Have you seen a redwood tree? Tallest and biggest in forms on earth of tree kind. We do love to look at biggest, smallest, precious and dirtiest things in the world. Somehow or other these extremes drag us into a discussion, anywhere. Hence, I could not, not talk about the General Sherman, the biggest tree by volume. I have known similar gentle Giant in my early life. Which stood strong and old just like the General Sherman. A tree is a home to a thousand species. And philosophically speaking, a tree is good place to understand philosophy of forms. Here in this article, I describe forms, in two different methods. One is in platonic way. The other is just a scientific way. However, when you learn the scientific way you would understand that there exist no two methods. Everything seems to be platonic or "imaginary anyway" Platonic Forms. The Theory of Forms , also known as the Doctrine of Ideas , is a concept in philosophy attributed to the Classical Greek philosopher Plato. According to this theory, true reality lies beyond physical objects. If we break down the ideas, as follows. Forms (Ideas) : Plato proposed that there exist non-physical, timeless, and unchangeable Forms (sometimes also called Ideas ). These Forms are the essential, perfect essences of all things. For example, there is a Form of “Beauty,” a Form of “Justice,” and so on. These Forms are not directly perceivable in the physical world. you can read about these platonic forms here, in this article on platonic love. Imitations : Objects and matter in the physical world are mere imitations or imperfect reflections of these Forms. When we encounter something beautiful or just, we recognize it because it resembles the ideal Form of Beauty or Justice. I have further discussed these ideas in the reflectors and reflections of life. Plato believed thinking often on these ideal platonic forms will put us in a position to attain, or raise us above the worldly forms, hence one step closer to truth. Keeping this in mind, I invite you to read following chapter on a tree, from the book what is time . And you would understand this is another way to look at forms. It is true at Plato's time most of scientific knowledge was not there to see beyond what is seen from the naked eye. However, we have the luxury of science and YouTube so we can. Shouldn't we be doing this already? Truth about things we see - philosophy of forms. Trees are our friends. If they are not here, we would not be here. Hug the trees, back again to save the world. Let’s look at a tree, with our eyes. We see leaves, branches, trunk, and maybe part of the root. Imagine you went to see General Sherman , the redwood. Its immense trunk fascinates us. Now does the leaf of giant Sherman, is giant Sherman? Or the trunk? Or the roots? Taken separately there is no giant Sherman. But if taken together, ah, there it is the biggest living tree with the biggest trunk! See the magic happens in the mind. Let’s look at a few other examples to understand more and more truths about what we see.  Let’s look at a tree again, this time with a microscope, now our eyes have better resolution and magnification. Now, let's look at a leaf of this big red giant. Under the microscope. What do we see? We would see cells, cell walls, epidermal cells, spores, palisade tissue, spongy tissue, phloem etc. Now if you were a biologist, you would know better that a leaf is a collection of cells in special arrangement. The question is are these individual components a ‘leaf’? If not, a ‘leaf’ is created in our imagination. We can go further, let's look at a cell under more magnification. We would be able to understand the individual parts of the epidermal cell. A cell wall, membrane, plasma, a nucleus etc. Do these individual parts represent a leaf? No, but the collection is called an epidermal cell. So again, the epidermal cell is an imagination, an illusion of mind, in nature there is no epidermal cell. It is a creation of the human mind. Still there is some depth that we can go, Let's look at these individual cells using an electron microscope. What would we see? We would see structures of proteins, lipids, nucleic acid bathed in a tub of water covered by a membrane making individual parts of the cell. We can move from our biology to our chemistry now.  If we look at protein, what is it composed of? It is a three-dimensional structure made of a large array of amino acids (a kind of bio chemicals). Does this individual amino acid represent a protein? No, it does not, it is the collection, the specific structure, if it is not, it would be an abnormal protein. So, an individual protein is not something in nature. It is still a man-made concept. What about amino acids? That should be something in nature. However, still we can go deep. Amino acids are specific arrangements of different elements/atoms arranged in specific form. So, amino acid is still a man-made relative truth. What about an atom? Are we there yet? Are we at the end? Have we found the ultimate truth in an atom? Not at all there are subatomic particles in the form of protons, neutrons and electrons together to form an atom. So, atoms are again an arbitrary concept. What about a proton, in the standard model of particle physics still it is considered as a composite particle composed of three valence quarks. These are the depths the modern science has looked into, and we find that the more we search, the more we find that examples for nothing are absolute truths. So, the trees that we see can be, A tree A collection of leaves, roots and a trunk A collection of cells A collection of proteins, nucleic acid, lipids and water A collection of atoms A collection of subatomic particles Plato attributed those forms, are imaginary perfect things. But when we question reality, we come to know that everything we see outside, is not outside at all. Really speaking we do not know what is outside. It seems even a concept of a tree, or a leaf or a cell is platonic at its core, as in reality there is nothing like that in the outside world. Hence, whatever we make up with our language and in our mind are platonic. What is the value of something if it is totally lies in someone's imagination? Even being 'Rich' or 'Poor' is a thought in mind. Plato described these platonic forms are non-physical, timeless and unchangeable things. However, it seems, everything that we 'see' and 'hear' are non-physical, and timeless, as they are platonic. But it seems change is the only constant thing which underly them, not persistence. Understanding this makes the mind liberated from the continuous loop of struggle. When I sit on my chair and type these words, I can see the juggler, the magician of the mind, still juggles all the words in English , to create a meaning out of it. Which will never be possible.

