 True happiness – because meditation not only helps one to be healthy and content – but also to be free from ignorance, affliction, hatred, and avarice - and to be free from or maintain the balance of attachments – both in scale and quality. These six attributes of happiness were discussed in another Happiness piece posted earlier. We have seen there that our regular experience of happiness is flitty and ephemeral for all different reasons. Also that – happiness is something we cherish and hold dearest of all. From time immemorial, religions and philosophies all around the world – strived hard to find ways to lengthen the experience of happiness. Buddha’s (Gautama Buddha - The Tathagata; 563 – 483 BCE) answer to this query focused on mind – on calming and purifying it – because he has taught that mind is the forerunner and breeder of everything we do and experience. Therefore true happiness lies in calming the mind by systematic meditative pursuits – in order to see things as they are – to rightly know oneself – to embrace all in loving sprinkle. Calming the mind is like leaving it behind – to be totally present at what one is doing - to be simple - to refresh the thought processes to purity.
Unhappiness or flitting nature of happiness must be understood from two simple perspectives. First is the processes of life and Nature, a part of them defined by the declining phases of waning and demise. This undeniable Truth is also the causes of unhappiness, if one fails to understand it and clings to the expectation that waxing phases last forever. The second has two aspects – rooted in the phenomena of mind. One is clinging to the pleasant periods without realizing that such periods do not have a long life. In a similar vein, clinging to unpleasant periods (also do not have a long life) causes misery. The other is the making of one’s mind that brings about unwholesome thoughts and deeds – in societal actions and reactions. The Buddha’s teaching says that one must understand all these Truths – and meditation is the best way to prolong the happiness experiences by understanding the Truths deeply – and by letting things go. Meditation lets purifying the processes of mind – thus clearing the way for sprouting of sublime qualities in the practicing individuals. Over the past two decades or so, meditation has become a household name – perhaps more in Western countries than in the East – although the practice as a systematic process originated in the East. Many websites and glossy health and lifestyle magazines advertise initiatives offering meditative lessons and cures – and are full of articles on its benefits on mind and body. As a process of stress management, even some government agencies have been asking their employees to meditate by facilitating lessons for them. According to Russian psychologist, Ivan Pavlov (1849 – 1936): meditation calms one’s mind to stability and health – it not only helps streamlining of thought processes, or sometimes annihilating them for total relaxation, but also stimulates releasing of many healthy hormones in one’s body. The term originally derived from Latin – refers to contemplation or reflection on an object to attain the clarity for its existence. The meditation term is also used to refer to some devotional religious practices or prayer rituals – the purpose in such cases is to reach – and to get blessings from God or gods. They are mostly organized and performed as devotional ritualistic trances; some examples are: Samanic Rituals, Sufi Whirling, Islamic Zikir and Sikh Kirtan. In Hinduism, the practice not only includes such trance-like prayer rituals, but also dancing and yogic/acrobatic meditative routines. Buddhist festivals and celebrations also include devotional songs depicting life of the Buddha and Jataka tales – and in the greater Bengal of India, the first text in Bengali script is Charyapada – a Buddhist devotional song – written in the 12th century. Christian monks and priests sit in calm meditations to reach God and spirits – asking forgiveness. All these practices show the power of devotion – mostly without any contemplative pursuit. Sometimes trance-like prayer rituals cause practitioners succumbing to uncontrolled crying – even fainting. In true meaning of the term, Buddhism teaches Dyana, Bhavana or meditation as a necessity for peace and happiness in life. The rationale for this necessity is made clear - with the meditation practices envisioned as way of Mind Training - the Right Training through meditation is so essential because mind foreruns and breeds everything one does. The practice lets one to get out of the slavery shackled by his or her mind – in order to become the master of it – to guide it in the right direction of happiness. Perhaps there cannot be any saying more powerful than what the Buddha said 2.5 millennia ago: Be happy – and let others become happy. He was saying that – not only do we have the responsibility for our own well-being – but also for others – because without a collective happiness goal, a peaceful harmonious social living is unattainable. The Buddha taught it in his First Turning of the Dharmachakra or the Wheel of Law – as part of the Noble Eightfold Path or the Middle Way. His Ratan Sutta Discourse delivered to alleviate the suffering of Licchavis at Vaishali highlights the healing benefits of listening to the Three Gems (ratna) sutra of Buddhism – that includes the wellbeing effects of Bhavana or Samadhi. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama (1935 - ) has put it simply: The purpose of our life is to be happy. The 9th Chapter Kammatthana of the Abhidhamma Pitaka details out how meditation or mind training can be practiced to obtain the best benefits from it. Methods of meditation practices, the preparation required of the subject or the practitioner, and the objects of meditation to focus on – are all elaborated by the Buddha for the benefit of practitioners. It identifies three stages of meditation: Parikamma or the preparatory stage; Upacara or the beneficial stage leading to deep meditation; and Appana or the stage of deep absorption of the meditation object. Further, ten Anusati (or repetition of mindfulness) were recommended for advanced practitioners delving deep into Buddhism. In Buddhist meditation, there are no prayer rituals – either to the Buddha or to any gods; although most teachers ask practitioners to pay homage to the Buddha three times – to respect the great teacher, and to express gratitude that his teaching is benefiting them. I am not a regular practitioner of meditation, but I have seen my parents sitting calmly – for regular Bhavana after the evening prayer to the Buddha. I have taken a few meditation classes in a Thai Temple in Vancouver. In another meditation class, set in a more secular setting, but taught by a Buddhist monk, I saw a Muslim couple, a Sikh family and a group of Catholics. Out of curiosity, I asked the leading Catholic priest what brought him into the class. He said, the Buddha taught his meditation method as a systematic secular practice, therefore it is not restrictive to Buddhists only. He basically echoed what the famous Vipassana meditation teacher, SN Goenka (1924 – 2013) said: The Buddha never taught a sectarian religion; he taught the Dhamma – the way to liberation – which is universal. In fact, most of the people who participate in meditation lessons and retreats all around the world, are not practicing Buddhists (in conventional understanding of the term). If the Buddha in Dharmakaya (Buddhists believe that although the Rupakaya or the body of the historic Shakyamuni Buddha died in 483 BCE, his Dharmakaya or Mahabodhi lives on – as the Buddha Amitabha or Buddha Vairocana) is watching, he would be very happy to see that his teaching is benefiting all mankind irrespective of differences in beliefs or faiths.
I like to start building this piece from the fundamentals of Buddhism – the Noble Eightfold Path. As pointed out earlier, it represents the trio of: Purity of Morality, Purity of View and Purity of Mind. They are presented by the Buddha as a wheel – meaning that the trio is interdependent, and happiness depends on the accomplishment of the three. But then, the Buddha’s teaching says that mind as the forerunner of everything. Therefore the Purity of Mind – the meditation practice of mind control and training comes first. Buddhist scriptures describe two different meditation types: the Samatha or tranquility, and the Vipassana or insight. The two and the accompanying Purities are not mutually exclusive, however. It is because they are interwoven into mindfulness and meditative concentration. The interconnectedness of meditation types is powerfully elucidated by the Buddha in the Mahasatipatthana Sutra (the great discourse of mindfulness). The two are integral to enlightenment or awakening as part of the seven factors – Mindfulness, Investigation, Energy, Joy, Tranquility, Concentration and Equanimity. As we shall see the purpose of Samatha and Vipassana meditations is essentially the same – that is to be happy – only they are two different ways. The Purity of Mind is elaborated in the Path as: Right Effort or Samyak Prachesta, Right Mindfulness or Samyak Ekagrata, and Right Meditative Concentration or Dhyana. The word Right (Samyak in Sanskrit and Samma in Pali) is applied repeatedly as a qualifier – showing the Buddha’s emphasis on and necessity for it. In simple terms, the Buddha was saying that, all the constituents of the Way – must be conducted with the objective to be happy, and to let others become happy. Let us attempt to see the three constituents of the Purity of Mind. ☼ Right Effort, Diligence or Samma Vayama
Right mindfulness is the next crucial step required to enter into the meditation process, and it is also the most difficult one. Mindfulness is the calming of mind that lets one to be present at – what he or she does by remaining awake {It has often been described differently by scholars and monks of different schools of Buddhism. For example, leaving the mind behind; and emptying the mind (as in Zen Buddhism, interpreting Emptiness as a method of Zen meditation practice). In these cases 'leaving' and 'emptying' refer to a state of mind that is agitated, uncontrolled, illusioned or clouded with a priori notions}. Most often we fail to do this – we do not give enough attention to our work, to the people we love or care about. This happens because our mind is simply not with us. This results in creating a distance with others – the object. When this happens with our loved ones, misunderstanding develops leading to unfortunate and sad consequences. This led TN Hanh to say that, the most precious gift we can offer is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers. Further, scholars highlight the practicality of it – saying that whatever (well, not everything – but wholesome deeds, and deeds with wholesome motives or thought processes) one does with mindfulness is Buddhism. The process of mindfulness has the power – to improve upon all phases of activities – working, walking, lying or sleeping, eating, studying or acquiring knowledge, socializing, etc. In all these, mindfulness bestows upon the satisfaction of sublime accomplishment. The Buddha said, the difficulty of mindfulness is caused by the constant agitation and distraction of our mind – the likeness of clear water or a mirror – by one or more of the following five hindrances:
There are two basic types of objects to focus on – material and immaterial. On material objects or the body, the most preliminary recommended practice is to follow one’s breathing. It can either be done by paying attention to the tip of the nose while inhaling and exhaling – or by paying attention to the rise and fall of the navel while doing it. A regular meditation practitioner soon realizes the benefit of this preliminary important mindfulness step – as he or she starts feeling relaxed because of the presence of mind. As this step progresses, an advanced practitioner then focuses on immaterial objects – by following the wanderings of feelings and the mind – their rise and fall with emotions. This immaterial step lets one to know and understand oneself – his or her true nature – the strengths and weaknesses – and the transience of them and all existence. Once we know ourselves, we become better equipped with handling or managing us when faced with unwelcome and adverse situations. ☼ Right Meditative Concentration or Samma Samadhi Right Meditative Concentration is the next advanced step for the Purity of Mind. Once the mind is stilled, one can guide it to focus on one’s favorite objects. Like a magnifying glass focuses light rays on a single point – so does the concentration on its object. Buddhist monks tell stories that sometimes they become so focused on reading and understanding some sutras, that they become totally oblivious of the surrounding, even not realizing that it has been dark already for sometime. As we shall see, concentration is very crucial for insight meditation, because the practitioner needs to deeply understand the truths. The two are often confused with each other – but during the insight meditation, the practitioner is in control of the mind totally – either to free it to enjoy the bliss of happiness – or to use it like a magnifying glass to look deep into things. As the concentration strengthens, areas of residual tension in mind and body become relaxed. Sustained relaxation releases positive subtle emotions to energize the body and mind. Let us move on to describing the two meditation types – Samatha and Vipassana. These two are - in essence, the subdivision and extension of Dhyana or Meditative Concentration to a sublime scale of happiness. They are concomitant upon completion of the three meditative processes of the Purity of Mind – and let one to experience the ultimate relaxation and peace. ☼ Samatha or Tranquility Meditation
☼ Vipassana or Insight Meditation This is the Why Meditation in Buddhism, to seek the truth for achieving peace and happiness. After delivering each sutra, the Buddha finished it by saying: let us all be happy by knowing this truth. Vipassana meditation directly leads one to see deep into things as they are - the truth. Although the method can be applied to any topic, like for example the mind experiment of Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955). The most pursuing efforts in Buddhism – are to deeply understand why, and for what reasons the Buddha saw it necessary to have the Middle Way founded on the Laws of Nature – he elaborated. The reasons for such deep understanding through Vipassana, was laid down by the Buddha in his famous Kalama Sutra on the freedom of thinking and choice: . . . do not go upon what has been acquired through hearsay . . . nor upon what is in scripture . . . Kalamas, when you yourselves know . . . things that you have observed and verified . . . that lead to benefit and happiness . . . then accept and abide by them. Advanced Vipassana meditation practitioners have a wide latitude of objects to choose from – the choice is determined by one’s curiosity and interest in deeply understanding the rationality of Buddha’s teaching. Enlightenment, Emptiness and Nirvana are some of those objects. A brief is outlined.
The three mediation aspects – the Mindfulness or Samma Sati, Samatha or Tranquility and Vipassana or Insight meditations – flowered into Chan in China and Zen in Japan. It is a cultural adaptation of the elaborate meditation practices integrated into one. The potential for such worldwide adaptation and flowering are literally limitless. In Chan and Zen – emphasis is given to Simplicity. To attain it, mediation practitioners aim to empty the mind of what are hindering it – of what are distracting it. The Soto School of Zen Buddhism (founded by Dogen Zenji, 1200 – 1253) in Japan is based on the meditation method where the practitioners are required to sit in the Lotus position – as was the prevalent practice during the Buddha’s time. Termed as Zazen – the practitioner sits in the tranquil setting overlooking a Rock Garden. When the practitioner is able to break down things into simple visions – the mind becomes still and clarity of thought processes and Upacara follow. He or She becomes one – the Appana with the objects of meditation – the Way and the Dharma Truths encompassing interdependent and transient Systems of Fluid, Solid and Life. The practitioner floats into the bliss of relaxation, joy and happiness. The Chan and Zen practices have given birth to numerous themes of art and literary works in China and Japan. In particular, in Zen Buddhism, the mind training processes of meditation – are translated into daily living routines and physical objects – in objects of everyday use, and in the creation of meticulous rock and green gardens. One of the most powerful spectacular examples – is the achievement of synchronicity of mind and matter. The practice has been translated by the Persian-Indian Buddhist monk Bodhidharma (483 – 540 CE) into the synchronous actions of the two. He developed and taught it as a martial art technique at the fabled Shaolin Monastery at Shaoshi Mountain in Zhengzhou, China. The synchronicity allows practitioner to move and react very fast to scare and deter predators without any weapon – like the actions of fast-acting agile dolphins against the formidable predatory sharks. Bodhidharma famously said: not thinking about anything is Zen. Once you know this, walking, sitting or lying down, everything you do is Zen. True happiness happens when all are integrated in the same societal aspirations and opportunities. Here are some past perspectives on what could happen when a society becomes fragmented – by delving into the Hindu caste-system.
