Just two days back I was waiting for a bus to go to Mendipatam at the bus stop outside IIIT. It was around 12:30 in the afternoon. Two heavily loaded buses had already passed by. There were around 3-4 people on the bus stop, then one old man joined the crew. He was an old person with a TEEKA on his gleaming and big forehead. He had a mild smile on his face and was very simply dressed with a simple white shirt and black pant. I thought he might be in Infosys. After some time one auto rickshaw walla came shouting “Mendi Patanam”, “Mendi Patanam”, we rushed towards that auto and secured two seats for us. Just after few meters had passed by, I asked him
“Are you in Infosys ??”
He said “NO, actually I belong to Chennai, I came here for seeing my flat which I have bought in one of the buildings behind IIIT”. “Ohh !! okk” I said.
“What do you do ??” He asked.
“I am studying at IIIT Hyderabad and I have completed my 3rd year.”
“how are the facilities in IIIT ??”
“They are fantastic. We have single seated, well furnished, and very comfortable rooms and Wireless LAN facility. Facilities are really awesome and they are better than even IITs.”
“Then fees must be high ??” he asked.
“Yes that is, it costs around 1 lack per annum.”
“My son also did engineering.”, He said.
“Ohh !! Great, from where ??”, I asked.
“He did his B.Tech from IIT Chennai in computer science branch.”
“Fantastic !! so what is he doing now ??”
“He is doing job at MSR Redmond. Last year I was also there.”
“What?? MSR Redmond !! thats really great. Is this his first job or ??”
“No, first only. He was planning to do MS but when he got job in Microsoft he changed his mind. He was here in Hyderabad branch previously; later on they sent him to MSR Redmond.”

I was thinking that this person must be proud of his son. I was saying the facilities of IIIT awesome which are incomparable with the facilities at Microsoft.

Journey went by and we reached Mendipatanam. From there we both had to go sec bad. We took 49M.

He was about to pay for me also, but I stopped and paid for myself.

“Is this the first time you are in Hyderabad??”, I asked.

“No, actually I have been here for a long time. I worked in BHEL for 12 years then I started my own company.”, He said.

Then I realized that he is a millionaire. Person who goes Redmond for summer holidays, his son is doing job at MSR Redmond, he himself has his own company, but still he never let me feel that I am talking to such an experienced and rich person. His behavior was very simple and he was very humble. You can always notice a mild infectious smile on his face.

My destination was near so I was about to leave the bus. I got up and a one boy with sloppy dress took up my place. That man gave him the same smile and was talking to him.

I have heard people saying that money, status, power etc. develops big ego and makes a person arrogant. Now I feel that it is not true. These things just provide a surface; it depends on a person’s true character that what he will ultimately become. Power just unmasks a person. A very rich and powerful person can be very humble and can be very arrogant too. It just depends on a person’s true character which is revealed after getting the power. A modest person will be modest anyhow, but a person who is not modest and pretends to be modest before getting the power, you can easily figure out the changes in him after getting the power.

In past few months I came across many things which I feel are worth mentioning here.

I came across many social customs which I feel are creating a lot of peer pressure on people. I will be talking about the customs which we follow in Gifts, Celebrations, Parties, Marriages and all.

Gifts

We see the culture of Gifts. When we go to our relatives houses we take something with us and when we are coming back they generally give back something to us. This is the custom which we see. What I feel the basic idea which might have been behind this custom, to express the gratitude, love, affection or as a souvenir. This must have been the purpose with which this culture evolved. The basic problem which I find now is, we have forgotten the purpose and are just following the method. We take Gifts just for the sake of taking it or it has become a culture and we expect something in return. These Gifts have now become the basis of a relationship. We judge the depth of a relationship by the kind of Gifts which we receive and others do the same. It has become a kind of “Give and Take” thing, where everybody thinks, since I have received gifts from my relatives of some price then it has become my obligation to give back Gifts of price more than what I have received.

I remember many such incidents in my own family and in others families too when I felt the quality and quantity of Gifts were the major reasons for the weakening of relationships. I remember many such incidents when the basis of quality and quantity of Gifts we are going to take to our relatives house was dependent on the quality and quantity of Gifts we received from them.

Celebrations, Parties and Marriages

We come across many celebrations and parties like, Birthday Parties, Job Parties, Marriage Parties and many more. We all have a social circle and that social circle consists of many people with many different financial and social backgrounds. We see that Party culture is already there. People give parties on their birthdays and other such events. The problem comes here when I am invited to a party I can not say NO and when I have to give party on my birthday or something the standard of party has to be the same as what I have been into. This is what creates pressure on us. What I feel the main purpose of giving Party is to share the happiness not just a formality that since I have received so I am obliged to give it back and it has to be the same extravaganza that the others did. Here also I would like to say that we have forgotten the purpose and are just following the method and there also we are creating peer pressure on other people. Party these days has become the issue the fear rather than sharing Happiness. I do not say that we should not give parties or should not attend them. I just mean to say that when these things become the basis of relationships then it creates pressure of people and a mean of sharing Happiness ultimately becomes the cause of Unhappiness.

