Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Politics, the biggest enemy to development

When we hear the word politics, most of us have negative reactions to it. Spiritually, I do not have any rights to blame politics for my nation's under development since I've never involved in politics. The following joke might help to illustrate this post's topic.

Once, for a space exploration programme, the government was selecting the space scientists for the programme. So, the interview was running to select the scientist for the job.

Interviewer: How much money do you take to go to space?
First Scientist:  I need Rs. 200,000 for this job.
Interviewer: What will you do with this money?
First Scientist: 1,00,000 I'll give to my family and 1,00,000 I'll use as my pocket money.
[First interview completes]

Interviewer: How much money do you take to go to space?
[Normally the cheapest will be selected]
Second Scientist:  I need Rs. 3,00,000 for this job.
Interviewer: What will you do with this money?
Second Scientist: 2,00,000 I'll give to my family and 1,00,000 I'll use as my pocket money.
[Second interview completes]

Interviewer: How much money do you take to go to space?
Third Scientist:  I need total sum or Rs. 10,00,000 (10 lakh) for this job.
[One scientist has agreed to go to space with Rs. 2 lakh and he is demanding 10 lakh, there is no possibility that he will get this contract.]
Anyway the interviewer asks "What will you do with this money?"
Third Scientist: 5,00,000 I'll give to my family and 1,00,000 I'll use as my pocket money.
Interviewer: And what will you do with the remaining Rs. 4,00,000 money?
Third Scientist: I'll offer you the remaining money.

Immediately the the scientist was selected for the job.



Monday, December 17, 2012

Id, ego and super-ego

I think we must have heard about these three common words, 'Id, ego and super-ego' during conversation with friends, in a movie or just using in your daily conversation. We may have been using these words but what actually is its meaning. Let's look at the definition from Wikipedia.

[Id, ego and super-ego are the three parts of the psychic apparatus defined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche; they are the three theoretical constructs in terms of whose activity and interaction mental life is described. According to this model of the psyche, the id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends; the ego is the organized, realistic part; and the super-ego plays the critical and moralizing role. The super-ego can stop you from doing certain things that your id may want you to do.
Even though the model is structural and makes reference to an apparatus, the id, ego and super-ego are functions of the mind rather than parts of the brain and do not correspond one-to-one with actual somatic structures of the kind dealt with by neuroscience.] ~Wikipedia

In case you didn't clearly understood with the definitions of Wikipedia. Let me present you with a clear illustration below to better enlighten you in the topic.
Id means emotion/instinct. You are walking along a road and you see a beautiful girl or a handsome boy and immediately you have a desire to hug/embrace him/her. It is not crime, not sin. Take it as a religion/nature(स्वभाव) of your mind. This is called Id / Instinct. This nature is present in every living creatures including human. When your instinct wants to hug or embrace. Animals will embrace or those who embrace immediately are animals. Now the super-ego suggests; stop what are you doing, it is illegal, immoral, sinful act; have you forgot you are married? Id always suggests you to act according to the desire and super-ego provides you with moral aspects or simply stops you from doing it.

Talking in terms of biology, we have to give expression to those feelings. But super-ego does the act of censorship towards Id because if you act you are finished because its illegal, immoral and non-social. And if you do not provide outlet to your emotion by saying that it is illegal, immoral and sinful act, then that person may lose his/her sanity. So, what nature does to save that person from being insane is to bring the role of Ego in it. Ego is very clever. Ego is wisdom. So, what ego does now is that, it says to Id/Instinct (in our case, desire to hug) it is ok to hug but it is not the proper time and place to hug. She is not your wife or He is not your husband. Your husband/wife is waiting for you at home. That is Ego. Ego helps to divert all these things and feeling with a rational and defensive way that won't bring harm to you. In this way Ego plays an important role in making you sane. If you suppress your feelings according to super-ego you will definite become the victim of mental illness. Ego provides the proper outlet to your feelings. 

Let's consider an another example. You are in a conference hall, and you are in hurry to urinate. That is instinct /Id. Then super-ego suggests 'stop, you are in a conference room.' Then ego suggests you 'don't you see the toilet there, go there are do your work.' So, the Id / Instinct is forcing you to urinate right here, super-ego is telling you 'not here' and ego is telling you 'there is the toilet'. That's why ego saves human. So, Id and super-ego are the identity of animal, you need to have ego to become a human. 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

We have yet to be Human, the wonderful story

Do you consider yourself as human being? Think again. [Read the true story of last paragraph]

Let's read this version of one Philosopher regarding 'being human being'.


See the raw material of 'gold', stone is mixed in it, we cannot use that raw materials to wear the gold necklace. The raw material of gold must be melted, heated and processed, then only it becomes gold. We all are only the raw materials for human being. We have yet to become human being. Similarly potentiality is there in us to become human beings but that raw material needs to be polished, heated, processed to become the final product i.e. 'human being'. 99% of people on Earth live like a raw material and die like a raw material they don't die as human being. 

Only 1% population govern, use 99% population. Why?
1% people have that amount of money which the altogether other 99% people doesn't have. i.e 1% people are rich.