It is sometimes useful to develop meditation motivation by visiting historic Buddhist places. Among others, there are four (Lumbini; Bodhgaya; Sarnath; Kushinagar) Travel Features of useful tourist and pilgrimage information: On the Happy Dust of India Once Trodden by the Sacred Feet of Buddha on the beyondhere travel website. Finally, let me finish this piece with a little poem: A musician sees beauty in harmony of melodies and rhythms A painter sees in harmony of colors and brush strokes A writer sees beyond others in portraying life A poet sees in the romantic canvas of life A scientist sees in the dynamic balance of things A philosopher sees in wisdom The Buddha saw beauty in wisdom and happiness. . . . . . - by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 11 December 2019
0 Comments
 We all need to smile sometime – but some of us cannot afford to, or perhaps think as such; some just pretend, while others are too serious and don’t know how to find humor in anything. All cultures have weavings of fun and humor in their festivals, fairs and traditions to make life easier for people. Zen Buddhist monks are famous for calmly infusing humor with Koan paradoxical metaphors into deep philosophical/spiritual queries. A Koan is conceived as a tool, at a very high level of intelligence in doubtful terms of certain ideas, dogmas or principles in order to help stimulation of thought processes in queries. Here is one such Koan: Climate does change because it is fluid and transient, so should we; but taxation is not the answer. Let us attempt to see something different in this piece – something, in a lighter vein through the eyes of Frank. Who is Frank? Well, Frank is what Frank is – like all of us – sometimes this, sometimes that – bashful, dopey, grumpy, happy, sleepy, sneezy, and wisey – similar like the characters of the 19th century German Fairy tale, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (image credit: anon). Let us enjoy some time with Frank riding on the wings of his observations, wit and imagination . . .
1 – A Scientist’s Grievance Once a well-known scientist angry at mistreatment of scientists in jobs, remunerations and positions, was giving a lecture on how scientists were being deprived. At one point he blurted out, “You know, we are at the forefront of social and technological progress and civilization. But then why, why?” There was Frank rising up from behind and commenting at the top of his voice, “It is because you have eaten too much, and are too eager to unload them for nothing but personal fame – but alas, only within a small group of your community.” 2 – An Engineer’s Fluency Once there was a high level ministerial meeting for approval of a civil engineering project. Frank was there representing a client. At one time, the Minister asked, “What do our engineers say?” All turned their attention to an engineer sitting in a remote corner of the table. The engineer started by saying, “Sir, if . . .” Before he could move further, the Secretary to the Ministry said with an authoritative voice, “Sir, our engineers are very capable people. They are problem solvers. Only, they do not speak much of our language.” He looked at the engineer and continued, “Right, Mr. Engineer?” A lady assistant to the Minister remarked, “Very impressive.” The Minister looked at her and inquired, “What is . . .?” Before she could answer, Frank joined in, “Sir, it is very impressive that our engineers are fluent in speaking the languages of concrete and steel. They are our high level technicians.” The Minister looked at the engineer for a comment, hearing nothing sulked, “I see!” 3 – A Showcase of Irresponsibility Once a university arranged a debate between a politician and a journalist. This is rather unusual because these two slippery professions are buddy-like, but sometimes they are in love-hate relationship. The politicians need journalists for their exposure, the journalists need politicians to feed constant stream of news – yet they clash often. Frank was invited to moderate the session. The debate went on for long hours without any yielding to the fierce and dirty arguments presented by the other. Instead of stopping, Frank let it drag on, as the audience was in an enjoyable mood. At one time, the politician angrily blurted out, “You are the guys – your news and views label people, and create words and phrases dividing them: far-left, left, left leaning; center, centrist; far-right, right, right leaning. What are these, eh? So many of this religion – so less of that religion, so many of this color of people – so less of that color. Why number games? Harvard graduate, Oxford graduate – as if graduates of other institutions do not matter. First World – Third World, etc. Working class – who are the non-working class, you, eh? Do people speak like that when talking to one another? Why divide people? Sir, although you guys say differently, your lenses are dirty, and need to be cleaned to make them transparent. You have a forum, and are in a position to reach people far and wide and make a difference. If you understand things . . . I mean!” He looked at the journalist with a mocking wink, “Can you do that and say we are all equal citizens of the country.” He paused, took a sip then continued, “Instead, your big mouth spills out anything and everything – shallow and lacking any substance – to increase rating. Royal and celebrity cats and dogs are more news-worthy to you than the lives and problems of hard working people. When we initiate projects for the benefit of average citizens, your immediate question is where the money would come from. When political parties come to solutions and compromises, you immediately look for ways to label them winners or losers. Why provoking people and parties to go against one other? You even act as the provocateurs of conflicts. You know - people see these activities as absolutely irresponsible. You know what you guys really are – really are – nothing but scumbags.” The journalist got infuriated and fiercely shot back, “Wow! The garbage list is very long Mr. powerful flip-flop. Don’t try to distract with all these nonsense, and don’t you ever dare to think of curbing our press freedom. We create the public image of people like yourself, we can as well destroy it, so be very mindful. Some crooks must have taught that politics is all about saying one thing in public and doing something different in private – you see, that define loud and clear the sinister characters of all of you. When there is a problem, we need to write with people to express their grievances for years, only then your lordship’s elephant starts to wag the tail. In the meantime great damages are done, and you let some entities to pocket the profit from delayed response. What a shame! Still you do not hesitate to call yourself people’s government, and people’s representatives.” He paused and then continued, “Dummy, don’t you know those who line up in discount and dollar stores are the working class. And the countries where you and I visit and stay in five-star luxury, while the people of those countries live in squalid conditions are the Third World countries. You blame us for dividing people? Well . . . well . . . look who use the phrases we write and talk in bombastic rhetoric, as a corporate puppy to spearhead hidden programs. How are these responsible?” “I say you are . . . you are . . .” He was so enraged that he could not find the right word. An audience came in help, “Scumbag eaters.” “Yes – yes, you are nothing but scumbag eaters.” shouted the journalist. Frank thought of applying the brake at this point and rose up saying, “I am afraid we have to stop here. We have enough name-calling, and are too tired. Okay, we all get it! One is irresponsible and the other does not know what responsibility is.” The audience rose up and burst out into laughter, clapping and whistling. Frank paused and then continued, “I thank the debaters for a lively discussion – although emotions overtook and masked some very good rational points from both sides. We need to live in a culture of mutual respect despite differences, by realizing that people whoever they are, work their best – given the constraints and circumstances. But some bad and incompetent apples are in every profession to spoil the broth. Good or bad, without free press the information world would have been dark – and governing entities would have a blank check to use their power and position for doing whatever benefits their personal gains. And mind you, politicians are not selected or elected based on merit. Although people may perceive, or are told otherwise – most journalists are not scholars, and politicians hardly care about people except during election time. It is not difficult to understand why journalists pick some as news and mislead or suppress others – and why politicians behave as they do because of campaign funding constraints, and others. In the end, all that matters are honesty, integrity and the commitment to do good jobs – and when committed, the petty differences simply melt away. It is easy for political leaders to pamper and yield to corporate pressures, to vested interest groups, or to raising taxes under different pretexts – but it is difficult to work for all people and the country. Anyone can do the easy job, but people vote for politicians to do the difficult job.” 4 – Frank Meets the Buddha Over the years, Frank became an ardent God believer. But he was still having some doubts. Friends advised him to see the Buddha - The Tathagata. They said, the Buddha would be able to satisfy his queries. One day, Frank made up his mind and went to Venuvana Vihara where the Buddha was in rainy-season meditation retreat. After vowing, Frank placed his question, “Bagavan Buddha, the omniscient, the supremely compassionate awakened one – a question is bothering me very much.” “Have peace Frank. Speak without hesitation.” The Buddha calmed and assured Frank. “Bagavan, is there a God?” Frank asked. “No, there is no God.” Was the reply from the Buddha. “Bagavan . . . ?” Before Frank could proceed further with more queries, the Buddha formed Dharma Chakra mudra at the level of his heart by saying, “Be happy Frank, and let others become happy.” Frank knew what that meant. The Buddha was referring him to focus on understanding the Wheel of Law he taught. For many years after meeting the Buddha, Frank became a non-believer in God. But he was still having doubts. After about a decade later, he thought of visiting the Buddha again. The Buddha was staying then in Jetavana Vihara at that time. So Frank took a long journey to reach there. After the usual greeting, Frank asked, “Bagavan Buddha, you have told me long ago that there is no God. I became a non-believer since then. But I am having doubts again. Bagavan, can you assure me whether or not there is God.” The Buddha calmly replied, “There is God.” Frank became quite baffled and started asking, “But Bagavan . . . ?” Before he could finish, the Buddha formed the Dharma Chakra mudra again by saying, “Be happy Frank, and let others become happy.” The contradictory replies kept Frank thinking, and yet the Buddha cannot be wrong. One day, it has suddenly dawned to Frank that it does not matter what one believes, as long as one looks deep into his or her own Bodhi for answers – by remaining awake to see things as they are – to find peace and happiness in the spirit of Sublimities. 5 – Frank’s Unusual Encounter Once upon a time . . . Frank had been walking for long on a beautiful God’s land; he became exhausted, covered with sweats and dust. But he never let go the piece of paper he was holding in his hand. The paper certificate says that he would be able to see God and go to heaven. Finally, after days and days of painstaking journey, he saw a mountain in the horizon. Frank became hopeful and got rejuvenated – his dream might come true. As he walked further toward it, the silhouette of a beautiful palace came into his view. He reached the huge golden gate. The gate-keepers stopped him. Frank got annoyed; he thought God’s door is open to all. The gate-keepers demanded, “Who are you? Where are you coming from? What are you doing here?” Frank got scared seeing the huge muscular gate keepers. But he was not going to be intimidated. After all, he took a painstaking journey up to this point. He gathered courage, “I am Frank coming from Earth. I want to see god. Here is my certificate from the God saying that I can see him and go to heaven.” He gave the piece of paper to the questioning gate-keeper. The gate-keeper looked at the paper and told Frank, “Stay where you are. Let me see what I can do.” The gate-keeper picked up a phone and Frank heard him saying, “Sir, here is a manuysha saying that he has arrived from Earth. He wants to see God.” Frank heard a hoarse but authoritative voice on the other side of the phone, “Tell him to leave, we are very busy here.” The gate-keeper replied, “But sir, he has a piece of paper saying he can see God.” “Is it? Seems like some corrupt priests have given him false hope. Well, escort him in.” came the voice from the other side. Frank never imagined that God’s domain also had a phone. The gate-keeper escorted him to the palace door. An elderly man received him from the gate-keeper and examined the paper Frank carrying. “Hmm – so you are here from Jambudwip”. Frank protested, “No sir, I am from Earth.” “Yeah, that is okay. What you know as Earth, we call it Jambudwip. We have many such systems in the universe, you know. We have our own system of labeling them. By the way, I am Amar – God’s deputy”. “God’s deputy! But sir, are you sure you are telling me the truth. Isn’t God the only one overseeing everything?” “Well, ideally yes. But you see, God has lot to do. It only makes sense that he has some assistance. You will see many of my colleagues in the palace hall.” Amar guided Frank to a huge hall. The hall was decorated with a huge chandelier. Rows of chairs were piled on each side of the hall and each of them was occupied. On one side there was a pile of men, on the other side women. Frank got surprised and asked, “How come there are women in God’s court?” “Why, is there a problem? You haven’t expected God to be partial, have you?” Amar tried to explain. “But women on one side and men on the other!” Frank queried. “Well there is no such arrangement. It is just personal choice.” Appearing stress-free and happy, they all looked at him as he entered. Amar did not introduce him to the court - as if they knew he was coming. At the head of the hall seated on a high pedestal, was a very elderly man with white hair and long flowing beard. He seemed to be expressionless and oblivious of any one present in the hall. He was smoking what seemed to be a hookah. Amar indicated he is the God. Frank attempted to rush to God to bow. But Amar stopped him, “No rush, God is in terrible distress. He made a mistake while creating Jambudwip – now he’s trying to figure out what to do.” “But, why? We have problems, but are not that bad in shape.” “You have no idea! We are trying to keep God as much aloof as possible. Because, once his anger flares up – it will be a disaster.” Amar continued, “But you are in good time. The party is about to begin.” “Party! What party, God’s palace has a party too!” Frank could not hide his surprise. “Well, we work very hard you know. We need some entertainment too. Have a seat here, relax and enjoy, and you will see all for yourself. You are lucky to see Apsara dancing today” Frank was not happy, “Sir, may I ask you a question before you leave. You and God – all are immortal?” “Well technically yes. You see, our scale of doing things is much longer than yours. So to mortals like you, we really appear immortal. But all are subject to the law of transience including us.” Amar sounded very easy, “But don’t worry, you will get answers to all of your questions. Be patient.” Amar departed to take his seat at the head of the row. An attendant brought drinks. Each of God’s deputies got a blue drink. Frank was given a drink looking like water. He could not hide his surprise for different treatment, and asked the attendant to give him the blue drink. The attendant replied in negative, “Sorry, Soma is for immortals only. This is for mortals like you.” Frank took a sip; it was somewhat bitter, but seemed to contain alcohol. The hall light was dimmed as it was filled with exquisite soothing music – Frank had ever heard. There entered Apsara – the legendary woman known for her beauty, scantily clad in silk dancing to the tune. The deputies seemed quite energized enjoying the dance. Frank looked at God – he still seemed expressionless puffing his hookah. As Frank started to enjoy the dance, he began to feel dizzy. He felt an image from the God came up to him, patted his head and shoulder, “Relax my child! Come with me and have a journey to realize things for yourself. Don’t hesitate to ask questions – I am always at your side.” Frank suddenly woke up with his wife Mary patting him, “Frank, my gosh! You have been sleeping for hours. Wake up.” Frank could not hide his disappointment and annoyance, “Oh Mary, you have ruined my dream. I was with God about to see things nobody has ever seen before.” . . . . . - by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 4 October 2019  Seeing the title of this piece, a pessimist may immediately argue that reality of happiness is something very ephemeral and perhaps even unattainable – so why care. In fact, similar notions led to consider happiness as an undesirable word – and economists and policy makers avoided mentioning this word in their theories and governing frameworks. The avoidance was deliberate – because the argument has been that happiness is not an easily definable materialistic quantity, therefore cannot be measured – and that anything cannot be measured has no importance, or cannot be implemented in the industrialized checklist procedures of management and administration. Additionally, they thought that the focus on happiness would hinder economy – designed to work on the selfish framework of managing things. Or that happiness of masses does not matter – it is only the elites who are entitled to it.
