Bastardizing Infinity

Last updated on: April 11, 2008 at 8:14 pm By Desh Kapoor

"When there was neither aught nor naught, when darkness was covering darkness, what existed then? That Akasha existed without motion." The physical motion of the Prana was stopped, but it existed all the same. Says Vivekananda in his lecture on Prana. Prana is the manifestation. Akash is the canvas - the Universal Consciousness - which manifests the creation. Now, Vasistha has another take on this relationship. To him Prana is no different than the wave of the ocean and Akash is the ocean. Is it different? Is the movement in Akash separate from Akash itself? Why do I bring this up? I have seen time and again that we confuse between Prana and Chetna. Chetna, conceptually, is NOT the same as Prana. Being manifested does not necessarily lend itself to Enlightenment or Spiritual freedom ("chetna"). In fact, I would argue that one that is manifested or defined can never experience Chetna! In a lot of the Vedic and Hindu sects - as well as other religions and philosophies - the professed ideologies have completely missed this distinction. On the one hand, many talk of monotheism and deny "forms" for God - throwing around reasons that God defined by form* is a God limited and then also that He is the ultimate consciousness and is infinite but in all this completely miss the linkage between infinity and consciousness and how form is the result of definition itself!! * Well, to me form or no-form is the most nonsensical and useless argument.. for as long as you have "defined" a God, you have confined "It" - even assigning a gender is definition.. but then (borrowing from Ghalib) Dil ke behlane ko Ghalib yeh "form" ka khayal accha hai! Contextualising is the first step to Form - ask any artist or a poet! Ask a sculptor if he can differentiate between his imagination and his sculpture? Read more

Deepak Chopra/Shekhar Kapur discusssion and Context/Infinity relation

Last updated on: April 11, 2008 at 7:27 am By Desh Kapoor

Shekhar Kapur and Dr. Deepak Chopra discuss the nature of time and existence in the first of possibly a series of dialogs. Very interesting discussion. I liked the word "Context". Now, relationship is a different thing. Context comes from the Latin word "contextus" basically meaning to weave together. Weaving though an act of unifying is yet a process where the individuality remains. The ability to locate is inherent in the ability to be part of the whole. That perhaps in the first step away from the Eternity and last step towards it. As I had written earlier, there seems to be this inherent ability of ego to destroy itself when it reaches its peak in its pure form. Not as in the jealous ego.. but as in independent and unifying ego. When and how does it happen? Read more

3000 cancelled flights and growing: US Air under siege

Last updated on: April 11, 2008 at 5:46 am By Desh Kapoor

3000 flights of American Airlines were cancelled this week - 570 on Friday! Alaska Airlines, Midwest Airlines and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines joined the wave, each canceling a small number of flights on MD-80 aircraft on Thursday. The CEOs must be happy! See, they can't make profits anyways.. so now they have someone to blame for it and take their millions of dollars of bonuses while everyone (passengers, shareholders, tax payers) lose! Here is Mr. Arpey preparing ground for it: American CEO Gerard Arpey said Thursday that the cancellations will cost the airline "in the tens of millions of dollars." Analysts say the toll could easily be that, and perhaps much more. Read more

Real Cause for War!

Last updated on: April 11, 2008 at 5:36 am By Desh Kapoor

So long as there is nationalism, so long as you are a German or a Russian or an American, clinging to sovereignty, to an exclusive nationality, you are sure to have war. So long as you are a Christian and I am a Hindu, or you are a Muslim and I am a Buddhist, there is bound to be war. So long as you are ambitious, wanting to reach the top of your society, seeking achievement and worshiping success, you will be a cause of war. Read more

Pakistan's Nuke Plant – was it attacked or was it just an accident?

Last updated on: April 11, 2008 at 5:31 am By Desh Kapoor

Here is the news that has left me perplexed (from Pak-times . also see Pakistan Spectator) Six persons died here Tuesday due to a cylinder explosion in nuclear power plant, leaving the area permeated with poisonous gas that was evacuated later. Due to suffocation in the area, the authorities evacuated area in the radius of 14 kilometers of the place of incidence. The incidence occurred 40 kilometers away from here during maintenance work. The Atomic Energy Commission has blocked all the roads to and from the nuclear facility. Responding to the news reports, government spokesman issued clarification that the incidence was gas leakage from the Heavy Water Plant rather than the nuclear plant. There are two theories - one, the official one that it was a leak; and the other, an unofficial one that it was an American attack. The official version puts the death toll at one, the unofficial is higher. Both, the versions are troublesome! If official one is to be believed, then it means that the Nuke plant does not have adequate safety measures and it could be an issue going forward. If the cylinders had done more damage than they did? If this part is not completely safe, what is the guarantee that others are safe? If the unofficial one is true - then it means many things. One, and this is most disturbing - that US has concluded that the threat from US Nuke plant has reached a level that is unacceptable to it and that there is little political leverage it has now (or in other words, Mushy's days are numbered!!). This is the last step that US will take in Pakistan and that is why this is serious! Read more

