Arunachala, The Gateway

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The other night, earlier this week, i couldn't sleep.  So i got up and read an entire issue of Geo, the mag closest to NatGeoMag.

It had an interesting pic of a naturally-formed hole in the wall in Copper Bay, South Africa.

I had recently blogged about the iHole in the Wall, so i was thinking it was a good photo to add at the bottom of that post.  But when i googled for the same, i couldn't find anything remotely like that.

So i switched to the next best source, Flickr, and got some neat photos tagged hole in the wall.

To me, the best of the lot was, of course, this masterpiece by Zeb Andrews:

After some time, it struck me that the upper portion of the profile looked so much like Arunachala, the thagada view looking west, the so-called Murugan Face:

To me, it was a vindication of what Michael James writes in The Power of Arunachala:

That is, so long as we identify the body as 'I', it is equally true that this hill is God. Indeed, Sri Bhagavan used to say that because we identify the body as 'I', Lord Siva, the Supreme Reality, out of his immense compassion for us, identifies this hill as 'I', so that we may see him, think of him and thereby receive his grace and guidance. 'Only to reveal your [transcendent] state without speech [i.e. through silence], you stand as a hill shining from earth to sky,' sings Sri Bhagavan in the last line of the second verse of Sri Arunachala Ashtakam.

Through Arunachala, you can see the Formless.

An Elysian Smile

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Today, in the Gospel, read the wonderful and inspirational last part, a letter written to M. by Aswini Kumar Dutta, one of the saintly patriots of Bengal.

It has the same en-lighten-ing effect on me as the third chapter, Visit to Vidyasagar.

There are many insightful, inspirational, and humorous passages in this Appendix B: (italicized, instead of being quoted)

Coming back from samadhi, the Master said to Keshab: "Keshab, once I went to your temple. In the course of your preaching I heard you say, 'We shall dive into the river of devotion and go straight to the Ocean of Satchidananda.' At once I looked up [at the gallery where Keshab's wife and the other ladies were sitting] and thought, Then what will become of these ladies?' You see, Keshab, you are householders. How can you reach the Ocean of Satchidananda all at once? You are like a mongoose with a brick tied to its tail. When something frightens it, it runs up the wall and sits in a niche. But how can it stay there any length of time? The brick pulls it down and it falls to the floor with a thud. You may practise a little meditation, but the weight of wife and children will pull you down. You may dive into the river of devotion, but you must come up again. You will alternately dive and come up. How can you dive and disappear once for all?"
…
Then he said: "Let me tell you a story. A man used to celebrate the Durga Puja at his house with great pomp. Goats were sacrificed from sunrise to sunset. But after a few years the sacrifice was not so imposing. Then someone said to him, 'How is it, sir, that the sacrifice at your place has become such a tame affair?' 'Don't you see?' he said. 'My teeth are gone now.'…"
…
"You see, as long as a man is under maya's spell, he is like a green coconut. When you scoop out the soft kernel from a green coconut, you cannot help scraping a little of the shell at the same time. But in the case of a ripe and dry coconut, the shell and kernel are separated from each other. When you shake the fruit you can feel the kernel rattling inside. The man who is freed from maya is like a ripe and dry coconut. He feels the soul to be separated from the body. They are no longer connected with each other.



"It is the 'I' that creates all the trouble. Won't this wretched ego ever leave a person? You see a peepal-tree growing from the rubbish of a tumble-down house. You cut it down today, but tomorrow you find a new sprout shooting up. It is the same with the ego. You may wash seven times a cup that onions have been kept in, but the wretched smell never leaves it."



In the course of the conversation he said to Keshab: "Well, Keshab, I understand that your Calcutta babus say that God does not exist. Is that true? A Calcutta babu wants to climb the stairs. He takes one step, but before taking the next he cries out: 'Oh, my side! My side!' and drops down unconscious. His relatives raise a hue and cry and send for a doctor; but before the doctor arrives the man is very likely dead. And people of such stamina say, 'There is no God'!"



