Perception

I Found this article online while browsing for literature, thought of sharing.

Something To Think About . . .

THE SITUATION

The Metro station L’Enfant Plaza, Washington, DC, on a cold January
morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for
about 45 minutes.  During that time, approximately 1,097 people went
through the station, most of them on their way to work.  After about 3
minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing.
He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried
on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar.  A woman threw money in the
hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at
his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.
The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed
hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time.
This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent
- without exception – forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:
The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened
for a short while.  About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their
normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over.  No one noticed and no one
applauded.  There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the
greatest musicians in the world.  He played one of the most intricate
pieces ever written, with a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin worth $4
million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in
Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him
play the same music.

The experiment was initiated by Washington Post columnist Gene
Weingarten, Bell donned a baseball cap and played as an incognito
street busker at the Metro subway station in Washington, D.C. on
January 12, 2007. Weingarten won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature
writing for his article on the experiment as part of a social
experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:
*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we
perceive beauty?

*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best
musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written,
with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Acceptance

Oneness is truth, and truth is oneness. Everything comes forth from oneness.

Oneness entails the interconnected of everything in this world. Truth is the relationships of the opposing/complimentary forces that is part of this oneness. Our reality is just our interpretation of truth. Despite our perception, our judgment, truth is as these relationships are.

Intelligence enables us to obtain knowledge, but wisdom (true knowledge) is where we apply those information and understand the working of the different relationships in this world.

All types of knowledge leads to self-knowledge, where an individual is aware of his relationship working with all the different relationships in the world, and he acts base on that. This is the application of wisdom. This is also when one is aware of the oneness of the world. Acting with self-knowledge and awareness is self-actualization.

As a result, intelligence leads to wisdom, wisdom leads to awareness, and ultimately, awareness gives birth to true courage and true love. With those, one has the power to act, to be honest with oneself and others.

That’s why…

True love comes from oneness because knowing we are all connected, compassion arises.

True courage also comes from oneness because fear arises from unknowns, and it is only unknown when one is not aware of oneness.

That’s also why, all types of negativity in this world occurs as a result of derailing from oneness, and in other words, being unaware of the oneness of the world/universe. Some examples are…

Denial is a refusal to see the relationships of different forces working together (or against each other), or attachment to one’s own perception of truth.

Anger is a result of expecting relationships to go certain way, again, attachment to one’s perception of how things should be.

Separation is when a person is attached to only one aspect of oneness, like being happy. They just want to be happy, but forget the fact that, happiness exists because sadness also exists.

Hence, attachment is the cause of suffering. When you let go, when you detach, you have everything. Being aware, being in the moment, being present to experience things as they are, lead to peace and joy.

Confessions of a Sales Person A.K.A Rape victim

Saturday morning…. Not much work (quite obvious)…. Thinking of how life has been in the past one year… And therefore the equation,confessions of a Sales Person A.K.A Rape Victim.

This update is dedicates to all the sales people out there. When you think of it, nothing gives you as much exposure to the real world, like sales. The customer, the moment of truth, the boss, the management and the sales guy in between all of them. If frustration is at an all time high, he is most likely to be gang raped. Here is my legal definition of the Boss-Sales guy relation.

“Sales is rape by mutual consent. Where in the rapist(Boss) and the victim(sales guy) are bound by a legal contract called the offer letter. As per the contract, the victim agrees to get raped by his boss on all working days between 9 to 6 (sometimes on weekends as well). Either of the parties may opt out of the contract by serving one month’s notice period, during which time, the rapist may find a suitable victim and the victim may find a suitable rapist.”

And by the way if our boss reads this, just wanna let him know that the above description / theory has no resemblance to characters alive or dead… We’re cool
Phew! Now that the appraisal is taken care of, lets move on…

Truly, the field makes you strong and nothing gives you a kick in life as much as closing a deal. That’s what we live for…. That’s the fuel ( and the booze of course!)… So all the sales guys out there! Get More Business!!!!