The foundation of this way of managing things dates back to the 17th century R Descartes (1596 – 1650) ‘Res Extensa’ or matter philosophy. The materialistic emphasis of this philosophy afforded science and technological upheaval – giving boost to rapid industrialization with its outreach to managing everything from economics to social development. The other essential concommitant of Descartes philosophy the ‘Res Cogitans’ or mind of people – was either ignored or left out of the equation. This mechanistic approach of governing principle defines the modern Western civilization – and largely dominates the world by its export to countries beyond borders. The principle gave birth to the processes of viewing of things from narrow perspectives in time and space – with the consequential method of managing things in un-heedfulness and un-sustainability. Perhaps it has led the societies to evolve to such a height of vicious cobweb of treachery and complexities that – no one knows anymore how to get out of it – how to restore back the simplicities in life – to mental peace and happiness that thrive on mutual trust, respect, tolerance and harmony. Peace and happiness are complementary terms. Peace is the cessation of disturbance, hostility and animosity – of fight and war – of conflicting internal struggles that torment one’s mind. Being in peace with oneself and with all – is the precondition for being happy. In Rabindranath Tagore’s (1861 – 1941) words: . . . it is simple to be happy, but is difficult to be simple . . . Tagore saw an intertwined bond between simplicity and happiness. To Maxim Gorky (1868 – 1936), the Russian writer and political thinker: Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is. Gorky saw the flowering of happiness – in the mutuality of bliss when all are embraced in the fold. Things started to change after the tiny kingdom of Bhutan floated in 1972 the necessity of including Happiness as an essential element of measuring social progress. This created some momentum and now researchers, economists and policy makers including the United Nations are talking about the importance of happiness – and are urging all nations to consider happiness as one of the pillars to measure progress and prosperity. There seems to be a lack of clarity at this stage however – and many ideas are floating around causing confusions and distortions. As we shall see – happiness or pursuits to happiness are very important for building trust required for healthy social interactions – for socioeconomic progress of a society – for the peaceful and friendly co-existence of nations. In addition, things out to be looked at from long-term perspectives and sustainability – and happiness fits right into this view. Let us attempt to examine all these – to understand what happiness means – why societies should care for it, and how it is measurable. First, let me start with the reality of happiness. Like everything else it is subjected to the laws of Impermanence and Dependent-origination – and together with ignorance and incessant craving for more of everything (craving for happiness itself can cause unhappiness), people experience life as a constant stream of unhappiness (Gautama Buddha - The Tathagata; 563 – 483 BCE). It is like what German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860) described as the result of insatiable will to life. So much so – that one feels difficulty in holding on to the elusive happiness – like a drop of water on the slippery lotus pad. But this fact is one more reason why one should make room for happiness in life. Further, an unhappy person is very vulnerable to get easily distracted and misguided – to frustration, depression and more. While on the other side of the coin, happiness releases positive energy that is so very important in a person’s life, and for harmony and social progress. Let us explore all these – focusing mainly on Buddhist thoughts. One of the reasons for this inclination is that the birth of Buddhism happened with the Buddha’s quest to understand the causes of, and to find remedies for unhappiness in life. Second, it must be realized that the perception of, or wish for happiness could mean different to different people. People who struggle in day-to-day life to have ends meet; mostly see happiness as getting out of that struggle. Those who do not have cash-flow problem mostly see happiness as securing the future and enjoy life. And those who have plenty, perhaps see happiness as living in luxury and extravaganza. However the highlighted perception of these three cited groups – are only a generalization, because individual experience and aspiration may vary – in scale and quality – perhaps people of different cultural backgrounds and age groups are good examples. But one thing is common – once people reach certain state of happiness – their aspiration tends to look for something different – something better (so one thinks). Third, happiness not only depends on an individual, but also by the actions and reactions of the surrounding – of his or her encounter with other people. For example, a rude encounter, being cheated, being harassed and victimized by someone in power, being in the social strata that are subjected to systematic deprivation and prejudicial treatment, etc. How to face the malice of infestation loaded with anger, hatred, ill-will, and in-fighting inflicted by others? We all know what the modern social governing systems are designed to work – confront, fight for right, fight with might . . . fight . . . fight! With so much emphasis on confrontation and fighting – the most precious thing – happiness is lost in the process. Even the laws with the win-lose procedural fighting in the Court give birth to misunderstandings and animosities. It is only the religions that say to face the encounter otherwise – not by fighting, but by the spirit and practice of Sublimities. In many instances – if not all – this solution proves overwhelmingly effective, friendly and peaceful – only one has to be courageous and patient to see the effects of Sublimities. We have discussed them in the All-embracing Power of Sublimities posted earlier on this page. This piece highlighted the powers of the Four: Maitry (love or loving kindness for the welfare, safety and happiness of all), Karuna (compassion by feeling the same pain as others), Mudita (feeling joy at the success and prosperity of oneself and others), and Upekkha (equanimity, calmness or even-mindedness with neither passion nor aversion). The advantage with the Sublimities is that they invite positive reactions from the encounter, and from all. The practice is neither weak nor passive – rather a very powerful one. They propel everything to the positivity of symmetry, stability and harmony – to lengthening the duration of peace and happiness. When the duration of happiness is long lasting – but rarely attainable, one enjoys the bliss of Nirvana – the state in which the laws of Impermanence and Dependant-Origination have grinded to a halt yielding the eternal tranquility of unity. The rationale for this approach of Buddhism says that – in situations of misunderstandings and conflicts arising from diverse social interactions – it is important to realize the importance of mind in the subject-object (observer-observed) relationship. The only peaceful and practical option for the subject – is to take ownership of his or her mind – to control and steer it to the right direction to ensure that the encounter is friendly. The subject does not own the mind of the object – therefore such an action is expected to act as an exemplary lesson for the object – with the hope to stimulate his or her own thought processes to reflection and emulation. In cases of both large and small conflicts, the process leads to the development of mutual trust, understanding and friendship. Before going further, I like to address an important question. Is the aspiration for happiness universal? Among much confusion – perhaps inflamed by prevailing governing policies, this question bothers people often. I would like to assert that happiness – as a universal aspiration – begins in one’s childhood. To explain that, let me start by highlighting a Buddhist Sutra – the Filial Piety Sutra. This Sutra lists some 10 loving cares a mother bestows upon her child – supplemented and supported by father. These unselfish parental loving cares that never cease in the minds of parents – make a lasting impression on the child and remain with him or her – if not in conscious state, certainly in the subconscious mind. Modern psychological investigations show that a child always responds by smiling with a happy face seeing things that are positive, secured, loving and peaceful – demonstrating that the aspiration takes root in early childhood. One yearns for that childhood pure bliss during all his or her adult life – hardly achieving it fully. This process gives the continual impression of unhappiness in human mind. One is never able to pay back that love to the fullest; therefore he or she is poised to transfer it to progeny – so the wheel rolls on. This is the reason – whether we admit or not – why all of us are deeply touched by the gestures and acts of pure love from wherever they come – and to that end happiness is something we cherish and hold dearest of all. In the words of Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885), the supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. For the rest of this piece, let me go through some of the Buddha’s teaching on happiness. Buddhism starts with the Four Noble Truths:
In a nutshell Buddhism says that the wheel of unhappiness starts with ignorance. A summary of this process is like this: ignorance (like not being awake or aware to see things as they are) → illusory or misguided perception/consciousness → desire, giving birth to mental and physical processes → clinging and craving → the birth of vicious unhappiness. Ignorance leads one to be less-diligent - resulting in his or her behavior to be un-heedful and un-conscientious. The dependent-arising of unhappiness – thus immediately indicates that happiness lies in one’s ability to remain awake to understand the processes – to win over them. In TRIPITAKA (in the Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta), 12 processes of unhappiness (or dukkha) are elaborated – all arise in the mind-and-matter dynamics – from one’s ignorance of not having the right view of what are implied in the fundamental laws of Nature – the Law of Transience or Anicca, and the Law of Dependent-origination or Paticca-Samupadha. Matter: birth/rebirth; aging; demise; bodily pain; and clinging to unwholesome processes arising from the 5 body senses – seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Mind: the four - sorrow-despair-grief-lamentation; association with the undesirable (e.g. The Three Poisons: ignorance, greed/avarice, hatred); dissociation from the beloved; hankering after what are unreachable; and clinging to unwholesome processes arising from the 6th sense. It is said that after enlightenment, many people asked the radiant Buddha whether he was a human, a great sage, or a God. The Buddha simply and calmly answered, I am awake. There lies the essence of Buddhism. The Noble Eightfold Path, described by Buddhist monks as the Jewel in the Lotus, falls into three groups:
Let me briefly touch on some more points on the Buddha’s Path before moving further, with a remark on the two elements of symbolism in Buddhism: in the penta-color Buddhist Flag, purity is symbolized in white color, and peace and happiness in blue color.
☼ Being Healthy and Content. In this first element, the Buddha recognized the importance and necessity of caring for mind and matter – because in togetherness they determine the quality of happiness. The 204th verse of Dhammapada says: Health is the most precious gain and contentment the greatest wealth . . . Being healthy means taking care of the matter in us – the body; and being content is the process of checking on our mind – to ensure that we do not fall into the trap of craving. That one must be measured and reasonable in expectations of things – in ambitions and outcomes. Health and contentment is tied to economy – there is no scope of undervaluing its significance – but it is the sustainable socioeconomy built on long-term perspectives – that cares for Symmetry, Stability, Harmony and the environment – is important. It is the most measurable element of happiness – and most theoreticians consider this as the only requirement. ☼ Being Free from Ignorance. Wisdom as one of the major pillars of Buddhism says to see things beyond vision – beyond ordinary comprehension. Wisdom lifts the veil of darkness and ignorance (the primary driver of unhappiness) from one’s mind – letting one to avoid acting foolish – to remain vigilant against advantage-taking actions and reactions that can cause harm – to remain calm and composed in adversity. Ignorance is the darkness where lack of clarity, confusion, misunderstanding and mistrust prevail – while wisdom is the light that lets one to see things as they are – the inter-connectedness of all living beings and the environment. It lets one to see the necessity of respecting the rights of others to exist – and to see the rationale for practicing the Sublimities toward all sentient beings. Wisdom does not mean knowledge or just being knowledgeable. In Buddhism wisdom refers to comprehension and absorption of knowledge to transform oneself – enabling him or her to make appropriate assessment and judgment toward performing wholesome activities. In German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s (1724 – 1804) words: . . . wisdom is organized life. The transformation must show in the person’s behavior, thought processes, speeches and social interactions. While the wisdom eye opens up by meditation practices, it is also closely tied to morality – because wisdom without morality can have more destructive and destabilizing effects on a society. The Buddha said: acquiring and sustaining wisdom are best achieved by associating with the wise (who are steadfast, learned, dutiful and devout); and by cherishing the truth. Here the Buddha laid the importance of friendship – but meaningful friendship that is nourished through the eyes of wisdom and truth. In the end, it is all about self-control to direct one in the Right direction of wisdom and virtues. The Dhammapada devotes 30 verses on foolishness and wisdom. In the 80th verse it says: Irrigators regulate the rivers; fletchers straighten the arrow shaft; carpenters shape the wood; the wise control themselves. And the 11th verse says how the ignorant dwell in unessential: Those who mistake the unessential to be essential and the essential to be unessential, dwelling in wrong thoughts, never arrive at the essential. ☼ Being Free from Affliction. This touches the crux of the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path or the Six Pursuits to Perfection – that says how to face afflictions and win over them to achieve happiness. Afflictions come from all different directions – from one’s own actions, to the actions and reactions of the surrounding – and they can be both physical and mental. Being free means using one’s wisdom – to stay safe, and to avoid initiating harmful actions or provocations that invite unwanted and reciprocal reactions from others. Many of different afflictions have root in the construct of our own mind; therefore one requires checking on the mind, and should be guided by the spirit and practice of the Sublimities to reinforce winning over afflictions. The 8th verse of the Dhammapada says: Just as a storm cannot prevail against a rocky mountain, so Mara (Evil) can never overpower the man who lives meditating on the impurities, who is controlled in his senses, moderate in eating, and filled with faith and earnest effort. ☼ Harboring Hatred to None. The birth of hatred happens in human mind from dislikes, jealousy and fear – and all are rooted in utter selfishness and mistrust. A hateful person is very rigid, and has a very narrow threshold of tolerating and accommodating others. The 202th verse of the Dhammapada says: There is no crime like hatred . . . When hate triumphs in a human mind, it prevents him or her from seeing things as they are – from rationalizing things. Result is that the individual becomes very restless, disrespectful, unsocial, abusive, violence-prone, and unhappy. Most often, it becomes very difficult to explain and convince a hateful person that he or she needs to see things differently through the lenses of wide perspectives. How to handle a hateful person? The Buddha said: as an eternal law, hatred is never appeased by counter-hatred, but by love and compassion. Therefore, one should treat such individuals with love and loving care – to slowly enlighten him or her – to raise the awareness that it is the love that can soothe and bring happiness – that what he or she is trying to achieve by hatred will only usher in misery. The Buddha further cautioned: one must not see others indiscriminately with suspicion as if they are hateful – because those who harbor such suspicions experience unhappiness like a shadow. Here the Buddha indicates both the vulnerability and the power of mind – a loving mind has the power to see and accept things – that may often appear undesirable and unwelcome in ordinary view. ☼ Being Free from Avarice. Avarice is the extreme form of greed. When avarice wins over, it blindsides everything, except the individual’s personal gain. It is the perfect breeding ground for malpractice, corruption, and abuse of trust and power. The person gets embroiled in an insatiable race – losing all the senses of proportional balance – and begins to see accumulation of personal gains as happiness. The result is that he or she does not feel any hesitance to trample others’ interests in recklessness and ruthlessness. The more an individual dives into avarice, the more insecure and discontent he or she feels. And despite accumulating lots of personal gains, the golden goose one chases appears distant – yet the invitation to reach the mirage and illusion of – what the individual considers as happiness prevails. Down the road, the incessant chasing becomes tiring – ushering in utter disappointment and misery. Most often it becomes very difficult to recover from that – to climb out of the black hole. The 199th verse of the Dhammapada says: Happy indeed we live, free from avarice amidst the avaricious. Amidst the avaricious men we dwell free from avarice. ☼ Being Free from Attachment. In real life, one is attached to or is influenced by many things: parents, spouse, children and family; likes and dislikes; ambitions and reputations; livelihood and profession; cultural background; societal norms and attitudes; governing systems; etc. Some of these are common human traits; others are conditioned by the society where one lives. Life is meaningless without these attachments – and we are sort of slaves to them. At the same time, we are also affected by their rise and fall – and when attachment goes to the level of clinging and craving, problems start to appear. Therefore Buddhism says: attachment without getting attached. A simple example of this saying is like this: imagine a slender engineering structure standing upright – securely founded on the ground, it