What are dreams? This is yet another article on dreams . Why so many? because dreams are abundant and such an essential part of happiness. If you do not have dreams probably you would not enjoy anything. I am not talking about dreams in sleep. Dreams while seeping, I have no idea what they are and philosophical value of it. However, dreams in real life, are just projections of our cravings into the future. And here I am going to show you why you can't kill a dream. And why it is essential for happiness. We encourage dreams. We ask our children to dream about their future and write essays on what they would become when they grow up. It seems logical, as we followed the same path. Why dreams are essential for happiness. Happiness looks like a relative feeling between your dream and the achievement. More the gap, more you would be happy. If you are dreaming to be a rich and you became super rich, you would be happier. But if you are poor and you wanted to be rich and you became super rich, you would be most happy. If you only expect nothing, you would be the happiest person on earth. Dreams essentially are another measurement, a value , or a mental object . We do not realize this, however as all other mental objects, they subject to variation, and individualizations. As you can see, if there was no dream, there cannot be enjoyment. If there are no expectations, all the reality of the living a life disappears. Because there is no fulfilment in any sense. Having said this, I am going to show you why you cannot achieve such a platonic state of mind. Imagine you want to destroy or kill all your dreams and achieve nothing. Let it flow like a leaf floating on water without effort. A form of automatic living. How would you achieve that? One who search for a dream. Imagine a person, who lives on a mountain top. He is living in a paradise with plenty of food, water shelter, and supplies. Imagine he read in a book about a paradise, in a faraway land. And now he wants to go there. He gathered his supplies and traveled east, until he meets the ocean, and did not find a better place than his former home. Then he started his journey to west and could not find this paradise there either. He traveled north, and south, however each time he came back home with knowing that the home is better than everywhere. And he lived in his home, now just a little sad about everything. Only if he knew the paradise is where he lives and what he seeks is just an imagination, and all the paths lead outside his home is wrong, he could have been happy and stop the search and lived an ordinary life. A true seeker who does not seek. I see this as a great analogy to a search of a seeker, or a philosopher. It takes time to follow all the paths, written in books and taught by teachers to realize, there is no paradise, and whatever we feel is only what there is. There is no place called no dreams as well. As you can see, no dreams are another place, another destination, just like an ordinary dream. Which does not exist outside your imagination. Hence, our minds fool us one way or another with a future which is not there. Only with this wisdom, if you look at your mind mindfully you would understand what the monkey mind is doing to our house. It tries to destroy it and built another like the Sisyphus who was punished , just so we can build another. Now compare this to following articles, statue of David Michelangelo, what you see is not what it is but who you are. At the time of dreaming, you are the dream, just like what you are seeing is who you are. Hence it is wrong to seek a dream and not seek, and you would know just let them be is right attitude in mindfulness .

If you know the story The fisherman and businessman, you can skip to the discussion here One day a businessman, went on a vacation. He was a real wall street shark. He was at the beach, to see the sunset and enjoy the views. He was happy and content with his accomplishments of his life, few years to retire, and he will be happy until his death. He took a walk along the beach and saw a fisherman. Fisherman was resting by the beach, on the sand. His fishing pole by his side, and the bucket. Businessman wanted to chat with him and asked. "How is the fishing today? It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" "Oh yes, it is. I caught some fish". Fisherman replied. He peeped into the bucket. And saw two small fish, In the bucket. Smiled to himself, and he said confidently, "Well, not much fishing you have done, why don't you use a net?" "Why should I use a net?" Fisherman asked curiously. "Of course, if you use such a net, you will catch more fish. And If you catch more fish, you could buy a boat in no time." Now, fisherman was interested, "what can I do with a boat?" Businessman said. "I think you know better, you can go to deep sea, catch more fish and soon you can buy few more boats, or a bigger one and send someone else to go fishing for you. You can run a business and relax while others work for you." What am I going to do, after that? Fisherman asked. "What not, you can do anything, you can travel, dine at any boutique and, you can come by the beach. You can relax your time. Of course, you can do a little bit of fishing you like it." Businessman replied. Fisherman gave smile, and said, "Thank you friend for your kind advice, I am already relaxed. I am already satisfied, I am already enjoying the life, even without going through all the trouble that you suggested me to go through!" Life lessons from the story- Let's read the story unbiased. The story describes two common approaches to the problem of living a fruitful life. Should we spend our lives chasing higher targets like businessman did? or limiting ourselves to lower more achievable targets, like a minimalist would do. Being satisfied with whatever we already have. At least the second seem to be more attractive option although not many of us are inclined to follow that path. After all, the fisherman in this story can be an unhappy one without so much wisdom and really wished the businessman's life. Businessman on the other hand can be a wise one who is happy about his achievements and helping thousands of others to live happily under his empire. It seems life decisions cannot be funneled into such small all or none type of decision making. (Think about it, if there were no businessmen, fisherman may not have even a fishing line or a bucket, even cloths.) We and only we would know what is best for ourselves. Is this the only way to spend a successful life? This article will provide some insights to the question. What will you choose? What is a life well spent? You may also like to read: Golden Hour's rush. (POEM) Story of the monkey and the bird. That thief who did not lie. Thank you for reading fisherman and businessman story and life lessons.