I remember many incidents when we go to parties and celebrations and after coming back we criticize the arrangements and other things in the party since they were not as per our standards. This kind of criticism does nothing but increases the pressure on others to confirm to the standards of others who criticize, independent of fact whether they are really financially capable of giving parties of that standard or not. Still people confirm to the those standards because if they do not, they have a fear of rejection.

Specially in marriages there is lots of extravaganza. Whenever we talk about marriages we think in 10-15 lacks and if it is case of a girl then people think in even more than that. Parents spend their complete savings and earnings in their children’s marriages. Just to confirm to the “standards”. They come under financial pressures, peer pressures. They take loans, or spend their savings. They always find themselves deprived and want more and more money.

This kind of want for more and more money in turn creates more and more problems like it gives rise to Black Money, Stealing of Tax, Bribery and many such wrong ways of earning the money. These kind of things in turn contribute in inflation. Now since prices have increased due to our own mistakes which we did due to out own short term vision and incomplete knowledge and we want to confirm to the “standards”, we find ourselves more deprived. We daily become victims of what mistakes we did or our ancestors did in their lives due to Incomplete Knowledge and Short Term Vision and in spite of that we do not even realize that we ourselves gave rise to the system which is responsible for our deprivation.

Due to short term vision and incomplete knowledge we all have made such mistakes in past that now it is almost impossible to revert back and we daily knowingly and unknowingly become victims of those mistakes !!

In spite of becoming victims we do not do anything and just keep on doing however and whatever system dictates. We live the life however system wants us to live rather than what we feel is right. And the people who know what is right, who stick to their ideas and want to implement them face a lot of criticism, lots of opposition and are deemed as “Impractical”.

The only thing which can change the system is the change in attitude of minds of people. In my opinion the only thing which can change the attitude of minds of people is the change in the Education System, which is just teaching how to earn a living, how to earn more and more money but NOT how to live !!

The prevailing reason which I find behind peer pressure is the lack of absolute confidence. Absolute confidence is independent of any other individual. It is independent of any comparative feeling. As long as we live with relative confidence, we keep on comparing ourselves with others and try to show ourselves materially superior and ultimately join the rat race and these kind of pressures around us dominate us and we succumb to them. The only thing which can add to our absolute confidence is Knowledge.

It is the Knowledge which lets you know what is the Truth. It gives you strength to abide to your ideas.

Fear is not a disease of the body; Fear kills the soul. — Mohandas K. Gandhi.

Fear, whenever I think about fear I am amazed, how can a single emotion such as this, can make people, can break people, can drive people in any direction as it wants !!

I have been thinking on this topic since a long time and was trying to analyze or to find out the answers of many of my questions like,

What all kinds of fears I and others have?

What are reasons for all those fears?

Was I aware of all those fears when I born?

What all fears are common to all of us or are natural and which fears are man made?

What are the consequences of all those fears?

Now question which arises here is, when do I feel fear? In my opinion, I might feel fear when I am not sure of getting what I want or when there is uncertainty of getting/doing what I want or when there is uncertainty of getting/doing what I don’t want or when there is uncertainty of fulfillment of desire and there may be many other reasons which I am unaware of. All those factors which might be responsible for creating that uncertainty might be responsible for my fears.

Now in the broadest category if I try to analyze that what I want in my life, then it turns out to me, Happiness and Continuity of it. So, with this goal, all the factors which come into my way of Happiness or which might disturb my Happiness in future or might break the continuity of my Happiness will contribute to my fears. In very abstract level we can say that

The greatest fear of life is the fear of being unhappy.

We see that we have many kinds of fears, fear of criticism, fear of rejection, fear of loosing public acceptance, fear of failure, fear of loosing respect, fear of loosing trust, fear of loosing wealth, fear of other human intentions, fear of loosing whatever physical or non-physical thing I posses and many more.

When I was born I don’t think I had any fear. As my knowledge about facts increased, so did my fears. When my knowledge about the facts associated with nature increased I realized that there are some fears which I have due to nature and which can not be avoided and they are,

Fear of Natural Calamities,

Fear of Bodily Diseases,

Fear of Wild Animals,

Fear of another Human Being.

These are some of the fears which we get naturally, which are given by nature. If I analyze then I rarely think about first three fears out of above four. The only fear which remains now is the fear of another human being.

The main thing which creates fear in a human being due to another human being is, Difference. I have discussed in my last post why Differences arise and how they can be advantageous and in what conditions they are disadvantageous. Difference is something which is given by the nature.

Difference is something which is given by nature.

As we see that a human being has 5 senses which are the source of all the inputs and sensations in his body. Those inputs are the source of our knowledge. Now the thing is these 5 senses are limited in capability. Like I can not see at my back while seeing in my front and similarly there are limitations of my other senses too. A person thus can not see the absolute reality associated with an object. Different people see Difference realities and make their assumptions. These Different realities and assumptions ultimately contribute to their Differences in opinions and thoughts. Now the thing to notice here is, a Human Being is seeing Different realities than the other Human being due to his limitations of the senses which is ultimately creating the Differences in their opinions, and these senses are given to the human being by the nature, so we can deduce that the Differences are something which are given by nature. The major problem arises when we assume that the reality (which is actually the partial reality) which we have seen is the absolute reality and become rigid on it and when some Difference comes into picture (which might be the other partial reality of the same object), we want to kill the Difference with violence. We feel that the Difference itself is the Evil.