After an hour or so the kirtan began. What I saw then I shall never forget either in this life or in the lives to come. Everybody danced, Keshab included. The Master was in the centre. All danced around him in a circle. During the dancing Sri Ramakrishna suddenly stood motionless, transfixed in samadhi. A long time passed this way. After hearing his words and seeing all this, I said to myself, "Yes, a paramahamsa indeed!"
…
MYSELF: "Do you observe caste?"

MASTER: "How can I say yes? I ate curry at Keshab Sen's house. Let me tell you what once happened to me. A man with a long beard (Perhaps the Master meant a Mohammedan) brought some ice here, but I didn't feel like eating it. A little later someone brought me a piece of ice from the same man, and I ate it with great relish. You see, caste restrictions fall away of themselves. As coconut and palm trees grow up, the branches drop off of themselves. Caste conventions drop off like that. But don't tear them off as those fools do [meaning the Brahmos]."
…
MYSELF "What is the difference between a Hindu and a Brahmo?"

MASTER "There is not much difference. In the serenade we have here, one flutist plays a single note right along, while another plays various melodies. The Brahmos play one note, as it were; they hold to the formless aspect of God. But the Hindus bring out different melodies; that is to say, they enjoy God in His various aspects.
…
Then I asked him, "How can I realize God?"

MASTER; "You see. He is constantly attracting us, as a magnet attracts iron. But the iron cannot come to the magnet if it is covered with dirt. When the dirt is washed away, the iron is instantly drawn to the magnet. Weep for God and the tears will wash away the dirt from your mind."
…
Later he said: "Since you are going to lead a householder's life, create a roseate intoxication in your mind with the thought of God. You will be doing your duties, but let that pleasant intoxication remain with you.…"
…
All this time Sri Ramakrishna was seated on the floor. Now he got up and stretched himself on his cot.

He said to me, "Fan me a little."

I began to fan him and he was silent.

After a while he said: "Oh, it's so hot! Why don't you dip the fan in water?"

"Ah!" I said. "You have your fancies, too!"

The Master smiled and drawled out, "And — why — not?"

"Very well!" I said. "Have your full measure of them."

I cannot express in words how immensely I enjoyed his company that day.
…
I saw the Master not more than four or five times; but in that short time we became so intimate that I felt as if we had been class-mates. How much liberty I took while speaking with him! But no sooner had I left his presence than it flashed on me: "Goodness gracious! Think where I have been!" What I saw and received in those few days has sweetened my whole life. That Elysian smile of his, laden with nectar, I have locked up in the secret closet of my memory. That is the unending treasure of a hapless person like myself. A thrill of joy passes through my heart when I think how a grain of the bliss shed from that laughter has been sweetening the lives of millions, even in distant America. If that be my case, you may very well understand how lucky you are.

aNTheNA Dossier: Mark Zuckerberg

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With the Facebook IPO mid May ("mid mounds, mid murderous mines"), thought this was as good a time as any to cast the aNTheNA Dossier for Mark Zuckerberg.

Here are some quick calculations on his date of birth of MON 14-MAY-1984; for context, please see Numbo Jumbo:

• D #, influences personality: 1+4 = 5
• C #, influences career: 1+4 + 5 + 1+9+8+4 = 32 = 5.

Here are the predi"le"ctions for D5C5: (click the image to read)

with the most interesting tidbit in the middle of the second page (#198) from the left:

They think with the speed of lightning. They are eager to finish every work quickly. If others cause any delay, they will at once get angry. They have the special capacity to grasp quickly whatever others say. They expect others to perform the duty given by them. Otherwise, they deal with the defaulters severely. They want their dependents also to be as active as they are. They come up with instant solutions to problems which take many days for others even to understand. No wonder that wherever they go, they will command respect from others. One word of advice: they should learn to control their anger.

Further, Mark Zuckerberg adds up to 46, one of the great numbers in numerology.  They buck the trend and come out tops.  Guess that's pretty much the Facebook story.


As per the Numbo Jumbo Grid, 46 has:

Uranus and Venus come side by side to form this number.  If people have names in this number, their knowledge, wealth, occupation, and status will steadily improve.  They will succeed in realizing their aim.  If they use their capacity properly, they can earn much wealth and international fame.  They will get a good wife and good children.  To the end of their life they will enjoy all comforts without lacking anything.

