Colors of an Orange

Science never stops to amaze me! Do you know recently, our brilliant scientists have invented a microscopic camera that takes pictures of an object as a person sees or perceives it? A tiny chip is inserted near the eye of a person, somewhat like a tiny piercing. This chip can be controlled via software. The chip can be commanded to take the picture of an object from the signals that the eyes send to the person's brain. 

When it was tested with a set of 1000-odd people, the picture of the same orange appeared in different colors for each individual. And without any doubt, every single person called the different shades as Orange color only!

Data shows that the color perceived by person A as Orange always appears blue to person B which is totally opposite in the RGB frame. Person B believes his or her perceived blue to be orange all his life. 

Similarly, person C perceives the orange color of person A as purple. Whenever he or she sees orange color, he/she sees it as purple but calls it as orange. Person A, B, and C all call the same object as orange color irrespective of the shade their brain perceives. 

How mind-boggling this is! Just imagine how different your world could be from your parents, spouse, sibling, or friend's world. Even the same person with whom we spent the maximum time of our life sees everything differently.

Let's rejoice in the colors of this world and I hope some scientists actually do this experiment sometime to prove a perceived concept. Till then I hope you enjoyed the unconventional imagination!

P.S. This is just a perceived concept. In my knowledge, no such experiment has been done.

Mars in her bridal makeup

The Sun shines bright in his full glory as he looks at his beautiful daughters orbiting around him in love. The daughters when immersed in their dad's warmth don't look at anything else. However, when they turn around, the playful sibling time ignites its own fun. Today during sibling time, the glamorous blue-green Earth, along with her brother moon, got into some mischievous mood. She can't stop admiring the blushing and bright form of her little sister Mars. Mars is waiting to lose herself in love. Her dad will send a cosmic message via meteors to extraterrestrial planets. The messenger meteors will first go to Centauri stars to let them know that gorgeous Mars is ready to get married.

Mars in her bridal makeup

Earth fondly recollects the wedding of her sister Jupiter. "You know Mars, Jupiter was furious when father sent meteors for her wedding. But she melted down as soon as Proxima Centauri uncle gladly accepted the offer for his handsome son Proxima D." 

"And do you remember her blue-pink blush when Proxima sent his special messenger meteor only for Jupiter?" Moon added.

"We can still see her changing colors all the time. Must be the meteors' messages reflecting on her." Earth giggled.

Jupiter changing colors

Mars waited patiently for the chuckles to stop so that she can ask her curious question. "Didi, your children believe Venus didi symbolizes love, sex, and comfort. Please tell me some stories of your children falling in love. How does Venus didi help them in their married life? Can she help me also, if I need it?"

"Have you already got a private message from any of Centauri uncle's sons?" Moon started pulling her leg.

"To love and be loved is to feel the sun on both sides." Earth rejoices remembering her children falling in love. "Each time my child falls in love, I feel the exuberance of emotions. But often my children face troubles in love and seek help from our kind sister Venus. She is ever ready to help my children. But, it is very sad to see that many of my children fail to understand the real meaning of love. My dear sister, in love, you don't expect anything. If you want something in return, don't call it love." 

The heartfelt advice stuck a chord in Mars' heart. As she waited patiently for a reply from the cosmos, she kept searching for the real meaning of love. She seeks more advice from her enlightened sister. "Didi, it is not the first time I will find love. I was born out of love and am existing because of the love that holds me along with you all. Love seems to have many forms. Is there anything in this universe that is devoid of love?"

The wise Earth reflected upon the depth of Mars' words. "Love is not an emotion. It is our very existence. Every emotion we feel is due to love. Love makes this world beautiful and colorful. And I am waiting for your colors also to change as our vibrant Jupiter's. These colors make our life interesting." 

It was time to get into chores of life but Mars kept contemplating and waiting for the messenger meteor, while shining bright in her bridal makeup.

Can enlightenment be reversed?

One of the definitions of enlightenment is "Small mind merging into the universal mind". When you feel one with the whole existence.

The classic example of waves in the ocean is the closest way to explain the relation of a living being and this universe. However, today while looking at my glass of water, a thought crossed my mind and I thought of penning it down.

Let's say the whole universe is a glass of water. Now a part of this water is frozen and the resulted cube of ice is a Jeev. This Jeev identifies himself to be separate from water. He lives his life, gets enlightened that it was part of the water, and thus dissolves back.

After the dissolution, the Jeev does not remain. It is only water. Can the next ice cube form be the same as the previous one? Let's call this new ice cube as Prani. Are Prani and Jeev the same soul or different? As Jeev got enlightened, would Prani also get enlightened that quickly? Or can this process be reversing of Jeev's enlightenment?  Could it be possible after Rama and before Krishna, the same soul came in this world just as any other non-enlightened being?

For non-enlighten beings, this dissolution may not be complete. We may just touch the source and come back. Or maybe we just try to see this source while remaining in our own identities. Even a tiny bit of this dissolution is capable of reconfiguring the wiring of Jeev or Prani. This is what happens in our deep meditation. Something changes. The person before and after the meditation is not the same. Even though the subtle changes are not reflected immediately, a meditator can easily see a change in him or her over the period of time.

