Why Spiderman is my favorite superhero

There are only a handful number of people in my life who knows that for a very very long time Spiderman has been my favorite superhero of all. The prime reason for that is just how relatable Peter Parker is. The typical shy nerdy guy who has all of his efforts almost neglected, has girl problems, has money problems, is bullied at school, overburdened with responsibility - All of this and still he is good at heart - very admirable personality. In this post I will catalogue all the things about him which I have noticed in his films which makes him my favorite hero out there.

1) He is highly intelligent-

    In every movie, he is shown as the high school genius, probably the best in his town. At a very young age, he has a knack at science being geeky and does really amazing things -

                                        

As time and again he has revealed that science is his true passion and that it always drives him forward. Apart from that, strategic planning wise, he is really cool too. He does not have an iron armor or impenetrable skin so he has to dodge bullets, heavy attacks from his enemies and always have to think up couple of moves ahead to beat them up. That is probably shown the best in Tom Holland's movies where he uses movie references to beat bad guys up.

In a nutshell, he performs really well at school, has a high IQ and a great passion for science.

2) He is a loser-

  This one is quite obvious. A typical nerdy guy with low social skills, cannot pay his rent, everybody bullies him, makes fun of him and is constantly reminded of that he ain't worth nothing. Frankly speaking it requires an iron heart just to go through life while facing just this but our kickass spiderman faces this and much much more and still inspires a lot of us.

3) Willpower -

     He barely manages to juggle between his already pathetic personal life where he runs late for everything, cant confess to his love of life, - and the superhero life which leaves him exhausted but he still gets up every morning doing basically the same thing over and over. He watches his alter-ego Spiderman being constantly traduced by the very newspaper he works in. He cannot let anybody come close to him because of the danger of what will happen once his identity is revealed despite of wanting to have a life with them. I mean man, he has god level willpower.

4) His relationship with Gwen Stacy-

    Okay, this is a big one. This HUGE story arc is portrayed in the Amazing Spiderman series. Here's the thing. He is really into Gwen but owing to his awkward and introvert nature is unable to talk to her. Through luck though he finally gets to date her but guess what her father is a policeman who hates Spiderman. Add to that, when he finally knows about Peter, he asks him to promise that he will stay away from his daughter because the sheer danger Peter brings with him to his near ones. DESPITE all the struggles he went through to make her his girlfriend, he KEEPS the promise even though Gwen desperately wants to be with him (since she also knows that he is spiderman) and stays away from her.

That really shows his character- of how much caring and ethical he is. But here comes the tragedy, After some time Gwen manages to convince him back to her life only ultimately leading to her father's predictions coming true. She gets kidnapped and gets KILLED in front of Spiderman. This was ultimately Peter's responsibility. Imagine this, first because of him his dear uncle died (killed by the thief Spiderman let go once) and now Gwen dies too because of him. Obviously, he gets shattered and quits being Spiderman. He is emotionally destroyed.

                             

 BUT all it takes is one recorded speech about hope from her for him to come back to business because ultimately he has a responsibility to fullfill. In comics, he was able to fully recover once MJ comes into his life (The comic book MJ is this happy go jolly extroverted girl who secretly knew all along that Peter was Spiderman and was interested in him since even before Peter was with Gwen).

5) He sacrifices his personal life for his duty-

Time and again, Peter faces hard choices whether to go on a date with his love interest or to saving a mob. And he always chooses the latter, every single time. Yes there were times when he was just fed up with his role and wanted a simple life (Far from home) yet ultimately he returned to his job sacrificing all of it. Though at this point, it can be argued that this trait is not unique to Spiderman alone and many other superheroes does that. Take for instance, Batman. He, instead of enjoying pleasures of a billionaire chooses to correct whats wrong in his city. BUT there is one major difference between Batman and Spiderman. It is that Batman is highly obsessive about his role as a caped crusader. He desperately wants  to be Batman and not some complaisant or a player or something. He begs for monitor duty during Christmas vacations in Justice League (animation), he never uses his money much on himself, he risks his life again and again without thinking even for a split second simply because he has made fighting crimes his ultimate life goal(I also relate heavily with this particular trait of Batman. There are things in my life I go all out working towards it without caring about myself. I will talk about them later).

THAT, is not the case with Spiderman however. He is just a teenager. He have his desires, attractions. He wants to enjoy his life, he wants to come in spotlight but he cannot and he chooses that way himself and constantly let go of his personal life for his duty because -

                           

You obviously know the quote here, right?

6) He is just a teenager-

Isnt't it amazing... such maturity, such sense of justice, such willingness to stick to his responsibility when his heart is dangling somewhere else, such genuine care for others, such ability to pick himself despite going through serious tragedies in life - all of this while being just a teenager. That's one of the single best reason why young audiences love him so much and are able to relate with him. Also he gets to fight some really evil villains. Take Green Goblin, Kingpin, Venom. They are pretty dark characters- too much for a teenager.

In fact, it is just ironical that a dull loser guy like Peter Parker gets to embark such twisty roller coaster of a life. It is a triumphant feel that connects with many millenials who are not able to do much in their lives as a representative analogous to, "Ohh well take THAT!" He is not a loser after all, his fucked up life actually adds to his greatness and we are nothing but truly happy that such an average joe like Peter gets to do this-

7) His sense of humor-

  He cracks up really funny jokes many times! Against his introverted weak aura, whenever he is in the Spiderman suit he becomes this self-confident funny cool guy who everyone loves to hang out with. He lets out this side of his personality while wearing the suit which is actually amazing.


So that's the end of it! Things which makes Spiderman someone I truly look upto and admire. As a final give away I have collected some really cool Spiderman wallpapers which I am going to share here - (Guess which one is mine currently :)) Enjoy!

Wallpapers link

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"Keep trying" - but how much?