Nature has given some fears to us, I could think of four, which I have written above. Generally in current situation we do not think first three fears, like we do not think of natural calamities like earthquakes etc, we do not think of fears related to wild animals, we do not think of bodily diseases after having got so much medical advances. The major dominating fear is the fear of another Human Being. Which is also natural due to the Differences between them because Differences themselves are given by the nature. The problem here is, there are many kinds of fears which we know and we suffer from these days and most of the fears are Man Made Fears.

When a man comes into society, he has many social bondages, many social expectations, many said or unsaid norms, many expectations from the family, friends, and many other people. There are current trends, there is a lots of influence from the environment, something is in more demand these days, something is less and there are many more things. It is something like a man is in a predefined framework where he is tied with many chains knowingly or unknowingly, and he is supposed to be in the same situation, by the society, family and most of the people around. The position of the person can be considered similar to the person shown in figure.

Like for example, if I start from the time when a child is born, the first label which is attached with the child is the label of religion. If I am born in a Hindu family then I will be a Hindu. If I am born in a Muslim family then I will be a Muslim and so on. Then comes the schooling part. During the schooling, child starts to identify his interest and wants to pursue it but if that interest is not matching with what parents want then it creates problem to the child. There is a lots of pressure on the child to pursue the interest of parents. The choices of parents are also generally influenced by the environment, society, current trends, current ups and downs, profession of people around them, what their children are doing, where more money can be earned, where there is scope these days basically scope for more money and many more reasons. Generally if you try to do something different than what your peers are doing, what current trends are, whats happening in your environment then you might have to face a lots of criticism, lots of back biting, and if your step is to bring some change in the environment itself, then you might even have to face a lots of opposition, criticism etc.

I t is really difficult to make your own way, when all other ants are moving on the path already set by other ants !!

In such situations it is the fear of criticism, fear of back biting which stops people to pursue their interests. Fear of criticism contributes a lot in what we call, The Peer Pressure. Peer Pressure is a kind of pressure which people feel due to their peers, due to their colleagues. Peer Pressure in my opinion is felt by people due to three reasons, first due to the feeling of comparision or fear of lagging or fear of being left behind like, “everybody around me is doing MBA, may be I should also do MBA”, “everybody is earning more and more by taking more and more bribes. then may be I should also start taking bribes and since everybody is doing, so there is nothing wrong in it.”. Second due to fear of criticism like “if I choose Arts as my field then I will be criticized a lot”. Third due to the fear of non acceptance from public.

Human being these days has become a kind of “Visible God” to most of other Human Beings. A human being is not able to do what he actually wants to do, or what he feels is right because of peer pressures, due to fears of rejection, due to fear of non acceptance by other human beings. A Human Being is driving the life of other Human Being. A Human Being has fears from other Human Being. So who is the God for a Human Being?

It is due to the fear of these “Visible Gods” people don’t want to be what they really are, people don’t want to behave the way they actually want to, people have lost their natural smiles, people do many things which they don’t want to do, people don’t want to take the responsibilities of their actions. The reason why Hypocrisy is increasing day by day is nothing but the fear of these “Visible Gods”. People want public acceptance, people want favor of public, people want themselves to be shown good in the public. These are some of the factors which takes away the natural behavior of the people. They are just being driven in the river downstream. They are just trying to uplift themselves up in the eyes of others by falling into their own eyes.

In society we have many prejudices, many assumptions which have no reasons behind them or people forgot the purpose and just remember the method and are following the methods without knowing the purposes. These assumptions or methods which we are following are also very much responsible for our fears.

Our own misconceptions, lack of understanding, wrong assumptions and incomplete knowledge are responsible for our fears.

One of the greatest and dominating assumption which people have these days is their belief in Cynicism. The word ‘cynicism’ generally describes the opinions of men and women who maintain that self-interest is the primary motive of human behavior, and are disinclined to rely upon sincerity, human virtue, or altruism as motivations. There are two things associated with Cynicism, first being cynical and second is believing in cynicism. Being Cynical means mistrusting the intentions of others and thinking that the other person is motivated by his self interest and people are generally motivated by their self interests. Believing in Cynicism is, thinking that the selfishness is the way of the life. Cynicism creates an environment of distrust. The main reason of distrust is Fear. Fear that other person will exploit me, Fear that other person has bad intentions, Fear that other person is being driven by his self interests and will definitely make wrong use of me.

One more reason which I could find behind fears is our own dishonesty. Our dishonesty makes us uncomfortable in the way that it creates a fear of revealing the dishonesty. We say something somewhere and something somewhere else. There is always a contradiction and calculation in mind “what I said last time?”. There is a lot of book keeping which we need to do and have to be very choosy and fast in calculation. But why the heck am I doing this? Is it really giving me Happiness? Am I really comfortable with this situation? I feel I am not. We ourselves are creating a feeling of fear for us and making ourselves unhappy.