As per Suzanne White's New Astrology, he's a Taurus Rat:

The Protective Leader

Taureans born in Rat years benefit from a happy accident. Rats are often hyper. The Taurus influence mitigates the Rat's piano-wire nervousness. And... to the lumbering Taurus personality, Rats adds spice, pizzazz and a hefty pinch of calculation. The Taurus/Rat is a combination of William Shakespeare and Alexander the Great: tough, bright, with nerves of steel and natural superiority. In most life situations, their reputation for strength of purpose precedes them so (obviously) one is not surprised to discover this person's relentless, insistent ability to seduce and conquer.…

Famous Taurus Rats - William Shakespeare, Ayatollah Khomeni, Charlotte Bronte…

Good Compatibilities - Pisces Ox….

Petit Inspirational

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Last evening, saw a mesmerizing and highly inspirational TED talk from an old favorite:

Philippe Petit: The journey across the high wire

Most memorable line was when he sets out onto the wire connecting the Twin Towers:

…a straight line that sags, that sways, that vibrates…

Listening to him, i could better appreciate this snippet from Surely…:

"OK. Let me hear you play the frigideira."
So this guy picked up his frigideira and his metal stick and…"brrra-dup-dup; chick-a-chick." Gee whiz! It was wonderful! The boss said to him, "You go over there and stand next to O Americano, and you'll learn how to play the frigideira!" My theory is that it's like a person who speaks French who comes to America. At first they're making all kinds of mistakes, and you can hardly understand them. Then they keep on practicing until they speak rather well, and you find there's a delightful twist to their way of speaking—their accent is rather nice, and you love to listen to it. So I must have had some sort of accent playing the frigideira, because I couldn't compete with those guys who had been playing it all their lives; it must have been some kind of dumb accent. But whatever it was, I became a rather successful frigideira player.

~~~*-*~@~

Here's some stuff from an earlier post "I Walk the High Wire":

Remember reading that wonderful book section in the Reader's Digest titled I Walk the High Wire, the story of Philippe Petit walking across the twin towers. Some of the things that are still up there in the old at-tic:

• At one point during the walk, his windcheater flies off one of the towers and the crowd below thinks that Mr. Petit has fallen off the wire. It's a long way down, 110 floors.
• Mr. Petit lying down on the wire and then getting up. Just imagining that gives me the heebie-jeebies.
• The co-author's name: a chap called John Reddy (at Sea Sands, we found that name quite amusing).
• Mr. Petit saying: "When I see three oranges, I juggle; when I see two towers, I walk."

Philippe Petit in "Man on Wire"

Ten Years at Palm Meadows

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Can't imagine!  It rained like the dickens the evening we moved out of Jayanagar.  Folks might remember it.

With folks leaving PM to some extent due to the opportunity cost (rent out the villa and stay elsewhere), it's a wonder we never bit that bullet, thanks in part to my firm belief in the end of the world by 2012.  More in the 2012 board on Pinterest.

Have always considered it a privilege (and not an entitlement) to stay here:

• With the morning baddy
• the wide vacant roads ideal for cycling,

keeping Sea Sands (and Bob Hope) in mind:

I grew up with six brothers. That's how I learned to dance - waiting for the bathroom.

~~~*-*~@~

A Bit of History

Here's a shot of our GruhaPravesam lunch for friends in NOV.2001:

The shot was taken from the still-being-constructed house opposite ours.

Ours was the first house to get ready in our avenue.  We had the luxury of pitching the shamiana in the house to the right, for the purpose of lunch :-))

The street lamps came up during Dasara 2003 and the four-laning of Varthur Main Road was done by DEC.2004.

The Palm Meadows Club launch party was held on 19.DEC.2004, where i handed over the letter highlighting the power of the number 46 (it bucks the trend) to BMJ, CEO of Adarsh Developers; Palm Meadows adds up to 46 numero-logically.

