Whom shall I choose as my guide or mentor …? Whom shall I ask for advice …? And what if that person had to leave or die of some cause, then what would I do …? If I don’t know what is right, how can I be the judge of my own guide …? (Video 35) I may ask someone for suggestions, but then again ‘am I competent enough to decide whom to ask for suggestions …?’.
We go from one profession to another, from having faith in one person to another OR one trend to another OR from admiring one thing to another OR from one lifestyle to another OR from being single to getting married, but the decision maker remains the same. We can run away from the world outside, but not from ourselves. We don’t realize that our first choice was wrong because we were wrong and the same will be the case with the next decision. If our first set of actions didn’t give us peace, what makes us think our second and third actions will do so …? We always get what we are, not what we want (We falsely treat the process of going from one form of slavery to another as freedom) (Video 266).
(If a fate followed certain patterns, it was never a fate)
How do you know for sure that you are not waiting for the person you admire just to appear as fraud (like many fake guru’s) or just another mediocre person with no special wisdom …? (If I am a colorblind person, I will never be able to follow someone who describes colors. It is impossible). Even if I take others ‘Right’ as it is, it will just be a hollow belief and it won’t last longer.
When we don’t know what is ‘Right’, we have no option but to make a decision based on ‘feeling good-right-logical-superior’ (i.e. satisfaction of the ego AND human irrationality). So, unknowingly we end up trusting ourselves (i.e. an irrational person who doesn’t know what is right).
If I don’t know what is right, then maybe everything (the way I make a living, the way I try to convince myself that I am right, my daily routines, social conventions, emotions i go through in unfamiliar event/ situation, the way i feel when i am listening to a song, conventional way of helping someone, the criteria’s I use to judge people as good or bad …..) that I consider to be right (or good) is either wrong or is cherished for the wrong reasons. People fight with each other all over the world and almost everyone thinks they are right and others are wrong (with equal intensity and confidence). If everyone is right, then why do conflicts exist in the world …? If two politicians (or two sets of parents) argue with one other (trying to prove the other one wrong (Video 308 – They both have kids)), should their kids trust them …? (clearly one of them is wrong or maybe both of them are wrong from some other point of reference (Video 121)).
Does just being a father make someone right …? Then why are fathers in Russia fighting with fathers in Ukraine …? OR why are fathers in Israel trying to kill fathers in Palestine (& vice versa) …?
Just because someone is in authority doesn’t necessarily make them right (eg. ‘parole judges). Was the Church the right authority to prosecute Galileo …?
When we make decisions, we make them based on assumptions that they will give us ‘Good or Right’ results. But if our ‘Good/ Right’ decisions yield us wrong outcomes that means they were never the right decisions. They may have appeared so (Video 226), (Video 35). How can I (or people) be the judge of anything …? If I choose someone as my mentor, what if he is the same as me (with slightly different physical form) …? How sure am I that I am a good/ right person …?, are my judgments of other people right…?, Is the person I admire really admirable …? (or maybe I admire him/her for the wrong reasons). Is the foundation of my goals and desires right…?, Is the foundation of my relationships right …?, are the things that I consider as right/ good really right …? (some of them are my daily routines), are my definitions of good/bad, right/wrong, morals, ethics, responsibility, sacrifice, respect, disrespect, courage, happiness really right …? If there are many others like me, then maybe we are wrong altogether (Video 77 – it is not the act itself, but the intensity of admiration associated with that act. Physical form of the act keeps changing with the timeline, place and conditioning, but the entire psychological structure remains the same). Whatever opinion I have about all these things, is that opinion right …?, Is our definition of entertainment right …? (Every audio, video, text content we go through might be designed with good intent and can still be wrong. We just don’t know how), If I help someone, will that help be right …? Is my definition of beauty right …? Is what I call work really a work …?
If we can’t value a simple (so-called) precious gemstone (or any other material/ non-material thing, …), then why do we think we are equipped to solve other problems like ‘what is right and wrong…?’, relationships, …?, wars …?. Aren’t we stuck in a paradox …? Are these things even real problems or just an indicator of who we are (Video 35) …? (again thought interferes here : ‘Hmm, but I am right. It is others who are wrong). No matter what answer we get, will it ever solve the real problem …? Do the problems really exist in the system or we create them …? Does the solution reside in doing something about these problems Or not doing things that creates the problems …? In that case, what are those things …? Maybe we are the problem. Our problems (individual and social) related to finance, relations, happiness, ….. are not different from us. These things are not problems at all, they just appear like one only in comparison with something else. Are the things I consider fun really fun …?. Is my definition of logic and common sense right …?. If we say everything is going right/ OK in our life, how sure are we that things are really fine …? Maybe they are not fine, we just don’t know how. (from a pig’s perspective, mud is heaven. How sure are we that our heaven (or ‘Good’ (Video 132)) is not mud …? We all are trapped in false reality, we just don’t know how to look at it. If humans are irrational, then we shall be more afraid of feeling ‘happy or fine’ than feeling ‘miserable’ because that state of ‘happy or fine’ is born of irrationality. It is a problem creation phase which masks itself in the form of elevated sensations or feeling good-right-logical-superior and it will breed wrong outcomes (Video 79a), (Video 227). We just don’t always get to see how).
