Category Archives: Education and Society
Buddhi – Buddha – Budha
The following is a master piece of comparative research between Mythology & History by Sri Devdutt Pattanaik – establishing the connection between Buddhi (Intellect); Buddha (The Founding Lord of Buddhism); Budha (The Planet Mercury)
Buddha and Budh represent the two ends of the spectrum of possibilities offered by the human intellect, writes DEVDUTT PATTANAIK
There is often confusion between Buddha, the enlightened sage who saw desire as the cause of all suffering, and Budh, the god of the planet mercury, who is associated with communication, trade and mischief; Budh also means Wednesday. Both these names can be traced to buddhi or intellect, the human ability to distinguish between reality and delusion. Buddha uses intellect to become wise. Budh uses intellect to be smart, slippery, even cunning. The two cannot be more different from each other. Buddha is associated with silence, stillness and serenity; Budh is associated with communication, travel and exchange. And yet, both crave for the truth.
Buddhist scriptures inform us that the Buddha’s birth is preceded by auspicious omens. His mother dreams of a white elephant entering her womb; it is foretold that the child will either be a great king or a great sage. The Buddha’s mother, Maya, dies soon after birth. He is raised by his aunt Mahaprajapati. He is named Siddhartha. He marries, has a child, but then is confronted with the miseries of worldly life — old age, sickness, death — that he has been kept away from by his father, Suddhodhan. He wonders what is the cause of suffering. He goes in search of the truth. Truth makes him Buddha, the enlightened one. Read the rest of this entry
Women – Spirituality
Why are not many women found in the spiritual path? I have started reading a translation of “Bhagavata Puranam” by Sri Ramesh Menon. I came across a statement which said … Vyasa composed Mahabharatham for women, shudras and impure members of the higher castes – who should not read the Vedas. Is that true?
The above were the questions put to me by a highly educated & intelligent lady – a leading HRD specialist in Coimbatore. The following was my answer.
My father was my principal Guru. He taught me to “question & doubt” everything and find my own satisfactory answers – but without being suspicious or cynical about the issues.
Teaching is not answering – but making one think to discover answers.
Now coming to your specific questions…. What is spirituality? When the “spirit of humanism” dominates & controls the “mischievous of mind” – it can be called spirituality. Till a man reaches the highest point of humanism – higher realms of spiritualism is not even a remote possibility. Humanity has to transcend its upper limits to enter divinity – which is spirituality! Read the rest of this entry
Child is the guru of humans
The saying goes that – “Past is History – Future is Mystery – Present is Real” … So – get immersed in the “present” and Live it to the hilt and so be happy! More one thinks of it – more one is convinced about the poignancy and the validity of this statement.
Living the present means – “Living like a Child”. For a child – Past is learning – Future is hope – Present is Play. Contrast this with a grown up adult – Past is Pain – Future is Fear – Present is Struggle”.
What makes it so diametrically opposite & vastly different for the same individual, in 2 different stages in life? The answer is “attitude”. Why does this attitude change for worse over the time?
The answer is simple. During childhood, the child lives its own – in born, inherent, latent and natural personality. When it imitates others, it is part of learning but not copying. The child does it with such level of innocence that its ego does not play any role in this process of learning – hence it remains a simple matter of fact! When the child does not know – it simply shakes its head to say so. What and when it knows – it simply does without showing off! Read the rest of this entry
Problems of Women – Past & Present
Except in external physical shape, reproductive & endocrine systems – Man & Woman of human race & specie – are equally endowed in all planes of existence –viz- physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual. The God’s purpose of these differences is obvious – the procreation – Function Dictates Structure. Union of Male & Female is fundamental to evolution of Life into higher levels of existence.
God introduced a new complexity in the game of Life, for “His” own thrill & enjoyment – Masculine Women & Feminine Men … and as if not enough … a neutral gender – who by no measure are inferior to others in their specie – but often, occupy an inferior position & place for no fault of theirs – but imposed by those who have an advantage of majority, with God given reproductive ability.
Why this male dominance of female in most forms of life on earth with few exceptions?
Life is a game of Survival. Survival is a game of wars. A war will have many battles. War is a game of strategy – hence needs mental strength. Battle is a game of dominant force – hence needs physical strength. So, historically, males kept winning battles while females kept winning wars of “Survival”. This has been going on – and will go on forever – in all species of Life.
In this process of natural selection, female population periodically increased higher than male population. Immediately, sensing the danger, the male population created social rules for a foul play, to bring down the female population for balance – like “Sati Sahagamanam” in the past and female foeticide & infanticide in the present – not aware that they as a gender, will have to pay heavy price for this later. Read the rest of this entry
10 Commandments generated from “My Own Life”
1. Intentions are never seen by people – but actions are seen. Hence actions will have to be tailored to project intentions properly. Agreements should never be violated – unless & until they are changed by a new agreement. Here, time spent is not a waste – as it builds strong foundation for the “super structure” that will have stability.
2. People understand rarely – but misunderstand very easily and quickly. Leaders (office bearers) should never forget this. Strong human society is built by assuming “average intelligence” or lower, of its people – but never high level of intelligence.
3. Forgiving is good – but not forgetting. Person, who forgets, learns no lessons from the past – so never improves in future actions.
4. Those, who are in the habit of digging themselves in – (into their own grave) – will have to be allowed to dig themselves out on their own – lest no lessons are ever learnt by them. Helping them out by playing to their tune – will often result in our falling in that grave from them. They will not stop – but continue digging for others …!!!
5. There are people who can blame you for saving their lives – as you did not take their prior permission …!!! Read the rest of this entry