Truth

“Truth is a pathless land”. Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophical knowledge or psychological technique. He has to find it through the mirror of relationship, through the understanding of the contents of his own mind, through observation and not through intellectual analysis or introspective dissection.

Man has built in himself images as a fence of security—religious, political, personal. These manifest as symbols, ideas, beliefs. The burden of these images dominates man’s thinking, his relationships, and his daily life. These images are the causes of our problems for they divide man from man. His perception of life is shaped by the concepts already established in his mind. The content of his consciousness is his entire existence. The individuality is the name, the form and superficial culture he acquires from tradition and environment. The uniqueness of man does not lie in the superficial but in complete freedom from the content of his consciousness, which is common to all humanity. So he is not an individual.

Freedom is not a reaction; freedom is not choice. It is man’s pretence that because he has choice he is free. Freedom is pure observation without direction, without fear of punishment and reward. Freedom is without motive; freedom is not at the end of the evolution of man but lies in the first step of his existence. In observation one begins to discover the lack of freedom. Freedom is found in the choiceless awareness of our daily existence and activity.

Thought is time. Thought is born of experience and knowledge, which are inseparable from time and the past. Time is the psychological enemy of man. Our action is based on knowledge and therefore time, so man is always a slave to the past. Thought is ever limited and so we live in constant conflict and struggle. There is no psychological evolution. When man becomes aware of the movement of his own thoughts, he will see the division between the thinker and thought, the observer and the observed, the experiencer and the experience. He will discover that this division is an illusion. Then only is there pure observation which is insight without any shadow of the past or of time. This timeless insight brings about a deep, radical mutation in the mind.

Total negation is the essence of the positive. When there is negation of all those things that thought has brought about psychologically, only then is there love, which is compassion and intelligence.

-By J. Krishnamurti  (1895- 1986)

Life

What is life? Is it the beating of heart in your body the physical essence that we carry or what? I don’t believe in any of it Life is what we make of it. We all live our lives pursuing the dreams that our parents have set for us. The better way of putting it up would be: Dreams that our ancestors have passed down the generations which our parents pass down to us and with the dream of fulfilling of those dreams we have to live our lives. What an irony.

I know I may be sounding a lil hypocrite but think about it: when we were young our parents took decisions for us. When we were teenagers we were asked to study. After studying we were asked to make a career; after making the career we are asked to settle down. After settling down we are asked to start a family after starting a family we live for our kids. And eventually those kids just leave us and walk away. So where have we lived for ourselves. We always have lived for our parents, our partners & our kids, in the end we have forgotten to live for ourselves which we realize quite late in our lives.

We as human beings put on a charade always thinking that we are happy in our lives but the truth is we are never happy. We are the unhappy souls however the human being still finds some sort of happiness amongst this which is quite surprising.

We have always tend to make our lives so complicated that we start to despise it and always try to live in the fantasy world of how would our lives be if were one of the most successful people on the earth. However we tend to forget that success is just like the tip of the iceberg, the base is full of problems. Despite having success, fame and fortune to these people they still unable to enjoy themselves. They are unable to enjoy a simple things in life like a meal, a simple walk barefooted on the grass. I wish I could find the answer to this question. It is said that we all find the answers to all of our questions in life eventually, but what is the use of these answers when you wanted it the most.

In short life is The process of continually downsizing all hope and expectations; an endless downward spiral of false hopes that are there only to be crushed and  you are left empty inside longing for a purpose.

It is The act of ‘being’ in a period of time that is completed by death. The act of ‘being’ however is distorted and blurred by the act of ‘having’ in today’s social twisted folk. Consequently society and its subordinates don’t pursue their real aim of ‘being’ but are forced by mass media and propaganda-spreading so-called governments to the act of ‘having’ which is therefore a self-destructive act and will result in the implosion of mankind.

Society…..

Society is a jungle within it self.. no matter who you are; where  you are from. You are always  a part of this rat-race, a rat-race where there is no finish line. you keep on running till the last to be the first but in-turn you realize that you were just being played with.