Feeling good/happy/superior/confident = having someone’s undivided attention (which is free from criticism, doubt or ulterior motives and filled with admiration)
(Video 125), (Video 1), (Video 125a) When we are (so called) happy or fine is when we shall be most aware of our own actions and thoughts because that’s the moment we lose consciousness (or the ability to look at things the way they are) and learning lessons at the end is mostly meaningless as the cost is paid in advance. But all those things hide in ‘common experience’. We use happiness, comedy, sports or pets as drugs, to run away or to ignore things. Being sad (hurt, anxious, afraid…) or happy/excited in itself is the indicator that we are looking at things the wrong way. We are way too corrupt and there is too much to unlearn (Video 141).
( Take a pause …. )
New :
To learn something totally new (or creative), we have to stumble upon it. We cannot imagine something that we haven’t seen or experienced before. When I pose myself a question ‘What does a ‘Swal’ look like …?’ ….. …… …….. …… …….. ……… ……. ……… …….. ……. …….. ……. …….. …. …… …… …… ….., I am rendered completely blank. We can not imagine (or emotionally experience) something that we don’t know of. OR If we haven’t learned (by mere passive observation of the world outside) how to respond to a particular situation, we utterly fail to react when we happen to stumble upon such events (Video 194). We can not imagine something totally new by using thoughts. Thoughts belong to the past.
[ Argument : A colorblind person cannot imagine colors. And no matter how many theories he holds about colors, all of them will be wrong. We cannot go beyond our own limited experiences.
And if everyone is colorblind since birth, that entire group would deny the existence of colors itself and they cannot be fully held responsible for their false assumption (eg. The Church believed that Earth was the center of the Universe, with all other celestial bodies, including the Sun, revolving around it. Galileo proposed that the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun. They had a disagreement).
OR a person who does not have high IQ cannot imagine what it means to have high IQ and hence will completely fail to notice/ interpret the high IQ (Video 124).
Our imaginations are mere permutations and combinations of our past experiences. Imagination is never creative.
Thought cannot encompass something that is totally new (or different). Also, there is a high probability that ‘new’ won’t fit in the past physical and psychological structure and hence may appear weird, wrong, unfit, offensive or arrogant (Video 145), (Video 203) (or the way church treated Galileo). ‘New’ isn’t wrong on its own. It is offensive only in comparison with the past structure and we end up interpreting ‘Different’ as ‘Wrong’.
(Take a pause …. )
A person who does not have high IQ cannot imagine what it means to have high IQ and hence will fail to notice/ interpret it (Video 142). Only intelligence can spot the intelligence, not the mediocrity.
Similarly, if we can spot a cunning person that means we are the same (kids don’t notice cunningness & hostility (Video 342)). We can notice hostility in others only if we are hostile (not disclosing purchase price of an item (or a service) when selling it, is also a hostility. We falsely treat these things as ‘that’s how the world is’. It may temporarily be necessary but that doesn’t mean hostility isn’t there and it will breed distress for sure (Video 113)). OR We can notice faults and mistakes in others only because we share the same qualities with slightly different physical forms. We can not notice something in others that isn’t a part of our value system (Video 184), (Video 142).
(Take a pause …. )
Words & Talks :
(Video 35) We have invented the language, have assigned meanings to words and hence it is not different from us. For the same reason, it is incompetent to explain/ convey some things. It cannot go beyond its own design. That is the limitation of words and language (eg. There is no way we can explain colors to a colorblind person using words. It’s impossible. One has to see it for himself).
There is a difference between the way ‘Gravity’ was discovered and the way it is taught in schools & there is distress in it. Newton used Calculus to develop the laws of Gravitation (which also means the knowledge of Gravity is not the prerequisite to learn Calculus). Clearly we are doing something wrong, we just don’t know exactly what it is. When we impose one pattern across the Normal Distribution & Biodiversity, it doesn’t yield equal outcome, either in school or life (nor it shall be expected). If things can be discovered just through curiosity without any imposition from the outside (schools, teachers and necessity), they can certainly be taught without having to use any force or willpower as well. We just don’t yet know how.