Most of us are reluctant to Trust people and we say, “This is how things happen, if you want to survive in the society then be practical.”. Lack of Trust creates an environment of fear. Actually Fear and Trust are inversely proportional to each other. Fear increases, mistrust increases. Fear and Mistrust reinforce each other. Until fearlessness is not achieved Trustful environment can not be created and vice versa. This feeling of mistrust is filled in the child from the day he starts going to the school, “You have to practical. Be practical !!”, without giving the definition of “being practical”. If being selfish is being practical, if telling wrong things to others is being practical, if being cunning is being practical, if creating an environment of distrust and if considering other human beings as Gods is being practical, if being driven by wrong assumptions is being practical, if being in the rat race is being practical, if playing an unfair game is being practical, then I hate being practical. We all contribute a lot in creating this kind of environment and ultimately creating an environment of fear and mistrust. Unless we start taking the responsibility of our own actions, unless we realize that we ourselves are responsible for the current condition of the society and the world, unless we stop being indifferent, nothing can be changed. Generally we give many arguments in our favor, “I can not do anything and I am helpless and I have no other option other than being indifferent”. Unless we are not part of the solution, we ourselves are the problem.

Evil flourishes when good people of the country, society, family, group be indifferent, tolerant, and do nothing.

Many times we create environment of mistrust knowingly or unknowingly. We appreciate so called “pragmatism” and call the honest people “Impractical” and “Fools”. We motivate more and more people to become practical and demotivate people who are willing to fight against the system and change it, by giving the arguments “You can not progress like this. If you want to survive in the society and want to progress then be practical!!”. Most of us just criticize the system but do not do anything to change it. On the other hand we demotivate and criticize those who are working for the betterment of society. Being practical in the society is appreciated and it is the rule of the world that the thing which is appreciated is condemned to repeat itself.

Many times we do spread feeling of mistrust and environment of distrust knowingly or unknowingly. We criticize a lot of people at their backs. We have many assumptions because of which we understand what we want to understand instead of what the actual reality is. Our understanding depends of our perception and our perceptions is formed out of our entire preconditioning. Our preconditioning generally involves a lots of wrong assumptions which changes out attitude towards the surrounding and the people. We just keep on criticizing people at their backs, we just keep on gossiping and we feel good without even realizing the consequences of what we are doing, what kind of environment we are creating, and in the end we criticize the same system which we ourselves created.

Whenever something goes wrong then we start playing a blame game. We do not want to take the responsibility of our actions. We just keep on blaming the entire world and at the end of the day we say, its all about fate. Fate is just a tool or an excuse to evade from the responsibilities. Life is really very easy when we are not responsible for our actions and fate gives this opportunity. Blame fate if you can not find anybody else to blame but never look into yourself, this is what we do.

Maturity comes when we realize that we ourselves are responsible for our present and our future.

Maturity come with the realization of responsibility. Realization of responsibility comes with proper understanding and knowledge. If I see what I want in my life then it turns out to be, Happiness. Happiness can not be achieved without Maturity and Maturity can not be achieved without the sense of Responsibility and sense of Responsibility can not be achieved without Knowledge. So for Happiness a man needs, Knowledge.

So what is the solution? How can we be fearless? How can we live more happier life? As I discussed just now that the only thing which can kill our fears is Knowledge. It is only the Knowledge and right understanding which can kill our fears. It is only the Knowledge and right understanding which can control our uncontrolled emotions. It only the right understanding and Knowledge which can make us more happy. Unless we kill our prejudices, unless we kill our wrong assumptions, until we keep on living in the darkness of ignorance, we can never be Happy.

Truth, purity, and unselfishness—wherever these are present, there is no power below or above the sun to crush the possessor thereof. Equipped with these, one individual is able to face the whole universe in opposition. — Swami Vivekananda.

Few people have guts to stand for their opinions and fight against the system. One of greatest examples in history is Mohandas K. Gandhi. Such kind of people have guts to stand for their beliefs and fight against the system and change it. As it might be expected that it is not easy to stand against a lot of people when they are against you and are not ready to listen. We have to face a lot of criticism, a lot of opposition. For this Gandhiji said,

First they ignore you,

Then they laugh at you,

Then they fight you,

Then you win.

So the question arises as to, how did Gandhiji do this? He used two great weapons for this, Truth and Non-Violence. Truth gives great power. Power to stand for one’s believes, power to be determined, power to face criticism, power to face opposition. Non-Violence not only changes the system but changes the person also, which is a more permanent solution rather than just changing the system without changing the person. If the person is not changed then the system will become what it was, and the war against the system will never come to an end. The only thing which can change the system is the change in attitudes of the people.

A change in attitude can change everything.

The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. — William James

Now question is how Non-Violence can change the person? There are two kinds of violence, Active Violence and Passive Violence. Active Violence is physically harming the person. Passive violence is creating an environment of mistrust, creating an environment of fear, criticizing people at their backs, use of irresponsible language, use of provoking phrases, creating misconceptions between people, creating voids between people etc. We do Passive Violence a lot knowingly or unknowingly. Passive Violence is something that later becomes Active Violence. Generally people use violence to kill the Difference. As I discussed in my last post “Differences”,

The only way to kill the Difference is Knowledge.

