We perceive the world at different levels of clarity.
This varies across individuals, obviously.
This also varies within the same individuals at different times.
This can be a source of frustration at times.
The key is to realize there is an inner state associated with clarity of perception.
Our energy needs to be directed towards enhancing this inner state. The "how" of the outcome is really not in our hands.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Carbon Neutral
My thoughts on being carbon neutral:
1) The very way we are setup to live emits carbon. For the sake of purists, I am excluding breathing as an exception, LOL! Something as trivial as switching on a fan! Our electricity is fossil fuel based. Our automobiles are fossil fuel based. Even if you use public transport, you should take a share of the pie. You can cycle to work - the long term usage fo a bicycle will offset the carbon emitted from a production perspective.
2) In general, the planet has protection mechanisms to offset increased carbon. We are working on a multi pronged approach to disable that! On one side is the steady rise of emissions. On the other side, is the steady destruction of forests (*1).
3) One human being carbon neutral has near nil effect on the atmosphere. But seven billion? But it is not practically feasible. This is not a pessimistic statement of any sort, but the way we are setup in terms of day to day operations makes it infeasible. Can I cycle 30 or 60 kms daily to my office?
4) However, industries can be carbon neutral. Corporations can be carbon neutral. No, I am not trying to shift responsiblity. It is like, giants causing destruction and ants trying to reverse it. People who are directly responsible for a situation can do best to first stop and then reverse damages. For example, if all paper companies decide to use hemp(*2) instead of wood pulp, trees will no longer be cut in the same scale. Today, we are trying to plant trees at an individual level which are being cut at the size of states (see *1 below). And is it practically possible? Why not? See Iceland as an example. (*3)
5) I was originally assuming that all these alarms would either be acted upon, at minimum be acknowledged. But a really cunning strategy being followed is denial. "Yes, we hear you, but you're wrong! These evidences are coincidences or they do not directly produce an inference to the root cause." Very good excuses, but at a point in the future, the undo button will be disabled!
6) We really need to change! Change at a fundamental level. I wrote my thoughts earlier. Just for argument's sake, let us assume that global warming is a myth. In any case, doesn't switching to renewable make sense? Can we agree that, at the current rate, there will be no more trees by 2020 or 2030? Do we have an ingenious plan to produce cheap oxygen cylinders for the entire global community? They day we hear something like that, we can give kudos for royally screwing up something that is in the palm of our hands today - literally!
7) What am I trying to say eventually? Do your best at reducing your carbon foot print. In the end, whatever effect you achieve will only be trivial. Still do it! It will make a statement. But eventually, it is the large scale changes that will save the planet!
(*1) I have written this citation multiple times, from Thom Hartmann's "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" - the total forest cover in the world is equivalent to the area of USA today. We are removing a chunk equivalent to the size of Florida every year. You do the math.
(*2) Hemp
(*3) Iceland's energy consumption is from 100% renewable sources. No kidding. 27% Geothermal and 73% Hydro power. Please don't start an argument stating Iceland is small.
1) The very way we are setup to live emits carbon. For the sake of purists, I am excluding breathing as an exception, LOL! Something as trivial as switching on a fan! Our electricity is fossil fuel based. Our automobiles are fossil fuel based. Even if you use public transport, you should take a share of the pie. You can cycle to work - the long term usage fo a bicycle will offset the carbon emitted from a production perspective.
2) In general, the planet has protection mechanisms to offset increased carbon. We are working on a multi pronged approach to disable that! On one side is the steady rise of emissions. On the other side, is the steady destruction of forests (*1).
3) One human being carbon neutral has near nil effect on the atmosphere. But seven billion? But it is not practically feasible. This is not a pessimistic statement of any sort, but the way we are setup in terms of day to day operations makes it infeasible. Can I cycle 30 or 60 kms daily to my office?
4) However, industries can be carbon neutral. Corporations can be carbon neutral. No, I am not trying to shift responsiblity. It is like, giants causing destruction and ants trying to reverse it. People who are directly responsible for a situation can do best to first stop and then reverse damages. For example, if all paper companies decide to use hemp(*2) instead of wood pulp, trees will no longer be cut in the same scale. Today, we are trying to plant trees at an individual level which are being cut at the size of states (see *1 below). And is it practically possible? Why not? See Iceland as an example. (*3)
5) I was originally assuming that all these alarms would either be acted upon, at minimum be acknowledged. But a really cunning strategy being followed is denial. "Yes, we hear you, but you're wrong! These evidences are coincidences or they do not directly produce an inference to the root cause." Very good excuses, but at a point in the future, the undo button will be disabled!