Here's a very nice summary from Mr. Ved Narayanan, who also completed ten years recently, which resulted in touching reminiscences as well:

• From Kala of Karunashraya
• From Usha of Avenue 21.

~~~*-*~@~

Here are some photosets on Flickr:

• Palm Meadows
• Baddy
• Le Jardin de Phoolery.

Hayagriva (హయగ్రీవుడు)

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The horse-faced deity of the Hindu pantheon, Hayagriva, isn't that well known as the other animal-headed deities such as:

• Ganesha
• Hanuman
• Narasimha Swamy.

CPKK used to say that all the animal-headed deities are very potent.

I used to see Him as one of the heads (right most) of the Panchamukha Hanuman at Moti Nagar:

Saw Him alone for the first time in the early 2000s when Arvind used to have a nice card-size image of the same at his desk.*

Later on, when folks got this beautiful painting of Swananda commissioned, He was there at the bottom right.

* When i pinged my pal about the photo, he sent me this:

with the following notes:

This is from a temple in an interesting place called Thiruvaheendrapuram (now "Thiruvandhipuram"; 30 km from Pondicherry;  8 Km from Cuddalore).  In that place, Lord Devanathan (Vishnu) gives us darshan in a temple in the town and Hayagriva temple is located on a hill. Worth a visit and it is also a Divya Desam, i.e., temples that have been sung by Alwars, the Vaishnavite saints.  More here.

Brahma Kamalam, Queen of the Night

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The flowers were at it again!  Last night caught these two in our backyard:

Selenicereus grandiflorus

We had been watching six-seven buds for a while.  The day before last night, three bloomed and died by the morning (talk of a one-night stand!).  But was lucky to catch these and two others last night.

Some time back, we had this:



It was a very pleasant shock to see it in full bloom; we have been wanting to check it out for a while.

Anuj was wondering whether it was a variety of cactus and, sure enough, it was.  From Selenicereus grandiflorus:

Selenicereus grandiflorus is a cactus species originating from the Antilles, Mexico and Central America. The species is commonly referred to as Nightblooming Cereus, Queen of the Night (though these two terms are also used for other species), Large-flowered Cactus, Sweet-Scented Cactus or Vanilla Cactus. The true species is extremely rare in cultivation. Most of the plants under this name belong to other species or hybrids.

Some more on the Brahma Kamalam:

Though a rare flower and hard to obtain, there are people around the country who grow it in their gardens. They wait for it to bloom on a rainy night and the event of the blooming is celebrated with much reverence. Neighbours are usually invited to witness the blooming of the flower and the ones who witness it are considered lucky or blessed.

The weirdest thing about them is how the flowers come out of the leaf, rather than out of the stem!

Here are all my photos tagged Brahma Kamalam on Flickr.

~~~*-*~@~

Here's Brahmakamalam Sreelakamakiya by KJ Yesudas: (thanks to Chery San)

How to Chant Nama

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There was a very nice pointer on how to chant nama in yesterday's pravachan of Sri Brahmachaitanya Maharaj:

Exert Yourself to Remember Nama

There is no sadhana so subtle and yet so gross as nama. One who wants to say anything most earnestly, says, "I tell you this from the bottom of my heart (or, literally 'the navel'.)". So nama, too, should be taken from the bottom of the heart, or the navel, because all desires spring from there. When it is made the seat of nama, it will gradually dislodge desire and totally extinguish it in the end. Nama should be practised not superficially, casually, but sincerely and insistently. Let us not worry as to how we shall respond to sensuous pleasures when all desire becomes extinct.

The navel (solar plexus, to be exact) is, of course, the location of the Manipura chakra.

In his masterly Travels, Crichton says that this chakra is highly developed in Westerners.

I tend to think of it as the chakra of rajas, and the seat of desires.  Annihilate them through nama and experience what happens.

aNTheNA Dossier: Nikola Tesla

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Am getting inputs from various sources about Nikola Telsa, that mysterious genius.

Can't ever forget him in Magically Yours: The Prestige.  Got this an hour ago:

Thanks to Michelle

Guess it's time to draw up his aNTheNA Dossier.

