How I used dreams? I am fond of dreams. In fact, previously I have written about dreams of my childhood and Philosophy of dreams. However, with time We get better in understanding of them. If you ask me who use dreams, I will say everyone conscious and will explain how. But first let's go back to childhood to learn How I used dreams. Maybe I was seven or eight at that time. I had trouble sleeping. Often, I would go to bed and just turn this way and that way without sleeping. I am not sure what I was thinking, maybe I wasn't sleepy when I go to bed. And that Is hard when you want to sleep but sleep doesn't come. Then I used this dream trick for a better sleep. I would start a deliberate dream. Fish: https://unsplash.com/@rayjo I would start a dream with conscious awareness. With selected characters blended with imaginary ones, like a little story. I would make them do what I would like them to do. I would make a dog in my mind and paddle a cycle with it in a race. Or I will make the river flood drowning everything one foot deep and make its fish swim everywhere in the town . And deeper I went in this imaginary dream, I forgot it's a deliberate dream. And I would never know when it became a real dream! Often Wake up following morning. I'm not saying this is the sleeping pill for everyone with a poor sleep. Just to illustrate How I used dreams. Fundamentals of a dream. Some fundamental things about dreams that often we get mixed up is the location of a dream. We locate a dream and put it within the timeframe of the sleep. Yet if you look at the above example and within yourself, we really do not know what happened during the sleep. Unless you wake up in the middle of a dream and realize you have imagining things or dreaming. So, if we really should locate the dream we should locate it at the time of awareness of it. And this is often the time you are fully or partially awake of your surroundings. So, dreams happen when we are awake when we are aware. What happens during sleep we do not know. Who else dreams? If we look at above as a fact, that dreams happen when we are awake what is a good definition of a dream. When I combine this with the fact that I can create my own dreams just at this moment, we can say dreams are projections of mind about the future which happens now. They do not have to be following physical laws or social norms as they are just bounded only by our past information and dimensions of our imagination. Fundamentally everyone dreams every day. Mind Castles on empty lands. Mind Castle is a memory method used by some genius to memorizes things. I am not a big fan of the method. But the technique is interesting. You imagine a place, completely it's up to you and in mind you visit this place so often. And you fill this castle with things. Some mental objects. Once the castle and its objects are in place, when you have a list of items to memorize you peg each item with something in your memory castle. In that way when you retrieve information you just have to go through items in your castle and the list will be there in order. I'm sure you have used dreams not to that extent like a memory castle, or a mental experiment of Einstein. Remind yourself last time you travelled. Imagine you saw an empty land by the road. I am sure when you see empty land like this naturally, we build a castle. For a construction worker it is a skyscraper. For a CEO it is an office building. For a man without a house, he would dream about a house with a garden. For a cowboy it would be a nice place for a stable. If there are twenty people in the bus, they would dream twenty things about the land. And some would go further than the others. But the bottom line is this happens every time when something comes to our conscious awareness, and it is essential we do that. Mind Castles Why dreams are essential to happiness? Dreams are essential component if you want to savor something. Imagine a young man see a beautiful girl walking passed him. And he would dream about a future with her, and this is the savoring part of the experience. If he just saw the girl and there were no additional thoughts about a future dream, there would be no enjoyment in this. Importance of dreams in mindfulness practice. As you can understand everything, we observe has a future component in it. You can call it a dream or any other name. But important message is this part is essential to enjoy. And it is not real. Just the imagination. Just like the past, which never is there . Mindfulness lets us understand the nature of our experience . When you see future projections are your own creation, mind will further identify essential nature of reality which is called now. Like a swan who can separate milk from water, sharp mindfulness tries to separate experience from imagination. And will come into conclusions on its own. Until then let's try and focus on what is real instead of the dreams.

It was strange from the beginning, as I never liked being photographed. Of course, I was shy and introverted. And I don't think that is the reason I did not want photographs taken. So, there are very few photos of my childhood, and even as an adult. What about you? How photogenic are you? Thinking about photography? Have you ever thought why we ever need photographs, and videos. How did it ever evolve? How did they take a selfie back in the stone age. Cave paintings? There was a selfie taken by "Croods" family in the animation movie which I can remember them taking a selfie. You would agree that we are so advanced from ancient stone age that we can now even take photographs even of black holes , in far corner of the universe. Is it an advancement of our technology, as a human race provided us to capture the moment instantaneously from our smartphones. Not only that, but we can also share it online, Instagram, TikTok Facebook, and many more apps. https://unsplash.com/@jontyson So, again why do we need photography? Imagine we have a great memory. That we remember everything that we see. Imagine you are at the beach, and you see a beautiful sunset. And you would remember the colors of the sun, casted on the sky and the clouds. And its reflections back on the waves. Old fishermen going to the sea in the afternoon in shadows. And you remember soft waves crashing on the sandy beach. You would remember the salty smell of the sea wind. Imagine you have this memory, and you have the ability to capture it in your memory every time as many as you want. Then one problem solved. We would not need photography to remember anything from the past. How often have you looked at your old photos and noticed that you cannot remember that you have been there, done that, not as the photo shows you. Which one is correct about colors, in that instant of time? Is it the photo or your memory or neither? And also, when you look at the photo how many times you have thought "That's not how I remember it" Truely speaking at a single moment a photograph is taken you would only focus on one thing. Maybe it's the color of the sun, maybe it's the sound of the waves or the smell of the wind at the beach. But photos and videos are advanced than our million years old evolved machine that it can capture many more than our memory, at least as close as possible. More in bites than we can put in our memory, and even without prejudiced from our learning. So, for the moment, let's say photos and videos are more correct than what is held in our memory about something. https://unsplash.com/@sarandywestfall_photo Photographs are needed as our memory is limited and our attention is narrow. Limitations of the photography in capturing the moment. Everyone would appreciate the fact that photographs and videos can capture the moment. However, some would like the real experience of it. Do you know the limitations photography and videos have? in capturing the moment. For a moment look around the place you are in now. Imagine you have taken a photograph of it. But that doesn't capture everything at that instant right? There is more data in this instance to be captured. And even if you put this data into the all the memory bites humans have ever created, still there would be space, as there is no depth to the actual world. Even if you zoom billion times still there would be space to zoom in. So, truly speaking we can never know exactly what was there in our room. We can just approximate, colors, and objects. Similarly, videos cannot capture the continuous moment to moment change ( Like a mathematical function ) that happens around us. It just captures few of the images in between, and we know that even is not close to the reality. So, true reality if it is there, we cannot capture it by any means. And previously we agreed photos are better than our eyes and memory. So, if photos and videos can't do it, definitely we cannot. https://unsplash.com/@cjeematic7 Looking back at the original question which I had, why I didn't like being photographed. I have the answer now. I was shy! as an introvert I was shy that was the reason. And I can add to that saying that I knew photographs will never capture the reality, so why bother trying to do something impossible? What are your thoughts on this?

