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Monday, November 20, 2006

Unconditional Love

Often, I've wondered what is the reason for so much unhappiness in this beautiful world. The reason, I find in common is "Expectation". Whenever we expect we push ourselves into a sea of unhappiness. I happened to read an excerpt from the writings of Paramahansa Yogananda here Yet another site explains Unconditional love Let me start from the very basic things, Friends: We expect them to be truthful to us and when we find that they aren't trustworthy we get disappointed. Husband & Wife : There are a lot of expectations and disappointments. God : Do we love God unconditionally? We go to temples to pray and when our wish is fulfilled we thank God and beleive in him whereas when our wishes aren't fulfilled we hate him and start losing faith. Does God love us unconditionally? If so, there should be no worries in this universe. Parents & Children : Why is mother's love called "Unconditional"? Maybe we should categorise parents as 1. Parents of a son 2. Parents of a daughter The love of parent 1 can never be said as unconditional. They educate their son not only to fend for himself but to take care of them in their old age. (Atleast in India it is so). With that expectation, though many mothers hide their disappointment and say "However you are I'll love you" internally they do have that expectation/possessiveness etc. The love of parent 2 is nearly unconditional. They shower their love and affection on their daughter knowing fully well she is going to leave them alone in their old age. They don't deny her any education. They spend lavishly for her marriage just for her well-being. What do they get in return? They are no different than parent 1 except they have a girl instead of a boy. Is there something called "Unconditional Love"? Is it possible to just do our duty and expect nothing in return? Is it possible to be like Jesus/Buddha turning a deaf ear to what others say abt us?

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Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Science or Miracles ??

Many people have tried to explore this universe and stated their findings. Astrology, Palmistry and Numerology have always fascinated me. These are sciences which have some merit but we study and interpret them wrongly and blame the art instead. 3 years Ago : Me: I've completed my Engg.. and have joined MS. Mom: We want to get her married. Uncle (Well versed in Astrology) : Hmm..lets see. Ok.your horoscope has "Sukra Thisai" from birth till your 19 years. So you are 21 now. Something remarkable should have happened at the 19th year? Me : I got college first (university first) that year and I won in many presentations etc. He was able to tell me even the dates in which I was "lucky". My mom was impressed and wanted to know more and many facts were true. Uncle : Ok..you said you have joined MS. Hmm..but your horoscope says you should be earning by now. He started calculating and said, "Ok in 2-3 months you'll get a good job and that month you'll get all you wanted." Me: Let's see. Uncle: You are going abroad. Me: Me?? I'm not interested. Uncle: Things don't happen the way you want. But you're definitely going abroad. Mom: So what abt her MS, Marriage? Uncle: That's fishy ! She also has a strong education line. May be she'll do some correspondence course. You have to wait for a year to get her married. I had 0% beleif in what he said. Firstly, I had the least idea of taking a job. But it so happened that within 2 months a lot of things happened and I joined a company. Even amidst so many obstacles I could never quit my MS. Someone helped me at each stage and now as he had predicted I started earning, got married after a year, went abroad and completed my MS. I can never dismiss these things as coincidental. But the point was even though he told my mom to wait for 1 year, my parents didn't stop consulting astrologers and they did a lot of parikarams still I got married only after a year. So, I wonder can we change destined things? Sometimes I wonder whether life, is a preplanned biochemical process or is it just a miracle. Life was once considered as an act of some supernatural power but it is proved to be a biochemical process. Some centuries ago, when the first man "invented" fire, it would have definitely seemed a miracle to him. Without science, even rain is a miracle. Every act in this universe surely has a reason and it is we who fail to explore it. Have we ever wondered how gravity works? Imagine a world(like space) with people floating around. There are numerous such things in this world which we don't understand. To me there is only one unknown or unanswerable question. Who designed all these? We all have to beleive the fact that the earth definitely has an influence on us without which we can't stand ;-). We call this attractive force as gravity and we all are the living proof of this. So, when the earth, a planet, can influence us it is equally possible that the other planets, stars, sun and other heavenly bodies influence us in our day-to-day life. So at the time of our birth, i.e, the first time we are under the direct control of earth's gravity we also get into the influence of other heavenly bodies. Is it really possible to change the influence of these planets? One of my friend's mom is a doctor and doesn't beleive in astrology. On a casual chat, My friend: Creation of life is a miracle. Her Mom: Creation of life is chemistry. My Friend: So, then how come some people go childless? They go to many doctors and finally do some parikarams and get a child. Her Mom: That's again an interesting story. Medically, there are only health incompatibility reasons for a couple to go childless atleast 75% of then undergo treatment and are successful in getting a child. If God can give a child, then there needs to be no husband-wife relationship at all. Anyone can get a child by simply circling the "Arasa maram". My friend: You're right. But then you mean to say that God doesn't help in creation of life. Her Mom: That's not the point. As I said before, its just your body chemistry. We medically try to improve the chemistry while praying to God and doing parikarams gives them beleif. Its ultimately requirement of positive vibrations and depends on the individual. Like, in a movie Rajnikanth is a coward and the heroine ties a sacred thread and tells him that it would give him courage. Suddenly, he fights the villains. Would you say its becoz of the thread? No, its his beleif on himself. Me: That's true. Science is expanding to such an extent that now hens are not required to hatch eggs. Her Mom: This is the age of test-tube babies. Research is going on to find if men can bear children. My friend: Ultimately, I think even human beings would be developed in chemistry labs. That was a good conversation. Match making is yet another area where we all take things easy. My grandfather explained to me once, the real process of match-making. Each person's characteristics are nearly determined by the influence of the stars/planets governing him/her. Let's assume, the planets Saturn and Jupiter are like 2 chemicals which when brought in contact could even explode. So, we should take utmost care before mixing them. Its the same case with 2 individuals. The stars,planets governing them decide their character and help in finding their compatibility. So, if done properly, this calculation would prove to be correct and might be one of the reasons of happy marriages in the past. There's still a lot more to explore in these areas. Can we predict things? Yes, we can. Should we know our future beforehand? Need not, what's the thrill in life then? Can we avoid/change our future by parikarams/prayers? I think we can't. I beleive, its not only Arjuna who had Krishna as his charioteer. Each one of us, see, feel and hear God (or a supernatural power) in every task we do. Seems my stars are not well ;-) this year. My mom has given me a list of parikarams to do. I just prepare myself for the worst becoz I think we have to undergo whatever comes to us and maybe learn the lesson rather than trying to escape. Its better to get down the snake at 30 or 60 in "paramapadham" (Snake and Ladder Game) than getting down at 99 !!

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