represents a balance between the anticipated disturbing force, and the restoring force. When the balance is offset by an increase of the disturbing force and/or by weak restoring force, its integrity and stability become threatened. So is the case of attachment – it must remain in balance, but such that the restoring elements of non-attachment are in control. It further entails that one must take things easy by checking on one’s nature of attachments – to not get overwhelmed by their rise and fall – to be strong by not letting the attachment win. We often hear from friends and well-wishers: do not get too involved – certainly not to unwholesome things. There are 25 verses devoted to craving/attachment. In the 335th 336th verses, the Dhammapada says: Whoever is overcome by this wretched and sticky craving, his sorrows grow like grass after the rains. But whoever overcomes this wretched craving, so difficult to overcome, from him sorrows fall away like water from a lotus leaf. Based on the 6 discussed elements, the measurable indicators of happiness can perhaps be abridged and indicated as: (1) health and contentment; (2) ignorance: quality of education geared toward opening the eye of wisdom – to see the inter-connectedness of things and the environment that nourishes them; (3) affliction: governing framework that promotes the culture of trust, tolerance and harmonious cohabitation; (4) hatred: governing framework that promotes the culture of love and togetherness to overcome hatred and divisiveness; (5) avarice: governing framework that promotes long-term sustainability – to balance and to check on the insatiable drive for selfish gains; and (6) attachment: governing framework that promotes the culture of balance; and viewing and treating things from wide perspectives to shatter the bondage of unnecessary attachment and their rise and fall. The governing frameworks refer to both personal and societal governance. The extracted six from the elaborate Dharmapada and Mahamangala Sutra Happiness elements – lead the practitioner towards the direction of simplicity, balance, symmetry and stability. Among these, Ignorance, Hatred and Avarice – termed as the Three Poison – are depicted in the hub of the Tibetan Mandala Samsara Wheel. The three are symbolized as: Ignorance as a Pig; Hatred as a Snake; and Avarice (often also interpreted as Craving) as a Rooster. Before finishing let me touch on another important appendix to happiness – laughter. How does laughter fit in the paradigm of happiness? Among many types of laughter – one is an expression of the positive emotional state of mind representing joy and happiness (it originates in pleasant smiles, and burst into laughters when surprised by something unexpected, but joyous; like the funny and laughter provoking acts of Victor Borge, 1909 - 2000). It is a way of letting the joyful emotion go public – sometimes indicating, take it easy and let go – way of sharing it with the surrounding people – contagiously binding all together – let’s say like the genuine, sweet and heavenly laughter of Dolly Parton (1946 - ), or of Kate Hudson (1979 - ). It is a very healthy and powerful outpour – and must be enjoyed by opening up to the fullest while the emotion lasts. In Charlie Chaplin’s (1889 – 1977) word: a day without laughter is a day wasted. Coming back to Victor Hugo, in his words, laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. In Buddhist iconography some 10 mudra (hand gestures) are identified that depict different aspects of Buddhist practices seeking and displaying happiness. Practiced even in modern times, each of them represents a state of mind – and the mind itself is conditioned by the gestures. One, the anjali or namaskara mudra – is formed by bringing the two palms of hands together at the levels of heart or forehead - to express humility, to greet, to pay respect and to wish happiness to the encountered person/people. The gesture is practiced by all religions originated in India – including Christianity – and by most non-Muslim Asian countries. Buddhist monks and nuns usually use abhaya mudra – by raising the right hand open palm to the chest level or higher, as a gesture to bless, to remain calm, and to assure security and approval. Buddhists usually express the anjali mudra in a systematic way by first touching the forehead (as a gesture of valuing wisdom), then stopping at the nose (as a gesture of valuing life and energy) and ends at the level of heart (as a gesture of valuing universal love and compassion). I have included an image of laughing human figures, A-Maze-Ing Laughter installed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2009. They were sculpted by famous Chinese artist Yue Minjun (1962 - ), and he wished: may this sculpture inspire laughter, playfulness and joy in all who experience it. A Chinese Buddhist monk named Pu-Tai (~ 1000 CE) with his pot belly and a face full of laughter – became so popular and legendary that, his image is often confused (mostly by people unfamiliar with Buddhism) with the historical Buddha, and has led to the development of superstitions that whoever rubs his belly is blessed with good luck. . . . . . - by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 5 July 2019  Sublimity and Power – it is important to clarify these two terms before going into the topic. Sublimity refers to the most exalted and noble human quality of grandeur scale that transcends and rises above the narrow and ugly viciousness in personal and social interactions. And power denotes the rate of doing work or transferring energy. Sometimes a word is better understood by looking into its antonyms. And here are the antonyms – sublimity is antonym to narrow mindedness and myopic view that give birth to vicious selfish wickedness; and power is antonym to weakness or incapacity. Therefore, the title of this piece suggests contents discussing those human qualities that have the transformative power to lead oneself and the society at large – to an all-embracing righteousness of positive energy. This energy is to enjoy life and livelihood with peace and magnanimity of mind and to let that energy permeate to all – in oneness of fellow-feeling for common prosperity and happiness. The necessities of these qualities are better appreciated from the perspective of one’s outlook on personal and social symmetry, stability and harmony. Let us attempt to understand why this is so.
As I have done in some other pieces, I would mostly refer to Buddhist (Gautama Buddha - The Tathagata; 563 – 483 BCE) principles. Delving into Buddhism is sort of a rediscovery for me. This inclination is not because other religions do not teach sublime human qualities – but because of my limited knowledge of them, and my upbringing in a Buddhist family. Perhaps highlighting what the Great Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (304 – 232 BCE) engraved in stone is appropriate: Every religion has the wholesome core of love, compassion and good will. The outer shell differs, but give importance to the inner essence and there will be no quarrel. Don’t condemn anything, give importance to the essence of every religion and there will be real peace and harmony. Truly religious people are very sweet and humble no matter of their allegiance to any particular creed – and they are all good citizens. Before going further, it would be an interesting attempt to visualize the social upheaval that might have happened during the Buddha’s time:
Among others, writing this piece is inspired by materials gleaned from the following authors, teachers and sources: Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 – 1934); Dr. BR Ambedkar (1891 – 1956); Ajahn Chah (1918 – 1992); SN Goenka (1924 - 2013); TN Hanh (1926 - 2022); His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (1935 - ); Matthieu Ricard (1946 - ); and The Essence of Buddha Abhidhamma, the Buddhist metaphysical document superbly translated and interpreted by Myanmar Buddhist scholar, Dr. MT Mon. I have included an image of the Ashoka Pillar at Lumbini, Nepal – the stone edict on the pillar declaring that Emperor Ashoka visited this place to authenticate that this was the true birthplace of the Buddha. I like to organize this piece by describing the Sublimities first, then move on to explaining why they are powerful. The Buddha described the Sublimities – numbering Four, as the Brahma Vihara – although they have nothing to do with the Sanatana Dharma god Brahma. Here are some possible explanations why the Buddha did that:
Buddhist scriptures describe the Four Sublimities as: Maitrey (or Metta), Karuna, Mudita and Upekka. In simple terms, the first three represent a generous, benevolent or altruistic spirit of mind to develop motivational inspiration for the happiness of all sentient beings (beings or life endowed with the processes of mind and matter – the Five Aggregates; see the Power of Mind on this page) – sweetened by the fellow-feeling of oneness with them. The fourth says that to be effective – the first three must be cultivated and delivered in calmness of mind. TN Hanh (1926 - 2022) called the deliverance of Sublimities in transformative actions – the Engaged Buddhism. Ven Hsing Yun (1927 - ), the founder of the worldwide movement of Fo-Guang-Shan called it the Humanistic Buddhism. Buddhists always finish their chanting and blessings by wishing Sabbe Sattva Shukina Bhabantu or Let all Sentient Beings be Happy. Buddhists want all to be happy in calmness – irrespective of color, creed or type - including one's own transient self of mind and matter. The rationality of the necessity for practicing the Four Sublimities – lies in the Buddha’s teaching of the profound realities of the laws of Impermanence and Dependent-origination. In such paradigms of realities it is imperative that one feels togetherness with all and the environment – because all are connected in the same process – in the inter-tangled fluxes of life and livelihoods. The Buddha taught these Four – for all to cultivate in order to develop them as a second-nature – not in an ephemeral sense that rises and falls – for example, one may feel Maitrey or love at a certain time, but does not show any sign of it in another time. Let us attempt to understand all these – realizing from the outset that many Buddhist terms do not have straightforward translatable counterparts in English. I will mainly follow the English translation provided by Dr. Mon. ☼The first Sublimity, Maitrey or Metta has been mostly translated as love or Loving Kindness. It refers to the softness of an individual’s heart for the welfare, safety and happiness of others. It is antonym to hatred, ill will and aversion. It has nothing to do with personal affection or carnal love – because these feelings have roots in high emotional attachments of mind and matter. It is rather an individual’s sweet and unselfish attitude or motive to make others happy – by realizing that others – irrespective of whether they are young, old, wealthy, powerful, famous, average or poor – or of different race and creed – are fighting the similar sort of battle as he or she is. The Buddha elaborated the benefits and the skillful methods of practicing Maitrey in the Karaniya Metta Sutta (or simply Metta Sutta) delivered at Shravasti. In 10 verses he detailed out the standards and methods of moral conducts on how to bestow loving kindness to all sentient beings. He has said that a practitioner – in turn – accrues 11 benefits of peace and harmony, for himself or herself by practicing Maitrey. ☼The second Sublimity, Karuna – mostly translated to Compassion, represents the pain one feels seeing the suffering of others. It is antonym to cruelty and wickedness. It does not encompass passionate grief – because grief has roots in high emotional attachment. Compassion is different from charity – because some charitable acts arise from sympathies that are not respectful to the sufferer’s conditions and circumstances. Compassion must come from one’s feeling of oneness with the sufferer or victim. The victim can be oneself, therefore one must not forget to be compassionate to himself or herself – in order to ride over difficult times – to be courageous to correct and reorient oneself toward the Right direction of happiness. ☼The third Sublimity, Mudita mostly refers to the happiness and joy one feels at the success and prosperity of others. It is antonym to sadness and despair. It does not equate with exhilaration because of high emotional response in such a feeling. Similar like compassion, one must be happy and joyous to enjoy one’s own success of accomplishing wholesome thoughts and deeds. ☼The fourth Sublimity, Upekka mostly translated to Equanimity, represents calmness, even-mindedness or impartiality of judgment – with neither attachment nor aversion. It is antonym to both passion and callousness. Equanimity is a state of balanced or unwavering mind in conflicts of praise and blame, pain and happiness, gain and loss, repute and disrepute. The Buddha advised his followers to meditate on each of the Four Sublimities – the one for Equanimity is famously known as Samatha meditation – the practice that leads to relaxation, and calmness or tranquility of mind. The attention of the first three Sublimities can be oneself, or others: a single sentient being, a group or an entity. Karuna (compassion) and Mudita (joy) are kind of similar – both are tied to something (like an incident) that happened to the subject or the object. Both of them let one get connected with the object – Karuna is feeling the same pain as the sufferer – and Mudita is feeling the same joy as the object. In contrast, Maitrey (love) is not tied to any incident – it is a global or universal motivation or wish for happiness of all. Although I have used the word feeling – in reality it refers to one’s Bodhi or Bodhicitta (the stable, altruistic and enlightened consciousness). The virtues of Metta, Karuna and Mudita attain great power to a grandeur scale – in calmness and serenity – when the Six or Ten Perfections or Paramitas (see The Tathagata) to Bodhi are mastered. Good. Let us now move on to the most difficult part of explaining why the Four are powerful – difficult because when one thinks about power – one always equates it with the powers of sword, military might, economy, technology, etc:
And the powers of Sublimities? How on earth Love, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity could have power? And why do we have to look back to 2.5 millennia BP for our present day problems? Why do we need them anyway? Before answering these questions, one must remember – it is only the past that can define a better future if we learn from it intelligently – it is like valuing and utilizing our experience. More separate answers to each of these questions are possible – but for the sake of brevity, let us attempt to see them in another way. A counter-question to the above would be: are we better than in the past – in terms of social cohesion and other personal and societal problems? The answer to this question is definitely: we are not. True, we have advanced far beyond our past – in science, technology, comfort and gadgets. But one has many reasons to say that our social conditions – in alleviation of mistrusts, conflicts and violence, have not inched forward in parallel with material progress – if anything, some conditions might have worsened. On the other hand, the Four Sublimities have the power-par-excellence, because they do not give birth to divisiveness, mistrusts, hatred, cruelty, jealousy and abusive temperament. The Jayamangala Gatha cites instances of 8 encounters – in which the Buddha prevailed over the evil destructive forces by the radiant power of his righteousness and Sublimities – in each case, the evil yielded to his sublime power by realizing the malice of their activities and renouncing the unwholesome pursuits. Well – if this is so, why don’t we practice them en-masse regularly? The answer is simple – people are easily attracted to and get swayed by theories and doctrines that promote short-term gains at the cost of disregarding their long-term adverse consequences. Let us have a glimpse of some more to understand the power of Sublimities better:
For teaching the benefits of the Four Sublimities – Buddhists affectionately address the Buddha as the Mahakaronic or supremely compassionate Buddha. They cite many examples to indicate the reasons – four of them are: (1) young prince Siddhartha (the future Buddha) saving the life of a bird in pain arrowed down by his cousin; (2) denial of the cruel Vedic caste system by embracing all castes and untouchables into his fold – one of his favorite Dharma-proficient disciple Ven. Upali was born in a low-caste family; (3) saving the life and showing the path to liberation to the misguided and fearful rogue Angulimala; and (4) accepting the courtesan and social outcast Amrapali as his disciple. While approving his son Rahula’s ordination and entry into the Sangha (Buddhist community of monks), it is said that the Buddha told him to practice the Four Sublimities first. The reasons were thought to be that – his son could still have the arrogance of royal perks and privileges in his mind, and also that he might face difficulty in socializing with, and befriending monks because he was the Buddha’s son. It must have been a great expectation of the Buddha from his young son. This piece ended up being the longest in WIDECANVAS (see links to all articles in the Widecanvas Home Page). In the light of religions that came into the discussion, I am tempted to finish this piece by highlighting what Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948) has said in 1939 while opening the Mahabodhi Society Buddhist temple in New Delhi: It is my deliberate opinion that the essential part of the teachings of the Buddha now forms an integral part of Hinduism. It is impossible for Hindu India today to retrace her steps and go behind the great reformation that Gautama effected in Hinduism. By his immense sacrifice, by his great renunciation, and by the immaculate purity of his life he left an indelible impression upon Hinduism, and Hinduism owes an eternal debt of gratitude to that great teacher. . . . . . - by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 10 April 2019  Ever since I visited some of the historic marvels in 2018 – the Candi Borobudur (9th century CE) in Java Indonesia, the Mahabodhi Temple (3rd century BCE – 6th century CE) in Bodhgaya Bihar India and the Taj Mahal (17th century CE) in Agra India – I became interested to write a piece on symmetry. The interest to write was also exacerbated by the tourist guides mentioning the symmetry of these structures again and again. As I went deep into writing, it became obvious that symmetry is indeed the symbol of beauty, peace, stability and harmony. No wonder ancient religious and burial monuments from the Egyptian Pyramids (3rd millennia BCE) and Mayan Temples (3rd millennia BCE) to modern places of worship – all show amazing styles and diversity of symmetry. In these monuments, symmetry was seen in human aspirational context – as abodes of peace in heaven or paradise. Let us attempt to understand all these wonderful aspects of symmetry – but realizing the fact that asymmetry is also the reality of life, Nature and society. I have included an image of Borobudur I shot while there.
