The Central Dogma...of Karma?

A very interesting read on free will and deteminism...:)

Instant Karma

My recent summer vacation was very satisfying. Plenty of sunshine, a few surprise showers, tons of mangoes, evenings at the beach, home-made food, good books to read, catching up with old friends and lots and lots of time spent with family. I especially loved being able to chat for hours with A, unhurriedly, and on anything that came to mind. I will recount here a thought process that arose from one particular conversation. It started with movies, and wound up touching upon the Virtue of the Month- Patience, life, death, faith, rebirth, action, karma and individual beliefs in a higher spiritual energy. Yes, that's a whole lot, and some very serious topics that came up from an observation about movies! Here's how it all started.
I had a sudden flash about what's most satisfying about watching movies. Many of you probably already knew this, but it is something that just occurred to me at the time :). Within the 2-3 hours that a movie lasts, every form of retribution is there to be had; the good guys win, the bad guys get punished, love is seldom unrequited, wishes are answered, dreams fulfilled, families reunited, all kinds of knots untangled and loose ends tied up. And yes, I am only referring to the more popular feel good movies, not the art-house or film-noir kind. But, the former are very, very satisfying.
I began to wonder though, if belief in an eternal spirit and in abiding with good, faith in the face of trials and tribulations, especially when confronted with situations where misdeeds go unquestioned and the kind are vilified, would not be easier if the time span over which karma operated was to be dramatically compressed. Is it perhaps the inability to believe in something beyond our physical mortality that prevents us from believing in the need for goodness? Would the classic questions of who knows if there's an after-life/ why should I believe when there is no justice in this situation/ how can there be grace when there is so much suffering/... vanish if consequences were immediate or more readily apparent to both the body and spirit in ways that each individual can understand? Would we all be better doers and stronger believers if karma were instant?
Then again, perhaps things are as they are, just so that we may be patient, we may forgive, we may have faith, we may do good for the sake of it and nothing else and despite everything that seems out of balance in the world around us...:)

Many Faiths, One Truth

Less is More

Always.
Let me begin by saying that this message was presented to me in multiple formats this week. The first example would make an excellent candidate for a space I usually reserve for my research rants. After a losing battle with an experiment where I kept increasing my starting material to a frightening amount, I won it by going in the opposite direction (to a startlingly low amount, though that should definitely be commented upon in the other space).
The second instance was in my refrigerator. For someone who gets a migraine from shopping, I make an exception for groceries. I cannot help but fall in love with bright and colorful looking fresh produce and on my last trip to the farmer's market I stocked my fridge to choking point anticipating 2 busy weeks ahead with no time to stop for fuel (of the food kind). In the end, it turned out the 2 very busy weeks, were too busy to set aside much time for cooking and a good amount of that very attractive produce died a silent, cold death and was transferred to a compost bin earlier this week. Nothing bothers me as much as waste does, and throwing away all that food made me wince as realization dawned that some principles of simple living are as true today as they were centuries ago: Buy fresh, buy often and buy a little at a time. Another quick tip for anyone who'd care to read: I heard on the Dr.Oz show last night that the age old warning of not storing potatoes and onions in the refrigerator has a scientific basis after all. Keeping those vegetables in the cold increases their starch content and upon cooking turns it into acrylamide, something biologists have known to steer clear of for a while.
And finally, less of the material is more for the spirit. This is obvious when it comes to greed for money or power, or lust for all things transitory. But could this be true of activities? Could there be such a thing as having too many things to do? While this last month has been filled with a lot of events to attend, people to meet, places to see and every other kind of thing in between, I somehow felt like I difted from one to another without a moment to pause and reflect deeply. I feel like there were certainly a few new things I learnt that I did not spend adequate time internalizing. Perhaps that's a signal to slow down and do a few things and to do them with all my being. Not that this is necessarily linked to the spirit in an obvious way, but I also realized that it was time to throw out some random junk that had accumulated unawares and sort through some other things that could find better use if donated.
At any rate, I hope I have convinced you that more often that not, less is quite plenty. And if you take nothing else away, I would certainly urge you to buy and eat fresh :)

For J...

There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.
You feel it, don't you?

- Rumi

Just as I finished reading the chapter whose opening words had this very beautiful verse of Rumi's, I received a call from J telling me the wonderful news of a candle about to be kindled. :) And so I share this with much joy and prayer for her!

The virtue of the month...

The virtue chosen this month is perseverance and persistence. This personal platform for goal-setting and thinking deeply has run dry in the last several months. And so, today I resolve that one of the many tasks for me to persevere on will be to continue with the spirit of inquiry and internalization of the virtue chosen each month and to share any thoughts that arise from the process. In the meantime, I leave you with a few lines from Khayyam's Rubaiyat, which I discovered in my current read: 'Three Cups of Tea'

Why ponder thus the future to foresee,
and jade thy brain to vain perplexity?
Cast off thy care, leave Allah's plans to him-
He formed them all without consulting thee.

A very playful and yet humbling way to ask one to be present in the moment and to accept every moment as it turns over to the future.

The virtue of this month...

This is the month of punctuality, or of being on time. I would like to think of it, also, as the month of doing things in their appointed time. And by that I mean that while this season is, of all seasons, the season to give, there are others times that aren't overtly celebrated as such. But an hour of need for one person, must be the season of giving for another, no? Perhaps, these quotes then will express both succinctly and beautifully what I wish to convey, and so I share...

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From the Thirukkural, verse 102:

காலத்தி நாற்செய்த நன்றி சிறிதெனினும்,

ஞாலத்தின் மாணப்பெரிது.

(Help rendered in an hour of need, be it however small, is greater than all the earth in its value.- Thiruvalluvar)

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Liberality consists rather in giving seasonably than much.

- Jean de La Bruyère

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A Time for Everything

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace...

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And finally 'tis the season to be jolly, my dears! Fa la la la la...la la la la! :)