Assorted Thoughts- Decaffeinated Age & Anna Movement

A lazy Sunday  made me to switch away from the optimizing macroeconomic models that I have been working on to write something different with loose ends. Optimization in economics can be quite an objective process where satisfying certain conditions can lead to a sort of 'optimal result'. But in normal life 'optimal' is a very subjective process. Its not easy to pin down some consensus conditions to reach a 'particular optimal state' of being.


One Silver Lining of the Anna Movement - Hearing the sad news of the new horrific rape case today made me to think are we a nation of rapist with so much repression. With callous government and brutal police force, de-facto India seems like a banana republic . Highly class driven society where 'human sensitivity' is class bound. Democracy in India is more like what Zizek expresses about pornography, which is de-sexualization of sex. In the same way, India is a democracy without democracy.

The new tradition of mass protests with wider media attention (Anna Effect) seems the way for getting some 'justice' in India. I think this is quite an important change from the slumber in which we all seemed to be immersed. Some opponents argue this thwarts democracy, but then I thought have these guys really thought what is a 'democracy'.  But is this the only way forward. No but I think this can be quite important for other transition paths to follow. Zizek explains this phenomenon in a Hegelian perspective. Hegel uses the word “rabble” for those people who are not part of the organized social sphere and cannot participate in the social production process thus not able to reform the ills of the society. These people express their discontent in the form of “irrational” protest or violence or as Hegel calls “abstract negativity”.  The apathy of the 'common' folks seems to have reached a tipping point or can be said it had reached quite long ago but then it required a trigger to act.
As Zizek rightly nails this conundrum of our times in these words, "What function does our celebrated freedom of choice serve when the only choice is effectively between playing by the rules and (self) destructive violence" 

Decaffeinated Age ! - An age where happiness is bought not sought, an age where people 'Like' things by pressing a button, where music is based more on 'hits' then it really touching your heart/mind. Where people drink (wine/beer) for the sake of drinking without really enjoying the drink.
 I was thinking what are the new characteristics of the folks in this generation from the earlier generation. The whole generation of the social media has made the new internet folks more vocal and more asserting. Which is good in many ways for social issues etc. But as Chomsky rightly said internet is like a hammer. It can be put to constructive use but it can also be destructive when banged on someones head. The 'argumentative Indians' mostly can be found on the social media posturing /asserting/bullying/abusing etc.

 Less attention spans and lack of deep focus on an issue etc characterizes the FB generation. It seems such an 'exaggerated' narcissistic enterprise which somehow deepens the egoistic traits. People seem to have comments for everything in the world. Its good to be part of a debate but most of the time it doesn't seem useful and lacks any constructive thought process. It seems everyone has become a 'citizen journalist' trying to get a news bite but in this case creating 'news' out of thin air.

When the Thought was made to rest

(Some excerpts from my notes during my meditation retreat in India)

The mind being made to meditate is a counter process to its existence. Mind which is a collection of infinite thoughts thrives on it. The process of making the mind to meditate makes it quite uncomfortable especially the first time when its undertaken. The mere ability to observe and listen has been time memorial considered to be the characterstic of wise persons.

Day 1

My first day of meditation in Tiruvanamalai also was not an easy task. Suddenly when I started the process, thoughts seemed to have bombarded me and the mind was lost in many eclectic events. This happened especially because I was meditating properly after a long time. It is like a process when there are so many insects in a room and disinfectant is sprayed to clean it creating chaos at the beginning. The process of observing your own thoughts is an exercise undertaken by very few individuals. The resistance for silence or meditation is so huge in the mind as it rightly understands the cataclysmic impact it would entail. When the process of 'enquiry' calms the mind with lesser thoughts and eventually when a thoughtless state is reached, recent scientific evidence also shows that there is some positive transformation that occurs in the brain.The silence reminds me of the process when there is perfect servicing and cleaning of the mind like of a car done in an effecient car repair shop.

At the end of first days meditation, the dreams experienced at night were more vivid and there were thoughts that emanated from early childhood. The dreams sometimes are quite weird. Here I don't think Freud's interpretation would be right as it is not always fulfillment of my desires consciously or unconsiously. The scattering of thoughts seems to me to be a sign of thoughts beings unbundled and would eventually cast away its moorings.

Day 2

Early morning innocuous alarm woke me up and I felt that the sleep was sufficient. After having wonderful idlee's and upma for breakfast along with a fine filter coffee, I went back to my room to read and relax a bit. Lunch is early but is really a paradise for the mouth. Then I had a short nap after which I went to the meditation room in the afternoon. This was the main hall during Ramana Maharshi's time where he used to sit in silence transmitting his teachings in silence. In a sense there is no teaching. The only teaching is to know 'Who am I'. The answer lies within everyone and has to be found or has to be identified. To be precise there is no identifier or anything to be identified, there is the process when 'I' perishes and 'Self' prevails.

The meditation started with lesser thoughts and there was more calmness. The meditation went for more than 1 hour and after that I went for the evening tea. I thought of buying some books as I had not much to read. After getting the books I went to my room and the process of reading was much easier with mind reduced of distractions.

With every proceeding day of calmness in the mind, the memory seems to be in full power with great retention abilities and there was a sense of fulfillment and joy experienced in every moment. Being alone literally didn't make me to think about others. The silence makes the mind enjoy the moment which theoretically it has swallowed and said many times. This time I realised this distinctly when I was in no mood to talk to anyone as I was really rejoicing and fully observed with myself in silence. 'Fully absorbed in oneself' may seem like a egoistic exercise swimming in one's (ego's) own thoughts. But here the ego was diminished and it was as if flowing with the wave.

 Meeting ST

Meeting a person with no ego is a great experience and event which rarely happens in once lifetime. And a person with no memory who literally lives in the present is even rarer. It was a sort of a magical experience being with such a person and listening to his talks. Magical realism seems more real when I heard ST speak. There was no doubt in my mind that what he was saying was true, but to an outsider it might seem all airy.

Is not time the most puzzling and distorting thing to us.