ESSAY- 1 : The Illusion of Choice

I had two interesting conversations with two different people (of opposite genders) last week. One centered on the difference between 'Choice and Decision' and the other being between 'Religion and God'. Apparently, both the guys differed from my point of view and stated some strong arguments in their favour. We did not reach any conclusion per se, but did feel that it was a topic for further exploration.

In this essay, I have tried to reflect on some of the views hovering around these topics. I will not try to 'explain' it, but take it to a state from which i would wish the thought processes to continue.

Choice and Decision
Choice is a 'state of mind' , which sees the presence of one(Hobson's) or more course of actions, given a particular predicament.
Decision is a logical conclusion arrived at by considering all the available choices(course of actions).

According to Hinduism, Maya is a state wherein the mind sees something that is either ephemeral,evanescent or is not-present - this is something similar to illusion. The mind conjectures certain conditions which leads it to 'see' certain things that are not present. The last sentence is indeed interesting. Firstly, how can the mind 'imagine' something that it has never seen - how it can 'make' things without having an experience of the same. For eg. a person knows that a desert is hot and arid because he has experienced it. Now for a person who doesn't even know what a desert is , or even further, hasn't even heard the word - then how can he imagine the 'state of a desert'. It follows that if a person who has already been to a desert (say Bob) explains it verbally to a person who hasn't been there(say Alice), then there are some good chances that Alice can come up with a rough version of a picture of the desert. This is because, Bob was able to relate to the conditions in a desert to a conditions that Alice would have felt when at home or at her present state;but the same scenario becomes difficult for Bob, if Alice was blind since birth.

Experiences do matter.

Religion and God
Religion is a set of rules put forth by our predecessors to bring discipline into our lives. Religion for that matter can be equated to the constitution to be followed in one's life - a way of life. It prescribes some notions that when followed lead to an enhanced status of living with superior intellectual pursuits. The presence of different religions around is a depiction of different schools of thought. Each religion (or school) prescribes certain activities that was felt by a 'single' person to be significant and a mass followed him for the wavelength matched with the Master. The creation of a new school of thought was deeply influenced by the social dynamics and interpersonal relationships. Whenever the society(which constitutes of that 'single' person in the begining) feels that a certain rule needs to be broken or created altogether , and which was totally complementary to the one already existing in the present religion, a new discipline/religion was born.

Now, the creators of the religion(or constitution) did realize that it was difficult for the society to follow some rules when there was no one to supervise and hence 'God' was created. [The concept of 'God' is one of the most beautiful things that fascinates me till date , for it amuses/amazes me - but the thirst still persists and am continuing my hunt to satiate it.] According to humans, God is the one who was supposed to have created the 'new' religion and hence he is the Supreme - the omnipresent - the omniscient. Different rules where ascribed to different Gods.

Symbolism
A perspective that has been missing in both the conversations has been the relevance of symbolism. Symbolism cannot be equated to Experience. The concept of Choice and God is sheer symbolism. We cannot describe either of them, unless we feel them; and describing the experiences is beyond the bounds of the lexicon. These words are the feelings that come closest to the experience, but the feelings cannot be sustituted for a constrained set of grammar rules and words.

As Gary Zukov points out in his book[2], let the masters continue to dance... let the music flow and let us dance along with it. We are least bothered about what had transpired and what is supposed to come. We are just concerened about the present and the dance and the mysticism associated with it.

Finishing Notes....... My knowledge on this subject is very much limited and am trying to understand it more. This essay is not an effort to vandalize the existing customs or rituals , but an effort to share some views that i feel were worthy of consideration in this world. This essay also does not reflect all the rationale behind the topic of contention and many other views that are equally important in understanding the subject. The subject is worthy of exploration and more research, and it carries an enormous philosophical and psychological angle to it. I do not deny the existence of God and neither question the relvance of religion - i do visit temples , pray and prostrate - but i want to understand this 'phenomenon' in its entirety , for it encompasses some of the most delicate and controversial dogmas, principles and thoughts around.

Who am I? Why I am here? What am i supposed to do? What have i done? (Origin > Identity > Destiny)

Humans are causal beings - we ascribe 'causes' to whatever we see happening - this notion is reflected in almost in all the religions - its called 'karma'. I atleast know that Hinduism and Buddhism do lay emphasis on 'karma'. Bible certainly conveys the same essence [1]:

# A person reaps what he sows. (Gal. 6:7)
# All things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

Karma does not mean that all events are predetermined; what it means is that the it is us who control what has to happen to us.

