Examples of going with the flow. In Football I was watching a video of best goals by great players of 21st century ( link ). The video showed each player's most Iconic goal followed by their own assessment and commentary on actually what happened. Something I noticed was that generally everyone said that there was nothing supernatural about what they did. They did not even recognize that the goal was supernatural at the time they played it. Only after watching the replay some of them realized the value of, it. Common to everyone was, actually nobody wanted to play a brilliant goal, they just went with the flow, "Adjusted themselves to what is happening". Just like the ball was meant to be hit that way. In a plastic bag, in wind. Have you seen the empty polythene bag which dances in the wind? It was like the plastic bag got a life by itself. Just a little wind which gave it a lift and it started to behave like a ghost. Like an invisible life controlling its movements. If you haven't seen the plastic bag, you may have seen a flag in the wind . Just like I observed some time ago. Maybe you have watched a leaf floating on the water and compared with the life. Why should we go with the flow? If we look carefully going with the flow is the really a form of going against the flow. When we look at life, we always think about it in the point of view of a free will . From the early life we were taught lessons of being successful, financially spiritually and even when it comes to mindfulness and meditation and charity. We degrade and suppress the opposite, poverty, cruelty chaos and greediness. Yet this duality was created by our own minds. So, trying to change things is the normal acceptable behavior, however going with the flow is opposite way to try to change things. How to go with the flow? - by example I can give you a useless list of ten things to follow to go with the flow. However, that would not be beneficial to you. That would be just a trick list to rank in google better. So, I will give you example of going with the flow, so you can understand. The main idea is, you can only go with the flow, when you have enough wisdom with mindfulness. Case of anger. Imagine you are angry, for some reason, with some thing or someone. We all have been there. Feeling the blood boiling inside with ears starting to get fire. What is our normal response. We know anger is bad, and we try to suppress it. We want to control our anger, and just to see it is getting bigger. Just like happiness disappear when we try to reach happiness, angry monster grows when we try to control it. When the anger disappears, you may start to worry, that you got angry. What is the alternative? To understand the alternative and understand the true nature of the go with the flow. We need to be aware and acknowledge the presence of anger. That is, it. You would start to see the Anger arises, due to circumstances. Just like all the other mental objects, anger is also a mental object. Hence when the circumstances disappear, the anger will disappear. So, you can just go with the flow. If you have gained wisdom from observing countless times, what happens in your mind, you would know, if anger arise you have nothing to do. It's just a harmless mental object. And you can even play with it. And it will be replaced by happiness. When it is gone, its gone. When it is there it is there. And that is true meaning of going with the flow - just notice your drifting through time. Oh, that is easy to say. But hard to do. But it is a better framework than trying to forcibly suppress anger, for that matter any emotion. Eventually we will learn that we are not masters of the mind, but just observers. Observers, who even have ability to observe the observer and observing. When you start to go with the flow, you will eventually find out, that is rather not an option, but it is what is happening. You will notice, watching you tube videos, minute after minute is not your doing, and not inherently less valuable than writing a blog post. That is what I understand by going with the flow. What does it mean for you?

Just the other day I was talking about the negative effects of our news , the Mass media. And I said, "The important news will eventually find you, if that is really important, that you can avoid the negative crap until then." Surprisingly enough I just found that this is true. As the time of the writing above article, it was continuously pouring in this part of the country, as the Bengal Bay is having its own pre-hurricane depression, maybe a butterfly did flap its wings in the Land of creativity and Dreams. ( Chaos theory ) I took a drive outside and There was a Flood! And the news came to me just as an Experience and not from mass media. That is my first experience on a real flood, which affected me. And I drove carefully and luckily car did not stop middle of the road. But today, the water level had risen more, and the lagoon had reached the park where I used to sit and watch the jelly fish swim. Maybe after all they did want to meet me personally! And this part of the country is isolated from the rest of the country and I am stuck. Crows for a snack Like everyone else, I took opportunity to visit the "Flood". As I could see, some houses by the road were flooded too. For the people in these houses, it is a disaster. Everything is in chaos. Form their work, to their Everyday activates, and it will take some time even after the flood subsides, until they come back to normal. Whoever who has lost their loved ones, and their homes, this would be an irreversible change. But for the crows, it is time for opportunity. They were gathered by dozens on the grass fields. As the flood water created little insects to float from their hiding places. A little snack for the crows. And I can see many more, who benefit from the flood, just the other side of the equation. Like news channels, and maybe I am too as I am writing this article. That is the meaning of Rowing boats in the flood. Which is not bad at all as long as you do not fall in the water. As humans, we have remarkable ability to adapt to the situation, resilience. Which is good, as we should really learn to see the silver lining in the dark sky. I cannot see any situation we cannot make to our advantage, except maybe for the death. As death, does cancel the meaning to any life. Hence philosophy is inherently dark cloud. Philosophy is the attempt of humankind from the dark cloud of death. I do not laugh at people who row the boats, in the flood. Looking for some laughter, to save their valuables or any other reason. At least we should be thankful that we have this kind of boat, when it is our time to face the flood of diseases, and death. Rowing boats in the Flood. Bucket of water , Bucket of milk I have seen many times we did row our boats in the flood. Take an example of following famous speech of Frank Abagnale Sr. in the movie "Catch me if you can". "Once there were two mice, fell into the bucket of milk. One did give up without a fight and drowned and died. The other mice refused to give up. He did swim and swim and swim until the milk turned into butter. And he walked away from the danger. I am the second mice." When I think about the quote, a lot of questions arise. Taken in isolation it seems like a success story, of the second mice. But how long did the mice live until it was crossed the roads of the Cat? What if the mice fell into a bucket of water instead? Maybe the mice should have taken his time to think about these possibilities when it was relaxing after a meal of cheese, inside its comfort of home. Maybe if he did, the mice would have walked mindfully so that it would never fell into the bucket of water or crossed the path of the cat and live up to full potential of mice life. Then, even death could have been a happy ending, if the mice was mindful about that. Landslides, tsunamis