Life in Bangalore

  Non-Linear! @Twitter The non-linear approach is different Rather than trying to discover a particular arc path- And follow it to conclusion It recognizes that there will be many different moments and  Opportunities to create meaning thar arise in out life The idea is not that we will participate in one story That can be easily be wrapped up by our biographer  But there are many adventures and quests that we can pursue Rather than the attitude of the saint who is given a mission It takes attitude of swashbuckling adventurer who goes out to seek his fortune -  This approach to the problem of meaning  Recognizes that rather than trying to discern a mission- It is better to become a king of person A person who is capable of acting on and recognizing opportunities To make meaning when they are seen!

                                                                Before you start - It looks simple -  but once you got on to it -  it looks complex  And discomfort  and you need to climb the hill of discomfort! Hill of complexity! Progressively it gets tough and tough - until then - You get to see that it looks simple all again! It's like morning in the treadmill in gym! First 5 minutes look tough and dismfort Then it all clears out - body and mind What's on other side of fear - Courage What's on other side of discomfort-  Clarity  What's on other side of complexity- Simplicity  YOu need to climb the hill yourself! None can do it for you! But Keep going! Keep going !  Keep going! Climb the hill of discomfort-  And there is best stuff waiting on other side!

  The need to Write! By Paul Graham @Paul Graham Blogs Writing is not just a way to convey ideas But also a way to have them! There is a way of thinking that can only be done by writing. If you don't need to go deeply into a problem, You can solve it without writing But if you need to solve a complicated , ill-defined problem It will almost always help to write about it! Which means that someone who's not good at writing - Will be almost at a disadvantage to solve such problems. You cant think well without writing well You can't write well without reading well People who want just information may find other ways to get it But people who want to have ideas-can't afford - Not to write well and read well!

 Bob Dylan I did everything fast Thought Fast Ate Fast Talked Fast Walked fast I even sang my songs fast I needed to slow my mind down, If I was going to be a composer  with anything to say! My Notes: Thank god! I am not the only one rushing ! but then I need to slowdown ....Is it not? By being in present - physiological world and not live in the psychological world - Past / Future Always dreaming !  Always Reminiscing ! Never being alive!  Feeling alive! 

Having Enough Brunello Cucinello Life on a rural farm The willingness to make sacrifices for others To be able to wait for a reward The devotion to work For me, these are the everlasting values; The joy of working together and sharing what was  Being produced Turned work into a joyful liturgy Not a punishment! And it makes me thing: Having enough itself is a form of wealth!

Paul Graham Blogs If people cant think clearly about anything That has become part of their identity Then all other things being equal The best plan is to let as few things into Your identity as possible There is a step beyond thinking yourself as ‘X’ , but tolerating ‘Y’ Not even to consider yourself as ‘X’ The more labels you have for yourself The dumber they make you! Jiddu Krishnamurti says :  ‘Avoid Labels’ Because Labels become an means towards an end And eventually, the ends are forgotten!

Theory of Moral Sentiments Adam Smith The external graces, The frivolous accomplishments Of that impertinent and foolish thing called A Man of fashion are commonly More admired than the solid virtues  Of a warrior ,stateman , a philosopher or a legislator! When the Duke of Sully was called upon by Louis the Thirteenth To give his advice on some great emergency He observed , the favorites and courtesans Whispering to one another and smiling at his unfashionable appearance (To which Duke of Sully responded to the King) “Whenever your majesty’s father , did me the honour to Consult me , he ordered the buffoons of the court  To retire into the ante-chamber”

  Look with all Intensity Jiddu Krishnamurti  Book of Life JK says Our ears are stuffed up with those things That we already know! So listening becomes extra-ordinarily difficult! I think or rather - it is a fact - that If one can listen to something with all of on’s being -with vigor, with vitality The very act of listening is a liberating factor But unfortunately, you never do listened, as you never Learned about it ! Afterall, you only learn when you give your whole being to something! When you give your whole being to mathematics, you learn But when you are in a state of contradiction When you do not want to learn, but are forced to learn Then it merely becomes a process of accumulation! If you want to learn about a leaf - a leaf of spring or leaf of the summer You must really look at it , see the symmetry , texture, quality if the living leaf There is beauty , there is vigor , there is vitality in a single leaf So to learn about the leaf, the flower, the cloud , the sunset Or  a H

  Vainglory 👍 Theory of Moral Sentiments , Adam Smith Amidst all the greedy pomp of most ostentatious greatness Amidst the venal and vile adulation of great and learned Amidst the foolish accumulation of common people Amidst the pride of conquest and war He is still secretly pursued by avenging furies of shame and remorse! Even the great Caesar , who could at an instant dismiss his enemies Could not dismiss his suspicions! And he felt 👍I have lived long enough , for Nature!  I am contented to die!  Certainly he had lived too long enough for real glory Ie., that stems from the happiness in the love and esteem of his equals!!!