If one tries to kill the difference with violence, it may be active violence or passive violence then there is very high probability that the other person will be provoked rather than being convinced and that provoking violence might even reinforce his wrong beliefs. Violence can bring the harmony for some time but not permanently. Violence is another way of creating a fearful environment around the other person, and the other person remains in control due to fear. It is not a permanent solution as the person is not changed, he is not doing anything because of fear of violence, but as soon as the person gets the power again, violence will start again. A permanent solution would be to increase the knowledge of the other person and make him realize that he is doing wrong. If that realization is there then the other person will NOT repeat his wrong thing again. Non-Violence makes a person to think on what he is doing, and ultimately changes the person. As I said that the only way to kill the Difference is knowledge, so to kill the Difference, Knowledge transfer is essential and Knowledge can not be transferred without humility.

Knowledge can not be transfered without humility.

Humility is something which can not be imitated. Humility is something which can not be artificially shown. Humility is something which should come from inside and Humility from inside does not come without knowledge.

Humility is Directly proportional to Knowledge.

So again the ultimate solution is Knowledge. It is the knowledge which makes a person to know the Truth better. It is the knowledge which improves a person’s ideas. It is the knowledge which makes a person humble. It is the knowledge which makes a person to understand his responsibilities and it is the feeling of responsibility which makes a person more mature. It is the knowledge which makes a responsible person to transfer the knowledge. It is the knowledge which when transfered can kill the differences. It is the knowledge which can change the attitudes of the people, which can improve the ideology of the people, which can change the person completely. When the knowledge to the people is transfered, attitudes of people changes and the Differences between the people are killed. When Differences between the people are killed a more Fearless and Trustful environment is created. When Fearlessness and Trust between the people are ensured then Peace in the world is ensured. And it all starts from Knowledge!!

Knowledge is the solution for everything and it is the incomplete knowledge and ignorance which is the reason for all evil. Knowledge is Divine and Ignorance is Evil.

Differences, we hear this word a lot of times. We see that difference are there, differences in perceptions, differences in assumptions, differences in opinions, differences in thoughts, differences in life styles !!

Now the questions which arise are,

What are the disadvantages of differences?

Why do these differences occur?

What are the advantages of Differences?

What I feel is, if I have the clear understanding of why differences occur, appreciate them, adapt them and live according to it, then my learning speed may be highly increased. If I learn more then I can solve existing problems more and in better way, I can be more responsible citizen !!

Lets follow the top down approach and first discuss, what are the disadvantages of Differences?

Due to differences, contradictions occur, due to contradictions altercations happen, and ultimatly it leads to violence. People want to kill the difference with violence. Violence may be Active or Passive, but it happens, and due to violence peace is lost. Due to Differences arguments happen, in an argument everybody wants to prove “I am right”, and this kind of competition leads to altercations, which ultimately leads to violence.

People find Differences in their religions, their casts, their lifestyles, and are trying to prove their possessions better than others, and others are wrong. This kind of competition due to differences leads to violence.

It is the Difference which leads to world wars, it is the Difference which leads to altercations and violence between the countries, it is the Difference which leads to altercations and violence between states within the countries, it is the difference which lead to altercations and violence with the society, it is the difference which leads to altercations and violence within the family, it is the Difference which leads to altercation and violence in our own thoughts, and all this ultimately leads to loss of peace, disharmony, and unhappiness.

Now the question which arises is, why these Differences occur?

Now we know that Differences are there, so lets analyze what are the reasons behind them?

What I feel is Differences are there due to Different Opinions ..

Now question which arises is, why do we have Different Opinions?

What I feel is Differences in Opinions are there due to Different thoughts ..

Now the question is, why do we have Different thoughts?

What I feel is Differences in thoughts are there due to Different Assumptions ..

Now the question is, why do we have Different Assumptions?

What I feel is Differences in Assumptions are there due to Different Perceptions ..

Now the question which arises is, why the heck do we have different perceptions?

Yeah, here the chain breaks, “why do we have different perceptions?”. I have been analyzing this topic since a long time and I came up with few reasons which I feel could be responsible for Differences in Perceptions. Following are those reasons:-

1. Due to our own Physical Limitations.

2. Due to Past Education.

3. Due to Past Envionment.

4. Due to Past Experiences.

5. Due to Past Conditioning.

The same thing is shown in the following diagram.

In the above diagram, “Reality” is the absolute reality associated with the “Object”.

Past Conditioning is actually the super set of, Past Education, Past Experiences, Past Environment. It might include some more factors.

Actually Opinion and thought keep on reinforcing each other and ultimately we settle down to a more contcrete opinion.

Now lets analyze how above specified points are responsible for Different Perceptions !!

Physical Limitations

Physical Limitations play an important role in forming different perceptions. Here first we should realize that we have only 5 senses, and they also have limited capabilities. Suppose I have a ball, which is black from one side and white from the other. Two persons person1 and person2 see the ball from different sides and consider the balls to be different, as shown in figure.