"That's what makes a view so sad. And so beautiful. It'll be there when we're not." Let's explore the famous quote by Virginia Woolf, perhaps one of the most known British Writers of the past century. Born in 1882 as the seventh child, she has contributed to the literary world with many and more Gems, Mrs. Dalloway (1925): To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando (1928) are among her well-known work. In her Novel Between the acts , she has written the above quote, which overlaps with some of main Ideas I have written in previous articles hence it is a good subject to study. The quote captures following ideas. A view is both beautiful and sad. It seems there cannot be genuine beauty which is in its platonic form . So always there will be pain in pleasure. You can read about this more in Why I am afraid of beauty . A view would be there when we are not looking at it. That adds to the pain in a Suttle way. You cannot be on a vacation every day. And all the other days you would be missing sunsets. This is similar to any pleasant experience you are having. It doesn't last. The moment you stop experiencing it ends. This idea is further explored in Unseen world . How can we get away from the pain, of not being able to capture it all? Just like in limitations in photography , our consciousness is limited. And there is always something missing. Is there a way to solve the problem? This article is trying to explore some of possible solutions. But I can warn you it may not be pleasurable, as pleasure you can see will always be associated with pain. You can call it peace, silence , mindfulness , or nothingness. I can assure you words would not matter if you understood the concept. Quantum Philosophy. This is where quantum philosophy comes handy. Look at following ideas from quantum physics. We can provide intuitions to our daily understanding of views from these. wave particle duality - They can behave as discrete particles (localized entities) and as waves (with associated wavelengths and interference patterns) Uncertainty principle - The uncertainty principle, formulated by Werner Heisenberg, states that there are limits to how accurately we can predict certain properties of a quantum particle. (like mass and momentum) Fundamental principle these observations have is, that it is at a certain point in time, it is uncertain what is the mass, position, energy etc. of a particle until you measure it. And there is no way we can predict everything at the same time. And if you explore the cat in the box experiment by the Schrodinger, this illustrates this fact of quantum superposition . Cat in the box experiment. Physicist Erwin Schrödinger proposed it to illustrate the challenges of the Copenhagen interpretation. Here’s the setup: A cat is placed in a sealed box. Inside the box, there’s a flask of poison and a radioactive source connected to a Geiger counter. If the Geiger counter detects radioactivity (i.e., a single atom decaying), the flask shatters, releasing the poison and killing the cat. Now, here’s the twist: until you open the box , the cat is simultaneously both alive and dead due to quantum superposition. The experiment highlights the question of when superposition ends and reality collapses into one possibility or the other. While not meant for actual cats, it illustrates the behavior of atoms and remains an unsolved puzzle in physics. Virginia Woolf and Quantum philosophy After all Virginia Woolf seems to have written nothing on quantum philosophy. I think it is due to the fact that these quantum physics was not in any way was in the curriculum of a women who was home schooled. And some of the ideas surely were not even invented. So, her quote remains as it is. "That's what makes a view so sad. And so beautiful. It'll be there when we're not." Quantum philosophy suggests that a view would be there and not there when we do not look at it. Just like a cat in the box. And it is really unpredictable, hence a relative truth that the sunset is there when you are not on a vacation. It seems like a stupid argument. However, it is strong enough argument that nobody can break. Hence, we have to take it as a relative truth. And that is also a solution to the problem. If something is a relative truth, there is no need to be sad or greed over it. Here is another way to look at truths about what we see. What you see is not what it is, but who you are. I will end the article with another quote from VW. Which reads " Growing up is losing some illusions, in order to acquire others " or living in a dream

Nobel prize winner, George Bernard Shaw is considered as an influential playwright, critic, and political activist. Born on July 26, 1856, in Dublin, Ireland he Authored over sixty plays, including notable works like Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1913), and Saint Joan (1923). And here is another quote from him. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself”. However, for the purpose of this article, I chose the above quote. And here is another little thought experiment on it. Land of happiness - Goldilocks In the far corner of the world there is a land. A land isolated from the rest of the world. The land is above the clouds. Not too cold, not too warm, it has the right temperature, and climate throughout the year. The land has enough farmers, not too much, not too little, food throughout the year. The food in this land, is very tasty, nothing like ordinary in our world. These are the best of the best food from the whole world. The rivers of this land, always flowing with clear water as there was no soil erosion or pollution. People in this land know nothing about the outside world. Imagine everything you wish for in this life. And that is available in one form or the other in the land. It is just like Miss Goldilocks wished. Now the question is are the people in this land happy? Feeling fulfilled? Let's read the quote by Bernard Shaw again, “ There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it. " The first part of the quote is easy, of course it is pain, if we do not have what we desire. Ever since we were born in this world we craved for things. We craved for mothers' milk and warmth, even when we could not speak, we cried. Since then, the constant desire and fulfil cycle has been there without any break. From morning till night from night till morning, craving happens hour after hour. This is common, for all the dictators , all the teachers , all the thieves and all the animals , except for some wise men who are non-living . You would ask so what? that is life. What is the problem of having craving and satisfying these cravings. This is the second part of the quote is about. Because it doesn't stop there. Once we get what we desire, the mind craves more. If you had a perfect vacation last year, you would want another one this year. If you are a millionaire, you would want to be a billionaire. If you won a silver medal last year in Olympics you would want a gold medal this year, and it is not over for the gold medalist as well, as he would need to break the world record. For the one who break the world record, would need to break it again, and if not would need to keep