  The Prashna Upanishad: Pg.236 : Sukesha : Master, The prince of Kosala asked me: “Do you know the Self in sixteen forms? “ Sage Pippalada : Self is the hub of the wheel of Life Sixteen forms are only the spokes As rivers of different names Enter the Sea And people speak of sea alone Similarly all the sixteen forms disappear as Self is realized There is no more name and forms as we enter immortality!

  Taittiriya Upanishad Ascent of Joy Pleasure and Joy Pleasure comes from sensory experience - is transitory And quite limited Joy comes from being in harmony with creative forces of Universe Is permanent And has no limits at all!!!  (Joy knows no bounds!) My Notes: Pleasure comes from Finite things with Name and Form Joy from Infinite Pleasure comes from tangibles Joy from Intangibles Pleasure comes from Getting! Joy from giving!

Maria Popova  Genius is derived from the Latin word for ‘Spirit’ Denoting the spirit of the universe : that  We can only submit to but cannot govern William Wordsworth describes genius as :  The act of doing well What is worthy to be done And what was never done before Mark Twain: All ideas are second-hand Consciously and unconsciously drawn from  Million outside sources !!! Ralph Waldo Emerson:  Great genial powers, one would say Consists in not being original at all In being altogether receptive In letting the world do all And suffering the spirit of the hour To pass unobstructed though the mind!

  Mandukya Upanishad Michael Nagler “The supreme reality into which we merge in the “Fourth” state (Turiya) Is also represented by the Sacred Syllable : AUM :   ॐ AUM stands for mantram - a form of sacred utterance To still the mind And become aware of the divine reality to which it refers All mantrams according to Mandukya Upanishad  Go back to AUM ॐ and then beyond Even that primordial energy to Brahman- The ultimate goal of Spiritual progress

The Upanishads by Eknath Eswaran Those who seek the Self through meditation Self-discipline , Wisdom and Faith in God Travel after death by the Northern Path The Path of Prana to the Soalr World Supreme refuge beyond the reach of fear And free from the cycle of birth and death!

Who Moves the World? The Kena Upanishad Eknath Eswaran Student: Who makes my mind think? Who fills my body with vitality? Who causes my tongue to speak?  Who is that invisible one who sees through my eyes? And hears through my ears? Teacher: The Self is the ear of the ear The eye of the eye Mind of the mind Word of the words And Life of life Rising above the senses and the mind And renouncing separate existence The wise realize the deathless Self! My Notes: You are not the “Doer” You are simply the “instrument” A supreme designer has modeled me and simulating me !!!

 by Ryan Holiday How to journal like Marcus Aurelius Write to yourself ,  for yourself Prepare for the day ahead Repeat the important things Take it out on a page Copy down favorite quotes Ask yourself hard questions Review in the evening

 Matt Stephens (Twitter) Parallels to Life and Fitness Discipline = Freedom Motion creates Emotion Consistency breeds Success Mastering the Mundane leads to  Success Growth happens outside of your comfort zone Recovering is as important as the Work you put in!

  By Bill Walsh The score takes care of itself Bud Grant lost  four super-bowls as head-coach of Minnesota Vikings and was able to keep it in perspective - as below "I have got a 24-hour rule - you only let it bother you for 24 hours . Then its over" Joy, Grief , Fear , Lust  - Dont let it linger on and on  Dust it off you in the next 24-hours  Don't cling to it! more you cling , more you get attached to it The more you cling ,  the more it becomes your identity   winner - loser  Success-failure  And the more identity gets frozen around you it warps you in a cast like a thick iron cladding that you cannot unshackle out of - you end up becoming claustrophobic  in emotions - even of that is of pleasure - win -it is no good! for winning is not eternal  like losing is not going to be you must let it bother only 24 hours or less  and then keep moving keep moving and  keep moving; "You are more than an accounting system comprising of Win/Loss Ledger " Bill Walsh Senec

 In my ignorance, I am sure that I am eternally "I" . This conviction is rooted in emotionally charged memory ... Aldous Huxley Patanjali in YogaSutra talks of 5 Vrttis - or forms of mental pertubrations that disturb our mental serenity One of them is memory -  Memory stores the past and  invokes along with it the emotions! Now only when the memory is emptied  can I escape from the sense of my water-tight  separateness! ....St.John of the Cross! Vrttis - cause delineation of myself from Self - separateness segmentation of me from other beings - Dividing -Dividing -Dividing Now how to empty mind? - only by total awareness  at least for a moment or two!  I am reminded of the "Mind the Gap" article by Martin Crowe, the famous Cricket Player "The gap between the balls - 30 sec time span  between the last ball and when the next ball is alive is most important period in batsman's innings"  Oh my God! what a revelation! Awareness is -  not what you do - but w