A question often pops up in my mind throwing my line of thoughts into a brief mode of confusion that why shall we study the nature and its associated phenomenon if everything's been well-defined by its divine Lord and cannot be altered by us?
I must convince myself that there is a deeper goal of understanding, even though we do not retain the power of creating any knowledge, or of altering any phenomenon. I must realize that the purpose of studying is a deeper one.
- One studies because we can harness the supreme power hidden behind various natural phenomenon.
- We study so as to make our lives easier and for fighting the natural atrocities left out uncontrolled by the Creator.
- We study to enhance our intellect and to learn to reason and to understand the complexities of this earth and as a result, the Power of its Creator.
- We study to realize our true potential, to feel rewarded on our abilities while staying humble for all the uncontrolled happenings around us.
- We study to become amazed at the glory and power of knowing about the perfect and self-sustaining systems at both the micro and macro-scale levels of this universe.
- We study to draw comparisons between lesser and more complicated systems, so as to understand complications by analogy if they are not well-understood directly.
- We must study to figure out perfect rules and laws of nature in place by some divine source and through some divine command that they do not deviate from their limits nor contradict their existence unless they enter the domain of another law.
We must study to be enlightened, to pass on our knowledge to the generations to come, to understand our limits better, and to realize the lack of limits of the Creator.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Control comes at a Cost
Everything comes at a cost because there is no free lunch, or, better to put it this way, there is a repercussion to every action, or in Newton's world, every action has a reaction (be it equal or unequal, opposite or equi-directional). It is also true for a person's reaction when he is forced to practice self-restraint. Just as a bully child would behave outrageously when he is refused the purchase of a cute-looking toy, a grown-up man would also tend to show a harsh verbal response when he is refused something very dear to him. And if he is also refused an expression of a verbal response then his outrage would manifest itself in the form of an alteration of his personality.
This alteration can be good or bad depending on a person's ethical and moral values.
Human indeed belongs to a complex species to whose personality, the Newton's law of equal and "opposite" reaction might not apply. For instance, a morally elevated person, when banished food for days at a time, would come out from this hardship as a stronger and a sympathetic person. He would not forget his pain during that hardship but would also never wish it for anyone else. However, an opposite reaction can be seen in a bullied personality, whereby after suffering this hardship, he might get hard-hearted and would begin wishing the same hardship for everyone.
I remember the story of a king's son who was intentionally thrown into the dungeon and refused ample food for months before putting into power, so that after experiencing such hardship of forced restraint from food, his personality would grow sympathetic towards the hungry, poor, and unprivileged of his society and he would always keep their needs in mind when considering the wishes of the society's elites.
Many of the monotheist religions have long adapted this philosophy and have encouraged their followers to observe periodic fasts, with the underlying goal of having them learn the hardships faced by the unprivileged class.
A similar scenario occurred to me, when I was forced away from my wife for years. During that time, I taught myself to be strong and self-sustaining when the tides of the world's resources are against my emotional needs. This could have easily resulted in an evil transformation of my personality, whereby I would have sought wrong means of physical satisfaction, including extra-marital relationship or fornication, and, God forbid, could have been pushed to dissolve my loving relationship. But I resisted many desires, while also admittedly falling for some attractions. My resolve was strengthened by the divine power and I sustained the mental anxiety of having been distanced from the loved ones.
It is a challenge to stay focused and to meticulously guide your personality during the time of this transformation, resulting from the forced restraint. While it might make you strong in your actions and determination, it might as easily throw you to the path of personal destruction.
This alteration can be good or bad depending on a person's ethical and moral values.
Human indeed belongs to a complex species to whose personality, the Newton's law of equal and "opposite" reaction might not apply. For instance, a morally elevated person, when banished food for days at a time, would come out from this hardship as a stronger and a sympathetic person. He would not forget his pain during that hardship but would also never wish it for anyone else. However, an opposite reaction can be seen in a bullied personality, whereby after suffering this hardship, he might get hard-hearted and would begin wishing the same hardship for everyone.
I remember the story of a king's son who was intentionally thrown into the dungeon and refused ample food for months before putting into power, so that after experiencing such hardship of forced restraint from food, his personality would grow sympathetic towards the hungry, poor, and unprivileged of his society and he would always keep their needs in mind when considering the wishes of the society's elites.
Many of the monotheist religions have long adapted this philosophy and have encouraged their followers to observe periodic fasts, with the underlying goal of having them learn the hardships faced by the unprivileged class.
A similar scenario occurred to me, when I was forced away from my wife for years. During that time, I taught myself to be strong and self-sustaining when the tides of the world's resources are against my emotional needs. This could have easily resulted in an evil transformation of my personality, whereby I would have sought wrong means of physical satisfaction, including extra-marital relationship or fornication, and, God forbid, could have been pushed to dissolve my loving relationship. But I resisted many desires, while also admittedly falling for some attractions. My resolve was strengthened by the divine power and I sustained the mental anxiety of having been distanced from the loved ones.