"Try try but never cry" , "great things happen to them who don't give up trying" , "nothing is over until you stop trying"...

You must have heard these lines and similar all over the internet. They are the de facto standard for the so called generation of  "motivational quotes" and they deserve to be. In fact, to keep trying is a very usual solution when things don't happen your way. When nothing seems to be working even when you tried your best. When you get disheartened or feel stuck. Determined people keep trying here and some of them succeed. The rest wonders whether its the time to give up or try harder the next time.

There are endless accounts of leaders, successful businessmen sharing how their journey was filled with failures. When they kept trying even when everybody thought they should give up or its probably not worth it. Steve jobs here nails it while explaining rule for success. He argues that you really need to love what you are doing to make yourself motivated enough to keep going when it gets really tough because it does get tough enough for any rational person to give up.

Sylvestor Stallone's script for Rocky (which he wrote for 20 hours straight) was rejected 1500 times. Then he received offers up to $325,000 which he turned down because he was not allowed to act in it. He finally agreed on with $35,000 offer which allowed him to act. The rest is history. Another example is of Walt Disney. He was fired from the newspaper he worked for "not being creative enough". His company experienced bankruptcy in initial stages.

And there are many more. Many of the successful leaders were judged for being incapable. Many of them failed, multiple times. But what really kept them going? How to decide whether you will be one of them?

The answer, in my opinion, to both the questions is same and that is belief. The underlying difference in the psychological construct of the one who is eventually going to succeed and the one who is not, is the belief to win. Solid, bulletproof belief  and the ultimate sense of urgency. Either this or nothing. When you don't want to do anything else and you believe in what ever you are doing, you will end up keep trying until you succeed. This is a time tested framework with endless number of examples. Problem arises when people confuse it with something which is not. And that is sisyphean.

In the zealous but disarrayed state of anxiously trying to put efforts, we probably waste a lot of time and energy and consequently destroy the quality of life in a false hope of actually trying to improve it. The efforts you started to improve your life can become potential cause for misery, not only to you but also to the people around you. Why are you working so hard? For whom are you working? Are you even clear what you will get if you succeed? Why are you punishing yourself when you can simply take a break and relax for a while?

When things are not working your way for way too much time, relax. Take your time to have a neutral perspective. If somebody else is going through the same situation, what advice would you give to him? Sometimes we care too much about something which may not be worthy enough. At that time, if we shift our focus away for a little while, it may help a lot to rationally make a decision and figure out something else which may be even more amazing.

The thing is apart from the hard work you should know the right work. Nothing happens if you are pushing the wall by bare hands. Life does not give a damn about how hard are you working, it gives you results only when you are doing the right thing. And figuring out the right thing has a lot to do with intuition. Again, intuition is not completely in your hand, it is just what you receive without doind anything. Instinct and intuition are easily confused. Instinct is a hardwired body response. Something which comes due to your experience and practice is an instinct. For example, when an experienced footballer decides to kick the ball in a certain direction, it is due to his continuous practice that his body is able to decide the best course for positive outcome. Intuition taps in to completely unknown. It is a logical leap, there is nothing in between, no experience to derive your rationale from. Once you truly understand this, the ability to make decisions become better.


Of course, I am not talking about not considering anything seriously. Chasing a challenging a goal is sure a very rich and learning experience. My goal is to be motivating enough for those who seriously want to keep trying but at the same time to ask for those who are not so conscious about their desire towards a goal. Those people spend way too much time and mental energy towards something which may well be beyond their reach(and it is OKAY if it is so). What we need, to truly enjoy our life is something which keeps us engaging enough but also which matches our abilities and desires.

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What is the most valuable advice you can give in life?

Once upon time a man was suffering from existential crisis from long time. He did not find his materialistic life worth living. Day by day his frustration increased and one day he decided to leave everything and go out for a spiritual training under a  perfect master. Leaving his job, wife, family and everything else, he packed two pairs of clothes and some food and set off on the journey. He was a very ruthless person and he wouldn't settle for any saint. He decided he will find a perfect master in the world for himself and then ask him the questions. Only the best and not anything less than that.

He first went to Chicago, there he asked local people who is the most perfect master in the world. People directed him to a famous and reputed church priest. He went there and asked him questions. The priest asked him to stay at his residence, follow a priestly life before answering the questions one by one. The man stayed there and  everyday on instructions he used to sing songs in God's glory. At the end of the prayer sessions, he used to ask the priest his own questions and to every question the priest used to simply read a passage from Bible which he seemed relevant. This did not satisfy the man at all and he left the place.

Then he went to Saudi. There also he searched for the most perfect master and he was sent to a wise Sufi saint. The locals first attempted to answer his questions but he refused to listen saying that he will only receive answers from a perfect master. He went to the place of residence of the saint.There every time he asked a question, the saint will simply start to say stories for the praise of the Lord and suggested him to do the same. He said the God will help to find the answers from himself. He tried that for many days. After everything he did, he had to say words of praises for God in hope to get some answers. One month passed without any answers and he got frustrated. He then asked the Sufi why are there still not answers to which the saint started to again tell stories in praise for God. Furious at this, he left the place.

Then again in search of a perfect master, he went to Japan. There he met a master who told him to learn deep concentration which according to him was the best spiritual life. The man agreed but for every small mistake the master used to beat him a lot. If he was late in bringing food for even a minute or if he disturbed his concentration even for a bit, the master used to beat him a lot. He could not tolerate this and after few days he ran away from the place.

Then, he came to India. There in search of the perfect master he came to a rishi who used to always meditate. He appeared wise, gentle and didn't ask to do any religious tasks as well. He decided to stay there hoping that he have found the perfect master. He asked one day "Guruji what is life?"

The rishi opened his eyes and said, "Life is like a beautiful flower." The man again asked, "But a Christian priest once told me that life is like a thorn!" to which the rishi replied, "Well, it must be his life!"

