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Pattern recognition. This is a topic I would come again and again to talk about. As it is such an important phenomenon. The importance of observation was initially taught by my father. He used to say, "Watch and learn boys, watch and learn." He used to tell how just by observation how someone can learn something. I know we are more focused on practice, when it comes to learning new skill. However, I still believe there is a lot to be learned just by observation. Even when you are practicing, if you do not observe your mistakes, you would not learn anything new at the end of the day. So, in any learning environment i just focussed on keeping my eyes and ears open, learning could be that simple. Even if I did not understand anything It helped to connect the dots later on. I have seen this phenomena talked by many over the years. In fact I have written about this here in my own blog. Steve Jobbs talk about connecting the dots in life , charlie chapling talked about the same, looking at the long shot of life to see its commedy . Justing sung talks about blooms taxanomy and importance of higher order thinking and guess what, he ask us to think about connectivity or relationship of concepts to learn better. Barbara oakly talks about how diffuse mode of thinking leads us to develop dèep learning by just doing the same. It cannot be random that these people talk about the same thing at the same time. And when I was in grade eight my late maths teacher said "Maths, is all about pattern recognition" with a little rubik's cube at his hand. Now almost at his age I can only agree and reprase that, "life is all about pattern recognition" In mindfulness we recognise these patterns. And they leave us with a better understanding of our own lives. And you will start to notice the similarity of a spider stuck in a web and a man stuck in his web of lies all his life. You will appriciate there is a lot more common facts are there with a dung beetle rolling a dung ball agin and again in the field, and a farmer rolling hay after crops were harvested. And appriciate although we try to seperate ourselves from the environment it seems we are inherently part of it. Although we name the buildings and cities we build are artififial they are not. Even a plastic bottle is a natural phenomenon when we take out the element of our judgement from it. I am sure you have doubts at this time. How come someone argue a plastic bottle is natural and do not cause environmental pollution. I am not. I am just showing it is not absolute truth. Because when we start to choose a one side over the other there wil be clash. The mind will choose one over the other and buildup an eternal argument over it. This is another pattern i have observed in many aspect. Peace or war, happiness and sadness. Rich vs poor . These seems to be positive and negative values we give to otherwise neutral environment. And that is why at some point I have argued the peace is the highest form of happiness that we can achieve. Interconnectedness . This is not an argument which is true, only partially true. As anyone who needs to see the truth should see it for themselves in their own lives. There are many more patterns in nature that we can observe. I am sure ones you have observerd are unique to yourself. The more you observe the nature with mindfulness, more you will understand the interconnectedness of it. Interconnectedness of the nature is a topic by itself. The trem is used in Thich nhat hanh's book on mindfulness. I have seen this same observation discussed in different trems by different teachers. Some say its oneness, some say it is change , some even talk about God being living in everything . More importantly when you look at this from a distance I see the pattern. They all talk about the same thing . Obviously it seem they talk about some truth they have seen in the nature and within themselves . It is same as saying someone to be the mountain when you see a mountain. It is a joke, like asking a monkey to be a concious banana. But the truth is, everything we see and taste and hear are what there is and not, yet connected and presented to us in an understandable way by our own conciousness . In the form of sensations . So when you say you are angry the mindfulness will let you see the truth as well as the lie in it. Unlike many articles I have written before I am sure you would not understand any of this unless you have dots on your own to connect. I am sure I can help with that as this would be one of the most linked articles I have written so far. After all this is about interconnectedness. Hence, I invite you to follow the dots provided and see where it leads you to.

Revisit the Equation of life. I am sure there is an equation for life. And I am sure it is so complex, that we would not understand all of it. We know parts of this equation, like formulas for calory burnt in the body, and Glomerular filtration rate (Amount of fluid filtered in the kidney per unit time) Imagine all these combined together to form a giant equation. Previously I have discussed such equations, in the article modeling the world in a mathematical function . And I explained such a function should be a continuous function. And anything stable in the answers we get from such a function is that answers are bound to change moment by moment. Here we are going to think about the equation of life in a different manner. I am sure if you are someone with a mathematical sense you will enjoy the following discussion. I am going to compare life boldly with the anatomy of an equation. Parts of equation Let's imagine an equation of life. On the right side, of the equal sign there would be terms, which consists of Constants and variables connected by operators. And all we want is our life to be stable. Life = Happiness + relationships + freedom + etc. + etc.... Happiness = Income + Expenditure + Expectations. So, to have a stable life, we need steady income, steady expenditure (which is less than income) and fulfillable and fulfilling expectations etc. I am sure they are consisting of variables and constants. Given the choice we would all be constants, as inherently we do not like the unpredictability. And this is why stock markets are risky, as their gains and losses are not always behaved as we expect them to. Given a choice, I would want steady happiness in my life. So, what is better? Becoming a variable or a constant in an equation? If we consider ourselves as hypothetical perfectionists, we all would want to be these constants in nature. We would want to have a good health throughout our lives. We need a place to live, a house of our own, where we could come home and relax every day. We would time for ourselves daily, where we can think about steady progression of life achievements. However, they seem to be a supernatural dream, as always, the nature tries to put chaos, into our routines, while we crave for a constant, flow. I have compared this phenomenon to a canoe ride to a cruise ship ride earlier in the article why peace is ultimate happiness . All we want is to be in a cruise, however, always we get crashed by waves, like a canoe rider. Where did we go wrong? Thinking about constants. I think the part of the problem lies when we think about constants. Constant is an abstract idea, which itself imaginary and platonic. Hence when we say "life = 7" (you can put any constant here) think about what it means. What 7? If you look at the world you would not find any constant to put in any equation. 