Don’t Copy if you can’t Paste it

Words. Words. Words. Trillions of them are flooding Internet pipelines, Mail boxes, TV channels, Magazines, Newspapers, Forums and so on. Are the neuron networks in our brain prepared to receive it all? All it may require is a virtual command called 'open' to let it in. We can accept that today any literate armed with a PC hooked to an internet connection can contribute to the content overspill with comments more than one could have imagined in the past, thanks to the immense freedom of social media.

It’s hard to miss the ‘content explosion’ on Facebook and youtube. I am sure you have noticed the heavy dose of philosophies, quotes, video grabs, and sound bytes presented by your ever-confused friend in a startling unique flavour. Media hungriness is urging many of us to copy-paste content with intent to grab eye-balls and earn our importance on ever-expanding people networks. The zeal to make ourselves sound intelligent and aware has found many expressions. It has never been so easy and it is catching on like a bush fire. We seem to have lot of words to say on a public forum, while it takes tremendous effort to break into a conversation with our neighbour. Verbal diarrhea is an unwelcome guest that we have to bear with if we choose to co-exist on a platform that we love to share with everyone.

It may sound disturbing, but media research says that people hardly read anymore but quickly scan their eyes over articles. Can we blame anyone at all? Our content weary eyes have forced us to be extremely choosy, picking a few key words or images from 'here' and 'there' that really matter to us. If we have managed to grab a few seconds of readership from an overloaded, tired, net crawling, target audience, we can call it a success. There was a brilliant observation recently made by a writer on social media. He said "Facts are sacred. Comments are free".

We have all witnessed the power of social media to whip up the ‘soft power’ to drive social, environmental and political awareness. Thousands of vibrant communities co-exist and there are obvious gains of being connected, informed and inspired to take actions and not be a mute observer. A little observation will tell you that people are so different when you meet and talk to them. The same people can behave so brazenly when offered a space behind the curtain in a online discussion forum. The distinctive pattern however is that we can hear layers of masked voices and back up voices that support an idea or a comment, but muted expressions in reality.

Copy and Paste is probably the most common practice across the world. It won’t take you much effort to see content blatantly plagiarized and presented across the net as if it is an original idea and copyrights seem to apply to big business houses with muscle power and access to the best of corporate lawyers.

I remember posting a personal video on youtube. A few weeks later out of sheer curiosity, I googled the title of the video clip and was least surprised that the video appeared on 18 different websites without my permission. Was it time to celebrate, that my video has become a ‘viral’ on the net. How does it matter if it is replicated without my permission? Shouldn’t I accept that imitation is the best form of flattery?

TV channels have been churning hackneyed sitcoms and reality shows that seem so obnoxiously repetitive. It won’t be hard for one to realize that what happens in the west has high rate of imitation in the east. I recently heard a popular Indian film song and was a bit surprised to learn that it was copied from a Romanian church choir. One can admire how quickly our world has shrunk and we can claim that inspiration can come from anywhere. Inspiration may sound euphemistic to replace audacious plagiarism.

The global endemic of copy-paste has made its impact. There are far more followers than original and unique thinkers. One can risk being an outcast or a maverick if he is not follower of a style icon or fan of a celebrity. For teenagers it is supposed peer pressure to identify with a certain dress code, lifestyle, dialect, and broadcast their style as if the world was waiting to see their jeans worn below the waist. Now that everyone has known the fact that it was a jail bird’s mating call in a remote prison to drop their pants below their waist. Will the fashion houses hang their head in shame for misunderstanding a sexual suggestion and making it into an international code for dressing in jeans?

Most radio jockeys across the world have understood that they can get instant attention if they gossip about film celebrities with least regards for playing appreciable music or adding any worthwhile information about singers or song writers. It never ceases to amaze me that how a trashy song can become an instant rage worldwide and versions of the song in multiple languages emerge overnight.
We have all seen how mediocrity can get appreciated beyond reasoning and celebrities emerging out of thin air with instant followers across the world, most of them who have no clue why they like them at all.

It seems to have sunk in that most of us are inclined to become fans, followers, imitators and pretenders, while refusing to recognize the immense creative potential that is latent within us. We are a part of large machine whose wheels are spinning uncontrollably. The question lingers, do we resign ourselves to be a just another cog in the wheel and settle down to mediocrity or do we have the courage to step out of the ordinariness. Are we ready to awaken the potential within us to be original, unique and pursue creativity?

To sum it up, our life is made of choices. These choices could lead us to chances in life and work upon the changes that we are looking for. We can’t dispute that we all have more than an opinion about everything. We have been trying hard to make our opinions felt. To keep it ridiculously simple and rather pseudo, there is a popular option on Facebook called ‘Like’ and for those who want to reverse their decision instantly there is the ‘Unlike’. We all have found ways of expression and what we like or dislike. The extent of this is reinforced by Facebook report that it receives 3 billion ‘like’ clicks in a day.

