The four states of Consciousness or is it five states

The four states of Consciousness or is it five states really:

1) Jagrat- when we are fully awake and when all our 5 senses are active and mind and the body work in tandem. What we do in this state of wakefulness has been described in all our philosophies and Katho Upanishad's story of Nachiketa's dialogue with Yama gives a glimpse. When the young boy Nachiketa asks Yama for the third boon asking him to explain the mystery of what happens after death, Yama after showing reluctance initially ,answers and blesses Nachiketa for his steadfastness .Yama says the Self/Soul is the lord of the chariot, the body is the chariot, the intellect is the charioteer, the mind is the reins, and the five senses are the horses leading the chariot wallowing through the desires of life.

The same is also told by Bhagawan Krishna in Chapter 3 verse 43 indirectly when he said "jahi Shatrum kama roopam dhurasatham" -that for slaying the lust and desires, one should control the senses through the strength of the soul with the discerning intellect (buddhi) as the charioteer and mind as the reins.

The great Thiruvalluvar also says
"ஒருமையுள் ஆமைபோல் ஐந்தடக்கல் ஆற்றின்

எழுமையும் ஏமாப் புடைத்து. (Like a tortoise withdrawing its limbs and head into its shell, if all the five senses are controlled by an individual in one birth, it will continue to guide him for seven births) kural 126

2. the second stage is Swapna and this is the stage where the person is taken to the world of illusion and many philosophers say that this stage of swapna in sleep itself is swapna within a swapna. When we realise Jagat as mithya(Brahma sathyam , we know that even in the state of wakefulness we are experiencing an illusory world. So this state of Swapna while sleeping is called "Swapna inside a  Swapna". It is also called mind weaving dream experiences which try to imitate real-life instances.

3.Sushupti which is the third stage , is that of deep sleep when the mind is at rest and all the five senses losing their original state, the self losing its relevance and one with the universal consciousness. "i" is dead in Sushupti (உறங்குதல் போலும் சாக்காடு...).

4) Turiya , the fourth stage, is called Transcendental consciousness which is experienced as being one with the Whole, where the distinction between Self and the Absolute is realised and observed. This is a higher state of mind called Savikalpa Samadhi.

4) Turiyata or Chidakasa is the ultimate stage, where the Self is lost and the distinction between Self and Absolute dissolves and the whole universe is realised as Paramatman. The mind becomes Sat-chit-ananda.This is the highest state of mind called Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

Saints like Kanchi Periava, Ramana Maharishi, Kuzhandaiananda Swamigal, Seshadri Swamigal, Shirdi Sai baba were all living examples of this during 20th century.

Are we not blessed to have seen or known them during our lifetime!!Some good karma.!!

Progressive Compromises....!

The great Tamil writer  சுஜாதா(Sujatha) once wrote that our lives are one of Progressive Compromises of unfulfilled wishes and wants.

When we are born, Sigmund Freud said ,that we are born with Id, Ego and Alterego-the three states of our subconscious existence and the interplay between these three manifests in our personality and reflect in our behavioural traits.

Eric Berne wrote a famous book "Games People Play:The Psychology of Human Relationships" where he described how Child,Adult and Parent ego states play and he described it in terms Transactional Analysis for interpreting all the social interactions.He also went on to say that people also play mind games with hidden motives,desires etc. and described such negative behaviours in terms of the ego states dominating the individuals.

For solving the life's problems Thomas Harris wrote a practical guide "I'm Ok, You are OK" by doing  the Transactional Analysis of the behavioural pattern of individuals.This is based on the Johari Window concept developed by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham where the four  quadrants are fit in the understanding of the relationship with themselves and with others:" I'm not Ok, you are not OK', I'm not ok,you are OK", "I'm OK, you are not OK", "I'm OK, You are OK".

So all these stalwarts have explained what is happening in our daily interactions but none of them have looked at what it means to individuals in the long term for themselves or for the society at large.

However, even if somebody is in the quadrant of I'm OK, You are OK, with the right blend of Adult, Parent and Child egos , then with aging there can be "progressive compromises" and that is what writer Sujatha alludes to.

He goes on to explain that in his twenties he wanted to play guitar and buy a piece of Moon. But over a period of time his ambitions mellowed down and finally when he reached the 70s in age , even passing urine daily morning without any complication,according to him, became an achievement in one's life. May sound funny but it outlines a question as to what is the purpose of one's life. is it only Progressive Compromises or something more? We can feel within ourselves that there can be or should be something more to life.

