I rise each Morning

I rise each morning, shave with soap and razor, don clothes of cotton and wool, read a paper, drink a coffee heated by gas or electricity and go to work with the aid of petrol and an internal combustion engine. At a centrally heated/air conditioned office I type on a Qwerty keyboard; I might later visit a pub or theatre. Most people I know do likewise.

Not one of these activities has altered qualitatively over the past century, while in the previous hundred years they altered beyond recognition. We do not live in the age of technological revolution. We live in the age of technological stasis, but do not realize it. We watch the future and have stopped watching the present.

When I finish reading most books, they hang around on shelves, prop up tables or go to friends.  I can take it in two hands and bash it over the heads of every techno-nerd, computer geek and neophiliac futurologist I meet.

No, research and development do not equate with economic progress. No, the computer is not a stunning technological advance, just an extension of electronic communication as known for over a century. No, the internet has not transformed most people's lives, just helped them do faster what they did before. No, weapons technology has not transformed warfare, merely wasted stupefying sums of money while soldiers win or lose by firing rifles.

Technological innovation is always hyped by those lobbying for money, usually from government. But,  if we only attended to ends rather than means we would waste less and get more right. Scientists never feed into their equations the opportunity cost of their successes, let alone the cost of their failures. Where now are such "life-changing revolutions" as supersonic travel, manned moon flight, coal hydrogenation, system-built housing, brain lobotomy, drip-dry shirts and electric knives? How come more goods travel by ship than ever? How come the fastest-growing domestic industry is housework and do-it-yourself?

Thesis that civilisation must innovate or die is rubbish. Nations are not sharks that must move to breathe. Yet we are so dazzled by newness as to lose the power of skepticism, indeed of reason itself. The result is a grotesque overselling of the new and neglect of what is tried and tested.

There is nothing recent in this phenomenon. Steam power was hugely expensive in resources and manpower and for most of its life probably less efficient than horse power. At sea it wiped out sail long before it could economically and safely replace it. On land it required even more horses (to supply coal and service its terminals) than before. Even today there would probably be less traffic on roads if outrageously uneconomic trains did not exist - and so did not divert car journeys to stations - though nobody will believe it.

 "Techno- Nationalism" is regularly proclaimed by politicians as vital to domestic economies as they pour money into government research. There is no evidence of any need for this. Global technology transfer is virtually free. What impedes its growth is not lack of invention but government restriction on free trade. Shrewd countries "borrow" technology, as did Japan after the war and the tiger economies from America in the 1990s.

Most attics and garages are stuffed with kit for which there was no sensible use, from exercise bicycles to fondue machines. Middle-class women probably do more manual labour than in the 19th century, assisted by such old technology as the washing machine and vacuum cleaner. Small wonder they still consume those ancient standbys, alcohol, nicotine, cannabis and opium.

Of course, the computer has radically speeded communication. But for the overwhelming bulk of users (still only half of Britons and a tiny fraction of the globe) it merely supplements the post and the telephone. Most people send emails back and forth twice a day, roughly the same exchange as the Victorian letter post achieved. Amazon and eBay have replicated but not replaced the retail market. Television, 80 years old, and radio have improved but not changed over time. Both were essentially Victorian innovations.

The greatest techno-dazzle involves flying. The glamour of defying gravity created a global Icarus complex. Air forces have won over every generation of 20th-century politician, yet have never delivered. They have killed civilians and wrecked property but not won wars. More serious, the cost of new planes so overwhelms budgets as to leave land troops under-equipped - as is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ministers are putty in the hands of airborne weapons suppliers. Yet any analysis of the past half-century will show the rifle, the mortar and (in Africa) the machete are the tools of success. The technology of war, supposed galvaniser of innovation, has barely changed in a hundred years. Indeed by replacing battlefront bravery with stand-off cowardice, air innovation could be said to contribute to defeat.

The fastest-rising aid to mobility is another Victorian invention, the car, dependent on internal carbon combustion. Flights are trivial, a minuscule percentage in any sense necessary. Planes are used overwhelmingly for holidays, business and perks. Yet lobbyists sell planes (and airports) as "economically vital" to the nation.

Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon if not so at least to a state one would have never thought of. This is not the wacky proclamation of a doomsday cult, apocalypse bible prophecy sect, or conspiracy theory society. Rather, it is the scientific conclusion of the best paid, most widely-respected geologists, physicists, bankers, and investors in the world. These are rational, professional, conservative individuals who are absolutely terrified by a phenomenon known as global "Peak Oil” “Peak coal” “Peak Gas” “Peak everything”. In  a few years humans will pay more for water than they pay for food today. The II world war as we know was fought to curb imperialism, the III world war will be for Oil & Water.