Life is not as simple as it seems that we can change it with click of a button. We can awaken ourselves from the deep slumber of ordinariness and walk the path of excellence by being original, creative and carve a niche for ourselves. If words were good enough to inspire people into well being, peace, love and compassion, we would not have witnessed the extent of suffering we see across the globe. Changes come with action driven by our vision and goals and not by chasing other's dreams. A moment in realization is more powerful than a lifetime of words. So there is more wisdom in knowing ourselves rather than imitating someone else blindly.

seed of desire- Insights for spiritual seekers

Lets ponder about a simple and yet profound phenomenon that happens in nature. Many seeds fall into the earth from a tree. Lets assume that all of them have been receiving almost the same amount of the water, oxygen and sunlight, we notice that many of the seeds do not germinate and eventually perish. Which one of them is going to germinate and sprout is a tricky question.

Behind the science of the nature is a powerful intellect. The intellect is operating through divine consciousness which is existing in every living matter in its 'potentia' form. In this instance, every seed that has dropped into the earth has a 'potential' to sprout and become a tree. Each seed is intelligent enough. However the varying factor is availability of resource. Considering that all seeds have received the resources in equal proportions, why don't all the seeds germinate?

The answer could lie in an important driving force that every living entity have within. Its called "intent". This immensely potent force that drives a seed from its dormant state into innate urge to sprout. That is why it is called the 'seed of desire'

A seed has the blue print of the tree within its DNA. A seed with deep desire looks up and watches the tree. How big are you? Can I ever become so big and powerful? The tree responds with a 'YES'. The deeply ingrained intent within the seed explodes with excitement and the seed sprouts. Thus begins the journey of another tree in the wheels of evolution.

In our spiritual journey too, the ascension process begins with an Iccha -Desire. When Iccha becomes strong, it ushers the sadhaka to perform 'kriya'. When kriya is done with intent to achieve union with paramatma, the sadhaka is rewarded with a state of union, which leads to Paramarthika Jnana.

When grace descends, the spirit ascends. Thus the progressive journey of Iccha- Kriya-Jnana becomes the highway to ascension and awareness of cosmic consciousness.

I request each one of you to contribute your comments of how you have experienced more 'jnana' (direct knowing) through directing your 'iccha' and 'kriya'

OM NAMAHA SHIVAYA

Stunning starlit sky at Darchen in Tibet. Truly Unforgettable!!!

The Sun had set on Darchen, the base camp for trekkers’ en-route the circumambulation of the Mount Kailash. We had retired to our bed after a simple dinner of dal and rice that our sherpas had cooked for us. I rested in my sleeping bag, reminiscing about the alluring sights of Tibet that we saw during the drive through the day.

We had driven on dirt tracks enjoying the magnificent view of shishapangma mountain range, the only eight-thousander (peaks that are 8000 meters above sea level) in Tibet. The uniqueness of Tibet is that one can’t miss the sight of desert sand-green grass-pure water lake-rocky and snow capped mountains in a single panoramic frame. Being in Tibet opens our eyes in many ways. The first lesson is of gratitude for what we have and how we feel about it. Watching the tibetan gypsies live with scarcest resources of food and walk hundreds of miles of wilderness enduring weather that is unforgiving most part of the year, made me wonder how little do we know about their hardships, and how easily we complain despite all comforts and convenience available to us.

We had driven through dusty roads on our SUVs, while feasting our eyes on the wonderful sights of lakes and rocky and snow capped mountains, while the road remained remarkably flat at 15, 000 feet above sea level. Well, we shouldn’t be surprised at all. We were at theroof top of the world. Nature never ceases to excite and amaze a traveler, especially in Tibet. The clear blue sky showcased us with large low hanging clouds in mushroom formations and various symbols that seemed to communicate with us with sacred symbolism.

I did not know much about Darchen, apart from the fact that it served as an overnight halting point, before we set foot on the eagerly awaited 52 kms trek around Mount Kailash. There was nothing spectacular about this small, dusty village. I had drifted into deep sleep, when my friend who was sleeping in the adjacent bed, was calling my name in a hurried tone. I asked her what she wanted.

I want to attend the nature’s call. Can you accompany me? I am really scared of those Tibetan mastiff dogs. Her voice was clear and urged me into action.

A few minutes later, we were walking out in the open ground outside the lodge. Suddenly she gripped my hand tightly and squealed- Oh My God, look at the sky!!! When I looked up, I just froze. A deep chill ran up my spine. It’s hard to describe what we saw that night. The whole sky was immensely clustered with the brightest stars that we had ever seen. So intense was the sight of the Milky Way that it was hard to believe that we saw was the light from stars that was emitted several million or billion light years ago. The stars we were admiring were no longer there, as we assumed them to be.

How small and insignificant are we in this macrocosm? How powerful we assume to be, while we are just a micro bundle of elements, attracting an immensely powerful light called 'soul' within our frail bodies.

These ponderings will lead us to more deeper understanding of cosmology, spirituality, and our evolutionary journey and return to our source.