The Space

Walking to Andrea,

In that solitary walk,

Across the desert,

In the scorching heat

Thirsty Simony,

Could see no life around.

Times were tough,

Abandoned was he,

Walked uphill across the sand dunes,

Simoni was all alone.

With no caring shade,

With no drop of quenching water,

With no shoulder to rest.

Was he all alone,

Walking up to Andrea.

With every stride ahead,

There were more unknown,
There were more thorns and uphills.

There was more solitude,
There were more challenges.

Tired was he,

Defeated and wronged was he.

But his spirit was young,

Undaunted and brimming full

With sacredness and Love.

For he had created a Space.

A Space around him.

That guarded his soul,

Away from all that is evil,

Away from all that is dark.

Away from all that is in-humane.

The Space was a canvas for his brush,

It was the marble for his chisel,

It was that empty arena,

Where he could compose his own note.

In that Space,

Kept Simoni creating,

The symphony of Love, Faith, and Hope.

With the power of that Symphony,

Kept he walking, on and on.

For all, what appeared

were the wrinkled skin,

the gray hair, the white beard,

The parched feet.

But deep inside

Was a brimming fountain of life,

Of understanding, Of compassion, Of love.

Deep inside was the ever youthful self,

Guarded by his Space,

Working to see God,

With every passing moment in his life,

Either through his sculptures,

Or his paintings, or his songs.

Centered was Simoni on the Ideal,

On the Archetype, on the Beauty.

Kept he on, his journey to Andrea.

He did not know what would he find

Upon reaching Andrea.

But he knew for sure.

It was the journey, and not the destination,.

Giving him the opportunity to see

His Truth, His God, His Love.

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The Power of Love

When Rumi had sang
On the  power of love,
In myriad songs of his,
I had a taste of it intellectually.
But little did I know
What that power really was.

 
When I had read of the big bang,
I had an appreciation of
That incredible power
Behind the big bang.
But little did I know
How that power really feels.

 
When I was told
About the power of worship.
I had an understanding of the holy,
And was aware that such grandeur strength
Does exists somewhere.
But little did I know
How that power really uplifts.

I had read about
The healing touch of Jesus.
But never could relate
To the ecstasy of the blind
Who got the vision from his touch.

But O dear magical Presence,
That power is within me.
The power of your love,
The power that can raise a dead man
The power that can turn water to wine
The power that can turn an acorn to the high oak.
 

Thank you
For bestowing in me
The power of thou love.
It feels like unlimited,
Always with power,
Always like a Man.
Steadfast and True
Standing the storm of life
Unfazed, and undaunted.

Thank you for showing me
The glimpse of what it is
To be a Man
To be a Knight
To be a Warrior.
 
Yes, it all is in the
Power of your love.
My Lord.

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Upending the cost Structure. Do you have any input?

Upending the cost structure. Do you have any input?

Capitalism requires someone to create a commodity, and someone to buy it. The hidden link that connects the whole drama is money. There is a cost structure on which the empire of capitalism is built on. The aim of a capitalistic endeavor is to generate more capital. It is good to create more capital. It drives the economy. The issue is the cost structure on which the framework is built on.
This efficiently bars away people who are in dire need of a product or service but could not afford to buy it. World is today rocking and rolling intoxicated with the opium of capitalism. It has worked for decades. But that does not mean it will keep working for centuries to come. Signs have started showing up of innovative business models outside of the precincts of capitalism.
The most interesting experiment is that of the Google. I want to discuss in this article a very popular experimentation of Google - The Google Maps. Till a decade back, maps were all copyrighted, and the market was monopolized by companies like Garmin making GPS devices helping people to navigate. Garmin charges about $100 to download new maps to its device. One device costs about $200-$500. Sometimes even more.

Now compare all this with the Google Maps. And the latest feature in Google Maps to download any portion of the maps to your device, and use them offline. So, today you have a free GPS device which is way much more advanced than any Garmin device. And all these services are free. You can download the Google Map in your phone (of course if it is not running in the latest IOS) or your any other hand held device.

The most interesting thing is you can notice that cost of the service is no more the indicator of the quality of the service or the product. The free google map is any time better than the expensive maps you download from Garmin. So, here is something that is free and better. In the language of economics, you have something whose "value" is expressed independent of its "exchange value". And that the product or the service could be really sustained without an exchange value, you see.

Can such experiment be done in education? Can we upend the cost structure inherent in providing quality education? Can a free education provided to millions be if not better, as good as that provided by the Harvards and the Stanfords?

A question, many social entrepreneurs are trying to find an answer. Do you have any input?

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Active Compassion

Active Compassion

Merriam Webster's Dictionary defines the word compassion as - "Sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it."
All the great masters starting from the Axial Age to the contemporary world have stressed on the importance to be compassionate. But, time and again, I find it so hard to be compassionate. On the whole I am fairly a forgiving and kind person. But compassion is of a different genre all together. I discovered that compassion is not just tolerance, kindness and forgiveness. Rather it is a sympathetic consciousness of others' distress. And it does not end just at that. It is also complemented with the desire to alleviate it.

Now, in my daily life, I see myself most of the time concentrated with the daily chores concerning myself and my family. It might be work at office, or responsibilities at home. Even in the office or at home, mind always tends to think only about its own point of view. When I am distressed at work, or my personal life, what only appears to me are the faults of others, and my own tragic predicament. Mind never by itself goes to think about the distress of the others that I might be causing unknowingly. It always wants to simplify the the happenings like a child, segregating people, circumstances, etc as good or bad; as either the fairy godmother or the daemon.
I found that it is a very naive way to look at life, for myself. Mind, I have seen is always in an inertia. It tends to do thing good what it is used to. It is used to doing what it practices daily. So, if the mind is made to practice peace and compassion, it automatically does nothing both peace and compassion. If the mind is engaged into judging, hatred, violence, etc, it does nothing but the same automatically.
It is not just practice makes a man perfect. But rather it is practice what sets the mind to an inertia - an automatic avalanche of thoughts and imagery consistent to what is practiced.
I have seen this pretty consistent to my own personality. If I am in the mood of writing romantic poetry, I keep writing beautiful poems and imagery months after months. The mood overflows in my way of being, my thoughts, my preferences etc. Later, after an year, when I am deep into say Marx's Das Capital, I tend to go deep into every economic and social transaction, and try to link that with the means of production and labor. My writings reflect the same mood. And interestingly when I read those old romantic poems, I feel silly. If I am deep into Plato, I always relate to Ethics and what is that way to bring that invisible archetype to the living world. The point I am trying to make here, is that brain continues an inertia. We tend to do, act, behave with what we are actively engaged with.

The same beautifully applies to Compassion too. It is not just knowing the word, and being aware of the way of being of compassion. But rather, I try to actively practice compassion, every moment of my life. In the food I eat, in the dress I wear, in my communication, behavior, and dealings with people around me both at home and at work. Yes, I fail many times. Anger, impatience, ego, or many such psychological barriers come in the way, and blinds me from understanding the other person. But then, I try it over again. More I practice, I do a better job the next time. It feels good when I see myself improving.

There is so much antagonism prevailing in daily life, I feel the most important thing that I need to keep in mind is being compassionate, actively; not only towards others, but also towards myself.

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