Becoming a monk in India Recently I saw a news from India, that a couple have decided to become monks. And they do a ritual of riding on an elephant throwing all their wealth to the poor. Well, not necessarily poor, whoever on the road, who likes to collect their money. I am sure, everyone loved it to be on the road on that day. However, there are people who criticize such act. Some, say it is just 'show off'. If they would want to become monks, they should just leave. And if they wanted to donate money, they could have done it secretly. This made me wonder. https://unsplash.com/@amjiths Ripple effects of life Of course, one way to look at such an incident is that they are 'showing off'. If I would ever to donate money, or even anything, I would just do it. But I am a full, introvert at the end of the spectrum. Yet, I try not to be prejudiced about the world with my judgements. Can anyone, do charity, even with big event like above, and not be prejudiced. And the couple in the above scenario, may well be just thinking about their charitable work. Not about the news, they are generating by doing this. And mind you I have just written an article about the ripple effects in life. What if such a charitable work, creates a rippling effect on society and everyone starts doing it. Coming out of their shyness to do something they believe is good. Isn't it a good trend? On the other hand, someone can argue that we should not try to gain anything doing charity, not even becoming famous. This reminded me a similar experience I had within a YouTube chat. A long time ago, I saw a video on a gathering, of Buddhist monks, doing rituals on their beloved late teacher. They kept some lamps lit up and chanted mantras. They were all doing same. And someone commented, that isn't it good to practice mindfulness instead of chanting about it? Isn't it good to give up on what is lost and move on, like doing real mindfulness. And after trying to understand mindfulness for a year. I think I know the answer to this now and here is what I wrote. https://unsplash.com/@eddybllrd Becoming a monk in mind Imagine 40 monks who are gathered to remember their beloved teacher. Young monks would see that they are doing all these rituals. And just like the anonymous YouTube commentor, some of them would think that it is absurd to do all these rituals, and they lose time in a forest in solidarity, doing this, valuable time lost doing useless task. And some of them would not think about anything and just follow what their seniors do, but they have faith, what they are doing must be very important and essential to understand the meaning of it. I am sure, as all of these Nobel monks are in different levels in their practice, some of them are from forests, where they have been isolated from the society, like those enthusiastic young monks wanted now. And they have understood that, even in a forest that you cannot find silence and happiness you seek, as it is not there outside. And they have come back to show gratitude to their teacher, who is not lived and died outside, but within their minds, still living as a memory. And they must be moving, and speaking and watching in patience, at themselves, still practicing mindfulness , while all the others are shaken by what is happening outside, their minds stay still, like the sword of the seeker, unmovable from the rock it is buried. https://unsplash.com/@omarprestwich That is, it. Those are the thoughts which are transferable to anywhere. Let they be remembered next time when you try to blame someone and ask if you are really curious. Without being prejudiced and judge yourself. Mindfulness is an amazing practice which can transfer your mind into such realms of reality. Hope you will start your journey soon. Thank you for reading 200th article on mindfulness and philosophy of life.

Plastic is a pollutant, right? Recently my daughter brought her science homework to me and asked the question. She had a heap of items to separate into two groups. And plastic obviously went to the pollutants group. I am sure you are in a grade higher than her Grade, as you are reading this. And I also think you value your time more than thinking about these second-grade questions. Hence, without exerting you, I did own thought experiment and wrote down the observations here. So, it will take only three minutes of your time. https://unsplash.com/@luandmario Plastic - Humble Origins Did you know plastic developed as a byproduct of oil. Most likely you did know. Back to your college chemistry class, I am sure, you may have learnt about different methods they use to separate hydrocarbon compounds from Crude oil. And Plastic is one such product. Actually, it is one from hundreds of such material produced from Crude oil. Once plastic is separated It goes to a factory to change its form yet again. And thanks to the labor forces of China and its assembly lines mass production of plastic items circle around the world. From brushes to cups, from toys to auto parts. Plastic is everywhere. Even in the Pen I used to write this article. So, this leads to the question, if plastic originated from the natural product of oil, deep inside the earth, when did it become a pollutant? Or how? Plastic - the Journey Plastic and its components were inside the earth for millions of years. And nobody even thought about it as a pollutant. Once its form is changed, by the process of chemical treatments, and production of items next it became a useful item. I am sure plastic is even used in saving lives, in hospitals, to battlefields, even in the zoo, even in the wild, maybe plastic is used in trucks which carry water to dying thirsty animals in African National parks, when it is harsh routs prevails. And same plastic which we call pollutants. https://unsplash.com/@naja_bertolt_jensen Plastic - the inevitable end of an era. Imagine plastic after 10,000 years into the future after our doom's day on earth. I am sure the macro plastics will become micro plastics, will start to decay. Even the animal species, who have hard time adapting to plastic, will eventually evolve into species which utilize them. Biological and mechanical decay will set in. Heat, chemicals and wind and water will batter the micro plastics that eventually they will be dust. Broken down into atoms. And release their carbon and hydrogen into the atmosphere. The plants and animals will reuse these precious atoms to build their own masses of lives. The natural recycling will eventually happen Even if we do not care about recycling and destroy ourselves over a world war. Sure, it will take 10000 years, but fact remains that it is inevitable. Same plastic will end up in fossil fuel once the plants and animals are buried deep inside earth. Why is plastic a pollutant - Philosophy I think now we have enough knowledge on how we can better answer the above question. Why is plastic a pollutant and how philosophy answer the question. It seems plastic is natural as it is, from its humble origins and from its graveyard. So, what happens in the middle of the process is the problem. In the middle of the process, we are there. We are there to witness the great garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. We are there to witness our blocked drains. We are there to see our hiking trails covered with plastic bottles thrown away by stupid human beings. We