The man got amused at this and he wanted to ask more but the saint went back to meditation. The man used to cook food, clean the house for weeks but he got very little time to ask the questions as the saint was always meditating and whenever he used to ask, the saint will reply with just a one-liner like above and go back to meditation. This did not satisfy him so he decided to leave the place.

Then, he went to Tibet. There he said to the people that he have travelled across the world in search of a perfect master but could not find any. There also he went to several monasteries but none of them satisfied him because there the monks already had many disciples and they remained busy. There a monk suggested him to visit this one particular monk who lives in solace and do not have any disciple. They told him that he is the wisest among all of them, too gentle and also remains completely free because he haven't had any disciple for years!

He ran towards the place. This time he thought he have found it. The most perfect master of the world. He didn't eat or drink anything for 2 days straight travel. He finally arrived at the place and saw the monk sitting in silence. He asked one question to which the monk answered brilliantly in complete detail filled with logic. It was the best answer till now for the question.The man got heavily impressed and asked the monk to accept him as a disciple to which the monk refused. The man fell on the floor,

"O monk! I have traveled the entire world in great frustration only to find a perfect master for myself. I have gone through great pains and effort and when I have finally found you, you are going to refuse?"

"Yes, because", the monk replied, "I only accept perfect disciples!"


This is the most valuable advice. Never look for perfection. The man couldn't find any master because he was looking for a perfect master and that Tibetan monk couldn't find any disciple because he was looking for a perfect disciple. Life is beautiful in its own imperfection, don't compromise it in the context of logic or intellect. Nobody is perfect but the thing is, it is not required at all!

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Walk away: Importance of self respect

There comes from time to time certain toxic people who let you down far low in your own conscience and breaks you down from within. If you have had spent many nights sleepless feeling utter guilt, hatred, disgust over an activity of a single person who most probably doesn't even remember it, then you know what I am talking about. Self respect is a very crucial tool for surviving in this busy world but sometimes it falls apart when you are attached too much with a person who mostly is somebody skillful at the art of exploiting you. Sometimes, the person can be genuine too, maybe its just that you two don't get along well. Whatever may be the reason, its time you should just seriously think about your friendship rather than obsessing over few incidents which seem to you far more disturbing that it really is. Because overthinking it can hamper your confidence in living your life.

I believe that confidence and happiness are intrinsically connected. The happier you are, the more confident you feel and the more confident you are, the happier you become. So, anybody or anything which puts down your self confidence should be scrutinized heavily. There is no harm in expecting someone you are close with to respect you especially when you don't miss out on giving it. Silently going through embarrassing insults or mean statements or deliberate negligence  continuously for long serves you no good. And the worst part that most of the times, after going through all of it for so long can fade out the confidence inside you to pick yourself up and walk away!


"Toxic" people can be anyone from your online friend to your long term project partner who is utter slacker with no sense of shame to someone you consider "close friend". You realize that now you don't need anymore "sorries" and that hurting you has become a frequent occurrence of him whether knowingly or unknowingly. If you are trying to change him, you should realize that maybe you are fighting with his very quality. Just because he/she can go along well with somebody else, doesn't mean that can happen with you as well. Everybody is unique, they have their own frequencies which may or may not be compatible and its OKAY if it is not. You don't have to be such a saintly person from whom everybody gets impressed and for the record even saints are hated at!

It should be noted that I am not talking about small misunderstandings which are a regular affair in most relationships. There is nothing wrong with them and most of the times, they even act as a way to understand each other better. But they get sort out quickly and are never repeated. Instead, I am talking about someone you probably have already guessed due to whom you have suffered for long enough that it is time where you don't need anymore drama. Its the highest point of annoyance when you no longer feel anger or hatred towards the person, you just want him/her to disappear as if he was never there. You don't want to harm him physically or emotionally, you just want separation.

When it happens, the ideal response is something very very few are capable of, and that is to start cutting off that person gradually and gracefully and filling the space with some other friend while simultaneously behaving perfectly normal and thus avoiding unnecessary drama of "sorry" or rants. No more eyes are wet, no more nights are sleepless, no inbox is filled, the transition is smooth, the friendship falls apart. All by itself. If you have suffered for too long and with too much intensity, may be you cannot do this. Then, the second option and I urge you to do it is- Walk away.

It's true that whenever we talk about any "person" as such, it is not the entire being himself, but the ideas or concepts we make about them in our head, the recollection of memories of us together and we MAY make a mistake in perceiving others and it is still OKAY if that's the case. We cannot and should not be a perfect human being, we have to be just somebody who cares about oneself and seeks little more happiness than what is currently, after all that's what life is about, isn't it? So why bother bearing the burden, why bother trying to know whether you are right or wrong? Simply suck it and Walk away!

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Brahmacharya

Brahmacharya is a very interesting concept but also a dry one. At least in initial stages it feels dry, but later on I don't know what exactly happens. But still it is interesting, you really get transformed bit by bit by practicing Brahmacharya, self control, it obviously helps rising above you body. It has a clear logic and it works too.

Most people are misinformed about the meaning of Brahmacharya. It is commonly thought to be celibacy. It is not celibacy, in fact celibacy has nothing to do with Brahmacharya. But let's first see what this Sanskrit word mean-

"Brahma" means the Supreme reality, God, or your true self and "charya" means proceeding with. Typically it suggests a virtuous life in line with God. You think what an ideal life would be and you live like that. An attempt to lead a perfect life, a God-like life, rising above your body and mind and continuously being with your true self or soul whatever you call it. A life which will make you understand God, will help you seek God. You cannot seek God if you are stuck with fullfilling the needs of your mind and body. It does not mean you completely ignore them, just that they are not priority. Earning wealth is not a priority, sensual pleasures are not priority, with heart completely focused on God. "To dedicate yourself with Brahma". That is why you see most "Brahmacharis" becoming Sannyasins, becoming swamis. You cannot remain focused completely if you are leading a social life, at one point you have to give it in the world. Tension will come, worries will come. Also you would be forced to commit small crimes which your soul doesn't absolutely allow. Since now you are a brahmachari you cannot ignore you voice, you have to live. That's why people ought to move away from the society, because it is a huge buzz, you cannot remain focused. Once in a while you will be definitely dragged down, you cannot commit yourself fully. Though it does not mean normal people like us cannot practice Brahmacharya. We can and in fact we should.

