Religions, Philosophies and "What Should I Do?"

I began by wondering about the question of knowledge. Is it important to know ? Well, tentatively, yes. Well then, why know everything ? It's curiosity. If you don't know something, you generally feel like knowing it.

So then I came to think of The Enlightened, who is supposed to know everything. Wouldn't that be boring ? Because curiosity won't have a place in his mind. And the death of curiosity might not be harmless, so we should adopt the precautionary principle and not kill it.

And even if The Enlightened knows everything there is to know, one question persists : so, I know everything, what do I do now ?

And that was what gave me the break : The Enlightened One always knows what to do. If he knows that all the time, he need not know everything.

If you come to think of it, all religions and most philosophies attempt to answer this very question. What should we do ? With our lives, with ourselves, in times of need, in times of trouble, to solve an algebra equation, etc. In fact the quality of a doctrine can be judged upon how well it answers this question.

There is no correct answer. But if that answer conclusively satisfies the listener, that's good enough. The question no longer remains for that listener, and he has found his doctrine.

Now let's try to see the manner in which this question can be answered. Please note that according to me, the answers cannot be objectively evaluated:

1. Evading the question itself : It is possible to put a man in a life where the question does not arise. A busy life, I suppose. I'm sure that millions have lived without ever being haunted by the question of what to do. Either the answer was obvious and unquestioned (go to work, come home, sleep, etc) or the question never even occurred. And I'm sure they rest in peace.

2. Giving a proper answer : By this I mean answering the question in real terms. This is where I would place most religions. "Help others", "Say your prayers", etc. In fact some religions have detailed guidelines on what to do. Some Hindu texts give a detailed description of what each caste must do, right upto when they should have a bath, when they should get up in the morning, etc. The caste is pre-determined by birth. Or the Church answers the question of whether or not to abort definitively : no.
In these cases, the question is properly answered. The only problem is that we do not know if the answer satisfies the individual. And this is where it can get ugly. The answerer tries to prove that his answer is better than any other possible answer. Voila, the roots of religious strife and intolerance.

3. Giving an open ended answer: This answer is generally on these lines : go figure it out yourself. It doesn't seem like a good answer until I give you this hint : Use your imagination ! (I think it is implicit in this type of answer that there is no proper answer.)

The problem with many of us is that we take the third answer but we don't take the hint. So we sit and we read and we try to see what others have done, we partly agree and take bits and pieces from other philosophies, etc. We remain immersed in trying to 'find' the answers this way. In this case, if the first or second answers would have fit us, we would have gladly fallen for them. It's just sad that we're on our own.

So, if you fall in this category, let me repeat myself : use your imagination ! I will write about the imagination at a later time. I must confess that I find this answer the most amusing of them all. It's sad that I don't fit into the first category.

Emotion and Passion

When one says that one likes something, it is always an expression of emotion. It doesn't matter if you say you like a girl or if you say that you like driving. The act of liking is always an emotional act. It has no rational basis.

When you like something very strongly, we say that you have a passion for it. Thus, passionate people are deeply emotional when it comes to their passion.

More importantly however, only those who are capable of being very emotional can be passionate about something.

You can't be passionate without being emotional.

I will consider whether it is important to be passionate in a later post.

Dealing With Anxiety

Anxiety and worrying is caused by one simple, solvable mental state. It is caused by the desire to avoid a particular situation, whether inevitable or otherwise.

The solution is pretty simple: whether or not what you worry about is likely to happen, one simply HAS to totally accept the possibility of that particular situation occurring. Once you totally accept that what you are worried about might happen, it won't trouble you anymore and you can go on with the rest of your life peacefully.

Our problem is that we keep trying to somehow avoid the mess by doing a number of things that wouldn't change the probability in either case. Worrying is one of these things. If you accept the likelihood, you will end up freeing your mind to realistically evaluate and tackle the situation.
Trust me.

For a good starter on the concept of acceptance, see the relevant portions of Ekhart Tolle's "The Power of Now".