6) We really need to change! Change at a fundamental level. I wrote my thoughts earlier. Just for argument's sake, let us assume that global warming is a myth. In any case, doesn't switching to renewable make sense? Can we agree that, at the current rate, there will be no more trees by 2020 or 2030? Do we have an ingenious plan to produce cheap oxygen cylinders for the entire global community? They day we hear something like that, we can give kudos for royally screwing up something that is in the palm of our hands today - literally!
7) What am I trying to say eventually? Do your best at reducing your carbon foot print. In the end, whatever effect you achieve will only be trivial. Still do it! It will make a statement. But eventually, it is the large scale changes that will save the planet!
(*1) I have written this citation multiple times, from Thom Hartmann's "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" - the total forest cover in the world is equivalent to the area of USA today. We are removing a chunk equivalent to the size of Florida every year. You do the math.
(*2) Hemp
(*3) Iceland's energy consumption is from 100% renewable sources. No kidding. 27% Geothermal and 73% Hydro power. Please don't start an argument stating Iceland is small.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Red Indians Collecting Wood!
When we were doing our 13 day Isha program, the first thing that came up was Vajrasana. I had great difficulty sitting in that posture and it was very painful. In some cases, it was excruciating. I was using a towel to cushion some of the pain. My friend (and colleague) Madhav was doing the program along with me. One day on the class, I happened to notice him sitting without any cushion. He was (is) my close buddy and this inspired me a lot. With extreme pain, I managed that day's session without my towel.
At the end of the class, he came to me and asked "Doesn't it pain without the towel? How are you managing?"
In exasperation, I told him - "Dei, yesterday you were without the towel. I got inspired from you and did not use the towel today!"
He laughed. "I forgot the towel yesterday. Today, seeing you, I did not use the towel!"
You're wondering about the post title? I remembered this incident seeing Prabhu's post on Red Indians collecting wood for winter.
At the end of the class, he came to me and asked "Doesn't it pain without the towel? How are you managing?"
In exasperation, I told him - "Dei, yesterday you were without the towel. I got inspired from you and did not use the towel today!"
He laughed. "I forgot the towel yesterday. Today, seeing you, I did not use the towel!"
You're wondering about the post title? I remembered this incident seeing Prabhu's post on Red Indians collecting wood for winter.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Baraka
Osho, when he used to speak, mentioned that it was perhaps the first time speech was being used as a device for meditation. That was the way he used to speak. There would be pauses in his speech which would place the listener into silence (there is no other option!). You can experience this first hand by listening to an Osho Satsang.
Baraka is the only "movie" I have seen that attempts the same with video. Same as with the Osho Satsang, the only option is to get up and walk away or go into silence watching the video (or fall asleep!). So much so that in certain situations, when you are confronted with monstrous human atrocities in the video, you are able to view this in a detached perspective and accept this as part of our collective history.
The trailer is below!
Baraka is the only "movie" I have seen that attempts the same with video. Same as with the Osho Satsang, the only option is to get up and walk away or go into silence watching the video (or fall asleep!). So much so that in certain situations, when you are confronted with monstrous human atrocities in the video, you are able to view this in a detached perspective and accept this as part of our collective history.
The trailer is below!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Realign to survive
If we are to survive as a species on the planet, this is what we need to do over the next 15-20 years. I am not giving solutions below, but a proposal to change the basic tenets of our behavior:
1) Realign our energy consumption habits to make them 100% renewable. Non renewable energy sources must come at very high premium. For all practical purposes, we have infinite solar energy for all the planet. But our technology in tapping this for large scale is still infant. All other renewable sources are either unreliable (in terms of consistency - wind, hydro etc) or insufficient (geothermal) for our scale. They however can make excellent supplements to solar power. Fossil fuel usage must become a thing of the past in the near future. This will also work directly to counter global emissions (and the so called mythical global warming phenomenon).
2) Stop producing babies. No, I am not kidding. Several hundred years back, the earth was large enough to contain human expansion. We weren't connected to each other, so population grew differently in different areas. Today, if we map out human population distribution over the planet, we will look like worms on an apple. Our interconnectedness in terms of communication infrastructure improvement and reach on technology basis means that we can no longer view this in isolated pockets. If India hits 2bn, it is going to impact the rest of the world directly. It is time to take a global look at this and make decisions at that level. We are no were close in terms of co-decision making at the level of nations. We are ~7bn today - we need to go to ~3.5bn over the next 30-40 years and stay there forever!