Now, first to understand what it is, we see what it is not. It is not celibacy. It was meant to rise above your body. It was to unify with your own true self, rising above the physical desires. But people misunderstood it to be celibacy. Because they have long tried to supress sex. We all know that the desire of sex is prominent in mankind and since we have tried to suppress it forcefully, it has risen to our minds. Now it is a very dangerous thing, if a desire rises up in the mind. If you have a desire to earn money it is a different thing. But if all your energies are spent solely to earn money, if your entire mental passion is money, then it is a problem and this is the rule for everything, including sex. Suppressing sex brings nothing. Suppressing anything brings nothing, because it is in its nature to rise back again. The more you suppress, the greater is the force with which it comes back. Now the entire mind is involved into thinking how to avoid it and it is just as good as the mind who lies lowly in desires. It is one and the same thing- both minds carry the same concept, polarity does not matter. Mind is obsessed about the same thing, It cannot rise above body, it cannot be in meditation. Now, since due to long suppression of sex by religious people, it has entered in to the mind and now everything is seen from the perspective of sex. When brahmacharya was said to be avoiding physical pleasures, people understood it to be avoiding sex. It is because their thinking is so sex polarised, everything "physical" meant sex.

Brahmacharya meant renouncing physical pleasures including sex. But if keep struggling with suppressing your desires, it does not bring anything. You become a battleground, for the ones who have not gone beyond, fighting with their own nature is senseless, but this madness in the name of religion continues. Brahamcharya has a meaning only when you transcend the desires, if you are good at suppressing it means nothing. You should be such that feeling should never arise, that's true practice. Keep suppressing all through the life brings madness only. Celibacy can bring madness but a normal sex life can never bring madness.

In India, people also consider brahmacharya as remaining unmarried. This is also wrong. Brahmacharya typically means celibacy till marriage and fiedlity after marriage. It is not necessary that a person practicing brahamacharya will not marry. The mechanical characteristic of your life means nothing. Whether you are married, or unmarried it means nothing, What resides in your heart is the one which matters. You may be a celibate monk but if you are not able to transcend it, it brings nothing. J Krishnamurti once said, "You want to know what my secret is? I don' care whatever happens". If you rise above your world, the desires will automatically dissolve. It happens naturally, celibacy will immediately follow, you will realize there is no need, it's all illusion. It does not mean denying sex, it means transcending sex, transcending every physical desires including sex.

Brahmacharya was one of the yamas of the Yoga Sutras. Self restraint is very important for spiritual progress. I realize this as completely true. Materialistic mind worries about the connection between this peculiarity, but there is indeed a connection. Only if you stop spending your energy towards wavering desires in a continuous loop, you have to give up on some task. Then your mind will automatically work towards its own nature, its own liberation. Only when you rise above it, you can cross it. While remaining in a ditch and looking upwards the sky won't make you reach there. Sky won't even take out a finger to lift you up, you only have to rise and it takes immense courage. It takes immense courage to deny your natural pleasures. It is simply heroic. This is why saints are highly revered, because the respect given to them on the basis of their renunciation is deserving.

Yamas and Niyamas are the complementary guidelines in the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali. Now, everybody must have known about the Baba Ramdev brand but nobody knows the real historical man- Patanjali and it will be a sin to write anymore without mentioning him. Now, Patanjali has been one of the most important figures in the history of mankind and not just Hinduism. Patanjali was a man of huge intellect. It is said that just how Einstein is for science, Patanjali is for Yoga. He is the father of modern Yoga, almost everything we know about Yoga today is due to the work this man did to revive Yoga for the mankind. His writing in Yoga Sutras is simply blunt. You see the title, it is "...And Now Yoga". Just simply put. We have been doing this and that and then we realized all are nonsense and then we decide for Yoga, hence the title. The thought is directly written and everything in it is written by purely step wise method. It looks like a science textbook. He was the most scientific person in Hinduism. He brought the religion to the level of science. He used intellect for the spiritual path and has used it so cunningly that no word of appreciation is enough. If you follow him, you simply get the results. He says in his Sutras that practicing Brahmacharya brings immense courage. You realize you are the consciousness which is universally present. And this brings a fearless life. Lack of courage and fear only comes through fear from mind, if you rise above it there is no fear. Bringing inner peace is a different and higher thing, it comes later but getting courage through this is spontaneous and throbbing.

Initially, brahamcharya brings very strange feeling. In fact every spiritual practice brings strange feeling initially. Your all preconceived notions fall apart, all what you have thought about the world, when you really see it through attention, it seems all different. All the answers are now useless, all theories,all theology, all philosophy falls apart and it creates a void and it is confusing. It does not bring satisfaction to its fullest. Because now what you have gathered since centuries is of no use suddenly and the void in life is impactful, you know that you are moving in a correct path but you feel something missing. Because we had imagined life to be something else so it takes time to adjust.

