this is vintage JK in response to a question "Who are you?" (probably trying to probe if JK is an "Enlightened Master" or not). Read more
Interesting talk from Krishnamurti. I am obviously a fan of his.. this is vintage JK in response to a question "Who are you?" (probably trying to probe if JK is an "Enlightened Master" or not). Read more
We all want our kids to be intelligent - actually super intelligent - right? But does that help? I just came across a story of a super intelligent girl, Sufiah Yusof, a child prodigy who got admission into Oxford University at the age of 13. In fact two of her siblings also got admitted in teen age as well. Their father Farooq used to drive them by keeping the house cold for more concentration in studies and psychologically abusing them. Recently, it came out that Sufiah, divorced already, was hiring herself out from an internet site as a prostitute and Asian escort at £130 and hour, using the alias Shilpa Lee! Meanwhile her father Farooq has been booked for physically groping and assaulting two 15 years old girls whom he taught as a tutor. So his wife, Halimahton, a devout Muslim lady, divorced him. Telegraph gives some history on other child prodigies. I am afraid their stories are not very inspiring either. Ruth Lawrence: Graduated aged 13 from St Hugh's College, Oxford, with a first-class degree in 1985. Now lives with husband and two children - whom she is determined to allow to "develop in a natural way" - in Jerusalem and teaches maths full-time at the Hebrew University. John Nunn: Went to Oriel College, Oxford, in 1970 aged 15. Got a first in maths at 18, a doctorate at 20 and became a chess Grandmaster three years later. Lives with his wife in Surrey and makes a living writing books about chess. Read more
Yesterday, India's PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh gave a stirring speech (reproduced below) after winning to vote of trust. Now, I was for the Nuclear Deal - not because of my excitement for India-US cooperation, for any cooperation with the US is only temporary until the next bump.. but because it was extemely important from India's national interest perspective. It was the ONLY thing that could have decoupled India's Nuclear program from Pakistan's and cleared our way forward, while Pakistan's program will be mired in controversy henceforth. THAT is why this Nuke deal was important. Energy dependence and all that discussion is nice, but it doesn't cut it with me. So, looking back at the antics of the last few weeks, it made complete sense for the Leftists - who owe their allegiance to China's Premier and flag (as they have often said) as opposed to India's flag, to have opposed the deal. After all, Pakistan's nuclear program was China's way of keeping India engaged in un-necessary mess across the border and contain us anyways. Like the joke went around when Pakistan took a long time to do their blasts after India's in 1998 that it was so because their manual was in Chinese! So, no surprises about the leftists. The party which surprised me most was the BJP! They behaved in a thoroughly irresponsible and opportunistic way. They probably calculated that if they could come to power, then they would do the deal. For this deal will shine out as a watershed in India's history! So, that is the ONLY reason I can think of for BJP opposing the deal. And a very very risky assumption it was indeed! Having said that, I still believe that if the roles were reversed - and Congress was in the opposition and BJP was doing the deal, their reaction would have been EXACTLY the same!! A previous incarnation of this deal was also being discussed by BJP earlier, and although I don't have the references right off the bat, but I remember Congress reaction was also of opposition! So, the claim of holier-than-thou is a fictitious one! Now, back to the speech. Many things have been said and done during these few weeks. What simply shocked me about this speech was its specific and stringent tone towards ONE person by name - LK Advani! If anything, Prakash Karat and Mayawati poured more poison on Dr. Singh than Advani. So, why Advani, while everyone else is simply referred at best by innuendo?? Given the way Congress "won" the vote, I am not willing to so easily sign off on Certificate of Piety for Dr. Singh just yet. So, why.. simply why did the Prime Minister of India in a victory speech start off with scorn and specific objections to just ONE person of the entire opposition? Dr. Singh, in my book, has been known to use his "innocence" and "clean image" to try this earlier. He tried this in his first elections campaign and fell on his face, but this time he used it rather well! Regarding the many sins that he has laid at the feet of Advani and the praise that he has for Rajiv Gandhi would have been an example of great oratory for the youth of the country who either were not there as witnesses in 1984 Sikh killings or have been brain-washed since. But for someone who saw all that - the only Government sanctioned killings that I have witnessed first hand (and which left an indelible mark on my mind), and the entire campaign to wipe out Sikhs from most Punjab villages to contain terrorism by KPS Gill with the blessings of Rajiv Gandhi and Indira earlier.. a Congress leader is the LAST guy whom I am prepared to listen on things around "Communal Harmony" and Religious Tolerance! For, unlike the rest of the youth brigade in India, my definition of Secular behavior is NOT confined or restricted by what atrocities are done against ONE religious community.. but ALL.. Sikhs, Parsis, Hindus, Buddhists, and the rest. I know I am in a rarity to expect that injustice against ANY one based primarily on his/her religion is INTOLERANCE as opposed to "Religious Intolerance" being strictly defined as injustice to just the Muslims! I know it is only me who is perturbed that when 1984 Sikh widows were beaten down to take back their testimonies last year, while Best Bakery case was making the headlines! I was the only one who found that shameful and hypocritical... or even "strange"!! Read more