The water knows all the ice cubes formed from its water. Though the ice cubes would never know the water until it dissolves completely in it. But after dissolution, the ice cube does not remain. Does that mean ice cube can never know other ice cubes completely? Or maybe a super ice cube can dissolve into the water, download the information and then come back in the same ice cube form. This ice cube could be our body and the thing which dissolves could be our mind. The quantum physics says matter actually does not exist. The world just appears to be. So, the real us is just our mind. This mind is nothing but energy, like a small wave of energy in the infinite pool of energy.

Life in a Hexagram

Meditation is the food of our soul. It helps us experience the theories of life explained by scholars time and again. These experiences are as exciting as it gets. Here is one such experience which left me in awe.

This universe is made of five elements - Earth, Water, Fire. Air and Space. And so is our body. Our body remains alive only if air passes through it, i.e. if we breathe. A baby is born in this world weighing 3/4 kilos. He or she eats food and drinks water and grows into a 60/70 kilos adult. The food he or she eats comes from the earth which is grown with the help of sunlight (fire) and water. All of this happens within space. There is space in the body. That is why we can eat food, drink water or breathe. Our body is like a hexagram with these four elements - earth, water, fire, and air.

Earth and water flow downwards and are represented as feminine energy like Dharti Mata and Ganga Mata.

Similarly, fire and air flow upwards and are represented as masculine energy like Agni Dev and Vayu dev.

A mother holds her children, feeds them, nourishes them. While a father teaches his children life skills and helps them achieve their goals in life. The feminine energy in us keeps up grounded, and masculine energy helps us rise upwards. Though a healthy life is a balance in these feminine and masculine energies, a life happens only when these two energies meet.

Our body is like a hexagram, i.e. a combination of two triangles, one pointing downwards and other pointing upwards. This hexagram has a lot of significance in many religions like Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, and more. The more we learn about the symbols, the more interesting it becomes.

However, the most intriguing part of this is the fifth element of the universe - space. Is it possible to capture the space in any symbol? Well, it is something where all of this happens, or for that matter where a symbol is created. In some beliefs, the universe is said to be made up of only four elements - earth, water, fire, and air. Space is not considered as an element. The subtler we go, the more difficult it becomes to understand. Meditation can help us experience the space, the very existence.

Experiencing these elements within us can open up a whole new perspective to look at this universe. It is so rightly said that you are the universe. The play of these elements which continues in our bodies to keep us alive is the very same which keeps this universe alive as well.

Inspired by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravishankar's meditation.

Our unique worlds

It is said that my world is different to your world. Sure, we all have very different experiences and different understandings. But have you ever wondered that what we see in this world - the trees, the buildings, the people or whatever it may be, also be very different for each of us. Well, how do we see this world? Through our eyes. And how do we understand this world? Through our brain. Let's see what science tells us how this works.

Our eyes work just like camera. They take pictures of the world around us and send the pictures to our brains. Our brain then makes sense of what we see.

In the picture above, is "the actual image" real for us or "the final image"? Let me elaborate on this question. Let's say my brain is little different to yours, in the sense my brain doesn't twist the image full 180 degrees, but 179 degrees. This means I may see this world a little twisted like 1 degree twisted. For me, a straight line would mean a line with 1 degree angle. This will always be normal for me because there may never be a way to know what I think is normal is actually not normal. I may think the real straight line is having 1 degree twist rather. There can be many other deformations which are even harder to percieve like angle in some other axis, or very little blur, or some slight color blindness. 

There can also be differences in the eyes which can result in different images. Now just think if you and me are looking at the very same object, how many chances are there that we can see it differently. Think of a very basic object, let's say a ball.

Environment can also have effect on it. Different lightening can show this ball in different colors and shades. Distance can change the shape and size of the ball.

These are just physical modulations. But the most common modulation is psychological. Often we see things the way we think it is rather than what it actually is. We all have read things wrong some time or the other. We all see different things in the same cloud. That is because our mind percieves the same image differently.

Now, for a moment let's assume that we all already have the images stored in our brains. These pictures are projected on the eye lenses and in turn reflected outside. If that can be true, we all may be making our own world every single moment. Despite, we all being together at one level, we may keep living in our own very unique worlds.

Dance of Shiva

As per Hinduism, the Trinity of Bhrahma - the creator, Vishnu - the preserver and Shiva - the destroyer or the transformer, governs this universe. This is the theory of eternal cycle of beginning and end. Bhrahma creates a universe, Vishnu preserves it and then Shiva destroys it so that Bhrahma can create another one.

As per quantum physics, existence of two forces matter and anti-matter is responsible for the creation of universe. This is the basis of the Big Bang theory. 