Brahmacharya involves conscious tasks. Whether you do it or not, it does not matter. What matters is whether you let it to disturb or not. If you are involved in the act, then it means your are simply in the ditch. The whole concept of tantric sex is to be conscious about it. To make realize that you are even above the pleasure. You are not receiving pleasure, it is a body need and it almost vanishes when you become old. Just how we feel kids as running behind toys, old people see youngsters as kids running behind these desires. You realize its all a matter of few time only. Just rising above is true practice. If you see the history of Hindu mythology, you will find sex all over it. It may mean two things, one is that they were having a open and natural attitude towards it or they had minds which had long suppressed sex. Now if brahmacharya was an ideal life and if it meant celibacy then what about the Gods involved in the sexual activity? Almost all gods are married and have kids. And then there is a guy known as Hanuman. He is widely known as a brahmachari. Even in some of his temples, women are discouraged to be entered or touching him. It is just uncontrollably amusing that they fear their God will get "dirty" if women enters there. That the chastity will be lost. I simply cannot stop laughing at this. He is a brahamachari since long time, he is supposed to be unaffected by ladies. And people don't allow women to go near him. This is the proof that man construct his god according to his own nature. Because man also fears women because he cannot control his desires and his constant religious conditioning that sex is bad, he is in a tussle. So he believes that Hanuman must also be in a tussle. Just like how a man may induce desires if a woman comes near him, he thinks Hanuman must also have same problem and that he will get angry.

 Forced celibacy to me does not make any sense. It does not make any sense to me that a God will make us like this and then without informing expects us to work our way out though it. If such is so, then he is a tyrant. It is funny how people just convert a character to suit their own understanding and purposes and builds their lifestyle around that concept. Hanuman's life can be huge ideal. How his devotion was, his bravery, focus and strength. He is also shown meditating, but nobody will meditate. They only want to pray.

                                           

And all other Hindu Gods are sexual too. All have kids. Now how is this explained? And how can one even explain Krishna? It is impossible for them. That's why now gods are worshiped in a limited way. Gods have been limited to have been doing only what suits the society. Surdas will write brilliant poems on the child Krishna but the adult Krishna is dangerous. He unites with numerous ladies.So Surdas does not go there, his Krishna is only a kid, he never grows up. Because nobody got the message. Krishna's message was to fully accept life as it is. To accept every aspect of it. Even when he knows this is all illusion he says in Geeta that he does his task religiously. He says that he knows the future but still actively involved in the present. People only understood that he knew the future hence he must be God, but they never understand the message why he is living in the present? Why is he performing his duties? Why is he even bound by duties? That's the recipe for his glory. Even while being a god he choses to so human like but in fact being a complete human. Almost one thousand interpretations of Geeta is written. Scholars have endlessly criticized, praised and what not, still we are not able to understand the man. That's how mysterious he is.

That's why Patanjali did not write Yoga Sutras in poetic form or in a literary form. Because then scholars must have jumped in, they would have twisted it. So, he wrote in a complete lucid manner and in a absolutely blunt way with almost no literary qualities. Usually we think, he did not know the art, but actually he was a master in it. Otherwise he would not have thought upto this level. He is symbolically depicted in the famous half-man, half-snake form indicating that he has risen above the duality of life and attained to ultimate oneness, and in doing so, has opened the door for others to achieve the same. Half of his body has been symbolically made into snake, because he is not seen as a person anymore.

                                                

In Yogic system and Jains, sex is not viewed as bad or sin, Brahamacharya is in fact practiced to preserve your sexual energies. The semen is said to be present in subtle form all over the body and it is very instrumental for the spiritual realization. That's why Brahmacharya is held as a supreme virtue. Lord Shiva also actively advocates Brahmacharya. Now, Shiva is a very interesting God. He is always shown meditating. Numerous stories about him is written, his accounts of long stay in Samadhi. Now here lies a question, he is a Supreme God, Vishnu, Brahma and all other myths worship him but he still meditates. He is the ultimate destroyer and still he is in constant focus state. Upon him does he meditate? This is a radical question, and the answer to it I say will bring revolution in Hinduism. Shiva being a Supreme Lord, all other worship him but still he meditates. For what?

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Carl Sagan

I would not hesitate to say that he is one of the most spiritual and loving person I have ever seen. Yes, a scientist can be a spiritual person and be proud of it because his understanding about spirituality is neither narrow-minded nor any less than extremely profound depth. He was a man who will have your feel deep reverence and humongous respect.

For those who don't know him, he was an American astronomer, astrophysicist,a professor at Cornell, a science popularizer and an author. He was a founding member of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (formerly known as CSICOP - the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal). He has written hundreds of research papers and his work in astronomy is of very important significance. He initiated one of the most famous skeptical principles, "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". And how can we forget Cosmos? His brilliant way of communication, soul-soothing voice and deeply humble nature, his sheer dedication towards work, his scientific understanding and inquisitiveness about nature makes him a complete package. There have been many brilliant scientists till now but very few touch the hearts of people- Carl Sagan is one of them and probably among the top of them.

His quotes are a fresh reading, very intriguing, profoundly written showcasing his exceptional skills. I am absolutely sure that a single article will never do justice to describe a man for whom the appreciation surpasses all the limits of English vocabulary. He time and again reminded us about the scarily large nature of our Universe but with added wisdom. He taught us to be a skeptic without losing wonder for the "vast and deeply humbling" Universe. I absolutely love this man and his smile.

If you want to know him, read this exceptional piece from him. When Voyager 1 spacecraft left from the planet to explore the solar system, engineers on Sagan's suggestion made it to turn back at take a photo of Earth and they got this-

 The absolute tiny dot is Earth. You probably need to look at it again to determine it. Now this surely can be a devastating picture completely redefining what we know about ourselves. It was the first time, somebody took a picture of the planet from this far. At this frightening picture Sagan wrote in his book Pale blue dot-

“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.” 

Please please listen to this historic piece with added charisma of his voice as well!

Pale Blue dot

• Here is Carl Sagan taking on religion!

“How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant?” Instead they say, “No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.” A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths.”