The Minds of "Great Men"

Some personalities, such as politicians, statesmen, certain intellectuals, bureaucrats, diplomats and perhaps businessmen must possess the following mental abilities to function well.

They should have two distinct modes: on and off. When they are on, their mind is working superbly, taking in a lot of data, making sense of it consciously and sub-consciously and generating good output according to the requirements of the situation. In some cases, this means that they are making good split second decisions, whereas in some cases (such as intellectuals) it means that they are just processing a lot of data really fast, making sense of it and re-presenting it or synthesising it. This basically means that their mind works, to use an analogy i would not prefer but would give a good idea of what i mean, like a brilliant supercomputer.

Obviously, experience helps this computer. With time, several ideas and concepts will have firmly settled in their mind so that they can be taken as given without having to delve deeply into them. This further speedens up the process. It must be noted, however, that even these ideas must be re-evaluated from time to time, a topic which we will not deal with now.

The off mode is a mode in which they totally detach themselves from their job at hand and allow their mind to totally relax. This mode is as important as the on mode, as this is literally the only time when the mind gets to relax. This mode includes periods of sleep and other times of relaxation such as some time taken for a jog, etc.

This mode is very important! It is very often at this time, when the mind is not actively working on an issue, that all that info is sent for detailed archiving and reprocessing to the subconscious sectors of the mind. This process, by making the data and ideas more consistent, increases the clarity, clears the proverbial fog and thus facilitates better, clearer and original thinking based on the material already evaluated. Further, doing other activities stimulates different areas of the nervous system, which can influence the original ideas by rubbing off a different angle onto them. This means that it increases creativity. It is no wonder that, true or untrue, Aristotle got a great idea while having a bath while Newton got some idea while sulking near an apple tree. Similarly, another great scientist got some amazing ideas on chemical bonds while dreaming of snakes..

In the off mode, one must totally dedicate one's attention to staying off and doing whatever else one is doing... it must be strictly off!

Why I highlighted certain personalities at the start is that I think that these people spend extraordinarily large amounts of time in the "on" mode. This is a testament to their energy, stamina and mental fitness. One has to admit that our politicians, however crooked, are extremely fit mentally and very hard working. Some of them, especially people such as the PM, the President, etc, are "always on".

Believe me, you won't get anywhere without this!

True Friendship Quote (Original)

A very good test of friendship is how easily a friend can say no to another without any one feeling uncomfortable.

About: Anger

Anger is always a sign of frustration or desperation. Once you realise this, it could be easier for you to control yourself when you're angry. It (anger) can rarely achieve anything useful.

Also keep this in mind when dealing with an angry person.

Further, anger arises very easily in a person who is hungry or tired.

More Good Quotes

This one's from Marcel Proust, sometimes referred to as the greatest novelist of the 20th century:

Let us leave pretty women to men devoid of imagination.

And this one is straight from a Bombay based jeweler, who was talking about real diamonds:

Only a diamond can polish another diamond.

A Curious Experiment With Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost

Let's try this on the internet ! Let's take the obscure links and see where we reach! Less Google, less Digg and less StumbleUpon.

As for the complete poem, you can find it here.

The Mark of an Experienced Man

An experienced man (or woman) is a person who can predict the behaviour of a system which is otherwise unpredictable, simply because of the amount of experience that he has with the system.

The person might not actually make predictions (as these can themselves alter behaviour), but will act upon certain internal assumptions that he makes about how the system will behave in the future.

I do not mean to say, however, that this enables the man to make better decisions. He is just better informed. Decision making is a different ball game...

Nature Does Not Count ; Numbers Don't Matter

I feel quite convinced that some of the biggest problems of the human race have their root in our ability to count.

Nature does not count in precise numbers. It only understands relative terms.

Some have suggested that the ability to count in humans has been misused, but I would just conclude by telling everyone to be less obsessed about numbers. It's one of the easiest ways to feel better connected with the wild.

