BEING AND BECOMING

Once Buddha lost his way while traveling in a forest with Anand. He asked an old man working in a field, "how far the town is from here"?  The old man smiled and replied, "Don't worry! You have already reached the destination. It is only two miles away from here".  Buddha smiled back and continued his journey with Anand. Both were very tired. Instead of taking rest both continued their journey. After two miles of journey they couldn't find any town. Buddha asked to an old women about the distance of the town. She smiled and replied, "Town is not far away. It is two miles away from here". Buddha smiled back getting similar reply and continued his journey with Anand.  Anand was puzzled and asked about the smile of that old man and woman. Buddha answered, "We are in a similar profession, i.e., to inspire people to continue with their journey, even if journey is too long and tiresome. If you tell people from the very beginning that journey is too ...

Freedom is the first condition of the human's life as claimed by many metaphysicians, and of course, Immanuel Kant was the father figure of moral and political philosophy, who inspired many generations to ponder upon and internalize the postulate of "freedom of will". "Will" signifies the human's ability to create and superimpose the willingness over the natural conditions. It was considered to be a departure point from the thinking that humans are as natural as cow, dog or any other animal. Aristotle already expounded the social nature of the human's life, Kant added further and revolutionized the idea of freedom, autonomy, and human dignity. His conception of the categorical imperatives (morally binding duties), laid down the foundations of deontological philosophy in Europe. Deontological philosophy was though already a hallmark of Indian thought reflected in Bhagwat Geeta. Kant was a father figure of the European Enlightenment, who advocated to use r...

सोशल मीडिया हमारे जीवन का अहम हिस्सा है। सूचनाओं के प्रसार ने आज विश्व को एक गाँव की शक्ल में ढ़ाल दिया है। आज हम एक दूसरे के बारे में आसानी से जान सकते हैं। ज्ञान हमारे जीवन के लिए वरदान है। पर क्या सूचनाओं के संग्रह को ही ज्ञान कहा जा सकता है? ज्ञान का संबंध चेतना से भी जुड़ा हुआ है। जो हमारे आत्म-ज्ञान पे निर्भर करता है। पूरी दुनिया को जान लेना किसी के बस की बात नहीं है। जानने का प्रयास करना भी एक तरह की बेचैनी पैदा करता है। कोविड संकट की मिलने वाली पल पल की जानकारी ने दुखों का पहाड़ खड़ा कर दिया। ऐसा दुख जिसे दूर करने के लिए हमारा संघर्ष पिछले 14-15 महीने से चलता आ रहा है। पर ऐसे समय में मानव के सकारात्मक पहलू भी खुल कर सामने आये हैं। मानव ने अपने आत्म-बल एवं सहयोग से एक-दूसरे के जीवन में आये दुख को बांटने का काम किया है। गरीबों एवं वंचितों के लिए रोटी और कपड़े जुटाए हैं। बीमारी से ठीक हुए लोग ने प्लाज्मा देकर अनेकों जीवन बचाए हैं।  सकारात्मक पक्ष को अक्सर हम नजरअंदाज कर नकारत्मक पक्ष पे मनन एवं चिंतन करते हैं, और इस प्रकार नकारात्मकता को अपनी ओर आकर्षित करते हैं। हमारा जीवन हमारे व...

Watching trees and its dance in tune of wind It appears that time has stopped its ticking Drama of life and death has stopped for the moment Isn't it a joy to remain a silent spectator? When nature is revealing its truth; Its creation and destruction Do we need to muddy truth and its perception? Every moment is an eternal now Its strangeness is its beauty Its uncertainty is a noble truth Its openness for future is inevitable Time and space are mythical; when joy of existence touches my soul It heals my sorrow and attachment And makes me realise I am life Living and striving to live everywhere

One, who can not disobey, his obedience is slavery. One, who can not say "no", his "yes" is valueless. One, who has lost all the alternatives of life and has stuck around one mechanical duty, has no passion for life. He loses interest in the freshness and newness of existence. The moment work defines and restricts the identity of a person, his "potentiality to be" the supreme eternal life is reduced into insignificance.  Modernity has produced only two alternatives, if I refer Soren Kierkegaard, either we have too much alternatives so much so that we are confused in which direction we should move on, or we have no other alternative but to restrict ourself into little identity, which is carried on like a "prisoner syndrome", whereas prisoner identifies prison as an emancipatory institution at least better than a fast moving world and its insatiable cruelty.  Human being is automation unless there is freedom to reflect upon our own opinions, if it ...

रास्ते तो दो ही थे पर चलना किसी एक पे था विश्वास होते हुए भी गिरने का खतरा था संदेह होते हुए भी चलने का हुनर तो था चुनाव बड़े ही मुश्किल के थे रास्ते तो दो ही थे पर चलना किसी एक पे था ख़्याल तो आते थे थोड़ा ठहर जाऊँ मंज़िल का दूर-दूर तक कोई निशान ना था पर एक कदम विश्वास का काफ़ी था मंज़िल की ओर जाने के लिए कितनी बार ख़्याल आया एक ही वक़्त कई रास्ते गढ़ दूं कोई पगडंडी मिल ही जाएगी जिसके सहारे मंज़िल का सफ़र तय हो जाएगा पर शायद ये भूल गया था कि मंज़िल के लिए भटकाव भी उतना ही अहम है जितना की जाने वाले सही रास्ते रास्ते तो दो ही थे पर चलना किसी एक पे था

True Faith can redeem humanity from immense suffering. Most of the sufferings are attributable to the human's attitude towards or against the situations. Adversity and adaptability are two sides of the same coin. One may take every situation as an opportunity to learn and adapt or may feel dejected and depressed. Good and bad events are all about interpretation. Comprehensive understanding transcends the limit of value judgment, which is essentially a human's attribute. Science and religion claim their respective shares of contribution in understanding the real world. Science often asks "how" question and feels satisfied once a coherent method is achieved. Science has got the status of Biblical authority in deciding truth even though many of its projections turn out to be fiction in due course of time. Any one who questions the structure of science and its rationality is reduced to caricature for his criticism. Criticism is the foundation of science, yet people are no...