What is symmetry? It is simply the exact replication of things about an axis – a mirror image, and the simplest example is ourselves – the humans. We are axi-symmetric about our vertical spinal axis that runs through our nose – with the left balancing the right. Similar is the case with all the vertebrates – and the balance or stability is ensured by symmetry. This symmetry is also known as reflectional; others include rotational (like a circle, a wheel, a sphere, a flower, a square, an equilateral triangle, etc.) and translational (like brick layers). Invertebrates can be both symmetric and asymmetric – indicating some of Nature’s wonder and mystery. Fractal analysis reveals another type of replicating self-similar shapes – e.g. the large shape being the composite mosaic of smaller but similar shapes – and Nature is abound with Fractals. Symmetry can also be viewed from another angle – as the balance between the disturbing and the restoration forces. We have discussed this in the Linear Waves piece on the NATURE page – that a linear or symmetric wave represents the perfect balance between the disturbing force caused by a moving wind or water pressure system and the restoring gravitational force. And that the symmetry of a sinusoidal wave or its equivalent a circle – both in phase and amplitude – is a manifestation of balance and stability. And while that balance is maintained, the wave celerity transports the gained energy forward. Engineers view symmetry as an inter-active balanced system of imposed and resisting forces for the stability of a structure. All these examples of Nature and technical applications suggest that a balanced system is the best way for an entity to function, work and propagate energy in tranquility. But as also discussed in the Ocean Waves and other pieces in WIDECANVAS, the survival of a linear or symmetric wave is only momentary, if any. Because any moving fluid – displaying the most vivid sign of dynamic balance and equilibrium – immediately comes under various interaction and transformation processes of reflection, transmission, absorption and resistance with the result that it becomes quickly asymmetric – nonlinear and spectromatic. These processes are not so vivid in other elements of Nature, such as the solid – but they are there in various scales of magnitude and frequency – defining the fluidity of Nature. This fact leads us to realize that the processes of Nature, life and society are essentially asymmetric – in multiplicity and impermanence – but all heading to the aspiration to attain equilibrium or symmetry. In other words: asymmetry of processes --> symmetry and stability of entities – or that the Natural asymmetrical processes – that are not broken or collapsed – constantly aim to attain symmetry or equilibrium as an aspirational goal. No wonder – as an indication of human aspiration – most religious architecture and monuments of every creed are depictions of heavenly peace in the tranquility of symmetry. In Buddhism this started with depicting the statue of the meditating Buddha (Gautama Buddha, 563 – 483 BCE) - The Tathagata sitting on the petals of an axi-symmetric open lotus throne. As an indication of reality and aspiration, Tibetan Sand Mandala is a show of both impermanence and axi-symmetry. Similarly, some Japanese artifacts and paintings have depictions of imperfection or impermanence together with the beauty of symmetry – saying that imperfection must strive toward the perfection in the tranquility of symmetry. Candi Borobudur located on a hill top surrounded by plains, has exact proportional symmetry both in horizontal and vertical directions – with the tapering layers from the bottom 6 square levels rising to 3 circular heights adorned with Stupas. The axi-symmetric Lion Capital of Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (304 – 232 BCE) shows four back-to-back lion heads – representing the Buddha standing on an inverted lotus flower with the Dharma Chakra (the Wheel of Law) on top. The inverted lotus flower took the shape of hemispherical stupas, domes, and pagodas in Buddhist architecture. The dome shape inspired many architectural shapes around the world including the door and window arches, and arched recesses. The bell-shaped Buddhist pagoda such as the spectacular Shwedagon Pagoda (6th century CE) in Yangon, Myanmar is a beautiful architectural metamorphosis of the inverted lotus flower. The inverted lotus flower on top of hemispherical domes can also be found in Moghul monuments such as the Taj Mahal, and in Indian Palaces and Hindu temples. Why inverted lotus flower instead of an open one? The inverted lotus flower represents the Mahaparinirvana or passing away of the human Buddha – saying that the opened Buddha lotus does not exist anymore – that instead after his death, the relics are preserved by the inverted lotus in its core. And that the Buddha left his Wheel of Law (represented by tapering concentric wheels on the lotus stem with a parasol on top) to guide humans for their emancipation from the unhappiness of life to peace and tranquility. In addition, that the inverted lotus has the potential to re-open again when time comes (therefore budding lotuses often populate the periphery of the stupas/pagodas). Symmetry is often identified with even numbers – for example, number 2 represents 1 on each side around an axis running in-between them. Apart from left and right in all vertebrates – this is most vivid in the duality of things. The visible duality of wave crest and trough containing multiplicity within them drive the engine that heads toward the tranquility of unity and stability. But an odd number also represents symmetry with the axis running through the middle number. Number 3 is significant in Buddhism and Christianity. Number 5 has been used by many religions. Hindu god Shiva is shown having 5 faces. In Christianity (Jesus Christ, 4 BCE – 33 CE) 5 is a holy number – the Father, Son, Spirit, Creation and Redemption – and many major churches have 5 entry doors (some have 3 doors). Islam (Prophet Muhammad, 570 – 632 CE) has prayer calls 5 times a day. Confucius (551 – 479 BCE) taught 5 virtues required of a good citizen: benevolence, honesty, knowledge, integrity and politeness. The Forbidden City in Beijing has 5 access bridges over the Palace mote. In Buddhism, the basic moral code Panchsila has 5 elements. The Mahabodhi Temple having the symmetry of 4 sides and tapering to the Wheel of Law at the apex – is adorned with 5 distinctive bands on each side with the middle band enhanced. I am tempted to spend a little time on this, because the Buddha used the elements of Panchsila to resolve disputes between warring kingdoms – and it inspired the formulation of Panchsheel as an international guideline for peaceful co-existence. Spearheaded by the Indian independence leader and first Prime Minister J Nehru (1889 – 1964), Panchsheel formed the Sino-India pact (signed in April 1954 by Nehru and the Chinese Premier Z Enlai, 1898 – 1976). The first Non-Aligned Movement conference in April 1955 in Bandung Indonesia adopted Panchsheel as the founding principle. The UN General Assembly adopted Panchsheel in December 1957 as a guiding principle for peaceful co-existence and non-interference among states. Indian capital Delhi bears the name of a park and a road as Panchsheel Park and Panchsheel Marg, respectively. Beyond scriptural wording, Panchsila meanings can be simply and briefly elaborated as:
How harmony fits in the paradigm of symmetry and stability? Harmony is integral to both, because it represents concordance or agreement among various components such that the combination is soothing to listen to, or pleasant to look at. A music is in harmony and hears soothing when the melody, rhythm and instrumental notes work in symmetrical unison or synchronicity. In Buddhism, five achievements/accomplishments are identified that are necessary for personal and social harmony: (1) joy for personal harmony, (2) mutual respect for harmony in interpersonal relationships, (3) deference for family life harmony, (4) cooperation for social harmony, and (5) peace for world harmony. For a harmonious conjugal life – the Buddha’s Sigalovada Sutta governs the married couple relationship and deference. The Sutta stands on: (1) mutuality of love, (2) mutuality of respect, (3) mutuality of courtesy, (4) mutuality of faithfulness, (5) sharing conjugal authority and responsibility together, (6) treating relatives and extended family members with hospitality, (7) taking good care of resources and possessions, and (8) discharging family duties with skill and industry. Traditional Buddhist marriage ceremonies are not conducted by monks – instead a respectable elder administers and conducts the ceremony in front of a gathering. The role of Buddhist monks lies only in bestowing blessing to the couple – the chanting of Mahamangala Sutta takes primary position in the blessing processes. Symmetry of layouts, arrangements of foliage and flowering plants in proportions and patterns make a garden look beautiful. An architectural piece stands out in beauty and grandeur when symmetry and harmony of proportions in smoothness of flow are integrated – with heeding to the need for aesthetic concordance with the surroundings – Feng Shui – as a new structure is introduced. In all of these examples, individual components work in a complementary fashion to create the beauty of the whole. Similar can be said of social living – of neighborhoods, of states and countries. If people, families and states are unstable – or are utterly asymmetrical, let us say, in income and wealth distribution – intolerant of one another and mistrustful – such that they cannot complement one another, then harmony is broken dragging everything down to chaos and instability – slowly but definitely. But the processes leading to the achievements of social symmetry and harmony – are far from straight forward. The reason is that – like in waves – when a society becomes corrupt, divisive and mistrustful, the disturbing forces tend to overwhelm the restoring forces – with the enhanced asymmetry having the potential to break social harmony and stability. I like to stop at this with a line of wisdom from Tibetan traditional belief (told by Tibetan-Nepalese Buddhist nun, Ani Choying Drolma, 1971 - ): when the stupid speaks, the intelligent learns. . . . . . - by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 15 January 2019  I like to begin this piece with some lines from Zen: . . . seeing his master on the other side of a raging river, a student waved his arms and shouted out, ‘Master, master how do I get to the other side?’ The master smiled before replying, ‘You are already there.’ . . . Did you get it? If you didn’t, just think it over – it will soon be clear what the master meant. Zen aside, let me devote this piece to a lighter topic. Lighter – yet this is something that lies deep in our mind in quests for peace and happiness – and in our detests for things otherwise. It is the concept and visualization of heaven and hell that existed in all cultures since ancient times – and we all experience the heavenly and hellish feelings in modern times at one time or another. All religions saw the importance of this concept and belief system, and adopted it in one way or another – to motivate people to do good things to go to heaven; and refrain from doing bad things to escape from hellish suffering. Sometimes one may not see the relevance of this concept or belief while grinding through the constraints of day-to-day living – but its influence on an individual is there – if not always but at certain times – if not strong but certainly subtle.