We have an interesting overlap of spiritual concepts and quantum physics. Everything is made up of atoms which are made of proton, electron and neutron. Proton is the basis of creation, represented by Lord Brahma. Electron protects the atom with it's reactions, respresented by Lord Vishnu. Finally, neutron, which can destroy everything with the nuclear energy, is represented by Lord Shiva. Each of them have consorts in the form of Goddess Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati, respectively. These are representations of anti-matter; anti-proton, positron and anti-neutron. 

It has been proved scientifically that three balanced forces can rotate forever. Similarly, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are the three forces described in Bhagwad Geeta which are responsible for anything that happens in this universe. The three Goddesses again represent each one of these forces. Saraswati is Goddess of knowledge, full of Sattva. Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth and fame, basis of rajas. Husband of Goddess Parvati, Lord Shiva is often described as one who remains intoxicated and dwells on tamas diet. The three forces can be experienced in the nature during Navratri. During these nine days, season changes. The energy moves from tamas to rajas to sattva.

Now, at some point a universe comes to an end or a more appropriate way is to say transforms into a new universe. The Big Bang theory also implies universe starts at some point and may culminate at some point. With time, universe keeps changing. There is a constant change. It is said in our Vedas that there are multiple Bhrahmas, Vishnus and Shivas, which resonates with the concept of parallel universes. 

Who rules over all the universes? What is the beginning of all the universes? It is said that it's only one energy manifested in different forms. Even matter is a form of energy. So, what is the sum total of all energies in all the universes? We call it MahaShiv or MahaKaal, that which is always present and is beyond time. Think of one energy - sum total of everything. This is enormous potential energy, beyond any measurements. This is total stillness - Infinite potential energy. Now, what if a part of this potential energy transforms into kinetic energy. That is Goddess Shakti, consort of Mahadev. 

It is the existence of this kinetic energy due to which any universe appears. This Shiva and Shakti, the potential and the kinetic energy, together is the Dance of Shiva. The Nataraja is when one leg is firm on the ground, representing the potential energy and one leg in the air, representing the kinetic energy.

Who is the real worker?/ Secret of success

Someone asked my daughter if she is making her hair grow. She replied she is not making, they are growing themselves. I remember when I was a small girl, I was fond of long hairs and used to do a lot of things to make them grow more. I used to apply special oils. I used to put tight plates at bedtime so that they get elongated. I used to wash them with some herbs, take some steam bath and what not! It seemed a lot of work. But if I would have just let them, they would have still grown. I wonder who was really working for their growth, me or the hairs themselves.

We often see, sometimes we put a lot of effort into doing something and the result is almost nill. Some other times, we put little or no efforts, and things work like a charm. One day, my bedroom door got damaged. It was not getting locked properly. I called up the best-reviewed carpenter of my area. He kept postponing since he was busy. Finally one day he came, but he needed a new lock and some more things. So, the work got further delayed. After I gathered everything, he came again. This time he spent two hours fixing the door only to break it completely. I called up this guy tens of times, bought things, then worked with him for two hours only to break the door. The worst part is that I had to pay his workmanship as well. The other day, I noticed magnetic stoppers of a couple of doors got broken, a couple of my cupboard's drawers got stuck and the curtain rod also fell down. I got the contact of a carpenter from a friend. I called him. He said he is in the apartment itself and is getting free in 10 mins. He came over and had most of the things needed for the work. He fixed everything within half an hour. I paid him and he left. Who or what was working in reality in two scenarios. In the first case, I as well as the carpenter, who was supposed to be an expert in his field, spent a lot of energy and time. So, we spent talent, money as well as time. But all in vain. Maybe that "real worker" was not working. In the second scenario, I just made a small call and paid the amount. The carpenter also just worked for half an hour to finish so many things. Everything just got fixed perfectly. This time, the real worker did his job. Wait a minute. Do you know what or who is this real worker? As far as I understand its not me or the carpenter.

Does a doctor become a doctor by his or her sole hard work? First of all, he or she was lucky to be born in good family, born with good health and intelligence. Then, he or she got good teachers and a good education. He or she got good financial support as well. If anything would have gone wrong, he or she would not have reached this far. So, what was the real force behind this success?

I have a friend who had an excellent corporate career for straight 15 years. The position she achieved in such a small age was unimaginable. All this time she used to say that she had been very vigilant of the opportunities she got. In fact, she created opportunities to come her way. There used to be hundreds of audiences in the room where she used to speak about how to be successful. Recently, she got sick and the sickness continued for more than a year. It was so bad that she had to take a break from her career. Last time I visited her, she said all this time she used to think that she was the one who made her career. But now she feels, it was just happening and now it has stopped happening. Sure, she is talented but with talent and hard work, there is some other parameter, which I am calling the real worker. This real worker was responsible for the ups and downs.

For sure, a successful person has to put in hard work to be successful. No work can be done by just sitting and thinking about it. But there is an unknown factor which works mysteriously which can bring failure or success. This unknown factor can be the luck, sattva force, karma, strong will, magic, or something else. This unknown factor somehow decides whether our efforts will bring the desired results or not. I wonder how easy it would be to get things done if we understand this unknown factor, the real worker, completely.