No commentary on this one. The attached doc says it all. And this is the improved version of the curriculum.. Why can't someone talk to such idiots? - “The Jews and Christians are enemies of the believers, and they cannot approve of Muslims.” - “The clash between this [Muslim] nation and the Jews and Christians has endured, and it will continue as long as God wills.” - “He (praised is He) prohibits killing the soul that God has forbidden [to kill] unless for just cause… [such as] unbelief after belief, adultery, and killing an inviolable believer intentionally.” - “Major polytheism makes blood and wealth permissible.” - “Building mosques on graves is an expression of polytheism” [Condemns Shiite practice] - “The punishment for homosexuality is death.” - Ibn Qudamah said, ‘The companions of the Prophet were unanimous on killing, although they differed in the description, that is, in the manner of killing. Some of the companions of the Prophet stated that [a homosexual] is to be burned with fire. It has also been said that he should be stoned, or thrown from a high place. Other things have also been said.” Read more
How do you meet sorrow? I'm afraid that most of us meet it very superficially. Our education, our training, our knowledge, the sociological influences to which we are exposed, all make us superficial. A superficial mind is one that escapes to the church, to some conclusion, to some concept, to some belief or idea. Those are all a refuge for the superficial mind that is in sorrow. And if you cannot find a refuge, you build a wall around yourself and become cynical, hard, indifferent, or you escape through some facile, neurotic reaction. All such defenses against suffering prevent further inquiry. …Please watch your own mind; observe how you explain your sorrows away, lose yourself in work, in ideas, or cling to a belief in God, or in a future life. And if no explanation, no belief has been satisfactory, you escape through drink, through sex, or by becoming cynical, hard, bitter brittle. …Generation after generation it has been passed on by parents to their children, and the superficial mind never takes the bandage off that wound; it does not really know, it is not really acquainted with sorrow. It merely has an idea about sorrow. It has a picture, a symbol of sorrow, but it never meets sorrow - it meets only the word sorrow. Read more
If we all people are living souls possessing wisdom, and highly creative attributes, why don’t we think big, instead of small? We’re the result of A SUPREME MASTER MIND. We’ve inherited His tremendous creative powers. He gave us these supreme powers to conquer life. If deep down, we know that if we think either small or big, we’re getting very positive results. Why should we start thinking step by step, thinking bigger each time? Instead of right from the start, beginning thinking big! Remember it’s our Divine Right! The complete credit would be God’s, not ours. For Him Alone is every positive result we can get! His never ending inspirational fountain has always contained live, vibrant water. This Divine source water has always been at our very near reach. Let’s take advantage of this! Why are we so afraid to commit ourselves to do God’s work? Remember this eternal man’s question: “Am a wise, because I have a simple mind, or it is that I have a simple mind that I am wise?” Read more
Two minor girls are kidnapped in Pakistan aged 12 and 10. They are Christians. The kidnappers convert them to Islam forcibly and "marry" them (euphemism for rape). The Muzaffargarh District Court holds the marriage and conversion valid .... and, this is amazing.. that their father no longer has jurisdiction over them!! What is this? And more importantly, what law are Pakistan's courts following? And this is not some local Taliban congregation.. its a real court! Is Islam now the best sanction for rape of even minors? Something is terribly wrong somewhere in the entire scheme of things.. worse, no one even raises his/her voice! Read more
In order to fully appreciate beautiful sunny days, once in a while, we'll have some rainy days in our lives. What must be done not to be influence by our daily exposure to too many negative reinforcement messages? To equal the balance we have to do our best to bring to mind many wonderful and magical moments by which we enjoyed them very much, so we exclaimed "Ah!" Let's be honest about our society. It sells much more bad news, than good news. This is an undeniable fact. So, let's start creating the habit of, experiencing, once more to use all our very pleasant memories. I have a personal saying: "Every day live with an attitude of gratitude". Try to be thankful for everything! Starting to thank the God of your heart, the God of your understanding, then be thankful to your family, but express them your sincere gratitude to all of them, then to your coworkers, to young and old people. Convince them by smiling at them, not only with your mouth, but with your eyes. Keep in mind that the eyes are the windows of the soul. Below is a short list of some Ah! Those wonderful moments you have experience in the past. I wrote these expressions being a man, so if you're a woman reading this you can add more feeling to all these expression, and yes, you can change some expressions, the main idea here, is that you really get involved. Read more
Want to know the stats of this site? Here is table of stats which shows that no. of visits are now in the range of 30k, the hits are around 350k, and some 10,000 unique visitors visit Drishtikone monthly. Read more
The next World Parliament of Religions is in Melbourne, Australia in 2009. Here is the link. Here is a picture from the first one (1893) Swami Vivekananda is in the center and His Holiness H. Dharmapala (Buddhist delegate from India) is to his left. Read more
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