and hurricanes . I can remember a landslide happened few years back in our district. A whole slope of few kilometers came down crashing a village hundreds of meters below. The total village was destroyed, and more than hundred people were buried under the rocks debris and mud. People from all around the other areas came to "visit" not only to help mostly to be amazed. Just like when it was on Boxing Day tsunami . And why did this happen? Why we are curious inherently about these events? I can see it is due to the negative value we give to these situations. Associated with negativity bias , sometimes they are more remembered than the positive aspects. To understand you need to learn about mental objects and how we give values to these mental objects . Remember when you walked by a stinking fish market last time? Without even knowing, you may have taken a deep breath, just you could not resist, registering the experience in the brain. Which is not in our control. But only with mindfulness we can see that this is happening. Everything in our mind has a value. Just like a flood, a stinking fish market or even a pot. But only with mindfulness we can see the valuelessness of these, and that will help us to understand the nature better. If you do not know this you would fall into someone's agenda, even your "self". And I think that is the lesson we can learn by watching rowing boats in the Flood. Rowing boats in the flood - Mill on the floss. Following is an AI generated plot summary of novel "Mill on the Floss" The Mill on the Floss is a novel by George Eliot that follows the lives of Maggie and Tom Tulliver, two siblings growing up in rural England. Maggie, the intelligent and spirited younger sister, constantly clashes with the expectations of her family and society. Tom, the dutiful and conventional older brother, struggles with his own sense of responsibility and ambition. As they grow older, Maggie falls in love with Philip Wakem, the son of their family's enemy. Their love is forbidden, and Maggie faces the consequences of her defiance. Meanwhile, Tom becomes increasingly consumed by his desire to avenge their family's misfortune and rebuild their social status. The novel culminates in a devastating flood that sweeps through the region. Maggie, driven by her love for her brother Tom, braves the treacherous waters to rescue him from their flooded family home, Dorlcote Mill. Together, they navigate the raging river in a small boat, their bond deepening amidst the chaos. However, their escape is cut short as the boat capsizes, and both Maggie and Tom are tragically drowned. Their deaths, intertwined in the relentless force of nature, symbolize the power of fate and the fragility of human life. The flood serves as a powerful metaphor for the tumultuous forces that shape individual destinies, ultimately leading to their untimely demise.

Creativity Essay -Kids - Ultimate creative creatures. Following is an essay on creativity - on What How and Why? Have you watched kids playing? They are the ultimate creative creatures of the world. Give them anything they will create. Give them an umbrella, they will create an imaginary rain. Give them a pot, and they will cook a meal for you. Give them a box, and they will make a fire engine with it. Give them nothing and they will make a thing out of thin air. They would not draw what you want but just create a Chimera of one of a kind. I can only imagine one person who reach in potential closest to a Kid, and that is none other than Dr Seuss with His Cat in the Hat by his side. Just only the other day I have written about imaginary play. Here I am again writing about creativity. Why? Because I just realized I have been a victim of killers of creativity in the past. Killers of creativity Have you felt a little hard to find the creative spark you seek lately? Maybe you are a victim of Creative killers! Oh there are a lot of them. Killers of creativity. A kid who plays with her imaginary toys will be an adult. Only after their creativity is killed by the environment they live in. I would not say, Elon Musk for that matter any artist, is a childlike in creativity in an adult body. But I think their creativity tree is given a fertile soil and look what they have become! They have become the examples when we want to achieve success. In today's world there are opportunities more than enough. They would definitely be there for at least a good half a century into the future as well. Hence, I invite you to write a sentence, draw a one picture, or make a rocket out of a broom. It doesn't matter what your line of work, but you can be creative. But beware of killers of the creativity. As they come in disguise in different forms. I have seen killers of creativity come as, Parents They can come as family and friends They can come as a laziness and procrastination They can come as fear or your Boss Killers of creativity are there in schools, teaching and in church Preaching. They will be hiding in corners, to give you a drug and drag you to negativity. Amy Winehouse, Freddie Mercury, Bob Marley, Jack London. Played with their lives. Others who are like you and me, pay with wasted hours, to the Killers of creativity. Even The great Michel Jackson could not escape, even with all his wealth and tactics. Even Jesus Crist could not. So, I invite you to notice when they arise. Be mindful all day. And ignore and crack on with life, being creative is yours and mine gift to otherwise, a monotonous boring life. More than ever, I see creativity killers, hiding behind our screens. Endless mindless scrolling which you and I succumb, are prime killers of creativity. If it doesn't add anything to your life, what is the point of scrolling dumb? Hence, write down what you notice, in TikTok or YouTube. And critically Analyse if it helps or not with your purpose of life. Do a Dopamine Detox if it helps. Creativity gives you wings Creativity gives you wings, for you to reach heights you did not think was possible before. That is the extra toppings to otherwise a boring cake. I don't mean literally when I say wings as I do not want to be in a court with you answering questions of the Judge. It is hilarious as someone did sue "Red bull" a 15 million dollars for not "giving them wings" physically as promised. I am sure they meant "creativity" wings. But there is enough stupidity to argue that is not what it meant. As a court room is not at all a place where creativity is understood. It is there in places of heart, in solidarity , and in company, when it is warm. It is never too late to write your first poem. First novel or test a new recipe. If you do not find your motivation, I invite you to practice mindfulness , and you start to notice inspiration is everywhere. Even in a grass which sway in the wind, or a drifting jelly fish. Or you can take a paradigm shift . Move to a different place, look at the world upside down , or go to a beach in an afternoon to empty your mind, to bring clarity and fresh perspective. Once you have done that, once you take a gap from the obvious routine you will see new paths. You will see patterns emerge from the chaos of life, where you can just drift in your canoe and enjoy the ride. I am giving a lot of positive vibes here in this essay as the tone of my previous articles were a little neutral. If you do not feel like you are not in the flow of life, that is not because you are a different, and depressive person . That is mainly due to, you are not in the place where you should be. There is a right place for every one of us. And it is your duty to find that place and let that creative self out for the better good of all the human beings. Even at work, even at school even on road. Just because we are humans, creative creatures. And never forget, it is the same imaginary play of a child that we are doing as adults, hence no harm being creative.