Interestingly we see it so often – in sports arena, a winning player looking up to the sky to thank for his or her success. A successful business entrepreneur rushes to donate part of his or her first proceeds/profits to religious establishments as a thankful gesture. A job seeker prays for continued success in his or her job; or a school/college student prays to help him or her pass the exams. All these indicate – not only the frailty of human self-confidence – but also the humility that resides in human heart. The sense of humility is very important – its application makes us a better human – a better member of the society. But humans are also a selfish sort, perhaps a horrific and cruel one if not guarded or leashed {that is one of the reasons why religions were born in the first place – in order to help people to rise above selfishness} – once we become assured of continued success or power – we forget all about humility and gratefulness – and act like an arrogant fool. Perhaps the concept of heaven originated from the early human aspiration of reaching up to the sky – unreachable yet desirable because it brings-in lights of the Sun and Moon to brighten the day; and brings-in rain to cool the hot day – to quench the thirst – to germinate the growths of plants and vegetables – to hope and happiness. Similarly the concept of hell perhaps originated from the human detests for suffering – for the scare of Nuture’s fury and anger. It has been identified with dirt and filth – something low that needs constant cleansing – with mistrust and animosity – perhaps some of the undesirable things one experiences in life’s contingencies – in richness or lack of it – in the ups and downs of uncertainties that engulf us all. Buddhism (Gautama Buddha, 563 – 483 BCE) - the Tathagata defines heaven and hell from this perspective – as something of the mind phenomenon – that remains with one during his or her lifetime – arising, growing, diminishing and disappearing in response to one’s state of mind. Let us attempt to see how different cultures visualized heaven. Perhaps the early visualizations metamorphosed into and took concrete shapes in the myths and legends of Greek, Roman, Shinto and ancient Indian cultures. Heavens were visualized as the sky abodes of very supernaturally powerful gods and goddesses – but in likely personified images of human royals. Some of their attributes were:
Perhaps the last two attributes are suggestive of an energy paradigm – that travels instantly without requiring any foods – foods similar to the likeness of what are consumed by humans. The attributes 2 to 5 are some of the reasons, why sometimes people refer to the behavior of an arrogant powerful individual as playing God. Among the early religions Buddhism offers a different visualization of the heaven. The visualization has different levels of heavenly abodes, or the Buddha Lands – the highest of which is the Pure Land where Panchsila and Brahma Vihara (the Sublime Abode) rule, and everything there is smooth and peaceful – birds sing to the tune of gentle waterfall, trees and plants flower to the touch of gentle cool breeze – fish swim freely in lakes – all living in harmony – perhaps the likeness one dreams about. In those lands Buddha’s and Bodhisattvas’ care, love and compassion flow like the sweetness of honey to all irrespective of who they are. Such characterization of the heavens and the heavenly beings, evolved from the allegories and Jataka Tales associated with the teachings of the human Buddha – and are often interpreted as and identified with different stages of realizations one experiences in deep meditations. Major elements of these characterization processes developed and took shape nearly 5 centuries after the Buddha’s death. Unlike the gods and goddesses of other ancient religions, the Buddha Land beings do not interfere and intervene in the human world – but let karma {The Buddhist definition of karma is distinct; and has nothing to do with the pleasure or displeasure of gods and goddesses like in Hinduism; but is solely the consequences of one’s wholesome or unwholesome volitional activities} take the lead with blessings bestowed upon those accumulating the good karma – and to those who need help, or are penitent. The certificate to ascent to the Buddha Lands is the accumulation of merits by practicing, and through the accomplishments of the Noble Eightfold Path, or the Six Pursuits to Perfection. Often the Pure Land is confused with Nirvana – but Nirvana is beyond and above the Pure Land. It is not an imaginary land or an abode but a rarely attainable stable and sublime state of existence – a reality – in which the wheel of Dependent-Origination of things has grinded to a halt yielding the ultimate equilibrium of eternal bliss – where the duality has melted into the tranquility of unity. Where do the heavenly abodes exist exactly? Within the vast expanse of the universe – it is not highly unlikely that – there could exist heavenly and hellish realms somewhere. Even if it does not – the human experience of the feelings is real. But it does not matter whether the existence of heaven and hell is true or false – does it? Human creativity – acted upon by strong emotions like anger, hatred, devotion and love will always find ways to nurture imaginations – be in scriptures, writings, poetry, paintings, sculpture and music. For such nurturing to be benevolent – it is necessary however to watch to remaining awake to not get attached to the detrimental and negative emotions – instead making all out efforts to channel them toward the goals of love and compassion. Let us attempt to see more of it through a poem – but through the lens of our experience as we tread through the rough terrain – we call life. And there converged all the stars to endorse: The heavenly peace The unconditional love of parents for their progeny What one achieves after tiring wholesome works and commitments Facilitating the seeds of human spirit to sprout and flower The brightness of transparency and light The bliss of practicing generosity, love, compassion and joy Checking one’s emotions to avoid getting too attached to things The serenity of equanimity and harmony Remaining awake and having peace in oneself. And the assembly did warn of: The hellish malice The infestation of cyberstalkers Wrecking businesses and people’s well-being with impunity. The deprivation of love to children by separating parents Victimizing the innocents by conspiracy and deceit Not taking responsibility for wrong doings. Discrimination and prejudice The travesty of denying justice. The constant worries of uncertainty That rips a person and family apart Destroying the niceties of human spirit. And they did add more to the malice: The assault and rape of humanity again and again Not taking care of things that nourish humans – Nature and environment Destroying the beauty of multiplicity in harmonious living Promoting mistrust and divisiveness. The pain of loneliness and hopelessness Preying on and inflicting wounds on the vulnerable again and again The greed and conflict – giving nutrition to the monsters of anger and hatred. And as the religions say: Heaven is the message of hope Hope of reward for being and doing good Hope to reach something beyond – perhaps unreachable yet desirable Something where the bliss of equilibrium sprinkles soothing showers Of understandings and love that bind families and society together To peace and happiness. Let me finish this piece with a line from Bengali Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941; the author of India and Bangladesh national anthems): . . . don’t limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time . . . . . . . . - by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 27 July 2018  If it were true – if the magic and miracle would have the power to satisfy human wishes – everything would have been very sunny and easy – and the world would have been different – wouldn’t it? Well – not really. Because there again would have surfaced conflicts – the conflicts of diverse wishes.
Yet such wishes occupy human mind – more at certain times than others. Like the vampire folklore and stories that managed to fascinate people for thousands of years – catering to the dark side of human imagination of fear, mystery and violence. For example, ancient African Voodoo culture continues to exist and fascinate people in some countries. The vampire folklore that originated in Europe – are still prevalent in Halloween celebrations in many countries. In Asia similar vampire culture is part of a religion – Hindu goddess Kali is believed to go out in new-moon dark night adventures to drink people’s blood – who were disobedient and made her angry. The belief took shape in the form of Kali-Puja worshipping in Hinduism. Perhaps it starts with our fascination with fantasy and action stories from young ages – like my son’s starting with Harry Potter series in his senior elementary school days – or for that matter with children of any culture. The influence of this fascination is not far flung to see – in views of things colored with one’s wishes and imaginations – like the image of Santa living in the North Pole – we view it in our own image, not the image of real indigenous people living in the Arctic Circle. From early years starting with the fairy tale stories one hears from parents and grandparents, people are amused by the imaginary world of fantasies and wishes – as if to suggest that miracle and magic have a role to play in life. What on earth is this role? Is this the role that just lies in our mind? Rationalism and experience tell a different story however – that the real world does not work in magical or miraculous terms – that it works according to the duo (albeit with some degrees of uncertainty) – the kaleidoscope of actions and reactions – in line with the universal knot of cause and effect – in subtlety most of the time – but also in pursuits of dynamic equilibrium when disturbed by unsettling triggers – both Natural and social. Framed another way – in scientific reasoning what may appear magical or miraculous is nothing but the coincidence of some plausible but rare causes and circumstances. Or simply that, such appearances are illusions – the making of our ignorant but creative mind. Good. But perhaps there is another way of looking at it. This way is about the power of beliefs – shall we say belief in oneself, in one’s strength (see The Power of Mind) – belief in the power of confidence (mundane or spiritual). If founded upon sound and unwavering stands and efforts, beliefs may turn out wishes – oh, well what’s in a name – perhaps something no less than magic or miracle. The accidental discovery of Penicillin by Scottish researcher Alexander Fleming (1881 – 1955) after his return from a two-week vacation – perhaps created no less than a miraculous impression in his mind. And in the experience and realization of Russian scientist Dmitry Mendeleev (1834 – 1907) – the inventor of Scientific Periodic Table . . . For several weeks I slept fitfully, trying to find that magical principle . . . And then one fine morning, after spending a sleepless night . . . I lay down on the sofa in the office and fell asleep. And in a dream, a table appeared to me quite clearly . . . Perhaps such examples invoke the realization of deeper meaning of things – the melting of the rationalist view and the chance theory into one! Or perhaps one feels like saying with Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895) - the father of microbiology: In the fields of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind. Indeed when a mind is prepared – or is aptly curious – a learner’s cognitive processes are best poised to decipher and discover the essence of what he or she is attempting to learn. Whatever may be the name – chance, magic or miracle – that is how one should proceed. Returning back to the questions whether or not magic and miracle have a role in life – perhaps the answers can be found somewhere else. One can begin answering by asking: why do the multi-trillion dollar entertainment industries of all sorts exist. Or why do we enjoy and find solace in stories and novels – in arts, comics and individual’s unfettered imaginations that are weaved through the lenses of exaggerated colors and distortions. Perhaps there lies one of the greatest human strengths – the ability to take refuse in fantasies – the ability to escape from the tiredness of frustration – the ability to relax and re-energize. Perhaps that is the reason why alcohol exists in most cultures – primitive to modern – from soft liquors to hard drinks. There is one particular distinction however: while the fairy tale fantasies always tell stories of the victory of good over evil (to inspire young minds and perhaps all) – other derivatives or spin-offs of similar sorts, do not necessarily follow that lead. One can go on and on . . . but I like to stop at this – only to point out that there appears a big problem – that clinging to the world of unreality and fantasy – independent of, or supported by alcohol and/or others – can be delusional, affecting one’s clarity of thought processes – his or her judgments – especially when over- or disproportionate-indulgence takes control. It was the religious leaders in all cultures who rightly saw the practice as unworthy, addictive and abusive – abusive to oneself, to the family – to the society. That was why they cautioned and advised against such practices as a means of drifting into the delusion of fantasy-induced relaxation. To such visionary and compassionate leaders, one should try to enjoy life with the purity of mind and actions to be in peace with oneself, and that nothing should cloud one’s judgment – one’s clarity of understandings – neither the hindering thoughts nor the malicious influences and fantasies. They taught the power and virtue of meditation or mind training, supported (at times) by the tranquility and beauty of Nature, music, fresh flower or art works – to relax and nourish oneself – to re-energize and reflect – to be mindful – to realize the wisdom that life requires discipline – to enjoy the true bliss of compassion and peace. Difficult perhaps, but splendid nonetheless! There we have it – the necessity of relaxation and nourishment of the mind in a life’s journey; as we do so for the matter – the physical body. This short piece is to celebrate the end of winter solstice – and to warmly welcome the New Year for progress, prosperity and happiness in harmonious cohabitation of all. . . . . . - by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 2 January 2018  I like to begin this piece with a line from Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965): Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. Perhaps this realization from the most famous leader in British politics, captures the true spirit of a leader – if not of all humans. Sayings similar like this, dating back to the ancient times have inspired humans time and again during good and bad days. Therefore it is not surprising that everybody has an opinion or suggestion about – what a leader should or should not be. I get pieces of articles about it on almost everyday from professional newsletters I subscribe. If one googles, one would find numerous websites of texts and images on this topic.
I have selected the shown image (credit: anon) from one of these sources to illustrate the fact that a leader should have the courage to stand alone to spearhead things to move forward. Ah! There lies the keyword – forward – but desirable only when in the right direction! Being forward looking by standing alone is easier said that done however – because it can be highly challenging and scary even for a very strong leader – in conflicts of interests and demands – surrounded most often by adversaries and flatterers. In reality, leaders are surrounded by assistants, managers and advisers – administrative, legal, financial and accounting, technical, and research and development, etc. Decision processes are handled together as a team – with the leader having the power to call the final shot. This is accomplished by delegating and distributing powers – to departments for efficient management – to colleagues and subordinates in matters that can be satisfactorily micro-managed and handled by them – but he or she is by definition responsible for the soundness or unreliability of their deliveries. Perhaps one can venture to say that most of what one gathers from different sources lack the experience of practical situations or constraints a leader faces – and how he or she approaches and handles them. They rather talk about the general behaviors expected of a good leader – but that is fairly understandable because an organization’s PLAYBOOK, or management manual is unique to each organization, and only a select group is privy to the core elements of these documents. This means that no two leaders act in the same way for a given situation – or that leaders of different cultures understand and operate the leadership role differently – therefore there is no universal prescription for a good leader. Those who stand out from the rest are defined by their ability to understand – by their honesty and dedicated commitments to the causes – and how they deliver in the end to move forward. Let us attempt to understand some of these interesting aspects in brief terms – focusing primarily on the qualities people want to see in a leader. Writing this piece started when my younger daughter gave me a book to read, The Leadership Mystique – a user’s manual for the human enterprise authored by MK de Vries (Prentice Hall 2001). When reading this amazingly well-written book, one cannot but experience new realizations about the myths and beliefs associated with leaderships. A different but a related aspect to this topic – Governance is posted earlier on this page. I have tried to say there that governance is all about: who makes decisions and what governs decision making? And that a social structure is healthy and sound when GOVERNMENT and BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS work coherently and collectively to safeguard the nucleus of the social structure – the FAMILY. Because it is impossible to have a healthy government and business without a healthy family. Now let us attempt to see: Who is considered to be a leader? What does he or she do? What is the difference between a leader and a manager? Questions similar like these come to one’s mind when thinking about a leader – and the answers may not be as straightforward as one thinks they are. When one talks about leaders – one always thinks about people at the top rank – be it political, business or other organizations. But the fact is that there are people in every rank and file who make a difference in their routine works and capacities – most of these roles are transactional though – but some could be transformational as well. Surprised? Don’t be. People do so during talks and consultations, in work memos and reports – in analyses and judgments during the decision making processes. This may be more apparent when the two qualifiers I mentioned – transactional and transformational are clarified. The transactional leaders focus on incremental improvements and refinement of existing strategies and methods. They are mostly bureaucratic/technocratic in nature well-suited in a status-quo framework. The transformational leaders on the other hand, venture to make a difference of significant impact. In doing so, they display outstanding skills of innovative thinking, energy and tenacity. Such leaders are courageous to take significant risks – and develop personal charisma. People mostly think that a leader should be transformational – this expectation becomes more pronounced when an organization or a society appears corrupt, chaotic, inefficient and under-productive. Often there arises a confusion about the roles of a manager and a leader – because both belong to the same collaborative club of controlling things in the top hierarchy of governance. The most popular difference cited in literature is: a leader aims to do the right thing; while a manager aims to do things right. Let us attempt to differentiate further: a leader is like an army General – the manager being his or hers Lieutenant. A leader shows the way – a manager follows the guidance working out the details to implement them. A manager is by definition transactional – bureaucratic and technocratic – while a leader is at best when he or she is transformational. As a further note, people think that government bureaucracy is by nature reactive rather than proactive – in particular when it comes down to providing services to people – it is slow in deliberation processes plagued with dilly-dallying and inefficiency. Perhaps another example would be like this: the justice and the law-enforcement system – interpreting and enforcing law cannot afford to be transformational – it is the lawmakers and political executives who are supposed to be so. I have initiated a topic on Engineering Leadership to invoke some discussions among my ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) colleagues (https://collaborate.asce.org). The responses were very interesting. It has come to light that some 25% of all CEOs are in fact engineers. Engineers most often work behind the scene – therefore this comes somewhat as a surprise. But let us not forget – how much leadership prowess must have gone into creating many engineering marvels that we all know and admire. Like me, some other colleagues feel however that engineering students at the degree level need exposure to some liberal arts courses like economics, politics, and social relations – that may prove useful for them to better understand the society they serve – for becoming a leader. Before moving further, perhaps a clarification of some basic understandings may prove helpful. A leader aspiring to earn his or her role requires certain degree of high mental caliber and competence – shall we say in intellect, smartness and cleverness – to enable him or her to rise above and lead the pack.
