Let us THINK : By Dr.King

[Quick links] [Pause] You probably are aware of an Indian Yogi who is quite popular these days. This Yogi who runs multi-billion corporate houses, with his finger in almost in every pie, has made his version of Yoga almost a craze among the Indian masses.

[Quick links] [Pause] Imagine a miserly man who always stashes his wealth in a locker. He has lot of wealth but it is of no use. Unless he takes it out from the locker and uses it, it is as good as his not having it!  

[Quick links] [Pause] There is an interesting story in the ancient Indian mythology. Apparently, there was a wicked King by name Bali. God wanted to minimize his menace to mankind. So, God took the form of a dwarf – Vamana and approached the king asking for 3 foot holds of land.  The king thought – “Afterall a dwarf! How much land he can lay his foot on?” So, he agreed to give him that much land. 

[Quick links] [Pause] Now-a-days one keeps coming across many Gurus, who use miracles to attract more followers. They write books on their mystic experiences; put up internet ads promising wonderful results if you enroll in their courses. But we often close our eyes to miracles that have been going on around us since ages and still very active. But these miracle makers don’t put up ads, nor they are interested in our ‘donations’.  Are you aware of them?

[Quick links] [Pause] I see spirituality in most of what I do. To me gardening is not just a hobby or pastime, but a deep involvement with the nature around. Some form of meditation, some way of universalizing.

[Quick links] [Pause] When some one fools around a bit too much with a long poky nose, we tell that person - “Mind your own business!” But unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, Mind IS my BUSYness!

[Quick links] [Pause] No, I am not playing the devil’s advocate. But I am only trying to look deeper and see whether there is any justification to whatever Krishna did; Whether Vyasa really convey the intricacies of righteousness or Dharma through his master piece namely the Mahabharata.

[Quick links] [Pause] For the past several weeks, we have been discussing the great Indian Epic namely the Mahabharata.  As we saw, the most significant part of this story is the final war in which millions were massacred – brothers killed brothers, students killed their teachers, sons killed their parents and grandparents, friends killed their friends, and so on. It was a saga of brutal killing and ‘fight unto death’ with utter disregard to right and wrong. In that case, how was the war called the war of righteousness? Apparently, the author of this Epic, namely Vyasa, is supposed to have written it to convey what righteousness is all about!

[Quick links] [Pause] As we discussed in the previous episode, the stage was all set for the final act of this drama of war of righteousness! Duryodhana had emerged from his hideout from beneath the lake. Though tired, he was ready to fight his archrival Bhima in a last ‘do or die’ act. Bhima who was waiting all along for this opportunity was all the more ready.

[Quick links] [Pause] Well, we are discussing a story that probably took place when Bible was not even there. I am just using a popular phrase! After the death of Karna, that we discussed in the previous episode, the Kauravas were totally disarrayed. Duryodhana was struck by immense grief. He not only lost his best friend, but also lost the last surviving warrior who could possibly win him the kingdom that seemed to go into the hands of the Pandavas.

[Quick links] [Pause] Many of us remember righteousness only when we are at the receiving end. When all is well with us, we don’t care for right and wrong. But, when we are helpless, suddenly we remember righteousness and start preaching others about how they should act!

[Quick links] [Pause] Having promised his elder brother Yudhishthira that he would slay Karna that day, Arjuna along with Krishna rushed to the battle field looking for Karna. Karna too was all set. He had made up his mind that either he would kill Arjuna that day or get killed by him. There was no way both could return from the war field live that day.

[Quick links] [Pause] Most of us tend to make silly mistakes when we are frustrated and desperate. Our wisdom evades us and we make fool of ourselves. Probably, that is what happened to Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas.

[Quick links] [Pause] That is what happened to Karna, the great friend of the Kaurava King Duryodhana. Karna was actually an abandoned child brought up by a poor charioteer. So, all through his life, he was ridiculed as a ‘Soota Putra’, meaning a charioteer’s son.

[Quick links] [Pause] After the slaughter of great warrior Abhimanyu by deceit, the saga of deceit continued with either side resorting to all kinds of unfair means to kill each other.