• And Carl Sagan taking back on a very widely prejudiced thought about scientists being "dry" because they try to break things too much- 

“It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it not stirring to understand how the world actually works — that white light is made of colors, that color is the way we perceive the wavelengths of light, that transparent air reflects light, that in so doing it discriminates among the waves, and that the sky is blue for the same reason that the sunset is red? It does no harm to the romance of the sunset to know a little bit about it.” 

• An excerpt taken from his one of the many essays-

There is a wide yawning black infinity. In every direction the extension is endless, the sensation of depth is overwhelming. And the darkness is immortal. Where light exists, it is pure, blazing, fierce; but light exists almost nowhere, and the blackness itself is also pure and blazing and fierce. But most of all, there is very nearly nothing in the dark; except for little bits here and there, often associated with the light, this infinite receptacle is empty.
This picture is strangely frightening. It should be familiar. It is our universe.
Even these stars, which seem so numerous, are, as sand, as dust, or less than dust, in the enormity of the space in which there is nothing. Nothing! We are not without empathetic terror when we open Pascal’s Pensées and read, “I am the great silent spaces between worlds.”

• He was a noted skeptic. After an unbiased study, he concluded that there is not enough evidence about any alien activity on Earth, but still for the trash people are- 

• And now it is time to look back at the pale blue dot quote- 

“Ann Druyan suggests an experiment: Look back again at the pale blue dot of the preceding chapter. Take a good long look at it. Stare at the dot for any length of time and then try to convince yourself that God created the whole Universe for one of the 10 million or so species of life that inhabit that speck of dust. Now take it a step further: Imagine that everything was made just for a single shade of that species, or gender, or ethnic or religious subdivision. If this doesn’t strike you as unlikely, pick another dot. Imagine it to be inhabited by a different form of intelligent life. They, too, cherish the notion of a God who has created everything for their benefit. How seriously do you take their claim?” 

• He was a very beautiful thought generator.

• Wish people understand this simple yet insightful message!

• Well that's "true"!

• Cosmic chemistry mixed with spiritual wisdom! My personal favourite

On religious terrorism and the importance of human

• This one shows his humble nature hammering the rude skeptics!

• And this is touching

Care for humanity!

• And what to say anything else for this than simply amazing?!

• With added benefits of well- refraining from pseudoscience, bad science, non-science and nonsense!

Here is a video of him describing astrology as bunk or bogus- His voice is simply touching!

Carl Sagan on astrology

He was indeed a great person, a reformer, brilliant scientist, a noted skeptic and a celebrity. His work for his students, the revolutionary Cosmos series and his amazing books will always be remembered. He is one of the most famous guardian of real science with deep insight and wisdom. 

This post is a second person-specific post. I have earlier written a similar style post for a brilliant philosopher Epicurus. Do check it out.

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You are because of Love

We exist because of love. It's not that we exist and then love, it's actually the reverse case. Love made us. What we call "love" in our general language is simply a puny expression of the true love, simply to progress the breeding, to progress through evolution. Love is the driver of our race, it is the driver of our existence. We all are simply but expressions of that love, and this individual expressions(us) express a reduced and disguised form of that love to others. This is artificial love.

The "attraction" or lust of this artificial love is a bodily concept. It is man-made and the love which I am talking about has nothing to do with it. My argument is for the completely unconditional love, which connect us, which makes us see the essence of beings. When you are in a conversation, you or your consciousness instantly get connected to the essence, to the flavor of the conversation. All who are deeply shared is united through a conscious experience. Whenever you listen to music, have it been occurred that you become the music? There is no listener of it, there is no music which is being listened to, just one existence- the music itself. There is no subject-object split, only One. The listener disappears, you just enter in to music- you become music. You forget your "self" and unite with it. This is the true love. Which does not lure for any physical pleasures. Instead, it lures for unification. It has attraction, but that attraction is not lust, the attraction is not for physical pleasures, it is simply for unification.To become One. Similarly, if you are involved with coding, if you are involved with may be sports of any passion, which you are attracted to unconditionally, it is love. You unite with it. You don't need any extra pleasure from it. Just the very act itself is bliss.  If, you are an expert at it, if you do it extremely well, it has been scientifically defined as "flow", in sports it is famous as "zone". There is no distinct selves. They are only separated physically, but in experience they are one. You may not do it that well so as to get into the "flow" or "zone", but if you do it unconditionally, you disappear and only the unification exists, there is no extra pleasure required. Unification is the only pleasure in itself in the case of true love. And this same love is what exactly have created us.

Christians are right. God is love. He is all perfect being, beyond comprehension, beyond understanding, He does not not lie within understanding, He is not bound by limits and He cannot be described by any words. He is all contained and is all perfect, He does not need anything or anybody. But He wants you because He loves you. Such is His love that He does not need you but still want you. The rest of the passages in the Bible are simply non-sensical and at least barbarous, but this is extremely profound.

This love is the most natural thing we possess. Men inherently is good, it is the evil which is secondary. We, in the purest essence are love. It is different from, how we describe it in real life like "I love her" or "I love him". It is slightly different experience. You are love which means it is completely unconditional. It is spiritual.

Spirituality is just peeping inside yourself. The thoughts are the cover of mind, when you stop them you dive deeper and deeper.You outer self which you show to others or live thinking it as "self" is simply a cover, it is just a reflection of you which is visible to the surroundings. But your inner life is actually the reflection of your surroundings to your heart. Once you turn your eyes towards this mirror, everything which your mortal eyes perceive automatically becomes crystal clear. And when it is completely done, you find there is nobody. You start by seeking yourself, but in reality there is no self. Neither the finder is found, nor is what was to be sought is found. It is One. This is the point where Adi Shakara comes with his work on Advaita. The whole existence is One, and the actions being done are for unification driven by love. It is the true love.