Many philosophers have pondered over this question and in India all the Masters and Spiritual Gurus have categorically told that the surrendering of the self to Bhagawan is the ultimate purpose of life. But the means advocated is like what 15th century Gujarati poet Narsinh Mehta sung:" vaiṣṇava jana to tene kahiye 
                                                                                                 je pīḍa parāyī jāṇe re,"

                                                                                          (Call those people Vaishnav who
                                                                                                 Feel the pain of others,)

So helping those in pain and misery is the means by which one surrenders himself  to Bhagawan.

Is there any better way of explaining the purpose of Life!!May be, but in all humility, I want to say ,I don't know.

Art of living and 5 random acts of kindness

I had the privilege and honour of attending "Art of Living" sessions for 4 consecutive days.

the sessions were very informative, opening many doors for me even though known to me. There were exercises for the conscious, subconscious and superconscious levels.

One of the tasks given to us was to do 5 random acts of Kindness by each one of the participants. This was thought-provoking for me ,since I wanted to continue with it every day. Feeding a dog, crow, helping your wife in household chores(Is it an act of kindness!!), making a small donation, etc. But sustaining this on a day to day basis every day is highly demanding. So I have reduced it to at least 2 acts of kindness per day!!

There are a few important powerful messages I received:

1)Opposite values are complementary- day/night, ugly/beautiful, good/bad- one cannot exist without the other. Somebody said Opposites merge in Oneness like Seshnag and Garuda exist in one abode with Bhagwan. Thiruvalluvar said "
வேண்டுதல் வேண்டாமை இலான்அடி சேர்ந்தார்க்கு 
யாண்டும் இடும்பை இல 
(அதிகாரம்:கடவுள் வாழ்த்து குறள் எண்:4) "

(To those who meditate the feet of Him who is void of desire and/or aversion,evil shall never come)

இருள்சேர் இருவினையும் சேரா இறைவன்
பொருள்சேர் புகழ்புரிந்தார் மாட்டு 
(அதிகாரம்:கடவுள் வாழ்த்து குறள் எண்:5) "

(The twin-fold deeds that spring/lead, from/to darkness, shall not adhere to those who delight in the true praise of God)

In both the above kurals the emphasis is on opposites losing their values in front of God.

2)Pl. don't see intentions behind other peoples' mistakes/actions;i.e many a time we start jumping drawing diabolical evil intentions, purposes,motives behind others' actions. That is for Police and Judiciary to see and not for the common man who is in search of  harmony.

3)Pl. do not be a football for others; willingly you can be a football for some time but do not allow others to use you like a football. Even Lord Krishna ,when he went as Pandava Dhootha allowed the enemies to play him like a football but with the good intention of preventing a war. 

4)Accept people and situations as they are. Most of the time we react to others but not respond to others. Forgive and forget even those who have done the worst to you. This is being proactive in forgiving and forgetting for getting ahead with life.

5)Always live in the present and not brood over the past or worry about the future or the unknown. Give 100% to the present moment and action is important for peace of mind without any regrets in the future.

We are all energy microcosm and so since energy is neither made or destroyed in the Universe but only transformed,the rightful conclusion is that we have been in this Universe from time immemorial.

Am I counting my blessings or accounting for the missing, daily!!!

The Interactive Triangle -how do we lead a life!

Humans are students of life with the ability to help others in every possible way, however small may it be, day in and day out and go up in the ladder of evolvement of their individual souls. In this process they realise that they are preprogrammed machines with same set of Operating Systems  of mind and senses ,but with a discerning intellect guided by the Paramatman from deep inside.

Some may agree that the "inner voice" of conscience, as Gandhiji would put it,  is God speaking to you or through you and many may disagree with this. Let us not digress into that.Let us keep it aside as this is a black box about which discussion can go on endlessly.

But the elephant in the room is that we have limited cognition of both our external  universe i.e physical outer world as well as, of the inner mind space world. We are only tuned into certain frequencies or preset softwares, for the purpose of our existence in this earth.

We are daily shaped by our observations cum experiences , which form our memories of short run and long run based on our Cognitions or Perceptions. All these interact and reinforce each other continuously defining our path of life.
The Interactive Triangle can be presented this way: (Ego is Gross and Consciousness is subtle- but both exist)

The Interactive Triangle

Bacteriophages, Ganges and MIT on fasting.

In 1896, Ernest Hanbury Hankin, a British Bacteriologist, Chemist, came out with a finding that the Indian rivers, Ganges and Jamuna could actually restrict the outbreak of cholera and in fact the waters could destroy the Cholera bacteria. He was the first to detect the bacteriophage activity and its presence in the river waters of Ganges and Jamuna. A startling discovery when the whole world was saying the river waters of Ganges were the most polluted.link. In his own words
"It is seen that the unboiled water of the Ganges kills the cholera germ in less than 3 hours. The same water, when boiled, does not have the same effect. On the other hand, well water is a good medium for this microbe, whether boiled or filtered."