the ecstasy of the moment lasted throughout the rest of the life. But can he ever achieve this. Impossible. It seems mind deceives us somehow with a promise of an eternal happiness. And only very wise men/women would know the cheating game the mind plays. And try to escape the reality. There are two tragedies in life, one is to get what Goldilocks philosophy Let's get back to the land of happiness. Will Goldilocks in the land of happiness be happy? If you are finding it difficult to imagine an affluent country. And the people in this country never knew about other countries. They would never know that what they are experiencing is the best food, they would not know they are sitting on best chairs, they would not know, what they are sleeping is on best beds. But Goldilocks knew because she had this past experience on what is good for her. Anyone who has no prior experience in poor would not know that they are rich. And because of this, Suttle variations would appear as biggest. Just like a millisecond that the Olympic gold medalist crave for, they would find happiness as well as plenty of sadness. I am sure there would be enough tears and depressed people, for other reasons. Because after all Bernard Shaw is true, there are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it. Perhaps, we do not need to strain our brains imagining a land of happiness. Maybe just a marriage would be enough to identify the wisdom in above quote. Two boys desire a blond girl, and one was fortunate enough to marry her. Who do you think is happy at the end of the day? Yes, perhaps for a day or a week the one who gets the girl would be happy, and then he would desire something else. It seems, the stupidity of the mind is never ending, in the exact moment you desire something. Even when you are reading the article I am sure, many times you changed your mind on value of the message. Hence, I would advise, try to see beyond the process and look at the inherent valuelessness of the process of consciousness.

The Quote . Yes, I wrote this quote, inspired by the previous quote by Carl Jung, "who looks outside dreams: who looks inside awakens". However, the Carl Jung quote is not practical. How can we look inside all the time? Hence, I have introduced above quote. It provides you with a little wisdom which can help you get along with the day. Even hard situations. Bear with me, and I will explain in detail. However, first, remember the quote. Write it down. What you see is not what it is but who you are If you remember the quote and remind it throughout the day you can practice mindfulness easily. Following is the explanation to why it works. ------------------------------- Let's take a walk in the imaginary beach. You are walking in the afternoon in the sandy tropical beach. While the sea wind embraces you, you slowly walk towards the far away lighthouse. And you can see fishermen busy trying to sail their boats, some already out in the sea. You can see your partner, walking to the beach-hotel, you yell and wave, but he/she did not hear. You give up and continue to walk, and you remember you are free from your duties, now on vacation. However, along the way, you see one of your bosses also, on vacation, on the same beach. And he is not the one you are looking forward to meet. So, you put a fake smile on your face and continue to walk, until it is too dark into the night. And after some time, you get tired, it's too dark to continue walking on an unknown beach, and you walk back, while sea waves crash on the beach, still. And you return for your dinner just in time. -------------------------------- It looks like a happy memory, except those encounters with your boss, and needing to walk back to the hotel in the dark. And I would say practicing mindfulness in those type of situations is easy. However, if you practice enough, you can expand it into your office working hours. Now, let's use the intuitions provided by the quote, what you see is not what it is who you are. How to walk mindfully? ---------------------------------- Let's take the same walk mindfully this time. You are walking in the afternoon in the sandy tropical beach, and you remind yourself what you see is not what it is but who you are. While the sea wind embraces you, you know that the wind is you, you slowly walk towards the far away lighthouse, and you know the lighthouse is you. And you can see fishermen busy trying to sail their boats, some already out in the sea, and you notice, the image you see is form of a reflection of your own mind. So, far so good. You can see your partner, walking to the beach-hotel, you yell and wave, but he/she did not hear, you notice the partner you see is still your reflection, and also the happiness you feel when you see your partner is also part of the reflection. You give up and continue to walk, and you remember you are free from your duties, now on vacation, and you see this sense of freedom is also a part of your mind's creation. Along the way, you see one of your bosses also, on vacation, on the same beach, and you notice, the boss is something I see, and it must be who I am, hence, what is the point being cross with myself? And you notice, same as happiness you felt watching your partner, you do not have to be sad about the sadness you feel as it is still your mind's creation. So, you put a genuine smile on your face and continue to walk, until it is too dark into the night and know the night you feel is you. And after some time, you get tired, it's too dark to continue walking on an unknown beach, and you walk back, while sea waves crash on the beach still, you do your little return walk, still reminding yourself, the night, the walk and the beach are still you. Why? because everything which came to your consciousness were essentially reminders or pointers point towards you. And you return for your dinner just in time. -------------------------- I think the duality of the nature, deserves more explanation than this. However, this may not be the time or place hence, it will be another article for future. However similar concepts you may find in different articles like the following. Would there be a peace without war? Can there be happiness without sadness, or pleasure without sorrow? Why I am afraid of beauty. Golden hours rush - Poem