How to stay positive. To understand how to stay positive we need to understand the functioning of the mind. Mind function likes a computer . It runs programs which are called "Stereotypes" in the brain. Once we see that usually it is the default program which start to run unconsciously. However, in novel situations and deliberate practice of mindfulness can make someone tap into the controllable part of the mind. By saying 'Controllable' I do not mean that we can change our thoughts magically. Only thing we can do is be aware of what is happening. And only way we can create more positive and productive thoughts is by being in an environment which brings us more positive news. That is the key. To stay positive, you have to be in an environment which is positive. The question is are we in such an environment? Let us take you a thought journey on critically evaluating the possibility of quitting the news. News generally is not positive at all- Mindfulness on news. Generally, news is not positive. Generally, news is negative. You can conduct a little experiment yourself. I did it myself. I watched some old news program for half an hour and found out that 95% of the news about errors. Errors in our systems. Politicians blaming each other. Crimes committed; Accidents happened during the day not only in our country even in neighboring countries. Do you know apart from intermittent TV Ads everything else is negative. Even the politicians do not talk about positive things. They talk about what is the worst could happen to us. After being mindful about the news, I realized it does not provide a positive vibe after watching news. I just feel horrible to live in a so horrible country where everything is broken. Yet, mindfulness gives some other news. I did not see anyone dying on the road today. I did not see a crime. I see people working, children going to school, relaxed like I did years and years ago. I see clouds, and colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky. Also, the smiles of people. I see friends shaking hands and say how do you do. The world is a balanced place it seems. I find what I look for. This I have learned watching the rain some time ago. Positive rains and negative rains. Look at the rain. Rain can be seen in both ways, either a good thing or a bad thing. As a child I saw rain always positively. I was keen on seeing water flowing in our gutters to start to make a little paper boat and play. Put my hand on some droplets which fell down on the floor from our broken roof. But now, the same rain, is just a nuisance, it is worse if I forget my umbrella. Same muddy puddles where I used to play has become pools of distress. Only because I have changed the way I look at it. This is also what the news does to the rain. News will start to tell you all the horrible things which happened with rain. Crops destroyed some part of the country. Some remote houses are flooded. They zoom into the crying child who has lost all his books on the floodwater. But they do not see the bright things happening in the rest of the country. They do not even talk about the rain when is just perfect and ordinary this year to bring harvest to farmers houses. Why does our news try to bring a negative news more than positive and why we are also inclined to consume negativity more than positivity. In mindfulness I can see rain is neither positive or negative without our judgement. But we and news tend to tag it with negativity than positivity. Negativity bias. Negativity bias is the phenomenon where humans are more inclined to register and respond emotionally to negative information. A negative news will create a tsunami of emotions in your mind. I think this is more evolutionary rather than by choice. Imagine it is only few thousand years since we build permanent homes and live in cities. If we did not remember where, lions roam, and elephants killed your father, survival would not be so easy. Hence, it was carved into our brain, to identify danger. However, our news agencies tend to hack this tendency by their own narrative. News doesn't allow you to look and see what happens like in a still film. They report. They edit the narrative to bring up all the emotion and adrenaline response at the end of the hard-working day. And you would crave this dopamine surge again and again. Why you should quit the news - and carpe diem . And there is no harm of quitting the news for an ordinary person. For a CEO, you can just ask your secretary to give a summary of important information rather than relying on heavily edited mass media. If there is anything significant happening, it will find a way to reach you. More importantly you will have a relaxing mind and a better sleep than wondering about problems which should be tackled by newly elected president. We send them to the parliament for that reason. And it is their responsibility, while you enjoy your time. Imagine, the world is never going to be a better place for this news agencies. However, it already is. Instead of news you can choose what positive thing you are going to choose for that half an hour to make you better. Even if you do nothing will not harm you. Next -> dopamine detox

Background. When I was about nine years of age, I knew how to make an origami swan. If you haven't seen one, I have given a link. I can remember in the movie 'Some birds can't fly' Venessa used to make them. It was a difficult task for a kid. I used to show my origami to my classmates. Others were not interested while one child was. He used to come behind me asking me to teach him how to make it. I am not sure I did teach him. Otherwise, I would have not remembered this. But to this day I regret I did not teach him how. Time doesn't allow me to go back and do the proper. Hence, I dedicate this article for free education. Products of free education. I am a product of free education. One of the best systems in the world. It was competitive it was hard to climb the ladder of higher education. But once we were there, still it was free until we passed out from university. No student loans. Government holds all the expenses of all the children. I am not sure there is a similar system in other country. As I went to Singapore, couple of our guides did Suprise when they knew we have free education. Even a Slum Dog could become a potential lawyer in our education system. For which I am grateful. I wonder why it is not the case in anywhere in the world. It seems logical, fair and effective. Who owns the knowledge? Knowledge is not owned by who writes the textbook. Knowledge is not owned by who invents the Rocket. Knowledge is a cumulative effort of humankind. It belongs to the collective consciousness as Ellon Musk puts it. Imagine what it takes to write a textbook on mathematics, philosophy or even mindfulness. Can a toddler do that? Obviously not. Toddler has to learn how to write first. For this he has to learn from teachers, parents, siblings. Each one of us travelled this ladder one step at a time. With loads and loads of help. And the ones who helped us learned from their teachers. And as we see knowledge passed from generation to generation. You did not develop language, you did not develop mathematics, you did not even develop a printing machine. Or the generations of knowledge how to make books. How idiotic are we to claim that it is only my effort, and my knowledge is put into every word of this article. That is the narrowest selfish claim I can make. I owe everyone from every generation who passed along the knowledge if I create anything using those tools that they built. Of course there is little bit of my creativity here and there, however