Here are some quick calculations on his date of birth of THURS 10-JUL-1856; for context, please see Numbo Jumbo:

• D #, influences personality: 1+0 = 1
• C #, influences career: 1+0 + 7 + 1+8+5+6 = 28 = 1.

A D1C1 born on a Thursday; can't expect anything other than a born leader!

Here are the predi"le"ctions for D1C1: (click to read)

Nikola Tesla adds up to 35, which as per the Numbo Jumbo Grid, has:

People having names in this number will have to put up with some expenditure or other. Their mind will not be peaceful. They will use their capacity to earn money through evil ways. They will not be benefited by their friends and relatives. They may get stomach-ache, backache, and toothache. If they happen to be big businessmen, they will suddenly lose their wealth. Such persons should change their names or their trade names suitably.

As per Suzanne White's New Astrology, he's a Cancer Dragon:

The Sentimental Luminary

Great emotional vitality is the foundation of this astonishing character's personality. The Cancer/Dragon is born with all of Cancer's profound ability to feel life in every aspect. This subject is also endowed with Dragonish pluck. So we have here a forceful and dauntlessly enthusiastic character. Cancer's eternal black moods will be lightened by the Dragon's phoenix-like ability to rise from the ashes of his own immolation by his natural pep and vigor. Dragon's unwieldy braggadocio will be tempered by Cancer's good sense and dignity. Cancer/Dragon's got just a soupçon of a twinkle in a very sensual glance. Bedroom eyes with a skylight. Cancer wants to keep this subject home. Dragon longs to race out and beat the world at any game in town. Close contact with this dynamic soulful person is always satisfying. Tender? This person invented snuggles. The sex with this charmer is not to be missed for its…