To Kill a Mockingbird - and mindfulness The Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Harper lee is one of the most read, and appreciated novel of its era, even up to today. For obvious reasons. Above is one of the famous quotes in the book, made by the character Judge Taylor. And the full quote is as follows. People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for, and they have the right to subject their children to it, but I can assure you of one thing: you will receive what you see and hear in silence or you will leave this courtroom, but you won’t leave it until the whole boiling of you come before me on contempt charges. He says those words ruling that women and children are allowed to be in the court for the hearing. But they are not allowed to disturb the proceedings in any way. It is understandable that given the context, it has more narrower meaning. And first when I read the quote, it did looks like capturing essentials of mindfulness practice. And I will show you why. I am not going in further details of the plot of the novel. However, a brief summary you may find in the internet. Before moving on look at the following quote which I picked up from a twitter. A book read by a thousand people is thousand books. Did you see the similarity? Taken in isolation, this is exactly what I gathered from the above quote, people generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for. It seems no matter what is presented to our perception, it is somehow altered by our past experience. As past is always carried by us, like an information sphere, or like earth, like Atlas the Giant. Similarly, we can expand the above quote in following ways as well. A flower seen by a thousand people is a thousand flowers A film watched by a thousand couples is two thousand films. A dinner taken by two people is two dinners A song heard by a dozen people is a dozen songs Philosophy of the quote "People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for" Now, you can understand that if we were mindful about the fact, that our perceptions are different from one person to another, there would be less arguments, and less fights over stupid little things. At least that will do some good. However, this is not the only depth we can go to, as always wisdom doesn't let us stop there. As I see, A flower seen by me in the morning and afternoon are two flowers A film watched by me twice in the past are two films A mouthful taken by me during the dinner are individual mouthfuls A song listens by me a dozen times is a dozen different sounds hence, a dozen songs. A thought which occurs about the past, is a new thought. These are intuitions which are gathered and indeed helpful in our mindful practice, as always wisdom follows mindfulness vice versa. Knowing the facts help to understand the mind process. With these intuitions we can now try to answer the question, who am I? once again, an attempt to answer. Because, I who have listened a dozen songs, are not the same I, as with each iteration of the song, my personality had changed. Each second, each half a second and each millisecond. Without ever even 'me' knowing about it. If these paragraphs, tickles your brain, I suggest you look at following articles, to understand the process a little bit more. Consciousness , past , present mental objects , mindful eating

Who looks outside If you want to be successful in the world, you will need dreams. You will need targets, time tables and stratergies. If you are running a company a vision mission and goals. What are these, these are just dreams. A university student has a dream to complete the degree and to be able to join a successful team, to feel fulfilled about achievements same time earning money for a comfortable life. An enterprenuer has a dream to increase the profit so he could afford to buy a luxury Ford. A fisherman has a dream, to catch more fish, or shrimp in that matter, and build a fleet of boats. A child has a dream full of baloons, and fish and mothers warmth. And it is inevitable who looks outside, dreams. But there is a different meaning to this. A whole new deapth to the dreams that we see. Duality of the world- mindful listening If you have read previous articles about dreams and conciousness , you would understand the duality of the world. When we look outside, we will be able to find things outside. Just like now. Let's do a small thought experiment on this. A little mindfulness practise to understand what is the dream. Close your eyes for a second after reading this, and listen to sounds for a moment. And ask yourself where is the sound? Where is the each and every sound comes from. It seems that the sounds are outside. When you hear a bird singing, the mind would 'dream' a bird, or imagine a bird, outside your room on a tree. But was there a bird? No, you did not see a bird, there was only a sound. And the bird you imagined may or may not be there. There is no way of knowing that, because at that exact moment, you were only listening to the sound. And once the sound dissapeared you were thinking about the bird. Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens. Carl Jung If you know the mechanism of hearing, you would know, sound is not there even in your ear, even in your brain, it is just a vibration of air, ear drum and electrical impulses in your brain. Interpreted as 'sound' Hence even with logic we can understand, there is no 'sound' in the real world apart from an interpreter or observer. If something cannot exist without the other, is it a one thing or two things? You can think about every sensation you are having in this way, and know it yourself. The duality of the nature is created only when you imagine it is outside, however if you look at yourself mindfully each and every second of living you would get to know, the world is you, and you are the world. It is not two separate entities. Hence the second part of Carl Jung quote is also correct it seems. Who looks inside awakens from the dream. Observer is the observed- Krishnamurti If you look at the past, different philosophers of our era, knew this and understood this concept in different ways. JJ Krishnamurti once said, the observer is the observed. So, there is nothing existing outside the observer. This is the reality of things. It seems tragic at first. But even the thought of 'this is tragic and so it is sad' is something we observe. Hence, not some 'thought' which arised in 'me' but what 'I' was at the exact moment it came to the knowledge. Chasing dreams No wonder, modern man is so tired chasing a dream. Without knowing these facts, which rests in our hearts, we chase dreams outside world. We argue with people surrounding us, and we get angry. We get happy when New York Knicks win over Chicago Bulls. And we go on shoping, to improve the way we see ourselves in front of the mirror. We cry and smile and laugh on the same day. Only if we knew and remind ourselves what we see is not what it is but who we are, the pain and burden will reduce, and the ripples in the mind would calm down until you are able to see the bottom of the pool once forever and see nothing. Otherwise, we would continue to chase the mirrage but never drink water. Let's start a mindful Journey today and to understand the true meaning of follwing quote and even see the relative nature of it. (given in the context - that it was written in a letter to someone who was mourning in beravement, Carl Jung may have meant something entirely different, like empathy. But I would never know, hence relative) -------------------------------- I realize that under the circumstances you have described you feel the need to see clearly. But your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Without, everything seems discordant; only within does it coalesce into unity. Who looks outside dreams, who looks inside awakens Carl Jung --------------------------------- Oh Carl Jung was not the first to say this. Remember we sang? Row row row your boat gently down the stream Merrily merrily merrily merrily life is but a dream. Problem is we forgot its a dream. And started to live in it!

