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Each according to his own capacity and to each according to his needs
~ One of the foundational principles of the Vyas brothers who founded The New Era School, Kemps Corner, Bombay (sic)
He that will not reason is a bigot. He that cannot reason is a fool. He that dare not reason is a slave
~ H. Drummond, quoted from "Annihilation of Caste", B.R. Ambedkar.
"What is certain is that I myself am not a Marxist"
~ Karl Marx, 1882.
TO MY COUNTRYMEN
who gave unto themselves the Constitution
but not the ability to keep it,
who inherited a resplendent heritage
but not the wisdom to cherish it,
who suffer and endure in patience
without the perception of their potential
~ quoted from the Epigram to "We, the People", Palkhivala, N.A., Strand Book Stall, January, 1984.
But what you give of purity
desiring the countenance of God:
These (shall) receive recompense manifold.
~ 30:39 The Qur'an
That's the purpose of discussion, that's the purpose of counsel, that's the purpose of drawing near, that's the purpose of lending ear: i.e., the liberation of mind through no clinging
~ Angaturra Nikaya 3:68, sourced from "Skill in Questions, How the Buddha Taught" by Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff)
O seeker,
These thoughts have such power over you.
From nothing you become sad.
From nothing you become happy.
You are burning in the flames
But I will not let you out
until you are fully baked,
fully wise,
and fully yourself.
~ Rumi, excerpt from "In the Arms of the Beloved", translations by Jonathan Star, published by Jeremy P. Tracher/Putnam, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc. [Found on the cover of the brochure series Glaze & Glare, Studio Pottery & Glassware, August-September 2005, Priyasri Art Gallery, Worli, Mumbai]
Shabda ko khoji le (Find the word, know the word / You are nothing but the word)
~ Sant Kabir
You shouldn't chase after the past,
or place expectations on the future.
What is past
is left behind.
The future
is as yet unreached.
Whatever quality is present
you clearly see right there,
right there.
Not taken in,
unshaken,
that's how you develop the heart.
Ardently doing
what should be done today,
for---who knows?---tomorrow
death.
There is no bargaining
with Mortality & his mighty horde.
Whoever lives thus ardently,
relentlessly
both day & night,
has truly an auspicious day:
so says the Peaceful Sage.
~ Bhaddekaratta Sutta (An Auspicious Day), translated from Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, 1997, accessible here.
Well, the moral of the story
The moral of this song,
Is simply that one should never be
Where one does not belong.
So when you see your neighbour carryin' something'
Help him with his load
And don't go mistaking Paradise
For that home across the road.
~ The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest, John Wesley Harding, Bob Dylan
Jeremy has one great failing, his determination to speak the truth as he perceives it.
Jeremy has one absolutely massive strength, his determination to speak the truth as he perceives it.
I was once advised never to be afraid to speak the truth however I saw it, just so long as I did so without malice afterthought.
Speak up Jeremy!
~ Comment by a certain SimpleOldSailor posted on the website of The Guardian under the article Fears and hopes of how a Corbyn victory will change British politics on 12th of September, 2015.
Be ye ever so high that the law is above you ~ Quote by Thomas Fuller extracted from the article "A Rule of Law Culture" by Soli J. Sorabjee in The Indian Express dated September 22, 2015.
"Without that [venturing into areas that are controversial, or unchartered, and hence "unsafe"], no critical enquiry is possible. In fact, I have begun to refer to education in India as LCD education, by which I mean that we have diluted education to such an extent that what is taught can now only be called the Lowest Common Denominator. The attempt is to dumb it down and make it less and less challenging, so that people become pliant and are too frightened to ask questions or discuss the contents of books or exchange ideas. Eventually the views of the media will get rooted in people's minds as most people get their information from the media. The habit of independent reading seems to be not as healthy as it once was."
~ From the long interview of the historian Romila Thapar, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University in the cover story "Linking the past and the present" by Ranabir Chakravarti in Frontline, Volume 32, No. 18, September 05 - 18, 2015.
"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words."
~ Goethe
"When Buffett developed the Berkshire system, did he forsee all the benefits that followed? No. Buffett stumbled into some benefits through practice evolution. But, when he saw useful consequences, he strengthened their causes."
~ Observation by Charlie Munger in the 2014 Annual Report of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
"You live the life you find yourself in, the best way you know how."
~ Extracted from the article "A thin boy in a wheelchair" by Peter Griffin in the The Hindu. Article is accessible here.