vast majority of work was done not by me but by ghosts of those generations of past. Similarly, even if you get a patent, for a new innovation I would say it is not possible without using common knowledge and collective wisdom of humankind. I am not asking someone to drop their patent and be a saint. However, there is Suttle form of ethics involved in these kinds of situations which we still do not know what the boundaries are. Good example is when some new innovation has the potential to save thousands or even hundreds of lives, should we keep them for ourselves, or distribute it in general pool of knowledge. A good example is covid vaccination. Everyone around the world was looking at the development of this, which eventually saved thousands of lives. It is something to rejoice and celebrate, another l esson learned from Covid. Why education should be free. Human knowledge is created upon sweat, suffering, and blood of thousands of thousands of people who lived and living among us. Anyone who claims they are the sole creator of knowledge; must either be coming from extraterrestrial planet or an Asylum. Hence, this is the main and the only reason I am suggesting as the reason for Such Knowledge should be in public domain and distributed freely. Maybe intellectual property is the adult name for hiding the knowledge of how to make an Origami Swan from your classmates. Yes, we all do make a living, but beyond that, we are not even going to carry the numbers to another life. Free education is a challenge. Free education is a challenge. Just like free speech. However, I have seen no other animal who is capable of enduring hardships than humans. I have seen no animal eat their own limbs just to carry on living, yet, I know humans have done just that thousand times in the history. Hence, impossible is just a word. I am glad to be living in an era, where knowledge and education is becoming free and accessible more than ever. In tips of my finger, I have a library. But are we using these opportunities properly? Or pushing our future generations to addictions by carefully planned algorithms and phishing them with rubbish knowledge of ten twenty steps ?

Anton Chigurh in No Country for old men, the greatest villain "If the rules you followed brought you into this, what use of the rule?" This is the question Anton Chigurh, asked, Mr. Carson Wells, just before he shot him, with his cattle gun. If you haven't watched the movie, and you are onto chilling cold blooded villain type of movies, I would recommend you the 'No country for old men'. And for me, Anton Chigurh would be the number one villain so far, from all the movies I have watched. Not even the silence of the lambs, comes even a little closer. Moriarty is just a villain of a fairy tale, when compared to Chigurh. The reason, the reason is I think Chigurh is an intelligent person with no regard to human rules. He follows his own rules, and really unpredictable, the way he uses uncommon and brutal ways of killing combined with given choice to his victims with a choice of destiny as a coin flip does add to the chilling feeling. Following video link gives a glimpse to his mad cruel rules even against innocent shop owner. However most brutal scene would be him using his pressurized air tank to steal a car, from its owner killing instantly. He approaches this driver and after asking him to step out simply keep his pressure device on his forehead and instantly killing him. The car owner has no clue, just fall dead. It seems Anton Chigurh possesses the power against humans like a butcher having over his heard of pigs on the death row. As a villain Anton Chigurh did follow his own set of rules. It doesn't matter, the bad rules he followed to end the lives of innocent people, but the above quote attracted me as a philosopher, because it has the potential for someone to trigger a change in their lives. As we all follow set of our own rules and one day it will lead us to somewhere. With this in mind, I invite you to read the following paragraph from the book what is time ? Rules of life Look at a young traveler, solo traveling around the world to see the unseen , to face the unfaced, feel the unfelt pleasure of delicacies. He or she would believe that we are made for this reason, to do everything before we die. For most of us this will feel fine, and we would encourage them. He would die happily at the end of the life thinking he has spent the life for the maximum. He might jump off a cliff into the ocean to feel what it feels like risking own death. (we all want to feel this energy) Where are we not jumping from? We jump from skies, we jump from hills, we jump from buildings, and running horses it's a constant thirst for an adrenaline rush. Life as a free fall It is a big risk to take a lifetime of decisions to depend on views which are shaped by our teachings, culture and science. As nobody can answer why we were born, it is a gamble. We have only information, given to us by our own ancestors to make these decisions. There is no difference between someone who gambles at a casino, someone who takes a cigarette for the first time in their hands or someone who wakes up early to go to the job, in his office.  We all take the free jump, pushed by our will. As all those decisions were made possible and limited by the information we received. We are clueless, risking our lives in everyday decisions, as we do not understand the limits of the current understanding in science and nature. What if life is a free fall, what if there is no destination but it's only a journey? What if we all are in a train which never stops? It seems good idea to ask the question, often than necessary. Imagine you fail an exam, or get a divorce, or something which makes you deeply sad about life. And that is a good time to ask yourself, "If the rules you follow brought you into this what use of that rule?" You do not have to wait, until Anton Chigurh comes and points a gun at you, to think about the question. It is not to dishearten you, but to improve the life by great margins, as it is time to change your rules. More importantly I suggest you imagine, your last day on the earth, on your bed as an old man or women, and ask yourself, the question "If the rules you followed brought you into this what use of the rule?" Fortunately, I had similar circumstances, on and above earth, to ask myself the similar question. If you would like to read more on this, you can read the near-death experience in an airplane. Someone would say it is about the telos of life . But, when you are in such a place with need of new direction, I suggest you take mindfulness , and wisdom as your choice. In this blog I have collected a decent amount of such rules for you to follow, presented as poems and stories. Hoping it would help, as it helped me. Meeting Death on a couch  Unfortunately, in the modern world most of us do not have the luxury of having a peaceful mind to create opportunities to revisit our beliefs like our ancestors had. So, I invite you next time at the end of a hard-working day, when you get back to your comfort of home and relax on the couch, take one minute of your time to appreciate the beauty of silence. Meet your death like a friend on the comfort of your couch years before it reaches you. Let it wander in silence like our ancestors did. Who knows, with the wisdom it provides you can be the next great philosopher, the leader of the next great religion or simply it can let you revisit deep dark holes and gaps in your past. And once you do that, answer the following question. Can I really learn lessons from the past ?  If not, why? If so, how?