Have you lost your keys lately? Eternal search for happiness I have lost my keys. Yet again for the 100th time. It seems the keys are the most lost item from all the household. It has happened so much If we calculate millions of human hours may have been lost looking for the keys. So, that even there are solutions for never to lose an item, I attached a piece of GPS gadget, with a tracking app. Nowadays, Air tags can be attached to any item you need to find out from your car to your partner. However, If I tell you there are many important items that you have been looking for, which cannot be tagged, but loses so often, you will not agree with me. Hence, I will write about it. Since we were born, since young age we have been searching for happiness. The pursuit of happiness. Whenever we got a craving, we were looking for things to quench our thirst. Some of us took the easy road, without worrying too much about a future. Took the lazy path, settled in a job, and be happy with a piece of bread and beer. Some of us could not settle for simplicity. So, we took a path, which is longer and tedious. To tackle down 10000 hours to the mastery. And once one skill mastered, we could not step their either. We had to take a long journey of saving and investing, to Grow money, into a crypto emperor. Yet like a mirage, it always flees away. Happiness always seems to flee . Happiness stories, coins, cushions and cocaine Look at the wealthiest, the Elite and top cream of our society. Devorce rates of Hollywood is 40-50% And it seems the people who are always smiling, and travelling in luxury cars, seems to be unsatisfied with one partner. It cannot be a problem with education or intelligence. As they also represent a similar cohort of our society. Once I saw a couple who went to the bakery. They had few coins with them. After buying the breakfast to their child, after he ran away to the school, they counted their coins. And they could afford a single bun with the remaining money. And they did, and happily shared the bun with each other. Wow ! I thought. That is rare. How come one person find happiness in such places with so much little coins? I am sure, a good night sleep would be a luxury to every celebrity, unless they are not humble to give it a thought, that happiness does not come from the cushions or cocaine. Sounds familiar? Occasionally I see an artist being brutally honest about the life. ------------------Mike Posner----------------------- I took a pill in Ibiza To show Avicii I was cool And when I finally got sober, felt 10 years older But fuck it, it was something to do I'm living out in LA I drive a sports car just to prove I'm a real big baller cause I made a million dollars And I spend it on girls and shoes But you don't wanna be high like me Never really knowing why like me You don't ever wanna step off that roller coaster and be all alone ------------------------------------------------------------ To end the eternal search for happiness. I have been in the battle myself. Just like a kid collecting candy on a mat. And I got tired. I have got tired so much, that I was watching a film after film, song after song, to the crazy mind feeding what it asks for. And luckily, I heard about mindfulness . A path to wisdom about the comedy and tragedy of life . To rise above and look into the absurdity of the life . To understand the perpetual wheel which spins around and around, like the punishment of Sisyphus . So, that I could understand the relative nature of the so-called happiness. And once I step into the roller Coster of mindfulness, it started to flow, into an automatic mode. And it seems, understanding the happiness with wisdom , will really put a full stop to the eternal search for it. Long before life is stolen away by nature. So, I invite you to listen to a mindful song today , to end the eternal search for happiness or lost keys forever.