Two persons person1 and person2 see the ball from different sides and find the ball to be different. Lets assume that the smell of the ball, touch feeling of the ball, sound which the ball produces and taste of the ball are same, so the only difference which the two different people perceive is the color. If person1 and person2 are seeing the ball for the first time, then person1 will assume that the ball is black and person2 will assume that ball is white.

Now this is how difference arises. Two people due to their physical limitations are not able to see the other side of the ball, so perceived them differently, formed different assumptions about the ball, which lead to different opinions and thoughts. These different thoughts lead to contradictions. They can see the other side of the ball too, if they are ready to change their positions.

Problem arises when they are not ready to change their positions !!

If both the persons are ready to change their positions then they might be able to see the absolute reality of the ball, which might vanish the contradiction between them. This unwillingness to change the position, is similar to unwillingness to learn, unwillingness to improve. This happens when people themselves do not know that their knowledge is incomplete. They assume that they already posses the Truth !!

Truth!! is continuously changing, and if I hold onto what I said earlier then it would be wrong. My perception and understanding of Truth, must be on the basis of what Truth appears to me today.

– Mohandas K. Gandhi

When we have the Rigidity and Ego, learning ceases. When we assume that we already posses the Truth, learning ceases. When we become closed minded, learning ceases. When learning ceases, and when we don’t want to change our positions then we just keep on fighting on the color of the ball, and we try to kill the difference with violence, which ultimately leads to loss of peace and unhappiness.

So the problem which arises here is, both the persons are seeing the partial Truth, and are not willing to change their positions, or we can say that they are unwilling to learn more, due to which they have got different thoughts and contradiction is occurring, which might ultimately become the reason for unhappiness.

The problem which arises in such cases we assume that the world is limited to the places till we can see or we have seen, sounds are limited to the variety I have heard, tastes are limited to the variety I have tasted, smell are limited to the variety I have smelt, feelings are limited to the variety I have felt. Once we realize that the world is not limited till the star we can see, but the universe is infinite then we become more open minded. Once we realize that there are infinite many things which we still don’t know and our knowledge is limited, then we become more open minded.

When the doors of perception are clear then everything appears as it is, INFINITE !!

Past Experiences, Past Environment, Past Education, and Past Preconditioning contribute a lot in forming different perceptions.

Suppose I have seen an Egg from one side of it say from the broader side only and I am told that this is Egg, then I will assume that, OK Egg is spherical and is white in color. Suppose next time I am shown Egg for the second time in my life and from the other side, and I am told that this is Egg, then I see some elliptical kind of shape, then this new image of Egg will contradict from my previous image of Egg in my mind. For the first time I will refuse to accept this new object as Egg, because I am preconditioned that Egg is spherical and white in color. But since I am told that this is also an Egg, then I will modify my previous image of Egg in my mind to the newer and better one. This is how we learn and improve our perception. Problem arises when we refuse to accept the newer image of Egg as Egg.

Our past preconditioning contributes a lot in developing our basic assumptions. They are generally assumptions of others which they have made in their lives due to their own perceptions or even they got those assumptions from others in their environment. In our childhood we don’t know anything except the things which are natural to us, which we can call our “natural acceptance”. In that stage whatever training we are given we just accept without analyzing. We make assumptions on the basis of what our parents, our environment say. If I am born in a Hindu family then I will assume myself Hindu, if I am born in a Muslim family then I call myself Muslim and so on.

It really feel sorry for those people who fight on the name of religion. People of different religion are fighting on the name of their religion and trying to kill the contradiction which they have assumed that it is there, through violence. On the other hand if we refer to the Kuran, Bhagwat Geeta or Bible, then we come to know that they are not saying the different things. Problem is people who are fighting on the name of religion, they themselves have never referred to their scriptures they are just being driven by the wrong interpretations of their ancestors, and they have assumed that differences are there. Problem is they want to kill the difference through violence. They do not want to increase their knowledge. They are not even aware of, that the knowledge which they have may be wrong, or incomplete.

The kind of values we get from our parents, environment and experiences become the basis of our education. Teach a child that “winning is everything”, and he will try to win by hook and crook, Teach a child that “success has no meaning if it is going to give you unhappiness”, he will make sure that he is not making himself as well as others unhappy on the way of his success and will automatically have good relations with people. It all depends on preconditioning. A child is like a robot with no training, his environment and education can train him however they like. By the time a child grows he is so much preconditioned that even if he tries to analyze he couldn’t find the exact reasons that what he is doing is out of preconditioning or he really wants to do that !!

Really, its really very difficult to stop and think in which direction you are moving when you already have a very heavy momentum.

– By Me

Our preconditioning and the values which we get from our parents and environment contribute a lot in our education. These days what I have found is, the base of education has become money and recognition without any direction. What I feel is, With direction ed, purposeful and values based education, money and recognition come automatically, as by-products. Problem arises when money and recognition become the primary aim.

In our current education system we are just being taught how to earn a living, but not, how to live !!