7 is a constant only by convention, as in mathematical language we all agree it represents the same thing. However, the truth is it doesn't have to be, and it does not. Imagine 7 is apples, they will rotten in a day. Imagine 7 is diamonds, they too will get destroyed when the earth does, or when they are cut to fit into Jewlery. Imagine 7 is a position in the number line. That is a constant right? Wrong. If you choose different position to represent to 0 and everyone will agree to this, 7 may represent something else. Can you see the problem? We cannot point out to a constant without artificially fixing some zero, by agreement. Which means it is just imaginary. If you do not agree with me, there is some great book written by Rupert Sheldrake. "The science delusion: Freeing the Spirit of inquiry." he discusses some scientific Dogmas which keeps the science from advancing. And the ideal of constants never change is one such dogmas. And he goes into explaining Big G in our gravitational equations to illustrate the fact that it has changed over the years, and it stopped only when we fixed it by convention by agreeing on some other definitions. I have discussed the same phenomena with the definition of time, in the book, What is time? Even if you do not understand the single word of the above paragraph, it does not matter. But the main idea can be summarized in following manner. Summary so far. Even in science, constants are changing its values often. In mathematics constants are constant only because its imaginary and platonic -> imaginary numbers. In equation of life searching for a constant is a futile task, understanding this is the key. You may argue, I am wrong. Maybe I am, as what I will tell is just another relative changing truth, in your mind. Maybe Rupert Sheldrake also made a huge mistake with those bold claims, about constants in nature not being constant. He had lot to lose when he wrote about those controversial topics, as some label as "Pseudo-science". However, look at what Nicholas Tesla said a century ago, on science and its future. And it is time critical that we start doing what he visioned a long time ago. Maybe we are too late, maybe you are not. “The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena; it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.” ~ Nikola Tesla So, it's for you to save the science, from its doomed fate?

How to be a tourist. I am sure you have been a tourist once in a while. Whenever we are at work, we are just routine men and women. When we step on a foreign land, we become tourists. And it is time to relax and enjoy. Here I will discuss how and why we all should be tourists in our own city. So, we will start with why? Why become a tourist? If you are in a major city like London or New York tourists are a common sight. Have you taken time to observe people walking? If you haven't, I suggest you do so. Sit in a quiet corner of a coffeehouse where you can observe the streets. While enjoying your coffee, note your observations. Check whether they are similar to mine. You will notice you can identify tourists by their appearance. Obviously by ethnicity. However, ethnicity is not much a giveaway nowadays as in major cities they are blended. Most likely you will spot tourists by their mannerism. Look at how they walk, a tourist would walk like they are walking in the park! Even if it is a busy suburb. Looking at every shop, every letter box and monument. They are in no hurry. Walking like they have all the time in the world. Slow pace. Not only that if you notice their faces, but they also smile while walking. At least pleasant. No stress visible. Their gaze is not fixed on the tiles of the floor or the corner of the street. I am sure they remember most of the things happened during this day effortlessly. Even crows and garbage cans are not going to spoil their day. Now compared to this someone who is native, is going to walk. With a busy stressful gloomy face, and they don't have time to observe what a tourist does. They are straight fixed and like fire. And I am sure you dare not to bump into one of them. So, there is nothing new for them to see in their own city. Same old corners, same old monuments, same tourists' day after day congesting their streets. If you think about this wisely you would understand what differs is the attitude, or the context. As so-called tourists will follow same routine that you follow, in their own cities. If given a choice, what would you become? I am sure there is no doubt in that. We all like to let the child like curiosity of a tourist to flourish within ourselves if given a choice. The real question is are we given a choice? How to be a tourist in your own city? I can point out several ways. But the main ingredient is novelty created by mindfulness . Mindfulness is the method we can tap into the childhood curiosity of the mind. It is inherently present in all of us, just we have to awaken this. When you are mindful about the fact that the walk to home you are taking today is not the walk you took yesterday, as suggested by random walk , you know there are plenty of things to see. Even a polluted drain, or a brick wall, or an old oak tree could inspire you to be creative. You can take a fresh breath of air, in the morning and exhale fast, to see the water vapors get crystalized in the midair and be amazed in this winter. You can get down from your bus before your stop, or after your bus stop, and take a little walk in unknown parts of your neighborhood and be amazed how things have changed slowly. Or make it a true paradigm shift . No, you don't need company to do this, as your best friend is you. If you smile with yourself observing the city, same city which you thought, steal your time and energy, you notice that it is absolutely wrong. There is much more to appreciate in your own city, you will become a tourist in your own city. When you hear sounds, listen mindfully . When you walk on the pavement, take steady slow steps, break the routine pattern of walking, make it a zig zag just for the sake of it. Stop for a while, walk backwards. It doesn't matter if your Neighbours see, as you are being a tourist in your own city. I am sure this does not end there. But I think you get the idea; it's about changing your attitude on your own city. And mind your mindfulness is like a disease, and when you are cheerful, everyone around you will be ill with happiness, otherwise a rough day. Why? As you can see, I do write about everyday life, as I have felt the same. I have been stuck up in same nihilistic, boring tempo of life just like you. Just like you I want to break free. However, if you look at the statistics, no matter how hard we try, it is inevitable that majority of us will die as pretty normal, middle-class people as 8-5 daily paid workers. Still, there should be something to rejoice, as we all are gifted with a consciousness of our own, and ability to value anything on our own, we ourselves can create our own values. It doesn't have to be valuable enough to hang on the walls of the central art gallery, but we can paint a picture of a beautiful alley in our own minds. We can do this only when we know how our values are generated . And let's be mindful about this today.