are there to witness poor animals struggling with their lives to get away from these plastic traps. It kills animals and plants and makes the world an unpleasant place for us. Do we really care about poor poor animals? We just do not like to see them dying Infront of our eyes. We need them to have a 'human' death, like from a cattle Gun. We do not want them to suffer, and it makes us cry in horror for our deeds, right? https://unsplash.com/@naja_bertolt_jensen Plastic is a pollutant only in a human world Now let's imagine a world without humans, but only plastics we left behind and animals and plants. Such a world is highly possible. In such a world there would be no one to value plastic as good or bad. As there is no human consciousness, do you think such a world is not natural? It will still stink, it will still kill animals. But our judgements on what is pollution and what is not is not there. Still there will be tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, killing animals and plants, and they will still be natural. Just like the plastic we left behind. We have a desire to see the world, not as it is but, with clear running water, in our streams, and fresh air wherever we walk. So, compared to this, 'imaginators beautiful planet' plastic is a pollutant. It is our greed labels the plastic as a pollutant, compared to what we really desire. But the nature has no value. Inherently plastic is just a changing material, like everything else to the nature. So, it is our consciousness which likes to label things is at fault. I am not sure how many environmentalists, are going to oppose these arguments, put forward. To see truths about nature, one has to say goodbye to all the learned behaviors and look at the world in a fresh perspective. It is harder than it seems, as we love to build our own worlds. Which is the nature of the consciousness. If you ask me what I would teach my children, I have no hesitancy to teach them yes, plastic is a pollutant. That is what we want as the human race. Nobody has to go against that, but I can see when I do this, it will add to individual suffering of myself. If I see a bottle in a nice, beautiful river, I will feel sad, and even angry to the point, I will take great trouble to photograph this and put on my Facebook profile with a hate speech on such human beings. I would see this will destroy the peace and happiness inside me and make turbulences, while the nature does not care at all. It doesn't give a value to a plastic bottle, neither to an animal life, neither to my life. I would teach my children war is destructive and jealousy and greed are bad. I would teach them jealousy and kindness are good that we should plant them and let them grow. Until they are grown enough to ask questions about this, and Challange, until their wisdom is grown enough to see the world beyond good and evil . Until they do not find answers to their questions and cry, in pain battered by problems of life. https://unsplash.com/@vincentvanzalinge Then I would teach them Good, and evil are our judgments, illusions of our consciousness , to otherwise neutral environment. Which is the root cause of our suffering . And I would teach them it is only the wisest from wise, luckiest of lucky, rare rest to rare are able to see the world through this mindfulness eyes into the peace. Let's start this journey today.

Ok, Let's slow down, and think about the question. Let's ask why we should hack our consciousness? What is consciousness and why should we hack this? Consciousness is everything. When I say everything, it includes the world and everything in it. Consciousness is the great 'Knower'. If you would not agree with me, let us imagine a world without consciousness. Take a minute, write it down. Did you, do it? Were you able to do it? I do not think you did, not because you are lazy, but because for the world to exist, there should be consciousness. So, the world and our consciousness are not two things it should be outcome of one process. https://unsplash.com/@joannakosinska The world and our consciousness are no two things It is one process. Now that is a bold claim. It should be investigated further. Let's imagine a world where there is no your consciousness. Can you imagine such a world? It is easy, before you were born, there was no consciousness and after you die there would not be either. (forget the learned facts that your soul will be existing, even if it did, it would be not really 'you' as you can never possess the same body and same 'life') Now, try to answer the question does that world exist relative to your no consciousness? What is the 'true' duration of the 'world in your consciousness existed?' I know, you are not a philosophy student, neither I am. So, let's make this question an easy one. Let's imagine you have been living on a mountain whole your life. In a small village. You are the blacksmith. You were born there; you learned your black smithy things there and you made a family there. Except for the occasional travel to the town, you have not known anything else. Imagine you lived in the era before even Columbus made the discovery of the America. And you died. Sorry for that, but you died, leaving your loved one's behind. Now, let's go into your wife's mind. Do you exist in your wife's mind? Let's peep into your children's mind. Do you exist there? Let's look into your relatives and villager's minds. Do you exist there? Yes, you do, you exist as a memory in their minds. As long as they remember you. You would really cease to exist once every consciousness that is available cease to exist or forget you, in their relative worlds. https://unsplash.com/@supergios Now, let's go into your consciousness, do you exist there? No, once you are dead, your consciousness is no longer there, and you would cease to exist. Not only consciousness, but everything inside your consciousness will also cease to exist. What was there inside your consciousness. Your name, memory about your craft, your skills, your memory about the trees and villagers. Your anger, your happiness and your sadness. This does not argue that the 'world' did not exist. It pretty much does. That why when someone is dead, we are still live. And we can see everything remains same. But relative to that person's consciousness everything ceases to exist. And by any means if we could bring back his consciousness, with or without a body, from whatever happened to it, still as the 'world' is there, it would generate the 'relative world' again in that consciousness. Wow, that was difficult. I am not sure, how much of it you can grasp without being bored. But trust me there is something I need to tell you. And it takes time. Like I always say, our language is not advanced enough to discuss such matters of mind, and consciousness so, you might get a different meaning out of it. But we should try to focus on truth without any doubt. Was there a tree fell down in the forest? https://unsplash.com/@lucapizzarotti You may wonder now, If the world did not exist in the consciousness after death, Does it exist when we are sleeping? When we are dreaming ? What happens all the time when we are thinking about something? Does the world exist at that time? That is the core idea behind the 'Schrodinger's Cat experiment' If you haven't read about this, I will include the chapter from the book what is time? at