There is a storm brewing in the blog world, with controversy revolving around 9rules decision to prune their network, resulting in elimination of a few blogs from the network. Looks like, some of the eliminations have been because of explicit content and others due to conflict of interest. It’s blog drama at its best, and makes for good blogging!
“The most lively thought is still inferior to the dullest sensation”
I wonder what Archimedes would have said to Hume about the above assumption? It is very puzzling that such a statement would come from a philosopher! Did Hume ever have a “Eureka Moment“, an idea or thought which would have made him want to jump out of his tub and run down the street naked? I wondered more about what made Hume make such a conclusion, as I read–”of the origin of ideas” in Hume’s “An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding“, for this weeks reading session over at 9rules philosophy reading group.
Shiva Keshavan, the lone Indian luger to have represented India in the last two winter Olympic games, is back again for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. This time, he is not alone, there are three other Indian athletes who have qualified: Neha Ahuja (ladies’ giant slalom), Bahadur Gupta (men’s sprint), and Hira Lal (men’s giant slalom).
“languages are the repositories of culture”
- U R Anantmurthy
In, localization as a movement in India, Rajesh Rajan at Red Hat, addresses the importance of conserving languages in the digital domain. He points out how free and open software is empowering people in India to preserve their languages in the digital landscape.
Today, the first time harvest of my worm box provided an unexpectedly sublime moment. After just four months, the kitchen scraps of my small vegetarian household had been turned into fluffy deep dark matter, damp and fragrant like a forest floor. It is one thing to read about composting but to run the precious handfuls through your fingers, to put it around the peas and lettuces, to see them feast and grow! This moment challenged the whole concept of “trash”, the terrible guilt of being a wasteful consumer (I still am of course) suddenly there was the tangible possibility of being part of the cycle of life. In essence it was a step “a leap rather” from the moral concepts of giving and taking to the concept of transformation.
*** Vermicomposting is a very easy, and effective way of composting kitchen waste. It can be done on a balcony in the city using a standard plastic bin and recyclables like newspapers and cardboard. The resulting compost is first class fertilizer for house plants, flower patches or vegetable gardens. Many community recycling programs offer workshops to make your own worm box.
The meaning of Dharma can best be realized in the story of the yogi and the scorpion. As the story goes, a yogi was one day taking a bath in the river, while his followers waited for him on the shore. In the midst of his daily routine of bathing in the river, the yogi noticed a fallen scorpion struggling to get out of the water. Without hesitation, the yogi immediately scooped out the scorpion, and withstanding the intense pain of the scorpion sting racing through his veins, the great yogi waded through the water towards the shore, to rescue the scorpion.
His followers observed as the yogi, withstanding multiple stings from the scorpion, continued to hold onto the scorpion, and make his way towards the shore. Seeing the yogi in pain, the followers started shouting at the yogi to drop the scorpion, but the yogi continued to head towards the shore, being careful not to drop the scorpion back into the water, with each step the pain becoming unbearable. Finally the yogi collapsed in pain as he reached the shore, only then letting the scorpion rush out of his palm.
The confused followers of the great yogi, rushed to his side, confused to see a smile of content on the yogi’s face. One of them asked him how he can still smile after almost being killed by the very scorpion he rescued. To which the yogi responded, that the scorpion was only following its dharma, its nature, which is to sting; while he was following the dharma of a yogi, which was to save the life of the scorpion. To the yogi everything was natural, the way it was supposed to be, followers of dharma, performing their dharma, which was the reason for his content.
Dharma is not something forced, or instilled, it is something that one is born to do, a natural instinct in all of us that stimulates us to act at a subconscious level, without thought. It is the essential function or nature of a thing.
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