Society is sure a crazy breed, no matter you are there are not there its never lonely it will always has somebody to play with. If you oppose him, his rules you are branded as an out-cast, a castaway.

When the people who are the elite of this race, who are the pioneers here make or set boundaries or guidelines; my question is how did they arrive at a conclusion that this is right and that is wrong. It is as good as saying that I am right you are wrong.

We as humans are the funniest, devious, sneaky devils. We our selves set the rules the guidelines and then we try to bend and break them. We try to ape people around us which in turn makes us lose our-self our individuality we try to mold our-selves according to the society and in-turn kill our-selves. The killing is not that of physical but more of our spirit. We all dream of doing plenty of things but thinking of the society we live in we refrain ourselves of doing so. We modify ourselves so much that we forget to live our lives we become nothing more than the puppets.

I personally don’t know whom do I despise the most, this so called “Society” or myself; who is forced to dance to its tune. Trying to get away from it but is being pulled more into it. This society gives you a lot of things in return the so called friends, allies, competitors, etc. but at the cost of what? Our sanity, I see thousands of peoples daily around but I see none of them happy, they all put up a charade; a mask to hide behind it.  Its only a matter of time till it comes off and you see the true face.

Yin- Yang of LIFE.

Balance

Yin Yang the most simplistic and at the same time a deep meaningful image. It represents the balance of life. The circle of Life.

Diane Arbus  once said ” A photograph is a secret of a secret. The more it tell you the less you know”

Yin and yang are complementary opposites within a greater whole. Yin and yang are thought to arise together from an initial tranquility or emptiness. Yin–yang are rooted together. Since yin and yang are created together in a single movement, they are bound together as parts of a mutual whole.

We find Yin-Yang in every aspect of our life, its just that we do not tend to see them. Its like Male and Female who are whole in themselves but incomplete without each other. You need both of them for balance; to create life.  Yin Yang is the foundation of the entire Universe. It underlies everything in creation. It brings about the development of parenthood; it is the root the source of life and death.

Yin: the Source of Light (Good). Yang: the Source of Darkness (Evil);  however it also has another side to it. i.e  In absolute Good there is Evil. In Absolute Evil there is  little good.  We have Yin- Yang amongst us its just which side are we on.

We brand/ label/judge people as absolute good or evil, for example let’s say Dawood Ibrahim a notorious gangster/smuggler, etc wanted by almost all the nations. We call him absolutely evil etc. However there is a also a different side to it which we all tend to ignore, rather I say ” we choose to ignore”. I am not saying that he is good Samaritan or anything but yes he must be good to some-one. He must have helped some person in his daughter’s marriage, threaten some wife abuser, helped some-one get a job, etc. To these people no matter what his line of work may be he is still a savior to them.

Yin Yang are mutually-arising, interdependent, and continuously transforming, one into the other. One could not exist without the other, for each contains the essence of the other. Night becomes day, and day becomes night. Birth becomes death, and death becomes birth. Friends become enemies, and enemies become friends. Such is the nature

Human Mind

Human Mind: One of the most complex things that a human has. It can be simple to understand yet complex to comprehend. It is the one part of human body which is always at war with the “Human Conscience”. It has the ability to pull off the most unexpected i.e. come up with the solutions for the most complex problems & also offer the most stupidest solutions also. It is one part of the human being which is always at work, trying to analyze, rationalize, provide solutions, think, contemplate, not a single second where it rests in peace. I dunno about the saints… the divine beings who have attained the so called “NIRVANA” (not the band).

All I wonder how would this NIRVANA be? would it be really that peaceful where you are one with your mind, body and soul. Where you have no internal conflicts, where you are ONE with yourself.

Every-time  I am alone lost in my own little personal world… where I stare into the void trying to seek answers to the most important question in my life. The peace of mind, the healing of soul. I have often heard, read that to make peace with mind you need to forget and forgive your past. But I don’t think that is possible for anyone.