Rabbits, cutest innocent animals of all. Yes, rabbits are innocent. And cute. I dedicate the first part of this article for these cute animals. If you compare with Buggs Bunny, you will get the wrong idea about rabbits. Of course, in reality rabbits are far from Buggs Bunny. Have you seen a rabbit up close? With their big eyes and ears. I did not know until I had opportunity to pet one. They are afraid of everything. It is shaking all over, all the time, even when I pet it. Maybe it is their fast heart rate, but it feels like they live in fear. Like afraid of something all the time. I can understand what it feels like to live a life of a rabbit, in wild, when you know your death can be hiding behind every bush. And you can only hope your legs would not slip when you run away from it. One day it may, until then you run from it. They live a life of a Hollywood death race every day! How did the nature overcome the problem? The nature gave the rabbits ability to create more offspring. Sometimes they are called baby making machines. They would make more than 50 babies if conditions are ideal, in a year. So, isn't nature cruel ? I mean, just to feed the fox and snakes and humans. Sometimes, it is difficult to understand nature's intentions. A word of caution reading following. When we were kids, we had a nearby playground, with plenty of grass. And rabbits used to come there at night. How did we know? Well, in the morning we saw plenty of rabbit dung. We never saw them during the day, except one day our little dog, out of curiosity had caught a one. The wounded rabbit could not escape. It was there on our doorstep, with blood all over the floor, and like he had done something brave our dog was there wagging its tail expecting appreciation. I was deeply saddened by seeing this horror, as a kid. Maybe I was few years old. Yes, I always wanted to see a rabbit and pet one. But not like this! The rabbit was unsalvageable, and it was put out of its misery and fed to the dog. What is rabbit philosophy or running away from problems. So, the rabbit's strategy to the problems of life is running. And it is a good one, until one day inevitable happens. I have done it. And I am sure you have done this, if you have lived long enough. Sometimes we face problems which squeeze us through bottlenecks in life. Which are hard to escape and only thing we can do is run away like a rabbit. And hoping we can outrun the problems. And it really works, as some problems given enough time would never come back. You may run to the edge of the land, into the beach or up on a mountain, you may find peace. Like the famous run of Forest Gump. yet you will have to turn back. This is not a good strategy as you can see in the long term, as rabbits would end up in the belly of the fox one day when they are caught, if not young, old and feeble. What is the alternative? The alternative is to ask the question why ? without running away from the problem. Rabbits should start to ask the questions like, Why am I a rabbit? Why fox is a fox? Why python is a python? Why death? why hunger? why a food chain? Why should I make offspring? More rabbits with more problems? I am sure, rabbit would not ask those questions. They would run away from death, surely for a one last time. The question is would you do the same? It doesn't matter if you are a rabbit or a fox or a hawk. We are gifted by the nature to question. And we should use it. And if we do not, we would die like just rabbits' foxes and Hawks without ever understanding the natures plan. It takes someone bravery and courage to take action even when they are given the facts. I am sure you are brave, just like a lion.

Origins of rules and ethics. Which one is earlier? Rules or ethics? Of course we may argue this for a long time. However, it seems origins of ethics seems to be far deeper than rules. As rules to be established there has to be a proper language, at least a way of communicating the rules. Most often there should be a governing body , it may be a king or a leader of a Clan. And for enforcement of the rules there should be a monitoring system. Hence, we can assume rules were established after humans evolved into social animals. However, ethics, were there even before rules. As ethics are more fundamental aspect of any interaction of humans with others. Consider the fact that, we as humans take care of the elderly, kids and diseased individuals. This has been the evidence for social species. There is a story that once, an archeologist asked a group of students what is the earliest evidence for our species have evolved into civilization? Some said it was pottery, some said it was the evidence of metal work, evidence of language. However, as the story goes, it was none of the above. Surprisingly it was a femur bone , which was healed. As the archologist explained, a fracture can heal on its own. However, it takes time. Specially in the era of ancient world, a person cannot live without walking for a few days unless there is someone else to care for you until the fracture heals. So, the femur bone which was healed was a definite sign that other humans cared for the injured one throughout this time. Which is evidence for civilization. So, Now, we are sometimes requested by the law to care for our elders, kids and diseased. However, in the ancient world there were no rules but there is evidence somebody did care about the disease. Indirectly this is evidence for ethics as well. Somehow ethics is carved into human nature than the laws. If the ethics are by nature, why force with rules? The problem is the outlaws. Although the nature of ethics is deeply engraved in us, there are some who naturally do not have this in their system. If allowed they can play havoc in a so called, civilized society. Because a society cannot prevail and flourish if 5% of the population became thieves and gangsters. They can suppress the majority and induce terror. So, any civilized society should maintain the common rules, so that peace and harmony prevail. So, by establishing rules, we suggest that our society is not 100% ethical. So, the rules, are humanoid, while ethics are natural. It seems rules are made by humans. As such are not seen among any other animal species. However, evidence of ethics you may even see in a BBC documentary of wild Dogs. Have you seen these packs hunt? They hunt as a group, organized than any other species, even surpassing the wolves. And once they hunt everyone gets their fair share. Although there are no rules, these dogs are bounded by ethics. Just like our ancestors who had only ethics to guide them when they started trading between different ethnic groups. So, it seems Ethics are natural. While rules are humanoid. Only in recent years that we figured out these ethics and tried to write them down. And this is a difficult task, just like anything which is associated with heart. It is not going to be easy to define something platonic , so often these are only vague guidelines. Future of ethics. As we have looked at the past, and the current state of affair between rules and ethics only thing left is future. Obviously, by now, you have understood the future is about ethics. As, attitude matters, ethics matters more than rules. As if everyone in a society can behave ethically, there would be no need for rules. At least this is what we should aim as a society although it will be an impossible dream. Imagine such a society which without a judicial system. As judicial system prevails only because there are unethical behavior prevails. Such a society would be nothing but a heaven, with humans living like Gods. Rarely I find such beings live in our society, and they are hard to come by. Often, they are labelled as fools when they do not take every opportunity as they weigh themselves against ethics. And I think it is fair them to be reborn in the God's realm once they are dead, not us. Question When are we willing to change?