Telos of life - in a dragon scroll To understand the secret of life, you first need to watch the movie kung fu panda. In the first movie which always is the best in a series, there is a scene about a dragon scroll. An ancient secret of kung fu master's which holds the power to ultimate Non defeatable dragon warrior. So, everyone Wish that they had the power in the scroll, Villans and heroes alike. And after a big battle between two parties, they get the dragon scroll and open it to see what is inside. And guess what. It is empty. Some practical joke of some ancient master who wanted them to believe that there is power. This made me wonder just like the kung fu panda. What if this is true. What if the telos of life is to understand that the dragon scrolls or the ultimate truth about telos (meaning) of life is an empty one. What is the telos (meaning) of life? This is the greatest philosophical question which was asked and attempted to answer since the history of philosophy. Meaning of life , is a great place to start. Isn't it. There are many and more arguments about this. Simply put following are great thoughts from the past, great philosophical minds. Now look at the following, taken from wiki. And all these questions seek the same answer although they are asked in slightly different various forms. What is the meaning of life? What's it all about? Who are we? Why are we here? What are we here for? What is the origin of life? What is the nature of life? What is the nature of reality? What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of one's life? What is the significance of life? What is meaningful and valuable in life? What is the value of life? What is the reason to live? What are we living for? I have been in search of meaning of life, just like you. Just like thousands of others. With mindfulness as a tool, I have trying to observe the waves of the beach of mind . To see a pattern. To see any clue about the telos of life. So, far, I haven't found anything. And that is where the wisdom of Kung Fu Panda comes in. Maybe there is no Telos of life after all. Maybe after all the battle, I might find an empty scroll. But the problem is unless I get hold of the Dragon scroll of life and look into myself, I would never see that, the scroll is empty. I cannot believe on what someone else is saying as, they may be wrong. It is necessary to see the emptiness myself. Oh, you may wonder these are my own words. These are my imagination, and there is no credibility to what I say. This is just a speak of a delusional mind. So, here I would write about following story from the book, Plato and Platypus Walk into a bar. And see the similarity to yourself. Of course you would not understand why the Dragon scroll is empty, if you are just at the beginning of your mindfulness practice . However, deeper you go into the chaos of mind, you would understand more and more, the stupidity that beholds in everyday life, so you begin to doubt the sanity of most of so-called human stories. Telos of life - in a teacup. A seeker has heard that the wisest guru in all of India lives atop India’s highest mountain. So, the seeker treks over hill and Delhi until he reaches the high mountain. It’s incredibly steep, and more than once he slips and falls. By the time he reaches the top, he is full of cuts and bruises, but there is the guru, sitting cross-legged in front of his cave. “O, wise guru,” the seeker says, “I have come to you to ask what the secret of life is.” “Ah, yes, the secret of life,” the guru says. “The secret of life is a teacup.” “A teacup? I came all the way up here to find the meaning of life, and you tell me it’s a teacup!” The guru shrugs. “So maybe it isn’t a teacup.” So, the message is, it may be found anywhere. Like this blog claims as it is, happiness may be found in a floating leaf , a buzzing bee or a little soft wind tossing your hair. It may be not the happiness you get from the cravings, when they are satisfied, but fulfilment, which is inevitable when the truth in a teacup is understood. Which is there in this exact moment. Let us drink a cup of coffee mindfully today. Sometimes I wish to be a coffee. Just to be valued a few bucks. Just to be cared for a few minutes Just to be held to spend few moments. Just to make it a little warm On a chilling day Like this.

Claustrophobia. Some of us have it. One of my close relatives have it. Claustrophobia is not a joke at all. Just like being afraid of heights. Have you seen tourists walk on glass bridge of China? for some it is just a walk in the park. They can fully enjoy. But some struggle even to move their feet from one place to the other. Obviously, there is no risk of death (almost Nill) from a fall. Yet they are afraid, which is uncontrollable to them. So, claustrophobia similarly is not a lie. These people are afraid of closed spaces. Mostly they cannot undergo, medical imaging as they cannot be inside a closed room. They can't tolerate pushed into the doughnut of death! I am not claustrophobic at all. Yet I have felt once that I am close to being a one when I watched about caving. Nutty-putty Cave- story of claustrophobia If you haven't heard the story, Nutty putty cave is a now shut down cave located in Utah in United states. It is cave with its own challenges. The famous narrow tract which is called the Birth canal is located in deep parts of the cave. Once you are in such a narrow passage, there is no way of turning back, no way of moving back. Only way you can come out is moving forward until you reach the other end into a bigger 'room' where you can turn back. I saw a video of someone who, took the journey through the birth canal, and if you watch the full video, I am sure, if you are not a caving expert like me, even an ordinary person would feel claustrophobic, just by watching it. It is like this wired feeling that he is going to get stuck. Nutty putty cave -Closure. In 2009, November 24th, John Edward Jones, who is one of experienced caver went exploring the cave, and got stuck in a narrow passage, which was previously not mapped. after more than 24 hours being stuck, despite all the rescue attempts he died inside the cave. Upside down. This part of the cave was even narrower than the 'birth canal' and the problem was that there was no room at the end of the passage for him to turn back. Being slightly slanted position, I could only imagine the situation what he felt. And I can imagine and describe, which will even make you claustrophobic. The event led to the closure of the nutty putty cave, with his dead body inside as it was too risky to bring him back. In contrast to the successful story of the Tham Luang cave rescue in Thailand. Imagine, with all the aspirations and life ahead of you, but being stuck without any hope for 24 hours, with a risk of being dead in next few hours. I like to imagine what will go in my mind in the last 24 hours of this life. Will I be happy I spent it trying to find out the true telos of life? or I would just think about what to eat when I go home, or the amount of money in my bank account. Will I be worried about the exam which is in December? There are unanswered questions. Only time would provide with answers. Let us think about life , before inevitable death , as there are so many dumb ways to die. Thank you for reading, Nutty-putty Cave- story of claustrophobia. You would like to Read about the allegory of the cave- philosophy Video links. Nutty putty cave Incident of John John's death.