The Way of the Samurai

I sincerely recommend this book to all of you. I think that most of its observations are still perfectly valid and make a lot of sense. The book might seem a bit radical, but it is nonetheless correct. Many great ideas are radical anyway.

The Way of the Samurai - Hagakure (download pdf)

Don't Work Alone!

I have discovered that even in some sports and other professions where work has to be mostly done alone, it is better to work side by side with somebody.

The problem is one of motivation. I've realised that you are most motivated when your energy levels are high and least motivated when your energy levels are low. So really motivation rarely helps when you need it the most :) It is only the most highly motivated can actually work consistently, even when they're low.

As for us mortals, it's better to work with someone. When your motivation is low, the other person can prod you into working even when you don't want to. And you can prod him or her into working when he's down. It sort of balances the spirit....

Ode to Passion

Very often, we skip doing the things that we live for because we can't find the time and space for them.

- It was too late.

- I was dead tired.

- I had an exam.

- I had a important meeting.

These are the only times that make a difference. If I do something everyday, but when it becomes hard for me to do it, I let go, it's no big deal.

That's the difference between a passion and all else - For a passion, it only matters then... everything else is forgiven.

If you don't have a passion, ignore this post.

Wit and Wisdom

There are two equally important factors that determine the quality of a decision. The first one is wit. the other one is wisdom.

By wit, I would like to point out the alertness of the mind and the amount of attention that one is paying to the present moment.

By wisdom, I mean the total knowledge relating to the subject of the decision that the mind has and remembers at the present moment.

Both these factors are equally important. Only a person who is both knowledgeable and alert at the same time can be entrusted to regularly take good decisions.

The Decreasing Importance of Time

Despite the increasing levels of stress, the longer working hours, lesser free time, etc that popular opinion suggests we have, I am unshakably convinced that our time is not as important as it used to be in our earlier generations.

I have a good proof for it.

In the earlier times, the probability of meeting death at the very next moment was very high. Thus, we factored impending death while thinking about what to do this moment. We took the moment very seriously and did important things.

As the probability of meeting death in the next moment reduced, we started reducing the importance of impending death while thinking about the present moment. We started thinking that we have a lot of time, so let the important things be... we'll first enjoy ourselves.

Thus was reduced the importance of our time and we became the sad people that we are today.

The Perfect System 2: Risk Reduction

I have one earlier post about how a perfect system should be flexible. Here's an expansion of that idea.

What I meant to say there was that when running very well a human system should run on the gut feel of the human beings involved and not on pre-determined procedures. So, the Brazilians that I had talked about earlier, when playing very well, do not bother about any theory of football and move on the pitch as they feel like without any apparent structure. Yet, they seem to be playing very well.

What happens when the gut feel goes away, however, is that they have no idea of what they should do. The same used to apply to Real Madrid also. They'll just go about listlessly playing very obvious moves and end up having their passes intercepted plus a goal or two in the back of their net.

Now, I would like to find a middle point.

What should ideally be done is to play without structure when your gut feel is strong. After the playing, have someone analyse why and how it worked. So now you have an idea of precisely what worked for you when you were playing well. This is what I would like to call the thought structure. Now, when the gut feel goes away, you play according to your thought structure. Just stick to your thought structure and keep playing. You won't play as well, but atleast you won't be as miserable as you were without it. When the feel comes back, you're back.

What we've done is covered the vulnerable underbelly of our 'perfect' system.

Observation about the blog

My blog is titled 'Observations' of a talented idiot and not 'thoughts'. In this light, I must give my readers pure observations and not opinions or thoughts. Thus, I apologise for some of my recent posts, which I felt were not up to the mark, but I could not assign a reason to it. I hope this is an observation and I promise to make amends.

'Culture of Excellence' and the Individual

This post is closely related to the one before this.

I believe that any society that does not voluntarily reward quality where it seems to be unrewarded will eventually become obsolete and will rust to death. Nothing is free. If you don't pay for it now, you'll indirectly pay (perhaps more) for it later.