A total Rest, By the lagoon. You are walking towards the lagoon park, as all the benches are occupied, take the footpath which runs towards the edge of the water, where you find a place to sit. The breeze which carries the salty smell of the lagoon comfort your tiredness of the hard-working day. The sky is gloomy as it appears raining in the far away mountains. There is only single Golden cloud although the sun already disappeared, it was his last attempt to remind the day he dominated had end. You feel happy. And you notice the happiness you feel is the reflection of the cloud that you just saw, and you notice how it disturbed the peace which already had. You think of taking a photo, of the golden cloud, however, do nothing. Try to understand the wind instead. Try to be the sky, the clouds and that annoying Noice which disturb the happiness and peace you seek. Notice how and why it doesn't last as you expected. Let it be a total rest; let it be a partial rest. And you let everything to come and go deliberately opening the door of your mind just to watch them appear and disappear like the waves in front of you. What is A total Rest? Can there be a thing like total rest? Once I wrote an article claiming that we should aim at resting instead of retiring . As I pointed out there, even after so called retiring we would not be resting. We might be still working, so resting is the only way we can seek the so-called Peace that we seek all our lives. Often, I have taken rests, just like you. Sometimes, days after days trying to rest. Imagine you have a long weekend ahead. You may have done some extra work to get one day added to your weekend. And this weekend you are going to rest. You may decide to sleep until noon and order food. You may postpone any meetings, cancel encounters. You may choose to munch snacks watching Netflix, not just one movie, but a dozen of them. Just like when Bruno Mars Sang, nobody would dare say you cannot do it. ----------------------------------- Today I don't feel like doing anything I just wanna lay in my bed Don't feel like picking up my phone So leave a message at the tone 'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything ------------------------------------ I am sure you have don't it before. However, you may have noticed, you do not feel at rest at all. Why is this? Why is doing something you Favour, most does still make you feel drained, not rested? The rest you are taking doing these tasks is not a total rest. Of course you let your consciousness freely float in time. However, a total rest is only achievable when you are mindful about your awareness. Which is by definition the Mindfulness. When you see your current status of the mind and accept it as it is, even when you are angry, even when you are sad, even when your mind is at peace, that is mindfulness. You just acknowledge and continue to be aware. You do not have a specific task to do. You can be aware of your breath in seated position in the beginning but once you have seen enough, just being aware is enough. This remind me a quote that I heard a long time ago, "If you are aware, you are not there, no point in being there". If you think about this in relation to rest, we can understand why watching Netflix is not a total rest. As, if you are not mindful, any task becomes a futile process, even the rest. If you are not aware of the "Rest" it is like we have not rested at all. It is like waking up from a mini-Coma. At the end of it you will be back to where you have left, which is unrested state. Even our work would demand more consciousness than this. How to have a total rest. So, what is the solution. Compared to above, some activities are inherently demanding mindfulness. Such as taking a walk in a new part of the city. ( A paradigm shift ) Or even an ordinary walk without music and friends or the dog would demand more attention to the present moment. For an artistic mind this could be some creative activity, like composing music or a painting. Although it is considered as "Work" these activities still can serve the purpose of a "Rest". So, the Key is to be mindful. So, you may ask, if that is true, any activity can be a "Total Rest". And I would agree with you. But just like you I really find it difficult to be mindful watching the Telly . :)

Taller the bamboo grows lower it bends. This is a Chinese proverb. Of course, you would remember pandas and bamboo trees when you hear the proverb. More importantly we should analyze what does it mean. As the secret of being humble is hidden in the nature of growth of a bamboo tree. If you haven't seen bamboo, trees, they are one of the fast-growing trees in the world. Compared to its circumference, they are very tall. Although they start to grow directly towards the sky as young shoots, once they reach a certain height, the bamboo will start to bend from its own wight, towards the ground. And this is analogous to the fact that someone wiser is more down to earth than rest of the people. More humble and less egotic. This is the characteristic that everyone should aim to achieve naturally, as there is no way you can bend a tree without breaking it unless it is a bamboo. Reading the proverb gives me many questions. We will go through each of them to figure out the natural way of becoming humbler. Which I call is the mindfulness way, like a bamboo. How to be a bamboo? You can try to be humble. Like the internet suggests there are list of seven, ten or twelve things to do. However, I suggest more importantly we should aim to become a bamboo tree than some other tree. As, if you try to introduce being humble to someone who is not, it will end with disaster as it is not natural. So, how can you become humble like a bamboo. This is where the mindfulness wisdom comes into play. Mindfulness will help us to become a bamboo tree rarther than bend already straight one. How to be humble by Observing truths of life. Mindfulness will let us observe life as it is. Just like David Wallace , introduced us to water in his commencement speech, we will be able to see simple truths about life. Simple truths, like happiness is not in money, but an affair of the mind. Like when you go on a vacation, I am sure you have been to visit a mountain. I am not talking about ordinary hill that you visit everyday, when you have so much ego, that would not do the trick. So you will have to go to a great peak, like Matternhorn, Rocky or Himalayan type of a peak. And just when you go there you will realise how small you are. How small you are compared to a mountain which is so huge. When you compare the weight you would be just a grain in a bucket full of grains. Even smaller. More you spend times there you would see your ego, takes a vacation on its own and you fall back on earth. I am sure you have felt the same, just that you have never word it before. Now you know why you feel relaxed as you do not have to carry the burden of being yourself, home. It is a hell of a