Friendly souls,

The weather is still gloomy but one is happy when he/she is immersed
in work and getting things done. I hope you are also enjoying your
work and feeling that your life is fulfilled by it. The past week was
more down than up but since attending Sylvia Boorstein's talk at the
Unitarian Church in Bethesda last night and getting some time to do
things today things are
looking up.

I have been watching some old episodes of "Columbo" with my parents
and we all enjoy it very much. Since being introduced to this
character by the young lady Roberta in Pasadena when I was a tenant in
her house, I have been a big fan of his. He is someone I can look up
to without straining my neck. If I had another birth I'd like to be
Columbo. And right now I wish there were a lot of Columbos in DC.

Well, it is always a pleasure to write to you all. I can sincerely
tell you that the most exciting part of writing this is the
expectation that some of you might be reading this. When the computer
says that the mail is sent it sends a little thrill down by chest and
I start waiting for replies.Thank you!

Sankar

P.S: Following a suggestion of Connie Chubb, I am including a brief
version (sort of an abstract) at first. The long version contains
additional explanations where needed. Let us see how this experiment
works.

Random thoughts (21)
10/17/02

The Short

1. The pettiness, fear, jealousy, anger, lust and hatred in our hearts
are like rumble strips on the highway of clear thinking.

2. Meditation is like watching one of those 3-D paintings. After a
long period of feeling like a fool and going nowhere slowly things
start to get into focus and you actually see something.

3. Successful groups develop a nice way to accommodate people's egos
and yet work well in teams.  Everyone is King of his own domain and
when you step into another's domain you respect them no matter what.

4. If your life is a car trip, your parents are the constant back-seat
drivers.

5. We all carry within us genes from our most ancient ancestors. Many
of them are dormant but from time to time some of them express
themselves in the most unexpected ways.

6. When spiritual traditions get old and well-established, they become
religions. And when they become religions, after a while people lose
touch with the real meaning behind the incantations and gestures.

7. Science was our way to understand nature, but we are far from
mimicking nature exactly. When a scientist says that he can explain
something exactly and completely, he is being unscientific.

8. How to make an explosion in your home: Put a hard-boiled egg in the
microwave. At exactly the 30th second, there will be a fantastic
explosion with white and yellow beautifully and uniformly splattered
on all six faces.

The Long

2. Just like while looking at the 3-D painting, feeling something or
realizing something in meditation requires that you make no effort to
make anything happen, at all. Simply be, watch, and let your mind and
body be the vessel, accepting realization like rain water in an open
container.

3. One of the main problems shackling the progress of India is our
lack of team work. As every Indian knows, it is hard for more than two
Indians to work well together.  We find it difficult to overlook
differences and subjugate our egos to the common goal or idea.

5. Sometimes the genes that are expressed are physical: like the
siblings in India born with very simian faces (and hence getting
worshipped as the avatars of Hanuman, the monkey-God), the twins in
Mexico with body hair like gueriilas (and they have girl-friends,
too), and others described as freaks of nature in "Ripley's believe it
or not," etc. Sometimes the ones expressed are emotional and
intellectual. As I go through new experiences and adventures in life,
I feel emotions and desires coming out of me that I never knew
existed. The more I try, the more it seems new capabilities arise in
me to tackle new situations and problems.

6. The rituals start looking mechanical, meaningless, and completely
hollow. People do them in the expectation that simply preforming them
guarantees them a more prosperous life or a place in heaven. And they
start feeling superior to those who don't. One common characteristic
of fanatics is that they believe that the simple fact of their having
gone through some rituals, wearing certain things, and going to some
places of worship makes them a true Christian or Hindu or Muslim. Of
course there are certain activities which are like practice and
preparation on the spiritual path. But there is a thin line that
separates the two. That line mostly consists of good intention,
honesty to oneself and to others, and concentration.

8. You can produce an abstract painting by pasting a sheet of paper to
one of the faces inside and painting the egg before microwaving it.