The statement might seem very obvious to begin with but it involves every individual including you.

Let me start by explaining the statement: Those who are in the habit of offering the best quality and continually improving upon it do it for its own sake. They enjoy it and that is why they do it. When they don't get paid for it, they do not necessarily stop and move on. They either get frustrated and do things ordinarily, which certainly leads to a drop in productivity, or they continue doing things their way even though the market does not pay them, which means that they become inefficient and are driven out by more efficient people who might not bother about quality enhancement. Thus, we get people who are not into quality and the society becomes stagnant. The times keep changing, and this stagnant society cannot keep up with the change. It eventually dies out and transforms itself.

Now let me give you some ideas of what this has to do with you:

1. You know that waiter at that restaurant who did a pretty good job and didn't get a good tip? He could have just stuck to the rules and served you like any other guy, but he tried to make it amazing for you. In a culture which does not tip every once in a while at least, these guys fade out or become inefficient. That waiter might continue doing his job that way, but the other waiters get less tired after doing their jobs and can perhaps earn some extra bucks doing side jobs while this guy does nothing. New waiters see this and are discouraged from offering quality even before the realise the joy in doing it. Nothing is free. If you don't pay for it now, you'll indirectly pay (perhaps more) for it later.

Lesson: Tip when you are impressed with some one's service.

2. Feel the air around you. Most probably, it was much fresher 20 years back. No body's been rewarding this quality in the environment for some time, and we've been feeling the results.

Lesson: Consciously do something for the environment. It is unpaid quality and needs to be rewarded.

3. Sportsmen: Young amateur level sportsmen often struggle very hard without reward to improve their game and very often have to give it up because of a lack of funding. Try and help them if you can. Remember, it's the pursuit of excellence that matters, not the field. The benefits of all quality seeking are highly transferable across fields.

Lesson: Try and help budding sportsmen, artists and scholars when possible.


*I know that what I am saying is well covered by that body of thought under 'positive externalities' in economics, but I am concerned with solving that problem on an individual level here, not theorise about it and suggest policy decisions.

I have also been thinking about the open source software movement in this context, but I cannot get a result yet.

A suggestion on the "Standard of Living" concept

I have already talked about the virtues of doing every little thing that you do extraordinarily well, from the viewpoint of being peaceful in life. (See my older post called "The Truth About Happiness")

What I would like to do now is talk about the idea of "Standard of Living" and what it has to do with the idea expressed above.

To begin with, by "Standard of Living", I mean the quality of the life that a person or a society lives. Which is simply to say that it means how happily a person or a society lives. Any other idea of the Standard of Living is rather useless to me because it does not tell me what I want to know.

Now, I strongly feel that the standard of living of a person or a society is seen in its most ordinary and unimportant actions. If those actions are done properly (or even better, extraordinarily well,) I would suggest that the standard of living of that person or society is very high.

This is because the very fact that unimportant and ordinary things are being done well suggests a commitment to quality. Only a commitment to quality and an active pursuit of it ensures real happiness in my opinion.

* This post relies on three important ideas;

1. Extraordinary teams and extraordinary persons do ordinary things extraordinarily well. - A line used by many people including Shiv Khera, Greg Chappell and Stephen Covey.
2. Swami Vivekananda, an Indian guru, once said that if you want to really see the merits of a yogi, do not see how he meditates, see how he makes his bed. ( This is closely related to '1' above)
3. The post is an extension of my ideas in "The Truth About Happiness.")

How to Use This Blog: Short Comment

While I am happy about the increase in the number of comments on my blog, I must point something very important: when reading this blog, my intention is to give people 'clues' with my words.

Please understand this:

I do not want to tell anybody anything precise and exact. I only hope, always, that after reading what I write, there will be some sort of realisation in the mind of the reader, for which my writing is just a catalyst.

Please do not infer too much from my writing. Read it and the rest is left to that wonderful instrument that you have (and this idiot doesn't have much of!)