Enigma Solution

 Experience and knowledge which usually comes with age and tells us what has happened. So we form strong opinions on what works and what does not, what is good or what is bad. We become fixed in our mind and we rigidly assume what happened in the past will happen in the future.  In a sense we believe we have arrived at that intellectual destination where we smugly feel that we need little or no new learning. Almost impossible for adults to imagine a future much different from the past and the present. This is the exact opposite of the inherent childlike trait we all possess. A child is intensely curious, full of ideas,  fantasies and dreams.  The wise say 'Imagination is more powerful than knowledge'. While our knowledge is limited, our imagination can be infinite.  The young imagine more and thus have dreams so fantastic that the old cannot even begin to comprehend.  Where the mind goes so the body easily follows provided there is passion and sincerity. ...

  It is in the human nature for us to seek success, happiness and love. In this endeavour we live, work and play, constantly interacting with our fellow beings and our environment.  Every interaction, triggers within us, some physical, intellectual and emotional reaction. This we commonly term as experience. If we merely register and do not learn, transform or evolve, from the interactions and the reactions, then we can only call them incidents, not experiences. Our reactions represent the lowest level of human intelligence, whereas our responses indicate the level of our intelligence. What then is the difference?  A reaction is immediate and originates from our animal instincts of fight or flight. Whereas a response comes from the measured and timely application of the mind with awareness. This is why the first prayer of a seeker is to develop an awakened mind. Materially speaking if we do not do anything, then there is nothing to be aware of. So the most experienced peo...

Truth is a powerful concept. That is why it is often overused, misused and abused. Truth could be defined as thoughts, beliefs, words or deeds, that conform to some predefined standard. But, who sets the standard of what is true or how do we conclude if something is true? There are six common criteria used for determining the truth. They are are consensus, consistency, authority, durability, revelation and science. __________________ 1. Consensus Common knowledge or herd behaviour assumes that if everyone says so, then it must be true. This requires little or no effort, it is the preferred filter for the intellectually and spiritually lazy, inferior or timid, individual and society. Consensus is a safe bet. Even if proven wrong the person can always take shelter within the anonymous majority. They contend that so many people cannot be stupid or wrong. Wars, fads of all kinds social, economic, and political are the frequent result of consensus. 2. Consistency Consistency assumes that if...

 " One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors ." ~ Plato Contrary to public perception, successful politicians have to be incredibly hardworking. What they may be working hard on is another matter. Politics like war is a messy, ugly affair. Inspite of that, the public and the media draw a lot of entertainment from politics. It is certain that, one can always trust the political establishment with the help of the media to screw things up.  As the recent American Presidential elections reveal that the system is not about capabilities and performance, but about senility, crassness and the manipulation of the electoral process. Reminds one of the very powerful communist dictator Joseph Stalin of the former Soviet Union. “ The people who cast the votes, decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything. ”  Now what seems to matter in this American election is, it is not only who counts the vo...

  We humans have always been confused with existence and our life in general, but thanks to an avalanche of information, never has humanity been this confused. Life has become insanely complicated and we know not why. We seem to have so much and yet we feel so hollow inside. In the haze, we wander around struggling to make sense of our lives, maintain sanity and stability.  We look outwards to the exterior of what we can see, touch, smell, hear and taste for answers. We care not or dare not look within where lie answers. Some of us focus on family, others on relationships, some on wealth and others on power and influence, etc. etc. Our unease compelling us to constantly search.  The search for an idea about the meaning of our lives inevitably leads us to various ideologies (a system of ideas and beliefs). Because we do not know, we have to believe and belief is always blind.  Whatever the 'ism be it political, religious, etc, like a lost and drowning individual who s...