the end of the article. For now, we can imagine a similar scenario. If there was a tree fell down deep inside the forest, and it made a huge Noice. And nobody ever heard it? No device measured it, no one recorded it. Did it happen or not? It is such a simple question and such a difficult question to answer. Bottom line is nobody knows. And it seems it did and did not happen at the same time. Unless someone measure it, we would not know it happened. At the same time someone can argue that it did happen. Of course, if there was a consciousness was there to hear it, it would have heard the Noice. But relative to all the other consciousnesses who did not know about it, there was a never tree that fell. So, I think we have come to a point where we can move forward with our argument. We have enough information now. Let's summaries the facts so far. It seems our consciousness and the 'relative world we feel' are born at the same time. The 'true' world is out there, but only we see is part of this true world (unseen world) which comes to our consciousness. The 'part' of the world which doesn't come to my mind did never exist for me and as long as it doesn't come to my mind will never exist. For the last fact I can give you some more examples. Think about the following. A man dies of a car crash. Dead as a rat. And imagine he had a cancer growing inside his body at the time of his death. And he was never diagnosed with the cancer. Only after the autopsy that he was identified of having a cancer. As he did not have any symptoms, he was never even thinking about having a sinister diagnosis. For which people did that cancer exist? Did that cancer exist for his doctors? Not until they did the autopsy. Did that cancer exist for his family? Not until they found out the autopsy results Did that cancer exist for the dead man? No, it did not, not in his consciousness, not in his relative world. It surely did occur in the 'true' world, otherwise the doctors would not identify this. But not in his 'relative world' as there it never came across his now 'dead' consciousness. https://unsplash.com/@stafra Bottom line from this case study is that something 'matters' (or exist) only as long as it comes to our consciousness. And it makes me shudder realizing this truth. As long as there is consciousness it will identify things in the 'true' world and make a copy of it in my 'relative world' which I can label, good or evil. And this process of labelling will go on until we are unconscious. Can you see the danger of this? We do not know where we came from and where we go after life . Imagine there is some 'truth' out there which doesn't come into our 'conciousness' and we just blindly follow our ancestors not knowing what truth is. And in this scenario we all are doomed. Unless we do our own study of this relative world of ours individually. Nobody owns this world than you. If you look at this process carefully, you would understand, the there is only one world you can ever see. And that is whatever stupid thing your consciousness brings to your awareness . How to Hack your consciousness. Oh, I almost forgot. How to hack your consciousness. How to do that? Do you know? We all do. Come on.. we all lie. When we lie, we basically hack someone Elses consciousness. But how can we hack our own mind, because as you already know, you are the 'creator' of your own relative world. The truth is our consciousness does this all the time. And our consciousness fools us all the time, because it can never know what the 'true' world is it creates a 'relative' world which exist only in a fraction of a second but feels like a lifetime. You can never hack your consciousness as your consciousness is always hacking you since you were born. You will hack your own consciousness only on the day you understand this truth. Until then it will fool you. Come join me friend. Let us discuss this sad truth about our existence. I'm gonna steal your seconds. Your minutes and hours of consciousness. With a little tweet here and there. Would you be mad with me? https://unsplash.com/@puregeorgia A paragraph from the book ' What is time ?' A deep dive into science  Schrodinger’s cat experiment and quantum physics. In 1935 Erwin Shrodinger, an Austrian physicist, conducted a thought experiment. He placed a cat in a hypothetical box with a radioactive source which decays over time at any point and releases a poison killing the cat. However the box is closed and there is no way of knowing when the radioactive material is going to release the poison.  The conclusion is after some time the cat is both alive and dead until someone opens the box and makes the observation. Quantum physics has helped us to understand why particles behave as waves and waves behave as particles. It has opened up another dimension to our scientific expansion of our knowledge. We will hear more and more of quantum computers, quantum chemistry and superconductors and great applications of this knowledge. However, has it provided us an opportunity to understand ourselves? What does this have to do with our time? Is it true that time exists and does not exist at the same time? Time exists when we start thinking or being conscious of our surroundings. It ceases to exist when we are unconscious. Does it explain some of our questions earlier in this book? https://unsplash.com/@ejleusink Are your cats dead or alive? We all have cats. Have you ever noticed? Let's imagine there is a mother, who has sent his son to the war as a soldier. He is away in a foreign land fighting war in the front line. And he dies wounded among many others. The news arrives to his mother and family only three days later. And since the news, to that person hearing it he was dead. But what about those three days? He would be still living in the mind. Yet to an outside observer of both events he is dead. However what matters for one individual is his or her own perspective. In this case to the mother her son is living all these three days, or even longer until news reaches and she understands. Her son is dead and alive all the time, even before three days, until someone observes what has happened.  The true fact is you don't have to be in war. Think about a loved one who is not there with you at this moment. Think that is your cat, now living in a box with radioactive material. Do you know that moment that they left from your vision, the moment you stopped hearing from them that they become a cat in the box, until they come to vision again? Did you know that they are both dead and alive at this exact second? How can you be so sure that they are alive? How can you be so sure that each and every time you open the box that they will be there smiling at you? Think about yourself. If it is true for someone else. It should be true for yourself. If so you are dead and alive at the same time for everyone else. How can you be sure they are wrong? If you walk in a forest path on a normal day you would see a lot of dead leaves on the path. However if you take a walk after a strong gale there would be more and more leaves, some brown, some yellow, some green fresh leaves. When the radioactive decay occurs, even fresh leaves have to fall. You would not be surprised if you know there can be a gale in our lives at any point. Even now we are just waiting for our radioactive material to decay in our box of vision.