Famous Cancer Dragons - Ringo Starr, Haile Selassie, Olivia de Havilland

Good Compatibilities - Taurus Monkey...
Good Compatibilities - Gemini Rat...

~~~*-*~@~

Here's a surreal video from Marco Tempest on The electric rise and fall of Nikola Tesla:

Combining projection mapping and a pop-up book, Marco Tempest tells a visually arresting story about Nikola Tesla — called "the greatest geek who ever lived" — from his triumphant invention of alternating current to his penniless last days.

Photaf Panorama Pro

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Last morning, inspired by Suhas's panoramic shots in Kashmir, downloaded Photaf Panorama Pro for the Android for ILS 2.99(= INR 42), after 75% off. That's just INR 21 for each of my SG devices. Very nice!

You can also try out the free Photaf Panorama.

Did some test shots at home and then went over to the baddy courts in the afternoon; all the curtains were drawn and the light was streaming in through all the ten windows. But was quite happy with the result (see).

This morning, tried out another with all three courts occupied and got this: (you can scroll around in it below)



Note: App added to the Android App Grid under the Photography category.

On G+

Hege-money

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Last evening, while coming back from an eminently watchable Dreams of Tipu Sultan, ran into a security guy and some gawkers at the junction of M2 and Avenue 15.

After the news in the morning that a snake was found eating a frog near M3, we were thinking that he had pinned a snake under his stick, but it turned out to be a scorpion.  As we drew nearer, he started hammering it, ostensibly to prevent it from stinging folks in the future. The gawkers were just enjoying the sideshow to their night-out.

Can't understand this attitude of hegemony without harmony; call it hege-money.

Wonder how long this can continue before Mother Earth says good riddance to this bad rubbish called mankind. Guess that day isn't too far off.  More in my Pinterest board on 2012.

On G+

But there were a couple of silver lining replies after i posted this to the PM adda:

• Saving a reptile in distress
• Chief Seattle's message in 1855, quoted below in full.

Some of our most influential roots are the original cultures of this land. The following letter, sent by Chief Seattle of the Dwamish Tribe in Washington to President Pierce in 1855, illustrates the dignity, wisdom, and continuing relevance of this native continental vision.


THE GREAT CHIEF in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. The Great Chief also sends us words of friendship and good will. This is kind of him, since we know he has little need of our friendship in return. But we will consider your offer, for we know if we do not so the white man may come with guns and take our land. What Chief Seattle says you can count on as truly as our white brothers can count on the return of the seasons. My words are like the stars – they do not set.


How can you buy or sell the sky – the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us? We will decide in our time. Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing, and every humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.


We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father’s graves and his children’s birthright is forgotten. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the redman. But perhaps it is because the redman is a savage and does not understand.


There is no quiet place in the white man’s cities. No place to listen to the leaves of spring or the rustle of insect wings. But perhaps because I am a savage and do not understand – the clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lovely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind itself cleansed by a mid-day rain, or scented by a pinõn pine: The air is precious to the redman. For all things share the same breath – the beasts, the trees, and the man. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.


If I decide to accept, I will make one condition. The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers. I am a savage and I do not understand any other way. I have seen thousands of rotting buffaloes on the prairie left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beast also happens to the man.


All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.


Our children have seen their fathers humbled in defeat. Our warriors have felt shame. And after defeat they turn their days in idleness and contaminate their bodies with sweet food and strong drink. It matters little where we pass the rest of our days – they are not many. A few more hours, a few more winters, and none of the children of the great tribes that once lived on this earth, or that roamed in small bands in the woods will remain to mourn the graves of the people once as powerful and hopeful as yours.


One thing we know that the white man may one day discover. Our God is the same God. You may think that you own him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the Body of man, and his compassion is equal for the redman and the white. This earth is precious to him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. The whites, too, shall pass – perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by the talking wires, where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone. And what is it to say goodbye to the swift and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival.


We might understand if we knew what it was the white man dreams, what hopes he describes to his children on long winter nights, what visions he burns into their minds, so they will wish for tomorrow. But we are savages. The white man’s dreams are hidden from us. And because they are hidden, we will go our own way. If we agree, it will be to secure your reservation you have promised.


There perhaps we may live out our brief days as we wish. When the last redman has vanished from the earth, and the memory is only the shadow of a cloud passing over the prairie, these shores and forests will still hold the spirits of my people, for they love this earth as the newborn loves its mother’s heartbeat. If we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it as we have cared for it. Hold in your memory the way the land is as you take it. And with all your strength, with all your might, and with all your heart – preserve it for your children, and love it as God loves us all. One thing we know – our God is the same. This earth is precious to him. Even the white man cannot escape the common destiny.

The Cosmic Mind and Types of Samadhi

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This post is dedicated to Chery

A very inspirational piece from Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi: (italicized, instead of being quoted)

Talk 188. The essence of mind is only awareness or consciousness. When the ego, however, dominates it, it functions as the reasoning, thinking or sensing faculty. The cosmic mind being not limited by the ego, has nothing separate from itself and is therefore only aware. This is what the Bible means by "I am that I AM".


The ego-ridden mind has its strength sapped and is too weak to resist the torturing thoughts. The egoless mind is happy in deep, dreamless sleep. Clearly therefore Bliss and misery are only modes of mind; but the weak mode is not easily interchangeable with the strong mode. Activity is weakness and consequently miserable; passivity is strength and therefore blissful. The dormant strength is not apparent and therefore not availed of.


The cosmic mind, manifesting in some rare being, is able to effect the linkage in others of the individual (weak) mind with the universal (strong) mind of the inner recess. Such a rare being is called the GURU or God in manifestation.

Call him a Sadguru [or Sad Guru, because not too many are interested in what He has to offer].

Just before this (in Talk 187), Ramana explains the various types of samadhi, which i put into a crosstab:

Magically Yours: The Prestige

Qk.ly: http://bit.ly/bsxMagYours

This is a movie to be seen by all fans of magic.

Michael "Cutter" Caine introduces the concept of the prestige:

Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige". 

Two budding magicians, A and B, fall out after a trick goes fatally wrong for A's wife, and become sworn enemies.  A game of cat-and-mouse starts and, with wheels within wheels (such as the bullet catch) that follow, it's hard to tell who's the bait.

The denouement is startling, to say the least: how A manages to stay alive and performing.

The surprise package in the movie is Nikola Tesla, the mysterious genius, who's always intrigued me after reading about his eccentricities in Linda Goodman's Star Signs.  She talks of Tesla sticking bulbs into the ground at his work area in Colorado and they would glow w/o any wires!  This was one of the eerie parts of the movie.