Similar is the case with ‘Talks’. They don’t work as effectively as expected (eg. parents trying to give advice to kids, (Video 199), ….). If talks worked, the world would be free of problems by now, but that’s not the case. We might be able to follow the lesson but won’t ever be able to live it. And to live it, is the only important thing. An experience associated with them helps us to do that (Video 96b), (Video 96), (Video : YT Link). (But we like people following us blindly without question. It feels good because it makes us feel as if we are in control).
To fit everything in words is a waste of time. Not only does it not yield results, it also distracts oneself from looking for the right answer (e.g. Cancer warnings on tobacco products have never stopped people from consuming them and there is no point in repeating the same solution. Either we can blame them for being stubborn or we can blame ourselves for not being competent enough to alter the environment. Blaming others is an attempt to escape from our own incompetence. Similar is the case with talks on ‘Climate Change’. Are they working …?). If we are wrong, (Video 226), (Video 35), how can our solutions and answers be right …?. Will our 2nd or 3rd solution be different from the 1st one (except slight change in how it is presented) …? (The above argument does not imply that consuming tobacco products is 100% wrong). (Addictions & conflicts, to my knowledge, can only be resolved by altering the environment, not just through words – Vietnam war Heroin addiction study).
We shall not wait for experiences to happen to us naturally, we must bring them to ourselves for our own sake. One who tries to put everything in words is an indicator of his inability to put those things into action. We shall learn more from actions and less from words. And if someone learns just from words, then something is wrong with that person. Also, if we want to convey something to someone, we shall show it, not just say it.
But we find it easier to blame others than go through troublesome contemplation and actions.
(Take a pause …. )
Someone else’s confidence, knowledge, skill and experiences are meaningless to us. They don’t take our fears and worries away. And same is the case with their wisdom and wiseness. They don’t work for us. We may be able to follow it but won’t be able to live it.
Also isn’t it a crime to teach someone something in such a way that he/she will lose interest in it (or will learn something that is not intended) …?
There is a huge difference between learning physics from Walter Lewin – one of the best physics professors in the world ((Video 210 – Learning with experience) and someone else, but the question paper doesn’t discriminate (equally applicable to all other segments of life). Is the competition really fair (if not for me, then for someone else) …? Where is true ‘equality of opportunity’ here …? Is it ever possible to establish such equality (in any segment of life : work, business, art, sport, …) …? Does it need to be …?
( Take a pause …. )
How we learn and accept things ….
(Video 49) We learn many things from the world (reactions to outside circumstances, how to feel something, language, words, giving a gift/surprise, how to enjoy life, how to treat guests, the way relations work, responsibilities, sacrifice, manners, etiquettes, cooking, attire, culture, the way system work, how to make a living, morals, ethics, helping others, emotions one go through while listening to a song, what evaluation criteria to use to judge a person/ event/ situation, how to bargain, how to have expectations from others (Video : False expectations), …..). When we keep the lessons but forget where exactly we learned them, we begin to think ‘that’s who I am’. Similar is the case for the person opposite to us.
[ Example : When we come to the world, we know nothing. So, when we don’t know what one is to do with life, our mind says “let’s see what everyone else around is doing and copy them with slightly different physical form (so as not to appear as a copy- cat).
1. When we don’t know what a Father-Son, being friends or Husband-Wife relationship should be, …., we end up blindly copying others, because we don’t know what else is there to do as well. .
2. We all know that ‘History’ is being taught the wrong way in schools. But we don’t know whether to treat this thing as a problem or not because nobody does so. Who decides what situation to treat as a problem …?. Do we have an independent opinion about anything (that is not conditioned with the world outside) …?
3. Most people have kids assuming both parents will live long to raise them, but the newspaper seems to disagree. So, should we consider it as a problem or not …?. Clearly most people don’t. ]
We imitate many things from the system (mostly through passive observation : like (Video 66 – “Sheldon, we don’t ask questions like that.”) not just the words but also the actual feeling of ‘wrong/weirdness’ from where those words are born, manners, etiquette, …), then we use the same system to check/ justify whether our actions/ reactions are right or wrong. It’s quite obvious that the system will justify it (and hence it will trick us into assuming ‘everything is fine/right/OK’). If we go to a school (outside world/ system/ society …) where they teach us ‘2 + 2 = 5’ and if we go to the same school to verify if ‘2 + 2 = 5’ is right, will we ever get the right (or true/ real) answer …? Is the source of assumptions right …?