In addition, the mental caliber associated with intellect, smartness or cleverness is not a given or inherited thing – it may correlate to one’s education somewhat but not necessarily dependent on one’s formal academic degree. The caliber needs continuous cultivation and nourishing energized by motivation to maintain the sharpness – in absence one can succumb back to becoming dull. It can also be argued that any attempt to measure a person’s intellect, smartness or cleverness with a universal stick can be misleading. One reason is that, in this age of specialization, it is impossible for one to have all these mental faculties in every aspect of life, skill or social interactions. In the same vein one can also say that – it is inappropriate to judge mental calibers of peoples of different cultures – for that matter any two individuals by a single measuring stick for the simple reason that each person processes information and judgments differently. There are leaders in every conceivable fields and professions – an organization cannot exist without a leader. But to limit the rest of this piece to a manageable length I would like to focus on four types: political leader, entrepreneurial leader, business leader, and technical or scientific leader. The last two are paid employees, while many of the first two are unpaid pioneers at least at the beginning of their initiatives. The leaders are often equated with money and power – while some may stand on a spring board – others may not go to that level until accumulation of many years of valuable experiences. Here I quote Julius Caesar (100 – 44 BCE): experience is the teacher of all things.
Let us say – all these understandings should lead to something. Shouldn’t they? Umm! Here are my thoughts on the definition of a good leader in five attributes – the HICAP (HI CAPtain).
. . . It was between a boss and a subordinate. Let us name them. The boss is Gamma and the subordinate is Pi. Gamma felt threatened by the smartness of Pi, and was very concerned about his own position and job. He devised a plan and asked Pi to take an assignment to count ships entering into a harbor. He thought that the remoteness of the area and the type of work will kill Pi eventually. To Pi, the implications of his boss’s order never became clear because he was very committed to his work. He took the assignment, and went to counting ships. Pi became very bored with the work, but he was very creative and worked out a plan to make the job more interesting. He started to sort out the ships based on the type, length, cargo, etc. After some time Pi assembled huge amounts of data and developed meaningful graphs and statistics about ships entering and leaving the harbor. After a while, Gamma went to visit Pi to find and enjoy the misery he caused to Pi. But when he met Pi, he not only found Pi in good shape but also in good spirit very eagerly explaining to his boss the transportation behaviors of ships calling the port. Gamma was utterly dumbfounded, but true to his nature denounced the works as useless and garbage . . . I have not heard the concluding part of this story. Similar stories are told by elders to youngsters in every culture – not to inspire leadership per se but to teach the value of hard work, and to expect obstacles on the way – and most of us get moved by such stories. We immediately feel connected to Pi because we identify ourselves in the role of Pi and think that his hard work and commitment deserve more than the treatment he has received from Gamma. The story also lets one feel disgusted by the viciousness of jealousy and abuse of power by a person like Gamma. And there lies another very important aspect of leadership – that a leader endowed with power and privileges should not fall into the temptation of jealousy and abusing power. Once reached to the level of power and money, leaders tend to see things through a different lens – and this together with the continuous flatteries of money-and-power-worshippers (to the extent of elevating a leader to the status of a faultless demi-god) and advantage takers could easily distract a leader from his or her goal. One can always reflect back on experience and history to realize – that intellect and smartness without the sweetness of morality and compassion can turn a brilliant person into a ruthless monster. Perhaps there lie the answers to many of our difficult questions. I feel that this piece will remain incomplete without exploring the mind of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 – 1945) on the confidence defining a good leader: Confidence . . . thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection of unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live. Finally, a line from one of the stone-edicts of the Great Mauryan Emperor Ashoka (304 – 232 BCE) who went through transformation after a bloody war: My intention is that they (the subjects) live without fear of me, that they trust me and that I give them happiness, not sorrow . . . Sounds too benevolent for an ancient ruler? Well – but if one cares about the long term vision for the welfare and progress (both economic and social) of a country, then the necessity of establishing such a trust becomes very apparent. . . . . . - by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 1 December 2017  The title of this piece suggests that mind has the ability to do some works – works in this case refer to the thought processes, speeches or talks, actions and reactions. People talk about peace of mind, greedy mind, angry mind, caring mind, loving mind, etc. In all these cases mind is understood to represent the person with his or her state of mind. Despite such common references, mind has no easily understandable definition.
While I was drafting this piece, my elder daughter sent me a youtube link called The Scientific Power of Meditation. The video helped clarifying some of my thoughts. As one often hears, in biological search neuroscientists try to see mind as the working of brain waves of different frequencies. But in some instances, mind was found to be active in clinically brain-dead people. Further testimony to such findings is evident in the functions of brainless plants – raising questions on how mind functions really – whether or not it is dependent on brain. Since the discovery of JC Bose (1858 – 1937) about plant life – scientists believe that brainless plant life functions like any other life form – in its way of cognitive processes. It is more obvious in the behavior of Mimosa Pudica – the leaves of which sleep when touched – but when repeated with harmless touch – it recognizes the touch as such, without seeing the necessity to go to sleep. It has been observed that brainless organisms like Slime Mold learn and make intelligent decisions – to figure out, for example the optimum network of pathways to find food sources. Bio-electricity is one of the factors attributed to the cognitive processes of plants. Japanese researchers studied such slime behaviors – and the findings have been used, as one of the factors to define the Tokyo traffic network. The 2022 NAP document Physics of Life throws some light on the interlinked processes encompassing the physics and biology of life system. All these indicate that there are many unanswered questions and perhaps the inquiry shows the limitation of and inadequacy in the biological search for understanding the mind. Mind may be powered by brain, but perhaps its mystery is above and beyond the biological and materialistic scrutiny. Or perhaps there is a need for materialistic and philosophical approaches to converge in some fashion. Or, perhaps the papers presented in The National Academy of Sciences publication, In the Light of Evolution Volume VII: the Human Mental Machinery 2014 (DOI 10.17226/18573) represent one such approach. Let us attempt to delve further into the issue of combining the ‘Res Cogitans’ or mind, described as an entity separate from, but in mutual nourishment with ‘Res Extensa’ or matter – the two identified by R Descartes (1596 – 1650) philosophy. The pioneering works of the 20th century modern science – is perhaps the right beginning in that direction (see more in The Quantum World). Max KEL Planck (1858 – 1947), the father of Quantum Mechanics who ushered in – the dawn of modern science – enlightens us by saying that any perception of matter – is the result of a force or energy that exists and originates from consciousness and mind: All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together . . . We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter. Thus mind and matter are not two separate entities – rather, they are part of one whole – that defines everything. In other words - they are the constructs of mind - as in the Gautama Buddha’s (563 – 483 BCE) - The Tathagata saying (Dhammapada, Verses 1 & 2): Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought . . . It is necessary to delve into the mind phenomenon further. What is mind? Perhaps any attempt to answer it directly and simply will amount to no-understanding at all. While talking about mind one can hardly afford to escape the rationality of the teachings of the Buddha more than 2 millennia ago. His teachings – very elaborate and systematic, take one to a very deep level of secular analysis of the mind phenomena. The teachings were compiled (compiled at the First Buddhist Council in 482 BCE at Rajgir) in the Abhidharma Pitaka (collection of higher teachings or philosophical texts) – one of the three Pitakas of the Buddhist Canon. It devotes three elaborate chapters on the mind (or Mano) phenomena. In scientific details they present the processes of mind: the Citta (consciousness); the Cetasikas (the consciousness concomitants or companions of consciousness); and the Vithi (the cognitive processes). This elaboration points to the fact that - while mind is a function of consciousness or the Citta, and the cognitive processes - as described further later, consciousness itself is born out of mind (as the sixth sense), independent of, or together with the five other body senses (the active ones). Knowledge is complete - and reach the level of wisdom when all the senses in the state of calmness - support and complement one another in the processes of developing consciousness. Buddhist method of meditation practices to train and calm one’s mind, to attain the clarity of one’s understanding of things, and to achieve transformation through enlightenment is primarily based on mind analysis. I am neither a Buddhist scholar nor an expert on other religions, yet sometimes answers to difficult questions arising from the complexities of the modern world can be found in ancient wisdoms. Buddhism says that our thought processes, speech or talks, actions and reactions happen through a very systematic process – the process of the Five Aggregates. This process explains the ever changing fluxes of mind and matter – all having different life cycles and strengths. The enumeration of the Five Aggregates is like this: (1) the matter – the elements of solidity (the body skeleton), fluidity (the body liquid and blood), fire or heat (digestive processes), wind (the air one breathes) and the five body or material sense organs – eye, ear, nose, taste and touch; (2) the feeling – collection of information by the five body sense organs and mind; (3) the perception – recognition, identification and filtration of the collected information; (4) the volition – conditioning of the filtered information into opinionated or action mode and; (5) the consciousness – awareness of the object with attributes afforded by perception and volition. Depending on the origin of consciousness, the Abhidamma Pitaka distinguishes four classes: (1) Kama-Loka, those originating in the sense sphere (originating primarily in unwholesomeness); (2) Rupa-Loka, those originating in the fine material sphere (originating primarily in wholesomeness) ; (3) Arupa-Loka, those originating in the immaterial sphere (originating primarily in the sixth-sense); and (4) Lokuttara, those originating in the supramundane level (originating primarily in the sixth-sense sublime, spiritual and intellectual sphere). The consciousness thus acquires the characteristic of fluidity, constantly arising due to different information collected by mind and matter – and depending on the intensity of information, and the processes of perception, volition and consciousness – some die out quickly while others linger on. The survived consciousness is transformed according to the law of Dependent Origination or the universal knot of cause-and-effect – the karmic cycle. Perhaps this is like the multiplicity in Natural waves where the low energy components are dissipated rather quickly while the high energy ones continue to function and get transformed. So in Buddhism mind is seen as part of the consciousness with the boundless capacity to sense objects far and wide in space and time. Aggregation, transformation and consolidation of the individual consciousnesses in time lead to something else. The accumulation and absorption of good something – the conscience or the righteous and compassionate intuition – perhaps lying in our heart – is equivalent to soul in different religions. In most religions except Buddhism, the soul is understood born with the person as an indestructible part of God or gods. In line with the law of Dependent Origination, Buddhism sees the soul – often referred to as Bodhi, Bodhicitta or Buddha-nature – as cumulative and transformative (defined and characterized by the Six: Tranquility, Brightness or Wisdom, Softness or Malleability, Wieldiness, Proficiency and Integrity). Dogen Zenji (1200 – 1253), founder of the Soto School of Zen Buddhism in Japan, the Zazen writes: Therefore, the very impermanency . . . is Buddha nature . . . of men and things, body and mind, is the Buddha nature . . . supreme and complete enlightenment, because it is impermanent, is the Buddha nature. It entails, therefore, that in Buddhism there cannot be any existence of soul – independent of the universal presence of Impermanency and Dependent-origination of things. Perhaps the concept of permanent (in other religions) or transient soul subjected to the laws of Impermanency and Dependent Origination acquires elements that have evolved into the concept of reincarnation in most religions in one form or another, giving rise to the popular myth of ghosts. In the Buddhist definition of rebirth, the transient soul or Bodhi can be reborn in a new person if the karmic seeds happen to sprout into the newborn. The immaterial faculty of consciousness, but that modulates matter, exists not only in human being, but also in other creatures belonging to the advanced hierarchy of evolution. This was observed by none other than Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882). In the Descent of Man (1971), he wrote: Man possesses some of the general instincts, & moral feelings as animals . . . but Man has reasoning powers in excess . . . We know that certain creatures realize long in advance about an incoming Natural disaster such as an earthquake and a volcano, perhaps with their senses responding to certain frequencies. Perhaps our ancient ancestors had attributes of mind and matter sharper than what we have today. It can be argued that simply because of urbanization and dependence on numerous gadgets, human being is susceptible to lose sharpness of some senses in time to come. How best to describe the mind as the sixth sense? Mind like the other body sense organs is powered by brain – yet none of these is entirely the function of brain. One of the simple ways to recognize mind as the sense organ is to realize that the mind objects can be anywhere in space and time – from our past experience to imagination – instantly roaming here and there, although we are not bodily present in those mind objects. Or that our experience of sadness, happiness, or anger etc., all originates in mind. Those senses from the mind objects become part of the feeling to perception to volition and then ultimately to our consciousness. Because of the freedom, mind precedes, and is the most influential ingredient to modulate the processes in the Five Aggregates. This is one of the reasons why Buddhism lays so much emphasis on the mind phenomena. The role of mind becomes clearer if one thinks of having a grasp of it through meditation practices. In the context of training and concentrating mind during meditation, the Buddha said our mind, the Mano – the likeness of clear water is agitated by five hindrances: (1) the romantic and sensuous desire – the likeness of water mixed with manifold colors, (2) the evil will – the likeness of boiling water, (3) the sloth and indolence – the likeness of water covered with mosses, (4) the restlessness – the likeness of agitated water whipped by wind, and (5) the skeptical doubt – the likeness of turbid and muddy water. Of course, there are more hindrances like anxiety, frustration, etc. that agitate our mind in day-to-day living. Like in waters of such attributes one cannot see one’s reflection clearly, so in the presence of one or the other, or combinations thereof, one cannot see and understand oneself. The agitation of the hindrances occurs in different degrees responding to different circumstances; and the clue to calming mind lies in our ability to control or eliminate the agitations. One knows too well that when mind is focused or concentrated on something, high performance occurs. Different martial arts techniques are based on controlling mind and matter in order to achieve synchronicity of their functions. Uncontrolled predominance of the hindrances, or one or the other, could lead to an incapacitated mind or mental illness – a person suffering from delusion and paranoia to utter mindlessness. Therefore in the complex modern world, one should be careful to what information one is exposed to – because while calm mental processes produce amazing good results, a disturbed mind influenced by the hindrances could drag one to evil activities or utter hopelessness. Different religions have different methods of calming mind – traditional Eastern therapeutic practices see any illness as the ailment of closely linked mind and matter; therefore focusing on both to diagnose a problem. One cannot keep mind engaged or focused all the time. No matter how one does not want, mind drifts and becomes victim of the five hindrances. Perhaps this reality has risen to the popular proverb: an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. It is only the calm mind – that requires rigorous meditations to develop – to train it for veering into the Right direction - could minimize the unwanted drifting. A drifting agitated mind exhausts the body and spirit, while a calm mind relaxes and energies them. It is rightly pointed out in the 35th verse of the Dhammapada: Wonderful, indeed, it is to subdue the mind, so difficult to subdue, ever swift, and seizing whatever it desires. A tamed mind brings happiness. The saying - believe it or not - entails something very interesting. That the Buddha saw and described uncertainty more than 2 millennia ago - because, as described earlier - what is matter is inconceivable without mind. We only came to know the scientific reasoning of uncertainty in the 20th century (WK Heisenberg, 1901 - 1976). It is time to delve into the mind phenomena further. The domain of the mind as an energy field – is something different and beyond the understanding of brain waves. The level of this energy and its frequency depending on the health of mind and matter of an individual. The relevance of this suggestion can be understood from experiences like this: when one sees a person endowed with the positive energy of peace and compassion, one is likely to feel safe and connected. The opposite happens when one sees an angry, malicious or hateful person. In each case, the person’s mental energy field affects the observer’s energy in an interactive reciprocal manner before even they come close. This is one of the reasons why the Buddha taught to take ownership of the mind – to control and steer it in the right direction – to turn an unfriendly encounter into a friendly one without violence. This is the only peaceful and practical way to exert an influence upon the object – because the subject is in no position to take ownership of the object’s mind. Further, this saying is one of the reasons – why the practice of witchcraft, and similar other activities are discouraged in Buddhism. Is this concept of mind as the energy field measurable and definable? Perhaps not yet, but some of the metaphysical phenomena like telepathy seem to occur – as a simple manifestation: many experience sadness or happiness before an impending tragedy or successful outcome. If telepathy does occur, why one cannot communicate through it? The answer is perhaps not difficult to imagine. For telepathy to be successful, the energy field must be strong and in right frequencies of the receptors and transmitters. This sounds like rudimentary electronic communication – perhaps it is, but only much more complicated. What is the speed of this mental energy? Since telepathy occurs almost instantaneously, is it not sensible to suggest that mental energy field propagates with the very high speed of an electromagnetic wave? In fact, this is already implied in the Max Planck's mind-matter oneness assertion. In addition, like all energies the immaterial mind also needs food for healthy sustenance. It is not difficult to understand that progressive social interactions, love and compassion reinforced perhaps by meditation practices and beautiful pieces of art and music energizes one’s mind keeping it healthy and calm. A person can best be thought of as a system – containing the visible physical body (Rupakaya), and the invisible body of the mind (Arupakaya). When Wisdom, Loving kindness, Compassion, Joy and Equanimity define the mental energy of the person – he or she becomes bright and radiant. If such positivities are replaced by the negative energy of Ignorance, Conceit, Envy, Hatred and Greed – the curtain of darkness casts in. The power of mind depends on how well one understands it – to remain calm to channel, control and focus it. Who could be a better person than Einstein (1879-1955) to demonstrate it in modern times? Einstein’s ability to control mind to harness its power has led him to conduct mind experiments for exploration of the very difficult horizons of astrophysics – and his breakthrough in the ground-breaking discovery of the Special and General Theories of Relativity. Whether or not one cares about the metaphysics of the mind phenomena, it is prudent to suggest that the quality of life can be profoundly improved – when one functions with the calmness of mind to do the right thing. This is easier said that done, because sometimes hindrances can be very overwhelming for different reasons – and only those who have the ability to overcome them are the strongest in mind and matter, but are also the rarest. Let me finish this piece by exploring the brilliant mind of Dr BR Ambedkar (1891—1956) . . . The greatest thing the Buddha has done is to tell the world that the world cannot be reformed except by the reformation of the mind of man and the mind of the world . . . The religion of Buddha has the capacity to change according to times, a quality which no other religion can claim to have . . . . . - by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 30 August 2017  In the Governance blog on this page, we have identified three basic units of a social structure – Family, Business Organization (BO) and Government. Of these, the last two are closely connected in the two-way processes through lobbying, campaign financing, bailing out and consultation. We will try to examine whether, and to what extent the most cherished democratically elected government institutions can function independent of, and without the BO advice and concurrence – but let us do it at some other time.