The rising temperatures world over are heating up this planet more than ever, what that means is change in weather & climate patterns. The world’s glaciers are melting rapidly. This is going to paralyze half of India, Pakistan & Bangladesh in the Indian subcontinent. All the 3 countries get major water from the Himalayan ice India will see the largest human migration within the next 25 years. people from the plains of Ganges, Yamuna, Brahmaputra and the south of Himalayas will face acute water problems because of the ice melting. These rivers will no longer be perennial in nature.

Prices of some of the commodities as per my prediction in 2015 or even before that.....

• Petrol Rs 120 / liter $ 7 per Gallon
• Milk Rs 70 / liter
• Coke Rs 40 / 300ml
• Wheat Rs 40/kg
•  Sugar Rs 60/kg
• Tea Rs 400/kg
• Bus Journey Rs 400 for 200kms
• Electricity 3 times of today’s cost

Imagine living in a world with these prices and a huge scarcity of water, food, minerals, oil & gas and local goods & services.

Businesses will collapse, Banks will go bankrupt, and there will be blackouts and starvation and many new diseases to combat with. I won’t say that the earth will die but human race will certainly begin to die and will go through a massively troubled transition. This phenomenon will be witnessed by us before 2020.

The following events suggest what we have in store for us in the near future:

1. The Financial Crisis of 2008 & the collapse of Merrill Lynch,AIG, GM & Lehman Brothers 
2. US Federal Reserve printing more Benjamin bills .Do they know what the are doing?
3. The massive volcano burst in Iceland in May 2010 & AGAIN in May of 2011.(Next in line..Yellow Stone National Park Volcano)
4. Debt crisis in Europe. This is a ticking bomb! ( Portugal,Italy,Ireland, Greece & Spain) add Hungary & UK will join soon)
5. Political Unrest in Egypt,Syria,Tunisia,Libya,Yemen,Sudan & other gulf region countries who are oil reserves .
6. A massive 9 earthquake +Tsunami destroying Japan costing $400 Billions.
7. Iran Nuclear program
8. $  120 "Oil on the Boil" . Oil will get the world back into recession.
9. INFLATION Beat that ! All over the world.

Is all this development worth the massive destruction and loss to mankind & Nature? Keep questioning  !!!!

By – Dhiraj

Meditation

Everyone seeks peace and harmony, because this is what we lack in our lives. From time to time we all experience agitation, irritation, and disharmony. And when we suffer from these miseries, we don't keep them to ourselves we often distribute them to others as well. Unhappiness fills the atmosphere around someone who is miserable, and those who come in contact with such a person also become affected. This is not a way to live.

We have to live at peace with ourselves and at peace with others. After all, human beings are social beings, having to live in society and deal with each other. But how are we to live peacefully? How are we to remain harmonious within, and maintain peace and harmony around us, so that others can also live peacefully and harmoniously?

In order to be relieved of our misery, we have to know the basic reason for it, the cause of the suffering. If we investigate the problem, it becomes clear that whenever we start generating any negativity or impurity in the mind, we are bound to become unhappy. Negativity in the mind, a mental impurity, cannot coexist with peace and harmony.

Now how do we start generating negativity? Again, by investigating by meditation it becomes clear. We become unhappy when we find someone behaving in a way that we don't like, or when we find something happening which we don't like. Unwanted things happen and we create tension within. Wanted things do not happen, some obstacle comes in the way, and again we create tension within, we start tying knots within. And throughout life, unwanted things keep on happening, wanted things may or may not happen, and this process of reaction, of tying knots makes the entire mental and physical structure so tense, so full of negativity, that life becomes miserable.

How can we actually stay calm & peaceful without reacting to situations in a non-productive way? Sometimes if something unwanted happens and you start to react by generating anger, fear or any negativity, then as soon as possible, you should divert your attention to something else. For example, get up take a glass of water, start drinking—your anger won't multiply; on the other hand, it'll begin to subside. Or start counting: one, two, three, four…. Or start repeating a word, or a phrase, or some mantra, or the name of a god. The mind is diverted, and to some extent you'll be free of the negativity, free of the anger.

This works, I used to do that sometimes and recommended it in my training programs as well. However, I realize now that it is a temporary solution & by doing so I was actually multiplying the anger, negativity, hatred & with it a lot of impurities. On the surface there is a layer of peace and harmony, but in the depths of the mind there is a sleeping volcano which sooner or later may erupt in a violent explosion. That’s what happened to me last year. Diverting the attention is only running away from the problem. Escape is no solution; you have to face the problem. I ran too long & too far from everybody. The meditation helped me to observe every negativity & impurity in the mind. As soon as I started to observe a mental impurity, it began to lose its strength and slowly passed away.