A Story of an Asset Bubble

Last updated on: April 11, 2008 at 5:04 am By jessicafick

Atul Sarana is a Chemical Engineer of 1997 batch & now a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) practitioner for last three years. HIs company provides independent Financial Planning Services to High Net Worth Individuals, Non-Resident Indians, Institutions, Corporates, Charitable Trusts etc. His expertise is simplified & personalized financial advice that even a layman can understand. Apart from India, we have our clients in UK, US, Bahrain, Dubai etc. You can contact Atul Surana via email. Here's a very interesting anecdote that describes how an "asset bubble" builds up and what are its consequences. Read it even if it confuses you a bit...things will be clear as you reach the end.... ANECDOTE - Once there was a little island country. The land of this country was the tiny island itself. The total money in circulation was 2 dollar as there were only two pieces of 1 dollar coins circulating around. 1) There were 3 citizens living on this island country. A owned the land. B and C each owned 1 dollar. 2) B decided to purchase the land from A for 1 dollar. So, A and C now each own 1 dollar while B owned a piece of land that is worth 1 dollar. The net asset of the country = 3 dollar. 3) C thought that since there is only one piece of land in the country and land is non produceable asset, its value must definitely go up. So, he borrowed 1 dollar from A and together with his own 1 dollar, he bought the land from B for 2 dollar. Read more

Rude, Chinese police thugs in London to "protect" torch

Last updated on: April 9, 2008 at 5:29 pm By Desh Kapoor

Raj sends this link - which shows that the Chinese guards are in London as well! So, Chinese have found a perfect ploy to get into the heart of as many cities as they can and do their reconnaisance for the future, maybe? It may sound paranoid, but isnt China up for any way to fight against the other countries. Remember when it brought down a US plane to open the heart out of it and probably reverse engineer it altogether? Read more

Tibet, China and the Olympics

Last updated on: April 9, 2008 at 4:51 pm By Desh Kapoor

The Tibet protests and the flame issue is growing. - IN Paris, the torch was extinguished. - In San Francisco, its in the hiding. - US Speaker, Nancy Pelosi speaks out against the Chinese - Leander Paes finds Olympics and Tibet to be two different issues! - Meanwhile despite all these protests - China vows to not only keep the torch going... but take it to Tibet as well!! - Of course, Kiran Bedi is not going to pick up the torch and run.. she is not into the money game that most of our Actors and Players who love their sponsors are! - Meanwhile Australian PM warns China on the Human Rights abuses.. as he speaks out on Tibet.... meanwhile China lodges protests against the Australian PM to Aussies!! - Oh yeah.. and meanwhile International Olympic Committee may be planning to abandon the torch relay all together! This entire game is going on.. and I believe that the public ire and frustration at the nonsense from China will finally make a mark this time for the Tibetans. And now, the Tibetans may go for the full independence - which is how it should have been!! I am amazed at the reluctance of the world to engage China more openly! China's economy is a house of cards at best! We will see in our lifetimes how it all falls down in a terrible manner. Read more

Does authority create order or Blind following?

Last updated on: April 8, 2008 at 5:36 am By Desh Kapoor

I know the inevitable question will arise: If we have no authority of any kind, will there not be anarchy? Of course there may be. But does authority create order? Or does it merely create a blind following which has no meaning at all except that it leads to destruction, to misery? Read more

Safe Pee-ing Distance

Last updated on: April 8, 2008 at 5:32 am By Desh Kapoor

Saw this in a men's room in Canada... it was fairly hillarious to see it. It recommends to stand less than 15 cm from the pee-ing stall for men... otherwise the start may be fine but in the end, when the "supply" goes down.. the drops will fall on the floor. I was intrigued at the "15 cm" - presumably someone in Canada has done enough studies on what constitutes a safe distance for men. Wonder if they need such "safety" instructions for women? Read more