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." ~ Marie Curie Usually the most ignorant, are the most fearful.  COVID-19 has scared the living daylights out of most people. Yet everyone is a self appointed expert on the subject, making rules that hamper rather than help. ______________________ About a month ago, our younger son Pavit complained of a persistent runny nose and sore throat. So Pavit got himself tested only to discover that he was COVID-19 virus positive. We consulted our family doctor who was treating some friends of ours.  He went through the reports instructed to isolate the whole family from the outside world and from Pavit within the house and to also get everyone at home tested. After testing it was discovered that everyone in the family were negative except my wife Mohini and I even though we were asymptomatic. The doctor asked us not to panic as the virus load was low and he adv...

  Generally speaking here are three types of individuals, organisations and countries. Those, who make things happen. Those, who watch things happen and Those, who wonder what happened. In the natural world, things seemingly happen by themselves We witness a natural order interspersed with natural chaos. In the world of humans, things are the mostly the result of human thought and action. From my own experience the individuals, families, organisations and states who are able to successfully make things happen, possess 3 essential traits. Intellectual integrity:  T o conceptualise, study, analyse, formulate strategy, tactics and draw up plans on what, where, why, when, where, who and how of matters. It also requires the ability to adapt and modify plans if the situation demands it.   Emotional integrity:  Of being passionate enough to convince and enthuse all entities that are essential to join and support the plans.  Ruthlessness:  The ability to remain foc...

Strength is vital for safety, security, resources and mates in our social environment.   Strong and weak are relative terms. Every being possesses some strength.  When we say 'strong' we mean the capacity to withstand or to exert relatively higher force or energy than others can. It is natural for a creature to try and dominate other members of its species,   so as to obtain the best and more than others, while the weak survive by compromising. Unequal and unfair it may seem, but this is the natural world of all living beings. The more primitive the nature, the greater the reliance on physical strength. Weapons of various kinds are now used to  physically, emotionally, psychologically etc. to dominate others.  All designs for domination are a win-lose proposition, because they are born out of conflict. This is the premise of conquests and empire building, and it is always destructive. Though this is seen as a strength it's actually weakness. There is alway...

To advance their own cause and to protect their interests, leaders and managers of every organisation need prompt and accurate information on what is happening both within and outside their organisations. A lot of information is in the public domain and openly available, and a lot of it has to be sourced clandestinely, this is called spying.  To know plans and intent of those being spied upon, one has to sift through both information and disinformation. To glean facts out of that information is called intelligence, in the world of espionage. Any organisation and country worth its salt has to have good spying and intelligence capabilities and capacity, it's not a choice, but a necessity. However, information while useful is mostly misused. Due to fear, blackmail, greed or ideological reasons., a majority of conflicts and competitions are lost because of betrayal, by people within.  So spying on one's own people is irresistibly tempting. Human esp...

We now live in a society of organisations and institutions. Local, district, state, national and at international level. Each one of them managed by 'professionals' (bureaucrats) following complicated processes which no one can completely understand or implement. They are all political creatures, and therefore possess all of the negatives of politics. We humans and even nations believe that things will just happen by themselves, but they never do. The cunning amongst us know this all too well and take full advantage. In recent times the  Chinese Communist Party  has quietly and cunningly infiltrated every multilateral international organisation of consequence, across the world numerous politicians and their parties, governments, educational institutions, social platforms, gaming,  sports organisations, and finally media and film production. They do not serve the cause or the objectives of these organisations were created for but are servants of the  C...

World War II dramatically changed the then existing world order.  Based on three fundamental pillars of democracy, free trade and capitalism, America the only great power that survived the war with its economy and market intact became the de facto world leader of the non communist world. American leadership established this new world order at The Bretton Woods Conference, 1944 . This 'order' based on a number or global institutions ensured under the Marshall plan the rebuilding of the world economy.  American farsightedness and actions produced the greatest material prosperity in history. World GDP has grown 10 fold, population has increased 3 fold, Colonialism ended, and there has been a dramatic reduction in world poverty, with a corresponding improvement in health has been observed. Communism was mostly defeated. America, currently the sole superpower,  dominates the  world financially, technologically, socially, politically and militaril...