This article serves two purposes. If you are a victim of a scam, it allows you to be aware and free yourself. If you are a scammer, it will allow you to be better at your trade. How I got scammed, almost. I will begin with this story, which happened to me few years back. I settled in a new country and few months down the line I got a call from internal revenue department. I was a good listener, and I listened to what they said. It started as a friendly discussion about my work and then told me my accounts have been showing fraudulent activity. And suggested my identity was hacked by some criminals for money laundering. And I am at risk of losing all my money and legal actions. And at this point Panic set in, and I did not know what to do. One behind the Mask: https://unsplash.com/@stumpie10 And they said they would help. Help to safeguard myself and my money. And after a long discussion of how to, I transferred my money to an online app. At this point I did not know what I am doing as emotions had overwhelmed me. However, I had trouble transferring money as I wasn't at all good at doing this. Suddenly the lady on the other end got angry and slightly broke her character. Then it hit me! I am being scammed! It's not about my next-door Neighbour being a criminal and this itself is the scam! At that point I got help. I had great trouble recovering my money, but after a few days I got everything back. Luckily, I did not complete the full scam. It was emotionally devastating for days. I have been watching online scamming videos before. I was fully aware of the risk, yet it happened. If it wasn't for the lady who got impatient, I could have lost thousands of pounds that day. I can attribute it to me being not having awareness or, the smartness of scammers to use local numbers with good English accent. Yet there is fundamental to such why that it works. And that is fear. Secret behind a successful scamming. Secret behind a successful scamming is making the victim into believing something bad is going to happen. In other words, plant a seed of fear. That was the trap I fell into. Once they plant a seed of fear in your head, it will blind the judgmental ability no matter how smart you are. Once the fear is there it doesn't matter how many scamming videos you have watched. And scamming will easily happen if you are an introvert like me. Fear: https://unsplash.com/@karngraphy Scamming is not a new occupation. In fact, we were the victims of scams even when we were children. That's how we ate broccoli! Our parents used to implant a seed of fear in our minds of what will happen if we do not eat broccoli. And they became saviors. When grandma told stories of monsters to make us sleep early, grandpa became a hero by creating worriers who are so powerful against dirty monsters. Scammers are everywhere Once you know the fundamental tool of scamming is the fear. You will notice some subtle forms of scamming which are underway at this very moment. Turn on the news and look how our politicians talk. They do not only talk about bright positive future that they are going to create, most of the time they talk about what bad shit would happen if the opposition came into power. They create the monster first from their own words so they can be saviors of the crowd. And that is scamming at its best. How about religion? I know you will disagree on this. Only until your mindfulness starts to shine. Then you would see it as a truth. First, we learn about hell, where every bad person goes to, and they create a heaven, every good person can go to. We have neither seen the heaven or the hell. Yet when there is fear, we just follow set of guidelines and someone would benefit. I'm not specific about any religion, but this is common to any culture or religion if you are careful enough to consider without prejudice. Not at all means we should go against someone's belief. Simply means, it is a solo journey in silence. Good cop Bad cop I am sure this is the tactic used to drag otherwise a neutral public into war. You may see this used in medieval times where public executions were the norm. When fear settles in it is easy to rule. In modern day, interrogation of criminals this is still used. They call it good cop bad cop combination. When one guy plays the role of bad cop and plant seeds of fear, the other guy tries to appear helpful and save you from doom. That way you will be scammed of information, even against yourself! No fear: https://unsplash.com/@libraryofcongress Box of entertainment or box of Scam? If you look at in half of tv advertisements, you see this. They talk about germs giving you a stomachache unless you use that clinically proven soap. Or you will suffer without money in future unless you use their platinum retirement plan. In this blog also, I have used some seeds of fear, to plant a seed of wisdom. Yet I have exposed myself now, hence technically I claim not to be a scammer!

Warning - This article is about philosophy ! and life. Hardly about numbers! Numbers are important. Numbers are important in life. You may disagree, if you are not commonly use them. However, it is because of numbers that you read this message, and I can write it. It is because of numbers that your room is lit at night, and you are able to travel in a bus to your work. Formulas and functions dominate our 21st century more than ever. More than ever, we are capable of counting uncountables. We have developped methods to compare infinities of infinities. I am sure modern mathematics have much more to evlove and I wonder it will ever merge with philosophy ever. And that would be super interesting time to live, as I am fascinated by both. But as of today, it's just imagination, and we are only comparing the two subjects only at a basic fundemental level with the wisdom of Charlotte Bronte and her character Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre Some truely important numbers. - list of ten important numbers. For all those number Geeks. Following is a list of super important numbers. I am sure, if you are into science, you atleast have met a couple of them. Maybe you use them everyday. Just have a glance, and say hi if you know any of them. Pi (π) ≈ 3.14159 Definition : The ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Use : Fundamental in geometry, trigonometry, and calculus, especially in calculations involving circles, spheres, and periodic functions. Euler's Number (e) ≈ 2.718 Definition : The base of the natural logarithm, a mathematical constant that describes exponential growth or decay. Use : Appears in differential equations, compound interest, and in modeling population growth and radioactive decay. Golden Ratio (ϕ) ≈ 1.618 Definition : A number such that the ratio of two quantities is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger quantity. Use : Found in art, architecture, nature, and geometry, often associated with aesthetically pleasing proportions. Avogadro's Number (NA) ≈ 6.022×10236.022 \times 10^{23} Definition : The number of atoms or molecules in one mole of a substance. Use : Fundamental in chemistry for converting between atomic/molecular scale and macroscopic quantities, especially in stoichiometry and gas laws. Speed of Light (c) = 299,792,458299,792,458 m/s Definition : The speed at which light travels in a vacuum. Use : Central in physics, particularly in relativity, electromagnetism, and cosmology, defining the ultimate speed limit in the universe. Planck's Constant (h) ≈ 6.626×10−346.626 \times 10^{-34} J·s Definition : A physical constant that relates the energy of a photon to its frequency. Use : Fundamental in quantum mechanics, particularly in describing the energy levels of atoms and the behavior of particles at the quantum level. Gravitational Constant (G) ≈ 6.674×10−116.674 \times 10^{-11} N·m²/kg² Definition : A constant that appears in Newton's law of universal gravitation, describing the strength of the gravitational force between two objects. Use : Central in classical mechanics, astrophysics, and cosmology for calculating gravitational forces and the behavior of objects in space. Boltzmann Constant (k) ≈ 1.381×10−231.381 \times 10^{-23} J/K Definition : A constant that relates the average kinetic energy of particles in a gas to the temperature of the gas. Use : Key in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, helping to bridge macroscopic and microscopic descriptions of gases. Imaginary Unit (i) = √(-1) Definition : The imaginary unit, defined as the square root of -1. Use : Essential in complex number theory, electrical engineering (AC circuit analysis), and quantum mechanics, where complex numbers represent quantities like wave functions. Pythagoras’ Constant (√2) ≈ 1.414 Definition : The square root of 2, the length of the diagonal of a square with sides of length 1. Use : Found in geometry, particularly in calculating distances in Euclidean space, and in applications involving right triangles. These constants and numbers have wide-ranging applications in