3) Find treeless paper. I mean, stop pretending that trees grow in 2 days. Someone (who is responsible for cutting them down) should think 20 years ahead and see what we are going to do when there is going to be no tree in the planet. At that time, smart folks will come out with treeless technology for paper. Why not do that now on mass scale when there are trees around?
4) Stop expanding! I am talking at the level of corporations. Walmart is a ~250bn USD company, and it is still posting and targeting "growth" as an improvement factor. And it is one company! We are talking hundreds of corporations like this - each one of them taking a share of their pie (the pie is "planet earth"). It is a finite planet! We should stop thinking in terms of corporate health being equal to growth rate. Sustainability is the key! We need to realign the corporate process structure towards sustainable living!
5) Degrade! I am referring to bio degradable products. Stop producing use-and-throw items that don't disappear into the earth. Paper cups, plastic straws, plastic bags (billions of them, OMG), batteries. If there is a need for technological breakthrough, it is here! The need to make items that gracefully merge into the earth without suffocating it!
Finally, if we don't manage this and we fuck this planet up - at least go gracefully without kicking up a fuss!
1) Realign our energy consumption habits to make them 100% renewable. Non renewable energy sources must come at very high premium. For all practical purposes, we have infinite solar energy for all the planet. But our technology in tapping this for large scale is still infant. All other renewable sources are either unreliable (in terms of consistency - wind, hydro etc) or insufficient (geothermal) for our scale. They however can make excellent supplements to solar power. Fossil fuel usage must become a thing of the past in the near future. This will also work directly to counter global emissions (and the so called mythical global warming phenomenon).
2) Stop producing babies. No, I am not kidding. Several hundred years back, the earth was large enough to contain human expansion. We weren't connected to each other, so population grew differently in different areas. Today, if we map out human population distribution over the planet, we will look like worms on an apple. Our interconnectedness in terms of communication infrastructure improvement and reach on technology basis means that we can no longer view this in isolated pockets. If India hits 2bn, it is going to impact the rest of the world directly. It is time to take a global look at this and make decisions at that level. We are no were close in terms of co-decision making at the level of nations. We are ~7bn today - we need to go to ~3.5bn over the next 30-40 years and stay there forever!
3) Find treeless paper. I mean, stop pretending that trees grow in 2 days. Someone (who is responsible for cutting them down) should think 20 years ahead and see what we are going to do when there is going to be no tree in the planet. At that time, smart folks will come out with treeless technology for paper. Why not do that now on mass scale when there are trees around?
4) Stop expanding! I am talking at the level of corporations. Walmart is a ~250bn USD company, and it is still posting and targeting "growth" as an improvement factor. And it is one company! We are talking hundreds of corporations like this - each one of them taking a share of their pie (the pie is "planet earth"). It is a finite planet! We should stop thinking in terms of corporate health being equal to growth rate. Sustainability is the key! We need to realign the corporate process structure towards sustainable living!
5) Degrade! I am referring to bio degradable products. Stop producing use-and-throw items that don't disappear into the earth. Paper cups, plastic straws, plastic bags (billions of them, OMG), batteries. If there is a need for technological breakthrough, it is here! The need to make items that gracefully merge into the earth without suffocating it!
Finally, if we don't manage this and we fuck this planet up - at least go gracefully without kicking up a fuss!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Clarity of Perception
“There are three cabs standing there! Which one is our company’s?”
“Second one in the row.”
“How do you say?”
“Our company logo on the front windshield!”
“Ah!”
Next day.
“Which one is ours? No company logo on any cab!”
“Third from right.”
“How do you say?”
“License plate. Same cab we picked yesterday!”
“Ah!”
Next day.
“Which one is ours? No company logo and no cab with yesterday’s license plate.”
“Second one in row.”
“How do you say now?!?”
“Same driver who picked up yesterday!”
“Sigh!”
Next day.
“Which one is ours? No company logo, no cab with same license plates and different driver!”
“Third one in row.”
“How now!?”
“Look – guys with our company ID cards getting into that cab!”
Next day.
"Three cabs. Which one is ours?"
"None!"
"Huh! How can you be so sure?"
"See the number of people to be picked up. That bus is ours."
Moral: There is no substitute for clarity of perception!
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Possibilities (with a Master teacher!)
A master teacher at work. See this video (~30 mins, but well worth the time!). He isn't working with just the skill aspect of the student, but with the attitude, the fear and the "possibility" as well. I picked this up from Rajesh Setty's web page.
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