Which came first? Chicken or the Egg? This is a famous and ancient dilemma, which in my sense is specifically answered in the modern science and philosophy. However, for the commoner still there seems to be a dilemma on the answer. This has nothing to do with evidence. As I will explain next, evolutionary biology has pointed out there is no answer to the question. The dilemma still prevails only until we understand the lexical logic of it. Let's look back at the question. First thing we notice is there is inherent error in the question. Obviously if someone asked the question which came first? Answer should be Egg, nobody asked Which came first "Chicken or the Chicken egg?". Eggs have been there even before evolution brought us, chicken in that case even birds. Dinosaurs had laid Eggs! That is one possible answer and solution. If we think about chicken and chicken egg, we can write the following flow chart. Chicken -> Egg -> Chicken -> Egg -> Chicken -> Egg -> Chicken -> Egg Is it the Chicken? As you can see this is the real problem and the dilemma. However, according to evolutionary theory in biology to have an Egg, protein which is called Ovocleiden 17 should be there on the Egg shell, which is produced by the Hen and not present in the Egg. Hence really speaking Hen should have come first. But the biological answer is a little deeper than that. Let's Assume chicken developed from a Pre-Historic-Chicken. Then our flow chart would be something like following. Prehistoric Chicken -> Egg (with Prehistoric Chicken in it) -> Prehistoric Chicken -> Egg (With Chicken in it)-> Chicken -> Egg -> Chicken -> Egg Is it the Egg? If we assume above is correct, it is the Egg which came first. However evolutionary biology doesn't say It was the Egg which came first either. As above chart is wrong. Evolution did not happen overnight form Prehistoric Chicken -> Chicken Egg. It was a gradual transition of accumulated mutations over Generations of Prehistoric Chicken. So, really speaking It is a spectrum of species each successor is less and less of Prehistoric Chicken and more and more of modern Chicken. And Eggs have also evolved similarly. That is the true answer to the Chicken and Egg problem if we want to answer scientifically. And more accurately put. Science suggests, if we go back the ancestry pathway of chicken and egg, at some point there would be no chicken and no chicken eggs. So, there is no correct answer, as the question itself is wrong. Philosophical solution If we forget the science and took it literally and philosophically. Still, this would be a question with no answer as Aristotle in fourth century BCE concluded that this is an infinite sequence with no true origin. Disputes- Chicken or Egg Killer. Google tells me about a Duo in Indonesia, who engaged in Chicken and Egg debate. And one has stabbed the other in a heated argument. As I have provided more definite conclusion, I think we should all learn it, in case not to get involved in Such arguments ourselves. Of course, that is not the objective of this article. Objective of this article is to use chicken and egg principle to use in our mindfulness wisdom. I have used this same principle to discuss the origin of the universe, or before the big ban g . Here we will discuss the Origin of observer and observed. Observer and observed, which comes first- applied philosophy of chicken or egg? Mind is like a Turing machine , or a simple computer. At any given time, it points at one mental object . It may be a Chicken, or an egg. But not both. This is the observed. It may be a sound, a vision, a touch or even a thought. Something which arises in our six senses. Then there is the observer, behind the eyes. The question is Which comes first Observer or the Observed? Answer seems obvious. As we feel observer, or the 'Self' had been there ever since we can remember. However, this also a 'thought' or a 'memory' which comes to our mind in this instance. Hence something 'observed'. It appears such a question is absurd, as it seems both the observer and the observed appear at the same time, in the consciousness. One could say that these are singular, rather than two things, and would not be wrong. We can better understand this from a perspective of a blind person , as we take down each sensation magically the observed world and the observer would disappear. At this point in time as a humble student of mindfulness, I am not aware of the meaning of this observation. However, I am sure great philosophers of past and present know that what we see is not what it is but who we are .

Heraclitus Heraclitus was an ancient Greek philosopher from Ephesus, who lived around the late 6th century BCE. He is best known for his doctrine that change is central to the universe, encapsulated in his famous saying, "Everything flows" (Greek: πάντα ῥεῖ, panta rhei). He believed that fire was the fundamental substance of the world and that the universe is in a constant state of flux. One of his most famous metaphors is that you cannot step into the same river twice, because new waters are always flowing. Heraclitus also introduced the concept of the unity of opposites ( Duality of the nature ) , suggesting that opposing forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world You cannot step twice into the same river, because it is not the same river, and he is not the same man. Above is a quote by Heraclitus. It seems very superficial and easy to understand. However, recently they grabbed my attention as I have seen how much they inclined with the understanding of the world. It is just a single sentence and a few words but summaries a lifetime of wisdom. Let's visit some of these hidden messages to attempt yet again to understand life. As a student of mindfulness , I could appreciate more, and you would too. Why cannot you step twice into the same river? It is obvious, river is changing moment to moment. This is not new wisdom. If you have observed a river from a bridge, as I did some time ago, you would understand this truth. River is a good example to show something which rapidly changes. Moment to moment, second to second, water under the bridge would be replaced by new water from the upstream. Hence, you will never be able to step twice into the same current twice. As you can see, not only twice, really speaking, stepping into a river is so dynamic, that each second you will be facing new water. But why did Heraclitus wanted to emphasize this fact? We already kind of know this salient feature of the river. Why did Heraclitus say the above quote when it is something obvious? I think part of the answer is that often we forget that river is an ever-changing function. Although it is obvious, although it is prominent, we forget that river is a changing function. When we cross a river, it looks the same as yesterday. The bends it has created on the banks essentially remains the same. Even the name of the river remains same over centuries. But it changes. Water of the river, continuously and rapidly, course of the river slowly, changes over time. This is evident when we take photographs of rivers over the years from google satellites. But mostly we forget this simple fact. We forget and talk about crossing the same river. We do not think it is a new river I am crossing today, than yesterday. We forget the fact that the river did change from the moment we started to cross it to the end of it. Even a fraction of a second. We forget, when we plan a bridge, make a dam or going to fish, it is not the same river. This is just a simple truth which we forget, unless we are mindful about it all the time. And