Kuch log jo jyaada janate hein, insaan ko kam pehchaante hein (Non-literal hindi-to-english translation: Those who know a lot, know humanity (or themselves) a little less)
~ Lyrics from the song "Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai" (Literal hindi-to-english translation: That Country in which the Ganga flows) penned by Shailendra for the film by the same name released in 1960.
"For our last number, I would like to ask your help. The people in the cheaper seats clap your hands. And the rest of you, if you just rattle your jewellery."
~ An inter-song interlude by John Lennon extracted from The Beatles Anthology, Part 1, CD 2, at the end of the song Till There Was You.
Over there are the roots of the tree; over there empty dwellings. Practice jhana, monks. Don't be heedless. Don't later fall into regret. This is our message to you."
~ A common injunction found at the end of many of the suttas in the Pali Cannon.
Read in the name of your Lord
who created,
Created man from a clinging thing;
Read,
for your Lord is most beneficent,
Who taught by the pen,
Taught man what he did not know.
And yet,
but yet man is rebellious,
For he thinks he is sufficient in himself.
Surely your returning is to your Lord.
~ 96:1-8, Al-`Alaq (The Embryo), The Qur'an
Surely with hardship there is ease. With hardship indeed there is ease.
~ 94:5-6, Al-Inshirah (The Opening Up), The Qur'an
What started as an exercise in gross conceit has along the way mixed in elements of archiving, storage and cross-referencing. The former (conceit) because there is a human need to apply one's name to what one mistakenly believes to be one's creation. The latter is a serendipitous discovery owing to the former. The good thing is that doing the latter enables the 'gross' to become a little bit more 'subtle' over time. Which also means that it (conceit) also becomes dangerous.
Sometimes the best way to conquer conceit is to admit of its existence openly (such as the name of this website). Having admitted of its existence one is spared of the trauma of trying to squeeze it between the lines. Once it is out there it is for all to judge and condemn (or approve). But interest must precede judgement and condemnation. For a condemnation is still an approval as it requires someone to read through the litany to litigate.
To make the test of interest even more severe, the even careless wanderer to the website will notice that it is quite bereft of visual enchantments. The simple (and the right) reason is that because visuals are not the author's forte. The happy by-product of it is that it really tests both the compiler-cum-writer and the reader to sustain their respective interest -- the reader more than the compiler-cum-writer.
However, if the interested reader may so permit of an admission: the real and the only value of such an apparently pointless exercise is one of self-reflective conversation. Such an exercise may seem pretentious and indulgent but it usually is not in many cases. Very few individuals start out with an intent of being self-indulgent. What appears as self-indulgent belabouring is actually an exercise in ferreting out those squiggly little thoughts that, unless put down in words, keep having a fun time in some recesses of the neural inter-connections. The second value of such a belabouring is to move the dialogue with the self beyond the self.
An exercise in dialogue with self is not conceit. It is a necessity during times of turbulence. Dialogue with others, on the other hand, can go either way when it comes to conceit. You only share under two conditions: either you are cock-sure that you have something profound to say which will in the most cock-surest of way benefit others. The second condition is that when you think that you are cock-sure that you have something profound to say which will in the most cock-surest of way benefit others. Conceit lies hidden in the second of these cock-sureties. Compassion, in the mean while, lies hidden in the first of these cock-surities. A serendipitous by-product of the first type of cock-surety is religion.
You could say Bono could be an example of the latter while Michael Stipe could be an example of the former. Having said that, it is important to note that both have added to the alternative and constructive march of rock-n-roll.
You, the accidental reader, can decide whether what follows wears the crown of conceit (where the bald head is still seen through from the top inspite of the glittering attraction of the crown from the front and the side (fortunately the bottom-view is not a possibility)); or seems equivalent to a functional (and possibly a little self-indulgent) hat that serves the purpose of shielding the balding head from the harsh elements.
If it is indeed a hat then it remains a fact that the balding head is hidden. However, hiding the balding (or greying) head is not intentional. It is not even an acknowledged serendipitous side-effect. It is to be treated as sheer coincidence. On this I would recommend you trust the author's words (provided of course you are predisposed towards the hat and not the crown). Though the author himself does not recommend trusting the remainder of his words with the same abandon.
Statutory warning: Those alert and logical enough will notice that, in the previous paragraph, the meanings of the last sentence and penultimate sentence contradict each other. Even if the author is guilty of conceit, he is at least blameless with regard to not having warned his audience.
Addendum: For those who may be glibly wondering: use of the word 'serendipitous' no less than three times is intentional.
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