resoponsibility to be somebody, less ego, is the starting point to becoming nobody. And more you spend time with the nature more you will realise this fact. You can do the same in the beach, watching the waves . And compare this to all the other human beings. Like the mountain, the sea is a vast body. With the sound of crashing waves, even your voice is going to be unheard, unless you start to shout deep from your lungs. So, definitely you will be silenced for the most of the time when you are at the beach. When you start to spend your times, in these solitary journeys with nature, you will start to realise the Zero of life . Which essentially means that equality of the life. Life which starts at zero ends in zero one day. And this is universal to every life. When these facts are seen not by my words, but within your own life, you will be reborn as a bamboo. As we see it the conciousness is a potential, which has ability to become extraordinary if it believes in anything. So, the mindfulness way is to realise that you are not different from everyone else. You are not separate from everyone else, as we all are interconnected by the nature. As these simple truths are only seen with the mindfulness, Let's start a humble journey today. Once you become a bamboo, maybe we can think about start the journey to be a hydrophobic leaf next.

Once upon a time there lived a King and a Queen. They were living happily ever after in their kingdom. They had two sons. Two princes, who were equally kind and honest like their parents. After some time a tragedy struck and the Queen died in child birth. Of course even queens died those days during child birth, as there was no established health system in place. You and I are lucky to be born after Alexandar Flemming era. After the queens death the king, married again. This time with a widowed Queen. The new Queen had a son too. All the three princes were fond of each other. It was a sight to see when they played in the garden. As time went by, they became teenagers. Getting ready to have the responsibility of the Kingdom. The eldest was the wisest. The middle was the bravest. The second Queen's son was neither wise, Nor brave. One day they went out on an adventure into a nearby thick jungle. All alone by themselves. They were exploring unexplored land, and had great deal of fun. Climbing trees, steep rocks and discovering new teretories. And they came to a beautiful pond middle of the jungle. They all decided, they should stop there, have a bath and turn back home as it was getting dark. So they jumped into the water, all three of them. They did not know there was an ancient monster in the water. Within seconds the monster Jumped from the depth of the water and captured two of the princes in his two hands. He roared loudly, as the third and the eldest prince escaped to the bank in a flash. He dragged his sword and firecely stood against the monster to fight back to save his brothers. The monster so powerful and enormous, and wise too. He knew their language very well, like all the monsters do. He laughed and said, "You pathetic little boy, Are you going to fight me? You will have to step into the water. As the rule of the God, I am allowed to eat anything which enters water, and the moment you step foot, I am going to eat you alive too. So run! while you can" The eldest prince was not afraid. He observed everything, and said. "I am not just a boy, I am the Eldest prince of this kingdom. You are holding my brothers, Unless you release them now, I am going to summon an army and destroy you." The monster said. "Even if you do that, your brothers will be dead by then. It is a battle you have lost from the beginning. So, I will give you a choice." "I will eat one of your brothers and save you the other, and never come back to this pond again" The eldest Son, thought for a while. Given the choice of saving one is better for the little trouble. He is at the verge of never seeing both of his brothers. And he knew he had to agree, that is the best he can do. If he do not do that he would loose both of his brothers and kill the monster, but to what end. So he agreed. He told, "Spare me the youngest brother, You can eat my own brother, the bravest" The monster was suprised of his choice. And said. "So, you decided to sacrifice your own brother? What a coward you are. Are you afraid that he will grow up one day and steal your kingdom? Is that what you were thinking you cunning prince?" The eldest spoke. "No, that was not what I was thinking. If we go back with my own brother and tell all the people there is a monster who ate my brother in Law, Nobody would believe us, we will have to come back here and kill you to show everyone that is true. But If I go back with my brother in Law, and tell my own brother was killed, everyone would believe his eyewitness, as he has no reason to lie against me. He stand more a witness than my own brother. (Less conflicts of interest as we call it in ethics) The monster hearing the prince's talk became very happy. So He decided to let go of both the princes captured. In return they did never come back, letting the monster live a peaceful life in his pond. On conflicts of interest. Imagine you are a CEO of a government own firm. And you are interviewing set of candidates for a major position in the company. One of your relatives or neighbours son is there as a candidate. Although how much you try to avioid, there will be either positive or negative bias, (You would either favour or deny their chance of getting through the interview) and That is Conflict of interest. So, if you do not declare that this relationship and avoid being in the interview board, it would be unethical and unfair by the others, or the candidate. There are many situations like above conflicts of interest occurs. Like the situation the elder prince faced in our story. Saving the brave prince,and the brother would be a better option for the country, but who is going to believe them? everyone smell a foul play even if there is not any. Conflicts of interest - is a form of greed which occurs in our minds. Sometimes we even do not feel that this is at play. However this appears everywhere, more than we think. As greed, tend to be working in stealth mode, most of the time during the day. Remember the In -law fights, they are universal. Although we think we care for the others, there is a subtle form of greed which expect something from our loved ones. And when this is denied, there will be a fight. So, for the Mother in Law and the daughter in law, the son or the husbands affection is a conflict of interest. I can show you why with a little example. More examples of conflicts of interest at play. Imagine a play, that you went to see. Your little daughter is taking a part in it. You are sitting at the back bench, cheering up. And boy! they have put their item at the end of the day. You are waiting and waiting until your daughter appears on the stage. And finally