mathematics, physics, engineering, chemistry, and other scientific disciplines. They form the foundation for many theoretical and practical concepts. Some other (less?) important numbers. Well, for ordinary men and women, which includes a cohort of philosphers, there are some numbers which are also important. As an example, when I was driving today, I was looking at the dashbord of my car and happened to notice some numbers! I was looking at the speed, the milage of the car and the level of the fuel. I couldn't help notice the time, from time to time. And that was actually the trigger for this article. Apart from time and speed I can give you another number which also has a huge impact in your life. Such as the number in your bank in front of your name and account number. I am sure constantly you are looking at this. It doesn't matter you are an investor, or a daily paid worker, bigger this number bigger your happiness would be. I cannot help notice, that even how our behaviour and conduct changes according to number of decimel points in this number. It made me wonder what will happen if the numbers became zero. Numbers and Numbers: https://unsplash.com/@evannsimons A thought experiment on numbers. Jane Eyre wisdom. I thank the wisdom of Jane Eyre, in that case Charlotte Bronte, for the wisdom that she provided. I can rember in one occasion, when she realised she fell in love with Mr. Rochester, she used a simple tool to attack her ego. She drew, herself and the Blanche Ingram on a canvass, and compared her average presence with the elite beauty of the Ingram girl. I just realised we could do the same with our numbers. Write down most important numbers of your life on a piece of paper and with your imagination, make them Zero. Make a zero in front of the days you have to live. Make a zero in front of your bank account Make a zero in front of your name, if there are a number of prefixes already there. Would you do that? Or cowardly back away? Make a zero in front of your relationships Make a zero in front of goals you have scored, or medals you have gained. Make a zero in front of number of words you have written for the day. Can you do that and still be happy? If you cannot be happy when you do that, I suggest you are attached too much to those numbers. And boy! it is gonna hurt when you leave those numbers one day. As you already not know, all the numbers are imaginary just like letters of an alphabet. So, sooner you understand nature of the numbers , humble you would become like a bamboo which grows tall . Empty your pocket, in your imagination and be a begger for a one day, and you will release the burden of numbers like you would do on your last day!

I feel like a bird. Attracted to the sky. If it wasn't for the chain, which holds me in bound. I would fly. It's inevitable I would fly. Deep into the sky Disappear into the clouds. And stranded in a futuristic mystic mind My heart yarns to release me From the mess that I am in. The deeds I have done, that shouldn't have done. My soul which belongs in a jungle, A big tree I would become Yet here I am looking for grass in a concrete Jungle of doom. Into the sky I make no effort to hold Your heart which doesn't look back Just like those two tears Which rolls down effortlessly on both sides. I carve my words into a verse when it forms a little river and flow Feeding with new tears each second How to stop this? I really Donno I need the power to break the shackles And liberate me within. Wake up from the dream into the eternal reality of nothing If there while there I wouldn't find you ever Just like you just like me wish me good luck To rest in peace forever. Just a warm hug. I valued a hug what a fool I have been There is no gain Lonely hearts would stay lonely forever In a desert full of sand, I'm just a grain Rain of stars wouldn't provide comfort like summer When I see the empty mind Thank you for being a friend my friend I have to catch a train next hour The trees, I need them I just want to hug them They were there for me every hour I betrayed them with math and science Now I repay with tears I would crawl like an ant on a bark of a huge oak If Only I had the power To turn the time backwards until I was my mamas only lover Hugging a tree Thank you for reading Freedom Poem. Next -> Gentle Giant a tree.

This would be the strangest thing that I am going to write. It makes me smile. Showering is something we do alone, most of the time. It is very personal affair between us and the body we possess. What a good opportunity to practice some mindfulness ? How can a daily routine shower can be a place for you to relax and be mindful? That is the objective of this article. At least get you a smile at the end. https://unsplash.com/@tuzbro A natural Shower. First, we will look at natural showering. Have you ever taken a natural shower? From a waterfall, or a roadside stream? A dip in the sea or a natural pool. These are my observations. I can remember when I was a teenager I took a dip in the sea. I call it a dip, as I did not know how to swim. I was always fascinated by the sea. I would walk to the depths of the sea until I am drowned to my nose and wait for a big wave. When it does, it was often higher than me, and I would be rolled and washed toward the beach. That was a dangerous affair, as Sherlock Holmes would point out, as at any moment I could have been dragged to the sea. I can remember I would close my eyes when a wave is approaching and just roll with it to the shore. Only to open when my feet hit the ground again. Fortunately, it always did hit the ground. I wouldn't do that today. As I have become wiser to know the life is more valuable than the adrenalin rush in the youth. Some would not survive to live up to the full potential of it because of the stupidity like I had. Even before this we would take a "Natural shower" when it was monsoon. The rain created a little waterfall, from the gutters, and this was a fun time for us kids. We were allowed to take a rainwater shower. Mind you those days we took water from the well, and there were no pipelines to our house. I have written a great deal on monsoon and showers we had, in my previous article Rain rain go away . What is the wisdom we can gain from above to our daily routine showers? https://unsplash.com/@lifeofrobbie How to have a Mindful shower? I want you to imagine going back to those natural showers and remember what happened. You were fully engulfed by the environment or in the moment. At such places the mindfulness is natural, and that is why we can remember everything. Even the sensation of splashes of water in your face. One thing I noticed is I have kept my eyes closed. And let the body feel what it does with the water. That there is a simple trick to have a mindful shower. Close your eyes and fully engage with water. Rather than doing it habitually you can do it mindfully. Once you close your eyes feel the water from the top of your head to toes. And you will feel your problems washing away. You may find that when you close your eyes, the body is not able to identify the difference between a waterfall shower and an artificial shower. It is the same sensation. Only difference is the context provided by your mind that this shower is not natural. And you will realize that all showers are same. It is natural, and there is a waterfall, at your home. I'm sure you will enjoy more when you realize this fact. Do you know the best part of it is that this "Natural shower" comes with zero risk to life. Unlike a dip in the sea, even the stones are slippery at the waterfall. You can be more creative taking a shower. As I wrote in the previous article being creative is the modern American Dream . So, you can be more creative in taking a shower. You would ask me why? I would say look at the numbers my friend. Do you know how much time we spend in the shower during our lifetime? If it is twenty minutes a day, that would be almost one whole year in shower in your lifetime! Do you want to fill this year with stress and anxiety or creativity in life? https://unsplash.com/@nishaan_ahmed Taking a shower is a conceptual art. Not only taking a shower, but anything can be conceptual art . You do not believe me? You would, once you know how much they paid to the guy who pasted a banana on the wall with a duct tape and call it an Art. So, I created my own art during the showering. This is how it worked. I kept my hands on my chest one folded over another and created a little pool. Let the warm water (or cold if you prefer) accumulate in this little pool on my chest. It starts to overflow like a dam on a heavy rainy day. And it transmits the heat of the water directly to my chest. And I would let it go, like a break in the dam, so the rest of my body, which was devoid of water now flooded with it. It makes me smile every time I do this, as I felt like a statue of David in the middle of a fountain. I am sure you will be more creative than this. Let me know. I hoped you enjoyed reading how to have a mindful shower.