Actual Tsunamis. Following is a paragraph from the book What is time, which needs more explanation. ------------------------------------- Boxing day tsunami - on massive waves and natural disasters. In 2004 boxing day I woke up early morning and came to know there had been a major flood in coastal regions of our country. Later that day we saw videos from coastal cities, innocent people washed away by massive waves back and forth until they were washed back to the sea. We had never seen those stories for ages, except there was one story from the ancient times when the queen of an ancient king sacrificed herself and was sent to the sea to stop floods, and somehow it stopped after the sacrifice and she landed safely at another coast. Now we know the true nature of tsunami. It's been almost two decades, still people are living by the coast, with memories of missing loved ones washed away by the sea. Sea is not rough, like it's December 26 of that year. Yet waves crash, and they retreat, over and over again. Occasionally a big wave reaches more than others and wash away some more into the land and retract back to the sea. Even the tsunami retreated back to the sea. I suggest you be the visitor of your own beach of mind, until you notice the endless process of thoughts crashing on the beach. To retract back. Occasionally big waves. And massive tsunamis will happen one day. And when it does, it is time to exercise your practice. It is the best prediction about the future we can make. And like some wise man once said ‘The best thing I have learned about my life is not to trust each and every thought ‘. --------------------------------------- This is not a time or the place to describe the mechanisms behind, Tsunamis. After Boxing Day Tsunami, most of our generation came to know of the knowledge that this natural disaster is never a never event as 300000 people perished that day. I have written a previous article on waves of the sea and waves of life . Hence briefly mentioned about Tsunamis. Something about these waves fascinates me somehow. When I see a video of a Japanese Tsunami, 12 meters high waves rushing towards coastal towns and totally destroying, I see no discrimination there. Wealthy and poor alike run away from their homes. I can the horror they see their massive mansions destroyed, or tiny huts destroyed, is equal. And they remain naked in front of the natures, teasing. Aftermath is similarly uniting them. Neighbours who were divided by their, status, not come to realization that they are equal, for a brief time period before they build up those tiny houses back again, associated their names. Microscopic tsunamis If I say tsunami, teaches us principles of life, you will not agree, Hence I will give you more and more examples. This time from your own Physiology, chemicals in your body, and how they react. Imagine someone having a severe injury to their body . A mangled limb, or crushed Torso, from fully functional at time 0, they go to severe, injured dead cells at time 1second. Apart from this physical injury, it leads to severe, inflammatory response in your body which is called, Systemic inflammatory response or SIRS. Imagine this is like a Tsunami inside your body, thousands of chemicals released will activate massive reaction in the body. Now, It has shown, that the SIRS is followed by an anti-inflammatory response (Compensatory anti-inflammatory response) following days to weeks. Just like aftermath of the Tsunami. Bigger the injury (Earthquake) Bigger the SIRS(Tsunami) and Bigger the CARS(aftermath of Tsunami). for an individual, if it is big enough, it could lead to death. Social Tsunamis - Have you been to a party? Have you ever been to a party? In that case even a wedding. I call them Social Tsunamis. Because as you can see, they really do destroy the peace and the serenity. Of course, I have been to party, a summer concert. When we ride the wave, we do feel the adrenalin rush. Just like a real Tsunami. It may bring happiness, but the bigger the wave bigger the aftermath. Either good memories or chaotic ones. Time would only tell. Imagine the staff, or the house owner, or the state which tries to clean up the mess. Sometimes I wonder is it really necessary the chaos we create. Of course this is an introvert's point of view . Mental Tsunamis. Remember the principle. Bigger the wave, bigger the aftermath. Bigger the greed, bigger the loss. Bigger the gap between expectations and achievement, bigger the happiness. There are mental Tsunami's which will happen from time to time. Loss of a loved one, Loss of a limb, diagnosis of a cancer , or rejection from the co-operation. If your mental attachment to the mental objects is too heavy, it will destroy everything. The more the sea is retracting, expect a bigger wave. So, how you can survive a Tsunami? How to survive a tsunami - natural This is easy, if you built a house, in the cost you are prone to face a Tsunami. It might not be today; your children of children might go washed away to the sea. If you visit the cost a Tsunami is unavoidable, and if you see the sea retracting, just do not try to go and investigate. As you have the information now, now we know what to do. Not to go and see the poor fish who tries to swim back as we ourselves are in imminent danger, we should walk, towards higher grounds. There is just enough time to reach the hill and avoid the full blow of the massive wave, where we would not survive. Even in Medicine, when there is initial injury which is now creating a SIRS, physicians will try to minimize the SIRS which will reduce The CARS, and the patient will recover well. They anticipate and take action. The question is do we follow same rules in mental Tsunamis? Or can we? How to survive a Tsunami - of life. So, how to survive a tsunami of life? Try to look at yourself and try and find out where your house is built? Is it in a tsunami prone costal region, not on a higher ground, take action today. Start living mindfully and weaken your attachments to mental objects . It will weaken the waves and one day, you would be able to enjoy the beach without any fear. Because you can walk to your safe house when the sea starts retracting.