In several religions, love is considered as "impure", it is not love which is impure, it is their mind which is. Males having higher dominance earlier built religion around themselves considering females as secondary, a weaker section or at very worst "doors to hell". It was because they did not know true love. They did not even like to touch women, see women. They try to be as far as possible, If you don't have any urges, why do you run away from women? Women is passive, you are active. You are not running away from women, you are running from yourself. It is stupidity. And these stupid people get acclaimed because the general public is also entangled in the artificial love, hence they considered these "saints" as very special, because to them "renouncing" love is a heroic task, a task which is very difficult hence deserved applauds when committed.

 But real spiritual leaders always emphasized on love. This is where Sufism gets it right. Sufis, Mystics have repeatedly preached free love. A love which is pure, unconditional, not directional but universal, not bound but limitless. Spirituality is seeing what is naturally present inside us, beyond human concepts of thoughts, emotions,etc. And if you go on to silent your mind and go on to dive deeper and deeper, you will find One which is Love. Love which created us.

By the way, in scientific world, there is a consensus that gravity created the Universe. And gravity means "attraction".

Ohh!


(Article compiled over ideas of Osho)

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The Pseudo scientific Hinduism

Few friends of mine raised an objection towards my criticism of Islam, and not being equally fair for Christianity or well my own religion- Hinduism. Some even started sharing me the "islam love" photos that how people should treat Muslims "well".  I told them that criticizing a religion and hating a religion are two different things! Also, as some wise men correctly pointed out on twitter and later got shared with Dawkins, "If I hate cancer, it does not  mean I hate people with cancer!" I promised to them that I will do a piece on Hinduism too so here it is!

In the rising wave of secularist world, it is now the trend to market "science" in the religion to make it sell to the gullible.  Although there are also many books and lectures delivered to depict "science" in Christianity and Islam(Yeah its the Zakir Naik who will eat your head!), but in Hinduism it as at a completely different level.

A completely baseless opinion is established and then the all the 'facts' corresponding to the wishful thinking is first presented in a slow manner and suddenly a big leap is taken  just right at the crucial point and the guillible falls prey. It is a matter of strong base that we should stand up to scrutinize these facts when it is thundered down upon us. I find a lot of bad science arguments put in the favor of Hinduism which steals away the spiritual treasure it contains and make it a mechanical practice which seriously needs to be addressed.

Speed of Light is calculated in Vedas more accurately than Einstein did

This is literally the topic of an article. It takes special amount of guts to write, but it seems that the author don't give a damn about the modern science. The claim goes like this-

Ancient Vedic science “Nimisharda” is a phrase used in Indian languages of Sanskrit origin while referring to something that happens/moves instantly, similar to the ‘blink of an eye’. Nimisharda means half of a Nimesa, (Ardha is half).

In Sanskrit ‘Nimisha’ means ‘blink of an eye’ and Nimisharda implies within the blink of an eye. This phrase is commonly used to refer to instantaneous events.

Below is the mathematical calculations of a research done by S S De and P V Vartak on the speed of light calculated using the Rigvedic hymns and commentaries on them.

The fourth verse of the Rigvedic hymn 1:50 (50th hymn in book 1 of rigveda) is as follows:

तरणिर्विश्वदर्शतो जयोतिष्क्र्दसि सूर्य | विश्वमा भासिरोचनम |

taraNir vishvadarshato jyotishkrdasi surya | vishvamaa bhaasirochanam ||

which means:

“Swift and all beautiful art thou, O Surya (Surya=Sun), maker of the light, Illumining all the radiant realm.”

Commenting on this verse in his Rigvedic commentary, Sayana who was a minister in the court of Bukka of the great Vijayanagar Empire of Karnataka in South India (in early 14th century) says:

“ tatha ca smaryate yojananam. sahasre dve dve sate dve ca yojane ekena nimishardhena kramaman.” which means “It is remembered here that Sun (light) traverses 2,202 yojanas in half a nimisha”

NOTE: Nimisharda= half of a nimisha.

In the vedas Yojana is a unit of distance and Nimisha is a unit of time.

Unit of Time: Nimesa.

The Moksha dharma parva of Shanti Parva in Mahabharata describes Nimisha as follows: 15 Nimisha = 1 Kastha.

30 Kashta = 1 Kala,

30.3 Kala = 1 Muhurta,

30 Muhurtas = 1 Diva-Ratri (Day-Night),

We know Day-Night is 24 hours So we get 24 hours = 30 x 30.3 x 30 x 15 nimisha, in other words 409050 nimisha.

We know 1 hour = 60 x 60 = 3600 seconds.

So 24 hours = 24 x 3600 seconds = 409050 nimisha.

409050 nimesa = 86,400 seconds,

1 nimesa = 0.2112 seconds (This is a recursive decimal! Wink of an eye=.2112 seconds!).

½ nimesa = 0.1056 seconds.

Unit of Distance:

Yojana Yojana is defined in Chapter 6 of Book 1 of the ancient vedic text “Vishnu Purana” as follows:-

10 ParamAnus = 1 Parasúkshma,

10 Parasúkshmas = 1 Trasarenu,

10 Trasarenus = 1 Mahírajas (particle of dust),

10 Mahírajas= 1 Bálágra (hair’s point),

10 Bálágra = 1 Likhsha,

10 Likhsha= 1 Yuka,

10 Yukas = 1 Yavodara (heart of barley),

10 Yavodaras = 1 Yava (barley grain of middle size),

10 Yava = 1 Angula (1.89 cm or approx ¾ inch),

6 fingers = 1 Pada (the breadth of it),

2 Padas = 1 Vitasti (span),

2 Vitasti = 1 Hasta (cubit),

4 Hastas = a Dhanu,

1 Danda, or paurusa (a man’s height),

or 2 Nárikás = 6 feet,

2000 Dhanus = 1 Gavyuti (distance to which a cow’s call or lowing can be heard) = 12000 feet 4 Gavyutis = 1 Yojana = 9.09 miles

Calculation: So now we can calculate what is the value of the speed of light in modern units based on the value given as 2202 Yojanas in ½ Nimesa = 2202 x 9.09 miles per 0.1056 seconds = 20016.18 miles per 0.1056 seconds = 189547 miles per second !! 