In my opinion there are two kinds of educations, first which teaches how to earn a living and second which teaches how to live. In my opinion a person who has had only first kind of education is a menace to the society. What I feel is, a person who is technically poor and morally bankrupt does small thefts, but a person who is technically sound and morally bankrupt does a bank robbery.

Values give a person a base of what is going to give him Happiness in the end and what is not !! and ya it is true that Happiness, prosperity and continuity of them is what we want to achieve in our lives. If the main aim i.e. Happiness is not being achieved in the process of being “successful”, then such kind of “success”, is not worth achieving, or such kind of process for achieving success is not worth following. We want to be successful or to win because we want to be happy. Happiness is our goal, which we want to achieve by achieving the “success”, “success” in whatever way we define it if it is not not going to give us Happiness in long term then that kind of success is not worth achieving or that battle is not worth winning or even fighting. Now the problem which arises here is the long term vision, sometimes we don’t realize that the way we want to achieve “success” is not going to give us happiness in long term. Here the importance of values come into picture. Values teaches us what can give us happiness and what can not. How can we achieve happiness and how we can not. What should we do to achieve happiness and what we should not.

One question which arises here is,

What makes a man unhappy, lack of physical facilities or lack of relationships?

Answer of this single question alone solves a lot of problems. Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam shows the importance of purposeful education in the following stanza ..

When learning is purposeful,

Creativity blossoms,

When creativity blossoms,

Thinking emanates,

When thinking emanates,

Knowledge is fully lit,

When knowledge is lit,

Economy flourishes.

– A.P.J Abdul Kalam

In my opinion in the primary education, self-observation as well as observation outside based education should be included, in which children try to learn from observation, understand the limitations as well as beauty of their senses, understand existing relationships between various entities in nature, that will evolve their creativity and understanding towards themselves as well as the objects outside.

The main reasons for Differences which I could identify are, Incomplete or wrong knowledge, rigidity and ego. Incomplete or wrong knowledge is responsible for creating the Differences between people. Rigidity and Ego motivates them to kill that Difference through violence.

Rigidity and Ego are hurdles in learning !!

Rigidity and Ego make people reluctant to learn. These people assume that the knowledge which they have is already complete. They feel that they already posses the Truth. These kind of people are closed minded and do not learn anything new, are not receptive to new ideas and do not change.

On the other hand if we talk about the advantages of differences, then they are also many. But differences may be advantageous only when we are open minded, we are receptive of different ideas, we are a good listener, we know that there are infinite many things which we still don’t know. If we have an open mind then we can learn from every moment. As we have seen above that due to our physical limitations we can not perceive the absolute reality associated with an object unless or until we are ready to change our positions, and if it is not being possible to change the position, then we can learn from others who have seen the other part of the object which we couldn’t perceive or those who have different opinions than us about the same object. Here we can not be sure that the reality which is perceived by the other person will be correct, but we can at least find out the position from where the other person perceived the reality, and if we are ready to change our position and look at the object from the point from where other person looked at it then we might realize that we did not observe the complete reality. The previous version of reality was the partial reality. Now the currently perceived reality should be the new reality to us. This is how our perception improves. If we keep on changing our positions then one day might come when we might be knowing the absolute reality associated with the object !!

In the complete process the most important thing is, changing the positions !! By changing the positions I mean we should be receptive to the ideas, we should have an open mind, we should realize that this world is infinite and is not limited to the places till I can see, or I have seen. There are infinite many things in this world which we still don’t know.

As we have already analyzed that the main reason for Differences is Incomplete Knowledge. Knowledge obeys First Law of Motion given by Newton.

Law of Knowledge: Our knowledge will be the same unless or untill some unbalanced force is not applied on it. In case of knowledge this unbalanced force is a Difference. So this is how Differences contribute in our learning. If there are no Differences or if there is nobody to contradict me or there is no counter argument which I could figure out in nature then my knowledge will remain same. It will not increase. But the major thing here is no external forces can ever work on me, no counter arguments can ever work on me, if I am not willing to learn !!

The only way to kill the Difference is Knowledge.

Pragmatism means practicality, well almost all of us are familiar with this term, in my opinion there is no absolute definition of this term, the interpretation taken by people of this term is, if you are the part of the “system” or if you are making use of weak elements of the system then you are practical otherwise not. It may be possible that you are being “practical”, because you have no option left with you instead of being “practical”. Aren’t we hiding the reality that we are equally contributing and promoting corruption or cynicism in the cover of being practical??

The definition of honesty has been changed,

A person who does the job by taking the bribe is honest.

A person who does not do the job in spite of taking the bribe, is dishonest.

A person who does the job without taking the bribe is merely a fool.

On the other hand,

A person who gets his work done easily by giving the bribe is practical.

A person who gets his work done by many difficulties and by a sufficient amount of delay, but without giving the bribe, is a fool.

If we take the concept of pragmatism in our society then

A person who never trusts anyone in the society and just treats everybody either a commodity to use or a parasite of no use is “practical”. Or if you metamorphose yourself in the diplomatic or hypocrite society into the same, then you are practical.