(Or an address paradox:
Where do you live : My house is near a church
& Where is the Church : Near my house)
We never question the bottommost assumptions behind things. Whoever invented manners, etiquette, morals, ethics, traditions, ..… for the first time, what was the psychological foundation that was used to create those things …? (it is mostly the ‘feeling good-right-logical-superior’ (i.e. satisfaction of the ego) (Video 125) and not the objectivity, as we shall see….).
[ Arguments :
1. Shall we form a new relationship …? (depends, does it satisfy our needs (present & future expected needs) …? Does it make us feel good …? : Yes : then Yes (Video 79a)).
(Video 240), (Full video): Major Gen. G. D. Bakshi – He argued with his father to join military service. I don’t know whether he is an ungrateful son or the one of best Generals or both. The same can be said about Steve Jobs (Video 109), Jyotirao Phule, Gautam Buddha as well. All of them were ungrateful (Video 203). Shall we admire these people or not …? Is ‘being ungrateful’ wrong…? Should one ever be loyal (mostly a blind faith) to someone or something …? ‘Being loyal = not allowed to raise questions’. Does having ‘Good’ intentions make someone ‘Right’ …? But at times, advice from our elders or well-wishers helps us as well. So, how to decide when to listen to someone and when not to …?.
When we don’t know which father-son relationship is right, we treat the one that satisfies our ego & superiority as the ‘Right/ideal’ relation. We copy it from the outside and try to play it out in our life. And why would we question something that makes us feel good …? Most of the social norms are decided by adults & elders. So, they unconsciously create a system that is based on their satisfaction of the ego & superiority.
2. Shall we put in excess resources in makeup or music …? (depends, does it make us feel good …? : Yes) : then Yes. Whether it has intrinsic value or not is irrelevant.
3. Are celebrations right …? (depends, do they make us feel good and help us get attention …? : Yes) : then Yes.
4. Should one buy precious gemstones at double price …? (depends, do they make us feel special …? : Yes) : then yes.
5. Should one follow manners and etiquettes or are they just the tools to hide the truth …? Telling & accepting the truth hurts, so let’s lie to others and ourselves (else we will be exposed).
5. Shall I own a certain material thing or information or skillset or an asset or an etiquette …? (depends, does it make us feel superior …? : Yes) : then Yes, else No (Video 168a), (Video 168b), (Video 206).
6. Do we need a magical or mysterious ‘God’…? (depends, does it give us a false sense of comfort …? (Video 245) : Yes) : then yes. (Truth becomes irrelevant in the presence of the ego). It appears that ‘God’ is the most overlapped OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)).
[ Most of us would go crazy if God was taken away from us. Our madness is deeply hidden under it. When we tie down a musth (a mad elephant) with chains, the entire physical situation may look superficially calm, but that doesn’t mean the elephant has become peaceful. It is still crazy. (Again : Just because you attach a silencer to a gun doesn’t mean it symbolizes peace (Video 299)).
(Normal people = Crazy people tied down with God, family, religion and other distractions). If people are one incident away from going crazy that means they are/were crazy underneath all along. It was just not visible to the naked eyes (Video 299), (Video 78a), (Video 134b)).
And crazy people (including myself) shape a crazy/irrational system in such a way that it fulfills their obsessions. That’s the world we are living in right now. Is it really a wonder that we all suffer one way or another …? How sure am I that me or my friends and family are not one of them …? ]
Clearly, none of these things have solved our problems. Conflicts between two individuals-groups-nations, feeling of emptiness, constant worry & uncertainty, kids distress in school, …..
Our irrational foundation yields us illogical outcomes (Video 35) and then we wonder about what went wrong (Video 113b).
Can ‘common experience’ (/ blind faith) be the benchmark of anything …? (Some things might be useful/right but for the wrong reasons). Disadvantage of being good at wrong/unnecessary things is that we stop questioning them. Hitler was certainly good at what he did, but that doesn’t make him right (Video 156). OR we may become good at building structures like ‘TAJ MAHAL’ (born of irrational sensation (Video 79a)) OR learning words like “Pseudo” (where spelling and pronunciation has no direct correlation) OR a certain way of living and we can still be completely wrong (Video 145). (Again : Anything can be made right, no matter how absurd it is, by turning it into a common experience and we will utterly fail to question those things (Video 236), (Video 8)).
And these things are further encouraged by elevated needs/food/shelter, common experiences (Video 236), desires & attachments. If we don’t do these things, we might end up alone. It is a vicious paradox in which we all are stuck. And huge resistance generates inside us when we make attempts to break free of it.
( Take a pause …. )
Is it really difficult to break free of our obsessions…? (take into account Vietnam war Heroin addiction study).
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