I do not believe in another 'term' that keeps floating around -- LUCK. Luck a term directed at something that is beyond the control of human mind ,and which we prescribe to when things do not happen as we anticipate them - and i find this to be weird and unacceptable. It is the human mind that decides its course of action; though it should be taken into account that the human mind does decide its course based on the current state of things and the things that have been learnt from the past. The symbiosis of Eastern Mysticism with Western Science is a very potent relationship and should be studied very carefully, with interest.

References:
[1] Buddhism Karma [http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/karma.html]
[2] Dancing Wu Li Masters - Gary Zukov
[...] experiences that has been gained in my limited stay on this planet :)

The Red Pill taker

The cliche goes :
" There are 2 kinds of people :
( i ) who look at things and ask '- Whats the cause for these to be in the present state? and
( ii ) those who look at things and ask - Why cant these be like this?
"

It is the Choice that matters the most. One who is able to understand the rudimentary problem and is able to make an effective decision considering all the constraints and the goal in mind will be 'The One'. The 'One' doesnt refer to a supra-human who can lift buses/trains and can fly in the air ; it refers to the thought process that a person posses by virtue of which he/she can conquer any problem at hand.This in turn reflects on the confidence levels and associated risk-taking abilities that one might have.

Understanding the case,constraints, possible solutions and framing a feasible course of action with the minimal risk factor can be said to resemble ANOVA(Analysis of Variance). A matrix of the constraints available and solutions would help us in doing a thorough analysis. It also helps us in framing the risk associated with each and every move.Decision Trees are a quick way of framing strategies with associated probability of success and risk.

Everyone is aware of these managerial tools; but it is the 'One' who can truly apply these tools in real-world problems and emerge with a most feasible and succesul solution. We all have been blessed with almost similar skills ; but the ability to understand the intricacies and making(and not chosing) the decision is what that counts.

I cannot restrain from quoting Lee Iacoca - "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."

The Isolated Frog Syndrome

The Isolated Frog Syndrome
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Before you start reading this text, let me make a disclaimer : I am not sure if the the term 'The Isolated Frog Syndrome' already exists in the English Vocabulary. If it exists then my most humble apologies to the author for inventing this 'beautiful' phrase - there was no intent of plagiarization over here...and I respect the IPRs of the author; However If the phrase does not already exist, then I do have the copyright(or left) of the usage of the word. However, for the sake of the general audience I have 'opened' the copyright so that you can use them in your day-2-day vocabs; But do give the credits to me for coining this rather 'funtastic' phrase which you will find tempting to use in various connotations.

Now coming to the actual phrase and wat it exactly means ...etc ..etc.........

My initial professional career in the IT Industry saw many ppl. I had the opportunity to work with the top brass.I learnt a lot of ppl management and 'handling' skills.It was during my stay here that I made an interesting observation. Let me share my revelations with you (am I sounding like the 'AGENT'...nway...) :

I found that the managers are essentially are of 2 kinds :

one who have the 'real' xperience - this they would have gained by working in various indutries and with a variegated working environment. They know the intricacies of the term 'management' and set a precedent by their style of functioning and working. They are leaders and managers in the true sense of the word.

The other class of 'managers' sprout from the relatively 'uncharted' waters of the industry...that is these are the managers that are homebred or homegrown. They would have become managers by due to the sheer 'lack' of compeitition in the firm, for which they have been serving since time-immemoorial.They have high visibility in the organization and can control(or rather 'handle') the resources with relative ease - due to their POWER.


The term 'The Isolated Frog Syndrome' denotes the second class of managers.The problem with this class of managers is that since they lack the vision of the outside world , they tend to feel and start practicing the traditions of the company; the irony here is that , it is in fact these ppl who set the traditions of the company. The result of this trend setting is that, if a fresher joins in this 'well'(the firm), then the 'frog'(who is our manager) directs him that the outside world is not what he thinks; in fact our frog doesnt even know wat is happening in the 'real' world. Due to this, if our buddy 'guest'(fresher) happens to question some of the rather idiosyncratic actions / behaviours of the frog, he is reprimanded and is reminded by the frog that he better confim to the culture of the firm(the well) and take the pride in being a part of this phenomenon.

But time has its own due course. One day our buddy(fresher), decides that he is going to have a taste of the outside world and going to seek 'nirvana' from the WELL.The WELL remains a mute spectator.