Is it about retirement? I was looking at an advertisement on securing your retirement. And saw a photo of group of senior citizens paddling a raft smiling, in a peaceful river. The bold letters said, "JOIN US TO SECURE YOUR RETIREMENT". It sounded wonderful but made me smile. I am all about making a retirement plan, but of course, hardly I would be rafting when I am above sixty. What are they thinking? I am getting old wiser, not dumber. Retirement: https://unsplash.com/@pzlvrs This is not the first time I saw such an advertisement. Often, I would see, funeral plans, selling on live TV. Again, I am not against someone making an arrangement for their death. But what about the advertisement, which makes me want to think my funeral would be a _____ wedding in atmosphere. What is the point? Aren't we going too far with this? I think for anyone who doesn't understand what life is, that will be a good trap to fall into. If you are living, you can't retire. In a way it makes me sad to look at life as something which ends up in retirement and death. And I refuse to believe those advertisements about happiness found in retirement. No, something is fundamentally wrong when we look at the life in this way. I call it Economists way of looking at life. I had opportunity to view a set of lectures about financial markets by professor of Economics Mr. Robert J Shiller in yale university. If you check, you tube you might find this interesting. Finance is the modern man's tool for doing some significant and massive work. When we look at the evergreen container ship which was stuck in Suez Canal in 2021, we amuse ourselves with engineering and creativity behind these gigantic projects. Yet it is the finance, which has made it possible for people to collaborate together to make those marvels. The ship was massive as well as the Canal itself. One important aspect of individuals finance is investment horizon. That exactly means what it means. If you are the sun, sunrise is your youth. Noon where you are ferocious at work and earning is your Middle Ages. And the golden hour is your retirement, and the investment horizon is when you have decided to withdraw your savings to make it bit colorful just before your death. Container ship: https://unsplash.com/@puntertje The power of now approach to life I find it frustrating to look at life in this approach. Infact, I have written a great deal on this in zero of life . However, there is more promising approach to look at life instead of constant march from birth to death. And that is power of now approach and sometimes mistakenly taken as mindfulness. Being aware of the present and to identify, whatever good or bad happens in this moment. Or the second we call life. This is fairly good view about life I agree. It is about now, right? You must feel good now. What is the point making a fortune and be dead before even retire? If you can't go on a vacation to your favorite destination tomorrow what is the point saving for twenty years to do it when you can't even hear. Maybe this is the reason why more and more youth involved in a radical approach to life. To feel good now. There is no retirement when this approach is considered. Instead, you can rest. However, I find positives and negatives in both approaches. More importantly when I think the now approach, I see similar errors. If we can pack life into a second. Why stop there? We also can pack it into a millisecond. It's not about retirement It's about timing: https://unsplash.com/@karsten_fuellhaas If we can pack life into a millisecond why stop there? We can pack it into a microsecond. I see there is no depth to this and only imagination can show that maybe this also is wrong? If it is logical to pack life into a microsecond then there cannot be a meaning to the life. As to even form a meaning we need at least a second! Otherwise, good and evil, heaven and hell, rich and poor will disappear together with the self into thin air. Poem -> Happiness poem. Time -> understanding time Relative nature -> simple truths So, in summary, I can see problems in both approaches to life. The economist's way and the mindfulness way. So, this lead me think maybe 🤔 it is just relative. Maybe mind is a magician who creates things out of thin air after all. What is your approach to life?