fact is we are not mindful, hence Heraclitus had to emphasize this as a fact. And that is just the reason number One! He also said "We cannot step into the same river, as it is not the same man. Just like the river, man also changes, moment to moment, second to second fraction of a second to second. What he thinks changes, his memories changes. His body weight changes, number of cells changes, number of hydrocarbons in the body changes, and with inhalation of exhalation. Even the length of hair changes, but we do not notice this. It is not obvious like the river, but everything about a "man" is continuously changing. I think when Heraclitus talked about stepping into the same river twice, he wanted us to notice how we have changed just like the river. I think he wanted us to compare ourselves to the river which changes in each instance of the time. And learn it is not the man who woke up this morning who is writing this article. Even not the same man who is writing from the start of the sentence to the finish of it. If that is the truth, who the hell am I? Everything flows- Heraclitus- in mindfulness. Philosophy is a deep subject. It is not for the faint heart and the stupid mind. It is the language of the seekers . Who are a group of individuals separated by time and space, who wanted to become a hydrophobic leaf before the limitations of life start to make you drenched in water. Hence, I am sure Heraclitus did not want us to stop asking questions and to stop there. He would have wanted us to question more. What is true for a river, and what is true for a man, must be true for everything else. That is the true wisdom that this quote wants us to achieve. Imagine you see the river and apply this wisdom to your, computer, your car, your house and the stock market. You can apply this even to the language or philosophy itself. It is not the same river! it is not the same river! and more than anything this could become the mantra that we should practice our mindfulness with. Once we do that, I am sure we will gain more wisdom. We might be able to see hilarious nature of blaming someone when your car broke down. What would you expect from a car which was continuously changing like a river? It is bound to break down. The only reason for that it broken down cannot be that you didn't service it regularly. Even you are not the same. I think Heraclitus wanted to tell us everything we observe is a continuous function. Hence, I will end my article with a link to " Modeling the world with a mathematical function ".

Why socrates said the above statement? Socrates was one of the pioneers of the philosophy. If philosophy is at some place in todays society his teachings had played a huge role. Yet it seem wisest of them all claims he knew nothing? Why did he utter this controvertial statement? What did he wanted to tell us? Let's take a thought journey to find out some possible meanings to his claim. Only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing There are several ways to understand this statement. In fact I have written some articles on the same subject. Empty dragon scroll of kung fu panda is a good example. Subjective reality and the story of five blind men is another. Here we will revist some concepts of information sphere to understand what wisdom ultimately leads to nothing and why? Knowing about the pencil. Let's start with something we already know. A pencil. The pencil I am writing is in my hand. I think I know about the pencil. It's made out of wood and a mineral core. I can google and know exactly how it is made. I know properties of the wood and mineral. I also know it's function. But do I teally know what it is? Let's be mindful about it and try to see. I can feel what it feels like when it is in my hand, when I focus on it. When I keep it on the table I do not know what it feels like. Similarly when I close my eyes I do not know it is there or not. If I close my eyes and reach for it someone can change it to a diffeerent one I would feel and think it is the same, not knowing what happened. It may be a crafted pencil from plastic, and I will be blind to this truth. It seems I can identify pencil when I compare what I feel in my hand against previous knowlege of how it feels. This previous knowledge is our information sphere that we carry all the time. If someone is to lose this information sphere they will be dementic, or be like a child. In other words, it is the "personality theory" of self. It suggests self is entirely formed by this information sphere. In this information sphere we have abstration for everything. It is just like in object oriented programming. In OOP evrything is an object with its properties and fuctions. Once you programe an object you can instanciate similar objects and use them in the program. As an example a real world pencil would be represented in OOP as an object with properties like line color, thickness and hardness. It has fuctions like making pixels colorful when the mouse is moved. This exactly represents what we do, when we look at the word "pencil". We can just communicate about it as we have our mental representaion on what it means. Language, and numbers play a huge role in making our mental world. Knowing about time. Lets look at another example. Look at a clock, one with a dial. When we look at the clock we see time, in some cases even without numbers! However, when a child look at the clock he doesn't know the time. The clock will be just a gadget with marks or numbers, and moving arms, if he is a little older child, and would be just an object with parts for a toddler. As the concept of "time" and association of this with the "Clock" is something we have learned after a struggle. These are abstract concepts very difficult to teach. Really speaking human mind's ability is remarkable in this sense. However, once learned the new version of the "Clock" we can never see what we used to see in the first place. As what we see, and associate it with is no longer in our control. We cannot magically erase the association of time with the clock and look at it in a child's Eye. We can imagine but not really. In reality, each one of us have different models of the same object. A clock seen by thousand people is not one clock but a thousand clocks. This can be explained as the subjective reality , which means there is no truth outside concious awareness. Mind the Mind, the Magician The mind seems to be the magician , behind all of these subjective realities. And abstraction is his tool of deception, which unfortunately decieves itself, into believing a reality which was made by itself in the first place. This is the likely explanation to the socrates statement, only true wisdom is knowing that you know nothing. You can read more about these simple truths, in the essay by David Foster Wallace, in his famous speech " This is water ". There can be other meanings to the above statement by Socrates. Which in my openion less likely explanations. Such as, Socrates, had no definite answers, beyond subjective projections about Origins of birth , and life after death . What is self? etc. Of course we all have our believes to above questions, but non can be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Only wise people would come to realisation that there are more and more, unseen truths about the world, than what we ever know. Only and idiot would claim that they know everything, hence ignorance is a bliss . Claiming knowing nothing, seems extreme for someone wise like Socrates, yet it must be true. Maybe he just knew nothing, beyond his mind. What do you understand by Socrates?