This was mentioned even by Mark Twain in his More Tramps Abroad.

Recently microbiology researchers from Chandigarh's Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), studied the healing properties of Ganges water at its upper reaches and found bacteriophage activity which destroys the disease causing bacteria. The bacteriophage is a type of virus that eats up bacteria.link.

Recently MIT came up with a study on fasting by humans and its beneficial impact on human health.link "Fasting boosts stem cell regenerative capacity"- the MIT article says,

"As people age, their intestinal stem cells begin to lose their ability to regenerate. These stem cells are the source for all new intestinal cells, so this decline can make it more difficult to recover from gastrointestinal infections or other conditions that affect the intestine.

This age-related loss of stem cell function can be reversed by a 24-hour fast, according to a new study from MIT biologists. The researchers found that fasting dramatically improves stem cells’ ability to regenerate, in both aged and young mice."

Indians practice this 24-hour fasting once in 15 days on the Ekadasi day from time immemorial.

The human body is an intelligent machine with recuperative and regenerative capacity and given the right metabolic switch , it can mend itself when disease strikes.

All the Siddhars of India emphasized that "உணவே மருந்து"(Food is medicine) when taken in the right quantity at the right time intervals. Thiruvalluvar has also emphasized this in his kural chapter "மருந்து". 

India is a land possessing all the keys to the world's problems, if only you explored.

Health welfare policies to dovetail into Economic Policy making and emerging New Normal

When coming out of a pandemic will the world view change?

I recently read that Ms.Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, has inducted more Virologists, Epidemiologists and Sociologists etc. into her team for the purpose of decision making in these challenging times of the pandemic.Of course there are Economists also in the policy making.

Leaders around the world either leading a country or leading a corporation have started listening to the Health Experts for formulating new Age policies across the continents. The Health policy to dovetail into Economic Policy of the country. So far countries have been juggling only with Monetary Policy and Fiscal Policy but now the "New Normal" has emerged, where economic policy making is incumbent upon Health Policy direction, speed and spread.

The following graph will illustrate how Economic well being and growth of a country is going to hinge on its Health Policy and Infra in the coming years.

As Risk Management Experts view this pandemic  " Black Swan" event  Low probability but High impact event ; some calling it Grey Rhino event (high impact but known unknown)as the world neglected the repeated warnings of the pandemic outbreak for sometime now. May be only the timing and impact was not known.

But to come out of it we need to build bottom up with both robust Health Policy vectors intertwined with Economic policies that provide nudges for better health outcomes on a long term basis.

We need to appreciate that there may be many  windows through which the diverse view points will emerge and for formulating future policies either at Governmental level or at a Corporate House level , all these windows need to be opened and studied/listened to ,for a Sustainable Governance architecture.

Amid the pandemic, demands for social equality emerging out of George Floyd's death ,turning into demands for economic equality in a society of Haves and Havenots are deafening.

Welcome to the world of New Normal!!

Land is not manufactured anymore! Can we turn this on its head.

"Buy land, they're not making it anymore"-Mark Twain

Govt. is in the process of identifying land parcels for attracting industries moving out of China for want of safe haven. If big land parcels can be earmarked for setting up Industrial parks and industrial clusters, it will give a huge fillip for Make in India campaign.

As PM said India has the Intent, it paves way for Inclusion,  provides Infrastructure. attracts Investment and enables  Innovation. But what is stopping it from leap frogging. It is redtapism in land acquisition ,lackadaisical Court procedures and the greed of politicians that put paid to ambitions of growth in Make in India. Even smaller countries like Vietnam, Indonesia are able to attract industries moving out of China in a big way but the sleeping giant like India falters.

Despite improving the ranking in Ease of Doing Business has the economy really energised itself to become an aspiring industrial giant. There are green shoots here and there , but one swallow does not make a summer. We know of several projects that are languishing due to land acquisition hurdles like Chennai MRTS last leg of just 500 meters upto St Thomas Mount for more than a decade. Who pays for the time, cost over runs. Nothing is free in economics and only the poor taxpayer foots the additional bill and he gets empty rhetoric but gets no infra facility for decades.

Some out of the box solutions for land parcels will have to be found out. We know that land is not manufactured anymore.Is it really? Can we not flatten some of the mounds, hillocks around our cities and build industrial parks.

For example near Chennai airport there are few hillocks and if they are removed or flattened reasonably, many industries can be located. If these rocks removed from such hillocks are deposited near our Coastline can we build small islands to locate some industries over there?

Can we start manufacturing lands as part of Make in India initiative?