The family, people and small businesses, on the other hand, are virtually isolated from the government starting from the day voting is completed. They become blurry faces with only statistical numbers attached to them. People’s only connection with their government is a one-way impersonal process through media news, and sometimes through government press releases and websites. Media? – Let us talk about it at some other time. For now let us try to examine to what extent people’s choices of political executives can function within the constraints of non-elected bureaucracy that surround and overwhelm them with their inner professional knowledge of state affairs. I would like to start this piece with a BBC news that appeared on 12 July 2016: Larry the Cat escapes Downing Street Eviction. It says, Larry the civil servant (image credit: anon) keeps his job to continue controlling the 10 Downing Street mice. The news came when David Cameron, the then British prime minister had to vacate his official residence after defeat in the Brexit vote. David Cameron vacating the residence after the defeat is democracy – and Larry keeping the job no matter what happens is bureaucracy. In fact, Larrys – the civil servants always keep their jobs, in one position or another, in one place or another. Because that is how their jobs are defined and contracted. Politicians come and go, but Larrys stay. In a constitutional monarchy such as Britain, Larrys represent the continuity and stability of the monarchy within the roster of the changing Political Guard every few other years. The privilege of continuity and job description helps Larrys to become the most powerful elites within the inner governing circle. The elected political leaders mostly play the shows that are managed, sometimes even conceived by bureaucrats. Who are these bureaucrats running the government? Well, we know them as government officers or officials. The terms immediately indicate who is the boss and runs the shows. These officers, especially the top ones and the modus operandi of the system belong to the shepherds club. They populate every organization – the larger the organization, the larger is their influence and power – be it in government executive offices, legislature or judiciary, corporations, or world bodies. They are integral part of any governing system – the system has no meaning without them. Government bureaucracy is highly hierarchical and the rules of business pass through several layers before decisions are made. This process makes the government bureaucracy very inefficient, and the term bureaucratic red tape is used to describe it. The Red Tape rules of business can even prevent elected political leaders from meddling in administrative affairs in some sectors and cases – people are told that these are political interferences. One may wonder where democracy begins and where it stops. Similar is the case with the bureaucracies of other organizations. Some say, the bureaucracies of world bodies such as UN, IMF, World Bank, world sport controlling bodies are even worse. In for-profit corporations, bureaucratic decisions are made rather quickly and arbitrarily, but often within shaky intricacies of unaccountability. We can go on and on discussing all different bureaucracies. Let us focus, for simplicity and convenience, on civil administration in the rest of this piece. But before doing so it may help spending a little time on the evolution of the bureaucratic system. Traditionally European monarchies used to select members from aristocratic families and nobility to fill in key government positions. Competence and merit were considered irrelevant, afraid that such requirements would encourage commons entering into the ruling circle. The other reason is that some top positions hardly need very high skills – apart from having the attitude and power of a boss in control, and playing the role of a post-box, communicating up and down. Even in modern times, some top key positions are filled with people from aristocratic background. How do the aristocratic bureaucrats supposed to behave? Well, many are set things that one often hears from the leadership gurus – that you let others feel small and unworthy: To talk about work rather than doing the work, to be in control of things, to have assistants following you to take orders, to wear fancy clothes, to talk about fancy food and drink, to sit at the head of the table, and to be the last to arrive and the first to leave in meetings. Surrounded by servants – arrogance and snobbery are supposed to be their mantra to make them feel entitlement to the best of everything. One may wonder how things could get done with such an attitude. Well . . . that is why the system is very wasteful. In modern times, others are smart enough to understand that some are getting credit for doing hardly anything – and the process of contagious behaviors proliferate, spiraling down the real productivity. Let us get back to have some more glimpses of the bureaucratic evolution. It was the Chinese monarchies that saw the value of merits in governing. They developed an elaborate system of public examinations to select civil servants. Thus Chinese rule were based on meritocracy rather than European system of aristocracy. The Chinese system is like opening the door of aristocracy to the subjects selected on the basis of merit and competence, thus inducting them into the shepherds club. British monarchy came to learn about the Chinese system in the 18th century and began introducing the system in its colonies. But the British Government was unwilling to apply the same system in its own country. The colonial bureaucrats were trained to behave as Her Majesty’s loyal servant: Think like British, act like British and behave like aliens and superiors to the people of your own country. They were isolated from the general masses with hill slope (hill tops reserved for British) quarters that came with servants, chauffeurs and memberships into the elitist exclusive clubs where strategies were conceived and formulated within closed circles. The colonies saw the rise of arrogant corrupt hypocrites controlling every business of the government. The system still dominates the psyche of civil servants of many former colonies inhibiting social progress and uplift. There had been many efforts in several countries to rein in bureaucratic power, but none of them saw the doors to success – instead bureaucrats started pleading for more power. In a traditional bureaucratic career, it was assumed that the new recruits would learn on the job to become a seasoned professional. But a new thinking started with the first opening of the business school in 1819 in Paris. The purpose was to train people to serve administrative and management needs, not only for the government but also for all businesses. About a century later, the real thrust came in 1908 with the opening of the Harvard School of Business offering Master of Business Administration degree. With this and subsequent developments, administrative and management services took a complete new turn by overtaking all other professions in controlling and managing things. How does the power play look like between the elected politicians and the seasoned bureaucrats? Let us have a glimpse of it through the eyes of a comedy series. In the British satirical sitcom, Yes Minister (1980 – 1984) and Yes Prime Minister (1986 – 1988) produced by BBC Television, the power play between the political executives and top bureaucrats was skillfully portrayed. This highly popular sitcom made satirical fun of democratically elected leader’s powers – which in most cases, amounted to nothing more than listening to, and acting according to what the bureaucrats had to say. Bureaucrats even played the role of kingmakers through their skills of manipulating and twisting things in their favor. In fact, political leaders have very little option of handling bureaucrats because they cannot be fired, but can only be transferred to a less import post or position – often known as punishment posting. In the sitcom, the bureaucrat argues very humbly why the key administrative and managerial functions should be left to them . . . the traditional allocation of executive responsibilities has always been so determined as to liberate the ministerial incumbent from the administrative minutiae by devolving the managerial functions to those experience and qualifications have better formed them for the performance of such humble offices, thereby releasing their political overlords for the more onerous duties and profound deliberations which are the inevitable concomitant of their exalted positions . . . What are the onerous duties and profound deliberations? Well, you must have guessed. These are to quarrel and fight with each other, to cut ribbons and take credit, to be in history books, and to keep the journalists busy with rhetoric and insinuations to convince people that democracy really works – and that, it is the people who are in power. The journalists? Well, they dance up and down, analyze and reanalyze every lies and rhetoric they have heard to increase their rating. . . . most of our journalists are so incompetent that they have the gravest difficulty in finding that today is Wednesday . . . That is how making fun of the journalists goes within the bureaucratic circle. But could they avoid it? Well, they probably cannot. Because they are the ones who know the truth, and they cannot help but enjoy the attempts of journalists to thread the puzzles to derive conclusions which may appear utterly nonsense to them. But don’t think that is where things stop, because if the journalist’s story goes against their interests, they will arrange with the editors that the journalist gets punished in one way or another. In fact, Larrys have the luxury of making fun of everybody – because they are the elites close to money and power at its source, and in dissemination – in both upstream and downstream phases. They can take advantage by using the privilege of having access to people’s personal and private information. The privilege of long tenured services makes them and their families stable and rich to think of themselves as god given blessing of aristocracy. How do the bureaucratic structures differ among the countries? In one-party communist countries, party officials themselves are part of the bureaucracy. Among the democracies, perhaps former British colonies have more doses of bureaucracy than others. In terms of development, developed societies seemed to have more streamlined and efficient bureaucracy than the rest. What I have discussed so far, should not give the impression that Larrys are bad and that the elected people are just pawns. It is nothing like that. Some bureaucrats just play their role in an abusing system while others could abuse the systems no matter how reasonable they are. Elected people, for that matter any member of the public could also play a role in an abusive system, or could be the abuser themselves individually. Elected leaders have the difficult job of keeping their commitment to people, but at the same time deal with bureaucratic and other hurdles. Ultimately it is the individual capacities, commitment and competence that determine who fires the shot in the end. Unlike the past aristocratic system, in the modern world power is shared in many layers. I am tempted here to explore some relevant materials from Buddhist scriptures that have listed some 20 difficulties that a person faces in life. In one of them, Gautama Buddha (563 – 483 BCE) - The Tathagata said: It is difficult not to abuse one’s authority. The Buddha did not say it was impossible – but only that it was difficult. Authority accompanies power – and it is easy to get into the temptation of abusing it rather than rising above it. It is difficult also because, as we have tried to see in the Wheel of Life blog on this page, people of authority see the world through the lens of power. Therefore, for them abuse is like entitlement to govern – the suffering of the abused victim hardly cross their mind. The Buddha’s wisdom implies that people entrusted with authority should need to be extra careful not to fall into the temptation of abusing their power. Because of the different colors of lenses, the views of people, bureaucrats, political and industrial leaders are not always likely to converge – interests are different, pursuits are different and choices are different. In the end there must be a convergence however, because it is possible and necessary – but it is possible only when those in authority stand on solid foundations of integrity and commitment to people’s causes. Here is an anecdote to ponder: As the disciple came, the master exploded, “You idiot, why are you here? Go away. Never ever show up here again.” The disciple could not believe what he heard. What did he do to deserve such an angry insult? Had his master gone crazy? He gathered courage, “Sir, are you fine?” The master was trembling with anger, “What are you? You stupid! You have heard me. Don’t show your ugly face again.” The disciple thought for a while and said, “Okay, Sir. I will come back later.” The disciple returned back next day, “Sir?” He waited to see how his master would react. The master smiled, “My dear, I am sorry. I have been deliberately behaving weird to test you. I have wanted to provoke you with violent anger. You have passed with honor. You see, it is only the deaf, dumb and the blind, who would be unable to react to insults and angry outbursts. As I have watched you, on the first insult your face has shown the signs of utter disbelief. On the second insult your face has turned from reactive anger to sadness.” “Oh my gosh! I am so relieved. Thank you Sir.” “It is only human that we act and react with strong emotions like anger, hatred, fear, sadness, joy and love when facing a situation. I am amazed that, like a person of true wisdom, you have reacted but with the ability of controlling yourself. You deserve a reward.” So saying, the master hugged his dear disciple. . . . . . - by Dr. Dilip K. Barua, 25 August 2016 |
RSS Feed