Rose Kennedy once said ” It has been said that time heals all wounds. I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue, and the pain lessens, but it is never gone.”

All we do is think too much..we think about our past the mistake that we have done; we think about our future what are we going to do? But do we ever live in the present and enjoy the moment?

Think about it…..

“It has been said that time heals all wounds. I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue, and the pain lessens, but it is never gone.”

Rose Kennedy

Coffee species

I have a confession to make… I am a strict follower of Coffeeholicanism*, there are a certain rules that needs to be followed to be Coffeeholic. They are as follows::

1. Must drink coffee daily. (All missed days must be made up for)
2. Must accept coffee in all forms. (ex: plain, flavored, mocha..etc.)
3. Must not limit times for drinking coffee. (You can drink coffee at lunch or even 1am)
4. Decaf is a joke.

(* coffeeholicanism is not a real religion but to be taken as a joke)

Good coffee is rich and delicious all by itself. A well-pulled espresso has a perfect cap of creama- not frothy cream -but the rich brown liquid that is the perfect mix of oils from the coffee bean and hot steam. It should not taste bitter or burnt.Or be it Mocha with a hint of cinnamon or mint to it. Or be it the Irish, no matter what is your poison the key to enjoy a coffee is

“It should be sipped slowly, like a good wine, and enjoyed as the magic caffeine stimulates the brain and eases the nerves”

I must say the recent coffee shop culture is a blessing in disguise it is the place where you find young and old. Being a avid coffee sipping maniac that I am I have encountered an array of species who come to coffee shops.

SPECIES TYPE: Yuppy housewives.

CHARACTERISTICS:

• A jumbo trolley filled with groceries
• With a child (ranging from new born to 12 yr old)
• Constantly chattering about the rising grocery prices or some neighborhood gossip.
• Would usually prefer mild- coffees like latte or cappuccinos.

AGE GROUP: Late 20′s to early 40′s.

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SPECIES TYPE: Writers/techies/ work-a-holics.

CHARACTERISTICS :

• They are usually alone or in a group of 3-4.
• Majority of them are single and most importantly have minimal or no life. You always find them discussing work or furiously “pounding” the keypad of the their laptops.
• Their Laptops will mostly have a nick-name.
• Their choice of coffee would be usually large cups of black coffees.

AGE GROUP: 20′s – 30′s, or the time till they get married.

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SPECIES TYPE: Wannabe

CHARACTERISTICS:

• Zilch knowledge about coffee, for him a coffee from a road-side vendor  and a coffee shop tastes same.
• Cribs about how expensive is the place
• Dresses so colorful that a color-blind person would sue him.
• Constantly LOLing, banging on the table, in short trying to grab some attention.
• NO Matter which coffee they order they would like it to be extra sweet and then make faces while drinking.

AGE GROUP: As there is no age for stupidity, the same way there is no age for this Species.

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SPECIES TYPE: LOVE- BIRDS/ EYE-CATCHERS

CHARACTERISTICS:

• Every place is their love-shack.
• You find them cuddling together even if its 40 outside, holding hands, necking, sharing a quickie ( I meant kiss, but I like the way you think).
• Strict follwers of PDEA* Group (*Public Display of “Extra” Affection)
• Feeding each other.
• These species generally prefer anything with word “chocolate” in it.

AGE GROUP: Typical College goers to first timers.

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SPECIES: COFFEE PHILOSOPHERS

CHARACTERISTICS:

• These people enjoy sitting in coffee shops and discussing philosophy.
• deal with existential or absurd(Ref. Camus) theories or discussions.
• not well educated in philosophy in that they are more exposed to Modern and Post-Modern philosophical works, as opposed to Ancient or Scholastic thought.
• These species know their coffee and mostly stick to the same.

AGE GROUP:  Mostly 20+

Statutory warning: I need to say this else I will get sued. The above work is piece of facts and fiction and is loosely and mostly based on the actual events encountered in a  coffee shop near you. If you are reading this, it means that you have read the entire stuff and agree to it.