On the other hand,

A person, who lives his life simply on some moral values, honesty, trust and love, will be odd-man-out, will be called a fool, and will be either exploited or rejected by the “practical” people of the society.

And we call it Pragmatism; we just give a statement in our favor that “you have to be practical, if you want to survive in the society”. Is it really practicality or our cowardice that we are unable to fight against the corruption and are succumbing to the corrupt system??

Some of the points or arguments which people generally give in favor of being “practical”.

• People around me are sufficiently “practical”, if I am not then I will be either exploited or rejected by the “practical” people of the society.
• It is not possible to change the system, if you want to really survive in the system then you will have to become the part of it.
• I don’t do anything wrong with anyone, and if I am replaced with the corrupt elements of the system or if I get power, then I will not do anything wrong and will try to decrease corruption, but in my position I am helpless, I have to be “practical”.
• In today’s life it is very easy to talk idealistically but very difficult to be “practical”.
• If you want to live your life happily without any kind of torment, then be “practical”.
• I don’t do anything wrong with anyone, but I don’t trust anyone. I am quite pragmatic and I use my pragmatism in my defense from the evil society.
• If you want to grow quickly or want to increase your “success” rate then be practical.
• Idealistic people always fail in current society or they get success after a big struggle.
• I have to be “practical” because I am in “need” and my needs can not be fulfilled by following my ideals.
• I want “power” on any cost, without being “practical” and “cynical” it is not possible.
• I can not tolerate people around me “growing”, I too want to grow with same rate, for that I will do whatever I can do.

Corruption is increasing because it is a low risk high profit business, which in turn in increasing cynicism. In our society or country being corrupt or cynical or “practical” is rewarded or appreciated. And it’s the universal truth that the thing which is rewarded or appreciated is repeated. So when the reward is more, risk is less and profit is high, it encourages people to become corrupt or cynical. On the other hand, for the honest people who want to fight against corruption or do not want to loose their identity, it becomes a high risk, low profit business, they stand firm on their views for some time but when they find themselves weak and helpless they succumb to the system and become the part of it. Now the question is who is making these honest people to succumb to system?? It’s us, our society who appreciate and reward corrupt and discourages honest people.

All of us like simplicity and want trust in each other, but we all are lacking this thing. We say that people around me are not good and we can not trust anyone, but if you ask other people near around you about their opinion then they will also have the same opinion about you and the system, that they can not trust any one and people around them are not good. Who is the originator of this distrust and cynicism?? And the answer is simple we are all are equally contributing in making the system corrupt. We are assuming something and doing something, we need to change our perspective. It’s our ignorance and tolerance towards cynicism and corruption which is increasing it. Unless we are not part of solution, then we ourselves are the problem.

Condition in our society and country can be compared with a “rat” race in which every “rat” to go ahead is not making his own effort but is pulling the tail of the “rat” in front of him, to pull him back and to make himself ahead, due to which none of the “rats” are achieving the goal, which is ultimately leading to the degradation of complete society and country. The main reasons behind this are Inferiority Complex and Jealousy. People don’t want to make their own efforts to win the race but are pulling others back so that they go ahead. But it is the true that the “success” achieved through short-cuts and by dishonest means is also short term, on the other hand success achieved through honest means and by following ideals is long term. But the way of honesty will require struggle, hard work, and may be confronted by opposition of people but the success achieved by this way will be enduring and the person will have a good self confidence. The only thing which discourages people from being honest is the struggle and hard work, because people think that they can achieve the same goals by easier, short and dishonest means then why to do hard work ?? This is the result of short-sightedness, people don’t see the long term consequences of their movements, they just want the “success” on any cost, without the fear that they might be loosing the trust and credibility of other people, which is very much required in long term business, and good relationships. Trust and credibility are the only two things which are responsible for a good relationship. Trust and credibility leads to Team Work, while distrust and dishonesty leads to individualism, cynicism, materialism, and contract based relationships in which two person keep on working together till the time they both are getting benefited. .

People are becoming the part of the system because of two reasons Greed, and Need. Many people who are in need, find themselves helpless in front of the system, either do not have courage to fight against the system or do not have time to indulge in the complexities of the system due to their needs, succumb to the system and indulge in bribery, dishonest means and cynicism. While on the other hand people who become the part of the system because of Greed are worse. It is their Greed, Greed for power, Greed for Money, and Greed for Position, which encourages them to follow dishonest means and to follow the low-risk, high-profit strategy by becoming the part of the system.

It is true that to change the system you have to be the part of the system, but people who be the part of the system to change the system, either become permanent part of it or succumb to system either due to the fear of corrupt elements of the system or they loose patience. It is not the responsibility of one man to change the system, we all must do something or should contribute in changing the system. We all have to be the part of the solution.

Almost all of us have right aim in the life but most of fail to press the trigger. There is a difference between knowing what is right and to do what is right. There is no utility of plan without action. There are two things Action and Inaction and you decide what is more expensive?? Remember always that honesty and hard work are directly proportional to each other, and there is no substitute of hard work on the way of honesty. Success achieved through honesty is enduring. All the good companies, good managers, and good decision makers are successful because they stick to their values and never compromise their values for anyone.