Because 99% population sell themselves in raw form in the market; i.e. in name of job, in salary, business, etc. You have the right to sell in raw form but when you sell in raw form you get nominal price. We have been selling the herb 'Ophiocordyceps sinesis' (Yarsagumba in nepali) in raw form to foreign nation a lot. When the same 'Yarsagumba' is processed and is produced in the form of medicine capsule. The price of the capsule may be 100 times or even 1000 times more than the price of raw form of it. We have been exporting numerous herbs in raw form, so we also get raw money, which won't have any impact on national level. So, even gold can be useless if its in raw form, because it needs processing. Raw material is useful but in negligible amount than compared to the final product. It seems we are breathing, we are living, but actually we are not alive. 

This way 99% population are selling themselves in raw form knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly. Because we have been taught to be sold in raw form. If we sell a doctor/lawer/successful businessman in raw form what would be his income since before being doctor/lawer/successful businessman he is only capable of manual works, he is a coolie. He uses 5-10 years of his life learning, experiencing and experimenting to become doctor/lawer/successful businessman, etc. and only then he becomes valuable. If he don't process himself, he ultimately becomes a coolie i.e. manual worker


Let's read an example.

Nowadays after you pass BA, MA, etc. you work whole day using a computer. In the past days you have to turn the pages of account books manually. You pass MA just to turn the pages of account book. Who earns how much amount of money and how much he spends, just to keep the account of money of others you pass MA. The person who keeps the account; need to have degree in economics and the person who actually earns money doesn't need any degree in economics or any subject. He doesn't need any education, he just earns money. He says to the economics degree holder, 'You keep my account because I don't know how to read and write, I'll give you Rs. 5,000 or 7,000 or 10,000 per month. And the degree holder becomes happy to have received 10,000 per month. We have been taught from childhood to do slavery (gulami in hindi)of others. We live just to fulfil the demand of stomach, nothing more. We delete the desire of mind and soul just to fulfil the demand of stomach. So, 99% people's life are ruined because they sell themselves in raw form which doesn't have any value.

image source: 1st Picture from Wikimedia Commons and 2nd picture from facebook


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The All Knowing Mind, Placebo Effect

"All what we are is the result of what we have thought,
The mind is everything, what we think, we become." ~Siddartha Gautama Buddha 
Mind is responsible for everything that happens in our life. When you are spiritually healthy, and your 'aura' is strong no disease or misfortune can happen to you. Mind is everything, we rarely use more than 10% of our mind's potentiality. There is really an interesting experiment called placebo effect which can easily demonstrate our mind's capability.

A Placebo is a simulated or otherwise medically ineffectual treatment for a disease or other medical condition intended to deceive the recipient. Sometimes patients given a placebo treatment will have a perceived or actual improvement in a medical condition, a phenomenon commonly called the placebo effect. ~Wikipedia

A pharmaceutical company manufactures a medicine for some specific disease. Then the doctors, gave the medicine to specific patients of same disease of similar ages by creating groups. For one group patients doctors prescribed the original medicine manufactured by the pharmaceutical company. But for one group patients doctors prescribed the similar looking medicine, but inside there is no medicine or it's just sugar pill. But the doctors didn't tell this group's patients that it is just sugar pill. 

Both the group's patient thought that by taking the medicine given by the doctor, they will be cured. And upto now with so many experiments, it is found out that more than 30% of the patients who were given just the sugar pill are completely cured as another group's patients who were given the real medicine. So, remember, more than 30% of patients' were cured without giving the real medicine, whether the given pill is just sugar pill or not, it should be prescribed by the doctors and they are cured. Therefore for more than 30% patients the sugar pill or the pill which have no medicine inside can bring the same amount of effect to the patient as if s/he is given the real medicine. In medical term this effect is called Placebo Effect

The medicine manufactured in pharmaceutical company's laboratory and ordinary sugar pill, both can have same effect, but not for all. If more than 50% of patient's can be treated by placebo effect then there won't be existence of medicine since just the sugar pill will be enough if it is prescribed and given by the doctor, who tells the patient that it will cure your disease. But placebo effect's limitation is around 30%. So, 30% patients doesn't need medicine, they just need doctor's prescription that what they are taking is the medicine. So, now think who cures the 30% of patient since they are never given the real medicine. 


And now modern doctors say that if a patient have faith on the doctor, and more the quantity of patient's faith on the doctor, the faster they will be cured, medicine is secondary thing. Medicine is second thing, primary thing is patient's faith on the doctor. Lesser the patient's faith on doctor, lesser will be the effect of medicine even if it is clinically tested to cure the specified disease. 
I also have seen many cases where patients/people, who say that, I doubt this doctor, anyway let's see what this medicine does. These people's disease is not cured at all.

Isn't this world strange. Up-to now we live in the objective world, objective truth, physical truth. There is no physical, only psychological, only mind. If physical truth is there, then the medicine should work no matter who gives you the medicine, there won't be the role of mind. But it doesn't happen like that. There is a great role of mind. 

Now the concept of alternative medicine, holistic medicine, which includes spirituality is emerging since the conventional medicine and physical reality is no more going to work in coming days. 

"Mind-body medicine: takes a holistic approach to health that explores the interconnection between the mind, body, and spirit. It works under the premise that the mind can affect "bodily functions and symptoms" ~ Wikipedia


image source: https://www.facebook.com/osho.international