Background Our TV broke, for a couple of days now. The main attraction of the living room, no doubt about that, is now gone. Kids who were glued to the TV all afternoons did not find anything to do at first. But the circumstances have changed and they are getting some fun doing drawings and Math! It seems these activities which do need more creativity did not gave them enough fun earlier when the More fun TV was there. Even a game of chess has become something interesting to do nwo, as the atmosphere has changed. Why did this happen? It reminded me a little story I wrote some time ago about Ronnie the Rabbit. Ronnie the Rabbit - story of a habit. Ronnie the rabbit had a little habit. He used to be glued to his phone all day. He ate with his phone. He played with his phone. When he hopped or skipped or slept, still did not part with his phone. His mom told him to quit, and his dad pressured him to stop. Yet Ronnie could not as he loved his phone day and night. One day they went to see Uncle Harry who had a burrow the next village Over the hill down the meadows off they went and Ronnie with his precious phone hopped along They came across the stream which had a narrow beam Ronnie lagged behind everyone else as he stepped the last. His phone in one hand glued to the screen, halfway down he slipped Ouch! With a thud he fell off the bridge and drenched his phone and coat, everyone joined to help him out of water. His phone did die, he did cry, but he stopped eventually when they reached Uncle Harry's home. He played with his cousins Rosy and Tom all day. And boy! He didn't miss his phone, at the end of the day! -------------end --------- Dopamine Tolerance Dopamine is a chemical assoicated with pleasure in the brain. If we arrange activities according to their ability to generate dopamine, we can create a spectrum . Activities like watching YouTube videos and scrolling through social media are at the far right side of this spectrum. These activites are created by geniouses behind the desks, who made is possible for everyone to be hooked and get addicted. Compared to this more productive activities are not that rewarding in the short term, hence do not create those dopamine surges. Hence they are in the left side of the spectrum. Our inherent nature of curiosity to gain new information is so addictive that we would start scrolling program after program, post after post, looking for something to make us laugh and even make us motivated. Activities like reading books and painting are less rewarding, and compared to this are even boring. Netfilx is better. Even when we feel drained, we still cannot turn back to those boring activites again. As we develop tolerance over time. Tolarance is seen in any addictive behaviour. I learned about tolerance when we first learned about alcohol addiction, as it was one indicator there is addiction. Which means receptors in our body start to adapt to new levels of alcohol and after some time to get the same stimulation person has to increase their consumption, even exceeding harmful levels. This is true for any other addiction. It may be watching TV, or You tube, once our brains are used to higher level of stimulation, low levels of dopamine produced by creative and productive activites no longer are rewarding, as we are at a higher baseline dopamine level, which is needed for pleasure. How can we overcome this tolerance? And revert back to baseline? Dopamine Detox. Dopamine Detox is a Cognitive Behavioural therapy model, used as a solution to dopamine tolerance. Idea is to avoid high dopamine releasing activities for a period of time until tolerance cycle is broken and the person is back to normal. Initially it will need lot of willpower and help. And it can lead to a period of "Withdrawal symptoms". Depending on the addiction, these symptoms can be severe. As an example "Alcohol withdrawal" can even lead to seizures and cause brain damage. Hence, in cases of any severe addication, anyone needs help of a professional. For minor addictions, like phone and social media, can give rise to boredom and anxiety. Which can go away with time. Natural Dopamine Detox More importantly we all have seen these forms of dopamine detox naturally, in some ways. As an example, when you take a long vacation, you may have been away from social media, long enough for you to enjoy starting a sunset without trying to capture it and post it on instagram. When your TV is broken or the connection is jammed for a period of time, you may have started to cook a meal for yourslef, and enjoyed that more than watching a movie. You may have gone for a meditation retreat, or walked on the beach , without an internet connection. Once you know that you are capable of enjoying silence that it creates, low stimulating activities once again will start to play a major role in satisfiction. However this time with long term benifits. Just like Ronnie the Rabit, who enjoyed afternoon of play, without missing his phone. In summary Activites are in a spectrum with their ability to create a dopamine surge. Addictive activities generally create larger domapine release and develop a tolerance overtime. This leads to higher level of baseline dopamine and a postive feedback leading to more addiction. To break the cycle, a detox, is used. Meanning avoiding high dopamine activities for a period of time until the baseline is reached.