~~~*-*~@~

A couple of years ago, there was an item about how forward Tesla was in his thinking, in a news report titled Tesla Predicted Mobile Messaging in 1909:

As the UK-based Telegraph reports, Tesla, who died in 1943, made a prediction about a portable messaging service in Popular Mechanics magazine in 1909. He wrote in the magazine that one day it would be possible to transmit wireless messages all over the world, and that wireless was the only way the use of electricity could truly thrive.

Part of My movies on Pinterest

Finders Reapers Searchers Weepers

Qk.ly: http://bit.ly/bsxFRSW

Last month, noticed a very nice parallel between two giants in their fields.

In an inspiring & raunchy interview with Padamsee, read:

Padamsee is a raconteur.…He talks about Picasso giving a lesson to one of his friends who was going through a dry spell. (The artist took him for a walk and suddenly started picking up things from the ground. He then said, 'Have you understood?' Padamsee's friend said he did not. Picasso said, 'I am a finder. I find things. You are a searcher. You search for things. That’s why you have a crisis and I never have one.')

In an interview with Stephen King, found:

"I never think of stories as made things; I think of them as found things. As if you pull them out of the ground, and you just pick them up. Someone once told me that that was me low-balling my own creativity. That might or might not be the case. But still, on the story I am working on now, I do have some unresolved problem. It doesn't keep me awake at nights. I feel like when it comes down, it will be there..."

~~~*-*~@~

Last Tuesday, i was re-watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, with Brad Pitt's unusual on-the-back-foot role.  The scene at Lake Pontchartrain was especially touching.  He carries his old Dad to watch the sun rise, for one last time.

After the rains that evening, a mysterious light pervaded Palm Meadows. The villas were set off resplendent in that light, as if in a brochure. Don't know the reason for this, but it was a real privilege to be around.

There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.

—Albert Einstein

Mentaphysics

Qk.ly: http://bit.ly/bsxMentaphysics

Some tortures are physical / And others are mental

But one that's both / Is dental.

—Ogden Nash

It's sad how, over the ages, things have come to be cast in stone.

Lord Krishna talked of the logical caste system in the Bhagavad-Gita (04:13, commentary) and, over millennia, they created serious divisions in India.  Only the migration of village folks to the urban areas has alleviated this to some extent.

Regarding animal sacrifice, Swami has given a beautiful interpretation:

We should sacrifice the animal within us!

Last evening, i read one more wonderful allusion to this mental business, in Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi:

Talk 170.
…
D.: Can fasting help realisation?
M.: But it is temporary. Mental fast is the real aid. Fasting is not an end in itself. There must be spiritual development side by side. Absolute fasting makes the mind weak too. You cannot derive sufficient strength for the spiritual quest. Therefore take moderate food and go on practising.

Readers of the Shri Sai Satcharita will know that Shirdi Sai Baba San was very much against folks fasting.  From Chapter 32:

Fasting and Mrs. Gokhale
Baba never fasted Himself, nor did He allow others to do so. The mind of the faster is never at ease, then how could he attain his Paramartha (goal of life)? God is not attained on an empty stomach; first the soul has to be appeased. If there is no moisture of food in the stomach and nutrition, with what eyes should we see God, with what tongue should we describe His greatness and with what ears should we hear the same?

As if to corroborate all this, today's pravachan of Sri Brahmachaitanya had this:

Motive for any Action Must be Clean…
One may create in people's eyes an image or impression of great devoutness by mortification exercises like say, fasting, and yet secretly entertain a mundane objective. God, who resides in all hearts, cannot be so deceived. We should, therefore, aim at practicing what we preach or say; in the path of spirituality nothing is more harmful than hypocrisy. To get lost in contemplation of God and thus forget to take food is far better than intentional fasting. We should get so engrossed in spiritual meditation that we acquire constant, unbroken awareness of God's presence. It matters not, in this state of mind, whether the body does or does not take food. On the other hand, mere fasting without such awareness of His presence will only lead to weakness of the body.