she does appear. And that is a treat for your eyes. You observe every move of her. When she does it perfect you are happy. When she does not, you smile for her silly mistakes. You compare her to all the other children. That there is a conflict of interest. Your eyes seek the sight of your daughter and you want her to perform better than any other. You would do anything ethical to make it happen. So, even within the framework of standard ethics we cannot avoid conflict of interest. To understand the difference you have to look at the situation from stranger's eyes. So, I put Jesus on the audiance. When he look at the stage, he sees everyone. There is no specific attachment to your daughter, or someone elses daughter. Even ones who are not doing well, crying in corner, or even the ones who are agressive are equal in his eyes. He even see you. And everyone else. When I say "Everyone" it means every living being. Even the aleans and other Gods. And see all of them equal. So he wants the happiness of even microbes like demodex. He, surely do not possess any conflict of interest! How not to have confict of interest. So, as you can see it is not easy for someone to have no confilits of interest. That is why we declair it beforehand and avoid being in situations this occur. But can we really not have conflict of interest? When we think about it, we know that this is a platonic form . There cannot be a human being, without conflicts of interest, as such a person would love his children same way as he loves his dog. And this interest would not be more than what he is having for himself. Can you imagine such a person? Even in extream situations this person would not act, unethically. Like, when his son is drownning, together with his dog, he would not have preference to save one over the other. I am sure everyone would say it he is insane he tried to save the dog before his son. However, I am not saying there are no such minds existing. Such conciousness are very rare, and insanely difficult to find. And I believe this is the highest form of self we should aim to achieve during our lifetime. So, are you willing to steer your ship to those unknown deep waters? Let's help with a little wind from mindfulness wisdom so you can reach that destination faster. As mindfulness is the eyes which makes us see our internal conflicts of interest.

This would be the strangest thing that I am going to write. It makes me smile. Showering is something we do alone, most of the time. It is very personal affair between us and the body we possess. What a good opportunity to practice some mindfulness ? How can a daily routine shower can be a place for you to relax and be mindful? That is the objective of this article. At least get you a smile at the end. A natural Shower. First, we will look at natural showering. Have you ever taken a natural shower? From a waterfall, or a roadside stream? A dip in the sea or a natural pool. These are my observations. I can remember when I was a teenager I took a dip in the sea. I call it a dip, as I did not know how to swim. I was always fascinated by the sea. I would walk to the depths of the sea until I am drowned to my nose and wait for a big wave. When it does, it was often higher than me, and I would be rolled and washed toward the beach. That was a dangerous affair, as Sherlock Holmes would point out, as at any moment I could have been dragged to the sea. I can remember I would close my eyes when a wave is approaching and just roll with it to the shore. Only to open when my feet hit the ground again. Fortunately, it always did hit the ground. I wouldn't do that today. As I have become wiser to know the life is more valuable than the adrenalin rush in the youth. Some would not survive to live up to the full potential of it because of the stupidity like I had. Even before this we would take a "Natural shower" when it was monsoon. The rain created a little waterfall, from the gutters, and this was a fun time for us kids. We were allowed to take a rainwater shower. Mind you those days we took water from the well, and there were no pipelines to our house. I have written a great deal on monsoon and showers we had, in my previous article Rain rain go away . What is the wisdom we can gain from above to our daily routine showers? How to have a Mindful shower? I want you to imagine going back to those natural showers and remember what happened. You were fully engulfed by the environment or in the moment. At such places the mindfulness is natural, and that is why we can remember everything. Even the sensation of splashes of water in your face. One thing I noticed is I have kept my eyes closed. And let the body feel what it does with the water. That there is a simple trick to have a mindful shower. Close your eyes and fully engage with water. Rather than doing it habitually you can do it mindfully. Once you close your eyes feel the water from the top of your head to toes. And you will feel your problems washing away. You may find that when you close your eyes, the body is not able to identify the difference between a waterfall shower and an artificial shower. It is the same sensation. Only difference is the context provided by your mind that this shower is not natural. And you will realize that all showers are same. It is natural, and there is a waterfall, at your home. I'm sure you will enjoy more when you realize this fact. Do you know the best part of it is that this "Natural shower" comes with zero risk to life. Unlike a dip in the sea, even the stones are slippery at the waterfall. You can be more creative taking a shower. As I wrote in the previous article being creative is the modern American Dream . So, you can be more creative in taking a shower. You would ask me why? I would say look at the numbers my friend. Do you know how much time we spend in the shower during our lifetime? If it is twenty minutes a day, that would be almost one whole year in shower in your lifetime! Do you want to fill this year with stress and anxiety or creativity in life? Taking a shower is a conceptual art. Not only taking a shower, but anything can be conceptual art . You do not believe me? You would, once you know how much they paid to the guy who pasted a banana on the wall with a duct tape and call it an Art. So, I created my own art during the showering. This is how it worked. I kept my hands on my chest one folded over another and created a little pool. Let the warm water (or cold if you prefer) accumulate in this little pool on my chest. It starts to overflow like a dam on a heavy rainy day. And it transmits the heat of the water directly to my chest. And I would let it go, like a break in the dam, so the rest of my body, which was devoid of water now flooded with it. It makes me smile every time I do this, as I felt like a statue of David in the middle of a fountain. I am sure you will be more creative than this. Let me know. I hoped you enjoyed reading how to have a mindful shower.