I realized that life i.e. the human body is made of billions of sub atomic particles which are changing every second as we breathe in & out. The matter & space is changing constantly & permanently. Nothing is here to stay. Everything is Arising & Passing. All the sensory organs like the eye, ear, nose, tongue & skin play an important role in our happiness or unhappiness. Along with these sensory organs there is one more sense the MIND which has an even bigger impact on the way we live our lives.

The meditation helped me to understand & experience the Law of Impermanence. Meditation starts with observation of breath and then gradually moving to observe the gross & subtle sensations in the body. Now when sensations occur we either begin to like or dislike the sensations.  We start to crave for the sensations which bring pleasure and begin to avert the ones that bring displeasure. The meditation helped me in realizing and experiencing the truth that all these sensations are arising and passing every moment. Nothing is permanent. When the mind stops reacting to these sensations and begins to just observe then I got a feeling that I am beginning to be able to control my mind.

I read in the Bhagwad-Gita Krishna says, when one gets control of his sensory organs they become his friend & when the sensory organs take control they become the enemy. That was a fact for me only in theory until I experienced this truth.

The three reasons for human misery are Craving, Aversion & Ignorance.

Deeper the Craving

       Deeper is the Aversion,

Deeper the Aversion

       Deeper is the Suffering.

On the 5^th day of meditation something strange happened @ 6:30 pm during my meditation, I began to cry like never before. It was a very very different kind of feeling. I felt guilty, sinful & joyous. I felt like I was anew. I never had such feelings at the same time in the past. I spoke with my Guruji about this incident and he said the misery is evaporating from the body in the form of sensations. On  the 5^th morning of my meditation I was thinking what is a FACT for quite sometime and as I kept asking myself what it meant 4 words came to my mind in a flash of 4-5 seconds. They were…Fair, Accurate, Correct & True. I couldn’t believe my thought process and the depth of the mind. Then I realized the mind is really something nobody can define in one word. The mind is   beautiful, deep, vast, dangerous, gross, subtle, painful, miserable, joyous….It can be described in more ways than one could think.

Pure mind is always full of love. Selfless love for all others, full of compassion for the failings and sufferings of others, full of joy at their success and happiness, full of calmness in the face of any situation.

I read something very interesting about a month ago, it says—There are 2 things one must always forget & 2 things one must always never forget–

Two things to be forgotten are...

1. When you do something good to someone &
2. When someone does something bad to you.

Two things one must never forget are…

1. Always remember that you are going to die &
2. Always remember God

Since over a year I have been looking for peace & happiness, never got a bit of it.

I kept asking questions, looked at people to see if they were happy, observed nature, traveled from one place to another; but could not find peace or happiness. Infact, things started to deteriorate for me. I lost a lot of weight and became a very lonely & a quiet person. Somehow I never got into doing the wrong things that one would do in a situation I was in. I always believed that there is path to eternal peace and happiness because not only did I read and hear about it but I also felt that it existed. I began to read books on spirituality, good being, and religious scriptures. It gave me immense pleasure, peace & a sense of being loved & loving others. However, all this understanding of what I read was at a surface and an intellectual level.

I am fortunate enough to have come across Vipassana which literally means—seeing things the way they are and not the way you would like them to be.  This is a meditation technique discovered by Gautama Buddha in ancient India about 2500 years ago.

I feel I am blessed to have come across such a wonderful thing in my life. This helped in seeing the nature within me. I discovered that external things have nothing to do with my misery or joy, everything is internal. See thyself, through thyself. This is the experiential level.

I am still discovering to be to be silent, peaceful, still. Learn to be a no-mind. Nothing can be done before that and everything becomes easier after that. One may come across good health, illness, old age, anger, hatred– everything. Love needs to grow and for that one needs to take in everything that comes his way. When you choose a person, you commit yourself to the person’s totality. Ignorance lasts as long as one has ego. There can be no liberation so long as the ego remains.

Speak or act with an impure mind and trouble will follow you. It is so true. The art of living lies in having a pure mind. This is my biggest lesson.

We may pray a thousand times in our lifetime, but no god is coming to get you out of your misery. Chanting & prayers will certainly help subside your misery to a great extent but not fully until you have discovered and experienced the roots of misery and unhappiness yourself.

May all experience this ultimate truth. May all people be free from misery. May they enjoy real peace, harmony & happiness.

Let truth triumph

May all beings be Happy!

With lots of love,

Dhiraj

Make best use of this human life.
March 9, 2010 
Arambol Beach, Goa