First of all, they contradicted their own title. The speed of light is NOT mentioned in the Vedas but the attempt of indicating it is done by Sayana who was a courtier in 14th century while commenting on the RigVeda.. Then, the source of "nimisharda" is questionable. One myth takes value from ArthaShastra and another like this takes from Mahabharata. BOTH are NOT mathematical textbooks. Plus, the value of the unit "Nimesha" is questionable. I literally spent 3 hours straight trying to figure out the mathematical values they derived from the scratch and found out that it gives out contradicting values. Also the blink of an eye is not 0.2112 s, it is around 300 milliseconds but ofcourse this value which is calculated by "modern science" will not be used because the desired result will not be obtained. They just knew the final value and then inserted back the units to as to come to "close enough" answer. Also, the value of "Nimesha" arrived through the system of Vedic units, the value is 0.43 s. Funny, because they are not using the value which is mentioned in Vedas(and Wikipedia) to derive at the conclusion of what Vedas say!

Then again, why on earth would Sayana state a fact of such high importance in a so casual manner? The whole context of the phrase also is not presented. Plus, the verse is about Sun, and not light. And Science have to declare what are the methods which were used to come at the value, rather than just dabbling with figures.


                                        

Distance between Sun and Earth is Mentioned in “Hanuman Chalisa”- An Ancient Prayer

This is just a crazy one. Even Amitabh Bachchan tweeted about it once.

Two lines of Hindu Prayer ” Hanuman Chalisa” computes this distance with great simplicity.

“! जुग सहस्त्र योजन पर भानु, लील्यो ताहिमधुर फल जानू !”

This means that Sun (भानु) is at a distance of  Juug Sahastra Yojans (जुग सहस्त्र योजन- Distance Unit in Hindi)

According to following conversion practices that are in use as per Hindu Vedic Literature-

1 Juug = 12000

1 Sahastra= 1000

1 Yojan = 8 Miles

Thus

12000 X 1000 X 8 =  96,000,000  miles

1 mile = 1.6 kms

This further implies that distance is  96,000,000 * 1.6 kms = 153,600,000 Kms

 Before, my readers go further, I would like to go back and read the statement again. If you cannot point out the mitake, then either you are blind or didn't study Physics well. They multiplied time with distance to get distance! Jug is a unit of time(Also, the value 12000 is questionable because we don't know if it's Deva's years or human years) and Yojan is a unit of distance. They just multiplied them together because OH Why Not?

Also, funny that Yojana now became 8 miles. When they had to prove about the speed of light, Yojana was 9 miles.

Throwing coins in rivers

There is a tradition to throw coins in order to get your wish fullfilled. But may be these proponents have a rather brilliant wish- May people believe my nonsense.

The general reasoning given for this act is that it brings Good Luck. However, scientifically speaking, in the ancient times, most of the currency used was made of copper unlike the stainless steel coins of today. Copper is a vital metal very useful to the human body. Throwing coins in the river was one way our fore-fathers ensured we intake sufficient copper as part of the water as rivers were the only source of drinking water. Making it a custom ensured that all of us follow the practice.

Simple chemistry will tell you that Copper, like most metals undergo oxidation and it will form a protective layer over it so the coin won't let release copper for long time and it is a waste of- MONEY!. Also, I think drinking water in a copper vessel would be a lot useful method rather than making this stupid custom and wait for the lineages to realize the 'actual importance' of this years later!

Wait a second! They said river! River! River! River! How on Earth will throwing coins in the river which flows will make you intake the metal? Bad science as well as Bad logic Booooo........!

And this is just not it. They have all kinds of woo laden "Science" behind the namaskaram(acupressure for removing germs and also you can stay away from the germs of others ) , and by touching feet, how you can "transfer" the "energy" from one man to another(shaking hands gives germs but touching feet doesn't. Because "circuits" and "cosmic waves"), or whether kumkum is a sniper target for all the "peaceful energies" of the cosmos, and how we it turns out the plants and trees we worship like Tulsi and Peepal(Sorry, Neem bruh I feel for you!) are extremely important for their medicinal purposes(I thought ancient Hindus did it the other way around) and so on. Ayurveda propounders have practically convinced the public that everything which is natural is good for health and everything which is made through "western"(yeah in India we divide Science too!) science is bad and is a conspiracy to rob off the India from its wealth. In a lot of research conducted Ayurveda does not seems to be so effective anything more than a placebo. Yes, the herbs are of certain value and the credit seriously goes to the one who discovered them but Science actually works on them to tune up their qualities so that they are more beneficial. Although I don't see much harm in Ayurveda(and it is not as silly as Homeopathy) but blindly believing it will not take you anywhere. As I always point out, Hinduism is great, only if you care enough to understand it. It is vast and deep and magical. But I like to separate spiritual treasures like Upanishads and Geeta as Dharmic and  Vedanta literature to not club them up with some nonsense like this.

Since the New Age people are more popular with their crap like The Secret and quantum woo, you probably won't find these myths in the Internet you use. But, due to some past life "Karma" if you happen to come across things like Vyamanika Shastra(inspite of being proven wrong again and again) you are aware. 

No, I am not ridiculing any tradition nor undermining it. I consider that the tradition should be preserved through honest means and for it is, rather than being guided by magical thinking. One more thing, my dear friend has started a technical blog where he is writing about his projects and he will be sharing the Arduino cookbook by Jeremy Blum if you subscribe him here-  The Free Electron

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