The dream land of creativity. I am sure of it; the American dream did not start with creativity. Maybe it started with some enthusiastic British and French men, who were in search of richness and escape from poverty. Maybe some fled away from their troubles and wives and children in search of Gold. However, after centuries those reasons do not matter now. As America is considered as the greatest place for dreamers . As my blog is also read by many Dreamers, American or not, I dedicate this chapter on creativity and dreams. Creativity is a great power. Creativity is a great power, that humans possess than any animal species. That is what took our generations out of thick jungles ages ago. Creativity matters to thrive as a society and as an individual. I can write more on its benefits; however, you would know. Why creativity is so powerful? How does it shape our future. Creativity comes in many shapes and forms. When we identify creativity in art, most often, it may also be found in engineering, mathematics, or even in cycling . Creativity adds some value to otherwise boring lives of routine. I see creativity in the top tier of the bloom's taxonomy. As creativity leads to new innovations . From this aspect America is the greatest, as it encourages the collaboration of most renowned minds together to form thousands of patents a year. You can be creative. Imagine you are a brick layer. Can you not be creative? I urge you to be creative at your work and out of your work. Otherwise, you would be wasting your years and years of time laying brick after brick learning nothing. Be damn creative so that you are the best brick layer in the whole world. How would you be creative? It comes naturally when you make it a habit listening to your mind. Often our minds are clouded by routine boring thoughts. However, throughout the day I notice there comes times that the mind is sharp. Just like a surgical scalpel. If you are mindful, a creative idea would linger in your head, and just like other thoughts it will go away. Unless you make notice of it and make it a little dream. An American dream or an Australian dream. It doesn't matter. This idea initially would not show any shape. Just like a mound of clay. While you are at work you have to play with it. Make some shape out of it. Get your hands dirty. And you would make a pot at the end of the day. It may not be the best pot in the world, neither the most valuable pot . However, it would still be good enough to give you experience to make another. I know you have complaints at this point. Your mind would say, I do not have best tools. I have only a mound of clay. What can you do if you have only a mound of clay? Remember the quote "It is not the one who has the best ingredients cooks the most delicious cake?". I remind myself this whenever my stupid mind brings up the stupid excuses to not to be creative. You are what you see , and you are what you do. So, the moment you start pounding that mound of clay with a stick you are a creator. I can remember someone close to me years ago. He had a nice smile and a big heart. A young man with enormous power. Hardworking man. Once he was working in our backyard digging a deep drain, to drain the monsoon water that flow across our land. I remember when he was tired, he would sit on a piece of wood and make a small ball of clay from the soil he just unearthed. And he started tapping it with a piece of flat wood. First, he would make it a flat disk, then with his fist in the middle he would tap more and more until it is shaped into a nice little pot. And he did not complaint that he did not have best equipment. I still can remember he gifted it to me with a big smile on his face. I did learn and I made my own little pots. It really does not have to be big, and enormous like dreams of Elon musk . As the values are measured our minds, tiny things matter. Hence, little bit creativity will add more to smiles which are very hard to come by. If you cannot do it for yourself, do it for others, as that is the Dennis Detroit way of happiness. Do not be afraid of the rules. This is a dangerous thing to say. However, as I consider myself a philosopher I can say it. Be aware of the rules. Do, not go into jail. There are some people who make us follow the rules. However, remember trajectory of the human history was changed by the people who were not afraid of challenging the rules. Rules are the killers of creativity. That's why I do like dreams. As in dreams anything and everything is possible. More importantly, rules are made by our ancestors who made them follow their observations of the universe in their eyes. You have your own consciousness to judge your world. Hence you may find a better set of rules which describe your own world better than your ancestors. If you do not know when and how to break the rules, be friends with a good lawyer. They will definitely guide you, as they are not afraid of the rules. If you are a lawyer, you already know what I am saying here as one of the jobs of the lawyer is to navigate the rules without breaking them. There were lot of them who wanted to destroy creativity, after been halfway through the expected life, now I realize. I shouldn't have listened to them. I shouldn't have delayed writing the first poem. I shouldn't have delayed creating a blog. As being creative is the silver lining of my day. As I remind myself when I know it is going to spark some consciousness to be an extraordinary person in the future. What is your "American" Dream?