It is a challenge to stay focused and to meticulously guide your personality during the time of this transformation, resulting from the forced restraint. While it might make you strong in your actions and determination, it might as easily throw you to the path of personal destruction.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Aging Process - Golden Advices
I just sent my sincere greetings and heartiest wishes for a prosperous year ahead to my two dear family members on their birthdays. I was driven from within to shop around for a card and a gift for them and to show my participation on their special day. I felt happy and satisfied to see them grow old and to have lived so many sound years on this planet.
The two dear personalities were my elder brother and my dad. In relation to these relationships, I just read two most valuable advices which I will earnestly try to act upon from now onwards. Going through a video made from Baz Lurhmann on Youtube to some class of 1999, I came across these golden words:
- Get to know your parents, because you never know when would they be gone for good.
- Be nice to your siblings because they are your best links to your past and are most likely to stay with you in the future
As I had just sent out the cards to my dad and my brother, I was already feeling warmth of these close ties, and thus I took the above words seriously as I pondered over their essence. One person has had selfless love for me and is likely to leave me before I do, while the other person shares the similar memories as that of my childhood and is hopefully going to retain some love for me when my parents are gone.
Surely, my dad has turned 61 and has semi-officially retired from his profession as an Industrial Engineer, his presence as a mentor and a guide seems to carry a heavy emotional value whenever I go about making any of my life's decision.
We seldom realize that our parents have survived through the same rigorous world, struggled through its hardships and challenges and have come out as brave, experienced souls as a result. They are the stockpile of advices and suggestions in our difficult and easy matters, because they have seen similar scenarios unfolding before their eyes when they were of our age group. They can more easily realize the consequences of our actions because as Steve Jobs had put it in his famous address to the Stanford University Graduating class of 2006, "it is easy to connect dots in the future looking backwards."
My brother on the other hand, who turned 25, has been like a friend, a mentor, an accomplice, a advice giver and seeker, and much much more. He was there to understand my emotions and to do an engaging commentary on those, rather than necessarily provide a serious advice as my parents might have done otherwise. He helped me in the past without necessarily hoping for a return of favor in the future, without having that extreme selfless love that nature has instilled in my parents, and without knowing what would become of me in the years ahead. He invested his time, efforts, and thoughts in guiding me to the path of success, as he knew it, just because he knew that I share his lineage, his blood, and is held dear by his parents.
I wish long lives for both of my special relation holders and I hope to gain as much advice from my dad and strengthen as much of the love bond with my brother as I can in the years to come.
The two dear personalities were my elder brother and my dad. In relation to these relationships, I just read two most valuable advices which I will earnestly try to act upon from now onwards. Going through a video made from Baz Lurhmann on Youtube to some class of 1999, I came across these golden words:
- Get to know your parents, because you never know when would they be gone for good.
- Be nice to your siblings because they are your best links to your past and are most likely to stay with you in the future
As I had just sent out the cards to my dad and my brother, I was already feeling warmth of these close ties, and thus I took the above words seriously as I pondered over their essence. One person has had selfless love for me and is likely to leave me before I do, while the other person shares the similar memories as that of my childhood and is hopefully going to retain some love for me when my parents are gone.
Surely, my dad has turned 61 and has semi-officially retired from his profession as an Industrial Engineer, his presence as a mentor and a guide seems to carry a heavy emotional value whenever I go about making any of my life's decision.
We seldom realize that our parents have survived through the same rigorous world, struggled through its hardships and challenges and have come out as brave, experienced souls as a result. They are the stockpile of advices and suggestions in our difficult and easy matters, because they have seen similar scenarios unfolding before their eyes when they were of our age group. They can more easily realize the consequences of our actions because as Steve Jobs had put it in his famous address to the Stanford University Graduating class of 2006, "it is easy to connect dots in the future looking backwards."
My brother on the other hand, who turned 25, has been like a friend, a mentor, an accomplice, a advice giver and seeker, and much much more. He was there to understand my emotions and to do an engaging commentary on those, rather than necessarily provide a serious advice as my parents might have done otherwise. He helped me in the past without necessarily hoping for a return of favor in the future, without having that extreme selfless love that nature has instilled in my parents, and without knowing what would become of me in the years ahead. He invested his time, efforts, and thoughts in guiding me to the path of success, as he knew it, just because he knew that I share his lineage, his blood, and is held dear by his parents.
I wish long lives for both of my special relation holders and I hope to gain as much advice from my dad and strengthen as much of the love bond with my brother as I can in the years to come.
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