Forever mind full

I remember having a subject called 'Moral Science' in my school days. This subject was categorized as 'Boring advices' crammed into a book. It was okay to fail in this subject as it was not a part of the compulsory subjects. The best part was considering Moral Science class a free period, where the students could silently fiddle with something, as long as they did not make much noise and bother the teacher supervising the classroom.

Of course, there were no regular teachers for this subject and teachers were not compelled to persist with anything that was not a compulsory subject.

By the way, this was during schooling in the Middle East. Muslim students had the compulsory Islamic Studies classes to attend to, while the non-Muslims had the period practically free under the name Moral Science.

On the one hand students of Islamic Studies memorized teachings stanza by stanza, commandment over commandments, while on the other hand students of Moral Science unofficially engaged in some pastime. The funny part was on the day of the Moral Science exam, teachers would not mind malpractices such as copying, since no one really cared.

In due course of time, the authorities inducted it into an open book exam, and thereby observing the good conduct of non-copying in the subject teaching goodness!

With all the nostalgia that it had brought up, I was wondering about the impact that schooling does in building up a good character. Every lesson that science, art, literature, humanities, history and culture that the students are taught, later evaluated through grading their memory retention. With the hope that the individual thus groomed will standup for justice, humanity and peace.

Good schooling is not about recollecting every word that was taught, but the power in nurturing young minds to live life as a better human being.

How about imbibing feelings such as empathy?

In a goal-oriented schooling where healthy competition is encouraged and the rat race looms, empathy would be the least of worries.

Nameplate earned in life

“A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving” - Lao Tzu

For one, I love to hang around people who have this no-frills attitude towards life.

And that list of people offering such teachings would mostly not have your parents, teachers or other old-school of thought individuals for that matter. Their teachings have always been to set your mind towards a goal and inch your way towards achieving it.

By goals, does it indicate spiritual, materialistic or general life goals? Like to follow the path of righteousness, grab a bit of materialism here and there and ultimately if things fall into place, voila, Nirvana!

Certainly a mode of travel by enjoying the journey and not the destination. Interestingly, the destination gains priority at a later phase, called old age.

The word spirituality is to be uttered only when you are old. Integrating it as part of your upbringing is just not in the scope of your life curriculum.

As Warren Buffett put it,

“Taking up jobs that you don’t like because you think it will look good on your resume is like saving up sex for your old age.”

By saving spirituality for your old age, when your aging body is going to have a tough time controlling the mind, the only place that it is going to look good at, is your coffin nameplate.

Try this nameplate for a change, “Spiritual, not religious.”

What matters

When eventually memory fades, so does verses, quotes from religious texts etc. People carry out long, never ending discussions with regard to its interpretations.

Rules to be strictly followed at all times to seek ‘the truth’.

Rules which should never be broken.

And then you have some more rules, for the newer times!

At the end of all this memorizing and rule bending, the individual gets past without recognizing the spirit within.

Chasing every bit of the attention that is possible, is the media angle to the present times. If its not religion, its either caste, creed, color, race, region, sex - the discrimination that demands statement of equal opportunity with laws and policies.

As a supporter of feminism, I stand with other such activists who want to deliver more power to women.

With Woman’s Day around the corner, I came across an article by a feminist, who strangely was making a case against feminism - quite stimulating the gray matter in the head.

A point this lady author was making was, by ultimately pursuing feminism and delivering more power, 

“If women in power behave like men do, that is not a defeat of the patriarchy … that’s just patriarchy with women in it.”

When patriarchy is intertwined with capitalism, the consumerist culture tends to poison its root. Its the socialist angle to feminism that she hopes should gain in precedence.

Another points she makes is the non participation in the system that you are trying to reform. If marriage is a patriarchal institution, then should you not abstain from it?

“Historically, it's about treating women as property and there are people who believe that the way to reform marriage or to reform heterosexual relationships or committed monogamous relationships, homosexual or heterosexual, is by being married and sort of renegotiating that on the level of the couple, rather than advocating for the abolishment of marriage.”

Quite a mind full

One of the best things I feel that has happened in the internet times, is Wikipedia.

The information pool that is NOT controlled by advertisement driven media, but by a non-profit network of contributors editing their version of Wiki.

If a person tried going through all the content that Wikipedia offered by binge-reading, it would take a good 125 years to sit through it. That’s where search functionality comes in handy. Only when you want related information, its right there at the finger tip.

So what is it that the people are filling their minds with over a period of time? 

That they can recollect directly from their head without referencing any external media.

Say there is a wonderful movie that you had seen 20 years back. Would you relate to that movie by its name, cast, writer, director, genre or something that makes the movie stand out? Like the original screenplay, a dialogue, an actor’s stunning performance, the acclaim received, a speciality in the plot etc.

Technology today offers a storage beyond the head and into the cloud, with a capability to recollect using Machine Learning, that will do the remembering part.

The world of the future will be driven by bots and Artificial Intelligence.

Yet, there is something about human intelligence that makes it special.

Its having intuition.

That gut feeling about something. Instinctively wanting to randomly navigate and find out for oneself.

Albert Einstein once said,

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."

Let’s be mindful of the gift; now and forever.