Background 1 - fake dinosaur or real dinosaur In a relaxed afternoon, while napping on a couch, you see your kid playing with a plastic dinosaur. An adorable sight as long as he is not disturbed, and you are not disturbed. And you walk through the memory lane to figure out the origins of the dinosaur. You notice that it is made up of plastic, molded in a factory in mainland China . Obviously, even without the label it is sure that half of the products in your room are from China. And where did the plastic come from? From Crude Oil, dug deep in Oil farms of UAE. Plastic is essentially a byproduct of oil. How did oil generate in deep desert? Now in your dream, you imagine, dinosaurs who once ruled earth in Paleoanthropic era, on their doom's day, instantly dead with a catastrophic earthquake, with thousands other flora and fauna, they were buried deep underground over years. Immense heat from earth's core and pressure from above dissolve their hydrocarbons into oil. Until humans evolve into a species capable into tap into the sap of earth's history to bring out Crude oil. And you wake up suddenly realizing, the dinosaur your child is holding actually and partially came from real dinosaurs! Background 2- Why cannot I see an elephant in a pen? I saw this amazing video, actually part of it, where a judge is starting to question a teenager, who is on the witness stand. Before real questioning began judge wanted to clarify what is truth to the child. So, she pointed out to her pen and said, "If I said that this is a pen, Am I telling truth?" The child answered yes. And she continued. "If I said that this is an elephant, Am I telling the truth? or am I lying? The child answered "That would be lying" You may have now in a position to look at the truth critically. Obviously, it is true when you point to a pen and say that is a pen. Obviously, it is not an elephant. However, if you would combine the wisdom you gained from the above background 1, you can definitely say there are some pieces of the dinosaur in the pen. Of course that would be a stupid answer to a Judge, you will still be guilty. But as a philosopher it fascinates me when I know it is likely that the pen similarly will hold atoms of an elephant, even dead ancestors of mine. As for years and years, living species on earth used and reused these hydrocarbon atoms. It is very unlikely total new atoms are there. Philosophy of truth We can further continue with above example as a mental experiment. Imagine someone melts the pen into a ball. If it was shown to anyone now, it would be a "Plastic ball" not a pen. Isn't it amazing. You wouldn't appreciate if you cannot see the timeline of the "Matter" in this case, So I would summaries this. Star dust-matter after big bang -> matter on earth Matter on earth-> matter in dinosaur/Elephant matter in elephant -> matter in oil Matter in oil -> matter in a pen Matter in pen -> matter in plastic ball. What does this mean philosophically? What is philosophy of truth? Following are my conclusions. Send me yours. Saying there is a pen is a relative truth. As pen is just a form, at particular time at a particular place, a collection of matter. (It is true relative to the person who observe it) You can see anything in everything, as we share only common pool of atoms. This makes me identify myself as nature, not separate entity. We can understand this phenomenon, of relative nature of truth, when we look at different aspects of daily Life. If you are interested you can read following articles to learn about philosophy of Forms , Collar bone philosophy. When we question the reality, it appears as something made up by our mind than what actually is.

Happy grass. You are sitting by the lagoon. All alone, with your consciousness. The wind-blown across the lagoon makes a constant tickle on your face. The group of crows arguing with each other in nearby trees. The eagles, on the other hand are circling very high, up above everything. Below the gloomy evening sky. They travel solo. Just like you this evening. Surely, they have the majestic view. If only. If only they possess the power of your observation. Looking at the chaotic waves, which makes a constant chatter, you turn towards the bank. Notice the small grass flowers which happily sway in the wind. In full harmony with each other, they look like a group of dancers. And you notice the happiness, is just there, in the grass. Click this for the video --> Grass Happiness was there in the grass. I remember times when I was a tiny kid. I was one of the smallest in the class. We used to go to school early, and before the school officially started, we played in the ground. The one ground was occupied by many children. Often, ones in middle or higher classes, would play in the middle. I did not mind playing on the sides of the ground. There were plenty of thick grass in the periphery of the ground. Unlike in the middle, we could even roll over in it, without getting too much dirt in our school uniform. The grass was grown. For a child only few feet tall, it was like a jungle. I often imagined myself it is a jungle. We used to jump around, playing "ICE -WATER" on the slopes of the ground which were heavily greenish with grass. Tiny yellow flowers blossomed in these parts, attracting small bees and insects. These were the best times of the day. I remember going to the class once the bell rang, with full of sweat, on hot days. It made it difficult, to go through the first period with all the adrenaline rushing through the body. But I could not stop playing the next day. Sometimes when nobody was watching we would tie two bunches of grass together. And make miniature traps. We used to walk, like we haven't seen them and step into them. We would roll over, like the traps did work, imitating someone fall. I cannot remember a day, where somebody really got trapped and fell. Why would that make me happy? Was I cruel? to see someone fall. I think maybe, it brings a same sensation as someone catching a fish, if it did ever work. Grass here, Grass there, Grass everywhere. I can write a whole day on grass. I am not bosting. Not at all I am a botany student, Neither I am a Cow! But I know I have been with grass and remember the times we spent together than both of them. Like, when the grass leaves are dry, I used to delicately separate small rectangular peace of its leave and balance it in my fingertip, to make a temporary fan. Once it is glued with a drop of saliva, I could run and make it spin! What a marvelous fun. Imagine you can be happy. Just being with grass. Try it next time, when you go to the park! Grass, is here, Grass is there, Grass is everywhere. Where is happiness found? Where is happiness found? Sometimes it brings me tears, when I know, that me myself is responsible for killing the child in me. Then I think, maybe it was bound to happen. After all the grass is still there, in the ground. Children still play. How can I teach my kid, the happiness can be in Grass, McDonald's or KFC? Would they ever believe?