This is an article about Atheism, which makes no attempt to prove or disprove either. Atheism You are sitting by the lagoon, yet again another day. Looking at the waves which reflects the bluish sky. Waves are not big, rather small hence, let you observe what is happening. Suddenly a school of fish jump to the surface of water, and make it splash. They are swimming as fast as they can and surely hunted by a larger fish. They did not find space in the vast lagoon to hide hence they broke the surface in an attempt to fly. And some did, over generations and that was how the flying fish had evolved. Yet they were hunted by the birds up above? Why is nature so cruel ? You ask yet again for the 100th time for the day. Where is justice, where is God? Sin cycle - Guillotine of crabs It reminded you of the crabs. When you were little, you liked to work in the garden with your mother. And there were plenty of little tree branches, where king fishers come and join when you unearth the weed. As freshly unearthed soil has plenty of tiny creatures for them to hunt. Worms were unfortunate. You suddenly heard a Noice, a definite thud on the tree. When you turn around you saw king fisher holding a crab. There were plenty of crabs on the nearby field and it had just hunted one. Now the easy part, yet the bird cannot swallow the crab. It has jaws and limbs which are getting in the way. And it started to vigorously hit the crab on the tree branch, many times until all its limbs were broken, and the crab was swallowable. And that was the Noice you heard, sound of the crab when it hit against the tree branch. Its limbs were broken one by one, and the king fisher swallowed the body whole. Did it even taste nice? You just watched the movie without any judgment as you did not understand the nature. Not yet. Once the king fisher flew away you went under the tree and observe countless limbs of numerous crabs. This was not the first time the king fisher ate a crab, and even the tree branch was smooth making it apparent that it was the Guillotine of hundreds of crabs. There were ants gathered around the fresh limbs of the unfortunate crab. You never liked crabs; they were aesthetically unpleasing to the eyes. They even walk from side to side. Like cockroaches , they make you a little afraid. Yet the king fisher was a glorious bird, one of the most colorful in the neighborhood. Ants were too small for you to give a value to keep in the spectrum of animals. Yet if given a choice of preference you would put them in between king fisher and the crab. And you think about this for a moment to realize maybe That is the same way the "God" was thinking when he created crabs and the king fishers in the same neighborhood. Or was it just the random chance? It is somehow unfortunate to be a crab in the situation, whoever decided that it should be. Maybe the crab had some sins, which he is paying for in this crab life. But while someone pay their sins, the king fisher is making more sins? That also seems unnatural or cruel. You wonder if that is the situation what would you do if you are a king fisher. You would rather die in hunger and end the cycle and be eternal. But how can the crab ever pay for its sins then. It will be a crab until it meets another unfortunate blue bird. It seems logical yet somethings are missing from the argument. Why create this F----ing cruel King fishers and the crabs in the first place? Who is the mad creator ? Maybe it is wrong. What is the alternative? You realize that you have been looking at the crab and the King fisher and Ants in an objective point of view. Like there is some truth out there to understand in it. However, you realize there is another way to look at it. Instead of looking outside, with a bravery of a lion, you look inside. From a point of view of a subjective reality . You see the process and observe What it is. Subjective point of view - Mindfulness You are just sitting by the lagoon. You just saw some fish coming up to the surface breaking the waves. Then that just ended. Next you were in your own imagination, linking the memories of the past. The crab and the King fisher were just your imagination. So, is the past self of you. There is no crab, no King fisher now. The world is just in front of you. Rest is just a memory, which is essential for you to understand the current. Apart from that, the interaction of the King fisher, with the crab was just some neutral thing which you observed in the past. Just like when you saw it as a kid, just an instance of time. There is no value or meaning which you can gain from this shadow of mind no matter how much argues. And maybe the God as well as Atheism also like the King fisher and the Crab. You were interrupted by a couple who walk by. And realize it is late, and things are getting darker. You head home with a little memory to talk with yourself in the future.

Poem on Covid Sun is resting, glistening in gold You take a moment to contemplate thoughts Wrath disappeared into the night sky Just like youth vanished without a goodbye In the final hours of just another day Final hour to a thousand who perished today I was walking on the beach just the other day, to notice there were dead fish along the shore. Nobody would care. Not even dogs, not even crows did want to eat the dead fish as may be because it wasn't fresh, maybe it was toxic. The fish did not have eyes, but only empty eye sockets, maybe they did die sometime back. No wonder, dogs did not want to eat. Some, reclaimed by the sea, and I could capture one. It started with fear and panic First time, I heard about covid. I did not fear, as it was from far away from China. Some Europe countries. We saw videos in You tube how people were just falling dead on roads in remote parts of China. And although they were too dramatic to believe true, we awaited our turn. And it took good nine months before it started to spread in the country. Again, it did not come to a door-to-door disaster until another few months. At last, it was our turn. It was a taboo, those days to be positive, as nobody wanted to get it. News was always about death counts. People were dying in and out of hospitals like dead fish. Maybe just like the sea, maybe nature did have enough of our stupidity. For a brief moment, people realized, the importance of life. Enemies stopped fighting as there was the bigger devil. We looked back at our textbooks to find out about the coronavirus, which we had long forgotten. Packed our fridges with frozen food. Greedily, more than the next-door Neighbour. At last, in a year and half, we were able to walk out in public free and start to hit the roads for work and vacation. Lessons learned from covid. What were the lessons learned from covid. We learned that it needs only a single virus to put humans into the history. Our dooms day might not come from the sky, but from a remote backyard, where a deadly virus hides. Luckily the death rate of covid was not very high. While globalization brought the virus, breaking all the barriers, Isolation did work. That kept the death counts on hold until the vaccinations arrived. So, maybe globalization is not without its own hazards. Remember the guy who went to live in the jungle before the covid? And he came back few months later to know the chaos which we were in. As he was not connected to the grid of information, he did not share the panic and problems we faced during that time. But I am sure he had own little problems, in his own little hut in the jungle. Proving that what matters is what you know. More importantly we learned about the zero of life. When the diseased flooded our healthcare system, we had to prioritize everything. Who needs it most? Our elders sacrificed their lives, saving ICU beds for their sons and daughters. Although our lives matter, they did matter not equally. For thousands it was their last days on earth. I used to see the covid death graphs, every day, mechanically without knowing each pixel represents thousands of people who are dead. Today there is no covid. I walk free on the beach without a mask. On the same beach where a dreadful tsunami occurred 20 years ago, killing so many people just lying dead like fish. And I looked at myself. I have aged 20 more. Years of youth are beneath me. I am reaching the zero of life day after day, just like an elderly gentleman who did not deserve an ICU bed during covid pandemic. Google tells me for 170463 people today would be their last day on earth. Although covid is not their people still die. But why nobody is panicked? Covid only killed 15000-20000 per day when it was at its peak. Covid did not affect me personally much. Except severe body aches I had nothing. Yet some of us had near death experiences or had to go through suffering of our loved ones. Even healthy ones who are far from zero. Hence, it is an opportunity to look back and ask why? I wish I could know the answers to why, looking at the dead fish, and the blue waves. Life is still a Mistry. Dead fish on the beach Did not know it was dead Washed ashore and ignored Neither the dog which walked by Nor the crows flew by Wanted to eat it Reclaimed by the sea