Crabs and shells Look Nelly come and look! Tom shouted at Nelly who was making sand castles on the beach. She didn't want to get up, yet she knew it must be something interesting as Tom is her brother. And rarely he bothered Nelly, and he is the best brother she could have. She, went to tom and kneeled near him as he is. Turtle swiming "What is it Tom?" "The shells, look at the shells, they are walking!" Nelly bend down to look at what he is pointing. There was a shell indeed. And indeed it was moving. But how? She was as suprised as Tom to see the walking shells. She kept her elbows on the ground to reach more closer to the moving shell and noticed tiny feet protruding out to the ground. Now that is interesting! She expected feet like a slug, but these are not sluggy at all. More like a beetle or a crab. That is it! They are exactly like a crab. Maybe it is a crab. Then suddenly it hit her. That is a crab! Who has taken the shelter of a shell. She had seen it on a TV documentary. Never thought she would see it real. Tom was suprised of her sisters knowledge. Well that solves the mistery. Shell moves because of the crab. Maybe it ate the slug, or maybe it is a dead shell that it took over, whatever happened now it is the crabs home. This is a tiny crab. When it becomes bigger it will move to a bigger shell. The turtle beach They were at the turtle beach for the vacation. The coral reef which was the home to the turtles did reach beyond the sea and into the beach. Clearly visible rock made it harder for the waves to erode it with its full ferocious power. Hence baby slaps to the shore. Unlike anywhere else the sand was red and rich in grains. The mangroves marked the end of the land. There were less hotels, and beachfront private gardens, hence turtles did not yet, wanted to move their breeding grounds. For generations they have been coming back here for the purpose of laying eggs. Sally and Tom were excited to see them in action. Maybe tonight. Maybe tonight they will come and we will get our chance to dig a hole for them. While Tom was busy digging holes, Nelly did continue with her castles. She was a quite girl, at home, in school, even on a trip. She either needed only a book or a lump of clay for keep herself busy. And books, that is where all her knowledge came from. She knew everything about them, turtles. She knew turtles are innocent and, that they are silent. She wondered how a person could live all their lives in silence. And often she knew she was labelled as silent. Maybe, I was a turtle in last life. While she was day dreaming about the local hatchery she went with papa yesterday, Tom came with a bucket full of wet sand. He wanted to build a castle of his own. Hatchlings - happy swimming Nelly? Will our castle will be there by tomorrow? I mean will they be washed away to the ses by tomorrow? I know what you mean silly. Let me think. She looked back at the waves. They were a good ten yards away from the waves. I think it will last atleast a couple of days. Unless it rains tonight, or a turtle destroy it. Oh, I thought it will be there next year when we come back. Papa said he will come back next year. No Tom. It would not. I am sure a big wave come tonight and wash this away. Why do you think there are no plants this part of the beach. Can you see, the waves have crashed even there. That is why the sand is still wet. I am sure of it. Then I am not going to build a castle what is the point. I will grow bigger and make houses like Pa does. It will last forever. Nelly smiled at her brother. She knew houses that Papa build do not last longer either. Yet she didn't want to break her little brothers heart more. So she asked him to help her with her own castle. They waited few more hours on the beach Until it was dark and went back to the banglow. That night Nelly kept awake reading her books, while her little brother was soundly sleeping like a crab inside a shell. Maybe he was exhausted from the afternoon on the beach. It was almost midnight when her father knocked on the door, with a torch in his hand. The turtles have arrived, and they waddled in the night like a group of scouts on a mission. And they spotted the turtle who had dug a hole. She was laying eggs! A whole lot of them. They sat on the sand and waited until she finished, and slowly began to cover her eggs with sand. She was silent the whole time, just like it was a sacred affair. Just like she crawled to the sea, a long time ago for the first time as a newborn She began crawling back. Trusting the nature to protect her eggs and offspring. Nelly followed her all the way, passed the sand castle into the sea. They marked her breeding ground with a flag and fitted a cage to protect it from predetors. Nelly helped father to clean the surroundings. Mama Turtle When they returned that 🌙night there was enough moonlight, it looked more like a dream than reality. She knew she would never forget that day ever, and the eyes of the mama turtle, was all that she could think of until she fell asleep. The red Turtle (Film) The Red Turtle is a 2016 animated fantasy drama a silent film directed by Michaël Dudok de Wit, known for its stunning visuals and poetic storytelling. The film follows a man shipwrecked on a remote island who encounters a giant red turtle. Their interactions and the man's journey of survival and acceptance are depicted without dialogue, relying on evocative imagery and sound design to convey the story's emotional depth. The Red Turtle explores themes of life, death, and the cyclical nature of existence, leaving a lasting impression on viewers with its minimalist yet profound narrative. The film is not action packed. But it will speak to similar silent hearts, just like an extraterestial observer to life.

How I made a new word. Recently I learned that the language is a tool. It is not the perfect tool but a good enough tool to pass a message and do some math. Hence, I wanted to little experiments I decided I should make a word. So, without further thinking much I created a word. Following is one. New word. And if you search the internet, there are loads and loads of new words or 'slang' developed daily. And who makes them? People? A secret agency? And how do they make these words. Often it is by combination of some other words. Have I made a new word before? This is not the first time that I have tried to make a new word. In the past when I was a kid I had a whole new language made up just for myself. And I had a book written completely from this language. It was similar to my mother language, that I used special symbols to represent each and every letter in the alphabet. Hence, technically speaking it is not a new language but a secret code. Funny fact Is now I can remember I even was able to write in this language after memorizing all the letters. Unfortunately, there was no-one crazy as I am to continue the crazy code. Hence maybe I lost the interest after some time. But, no, I haven't made a new word before. https://unsplash.com/@leyko Why should you make a new word? But after decades, as an adult, yesterday when it occurred to me there is no word for what I felt. I felt like the Great Thomas Alva Edson, or the famous Shakespeare, for a fraction of a second. A happy place which lasted for a fraction of a second . Just like a poet, who enjoys re-reading the masterpiece, just like the Michelangelo, looking at his ' David ' the next day he finished it. I took a moment to rejoice the simple accomplishment that I could add one word to million words already there. I am sure it would not last like the rest of the bunch. And I have no doubt It will never come to a dictionary. But does it matter? No, as nothing lasts forever in the world in the universal time scale. So, Even English is subjected to rules of the nature I am not worried. It would serve a purpose. Hence, to prove my point, and to kick my fraction of a second happiness into a minute I wrote the following Poem. Poem In the middle of last night. While I was retired on the couch. Dozing off sleepozing. Noticed, I have been looking for you For a long time Everywhere. Except within myself. So, with this experience, I invite you to make a new word and comment it here. So that it will not get lost in the past, the void. Following is a list of new words WFozStories . Oversnoozed : Oversleeping after hitting alarm snooze few times. Wakesomnia : When you fall asleep just fine but consistantly wake up too early. Daniel Sunden Groob : An insane philosopher N.Sh Souli : A soul that belongs to me Atheseus Blabbler :An textural item added to an otherwise consistently smooth food, particularly in ice cream.